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Articles by Lurk Skywatcher
Hundreds Of Victims Are Suing MGM Resorts Over Las Vegas Shooting
In a lawsuit that could have wide-ranging ramifications for the nightlife industry in Las Vegas, Business Insider reports, hundreds of victims of the Oct. 1 mass shooting have joined class-action lawsuits against MGM Resorts International, owner of the Mandalay Bay resort and casino, where shooter Stephen Paddock fired on a crowd of 20,000 country music fans from his perch in a 32nd floor hotel suite in what became the deadliest mass shooting in US history.
Is This The Real Driver Of Gold's Recent Weakness?
If you are a precious metals investor then you may be wondering why the price of gold and silver has been slammed in recent weeks... amid ever-increasing nuclear armageddon rhetoric, storms, quakes, floods, and a central bank (that is notoriously bad at forecasting) about to attempt to do something with its balance sheet thathas never been achieved... The answer is surprisingly simple... China's Golden Week Holiday.
"It's All Fun & War-Games" In Russia, Until...
Amid Russia's largest wargames yet, with over 100,000 taking part in "Zapad 2017" according to NATO, independent news site Fontanka.ru has released footage of a rather shocking event. Reuters reports that a military helicopter on a rural training exercise in western Russia mistakenly fired rockets at a group of parked vehicles, knocking at least one person to the ground, footage posted by Russian news sites and on social media showed.
Schiff Calls On House Intel Chair To Recuse Himself From Russia Probe; Nunes Refuses
Update: Nunes has refused to step down from the Russia probe, The Hill reports. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee told reporters Monday evening he will not step down from the committee's investigation into Russia's interference in the United States presidential election, despite a chorus of Democratic lawmakers demanding he recuse himself. "Everything is politics here," Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said, as reported by a journalist from Voice of America.
US Spy Agency Tweets Honest Opinion Of China's Obama Snub; Then Promptly Deletes And Apologizes
Yesterday we noted how President Obama received a very undiplomatic welcome in China for his last official visit to the country as Commander in Chief (see "Tarmac Altercation Erupts After Obama Lands In China: Official Shouts "This Is Our Country, Our Airport"").
"Incredibly Stupid" Juncker Opens Pandora's Box
Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog, Remember the referendum in April in which voters in the Netherlands rejected the EU-Ukraine trade deal? Seems forever ago, doesn’t it? But to date nothing has been done with the outcome of the vote, even though Dutch law requires a government to implement referendum outcomes as swiftly as possible.
Peak Youth | Zero Hedge
The world will experience "peak youth" in 2020 for the first time in human history, as the number of people aged over 65 is expected to outnumber those under 5 years old. As BofAML notes, a key implication of an aging population is that an economy's savings rate tends to rise while increases in investments tend to decline. It is this aging global population that has thwarted the "war on deflation" in recent years (among other things like excess debt, deleveraging, and technical disruption)...
Deutsche Bank Unveils The Next Step: "QE Has Run Its Course, It's Time To Tax Wealth"
Helicopter money may be on the horizon, but if Deutsche Bank has its way, there is at least one intermediate step. According to DB's Dominic Konstam, now that the benefits QE "have run their course", it is time for the next, and far more drastic step: "the ECB and BoJ should move more strongly toward penalizing savings via negative retail deposit rates or perhaps wealth taxes.
"The Men Behind The Curtain Are Being Revealed" - CEO Says Real-World Pricing To Return To Gold & Silver Markets
Astute observers of financial markets, especially in the precious metals sector, have long argued that small concentrations of major market players have been manipulating asset prices. Last week those suspicions were confirmed when Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s leading financial institutions, not only admitted to regulators that they have been involved in the racket, but that they were prepared to turn over records implicating many of their cohorts in a global scheme to suppress prices.
China Embraces Gold In Advance Of Post-Dollar Era
To challenge the US dollar hegemony and increase its power in the global realm of finance, China has a potent gold strategy. Whilst the State Council is preparing itself for the inevitable decay of the current international monetary system, it has firmly embraced gold in its economy.
The Difference Between Bernie's & Hillary's Tax Plan Explained In 1 Simple Cartoon
On the one hand... One can't help but look at the current debacle and consider whether, just as we warned, The Cloward-Piven strategy is reaching a pivotal moment... In the mid-sixties at the height of the “social revolution” the line between democratic benevolence and outright communism became rather blurry.
What is Coming? Elite Feverishly Building Survival Bunkers: "Fear Of Uprising From The 99%"
Panicked members of the elite are buying luxury bomb-proof underground survival bunkers because they fear mass civil unrest might be on the horizon. The company behind the construction of the sprawling complexes, Vivos, says the facilities are for the “protection of high net worth individuals” in the event of apocalyptic-style scenarios during which “millions will perish or worse yet, struggle to survive as victims”.
Is Tail Risk Really At An 18-Month Low?
The CBOE SKEW Index just closed at its lowest level since October 2014 – but is tail risk in the stock market really that low? We often stress the importance of taking indicators and data at face value as much as possible, avoiding the temptation to qualify or *asterisk* readings that don’t seem to fit the narrative. That said, it is also important to be familiar enough with an indicator’s behavior to recognize when truly atypical or outlier readings are issued.
