2016

Money vs Justice

The More Corrupt the State, the More Numerous the Laws

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In his first inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson said the purpose of government is to “restrain men from injuring one another” and “shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement.” Americans were to live under a presumption of freedom. A recent WSJ article said, “It was our boast that in America, unlike in any other country, you could live your life as you saw fit as long as you accorded the same liberty to everyone else.” But all that has changed now.

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Why America is no Longer a Free Capitalist Country

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Unfortunately, as soon as you put someone in control of the distribution of wealth… greedy, power-hungry individuals will gain control of it and take the majority share for themselves and their friends. Also as soon as you centralize the means of production it becomes inefficient and produces less… making everyone poorer.  A lesson learned from the former Soviet Union (i.e. Soviet Socialist Republic): When the government mandated that a factory produce 1 million nails a month they produced a million tiny worthless nails. So the government mandated that they produce 100,000 pounds of nails so they produced 100,000 (equally worthless) 1 pound nails. On the other hand, a truly capitalist factory must produce what the consumer wants or it will go out of business.

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The Socialist Time Capsule

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“What I have seen in the socialist country of Caracas, Venezuela,” Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange wrote following his recent trip to the country, “has really rocked me to my core. “The government spends their resources on gun-free zones, no smoking areas, permits for everything, making sure people can’t protect and arm themselves, social planning, price controls on basic necessities that makes them nonexistent, bank controls so you can only take out $1 from an ATM, and you virtually have to wait in line for everything.

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Oil Rally Reaching Limit

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Oil prices have rallied by about 50 percent from their February lows, topping $40 per barrel. But the rally could be reaching its limits, at least temporarily, as persistent oversupply and the prospect of new shale production caps any potential price increase.

U.S. oil production has steadily lost ground over the past two quarters, with production falling more than a half million barrels per day since hitting a peak at nearly 9.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) in April 2015. American oil companies have gutted their budgets and have put off drilling plans, with many projecting absolute declines in 2016.

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Oil Won’t Stage A Serious Rebound Until…

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Oil prices have shown signs of life over the past few weeks, as production declines in the U.S. raise expectations that the market is starting to adjust. As a result, Brent crude recently surpassed $40 per barrel for the first time in months.

A growing list of companies are capitulating, announcing production cuts for 2016. Continental Resources, for example, could see output fall by 10 percent. A range of other companies have made similar announcements in recent weeks. The energy world has been speculating about declines from U.S. shale, and the declines are finally starting to show up in the data.

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Electric Car War Sends Lithium Prices Sky High

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For once, we have agreement across the board on a commodity: Demand for lithium will continue to rise throughout the year–and beyond–spurred by the rise of battery mega/gigafactories and a burgeoning energy storage business that will change the way we live.

That’s why Goldman Sachs calls lithium the “new gasoline”. It’s also why The Economist calls it “the world’s hottest commodity”, and talks about a “global scramble to secure supplies of lithium by the world’s largest battery producers, and by end-users such as carmakers.”

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The Truth About the Russia-Saudi Oil Deal

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If you follow the oil news, you’ve probably heard about the deal between the energy ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar, and Venezuela. When the news was announced Oil prices jumped. But if you think this deal actually means anything I’ve got a bridge to sell you. So before you go buying any bridges or buying any oil future’s contracts, let’s take a look at the facts.

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Why Hillary was Smiling in New Hampshire

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Many commentators were wondering why Hillary was smiling so broadly after the New Hampshire primary since she lost so soundly. NPR said, “Bernie Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton with Democratic voters, just as polls had predicted.” Sanders had 60% of the popular vote and Hillary only had 38%. And there she is smiling like the cat who ate the canary. Why?

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