United States

Just like the global panic that gripped the world in October 2014 when the Ebola virus had spread from western Africa to many nations around the globe, including several isolated cases in the US, so a year and a half later, the world is urgently scrambling to unleash a sense of panic surrounding the Zika virus which, just like Ebola, came out of nowhere and is fast becoming the latest scapegoat for collapsing global commerce this year's invisible bogeyman.

Here are some of the latest developments.

At Least 54 People Infected in the U.S.

A strong magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southern Taiwan early on Saturday, according to the US Geological Survey . The quake struck at 11:57 a.m. PT about 14 miles northeast of the city of Pingtung, 19 miles (31 km) east-southeast of Tainan at a depth of 6.2 miles, the agency said. The USGS  have also warned that a magnitude 6.4 quake is capable of causing a “severe damage”, though there have been no reports casualties but one official said that a building had partially collapsed No tsunami warnings have yet been issued.

To be sure, the rumors have been there for a while.

As we first wrote in March of 2015 when it became a topic of conversation, speculation that Cushing may fill, and even overflow, has been around for nearly 10 months.

As we reported then, there were floating predictions that Cushing may top out as soon as the summer of 2015.

Gold And Silver Best Performing Assets – Up 9% and 8% YTD

Gold is 3.6% higher this week and is now over 9% higher year to date. The dollar saw sharp falls this week on growing doubts that the Federal Reserve will be able to raise interest rates. The gains this week were due to increasing concerns about the U.S. and global economy.

GoldCore and Finviz.com

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OffTwoMinds blog,

Once private credit rolls over in China and the U.S., the global recession will start its rapid slide down the Seneca Cliff.

Few question the importance of private credit in the global economy. When households and businesses are borrowing to expand production and buy homes, vehicles, etc., the economy expands smartly.