Megxit Done Deal: Harry, Meghan Reach Deal Quitting Royal Life, Give Up Royal Titles One family’s crusade to break from the unbearable bondage of royalty is finally over, or in other words, Megxit is a done deal. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will no longer use the titles His and Her Royal Highness “as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family” Buckingham Palace announced Saturday, as part of an agreement that lets them build a life away from intense media scrutiny as members of the royal family. “Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his … [Read More...]

Escobar Exposes America’s Existential Battle To Stop Eurasian Integration Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Saker blog, Coming decade could see the US take on Russia, China and Iran over the New Silk Road connection Iranian seamen salute the Russian Navy frigate Yaroslav Mudry while moored at Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman during Iran-Russia-China joint naval drills. The photo was provided by the Iranian Army office on December 27, 2019. Photo: AFP / HO / Iranian Army office The Raging Twenties started with a bang with the targeted assassination of Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani. Yet a bigger bang awaits us throughout the decade: the myriad declinations of the New Great Game in Eurasia, which pits the US against Russia, China and Iran, the three major nodes of Eurasia … [Read More...]

Bitcoin Tops $9,000 With Best Start To A Year On Record Bitcoin topped $9,000 overnight for the first time since early November… Source: Bloomberg Notably this latest surge in demand from crypto began after Iranian General Soleimani was killed, and is now testing its 200DMA… Source: Bloomberg Year-to-date, all major altcoins are soaring led by Bitcoin Cash… Source: Bloomberg And in what we were stunned to note, this is the best start to a year – ever – for Bitcoin… Source: Bloomberg The rally in cryptos comes as CoinTelegraph’s William Suberg notes, bitcoin derivatives trading looks set to reach record levels this month as volume spikes and open interest hovers near all-time highs. Data from CME Group shows that as of Jan. 16, open interest for its … [Read More...]

Austrian Chancellor Says Battling Illegal Immigration Is Just As Important As Climate Change Despite losing a confidence vote in May that led to the collapse of Austria’s ruling coalition, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the youngest Chancellor in Austria’s history, won a decisive re-election in September. But instead of reviving his conservative People’s Party’s alliance with the ultra-conservative Freedom Party, Kurz has bounced back from a bribery scandal perpetrated by his former coalition partner and decided to try forming a new coalition with the center-left Green Party. The marriage of conservative and liberal has led to some interesting policy priorities. For example, in his first interview with the international press since officially taking office last week, Kurz told the FT that his new government’s top priorities … [Read More...]

Pentagon Confirms ISIS Resurgent In Libya At Moment Turkey Transfers 2,000 Syrian Fighters This might come as a surprise to the broader American public and a mainstream media which has largely ignored recent escalating events in Libya, but guess who’s back? “The Donald Trump administration is seeing a “small” resurgence in the Islamic State’s numbers in Libya since strongman Khalifa Hifter began a bloody march on the capital Tripoli more than two months ago, the Pentagon’s second-ranking military official said” reports Al-Monitor’s Pentagon correspondent. Fighters of Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) fire a rocket at Islamic State fighters in Sirte, Libya, on August 4, 2016. Source: Reuters. The Pentagon official, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Paul Selva, … [Read More...]

“What Utter Madness”: Albert Edwards Finds The PEG Ratio Has Never Been Higher Over the weekend, we showed that as of this moment, the S&P500 is more overvalued on a quantifiable EV/EBITDA and Price/Earnings basis than it was at the peak of the dot com bubble, making the market’s current valuation that highest ever recorded. How to make sense of the above chart? As Albert Edwards writes in his latest note, “stocks have rallied on the back of “?not-QE4” as the surge in the Fed?s balance sheet due to its repo-operations. But irrespective of whether the equity market?s surge is due to Fed liquidity or not, the equity market is in effect discounting a surge in the real economic data and … [Read More...]

Germany To Cut 400,000 Auto Jobs In Next Decade As Car Production Crashes The start of approximately 400,000 job losses in the German automotive industry is already underway as the industry shifts towards electric vehicles, reported the Financial Times.  Germany’s workforce is likely to contract by 1% in the next ten years as carmakers such as Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, and Porsche transition to electric car sales.  The shift from a combustion engine to electric, and the resulting factor it might lead to job losses is merely a cover, or a narrative by the German press, likely created by the government, to shield the public’s view from collapsing car production in the country.  Why frighten consumers and tell them German car production has crashed to 23-year lows when … [Read More...]

Warren, Van Hollen Ask SEC To Investigate Insider Trading By Mar-A-Lago Guests Before Soleimani Airstrike Presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Chris Van Hollen co-wrote a letter on Monday  to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting an “investigation into whether there may have been any illegal trading in defense company stocks or commodities related to individuals’ advance knowledge of the United States attack on January 2, 2020, that killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani.” Warren, Van Hollen ask SEC and CFTC to investigate possible insider trading by Mar-a-Lago members reportedly given advance notice on Iran action. Letter references rise in $NOC, $LMT, $RTN shares and the price of crude oil after strike. — Kayla Tausche (@kaylatausche) January 14, 2020 The letter alleges that … [Read More...]

Italian ‘League’ Leader Matteo Salvini Is Ready For His Political Comeback When Matteo Salvini and his League Party were banished to the Italian opposition late last summer after a failed coup attempt, he swore that he would have his revenge on his former coalition partners, the Five Star Movement, who formed a new coalition with the centrist-establishment PD and booted the League out of the government. In the months that have followed, Salvini has been an incredibly effective leader for Italy’s opposition. And polls reflect his success: Most public opinion polls suggest the League is the most popular party in Italy. Matteo Salvini’s League party continues to dominate Italy’s polls. The latest poll has Salvini and the League at 34%, only half a percentage point behind … [Read More...]

How George Soros Corrupted Philadelphia’s Justice System Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk, Philadelphia is one of the least safe big cities in the US. How did it get that way? Social Justice Warriors Thanks to George Soros, Larry Krasner was elected District Attorney in Philadelphia. Krasner is Self-Proclaimed Social Justice Warrior.  Consider the case of Michael White, a 22-year-old black college student who admitted killing Sean Schellenger, white. Numerous witnesses and a cellphone video confirmed what happened. Krasner initially charged White with first-degree murder and denied his request for bail. But under pressure from leaders in Philadelphia’s African-American community, Mr. Krasner downgraded the charge to third-degree murder. Then, days before the trial, Mr. Krasner dropped the murder charge entirely. White was … [Read More...]

China Car Sales Plunge 7.5% In 2019 And 3.6% For December, Marking The 18th Fall In 19 Months Passenger car vehicle sales in China fell yet again in December, plunging 3.6% to 2.17 million units, according to the China Passenger Car Association.  This marks the 18th drop in the past 19 months for the country, which feels to be single-handedly spearheading a global recession in the industry. For the full year, sales in China declined 7.5%, marking the second straight annual decline.    Automakers continue to struggle with a slowing economy and tariff uncertainties, despite “Phase 1” of the U.S./China trade deal supposedly being finished (even though it still has not been signed), according to Bloomberg. GM said on Tuesday that its sales were down 15% in China and… [Read More...]

Iran Says De-Escalation ‘Only Solution’ As Anti-Government Protests In Tehran Turn Bloody The government of Iran signaled that they would prefer to de-escalate tensions with the United States following 10 days of military skirmishes during which Tehran shot down a civilian aircraft. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told the visiting emir of Qatar that de-escalation is the “only solution” to the regional crisis sparked by the US killing of Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani, according to AFP citing the emirate’s ruler. “This visit comes at a critical time in the region,” said Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, adding “We agreed… that the only solution to these crises is de-escalation from everyone and dialogue.” Rouhani, meanwhile, said “Given the importance of … [Read More...]

An Empire Self-Destructs Authored by Jeff Thomas via InternationalMan.com, Empires are built through the creation or acquisition of wealth. The Roman Empire came about through the productivity of its people and its subsequent acquisition of wealth from those that it invaded. The Spanish Empire began with productivity and expanded through the use of its large armada of ships, looting the New World of its gold. The British Empire began through localized productivity and grew through its creation of colonies worldwide – colonies that it exploited, bringing the wealth back to England to make it the wealthiest country in the world. In the Victorian Age, we Brits were proud to say, “There will always be an England,” and “The sun never sets on the British Empire…. [Read More...]

