JAN 31 17 SIT EC y POL
ECONOMICS in ZERO HEDGE
"U.S.
equities look worryingly vulnerable... markets are exhibiting exceptional
complacency. That attitude may shift rapidly."
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With the
S&P500 ending January on the back foot, more pain may be in store for
markets in February. This is the observation of BofA's chief technician Stephen
Suttmeyer, who provides several danger signals why bulls may want to be
particularly cautious ahead of the coming months.
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The last two days have seen the
biggest drop in The Dow since September 26th.
The panic bid in Small Caps saved
them from 4th January in a row of losses...
All of which is interesting given
that the Presidential
cycle signals Feb as a big loser..
The dollar index has erased the
post-ECB and post-Fed gains.
The dollar demise appears to be
following last year's analog rather well...
TO SEE MORE GRAPHICS on current
economic situation OPEN
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The
spread between the "smart" and "dumb" money confidence is
about as wide as it has ever been, and perhaps just as notable, the "Smart
Money" is at or near the lowest level of "confidence" in recent
history despite, or perhaps due to, the S&P just several days ago hitting
new all time highs.
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"... for some idea of the precipice the market has reached,
the median price/revenue ratio of individual S&P 500 component stocks now
stands just over 2.45, easily the highest level in history. The longer-term
norm for the S&P 500 price/revenue ratio is less than 1.0. Even a retreat to 1.3, which we’ve observed at many points
even in recent cycles, would take the stock market to nearly half of present
levels."
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"By all appearances, President Trump is doing his damnedest to turn around
the economy, revitalize jobs
and bring back prosperity. But the larger trends
are already in place; the cycle is turning, and the bust cannot be put off
forever."
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The “Wind and Solar Will Save Us”
story is based on a long list of misunderstandings and apples to oranges comparisons.
Somehow, people seem to believe that our economy of 7.5 billion people can get
along with a very short list of energy supplies. Unfortunately,
a transition to such a short list of fuels can’t really work.
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POLITICS
“The
pricing has been astronomical,” Trump said to CEOs of some of the
world’s biggest drugmakers during a meeting in Washington after his reent
criticism of the industry sent drug and biotechnology stocks plunging. “You folks have done
a very great job over the years but we have to get the prices down.”
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The
farce of symbolic politics fixes nothing. Solutions are not symbolic; solutions gut the rackets by breaking
down the regulatory walls protecting the privileged elites who are strip-mining
the bottom 95%, "snowflakes" and "deplorables" alike.
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Confirming a choice that many had already pegged as a front-runner to
fill Antonin Scalia's vacant seat, President Trump just officially announced Judge Neil Gorsuch as his
nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States. With that, let
the Senate confirmation theatrics commence!
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America
has a refugee problem. Not the Syrian refugees. No, not the Afghan ones. No, not
even the Cuban refugees. We're
talking about the born-and-raised American citizens who got fed up, gave up
their U.S. citizenship, and escaped Obama’s America while they still
could.
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"From the beginning my concern has been that Trump has no experience
in the economic and foreign policy debates. He doesn’t know the issues or the
players. But he knows two big things:
the middle and working class are hurting, and conflict with Russia could result
in thermo-nuclear war. My view is support him on these two most
important of all issues."
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“Nationalism, protectionism and militarism
increase global tensions and the risks of conflict. For these reasons, while we
remain open-minded, we are increasingly concerned about the emerging policies
of the Trump administration,”
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WORLD ISSUES and ME
Trump has accused Germany of not doing enough
to increase its imports while having such a sizable trade surplus, and in
October, the U.S. Treasury Department listed Germany as a country to watch
because of its current account surplus. So is a trade war with the U.S. next?
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The Trump administration just fired the first
shot in the US-European currency, and thus trade, wars when Trump's top trade
advisor Peter Navarro accused Germany of using a “grossly undervalued” euro to
"exploit the US and its EU
partners", the FT
reported noting the comments are "likely to trigger alarm in Europe’s
largest economy."
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Following
Peter Navarro's accusations of German
manipulation of the euro (and
the surge in the EUR relative to the USD), Angela Merkel has responded by
explaining implicitly 'it's not my fault. Noting that she "can't change
the situation with respect monetary policy" (so blame
Draghi), Merkel added she "doesn't want
to influence the euro exchange rate." EURUSD is dropping a little on her headlines.
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“My visit to Syria has made it abundantly clear: Our
counterproductive regime change war does not serve America’s interest, and it
certainly isn’t in the interest of the Syrian people... I was asked, ‘Why is the United States and its
allies helping al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups try to take over Syria?
Syria did not attack the United States. Al-Qaeda did.’ I had no answer.”
