Ocasio-Cortez Gets Seat on House Financial Services Committee Overseeing Wall Street

by Martin Armstrong If you ever needed proof that government is collapsing, here it is live and in full color. Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was just placed on the House Financial Services Committee. Who is the Chairperson? None other than the controversial Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). We now have two people with absolutely NO expertise in this field going … Read more

4 retailers on the 2019 death watch

Via Motley Fool America’s malls and shopping centers said farewell to Bon-Ton, Toys R Us, Brookstone, Starbucks’ Teavana, and Lowe’s-owned Orchard Supply Hardware stores this year. That followed the relatively recent loss of Sports Authority, H.H. Gregg, Radio Shack, and a handful of others. Some call it a retail apocalypse, but the reality is that’s it’s poor management and … Read more

Technical Analyst: DO NOT IGNORE The ‘Crash Models’ Flashing WARNING SIGNALS

by Glenn West (follow Glenn on Twitter) of West Pacific Trading Analytics WestPacific Market Analytics Weekly Market Forecaster Newsletter wstpacglenn@gmail.com Special Report It has come to my attention that there is a lot of talk around the internet about ‘blood moons’ and a crash window from January 18th into February 7th I only listen to one thing and that is the … Read more

Stay Alert

by northmantrader I’ll provide a more in-depth technical update over the weekend, but just some quick thoughts and perspective as we are witnessing this melt-up during this OPEX week. My main message: Stay Alert. Markets are back inside the consolidation range they broke below last December. What crash? What correction? It’s as if nothing has happened. … Read more

How much does it cost for a 100-bed homeless shelter tent in Portland? Take a wild guess…

by DCG One big expensive tent/Photo from Harbor of Hope Doesn’t matter as there are always taxpayer funds to cover the costs. FYI: From the brief search I was able to do about this private developer, Homer Williams, it looks like he’s got a questionable history with his developments. As reported by Oregon Live: Despite promises of a private-sector … Read more

Fund Manager: Stock Market Volatility Reflects Systemic Instability

by Dave Kranzler of Investment Research Dynamics The post-Christmas stock rally extended through Wednesday as the small-cap and tech stocks led the way, with the Russell 2000 up 14.3% and the Nasdaq up 12.5%. The SPX and Dow are up 10.4% and 10.1% respectively. During the stretch between December 26th and January 17th, the Russell 2000 index experienced … Read more

Chinese Property Developers Implode—-$55 Billion Debt Cliff Dead Ahead

via Zerohedge: Earlier this month, when we reported that in the latest warning about China’s housing sector, the Communist Party’s People’s Daily warned that China’s regional economies need to reduce their reliance on the property market for growth and instead focus on sustainable longer-term development, we wondered if “something was afoot with China’s housing sector.” … Read more

ANALYSIS: Why the descriptor ‘NEWS’ is no longer valid

by  John Ward Mainstream television “news” is now so awful – off the point, dumbed down biased, D-noticed and neo-propagandist codswallop mixed with lachrymose little boy saves tiger ‘human interest’ vomit  – it’s time someone found another word for the generic. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ This morning’s risible effort on Sky Sunrise was a classic. The broadcaster gave two … Read more

MAULDIN: These Are the 3 Biggest Risks in 2019

BY JOHN MAULDIN A Federal Reserve policy mistake is our top risk this year. Correction: The mistake is already happening. So that’s less a forecast and more a recognition of reality. The Fed is raising rates and reversing its quantitative easing. At the same time! They should be doing one or the other, not both. The media and … Read more

The Mother Of All Short Setups?

by Dana Lyons U.S. stocks are testing perhaps the most important line in the entire market. If you’ve followed us for any length of time, you know that our favorite equity market index is the Value Line Geometric Composite (VLG). As a refresher, the VLG tracks the median U.S. stock performance among a universe of roughly … Read more

The Shutdown Show: How Sending Out Food Stamp Benefits Early Could Cause Another Problem in a Few Weeks

by Daisy Luther As I’ve written before, the government shutdown is a perfect demonstration of our politicians participating in partisan showmanship, with poor people as the victims of their theater. As individual states desperately attempt to take care of the people depending on them by sending out food stamp benefits early, the theater in Washington DC … Read more

Storm surge expected is 30ft from the huge 45-50 ft waves in the ocean / Polar vortex brings bone-chilling freeze to 200 million people Sunday

There is another West Coast storm coming this weekend – more northern California, Oregon, Washington. It’s pouring. Malibu Canyon closed indefinitely due to massive mudslides. Epic chill to hit 200MILLION! First of two winter storms barrels into the Midwest and Northeast with ice from polar vortex set to bring down trees and power lines as snow … Read more

Stock market’s medium term is no longer bullish. It is now mixed.

by Troy Now that the S&P 500 has reached its 50% fibonacci retracement, its medium term outlook is no longer decisively bullish. As we mentioned before, 13 of 15 historical 20% declines saw a pullback/retest after a 50% retracement. Go here to understand our fundamentals-driven long term outlook. Let’s determine the stock market’s most probable medium term direction … Read more

Largest single group of migrants ever tunnels under border wall in Arizona

The largest single group of asylum seekers ever to cross into the U.S. tunneled beneath the border wall near San Luis, Arizona, on Monday, voluntarily turning themselves into Customs and Border Protection, according to the agency. Migrants can be seen marching toward Border Patrol agents by the hundreds, according to video obtained by ABC News. Smugglers dug a … Read more

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has Contracted Pneumonia

by Martin Armstrong Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s while fighting cancer, has now contracted Pneumonia and is fighting for her life. From a purely cyclical perspective, there should be another appointment this year to the Supreme Court. Even on an average basis, since 1789 there have been 114 judges up to Brett Kavanaugh. That means at the very latest … Read more

The Student Loan Debt Crisis Is Negatively Impacting The Housing Market

by Mac Slavo of SHTFplan Student loan debt is a fundamental crisis.  Students are borrowing money to pay for school at an alarming rate. But as the problem worsens, it seeps into other sectors, such as the housing market, putting the entire economy on edge. The Federal Reserve is apparently just catching on to the not-so-new reality: student loan debt … Read more

Shock Poll: Trump Gains 19 Points with Latino Voters During Border Wall Shutdown.

via mediaite: “In the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Thursday, President Donald Trump may have suffered some among Republicans overall, but he saw a huge point gain in a different demographic breakdown, and an unexpected one by conventional wisdom. In early December, the poll had Trump’s approval rating among Latino adults at 31%. The results from … Read more