Day: July 12, 2017

China Creates A Quarter Trillion In New Loans But Analysts Are Worried: “It’s Not Enough”

Jon

Overnight China released its latest monthly credit data which showed that even as China is trying to choke off its shadow banking sector, something we showed most recently last month when we discussed the biggest crash in net bond issuance on record, credit to the broader economy continues to flow, although it comes as M2 crashed to a new all time low and has prompted some nervous analysts to say that even this “crazy” loan creation number may not be enough.
The details: in June Chinese banks extended 1.54 trillion yuan ($226.9 billion) in net new yuan loans, well above analysts’ expectations of 1.2 trillion yuan, and up from 1.11 trillion in May (which was also higher than the 1 trillion expected). Outstanding yuan loans grew by 12.9%, unchanged from a month ago, and more than the forecast 12.7% increase. Household loans, mostly mortgages, rose to 738.4 billion yuan in June from 610.6 billion yuan in May; these accounted for 48% of total new loans last month, down from 55% in May.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 12, 2017.

Is This The Generation That Is Going To Financially Destroy America?

Jon

Did you know that the federal government is going to spend more than 4 trillion dollars this year? To put that into perspective, U. S. GDP for the entire year of 2017 is going to be somewhere between 18 and 19 trillion dollars. So when you are talking about 4 trillion dollars you are talking about a huge chunk of our economy. But of course the federal government doesn’t bring in 4 trillion dollars a year. At the beginning of Barack Obama’s first term, we were 10.6 trillion dollars in debt, and now we are nearly 20 trillion dollars in debt. That means that we have been adding more than a trillion dollars a year to the national debt. When you break that down, that means that we have essentially been stealing more than a hundred million dollars from future generations of Americans every single hour of every single day to pay for our debt-fueled lifestyle. Even Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is warning that this is not sustainable, and yet we just keep on doing it.
Nobody can pretend that what we have today is the kind of limited federal government that our founders intended. When federal spending accounts for more than 20 percent of GDP, it is hard to argue that we haven’t moved very far down the road toward socialism. As I mentioned above, total federal spending will surpass 4 trillion dollars for the first time ever in 2017…

This post was published at The Economic Collapse Blog on July 12th, 2017.

Fueled by Global Investors, Home Prices Go Nuts in Barcelona

Jon

A few blocks from where I live in the solidly middle class (but gentrifying) Eixample Dreta district of Barcelona, a newly renovated modernist building is about to be inaugurated. Outside the building is a huge billboard displaying some of the lavish charms offered by the refurbished apartments inside, including Jacuzzis, spacious roof terraces, a swimming pool, and an elegantly attired concierge. The images are headed with cheesy aspirational slogans like ‘Art, Prestige, Life’ and ‘A Dream to Live In.’
Not a single word of the ad is in Catalan or Spanish, the two official local languages. Everything is in English.
These properties are not meant for local people – that’s not where the money is. The money is in the international market, whose insatiable demand for real estate in this increasingly popular global city has propelled property prices to bubblicious levels.
In the last 12 months in Barcelona, the median home price (half are higher and half are lower) has soared 21.7%, to 3,094 per square meter (ca. $350 per square foot), with double-digit increases across all of the city’s districts, according to data compiled by the property appraiser Tinsa. The biggest movements were seen in the city’s old town, which is ground zero for the city’s tourist industry. There the median price have skyrocketed 35% in just one year.

This post was published at Wolf Street by Don Quijones – Jul 12, 2017.

If You Can’t Answer These 5 Social Security Questions, You’re Not Ready to Retire

Jon

For millions of Americans, Social Security is their livelihood.
Over 66 million people receive Social Security – that’s 20% of the U. S. population. A whopping one-third of these beneficiaries rely on Social Security for at least 90% of their income. What’s more, for 61% of all beneficiaries, Social Security is at least half of their income.
Odds are that, if it isn’t already, Social Security will be a major part of your income one day. That means it’s important to know where that money comes from, how it’s distributed, and how long you can expect to receive it.
So give yourself a test and try to answer these five questions – and if you don’t know some of the answers, we’ve got you covered…

This post was published at Wall Street Examiner by Cooper Creagan ‘ July 12, 2017.

