A Hard Brexit Is the US’s Problem, Too

BY JOHN MAULDIN Many analysts doubt a n0-deal Brexit is likely. They think some last-minute agreement will emerge. In theory, a “hard” Brexit is in no one’s interest. It makes no sense, the logic goes. So it won’t happen. The problem is that politicians may have entirely different interests. And they happen to miscalculate. If governments … Read more

Shlumberger Drops An Egg In The Shale Patch

by Chris One narrative is that US oil companies, displaying the usual plucky ingenuity, are finding ways to extract more and more oil from shale at lower and lower costs. A different narrative says that they’ve been overstating the results and buring cash to maintain that illusion. A prominent oil field servicing company, Shlumberger, with … Read more

The Vixen – Volatility can be charted and is highly relevant in identifying market turns.

via northmantrader: Mella sent the post below to clients earlier in the month and highlights a critically important charting lesson: How to utilize $VIX and other volatility products to signal not only coming risk moves but also to identify key market turning points. While markets may surprise to the upside and downside volatility patterns often signal the … Read more

FITTON:OUTRAGE:Senate Ethics Committee Gives Sen. Booker a pass for admitted rules violation in Kavanaugh smear campaign.

by TFittonJW Not happy. Not surprised, but not happy. https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-senate-ethics-committee-gives-sen-cory-booker-a-pass-for-purposely-violating-rules-to-try-to-torpedo-kavanaugh-nomination/ (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics has refused to take action against Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who admitted to willfully violating Senate rules by releasing confidential records regarding then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time as a White House counsel. The … Read more

The China War. It’s Real. It’s Here.

The China War is real. China is figuring out how to fight it. America is figuring out how to sell it. Our General Petraeus was at the Raisina Dialogue in India. According to a tweet from an attendee, he told the assembly: Petraeus: US declaration of a new Cold War on China is defining issue, … Read more

The Real Reason the Fed Has Been Hiking

BY PATRICK WATSON Around this time last year, I wrote: “Stronger-than-expected wage growth will make the Fed see inflation, tighten policy more than presently expected, and probably send stock prices lower.” Sure enough, the Fed tightened more than people thought it would. And stock prices indeed dropped. But I also said the best long-term outcome of higher … Read more

AMAZON Delivery Robots To Roam Seattle Sidewalks… Record Spending on Lobbying

Amazon Starts Testing ‘Scout’ Delivery Robots Near Seattle E-commerce giant brings automation to expensive last-mile Cooler-sized bots will operate Monday to Friday during day Amazon.com Inc. will use robots to deliver packages in the suburbs north of Seattle, its latest experiment to automate the last-mile of delivery that’s a labor-intensive and costly component of buying products … Read more

GIULIANI MESS… Goes on TV after drinking?

AP sources: Trump, others agitated by Giuliani’s performance NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani’s latest media blitz, which was filled with a dizzying array of misstatements and hurried clarifications, agitated President Donald Trump and some of his allies, who have raised the possibility that the outspoken presidential lawyer be at least temporarily sidelined from televised … Read more

All American Personnel Told To Evacuate Venezuela Immediately

Just heard this on Fox now! Maduro says he’s cutting off relations with the US. Their website has this article as of 5 mins ago, maybe related? “US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader declares himself interim president in effort to oust Maduro” https://video.foxnews.com/v/5993017583001/#sp=show-clips Could be civil war, eh? h/t Codfish

EMERGENCY: Shut-up or Be Silenced! Stealth Move By DAVOS Elite To Destroy Nationalists Worldwide!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD6Z3i1cmCI For More Information See: https://www.infowars.com/world-elite-… https://www.straitstimes.com/world/eu… https://www.standard.co.uk/business/d… http://time.com/collection-post/55025… https://theconversation.com/davos-lea… https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/0… https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-0… https://www.voanews.com/a/un-rights-c… http://time.com/5451383/european-unio… https://www.htrnews.com/story/opinion… https://www.arkansas-catholic.org/new… https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/n…    

Canada on Track to Spend as Much as at the Height of Great Recession

via YAHOO: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is on track to spend nearly as much this year as Ottawa did to stimulate the economy at the height of the global recession, according to a new study. The right-leaning Fraser Institute tracked inflation-adjusted annual per person government spending by prime ministers since Canada’s confederation. The … Read more

1 in 3 Americans Aren’t Sure Their Next Credit Card Purchase Will Go Through

Rising interest rates and credit card balances from CNBC. via CNBC: Over 1 in 3 people —or 86 million Americans — say they’re afraid they’ll max out their credit card when making a large purchase. Still, most Americans continue to take on ever-increasing amounts of credit card debt. Despite the dangers of high-interest loans, more consumers … Read more

Excessive Corporate Debt Will Worsen the Next Economic Slowdown

via MarketWatch: Overhang of excessive corporate debt may weigh on global economic growth: Oxford Economics As worries rise over the outlook for global growth, excessive debt levels are drawing the eyes of nervous investors worried that more countries will struggle to shoulder their debts. Adam Slater, lead economist for Oxford Economics, says the risks from … Read more

The Cost of the Government Shutdown

by FS Ryan Sweet, Director of Real-Time Economics for Moody’s Analytics spoke with Financial Sense’s Jim Puplava on the impact of the government shutdown on U.S. GDP and how it’s not only affecting thousands of American families but is beginning to trickle into areas of the economy like housing and small business. Sweet tells us when he … Read more

Oops! $137B “Improperly” Paid Out During US Gov’t Federal Fiscal Year 2018

via aier.org: In fiscal year 2018, $137 billion was paid “improperly” by the federal government, according to arecent report. That number sums all the improper payments by what the government calls high-priority programs. They are programs with improper-payments estimates exceeding $2 billion annually. If it makes your head spin, it should. Always the optimist, I have … Read more

Rising Risks, Diminishing Returns, Endless Stimulus: Bank of Japan’s No Way Out

via Reuters:  The Bank of Japan cut its inflation forecasts on Wednesday but maintained its massive stimulus program, with Governor Haruhiko Kuroda warning of growing risks to the economy from trade protectionism and faltering global demand. Rising pressure from the trade war between China and the United States — Japan’s biggest trading partners — is adding … Read more

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Celebrates As He Signs Reproductive Health Act Bill Authorizing Killing Of Babies Up To The Moment Of Birth

by Geoffrey Grider New York has an abortion rate of 23.1 per 1,000 women, twice the national average of 11.8 per 1,000 women. 25 to 27 percent of pregnancies in New York State end in abortion. In New York City, 78 percent of abortions are on African American babies. More black babies being killed through abortion than being born … Read more

How the Clinton machine flooded the FBI with Trump-Russia dirt … until agents bit

When at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s what Hillary Clinton’s machine did in 2016, eventually getting the FBI to bite on an uncorroborated narrative that Donald Trump and Russia were trying to hijack the presidential election. Between July and October 2016, Clinton-connected lawyers, emissaries and apologists made more than a half-dozen overtures … Read more