Bits Bucket for February 1, 2016
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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January is over. Is it safe again to buy stocks?
China stocks saw worst Jan since 2008
Nyshka Chandran
5 Hours Ago
CNBC.com
A man looks at an electronic board at a brokerage house in Beijing, China, January 4, 2016.
Kim Kyung-Hoon | Reuters
If you thought 2015 was bad for Chinese equity markets, this year’s started on an even more rocky note.
January was the worst month for shares listed on the mainland since 2008, according to data compiled by spread betting firm IG.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index tanked more than 24 percent last month while the Shenzhen Composite tumbled 27 percent, taking the title of Asia’s worst-performing indices in what has been a tumultuous start to the year.
…
Top News
Mon Feb 1, 2016 | 1:57 AM EST
PRECIOUS-Gold extends gains as China stocks slip on weak PMI
* Gold moves in on 12-week high after gaining 5 pct in Jan
* China official manufacturing PMI at lowest since 2012
* Coming up: U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI at 1500 GMT (Adds China stocks, updates prices)
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Gold advanced at the start of the month on Monday, extending gains after ending January with its biggest monthly jump in a year, as poor Chinese manufacturing numbers underlined the weak outlook for the global economy.
China’s stocks fell after an official measure of manufacturing in the world’s No. 2 economy hit its lowest since mid-2012.
Inflows into the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund were the strongest in a year last month as investors moved into gold due to volatility in other assets including equities.
Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,120.66 an ounce by 0641 GMT. Bullion gained 5.4 percent last month, its largest gain since January 2015.
Strong inflows into gold exchange-traded funds, Chinese buying ahead of the Lunar New Year and support from the volatility in other asset classes combined to boost gold in January, said Mark Keenan, head of commodities research in Asia at Societe Generale.
“But in the context of a rising interest rate outlook in the U.S., it’s going to be very difficult for gold to hold on to these gains,” he said.
…
“But in the context of a rising interest rate outlook in the U.S., it’s going to be very difficult for gold to hold on to these gains,” he said.
When Yellen announces NIPR in a failed attempt to levitate the Fed’s Ponzi markets, precious metals are going to soar, methinks, as even the dullest of the sheeple will see the jig is up and head for the only store of wealth that can’t be debased by central banks and central planners.
Meanwhile, physical gold continues to flow out of the COMEX.
https://www.sprottmoney.com/blog/breaking-news-comex-registered-gold-inventories-plummet.html
Buy gold and platinum man!
And silver & palladium…and lead and brass.
Economy
The Shipping News Says the World Economy Is Toast
Mark Gilbert
Jan 28, 2016 1:00 AM EST
Updated Jan 29, 2016 6:01 AM EST
By Mark Gilbert
In October 2008, as the repercussions of the financial crisis were starting to ripple through the global economy, I noticed a press release from Swedish truckmaker Volvo saying that its European order book had fallen by more than 99 percent between the third quarters of 2007 and 2008 — to just 155 from 41,970. That prompted me to study various other real-world activity measures ranging from shipping to air freight, and to conclude that “the news is all bad and getting worse, fast.” The same exercise today, I’m afraid to say, leads me to a similar conclusion about the growth outlook.
…
The elites may have one last go at wiping out the shorts before the bottom drops out.
http://www.clivemaund.com/article.php?art_id=3699
It’s always safe to buy stocks. And housing. What are you some kind of anarchist?
Will BOJ NIRP bolster gold?
Is oil leaving the basement?
Marketwatch dot com
Oil sags on China data, production-cut doubts
By Jenny W. Hsu
Published: Feb 1, 2016 5:16 a.m. ET
Crude-oil prices fell early Monday, dragged by lackluster Chinese manufacturing data and dimming prospects of a coordinated production cut by world’s dominant oil producers.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March (CLH6, -1.55%) traded at $33.09 a barrel, down $0.55, or 1.8%, in the Globex electronic session. April Brent crude (LCOJ6, -0.58%) on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.30, or 0.9%, to $35.68 a barrel.
Last week, prices rose on speculation Russia and Saudi Arabia were mulling output cuts to support prices. The gains soon evaporated after Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries officials refuted such claims.
Hopes of a supply cut sank further after Iran said it “won’t consider a cut” until its exports have increased by 1.5 million barrels a day over current levels of roughly 1.1 million barrels a day.
Oil prices have been dogged by oversupply concerns for nearly two years as major producers continued pumping at high rates to protect market shares, causing prices to plummet by more than 70% from 2008 highs.
“In this low-price environment, supply growth is the main issue, not demand,” said Barnabas Gan, a commodity analyst at OCBC.
Prices also fell on disappointing Chinese manufacturing data. China’s statistics bureau reported Monday that the official manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 49.4 in January from 49.7 in December, marking the lowest level since August 2012 and the sixth straight month of contraction.
China’s continuing slowdown has weighed on global oil demand. Last month, China said the country’s economy grew 6.9% in 2015, the slowest pace in 25 years.
“This weak data would likely remind the market of bearishness again, suggesting more drops for the market in the week ahead,” said Phillip Futures analyst Daniel Ang.
…
The China crash will be worse than the USA 2008 crash.
Oil falls on China data, fading prospect of OPEC action
Oil fell on Monday as weak economic data from China, the world’s largest energy consumer, weighed on prices and an OPEC source played down talk of an emergency meeting to stem the decline.
China’s manufacturing sector contracted at the fastest pace since 2012 in January, adding to worries about demand from the world’s second-biggest economy at a time when the market is already weighed down by a large supply overhang.
“The weak China PMI (purchasing managers’ index) is driving down prices because China weighs on the entire commodities sector from the demand side of the equation,” said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN0VA16D
Gold is definitely leaving the basement.
http://www.kitco.com/market/
Don’t be silly. Gold has steadily slid down $200 over the past two years.
Presenting a wonderful buying opportunity for the intelligent 5% of the population while the sheeple piled into overpriced stawks.
“… while the sheeple piled into overpriced stawks.”
… which will take a lot of money down with it when the prices of these overpriced stawks correct making money that is left more valuable.
Bonds too.
Sorry, trading rising dollars for falling assets does not raise your intelligence.
Maybe it will look better in the long term.
Comment by Blue Skye
2016-01-31 16:57:04
What does that mean?
Apple has turned itself into a huge debt donkey. Steve Jobs was never stupid enough to do this ??
How is having 45 billion in debt with 200 billion in the bank being a Debt Donkey ??
200 billion in debt is no way to operate a company.
Sorry, trading rising dollars for falling assets does not raise your intelligence.
My lofty intelligence is exceeded only by my incredible good looks and sparkling personality.
We have much in common.
How is having 45 billion in debt with 200 billion in the bank being a Debt Donkey ??
thanks for the facts
200 billion overseas and untaxed and quarterly results better described as a quarterly bloodbath, quarter after quarter. 45 billion in debt and growing by the day.
Like you, they need every dollar they can get their hands on.
^ gullible
HA you stepped in front of my arrow.
Aside from that, they say they don’t actually have much cash. They have “investments”.
Extreme gullibility.
When GovCorp shakes down what they got….. there’ll be nothing left.
When GovCorp shakes down what they got….. there’ll be nothing left.
what if there is?
A company $40 billion in debt isn’t much of a company at all my friend.
Borrowed money spent on stock buybacks at ridiculous prices = innovation.
I’ve always been a fan of Steve Jobs, especially after watching Apple stock collapse without him.
Cheap oil less of a boon for US growth than in the past
Feb 1U.S. consumers are cautious about spending their windfall from cheap gasoline and are saving more, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll and official data, suggesting low oil prices are less of a boon for the U.S. economy than in the past.
Commerce Department data shows that the crude’s 70 percent drop since mid-2014 cut households’ annual spending on gasoline and other energy products by $115 billion, equivalent to roughly 0.5 percent of gross domestic product.
