Overnight

It came somewhat as a surprise. Few were expecting it. The last time it happened was way back in 2008. Reuters reported:

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) surprised the markets on Wednesday with an agreement to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day, in an effort to support oil prices. Crude oil prices have declined by more than half since mid-2014 because of global oversupply and an increase of U.S. shale production

"The first joint production cut by OPEC-Russia in eight years is likely to accelerate the rebalancing of the crude oil market and provide a durable support to oil prices [but] higher oil prices would have quite disparate effects on different EM Asian countries." said Chang Wei Liang from Mizuho Bank Singapore, in a note on Thursday.

During Asian trade, Brent futures were up 0.02 percent at $51.85 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures were down 0.06 percent at $49.47.

That pushed at one point Nikkei 225  higher early on more than 2% and it carried other regional markets for the most part with it. The Hang Send was up 0.70%; the Kospi 0.11%; the Singapore Straight Times rallied  0.7% and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.5%. It was the highest the Nikkei has traded since last December and the broader Topix tacked on a 0.9% gain. The ASX 200 gained 1.1% to close at 5,500.2, again helped by the upswing in oil.

In currencies the dollar was trading at 101.46 against a basket of major currencies. Rising bonds yields, especially in the U.S. pulled  money out of Asia since the election, weakening regional currencies. Some are asking what comes next in the oil market. One analyst noted:

OPEC has agreed to cut production by about 1.2 million barrels per day, or about 4.5 percent of current production, to 32.5 million barrels per day.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia faces the unenviable tasks of policing cartel members and keeping crude prices within a range that will relieve pressure on oil-producing countries' economies, but which will dissuade non-OPEC producers from increasing output.

Analysts broadly expect an agreement to boost oil prices above $50 a barrel and keep them there. Prices have wavered between about $40 and $54 since the spring. Commodity watchers also believe the deal will set up a long-awaited balance between oil supply and demand in the first half of next year. The market has been oversupplied for more than two years, by as much as 2 million barrels a day.

Gold traded flat, off only slightly at $1,170.48 an ounce. In the previous session gold touched it lowest level since last February while the dollar held near its 9-month highs against the yen at 114.

A Point Not to Be Missed

We've talked a lot about leverage and how it can change hands. Once you get some, relinquish it at your own peril. The rise in the use of the globalists' favorite pejorative, populists, indicates just how fearful these bureaucratic bullies are.

Much of the crying coming from the anti-Brexit crowd is precisely about just this--loss of leverage. But the globalists will not go away easy as their continued pushing of scare tactics shows anyone who pays the least bit of attention. It's cunningly couched in language designed to convince the rest of us that they have our best interest in mind. They don't. These are political zealots who want what they want. Period. Miss that point and you'll also miss any hope you might have for a decent, independent life.

They completely missed Brexit and they scored even worse on the recent U.S. presidential election. So the odds are better than excellent they will underestimate the anger bubbling just below the surface around the globe against globalism. When their incessant scare tactics turnout like a bad tattoo that didn't take, they will ramp up their hostilities.

You are intelligent enough to read the following and decide for yourself.
 ----
 alt-market.com/articles/3073-the-real-reasons-why-another-american-civil-war-is-possible

