United States

Temperatures in the north pole could be 35C warmer than usual for this time of year, say meteorologists. The low pressure system that has brought extreme weather to the UK and US, and is the result of the 2015 El-Nino, could make the Arctic’s temperature hotter than Chicago, Vienna or Istanbul on Wednesday. The Guardian reports: The Arctic could reach temperatures about 35C (63F) warmer than average for this time of year, meteorologists have warned.

Update: S&P Futures tumbled back to the lows of the day after hours...

S&P remains just in the green for 2015...

Something surprising emerged in the latest Daily Treasury Statement report showing the sources and uses of operating cash of the US Treasury: the line item for Federal Reserve Earnings exploded to $19.3 billion on December 28, doubling the amount of cash the Fed had remitted to the Treasury for all of 2015.

This record, unprecedented one-day payment is shown in the chart below:

And just like that the Fed, also known as the printer of US currency, gave the Treasury a one time record bonus of $19 billion.

Submitted by Sarah Lazare via TheAntiMedia.org,

State Department spokesperson John Kirby is raising eyebrows after he released a recap of 2015 “success stories” in which he credits the United States for bringing “peace” and “security” to Syria and “stepping up” to help the country’s people at a difficult time.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, keep trying again and again.

That appears to be the mantra of Goldman's credit strategists, who one year ago when the 10Y was trading right around current levels, predicted that the yield on the benchmark bond would rise to 3% by the end of 2015. It was just a little off.

First, here is Goldman's apology for being so wrong in what may be the most important forecast a bank makes (as it involves everything from the economy to the equity risk premium): where the 10 Year will trade: