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"I Don't Trust Deutsche Bank" David Stockman Unleashes Truth Bomb: "When The Crunch Comes, Bank CEOs Lie" Following this morning's proclamation by Deutsche Bank co-CEO John Cryan that Germany's largest bank is "rock solid," David Stockman exposed the ugly truth that everyone appears to have forgotten from just 7 years ago... "in my experience is that when the crunch comes, bank CEOs lie" Stockman details the Morgan Stanley, BofA, Lehman, and Bear Stearns bullshit that occurred before exclaiming... "I don't trust Deutsche Bank. I don't trust what they're saying. And there's reason why the banks are being sold all across...

NEW YORK (Reuters/IFR) - U.S. bank stocks and bonds took a pounding on Monday as recession fears compounded concern about their exposure to the energy sector and expectations that global interest rates are unlikely to rise quickly.... Meanwhile, bonds issued by U.S. banks extended their decline, with the yield premium demanded by investors to hold these securities, rather than safer U.S. Treasury debt, climbing to the highest in three-and-a-half years, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch Fixed Income Index data. "Investors' attitudes seem to be worsening relative to the likelihood of a global recession. I think that's what financials...

There is so much chaos going on that I don't even know where to start. For a very long time I have been warning my readers that a major banking collapse was coming to Europe, and now it is finally unfolding. Let's start with Deutsche Bank. The stock of the most important bank in the "strongest economy in Europe" plunged another 8 percent on Monday, and it is now hovering just above the all-time record low that was set during the last financial crisis. Overall, the stock price is now down a staggering 36 percent since 2016 began, and...

n what appears to be an extraordinary snub of White House budget director Shaun Donovan, the Republican chairs of the House and Senate Budget Committees announced on Thursday they would not host Donovan’s testimony on President Obama’s final budget submission next week. Obama will unveil his fiscal 2017 budget request next Tuesday, just barely meeting the statutory deadline for submitting a new budget to Congress. But Senate Budget Committee Chair Mike Enzi (R-WY) and House Budget Committee chief Tom Price (R-GA) issued a joint statement tonight saying Donovan wasn’t welcome to testify because the administration wasn’t serious about addressing the...

A pernicious cycle of collapsing commodities, corporate defaults, and currency wars loom over the global economy. Can anything stop it from unravelling? A global recession is on the way. This truism of economics holds at any point in which the world is not in the grips of a contraction. The real question is always when and how deep the upcoming downturn will be. "The crash will come, but it would be nice if it came two years from now", Thomas Thygesen, head of economics at SEB told over 200 commodity investors and analysts in London last month. His audience was...

One person was killed and another was critically injured when a construction crane tumbled onto a Tribeca street Friday morning, officials said. The crane fell on a row of parked cars when it toppled over on Worth St. near Church St. about 8:30 a.m. as heavy snow fell onto the city. One person died at the scene, officials. A second person was trapped inside a vehicle and was freed by responding firefighters.

The only question now is whether Venezuela's government or economy will completely collapse first. The key word there is "completely." Both are well into their death throes. Indeed, Venezuela's ruling party just lost congressional elections that gave the opposition a veto-proof majority, and it's hard to see that getting any better for them any time soon — or ever. Incumbents, after all, don't tend to do too well when, according to the International Monetary Fund, their economy shrinks 10 percent one year, an additional 6 percent the next, and inflation explodes to 720 percent. It's no wonder, then, that markets...

Bob BryanJanuary 29, 2016 Based on today's GDP release, it appears that the US economy is slowing but not near any sort of massive collapse. Peter Schiff begs to differ. The CEO and chief global strategist for Euro Pacific Capital, and noted perma-bear, said that serious economic destruction is just a few months away. "I think the Fed is going to have negative interest rates before the election because we're going to be in a serious recession," Schiff told Business Insider on Friday. In fact, Schiff said that we may already be in recession and this one is going to...

In November 2014 the OPEC countries met in Vienna and agreed to keep pumping oil to maintain their market share rather than cut production to support the oil price. In a post written a month later I addressed the question of how these countries were positioned to withstand an extended period of low oil prices and high budget deficits. More than a year has now passed, so it's time to take a look at how they have done so far and to see what their actions presage for the future. Results to date: OPEC is known to have suffered economic...

Digital Currency: The Key Tool of 21st Century Monolithic Nanny State Tyranny   January 28, 2016 - 6:47 am | Current Events & Politics, Economics & Investing There has been talk of doing away with paper currency for several decades, but up until now that has mostly been idle conjecture and mostly bluster. Gradually, however, the building blocks of such a system have indeed been developed. These enabling technologies include: Credit cardsDebit cardsPostal metersCredit and debit card enabled pay phonesCredit and debit card enabled vending machinesCredit and debit card enabled “pay before you exit” parking garage kiosksGrocery and warehouse...

We have not seen global economic activity fall off this rapidly since the great recession of 2008. Manufacturing activity is imploding all over the planet, global trade is slowing down at a pace that is extremely alarming, and the Baltic Dry Index just hit another brand new all-time record low. If the "real economy" consists of people making, selling and shipping stuff, then it is in incredibly bad shape. Here in the United States, the dismal economic numbers continue to stun all of the experts. For example, on Monday we learned that the Texas general business activity index just...

"...Daniel Yergin, founder of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, said it is impossible for OPEC to knock out the US shale industry though a war of attrition even if large numbers of frackers fall by the wayside over coming months. Mr Yergin said groups with deep pockets such as Blackstone and Carlyle will take over the infrastructure when the distressed assets are cheap enough, and bide their time until the oil cycle turns. "The management may change and the companies may change but the resources will still be there," he told the Daily Telegraph. "It takes $10bn and five to...

successfully navigated, global growth could be derailed." Of the warning signs, the decline in U.S. industrial production has one of the best track records. The output from mines, factories and utilities has always begun to decline before recession strikes. "Manufacturing tends to lead the economic cycle and it tends to be an indicator of the swings," said Thomas Costerg, senior economist at Standard Chartered. "Manufacturing is struggling." A strong U.S. dollar and weak economies internationally are taking a toll. But unlike past declines in industrial production, today's decline has been driven primarily by the collapse in the oil industry. The...

The world's financial system has become dangerously unstable and faces an avalanche of bankruptcies that will test social and political stability, according to a leading global banker. William White, chairman of the OECD's review committee and former chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements, suggests the stresses in the financial system are "worse than it was in 2007." Speaking with the UK Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard before the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, White warned that macroeconomic ammunition to fight further economic downturns was essentially "all used up."

The currency's decline is having a pronounced effect on Canadians' grocery bills. As Bloomberg reminds us, Canada imports around 80% of its fresh fruits and vegetables. When the loonie slides, prices for those good soar. "With lower-income households tending to spend a larger portion of income on food, this side effect of a soft currency brings them the most acute stress," Bloomberg continues. Of course with the layoffs piling up, you can expect more households to fall into the "lower-income" category where they will have to struggle to afford things like $3 cucumbers, $8 cauliflower, and $15 Frosted Flakes. Have...

Crude oil has become so cheap it could speed the oil market to a recovery. U.S. crude plunged on Thursday to a 12-year low, an ominous milestone for Houston's oil hub, which already has shed thousands of jobs in the 19-month oil downturn. With crude now fetching less than $34 a barrel, about half the nation's scattered collection of 400,000 aging, nearly depleted wells may have to be shut in as their product becomes less valuable than their operating costs. Called stripper wells, these produce a negligible amount of oil individually but together account for about a tenth of U.S....

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell briefly below $30 a barrel on Tuesday, extending a relentless selloff that has wiped almost 20 percent off prices this year amid deepening concerns about fragile Chinese demand and the absence of output restraint.

Half of U.S. shale oil producers could go bankrupt before the crude market reaches equilibrium, Fadel Gheit, said Monday...By then it will be too late for many marginal U.S. drillers, who must drill into and break up shale rock to release oil and gas through a process called hydraulic fracturing. Fracking is significantly more expensive than extracting oil from conventional wells.

Martin Gray, one of a handful of fund managers who made money during the financial crisis, is concerned global equity stock markets are ripe for a fall An investor who delivered a 12.3pc return for investors during the financial crisis despite global stock markets falls has said he is moving into cash again and "cannot help but feel bearish" about shares. Martin Gray, formerly of fund firm Miton but now running his own business, Coram Asset Management, is concerned that "overvalued" stock markets are ripe for a fall. Mr Gray's former fund, Miton Cautious Multi Asset, was one of just...

The Ghost Empire - Climate Change, Global Warming, Drought and Desertification Commodities / Climate Change June 08, 2013 - 07:29 PM GMT By: Richard Mills Drought is a normal recurring feature of the climate in most parts of the world. It doesn’t get the attention of a tornado, hurricane or flood. Instead, it’s a slower and less obvious, a much quieter disaster creeping up on us unawares. Climate change is currently warming many regions, overall warmer temperatures increase the frequency and intensity of heat waves and droughts. We can prepare for some climate change consequences with public education, water conservation...