“Most of my colleagues are dishonest career politicians who revel in the power and special-interest money that’s lavished upon them.” – Best Seller, Congressman X

…..related: Chalk One Up for The Establishment – Mike Duffy’s At It Again

There are so many incidents with the refugee crisis in Europe that the blog could be filled with that subject alone. Even the press in Germany is starting to shift after countless incidents from knife attacks to a gang beating and robbing British tourists in the same square in Cologne, Germany. Not to mention the media’s failure to report things like the attack on women in Cologne and the protest in Frankfurt during the opening of the ECB that set the city on fire.

Up until now, the common view of the German press has been that it is THEM against the PEOPLE, because they are protecting Merkel at every corner. News blackouts have been the name of the game to the point that the people view the press as just an arm of government. Attacks by refugees are widening from France to other nations including Ireland.

It is as if the fate of the world could easily spiral downward now. All it will take is perhaps a flood of knife attacks throughout Europe to divide the people squarely against the refugees. Meanwhile, tourism is collapsing in Europe, not to mention Turkey. This will have a further deflationary impact upon the economic data that will be published by year-end.

also from Martin Armstrong: Europe Begins to Rebel Against Austerity

and: Germany Raids Healthcare Funds to Support Refugee Crisis

An example Vest’s system. The size of all three sections, upside, protection and downside all adjust based on investor preference. 

The technology is perfect for brokerage firms who license the technology, giving their financial advisors a highly visual tool to develop structured investment portfolios. Begin by picking a stock, and the length of time you wish to own it. The program accesses that stock’s historical performance data.

Then things get interesting. Using sliders, the investor customizes the level of downside protection they wish to have. The more protection they want, the more of a premium they pay.

Take a stock currently trading at $191.30. The investor decides they want downside protection of the final share price plus $70, meaning if the stock trades anywhere between $121.30 and $191.30, the investor suffers no loss. Should the stock trade below $121.30, the investor only loses the amount between $121.30 and the final price.

Like any insurance, one has to pay a premium, in this case 8.94 percent, making the stock’s price $208.41. In exchange for that protection, the investor caps their upside.

“If the user wanted to to this themselves they’d need good knowledge,” Mr. Sood said. “We take care of this.”

There are two main challenges in bringing this solution to the masses, Mr. Sood said. The first is to make the process as simple as possible for novice investors. The second is infrastructure costs. Traditional infrastructure is expensive, so it is only feasible to employ it on a large scale and at large costs. That leaves few logical players.

“Technology can solve both of these problems,” Mr. Sood said. “Use the front end to make it simple and easy to understand, and automate the back end.”

Tony Zerucha – Bankless Times

Here comes BIG trouble. Increasingly it has become evident in the USA that both the Democrats and Republicans are threatening to “renegotiate” Free Trade. The uncertainty alone will create big negatives in our economy. If it ultimately takes place, strap in for a very rough ride.

…also from Michael: Look Out Below!!! This is the Financial Time Bomb That’s Going To Nail All Of Us