North America

• Futures rise as oil gains hold steady (Reuters)
• China promises economic stability as G20, parliament loom (Reuters)
• Obama scolds Senate Republicans for Supreme Court threat (Reuters)
• China Deploys Missiles on Disputed South China Sea Island (WSJ)
• China Ramps Up Rhetoric, Plans New Steps to Juice Up Economy (BBG)
• China Loses Control of the Economic Story Line (WSJ)
• Banks are still the weak links in the economic chain (FT)
• The Great Iron-Ore Flood Claims Anglo as Biggest Victim (BBG)

If you were looking for signs that US trade may be collapsing on itself, a good place to start would be Class 8 truck orders which, as we first documented in early December, have posted sharp y/y declines of late.

In November for instance, orders collapsed 59% y/y. In December, the drop was 37%, and in January, Class 8 orders dove 48% from the year ago period.

Something strange is going on. Heading into the Friday open, in his daily letter to "clients", Dennis Gartman said that in his "retirement portfolio" he was short the market and long gold, to wit:

Hold your real assets outside of the banking system in a private international facility  -->  http://www.321gold.com/info/053015_sprott.html 

The Mystery of the One Bank: its Owners? 

Written by Jeff Nielson (CLICK FOR ORIGINAL)

Submitted by Constantin Gurdgiev via True Economics blog,

Global growth leading indicators are screaming it, Baltic Dry Index is screaming it, PMIs are screaming it, BRICS are living it, and now Ifo surveys are showing it: global economy is heading into a storm.

The latest warning is from the Ifo World Economic Climate Index.

Per Ifo release: