The Eurozone is Slowing, and the ECB Isn’t Prepared

At the end of January, only a month after the official end of the QE program of the European Central Bank (ECB), its President Mario Draghi told the European Parliament’s committee that the central bank could resume its bond purchasing, in a questionable effort to assuage concerns over the impact of the policy change. As Europe’s economy flashes increasingly bright warning signs, doubts are multiplying over the sustainability of the ECB’s plans, the efficacy of its measures and its capacity to support the economy, should another crisis come to pass.

The Many Vulnerabilities of the European Economy

The most recent Euro-area industrial production figures have revealed a very worrying 0.9% drop, more than twice the forecast in December. On year-on-year basis, the slump has been the worst since the Great Recession.

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Source: Eurostat, Bloomberg

Meanwhile, Germany, the power engine of the entire bloc, has repeatedly showed signs of weakness, justifying and reaffirming the widespread concerns over the future of the European economy. The German economy has come to a grinding halt, with the latest growth figures showing that it remained unchanged in the last quarter of 2018. Missing the already grim forecasts of 0.1%, it trailed most of its Euro-area peers, as average growth came in at 0.2%. Having come so close to recession territory and with no positive signs on the horizon, a rebound at this stage appears very unlikely. As Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said in a speech last month, the economic slump could last longer than earlier thought and “bad news from the German economy could keep coming for a while.”

After a long series of troubling reports and disappointing economic figures, the expectations for Europe’s performance have been dramatically tempered, with the European Commission announcing significant downward revisions for many of the area’s key economies. For the eurozone as a whole, its 2019 growth forecasts were cut to 1.3% in February, a noticeable slide from the 1.9% expected in November. Even after the downward revision, many analysts still find the expectations over-optimistic and instead project a much grimmer economic reality in 2019. As Citigroup put it in a strategist note: “Recession risk is everywhere, but more imminent in Europe than the U.S.”.

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Source: European Commission, Bloomberg

These risks are indeed hard to ignore in Europe. For one thing, Italy is a source of major concerns, both economically and politically. Eurozone’s third-largest economy is cracking under the pressure of its massive debt burden, while has officially fallen back into recession territory, seeing an economic contraction of 0.2% over the last quarter. Brexit is also an important risk factor, as the clock is running out and so are the hopes of an amicable divorce and a smooth transition. As for the trade disputes with the US, the friction and the threats of introducing heavy tariffs, especially on the automobile sector, have piled on the pressure and further darkened the bloc’s economic outlook.

The region has also been plagued with persistent and widespread protests and public unrest. The now notorious Yellow Vest movement that originated in France but soon took root in other member states too, shows no signs of fizzling out. To the contrary, leading figures from the French Yellow Vests are already planning their transition from the streets to the political arena, presenting a serious challenge to the status quo. At the same time, the vastly unpopular President Macron and his government have been intensifying their efforts to quell the movement, deploying increasingly violent and forceful methods of crowd control. The escalating brutalities seen in recent protests have sparked concerns over the use of police force and only served to inflame the protesters further.

The economic slowdown and the political tensions have formed a toxic cocktail that substantiates negative expectations and fears of an upcoming recession in Europe that could threaten the global economy. Companies in many major economies in the bloc are already projecting pronounced pessimism for the future, with German companies such as Leoni AG suspending dividend payments after earnings dropped more than expected and Daimler AG preparing a “comprehensive” cost-cutting program, after reporting a 28% drop in net profits in 2018. A recent survey of CFOs conducted by Duke University showed 66.7% expect to see a recession coming by the end of this year in Europe. On a global level, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey revealed that pessimistic expectations stand at the highest point since December 2011.

Depleted Ammunition

Keeping in mind the heightened risks and the numerous indications that point to an upcoming economic downturn, the tactical readiness and efficacy of the ECB are of paramount importance, as the Central Bank will be once again called upon to save the day when the economy and the markets begin to crumble. This is why the ECB, in its current state of unpreparedness and with its astounding lack of ammunition to fight off the next recession is intensely troubling.

Over the last years, it has become apparent that the ECB has been slow to react and when it did, it achieved too little too late. In terms of normalization, it has clearly missed its opportunity to cut back its support in time to prepare for the next economic downturn. By prolonging its QE program and by pushing on with negative interest rates for far too long, the central bank has backed itself into a corner. While its American counterpart was much quicker to reverse course, hiking rates and proceeding with its quantitative tightening after a decade of loose money, the ECB’s chronic reluctance and fear of triggering a tantrum in the markets has placed it at a grave disadvantage. The central bank’s inadequacy will become very quickly apparent as soon as the next recession sets in.