You have to hand it to the regressive left, when they conjure propaganda they really know how to run with it. When their indoctrination doesn’t take, and the public stops them cold with a wall of skepticism, they don’t give up! No — the little buggers double down and go for broke!
I would point out, however, that this seemingly boundless drive to forsake all logic and reason in the name of ideology is not due to these people being special in their ambition. Rather, they are following a somewhat successful historic model; the model of communism. And by successful, I mean successfully destructive.
With Donald Trump on the way to the White House in January, along with a Republican majority in Congress and the Senate, leftists long accustomed to dominating the public narrative through the mainstream media have found themselves without leverage. Now, they must resort to ankle biting with efforts like the “fake news” meme, which is designed to undermine the alternative media through ad hominem.  Obviously this will fail.  It is far too late for the mainstream media to gain back any social capital, and they will have to adapt or die out.
With this avenue closing for the left, the next stage will be direct asymmetrics; they will use subversion at a more localized level; working to provoke “marginalized” groups into taking extreme action in order to illicit a negative and totalitarian response from conservatives.
I am rather well versed on the history of communist insurgencies, and one simple reality that consistently stands out to me is that wherever communist movements exist, war follows.  They may claim to be peaceful in their aims and methods, they may claim to want what is best for society as a whole, but when these movements are denied access to social evolution, they almost always revert to violent means.  The primary reason for this, I believe, is that they really do assume at their very core that their ideal is the ONLY ideal.
They think they are heroes, awakened to a world view that the rest of us are incapable of comprehending. In their minds, anyone seeking to obstruct them is either dangerously ignorant or a fascist hellbent on sabotaging humanity’s “natural progression” into the leftist utopia. Therefore any and all actions are justified on their part.  They are fighting “evil.”  And, of course, conservatives like you and I are the physical manifestations of that evil.  We are the super-villains that must be destroyed at all costs in the leftist fantasy world.

As I noted in my last article, Order Out Of chaos: The Defeat Of The Left Comes With A Cost, regressives in the form of social justice warriors are currently more cute in their provocations than dangerous, but this is only an early stage of their movement.  When these people do not get what they want, when they realize that propaganda methods are not effective, they will inevitably turn toward militancy and aggressive mob action.  This is the problem with zealots: they are infinitely capable of moral relativity.  They are monsters in people suits just waiting to be unleashed, but made even more dangerous by their self-image as guardians.

There is nothing worse than a psychopath with a desperate desire to nurture you.
After my last article, some readers responded that they understood my basic premise — that the left versus right dynamic is being instigated by global elites, and that this could result in both sides moving to opposing extremes of the political spectrum; communism versus fascism.  That said, they also wanted to know what I thought should be done about the left in particular?  Sure, the elites are the root cause of the threat, but what about all the crazed leftists the elites hide behind and exploit?  Don’t we have to deal with them at some point as well?
I would say yes, though our reaction must be measured or we risk falling into the paradigm trap the elites have constructed for us.

So, here is the reality — when a movement like the social justice cult reverts to zealotry, there is nothing that can be done to persuade them otherwise.  Some will leave the movement behind, but the majority will refuse to acknowledge that their ideology has failed to sway the masses, and that this might be due to the fact that their ideology is highly flawed. They will seek instead to FORCE us into compliance. This ensures that a violent conflict will eventually arise.

More Deserved Controversy

It is unwise to give people a vote. That's all you need to know as you read the followng article about Mr. Jean Claude Juncker.

Much of this goes with the daily whining at the Financial Times about how big of a mistake Brexit is and the people could request another vote since, as these crybabies wail away, as they daily post articles designed to scare people about what awaits then if they fail to hear the pleas of these fake journalists. What awaits you is freedom. more privacy and sovereignty, a voice in your affairs. Local. That's really scary stuff isn't it, especially when you won't need arrogant, indifferent Brussels bureaucrats threatening you at every turn.
----
European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker issued a warning to Austrian presidential candidate Norbert Hofer, regarding referendums.
Hofer, an anti-immigration, candidate is in a tight race for the election coming up on December 4.
If he wins, Hofer said he would hold in-out referendums if Brussels seeks to expand it power.

Please consider European president Jean-Claude Juncker pleads with EU leaders not to hold ‘in-out’ referendums – because voters will choose to Leave.

Jean-Claude Juncker has urged EU leaders not to hold referendums on their membership of the bloc because he fears their voters will also choose to leave. The European Commission president said giving people a vote would be ‘unwise’ as they could seek to replicate Brexit.
His remarks come as one of the contenders to become Austrian president has threatened to hold a referendum if the EU integrates further.

Norbert Hofer, who will become Europe’s first far-right head of state since the Second World War if elected on Sunday, has promised a ballot if the EU becomes more centralised following Brexit.
‘Regarding referenda on EU membership, I think it is not wise to organise this kind of debate, not only because I might be concerned about the final result but because this will pile more controversy onto the huge number already present at the heart of the EU.
‘Besides, I don’t think the next president of Austria, whoever it will be, will launch themselves into this kind of escapade.

mishtalk.com/2016/11/29/juncker-pleads-no-referendums/ 

The Magic Fades

This all the more reason why Jean Clause Juncker and his EU bureaucratic thugs need to go down. Coming from the liar himself there are times when you must lie. It's contagious, however.  Now this pathetic bureaucratic POS is saying, telling governments, not to hold referendums, "They could vote to leave."

