1) How high will Bund yields go in this rout?
2) Will Schatz yields go positive again this year?
3) The Shanghai Comp is currently 4400. Which comes first: 3000 or 6000?
4) Does anyone really think the Fed would execute the first rate hike in a "broken" (e.g., non-quarterly) month?
5) Does Ben Bernanke really think he's fooling anyone by claiming he went to Citadel to avoid the appearance of impropriety that might go along with working for a Fed-regulated institution?
6) If Tom Brady gets suspended 4 games for Deflategate, how many FOMC meetings will Janet Yellen be suspended for when it turns out she's been feeding leaks to Jon Hilsenrath?
7) How did FX go from so interesting to so brutal so quickly?
8) What comes first: BOE rate hike or a Tory Cabinet reshuffle?
9) If you had to buy and hold any asset for the next three years, what would it be?
10) Which comes first in prompt crude: $40 or $85?
11) Is there any prospect of macro becoming interesting to investors until equities dump?
12) Which comes first: SPX 1800 or 2500?
13) What does it say about the future of society when retirees spend an average of an hour per day on the weekends reading and teenagers spend 4 minutes (versus 56 minutes playing computer games?)
14) Will the long-awaited pickup in US activity emerge in the data over the next several weeks?
15) Will Greece be part of the Eurozone by the end of 2016?
16) Can America really do no better than the Bush-Clinton Industrial Complex in trawling for 2016 Presidential candidates?
17) What's the scariest thing out there that no one is talking about?
18) Barca, Juve, or Real?
19) Which comes first: DAX 13,000 or IBEX 8000? (Both currently ~11,400)
20) Why do American school concerts require a 30 minute coda where a gaggle of a certain type of kid delivers Shakespeare-length soliloquies?
2) Will Schatz yields go positive again this year?
3) The Shanghai Comp is currently 4400. Which comes first: 3000 or 6000?
4) Does anyone really think the Fed would execute the first rate hike in a "broken" (e.g., non-quarterly) month?
5) Does Ben Bernanke really think he's fooling anyone by claiming he went to Citadel to avoid the appearance of impropriety that might go along with working for a Fed-regulated institution?
6) If Tom Brady gets suspended 4 games for Deflategate, how many FOMC meetings will Janet Yellen be suspended for when it turns out she's been feeding leaks to Jon Hilsenrath?
7) How did FX go from so interesting to so brutal so quickly?
8) What comes first: BOE rate hike or a Tory Cabinet reshuffle?
9) If you had to buy and hold any asset for the next three years, what would it be?
10) Which comes first in prompt crude: $40 or $85?
11) Is there any prospect of macro becoming interesting to investors until equities dump?
12) Which comes first: SPX 1800 or 2500?
13) What does it say about the future of society when retirees spend an average of an hour per day on the weekends reading and teenagers spend 4 minutes (versus 56 minutes playing computer games?)
14) Will the long-awaited pickup in US activity emerge in the data over the next several weeks?
15) Will Greece be part of the Eurozone by the end of 2016?
16) Can America really do no better than the Bush-Clinton Industrial Complex in trawling for 2016 Presidential candidates?
17) What's the scariest thing out there that no one is talking about?
18) Barca, Juve, or Real?
19) Which comes first: DAX 13,000 or IBEX 8000? (Both currently ~11,400)
20) Why do American school concerts require a 30 minute coda where a gaggle of a certain type of kid delivers Shakespeare-length soliloquies?
30 comments
Click here for comments18) Real, of course ;-)
Reply1) higher than now, maybe higher-er.
Reply2) There's a sizable possibility
3) 6000: too much monetary expansion in sight
4) Nope. They are gutless (ball-less)
5) I lost any esteem for the man since mid. 2013.
6) I remember the Iran-Contras scandal: 'I don't remember' is always a good excuse when you are under trial.
7) Finally some huge positions locked in bonds are unwinding
8) Reshuffle, rate hike is dangerous in a World currency war landscape.
9) Being a day trader I can barely keep a thing for three days, let alone three years.
10) 40$. Saudis want to crush US shale producers.
11) I wish so.
12) 1800 then 2500 on Central Bank desperate rescue.
13) Aldous Huxley wrote something about it many years ago but didn't read it. Read instead '1984' by Orwell in ... 1984. And my grandma (RIP) made me read Animal Farm from the same author, maybe in mid '70s.
14) In the 8th Quarter of 2015, maybe
15) 50% - 50%. Germans rule and Germans build or smash.
16) Good luck with those elections.
17) Liquidity is missing. Flash crashes lurking behind any corner, could start some huge sell-off of anything.
18) I don't follow soccer. Valentino, Marquez or Lorenzo could do for you?
19) DAX 13000? I don't trade it, prefer Eurostoxx.
20) Better a 30 minutes Playstation contest?
1. The market craves 1% - and 1% would be equivalent to 0 real yields. Makes sense!
Reply2. No - steepeners are the thing
3. You chinese is crazy. Why not 6000?
4. Nope
5. Nope
6. Meh
7. Aww did the trend reverse?
8. Reshuffle
9. Buy to let / real assets of any kind
10. $40
11. Serious bond bear market will draw the punters in.
12. 1800
13. That videogames are awesome
14. Who's awaiting that? Isn't it the end of the cycle?
15. Nooooooooope
16. Nope
17. Sigh. Bond market fragility...
18. Exeter City - up the Grecians!
19. IBEX 8000
20. You peoples is crazy.
1) Bund has already found a bottom. Will consolidate and drift higher for a while
Reply2) In your dreams
3) Possibly 6k
4) Ha ha ha – no
5) Ha ha ha
6) Yellen’s drop back is slow. She is going to be sacked
7) Positioning. Even my dog was long USD
8) Reshuffle
9) Vol and oil
10) 85!
11) Yes. EUR curve will become more volatile as mkt will start pricing eco improvement. Flatten first then steepen.
12) 2500
13) Barbarians at the gates?
14) Will AP play for Vikings next year?
15) Yes
16) Possibly not
17) Downside in Ebor
18) JUVEMERDA
19) Dax 13k
20) Nothing else better to do?
Ciaoooo f
9. What would I want to own and hold for the next 3 years? Of all the J class yachts, probably Endeavour. https://vimeo.com/66087762
Reply1) if Draghi and Merkell don't know the answer, as high as Greek bond
Reply2) I see euro's demise taking longer than that
5) Since when are you taking Bernanke's statement at face value ?
6) 0, see Paetrus/Sterling cases. Taxes and jail are for the little people remember ?
7) China flows
9) Singapore CPF ordinary account.
10) 40
13) It says that the future of society is not going to be written by "average" people.
15) yes, but it may be the only country in it.
17) religious people over-fertility
FT says:
Reply1) depends on the time frame since I believe we have seen the bottom; on this leg up, I would guess .90
2) no
3) 7000
4) they might not even get to hike rates
5) I guess he always thought he was the master at fooling people so why not....I remember asking him (in 2004 at dinner) how he would deal with the bubble in real estate once it popped and he said "on a nationwide basis, real estate will never go down"
6) she has a free pass on that one ; "management of expectations" is the mantra
7) we now live in a financial quantic universe
8) probably one of the cabinet members will be caught with his member where it doesn't belong so I go for the reshuffle
9) If you had to buy and hold any asset for the next three years, what would it be?
10) 85 on a geopolitical scare before the end of the year
11) NO
12) 2500 but if the lower bound had been 1875 I would have hesitated
13) fascism is knocking at the door
14) maybe a bump but the headwinds are fierce so I would guess activity will pick up once the FED clealy states "no rate hike"
15) Yes; ze germans will accept a haircut on the debt by the end of the year (although most of southern europe will be out of the eurozone by 2022)
16) NO (but it could do worse)
17) the stealth invasion of europe by immigrants who don't want to be integrated but just reproduce their communities in a friendler environment (civilisations which have a death wish usually get what they want)
18) Barca
19) IBEX 8000
20) not to face the fact that the school system is broken
1) Not playing
Reply2) Not playing
3) Not playing
4) They're playing
5) Specialist players
6) They're definitely playing ( regardless)
7) Won't play
8) Future players beware
9) Buy,Buy,Buy, anything that has player written on it.It's the future.
10) Players have already collected , they're done.
11) Follow the specialist players, (haven't they kept you busy)
12) Follow the specialist players,( when it becomes boring you'll know the tops in)
13) Follow the specialist players, ( the last treasure trove of knowledge to sponge from)
14) Not playing
15) Not playing
16) Definitely not playing
17)
18) Follow the specialist players, ( you'll know it when you see it)
19) Follow the the specialist players, ( when they stop going on junkets and start making detours to the front steps of the deutsche , you'll know who that special one is at the card table)
20) Not playing ( anymore )
German GDP poor despite a weakened currency and now the short squeeze is on in euro with poor US data.
ReplyGermany need Russian sanctions lifted badly. Who are they going to export to if China and the US is slowing down? France?!
1) 1.00%
Reply2) Yes
3) 6000
4) Yes
5) No, he is laughing all the way to the bank though.
6) None.
7) USD is not trading according to plan for most punters (maybe LB was half-right). In the end, it all depends on whether the market thinks Yellen will sink the U.S. economy immediately with a rate hike (in which case you are selling the USD).
8) Reshuffle, by a mile.
9) US 30y bond (sorry, guys!)
10) 85$
11) Nope, catching the down trade in equities will be a key source of macro alpha.
12) 1800 (again, sorry, but this is a really tough one in the end)
13) Count Audiobooks and radio podcasts and the numbers look different. All about format!
14) Yes.
15) Yes.
16) Apparently not.
17) ETF delistings hitting portfolios, redemptions at one of more of the big bond funds, PE getting stuck with illiquid shit. In short; LIQUIDITY. I think Blackrock, Blackstone, PIMCO, Templeton etc are the next too big to fail institutions.
18) Barca.
19) DAX 13000.
20) I thought this was how Ivy League institutions selected their intake?
1. Will go up through 1.0% by the end of the year. Climbing US short rates will be contributing and euro will fall further contributing to cyclical economic bounce creating more inflation expectations and rising import costs.
Reply2. Most certainly.
3. This is really too hard. It will just get stuck between for quite a while with no agressive, rather defensive monetary policy changes and constantly declining growth rate. Gun to head 6000.
4. Nope
5. Bernanke seems like an honorable chap to have such ulterior motives.
6. Apply 5 to Yellen.
7. Dollar positioning was stretched A Hike Too Far. And too early.
8. Reshuffle.
9. Too long timeframe... Gun to head short EUR/NZD?
10. $40. $85 is in overshoot territory.Oil will certainly overshoot but it's tough to see it going that far.
11. High yield credit taking a dump following govvie bonds? And maybe there will even be some real defaults in that scene.
12. It will have just enough time to drift up to 2500, which will be very close to this bull market cyclical top. We're getting very close to a beginning earnings recession now (even if it's only a n eventual mean reversion from high profit/GDP ratio or something else, don't know)
13. Nothing bad necessarily. Even much older people do multiplayer gaming and it's like a social channel.
14. Auxiliary Q2 data will come through without any huge disappointments.
15. Definately. The Eurozone is irreversible.
16. Probably not.
17. The real impact of Chinese declining growth rate on DM exports. Still growing yes but if DM economies barely manage to stay afloat now, how will they fare with a more serious slow down which will become a trend, slow perhaps, trend nonetheless. Can't rely on tightening labor market, wage pressure and ultimately domestic consumption to pull them out of the ditch, especially the Eurozone.
18. Pretty sure those aren't hockey teams.
19. DAX 13000.
1) higher. which is better, cash or negative-yield bund?
Reply2) neutral
3) 6000, unless there is a coup. PBOC still has a long way to go to ZIRP.
4) No. especially after today's retail number
5) It is payback time for him.
6) 0. We are all equal, but some are more equal than others.
7) I want to know the answer as well.
8) reshuffle.
9) real estate in the best school districts in CA or Boston.
10) neutral.
11) Macro is always interesting every once in awhile.
12) 2500. I do not think that Fed allows SP to drop to 1800.
13) It may sound elitism but a small group of informed elites ruling the rest of ignorant people-this is how our society funtions all the time.
14) hope so.
15) neutral
16) GOP might choose someone else. Not sure it is going to be better than Bush.
17) Coup in China? Liquidity drying up? war in Europe? Israel/Saudi bombing Iran?
18) neutral
19) neutral
20) why does every Hollywood war movie require the hero to give a speech before the big, final fight?
Farmer
18)
Oh, I forgot..
Reply17) Not to play with specialist players and their grudgy nasty tarts.
To all those feeble minded enough to have believed the Fed claptrap about hiking rates, do you still believe it after today's events?
ReplyReckon the Fed postpone to circa 2017...
1) How high will Bund yields go in this rout?
ReplyUSGG10YR parity
2) Will Schatz yields go positive again this year?
Yes.
3) The Shanghai Comp is currently 4400. Which comes first: 3000 or 6000?
6k. China is crazy but I think it has legs.
4) Does anyone really think the Fed would execute the first rate hike in a "broken" (e.g., non-quarterly) month?
