ARE THESE THE LAST DAYS OF THE TITANIC?
CURRENT ECONOMIC & POLITICAL SITUATION
AUG 14-2014 REPORTS from http://www.zerohedge.com
Sumarized by Hugo
Adan. Agosto 14-2014
GERMAN ECONOMY SHRINKS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2012 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-14/german-economy-shrinks-for-first-time-since-2012-as-risks-rise.html Germany’s economy contracted more than
economists forecast last quarter and France stagnated, adding to pressure on the euro area as the
Ukraine crisis and slowing inflation (ECCPEST) threaten to derail the
region’s recovery. Gross domestic product in the Germany, the currency
bloc’s largest economy, fell 0.2 percent from the first quarter.
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FERGUSON:
"WAR ZONE OR US CITY?"... THE MORNING AFTER 08/14/2014
As we
feared during the day yesterday, when night fell in Ferguson, a combination
of massive SWAT team presence and an increasingly disillusioned citizenry were
a recipe for disaster. "Is this a war zone or a US city? Gov't escalates
tensions w/military equipment & tactics."
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WORLD
RESERVE CURRENCIES: WHAT HAPPENED DURING PREVIOUS PERIODS OF TRANSITION? 08/14/2014
The US is trying to postpone the crisis by printing money, however this is
creating currency wars with nearly all major central banks in the world. As
history has shown us time and again, causing this delay through money printing
will only aggravate the problem, not only not preventing the inevitable,
but indeed making the transition more painful and costly.
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CONDITIONED
TO CATCH THE FALLING KNIFE 08/14/2014 As Bloomberg’s Richard Breslow
writes, we've been trained to catch the falling knife by the CBs, one of
those trading strategies that will work until it doesn’t and when the knife
slips you will really have a taper tantrum.
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UKRAINE
PASSES RUSSIAN SANCTIONS LAW: GAS TRANSIT HALT SEEMS IMMINENT 08/14/2014
EU leaders are not happy. Slovak Premier Robert Fico asked rhetorically, "Isn't
it strange that a country, which has signed an association agreement, a
country, which we are all trying to help, is taking steps that jeopardize the
interests of individual EU members?"
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COPPER
& CRUDE ARE GETTING CRUSHED 08/14/2014
Despite global geopolitical crises exploding among the world's biggest
producers of oil, WTI (and Brent) crude oil prices have tumbled to 5-month lows
(WTI At $96). One can't help but wonder what global 'economic growth' must
really be like if 'demand' for all these crucial growthy commodities looks so
weak?
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“WE
TEAR-GASSED SOME FOLKS" - OBAMA MAKES STATEMENT ON FERGUSON, IRAQ 08/14/2014
Having already disappointed
many African American residents of Ferguson, who rejected his previous comments
as "insultingly inadequate," it seems the President will take a
few minutes out of his day to address the turmoil in middle America... 'we
tear-gassed some folks...'
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A
FULL LOOK INSIDE THE RUSSIAN HUMANITARIAN CONVOY (AND THE TANKS SURROUNDING IT) 08/14/2014
It is now around 30 miles east of Ukraine,
stopped in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. Here is the a full look at the convoy, its
contents, and the helicopters and tanks surrounding it...
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THE
PRICE TO KEEP BANKERS OUT OF JAIL: $110 BILLION AND RISING 08/14/2014 What is the total
amount of shareholder money that has been spent by the bankers to
distract regulators and the "cops" from not jailing a single one of
them? According to the following chart from the WSJ, just the six biggest
offenders have spent over a whopping $110 billion to keep the government
happy and the US prison population in check.
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ARE
THERE NO HARD LIMITS ON FINANCIAL FINAGLING? 08/14/2014 Our financial system is blind by design to
the enormous systemic risks generated by central planning distorting
price discovery for the political purposes of perception management. The
hard limits are hidden, and we will discover them only when it's too late to
modify the self-destructive behavior and policies we've pursued as "safe"
and "forever."
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GAZPROM
TO EUROPE: WE OWN YOU (AT LEAST UNTIL 2016) 08/14/2014 production volumes will not
bring about major changes in the European gas market due to a decline in
conventional gas production,” Gazprom. Which, sadly for Europe, means that
Putin will be dictating his terms on the energy-strapped continent for a long,
long time.
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GOLD
JUMPS ABOVE $1320 AS BUNDS, TREASURIES HIT NEW CYCLE LOW YIELDS 08/14/2014 With the USDollar giving up all the week's
gains this morning on the heels of EUR strength (repatriation), weak claims
data coupled with import prices sparked a leg higher in gold and leg lower in
the yields of bonds on either side of the Atlantic. Gold poked its head
above $1320 briefly, having been smacked lower twice overnight. 10Y US
Treasury yield is now 2.39%.German 2Y yields traded at -1bp, there lowest
in 15 months as 10Y Bunds dropped below 1% for the first time ever. Equity
futures are fading back into the red.
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IMPORT
PRICES HAVE FIRST DROP SINCE APRIL; PRICE OF IMPORTED CARS PLUNGES MOST SINCE
1992 08/14/2014 the
price index for import automotive vehicles declined 0.8 percent in July. Why?
Because foreign car sellers have no choice but to slash prices to compete with
the US subprime flood making domestic car prices effectively "free."
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INITIAL
JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMP 21,000 TO BIGGEST MISS IN 3 MONTHS 08/14/2014 as initial jobless claims jumped 21k to
the highest since June.. but notably 31k off the lows in late July. Continuing
claims also rose markedly, missing expectations for the 6th of the last 7 weeks.
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-- Putin’s Pipeline Bypassing Ukraine at Risk Amid Conflict
(BBG)
-- Russia's Largest Oil Company Seeks $42 billion to Weather
Sanctions (WSJ)
-- Shells hit central Donetsk, Russian aid convoy heads
towards border (Reuters)
-- U.S. Tightens Sanctions, Putting More Russian Companies
at Risk (BBG)
-- Euro Recovery Halts as Germany Shrinks, France Stagnates
(BBG)
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WAL-MART
CUTS GUIDANCE AGAIN, BLAMES OBAMACARE
08/14/2014 Remember
this chart from
November, when everyone was predicting a surge in global GDP and
"escape velocity" growth for the US economy on the latest burst of
irrational hopium that central-planning works (it doesn't)? It just got
worse....
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HERE COMES THE EUROPEAN TRIPLE-DIP: NEGATIVE GERMAN GDP SENDS
BUNDS UNDER 1% FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER 08/14/2014 The hammer finally hit for Europe when
overnight both Germany and France reported Q2 GDP prints that missed
expectations, the first actually contracting at a 0.2% rate with consensus
looking for -0.1%, while France remained flat vs expectations for a tiny 0.1%
rise. As a reminder, this GDP is the revised one, which already includes the
estimated contribution of drugs and prostitution, suggesting the actual
underlying economic growth is far worse than even reported. Then again, this is
hardly surprising considering all the abysmal data out of Europe and the rest
of the world in recent weeks, and with the Russian trade war sure to trim even
more growth, look for all of Europe to join Italy in
its first upcoming triple-dip recession in history.
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DAY 14 UPDATE Friday Aug 15 early morning
Iraq's
Maliki Steps Down "To Stop Bloodshed", Blames CIA, Supports Abadi As
New Prime Minister 08/14/2014 In the past, Mr. Abadi has worried
that American military presence was exacerbating sectarian tensions.
Perhaps most notably, Maliki stated "Intelligence apparatuses behind
the sectarian strife in the region." - CIA?
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3
Things Worth Thinking About 08/14/2014
Despite what appears to be globally increasing risks, the financial
markets have seemed relatively unfazed. Historically, such calm has
always existed prior to the eventual storm. This week’s “3 Things”
takes a look at some of the “rising risks” that we believe are being ignored
which could potentially be harmful to individual's portfolios.
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14
reasons why the u.s. economy's bubble of false prosperity may be about to burst
Submitted by Michael
Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog . 08/14/2014 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-14/14-reasons-why-us-economys-bubble-false-prosperity-may-be-about-burst
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New
Tax Threatens To Destroy Gas Production In Ukraine 08/14/2014 Independent
gas producers in Ukraine are joining forces to pressure the government in Kiev
to re-think its new gas tax before everyone makes a run for the border in
search of new assets in a more stable environment. Private producers have
compiled a draft letter to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, criticizing
the government’s doubling of
taxes for gas producers, which was justified through the use of “wrong
and misleading” data about private companies. They also warn that their time
in Ukraine will be over if the tax is extended beyond the end of this year
- and there will be no further foreign investment in the country’s beleaguered
gas sector.
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US
Sending 600 Troops, APCs And Tanks To Countries Bordering Russia To
"Reassure Threatened Allies"
08/14/2014 Escalation over the Ukraine conflict,
a/k/a Cold War 2.0, just took another major step
forward. Because here comes the cavalry... literally.
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Ferguson
Calm But NYPD Issues Level 2 Mobilization, Mass Arrests, Choppers - Live Feed 08/14/2014 Having apparently learned their lesson, the police
presence in Ferguson tonight is considerably less 'robo-cop' and more
'local-cop'. Hundreds of protesters continue to peacefully march in the
streets, chanting "no justice, no peace."
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Putin
Punks West (Again): Russian Troops Enter Ukraine, Guardian Reports 08/14/2014 Here extracts from The Guardian: “After pausing by the side
of the road until nightfall, the convoy crossed into Ukrainian territory, using
a rough dirt track and clearly crossing through a gap in a barbed wire fence
that demarcates the border. Armed men were visible in the gloom by the border
fence as the column moved into Ukraine. Kiev has lost control of its side of
the border in this area. The trucks are unlikely to represent a full-scale
official Russian invasion, and it was unclear how far they planned to travel
inside Ukrainian territory and how long they would stay. As the convoy moved
closer to the stretch of border controlled by pro-Russian rebels it was hard to
escape the feeling that Moscow's aid convoy had the potential to turn into a
slow-motion disaster, perhaps even prompting a moment that could push Ukraine
and Russia out of the messy conflict fought by proxies into full-blown, open
engagement.” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/russian-military-vehicles-enter-ukraine-aid-convoy-stops-short-border
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Russia, Ukraine and the EU
Commission to meet to discuss Ukraine.
http://rt.com/news/line/2014-08-14/#68480
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Red
Cross Might Inspect Russian Humanitarian Aid Convoy on Friday - Source 15/08/2014 The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representatives would be able
to inspect Russia’s humanitarian convoy bound for eastern Ukraine on Friday,
said a source familiar with the situation.
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