SNOWFALLS ARE NOW JUST A THING OF THE PAST: Heavy snowfall causes chaos across Europe as two snowboarders die in avalanche.

via telegraph.co.uk: Heavy snowfall this week across Europe has closed down schools, left some remote villages cut off and disrupted traffic and power supplies in many areas in the region. Authorities in Bulgaria said two snowboarders died in an avalanche on Friday. The Bulgarian Red Cross said in a statement that their bodies were found at noon on … Read more

The $20 million Build the Wall GoFundMe campaign is getting REFUNDED.

via CBSNEWS: A GoFundMe campaign to subsidize what it called “the Trump Wall” will refund all money to donors because it did not meet its $1 billion goal, said Bobby Whithorne, director of North America Communications for GoFundMe. Donors will receive their money on April 11, unless they choose to donate their contribution to the campaign creator’s … Read more

Oops, SpaceX to Lay Off 10% of its Employees after Funding Fiasco in November

Wolf Richter wolfstreet.com, http://www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter What SpaceX is trying to do has “bankrupted other organizations,” it said. SpaceX, the unicorn startup with a newly minted $30.5 billion “valuation” and dreams of sending humans to Mars shortly, will lay off about 10% of its employees, “a person familiar with the matter” told the Los Angeles Times on Friday. The … Read more

IT’S LIKE SHE’S TRYING TO SPREAD THE BELIEF THAT THE POLITICAL CLASS DOESN’T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ORDINARY AMERICANS:

via Twitter: On Chris Cuomo’s CNN program this week, professional Trump shade-thrower Ana Navarro got into a heated debate with Trump supporter Steve Cortes over immigration.  Much of the discussion was a shouty mess, and the seriousness of the exchange was made clear early on when Navarro pulled out her nail file to help illustrate … Read more

The Market Is Still In A Downtrend

by Jesse Colombo Throughout the market sell-off of the past few months, I’ve been showing key technical levels to help determine if further downside was likely or if the rout was truly over. In late-December, the S&P 500 broke below an important support zone from approximately 2,550 to 2,650 (which formed at the early-2018 lows), … Read more

Trump claims he WON’T declare national emergency ‘so fast’ and for now

US President Donald Trump has said that he would not declare national emergency for now to solve the border security funding issueand partial government shutdown. He would rather see the US Congress act. https://sputniknews.com/us/201901111071410763-trump-wont-national-emergency-declaration/?utm_source=short_direct&utm_medium=short_url&utm_content=k24d&utm_campaign=URL_shortening https://twitter.com/SputnikInt/status/1083818738812637184     h/t Watchout

Leaked Transcripts from Lisa Page Provide Some Stunning Revelations…

by sundance In the last 24 hours The Epoch Times has become a conduit for leaked information from inside the joint House congressional committee (Oversight/Judiciary) that was investigating DOJ and FBI corruption. [Two Stories: See Here and See Here] The joint House committee previously requested approval from the DOJ and FBI for transcripts of all witness testimony to be released.  In … Read more

Chart: The World’s Largest 10 Economies in 2030

via visualcapitalist: The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. Today’s emerging markets are tomorrow’s powerhouses, according to a recent forecast from Standard Chartered, a multinational bank headquartered in London. The bank sees developing economies like Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, and Egypt all moving up the ladder – and by 2030, it estimates that seven of … Read more

Signs Of The Times? A Plague Of Locusts Hits Mecca And Earth’s Magnetic Pole Is Experiencing A “Sudden Shift”

by Michael Snyder Really strange things are starting to happen all over the world.  We’ll talk about “the North Pole’s sudden shift” later in this article, but first I want to focus on the very unusual event which just took place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.  A “massive swarm” of thousands upon thousands of black locusts descended … Read more

Retailers are slashing iPhone prices across China as consumers say the phones aren’t worth the cost

Three big factors behind Apple’s big sales slump and dire warning about China from CNBC. via CNBC: Apple’s latest iPhone models are seeing huge discounts from retailers in China. The technology giant recently revised its first quarter sales forecast downward, putting a large part of the blame on a slowdown in the Chinese market. Experts … Read more

IRS Free File opens today

by these-things-happen Starting today, taxpayers can go to http://www.irs.gov/freefile to find the Free File software product that matches their situation. Each partner sets its own eligibility standards, generally based on age, income or state residency. Taxpayers can do their taxes online from IRS.gov or they can use the IRS2Go mobile app to access Free File and do … Read more

BEAR THESIS

via @OccupyWisdom : 1/ Excessive debt, particularly in corporates ~70% of GDP. Raising rates vs. earnings 2/ Global banking/financial houses signaling crisis/instability now – German banking index, Italian banks, US financials down 2x broader market – Banks/Financials leading down 3/ Divided domestic government, desire by some to see @POTUS fail by way of the economy 4/ Liquidations … Read more

Weekly Leading Index Increases Are Crashing

via ECRI ECRI’s U.S. Weekly Leading Index (WLI) increased to 143.4 as WLI growth fell further to -6.5%, a 363-week low. On desktop click here to download WLI data for free, including the full history of its level and growth rate. On mobile click here to go to ECRI’s Reports & Indexes page, then click the “Full Site” link … Read more

Immediately After Vowing to End Stimulus, ECB Discusses New, Powerful Stimulus

via Reuters: European Central Bank policymakers are likely to debate new multi-year loans to banks, a potent stimulus tool, in the months ahead as they navigate a “fragile and fluid” global context, minutes of their December meeting showed on Thursday. A five-year economic expansion in the euro zone is rapidly losing pace as weak demand from … Read more

Law Enforcement, Handcuffed by Shutdown, Sees Investigations Grind to Halt

via Reuters: Federal law enforcement agencies that keep Americans safe are starting to feel the strain of the U.S. government shutdown, in its 21st day, with agents working for no pay and investigations delayed, law enforcement officials said. Training events have been canceled and travel cut back, with President Donald Trump and Congress unable to end … Read more

Gundlach: Debt-Financed Buybacks Have Made Stock Market Like a High-Risk CDO

via mishtalk: Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital LP, has some interesting thoughts on debt, stock buybacks, and leverage. Please consider Gundlach’s Slideshow on Debt Financed Buybacks. Corporate Credit as Percentage of GDP ​ Investment Grade Has Shorter Maturity Than High Yield ​ US Corporate BBB Debt ​ BBB debt is one step above junk. Rise of … Read more