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As disaffected Hillary supporters around the
U.S. continue to live in 'complete terror' that Trump's Presidency may mark the
beginning of the end of American democracy, here is a map highlighting where
coups may actually occur in 2017.
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Germany began sending 200 vehicles, including
30 tanks, by train to Lithuania along with 450 troops, to Lithuania on Tuesday
as part of a NATO mission to beef up the defense of eastern Europe and send a
signal of resolve to Russia, which has denounced the build-up as an act of
aggression.
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DEMOCRACY NOW
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GLOBAL RESEARCH
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
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Move the Embassy: End the Charade By Stanley L. Cohen Moving the US Embassy to
Jerusalem - would constitute a point of no return… a veritable disaster in
waiting..
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President
Trump: Nationalist Capitalism, An Alternative to Globalization By James Petras Anti-Trump
journalist, editorialists, academics and experts, have repeatedly distorted and
lied about the President’s program
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Secret
Docs Reveal: President Trump Has Inherited an FBI With Vast Hidden Powers By Glenn Greenwald and Betsy Reed
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Has the American Dream Become the American
Nightmare? By John W. Whitehead
Our nation of sheep has given rise to a government of
wolves.
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COUNTER PUNCH
Henry Giroux Democracy
in Exile and the Curse of Totalitarianism
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Kathy Kelly Divest
from War, Invest in People
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Patrick Cockburn Trump’s
Muslim Ban Will Only Spark More Terrorist Attacks
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Norman Pollack Reichstag
1938 / Washington 2017
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SPUTNIK and RT SHOWS
More Money: US Missile Defense Agency Ups Lockheed THAAD Contract to $1.3Bln https://sputniknews.com/us/201702011050221367-thaad-contract-price-raise/
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US Army Orders Counter-Drone Systems for 'Urgent Operational Need' https://sputniknews.com/us/201702011050221704-us-army-counter-drone-systems/
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Iran Prepares to Ditch Dollar in International Trade https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702011050220348-iran-threatens-to-ditch-dollar/
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UNSC Admits Importance of Astana Talks on Syria, Looks Forward to Geneva Round https://sputniknews.com/politics/201702011050221764-unsc-importance-astana-talks/
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Sputnik Obtains Full Text of Syrian Draft Constitution Proposed by Russia https://sputniknews.com/politics/201702011050212454-syria-constitution-text-russia/
Related
Syrian Kurds are Welcome in
Russia's Proposed Draft Constitution for Syria https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201701311050194618-syria-draft-constitution/
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Building 'New Republic': This is the 'Only Way to Keep Syria
Together' https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201701311050184896-russia-syria-peace-process/
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RT SHOWS
On contact The
American Empire with Allan Nairn
Chris Hedges
examines the future of the American empire under the Trump Administration
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WASHINGTON BLOG
Posted on January 31, 2017 by Charles
Hugh Smith
Much of what passes for politics
these days is symbolic. Anyone who studies the issue of illegal
immigration concludes that the solution lies not in building $10 billion walls
but in changing the incentive structure of citizenship, legal and
illegal immigration. As long as successfully crossing the border enables access
to free healthcare, education and sanctuary and the potential for cash work–the
equivalent of winning the lottery for those with none of these benefits–walls
will be tunneled under, overflown or bypassed by sea.
The Trump Administration’s
proposed policies on tariffs, walls to stop illegal immigration, etc. are
defended as symbolic gestures–in other words, their value is in
communicating “things have changed”, not actually solving the problems facing
the nation.
On the other side of the
spectrum, protests in defense of a corrupt, failed status quo are also
symbolic. No thinking person can
claim that the status-quo policies on illegal immigration are fair, just or
functional; how is letting illegal immigrants “jump the queue” ahead of the
hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants who have labored patiently for years,
paying all the outrageous costs of navigating the Kafkaesque complexities of
legal immigration fair or just?
Protesting in defense of a
racket-based status quo fixes nothing and solves nothing. Protests are also purely symbolic: the indignant
express their indignation, gather to support a corrupt, venal system of rackets
and then go home to stroke their egos on social media: I struck a blow today
for… a corrupt system of rackets that enrich
self-serving vested interests and privileged elites.
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NOTICIAS IN SPANISH
Patrullando con impunidad la Europa
del Este Aleksandrina Ginkova
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Estudiando la contrainsurgencia de
Estados Unidos Gilberto López
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La desigual construcción social del
género Seccion
Igualdad.Vozpopuli
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Delirio y perversión en el sionismo Pablo Jofre Leal
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Los Terroristas ya vienen? .. Peor que escuchar
“Russians are coming”
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PRESS TV
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UN
decries ‘blind measures’ against terrorism
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Trump
travel ban punishes victims of terrorism
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