Federal Government

Parents in Australia have rushed to get their children vaccinated against their will due to the federal government’s new ‘no jab, no pay’ law, which stops parents receiving Tax Benefit’s if their child remains unvaccinated after January 1st, 2016.  The rush on vaccines has caused health departments to become inundated with calls from doctors and nurses who are requesting assistance in dealing with the high demand. Theage.com.au reports: Meanwhile, health departments are sending out increased vaccine supplies, a spokesman for federal Health Minister Sussan Ley confirmed.

Of all the indicators that the Fed has presented to justify its rate hike mentality and to validate that the US economy remains on a growth path despite clear recessionary signals from both the manufacturing sector and the dramatic tightening in financial conditions in recent months, Yellen's preferred metric also happens to be the most lagging one: nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate, both of which supposedly signal the collapsing slack in the labor market and a jump in wages that has been "just around the corner" for years.

Just when traders thought that the biggest and most violent 3-day short squeeze in 7 years was about to end...

... a squeeze that has resulted in 3 consecutive 1%+ sessions for the S&P for the first time since October 2011, overnight we got one of the Fed's biggest faux-hakws, St. Louis Fed's Jim Bullard, who said that it would be "unwise" to continue hiking rates at this moment, and hinted that "if needed", the most natural option for the Fed going forward would be to do further Q.E.

Originally posted at The Daily Bell,

Stock markets suspect Federal Reserve has interest rate jitters ... Hints that the Fed won't raise interest rates in March are proving to be good news for miners and oil producers' share prices The Federal Reserve's William Dudley said further strengthening in the dollar could have 'significant consequences' for the health of the US economy. – UK Guardian

Blame it on the dollar!

Submitted by Richard Ebeling via EpicTimes.com,

The news is filled with the everyday zigzags of those competing against each other for the Democrat and Republican Party nominations to run for the presidency of the United States. But one of the most important issues receiving little or no attention in this circus of political power lusting is the long-term danger from the huge and rising Federal government debt.