Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
Combine this regulatory burden with the decline of entrepreneurship, and you get a bubbling brew that is toxic to self-employment/small business.
Why has the percentage of the population that's in the work force declined so dramatically? It's a question many have asked, and Gordon T. Long and I attempt to answer in our most recent video program The Participation Rate Mystery--Solved.
Since 2009, the global markets have been largely steered by Central Bank policy, NOT organic economic growth. With the debt-based monetary system dangerously close to shutting down during the 2008 meltdown, Central Banks stepped in as the “buyers of last resort” to provide a backstop to the system.
Investors Beware - Credit Market Collapse Warning
Money Week editor John Stepek has looked at the recent mutual fund collapse in the junk bond market and correctly warns that it is a canary in the coal mine:
If you were around during the financial crisis, you might remember that fund closures became one of the canaries in the coal mine.
On numerous prior occasions (here, here and here) we have explained why Jefferies, as the last "pure-play" investment bank left standing and thus with a legacy one-month offset year-end calendar (Nov 30 fiscal year-end) is the best harbinger of Wall Street's reporting season: "it provides an invaluable glimpse into the fortunes of its Wall Street peers with a 4 week advance notice."
If there is one chart that tells the 'truth' about the US equity 'market' it is this. Not only has breadth collapsed back to Black Monday lows (despite elevated index prices) but yesterday's exuberant rip higher diverged dramatically from a very significant drop (3 decliners for every advancer) in overall market breadth. Yes, it's Fed week, and OPEX, but the underlying support for the ponzi is waning rapidly.
Charts: Bloomberg