Justice Department’s Reputation At Stake As Hillary-Email Decision Looms
By Tyler Durden
As the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server winds down, all eyes will be focused on the Department Of Justice to find out whether or not charges will be filed.
Whatever the final decision turns out to be, the DOJ will most certainly be faced with harsh criticism from one side of the aisle or the other.
“In this scenario, federal prosecutors are damned if they do bring a case and damned if they don't.” said former deputy chief of the Justice Department's public integrity section.
Regardless of the DOJ's final decision, its reputation will take a significant hit from those who find the ruling not to their liking. If charges are brought, Democrats will point to FBI Director James Comey's ties to the Bush administration as motive to pursue the case so diligently. On the other hand, if the Justice Department declines to bring charges, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and President Obama will both be under scrutiny, with allegations of a cover-up galore.
Of course, the DOJ could have avoided this difficult situation had it appointed an independent prosecutor. A move that, according to The Hill, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has advocated on the floor of the Senate. So far, however, the Justice Department has declined to go down that path.
“I'm greatly concerned about the reputation of the Justice Department, which is why I have stated that I think the proper and best course would have been to have this go to an independent prosecutor a good year ago. It was pretty obvious that to put these decisions in the hands of high-ranking political appointees creates a perception – valid or not – of, at the very least, unconscious political influence.” said Ronald Sievert, a former Justice Department official who now teaches law at Texas A&M.
As a reminder, what also creates a perception of political influence is the fact that DOJ employees have donated nearly $75,000 to Clinton's presidential campaign, something that won't go unnoticed by Republicans if the Justice Department fails to bring charges.
We don't have any sympathy for the position the DOJ finds itself in. The cronyism that has run rampant throughout the financial and political arenas may someday come back on those that helped create it and facilitate it, which would be a welcome development. There is a very good chance that no matter what happens, the public will eventually be able to review all of the evidence and decide for themselves. If charges are brought, then the public will get the opportunity to see all of the facts as they are laid out throughout the case. If no charges are brought, then as Senator Chuck Grassley hinted, the FBI's investigative materials may be “leaked.” Until that time, we will just have to sit back and watch the circus.
According To JPM’s Quant Guru, This Is The "Main Risk For The Market" Right Now
By Tyler Durden
Over the past two weeks we observed two curious, vol-related phenomena.
First, it was Tom DeMark cautioning that even as stocks have surged, the amount of VXX shares outstanding has soared to record highs, a seemingly contradictory confluence of events because it suggested that investors, traditionally “going with the market flow”, are betting on a major vol reversal and furthermore the move contradicts historical shifts in VXX holdings at times of extreme market upside.
Second, just days later, Goldman confirmed as much when looking at overall market volatility, admitted that “our view that the VIX may remain low in the near term is at odds with the VIX ETP market, as investors seem to be pouring money into levered long VIX ETPs.” Goldman’s derivatives team also wrote that “while long ETP exposure has been growing, the appetite for inverse VIX ETPs, which benefit from declines in volatility such as the XIV and SVXY, has been muted, with vega exposure remaining range-bound in recent weeks. That’s surprising, since the benchmark index which these underliers track (SPVXSPI) is up 73% since the market low on February 11 and investors often follow performance!“
Goldman’s punchline: “Vega exposure on longs has tripled since February 11: The total amount of vega exposure across four popular long VIX ETPs (VXX, VIXY, UVXY, TVIX) has tripled since February 11 and recently stood at ~290 million, a record high.”
In short, someone has been aggressively preparing for the next vol spike episode, even as VIX itself has barely budged while the VXX recently hit fresh split-adjusted record lows.
All of this brings us to the point of this article, which focuses on the most recent observations by JPM’s quant guru Marko Kolanovic, who moments ago released his latest report. Not surprisingly for a man who deals with “Greeks” all day long, the topic of his note is precisely this curious decoupling between vol flows and realized vol. More importantly, it is volatility that is flashing a red light for Kolanovic, who says that “given the low levels of volatility and high levels of leverage, the main risk for the market remains a potential volatility shock.”
Risk for the market, yes; but not for those who have been aggressively allocating funds into vol-related products – if indeed a “vol shock” does take place and send the VIX soaring into the 30+ range as it did on August 24, 2015, there will be a few more traders who will be able to retire early.
