Tag: finance

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The American Dream blog,

Have you noticed that people are becoming angrier?  You can see it everywhere – in our homes, in our schools, in our workplaces, in our television shows, in our movies, and certainly in Washington.  In fact, many have said that there is an “epidemic” of anger in America today.  And it is undeniably true.  As you will see below, a whole host of surveys and opinion polls show that America has become a seething cauldron of anger and frustration unlike anything that we have ever seen before.

As a nation, we are more divided than we have been in decades, and economic conditions continue to deteriorate.  People are working harder than ever and Americans get less vacation days than anyone else in the world, but median household income keeps going down every year.  Americans are dissatisfied with their relationships, their jobs, their communities and their political leaders.  There is this growing sense that our country is steamrolling toward disaster, and yet there is very little agreement on what the solutions to our problems are.  Instead, blaming others for our problems has become a new American pastime.  The very fabric of our society is coming apart at the seams and the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted is beginning to disappear.  What is America going to look like if we continue to go even farther down this road?

The following statistics come from various surveys and opinion polls that have been conducted recently.  Without a doubt, these numbers show that Americans are angrier and more frustrated than ever…

#1 65 percent of Americans are dissatisfied “with the U.S. system of government and its effectiveness”.  That is the highest level of dissatisfaction that Gallup has ever recorded.

#2 66 percent of Americans are dissatisfied “with the size and power of federal government”.

#3 70 percent of Americans do not have confidence that the government will “make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2014.”

#4 Only 8 percent of Americans believe that Congress is doing a “good” or “excellent” job.

#5 Only 4 percent of Americans believe that it would “change Congress for the worse” if every member was voted out during the next election.

#6 60 percent of Americans report feeling “angry or irritable”.  Two years ago that number was at 50 percent.

#7 53 percent of Americans believe that the Obama administration is “not competent in running the government”.

#8 An all-time low 31 percent of Americans identify themselves as Democrats.

#9 An all-time low 25 percent of Americans identify themselves as Republicans.

#10 An all-time high 42 percent of Americans identify themselves as Independents.

#11 Barack Obama’s daily job approval numbers have dipped down into the high thirties several times lately.

#12 Only 38 percent of Americans approve of the way that Obama is handling the economy.

#13 60 percent of Americans believe that the “economic system in this country unfairly favors the wealthy”.

#14 70 percent of Americans do not “feel engaged or inspired at their jobs”.

#15 Two-thirds of U.S. teens “admit to having anger attacks involving the destruction of property, threats of violence, or engaging in violence”.

#16 36 percent of Americans admit that they have yelled at customer service agents during the past year.

#17 73 percent of Americans believe that Obama’s efforts to “reform” the NSA “won’t make much difference in protecting people’s privacy”.

#18 77 percent of Americans believe that the state of the economy is either “not so good” or “poor”.

#19 65 percent of Americans are either “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the direction of the country.

Are you starting to get the picture?

We have never seen anything like this in the United States during the post-World War II era.  People are fundamentally unhappy, and that has tremendous implications for the future of our society.

So what is causing all of this anger and frustration?

Well, of course the economic struggles that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing on a daily basis play a huge role.  The following is an excerpt from a recent local Fox News report…

Some are describing this as “America’s anger epidemic.” And there are a few reasons: uncertainty in the job market and the economy, working long hours — on average about one month more now than they did in the 1970s and with less vacation.

 

So if it seems like Americans are angrier these days it’s because we are.

And it is easy to understand why people are becoming increasingly frustrated with the incompetence and rampant corruption in Washington D.C.…

Grim findings have been coming thick and fast. Most Americans no longer see President Barack Obama as honest. Half think that he “knowingly lied” to pass his Obamacare health law. Fewer than one in five trust the government in Washington to do what is right all or most of the time. Confidence in Congress has fallen to record lows: in America, as in Italy and
Greece, just one in ten voters expresses trust or confidence in the national parliament. Frankly straining credulity, a mammoth, 107-country poll by Transparency International, a corruption monitor, this summer found Americans more likely than Italians to say that they feel that the police, business and the media are all “corrupt or extremely corrupt”.

 

Americans are also turning on one another. Since 1972 the Chicago-based General Social Survey (GSS) has been asking whether most people can be trusted, or whether “you can’t be too careful” in daily life. Four decades ago Americans were evenly split. Now almost two-thirds say others cannot be trusted, a record high.

In addition, there are certainly other reasons why people are so angry these days as well…

The “Knockout Game” grows more popular. Athletes throw tantrums that would embarrass most 3-year-olds. Race relations simmer at a constant near-boil, while our leaders engage in enough posturing and name-calling to look more like a modern version of “West Side Story” than the servant-citizens who should inspire peace and mutual respect.

So what do you believe?

Why do you think that Americans are so angry and so frustrated these days?

Is there anything we can do about it?

And how bad will the anger and frustration in this country get when the economy completely collapses?

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1jEzAwd Tyler Durden

Monthly Market Commentary From Jeremy Grantham’s GMO, via Wells Fargo Absolute Return Fund

“You want a prediction about the weather, you’re asking the wrong Phil. I’ll give you a winter prediction: It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be gray, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.”

     —From the movie Groundhog Day (1993)

The Street is always looking for short-term indicators. The January indicator is a common one: It basically says January sets the tone for the rest of the year. Or even the Groundhog Day effect, which also sent a nasty signal just recently. Clearly, these two are pointing to a sober 2014. Look, maybe these indicators work. Maybe they don’t. Trying to find a reliable one-year crystal ball is a fool’s errand. Our sober forecasts for equities, especially the broad basket of U.S. equities, have nothing to do with January pull-backs or silly little rodents seeing their shadows. Our methodology is a bit more ho-hum. Valuations are stretched. Profit margins are stretched. And given that these two have been reliable mean-reverting indicators, they are what drive our sobriety. We’re not saying the party’s over. For all we know, 2014 could post another positive year for the risk markets. There’s enough good news out there in terms of cash on the sidelines, declining unemployment numbers, U.S. as a safe haven in the event of an emerging meltdown … yada, yada, yada. All we’re saying is that, as value investors, we’re nervous about the longer-term prospects for equities, especially in the U.S.  Markets in the U.S. are not a little bit overvalued—they are overvalued by a hefty margin, especially small-cap stocks. And it is this concern, above all else, that will be driving our asset allocation decisions. 

Market update

Momentum from a spectacular 2013 and some early positive economic news sent U.S. equities up to record highs in mid-January. Markets did an about-face, however, toward the end of the month as the Federal Reserve reminded us that the taper would not just continue but accelerate, as a weak Purchasing Managers’ Index reading came from China and fears of a slowdown continued, and as emerging markets currency troubles spooked the global markets. Emerging equities (and currencies) were the worst victims, but the developed markets also felt the pinch. U.S. equity markets did indeed experience a January pull-back, with the S&P 500 Index down 3.5% and the Russell 2000® Index down 2.8%. EAFE lost 4.0%, spread pretty evenly across Europe and Japan. The real story in January, however, was emerging equities, which gave back 6.5%, as measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.  

For fixed income, January’s hiccup ended up being good news, as yields came in modestly higher. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index posted a solid 1.5% return, and global bonds did slightly better.

Wells Fargo Advantage Absolute Return Fund

Against this backdrop, the Absolute Return Fund lost 1.8% on the month. Our quality position, which has often held up relatively well in market downturns, was essentially down in line with the broad indexes. Concern about global, particularly emerging markets economic exposure, was most likely the culprit. Consumer staples—a traditional defensive sector—was one of the worst-performing areas this month, as the market perceived that slowdown outside of the U.S. would hurt earnings for these high-quality global brands. Our international value exposure did slightly better than international growth sectors, but only marginally. And both, importantly, were still down. Our emerging equities exposure was the largest negative contributor.  

On the fixed-income side, emerging country debt exposure hurt, but the TIPS position that we established back in July and August 2013 posted some positive returns. In addition, our absolute return strategies, the GMO Alpha Only Fund and the GMO Alternative Asset Opportunity Fund, each posted positive returns, albeit modest.

By the end of January, equities represented a bit over 50% of the portfolio. We hold a diversified equity basket across quality, currency-hedged international value, and emerging, with a modest allocation to the risk premium strategy. We are maintaining roughly a 9% allocation to credit via asset-backed securities and the GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities holdings represent roughly 13%, while our absolute return sub-strategies, in aggregate, represent a bit over 27%.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gCIieu Tyler Durden

Monthly Market Commentary From Jeremy Grantham’s GMO, via Wells Fargo Absolute Return Fund

“You want a prediction about the weather, you’re asking the wrong Phil. I’ll give you a winter prediction: It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be gray, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.”

     —From the movie Groundhog Day (1993)

The Street is always looking for short-term indicators. The January indicator is a common one: It basically says January sets the tone for the rest of the year. Or even the Groundhog Day effect, which also sent a nasty signal just recently. Clearly, these two are pointing to a sober 2014. Look, maybe these indicators work. Maybe they don’t. Trying to find a reliable one-year crystal ball is a fool’s errand. Our sober forecasts for equities, especially the broad basket of U.S. equities, have nothing to do with January pull-backs or silly little rodents seeing their shadows. Our methodology is a bit more ho-hum. Valuations are stretched. Profit margins are stretched. And given that these two have been reliable mean-reverting indicators, they are what drive our sobriety. We’re not saying the party’s over. For all we know, 2014 could post another positive year for the risk markets. There’s enough good news out there in terms of cash on the sidelines, declining unemployment numbers, U.S. as a safe haven in the event of an emerging meltdown … yada, yada, yada. All we’re saying is that, as value investors, we’re nervous about the longer-term prospects for equities, especially in the U.S.  Markets in the U.S. are not a little bit overvalued—they are overvalued by a hefty margin, especially small-cap stocks. And it is this concern, above all else, that will be driving our asset allocation decisions. 

Market update

Momentum from a spectacular 2013 and some early positive economic news sent U.S. equities up to record highs in mid-January. Markets did an about-face, however, toward the end of the month as the Federal Reserve reminded us that the taper would not just continue but accelerate, as a weak Purchasing Managers’ Index reading came from China and fears of a slowdown continued, and as emerging markets currency troubles spooked the global markets. Emerging equities (and currencies) were the worst victims, but the developed markets also felt the pinch. U.S. equity markets did indeed experience a January pull-back, with the S&P 500 Index down 3.5% and the Russell 2000® Index down 2.8%. EAFE lost 4.0%, spread pretty evenly across Europe and Japan. The real story in January, however, was emerging equities, which gave back 6.5%, as measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.  

For fixed income, January’s hiccup ended up being good news, as yields came in modestly higher. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index posted a solid 1.5% return, and global bonds did slightly better.

Wells Fargo Advantage Absolute Return Fund

Against this backdrop, the Absolute Return Fund lost 1.8% on the month. Our quality position, which has often held up relatively well in market downturns, was essentially down in line with the broad indexes. Concern about global, particularly emerging markets economic exposure, was most likely the culprit. Consumer staples—a traditional defensive sector—was one of the worst-performing areas this month, as the market perceived that slowdown outside of the U.S. would hurt earnings for these high-quality global brands. Our international value exposure did slightly better than international growth sectors, but only marginally. And both, importantly, were still down. Our emerging equities exposure was the largest negative contributor.  

On the fixed-income side, emerging country debt exposure hurt, but the TIPS position that we established back in July and August 2013 posted some positive returns. In addition, our absolute return strategies, the GMO Alpha Only Fund and the GMO Alternative Asset Opportunity Fund, each posted positive returns, albeit modest.

