USA'S FACTORY PRODUCTION PLUMMETING - CURRENCY-PRINTING FED BLAMES THE WEATHER - (UPDATED)

HOT AIR: 

Factory production fell 0.8% last month, the sharpest drop in nearly five years, which the Fed blames at least in part on the weather. The decline went against market expectations, and includes a downward revision for December:

Factory production in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in January by the most since May 2009, adding to evidence severe winter weather weighed on the economy.

WE'VE HAD SNOW BEFORE - LIKE .... HMMM... EVERY WINTER BETWEEN 2009 AND 2014, BUT ALWAYS WITHOUT THIS DRASTIC DOWNTURN. 

BLAMING THE WEATHER IS AS TRUTHFUL AS THE KID WHO SAYS HIS DOG ATE HIS HOMEWORK. 

AS LONG AS THE FED AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ARE IN DENIAL, THE BUBBLE WILL CONTINUE INFLATING AND THE DANGER OF A HARD CRASH GROWS. 

WHEN THE STOCK MARKET IGNORES THE FUNDAMENTALS AND GOES UP ON THE FED'S ASSURANCE THEY WILL PRINT MORE MONEY (BY BUYING BONDS IN WHAT IS NOTHING MORE THAN A PONZI SCHEME) YOU KNOW WE'RE HEADED FOR A DISASTER.

SIGH.

HERE'S WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING - FROM DOUG ROSS:

-In January, we were told that the U.S. economy "created" 113,000 new jobs. But that figure was arrived at only after adding a massive seasonal adjustment. In reality, the U.S. economy actually lost 2.87 million jobs in January. 

During the past decade, the only time the U.S. economy has lost more jobs in January was during 2009. At that time, the U.S. economy was suffering through the peak of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. 

-Prominent retailers are closing hundreds of stores all over the United States. Things have gotten so bad that some are calling this a "retail apocalypse"...

• JC Penney, which lost $586 million in three months in 2013, is planning to close 33 stores in 19 states and lay off 2,000 people. JC Penney?s stock has lost 84 percent of its value since February 2012.
• Sears has decided to shut down its flagship store in Downtown Chicago, and it has closed 300 stores in the United States since 2010. Stock analyst Brian Sozzi noted that Sear?s inventory levels have fallen by 23.7 percent since 2006. He also noted that Sears had $4.4 billion in cash and equivalents in 2005 but $609 million in cash and equivalents in 2012. Sozzi, who calls himself a guerrilla analyst, has a blog full of disturbing pictures of empty Sears stores.
• Macy's, one of the few retail success stories, is planning to close five stores and eliminate 2,500 jobs.
• Radio Shack is preparing to close 500 stores, according to The Wall Street Journal.
• Best Buy recently closed 50 stores and eliminated 950 jobs at stores in Canada.
• Target announced plans to eliminate 475 jobs and not fill 700 empty positions to reduce costs.
• Aeropostale is planning to close 175 stores.
• Blockbuster has closed down all of its stores.

-McDonald's is reporting that sales at established U.S. locations were down 3.3 percent in January.
-In January, real disposable income in the U.S. experienced the largest year over year decline that we have seen since 1974.

IF THE ECONOMY WAS REALLY GOING TO IMPROVE, WOULD ALL THOSE RETAILERS BE CUTTING BACK?

NOPE.

UPDATE: 

THE EU'S NUMBERS ARE OUT AND THEIR BEING TOUTED AS A GOOD SIGN, BUT THEY ARE NOT:

Gross domestic product in the 18-nation euro zone grew by 0.3 percent in the October-December period, compared with the previous quarter, when it grew by 0.1 percent, according to Eurostat, the Luxembourg-based statistical agency of the European Union. The quarterly rise was better than the 0.2 percent growth economists had been expecting, and works out to a 1.1 percent annualized rate of growth.

1.1% GROWTH IS NOT  SUFFICIENT TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF ANY EUROPEANS; LIVING STANDARDS AND EMPLOYMENT WILL DECLINE WITH ANEMIC GROWTH LIKE THIS.

AND THERE IS NO REASONABLE BASIS FOR ARGUING THAT GROWTH RATES WILL IMPROVE.

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY IS FALTERING.

CASE CLOSED.