Zerohedge

Via WolfStreet.com, How often do we get a Bear Market after a strong bull market plunges to the 200-day moving average? By Wisdom Seeker, WolfStreet Commenter with a physical sciences Ph.D., living in the San Francisco Bay Area, employed and anxious about his retirement portfolio. Wild Bull:  As measured by the S&P500, a stock market that has risen more than 30% in 18 months. Hibernating Bear:  The Wild Bull’s manic-depressive “dark side”, which often awakens when the market falls below its 200-day moving average. Since mid-2020 the S&P500 index of large US stocks has been a Wild Bull, raging up over 40% […]

By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management Powell reluctantly turned on the television, Biden’s press conference underway. “Covid-19 has created a lot of economic complications, including rapid price increases across the world economy. People see it at the gas pump, the grocery stores, elsewhere,” said America’s president, panicked, but careful, staying on script. “The Federal Reserve provided extraordinary support during the crisis for the previous year and a half,” continued Biden. “Given the strength of our economy and pace of recent price increases, it’s appropriate – as Fed Chairman Powell has indicated – to recalibrate the support that is […]

“If you’re hitting the grocery store to prepare for winter weather, please just buy what you need and leave some for others! You may have noticed empty shelves in some stores due to national supply chain issues, but there is no need to buy more than you normally would.”  Above is a recent tweet from the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DC HSEMA) completely contradicting what President Biden told the nation last Wednesday that images of empty store shelves in supermarkets are fake news.  Biden, talking about his Build Back Better legislation, said, “First fix the supply chain… We […]

With NYC’s violent crime situation spiraling out of control just weeks after his inauguration, Mayor Eric Adams has decided to call for help from – who else? – his Democratic buddies in Washington. In an interview on Sunday, the mayor – who had spoken just a day earlier about a shooting that left one NYPD officer dead and two seriously wounded – declared that the federal government “must step in.” Since taking NYC’s top job, Adams has been confronted with a seemingly non-stop stream of high-profile violent crimes, including a subway-pusher who killed an Asian woman, unleashing a frenzy about security […]

A bill working its way through the New Hampshire legislature would allow residents to receive ivermectin from pharmacies with a prescription of a doctor or an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) for the off-label treatment of Covid-19. House Bill 2011 would allow pharmacists to “dispense ivermectin under the delegated prescriptive authority of the physician or APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurses), specify a mechanism to document screening performed and the prescription in the patient’s medical record, and include a plan for evaluating and treating adverse events,” reads the bill. “Any such prescription shall be regarded as being issued for a legitimate medical […]

A year ago, there were still plenty of people on Wall Street who didn’t see the inflationary tsunami – unleashed by federal spending, surging oil & gas prices and the labor crunch that has given American workers unprecedented power to demand higher wages – coming. Macquarie’s Viktor Shvets was among them. While many inflation skeptics have since thrown in the towel, Shvets continues to believe that over the long term, inflationary pressures will be overcome by secular deflation – although price pressures might be slow to subside. Viktor Shvets During an interview with MacroVoices, Shvets pointed out that the fiscal stimulus […]

An interesting dynamic has emerged on Wall Street: on one hand, amid rising speculation that the Fed may hike as much as 50bps and/or announce an early end to the taper in this week’s FOMC meeting, some banks like JPMorgan are starting to see a “pivot” emerge and in the bank’s latest Fed outlook, it said that the Fed  “is only likely to ratify expectations next week and not surprise market participants with another hawkish pivot.” The reason is that while the bank is certainly concerned about rising inflation, JPM is growing increasingly concerned about the slowdown in the economy, writing […]

Submitted by Elizabeth Vaughn, Gesticulating wildly as she delivered remarks at the MLK Day Deliver for Voting Rights Press Conference, the wicked witch of Washington, Nancy Pelosi, told her audience: “Nothing less is at stake than our democracy.” If only we could have thrown a pail of water on her. She continued: This is about suppressing the vote.  It’s about nullifying the elections, which Dr. King talked about that day, nullifying the election.  It’s about just doing so many things to be obstacles to participation.  That’s wrong.  The truth is, that’s wrong. … And, as has been indicated by the King […]

Russia has blasted this weekend’s allegations by the UK government that it’s planning to install a pro-Kremlin puppet leader in Ukraine. “We have information that indicates the Russian Government is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv as it considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine,” the UK statement published Saturday began.  The Kremlin responded by urging London’s Foreign Office to stop pushing “nonsense” and “disinformation” while further highlighting that the UK has merely been on the sidelines as diplomatic dialogue and a way forward is being sought by Moscow, Brussels, and Washington. via AP “We strongly urge London to stop foolish rhetorical […]

Authored by Sven Henrich via NorthmanTrader.com, The first three weeks of 2022 have been brutal for risk assets including stocks and crypto. Long forgotten is the traditional Santa rally and suddenly cheerful $SPX 5,000-5,300 price targets seem much farther away. The culprit can be multifold: Midterm seasonality, profit taking on last year’s winners, continued capitulation on last year’s losers, a long overdue technical correction, but more importantly and perhaps more profoundly the realization that the asset bubble brought about by excessive monetary intervention has started the process of imploding all around us as the Fed is now forced to raise rates […]

In the latest sign that the “elites” have finally had enough of pretending to care about COVID safety precautions, two American megabanks announced on Friday new plans to recall workers to the office. First, Citigroup (which unveiled a draconian vax mandate earlier this month with a deadline of compliance that has already passed) emailed a notice to staffers in the Greater NYC area asking them to start preparing to return to the office. It even set a preliminary date of Monday, Feb. 7 as the new ‘first day back’ for offices in NY, NJ & CT. Citi has said it plans […]

Despite the franchises popularity with Chinese consumers, China’s censors blocked all four of Disney’s Marvel movies released last year from being shown in the Chinese market. The films contained nothing that would obviously anger China’s censors (no references to Taiwan as an independent country were included in any of the four films), but as Axios points out, they were banned because of what they didn’t include: mass messaging that would subtly support the CCP’s long-term political aims. According to Axios, the CCP leadership and President Xi have set an ambitious goal of making China a “strong film power” by 2035. In […]

