Business

A few weeks ago, we expressed some level of astonishment that the rating agencies, in their infinite wisdom, decided to bestow an investment grade rating upon a new $3 billion bond issuance by the City of Chicago.  Of course, this wouldn't be such a big deal but for the fact that the state of Illinois is a financial disaster that will undoubtedly be forced into bankruptcy at some point in the future courtesy of a staggering ~$150 billion funding gap on its public pensions, a mountain of debt and $16.4 billion in accrued AP because they can't even afford to pay their bills on a timely basis.

Just two days after taking medical leave from his role as CEO of CSX, the company has confirmed 73-year-old Hunter Harrison has passed away.

Hunter Harrison, CEO of rail company CSX, has passed away, the company confirmed in a statement Saturday.

"It is with great sadness that we announce that E. Hunter Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer of CSX, died today in Wellington, Fla., due to unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness," the company said.

Authored by Chris Martenson via PeakProsperity.com,

... is leading us to destruction.

When it comes to the story we're being told about America's rosy oil prospects, we're being swindled. 

At its core, the swindle is this: The shale industry's oil production forecasts are vastly overstated.

Swindle:  Noun  - A fraudulent scheme or action.

Authored by Robert Huebscher via AdvisorPerspectives.com,

Easy monetary policies during the post-crisis period have propelled equity prices higher and driven bond yields lower. But as central banks reverse their quantitative easing (QE) and raise rates, this “Goldilocks era” will come to an end, according to Jeffrey Gundlach.

While we published both the full text(1,097 pages) and the "explanatory" statement (only 570 pages) released by the House-Senate conference committee on the final Republican Tax Bill, also known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), we are confident not many readers - or anyone else for that matter - will read the full text.

So, as we previewded yesterday, here again is the Cliff Notes version of what the GOP agreed on late on Friday, and which will be voted early to mid-next week by both the House and the Senate: