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Articles by Bunga Bunga
Peter Thiel-Backed Startup Offers To Finance Weinstein Lawsuits
If the fate of Gawker is any indication, the multiplying sex crime probes involving Harvey Weinstein are just the beginning of the disgraced studio head’s legal problems.
These Are The Cities Where Rent Hikes Leave The Most People Homeless
The idea that rising rents beget increases in a city’s homeless population is nothing new. But in a recent study, Zillow, the online real-estate database company, used a mix of government and proprietary data to examine how much influence an increase in the first variable has on the second. The result was surprising.
Desperate Americans Are Saving The Least Since The Start Of The Last Two Recessions
The last two times Americans were saving this little in order to maintain their lifetsyles, the US economy was in recession. According to newly revised government data, Bloomberg reports that American households scaled back their pace of savings to the lowest level in nine years at the end of 2016 as the growth of their wages and salaries slowed.
Largest US Bitcoin Exchange Is "Extremely Concerned" With IRS Crackdown Targeting Its Users
Last Thursday we reported that in a startling development seeking to breach the privacy veil of users of America's largest bitcoin exchange, the IRS filed court papers seeking a judicial order to serve a so-called “John Doe” summons on the San Francisco-based Bitcoin platform Coinbase. The government’s request is part of a bitcoin tax-evasion probe, and seeks to identify all Coinbase users in the U.S. who “conducted transactions in a convertible virtual currency” from 2013 to 2015.
Algos, Barriers, Rumors: Some Theories On What Caused The Pound Flash Crash
As reported moments ago, just around 7:07pm ET, cable snapped and plunged by what some say may have been as much as 1200 pips, dropping from 1.26 to as low as 1.14 according to some brokers, before snapping back up. What caused the move? While nobody knows the catalyst behind the flash crash yet, Bloomberg has compiled several potential explanations.
"Dear Bernie Sanders Supporters..."
Submitted by Nick Bernabe via TheAntiMedia.org, Dear Bernie Sanders supporters, I was you in 2012. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into a presidential candidate who wound up getting screwed over by his own party, voter “ irregularities,” the media, and the ‘inevitability’ mindset toward the ‘mainstream’ candidate that pervaded the voting public. His name was Ron Paul; you may have heard of him and the revolution he continues to inspire.
Understanding Brexit: The Powerless Press Their Thumb In The Eye Of The Power Elite
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, The sense of having a real say, and possessing actual agency, is very empowering, and very rare, for members of the lower-middle class and the working class today. The premier strategy for retaining power is to give the powerless a carefully managed illusion of decision-making and autonomy. Having a say over one's life and choices is called agency, and it is the illusion of agency that makes democracy such a powerful tool of control.
Friday Humor: What Comes After Brexit
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"I've Never Felt So Resigned To The Fact That We Are All Stuck..."
Submitted by Ben Hunt via Salient Partners' Epsilon Theory blog, Negative rates are ice-nine. If you don’t know what ice-nine is, read the book. Spoiler alert: the world ends. Admit it. You assume her poetry is soft because she’s a woman and writes about flowers. Read it again. Emily Dickinson is a total badass. You don’t even feel the slice of her work, but then you see the blood.
State Records Show Hillary Had "Zero Interest In Disclosing Emails To Public" As Law Requires
Via JudicialWatch.com, Judicial Watch today announced it obtained U.S. State Department records referenced in the May 2016 State Department’s Office of the Inspector General report criticizing former Secretary of State Clinton’s email practices. The OIG report references the records, which include new Clinton emails, but the records were not released to the public until now. The records were obtained under a June14, 2016, court order issued by Judge Emmet G.
Artist's Impression Of The Crooked House Of Clinton
There they go again...
A Rise in Oil Imports Sunk the EIA Inventory Report (Video)
There they go again...
"It's An Alice In Wonderland World" - GRI Warns "Debt Is Being Piled Upon Debt Being Piled Upon Debt"
The combination of low interest rates and "an explosion of debt" has become the biggest risk to the world’s economies, according to the head of Canada’s Global Risk Institute. "These low interest rates could have the potential to be the next serious issue faced by countries and it’s because debt is exploding everywhere," Richard Nesbitt, 60, chief executive officer of the group that researches risks to the financial industry, said Monday in an interview in Bloomberg’s Toronto bureau.
The Top 100 Hedge Funds Of 2016 According To Barron's
Household hedge fund names such as Bill Ackman's Pershing Square, Daniel Loeb’s Third Point Capital and David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital are nowhere to be found in the Barron's 2016 List of Best 100 hedge funds. Instead, these firms which bet heavily, and incorrectly, on a handful of investments, have been replaced by a variety of newer, smaller, nimbler, and in the case of the top fund for 2016, algo-driven, hedge funds.
