Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Europe Crisis - Italy’s “No” Vote Is Just the Beginning / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis

By: John_Mauldin

BY ANTONIA COLIBASANU AND JACOB SHAPIRO : An important vote recently occurred in Italy. Italians said “No” to a referendum on government reforms. The vote was broadly viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. He has since tendered his resignation.

The result of Italy’s referendum means three things. First, the slow devolution of the European Union rumbles on. Second, Italy has declared itself in open revolt internally and against the EU. This is a challenge not just for the EU, but for Germany in particular. Third, this is the beginning of a major political shift in the third largest economy in the Eurozone.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Trump Got an Edge over China with a Single Phone Call / Politics / China

By: John_Mauldin

BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN : Donald Trump spoke on the telephone with the president of Taiwan, causing deep upset. It was counter to an understanding in place since Richard Nixon opened the door with China in 1972.

This understanding included an American endorsement of the one-China policy. This policy held that Taiwan is part of China, but would continue to behave as if it weren’t. The US agreed not to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and pretend it isn’t a close ally.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Stock Market Waiting for the FOMC? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016

By: Anthony_Cherniawski

Good Morning!

The SPX Premarket is higher, but the futures have not made a new high. Yesterday’s decline may be impulsive, but the test is whether a new high is made today or not. In addition, the Wave structure appears to be complete as of yesterday morning. We may see some residual bullishness at the open, but the jury is still pondering the verdict as of now.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

U.S. Oil Shale Faces A Reality Check / Commodities / Shale Oil and Gas

By: OilPrice_Com

The collapse of oil prices has forced the U.S. shale industry to slash production costs. In order to improve the “breakeven” costs for the average shale well, the industry has deployed three general strategies: improving techniques and technology, such as drilling longer laterals or using more frac sand; focusing drilling on the sweet spots; and demanding lower prices from oilfield service companies. All three of those strategies led to a decline in the breakeven price for a shale wells.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

WTO Debacle Heralds the End of Postwar Trade Regime / Economics / Global Economy

By: Dan_Steinbock

 “China is not a market economy,” President-elect Donald Trump said in Iowa a few days ago. In the past few months, Trump has also pledged to undo the North-American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), beat back the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), impose huge tariffs on China and Mexico, and rewrite the rules of trade.

Nevertheless, the Obama White House, the EU and Japan beat Trump in the reset of the international trading regime by refusing China its market economy status (MES). The key clause in China’s agreement for joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) expired on Sunday.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Nasdaq Leads Stock Market Lower... / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016

By: Jack_Steiman

The market bulls are still in control of things, but we all know that there is this one gigantic red flag out there that will come into play at some point. The thing is, we don't know when that will happen, because there is no formula to tell us when it's coming, since every bull market is different. We can look back at history as a guide, but when folks do, it doesn't usually work out very well. The reason is simple. Nothing repeats perfectly, even though we'd like to believe it does. For instance, over the past year-plus we saw 35% on the bull/bear spread start a correction, but we also saw 46% start one.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Stock Market Top?, Sucker’s Play / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016

By: Brad_Gudgeon

The current rally from November 4 to December 12 (if indeed it was the top) was Minuette Wave Y of Minute Y. Minute Wave Y (of Minor Wave B) was a wxy inverted, irregular and strong bearish flat. Elliott called these B waves or irregular tops. The Trump rally is basically a "sucker's play". The internals of this rally are sick and very selective; the McClellan Summation Index is miles away from confirming it; the Dow Jones Industrials has far exceeded the SPX, which has far exceeded the NASDAQ creating a case of an inter-market bearish divergence. We also have a huge On-Balance-Volume divergence.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Maps That Explain US Main Economic Strength Over Russia / Politics / GeoPolitics

By: John_Mauldin

BY JACOB L. SHAPIRO : Power is a relative concept. To say one nation is powerful means nothing. Power derives meaning only when assessed in comparison.

Two nations whose powers we constantly reevaluate are Russia and the United States. Much of our analysis is driven by how weak we believe the Russian Federation is.

There are different ways to evaluate this. Comparing US and Russian regional economies is particularly striking.

Monday, December 12, 2016

2017 Will Be A Pivotal Year For Europe / Politics / European Union

By: John_Mauldin

Many people in the EU disapprove of EU economic policies. Greece is by far the unhappiest with Brussels. Italy is next, with France and Spain not far behind. The UK, where people are angry enough to have voted themselves out of the EU, looks even-tempered in comparison.

That suggests to me that if you offered these other countries a chance to ditch the EU and reassured them that they wouldn’t cause the sky to fall, there are some who might take the leap.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Robot Workforce is Coming - Here’s Why It's Best for Everyone / Economics / Employment

By: John_Mauldin

BY PATRICK WATSON : Every day brings a new warning: robots are coming to take our jobs. Soon we’ll all be unemployed… and unable to buy what the robots produce.

