Automatic Job Storm Coming

 

Almost every weekday, some arm of the US government issues some sort of economic statistic. News media and financial analysts review and report it. Then 99.9% of the adult population, and probably 90% of the financial industry, forget all about it. And they’re probably right to do so.

The monthly jobs report isn’t like that. Yes, any single month doesn’t tell us much. Yes, the Labor Department’s methodology has some flaws, both major and minor. But imperfect as it is, the jobs report is our best look at the economy’s pulse. Jobs matter in a visceral way to almost all of us, as you know well if you’ve ever lost one. Almost any survey that asked questions around employment would reveal the angst that many Americans feel about the possibility of losing their jobs.

Right now, automation tops the list of things that might threaten our jobs. Artificial intelligence and robotics technology are rapidly learning to do what human workers do, but better, faster, and cheaper.

Deutsche Bank CEO suggests robots could replace half the company’s 97,000 employees

John Cryan, CEO of Deutsche Bank (Thomas Lohnes | Getty Images)

 

Some very smart people say that robots are going to steal your job.

Researchers at Oxford University estimate that 47 percent of U.S. jobs could be replaced by robots, automated technology and automated intelligence (AI) within the next 20 years. Jeff Hesse, PwC principal and U.S. people and organization co-leader, tells CNBC Make It, “The displacement is already beginning to happen.”

Elon Musk told the National Governors Association, “There certainly will be job disruption. Because what’s going to happen is robots will be able to do everything better than us.” Musk even went so far as to say that “AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.”

Is Deutsche Bank the next Lehman?

 

Looking back at the Lehman Brothers collapse of 2008, it’s amazing how quickly it all happened.  In hindsight there were a few early-warning signs,  but the true scale of the disaster publicly unfolded only in the final moments before it became apparent that Lehman was doomed.

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And the rest is history.

Could this happen to Deutsche Bank?

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By the time we are aware of a crisis – if one is in the offing — it will already be a roaring blaze by the time it is known publicly.   It is by now well-established that truth is the first casualty of all banking crises.  There will be little in the way of early warnings.   To that end, we begin connecting the dots:

Steve Wynn: Economic recovery ‘pure fiction’

If you’d like to get a better idea of what the true level of unemployment is, check out this U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics table… ‘U-6’ is what you want to see. Please also note, the methodology for coming up with these numbers was changed some years ago and still do not represent the true rates, which as Wynn says, are around 15% – 20% unemployment. Definitions have changed and some factors have been left out. For the foreseeable future, this is likely the most truth you’ll get from the government.

You can see the worthwhile 26 minute Steve Wynn’s KNPB interview HERE.

 

Las Vegas icon says don’t believe government stats on jobs, inflation

One of America’s most astute businessmen, known for having expanded the Las Vegas strip of resort hotels and casinos in the 1990s, says the U.S. remains mired in an economic funk and any talk of a broad recovery is “pure fiction. A lie.”

Steve Wynn,  the 73-year-old founder and CEO of Wynn Resorts, made the comments in a televised interview with Jon Ralston of PBS’ “Ralston Live.” He opened the Wynn Hotel and casino in Macao, China, in 2006, and is known as an international gaming and casino magnate.

J.P. Morgan’s Dimon warns next crisis will bring even more volatility

It’s not a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’… and here’s your latest confirmation.

 

LONDON (MarketWatch) — You ain’t seen nothing yet, when it comes to market wreckage from a financial crisis, according to J.P. Morgan boss Jamie Dimon.

In his annual letter to shareholders, the bank’s chief executive warned “there will be another crisis” — and the market reaction could be even more volatile, because regulations are now tougher.

An Interview with Felix Zulauf – Financial Markets Are More Distorted than Ever

Risks and Opportunities

Investors started off 2015 with a slow global economy, low oil prices, a strong Dollar, and a deflationary Europe with great uncertainties on the progress of the US economy and the recent launch of Europe’s quantitative easing. The question is, what opportunities lie ahead? This article highlights the main topics covered in an interview between Mr. Frank Suess, CEO and Chairman of BFI Capital Group, with the globally renowned Swiss fund manager, Mr. Felix Zulauf. Mr. Zulauf currently heads Zulauf Asset Management, a Switzerland-based hedge fund and has forty years of experience with global financial markets and asset management. He has been a member of the Barron’s Roundtable for over twenty years.

