About 55 miles east of Palm Beach, Florida on Grand Bahama Island, a Hong Kong-based business is spending about $3 billion on a deep-water container facility, the Freeport Container Port. The concern is that the port will become another debt-trap, like

Source: China Rising in the Caribbean

Coverage Of Virginia Teen’s Murder Exposes Media Manipulation
Jennifer G. HickeyApril 1, 2019
The brutal murder of 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen in June 2017 gained a lot of media attention when it was suspected she might be the victim in a hate crime.

Hassanen was walking back to her mosque in the suburbs of Virginia with friends after breaking fast during Ramadan. A stranger approached in a car, got out to chase Hassanen before beating her to death with a baseball bat.

That stranger turned out to be Darwin Martinez Torres, an El Salvadoran illegal alien. After an investigation, police determined there was no evidence of a hate crime. But, it was found to be an illegal alien crime. And those receive far different coverage from the media elite. While Hassanen was frequently described as a Muslim teen, Torres was never (and correctly) identified as her illegal alien murderer.

Any doubts? Simply consider how the media handled the sentencing of Torres to life in prison.

In its lede, The Washington Post characterized him as “a Loudon County man” and then identified him in the next paragraph described him “Darwin Martinez Torres, 25, of Sterling.”

The paper also found it important to note that Torres’ defense attorney believed he had an IQ of 68 or less and “is probably intellectually disabled from exposure to toxins from a mine near his childhood home in his native El Salvador.”

The paper failed to mention, however, that he was a citizen of El Salvador who was in the country illegally.

In the opening of a story that was carried by multiple outlets nationwide, The Associated Press simply called him “a man” and like the Post, described him in the second paragraph as “Darwin Martinez Torres of Sterling [Virginia].”

Although less outrageous than the Post handling, the AP stumbled over how to phrase the killer’s immigration status when it did finally addressed it in the sixth paragraph. Rather than stating the fact that Torres was in the country illegally, the AP said he was “a native of El Salvador who federal immigration authorities have said is in the country illegally.”

The local Washington, D.C., radio station, WTOP, had an online story which followed suit by first referencing him as a “Northern Virginia man” and only three lines from the end of the story do they mention Torres was an illegal alien.

Even the local Loudoun Times could not help but downplay his immigration status, while playing up the religious background of the victim. The media’s evasive reporting and politically-correct language makes them feel better about themselves, but it does cannot cover up the fact that Darwin Martinez Torres is an illegal alien who should never have been in Virginia driving a car and ready to kill.

Two outlets which rightly noted in the headline that Torres was “illegal” were The Boston Globe and Breitbart News.

If a majority of the news media cannot accurately write about the sentencing of an illegal alien murderer, how can the American people trust them on any other matter related to immigration?

Old Man Struggling To Walk Helped Home by Kind Teens, They Soon Learn Someone Was Watching
We live in a hard and changing culture. Boys and men are often portrayed as villains, but some young men from Caldwell, Idaho, have shown just how heroic a good guy can be.

It all started with a group of five teen boys who were driving down the road. They were headed to play basketball, but things changed when they saw an elderly man on the side of the road.

Jose Gomez was using a walker when he fell hard onto the sidewalk. The teens stopped and parked the car, then quickly jumped out to aid the man and help him home.

“I was just falling down, I don’t know what happened. They picked me up. I was walking just right and then sadly I went down, and they come up and say ‘hey, want us to take you home and I said okay, let’s go,’” Gomez told KTVB. “It made me feel good.”

The boys — Victor Ornelas, Isaac Hernandez, Diego Ramirez, Devan Ornelas and Josh Sorg — went above and beyond, not only staying with Gomez until he was safe but also cleaning up his bloody knee, injured in the fall.

TRENDING: 91-Year-Old Woman Dances with Doctor in Halls After Having Spinal Surgery

The entire act of kindness was captured in photos by Erika Tovar. She posted the pictures on Facebook, and soon they went viral.

“Shout out to these young boys for helping an elderly man off the ground after he fell and walking him home,” Tovar wrote. “If any of you have elderly family check on them make sure they are okay!”

The post was seen by Kathy Plaisance of Sweet Spot Bakery. She shared the photos in hopes of finding the young men so she could thank them on behalf of the Caldwell community.

Do you know any hometown heroes in your community?
“If anyone knows these boys or this gentleman we would sure like to treat them to a treat on us!” Plaisance wrote. “What a wonderful positive story! Great job boys! This makes our hearts happy!!”

The boys were located and soon interviewed. They were showered with gifts from local businesses. From free haircuts to personalized cookies, these heroes received the praise they deserved.

