From James Harkin (Webmaster & Editor of LindseyWilliams.net). Here is a summary of articles of interest from around the world for this week. Please LIKE the Lindsey Williams Online Facebook Page to see stories posted daily regarding the current state of the economy around the world.
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Latest News From December 16, 2016 to December 22, 2016:
Why Trump’s “Border Tax Proposal” Is The “Most Important Thing Nobody Is Talking About”
While the market, and various pundits and economists have been mostly focused on the still to be disclosed details of Trump’s infrastructure spending aspects of his fiscal plan, “one of the least talked about but possibly most important tax shifts in the history of the United States” is, according to DB, House Speaker Paul Ryan’s and President-elect Trump’s “border tax adjustment” proposal. This is part of the “Better Way” reform package and also figures prominently in the writings of senior Trump administration officials. What is it? Put simply, the proposal would tax US imports at the corporate income tax rate, while exempting income earned from exports from any taxation. The reform would closely mirror tax border adjustments in economies with consumption-based VAT tax systems. If enacted, the plan will likely be extremely bullish for the US dollar. What’s more, it would have a transformational impact on the US trade relationship with the rest of the world.
Early 2017 Record Scam Stock Market Going to Blow Up-Michael Pento
Money manager Michael Pento says don’t get too comfortable with the record highs in the stock market. Pento warns, “In December of 2015, the Fed raised rates. It was the first time in a decade. From the middle of December to the end of December (2015), it was nirvana. They raised rates. There was no problem, and then came January. The first trading day of January, boom, and we had the worst January in the history of all Januarys in the stock market. I think the very same thing is going to happen in 2017, but I think it’s going to be worse. Not only are we going to fall, I think there is going to be a huge tremor in China and in the emerging markets. That’s early in 2017, and when that occurs, Janet Yellen (Fed Head) can forget about three rate hikes. I think she will not get more than one rate hike out of the way before this whole thing unwinds and unfolds. Then, you are going to get a reversal of those rate hikes. You are going to go back into QE (quantitative easing or money printing) in 2017.”
Italian Government To Meet At 7:30PM CET To Approve Monte Paschi Nationalization
Having failed to secure a private sector rescue after its anchor investor Qatar balked at sinking another $1 billion into the perpetually insolvent bank, Italy’s Monte Paschi is set to be nationalized as soon as 7:30pm CET today when the Italian cabinet is expected to meet and decide on a bank decree. The EU is said to have approved the Italian bank decree. As Bloomberg notes, the Italian government set to intervene soon after expected failure of Monte Paschi recapitalization plan, says senior Italian official who asked not be named before cabinet discusses banks’ decree. The decree would set up a €20 billion fund which would intervene when recaps by banks are not supported by market. Paschi and other troubled lenders will not be named in the decree, but it will apply to them. While shareholders will be hit, something which is obvious by the market cap of the company which is now below €500 million, the aim is to limit losses for stock and bondholders. The cabinet is also expected to announce a 6-month extension for popolari banks.
Tis The Season For Credit Card Debt: This Christmas Americans Will Spend An Average Of 422 Dollars Per Child
For many Americans, the quality of Christmas is determined by the quality of the presents. This is especially true for our children, and some of them literally spend months anticipating their haul on Christmas morning. I know that when I was growing up Christmas was all about the presents. Yes, adults would give lip service to the other elements of Christmas, but all of the other holiday activities could have faded away and it still would have been Christmas as long as presents were under that tree on the morning of December 25th. Perhaps things are different in your family, but it is undeniable that for our society as a whole gifts are the central feature of the holiday season. And that is why so many parents feel such immense pressure to spend a tremendous amount of money on gifts for their children each year. Of course this pressure that they feel is constantly being reinforced by television ads and big Hollywood movies that continuously hammer home what a “good Christmas” should look like.
Fed’s Yellen trumpets education in changing economy
Changing technologies and globalization have put a premium on completing a college education in order to get and keep higher-paying jobs, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Monday. “The drivers of this increasing demand for those with college and graduate degrees are likely to continue to be important,” Yellen said in prepared remarks to a University of Baltimore commencement ceremony at which she was due to receive an honorary degree. She did not mention monetary policy in her speech, which was solely focused on the world of work, but did note those graduating were entering the strongest jobs market in nearly a decade.
