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TVA Coal Closures Signal of What’s to Come

by Oilprice.com •  • Comments Off on TVA Coal Closures Signal of What’s to Come

By Nick Cunningham, OilPrice.com: The Tennessee Valley Authority, one of the largest electricity generators in the US, decided to shut down eight coal generating units. Coal will drop from a 52% share to 20% in the coming years, to be replaced mostly by natural gas. It illustrates what many utilities face.

Here Is Proof (Provided By Japan Inc.) Why Abenomics Fails The Real Economy

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Here Is Proof (Provided By Japan Inc.) Why Abenomics Fails The Real Economy

The beneficiaries of Abenomics are now coming out of the woodwork with soaring profits – but they’re doing the opposite of what Abenomics promised they’d do: they’re diversifying away from Japan.

Extortion Over Minimum Wage In Germany: BMW, Daimler, VW Threaten to Offshore Production

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Extortion Over Minimum Wage In Germany: BMW, Daimler, VW Threaten to Offshore Production

Germany has neither a minimum wage nor a government. Someday it might. If not, there will be new elections, and Chancellor Merkel might get pummeled because she’d be blamed for them. So she’s trying to form a coalition with the left-leaning SPD on whose list of campaign promises was a decent minimum wage.

Catalan Politician Does Unthinkable, Threatens Spain’s Creditors

by Don Quijones •  • Comments Off on Catalan Politician Does Unthinkable, Threatens Spain’s Creditors

By Don Quijones: There are things politicians should never do – assuming they want to hold on to their jobs. Using the dirty “s” word (sovereignty) is a definite no-no. Also high up on the list of “don’t dos” is threatening the interests of foreign creditors and bondholders.

The IEA Finally Gets it Right

by Oilprice.com •  • Comments Off on The IEA Finally Gets it Right

By Dan Dicker, Oil & Energy Insider: The IEA report on Crude supplies has got me thinking, an accomplishment for the IEA; it has been woefully behind the curve on most major energy trends of the last two decades. But this time, it is finally in front of the curve.

Municipal Bankruptcy? Why Not! And so The Floodgates Open

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Municipal Bankruptcy? Why Not! And so The Floodgates Open

Individual investors have a unique opportunity now to buy sewer bonds – yup, that’s where they belong – issued by a bankrupt county to pay off holders of defaulted sewer bonds who’ll get a fashionable haircut as part of the deal – a deal made in bond-bubble heaven.

Outcry as Canada Considers Nuclear Waste Facility on US Border

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By Charles Kennedy, OilPrice.com: Canadian plans for a large nuclear-waste facility on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, directly opposite the thumb of the State of Michigan, are triggering a cross-border public outcry and a looming diplomatic backlash.

NSA Spying Crushes US Tech Companies in Emerging Markets (“An Industry Phenomenon,” Says Cisco’s Chambers)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on NSA Spying Crushes US Tech Companies in Emerging Markets (“An Industry Phenomenon,” Says Cisco’s Chambers)

Cisco CEO John Chambers had a euphemism for it during the earnings call: “challenging political dynamics” in China, without ever naming the NSA. Then there was India and others, including Russia where Snowden is holed up, and where sales outright collapsed.

EU Citizenship Goes On Sale, Price War Breaks Out

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on EU Citizenship Goes On Sale, Price War Breaks Out

The huddled masses yearning to breathe free in the EU drown by the boatload in the Mediterranean. They languish in detention centers in Greece and elsewhere. They’re maligned, hounded, sometimes killed. But it’s getting cheaper and easier for the rich.

Does QE Boost Employment? (Somebody Should Send This To Yellen)

by Contributor •  • Comments Off on Does QE Boost Employment? (Somebody Should Send This To Yellen)

By Lee Adler, The Wall Street Examiner: Overlaying raw employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics with the Fed’s balance sheet offers surprising insights. Brief must-see video with excellent chart and explanation. Somebody should send it to Yellen.