Aging population and the end of the ‘golden era’ of growth
The aging populations in both in Europe and Asia are changing the consumption model on an individual level, and people are saving more, too. Although corporations have enough cash, most of them are not inclined to invest money into new projects the way they have done before, as the level of political, economic, and geopolitical uncertainty has dramatically risen. Read more
11/06/2015
The Oil Industry Has Been Put on Notice
There were two huge developments today, both for the oil industry and the earth's climate. New York’s top lawyer issued a subpoena to Exxon, seeking information on whether the world’s biggest oil explorer deceived the public for almost 40 years about climate change. Hours later, President Obama announced that the U.S. would reject the Keystone pipeline. Read more
Puerto Rico Debt Tragedy's Second Act Is Close. Here Is the Cast
The second act of Puerto Rico’s long-building debt drama is about to begin, and waiting in the wings is a veteran cast. It includes an embattled politician, his foe, the former executive of a failed bank, and those with roles in the Wall Street bailout, Argentina’s default and America’s biggest municipal bankruptcies. Read more
Blade of jihad: Extremists embrace the knife as tool of terror
The knife has replaced suicide bombings, car attacks and random shootings as the new tool of choice for waging jihad on Israel, with leaders blatantly calling for Palestinians young and old to take up the kitchen implement and kill. Read more
These 5 charts say the Nasdaq’s surge is different this time
The Nasdaq-100 surged to an all-time high this week, sending a chill throughinvestors with vivid memories of the dot-com bust 15 years ago that wiped out trillions of dollars in wealth.Read more
October 2015 Jobs Report (BLS)
Employment Situation Summary
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 271,000 in October, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, retail trade, food services and drinking places, and construction.THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- OCTOBER 2015
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11/05/2015
The real impact of a decade of low interest rates
Looking back, everything seems clearer and sharply focused. Looking forward, it seldom has the same clarity. With central-bank policies for a about half a decade, it was pretty clear — just keep shoveling more money out there and drive debt prices to extreme levels.
The consequences were clear in some places and murkier in others. Debt pushers would see their currencies devalue and a general rise in most financial assets — at least for a while — until the next country came along and did the same. Corporations, even countries, moved their risk curve out farther and farther as the debt-laden policies forced decisions that otherwise would have never occurred. Heck, "if the money is free, then why not use it" was the attitude. Read more
Kraft Heinz to Close 7 Factories in US, Canada in Downsizing
Kraft Heinz will close seven plants in the U.S. and Canada over the next two years as part of a downsizing that will eliminate 2,600 jobs, or roughly 14 percent of its North American factory workforce, the newly-merged food company announced Wednesday. Read more
TEXAS GOVERNOR STRIPS STATE GRANT FUNDING FROM SANCTUARY CITY SHERIFFS
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced a new plan to strip state grant funding from county sheriff’s with a Sanctuary City policy of not honoring ICE detainers. The move follows Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez’s order that criminal illegal aliens in her jail will be evaluated on a case by case basis to determine if ICE detainers will be enforced. Read more
Revealed: Iranian-Supplied, Armor-Piercing IEDs Killed At Least 196 US Troops in Iraq
Almost 200 American troops were killed by Iranian-supplied armor-penetrating weapons during the Iraq war, according to declassified Pentagon data made public for the first time on Wednesday. Read more
Big Pharma price monopoly to go global as Obama forfeits America's economic future to globalist corporations
The race to "globalize" — that is, offshore American economic power and assets — quickened recently with the finalization of a new trade deal that once again puts U.S. workers behind the eight ball.
As reported by The Washington Post, the Obama administration, after five years of negotiations, has come to an agreement with 11 other mostly Asian nations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal that is anything but the epitome of free-market capitalism — the economic model adopted by our founders and which has served to catapult the United States to become the world's No. 1 economy. Read more
As reported by The Washington Post, the Obama administration, after five years of negotiations, has come to an agreement with 11 other mostly Asian nations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal that is anything but the epitome of free-market capitalism — the economic model adopted by our founders and which has served to catapult the United States to become the world's No. 1 economy. Read more
NEW YORK STUDENTS BAFFLED BY ‘AFFIRMATIVE CONSENT’ SEX REGULATIONS
The upshot of the breathless crusade against the alleged epidemic of campus sexual assaults has been the imposition of “affirmative consent” or “yes means yes” laws in New York and California.