Trump Admin Looking To Significantly Expand Travel Ban: Report The Trump administration is considering a dramatic expansion of its highly-controversial travel ban to add several countries to the list, according to the Associated Press, citing ‘six people familiar with the deliberations’ and a ‘document outlining the plans’ which has been circulating within the White House. According to two of AP’s sources, seven new countries are under consideration. Of note, the most recent iteration of the travel ban includes Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea. A different person said the expansion could include several countries that were covered in the first iteration of Trump’s ban, but later removed amid rounds of contentious litigation. Iraq, Sudan and Chad, for instance, had originally been affected by … [Read More...]

In Stunning Reversal, Iran Admits Accidentally Shooting Down Ukrainian Passenger Jet After multiple denials, and demands for proof from foreign entities – accusing them of spreading “psychological warfare” lies, President Hassan Rouhani has admitted Iran accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that took off from Tehran’s international airport amid this week’s tensions. In a pair of tweets, Rouhani admitted that “Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people,” adding that “The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake.” The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake. My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences. https://t…. [Read More...]

BofA: QE Is Annualizing A Stunning $1.1 Trillion In The Past 4 Months For the better part of the post-financial crisis period, central banks (and some traders desperate to represent their outperformance as due to their incredible stock picking skills, instead of the $16 trillion in central bank liquidity) have struggled to convince the world that it wasn’t their liquidity-injecting and rate-cutting actions that were the primary reason for what is now a record-breaking stock market rally. In the end they failed, and now, for better or worse, it is common knowledge – except to a handful of unemployed pseudo-academics on fintwit who still refuse to accept the glaringly obvious – that when central banks flood the market with liquidity, risk assets go up. It’s … [Read More...]

UK Retail Industry Sees Worst Year Ever In 2019 The British Retail Consortium (BRC) recorded the worst ever year on record in 2019, with sales contracting for the first time in 24 years as the UK economy faces the weakest growth outside a recession since the second world war, reported The Guardian.  The BRC said retail sales in 2019 slipped by 0.1%. Taking November and December into account, retail sales fell 0.9% Y/Y, partly offset by a 2.6% rise in online sales for the same period.  “2019 was the worst year on record and the first year to show an overall decline in retail sales,” said BRC CEO Helen Dickinson. Dickinson said the slump in retail is due to some of the weakest growth in the overall economy since … [Read More...]

IRS Audits Plummet To Lowest Level In Four Decades Individual US taxpayers are half as likely to get audited than they were in 2010, according to the Wall Street Journal, which notes that IRS tax enforcement has fallen to the lowest level in at least four decades. In FY 2019, the agency audited just 0.45% of all personal income-tax returns, down from 0.59% in 2018 – marking eight straight years of declining reviews. In a Monday report, the IRS said that in 2010, 1.1% of tax returns were audited. The report did not provide details on audits by income category, or how much revenue has been recovered from the enforcement (or lack thereof). According to the Journal, years of budget cuts and a heavier workload are to blame for the steady … [Read More...]

US Steps Up Pressure On UK To Abandon Huawei Ahead Of Decision    The Trump administration is about to make the final call to the U.K. to abandon the plan to upgrade its telecommunication networks with Huawei, sources told Reuters. The U.K. will make the final decision at the end of the month, whether to use Huawei equipment to build out the country’s 5G network has been met with fierce criticism from officials in the Trump administration.  Huawei spokesman told Reuters that U.K. lawmakers have confirmed the company won’t use its equipment for intelligence sharing networks: “Our 5G equipment does not pose a threat to information security,” the spokesman said, adding that, “We are confident the U.K. government will take an evidence-based … [Read More...]

State Lawmakers Push To Protect Girls From Competing Against Biological Males In Sports Authored by Julia Johnson via The College Fix, The Democrat-controlled U.S. House wants to force schools to let biologically male students compete in girls’ sports. State lawmakers in Tennessee and Washington have their own ideas, however, taking preemptive action to keep school sports separated by biological sex. They introduced bills last month that would require schools to identify students by their original birth certificates for the purpose of deciding eligibility in single-sex sports. Such requirements contradict the federal Equality Act, which would set sports eligibility on the subjective gender identity of student athletes. The odds for federal legislation are slim. The Equality Act is awaiting action in the Republican-controlled Senate … [Read More...]