Former Fukushima Mayor: Radiation ‘Killing Our Children’ – ‘They Are Dying Of Heart Conditions, Asthma, Leukemia, Thyroid Complications …’ – Govt Hides Truth From Us (Video)

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Added: April 21, 2014

Description:

Radiation from Fukushima nuclear plant disaster forced thousands from their homes and lead to the deaths of many others. Three years since the disaster are the after effects completely gone? Tokyo says yes; also claiming govt is doing everything it can for those who suffered in the disaster. However, disturbing facts sometimes rise to the surface. To shed a bit of light on the mystery of the Fukushima aftermath, Sophie Shevardnadze talks to the former mayor of one of the disaster-struck cities, Katsutaka Idogawa.

FULL INTERVIEW:


Added: Apr 21, 2014

Description:

Nearly three years ago, Fukushima nuclear plant disaster forced thousands out of their homes. This also led to deaths of many more. Tokyo claims the effects are all but gone; however disturbing facts sometimes rise to the surface. To shed some light on the mystery of Fukushima Sophie Shevardnadze talks to former mayor Katsutaka Idogawa.

Russia’s Ambassador To The UN: US Behind Ukraine Crisis After Investing $5 BILLION In ‘Regime Change’

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Related info:

– ‘Fuck The EU’ Victoria Nuland Says US Spent $5 BILLION To Back ‘DEMOCRACY’ In Ukraine

Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin
Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin (AFP Photo / Don Emmert)

– Churkin: US behind Ukraine crisis after investing $5bn in ‘regime change’ (RT, April 23, 2014):

The US is to blame for the events in Ukraine as it invested $5 billion in regime change in the country, taking a more radical stance that its EU allies, Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s envoy to the UN, said.

“It seems it was the Americans, who tried to push through the most radical scenario,” Churkin said in an interview with Rossiya 24 channel. “They didn’t want any sort of compromise between [ousted President Viktor] Yanukovich and the opposition. And, I think, they came to the conclusion that it was time to cash in those $5 billion and handle the matter towards abrupt regime change, which, eventually, happened.”

This explains why the US, but not the European Union, took center stage when the coup resulted in legal vacuum in Kiev, he added.

US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland told CNN on Monday that Washington has invested around $5 billion into supporting democracy in Ukraine since the fall of Soviet Union.

But Churkin has doubts about Nuland’s claims, saying that “any sane person would, at least, say that those investments didn’t pay off.”

Read moreRussia’s Ambassador To The UN: US Behind Ukraine Crisis After Investing $5 BILLION In ‘Regime Change’

Lavrov: US Is ‘Running Show’ In Ukraine

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lavrov-interview

–  US is ‘running show’ in Ukraine – Lavrov (Voice of Russia, April 23, 2014):

The United States has lately been shuffling off the responsibility for what’s going on in Ukraine on Russia, continuing to blame it for, as they say, locating its troops in the area, while the US involvement in the crisis is most obvious, Russia’s Foreign Minister told RT TV Channel in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the United States has a hand in the standoff in Ukraine. “There is no reason not to believe that the Americans are running the show” in the Ukrainian crisis, Lavrov told the Russia Today.

Read moreLavrov: US Is ‘Running Show’ In Ukraine

Lavrov: Kiev Issued ‘Criminal Order’ Alowing Use Of Weapons Against Civilians

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Watch the video here:

– Lavrov: Kiev issued ‘criminal order’ allowing use of weapons against civilians (RT, April 23, 2014):

The coup-appointed Kiev government’s order to use force against Ukrainian citizens is “criminal,” the Russian Foreign Minister told RT. He also denied claims that there is Russian military presence on Ukrainian territory.

In an interview with RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze, Sergey Lavrov called acting Ukrainian President Alexander Turchinov’s order to reinitiate an anti-terror operation in East Ukraine, a criminal act.

