ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY – So housing prices are making new highs because of a “lack of inventory,” but homeownership rates are at 1980s levels.

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ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY So housing prices are making new highs because of a “lack of inventory,” but homeownership rates are at 1980s levels. At least in #housingbubble1 the prices moved in lock step with ownership. Now due to artificial scarcity the prices have detached. https://twitter.com/OccupyWisdom/status/1006771903539941377 After the bubble burst in 2007 many banks and hedge funds … Read more

Are You Ready For The Upcoming G-5 Central Bank Balance Sheet Peak?

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“Are you ready for the upcoming G-5 central bank balance sheet peak?” h/t @AndreasSteno https://twitter.com/StockBoardAsset/status/1006823490421485573 “Insane. #FED #ECB #BoJ Total assets of major central banks 2007-2018. #CentralBanks are manipulating and distorting all markets. #Yardeni #US #Europe #Japan #bubbles,” h/t @macroymercados @macroymercados https://twitter.com/StockBoardAsset/status/1006745223337136129 pic.twitter.com/xKMoATy360 — Alastair (@StockBoardAsset) June 13, 2018 The world was headed for recession … Read more

Signs that we’re late cycle, the warning shots have been fired

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Signs that we’re late cycle -Mature Fed hiking cycle -Commodity rally -Tech/Financials leading -Flatter yield curve -Tight labor market -Rising inflation -Peaking PMI -Surging consumer/NFIB confidence -Tight credit spreads/low VIX -High corporate leverage -Low vacancy https://twitter.com/HayekAndKeynes/status/1006673494275448834 Just comparing it to other cycles… But I would argue high debt levels mean higher sensitivity to rate hikes … Read more

Does the IRS ever directly call you?

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The IRS will never: Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill. Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe. Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, … Read more

Alibaba And Its New Retail

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https://www.rsrresearch.com/research/more-about-alibaba-and-its-new-retail Last week, I published a piece about Alibaba’s foray into grocery stores. At the time, I thought it was their first entry into the world of what they call “New Retail” and what we would call “Omnichannel” or “converged” commerce. Well, I was wrong. Tmall [Alibaba’s retail marketplace] has already provided technology to over … Read more

The EU Is On Its Way To Destroy The Internet… 70+ Internet Luminaries Ring the Alarm on EU Copyright Filtering Proposal

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If you already know what’s up and want to help: https://changecopyright.org https://saveyourinternet.eu https://act.openmedia.org/savethelink-call If you don’t know what’s up and like to consume information in video form: Philip DeFrancos Video For people who don’t like much reading: https://savethememe.net/ Further reading about the topic: The Proposal   70+ Internet Luminaries Ring the Alarm on EU Copyright Filtering Proposal As Europe’s … Read more

A Global Earnings Recession Is All But Certain As World Trade Sinks

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via palisade-research: Markets have rallied into summer. The mess in Italy – which hasn’t resolved itself at all – is yesterday’s news. Within the last two weeks, the VIX is down 35% – investors’ fears are essentially gone. If you turn on CNBC, you’ll see that the U.S. ‘goldilocks’ economy’s intact, and big names like Larry Kudlow – Trump’s … Read more

The US Is One Step Closer To Bankruptcy

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UK might accept a watered down BREXIT agreement, we will see how this plays out. Consumer prices surge, we are now seeing the beginning stages of inflation. Auto lenders are becoming desperate, sales are declining and they need a way to bring people in, so they lowered their standards and extended loans. Government tax receipts … Read more

US Bank Citi Has Warned That It Could Shed Half Of Its 20,000 Tech And Ops Staff In The Next Five Years Due To The Rise Of Robotics And Automation.

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by Geoffrey Grider CITIGROUP’S INVESTMENT BANK COULD AUTOMATE AS MANY AS 10,000 JOBS WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, A CHILLING FORECAST WARNS. EDITOR’S NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure, I worked doing UI/UX design at Citibank in Jacksonville, Florida, from 2011-2013. At that time, I saw a company that was spending hundreds of millions of dollars to stay … Read more

The world’s economic crisis-fighting mechanisms are dangerously inadequate

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via  Adam Triggs, Australian National University: It was only in January that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was celebrating the strength of the global economy, heralding “the broadest synchronised global growth upsurge since 2010”. How quickly things have changed. Argentina has since sought a bailout from the IMF, Turkey is facing a potential currency crisis, Indonesia is seeing investors flee, alarm … Read more