Of course, they weren’t in it for the recognition.

“Crazy how it blew up,” Isaac Hernandez told KTVB. “We didn’t do it for the attention, we just did it out of the kindness of our hearts. It’s just the right thing to do.”

RELATED: Woman Lived 99 Years Not Knowing She Had Rare Condition Causing Organs To Be in All the Wrong Places

We love their sweet hearts and the humility they showed even as they became local celebrities. Way to go, guys!

“I think it makes us all feel good because we are out here helping other people,” Hernandez said. “And we don’t expect anything in return.”

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Source: Your car is watching you. Who owns the data?

New vehicle sales are in a big decline, go figure.

This is How Stocks Get Hit When BBB-Rated Companies Try to Dodge a Downgrade to “Junk”
by Wolf Richter • Apr 9, 2019 • 12 Comments • Email to a friend

Wolf RichterApr 9, 2019
There are now many of them. Shoring up the balance sheet is the opposite of “shareholder friendly.” It’s “creditor friendly.”

The amount of investment-grade corporate bonds outstanding by non-financial companies in the US and Europe – so excluding bonds issued by banks, insurance companies, and the like – has more than tripled (+204%) over the past ten years, from $1.66 trillion at the beginning of 2009 to $5.06 trillion by the end of 2018.

Split by rating, over the same period, according to data by Fitch:

The amount of bonds in the lowest investment-grade category (BBB, red in the chart below) has ballooned by 262%, from $820 billion to $3.0 trillion.
But the amount of higher- and highest-rated bonds (categories A, AA, and AAA, green and blue in the chart below) has increased “only” 147% – though that’s a huge increase too – from $842 billion to $2.1 trillion.

These are investment-grade bonds – the cream of the crop, so to speak. These amounts do not include other forms of corporate debt such as high-yield bonds (“junk” bonds), regular corporate loans, “leveraged loans,” loans by private equity firms, and other forms of debt.

But bonds in the BBB-category are teetering on the edge of “junk.” A rating of “BB+” is already in junk territory (here’s my fancy heat-sheet for the corporate credit rating scales by Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch).

In the next downturn, many bonds in the BBB-category will transition to junk, and many junk bonds but also some investment-grade bonds – if the past is any guide – will transition to default. Two-notch downgrades are not uncommon: one day you wake up, and your “BBB” investment-grade bond is a “BB+” junk bond.

So there has been a lot of handwringing about a future pileup of “fallen angels” as a historic portion of this ballooning mass of BBB-category bonds will be downgraded to junk.

A downgrade to junk makes borrowing more expensive for companies. And for companies that have to refinance debt that is coming due, this could add up. Companies are rated BBB and not A because they have a lot of debt, in relationship to their cash flow. So increasing the cost of this debt can be an issue. A downgrade to junk can also pose other problems for companies, so they generally try to avoid it.

But the strategies used to avoid a downgrade to junk can have a big bad impact on share prices, in the sense of reality coming home to roost.

To avoid a downgrade to junk, companies will try to shore up their balance sheet. This means curtailing or stopping share buybacks and slashing dividends.

This is a process GE went through. After blowing nearly $14 billion on share buybacks in the four years through 2017 to prop up its shares, GE stopped on a dime and transitioned to dismembering itself to pay down debts. The share buybacks stopped cold. Then it slashed its dividends to near-zero. And its shares have plunged.

GE now sports a credit rating of “BBB+” with negative outlook, three notches from junk, after getting hit by a round of two-notch downgrades late last year. Despite having already cut off some major limbs to reduce its debts, GE still has $97 billion in long-term debt. And GE is still trying hard to dodge further downgrades.

When a company tries to shore up its balance sheet by stopping share buybacks and slashing dividends, the result is not fun for shareholders. And even anticipating this process is not fun for shareholders. GE shares went from the $30 range in 2016 to about $9 currently, after having dipped to $7 late last year.

It’s much more fun for shareholders when the company blows billions on share buybacks to prop up its shares, and when it douses shareholders lovingly with dividends.

Ford Motor Company has $100 billion in long-term debt and is rated “BBB,” just two notches above junk. It is desperately trying to dodge those downgrades to junk. Its shares went from the $15 range in 2015 to the $9 range now. Share buybacks are off the table. Its dividend yield is an out-of-whack 6.5%. Bringing that dividend yield back into whack means one of two things: A dividend cut is coming or its shares are going to magically skyrocket.

