For the second quarter in a row, US worker productivity fell in Q1 (down 0.6% QoQ). Outside of 2015's weather-driven debacle, this is the weakest two quarter tumble in productivity since Q4 2012. Unit labor costs rose 4.5% QoQ in Q1 (revised up from 4.1%) as output actually fell 0.6% (implying a 3.9% rise in compensation). This is the 3rd quarterly drop in output in a row.
Must be the weather...
Forget BTFD... BTFATH is back.
A relentless stream of selling by Bank of America's "smart money" clients stretching for over 4 straight months, or 18 consecutive weeks, is finally over. As BofA's Jill Carey Hall reports, last week, during which the S&P 500 was flat from the prior week, BofAML clients were net buyers of US stocks for the first time in 19 weeks, breaking a record-long selling streak that began in mid-January.
Stock whisperer Yellen said all the right things yesterday, when she sounded more optimistic than pessimistic on the economy but while the economy is "strong" it is most likely not strong enough to weather a rate hike in the immediate future.
President Putin has vowed to seek revenge against the Obama administration after it emerged that a Russian mother was abducted and tortured by U.S. authorities. According to a Security Council report, the Obama regime authorised the abduction of Olga Pimanova in order to steal her three-year-old daughter after she arrived in Chicago, in order to study for an MBA in business administration management.
Submitted by Claire Bernish via TheAntiMedia.org,
In the true Orwellian fashion now typifying 2016, a bill to implement the U.S.’ very own de facto Ministry of Truth has been quietly introduced in Congress - its lack of fanfare appropriate given the bill’s equally subtle language. As with any legislation attempting to dodge the public spotlight, however, the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016 marks a further curtailment of press freedom and another avenue to stultify avenues of accurate information.