Via Zerohedge

The “playing chicken” metaphor in the title of this post, which we have appropriated from Bill Fleckenstein, refers to the fact that bulls seem to believe that the Fed a) has everything under control, and b) won’t do anything that could upset the party. Hence the party is widely expected to continue and we admit that it might. In terms of the stock market’s usual post FOMC behavior, it seems to go up most of the time in short order, so a change in character would involve the market doing something different.

Consider also the following: In recent months many people have wondered why stock markets have ceased to react to bad economic data (in fact, their reaction to economic data releases always seems to be the same, regardless of whether they are good or bad). The answer could be that market participants are becoming convinced that the inflationary policies that have been set in train all over the world will never end. The bet is probably that by the time the ECB winds down QE, the Fed will have enough reasons again to restart its version of QE. The BoJ will probably just continue with the policy until it all blows up, and who knows when that will be?

However, we would note here that if this guess about the thought processes of market participants is correct, then we are already at a quite advanced and dangerous stage of the game. Possibly not at the very peak of enthusiasm, but very close. If a sharp correction were to occur, it might well reset the clock, but that is not certain. It could lead to a failing rally as well, but that is a bridge we will cross when the time comes.

ConclusionThe recent quietude in the markets has our attention. Quietude in markets nearly always leads to unexpected increases in volatility. We use the term volatility not necessarily only in the sense of “must go down”, but rather in the sense that the quiet period will soon end. It could just as well result in a blow-off move (in the case of stocks) as in a sharp decline – at least from a purely technical perspective. The currency markets seem a bit more unsettled and have been making big moves for quite some time, which curiously haven’t altered the trajectory of “risk assets” much.

Read the rest here...

Via The Conservative Treehouse

BALTIMORE, Md. (WJLA) — An investigation into the death of Baltimore resident Freddie Gray has found no evidence that his fatal injuries were caused during the videotaped arrest and interaction with police officers, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

The sources spoke to ABC7 News after being briefed on the findings of a police report tuned over to prosecutors on Thursday as well as preliminary findings made by the medical examiner’s office.

Sources said the medical examiner found Gray’s catastrophic injury was caused when he slammed into the back of the police transport van, apparently breaking his neck; a head injury he sustained matches a bolt in the back of the van.

Read the rest here...

As many as 60 teens were roaming Charleston streets attacking pedestrians and drivers early Sunday, witnesses told police dispatchers in 911 calls released Tuesday.

All the teens were black, according to witnesses, and all but one of the people attacked were white. Still, it’s unclear if the attacks were racially motivated or sparked by the unrest in Baltimore, which followed the recent shooting death of Walter Scott, a black man, by a white North Charleston police officer.

Ironically...

The teens came out of a party at the YWCA on Coming Street about 12:30 a.m. and hit the streets. Groups not associated with the YWCA rent the facility.

The motto of the YWCA is “Empowering Women and Eliminating Racism.” The organization sponsors the annual local celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., who preached nonviolence.

Read the rest here...

Via Gateway Pundit

Take a good look, Obama, Sharpton, et al. This is what real men look like:
Hat Tip: Weasel Zippers

Read the rest here

Via Gateway Pundit

The owners of Baltimore’s Sports Mart in Mondawmin Mall released surveillance video of ‘hundreds’ of looters rampaging through the family-owned business Monday night.

The video shows Black men and women pouring in to the store and stealing everything in sight. The owners of the store are white.

There are reports that non-Black-owned stores were targeted for looting by the Baltimore rioters.

Read the rest here...

Via Breitbart Big Government

Just days after riots, arson, and looting roiled the city of Baltimore, while standing in front of a sign that read, “No Justice, No Peace,” Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake made a statement covered live on cable news.

The sign is for Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Sharpton was present during the speech and has himself been connected to numerous incidents of racial mob violence. He also owes upwards of $4 million in back taxes.

Read the rest here...

Via Ace of Spades

Goodbye: Britain Bans "Are You Beach Body Ready?" Ads, Citing "Sexism"

Every day in every way feminism becomes more indistinguishable from Islamism -- which also strenuously objects to the uncovered female form.

Britain has of course gesticulated to the hysterical women and their board of advertising standards has now ruled the Protein World ads-- simply featuring a woman in a bikini, like a million other ads (I guess Caribbean resorts won't be able to advertise anymore, either?) -- unclean.

A feminist wrote an article in (of course) The Guardian that sparked so much hysteria among the unmedicated neurotics of the feminist movement.

In that piece, she likened pictures of women in bikinis to rape, and also, capitalism to rape. Because, as Instapundit said, everything feminists don't like is like rape.

I'm going to get personal here -- because it's time to get personal.

It is pretty obvious what is driving this. Sexually insecure, unattractive women, who feel under-valued in the sexual market, are using simple and brutish strategies to bring down their Higher-Valued Rivals and thus increase, relatively, their own sexual desirability.

It's Science.

Read the rest here...

Via Breitbart 

This Week on the New Black Panther Party’s “Black Power Radio,” national chairman Hashim Nzinga said since America has “declared war on us,” evidenced by “military police in the black neighborhood” protecting the rich, the New Black Panthers should be looked upon as Founding Fathers who declare war and are “willing to die or kill to save our babies and to save a black nation that is dying before our eyes.”

Nzinga said, “America is about protecting the rich and the powerful.”

He added, “We pay taxes. They have declared war on us and it’s nothing but state racism.”

Read the rest here...

Tough-on-crime policies that emphasized arrests and convictions for relatively minor offenses have failed the country, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday, leading to overcrowded prisons and too many black men "missing" from their families and communities.

"We need to restore balance to our criminal justice system," Clinton told an audience at Columbia University in New York.

Calling for an "end to the era of mass incarceration," Clinton endorsed body cameras for police nationwide to record interactions between officers and potential suspects. Making her most specific policy proposals since launching her campaign earlier this month, Clinton said it's time for a nationwide overhaul of what she called misguided and failed policing and prison strategies.

In effect, she was saying that policies put in place when her husband Bill Clinton was president have not worked. Clinton did not mention her husband or identify exactly which laws and sentencing policies she thought had gone wrong. But many of those policies grew out of the crackdown on drug crimes and other nonviolent offenses that took place before and during Bill Clinton's presidency 20 years ago.

Read the rest here...