When you see Juncker you see Mario "Magic Man" Draghi. When Mario said he'd do whatever it takes, he wasn't kidding,including apparently lying..
----
So could it really be that after years of stonewalling, Draghi, the ECB and the cabal of central bankers and regulators, are finally being dragged blinking in to the light?
Funny how so often the biggest most powerful criminals, the untouchables, are brought down by the smallest of their crimes. The one they thought so beneath them they never bothered to think about it.
Like Al Capone indicted for tax evasion.
Here is Irish MEP Luke Flanagan asking Mario Draghi directly, and in Parliament, the question that could be the smoking gun.
Flanagan  :

“In 2007 you were governor of Banca d’Italia…Unicredti the biggest bank on your watch: Can you please confirm whether you were informed by the Central Bank of Ireland of the multi-billion Euro breaches at UniCredit Dublin?  If so, can you explain why the bank has never been sanctioned for those breaches of 2007.”

You can see the exchange as it happened here.
Could this be the small piece of shit that sticks to the expensive suit?
If so, then Mr Draghi, the Irish regulator and the various politician and bankers involved will NOT welcome that the whole sordid tale as told by the whistleblower who would not be shut up,  is now published as a book.
Nor that now one question has been asked, others are going to be asked today.
If just one whistleblower succeeds in getting their question asked, their story told instead of being gaoled and silenced, then the others will be able to hope for justice too. For every insolvent, bailed out bank there is a whistleblower too threatened and bullied to dare to speak out.
For my part am trying to put together and fund a film about Too Big to Fail/Too Big to Goal. About the whistleblowers versus the banks no government will prosecute.
I’ll let you know.

golemxiv.co.uk/2016/11/first-small-piece-shit-finally-sticks/

Do You Really Want All That C12H22O11?

We are not Breibart regular readers. We read quite a bit at different sites and publications, left and right and otherwise.

We have suggested using your purse strings to combat PC wherever you encounter it. It is one of the few leverages you have. Here's a story that should interest you. It's a major corporation using its purse strings, political clout, to bully anyone who differs with them. That's the essence of PC and why this nation is deeply divided.

You can read the article for yourself and decide. We personally don't spend our hard earned money to support any candidates, corporations or companies that don't support our view. If those who differ with us can use their political clout, purse strings, we can certainly use ours. Expect to be the brunt of epithets, however, if you do. See Brexit voters both before and now.

We don't classify ourselves as conservative or liberal readers just because we read something. That's the BS of MSM. We are after information and truth. And we're not concerned or judgmental about where we find it. During this last election one could walk into a room of people, say something bad about Clinton and someone would pop up with:"You must be a Trump supporter."

The next day one could repeat the exercise, only this time saying it about Trump and someone would say: "You must be a Trump supporter." Not really to both. And that's why MSM is such BS and a cesspool of phony journalistic objectivity. They can't separate their reporting from their feelings. It's also why sooner than later they're going down.

Here is a list of Kellogg products.

Some of Kellogg’s brands: There's a lot of sugar here.

• Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®
• Kellogg’s® Nutri-Grain®
• Pop-Tarts®
• Rice Krispies®
• Cheez-It
• Kashi
• Eggo®
• Frosted Mini-Wheats®
• Cocoa Krispies
• Morningstar Farms
• Famous Amos
• Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®
• Kellogg’s Honey Smacks® cereal
• Corn Pops®
• Mother’s Cookies
• Keebler Company
• Smart Start®
• Froot Loops™
• Kellogg’s Raisin Bran®
• Low Fat Granola
• Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Apple Jacks®
• Cracklin’ Oat Bran®
• Mueslix®
• Smart Start®
• Smorz
• Kellogg’s Raisin Bran®
• Krave
• Crispix®
• All-Bran®
• Apple Jacks®
• Crunchmania

.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/11/30/dumpkelloggs-kelloggs-declares-hate-45-million-americans-blacklisting-breitbart/

Pendulum Swings

When the pendulum goes too far there is usually a push back.