Read moreLavrov: Kiev Issued ‘Criminal Order’ Alowing Use Of Weapons Against Civilians

Top Nuclear Official: ‘Ground Sinking’ Beneath Fukushima Reactor Buildings A Concern

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Flashback:

– ‘The Greatest Threat Humanity Has Ever Faced’: Fukushima Reactor No. 4 SFP ‘An Immediate Problem’ – Building Is Sinking, Over 30 Inches In Places:

Fukushima reactor No. 4 SFP contains something on the order of 400.000 kg of hot plutonium.

…

They say that one microgram of plutonium could theoretically kill a person.

…

There are billion micrograms in a kilogram and there are 400.000 hot kilograms in this pool.

– Top Nuclear Official: “Ground sinking” beneath Fukushima reactor buildings a concern — Gov’t experts looking closely at risks from changes to flow of underground water (ENENews, April 21, 2014):

NHK WORLD, Apr. 21, 2014: Japan’s nuclear regulator and experts are questioning the safety of plans to build frozen walls to […] prevent groundwater from flowing beneath the reactor buildings. […] The government and TEPCO want to start construction in June. […] The NRA invited experts to a meeting last Friday […] NRA Commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa expressed concern about the risk of the ground sinking. […] They said all the risks need to be addressed further. The NRA decided to continue to closely look into the safety of the planned frozen walls.

Read moreTop Nuclear Official: ‘Ground Sinking’ Beneath Fukushima Reactor Buildings A Concern

US Special Forces Committing Suicide In Record Numbers

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Related info:

– U.S. Navy SEALs Ordered To Remove ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ Symbol From Uniforms (Video)

– Ex-Navy SEAL On FOX News: US Government Is Creating Conditions To impose Martial Law (Video – Oct 15, 2013)

US Special Ops forces committing suicide in record numbers

– US Special Ops forces committing suicide in record numbers (RT, April 19, 2014):

US special forces have been committing suicide at record levels for the last two years, the head of the US Special Operations Command (SOCom) admitted in a speech on Thursday. He blamed the high numbers on the length and difficulty of combat.

“There is a lot of angst. There’s a lot of pressure out there. My soldiers have been fighting now for 12, 13 years in hard combat. Hard combat,” Adm. William McRaven, the head of SOCom, said at a conference in Florida. “And anybody that has spent any time in this war has been changed by it. It’s that simple.”

Since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, military troops – including special forces units like Navy SEALs and Army Rangers – have endured multiple deployments. Military suicides increased across the board during that time, to the point that suicides (349) outpaced combat deaths (311) in 2012, according to a Guardian analysis in 2013.

Read moreUS Special Forces Committing Suicide In Record Numbers

Banker Death ‘Epidemic’ Spreads To China

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– Banker Death ‘Epidemic’ Spreads To China (ZeroHedge, April 23, 2014):

Until now, the terrible trail of dead bankers has been only among US and European financial executives. However, as Caixin reports, the increasing pressures on the Chinese banking system appear to have take their first toll. Li Jianhua, director of China’s Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), died this morning due to a “sudden heart attack” – he was less than 49 years old. Li was among the main drafters on new “caveat emptor” market-based rules on China’s shadowy banking system and recently said in an interview that “now is not only a time to control risk, but to transform the trust industry.. if it’s too loose, it’s a big problem.” Li was found by his wife.

Li Jianhua, director of China's Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC)

Via Caixin,

Li Jianhua, director of the CBRC AfDB died due to heart attack, still less than 49 years old. As planned, Li Jianhua this morning to attend a major industry conference.

According to several sources close to the CBRC said, Li Jianhua was revising to 12 o’clock at night.

Unexpectedly around 6:00 this morning, his wife found him passed away, due to sudden heart attack.

Read moreBanker Death ‘Epidemic’ Spreads To China

Putin Gets Paid? IMF Agrees $17 Billion Loan To Ukraine

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– Putin Gets Paid? IMF Agrees $17bn Loan To Ukraine (ZeroHedge, April 23, 2014):

It seems Russia won’t have to wait too long for the billions that Ukraine owes it for energy supplies past, present, and future pre-billings. Bloomberg reports that:

  • *IMF STAFF SAID TO BACK $17B UKRAINE LOAN
  • *IMF STAFF SAID TO SEEK APRIL 30 BOARD MEETING ON UKRAINE LOAN

The always-accurate staff at the IMF project a mere 5% contraction in Ukraine’s economy (so that means more like 15%).

