Datasets:

andyP

/

fake_news_en_opensources

like 1

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/02/mining-giants-reported-boost-up-in-profits-001490097.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Mining giants reported boost up in profits

Two of the mining giants in the world, #Bhp Billiton and #Anglo American observed a drastic increase in #Profits due to the rise in the cost of commodities. Half-year profits of BHP Billiton are $$3.24 billion in comparison to $$412 million in the previous year. Similarly, full-year profits of Anglo American are $$1.6 billion when compared to $$5.6 billion loss in the year 2015. Cash windfall for BHP For BHP, it was a cash windfall arising due to increased cost of commodities with China’s renewed appetite and because of this, it could reward its shareholders with a bigger than expected amount. This reflected its increasing confidence across the sector. Advertisements Advertisements If the marketing forecast of $$3.4 billion is excluded, there was around 8 times increase in the first half of the net profit of BHP. In the previous year, first-half dividend of BHP was 16 cents which galloped to 40 cents. Other than this, BHP has reduced its net debt from $$26.1 billion to $$20.1 billion at the end of previous financial year. While 28% rise was observed in iron core revenues, 14 percent and 7 percent was found in case of copper and oil respectively. Attribution of increased profits The demand of commodities increased in China which led to increased prices. While there was above 80 percent increment observed in iron cores, coal rose by up to 300 percent. Mr. Mackenzie further stated that production of iron core in lesser amount in the other areas was also an advantage for the companies like BHP as it could fill the gap in demand leading to increased prices in iron core. Advertisements BHP still has a lot of worries to handle According to the chief executive of BHP Billiton, Andrew Mackenzie, improved productivity led to such amazing results. He further reported to BBC that the results were the outcomes of 5 years plan meant for improving the productivity, redesigning the portfolio and the operating model. He claimed that commitment of company towards this plan brought fruitful results in the period of increased prices. However, the chief executive said that paying the debts and highlighting the economic and political uncertainty still remain the major agendas for the company. He further added that the company would prefer that most of the profits should be used for strengthening the balance sheets but at the same time, it wanted to ensure commitment of high cash returns for its shareholders. However, BHP also stated that exports of commodities may be challenged due to the increasing threat of protectionism. It further added that following the Samarco mining disaster where 19 people were killed in Brazil, resettlement of communities and restoration of environment are priorities for the company. Advertisements This disaster had also polluted miles of waterways in Brazil. Anglo American recovered from loss Anglo American was one of the mining companies that got hit badly due to the decreased prices of commodities in 2015. But when the commodity prices increased last year, it recovered well and became the top performer as per the FTSE 100 share index. Mr. Mark Cutifani reported that various actions related to cost, capital and portfolio have improved its balance sheet and reduced the company’s debit by 34 percent, to an amount of $$8.5 billion.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/08/samsung-gear-fit2-pro-with-improved-features-could-be-announced-before-ifa-2017-001934849.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro with improved features could be announced before IFA 2017

Samsung is expected to officially announce the much awaited Galaxy Note 8 on August 23rd, but the tech giant might also have another device to unveil by the end of August. The South Korean tech titan might take the wraps off its #Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro just before the IFA 2017 event. The launch of the company’s new fitness smartband was first reported by Venture Beat. The publication site also shared several renders of the upcoming Samsung #Gear Fit2 Pro. The new fitness device will actually be the tech giant’s third iteration of Gear Fit. Samsung launched the first model back in 2014, while the second variant came out in 2016. Advertisements Advertisements However, the popular tipster, Evan Blass, made it known through his Twitter account that the company might announce the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro just in time before the IFA 2017 trade show. Device with 5 ATM water resistance The company’s latest feature-packed fitness band will come along with several improvements from the original device. The Gear Fit2 Pro will also be a bit more competitive with other fitness wearable in the market. Samsung’s new fitness smartband will further come packed with 5 ATM water resistance, which means users can fully submerged the device in water. The wearable will now be able to track its user’s swimming workouts, a feature that’s never been found on any previous fitness smartband. Smartwatch with swim tracking feature According to Pocket-Lint, unlike the current variant, the Gear Fit 2 Pro will arrive with extra features, such as swim tracking and offline playback support for Spotify. Advertisements As for the software, the new fitness smartband will be compatible with both iOS and Android devices. However, just like the original Fit 2, the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro might run on the tech company’s own Tizen operating system. Unsurprisingly, the new variant will be available with GPS functionality. This is one of the original model’s main features that has been carried over to the upcoming smartwatch. Considering Samsung’s new fitness wearable will most likely be offered to swimmers, the smartwatch is expected to be capable of syncing with the Speedo On app. In terms of the design, the Gear Fit 2 Pro is anticipated to have the same design as the original device. The new smartwatch is expected to be available with a watch-style clasp, which would make the device most suitable for tougher workouts. Nonetheless, Samsung has yet to announce the price of its new fitness wearable. #Gear Fit 2 Pro features

bias

veteranstoday.com

2017-11-27

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/08/07/israelis-rally-against-corruption-tainted-netanyahu/

Israelis rally against corruption-tainted Netanyahu

__________ ABNA Israelis rally against corruption-tainted Netanyahu Hundreds of Israelis have held a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is embroiled in two corruption investigations. The protest took place outside Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s home in the city of Petah Tikva on Saturday, marking the 34th such weekly event. The demonstrators, who accuse Mandelblit of foot-dragging on Netanyahu’s probes, chanted slogans such as, “We will put you on trial because the nation doesn’t believe [you].” Lawyer Sigalit Kesler, who was among those attending the event, said that the premier “must take responsibility… We will not be ruled by a prime minister that is suspected in heavy, heavy criminal charges.” “All these terrible happenings happened under his responsibility. And I say, if he didn’t know, it’s terrible. If he knew, it’s a disaster,” she added. A counter-protest was also held nearby, with the participants holding banners in support of Netanyahu’s Likud party. David Bitan, a member of the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, claimed that the demonstrations against Netanyahu “are not democratic,” adding, “We need to stop these protests, and we will fight them with another protest.” Police officers were deployed in Petah Tikva to separate the two rival protests and prevent clashes. In Case 1000, Netanyahu is suspected of having received gifts from businessmen overseas. He is also being investigated in Case 2000 for an alleged media bribery scheme to help Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper against its competitor Israel Hayom in return for favorable coverage of the prime minister. Earlier this week, Israeli police confirmed that Netanyahu was as a suspect in the two inquiries into allegations of “fraud, breach of trust and bribes.” Ari Harow, a former chief of staff to Netanyahu, also agreed to testify against the prime minister in the cases. The developments raised speculation that the Israeli premier could be indicted shortly. Netanyahu, however, referred to the developments as “the inevitable scandal-of-the-week” in a Facebook video posting. He has denied any wrongdoing and described the accusations as a “witch-hunt” designed to force him from office. No resignation in case of indictment Separately on Saturday, Israel’s minister of judicial affairs, Ayelet Shaked, said that even if Netanyahu was indicted for corruption he would not be forced to step down. She told Israel’s Channel 2 TV that ministers had to resign in such a situation, but not necessarily prime ministers.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-21/trump-sign-executive-orders-corporate-inversions-and-dodd-frank-regulations

Watch Live: Trump Signs Executive Orders On Corporate Inversions and Dodd-Frank Regulations

As pressure mounts on Trump to post some victories within the totally arbitrary window of the "First 100 Days" of his administration, the President just joined Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to sign a combination of executive orders and memos targeting the reduction of tax regulations and certain components of Dodd-Frank. As we noted earlier, the executive orders and memos signed today are expected to (i) initiate a review and potential unwind of executive orders signed by Obama in 2016 to limit corporate inversions and (ii) initiate a thorough review of the orderly liquidation authority granted to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) under Dodd-Frank. TRUMP: THIS REGULATORY REDUCTION IS FIRST STEP TO TAX REFORM TRUMP: 2 DIRECTIVES WILL REVIEW DAMAGE OF DODD-FRANK REGS MNUCHIN: WE'RE FOCUSED ON ACHEIVING COMPREHENSIVE TAX REFORM MNUCHIN: REVIEW IS THOROUGH AND WILL DELIVER FINDINGS IN JUNE MNUCHIN: WE'LL SEE IF FSOC AND OLA RULES IN PLACE MAKE SENSE For those who missed it, below is our preview of today's signings from earlier. * * * Per a statement from the White House, one of Trump's new executive orders will seek to undo tax rules put in place in the last year of Obama's presidency that were designed to limit so-called 'corporate inversions' which allows U.S. traded companies to recognize income in lower cost countries like Ireland. Per Bloomberg: Under President Barack Obama, Treasury sought to rein in U.S. companies’ attempts to shift their profit offshore by proposing rules that would curb so-called “earnings stripping” and inversions -- mergers in which U.S. companies transfer their tax address overseas to low-tax countries like Ireland to cut their tax bills. Some of those rules, first proposed in April 2016, sought to restrict lending among subsidiaries of the same corporate parent, a technique that can create income in low-tax countries and tax-deductible interest payments in the U.S. The proposed rules met a barrage of criticism from corporations and tax lawyers, who complained that they went too far by banning common, everyday cash-management practices that have nothing to do with tax avoidance. Amid the criticism, Treasury last October softened the proposed rules to allow cash pooling, a common corporate money-management technique in which excess cash in subsidiaries is swept daily into a single pool. It also delayed a related proposal, which would require companies to extensively document their related-party lending, until Jan. 1, 2018. Other actions expected today include a memo that will require a review of the Financial Stability Oversight Committee’s designation process for systemically important banks and a review of the orderly liquidation authority granted to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) under Dodd-Frank. Under Dodd-Frank, the FDIC is granted the power to wind down the biggest banks but Trump's memo is expected to call for a study on whether enhanced bankruptcy authority is a better alternative for failing financial companies. The 2010 financial-regulation law known as Dodd-Frank established a so-called orderly liquidation authority under which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is empowered to untangle and wind down the biggest banks. Republican lawmakers have said the law doesn’t address the fact that Wall Street firms remain too big to fail, meaning taxpayers will still be on the hook for future rescues. The U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month approved legislation to create a new bankruptcy process for financial companies with more than $$50 billion in assets that could allow for a quick transfer of a failed bank’s assets and impose a temporary stay of some contractual rights to give the company time to restructure. The measure aims to address concerns that led lawmakers to approve taxpayer bailouts during the 2008 credit crisis. At the time, the structures of Wall Street banks were considered too complex to go through bankruptcy court. The orders are expected to be signed around 3pm EST.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/01/the-penny-stocks-of-kirkland-lake-part-six-in-a-series-001366265.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

The penny stocks of Kirkland Lake: part six in a series

Over past weeks, Blasting News has presented the series, "The penny stocks of Kirkland Lake," which resulted in the discovery of missing consolidation adjustments on charts for TSX Venture Exchange-listed stocks produced by Stockhouse.com, BigCharts.com, and Yahoo Finance. How charts from these providers came to be missing consolidation adjustments is difficult to discern. Charts missing consolidations would seem a valuable tool to those looking to distribute stock into the hands of the uninformed, perhaps worth paying for. Private placement investors, those who buy an amount of stock deemed worthy by issuing companies and given a discount to the market price, the mechanics of which were discussed more thoroughly in part two of the Kirkland Lake series, might find value in such a service. Advertisements Advertisements Professional stock distribution network Further investigation has led to the discovery of CobalTech Mining Inc. (TSXV: CSK), which changed its name from Big North Graphite Corp., in November 2016, shortly before news concerning "Why Tesla Motors Needs CobalTech Mining" was published, on December 13, by Small Cap Network. Small Cap Network disclosed that it was paid "$$2,000 per month by Frontier MCG for market awareness and other advertising," for CobalTech, on December 9. Frontier MCG reports that it is engaged in bringing "retail and institutional financial contacts qualified deal flow," which sounds like it matches companies selling private placements with investors. Perhaps not surprisingly, CobalTech reported closing a private placement valued at $$2.92 million on December 23rd. The CobalTech chart from BigCharts, presented in the gallery along with one from Stockhouse, appears to be missing a consolidation adjustment. Advertisements In April 2015, CobalTech (then Big North Graphite) completed a one-for-10 consolidation that appears to be missing from the BigCharts chart. As a result, CobalTech shares appear to have recently staged a breakout to new highs with BigCharts, while Stockhouse shows the stock down over 90 percent from its high, just over $$3.20, printed in 2012. This reporter has lost track of all the reports of small cap companies being touted as being set to explode as a result of Tesla Motors, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: TSLA) need for lithium. For those who aren't aware, Tesla has missed drastically reduced Wall Street analyst consensus per share loss estimates, in three out of the last four quarters, by 970, 150, and 216 percent; it also has a return on equity of -43.75 percent and a debt-to-equity ratio of 118.25 percent. In fairness, Tesla reported a surprise profit in September 2016. However, for all of its innovation and appeal, the jury would appear to still be out with regard to Tesla's financial future. Sound confusing? Almost too much to consider at once? It's conceivable the situation was designed that way. Advertisements Consider the position of the investor(s) who purchased the recent CobalTech private placement, who are presumably looking to sell their shares at a markup. All the ingredients are present: a missing consolidation with BigCharts leading to a misleading chart, a recent name change, and paid-for hyped-up analysis of dubious value connecting CobalTech with what appears to be a rather played Tesla story, told by many other companies. Similar to game of Three-card Monte? Even with its problems, Tesla actually sells cars, generating revenue. Over the past three years, CobalTech and its predecessor, Big North Graphite, have not generated a dime in revenue, as well as reporting per share losses, of $$0.16, $$0.20, and $$30, in 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively. Does CobalTech really have a future? Or is it all just a big game, similar to Three-card Monte, where everyone on the inside knows there is no real #Business and is really just interested in distributing shares at obscene markups to gullible, mom-and-pop investors? Stay-tuned to find out and be careful. CobalTech owns a claim in Cobalt, Ontario, located about 65 miles from Kirkland Lake.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-13/oil-prices-are-90-yoy-what-might-mean-bonds

Gguy, Not Verified

Oil Prices Are Up 90% YoY... What That Might Mean For Bonds

Submitted by Eric Bush via Gavekal Capital blog, It is somewhat hard to believe but oil prices are up nearly 90% over the past year. The past two times oil prices have increased this much year-over-year, US 10-year bonds rallied quite significantly. In 2008, oil was up over 100% in July and bond yields were hovering just over 4%. Ultimately, yields fell to 2.10% as the year-over-year change in oil dropped to -63% by the end of that year. In 2010, oil prices had climbed over 120% year-over-year and bond yields were around 3.60%. By August 2010, the year-over-year change in oil had fallen to about 0% and yields had dropped to 2.4%. Yields have fallen by 22 bps since making a high in mid-December. Given the significant increase in oil prices in the past year, the decline in bond yields may just be beginning.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-11/inconvenient-truth-consumer-debt

The Inconvenient Truth... Of Consumer Debt

Authored by Danielle DiMartino Booth via Bloomberg.com, Oh, but for the days the hawks had a hero in Sydney. Against the backdrop of a de facto currency war, the Reserve Bank of Australia stood as a steady pillar of strength. The RBA held the line on interest rates, maintaining a floor of 2.5 percent, even as its global central bank peers drove rates to the zero bound and beyond into negative territory. The abrupt end to the commodities supercycle drove the RBA to join the global currency war. The mining-dependent nation’s economy was so debilitated that policy makers felt they had no choice but to ease financial conditions. In February 2015, after an 18-month honeymoon, the RBA reduced its official rate to 2.25 percent, marking the start of a cycle that ended last August with the fourth cut to a record low of 1.5 percent. The Bank of Canada has taken a similar journey in recent years. It embarked upon a mild tightening campaign in 2010 that raised the overnight loan rate from a record low of 0.25 percent to 1 percent in September 2010. The bank maintained that level until early 2015. Two weeks before the RBA’s first cut, the Bank of Canada lowered rates to 0.75 percent. The January move, which shocked the markets, was followed in July 2015 with an additional ease to 0.5 percent, where it remains today. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz, who replaced Mark Carney after he departed to head the Bank of England, explained the moves as necessary to counter the downside risks to inflation emanating from the oil price shock to the country's economy. Two resource-rich economies reacting similarly to body blows is intuitive enough. They eased the pressure on their given economies. How they’ve landed in their current predicaments is less easy to explain. Propelled by soaring home prices from Sydney to Toronto to Melbourne to Vancouver, Australia’s household debt-to-income has hit a record 190 percent, the highest among developed nations; it is trailed closely by Canada, which has a 167 percent ratio. To put this in perspective, at the peak of the housing bubble, debt-to-income in the U.S. peaked at 130 percent. Then, economists took perverse pleasure in squelching the alarm these frightening figures elicited. “It’s not the level of debt that matters, it’s the cost to service that debt.” Is it a surprise that economists today are equally dismissive of households’ heavy debt burdens? Mortgages take a lifetime to expunge; incomes flow in every year. That myopic mindset best captures the shackles that bind today’s global economy. Of course it’s acceptable to build infinitely high levels of debt -- as long as rates never rise. But then there's the inconvenient truth that when the price of the collateral backing those millions of subprime mortgages cratered, those irrelevant debt loads became relevant overnight. The same can be said of today’s delicate dynamic. Australia and Canada will be just fine so long as they don’t suffer a shock in any form to their respective economies. Some policy makers have begun to push back against the conventional stupidity. “Sometime between now and Armageddon, interest rates will go up,” warned Australia’s Treasury Secretary John Fraser on May 30. “That’s something people need to be mindful of.” Bear in mind that household debt has been growing at multiples of income, a disconnect that can only exist in a wonderland of permanently low interest rates. Call it a global cultural tectonic shift. For close to a decade, the almighty Federal Reserve’s holding interest rates near the zero bound and its unconventional monetary maneuvers have bled into every nook and cranny of the global economy; it has altered the way investors of all stripes approach the very idea of debt. Asset pricing, the way it was taught in Finance 101 courses, has no place in the new unreal world. And sadly, the impetus to save has died in the wake of the end of compound interest. All the while, governments and major corporations have borrowed without a thought about potential ramifications. Demographics add to the problem : We don't die as young as we once did. What to do? Close our eyes and make a wish that the world’s central bankers maintain the illusion of debt service being the only thing that ever has to matter. We ride the coattails of record levels of global quantitative easing being pumped into the system to keep the patient on life support. We tell ourselves that risky asset prices are at the precipice of the rally of the century, even though the run-up is the second-longest on record. Without the comforting embrace of such delusions we could hardly dismiss as hysterical hyperbole reports such as that recently released by the World Economic Forum, which said longevity and lackluster investment returns will viciously collude to create a $$400 trillion retirement savings shortfall in 30 years’ time. That figure is five times global output. At the very least, Fraser has an optimistic take on how far out the day of reckoning will be. Debt is, “all fine until it ain’t. When interest rates do, in the centuries to come, go up, it’s something to watch.” Pray you aren’t the lucky soul with front-row seat tickets.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/03/bitcoin-price-continues-to-drive-new-all-time-highs-001517891.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Bitcoin price continues to drive new all-time highs

#Bitcoin is #Trading at approximately $$1,250 - $$1,270 today - $$100 higher than the preceding high which was posted in December 2013. 2017 has seen massive volatility for Bitcoin 2017 has been an extremely volatile year for the world’s first and largest #cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin. The year began with an emphatic break of $$1000, followed by and aggressive run up to the test the previous all-time high of $$1,160. The price action was predominantly driven by huge Chinese trading volume, which drove prices past the previous Chinese all-time high, reaching a peak of 8888 CNY before an aggressive slump back down to $$900 USD and 6300 CNY. Price action then crashed down to $$750 USD and 5000 CNY amidst concerns over The People’s Bank of China conducting investigations into the operations of several major Chinese Bitcoin exchanges. Advertisements Advertisements The investigations resulted in a temporary ban on high leveraged margin trading within China, causing a 90 percent reduction in Chinese trading volume. The U.S. markets are driving Bitcoin for the first time over in three years The ban on Chinese margin trading has led to the U.S. markets driving the price of Bitcoin for the first time since 2013 - with U.S. Bitcoin markets currently trading at approximately 6 percent higher than Chinese markets. The ban has also greatly reduced selling pressure on the markets, which many traders have cited as the principal catalyst for the price gains of over $$500 USD that has occurred over the last 2 months. Many traders are suggesting that the trading volume that is taking place on the exchanges is only the tip of the iceberg, arguing that OTC (Over The Counter) trading has spiked dramatically since the Chinese margin trading ban. Advertisements An exodus of Chinese trading volume from the exchanges to OTC orders would explain the huge decline in Chinese trading volume, as well as the dramatic price discrepancy which has opened up between U.S. and Chinese markets. With new all-time highs being forged daily it is unlikely that Bitcoin’s momentum will begin to slow anytime soon, with many traders anticipating a parabolic move to the upside will be needed to trigger a major correction.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/03/amex-platinum-card-buffed-and-boosted-001516937.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

AmEx Platinum Card buffed and boosted

On 2 March, American Express announced that the company would be responding to stiff competition in the market with a new and improved #Amex Platinum Card program, but at a slightly higher cost. Soon after the announcement, the stock market reacted positively when the company's shares (AXP) went up by 0.37%. So what's new in the card? Customers will retain all of the AmEx Platinum Card benefits they have enjoyed thus far, but here are the enticing new perks. First of all, Uber users who also have the exclusive cards will be happy to know that the AmEx service now comes pre-loaded with up to $$200 worth of yearly credit to use when traveling anywhere within the United States, as well as Uber VIP status. Advertisements Advertisements AmEx recently added another perk that offers their clients five times their normal membership rewards on flights booked. The lucky elites that carry the iconic card will now also earn 5 points per dollar spent at any eligible hotels, as long as they book through AmEx travel services. AmEx Platinum Card holders can now add AmEx Gold Cards to their service at no extra cost and will be able to gain worldwide access to one of the largest selections of swanky airport lounges currently offered by any U.S. credit card. It seems executives at American Express have decided that plastic is no longer fit for the elite, and have opted instead for a new metal card. The upgraded design is fortified from stainless steel and now competes with top of the range products from rivals in the luxury credit card business, as well as AmEx's own invite-only Centurion Card. Advertisements Furthermore, a member's account information will now appear on the back of the card. Benefits offered by the card The #Sapphire Reserve card made quite an entrance last year when it was launched by JPMorgan Chase. The card proved to be very popular, with an annual membership fee of $$450 which includes a range of benefits and up to $$1500 in traveling credits. Doug Buckminster, AmEx global consumer services group head, said that the company had certainly seen a sharp rise in card cancellations after the Sapphire Reserve card entered the market. Another competitor comes in the form of Citigroup's revamped Citi Prestige Card. Costco, the country's largest wholesale membership club, caused AmEx to suffer a financial blow when the corporation moved its credit card provider to Citigroup's Visa division. Consumers will be able to get their hands on the new AmEx Platinum Card from the 30th of March when the annual membership fee will also increase from $$450 to $$500. This 22% fee hike will be effected automatically for existing customers when their membership comes up for annual renewal.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/news/2017/03/gamestop-could-close-as-many-as-190-stores-001582157.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel

GameStop could close as many as 190 stores

#Gamestop announced a few days ago that it would be closing down somewhere between 2 percent to 3 percent of its stores globally. Since the company operates over 6,600 stores worldwide this means that up to 190 of its stores could be shutdown. This news comes on the heels of GameStop being on shaky ground in terms of its stock and overall sales of video games and #Video Game accessories. GameStop's Issues GameStop has struggled mightily, as the company has seen its stock drop over 31 percent in the last year. To make matters worse, almost a week ago news hit that the company announced a profit decline for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2016, which took place during the key holiday shopping season. Advertisements Advertisements Sales for this year's fourth quarter were 13.6 percent worse than 2015's fourth quarter. GameStop's management also issued a more conservative profit projection for 2017 following the announcement of this news. All of this bad news combined to cause the company's stock to take a 16 percent hit. The center of the company's issues was that they are not selling enough games, with CEO Paul Raines citing that the 2016's video game category was weak, especially in the second half of the year. The company did cite the successful growth and sales of their non-gaming brands and pop culture collectibles as a positive. The future is digital GameStop has been the latest in the long line of old guard brick-and-mortar retailers who have been struggling in recent years to compete with the massive rise and growth of e-commerce giants, with the most notable being Amazon. Advertisements Other companies besides GameStop, like JCPenney, Macy's and Staples have all announced they will be closing stores. HHGregg and Radioshack have filed for bankruptcy recently, while Circuit City got liquidated and Sears says it is unsure if it can survive. GameStop's problem is not just people ordering video games from Amazon instead of going to a store. Video games are becoming more #Digital with the rise of Steam on the PC and being able to buy games digitally right from the Xbox or PlayStation. This trend is only continuing with digital subscription services like EA Access or Microsoft's new Xbox Game Pass.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-20/housing-moment-investors-dread-here

The Housing Moment Investors Dread Is Here

By Danielle DiMartino Booth Amid the carnage in the auto sector, economists have sought solace in the comforts of home, sweet home. A recent Census release suggests that Millennials, long sidelined, have finally started to tiptoe into the home-buying market. The reception to the data was so effusive that other reports, suggesting housing has reached a much different sort of turning point, were lost in the fray. The good news is that the trend is unequivocal, based purely on supply and demand. The bad news is in the actual message. The May University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey showed a six-year low among those who think it’s a good time to buy a house and a 12-year high among those who say it’s a good time to sell. Disparities of this breadth tend to coincide with break points and that’s just where we’ve landed in the cycle. The beginning of May officially marked the advent of a buyers’ market, defined simply as sellers outnumbering buyers by a wide enough margin to trigger falling prices. Yes, it’s the moment buyers have been waiting for. It is also the moment private equity investors, those who’ve crowded out natural buyers, have been dreading. Three factors determine home sales: interest rates, unemployment and prices. The recent decline in interest rates has provided some semblance of relief; purchase applications have bounced off April’s levels, when they were down four percent over last year. April and May are obviously critical to the spring sales season. The low unemployment rate would seem to be a huge plus if it wasn’t for the stress building around thousands of layoff announcements across the retail and auto sectors that won’t find their way into this most lagging of economic indicators for months. That is not to say those getting pink slips don’t know their fate, which should influence home sales going forward. Price is the one bright spot, with one glaring caveat: Falling home prices tend to be associated with a negative macroeconomic backdrop, which does not bode well for any buyer of, well, anything. Dig into the Federal Reserve’s recently released first quarter Senior Loan Officer Survey and you will see nothing of note on the residential mortgage side -- banks reported that both loan demand and lending standards remained unchanged in the first three months of the year. But that is the here and now. Demand and supply in the auto sector, where pricing has been under pressure for some time, looked quite similar to that for houses several months back. According to the Fed survey, at minus 13.3 percent, demand for auto loans flat-lined in deeply negative territory, as was the case in last year’s fourth quarter, the worst levels of the current expansion. This data point corroborated the Michigan survey, which showed that those who said it was a good time to buy a car fell to the lowest level since August 2014. Meanwhile, demand for credit card loans slid to minus 10.2 percent from minus 8.3 percent in the last three months of last year. In the event you’re detecting a trend, households are sending out distress signals that have just begun to be picked up in housing, even as household debt levels recapture their pre-crisis highs. The silver lining in the dynamic that's just beginning to play out is what pricing pressures on the home front imply for the future of household finances -- that is after the recession comes and goes. The cost to rent and buy has never been as high as it is today for the average working young American. The preponderance of apartments constructed in the current cycle has been luxury units. At the same time, private equity investors with deep pockets swooped in and bid up the price of rental homes, leaving many would-be first-time homebuyers and renters alike with no choice but to remain at home with their parents after graduating from college. A quick glance at the average household budget shows that sky-high housing costs bite more than any other line item. Housing devours a third of average household spending, while auto payments command half that amount. More than any other considerations, these costs matter -- where to sleep at night and the means by which to get to and from work. Hence the good long-term news building in the coming decline in housing costs as record supplies of apartments coming online collide with falling home prices and private equity investors growing increasingly uncomfortable with their huge inventories of overpriced homes. As for cars, a new report from J.D. Power showed continued deterioration in the auto sector, driven by falling used car prices, sliding car sales and a further rise in incentive spending. There is budgetary relief building in the pipeline for Millennials. It just might not be in the form they’d prefer to see, nor will it arrive in time to offset the broader macroeconomic damage inflicted by two key areas of support for the U.S. economy. Perhaps most regrettable is that policy makers inside the Federal Reserve were aware of the pitfalls of being complicit in hampering the clearing of the housing market and providing incentives for subprime car lending. The sad truth is the optics of stifling clearing and encouraging borrowing among those who could ill afford payments was better than the alternative. Again.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/03/ethereum-retesting-all-time-high-usd-value-001518045.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Ethereum retesting all-time high USD value

ETH tokens are currently trading at over $$20 following the highest performing week for #Ethereum in recent history. Ethereum has gained over 50% Just seven days ago the price of an ETH token was just shy of $$13, today ETH is testing its all-time highs of $$21 from last June. Ethereum’s market cap has doubled in a week - with the total market cap of ETH surpassing $$2 billion. Excitement broke out following announcements that Microsoft would be adopting the use of the Ethereum protocol, perhaps the largest company so far to announce that it will embrace for decentralized smart-contract technology. Many traders are looking at Ethereum as a solid hedge against #Bitcoin, as the two markets appear to have broken their historic inverse correlation. Advertisements Advertisements The dynamics of cryptocurrency markets have changed significantly in 2017 The cryptocurrency markets started with a bang this year, with Bitcoin quickly breaking resistance at $$1000 before going on a meteoric tear to retest former all-time highs of $$1,160 in the U.S. markets, and establishing new highs of 8888 CNY in the Chinese markets. The party appeared short-lived however as prices would quickly retrace back $$900, before crashing back to $$750 following news that The People’s Bank of China was investigating several major Chinese Bitcoin exchanges. The investigations produced a temporary ban on high leverage margin trading in China, resulting in the U.S. markets taking the driver’s seat on Bitcoin trading for the first time since 2013 and a massive reduction in selling pressure in the Bitcoin markets generally. Advertisements This trading climate has lent itself to spot-market trading as opposed to high leverage fueled swing-trading, leading many traders to seek out a strong hedge to Bitcoin - with many choosing Ethereum. The Chinese margin trading ban has done little to harm the momentum of BTC, with Bitcoin currently establishing new all-time highs daily. Ethereum hasn’t been the only high performing cryptocurrency of 2017. The current price of #Dash sitting 450% higher than it was in December 2016 at approximately $$41. Auger has also seen excellent gains, with the current price of $$5.42 indicating that the market has risen in value by 50% so far this year.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-08/former-fed-governor-last-time-i-saw-such-uniformity-opinion-was-just-2007-crash

Former Fed Governor: The Last Time I Saw Such Uniformity Of Opinion Was Just Before The 2007 Crash

Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh last week slammed the Fed, during a speech delivered at the Hoover Fed Conference, admitting the central bank had no real "normalization" strategy aside from jawboning, and accused his former co-workers of potentially terminal groupthink. Changes are in order to how the Fed organizes itself, conducts its business, deliberates policy choices, and makes its monetary policy decisions. In short, deliberations should be more robust, and decisions less constrained. The existing governance structure reinforces a groupthink of the guild. It places the Fed at considerable institutional risk when the next crisis strikes. And it makes the next crisis more likely to be more harmful to the economy. As a former Fed governor, he would know. On Monday, Warsh appeared again at the Ira Sohn conference in his capacity as consultant to Stan Druckenmiller’s family office, and was the third in a row just this morning (after Goldman and Citi) to warn that he believes the market is risky when measures of risk are as low as they are currently (the VIX is currently trading at 9.72, and grinding lower). Warsh also cautioned against the widening state of herd mentality and said there is a uniformity of opinion about the state of economy, inflation and growth, and repeating his comments from Friday, also said that "the last time I witnessed such a consensus was about 10 years ago", or just before the last financial crisis, which was enough to make him pause. But most concerning to equity bulls, the former Fed govrnor warned that asset prices are not ready for a downside shock, and concluded that the Fed "will be unable to pull levers of monetary easing in next downturn" if it lacks institutional credibility. We doubt the Fed is very worried about its credibility as long as the market keeps rising higher. Finally, Warsh did not have any specific investing advice but said that the main indicator for the future state of the economy are capital expenditures, which will be a leading indicator over next 12 months for potential real economic growth. Since most companies continue to opt out for buybacks and dividends instead of investing in their business and boosting capacity (there is simply not enough demand) expect to see a continuing deterioration in the economy "offset" by new all time highs in the S&P500.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/editorial-staff/don-crothers/

Blasting News

Don Crothers, all articles published

Your profile is not complete. For Google and other search engines to show your profile, your biography must have at least 350 characters and a photo. Social justice warrior with a business education. Queer, genderfluid and a proud member of the transgender community. Interested in pretty much everything. Spare time is spent reading, cooking, gaming and ranting online. They/them pronouns. Don's unique perspective as a business-educated, well-rounded non-binary transgender person gives them a perspective unique among writers. Don also writes for The Inquisitr, Gender 2.0, and on their own time.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-12/producer-prices-surge-fastest-rate-over-5-years-thanks-hurricane-harvey

Producer Prices Surge At Fastest Rate In Over 5 Years (Thanks To Hurricane Harvey)

Great news America - your standard of living just dropped little more as producer prices rose by 2.6% YoY in September, the fastest rate of increase since Feb 2012 - driven by a surge in energy prices. Some highlights: Final demand producer prices rose 0.4% in September (as expected) Final demand ex food, energy rose 0.4% m/m vs est. up 0.2% Final demand rose 2.6% y/y, matching estimate Final demand ex food, energy rose 2.2% y/y vs est. up 2% Final demand ex food, energy and trade services rose 0.2% m/m Final demand personal consumption rose 0.5% m/m Final demand personal consumption rose 2.3% y/y Health care services (NSA) rose 1.4% y/y; unchanged m/m However, Energy prices seem to be the biggest driver... The index for final demand services increased 0.4 percent in September, the largest rise since moving up 0.5 percent in April. Over 60 percent of the September advance can be traced to a 0.8-percent increase in margins for final demand trade services. (Trade indexes measure changes in margins received by wholesalers and retailers.) Prices for final demand goods rose 0.7 percent in September, the largest increase since moving up 1.0 percent in January. Over 80 percent of the September advance can be traced to the index for final demand energy, which climbed 3.4 percent. (Higher energy prices were likely the result of reduced refining capacity in the Gulf Coast area due to Hurricane Harvey.) This no doubt relieves some pressure on the 'transitory' Fed - enabling higher rates (and yet lower living standards)

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-14/fed-reveals-balance-sheet-normalization-schedule-will-reduce-reinvestments-10bnmonth

Fed Reveals Balance Sheet "Normalization" Schedule: Will Reduce Reinvestments By $$10BN/Month

Coming in earlier than many expected, the Fed for the first time laid out how it plans to "normalize" its balance sheet which it expects to reduce by trimming reinvestments in TSYs at a rate of $$6Bn/month initially, and MBS at $$4Bn/month, or a total of $$10bn/month, and will increase the reinvestment caps in steps of 10bn at 3 month intervals over 12 months until it reaches a total 50bn per month. Indicatively this is well below Goldman's expectation of $$10bn and $$5bn initial caps for TSYs and MBS, as we showed over the weekend. As its said in the addendum to the materials, “the Committee currently expects to begin implementing a balance sheet normalization program this year, provided that the economy evolves broadly as anticipated” with directions to read a Policy Addendum. As the Fed further explains, the reinvestment cap will hit TSYs at the tune of $$6Bn per month initially, and MBS at $$4Bn: for payments of principal that the Federal Reserve receives from maturing Treasury securities, the Committee anticipates that the cap will be USD6bn per month initially and will increase in steps of USD6bn at 3m intervals over 12m until it reaches 30bn per month. For payments of principal that the Federal Reserve receives from its holdings of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities, the Committee anticipates that the cap will be $$4 billion per month initially and will increase in steps of $$4 billion at three-month intervals over 12 months until it reaches $$20 billion per month. This level of detail provided is the main surprise so far and what traders are most focused on, because as Citi notes, it as moving forward the chances for a balance sheet announcement from December. More questions on how soon implementation would follow. Commenting on the Fed's unwind schedule, BMO's Ian Lyngen writes that the Fed positions itself for September/December tapering. It notes that the Fed’s reinvestment tapering plan sets up the central bank to begin unwinding its balance sheet at either the September or December meeting. If the Fed reaches the maximum $$30b/month cap for Treasuries (with a December start), this means $$325b of UST tapering in 2018, amounting to “roughly half of a 25bp rate hike,” BMO says, using recent Fed estimates Indicatively, this is the significantly higher reinvestment cap schedule that Goldman expected earlier: Process for phasing out reinvestment: The May minutes signaled that the committee will preannounce a schedule of gradually increasing caps to limit the amounts of securities that can run off in any given month. Our assumption is that that the initial caps are $$10 billion a month for UST and $$5 billion a month for MBS. The caps would rise each quarter by $$10 billion and $$5 billion to $$40 billion and $$20 billion respectively. Caps allow for a gradual runoff and deal with the variability associated with MBS prepayment and the irregular monthly schedule of maturing assets. The caps will remain in place after the phase-in but then only bind in roughly a third of the months for Treasuries until mid-2020 when the balance sheet reaches its projected terminal size. We will provide further details shortly For now, the full statement is below:

bias

veteranstoday.com

2017-11-27

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/01/19/98percent/

Phony unanimity proves Egypt’s “constitution” a sham

According to the al-Sisi junta, more than 98% of Egypt’s voters have approved a new “constitution” that establishes a permanent totalitarian dictatorship. That 98% figure says it all. Whenever 98% of voters supposedly vote for anything, you know the “election” is a sham. Fake unanimity is the hallmark of dictatorships. People like Stalin, Mao, and al-Sisi are always “elected” by near-unanimous “landslides.” The Egyptian “election” was held at gunpoint, without safeguards for ballot secrecy. Anyone who voted “no” – and even that vast majority who stayed home – risked serious reprisals from a government that has deemed all opposition – meaning the vast majority of the population – “terrorists.” The so-called Egyptian constitution is a joke. It permanently establishes military control of more than a third of Egypt’s economy, without the slightest shred of transparency or civilian oversight. It is this military domination of Egypt’s economy that is starving Egypt’s people. The Israeli stooge al-Sisi – a Moroccan Jew who appears to have infiltrated Egypt on a mission from the Mossad, and succeeded beyond his/their wildest dreams – is charged with keeping Egypt powerless and impoverished so it can never challenge Greater Israel’s plan to steal everything between the Nile and the Euphrates. Polling data from the past three decades, and a series of elections during Egypt’s less than two years as a democracy, have shown that roughly two thirds of the Egyptian people support the Muslim Brotherhood – and Egypt’s democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi. The problem: That same two-thirds of Egyptians is disproportionately poor, rural, and powerless. The military (propped up by US aid) and its supporters are parasites who do no useful work, yet own the lion’s share of the economy. Using its vast unearned financial clout, and with the support of Israeli psy-ops experts and a compliant media, the Egyptian deep state organized a PR lynching of the democratically-elected president Morsi, thereby destroying the only real democracy Egypt has enjoyed in 5,000 years of recorded history…and the only honest, largely non-corrupt leadership Egypt has enjoyed in modern times. The Egyptian government, led by the hidden deep state, is corrupt from top to bottom. Since the corrupt elite won’t allow democracy, it seems that only a thorough Iranian-style Islamic revolution, ridding Egypt of its entire corrupt elite by whatever means necessary, could possibly save Egypt. When the Egyptian people finally figure out that “Al-Sisi’s a Jew, Egypt is Israeli-occupied territory,” that revolution could happen almost overnight. ________________________________

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/03/dash-price-consolidates-following-a-significant-correction-001517995.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Dash price consolidates following a significant correction

#Dash is currently trading at approximately $$40 USD per token following a huge 30% retrace yesterday. Traders are regarding the move as healthy correction following the enormous gains that Dash has made in recent months. The price of Dash had tripled in two weeks During the daily trading high of $$59 March 2nd Dash’s #price had tripled when compared to prices from just 2 weeks ago, and increased by 650% when compared to December’s prices. Many have cited Dash’s release and success of ‘Sentinel’ as the principal catalyst for the cryptocurrency's recent meteoric rise. ‘Sentinel’ is a highly anticipated software update which serves as a precursor to Dash’s upcoming decentralized payment network ‘Evolution’, which has planned release date of late 2017. Advertisements Advertisements Other significant fundamental achievements have contributed to the price rise, with TREZOR and KeepKey announcing Dash compatibility for their hardware wallet products, and Dash’s team relocating to a new headquarters at Arizona State University. Many altcoins are currently showing strength Dash hasn’t been the only altcoin to make significant gains lately. Ethereum has gained in value by 50% over the course of the last week, with news that Microsoft would be utilizing Ethereum's protocol triggering hype, excitement, and FOMO (fear of missing out). ZCash appears to be finally showing signs of a strong reversal pattern after making gains of 40% over the course of the last week - with ZEC tokens currently testing $$40 each. The innovative new altcoin offers extremely privacy protection to its users by utilizing Zero-Knowledge Proof Protocol, but markets have performed poorly whilst supply for ZEC tokens expands following a genesis-block release. Advertisements Auger has also gained over 35% in four days, with REP tokens currently trading for approximately $$5.80 following a sharp 10% correction overnight. Auger boasts an innovative platform built on top of Ethereum smart-contracts that facilitates the creation of decentralized predictive betting markets. Although the platform does not host any predictive markets at present, traders have been enticed by the low market cap of Auger - for which the maximum supply is 11 million tokens. #Bitcoin is also continuing to establish new all-time highs, with yesterday showing a strong rally over 10%.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/08/photo/photogallery-samsung-gear-fit2-pro-will-be-available-for-19999-in-the-us-1523053.html

Blasting News, M. . Meehan, A. Carranza, A. Mantri, A. Fanos, A. Bhandari

Photogallery - Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro will be available for $$199.99 in the US

Back to article: Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro will be available for $$199.99 in the US

bias

veteranstoday.com

2017-11-27

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/04/23/gitmo/

“Gitmo unconstitutional result of 9/11 false flag”

Watch the interview The holding of prisoners in the US-run Guantanamo prison in Cuba is “unconstitutional, a journalist and author says, noting that the detention center was created after the “false flag operation of 9/11.” “It’s pretty obvious that the prison in Guantanamo is specifically set-up to be outside of US law and the US Constitution, so it’s almost unconstitutional on it face,” Kevin Barrett, founding member of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance, told Press TV. The reason the notorious prison was created was because the “US was launching an illegal, undeclared war of aggression… . In fact, we now know it was a false flag operation, that there was no such foreign attack,” Barrett stated. The “phony war on terror” was a “completely illegal war of aggression,” which Washington has used as an excuse to attack Muslims, he said. A US Supreme Court judge raised questions Monday about the government’s authority to detain “terrorism suspects” in the Guantanamo prison. Progressive Justice Stephen Breyer issued a statement, in which he outlined several areas that the court has yet to address concerning the government’s detention authority. The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force allows the US president to detain so-called enemy combatants. More than 150 men are being held in the detention center in Cuba. Most of the detainees have not been charged or tried yet. In January, Amnesty International condemned the US for its continued operation of Guantanamo. It said the torture of detainees at the prison is a prime example of America’s double standard on human rights.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/sports/2017/03/former-georgetown-players-want-head-coaching-change-001512905.html

Blasting News, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Former Georgetown players want head coaching change

In 2007, the #Georgetown Hoyas were in the Final Four and hype around the program hadn't been higher since the national championship years under his father. But the Hoyas have been less impressive since that point, losing to teams like Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio in the NCAA tournament when they do make it there. The Hoyas performance in the past few seasons is unacceptable for a coach who receives one of the highest salaries in the nation. Is it the End for John Thompson III? Last season, the Hoyas finished with a losing record and couldn't even get an invite to the NIT tournament. This season, Georgetown will finish 9th in the Big East ahead of only DePaul, a team with only two wins in the conference. Advertisements Advertisements Another losing record means that Georgetown will miss the tournament for the third time in four years. How is it possible for anyone to defend the coach after seasons like this? The shadow of John Thompson III's father lurks behind the scenes. The legendary man led Georgetown to its first and only national championship win in 1984. Georgetown recently built a new athletic center named after him to attract recruits and help athletes. And #John Thompson Ii doesn't take a back seat. He's at every single game. And that scares the people who would have the ability to fire John Thompson III. Former Players Speak Out. Players are so scared of John Thompson II that they preferred to remain anonymous in Jeff Goodman's article. One former Hoya suggested that "he's simply not getting it done" and another asked "how many more years he would get of not missing the tournament." That former players are unhappy with the program says a lot about how it is being run. Advertisements Both Isaac Copeland and Paul White chose to transfer from what they saw as a toxic Princeton offense, which nerfs the ability of more athletic players to attack. Paul White barely got any playing time at Georgetown, and Copeland never figured out how to play at the level that originally made him one of the best 50 players in the country. Student Disdain. Georgetown students are tired of watching Georgetown struggle to score points and deliver results in a predictable offense. And the defense that once made Georgetown an elite school has crumbled. The students are so frustrated by the coaching of the basketball team that they have created a petition asking for the removal of John Thompson III from his coaching position. The final decision rests in the hands of the university. Does John DeGioia have the spine to fire John Thompson III with his father lurking in the background? We shall see.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/01/bitcoin-crash-cryptocurrency-falls-20-plus-percent-in-china-10-to-15-percent-elsewhere-001363603.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Bitcoin crash: cryptocurrency falls 20-plus percent in China, 10 to 15 percent elsewhere

Beginning at about 3 a.m. this morning, the price of bitcoin began to free fall on comments from the People's Bank of #china with regard to "virtual capital controls." The average price paid for bitcoin, as reported by Bitcoin Wisdom, in China has fallen by over 20 percent in the last eight hours alone. The average bitcoin price in the United States is currently down close to 13 percent, near $$990. The Bitcoin price crash in Canada, Europe, and Russia sees the cryptocurrency down near 12 percent in each country and region. Beginning on December 20, the price of bitcoin began an almost parabolic move up, gaining close to 50 percent, before peaking early this morning. Advertisements Advertisements The sharp rally in price has been attributed to a flight of capital from China, with Chinese citizens scrambling to move funds offshore, away from the yuan, which has seen its value steadily eroded with devaluations by the Chinese government. Chinese citizens moving funds out of the yuan, into bitcoin, is thought to have further exacerbated the yuan's slide, until today. Rise in Chinese yuan seen causing bitcoin crash The yuan rose today versus other currencies. The shift, combined with a thinly traded market for bitcoin, has been said to be the reason behind the downdraft. Bitcoin and the yuan are both regularly subject to periods of volatility. "It is absolutely tied to China. If the yuan goes up, bitcoin goes down," CEO of CCO Global, Dan Collins, was quoted by CNBC. Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain, expressed a belief that the price will stabilize between $$850 and $$1,000. Advertisements Perhaps hedging his view, Smith added: "but we'll see." Cryptocurrency with history of volatility From December 2013 to January 2015, bitcoin prices began a long slide from a high of near $$1,175 to a low near $$210, a crash of close to 80 percent. Zero Hedge reported that it had "warned" readers about chasing the recent bitcoin price spike: cautioning against buying more at higher prices based solely on "momentum." Bitcoin was first unveiled to the world on October 31, 2008, the work of a mysterious person or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2010, bitcoin could be purchased for under $$1 each. In 2014, Mark Williams, with the Finance Department at Boston University, produced a report stating that the volatility of bitcoin was 18 times that of the U.S. dollar, seven times that of gold, and eight times that of the stock market, as measured by the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. #Business

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/02/bitcoin-price-just-reached-a-new-record-high-001499175.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Bitcoin price just reached a new record high