By the end of January, equities represented a bit over 50% of the portfolio. We hold a diversified equity basket across quality, currency-hedged international value, and emerging, with a modest allocation to the risk premium strategy. We are maintaining roughly a 9% allocation to credit via asset-backed securities and the GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities holdings represent roughly 13%, while our absolute return sub-strategies, in aggregate, represent a bit over 27%.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gCIieu Tyler Durden

 

 Click here to follow ZeroHedge in Real-time on FinancialJuice

It’s the same old story being told in the London housing market and it’s like a re-run of a boring series or some B movie starring George Osborne, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister David Cameron. That’s when they both have taken off their wellies and put their brollies away after running round the Home Counties and Surrey to visit the poor people that live there and that have been immersed in water up to their necks due to the weather conditions. It’s all low-budget and headless-chicken media hype for the voters, where ‘money has no object’ (apparently according to David Cameron). Although, he will be asking for the EU to pay for it all. Is that the same EU that David Cameron wants to opt out of in 2017? Interesting! Yes, they have far more to contend with and why would they even be bothered about the London housing market at all?

The asking price of UK properties rose nearly 7% on last year’s price, hitting £250, 000 (or $419, 000) this month. That’s once again the highest increase in price for the past six years. There are some property specialists that are once again talking of a housing bubble. Had they not seen it coming before? It couldn’t be plainer that there is a bubble ready to burst with a shortage of properties, increased numbers of people gaining access to the property market via schemes that have been set up by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (and yet still not having either the creditworthiness nor the job security to go with the loans that are being taken out). Shortages in properties are just fuelling prices in London. Prices in London have risen by 11.2% in the past year and by 7.8% in the South-East of the UK in general. But, it looks as if there is only a housing bubble waiting for Mr. Cameron to stick a pin into it in London and the SE of the country.

The average house in London is today £541, 313, which is double the price of the national average. That price is nothing in comparison to certain affluent boroughs in London where the average house price is in excess of £2 million (such as in Kensington or Chelsea, for example).

Interest rates have never been lower. But, the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney left the 0.5% interest rate as it stood at the start of this month, fuelling ideas that he was having his puppet strings pulled from up above in the government and that he was simply the frontman. Interest rates have been at this level since March 2009. In January, Mr. Carney stated that 2014 was going to be a fantastic year for the UK housing market. Perhaps, not fantastic, but memorable (in the bad sense of the word) might be on the cards. But, even back then, he was being warned that he would eat his words.

Mr. Carney stated yesterday in a BBC interview that: “What we’ve seen in the housing market is an adjustment from very low levels. So if you look at the level of transactions, how many houses are purchased how many mortgages are struck, they dropped more than 50 percent…they have not bounced back but they are still more than 25 percent below historic averages, let alone stronger than historic averages”. 
But, the Bank of England has no power to stop what was imagined up to be the recipe for a better economy. It’s just back to 2007 like a shot.

The only things that are keeping the housing market buoyant, wherever that may be in the world are the over-generous (stupid?) central-banking policy of easy money and investors. It has nothing to do with the economy actually getting better at any stage. Foreign buyers are also fuelling the increase in prices, by buying in cash.

In the USA, house prices are set to increase by roughly 5 or 6% this year. We’ll see what happens there in the land of the birth of the housing bubble.

Anyhow, in the UK it’s all the same, Carney, Osborne and Cameron have been the three witches around the cauldron and they have been throwing in a few old toes of frogs and tongues of dogs, hubble, bubble, toil and trouble. The spell has been cast, the cauldron is a bubbling: it’s time! It’s time!

Originally posted: London Housing: Same Old Story

  You might also enjoy:What’s With the Chocolate? |  Banks: You Can Bank on It! | China: What Happened to the Gold Data?

Stiglitz: “Sick”! | Hyperinflation – 10 Worst Cases | Death of the Dollar | You’re Miserable USA! | Emerging Markets: Lock, Stock and Barrel | End of the Financial World 2014 |  Kristallnacht on Wall Street? Bull! | China’s Credit Crunch | Working for the Few | USA:The Land of the Not-So-Free  

 

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1e5up3n Pivotfarm

Submitted by Bob Murphy via The Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada,

Now that Ben Bernanke has handed over the keys of the Federal Reserve, there are all sorts of theoretical arguments, pro and con, concerning his bold quantitative easing (QE) programs, in which the Fed massively expanded its balance sheet:

Many critics, including me, have worried that this will disrupt the proper functioning of credit markets, and threatens to severely debase the US dollar. (Obviously our warnings on the latter point are either totally wrong, or have yet to be fulfilled.)

