Mar 09

Today’s News 9th March 2018

  • Trump Administration To Release Obama-Era Fast And Furious Documents

    Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

    We may finally get some answers to the high-level Obama administration’s gun-running scandal dubbed “Fast and Furious.”  The Trump administration is promising to release the documents pertaining to that scandal that were withheld by former Attorney General, Eric Holder.

    Operation Fast and Furious was the Obama-era operation in coordination with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in which the federal government allowed criminals to buy guns in Phoenix-area shops with the intention of tracking them as they were transported into Mexico. But the agency lost track of more than 1,400 of the 2,000 guns they allowed smugglers to buy.

    “For over six years, the House Oversight Committee has fought for additional documents related to Operation Fast and Furious. Today, the Committee finally reached a conditional settlement with the Department of Justice,” Amanda Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement to Fox News.

    “The Committee seeks all relevant facts so we can learn from the mistakes made by the Justice Department. We have a responsibility to uncover why they worked so hard to hide this information from the Committee, the family of [slain border patrol agent] Brian Terry, and the American people.”

    Brian Terry was killed in 2010 by an illegal immigrant with a weapon used in the botched Operation Fast and Furious. Terry died in a gunfight between Border Patrol agents and members of a six-man cartel “rip crew,” which patrolled the desert along the U.S.-Mexico border looking for drug dealers to rob. The cartel member suspected of killing Terry was apprehended in 2017.

    Terry’s brother, Kent Terry also wants the scandal investigated.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    “We need to find out the truth, exactly what happened, how it happened, why it happened,” Kent Terry said on Fox & Friends Tuesday.

     

    “We need Mr. Trump, President Trump, to unseal the documents, reverse executive privilege so that we know what happened, and that we can hold the people accountable that are responsible.”

    According to Fox News, the Justice Department entered into a conditional settlement agreement with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The settlement agreement was filed in federal court in Washington D.C. and ends six years of litigation arising out of the previous administration’s refusal to produce records requested by the committee.

    “The Department of Justice under my watch is committed to transparency and the rule of law,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement Wednesday. “This settlement agreement is an important step to make sure that the public finally receives all the facts related to Operation Fast and Furious.”

    The White House has yet to release an official statement on the Justice Department’s settlement.

  • Pentagon "Disappointed" That Putin Will Use New Weapons To "Intimidate And Coerce" The US

    During a Wednesday meeting with members of Congress to testify about the Pentagon’s latest budget request, one US military leader told lawmakers that he was “disappointed” with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent unveiling of a powerful nuclear weapon, adding that the Russian leader will likely use it to “further intimidate” the US and its NATO allies, per RT.

    “I think the statements made by Russian president Putin while not surprising were nonetheless disappointing. While we have been aware of the development of Russia’s capabilities and watching with concern some of the development that has occurred in terms of Russia’s doctrine and exercise program, it is nonetheless disappointing to see that the president of the Russian Federation chose to feature these capabilities in a way that he did,” John Rood, under secretary of defense policy, told the House Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, during the discussion.

    Another leader, Commander of US Strategic Command Gen. John Hyten, said Putin’s declarations were “not surprising”.

    “Putin’s statements are not surprising and only reinforce Russia’s commitment to develop weapons designed to intimidate and coerce the US and its allies,” Hyten said.

    During his annual state-of-the-nation address to Russian lawmakers last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked the world – grabbing headlines in US and other western media – by unveiling a new intercontinental missile that Putin claimed is capable of evading US missile defenses. Putin accompanied this announcement with a presentation showing footage of weapons testing, as well as digital representations of what a launch would look like.

    Putin once again blamed the US for Russia’s decision to develop its newest weapons, claiming that George W Bush’s decision to withdraw from the anti-ballistic missile treaty in 2002.

    In response to Putin’s demonstration, a Pentagon spokeswoman said last week saying that “the US has known for a long time that Russia has been developing destabilizing weapons systems…” and that the US is “fully prepared” to handle the advances threat. On Wednesday, Hood echoed that statement, admitting that Russia’s new weapons systems had probably been in development for “quite some time.

