SAR #15006

Economies, like old men, get to the point where more stimulus has no effect.

 
Progress Report: Mankind has absolutely no chance of limiting global warming to a 2C increase by 2100, and does not have the political will to overcome vested self interst sufficiently to avoid a 4C rise by then, with more to follow. Here's some time-saving advice: Ignore all news and analyses of the nature, cause and course of global warming from this time forward. We are not going to do anything about it and worrying only frightens the horses. 
 
Datum: The US trade deficit with China has cost the US 3.2 million jobs.

Red Rover, Red Rover: Senate Republicans will push bill to approve Keystone XL pipeline; Obama has indicated he might (might!) veto it. Let the games begin.

Kick'em While They're Down: The ECB's Mario Draghi says that further 'structural reforms” are needed to insure “that each country is better off permanently belonging to the euro area". What reforms? Why “governing together, going from co-ordination to a common decisional process, from rules to institutions." Apparently, “a common decisional process” is better than having citizens voting country by country. Or voting at all.

Size Matters: The collapse in oil prices now equals only the drop associated with past significant global recessions. The convoluted conspiracy theories are fun, but the simplest explanation is probably the most accurate – oil prices are falling hard because global demand is collapsing because of bad things hiding under the bed.
 
The Winter of Their Discontent: Following a suicide bombing that killed a Saudi general and two of his staff near the Iraqi border, Saudi military forces carried out an attack on ISIS forces in the area. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Big, Bigger Bigerest: Citi now has over $70 trillion in total derivative holdings. Don't worry, you're good for it. 
 
Ask Me No Questions: Four of President Erdogan's co-conspirators former ministers will not have to stand trial for corruption, and the judges who oversaw the inquiry into Erdoğan's graft have been dismissed for overstepping their authority. One of Erdoğan's pet judges has quashed all mention of Erdoğan’s link to al-Qadi. As George W. Bush made clear, nothing is illegal when the President does it. Not in the US or Egypt or Turkey, nor most other places.

Just-So Story: "Oil is incredibly important right now. If oil falls to around $40 a barrel then I think the yield on ten year treasury note is going to 1%. I hope it does not go to $40 because then something is very, very wrong with the world, not just the economy. The geopolitical consequences could be – to put it bluntly – terrifying." Jeff Gundlach

Be Prepared: Louie Gohmert (Comedian-TX) says that “It's going to devastate the country” if he is not elected Speaker of the House.

Pot/Kettle: Goldman Sachs says JPMorgan is too big and controls too much of the market and should be broken into little pieces and scattered to the four winds.

Contagion: Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan – oil producing nations you can't find on the map – have devalued their currency by 18%, 17% and 14% respectively, as the price of oil tumbles. This is part of the deflationary contagion that portends “a major economic collapse on a global scale. Most people do not understand that this is the real threat we face." 

Public Health Warning: Jeb Wannabe Bush says it should be up to the states to ban same sex marriage.
 
Are You Feeling Lucky? Recent research suggests that most cancers result from simple bad luck. Random DNA mutations account for at least 60% of adult cancers – certainly poor lifestyle choices and environmental factors are important, but a lot of your predisposition to cancer is up to luck. Bet the push-back on this will be impressive, for big bucks are at stake.

A Prize In Every Box: The National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 includes a clause that expressly directs the Bureau of Land Management to expedite permits for fracking on all public lands. This section of the Act was written by the Independent Petroleum Association of America, American Petroleum Institute and several others.
 
Porn O'Graph: You are here, headed there, and shouldn't be.