The pendulum of PC has been out of wack for a longtime. Too long. We've said before PC is one of mankind's greatest dangers. Like all these so-called well-intention schemes supposedly offered to protect all of us from ourselves, it's unintended consequences created more of those things it was crafted to stop.

PC was never designed to teach people something PC never wanted: It taught parents and others they don't need some distant ,indifferent committee of bureaucrats to tell them how to live their lives. What is proper behavior and proper speech. Say hello to Brexit. PC is about duress. Zero tolerance. You will line up they way we say. This is the gift  of elitists and academics and a host of others who think they know better than you how you should live your life.

Here's some push back.
Did the politically-correct insanity just reach its tipping point? Just weeks after a notably politically-incorrect Donald Trump was swept to victory in the US election, HeatSt.com's Kieran Corcoran reports a university has pledged to end its culture of censorship and no-platforming, and has instead pledged to defend free speech.

Cardiff University in Wales has said it will no longer ban events by controversial speakers, declaring “censorship is not the answer.”

The decision was made by the Cardiff University Students’ Union at their annual conference last week, where they passed a motion called “Challenge, Don’t Censor.”

'It is not our responsibility to prevent other people from speaking, it is our responsibility to come up with a better argument' #CardiffAGM

— Gair Rhydd (@gairrhydd) November 24, 2016

The move pushes back against the tide of safe space culture which seeks to insulate students from opinions they might find challenging.
Cardiff itself was the scene of one such incident last year, playing host to a virulent campaign to shut down a speech by feminist Germaine Greer over her views on transgender surgery.
Cardiff students passed their free speech motion – the full text of which can be found on page 25 of this document – on Thursday.

zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-30/university-stuns-world-pledges-support-free-speech-censorship-not-answer

And here is another example of what happens from the Financial times, of fall places,when in the PC world everyone gets a trophy.

Sir, Carl Henrik Leijonhielm (Letters, November 26) holds the Reagan cuts of the 1980s responsible for the current poor level of education of a substantial proportion of the US populace. Certainly, the Reagan cuts were damaging, but some of these educational deficiencies go back much further than the Reagan years.
In 1973, in my earlier career as a mathematician, I accepted a postdoctoral research fellowship at a major, well-rated US Midwestern state university. After an excellent year working with one of the leading figures in my field, I spent a year there as a visiting faculty member. I taught first-year students majoring (specialising) in mathematics and the sciences. They were just starting on differential calculus, which put them about two years behind their British counterparts, for whom this was (and still is) material for the first year of the sixth form. But many of those students were bright and hard working, and with perseverance did well.
I also taught, with the aid of several teaching assistants, a large class of humanities students in what was called “remedial mathematics”. These were 19-year-old university students who were unable to perform the most elementary calculations, such as adding together two simple fractions. Many of them could make little progress, despite their own and their teachers’ best efforts. It is hard to imagine the educational level of their many contemporaries who did not go to university or even complete high school.
The poor education of these students did not result from lack of money. There was plenty of money. Tuition fees were low and there were ample scholarships for students who needed them. The students largely came from suburbs where the high schools enjoyed resources beyond the dreams of most British schools of then and now. These students had grown up and received their early education in the affluence of 1960s suburban America.
Rather, I learnt that these students were the victims of an educational system, in their high schools and earlier, that had sheltered them from having to focus on any concepts that they found difficult. They had been taught that what mattered most was achieving self-expression, although they had not been taught the language skills that would have enabled them to express themselves clearly and cogently. Not surprisingly, when they encountered unavoidably difficult concepts they became resentful. Any difficulty derived only from the professor’s incompetence or deliberate obfuscation. Any question that they were unable to answer was a trick question. My university colleagues were aware of all this, shrugged it off, picked up their salaries, and carried on.
I was fortunate enough to move on to one of the leading scientific institutions for which the US is justly famous, with superbly educated, first-rate students. I have wondered over the years what became of those students in that Midwestern state, most of whom were white males, and who would now be in their 60s. That state was one of those that swung from Democrat to Republican in this year’s elections.
Prof Michael Singer
The Dickson Poon School of Law,
King’s College London, UK

 ft.com/content/2001a866-b591-11e6-961

Distant, Indifferent Bureaucrats

“On balance, nothing in the Indian experience gives us pause in recommending that no more large notes be created in the United States, Europe and around the world.”  