At the same time, however, savings increased by $121 billion and while the data gives no indication where the money has come from, the survey suggests the windfall accounted for a significant part of the sum.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 75 percent of 3,068 Americans who answered questions on gasoline savings said the extra money helped them cover basic needs and the majority have not used their windfall to buy big ticket items. Over 40 percent of respondents said the savings had helped them pay down debts, according to the Jan. 15-27 online poll, which had a credibility interval of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
“It obviously hurts less when I go to the grocery store,” said Karen Joines, a recruiting firm product manager from Peachtree City, Georgia. Joines, who participated in the survey, estimates she saves $30 a week thanks to cheaper gasoline but has no plans for big purchases, in part because she worries low prices will not last.
Some economists say such doubts and the still-fresh scars of the 2007-2009 recession could explain the muted effect of cheap gas on consumption. For example, the economy only in mid-2014 recovered the more than 7 million jobs lost during the downturn.
“We don’t seem to be getting the benefits from cheaper gasoline that we did when the economy was healthier,” said veteran oil economist and independent consultant Phil Verleger.
Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said another reason Americans appeared wary of spending what they saved at the pump could be that more and more of them were approaching retirement.
“They are conscious of that (and) they need to save more,” Kaplan told Reuters in an interview.
http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-economy-oil-idUSL3N15C5XZ
China’s capital flows accelerating.
http://www.businessinsider.com/statistics-on-capital-flight-from-china-2016-1
Soros gives $6M to Hillary super-PAC. If you like your crony capitalism, you can keep your crony capitalism.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/31/politics/sanders-clinton-trump-cruz-campaign-finance-super-pacs/
Europe today is a nice preview of the fundamental transformation Soros wants for the U.S. Note that he doesn’t advocate immigration to Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, only to Europe, UK, Australia, Canada, U.S. Why is that? Betters never have an answer to that.
Soros has our next President, Hillary Clinton, in his hip pocket. Come January 2017 we will have our own Frau Merkel.
Breitbart piece about how real journalists censor public opinion:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2016/02/01/comment-isnt-free-anymore-guardian-to-close-comments-on-articles-about-race-immigration-and-islam/
soros used to yank gold teeth from felow joos. Nolt as a dentist.Hero of the left.
Not a fan of Soros, but even less a fan of libelous smears.
You have no problem with smearing “95% of the Murican voters”.
Not smearing them. If you’re a member of the 99% and you voted for Obama, McCain, or Romney, you really are stupid.
A rich conservative does that, and he’s an evil person trying to buy elections.
A rich liberal doing that is just fine.
“Nations are not ruined by one act of violence, but gradually and in an almost imperceptible manner by the depreciation of their circulating currency, through excessive quantity.”
–-Nicholas Copernicus 1525
“Socialists running out of toilet paper?”
“Venezuela is on the brink of a complete economic collapse
“Venezuela’s currency has, by black market rates, lost 93 percent of its value in the past two years.
“markets expect Venezuela to default on its debt in the very near future. The country is basically bankrupt.
“That’s not an easy thing to do when you have the largest oil reserves in the world, but Venezuela has managed it.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/29/venezuela-is-on-the-brink-of-a-complete-collapse/
“That’s not an easy thing to do when you have the largest oil reserves in the world, but Venezuela has managed it.”
It is when your economy is mostly driven by oil exports and oil has fallen from $100+ to $30 a barrel.
The reare people who “work” for Pemex, and by “work” I mean people who collect a paycheck without actually working. These “jobs” are sold to people who kick back a percentage of their paycheck to the bosses who hired them. In theory Pemex has cracked down on this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is also done in Venezuela’s nationalized oil industry.
Carl Icahn is not only smart, he’s a great story teller. I really like him. He’s a Trump guy. He will probably be recruited to be part of the solutions team if Trump is elected. Carl says the M&A from corporations sitting on piles of cash, has to stop. They need to pay their share of taxes. Post got rich opinion, like most wall street folks.
Political Theatre should be the 30 seconds of a commercial, not the main event. I’m a political atheist.
Watch & learn, Pineapples. This is always the end game when corrupt, larcenous socialist regimes (redundant, I realize) and their parasitic supporters kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Coming soon to a permanent Democrat supermajority-run dystopia near you.
Some of the super-wealthy are astute enough to realize that unfettered neoliberal looting of the sort engaged in by the Wall Street-Federal Reserve looting syndicate and the debasement of the dollar by our Keynesian central planners is going to not only kill off the productive economy, it could also trigger a Jacobian revolt of the have-nots against the haves, with lampposts being “repurposed” and “redistribution” of all those houses in the Hamptons, etc. That would not be healthy for capitalism, so guys like Carl Icahn might actually be part of the solution.
“Anyone who says the american economy is in decline is peddling fiction”
–President Obama, 2016 SOTU
“This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush, 2008
“This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush, 2008 ??
In many ways it did go down….Thanks Jr….
Goldman Sachs employees switch their support from Bush to Rubio.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-01/goldman-sachs-employees-shift-to-rubio-as-bush-support-fades
Disgusting. Sheldon Adelson and Goldman Sachs both support this revolting little neocon stooge. And voters don’t care, because Rapture.
Goon, I think low IQs are a bigger factor than Rapture expectations, though I suspect a Venn Diagram would show a great deal of overlap. My contention that 95% of the electorate are stupid and that we have slouched deep into a national state of IDIOCRACY gets firmer support by the day.
“Goldman Sachs employees switch their support from Bush to Rubio.”
Wow… Barbara is going to blow her top!
Over at cnbc they are saying the selling is over. They sure peddle a lot of fiction over there.
Over at CNBC they are stenographers and media border collies for their oligarch owners and controllers. They are trying desperately not to stampede the herd before Da Boyz have a chance to exit the pump & dump.
CNBC says the selling is over…we’ll see about that.
http://investmentresearchdynamics.com/did-the-stock-market-bottom-last-week-you-cant-be-serious/
but the bloodletting has just begun.
China could start to idle some surplus steel mill capacity. Rumor is they’ll start with 10% and send 500,000 steel workers home after the Spring Festival. The article posted a few days ago suggests that 40% cuts are required at minimum.
The steel mills were built on credit. $Trillions of it.
Crater.
Who is the bagholder on the credit used to fund Chinese steel mill capacity?
“Who will be the bagholders this time around?”
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogaug15/bagholders8-15.html
From a link that hasn’t yet posted …
“Bond funds that bought dicey emerging market debt (Mongolian bonds, anyone?) and didn’t sell at the top are bagholders.
Everyone with bonds and stocks in the oil patch who didn’t sell last summer is a bagholder.
Everyone holding yuan is a bagholder.
Everyone who bought euro-denominated assets when the euro was 1.40 is a bagholder at euro 1.12.
Everyone with 401K emerging market equities mutual funds who didn’t sell last summer is a bagholder.
Everyone who reckons “buy and hold” will be the winning strategy going forward will be a bagholder.
Anyone buying anything with borrowed money is a bagholder. Leveraging up to buy risk-on assets like Mongolian bonds and homes in Vancouver is brilliant in bubbles, but not so brilliant when risk-on turns to risk-off. As the asset’s value drops below the amount borrowed to buy it, the owner becomes a bagholder.
Anyone betting China’s GDP is really expanding at 7% and the U.S. economy will grow by 3.7% next quarter is angling to be a bagholder.”
Great, let’s see the fire sale prices, especially in housing. People have been waiting since 08 to buy a house. Lots of halfway decent areas did not see much buying opportunity last time. Supply held back and dribbled out.
Lots of halfway decent areas did not see much buying opportunity last time ??
I would like to know where you are speaking of because
Not true IMO….I distinkly remember a particular TownHouse near me being on the market in a short sale…Nice small complex in a great location walking distance to town…It sold for $229,000. in 2010…That same Townhouse now 5 years later would sell for $650,000. +….
I looked at buying it but frankly, I was toooooo afraid…Holding onto your cash omnipotent….So, when I hear or see someone who stepped up to the plate and bought in 2010 I acknowledge that they made a bet in the face of tremendous turmoil and fear….Not just real estate…The same could be said for stocks etc…
And they overpaid by 60% or more.
I’m specifically talking about 92508, where a floor stopped things going where they should. But there are plenty here with the same story. I think one named Bluto. Also hasn’t PB been waiting in San Diego for like 10 years plus?
I didn’t know anyone was ‘waiting’.
“I didn’t know
anyone was ‘waiting’.There were plenty of suitable places available when I tried to buy (in the Calif. wine country) in 2011/2012 and the prices were about equal to 10 years rent, a figure I like…but without 100% cash I found it dang near impossible to buy one (despite having about 50% cash in the bank, thanks to a HBB inspired sale of my last place in early 2007), had several full price bids ignored due to competition from cash buyers. In retrospect I probably should have tried buying earlier like 2009/2010 but at the time had no idea that there would be so much competition from all cash flippers, speculators, etc. and that people trying to buy with a mortgage would be effectively shut out in my area.
Didn’t see this when posted above. Thx Bluto.
You are welcome! I dropped out in disgust after 2012 and in the meantime prices are up about 70% so buying no longer makes sense for me AND fortunately I’m renting a place I like for a reasonable price. When Bubble 2.0 inevitably pops may try buying again if prices drop back to 2012 levels or less…if so hopefully buying with a mortgage will be possible then and I won’t have to contend with another wave of flippers and speculators.
Who is the bagholder on the credit used to fund Chinese steel mill capacity?
The Fed’s printing press and middle class taxpayers will backstop all bankster losses on non-performing loans to China.
Be scared of China’s debt, not its stocks.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-07/be-scared-of-china-s-debt-not-its-crashing-stocks
500,000 unemployed steel workers, many of whom have no possibility of ever having female companionship due to the infanticide practiced in China for the past generation. What a combustible mix that will be: broke, losing ground economically, and can’t get laid. I can see a few Molotov cocktails being thrown.
Fang Nu. No income. No job. No love.
Throwing rocks helps dispel some of that rage….
I see this as a personal affront.
They can re-import all those girl-babies who were saved (adopted) by Americans. They are now in their early 30’s and prime fodder for the 50+-year-old C**l*s takers wallowing in a mid-life crisis. If nothing else, it would give some hope to all the box-wine and kitty women who have had to compete.
C**l*s
?
I’d like to buy a vowel, Vanna!
It’s similar to V**gr*.
We’re all adults here. Just spell it out….
Gallup poll: Donald Trump is most unliked candidate in 25 years
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) — A new Gallup poll finds billionaire Donald Trump the most un-liked candidate in 25 years. Or in the parlance of poll takers, he has the highest unfavorable ratings since Gallup began taking the poll.
Three out of five Americans — or 60 percent — have an unfavorable view of Trump in the latest two-week average of all of the candidates running in the 2016 presidential race. The percentage is easily the highest of all the candidates and the highest since Gallup began asking the question in 1992.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/02/01/Gallup-poll-Donald-Trump-is-most-unliked-candidate-in-25-years/9641454317689/
And you know what? Trump is still going to win, and this is what he thinks of you:
http://i.imgur.com/nGx2s4N.jpg
Hillary is going to die in prison, senile, unloved, and forgotten, banging her head against the cell wall and wailing “I coulda been a contender” like Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull (that’s a Martin Scorcese film BTW for all you HuffPo link clickers). This message not approved by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
No Soros-owned candidate need ever fear the consequences of breaking laws that only apply to the 99%. Wait and see.
Free Jon Corzine!
I think that contender line was from Brando in On the Waterfront.
Instead of saying “I think,” it’s not hard to look it up. IMDB is only four letters to type. But, you are right. Terry Malloy coulda been a contenda. Jake LaMotta *was* a contender.
It is pretty amazing for a non-establishment candidate to have a 40% approval rating.
40% of German voters want Frau Merkel to resign and leave town under cover of darkness. 60% are brain-dead. How’s the globalism working out for you, Fritz?
He’s the Ivy-League educated front runner for the Republican nomination. The non-establishment aspect is the over-the-top histrionics.
Rubio is an Ivy-League educated stooge for the Oligopoly’s crony capitalist, neocon, corporate statist status quo. No thanks….
“Gallup poll: Donald Trump is most unliked candidate in 25 years”
On a long and lonesome highway, down in Region IV
You can listen to Oddfellow moanin’ out his one note song
He’ll be followed by his buddies, the same way he was the day before
But your thoughts will soon be wandering, the way they always do
When old Mighty punches in and there’s nothing you can do
And you don’t feel much like reading, you just wish the trip was through
Here I am, on a blog again
There they are, up on the page
Here we go, talking points again
There it is, Liberal Rage
Bob Seger-Turn The Page Lyrics - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5heysinF1sw - 360k -
Ha ha….
wonder if sean penn n danny glover own condos there in VZ?
Ben, I REALLY need that virtual mooning cam feature for the Pineapples. Sometimes words just aren’t sufficient.
The sheeple sure are bamboozled by The Donald’s acting talent!
The Donald
Since I don’t vote, I just listen for agendas and get a kick out of the creative rhetoric. Donald is saying what people are thinking.
Yesterday, I saw the 1988 Trump on Oprah video, and he was talking about trade back then, and how we were going down the fubar path (Japan/USA era). I think he resonates with the fed up masses.
In 1988, Trump (on Oprah) responded to the presidential run question, as if it was America’s only hope, would he consider it. His facial expression looked as if he meant it.
What a circus. Stephen Colbert has been funny about it. John Oliver is always great!
There is no point in voting in California. Your vote means nothing in the face of the permanent Democratic supermajority.
Though Americuns generally dislike The Donald and Hillary, one of them is still surely going to serve as their next president.
Gallup poll: Donald Trump is most unliked candidate in 25 years
By Shawn Price | Feb. 1, 2016 at 5:03 AM
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) — A new Gallup poll finds billionaire Donald Trump the most un-liked candidate in 25 years. Or in the parlance of poll takers, he has the highest unfavorable ratings since Gallup began taking the poll.
Three out of five Americans — or 60 percent — have an unfavorable view of Trump in the latest two-week average of all of the candidates running in the 2016 presidential race. The percentage is easily the highest of all the candidates and the highest since Gallup began asking the question in 1992.
Then, it was President George H.W. Bush, who had a 57 percent unfavorable rating shortly before he lost in a landslide to Bill Clinton.
But third on the list is Hillary Clinton. Her current unfavorable rating is at 52 percent, most likely affected by questions about how she has handled the investigation into her using a private email server along with her designated government server while she was secretary of state.
…
———————
Trump Is Self-Funding Majority of His Campaign for the First Time
nbcnews FEB 1 2016, 1:39 AM ET
Trump released new financial data about his campaign late Sunday night, as required by federal election law, and the numbers suggest an operation built for the long haul.
Over the past three months, Trump funded his campaign with $10.8 million in loans and a $100,000 donation, his largest personal investment to date. Supporters also donated $2.6 million, with the most money coming from Florida and California.
While the billionaire candidate often boasts about self-funding, in the previous quarter, small donors actually provided more money to the campaign than he did. The new data shows Trump is willing to invest more of his own wealth, even as he succeeds in the polls.
Trump spent far less than most of his rivals last quarter. Clinton and Sanders both topped $30 million, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz each spent about $15 million, while Trump spent just $6.9 million.
——————
By the way, missed yesterday’s bits. I much prefer 7-11 coffee to SBUX. SBUX is too bitter and strong for non-connoisseurs and will either make my stomach raw or keep me up at night. 7-11 has a nice coffee bar (with hazelnut!) and all the fixin’s including flavor pumps and mini marshmallows included for 50¢ less. I have no need for yuppity SBUX and their overpriced wussyfeminist granola bars and cake pops served with a dose of pukeworthy Oprah optimism.
Hmm, my Cafe Bustelo from Wally World costs about $.25 a cup, I reckon, and tastes wonderful in the morning brewed in my own kitchen. Gotta enjoy life’s simple pleasures.
Debt donkeys don’t make their own coffee.