Authored by Daniel Lacalle, In October, the governments of Austria and The Netherlands warned of the risk of a “great blackout”. Soaring natural gas prices, lack of security of supply and a challenging outlook of pipeline deliveries from Russia made the governments exceedingly nervous about the chances of providing cheap and reliable energy for homes in winter. However, an unexpected ally has prevented an energy crisis in Europe and, ironically, it is an ally that was banned in most European nations: Shale gas.   About half of the record U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas volumes shipped in December 2021 went to Europe, up from 37% earlier in […]

Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times, NATO made public its official “overarching Space Policy” this week, outlining how it would protect its members from space attacks, citing threats from potential adversaries. The U.S.-led alliance said its collective defense principles will be extended to outer space in response to developments made at last year’s Brussels Summit. “At the 2021 Brussels Summit, Allies agreed that attacks to, from, or within space present a clear challenge to the security of the Alliance, the impact of which could threaten national and Euro-Atlantic prosperity, security, and stability, and could be as harmful to modern societies […]

The stock market, and the stocks that flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, are off to a rough start in 2022. As Visual Capitalist’s Jenna Ross points out, if you’ve been watching your investment accounts, chances are you’ve been seeing a lot of red. Shaken by the uncertainty of a pandemic recovery and future interest rate hikes, investors have been selling off their stocks. This market selloff—which occurs when investors sell a large volume of securities in a short period of time, leading to a rapid decline in price—has investors concerned. In fact, search interest for the term “selloff” recently […]

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times, National Public Radio (NPR) is refusing to correct a story that was challenged by a trio of Supreme Court justices, triggering a flood of criticism. Citing anonymous sources, reporter Nina Totenberg said Chief Justice John Roberts “asked the other justices to mask up,” or wear masks, because Justice Sonia Sotomayor expressed concerns for her safety amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. Totenberg said that because Justice Neil Gorsuch refused the request—Gorsuch has not worn a mask on the bench recently—Sotomayor began attending oral arguments from her chambers. In rare public statements a […]

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization formally classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. The resulting travel bans decimated the tourism industry, and international air travel initially fell by as much as 98%. Almost two years later, travel is finally back on the table, though there are many restrictions to consider. Regardless, a survey conducted in September 2021 found that, as things revert to normalcy, 82% of Americans are looking forward to international travel more than anything else. To give inspiration for your next vacation (whenever that may be), Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu created this infographic listing the 10 most visited countries in 2019, as well […]

Authored by Sally C. Pipes via RealClear Health (emphasis ours), Americans collectively have about $140 billion in outstanding medical debts, according to a recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Alyssa Keown/Battle Creek Enquirer via AP Those hefty bills are driving many people into bankruptcy – at least according to prominent progressives. Left-wing leaders have long stoked fears of “medical bankruptcy” to boost support for government-run, single-payer healthcare. During his last run for president, Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., declared that enormous medical bills force a staggering 500,000 people to declare bankruptcy each year – a fact that, […]

Smart guns are being pushed in mainstream media to prevent unauthorized people from firing guns in the hopes of preventing mass shootings.  Biometric recognition technology using fingerprints and or RFID technology is used to activate the high-tech pistols.  However, as outlined by the pro-gun website Bearing Arms, smart guns aren’t so smart after a possible demonstration failure. Smart guns could be prone to reliability issues in life in death situations.  * * *  Submitted by Bearing Arms.  Over the last week or so, so-called smart guns have been everywhere in the mainstream media. In the Second Amendment community, there’s been a ton […]

Authored by Daniel Y. Teng via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Australian members of Parliament are curating their speeches to avoid triggering censorship from Big Tech platforms like YouTube and Facebook, according to United Australia Party (UAP) leader Craig Kelly MP. In a wide-ranging interview with Emeritus Law Professor David Flint, Kelly, who last year resigned from the Liberal Party to join the UAP, said Big Tech companies had become the “de facto Hansard” in reference to the official transcript of Parliamentary debates used across Commonwealth countries. “On the floor of Parliament, I have to think, ‘If I say these words, will YouTube delete this?’” […]

A Litany Of Absurdity Via The Brownstone Institute, Allison Pearson writing for the Telegraph recounts her anti-lockdown views from early on, and how so many people who implemented draconian policies are now running from them and their own responsibility. In the course of her column, she provides a list of absurdities imposed on the British people. This column is excerpted below. At the end of the Second World War, Gaullists and Communists insisted that the majority of the French people had played a part in the Resistance. Actual figures for those who actively opposed the Nazis vary between 400,000 and 75,000. Something not […]

Authored by Charlotte Cuthbertson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The recent New York City law to allow at least 800,000 noncitizens to vote in municipal elections is unconstitutional and likely to be overturned in court, said Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Heritage Foundation’s election law reform initiative and former member of the Federal Election Commission. “It’s actually pretty clear that it violates the New York State Constitution—it has a provision that specifically says that you have to be a citizen to vote in all elections in the state of New York, and that includes local elections,” Spakovsky told The […]

After China’s once-in-a-decade census had already corrected the number of births in the country downwards considerably in 2020, Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports that the latest release from the National Statistics Bureau of China (NBS) shows that in 2021, even fewer babies were born in the country. The statistic only counted 10.62 million births in 2021, down from twelve million in 2020. Meanwhile, China’s population stagnated at around 1.41 billion people. You will find more infographics at Statista The country’s fertility rate stood at 1.3 children per woman in 2020. It has been below the 2.1 threshold necessary for a stable population since the 1990s. Despite the early warning […]

There is growing concern among astronomers that Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellites in low-Earth-orbit (LEO) may interfere with a ground-based detection system used for identifying near-Earth objects (NEOs) (otherwise known as asteroids).  The new study, titled “Impact of the SpaceX Starlink Satellites on the Zwicky Transient Facility Survey Observations,” warned images taken by a telescope in California have been recording streaks from Starlink satellites that could make it much harder to discover NEOs.  Twilight images taken by the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), an instrument that operates from Caltech’s Palomar Observatory near San Diego, scans the night sky every 48 hours, […]

Just as the covid narrative is slowly disintegrating even as its MSM propaganda powers “cancel” anyone who dares to speak out against the lies  – so the “Russia is about to invade Ukraine” plotline just suffered a major blow after the chief of Germany’s navy, vice-admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach , said on Friday that Crimea “will never come back”, and that what Putin “really wants is respect…and it is easy to give him the respect he really demands – and probably deserves.” And sure enough, just one day later, on Saturday evening, he resigned from his post for having the temerity to […]

 Authored by Kristan Hawkins via RealClear Politics (emphasis ours), By the time the midterm elections take place, targeted campaign ads and outreach will have littered the virtual American landscape, as politicians attempt to persuade voters that they have something to offer. In today’s partisan setting, abortion will be one of the issues raised. While the pro-life position once encompassed people of all political persuasions, the two parties today generally stand as polar opposites, making a new poll on the views of almost one-third of the electorate important news for the army of campaign consultants gearing up to make their pitch. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik […]

update(7:58pmET): On Friday we observed that something is in the air, as the tit-for-tat ratcheting allegations being traded between the West and Russia are getting more and more brazen and bizarre. Indeed it’s feeling like a false flaggy weekend… And now enter a Saturday evening UK government statement that’s absolutely extraordinary as far as grand narrative accusations go. An official GOV.UK press release says Russia is secretly plotting regime change in Ukraine, with the aim of installing a pro-Kremlin political leader in Kiev: “We have information that indicates the Russian Government is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv as it considers […]

The resurgent American labor movement is coming for America’s landlords. Perhaps taking a cue from the warehouse workers, digital-media employees and Starbucks baristas who have waged high-profile unionization drives over the past year or so, it appears tenants across the nation are forming “tenant unions” to gain leverage over their landlords, with many rebelling against corporate landlords in particular, according to a report from WSJ. That’s a problem for Blackstone and the other private equity giants that found an opportunity in the pandemic-inspired housing market frenzy. While tenant unions have existed in some form for over a century, WSJ says that […]

Authored by Matt McGregor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Sentiments expressed in random phone calls for Anne Quiner as her husband Scott lay in a hospital bed breathing through a ventilator ranged from “I hope your husband dies a vegetable” followed by a litter of profanity, to “he should have taken the vaccine; I hope he dies,” before hanging up. Anne and Scott Quiner at Gooseberry Falls State Park in 2018. (Courtesy of Anne Quiner) While not the traditional Hallmark expressions for one to get well soon, Quiner said it was a feeling shared among some of the doctors at […]

Bears are on the hunt for Bitcoin HODLers profits, whilst supply dynamics approach a new equilibrium, and derivative markets remain heated… Amid the “fear and panic” in the crypto markets, as Bitcoin drops 50% from all-time-highs, Glassnode.com’s ‘Permabull Nino’  details the current uncertainty that overhangs the Bitcoin market, and the psychology of its participants attempting to regain their footing in the following areas: HODLer profits sitting at key historical levels, and the overall observable investor response Zoomed out supply dynamics and spending behavior among short-term and long-term holders, and what it indicates about investor sentiment in the medium to long term […]

NYC Mayor Eric Adams is off to a rocky start to his four-year term at Gracie Mansion. Two weeks after 17 were killed (including 8 children, according to the mayor’s revised numbers) in a disastrous fire in a Bronx high rise, the deadliest fire the city had seen in decades, Adams is facing a rash of police-involved shootings, including one incident Friday that left one cop dead and two others critically wounded. It’s the latest development in a crime wave that has been worsening across the US, with NYC seeing violent crime surge to levels unseen in years. The news was […]

Authored by Joe Lauria via Consortium News, Throughout the long, documented history of the United States illegally overthrowing governments of foreign lands to build a global empire there has emerged three ways Washington broadly carries out “regime change.” From Above. If the targeted leader has been democratically elected and enjoys popular support, the CIA has worked with elite groups, such as the military, to overthrow him (sometimes through assassination).  Among several examples is the first CIA-backed coup d’état, on March 30, 1949,  just 18 months after the agency’s founding, when Syrian Army Colonel Husni al-Za’im overthrew the elected president, Shukri al-Quwatli.  The CIA in 1954 toppled the elected President Jacobo Árbenz of […]

Two Canadians were shot dead by an unknown gunman at a ritzy resort near Cancun, the latest attack at Mexican beach resorts plagued with organized crime violence.   The incident occurred on Friday afternoon between Cancun and Tulum, in a resort town called Playa del Carmen. An unknown gunman entered the five-star Xcaret Hotel in a gray sweatsuit by the pool area. The secretary of security in Quintana Roo state, Lucio Hernández Gutiérrez, tweeted that gunfire erupted after an “argument between hotel guests.” The gunman killed two Canadian and injured a third. He said the two deceased had criminal records.  A video […]

Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance This is Part 2 of an interview with Harris Kupperman, founder of Praetorian Capital, a hedge fund focused on using macro trends to guide stock selection. Mr. Kupperman is also the chief adventurer at Adventures in Capitalism, a website that details his investments and travels. Part 1 of this interview will be found here. Harris is one of my favorite Twitter follows and I find his opinions – especially on macro and commodities – to be extremely resourceful. I’m certain my readers will find the same. I was excited to get the chance to ask him about anything I […]

Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com, The breakdown of global supply chains is well-known by now. Whether it’s finding groceries in your supermarket, buying a new car or buying appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators, goods are scarce. Also, deliveries take forever and choices are limited. Many people wonder why the problem isn’t going away. Here’s the answer: The supply chain is a complex dynamic system. When any complex system collapses, you can look for specific causes but that’s usually a waste of time. Systems collapse internally because they are too large and too interconnected and require too many energy inputs to […]

By Nate Tabak of FreightWaves, The U.S. will close its borders to unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Canadian and Mexican truck drivers on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday. “These updated travel requirements reflect the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protecting public health while safely facilitating the cross-border trade and travel that is critical to our economy,” Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.  The restrictions, which apply to all foreign essential workers, had been expected since U.S. officials announced them in October. They follow a similar rule that took effect at the Canadian border last Saturday. NEW: Beginning Saturday, January 22, DHS will require non-U.S. individuals seeking to enter the U.S, […]

Fox News’ Pentagon correspondent is reporting early Saturday that all family members of US embassy personnel in Kiev, Ukraine have been ordered to evacuate. “State Department orders families of U.S. embassy personnel in Ukraine to begin evacuating the country as soon as Monday: U.S. officials,” Fox’s Lucas Tomlinson reports. It first emerged Friday that the Biden administration was mulling a plan to evacuate diplomats’ family members from Ukraine as a “precautionary measure” amid the continued crisis wherein Washington has predicted some level of a Russian offensive on the Ukraine border.  Russian fighter jets arriving in Belarus, north of Ukraine. U.S. officials concerned Ukraine’s capital “now in the crosshairs.”pic.twitter.com/5RhuUkFmfN — […]

A genetically modified pig’s heart has been successfully transplanted into a human for the first time. The operation, performed in Baltimore in the United States on Friday, offers a potential future solution to long transplant waiting lists. Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the operation, described the situation on Monday: “It creates the pulse, it creates the pressure, it is his heart,” adding: “It’s working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don’t know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before.” In the infographic below, Statista’s Katharina Buchholz takes a look at the size of the transplant waiting […]

Parents who bought their children the Oculus Quest 2 for Christmas could be in for a surprise as there have been several instances of child grooming within one of the virtual reality headset’s most popular chatroom services VRChat.   VRChat is an online virtual world platform where users get their first taste of the metaverse and use full-body avatars to conceal their identity. There have been instances of child abuse, harassment, racism, and pornography on the popular chatroom service.  One clip shared by the YouTuber “VSF Studios” shares several instances of a massive problem in VRChat: child exploitation and sexualization.  VSF […]

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times, The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has demanded the full and immediate release of all data related to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, saying it is in the public’s interest to do so. BMJ, a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal published by the trade union the British Medical Association, called for the release of the data in an editorial published on Wednesday. “Today, despite the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, the anonymized participant-level data underlying the trials for these new products remain inaccessible to doctors, researchers, and the public—and are likely to remain that way for years to […]

Authored by Richard Bernstein, submitted by RealClearInvestigations, Read Part 1 here… The online class on gender, feminism, and the law was underway when Lisa Keogh, a 29-year-old student and mother of two, introduced a note of unwoke contention into the discussion. “We were talking about equal rights for women, and I said I don’t believe a trans woman is really a woman,” said Keogh, then attending Abertay University Law School here. “I said that my definition of a woman is someone with a vagina.” Keogh, disagreeing with another point of view expressed in the same meeting, also voiced the apparently retrograde […]

Authored by Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Four prominent scientists who played key roles in shaping the public narrative around the origin of COVID-19 received substantial increases in grant money from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, in the subsequent two years, a review of funding data by The Epoch Times has found. Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief Medical Advisor and Director of the NIAID, makes a phone call during a break in a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Jan. 11, 2022. […]

China says it chased a US warship out of its territorial waters on Thursday, near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.  The Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) accused the USS Benfold of “illegally” sailing into its waters without permission, resulting in PLA naval and air forces tracking the ship and warning it away. A US Navy statement pushed back on the claim, saying that China’s expanding assertions of sovereignty around the islands “pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas.” Illustrative image: US Navy These same islands in the South China Sea have seen […]

As the number of days between now and the start of the Winter Games in Beijing continues to shrink, the number of confirmed cases of COVID acknowledged by the CCP continues to grow. According to Bloomberg, China’s NHC reported 12 COVID infections Friday, bringing the total confirmed in the capital city to two dozen since last Saturday. Authorities once again blamed the outbreak on imported frozen food and other imported products, lest anybody question the efficacy of the CCP’s “warlike” approach to suppressing the virus. The presence of the omicron variant in the city wasn’t acknowledged until just a few days […]

President Trump on Thursday said media reports of conflict between he and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were “totally fake news,” adding that he foresees a good relationship down the road. During a phone interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Hannity noted that DeSantis rejected the notion that there was conflict between the two – asking Trump “Is he right?” “Well, he is right,” Trump replied, going on to praise DeSantis. “The Republicans really stuck together, and it was a great thing, and Ron was one of them, and Ron wanted to run [for governor], and I endorsed him, and that […]

Submitted by The Machine Gun Nest (TMGN)., If you’re familiar with 3D printed firearms or 80% receivers, a company that may sound very familiar to you is Defense Distributed. The Austin, Texas-based company was the first to distribute 3D files for their Liberator handgun, empowering anyone with a 3D printer to assemble a firearm privately in their home.  With the ATF’s pending rule change (which can be read here), previously classified items as not firearms will become firearms, and ATF will start requiring firearms parts to be serialized and tracked like guns.  This means that under this rule change if you want to purchase […]

Authored by Michael Shellenberger and Leighton Woodhouse via substack (emphasis ours), San Francisco Mayor London Breed generated national news media coverage last December when she announced a sweeping crackdown on open air drug use and drug dealing in the downtown Tenderloin neighborhood. Shortly after, she announced a “linkage center” aimed at connecting homeless street addicts with drug rehab facilities. Breed’s announcement came in the midst of a local, state, and national debate over whether the city should open a “supervised drug consumption” site as a tactic for reducing drug overdose deaths.  When San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a “linkage center” […]

Authored by Harry Lee and Nicholas VandenNieuwenhof via The Epoch Times, Federal health agencies haven’t recognized ivermectin as an effective treatment for COVID-19 patients. According to Doctor Leland Stillman, the reason is more political than scientific, because otherwise there would be no basis for lockdowns or vaccine mandates. “If ivermectin were recognized by the public health and academic establishment as the drug that it is, that treats acute viral illnesses, one of which is COVID-19, the entire justification for lockdowns, mandates, let alone vaccine research and development would evaporate overnight,” Stillman told The Epoch Times in a recent interview. Dr. Leland […]

Automation has rapidly expanded in businesses of all sizes to cope with rising wages and labor shortages. Robotics help firms streamline otherwise inefficient tasks and slash labor costs amid an inflationary environment.  Orders for robotic machinery have jumped for automotive, agricultural, construction, electronics, food processing, and warehousing companies. The benefits of employing a robot over a human are now being realized for small and medium-sized companies.  Jose Figueroa, who manages Polar Manufacturing, a small company that produces hinges, locks, and brackets in south Chicago, told Wired that he employed a robot on the production line that costs only $8 per hour versus a […]

