JOEL KOTKIN: American Renewal: The Real Conflict Is Not Racial Or Sexual, It’s Between The Ascendant Rich Elites And The Rest Of Us.

via dailycaller: Despite the media’s obsession on gender, race and sexual orientation, the real and determining divide in America and other advanced countries lies in the growing conflict between the ascendant upper class and the vast, and increasingly embattled, middle and working classes. We’ve seen this fight before. The current conflict fundamentally reprises the end of … Read more

“Core” Inflation Rises Most Since Sep 2008, Powered by Services and Now Even the Peculiar Case of Durable Goods

Wolf Richter wolfstreet.com, http://www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter What would the Fed do if economic factors were all it looked at? Inflation as measured by the “core” Consumer Price Index, which removes the volatile food and energy segments, jumped in August at the highest rate in 11 years, by 2.39%, a smidgen above the prior peaks of July 2018 … Read more

Palace Revolt at the ECB, Legitimacy of Policy out the Window

Wolf Richter wolfstreet.com, http://www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter Draghi’s desperate shenanigans thicken. ECB President Mario Draghi, who is on his way out, will, as we’re learning more and more, do anything to push his agenda and make it stick at the ECB long after he leaves, but whatever his agenda may be, it’s clearly unrelated to the European economy which has … Read more

Bidding Wars For US Homes Collapse To Eight-Year Low

via Zerohedge: Bidding wars for homes in Seattle, San Jose, and San Francisco have crashed in the past year, reflecting an alarming national trend, according to a new report from Redfin. The report found that the national bidding-war rate in August was 10.4%, down from 42% a year earlier. The rate printed at the lowest level since … Read more

Socialism Is Destroying America

Authored by Jacob Hornberger via The Future of Freedom Foundation, Leave it to the progressives (i.e., liberals or leftists) to point out, indirectly, that conservatives and Republicans are as devoted to socialism as leftists are. The point is well made in an article by Tim Butterworth, a former Democratic Party legislator in New Hampshire. The title … Read more

Israel accused of planting mysterious spy devices near the White House

via politico: The U.S. government concluded within the past two years that Israel was most likely behind the placement of cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, according to three former senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. But unlike most other occasions when flagrant incidents … Read more

The price of gold just hit a record high

by Simon Black A few hours ago, the European Central Bank announced a bonanza stimulus package: interest rate cuts, money printing, quantitative easing, the whole nine yards. Europe’s economic growth has ground to a halt. The German economy actually shrank last quarter, according to official statistics. So the European Central Bank is throwing everything including the … Read more

McCabe to be prosecuted for misleading statements in Clinton email scandal

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu has recommended moving forward with charges against Andrew McCabe, Fox News has learned, as the Justice Department rejects a last-ditch appeal from the former top FBI official and current CNN contributor. McCabe — the former deputy and acting director of the FBI — appealed the decision of … Read more

Veteran Investor: Buy Gold Now, Thank Central Banks Later

From Birch Gold Group This well-known financial commentator — known as the “Pied Piper of emerging markets” — usually talks about hot new investment opportunities around the globe. But now, he can’t stop talking about gold. Recently on CNBC’s Street Signs, veteran investor Mark Mobius, founding partner of Mobius Capital Partners, boldly proclaimed “gold is the way … Read more

Wall Street: Where the Elite Meet to Cheat

by Jesse “Trump makes worse an already problematic situation with pensions.  So whimsical. POTUS makes an historic monetary policy decision by endorsing negative interest rates, probably unaware of the epic controversy that he opened by doing so. Savers and pensioners thrown under the bus! This is why I think a comprehensive and in a sense … Read more

Why Is Modern Art so Bad?

Will Witt heads to the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles to ask people their opinions on his “artwork” and whether they think there should be standards for judging modern art. Check it out!  

After payroll provider collapses, banks drain employee accounts… account shows a negative $999,193.75.

by kob66   MyPayRollHR, a payroll processing provider with about 4,000 small to mid-sized business customers, suddenly closed late last week. In response, the banking system went haywire and began taking funds from employees at many of these firms. Previously deposited pay was removed from their personal banking accounts, or “reversed.” Not once, but twice … Read more

2018/ 2019: $2T in Buybacks; Never ending QE; Never ending NIRP; Two Powell Pivots; Never ending Trump Jawboning and focus on Markets

2018/ 2019: $2T in Buybacks Never ending QE Never ending NIRPTwo Powell PivotsNever ending Trump Jawboning and focus on Markets The most pathetic two years in Stock Market History With virtually nothing to show for it 😉@fundstrat @DiMartinoBooth @GaryKaltbaum — Reminiscences of an American Capitalist (@4Awesometweet) September 12, 2019 https://twitter.com/falafeldiaper1/status/1171948094545682432 there's going to be an … Read more

Mnuchin Says U.S. Looking Closely at Issuing 50-Year Bond

via WSJ: Administration looking for ways to take advantage of low rates to reduce debt-servicing costs U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said ‘we think there is some demand’ for a 50-year U.S. bond. The Treasury Department is “very seriously considering” issuing a 50-year Treasury bond next year, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday, as the … Read more

Global Currencies Are Falling to Multiyear Lows… ECB Bazooka Triggers Currency War?

  via fxstreet: A malaise has fallen over financial markets. The lack of meaningful news has left prices to drift. Tactically, we watching media for any news on US-China trade, ECB, Brexit, general data to support a Fed direction, for insights to short term price action. In Asian trading, the lack of negative news (Bolton’s exodus can be seen … Read more