Germany's Debt Spiral Warning Ignored As Berlin Doubles Down On Spending

Florida & Texas Lead Jobless Claims Rebound From Near Record Lows The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose last week to 211k (more than the 205k expected), but remain well within the range of the last five years, near record lows... Source: Bloomberg Florida and Texas saw the biggest rise in initial claims while California and Michigan saw the largest declines... Continuing jobless claims also rose modestly last week, up to 1.782mm Americans (but still well below the 1.9mm Maginot Line)... Source: Bloomberg Combined with last week's positive payrolls...

US Africa Command said in a press release on Wednesday that its forces launched another airstrike in Somalia as the Trump administration continues an escalated bombing campaign in the country that receives virtually no media coverage in the US. AFRICOM said the strike was launched on April 21 and that it targeted al-Shabaab near a […]

Fed Independence Is Sacred... Or So We've Been Told Authored by Richard Roberts via RealClearMarkets.com, For the better part of a year, many had become convinced that the Federal Reserve's independence was in its final days. The narrative rested on two prongs. First, an FOMC browbeaten by relentless public attacks, threats of removal, and a Justice Department criminal probe into Chair Jerome Powell. The pressure, many argued, had grown so intense that Fed decisions would no longer be trusted to reflect economics rather than politics. Second, a new chair expected to arrive in May...