VISA takes its War on Cash to US Retailers

Jon

‘We’re focused on putting cash out of business,’ Visa’s new CEO Al Kelly said on June 22 at Visa Investor Day. Pushing consumers into digital and electronic payments is the company’s ‘number-one growth lever.’ Visa has been dogged by the stubborn survival of cash and checks, despite widespread government and corporate efforts to kill them off.
Globally, check and cash transactions totaled $17 trillion in 2016, Visa President Ryan McInerney said. Confusingly, that’s up 2% from a year earlier.
So today, Visa rolled out a new initiative on its war on cash. It’s designed ‘for small business restaurants, cafs, or food truck owners,’ and the like. In this trial, it will award up to $10,000 each to 50 eligible businesses (online businesses are excluded) when they commit to refusing cash payments.
Going ‘100% cashless,’ as Visa calls it, means that consumers can only pay with debit or credit cards or with their smartphones.

This post was published at Wolf Street by Wolf Richter ‘ Jul 12, 2017.

The Gold Direction Indicator just turned Green!

Jon

For the benefit of subscribers and to help yours truly to make good decisions, we plot an indicator with ten components on a daily basis, that we refer to as the GDI. On Monday the GDI closed at 39% and on Tuesday it moved into positive territory with a reading at 61%.
Charts courtesy Stockcharts.com unless indicated.
As the following chart (courtesy goldchartsrus.com) shows, the long-term historical pattern (black line), is for gold and mining stocks to rise for 8 months, once the June-July lows are put in place.

This post was published at GoldSeek on 12 July 2017.

The Central Banks Have Triggered The Collapse, The Setup Is Complete – Episode 1330a

Jon

The following video was published by X22Report on Jul 12, 2017
Mortgage applications plunge and so do refi apps, as interest rates rise it pushes more and more individuals out the housing market. More and more of the older generation needs to work because they do not have enough to survive on. Seattle raised the minimum wage and it back fired now they want to raise taxes on the wealthy. Canada begins to raise rates. Investors are dumping emerging market debt at a record pace. Yellen says that there might not be a need to raise rates, the take down is complete,

RBS Pays $5.5 BIllion To Settle US Mortgage-Backed Securities Probe

Jon

Another day, another British bank fined billions of dollars for its past-life transgressions.
Moments ago Royal Bank of Scotland announced it has agreed to pay $5.5 billion to the U. S. Federal Housing Finance Agency to settle a probe into its sale of toxic mortgage-backed securities ahead of the financial crisis, part of what it says was a ‘heavy price’ paid for over-expansion before the financial crisis. The settlement targets $32 billion in debt issued by housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“This settlement is a stark reminder of what happened to this bank before the financial crisis, and the heavy price paid for its pursuit of global ambitions” said RBS CEO Ross McEwan, adding that it was an ‘important step forward in resolving one of the most significant legacy matters facing RBS’. There was some good news: RBS is eligible for a $754 million reimbursement under indemnification agreements with third parties.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 12, 2017.

Amazon Says “Prime Day 2017” Was The “Biggest Global Shopping Event In Amazon History”

Jon

Amazon announced that its Prime Day 2017 was the “Biggest Global Shopping Event in Amazon History”, surpassing Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, “all on a day with deals reserved exclusively for Prime members” adding that “Prime members’ most popular purchase on Prime Day was the Amazon Echo Dot.”
Among the highlights of the latest spending spree: “the Prime Day 2017 event grew by more than 60 percent compared to the same 30 hours last year, and sales growth by small businesses and entrepreneurs was even higher. More new members joined Prime on July 11 than on any single day in Amazon history. Tens of millions of Prime members made a purchase on Prime Day 2017, more than 50 percent higher than the prior year.”
While this is great news for AMZN stock, which is clearly higher on the news, it is bad news for the rest of the retail sector – especially bricks and mortar – which continues to drift ever further away from the online shopping craze, especially when substantial discounts are factored in to those who are already locked inside the Amazon “ec(h)osystem”.
Full release below:

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 12, 2017.