It's happening. That's a quote from former Secretary of Treasury Lawrence Summers. If you put any value on your privacy and your economic freedom you know Summers and his monetary henchmen need to be stopped dead in their tracks.

This is a global move to further enslave people most likely moved to the front burner by things like Brexit and the recent U.S. election. These are academic elites and they care nothing about you and your life. They always do this in their efforts to protect the rest of us from harm. They're such an altruistic crowd. That's pure BS. They want to tax, control and track every dime you make and how you spend it and they will do that by doing away with currencies. Then gold. This should be put to the people, not an arbitrary decision made by distant, indifferent government bureaucrats.
----
The global elites are using negative interest rates and inflation to make your money disappear. The whole idea of the war on cash is to force savers into digital bank accounts so their money can be taken from them in the form of negative interest rates.
One way to avoid negative interest rates is to go to physical cash. They can’t impose negative interest rates on cash.

In order to prevent people from using that option, the elites have launched a war on cash, as recent events have borne out. The war on cash is old news, but it is escalating rapidly...
India’s decision to make 1,000- and 500-rupee notes worthless is having devastating ripple effects in the Indian economy and the market for gold.

The consequences of the decision are both appalling and encouraging — appalling because they show governments’ ability to destroy wealth, and encouraging because they show the ingenuity of individuals operating under the thumb of an oppressive government.
One immediate consequence of the cash ban was that paper money began trading at a discount to face value. The entire banking system in India has been running out of cash and alternative forms of payment such as gold and barter have been emerging.

In plain English, you might be able to sell your illegal 1,000-rupee note to a middleman for 750 rupees in smaller denominations. You would get legal tender for your worthless 1,000-rupee note. The middleman presumably has some connection with the banks that allows him to deposit the funds without being harassed by the tax authorities.

In plain English, you might be able to sell your illegal 1,000-rupee note to a middleman for 750 rupees in smaller denominations.

It’s not unusual for bonds to trade at a discount due to changes in interest rates or credit quality, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen cash trading at a discount (although I did predict this development in Chapter 1 of my new book, The Road to Ruin.)

The second distortion is that gold is selling in India for over $2,000 per ounce at a time when the world market price is under $1,200 per ounce. This is because Indian citizens are rushing to buy gold for cash.

The gold dealers can then deposit the cash for full value. This is just another form of discount on the face value of the cash. It’s not that gold is more valuable; it’s just that your $2,000 is worth less than $1,200 (in rupee equivalents) when it comes time to buy the gold.

marketslant.com/articles/cash-almost-dead-gold-next-jim-rickards

Overnight

Stocks in Asia overnight were mixed as investors await results from an OPEC meeting and others suggest the post-election momentum is waning. The Nikkei 225 was up mid-morning 0.2% at 18345.95. The index has been up  13% since the election and much of that gains rests on expectations  and hopes from fiscal spending, tax cuts and less regulations.

The rise in the Nikkei snapped a two-session decline. Elsewhere, The Hang Send Index rose 0.3%, and Korea’s Kospi added 0.4%. By contrast, the Shanghai Composite Index was off 0.8% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%.

Oil is definitely in the equation as Reuters reported: Oil prices tumbled nearly 4 percent on Tuesday amid fresh uncertainties over an OPEC deal on production levels with ministers from the 14-nation cartel slated to meet in Vienna later Wednesday to announce a decision on output curbs proposed in September.

During Asian hours on Wednesday, U.S. crude futures rebounded slightly, up 0.62 percent at $45.51, after falling 3.9 percent on Tuesday during U.S. hours. Global benchmark Brent gained 0.37 percent to $46.55, following a 3.9 percent tumble overnight.

