Investment/Trends

IRS To Extract $207 Billion From Small Businesses By Enforcing Obamacare

"The employer mandate is lucrative for the government. It is expected to bring in penalty payments of $207 billion over the next decade, according to projections by the Congressional Budget Office. Businesses will generally incur fines of around $2,000 per employee (excluding the first 30) if they do not offer qualifying coverage to nearly all of those who work an average of 30 or more hours a week. The penalty is activated if at least one employee then buys insurance on the health law’s marketplace and receives a subsidy for it. The per-employee fine increases each year, and can add up quickly: A company with 100 workers that ignored the law this year would owe a penalty of more than $158,000."

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First Long-Term LedgerX Bitcoin Option Pegs Price at $10,000

"Called a Long-Term Equity Anticipation Security (LEAPS), the trade was matched by the platform this morning and is set to expire on December 28, 2018. Such long term futures options have long been seen in the industry as a much needed sign of maturity, and could in part help pave the way for even more institutional money to enter the space."

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China’s Record Yield Curve Inversion “Spells Disaster”

"The Chinese yield curve has now been inverted for 10 straight days - the longest period of inversion ever. Qin Han, chief fixed-income analyst at Guotai Junan Securities Co., doesn’t mince his words when it comes to the rout in Chinese bonds. 'Considering the pace of the slump, which is very fast, it’s fair to say we are likely in a bond disaster...'"

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The Black Swan In Plain Sight—Debt Out The Wazoo

"Washington has suspended it way into a $5.7 trillion increase in the public debt in just six years since October 2011. That is, during a period which supposedly constitutes the third longest business expansion in US history. At the end of the day, you can't borrow your way to prosperity. That's the oldest rule in the book of sound money and sustainable finance. And it's about ready to be learned all over again."

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The Ponzi scheme that’s more than 100x the size of Bernie Madoff

"Credit-rating agency Moody’s estimates state, federal and local government pensions are $7 trillion short in funding. And corporate pension funds are underfunded by $375 billion. One of the big drivers behind this is that investment returns are way too low. Today with government bonds yielding 3% or less (and in some cases bond yields are NEGATIVE), they aren’t achieving their targets. One or two years with sub-optimal investment returns is not catastrophic. But it’s been like this now for a decade. And that’s just problem #1. Problem #2 is that the ratio between workers and retirees is moving in the wrong direction."

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Security Breach and Spilled Secrets Have Shaken the N.S.A. to Its Core

"The Shadow Brokers disclosures, which began in August 2016, have been catastrophic for the N.S.A., calling into question its ability to protect potent cyberweapons and its very value to national security. The agency regarded as the world’s leader in breaking into adversaries’ computer networks failed to protect its own."

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Venezuela unveils largest-ever bill, worth a few US dollars

"Venezuelans living with hyper-inflation and a scarcity of cash for buying daily goods will soon have the country's largest paper bill circulating in recent history. The country's president announced Wednesday that the new 100,000- bolivar note will hit the streets this week. It will be worth less than $2.50 in U.S. currency in black market dealings. In a nationally broadcast appearance, President Nicolas Maduro held up the new paper bill, while also unveiling a 30 percent boost to the minimum wage. The new denomination is stop-gap measure in an economic plan by Maduro's government aimed at doing away with the need for paper money."

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