Silver Market FRAUD – 50 Million Oz Just Dumbed On Market | Rob Kirby

Jon

The following video was published by FinanceAndLiberty.com on Jul 12, 2017
50 million ounces of silver was just dumped on the market in one minute…
Who was behind this silver dump? Derivatives expert Rob Kirby thinks it is the work of the U. S. government. He says the Exchange Stabilization Fund is manipulating gold and silver prices in order to support the U. S. dollar as the world reserve currency. But he says the demand for physical metal will outstrip the ability of the riggers to manipulate the price…

Loonie Spikes After Bank Of Canada Raises Rates For The First Time Since 2010… As Expected

Jon

Heading into today’s meeting with a smorgasbord of ‘relatively’ good data recently, Governor Poloz had the perfect excuse to raise rates (for the first time since 2010) and tamp down the firey bubble in home prices. Not a total surprise, given hawkish comments from BOC officials in recent weeks, but the Loonie is surging on the hike but CAD stocks (which were rallying into the decision) are limping lower.
The Bank of Canada raised interest rates for the first time since 2010, citing a recent acceleration of growth that it predicts will eliminate fully the economy’s economic slack by the end of this year.
Odds of a hike were at 90% heading into the decision, so it is perhaps a little odd that the Loonie is so exuberant (perhaps combined with Yellen’s dovishness?)
This is the strongest for the Canadian Dollar since Aug 2016…

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 12, 2017.

Yellen Testimony Creates Stock Market Rally

Jon

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new record high after U. S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen offered a dovish testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.
Here are the numbers before the closing bell from Wednesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index Closing Point Change Percentage Change Dow Jones 21,545.73 +136.66 +0.64% S&P 500 2,445.05 +19.52 +0.80% Nasdaq 6,262.35 +69.05 +1.11%

This post was published at Wall Street Examiner on July 12, 2017.

JULY 12/GOLD UP $4.20/SILVER UP 15 CENTS/AMOUNT STANDING AT THE SILVER COMEX RISES AGAIN/HUGE AMOUNT OF GOLD LEAVES THE REGISTERED (DEALER) ACCOUNT/SLV WITNESSES ANOTHER 1.986 MILLION OZ ADDED TO…

Jon

GOLD: $1219.80 UP $4.20
Silver: $15.93 UP 15 cent(s)
Closing access prices:
Gold $1220.25
silver: $15.93
SHANGHAI GOLD FIX: FIRST FIX 10 15 PM EST (2:15 SHANGHAI LOCAL TIME)
SECOND FIX: 2:15 AM EST (6:15 SHANGHAI LOCAL TIME)
SHANGHAI FIRST GOLD FIX: $1228.97 DOLLARS PER OZ
NY PRICE OF GOLD AT EXACT SAME TIME: $1218.90
PREMIUM FIRST FIX: $10.07
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SECOND SHANGHAI GOLD FIX: $1230.19
NY GOLD PRICE AT THE EXACT SAME TIME: $1220.15
Premium of Shanghai 2nd fix/NY:$10.04
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
LONDON FIRST GOLD FIX: 5:30 am est $1219.40
NY PRICING AT THE EXACT SAME TIME: $1219.10
LONDON SECOND GOLD FIX 10 AM: $1218.80
NY PRICING AT THE EXACT SAME TIME. $1220.60 ????
For comex gold:
JULY/
NOTICES FILINGS TODAY FOR APRIL CONTRACT MONTH: 0 NOTICE(S) FOR NIL OZ.
TOTAL NOTICES SO FAR: 63 FOR 6300 OZ (.1959 TONNES)
For silver:
JULY
145 NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR
725,000 OZ/
Total number of notices filed so far this month: 2757 for 13,785,000 oz

This post was published at Harvey Organ Blog on July 12, 2017.

THE CITY OF SEATTLE APPROVED AN INCOME TAX, BUT FACES COURT BATTLE

Jon

Seattle has done one thing effectively: drive out earners. Anyone making over $250,000 within city limits of Seattle is now subject to a new income tax, but the new law is likely to face a court battle over its unconstitutionality.
The cheers from the socialists as this blatant constitutional violation was on full display was possibly the most horrific part of the entire debacle. People are actually cheering and happy that the government is stealing money from those they don’t even know. It’s like humanity has never existed.
To make matters worse, the tax isn’t even constitutional, let alone legal. Washington state’s own constitution clearly says that an income tax, especially a ‘progressive’ one, enacted as a punishment for success, is a constitutional violation, but politicians have never cared about the constitutionality of the laws they enact.

