Posts
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"
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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