Probably not, but bloomberg WIRP has the probability at 0 which seems too low. That said I was not aware of any significance of a non-quarterly month. I'm short a bit of ZT's for the unlikely.
5) Does Ben Bernanke really think he's fooling anyone...
I think he gives zero shits. He got out before it all went up in flames. I can't imagine the internal amount of crap a fed head must deal with on a day to day basis
6) If Tom Brady gets suspended 4 games for Deflategate...
haha. If you think this whole patriots thing is a strange reflection of american values I would highly recommend a recent radiolab podcast where they talk about the history of football. In a nutshell, its one of the few games out there that has defined itself by the participants pushing the rules, pushing the limits of whats "fair". This may be a better reflection of the US than we realize.
7) How did FX go from so interesting to so brutal so quickly?
EURCHF makes its way into the var models?
9) If you had to buy and hold any asset for the next three years, what would it be?
oil
10) Which comes first in prompt crude: $40 or $85?
$85
11) Is there any prospect of macro becoming interesting to investors until equities dump?
No
12) Which comes first: SPX 1800 or 2500?
2500, but I would take 1950 over 2500.
13) What does it say about the future of society when retirees spend an average of an hour per day on the weekends reading and teenagers spend 4 minutes (versus 56 minutes playing computer games?)
It says that the next generation is going to be the biggest bunch of digital ass kickers the world has ever seen. My generation too frequently dismisses the benefits of digital interactions, while overestimating the benefits of what we see as positive recreation.
14) Will the long-awaited pickup in US activity emerge in the data over the next several weeks?
I subscribe to the "whipping a donkey not a racehorse" school of thought about the US economy where we are looking at 2% trendline growth. We may see a year here and there of 3.5-5 but thats not the normal.
15) Will Greece be part of the Eurozone by the end of 2016?
Yes. In the end the Greek drama is just another example of the current approach to finance of preventing defaults at any cost. A non defaulting Greece is not much different than a non-defaulted Citigroup or AIG or countless Japanese zombie companies.
16) Can America really do no better than the Bush-Clinton Industrial Complex in trawling for 2016 Presidential candidates?
Yes. Sanders/Warren.
17) What's the scariest thing out there that no one is talking about?
Everyone is talking about the scary things, its the 'what if something goes right' that few people talk about. What if LMT's skunkworks fusion project is the real deal? This would completely change the landscape of the world.
19) Which comes first: DAX 13,000 or IBEX 8000? (Both currently ~11,400)
13k
20) Why do American school concerts...
I would propose that we adopt a 'americas got talent' element to the school shows whereby everyone in the audience gets a "X" button, and if a simply majority of the anonymous parents push their button a loud, jarring, EHHHHH rings out and the kid has to stop and we move to the next act. That would make the whole thing mercifully short.
1) How high will Bund yields go in this rout?
Reply1.5%
2) Will Schatz yields go positive again this year?
Yes.
3) The Shanghai Comp is currently 4400. Which comes first: 3000 or 6000?
6k - not even a debate
4) Does anyone really think the Fed would execute the first rate hike in a "broken" (e.g., non-quarterly) month?
I think its possible - they are kind of at the point where they need to shit or get off the pot, and earlier is better than before it becomes an unmitigated disaster and they are completely cornered.
5) Does Ben Bernanke really think he's fooling anyone...
After creating $15 BN in wealth for David Tepper and Ken Griffin, isnt the poor guy entitled to make a few million for himself? Why is that that people are shocked anyway? I lost that ability a long time ago.
6) If Tom Brady gets suspended 4 games for Deflategate...
See my response to 5) - too cynical to expect anything but
7) How did FX go from so interesting to so brutal so quickly?
Happens to be the dependent variable, aka safety valve for CB action - more CB action means more volatility in FX, and not always the sensible kind
9) If you had to buy and hold any asset for the next three years, what would it be?
Indian consumer cyclicals - and also T if you think the skunkworks fusion reactor is a possibility I wouldn't get long oil!
10) Which comes first in prompt crude: $40 or $85?
This is a tough one - GTH I would say 85, but my answer would be different if u said 50 and 75
11) Is there any prospect of macro becoming interesting to investors until equities dump?
Not a chance - ditto for credit and commodities
12) Which comes first: SPX 1800 or 2500?
2500
13) What does it say about the future of society when retirees spend an average of an hour per day on the weekends reading and teenagers spend 4 minutes (versus 56 minutes playing computer games?)