Commentary authored by Victor Davis Hanson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), In modern times, as in ancient Rome, several nations have suffered a “systems collapse.” The term describes the sudden inability of once-prosperous populations to continue with what had ensured the good life as they knew it. A woman walks a dog near the ruins of an ancient Roman aqueduct, in a park in a suburb of Rome, on July 28, 2017. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images) Abruptly, the population cannot buy, or even find, once plentiful necessities. They feel their streets are unsafe. Laws go unenforced or are enforced […]

The company co-producing Tom Cruise’s upcoming space movie revealed on Thursday new plans for the world’s first space-based entertainment studio that will attach to the International Space Station (ISS).  Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE), co-founded by producers Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky, hired Texas-based Axiom Space, Inc. to build a module named SEE-1, which will dock with the Axiom Station, the commercial side of the ISS, in December 2024. SEE-1’s low-orbit microgravity environment will host television, sports events, films, and music and allow content creators to record 250 miles above Earth. “SEE-1 is an incredible opportunity for humanity to move into a different realm and […]

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory warned Thursday of a “significant solar flare” event.  The powerful burst of energy from the Sun, classified as an M5.5 class flare, sparked radio blackouts across the Indian Ocean.   Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare can’t pass through Earth’s atmosphere to affect humans on the ground, however – when intense enough – they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS & communications signals travel. — NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) January 20, 2022 “The Sun emitted a mid-level solar flare on January 20, 2022, peaking at 1:01 am EST,” NASA […]

Authored by Matthew Pines via BitcoinMagazine.com, The impact of Bitcoin on war will not simply be the eradication of violence, a problem of humanity since the dawn of time… As bitcoin has appreciated and seen increased global adoption, it has emerged as a macroeconomically relevant phenomenon. This has turned formerly theoretical debates into live, practical questions on how Bitcoin will affect geopolitical relations. The current balance of global power is defined by complex arrangements of military alliances, trade flows, ethnic and religious affinity, cultural influence, linguistic agreement, and, of course, national borders. In this author’s view, it is hubris to expect […]

Authored by Aaron Maté via RealClearInvestigations.com, As he documents the role of Hillary Clinton’s campaign in generating false allegations of Trump-Russia collusion, Special Counsel John Durham has also previewed a challenge to the FBI’s claims about how and why its counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign began. At stake is the completeness of the official reckoning within the U.S. government over the Russiagate scandal – and whether there will be an accounting commensurate with the offense: the abuse of the nation’s highest law enforcement and intelligence powers to damage an opposition presidential candidate turned president, at the behest of his opponent from […]

We doubt anybody was surprised when the “climate-conscious” organizers of the World Economic Forum postponed the annual gathering in Davos for the second year in a row (last year’s event was ultimately canceled after an unsuccessful attempt at moving it). And in a sign of just how important the Alpine confab is for the business and political elites who actually run the world to see each other face-to-face (instead of virtually in the metaverse like they’re doing this week), the WEF has just released a statement affirming that this year’s event will eventually take place…so long as all safety precautions can […]

A teacher at North Penn School District in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has come under fire after photos leaked her physically taping a mask to a small child’s face during school hours. The photo has been shared “thousands” of times on social media and it shows the masked teacher putting what appears to be masking tape on the side of a small child’s black mask, while the child sits in the classroom in front of his laptop. Officials from the Montgomery County school district confirmed that the photo had been taken in one of their classrooms, according to the Courier Times.  Former candidate for […]

Authored by Adam Andrzejewski via RealClearPolicy.com, On January 27, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) to combat climate change. The EO officially began research into the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps. The Corps “shall aim to conserve and restore public lands and waters, bolster community resilience, increase reforestation, increase carbon sequestration in the agricultural sector, protect biodiversity, improve access to recreation, and address the changing climate.” In 1933, Franklin D Roosevelt created a similar program called the Civilian Conservation Corps. They cut trails, built roads, and solidified infrastructure, and had about 500,000 annual members at its height. The […]

By Zachary Stieber of The Epoch Times The U.S. Marine Corps has kicked out another 45 Marines for refusing to get COVID-19 vaccines, the military branch announced Thursday. The Marines were removed “for vaccine refusal,” a spokesman said in a statement. Any active-duty Marine who did not finish their primary COVID-19 vaccine regimen by Nov. 14, or any reserves who did not complete the process by Dec. 14, is considered unvaccinated by the branch. Primary regimens are two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab. All unvaccinated Marines without a pending or approved exemption […]

The market is sending The Fed some very clear signals as it prices in an aggressive rate-hiking trajectory this year (just as the economic data starts to gravely disappoint) warning that it is ‘panicking’ and deserves ‘more’… Panic Signals include…. 1) Indices puking hard This the 3rd straight weekly loss for the S&P (its longest weekly losing streak since Sept 2020) with every bounce hit hard. Nasdaq and Small Caps were the hardest hit this week with The Dow the best of a bad bunch. This was the worst week for Nasdaq Since March 2020, Russell 2000’s worst week since June […]

Authored by Jonathan Turley, Below is my column in the Hill on the increasing claims by Democrats that there is a “plot” to “steal” the 2024 election. President Joe Biden has returned to that claim in his last three major public appearances. In his press conference, President Biden referred to how Republicans want to “change the outcome of the election” and that the next election in 2024 could “easily be made illegitimate.” He added that “the increase in the prospect of being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these reforms passed.” If that sounds familiar, […]

Through his lawyer Mark Richards, Kyle Rittenhouse has said that he doesn’t want the AR-15 he used to kill two people during the 2020 riots in Kenosha to end up “on a mantle”. He also doesn’t want it to remain in the hands of the prosecutors who tried to convict him. This week, Richards filed a motion demanding the return of Rittenhouse’s gun and some other property – including an iPhone, ammunition, clothing, a face mask and “a $1 bill” – in accordance with Wisconsin law, which requires a former defendant’s to officially request that personal property taken by the state […]

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News, Joe Rogan detailed on his podcast Thursday how the left has become so intolerant of any other viewpoint that anyone who isn’t in total agreement with them is now automatically slapped with the pejorative ‘alt-right’. Discussing the topic with academic James Lindsay, Rogan noted “Smart people use that pejorative, ‘Oh these alt-right people’.” “I’m like, stop! You’re talking about people that aren’t even remotely alt right, like don’t do that,” Rogan continued. Lindsay provided an example in journalist Tim Pool, noting “Just the other day here on the show you had, ‘Tim Pool’s alt-right […]