So…
Mr. Banker is a debt monkey… or is he monkey master?
It would be my assumption that he doesn’t make his own coffee.
Interns, interns make the coffee.
I pay ‘em nuthin’ for straight time and time-and-half for overtime.
After 90 days on the “job”, Interns should get paid, even if just minimum wage. They are there to learn, not fetch your coffee.
“After 90 days on the ‘job’, Interns” … get replaced.
Churn ‘em & burn ‘em.
“They are there to learn, not fetch your coffee.”
They are there because I allow them to be there; after 90 days they are tossed out and another batch takes their place.
And fetching coffee and serving coffee is part of their job description.
They will take whatever I decide to give to them and they will like it.
Go here …
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-7870l6ECBw
I don’t go to 7-11 every day. Maybe once a week when it’s cold out. Usually I brew a bit of Equal Exchange.
SBUX is burned mud imho. I can’t stand it. When our want to be yuppie friends bring it over for a “treat” for us, I take a sip to be nice, and throw the c@@p out. Yuk. I’ll give them credit for effective brainwashing.
I couldn’t agree more. It smells like a coffee bean fire whenever I walk by a SB.
Now fresh-roasted Kona coffee, mmmmmmm
Isn’t this another failed prediction from some here claiming he’d never put up his own money? Lots of lil AbQDans.
“Lots of lil AbQDans.”
And they all have a latent desire to suck The Donald’s toes.
“Chinese supercycle can’t be repeated”
“And don’t pin your hopes on India”
“…faster-than-expected slowdown in Brazil, Russia, India and China – especially if combined with financial stress — “could reduce commodity prices considerably” even after three years of sharp declines.”
“The World Bank’s forecasts are some of the more pessimistic out there.”
“According to the bank metals prices are projected to decline by 10% in 2016 while the iron ore price is expected to have another horrible year with declines of 25%. Nickel can fall another 16% this year following a 42% drop in 2015 while copper is forecast to fall 9% in 2016 according to the report.”
http://www.mining.com/chart-chinese-supercycle-cant-be-repeated/
Today’s Liberal Rage is brought to you by…
The Southern Poverty Law Center
You asked about who runs the SPLC last week:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center
Without hate and vulnerable members they would be out of business.
I guess that’s why they are so good at stirring up hate (Liberal Rage) and keeping their members vulnerable.
“According to its website, SPLC is “dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry” and seeking justice for “the most vulnerable members of our society.” SPLC uses litigation, education and other forms of advocacy.[2]”
Expanding definition of “hate”
“According to the SPLC, the numbers of “known hate groups operating across the country” are growing:”
:corrected.
I guess that’s why they are so good at stirring up hate (sanctimonious Liberal Rage) and keeping their members vulnerable.
Japan is trying to save its economy with a Jedi mind trick
This might be the Jedi mind trick Japan was looking for.
Markets, at least, sure seemed to think so. Japanese stocks surged almost 3 percent and the yen was down about 1.5 percent, which helps exporters, on the news that the country’s central bank had done something it had never done before. That’s cutting interest rates into negative territory. Instead of paying banks 0.1 percent on any deposits they have with it, the banks will have to pay the central bank a 0.1 percent penalty for the privilege of holding their money there. Or will they? If you read the fine print, it turns out that this negative interest rate barely applies to anything at all. So in a way, it’s almost about tricking markets into thinking that it’s doing more than it actually is.
And it’s kind of working.
Before we get to that, though, why is Japan even doing this? After all, it’s already printing a lot of money and its economy is already doing a lot better. Unemployment is down to a minuscule 3.3 percent, and for the good reason that more people are both finding and looking for jobs. So what’s the problem? The answer is that Japan still hasn’t done the one thing it really wanted to do: get inflation back up to a healthy amount. Sure, the economy is doing well today, but it might not keep doing well tomorrow if prices start falling again, like they did for most of the past 20 years. (That’s because lower price lead to lower wages, which makes it harder to pay back debts that don’t get any lower). And just as important, a little more inflation would make its debt, which has swollen to 230 percent the size of its economy, a little more manageable.
Negative interest rates really should do the trick. The idea is that banks would either lend out their money or move it out of the country rather than lose even a small fraction of it by keeping it at the central bank. Although if we’re being honest, it’s really that second part that matters. It’s not like banks haven’t been lending because they could earn 0.1 percent by not doing so. They weren’t lending because they don’t see a lot of good opportunities out there—which isn’t going to change if they have to pay the central bank a little instead of getting paid a little by it. But that doesn’t really matter. Just getting people to move their money out of the country is enough. That should weaken the currency, and, in turn, increase inflation. That’s why the eurozone, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland have all used negative interest rates of their own.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/29/japan-is-trying-to-save-its-economy-with-a-jedi-mind-trick/
Comment by MightyMike
2016-01-31 21:50:39
She was at least 21.
I believe she was 22 at the time…A bit different then then HA’s 18 year old intern claim but hell, lets not let facts get in the way when HA posts…Something also tells me that was not Monica’s first venture into gobbling the rhubarb…Doesn’t change Bill’s indiscretion for doing it but casting her as some vulnerable, virgin intern is laughable….
Monica was no vulnerable ingenue…from all indications she was more than up for a little Oval Office zestiness. And something tells me Bill’s marriage to Hillary was a loveless, joyless strategic alliance many years before he was ever tempted by this beret-wearing tart of an intern.
Blaming the woman/women?
Bill was (is?) a womanizer.
Were some women more “up for it” than others? Sure. I’d wager ALL Bill’s flings were “up for it” to some extent. Doesn’t mean a man who is serious about his wedding vows shouldn’t keep it zipped up.
Rental_Fraud……We’re talking about the President of the US.
Monica was no vulnerable ingenue…from all indications she was more than up for a little Oval Office zestiness.
Broadwell swallowed too… but not the president in the Oval Office. That feat will stand the test of time.
Bill Clinton is some fine character he is.
It’s a sad situation when you have to worry about the President of the US molesting your daughter interning at the whitehouse.
Trump said he wants to date his own daughter. That’s pretty freaky.
I wonder what they’d do in the Oval Office? Make a little rhubarb pie?
Which lecherous US President molested a student intern entrusted to him?
How about the early founder(s) taste for brown sugar?
What’s worse: Bill’s lechery or Trump’s incest?
“Doesn’t change Bill’s indiscretion for doing it but casting her as some vulnerable, virgin intern is laughable….”
Here we have thinly veiled Liberal Rage
Liberal ??
You don’t know what the F^%$ you are talking about…The garbage you post is 2nd only to HA….
Rage on
Selective rage.
Fresh off the press:
- ISM construction reading signals contraction
- U.S. headline stock market indexes and oil prices drop like a rock in respnose
My bad…construction is up, it’s manufacturing that’s down.
US Economy
ISM manufacturing index hits 48.2 in Jan.; Construction spending up 0.1% in Dec.
CNBC.com staff
1 Min Ago Breaking News
A worker assembles stand mixers on the production line at the Whirlpool Corp. KitchenAid manufacturing facility in Greenville, Ohio.
Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. construction spending barely rose in December as spending on nonresidential structures recorded its biggest drop since 2013, suggesting a mild downward revision to the advance fourth-quarter GDP growth estimate.
Construction spending ticked up 0.1 percent after a downwardly revised 0.6 percent drop in November, the Commerce Department said on Monday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast construction spending rising 0.6 percent in December after a previously reported 0.4 percent drop in November.
December’s small increase and November’s slightly steeper decline could affect the government’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product estimate.
The government reported on Friday that the economy expanded at a 0.7 percent annual rate in the final three months of the year.
Construction outlays increased 10.5 percent in 2015, the biggest rise since 2005, after advancing 9.6 percent in 2014.
In December, construction spending was constrained by a 2.1 percent decline in nonresidential structures, which includes factories and offices. That was the largest drop since January 2013. Outlays on private residential construction rose 0.9 percent, likely boosted by warm weather.
Overall, private construction spending fell 0.6 percent in December.
