China

Submitted by Jeffrey Snider via Alhambra Investment Partners,

While Chinese New Year seasonals are undoubtedly one factor in last night's "surprisingly good" Chinese trade data, the following chart shows the level of "bullshit factor" was extreme by anyone's measure.

After several of weeks of sharp currency devaluation, the market was carefully watching last night's China trade data to see if the Yuan debasement had led to a positive trade outcome to the world's second biggest economy, and as reported last night, it was not disappointed when China reported a December trade surplus of $60.09 billion from $54.1 billion in November, as a result of exports rising (2.3%), the first increase since June, while imports declined by just 4%, the lowest since 2014 despite China importing a record amount of oil, or 33.2 million tons, ostensibly to take advantage of

Submitted by William Engdahl via New Eastern Outlook,

Russia has just taken significant steps that will break the present Wall Street oil price monopoly, at least for a huge part of the world oil market. The move is part of a longer-term strategy of decoupling Russia’s economy and especially its very significant export of oil, from the US dollar, today the Achilles Heel of the Russian economy.

Some thoughts on what lies ahead while President Obama jawbones... (grab a glass of wine or bottle)

Submitted by David Haggith via The Great Recession blog,