Despite a brief dead-cat-bounce late November, which Jim Cramer heralded as evidence of stabilization in China, the world's best known freight index has collapsed to new all-time record lows this morning. Amid a persistent glut of ships and ongoing concerns about Chinese steel imports, The Baltic Dry has tumbled to 471 - the lowest level in at least 30 years.

Worst. Ever.

It's 2:00:01 pm and the Fed has just announced it will hike rates by 25 bps while using very dovish language to convey that just like "tapering was not tightening" in 2013, so "tightening isn't really tightening", and unleashing a massive buying order.

So far so good. But the real question is what does this mean for post-kneejerk market dynamics, and the one most important variable of all: liquidity.

Submitted by Carey Wedler via TheAntiMedia.org,

“The City of Flint has experienced a Manmade disaster,” said the city’s mayor Monday evening, as she declared a state of emergency over evidently staggering levels of lead in the city’s tap water. Mayor Karen M. Weaver has requested federal assistance to deal with the fallout from over a year’s worth of tainted water delivered to Flint residents and, allegedly, falsely declared safe by government officials.

Kerry’s Moscow Meeting: A Hopeful Sign?

Paul Craig Roberts

As those of you who support this website know, the deal we made is that this is your site, and it will remain up as long as you support it. Many of you have kept our bargain.

Today this website alone has hundreds of thousands of readers, and millions more from the many websites in the US and abroad that republish my columns. But only a relatively few readers financially support the website. The reluctance of Americans to support those who give them truth is one reason Americans have so little of it.

Following last night's surprising 2.3mm barrel inventory build, reported by API, DOE reports a massive 4.8mm build against expectations of a 1.5mm barrel draw and way above the highest estimate of a 2.6mm draw. This is the biggets build in 2 months at a seasonally 'weak' time of year. Crude ramped overnight to regain the losses from the API dump, but dropped back to lows (under $37) before the DOE data, then crashed below $36. Furthermore, production was up in the lower 48.

Biggest build in 2 months...