United States

Last week, one day before the Fed unleashed a statement that stunned Wall Street by its dovishness and admission that the Fed had been far too optimistic on the state of the US (and global) economy, when it slashed its forecast on the number of rate hikes from 4 to 2, we said that "while everyone's attention is on the Fed, the biggest danger to the S&P500 has little to do with what Janet Yellen may say tomorrow, and everything to do with the marginal buyer of stocks being put into a state of forced hibernation", namely the start of the stock buyback blackout period during Q1 earnings se

Submitted by Ben Hunt via Salient Partner's Epsilon Theory blog,

Five Easy Pieces for the World-As-It-Is

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Authored by Bill Bonner of Bonner & Partners (annotated by Acting-Man.com's Pater Tenebrarum),

But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

– Mark 13:32

La Mort, photograph of her good side.

Bigger Than a Bear Market

John McCain has become the latest critic from the US to intervene in the Brexit debate Wading into the EU referendum debate on Friday, the republican senator, who is no fan of Vladimir Putin, warned that if Britain should exit the EU it would leave Europe, America and the wider world at the mercy of Russian President. Important intervention by @SenJohnMcCain – UK membership of EU vital for security & prosperity of both Europe & U.S.

The US military has disciplined over a dozen service members for the air strike on Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that killed 42 people last year. The U.S. has acknowledged that the clinic was struck 120 times by mistake. No personnel will face criminal charges, according to the Pentagon. The BBC reports: The Associated Press reported that the sanctions, which were not made public, were mostly administrative. Some received formal reprimands while others were suspended from duty.