Under any other down cycle or circumstances, I would have agreed with J. Brumley. This market adjustment feels much different than any other I can recall in over a decade. The partial shutdown of the American government is only a head fake that should not last more than three weeks. The big issue that has been ignored is the potential trade deal with China. Now that the door has opened, this will be one of the most difficult trade negotiations in U.S. history. President Trump should take a back seat. Americans and Chinese have lost serious respect for this complex man. Official Chinese media indicate the Chinese are not in a hurry to make a new deal. In fact, they believe they are going to "improve" on current trade relations. The prolonged discussions will force the market down. Stay tuned.

Thank-you Raj for your article on Rail. Always has been and will be a cyclical market.

In the event that you were not aware, the province of Alberta in Canada has not received approval for completion of some of the massive pipeline projects. The Liberal Trudeau government stopped "multiple billions" of investment in Western Canada. At this time, the price of Crude oil in Alberta has dropped to the lowest levels in history. The Alberta government has proposed shipping the huge reserves by rail car. This would involve one of the largest purchases of rail tank cars from Alberta to the US and other Canadian markets. Rail car manufacturers could receive a large boost in orders that anyone could remember.

Arthur Donner does a great summary analysis of Italian fiscal issues. It provides a wake-up call for investors to re-evaluate their Bank stock positions in this market.

Mr. Kaplan. The allegations you presented have been put forward to the courts in Canada. Meng has a court date in early February in Canada. American Justice representatives will put forward their extradition motions forward on or around that time. Almost always, Canada stands behind U.S. - God Bless America. - We hope you know what you are doing...

Hard to disagree with you. Using Meng as wampum in trade negotiations with China is not a very smart move. One of President Trump's tweet of December 11th states excactly that. This will backfire in a major way. The boycott of Canada Goose wear is likely the first of many Chinese actions against Canada and the U.S. Scary times. Now what?

Walter Yeates is accurate in his reporting of the detention of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei. In the late afternoon of December 11th, Ms. Wanzhou was granted bail under a $10 million dollar bond. She is under electronic supervision and required to remain in one of her two luxury homes located in Vancouver. President Trump indicated that Ms. Wanzhou might be extradited into the U.S. and used in the ongoing "trade" negotiations with China. A Canadian former senior diplomat was detained and apparently jailed earlier in the day as a "retalition" of the Canadian actions. As a Canadian, all of this news has been the breaking all day. Some of the Chinese blogs declared that the the detention of Wanzhou was an "act of war" against China by Canada and the U.S. The markets have not yet absorbed the severity and potential fallout of these actions. More to come.

Peter Epstein writes an excellent article on Lithium brines for solar use. Chile and Argentina, Australia, Zimbabwbe and recently a discovered large desposit in Wyoming in the United States represent the largest producers of Lithium. Not surprisingly, and an unknown fact is that Chinese interests have tied up many of these said deposits. Their focus on electronics and battery manufacturing have created a race to mine Lithium. Many of the governments have ignored the serious environmental impacts of Lithium mining. Mining of Lithium is a complex process and is expensive. The new technologies highlighted in Mr. Espstein's article are being closely watched by investors of all stripes. Putting forward this list was most useful and interesting.

Charles Hugh Smith article, "Are we in a Recesion Already" is nothing short of insightful and excellent. His conclusion, "To summarize: the top 10% may never experience a recession that guts the bottom 90%" is right on the money. This article is a keeper.