    “Those capabilities have obviously been in development for quite some time. President Putin talked about their maturity. They are clearly not the capabilities that were developed in the last few months or the last year,” Rood admitted.

    Perhaps more surprisingly, he also claimed that US-led NATO missile defense systems were “never intended” to neutralize either the Russian or the Chinese strategic nuclear arsenal. “That has not been our plan in focus and the capabilities developed do not enable us to do that,” he said.

    Still, the US still has enough nuclear and conventional-weapons heft to counter what he referred to as “revisionist powers” that are seeking to “reshape the world order and change territorial borders.”

    Hyten agreed, and warned lawmakers that, without massive investment in defense, the existing American arsenal could only support the “mutually assured destruction” doctrine for about a decade before the US’s current systems reach the end of their natural lives.

    “There is nothing they can do besides a massive attack against our country that we will not have the ability to respond to,” Hyten explained. “But we have to modernize these capabilities because 10-12 years from now all the capabilities that I operate today will be reaching end of life.”

  • Flying Homes And Floating Cities: How Billionaires Travel

    Authored by David Craggen via Safehaven.com,

    In the early 1900s, John Jacob “Jack” Astor IV was thought to be among the richest people in the world, with a net worth of nearly $87 million when he died, equivalent to $2.21 billion in 2017. In April 1912, he was traveling back home to New York after holidaying in Egypt, accompanied by his wife. Naturally, he was the richest passenger on the RMS Titanic.

    We’ve come a long way since the Titanic, and now the rich travel alone–and in unimaginable style.

    By Plane

    Clearly the most efficient way of transport for everyone, wealthy included, is by air. Nowadays, private-jet makers like Gulfstream, Bombardier, and Embraer are taking their offerings to new levels of luxury, technology, and performance.

    At $66.5 million, the G650ER is Gulfstream’s flagship product. It has a range of more than 7,500 miles, meaning it can complete flights across the Pacific Ocean.

    From the outside, it’s about a smooth and sleek as they come…

    Source: Tyrolean Jetstream

    And on the inside, it’s luxury all the way…

    Source: Tyrolean Jetstream

    Next on our winged luxury list is the Bombardier Global 7000, designed to be the ultimate long-distance, purpose-built private jet.

    It’s not in the air yet, though. This $73-million aircraft is set to enter service in the second half of this year.

    From the ‘living room’, to the formal dining and master suite, the Bombardier makes trans-Atlantic travel a breeze…

    Source: Bombardier.com

    By Car

    Not all luxury is in the sky, and limousines have always been the epitome of class, screaming wealth, stability and style.

    They’re also the easiest way to demonstrate wealth: Unlike planes, helicopters and yachts, these luxury toys are easy to show off in public.

    While the most popular limousines can run upwards of $300,000, a top-end customized version can cost up to $4 million.

    The Mercedes Benz Maybach, with an average price tag of around $700,000, is our favorite, and its most expensive model runs for around $1.4 million.

    There’s even a bullet-proof version:

    Source: Daimler

    Still, Mercedes doesn’t have the market cornered when it comes to luxury limousines. The entry-level price for the Rolls-Royce Phantom “for icons” is $400,000, with the most expensive model sold for $3.8 million.

    (Click to enlarge)

    Source: EconomicTimes

    By Boat

    By far the showiest form of ‘transportation’ that exists, is designed for wealth on water.

    Modern yachts, one of the oldest badges of wealth, are not just for sailing or for the banal task of getting from one place to another. Today’s most expensive yachts boast swimming pools, helipads and VIP suites.

    The most expensive yacht, the Streets of Monaco, is still under construction and will soon be unveiled. With a $1-billion price tag, this beast is the size of a small, floating city – complete with streets and famous Monaco landmarks such as the Monte Carlo Casino.

    In case you don’t believe us, here is the mock-up:

    (Click to enlarge)

    Source: Curbed

    The ‘floating city’ eclipses even the … Eclipse the world’s second-most expensive yacht, featuring two helicopter pads, 24 guest cabins, two swimming pools, several hot tubs, and a disco hall.

    Source: Yachtcharterfleet.com

    Oh, and it also features bullet-proof glass and a German missile defense system—just in case.

    What could possibly be next?

    That’s easy: Luxury space rides.

    Leading giants like Amazon, SpaceX, Microsoft, Virgin Group, Google, and Facebook are all getting in on the action.

    A study published last summer by Bloomberg profiled some of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs who’ve invested in space travel startups and technology innovations. There are a handful of companies at work on rockets fit for human travel.

    We can only imagine how luxurious the future of space travel will be…

  • February Payrolls Preview: Watch The "Hours Worked"

    With the February jobs report due at 830am ET on Friday morning, here is a recap of Wall Street expectations.

    While recent macro economic data has been solid, and suggests a strong number, remember: nobody cares  about the actual payrolls number any more, after all the US is about to have sub-4% unemployment with over 95 million Americans not in the labor force. The only thing that matters is what is the average hourly earnings, and whether in February the BLS can pull off the same trick it did last month when it was hours worked that dropped, giving the market the impression that hourly pay had risen when actually just the denominator shrank.

    And even if actual wages don’t rise, and they probably won’t, the other thing to remember is that wages aren’t actually important – so ignore all you read above – what is important is the “intention” to raise wages, something company CEOs have learned very well.

    Below is a quick summary of Wall Street expectations via RanSquawk  and Goldman.

    PREVIEW: Non-farm Payrolls (Feb 2018)

    • Non-farm Payrolls: (EXP +200k, PREV +200k)
      • Private Payrolls: (EXP +191k, PREV +196k)
      • Manufacturing Payrolls: (EXP +15k, PREV +15k)
      • Government Payrolls: (PREV +4k)
      • Unemployment Rate: (EXP 4.00%, PREV 4.10%)
    • Average Earnings Y/Y: (EXP +2.8%, PREV +2.9%)
    • Average Earnings M/M: (EXP +0.20%, PREV +0.30%)
    • Average Work Week Hours: (EXP 34.4hrs, PREV 34.3hrs)
    • U6 Unemployment Rate: (PREV 8.20%)
    • Labour Force Participation: (PREV 62.70%)

    PAYROLL TRENDS: Trend rates remain firm. Payroll growth has averaged 176k/month over the last 12-months, 180k/month over the six-months, and 192k/month over the last three-months, and the consensus view expects 200k in February.

    PAYROLL GROWTH: ADP reported another solid increase in February (235K vs expected 193K; previous revised up), above what was suggested by surveys and hard data. Pantheon Macroeconomics says that it may imply that the third element of ADP’s model (the data which ADP collects itself from firms that use its payroll services) was stronger than expected. Accordingly, Pantheon’s forecast for NFP has been nudged up to 225K from 200K.

    EARNINGS GROWTH: The February CB Consumer Confidence indexes’ “jobs plentiful” measure increased, while jobs “hard to get” dropped; the difference between the two consequently improved to a 16-year high, consistent with a jobless rate around 4%, according to Capital Economics, which also adds that labour market conditions are tight, and beginning to put upward pressure on wages. Meanwhile, respondents expecting incomes to increase hit a 15-year high; based on historical relationships, CapEco says, it hints that average hourly earnings growth will reach 3.5% by early 2019.

    EARNINGS CAUTION: Some are treating last month’s rise in AHE with caution. RBC points out that wage growth was not broad-based (production and non-supervisory workers, making up 80% of the workforce, saw no rises). Others argue that weather-related factors may have been in play. It is worth noting that in January, the U6 measure of unemployment (‘underemployment’) ticked up by 0.1ppts to 8.2% despite the rate of participation remaining stable.

    BUSINESS SURVEYS: ISM non-manufacturing survey’s employment component fell 6.6 points in February, down to 55.0 points. While the monthly drop appears large, it merely returns the employment index to its average level for 2017, Oxford Economics points out, adding the index remains safely in expansionary territory, indicative of a healthy labour market. ISM manufacturing survey’s employment component rebounded 5.5 points to 59.7 in February, after falling 3.9 points in January, consistent with solid payroll growth. Some respondents cited labour shortages as their ‘biggest challenge’ and OxEco says this may present an obstacle for continued gains in the employment component ahead.

    UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS: Weekly claims rose slightly to 231k in the latest week, but we came off levels last seen since 1969. The four-week moving average is currently knocking around 222.5k, slightly below the 225k (w/e 3/Feb). While claims data usually is subject to the usual caveats regarding its ‘noisiness’, analysts are giving credence to the data amid other evidence of tight labour markets, making it tough to fill vacancies. Indeed, this was alluded to in the Fed’s latest Beige Book, with several districts noting worker shortages in most sectors. (It is also worth noting that the latest Beige Book made 11 references to “wage pressures”, up from eight mentions a year ago, as UBS points out).

    LAYOFFS: Announced job cuts remain low, Challenger reported, with announced job cuts falling to 35.369k (prev 44.653k). So far this year, Challenger says, employers have announced 80,022 cuts, 3.5% lower than through February last year, and the lowest number of announced job cuts between January and February since 1995. The consultancy also adds that announced job cuts have been under 50k for 22 straight months, the longest streak in its tracking.

    * * *

    Focusing next on Goldman – which is usually the lead penguin in the sellside analyst procession and everyone else follows – the bank expects 210k jobs in February, 10k above consensus as a result of “warmer weather and unseasonably light snow during the survey week…. Labor market fundamentals also appear solid and may have improved further, given new cycle records for initial claims and Conference Board job availability.”

    Following a 4th consecutive 4.1% reading, Goldman also estimates the unemployment rate fell to 4.0% in February, which probably means another half a million people dropped out of the labor force. Additionally, a sharp unexplained rise in African American jobless rates seems likely to reverse, after adding a tenth to the January unemployment rate.

    On the most important thing, hourly earnings, Goldman estimates a 0.3% month-over-month increase in average hourly earnings: “We anticipate a boost to average hourly earnings from favorable calendar effects in February. However, we see the risks to this estimate as skewed to the downside as the calendar effect is not particularly large, and we estimate the year-over-year rate fell a tenth to +2.8%.”

    Some more details from Goldman, first arguing for a stronger report:

    • Weather. NOAA weather-station data indicate that snowfall during the survey week was unseasonably low, both on an absolute basis and relative to January. As shown in Exhibit 1, our measure of population-weighted snowfall would suggest a boost to job growth relative to trend of around 15-35k (the right axis is inverted).

    Exhibit 1: Snowfall Was Below Seasonal Norms and Declined from Survey Week to Survey Week

    • Jobless claims. Initial jobless claims fell to a new cycle low during the five weeks between the payroll reference periods (227k vs. 244k for January), and the absolute level suggests a very low pace of layoffs. Additionally, continuing claims edged lower, falling 6k from survey week to survey week.
    • Manufacturing-sector surveys. Manufacturing-sector surveys generally improved in February, and the ISM employment component in particular rose 5.5 points to 59.7. Our manufacturing employment tracker rose 1.8pt, also to 59.7, suggesting a solid pace of job gains in that sector. Note also that the payroll reference period preceded the steel and aluminum tariff announcement by the Trump administration. Manufacturing payroll employment rose 15k in January and has increased by 22k on average over the last six months.
    • ADP. The payroll processing firm ADP reported a 235k increase in February private payroll employment, 35k above consensus expectations. While some of the February strength may have reflected firmness in the financial and economic indicators used as inputs in the ADP model, we think the strong report nonetheless provides incremental evidence that the pace of job growth remained firm.
    • Job cuts. Announced layoffs reported by Challenger, Gray & Christmas pulled back 2k to 32k (SA by GS), its third consecutive decline. On a year-over-year basis, announced job cuts also declined by 2k.

    Arguing for a weaker report:

    • Job postings. The Conference Board’s Help Wanted Online (HWOL) report showed a 3.8% decline in online job postings (mom sa), the first outright drop in 5 months. We place limited weight on this indicator, in light of research by Fed economists that suggests the HWOL ad count has been depressed by higher prices for online job ads. The Conference Board is currently reviewing its methodology accordingly.