The ECB finally put an end to its QE program in December, a move that came four years after the Fed and arguably much too late, as by then dark clouds were already gathering over the European economy. Also, while it did officially end the purchase of new bonds, the ECB still does and will continue to roll over the existing bonds it holds, at least until it announces a rate change. Up to this point, its interest rate policy has remained unchanged and there are no plans for a hike until the end of 2019.

Originally published at ClaudioGrass.ch

NBA roundup: Hornets storm back to stun Celtics

March 24, 2019

Kemba Walker had 36 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and the Charlotte Hornets rallied from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit for a stunning 124-117 victory over the visiting Boston Celtics on Saturday night.

The Hornets closed out the game on a 30-5 run after falling behind 112-94 with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter. Walker keyed it all, and his 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining gave his team the lead for good.

Charlotte (33-39) has now won two straight, while the Celtics (43-30) have lost three in a row.

The Hornets also got 20 points from Miles Bridges, 13 each from Marvin Williams and Malik Monk, and 11 from Dwayne Bacon. Williams hit four free throws in the final 41.2 seconds to help salt away the win.

Hawks 129, 76ers 127

Rookie point guard Trae Young scored 32 points, including the game-winner with a tenth of a second remaining, to give Atlanta a win over visiting Philadelphia.

The Hawks tied the game 127-127 on a layup by Taurean Prince with 27.5 seconds left, then got a final shot when the 76ers allowed the 24-second clock to expire. With 3.5 seconds left, Atlanta’s Kevin Huerter inbounded the ball to Young, who made a floater over Jimmy Butler to put the Hawks ahead.

After calling timeout, Philadelphia’s inbounds pass hit the rim to end the game.

Mavs 126, Warriors 91

Luka Doncic recorded his sixth triple-double of the season, and Dallas exploded for 74 first-half points in a shocking demolition of Golden State in Oakland, Calif.

Dirk Nowitzki bombed in five 3-pointers, while Doncic and Maxi Kleber buried four apiece as the Mavericks hit 21 shots from beyond the arc, one shy of their franchise record, and outscored Golden State 63-12 on 3s.

The loss came on the front end of a home back-to-back for the Warriors, who chose to rest Stephen Curry, Shaun Livingston and Andrew Bogut. The 35-point margin of defeat was the largest of the season at home for Golden State.

Trail Blazers 117, Pistons 112

Damian Lillard scored 28 points, and Portland outscored visiting Detroit 14-3 over the final 4 1/2 minutes en route to the victory.

Al-Farouq Aminu chipped in a season-high 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who won for the sixth time in seven games.

Blake Griffin tallied 27 points, Reggie Jackson added 24 points and Andre Drummond collected 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who lost for only the fourth time in their last 12 games.

Jazz 114, Bulls 83

Rudy Gobert notched a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds, and six other teammates scored in double figures to boost visiting Utah to a rout of Chicago.

The Jazz raced to a 33-18 lead after one quarter, and their 70-36 halftime lead was their largest on the road at the half in the history of the franchise, which began play in the 1974-75 season in New Orleans.

Donovan Mitchell added 16 points for the Jazz, while Joe Ingles (13), Derrick Favors (13), Ricky Rubio (12), Jae Crowder (11) and Raul Neto (10) followed to complement a balanced attack that overwhelmed the Bulls.

Heat 113, Wizards 108

Dwyane Wade scored 11 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as visiting Miami defeated Washington.

The Heat (36-37) are fighting to hold on to the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot, and this victory gave them a one-game edge over idle Orlando (35-38). The two teams will meet Tuesday in Miami.

Wade went 5-for-7 from the field in the fourth quarter as Miami took charge of a game that swung back and forth throughout the first three periods. The veteran guard helped the Heat take a 109-99 lead late.

Timberwolves 112, Grizzlies 99

Karl-Anthony Towns totaled 33 points and 23 rebounds as Minnesota halted a nine-game road losing streak by dominating the third quarter in a victory over Memphis.

The Timberwolves recorded their first road win since beating New York on Feb. 22. They also halted a five-game losing streak, a night after being eliminated from playoff contention.

Towns recorded his seventh straight double-double and 49th overall. He also recorded his 19th 30-point game and fifth career game with at least 30 points and 20 boards.

Kings 112, Suns 103

Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes scored 25 points apiece to lead host Sacramento to a victory over Phoenix.

Marvin Bagley III added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings. Nemanja Bjelica recorded 13 points and a career-best 17 rebounds and De’Aaron Fox had 13 points and nine assists.

Hield made seven 3-pointers to set a franchise single-season record with 245. He broke the mark of Peja Stojakovic (240 in 2003-04), who is now the club’s assistant general manager.

–Field Level Media

NBA roundup: Hornets storm back to stun Celtics

March 24, 2019

Kemba Walker had 36 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and the Charlotte Hornets rallied from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit for a stunning 124-117 victory over the visiting Boston Celtics on Saturday night.

The Hornets closed out the game on a 30-5 run after falling behind 112-94 with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter. Walker keyed it all, and his 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining gave his team the lead for good.

Charlotte (33-39) has now won two straight, while the Celtics (43-30) have lost three in a row.

The Hornets also got 20 points from Miles Bridges, 13 each from Marvin Williams and Malik Monk, and 11 from Dwayne Bacon. Williams hit four free throws in the final 41.2 seconds to help salt away the win.

Hawks 129, 76ers 127

Rookie point guard Trae Young scored 32 points, including the game-winner with a tenth of a second remaining, to give Atlanta a win over visiting Philadelphia.

The Hawks tied the game 127-127 on a layup by Taurean Prince with 27.5 seconds left, then got a final shot when the 76ers allowed the 24-second clock to expire. With 3.5 seconds left, Atlanta’s Kevin Huerter inbounded the ball to Young, who made a floater over Jimmy Butler to put the Hawks ahead.

After calling timeout, Philadelphia’s inbounds pass hit the rim to end the game.

Mavs 126, Warriors 91

Luka Doncic recorded his sixth triple-double of the season, and Dallas exploded for 74 first-half points in a shocking demolition of Golden State in Oakland, Calif.

Dirk Nowitzki bombed in five 3-pointers, while Doncic and Maxi Kleber buried four apiece as the Mavericks hit 21 shots from beyond the arc, one shy of their franchise record, and outscored Golden State 63-12 on 3s.

The loss came on the front end of a home back-to-back for the Warriors, who chose to rest Stephen Curry, Shaun Livingston and Andrew Bogut. The 35-point margin of defeat was the largest of the season at home for Golden State.

Trail Blazers 117, Pistons 112

Damian Lillard scored 28 points, and Portland outscored visiting Detroit 14-3 over the final 4 1/2 minutes en route to the victory.

Al-Farouq Aminu chipped in a season-high 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who won for the sixth time in seven games.

Blake Griffin tallied 27 points, Reggie Jackson added 24 points and Andre Drummond collected 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who lost for only the fourth time in their last 12 games.

Jazz 114, Bulls 83

Rudy Gobert notched a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds, and six other teammates scored in double figures to boost visiting Utah to a rout of Chicago.

The Jazz raced to a 33-18 lead after one quarter, and their 70-36 halftime lead was their largest on the road at the half in the history of the franchise, which began play in the 1974-75 season in New Orleans.

Donovan Mitchell added 16 points for the Jazz, while Joe Ingles (13), Derrick Favors (13), Ricky Rubio (12), Jae Crowder (11) and Raul Neto (10) followed to complement a balanced attack that overwhelmed the Bulls.

Heat 113, Wizards 108

Dwyane Wade scored 11 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as visiting Miami defeated Washington.

The Heat (36-37) are fighting to hold on to the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot, and this victory gave them a one-game edge over idle Orlando (35-38). The two teams will meet Tuesday in Miami.

Wade went 5-for-7 from the field in the fourth quarter as Miami took charge of a game that swung back and forth throughout the first three periods. The veteran guard helped the Heat take a 109-99 lead late.

Timberwolves 112, Grizzlies 99

Karl-Anthony Towns totaled 33 points and 23 rebounds as Minnesota halted a nine-game road losing streak by dominating the third quarter in a victory over Memphis.

The Timberwolves recorded their first road win since beating New York on Feb. 22. They also halted a five-game losing streak, a night after being eliminated from playoff contention.

Towns recorded his seventh straight double-double and 49th overall. He also recorded his 19th 30-point game and fifth career game with at least 30 points and 20 boards.

Kings 112, Suns 103

Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes scored 25 points apiece to lead host Sacramento to a victory over Phoenix.

Marvin Bagley III added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings. Nemanja Bjelica recorded 13 points and a career-best 17 rebounds and De’Aaron Fox had 13 points and nine assists.

Hield made seven 3-pointers to set a franchise single-season record with 245. He broke the mark of Peja Stojakovic (240 in 2003-04), who is now the club’s assistant general manager.

–Field Level Media

The Mueller Market?

Can we blame the 460-point Dow drop Friday on the end of a political election report? Because of travel, we will have an exceptionally short report this morning.  Assisted by an ill-timed Microsoft update that stole an hour of work time.  But, not like we’re the first victims under that bus. For those wondering, yes […]

UK Guardian: ‘Ending climate change requires the end of capitalism. Have we got the stomach for it?’

