NO STRINGS ATTACHED NEWS THAT MAINSTREAM JUST WON'T COVER.
It is testimony to the rank hypocrisy of British and American governments who lecture others around the world about democracy, human rights and international law.
https://www.infowars.com/un-envoy-issues-grim-warning-over-assanges-life/
'Senile Dotard': Trump & 'Rocket Man' Kim Are Back To Name-Calling As Deadline Looms
Less than a month to go before North Korea's self-imposed end of year deadline to cut off nuclear negotiations with Washington if no progress is made and Trump and Kim are back at the stage of name-calling, apparently.
North Korean officials have responded to President Trump's telling reporters in London during the NATO summit of Kim Jong Un — "He really likes sending rockets up, doesn't he? That's why I call him Rocket Man" — by calling the US president a "dotard". Trump is showing “the senility of a dotard,” a top official declared Thursday, reviving the prior insult.
Image source: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
Despite Trump also telling reporters he and Kim have a "good relationship," the president has also threatened to further isolate him, following a series of rocket tests which may or may not have been UN-banned ICBMs.
Choe Son Hui, North Korea's First Vice-Foreign Minister was quoted in state media as saying the foreign ministry "can not repress displeasure over the utterances made by President Trump inappropriately at the most sensitive time."
He added: "If any language and expressions stoking the atmosphere of confrontation are used once again on purpose at a crucial moment as now, that must really be diagnosed as the relapse of the dotage of a dotard."
With the deadline on talks fast approaching, it appears we are straight back to 2017, where the two leaders hurled insults and engaged in name calling on a semi-regular basis.
This week the foreign ministry reminded Washington that the clock is ticking. "The dialogue touted by the US is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the US," an official statement read.
"It is entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get," it also warned, saying a "surprise" is being prepared, likely in the form of a new missile launch, or what Pyongyang just recently warned Japan could be "a real ICBM".
Tyler Durden Fri, 12/06/2019 - 09:30 Tags PoliticsSchiff: Will the Grinch Steal Wall Street's Santa Claus Rally?
Typically, December is a strong month for stocks with the so-called “Santa Claus rally.” Peter said maybe the Grinch is going to steal that rally this year.
Peter noted that one of the reasons the stock market is up so much in 2019 is because last December was the worst December since the Great Recession.
Now, I don’t know if this December can take out that one. But, hey, it’s possible, given that there’s no reason for the stock market to up where it is. The only reason the stock market has gone up, I think, is because of the Fed.”
Peter said all of the teasing about a trade deal has also helped pump up stocks, but the big factor has been the Fed and the “Powell Put.”
And really what the Powell Put was was the Fed’s assurance that under no circumstances would it consider raising interest rates. And it doesn’t matter what happens to inflation, that inflation could go up, right? That we could have higher inflation and they wouldn’t even think about raising rates. So, the only thing that can happen to rates is that they are either cut or they remain the same. So, the threat of higher interest rates, taking that completely off the table really emboldened the bulls. It’s like waving a flag at bull, like a red flag, and now they come charging because the element of fear now is gone.”
Peter referenced a mainstream article that said the Fed has really codified its new mandate on letting inflation run hot. Every time Powell speaks, he talks about “symmetrical inflation.”
I basically said, well, what that means is inflation above 2% by an equal amount that used to be below 2%. Now you actually have the Fed talking about adopting that officially into their mandate about having inflation run above 2% adjusting their target north so that the official target now is above 2%.”
The idea is that we have to make up for the lack of inflation in the past in order to keep the average at 2%.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wamx4HHs2w]
Peter has been saying for years that the Fed would have to raise the inflation target because it could never maintain it without collapsing the economy.
They would bark when it comes to fighting inflation, but they would never bite.”
First, the government rigged the CPI to hide inflation. Now they complain that there is not enough inflation.
Peter said the whole thing is absurd.
This is nonsense. The Fed is basically saying, ‘Hey, you guys, consumers, your cost of living didn’t go up enough in the last few years. It went up, but not quite enough. So, what we have to do is make sure in the future your cost of living goes up even faster, a lot more than we initially would have planned because we have to catch up.” … I mean, what kind of asinine policy is that?”
And yet everybody just accepts this as normal.
The truth is the Fed wants to prop up the bubble economy. It wants to monetize debt. It wants to prevent the market from raising interest rates. It wants to prevent asset prices from collapsing. It wants to prevent the government from having to cut spending.
So, in order to paper over all of these problems so they can keep kicking the can down the road, that’s the reason why we need more inflation. We don’t need it because it’s good for us. It’s only good for the government in maintaining the bubble, to maintain the illusion that the economy is OK when it’s actually imploding.”
Peter said his confidence level in his predictions and his investment strategy has never been higher.
Peter went on to break down the recent moves in the stock market and then he delved a bit into the current political landscape and the Democratic primary.
Tyler Durden Fri, 12/06/2019 - 09:10 Tags Business FinanceShooter At Pensacola Naval Air Station Confirmed Dead
Update: The shooter in Pensacola has been killed, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a Facebook post.
Police added that two people have been confirmed dead, including the suspect, in what was the second shooting on a naval base in the span of two days. Police and ATF agents initially responded to the shooting, according to ABC News.
An unknown number of people have been taken to the hospital, according to Lt. Cmdr. Megan Isaac, a Navy spokesperson.
* * *
Just days after the deadly shooting at Pearl Harbor's Naval Shipyards, CNN is reporting that Pensacola Naval Air Station is currently on lockdown and Escambia County Sheriff's Office confirmed that authorities are working to "take down" an active shooter on base.
