Dick’s sporting goods got the shaft today – circumcised to the tune of 23% after comp sales and EPS missed bigly. The company also slashed guidance for the rest of the year to $2.80 – $3.00 below previous guidance of $3.65 – $3.75 and Wall St. estimates of $3.62.

Dick’s Chopped

Warning…

And in a dire warning to the market, CEO Ed Stack said retail is in bad shape:

“There’s a lot of people right now, I think, in retail and in this industry in panic mode. There’s been a difficult environment. I think people, I’m not going to speculate what they’re thinking, but they seem to be in panic mode with how they’re pricing product, and we think it’s going to continue to be promotional and at times, irrational going forward.”

Stack also said their prices are too high, and as a result they’re going to beef up marketing efforts…

“we have conducted extensive consumer research, and the customers have told us they feel our prices are not competitive in today’s environment” in which everyone is slashing price to capture market share, and as a result the company is “intentionally joining this battle, and we will aggressively be promoting our business to drive market share to our stores and online.”

Too much inventory

Stack kept coming back to fact that other retailers are eating Dick’s lunch, adding “What’s going on in the marketplace right now is that it’s just very promotional, almost panicked in some cases, I think, especially in the hunting and fishing categories,” adding “There’s a lot of inventory in the pipeline, and people need to move it out, and it’s going to continue to be promotional until this inventory gets moved out of the pipeline”

I mean, Dick’s is a sporting goods store – and an increasingly fat America would rather play FIFA on an Xbox than risk blowing out their knees trying to shuffle our obese asses around on a soccer field. That said, perhaps we should consider this another canary choking in yet another coal mine.

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And just like that, North Korea turned out to be a big nothing burger after Kim Jong Un decided not to launch an attack with their ICBMs which are totally capable of hitting Guam.

Don’t get cocky though – lil’ Kim wants us to know that we’re getting off light this time, and that he could change his mind at ANY TIME.

“If the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the restraint of the DPRK [North Korea], the [North] will make an important decision as it already declared,” Kim said, according to the Wall St. Journal

Hear that Trump? Better stop testing Kim with the “Fire and Fury” shit before he unleashes his “enveloping fire” near Guam.

This is some Team America bullshit. https://t.co/qIHlSrFTFJ

— ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) August 10, 2017

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Another disappointment to the human race was caught on film outside of Trump Tower in protest of his return to New York City, and was asked by a police officer to move – cracking the joke “I sold my soul for a badge.”

The truly stupid millennial’s simian brain just couldn’t handle it…

Watch (via Twitchy):

"I sold my soul for a badge" – An NYPD officer to protesters while moving them away from Trump Tower pic.twitter.com/TxxQU9fNyB

— nick wray (@nickwray) August 14, 2017

After this mental rape, the girl breaks down as she walks away from her post – unable to give the president what for, muttering “We were doing what we were TOLD….” adding “you roll your eyes ’cause you’re fucking WEAK! Because you know you’re WRONG. ‘Cause you think you’re a MAN and you can roll your eyes at a FUCKING young woman…”

Hmm?She was doing what she was told to do.
The "Conditioning" is disgusting
Good job NYPD protecting Trump Tower!
pic.twitter.com/hgkeVH6x8d

— ??PATRIOT 24/7?? (@TrumpTrain45Pac) August 15, 2017

Jesus Christ…

 

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This is the market’s way of telling you to go do something outside today: 

Everyone’s got a smart phone – just go and be free. Get a lapdance, buy a dog, whatever. If shit gets crazy, you’ll figure it out.

LOOK – this is what Marketwatch is headlining right now: 

Truly a sign you’re wasting your life if you’re still reading this.

Look at this pile of boring garbage…

Aside from Home Depot and Lowes sucking taint, this is yet another sign that something greater awaits outside of doors.

So boring, except for Bitcoin – which is crashing today, down $500 from overnight highs. 

Baby boomers across the land who recently read articles on Bitcoin at ‘record highs’ and instructed their adult children to ‘get them in’ woke up to carnage today

A closer look at the carnage

Go play.