Didn't our parents make similar comments about us with video cassettes and the prior generation say that about too much time on the radio, and so on? I think it just prepares them for something we can't yet appreciate.
14) Will the long-awaited pickup in US activity emerge in the data over the next several weeks?
Not sure what its waiting for - I think 2015 we grow at 1.5% - the rest of the world grows at 1% including China.
15) Will Greece be part of the Eurozone by the end of 2016?
Most likely, and ordered to sit on a separate table and still bullied and always suspected of selling drugs to classmates
16) Can America really do no better than the Bush-Clinton Industrial Complex in trawling for 2016 Presidential candidates?
Apparently not - that said, perhaps its time to revert from 'hope and change' to 'shit needs to get shoveled, so who better than a pig for that job'
17) What's the scariest thing out there that no one is talking about?
Major financial crisis brought about by a cyber-terrorist attack - apologize if it was already on ur radar and Im just catching up.
18) WTF are u talking abt
19) Which comes first: DAX 13,000 or IBEX 8000? (Both currently ~11,400)
13k
20) Why do American school concerts...
It builds character - how do you think Taylor Swift started off, Macro Man????
and YOWZA..
1. 1.146 Bund yield
Reply2. Yes
3. 3500
4. No
5. No
6. Leaking is a policy tool according to the RBA
7. "The Forex" please
8. Reshuffle
9. Oil
10. $80
11. Nope
12. 1800
13. TLDR
14. Maybe
15. Yes
16. Isn't it awful?
17. We may actually get some inflation
18. Barca
19. Ibex 8000
20. wot?
1) 0.955
Reply2)
3) 5000, but not 6
4) That's a silly question.
5) The Fed regulates financial institutions?!
9) Bitcoin
10) 70
12) 2500
13) That I'm paying way to much SS for them to sit around and read and they should get back to work.
14) Depends on what data you're looking at. Btw, what data are you looking at?
15) WIll Pep coach Bayern next season?
16) It appears democracy is dead.
17) That LB was right. And that the Fed will hold off on raising rates, only to be forced into it later, not to halt inflation, but to stop the market's stratospheric accent, which will come about the same time the real economy is slowing causing both to crash.
18) Barca, Barca, Barca! That Ney is a real punk tho.
Akshually I sort of like Gold for the next 3 years.
ReplyShoot me now.
9. Russia
Reply9) I bought this:
Replyhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/566bd07c-f849-11e4-8bd5-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=uk
1) 1.0%, then it's Sell (risk) in May/June, buy f/i.
Reply2) yes.
3) 3000.
4) no.
5) no.
6) none. the leaks are protected under 1st amendment as pillow talk while JH of the WSJ provides "translational services"
7) told you so.... (nyah nyah nyah)
8) duh. Cabinet reshuffle already ongoing...
9) for capital preservation/income, munis; for appreciation, Russian govies and bank stocks.
10) $40
11) Macro is always interesting. Esp. when USD down!
12) 1800.
13) "Four Minute Macro" to become best selling InvestApp, written by MM and Polemic, with some blokes saying "innit" a lot.
14) Depends on what you mean, escape velocity?. No. Don't make me larf.
15) yes.
16) no. of course not!
17) US infrastructure and safety culture, apparently!
18) Barça, although my heart is with Juve. As for Real, CR7, millions of Madrileños all shrieking "PENAL" etc.... Bwaaahahahahahaha
19) DAX 13k, but after a minor setback.
20) Everyone gets a trophy, MM.
21) bonus question: what are the qualifications for being in charge of hundreds of people's lives on an American train going 100mph?
21) The train driver in the Amtrak crash is a former Target cashier, also gay activist which isn't really relevant unless you are especially phobic which I'm not.
http://gotnews.com/breaking-gotnews-ids-gay-activist-train-engineer-who-caused-amtrak-crash/
That's it for me, no more US train rides, apart from the daily dalliance with death that is Metro North commuter rail.
The incompetence of this country is actually startling even to those of us who are not big fans of the doctrine of American Exceptionalism.
I know the consensus here is generally perma-bear, but
Reply21. What happens once SPX crosses 2120?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVv_pVsTXyQ
Btw, I would like to point out that Capcha wants people to label as a "burrito" something that is quite clearly a masala dosa or a cannoli. This is so wrong on so many levels.
ReplyThe consensus here is definitely not "perma bear" but it also isn't "super dickhead".
ReplyI may be the last guy to the party but I'm buying the new highs in the US indices. And yes, I think I'll be able to find a seat before the music stops.