General Motors has $73 billion in long-term debt and is rated “BBB.” Its shares are still hanging in there, in the middle of their trading range over the past five years. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is rated “BBB-“, one notch away from junk. Its shares have moved from the $23 range in early 2018 to the $15 range now. Kraft Heinz has $31 billion in long-term debt and is rated “BBB-” while its shares have plunged from the $90 range in 2017 to $32 range currently.

These companies have large capital requirements and must be able to refinance a lot of debt when it comes due, and they need to be able to do so without drama. They need the credit market to not worry about their balance sheet, and whether or not they will be able to refinance those debts that mature further in the future. Confidence is everything. Once that confidence begins to wobble, these over-indebted companies begin to wobble. And an investment-grade bond rating is a big factor in that market confidence.

Shoring up the balance sheet is the opposite of “shareholder friendly.” It’s “creditor friendly.” And trying to protect that BBB-rating, after years of debt-binge partying, can have a deleterious effect on share prices, even if the company succeeds in not getting downgraded to junk.

Companies buying back their own shares has “consistently been the largest source of US equity demand.” Without them, “demand for shares would fall dramatically.” Too painful to even imagine. Read… What Would Stocks Do in “a World Without Buybacks,” Goldman Asks

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The love affair with Millennials and Socialism is not only from a lack of understanding history, basic economics, and critical thinking skills. It stems from a lack of understanding what is right before their eyes. Venezuela, North Korea, Cuba, and most of South America come to mind.
People are risking everything to leave those places and come here, while some in our political structure want to bring Socialism here. How ironic would that be for those wishing to escape Socialism by coming here?
Sad thing is that we are not true capitalists here in America. We are crony capitalists, which is not much better than Socialism in many ways. The politicians here micromanage the economy by picking winners and losers, making our economy very top heavy. Those who give large donations to politicians get nice returns on their investments. While the working class pays half of what they earn to the government. The middle class is being thrown under the bus by noisy special interest groups, race baiters, hate mongers, and corrupt politicians.
Open Secrets is a good website to find out which corporations or special interest groups own your politicians. There are also other good sources of this information. Educate yourself and follow the money. Find out who you are really working for.

Source: Millennials for Socialism

Nunes to Send 8 Criminal Referrals to DOJ Concerning ‘Leaks of Classified Material’ and ‘Conspiracy’ to Lie to FISA Court (VIDEO)

Ranking member of the House Intel Committee Devin Nunes (R-CA) told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” that is he preparing to send 8 criminal referrals to the Justice Department this week concerning leaks of “highly classified material” and conspiracies to lie to Congress and the FISA court.

Rep. Nunes explained that the criminal referrals can actually involve more than eight people because a conspiracy referral could involve “a dozen, two dozen people,” and he said more criminal referrals could be on the way.

Nunes said he has been working on the criminal referrals for over two years, but he was waiting until Bill Barr was confirmed as Attorney General to make his move — Nunes did not divulge any names.

“We’re prepared this week to notify the attorney general that we’re prepared to send those referrals over,” Nunes said. “First of all, all of these are classified or sensitive. … Five of them are what I would call straight up referrals — so just referrals that name someone and name the specific crimes,” Nunes told Maria Bartiromo. “Those crimes are lying to Congress, misleading Congress, leaking classified information. So five of them are those types.”

Nunes added: “There are three [referrals] that I think are more complicated. … So on the first one, is FISA abuse and other matters. We believe there was a conspiracy to lie to the FISA court, mislead the FISA court by numerous individuals that all need to be investigated and looked at that, and we believe the [relevant] statute is the conspiracy statute. The second conspiracy one is involving manipulation of intelligence that also could ensnarl many Americans.”

Among the people who signed the FISA applications include then-FBI Director James Comey, DAG Rod Rosenstein, Sally Yates and Andrew McCabe.

“The third is what I would call a global leak referral,” Nunes said. “So there are about a dozen highly sensitive classified information leaks that were given to only a few reporters over the last two-and-a-half-plus years. So you know, we don’t know if there’s actually been any leak investigations that have been opened, but we do believe that we’ve got pretty good information and a pretty good idea of who could be behind these leaks.”

Thanks to Devin Nunes, we may soon find out who leaked General Flynn’s phone calls to Russian Ambassador Kislyak to the media.

Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid former British spy Christopher Steele millions of dollars to compile a phony 35-page dossier from Russian intel sources to smear Donald Trump.

The incredibly corrupt FBI Director James Comey allowed the bureau to use Hillary’s phony dossier to defraud the FISC and obtain a FISA warrant and three subsequent renewals — Comey personally signed three FISA applications even though he admitted the dossier, which formed an essential part of obtaining the spy warrants, was unverified.

Video and partial transcript via Fox News: