Thursday, July 06, 2017

Here’s Why This G20 Meeting Doesn’t Really Matter / Politics / Global Economy

By: John_Mauldin

BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN : Anyone who has ever been to a meeting knows that meetings are often confounding, frustrating affairs. Most of them are designed simply to be held. The people who attend them are unlikely to agree on anything except maybe the date of the next one.

The G-20 summit is no exception.

But that’s only because the people who attend it, the leaders of the countries with the world’s 20 largest economies, think of themselves as decision-makers when really they are hostages to history.

Thursday, July 06, 2017

This Graphic Shows the Reach of North Korea’s Most Successful Missile Test / Politics / North Korea

By: John_Mauldin

RiskEdge: Kim Jong-un is variously seen as a fantasy-sodden rattler of sabers or a mad and dangerous threat to global peace.

Whichever more closely approximates the truth, the world is watching North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile quest ever more uneasily.

And on May 14, the pariah state embarked on its most successful missile test yet:

Thursday, July 06, 2017

North vs. South Korea: The Human Divide / Politics / North Korea

By: John_Mauldin

RiskEdge : The wildly differing trajectories of North and South Korea since they were divided at the end of World War II are well known.

Slightly murkier are the very human statistics illustrating the differences between the two. The paranoically secretive nature of North Korea means that a wealth of data is difficult to come by, but the most reliable data available is striking.

Thursday, July 06, 2017

6 Things Precious Metals Naysayers Get Dead Wrong / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2017

By: MoneyMetals

Stefan Gleason : Answering the Most Common and Current Objections

Gold attracts its fair share of detractors. But the most common objections to gold as money, and as a safe-haven asset within an investment portfolio, are misplaced. Anti-gold myths are ubiquitous.

Mega billionaire Warren Buffett remarked derisively of gold that it “gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again, and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility.”

Thursday, July 06, 2017

Don’t Hold Your Breath For Deeper OPEC Oil Cuts / Commodities / Crude Oil

By: OilPrice_Com

The rally in oil prices over the past two weeks came to a halt on Wednesday on news that OPEC is actually exporting more oil than previously thought.

A month ago, oil prices appeared to be higher than they should have been, with weak demand, elevated inventories, and a recognition that the nine-month OPEC extension would be inadequate to balance the market. Oil sold off and dropped to the mid-$40s and below. Oil traders then bought on the dip, and bid prices back up over the past two weeks. Now, prices again look like they could be reaching an upper limit.

Thursday, July 06, 2017

The Whole Foods And Amazon Merger Is A Sign Of The Major Trend Every Investor Should Be Aware Of / Companies / Mergers & Acquisitions

By: John_Mauldin

BY PATRICK WATSON : If you are a shareholder in either Amazon (AMZN) or Whole Foods Market (WFM), their combination ought to please you. 

Both stocks rose on the merger news while the rest of the grocery industry dropped. But in the long run, I’m not sure their deal will work out well for any of us.

Thursday, July 06, 2017

London Workers Real Earnings Still below 2007 in 27 Boroughs / Economics / Wages

By: Submissions

EARNINGS IN 27 LONDON BOROUGHS STILL BELOW 2007 LEVEL ONCE INFLATION HAS BEEN TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT NEW GMB STUDY SHOWS

Impunity for employers hostility towards workers rights is maybe more important than the pay cap in the public sector in holding down pay in the private sector says GMB London region

The real value of earnings for all full-time employees resident in London has dropped by 17.9% between April 2007 and April 2016 a new GMB London Region analysis of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings shows.

Thursday, July 06, 2017

Stock Market Uncertainty Near Record High / Stock-Markets / Stock Market 2017

By: Paul_Rejczak

Briefly: In our opinion, speculative short positions are favored (with stop-loss at 2,510, and profit target at 2,300, S&P 500 index).

Our intraday outlook is bearish, and our short-term outlook is bearish. Our medium-term outlook remains neutral, following S&P 500 index breakout above last year's all-time high:

Intraday outlook (next 24 hours): bearish
Short-term outlook (next 1-2 weeks): bearish
Medium-term outlook (next 1-3 months): neutral
Long-term outlook (next year): neutral

Thursday, July 06, 2017

US Fed and Mainstream Media’s Moronic Statements On The Whole Foods Buyout / Companies / Corporate News

By: Jeff_Berwick

It’s already bad enough we live in a world overpopulated by idiots. Worse, they are often in charge of ‘the monetary system’ and even head up ‘the media’! Luckily for tomorrow, entrepreneurs are busy developing a decentralized crypto-monetary platform for a money that nobody can control, and an alternative media, of which we are part.

One recent article encompassed precisely the unnecessity of the stupidity of central bankers and their mainstream financial media lapdogs.

Thursday, July 06, 2017

Sheffield Chelsea Road Elm Tree, 1 of 6,000 Trees Amey / Labour City Council to Fell / Local / Sheffield

By: Anika_Walayat

The Chelsea Road Elm tree is probably the most prominent of thousands of Sheffield's big trees that are under a death sentence by Amey / City Council. Already over 4000 trees have been felled and likely by the time Amey / Labour city council are finished another 4,000 could have been felled, about 1/4 of Sheffield's big tree populations binge wiped out! And where it will take several decades for any replacement saplings to fill the voids left on Sheffield's streets. So where once Sheffield had tree lined suburbs, now many streets are set to become barren concrete wastelands.

Thursday, July 06, 2017

Italy Has Ignored ECB Regulations And Bailed Out Its Banks Again / Interest-Rates / Financial Crisis 2017

By: John_Mauldin

By Xander Snyder : The Italian government has bailed out its banks again. Unwittingly, it has shown just how ineffective the European Central Bank is.

Rome recently finalized a deal to save one of the country’s largest and most important commercial banks, Monte dei Paschi di Siena. In another deal, Intesa Sanpaolo, a much more stable bank, will bail out Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare di Vicenza.

Both agreements involve Italian government funds and prevent senior creditors from incurring losses. That skirts the European Union’s strictest banking regulations, which allow Brussels to impose losses on senior bondholders.

Thursday, July 06, 2017

Mark Yusko Warns to Get Out Of Stock Index Funds Now / Stock-Markets / Stock Market 2017

By: John_Mauldin

BY STEPHEN MCBRIDE : The market cap of FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) are up $260 billion since March 1. Meanwhile, the market cap of the other 495 companies in the S&P 500 are down $260 billion.

This is a textbook example of unsustainable growth, yet it has largely fallen on deaf ears for many investors.

Speaking at the Mauldin Economics’ Strategic Investment Conference, Mark Yusko, Founder and CIO of Morgan Creek Capital Management, dissected this and the other biggest risks—along with opportunities—in financial markets today.

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Few People Grasp What Geopolitical Power Shale Oil Gives To The US / Commodities / Shale Oil and Gas

By: John_Mauldin

I know no one else with George Friedman’s breadth and depth of insight into today’s world.

Right at the root of today’s major global issues, we find one little word: oil. So, I’ve asked George to bring us up to speed on the geopolitical implications of a remarkable phenomenon: the US shale oil industry.

There is good news here for the US, but big bad news for Saudi Arabia and Russia—and in fact any country with oil exports as its main source of income.

But without further ado, I’ll let George and his team enlighten you on this development themselves.

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Fed Officials Say More Hikes Are on The Way, Markets Disagree / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates

By: MoneyMetals

By Clint Siegner : Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen says she is planning more hikes in the Fed funds rate, but you wouldn’t know it by watching the markets. So far, the response in foreign exchange, bonds, and equities isn’t what people expected.

Markets have always been notorious for behaving unpredictably.

But in an age when central bankers micromanage virtually all markets, the behavior could be the result of careful planning. Maybe the recent market action was only unpredictable for those of us outside of the FOMC conference room.

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

A North Korean EMP Attack: The Dark Possibility / Politics / North Korea

By: HAA

Shannara Johnson : As the tension between North Korea and the US continues to grow, the possibility of war is rapidly evolving into a probability. Now some military experts worry that an attack via EMP (electromagnetic pulse) on the US mainland might be a feasible option for Pyongyang.

The signs are certainly there: Having recently completed the ninth missile test of 2017, Kim Jong-un promised to send the US an even bigger “gift package.”

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Enter The Natural Gas Cartel / Commodities / Natural Gas

By: Jim_Willie_CB

The King Dollar is mortally wounded. Many notice but the masses seem largely unaware. Since 1971, the Gold Standard has been removed from its anchor position. But since 1973, the Petro-Dollar has taken its place. It has called for crude oil sales led by the Saudis and OPEC to be transacted in USDollar terms, for oil surpluses to be stored in USTreasury Bonds, and for some kickbacks from the Saudis to the USMilitary complex for weapons purchases. Of course, the US is ready willing and able to create strife and to foment wars whereby the Arab oil monarchs will need more weapons. Since 2014, many events have pointed to the crippled condition of the important link between the USDollar and crude oil. The price has plunged by 50% of more, and not recovered. It is currently lurching in the nether bounds near the $45 level. Anything less than $65 to $70 per barrel is very dangerous for keeping the oil sovereigns afloat and for keeping the US energy sector solvent. Witness the Wall Street banks having tremendous problems with impaired bonds and toxic energy portfolios. They seem not resolvable. They cannot keep the oil price over $50, a sign of their impotence.

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Will Trump Fire Yellen or Vice Versa / Interest-Rates / US Federal Reserve Bank

By: Michael_Pento

Citigroup’s Economic Surprise Index just hit its lowest level since August 2011. But this level of disappointment has ironically emboldened the Fed to step up its hawkish monetary rhetoric. The truth is that the hard economic data is grossly missing analyst estimates to the downside as the economy inexorably grinds towards recession. This anemic growth and inflation data should have been sufficient to stay the Fed's hand for the rest of this year and cause it to forgo the unwinding of its balance sheet.

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Stock Market Post-holiday Hangover? / Stock-Markets / Stock Market 2017

By: Anthony_Cherniawski

Good Morning!

The bank-heavy Dow made a new all-time high on July 3 in light trading. It was aided and abetted by its largest holding, Goldman Sachs, up 2.42%.

This high may be called an “echo Cycle” since June 29 is exactly 8.6 years from the bottom of Wave 3 of (C) on November 21, 2008. I have seen this before in gold and crude, where we have witnessed “double tops.”

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

USDCAD Broke below 1.2968 Key Support / Currencies / Canadian $

By: Franco_Shao

USDCAD’s bearish movement from the May 5 high of 1.3793 extended to as low as 1.2912, breaking below the January 31 low of 1.2968 key support, indicating that the long term bearish movement from the January 2016 high of 1.4689 has resumed.

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

US Dollar Outlook / Currencies / US Dollar

By: Anthony_Cherniawski

I just listened to an interview with Martin Armstrong on YouTube about what to expect from the world financial arena. As much as I respect him, I cannot agree with what he says concerning (1) the direction of the US Dollar and (2) its impact on equities. Of course, his research is far deeper than mine, so I defer on that count. However, The best analysis that I have is that the USD may continue to decline (should I say collapse?) in the near term. That does not bode well for either domestic stocks or bonds.