Aussie Job MKT Not As Good As Govt. Said

[erudne]

Boeing to Cut More Than 4,500 Jobs - Fox News


Boeing will eliminate about 4,000 jobs in its commercial airplanes division by the middle of this year and another roughly 550 jobs in a division that conducts flight and lab tests, company spokespeople told Reuters.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2...4500-jobs.html

 

[erudne]

Gold rose on Thursday as the dollar retreated, keeping the metal on course for its biggest quarterly gain in nearly 30 years as expectations of U.S. interest rate hikes receded.
The metal is highly exposed to rising rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets, while boosting the dollar. Gold fell 10 percent last year ahead of the first U.S. rate increase in nearly a decade in December.
Spot gold was up 0.35 percent at $1,232.90 an ounce. Gold futures forJune delivery rose 0.55 percent to $1,231.30.

More at the link :
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/30/gold-...ly-30-yrs.html

 

[erudne]

Ford Announces Intent to Spend $1.6 Billion To Build Auto Plant In Mexico – More U.S. Jobs Lost…
Posted on April 5, 2016 by sundance
Wayne Michigan will be devastated by this move. Yet another nail in the manufacturing industry coffin in the U.S.

(Via LA Times) Ford Motor Co. plans to build a $1.6-billion auto assembly plant in Mexico, creating about 2,800 jobs there and shifting small-car production away from the United States at a time when moving jobs south of the border has become a major issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.

The company announced that it would open the plant in San Luis Potosi state Tuesday without saying specifically what cars it would build there.

Continue reading →

 

[erudne]

Something to Watch Closely – Puerto Rico Demands Federal Taxpayer Bailout…
http://www.reuters.com/investigates...ensions/?utm_source=twitter/#graphic-pensions

 

[erudne]

 

[erudne]

Peabody, largest coal producer in the world, files for bankruptcy - Bloomberg


Founded in 1883 by 24-year-old Francis S. Peabody with $100, a wagon and two mules, the miner is now the largest private-sector coal company in the world, with customers in 25 countries and about 8,000 employees...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...for-chapter-11

 

[erudne]

 

[erudne]

In Shocking Finding, The Bank of Japan is Now a Top 10 Holder in 90% of Japanese Stocks

The latest shocking example of just how intertwined central banks have become in not only Treasury and corporate bond markets and their respective "valuations", but also in stocks, comes courtesy of the Bank of Japan which days ahead of an announcement which may see it double its ETF purchases from the current JPY3.3 trillion to JPY7 trillion or more (if Goldman is correct) has just been revealed to be a top 10 holder in about 90% of all Japanese stocks!

As Bloomberg puts it, "they may not realize it yet, but Japan Inc.'s executives are increasingly working for a shareholder unlike any other: the nation's money-printing central bank."…

This is simply unprecedented, and confirms that some time over the next several years, the Bank of Japan will not only own a majority of the Japanese bond market, but will be the outright owner of virtually all Japanese stocks!

Furthermore, recall what we have been saying ever since 2010, namely that central banks are nothing more than glorified risk-free hedge funds (because they can always print more funds if they need them)? Well, back then it was another conspiracy theory. Now it is an accepted fact: "When you see the numbers, you see it's quite a decent holding," said Nader Naeimi, the Sydney-based head of dynamic markets at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which oversees about $120 billion. "Central banks are becoming big hedge funds."

 

[erudne]

Exxon loses AAA credit rating from S&P - CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/26/exxon...il-prices.html

Keep in mind that Exxon is not 'just' an energy company and at one time had billions in assets

 

[erudne]

more bad news for Japan
http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/@NK.1

 

[erudne]

A Greece of Our Very Own
Another Default for Puerto Rico
In the least surprising news story of the day, the Governor of Puerto Rico has announced that the territory's Government Development Bank will not make most of its debt payments today. The Wall Street Journal:

"Faced with the inability to meet the demands of our creditors and the needs of our people, I had to make a choice," Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said in a speech Sunday night, according to an English translation of the remarks. He said making the payment would divert money needed for crucial health and public-safety services.

A law enacted by Puerto Rico's government in April empowers Mr. Garcia Padilla to suspend debt payments to pay for essential services as the U.S. commonwealth awaits help from Congress. Some of Puerto Rico's creditors have criticized the law, saying the government won't commit to necessary financial changes and hasn't made a good-faith effort at a consensual restructuring.


Expectations of a GDB default were already high ahead of the governor's speech. The GDB had $562 million available for paying debt as of April 1, according to the government.


There are two kinds of crisis: there's the largely unexpected event that hits suddenly like an earthquake or the assassination of a leader. And then there is the kind of slow moving train wreck that we see in Puerto Rico. The approach of bankruptcy was not secret. The trends in public debt, sluggish growth, bad government and counterproductive federal policy have been visible for years. It was only a question of time.

