All

How the BBC Over-Egged UK Retail Sales … And The World Soaked Up Every Word

by Contributor •  • Comments Off on How the BBC Over-Egged UK Retail Sales … And The World Soaked Up Every Word

By John Ward, The Slog: The BCC misread and misreported UK’s so-so December retail sales as “the fastest annual sales growth in more than nine years.” It was picked up by Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters…. everywhere. Actual retail recovery? Not so much.

How to Manipulate the Entire IPO Market With Just $250 Million

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on How to Manipulate the Entire IPO Market With Just $250 Million

Tech isn’t exactly booming, as we’ve seen from numerous revenue and earnings debacles, collapsing sales in China and Russia, massive layoffs…. But that hasn’t kept “valuations” of money-losing tech startups from being pushed into the stratosphere – for the benefit of a very elite club.

Already Toast? Mexico’s Energy Reform Buzz vs. Oil Theft, Corruption, And Organized Crime

by Oilprice.com •  • Comments Off on Already Toast? Mexico’s Energy Reform Buzz vs. Oil Theft, Corruption, And Organized Crime

A pipeline explosion in Tezoyuca, Mexico, injured seven and forced the evacuation of 800 families. It was caused by a tap to steal liquefied petroleum gas. Mayor Arturo Ahumada Cruz affirmed that the pipeline is perpetually tapped.

Impunity and Excess, Desperation and Violence: Two Worlds Collide in Spain

by Don Quijones •  • Comments Off on Impunity and Excess, Desperation and Violence: Two Worlds Collide in Spain

By Don Quijones: Normally these two worlds co-exist relatively peaceably, barely cognizant of the other’s existence. Every now and then, their paths may intersect, only to quickly decouple. But this week they suffered a head-on clash.

California Water Crisis Meets (Already Iffy) Fracking Boom

by Oilprice.com •  • Comments Off on California Water Crisis Meets (Already Iffy) Fracking Boom

California is sitting on the largest tight oil formation in the US, the Monterey Shale. Interest is heating up. The legislature passed a controversial law to regulate fracking and allow the industry to drill. But fracking requires lots of water.

The Suddenly Invisible And Silent President Of Argentina

by Contributor •  • Comments Off on The Suddenly Invisible And Silent President Of Argentina

By Adrian Bono, Argentina, The Bubble: The last time President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was seen in public was December 10th – dancing at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the return of democracy, while a wave of looting tore through many provinces that left ten people dead and frayed the very fabric of society.

Natural Gas Squeeze? “Panic hasn’t ensued just yet”

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Natural Gas Squeeze? “Panic hasn’t ensued just yet”

Record demand has pushed natural gas in storage to the lowest level for that week since 2005. And in 2005, the price of natural gas spiked to its all-time high. Something has to give.

Fracking Fluids to Blame for Rail Car Explosions

by Oilprice.com •  • Comments Off on Fracking Fluids to Blame for Rail Car Explosions

There has been a surge of derailments of trains carrying crude oil that resulted in huge, deadly explosions, highly unusual for crude oil trains. But the oil originated from the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota.

The Next Tire To Drop On The US Economy

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on The Next Tire To Drop On The US Economy

Auto sales in the US have been hopping for the last few years, and production has soared, and exuberance along with it, and there were even hopes that sales would soon be where they’d been before the crisis, before the bankruptcies, the plant closures, the bailouts.