The defenders of Bernanke have argued that he spared the US (and indeed the world) from a second Great Depression. Moreover, they claim that the Fed will simply let its balance sheet unwind as the economy returns to normal. Bernanke himself discussed several “exit options” when he was still at the helm (which I criticized at the time).

One of the odd points that people raise in Bernanke’s defense is the case of Japan. They explain that Japan implemented a comparable policy, and hey, they didn’t wreck the yen in the process. So why don’t the critics learn their history and cut Bernanke some slack?

Well, hang on a second. Here is a chart (source) showing the relationship between the Japanese central bank’s “monetary base” and price inflation, both expressed as indices of the level:

So yes, it’s true that the Bank of Japan had a rapid expansion of its balance sheet (with the monetary base serving as a proxy), especially in the early 2000s, and yet the official consumer price index is actually lower now than it was in the mid-1990s. (This  site shows the annual CPI rates in Japan, many of which were lower than negative 1% during this interval.) I have two responses:

(1) Look at what the Japanese central bankers had to do, to contain the public’s expectations about price inflation. When their CPI stopped (gently) falling and began rising, in the mid-2000s, the central bank drastically reduced its monetary base–that’s the red line falling off a cliff. So really it seems the lesson from Japan is, “Sure you can get away with a rapid expansion of the monetary base without wrecking your currency, so long as you crash the financial sector whenever price inflation begins rising.” I don’t think any of the gold-bugs and other critics of QE denied this; that was part of their warning.

 

(2) Japan has not at all been successful with its strategy: It is a poster child of an economy stuck in a rut for decades, and counting. The Nikkei 225 (the major Japanese stock exchange) in 2009 was down more than 80% from its peak twenty years earlier. (Yes I wrote that correctly.) So at best, the defenders of Bernanke can say, “Hey, for all you know, we can keep our economy in the gutter for another 20 years without price inflation getting out of hand. You guys are such hypochondriacs!”

In closing, let me point out that we do have historical examples of central banks ruining their economies/currencies through massive expansions of their balance sheets (Weimar Germany, Zimbabwe, etc.). To my knowledge, this has never actually worked anywhere in history. Can anyone point to a successful example?

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gCExG1 Tyler Durden

Over 7 in 10 Obama voters, and 55% of Democrats, regret voting for President Obama's reelection in 2012, according to a new Economist/YouGov.com poll. As The Washington Examiner reports, the poll was conducted to test the media hype about a comeback by 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. While the poll found voters still uninspired by Romney, they are also deeply dissatisfied with Obama (though given the choice of Obama versus Romney, Obama supporters said they would stick with their guy, 79% to 10% for Romney) giving Obama, as The Examiner notes, very early lame duck status before the midterm elections.

Via The Washington Examiner,

The poll asked those who voted for Obama's reelection a simple question: “Do you regret voting for Barack Obama?”

 

Overall, 71 percent said yes, 26 percent no.

 

80 percent of whites said yes, 61 percent of blacks said no and 100 percent of Hispanics said yes.

 

84 percent of women said yes, and just 61 percent of men agreed.

 

55 percent of Democrats said yes, as did 71 percent of independents.

 

Still, given the choice of Obama versus Romney, Obama supporters said they would stick with their guy, 79 percent to 10 percent for Romney.

 

But his voters seem to have moved on and are ready for the next election, giving Obama very early lame duck status before the midterm elections.

…

As for Romney, his favorable ratings have dropped, but he would edge Obama by about three million votes, probably because Americans are not wowed by Obama's second term performance, not because they like Romney more.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gCBygI Tyler Durden

Over 7 in 10 Obama voters, and 55% of Democrats, regret voting for President Obama's reelection in 2012, according to a new Economist/YouGov.com poll. As The Washington Examiner reports, the poll was conducted to test the media hype about a comeback by 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. While the poll found voters still uninspired by Romney, they are also deeply dissatisfied with Obama (though given the choice of Obama versus Romney, Obama supporters said they would stick with their guy, 79% to 10% for Romney) giving Obama, as The Examiner notes, very early lame duck status before the midterm elections.