New York City Mayor Eric Adams hasn’t been shy about his willingness to make the Big Apple the crypto capital of the U.S.  Now, he’s putting his money where his mouth is.  Adams has said his first paycheck will be converted into bitcoin and ethereum, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.  Adams had said earlier this month: “New York is the center of the world, and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations. Being on the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be […]

While many legacy retailers are working on expanding their e-commerce footprint, Amazon continues doing just the opposite. In addition to Whole Foods, the e-commerce behemoth is actually in the midst of opening its first in-person clothing store, according to a report by USA Today.  The name of the store is going to be “Amazon Style” and it will sell both women’s and men’s clothes, according to the report. An opening is planned for “later this year” at The Americana at Brand, a Los Angeles shopping complex in Glendale, California. Simoina Vasen, Amazon Style managing director commented: “We believe our unique store design, our […]

By Greg Miller of FreightWaves It’s a tale of two shipping markets. Spot rates remain near historic highs for container shipping; the boom shows no sign of ending. But over in commodity shipping — dry bulk, crude and product tankers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers — spot rates have now sunk below five-year averages. Crude tankers “A bleak outcome,” said brokerage BRS of the recent rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs; tankers that carry 2 million barrels). “A terrible start of the year,” it said of rates for Suezmaxes (tankers that carry 1 million barrels). According to Clarksons Platou Securities, […]

As this morning’s chaotic open uncoils into another leg lower, Nasdaq is now suffering its worst start to a year in at least 30 years (it is very slightly worse than 2008), and the S&P’s longest weekly losing streak since Sept 2020. Crucially, the S&P 500 just broke below its 200DMA… Which now means all the US majors are below their 200DMAs… As Jim Bianco notes, if the S&P closes below the 200DMA, this ends a 409 trading day streak above it – the longest streak in 8 years. And as stocks are getting hammered, bonds are bid with the long-end […]

As we noted last night, today we see a whopping $3.3 trillion in total notional option expirations, of which $1.3 trillion in single stock options expirations, the 2nd largest ever, and ~2.7% of the Russell 3000 market cap. According to Goldman, single stock options trading activity remains robust, with an average daily notional of $506bn in January, consistent with the elevated levels of 2021 (average daily notional of $468bn). Why does this matter? Well, as we have discussed extensively in the past, at major expirations, options traders track situations where a large amount of open interest is set to expire. In […]

With the coldest of the winter season still ahead for the US, demand for propane soared to a record high last week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).  January has been a frigid month with multiple winter storms traversing the Midwest and Northeast, which boosted heating demand for residential and commercial building structures. Also, demand has increased for industrial purposes, such as the production of plastic.  Going back to 2004, EIA data showed demand has never been higher for propane. Months ago, research firm IHS Markit Ltd warned US propane inventories were at a record low and would be extremely tight this […]

Authored by Bill Blain via MorningPorridge.com, “It’s too early to say..” As the West reopens, China’s lockdowns remain draconian. It has eased rates on the back of growth concerns. The result is growing monetary divergence, and China looks set to go down the same monetary experimentation route the West is now trying to reverse. The World and Monetary Policy has split. As Occidental markets undergo a “fundamental” reassessment out of speculative hopes into value propositions, (thus the 10% “correction” in Nasdaq from its Nov High, versus a mild stumble in the Dow), and markets slide on the back of expectations of […]

Tesla investors continued to try and convince Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights of Delaware’s Court of Chancery that Elon Musk “bailed out” his cousin’s company, SolarCity, to the tune of $13 billion that needs to be returned to shareholders, this week.  During closing arguments to a 10 day trial, Randy Baron, an attorney for shareholders, said: “This case has always been about whether the acquisition of SolarCity was a rescue from financial distress, a bailout, orchestrated by Elon Musk.” Baron is urging that Musk be ordered to pay $13 billion back to Tesla shareholders. He is representing union pension funds and asset managers, among other […]

This week, oil prices soared to a seven-year high as Goldman Sachs hiked its brent price target to $96 in 2022 and $105 in 2023.  The oil and gas industry revival comes nearly two years after the virus pandemic triggered one of the worst crashes ever in the industry. Now there’s hope America’s energy industry will enter a new age of optimism as higher prices could drive investments.  However, not so fast. It’s unlikely a renaissance is coming to the shale patch for one straightforward reason: Wall Street’s commitment to financing ESG projects will put a damper on emission-heavy projects.  Citigroup released a report earlier […]

Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The new Czech government on Wednesday threw out the previous administration’s plan to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for over-60s and people in key professions. Under the former government, older adults, health care workers, firefighters, police officers and medical students would have been required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, effective March. But Prime Minister Petr Fiala scrapped his predecessor Andrej Babis’s decree, which was issued in early December. He told reporters Wednesday that his new center-right government did not see the need for mandatory vaccination. “We’ve agreed that vaccination against COVID-19 won’t […]

A supercomputer is a machine that is built to handle billions, if not trillions of calculations at once. Each supercomputer is actually made up of many individual computers (known as nodes) that work together in parallel. A common metric for measuring the performance of these machines is flops, or floating point operations per second. In this visualization, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu uses November 2021 data from TOP500 to visualize the computing power of the world’s top five supercomputers. For added context, a number of modern consumer devices were included in the comparison. Ranking by Teraflops Because supercomputers can achieve over one quadrillion flops, and consumer […]

Authored by Richard Bernstein, submitted by RealClearInvestigations, This is the first of two articles – Part 2: In Scotland, They’ll Take the Woke Road – will be published tomorrow. Rachel Khan is a 45-year-old writer and actress, half Gambian, half Polish Jew born and educated in France, who was appointed by the mayor of Paris to be co-director of a cultural center called La Place, or The Place, dedicated to hip-hop music in France.  Then she became a target of the wrath of “le wokisme,” French version. Khan, who was already well-known as a dissenter from the identity-politics orthodoxy on race […]

The Austrian government announced a new vaccination stimulus package – including a lottery and financial rewards – in a bid to boost the national vaccination rate, The Local reported. The announcement was made at a press conference in Vienna with Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) and SPÖ leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner ahead of the vote on the mandatory vaccination law (Impfpflicht) in the National Council on Thursday. “What is there to win in the vaccination lottery? Vouchers!” Chancellor Karl Nehammer told a news conference with the leader of the opposition Social Democrats, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, with whom the […]