ReplyT - pretty sure u are not alone - classic triangle breakout - didn't see a single catalyst for the move today so seemed a bit orchestrated, but I suppose that doesn't really matter.
ReplyOptions expiration strikes again - children, there once was a tradition where every 3rd thu/fri, we would roast bear meat as the bearded guy on TV poured beer for us....
FunnyMoney's Thesis & Trading Strategy:
ReplyModern economies have so many structural problems it's impossible for things to normalize without the system melting down, thus:
- DM Central Banks will keep monetary policy loose: (esp JP & CN)
- Fed will keep delaying rate rises
- US stocks will keep going up (BTFD)
Looks like my thesis & strategy is still on course. Wake me up in 2016.
1) How high will Bund yields go in this rout?
ReplySeen the high. On their way back to zero
2) Will Schatz yields go positive again this year^H^H^H^H decade?
Not a chance.
3) The Shanghai Comp is currently 4400. Which comes first: 3000 or 6000?
3000
4) Does anyone really think the Fed would execute the first rate hike in a "broken" (e.g., non-quarterly) month?
Fed will never hike again (just kidding, but the mythical hike is a LONG way away.
5) Does Ben Bernanke really think he's fooling anyone by claiming he went to Citadel to avoid the appearance of impropriety that might go along with working for a Fed-regulated institution?
Probably (he is completely delusional).
6) If Tom Brady gets suspended 4 games for Deflategate, how many FOMC meetings will Janet Yellen be suspended for when it turns out she's been feeding leaks to Jon Hilsenrath?
Rules are for sports, not for the elite.
7) How did FX go from so interesting to so brutal so quickly?
"Everyone" is playing now.
8) What comes first: BOE rate hike or a Tory Cabinet reshuffle?
BOE will never hike again (just kidding on that one, too, but it may be a few elections away).
9) If you had to buy and hold any asset for the next three years, what would it be?
I was going to say gold, but since someone already said that, I will go with... gold mining shares.
Honorable mention - short NZD/USD (going back to forty cents).
10) Which comes first in prompt crude: $40 or $85?
40. My (long term) view, which is worthless as far as making money goes is that the twenty-first century will be to energy with the twentieth was to food - at the end of it, the industry will be much smaller (in terms of number of people employed), and prices MUCH lower. I can see the automated collection and storage of solar providing all the energy mankind needs.
11) Is there any prospect of macro becoming interesting to investors until equities dump?
It is ALWAYS interesting - it is just (at the present time) completely irrelevant to market movements.
12) Which comes first: SPX 1800 or 2500?
Hmmm. Market is already the most expensive ever (equal weighted, not cap weighted), so I have to say lower.
13) What does it say about the future of society when retirees spend an average of an hour per day on the weekends reading and teenagers spend 4 minutes (versus 56 minutes playing computer games?)
People trying to solve real world problems the way they do in video games (blowing someone else away). Technology will solve all of the problems that technology can solve, but it can't fix human nature.
14) Will the long-awaited pickup in US activity emerge in the data over the next several weeks?
Might actually start to get some recession forecasts by then.
15) Will Greece be part of the Eurozone by the end of 2016?
Like markets these days, this requires predicting what certain (mostly irrational) people will do. I certainly hope not, because I don't see any way for Greece to regain competitiveness (nobody ever asks why a bailout would help them in this regard) by remaining in the eurozone.
16) Can America really do no better than the Bush-Clinton Industrial Complex in trawling for 2016 Presidential candidates?
It can, but Bush and Clinton would never let that happen.
17) What's the scariest thing out there that no one is talking about?
Much of the recent increase in inequality (i.e. all of it, except for the portion cause by things such as monetary policy) is structural, due to changes such as increased technological leverage and assortative mating. This is just starting, and is going to become far worse than most people today can even imagine (and governments aren't going to be able to do anything about it).
18) Barca, Juve, or Real?
ReplySorry, I am already thinking about All Blacks, Springboks, or Wallabies in the RWC.
19) Which comes first: DAX 13,000 or IBEX 8000? (Both currently ~11,400)
13,000 is so much closer, but this really depends on the direction of EUR/USD. Dax probably hits 13,000 if the Euro goes back to 1.04, but if we see 1.20 before then, that will crash all of the European stock markets.
20) Why do American school concerts require a 30 minute coda where a gaggle of a certain type of kid delivers Shakespeare-length soliloquies?
Union teachers getting paid by the hour?