Economy
Warren warns of ‘coming economic crash’ (Adam)
The Democratic presidential candidate’s forecast of economic tumult flies in the face of much political conventional wisdom stating that Trump’s biggest re-election advantage is the economy. Unemployment levels recently hit a 50-year low, the majority of Americans think the economy is “good” or “excellent” and that it‘s a good time to find a job according to Gallup. The stock market continues to break records every few months.
Berkshire Hathaway Stock Is Lagging the Market, and a Giant Pension Fund Just Slashed Its Stake (Thomas R.)
Warren Buffett isn’t close to beating the market this year, and a giant pension fund has cut its investment in Berkshire Hathaway, the investment juggernaut that Buffett helms.
Stockman on Debt Crisis: ‘We’re Going to Have 80 Million People Retire Within a Decade’ (Adam)
David Stockman appears on “Bloomberg Markets: Americas”
Mnuchin urges Congress to quickly pass new debt limit (Sparky1)
The debt limit had been suspended for a year under a 2018 budget deal, allowing the government to borrow as much money as it needed to keep operating.
But once the limit went back into effect in early March, the Treasury has had to tap government pension funds and employ other maneuvers to create room for more borrowing without hitting the $22 trillion limit.
‘Canary in the coal mine’: Singapore woes ring trade alarm bells (Sparky1)
To warn of danger, miners used to bring caged canaries underground with them as the birds would die in the presence of even a small amount of poisonous gas — signalling to workers that they should make a swift exit.
While steadily weakening growth in China is partly to blame for a slowdown in exports, analysts say the trade war between the US and China, the world’s two biggest economies, has dramatically worsened the situation.
South Korea: Japan’s export restrictions could have ‘dire consequences’ for global economy (Sparky1)
The South Korean official claimed Japan’s export restrictions are “inconsistent” with World Trade Organization principles and the values of free trade that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to uphold when he hosted the Group of 20 global summit in Osaka last month.
Iranian coastguard’s radio exchange with UK warship emerges (Sparky1)
There are different reports as how close HMS Montrose was to the Stena Impero at the time of its capture on Friday, but the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the ship was 60 minutes away, underlining how thinly spread the British protection force is through the Gulf, especially the Strait of Hormuz, the busiest and narrowest waterway in the world for the transport of oil and gas products.
The biggest bull market ever — yet disaster looms for millions of retirees (Adam)
And it’s not like older Americans had a little bit saved a decade ago and made some gains — maybe a few hundred or a few thousand dollars — over the past 10 years, but not enough to make much of a difference in their lives. Many have — literally — nothing. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), nearly half of Americans aged 55 or older have nothing set aside in a 401(k) or other individual account. Nothing. The adage that the rich get richer and the poor — well, you know the rest — certainly seems true.
CBS goes dark for 6.5M customers as contract talks with AT&T break down (Thomas R.)
In a statement,.CBS said, “This is just the latest example in AT&T’s long and clear track record of letting its consumers pay the price for its aggressive tactics to get programmers to accept below market terms,” adding that the blackout could last a “long time.”
Tens of thousands march again in huge Hong Kong anti-government rally (Sparky1)
Security was tightened in the city centre, with metal street fencing often used by protesters to build barricades removed ahead of the march, and large water-filled barriers thrown up around the police headquarters.
US Stock Market: Direction Hinges Upon Whether Investors Keep 50bps Rate Cut Hopes Alive (Thomas R.)
Stocks could continue to drift sideways to lower this week with the price action driven by low volume as many of the major players begin moving to the sidelines ahead of the European Central Bank policy meeting on July 25 and the Fed’s interest rate announcement a few days later.
Senior doctors call for crackdown on home genetic testing kits (Sparky1)
Women have been incorrectly informed by companies that they have faulty BRCA genes, which convey a high risk of breast and ovarian cancers. One patient was scheduled for preventive breast-removal surgery after a consumer genetic test suggested she had a BRCA mutation. The surgery was called off at the last moment when an NHS laboratory revealed the result to be a false positive.
The 1 Reason You Shouldn’t Save for Retirement (Thomas R.)
Of course, the tricky part of building emergency savings is that you don’t get any help from the IRS in doing so. By contrast, when you fund a traditional IRA or 401(k), your contributions go in tax-free so that you’re saving money the year you make them. But there’s no tax incentive to put cash into the bank. Still, it’s imperative that you do so, because if you ignore your near-term savings, you might rack up enough debt that your interest payments alone monopolize your income and force you to neglect your nest egg later on.
A Bank With $49 Trillion In Derivatives Exposure Is Melting Down Before Our Eyes (Thomas R.)
During 2018, the serially troubled Deutsche Bank – which still has a vast derivatives footprint in the U.S. as counterparty to some of the largest banks on Wall Street – trimmed its exposure to derivatives from a notional €48.266 trillion to a notional €43.459 trillion (49 trillion U.S. dollars) according to its 2018 annual report. A derivatives book of $49 trillion notional puts Deutsche Bank in the same league as the bank holding companies of U.S. juggernauts JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, which logged in at $48 trillion, $47 trillion and $42 trillion, respectively, at the end of December 2018 according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). (See Table 2 in the Appendix at this link.)
A major Wall Street analyst recently suggested that Tesla is ‘strategically undervalued,’ but is that true? (Thomas R.)
It’s not actually all that complicated. He thinks Tesla investors have bid the company’s value up too high, given that it’s not clear whether Tesla has ongoing sustainable demand for its vehicles. This is prudent, as the electric-vehicle market remains tiny, but it’s worth pointing out that even as the US auto market has plateaued for annual sales, Tesla has been posting triple-digit quarterly percentage gains year over year.
Chevron Says Attempt to Seal Off Well May Have Triggered Big Kern County Oil Spill (Thomas R.)
Chevron officials say they’ve traced the spill — formally called a surface expression and which they refer to as a seep — to work the company says it routinely does to keep tabs on wells that have been taken out of production.
Farmers celebrate proposed changes to nation’s migrant farmworker program (Sparky1)
“The proposed rule will increase access to a reliable legal agricultural workforce, easing unnecessary burdens on farmers, increase enforcement against fraud and abuse, all while maintaining protections for America’s workers,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement.
“When this rule goes into effect, our farmers will be released from unnecessary and burdensome regulations allowing them to do what they do best,” Perdue said.
1,300 firefighters battle Portugal wildfires (Sparky1)
The commander of the Civil Protection for the region, Luis Belo Costa, said that “given the difficult terrain, we have not succeeded in getting the fire in Vila de Rei under control, but have only contained about 60 percent of it, despite a lull in the wind.”
The army said it was dispatching 20 soldiers and machinery to open routes “to facilitate access” for the firefighters.
Disaster Co. Farmers Work To “Get Cover Crops Planted” For MFP Aid (Sparky1)
It’s a payment amount USDA still has yet to release. This farmer says any amount of rain to his area could change planting progress with cover crops. Jorgenson telling AgDay he’s still days away from planting a cover crop, that is, if it doesn’t rain.
Gold & Silver
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The post Daily Digest 7/22 – Singapore Woes Ring Trade Alarm Bells, 80 Million To Retire ‘Within The Decade’ appeared first on Peak Prosperity.
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