“Climate change is the result of our current economic and industrial system. GND-style proposals marry sweeping environmental policy changes with broader socialist reforms because the level of disruption required to keep us at a temperature anywhere below “absolutely catastrophic” is fundamentally, on a deep structural level, incompatible with the status quo.”

Saving the Planet One Child at a Time: Children, School Strikes and Global Climate Action

Children’s crusades do not necessarily end well.  During the years of armed missions to the Holy Land, when Jerusalem meant something to the sacredly inclined in Europe, children were encouraged to take to the rough and dangerous road as it

The post Saving the Planet One Child at a Time: Children, School Strikes and Global Climate Action appeared first on Global Research.

Lyft Expects To Raise Up To $2.1 Billion As IPO Roadshow Begins

Lyft is looking to raise up to $2.1 billion in its upcoming initial public offering, pegging its valuation between $21 and $23 billion according to the Wall Street Journal, as the ride-hailing service launches its IPO roadshow. 

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The range, equating to between $62 and $68 a share, is preliminary and could change by the time the shares start trading around the end of next week. The company issued a filing outlining the range Monday, confirming a report by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. –WSJ

Lyft, founded in 2012 and operating in over 300 cities in the US and Canada, had revenues of $2.16 billion in the last year and a net loss of $911.3m according to the Financial Times – the largest-ever for a company entering the public markets for the first time, while as Axios notes, there is no visible path to profitability. 

Expect Lyft to emphasize focus when speaking with prospective investors. It’s a ride-hail company, growing at a faster clip than is Uber, and not too distracted by large side projects like food delivery and autonomous vehicle development.

  • It’s a smart message, although not entirely accurate. Lyft not only invests in other micro-mobility efforts like bike sharing and scooters, it also has major AV initiatives.
  • Plus, it’s unclear that ride-hail is actually a viable business. Uber once said its ride-hail efforts were profitable in large, developed markets like North America, but it’s not reaffirmed that claim lately, and Lyft has never made it. One possible reason: the massive, albeit largely anecdotal, increase in rider discount offers. Maybe ride-hail is best as a monopoly, like taxis once were. –Axios

A final IPO price will be set by the San Francisco-based company and its underwriters based on feedback from the investors during the roadshow. 

Lyft’s roadshow kicks off what is expected to be one of the most busy years for technology issues, as Uber, Pinterest, Slack Technologies, Airbnb and others are waiting in the wings. 

Even at the low end of the range, Lyft would be valued at far more than it was during its last private valuation of $15.1 billion in 2018, making it one of the largest US-listed new tech IPOs since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. went public in September 2014. 

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Lyft’s CEO Logan Green and Vice President John Zimmer will together hold 48.8% of voting power after the offering, while the company expects to operate on the Nasdaq under the symbol “LYFT.” Green received a base salary in 2018 of $401,500 plus almost $42 million in stock awards. His “personal security services” have apparently run the company $935,000 per Axios

“We thoughtfully balance investments in growth and profitability considerations, while deliberately leaning more towards growth (especially in these early days),” wrote the co-founders. 

J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse and Jefferies are among the lead bookrunners. Fidelity, meanwhile, holds a $7.71% pre-IPO stake in the company. 

Teenager Andreescu stuns Kerber to win Indian Wells title

March 17, 2019

(Reuters) – Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu stunned eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-4 3-6 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Open and capture her first career title in Indian Wells on Sunday.

Andreescu overcame a troublesome right shoulder and used creative and aggressive shotmaking to defeat the German on a hot and sunny day in the Southern California desert.

The 18-year-old dropped her racket and fell on her back when Kerber hit a backhand into the net to deliver the tournament wildcard the biggest win of her young career.

With the win, Andreescu, who was ranked 152 at the end of last season, is expected to reach the WTA top 30.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; editing by Clare Lovell)

Exclusive: Eldorado Resorts, Caesars explore merger – sources

March 17, 2019

By Greg Roumeliotis

(Reuters) – U.S. casino operators Eldorado Resorts Inc and Caesars Entertainment Corp are in the early stages of exploring a merger, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

The deal talks come after Caesars agreed this month to give billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has been pushing the company to sell itself, three board seats to his representatives and a say on the selection of its next chief executive officer.

Caesars is providing some limited confidential financial information to Eldorado, which is carrying out due diligence on the potential combination of the two companies, the sources said.

Eldorado has yet to make a binding offer for Caesars, and there is no certainty any bid will materialize or that a deal will be successfully negotiated, the sources added, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Caesars and Eldorado have market capitalizations of $5.4 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively. They also had debt piles of $9.1 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively, as of the end of December.