…
With the Baltic Dry Index dropping faster than Bristol Palin’s panties, and a lot of anecdotal but credible accounts of freight slowdowns and under-stocking at retail outlets, it looks like the economy went into a nosedive in January. However, I draw comfort from POTUS’s assurance in the SOTU that anyone who says the ‘Murican economy is in decline is “peddling fiction.” Kinda scary fiction at that….
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/report-store-inventory-levels-reduced-nationwide-stock-up-now-while-you-can_01292016
Lead article on William Kristol’s neocon hate rag website right now:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/yes-trump-can-be-defeated/article/2000844
Only Rubio or Clinton can guarantee that millions more goyim will be fed into the meat grinder to “secure the realm.”
This message sponsored by the Likud Party.
FoxNewsHate rallies the base. Underneath several articles about tonight’s Iowa caucuses, they have a group of articles on Iran, and another group on ISIS.
The Washington Times, under its subsection called Threat Assessment, has a pair of articles on North Korea (understandable, as the Times is published by the Unification Church i.e. the Moonies, from South Korea).
World Net Daily, in addition to its requisite voodoo, witchcraft, sorcery, seeing the face of Christ in a tortilla, etc, publishes a hit piece on Trump and appears to endorse Cruz.
No smaller government, less regulation, or lower taxes will result from any of this.
Who’d have thunk that corporate cost-cutting to boost “shareholder value” (CEO pay and stock options) would have such an adverse impact on the real economy?
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/02/01/how-bad-is-corporate-revenue-earnings-recession/
‘Murican workers who voted for the Oligopoly’s crony capitalist status quo should not be surprised to find themselves replaced by foreign wage slaves.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160131_Iowa_town_embodies_immigrant_divide.html
We have a shoo-in for this year’s Darwin Award.
http://news.yahoo.com/india-train-runs-over-teenager-taking-selfie-094106040.html
For sure. What a GD waste of life. Disgusting for him and sad for him.
“People criticized him when he first took over the NAACP chief post from the Reverend Oscar Tillman, who retired in 2014 after 22 years in the position, he says, because “I was the wrong flavor.”
Now here is an angry old white guy.
NAACP leader uses F-word to apologize for using T-word after N-word meeting
January 31, 2016
By Olaf Ekberg
The NAACP’s mission of political correctness and equality careened off the rails this week when a local president complimented a TV reporters breasts during an interview.
Don Harris, the president of the Maricopa County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, had just finished an event at Tempe Union High School District to discuss an incident at the school in which several girls wore black t-shirts bearing the letters “N-I-*-*-E-R” on them.
The outrage was instantaneous.
“The six students in question pulled ranks to spell out NI**ER on their own, smiling gleefully to pose for an Instagram picture. Their punishment was 5-days suspension,” a petition demanding their expulsion reads, EAGnews reports.
“This hurtful use of a racial slur is a complete disregard for the dignity of the black community in Arizona and across the nation and the punishment does not fit the total ignorance and cruelty of the crime.”
Harris was on hand to accept apologizes and demand action.
But after the meeting, while participants were speaking with the media, he was caught on camera saying Channel 12 reporter Monique Griego had “nice tits.”
The New Times contacted Harris after that incident and reports the NAACP leader said, “I apologize if anyone was offended. I could have said nothing . . . I’m really f*cking sorry.”
He argued that the meeting was over when he complimented the reporter’s rack and then really blew a gasket (edited for a family audience):
“I’m going to slash my wrists,” he spews. “Better yet, I’m going to throw myself out of a f*cking window, except I’m on the first floor . . . I’m one of the best g*dd*mned people in the state.”
“They’ve seen me now, they’ve seen what I’ve done. I’ve given up my law practice. I’m down here six, seven days a week. That’s what my commitment is. I support NOW, the women’s organization — g*dd*mn! — are you sh*tting me? Are you going to write this up?”
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/…/ -
In his defense, Channel 12 reporter Monique Griego does indeed have nice curves.
I have just now seen a picture of Monique Griego, they appear to be real journalists.
“The analysis shows that spending on buybacks and dividends has surged relative to investment in the business. Among the 1,900 companies that have repurchased their shares since 2010, buybacks and dividends amounted to 113 percent of their capital spending, compared with 60 percent in 2000 and 38 percent in 1990.
And among the approximately 1,000 firms that buy back shares and report R&D spending, the proportion of net income spent on innovation has averaged less than 50 percent since 2009, increasing to 56 percent only in the most recent year as net income fell. It had been over 60 percent during the 1990s.
Share repurchases are part of what economists describe as the increasing “financialization” of the U.S. corporate sector, whereby investment in financial instruments increasingly crowds out other types of investment.
The phenomenon is the result of several converging forces: pressure from activist shareholders; executive compensation programs that tie pay to per-share earnings and share prices that buybacks can boost; increased global competition; and fear of making long-term bets on products and services that may not pay off.
In theory, buybacks add another way, on top of dividends, of sharing profits with shareholders. Because buybacks increase demand and reduce supply for a company’s shares, they tend to increase the share price, at least in the short-term, amplifying the positive effect. By decreasing the number of shares outstanding, they also increase earnings per share, even when total net income is flat.
Companies say buybacks are warranted when demand for their products and services isn’t enough to justify spending on R&D, or when they deem their shares to be undervalued, and therefore a better investment than new projects.
Democrat Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate buybacks as a potential form of market manipulation.
Until 1982, companies were largely prohibited from buying their own shares. That year, as part of President Ronald Reagan’s broad moves to deregulate financial markets, the SEC eased its rules to allow companies to buy their own shares on the open market.”
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/the-stock-buyback-crazed-how-corporate-america-is-cannibalizing-itself/
Stock buybacks and the FED baby!
Corporate stock buybacks are a racket that allow CEOs to increase their own compensation while taking on dangerous levels of debt.
But when money is free, as much as you can borrow, can you really blame them?
If she doesn’t want them commented on, she should put them away.
When was the last time you saw a male reporter in a scoop necked shirt?
I blame the reporter.
They bait, they complain.
Wear a suit get treated like a suit. Wear nightclub wear, get treated like you’re in a night club.
Clothes are your first defense, or offense….
He is just a guy.
That is a
Justaguy statement and a justaguy reaction to being called out on it.
We need more justaguys that don’t apologize so fast as the weak we have now.
He did nothing wrong in any of it as far as I’m concerned.
Toughen up.
Do a google image search for her name. There is no “putting them away.”
Hillary Supporters Endorse KARL MARX as Her Pick for Vice President! - SIGN PETITION TO APPROVE HIM
Hillary Supporters Endorse KARL MARX as Her Pick for … - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPob5-_EAmc - 268k - Cached - Similar pages
6 hours ago
The stupid, it burns….
While the lemmings rush from stawks to bonds, precious metals are surging.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-vaults-higher-as-stocks-slump-2016-02-01?link=MW_home_latest_news
As I keep saying: If you are badmouthing Yellen and the Fed and refuse to vacate the Bank I think YOU have a problem…
Shift Bitcoin debit card. Under the hood…
“Since launch in November, over 10,000 people have signed up for the card and spent over $1,000,000 worth of bitcoin.”
https://blog.coinbase.com/2016/01/28/shift-card-a-glimpse-under-the-hood/
I’m not touching Bitcoin. I see its potential but I’d rather have tangible goods that aren’t “mined” out of nothing from a computer.
So you instead use paper money backed by nothing. Logic.
As long as sellers give me tangible goods for my FRNs, yeah, I’m kind of forced to use currency, seeing as that’s how I’m paid.
That’s how Bill is paid too. That’s also how he buys the bitcoins and how he spends them. Daily he checks how much $ they are worth on the fairy dust market. Surely you can see the logic in this?
“As long as sellers give me tangible goods for my FRNs,”
So when I use by Shift card at the grocery store, the goods I buy with bitcoin there are just my imagination?
Aren’t your bits converted to FRNs to complete the sale?
