SocGen Makes A Striking Discovery: Most Buybacks Were Used To Pay For Stock Options

via ZeroHedge Frequent readers will recall that it was Andrew Lapthorne’s revelation back in late 2015, which was behind the following chart, indicating that virtually all net debt issued this century has gone for one thing: to fund buybacks, i.e. wealth transfers from bondholders to shareholders. Now, in a follow up note as the increasingly politically-charged … Read more

Ultrasonic Attacks Can Trigger Alexa And Siri With Hidden Commands — Raise Serious Security Risks

by stockboardasset Over the last two years, academic researchers have identified various methods that they can transmit hidden commands that are undetectable by the human ear to Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Assistant. According to a new report from The New York Times, scientific researchers have been able “to secretly activate the artificial intelligence systems on … Read more

Oklahoma governor Fallin vetoes gun carry bill

by DCG Well, this is disappointing. Gov. Fallin’s term ends in 2019. From Fox News: Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday vetoed the “Constitutional Carry” bill that, if passed, would have enabled handgun owners in the state to carry without first obtaining a permit. The NRA had supported the bill’s passage and had urged Fallin to sign it. … Read more

NY governor Cuomo goes after NRA; gun manufacturer Hornady fights back

by Dr. Eowyn The New York Daily News reports that on April 18, 2018, New York governor Andrew Cuomo warned banks and insurers to stay away from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the gun industry because of the “reputational risk” they will incur if they do business with either. NY Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo issued … Read more

Jim Rickards update – financial warfare, US dollar, gold, inflation

Physical Gold Fund, Released on 5/11/18 Click Here to Listen to the Interview http://www.physicalgoldfund.com/Download/Audio/TGC-May-2018.mp3 Topics: *Update on gold markets *New phase of financial warfare with Iran *Financial system chokepoints *US Dollar payments system *SWIFT transfers and third party influence *How the US uses dollar payments leverage to control non US transaction *How Inflation turns people … Read more

U.S. Dollar Rally Is Doomed

Source: Michael J. Ballanger for Streetwise Reports Precious metals expert Michael Ballanger discusses movements in the U.S. dollar. There was an article written a few days back where the author vehemently denied that the U.S. dollar could go any lower and where the phrases “face-ripping,” “face ripper,” and “rip your face off” (as well as derivatives thereof) … Read more

Hundreds Of Millions Stolen After Wave Of Transfer Heists Rock Mexican Banks

by stockboardasset Lorenza Martinez, director of the Payment System of the Bank of Mexico, informed Reuters in a telephone interview last week that more than five Mexican financial institutions have recently observed “unauthorized transfers,” resulting in hundreds of millions of pesos stolen. Cybercriminals siphoned 400 million of pesos ($20.4 million) out of Mexican banks, including the second largest … Read more

BREAKING: Harry Reid has pancreatic cancer

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is currently being treated for pancreatic cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The former Democratic senator from Nevada underwent surgery Monday to remove a tumor from his pancreas, Reid’s family confirmed in a statement. “His doctors caught the problem early during a routine screening … Read more

IDF Strikes Hamas Military Facility In Northern Gaza In Response To Attempted Infiltration

via xinhuanet:  Israeli war jets fighters carried out on Monday afternoon an airstrike on a Hamas military facility in northern Gaza Strip, with no injuries reported, according to Hamas armed wing and paramedics. Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades said in a short text message to reporters that Israeli war jets struck the military facility in northern … Read more

Right Now: A Terrible Time for Undersaved Retirees to Try to Catch Up

by Lance Roberts A couple of weeks ago, I discussed the coming “Pension Crisis.”  The important point made was the unrealistic return assumptions used by pension managers in order to reduce the contribution (savings) requirement by their members. “However, the reason assumptions remain high is simple. If these rates were lowered 1–2 percentage points, the required pension contributions … Read more

“If gold is a relic of history, why do Central Banks + the IMF still hold over $1T of gold?

Alan Greenspan on Gold and Central Banks Last month Dr Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, spoke at our inaugural investment summit on gold and central banks #globalinvest18 pic.twitter.com/Ixfth3dhlt — World Gold Council (@GOLDCOUNCIL) May 14, 2018 US should watch its debt pile before ‘things get out … Read more

What Happens in an Internet Minute in 2018?

by visualcapitalist In your everyday life, a minute might not seem like much. But when it comes to the vast scale of the internet, a minute of time goes much further than you ever could have imagined. That’s because the internet has a degree of scale that our linear human brains are unaccustomed to operating on. … Read more

Nothing To Sweat Here…..Not!

Financial Engineering Run Amuck #Stocks – #Economy | If the yield curve flattens, or even inverts, expect to see additional selling pressure on the financial sector. The banks, regional banks especially, will be laggards of the sector. @TradingNation #FED $DJIA $SPX $DXY pic.twitter.com/DbqInpdFJb — Marc-André Fongern (@Fongern_FX) May 14, 2018 Landmark bond sales hit by … Read more