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In what is shaping up to be a contentious battle over privacy rights and free speech, the Department of Justice has formally requested that web hosting firm ‘DreamHost’ turn over 1.3 million IP addresses and other information to ‘unmask‘ visitors to the anti-Trump Antifa website ‘disruptj20.org,’ as part of the investigation into crimes committed on and around the January 20 inauguration. DreamHost has challenged the request, claiming the scope of data requested violates the first and fourth amendments because it is too broad.

DisruptJ20.org was registered in October of 2016 by the ‘DC Anti-fascist Coalition,’ and promoted along with the hashtag #DisruptJ20 as a central resource for anti-Trump protesters to coordinate various plots over social media intended disrupt the presidential inauguration on and around January 20. The website connected users through mailing lists and planned meet-ups, and provided a calendar of anarchistic events as well as resources to help people prepare for the mayhem. The site also provides a ‘legal guide’ for those arrested.

Of note, organizers Luke Kuhn and Colin Dunn were caught on hidden camera at the infamous Comet Ping Pong Pizza restaurant in Washington DC, where they divulged plans to release butyric acid at the “Deploraball” Inauguration party, as well as “a series of clusterf*ck blockades, blockades of all the major ingress points in the city, shutting down major bridges and highway access points, as well as shutting down metro rail.” (video 1, video 2)

As a result of the undercover sting, both men in the video were arrested along with a third – however after inauguration related chaos ensued, much of which was coordinated through the DisruptJ20 website, 230 ‘black-bloc‘ protesters were arrested and subsequently indicted on felony rioting charges after the “anti-fascists” rioted in the streets – smashing storefronts, setting a limousine on fire, and injuring six police officers.

DOJ Request

Following the inauguration riots, the Department of Justice served DisruptJ20 website host, DreamHost, with a search warrant – requesting over 1.3 million IP addresses, as well as contact information, emails, photos, and browsing habits of visitors to the Antifa website.

DreamHost is currently challenging the request in court, and has hearing scheduled for Friday. In its most recent filing, the company claims “That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment”.

Unsettling precedent

While authorities need to be able to gather evidence used in to help prosecute crimes – especially against violent leftists who have committed countless crimes in the name of tolerance, scooping up a shotgun blast of personal information from up to 1.3 million people sets a dangerous precedent – as it effectively opens the door to targeted data collection on all Americans, right down to browsing habits.

“In essence, the Search Warrant not only aims to identify the political dissidents of the current administration, but attempts to identify and understand what content each of these dissidents viewed on the website,” said DreamHost General Council Chris Ghazarian in a legal filing opposing the request.

Given recent revelations of the Obama administration’s illegal unmasking of thousands of Americans during the 2016 election, people are more aware than ever of the risk of government malfeasance when it comes to collecting, storing, and misusing the information of private citizens and organizations. Even if the Trump administration (packed with holdovers) promises to treat personal information with the utmost discretion, and somehow we could trust that promise – history has shown that the next despot to come along would gladly use it to target groups of people via illegal surveillance, tax records, or court-ordered production of a website’s user data – perhaps even the one you’re on right now…

Maybe the DOJ is attempting to use a hammer when a scalpel would suffice?

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The following was published in the NY Post on Friday, reportedly from a former FBI agent, ripping the former FBI Director a new asshole for failing to convene a grand jury against Hillary Clinton, execute search warrants, and for being “cowardly” and “juvenile.”

Enjoy…

——–

OPINION

Comey botched the Hillary Clinton email investigation

By John Crudele

August 12, 2017 | 11:30pm

Dear John: You recently criticized the FBI for its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails.

I am a retired FBI agent and extremely proud of my career and service. I feel compelled to write. Former FBI Director James Comey’s statements, testimony and behavior are truly abhorrent.

Comey admitted under oath before Congress that the bureau did not utilize a federal grand jury in the Hillary e-mail investigation.

Furthermore, he testified that in his experience, when dealing with attorneys, you can obtain information easier and faster than via a federal grand jury.

