Back on September 9, S&P threw Brazil in the junk bin. 

“We anticipate that within the next year [another] downgrade could stem in particular from a further deterioration of Brazil's fiscal position, or from potential key policy reversals given the fluid political dynamics, including a further lack of cohesion within the cabinet,” the ratings agency noted, explaining its negative outlook. “A downgrade could also result from greater economic turmoil than we currently expect either due to governability issues or the weakened external environment.”

the Venezuelan political system, with all its flaws, is much more democratic than the conventional wisdom has maintained. Now, what about the future? If the opposition gets a two-thirds majority of seats (112 or more), it would have important powers, such as the ability to remove Supreme Court judges, censure the vice president and call an assembly to propose changes to the constitution.

I couldn't understand what the controversy was about. This was a corporate entity that had decided to use plain red coffee cups instead of ones festooned with holiday icons. Big deal. But Americans -- and especially conservative Christian Americans -- have a very parochial view of Christmas. For most people in this country, Christmas means a decorated tree, snow, and Christmas carols.

Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

The Rising Risk Of A Recession

It is often said that one should never discuss religion or politics as you are going to wind up offending someone. In the financial world it is mentioning the “R” word.

The reason, of course, is that it is the onset of a recession that typically ends the “bull market” party. As the legendary Bob Farrell once stated:

The "Walmart model" has become the model of our economy. The billionaires that model creates use their wealth to bribe -- I mean, "influence" -- our government to keep things the way they are. It is time to take back our government from the billionaires, fix trade, fix taxes and fix wages.