The #price of #Bitcoin at the CoinDesk USD Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) has reportedly been trading at above $$1,000 since #February 14, and the cryptocurrency just reached a new all-time high of $$1,172.09 on February 23. This record high followed what appeared to be the longest period Bitcoin has remained above $$1,000, which is from February 2 to February 9. Earlier today, Bictoin's prices were seen in the range of $$1,175 and $$1,220 in major US exchanges. Bitcoin prices soar on the worldwide markets Bitcoin, a currency launched 8 years ago has reached "a whole-nother level" in the worldwide markets. Asher Tan, CEO at Bitcoin exchange and platform CoinJar, tells The Sydney Morning Herald, "There is a lot of excitement that the Winklevoss twins' ETF is coming close to approval, but there are more regulatory hurdles to go through." Bitcoin is not legally accepted in many countries but some countries, such as the Philippines and Japan, have made the effort to regulate and legalize the cryptocurrency. Advertisements Advertisements COO of trading platform Whaleclub, Petar Zivkovski, told CoinDesk, "The only pullback we've seen on the rise above $$1,000 is from $$1,070 to $$1,040, which is a healthy sign of bullishness." Bitcoin hits a record high, but can it rival gold as a safe haven? https://t.co/zVXnZ97ZMe — CNBC (@CNBC) January 5, 2017 Six years ago Bitcoin hit the 1-Dollar mark The digital currency Bitcoin first hit $$1.00 in price on February 9, 2011, when Bitcoin was 2 years old. A few weeks later, the currency was being traded in British Pound Sterling, and in April of the same year, Euros (EUR) were facilitated. As more and more exchanges were being established, people started acknowledging the need to accept Bitcoin as a payment. Wordpress & Microsoft accepts Bitcoin Wordpress, one of the most convenient and widely used blogging platforms, issued a press release in November 2012, explaining their decision to accept Bitcoin: "PayPal alone block access from over 60 countries, and many credit card companies have similar restrictions. Advertisements Some are blocked for political reasons, some because of higher fraud rates, and some for other financial reasons. Whatever the reason, we don't think an individual blogger from Haiti, Ethiopia, or Kenya should have diminished access to the blogosphere because of payment issues they can't control. Our goal is to enable people, not block them." Microsoft started accepting Bitcoins for Windows 10 store purchases in December 2014 using the bitcoin processor BitPay. Microsoft Corporation last year corrected the inaccuracies some users may have spotted on the company's website. Now the company's support section correctly displays the "Add money to your Microsoft account with Bitcoin" help article. Other companies that accept Bitcoins include: Namecheap, Reddit, Virgin Galactic, Subway, and OkCupid.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-09/us-import-prices-soar-5-year-highs-fuel-costs-spike

US Import Prices Soar To 5 Year Highs As Fuel Costs Spike

Thanks to a surge in prices from Canada and Asia Near East, US Import Prices soared more than expected in February. The 4.6% rise is the highest since February 2012, driven by a 40.5% surge year-over-year in Fuels and lubricants. Notably US import prices from Mexico fell 0.3% YoY.

bias

veteranstoday.com

2017-11-27

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/07/02/china-strengthens-ties-with-iran/

China Strengthens Ties with Iran

…from SouthFront The sanctions impacted the Iranian oil and gas industry negatively, creating a lack of expendable materials and interchangeable parts at Iranian oil refineries. This situation pushed Iran into cooperation with China in this sphere. As a result, according to some reports, Chinese oil and gas companies became involved in up to 60% of the former Japanese oil facilities in Iran. Japanese experts describe the Iranian-Chinese cooperation during the period of the sanctions: The Iranian-Chinese cooperation was determinted by a high level of the sanctions’ pressure on Iran and by Chinese attempts to avoid a Western reaction to the Iranian oil and gas supplies to China. China was building its partnership with Iran, aiming to include it into the geo-strategic project, “One Belt, One Road“. Now, when the sanctions are lifted, experts expect an acute standoff among Chinese, Japanese and European companies for the Iranian domestic market. There are reports that Japanese companies are ready to return to a development project in the South Azadegan oilfield at the official level. Meanwhile, China has promised about $$20 billion in investment in the Iranian energy sector. On June 8, Iran said that it had stopped exports of liquefied petroleum gas to Japan. The reports did not give a reason for the move. However, this will lead to increasing Chinese invovelement in the Iranian energy sector. There are two most likely reasons for this decision: Tehran has decided that China is a top-priority partner. Chinese state firms have exclusive rights to work at the Iranian oilfields: the Yadavaran and North Azadegan oilfields. In turn, they will set up operations support facilities in the Islamic Republic and hand over some of these to their Iranian parters. Recently, Iran and China have intensified their military cooperation. In June, Iran reportedly recieved a batch of TL-7 anti-ship missiles from China. This could mark a new phase of military-technical cooperation between the countries. There are reports that Chinese companies produce C-802 and C-602 anti-ship missiles in order to equip the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Air Force. These actions allow one to conclude that China successfully reacts to the ongoing developments in an important region such as the Middle East, expanding its economic, military and political influence on one of the region’s power brokers.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-04/leverage-us-lbos-highest-financial-crisis

Leverage On US LBOs Is The Highest Since The Financial Crisis

There was a brief period of sober rationality during the current central bank-facilitated, market reflation phase, when Private Equity shops decided they had no desire to chase artificially inflated valuations, especially since their currency - cash - did not benefit in the same was a strategic acquirors did, whose own stock had increased alongside that of the target company. After all, who can forget Apollo's Leon Black speaking at the 2013 Milken Conference when he said that "this is an almost biblical opportunity to reap gains and sell," adding that his private equity firm has been a net seller for the 15 months, and that they "are selling everything that is not nailed down." In retrospect, he should have hung on. Of course, who could possibly known that nearly a decade into the greatest central-planning experiment in history, central banks would still be injecting trillions into the market to create the illusion of economic growth, stability and a wealth effect, hoping to kick the can in perpetuity. So, several years later, and scared of missing the boat altogether after sitting out a big part of the bubble, PE firms - flush with cash - are rushing in. In some ways, the PE willingness to resume buying companies at virtually any price is understandable: with the financial system overflowing with cash, much of it has found its way into the PE industry, and according to a recent Prequin survey, as of 2016, private equity funds were sitting on nearly $$800 billion in cash. And while we previously reported that the median LBO PE multiple has risen to 10.8x, the highest since the financial crisis... ... this has largely been a reason of the permissive bond market, because according to LeveragedLoan.com, in the third quarter of 2017 the total leverage on large U.S. LBOs rose to 6x, the highest it’s been since the financial market meltdown of 2007. "Only 6x", the more cynical readers might say? Well, as LCD reminds us, that 6x number is of particular interest to the global leveraged finance market. Some readers may recall that regulators, in an effort to shore up the financial system after the crisis, issued guidance in 2013 saying that loans with a debt/EBITA ratio in excess of 6x “raises concerns.” This prompted traditional corporate lenders – banks regulated by the Fed – to proceed cautiously regarding highly leveraged transactions, those near 6x or higher. This cautiousness, meanwhile, helped open up the direct lending/private credit market, where non-regulated asset managers increasingly are stepping in to provide often-riskier credits to leveraged borrowers. Still, it's mostly a bank-led markets. As LCD notes, while non-regulated lenders continue to make inroads into the leveraged lending space, most of the deals underlying the above chart are led by traditional banks, demonstrating that those entities continue to drive this market. But the bigger news, if only to banks, is that a return in LBOs, which as we showed earlier this year had largely plateaued in 2014... ... would mean more, and higher fees: LBOs are especially attractive to loan arrangers and investors as they feature higher fees and interest rates than non-M&A credits, such as those backing refinancings or general corporate purposes. Indeed, according to LCD, these higher-yielding deals comprised a relatively large share of leveraged loan activity in Q3 2017. This is a marked change from the first half of the year, when repricing activity and other ‘opportunistic issuance’ dominated the U.S. loan space. And while it is likely that this LBO bubble will have a similar end to the one in 2007, one thing is certain: for now - with HY spreads approaching all time lows - investors just can't get enough debt, meaning that no matter who or what the issuer, or how much leverage is layered on, acquirors will have no problem at all in funding any and every going private transaction, which is why we expect that 6.0x total turn of debt to be fond memory the next time we refresh LBO statistics in a few short months.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/lifestyle/2017/04/millennials-lead-the-way-in-plastic-surgery-001584303.html

Blasting News, Anne Sewell, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic

Millennials lead the way in plastic surgery

In the past three years, noninvasive cosmetic procedures have witnessed an explosion in popularity. This comes as no accident, with many plastic surgeons attributing the popularity of these cosmetic procedures to the Kardashian family and social media. Both Millennial and Baby Boomer generations are becoming clients of #plastic surgery clinics in equal measure. Some call the effects scary. The selfie generation The Millennials are hugely influenced by pop culture and social media, which is why they have been nicknamed as the selfie generation. In turn, this has produced an entirely new clientele for plastic surgeons worldwide. Advertisements Advertisements Now, patients ranging in age from early twenties to early thirties, and even teenagers, are undergoing cosmetic procedures to get ahead of the aging process. Botox still reigns supreme as the number-one nonsurgical procedure. However, between 2011 and 2016, Botox use among #Millennials has jumped 87 percent. Millennials, ages 19 to 34, account for the 18 percent of total noninvasive cosmetic procedures performed. The Kardashian effect Dr. Simon Ourian became famous due to his association with the Kardashians. He has called them the “biggest influencing power force behind any concept that happens on social media” today, as the family has more than half-a-billion followers on social media between them. Indeed, procedures underwent by Kim Kardashian and #Kylie Jenner have started trends. Dr. Advertisements Jean-Louis Sebagh has criticized the effects the family has had on young girls, calling them "damaging". For example, he stated that Kylie Jenner is the reason teenagers as young as 16 flocked to his office to fill their lips. He also added that celebrities are becoming increasingly more open about their cosmetic procedures, and are at the same time normalizing a longtime taboo, which makes millions of their followers want to emulate them. Some plastic surgeons are horrified by the effects Botox has had on Millennials, and are admitting they can no longer differentiate between someone aged 30 and 50.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/news/2017/04/john-culberson-sets-nasa-on-a-course-to-europa-001624683.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel

John Culberson sets NASA on a course to Europa

Whenever President Donald Trump rolls out his space policy, along with his pick for NASA administrator, he will have to pass it through Congress. Sen. Ted Cruz, who is working on a new NASA authorization bill, will be one player in that process. Cruz’s fellow Texas, Rep John Culberson, is another. As PBS recently noted, Culberson’s enthusiasms run beyond what one would think would be for a congressman from Houston near where the Johnson Spaceflight Center is located. Culberson is a big proponent of exploring Europa, the ice-bound ocean #Moon Of Jupiter, Europa is thought to harbor an ocean beneath a layer of ice that is warmed by the tidal forces exerted by the gas giant Jupiter. Advertisements Advertisements Many scientists believe that the ocean may harbor alien life. Toward the goal of finding out, Culberson has been campaigning to send a probe to the moon of Jupiter for about a decade. Culberson started to get results when he became the chair of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA. The Europa Clipper is now on NASA’s manifest to be launched on board a heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket in the early to mid-2020s. A Europa lander is also scheduled, but the Trump administration is trying to cancel that mission. Europa is not the only “ocean world” of the outer solar system. Enceladus, a #Moon Of Saturn, is another ice-bound world with an ocean beneath. Titan, another moon of Saturn, has oceans of liquid ethane and methane. Pluto, which was recently visited by the New Horizon space probe, is thought to have an interior ocean as well. Advertisements Much of the discussion of Trump’s coming space policy consists of the question of whether to continue directly going to Mars or to return to the moon first, with indications that the latter is favored. But for any space policy to gain the approval of Culberson, is is going to have to contain an active ocean worlds exploration element. Any space policy is going to have to accommodate a number of interests, of which Culberson’s is one. Sometime within the next ten years, if all goes well, people on Earth will receive images and video of the strangest alien landscape that has ever been visited by either robot or human, an ice-bound landscape that resembles the ninth circle of Hell as imagined by Dante. Because of the intense radiation environment of that part of Jupiter space, humans will not be visiting Europa for a long time. But even before that, the discoveries that may be made could profoundly change how we view our place in the universe. #John Culberson

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/news/2017/04/nasa-approves-instruments-to-fly-on-esa-jupiter-icy-moons-explorer-juice-001633145.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel

NASA approves instruments to fly on ESA JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE)

As it turns out, the Europa Clipper is not the only space probe slated to head for Europa in the 1990s. The European Space Agency is preparing the JUpiter #Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) for a launch in 2022 and arrival in Jupiter space in 2029. JUICE will spend four years studying the atmosphere of Jupiter as well as her major moons, Europa along with Io. Callisto and Ganymede. #NASA is a partner in the expedition and has provided one of the ten instruments to be carried aboard as well as components for two others. The instrument that NASA is providing is called the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS), designed to study the dynamics and atmospheric chemistry of the Jovian system, including its moons. Advertisements Advertisements The two instruments NASA is providing components for are the Particle Environment Package (PEP) and the Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME). The PEP is actually six instruments that will map the system of plasma that surrounds Jupiter. The RIME is a ground penetrating radar that will study the structure below the surface of Jupiter’s moons. The NASA contribution to the mission just passed the Key Decision Point C (KDP-C) which clears the way for the construction of the instruments. The Critical Design Review will take place in a year. NASA’s overall cost in $$114 million. JUICE is not considered competitive to Europa Clipper but rather complimentary as they are directed to two different missions. Europa Clipper is designed to study the habitability of Europa and to prepare the way for the Europa Lander, should it be funded. Advertisements JUICE is intended to examine the major #Moons Of Jupiter as a system The recent attention being paid to the moons of the Outer Planets represents a growing realization on the part of scientists that the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn may be venues for life, swimming in warm oceans underneath the ice crust. NASA recently announced the results of studies that buttress this theory concerning Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus and Europa. For decades, Mars has been thought to be the world most suitable for life. However, numerous space probes, while uncovering tantalizing hints of previous or past life on Mars, have never found anything resembling a life form. Such may exist on the Red Planet, but the hunt has proven to be elusive. Now, with the theory that numerous worlds in the outer solar systems harbor warm water oceans underneath ice layers, the search for alien life has shifted outward from Mars to some extent. It could be that the first extraterrestrial lifeform to be discovered by humans will be underneath the surface of Europa or some other icy moon.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/02/google-sues-uber-over-tech-theft-001503517.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Google sues Uber over tech theft

Waymo, a self-driving car unit of #Google’s parent company Alphabet sues #Uber and Otto for stealing their key technology. Waymo became a stand-alone unit of Alphabet last December. Last year, several of its high level engineers left the job and started their own car companies or joined competitors. But, on Thursday, Waymo filed a lawsuit against Uber and its self-driving unit Otto, in the Federal court of San Francisco. In their lawsuit, Waymo claims that Uber has stolen patent and crucial trade secrets about Waymo's Lidar sensor technology. Waymo is seeking an unspecified amount as compensation for the damages caused to them and also a court order that prevents Uber from using Waymo’s proprietary information. Advertisements Advertisements Anthony Levandowski – the brain behind Otto It was last May when Otto was launched and one of its co-founders was Anthony Levandowski, a former executive at Google. He was one of the members of the self-driving project of Google. In August, Uber acquired Otto for an amount of $$680 million. The decision to sue Uber was made because it was discovered that before resigning from his job at Google, Anthony Levandowski downloaded more than 14,000 confidential files that included designs of the Lidar circuit board. Then, Levandowski connected an external hard drive to copy these files. As per the lawsuit filed by Google, the Lidar circuit board is the main component of the autonomous driving system. Waymo also accused Levandowski of formatting his laptop to prevent finding forensic fingerprint evidence. Advertisements Uber has no answers to Google’s allegations Uber, on the other hand, is making plans to replace human drivers with robotic driver as they consider it as a cost saving option. The team from Uber did not have any specific responses to Google’s allegations. In a statement issued by Uber, they said that they take these allegations and the decision to sue Uber seriously and are reviewing the matter with their top officials. The relationship between Google and Uber turned sour in 2013. A huge amount totaling billions of dollars have been invested in automated driving research in the last two years and many technology companies are fighting it out to get an upper hand. Waymo sues Uber despite loss of many engineers Google has had to face setbacks as many of the engineers who were working in the car division left their jobs. Word is they were worried about the slow progress and were not sure how the CEO of Google's Self-Driving Car Project, John Krafcick, will handle the division. But, having its designs and trade secrets stolen, Waymo sues Uber in hopes of making some headway, at least in the courts. #self driving car

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-15/bend-oregon-bubble

Is Bend, Oregon In A Bubble?

Authored by Chris Hamilton via Econimica blog, I grew up in Bend, Oregon and hope to retire there someday soon. I love everything Bend has to offer (if you don't know Bend, think Boulder or Sun Valley...but better). I have family, friends, and rental properties in Bend. So when a friend sent me a video with an economist (Bill Valentine) explaining why Bend was not in "a bubble" in mid-2017 and that residential property "prices were virtually permanently headed higher", I was pleased but simultaneously more than a little curious. My curiosity stemmed from the fact that since 1985, Bend's property values have risen in excess of 6x's. Since 2000, prices are up nearly 3 fold. Subsequent to the financial crisis lows, property values have nearly doubled and prices are now marginally higher than the '07 peak. The same peak which economists unanimously agreed was an unsustainable speculative "bubble". But this time is different??? To define our terms, "a bubble" is trade in an asset that strongly exceeds the asset's intrinsic value. Mr. Valentine explained that Bend's property values are not in "a bubble" and that "property prices (in Bend) are virtually permanently headed higher" because "more people want to and can move into Bend from cities with loftier property values than the future supply of homes (in Bend) can keep up with". So, Mr. Valentine's bet on Bend (or most highly desirable getaway destinations) is a bet on continual property value rises in the larger cities (alongside continued financial asset appreciation...whose ownership is concentrated in the cities). This will allow these "city folk" to ultimately sell high and buy high in relatively cheaper Bend. Plus Bend will be unable or geographically constrained from adding adequate supply of new housing to keep up with demand. Growth Explained...and Why Organic Growth Has Slowed Growth among the working age population is the key to increasing demand and economic growth. The chart below shows average household incomes and expenditures (consumption) by age of the head of the households. Not surprisingly, the 35 to 64 year old population has significantly higher incomes and spends significantly more than young adults or elderly. In particular, the 45 to 54 year old average household earn more than 2.5x's the income and spend nearly 2x's as much than that of 75+ year old households. Population growth in the right age segments is critical to economic growth...while growth primarily or solely among the elderly leads to "sub-par" economic growth. For more than a half century, there has essentially been no growth among the quantity of young in America versus a fast growing quantity of elderly (chart below) and this is the nexus of America's economic, financial, and (probably) political problems. Despite a much larger total population, total annual births have not grown since 1960 and are currently well below the late 1950's levels. What has grown is the number of American's living far longer. What was a 2 to 1 ratio of young vs. elderly in 1950 has been flipped to 1 youth to 1.5 elderly ratio. But that is nothing compared to what the Census estimates will happen between now and 2050 as growth among the lowest earners and spenders (elderly) swamps the young (0-4yr/old est. is based on average of unrealistically elevated medium and low Census estimates). The growth of the core (year over year change in 25-54yr/olds) has been the driving force behind America's rise, peak, and deceleration of economic activity since WWII. In the chart below, the blue shaded area is the annual change in 25-54yr/olds peaking in the late '80's and turning negative in 2008..and again in 2017. The black shaded area is the annual change in full time employees. The yellow line is the Federal Funds interest rate (primarily following the change in core population, only intermittently jogging with the business cycle). The red line is federal debt rising as core growth and interest rates waned. Plainly, the 2008 housing crisis was (and still is) a population / demographic crisis. To round out the national picture; growth among the childbearing lot is likely to turn negative or at best continue to grow weakly. The dashed lines in the chart below represent the Census medium and low estimates for the US child bearing population....and the reality will be somewhere between the two. Either way, record low birth rates and a collapse in illegal immigration mean that growth among the young has stalled or is set to turn negative while the quantity of those past child bearing age will continue to surge (chart below, data from Census). The Far West: Over the past six years, the Pacific states (from which most of Bend's growth comes) has seen the "young" (under 65 year old population) grow by 1.3 million while the "elderly" (over 65 year old population) grew by 1.6 million (chart below). Although growth of "elderly" is outpacing growth of "young", the West has the best dynamics (save for Texas). Notably, the Midwest, Northeast, large parts of the Intermountain West, and Southeast are facing significant outright depopulation of their "young" versus surging increases in their "elderly". The Pacific states growth breakdown, by age groups, from 2010 through 2016 is charted below...clearly California is the driver but Washington has the most balance between the growth of young and old. But population growth is highly variable dependent on location. Although national fertility rates are at record lows (and no higher in the cities), immigration plus domestic migration of young adults to these metropolis' is driving higher growth and demand in these cities than elsewhere. Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and Portland on average are adding 1.2 younger persons for every elderly person added. Inversely, the rest of the states are adding nearly 2.4 elderly for every young person added. The chart below breaks out the growth in the combined metro areas vs. combined states (excluding the metro areas), by "young" vs. "elderly" from 2010 through 2016. However, these metropolis' are running into their own problems of congestion, livability, and rent spirals (to name but a few) which will be drags on further growth. And going forward, even among these metropolitan areas, the shifting rise in the quantity of elderly vs. decelerating growth in the quantity and quality among young means sellers are bound to outnumber buyers. Jobs Growth Jobs growth in the Pacific states has been among the highest and most consistent over the past three economic cycles (chart below). Although jobs growth has been cyclically decelerating, down almost 20% from the peak period of job creation, the net job creation in the far West has been a relative outperformer. Over the last three economic cycles, jobs growth has remained relatively consistent among the major metropolitan Western cities at the expense of jobs growth among the remainder of CA/WA/OR which have fallen 50% (chart below). An aside; I'm pretty sure if I added the likes of Spokane, Sacramento, Fresno, etc. that I would find all net jobs growth is taking place in the top 15 or 20 cities and jobs are actually declining across the rest of the West. And it is these largest of cities that Bend is entirely reliant upon for its continued property appreciation. So goes LA or San Jose or Seattle...so goes Bend. To that point, the chart below is the Case Schiller property value index for Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles. So far, so good for Mr. Valentine's theory as all cities but Los Angeles have made new record high property valuations. Property values of select West coast cities, in dollars (charted below). Compared to the major Western metro areas (except Portland), Bend is significantly cheaper on a relative basis. Simply put, the population growth, demographics of that growth, and economic growth of the far West is the best...but all that positive activity is almost entirely confined to the largest of cities. Bend, Portland, & Oregon Let's review Bend, Portland, and the larger Oregon population growth (and demographics among the population change), jobs growth, housing supply, and housing values. Bend and Portland property values have seen two clear price spikes since 1985 (chart below). The sharp rises in valuation from '04 through '07 and '12 through '17 are pretty hard to miss. Below, Bend versus Portland property prices (in $$'s). Below, two variables are offered to describe what is driving the housing appreciation. The first chart below shows real median household income (adjusted for inflation) that hasn't budged since '00 while home prices have tripled (this lack of income growth is true nationally, as well). I think we can rule out rising income as the basis of rising property values. Next, 30yr fixed mortgage rates have fallen 80% since 1981 and 53% since 2000 (chart below). This interest rate decrease (along with interest only, balloon payment options, etc.) has liberated the money that would have gone to interest on the loan to be redirected into pushing purchase prices higher (of course this is also true nationally, not just in Oregon). Given real median household income continues to stall and further decline in the 30yr mortgage rate is unlikely (given the Fed is raising interest rates), additional "organic" appreciation of property values (aside from rising populations) seems dubious. Essentially, the appreciating tailwinds have ceased and a possible or probable rise in mortgage rates will be the start of a growing headwind against further property value appreciation. Oregon population:

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-06/much-more-trump

Chris Dakota, Not Verified

Much More Than Trump

Submitted by Robert Gore via Straight Line Logic blog, “Revolutions dawn when an appreciable number of the ruled realize their rulers are intellectual and moral inferiors.” It started in Vietnam. The men who chose to fight for America on Vietnam’s front lines did so for honorable reasons. While there was no immediate threat to the US, some were concerned about falling dominoes and the march of communism. Some were animated by an idealistic desire to secure democracy and liberty in a land that had never known those blessings. Some went believing that if the leaders of the country said this war was in America’s best interests, it must be so. For those who were drafted, they did, perhaps reluctantly, what they perceived to be their duty. Whatever their motivations, those who fought found their idealism shattered. Many of the South Vietnamese they thought they were fighting “for” despised the US as the latest in a succession of imperial powers using a corrupt, puppet government as the cat’s paw for its domination. Short of total immolation of both friend and foe—it was often impossible to differentiate the two—there was no effective strategy against guerrilla warfare waged by the enemy fighting on its home turf. The Viet Cong proved as difficult to vanquish as hordes of ants and mosquitos at a picnic. The victory the generals and politicians insisted was just another few months and troop deployments down the road never came, and the soldiers knew it never would, long before reality was acknowledged and the troops brought home. Brutal disillusionment gave way to abject disgust when they returned stateside. They cynically, but understandably, concluded that the antiwar protests had more to do with fear of the draft (there were no major protests after Nixon ended it), and readily available sex and drugs than heartfelt opposition to the war. That conclusion was buttressed by their reception from the antiwar crowd. If they were expecting support and understanding, they didn’t get it. The US victims of the war, those who fought it—the wounded, the physically and psychologically maimed, the dead—were branded as subhuman thugs and baby killers. It was the first time in the history of the US that a substantial swath of the population turned on those who had fought its wars. Those who fought regarded (or, in the case of the dead, would have regarded) those doing the branding as preening, posturing, spoiled children. A subterranean fault line split into a gaping fissure, since widened to a yawning chasm. The idea that the elite—by dint of their education, intelligence, rarified social circle, and moral sensibility— should rule had reached full florescence during the New Deal, when FDR and his so-called brain trust promised change that most Americans could believe in. Although the elite failed, prolonging the Great Depression, it seemingly redeemed itself directing World War II, leaving the US at an unprecedented pinnacle of global power. Forgetting the failures of the Depression and basking in the hubristic glow, a bipartisan coterie from Washington, Wall Street, industry, the military, and the Ivy League set out to order the world according to their dictates. The US would lead a confederated empire opposing the Soviet alliance. The epochal nature of the struggle justified, in their minds, whatever means were necessary to wage it, including propaganda, espionage, subversion, regime change, and war. While the Kennedy assassination offered the American public a glimpse into the heart of darkness, only a few independent-minded skeptics challenged the Warren Commission whitewash. Vietnam was different; hundreds of thousands returned knowing not just that the so-called best and brightest couldn’t win the war, but that for years they had lied to the American public. In the following decades, it had to have been especially galling for the Vietnam veterans that the hippies, draft-deferred campus protesters, the “fortunate sons” (google Credence Clearwater Revival) whose numbers never came up, and the mockers of the values they held dear ended up among the elite. The Clintons, of course, became the prime example. Disaffected veterans were the core of a group that would grow to millions, their “faith” in government and the people who ran it obliterated by its repeated failures and lies. Revolutions dawn when an appreciable number of the ruled realize their rulers are intellectual and moral inferiors. The mainstream media is filled with vituperative, patronizing, and insulting explanations of what’s “behind” the Trump phenomenon. It all boils down to revulsion with the self-anointed, incompetent, pretentious, hypocritical, corrupt, prevaricating elite that presumes to rule this country. It is, in a word, inferior to the populace on the other side of the yawning chasm, the ones they have patronized and insulted for decades, and the other side knows it. Peggy Noonan is one of the few mainstream writers who has tried to understand, rather than insult or condemn, the Trump phenomenon. In a widely cited article, she ascribed it to the split between the “protected,” those who run the government and its allied institutions, and the “unprotected,” the government’s and its allies’ victims (“Trump and the Rise of the Unprotected,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/25/16). It was a nice try, but Ms. Noonan is attempting to straddle a chasm that cannot be straddled. She writes for the Journal, an establishment organ, some of whose writers have been either so clueless or disingenuous that they have denied the existence of an establishment. And ultimately, the protected-unprotected differentiation doesn’t fly. Most Trump supporters don’t want the government to do something for them; they want the government to quit doing things to them. They viscerally revile the elite—it’s personal—and they want no part of that class or its government. They know how to take care of themselves, and many know the government hurts the most those whom it ostensibly protects. Elite sons and daughters have not been in the ranks of front line military that have fought the elite’s disastrous wars. The top and bottom of the service economy swell—lobbyists, political operatives, debt merchants, Internet wizards, lawyers, bureaucrats, waiters, bartenders, nurses, orderlies, sales clerks—while what used to be the heart of the economy—manufacturing—shrinks. The bailouts from the last financial crisis went to Wall Street, not the homeowners with underwater mortgages facing foreclosure. Whose pockets were picked to fund those bailouts? And whose pockets were picked to pay the higher insurance premiums necessary to fund the Obamacare disaster? It doesn’t take an Ivy League degree to know that the national debt, $$19 trillion and counting, is a big, scary number, and that the unfunded Social Security and medical care liabilities coming due are even bigger, scarier numbers. It does, apparently, take an Ivy League degree to believe that more debt is the answer to our economic problems, or that microscopic or negative interest rates will do anything but fund carry-trade speculators and screw those trying to fund their own postponed retirements, or that the limping economy since the financial crisis has “recovered.” Idiotic blather fills the elite, mainstream media, while much truth is suppressed and debate stifled in the name of political correctness. Not much has changed since Vietnam. The decent besieged are taking fire from all sides, valiantly fighting their way through it, while preening, posturing, spoiled idiots congratulate themselves for running a once great country into the ground. It is a mark of the decent besieged’s decency that they are turning to the ballot box, the politically correct way to change a democratic government. The idiot class should be grateful for their forbearance. Instead, it resorts to means fair and foul to subvert them and maintain its power. Whether Trump does or does not make it all the way to the White House, the wave he’s riding will only grow stronger, tsunami-strength when the economy collapses and the world descends into war. If the idiot class and its rabble subvert him, a quote from John F. Kennedy, recently featured on SLL, will surely come back to haunt them.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-14/spitznagel-slams-part-time-critics-central-banks-youre-too-late

Spitznagel Slams "The Part-Time Critics Of Central Banks" - "You're Too Late"

Authored by Mark Spitznagel via The Mises Institute, There seems to be no shortage today of investors and pundits criticizing the market interventions of the world’s central banks. Monetary stimulus in the form of artificially low interest rates and bloated central bank balance sheets ($$18.5 trillion, to be exact), the argument goes, have created another dangerous financial bubble (evidenced by ubiquitously bubbly stock market valuation ratios) that ultimately threatens the financial system yet again. The author shares wholeheartedly in this criticism. The ethical problem is, where were these voices when this all started, with Greenspan in the 1990s and, more specifically, with Bernanke in 2008? The central bank critics today who were not critics of - and in most cases were even sympathetic to - the great bailouts and stimulus that started almost a decade ago have reserved their criticisms only for those interventions that appear to hurt their interests, as opposed to those that have helped them. After all, no one would disagree that bailouts and monetary stimulus got us out of the last financial crisis, but they also certainly got us to where we are today, vulnerable to another even bigger one. We are so concerned about our friend the strung-out junkie, though we paid little mind when they were but a casual user. It is so easy to care when problems become obvious and critical, so hard when they are subtler and nascent. Artificial stimulus in an economy is the same: it is easily ignored as a problem in its infancy, but it always develops into a huge problem. Economies and markets are structurally altered and distorted by such stimulus, such that it cannot be removed without breaking those new structures. It must rather be ever increased, though even this will only delay an inevitable collapse. It is just too easy in today’s investing environment, and even necessary for most participants, to sympathize with and even exploit central bank interventions. Doing otherwise creates an opportunity cost in one’s career and investments. But doing so puts one in the position of enabler to the economic system’s self-destructive dependence on artificial stimulus. One cannot be a part-time classical liberal, criticizing central planning only when it runs contrary to one’s interests. Indeed, this is the very problem of Socialism: there are winners and losers; the winners are in the here and now — the seen; the losers are in the future — the unseen. The winners don't complain, and the losers can‘t until it is too late. But as the future becomes the here and now, the unseen becomes the seen, those who now think they are anticipating a problem and its cause, yet supported that same cause when they stood to benefit, must be seen for what they are: fellow travelers in the central planning ideology that grips today’s financial markets. They are too late.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-11/path-10000-bitcoin

Xythras, Not Verified

The Path To $$10,000 Bitcoin

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, So let's imagine a scenario in which tens of trillions of at-risk wealth suddenly seek an alternative--any alternative to staying in an asset class that's circling the drain. As my colleague Davefairtex observed recently, the paint isn't quite dry on bitcoin and the expanding host of other cryptocurrencies. Initial enthusiasm for the latest cryptocurrency that's going to eat bitcoin's lunch generates outsized returns for early investors, but as glitches in the vision arise, the bubble of initial euphoria pops. Differing visions of bitcoin's future have divided its community of participants and miners, and hard forks have split other cryptocurrencies into competing camps. Meanwhile, the spectre of outright bans on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies by nations such as China adds uncertainty to the entire sector. Many observers expect that China's increasingly pervasive attempts to staunch the flow of capital out of China via capital controls will lead inevitably to strict limits on bitcoin or even a total ban on bitcoin transactions and mining in China. Since the majority of mining and transactions occur in China, severe limits or a ban would have an outsized impact on the bitcoin community. Many observers foresee the potential for a massive decline in the price of bitcoin should such a ban be imposed. As if all these issues didn't generate enough uncertainty and skepticism, it seems as if every time the general public starts getting interested in cryptocurrencies, another exchange is hacked or another entry in the cryptocurrency sweepstakes blows up, sending the sector back into the "untrustworthy" abyss. But this minefield shouldn't blind us to the possibility of a path to $$10,000 bitcoin. Skepticism is always prudent in any financial matter, especially a speculative one, so put on your skeptical thinkijng cap and follow along. The problem is everything is now speculative. Do you really think the $$100 trillion private-sector bond market (i.e. the bet that debtors will pay back what they borrowed with interest) is "safe," as in guaranteed, bullet-proof, no serious loss of capital is possible, etc.? How about the $$60 trillion sovereign (government) bond market? The problem with sovereign bonds is governments with central banks can create "money" out of thin air to pay interest and redeem maturing bonds, but this devalues the currency. So getting back 100% of your nominal investment doesn't mean you're whole; if the currency the bond is denominated in fell 50%, bondholders suffer a 50% loss in the purchasing power of their initial capital. Ouch. How is that not speculative? How about the $$70 trillion in global stocks? Yes, we all "know" that stocks will never go down ever again because central banks can keep inflating new credit bubbles indefinitely--but let's not kid ourselves: history tells us that stocks remain a speculative gamble. How about the $$62 trillion in unsecuritized debt instruments? How much of this debt is collateralized by fast-dying malls, bubble-priced real estate, or Unicorn-type valuations in other assets? Take a gander at this chart of financial assets, roughly $$300 trillion, and note that this doesn't include real estate, housing, etc. Global real estate is estimated at $$217 trillion, roughly two-thirds of financial wealth. Together, these assets add up to over $$500 trillion. Once again, the larger context here is: all these assets are speculative. Yes, even real estate. Consider this, if you missed it: When Assets (Such as Real Estate) Become Liabilities. Then there's the currency market. Care to argue that currencies are non-speculative investments? Is that why Chinese wealth is gushing out of the yuan, because it's so guaranteed to never lose purchasing power? Is that why the euro fell from 1.40 to 1.05, because it's a guaranteed safe investment? Venezuelans learned the hard way that fiat currencies when mismanaged by the issuing nation/central bank can destroy wealth on an unimaginable scale. So now let's turn to bitcoin, with a market cap of about $$14 billion, down from a recent high of $$18 billion. Now compare that to $$500 trillion. If we take 1 measly little trillion, bitcoin's entire market cap is 1/70th of that. So let's imagine a scenario in which tens of trillions of at-risk wealth suddenly seek an alternative--any alternative to staying in an asset class that's circling the drain. We're accustomed to "rotation," the nice little game where bonds can be sold and the capital invested in real estate or stocks, or vice versa. We're less accustomed to all the conventional asset classes toppling like dominoes. Where do the fleeing trillions go when stocks, bonds and real estate are all going down in a chaotic sell-off? Gold and silver are time-honored safe havens, but it's not too difficult to foresee the potential for limits or bans on gold, or supply constraints. Some percentage of investors will consider alternatives. In such an environment of a crowd rushing for increasingly narrowing exits, what thin slice of institutional and individual investors will take a chance that bitcoin might hold or even increase its value as a major currency melts down, or some other global financial crisis unfolds? Shall we guess 1/10th of 1% of the panicky fleeing wealth will take the chance that bitcoin will be a safer haven than the conventional assets that are cratering? So 1% of the $$300 trillion in financial assets (setting aside the $$200 trillion in real estate for the moment) is $$3 trillion, and a tenth of that is $$300 billion. So what happens to bitcoin's price if $$300 billion rushes through the wormhole? On the face of it, market cap would go up 20-fold from current levels. Since the number of bitcoin is limited to around 18 or 19 million (subtracting those bitcoin lost forever to hard drive crashes, etc., and those yet to be mined), price would also have to rise 20-fold. OK, so 1/10th of 1% of global financial wealth flowing into bitcoin strains credulity. Let's make it 1/20th of 1%, or $$150 billion. That still pushes bitcoin's market cap and price up 10-fold. That's the pathway to $$10,000 bitcoin. Unlikely, you say? Perhaps. But if you're of the mind that $$500 trillion in current assets might be revalued considerably lower in a global crisis, then a tiny sliver of that fast-evaporating wealth finding a home in bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) doesn't seem all that farfetched. You want farfetched, how about $$3 trillion in panicky fleeing capital flooding into bitcoin? Yes, a whole, gigantic, enormous 1% of speculative financial "wealth" and "money" seeking a home in cryptocurrencies. (It's worth doing the same exercise with gold, only substitute $$6.4 trillion in market cap (i.e. all the non-central owned bank gold) for bitcoin's $$14 billion market cap.) Cryptocurrencies are intrinsically volatile and speculative. Anyone pondering them must keep this firmly in mind at all times. There is no "guaranteed" safety or guaranteed anything. Everything that appears solid can melt into thin air (to borrow Marx's phrase) without advance notice. All of the World’s Money and Markets in One Visualization How Much Gold Do Central Banks Actually Have? Disclosure: the author has a tiny speculative position in bitcoin. This is not a recommendation to anyone to speculate in any financial instrument, including cryptocurrecies. Please read the site's full disclosure here: HUGE GIANT BIG FAT DISCLAIMER.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/lifestyle/2017/03/top-5-six-flags-great-adventure-roller-coasters-001512837.html

Blasting News, Anne Sewell, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic

Top 5 Six Flags Great Adventure roller coasters

Thrill seekers love #Roller Coasters. Six Flags parks know that, and they build some of the best roller coasters in the world to accommodate them. Six Flags may not have as many roller coasters as a park like Cedar Point, but they do a great job with the rides that they do have. Let's count down the five best roller coasters at Six Flags #Great Adventure. 1. El Toro. It's not the tallest or the fastest ride in the world, but the wood-steel hybrid makes up for it by being both smooth and thrilling. Riders are taken up a very fast incline and go around a turn before getting tossed into the ride. El Toro twists and turns, but remains surprisingly smooth for a wooden roller coaster. Advertisements Advertisements El Toro is ranked 2nd on the Coasterbuzz top 100 rankings for a reason. 2. Nitro. Nitro's slow ascent to 230 feet in the air builds suspense for riders who are soon dropped from that distance. The ride reaches a top speed of 80 mph and doesn't slow down until the end, when riders are taken over some thrilling camel humps that make the riders feel like they are flying out of their seat. 3. Kingda Ka. This Top Thrill Dragster knockoff broke records for height when it was released in 2005. It remains the world's tallest roller coaster and features a launch that allows riders to reach a top speed of 128 mph. The roller coaster features one giant hill and one giant drop, making it much shorter and less fun than the previous two rides on the list. 4. Bizarro. When it comes to inversions, Bizzaro doesn't disappoint. Advertisements It truly feels like the rider is suspended upside down most of the time, even though riders are not. The pace of the ride and the thrilling nature of the inversions make Bizarro worthy of a spot on this roller coaster list. 5. Superman. Green Lantern doesn't get this spot for the simple fact that it's an uncomfortable stand up roller coaster. Superman is a thrilling ride in which passengers are parallel to the track the whole time. That novelty makes for a unique ride experience that you can't really receive from any other roller coasters in most parks. #Top 5

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-22/usdjpy-inches-higher-japanese-stocks-set-longest-winning-streak-history

USDJPY Inches Higher As Japanese Stocks Set For Longest Winning Streak In History

Yen is weaker and Japanese equity futures notably higher following a landslide election victory for Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe which theoretically ushers in yet more easy monetary policy. USDJPY has jumped above 114.00 in early trading, sending NKY futures up almost 1% in the pre-market. If this equity rise holds it will mark the 15th consecutive gain for the Japanese market - breaking the 1961 record of 14 straight days to become the longest winning streak in Japanese stock market history. Nikkei 225 is at its highest since Dec 1996. Meanwhile, much has been made recently of the decoupling between USDJPY and the Nikkei 225 However, this chart masks a closer relationship between USDJPY and the relative performance of Japanese and US equities. So there really is no regime shift. What are the drivers of this persistent negative correlation between the yen and Japanese equities and which flows supported this negative correlation this year? On Friday, JPMorgan presented three fundamental explanations to justify the link between Japanese equities and the yen. One typical explanation is that the yen, being a major funding currency for the world, should rise in a risk-off equity environment and vice versa. But this argument is not supported by the fact that there is much lower correlation between the yen and global equities. It is also not supported by the structural break in the correlation between Japanese equities and the yen shown in the chart above. The yen was the most prominent or sole funding currency before the financial crisisof 2007/08. After the financial crisis the yen was joined by the dollar and later by the euro as funding currencies. So if anything the negative correlation between equities and the yen should have been even more negative before the financial crisis. But the opposite happened. The negative correlation only intensified after the financial crisis. A second explanation, with causality running from yen to Japanese equities, is that a weaker yen has a positive impact on corporate profits inducing equity investors to buyJapanese equities and vice versa. A third explanation is that Abenomics was always thought of as a combined trade for overseas investors: buy Japanese equities and sell the yen. And reverse, i.e. sell Japanese equities and buythe yen, when Abenomics wanes. But JPM notes both of these last two explanations have a problem: why does the yen not go up as foreign investors buyJapanese equities? In principle when foreign investors buy or sell Japanese equities currency-hedged there should be no currency impact. And when foreign investors buy or sell Japanese equities currency unhedged there should be in fact a positive correlation between the yen and Japanese equities. What are the circumstances then under which we have a negative correlation between Japanese equities and the yen? We previously presented three flow circumstances: 1) If a foreign investor (buyer) purchases Japanese equities currency-hedged from another foreign investor (seller) who was long yen already (i.e. the seller owned these Japanese equities currency unhedged before), the net market impact would be an up movein Japanese equities and a down move in yen. 2) If a foreign investor (buyer) purchases Japanese equities currency-hedged from a Japanese investor (seller) and this Japanese investor uses the proceeds to purchase foreign equities currency-unhedged, the net impact would also be an up move in Japanese equities and a down move in yen. This flow appears to have taken place since mid-September. Foreign investors were buyers of Japanese equities, at the same time as Japanese investors sold domestic equities and as Japanese investors stepped up their purchases of foreign equities. But since September, the purchases of foreign equities by Japanese investors were smaller in magnitude relative to the purchases of Japanese equities by foreign investors. So the negative impact on theyen from the former flow was more muted relative to the positive impact on Japanese equities from the latter flow. 3) Another flow example is related to dynamic hedging by existing holders of Japanese equities, Existing foreign holders of Japanese equities could have unwound previous FX hedges in response to equity price declines in recent months, even if they did not sell any Japanese equities themselves. This is because equity investors tend to dynamically adjust their FX hedges to match the size of the hedges to the value of their equity holdings. So as the price of Japanese equities goes down in local currency terms, these foreign investors cut some of their previous FX hedges, pushing the yen up in the process. The opposite flow takes place in periods of Japanese equity appreciation: existing foreign holders of Japanese equities have to increase the size of their FX hedges to match the increased equity values, pushing the yen down in the process. This dynamic hedging flow suggests that there should be an even stronger correlation between the performance of the yen and the absolute performance of Japanese equities in local currency terms, relative to the correlation between the yen and the relative performance of Japanese vs. US or global equities. But the two charts above show that the opposite happened this year. The correlation between the yen and the relative performance of Japanese vs. US equities has been stronger than the correlation between the performance of the yen and the absolute performance of Japanese equities. This suggests the above flow stemming from dynamic hedging by foreign investors of existing Japanese equity holdings, has likely weakened this year. So from the above three flow circumstances, it is the second one that appears to offer the best explanation of what happened since September in the Japanese equity/yen space. So, following the recent buying, how overweight have foreign investors become in Japanese equities? So in all, it appears that overweights in Japan have been focused mostly among leveraged overseas investors including CTAs, making Japanese equities vulnerable to an unwind of some of these positions in the near term. Non-leveraged institutional investors or retail investors are rather neutral. To conclude, JPMorgan finds no reason to believe that the historical negative correlation between Japanese equities and the yen has broken down. The relationship between Japanese equities and the yen has been closely aligned this year if one looks at the relative rather than the absolute performance of Japanese equities.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-14/why-credit-suisse-thinks-millennials-are-unluckiest-generation

