via Bloomberg: The Vanguard Group holds about $415 million of municipal bonds issued on behalf of PG&E Corp., about half of the $920 million state and local debt sold for the California utility that’s edging toward bankruptcy because of the fallout from devastating wildfires. But all but $2 million of the bonds held by Vanguard are backed … Read more
via @lebas_janney: Two banks, $C and $JPM have reported increases in loan loss provisions/credit costs. They’re preparing for the credit downturn, even if they don’t say so outright. On the plus side, $WFC followed up with a pretty benign credit story with smaller provisions/charge offs. To be clear, that’s plus side for economy/credit cycle story, not … Read more
via Bloomberg: Key Insights Total government debt exceeded $65 trillion in 2018, up from $37 trillion a decade ago, and rose faster in mature markets Non-financial corporate debt rose to over $72 trillion last year, now near an all-time high of 92 percent of GDP Household debt grew by over 30 percent to $46 trillion … Read more
by WhenLuggageAttacks Bloomberg article tl;dr – The December retail-sales report won’t be released as scheduled Wednesday while the Commerce Department remains closed. Failure to reopen soon also would delay last month’s personal income and spending data, due by Jan. 31. The delay in government-issued economic releases “introduces a greater degree of uncertainty, which typically isn’t … Read more
by cambeiu via NBCNEWS: Although shoppers kept credit card machines busy this holiday season, growing evidence indicates that Americans are starting to feel uneasy about the pile of debt to which we continue to add. A new survey from CreditCards.com finds that more than two in five Americans currently carrying debt don’t know when they’ll pay off those … Read more
via variety: Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chairman-CEO, summoned all of his folksy Oklahoma earnestness as he made an enthusiastic pitch to Wall Street analysts about the telephone company’s bold efforts to transform itself into a multimedia powerhouse. It was late November, less than six months after AT&T had wrapped up its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. But before Stephenson … Read more
via ABCNEWS: The second-largest, second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history has reached 600 confirmed cases in five months, health officials said. Since the outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Aug. 1, a total of 649 people have reported symptoms of hemorrhagic fever in the country’s northeastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri. Among … Read more
by Martin Armstrong There is a major battle going on in Southern California as all the people who have come across the border but have no place live. All the posturing against Trump calling him a racist for wanting to put up a wall to stop the influx of illegal aliens and drugs, the real … Read more
The stock market is wonderful. It’s impossible to lose. You put money in and become rich. I’m not sure why nobody thought of this before except for Warren Buffet, the guy with the Coca Cola. I bought 7 shares of Amazon and now I’m rich. Since the government and the Fed will bail me out, … Read more
by Martin Armstrong QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; Isn’t Venus much hotter because its atmosphere is almost 100% CO2? GH ANSWER: No. The atmosphere of Venus is extremely dense. At the surface it is over 800 degrees, this is true. However, the pressure at the surface is the same as if you were 3000 feet under water. It is the density … Read more
by visualcapitalist How did Tesla accelerate from 0-60 mph in such a short period of time? Today’s five-minute-long animation is presented in association with Global Energy Metals, and it tells you everything you need to know about the history of Tesla, including Elon Musk’s vision for the future of the iconic electric car company. WATCH THE VIDEO: … Read more
For More Information See: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/us… https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019… https://www.infowars.com/breaking-dee… https://www.latimes.com/politics/9352…
NYT: FBI opened inquiry into whether Trump was secretly working on behalf of Russia; was this retaliation for James Comey’s firing? #Hannity #FoxNews Soft coup and its much bigger than Comey Its all of DC and NY STUNNING LIST: 35 Times the FBI “Deviated from Standard Practice” or Committed Crimes in Effort to Exonerate Hilary … Read more
BY JOHN MAULDIN This essay is going to insult a bunch of smart, maybe even brilliant, people. It is not polite nor is it politically correct. I will try to be better. But right now, I am pretty pissed. Here’s the thing. No serious scientist would run a two-variable experiment. By that I mean, you run … Read more
by John Mauldin I recently argued Jerome Powell did the right thing by raising rates a mere 25 basis points. He did what Janet Yellen should have done years ago. And for the first time since Volcker, a Fed chair declared the Fed’s independence from the market and politicians. Besides the Fed’s dual mandate, Greenspan, Bernanke, and, … Read more
Survey: Americans Spend Nearly Half Their Waking Hours Looking At Screens Researchers calculate the average adult logs 6 hours, 43 minutes of total screen time daily — or 7,956 days over a typical lifespan! NEW YORK — For all the studies that tell us how important it is to limit screen time, does it sometimes feel that … Read more
by John Mauldin For a couple of years now, the economic narrative has shown a comparatively strong US against weakness in Europe and some of Asia (NOT China). The US, we are told, will stay on top. I agree with that, as far as it goes… but I’m not convinced the “top” will be so great. … Read more
by Shaun Richards As we arrive in the UK at “meaningful vote” day which seems about as likely to be true as a Bank of England “Super Thursday” actually being super the real economic news comes from the heart of the Euro area. So here it is. According to first calculations of the Federal Statistical … Read more
Another year, another set of resolutions. From losing weight to spending more time with loved ones, setting resolutions is a time-honored tradition for many of us. Aside from the usual diet and exercise goals, many are also aspiring to make 2019 a year of financial resolutions. According to Fidelity Investments’ annual survey, around 32% of … Read more
by John Ward Today is a day for counting the numbers – and while numbers aren’t everything, they do count if we really are to become a Nation governed for the needs of the contributory Many. Ideologues of Left, Right, globalism and neoconservatism represent the contemporary narratives obeyed by most….but accepted by a dwindling minority. This … Read more
by Troy The U.S. stock market has done well throughout the first half of January 2019. With earnings season just ahead and the stock market under its 200 day moving average, the high probability of a pullback/retest remains. Go here to understand our fundamentals-driven long term outlook. Let’s determine the stock market’s most probable medium term … Read more
by follyboyz The UK and the US have wanted to do this for a long time. Australia is the first to do it. Essentially, law enforcement will be guaranteed backdoors for encrypted data, making it easier to see confidential information from selected targets. via extremetech: Australia is now the first Western nation to ban security, following a … Read more
Photo by Bank of England | CC BY From Birch Gold Group This week, Your News to Know rounds up the latest news involving gold and the overall economy. Stories include: Goldman raises its 2019 forecast for gold, gold will continue to shine in the face of growing risks, and ten reasons why gold will remain above $1,250 in 2019. … Read more
via paloaltoonline: Dennis Backlund spends most nights lying awake wondering where he’s going to live. Soon the day will come when he must leave his longtime home at the President Hotel Apartments as part of a mass eviction of every tenant of the historic, 75-unit building in downtown Palo Alto. “I don’t know what I’m going … Read more
by Lance Roberts As the trumpets sound to signal the start of earnings season, the battle between fundamentals and “hope” begins. While earnings expectations have weakened markedly in recent months, the bulls remain steadfast in their belief the market correction is now over. As I discussed in this past weekend’s missive : “‘The stock market just got off to its best start in 13 … Read more