Caesars declined to comment, while Eldorado did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The combination of Caesars and Eldorado would create a more formidable competitor to larger casino industry players, such as Las Vegas Sands Corp, Wynn Resorts Ltd and MGM Resorts International.

“The universe of buyers (for Caesars) is limited, and Eldorado is best suited to extract full value from Caesars’ assets in our view,” Roch Capital Partners analysts wrote in a March 6 research note.

Caesars, whose casinos include the Harrah’s and Horseshoe brands, emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2017, after failing to cope with some $25 billion in debt. It had 53 properties in 14 U.S. states and five countries outside the United States, including the UK, as of the end of December.

Eldorado owns and operates 26 properties in 12 U.S. states.

Last year, Caesars rejected a merger approach by Tilman Fertitta, the billionaire owner of Golden Nugget casinos. That deal would essentially have been structured as an acquisition by Caesars given its larger size. Fertitta has not submitted any new offer for Caesars this year, according to the sources.

Caesars has also said it is exploring strategic alternatives that could lead to some kind of transaction.

Icahn has been steadily raising his stake in Caesars in anticipation of a deal. Last week, he disclosed his stake had reached 17.8 percent, up from 9.8 percent when he clinched his deal over board seats with the company on March 1.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Google Deletes Dr. Patrick Moore from Greenpeace Founders List Following President Trump’s Praise

by Jim Hoft, The Gateway Pundit: Greenpeace co-founder Dr. Patrick Moore has made headlines in the past month ripping lunatic Democrat Ocasio-Cortez and her Green New Deal proposal to end civilization as we know it. Ocasio-Cortez announced a plan in February that would kill off half the US population and destroy the economy in less […]

The post Google Deletes Dr. Patrick Moore from Greenpeace Founders List Following President Trump’s Praise appeared first on SGT Report.

Chaos Breaks Out As Yellow Vests Clash With French Police

from ZeroHedge: Update: Saturday’s Yellow Vest protests have escalated in intensity as clashes with the police grew increasingly violent. Take a look: After weeks of more moderate protests, France’s Yellow Vests are back in full swing following the end of President Macron’s unsuccessful ‘great debate’ – during which thousands of town halls were conducted over […]

The post Chaos Breaks Out As Yellow Vests Clash With French Police appeared first on SGT Report.

Depravity, Frivolity, and Dissent: Are We Watching the End of an Empire?

by Daisy Luther, The Organic Prepper: A 40-year-old essay predicted the end of an empire and current events sure make it look like we’re watching it happen in real time. I spend a fair bit of time scanning the news every day for my site, Preppers Daily News. And some days, I just have to shake […]

The post Depravity, Frivolity, and Dissent: Are We Watching the End of an Empire? appeared first on SGT Report.

Democrat Beto O’Rourke Announces 2020 Presidential Run, Greenpeace Founder Destroys Him for Being an Environmental Extremist

Greenpeace Co-Founder Patrick Moore destroyed the contradictions in O’Rourke’s positions by saying the the world will not end in 12 years, the environment is getting cleaner in the US, and that the majority of pollution comes from Africa and Asia.

Mexico’s Congress OKs new national guard championed by Lopez Obrador

March 14, 2019

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s Congress on Thursday approved President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s plan to create a national guard, a key piece of the government’s strategy to rein in gang violence that has cost tens of thousands of lives over the past decade.

With approval in hand from both the lower house and Senate, the constitutional reform to create the national guard will now head to Lopez Obrador for his ratification and then be published in the official gazette to become law.

The government said initially that in a first phase, the guard would consist of some 50,000 members transferred from military and federal police forces. Mexican Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said recently the ranks of the national guard would grow to some 80,000 by the end of the year.

The guard will also fall under civilian control, after critics protested that military leadership could increase Mexico’s militarization.

Security forces in recent years have been accused of extreme rights abuses, further worsening Mexico’s reputation for violence. Since former President Felipe Calderon sent in the army to take on drug cartels in late 2006, gang violence has been blamed for more than 250,000 killings.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Peter Cooney)

Futures Tumble: Meeting Between Trump And Xi Delayed To At Least April

With S&P futures trading at session highs, at precisely 6am EDT the Eminis tumbled, rapidly approaching session lows following a Bloomberg report that trade negotiations may not be going quite as well as represented, as a meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping to sign an agreement to end the ongoing US-China trade war won’t occur this month and is more likely to happen in April at the earliest.

The market reaction is shown below.

