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.

Goldman Warns That Market Valuations Are at Their Highest Since 1900

 

• Returns likely to be lower across all assets in medium term
• Risk scenario sees inflation jump that ushers ‘fast pain’

A prolonged bull market across stocks, bonds and credit has left a measure of average valuation at the highest since 1900, a condition that at some point is going to translate into pain for investors, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

IMF downgrades outlook for US economy

The International Monetary Fund is downgrading its forecast for the U.S. economy this year and says America should raise the minimum wage to help the poor and offer paid maternity leave to encourage more women to work.

OPEC Says US Oil Boom Will End This Year

OPEC says the demand for oil – its oil – will rise during 2015 because the cartel is winning its price war against US shale producers by driving them out of business.

“Higher global refinery runs, driven by increased [summer] seasonal demand, along with the improvement in refinery margins, are likely to increase demand for crude oil over the coming months,” the cartel said in its Monthly Market Report, issued, April 16.

Is China Preparing for Currency War?

China has entered the global monetary-easing fray, along with more than a dozen other economies, after its central bank surprised investors by cutting reserve requirements 50 basis points to spur lending and combat deflation. But Beijing may be raring for an even bigger and more perilous fight — in the currency markets.

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At the same time, something else is afoot in Beijing could have even greater global impact. The central bank is cooking up measures to widen the band in which its currency trades. People’s Bank of China officials say it’s about limiting volatility as capital zooms in and out of the economy. Let’s call it what it really is: the first step toward yuan depreciation and currency war.

As Euro Slides, Strategists Cut Forecasts

Some Investors See Single Currency Falling to Parity With U.S. Dollar

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A day after the European Central Bank unveiled its bond-buying program, the single currency still was in free fall, blowing past analysts’ expectations for how low the euro can go.

Some investors now say the euro could fall to the point where it is on equal footing with the U.S. dollar for the first time since it climbed above the buck in late 2002.

“If you would have asked me a few months ago, I would’ve said that parity could be in the cards in the years ahead. Now, we can’t rule it out anymore even by the end of this year,” said Thomas Kressin, head of European foreign exchange at Pacific Investment Management Co., or Pimco, which has $1.68 trillion under management.

Europe on brink of deflating, needs stimulus

The European economy is “on the brink of deflating” and urgently needs more stimulus, particularly from the continent’s largest economy Germany, former U.S Treasury secretary Larry Summers said on Tuesday.

Summers also said central bank bond buying, known as quantitative easing, would be welcome and certainly better than no action at all.

IMF Chief Says Global Economy Faces ‘Very Strong’ Headwinds

Strong headwinds from weak investment, substantial debt burdens and high unemployment are preventing a pickup in global economic growth despite a strengthening U.S. recovery and tumbling oil prices, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.

A healthier U.S. and cheaper energy “won’t suffice to actually accelerate the growth or the potential for growth in the rest of the world,” the head of the emergency lender to nations said in a speech Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

“If the global economy is weak, on its knees, it’s not going to help,” said Ms. Lagarde in remarks previewing the IMF’s latest forecasts for the global economy due out on Monday.

Oil Is a Warning of What’s to Come

 

Weeks ago, we first warned that the collapse in Oil was a BIG sign of trouble brewing in the financial system.

Indeed, in the larger picture, Oil just called “BS” on the whole claim that any economic growth or recovery post-2009 was legitimate. For five years, Oil prices remained elevated, suggesting that there was some kind of economic recovery underway… that there was growth, however anemic.

Charles Nenner — Who’s Been Warning Of Market Collapses For Years — Warns A ‘Major Collapse’ Is Coming In 2018

Charles Nenner, who has claimed to have never been wrong on a market call, appeared on CNBC and warned that deflation and a stock market crash both coming.

Nenner, who developed the “Nenner cycle,” which he says can time the ups and downs of any market, said on CNBC that “for the next many years, you will not see the S&P more than 5% higher than [current levels.]”

But he warns this period of low returns will be followed years of large losses.

France’s Hollande steps up eurobonds push

The case for the Eurobonds keeps coming back. Be on the lookout for this becoming an eventuality as China is looking to invest in the EU and continue its divestment from the USA. A likely opportunity for economic warfare, if you will.

French President Francois Hollande stepped up his push Thursday for the launch of eurobonds at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

Hollande said he wanted to see eurobonds “written into the agenda” of the European Union going forward, saying he saw jointly pooled eurozone debt not as a trigger for growth “but as a long-term perspective for integration” that would bolster the single euro currency.

Full article: France’s Hollande steps up eurobonds push (Breitbart)