“Brands don’t need Amazon”. Nike’s decision to no longer sell merchandise through Amazon shows that strong brands are realizing that traffic driven to their own site is self-sustaining, more profitable, and actually brand enhancing

Jefferies analyst Randy Konik said “Amazon had a delivery speed advantage, but that advantage has compressed.” Evercore ISI analyst Omar Saad wonders if other brands “will follow” Nike’s lead. It is clear to see how cutting out Amazon and focusing on direct sales could significantly reduce costs for Nike and other brands. Nike was up … Read more

The conventional wisdom that utility stocks are defensive. Truth is…they get crushed in bear markets.

Dumber than a bag of hammers… The conventional wisdom that utility stocks are defensive. Truth is…they get crushed in bear markets. Problems today: -Persistent negative free cash flow-Excessive indebtedness-Lack of pricing power-Historic valuations-Crowded trade pic.twitter.com/VaoRTMo1bN — Kevin C. Smith, CFA (@crescatkevin) November 14, 2019

Will Stocks Underperform In 2020?

by UPFINA The NFIB small business index is significantly off its cycle peak, but it’s still relatively strong. In October, it increased from 101.8 to 102.4 which beat estimates for 102. In the past 3 cycles, the readings before recessions were 98.3, 98.3, and 94.4. Small business confidence isn’t a leading index. It coincides with the … Read more

US-China trade talks are getting held up because of disagreements on a number of issues

#FixedIt >>US-China trade talks are getting held up because of disagreements on a number of issues https://t.co/LWzaxxveaq pic.twitter.com/e2jGYyZHwR — Tracy Shuchart (𝒞𝒽𝒾 ) (@chigrl) November 13, 2019 US-CHINA TRADE TALK HIT SNAG OVER FARM PURCHASE@RedboxWire LOLOLOL — Tracy Shuchart (𝒞𝒽𝒾 ) (@chigrl) November 13, 2019

The Crazy Card Worth Carrying

By Rodney Johnson Shanghai Pudong Development Bank recently sold $7 billion in convertible bonds. As usual, the bank took orders for the bonds ahead of time, and then allocated the bonds among potential buyers. What made the sale notable is that investors put in orders for more than $1 trillion worth of bonds, or 140 times what … Read more

Why Drudge Report went to the dark side

by Dr. Eowyn Begun as an email newsletter, Matt Drudge‘s the Drudge Report became a news aggregator website in 1996. By 2003, Drudge Report became so popular it made almost $1.3 million a year in advertising revenues. In 2006, while dissing the Drudge Report, Timemagazine named Matt Drudge one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2007, New York Times reporter … Read more

Bolivian Coup Comes Less Than A Week After Morales Stopped Multinational Firm’s Lithium Deal

by Eoin Higgins via Common Dreams The Sunday military coup in Bolivia has put in place a government which appears likely to reverse a decision by just-resigned President Evo Morales to cancel an agreement with a German company for developing lithium deposits in the Latin American country for batteries like those in electric cars. “Bolivia’s lithium … Read more

Fed Prints Even More Money, Adds 3 Additional Repo Operations With Longer Maturities!

via silverdoctors: The Fed will also adjust the “timing and amounts” as necessary… The Fed has upped the ante in its market intervention. Statement from the NY Fed (yellow highlight added for emphasis): Of course they’ll adjust the “timing and amounts”, and there’s a good chance it happens sooner than later. Is this further evidence the Fed & … Read more

Couple faces jail for living in RV on own property

https://www.facebook.com/pam.navari/videos/10157485123663904/   The couple says they were told their temporary home violated their Madison homeowner’s association code. Pam Navari says they parked the RV in their driveway as they fought their insurance company over the settlement claim amount for the Christmas Eve fire. She says the city alderman and mayor signed off on the plan and … Read more

Chinese killer robots sold to Middle East will leave ‘every human dead’

China is selling its most advanced “fully autonomous” military drones with fears that it could lead to a bloodbath in the Middle East. The Asian superpower is reportedly selling AI-enhanced combat drones to the region, with potentially disastrous consequences. Prof Toby Walsh, of the University of NSW, in Australia, said: “They would be impossible to defend … Read more

Dr. Bruce Hensel, an associate of Rep. Adam Schiff, has been arrested for soliciting lewd photos from a 9-year-old girl in Los Angeles.

by bbennett36 Trump DOJ is locking up all the pedos. https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/entertainment/tn-blr-0901-society-20100901-story.html U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff was joined by close to 300 friends and supporters as he celebrated his 50th birthday Hawaiian-style at The Castaway Luau Grounds this past Thursday Other special guests at Thursday’s celebration, that was coordinated by Patricia Horton, included NBC-4’s Dr. Bruce … Read more

Fed Tells GATA To Wait TWO YEARS For Disclosure Of Repo Cash Recipients And Amounts

by Chris Powell of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) 2:29p ET Wednesday, November 13, 2019 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: If you want to know which investment houses have been getting the infamous “repo” loans from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in recent weeks, as GATA has wanted to know, you’ll have to wait two … Read more

The People cannot win this General Election….but they can triumph in Broxtowe

by John Ward With your help, Teck Khong can defeat the élite arrogance that denied Broxtowe its Brexit ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ The latest Britain Elects tracker poll shows pretty clearly that, as I predicted two days ago, the TBP standing down fiasco has been just as good for Labour as it has for the Tories. Over the recent … Read more

Trump Flips New York-Based Second Circuit as Menashi Confirmed — This Flips the 2nd Circuit to 7-6 majority republican and will decide Trump subpoena cases

Senate confirms nominee tied to controversial Trump policies Confirmation gives GOP-appointed judges an edge in Second Circuit White House lawyer Steven Menashi was confirmed Nov. 14 to the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, giving that court a majority of judges appointed by Republican presidents. The Republican-led Senate cleared the former … Read more