The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. – Benjamin Franklin
– Bundesbank Blasts Draghi For Breaking Bailout Taboo (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2015):
“The head of Germany’s Bundesbank ripped into the European Central Bank on Thursday, saying emergency funding for Greek banks broke the taboo of financing governments and it was not up to central banks to decide who was or wasn’t in the euro zone,” Reuters reports.
– The Recovery Itself Unravels; Consumer Recession (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2015):
If March was supposed to herald at least the beginning of the anticipated yearly rebound, April put that idea to rest. We have pushed way past last year’s “aberration” in the polar vortices and way past even the immediate aftermath of the 2012 slowdown (which hit in the also-snowy winter of 2013). You can make the argument that the full US economy is not in recession but it is now exceedingly difficult to sustain any position that doesn’t put the consumer already there.
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– Ray Dalio: “If You Don’t Own Gold, You Either Don’t Know History Or Economics” (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2015):
Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio explains in under 120 seconds why everyone should allocate some of their portfolio to gold
“If you dont own gold…there is no sensible reason other than you dont know history or you dont know the economics of it…”
Of course, few ‘status quo’ believers will pay heed to the $150 billion AUM fund manager, despite his imploring that to be successful, “Think Independently, Stay Humble”
– China requests IMF recommend renminbi as a reserve currency (Government Slaves, May 14, 2015)
– Former NATO Commander, Presidential Candidate Makes Millions Pushing Penny Stocks (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2015):
Gen. Wesley Clark has been a busy man since retiring from public service with a plan to make $40 million. In addition to chairing notorious investment bank Rodman & Renshaw, the former NATO allied commander and one-time Presidential hopeful has thrown his face and fame behind a plethora of OTC-listed companies, Bloomberg reports. From grilled cheese sandwich trucks to hydroponic lettuce companies run by the real-life Bud Fox, Clark’s name has become so synonymous with doomed penny stocks that one fund manager calls his very appearance on a company board “a red flag.”
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– Why There Has Been No Recovery In One Simple Chart – A Harvest of Corruption (Jesse’s Cafe Americain, May 13, 2015)
– Senate Passes Obama’s TPP Fast-Track Trade Proposal (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2015):
Two days ago there was some rejoicing and much surprise when the “Warren-faction” of Senate liberals turned against Obama, and failed to vote for a fast-track approval of the TPP. That surprise lasted for about 48 hours when moments ago, in a 65-33 vote, the Senate finally advanced a measure allowing Obama to expedite approval of trade agreements, a bill with bipartisan support in that chamber which however according to Bloomberg may run into strong opposition from House Democrats.
The vote followed separate votes sought by Democrats to pass proposals curbing currency manipulation and boosting imports from sub-Saharan Africa. The Senate plans to consider amendments to the fast-track trade proposal next week.
Read moreSenate Passes Obama’s TPP Fast-Track Trade Proposal
– London Housing Bubble Watch: $630/Month For A Bed “In” A Shared Kitchen! (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015):
You know it’s a bubble when… A listing has appeared online advertising a single bed in a house in London where the mattress is located in the kitchen.
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– China Goes “Unconventional” In Effort To Tackle Trillions In Debt, Rescue Economy (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015):
China has officially entered the realm of “unconventional” monetary policy, joining the Fed, the ECB, the BoJ, and a whole host of other global central banks in an attempt to bring the supposedly all-mighty printing press and the unlimited balance sheet that goes with it to bear on subpar economic growth. We suspect the results will be characteristically underwhelming (at least in terms of lowering real interest rates, although in terms of boosting risk assets, the results may be outstanding) meaning it’s likely only a matter of time before LTRO becomes QE in China just as it did in Europe.
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– It’s Official: The BoJ Has Broken The Japanese Stock Market (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015):
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Monetizing the entirety of gross government bond issuance and amassing an equity portfolio worth just shy of $100 billion on the way to cornering the entire ETF market may come across as insanely irresponsible even in a world that is now defined by insanely irresponsible central banks, but Haruhiko Kuroda does not care because when it comes to QE and the financing of governments via central bank-assisted ponzi schemes, no one does it like the BoJ.
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As I’ve said many times before:
This is the Greatest Depression.
– The US Is In Recession According To These 7 Charts (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015)
– A Generational Storm Is Coming (Bonner & Partners on May 12, 2015)
– 45% Of US Voters Are Worried The Government Will Use Military Training Exercises For Power Grab (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015):
Mainstream media reporting on the controversy over the Jade Helm 15 military exercises, set to take place over eight weeks across several U.S. states, was primarily about characterizing and demonizing Texans concerned about the exercises as backwater, paranoid rednecks with wild fantasies about an imminent government takeover. While exercises like these will always cause the imagination of some to run amok, the key point here is this: concerns that U.S. military exercises will be used to exert more power over states is not a fringe view.
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H/t reader M.G.:
“More on Clinton corruption…..she only cares about getting her fat ass back into the White House…..Ugh.”
– Hillary Clinton’s worries mount (Washington Post, May 13, 2015)
H/t reader M.G.:
“More on congressional corruption……………….this crap has to be stopped.
Taking funds from foreign nations…….this used to be illegal.”
– 10 members of Congress took trip secretly funded by foreign government (Washington Post, May 13, 2015)
H/t reader M.G.:
“Another huge quake, a 6.8 hits Fukushima area…….the author uses any and all words to avoid the connection…”
– 6.8 earthquake strikes off Japan’s Honshu Island (RT, May 12, 2015)
H/t reader M.G.:
“This article is full of foolish diversions, but the trade deal was defeated.
YES!”
– Senate Democrats Knock Down Obama’s Trade Bill (Huffington Post, May 12, 2015)
H/t reader squodgy:
“And NOW…….drum roll…….
AGENDA………..22.”
– In September, the UN Launches a Major Sustainable Development Agenda for the Entire Planet (The Daily Sheeple, May 12, 2015)
– ‘We the People’ Need to Circle the Wagons: The Government Is on the Warpath (Rutherford Institute, May 12, 2015):
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Have you ever wondered why the Constitution begins with those three words “we the people”? It was intended to be a powerful reminder that everything flows from the citizenry. We the people are the center of the government and the source of its power. That “we” is crucial because it reminds us that there is power and safety in numbers, provided we stand united. We can accomplish nothing alone. Unfortunately, we have been ousted from that protected circle, by the courts, the politicians, and the corporations – replacing us with yes-men, shills who dance to the tune of an elite ruling class. To put it a little more bluntly, stop thinking like mindless government robots and start acting like a powerhouse of citizens vested with the power to say “enough is enough.”
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H/t reader squodgy:
“Doh….like “THAT’S A SURPRISE”.
Surely as a close tie with Venezuela will show him, you just cannot trust America, both commercially and politically.
Just ask the Economic Hit Man.”
– Raul Castro: Cuba’s president accuses US of “illegally training” dissidents inside its diplomatic compound in Havana (Independent, May 12, 2015)