Never, I repeat never, in my 25-year career have I or any FBI agent known to me investigated a criminal case without the use of a federal grand jury, federal grand jury subpoenas, search warrants, etc.

Search warrants and/or subpoenas should have been executed at Clinton’s residences in Chappaqua and Washington and at Platte River Networks.

In fact, Comey frequently cites his vast experience. Well, I am certain that in every case with which he was involved (except this one, conveniently) he employed the use of a federal grand jury and all of the authority that encompasses.

Comey’s parsing of words to justify his cowardly decision was awkward and juvenile. These circumstances are indicia of Hillary’s intent (which, as we both are aware, is not a necessary element to satisfy the federal espionage statute) on which Comey placed so much emphasis.

Comey’s cowardice and lack of integrity is further exemplified in his surreptitious disclosure of confidential information through an intermediary to the New York Times.

Comey has created a disgraceful legacy. P.B.

Dear P.B.: I changed your initials and some other details because I’d like to speak with you and don’t want anyone to guess your identity.

My sources say Comey and three others made the decision on Hillary. The rest of the investigating agents weren’t consulted, and many were shocked by the decision not to pursue charges.

——-

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Family owned torch manufacturer Tiki Brand Products has distanced itself from the creepy white supremacist ceremony held during last weekend’s rally in Charlottesville, VA identical to a Ukrainian Neo-Nazi group’s.

“Tiki Brand is not associated in any way with the events that took place in Charlottesville and are deeply saddened and disappointed,” read a statement on the company’s Facebook page. “We do not support their message or the use of our products in this way. Our products are designed to enhance backyard gatherings and to help family and friends connect with each other at home in their yard.”

Many around the interwebs noted the irony of white supremacists using Asian-made, culturally Polynesian torches.

I like it when when racists march with tiki torches, in clothes & shoes made by Asians. You can hate us but you can't escape us boo 😉

— David So (@davidsocomedy) August 13, 2017

Nothing says "Defending White Culture" like carrying a Tiki Torch. A polynesian cultural product to defend and assert white supremacy

— KJW (@Walakk) August 13, 2017

When you think you're the master race but you can't figure out how to make your own damn torch. pic.twitter.com/vwSCQofDkm

— Rex Huppke (@RexHuppke) August 12, 2017

The company received an outpouring of support over Facebook. “It’s saddening that you even have to make this statement,” one woman wrote. Another commenter said “Neo-Nazis always highjack [sic] good things and wreck them by association.”

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Markets have sprung back to life as tensions between the United States and North Korea have simmered down following a claim by CIA director Mike Pompeo that there is no ‘imminent’ threat of nuclear war.

As of right now the Dow is up 145, S&P 500 is up 24.90, and the Nasdaq has tacked on an impressive 82 points – recovering about half of last week’s carnage.

Crude, meanwhile is trading near the lows of the day, down 2.56% to $47.58.

Market Heatmap

Looking at a market heatmap from Finviz, it’s green pretty much across the board with the exception of basic materials, Disney, and Home Depot.

So who bought the dip?

 

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‘Unite the Right’ organizer Jason Kessler was reportedly an Obama supporter involved in the Occupy movement as recently as November 2016, before establishing his white supremacist group “Unity & Security for America” in January, 2017.

Per the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Rumors abound on white nationalist forums that Kessler’s ideological pedigree before 2016 was less than pure and seem to point to involvement in the Occupy movement and past support for President Obama.

At one recent speech in favor of Charlottesville’s status as a sanctuary city, Kessler live-streamed himself as an attendee questioned him and apologized for an undisclosed spat during Kessler’s apparent involvement with Occupy. Kessler appeared visibly perturbed by the woman’s presence and reminders of their past association.

Kessler himself has placed his “red-pilling” around December of 2013 when a PR executive was publicly excoriated for a tasteless Twitter joke about AIDS in Africa.