I don’t know and I don’t care. It is not my problem. It uses my BTC. And when I get the goods I don’t touch USD.
PB, take a look at this:
“…..the so-called “inverted yield curve” is considered to be a leading indicator of a recession, and has delivered very few false positives over several decades….”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-01/has-the-most-reliable-u-s-recession-predictor-lost-its-value
How can it ever possibly invert under ZIRP?
Exactly. If the Fed holds short term rates down, they will NEVER invert. Funny how everyone quoted in the article tries all sorts of other explanations. If I loaned short term money today, I would find anything less than 5% unappealing.
Inversion!
Right on cue, the Fed trots out one of its jawboners to try to manipulate the market and the algos.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-fischer-says-markets-might-be-right-after-all-2016-02-01
Paging ABQ Dan….
http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/ground-control-to-captain-zhou-xiaochuan/
Goon, looks like job security for you. Big Pharma must be gnashing its fangs….
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/recreational-marijuana-sales-hit-nearly-1-billion-in-2015-2016-02-01?link=MW_home_latest_news
That’s only one piece of my income right now, I picked up another project recently that will be keeping me increasingly busy soon, there aren’t enough hours in the day, days in the week, or digits in my bank account balances…
“I check cheddar like a food inspector” — Jay Z
This ……
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2016/02/60-minutes-raises-the-question-are-dirty-lawyers-running-the-u-s/
and its result…..
BREAKING NEWS
50 homicides in January: Chicago has bloodiest start to the year since 2000
Inconceivable! Chicago has the strictest gun-control laws in the country. Surely it must then have the lowest rate of “gun violence” unless of course only law-abiding citizens are unable to defend themselves, while thugs have easy access to illegal firearms.
Oh, wait….
why would anyone live there? They should give everyone a gun as one big test. Survival of the fittest. But first build a wall around it.
Coming soon to a theater near you: “Escape from Windy City”
I like it.
Yeeeeeeeeeeehaw!!!: Mating Call Of The West Coast Pederasts
“February lacks a single scheduled opportunity for the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank or Bank of Japan to reset monetary policy, in part because some policy makers decided last year to meet less frequently. That leaves investors to navigate any new threat to the global economy on their own after central bankers helped to limit losses in the worst January for stocks since 2009.
Unless central banks spring surprise action this month, investors are prey to any further slide in commodities or ructions emanating from China, beset by deteriorating growth and a lack of clarity on policy makers’ intentions.
The gap will give [central banks] more time to ascertain just how their economies will be affected by the recent slide in stocks and commodities, as well as China’s economic slowdown. Between now and March, if market convulsions subside, focus could turn to underlying signs of stability in the top economies. Fed officials said last Wednesday they are “closely monitoring global economic and financial developments.”
Leaving investors to their own devices for a few weeks could also be in order given that some central bankers themselves have questioned the potency of even more monetary stimulus. They also argue that it’s not their job to prop up asset markets — even if they have the reputation for doing so.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-01/february-air-pocket-buybacks-are-back-no-central-banks-hold-traders-hands
“Buybacks, which reached a monthly record in February and have surged so much they make up about 2 percent of daily volume, are customarily suspended during the five weeks before companies report quarterly results, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. With the busiest part of first-quarter earnings seasons beginning in April, the blackout is getting started now.
While the data isn’t conclusive, owning stocks during the five-week stretch when repurchases were curbed has generated a return that trails the market average over the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s not surprising to Eric Schlanger of Barclays Plc, who says companies buying back shares have helped keep equities aloft.
“Blackout periods are on radar screens now because of valuations, the length of the bull market, and the consensus that buybacks have been a major part of the bull market,” Schlanger, head of equities for the Americas at Barclays, said by phone. “With the S&P up around 2,100, people are going to be more attuned to possible fractures or previous areas of support changing than they were at 1,400.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-23/buyback-blackout-leaves-u-s-stocks-on-their-own-before-earnings
On US cable TV we only have to deal with one real estate pumping channel but here in the UK, every major channel has at least one real estate pumping show. ITV has Location, Location, Location” and “The Restoration Man.” BBC has “Homes under the Hammer” and there are multiple shows on buying homes overseas that are too numerous to mention. Channel 5 has numerous shows as well but the one fact that ties them all together is that no one ever bids under and wins the property. These guys must have invented the scam. Oh, you’re also not allowed to insult the seller with your low-ball offer. That is a no-no and will be dealt with harshly by the sarcasm police.
Here in the UK? Weren’t you in Sri Lanka?
No, I’m in the UK on vacation. I was living in Cyprus for five years before I moved to Georgia.
Right on cue, the Oligopoly financial media talking heads are calling on Yellen to introduce NIRP to levitate the Fed’s Ponzi markets and asset bubbles.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-01/ron-insana-kindly-requests-fed-lower-rates-negative-help-his-virtual-portfolio
$20 trillion in the hole, and the burn rate just keeps accelerating.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasury-raises-quarterly-borrowing-estimate-to-by-85-billion-2016-02-01?link=MW_home_latest_news
And nobody seems to care. None of the presidential candidates want to talk about it.
That’s because the sheeple don’t care.
nope they dont even understand how our money system works.
“Atlanta Fed Sees Q1 GDP Growth At Just 1.2%, 50% Below Wall Street Consensus”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-01/atlanta-fed-sees-q1-gdp-growth-just-12-50-below-wall-street-consensus
Try -1.2%
It really doesn’t matter does it? Corporations and the central banks will do all they can to prop up this market.
Look at CAT’ s ugly numbers for 3 years. They keep beating wall streets estimates by cooking the books. They probably have two sets of books.
We should have had a crash years ago.
Yet demand continues to collapse. It is the core fundamental in all this.
Anyone read “Flash Boys” by Michael Lewis? He wrote the Big Short too.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two major global banks, Barclays and Credit Suisse, are paying a combined $154.3 million to settle government investigations that they misled clients about being able to safely trade on their “dark pool” financial exchanges, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Attorney General’s office said Sunday.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/01/huffington-post-christians-should-accept-muhammad-as-a-prophet
Alt Headline: Huffington Post - Muslims should accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Barry Hussein Obama borrows and spends in a single presidency what 43 of his predecessors spent, combined. What a proud moment in the history of US presidents.
“Total U.S. Debt Surpasses $19 Trillion; Rises $8.4 Trillion Under President Obama”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-01/total-us-debt-surpasses-19-trillion-rises-84-trillion-under-president-obama
as long as interest rates stay at next to nothing we can be talking about this for another 20 years.
….. as demand continues to collapse.
who cares
u have been talking about that for 7 years and nothing has happened. were still here. Had a huge bull market.
“A closely watched pot never boils over.”
Janet yellen is gonna hose the shorts.
Collapsing demand has happened.
Don’t know how to help you Poet.
Bush wars are very expensive, pay your bills!
11k boomers turn 65 each day, they want their entitlements.
whine all you want, get used to it.
“11k boomers turn 65 each day, they want their entitlements.”
They are going to receive care that’s very different from what they are expecting.
The Boomers counted on living out their days at the expense of future generations, unbothered by the massive messes they were leaving behind. Sadly for them, the day of reckoning will be arriving early.
/fail
“11k boomers turn 65 each day, they want their entitlements.”
College kids in Iowa are coming out in droves for Bernie tonight, they want their college education (among other things) paid for.
BailoutBarney is pro-debt slavery.
self interest - that is why it is a democracy.
I’ll go get my JD in some ski resort town if college is free. Then a PhD….
Right after your schooling on the HBB.
Mafia - dont be jealous. Upper NY is very nice 2 weeks out of the year.
You’d never gain entry to a school in upper ny either kiddo.
“Upper NY”
LMFAO. This is not a place.
It’s lola land.
Mafia lives in Lola land.
Mafia lives in your empty skull, rent-free.
I’d like to think that some of those college kids, unlike the hope ‘n change lemmings of 2008 and 2012, recognize that they have no future under crony capitalism. They’re too proud to work menial jobs (the “opportunities” open to them under our Obama-Fed-Goldman Sachs jobless “recovery” but are going to find few routes into the middle class open to them. So maybe, just maybe, they are rejecting the crony capitalist status quo by voting for Bernie.