FRee $HiT ARMY...
Last month a new company announced that it would produce a vehicle that would totally revolutionize the U.S. transportation industry.
Brazil Unveils New Rio Olympics Logo
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Japanese Mint Employee Stole 15Kg Gold Bar "To Cover FX Trading Losses"
With USDJPY collapsing in fits and starts and the nightly nattering nabobs of Japanese officialdom sparking mini risk flare-ups in FX markets, we can easily comprehend a part-time currency trader mounting up some losses.
Dumb Policymakers' Guide To Creating Starvation In 2016
Submitted by Jeffrey Tucker via The Foundation for Economice Education, One of the great achievements of the human mind is having produced a solution to the single greatest challenge of life on earth: getting enough to eat. Shelter and clothing are no brainers by comparison. You find a cave, you snag a pelt, and you are good to go. But finding food to eat is a daily issue for human beings, never finally solved. You need more than a stock of food; you need a system that produces a continual flow.
The Visual History Of All Market Crashes Since 1956
One month after Goldman strategists downgraded equities to neutral on growth and valuation concerns, the firm has turned up the heat on the bearish case with a report by Christian Mueller-Glissmann in which he says that equity drawdown risk “appears elevated” with S&P 500 trading near record high, valuations stretched, lackluster economic growth and yield investors being “forced up the risk curve to equities." As Goldman notes, "one large drawdown can quickly erase returns that were...
Watch As The World's Most Powerful People Arrive At The 2016 Bilderberg Meeting
As reported previously, starting today politicians, bankers, influential leaders, chiefs of major global businesses, even actors and pundits will meet at the 64th Bilderberg meeting, set to take place over the next three days at the Taschenbergpalais Hotel in Dresden, Germany, where the official agenda will be quite different from what will really be discussed (read this for a full breakdown).
Migrants Responsible For 69,000 Crimes In Germany In The First Quarter: Police Report
In the latest development that is certain to raise the heat under Merkel's cabinet and may lead to even higher support for Germany's anti-immigrant AfD party, Reuters reports that migrants in Germany committed or tried to commit some 69,000 crimes in the first quarter of 2016, according to a police report "that could raise unease, especially among anti-immigrant groups, about Chancellor Angela Merkel's liberal migrant policy." The report from the BKA federal police showed that migrants from...
"Dangerously Incoherent"
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Ryan Folds? - Republican Speaker Ready To Endorse Trump
House Speaker Paul Ryan has begun telling confidants that he wants to end his standoff with Donald Trump according to Bloomberg. Just 3 weeks after "just not being ready" to endorse Trump, and 2 weeks after signalling "unity" having met with The Donald; it seems the speaker's decision, according to two people close to the lawmaker, was driven in part because he’s worried the split has sharpened divisions in the Republican Party. Just 10 days ago we asked, What is Ryan up to?
Governments Create Monopolies And Cause Worker-Exploitation, Not Free-Markets
Authored by Richard M. Ebeling via The Future of Freedom Foundation, The world is threatened with a renewed wave of anti-capitalism and anti-business sentiments and policies. Many who cheered the demise of Soviet communism in the early 1990s, presumed that this meant that, by default, the case for free markets and competitive enterprise had won in the battle of ideas.
"We're Running A F**king Casino" Congressman Admits DC Is A "Sinkhole Of Leeches"
More details are being released about the anonymous expose of Washington D.C. corruption and largesse that confirms why Americans hate their national government and have rallied to anti-establishment presidential candidates like Donald Trump.
One Chart Says It All
People sense the 'recovery" is bogus, and their rational response is to save more money rather than squander it. Sometimes one chart captures the fundamental reality of the economy: for example, this chart of money velocity and the civilian-population ratio. (thank you, Joseph Y. for posting it on my Facebook feed.) When the blue line is up, more of the population has a job. (the blue line is the Employment-Population ratio.) The red line is money velocity, the rate at which money changes hands.
"It Has Been A While Since We’ve Had A Profitable Quarter To Report" - Einhorn's First Quarter Letter
We are confident that the first thing readers will be curious to look for in Greenlight's latest just released first quarter letter is David Einhorn's take on his investment in the now bankrupt former hedge fund hotel, SunEdison. Einhorn's spares no self-criticism here: "SunEdison (SUNE) collapsed from $5.09 to $0.54. In January we negotiated with the company to add an independent director to the board. Unfortunately, and to our surprise, the patient was already in terminal condition.
Former House Speaker And "Serial Child Molester" Dennis Hastert Sentenced To 15 Months In Prison
Moments ago, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison in his hush-money case by a judge who called him a "serial child molester" and ordered him to enroll in a sex-offender treatment program. As NBC reports, Hastert, 74, was accused of abusing four boys between the ages of 14 and 17 when he was a coach at Yorkville High School decades ago.
Following The "Sell-Off" Gundlach Is Starting To Buy Treasuries
This afternoon Jeffrey Gundlach held one of his periodic interviews with Reuters' Jenna Ablan in which he said that the selloff in Treasuries is over and that investors looking to purchase Treasuries in the wake of the bond market's sell-off - if one can call a move in the 10Y to 1.91% a selloff - are making a prudent move.
Swedes Revolt Over Refugees Near Schools: Demand "F##king Answers" From Stockholm City Council
Having documented the growing tensions in Sweden between an immigration-happy government and a nation beset by refugee-crime sprees, it appears 'the people' have had enough.
Dow Tops 18,000 - Highest In 9 Months (Earnings At 12-Month Lows)
Was it ever in doubt? Oh just one thing... Earnings expectations have plunged over 6% since the last time The Dow was here.
Bloomberg UNMASKED - The Truth about ZH from Forex perspective
We've been a Forex author for many years on Zero Hedge and many other sites. Writing is a big part of our job as analysts, and educators. Recently we published a book Splitting Pennies - Understanding Forex to explain this complicated market to investors. We write by purpose - Forex is the largest market in the world and the least understood. Because of this, it's not widely covered in the main stream media (MSM) and when it is, it is often mis-characterized.
Greenspan Admits The Fed's Plan Was Always To Push Stocks Higher
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan admitted in an interview with Sara Eisen that quantitative easing did what it was supposed to do, which was to inflate stock prices and drive multiple expansion. He was confused as to why things such as corporate earnings, capital spending, and productivity have declined given how much QE was pumped into the system.
Absurdity: When The Con Believes The Con
There are many infamous con games that have been foisted upon the public for millennia. Probably none more enduring than that of Charles Ponzi which bears his name as its moniker. Yet, there’s also been another who was also just as “daring” when it came to finding ways as to extract monetary gains by ill-gotten means: Victor Lustig.
Thursday Humor - Initial Jobless Claims "Unexpectedly" Plunge To 43-Year Lows
Having risen along with weakness in broad market surveys (ISM, PMI, NFIB) throughout January, initial jobless claims have plunged twice since (despite the same surveys getting worse) breaking down to 253k in the last week - the lowest since 1973! Makes perfect sense... Sometimes you just have to laugh. Average: Your rating: None Average: 5 (6 votes)
Core CPI Hovers Near 8 Year Highs As Shelter/Rent Pops, Autos Drop
Having surged to its highest since 2008 in February, Core CPI's YoY gain inched back from 2.3% to 2.2% YoY in March hovering at post-crisis highs. The food index declined in March, as did the cost of 'shelter' and medical care but used cars and truck prices declined, as we noted previously. Still above Fed "mandate" levels and near 8 year highs...
Frontrunning: April 13
- Boeing Co has opened talks to sell airliners to Iran in what would be one of the highest-profile deals between a U.S. company and Tehran since the West lifted nuclear sanctions on the country in January. (http://on.wsj.com/1S1F4kw) - A congressional impeachment committee voted late Monday to recommend a Senate trial for President Dilma Rousseff on charges of manipulating public finances, in a raucous session that sets up a decision this weekend by the entire lower house of congress.
Frontrunning: April 6
- Pfizer Inc has decided to kill its planned $150 billion takeover of Allergan PLC, after the Obama administration took aim at a deal that would have moved the biggest drug company in the U.S. to Ireland to lower its taxes, according to people familiar with the matter.
Why "The Fed Can't Save Us": The Simple Explanation From Austrian Business Cycle Theory
The Fed Can't Save Us In December, the Fed hiked its target for the federal funds rate, which is the interest rate banks charge each other for overnight loans of reserves. Since 2008 the Fed’s target for the Fed Funds Rate had been a range of 0 percent – 0.25 percent (or what is referred to as zero to 25 “basis points”). But last month they moved that target range up to 0.25 – 0.50 percent. Ending a seven-year period of effectively zero percent interest rates.
Squeezed By Rivals, Al Qaeda Fights To Stay Relevant
A string of unusual attacks by al Qaeda's North African branch could shed some light on the jihadist group's latest predicament. Pressure is mounting on al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to counter the Islamic State's growing encroachment on its territory, resources and pool of recruits. The rise of an effective rival for the helm of global jihadism has forced al Qaeda to step up its game, especially in areas where it has been weakened.
Iran Oil Minister Rejects Saudi Demand To Freeze Crude Production
In the aftermath of Bloomberg's surprising Friday report, according to which Saudi Arabia flipflopped on its previous promise that it would freeze its oil output while allowing Iran to grow supply until it hit its pre-embargo peak, instead saying that it would only join the freeze curbe Iran - and all other OPEC member nations - also joined, crude tanked.
The New Part-Time Job: "Get Paid $15 An Hour To Protest At The Trump Rally"
For those wondering why Trump rallies tend to devolve to pugilistic matches, where even belligerent 15-year-old protesting (or perhaps "provocative" is a better word) girls end up getting pepper sprayed much to the media's fascination, the answer is Craig's List ads such as the one below, in which allegedly "I'm feelin' the Bern"-affiliated organizers provide paid positions for protesters at Trump rallies, and which provide not only shuttle buses, parking, and signs (as well as time cards)...
This (Crashing) Trend Is Not Your Friend
Despite Yellen's best efforts today to basically dismiss any and all data as irrelevant going forward in The Fed's decision-making process, we suspect all eyes (and algos) will be firmly glued to this week's payrolls' data. Will it be another record month for Obama to crow about? Will Mark Zandi do the "told you so dance" to all the trump supporters who seem less exuberant about the recovery?
Condaleeza Rice To Struggling Ukrainians: "Be Thankful You're Not In Liberia"
Earlier this month while delivering a public lecture in Kiev, “The Challenges of an Ever-Changing World,” former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an inspiring remark for anyone who might have been thinking that life in Ukraine was bad: Ironically, Forbes Ukraine reacted to this with a slightly perplexed analysis that nonetheless led to a conclusion of flawless logic: “Although Liberia has one of the weakest economies in the world, it lags only slightly behind Ukraine with respect...
The Threat Continues: Yuan Weakens For 6th Straight Day - Longest Losing Streak In 2 Years
PBOC fixed the Yuan at its weakest in 3 weeks, pushing the devaluation streak to its longest since early January. However, Offshore Yuan has now dropped over 1.1% against the USD, extending losses for the 6th straight day to 3-week lows. This is the longest streak of weakness in the offshore Yuan since April 2014. It appears EUR and JPY took enough pain so the basket is revrting to the USD again...
Another False Oil Price Rally: Crossing A Boundary
The oil-price rally that began in mid-February will almost certainly collapse. It is similar to the false March-June 2015 rally. In both cases, prices increased largely because of sentiment. As in the earlier rally, current storage volumes are too large and demand is too weak to sustain higher prices for long. WTI prices have increased 47% over the past 20 days from $26.21 in mid-February to $38.50 last week (Figure 1). Figure 1. NYMEX WTI futures prices & OVX oil-price volatility, 2015-2016.
These Illiquid Companies Are Most At Risk During Today's S&P Rebalance
In addition to today's opex witching, at the close of trading today the S&P will conduct its quarterly index rebalance changes. As Credit Suisse notes, there are no constituent changes during this review, only weight adjustments and according to the bank's adjustments, indexers will need to trade approximately $14.5bn to move to new index weights, of which $13.3 billion will take place in the S&P, accounting for 0.7% of the total two-way turnover.
Ackman Loses $1 Billion, Pershing Square Fund Halted
Circuit-breakers kicked in as Pershing Square Holdings, the publicly traded vehicle led by hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, has been halted. With the stock down over 11%, Bill Ackman's 30.7mm share personal holding means a paper loss of nearly $1 billion when the stock hit its intraday low of just over $3, down $32 on the day. The stock trades on Euronext Amsterdam: But there is a US tracker: As Valeant is now down over 45% on the day. Bye bye "tres commas" club?
Having Killed Their Equity Market, China Unleashes "Tobin Tax" For FX Market
In September last year, Chinese regulators stepped on the throat of a 'fair' market in equity futures trading and for all intent and purpose killed the Chinese equity market. Tonight - after 2 days of Yuan weakness - having warned everyon from Soros to Kyle Bass that "betting against the Yuan can't possibly work," The PBOC just unleashed plans for so-called "Tobin Tax" on FX transactions (which implicitly taxes each transaction, reducing liquidity, raising margins and reducing leverage).
Gold ETF Holdings Rise For Record 40 Straight Days
Yesterday marked the 40th day in a row that total known holdings of Gold in ETFs rose. Not since January 6th has the precious metal seen a reduction in holdings. This is the longest streak of increased holdings since ETFs were born... It seems, despite exuberant equity bounces, reassurance about the awesomeness of the "jobs" recovery, and Fed confidence-inspiring jawboning that more than a handful of 'goldbugs' are hoarding the pet rock. Charts: Bloomberg
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