Will Generation Z Save Physical Retailers?

via Motley Fool Headlines by on Wed, 18 Jan 2017 15:46:00 GMT

IRS Form W-2: What Every Taxpayer Needs to Know

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Chinese Province Admits It Fabricated Economic Data For Three Years

via by Tyler Durden on Wed, 18 Jan 2017 15:13:46 GMT

While it will hardly come as a surprise to China watchers who have for years mocked China's cooked "data", overnight the state-run People's Daily reported that the severely impacted by the commodity crunch of the past 2 years rust-belt province of Liaoning fabricated fiscal numbers from 2011 to 2014, raising fresh doubts about the accuracy of China’s economic data just two days ahead of the release of China's GDP report.

The city of Shenyang in Liaoning province of China

City and county governments in the northwestern region committed fiscal data fraud in the period, Governor Chen Qiufa said at a meeting with provincial lawmakers Tuesday, Bloomberg adds. Not surprisingly, the fabricated economic data was meant to show a state of economic strenght with fiscal revenues inflated by at least 20%, and some other economic data were also false, the paper said, without specifying categories.

Why paint a rosier picture? The same reason as alwasy: Chen said the data were made up "because officials wanted to advance their careers." The fraud misled the central government’s judgment of Liaoning’s economic status, he said, citing a report from the National Audit Office in 2016.

The admission of fraud comes now because with growth now moderating, officials have "sought to improve the credibility of economic data" as diffusing financial risks becomes a key policy consideration, along with keeping growth ticking along at a rapid clip.

And while the outgoing Obama administration is cracking down on "fake news", Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, has said China is focusing on preventing "fake economic data" as well as increasing the quality of its statistics. Naturally, incidents such as this one will make China watchers that much more skeptical.

Fake economic data may be the least of Liaoning's worries which in recent years has seen an unprecedented purge of more than 500 deputies from its legislature Bloomberg reports. The deputies were implicated in vote buying and bribery in the first provincial-level case of its kind in the Communist Party’s almost seven-decade rule, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Former provincial party chief Wang Min, who led Liaoning from 2009 until 2015, was earlier expelled following corruption allegations by China’s top anti-graft watchdog.

As China's debt-fueled economic impulse continues, if only for a few more months, we wxpect more such instances of fake data to swim to the surface.

Why Long-Term Investors Should Prefer Phillips 66 Over CVR Energy, Inc.

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Is Las Vegas Sands Stock a Buy?

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Biden Blasts Trump-Putin Plan "To Collapse The Liberal International Order"

via by Tyler Durden on Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:42:50 GMT

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Joe Biden took aim at president-elect Trump and Russian president Putin in what is likely his final public appearance as US vice-president.

The speech was long on scaremongery and war rhetoric and short on 'fact', as The Wall Street Journal reports, Mr. Biden said cooperation between the U.S. and Europe formed “the bedrock of the success the world enjoyed in the second half of the 20th century."

“Strengthening these values—values that served our community of nations so well for so long—is paramount to retaining the position of leadership that Western nations enjoy.”

 

Mr. Biden also leveled sharp criticism at Mr. Putin, whom Mr. Trump has praised and said he would seek to cooperate with. Mr. Putin’s goal, Mr. Biden said, was “to return to a world where the strong impose its will through military might, corruption, and criminality, while weaker nations have to fall into line.”

 

“With many countries in Europe slated to hold elections this year, we should expect further attempts by Russia to meddle in the democratic process,” Mr. Biden said. “It will occur again, I promise you, and again the purpose is clear: to collapse the liberal international order.”

So - bottom line - according to the vice-president of the only US president to have been at war every day of their 8-year-term, the American people have 'unwittingly' voted a man who puts the entire world order at risk of collapse into office.

Playing The Trump Effect On FX Markets

via by globalintelhub on Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:41:29 GMT

Trump will soon assume his elected office, and potentially change FX markets forever. Well, it's already happened. But what we've seen happen now, has been mostly 'talk' - whereas in 4 days, it will be 'reality.' First let's look at the best example in FX of the Trump Effect, USD/JPY traded as (FXY), Guggenheim CurrencyShares Japanese:

(click to enlarge)

This long slide was a no-brainer trade of a lifetime. A blind bat with no wings could have flown through this tunnel. Once it was clear that Trump was going to implement a pro-USD policy one way or another (after the election) the USD strengthened against all pairs but most notably against the Japanese Yen . Note that, this chart represents the JPY going down, not up, as you would see in a USD/JPY chart which is quoted in the reverse.

Stock traders can trade FX in their stock accounts through ETFs. The downside, is that you don't get leverage. The huge upside though - huge options! There are many deep out of the money options to play such an event. So what will happen to Guggenheim CurrencyShares Japanese now? Probably, a short reversal maybe back to 87 Max, and then a continued slide down to historic levels. That's because FX markets haven't priced in 'The Trump Effect' completely yet.

Take a look at any of Trump's policies which can impact FX, let's look at the potential scenario where Trump labels China a Currency Manipulator - for which they certainly are. But here's the catch - EVERY fiat currency manipulates their currency via central bank policy. Here's where the mainstream media is wrong. Fred Imbert of CNBC claims that Trump is wrong because China has allowed the Yuan to float against major currency pairs. This is true. But China imposes capital controls, which has given rise to a massive black market not only FX but for cash transfers too. The Yuan is highly controlled by the PBOC, even if that means selling Yuan to support FX operations in foreign markets.

It's clear where Fred is getting his misinformation from:

"The notion of labeling China a currency manipulator in this day and age is just silly," said Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "If Trump had said that China was a currency manipulator in 2006, I would have said, 'hoorah,' but in 2016, it's a laughable mistake. I wonder who is advising Trump on this."

So here we go. The CFR represents the 'globalists' that are behind the push to keep the global status quo, as is. They're in China, and making good profits from the fact that China manipulates their currency. The best example being Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) that directly benefits from the Chinese manipulation. Simply put, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. profits huge because their supply is in China and their customer base is mostly in the United States in US Dollars. Not everything sold at Wal Mart comes from China, but almost nothing sold at Wal Mart is manufactured in the United States, with the huge exception of Wal Mart brand products "Equate" which are manufactured in Bentonville, AR (but, they are really 'assembled there - they take huge advantages of their USD buyer base in foreign countries). Anyway, if the Yuan rapidly appreciated, Wal Mart would have a serious problem on their hands. It's a question of good for consumers, bad for billionaires. Has Wal Mart greatly helped the economy? Many detractors say not, such as Noam Chomsky, who say that in the last 30 years corporate America has relied on financial manipulations, more than producing value. Wal Mart is a perfect example, as well as being a huge benefactor of a cheap Yuan.

Practically, a company as successful as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will adapt, it isn't as if this is going to make Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. crumble - far from it. They'll manufacture in Arkansas, there will be millions of illegals desperate for less than minimum wage factory jobs after Trump builds the wall. Let's not forget that foreign companies such as Hyundai, Kia, and many others - manufacture their products in places like Alabama. BMW has a massive plant in South Carolina, in Spartanburg. So this trade situation is not a one way deal, nor is it as simple as fixing the Chinese Currency Manipulation problem. The point is that there are many factors at play here, corporate and political power, central bank policy, and of course real trade as seen in the Baltic dry index. And what Trump has accomplished, for better or worse, he's made all this depend on his latest Tweet.

Tomorrow, Trump can make a Tweet that can cause the CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling ETF (FXB) to crash or skyrocket, based on the markets interpretation of it. That's more powerful than his new job in the Oval Office. Such power maybe never existed before, because it's always been reserved to big billionaire hedge fund traders, and it's always been limited. Just because Kyle Bass makes a statement, it doesn't move markets.

So whether you're knowledgeable about FX or not, you should be, because it can impact the stock market in ways that has never seen before. Previous presidents have been globalists, which tend to want a stable, non-existant FX market - which resembles a one world currency. Trump's policies are the opposite. By imposing sanctions on China, taxing imports from Mexico, and other pro-America policies, Trump is putting a force in the market that never existed before.

Bernanke had his 'Bernanke Put' - Trump has created something that we can only call the "Trump Call" because he's betting long on America- whatever the consequences will be on the markets. What that means? It means that this plan wasn't thought out too well. There can be collateral damage, there can be knee-jerk reactions, portfolio rebalancing, and a number of financial ramifications that can rock FX markets. It can potentially make Brexit look like a walk in the park.

