Secret
Monetary Group Warns a Catastrophe Is Coming - (www.wolfstreet.com) But
you’ve got to give credit where credit is due. The Bank for International
Settlements is one of the few financial institutions that warned of dangers to
the global financial system as early as 2003. So by time the financial crisis
struck, they’d been warning about it for years. Its former chief
economist, William White, even dared to challenge former Fed Chair Alan
Greenspan about cheap money policies that helped start the crisis! Once again,
this group is on the right side of history. It just warned about a “gathering
storm” in the global economy as central banks seem to be running out of
options. They’ve seen right through this “recovery” and warned that
unprecedented debt levels would put the world economy in worse shape
than before the 2008 crash.
Consumers
nearly $1T in debt: This could end badly - (www.cnbc.com) Last
year, credit card debt in the U.S. surged by approximately $71 billion to
$917.7 billion, according to a new study from CardHub.com. The research also found that most of the debt
accrued in 2015 came in the fourth quarter, when Americans tacked on more than
$52 billion. "With 7 of the past 10 quarters reflecting year-over-year
regression in consumer performance, evidence is mounting to support the notion
that credit card users are reverting to pre-downturn bad habits," CardHub
CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou said in a statement.
Once-Treasured Pipelines Facing a `Culling' as
Drillers Go Bust - (www.bloomberg.com) For
years, the pipeline partnerships that kept America’s shale oil and natural gas
flowing were the darlings of the energy investment world, thanks to their high
payouts and dependable, long-term contracts. Not anymore. The Alerian MLP Index,
tracking 49 of these master limited partnerships including Enterprise Products
Partners LP, Energy Transfer Partners LP and Williams Partners LP, is off to
its worst start of a year ever. And that’s after plunging 37 percent in 2015
because of the collapse in oil prices and investors’ concerns that the
partnerships can’t sustain their payouts.
Riskiest Bank Bonds Jump as ECB Cuts Borrowing
Costs for Lenders - (www.bloomberg.com) Mario
Draghi has come to the aid of bank-debt investors. The riskiest type of bank
bonds rose after the European Central Bank said it will start paying lenders to
borrow from a four-year funding program. Notes issued by Intesa Sanpaolo SA and
UniCredit SpA, the biggest users of the facility, were among the gainers.
Deutsche Bank AG bonds, which have spearheaded a bank-debt rout this year, also
advanced. The funding changes could help banks’ earnings weather negative rates
imposed by the ECB in a bid to bolster economic growth. Credit risk also eased
across Europe after the central bank expanded
a bond-buying program by a third and announced plans to start purchasing
investment-grade non-bank corporate debt.
The
China Intervention Trade Is Back as State Funds Battle Bears - (www.bloomberg.com) The
Chinese stock market has once again turned into a battleground for bearish
investors and state-directed funds determined to spark a rally. During each of
the past six days, the Shanghai Composite Index has recorded intraday losses before
recovering to end the trading session higher, with suspected intervention
targets including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and PetroChina
Co. leading the rebound. After dropping as much as 3.1 percent on Wednesday,
the benchmark gauge pared its loss to 1.3 percent at the close as ICBC jumped.
China Inflation Fastest Since Mid-2014 as Food Prices Jump -
(www.bloomberg.com)
New Zealand Dollar Falls as Central Bank Unexpectedly Cuts Rate - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Gain With Commodities as Euro Fluctuates Before ECB - (www.bloomberg.com)
The ETF Files: How the U.S. government inadvertently launched a $3 trillion industry. - (www.bloomberg.com)
New Zealand Dollar Falls as Central Bank Unexpectedly Cuts Rate - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Gain With Commodities as Euro Fluctuates Before ECB - (www.bloomberg.com)
The ETF Files: How the U.S. government inadvertently launched a $3 trillion industry. - (www.bloomberg.com)
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