United States

Submitted by Jessica Ruane via OilPrice.com,

Tumbling US unemployment and surging US inflation is not what really matters to 'Global' Janet. She knows what happened the last time "market" expectations were so disclocatedly bullish relative to "economic" expectations... and doesn't want to be driving the current bus off the great-er depression cliff...

A 'hold' in Sept - rally; a 'hike' in Dec - plunge; and this time 'hold' because everything is so decoupled...

One of the biggest false narratives pitched by the mainstream to mitigate concerns about a global recession, is that even as China's massively overlevered manufacturing sector is careening into a hard landing, China's "strong" consumer base will keep the country's economy afloat (a narrative shared with the U.S.), even though as reported over the past weekend retail sales soundly disappointed expectations, while the latest proxy of China's consumer strenth, namely "record" box office receipts, was recently uncovered to have been - like everything else in China - mostly fabricated.

Submitted by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,

Oil prices have shown signs of life over the past few weeks, as production declines in the U.S. raise expectations that the market is starting to adjust. As a result, Brent crude recently surpassed $40 per barrel for the first time in months.

One of the more impressive short squeezes in recent history took place in the first two weeks of March, when the stock of distressed Peabody Energy, the largest U.S. coal producer which employs 8,300 workers, exploded higher from just $2.50 per share at the start of the month to a whopping $6.50 just last week.

Many scratched their heads at this move as nothing fundamental had changed in the company's deteriorating operations, and its bonds are among the most distressed issues trading currently (with upcoming interest payments as we profiled last night).