    Neutral factors:

    • Service-sector surveys. Service-sector employment surveys improved on net in February, as our non-manufacturing employment tracker rose 0.9pt to 56.0. However, the sharp drop in the ISM non-manufacturing employment component (-6.6pt to 55.0) highlights the lack of consistency across measures. Encouragingly though, the Conference Board labor market differential – the difference between the percent of respondents saying jobs are plentiful and those saying jobs are hard to get – rose to a new 16-year high (+3.8pt to +24.7). Service-sector job growth picked up to 139k in January and has increased 127k on average over the last six months.

    Here again, for your amusement, is Goldman trying to refute how the drop in the hours worked had nothing to do with the increase in wages per hour:

    We estimate average hourly earnings increased 0.3% month over month. In the last employment report, average hourly earnings rose 0.34% and the year-on-rate improved to 2.9%, four tenths above the pace in the December report. While average hourly is noisy and often mean-reverting, there are no obvious distortions that can explain last month’s upside surprise. Calendar effects should have been negative, one-off tax reform bonuses are outside the scope of average hourly earnings, and while minimum wage hikes probably boosted the month-to-month change at the margin, the strength was concentrated among higher-paid supervisory and nonproduction workers.

    One popular narrative in the marketplace is that the firming wages in the last report were the result of a weather-related decline in the workweek. While we have argued that the total dollar value of payrolls tends to be “stickier” than hours, we believe these effects primarily relate to calendar configurations and payroll-system reporting, as opposed to weather. And as shown in Exhibit 3, the January wage strength was not concentrated in industries with a declining workweek (retail trade being the key exception). In fact, wage growth was relatively strong among industries with a flat workweek, most notably the large professional services and education and health categories. We instead expect a boost from favorable calendar effects. However, we view the risks to our 0.3% estimate as skewed to the downside, as the boost we expect from favorable calendar effects (the survey week ending on the 17th) is not particularly large. Reflecting this, we forecast a one tenth decline in the year-over-year rate to 2.8%.

    Exhibit 3: No Compelling Relationship between January Wage Growth and the Workweek

    Finally… the flu?

    Relatedly, we note that elevated flu activity in January (relative to seasonal norms) may have played a role in the decline in the workweek last month, and indeed the household survey “Not at Work: Own Illness” series showed a sizeable increase (+198k to 1,283k). However, we find no compelling relationship between this series and average hourly earnings growth (or with nonfarm payrolls). We suspect this reflects the inclusion of paid sick leave in the payrolls and earnings statistics (as well as in the workweek). Taken together, we do not expect a significant unwind in average hourly earnings in tomorrow’s report.

    Translation: as hourly worked rebounds hard, average hourly earnings will slide, and the 10Y and stocks will surge as the great and fake wage inflationary scare of February is finally long forgotten.

  • No, Russians Do Not Hack The FCC's Public Comments

    Via MoonOfAlabama.org,

    A member of the Federal Communications Commission, Jessica Rosenworcel, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post.

    It is unlikely that the headline was chosen by the author of the op-ed. The editors of the Washington Post opinion page wrote it. I also doubt that she would have chosen a picture of the FCC head to decorate her piece.

    For the record: The headline is false.

    The op-ed is about a request for comments the Federal Communications Commission issued last year in preparation of its net-neutrality decision. Anyone, and anything, could comment multiple times. Various lobbying firms, political action groups and hacks abused the public comment system to send copy-paste comments via single-use email accounts or even without giving any email address.

    But this had and has nothing to with Russia or Russians.

    Here are the top graphs of the the WaPo op-ed with the “Russia-did-it” headline:

    What do Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), deceased actress Patty Duke, a 13-year-old from upstate New York and a 96-year-old veteran from Southern California have in common?

    They appear to have filed comments in the net neutrality record at the Federal Communications Commission. That ought to mean they went online, submitted their names and addresses, and typed out their thoughts about Internet regulatory policy. But appearances can be deceiving. In fact, each of these individuals — along with 2 million others — had their identities stolen and used to file fake comments.

    These fake comments were not the only unnerving thing in the FCC net neutrality record. In the course of its deliberations on the future of Internet openness, the agency logged about half a million comments sent from Russian email addresses. It received nearly 8 million comments from email domains associated with FakeMailGenerator.com with almost identical wording.

