Market Watch

Don't Drink the Water

Our general advice here at Deth is “Don’t drink the water”.

Whether it be the cool-aid which drizzles from the mouths of statists or the continued perspiration which permeates from the typical Keynesian’s brow who’s experiment has gone AWOL, the general rule of thumb is don’t drink the water.  This could not be better highlighted than this Friday in which I woke to a series of glorious news articles which again highlighted the need to simply laugh at current economists who force feed positive economic outcomes in which no fundamental data can be “conjured” to support their magic.

Lets start shall we?

You know its bad when regular CNN news journalists explode with surprise at the release of of job numbers and the sheer number of people who have left the workforce. Its hard to make a morning doughnut taste better. However, the look on her face has caused a smile in which I’m having a damn hard time getting rid of. If you don’t care to watch the following link here are some highlights…

“More than half a million people just left the job market. Just stopped… looking… for work”…

“Last year we create as many jobs as we did this year”…

“13.1 % is the underemployment rate which includes part time workers”…

Full video HERE.  Then as usual  CNN Money tried to sugar coat the results. More like eating sugar coated cow pies…

“Hiring slumped sharply in December, as the economy added only 74,000 jobs, according to the government. This was the weakest month for job growth since January 2011 and came as a huge surprise to economists, who were expecting an addition of 193,000 jobs.

For all of 2013, the economy added 2.2 million jobs — on par with 2012’s gains.

Some economists believe December’s weak job gains could be a fluke, given other solid data recently. They expect the government to revise the numbers higher in the months ahead.” (I’m sure they will)

“Just about every other measure of job growth suggests that employers are either hiring or intending to hire, extending hours and laying off fewer people,” said Tim Hopper, chief economist for TIAA-CREF.

Let’s not panic,” said Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, adding that “it’s not a horrible year, all things considered.

The government also noted that “unusually cold weather in parts of the country”could have had some impact on construction jobs for example. That sector lost 16,000 jobs in December.

Hate tip Hedge today for a rousing continued awareness chart. Believe me, there ain’t riches at the end of this rainbow…..

Tis ok though. I mean, how can it get any worse….. Oh….

President Obama has just nominated Lael Brainard as a Fed Governor, Jerome Powell to his second term and most notably, Stanley Fischer (ex Head of the Bank of Israel) as Vice-Chairman of the Fed.

Q. How does Fischer broadly think about the economy?

Fischer is a highly respected academic macroeconomist. He is credited with helping to lay the foundations of New Keynesian macroeconomics, which sought to place traditional Keynesian theory on a stronger microeconomic foundation. Subscribing to this school of thought, we believe that Fischer’s general view of the world is similar to that of Bernanke and Yellen, with a significant role for active fiscal and (more importantly) monetary policy. In fact, Fischer was Bernanke’s dissertation adviser in graduate school, and Bernanke recently referred to him as a “role model and frequent adviser.” As a result, we see little daylight between Fischer and the current core FOMC leadership with respect to their basic paradigm for thinking about the economy.

Q. How would his appointment affect the dynamics on the Committee?

Fisher is widely seen as a policy heavyweight, having not only run the Bank of Israel, but also served as the chief economist at the World Bank and First Deputy Managing Director (the number two position) at the IMF. Both his academic standing and policy experience suggest that Fischer’s views will be very influential on the Committee.

Hedge

Spaceballs.. “Just what we need a Druish Princess.”

Or in this case a Israily Fed Vice Chairman. Buckle up Princesses, Im afraid we are going to plaid….

Dont drink the water folks. An in the case of West Viginia literally, dont drink the water…..

Nearly 200,000 people in West Virginia awoke Friday to stark warnings about their tap water: Don’t drink it. Don’t cook with it. Don’t even brush your teeth or take a shower.

The reason: a chemical spill in the Elk River in the central and southwestern parts of the state.

The news sent shock waves through the region as the worried headed to hospitals in search of reassurances they were OK.

Residents moved quickly to stock up on bottled water.

“We managed to get the last five bottles of water at 7-Eleven last night,” Charleston resident Beth Turley told CNN. “We are OK right now on water. We’re just drinking sports drinks and teas, things like that right now.”

“There was a run on water at every Walmart and convenience store in the county,” said Kent Carper, president of the Kanawha County Commission.

The leaked chemical, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, is harmful if swallowed, said Thomas Aluise, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. It is used to wash coal before it goes to market.

“You’ve got 60 miles of this system, and it’s full of this water,” said Carper of the Kanawha County Commission. “And people aren’t using the water.

For the masses, cow pies are “Crunchy yet Satisfying”..