—- China ExpandsDefenseBudgetOver 12% To $132 Billion // ZeroHedge SubmittedbyAnkit Panda viaTheDiplomat, Thebiggest Asia-PacificdefensestorythisweekisChina’sdecisiontoincreaseitsdefensebudgetby 12.2 percenttoabout $132 billionfor the next fiscal year. Notice that the figure is noticeably uncorrelated with China’s 7.7 percent actual growth rate (with a 7.5 percent target rate). The numbers are expected, of course, and send a clear signal across the region that China is taking its investments in military hardware … Seguir leyendo China Expands Defense Budget Over 12% To $132 Billion

—- Can the rally in global commodities be sustained? // Sober Look We are seeing broad improvements across global commodity markets. To be sure, commodity valuations are still at depressed levels relative to the past decade, but after a prolonged decline, broad indices seem to have stabilized. CRB BLS broad commodity index (source: barchart) The rally across a number of commodity sectors however resulted from … Seguir leyendo Can the rally in global commodities be sustained?

—- ISMServicesCollapseToLowestIn 4 Years; EmploymentWorstSinceLehman // ZeroHedge ISMServicesheadlineindexcollapsedto 51.6 (missingexpectationsof 53.5) toitslowestsinceFebruaryof 2010. We are sure many will proclaim this as "weather-related" but remember the strong performance of the Manufacturing print. Respondents worried about weather, Obamacare, and oil prices… as the employmentsub-indexcrashedfrom 56.4 (highestsinceNov 2010) to 47.5 (lowestsince Mar 2010) –thebiggestdropsinceLehman! Big miss and lowest print in 4 years… ISM Services Employment craters… And before … Seguir leyendo ISM Services Collapse To Lowest In 4 Years; Employment Worst Since Lehman

—- Resource Curse – Natural Gas isWhatDetonatedtheUkraine Crisis // NAKEDKEYNESIANISM Very few, if none at all, in the West are willing to address what really triggered the latest geopolitical ‘crisis’ in the Ukraine. From Global ResearchCanada Defending Moscow’s December 18, 2013 agreement to provide Ukraine with an aid package estimated at about $15 billion, and cheaper natural gas through discounts and “gas debt forgiveness” estimated … Seguir leyendo Resource Curse – Natural Gas is What Detonated the Ukraine Crisis

—- China Composite Output and New OrdersBothFallforFirst Time inSevenMonths // Mish’s Global EconomicTrendAnalysis Sings of a global slowdown continue. The HSBC China ServicesPMI shows China Composite Output and New Orders Both Fall for First Time in Seven Months. HSBC China Composite PMI ™ data (which covers both manufacturing and services) signalled a contraction of private sector output in China, following a six-month sequence of growth. … Seguir leyendo China Composite Output and New Orders Both Fall for First Time in Seven Months