Gallup CEO: I May “Suddenly Disappear” For Telling Truth About Obama Unemployment Rate (Video)

Please see the source link for the video, which unfortunately cannot be posted due to compatibility issues. Jim Clifton’s original article can be found HERE.

 

Gallup CEO Jim Clifton told CNBC he might “suddenly disappear” for telling the truth about the Obama unemployment rate.

The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment

If you ever want to take at official statistics from the government, the Bureau of Labor Statistics‘ U-6 would be a good start — but even then, their calculation ‘methods’ have now magically changed a few years ago to mask the real situation.

 

Right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is “down” to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. The media loves a comeback story, the White House wants to score political points and Wall Street would like you to stay in the market.

None of them will tell you this: If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job — if you are so hopelessly out of work that you’ve stopped looking over the past four weeks — the Department of Labor doesn’t count you as unemployed. That’s right. While you are as unemployed as one can possibly be, and tragically may never find work again, you are not counted in the figure we see relentlessly in the news — currently 5.6%. Right now, as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed. Trust me, the vast majority of them aren’t throwing parties to toast “falling” unemployment.

Why is Putin buying gold?

Russian President Vladimir Putin is developing a taste for gold.

With all of its income from selling oil, Russia is diversifying its reserves by buying massive amounts of gold, said William Rhind, CEO of the World Gold Trust Services.

Of all the central banks that make their reserve actions public, Russia has been the “largest, most active” gold accumulator, he explained. Still, Rhind said, the “elephant in the room” is how much gold China is buying, as Beijing does not publish these figures.

CEO of French oil giant Total dies in jet crash at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport

The CEO of France’s oil and gas giant Total, Christophe de Margerie, was among four people killed in a business jet crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow after the aircraft hit a snowplow on take-off.

Total’s chairman and CEO was the only passenger in the Falcon 50 business jet besides three crewmembers who were also French citizens.

“Total confirms with deep regret and great sadness that Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie died just after 10pm (Paris time) on October 20 in a private plane crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, following a collision with a snow removal machine,” the company said in a statement.

UPDATE 1-Total CEO calls for bigger euro role in oil payments

(Reuters) – Oil major Total’s chief executive said on Saturday the euro should have a bigger role in international trade although it was not possible to do without the U.S. dollar.

Bitcoin firm CEO found dead after ‘suicide’

The background on Bitcoin isn’t all that clear, but with JP Morgan Chase & Co. it is. This bank has been known to be not-so ‘Obama friendly’ and subsequently became a large target of the Obama administration via extortion. It doesn’t take much to connect the dots. The public doesn’t care, either, as they see these executives as ‘one per-centers’ and ‘big evil bankers’, yet they can never put a face to these supposed villans and put all bankers in the same basket. America is infiltrated and overrun in every facet of society from the military to the banking industry and the judicial system to the school system.

See the following related articles for a background on JP Morgan Chase & Co.:

• J.P. MORGAN’S $13 BILLION SETTLEMENT CASTS DOUBT ON OBAMA DOJ’S PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION
• Burglarizing J.P. Morgan Chase, And Slapping Down Prudential: The New, Tyrannical Normal
• J.P. Morgan’s Legal Tally Grows (Again)

 

It appears bitcoin’s recent turmoil has claimed its first life.

Autumn Radtke, a 28-year-old American CEO of bitcoin exchange firm First Meta, was found dead in her Singapore apartment on Feb. 28.

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Radtke formerly worked with Apple and other Silicon Valley tech firms on developing digital payment systems.

Radtke’s death brings the number of questionable financial sector deaths this year to eight.

Goldman’s Blankfein: The Worst Case Scenario ‘Absolutely Will Happen’

Blankfein, who’s been Goldman CEO since 2006, steered it through the fallout of the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. He said the experience had taught him to accept that the worst thing you can imagine will inevitably happen.

“Most risk management is really just advanced contingency planning and disciplining yourself to realize that, given enough time, very low probability events not only can happen, but they absolutely will happen,” said Blankfein.