The Sy Hersh effect: killing the messenger, ignoring the message

"Far-Right" AfD Party Makes Historic Gains In German State Elections Only a year ago, the AfD was the target of an orchestrated media smear campaign, not to mention leftist government attempts to ban the party from elections.  The same tactics have been used to stifle conservative and nationalist movements across Europe, but these movements are proving to be resilient.  The latest Le Pen success story in France's small town areas runs in tandem with the latest news from Germany.  In the recent Rhineland-Palatinate state election, the Christian Democrats have, according to...

The 'Blame Game' In Private Credit Begins Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance This morning I warned (again) this wasn’t a normal market in private credit. It was a liquidity event. And today it’s becoming something else too. According to the Financial Times, the SEC is now questioning whether Egan-Jones, a small but deeply embedded credit rating agency in private credit, can “consistently produce credit ratings with integrity.” That’s not a routine inquiry. That’s the regulator openly wondering whether one of the key cogs in the machine was ever doing its job properly in the first place....

Global Energy Crisis Or Iranian Surrender In Five Weeks? Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us The last time global energy markets witnessed a shock similar to what we might see this year was during the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. Tensions were escalating in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War when the Arab Coalition launched a surprise attack against Israel. OPEC nations joined forces to cut off oil to Israeli allies including the US. This froze around 15% of oil exports to America, triggering market speculation, hording and price inflation. The infection...