Even if OPEC reaches a deal some feel compliance by all members could prove sticky Reuters also
cited "a source, reported documents prepared for the meeting proposed OPEC cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day from October levels at 33.82 million barrels a day, which was more than the 1 million barrel per day the group discussed at a meeting in September"

Despite a higher read  on third quarter GDP growth, 3.2%, up from the initial 2.9% reading,the dollar backed off against a basket of currencies. The dollar index traded at 100.93 overnight fading from near102.00 last week. The Chinese yuan was stronger against the dollar, trading at 6.8829, climbing from its previous close at 6.8933. The Korean won traded at 1,167 against the greenback, up from levels near 1,172 in the previous session. The yen weakness continued against the dollar hitting a of 112.56, falling from Tuesday's levels near 111.98. Gold  held firm ahead of the OPEC meeting trading up 2.60 at 1190.6.













 

 

Overnight

The Nikkei 225 took it's lead from Wall Street Tuesday following the U.S. Market down as it fell 0.3% to 18,308.50 in early trading. A pause in the weak yen and declining Treasury yields didn't help.

Crude oil prices have been volatile, as the market reacted to developments around efforts by major producers to reach an agreement on the contentious issue of output cuts at their meeting on Wednesday. The dollar stood at 111.96 yen, off its overnight low of 111.35 but well below an 8-month high of 113.90 touched on Friday. Gold traded 1190.80. It has lost $100 since the election as investors moved from risk off to risk on.

The Wall Street Journal, quoting one analyst, noted: “The market is going to go in a risk-off mood in a couple of days” as investor fears about the Italian referendum coming up later in the week grow. Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 closed down 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, led by a selloff in bank stocks amid worries over Italian banks and the spillover effects on the banking sector from the referendum.

Italians are to vote on constitutional changes designed to scale back the country’s legislature, speed up lawmaking and simplify bureaucracy. Investors worry that a “no” vote and the resultant political uncertainty could derail efforts to shore up the country’s fragile banking system. Earlier in the year, Mr. Renzi suggested he would resign in the event of a “no” vote.

Reuters reported Japanese markets slipped on Tuesday in a mostly lower Asian trading session, despite the release of government data hinting at a stabilization in domestic demand.

The country's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was steady in October at 3 percent, the same level as August.

Household spending in Japan fell 0.4 percent on-year in October, but it fell at a slower pace than the median estimate for a 0.6 percent decline, according to Reuters. Separately, retail sales slipped 0.1 percent on-year for the same month, falling less than the Reuters median estimate for a 1.2 percent annual drop.

The rest of Asian markets were mostly flat, taking cues from the U.S. where a post-election rally appeared to stumble. Traders also looked ahead to key global events set to take place this week, including a meeting on Wednesday between the world's largest oil producers and the release of the U.S. nonfarm payroll report on Friday.

In South Korea, the Kospi was flat at 1,979.03, with shares of electronics giant Samsung up 0.12 percent. The smartphone maker said in a statement on Tuesday it was reviewing if it should transition to a holding company structure.

Overnight

The Nikkei 225 took an apparent breather early welling off after it had rallied for 7 days as the yen strengthened against the dollar,falling 0.8% to 18,243.33 and going up 12% since the Trump surprise victory.

The upswing was led by a sell-off in U.S.Treasury bonds sending yields much higher as investors look for more inflation owing to Trumps plan to ramp up fiscal spending. The U.S.dollar dropped .2% against the yen after hitting an eight month high of 113.90 earlier this month. Monday the dollar traded at 111.89 yen pushing up exporter stocks in the process.

Crude oil also has been kin the news a lot lately as investors continue to watch to see if OPEC will successfully pull off an output cut deal. Reuters reported: Energy shares will also likely be in focus after Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia said it would not attend talks on Monday with non-OPEC members to discuss production cuts, which prompted a fall in crude futures on Friday of more than 3 percent on Friday in the U.S. On Monday in Asian trade, U.S. crude futures were down 0.89 percent at $45.65 a barrel, while Brent futures dropped 0.91 percent at $46.81.

Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
NIKKEI	NIKKEI	18234.90		-146.32	-0.80%
HSI	HSI	22861.17		137.72	0.61%
ASX 200	S&P/ASX 200	5486.00		-21.78	-0.40%
SHANGHAI	Shanghai	3269.56		7.62	0.23%
KOSPI	KOSPI Index	1980.12		5.66	0.29%
CNBC 100	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	6836.49		29.32	0.43%

 

One of the big stories of the coming week will be Italy's referendum where  Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has stake his political future on making overhauls that polls show so far will be rejected forcing  Renzi ol keep his boast that if they fail he will resign. this could have far reaching implications not just for the EU because on Wednesday the European Union is set issue its report on the eurozone's  November inflation number, expected to move up to 0.6%, a long way still from the ECB's 2% target.

Other news on the week will be the U.S.Commerce Department revised GDP third quarter report. Some are expected to be revised upwards to 3% from the initial 2.9%, another reason for  the Fed to hike rates early next month. The cooking is in the books.Not to be left out, Japan will release its labor and household spending data for October. Unemployment is expected to remain flat while household spending is expected stay in the doldrums.

Gold was last trading at 1193.20 and ounce, up 0.8%.

Dump Romney

 
There are a few people in the Trump camp with some sense. Kellyanne Conway just might be one of them. Romney is a horrible choice for Secretary of State, not because he has no foreign policy experience. We hope he appoints someone with absolutely no experience.

We have had enough experience in that job. In fact, we've had enough experience in Washington. Just take a look at what got us here. Insiders, left and right. We don't oppose Romney because he's not one of the Republican party regulars; we oppose him because he is.  Forget the peace pipe passing. Forget the party unification, all BS designed to hide more of the same. Screw the pundits. If they get things wrong any more than they have, they'll eventually get something right. But this won't be one of them.

If they had their way they would've hung you out to dry in the primaries. Screw Romney. That's what he's said to the people many times. People, not the party elected Trump. Put some real people in there. Put a goddam farmer in there. He can't do any worse. He'll certainly display some appreciation if he's a real farmer for the fucking soil.
-----
zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-27/kellyanne-blasts-mitt-trump-supporters-feel-betrayed-governor-romney

For weeks the Trump campaign has seemingly been agonizing over the Secretary of State position.  Media reports, to which we attribute the utmost credibility, have suggested that the decision has divided Trump's transition team into three factions: those who want Romney, those who want Giuliani and those who prefer anyone other than those two frontrunners.
While we have no way of knowing what is actually fact versus fiction, what we do know is that Kellyanne Conway is not in the Romney camp.  Conway has made the rounds on this weekend's political talk shows bashing Romney for his brutal criticism of Donald Trump throughout the primaries and general election saying that Trump supporters would "feel betrayed to think that Governor Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump, now our president-elect, would be given the most significant cabinet post of all, Secretary of State."  Per Politico:

“I’m all for party unity, but I’m not sure that we have to pay for that with the Secretary of State position,” Conway said. “We don’t even know if Mitt Romney voted for Donald Trump.”

And she wasn't done yet.

Later, on NBC's "Meet the Press," Conway continued to make the case against Romney.

"People feel betrayed to think that Governor Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump, now our president-elect, would be given the most significant cabinet post of all, Secretary of State," Conway told host Chuck Todd.

"They feel a bit betrayed that you can get a Romney back in there after everything he did."

Here's what Conway had to say on CNN's "State of the Union":

Hide The Can

                                                  
Does this guy look like an elitist dressed in kick-the-can clothing?

This has the smell of it that if you love the EU you will love this guy. Overcoming the globalists is only one half of the equation in the eyes of many. Making them pay for the pain and discrimination they've caused is the other. Madame LePen is the globalists worst nightmare.

Globalists are easily recognized by the number of threats they like to toss into the laps of anyone who disagrees with them.

zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-27/french-primary-results-are-conservative-fillon-trounces-moderate-juppe-69-vote

MSM Trash

Here is just one story why the media is so disliked today. You note from her own statement how hard she worked to expose this guy. It was a four-part investigation which one assumes justifies the absence of any pretense of journalistic objectivity on the reporter or her employer.

Thrashing around in the man's trash bend tells you something about who the real trash is, MSM.

Judging how she concludes this article the guy did her a favor. She should pay him. Sounds like he might have saved her marriage and family. As for that psychiatrist, has any one brought charges against her yet for violating the HIPPA laws? Has the state medical board revoked her license? Or is this just another elitist case of it all depends on whose ox get gored?

“The consumer fraud charges and criminal case against him were the result of a 4 part investigation–I worked very hard to expose this guy–and in the end, I paid a very high price,” Hemmat wrote yesterday. 

She further details the sense of panic that overcame her when the therapist informed her of the business owner’s threats:

The psychiatrist thought the threat was so credible, she broke HPPA laws (the laws that protect medical records of psychos, such as the theater shooter–James Holmes) to warn me. She informed me he was on a “72 hour mental hold” but because it was 4th of July weekend, (2015) he would likely be released before then. She then asked me if I had somewhere else I could go because he knew where I lived and of course, where I worked. I remember the chill than ran from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. Of course I had nowhere to go! I have 2 children, then 1 and 3, I couldn’t just leave on a whim –where would I go?

Hemmat alleges that her employers at Fox 31 “downplayed” the threats. Despite her years of outstanding work, she acknowledges that things have changed severely, further justifying her move. “Society has changed. People have changed. My physical and mental health were unraveling. As soon as that ratings period ended I took an unpaid leave of absence, and in August I asked to be let out of my contract. My boss sent out a note to the staff that failed to acknowledge my 15 years of service at KDVR, the 6 Emmy awards I had won for the station or the fact that I had literally put my life on the line. It just said ‘Heidi is no longer an employee of FOX 31.'”

Hemmat wrote her lengthy open letter on Thanksgiving Day, writing at one point, “I write with this with tears in my eyes, because I have so much to be thankful for.”

“I have spent more time with my kids in the past 6 months than in the entire 4 years of my son’s life. My kids are happy, my husband is happy, our marriage is stronger than ever,” she continues. “Words cannot express my gratitude.”
 mediaite.com/online/reporter-quits-after-receiving-death-threats-my-physical-and-mental-health-were-unraveling

Some Things Come Undone

Some things come undone of their own doing. Usually when it occurs it couldn't happen to a more deserving group. And this is another case after 35 years of their reign and terror, the elite crowd from academia to bureaucrat city to Wall Street, the elites are getting their well-deserved comeuppance and more.

In the past they used subterfuge to try to fight off or question the questioners. "Who are they?" was one of their favorite ploys. Well, we all now know who they are. They have names, they have occupations and professions and they had leverage. From academia to Hollywood to Wall Street and Washington.

Never again concede your leverage. Never again be afraid to stand up for what you believe in, never again be afraid to speak up against the evils of PC or the use of your tax dollars to promote PC propaganda in our state supported institutions. Don't be afraid to vote your purse strings. Trade embargoes don't all have to be international. They can be domestic.

We've said all along PC economics and social sciences are the enemies of your freedom and liberty. Don't drop out. Dig in. The line is already down. Question PC at every turn. These zealots are masters in the use of force and PC is their primary weapon. And force is the only thing they'll ever understand. This is not a time for peace pipes. These people intended to take no prisoners. Think otherwise at your own enslavement.
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Ideas played an important role in creating the conditions that produced Brexit and Trump. The ‘social sciences’ — especially economics — legitimated a set of ideas about the economy that were aggressively peddled and became the conventional wisdom in the policies of mainstream political parties, to the extent that the central theme of the age came to be that there was no alternative. The victory of these ideas in politics  in turn strengthened the iron-handed enforcers of the same ideas in academic orthodoxy.

It is never clear whether ideas or interests are the prime mover in shaping historical events, but only ideas and interests together can sustain a ruling consensus for a lengthy interval, such as the historic period of financialization and globalization running over the last 35 years. The role of economics in furnishing the now-rebuked narratives that have reigned for decades in mainstream political parties can be seen in three areas
ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/trumpism-has-dealt-a-mortal-blow-to-orthodox-economics-and-social-science