As Bloomberg reports,

International Monetary Fund staff endorsed a $17 billion loan to Ukraine to help the government pay its bills amid a projected economic contraction of 5 percent this year, according to government officials who have seen the recommendations.

Read morePutin Gets Paid? IMF Agrees $17 Billion Loan To Ukraine

Witch Hunt For Pro-Russian Activists In Ukraine Initiated By US – Russian Senator

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FYI.

– Witch Hunt for Pro-Russian Activists in Ukraine Initiated by US – Russian Senator (RIA Novosti, April 22, 2014):

MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) – A senior Russian lawmaker told RIA Novosti Tuesday that a campaign to capture pro-Russian activists by Ukrainian authorities was launched at the behest of the United States.

“The same reward was offered in the US in times of McCarthyism, during the ‘witch hunt’ and as the US controls the Maidan, they expanded this practice to Ukraine, where it was gladly picked up,” said Igor Morozov, referring to $10,000 cash rewards offered by authorities in Dnipropetrovsk Region for each pro-Russian activist detained.

Read moreWitch Hunt For Pro-Russian Activists In Ukraine Initiated By US – Russian Senator

Define Austerity: Spanish, Italian And Greek Debt/GDP Rise To Record Highs

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– Define Austerity: Spanish, Italian And Greek Debt/GDP Rise To Record Highs (ZeroHedge, April 23, 2014):

Ask any European why their standard of living is so atrocious (after years of freeflowing debt-funded largesse) and the answer is well-known: austerity.

Also ask any European if austerity means public debt should go up or down and the answer is also as clear: down.

Which is why most Europeans will likely be confused to very confused when presented with the latest Eurostat data according to which not only did Eurozone debt rose remain just shy of all time record highs and certainly increasing from a year ago, but those PIIGS nations which are the first to blame austerity for everything, such as Greece (net of the debt wiped out as part of its 2012 bankruptcy of course), Portugal, Spain and Italy, all saw their public debt hit all time highs.

Total Eurozone debt closed 2013 at a level of 92.6%, just shy of its all time high and up from 90.7% a year ago, 87.4% two years ago, and so on.

Read moreDefine Austerity: Spanish, Italian And Greek Debt/GDP Rise To Record Highs

This Is How Empires Collapse

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– This Is How Empires Collapse (OfTwoMinds, April 22, 2014):

by Charles Hugh-Smith

This is how empires collapse: one complicit participant at a time.

Before an empire collapses, it first erodes from within. The collapse may appear sudden, but the processes of internal rot hollowed out the resilience, resolve, purpose and vitality of the empire long before its final implosion.

What are these processes of internal rot? Here are a few of the most pervasive and destructive forces of internal corrosion:

Read moreThis Is How Empires Collapse

Russia Warns West ‘Remove Forces’; Begins Military Exercise On Ukraine Border – Dutch Fighter Jets Scrambled After Russian Bombers Approached Dutch Airspace

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putin

– Russia Warns West “Remove Forces”; Begins Military Exercise On Ukraine Border (ZeroHedge, April 23, 2014):

UPDATE: Dutch fighter jets were scrambled after Russian bombers approached Dutch airspace; the Russian planes turned away

With both sides appearing to have entirely un-de-escalated and the truce deal now a thing of the past (besides a few hundred Dow points), the Russians are speaking up today – and are not happy:

  • RUSSIA IS EXTREMELY SURPRISED BY KIEV AND WASHINGTON’S “DISTORTED” INTERPRETATION OF AGREEMENT REACHED IN GENEVA LAST WEEK ON DE-ESCALATION OF UKRAINE CRISIS – FOREIGN MINISTRY
  • RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS KIEV AND WASHINGTON “CLOSING THEIR EYES” TO PROVOCATIVE ACTIONS BY NATIONALIST FORCES IN UKRAINE

And, on the heels of Turchynov’s official restart of the so-called anti-terrorist operation, Russia is calling on Ukraine to pull back military from Ukraine’s southeast… and rattles its sabre by undertaking a military exercise on the border.