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, US special operations forces are continuing a mission to train troops in Ukraine amid heightened tensions with Russia, Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday. An undisclosed number of US special operators has been training Ukrainian forces inside Ukraine for several years under a mission led by US Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). Image via Donbass Insider “The bottom line is that our training mission in Ukraine is ongoing,” said Lt. Col. Juan Martinez, a spokesman for SOCEUR. “We continue to view our mission in Ukraine as part of an ongoing effort in enhancing Special Operations Forces capabilities […]

Authored by Gail Tverberg via OurFiniteWorld.com, In my view, there are three ways a growing economy can be sustained: With a growing supply of cheap-to-produce energy products, matched to the economy’s energy needs. With growing debt and other indirect promises of future goods and services, such as rising asset prices. With growing complexity, such as greater mechanization of processes and supply lines that extend around the world. All three of these approaches are reaching limits. The empty shelves some of us have been seeing recently are testimony to the fact that complexity is reaching a limit. And the growth in debt […]

Authored by John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute, “Totalitarian paranoia runs deep in American society, and it now inhabits the highest levels of government.” – Professor Henry Giroux Once upon a time, there was a government so paranoid about its hold on power that it treated everyone and everything as a threat and a reason to expand its powers. Unfortunately, the citizens of this nation believed everything they were told by their government, and they suffered for it. When terrorists attacked the country, and the government passed massive laws aimed at paving the way for a surveillance […]

NASA’s Curiosity rover has spent a decade hunting for ancient signs of life on Mars. The rover has collected sedimentary rock samples rich in a type of carbon associated with life on Earth.  NASA touted a new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal that says sediment samples found by Curiosity suggest “unusual carbon signals” that may support one working theory of the possible existence of ancient life.  “We’re finding things on Mars that are tantalizingly interesting, but we would really need more evidence to say we’ve identified life,” said Paul Mahaffy, who served as the […]

Russia and Iran have unveiled plans to hold maritime joint naval exercises with China on Friday. The somewhat rare naval drills will take place in the northern Indian Ocean, and is part of a pattern of clearly deepening cooperation between the unlikely allies at a moment each is facing intense pressure from Washington, including US sanctions. It’s the third time such drills have taken place between the three powers, with the last taking place Feb.2021. Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency cited a military commander who said the drills are to “strengthen security and its foundations in the region.” Further Iran as called it part of […]

It’s the latest example of “vaccines for thee, but not for me…” Despite the fact that the Supreme Court has blocked OSHA from enforcing the Biden Administration’s corporate vaccination mandate for most US workers, the administration has decided to require travelers visiting the US for “essential” reasons – ie to fill “essential” jobs like serving as a hospital nurse treating COVID patients – to be fully vaccinated. Travelers arriving in the US by plane have already been required to prove their vaccination status for months now. But the new restrictions, which take effect at the beginning of next week, will expand […]

Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Jessica Rose didn’t ask for any of this. She started to analyze data on adverse reactions after COVID-19 vaccines simply as an exercise to master a new piece of software. But she couldn’t ignore what she saw and decided to publish the results of her analysis. The next thing she knew, she was in a “bizzarro world,” she told The Epoch Times. An investigational pharmacy technician holds a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine before it is administered in a clinical trial in Aurora, Colorado, on Dec. 15, 2020. […]

Typically, letters to investors don’t elicit this kind of backlash. But given BlackRock’s outsize influence on the US (and the global) economy, perhaps it’s not surprising that a handful of US states with thriving energy industries are expressing their frustration with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and his latest essay about the importance of “stakeholder capitalism”. As we reported yesterday, West Virginia’s state treasurer has announced that the state would end use of BlackRock funds for all state investments in retaliation for the firm’s antagonistic stance toward the oil and gas industry. Now, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has joined the fray, […]

The Biden administration is pulling the trigger on sending anti-tank weapons and air defense systems into Ukraine in order assist in repelling any potential Russian invasion. Further the White House has “notified Congress it intends to send five Mi-17 Transport Helicopters to Ukraine, officials Say,” according to The Wall Street Journal. But this weapons transfer will not be done directly, instead, it will be facilitated through third party allies – namely Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The proposed plan for some further limited military assistance to Ukraine was revealed earlier this week, but as of Thursday afternoon the administration has authorized it.  Test-firing weapons, Ukraine, […]

Update (1830ET): After a catastrophic collapse in the company’s share price today – back below its IPO price – it appears Peloton is attempting to kitchen-sink things as it has just pre-announced revenue (miss), subs (miss), and EBITDA (beat but still a huge loss): Prelim revenue about $1.14 billion, estimate $1.16 billion  Prelim connected fitness subscribers about 2.77 million, estimate 2.81 million Prelim adjusted Ebitda loss $260 million to $270 million, estimate loss $332.6 million  John Foley, co-founder and CEO, whose net worth slipped to just $350 million today – well off the billionaires ranks, confirmed the actions that CNBC had reported […]

Authored by Alice Giordano via The Epoch Times, At least 25 federal agencies have implemented a system to track religious exemption requests for mandated vaccines, according to a review of Federal Register notices by The Epoch Times. The agencies include the departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, the Treasury, the Social Security Administration, the Federal Election Commission. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative group, earlier this week found that 19 agencies were either considering or have already implemented the tracking system. The group warned that the system may be a test pilot plan to monitor all federal […]

The legal drama surrounding Apollo founder and longtime CEO Leon Black (who abruptly left the firm last year following accusations of abuse levied in the courts by an ex-girlfriend) is reaching absurd new dimensions as Black and his legal team have come forward with a bombshell allegation: In a recent court filing, Black alleged that his former business partner, Apollo co-founder and fellow billionaire Josh Harris, has been pulling strings in the shadows to orchestrate Black’s undoing, and the character assassination that has seen Black’s name dragged through the mud, forcing him out of roles like his chairmanship of the Museum […]

Recent earnings reports from streaming giant Netflix have been a mixed bag: the stock tumbled one year ago when the company reported a huge miss in both EPS and new subs, which at 2.2 million was tied for the worst quarter in the past five years, while also reporting a worse than expected outlook for the current quarter. This reversed four quarters ago when Netflix reported a blowout subscriber beat and projected it would soon be cash flow positive, sending its stock soaring to an all time high – if only briefly before again reversing and then tumbling three quarters ago […]

