United States

Former Congressman Ron Paul has said that he believes the U.S. empire is on the verge of collapse, but that the imminent collapse will be the best thing that has happened to the country in recent history.  Dr. Paul told attendees at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Texas that America is showing signs of collapsing, just like every other empire before it did. “I believe… what our contention has to be right now is what is happening to our country from within,” he said. “And actually it’s very encouraging.

China have expressed concern over plans by the U.S. military to deploy long-range B-1 heavy bombers to Australia, according to China’s foreign ministry.  Commander of US Pacific Air Forces, General Lori Robinson, has confirmed that high-level discussions are underway to have American B-1 bombers and aerial tankers stationed in the Northern Territory. “We’re in the process of talking about rotational forces, bombers and tankers out of Australia (Tindal and Darwin) and it gives us the opportunity to train with Australia“, she told reporters. Farsnews.com reports: Gen.

Submitted by Dwayne Purvis via OilPrice.com,

In the geopolitical and oligopolistic global oil market, purely financial supply and demand has often been a secondary force, acting when it is allowed to act. It is the strategic behavior of the producing titans, not their talk or the slow-motion supply-demand balance, which has the real power to move markets. That is the case in the last two years and remains the case in 2016.

The market's volatile swing are clearly too much for the central banker-incubating hedge fund known as Goldman Sachs, because just three days after Goldman said there has "never been a better time to buy S&P calls", when it said that "our GS-EQMOVE model estimates there is a 21% probability of a 5% up-move over the next month based on the current levels of S&P 500 Free Cash Flow yield, Return on Equity, ISM new orders and US Capacity Utilization"...

... moments ago the same Goldman announced that:

Obama’s Atlantic interviews on foreign policy contains some interesting remarks, but they are difficult to square with Obama’s own policies. The New York Times summarizes some of his views this way:

President Obama believes that Saudi Arabia, one of America’s most important allies in the Middle East, needs to learn how to “share” the region with its archenemy, Iran, and that both countries are guilty of fueling proxy wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.