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As Bloomberg adds, despite repeated claims of progress in talks by both sides, a hoped-for summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort will now take place at the end of April “if it happens at all.” China is pressing for a formal state visit rather than a lower-key appearance just to sign a trade deal, the person said.

Confirming prior reports, a Bloomberg source said that Xi Jinping’s staff have scrapped planning for a potential flight to the U.S. following a trip to Europe later this month.

The hints that not all is well were there, even if the market chose to ignore them: earlier this week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer pointed to “major issues” still unresolved in the talks, with few signs of a breakthrough on the most difficult subjects including treatment of intellectual property. Chinese officials have also prickled at the appearance of the deal being one-sided, and are wary of the risk of Trump walking away even if Xi were to travel to the U.S.

Trump himself has shifted tone in recent days, walking back from a more urgent approach to getting a deal signed as early as March. He acknowledged concerns in Beijing about the possibility of him walking away from a trade deal, offering to push back a summit with Xi until a final deal is reached.

“We could do it either way,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House. “We can have the deal completed and come and sign or we can get the deal almost completed and negotiate some of the final points. I would prefer that. But it doesn’t matter that much.”

Considering that much of the 500 or so S&P point rally from December 24 has been built on market “optimism” that a US-China deal is now a done deal, any potential failure to secure an outcome that has already been priced in risks sending the S&P sharply lower, and certainly once again below 2,800 a level which algos just seem powerless to break out decisively above.

Amazon warehouse workers attempt to commit suicide on the job due to atrocious “slave-like” work conditions

(Natural News) You might have a few complaints about your job, but has it ever made you want to end your life? Not long ago, horror stories emerged of workers at Amazon warehouses being seriously overworked and having to urinate in bottles to meet their quotas. While Amazon tried to brush these off as isolated…

Amazon warehouse workers attempt to commit suicide on the job due to atrocious “slave-like” work conditions

(Natural News) You might have a few complaints about your job, but has it ever made you want to end your life? Not long ago, horror stories emerged of workers at Amazon warehouses being seriously overworked and having to urinate in bottles to meet their quotas. While Amazon tried to brush these off as isolated…

The Easy Money In European Natural Gas Is Gone

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via Oilprice.com,

At the end of last winter’s heating season, it was an unusually cold spell that upended European natural gas markets, with storage levels falling below average and prices firming up as demand shot up.

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At the end of this winter’s heating season, it is the unusually mild weather in most of Western Europe for most of the winter that has driven natural gas prices down and left supplies higher than the seasonal average.

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The summer gas futures at the Dutch TTF hub have declined by 16 percent so far this year and have been trading lately around the lowest in 10 months. The winter gas futures contract, however, has dropped by just one third of the decline in the summer contract, according to data from ICE Endex compiled by Bloomberg.  

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So the discount of the Dutch summer natural gas futures to the winter contract widened to the biggest since 2011 as of early March. Typically, such a wide spread would mean that one of the most common European gas trades—buying cheaper gas futures in the summer to sell in the winter—would be the most profitable in eight years.

However, traders are unable to take full advantage of the wide winter-summer spread because several factors have combined this winter season to create a perfect storm in the European natural gas markets. These factors are higher stockpiles than usual, limited available storage capacity as most of it is booked out amid declining overall capacity, and increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to Europe as Asian LNG spot prices continue to tumble.

First, unlike last year’s winter, this winter has been unusually mild in many parts in Western Europe. This has led to lower natural gas demand and lower withdrawal from storage—a stark contrast compared to the 2018 winter.

The cold spell in Europe at the end of February and early March of 2018 led to record withdrawals in the first quarter of 2018, and storage levels dropped to 18 percent of capacity—well below the five-year range—the European Commission (EC) said in its Q1 Quarterly Reporton European gas markets. By the end of the winter season, natural gas stock levels dropped below 10 percent of capacity in countries such as Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, where high gas demand from the UK contributed to strong withdrawals.

Before the 2019 winter season began, the European market was tight amid higher demand in the summer’s heat wave, while natural gas stockpiles were still lower than usual after the winter of 2018, one of the coldest winters in the past decade. 

Natural gas prices in the UK surged to the highest for a summer season, with Europe’s natural gas market the most bullish in years, as higher-than-expected summer demand and a tighter market drove natural gas price futures to levels last seen during the winter’s supply crunch.

But the 2019 winter has been quite a different story. The UK, for example, registered its warmest February on record, with daily maximum temperatures the highest on record dating back to 1910, according to the UK’s Met Office.

Due to the warmer winter, natural gas stockpiles across Europe are now higher than the typical levels for this time of the year. What’s left of the storage capacity is nearly “sold out”, according to analysts who spoke to Bloomberg.

“We are going into this summer with full storage, among the highest in years,” Wayne Bryan, a trader and analyst at Alfa Energy in London, told Bloomberg, noting that he wasn’t buying anything at the moment.

In addition, Europe’s total storage capacity has declined by more than 4 percent since 2016, according to data from gas industry trade association Gas Infrastructure Europe, cited by Bloomberg.

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As a result, higher-than-usual gas stocks in European storage and almost fully booked storage space have been preventing natural gas traders from profiting from the most profitable price differential between winter and summer gas futures contracts in years.

Natural News puts out the call to law firms for a billion dollar class action lawsuit against Twitter – here’s the winning legal strategy to end censorship tyranny

(Natural News) After discussions with several legal experts, we are putting out the call to law firms to initiate a billion dollar class action lawsuit against Twitter. Natural News (Twitter handle name @HealthRanger) is one of thousands of users who have been maliciously silenced by Twitter without warning, without justification and without any means of…

Rand Paul: ‘FBI Mistress’ Lisa Page Confirmed ‘Fake Russia Investigation’

Rand Paul: 'FBI Mistress' Lisa Page Confirmed 'Fake Russia Investigation'

Fired FBI lawyer Lisa Page confirmed in recently released transcripts that the Russia investigation was “fake” and “anti-Trump insurance policy” against the president, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

“This deserves more attention! FBI Mistress, Lisa Page, confirmed to House Judiciary, there was an anti-Trump Insurance Policy and it’s the fake Russian investigation!” Paul tweeted Wednesday.

“She admits there was almost no evidence on collusion, yet they continued with WITCH HUNT!”

Transcripts of Page’s closed-door testimony to a joint congressional task force last year were released on Tuesday, and members of Congress are just beginning to learn of some stunning key facts.

For example, Page revealed that the FBI was indeed inclined to indict Hillary Clinton with “gross negligence” over the handling of her secret servers, but the Department of Justice ordered the Bureau not to pursue charges.

This is consistent with 2016 reports that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who headed the DOJ, may have struck a deal with Hillary’s husband Bill Clinton in a secret tarmac meeting just days before former FBI Director James Comey announced his decision not to charge her.

Additionally, Page claims her lover, FBI special agent Peter Strzok helped launch the investigation with impeachment of Trump and a promotion for himself as the end goal.

Strzok was hesitant to enter Special Counsel Mueller’s probe because he worried it may not end with impeachment, which could have hampered his “long-term prospects,” Page said.

She said Strzok told her, “If this is going to fizzle out and be nothing, then I shouldn’t sort of sacrifice my sort of long-term career prospects. If it’s going to end in impeachment, that’s kind of a big deal. I mean, put aside who it is, put aside how we feel about it. You know, that’s monumental.”


Will U.S. Supermajors Form A New Oil Cartel?

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via Oilprice.com,

The ambitious shale growth plans of the U.S. supermajors could in the future allow them to control so much of U.S. shale oil production that they could also control the price of the U.S. light tight oil going to foreign markets in an ‘OPEC of their own kind,’ Investing.com quoted John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital, as saying.

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If the U.S. supermajors, such as Exxon and Chevron, end up controlling a lot of the U.S. shale production with their plans to significantly boost Permian production, and if smaller shale players bleed cash and decide to sell acreage and operations to Big Oil, then supermajors could be the ones determining the price of light crude oil, according to Kilduff.

Exxon and Chevron both announced increased targets for their Permian production last week. Chevron now sees its Permian unconventional net oil-equivalent production rising to 600,000 bpd by the end of 2020, and to 900,000 bpd by the end of 2023. Exxon revised up its Permian growth plans to produce more than 1 million oil-equivalent barrels per day by as early as 2024, which would be an increase of almost 80 percent.

The shale game is now a ‘scale game’, as Chevron Chairman and CEO Michael Wirth told CNBC last week after the company announced its latest Permian growth targets.

“With the majors going into the Permian to do roll-outs, the independents there are getting squeezed by the banks, which want them to cough out more money or get out,” Investing.com’s Barani Krishnan quoted Kilduff as saying.

According to Rystad Energy, the players with large-scale operations and acreage positions could get average returns of 20 percent in three years in the Wolfcamp A in the Permian Delaware, for example, even if WTI Midland oil price is at $45 a barrel. But smaller operators could struggle because of higher drilling, completion, operation, and transportation costs.

“These operators might struggle in the current price environment, and their best opportunity to monetize their investment could be to sell their acreage to larger operators with more efficient logistics, better infrastructure and more negotiating power through the value chain,” Rystad Energy senior partner Per Magnus Nysveen said last month.