Why Credit Suisse Thinks Millennials Are The "Unluckiest" Generation

As part of the annual Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, which as discussed earlier found that for the first time ever, the "Top 1%" owns a majority, or 50.1%, of the world's wealth... ... the millionaire bankers behind the firm's (Ultra) High Net Worth client division decided to also shed some tears for the world's Millennials, whom they dubbed with one word: "unlucky"... a term which members of said generation will likely wear as a badge of honor (if only to justify their plight in life), while other generations will be eager to promptly mock. While both sides have valid justifications for their perspective, here is why the Swiss bank has almost given up on an entire generation as a potential client: "The “Millennials” – people who came of age after the turn of the century – have had a run of bad luck, most clearly in developed markets. Capital losses in the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and high subsequent unemployment have dealt serious blows to young workers and savers. Add rising student debt in several developed countries, tighter mortgage rules after 2008, higher house prices, increased income inequality, less access to pensions and lower income mobility and you have a “perfect storm” holding back wealth accumulation by the Millennials in many countries." In a contrast that is sure to generate controversy, Credit Suisse compares the plight of the "unlucky" Millennials to the "good fortune experienced by the baby boomers, born in large numbers between 1945 and 1964, whose wealth was boosted by a range of factors including large windfalls due to property and share price increases." Additionally, CS notes that the millennial cohort is smaller as a percentage of the total adult population than the baby boomers were at the same age, and notes that while "normally it is good to belong to a smaller cohort" this time that appears not to be the case, and nowhere more so than in the United States. So why aren't Millennials a lucky cohort? Did the financial crisis and its fallout just swamp the advantage of being in a small cohort? Or is there more to it? Here are several key reasons cited by Credit Suisse to make its high net worth clients feel some compassion for America's young adults. Assets and debts of the Millennials Table 1 provides a breakdown by age for various wealth characteristics in key developed markets. The table shows that income and wealth both generally increase with age – certainly for the average individual, but also usually in cross-section data. The share of financial assets also rises once young millennial adults have left the parental nest. Non-financial assets – of which owner-occupied homes are the most important – decline in importance with age. For many people, the first priority is to buy a house, with financial assets being built up later. This pattern helps to explain why the high and rising house prices seen in many countries since the year 2000 have been a special problem for the Millennials. According to the IMF, state pensions in advanced economies are expected to replace just 20% of per capita income by 2060, compared with 35% today. Also, fewer workers are now covered by employer-based pensions than in the past, and defined benefit pensions are declining fast. For example, only 10% of UK workers in the private sector born in the 1980s have a defined benefit pension plan, compared to 40% of those born in the 1960s at the same age. So it is increasingly important for people to save for retirement on their own account. The share of financial assets in total assets will need to rise in most countries in the future compared to what is seen in Table 1. This is especially true for the Millennials, who will likely face the added challenge of higher contributions and taxes required to fund state pensions and other benefits for the baby boom cohort in their retirement. Student loans have been an increasingly important component of debt in a number of countries. The trend is particularly striking in the United States and is also evident in Germany (see Figures 2a and 2b, which use the same data sources and age groups as Table 1). In the United States, 37% of those aged 20–29 in 2013 had some student debt, which accounted for 18% of the total debt of that age group. In Germany, 12% of those in the same age group had student debt and it accounted for about 6% of total debt. The rise in student debt is partly due to higher fees. But it also reflects the fact that the Millennials are more educated than preceding cohorts. For instance, the percentage of 25–34 year olds with tertiary education in OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries rose from about 15% in 1970 to 26% in 2000 and 43% in 2016. This greater educational attainment may help to ease the Millennials labor market diffuclties. However, although average rates of return to college and university have held up fairly well, this is largely because lower wages for less-educated workers have reduced the opportunity cost of tertiary education. But for the most university-educated Millennials the outcome may be job opportunities and wages no better than those of their parents, achieved by a dint of more costly education. Entrepreneurship It is sometimes claimed that Millennials are starting more businesses than earlier generations, and doing it at younger ages. But the official statistics suggest otherwise: only 2% of Millennials in the United States are self- employed, versus 8% of Generation Xers (those born between 1965 and 1980) and baby boomers. And entrepreneurship, as measured by the fraction of self-employed workers, has been declining in most OECD countries since the turn of the century. The OECD self-employment rate fell from 17.6% in 2001 to 15.8% in 2011; in the United States it dropped from 7.4% in 2001 to 6.5% in 2015. Sagging entrepreneurship in most countries is consistent with relatively few Millennials starting a business in this period. The apparent decline in entrepreneurship among Millennials relative to their predecessors seen in the official statistics may reflect the fact that the cohorts being compared are observed at the same point in time, not at the same age. More Millennials will start businesses as they age. Another explanation is that those Millennials who have become entrepreneurs have each created more businesses than their counterparts in earlier cohorts. This may reflect their ”tech savvy” and the greater ease of starting multiple businesses these days with the help of the internet. A third factor is that although many Millennials would like to start a business, for a time they were restrained by tough economic conditions. This suggests a surge in millennial entrepreneurship may occur soon or may already be taking place, as has been seen in some emerging markets, such as China and India. Comparing cohorts Figure 4 shows wealth components for US adults aged 20–29 and 30–39 in 1992, 1998, 2007 and 2013. Total assets increased markedly for the 20– 29 year-old group between 1998 and 2007, due mostly to an increase in real assets caused by rising house prices. Real assets for 30–39 year olds also increased rapidly at that time, but mean financial assets fell in this age range, perhaps reflecting re-allocation of portfolios in response to the changing returns from real and financial assets. Things went into reverse between 2007 and 2013: real assets declined substantially for both groups and financial assets increased a little. Debt rose strongly for both groups between 1998 and 2007, but has since returned to its 1992 level. These comparisons tell us about the experience of Generation X and the Millennials in their early adulthood. Generation X was still in its late 20s and 30s when house prices rocketed in the United States prior to the global financial crisis, and during the crisis itself. So it, as well as the first wave of Millennials, had a wild roller coaster ride. They experienced not only the effects of the general rise and fall of economic activity, but also the impacts of wild swings in asset prices. Both aspects are reflects in the wealth changes seen in Figure 4, which simply shows that young Americans aren't getting wealthier any more. General Indebtedness Figure 6 shows US age-debt ratio profiles. For each cohort aged 40 or more in 2017, the debt to income ratio was higher than that of previous cohorts at all ages. The “crossing over”observed for wealth in Figure 5 is not seen reflecting the fact that debts do not fall in value when houses and shares crash, as they did during the financial crisis. But, perhaps most interestingly, the pattern is interrupted for the Millennials. The debt to income ratio started out higher than earlier cohorts for those aged 35-39 in 2017 and also rose (briefly, in 2010) above earlier cohorts for those aged 30–34 in 2017. But then there was a crossing-over in 2013 for both of these cohorts, with their debt to income ratios declining below previous cohorts. This hints that the Millennials became more cautious about debt than their predecessors due to the shock of the housing bust in the United States and the global crisis. Student Debt Student debt has leapt up for the most recent cohorts in the United States (Figure 7). The biggest increase came for the cohort aged 35–39 in 2017 – i.e. the “leading edge” of the Millennials – but those aged 30–34 in 2017 saw a further increase. As noted earlier, as a consequence, student debt now forms a substantial portion of total debt for young people in the United States. Living in their parents' basement The percentage of adults living in owner-occupied housing shows much more stability over cohorts (Figure 8). The oldest cohorts follow almost exactly the same path, but for those aged 40–49 or 35–39 in 2017, there was a higher initial fraction of home owners in successive cohorts. The financial crisis resulted in crossing-over once again, and by 2013 these cohorts slipped below previous cohorts with regard to the fraction of homeowners. Inequality and mobility Millennials have been affected by the general rise in income inequality in advanced economies over recent decades. In a world with constant mean income, constant inequality and no mobility, parents and children would be equally well off. If – more likely – mean income is rising, and there is some mobility, but inequality is constant, then most children will be better off than their parents. But income inequality has been rising in the United States since the mid-1970s, and while mean income has also risen considerably, median income has not increased much. Mobility has also gone down. Similar trends have been seen in other “anglo” countries (with some notable differences, of course). The net result is that past expectations no longer apply. For example, 90% of children in the United States born in 1940 had earnings greater than their parents’, but this ratio had fallen to 50% for children born in the 1980s. About 70% of this decline was due to the rise in inequality. Interest Rates and Rates of Return The financial prospects of a cohort are affected by the rates of return they receive on investments and by the interest rates they face. Throughout the world, equity returns were high in both nominal and real terms during the 1980s and 1990s, providing favorable investment opportunities to baby boomers in the first half of their working lives, and also to young members of Generation X. In the first dedcade of the new century, however, both real and nominal returns collapsed, creating quite a different investment environment for the Millennials. After 2010, returns rebounded, but not to the level seen in the 1980s and 1990s. The interest rate story is similar to that for equity returns, but the decline in real rates began earlier, in the 1990s. Although they rebounded slightly in Europe after 2000, the decline was steady in the United States. This is significant because workers trying to acquire assets increasingly have to switch to riskier investments to get a reasonable rate of return. Real lending rates, which are also important for young people, via mortgages for example, have declined over time as well, but more slowly than deposit rates. In the United States, lending rates reached quite a low level after 2010, but in Europe they remained at 3.8%, far above the real deposit rate of 0.4%. Hence safe saving opportunities have deteriorated for young people, while borrowing has not become correspondingly cheaper. * * * Finally, Credit Suisse's conclusion: The Millennials have not been a lucky cohort so far. They faced the rigors of the financial crisis and the high unemployment that followed in many countries, and have also been widely hammered by high and rising house prices, rising student debt and increasing inequality. Their pension outlook is also worse than that of preceding cohorts. Some of the Millennials have prospered in spite of these difficulties, as reflected in the more positive picture we see in China and a range of other emerging markets, and the recent upsurge in the number of Forbes billionaires below the age of 40. Some have had substantial family help in paying for education and buying homes, and some stand to inherit from wealthy boomer parents in the future. But there are many Millennials who have not been so fortunate. As a result, the Millennials are not only likely to experience greater challenges in building their wealth over time, but also greater wealth inequality than previous generations. And some parting words of comfort: Millennials' may or may not be unlucky, but all they have to do is lat a few years, and slowly but surely their wealth should start to grow.... ... Unless, of course, the entire social-economic matrix has been corrupted by a decade of central planning and there truly is no hope for America's young adults. In which case, if you need directions to the Marriner Eccles building to protest your fate to the appropriate authorities, we are glad to provide. Oh, and for those Millennials who hoped to become the next ultra wealthy clients of Credit Suisse' high net worth group... our condolences, but we hear HSBC will take anyone these days.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-29/former-ltcm-partner-says-firm-never-understood-why-returns-were-so-high

The Hedge Fund That Almost Broke The World

Before the financial crisis and the billions of dollars in corporate bailouts, and trillions more in central bank quantitative easing, the world of investing was simpler. Back then, markets moved in two directions, traders trusted their models, and hedge funds stacked with PhDs and top executives from well-respected bond trading houses were expected to make money hand over fist. And for three glorious years in the mid-1990s, Long Term Capital Management did exactly that. But when the fund suddenly imploded in 1998, stung by economic crises in Russia and Asia that caused it to lose $$4 billion in a bizarre six-week stretch... ... it almost brought the entire financial system down with it. In a recent interview on Real Vision's Adventures in Finance podcast, former LTCM Founding Partner Victor Haghani, who was at the epicenter of the firm’s meteoric rise and catastrophic collapse, discusses the birth of the fund, its flawed investment strategy and the impact its collapse had on the broader financial landscape. His story begins shortly after the 1991 Salomon Brothers scandal, when the Treasury banned the firm, then one of Wall Street’s most aggressive and well-respected bond-trading shops, from participating in Treasury bond auctions. After the firm's dramatic fall, prospective investors encouraged several senior executives who either left the firm, or were forced out, to consider starting a hedge fund. “I was married in January 1993, and that’s when it was starting. I decided I definitely wanted to leave Solomon with John [Gutfreund] having left and some of my other mentors having left, it was time to smell the roses and take some time off. I didn’t need to make both decisions at the same time. It was a period of great change at Salomon Brothers when John Gutfreund, Tom Strauss and John Meriwether had all taken leave from the firm because of the 1991 Treasury bond auction scandal, I forget what the rulings were but John Meriwether could’ve come back to Salomon. In this period of months when those three executives were kind of defending themselves over the Treasury bond scandal and trying to set the record straight, a number of investors came to John Meriwether who said ‘listen you should start a fund and do what you did at Salomon on the outside,’ and that sort of got things going. And there were other people. Bob Merton and Myron Scholes also were interested in doing this project outside of Salomon Brothers. It’s hard to remember exactly how it all took shape but it took shape pretty quickly in 1993 and by January of 94 we were up and running and investing.” With Meriwether at the helm, and not one but two Nobel Laureates, the firm sought to pioneer a computer-driven approach in which its models would identify arbitrage opportunities for the firm to capitalize on. Real Vision recalled the culture of risk taking at Salomon brothers, which was inculcated in the new firm as well. During one quarter when Salomon’ trading business lost a lot of money, Gutfreund, then CEO, explained that they staked the firm’s whole balance sheet on a European convergence trade that would eventually result in enormous profits. Back to Haghani, the former LTCM partner describes how the successes of the firm’s early years helped instigate its collapse as the firm became emboldened to use an increasing amount of leverage. “We were surprised by the high returns we were earning in our first three years and the reason was there was a lot of capital coming in to these trades. We were doing them and there were a lot of people coming to the beach to come swimming with us. We never understood why they were so high, we just saw everything converging really quickly.” Haghani's views on what caused the firm’s collapse have evolved since the financial crisis, explaining that employing leverage in a relative-value trading strategy that includes a universe of exotic and illiquid investments, just wasn't - and isn’t - smart for a small hedge fund. “Post 2008, the view I have and that a lot of people share is what we were doing just wasn’t a good idea. It’s not a question of how we were doing it, it’s just a question of leverage. Relative value investing as a hedge fund isn’t a good idea. That basic model isn’t a good idea because at some point things will move far enough that you will be forced to liquidate positions. You can’t really run this business with a tight stop loss approach. It’s not consistent with an expansive relative value frame work. You could say well we could have tight stop losses, do relative value and limit ourselves to liquid investment but that wasn’t our model. Ours was a model where the only sort of stop loss was as we lost money, we would reduce positions. We would reduce risk in line with our capital.” Thanks to the billions of dollars in leverage extended to LTCM by a coterie of banks, the Fed was forced to step in and demand that the firm’s lenders agree to a bailout. “The world’s financial system ground to a halt as the fed had to cut rates just for this firm, and it was a hedge fund,” Haghani added. To summarize, the lesson from LTCM was clear though, as the financial crisis nearly a decade later would demonstrate, none of the bankers, regulators or central bankers were paying attention. These guys, Haghani explains, were the smartest guys in the world. So nobody was checking their numbers. But of course, all traders inevitably get certain things wrong. And liquidity was what LTCM got wrong. Oh, and finally, LTCM got bailed out, setting the stage for the longest period of institutionalized moral hazard, in which nobody is allowed to fail any more, in the process destroying the risk/return calculus, but making a mockery of capitalism. The Haghani interview begins roughly 20 minutes into the podcast below.

bias

veteranstoday.com

2017-11-27

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/08/14/us-cities-protest-violent-white-supremacist-virginia-rally-that-killed-3/

US Cities Protest Violent White Supremacist Virginia Rally That Killed 3

[Editor’s note: It looks pretty clear now that the racist violence breaking out in the US is being driven by unseen forces, furthermore it seems clear who is behind it – the Zionist front organisations the ADL and SPLC. This is nothing new, similar campaigns to create civil unrest have been created by the Zionists many times before in many countries. One of the most well known examples would be the 1930s in Germany where Zionist stooges burned synagogues and attacked Jewish businesses, culminating in the infamous ‘Kristallnacht’. All this violence was blamed on the Nazis, with the goal of terrorising Germany’s Jews so they would flee to Palestine. Exactly what the agenda is behind the current campaign of civil unrest and violence is not entirely clear, but it will definitely not be anything good for the US and it’s people. Ian] __________ TeleSUR US Cities Protest Violent White Supremacist Virginia Rally That Killed 3 Nearly 19 people were injured in the clashes between the counter-protesters and the far-right protesters. Protests have been organized in several U.S. cities against the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville which left three people dead on Saturday. People in the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, Oakland, Los Angeles, California, New York, Syracuse, Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, as well as in the states of Washington and Maryland, have organized vigils to show their support for the three people who died in the connection to rally. Nearly 19 people were injured in the clashes between the counter-protesters and the far-right protesters in which several hundred white males waved Nazi flags and chanted slogans. A state police helicopter also crashed while responding to the protests and killed two officers. James Fields, 20, of Maumee, Ohio, allegedly killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured 19 others as he rammed his car into a group that was peacefully protesting at Saturday’s event in Charlottesville, Virginia. According to the witnesses’ account, those hit by the car during the event were protesting peacefully. The footage shows the vehicle crashed into another car and threw people over the top of it, the Guardian reported. Four people have been arrested including Fields who has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failing to stop at an accident that resulted in a death. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a probe saying it would investigate into “the circumstances of the deadly vehicular incident.” In Brooklyn, hundreds gathered under the banner, “The Rally for Peace & Sanity” organized by the anti-extremism group Indivisible Nation BK. Peaceful protesters rallying in Los Angeles carried painted signs including “No KKK, no fascist USA.” While in the Californian town of Santa Ana demonstrators protested “in opposition to the message of hate,” and “hope not hate,” NBC reported. “The shocking violence in Charlottesville — and the abhorrent ideology behind it — have no place in America or anywhere in the world,” Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles mayor said in a statement about the tragic event. “Angelenos and people everywhere condemn these acts of hatred, and are deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries suffered today,” he added. California Senator Dianne Feinstein told the South China Morning Post, “Violent acts of hate and bigotry have no place in America.” “Violence like this will solve nothing and will only beget more violence and sow more division,” Feinstein added. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, said in a statement yesterday, “I have a message to all the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesville today.” “Our message is plain and simple, go home,” McAuliffe added. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster suggested the attack could qualify as terrorism “Anytime that you commit an attack against people to incite fear, it meets the definition of terrorism,” McMaster said in an interview with NBC. President Trump has come under fire for his comments following the bloody event. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides,” Trump said in a statement. Critics called out Trump for saying “on many sides” as it purportedly alluded to the counter-protesters. The racist rally was organized by Jason Kessler, a right-wing Charlottesville blogger, as a protest against the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee. Members from the Vanguard America, a known U.S. white nationalist organization, attended Virginia’s small college town in large numbers, where they reportedly marched in military-style formation on Saturday, and also held a torchlight rally the previous night on the University of Virginia campus, the Guardian reported. The group’s shibboleth, “blood and soil” that was used as a popular chant at both events is known to be derived from the Nazi slogan “blut und boden,” that links to the concept of racial purity with a particular national territory. Other known white supremacist groups who attended the rally were Identity Evropa, the Southern nationalist League of the South, the National Socialist Movement, the Traditionalist Workers Party, and the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights. A Twitter vigilante account “YesYoureRacist” is crowdsourcing and listing the names of people who attended the rally. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Virginia rally was the largest gathering of white supremacists in the United States in decades.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-17/law-schools-now-paying-their-graduates-salaries-improve-rankings

Law Schools Now Paying Their Graduates' Salaries To Improve Rankings

Submitted by Michael Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, I knew that the legal market was in bad shape last summer when I came across the story that top law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced its first mass layoffs in 82 years, but I had no idea it was this bad. As most of you will be aware, U.S. News & World Report publishes a widely anticipated ranking of undergraduate as well as graduate schools. I recall how closely my peers scrutinized these rankings back when I was a high school senior and, apparently, a similar obsession continues to this day. In fact, law schools are so consumed with performing well in these rankings that they are going to outrageous lengths to make it look like their students are performing better financially after graduation than they actually are. One of the most ridiculous ways they achieve this is by paying the salaries of their graduates upon graduation. This way, students can take on employment at non-profits and government agencies, positions they would never otherwise consider in light of their mountains of student debt. In return, their alma maters can pretend their graduates got real jobs. It is the academic equivalent of GM automobile channel stuffing. This isn’t just a minor trend of one-offs being exaggerated by the media either. For example, George Washington University paid the starting salaries of 22% of its graduates in 2012, while the University of Virginia paid for 15%. These programs even have a name that reminds me of a financial derivative packed full of worthless securities. These programs are being called “bridge to practice” schemes and according to The Economist “in a recent survey by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), 45 of the 94 schools that responded now run such programs.” Now more from The Economist: EACH YEAR when U.S. News, an American publisher, releases its league table of law schools, potential students seize on it and the universities decry it for oversimplifying a personal and unquantifiable decision. But the schools can ill afford to ignore it, since not just applicants but donors and even credit-rating agencies pay close attention to the scores. Among the ranking’s most important components is the share of graduates who find jobs. The 2014 table, announced on March 11th, shows that the University of Virginia (UVA) and George Washington University (GW) do especially well on this. Although UVA’s law students are only in ninth place for their scores in standard admission tests, 97.5% of the class of 2012 had a job on graduating—the best mark in the country. At GW the discrepancy was even more striking: its 85% graduate-employment rate ranked ninth, whereas its admission-test scores were 21st. However, the two schools’ performance is not as stellar as it seems. A close look at the online employment database of the American Bar Association reveals that GW and UVA are among the leaders in a striking trend: law schools paying the salaries of their alumni when they go to work in legal firms, non-profits or the government. GW paid the starting salaries of a whopping 22% of its 2012 graduates; at 15%, UVA was not far behind. With demand for newly minted lawyers down by around 30%, the schemes spare the alumni from having an awkward gap on their CV, and give them valuable work experience and contacts. But so long as graduates put on these schemes are lumped in with those who found genuine paid work at law firms, the schools will in effect be buying themselves precious U.S. News ranking spots for a few million dollars a year. And applicants to law school who are considering taking on a six-figure debt will get a misleading picture of the job market. Seems like law schools have learned a thing or two from the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve about smoke and mirrors. The scam economy rolls forward. Full article here.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/02/snapchat-ready-to-go-public-with-3-billion-ipo-001445189.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Snapchat ready to go public with $$3 billion IPO

For a time, of all the tech companies that have gone public in years past none has ever come close to the initial public offering of "the" social network Facebook, which topped at a massive $$104 billion in 2012. Almost five years later, one plucky tech firm running a certain phone camera app that was famous for never keeping any pictures it took and deleting them eventually is going to get the closest towards FB's #IPO from long ago. That's right, #Snapchat through its parent company Snap Inc. is going public and filed for its own IPO, the first one this 2017 for a major tech firm. And they are indeed, with having opened their international HQ in London and all. Advertisements Advertisements A ‘camera company’ on the NYSE Okay, it still looks kind of puny compared to the 104 billion Facebook IPO, but Snap Inc. is going for $$3 billion on the New York Stock Exchange all the same, trading under the ticker symbol “SNAP.” What’s more, Snap Inc. is describing itself in their SEC S-1 filing to be a “camera company”, something different from their usual label as an image and multimedia messaging mobile app. The blurb on the filing has it that Snapchat’s company sees the way their app “reinvented the camera” and hopes to further better people’s means of communication through their service. "Our products empower people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together," they added. Other than their IPO, Snap Inc.’s S-1 also listed down facts and figures concerning the firm’s current condition. Advertisements They state that the Snapchat app has some 158 million users logging in everyday and in any single day about 2.5 billion photos are taken on the app and shared around the world. It’s all well and good, but the negative portions of the report have it that Snap Inc. has also been losing money, estimated $$514.6 million in 2016. That’s an increase from their 2015 losses of $$373 million while their predominantly-advertising derived revenue is more than $$400 million. Loyal users with a mind to invest Fortunately Snap Inc. has a great strength to call upon: its user base. The S-1 filing lists figures indicating the relative young age of Snapchat users. While those who are aged 25 and above went on the app an average of 12 times a day and stayed busy for around 20 minutes, users below that age went on the app more frequently at 20 times and used it for a half-hour or so. In fact, Snapchat is looking at the possibility of presenting their company to their users who are of college age as the perfect first investment at reasonable share prices. Time will tell if the offer will take. At least this makes for more meaty Snapchat-related news aside from Bachelor Nick Viall reportedly spoiling his final choice by accident on the platform. #Snap Inc.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-12/here-we-go-again-verizon-buy-aol

Not Verified

Here We Go Again: Verizon To Buy AOL Marking Another Tech Bubble Top

The last time AOL was involved in a mega merger was January 2000, when AOL acquired Time Warner for $$182 billion in what was the mega deal of the last tech bubble, creating a $$350 billion behemoth... which nearly dragged down both companies a few years later. Fast forward 15 years and here is AOL again in yet another period-defining if far, far smaller transaction, when moments ago Verizon announced that it would acquire AOL for $$50/share, a deal value of $$4 .4billion. And with that the golden age of digital (and in many cases robotic) content, has now been top-ticked. Then again, the joke will be on us if Verizon backs out of the deal just before the end of the 30-day free M&A trial period. From the press release: Taking another significant step in building digital and video platforms to drive future growth, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced the signing of an agreement to purchase AOL Inc. (AOL) for $$50 per share -- an estimated total value of approximately $$4.4 billion. Verizon's acquisition further drives its LTE wireless video and OTT (over-the-top video) strategy. The agreement will also support and connect to Verizon's IoT (Internet of Things) platforms, creating a growth platform from wireless to IoT for consumers and businesses. AOL is a leader in the digital content and advertising platforms space, and the combination of Verizon and AOL creates a scaled, mobile-first platform offering directly targeted at what eMarketer estimates is a nearly $$600 billion global advertising industry. AOL's key assets include its subscription business; its premium portfolio of global content brands, including The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, MAKERS and AOL.com, as well as its millennial-focused OTT, Emmy-nominated original video content; and its programmatic advertising platforms. Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO, said: "Verizon's vision is to provide customers with a premium digital experience based on a global multiscreen network platform. This acquisition supports our strategy to provide a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers to deliver that premium customer experience." He added, "AOL has once again become a digital trailblazer, and we are excited at the prospect of charting a new course together in the digitally connected world. At Verizon, we've been strategically investing in emerging technology, including Verizon Digital Media Services and OTT, that taps into the market shift to digital content and advertising. AOL's advertising model aligns with this approach, and the advertising platform provides a key tool for us to develop future revenue streams." Tim Armstrong, AOL chairman and CEO, will continue to lead AOL operations after closing. Armstrong said, "Verizon is a leader in mobile and OTT connected platforms, and the combination of Verizon and AOL creates a unique and scaled mobile and OTT media platform for creators, consumers and advertisers. The visions of Verizon and AOL are shared; the companies have existing successful partnerships, and we are excited to work with the team at Verizon to create the next generation of media through mobile and video." The transaction will take the form of a tender offer followed by a merger, with AOL becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon upon completion. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close this summer. Verizon expects to fund the transaction from cash on hand and commercial paper. The company also continues to expect to return to pre-Vodafone transaction credit ratings in the 2018-2019 timeframe. Transaction advisers for Verizon were LionTree Advisors; Guggenheim Partners; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges. AOL advisers were Allen & Company LLC and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. And now compare to the original January 10, 2000 AOL-Time Warner press release:

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-11/dow-dupont-merge-130-billion-deal-10-dowduponts-workforce-be-fired

I Am Sully, Not Verified, Ghostofdiogenes, Monetas, Mohillbilly

Dow, DuPont To Merge In $$130 Billion Deal; 10% Of DowDuPont's Workforce To Be Fired

It's official: two of America oldest publicly traded companies will combine, with Dow and DuPoint merging as equals in a combined company that will have a $$130 billion market cap and will be named DowDuPont. And while shareholders already benefited from the deal with shares of both consitutents rising by 10% in the days preceding the official announcement, the biggest loser are once again the employees: the combined company announced that as part of the $$700 million in restructuring efforts, 10% of the combined company's employees will be laid off. Here are the details: DuPont and Dow will each own about 50% of combined firm, excluding preferred shrs Sees separation into three public companies; sees 18-24 months post merger Edward Breen will be named CEO of combined co.; Andrew Liveris will be named Executive Chairman Dow holders to get fixed exchange ratio of 1.00 shr DowDupont DuPont shareholders will receive fixed exchange ratio of 1.282 shares in DowDuPont Sees run-rate cost synergies of $$3b, projected to create $$30b of market value; about $$1b in growth synergies expected Sees deal closing 2H; to have headquarters in Midland, Mi, Wilmington, DE DuPont sees 10% job cuts; sees pretax charge $$780m, including $$650m of employee separation costs DuPont sees currency headwinds 25c/shr; sees 5c-10c/shr pressure from higher base tax rate From the press release: DuPont and Dow to Combine in Merger of Equals Will Create Highly Focused Leading Businesses in Agriculture, Material Science and Specialty Products; Intend to Subsequently Spin Into Three Independent, Publicly Traded Companies Highly synergistic transaction expected to result in run-rate cost synergies of approximately $$3 billion, which are projected[1] to create approximately $$30 billion of market value Approximately $$1 billion in growth synergies are also expected to be achieved Combined market capitalization will be approximately $$130 billion at announcement Andrew N. Liveris will be named Executive Chairman and Edward D. Breen will be named CEO of combined company; Advisory Committees will be established for each business Dow and DuPont shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company, on a fully diluted basis, excluding preferred shares WILMINGTON, Del. and MIDLAND, Mich., Dec. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPont (NYSE: DD) and The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) today announced that their boards of directors unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals. The combined company will be named DowDuPont. The parties intend to subsequently pursue a separation of DowDuPont into three independent, publicly traded companies through tax-free spin-offs. This would occur as soon as feasible, which is expected to be 18-24 months following the closing of the merger, subject to regulatory and board approval. The companies will include a leading global pure-play Agriculture company; a leading global pure-play Material Science company; and a leading technology and innovation-driven Specialty Products company. Each of the businesses will have clear focus, an appropriate capital structure, a distinct and compelling investment thesis, scale advantages, and focused investments in innovation to better deliver superior solutions and choices for customers. "This transaction is a game-changer for our industry and reflects the culmination of a vision we have had for more than a decade to bring together these two powerful innovation and material science leaders," said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow's chairman and chief executive officer. "Over the last decade our entire industry has experienced tectonic shifts as an evolving world presented complex challenges and opportunities – requiring each company to exercise foresight, agility and focus on execution. This transaction is a major accelerator in Dow's ongoing transformation, and through this we are creating significant value and three powerful new companies. This merger of equals significantly enhances the growth profile for both companies, while driving value for all of our shareholders and our customers." "This is an extraordinary opportunity to deliver long-term, sustainable shareholder value through the combination of two highly complementary global leaders and the creation of three strong, focused, industry-leading businesses. Each of these businesses will be able to allocate capital more effectively, apply its powerful innovation more productively, and extend its value-added products and solutions to more customers worldwide," said Edward D. Breen, chairman and chief executive officer of DuPont. "For DuPont, this is a definitive leap forward on our path to higher growth and higher value. This merger of equals will create significant near-term value through substantial cost synergies and additional upside from growth synergies. Longer term, the three-way split we intend to pursue is expected to unlock even greater value for shareholders and customers and more opportunity for employees as each business will be a leader in attractive segments where global challenges are driving demand for these businesses' distinctive offerings." HIGHLY SYNERGISTIC TRANSACTION Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company would be named DowDuPont and have a combined market capitalization of approximately $$130 billion at announcement. Under the terms of the transaction, Dow shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 1.00 share of DowDuPont for each Dow share, and DuPont shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 1.282 shares in DowDuPont for each DuPont share. Dow and DuPont shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company, on a fully diluted basis, excluding preferred shares. The transaction is expected to deliver approximately $$3 billion in cost synergies, with 100 percent of the run-rate cost synergies achieved within the first 24 months following the closing of the transaction. Additional upside of approximately $$1 billion is expected from growth synergies. INTENDED SEPARATION INTO THREE INDEPENDENT, PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES It is the intention of both companies' boards of directors that, following the merger, DowDuPont would pursue a tax-free separation into three independent, publicly traded companies with each targeting an investment grade credit rating. Each would be a strong, focused business with powerful innovation capabilities, enhanced global scale and product portfolios, focused capital allocation, and a distinct competitive position. The three businesses that the boards intend to separate are: Agriculture Company: Leading global pure-play agriculture company that unites DuPont's and Dow's seed and crop protection businesses. The combined entity will have the most comprehensive and diverse portfolio and a robust pipeline with exceptional growth opportunities in the near-, mid- and long-term. The complementary offerings of the two companies will provide growers across geographies with a broad portfolio of solutions and greater choice. Combined pro forma 2014 revenue for Agriculture is approximately $$19 billion. Material Science Company: A pure-play industrial leader, consisting of DuPont's Performance Materials segment, as well as Dow's Performance Plastics, Performance Materials and Chemicals, Infrastructure Solutions, and Consumer Solutions (excluding the Dow Electronic Materials business) operating segments. The combination of complementary capabilities will create a low-cost, innovation-driven leader that can provide customers in high-growth, high-value industry segments in packaging, transportation, and infrastructure solutions, among others with a broad and deep portfolio of cost-effective offerings. Combined pro forma 2014 revenue for Material Science is approximately $$51 billion. Specialty Products Company: A technology driven innovative leader, focused on unique businesses that share similar investment characteristics and specialty market focus. The businesses will include DuPont's Nutrition & Health, Industrial Biosciences, Safety & Protection and Electronics & Communications, as well as the Dow Electronic Materials business. Together, their complementary offerings create a new global leader in Electronics Products, and each business will benefit from more targeted investment in their productive technology development and innovation capabilities. Combined pro forma 2014 revenue for Specialty Products is approximately $$13 billion. Advisory Committees will be established for each of the businesses. Breen will lead the Agriculture and Specialty Products Committees, and Liveris will lead the Material Science Committee. These Committees will oversee the respective businesses, and will work with Liveris and Breen on the intended separation of the businesses into independent, standalone entities. MANAGEMENT, GOVERNANCE AND CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS Upon completion of the transaction, Liveris, President, Chairman and CEO of Dow, will become Executive Chairman of the newly formed DowDuPont Board of Directors and Breen, Chair and CEO of DuPont, will become Chief Executive Officer of DowDuPont. In these roles, both Liveris and Breen will report to the Board of Directors. In addition, when named, the chief financial officer will report to Breen. DowDuPont's board is expected to have 16 directors, consisting of eight current DuPont directors and eight current Dow directors. The full list of directors will be announced prior to or in conjunction with the closing of the merger. The Committees of each company will appoint the leaders of the three new standalone companies prior to a contemplated spin-off. Following the closing of the transaction, DowDuPont will be dual headquartered in Midland, Michigan and Wilmington, Delaware. APPROVALS AND TIME TO CLOSE The merger transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2016, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and approval by both Dow and DuPont shareholders. The subsequent separation of DowDuPont, which the companies intend to pursue, would be expected to occur 18-24 months following the closing of the merger. CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST DETAILS Dow and DuPont will host a joint conference call and webcast today at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (U.S.) to discuss the proposed merger. Participants will include Dow's chairman and CEO and DuPont's chairman and CEO. To access the audio webcast please visit the Investor Relations sections of Dow or DuPont's websites. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available on both websites. A copy of the investor presentation will be made available on both companies' Investor Relations websites. Additional information regarding the transaction can be found on www.DowDuPontUnlockingValue.com. ADVISORS Klein and Company, Lazard, and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are serving as Dow's financial advisors for the transaction with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acting as its legal advisor. Evercore and Goldman, Sachs & Co. are serving as DuPont's financial advisors for the transaction, with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acting as its legal advisor. * * * And then the less pleasant find print: Today DuPont announced a 2016 global cost savings and restructuring plan designed to reduce $$700 million in costs compared with 2015. The 2016 cost reductions include a range of structural actions across all businesses and staff functions globally to operate more efficiently by further consolidating businesses and aligning staff functions more closely with the businesses. The new plan builds on the company's previous operational redesign initiative. The plan further simplifies the company's structure into fewer, larger businesses with integrated functions, leading to sustainable cost reductions, faster decision making and closer connections to end markets. The company will begin implementation of these changes immediately. As a result of these actions, the company expects to record a pre-tax charge to earnings of approximately $$780 million, consisting of approximately $$650 million of employee separation costs and about $$130 million of asset-related charges and contract terminations. Approximately 10 percent of DuPont's global workforce will be impacted. DuPont also highlighted 2016 macroeconomic expectations. Given global economic conditions in agriculture and emerging markets, the company expects sales growth in 2016 to be challenging. Currency headwinds are expected to be about $$0.25 per share, due to the continued strengthening of the U.S. dollar primarily against the Brazilian Real. The company also expects $$0.05 to $$0.10 per share of pressure from a higher base tax rate, reflecting expectations of the geographic mix of earnings and cost savings that will be recognized primarily in the United States. The company plans to provide full-year 2016 guidance during its fourth-quarter 2015 earnings announcement scheduled for Jan. 27, 2016.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/sports/2017/03/gonzaga-still-ranks-first-in-ken-pomeroy-s-ratings-001511715.html

Blasting News, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Gonzaga still ranks first in Ken Pomeroy's ratings

There was once talk of a perfect regular season for #Gonzaga, which had beaten opponents by an average margin of more than 20 points in each game. That conversation ended when the Bulldogs lost at home to BYU in one of the last games during the regular season. But that doesn't change the fact that Gonzaga will still likely be a one seed in the NCAA tournament if they manage to win the WCC conference tournament. Gonzaga is still in the top five teams in the country, and according to a leading statistician, they should rank first. Ken Pomeroy's Rankings. Basketball enthusiast #Ken Pomeroy uses a variety of statistics, including team tempo, efficiency, and defensive merit. Advertisements Advertisements These individual statistics are then compiled into one simple number, called AdjEM, which is the final metric used to rank every single college basketball team. At the top of the ratings this season are the extremely efficient Gonzaga Bulldogs, who play both excellent offense and defense. Their numbers are slightly boosted thanks to the poor quality of play in the conference, but Gonzaga is more than three points above second ranked Villanova. According to Ken Pomeroy's rankings, the Bulldogs should therefore be seen as the best team in the country. Does Gonzaga Really Deserve "Best Team" Title? Mark Few's team has never made it to a #Final Four in the NCAA tournament. Until that happens, college basketball fans will always doubt the legitimacy of a team that gets to play a lot of cupcake teams in the WCC. Advertisements This year has been a bit different, as Gonzaga beat Iowa State, Florida, and Arizona in their nonconference schedule. Those wins are among some of the best in the nation and should place Gonzaga at least in the conversation for a one seed. Ken Pomeroy's rankings are nice, but Gonzaga would prefer to get results. Mark Few and the Bulldogs desperately need a Final Four to prove that they are the real deal on a national stage. Those who have watched Gonzaga this season know they are more than capable of pulling off the astonishing feat.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/02/snap-parent-company-of-snapchat-to-finally-go-public-001444685.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Snap -- parent company of Snapchat -- to finally go public

Snapchat parent company #SNAP is finally going public after operating as a private tech juggernaut for five years. As of Jan. 11, 2017, the company has more than 60 million active daily users in the U.S. and Canada. Founder and CEO Evan Spiegel is only 26-years-old and he has already built an empire with the company, despite being a college dropout. He's always believed in Snapchat's potential, rejecting a $$3 billion takeover offer from Facebook in 2014. Many have been looking forward to this moment for years, as it will mark one of the largest initial public offering's (IPO) of a tech company in a long time. What the company has achieved so far Snapchat has come a long way since its $$3 billion valuation, as the photo-sharing app is now worth somewhere between $$20 billion and $$25 billion. Advertisements Advertisements The company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SNAP, and it hopes to raise $$3 billion in the offering. The app was criticized in its early days, as many used it to send sexually explicit content, but nowadays it is mostly used as a way of keeping in touch with friends, or a social media tool to promote products, events, or services. On a global level, the company has around 158 million daily active users. Snapchat's 2016 year was a memorable one, as the company earned $$404.5 million in sales, which is approximately 589.1% higher than the company's sales total in 2015. The app is available for both iOS and Android, and it currently exists in 20 languages. Snapchat key features When the app first launched, it gave users the ability to send images to a friend that could last anywhere from a second to 10 seconds, and then the image would disappear forever. Advertisements The company also allowed you to send text on top of each picture, as well as a paint brush that allowed you to add a personal touch to your snaps. Nowadays, Snapchat allows you to do everything from instant messaging, replaying a Snap, swapping your face with someone else's (even someone famous), adding filters to your photos, and even show you what you would look like as a dog. Many artists, businesses, and sports franchises have embraced the app with open arms, connecting with their fans and customers in a social and positive manner. Additionally, many major entrepreneurs have invested in the app. #Snapchat IPO #Evan Spiegel

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-30/frontrunning-march-30

Frontrunning: March 30

Bad News Is Great News: Cautious Yellen drives world stocks near 2016 peaks (Reuters) Yellen Spurs Global Stock Rally as Oil Rebounds, Dollar Tumbles (BBG) Trump drops pledge to back Republican presidential nominee other than himself (Reuters) Second judge says Clinton email setup may have been in 'bad faith' (Reuters) Brussels Airport Remains Shut as Police Hunt Third Attacker (BBG) Europe Traders Aren't Waiting Around to See If Rebound Holds (BBG) Western Digital Bond Sale Is Test for Junk Market (WSJ) Owe Back Taxes? Lose Your Passport (BBG) Most Americans support torture against terror suspects (Reuters) Europe's Bond Shortage Means Draghi Is About to Shock the Market (BBG) Tata confirms plan to sell UK steel businesses (FT) Corporate Bond Yields Touch Record Lows in Europe's Periphery (WSJ) Zuma's Friends the Guptas Face Probe by South African Police (BBG) Another Condo Bust Looms in Miami (WSJ) Obama Announces New Measures to Combat Heroin, Painkiller Abuse (WSJ) Foxconn agrees to buy Sharp after slashing original offer (Reuters) Hackers Breach Law Firms, Including Cravath Swaine and Weil Gotshal (WSJ) Overnight Media Digest WSJ - Tata Steel of India, one of the world's largest steelmakers, said Tuesday that it would explore a sale of its struggling UK holdings, including its Port Talbot plant in Wales, a move that could threaten thousands of local jobs. (http://on.wsj.com/1qgPy8W) - Western Digital Corp is offering investors higher yields on $$5.6 billion in junk bonds backing its takeover of SanDisk Corp, the latest sign that demand for low-rated debt remains mixed despite a market rally over the past six weeks. (http://on.wsj.com/1q0tEa9) - Egyptian authorities said the EgyptAir hijacker arrested in Cyprus with fake explosives had no known links to any terrorist groups, and a Cypriot official described him as being in a 'fragile mental state'. (http://on.wsj.com/1SsZODV) - Audio-sharing platform SoundCloud on Tuesday began selling paid subscriptions to one of the biggest music catalogs online, a move that will test the willingness of consumers to pay for tunes from a service they are accustomed to using free of charge. (http://on.wsj.com/22XC4Ni) - U.S. President Barack Obama announced new steps Tuesday to combat a deadly epidemic of heroin and painkiller abuse in the U.S., including improving access to drug-treatment programs and expanding distribution of a drug that can reverse overdoses. (http://on.wsj.com/1UBlXEb) FT *The British steel industry suffered a severe blow as Tata Steel Ltd, the Indian steel giant, confirmed it was about to put its entire UK business up for sale. (http://bit.ly/1VSjtAn) *Senior engineers at French utility EDF SA have estimated a two-year delay for Hinkley Point nuclear project in the UK and suggested reassembling its reactor technology. (http://bit.ly/1VS8W8d) *UniCredit SpA, Italy's largest bank by assets, is in talks with the Roman government to seek support for capital raising targeted at 2 billion euros ($$2.26 billion) at mutual bank Popolare di Vicenza, according to five people with direct knowledge of the matter. (http://bit.ly/1VSkl80) *Bank of America Corp is extending caution to its senior staff not to use the word "Brexit" while talking to clients as it tries to keep its distance from the debate over the UK's membership in the European Union. (http://bit.ly/1VSkata) NYT - Spotify is about to close on a $$1 billion deal that would double the amount of financing the music-streaming company has raised since its founding a decade ago.(http://nyti.ms/1Y0e4FW) - With an eye to President Obama's legacy and his own, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Wednesday will hail the success of economic sanctions against Iran and other global offenders, but warn that their overuse could threaten the primacy of the United States and the dollar in the world economy. (http://nyti.ms/1RxQI6v) - Attorneys general from Massachusetts and the Virgin Islands announced Tuesday that they would join Eric T. Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, in his investigation into whether Exxon Mobil lied in decades past to investors and the public about the threat of climate change. (http://nyti.ms/25vu6x0) - Hedge fund billionaire Louis M. Bacon's charitable foundation was a victim of a fraudulent scheme by Wall Street executive Andrew Caspersen, the foundation said on Tuesday. (http://nyti.ms/1q0sRG8) - Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve chairwoman, said on Tuesday that the United States economy remained on track despite a rough start to the year because the drag from weak growth in other countries was being offset by lower borrowing costs. (http://nyti.ms/1WWD0Oi) Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** As overall complaints to Canada's telecom ombudsman remain steady, Rogers Communications Inc has posted a significant drop in the number of times its customers take their gripes to the industry complaint body. The Federal Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services said in a midyear report that complaints relating to Rogers Communications was down 65 percent to 437 from the same period last year. (http://bit.ly/1Y0njpn) ** Prices for copper and oil are poised to fall, according to a report by Kevin Norrish, a widely followed analyst with Barclays PLC. (http://bit.ly/1WXkPYL) ** Credit rating agency DBRS Ltd delivered an upbeat assessment of Canada's big banks, arguing that the geographic diversity of their operations will help them navigate a weak Canadian economy and a struggling energy sector. (http://bit.ly/1qhSzWo) NATIONAL POST ** Equifax Canada and land registry company Teranet Enterprises Inc have signed a five-year agreement to create a service for clients that will use the analytical expertise and the credit and property data assets that each company possesses to assess homeowners' credit-worthiness. (http://bit.ly/1RIO64S) ** Uber Technologies Inc may have suspended its operations in Edmonton this month, but it's still calling on Toronto city council to emulate the Alberta capital when it votes on new ride-sharing regulations this spring. (http://bit.ly/1PF8Fy3) Britain The Times - The Federal Trade Commission has accused Volkswagen AG of deceptively advertising "clean diesel" vehicles and promoting ones fitted with illegal pollution-cheating devices. (http://thetim.es/1VSkJ6y) The Guardian - Sports Direct has upped its stake in Findel Plc to nearly 30 percent, in the latest stage of its battle to wrest control of the online specialist. (http://bit.ly/1VSkKqQ) - A.G.Barr Plc, the Scottish soft drinks maker best known for Irn-Bru, has reiterated its annoyance at George Osborne's sugar tax but says it expects little financial impact because it will change its recipes to adapt to the measure. (http://bit.ly/1okJ3An) The Telegraph - Aviva Plc Chief Executive Mark Wilson saw his pay more than double last year on the back of the company's acquisition of rival Friends Life. According to the company's annual report, which was published today, Wilson received 5.67 million euros ($$6.40 million) last year, up from 2.6 million euros in 2014. (http://bit.ly/1okJgTU) Sky News - Energy Secretary Amber Rudd has risked igniting a fresh Brexit row after it emerged that her department had urged electricity suppliers to echo her warning that leaving the European Union could cost consumers 500 million pounds a year. (http://bit.ly/21ShF9X) The Independent - Tata Steel Ltd is reportedly preparing to announce the sale of its entire UK operation, putting thousands of UK jobs at risk. The company held a board meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday to discuss the fate of the Port Talbot plant. (http://ind.pn/21SitM7)

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/01/move-over-mark-zuckerberg-meet-evan-spiegel-the-world-s-youngest-billionaire-at-26-001374265.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel, Amra Ibrahimbegovic, Asmir Pekmic

Move over Mark Zuckerberg - meet Evan Spiegel - the world's youngest billionaire at 26

Mark Zuckerberg, once wore the title of one of the youngest and richest men in the world. But today, the crown belongs to Evan Spiegel. Now, who exactly is this newly crowned billionaire? Well, Spiegel rose to prominence after he created his social platform; Snap Inc, which everyone knows as SnapChat. The popular social network is a common place where teens hang out and socialized with others around the globe. Currently, basking in its new found glory, the company has now released its Spectacle glasses that can be seen on the faces of almost every teen who is familiar with the brand. It's all about SnapChat's young billionaire According to Forbes Magazine, Spiegel a self-made billionaire is valued at $$2.1 billion dollars and holds the title of the world's youngest billionaire at the tender age of 26. Advertisements Advertisements At a business conference held at Stanford University, he stated the fact that he rose from almost nothing to achieve his American dream. Recently, he boasted that he was young, successful, and white and just got really lucky in his endeavors. He also made reference that life isn't fair because it took many people a lifetime to create wealth, let alone succeed, but here he is at the very young age of 26, wearing the title of the world's youngest billionaire. SnapChat offers the hottest IPO of 2017 The astute business magnate is about to take his company public; it is touted as one of the hottest IPO that will hit the stock markets in 2017. The public offering is hotly anticipated by shareholders who will be lining up to own a piece of the popular tech company. Notably, with the purchase of the company's shares, Snap Inc., value will rise significantly to $$25 billion dollars. Advertisements However, other sources are declaring that it could rise a lot higher than the suggested multi-billion dollar amount. Snap Inc., refused Mark Zuckerberg's offer According to an article on Forbes.com, the once richest twenty-plus man in the world, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg tried to woo the company away from the young billionaire. The article documented that Zuckerberg personally flew to the home of Spiegel, in Los Angeles, California. The private meeting also included his co-founder and SnapChat's chief technology officer; Bobby Murphy. However, both tech gurus had already realized the future value of their company, which at that time had only 6 employees - They declined the offer made by the Facebook owner. Today Snap Inc. is on its way to burgeon into one of the richest and most popular social media entity. #Speigel world's youngest billionaire

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/03/photo/photogallery-snap-springs-a-surprise-with-the-biggest-tech-ipo-in-three-years-1183041.html

Blasting News, M. . Meehan, B. Marshall, H. K, M. Gomez

Photogallery - Snap springs a surprise with the biggest tech IPO in three years

Back to article: Snap springs a surprise with the biggest tech IPO in three years

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-10/ge-announces-one-largest-buybacks-history-will-repuchase-50-bn-shares-after-selling-

GE Announces One Of Largest Buybacks In History, Will Repuchase $$50 Bn In Shares After Selling Most Of GE Capital

