Business

It's all starting to fall apart for Japan, whose "lost decade" now appears as though it may turn into a "lost forever" and that's if QQE doesn't dead end in "failed state" status in 2018. 

A rebound in inflation is nowhere in sight (even when Japan attempts to game the numbers by removing components where prices are declining) and as we saw last month, the "devalue our way to prosperity" idea isn't working out so well as trade is collapsing in the face of the global currency wars. Wage growth is of course a complete joke as we've outlined on too many occasions to count.

Submitted by John Rubino via DollarCollapse.com,

Not so long ago the financial world viewed certain numbers as limits beyond which lay trouble. Interest rates near zero, for instance, were thought to risk destabilizing the banking system. And government fiscal deficits above 3% were considered so dangerous that exceeding this level was prohibited by the Maastricht treaty that all eurozone members were required to sign.

Despite collapsing earnings expectations and weaker than expected macro data, US equity markets have 'lifted off' since mid-February erasing the entire year's losses...

And all it took was the coordinated easing from most of the world's largest central banks...

h/t @NorthmanTrader

Authored by Bill Bonner of Bonner & Partners (annotated by Acting-Man.com's Pater Tenebrarum),

But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

– Mark 13:32

La Mort, photograph of her good side.

Bigger Than a Bear Market

Perfectly bottom-ticking the Russia stock market in March 2014, The White House's Jay Carney suggested investors "not invest in Russian equities right now." Since then MICEX has soared 55% to fresh 8-year highs (closing in on record highs) and is the best-forming asset since the March 2009 lows.

In March 2014...

Carney warns of impact on Russian stock market. "If I were you, I wouldn't invest in Russian equities right now."

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 18, 2014