Juggling Dynamite

Euphemisms aside, tax havens are in the business of taking revenue belonging to other countries.

Canadian documentarian Howard Crooks on the threat to democracy from tax havens. Here is a direct video link.

The major economic releases today were all weaker than consensus forecasts. Oil fell below its March 2009 Great Recession bottom in sympathy. North American treasury yields fell too.  Buybacks notwithstanding, corporate earning forecasts are rolling over (see below).  As they must.

Large cap stocks meanwhile continue to trade in an artificial nightmare of their own making.  The disconnect is so glaring it might be comical, except that the coming re-coupling is destined to compound deficits and hardships for many.
chart source:  zerohedge.com courtesy of Bloomberg

David Stockman, former director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, talks about the outlook for U.S. fiscal policy and debt reduction. Here is the direct video link.

As we listen to the host in this clips toss out several nonsensical statements (that she picked up from some of her mostly sell-side guests) about the economy “getting better” and stocks “not being expensive”, it is helpful to remember that those who don’t do unbiased analysis work themselves, have no idea what they are talking about. After losses hit, they are the first to admit this and say that they were ‘just’ a host, or a salesperson–that they were relying on or quoting others who gave them bad or incomplete information and analysis.

The entire financial sales complex is built on this model of ‘not my fault, I was just repeating what I had been told.’ Buyer beware.

Boomers are presently between the ages of 50 and 69 and the dominant force in policy making in most developed countries. It’s no coincidence then that pot use is being increasingly legalized. But that isn’t the half of it.

Baby Boomers are developing drug problems at increasingly higher rates. What is the profile of a Boomer at risk? Here is a direct video link.