As we showed previously, the main reason stocks soared in February after the worst January in years, is that companies announced a record $$100 billion in stock buybacks in the month even as both earnings and the US economy continued to sharply deteriorate . Moments ago, General Electric showed why April is much more likley to be a rerun of February than January or March when it announceed that it would go ahead and repurchase half of the total record stock buybacks announced in February, or some $$50 billion in what may be the largest stock buyback announcement in history! How will GE fund this massive distribution to its shareholders, of which the most concentrated one will once again be the biggest winners? Simple: by dumping the division that nearly caused its insolvency during the financial crisis, the hedge fund known as GE Capital. As part of the just announced mega transaction, GE announced an agreement to sell the bulk of the assets of GE Capital Real Estate to funds managed by Blackstone. Wells Fargo will acquire a portion of the performing loans at closing. The Company also has letters of intent with other buyers for an additional $$4 billion of commercial real estate assets. In total, these transactions are valued at approximately $$26.5 billion. Following what is essentially a spin off, GE expects that by 2018 more than 90 percent of its earnings will be generated by its industrial businesses, up from 58% in 2014. Or, as someone put it, GE will be far less General and almost entirely Electric. What is odd is that as the chart below shows, GE shareholders were not lacking in the buyback back department: But now it has truly taken balance sheet engineering to the next level as the company will no doubt be forced to lever up massively as it loses a main source of cash flow if it wants to preserve its shareholder friendly status. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if GE suddenly became an acquisition target before it loads up its balance sheet with billions in junk bonds. From the press release: GE to Create Simpler, More Valuable Industrial Company by Selling Most GE Capital Assets; Potential to Return More Than $$90 Billion to Investors Through 2018 in Dividends, Buyback & Synchrony Exchange High-value industrials to comprise more than 90% of GE earnings by 2018 Plans to retain financing “verticals” that relate to GE’s industrial businesses Announces sale of GE Capital Real Estate assets for approximately $$26.5 billion Will work with regulators to terminate GE Capital’s SIFI designation GE to take approximately $$16 billion after-tax charge in 1Q’15, $$12 billion non-cash Industrial businesses remain on track for operating earnings per share of $$1.10-$$1.20 in 2015, in line with expectations GE expects to get approximately $$35 billion in dividends from GE Capital from this plan Board authorizes new buyback program of up to $$50 billion GE today announced that it will create a simpler, more valuable company by reducing the size of its financial businesses through the sale of most GE Capital assets and by focusing on continued investment and growth in its world-class industrial businesses. GE and its Board of Directors have determined that market conditions are favorable to pursue disposition of most GE Capital assets over the next 24 months except the financing “verticals” that relate to GE’s industrial businesses. Under the plan, the GE Capital businesses that will remain with GE will account for about $$90 billion in ending net investments (ENI) excluding liquidity – about $$40 billion in the U.S. – with expected returns in excess of their cost of capital. “This is a major step in our strategy to focus GE around its competitive advantages,” GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said. “GE today is a premier industrial and technology company with businesses in essential infrastructure industries. These businesses are leaders in technology, the Industrial Internet and advanced manufacturing. They are well-positioned in growth markets and are delivering superior customer outcomes, while achieving higher margins. They will be paired with a smaller GE Capital, whose businesses are aligned with GE’s industrial growth.” “The successful IPO of GE’s retail finance business, Synchrony Financial, and other recent business exits have demonstrated that our financial services assets can be more valuable to others,” said GE Capital Chairman and CEO Keith Sherin. “GE Capital’s businesses are excellent, and this is a great market for selling financial assets. Our people are world-class. We are confident these businesses will thrive elsewhere.” As part of the execution of this new plan, GE announced today an agreement to sell the bulk of the assets of GE Capital Real Estate to funds managed by Blackstone. Wells Fargo will acquire a portion of the performing loans at closing. The Company also has letters of intent with other buyers for an additional $$4 billion of commercial real estate assets. In total, these transactions are valued at approximately $$26.5 billion. Under the plan, GE expects that by 2018 more than 90 percent of its earnings will be generated by its high-return industrial businesses, up from 58% in 2014. In 2015, GE’s industrial businesses remain on track for operating earnings per share of $$1.10-$$1.20, up solid double digits, in line with expectations. “With sustainable growth, investments in competitive advantage, productivity programs and the addition of Alstom, we expect this performance to continue in the future,” Immelt said. “We will focus our efforts on these businesses.” Immelt added, “We are completing another definitive and important move to reshape GE for the future. GE is a fast-growth, high-tech industrial company, built on the capabilities of the GE Store. The team is executing a detailed plan to boost margins and returns. We are allocating capital to grow the Company and benefit investors. Our best days are ahead.” Creating Value in GE Capital GE Capital has been an important part of the history of GE. However, the business model for large, wholesale-funded financial companies has changed, making it increasingly difficult to generate acceptable returns going forward. GE will retain its “vertical” financing businesses – GE Capital Aviation Services, Energy Financial Services and Healthcare Equipment Finance – that directly relate to its core industrial businesses. The assets targeted for disposition, in addition to Real Estate, are most of the Commercial Lending and Leasing segment, and all Consumer platforms, including all U.S. and international banking assets. These businesses represent roughly $$200 billion in ENI. Since 2008, GE has reduced GE Capital’s ENI from $$538 billion to $$363 billion at the end of 2014. The separation of Synchrony Financial, which is targeted by the end of 2015, and other recently announced dispositions, account for another $$75 billion in ENI reduction (the Synchrony separation is subject to regulatory approval). There is potential to return more than $$90 billion to investors in dividends, buyback and the Synchrony exchange through 2018. The exits of the targeted GE Capital businesses should release approximately $$35 billion in dividends to GE (subject to regulatory approval), which, under GE’s base plan, are expected to be allocated to buyback; this is in addition to the impact of the Synchrony exchange and ongoing dividends. The GE Board has authorized a new repurchase program of up to $$50 billion in common stock, excluding the Synchrony exchange. GE expects to reduce its share count to 8-8.5 billion by 2018. These actions would still allow room for opportunistic “bolt on” acquisitions in GE’s core markets. GE also said it plans to maintain its dividend at the current level in 2016 and grow it thereafter. Working with Regulators GE has discussed this plan, aspects of which are subject to regulatory review and approval, with its regulators and staff of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). GE will work closely with these bodies to take the actions necessary to de-designate GE Capital as a Systemically Important Financial Institution (SIFI). “We have a constructive relationship with our regulators and will continue to work with them as we go through this process,” Immelt said. Financial Details Approximately $$16 billion of after-tax charges are expected to be recorded in the first quarter of 2015 in connection with the plan – of which about $$12 billion are non-cash. The charges include taxes on repatriated earnings, asset impairments due to shortened hold periods, and charges on businesses held for sale, including goodwill allocation. GE expects that the earnings impact of the GE Capital exits will be offset by the buyback over the exit period. GE will execute this strategy using an efficient approach for exiting non-vertical assets that works for GE and for GE Capital Corporation (GECC) debtholders and GE shareholders. An element of this approach involves a merger of GECC into GE and the creation of a new intermediate holding company for GECC businesses. GE has amended its income maintenance agreement to guarantee all tradable senior and subordinated debt securities and all commercial paper issued or guaranteed by GECC. The guarantee will replace the current income maintenance covenant. GE will maintain substantial liquidity and capital through the transition and does not expect to issue incremental GE Capital long-term debt for at least five years. Commercial paper will be further reduced to approximately $$5 billion by the end of 2015. “We are proud of the GE Capital team, the outstanding businesses that GE Capital employees have built, and how they have delivered for customers and shareholders over many years,” said Immelt. “The GE Capital team has displayed great resiliency, facing tough cycles and driving strong results.” J.P. Morgan and Centerview Partners have provided financial advice to GE, and Bank of America provided advisory services. Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Davis Polk, and Sullivan & Cromwell provided legal advice. For the Real Estate deal, Bank of America and Kimberlite Advisors provided financial advice and Hogan Lovells provided legal advice.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-12/frontrunning-december-12

Frontrunning: December 12

Oil slide hits European stocks, safe-haven assets sought (Reuters) IEA Cuts Global Oil Demand Forecast for 4th Time in Five Months (BBG) Cue constant pro-Abe propaganda out of Japan: Japan’s Secrecy Law Takes Effect as Abe Seeks Fair Vote Coverage (BBG) As if it has a choice: Japan’s GPIF Bets on Abenomics-Driven Recovery (WSJ) Heather Capital: How a $$600 Million Hedge Fund Disappeared (WSJ) Senate Panel Votes to Authorize U.S. War on Islamic State (BBG) Japan’s 28 IPOs in 11 Days Give Abe a Lift as Startups Boom (BBG) U.S. authorities face new fallout from insider trading ruling (Reuters) Greek Stock Rout Means ASE Is 2014 Worst After Russia (BBG) Torture, deny, repeat: ‘Enhanced interrogation’ never works, the CIA never learns (Reuters) Banks Fined Over Pursuit of Work on Toys ‘R’ Us IPO (WSJ) Kids Picking Colleges Now Look at Cost, Location -- and Sexual Assaults (BBG) This Hedge Fund's Machines Are Making the Right Calls on Oil (BBG) Activists Seek More Public Input in Fed President Picks (WSJ) Overnight Media Digest WSJ * The House narrowly passed Thursday a $$1.1 trillion spending bill funding the government through September 2015, avoiding a government shutdown just hours before the midnight deadline. (http://on.wsj.com/1BCv50W) * CIA Director John Brennan acknowledged some of the agency's officers had used "abhorrent" interrogation techniques on detainees, but forcefully challenged the conclusions of a Senate panel report. (http://on.wsj.com/1AoKT3q) * American retailers are getting a gift just in time for the holidays: a sharp drop in gasoline prices that is delivering a welcome boost to the pocketbooks of U.S. consumers. (http://on.wsj.com/1snk5wg) * U.S. families' debt burdens have settled at their lowest level in over a decade, putting the economy on a stronger footing relative to global rivals going into 2015. (http://on.wsj.com/12B4hPJ) * Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and eight other securities firms were fined a total of $$43.5 million by regulators who said the companies offered favorable stock research in hopes of winning underwriting business in an initial public offering by Toys "R" Us Inc. (http://on.wsj.com/16dxUIV) * Construction company SNC-Lavalin Group will recover $$13.3 million as part of a plea agreement in a probe tied to the family of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. (http://on.wsj.com/1zXbRPK) * Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator ordered the companies to begin to make payments to affordable-housing funds next year, a move that will please low-income-housing supporters who have urged the decision for years while triggering the ire of some who think it will increase taxpayer risk. (http://on.wsj.com/1DkYNt8) * Halliburton Co, the world's second-largest oilfield-services company, said Thursday it will lay off 1,000 employees outside the United States. (http://on.wsj.com/13fbAO1) FT * Commerzbank AG is in talks with U.S. authorities to resolve allegations which accuses the bank of breaking anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The talks involve a payment of more than $$1 billion in fines - at least $$400 million more than previously thought. * Germany's supreme court ruled that Deutsche Telekom had misled potential shareholders over its flotation prospectus, a move that was welcomed by the lawyers representing investors who are seeking 80 million euros in compensation. * Airbus Group shares fell for a second day as the company tried to reassure its investors about the future of the A380 project and the groups financial prospects in the medium and long term period. * Norway's central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates and said it could ease policy further because lower oil prices are hurting the economy's growth prospects. NYT * Google Inc plans to shut its Google News product in Spain in protest of a new law that would force the company and other news aggregators to pay Spanish publishers for the use of their content. (http://nyti.ms/13fbiH4) * Mary Jo White, the chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, said the agency was undertaking a comprehensive review of the mutual fund sector. One of the review's major objectives is to assess whether some mutual funds are loading up on investments that would take too long to unwind. (http://nyti.ms/1GrtXeF) * Regulators in Chicago have approved a plan to create one or more applications that would allow users to hail taxis from any operators in the city, using a smartphone. In New York, a City Council member proposed a similar app on Monday that would let residents "e-hail" any of the 20,000 cabs that circulate in the city on a daily basis. (http://nyti.ms/1sifNM5) * Embarrassing, racially tinged emails about U.S. president Barack Obama's imagined movie tastes, posted online by hackers and reported by news sites, prompted public apologies on Thursday from Sony Pictures Entertainment's movie chief and one of its top producers. (http://nyti.ms/1zckeaQ) * DreamWorks Animation may have had some trouble with potential deals that leaked before completion, but the company struck one on Thursday involving AwesomenessTV, an online media company. The Hollywood studio said it sold a 25 percent stake in the venture to Hearst for $$81.25 million. (http://nyti.ms/1siaX1y) * The European Union antitrust authority sent questionnaires this month to companies in areas like online mapping and travel as part of its long-running investigation into Google Inc's business practices. (http://nyti.ms/12B2TwC) China SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS - One of China's key commodities exchanges will start a night trading trial from Friday. The trial in the northern Chinese city of Zhengzhou will initially include white sugar, cotton, methanol, rape seed and petrol-based chemical PTA, the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange said. SECURITIES TIMES - Profits in China's steel industry are expected to reach over 28 billion yuan ($$4.52 billion) this year, the China Iron and Steel Association said. CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL - China's securities regulator will check the margin trading businesses of a total of 40 brokerages to probe for any irregularities, several brokerage sources told the newspaper. SHANGHAI DAILY - China's consumer watchdog received more than 1,400 complaints in the second half of November after the Singles Day shopping spree on Nov. 11. Consumers complained about bogus discounts and poor after-sales service. CHINA DAILY - China is investigating 31 officials for involvement in three coal mine accidents dating back to 2009 that were either hidden or falsely reported, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Thursday. Britain * BANK OF ENGLAND TO BE MORE OPEN AS IT OVERHAULS MPC MEETINGS Decisions on interest rates will be made just eight times a year from 2016 after the Bank of England proposed the biggest shake-up of monetary policy arrangements since it gained independence in 1997. Under plans unveiled today, the Bank will ditch four of the monetary policy committee's monthly votes and replace them with non-voting meetings with the financial policy committee, which oversees financial stability. (http://thetim.es/1vHN6CM) * STANDARD CHARTERED ACTS TO COMBAT FINANCIAL CRIME Standard Chartered Plc has formed a top-level group to combat financial crime, as the bank attempts to prove to U.S. regulators that it is taking drastic action to prevent a repeat of its money-laundering and sanctions-busting scandals. (http://thetim.es/1wkGhuK) The Guardian * Orange Wednesdays to be phased out in 2015 EE has announced it is to scrap its once popular cinema deal - Orange Wednesdays - that gave mobile customers two cinema tickets each week for the price of one. The deal is being axed after the final showing on the last Wednesday of February 2015. (http://bit.ly/1zVLj1f) * UK standard of living rises to fourth highest in EU The UK's standard of living has climbed to the joint fourth-highest within the European Union, overtaking the Netherlands and significantly ahead of France, Italy and Spain, according to official figures compiled by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. (http://bit.ly/1sg66xK) The Telegraph * Telefonica chairman flies in in bid to sell O2 to BT The chairman of Telefonica SA flew into London on Thursday to try to seal a deal over the weekend for BT Group to buy his company's British mobile operator, O2, rather than its rival EE. (http://bit.ly/1DiWqHp) * Barclays 'may have automated currency rigging' Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG may have programmed automated trading platforms to systematically rig the currency markets, a U.S. regulator has alleged. (http://bit.ly/1BBJivf) Sky News * MPs Summon FCA Bosses Over Insurance Probe Two British financial watchdog executives who were criticised on Wednesday over the disclosure of a probe into the insurance industry are expected to give evidence on the crisis to a powerful panel of MPs. (http://bit.ly/1wkIaaQ) * Costa Full Of Beans As Coffee Sales Climb The owner of the Costa coffee chain has seen its total sales rise by 17 percent in the three months to Nov.27. Whitbread said that it now remains confident of delivering full-year results in line with expectations, with chief executive Andy Harrison describing it as "strong trading momentum". (http://bit.ly/1smOSZY) The Independent * Google News to close down in Spain Google News will no longer operate in Spain - ahead of a new law requiring the internet search company to pay Spanish news organisations for linked content or snippets of news. The move marks the first time globally that Google Inc will shut down its news service and comes in response a new Spanish intellectual property law going into effect on Jan.1, dubbed the Google Tax. (http://ind.pn/1yECD27) * Aston Martin 'selling bonds' to expand super premium car range Aston Martin is looking to raise more than 100 million pounds from investors to expand its range of luxury sedans, hybrid models and crossover SUVs. (http://ind.pn/1zDc24D) Fly On The Wall Pre-market Buzz ECONOMIC REPORTS Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include: Producer price index for November at 8:30--consensus down 0.1% University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for December at 9:55--consensus 89.5 ANALYST RESEARCH Upgrades Avery Dennison (AVY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Topeka CyrusOne (CONE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup DTE Energy (DTE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS Empire State Realty (ESRT) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Freescale (FSL) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein GoPro (GPRO) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan JMP Group (JMP) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Lazard (LAZ) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Downgrades Discovery (DISCA) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at JPMorgan Hain Celestial (HAIN) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Mindray Medical (MR) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley Oracle (ORCL) resumed with a Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray VMware (VMW) resumed with an Underweight from Overweight at Piper Jaffray Zayo Group (ZAYO) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG Initiations Alnylam (ALNY) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Arctic Cat (ACAT) initiated with a Neutral at Wedbush Arista Networks (ANET) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Boston Properties (BXP) initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson Brandywine Realty (BDN) initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson Brunswick (BC) initiated with an Outperform at Wedbush CACI (CACI) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup CMS Energy (CMS) initiated with a Buy at UBS Citrix (CTXS) initiated with an Underweight at Piper Jaffray Douglas Emmett (DEI) initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson First Potomac (FPO) initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson Harley-Davidson (HOG) initiated with an Outperform at Wedbush Highwoods Properties (HIW) initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson Hudson Pacific (HPP) initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson Kilroy Realty (KRC) initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson Leidos (LDOS) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup MarineMax (HZO) initiated with a Neutral at Wedbush Microsoft (MSFT) initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray NetSuite (N) resumed with a Neutral at Piper Jaffray Parkway Properties (PKY) initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson Piedmont Office Realty (PDM) initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson Polaris Industries (PII) initiated with an Outperform at Wedbush Red Hat (RHT) resumed with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray SAIC (SAIC) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup Salesforce.com (CRM) resumed with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray ServiceNow (NOW) initiated with a Neutral at Piper Jaffray Sonus (SONS) initiated with a Buy at B. Riley Splunk (SPLK) initiated with a Neutral at Piper Jaffray Workday (WDAY) resumed with a Neutral at Piper Jaffray COMPANY NEWS A.H. Belo (AHC) announces special cash dividend of $$2.25 per share Adobe (ADBE) to acquire Fotolia for approximately $$800 in cash Amgen (AMGN), AstraZeneca to present results from Phase 3 plaque psoriasis study BancorpSouth (BXS) authorizes stock repurchase program up to 6% of outstanding stock ChemoCentryx (CCXI) reports Phase II nephropathy with CCX140 trial met primary endpoint Dominion Diamond (DDC) intents to initiate a dividend in April Edison International (EIX) raises common stock dividend 17.6% to 41.75c Elliott Associates reports 6.8% stake in Family Dollar (FDO) Hyatt Hotels (H) increases share repurchase authorization by $$400M KKR (KKR) to sell Fotolia to Adobe for $$800M Lamar Advertising (LAMR) announces $$250M stock repurchase program Lamar Advertising (LAMR) raises quarterly dividend to 84c per share Liquid Holdings (LIQD) adopts stockholders rights plan MetLife (MET) announces new $$1B share repurchase authorization Nektar (NKTR) reports data from Phase 3 BEACON study of NKTR-102 Priceline (PCLN) becomes first online travel agency to integrate Apple PayApple Qualcomm (QCOM) commits to invest $$40M into Chinese companies Republic Airways (RJET) to expand partnership with Delta Air Lines (DAL) Roche (RHHBY) announces retirement of Genentech research head SeaWorld (SEAS) says new restructuring program to include job cuts Tesla (TSLA) announces resignation of China President Veronica Wu Windstream (WIN) appoints Tony Thomas as CEO EARNINGS Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include: Dominion Diamond (DDC), Nordson (NDSN), EMCORE (EMKR), Adobe (ADBE) Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include: Dominion Diamond (DDC), Sonic Foundry (SOFO), Quiksilver (ZQK), Esterline (ESL) Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include: Nordson (NDSN), ARI Network (ARIS) Centene (CNC) sees FY15 EPS $$5.05-$$5.35, consensus $$4.92 United Technologies (UTX) sees FY15 EPS $$7.00-$$7.20, consensus $$7.27 Nordson (NDSN) sees Q1 EPS 60c-70c, consensus 73c Adobe (ADBE) sees FY15 adjusted EPS $$2.05, consensus $$2.07 Adobe (ADBE) sees Q1 adjusted EPS 34c-40c, consensus 39c Quiksilver (ZQK) sees FY15 revenues $$1.48B-$$1.55B, consensus $$1.62B NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES Apple (AAPL) online store begins accepting PayPal, Re/code reports Baidu (BIDU) to take stake in Uber, WSJ reports Danone (DANOY) to keep Medical Nutrition business, Reuters reports Eni SpA (E) to suspend efforts to unload stake in oil services unit, NY Times says Google (GOOG) to shut down engineering operations in Russia, The Information reports Micron (MU) in talks to revise supply agreement with Inotera, DigiTimes reports Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox One outsells Sony PS4, Engadget reports November new video game sales up 14% from last year, Game Informer says Staples (SPLS), Office Depot both look like 'buys', Barron's says Time Warner (TWX) CEO talks potential mergers in media space, NY Post reports SYNDICATE ARAMARK (ARMK) 30M share Secondary priced at $$28.00 Acadia Realty Trust (AKR) files to sell 3.4M common shares of beneficial interest Alphatec (ATEC) files to sell 1.2M shares for holders Avolon Holdings (AVOL) 13.636M share IPO priced at $$20.00 Connecture (CNXR) 6.64M share IPO priced at $$8.00 Flexion (FLXN) 5.04M share Secondary priced at $$17.00 Green Dot (GDOT) files to sell 6.13M shares for holders Hortonworks (HDP) 6.25M share IPO priced at $$16.00 ImmunoCellular (IMUC) files to sell $$20M shares and warrants James River Group (JRVR) 11M share IPO priced at $$21.00 Metaldyne Performance (MPG) 10M share IPO priced at $$15.00 Workiva (WK) 7.2M share IPO priced at $$14.00

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-25/its-official-verizon-acquire-yahoo-core-assets-48-billion

Not Verified, Money Counterfeiter

It's Official: Verizon To Acquire Yahoo Core Assets For $$4.8 Billion

Almost a decade after Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo for $$50 billion, moments ago Verizon confirmed recent rumors that it would acquire Yahoo operating business for approximately $$4.83 billion in cash, far below initial estimates floated several months ago that the segment could sell for as much as $$10 billion. A brief history of Yahoo's tumultuous M&A history: As the WSJ adds, the price tag, which includes Yahoo’s core internet business and some real estate, is a remarkable fall for the Silicon Valley web pioneer that once had a market capitalization of more than $$125 billion at the height of the dot-com boom. For New York-based Verizon, the deal simply adds another piece to the digital media and advertising business it is trying to build. The companies said the deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Yahoo’s shareholders, and is expected to close in early 2017. The sale doesn't include, among other things, Yahoo’s cash, its shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. , its shares in Yahoo Japan, and Yahoo’s noncore patents, called the Excalibur portfolio. These assets will continue to be held by Yahoo, which will change its name at closing and become a registered, publicly traded investment company. So how much does Marissa Meyer - who may soon be unemployed - collect for "creating value" at the company during her 5 year tenure? Somewhere around $$300 million. In the press release the future role for Mayer was not outlined; however, she is unlikely to have a prominent role—if any—under Verizon, people familiar with the matter said. She stands to make more than $$50 million in compensation if she is terminated as a result of the sale. On the other hand, Bloomberg notes that she intends to stay with the combined company, although that remains to be confirmed. “For me personally, I’m planning to stay... It’s important to me to see Yahoo into its next chapter,” CEO Marissa Mayer says in statement From the press release: Verizon Communications Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. today announce they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Verizon will acquire Yahoo's operating business for approximately $$4.83 billion in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments. Yahoo informs, connects and entertains a global audience of more than 1 billion monthly active users** -- including 600 million monthly active mobile users*** through its search, communications and digital content products. Yahoo also connects advertisers with target audiences through a streamlined advertising technology stack that combines the power of their data, content and technology. Lowell McAdam, Verizon Chairman and CEO, said: "Just over a year ago we acquired AOL to enhance our strategy of providing a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers. The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising." Yahoo will be integrated with AOL under Marni Walden, EVP and President of the Product Innovation and New Businesses organization at Verizon. Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, said: "Yahoo is a company that has changed the world, and will continue to do so through this combination with Verizon and AOL. The sale of our operating business, which effectively separates our Asian asset equity stakes, is an important step in our plan to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo. This transaction also sets up a great opportunity for Yahoo to build further distribution and accelerate our work in mobile, video, native advertising and social." Mayer added, "Yahoo and AOL popularized the Internet, email, search and real-time media. It's poetic to be joining forces with AOL and Verizon as we enter our next chapter focused on achieving scale on mobile. We have a terrific, loyal, experienced and quality team, and I couldn't be prouder of our achievements to date, including building our new lines of business to $$1.6 billion in GAAP revenue in 2015. I'm excited to extend our momentum through this transaction." Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, said: "Our mission at AOL is to build brands people love, and we will continue to invest in and grow them. Yahoo has been a long-time investor in premium content and created some of the most beloved consumer brands in key categories like sports, news and finance." Under Armstrong, AOL has invested in and grown global premium brands, including The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, MAKERS and AOL.com, and market-leading programmatic platforms -- including ONE by AOL for both advertisers and publishers. Armstrong added, "We have enormous respect for what Yahoo has accomplished: this transaction is about unleashing Yahoo's full potential, building upon our collective synergies, and strengthening and accelerating that growth. Combining Verizon, AOL and Yahoo will create a new powerful competitive rival in mobile media, and an open, scaled alternative offering for advertisers and publishers." The addition of Yahoo to Verizon and AOL will create one of the largest portfolios of owned and partnered global brands with extensive distribution capabilities. Combined, AOL and Yahoo will have more than 25 brands in its portfolio for continued investment and growth. Yahoo's key assets include market-leading premium content brands in major categories including finance, news and sports, as well as one of the most popular email services globally with approximately 225 million monthly active users****. Additional technology assets in the advertising space include Brightroll, a programmatic demand-side platform; Flurry, an independent mobile apps analytics service; and Gemini, a native and search advertising solution. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, approval by Yahoo's shareholders, and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in Q1 of 2017. Until the closing, Yahoo will continue to operate independently, offering and improving its own products and services for users, advertisers, developers and partners. Verizon will generally issue cash-settled Verizon RSUs for Yahoo RSUs that are outstanding at the close. The sale does not include Yahoo's cash, its shares in Alibaba Group Holdings, its shares in Yahoo Japan, Yahoo's convertible notes, certain minority investments, and Yahoo's non-core patents (called the Excalibur portfolio). These assets will continue to be held by Yahoo, which will change its name at closing and become a registered, publicly traded investment company. Yahoo will provide additional information about the investment company at a future date. Yahoo intends to return substantially all of its net cash to shareholders and will determine and communicate a specific capital return strategy at an appropriate time. LionTree Advisors, LLC, Allen & Company LLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Guggenheim Securities, LLC are acting as financial advisors to Verizon. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Covington & Burling LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP are acting as legal advisors to Verizon. Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and PJT Partners are acting as financial advisors to the Yahoo Board and its Strategic Review Committee. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP are acting as legal advisors to Yahoo. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is independent legal advisor to Yahoo's Strategic Review Committee.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-17/global-stocks-rebound-brexit-odds-decline-following-tragic-death-uk-lawmaker

Global Stocks Rebound As Brexit Odds Decline Following Tragic Death Of UK Lawmaker

Traders are still stunned by the dramatic move in risk assets during yesterday's US session. As a reminder, at the lows for the day in the mid-morning Eastern Time, we saw the DAX at -1.81%, FTSE -1.13%, S&P500 -1.03%, US 10y yield 1.516% (lowest since August 2012) and GBPUSD 1.401. By the various closes these rallied to -0.59%, -0.27%, +0.31%, 1.580% and 1.420 respectively! What changed? Unfortunately it had everything to do with the death of Jo Cox, which as even Deutsche Bank admits, "while it seems insensitive to talk about markets in relation to this event, unfortunately this story heavily influenced them yesterday. Before this news came out the two phone polls that the market had been waiting for both came out in favour of 'leave' (Ipsos-Mori 53%/47% and Survation 45%/42%)." The reason: BBC eyewitness reports (later questioned) suggesting the killer shouted 'put Britain first'. As a result, campaigning has been suspended for now and it's unclear when it will get going again. As we first noted, the immediate outcome of the shooting was a rumor that the Brexit vote next Thursday will be postponed, which in turn boosted "Remains" odds. And, as Bloomberg also puts it, "Sterling rebounded from a two-month low as an opinion poll on voter intentions in next week’s referendum was delayed." Odds on the U.K. leaving the EU slid to 38 percent after hitting a record 44 percent on Thursday, according to Oddschecker calculations based on bookmakers’ quotes. “If you do see uncertainty, that typically will drive voters to the status quo,” said Karl Schamotta, director of foreign-exchange research and strategy in Toronto at Cambridge Global Payments, which hedges currencies for companies. “We’re seeing a trade that’s entirely too crowded -- at the end of the day, the market expectation remains that we will see a stay vote.” In short, as Bloomberg, DB and Reuters all admit, the tragic death of Jo Cox had a morbidly levitating effect on all risk assets. “The halt in campaigning may just take Brexit off the headlines momentarily, and that may have given an opportunity to just to see a little bit of a retracement in a comparatively quieter environment,” said Orlando Green, a rates strategist at Credit Agricole SA’s corporate and investment-banking unit in London. “We’ll see a choppy environment as we head toward the referendum.” Ten-year bonds in Japan and the U.K. declined for the first time in more than a week. Global stocks rebounded from a four-week low and commodities advanced with the pound as campaigning in Britain’s referendum on European Union membership was suspended for a second day. Oil rose, paring its biggest weekly decline in more than two months. German bonds fell for the first time in four days, ending a three-day rally that pushed the yield into negative territory for the first time. The yield was near-zero, from minus 0.02 percent on Thursday. Similar-maturity U.K. debt snapped an eight-day run of gains. Spanish and Italian debt rallied as investors snapped up higher-yielding assets. Japan’s 10-year bonds fell for the first time in seven days, lifting their yield by five basis points to minus 0.15 percent. It sank to a record minus 0.21 percent in the last session as the BOJ said inflation in the nation may be zero or negative. The rate on similar-maturity bonds in Australia climbed eight basis points to 2.09 percent, after slipping below 2 percent for the first time on Thursday. U.S. Treasuries due in a decade fell, lifting their yield by two basis points to 1.60 percent. It touched 1.52 percent in the last session, the lowest intraday level since August 2012, after the Fed on Wednesday lowered its projections for the path of policy tightening. As a reminder, it is not just sterling: “With Brexit risks an important driver of currencies in the near term, dollar-yen can track lower next week,” said Joseph Capurso, a senior currency strategist in Sydney at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “That raises the risk the Ministry of Finance may intervene to stem the recent rapid gains in the yen.” As Shunichi Otsuka, general manager of research and strategy at Ichiyoshi Securities, added “The dollar-yen market has calmed somewhat,” said “We’ll probably see a rebound from the steep fall yesterday. The fact that U.S. shares have risen is also a tailwind for Japanese equities.” Meanwhile, while it may very well not last and all of yesterday's gains could evaporate instantly if David Cameron announces that the Brexit vote will take place as scheduled, while polling remains unchanged from before Jo Cox's tragic death, all 10 industry groups in the MSCI All-Country World Index advanced, with the index of global equities rising 0.7% trimming the week’s drop 1.6%. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1.4%. European lenders rallied the most, buoyed by Italian banks. Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed, after equities Thursday snapped their longest losing streak since February. Meanwhile, the biggest event earlier in the week, the FOMC rate hike decision, is now all but ancient history: the odds of a move on borrowing costs have fallen to 4 percent for July and less than 40 percent for as late as February 2017, after the Federal Reserve this week scaled back its projections for increases. Global Market Snapshot S&P 500 futures down less than 0.1% to 2070 Stoxx 600 up 1.7% to 327 FTSE 100 up 1.5% to 6039 DAX up 1.3% to 9679 S&P GSCI Index up 0.9% to 371.2 MSCI Asia Pacific up 0.6% to 126 Nikkei 225 up 1.1% to 15600 Hang Seng up 0.7% to 20170 Shanghai Composite up 0.4% to 2885 S&P/ASX 200 up 0.3% to 5163 US 10-yr yield up 3bps to 1.61% German 10Yr yield up 3bps to 0.01% Italian 10Yr yield down 3bps to 1.51% Spanish 10Yr yield down 3bps to 1.57% Dollar Index down 0.16% to 94.42 WTI Crude futures up 1.1% to $$46.71 Brent Futures up 1.6% to $$47.93 Gold spot up 0.5% to $$1,285 Silver spot up 1.1% to $$17.39 Top Headline News Brexit Campaign on Hold for Second Day After Lawmaker Murder: Labour’s Jo Cox was shot dead in northern England on Thursday Oracle’s Revenue Exceeds Estimates on Strength of Cloud Products: rev. in cloud forecast to increase 75%-80% in quarter Revlon Seeks to Revive Cosmetics Clout With Elizabeth Arden Deal: the $$14-a-share deal values Elizabeth Arden at ~$$870m when debt is included Redstone Family Reclaims Control of Viacom in Slow Motion: Redstone’s holding co. replaced 5 Viacom board members; Delaware court to decide on move’s legality in coming months Found to Have Violated Chinese Rival’s Patent: Apple may have to halt sales of its latest iPhones in Beijing, the city’s intellectual property authority ruled. Salesforce Said to Have Been Rival Suitor for LinkedIn: Microsoft agreed to buy networking website for $$26.2b Lumber Liquidators Settles With Regulator; No Product Recall: CPSC says testing showed no unsafe levels of formaldehyde Allianz Sees Pimco Hiring in Pivot From Bill Gross’s Former Fund: board member Theis cites potential in alternative investments; insurer’s U.S. unit cut jobs Thursday after decline in assets UFC Said to Get Bids of ~$$4.1b From WME/IMG, CMC Groups: ESPN Looking at regional markets, Asia equity markets traded higher following the positive lead from the S&P500 in which US equities snapped its 5-consecutive day of declines. Nikkei 225 (+1.1) outperformed on bargain-buying following yesterday's BoJ-triggered 3% drop, with a rebound in USD/JPY from its lowest level since August 2014 underpinning exporter sentiment. ASX 200 (+0.3%) was led by Financials after reports ANZ is considering the sale of its wealth and life units, although gains were capped by commodity weakness. Elsewhere, Chinese markets conformed to the positive picture in the region with the Hang Seng (+0.7%) & Shanghai Comp (+0.4%) both positive after the PBoC returned to a net weekly injection in its interbank liquidity operations. Finally, 10yr JGBs traded firmly in negative territory amid the improvement in sentiment in riskier assets in Japan, while today's enhanced liquidity auction printed a lower b/c. The yield on Japan’s 20-yr govt bond rose as much as 8.5 bps to 0.175%, while 30-yr yield climbs 5.5 bps to 0.205%. The reason: the FinMin extra auction with remaining maturities of 15.5-39.0 yrs drew bid-to-cover ratio of 1.88, the lowest for any maturities since 2012. Top Asian News Japan’s Aso Invokes G-7, Seeks Coordination After Yen Jump: Any post-Brexit turmoil seen as potential yen-sales trigger China Probes Brokerages’ Futures Units Amid Frenzies in Trading: Guotai Junan, Orient Securities say regulator investigating 1MDB Confident of Legal Position in Debt Dispute With Abu Dhabi: Co. hires law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges to represent case India Woos Explorers of Rare Earths Used in Missiles and Lasers: Govt to issue a new policy for private cos. Mass Deportation Threat Raises Stakes in U.S.-Pakistan Spat: Pakistan seeks to send back 1.5 million Afghan refugees In Europe, the session has seen a quiet start as is usually the case as the week draws to a close. As such, equities continue to be on the mend led by financials. Of note, today does mark quadruple witching which sometimes is associated with increased volatility — particularly in the DAX. Alongside this, the risk on sentiment has seen global yields also recover with the German 10-yr pulling off their near record lows while the curve has seen an unwind of the bull flattening earlier in the week, with price action seeing Bunds back below the 165 level. Additionally, peripheral bond yields have been outperformed relative to the German 10-yr benchmark. Top European News Stoxx 600 up 1.7% to 327 FTSE 100 up 1.5% to 6039 DAX up 1.3% to 9679 German 10Yr yield up 3bps to 0.01% Italian 10Yr yield down 3bps to 1.51% Spanish 10Yr yield down 3bps to 1.57% S&P GSCI Index up 0.9% to 371.2 In commodities, the Bloomberg Commodity Index gained 0.6%, ending three days of losses, as a retreat in the dollar increased the appeal of commodities priced in the U.S. currency. Oil rose, paring its biggest weekly decline in more than two months. West Texas Intermediate added 0.8 percent to $$46.60 a barrel and Brent climbed 1.3 percent to $$47.79. There’s no need for Russia and Saudi Arabia to cooperate on influencing crude markets now and low prices may persist for 10 to 15 years, Russian Oil Minister Alexander Novak said in a Bloomberg television interview. Zinc and copper led industrial metals higher, gaining 1.6 percent and 0.9 percent respectively. Gold headed for a third weekly advance. Bullion for immediate delivery rose 0.4 percent to $$1,283.75 an ounce. The metal touched $$1,315.71 on Thursday, the highest since August 2014. Silver advanced 1 percent. In FX, in addition to the volatile Yen, it remains all about the British pound which strengthened 0.5%, after erasing a slump of more than 1.3 % in the last session. Odds on the U.K. leaving the EU slid to 38 percent after hitting a record 44 percent on Thursday, according to Oddschecker calculations based on bookmakers’ quotes. “If you do see uncertainty, that typically will drive voters to the status quo,” said Karl Schamotta, director of foreign-exchange research and strategy in Toronto at Cambridge Global Payments, which hedges currencies for companies. “We’re seeing a trade that’s entirely too crowded -- at the end of the day, the market expectation remains that we will see a stay vote.” The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, slipped 0.2 percent in a third day of losses. Currencies of Australia, Canada, South Africa and Russia climbed 0.4 percent or more, rallying with metals and crude. The yen was little changed at 104.34 per dollar, after earlier weakening as much as 0.6 percent. Japanese Finance Minister Aso told reporters Friday that he was very concerned about one-sided, abrupt and speculative currency movements, speaking after the currency jumped 1.7 percent in the last session as the Bank of Japan refrained from expanding its record monetary stimulus. The yen climbed as high as 103.55 on Thursday, the strongest level in almost two years. “With Brexit risks an important driver of currencies in the near term, dollar-yen can track lower next week,” said Joseph Capurso, a senior currency strategist in Sydney at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “That raises the risk the Ministry of Finance may intervene to stem the recent rapid gains in the yen.” On today's US calendar, we’ll get the May housing starts and building permits data. The former in particular is expected to fall -1.9% mom however permits are expected to have risen modestly. More interest perhaps could come from comments from ECB President Draghi who is set to speak at 4pm BST in Munich. Its unclear what the topic is but clearly any comments around the UK referendum will be closely watched but given yesterday's events he may chose to pass on the subject. The ECB’s Coeure is also due to speak around lunchtime. Bulletin Headline Summary From RanSquawk and Bloomberg A more upbeat sentiment today has seen European and Asian equities pare some of the losses from earlier in the week, with Bunds falling away from their record highs FX markets remain subdued by recent standards during European trade, with GBP/USD above 1.4250 Highlights today include US housing starts, building permits, Canadian CPI as well as comments from ECB's Draghi, Constancio and Couere Treasuries lower in overnight trading as global equities and commodities rally and Brexit campaigns on hold until this weekend; housing starts today, forecast 1150k. Debt investors rushed to hedge against the risk that Britain votes to exit the European Union this week as polls show a departure has become a real possibility Amid all the murk surrounding Britain’s vote on leaving the European Union, one thing is certain: a lot of cash is piling up just outside the equity market, and having it all come flowing back has the potential to put a charge in stocks Local elections in Italy on June 19 will prefigure votes in Europe over the next 18 months that could see populist politicians translate their increasing support into real power Japan’s sovereign debt rally will push yields on the nation’s 40-year bonds, its longest maturity, below zero in about two months if it keeps up at the current pace From the immediate possibility of Britain leaving the European Union to the longer-term consequences of aging populations, the world’s major central banks this week just aren’t sure what to do next $$375m IG Credit priced yday, $$5.725b WTD, $$60.13b MTD, YTD $$863.095b No HY priced yday, 26 deal for $$19.925b MTD BofAML Corporate Master Index OAS +1bp yday at +161bp, +9bp MTD, -10bp YTD; T1Y range 221/129 BofAML High Yield Master II OAS +14bp yesterday at +632bp, +35bp MTD, -63bp YTD; T1Y range 887/438 Sovereign 10Y yields mixed, Greece ~16bp lower; European, Asian equities rise; U.S. equity- index futures mixed; WTI crude oil, precious metals rally * * * US Event Calendar 8:30am: Housing Starts, May, est. 1.150m (prior 1.172m) Housing Starts m/m, May, est. -1.9% (prior 6.6%) Building Permits, May, est. 1.145m (prior 1.116m, revised 1.130m) Building Permits m/m, May, est. 1.3% (prior 3.6%, revised 4.9%) Central Banks 11:30am: ECB’s Draghi speaks in Munich * * * DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap The U.K. EU referendum was put into some perspective yesterday by the tragic death of a Labour Member of Parliament with eyewitness reports to the BBC suggesting the killer shouted 'put Britain first'. Campaigning has been suspended for now and it's unclear when it will get going again. While it seems insensitive to talk about markets in relation to this event, unfortunately this story heavily influenced them yesterday. Before this news came out the two phone polls that the market had been waiting for both came out in favour of 'leave' (Ipsos-Mori 53%/47% and Survation 45%/42%). At the lows for the day we saw the DAX at -1.81%, FTSE -1.13%, S&P500 -1.03%, US 10y yield 1.516% (lowest since August 2012) and GBPUSD 1.401. By the various closes these rallied to -0.59%, -0.27%, +0.31%, 1.580% and 1.420 respectively. The political bookmakers odds started the day close to predicting a 66% chance for remain, then fell to 61% following the polls. They then climbed back to 66% by the end of the day with thoughts that the tragic events may change the shape of the last stages of the campaign. Odds had peaked at 85% on May 23rd. Even before this, it was interesting to see such two important phone polls go in favour of 'leave' without the political bookmaker odds moving even more towards 'leave'. One wonders whether there is still a view that 'leave' needs an even bigger lead in the polls to get victory at the ballot box. With markets swinging back positively in the late afternoon yesterday, bourses in Asia this morning are continuing that positive momentum and paring back slightly what has been a rough week for risk assets in the region. Leading the way is Japan where the Nikkei and Topix are currently +1.63% and +1.36% respectively as the relentless rally for the Yen (-0.20%) seems to be taking a bit of a pause for breath. Those markets are still down well over 5% this week however which will mark the biggest five-day declines since February. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng (+1.01%), Shanghai Comp (+0.82%), Kospi (+0.34%) and ASX (+0.21%) are also higher, while bond yields have edged higher generally in the region. US equity index futures are pointing towards a modestly firmer start too. Moving on. As a result of yesterday’s tragic turn of events, BoE Governor Carney cancelled his planned Mansion House speech which was scheduled for last night, with a talk by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne also scrapped. As we noted at the start referendum campaigning has been suspended for a second day today with events planned by the UKIP party, Economists for Brexit and Labour Leave all cancelled. Bloomberg is also suggesting that a planned release of an IMF report on the implications of the UK leaving the EU is also to be postponed as well as a referendum poll run by polling company BMG being delayed 24 hours. Prior to the event the BoE announced no change to its current policy as had been widely expected with the minutes unsurprisingly pointing towards the outcome of the vote next week as being ‘the largest immediate risk facing UK financial markets, and possibly global financial markets’. The SNB also stayed put at their meeting yesterday while at the same time joined the growing chorus of concern over next week’s vote, highlighting in particular the ‘uncertainty’ and potential increase in market ‘turbulence’. SNB President Jordan confirmed that ‘we intend to stabilize the market in case such a situation arises’. Meanwhile, it certainly wasn’t just those assets we mention at the top which were subject to big swings yesterday. Indeed Gold peaked at $$1316/oz in the afternoon which was close to +2% on the day and the highest since August 2014 before dipping into the close to finish back below $$1300/oz again. That was the trend for most precious metals while energy markets had a day to forget. WTI tumbled -3.75% yesterday to $$46.21/bbl, the sixth consecutive day it’s fallen and it means, a modest rebound this morning aside, that prices are now nearly $$5.50/bbl off the highs of just a week ago as focus turns to the restart of production in the Canada oil sands region. Credit markets were unsurprisingly volatile throughout yesterday also. After opening around 373bps, the iTraxx Crossover got as wide as 394bps before rallying back into the close to finish at 379bps. The iTraxx Main also traded in a near 5bp range while over in the Bund market our daily 10y Bund yield watch saw yields dip another 1.4bps to close at -0.025%. They did however reach a low of -0.039% in the afternoon. Finally, while its perhaps becoming less of an extraordinary event, yesterday also marked the day that the Swiss 2058 maturity Government Bond went into negative territory on the ask side. It now means that there is only one outstanding Swiss govie trading with a positive yield, that being the 2064 bond which is currently yielding just 0.041%. Incredible. Away from the obvious focus on the UK Referendum newsflow it was actually another fairly busy day for economic data, although once again this is not getting much attention at present. The highlight yesterday was the May inflation report for the US where headline CPI gained +0.2% mom last month, coming in a tad under the +0.3% expected. As a result the YoY rate dipped one-tenth to +1.0%. The core did come in in-line however at +0.2% mom which has had the effect of nudging up the YoY rate by one-tenth to +2.2% which means it’s been running above 2% now for seven months on the trot. This is clearly in contrast to what we’re seeing in implied inflation expectations, both through the Fed’s 5y forward breakeven and also the University of Michigan survey. As our US economists note also, YoY core PCE inflation – the Fed’s favoured metric of price pressures – is running at just 1.6%. Away from this, initial jobless claims were reported as rising 13k last week to 277k (vs. 270k expected), while the NAHB housing market index reading for June rose 2pts to 60 (vs. 59 expected). Meanwhile the Philadelphia Fed’s headline manufacturing index reading made for a positive read-through this month after printing at +4.7 (vs. +1.0 expected) which is 6.5pt improvement from May and the best reading since March. Elsewhere, there was also some data to mention in Europe yesterday. Headline CPI for the Euro area came in at +0.4% mom in May which was a tenth better than expected. The YoY rate was confirmed at -0.1% which marks a one-tenth increase. Also released were the latest retail sales numbers for the UK in May which were up a bumper +1.0% mom (vs. +0.3% expected) excluding fuel and +0.9% mom (+0.2% expected) including fuel. Finally this morning before the day ahead, Michal Jezek in my team has published notes on the DB Insurance Capital Forum held in London yesterday. Deutsche Bank’s inaugural Insurance Capital Forum has brought together regulators, issuers and investors to exchange views and offer insights about the insurance industry. The key theme of the conference was the Solvency II regulation that entered into force this year, having being in the making for over a decade. This comes at a time when the sector has faced an unprecedented pressure from the low-rate environment. Indeed, on the day of the conference European nominal interest rates reached their all-time lows. The keynote address was delivered by Gabriel Bernardino, Chairman of EIOPA. It was then followed by a regulatory and rating agency panel, an issuer panel and a credit investor panel. See his email just published for more on this. Looking at the day ahead, the calendar is fairly sparse with little in the way of notable releases in Europe this morning while over in the US we’ll get the May housing starts and building permits data. The former in particular is expected to fall -1.9% mom however permits are expected to have risen modestly. More interest perhaps could come from comments from ECB President Draghi who is set to speak at 4pm BST in Munich. Its unclear what the topic is but clearly any comments around the UK referendum will be closely watched but given yesterday's events he may chose to pass on the subject. The ECB’s Coeure is also due to speak around lunchtime. What a week!!

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/american-airlines-files-bankruptcy

American Airlines Files For Bankruptcy

We hope you used up those frequent flier miles which are now a General Unsecured Claim on thee company and will likely result in an exchange rate of 1 million miles for one round trip flight... AMR CORP. FILES BANKRUPTCY IN NEW YORK AMR, HOLDING COMPANY FOR AMERICAN AIRLINES, FILES CHAPTER 11 AMR COPR. LISTS DEBTS OF $$29.5 BILLION IN BANKRUPTCY FILING AMR HAS $$4.1B IN CASH AMR TO START FURTHER TALKS WITH UNION TO CUT LABOR COSTS *AMR NAMES THOMAS HORTON CHAIRMAN, CEO; GERALD ARPEY TO RETIRE Full press release: AMR Corporation ("the Company"), the parent company of American Airlines, Inc. ("American") and AMR Eagle Holding Corporation ("American Eagle"), announced that in order to achieve a cost and debt structure that is industry competitive and thereby assure its long-term viability and ability to continue delivering a world-class travel experience for its customers, the Company and certain of its U.S.-based subsidiaries (including American and American Eagle), today filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. AMR's Board of Directors determined that a Chapter 11 reorganization is in the best interest of the Company and its stakeholders. Just as with the Company's major airline competitors in recent years, the Chapter 11 process enables American Airlines and American Eagle to continue conducting normal business operations while they restructure their debt, costs and other obligations. American Airlines and American Eagle are operating normal flight schedules today, and their reservations, customer service, AAdvantage® program, Admirals Clubs and all other operations are conducting business as usual. Likewise, throughout the Chapter 11 process, American and American Eagle expect to continue to: Provide safe and reliable service; Fly normal schedules; Honor tickets and reservations, and make exchanges and refunds as usual; Fully maintain AAdvantage frequent flyer and other customer service programs, and ensure all AAdvantage miles and elites status earned by members remain secure and intact; Provide Admirals Club access and similar amenities to members and eligible customers; Remain an integral member of the oneworld® alliance, of which American is a founding member, and continue its codeshare partnerships; Provide employee wages, healthcare coverage, vacation, and other benefits, without interruption; and Pay suppliers for goods and services received during the reorganization process. These filings have no direct legal impact on American's operations outside the United States. Thomas W. Horton, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of AMR and American Airlines, said, "This was a difficult decision, but it is the necessary and right path for us to take - and take now - to become a more efficient, financially stronger, and competitive airline. "We have met our challenges head on, taking all possible action to secure our long-term position. In recent years, even as the airline industry faced unprecedented challenges, American strengthened our domestic and global network; fortified our alliances with the best partners around the world; launched a transformational fleet deal that will give American the youngest and most efficient fleet in the industry; and invested in our product, service and technology to build a world class customer experience. "But as we have made clear with increasing urgency in recent weeks, we must address our cost structure, including labor costs, to enable us to capitalize on these foundational strengths and secure our future. Our very substantial cost disadvantage compared to our larger competitors, all of which restructured their costs and debt through Chapter 11, has become increasingly untenable given the accelerating impact of global economic uncertainty and resulting revenue instability, volatile and rising fuel prices, and intensifying competitive challenges. "Our Board decided that it was necessary to take this step now to restore the Company's profitability, operating flexibility, and financial strength. We are committed to working as quickly and efficiently as possible to appropriately restructure American so that it can emerge from Chapter 11 well-positioned to assure the Company's long term viability and its ability to compete effectively in the marketplace," Horton stated. Horton continued, "Throughout the restructuring process, as always, our customers remain our top priority and they can continue to depend on us for the safe, reliable travel and high quality service they know and expect from us. We intend to maintain a strong presence in domestic and international markets, including our cornerstones in Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, New York, Miami and Los Angeles. As we and all airlines routinely do, we will continue to evaluate our operations and service, assuring that our network is as efficient and productive as possible. "Achieving the competitive cost structure we need remains a key imperative in this process and, as one part of that, we plan to initiate further negotiations with all of our unions to reduce our labor costs to competitive levels." "American Airlines has a strong, proud history and we will have a successful future. Working through this difficult, but necessary action and process, I am confident we will succeed in enhancing our reputation as a global leader known for excellence and innovation, a travel partner customers seek out, and a carrier that serves communities throughout the world," Horton concluded. The Company has approximately $$4.1 billion in unrestricted cash and short-term investments. This cash, as well as cash generated from operations, is anticipated to be more than sufficient to assure that its vendors, suppliers and other business partners will be paid timely and in full for goods and services provided during the Chapter 11 process in accordance with customary terms. Because of the Company's current cash position, the need for debtor-in-possession financing is neither considered necessary nor anticipated. American is filing motions today with the Court seeking interim relief that will ensure the Company's continued ability to conduct normal operations, including the ability to: Provide employee wages, healthcare coverage, vacation, and other benefits without interruption; Honor pre-petition obligations to customers and continue customer programs including American's AAdvantage frequent flyer program; Pay for fuel under existing fuel supply contracts, and honor existing fuel supply, distribution and storage agreements; and Assume and honor contracts relating to interline agreements with other airlines. As announced separately today, the Board of Directors of AMR Corporation appointed Horton Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, succeeding Gerard Arpey, who informed the Board of his decision to retire. Horton will also succeed Arpey as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Airlines and will retain the title of President. AMR's lead counsel is Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and its financial advisor is Rothschild, Inc. More information about American Airlines Chapter 11 filing is available on the Internet at AA.com/restructuring. Information for suppliers and vendors is available at (866) 736-9011 or (703) 286-2757, or by sending an email to [email protected]. AMR will be filing monthly operating reports with the Bankruptcy Court and also plans to post these monthly operating reports on the Investor Relations section of AA.com. The company will continue to file quarterly and annual reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will also be available in the Investor Relations section of AA.com.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-29/frontrunning-april-29

Frontrunning: April 29

Gold Bears Defy Rally as Goldman Closes Short Wager (BBG) Still stuck on central-bank life support (Reuters) Ebbing Inflation Means More Easy Money (BBG) So much for socialist wealth redistribution then? François Hollande to woo French business with tax cut (FT) Billionaires Flee Havens as Trillions Pursued Offshore (BBG) Companies Feel Pinch on Sales in Europe (WSJ) Brussels plan will ‘kill off’ money funds (FT) Danes as Most-Indebted in World Resist Credit (BBG) Syria says prime minister survives Damascus bomb attack (Reuters) Syria: Al-Qaeda's battle for control of Assad's chemical weapons plant (Telegraph) Nokia Betting on $$20 Handset as It Loses Ground on IPhone (BBG) Rapid rise of chat apps slims texting cash cow for mobile groups (FT) Calgary bitcoin exchange fighting bank backlash in Canada (Calgary Herald) IG poised to widen market for spread bets on Bitcoin (FT) Italy will lead eurozone revolt against austerity (FT) Explosion shakes central Prague, as many as 40 injured (Reuters) Overnight Media Digest WSJ * Hiding behind the profit gains of America's biggest companies is a worrying slowdown in sales growth, reflecting the combined effects of Europe's malaise, a stronger dollar and sluggish consumer spending. * Deutsche Bank has become a focal point in a debate over the dearth of female executives at German firms. * Frank Bisignano, JPMorgan's co-chief operating officer, intends to exit the nation's largest bank, the latest executive upheaval to follow a multibillion-dollar trading loss. * Chinese car maker BYD is setting up shop in the U.S., with small ambitions but a clear goal: Get the government to subsidize the sales of its American-made electric buses. * Investors in search of higher yields are driving up the shares of dividend paying companies, fueling a debate over whether these haven stocks are getting dangerously expensive. * The U.S. denied General Motors' request for 2013 cash pay increases for several of the auto maker's top executives while allowing several increases to stock-based compensation. * Growth in China's industrial profits decelerated sharply in March, raising concern that sputtering expansion of the world's second largest economy could slow further. * Lawmakers in a number of states are debating whether to put new limits on the burgeoning business of lending money to people involved in lawsuits and collecting when the suits pay out. * Avon Products said Fred Hassan has resigned just months after taking the chairman's post at the beauty company. * France is open to China buying some of its companies as Europe's second-largest economy tries to foster more balanced trade relations with the Asian country, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said. FT JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon promoted Matt Zames to chief operating officer, replacing Frank Bisignano in the investment bank's latest executive reshuffle. Intermediate Capital Group is in talks with Lloyds Banking Group over a 400-million-euro ($$521.08 million) collateralised loan obligation, a deal which is expected to close over the summer. Matthew Elderfield, Ireland's chief banking regulator, will be appointed the new head of compliance at Lloyds Banking Group over the next few days. French President Francois Hollande intends to cut capital gains taxes, hoping to convince investors that the Socialist government is committed to reviving its stalled economy. IG Group plans to extend a service that will let its customers bet on the highly volatile price of Bitcoin, the virtual currency that was introduced to the company's platform at the start of April. WhatsApp Messenger, a mobile messaging app available on platforms including Android and iOS, has been accused of violating international privacy rules by data protection regulators in Canada and the Netherlands. NYT * Frank Bisignano, a senior executive in the inner circle of Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive, is leaving, the latest departure after the bank reported a multibillion-dollar trading loss last year. * A venomous public battle over a $$5.2 billion proposal by the Empire State Building's managing family will face a crucial legal test beginning on Monday. * Millions of Americans suffered a loss of wealth during the recession and the sluggish recovery that followed. But the last half-decade has proved far worse for black and Hispanic families than for white families, starkly widening the already large gulf in wealth between non-Hispanic white Americans and most minority groups, according to a new study from the Urban Institute. * Legislation that would force internet retailers to collect sales taxes from their customers has put antitax and small-government activists like Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform and the Heritage Foundation in an unusual position: they're losing. * The Huffington Post announced Sunday night that Mark Cuban's cable channel AXS TV, previously known as HDNet, would soon carry HuffPost Live's programming for six hours a day. Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL * The federal government will announce sweeping changes to the temporary foreign workers program Monday, aimed at ensuring non-Canadian workers are employed in the country only after every effort has been made to put Canadians in the jobs first. * Federal provisions that would impede the release of "high-risk" mentally ill offenders are being condemned within the psychiatric establishment as a senseless, counterproductive move. Reports in the business section: * Andreas Pohlmann is SNC Lavalin Group Inc's new chief compliance officer, a position created in February to ensure that the engineering firm does not break the law when it seeks out contracts in Canada and abroad. * Loblaw Cos Ltd and other major Canadian retailers are holding an emergency meeting Monday to grapple with the aftermath of the deadly collapse of an illegally built clothing factory in Bangladesh. * JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Sunday that Matt Zames will fully assume the role of chief operating officer as his former partner in the job leaves as part of the latest management shakeup at the biggest U.S. bank. NATIONAL POST * Two determined anti-abortion protesters who thought they found a loophole in British Columbia's "bubble zone" law against protesting outside abortion clinics have lost in the province's highest court. * A Canadian boxer who was killed while fighting with jihadists in Russia has emerged as a key contact who may have set the elder Boston bomber on his path to violent extremism. FINANCIAL POST * United States Steel locked out almost 1,000 unionized workers at its facility in Nanticoke, Ontario, on Sunday, raising questions from employees about promises the company made to the federal government about continuing production in Canada. * The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) says it is probing the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) after one of its staff members lost a portable device containing information about tens of thousands of investment dealer clients Global Corporate Finance * A proposed merger of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc and Actavis Inc was put on hold after the two drugmakers failed to agree on terms of a deal that would have created a healthcare giant with a combined market value of $$35 billion, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters on Saturday. * An Italian judge has rejected an order to seize around 1.8 billion euros ($$2.34 billion) of assets from Nomura Holdings Inc as part of a probe into suspected fraud involving troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena, legal sources said on Saturday. * Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is in advanced talks to buy a $$1.2 billion stake in BTPN, an Indonesian lender backed by TPG Capital, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. * Russia's second-largest bank VTB has won firm orders for its entire offering of new shares worth $$3.3 billion, a source close to the bank said on Sunday, bolstering its capital strength as it eyes a push into retail lending. * A U.S. unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc is in talks to acquire the rights to sell trust-banking services to Morgan Stanley's clients, in the bank's latest bid to expand its business abroad, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday. * Goldman Sachs Group Inc has arranged a $$1.75 billion financing package for J.C. Penney Co Inc, backed by the department store chain's real estate and other assets, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday. * Bond insurer MBIA Inc is working with law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges as it seeks to avoid possible rehabilitation of its structured finance unit by a New York regulator, a source familiar with the matter said Friday. * Ambulatory Services of America Inc, a U.S. operator of healthcare facilities controlled by private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg LLC, has appointed Morgan Stanley to explore a sale, three people familiar with the matter said this week. * U.S. specialty chemicals company Rockwood Holdings Inc has attracted bids from private equity groups for its industrial ceramics unit CeramTec, people familiar with the deal said. * Indebted Russian steel group Mechel has backed off from selling up to 25 percent of its mining division because of market conditions, sources with knowledge of the matter said. * Spain's biggest bank Santander is in exclusive talks with U.S. private equity firms Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic LLC to sell a stake in its asset management business, three people familiar with the discussions said. Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot ANALYST RESEARCH Upgrades Disney (DIS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS Flir Systems (FLIR) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan Harmony Gold (HMY) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup LifePoint Hospitals (LPNT) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Marathon Oil (MRO) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays NII Holdings (NIHD) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo SunTrust (STI) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital Tenet Healthcare (THC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS Downgrades AB InBev (BUD) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein Alliance Holdings (AHGP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup Allied Nevada Gold (ANV) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital BreitBurn Energy (BBEP) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at RW Baird Cerner (CERN) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James Eastman Chemical (EMN) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan Ecolab (ECL) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at RW Baird Fluidigm (FLDM) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink Gannett (GCI) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays Gold Fields (GFI) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC IBERIABANK (IBKC) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette Leap Wireless (LEAP) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan NGL Energy Partners (NGL) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at RW Baird Regency Energy Partners (RGP) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at RW Baird Santander Mexico (BSMX) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Summit Midstream (SMLP) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at RW Baird Targa Resources Partners (NGLS) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at RW Baird Vanguard Natural (VNR) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at RW Baird Initiations Ann Inc. (ANN) initiated with an Outperform at BlueFin Dick's Sporting (DKS) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays Independent Bank (IBTX) initiated with an Overweight at Evercore HOT STOCKS Bayer (BAYRY) to acquire Conceptus (CPTS) for $$1.1B, or $$31.00 per share Clearwire (CLWR) shareholder Aurelius Capital filed to block Sprint (S) deal, DJ reports Capstone Mining to purchase BHP's (BHP) Pinto Valley copper mine for $$650M Lloyds Banking (LYG) to sell its Spanish retail banking operations to Banco Sabadell, S.A. Novartis (NVS) disputed allegations in two U.S. lawsuits Orville Redenbacher (CAG) recalled Classic Kettle Korn ready-to-eat popcorn Jim Breyer steps down from Facebook (FB) board EARNINGS Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include: Aveo Pharmaceuticals (AVEO), Medidata Solutions (MDSO), Compass Minerals (CMP), Boardwalk Pipeline (BWP), UNS Energy (UNS), Sohu.com (SOHU), Conceptus (CPTS), AsiaInfo-Linkage (ASIA) Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include: HomeStreet (HMST), TGC Industries (TGE) NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES Fed officials are likely to continue their easy money policies at the central bank's policy meeting this week, in part because several recent inflation measures have fallen well below its 2% target, the Wall Street Journal reports Behind the profit gains of America's largest companies is a worrying slowdown in sales growth. U.S. companies (IBM, UTX, MMM, XRX) have missed revenue forecasts, hurt by a combination of Europe's malaise, a stronger dollar and sluggish consumer spending, the Wall Street Journal reports Verizon Communications’ (VZ) chances of buying the 45% stake in Verizon Wireless owned by Vodafone (VOD) will hinge, in part, on the quality of tax advice it’s getting. It may have found a way to structure a purchase so Vodafone can avoid a multi-billion dollar U.S. capital gains tax bill, sources say, Reuters reports World advertising expenditure will grow by 3.9% in 2013 and 5% in 2014, driven by internet advertising as the global economy strengthens, according to ZenithOptimedia, the forecasting unit of Publicis Groupe (PUBGY), Reuters reports Economic confidence in the euro area decreased more than economists forecast in April as the 17- nation currency bloc struggled to emerge from a recession and the Cyprus bailout renewed debt-crisis concerns. An index of executive and consumer sentiment dropped to 88.6 from a revised 90.1 in March, the European Commission said today, Bloomberg reports U.S. technology stocks (AAPL, IBM) have declined to the cheapest levels in at least seven years and are vulnerable to more losses as analysts reduce Q2 profit estimates, Bloomberg reports BARRON’S Doubts remain after modifications to Boeing's (BA) Dreamliner lithium-ion batteries Dell (DELL) shares are still attractive despite Blackstone's (BX) withdrawal Apple's (AAPL) buyback, dividend provide incentive to own shares Hanesbrands (HNI) shares could rise 20% due to new products, lower costs (WMT, M) Gap (GPS) shares could be a good deal for investors Ecolab (ECL) stock could jump 20% or more Layne Christensen (LAYN) could see a jump in earnings, share price SYNDICATE Carlyle Group (CG) files to sell 263.95M common units from time to time Central European Media (CETV) files to sell $$175M in Class A common stock Good Times Restaurants (GTIM) files to sell $$6M of common stock PowerSecure (POWR) files to sell 675,160 shares of common stock for holders Restoration Hardware (RH) files to sell common stock for holders And completeing the recap of news with a European focus, here is Scott Solano with his final broadcast from dpa-AFX:

bias

veteranstoday.com

2017-11-27

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/08/23/adl-reports-1000-surge-in-online-donations-after-charlottesville-rally/

ADL reports 1000% surge in online donations after Charlottesville rally

[Editor’s note: While this funding boost is not the reason behind the Charlottesville fiasco, it is certainly a welcome bonus for the perpetrators – the ADL and the rest of the Israeli lobby, the SPLC, AIPAC and B’nai Brith. Yes, the Israeli lobby is behind Charlottesville and the rest of the attacks on US society that are, ultimately, intended to destabilise and perhaps even destroy the USA by turning left against right black against white, dividing and conquering in a ploy straight out of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Ian] __________ JTA ADL reports 1000% surge in online donations after Charlottesville rally The Anti-Defamation League received 10 times as much money as usual from online donations in response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The group, which combats anti-Semitism and bigotry, reported a 1,000 percent increase in online donations during the week beginning Aug. 13, one day after the Charlottesville rally. The ADL said it received six times as many individual donations as during an average week this year, mostly from first-time donors, though it did not provide a total amount of money raised. In the aftermath of the rally, the ADL has seen its profile skyrocket. It received $$1 million donations from Apple and 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch, and announced a partnership with Bumble, a dating app, to block bigoted profiles. JP Morgan Chase also announced this week that it would donate $$500,000 to the group. JP Morgan and Apple also pledged to match donations to the ADL and other nonprofits from employees. On Friday, the ADL announced a partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to combat hate and bigotry. In 2015, ADL raised more than $$52 million in contributions and grants, according to its most recently available tax filings.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/mf-global-hires-two-banruptcy-law-firm-advisors-chapter-11-looms

MF Global Hires Two Bankruptcy Legal Advisors As Chapter 11 Looms

The deadline to submit a bankruptcy filing to the Southern District of New York is around midnight, which probably explains why even as MF Global is proceeding at a feverish pace to sell parts or all of it to what appear increasingly skittish investors (who, like China will likely wait until the stalking horse auction to show their bids), it has, as the WSJ has just reported, hired bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers in the face of Weil Gotshal, best known for collecting hundreds of millions in hourly legal fees for its work on the Lehman bankruptcy case, as well as Skadden Arps. It appears that the sale process has not gone quite as well as hoped for, and now the company is bracing for the worst with just under 6 hours left to iron out a going concern solution. Per the WSJ: "MF Global Holdings Ltd., the troubled securities firm, has hired bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers, said people familiar with the matter, as it races to sell all or part of its broker-dealer in an effort to survive. MF Global, whose shares have plummeted amid investor concerns over its exposure to European government debt, has hired law firms Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Weil, Gotshal & Manges to prepare potential restructuring options, the people said. A bankruptcy filing or other restructuring transaction remains an option for MF Global should it be unable to get a sale done, one of the people said." Why two restructuring legal counsels? "Skadden joins restructuring and deal bankers at Evercore Partners advising MF Global. Other Skadden lawyers that don't specialize in restructuring are also advising the investment firm. Weil, meanwhile, would represent MF Global's U.K. subsidiary should it need to pursue some kind of formal restructuring proceeding overseas, a separate person familiar with the matter said. In addition, Sullivan & Cromwell's restructuring practice has also joined the fray advising MF Global, people familiar with the matter said. Non-restructuring lawyers at Sullivan are also working on the situation." And here comes, naturally, the hedge: "The hiring of restructuring advisers doesn't mean MF Global will necessarily seek bankruptcy protection. Such advisers work on a range of transactions, including raising new debt or equity or trying to find other out-of-court solutions to a company's woes. Still, a federal bankruptcy court could provide a venue for a potential sale of MF Global's assets. MF Global has been focused on trying to find buyers without resorting to bankruptcy." And while we, and most likely everyone else in the world, wishes Jon Corzine all the best, just in case all the best does not happen, we are confident there will be numerous reporters around the main entrance of Southern District of New York at 1 Bowling Green where the bankruptcy petition still has to be handed in physically should all else fail. Well, not all else: Corzine will have succeeded in handing over the firm he has headed for just about two years to Goldman Sachs on a bankruptcy, read 35 cents on the dollar, platter.

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/business/2017/03/photo/photogallery-bitcoin-price-stabilizes-above-prior-long-term-all-time-high-in-us-markets-1178013.html

Blasting News, M. . Meehan, B. Marshall, H. K, M. Gomez

Photogallery - Bitcoin price stabilizes above prior long term all time high In US markets

Back to article: Bitcoin price stabilizes above prior long term all time high In US markets

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/debunking-krugman-again-shift-net-gross-income-tax-basis

Debunking Krugman (Again): On The Shift From Net To Gross Income Tax Basis

It seems anywhere one looks there days, one reads a refutation of Paul Krugman's tortured "economist" logic. Lately, the NYTer has fallen into the crosshairs of many due to his contention that currently taxes, based on some chart which the Nobelist probably mislabeled again, are at 20th century lows. Of course, cherrypicking data that fits the theory is precisely what economists do. Which is why Krugman may be excused for missing out on a trend so subversive that we have seen it only mentioned by tax attorneys at Weil Gotshal: namely the gradual transition in the definition of taxable income from a "net" to a "gross" tax basis. As Weil's Kimberly Blanchard explains: "Many observers — most prominently Paul Krugman — write in terms of tax rates being at an all-time low and compare today’s rates favorably with those that existed early in the 20th century. Their implication is that tax burdens are lower today and, therefore, there must be room for tax hikes. But we know that taxes are not lower today. How could they possibly be when government revenues are so much larger, even as adjusted for inflation? The increasing size of the national deficit cannot explain the gap, which was already in evidence during the Clinton years. The average individual taxpayer is frustrated and confused because she hears that tax rates are down but somehow she believes (correctly) that her taxes keep going up. What has occurred is that the base has expanded dramatically, leading to taxes far higher than those paid by individuals historically." Expect to hear much more of this in the next two years. Kimberly Blanchard Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP New York The most significant change was a gradual one that took place incrementally and is proceeding apace: The shift in the definition of income for purposes of the income tax on individuals, from a net to a gross tax base. When I first began practice in 1981, the individual tax was still largely a tax on net income, with few exceptions. The only items of expense or loss that were not deductible, other than capital items, were truly personal items (that is, expenses that did not relate to the production of gross income). That is not the case today. This shift has included, in no particular order: phaseout of the personal exemption and the cutback on itemized deductions (even more severely in New York state); expansion of the alternative minimum tax, which functions as a disallowance of the deduction for state income taxes; virtual elimination of the deductions for section 212 expenses and medical expenses; the cap on the mortgage interest deduction; numerous caps on tax-deferred retirement savings; other rules limiting the use of losses, interest deductions, etc. (including the failure to index the $$3,000 cap on capital losses of individuals); removal of the cap on the 2.9 percent Medicare tax; the repeal of the General Utilities doctrine and reinforcement of double taxation on corporate prof ts; enactment of the passive loss rules, which for the first time put a class of income on a separate schedule to eliminate base stripping; and enactment of the passive foreign investment company rules. There are doubtless others that I have forgotten, but the trend is clear. Many of these changes — such as the last two — represented very sound tax policy. Others represented nothing more than a revenue grab. Whatever the motivation, the cumulative effect has been to build a fairly bulletproof tax on gross income. The shift has been so incremental that virtually no tax policy academic or economist appears to realize what has happened. Many observers — most prominently Paul Krugman — write in terms of tax rates being at an all-time low and compare today’s rates favorably with those that existed early in the 20th century. Their implication is that tax burdens are lower today and, therefore, there must be room for tax hikes. But we know that taxes are not lower today. How could they possibly be when government revenues are so much larger, even as adjusted for inflation? The increasing size of the national deficit cannot explain the gap, which was already in evidence during the Clinton years. The average individual taxpayer is frustrated and confused because she hears that tax rates are down but somehow she believes (correctly) that her taxes keep going up. What has occurred is that the base has expanded dramatically, leading to taxes far higher than those paid by individuals historically. And we will see more of this. In modern tax policy parlance, any exception from a tax on gross income is labeled a subsidy or tax expenditure. So we have the average taxpayer looking in one direction, and the average policy wonk looking in the opposite direction. The failure on both sides to honestly assess where we are, and how we got here, is creating the most tax-related public acrimony that I have witnessed since I started practicing.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-25/nothing-says-economic-recovery-mass-layoffs

Nothing Says Economic Recovery Like Mass Layoffs

Submitted by Michael Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, Nothing says economic recovery like one of the most profitable and prestigious law firms in the nation announcing mass layoffs for the first time in 82 years. Yep, four years after the so-called “recovery” began, things are so good that Weil, Gotshal & Manges has decided to cut 7% of its associates and slash annual compensation for 10% of its partners by hundreds of thousands of dollars. As the article below notes, there is still massive overcapacity in the legal profession and this announcement is likely to spark a wave of layoffs in the industry. Not to worry though, Blackstone will continue to place all cash bids on empty homes in Nevada and Arizona. From the New York Times’ Dealbook: One of the country’s most prestigious and profitable law firms is laying off a large number of lawyers and support staff, as well as reducing the pay of some of its partners, a surprising move that underscores the financial difficulties facing the legal profession. Sixty junior lawyers, known in law firms as associates, will lose their jobs. That amounts to roughly 7 percent of Weil’s associates. Roughly 30 of the firm’s 300 partners are having their annual compensation reduced, in many cases by hundreds of thousands of dollars. And 110 staff employees – roughly half of them legal secretaries – are being let go. Dan DiPietro, chairman of the law firm group at Citi Private Bank, said that there were too many lawyers at the country’s largest firms, estimating the excess capacity at as much as 10 percent of the lawyer population. He believes that the profession could possibly experience a wave of job cuts. “Our market share has been improving, but the market has been shrinking,” Mr. Wolf said. “We believe that this not just a cycle but that the supply-demand balance is out of whack across the industry,” he said. “If we thought this was a cycle and our business was going to pick up meaningfully next year, we would not be doing this.” The mass layoffs are the first in the 82-year history of Weil, which has 21 offices across the globe and headquarters high above Fifth Avenue in the General Motors building, one of New York’s most coveted business addresses. Last year, the firm posted revenue of about $$1.2 billion, and its profits per partner ranked 13th of all firms nationwide. Several industry experts informed of Weil’s decision applauded the move. Peter Zeughauser, a law firm consultant, said that many firms were in denial about the continued slack demand for their services, and Weil’s cutbacks could pressure them into getting leaner.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-02/frontrunning-july-2

Frontrunning: July 2

Egypt on the edge after Mursi rebuffs army ultimatum (Reuters) Inside China's Bank-Rate Missteps (WSJ) Obama Urges Morsi to Respond to Protesters' Concerns (WSJ) How Fed’s 7% Jobless Avoids Deterring Bondholders Is Mystery (BBG) Obama Joins With Political Foe Bush at End of Africa Trip (BBG) China may introduce deposit insurance by year-end (China Daily) China’s Slowdown Could Slam Hong Kong (BBG) Government 'to ask Rothschild to advise on RBS split' (Telegraph) Martin Feldstein: The Fed Should Start to 'Taper' Now (WSJ) A Revitalized Car Industry Cranks Up U.S. Exports (WSJ) RBA Holds Rate at Record-Low Saying Aussie May Slide Further (BBG) Spain to Try Again on Bank Sales (WSJ) BOJ Said to Mull Upgrading Assessment to Talk of Recovery (BBG) - even more confidence... Overnight Media Digest WSJ * A rare peek into the actions of China's leaders in a month when a Chinese cash crunch spooked global investors shows a leadership falling short in its struggle to redirect China's economy and also faltering in its efforts to communicate its intentions to markets. * Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor accused of espionage, seeks asylum in Russia, but Russia's president says he must stop disclosing U.S. secrets. * The leaders of Egypt's military warned they would intervene in the country's political crisis if President Mohammed Morsi fails to resolve it within 48 hours, raising the prospect of a military takeover just one day after millions of Egyptians marched to demand the president's resignation. * The U.S. auto industry, in tatters just four years ago, is emerging as an export powerhouse, driven by favorable exchange rates and labor costs in a trend experts say could drive business for many years. * Zynga Inc's founder announced that he was stepping down as the CEO of the troubled game maker and will be replaced by Don Mattrick, the current head of Microsoft Corp's Xbox division. * Biotechnology companies are enjoying their best run with initial public offerings in a decade, amid an upswing in new drug approvals, strong performance by some already public biotech firms and legal changes. * Investor Carl Icahn said he has raised more than $$5 billion to finance his plan to recapitalize ailing PC maker Dell Inc, a move he said should end speculation that the funds wouldn't be available. * The financial woes of Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista deepened Monday as his group's flagship oil firm once again said it would fall short of its production goals, putting further pressure on the tycoon to rescue his floundering industrial empire. * France's stock market regulator fined LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton $$10.4 million for failing to follow market rules when it accumulated a significant stake in Hermès International. * A lawsuit filed by a group of authors against Google Inc to stop it from scanning millions of books shouldn't have been certified as a class action at this point, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday. * Jennifer Lopez's Turkmenistan concert provides a window into efforts by state-owned China National Petroleum to boost access to gas supplies in Turkmenistan. The Turkmenistan event underscores the lengths to which China's oil-and-gas companies will go to curry favor in resource-rich locales. * Apple Inc has filed a trademark application for "iWatch" in Japan, fueling speculation that the company may be preparing to introduce a new watchlike device. * Businesses suing to overturn a mandate of the Dodd-Frank financial law aimed at drawing attention to and curbing violence in central Africa told a federal judge that it infringes on corporate free-speech rights. () FT The British government is set to name Rothschild to advise on potentially splitting up Royal Bank of Scotland into a good bank and a bad bank. Mark Carney, the Bank of England's new governor, reported for duty before seven in the morning and told reporters he was "very excited about getting started." Viscount Rothermere has made a move to consolidate his control over Daily Mail and General Trust with an approach to buy out the outstanding voting shares in the company from his uncle and other holders. Nick Clegg said his party did not support Prime Minister David Cameron's planned 2017 referendum on EU membership. The French antitrust watchdog has carried out a search of Apple Inc's premises and also those of some of its French retailers and distributors as part of an investigation into the company's resale practices. Allied Irish Banks was seen to be just as reckless in its lending as Anglo Irish Bank in the run-up to Ireland's financial crisis, according to remarks between senior bank executives broadcast on Monday. EasyJet shareholders are planning to back a multibillion-dollar aircraft order, going up against the company's estranged founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou who is opposed to the deal. NYT * Regulators say banks have been profiting by offering wealthy Chinese high returns on loans, with banks lending the cash to companies unqualified for loans otherwise. * Qsymia, the first new prescription weight-loss drug to reach the market in 13 years, is having a hard time winning even a tiny slice of that huge market. The slow start of Qsymia raises questions about what role prescription drugs really can play in combating the nation's epidemic of obesity. * The Tribune Company, known for its newspapers but moving steadily toward television, accelerated its transformation into a broadcasting company on Monday when it agreed to pay $$2.7 billion for 19 local stations from Scranton to Salt Lake City. * A federal judge in New York, saying the statute of limitations had run out, has dismissed three lawsuits by men who said that the former "Sesame Street" puppeteer Kevin Clash sexually abused them when they were underage. * Unemployment in the euro zone continued its steady rise in May, according to data published Monday, underscoring the human effects of a financial downturn that has lasted a year and a half. Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL * Statisticians who parsed data from first National Household Survey were surprised to find many Canadians who had reported no aboriginal identity in the census of 2006 were standing up five years later to declare themselves to be First Nations or Inuit or Métis. (http://link.reuters.com/nuv39t) * As the Toronto region dithers over transportation problems it worries will hold it back on the global stage, an indisputably world-class city is looking a century ahead, barrelling forward with a massive increase in its subway network. (http://link.reuters.com/puv39t) Reports in the business section: * Canadian tech giant BlackBerry has been handed a Canada Day lashing by several analysts in the wake of its dismal quarterly results on Friday, with several major research houses cutting their ratings or price targets. (http://link.reuters.com/quv39t) NATIONAL POST * Canadian researchers have achieved a breakthrough in understanding an entirely new way cancer spreads - by hijacking the white blood cells that usually fight diseases. (http://link.reuters.com/suv39t) * The Conservative government's effort to bring public servants' benefits and compensation in line with the private sector is now taking aim at retired public servants with a proposal to limit their eligibility and boost their share of the cost for the public service health care plan. (http://link.reuters.com/tuv39t) FINANCIAL POST * Daniel DiManno sold his Toronto house for less than he had hoped and wanted to see if prices would cool before he bought a new one. But Canadian mortgage rates are rising again and that's spurring DiManno and others to jump back into the market, cutting short an already brief housing downturn. (http://link.reuters.com/vuv39t) * A new report says a skills gap in Ontario is costing the province more than C$$24 billion ($$22.85 billion) in economic activity. A report, authored by the Conference Board of Canada, finds that employers can't find workers with the skills their companies need to innovate and grow in the economy. China SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS - The China Cement Association has drafted a plan to accelerate the consolidation of the country's cement sector and is awaiting advice from related ministries, said a source from the group. The plan aims for the top 10 producers to command more than 60 percent of domestic market share by 2020. PEOPLE'S DAILY - The National Development and Reform Commission and anti-trust authorities are investigating a number of Chinese milk powder companies in an anti-monopoly probe, after prices rose some 30 percent since 2008, a rate which exceeds expected market norms. CHINA DAILY - Domestic films in China generated box office revenues of $$1.7 billion in the first half of the year, an increase of 27 percent from the same period last year, surpassing foreign movies for the first time in five years, according to entertainment industry consultancy EntGroup Consulting. - China is likely to start a deposit insurance system by the end of this year which will provide a safety net for individual and institutional depositors, said an official, although coverage limits were not disclosed. Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot ANALYST RESEARCH Upgrades JPMorgan (JPM) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James Las Vegas Sands (LVS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at ISI Group Quiksilver (ZQK) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley Rowan Companies (RDC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup Seagate (STX) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays Downgrades AT Cross Co (ATX) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Roth Capital CME Group (CME) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James Hercules Technology (HTGC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital Hub Group (HUBG) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Hudson Technologies (HDSN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Roth Capital Illumina (ILMN) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray LINN Energy (LINE) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan LinnCo (LNCO) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan Oil States (OIS) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen Transocean (RIG) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup Wells Fargo (WFC) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette Initiations Blucora (BCOR) initiated with an Outperform at Wedbush Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) coverage assumed with an Outperform at Credit Suisse Cheniere Energy (LNG) coverage assumed with an Outperform at Credit Suisse Constellium (CSTM) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank Constellium (CSTM) initiated with a Buy at Goldman Constellium (CSTM) initiated with an Outperform at Credit Suisse Constellium (CSTM) initiated with an Overweight at JPMorgan Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) initiated with a Buy at Lazard Capital Dynegy (DYN) initiated with a Sell at Deutsche Bank Global Brass & Copper (BRSS) initiated with a Buy at Goldman Global Brass & Copper (BRSS) initiated with an Outperform at William Blair Groupon (GRPN) initiated with a Buy at Wunderlich Holly Energy (HEP) coverage resumed with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo Monarch Casino (MCRI) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo Multimedia Games (MGAM) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo News Corp. (NWSA) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank Ply Gem (PGEM) initiated with a Buy at Goldman Ply Gem (PGEM) initiated with an Outperform at Credit Suisse QR Energy (QRE) coverage assumed with an Outperform at Credit Suisse Ruckus Wireless (RKUS) initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray Ryder (R) initiated with a Buy at Wunderlich Scientific Games (SGMS) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo Textura (TXTR) initiated with an Outperform at Credit Suisse Wisconsin Energy (WEC) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank HOT STOCKS American Realty (ARCP) to acquire American Realty Capital trust IV in $$3.1B merger European Commission sent objections to 13 investment banks (BAC, BCS, BNPQY, C, CS, DB, GS, HBC, JPM, MS, RBS, UBS) Cablevision (CVC) filed with Supreme Court for stay of NLRB proceeding Icahn told CNBC he “has people in mind’ to run Dell (DELL) Zynga (ZNGA) confirmed hiring Microsoft's (MSFT) Mattrick to replace Pincus as CEO Disney extended Iger's tenure as CEO, chairman through 2016 GameStop (GME) unit to launch first mobile games Emerson Radio (MSN) delayed filing 10K, cited potential income tax liability Greenbrier (GBX) announced facilities reductions in Wheels, Repair & Parts segment EARNINGS Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include: Xyratex (XRTX) Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include: A. Schulman (SHLM) NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES The U.S. auto industry (GM, F, FIATY, HMC, DDAIF, TM) is now emerging as an export powerhouse, driven by favorable exchange rates and labor costs in a trend experts say could drive business for many years, the Wall Street Journal reports Over 20 big U.S. banks (BAC, C) are working behind the scenes to ease tensions with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau whose approach to policing the financial sector has triggered industry criticism, sources say, the Wall Street Journal reports Apple (AAPL) plans to build a new solar farm with NV Energy (NVE) for power supply to its new data center in Reno, NV, Reuters reports Fiat (FIATY) was not among potential investors sounded out by PSA Peugeot Citroen's founding family, Reuters reports Hedge funds lowered wagers on a gold rally to a five-year low as a record quarterly drop drove prices below $$1,200 an ounce for the first time since 2010, and Goldman Sachs (GS) forecast further declines, Bloomberg reports Sprint-Nextel (S) must face a lawsuit for $$300M brought by the New York attorney general claiming the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier deliberately failed to pay sales taxes, Bloomberg reports SYNDICATE Ascent Solar (ASTI) files to sell 15.38M shares of common stock for holders ECOtality (ECTY) files to sell 7.69M shares of common stock for holders

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-12/frontrunning-august-12

Frontrunning: August 12

Solyndra Cola: California aims to 'bottle sunlight' in energy storage push (Reuters) Ackman may sues himself after all - Penney Board Assails Director William Ackman, Considered 'Rogue' After Releasing Deliberations (WSJ) CFTC subpoenas metals warehousing firm as inquiry heats up (Reuters) Obama Plan to Revamp NSA Faces Obstacles (WSJ) Japan growth slows in second quarter, adds to sales tax uncertainty (Reuters) China Urbanization to Hit Roadblocks Amid Local Opposition (BBG) Parents Losing Jobs a Hidden Cost to U.S. Head Start Budget Cuts (BBG) US seeks better access to Africa as part of trade pact review (FT) Singapore Cuts Trade Outlook as China Slowdown Caps Recovery (BBG) White House Sifts Fiscal Ideas With Band of Senators (WSJ) Spain may ask United Nations for support over Gibraltar (Reuters) Michigan Safety Net for Boomers Frays on Bankrupt Detroit (BBG) SNB’s Danthine Says Rate Increase Would Mean End of Cap (BBG) Monster Zombie Spider to Crush Super Mario’s China Dreams (BBG) German Second-Quarter GDP Growth to Be Estimated at 0.75% (BBG) Overnight Media Summary WSJ * Federal health officials have launched a probe into the use of antipsychotic drugs on children in the Medicaid system, amid concerns that the medications are being prescribed too often to treat behavioral problems in the very young. * The dollar is stumbling as investors begin to question the relative strength of the U.S. economic recovery, which had powered a rally in the greenback in the first half of 2013. The WSJ Dollar Index, a gauge of the dollar's exchange rate against seven of the world's most heavily-traded currencies, is down 4 percent in the past month and hit a seven-week low on Friday. * J.C. Penney Co Inc's board is weighing whether to take action against William Ackman, a director and the company's largest shareholder, after the hedge fund manager publicly released confidential boardroom deliberations in two separate salvos last week, people close to the company said. * Aviation equipment supplier Rockwell Collins Inc, seeking a larger presence in the growing global market for advanced air traffic control systems and in-flight connectivity, on Sunday announced a $$1.39 billion deal to buy closely held ARINC Inc from the investment firm Carlyle Group LP. * Swiss drug giant Novartis AG faces a mounting problem in Japan, its second largest market, where researchers have retracted studies that touted the benefits of the company's most popular heart medicine, Diovan. Two university led investigations into Novartis related research discovered data had been altered to produce inaccurate results. * Retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Macy's Inc, Kohl's Corp and Nordstrom Inc are reporting their second-quarter results this week. All eyes will be on their early reads about back-to-school sales and the outlook for the rest of the year, with analysts expecting Wal-Mart to be a season winner because its discount positioning can better resonate with consumers pressured by the payroll tax rise and other economic concerns. FT Authorities in the U.S. are preparing criminal charges against two former JPMorgan bankers linked to the multi billion-dollar "London whale" trading loss. Business Secretary Vince Cable is looking at fining businesses who fail to pay their suppliers promptly. Brazil is pushing for its own trade deal with the European Union, after years of struggling to reach one alongside its neighbours. Banks in the eurozone region will need to shed 3.2 trillion euros ($$4.27 trillion)in assets by 2018 to meet Basel III regulations on capital and leverage, according to a report by UK's Royal Bank of Scotland. China has started investigating French drugmaker Sanofi SA as it steps up scrutiny of prices of medicines sold in the country by western pharmaceutical groups. The world's biggest airlines are reluctant to move from Heathrow, Europe's busiest hub, to another UK airport, boosting chances of a highly contentious third runway being built. NYT * As federal authorities prepare to charge criminally two former JPMorgan Chase & Co employees suspected of misrepresenting a multi-billion dollar trading loss last year, prosecutors in Manhattan are separately exploring ways to penalize the bank over the trading blowup that has come to be known as the "London Whale." * The market for initial public offerings has made a comeback, with banking fees from helping companies list their shares on stock exchanges topping $$1.7 billion in the United States so far this year. At the same time, concerns have resurfaced over the role of Wall Street research analysts in these lucrative deals. * Whether from a sense of obligation, responsibility or guilt, the technology elite has taken up the cause of helping print journalism adapt to change. Google Inc, which has been criticized for profiting from news content created by others, began financing journalism fellowships for eight people this year. The founder of Craigslist, the free listing service that helped ruin newspapers' classified advertising, helped finance a book on ethics for journalists. * Thousands of foreign-trained immigrant physicians are living in the United States with lifesaving skills that are going unused because they stumbled over one of the many hurdles in the path toward becoming a licensed doctor in the country. But many foreign physicians argue that the process is unnecessarily restrictive and time-consuming, particularly since America's need for doctors will expand sharply in a few short months under President Obama's health care law. Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL * The Senate expenses scandal could bring a fresh round of bad news for the Canadian government this week, with Tuesday's release of an independent audit into expenses claimed by Senator Pamela Wallin. Wallin has repaid at least C$$38,000 ($$36,900) since the audit by Deloitte began, and sources told The Globe in June she could be asked to repay an additional C$$20,000 for excessive travel claims. * A combination of new dairy technology and the inherently rich incentives to get around Canadian tariffs of 200 to 300 percent have spawned an explosion of protein imports. Major Canadian dairy farmers and processors, who have long fought imports, have started adding foreign milk ingredients to their products instead of domestic milk, underscoring the increasingly difficult task of shielding home markets in a globalized industry. Reports in the business section: * Housing starts, sales and prices are once again defying expectations, one year after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty shocked the market with tighter mortgage insurance rules. The sector is showing such strength this summer that some economists are wondering whether Flaherty will go further in a bid to stem rising house prices and consumer debt levels. * The government won't back down on allowing large foreign companies into Canada's wireless market, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper, adding that he is more interested in promoting competition than in protecting the big domestic telecom companies. * Canada lost nearly 40,000 jobs in July, the latest manifestation of an economy stuck awkwardly between recession and recovery. The sharp drop in employment last month, led by losses in the public sector, comes just two months after the economy turned in a record monthly job gain of nearly 100,000. Volatility, it seems, has suddenly become the new normal in the Canadian job market. NATIONAL POST * After two months in jail, former Liberal Senator Raymond Lavigne is expected to petition the Ontario Parole Board on Tuesday to serve the last four months of his sentence from home, according to reports. Lavigne was convicted of fraud in March 2011 after making false travel claims and found guilty of breach of trust. * Canada's Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre, which operates within CSIS, the Canadian spy agency, closely monitored the activities of the aboriginal "Idle No More" movement in late 2012 and early 2013. The intelligence agency claimed it was doing so not over fear of protests getting out of hand, but to protect the activists from potential violence by others. * Canada should get out of is cold war mindset and move the majority of its warships from Halifax to the British Columbia coast in response to the Chinese navy's aggressive military buildup, say defence analysts. The U.S. government has already announced its plan to put 60 percent of its naval assets on its west coast by 2020. China PEOPLE'S DAILY - China's plan to spend more money to tackle pollution will make clean energy and environment protection important pillars of the economy in coming years, economists said. SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS - China posted a slew of better-than-expected data for July last week, indicating the worst of the slowdown in growth may be over, economists said. - The China Financial Futures Exchange may put off the launch of trading in government bond futures which had been expected to start in mid-August, as it needs more time to draft trading regulations and make other preparations. CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL - Some small Chinese banks have raised rates for fixed deposits by 10 percent, an indication that there is less liquidity in the banking system and that it has become increasingly difficult for banks to attract savings. - China's Railway Corp, the new commercial entity created out of the restructured Ministry of Railways, said it will auction 200 billion yuan ($$33 billion) in corporate bonds on Wednesday. CHINA BUSINESS NEWS -- Shanghai Zhongxing (Group) Co Ltd raised 1.3 billion yuan in the city's first privately placed debt to support the government-sponsored cheap home programme, following similar moves by Beijing, Nanjing and other cities. CHINA DAILY -- The northern city of Tianjin will become the latest in a string of Chinese cities to restrict automobile purchases as pressure mounts on infrastructure and the environment. SHANGHAI DAILY -- The government has urged Chinese Internet celebrities to be more socially responsible and play a more constructive role in social media, the official Xinhua news agency said. Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot ANALYST RESEARCH Upgrades CEMEX (CX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup Cablevision (CVC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim Empresas ICA (ICA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill F5 Networks (FFIV) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays Global Power Equipment (GLPW) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Roth Capital Health Care REIT (HCN) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital ING Group (ING) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank KAR Auction (KAR) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Krispy Kreme (KKD) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital LKQ Corp. (LKQ) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill LTC Properties (LTC) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital LinkedIn (LNKD) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham Lowe's (LOW) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Canaccord PartnerRe (PRE) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Southwest Gas (SWX) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Brean Capital Sun Bancorp (SNBC) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Sunoco Logistics (SXL) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS Ventas (VTR) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital Downgrades Arch Capital (ACGL) downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Broadcom (BRCM) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman EV Energy (EVEP) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer GSE Holding (GSE) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer ING U.S. (VOYA) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan Juniper (JNPR) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital KPN (KKPNY) downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at Natixis Lithia Motors (LAD) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill Olympic Steel (ZEUS) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie Quiksilver (ZQK) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer Vitamin Shoppe (VSI) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse Initiations Intercept (ICPT) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup NRG Yield (NYLD) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup NRG Yield (NYLD) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank NRG Yield (NYLD) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman OncoMed (OMED) initiated with a Buy at Jefferies OncoMed (OMED) initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray Taylor Morrison (TMHC) initiated with an Outperform at JMP Securities UCP, Inc. (UCP) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup UCP, Inc. (UCP) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank HOT STOCKS Rockwell Collins (COL) to purchase ARINC (CG) for $$1.39B Apple (AAPL) won patent case against Samsung (SSNLF), Bloomberg reports DISH (DISH) and Raycom reach agreement in 36 markets DaVita (DVA) declared a two-for-one split of its common stock EARNINGS Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include: Consolidated Water (CWCO), Enstar Group (ESGR) Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include: CTI Industries (CTIB), Nordic American Tanker (NAT), NGL Energy Partners (NGL), Inovio (INO), Codexis (CDXS), Zoltek (ZOLT), Health Management (HMA), MannKind (MNKD) NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES J.C. Penney’s (JCP) board is weighing whether to take action against William Ackman, a director and the company's largest shareholder, after he publicly released confidential boardroom deliberations in twice last week, sources say. The board is also considering its next steps after Ackman pressed directors to quickly replace CEO Ullman, sources added, the Wall Street Journal reports The dollar is stumbling as investors begin to question the relative strength of the U.S. economic recovery. The WSJ Dollar Index, a gauge of the dollar's exchange rate against seven of the world's most heavily traded currencies, is down 4% in the past month and hit a seven-week low on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reports The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission subpoenaed a metals warehousing firm, sources say, seeking documents and communications related to the London Metal Exchange since January 2010, as an inquiry into complaints about inflated metals prices gathers steam, Reuters reports Carlos Slim's American Movil (AMX) wants to 'unlock value' from Dutch telecoms group KPN and is not just interested in its German business E-Plus, according to Dutch newspaper het Financieele Dagblad, Reuters reports U.K. Prime Minister Cameron said shale gas will bring down power bills for Britons, writing to defend his push to kick-start the industry in the country. Cameron wrote in the Daily Telegraph that the industry will also create jobs and bring money to local neighborhoods, Bloomberg reports Qualcomm (QCOM) the most cash-rich semiconductor company, needs to keep a large portion of those reserves to help maintain its dominance in the phone-chip market, says CEO Paul Jacobs, who’s focused on investing in new products, Bloomberg reports BARRON’S Washington Post (WPO) looks undervalued Washington Post could benefit from paywall, different editions HD Supply (HDS) could rise over 20% in a year Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS) could be overvalued Outerwall (OUTR) could jump 20% LINN Energy (LINE) not worth more than $$18 SYNDICATE Clean Energy (CLNE) files to sell 761K shares of common stock for holders Glu Mobile (GLUU) files to sell 3.33M shares of common stock for holders Northstar Realty (NRF) files to sell 35.48M shares of common stock for holders Xoom (XOOM) files to sell common stock for holders

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-06/frontrunning-september-6

Frontrunning: September 6

Summers Faces Key 'No' Votes if Picked for Fed (WSJ) NYT Editorial Board Says Summers Would Be Wrong Fed Choice (NYT) Russia says it's compiled 100-page report blaming Syrian rebels for a chemical weapons attack (McClatchy) China says Syria crisis can't be resolved with military strike (Reuters) G-20 Faces Growth Threats as Syria Adds to QE Exit Risks (Bloomberg) Apple Supplier Fire Spurs Biggest Chip Price Rise in 3 Years (BBG) U.S. Decided Not to Horse-Trade With Russia on Assad (WSJ) Financial Crisis: For Corporations and Investors, Debt Makes a Comeback (WSJ) Gorman Says Chance of Another Financial Crisis ‘Close to Zero’ (BBG) and in other news, "no risk of a Us downgrade" - Tim Geithner A Biotech King, Dethroned (NYT) ICAP in Talks to Settle U.S., U.K. Rate Probe (WSJ) Japan's Abe shakes hands with China's Xi at G20 (Reuters) Rich Norwegians Turn Down Labor as Welfare Loses Its Allure (BBG) Microsoft's emerging market conundrum (Reuters) Looming ‘sea level crisis’ faces US east coast, study finds (FT) Overnight Media Digest WSJ * The market for student loans suffered another blow on Thursday when J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, the nation's largest lender by assets, said it is getting out of the business. * A prominent New Jersey doctor who has conducted Alzheimer's drug trials for major pharmaceutical companies is a key player in federal law-enforcement officials' probe into allegations of insider trading involving Steven A. Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors LP. * An experimental cancer vaccine failed to help skin-cancer patients in a GlaxoSmithKline clinical trial, a setback for a hot area of medicine that seeks to harness the body's immune system to fight tumors. * Regulators are set to finalize long-delayed rules to rein in advisers who help states and localities raise cash in the $$3.7 trillion municipal bond market, a move aimed at protecting taxpayers from the types of complex transactions that soured during the financial crisis. * Challenges persisted for apparel retailers in August as shoppers continued to stay away from malls, though consumers appeared to be opening their wallets for bigger-ticket items, such as furniture, automobiles and building supplies. A bright spot was Costco Wholesale Corp, which reported a 5 percent rise in August same-store sales, excluding gasoline, compared with the last year's August, beating expectations for 3.5 percent growth. * At least three bidders are finalists in the bidding for Shapell Homes, a 58-year-old Southern California home building company that is expected to sell for about $$1.5 billion. Toll Brothers Inc, Standard Pacific Corp and Brookfield Homes Corp are finalists for the company, which owns one of the largest portfolios of residential land currently for sale in California, according to four people familiar with the bidding process. * United Continental Holdings Inc said Thursday that it intends to recall nearly 600 furloughed United pilots to address the airline's future staffing needs. The callbacks echo those made by other large airlines, including AMR Corp American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc, as carriers have returned to financial health and are coping with a wave of retirements. * Alliant Techsystems Inc, one of the world's largest ammunition manufacturers, agreed to buy gun-accessory maker Bushnell Group Holdings Inc for $$985 million in cash, a move that marks the culmination of an auction of the closely held company. * Apple Inc has begun evaluating a plan to offer iPhones with screens ranging from 4.8 inches to as high as 6 inches, people familiar with the matter say. That would be a sizable leap from the 4-inch screen of the iPhone 5 released last year, and, at the upper end, would be one of the largest on the market. * Toyota Motor Corp is rebooting its strategy in North America, giving local executives more say over product and production decisions after more than three years of losing market share in the U.S. to rivals. FT Japan's Suntory Beverage & Food is in advanced talks to buy GlaxoSmithKline's Lucozade and Ribena drinks for more than 1 billion pounds ($$1.6 billion), three people with knowledge of the discussions said. Apple Inc is probing new allegations of poor working conditions at Jabil Circuit's factory in Wuxi, China after a New York-based campaign group, China Labor Watch, said in a report that it found employees working more than a 60-hour maximum working week and that they were forced to work overtime. Russian internet firm Mail.Ru, partly owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, has sold its remaining shares in social network group Facebook Inc for $$525 million. Dixons Retail, Europe's second-biggest electrical goods retailer, will pay a dowry of 69 million euros ($$91 million) to Germany's Mutares to take its loss-making online business Pixmania off its shoulders. Ford Motor Co's president and chief executive, Alan Mulally, predicted that car sales in the United States will reach 17 million in the next few years, boosted by rising employment and consumer confidence. Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista and executives at his flagship oil and gas company OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações SA are facing a formal investigation by the country's market regulator CVM as angry investors continue to threaten lawsuits against the former billionaire over the near collapse of the company. NYT * The Group of 20 summit meeting is expected to enact laws that would tighten rules for multinational companies that use subsidiaries in certain countries to legally avoid paying taxes. * David Blech, who was once hailed as the king of biotechnology and was worth about $$300 million, is about to begin a four-year prison term, having pleaded guilty to stock manipulation. * Activist investors scored another victory on Thursday when the board of Timken Co agreed to spin off its steel business from its industrial bearings operations amid pressure from two big shareholders. * The publisher and editor of The Las Vegas Sun, Brian Greenspun, is suing to block a deal that could force the newspaper to close. * Russian Internet company Mail.ru has sold its remaining stake in Facebook for about $$525 million, benefiting from a strong rebound in its share price. * The National Security Agency has secretly circumvented or cracked much of the digital scrambling that protects global commerce, e-mails, phone calls, medical records and Web searches. * Bangkok-based trader Badin Rungruangnavarat has agreed to pay $$5.2 million to settle charges that he traded on insider information tied to Smithfield Foods' proposed $$4.7 billion sale to a Chinese food processor, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Thursday. * Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin, a small bank holding company in Wisconsin, plans to use Chapter 11 to recapitalize, not to liquidate as typically happens. The company hopes to use the bankruptcy to save its bank, AnchorBank. * Brazil's securities and exchange commission says it has opened a new formal investigation into the business dealings of onetime billionaire Eike Batista and five other executives of the petroleum company OGX. * Alliant Techsystems agreed on Thursday to buy Bushnell Group Holdings, a top maker of gun accessories like rifle scopes, for $$985 million in cash. The deal is one of the first since the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting, an incident that has put pressure on some owners of gun manufacturers and related products to sell their holdings. * Line, which has hundreds of millions of users in Asia and parts of Europe and Latin America, is beginning a push into the United States. Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL * The proposed subway extension in Scarborough, Ontario, does not mesh with the city's broader transit picture and risks stranding local residents by not having enough stops, Toronto's chief planner has warned. (http://link.reuters.com/beq82v) * Older Canadians who can't find higher paying jobs are pushing out students in the low-wage part-time workforce, says a new CIBC World Markets Inc report. (http://link.reuters.com/ceq82v) Reports in the business section: * Bombardier Inc is selling its Flexjet fractional jet ownership division to a private investor group in a deal that includes the sale to the buyer of 85 business aircraft valued at $$1.8 billion. Including options to buy an additional 160 jets, the total value of the business-aircraft transaction could rise to $$5.2-billion.(http://link.reuters.com/deq82v) * Canadian regulators have approved Glencore Xstrata Plc's sale of some Viterra farm retail stores to Canadian fertilizer company Agrium Inc in a deal that will make Agrium the dominant farm retailer in Canada. Agrium, already the biggest U.S. retail seller of fertilizer, chemicals and seed, will get 210 stores across Western Canada from Glencore in the deal approved by Canada's Competition Bureau, Agrium said on Thursday. (http://link.reuters.com/geq82v) * The process of selling the bankrupt railway whose runaway train killed 47 people in Quebec is under way and the company's trustee hopes to complete a deal by year's end. Maine & Atlantic Railway has said that the railway's sale will be necessary to repay creditors and victims following the July 6 disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. (http://link.reuters.com/heq82v) NATIONAL POST * Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak won't say if he approved a move by his party's finance critic to bill taxpayers over C$$20,000 ($$19,000) last year for a second residence in Niagara-on-the-Lake. (http://link.reuters.com/jeq82v) * Dozens of suspects accused of corruption at Quebec's municipal and provincial levels have also been involved in national politics, giving more than C$$2 million ($$1.9 million) in donations to federal parties, an investigation by The Canadian Press has revealed. (http://link.reuters.com/keq82v) FINANCIAL POST * Petrolia has finally shed light on the agreement it signed in 2008 with Hydro-Quebec to explore for oil on Anticosti Island. Although the provincial Liberal government wanted to reveal the details in 2011, Petrolia had refused, citing confidentiality clauses in the sale of permits. (http://link.reuters.com/neq82v) * New financial rules laid out by international regulators in Switzerland are hurting banks and, by extension, the entire global economy, according to Bank of Nova Scotia chief executive Rick Waugh. (http://link.reuters.com/peq82v China CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL -- Raising the ceiling on deposit interest rates should be the last step in China's interest rate liberalization, said Wu Xiaoling, finance committee assistant of the National People's Congress. China is unlikely to raise the ceiling on deposit interest rates over the next two years, he added. -- Egg futures could be launched this year, but crude oil futures still require further supporting policies, said Jiang Yang, vice president of China's securities regulator. SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS -- China will remember Sept. 5, 2013 as "king land" day after land deals, including a 21.8 billion yuan ($$3.56 billion) plot in Shanghai's Xuhui district, hit successive record high prices. CHINA DAILY -- Up to one-third of China's population, around 400 million people, cannot speak the official Mandarin language, the Ministry of Education said on Thursday. -- Airbus SAS and China's Air Traffic Management Bureau have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on modernizing the country's air traffic management system. U.S. plane maker Boeing said on Thursday that China's aircraft fleet was set to triple over the next two decades. SHANGHAI DAILY -- The growth in total spending on advertising in China is likely to slow this year against 2012, according to media investment firm GroupM. Total spending is estimated to grow 10.7 percent, down from 11.7 percent last year. -- Top cosmetic brands, including Olay, L'Oreal and Nivea were found to have used excessive packaging in Chinese supermarkets, Shanghai's quality watchdog said on Thursday. PEOPLE'S DAILY -- The issuing of government bond futures will help improve spot market liquidity, the newspaper said in a commentary. China's banking regulator is considering allowing commercial banks to actively participate in the government bond futures market as long as risks are properly controlled. ANALYST RESEARCH Upgrades Constellation Brands (STZ) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Diageo (DEO) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup E-Trade (ETFC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Ericsson (ERIC) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse Five Below (FIVE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS KeyCorp (KEY) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse Meta Financial (CASH) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James Oasis Petroleum (OAS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank Oasis Petroleum (OAS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust Siemens (SI) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale Stryker (SYK) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse SunTrust (STI) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank T-Mobile (TMUS) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair Downgrades Andersons (ANDE) downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T M&T Bank (MTB) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse MannKind (MNKD) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Initiations Beacon Roofing (BECN) initiated with a Neutral at Longbow Carlisle (CSL) initiated with a Buy at Longbow Clovis (CLVS) initiated with a Hold at Stifel Datawatch (DWCH) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord H&E Equipment (HEES) initiated with a Neutral at Longbow Jones Energy (JONE) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays Jones Energy (JONE) initiated with an Overweight at JPMorgan Marlin Midstream (FISH) initiated with a Buy at Janney Capital MaxLinear (MXL) initiated with a Buy at Benchmark Co. Mettler-Toledo (MTD) initiated with an Overweight at Morgan Stanley QEP Midstream Partners (QEPM) initiated with a Buy at Janney Capital QIAGEN (QGEN) initiated with an Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley Ritchie Bros. (RBA) initiated with a Neutral at Longbow Rush Enterprises (RUSHA) initiated with a Buy at Longbow ServiceNow (NOW) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Splunk (SPLK) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Superior Energy (SPN) initiated with an Overweight at Morgan Stanley Under Armour (UA) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies United Rentals (URI) initiated with a Buy at Longbow Yelp (YELP) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank Zillow (Z) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank HOT STOCKS 21st Century Fox (FOXA) recommended holders reject mini-tender from TRC Capital Office Depot (ODP) canceled presentation at Goldman Sachs (GS) conference, Bloomberg reports Timken (TKR) to split into two publicly-traded companies; CEO James Griffith to retire after separation Constellation Energy (CEP) said allegations in PostRock (PSTR) subsidiary lawsuit are meritless EARNINGS Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include: Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY), Rally Software (RALY), Smith & Wesson (SWHC), Korn/Ferry (KFY), Ambarella (AMBA), SeaChange (SEAC), Infoblox (BLOX), Quiksilver (ZQK), VeriFone (PAY), Cooper Companies (COO) Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include: Mattress Firm (MFRM) Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include: Finisar (FNSR) NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES The conventional wisdom has been that Americans learned an important lesson from the financial crisis--that you shouldn't take a loan just because one is available. Now some experts say the deleveraging is over and releveraging is well under way, with corporate borrowers taking new loans hand over fist from investors hungry for higher returns, the Wall Street Journal reports A U.S. District Court for D.C ordered the shutdown of FilmOn X's broadcast streaming services, delivering a legal victory to TV broadcasters (FOXA) that say the website violates their copyrights. The ruling also creates uncertainty about the expansion plans of rival Internet service Aereo Inc., the Wall Street Journal reports Ford Motor (F) CEO Mulally, 68, may step down sooner than planned. Ford's board is now open to letting him step down earlier as he explores other roles, sources say, Reuters reports Microsoft’s (MSFT) acquisition of Nokia's (NOK) handset business gives them control of its main Windows smartphone partner, but leaves a question mark over the bigger business it has bought: Nokia's cheap and basic phones that still dominate emerging markets like India, Reuters reports Home Depot (HD) CEO Blake said rising home prices this year will spur renovation spending, helping the retailer even as increasing mortgage rates put pressure on the U.S. housing recovery, Bloomberg reports Prices for memory chips used in smartphones and personal computers soared 19%, the most in three years, as an Apple (AAPL) supplier, SK Hynix, suspended operations in China after a factory fire two days ago. The firm makes almost one-third of the world’s DRAM chips, Bloomberg reports SYNDICATE America First Tax Exempt Investors (ATAX) files to sell $$225M of shares NewLink Genetics (NLNK) files $$60M at-the-market offering Pacific Mercantile Bancorp (PMBC) files to sell 2.2M shares for holders

satire

us.blastingnews.com

2017-11-27

http://us.blastingnews.com/news/2017/01/despite-the-uncertainties-trump-will-take-over-the-us-with-economic-bonanza-001376587.html

Blasting News, Robert Sobel

Despite the uncertainties, Trump will take over the US with economic bonanza

#Donald Trump has not yet taken possession of the White House, but he already boasts of it: his election has restored confidence to thousands of American businesses, strengthened consumption and prevented corporate relocations. American automaker Ford gave him more arguments by canceling on Tuesday the construction of a factory in Mexico to invest in the United States and create 700 jobs, giving a "vote of confidence" to the economic agenda of the future American president. In December, it was an automaker American Carrier air-conditioner manufacturer that held 1,000 jobs in the United States instead of transferring production to #Mexico after an agreement with Trump and $$7 million in tax exemptions. Advertisements Advertisements "They've seen what's happening ... and that's because we're not even in office!" declared the future president, who won the White House with the promise of attracting jobs and factories to the United States. His election has pushed markets up and the Dow Jones has hit record highs since the November 8 election, contradicting forecasts of an economic slump in the event of a tycoon's victory in politics. "Before getting a chance to be elected, no one was paying attention to their program, which is precisely what companies want: a lot of deregulation and tax cuts," said Aparna Mathur of the conservative analysis American Enterprise Institute. Since Wall Street realized this, it maintained its main index near the symbolic level of the 20,000 units. 'Thank you, Donald!' Several economic analysts point to a return of optimism to the United States. Advertisements According to a poll by the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia in December, the proportion of companies that believe in the future has doubled in one month and consumer confidence is the highest in 15 years. "Thank you, Donald!" He thanked the president-elect. His unprecedented Twitter-driven strategy for large industrial groups (General Motors, Ford, #Toyota) to invest in the United States seems to have borne fruit. "For him, the campaign continues, and that makes him look like someone whose job is really a priority," says Mathur, adding that Trump should move to more traditional behavior when he is in the White House. The optimism of US business environments is also explained by a political fact unrelated to Donald Trump's personality: for the first time since 2010, the White House and the two houses of Congress have come up with a common banner. Uncertainty "There is a general feeling that more can be done now that the US government is unified behind the Republican Party," Mark Zandi, chief economist at risk rating agency Moody's, told AFP. Advertisements During the presidency of Barack Obama, the Democrat and Republican-dominated Congress did not stop confronting, causing serious budgetary crises and preventing any tax reform in the companies, discredited in all the parts.According to experts, much remains to be done to transform the small enthusiasm of which the president benefits in a lasting impetus and in this context the doubts are still many. Trump promised a vast plan of diffuse contours and in December the Federal Reserve spoke of "considerable uncertainty" about the next government's program.Finally, the trade war that Trump promised to wage against China and Mexico could change the mood of the American multinationals, which depend on many of their activities abroad, while the appreciation of the dollar will increase its exports. "You have to wait and see what he has in mind," Zandi said.Former White House adviser to Barack Obama, Jared Bernstein is blunter and predicts a difficult future if Trump implements its deregulation and tax cut program. "Those who do not suffer from economic amnesia will remember what caused the financial crisis," he said.

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-22/ben-bernanke-crushes-hedge-funds-average-hedgie-underperforming-sp-65-2013

Ben Bernanke Crushes Hedge Funds: Average Hedgie Underperforming S&P by 65% In 2013

Yes, yes, everyone knows hedge funds aren't benchmarked to the S&P - after all they "hedge" for the broader market downside. Here is the problem: having underperformed the S&P for five years in a row, many LPs are starting to get tired of not only underperforming stocks but paying out 2 and 20 on all the lost upside (and not only due to such leftfield surprises as RICO Stevie). The bigger problem is that by the time the crash finally comes, there will be no hedges left as the Federal Reserve will have made sure all shorts get crushed as confirmed by the relentless outperformance of the most shorted stocks relative to the market (and why we continue to suggest quarter after quarter that going long the most shorted stocks is the most lucrative "alpha" strategy) as "hedge" funds abandon all hedging in droves and become "long-onlies", a problem further compounded by the fact that when the real crash does come not one hedge fund will be positioned properly and able to generate any alpha. The biggest problem, at least for the active management community, is that with the global central banks now stock market activists and buying stocks outright, it is they who have eliminated the downside risk and by implication made hedging redundant. So for all those curious why all real money managers (and not those who spend 18 hours a day on the modern day Yahoo Finance known as Twitter, "trading" with monopoly money while selling $$29.95 newsletters) are furious at what Bernanke and company are doing as shown in the most recent Ira Sohn conference, we present the chart below from Goldman which confirms what most have already known: the Federal Reserve has made hedge funds a thing of the past, whose investors are sure to keep underperforming the S&P until the moment when it all goes tumbling down. Luckily, at that point, bidless market aside, everyone will be able to sell ahead of everyone else, or so the momentum-chasing mantra goes. In the meantime the facts are sobering: the average hedge fund has returned a tiny 5.4% through the week of May 10, a whopping 65% discount to the performance of the S&P, and even the average mutual fund has outperformed the average hedge fund nearly threefold! Some more from Goldman: The typical hedge fund generated a YTD return of 5% through May 10, compared with 15% gains for both the S&P 500 and the average large-cap core mutual fund (see Exhibit 1). Hedge funds returned an average of 3.5% in 1Q 2013, lagging the S&P 500 by 700 bp. Last year the average fund returned 8% vs. 16% for the S&P 500. The distribution of YTD performance indicates that 13% of hedge funds have generated absolute losses. The standard deviation of YTD hedge fund returns is 6 percentage points and almost half of funds have generated returns between 3 % and 8%. Fewer than 5% of funds have outperformed the S&P 500 or the average large-cap core mutual fund YTD. Despite starting the year with the highest net long exposure since 1Q 2007, strong long performance was not enough to outweigh the drag from popular short positions. Our basket of S&P 500 stocks with the largest dollars of shorts (<GSTHVISP>) has returned 17% YTD, in line with the VIP basket. In addition, 22 of the 50 stocks over $$1 billion with the highest short interest as a percentage of market cap returned over 30%, twice the S&P 500 return. The average return of these 50 stocks was also 30%. As for that key "benefit" from hedge funds - diversification away from single-name holdings - they were only kidding. In fact the average hedge fund is nearly twice more undiversified than the average mutual fund, and just 10 names represent 63% of the average hedge fund's AUM. See AAPL for what happens when said hedge fund hotels fall out of favor. "Hedge fund returns are highly dependent on the performance of a few key stocks. The typical hedge fund has an average of 63% of its long-equity assets invested in its 10 largest positions compared with 37% for the typical large-cap mutual fund, 16% for a small-cap mutual fund, 18% for the S&P 500 and just 3% for the Russell 2000 Index." Finally, for those wondering who is selling one share of SPY or GLD for every share bought? Wonder no more: ETFs continue to be the widest used hedging vehicle: Hedge funds appear to use ETFs more as a hedging tool than as a directional investment vehicle, based on our analysis of 13-F and short interest filings. We estimate that hedge funds hold $$126 billion in gross exposure to ETFs compared with $$1.4 trillion of gross exposure to single-stocks. ETFs represent 3% of long holdings, down from nearly 6% in 1Q 2009 and the lowest since 2Q 2011 levels (Exhibit 22). The $$96 billion of short ETF positions accounts for 76% of the hedge fund gross ETF exposure. In contrast, single-stock short positions ($$406 billion) represent 29% of hedge fund gross single-stock positions. The most shorted ETFs tend to be index hedges (representing $$50 billion of the $$96 billion short positions). Commodity-related, bond funds, and Emerging Market ETFs appear to make up the majority of ETFs that hedge funds utilize on the long side (see Exhibit 23). Source: Goldman

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-09/frontrunning-september-9

Frontrunning: September 9

Hedge Funds Cut Back on Fees (WSJ) as we predicted would happen, in May Syria's Assad denies chemical weapons use; U.S. presses case for strike (Reuters) Unemployment Falling for Wrong Reason Creates Fed Predicament (BBG) U.S. tapped into networks of Google, Petrobras, others (Reuters) Chinese Zombies Emerging After Years of Solar Subsidies (BBG) Monte Paschi doubles planned capital hike to 2.5 billion euros (Reuters) Loan Size to Be Cut for Fannie, Freddie (WSJ) Japan Growth Revision Opens Door to Sales Tax Rise (FT) Inside the End of the U.S. Bid to Punish Lehman Executives (NYT) Financial Crisis: Lessons of the Rescue, A Drama in Five Acts (WSJ) Time Warner Joins IBM in Health Shift for Retirees (WSJ) Mideast Derails Key Issues in Congress (WSJ) Americans use the Internet to abandon children adopted from overseas (Reuters) Instagram to start selling ads next year (WSJ) BoE's Fisher Says May Hold Off On More QE (Reuters) Investors Are Poised to Pay $$6 Billion for Neiman (WSJ) Treasury Official Lael Brainard Considered for Fed (WSJ) Overnight Media Digest WSJ * In a week poised to define his second term, President Barack Obama will mount an intensive campaign to promote a U.S. military strike on Syria as opposition rises in both Congress and across the country. * Pressure from disappointed investors is forcing hedge funds to roll back their fees, putting the standard charge of 2 percent of assets under management and 20 percent of investment profits on the endangered list. * The turnaround at real estate brokerage firm Realogy highlights how private equity firms can pull financial levers to keep troubled companies they own afloat and reap profits. * A team of Ares Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are in the final stages of talks to buy the luxury retailer Neiman Marcus for around $$6 billion. * At Facebook's Instagram unit, Emily White is the point person charged with turning a billion-dollar acquisition that has never made a cent into a real business. Ad sales, she said, are expected to begin in the next year. * Japan's economy grew at a much faster pace in the second quarter than initially estimated, data showed Monday, giving more ammunition to supporters of a planned sales tax hike. * McLaren intends to open its first Chinese dealership, in Shanghai, on Monday. The UK-based supercar maker is seeking to cash in on a growing Chinese taste for ultraluxury goods. * International Business Machines plans to move about 110,000 retirees off its company sponsored health plan and instead give them a payment to buy coverage on a health insurance exchange. * A key U.S. committee approved the $$4.7 billion takeover of Smithfield Foods by Shuanghui, clearing the biggest purchase of a U.S. company ever by a Chinese firm. * Johnson & Johnson, which has been shedding slow-growing products and units, is canvassing companies that might be interested in buying its blood testing division, which could be worth around $$5 billion. FT Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba is prepared to scrap plans for a $$60 billion Hong Kong float and instead list in New York if its senior management cannot nominate a majority of board directors, according to people close to the company. Dell Inc's billionaire Chief Executive Michael Dell is this week set to win shareholder backing for his drawn-out $$24.8 billion buyout of the PC company that he founded, barring last-minute intervention from activist investor Carl Icahn. The British Treasury is planning to request that the European Commission extend Lloyds Banking Group's November 2013 deadline to sell a package of 631 retail branches by up to two years. The request is expected to be submitted by the end of September, according to people close to the process. Upscale U.S. retailer Neiman Marcus is likely to be sold - rather than listed - to a consortium of Ares Management LLC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for over $$6 billion, sources said. British property website Zoopla has hired Credit Suisse to explore growth opportunities that will likely mean a London stock market listing. NYT * President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who has denied that his government attacked civilians with chemical weapons on Aug. 21, reiterated that denial to the American people on Sunday morning via the television interviewer Charlie Rose. * The handset market is so brutally competitive that Apple Inc, the most successful smartphone maker, is preparing to step up its game this week by offering two new iPhones instead of one. At an event on Tuesday at its Cupertino, California, headquarters, the company is set to unveil for customers worldwide a new iPhone with a faster processor, along with another model that will be sold at a lower cost. * China's trade surplus rose in August to its highest level this year, while inflation remained under control, government data released on Sunday and Monday showed, in further signs that the Chinese economy and possibly the global economy are faring a little better as the summer ends. * The owners of the Neiman Marcus chain are near a deal to sell the luxury retailer to a group led by Ares Management and a Canadian pension plan for about $$6 billion, a person briefed on the matter said on Sunday. * NYSE Euronext is expected to announce on Monday that it has made a minority investment in ACE, a three-year-old start-up that offers companies a centralized platform to privately sell stocks, bonds and other securities. Financial terms of the partnership were not available. * People magazine is changing its subscription model, adding a tiered plan to what has long been considered the financial backbone of Time Inc's magazine empire. On Monday, the magazine is introducing four new subscription packages. * Toyota Motor Corp is recalling about 780,000 vehicles for a second time after its first effort to prevent a handling problem did not work, according to a report posted Sunday on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL * U.S. President Barack Obama's top aide pressed on Sunday the case for "targeted, limited consequential action" to degrade the capabilities of Syrian President Bashar Assad to carry out chemical weapons attacks as the White House mounted a major push to win support from a divided Congress and skeptical American public for a military strike. * An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin won Moscow's mayoral election on Sunday, nearly complete results showed, but opposition leader Alexei Navalny's unexpectedly strong showing could alarm the Kremlin and fuel the country's flagging protest movement. * Documents leaked by Edward Snowden indicate the National Security Agency spied on Brazil's state-run oil company, the private computer networks of Google Inc and a company that facilitates most of the world's international bank transfers, a Brazilian TV report says. Reports in the business section: * The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board is in advanced talks with a U.S. private equity partner, Ares Management LLC, to acquire Neiman Marcus Inc for about $$6 billion, American news outlets reported on Sunday. * BCE Inc is heading to court in its battle against Ottawa's strategy for attracting new wireless players, arguing that Canada's Industry Minister James Moore has no right to impose greater obligations on the company to help smaller rivals. * Bombardier Inc executives are looking to the sky as they await a picture-perfect blue ceiling and winds of less than 10 knots an hour to clear the way for the takeoff of the new C Series. Already nine months behind its original schedule, the first flight of the new commercial aircraft could occur any day now that the aircraft maker ran some high-speed taxi tests on a Mirabel runway on Friday. However, the extended weather forecast for the Montreal area, which calls for storms and rain as of Tuesday, makes the day tricky to predict. NATIONAL POST * Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered to participate in joint efforts with the United States to cut greenhouse gas emissions to win approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, according to a person familiar with the matter. * Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak says he has removed Peter Shurman from his position as finance critic. Hudak said on Sunday that he met with Shurman to discuss his accommodation expense claims. It was revealed last week that Shurman, a Toronto-area member, billed the maximum C$$20,719 (about $$20,000) last year after moving to Niagara-on-the-Lake. * Merit pay and national licensing standards for public school teachers would curb the influence of "entrenched and powerful interest groups" and promote better teaching, says a new study on how to make Canadian teachers more effective. FINANCIAL POST * The latest statistics for the Canadian exchange-traded-fund industry depict a more challenging backdrop than investors have become used to. August saw more than a quarter of all ETFs in Canada in redemption mode, according to ETFinsight's data. China PEOPLE'S DAILY -- Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli told senior officials at a meeting on Sunday that China will stick to a policy to improve its economic structure and upgrade its development pattern so as to ensure sustained growth despite a slowdown in the economy. CHINA DAILY -- China exports expanded faster than expected in August, according to figures posted by the government on Sunday, with experts predicting the world's second-largest economy will recover further in coming months from its recent slowdown. CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL -- The Shanghai Commodity Exchange has applied to regulators to launch China's first commodity index futures on non-ferrous metals. -- A survey by China's government-backed securities insurance firm shows investor confidence in the domestic stock market improved in August, buoyed by signs of improvement in the economy. SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS -- China's government securities clearing house is working on a project that may allow investors trading on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges to use one account for the first time next year. -- In a sign that China's housing market has recovered to some extent this year, major developer Poly Real Estate said January-August sales rose 16.48 percent to 79 billion yuan ($$12.9 billion). SECURITIES TIMES -- Ping An Insurance said it would buy a fresh stake in its subsidiary Ping An Bank worth a maximum 14.8 billion yuan to boost the lender's capital adequacy ratio. Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot ANALYST RESEARCH Upgrades Baker Hughes (BHI) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo Brocade (BRCD) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Cimarex Energy (XEC) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley EOG Resources (EOG) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley Eaton (ETN) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley Estee Lauder (EL) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup FIS (FIS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust Inter Parfums (IPAR) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley Nanometrics (NANO) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray NetApp (NTAP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS Plum Creek Timber (PCL) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Quiksilver (ZQK) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse Salix (SLXP) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink Downgrades Apache (APA) downgraded to Buy from Strong Buy at ISI Group Community Health (CYH) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James Halliburton (HAL) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo Hercules Technology (HTGC) downgraded to Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette HollyFrontier (HFC) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley IAC (IACI) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Multimedia Games (MGAM) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital Rockwood (ROC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank Initiations Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) initiated with a Buy at Nomura Aeropostale (ARO) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura American Eagle (AEO) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura Ann Inc. (ANN) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura Chico's FAS (CHS) initiated with a Buy at Nomura DineEquity (DIN) initiated with a Hold at KeyBanc Domino's Pizza (DPZ) initiated with a Buy at KeyBanc Express (EXPR) initiated with a Buy at Nomura Fossil (FOSL) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura Francesca's (FRAN) initiated with a Buy at Nomura Gap (GPS) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura L Brands (LTD) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura Layne Christensen (LAYN) initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson Natural Grocers (NGVC) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo Oshkosh (OSK) initiated with a Sector Perform at RBC Capital Precision Drilling (PDS) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays Sally Beauty (SBH) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup Signet Jewelers (SIG) initiated with a Buy at Nomura Sprint (S) re-initiated with an Equal Weight at Evercore The Buckle (BKE) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura Third Point Reinsurance (TPRE) initiated with a Buy at BofA/Merrill Third Point Reinsurance (TPRE) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup Third Point Reinsurance (TPRE) initiated with a Neutral at JPMorgan Ulta Salon (ULTA) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup Urban Outfitters (URBN) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura lululemon (LULU) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup HOT STOCKS GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) sold nutritional drinks brands to Suntory for $$2.1B Apple (AAPL) said to be close to iPhone deal with China Mobile (CHL), Bloomberg reports Fitch affirmed McDonald's (MCD) IDRs at 'A/F1', outlook Stable PNC Financial (PNC) to wind down Market Street Funding First Solar (FSLR) announced JV with Belectric Holding EARNINGS Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include: SHFL entertainment (SHFL) NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES Pressure from disappointed investors is forcing hedge funds to roll back their fees, putting the standard charge of 2% of assets under management and 20% of investment profits on the endangered list, the Wall Street Journal reports Time Warner (TWX) plans to move its U.S. retirees from company-administered health plans to private exchanges. The company will allocate funds in special accounts that retirees can use to go shop for coverage, sources say, the Wall Street Journal reports A potential landmark case for U.S. regulation of Internet traffic (VZ) goes before a panel of federal judges today, testing whether the Federal Telecommunications Commission has authority to enforce so-called net neutrality rules, Reuters reports The U.S. government tapped into computer networks of companies including Google (GOOG) and Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), according to leaked U.S. documents aired by Globo, Brazil's biggest TV network, Reuters reports Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and MGM Resorts International (MGM) are scouting sites for casinos in Japan as Tokyo’s selection to host the 2020 Olympics boosts confidence a law legalizing gambling resorts in the capital will pass, Bloomberg reports PetroChina Co. (PTR), mired in a government graft probe, said a media report that more executives were being investigated by the authorities is untrue. PetroChina had earlier suspended its shares from trading in Hong Kong and Shanghai pending the statement, Bloomberg reports BARRON’S Lenovo LNVGY) looks to conquer smartphone, tablet market (SSNLF, AAPL) Microsoft (MSFT) could be attractive if it aggressively returns cash to its shareholders Caterpillar (CAT), Joy Global (JOY), Textron (TXT), GE (GE) could rise 30% Bob Evans (BOBE) could rise 30% EMC (EMC), NetApp (NTAP) could be vulnerable to new companies (DELL) SYNDICATE AOL (AOL) files to sell 2.43M shares of common stock for holders Chesapeake Lodging (CHSP) files prospectus to offer up to $$100M in common shares Sagent Pharmaceuticals (SGNT) files to sell 4.4M shares of common stock SolarCity (SCTY) files to sell 3.67M shares of common stock for selling shareholder

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-13/frontrunning-friday-13

Frontrunning: Friday 13

Presidential Task Force Recommends Overhaul of NSA Surveillance Tactics (WSJ) Monte Paschi's Largest Shareholder Says It Will Vote Against $$4.1 Billion Capital Increase (WSJ) SAC Reconsiders Industry Relationships—and Its Name (WSJ) Icahn’s Apple Push Criticized by Calpers as ‘Johnny Come Lately’ (BBG) In Yemen, al Qaeda gains sympathy amid U.S. drone strikes (Reuters) Missing American in Iran was on unapproved mission (AP) In China, Western Companies Cut Jobs as Growth Ebbs (WSJ) U.S. lays out steps to smooth Obamacare coverage for January (Reuters) Las Vegas Sands Said to Drop $$35 Billion Spanish Casino Proposal (BBG) Twitter Reverts Changes To Blocking Functionality After Strong Negative User Feedback (TechCrunch) U.S. Video-Game Hardware Sales Rise on New Consoles (BBG) Stolper makes Bloomberg: Goldman Sachs Goes Against Consensus in Dollar Call (BBG) Chinese men try to steal U.S. seed technology (Reuters) Overnight Media Digest WSJ * A presidential task force has drafted recommendations that constitute a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Agency, according to people familiar with the recommendations. The panel's draft proposals would change the spy agency's leadership from military to civilian and limit how it gathers and holds the electronic information of Americans. * Airplanes are unlikely to be filled with passengers talking on cellphones anytime soon, after the Obama administration signaled it would keep a ban on calls in place. * Major wireless carriers committed on Thursday to allowing consumers to keep their cellphones when they switch providers, in a voluntary move backed by federal regulators. AT&T Inc , Sprint Corp, T-Mobile USA Inc, U.S. Cellular Corp and Verizon Wireless signed on to the agreement, which requires carriers to "unlock" devices or ask manufacturers to do so within two days of receiving a consumer's request. * Facebook Inc's Instagram app is launching a photo- and video-messaging service, soon after popular mobile app Snapchat spurned a $$3 billion offer from the social network. * Apple Inc's major supplier Foxconn hasn't reduced overtime hours at some of its factories to meet the legal requirement in China, the Fair Labor Association said in a report. * Google Inc's hopes of settling its high-profile antitrust case in the European Union suffered a setback as rivals and consumer groups blasted its latest proposal for resolving the EU's competition concerns. * Coca-Cola Co is shaking up its senior management, announcing late Thursday that its Americas chief is leaving. The sudden departure of Steve Cahillane, once viewed as a potential successor to Chief Executive Muhtar Kent, comes as the maker of Minute Maid orange juice, Powerade sports drinks and its namesake cola struggles to grow in its key U.S. market and faces slowing sales in Brazil and Mexico. * A U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Anadarko Petroleum Corp could be liable for at least $$5 billion in a lawsuit over environmental and legal liabilities related to its 2006 acquisition of Kerr-McGee Corp. * Jones Group Inc is nearing a deal to sell itself to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a takeover that would value the footwear and apparel maker at roughly $$1.2 billion. * Americans spent more freely as the holiday shopping season opened, reflecting renewed consumer strength that could boost economic growth next year. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in November from October, marking the biggest gain since June, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The prior month's gain was revised up to 0.6 percent from 0.4 percent. * Netflix is trying to better understand your binge-viewing habits. The company on Friday will reveal a snapshot of a phenomenon that is reshaping TV culture-viewers devouring shows in long jags, episode after episode. FT German banking regulator Bafin has demanded documents from Deutsche Bank as part of a probe into suspected manipulation of benchmark gold and silver prices by banks, according to people familiar with the matter. After a new contribution from JPMorgan Chase & Co, funds set up for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme should recover almost three-quarters of the $$17.5 billion of losses. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank would keep its highly expansionary monetary policy in place until inflation hits and stabilises at its 2 percent target. European financial watchdogs have warned of the "violent fluctuations in electronic currencies" consumers face by using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, the price of which has fluctuated between $$340 and $$1,240 in the past week. Tom Enders, chief executive of Europe's largest aerospace company EADS, has warned that Europe will have to buy its next fighter jet from the U.S. or Asia if it does not invest in its own defence industry and allow sector consolidation. An audit of operations at Foxconn Technology Group , best known for assembling Apple Inc's iPhones, has found that workers still do more overtime than permitted by Chinese labour law. NYT * The United States Treasury called on Thursday for a greater federal role in the regulation of insurance, particularly in areas like mortgage insurance, the collection and use of personal data to set prices, and the use of secretive entities known as captives to keep risks off the books of insurers. * The fallout from the bursting of the housing bubble continues to plague Wall Street. Bank of America agreed on Thursday to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission a $$131.8 million penalty to settle an investigation linked to the structuring and sale of two complex mortgage securities that its Merrill Lynch division sold to investors. * Wall Street financiers have occasionally been referred to as sharks or snakes. But on Thursday, one prominent firm was associated with entirely different kinds of cute and lovable critters. About a dozen kindergartners, and a few high-powered financiers, gathered at the Blackstone Group's Midtown Manhattan headquarters to get up close with eight animal ambassadors from Sea World, the theme park operator that the firm took public this year. * The Energy Department will give a small company in Corvallis, Ore., up to $$226 million to advance the design of tiny nuclear reactors that would be installed under water, making meltdown far less likely and opening the door to markets around the world where the reactors now on the market are too big for local power grids. * Graduate teaching and research assistants at New York University have voted overwhelmingly to unionize, the American Arbitration Association announced this week after conducting the vote. * In what could be the biggest economic change in two decades, President Enrique Pena Nieto is on the verge of rewriting the Constitution to open Mexico's oil, gas and electricity industry to private investment - a provocative move expected to lure international oil companies and expand North America's energy supply while testing the grip oil has on Mexico's soul. * When Spotify, the digital music company of the moment, announced an exclusive deal with Led Zeppelin and free access on mobile devices, it also reported impressive numbers. Its listeners have streamed 4.5 billion hours of music this year, and it has paid more than $$1 billion in music royalties since its founding. But Spotify, a private company, did not disclose how many people use the service and how many pay for it. * Verizon Communications has taken an aggressive stance against a proposed shareholder resolution that would require it to be more forthcoming about the customer information it shares with the government. Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL * The Conservative government's decision to approve major cuts at Canada Post was driven by concern that the Crown Corp was just months away from becoming a major drain on Ottawa's bottom line. * Quebec authorities are calling it a first - an elected official coming forward to denounce people after being the target of alleged corruption. The province's anti-corruption squad, known as UPAC, is giving Chateauguay Mayor Nathalie Simon full marks for filing a complaint with police this past September. Reports in the business section: * Canada is heading for a gridlock in energy development that will rob the country of future wealth unless it can solve vexing environmental and aboriginal conflicts, a blue-ribbon group including senior Calgary business people warned in a new report. * The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is making a foray into the booming Canadian agriculture business with the $$128-million purchase of a portfolio of Saskatchewan farmland from Assiniboia Farmland LP. * Another high-flying Canadian startup backed by deep-pocketed U.S. venture capitalists has hit an impressive milestone - although it admits it's still a long way off from generating profits or meaningful revenues. Kik Interactive, a Waterloo, Ontario-based instant messenger service started in 2009, said on Thursday that it now had more than 100 million registered users, a 233 percent increase in 12 months, and ahead of rival BlackBerry Messenger. * Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz used a speech in Montreal to set the record straight: He is not as dovish as many have thought; nor does he talk the dollar down to boost exports and listless inflation. NATIONAL POST * Toronto City Councillor Doug Ford has been accused of vote buying after he was filmed handing out $$20 bills to public housing residents. It's the second time in a week he has faced accusations of using his personal wealth for political gain. * The commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces, Governor General David Johnston, says the military and country must do more to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and prevent suicides among soldiers, explaining a "stiff upper lip" attitude needs to be overcome to help treat soldiers and veterans with mental illness. FINANCIAL POST * Canada's telecom regulator said on Thursday that it would take a closer look at the rates cellphone providers charge their competitors to roam on each others' networks, something it said the country's big players could be using to kill competition from new entrants. * U.S. hedge fund Golden Tree Asset Management LP increased its stake in Postmedia Network Canada Corp last month and now owns 39 percent of the newspaper chain's shares. The New York City-based fund is Postmedia's largest shareholder and in November it bought a further 4 percent of the company's Class B shares, according to a Dec. 4 regulatory filing. China CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL - China's first and second-tier property market is cooling following the implementation of policies to control pricing, according to data and industry insiders. Prices will continue to fall in the coming months, insiders predicted. CHINA BUSINESS NEWS - China's small and medium commercial banks now need to apply for operating licenses, according to an announcement by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). The aim is to tighten regulation over the services provided by such banks, said an unnamed CBRC source. SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS - A simulated stock option trial in China will involve four companies including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, broker sources said. The trial will also involve the launch of call and put option contracts. CHINA DAILY - There are currently around 3,000 government WeChat accounts across mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, as China looks to make use the popular social media application to improve communication with citizens. - Over 600 children's products failed to meet quality standards, China's industry watchdog said this week. The watchdog said 644 items, including toys, clothes and diapers, from 571 manufacturers were substandard. PEOPLE'S DAILY - China should unite to help build the "China dream", which is to achieve national prosperity, said a commentary in the paper that acts as the Party's mouthpiece. This dream embodies the aspirations of several generations of Chinese people and the overall interests of the nation, it said. SHANGHAI DAILY - A total of 24 Chinese provinces levied more than 20 billion yuan ($$3.29 billion) in fines for extra births in 2012, but did not disclose how they spent the money. Ten other provinces have not yet published figures. - The average salary in China is set to rise between 6 and 10 percent in 2014, a survey from recruiter Michael Page showed. Over 60 percent of respondents said they expected to raise salaries by this amount next year, while a further 18 percent eyed double-digit growth. Britain The Telegraph GLG FINED $$9 MLN FOR OVERVALUING STAKE One of London's largest hedge funds, GLG Partners, has been fined $$9 million after it allegedly told investors that its assets were worth $$160 million more than they really were. EGGBOROUGH COAL PLANT CLOSURE 'WOULD PUSH UP BILLS' Household energy bills could be pushed higher if Eggborough power plant, which supplies 4 percent of the UK's power, is forced to close, the company has claimed. The Guardian CENTRICA-LED CONSORTIUM POISED FOR IRISH ENERGY TAKEOVER A consortium led by Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has been made preferred bidder by Irish ministers to take control of the state-owned energy group, Bord Gais Energy, for around 1 billion euros ($$1.38 billion). FORMER CITY MINISTER MYNERS JOINS CO-OP GROUP BOARD ON 1 POUND SALARY Former minister Myners is to lead the overhaul of the management structure of the Co-operative Group after scandals at its banking arm that have seen control ceded to its bondholders and its former chairman accused of using illegal drugs. G4S AND SERCO HAND OVER OFFENDER TAGGING CONTRACTS OVER FRAUD CLAIMS Security companies G4S and Serco are to hand over their contracts to electronically tag criminals following fraud allegations over the way they charged the government. EE THREAT TO RURAL 4G BROADBAND IF SPECTRUM FEES ARE QUADRUPLED Britain's largest mobile network EE has waded into the cost of living debate, saying if the government continues to raise spectrum fees and clamp down on mobile charges it will have to scale back plans to bring 4G mobile broadband to rural areas. The Times BIG FOUR AUDITORS FACING REVIEW The Big Four accountancy firms are failing to properly question the books of banks and building societies despite being told to raise their game after the financial crisis. SPORTS DIRECT GETS SHIRTY OVER KIT DISPUTE Billionaire retailer Mike Ashley is tangled in a dispute with adidas after the German sportswear manufacturer refused to supply the Chelsea kit to Sports Direct next season. The Independent AT THE BANK OF ENGLAND, NOT EVERYONE AGREES WITH MR CARNEY A Bank of England rate-setter yesterday said that Threadneedle Street's flagship forward guidance policy was likely to have had little impact on the economy and appeared to clash with Governor Mark Carney over the timing of possible rate rises. Fly on the Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot ANALYST RESEARCH Upgrades Advance Auto Parts (AAP) upgraded to Top Pick from Outperform at RBC Capital Amazon.com (AMZN) upgraded to Strong Buy from Buy at ISI Group ArcelorMittal (MT) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen athenahealth (ATHN) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink athenahealth (ATHN) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) upgraded to Neutral from Cautious at ISI Group Broadridge (BR) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Charles Schwab (SCHW) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette Ciena (CIEN) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital FedEx (FDX) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James LPL Financial (LPLA) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Omnicell (OMCL) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley Quiksilver (ZQK) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley Seagate (STX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup Sibanye Gold (SBGL) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS SunCoke Energy (SXC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill U.S. Steel (X) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen Western Digital (WDC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup Downgrades Anadarko (APC) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan Anglo American (AAUKY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank BP (BP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS CounterPath (CPAH) downgraded to Hold from Speculative Buy at Canaccord Iberdrola (IBDRY) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Ipsen (IPSEY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman RWE AG (RWEOY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Restoration Hardware (RH) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray lululemon (LULU) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse Initiations Avago (AVGO) initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer Axcelis (ACLS) initiated with a Buy at B. Riley Baker Hughes (BHI) initiated with a Neutral at RW Baird Blue Capital (BCRH) initiated with an Outperform at Raymond James Brixmor (BRX) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank China Mobile Games (CMGE) initiated with a Buy at Brean Capital Coca-Cola (KO) initiated with a Buy at Janney Capital Cott Corp. (COT) initiated with a Neutral at Janney Capital Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) initiated with a Buy at Janney Capital Federated National (FNHC) initiated with a Neutral at Janney Capital FireEye (FEYE) initiated with an Outperform at FBR Capital FormFactor (FORM) initiated with a Neutral at B. Riley Gazprom (OGZPY) initiated with an Underperform at Credit Suisse Halliburton (HAL) initiated with a Neutral at RW Baird Hilton Worldwide (HLT) initiated with a Neutral at SunTrust Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman LTX-Credence (LTXC) initiated with a Buy at B. Riley OFG Bancorp (OFG) initiated with a Buy at Guggenheim Post Holdings (POST) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup Proofpoint (PFPT) initiated with an Outperform at FBR Capital Schlumberger (SLB) initiated with an Outperform at RW Baird Tableau Software (DATA) initiated with a Market Perform at FBR Capital TriMas (TRS) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Ubiquiti Networks (UBNT) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo Valero Energy (VLO) reinstated with a Neutral at Credit Suisse Weatherford (WFT) initiated with a Neutral at RW Baird HOT STOCKS BlackBerry (BRY) extended purchase option deadline on convertible debt (FRFHF) Simon Property (SPG) announced plan to spin off strip center business EchoStar (SATS), GVT (VIVHY) ended talks for Brazilian JV Las Vegas Sands (LVS) no longer pursuing Spain development, will continue in Asia U.S. federal court ruled in favor of Tronox (TROX), Anadarko (APC) found liable, will appeal United Technologies (UTX) said FY14 outlook 'stretched but achievable' Adobe (ADBE) expects to surpass 4M subscribers by end of FY15 EARNINGS Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include: Restoration Hardware (RH) Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include: SAIC (SAIC) Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include: Adobe (ADBE) NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES Google’s (GOOG) hopes of settling its high-profile antitrust case in the EU suffered a setback as rivals and consumer groups (MSFT, NOK, TRIP) blasted its latest proposal for resolving the EU's competition concerns, saying they would do next to nothing to improve competition in online search, the Wall Street Journal reports DirectTV (DTV) is exploring the idea of an online video service that would appeal to "price-sensitive" young people or other customers who have dropped their pay-TV service, the Wall Street Journal reports SEC Chairman White says her team will not shy away from high-stakes trials, and not just strike settlements with wrongdoers, but a string of recent court setbacks shows she has her work cut out for her, Reuters reports Singapore's defense minister said his country was seriously considering buying Lockheed Martin Corp.'s (LMT) F-35 fighter jet but was in "no particular hurry" to buy new jets, Reuters reports The Louisiana Sheriffs’ Pension and Relief Fund, an IBM (IBM) shareholder, sued claiming the company’s cooperation with a National Security Agency eavesdropping program hurt investors as China sales dropped, Bloomberg reports McGraw Hill Financial’s (MHFI) Standard & Poor’s said it would be unfair to let the Justice Department put more than 150 selected securities before a jury to argue the firm’s ratings were the result of fraud, Bloomberg reports SYNDICATE Cheniere Energy Partners LP (CQH) 36M share IPO priced at $$20.00 Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) 9.75M share IPO priced at $$17 Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC) 2.125M share Secondary priced at $$52.50 Nimble Storage (NMBL) 8M share IPO priced at $$21.00 Response Genetics (RGDX) files automatic common stock offering TCP Capital (TCPC) files to sell 3.75M shares of common stock XOMA (XOMA) files to sell common stock, no amount given

bias

veteranstoday.com

2017-11-27

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/08/26/fact-checking-president-donald-trumps-campaign-rally-in-phoenix/

Fact-checking President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Phoenix

[Editor’s note: We all know politicians lie, but even by the low standards of honesty that are common currency in politics, Trump’s rally speech was exceptional. Wall-to-wall male bovine faecal matter in fact, lie after lie, distortions, exaggerations, it was embarrassing to watch and one has to wonder how long it will be before Trump has so blackened the image of the US on the world stage that no-one ever believes anything an American President says ever again. Ian] __________ Politifact Fact-checking President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Phoenix President Donald Trump defended his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., during a campaign rally in Phoenix, on Aug. 22, blaming the media for distorting or omitting his full comments. “The media can attack me, but where I draw the line is when they attack you,” Trump said. “It’s time to challenge the media for their role in fomenting divisions. And yes by the way they are trying to take away our history and our heritage, you see that?” We fact-checked several of Trump’s claims. Trump reads his first statement on Charlottesville, leaves out “many sides” comment. Trump blamed the media for not properly covering his initial statement on the violence in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 12, and proceeded to read portions of his initial remarks. “This is my exact words. ‘I love all the people of our country’ …. They (the media say), ‘Is he a racist?’ ” Trump said. But Trump did not read the portion of his comments that were criticized by Republicans and Democrats for not explicitly condemning the racist, anti-Semitic protesters. Here’s what Trump said in that first response to the chaos: “We’re closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Va.. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America. What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives. No citizen should ever fear for their safety and security in our society. And no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time.” “CNN, their ratings are going down.” Trump is wrong. CNN is at a five-year high in several key categories, according to data provided by the Nielsen Company. “Wages haven’t gone up in a long time.” Trump repeated a line from his Aug. 15 press conference with reporters at Trump Tower. It’s False. His point is significantly out of date. Wages have been increasing for the past three to five years, depending on the measurement you use. “Economic growth has surged to 2.6 percent … Remember I said we’re going to try and hit 3 percent, we’re already at 2.6 percent, maybe I’ll have to increase my offer.” Trump actually promised 4 percent GDP growth during the campaign. At the presidential debate in Las Vegas, he said: “And I actually think we can go higher than 4 percent. I think you can go to 5 percent or 6 percent.” The GDP indeed grew at an annual rate of 2.6 percent between April and June, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, more than double the rate at which it grew in the first quarter (1.2 percent). “This was the scene of my first rally speech. Right? The crowds were so big, almost as big as tonight.” Trump is known to exaggerate his crowds, and he exaggerated the size of that crowd that first came to see him back in July 2015 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Then-candidate Trump described an audience of 10,000 to 15,000 to 20,000 people coming to see him for his July 11, 2015, speech. But the city fire department said capacity for the ballroom where Trump spoke in 2015 was 4,200 people. The doors were closed at 4,169 attendees, said Phoenix Fire Department spokeswoman Shelly Jamison. For the record, the 2015 Phoenix rally was his second campaign event. Trump held a campaign rally June 17, 2015, in New Hampshire. “The only times they show the crowds is when there is a disrupter.” This is False. This often repeated claim doesn’t take a lot of effort to debunk. The media has documented Trump’s crowds through stories, social media, photos and videos. As Trump spoke Tuesday, we watched as CNN showed the crowd at the Phoenix Convention Center. “Arizona is a disaster in terms of the price increase in terms of insurance. 116 percent increase.” The basic numbers are easy to confirm: Those increases are indeed accurate for 2017 compared to 2016 within the Obamacare marketplace. Arizona has by far the largest increase in the nation. The caveat is that for many people on the health care exchanges, federal subsidies are offsetting those premium increases. “We’ve also obtained (a) historic increase in defense spending.” That’s False. The defense spending increase Trump laid out in his 2018 budget is not an unprecedented change, regardless of whether it includes war-related spending. Trump’s proposed base spending cap for 2017-18 defense spending is $$603 billion, a 9.4 percent increase. There have been 10 years since 1977 when the base level has gone up by more than that, and in some years, the increase more than doubled Trump’s. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan hiked the spending cap by 24.9 percent and by 20.4 percent the following year. More recently, President George W. Bush bumped spending by 10 percent in 2009. It’s also not the done deal Trump described. In order to actually increase defense spending, Congress will have to appropriate the funding and raise the budget cap. Border “down 78 and almost 80 percent” Border apprehensions have gone down under Trump, but not by that much. When Trump falsely claimed something similar in July, we found that the closest number to 78-80 percent would be based on cherry-picked numbers of the highest number of apprehensions, in November, to the lowest number, in April. The latest figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that in July there were 18,198 apprehensions at the southwest border, a 46 percent decline from July 2016. While apprehension numbers are low under Trump, they began increasing in May. The New York Times, “they practically apologized.” It’s False that the New York Times apologized to Trump. A Nov. 13 letter to readers from the New York Times’ publisher and executive editor mainly thanks readers for their loyalty and says that the publication will “rededicate” itself to the high journalistic standards it has employed thus far. Nowhere in the letter did the authors write anything like an apology. Nor did they say that the organization’s overall coverage of Trump was “bad.” Says CNN “fired Jeffrey Lord, poor Jeffrey. Jeffrey Lord. I guess he was getting a little bit fed-up and he was probably fighting back a little too hard.” Trump’s claim ignores the reason behind the dismissal of Lord, a regular pundit who defended Trump. Lord tweeted the words “Sieg Heil!” to Angelo Carusone, the president of liberal watchdog group Media Matters. “Nazi salutes are indefensible. Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network,” CNN said in a statement. “There aren’t too many people outside protesting.” That’s False. For hours leading up to the rally, the coverage on national networks showed sizeable crowds out on the streets carrying signs criticizing the president and his response to the Charlottesville, Va., riots ignited by supporters of white supremacist and anti-Semitic groups. Local media also reported on thousands of anti-Trump protesters out on the streets, some photos show protesters held back by barricades outside the convention center where Trump was speaking. After the rally, the Phoenix police chief said the city’s downtown had “tens of thousands” of people exercising their First Amendment rights.

unknown

theconservativetreehouse.com

2017-11-27

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/author/stellap/

Author Archives, Posted On

stella

I felt the need for poetry this morning. This was first posted in October, 2014. Enjoy! What is the purpose of poetry? Why do we write in verse, when we could say directly what we have to say much more … Continue reading →

unknown

theconservativetreehouse.com

2017-11-27

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2011/02/19/spring-grandchildren-and-other-lovely-things-2/

Posted On

Spring, Grandchildren, & Other Lovely Things – Saturday Open Thread

One of the joys of having grown children is that they sometimes produce grandchildren. Now that I have more time to focus on things other than the daily demands of life, I like to think about things that will delight my grandsons, 10 and 7. Often the things that delight them are simple. They look forward each year to building the gingerbread house for Christmas, for example. Another activity that they really enjoy is coating pinecones with peanut butter and birdseed, and then hanging them (via fishing line applied before the peanut butter!) outside for the birds. I’m afraid the squirrels get most of the birds’ treats, and we all get covered with peanut butter, but we have a great time anyway. This week, I have been thinking about Spring, and what will soon (I hope) begin to happen in my garden. It is exciting to take a walk each Spring day to see what’s new. The grass begins to green up, and tree buds fatten, then pop open. Have you ever noticed that one sunny day when you are driving or walking down your street there seems to be a green haze in the air, as the leaves unfurl? The Spring flowers pop up; first the crocus and grape hyacinth, then the daffodils and tulips, the forsythia, lily of the valley and bleeding heart, then the lilacs (sigh), and the glorious explosion of the peonies! Tada! It is God’s gift after the cold and snow of winter, an amazing, miraculous time of the year. My mother once gave me a wonderful gift; she planted a spring bulb garden for me near my front door, so that I would see it each time I stepped outside. I looked forward to that each morning as I left for work. Mom loved working in the garden almost more than anything else, and sharing its bounty with family, friends and acquaintances. One of the “activities” for the children in Jessie’s garden was collecting tomato worms in a paper bag, then throwing the bag in the burning barrel. The kids loved it, and the tomatoes were the better for it! My daughter and my mother had a special relationship. They spent a great deal of time together, both out of necessity and out of love. Jenny was born when my mother was already 62 years old, but since Jessie, my mom, lived for another 29 years, they had from childhood to just after Jennifer’s marriage to cultivate the love affair between a grandchild and her grandmother. Today I’d like to share a poem Jessie wrote to Jenny when she was about two years old. It reminds me of the love between a grandmother and her grandchild, and the beauty of Spring. The Woods O, come to the woods, sweet Jenny. Come to the woods with me To smell the earth’s damp fragrance And plants from the earth set free. From winter’s cold dark prison Seeking the sun’s bright beam Hearing the voice of the prompter, “Come up, awake from your dream.” The buttercup is blooming It has spread a yellow sheen And out upon the water You can see some velvet green. The phlox are every color, Their fragrance fills the air, And at our feet so tiny, The violets nestle there. O Jenny, peek beneath the leaves To see the flowers fair In purple, white, or yellow, An exquisite jewel rare. I could name the lilies red And lilies white and blue. In all of this great company I’ve only named a few. But if I’m gone, dear Jenny, And can’t take you by the hand, Take Mom and Dad to the woods someday And experience something grand. For God created simple things Like flowers and songs of birds To be enjoyed in quietness Without the sound of words. Advertisements

conspiracy

zerohedge.com

2017-11-27

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-07/frontrunning-march-7

Frontrunning: March 7

Putin rebuffs Obama as Ukraine crisis escalates (Reuters) Behind the $$100 Billion Commodity Empire That Few Know (BBG) Initial Public Offerings Hit Pace Not Seen in Years (WSJ) Russian Parliament Will Back Crimea Split From Ukraine (WSJ) Nakamoto Named as Bitcoin Father Denies Involvement, Flees Press (BBG) Chaori Can’t Make Payment in China’s First Onshore Default (BBG) Zombies Spreading Shows Chaori Default Just Start (BBG) Pimco's Gross declares El-Erian is 'trying to undermine me' (Reuters) U.S. Fighters Circle Baltics as Putin Fans Fear of Russia (BBG) College Grads Taking Low-Wage Jobs Displace Less Educated (BBG) Malaysia's Anwar convicted of sodomy, political future in doubt (Reuters) Biggest Wealth Fund Urged to Explain Formula One Investment (BBG) Regulator Deletes Red Flags From Brokers' Records, Says Study (WSJ) Overnight Media Digest WSJ * Crimea's Moscow-backed government voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia and accelerated a snap referendum to ratify the move, a dramatic escalation of tension that pushed the West closer to imposing sanctions if Russian troops don't withdraw. * As Crimea's legislators voted for secession on Thursday, residents expressed a mixture of shock and satisfaction about the prospect of splitting from Ukraine and joining Russia. * With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to rule on race-conscious college-admissions policies, University of California officials say they still struggle to meet diversity goals for their university system 18 years after state voters banned affirmative action * The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority "routinely" strips out some possible red flags on brokers from its database in the information it makes available to investors, according to a study released Thursday by an organization of lawyers who represent investors in claims against brokers. * When the leaders running law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP realized in the depths of the financial crisis that they were about to violate the terms of their bank loan, prosecutors allege they took the easy way out and cooked the books. * Canadian regulators on Thursday approved a plan by Enbridge Inc to reverse the flow of a major pipeline and ship more oil to refineries in the East, a move designed to ease bottlenecks that have depressed prices of crude from Western Canada. * Abercrombie & Fitch Co is preparing to reposition its surfer-themed Hollister chain as a fast-fashion brand, hoping to better compete with rivals such as H&M and Forever 21 Inc. that have eaten into sales to teens. * Hundreds of workers at an International Business Machines Corp plant struck for a fourth day as the company prepares to transfer the computer-server factory to Lenovo Group Ltd. * One of the country's biggest retailers sounded a worrying call for the future of brick and mortar: Staples Inc is not only closing a big swath of its North American stores, but it also wants those that remain to be half the size. * General Electric Co raised $$3 billion in a sale of new debt Thursday, stocking its coffers while rates are low. * Cerberus Capital Management LP agreed to buy Safeway Inc in a deal the companies valued at more than $$9 billion that would be the private-equity firm's latest acquisition of a big U.S. grocery chain. * A top Food and Drug Administration official on Thursday rejected the cosmetic industry's latest proposal for a regulatory overhaul aimed at improving the safety of beauty and personal-care products. FT Britain might have to go through another year of austerity due to a 20 billion pound black hole in public finances, according to economic models used by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Russia was at receiving end of the western powers over its intervention in Ukraine, with the United States issuing visa bans on Russian officials and EU signing an integration agreement with Kiev. A consortium led by private equity firm Cerebus Capital Management will acquire Safeway Inc in a deal worth $$9 billion, and merge it with Albertsons supermarket chain. Two years after the collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf, the U.S. authority has charged its former management with "a massive effort to cook the books". Shares of Reynolds American Inc and Lorillard Inc jumped this week on talks of a potential deal between the U.S. cigarette makers. NYT * Former executives at Dewey & LeBoeuf were accused of manipulating the firm's books to keep it afloat during the financial crisis. * An article about a man in Southern California named Satoshi Nakamoto has prompted many enthusiasts to question whether the right person had been identified as the creator of the virtual currency Bitcoin. * With the music industry turning digital, music companies can now understand their customers' listening habits in greater depth than ever before. * John Lefevre, the man behind the @GSElevator Twitter account, has lost his book deal after his true identity came to light. * Some employers are offering as many as 25 health care plans to employees from a variety of insurers, including Blue Cross and UnitedHealthcare, to lower their costs for the benefit. () * Gene McQuade, the chief executive of Citibank, the entity that holds 70 percent of the company's assets and runs its international businesses, is leaving, as is Cece Stewart, who runs Citigroup's consumer and commercial banking operations in the United States. () Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL * Enbridge Inc has won approval to reverse the flow of oil in its Line 9 pipeline between Southern Ontario and Quebec, a contentious project aimed at giving Quebec refiners access to more affordable Western Canadian and North Dakota oil. * The union representing 41,000 teachers in British Columbia has voted overwhelmingly in favour of job action, although its president says there will be no immediate school closures or disruptions to students, and members are committed to a negotiated settlement. Reports in the business section: * As grocers slash prices to win bargain-hungry customers, makers of food and consumer goods are pushing back against heavy discounting of their products. In the intensified competition, grocers have demanded price cuts from their suppliers. Now vendors are retaliating by setting minimum advertised prices in a bid to stop retailers from using their merchandise as loss leaders. * Canada is on the verge of clinching a free-trade deal with South Korea after more than half a decade of on-and-off negotiations, and an announcement is expected early next week. NATIONAL POST * British Columbians will soon be able to buy wine and beer at the same grocery store where they pick up their eggs and bread. * Toronto moved one step closer to having a ranked ballot vote in municipal elections, an initiative that is getting support from across the political spectrum. FINANCIAL POST * John Chen has surprised skeptics and pleased investors, but the BlackBerry chief says his next aim is to get the devices business growing and to expand its BBM messaging service. * Target Corp made a splash with colourful billboards, ads and flyers in Canada. But in this country of heavy Internet usage, it's website doesn't show much of what it sells. China CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL - The two-way movements of China's yuan against the dollar are favourable for further financial reforms, including the liberalisation of deposit rates and the introduction of foreign exchange derivative products, a commentary by the newspaper said. SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS - China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone plans to shorten its negative list for foreign investment in 2014, Shanghai's Party Secretary, Han Zheng, said in a sub-session of China's on-going annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing. CHINA BUSINESS NEWS - China's central bank has finished drafting regulations governing the country's first deposit insurance mechanisms, which are expected to be promulgated soon. PEOPLE'S DAILY - The Chinese government should keep economic reforms a top priority and step up enforcement of pronounced reform polices, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party of China said in an editorial. Britain The Telegraph UKRAINIAN TENSIONS COULD HAVE SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR EUROPE - DRAGHI Tensions in Ukraine could pose a "very serious" threat to the rest of Europe, Mario Draghi has warned. The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) said the impact of the Ukrainian crisis on the energy market, while minimal in the short term, could escalate. UK HOUSE PRICE GROWTH 'APPROACHING MADNESS' The speed UK property prices are rising at is "approaching madness", analysts have warned, after data showed house prices jumped 2.4 percent in February, the biggest monthly increase in five years. The Guardian LOSS-MAKING RBS TO GIVE MILLIONS IN SHARES TO EXECUTIVES Royal Bank of Scotland is poised to release millions of pounds worth of shares to its top executive team through bonus schemes put in place by the loss-making bank over the last three years. LLOYDS BANKING GROUP TO PAY EXTRA 1BN POUND TO BUY BACK BONDS The bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group is to take an unexpected 1 billion pound accounting charge as the result of a complex scheme to buy back financial instruments it issued during the banking crisis. The Times BNP TRADER SUSPENDED AS FOREX SCANDAL ESCALATES A senior currency trader who served on the Bank of England's foreign exchange committee has been suspended by his bank BNP Paribas, dealing a further blow to London's position as the world's leading centre for forex trading. BP CHIEF GIVEN HUGE PAY RISE AS REWARD FOR PLAYING IT SAFE BP more than tripled its chief executive's pay to $$8.7 million last year after it hit new performance targets put in place after the Gulf of Mexico disaster in 2010. Sky News CURTAIN TO FALL ON BARCLAYS' 120-YEAR AUDIT Barclays is to end its 120-year audit relationship with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and appoint one of its main rivals in the latest shake-up at the embattled bank. SHELL BOSS REJECTS SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE The chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell has said he wants Scotland to remain part of the UK. At the company's annual reception in London, Ben van Beurden said he valued the "continuity and stability" of the UK. Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot ECONOMIC REPORTS Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include: Nonfarm payrolls for February at 8:30--consensus 150K Unemployment rate for February at 8:30--consensus 6.6% International trade balance for January at 8:30--consensus -$$39.0B Consumer credit for January at 15:00--consensus $$14.0B ANALYST RESEARCH Upgrades Copa Holdings (CPA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Cantor Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup GT Advanced (GTAT) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse Omnicare (OCR) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS Polycom (PLCM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup Quality Systems (QSII) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at FBR Capital Safeway (SWY) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS Skullcandy (SKUL) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Northland Securities Teva (TEVA) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays The Buckle (BKE) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Janney Capital The Fresh Market (TFM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS Downgrades Alpha Natural (ANR) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman American Capital Mortgage (MTGE) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank CYS Investments (CYS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank Houghton Mifflin (HMHC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel Houghton Mifflin (HMHC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Humana (HUM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies Kindred Biosciences (KIN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Roth Capital New York Mortgage (NYMT) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank Numerex (NMRX) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich Safeway (SWY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley TCP Capital (TCPC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank Violin Memory (VMEM) downgraded to Underperform from Buy at BofA/Merrill Initiations Bridge Capital Holdings (BBNK) initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson Conatus Pharmaceuticals (CNAT) initiated with a Buy at Roth Capital E2open (EOPN) initiated with a Buy at B. Riley Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) reinstated with an Overweight at Barclays Ladder Capital (LADR) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank Regency Energy Partners (RGP) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank Rouse Properties (RSE) initiated with a Neutral at BofA/Merrill Salesforce.com (CRM) initiated with a Neutral at B. Riley ServiceNow (NOW) initiated with a Neutral at B. Riley Tallgrass Energy (TEP) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo Thomson Reuters (TRI) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank COMPANY NEWS Albertsons to buy Safeway (SWY) for $$40 per share Kimco Realty (KIM) to own 9.94% of combined Safeway-Albertsons Gap (GPS) reported February SSS down 7% Ford (F) to move production of F-650, F-750 medium-duty trucks to Ohio from Mexico American Apparel (APP) gave a FY14 revenue outlook that came in below estimates, and said February preliminary SSS were down 5% Cooper Companies (COO) said foreign currency continues to have negative effect Big Lots (BIG) said wind down of Canadian operations remains on schedule, sees Q1 “slightly positive” to “slightly negative” FreeWheel confirmed that it has been acquired by Comcast (CMCSA) Casablanca Capital nominated six for election to Cliff’s Natural (CLF) board EARNINGS Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include: Achillion (ACHN), Information Services (III), Qihoo 360 (QIHU), Comtech (CMTL), Ambarella (AMBA), Alamo Group (ALG), Korn/Ferry (KFY), Numerex (NMRX), Emergent BioSolutions (EBS), Jamba (JMBA), Cooper Companies (COO), U.S. Auto Parts (PRTS) Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include: Timmins Gold (TGD), Denison Mines (DNN), BPZ Resources (BPZ), The Fresh Market (TFM), Baxano Surgical (BAXS), Analogic (ALOG), Novatel Wireless (NVTL), H&R Block (HRB), Thor Industries (THO), Synergetics (SURG), Quantum (QTWW), Quiksilver (ZQK) Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include: Craft Brew (BREW), Manitex (MNTX), Violin Memory (VMEM), Finisar (FNSR) NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES Facebook (FB) faces privacy advocates who want WhatsApp deal stopped, Reuters reports Atlanta Fed's Lockhart: Keep reducing policy accommodation, Reuters reports AT&T (T) CEO: Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (TWC) a 'redefining' industry deal, WSJ reports Oil industry (CVX) facing rising production costs, WSJ reports Cigarette manufacturers (RAI, LO,TYBY, BTI) surge on deal discussions, FT reports Twitter (TWTR) paid IBM (IBM) $$36M for 900 patents to end dispute, Bloomberg reports U.S. clients of Credit Suisse (CS) face uncertainty over probe, Bloomberg reports Time Warner's (TWX) Warner Bros. plans to lead an investment of $$18M in Machinima, WSJ reports SYNDICATE Alimera Sciences (ALIM) files to sell 6.25M shares of common stock Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) files to sell 2.7M shares of common stock Aquinox (AQXP) 3.7M share IPO priced at $$11.00 Artisan Partners (APAM) 8.07M share Secondary priced at $$62.00 CDW Corporation (CDW) files to sell 10M shares of common stock for holders Coupons.com (COUP) 10.5M share IPO priced at $$16.00 FireEye (FEYE) 14M share Secondary priced at $$82.00 Flamel Technologies (FLML) files to sell common stock Recro Pharma (REPH) 3.75M share IPO priced at $$8.00 Windstream (WIN) files to sell 4.32M shares of common stock for holders

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2010/04/21/a-challenge-to-the-tea-party-amend-the-constitution/

A Challenge to the Tea Party: Amend the Constitution

Still opposed by over half of the country, several methods to overturn the Democrats’ health care plan are in play. While many focus on the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, electoral success may not be sufficient for repeal. Even if Republicans make wide gains in 2010, they would need President Obama to repeal health care reform—his signature domestic policy accomplishment. The 2012 elections could prove promising if Republicans were to regain filibuster proof control of the Senate, the presidency, and the House. Even if the repeal effort is successful, no purely legislative act could prevent a similar government power grab from happening again. Nor can any of the individual mandate challenges hoping for a hearing in our federal courts. A permanent solution is needed to stave off America from fiscal disaster, of which our new health care entitlement is but one part. We suggest that developing a grassroots network to adopt three constitutional amendments that would regain permanent control of the federal government. The first would outlaw the government mandating anyone to buy insurance or the government providing health care outside of pre-2009 programs. The second would require a two-thirds majority to raise the rates of any Federal taxation. The third amendment would require the Federal government to maintain a balanced budget, exempting specific wartime spending requests. We believe these three amendments would be the only way to permanently fix America’s impending financial catastrophe. As constitutional amendments are much like the lottery (many try to play, few win), it’s important to understand the uniqueness of our moment in history, and the impact of the Amendment process. Why a Constitutional Amendment? Outside of the Bill of Rights, subsequent constitutional amendments were passed in light of profound social movements. After the Civil War, three amendments were passed that enshrined into law the goals of the abolitionists. The Progressive movement in the early 20th Century was responsible for the 16th through 19th Amendments (plus the 21st to reverse the 18th). Lastly, the 23rd, 24th, and 26th Amendments were pushed forth by the Civil Rights movement/New Left. All of these periods of Constitutional change were due to transformative social movements. We believe that the Tea Party movement is a similarly consequential movement. It is historically unique because it is the first grassroots movement that aims towards less government involvement, not more. The number of political newcomers within its ranks maximizes its political potency. The impact of the Tea Party movement has prompted idiosyncratic Democratic pollster Pat Caddell to call it the most powerful political movement since the 1960’s antiwar movement. Directing their political force towards these three constitutional amendments gives limited government advocates their best chance to enshrine permanent guarantees against entitlement-expansion. Working towards constitutional amendments rather than ordinary legislation hits at the heart of the extraordinary entitlement mentality governing federal spending. No process within our political system requires as much national consensus as a constitutional amendment. And no challenge faced by our political process requires more of a cultural change than the fiscal recklessness inherent to treating government as the proverbial “sugar daddy.” If any political process can ameliorate such a pervasive cultural attitude, it can only be the national dialogue and supermajority consensus within the constitutional amendment process.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2017/11/14/college-basketball-teams-make-national-anthem-demonstrations-at-the-champions-classic/

Entertainment Reporter

College Teams Make National Anthem Protests

It appears the national anthem protest has trickled down to college basketball. Two of the four college basketball teams that participated in the Champions Classic in Chicago on Tuesday night participated in a national anthem demonstration before their game. Duke and Michigan State players don ‘Equality’ and ‘We Talk We Listen’ shirts during national anthem pic.twitter.com/YKI1R44yTD — Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 15, 2017 While nobody took a knee, the players on each team wore t-shirts in an apparent demonstration in pre-game warm-ups and during the playing of the national anthem. Duke wore t-shirts with “Equality” written across the front whereas the players on Michigan State wore ones with the words, “We Talk We Listen.” The Blue Devils have been wearing the “Equality” shirts since the season began, but Tuesday was the first time the Spartans wore theirs. Kentucky and Kansas played in the second game of the annual Champions Classic, but neither of those two teams participated in any form of demonstration. (RELATED: National Anthem Protest Extends To The NBA) Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem at the beginning of the 2016-17 NFL season in protest of racial injustice in America. Although Kaepernick is no longer playing in the league, several players are keeping the protest going. However, fewer and fewer players seem to be kneeling week by week. The NBA has rules that require its players to stand during the national anthem, but teams have locked arms and worn t-shirts similar to that of the college teams that played in Chicago Tuesday night.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2017/11/02/dismembering-live-fetuses-could-be-banned-in-kansas/

Dismembering Live Fetuses Could Be Banned In Kansas

The Kansas Supreme Court is set to rule on a case regarding a ban on second-trimester abortion procedures as soon as Friday. The judges will rule on a case that began after two late-term abortion providers sued the state in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt following Kansas’s passage of the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act in 2015, arguing that the law violates women’s rights, according to the Federalist. Kansas’s law criminalizes the common procedure of dilation and evacuation used to abort unborn babies in the second trimester, requiring doctors to end the life of the fetus before dismembering its body parts rather than using dismemberment as the method thereby to kill the child. The law was, however, blocked in 2015 and ruled void in 2016, making it ineffective since it became law. This case comes after an Alabama judge struck down the “fetal-demise law” last week, ruling that it was unconstitutional, according to Reuters. “Because these laws clearly impose an impermissible undue burden on a woman’s ability to choose an abortion, they cannot stand,” U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote in his ruling, issuing a permanent injunction. The Kansas abortion case also comes after a U.S. district judge temporarily removed the ban on second trimester abortions in Texas, following other recent blocks on abortion regulations in Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, according to The Associated Press. The Kansas Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case as early as Friday. Follow Grace on Twitter. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2017/11/06/k-state-hate-graffiti-turns-out-to-be-you-guessed-it-a-hoax/

Media Reporter

K-State Hate Graffiti Turns Out To Be — You Guessed It — A Hoax

An Australian graffiti artist works on his mural depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem October 28, 2017. Picture taken October 28, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad Racist graffiti that was painted on a car parked near Kansas State University last week turned out a hoax, and was written by the car’s owner. The words “Go Home Nigger Boy” and “Whites Only” were painted across the back windshield of the car, along with other explicit words. Twenty-one year old Dauntarius Williams, who is African-American, apologized for the prank, according to The Kansas City Star. “I would like to deeply apologize to the community,” Williams said in a statement. The graffiti was meant as a Halloween prank, Williams said. Williams even filed a false police report. “It was just a Halloween prank that got out of hand,” he said. “I wish I could go back to that night but I can’t.” After the car was discovered Wednesday, African-American students led a meeting to discuss possible underlying racism on campus. The FBI also got involved, opening a civil rights investigation. The local police have thanked them for the help. No charges were filed in the case. You can Follow Nick on Twitter and Facebook Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2010/05/20/theres-work-to-be-done-before-november/

There’s work to be done before November

Even though Tuesday’s slate of elections featured far more primaries than actual Republican-vs.-Democrat contests, you could be forgiven for having the impression that Republicans had a terrible night. Despite a variety of factors that made the special election in Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district not particularly useful as a bellwether, it was touted today as proof that Republicans will be unfortunate underachievers in the fall elections. In the end, Tuesday’s election results are complex precisely because they all don’t fit into the neat “left-right,” “red-blue” model that these political narratives are so often forced to fit. Instead, they fall far more in line with a pattern we’ve seen in the polling data for months: Americans don’t trust either party (and by extension, incumbents.) Gallup’s numbers from April were off the charts in terms of dissatisfaction with those currently in Congress; only 28 percent of voters say “most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected,” and fewer than half would re-elect their own member, the low-water mark since 1993. If you’re in power now, you’re seen as part of the problem, and if you’re part of the problem, how can you be part of the solution? The lesson from Tuesday’s elections isn’t that Democrats are going to stun us all in November or that Republicans are doomed. In fact, Republicans had 27 percent of their registered voters turn up at the polls to vote, while only 24 percent of Democrats turned out (Democrats had higher raw turnout only because they have a huge registration advantage.) No, the lesson instead is that people still want change and don’t have confidence in either party to do it. Out with Specter, in with Sestak. Blanche Lincoln is on the ropes in Arkansas. Establishment pick Trey Grayson got trounced by decidedly non-establishment Rand Paul. This is the pattern that interests me from Tuesday.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2017/10/23/professor-examines-feminist-fuzzy-sciences-of-dog-training/

Professor Examines ‘Feminist Fuzzy Sciences’ Of Dog Training

Feminist dog training reveals the importance of “interspecies intersectionalities” that exist between humans and animals, a Kansas State University professor wrote in a 2017 paper. Dr. Harlan Weaver seeks to examine the relationship between humans and animals which allegedly reflect and shape the experiences of gender, race, sexuality, class, nation, species and breed, according to her study “Feminisms, Fuzzy Sciences, and Interspecies Intersectionalities: The Promises and Perils of Contemporary Dog Training.” Weaver’s study tries to trace the history of dog training to examine the divide between dominance and positive reinforcement training practices, published in the Catalyst Journal of feminism, theory and techno science. She seeks to interrogate the ways that relationships between humans and dogs shed light on the differences between concepts like gender, race and sexuality. Using herself as a subject, Weaver says that “my whiteness, queerness, and middle-class status tended to make other humans” think her dog was not dangerous. “Interspecies intersectionalities also highlight how disparities in power and discursive erasures figure in human-animal relationships,” she adds. She posits that feminist ethics align closely to obedience, respect and dominance, and become evident in both dog and trainee. Weaver concludes that thinking through the lens of “interspecies intersectionalities” elucidates a “promising expansion of the feminist fuzzy sciences of dog training,” and adds that feminism shapes these very sciences. Some of Weaver’s other works include, “Pit Bull Promises: Inhuman Intimacies and Queer Kinships in an Animal Shelter,” “Monster Trans: Diffracting Affect, Reading Rage,” and “The Tracks of my Tears: Trans Affects, Resonance, and Pit Bulls and Parolees.” Weaver did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment in time for publication. Follow Grace on Twitter. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

bias

conservapedia.com

2017-11-27

http://www.conservapedia.com/Alister_McGrath

Alister McGrath

From Conservapedia Alister McGrath Alister McGrath (born 23 January 1953) is a Northern Irish biologist and Christian apologist. He is a Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University. He was a previous head of Wycliffe Hall, one of Oxford's religious Permanent Private Halls. McGrath, a former atheist, is one of the world's leading critics of Richard Dawkins. He published a critique of Dawkins' book The God Delusion titled The Dawkins Delusion?. Another book of McGrath's is called The Twilight of Atheism, which chronicles the fluctuation of atheism throughout history. He has also publicly debated Dawkins as well as other well-known atheist intellectuals, including Stephen Law, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens. In 2013, McGrath's biography on the Christian intellectual C.S. Lewis was published.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/09/obama-slams-sharron-angle-in-nevada-crowd-calls-her-a-lunatic/

Obama slams Sharron Angle in Nevada, crowd calls her a ‘lunatic’

If Rand Paul and Joe Barton have been punching bags for Democrats of late, Sharron Angle on Thursday became a pinata. The Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada — a prior unknown and outsider who is going up against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — was pinged all day Thursday by Democratic operatives for calling the $$20 billion escrow account for victims of oil spill in the the Gulf of Mexico a “slush fund.” Angle’s campaign walked her comment back, calling her characterization “incorrect.” But then Thursday evening, President Obama himself pounced on Angle, during remarks to a boisterous fundraising rally in Las Vegas for Reid. Obama mocked the Republican to an unusual degree for a president. Obama mocked Angle for having views that are “even more extreme than the Republicans we got in Washington.” “That’s saying something,” Obama said to repeated laughter. “That is saying something. I mean, she wants to phase out and privatize Social Security and Medicare.” Audience members booed and shouted in response. One person said, “Phase her out.” Another said, “She’s a lunatic.” A third yelled, “Idiot!” Obama referenced Barton, the Texas Republican who apologized to a BP executive at a recent hearing, giving Democrats an opening to paint the GOP as on the side of big oil companies rather than than on the side of those who have been hurt by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Paul, the Kentucky Republican running for Senate, has called Obama’s criticism of BP “un-American.” The president lumped in Angle with Barton, and ridiculed her correction of her “slush fund” statement. “Her campaign puts out a memo saying, ‘Well, she didn’t mean that,'” Obama said to more laughter. “They said there was some ‘confusion.’ And I’m sure she meant ‘slush fund’ in the nicest possible way.” Republicans in Washington did not defend Angle’s “slush fund” comment but did go after Obama’s track record as a campaigner. “Republicans can only hope that President Obama intends to campaign as hard for Harry Reid as he did for Jon Corzine, Creigh Deeds, and Martha Coakley,” said Brian Walsh, with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, referencing Democratic losses for governor in New Jersey and Virginia and for Senate in Massachusetts. And Angle is launching a TV ad Friday aimed squarely at Nevada’s jobs problem, and blaming Reid directly for high unemployment. The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, launched a website Friday labeling Angle as a friend of “big oil.” Walsh, however, noted that Obama has received “more money from BP than any other politician in history.” “Considering that statistic, it’s both laughable and embarrassing that the DNC would attack any Republican on this issue,” Walsh said. Email Jon Ward and follow him on Twitter

fake

coed.com

2017-11-27

https://coed.com/author/gabriellefordham/

Coed Writer, Articles Written, Latest Articles Written

Gabrielle - Fordham

Gabrielle - Fordham Everybody has their own fantasy, their own mood-lighting, their preferred music - when it comes to the sexual encounter, there are infinite ways women get their libido up and running. But apparently, according to an iVillage poll, there's one position that ranks high above the rest - and it's very surprising.

fake

coed.com

2017-11-27

https://coed.com/2010/02/28/77-sexy-suicide-girls/

77 Sexy Suicide Girls

Nowadays, ‘alt porn’ (i.e. naked chicks with tattoos and/or neon-colored hair) is commonplace, a much needed change from the omnipresent blond hair and fake t*ts that have made up the American porn scene for far too long. And it’s all thanks to the punky pornographers at SuicideGirls.com. Of course, there are now tons of copycat Sites, but the lovely ladies of SG will always hold a special place in our pants hearts. So to honor their naughty innovation, we give you 77 Sexy Suicide Girls to feast your eyes upon. (Click thumbnail to view full image)

fake

coed.com

2017-11-27

https://coed.com/coeds/savannah-k-miss-coed/

Savannah K

miss coed March 4th, 2014 Savannah K is a beautiful model currently living in Santa Cruz, CA. She’s always busy with something, whether that’s accounting, nannying, or working at a restaurant but somehow she still finds the time to get all dolled up for the camera. It’s not all work and no play for Savannah, though, as you can often find her chilling out in the yoga studio or relaxing with a cold frat soda in her hands. She’s super chill and we’re happy to have her as a Miss COED. Make sure to follow her on social media after you peep her photos and bio below.

fake

coed.com

2017-11-27

https://coed.com/2012/08/28/sex-and-the-city-for-dudes-video/2701/

Wyatt Is A Gettysburg College Graduate, Nyc Native Who Is Flattered That You'Re Interested About Reading Up On Him.

What Man’s Version of Sex And The City Would Look Like [VIDEO]

I always thought that Entourage was to men as Sex and the City was to women but even that show got to be way too over to top and ridiculous. So the guys from JustJarret got together to show you all what could’ve been. Just like the original show, Sex And The City For Dudes focuses four friends and their quest for one night statnds. Yes, it’s short but that’s reason #34,987 why being a man is better: we get right through all the bullshit. Check out a show remarkably better than it’s original above. Rate this:

bias

conservativepapers.com

2017-11-27

http://conservativepapers.com/news/2014/08/15/yezidis-report-massacre-say-islamic-state-siege-far-from-over-2/

Kal El

Yezidis Report Massacre; Say Islamic State Siege Far From Over

A day after President Obama declared the siege of Mount Sinjar broken and the crisis effectively over, Yezidi leaders say more than 100 of their men were executed Friday afternoon in the village of Kocho, located southeast of Sinjar in northern Iraq. Fighters from the Islamic State took the remaining villagers — women and children — by bus to an unknown location where they will be made sex slaves or used for other purposes, Yezidi leaders told The Daily Signal. On Wednesday, the United States military said a team of 18 Marines and Special Operations soldiers assessed conditions on Mount Sinjar and found most Yezidis had escaped, with the help of Kurdish pesh merga militiamen. Obama said in view of those findings, the humanitarian airlifts, in which the U.S. military dropped more than 114,000 meals and 35,000 gallons of fresh water to Yezidis on Mount Sinjar, would be discontinued, but the airstrikes over Iraq would not. “The bottom line is the situation on the ground has greatly improved and Americans should be proud,” Obama said from Martha’s Vineyard, where he is vacationing. “We do not expect there to be an additional operation to get people off the mountain.” But Yezidis say up to 70,000 people remain on the mountain and those still in the villages face desperate conditions. “Is this mission accomplished?!” a person connected with the Yezidis in Iraq wrote in an email to The Daily Signal. Mirza Ismail, chairman of the Yezidi Human Rights Organization, suggested most of those remaining on Mount Sinjar are stranded on the south side of the mountain, closer to positions held by Islamic State fighters and too dangerous for the American assessment team to access. Ismail, whose wife, parents and 10 siblings were stuck on Mount Sinjar, met with some of the president’s top national security aides at the White House last week before Obama announced American action. Ismail’s family members have made it down the mountain, through Syria, and then to Zakho, Iraq, a Kurdish area near the border with Turkey. His family members are now staying in a makeshift shelter with nowhere to go. “My wife is just one of them,” Ismail said. “She is one of the thousands and thousands of innocent Yezidis. Everybody is my family there. Everybody.” The New York Times reported that Turkey’s crisis response center said it was planning to build refugee camps for the Yezidis in Turkey if necessary and already had begun to build camps on the Iraqi side of the border. Ismail said Yezidis wanting to enter Turkey have to pay smugglers $$2,000 to $$3,000 for a dangerous 10- to 20-minute drive into Turkey from Zakho. In addition, Turkish authorities refuse entry to Iraqi refugees without passports. “They don’t have anything [money],” Ismail said. “They would go [if they could] but they fled their villages in the middle of night [after ISIS attacked them]. They only escaped with their night gown.” Ismail says that the United Nations officials should escort the Yezidis into Turkey. “If you are responsible for world affairs, why don’t you act?” Ismail said. But even if it did, the Yezidis would view Turkey as only a temporary home. Some of the Yezidis want to go to Europe, but most want to return home in peace, Ismail said. “Yezidis don’t want to leave Iraq,” Ismail said. “We have more than 6,000 years of history there. But there is no choice. If we lose, it’s not just us who loses. The West loses too because our heritage will be gone.” VN:F [1.9.22_1171] calculating... Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast) Source material can be found at this site.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/27/time-to-take-sides/

Time to take sides

As a dedicated American Muslim activist, I have devoted my life to advocating for reforms against political Islam – the root cause of Islamist terrorism. To that end, I debated Bilal Kaleem, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Boston (MAS) at an April Ford Hall Forum in Boston. I focused on the threat of Islamism (political Islam and shar’iah) to the west, human rights, and freedom. When confronted, Mr. Kaleem feigned ignorance and dismissed the realities of political Islam staying lockstep with his employers. And why wouldn’t he when a coalition of local faith and political leaders continue to blindly give him and his Islamist associates an ideological pass? Charles Jacobs of Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) recently criticized many state political and faith leaders for their blind embrace of Islamists at the MAS and the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC). Rabbi Eric Gurvis of Newton, along with 70 other rabbis, dismissed the criticism as ‘destructive’. This narrative is all too familiar. Any pointed critique of staunch Islamists is inappropriately labeled ‘anti-Muslim’ or ‘fear-mongering.’ Muslim victimhood is a political tool for partisan faith leaders and politicians. Never mind the fact that many devout Muslims raise the same critique against Islamist. From the inside, many if not most of our mosques in American Islam are suffering deeply from the unopposed hegemony of Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood and toxic foreign petrodollar interests. For exposing this ‘tough love,’ reformists often pay a heavy price. This is not “fear-mongering.” It is reality. Governor Deval Patrick, Rabbi Gurvis, and other leaders should not elevate Islamists like Imam Abdullah Faaruuq and his team. By doing so, they make reformists irrelevant and kill any hope for a battle of ideas. Make no mistake. I encourage Boston leaders to engage Muslim communities. But, engagement should be critical of any Islamist origins and goals. If the Governor and a coalition of rabbis do not have the courage to take on the ideas and foreign entanglements of Islamists, who will? If they cannot recognize that American Muslims are far more diverse than the MAS and ISBCC care to portray, who will? The majority of American Muslims reject Islamist groups. Most American Muslims, like my family, came to the U.S. to leave the suffocating influence of Islamist political parties and their toxic surrogates. But their influencers have followed us here. And we wonder why the reformist Muslim voices appear so silent? Political correctness has made many blind. Muslims are not monolithic. The strong ‘horse’ of wealthy political Islam actually represents a minority of Muslims. Many American Muslims prefer more humble domestically funded American mosques and Muslim institutions based in the spiritual rather than a political transnational movement.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/31/conservative-pac-wants-money-back-from-scott-brown/

Conservative PAC wants money back from Scott Brown

The National Republican Trust spent nearly $$100,000 last year to help Scott Brown win the U.S. Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, but now the conservative political group wishes it had that money back to help kick Mr. Brown out of office. Saying the Republican senator is no different from a Democrat, the head of the group is calling for Mr. Brown to donate to charity or disgorge campaign money equal to how much the trust spent supporting him during the 2010 campaign. The trust’s executive director, Scott Wheeler, said supporters knew Mr. Brown wasn’t going to be a die-hard conservative when they supported him early and often in his run against Martha Coakley, the Democratic state attorney general and once heavy favorite to succeed Mr. Kennedy. Full Story: Seeing red, PAC is down on Scott Brown – Washington Times

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/31/coakley-draws-a-blank-gubernatorial-hopeful-doesnt-know-what-the-state-gas-tax-is-video/

Coakley Draws A Blank: Gubernatorial Hopeful Doesn’t Know What The State Gas Tax Is [VIDEO]

Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley fumbled a very simple question by a WCVB reporter; “What is the current Massachusetts gas tax?” Coakley was confused, asking “The percentage on the…?” “How many cents per gallon?” the reporter explained. “Uh, 10 cents?” she asked. “Uh, 24 cents a gallon, up from 21. Next January it will rise again based on the inflationary indexing,” the reporter corrected. WATCH: Outgoing Governor Deval Patrick signed a law in 2013 raising the state’s gasoline tax from 21 cents per gallon to 24 cents, then pegging future gas taxes to inflation. On the ballot Tuesday is an initiative, Question 1, to repeal the indexing. Indexing gas taxes to inflation would allow for future increases in the tax without the state legislature having to approve them.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/19/mortgage-the-future/

Mortgage the future

In this photo taken July 15, 2011, in Springfield, Ill., an existing home for sale, is shown. Fewer people bought previously occupied homes for the third time in four months. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman) Labor Day or bust! If the country’s major banks don’t reach an agreement with the 50 state attorneys general and federal regulators in the next few weeks, a global agreement to settle the widespread foreclosure fiasco is likely going to be sunk for good, sources told The Post. “There just comes a time when some attorneys general have to make a decision whether they’re in or they’re out,” said one source. Not even a deal that involves the vast majority of states — but excludes hardliner holdouts like New York AG Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley — is likely to pass muster. Full story: Mortgage the future – NYPOST.com.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/17/sarah-palin-i-am-considering-run-in-2012/

Sarah Palin: ‘I am’ considering run in 2012

Andrew Davis, [the ex-governor’s] adviser, saw the Palins off, and I met him for coffee later that morning in Midtown Manhattan. Davis is a personable and quick-witted 33-year-old Massachusetts native who was a deputy campaign manager for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in 2004 and later an opposition researcher for the Republican National Committee before working with Palin at the close of the 2008 campaign. He’s nonetheless low-profile in the extreme, like all of Palin’s senior associates. (The New York Times Magazine’s photo editors had been trying to find an image of Davis; he assured me that they would not succeed.) Davis and his colleagues recognize that the issue of trust informs Sarah Palin’s every dealing with the world beyond Wasilla since her circular-firing-squad experience at the close of the 2008 presidential campaign. Her inner circle shuns the media and would speak to me only after Palin authorized it, a process that took months. They are content to labor in a world without hierarchy or even job descriptions — “None of us has titles,” Davis said — and where the adhesive is a personal devotion to Palin rather than the furtherance of her political career. Davis’s main task this year had been serving as Palin’s point man throughout the endorsement process. He was now tallying her midterm scorecard, which at the time was 50 wins and 32 losses (with 8 not yet decided), including victories by 14 so-called mama grizzly Republican candidates. Some of Palin’s picks were early, bold and pivotal, as in the case of Nikki Haley, who is now South Carolina’s governor-elect. Other picks — like those for Tim Scott (South Carolina’s first Republican African-American congressman in more than a century) and Marco Rubio (the incoming senator from Florida and a rising G.O.P. star on par with Palin) — came too late to be consequential except, perhaps, to her own ambitions. Palin also raised more than $$10 million for Republican candidates and committees — including the Republican National Committee, which plastered her image on the center of its Web page at the close of the election cycle. Having crawled from the wreckage of the 2008 presidential campaign and her much-derided resignation as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin had emerged as arguably the most captivating and influential Republican in America — and therefore a viable contender for the presidential nomination in 2012. So I asked her political adviser whether there would be a summoning of the troops in the coming days to discuss what the next moves will be. Davis laughed and replied, “That’s not going to happen.” Each of them, he said, would simply be doing the work that was in front of them that day, the way things always operated in Palin World. I brought up an ABC News/Washington Post poll taken three weeks before, which concluded that Palin’s favorability rating among registered voters stood at 39 percent, while 54 percent viewed her unfavorably and a whopping 67 percent saw her as unqualified to be president. “On a staff level, we all think about ways we can improve her numbers,” Davis said. “It’s politics — that’s our job.” But, I pressed, had he discussed the subject with her? “I’m not going to sit around and ask her, ‘What do you think of your approval rating?’ ” Davis said. “I’m just not.” Then he added, “Maybe the family’s talked about it.” “I am,” Sarah Palin told me the next day when I asked her if she was already weighing a run for president. “I’m engaged in the internal deliberations candidly, and having that discussion with my family, because my family is the most important consideration here.” Palin went on to say that there weren’t meaningful differences in policy among the field of G.O.P. hopefuls “but that in fact there’s more to the presidency than that” and that her decision would involve evaluating whether she could bring unique qualities to the table. Full story: Inside Sarah Palin’s Inner Circle – NYTimes.com

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/05/martha-coakley-loses-again/

Managing Editor

Martha Coakley Loses Again

Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate Martha Coakley concedes defeat to Republican Senator-elect Scott Brown in the special election to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy in Boston, Massachusetts January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR294FE Republican Charlie Baker will be the next governor of Massachusetts, defeating Democratic Attorney Martha Coakely– her second high-profile defeat. Coakley famously blew a 30-point lead to lose a special election for U.S. Senate to Republican Scott Brown. During that race, she was frequently criticized for being disengaged and acting as if she was entitled to win based on her party affiliation. Brown, by contrast, emphasized that it was the “people’s seat.” There were fewer gaffes in Coakley’s gubernatorial campaign. She misstated the state’s gas tax as being only 10 cents a gallon (it’s actually 24 cents). Her state-issued car was seen parked in a tow zone during political fundraisers. This time around, she didn’t take a vacation during the peak of the campaign or call any fabled Red Sox pitchers “Yankees fans.” But Coakley still struggled to keep the Democratic base enthusiastic. The Boston Globe endorsed Baker, their first endorsement for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in 20 years. The pattern from Coakley’s failed Senate campaign began to repeat itself: a polling lead of as much as 29 points turned into a deficit of as many nine. (RELATED: Martha Coakley Is A Very Bad Politician) Baker, a health care executive and former official in two Republican gubernatorial administrations, followed a timeworn path to GOP success in Massachusetts. He ran as an anti-tax-hike fiscal conservative but strong social liberal, with ads featuring his gay brother and having his daughter talk up his pro-choice bona fides. But he had his own past brush with defeat. Baker was the Republican nominee for governor in 2010 and he lost by six points. While not a terrible performance for a Republican by Massachusetts standards — he exceeded 40 percent of the vote and held incumbent Gov. Deval Patrick to less than 50 percent — Patrick had been considered vulnerable and the race was never truly competitive. Baker ran a much less formal campaign this time around, and capitalized on independents’ discontent with one-party rule on Beacon Hill. Unaffiliated voters now outnumber Democrats in the commonwealth. After the last Democratic governor, Michael Dukakis, it took 16 years for Massachusetts to elect another. Baker’s win means it will be another four years at least. Follow Jim on Twitter

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/27/massachusetts-senate-candidate-used-pro-kkk-case-to-convict-gun-owner/

Massachusetts Gubernatorial Candidate Used Pro-KKK Case To Convict Gun Owner

By Mike Sweeney, Gun Owners Action League Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has aspired to higher office in Massachusetts for years. Scott Brown defeated her and the “machine” in a closely contested U.S. Senate race in 2010 but that didn’t deter her, she’s back again, this time running for Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If ever there were a candidate that illustrates blind faith voting, Martha would be it. The brand name Democrats including Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren have been in state, rallying the troops to “pull the D” on November 4th, because… “progressive.” As a gun owner and proponent of Second Amendment freedom I have never had any love for Martha. During her tenure as A.G. she always looked the other way when licensed gun owners were enduring abuse of their rights at the hands of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has never offered any relief from the backdoor ban on common use handguns imposed by her predecessor. To make matters worse, she also prosecuted gun owners for things like storage violations, ensuring that they lost their Second Amendment rights in Massachusetts because they didn’t lock up a firearm correctly. One such case, which was prosecuted in 2010 before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clearly illustrates candidate Coakley’s character. The case known as Commonwealth v. Runyan involved a questionably legal search of a gun owners home in which police found firearms not locked up to the states standard of the law. The case had been dismissed in lower court on the grounds of the Heller decision giving the homeowner the right to have a firearm in the home. Of course, A. G. Coakley appealed and the case moved onto State Supreme Court. During the trial prep and arguments before the State Supreme Court A.G. Coakley showed her true colors. On numerous occasions she cited as the states defense the Supreme Court’s Cruikshank Decision of 1875. Cruikshank is a case renowned as one of the most racist, anti-civil rights cases ever handed. For those unfamiliar with Cruikshank, it regards a massacre at the Colfax Court House where approximately one hundred fifty people guarding the premises, mostly freed black men, were disarmed and murdered by a white mob comprised of members of the KKK and other white supremacy groups of the time. The decision absolved the murderers of guilt. It set the civil rights movement back for decades. Coakley seized upon this horrid decision to argue her side before the State Supreme court and cited it to convince the court to disregard Heller. She won and Runyan was sentenced. A good man was now a criminal because he didn’t lock up his guns according to the laws of Massachusetts. Most disturbing of all though was Attorney General Coakley choosing to side with a pro KKK, anti-civil rights Supreme Court decision in order to pursue her and the states agenda. The Massachusetts State Second Amendment rights group, Gun Owners’ Action League covered this in detail at the time of the decision, but it was widely ignored by the media, just another detail to overlook in the path of destruction left by A.G. Coakley and ignored by progressives like Clinton and Warren. —– Mike Sweeney writes for the Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts – click here to visit their site. —–

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/09/massachusetts-obamacare-exchange-to-ask-feds-for-another-121-million-for-website-re-do/

Massachusetts Obamacare Exchange To Ask Feds For Another $$121 Million For Website Re-do

U.S. President Barack Obama greets audience members after speaking about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts October 30, 2013. In 2006 in Faneuil Hall, then Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney signed a law mandating health insurance for most of the state's residents. REUTERS/Brian Snyder The Massachusetts Obamacare exchange board has approved a plan to scrap the formerly operable Romneycare exchange entirely and ask the federal government for another $$121 million to pay for a brand new software system. Exchange officials still aren’t sure whether the new system will be up and running by the fall — a valid worry given their inability even to shift its formerly operable Romneycare exchange into a working Obamacare website. They’ll also spend the next several months preparing a shift to HealthCare.gov for the next open enrollment period in case the new website isn’t working in time. Insurers are unenthusiastic about the plan. Eric Linzer of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans warned at a board meeting Thursday that some health care plans may be forced to leave the exchange entirely due to the complex nature of the exchange’s new plan. “We cannot overstate the complexity and technical issues that come with having to develop two separate systems,” Linzer wrote to exchange board members. All Massachusetts insurers, not just the exchange itself, will have to set up systems for a successful state-run marketplace in the fall and for one run out of HealthCare.gov. Linzer suggested that the state’s Obamacare customers could have options limited and prices hiked if Massachusetts insists on preparing for both possibilities. Insurers preferred that the state forgo the option to join the federal system entirely, and state officials agree. Attorney General Martha Coakley, a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for governor, came out against the option to join HealthCare.gov on Wednesday, as did Republican nominee Charlie Baker. Both pointed to the state’s proven ability to run a successful exchange under Romneycare, despite its recent failures with the national health care law. But the hefty price tag for the state’s re-do proposal may cause others pause. The $$121 million request would be in addition to $$180 million that the federal Department of Health and Human Services has already spent on the Massachusetts exchange, according to a Thursday report. (RELATED: State That Opposed Obamacare Spent The Least Per Person On Enrollment) That puts Massachusetts’ total federal spending per person signed up for coverage at $$5,681 — the third highest in the nation. Massachusetts is planning on purchasing software for its new state-run website from hCentive, a Virginia company which also built New York’s, Kentucky’s and Colorado’s Obamacare exchanges. Follow Sarah on Twitter Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected] dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

bias

conservativepapers.com

2017-11-27

http://conservativepapers.com/news/2013/11/16/why-the-fear-of-american-exceptionalism/

Kal El

Why the Fear of American Exceptionalism?

Talk of American exceptionalism enrages some liberals. For example, it drove Oliver Stone and American University professor Peter Kuznick to pen a USA Today commentary saying Washington should have a wall with “the names of all the Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, and others who died [in the Vietnam War].” That, they said, would be “a fitting memorial to all the victims of ‘American exceptionalism’ a perfect tombstone for that most dangerous of American myths.” New America Foundation’s Michael Lind, in a 2011 piece titled “The Case Against ‘American Exceptionalism,’” dismissed the idea as “amusing, if it were not so dangerous.” American“exceptionalists,” he argued, are know-nothing boastful boobs “not allowed to peep beyond [their] borders, to learn from the successes and mistakes of people in other countries.” They “thump” The Federalist Papers as if it were the Bible, trying to “deduce what Hamilton, Madison and Jay might have said about physician reimbursement rates.” Oh my. Stuff that straw man before you knock it down, Mr. Lind. Mr. Lind and Mr. Stone miss the point completely. American exceptionalism is not about nostalgic yahoos railing against “furriners.” Thomas Jefferson staunchly believed that Americans had an exceptional destiny. His entire worldview was informed by European philosophy. He took ideas from Swiss natural law philosopher Emmerich de Vattel to write the Declaration of Independence, and he was a great admirer of the French philosopher Voltaire. Is Jefferson a know-nothing rube for believing in American exceptionalism? Those who believe in American exceptionalism don’t reject foreigners. They recognize what’s unique about our history: a distinctive confluence of culture, government and economy, and an ethos of personal responsibility that tamed the economy’s wild horses and tempered the potentially anarchic tendencies of free people. These, not government action, gave rise to the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. Some may think this country is better than others, but that’s not the central claim of American exceptionalism. It’s that our differences, especially from Europe, account for our successes. Each time an immigrant comes here to live the American dream, it confirms this truth. Immigrants believe America is positively different from countries they left behind, even if American intellectuals don’t. It also is confirmed by the unique role America has played since World War II. It carried most of the military burden for the alliance of free nations that contained the Soviet Union. Our allies trusted America because they knew it was different from other powers victorious in war: It was a liberator, not a conqueror. If that’s not an exceptional story, I don’t know what is. Were these just the feverish imaginings of a few intellectuals, there would be no need to worry. But the campaign against traditional Americanism has entered the ranks of the U.S. military. The journal Military Review recently ran an article by three retired senior military officers calling the idea of American exceptionalism racist. They likened it to the “psychological processes” of anti-Semitism, for good measure. What accounts for this venom? Progressives have been waging intellectual war on American constitutionalism for more than a century. Woodrow Wilson preferred German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who inspired Karl Marx, to Jefferson and Madison. In this respect, there’s nothing new under the sun. There’s also a bit of projecting their own arrogance onto their opponents. But a deeper anxiety is at play. Despite attempts to blame every problem on the tea party, American liberals sense something’s not quite right with their project. The welfare state in Europe is failing. And while they are winning many elections in America, the nation’s skyrocketing debt doesn’t bode well. At some point, the party of spending ever more money to cover the cascading crises will end. When that day comes, Americans will turn the other way. For intellectuals steeped in self-hatred of America, this is a frightening prospect. It means not only conceding the argument. Even more painfully, it means acknowledging that the rubes may be smarter than they think. Originally appeared in The Washington Times VN:F [1.9.22_1171] calculating... Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast) Source material can be found at this site.

bias

conservapedia.com

2017-11-27

http://www.conservapedia.com/Critical_thinking

Critical thinking

From Conservapedia Critical thinking is an approach to gathering data and making inferences about the world. It draws heavily on ideas from the scientific revolution and advocates an approach of data acquisition and rational assessment. When applying critical thinking, the goal is to collect as much relevant data as possible, assess that data for accuracy, and finally use the data to arrive at the most justified conclusions possible. Critical thinking is an ongoing process, and even ideas that one feels are well supported need to be occasionally reevaluated to see if new information might change one's mind. For example, critical thinking eventually showed that Copernicus was correct in claiming that the Sun was the center of the solar system, even though many people believed this to be false at the time. However, this didn't make him completely correct either, since more critical thinking showed that he was wrong on other things (he also thought that the Sun was the center of the universe). Critical thinking uses many aspects of formal logic and informal logic. It also focuses on discovering bias, propaganda, delusion and deception (more generally, logical fallacies) both in the sources of one's information and one's own views and approaches to reasoning problems out. Teachers often cite learning critical thinking as one of the most important goals of getting an education. See also Recommended books The Thinker's Way by John Chaffee, Ph.D, 1998, Publisher: Little Brown and Company ISBN 978-0-316-13317-3 Websites: Videos:

bias

conservapedia.com

2017-11-27

http://www.conservapedia.com/Irreligious_Britain_and_low_social_mobility

Irreligious Britain and low social mobility

From Conservapedia The Guardian reported in 2012, "Britain has some of the lowest social mobility in the developed world - the OECD figures show our earnings in the UK are more likely to reflect our fathers' than any other country."[1] reported in 2012, "Britain has some of the lowest social mobility in the developed world - the OECD figures show our earnings in the UK are more likely to reflect our fathers' than any other country." A Eurobarometer poll in 2010 reported that 37% of UK citizens "believed there is a God", 33% believe there is "some sort of spirit or life force" and 25% answered "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force".[2] See also: British atheism In recent years, various members of Britain's atheists/agnostics, most notably Richard Dawkins (In addition, the late Christopher Hitchens was born in Britain and emigrated to the United States in 1981), have engaged in aggressive atheism evangelism efforts. See: New Atheism The Daily Mail reported about Britain's influential broadcaster the BBC: “ The BBC employs more atheists and non-believers than Christians, an internal ‘diversity’ survey has found. The new research has been seized on by critics who accuse the Corporation of bias against Christianity and marginalising the faith in its output. The survey found that just 22.5 per cent of all staff professed to be Christians.[3] ” The Guardian reported in 2012, "Britain has some of the lowest social mobility in the developed world - the OECD figures show our earnings in the UK are more likely to reflect our fathers' than any other country."[4] Richard Dawkins' family fortune and the slave trade See also: Richard Dawkins' family fortune and the slave trade Daily Mail reported that [5] On February 20, 2012, the British newspaper thereported that Richard Dawkins ' family fortune came from the slave trade". Richard Dawkins is one of the principle founders of the New Atheism movement. He is also a British citizen. On February 20, 2012, the British newspaper the Daily Mail reported that Richard Dawkins' "family fortune came from the slave trade".[6] On February 19, 2012, The Daily Telegraph reported that Dawkins is being called to make reparations for his family's past.[7] The atheist philosopher John Gray says of Dawkins' time spent in Kenya: "Unlike the best of the colonial administrators, some of whom were deeply versed in the languages and histories of the peoples they ruled, Dawkins displays no interest in the cultures of the African countries where he lived as a boy. It is the obedient devotion of those who served his family that has remained in his memory."[8] Two atheist nonprofit scandals which recently received some publicity were the organizations Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and the We Are Atheism organization.[9][10][11][12] See: Atheist nonprofit scandals The African-American author and political columnist Thomas Sowell wrote: “ While slavery was common to all civilizations, as well as to peoples considered uncivilized, only one civilization developed a moral revulsion against it, very late in hits history…not even the leading moralists in other civilizations rejected slavery at all…. Moreover, within Western civilization, the principle impetus for the abolition of slavery came first from very conservative religious activists – people who would today be called ‘the religious right.’…this story is not ‘politically correct’ in today’s terms. Hence it is ignored, as if it never happened.”[13] ” See also: Atheism and forced labor and William Wilberforce Atheism, leftism, social justice/progressive values and hypocrisy See also: Atheism and social justice and Atheist hypocrisy Historically, the secular left has been dominant within the atheist community (see: Atheism and politics). Progressive values according to leading progressive websites According to leading progressive/leftists websites, progressive values include: freedom; opportunity; responsibility; cooperation/community; caring and responsibility, carried out with strength; protection/fairness; honesty and open communication.[14][15] These practices are often seen as being conducive to social justice. Atheism and lack of cooperation/community The atheist population lacks cooperation/community, is known for engaging in bitter quarrels and is deeply divided (see: Atheist factions and Atheist movement). It also has significant racial/gender issues (see: Western atheism and race and Atheism and women). Furthermore, atheistic countries often have significant problems with loneliness (See: Atheism and loneliness). Atheism and lack of empathy [16] African children who received Manna Packs of rice from the Christian relief organization Feed My Starving Children. The Barna Group found that even when church-based giving is subtracted from the equation, active-faith adults donated twice as many dollars last year as did atheists and agnostics. As far as the progressive values of caring/protection and atheists, a comprehensive study by Harvard University professor Robert Putnam found that religious people are more charitable than their irreligious counterparts.[17][18] In 2007 the Baptist Press reported: “ ...a pollster at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, found that adults who profess a belief in God are significantly more likely than atheists to say that forgiveness, patience, generosity and a concern for others are "very important." In fact, the poll found that on 11 of 12 values, there was a double-digit gap between theists and atheists, with theists more likely to label each value "very important." The survey by sociologist and pollster Reginald Bibby examined the beliefs of 1,600 Canadians, 82 percent who said they believed in "God or a higher power" and 18 percent who said they did not.[19] ” See also: Atheism and uncharitableness From a metaphysical, moral and spiritual perspective, atheists have an inability to satisfactorily explain the existence of love.[20][21] See also: Atheism and love and Atheism and social justice Britain and the history of social Darwinism See also: Britain and the history of social Darwinism Social Darwinism is a belief, popular in the late Victorian era in England, America, and elsewhere, which states that the strongest or fittest should survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die. The theory was chiefly expounded by the English philosopher Herbert Spencer, whose ethical philosophies always held an elitist view and received a boost from the application of Darwinian ideas such as adaptation and natural selection.[22] Its leading proponents have opined atheism/agnosticism.[23][24][25] Beginning in 1887, social scientists were using the term "social Darwinism" to apply the survival of the fittest theory to social situations. Under this theory, the wealthiest or most powerful in society must be biologically superior, and less "fit" persons should die. Proponents of a particular form of social Darwinism, such as Herbert Spencer, taught that the powerful and wealthy were this way because they were genetically, biologically and evolutionally superior to the struggling inferior masses. They believed that society should do nothing to help improve the lot of working and living conditions of the lesser evolved masses. In the view of these social darwinists, charity is evil because it helps sustain the lives of those who otherwise would and should die via the natural selection process. In short, the weak were to do their duty and die while the fittest survived, which would one day lead to an evolutionarily super society and race.[26] Soon many began to view racial struggles, and war itself, as a perfectly natural example of survival-of-the-fittest in the human race. The horrific wars of the 20th century, employing shockingly brutal tactics, were encouraged by a belief in survival-of-the-fittest among humans. While social Darwinism itself was applied to social and economic situations rather than military ones, it is easy how extreme versions of social Darwinism could justify physical struggles among races. Social Darwinism has been linked with racism, nationalism and imperialism. See also

bias

conservapedia.com

2017-11-27

http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism_and_critical_thinking

Atheism and critical thinking

From Conservapedia Tony Wichowsk of the Christian Apologetics Alliance wrote: “ ,,,I have encountered numerous atheists and other critics of Christianity who by all accounts have stopped thinking critically themselves. The common perception among them is that by being critical of religion (particularly Christianity in the west), they are exercising critical thinking. However, critical thinking implies not only questioning authority and commonly held views, but your own views as well. Critical thinking has often been popularly described as “thinking about thinking.” Stephen Brookfield is an award winning expert on education and teaching critical thinking skills. Below is his definition of what critical thinking really is. "Critical thinking describes the process we use to uncover and check our assumptions. First we need to find out what our assumptions are. We may know some of these already (these we call explicit assumptions) but others we are unaware of (implicit assumptions)…. Once we know what our assumptions are, we enter the second phase of critical thinking, that of research. We try to check out our assumptions to make sure they are accurate and valid… The William Lane Craig – Stephen Brookfield Developing critical thinkers: Challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting. (1987, Page 9) If an atheist wants to be a good critical thinker, and not simply a cynic, I would recommend that he or she would do as Brookfield suggests, and check their assumptions. This might entail opening a book by an apologist that they do not like, such as William Lane Craig or a conservative text critic like Daniel B Wallace, and be open minded that they might have some things right. Checking multiple sources that disagree with each-other and weighing the evidence in your mind is sometimes tedious, but in the end it is worth it.[1] ” The fallacy of exclusion is a logical fallacy where "Important evidence which would undermine an inductive argument is excluded from consideration. The requirement that all relevant information be included is called the 'principle of total evidence'.".[2] Atheists avoiding and ignoring the many legitimate arguments against atheism and for theism are engaging in fallacious reasoning (see also: Rebuttals to atheist arguments). Atheism, commonly held beliefs by atheists and lack of critical thinking See also: Atheist worldview and Atheism and beliefs Atheism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and other philosophy reference works, is the denial of the existence of God (See also: Definition of atheism).[3] Inductive reasoning does not lead to atheism as there is no proof and evidence that God does not exist (see also: Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism). On the other hand, even in atheistic Japan, researchers found that Japanese children see the world as designed.[5] The physicist Stephen Barr points out, “How ironic that, having renounced belief in God because God is not material or observable by sense or instrument, the atheist may be driven to postulate not one but an infinitude of unobservables in the material world itself.” See also: Multiverse and Dark matter and Dark energy Although many atheists deny that atheism is a worldview, atheists commonly share a number of beliefs such as naturalism, belief in evolution and abiogenesis.[6] Since World War II a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the evolutionary position which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists and agnostics.[7] In 2012, the science news website Livescience.com published an article entitled Belief in Evolution Boils Down to a Gut Feeling which indicated that research suggests that gut feelings trumps facts when it comes to evolutionists believing in evolution.[8] In response to evolutionary indoctrination and the uncritical acceptance of evolution by many evolutionists, the scientists at the organization Creation Ministries International created a Question evolution! campaign which poses 15 questions for evolutionists. In addition, leading creationist organizations have created lists of poor arguments that evolutionists should not use.[9] Hundreds of creation vs. evolution debates have occurred at colleges/universities and other venues since the 1970s. In the vast majority of cases, evolutionists fared badly in these debates and evolutionists have admitted that the audiences almost always deem that the creationists won these debates (see: Creation vs. evolution debates). Evolutionists no longer widely debate creationists. Evolutionists and atheists inconsistency concerning debating creationists was commented on by the Christian apologetic website True Free Thinker which declared: "Interestingly enough, having noted that since some atheists refuse to debate “creationists” but then go on to debate some of those people but not others, it is clear that they are, in reality, being selective and making excuses for absconding from difficulties..."[10] In an article entitled Are Kansas Evolutionists Afraid of a Fair Debate? the Discovery Institute states the following: “ Defenders of Darwin's theory of evolution typically proclaim that evidence for their theory is simply overwhelming. If they really believe that, you would think they would jump at a chance to publicly explain some of that overwhelming evidence to the public. Apparently not.[11] ” Dr. J.P. Moreland points out that naturalism is self-refuting and irrational (see also: Atheism and irrationality): For more information, see: Other attributes of the atheist worldview Atheism vs. theism: Gathering and analyzing relevant information See also: Atheist indoctrination In order to engage in critical thinking, one must gather and analyze information relevant to the issue at hand. Many atheists are unfamiliar with the evidence and arguments against atheism and the evidence and arguments for theism/Christianity (See: Rebuttals to atheist arguments and Evidence for Christianity and Arguments for the existence of God).[12] The columnist Dennis Prager wrote that a causal factor of atheism is the "secular indoctrination of a generation."[12] Prager stated that "From elementary school through graduate school, only one way of looking at the world – the secular – is presented. The typical individual in the Western world receives as secular an indoctrination as the typical European received a religious one in the Middle Ages."[12] Atheism and logic See also: Atheism and logic and Atheism and irrationality A common and legitimate criticism of the atheist worldview is that atheism is irrational (See: Atheism and irrationality and Atheism and logic).[13] In addition, many popular atheistic arguments and methods of argumentation employ the use of logical fallacies (see: Atheism and logical fallacies). Atheism, scientism and irrationality Scientism is the belief that the scientific method has no (or few) limits and can successfully be applied to almost all aspects of life, and provides an explanation for everything. Many atheists, particularly new atheists/militant atheists, adhere to scientism.[14][15][16] Strict scientism as a worldview is self-refuting since scientism cannot be proven to be true through science.[17] For other significant problems with scientism as far as its unworkability, please see William Lane Craig's commentary on scientism entitled Is scientism self-refuting. According to Discovery Institute scientism is an effort to use the methods of science to explain and control every part of human life, in other words, the misguided effort to apply science to areas outside its proper bounds.[18] C.S. Lewis was sceptical and highly critical of scientism as an ideology which in his view was confused with science and which tried to reduce everything that we can learn scientifically to materialistic blind undirected causes.[19] He argued that scientism has the dehumanizing impact on ethics, politics, faith, reason, and science itself.[18] Atheistic response to contemporary material in the philosophy of religion See also: Rebuttals to atheist arguments Ideologues who engage in uncritical thinking often are unaware of opposing arguments and actively avoid intellectually engaging with their opponents arguments. In 1990, the atheist philosopher Michael Martin indicated there was a general absence of an atheistic response to contemporary work in the philosophy of religion and in jest he indicated that it was his "cross to bear" to respond to theistic arguments.[21] Yet, in 1994, Michael Martin was criticized for his eleventh hour cancellation of his debate with Greg Bahnsen (see: Greg Bahnsen and debate and Bahnson-Martin debate press release).[22][23] Atheism, debates and critical thinking See also: Atheism debates Well-structured debates have cross-examination by the participants which often can stimulate critical thinking by participants and audience members. And many debates have an audience questioning period where audience members pose questions to the debaters. Generally speaking, atheists are often unprepared to address their opponents arguments and do poorly in debates (see: Atheism and debate). In addition, there have been notable cases of prominent atheists dodging debate offers (see: Atheism and cowardice). At the atheist blog Common Sense Atheism, the atheist Luke Muehlhauser said of the William Laen Craig vs. Doug Jesseph debate: "A very typical debate in which Craig’s opponent is not prepared for Craig’s skill, speed, or organization, and things just get worse for Jesseph as things go along and he falls further and further behind."[24] Thinking, especially critical thinking, requires mental effort and many atheistic cultures have are experiencing decline related to sloth (See: Atheism and sloth). Other times unpreparedness in intellectual matters is due to fear and avoidance and its attendant procrastination (see: Atheism and cowardice and Atheism and emotional intelligence). Atheism, postmodernism and a lack of critical thinking See also: Atheism and postmodernism Postmodernism is an antichristian,[25] far-left, 20th century worldview and academic movement characterized by denial of objective truth, and which asserts that assertions of objective knowledge are essentially impossible. The Christian apologist Norman Geisler wrote about postmodernism: "In short, the root of Post-modernism is atheism and the fruit of it is relativism — relativism in every area of life and thought."[26] Furthermore, Jeff Myers and David A. Noebel note in their book Understanding the Times: A Survey of Competing Worldviews that "The British Broadcasting Corporation actually lists postmodernism as a subset of atheism."[27] As far as schools of atheist thought, there are atheists who subscribe to modernism and atheists who subscribe to postmodernism (See: Atheism and postmodernism).[28] Atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Steven Novella, are critical of postmodernism.[29][30] See also: Atheist factions Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, C.S. Lewis Institute, wrote: “ Many postmodern contentions are self-refuting. An ancient example of this was the Greek philosopher Gorgius, who maintained that “All statements are false.” The problem is that if the statement that “All statements are false” is true, then it is false. Similarly, postmodernism maintains that it is (objectively) true to say that there are no objective truths. It uses reason to deny the validity of reason. If the statement, “all perspectives on reality are culturally determined” is true, then is this statement itself also culturally determined? If all metanarratives are suspect because they lead to oppression, then can it not be equally maintained that postmodernism is itself a metanarrative and equally suspect? If all knowledge claims are a grab for power, then are not postmodernism’s contentions equally motivated by a will-to-power?[31] ” The Christian apologetics website All About Worldview declares: “ Postmodern theology begins with a soft form of atheism. Atheism is the theological belief that there is no God, no supernatural Creator, no Divine moral lawgiver, and no ultimate Judge of man’s actions. It is the theological backbone of not only Secular Humanism and Marxism, but it is also the predominant theological view of classical Postmodernism. Although more subtle in some ways than their fellow atheists, Postmodernists have their theological underpinnings in atheism. Kevin J. Vanhoozer says, “Postmodernists agree with Nietzsche that ‘God’—which is to say, the supreme being of classical theism—has become unbelievable, as have the autonomous self and the meaning of history.”... Michel Foucault Postmodern theology stretches from militant atheism to village atheist. All the major Postmodern writers were atheists, including Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard, Bataille, Barthes, Baudrillard, Macherey, Deleuze, Guattari, and Lacan. Charlotte Allen noted that Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, “and their [followers]...were all militant atheists, with all the intolerance and totalitarian tendencies of that breed.”[32] ” The Christian educational website Beyond Teachable Moments indicates about the secular educational system: “ The ability to think critically is a rare skill these days. Our educational systems are no longer designed to teach this kind of thinking. Children often are taught to memorize facts, rather than to articulate and defend a position. Even if they are encouraged to articulate and defend a position, no one is allowed to win the argument. Everyone is supposed to wind up being ‘right’. No one is permitted to be wrong if they truly believe their position on a topic. No one position is considered absolutely wrong for everyone, all the time. This is particularly the case when religion is the topic. We’re just so friendly and tolerant of each other. But the problem is, we can’t all be right. For example, the Christian and the atheist have mutually exclusive claims. Either God does exist, or He doesn’t. He doesn’t exist for one person and not the other.[33] ” Jacques Derrida, self-identification as an atheist and the law of noncontradiction The prominent postmodernist Jacques Derrida famously said he "I quite rightly pass for an atheist".[34][35] The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion commenting on this matter of Derrida being an atheist or non-atheist declared: “ When questioned about this turn of phrase in an interview conducted in 2000 with Mark Dooley, who asked, "Why do you say in Circumfession that you 'rightly pass for an atheist', instead of simply stating that you are an atheist?". Derrida replied: I am being ironic. Firstly, I prefer to say what they say... So I feel free because I am not saying this. It is, however, not that simple. For I am more than one. I am the atheist they think I am. which is why I say that I 'rightly" pass for an atheist, but I also approve of those who say the exact opposite. Who is right? I don't know. I don't know whether or not I am or not. Caputo (2003c: 43) commenting on this response explains that Derrida does qualify as an atheist - by the standards, say of the local pastor, of the Pope or Jerry Falwell. But given Derrida's rejection of the unity of the self ('I am more than one'), Derrida does not believe that we can ever achieve the kind of self-identity and self-transparency required by a religious credo, where we proclaim 'I believe....". Given, further, his commitment to deconstruction and hence to the undecidability of the theist/atheist opposition, Derrida refuses to categorise himself as an atheist (or a theist). It is not, therefore, a matter of being confused about what one but of refusing the very parameters within which the question (Are you an atheist?) is set.[34] ” In his New York Times article Deconstructing God, Gary Cutting writes: “ I can see that there are influences of Judaism, Augustinian Christianity and enlightenment atheism in Derrida. But isn’t this just a matter of his detaching certain religious ideas from their theistic core? He talks of a messiah — but one that never comes; he’s interested in the idea of confessing your sins — but there’s no one to forgive them. After all the deconstructive talk, the law of noncontradiction still holds: Derrida is either an atheist or he isn’t. It seems that the only reasonable answer is that he’s an atheist.[35] ” The law of noncontradiction is a rule of logic, it means that if something is true, its opposite is false, an example of this is if a red car is parked outside a building, it is not true that at the same time and in the same sense, a red car is not parked outside the building. Aristotle stated it in this way, that "The most certain opinion of all" was "that opposed statements cannot be at the same time true." [36] Atheism, arrogance and uncritical thinking See also: Atheism and arrogance and Atheism and narcissism and Atheism and intolerance Uncritical thinking is often a result of arrogance, self-centeredness, self-deception and poor character development. Self-satisfied know-it-alls frequently do poor research and engage in sloppy reasoning. In short, pride comes before the fall. One of the common and well-founded charges against atheists is their arrogance and presumptuousness (see: Atheism and arrogance).[37] Atheists have established a reputation for engaging in narcissism, deception and other ill-behavior (see: Atheism and narcissism and Atheism and uncharitableness and Atheism and deception and Atheist population and immorality). BBC documentary: The Trouble with Atheism See also: Atheism and the media In his BBC documentary The Trouble with Atheism the award-winning journalist Rod Liddle indicates: “ Some atheists have become rather dogmatic. Terribly certain in their conviction that there is no God and anyone who thinks there is is a deluded and dangerous fool. ,,,atheists are becoming as intransigent about their own views as the people they so despise. Atheism is becoming a religion of its own. It already has its gurus and its revered sacred texts... It has its magnificent temples within which lie mysteries and unknowable truths.[38] ” Bible verses related to atheism, arrogance and poor character development See also: Atheism and morality The psalmist David declared: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." — Psalms 14:1 (KJV) The biblical fool is said to be lacking in sound judgment and the biblical fool is also associated with poor character development. For example, book of Proverbs declares: "A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, But a fool is arrogant and careless. A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of evil devices is hated. The naive inherit foolishness, But the sensible are crowned with knowledge." (Proverbs 14:16-18 (NASB)). Recommended books Understanding Secular Religions by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart, Here's Life Publishers, San Bernardino, California, 1982, ISBN 0-86605-093-0 Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothuis, IVP Academic, 2011 Books on New Atheism: True Reason: Confronting the Irrationality of the New Atheism by Tom Gilson (Editor), Carson Weitnauer (Editor), Kregel Publications, 2014 Atheism and the 20th century According to the University of Cambridge, historically, the "most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power."[39] Recommend reading relating to atheism and the 20th century Dimitry Pospielovsky, (December, 1987), A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Antireligious Policies , Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312381328 , Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312381328 Dimitry Pospielovsky, (November, 1987), Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions (History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol 2) , Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312009054 , Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312009054 Dimitry Pospielovsky, (August, 1988), Soviet Studies on the Church and the Believer's Response to Atheism: A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol 3, Palgrave Macmillan, hardcover: ISBN 0312012918, paperback edition: ISBN 0312012926 See also Material related to critical reasoning and atheism:

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2010/12/12/why-romneycare-doesnt-need-to-hurt-romneys-presidential-hopes/

Freelance Writer

Why RomneyCare doesn’t need to hurt Romney’s presidential hopes

Former Governor Mitt Romney (R–Mass.) is anticipated to be a top Republican presidential contender in 2012. However, RomneyCare seems to be an increasingly sharp thorn in his side, and could even prevent him from being the Republican nominee. As the governor gears up for campaigning he should be prepared to address the inevitable criticism of RomneyCare from the Right by articulating federalism, acknowledging his reform’s shortcomings, and supporting repeal of ObamaCare. Doing so could transform him from a grudgingly-supported candidate to a confidently-supported and formidable one. In the firestorm following Congress’s passage of ObamaCare earlier this year, many defenders claimed that the new federal law is effectively the same as Massachusetts’ healthcare law. Specifically, ObamaCare defenders pointed to the similarities in the individual mandate. Mr. Romney needs to make clear that, following the tradition of American federalism, RomneyCare was implemented at the state level. The important idea behind federalism is that what works in one state won’t necessarily work in another. Likewise, what doesn’t work in one state certainly won’t work at the national level. A one-size-fits-all health care mandate at the state level, regardless of what one thinks of its merits, is vastly different than a one-size-fits-all health care mandate at the national level. In the case of the former, if individuals don’t like the mandate and are unsuccessful at opposing it through the ballot box, they have the option of leaving that state for another; in the case of the latter, if individuals don’t like the mandate and are unsuccessful at opposing it at the ballot box, they’re stuck. This is a monumentally crucial difference. Our founders understood this difference, which is why they envisioned states as laboratories, free to run their own experiments. In Federalist 83, Alexander Hamilton encapsulates this vision. He cautions against turning state regulations and laws into federal ones: “… it is not very probable the other States would entertain the same opinion of our institutions as we do ourselves. It is natural to suppose that they are hitherto more attached to their own, and that each would struggle for the preference. … it must be uncertain which of the States would have been taken as the model. It has been shown that many of them would be improper ones.” In other words, states have predilections toward their own models. Choosing one at the federal level is unsuitable since each state is unique. Governor Romney needs to articulate this vision, stressing that conversion of the statewide mandate under RomneyCare into federal law would be grossly inappropriate. But that’s not all. He also needs to acknowledge the poor results of his legislation. Despite whatever redeeming qualities RomneyCare had before it was taken over by Democrats in the state legislature, recognizing that costs and premiums have gone up even faster after his legislation was enacted will relieve apprehensive voters who are committed to repealing the newly-implemented federal healthcare law. Finally, Governor Romney needs to support full repeal of ObamaCare. After careful explanation of the reasons stated above, this is not hypocritical. Rather, it will drive the nail securely into the coffin of the notion that he supports a federal mandate. If he hopes to be a top contender for the Republican nomination, he must communicate the fundamental distinction between RomneyCare at the state level and ObamaCare at the federal level, while conceding his reform didn’t contain costs, and fully supporting repeal of the current law. If he does this, Mr. Romney should gain wider support from currently justifiably concerned conservatives, and quite possibly become the Republican nominee. David Weinberger is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/29/grassley-scare-mongers-who-say-americans-will-lose-insurance-are-wrong/

Capitol Hill, Health Care Reporter

Grassley: ‘Scare Mongers’ Who Say Americans Will Lose Insurance Are Wrong

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks about health insurance marketplace enrollments and the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Sen. Chuck Grassley appeared on Sharyl Attkisson’s television show “Full Measure” Sunday to discuss the congressional Republican Obamacare “repeal and replace” agenda. One of the chief claims by Obamacare supporters is that if Republicans dismantle Obamacare, the 20 million Americans who obtained health insurance will lose coverage — and even die. Grassley says that those who make such doomsday claims are merely “scare mongers.” The senator wants to assure “people that have insurance under the exchange,” that there will be a “phase in of the new program.” Meaning those who have Obamacare insurance plans “are going to be able to keep it.” As far as the legislative process of “repeal and replace,” the senator thinks there are likely some bipartisan obstacles in the way of an expedient replacement. Grassley expressed his confidence that House and Senate Republicans could “repeal,” Obamacare without bipartisan support in Congress, but that any “replacement has to be done in a bipartisan way because the 60 votes are going to be required of the US Senate.” A key question from Obamacare supporters is: How long would a replacement plan take to be fully instituted? Grassley says it is important to “remember it took three years for Obamacare to be phased in,” and it is likely, “going to take three years for its replacement to be phased in.” While the senator could not give specifics of the plan, Grassley did provide “the general principles.” A few of them, like “keeping preexisting conditions so that you can’t be denied insurance,” and, “keeping children on their parents insurance maybe till the age of 26,” were even repeated by President Donald Trump. Grassley also hinted that the republican replacement would include many free market aspects, like: “selling insurance across state lines, emphasis on health savings accounts, greater transparency of pricing by hospitals and doctors.” The senator also said there would be some key legal changes, including, “medical malpractice court reform, doing away with individual mandate, doing away with the employer mandate.” For those who obtained insurance through the Obamacare exchanges, Grassley says there will be a “phase in” period for the new program. Meaning that “you’re going to phase out what you have now,” so those that have “insurance under the exchange with a subsidy are going to be able to keep it,” the senator says. Follow Robert on Twitter Send tips to [email protected] Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2010/12/07/keep-your-eyes-on-california/

Author

Keep your eyes on California

After the 2010 midterms, you could almost hear conservative pundits dismissing California as the land of fruits, nuts and irrelevancy. They couldn’t be further from the truth. Even though California doggedly stayed left while nearly every other state veered right, it still remains the supercharged engine for America’s progressive movement. If anything, the midterms just stomped down its accelerator. California’s accelerated national influence is evident in what many dismiss as a loss for liberals, the defeat of Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative. Most conservative commentators saw the vote against legal pot as proof that even California isn’t that crazy, but look again. More Californians voted to legalize marijuana than voted for Republican Meg Whitman for governor, even though Prop 19’s supporters spent a mere $$4 million on their campaign, compared to Whitman’s $$163 million. Like earlier society-bending propositions on the California ballot — gay marriage and global warming are recent examples — the measure blazed the trail for similar efforts in other states. Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance, put it this way, “California’s Proposition 19 may not have won a majority of voters yesterday, but it already represents an extraordinary victory for the broader movement to legalize marijuana. Its mere presence on the ballot … elevated and legitimized public discourse about marijuana and marijuana policy.” Students for Sensible Drug Policy, another pro-legalization group, added, “One of the greatest hidden victories of the Prop 19 campaign was that it trained the emerging generation of marijuana reformers on how to run a legalization campaign, and left virtually all of them wanting to win on this issue in 2012.” Colorado is a likely target. Similarly, California’s rejection of Prop 23, ensuring the state would continue its plunge into cap and trade even as Congress is backing away from similar legislation, has reinvigorated global warming activists. As the Daily Green blog put it, “The federal government needs to take a close look at the result.” Prop 19 was on the ballot in California, not Kansas or Alabama or even Massachusetts, because supporters of liberal social change know they’ll get more publicity and possibly even a winning vote in unrepentantly liberal California. The state nurtured progressivism a century ago and has given the movement staying power through its modeling of liberal legislation and policies and the sheer number of progressives churned out by its universities — so much so that it’s not likely Barack Obama would be president today were it not for the very blue Golden State. While the established political parties and their consultants will ignore California and pore over campaigns in other states for clues on how to capitalize on — or crush — the Tea Party’s influence, the Left will be studying what happened in California, so they can replicate it the next time around. What they will find is not so much a magic formula but a vast progressive infrastructure they will then work to replicate elsewhere. I call this infrastructure the PEER Axis, for the progressives, environmentalists, educators and reporters who collectively run California and influence the underpinnings of America. The PEER Axis remains powerful because politicians and political movements may come and go, but government bureaucrats and regulators, environmentalists and social justice activists, and their supporters in education and the media are pretty much forever. The structure of California ensures that appropriately indoctrinated college graduates will continue to fill the personnel pipelines that run from Berkeley, UCLA and other liberal universities straight into the progressive movement.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/2010/12/16/thedc-morning-john-mccain-has-some-life-left-in-him-yet/

TheDC Morning: John McCain has some life left in him yet

1.) It’s official: Everybody hates Genachowski’s plan to regulate the Internet — And yes, we do mean everybody: The lefty nutters at Free Press, former comic Al Franken, Republican FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell, and now, a group of Senate Republicans. The beef from the left–Franken, Free Press, and the supposed two million Americans who accidentally signed petitions thinking they were entering a contest for free Krispy Kreme–is that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s proposed framework does not do enough to control the Internet. For instance, liberals are unhappy that cable companies would still have incentives under Genachowski’s policy to invest in creating faster, stronger, and better services, access to which could be priced at a higher rate than existing Internet services. Meanwhile, Republicans and McDowell are concerned about what the regulations would do–namely, establish “an unjustified and unnecessary expansion of government control over private enterprise.” In the middle of it all is Genachowski, a bureaucrat with the heart of a Marxist and the vertebral integrity of a plane-crash survivor. The FCC votes on Dec. 21. Don’t miss it. 2.) GOP presidential hopefuls not constrained by the realities of having an actual job in government — While Congressional Republicans are learning to get along with Pres. Obama, “there is still a group of Republicans who have continued to carry the banner of opposition to Democratic-led proposals after the Nov. 2 election,” reports The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward. Those people are presidential hopefuls who make their living telling elected Republicans what they would do if they were them. “Taken all together, it is a clear example of the difference between playing politics and having to govern,” Ward writes. “Republicans in Congress are now partially responsible for the direction of the country, and will be held accountable at the ballot box much more so than they were in 2010.” The reality check likely won’t come from yakkers on the lecture circuit, or even yakkers on AM radio, but from the Tea Party: “I’m sure there are Republican blockheads who think the Tea Party isn’t watching and they’ve again got free reign,” said Tea Party activist Bob MacGuffie, but that will change come January, when the freshman class is sworn in. “Should they start to compromise with the Socialist Democrats we will light up their scoreboards like nothing they’ve ever seen. Remember we have all their e-mail addresses and cell numbers.” 3.) Who’s really behind the anti-McDonald’s lawsuit? — The Center for Science in the Public Interest and client Monet Parham are suing McDonald’s, demanding that the fastfood giant remove toys from Happy Meals. According to the New York Daily News, Parham’s beef is not that the toys themselves are dangerous, but that “because of McDonald’s marketing, [her daughter] Maya has frequently pestered Parham into purchasing Happy Meals, thereby spending money on a product she would not otherwise have purchased.” If you thought that Parham was simply a bad parent, and perhaps a stupid human being, you would be wrong! According to the Daily News, “Monet Parham-Lee, is a ‘regional program manager’ on the state of California payroll for child nutrition matters. Specifically, she works on a federally funded program that campaigns to exhort people to eat their vegetables and that sort of thing.” The fat-haters have upped the ante. It’s only a matter of time before they sue to get “Mike and Molly” off the air. 4.) Most Americans hate the job Obama’s doing, still prefer him to any GOPer — An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll “finds that the president’s job approval rating has once again hit its lowest level; that more people believe the nation is on the wrong track than at any point in Obama’s presidency; and that just a third of Americans think the economy will rebound next year,” reports MSNBC. Magically, the same poll has Obama “comfortably leading prominent Republicans like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in hypothetical head-to-head match-ups for 2012.” The margin is wide against the former governors of Alaska and Massachusetts, but narrows in a generic match-up: “With respondents asked to choose between voting to re-elect Obama or his Republican opponent, Obama leads by three points, 42 percent to 39 percent, with an additional 10 percent saying it depends who the GOP opponent is.” In other news, Democrats have rediscovered religion, and are apparently praying that Palin runs in 2012. 5.) John McCain has some life left in him yet — Either that, or his aides have perfected his curmudgeonly habit for listing things that bring the Arizona senator great displeasure. Business Insider has rounded up the thriftiest McCain complaints with the omnibus spending bill. Among them: $$100,000 for the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage Visitor’s Center in New York, $$300,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii, $$727,000 to compensate ranchers in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan whenever endangered wolves eat their cattle, $$165,000 for maple syrup research in Vermont, and other equally wasteful crap. Who knew you could even get money for this stuff? Besides Matthew Lesko, that is. 6.) Gov. Christie does not care for weed — “On Monday, New Jersey’s state Senate rejected a proposal put forth by Republican Governor Chris Christie for the state’s new medical marijuana program, pitting the two branches against each other in a debate that centers on the state’s constitution,” reports TheDC’s Amanda Carey. Christie’s objections found their way into a back-room deal with Democrats, with the end result being a rather anti-medicinal regulatory proposal: The compromise limits the amount of medical marijuana that can be dispensed to patients to two ounces per month, allows alternative treatment centers to only distribute three types of cannabis, prohibits home delivery, and limits one of the dugs components, THC, to 10 percent. It also would have required physicians to join a registry before being allowed to suggest medical marijuana to patients with illnesses like Multiple Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and AIDS. On the other hand, this makes Christie one of only a handful of Republican governors who are down with pot at all.

political

dailycaller.com

2017-11-27

http://dailycaller.com/buzz/religion/page/3/

Gary Bauer, Alan Keyes, Kerry Picket, Justin Caruso, Moses Apostaticus, Caleb Stephen, Edwin Black, Matt K. Lewis, Bruce Ashford, David Zaitzeff

The Daily Caller

In the weeks to come I will pray earnestly to God that He may see fit to attune the ears and hearts of Americans of good will.