This post was published at The Daily Sheeple on JULY 12, 2017.

The Tripwire on the Next ‘Black Monday’

Jon

‘Black Monday’ – Oct. 19, 1987 – the bloodiest one-day carnage in market history…
The Dow plunged 508 points that hell-mouth day – an unthinkable 22%.
A similar stock market event today would spell a 4,724-point cataclysm.
We liken that October day in 1987 to the ancient Battle of Cannae… when invincible Rome lost as many as 70,000 legionnaires to Hannibal’s armies – in a single day.
Or July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, when nearly 20,000 British soldiers fell before the German guns… and never got up.
What could lead today’s market to its own Cannae, its own Somme… another Black Monday?
Today we set aside our renowned optimism… enter into the spirit of doom… and consider one possibility.
Harley Bassman is a world-class expert in derivatives – what Warren Buffett has termed ‘weapons of mass destruction.’
Bassman’s taken the current market and put it under his microscope.
He specifically wanted to answer:

This post was published at Wall Street Examiner on July 12, 2017.

Yellen’s Dovish Turn: Concerned About Inflation, Sees Little Room For Rate Increases

Jon

Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s prepared remarks confirm her previous stance that they will keep normalizing their policy stance (no matter what), bringing forward the timeline for unwinding the balance sheet, and adding that “rates won’t have to rise much further to get to neutral.” This seems like a ‘dovish’ tilt, and judging by the reaction in stocks (higher) and the dollar (lower) it agrees.
Here is the key line the market is focusing on:
Because the neutral rate is currently quite low by historical standards, the federal funds rate would not have to rise all that much further to get to a neutral policy stance.
Is this a warning that the Fed’s dot plot is about to revised well lower than its terminal 3.0% rate, if indeed the Fed is starting to get worried about r*? Perhaps, although she gave herself a loophole:
because we also anticipate that the factors that are currently holding down the neutral rate will diminish somewhat over time, additional gradual rate hikes are likely to be appropriate over the next few years to sustain the economic expansion and return inflation to our 2 percent goal. Even so, the Committee continues to anticipate that the longer-run neutral level of the federal funds rate is likely to remain below levels that prevailed in previous decades.
Still, uncertainty was the key word, summed up by this line:

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 12, 2017.

Overview Of The Metals Market

Jon

First published on Sat July 8 for members: As I see many metals investors and traders begin to throw in the towel, I wanted to take this opportunity to again explain why I will not count myself amongst them just yet. However, I will explain below what it would take to have me begin to look for lower lows in the overall complex relative to 2015, since I have been asked so often. (And, I usually get those questions as the market bottoms and begins a strong rally).
While the market did not follow through on the immediate bullish set up I outlined over the last several weeks, it does not invalidate the larger degree perspective we still see in the market. And as sentiment becomes more and more bearish, there are many more signs that a strong rally is setting up to take hold. But, again, even though the smaller degree immediate bullish set up invalidated, and we will have to await the next one to set up, I think that anyone aggressively maintaining on the short side of the market will likely overstay their welcome.
Let’s start with the larger degree structures. Back in 2015, the greater probabilities suggested that the metals complex completed its long term ‘pullback,’ right into the zone we were targeting for a long-term bottom. That is why I was suggesting our members enter their long-term positions at the end of 2015, and it was also why we began our EWT Miners Portfolio at that time.

This post was published at GoldSeek on 12 July 2017.

Breslow Slams Fed Confusion: “FOMC Charts Will Soon Need Virtual Reality Headsets”

Jon

Hawkish? Dovish? Balance sheet reductionist? Rate-hike limited? Worried about inflation or excited by the economic outlook? Or just plain old confused?
What and why did Yellen just say what she did, unleashing the latest market reaction to her supposedly “dovish” congressional testimony, and sending risk assets higher just two weeks after the same Janet Yellen warned about frothy market valuations?
It turns out, you are not the only one who can no longer make any sense of it. As Bloomberg’s macro commentator Richard Brelsow notes, “we’re no longer just going to have doves and hawks to consider, but B/Sers and ratists. Charts about FOMC meeting outcomes will need virtual reality headsets to deal with the added dimensions. I’d settle for here’s what were going to do because it’s the right thing to do. And we’ll deal with what comes if necessary, that’s how we roll.”

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 12, 2017.