Monday 1 December 2014

Headlines - 11/30/2014

This happened a few days ago

Oil rig explodes in Gulf of Mexico


21 November, 2014


An explosion has occurred on an offshore oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico, killing one person and injuring three.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Fieldwood Energy reported the explosion on its Echo Platform just before 3pm Thursday (local time) about 12 miles (19km) off the coast of Louisiana in the United States.

A telephone call to the Houston, Texas-based company was not immediately returned.

The bureau said in a statement that the platform was not in production at the time of the explosion and damage was limited to the area.

The statement said there was no indication that any oil had spilled into the ocean.

Bureau spokeswoman Chauntra Rideaux said the injured workers were being treated at a medical facility. She did not say where or have their conditions.

The explosion is under investigation.

Retail Disaster: Holiday Sales Crater by 11%, Online Spend Declines: NRF Blames Shopping Fiasco On "Stronger Economy"



Last year was bad. This year is an outright disaster.

As we reported earlier using ShopperTrak data, the first two days of the holiday shopping season were already showing a -0.5% decline across bricks-and-mortar stores, following a "cash for clunkers"-like jump in early promotions which pulled demand forward with little follow through in the remaining shopping days. However, not even we predicted the shocker just released from the National Retail Federation, the traditionally cheery industry organization, which just reported absolutely abysmal numbers: sales during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday period crashed by a whopping 11% from $57.4 billion to $50.9 billion, confirming what everyone but the Fed knows by now: the US middle class is being obliterated, and that key driver of 70% of US economic growth is in the worst shape it has been since the Lehman collapse, courtesy of 6 years of Fed's ruinous central planning. 


Demonstrating the sad state of America's "economic dynamo", shoppers spent an average only $380.95, down 6.4% from $407.02 a year earlier. In fact, as the NRF charts below demonstrate, there was a decline across virtually every tracked spending category (source)......


Swiss Gold Referendum Fails: 78% Vote Against "Protecting The Country's Wealth"


Whether as a result of an unprecedented scare campaign by the Swiss National Bank (most recently reinforced by Citigroup), or due to confidence that Swiss gold is as safe abroad as it is at home, or simply due to good old-fashioned "hanging chads", today's most awaited event has come and gone and the result - according to early projections by Swiss television SRF - is that the Swiss population overwhelmingly rejected a referendum to force the Swiss National Bank to hold some 20% of its reserves in gold in a landslide vote, with about 78% voting against what AP politely termed"protecting the country's wealth by investing in gold."



Well out of the headlines. We are all supposed to go shopping.

Crude Carnage Goes Contagious As Brevan Howard Liquidates Underperforming Commodity Fund




The entire commodity complex is seeing major contagion-like price declines in early trading. WTI Crude is back below $65 for the first time since May 2010 - now down 16% since the initial leaks of OPEC's decision last Wednesday. Gold and Silver are getting whacked and copper has plunged below 300 - back at its lowest since June 2010. The news over the weekend that Brevan Howard is liquidating its $630 million commodity hedge fund following recent poor performance is also likely not helping as what looked like late-Friday margin call liquidations are extending notably this evening.



"Panic Selling" Saudi Stocks Crash Into Bear Market Following OPEC Decisioнn

 

It's not just Shale oil stocks in the US that are hurting. Following the OPEC decision to not cut production and squeeze US producers, Saudi Arabia's major stock market index has tumbled into a bear market, giving up all the year's gains. As one analyst noted, "investors are afraid if oil stays where it is, it will negatively impact the government revenues, thus creating potential headwinds on government spending."Dubai stocks - our long-time favorite bubble index - has also been hammered, down over 7% intraday at its worst...

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