2015 wasn't really much of a great year unless you were buying real estate. The markets didn't really go anywhere - mostly ending about where they started for the year, perhaps a little lower. The stocks are still in decline (major indices down 6 to 10% YTD) and the BDI (Baltic Dry Index) at it's lowest ever, lower than during the 2008 crisis. (This BDI chart stays up to date - this one often runs behind but has a longer history). What is the BDI? It's the cost of shipping raw materials, basically, and it looks like just about nobody is shipping any. Industries aren't ordering raw materials, presumably because they don't see being able to sell any steel etc that they would make because manufacturers aren't buying them because they don't expect to be able to sell their products because nobody is buying anything any more. It's as though the economy of the world has stopped. It is now about 7 years past the big crash of 2007-8. It took 10 years from the crash of '29 to the start of WWII. Either the people in charge will change the way the economy works to turn things around (like Hitler did in '36) or things are going to get really, really nasty.
And here was me thinking that all these famous actors dropping dead one after another was bad enough. I don't know about a world war, but I can certainly see the possibility of Europe completely collapsing. Between the continuing fallout from the banking scandals, the immigrant issues and the very real probability of England withdrawing (sorry pro-EU folks, but your side of the argument has pretty much ran out of steam), things have not looked so unstable in a very long time.
John McAfee will win the presidential race and make everything OK (Just as soon as he decrypts the San Bernardino iPhone.)
