Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
You don't need an army to achieve World Domination; all you need is enough cheap credit to buy up everything that generates the highest value and/or income.
World Domination--it has a nice ring, doesn't it? Here's how to achieve it in 5 steps:
“Financial markets think the only realistic option for the U.S. and North Korea will be to sit down and talk at some point because other options are too costly for everyone involved. But no one can rule out the risk of accidents. Markets think the chicken game will continue for now and North Korea will remain a risk.”
- Masayoshi Kichikawa, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui.
Authored by Cyril Widdershoven via OilPrice.com,
There are still two to three days before the peak flooding - and damage - in Houston arrives, yet already Wall Street is trying to calculate how much the worst natural disaster in decades befalling the 4th largest American city will impact US GDP. Or rather boost it, because in two notes out late in the day Monday, one from Goldman and one from JPM, the authors come to two polar opposite conclusions: Goldman claims that the Houston natural disaster will reduce Q3 GDP by as much as 0.2%, while JPMorgan predicts that the "net impact on Q3 and Q4 GDP should be positive."
It seems as though the practice of using one's home as a personal ATM machine is making a 'yuge' comeback of late thanks, at least in part, to the same aggressive lending terms and attractive teaser rates that nearly sank the world economy just under a decade ago. According the Wall Street Journal and Equifax, home equity originations soared to $46 billion in 2Q 2017, the highest level since the market collapsed in 2008.