The Nattering Naybobs Of Normalization (A Tale Of 3 Fed Heads)
Authored by Bill Bonner of Bonner & Partners (annotated by Acting-Man.com's Pater Tenebrarum), During our lifetime, three Fed chiefs have faced a similar challenge. Each occupied the chairman’s seat at a time when “normalization” of interest rates was in order. Recently, we remembered William McChesney Martin, head of the U.S. Fed under the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. Today, we compare Martin with two of his successors, Mr. Paul Volcker and Ms. Janet Yellen.
The Biggest Short
Authored by StraightLineLogic.com's Robert Gore via The Burning Platform blog, Some reversals of financial trends prove so momentous they define the generation in which they occur. The stock market crash in 1929 kicked off the Great Depression, which ushered in the welfare and then the warfare state and redefined the relationship between government and citizens. Bonds and stocks began their bull market runs in the early 1980s.
The Next Cockroach Emerges: Including Undrawn Loans, Canadian Banks Exposure To Oil Doubles
One month ago, when we looked at the (very opaque) European banking sector and the pains it was undergoing as a result of its China and commodity exposure, we asked whether Canadian banks are next, focusing on the uncharacteristically low reserves local banks have to the loans in the oil and gas sector.
Until Today, I Assumed Putin’s Russia Killed Litvinenko … Then I Looked for Myself
I’ve always assumed that Putin’s KGB (now called the FSB) killed Alexander Litvinenko. But today’s announcement by the British that Putin “probably” approved Litvinenko’s murder made me curious enough to take a look for myself. Initially, Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium as he sipped tea in an upscale London hotel. The report makes it sound like only Russia had access to polonium, but it’s actually available online to anyone.
Hedge Fund Which Predicted The Subprime Crisis Expects Massive Yuan Devaluation In 2016
Earlier this month, even before China unleashed the end phase of its latest currency devaluation which since forced the PBOC to enforce even more capital controls to avoid accelerating capital outflows, Kyle Bass revealed that his best investment idea for 2016 was to short the Chinese currency: He did not specify exactly what he means by "pretty material devaluation" however according to our own December calculations, an indicative number is likely in the 10-15% ballpark.
Photographer Captures Amazing Time-Lapse Video Of Trident Ballistic Missile Launch
Earlier today, we reported that just after 9pm local time on Saturday evening, a dramatic white light lit up not only all of California, but stretches of Arizona and Nevada, in what was subsequently revealed to be an unannounced launch of a Trident II (D5) missile from the Kentucky, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine situated off Point Mugu.
GOP Debate III: The Battle Of Boulder Begins - Live Feed
It's that time again. From 'jolted' Jeb to 'cool' Carly and from 'calm' Carson to 'turmoiling' Trump, for some of the GOP presidential nominee candidates, tonight could be the last hoorah in a campaign that has seen apolitical entrants dominate the mainstream Washington muppets.
The Humiliation Is Complete: ISIS Fighters Cut Off Beards And Run Away As Russia, Iran Close In
The thing about ragtag groups of militants that display a penchant for extreme violence is that in the absence of serious opposition, they can rack up gains at an alarming pace.
Russia Is Destabilizing Syria… According To The People Currently Destabilizing Syria
Russia is destabilizing Syria — according to those destabilizing Syria. In a move many consider to be an act of bitter defiance to the West, the Russian government appears to have significantly increased its military aid to the Syrian regime. This support hinges largely on the provision of providing advanced weaponry — such as tanks and artillery — training Syrian soldiers to use those weapons systems, and Russian-led airstrikesagainst ISIS.
The Junk Bond Heatmap Has Not Been This Red In A Long Time
It has been a tough year for equity investors: nearly seven months in and the S&P 500 has been caught in what may be its narrowest trading range in history, fluctuating between unchanged and up 4% for the year for the past 6 months (which is not unexpected for those who have said the only thing that matters for the US market is the growth, or lack thereof, of the Fed's balance sheet).
Greece May Sue Goldman Over Bank's Role In Greek Collapse
It's Goldman Sachs' world, we just happen to live in it. That rather unfortunate, yet exceedingly accurate, characterization of the global financial and geopolitical landscape seemingly becomes more true with the passage of time and perhaps nowhere is it more evident than Europe, where the common currency experiment (which never had any hope of working without some semblance of a fiscal union) is on the brink of collapse.
Why China Has No Choice But To Arrest The Sellers
After dozens of separate interventions, manipulations, and central-planning machinations over the past three weeks, China resorted to threats overnight when it called for the arrest of "hostile short sellers." The reason they went full Orwell, this is the great loss of 'wealth' in China's history... China's $2 trillion loss in 17 days is the equivalent of 1 India, or... In other words, China has to stop the bleeding before it loses another India...
"Contained?" Robot Dies 3 Hours After Entering Fukushima Reactor
We are sure this is nothing to worry about... and Japanese officials will re-iterate that everything is on track but when a snake-like robot sent to inspect a reactor containment vessel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant dies three hours into the operation, one might wonder just how "contained" the radiation situations really is.
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