Donald Trump embodies how great republics meet their end - FT.com

Donald Trump embodies how great republics meet their end - FT.com: "Mr Trump is a promoter of paranoid fantasies, a xenophobe and an ignoramus. His business consists of the erection of ugly monuments to his own vanity. He has no experience of political office. Some compare him to Latin American populists. He might also be considered an American Silvio Berlusconi, albeit without the charm or business acumen. But Mr Berlusconi, unlike Mr Trump, never threatened to round up and expel millions of people. Mr Trump is grossly unqualified for the world’s most important political office."



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On The Seven Year Anniversary Of "The Most Hated Bull Market Ever" - How We Got Here | Zero Hedge

On The Seven Year Anniversary Of "The Most Hated Bull Market Ever" - How We Got Here | Zero Hedge: "Now, as Bloomberg writes, "investors are awash in angst, showing little faith the run can continue. They worry about contracting corporate earnings, slowing Chinese growth and uncertainty over interest rates. And they’re walking the talk by pulling cash from stocks at almost the fastest rate on record. It’s not unwarranted - the S&P 500 has gained just 0.5 percent in the last 18 months.""



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I see bubbles bursting everywhere: Top academic

I see bubbles bursting everywhere: Top academic: "On Thusday, Mansharamani said that financial bubbles had been fueled by "cheap money" created by highly accommodative monetary policy across developed economies.
"I mean, we've got a bubble bursting, I would argue, in Australian housing markets — that is beginning to crack; South Africa — the whole economy; Canada — housing and the economy; Brazil. We can keep going on and on," the academic told CNBC."



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Home flipping reached 10-year high: Can you say froth?

Home flipping reached 10-year high: Can you say froth?: "Flippers are watching home prices rise, and in turn seeing returns rise. Homes flipped in 2015 yielded an average gross profit of $55,000 nationwide, the highest for flips nationally since 2005, according to RealtyTrac. The return on investment was close to 46 percent, up from 44 percent in 2014 and up from 35 percent in 2005. 2005 was when flipping was rampant, thanks to super easy credit. Back then, over 8 percent of all sales were flips.

Today flippers are seeing the best returns in Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and New Haven, Connecticut. The biggest dollar returns are in California and New York, but investors there must put bigger dollars down for those flips."



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February Payrolls Smash Expectations, Surge To 242,000 Even As Hourly Earnings Post Unexpected Drop | Zero Hedge

February Payrolls Smash Expectations, Surge To 242,000 Even As Hourly Earnings Post Unexpected Drop | Zero Hedge: "The move higher in jobs was mostly driven by minimum wage jobs in healthcare (+57,000), retail (+55,000), and food service professions which rose by 40,000. This explains why for yet another month, wage growth was not only not there, but with a -0.1% decline after the January minimum wage hike induced bounce, posted a drop of -0.1%, which was the first drop since December 2014."



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