United States

Dow futures are down 100 points and Chinese stocks are pressing new 14-month lows, extending last night's carnage after Chinese Industrial Profits tumbled. With a dismal 4.7% drop year-over-year, led by a near 60% collapse in the mining industry, early strength (after some jawboning from Abe) gave way to fresh lows and US equity futures are also responding. Offshore Yuan refuses to drop since Xinhua wrote a 3rd hit piece against George Soros and his "speculative snap profits."

This year is just getting uglier...

Submitted by Allen Gilmer via OilPrice.com,

The one given in this industry is that the analyst community is consistently wrong about where the price of oil is going in the near to mid-term. Just as $100 oil was a sentiment driven price that baked in the risk of every potential negative impact on the supply chain, $28, $30 or $40 dollars is equally sentimental, assuming that any and all incremental barrels are and will be available AND demand will slow or stop.

2013 and 2015 forecasts. (forecasting sentiment is hard) Image Sources: EIA

Submitted by Peter Schiff via Euro Pacific Capital,

Authored by Gerald O'Driscoll, former vice president at The Dallas Fed, posteed op-ed at The Wall Street Journal,

Are we headed for another global financial crisis? The market convulsions of the past week reflected a continuation of a market selloff that began on the first trading day of 2016. Investors have reasons to be fearful—but not terrified.

To judge by the early returns, the presidential race of 2016 is shaping up as the most disheartening in recent memory. Other than as a form of low entertainment, the speeches, debates, campaign events, and slick TV ads already inundating the public sphere offer little of value. Rather than exhibiting the vitality of American democracy, they testify to its hollowness.