Car-tastrophe – GM, Fiat Chrysler Idle 7 Plants; Over 10,000 Workers Affected
Just weeks after Ford idled four plants “due to slowing sales”, GM and Fiat Chrysler announced today that they will idle seven plants across Canada and US as they work to reduce near-record high inventories amid weakening sales. With an inventories-to-sales ratio above historical peaks (only beaten by huge spike in 2008 when sales stopped), the pain for automakers has only just begun… For example, GM’s inventory of vehicles on dealer lots at the end of November stood at 874,162, up 26.5% from the same time a year ago.
Obama takes some blame for staggering Democratic losses during presidency
Looking back at a Democratic Party that has been shattered nationwide under his leadership, President Obama is accepting blame for building an organization that benefited mainly himself. The president said Monday that he and his political team didn’t pay enough attention to local Democratic candidates after he came into office in 2009 with a recession and two wars to handle. “We were just putting out fires,” Mr. Obama said in an exit interview with NPR. “We were in a huge crisis situation. And so a lot of the organizing work that we did during the campaign, we started to see right away didn’t immediately translate to, wasn’t immediately transferable to, congressional candidates. And more work would have needed to be done to just build up that structure.”
Column: Raising the minimum wage lowers employment for teens and low-skill workers
A report by the National Employment Law Project estimates that American workers will gain $62 billion in wage increases due to state and local minimum wage increases advocated by the Fight for $15 movement. Where did it get that number? Although calls and emails to NELP to get the methodology behind its figures went unanswered, it’s clear that the study made a number of assumptions. NELP states in the report that, “Total income increase estimates [were] derived by multiplying the number of workers affected, by the per-worker income increase at the end of the phase-in period.” In other words, NELP estimated the number of workers at different wage levels in areas that passed minimum wage increases, calculated the difference in their former incomes and new incomes under the new minimum wage when that wage was completely phased in and added those increases to get to $62 billion.
China Cuts Offering Size Of 3, 7 Year Bonds By 40% Over Concerns Of More Failed Auctions
The danger signs are building up for the Chinese bond market. First, last Thursday, Chinese bond futures crashed by the most on record forcing China’s regulator to briefly halt trading in the security until the panic fades. Then, on Friday, a Chinese bill auction technically “failed” when it was unable to find enough buyers for the total amount offered for sale. At the same time, interbank lending among Chinese banks effectively froze when, as a result of the spike in overnight lending rates, the PBOC was forced to intervene by providing a “massive” amount of liquidity . The PBOC tapped an emergency lending facility it created in 2014 to extend 394 billion yuan ($56.7 billion) in six-month and one-year loans to 19 banks. That pushed the net amount extended through the facility to 721.5 billion yuan so far in December, a monthly record, according to Beijing-based research firm NSBO. The central bank also injected a net 45 billion yuan into the money market on Friday, following a net 145 billion yuan cash infusion on Thursday. The PBOC also ordered a few large banks to extend longer-term loans to nonbank financial institutions, while China’s securities regulator asked brokers tasked with making a market in bonds to continue trading and not shut any companies out of the market, according to Mr. Zheng of Dongxing Securities.
“Demonetization Has Achieved Nothing” – India’s Rapidly Plunging Toward A Police State
India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced on 8th November 2016 that Rs 500 (~$7.50) and Rs 1,000 (~$15) banknotes would no longer be legal tender. Linked are Part-I, Part-II, Part-III, Part-IV, and Part-V, which provide updates on the demonetization saga and how Modi is acting as a catalyst to hasten the rapid degradation of India and what remains of its institutions. As the deadline of 31st December 2016 approaches, Gresham’s law has been turned upside down. When they needed to be converted, the banned currency notes were trading for a 20% discount to their face value. In the meantime, the discount has disappeared and the banned notes are trading at a premium of 10%. The mafia which deals in the banned notes could not possibly be happier — it promises to be a big supporter of Modi going forward.
Judge orders unsealing of search warrant in Clinton email probe
A federal judge has ordered the unsealing of a search warrant that played a role in the controversial public renewal of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email just before the presidential election. The warrant was issued by a federal magistrate in late October, after the FBI requested permission to search emails contained on a laptop belonging to Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin. U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel issued an order Monday that the warrant linked to the Clinton probe and related records be unsealed at noon Tuesday, unless a higher court steps in. The judge acted after E. Randal Schoenberg, a California lawyer who mainly investigates art thefts, filed a suit seeking to force unsealing of the files.
Italy Seeks Authorization To Raise National Debt To Fund Bank Bailouts, As BMPS Rescue Plan In Jeopardy
While Italy scrambles to conclude a private sector rescue of ailing Monte Paschi, which hopes to raise €5 billion in the form a share sale to anchor and retail investors, while at the same time the bank is underoing a debt for equity swap, moments ago Reuters reported that Italy’s cabinet will meet later on Monday to authorise an increase to the national debt to cover the cost of saving Monte dei Paschi di Siena, should a public bailout be unavoidable, as well as other ailing banks, government sources said cited by Reuters. As reported yesterday, Monte dei Paschi has launched a 5-billion-euro (4.2 billion pounds) capital increase and must raise the money by the end of the year or face being wound down. If it cannot find takers in the private sector, the government will be forced to step in.
Doing Business the Chinese Way: Facebook Develops A Censorship Tool
After seven years being banned in China, Facebook learned its lesson—Do business the Chinese way. According to the New York Times, Facebook has developed a censorship tool to restrict contents from appearing in feeds, hoping to re-enter the Chinese market, where many other tech companies including Google and Twitter failed in the past. It is likely Facebook would provide a third party with this censorship tool for monitoring posts, instead of censoring feeds itself. The company may partner with a Chinese firm, utilizing local expertise and connections in negotiating with Beijing. A Facebook spokeswoman said the company had not made decisions on its China re-entry plan.
“Everyone Is Nervous” – Chinese Bond Bloodbath Reawakens As Hong Kong Stocks Turn Red For 2016
After a brief respite, the bloodbath in Chinese bonds is back, with futures plunging back to lows overnight amid liquidity fears (short-term lending rates are inverted) and growing anxiety over China’s almost unprecedented debtload. As The Wall Street Journal reports, a gradual tightening of short-term credit by China’s central bank – combined with rumors of liquidity squeezes at brokers – prompted a mini-rout in the country’s $8 trillion-plus bond market last week, forcing authorities to reverse course and inject some $86 billion in short- and medium-term funds.
Secret terrifying 13 FOOT ‘Avatar war’ robot learns to walk and mimic human movements
Scientists have programmed a monster one-tonne robot that can walk and mimic human movements resembling something from Avatar. The METHOD-1 machine is four metres tall and when it stomps it leaves the ground “shaking”, according to designer Vitaly Bulgarov. The giant robot, built in South Korea, works by repeating the actions of its pilot sitting inside by moving its enormous arms and legs up and down.
Deutsche axes bonuses to pay toxic loans fine
Deutsche Bank is to axe bonuses for senior staff as part of its desperate efforts to pay for a potential $14bn (£11.2bn) legal settlement with American regulators. John Cryan, the German bank’s Yorkshire-born boss, warned top bankers this month that their bonuses would be seized to help foot the bill for the mis-selling of sub-prime mortgages. A handful of top-performing executives will receive “retention cheques” — much smaller sums that will be paid out over several years. Junior staff will still receive a bonus, but on a far smaller scale.
Deutsche Bank Shares Stumble As DoJ Settlement Looms
Deutsche Bank shares are sliding this morning after headlines from CNBC reporting a settlement is close with the US Justice Department over mortgage fraud. With analyst expectations/hopes in the $2 to $5 billion range (against the initial $14 billion fine), reports say the bank is set to pay “less than $14 billion” which has perhaps spooked investors with its uncertainty. As Bloomberg reports, Deutsche Bank will pay “far less” than the initial $14b settlement sought by the U.S. DOJ to resolve litigation over residential mortgage-backed securities, Reuters says, citing a person familiar with the matter. The source says there is a “good chance” the matter will be resolved this week, possibly as early as Wednesday. However, the deal is not finalized yet, and resolution could still be delayed. And for now the stock is fading…
Chinese Interbank Lending Freezes, Forcing Massive Intervention By China’s Central Bank
China is finding itself in an increasingly more untenable situation, trapped on one hand by its sliding currency (and declining reserves), which as noted earlier it has manipulated higher by forcing overnight unsecured rates to spike, in the process punishing “speculators” and other shorts… and on the other, by a banking sector that finds itself desperately in need of liquidity, unable to endure the PBOC’s monetary interventions, and on the verge of a liquidity crisis comparable to what Chinese banks suffered in the summer of 2013 when overnight rates briefly shot up above 20% as China pushed aggressively with a failed deleveraging campaign.