Those of us old enough to remember how the uptight Bible-thumping patriarchal conservatives were supposed to play the role of buzz-killing Puritans who wanted to “bring government into the bedroom” now can only marvel at the legalistic Star Chambers that young people must face. Read more
Target to close 13 stores
Target is planning to close 13 stores across the nation by the end of January of 2016, according to CNN Money.
A Target spokeswoman cited the profitability of the stores as a factor in the decision to close the sites, the report said.
Target operates 1,799 stores in America. Target has closed all of its stores in Canada, shuttering the last one in April after just more than two years in the market.
China’s Red Tide Of Malinvestment Crushes The Light Metal——US Aluminum Smelter Industry Heading For Extinction
Alcoa Inc.’s latest aluminum-making cutback is signaling the end of the iconic American industry.
For 127 years, the New York-based company has been churning out the lightweight metal used in everything from beverage cans to airplanes, once making it a symbol of U.S. industrial might. Now, with prices languishing near six-year lows, it’s wiping out almost a third of domestic operating capacity, Harbor Intelligence estimates. If prices don’t recover, the researcher predicts almost all U.S. smelting plants will close by next year. Read more
There Are Now 293 Ounces of PAPER GOLD For Every ONE OUNCE OF PHYSICAL As Comex Registered Gold Hits New Low
As of today, the gold “coverage” ratio, or the amount of paper claims for every ounce of physical,has just hit a new all time high of 293 ounces of paper per ounce of registered physical.
Unlike Bitcoin, which has doubled in the past few weeks (as the predicted Chinese buying onslaught indeedmaterialized), it hasn’t been a good week for spot gold prices which have tumbled from $1,180 to just over $1,100. Read more
Asia Will Build 500 Coal-Fired Power Plants This Year No Matter What the U.S. Does
Two stories about coal use in Asia highlight the futility of EPA’s efforts to reduce global carbon emissions by straightjacketing the U.S. economy with draconian carbon regulations. Read more
There’s No Such Thing as Excessive Profits
Problems with a “Fair Rate of Return”
If you want to do business in Venezuela, you will have to let the government do your bookkeeping to make sure you aren’t making too much. Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s decree, called the “Organic Law of Fair Prices,” sets a maximum “fair” profit at 30 percent of costs. Read more
Bernanke’s Defense of Fed Monetary Policy Is Utter Nonsense
Mainstream economists continue to defend and even praise Ben Bernanke’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. But as it becomes moreand more obvious that the United States economy never fundamentally recovered from the Great Recession, savvier analysts are speaking up. On Bloomberg TV, David Stockman lambasted Bernanke for flooding the markets with zero-cost money, arguing that the former Fed Chairman’s book would be better titled The Courage to Print, rather than The Courage to Act. Stockman ended with a dire warning for investors: Read more
That Recession in US Industrial Economy? Stocks Show It, Too Read more: That Recession in U.S. Industrial Economy? Stocks Show It, Too Important: Can you afford to Retire?
A group of industrial stocks is posting its biggest declines since 2008, a sign that investors agree with a Fastenal Co. executive who said parts of the U.S. economy are in a recession. Read more
Productivity in U.S. Rises as Self-Employed Work Fewer Hours
Worker productivity unexpectedly grew in the third quarter, reflecting a slump in the number of hours worked by self-employed Americans.
The measure of employee output per hour increased at a 1.6 percent annualized rate, exceeding all estimates of 57 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The total number of hours worked from July through September dropped by the most in six years, dragged down by an annualized 18 percent plunge among those working for themselves. Read more
Chinese Buying Up $30 Billion in US Homes as China's Economy Sputters Read more: Money Exodus: How Chinese Secretly Send Billions Abroad to Buy Homes Important: Can you afford to Retire?
The ranks of China’s wealthy continue to surge. As their economy shows signs of weakness at home, they’re sending money overseas at unprecedented levels to seek safer investments — often in violation of currency controls meant to keep money inside China. Read more
EU Cuts Growth and Inflation Outlook as ECB Decision Looms
The European Commission cut its euro-area growth and inflation outlook for next year, citing more challenging global conditions and fading impetus from lower oil prices and a weaker euro.
Gross domestic product in the 19-nation bloc is set to grow 1.8 percent in 2016, down from a previous projection of 1.9 percent in May, the Commission said in its autumn forecast published Thursday. Inflation is seen accelerating to 1.6 percent in 2017 from 0.1 percent this year. Read more
German manufacturing orders fall for third month
FRANKFURT--The gloom among German manufacturers deepened in September, as orders in the sector registered their third straight monthly drop, a sign that slower growth in China and recessions in other key developing markets are starting to hurt Europe's largest economy. Read more
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