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Articles by Stu Elsample
"$1MM Per Minute In Salaries, $22BN Per Year In Vacation Pay" And Other Fun Facts About The Federal Workforce
The folks at Open The Books decided to take a deep dive into the salaries of 1.97 million federal employees, using data collected from the Office Of Personnel Management and the USPS via FOIA requests, and the endless examples of excessive pay and pure waste are sure to make you sick, if not downright suicidal. Here are just some of the key takeaways as summarized by OTB: 1. The federal government pays its disclosed workforce $1 million per minute, $66 million per hour, and $524 million per day.
Can You Do A Backflip? Because This Robot Can
Since being founded in 1992 with funding from DARPA, robotics company Boston Dynamics has unveiled one nightmarish robotic creation after another. But the company outdid itself this week when it introduced the latest iteration of its ‘Atlas’ robot.
Hillary Clinton Lied, Paid For "Trump Dossier"
What was previously widely suspected has now been confirmed.
In Latest Banking Scandal, Barclays' CEO Probed For Attempt To "Unmask" Whistleblower
It appears that "unmasking" is not merely a scandalous ploy employed in US politics. Overnight, Barclays CEO Jes Staley has unleashed the latest banking scandal, following reports he is facing major sanctions from UK regulators and a “very significant” pay cut for trying to uncover the identity of an internal whistleblower.
Trump Meet Trudeau: Key Events In Washington Today
Here’s a look at scheduled events of interest today in Washington, courtesy of Bloomberg. All times Eastern.
Oroville Dam Evacuations: Here Are The Latest Updates
Following a woefully belated response by California authorities' to the dangerous situation unfolding at the Lake Oroville Dam in Northern California over the weekend, an evacuation order forcing some 200,000 people living below the tallest dam in the US remained in place early on Monday after residents were abruptly told to flee when a spillway appeared in danger of collapse. The Oroville dam is nearly full following winter storms that brought relief to the state after four years of drought.
Kremlin Denies It Has "Compromising" Dossier On Trump, Calls Intel Report "Complete Fabrication"
Responding to the latest report accusing Trump of being a Russian pawn (which may at least partially have been the spawn of a 4Chan hoax), the Kremlin said on Wednesday it was "total nonsense" that Russian officials had assembled a file of compromising information on Donald Trump.
US Destroyer Fired Warning Shots At Four Iranian Vessels In Strait Of Hormuz
In the latest dangerously close encounter between US and Iranian navies, Reuters reports that a U.S. Navy destroyer fired three warning shots at four of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels on Sunday after they closed in at a high rate of speed in the Strait of Hormuz, according to two U.S. defense officials. The Reuters sources said that the USS Mahan established radio communication with the boats but they did not respond to requests to slow down.
Trump Tweets Taunt: "Happy New Year To My Many Enemies Who Lost So Badly"
Taking a slightly mutated page out of the Vladimir Putin "taking the high road" book, on Saturday morning Donald Trump tweeted New Year’s greeting to all, while taunting those "many enemies" who opposed him. “Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love!” Trump wrote hours before the end of 2016.
"Horrified, Shocked" Merkel Says "We Must Assume This Was A Terrorist Attack"
In a move interpreted by the market as boosting the political chances of her opponents, this morning German chancellor Angela Merkel, dressed all in black for her first public comments on Monday's tragic incident, said the deadly truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market was likely an act of terrorism and pledged to punish those responsible for the attack "with the full strength of our law." In a nationally televised statement in Berlin, Merkel said she was "horrified, shaken and deeply...
Donald Trump Is Time Magazine's 2016 "Person Of The Year"
One year after narrowly losing to Angela Merkel (and tied with ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), Donald Trump has finally won the 2016 Time "Person of the Year Award", the person - or idea - who according to the magazine has most influenced the news and the world in the past year, for good or ill. “It’s a great honor. It means a lot,” Trump told NBC's "Today" show.
OPEC Scrambles To Salvage Oil Deal In 11th Hour As Tensions Spike
One day after Saudi Arabia raised the prospect that Wednesday's OPEC summit in Vienna may conclude without a deal (which also was spun as optimistic as the market would still revert to "equilibrium", however it was unclear at what price), OPEC members tried on Monday to rescue a deal to limit oil output as tensions grew among the producer group and non-OPEC member Russia.
One Shot Dead Outside South Jersey Mall On Black Friday
For yet another year, Black Friday has started off with a (deadly) bang, and as CBS reports, police are investigating a shooting outside of a South Jersey mall on Black Friday. It happened early this morning in South Jersey outside of the Macys department store at the Hamilton Mall, near Atlantic City. CBS 3’s Trang Do reports one person has died in the shooting.
Hunter S. Thomson's Prescient 1972 Warning
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, While on the campaign trail in 1972, Hunter S. Thomson issued a dire warning that is more true today than it ever has been. He warned us about what would happen to the country if we continued along the destructive path he noticed nearly 45 years ago. He observed that if Americans continued to accept “lesser of two evilism” the only thing we’d end up with would be increased evil. He was right.
Stunning Images From America's Most Important Aquifer
The Ogallala aquifer stretches from South Dakota all the way south to Texas and is the largest aquifer in the United States holding as much water as Lake Huron at 2.9 billion acre feet. The Ogallala single handedly turned the arid High Plains region of the midwest into a $20 billion a year agricultural powerhouse that produces one-fifth of the country's wheat, corn and beef cattle. The problem is that the water in the Ogallala, like many aquifers in the world, is being pumped dry.
Trump Surges In Latest CNN Poll, Takes 3 Point Lead Over Hillary
Accelerating the post-Trump speech/RNC convention "bounce" we noted over the weekend, CNN today reports that Trump has taken a dramatic 48% - 45% head-to-head lead over Hillary in the latest CNN/ORC Poll, conducted July 22-24. This represents a substantial 6% surge in support for Trump since the last poll conducted on July 16, and opens up Trump's largest lead over Clinton since September 2015.
China Bans Websites From Original Reporting
It was about six months ago when global stock markets were crashing, that China tightened its control on local media, and ordered the local press and news outlets to stick to "positive reporting" or else "risk the stability of the country." As we reported back in February "China is now openly declaring war on anyone who dares to even suggest that not all may be well in China.
All You Need To Know About Germany's "Most Stringent" Gun Ownership Laws
Just for clarification: What is not mentioned is that not only do you have to have a reason to hold a gun but: a) at least one year membership in a gun club with documented regular and supervised training. Each training session must be logged in a shooting book and countersigned by the club b) stringent theoretical requirements on knowledge of gun technology functioning, safe use, ammunitions and all legal aspects of the german gun law. A test must be passed on all these subjects.
Melania Trump Accused Of Plagiarising Convention Speech From Michelle Obama
The highlight of the first day of the Republican convention was the speech by Donald Trump's wife Melania, who was seeking to make a memorable impression on the world, and may have done just that... only not in the way she had envisioned. Because in her potentially breakthrough moment, Melania appears to have lifted some of her first night convention speech from a surprising source: a similar speech by none other than Michelle Obama. Indeed, while the delegates applauded Mrs.
Obama Administration Explains Its Own "Plagiarism" Was Merely "Inspiration"
With the 'p' word being lobbed around by Republican and Democrat today as Melania and Michelle battled to the death over who is the plagiarizer-est, we are reminded that it wasn't too long ago that the media turned a blind eye when President Barack Obama was busted plagiarizing from Deval Patrick... and today The White House press secretary explained "Obama didn't plagiarize... he was 'inspired by'" the former Massachusetts Governor. As Fox News' Hannity reminds...
Which Countries Have The Most Immigrants?