The War on Cash Rages On in India and Venezuela
Imagine you roll out of bed tomorrow to find out that US $100 and $50 bills were outlawed and deemed worthless? Hard as it is to believe, this is now taking place in both Venezuela and India. It’s a war on cash. And it’s coming soon to your doorstep. This past Sunday, President Maduro, the tyrannical leader of the socialist paradise of Venezuela gave a three day warning that he was eliminating his country’s 100 bolivar bank note. The official reasoning for the removal of these bills according to President Maduro’s statement on Venezuelan state-run TV: “There has been a scam and smuggling of the one hundred bills on the border with Colombia, we have tried the diplomatic way to deal with this problem with Colombia’s government; there are huge mafias.” The 100 bolivar note was the country’s largest currency denomination left in circulation and was equivalent in value to $0.02 USD.
ALERT: A Major Warning Signal Was Just Triggered That Preceded The Last Collapse
With interest rates spiking and the dollar surging, a major warning signal was just triggered that preceded the last collapse. Major Danger Signal Just Triggered. From Jason Goepfert at SentimenTrader: “Homebuilders are giddy. While their stocks have been flat for several years, company officials are the most optimistic since the housing bubble years. In the past 30 years, they have been this positive on their industry only three times, and two of those coincided with peaks in their stocks…
How Deutsche Bank Sent Your Bullion to ISIS
In some strange way I have been led to this final chapter as laid out by Mark Anthony Taylor below. The paper trail goes back to WW1 and the alliance between Germany and Turkey. Central to this period in history was the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Turks and with German observers. A similar brutality was repeated by Nazi Germany in WW2. 30 million Russians lost their lives in that war, along with 12 million Protestants and Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe and 6 million Jews.
Prelude To Global Collapse And How Swiss Refiners Just Exposed The Big Lie In The Gold Market
With interest rates soaring, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, spoke with King World News about the prelude to global collapse and how the Swiss refiners just exposed the big lie in the gold market. The Final Mania In Global Markets. Egon von Greyerz: “We are now approaching the final mania in markets. The Dow seems to be on its last swan song. Investors are determined to take it up to 20,000. Since there are only 160 points to go, this would not be hard to achieve. At the same time, U.S. Treasury bonds are crashing. The 10-year yield has gone from 1.4%, a low 1 1⁄2 years ago, to 2.6% today. Normally stock market investors would worry about higher interest rates but the market is currently in a euphoric mode so any bad news is ignored in this final crescendo…
James Turk – This Will Be One Of The Big Keys For 2017
As we kick off the final week of trading before Christmas, today James Turk spoke with King World News about what will be one of the big keys for 2017. James Turk: “There is a lot of cheerleading coming from stock market bulls and the mainstream media as the Dow Jones Industrials Average (DJIA) approaches 20,000, Eric. I find it interesting though that little attention is being paid to the Dow Jones Transportation Average. The Transports peaked earlier this month and have dropped steadily since then. In fact, even the DJIA now appears to be hesitating, which highlights its struggle to reach 20,000.
Italy Banking Crisis is Also a Huge Crime Scene – Toxic loans as a result of corruption, political kickbacks, fraud, and abuse
The Bank of Italy’s Target 2 liabilities towards other Eurozone central banks — one of the most important indicators of banking stress — has risen by €129 billion in the last 12 months through November to €358.6 billion. That’s well above the €289 billion peak reached in August 2012 at the height of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Foreign and local investors are dumping Italian government bonds and withdrawing their funding to Italian banks. The bank at the heart of Italy’s financial crisis, Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), has bled €6 billion of “commercial direct deposits” between September 30 and December 13, €2 billion of which since December 4, the date of Italy’s constitutional referendum.
Wall Street Wrong, Put All Your Eggs in One Basket: Jim Rogers
Diversification is generally considered one of the basic tenets of investing and financial planning. Owning a mix of assets, ideally with a low correlation, including, stocks, bonds, real estate and gold, for example, is Investing 101. That is unless you’re one of the world’s most famous investors, Jim Rogers. Jim doesn’t buy into the cult of asset allocation. “I know that people are taught to diversify. But diversification is just that’s something that brokers came up with, so they don’t get sued,” Jim said. “If you want to get rich… You have to concentrate and focus,” he says. “The expression on Wall Street is, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Ha! You should put all of your eggs in one basket. But be sure you’ve got the right basket and make sure you watch the basket very, very carefully.”