Regarding the incident, Kessler stated “… so it was just a little race joke, nothing that big of a deal, she didn’t have that many followers, she probably didn’t think anybody was gonna see it,”

Regardless of Kessler’s past politics, the rightward shift in his views was first put on display in November, 2016 when his tirade against Wes Bellamy began.

Kessler was chased away from his own press conference on Sunday, given in the aftermath of the deadly riots the previous day.

Protesters chased Jason Kessler away from his own press conference in Charlottesville. Here's my view: pic.twitter.com/fTXctHgzsi

— Blake Montgomery (@blakersdozen) August 13, 2017

Kessler was a CNN Assignment Editor?

Internet sleuths discovered a CNN report on Occupy Wall St. from five years ago submitted by “CNN Assignment Editor Jason Kessler.” Same guy?

Something’s rotten in many states… 

Nothing smells right about any of this. In fact, Lee Stranahan has connected the “Unite the Right” rally to an identical Neo-Nazi movement in Ukraine supported by John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

Stranahan Periscope Here

Hour long interview with Crowdsource the Truth:

Hey @SenJohnMcCain & @HillaryClinton help us understand your support of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis…it's terribly confusing. #maidencoup pic.twitter.com/RRCWWMav1T

— Ed (@DowdEdward) August 14, 2017

Developing…

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Tesla busted out with a very oversubscribed bond offering of nearly $1.8 billion last Friday in an expected cash infusion. Announced August 4 and originally slated for just $1.5 billion, the cash infusion consists of eight-year unsecured bonds at 5.3% – according to a SEC filing.

Tesla initially wanted to sell $1.5 billion worth of debt but enlarged the offering because of overwhelming demand, according to IFR, a Thomson Reuters unit. The yield was slightly higher than the 5.25 percent cited at the initial launch.

Cash proceeds will help finance production of Tesla’s Model 3, which it is banking on to hit the mass market bullseye and finally help the company turn a profit. Tesla aims to boost production to 500,000 cars next year, about six times its 2016 output. –MarketsInsider

With $3 billion in cash on hand and a burn rate of $100 million / week according to CFO Deeoak Ahuja, Tesla’s cash injection was expected prior to the Aug. 4 announcement, after spending over $2 billion in the most recent quarter. Most analysts, however, expected an equity raise instead of adding more debt to their existing $7.1 billion load.

“Without the proceeds from the note offering, Tesla’s liquidity position would be stressed,” analysts at Moody’s said, warning of risks to potential investors.

Bond investors will not be looking at whether Tesla’s stock is way up or way down, but rather at whether Tesla is likely to be able to service its debt through the maturity of its bonds. What Tesla is actually doing with its cash flow will come under greater scrutiny. And the source of that cash flow will also be under the microscope.

This means that Tesla’s ability to execute with its core business will be critical. Build cars, sell cars, and do it at a profit. In this context, veering off into semi-trucks and the freight business might look foolish — even self-driving, given the mountain of manufacturing that Tesla has to climb over the next year or two (500,000 deliveries by the end of 2018, a million by 2020), could be interpreted as a story-changer, rather than a move that would reverse Tesla losses and take the company out of recurrent capital-starvation mode. –Business Insider

Tesla plans to make 5,000 of its new Model 3 per week by the end of 2017, eventually ramping to 10,000 / week at it’s Fremont factory – an ambitious target.  One wonders if Moody’s has considered whether or not Tesla would be able to service their new bonds if Federal electric vehicle subsidies disappear?

Electric car sales in Denmark plunged more than 60% year over year – a move attributed to the progressive phasing out of subsidies for electric cars, announced in late 2015.

Tesla, whose sales were skyrocketing at the time, lobbied against the move, with Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk warning during a visit to Copenhagen that sales would be hit.

The new tax regime “completely killed the market,” Laerke Flader, head of the Danish Electric Car Alliance, said in a recent interview. “Price really matters.” –Bloomberg

Will the U.S. government end subsidies for electric vehicles? Maybe, maybe not – but Trump can’t be happy about Elon Musk ditching his economic advisory council after the United States pulled out of the Paris climate accord – so who knows..

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