This leaves us less sympathetic to bondholders than we might otherwise be—certainly large investors who bought Puerto Rico debt knew or should have known that this was risky speculation rather than prudent investment. We don't blame them for wanting to be paid in full, but they got into this with their eyes open, and knew very well that Puerto Rico didn't have the money to keep the promises it was making.


However, the real issue here is why Congress and the Executive Branch of the United States failed to foresee and provide for this slow-moving catastrophe. This wasn't an unexpected explosion of a long dormant volcano. This was more like the captain and crew of a ship watching the slow, stately approach of an iceberg and taking no action until it crushes into the ship.


Who were the chairs of the oversight committees and what were they doing? What were the relevant offices at the Treasury department doing as the problems grew worse? Who was asleep at the switch, who tried to sound the alarm but was ignored? Who were the people who neglected their duty, let things slide, and now need to be held accountable as failed public servants responsible for a major disaster and human tragedy? What are the institutions that didn't work? How can they be fixed?


And of course, Puerto Rico isn't the only slow moving catastrophe unrolling before our eyes. How many cities have water problems similar to those of Flint? How many states and cities have fiscal problems like Puerto Rico's in their future? How many Detroit style bankruptcies lie in our future?


Our governing class seems more interested in hysterical posturing and rhetorical slogans than in doing the hard work of actual governance. This is no way to run a great republic—and if we don't get better at the bread and butter business of governing, the price of failure is going to escalate.

 

[Stomper]

It's all according to the "plan". Rules for Radicals, "crash the system". This sheite is being done all over our Republic ON PURPOSE. Think of the mass riots that WILL occur when the handouts stop flowing which will usher in martial law, suspended civil rights, and a foundation to perpetrate a "new order".


For now the masses are sedated by bread & circuses.

 

[erudne]

 

[erudne]

Venezuela, going over the slide.

Via Daily Caller:

A leading figure of the conservative Venezuelan opposition was murdered in cold blood Friday and his murderer is still at large.

German Mavare who was a leader of the Un Nuevo Tiempo – A New Era – Party, was shot in the head Friday morning. The killing of Mavare comes as Venezuela is increasingly destabilized because of an ongoing political and economic crisis.

Leading figures of the conservative opposition submitted 1.85 million signatures Monday to the country's federal election commission. If approved, the number of signatures collected is more than enough to justify a recall election against the ruling Socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Politics have been at a standstill in the South American country ever since December 2015 elections which saw a conservative coalition take power of the National Assembly – the country's Congress. The December election result is the first time that Conservatives and Socialists are splitting power since Hugo Chavez became president in 1999.

Keep reading…

 

[Goosebrown]

I'm hoping the $AUD takes a huge tumble within the next month because I'm going there for 2-weeks to attend a family wedding in Perth, and it'd be nice to buy a seaside estate for the equivalent of $150-USD!

Fine. But how are you going to get it out of Australia?

(My wife is a Kiwi... she wanted to know how you were going to make it livable... )

 

[erudne]

The UK Column has been highlighing the creation of an EU Army for several years. This agenda has been pushed through under the radar, with no public debate and no Parliamentary approval.





Today's Daily Express confirms what we have been reporting, but we can also report that the EU Army is now established and can be activated in 24 hours if necessary. We reveal where the command and control centre will be.
This has a bearing on the EU Referendum vote, so please share widely.

'SECRET PLOT EXPOSED: EU in stealth plan to set up ARMY by merging German and Dutch forces'
AN EU armed forces is being set up "by stealth" with the merger of the German and Dutch armies and navies, it has emerged.
By DAVID MADDOX
PUBLISHED: 03:37, Wed, Apr 20, 2016 | UPDATED: 07:17, Wed, Apr 20, 2016
'The plan is for the two countries to create a nucleus of an EU armed forces to fulfil the long term goal spelt out by German defence minister last year of having an EU army.
Ukip defence spokesman Mike Hookem is to ask the Commission what role it has played in talks to bring the new German/ Dutch force together as a nucleus for an EU military.
He pointed out that the developments are part of the centralisation by stealth going on in the EU which Britain will be dragged into if it votes to remain in the EU.
He warned that the move is aimed at beginning a merger without going through the council of ministers and other EU bodies and then creating an EU military by stealth by adding other countries.
And it has also emerged that the Czech Republic has also started talks to have its army become part of the Germany's army.
Last month the Dutch 43rd Mechanised Brigade came under German command as part of its German 1st Armoured Division.
This followed the Dutch 11th Airmobile Brigade coming under German command in 2015
As things stand the Dutch Army has been reduced to its 13th Mechanised Brigade along with special forces, support and headquarters staff but there are plans to merge these with the German Army too.
In addition the sea battalion of the German Navy will be gradually into the Royal Dutch Navy by 2018 and the two countries are sharing Holland's largest ship, the Karel Doorman.
The acceleration of the merger of the German and Dutch military follows talks last year when the German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leye declared that the long term aim is to create an EU army.
She said: "The European Army is our long-term goal, but first we have to strengthen the European Defence Union.'
She added: "To achieve this, some nations with concrete military cooperation must come to the fore – and the Germans and the Dutch are doing this."
Mr Hookem MEP said that the the Germans and Dutch are "creating an EU army by stealth".
He went on: "The EU was supposed to be about corralling Germany military dominance in Europe.
That aspiration has clearly died and just as Germany now politically dominates the EU, this latest move with the
"Dutch army shows that in time Germany wants to expand and control as much as it can militarily.
The EU is moving towards a common defence and foreign policy regime with an EU army as the goal. While Britain remains in the EU, we cannot escape being part of this dangerous setup. "
Ukip also noted that the reason to create an EU army "by the backdoor" is because other countries in Europe have opposed the move, most notably Denmark where voters rejected the Maastricht Treaty in the 1990s because of a clause to create an EU Military.
However, if an EU armed forces becomes "a fait accompli" it would be difficult for the UK and other countries to resist joining it….' Read it?
http://www.express.co.uk/news/politi…n-Dutch-forces

 

[erudne]

Hungry Venezuelans Hunt Dogs, Cats, Pigeons as Food Runs Out
Economic Crisis and Food Shortages Lead to Looting and Hunting Stray Animals

Sabrina Martín May 4, 2016 at 8:41 am

Facebook18kTwitterTumblrStumbleUponRedditEmailShare

In addition to dogs and cats, people are also killing pigeons to stave off hunger ( <broken link removed> )

EspañolRamón Muchacho, Mayor of Chacao in Caracas, said the streets of the capital of Venezuela are filled with people killing animals for food.

Through Twitter, Muchacho reported that in Venezuela, it is a "painful reality" that people "hunt cats, dogs and pigeons" to ease their hunger.



People are also reportedly gathering vegetables from the ground and trash to eat as well.

• Read More: US Senate Extends Sanctions Against Venezuela

The crisis in Venezuela is worsening everyday due in part to shortages reaching 70 percent. This to go along with the world's highest level of inflation.

The population's desperation has begun to show, with looting and robberies for food increasing all the time. This Sunday, May 1, six Venezuelan military officials were arrested for stealing goats to ease their hunger, as there was no food at the Fort Manaure military base.

• Read More: Venezuelan Army Vehicle Caught with 88 Pounds of Marijuana

The week before, various regions of the country saw widespread looting of shopping malls, pharmacies, supermarkets and food trucks, all while people chanted "we are hungry."

The Venezuelan Chamber of Food (Cavidea) said many businesses only have 15 days worth of inventory. Production has been effected as a result of a shortage of raw materials, as well as exhausted national and international supply resources.


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Supermarket employees confirmed food does not arrive at the same rate as it did before, and that people's inability to get enough is a daily struggle.

Supermarkets are registered into a system in such a way that they are not permitted to sell Venezuelans food 15 days since their purchase of the same product. As a result, long food lines have formed all over the country, with many people reselling their share to earn an "extra income."

 

[erudne]

DRIVING THE STARVING MASSES NORTH!

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a May Day march in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro extended a state of emergency another 60 days as several riots broke out in grocery stores this past week. The country is running out of food, the workweek has been reduced to two days, there is a water shortage and -- soon -- a gasoline shortage in a country with more oil than Saudi Arabia, there are long blackouts as electricity is scarce, and 70% of the voters want Maduro out this year.
Welcome to the socialist paradise.
U.S. officials told reporters that Maduro will probably not serve out his term, which ends in 2018.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/0...-as-us-says-total-meltdown-imminent/#comments

 

[whiskeybill]

Reminiscent of the old Weimar Republic (Germany) between the two World Wars. One of the things that brought along the "Great Depression", hyperinflation, and eventually the rise of the Nazi Party, was the unbridled printing of money and trying to spend their way out of a poor economy. The result was so much printed money in circulation that it became virtually worthless.

Bernanke, and this administration, have done virtually the same thing. Money was printed with the intention that banks would loan more money to consumers. Problem is, lending criteria had become stricter, and most consumers were already tapped out on credit debt and were unwilling to go further into debt. That leaves all that money for the banks and other financial players to play with. I have no clue as to where this is all going exactly, but the destination can't be good.

 

[albin25]

The situation in Venezuela can't be true;
-Not a ripple about it in our Main Stream Media
-Bernie hasn't mentioned it in his speeches
-No Hollywood fundraisers
-The UN hasn't appointed Venezuela to run the World Bank