Here is his full take on what he sees as the “main risk for the market”
Over the past 2 months, low volatility and positive equity performance attracted Equity inflows into various systematic strategies. Our estimate for the total equity exposure of Volatility Targeting, Risk Parity and CTA funds is shown in Figure 3 below (blue line; note the correlation with net speculative S&P 500 E-mini futures positions – red line). Overall, the equity exposure of various funds is high, but not peaked in April but declined …read more
Source: According To JPM’s Quant Guru, This Is The "Main Risk For The Market" Right Now
100% Pure Garcinia Cambogia Extract – Appetite Suppressant – Carb Blocker Capsules – 2100 MG – 90 Caps
Looking for something special ? Find The Lowest Price HERE
Yuuuge 10Y Auction: Whopping Demand For US Paper, Record Foreign Central Bank Demand
By Tyler Durden
If yesterday’s 3Y auction was impressive, and stopped well through the When Issued (as hinted by the negative repo rate), today’s 10Y was an absolute blockbuster, stopping a whopping 2 bps through the 1.73% When Issued – the biggest stop through since September 2013 – on a yield of 1.71%, the lowest yield since December 2012.
The internals were just as astounding, with a whopping 73.5% Indirect (aka foreign central bank) take down, the highest on record, and with 11.8% in Directs inline with recent historical averages, this meant that the Dealers were left holding the second lowest on record as foreign central banks scrambled to bid up as much of the paper as they could.
Perhaps the only weak spot was the Bid to Cover which dipped fractionally from 2.75 to 2.68.
Looking back at the results, one wonders just how much of the yield differential between US and foreign paper will collapse in the coming days if indeed foreign demand (mostly by central banks who are now clearly rushing into US paper) for OTRs is as high as today’s auction indicated.
Source: Yuuuge 10Y Auction: Whopping Demand For US Paper, Record Foreign Central Bank Demand
Google proposes ‘professional women’ emojis
Google has designed a new set of emojis depicting professional women to highlight ‘the diversity of women’s careers’ and combat sexism.
Podcast favorites: Bernie gets the Axe | Radical Islam in America | Graham Opposes GOP Leader
…read more
Source: Google proposes ‘professional women’ emojis
France Discusses Ban Of Imported U.S. Shale Gas
By Tyler Durden
Submitted by James Burgess via OilPrice.com,
After French media accuses government of hypocrisy, French Energy Minister Segolene Royal is discussing with French parliament a potential ban on the import of U.S. shale gas.
The issue arose out of concerns expressed by some members of French parliament that American LNG exports to Europe have contained natural gas that is 40 percent shale gas—which environmentalists and some lawmakers argue contradicts France’s own ban on shale gas exploitation using hydraulic fracturing.
Two French companies, Electricite de France (EDF) and gas utility Engie, have previously signed contracts to buy U.S. LNG from, while the French state has a large interest in both, and a 75-percent ownership stake in EDF.
France’s Socialist government has been under pressure from environmentalists not only to ensure that fracking never takes place on French territory, but also to ensure that no fracked gas enters its territory.
“It’s total hypocrisy,” Paul Reynard, Stop Shale Gas spokesperson, told reporters. “Hydraulic fracturing is forbidden in France to avoid pollution but we’ll buy shale gas from elsewhere that will penalize local populations.”
“We don’t care about others. We won’t pollute our own garden but we’ll pollute someone else’s.”
The U.S. is the world’s biggest exporter of shale gas with cargo ships already having been sent off to Brazil, Argentina, Portugal and Belgium.
Fracking was banned in France back in 2011 for environmental reasons. Last year, French media leaked a government-commissioned report that looked into a safer alternative to fracking for shale gas.
In Europe, only a handful of countries—including Denmark, Poland and the U.K.- are actively pursuing shale gas resources.
Source: France Discusses Ban Of Imported U.S. Shale Gas
A Hint Of What’s To Come? Joe Biden Says He "Would Have Been The Best President"
By Tyler Durden
In what was a veiled reminder that in a “worst case scenario” for Hillary Clinton, namely an affirmative outcome in the FBI’s criminal inquiry into Hillary’s email server which would surely terminate her presidential run, Obama may simply pivot to what many have speculated was always the democrats’ Plan B, earlier today Vice President Joe Biden told “Good Morning America” that he “would have been the best president” if he had run, but that he made the right decision to sit out the race following his son’s death last year.
“No one should ever seek the presidency unless they’re able to devote their whole heart and soul and passion into just doing that,” Biden said Wednesday on ABC.
“And Beau was my soul. I just wasn’t ready to be able to do that. But, so, my one regret is Beau’s not here. I don’t have any other regrets.” Beau Biden died last summer after a battle with brain cancer.
Joe Biden has cited his son’s death as the primary reason for not entering the race.
What is more curious is that while Biden once again expressed confidence in Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, he hasn’t yet made an endorsement.
“I feel confident that Hillary will be the nominee, and I feel confident she’ll be the next president,” Biden said.
What he did not elaborate on is whether after the one year period of mourning is whether he would be willing to take over the democratic campaign in case something terminal happened to Hillary. The answer to that may ultimately depend on Obama, whose DOJ has so far been hindering the probe into Hillary, but all that could change with just one phone call from the oval office…
WATCH: “Beau was my soul… my only regret is my Beau is not here.” – @VP Joe Biden on regrets https://t.co/qr0B9600rj
— Good Morning America (@GMA) May 11, 2016
Source: A Hint Of What’s To Come? Joe Biden Says He "Would Have Been The Best President"
Paul Singer: "Gold Rally Just Starting" As JPM Predicts A New Gold Bull Market
By Tyler Durden
It was just last week when legendary hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller delivered his latest anti-Fed sermon and once again extolled gold as the asset class to own in these experimental times in which the “bull market in stocks is exhausted”, saying “what was the one asset you did not want to own when I started Duquesne in 1981? Hint…it has traded for 5000 years and for the first time has a positive carry in many parts of the globe as bankers are now experimenting with the absurd notion of negative interest rates. Some regard it as a metal, we regard it as a currency and it remains our largest currency allocation.”
Today, it is the turn of that other prominent anti-Fed crusading hedge fund billionaire, Elliott Management’s Paul Singer, who in his latest letter said that gold’s best quarter in 30 years is probably just the beginning of a rebound as global investors weigh the ramifications of unprecedented monetary easing on inflation.
As cited by Bloomberg, Singer said that “it makes a great deal of sense to own gold. Other investors may be finally starting to agree,” Singer wrote in an April 28 letter to clients. “Investors have increasingly started processing the fact that the world’s central bankers are completely focused on debasing their currencies.”
He said that “if investors’ confidence in central bankers’ judgment continues to weaken, the effect on gold could be very powerful. We believe the March quarter’s price action could represent something closer to the beginning of such a move than to the end.”
What makes Singer’s outlook especially notable is that it thankfully disagrees with the view from Goldman Sachs which as we reported last night, was stopped out of its short gold position with a 4.5% loss, and while forecasting a higher price in 3, 6 and 12 months, still expects weaker gold prices over the next 12 months. Which considering Goldman’s absolutely abysmal predictive track record is great news for gold bulls.
Bloomberg adds that in addition to expressing his gold view through options, Singer is backing a new venture focused on royalties, streaming, and other forms of investments in the mining industry that will be led by Shaun Usmar of Barrick Gold Corp.
And while Goldman cotninues to bash gold (which has once again jumped this morning right on schedule), some unexpected support to Singer’s view came from none other than JPMorgan’s Private Bank whose Solita Marcelli told CNBC that “we’re recommending our clients to position for a new and very long bull market for gold.” After seeing three back-to-back years of losses, the precious metal has rallied 20 percent in 2016. And that’s just the start of the next leg higher, according to Marcelli. “[We think] $1,400 is very much in the cards this year.”
As CNBC adds, the firm’s global head of fixed income, currencies and commodities reasoned that, with so many negative interest rate policies around the world, gold will continue to be bought as an alternative currency. And, …read more
Source: Paul Singer: "Gold Rally Just Starting" As JPM Predicts A New Gold Bull Market
France’s Hollande Boldly Bypasses Parliament To Push Through Labor Reform Bill
By Tyler Durden
In a rather stunning move, France’s prime minister Manuel Valls announced that the government would be invoking a little known, and seldom used, article of its constitution in order to bypass parliament and push through a controversial labor reform bill.
According to France 24, Article 49-3 of France’s constitution allows for reform by decree, meaning the government can bypass parliament to enact laws as it sees fit. President Hollande also used the article last year in order to push a law through parliament that loosened restrictions on shops staying closed on Sundays.
“Because the country must move forward, the cabinet has authorized me to act on behalf of the government.” Valls told lawmakers.
Massive and sometimes violent protests mainly by students and unions have taken place over the past few months in opposition of the proposed reforms, and given that an opinion poll found that 58% of the French public were opposed to the labor reforms, those protests will continue to intensify given this recent maneuver.