Via The Washington Examiner,

The poll asked those who voted for Obama's reelection a simple question: “Do you regret voting for Barack Obama?”

 

Overall, 71 percent said yes, 26 percent no.

 

80 percent of whites said yes, 61 percent of blacks said no and 100 percent of Hispanics said yes.

 

84 percent of women said yes, and just 61 percent of men agreed.

 

55 percent of Democrats said yes, as did 71 percent of independents.

 

Still, given the choice of Obama versus Romney, Obama supporters said they would stick with their guy, 79 percent to 10 percent for Romney.

 

But his voters seem to have moved on and are ready for the next election, giving Obama very early lame duck status before the midterm elections.

…

As for Romney, his favorable ratings have dropped, but he would edge Obama by about three million votes, probably because Americans are not wowed by Obama's second term performance, not because they like Romney more.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gCBygI Tyler Durden

And just like that, the MyRA propaganda goes full Goebbels retard. Unfortunately, due to time differences, neither Pravda, nor Izvestia or Moskovskij Komsomolets could reply with affirmative comments due to time constraints.

From the US Treasury:

A Look At What They’re Saying About myRA Across the Country

 

By: Brandi Hoffine

 
Last month in the State of the Union, President Obama laid out specific executive actions he will take to put more Americans back to work and expand opportunity so that every American can get ahead. Speaking about the importance of securing a dignified retirement, the President announced that he would direct Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings.  According to independent estimates, about half of all workers and 75 percent of part-time workers lack access to employer-sponsored retirement plans. That is why the Obama administration designed myRA (my Retirement Account) –  a simple, safe, and affordable retirement savings account that will be offered through employers to help low- and moderate- income Americans begin to save for retirement.

 

Below is a look at what newspaper editorial boards and financial columnists across the country are saying.

Source: US Treasury

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gCvrsU Tyler Durden

And just like that, the MyRA propaganda goes full Goebbels retard. Unfortunately, due to time differences, neither Pravda, nor Izvestia or Moskovskij Komsomolets could reply with affirmative comments due to time constraints.

From the US Treasury:

A Look At What They’re Saying About myRA Across the Country

 

By: Brandi Hoffine

 
Last month in the State of the Union, President Obama laid out specific executive actions he will take to put more Americans back to work and expand opportunity so that every American can get ahead. Speaking about the importance of securing a dignified retirement, the President announced that he would direct Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings.  According to independent estimates, about half of all workers and 75 percent of part-time workers lack access to employer-sponsored retirement plans. That is why the Obama administration designed myRA (my Retirement Account) –  a simple, safe, and affordable retirement savings account that will be offered through employers to help low- and moderate- income Americans begin to save for retirement.

 

Below is a look at what newspaper editorial boards and financial columnists across the country are saying.

Source: US Treasury

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gCvrsU Tyler Durden

It’s getting form bad to worse in the Ukraine: either martial law will be announced any time soon or the proxy civil war becomes a real one. On the bright side, there is something to be said about having a nation’s criminal cases all in paper format: once there is a revolution, everyone’s slate gets wiped clean…

Lviv Attorney General office is seized, ppl setting on fire files w/ criminal cases
http://ift.tt/1gCodoO

— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) February 18, 2014

BREAKING: Officials say 5 more people have died in Ukraine’s capital, raising death toll to 18: http://t.co/BBIAWIHxfc

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 18, 2014

whole house of trade unions, HQ of #euromaidan is on fire…

— Kateryna_Kruk (@Kateryna_Kruk) February 18, 2014

The US is, naturally, stoking the metaphorical, and literal, fire.

BREAKING: from this moment on, US holds Ukrainian government responsible for everything that happen – US Ambassador to RT

— Europarl2014 (@2014Europarl) February 18, 2014

Why? Becase as a reminder, in Victoria Nuland’s own words, the US is the grand puppetmaster behind everything.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gCokAK Tyler Durden