Jason Bortz, spokesman for NAS Pensacola, confirmed to the News Journal that an active shooter was reported sometime around 7 a.m. Friday. Both gates are closed and the base is on lockdown.
Amber Southard, spokeswoman for the ECSO, said little information is available at the moment, but shots have been fired on base and a heavy law enforcement presence is there to eliminate the threat.
Scanner traffic for Escambia County Fire and Rescue indicated ten patients are being transported to local hospitals.
Three medical helicopters are in route and several military ambulances have also been seen in the area.
Developing...
Tyler Durden Fri, 12/06/2019 - 08:58Stocks, Dollar, & Bond Yields Surge After Huge Jobs Beat
Following a much better than expected jobs gain in November, markets have reacted rather dramatically with bond yields and the dollar gapping higher and stocks jumping...
The dollar erased yesterday's drop...
Source: Bloomberg
And 30Y Yields are spiking back to the highs on Monday...
Source: Bloomberg
And as the dollar spikes, gold is hit...
Kudlow is due up next on CNBC so that should help too...
Tyler Durden Fri, 12/06/2019 - 08:38 Tags Business FinanceNovember Payrolls Smash Expectations: 266K Jobs Added, As Mfg Workers Soar
Heading into today's November payrolls report, DB's Jim Reid wrote that "the consensus for November nonfarm payrolls is pegged at 185k (vs. 128k in October) but after Wednesday’s disappointing ADP (67k vs. 135k expected) print it’s likely that the whisper number is lower." And sure enough, we agreed following our recent article showing how the US labor market was aobut to crack.
As it turns out, both we and DB were dead wrong, because moments ago the BLS reported that in November, a whopping 266K jobs were added, smashing expectations of 183K and the double digit whisper number, in what was the single best month for US payrolls since January 2019, with the prior jobs print was also revised sharply completing the picture of a labor market in perfect, yet strange, health.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September was revised up by 13,000 from +180,000 to +193,000, and the change for October was revised up by 28,000 from +128,000 to +156,000. With these revisions, employment gains in September and October combined were 41,000 more than previously reported.
The strong job number surprised almost everyone: here is Bloomberg economist James Callan noting that "the labor market is holding up surprisingly well despite a deceleration in economic momentum at year-end and uncertainty on the U.S.-China trade front. Bloomberg Economics expects the labor market to continue to tighten and the unemployment rate to drop to 3.3% by the end of next year."
Job growth has averaged 180,000 per month thus far in 2019, compared with an average monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018. In November, notable job gains occurred in health care and in professional and technical services. Employment also increased in manufacturing, reflecting the return of GM workers from a strike.
Indeed, as shown in the chart below, the number of manufacturing workers in November soared by 54K, the most since 1998, thanks to the influx of formerly striking GM workers.
The unemployment rate resumed its recent decline, and in November dropped from 3.6% to 3.5%, a fresh 50 year low...
... even as the unemployment rate for blacks and Hispanics posted a modest increase.
More importantly, while average hourly earnings rose 0.2% from the prior month, slightly below expectations, annual wage growth increased by 3.1%, with last month's wage growth revised from 3.0% to 3.2%, suggesting employers are responding to a tight labor market; wages for production and non-supervisory workers rose 3.7% annually after a 3.8% gain, which was the best since 2008.
Specifically, Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents to $28.29. Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.1 percent. In November, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 7 cents to $23.83.
At the same time, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.4 hours in November. In manufacturing, the average workweek increased by 0.1 hour to 40.5 hours, while overtime decreased by 0.1 hour to 3.1 hours. The average workweek of private- sector production and nonsupervisory employees held at 33.5 hours.
Looking at which industries added jobs, the BLS has the following breakdown:
In November, health care added 45,000 jobs, following little employment change in October (+12,000). The November job gains occurred in ambulatory health care services (+34,000) and in hospitals (+10,000). Employment in professional and technical services increased by 31,000 in November. Manufacturing employment rose by 54,000 in November, following a decline of 43,000 in the prior month. Within manufacturing, employment in motor vehicles and parts was up by 41,000 in November, reflecting the return of workers who were on strike in October. In November, employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up (+45,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing continued on an upward trend in November (+16,000). Within the industry, job gains occurred in warehousing and storage (+8,000) and in couriers and messengers (+5,000). Financial activities employment also continued to trend up in November (+13,000), with a gain of 7,000 in credit intermediation and related activities. Mining lost jobs in November (-7,000), largely in support activities for mining (-6,000). Mining employment is down by 19,000 since a recent peak in May. In November, employment in retail trade was about unchanged (+2,000). Within the industry, employment rose in general merchandise stores (+22,000) and in motor vehicle and parts dealers (+8,000), while clothing and clothing accessories stores lost jobs (-18,000).So what does this mean for the Fed? According to Bloomberg Fed reporter Steve Matthews, Powell and his colleagues are "almost certainly very pleased with this report, which offers some vindication of their view the economy is “in a good place” and there is no need to cut rates again."
Despite voicing concerns about a trade war inspired slowdown, employers are responding to a tight labor market with slightly higher wages. This too will be welcome at the Fed, which has been disappointed by lackluster paycheck gains. And there's nothing inflationary about the report -- no indication rates would need to move higher anytime soon to head off too-high prices.
As Matthews concludes, "there are still risks to the Fed outlook - from the president’s trade war with China in particular - but for now it’s hard to argue with Powell’s view that monetary policy is “in a good place” as well as the economy."
Here one key tangent for trade war with China, noted by Bloomberg: The blowout numbers reduce the urgency for Trump to make a trade deal with China since escalating tariffs have so far failed to significantly dent the U.S. labor market.
Tyler Durden Fri, 12/06/2019 - 08:36 Tags Labor Business Finance