Submitted by Dan Kopf via Priceonomics.com, Immigration is now at the center of American and British politics. One of the primary reasons the British voted to leave the European Union was anti-immigration sentiment. Donald Trump’s rise as a major political figure – with over 40% of voting public supporting him – is largely attributable to his insistence that curtailing immigration is the way to regain America’s “greatness”.
Erdogan Purges 8,000 Cops As Europe Voices Concern Coup Was Staged With "Prepared Arrest Lists"
Overnight Turkish president Erdogan's counter-coup witch hunt continued, when thousands of police officers were suspended on Monday, widening a systemic purge of Erdogan's enemies first in the armed forces and then judiciary after a failed military coup, now focusing on the interior police force, and raising concern among European allies that it was abandoning the rule of law.
US Futures Rebound Sharply From Friday's Coup Fears, Focus Shifts To M&A
Having panciked briefly on Friday night on news of a Turkish coup, which has since not only failed but been cast away as speculation rises that it was staged and designed to give Erdogan even more authoritarian power, markets have moved on and are now focusing on the main overnight event which was the surprising $32 billion bid by Japan's SoftBank for U.K.’s semiconductor giant ARM Holdings Plc which has soared 45%, crushing the recently rising short base, sending comparable semis higher in...
Anti-Trump Dissidents Disrupt Convention, Fail To Stop Nomination
In a brief period of excitement (especially for completely unbiased John Harwood), Republican factions trying to stop Donald Trump's nomination noisily disrupted a vote on party convention rules. But, as The Hill reports, the Republican National Committee ignored the outcry from the angry delegates and adopted the convention's rules by a voice vote, rebuffing shouts by those looking to mount a last-ditch effort to sink Donald Trump.
Did "China" Just Buy The Most Important Company In The World?
In the aftermath of last night stunning announcement that Japan's Internet giant SoftBank would acquire UK-based ARM Holdings, a company which makes chips present in virtually every mobile and "connected" device, for $32 billion, sending the semiconductor sector surging, questions emerged why the company is doing this.
"The Credit Ponzi Is Dead" - Brexit Or Not, The Pound Will Crash
Submitted by Eugen von Bohm Bawerk via Bawerk.net, Status quo, as our generation know it, established in 1945 has plodded along ever since. It is true that it have had near death experiences several times, especially in August 1971 when the world almost lost faith in the global reserve currency and in 2008 when the fractional reserve Ponzi nearly consumed itself.
French Terror Suspect Named As Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, A "Well-Known" Tunisian Criminal
Now that the initial shock of the Nice Bastille Day terror attack which claimed at least 84 lives has passed, and the investigation into the causes and motives behind the latest tragic mass killing has begun.
Congress To Release Classified "28 Pages" Detailing Saudi Involvement In 9/11 As Soon As Friday
Four months ago, Saudi Arabia went "nuclear" when it emerged that Congress was preparing legislation which would allow plaintiffs to sue the Kingdom for its involvement in the September 11, with Saudi officials going so far as threatening to liquidate their holdings of US reserves.
Sterling Jumps As Bank Of England Disappoints - Holds Rate Unchanged, No New QE
With markets pricing in an 86% chance of a rate-cut (compared to 11% pre-Brexit) and hopes high for some form of increased QE, Bank of England's Carney had highly dovish expectations to live up to today. Cable and FTSE were both rallying into the decision (with Gilt yields slightly higher). Given that there has been little post-Brexit data to show any effects, Carney appears to have decided to wait...
Stocks Rally - Is Brexit Systemic Risks Contained?
Equity markets globally have rebounded to their pre-Brexit levels and volatility in financial markets is the lowest that it has been for a month. Even the precious metals rally has taken a breather. Are the markets suggesting that the fallout from Brexit is less than previously thought and that the systemic risk posed by the UK leaving the EU is contained.
“Moderate” US-Backed Islamic Rebels Are Committing Torture, Kidnapping and Other War Crimes … And Imposing Sharia Law
In a new report, Amnesty International documents war crimes by US-backed groups. Ahrar al-Sham. Secretary of State Kerry just said that this group is a “subgroup” of both ISIS and Al Nusra (Al Nusra is Al Qaeda). Ahrar al-Sham is supported by close Western allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey (the latter is a NATO member).
Paul Craig Roberts Warns "'Adolf Hitler' Is Alive & Well In The US"
Authored by Paul Craig Roberts, originally posted at Strategic-Culture.org, Gestapo America FBI Director James Comey got Hillary off the hook but wants to put you on it. He is pushing hard for warrantless access to all of your Internet activity.
Gundlach Gets More Bearish, Says "Big Money" To Be Made On The "Short Side"
As we noted yesterday, in his latest webcast to DoubleLine investors, Jeff Gundlach confirmed the key points from his weekend Barrons which summarized his outlook that "things will get worse in the future, not better." But while Gundlach's skeptical bent has been well-known, we also learned that Gundlach has been actively adding to shorts as the market breaks out to new record highs.
Deutsche Bank CoCo Bonds Soar To 11.5% Yield Following Bailout Demands
Submitted by Anthony Sanders via Confounded Interest blog, No, a Coco bond is not a new Chanel perfume or a Hersheys product. Rather, CoCo stands for contingent convertible capital instrument (CoCo) are is a hybrid capital security that absorbs losses when the capital of the issuing bank (such as Deutsche Bank) falls below a certain level. Italy’s Unicredit and Spain’s Banco Santander have higher CoCo bond yields.
The ECB’s Bank Stress Test Shows Fatal Errors
Source: riskdynamics.eu The United States have learned from their bad experiences during the Global Financial Crisis wherein almost its entire financial system was going down in flames. Stress tests to find out how banks would be able to deal with economic adverse scenarios became mandatory, and the European Union followed suit with its stress tests in 2011, followed by a series of check-ups later on.
Bahamas Issues Travel Advisory: "Avoid Interaction With US Policemen"
You know it's bad when... The Bahamas government Friday is urging nationals to exercise caution if they intend on travelling to the United States following the shooting deaths of five police officers in Dallas on Thursday night. Over 90 percent of residents in the Bahamas are black, and Monday is a national holiday - commemorating its 43rd anniversary of political independence from Britain - which, as WaPo notes, means some will travel north from the archipelago to vacation in the United States.
The Rise Of Hillary Clinton - Survival Of The Morally Unfittest?
Submitted by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org, Does Hillary Clinton possess the integrity and honesty to be president of the United States? Or are those quaint and irrelevant considerations in electing a head of state in 21st-century America? These are the questions put on the table by the report from FBI Director James Comey on what his agents unearthed in their criminal investigation of the Clinton email scandal.
If Senseless Violence Continues, America Will Be A Total Police State In No Time
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, As soon as I saw the video of the Alton Sterling shooting on Wednesday, I had a very, very bad feeling about where this was all headed. In fact, I became so concerned I wrote a post titled, A Period of Major Civil Unrest is Coming – How to Win an Inevitable Confrontation with the Status Quo.
Sweden: Rampant Sexual Assaults Steam On
Submitted by Ingrid Carlqvist via The Gatestone Institute, One Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Sweden: May 2016 The police released a report noting that Sweden is at the top of the EU's statistics on physical and sexual violence against women, sexual harassment and stalking. The report stated unequivocally that it is "asylum-seeker boys" and "foreign men" who commit the vast majority of the reported crimes.
Nigel Farage Steps Down As UKIP Leader, Adding To Post-Brexit Political Turmoil
Nigel Farage, UKIP leader and passionate advocate for the UK to leave the European Union, announced unexpectedly today that he is stepping down as party leader, just days after he led a successful, and historic, campaign to Leave the European Union.
Futures Slide As Italian Banks Drag Risk Lower; Sterling Tumbles; Bond Yields Drop To New Record Lows
The festering wound involving Italian banks in general and Italy's third largest bank Monte Paschi, just got worse yet again, as the bank which suddenly everyone is focused on extends yesterday’s 14% drop, and is halted in Milan trading after falling 7%, once again dragging down European bank stocks with it, and this time US equity futures are starting to notice.
