Following the weakness in global PMIs, and yesterday's Chicago PMI collapse, US Markit Manufacturing PMI dropped to cycle lows at 51.3 from 52.5 (very slightly better than expectations of 51.2) with job growth at 5-month lows, production at slowest in 28 months, and work backlogs tumbling to the lowest since Sept 2009.
Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
Warren Buffett, in his latest annual letter to shareholders, took aim at the idea that 2% real economic growth wasn’t sufficient to create economic prosperity for future generations was wrong.
Via Myles Udland from Business Insider:
A FOIA request has revealed that the FBI had former alternative researcher, author and broadcaster William (Bill) Cooper under heavy surveillance prior to his murder in 2001. Hundreds of unclassified documents reveal that the FBI viewed Cooper as an “armed and dangerous” person who harboured “anti-government” views. The documents describe Bill as being “convinced there is a government sponsored socialist conspiracy to establish a ‘new world order’“.
The first four Republican contests—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada—produced record turnouts.
While the prospect of routing Hillary Clinton and recapturing the White House brought out the true believers, it was Donald Trump’s name on the ballot and his calls for economic patriotism, border security, and an end to imperial wars that brought out the throngs.
The crowds that continue to come out for his appearances and the vast audiences he has attracted to GOP debates testify to his drawing power.