Could Non-Citizens Determine the Outcome of the Midterm Elections?

Here's the question of the day: Could Non-Citizens Determine the Outcome of the Midterm Elections? Some elections, especially for Senate are so close, the unfortunate answer is "yes" as the following video insight from Insight from the Libre Institute explains.Mike "Mish" Shedlockhttp://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com...

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Nikkei Futures Up Limit, Yen Collapses, Dollar Up, Gold Down as BoJ Pledges "Unwavering Determination" to Get 2% Inflation

"Whatever it Takes" Japanese Style It's a world truly gone mad.In a surprise move today, the Bank of Japan announced further quantitative easing, dominated by long-term Japanese government bonds. The BoJ also announced it  and would triple annual purchases of exchange traded funds and property investment trusts.BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda defied objections from four fellow board members, arguing that a tax-hit economy and a lower oil price have led to “a critical moment” in the country’s bid to escape from deflation.The Financial Times quotes Kuroda as follows: The extra action “shows our unwavering determination to end deflation. There...

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Looking for a Good Education at a Low Price, Perhaps Free? Head to Europe

On June 7, 2014 I wrote Looking to Drastically Reduce College Costs? Study Abroad!Yesterday, a writer for the Washington Post expressed the same opinion.Please consider 7 countries where Americans can study at universities, in English, for free (or almost free). Since 1985, U.S. college costs have surged by about 500 percent, and tuition fees keep rising. In Germany, they've done the opposite.The country's universities have been tuition-free since the beginning of October, when Lower Saxony became the last state to scrap the fees. Tuition rates were always low in Germany, but now the German government fully funds the education of its citizens -- and even of foreigners.What might interest potential university students in the United States is that Germany offers some programs in English -- and...

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Earnings Cheating Season: Is Your Favorite Company Cooking the Books?

In his latest Global Strategy Report, Albert Edwards at Societe Generale discusses "earnings season" which he calls "cheating season". We have always found that swings in analyst earnings expectations mirror the economic cycle quite well, but because of the weekly frequency, swings in analyst earnings optimism often act as a timely leading indicator for the economic cycle. If that is still the case, the recent data for the US should be worrying. Despite the soothing Q3 headline earnings reports as US companies ‘game’ the system, all is not well once you look into the ‘MUC’ (Manipulated Underperforms Conservative). Remember the so-called Fed...

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Ebola "Turning Point" and Perspective

Last Week the Huffington Post reported Ebola.com Sells For More Than $200,000 -- Including 19,000 Shares Of Cannabis Sativa Stock. Two Las Vegas entrepreneurs attempting to sell the rights to Ebola.com succeeded in selling to the highest bidder -- literally.Chris Hood and Jon Schultz paid $13,500 for the rights to Ebola.com back in 2008 and have just sold it to a company called Weed Growth Fund.The terms of sale call for Hood and Schultz to get $50,000 in cash and 19,192 shares of Cannabis Sativa, Inc., a company run by former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson that hopes to market legal cannabis products throughout the world.The stock is currently...

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Meet "OSHbot" Lowes New Store Helper; Goodbye Retail Associates, Hello Robots

Goodbye Retail Associates, Hello RobotsThe future of shopping has arrived, and it's not human.Not only do robots cost less than humans, they don't complain, they speak multiple languages, and most importantly, by scanning aisles they know where every item is in the store and can take you straight to it.Meet "OSHbot"OSHbot is the newest member of the "Fellow Robots" family, and developed in partnership with Lowes Innovation Labs. The future of shopping has arrivedRetail Robotics is an exciting and fast growing new market and Fellow Robots is at the forefront. Advances in sensors, wireless networking, voice recognition and design prototyping are...

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No Plans for Normalization: Fed Ends QE, Will Hold Rates Low for "Considerable Time", Will Reinvest Proceeds

Inquiring minds may wish to slog through today's FOMC Press Release on Monetary Policy but it's really not worth the time it takes to read it.Here are a few details, generally expectedThe Committee judges that there has been a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market since the inception of its current asset purchase program.The Committee today reaffirmed its view that the current 0 to 1/4 percent target range for the federal funds rate remains appropriate. The Committee anticipates, based on its current assessment, that it likely will be appropriate to maintain the 0 to 1/4 percent target range for the federal funds rate for...

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NASA Rocket With Russian-Made Engine Explodes On Takeoff; Ironies Abound

Sanctions or not, NASA uses Russian-made engines to propel rockets.Yesterday, just seconds after takeoff, a NASA Antares rocket with a Russian-made engine exploded on takeoff. The mission was to carry supplies to the orbiting space station.Today, the Guardian reports that Russian rocket manufacturer insists it is not to blame for Antares crash. The Russian maker of the engine used in the unmanned US supply rocket that exploded after liftoff in Virginia denied on Wednesday that its product was at fault for the catastrophe.The launch phase of the Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket relied on two AJ-26 engines that were originally produced in the 1970s for a failed Soviet moon program and later modernised for US space flights. Speculation quickly centered on the Soviet-based engines,...

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MH17-Chief Investigator Investigates Possibility of Air-to-Air Missile, Seeks Cooperation From Russia

Spiegel Online interviews Fred Westerbeke, the Dutch lead investigator of flight MH17 crash.Westerbeke states that a surface-to-air missile is the most likely scenario, but he also discusses "secret satellite images and a possible involvement of the Ukrainian military." Here are edited interview snips from MH17-Chief Investigator Westerbeke: "Do the Russians Have More Evidence?" Who shot flight MH17 from over Eastern Ukraine? The Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke directs international investigation. He talks about secret satellite images and a possible involvement of the Ukrainian military. Spiegel: Mr. Westerbeke, your job as chief prosecutor sounds hardly solvable: MH17 flight was shot down over a civil war zone, even now, three months later, your crime scene investigator for is not available....

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Durable Goods Decline Second Month; Key Take-Aways

Inquiring minds are digging into the Census Bureau Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for September 2014 for hints at 4th quarter GDP.The headline data shows new orders for manufactured durable goods in September decreased $3.2 billion or 1.3 percent. This follows an 18.3 percent decline in August.However, transportation (especially commercial and military plane orders) are so large and volatile, the overall results are nearly useless.For  example: In June, new orders were up 22.5% with transportation orders up 73.3%. Nondefense aircraft and parts orders were up a whopping 315.6%. Last month, nondefense aircraft and parts was down 74% and this month another 16%.Key Components Instead of focusing on the headline numbers, let's dive into the...

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El-Erian: "Europe Is One or Two Rounds of Sanctions From Recession"; El-Erian Far Too Optimistic

In a speech on BRICs at the Peterson International Institute of Economics former PIMCO co-head El-Erian made the claim Europe Is One or Two Rounds of Sanctions From Recession. The West, and Europe in particular, is one or two rounds of sanctions and counter-sanctions away from entering into a new recession, chairman of President Barack Obama’s Global Development Council Mohamed El-Erian stated Monday.“We are one or two rounds of sanctions and counter-sanctions away from the European politics over the Ukraine tipping Europe into a recession,” El-Erian said in a speech on the BRICS economies at the Peterson International Institute of Economics.He noted that the impact of level three sectoral sanctions against Russia is “taking the West into a recession through sanctions to the energy sector.”Arguing...

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Most Expensive Housing Markets in US are Liberal: Correlation or Cause?

Here's an interesting article thanks to Jed Kolko, Chief Economist at Trulia Trends via Washington Post Wonkblog: The most expensive housing markets in the U.S. are also the most liberal.The relationship between housing affordability and politics in the US is startlingly strong as these charts by Jed Kolko shows.Median asking price in dollars per square foot is on the vertical axis. Margin for Obama over Romney in the 2012 election is on the horizontal axis.With the exception of Orange County California, all of the high priced counties voted for Obama.The Washington Post notes ....Nine of the 10 bluest markets had median home asking prices above...

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"Will These Central Bank Morons Ever Learn?" asks Albert Edwards at Societe General

Central Banks and the Business CycleI like it when someone besides a few financial bloggers takes the gloves off and starts asking some hard-hitting questions.In Cross Asset Research last week, Albert Edwards at Societe General did just that. Emphasis in italics is mine. Fragile and vulnerable in itself, the US recovery now battles against the rest of the world, which like a horror movie is dragging it down into a hellish Ice Age underworld. The problem is that at these stratospheric valuations, the market does not need to suffer an ACTUAL recession to see a crash. Like October 1987, just the fear of recession will be enough to trigger a massive...

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Hillary Clinton: "Don't Let Anyone Tell You It's Corporations and Businesses that Create Jobs"; Ten Spectacular Failures

On October 24, while campaigning for Martha Coakley for governor of Massachusetts, Hillary Clinton made one of the most absurd political statements in history "Don't Let Anyone Tell You It's Corporations and Businesses that Create Jobs."Clinton continued, "You know that old theory, trickledown economics. That has been tried, that has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly. One of the things my husband says when people say, 'What did you bring to Washington?' He says, 'I brought arithmetic.'"Wow.Just in case you think that quote is out of context, here's a video clip courtesy of Town Hall;If Hillary wins the Democratic nomination, expect to see that clip, over and over and over. Is she really stupid enough to believe what she said?I leave it up to the reader to decide, but 100% without...

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Another Unbelievable Stress-Free Test; Whitewash Math and Deferred Tax Assets

In an effort to fool the public into believing the latest round of bank stress tests were actually designed to find stress, the ECB found 25 scapegoats, with the biggest losers in Italy and Greece.Interested parties may wish to slog through the full 178 page Stress Test Report. Capital ShortfallsNon-Performing LoansHere's a chart from PDF page 75 (report page 67) with thanks to ZeroHedge.There is €879 billion in nonperforming loans but the report concludes bank assets are only €48 billion overstated. Apparently we are to believe there are adequate loan loss provisions for rest. Reuters reports ECB Fails 25 Banks in Health Check but Problems Largely...

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What Do Seven Billion People Do? Top 10 Mega-Cities by Population 2014 vs. 2030 Estimate

Reader Bran who lives in Spain sent some interesting charts of population, expected population growth, the world's largest cites, and what people do for a living. I don't have links for the charts, but most show the origin.Seven Billion People Breakdown4.30 Billion Work1.90 Billion too Young to Work0.43 Billion Unemployed0.58 Billion 65 or OlderTotal about 7.2 Billion peopleCities With Projected 2030 Population of 10+ MillionTop 10 Mega-Cities by Population Anyone have any concerns over these numbers in regards to jobs, food, housing, cost of education,  healthcare costs, or retirement?Mike "Mish" Shedlockhttp://globaleconomicanalysis....

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Home Prices Drop in 69 of 70 Chinese Cities; Did the Pool of Greater Fools Run Out?

China eased purchase restrictions last month ending its four-year campaign to contain home prices. And what a ridiculous campaign it was. Prices are down less than 1% this month and less then 1% year-over-year. Bloomberg reports China Home-Price Drop Spreads as Easing Doesn’t Halt Fall. Prices dropped in 69 of the 70 cities in September from August, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement today, the most since January 2011 when the government changed the way it compiles the data. They fell in 68 cities in August.The central bank on Sept. 30 eased mortgage rules for homebuyers that have paid off existing loans, reversing course after a four-year campaign to contain home prices as Premier Li Keqiang seeks to prevent economic growth from drifting too far below the government’s 7.5...

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Hyperventilation Charade: EU Demands Another €2.1 Billion from UK, "We Won't Pay," Says Furious Cameron

Things are about to get more interesting in the EU as a review of budget procedures shows the UK, Greece, and Italy owe more money, but Germany and France will get money back.Curiously, this came about following a review of non-profit organizations from churches and universities to trade unions, charities and sports clubs. The time period is 2002-2009.Cameron's Obvious BluffUK prime minister David Cameron is already battling French President Francois Hollande abroad, and UKIP at home.Thus, Cameron's limited choice is to bluff as usual: "We Won't Pay," Says Furious Cameron. In a vivid display of public fury at European Union technocrats, British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to pay a surprise 2.1-billion-euro bill on Friday as EU leaders ordered an urgent review of how the budget figures...

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Japanese Style Deflation Coming? Where? Fed Falling Behind the Curve? Which Way?

There's some interesting discussion points in the UK-based Absolute Return Partners October 2014 Letter, by Niels C. Jensen, most of which I agree with, others not. Japan-Style Deflation in Our Backyard?It is no secret that we have been long-standing believers in deflation being a more probable outcome of the 2008-09 crisis than high inflation. What has changed over the past six months is that the world has begun to move in different directions. Whereas rising unit labour costs in the U.S. make outright deflation in that country quite unlikely, the same cannot be said of the Eurozone.Japan-style deflation across the Eurozone is no longer an outrageous...

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