One good thing for stock investors generally, it will make companies more evolved, for example half of listed issues do not hedge FX, but the other half do. Corporations who are at the tail end of the "Trump Call" (in 2016, 2015 it was called "Currency Headwinds") will suffer greatly. Those ahead of the curve, will profit immensely. It can lead to a golden area of finance on Wall St. - but there certainly will be a huge number of firms that won't evolve, won't hedge the FX risk, and ultimately, will be bankrupt or bought out.

Companies like Fortress Capital offer signals for FX based on FX specific algorithms, that can easily be traded as ETFs in your stock account. There are many FX education providers that offer ways to learn this important market, and how to include it in your portfolio either directly (trading FX ETFs) or indirectly (assessing the FX impact on your favorite stocks).

The "Trump Call" is not only pro-America it's pro-Wall St. and a great opportunity to make money, but you have to be in it to win it.

Border Tax "Back On The Table" After Trump Walks Back "Provocative" Statement

via by Tyler Durden on Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:31:49 GMT

Just a day after Trump's WSJ comments on the dollar being overvalued, and criticism on the proposed Border-Tax Adjustment sent the dollar into a tailspin and hit global risk level, Trump appears to have walked back his statements in an interview granted to Axios in which he "walked back some of the more provocative statements he had made only days before." As Axios notes, "a top adviser told us the sober tone reflects a bumpy few days inside Trump Tower — and the realization that he's days away from truly running the nation."

Here are the highlights from the Axios interview conducted on Tuesday:

• Trump said health care is his most urgent domestic topic, telling us he spoke with President Obama again on Monday about the topic. He back-tracked a bit from his promise of insurance for everybody, saying he wanted to find a mechanism — Medicaid block grants, perhaps — to help the poorest get insurance. "You know there are many people talking about many forms of health care where people with no money aren't covered. We can't have that," he said.
• On Friday, he told The Wall Street Journal that border-adjustment, a vital part of the House Republicans' corporate tax-reform plan, was "too complicated." Now, it's suddenly back on the table. "It's certainly something that's going to be discussed," he said. "I would say, over the next month-and-a-half, two months, we'll be having more concrete discussions. Right now, we're really focused on health care more than anything else."
• Trump earlier this week unsettled allies overseas by calling NATO obsolete and seeming to put Germany's Angela Merkel and Russia's Vladimir Putin on par as possible US allies. Trump told us ALL WORLD LEADERS are on par, with a fresh chance to prove themselves. "So, I give everybody an even start; that right now, as far as I'm concerned, everybody's got an even start," he said.
• Trump's advisers tell us privately that many parts of the operation remain messy — in large part, they say, because New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie left them with virtually no preparation for a transition. Advisers told us horror stories of struggles to fill key roles — including getting handed files of candidates, most of whom were Democrats. This is only adding to the confusion and slowed policy-making discussions.

Trump also opined on recent intelligence briefings:  "I've had a lot of briefings that are very … I don't want to say 'scary,' because I'll solve the problems," he said. "But … we have some big enemies out there in this country and we have some very big enemies — very big and, in some cases, strong enemies."

He offered a reminder many critics hope he never forgets: "You also realize that you've got to get it right because a mistake would be very, very costly in so many different ways."

Trump also told Axios that he likes his briefings short, ideally one-page if it's in writing. "I like bullets or I like as little as possible. I don't need, you know, 200-page reports on something that can be handled on a page. That I can tell you."

Eventually Trump reverted to his familiar self:

• In the opening moment, asked why he hasn't been able to deliver on his promise to heal divisions in the U.S., Trump reiterated his promise "to be a president for all Americans," only to launch, unprovoked, into his fourth-consecutive day of attacks on Rep. John Lewis, the civil-rights icon. Think about that for a minute: He's less than 72 hours from taking office and he was still stewing about a member of the Democratic minority in the House.
• Trump told us his confrontational style is misunderstood. "You know, I'm not really a divisive figure," he said, before pinning the blame for bad press and bad blood almost entirely on the media: "In the history of politics, there's nobody that has been treated worse by the press than I have."
• Asked to name a decision he got wrong or a regret from the campaign, he didn't.

Will 2017 Be Costco Wholesale Corporation's Best Year Yet?

via Motley Fool Headlines by on Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:27:00 GMT

Will Nike Raise Its Dividend in 2017?

via Motley Fool Headlines by on Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:17:00 GMT