    I have emphasized the only words in the whole op-ed that are related to Russia. They are wrong. The author of that op-ed does not understand the FCC public comment system. Public comments are made by filling out a form on the FCC website leaving ones comment, some address data and an email address. Public comments are not “send” by email. Thus the FCC did not log any comments “sent from Russian email”. It logged comments made in a web form where the human (or program) making the comment provided a Russian email address as a means of contact. (It is obviously not expertise on communication issues that qualifies Jessica Rosenworcel for her position as FCC commissioner.)

    At least 12-13 million of the 21.7 million comments to the FCC were fake. 8 million email addresses entered in the form the FCC had set up were generated with www.fakemailgenerator.com, half a million were entered with *.ru Internet domains.

    FakeMailGenerator can use foreign domains for generating throw-away email addresses. In the screenshot below it generated an Hungarian one for me.

    If I would comment at the FCC and enter Reephy@fleckens.hu into the FCC form I would be counted as Hungarian. I would not have “send” that comment from an Hungarian email address. Nor would entering the comment make me Hungarian. Neither do *.ru email domains mean that the people (ab-)using them have anything to do with Russia.

    The Pew Research Center analyzed the 21.7 million comments the FCC received:

    Fully 57% of comments used temporary or duplicate email addresses, and seven popular comments accounted for 38% of all submissions

    The FCC and other agencies are required by law to accept public comments. But, as the op-ed says, it is utterly useless to request such public comments on the Internet without having some authentication system in place. The FCC had some email address verification system in place, but it did not use it. As the Pew Center writes:

    [T]he Center’s analysis shows that the FCC site does not appear to have utilized this email verification process on a consistent basis. According to this analysis of the data from the FCC, only 3% of the comments definitively went through this validation process. In the vast majority of cases, it is unclear whether any attempt was made to validate the email address provided.

    As a result, in many cases commenters were able to use generic or bogus email addresses and still have their comments accepted by the FCC and posted online.

    It is obvious that the FCC had no interest at all in receiving legitimate public comments. But the FCC at least did not blame Russia. The Washington Post editors do that when they chose a headline that has no factual basis in the piece below it. They abuse the op-ed which has the presumed authority of an FCC commissioner to reinforce their anti-Russian propaganda campaign.

    C. J. Hopkins notes that the cult of authority is systematically used to make the lunatic claims of Russiagate believable.

    Matt Taibbi writes that the aim of the Russiagate campaign was and is to target all dissent:

    If you don’t think that the endgame to all of this lunacy is a world where every America-critical movement from Black Lives Matter to Our Revolution to the Green Party is ultimately swept up in the collusion narrative along with Donald Trump and his alt-right minions, you haven’t been paying attention.

    That’s because #Russiagate, from the start, was framed as an indictment not just of one potentially traitorous Trump, but all alternative politics in general. The story has evolved to seem less like a single focused investigation and more like the broad institutional response to a spate of shocking election results, targeting the beliefs of discontented Americans across the political spectrum.

    Some commenters here lamented about my posts about the Steele dossier and or Russiagate issues. “It’s enough already.” But the issue is, as Taibbi points out, much bigger. In November 2016 the Washington Post pushed the ProPornOT campaign which denounced some 200 non-mainstream websites as “Russian propaganda”. This website is an “primary initial” target of that campaign.

    If the campaign succeeds to its full intent, Moon of Alabama will no longer be accessible.

    The Russiagate nonsense has do be debunked at each and every corner to prevent its further abuse against dissent on everything else.

  • BoJ Leaves Policy Stance Unchanged, Optimistic On Global Economy

    Having briefly injected some anxiety into markets over reported comments last week about paring back easing in 2019 (which were swiftly denied), Kuroda is likely to err on the dovish side in his comments after BoJ left all monetary policy levers unchanged.

    Consensus expectations are that the BOJ to leave all its key policy settings unchanged:

    • likely to keep the short-term rate at -0.1% and target for the 10-year JGB yield at around 0%

    • also likely to maintain the current pace of purchases of exchange-traded funds and real estate investment trusts

    • The BOJ is likely to retain its guideline on the annual pace of JGB accumulation at 80 trillion yen

    • Post-meeting comments by Kuroda are likely to be calibrated to avoid stoking upward pressure on the yen. That means he’s likely to avoid specifics if asked again about how or when the BOJ could manage an exit from extreme stimulus.

    And that is what we got. All policy levers unchanged.

    There was one dissenter – same as before – this guy not only wanted more NIRP, but also more QE, clearly unaware that the BOJ already owns more than half of all Japanese govt bonds.

    • BOJ Board Member Kataoka Votes Against Keeping Rates Unchanged

    • BOJ Kataoka: Should Take Additional Easing if Delay in Hitting Inflation Target

    • BOJ Kataoka: BOJ Should Lower Yields on JGBs of 10-Years and Longer

    Language surrounding the global economy is more optimistic.

    And don’t forget there lots of new faces on the BoJ…

    For now, Kuroda has made clear the bank remains committed to powerful easing and will stay the course until the inflation target is met. Even though the economy grew better than expected in the fourth quarter, there’s no shortage of worry spots.

    And as Bloomberg’s Chris Anstey concludes, all in all, very little change here, as we expected. The news on the BOJ, if any, today is going to come from Governor Kuroda’s press briefing this afternoon. The key questions there will be about his recent comments about starting to think about exiting from stimulus around next year.

    Of course, do not forget, The BOJ’s purchases of exchange-traded funds have helped boost Japanese stocks. Bloomberg’s Min Jeong Lee and Nobuyuki Akama show the effects on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average against a history of the BOJ’s ETF buying.

     

    Nikkei 225 jumped after-hours on the back of US-Korea headlines but that has all faded…

     

     

  • Baltimore Mayor Pledges 60 Taxpayer-Funded Buses To Drive Students To D.C. Gun Protest

    Kevin Rector, a crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun Newspaper, recorded Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh on Tuesday outside City Hall, shouting through a bullhorn to several hundred zombified students, of how she wants to provide 60 taxpayer-funded buses – to send more than 3,000 students to the March For Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., scheduled for March 24.

    “We are providing at least 60 buses so that our students from our city can take their voices to Washington D.C. so that they can hear what we have to say,” Pugh said while standing next to the new Baltimore City Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa. “We believe as you believe, that there should be no guns…”

    Earlier in the day, hundreds of Baltimore school students walked out of their classrooms onto the most dangerous streets in America, where the per capita homicide rate is on par with Venezuela, a country that is currently experiencing economic collapse.

    We ask the question: Why haven’t city students protested Baltimore’s out of control murders?

    The students wanted their voices heard and politicians to act regarding gun violence in schools, said WBAL Radio. The walkout is in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left seventeen people killed and seventeen more wounded, making it one of the world’s deadliest school massacres.

    “We’re trying to stop gun violence trickling down to the youth. We see gun violence not just in schools, but all over Baltimore City, and we think it really needs to stop because it’s affecting the youth a lot. So we’re here to say something because we’re not going to be silenced,” said Amee Rothman, a student organizer.

    “We all need to come together and protest, so that something can change,” said Talia Jackson, a student. “I’m marching today because I think what is happening is unacceptable and it’s very disturbing.”

    City students had no issue leaving their classrooms and walking over to City Hall. Along the way, students passed strip clubs, homeless encampments, and methadone clinics. Nevertheless, since those things are typical in Baltimore, the students blindly passed some of the real issues that are leading Maryland’s largest city towards a collapse.

    Students came well prepared. Rector, who was videotaping the underage group, said the students were chanting “This Is What Democracy Looks Like!”

    Where have we heard that before?

    Well, that phrase is part of a pool of chants that are generally shouted at Soros-funded rallies. It is still unclear who funded the student walkout, but for one thing, the school system and Mayor’s office were well informed that these students were going to walk out. Marches like these take a great deal of city planning through various government entities — regarding permits and coordination with law enforcement. To sum up, this was not a spontaneous walkout by students, it was well planned and organized through community groups working with city officials. That is undeniable…

    It is rumored that protesting will be added to Baltimore City Schools’ curriculum next semester.

    Fox News host Laura Ingraham blasts Baltimore Mayor for her decision to send 60 buses of 3,000 students to an anti-gun protest in DC on the taxpayer’s money. Throughout the interview, Ingraham confirms our thoughts of how Baltimore is on the verge of imploding, but it is evident, the mayor has other priorities…

  • Rhode Island Wants To Tax Pornography

    Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

    The government hasn’t yet figured out how to tax having sex. But Rhode Island at least wants to tax pornography.

    Yes I’m serious.

    It starts with censorship: two Rhode Island state senators just introduced legislation that would require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block all “sexual content and patently offensive material.”

    We have no idea, of course, what is considered “offensive”. But in an age of cry-bullies where even the word “man” offends delicate university students, we can only imagine this covers a lot of ground.

    Rhode Islanders could then unblock this ‘offensive’ content with a written request, presentation of government-issued ID which proves they’re over the age of 18, and then making a one-time payment of $20.

    Internet Service Providers must collect the money and send it to the Rhode Island Treasury every quarter.

    Enforcing this law rests solely on the shoulders of the ISPs. If they fail to respond to reports of unblocked pornography or sexual content, they will be fined $500 for each instance.

    We can only begin to imagine what other genius ideas these politicians will come up with next.

    And to continue learning how to ensure you thrive no matter what happens next in the world, I encourage you to download our free Perfect Plan B Guide.

  • China Threatens Tariff Response That "Could Seriously Hurt The International Trade Order"

    Despite President Donald Trump’s promises to “be flexible” for “friends” of the US when considering exemptions to the steel and aluminum tariffs that the he’s planning to impose in two weeks, China – the explicit target of the taxes – and the European Union are not at all pleased – and they’re threatening retaliation, per RT.

    In a response to today’s announcement, China’s Commerce Industry urged the US to withdraw the planned-for tariffs while threatening to take “strong measures” that could “seriously hurt the international trade order.”

    Kim

    Adding insult to injury, President Trump boasted on twitter that trade wars are “good and easy to win,” triggering an outraged response from Donald Tusk, president of the European council, who responded, saying the truth is trade wars are “bad and easy to lose” and that the EU’s goal is to keep world trade alive and, if necessary, to protect Europeans  with a “proportionate response.”

     

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    EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said thousands of jobs would be in jeopardy because of Washington’s import tariffs. In response, Europeans have threatened to retaliate by targeting US products such as whiskey, peanut butter, orange juice and motorcycles in retaliation, a group of products that amounts to $3.5 billion in trade annually.

    Earlier in the week, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that trade wars “harm the initiator,” according to the Guardian.

    “As for our trade frictions, history teaches that trade war is never the right solution. In a globalized world it is particularly unhelpful as it will harm the initiator as well as the target country,” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

    “Given today’s globalization, choosing a trade war is a mistaken prescription. The outcome will only be harmful,” he added on the sidelines of an annual meeting of the national parliament. “China would have to make a justified and necessary response.”

    Beijing said nothing about how, exactly, it would retaliate for curbing its metals trade with the US, but, as RT reports, US products like soybeans, aircraft and cars present likely targets for counter-tariffs. However, China has previously used its economic heft to punish US allies. Last year, China lashed out at the South Korean tourism and retail industries after Seoul agreed to host American anti-ballistic missiles on its territory, a move that Beijing described as a threat to its national security.

    While the US only imports a small percentage of its steel from China (if one looks at the official data), the country’s rapid growth and debt-fueled expansion of its industrial sector have caused a worldwide glut of steel thanks to trans-shipping (or cheating as Navarro and Trump would say).

    South Korean officials also expressed regret at the US tariffs, adding that they would probably inhibit Korean steel exports. The US said it would make exceptions for Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum while Nafta negotiations are ongoing…

    Steel

    The Japanese struck a more amenable tone, with Finance Minister Aso said he’d work to get Japanese companies excluded from the tariffs. Though he added that the measures are “extremely regrettable” and that they would have a “big effect” on the global economy, according to Bloomberg.

    While Trump prepares to implement the “negotiable” tariffs, plenty of Republicans, Democrats and other critics in the domestic economy are doing everything they can to kill the tariffs. Several US states are also bracing for tariffs, including Connecticut and Louisiana, which are among the states that will be hit the hardest.

    States

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