Bloomberg reports,

Read moreRussia Warns West ‘Remove Forces’; Begins Military Exercise On Ukraine Border – Dutch Fighter Jets Scrambled After Russian Bombers Approached Dutch Airspace

Russia May Halt Oil Supplies On Ukraine Theft

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– Russia May Halt Oil Supplies On Ukraine Theft (ZeroHedge, April 23, 2014):

First it was concerns over whether Ukraine would ‘steal’ gas supplies bound for Europe as it passed through pipelines in the country and now, as bills remain unpaid, a Transneft unit is threatening to halt Ukraine oil products supply due to pipeline theft.

  • *TRANSNEFT COMMENTS ON OIL PRODUCTS PIPELINE IN UKRAINE
  • *TRANSNEFT MAY STOP WORK OF PRIKARPATZAPADTRANS PIPELINE SYSTEM
  • *TRANSNEFT: $62.7M IN OIL STOLEN FROM UKRAINE PIPE OVER 5 YRS

As Bloomberg reports,

Read moreRussia May Halt Oil Supplies On Ukraine Theft

Eyeing Pipeline, Russia Forgives North Korean Debt

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– Eyeing Pipeline, Russia Forgives North Korean Debt (The Diplomat, April 23, 2014):

Russia’s Duma has voted to forgive 90 percent of North Korea’s Soviet-Era Debt.

On Friday Russia’s parliament voted to write off roughly 90 percent of North Korea’s debt as Moscow seeks to build a gas pipeline through the Hermit Kingdom.

This weekend Reuters reported that Russia’s Duma voted to write off roughly $10 billion worth of the debt that North Korea owes Moscow from the days of the Soviet Union. The vote ratified an agreement made in September 2012, after a meeting between then-President Dmitry Medvedev and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Siberia in the summer of 2011.

Read moreEyeing Pipeline, Russia Forgives North Korean Debt

Second US Warship Enters Black Sea To ‘Promote Peace And Stability’ – NATO Military Dolphins To Roam Black Sea?

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– Second US Warship Enters Black Sea To “Promote Peace And Stability” (ZeroHedge, April 22, 2014):

Less than two short weeks ago, the US sent their first warship into The Black Sea to “reassure NATO allies and Black Sea partners.” Since then, thing shave escalated and then de-escalated last week with the so-called “truce deal.” So why is the US sending a second ship? The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Taylor (FFG 50), homeported in Mayport, Fla., will enter the Black Sea April 22 to “promote peace and stability in the region.” We are sure that Putin will stand idly by and watch as NATO and the US build forces on his borders, but no matter how aggressive his response, the US Navy combat dolphin and sea lion team will not accompany the mission.

As Navy reports,

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Taylor (FFG 50), homeported in Mayport, Fla., will enter the Black Sea April 22 to promote peace and stability in the region.

USS Taylor (FFG 50)

Read moreSecond US Warship Enters Black Sea To ‘Promote Peace And Stability’ – NATO Military Dolphins To Roam Black Sea?

GMO Plants, GMO People, And Cancer

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– GMO plants, GMO people, and cancer (Jon Rappoport’s Blog, April 22, 2014):

by Jon Rappoport

There is an extraordinary parallel between what biotech corporations are doing with food plants, and what cancer researchers are trying to do with humans.

The comparison is not only instructive, it reveals what the future holds.

Read moreGMO Plants, GMO People, And Cancer

The Organic Consumers Association Calls On US Regulators To Ban Glyphosate Over Breast Milk Study

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Flashback:

– Study: GMO Toxins Found In Nearly All Pregnant Women, Unborn Babies

– Governments Ignore Definitive Proof That Monsanto’s Roundup Causes Birth Defects

– Study: Roundup Herbicide 450-Fold Diluted Is Still Genotoxic

More info on Glyphosate (Roundup) down below.