Donald Trump Will Ruthlessly Decimate the CIA for Turning on Him
On Wednesday night, NBC released a report, in collusion with a myriad of anonymous sources reputed to be inside the CIA and other intelligence agencies, claiming that Vladimir Putin personally directed the destruction of Hillary Clinton via hacking hers and the DNC’s servers before the US presidential election. Via NBC: “U.S. intelligence officials now believe with “a high level of confidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. Two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used. The intelligence came from diplomatic sources and spies working for U.S. allies, the officials said.” The report does not cite any source by name for its information, other than incorrigible moron Micheal McFaul, one time US ambassador to Russia, as a cheerleader for the report.
Inflation, Stagflation, Hyperinflation & Deflation-All at the Same Time-Egon von Greyerz
Financial expert Egon von Greyerz (EvG) says, “Bond markets around the world are in the biggest bubble in history.” EvG thinks when it blows up, we are going to get hit with everything in the financial horror house. EvG explains, “We are guaranteed to have ‘flation.’ There will be inflation, stagflation, hyperinflation and deflation. We will have all of that. At the same time, a lot of prices will be inflationary or hyperinflationary, at some point, as they print more money. We will also have deflation of debt and deflation of more of the bubble assets that the credit bubble has created. Debt will implode and also property and stocks.”
Interest Rate Explosion, Russia Did NOT Hack Elections, Facebook Fake News Police?
The Federal Reserve just raised a key interest rate a quarter of a point. This was only the second time in 10 years the Fed raised rates, but the market had already beaten the Fed to the punch. In July, the interest rate for the 10-year Treasury was 1.46%. Five short months later, the same rate is now more that 1% higher. This is what it means when you hear the phrase “the Fed is behind the curve” on interest rates. Losses in the global bond markets are stacking up with the rising rates. Now, there are reports that China and other central banks are dumping U.S. debt at an alarming rate. More than $400 billion in U.S. government bonds was sold this year alone. Could rising interest rates knock Donald Trump’s plans for a loop? The answer, in a word, is yes.
The Real Reason Why America Has Been Given A Reprieve
This is one of the most important articles that I have written in a long time. The strange events of the past year and a half have befuddled and mystified many, and in this article I am going to explain why America has been given a temporary reprieve. If you go back to June 2015, I warned my readers that major financial problems were imminent, and sure enough in August 2015 we witnessed the greatest financial shaking that we had seen in seven years. I remember getting emails from my readers applauding me for absolutely nailing that prediction, but we were all concerned about what was coming next in September. If you will recall, there was more buzz about September 2015 than any other month that I can ever recall. That was the month of the last blood moon, the end of the Shemitah year and the Pope’s visit to the United States among other things. There was a tremendous amount of anticipation that the crisis that had begun in August 2015 would greatly accelerate in September and lead us into a period of cataclysmic global chaos. But that did not happen. Instead, U.S. financial markets calmed down and eventually recovered. There was a shift in the political realm as well, as the second half of 2015 marked the rise of Donald Trump. During those key months, Trump miraculously built a commanding lead in the race for the Republican nomination that none of his opponents were ever able to overcome. And now that Trump has won the election, an economic surge appears to be happening that is unlike anything that we have witnessed in many years.
Donald Trump Completes Final Lap, Electoral College, to White House
Republican electors in Texas vaulted Mr. Trump past the 270 mark, granting him all but two of their 38 ballots in a ceremony in the State Capitol in Austin. In the House chamber, where the electors met, the vote was greeted with a standing ovation by citizens and Republican officials who had come to witness the event. Outside, perhaps 100 protesters waved placards and chanted “Save our democracy” in a vain effort to persuade electors to reject the Republican nominee. Normally a political footnote, the electoral vote acquired an unexpected element of drama this winter after Mr. Trump’s upset of Hillary Clinton, who received 2.86 million more popular votes but won in states that totaled only 232 electoral votes. The states Mr. Trump won held 306 electoral votes.