What good are robots if all they do is make stuff we can’t afford? I don’t know. But there's no doubt automation will replace some human workers—even (gasp!) writers and editors.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Bank of Japan Has Primed the Markets For a Crash / Stock-Markets / Financial Crash

By: Graham_Summers

This is getting outright ridiculous.

The Bank of Japan is now depreciating the Yen against the $USD on an almost hourly basis.

This is the Yen carry trade. And it’s the SINGLE BIGGEST DRIVER OF THE MARKETS TODAY. As you can see, in the last two weeks, the S&P 500 is following this pair almost tick for tick.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Yield That Breaks the Trump Rally's Back / Interest-Rates / US Bonds

By: Michael_Pento

In 2012 I wrote a book called "The Coming Bond Market Collapse", in that book I predicted that the bond market would begin to collapse by the end of 2016. Clearly, this prediction has started to come true. However, in all candor, I never dreamed that the Ten-year Treasury yield would plummet to 1.3%. Neither did I ever imagine that over thirteen trillion dollars' worth of global sovereign bonds would have a negative yield, as was the case this past summer.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Agri-Commodities: Birthing a New Bull Market? / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities

By: Ned_W_Schmidt

An investment reality is that neither bear nor bull markets last forever. From high, July 2014, to low, October 2016, the Agri-Food Price Index fell 23%. Since that low, this index of 18 Agri-Commodity prices has risen 19%, and is nearing a new 52-week high. If we accept the popular notion that a 20% rise from a low signals a new bull market, Agri-Commodity prices may be birthing a new bull market. Chart below is for Agri-Food Price Index over the past year.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Euro Crisis and Contagion Almost Certain In 2017 / Currencies / Eurozone Debt Crisis

By: GoldCore

A euro crisis and contagion is almost certain in 2017, Irish economist and writer David McWilliams has warned:

“It is almost certain that there will be another euro crisis in 2017. The last time we had a euro crisis, the focus of attention was Greece; today the vortex is Italy.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Stock Market Trading At New Record Highs As Investors' Sentiment Further Improves / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2016

By: Paul_Rejczak

Briefly: In our opinion, no speculative positions are justified.

Our intraday outlook is neutral, and our short-term outlook is neutral. Our medium-term outlook remains neutral, following S&P 500 index breakout above last year's all-time high:

Intraday outlook (next 24 hours): neutral
Short-term outlook (next 1-2 weeks): neutral
Medium-term outlook (next 1-3 months): neutral
Long-term outlook (next year): neutral

Monday, December 12, 2016

UK Mortgage Market Competition Ramped up in 2016 / Housing-Market / Mortgages

By: MoneyFacts

Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report data, not yet published, highlights that there has been significant improvement amongst the lenders who have 80%* share of the mortgage lending.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Buying Gold Into A Fed Hike: As Dumb As It Sounds? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016

By: Bob_Kirtley

The Fed will hike rates this week. The US Dollar is strengthening. Fiscal policy is about to ignite economic growth. The ECB has reduced its rate of QE purchases. It doesn’t sound like now is the time to be buying gold, does it? And yet, the setup is remarkably similar to this time last year, before the yellow metal put in a near 30% rally. What matters most is not what will happen, but what will happen relative to expectations. It is fair to say that the market has some lofty expectations built in at present, which is why it could be a case of buying the rumour and selling the fact over coming months.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Corporations Getting In Bed With The Government / Politics / Social Issues

By: James_Quinn

The recent deal to keep Carrier jobs in the United States is not at all unusual. It only received so much press because Trump made it a campaign issue and saw an opportunity to record a big early PR victory before he even took office. Government and corporations cooperate, negotiate deals, scratch each others backs, kickback ill-gotten gains, and function as a career advancement funnel for corrupt politicians.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Tech Breakthrough Could Make This The Biggest Winner Of OPEC’s Cut / Commodities / Oil Companies

By: OilPrice_Com

As far as the markets are concerned, OPEC’s 32.5-million bpd output cut deal agreed to two weeks ago could go either way, and the uncertainty makes it anyone’s guess—but MCW Energy, the pioneer of breakthrough clean oil sands extraction in Utah, is not concerned:

If oil prices remain low, its production costs are dramatically reduced, and in any scenario, its breakthrough technology makes everything from Utah’s vast oil sands to the Permian Basin’s massive offerings easier to extract.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Gold and Gold Stocks Setup for Post-Fed Rally / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2016

By: Jordan_Roy_Byrne

Gold and gold mining stocks have been very oversold but have struggled to rally. The sector looked to be starting a rebound until Friday's decline which pushed Gold to a new low. However, positive divergences remain in place as gold stocks and Silver remain above their recent lows. While the Federal Reserve could say something hawkish next week, the setup continues to favor a rebound in the precious metals sector rather than an immediate decline to new lows.