Europe

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

“Prosperity is like a Jenga tower. Take one piece out and the whole thing can fall.”

That’s a direct quote from John Williams, the President of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank in a speech he gave a few weeks ago.

He could have just as easily been talking about propaganda. The Fed, the White House, Wall Street, the media have a vested interest in peddling a certain narrative about the economy.

Submitted by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,

• Hans-Georg Maaßen, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV), warned that the Islamic State was deliberately planting jihadists among the refugees flowing into Europe, and reported that the number of Salafists in Germany has now risen to 7,900. This is up from 7,000 in 2014 and 5,500 in 2013.

Authored by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com,

Everyone is missing the serious problem that ultra-low interest rates have created for retirees.

Pension funds are still assuming that future returns will be in the 7½–8% range. And as people get older and have no practical way to go back to work, pension funds that are forced to reduce payments in 10 or 15 years (and some even sooner) will destroy the lifestyles of many.

• Bank of Japan Holds Fire on Stimulus, Negative Rate Unchanged (BBG)
• Donald Trump Aims for a Knockout in Tuesday Primaries (WSJ)
• Global Stocks Fall on Commodities Decline, Ahead of Fed Meeting (WSJ)
• Oil prices fall as clouds gather over supply picture (Reuters)
• Many Shale Companies Are Unable to Ramp Up Oil Output (WSJ)
• Valeant Slashes Guidance, stock crashes (WSJ)
• Fed to sit tight on rates at March meet, hint at hikes to come (Reuters)
• Big Money Gets On China's Lifeboats (BBG)

Was that it for the great February/March bear market rally?