By my watch, it’s going up $1 million every 1 minute and 17 seconds.
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ - 235k -
For evil to prevail, a large portion of the population has to willfully close their eyes to what they know is wrong, and make a choice to deliberately ignore what they know to be right. The weaker the moral code in individuals and the population at large, the easier evil becomes to commit. Since 95% of ‘Muricans have become as amoral as they are stupid, the path has been cleared for Hillary to assume the highest office in the land and for her oligarch handlers to escalate their unfettered looting of the 99%. This is what the sheeple sanctioned with their votes for evil; this is what they deserve.
All that is left for the thinking 5% to do is support and network with eachother, maintain our integrity and ideals, and try to mitigate the impact of our descent into a neofeudal plantation run by and for the Oligopoly and populated by zombies.
All you pukes need to do to win is to simply choose to not play somebody else’s game.
“If God did not want them to be sheared then He would not have made them sheep.” - Calveras
How’s that hope ‘n change working out for ya, ‘Murica?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-01/they-want-us-dead-gone-homelessness-surges-across-us
The same sheeple who fell for “hope ‘n change Goldman Sachs can believe in” are going to fall for Hillary’s “middle class champion” snake oil. Meanwhile….
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/retail-apocalypse-2016-brings-empty-shelves-and-store-closings-all-across-america
This must be about all the shopping is done online.
Why does Texas, the conservative state have such high taxes?
Because conservative doesn’t mean what it used to mean.
They don’t hit you with income tax, but they hit you everywhere else to fund their government.
BINGO!! - BUT THEY WONT ADMIT IT AND people keep voting for neo-cons and quoting reagan!
National debt hits $19 trillion. Yeah, that’ll get paid off….
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/national-debt-hits-19-trillion/article/2582097
http://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-adjusted-prices/inflation-adjusted-gasoline-prices/
Is Trump’s supposed success merely a media hoax?
I have to admit that nobody I know plans to vote for him.
I have to keep reminding myself…
I dont know anyone who supports Hilary. Seems like the side show is all the press cares about.
Well, she has over 50% of the Democrat vote in Iowa so far — far more dominant than any of the Republicans are in their party’s caucus results.
Spoiler alert: Cruz leads The Donald…and Marti O’Malley has 0%.
All of the Hillary bumper stickers I’ve seen are on cars being driven by haggard-looking, overweight Boomer women who are portraits in stupidity, without exception. I pity any man who is saddled with such pathetic, vacuous creatures.
Is Trump going to take this country back?
Mitt Romney Would Like to “Take Our Country Back”
Susan Kraykowski
Charlotte Political Buzz Examiner
Next: What the Iowa Caucuses mean, and what they do not mean
September 5, 2012 7:21 PM MST
Willard “Mitt” Romney was born in 1947, and is a child of the 1950s. Many people and, I believe, most Republicans, look back fondly and wish that we’d return to the simpler times and solid social values of the 1950s. That is when they want to “Take Our Country Back!” to when they march and chant and protest.
I am also a child of the 50s – and I’m NOT enthused about returning to them!
…
Back to the Bush Years! We all get $200 in the mail!
It was $2000. We traded it in for a nice viola bow.
Time to take our country back — from Donald Trump
By Jonathan Capehart
December 8, 2015
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
(Dominick Reuter/Reuters)
You know the world is in danger of spinning off its axis when I agree with former vice president Dick Cheney.
Reacting to Donald Trump’s morally offensive proposal to seal the United States from Muslims, including Muslim Americans who are out of the country, Cheney told radio host Hugh Hewitt, “I think this whole notion that somehow we can just say no more Muslims, just ban a whole religion, goes against everything we stand for and believe in, I mean, religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from.”
…
http://whnt.com/2016/01/30/massachusetts-tattoo-artist-gives-away-free-donald-trump-tattoos/
Come to Florida. It’s as if he’s running uncontested…
It’s not about the person Trump. It’s about the volcano of rebellion.
Also about a gifted politician’s ability to best capture the Zeitgeist.
I have to admit that nobody I know plans to vote for him.
Maybe you should look beyond the other patrons at the gay bar.
I wouldn’t know about that, but you apparently are extremely knowledgeable.
Thanks for sharing your deep insights to the opinions of your fellow gay bar patrons.
Kansas Republicans Finally Admit That Their Tax Cuts For The Wealthy Have Failed
Hillary Clinton was gonna beat Obama. I don’t know who would be worse, I don’t know, how could it be worse? But she was going to beat – she was favored to win – and she got schlonged, she lost, I mean she lost.
So far Cruz is beating you in Iowa. How are you going to spin it if Cruz trumps you?
The gap is widening. Maybe you shouldn’t have wimped out on that debate.
“…she got schlonged…”
That’s vulgar. What makes you think the American people will elect a vulgar bully?
I heard the teevee announcer say that you were favored to win decisively in Iowa. And I heard you hate losers.
Will you hate yourself if you lose Iowa? What about in November 2016?
Trump’s worst nightmare:
Iowa caucus
Last updated Feb 1, 2016 at 8:54 PM
Feb 1
62% reporting Vote %
Cruz 28.3%
Trump 25%
Rubio 21.9%
Who is planning to vote for an angry old man, because you yourself are an angry old man who identifies with your own type?
You might find this interesting:
Wonkblog
A strange but accurate predictor of whether someone supports Donald Trump
One of the reasons that Donald Trump has flummoxed pollsters and political analysts is that his supporters seem to have nothing in common. He appeals to evangelical and secular voters, conservative and moderate Republicans, independents and even some Democrats. Many of his supporters are white and don’t have a college degree, but he also does well with some highly educated voters, too.
What’s bringing all these different people together, new research shows, is a shared type of personality — a personality that in many ways has nothing to do with politics. Indeed, it turns out that your views on raising children better predict whether you support Trump than just about anything else about you.
Matthew MacWilliams, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, conducted a poll in which Republicans were asked four questions about child-rearing. With each question, respondents were asked which of two traits were more important in children:
•independence or respect for their elders;
•curiosity or good manners;
•self-reliance or obedience;
•being considerate or being well-behaved.
Psychologists use these questions to identify people who are disposed to favor hierarchy, loyalty and strong leadership — those who picked the second trait in each set — what experts call “authoritarianism.” That many of Trump’s supporters share this trait helps explain the success of his unconventional candidacy and suggests that his rivals will have a hard time winning over his adherents.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/01/how-your-parenting-style-predicts-whether-you-support-donald-trump/
I posted that very story here weeks ago.
And the angry Trumplings attacked me vigorously in response. They can’t stand to have the object of their affection shown in any kind of unfavorable light.
It puts Trump in an unfavorable light only indirectly. It’s really a commentary on his fans and the reasons that they admire him.
Good point. Trump is clearly the most capable politician to hit the scene since Barack Obama.
Old men. We remember something better.
My dad is plenty old, but lacks the anger that seems to make other old men adore Trump.
No offense to your dad but I am not foaming at the mouth on a street corner either. I just don’t like the system as it has become. So you call me angry and old. This will not help your agenda. I can vote too.
I am quite happy that Trump is making a showing.
You can vote as you see fit, and I won’t fault you for it.
From my perspective, Trump is a great politician in terms of his ability to empathize with voters who, like you, are unhappy with what the system has become. Sanders has a similar appeal to relatively more liberal voters.
Interestingly, as Sanders has greatly narrowed the gap with Clinton over the course of the evening, Cruz is pulling out ahead of Trump.
Don’t forget that Cruz also has played the “Washington outsider” card; never mind that he is Ivy-League educated, married to a Goldman Sachs director, and has been a Senator for quite a while. He also has true Evangelical cred which Trump, with his interesting marital history, cannot claim.
Is Trump at risk of losing to Cruz due to the latter’s vastly superior political knowledge and experience?
If Cruz gets the nomination, are the Democrats likely to play the eligibility card on him?
Opinions
Ted Cruz is not eligible to be president
Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz
The Texas Republican was the first major presidential candidate to formally declare a bid.
By Mary Brigid McManamon
January 12, 2016
Mary Brigid McManamon is a constitutional law professor at Widener University’s Delaware Law School.
Donald Trump is actually right about something: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) is not a natural-born citizen and therefore is not eligible to be president or vice president of the United States.
The Constitution provides that “No person except a natural born Citizen . . . shall be eligible to the Office of President.” The concept of “natural born” comes from common law, and it is that law the Supreme Court has said we must turn to for the concept’s definition. On this subject, common law is clear and unambiguous. The 18th-century English jurist William Blackstone, the preeminent authority on it, declared natural-born citizens are “such as are born within the dominions of the crown of England,” while aliens are “such as are born out of it.” The key to this division is the assumption of allegiance to one’s country of birth. The Americans who drafted the Constitution adopted this principle for the United States. James Madison, known as the “father of the Constitution,” stated, “It is an established maxim that birth is a criterion of allegiance. . . . [And] place is the most certain criterion; it is what applies in the United States.”
…
Haha, trying to identify with main street. Early on it’s the Carhartt coat, and when it warms up they’ll be rolling-up their sleeves.
The people of Iowa are brain dead religious sheeple if they prefer Cruz.
But seriously, isn’t Cruz better qualified to govern than Trump is?
None of them are qualified. Rand Paul is the wisest choice.
But out of the running. That said, I expect him to be a strong candidate over future years.
I mean, part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich.
Generally speaking, very rich people who go around bragging about it, plus claim their fawning followers would remain faithful even if they shot somebody, are quite unlikely to win U.S. presidential elections.
Gamblers are quite fond of doubling down.
Politics
Donald Trump Doubles Down on Shooting Remarks: ‘I Have People That Are So Loyal’
Jan. 24, 2016 1:32pm
Kaitlyn Schallhorn
GOP frontrunner Donald Trump continued to boast about the loyalty of his supporters Sunday morning as he doubled down on his assertion that his followers would still stick by his side even if he shot someone.
“I have a very good group of people, John,” Trump said Sunday during a phone interview with CBS’ John Dickerson. “I mean, I have people that are so loyal that it’s been so reported.”
…
Some math tips for teevee reporters:
22,674 => 22674/(22674+19855) = 53.3% Cruz
19,855 => 19855/(22674+19855) = 46.7% Trump
(22674-19855)/(22674+19855) = 53.3% - 46.7% = 6.6% gap IN CRUZ’S FAVOR
The sheeple of Iowa must be at least a statistical deviation below the norm when it comes to stupidity. 21% for Rubio? Goldman Sachs puppet Cruz leading Trump? The stupid, it burns….
Rand never should have combed his hair… this frightened the voters.
Lolas back in his RageCage.
lol@lola.
Are Trumplings’ heads exploding about now?
Your boy Trump is getting schlonged. What’s up with that?
Trump is wearing his dancing pumps and Carmen Miranda fruit hat, heading out for a night on the town!
Would a Sanders win or even a close showing be the kiss of death for Hillary’s election prospects?
The MSM says that Bernie is not popular with minority voters, who are not numerous in Iowa. They say a good showing in IA and a victory in NH may get him attention that will help him, but it’s nowhere near a kiss of death foe Hillary.
All my life I’ve made money. I’ve made money. I’ve always been good at making money. I think I have great imagination, but I made money. And all my life I did well. And my father always said, ‘Everything he touches turns to gold.
How many caucuses have you won so far?
A couple of observations about tonight’s results:
1) The supposedly inevitable Democrat nominee ended in a virtual tie with a candidate who was virtually unknown four years ago.
2) A Hispanic candidate whipped the guy who doubled down on his promise to build a high wall on America’s southern border to keep out Hispanics, with another Hispanic candidate coming in third after stealing many votes from the presumptive victor.
The Wall Street Journal
Ted Cruz wins Iowa, exposes cracks in Donald Trump’s campaign
By Janet Hook
Published: Feb 1, 2016 11:26 p.m. ET
Marco Rubio finishes a strong third in Republican caucuses
Reuters
Ted Cruz supporters celebrate Monday in Des Moines, Iowa.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz outmuscled businessman Donald Trump to win the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses on Monday, cementing his status as the leading alternative to the Republican front-runner.
The results Monday set the stage for a series of high-stakes showdowns in the weeks ahead between Cruz, Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whose late surge was enough to break into the top tier.
The race in Iowa exposed cracks in Trump’s front-runner status. After a six-month ride atop the polls, his stardom wasn’t enough to overcome Cruz’s superior turnout machine and the Texan’s appeal with the party’s most conservative voters.
…
Boo hoo go the trumplings
Boo hoo hoo with their boo boo faces.
Daddy got whipped by a greasy preacher.
Boo hoo.
Trump seemed to be in full-blown denial about his loss. I had a feeling that chickening out to Cruz on the last debate would come back to bite him.
Judging the clips Meanie Meghan had queued up for Cruz and Rubio, he would have been utterly destroyed by his barrage of bullshit on video. He was smart to stay away.
Trump is toast… and now the trumplings will rally behind the greasy preacher like he’s their messiah.
Just don’t throw tomatoes at a Trumpling rally.
Is it even legal for a candidate to openly encourage his mindless disciples to commit acts of assault?
Trump tells crowd to ‘knock the crap out of’ tomato-throwing protesters
By Robert Schroeder
Published: Feb 1, 2016 4:21 p.m. ET
Billionaire tells supporters he’ll pay legal fees
Getty Images
Trump’s request: ‘Knock the crap’ out of anyone throwing a tomato at him
Memo to protesters: Don’t trow tomatoes at Donald Trump or you might get roughed up.
Trump, the front-runner in the Iowa caucuses, said security had told him there was a risk that protesters would throw tomatoes at an event in Cedar Rapids on Monday afternoon.
“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them,” Trump said at a pre-caucus rally.
Iowans caucus for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees on Monday night.
The event ended without incident. Had there been such a protestor, and had a Trump supporter done what Trump asked, the real-estate mogul said he would have paid any legal fees.
…
I’d tend to agree with the trumplings on this one. If you show up at a rally to cause trouble, you better expect to get roughed up.
Of course, Trump almost certainly hires his hecklers. Gets a nice pop in the media every time.
Given that Sanders came within a hair’s bredth of Hillary, is it fair to declare him the Democratic victor?
Sanders is henceforth TOO BIG TO IGNORE.
The lizard queen is a hair’s breath from an getting busted for that gross security breach with her mail server, too. We might have a race between the wild haired jew and lard in a suit.
I’ll take the wild-haired Jew any day. I may not agree with Bernie’s principles, but at least he has them, unlike Her Essence of Snake Oil. I do believe his concern for the 99% is genuine, whereas Hillary views them as soulless dupes to be exploited for the enrichment of the Oligopoly.
So if the choice is Cruz or Bernie, which way would you go?
Is it possible that the 47% of ‘Muricans drawing gub’mint benefits might calculate that a self-avowed socialist will be more generous (with other people’s money) to the Free Sh*t Army than Hillary, who’s top priority will be delivering patronage and graft to her .1% donors?
People voting in their own best interest…. tell me more about this novel concept.
Maybe some of the no-hopers like Bush, Christie, Huckabee, etc. will finally drop out of the race. Carson might be a good man but he is not Presidential material; if he bows out, most of his supporters will probably back Trump.
All 12 of them?
Carson’s and Huckabee’s people will go to Trump and Cruz. Rubio will get the rest of the dropouts’ orphans.
Some quite shocking political news from the home front:
- Last time I informally polled the women in my immediate family, almost every one planned to vote for Hillary.
- As of tonight, I learned that they have switched allegiance en masse to Sanders, including my most liberal sister who campaigned for Obama.
Lola gets put back in his RageCage for another 23 hours.
lol@Lola.