OCA Calls on US Regulators to Ban Glyphosate over Breast Milk Study

– OCA Calls on US Regulators to Ban Glyphosate over Breast Milk Study (Sustainable Pulse April 20, 2014):

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) have called on U.S. regulatory agencies, including the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ban the use of glyphosate based on a new pilot study showing that the toxic herbicide was found in the breast milk of American women. This finding contradicts industry claims that glyphosate does not accumulate in human tissue.

“For years Monsanto has claimed that glyphosate, the key active ingredient in its Roundup-brand herbicide is ‘safe’ because the human body excretes it,” said Ronnie Cummins, national director of the OCA. “This pilot study is the first of its kind to prove that Monsanto is wrong. In fact, this preliminary study shows that glyphosate accumulates in our bodies, and mothers are now passing the toxin on to their infants via breast milk.”

Results of the pilot study, conducted by Moms Across America and Sustainable Pulse, with support from Environmental Arts & Research, were released last week. While the numbers are small, they are alarming. The study  revealed that the levels found in the breast milk of American women were found to be 760 to 1600 times higher than the European Drinking Water Directive allows for individual pesticides (Glyphosate is both a pesticide and herbicide), but less than the 700 ug/l maximum contaminant level (MCL) for glyphosate in the U.S.

The EPA, arguing that glyphosate is not bio-accumulative, recently raised the limits for the amount of glyphosate residue allowed on human food.

Read moreThe Organic Consumers Association Calls On US Regulators To Ban Glyphosate Over Breast Milk Study

Near-Zero Levels Of Arsenic Found To Significantly Impair Intelligence And Reasoning Of U.S. Schoolchildren

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– Near-zero levels of arsenic found to significantly impair intelligence and reasoning of U.S. schoolchildren (Natural News, April 22, 2014):

As Natural News readers and fans already know, we’re hot on the trail pinpointing sources of heavy metals and understanding how they impair our physical and mental health. Now a groundbreaking study conducted in the United States on arsenic in drinking water has found something truly astounding: a mere 5 parts per billion (.005 ppm) of arsenic caused “reductions in Full Scale, Working Memory, Perceptual Reasoning and Verbal Comprehension scores” in children.(1)

The research was led by Joseph Graziano, PhD, professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. It involved 272 children from three school districts in Maine.

Graziano summarized the findings by explaining “aspects of performance intelligence, particularly perceptual reasoning and working memory, are impacted by exposure to arsenic in drinking water.”

He goes on to say, “we also observed a steep drop in intelligence scores in the very low range of water arsenic concentrations.”

Read moreNear-Zero Levels Of Arsenic Found To Significantly Impair Intelligence And Reasoning Of U.S. Schoolchildren

Goldman Sachs Stands Firm As Banks Exit Commodity Trading

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– Goldman Sachs Stands Firm as Banks Exit Commodity Trading (Blomberg, April 23, 2014):

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), whose three top executives began their careers at the firm in the commodity-trading unit, is poised to gain market share as pressure from regulators drives competitors to scale back.

Barclays Plc (BARC), the U.K.’s second-largest bank, said that it’s exiting commodities businesses other than trading precious metals and derivatives tied to oil, U.S. gas and commodity indexes. In January, the London-based bank cut jobs in the group that traded raw materials and in February shut power-trading desks in the U.S. and Europe.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) last month announced the $3.5 billion sale of its raw-materials trading unit to Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Morgan Stanley (MS) plans to sell its physical oil business to Russia’s OAO Rosneft. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and JPMorgan were the biggest traders of commodity derivatives among banks, according to a Greenwich Associates survey last year.

“The more banks that exit commodities trading, the less competitive it becomes for the banks which stick with it,” Jeffery Harte, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP, said in a phone interview. Goldman Sachs has “the bigger franchise to be a winner. It now has a much bigger piece of a much smaller pie.”