“Size matters, even more so when drilling for shale oil in the Permian Basin,” Nysveen added.

According to Kilduff, as carried by Investing.com, “The stars are aligning for the super majors to take control of shale and determine pricing for light crude in Asia, if not the world. They’ll be OPEC by a different name.”

“Tech neck”: What is it and how can you prevent it?

(Natural News) If you use a computer or a mobile device for extended periods of time every day, you might end up developing a painful condition called “tech neck.” Fortunately, this returning pain in the neck can be fully avoided by making a habit to improve your posture as regularly as possible. Also called “text neck,” this problem is a…

Blackmail, Balderdash, & The Brexit That Wasn’t

Authored by Tom Luongo,

After a lot of drama, British Prime Minister Theresa May came back from Brussels with a breakthrough on Brexit.

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Only it wasn’t.

While the changes to the protocol that governs the implementation of the Irish Backstop are an improvement they are far fro enough to allay the rightful fears of Brexiteers and the Northern Irish.

From the beginning of this process, the EU has been in blackmail mode. They’ve made it clear that they would not negotiate in good faith or even at all. That much has been clear.

The biggest question has been whether May herself was working in the British people’s best interest or was she simply a stalking horse for further EU integration of the entire continent of Europe.

Never forget that the EU has imperial ambitions. Those that have been its architects saw it as regaining the mantle of the center of the world as the U.S. bankrupts itself maintaining an empire around the world, fighting against the rise of Russia and China.

It sits in the weeds, making byzantine bureaucratic law and building both a fiscal and political union through these under-handed back doors.

And the people of Europe have woken up to it. The Brits voted to leave the EU because of this. Euroskeptic parties are rising across Europe. The latest rebuke of the EU came in Austria’s Salzburg, a traditional center-left stronghold just voted for a Lega-style nationalist/populist majority.

Now people like Theresa May, who never supported Brexit, are using this negotiating period to hand to the EU everything it wants in the Withdrawal Agreement to blackmail the British people to accept an even worse arrangement than had they not voted to leave in the first place.

This point cannot be understated.

Because it is the model for how the EU will fight the rising opposition to its rule.

The withdrawal agreement was crafted by Germany and not negotiated by Jean-Claude Juncker and Michael Barnier to punish the U.K. for standing up to the inevitability of the EU.

It is a message and a warning to Italy, Hungary and Poland.

It was designed to cause irreparable damage to the U.K. with the long-term effects of destroying the majority political parties and fanning separatist instincts in Wales and Scotland.

And no one is more to blame for this mess than the members of Parliament who continue to virtue signal about the horrors of a no-deal which the British people have become less and less scared of every day. Poll after poll shows overwhelming rejection of May’s Merkel’s deal as well as growing support for a No-Deal Brexit.

And if the members of parliament who continue to go through the pantomime of an existential crisis would leave it aside and simply say that’s it, no deal it is, that would end the uncertainty and the worry that is now the dominant narrative in the press.

Businesses are relocating, shipments are stopping, etc. All because of Brexit, they argue. No, all because of MP’s who refuse to embrace the situation as it stands and face the reality that sovereignty is more important than a quarter or two of tightened belts and some annoying paperwork.

Moreover, the biggest fear now is the one which is that Britain ends up better off if they not only threw off the shackles of the EU but also its own corrupt and, frankly, traitorous leadership.

Theresa May’s performance in parliament before the latest vote was almost convincing. But, as always, when someone is giving you an ultimatum, my way or the highway, it’s masking an alternative choice.

The Dublin Unionist Party and the European Research Group within the Tories understand this. I suspect in his heart of hearts Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn

And the reason for this is May was always on their side. It’s not a negotiation when there’s only one side represented. This is why Juncker et.al. refused to negotiate in any meaningful way.

They didn’t have to.

And that is simply blackmail.

What is obvious watching British parliamentarians at this late stage is that a majority of them are unwilling to face reality that the EU is not in their best interest. Because any organization that would blackmail rather than negotiate is not an organization anyone decent person would want to be a member of.

Fears over a No-Deal Brexit are overblown. If these same MP’s that are so worried about the uncertainty created by the Brexit process would simply end that uncertainty by backing No-Deal then certainty would return.

It might not be the certainty that is the easiest to swallow for both sides but it will be certainty.

Mr. Juncker made it clear there is nothing better forthcoming. That’s an insult and it should be treated as such by Parliament.

But it won’t be as MP’s roll over, show Juncker their bellies and hand-wring about how unfair it all is again later this week.

They cannot see the bigger picture that it is the EU that has the weak hand, not them. They are too blinded by ideology and fear to see that.

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