Turkey continues to shell Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria in an attempt to stop them from claiming the town of Azaz, which is located just eight kilometers from the Turkish border. The US and France have both called on Turkey to cease its artillery bombardment against Kurdish targets and de-escalate tensions on all sides.
The Empire Fed Manufacturing survey has been in contraction (below 0) since July 2015 and while February's -16.64 print was above January's -19.37, it was dramatically worse than the expected -10.0. New Orders and Shipments remain in contraction as both prices paid and recived tumbled. Hope improved modestly but remains markedly below December levels, as CapEx spending expectations weakened once again.
Still - we always have Services to take the pressure off manufacturing, right? Oh wait...
Turkey shelled Syria for a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as Ankara steps up efforts to bolster rebels in the face of an advance by the Kurdish YPG. “As many as 150 terrorists were killed during the 4-day-long shelling targeting PYD points,” the pro-government Yeni Safak wrote today, adding that “the PYD, backed by both the US and Russia, is working with President Bashar al-Assad to control areas along the Turkish border.”
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed a controversial call by Turkey to impose a no-fly zone over northern Syria. She said it would help alleviate the refugee crisis: “In the current situation it would be helpful, if there could be such an area, where none of the parties are allowed to launch aerial attacks, that is to say, a kind of no-fly zone“ Turkish President Erdogan threatened Europe with a new migrant wave renewing calls for no-fly zone in Syria just days ago.
Are we really having this conversation? Is this a real question? Where am I from? @roddreher @tobydanna @WAFB https://t.co/VCCvD02Qjl
— Caleb Bernacchio (@calebb_caleb) February 15, 2016
WAFB is a Baton Rouge television station. And yes, we are having this conversation. The thing is, the answer to this real question might really turn out to be, “Hell, no!”