“It’s a heavy-handed way of using the constitution to prevent the nation’s representatives from having their say.” said Laurent Baumel, a socialist lawmaker.
The government did scale back the reforms in an effort to appease trade unions, but ultimately the bill will allow up to a 48-hour workweek, as well as making layoffs easier for companies according to US News.
While we’re a bit surprised that those who voted in a Socialist are shocked that the voice of the people was ignored, this decision to bypass parliament and ram reforms down the throat of the citizenry understandably generated quite a bit of anger. We will keep an eye on how the public reacts to this, but there is a good chance protests may intensify and Hollande may very well have stoked a mini-rebellion.
As a result, the relentless French protests against labor law reform were promptly renewed according to the BBC, with reports of rubber pellets and tear gas being used by police.
Live Feed:
Source: France’s Hollande Boldly Bypasses Parliament To Push Through Labor Reform Bill
Proof That the Top 0.1% Create Crashes
By Sprott Money
Proof That the Top 0.1% Create Crashes
Written by Jeff Nielson (CLICK FOR ORIGINAL)
Our markets and economies are marched up and down in “bubbles” and “crashes”, with the duration of these cycles of financial crime now seeming to be fixed at about once every eight years. As the dust settles after each of these eight-year operations, the Fat Cats at the very, very top are found to have gotten much, much wealthier, while almost everyone else ends up significantly poorer.
With this pattern of crime now being obvious, and the pattern of “winners” and “losers” being equally obvious, it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to suspect that the Winners have been orchestrating these bubbles and crashes. It is obviously considerably easier to be on the winning side of your (supposed) gambling, when you know in advance what will transpire in the Game.
Previous suspicion of guilt has focused upon “the Top-1%”, a small sub-set of the wealthy whose wealth has been soaring higher at a rate never before seen in the history of our societies. However, upon closer scrutiny, it has more recently been determined that even this small sliver of our population is too large a demographic upon which to focus our attention (and criminal prosecutions?).
U.S. Wealth Inequality – top 0.1% worth as much as the bottom 90%
It is a headline which denotes an obvious economic crime against humanity. A mere 1/1000th of our population holds as much wealth as the bottom-90% combined, roughly half of all the wealth of our societies. Did this 1/1000 th micro-sliver earn half of all our societies’ wealth? Of course not. They stole it.
Previous commentaries have described and explained various means by which these ultra-wealthy oligarchs have stolen half of all wealth – and now hoard it in their vaults, while our economies literally starve from lack of capital.
- The financial crime known as “inflation”.
- Bank bail-outs (and now “bail-ins”).
- Other corporate “subsidies” (i.e. welfare).
- Corrupt taxation policies.
We’ve long suspected that the Ultra-Wealthy have been systematically stealing our wealth. What has previously been lacking is hard evidence of this. Until now. Recent research into the most-recent “crash” of our markets (the Crash of ’08) provides us with a key piece of evidence:
“We find that, starting in September 2008, the share of sales volume attributed to the top 0.1 percent of income recipients and other top income groups rises sharply until the beginning of 2009, and in 2008 and 2009 the sales of these groups are relatively more associated with stock market tumult as measured by the VIX,” they wrote.
Here it must be carefully noted that what is described in this empirical evidence is what is known in statistical terms as “correlation”. We have evidence that the Top 0.1% …read more
Source: Proof That the Top 0.1% Create Crashes
Welcome to Esh Carmel Blog.
Need A Job ?
Job Hunting ?
Need Help ?
CLICK HERE :
Job Hunters : How to Stand Out from the Crowd and Tap Into the Hidden Job Market
-
PLEASE NOTE: As with any precautionary warning, ALWAYS consult with your physician before taking any action in regards to your health.
This site does not provide medical or any other health care or fitness advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The site and its services are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical or health advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment, making any changes to existing treatment, or altering in any way your current exercise or diet regimen. Do not delay seeking or disregard medical advice based on information on this site While we try to keep the information as accurate as possible, we disclaim any implied warranty or representation about its accuracy or completeness. The reader assumes full responsibility for using the information on this site. This site is neither responsible nor liable for any claim, loss or damage resulting from the use of information on this site. This site is intended for use by adults only. Minors should use this site only with the involvement of a parent or guardian.
How to Get a Great Job in 90 Days or Less
