Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson is entitled to a special capital gains tax break if he sells assets to avoid conflicts of interest. But he won’t enjoy that same break on the largest slice of his Exxon wealth. …read more
Source: Will Tillerson get a tax break on his Exxon payout?
By Tyler Durden
While much of America was preparing to listen to Obama speak one final time, the Chinese had far less lofty ambitions, and on Wednesday morning Beijing sent a group of Chinese warships led by China’s sole aircraft carrier north through the Taiwan Strait, resulting in Taiwan scrambling jets and navy ships in the latest sign of heightened tensions between China and the self-ruled Taiwan.
According to Reuters, The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier, returning from exercises in the South China Sea, was not trespassing in Taiwan’s territorial waters but entered its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the southwest, Taiwan’s defense ministry said.
China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier conducts a drill in an area of South China Sea,
in this undated photo taken December, 2016
As a result Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships to “surveil and control” the passage of the Chinese ships through the narrow body of water separating Taiwan and China. “We have full grasp of its movements,” Taiwan defense ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi said.
The defense ministry spokesman added that the Taiwanese military aircraft and ships have been deployed to follow the carrier group, which is sailing up the west side of the median line of the strait.
Previously, China has said the Liaoning aircraft carrier was on drills to test weapons and equipment in the disputed South China Sea and its movements comply with international law.
As Reuters adds, the latest Chinese naval exercises have unnerved Beijing’s neighbors, especially Taiwan which Beijing claims as its own, given long-running territorial disputes in the South China Sea. China claims most of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.
While China traditionally distrusts Taiwan, and especially the new President Tsai Ing-wen, it has has stepped up pressure on her following a protocol-breaking, congratulatory telephone call between her and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump last month.
Source: Taiwan Scrambles Jets, Navy After Chinese Aircraft Carrier Group Enters Taiwan Strait
By Tyler Durden
Once again parting with Presidential tradition, rather that delivering his farewell speech from the oval office, the ever so humble Obama has decided to give his final address to the American people from his home town of Chicago. And, like his 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, we're certain this will be a glorious event complete with a slew of celebrities and all the pomp and circumstance befitting a king…rest assured that no taxpayer expense was spared.
While the content of Obama's remarks have not been revealed, earlier today he posted the following preview on Facebook which noted that he looks forward to going back to “where it all started” and humbly affirmed that he's “made America a better, stronger place for the generations that will follow.”
For Michelle and me, Chicago is where it all started. It’s the city that showed us the power and fundamental goodness of the American people.
It’s that inherent strength that brought our country through our fair share of challenges these last eight years. Because of you, we’ve come through them stronger. Because of you, we’ve held to a belief that has guided us ever since our founding – our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better.
It’s easy to lose sight of that in the blizzard of our minute-to-minute Washington news cycles. But America is a story told not minute to minute, but generation to generation – a story written by parents, and teachers, and veterans, and neighbors who’ve taken on the call of citizenship, working together, without fanfare, to form a more perfect union.
Over the course of my life, I’ve been reminded time and again that change can happen – that ordinary people can come together to achieve extraordinary things. And I’ve seen that truth up close over these last eight years.
We’ve made America a better, stronger place for the generations that will follow. We’ve run our leg in a long relay of progress, knowing that our work will always be unfinished. And we’ve reaffirmed the belief that we can make a difference with our own hands, in our own time. That’s the imperative of citizenship – the idea that, with hard work, and a generous heart toward our fellow Americans, people who love their country can change it.
So tonight, I’m returning to where it all began to offer my most grateful farewell to the American people. I hope you’ll join me – I want to thank you for everything you’ve done.
And while Obama will undoubtedly brag about his amazing “economic recovery,” we would once again highlight the following data that seemingly paints a slightly more sobering picture.
Of course, these charts that we presented last summer also cast a slight shadow over Obama's “economic recovery.”
Unfortunately for Obama, simply stating something repeatedly doesn't actually make it a fact.
And speaking of repeating fictitious stories until they somehow become fact, as Post News pointed out yesterday, for weeks …read more
Source: Live Stream: Obama Says Farewell; Reminds Us One Last Time How Awesome He Is
By Tyler Durden
While Gundlach spoke for an hour and a half in his first webcast of 2017, perhaps his longest presentation to the broader public yet, and covered many areas in the presentation titled “Just Markets“, one line will be remembered: his direct attack at Bill Gross, whom he called a “second tier bond manager” for calling 2.6% on the 10 Year an important level.
As a reminder, earlier today Bill Gross issued his monthly outlook in which he suggested that 10Y yields rising above 2.60% would spell the end for the bond bull market, and would likely have further dramatic consequences on asset prices:
“This is my only forecast for the 10-year in 2017. If 2.60% is broken on the upside – if yields move higher than 2.60% – a secular bear bond market has begun. Watch the 2.6% level. Much more important than Dow 20,000. Much more important than $60-a-barrel oil. Much more important that the Dollar/Euro parity at 1.00. It is the key to interest rate levels and perhaps stock price levels in 2017.”