Read moreGoldman Sachs Stands Firm As Banks Exit Commodity Trading

China Defies Obama’s Slow Asia Pivot With Rapid Military Buildup

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A soldier jumps over a ring of fire during a tactical training mission in Heihe, northeast China's Heilongjiang province, on March 5, 2014
A soldier jumps over a ring of fire during a tactical training mission in Heihe, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, on March 5, 2014

– China Challenges Obama’s Asia Pivot With Rapid Military Buildup (Bloomberg, April 23, 2014):

President Barack Obama’s trip to Asia this week will be dominated by a country he’s not even visiting: China.

Each of the four nations on the president’s itinerary is involved in territorial disputes with an increasingly assertive China. And years of military spending gains have boosted the capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army faster than many defense analysts expected, casting a shadow over relations between China and its neighbors and sparking doubts about long-term prospects for the U.S. presence in the Pacific.

Read moreChina Defies Obama’s Slow Asia Pivot With Rapid Military Buildup

Russia Renews Threat To Intervene In Ukraine As Truce Falters – Sergey Lavrov: ‘If Russian Troops Or People Attacked, We’ll Retaliate’

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H/t reader M.G.:

“If the US doesn’t get its corrupt insignificant ass out of the Ukraine, Putin will slap them down………and it won’t take much to do it. The biggest myth has been US military might. China has been building (using all US military plans given them by the greedy corporations as part payment for slave labor) up their military like crazy. They are sided with Putin. Putin is just as able as the US, and the entire region is behind him, not the US.”

– Sergey Lavrov: “If Russian Troops Or People Attacked, We’ll Retaliate” (ZeroHedge, April 23, 2014):

It took Joe Biden just a day after his arrival in Kiev to kill and bury the last remaining hope that last week’s latest attempt at diplomatic de-escalation in Geneva would actually be anything more than a joke. A few hours ago, in a statement posted on the parliament website, Ukraine acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said that pro-Russian separatists have “crossed line” adding that East Ukraine is currently controlled by “terrorists” supported by Russia.

In other words, the same old song and dance.

Which is why this time Russia made it quite clear to issue a warning that the next time there is a provocation against its soldiers or, more importantly, against its people, those in East Ukraine to be specific, it would retaliate. Once again, Obama’s “costs” message is lost on Putin…

Read moreRussia Renews Threat To Intervene In Ukraine As Truce Falters – Sergey Lavrov: ‘If Russian Troops Or People Attacked, We’ll Retaliate’

New Home Sales Collapse To 8 Month Lows, Traders Shocked That Stocks Were Not Slammed

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H/t reader M.G.:

“The US is really in trouble. Terrible home sales numbers came in, and the market hardly responded. That tells me two things, first, the market is totally rigged, as we all know. Second, it also means the few real investors left (recognize 85% of all transactions are high frequency skim and sell) are betting short……..betting the market will sink.

People are waking up and asking for their money. This is murdering the money changers, and the stock market reflects the US GDP which 78% of it is in the false financial markets which are full of cooked books and lying spreadsheets. The world market is imploding, the printing party is over.”

– Traders shocked that home sales didn’t slam stocks (CNBC, April 23, 2014):

Sales of new single-family homes surprisingly slid to an eight-month low in March, falling 14.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted 384,000, when economists polled by Reuters had expected to see a reading of 450,000. And although the S&P 500 dipped slightly on the 10 a.m. ET report, many traders were confused about why stocks weren’t hurt more.

“I am surprised that the market wasn’t hurt by that awful home sales number,” wrote Jim Iuorio of TJM Institutional Services. “It has to be that the market needs a couple more numbers to erase the positive vibe, or that the Yellen ‘put’ is still in play. Either way, it is strange.”

…

– New Home Sales Collapse To 8 Month Lows (ZeroHedge, April 23, 2014):

New Home Sales collapsed 14.5% month-over-month to its lowest since July 2013. A mere 384k versus 450k expectations is the biggest miss since July. So much for the Spring buying season… This is a 7 standard deviation miss against the smart economists’ estimates! Whocouldanode that when the free-money sponsored fast money leaves the game that real people with real debt and real wages are simply priced out of buying a new home? Supply of unsold new homes jumps to 6 months, its highest since Oct 2011 (as once again the visible hand’s interference has produced yet another mal-investment boom as the ‘if we build it, they will come’ builders face an ugly reality).

New Home Sales

The Economists nailed it… (Deutsche’s Joe Lavorgna was above consensus at 460k)

Read moreNew Home Sales Collapse To 8 Month Lows, Traders Shocked That Stocks Were Not Slammed

Junk Loans Record Inflows Halting … Let’s See What Happens When The Party Ends

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H/t reader M.G.:

“New, and more important topic……junk bond inflows have ceased…….even worse, more mutual funds are invested in them than ever before………..the system is imploding, and it is happening now.”

– Junk Loans Record Inflows Halting; How Concerned Should You Be? (Bloomberg, April 23, 2014):

What happens when unprecedented flows into the $1.1 trillion junk-loan market stop? Investors may be about to find out.

Investors yanked $276 million from loan mutual funds in the week ended April 16, breaking a 95-week streak of deposits, Wells Fargo & Co. data show. Leveraged loans – those rated below investment grade – are poised for their first monthly loss since August, and the biggest exchange-traded fund investing in the debt yesterday reported its first withdrawal since June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Momentum is starting to shift away from high-yield loans, long heralded as a way to ward off losses from rising interest rates. Investors are reconsidering how much protection the market will actually provide as the Federal Reserve unwinds record stimulus measures that have suppressed borrowing costs.

“It’s going to be a disaster on the way out,” said Mirko Mikelic, a senior money manager at ClearArc Capital Inc., who helps oversee $7 billion of assets. “On the way in, there’s insatiable demand,” especially for higher-yielding assets with less interest-rate risk.

Read moreJunk Loans Record Inflows Halting … Let’s See What Happens When The Party Ends

Joe Biden Offers Kiev US ‘Help’ In Organizing Presidential Elections On May 25

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Joe-Biden

– Biden offers Kiev US help in organizing presidential elections on May 25 (Voice of Russia, April 22, 2014):

US Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian members of parliament in Kiev, including presidential candidates, that the United States was ready to help Ukraine’s economy but warned that they must fight the “cancer” of endemic corruption. He said the presidential election on May 25 would be the most important in the country’s history and Washington was ready to help in holding it. Biden added that the US is ready to assist Ukrainian leaders in seizing a chance to create national unity.

He said there was no reason Ukraine could not achieve energy security, but it would take time. He asked the legislators to imagine the stronger position Kiev would be in now if it was not dependent on Russia for gas supplies.

Read moreJoe Biden Offers Kiev US ‘Help’ In Organizing Presidential Elections On May 25

‘Fuck The EU’ Victoria Nuland Says US Spent $5 BILLION To Back ‘DEMOCRACY’ In Ukraine

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Related info:

– U.S. State Department Confirms Authenticity Of Intercepted Ukraine ‘FUCK THE EU’ Phone Call, Accuses Russia Of Dirty Tricks

– ‘FUCK THE EU’ – US State Department Blasts Europe; Revealed As Alleged Mastermind Behind Ukraine Unrest

Assistant US Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and US ambassador to Ukraine Jeffrey Payette seen after meeting with the Ukrainian opposition leaders on the Nezalezhnost
Assistant US Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and US ambassador to Ukraine Jeffrey Payette seen after meeting with the Ukrainian opposition leaders on the Nezalezhnost (Independence) square, Kiev (Archive)

–  Nuland Says US Spent $5Bln to Back Democracy in Ukraine (RIA Novosti, April 22, 2014):

MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) – Top US diplomat for Europe Victoria Nuland acknowledged in an interview with CNN Tuesday that Washington had allocated $5 billion to support democracy in Ukraine since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

“That money has been spent on supporting the aspirations of the Ukrainian people to have a strong, democratic government that represents their interests,” the US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs said in an interview.

Read more‘Fuck The EU’ Victoria Nuland Says US Spent $5 BILLION To Back ‘DEMOCRACY’ In Ukraine