North America

Submitted by Claire Bernish via TheAntiMedia.org,

Canada’s Cape Breton Island has become the unofficial escape option for their neighbors to the south should Donald Trump manage to be elected the next president of the United States. A website promoting the plan greets visitors with the following:

“Hi Americans! Donald Trump may become the President of your country! If that happens, and you decide to get the hell out of there, might I suggest moving to Cape Breton Island!”

There are 60 major stock exchanges throughout the world, and their range of sizes is quite surprising.

As Visual Capitalist's Jeff Desjardin notes, at the high end of the spectrum is the mighty NYSE, representing $18.5 trillion in market capitalization, or about 27% of the total market for global equities.

Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

After a series of stunning declines through the month of January and the first half of February, global financial markets seem to have found a patch of relative stability at least for the moment.  But that does not mean that the crisis is over.

• Futures rise as oil gains hold steady (Reuters)
• China promises economic stability as G20, parliament loom (Reuters)
• Obama scolds Senate Republicans for Supreme Court threat (Reuters)
• China Deploys Missiles on Disputed South China Sea Island (WSJ)
• China Ramps Up Rhetoric, Plans New Steps to Juice Up Economy (BBG)
• China Loses Control of the Economic Story Line (WSJ)
• Banks are still the weak links in the economic chain (FT)
• The Great Iron-Ore Flood Claims Anglo as Biggest Victim (BBG)

If you were looking for signs that US trade may be collapsing on itself, a good place to start would be Class 8 truck orders which, as we first documented in early December, have posted sharp y/y declines of late.

In November for instance, orders collapsed 59% y/y. In December, the drop was 37%, and in January, Class 8 orders dove 48% from the year ago period.