Business

Earlier this month, Puerto Rico narrowly avoided default by utilizing a revenue clawback end-around to make $354 million in debt payments. Some $273 million of the total due was tied to GO debt, meaning that had the island missed the payment, a cascade of messy litigation would likely have followed. 

Subsequently, PREPA - the island’s power utility - managed to secure a deal with creditors and the monolines that will allow for the restructuring of $8.2 billion in debt. Should the agreement materialize, it would be the largest restructuring in muni history. 

While we already knew last night courtesy of a leak by the BEA that personal spending in November rose by 0.3%, in line with expectations and up from a 0.1% increase the month before, moments ago we got the missing component, which was personal income, and at 0.3%, it too rose 0.3% in October, just above the 0.2% expected, but down from the 0.4% increase in October.

If it wasn't for America's war machine, the economy would be deep in recession. Defense spending (aircraft and parts) soared 148% in the last 3 months - biggest such rise since 2007 managing to squeeze Durable Goods Orders overall to unchanged in Nov (vs -0.6% exp). That's the good news. Everywhere else you look... terrible. Core Capex fell 1.93% YoY - the 10th consecutive YoY drop - something not seen before outside of recession.

The US Economy Works for the Mega-Banks that Financial Deregulation Permitted and for the
One Percent but for No One Else

http://www.globalresearch.ca/37-facts-about-how-cruel-this-economy-has-been-to-millions-of-desperate-american-families/5309938

The post The US Economy Works for the Mega-Banks that Financial Deregulation Permitted and for the One Percent but for No One Else appeared first on PaulCraigRoberts.org.

In OPEC's latest annual World Oil Outlook released on Wednesday, the now defunct cartel (courtesy of Saudi Arabia's insistence on vetoing any production limit) said that demand for its crude will slide to 2020, as rival supplies continue to grow. On the supply side, OPEC said it would need to pump 30.7 million barrels a day by the end of the decade, which is 1.7 million barrels more than it projected a year ago but well below, or some 1 million barrels less than the group pumped in November.