Gundlach, obviously, disagreed noting “the last line in the sand is 3 percent on the 10-year. That will define the end of the bond bull market from a classic-chart perspective, not 2.60%” as Gross suggested. He then added that “almost for sure we’re going to take a look at 3 percent on the 10-year during 2017, and if we take out 3 percent in 2017, it’s bye-bye bond bull market. Rest in peace.” Such a jump would would have “a real impact on market liquidity in corporate bonds and junk bonds.”
It would also hit stocks, as 3% on the 10 Year would spell “trouble for equity markets.” He also said that “a 10-year above 3%, with the 30-year yield approaching 4%, would also be trouble for the equity market because they would start to look like ‘real’ yields to investors.” Previously Goldman reached the same conclusion, however when looking at 2.75% as the selloff bogey.
Gundlach said it’s not radical to forecast a 6% yield on the 10-year by 2020.
However, that won’t come quick: in predicting the next steps for the benchmark Treasury, Gundlach said “I think the 10-year Treasury will go below 2.25 percent … not below 2 percent” before once again starting to rise.
It is unclear how such a move in rates would impact Gundlach’s own DoubleLine, which at the end of December had $101 billion in AUM: as reported previously, in December DoubleLine’s Total Return Bond Fund suffered a $3.5 billion net outflow, its biggest one month redemption in history.
Repeating a claim he has made before, and reiterating a theme voiced previously by Morgan Stanley which said to “Sell the Inauguration”, Gundlach warned of a sell-off in the stock market around inauguration day as investors grasp that “Trump doesn’t have a magic wand to implement the growth plans they are optimistic about.”
Previewing the Fed’s rate hikes in 2017, Gundlach said that “all things being equal, the Fed will …read more
Source: Gundlach Calls Gross A "Second Tier Bond Manager" And Other Highlights From His Presentation
Years ago the number of ad dollars spent on online advertising overtook the amount spent on offline advertising (TV, print, radio). This demographic shift was presented as form, not essence. It was presented as the evolution of media, firms were adapting and changing. But something much deeper was happening, it’s the end of an industry cycle called ‘media’ which is being replaced by ‘independent online media’ like Zero Hedge for finance, and thousands of other sites for their respective topics. Although the MSM (Main Stream Media) fights this, it’s bigger than them, it’s not something they can control. People who are holding on to their newspapers are old and dying (no offense, Grandpa). Cursive writing is no longer being taught in schools – and why should it?
Along with this shift comes a new host of problems as well, children addicted to social media oblivious to the ‘real world’ – but in the context of the MSM, it’s just a swan song they are singing loudly ‘we are still relevant! we are still relevant’ The fact is the old MSM model doesn’t work. State sponsored media like the BBC and PBS has always been at the core of investigative journalism, anyway. WaPo is losing money at an alarming rate. From 2013 we’re talking 85% drop in profit:
The Washington Post Co. on Friday reported bad news for its newspaper division, with revenue totaling $127.3 million for the first quarter of this year — down four percent from 2012 — and an operating loss of $34.5 million. Overall, the company posted a profit of just $4.7 million, an 85 percent drop in earnings from the net income of $31 million for the first quarter of last year.
But what are we talking about? WaPo is a big example but there are many. Exceptions such as Bloomberg are different because, they are not supported by media. Bloomberg never was a media outlet, Bloomberg provides an information service to traders and technology – and charges ALOT for it. Central banks trade on Bloomberg Terminals. The news division is something they do in order to advertise their core business. This model is sustainable. WaPo, NYT and others, will likely not exist in the years ahead – in the best case they will *really* evolve into a different model.
The fact that the MSM missed the election to such a large degree was akin to a ‘nail in the coffin’ signaling the end of the MSM completely.
Independent blogs, resources, and other sites will be the center of a new online media ecosystem. Checkout one example – www.globalintelhub.com
As a loyal ZH contributor, we’re happy to be a part of this shift.
We are often reminded of systems used in times past, as we will one day remember about the days of CNN and New York Times:
64% of Americans want the president-elect to shut down @realDonaldTrump, the Twitter account that he has maintained since 2009, according to a new poll. …read more
Source: 64% of Americans want Trump to delete Twitter
A New York judge ruled Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump’s frequent Twitter attacks — which often include calling people “loser,” “dummy,” “wacko,” and “zero” — cannot constitute defamation because they are widely seen as opinion. …read more
Source: Trump defamation by Twitter case tossed out
By Tyler Durden
One month after his webcast titled optimistically “Drain the Swamp“, which was a forward look at the impact of the upcoming Trump administration (which one can debate if it “drained” the swamp, or alternatively added to it), today at 4:15pm ET (1:15pm PT), bond king Jeff Gundlach kicks off the new year by holding his first for 2017 monthly DoubeLine webcast, titled “Just markets.”