NRA Furious After California Passes "Draconian" Gun-Control Laws, Limits Assault Weapons
Just three months after signing a $15/hour minimum wage into law, a proposal which as he himself admitted "doesn't make economic sense" and which unleashed an exodus of locals departing for other states, on Friday afternoon, California governor Jerry Brown once again pandered to liberals (while ironically angering some democrats in the legislature) when he signed a sweeping package of gun control bills on Friday, banning high-capacity ammunition magazines and expanding the definition of...
Hacked Emails Confirm NATO Push To Provoke, Escalate Conflict With Russia
Obama defied political pressure from hawks in Congress and the military to provide lethal assistance to the Ukrainian government, fearing that doing so would increase the bloodshed and provide Russian President Vladimir Putin with the justification for deeper incursions into the country. Breedlove, during briefings to Congress, notably contradicted the Obama administration regarding the situation in Ukraine, leading to news stories about conflict between the general and Obama.
Austrian Court Orders Rerun Of Presidential Election After Finding "Widespread" Voting Fraud
In yet another slap in the face for an already reeling Europe, moments ago Austria's Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that the presidential runoff election must be held again, handing the Freedom Party's narrowly defeated candidate another chance to become the first right-wing head of state in the European Union.
Futures Stumble As Global Bond Yields Drop To All Time Lows, Precious Metals Spike
Whether it is due to the conclusion of quarter-end window dressing, or due to a more poor manufacturing data out of China overnight, but the new quarter is starting off poorly for risk with Europe flat and US equities lower, while the scramble for safety means that bond yields across the developed world just hit new all time lows as precious metals are surging once again on ongoing speculation central banks will do anything to keep markets propped up and buy up even more assets.
US Treasury Yields Hit New Record Lows
Finally. With bond yields across the rest of the developed world already making new record lows every day, only the US had so far refused to take out all time lows set back in 2012. That finally changed overnight when the 10Y Treasury dropped -9 bps to 1.3784%, while the 30Y declined by the same amount, sliding as low as to 2.1914%.
Yuan Tumbles, Stabilizes After Reuters Report China Willing To Weaken Yuan To 6.80
Until Boris Johnson's shocking announcement moments ago that he would not run for Tory leadership or the UK premiership, the key macro event overnight was a report out of Reuters that China's central bank is willing to let the yuan fall to 6.8 per dollar in 2016 to support the economy, which would mean the currency matching last year's record decline of 4.5 percent.
Day 3 Of Global Post-Brexit Rally: European Stocks, US Futures At Session Highs
Day three of the post-Brexit rally continues, and after some initial weakness due to concerns about Chinese currency devaluation, both European stock and US equity futures were trading at session highs, facilitated by yesterday's stress test results which saw dozens of US banks unleash a tsunami of stock buyback announcement which in turn pushed S&P futures to new post-Brexit highs.
Global Stock Surge Continues As "Investors Look To Central Banks For Support"
Now that a second UK referendum appears to be out of the question and as a result there is no need to further punish UK risk assets in hopes of "changing people's minds", the risk on rally (especially with quarter end looming) can return, and so it has, with global stocks and US equity futures staging another surge overnight led by Japan (+1.6%) and China (+0.7%), and certainly Europe where moments ago the Stoxx 600 and Dax hit session highs, rising 2.6% and 1.9% respectively.
"Panic May Have Passed... But This Is Far From Over"
Don’t read too much into the relief rally of the past 24 hours, warns Bloomberg's Mark Cudmore. While the initial panic may have passed, markets are very far away from having fully priced the impact of the referendum. For a start, there’s still little firm grasp of exactly what the impact will be... In any major bout of risk-aversion, the sell-offs don’t happen in a straight line; bear markets see declining liquidity and hence heightened volatility.
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