It was several years ago when Jeremy Grantham quietly turned from stock bull to vocal permabear, and while his market notes turned breathlessly alarmist (if only to those who were long his multi-billion fund GMO), such as this from June 2020 “Stock-market legend who called 3 financial bubbles says this one is the ‘Real McCoy,’ this is ‘crazy stuff’”, it wasn’t until early 2021 that Grantham’s warnings of an imminent crash became especially shrill… and spectacularly wrong. Recall, back in January 2021, Grantham wrote that “Bursting Of This “Great, Epic Bubble” Will Be “Most Important Investing Event Of Your Lives“, while […]

“The introduction of a CBDC would represent a highly significant innovation in American money,” says The Fed in its much-anticipated report on the possible issuance of a U.S. digital currency. The 35-page discussion paper on a government-backed coin makes no firm conclusions on whether (making it clear it did not “favour any policy outcome” at this point) it should be issuing a CBDC, but instead solicits feedback (as Powell had previously explained would be its purpose). Powell has previously said any CBDC should serve “as a complement to, and not a replacement of, cash and current private-sector digital forms of the […]

Update (1330ET): Following this morning’s print showing that 2021 saw the best annual existing home sales since 2006, MishTalk’s Mike Shedlock asks the question everyone should be asking as prices hit record-er and record-er prices – what will it take to sink the housing market? Sales are hot thanks to cheap money from the Fed, rising rent prices, speculation, fear of missing out, three rounds of fiscal stimulus, and a booming stock market.  It’s difficult to put a percentage on each of those factors but they all tie together.  If the Fed gets in 3 or 4 rate hikes, mortgage rates […]

After the worst start to a year for the Nasdaq since 2008… … stocks are finally rebounding solidly and are posting what may be the strongest day for markets in 2022. But the question on everyone’s mind is whether the solid early action will persist. Indeed, as JPM writes in its market summary note today, “today’s pre-market setup is similar to yesterday. Let’s see if we can hold pre-market gains throughout the session as yesterday afternoon felt like systematic selling. If 1.90% was a buy-level in bonds, then we may have a relief rally being initiated led by Tech.” However, as […]

Two months after Dave Portnoy debunked allegations by Business Insider that he had non-consensual rough sex with several women, the Barstool Sports founder announced on Thursday that Insider is back at it – and has scrounged up more accusers for a second hit-piece. Except, Dave has more receipts… To review, after Insider published a November article accusing the multi-millionaire of sexual abuse, Portnoy brought receipts in the form of text messages which made clear the accusers continued wanting dick from Portnoy, or thought they could somehow leverage their encounters for personal gain. On Thursday, Portnoy warned Insider that he’s got more […]

The US Congress’ Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee is holding a virtue-signal-fest hearing on the energy use and environmental impact of bitcoin mining this morning. Watch the “Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The Energy Impacts of Blockchain” live here (due to start at 1030ET): As Bitcoin Magazine reports, the decision to hold the hearing was prompted by a letter sent to the House in October by a cohort of national and international climate organizations that argued against the energy usage of Bitcoin and its Proof of Work (PoW) system. “We, the more than 70 climate, economic, racial justice, business and local organizations, write […]

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News, CNN hosts scrambled to explain away Joe Biden’s remark during his car crash of a press conference when he said that the 2022 mid-term elections could be “illegitimate.” Former President Donald Trump was vehemently monstered by the media both in 2016 and 2020 for suggesting the election outcome could be compromised. Following the riot on January 6 last year, Trump’s so-called undermining of the election process was blamed for the raid on the Capitol itself. Tens of millions of Trump supporters who believe the 2020 election was rigged have also been denounced as […]

While the number of actual Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time dipped to 337.4K from a 8 month high of 420.8K last week, on a seasonally-adjusted, initial claims unexpectedly soared from 231K to 286K, a huge miss to expectations of 225K, the highest print since October 8 and the latest confirmation that the economy is slowing rapidly not just because of Omicron but due to general exhaustion at the consumer level the result of stimmies having been spent long ago. While continuing claims on a seasonally-adjusted basis rose from a fresh pre-COVID low of 1.551MM last week to […]

Whereas the stock plunge on Tuesday could be blamed on surging rates, the repeat tumble on Wednesday took place as Treasury yields dropped sharply, so with markets at a loss how to read rate signals, so far this morning S&P e-mini futures have rebounded by 23 points ot 0.5% from yesterday’s low just above 4,500 – a key support level according to JPMorgan – as volatility eased and global bond yields appear to have stabilize for now, and hours after China’s latest easing measure when Beijing lowered mortgage lending benchmark rates on Thursday as monetary authorities step up efforts to prop […]

While the Zimbabwe dollar has been allowed to gradually weaken from parity with the greenback in February 2019 to 112.80 to the dollar today, it trades at over 200 to the dollar on the black market, stoking inflation. The local currency slid 3.68% at the first auction of the year to 112.80 per U.S. dollar, according to data provided by the central bank. That’s the largest decline in two months. Source: Bloomberg The black market ZimDollar trades at 240/USD Source As Bloomberg reports, business has said it is at the receiving end of the currency rate disparity. It struggles to obtain […]

In keeping up with the continual fight to retain and recruit talent, JP Morgan is reportedly raising pay for its junior bankers for the second time in a year. 1st-year investment banking analysts are now set to make $110,000, up from $100,000, The Business Times reported on Wednesday morning. 2nd-year analyst pay will also jump up to $125,000 and 3rd-year pay will rise to $135,000.  Citigroup is also increasing pay after a blockbuster year in 2021, moving base salaries for junior bankers up to $110,000.  Despite the pay raises, it looks like the attitude on Wall Street could be shifting away from […]

Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance  The “Big Short” of 2008, the housing market, got its name because it looked too big to be a possible idea to short. The idea that the housing market would collapse was literally laughed off the air on financial media and there was nary a mainstream anchor or news contributor who admitted the housing market was in a precarious position. This is what made putting the position on – shorting this market – such a bold and movie-worthy story. It defied expectations and was beyond belief. When comes to the idea of Covid vaccines, few things look more steadfast as […]