Having kept a relatively low profile in the past month, in Gundlach last media appearance, the bond king, after turning more bearish on risk assets in late 2016, told Reuters on December 13 the 10-year Treasury note yield above 3% will harm the stock-market rally and housing market: “I think above 3 percent is a problem,” Gundlach told Reuters. “If the 10-year goes above 3 percent, you would also have to say unequivocally you have seen the end of the bond bull market.”
During his last webcast, Gundlach also reiterated that Donald Trump’s administration will be “bond unfriendly” and investors should brace for a 6 percent 10-year Treasury yield within four to five years.
Gundlach said it is reasonable to be nimble and do some purchasing of Treasuries. “I think it is an okay buy right now,” he said. “We hate the market less. We are a little bit less defensive,” Gundlach said. Since then the 10Y has traded rangebound. Earlier today, Bill Gross noted that a breakout of the 10Y yield above 2.60% would end the 30 year bull market rally, and would have substantial adverse consequences for all risk assets. On the topic, Gundlach referenced a different level, and said if the 10-year yield exceeds 3 percent next year, high-yield “junk” bonds will drop into a “black hole of illiquidity.”
In early December he said that “it is so late to be buying the Trump Trade.” That, has so far proven inaccurate with the Dow Jones soaring over 500 points since his statement, and continuing to knock on 20,000s door.
Readers can log into Gundlach’s latest live at the following link.
Source: Jeff Gundlach’s "Drain The Swamp" Presentation
By Tyler Durden
George Clooney, apparently still upset that the millions of dollars he raised for Hillary Clinton’s campaign was a complete and utter waste, told a group of reporters in London that the U.S. got “a little unlucky” with the election of Donald Trump and we’re just going to have to “hope that he can do a decent job.” Per The Hill:
“When we first needed a president, we had George Washington,” Clooney said, according to the Associated Press. “We had Jefferson, Adams.”
“When we had the Civil War, we had Lincoln,” Clooney, 55, continued.
“I think we’re going to be a little unlucky now,” Clooney — who hosted some big-ticket fundraisers for then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the 2016 White House race — said of Trump. “I can only hope for the best,” the actor added.
“We have to hope that [Trump] can do a decent job, because when the president of the United States fails, really terrible things happen,” Clooney remarked Monday during a reception for his upcoming feature film documentary about Syrian rescue workers, “The White Helmets.”
If only we could have all been “lucky enough” to have been blessed with Hillary Clinton perhaps we wouldn’t have to be tortured by the daily comments from Hollywood’s elites who somehow, despite living a life completely detached from reality, have convinced themselves that they know what’s best for everyday Americans.
Of course, as a quick reminder, Clooney, proving just how detached from reality he is, is the one who declared back in May, along with many other Hollywood elites, that “There’s not going to be a President Donald Trump. That’s not going to happen.”
Clooney had declared last May at a press conference, “There’s not going to be a President Donald Trump. That’s not going to happen.”
“It’s not going to happen because… fear is not going to be something that drives our country,” Clooney said at the time. “We’re not going to be scared of Muslims, or immigrants, or women. We’re not actually afraid of anything.”
Source: Clooney Says The U.S. Got "A Little Unlucky" With President-Elect Trump
By Tyler Durden
“We've made America a better, stronger place for the generations that will follow,” is how President Obama sees his reign in a Facebook post ahead of tonight's farewell address…
For Michelle and me, Chicago is where it all started. It’s the city that showed us the power and fundamental goodness of the American people.
It’s that inherent strength that brought our country through our fair share of challenges these last eight years. Because of you, we’ve come through them stronger. Because of you, we’ve held to a belief that has guided us ever since our founding – our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better.
It’s easy to lose sight of that in the blizzard of our minute-to-minute Washington news cycles. But America is a story told not minute to minute, but generation to generation – a story written by parents, and teachers, and veterans, and neighbors who’ve taken on the call of citizenship, working together, without fanfare, to form a more perfect union.
Over the course of my life, I’ve been reminded time and again that change can happen – that ordinary people can come together to achieve extraordinary things. And I’ve seen that truth up close over these last eight years.
We’ve made America a better, stronger place for the generations that will follow. We’ve run our leg in a long relay of progress, knowing that our work will always be unfinished. And we’ve reaffirmed the belief that we can make a difference with our own hands, in our own time. That’s the imperative of citizenship – the idea that, with hard work, and a generous heart toward our fellow Americans, people who love their country can change it.
So tonight, I’m returning to where it all began to offer my most grateful farewell to the American people. I hope you’ll join me – I want to thank you for everything you’ve done.
We leave it to Ron Paul to beg to differ on the farce (via his Facebook page)…
Barack Obama started with a Nobel Peace Prize and is ending his presidency with the Pentagon's Distinguished Public Service Medal.
Sounds about right for a president who bombed 7 nations and became the first in U.S. history to be at war every single day of his eight year administration.
Just remember America, as Obama signs 'The Ministry of Truth' act into reality, “War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.”
Source: Obama Claims "Made America A Better, Stronger Place" Despite Being At War Every Day Of His 2 Terms
Welcome to Esh Carmel Blog.
