Authored by Satyajit Das', author of the new book "The Age Of Stagnation" (via MarketWatch),
The mispricing of assets across world markets has reached epidemic proportions.
Stock prices have made strong advances over the past several years, yet market analysts see further gains, arguing that the selloffs of August 2015 and early 2016 represent a healthy correction.
Whether this week's market surge was catalyzed by two consecutive "technical problems" in the bond market, first the unexpected failure of the Fed's MBS POMO on Wednesday and then the 7 Year Treasury auction's last minute cancellations yesterday, and quite clearly it was...
... is irrelevant as the short squeeze has not only returned with a vengeance...
... but the critical 1,950 resistance and 50 DMA in the S&P500 was taken out...
In a Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump race—which, the Beltway keening aside, seems the probable outcome of the primaries—what are the odds the GOP can take the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court?
If Republicans can unite, not bad, not bad at all.
Undeniably, Democrats open with a strong hand. There is that famed “blue wall,” those 18 states and D.C. with a combined 242 electoral votes, just 28 shy of victory, that have gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1988.
As we reported earlier today, European officials have essentially put an expiration date on the EU as we know it. It’s 10 days from now.
That’s when a team from Brussels will convene a summit with Turkey to discuss a coordinated response to the refugee crisis that threatens to plunge the bloc into “anarchy” (to quote Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's foreign minister). As the weather starts to improve, Europe fears even more asylum seekers will attempt to make the journey, straining Schengen to the breaking point.
Western Peoples Are Being Re-Enserfed
Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, free farmers were defenceless in the face of Viking, Magyar, and Saracen raiders. The need for protection led to the enserfment of free people who accepted the suzerainty of those able to provide walled defenses and armed fighters to ward off attacks. As time passed, the attacks ceased but the feudal arrangements persisted, and the system became exploitative.