Australian republicans claim majority of MPs oppose monarchy
A majority of Australian MPs want to break ties with the British monarchy, the nation’s republican lobby claims. The Australian Republican Movement says 81 of 150 MPs and 40 of 76 senators favour the move, citing public statements from the politicians. Monarchists have disputed the figures, insisting more support the status quo. The numbers were revealed before an upcoming speech by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to mark the republican movement’s 25th anniversary. Mr Turnbull, who led a failed republic bid in 1999 before entering politics, will speak at Sydney University on Saturday.
Cuba offers rum to pay off $276m Czech debt
Cuba has come up with an unusual way to repay its multimillion dollar debt to the Czech Republic – bottles of its famous rum, officials in Prague say. The Czech finance ministry said Havana had raised this possibility during recent negotiations on the issue. Cuba owes the Czech authorities $276m (£222m), and if the offer is accepted the Czechs would have enough Cuban rum for more than a century. However, Prague said it preferred to get at least some of the money in cash. Havana’s debt dates back from the Cold War era – when Cuba and what was at the time Czechoslovakia were part of the communist bloc.
Greece passes pension deal in defiance of bailout creditors
The Greek parliament has defied the international creditors providing Athens’ bailout funds and voted through a one-off payment to pensioners. Plans for the €617m (£517m; $656m) pre-Christmas handout were opposed by European bodies negotiating Greece’s financial lifeline. A deal agreed earlier this month to provide the next tranche of debt relief for Athens is now on hold. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Greece would not be blackmailed. Athens said the pension payment would come out of a €1bn tax surplus but European creditors on Thursday said the Greek move raised “significant concerns on both process and substance” regarding the country’s bailout obligations.
What Is The Real Purpose Behind “Fake News” Propaganda?
Here is the first problem with modern political discourse – too many people want to “win” arguments instead of getting to the greater truth of the matter. Discussions become brinkmanship. Opponents launch into immediate attacks instead of simply asking valid questions. They assert immediately that their position is the only valid position without verification. When confronted with rational responses and ample evidence, they dismiss everything instead of pondering what you have handed them. After this line is crossed, there is no point in continuing the debate. It will go on forever. This is one of the great tragedies of the Saul Alinsky method of political confrontation; it has bred entire generations of people who now believe that there is no objective truth. They think everything is relative. Because of this belief, they assume that there is no wrong or right side, no wrong or right goal. Instead, there are only goals that are MORE right than the goals of others. Everything boils down to a “lesser of two evils” mentality, and the ends therefore justify the means. Using dishonest measures to win the fight becomes acceptable.
Can OPEC Send Oil To $70?
OPEC managed to convince almost a dozen non-OPEC producers to take part in oil production cuts over the weekend, and the news immediately sent international benchmarks higher, prompting a fresh wave of bullish forecasts. The latest, by hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand, is that crude will reach US$70 by June 2017. Andurand made this call before the weekend deal between OPEC and external producers was announced, noting that the Vienna agreement reached among the members of the organization was a “major turning point”. Three months ago, Andurand had forecast that crude would reach US$60 by the end of the year and US$70 in 2017, so he’s now just repeating his earlier prediction, with a sounder basis this time. Back in September, he had said that Saudi Arabia is aware of the long-term implications of a depressed oil market and was ready to take steps to avoid a deficit in the longer run.
Post-Election Madness – Down the Looking-Glass We Tumble – Into the most Dangerous and Kafka-esque Twilight Zone Imaginable.
I have been writing for years now, that I believe some form of catastrophic collapse is coming for the US (and probably, by extension, for the planet). It has of course been difficult to pinpoint which of the many cracks in US primacy would be the first one to split wide enough open to set off the “collapse dominoes” on their grim journey. Would it be the (increasingly inevitable) collapse of the US dollar? Would it be spiraling hyper-inflation due to the ongoing demise of the petro-dollar and endless money-printing by the Fed? Would it be the ongoing destruction of the middle-class, with nearly 50 million people on food-stamps, and worsening unemployment? Would it be another stock-market crash, this time “unmanageable”? Would it be explosive civil unrest resulting from an ever-simmering race-war? Would it be the US defaulting in one way or another on its (unpayable) debt obligations? Would it be another “terrorist-incident” the likes of which I wrote about in my previous post? The list of fault-lines running through the US is many and varied … and trying to predict which one will ultimately cause a Fukushima-sized earthquake to rock their world … is no small challenge. That such a seismic event is coming however, is something I remain certain of.
Doug Casey: “Sell All Your Bonds”
So, Trump has won the election. Of course anything can happen between now and his presumed inauguration on January 20. Maybe the Swamp Creatures will succeed in causing a recount in so-called Purple States that could change the number of electors in Hillary’s favor. Maybe they’ll somehow influence Trump electors to vote for Hillary. None of this would have been an issue if Baby Bush II, Jeb, had been the Republican nominee, as was supposed to have happened. It all just shows what a transparent (a word these people love to use) fraud “democracy” has become. Let the hoi polloi cast a meaningless vote, so they have the illusion of being in control. Instead of seeing themselves as subjects, they’ll think they’re “we the people,” who actually have some say in what happens. That way they’ll pay their taxes willingly, enthusiastically sign on to aggressive wars on the other side of the world against people they know nothing about, and generally do as they’re told. Because it’s supposed to be patriotic. “Democracy” is a much more effective scam for controlling the plebs than kingship or dictatorship.
Hollywood Celebrities Urge Electors Not To Vote For Trump
The push to pressure and overturn the Electoral College vote on December 19 escalated last night, when a group of celebrities created a video to urge Electoral College members to cast their votes for someone other than President-elect Donald Trump on Monday. “You have the position, the authority, and the opportunity to go down in the books as an American hero who changed the course of history,” several celebrities say in turn.
Bill Holter: Every Society is Only 72 Hours From Pure Anarchy
This past week on his show Operation Freedom, Dr. Dave Janda once again had one of the world’s leading forensic economists on as his guest, Bill Holter, to discuss the dire economic situation closing in not just on the United States right now, but also on hard working ordinary people all around the entire world as well. Last week, in a post titled, Start “Doubling Up On Your Prepping;” Countdown to Economic Collapse, I quoted Mac Slavo who recently said: “Now that the Western world has turned in the direction of Trump and Brexit, it may be that the bankster class is prepared to start the next phase.” It is often said that at any given moment, any society is only 72 hours away from complete anarchy. Why? Because even in the most affluent societies, there isn’t much more than a three day supply of food available. Once food runs out, economic conditions can deteriorate so quickly that they rival scenes found in big Hollywood blockbusters like Mad Max. Look at Venezuela for example, where people have been breaking into zoos, and killing the animals to eat for food.
George Soros Is Funding Facebook’s “Third-Party Fact Checking” Organization Targeting “Fake News”
Behind almost every liberal crusade of the past several decades, from the blocking of voter ID laws to the Syrian refugee crisis, there has been one man quietly pulling the puppet strings from the background: George Soros. So imagine our complete shock when we discovered Soros to be the financing source behind Facebook’s “third-party fact checking” organization retained to flag, and thus eliminate, “fake news.” Just yesterday, Facebook posted the following press release to their website detailing their plans to use a “third-party fact checking organization,” known as The Poynter Institute, to flag “fake news.” The role of the “fact checkers” will be to review news stories and flag anything they deem to be “fake” so that it can be deprioritized on Facebook’s news feed.
The Coming Fracture Of Saudi Arabia
The Bible’s book of Galatians, VI teaches, «as you sow, so shall you reap». And for Saudi Arabia, which has overtly and covertly supported rebellions in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Ethiopia, Philippines, and Lebanon that have led to civil wars and inter-religious strife, the day of reckoning may soon be at hand. The present Saudi king, Salman bin Abdul Aziz, is the last of the sons of the first Saudi king, Abdul Aziz al Saud, who will ever sit on the Saudi throne. After Salman dies, Saudi leadership will pass to a new generation of Saudi royals. But not all the descendants of the first Saudi king are happy about how the future succession may turn out. Salman named his nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef, as crown prince after firing his half-brother, Mugrin bin Abdul Aziz, as crown prince after the death of King Abdullah in 2015. For good measure, Salman also named his son, Mohammad bin Salman, who is little-known outside the kingdom, as deputy prime minister. The 30-year old Mohammad bin Salman is seen by some as the eventual crown prince after King Salman figures out some way to ease Mohammad bin Nayef, the Interior Minister and close friend of the United States, out of the position of heir apparent to the throne.
NSA Whistleblower Destroys Obama’s Russia Narrative – “Hard Evidence Points To An Inside Leak, Not Hacking”
A group of retired senior intelligence officials, including the NSA whistleblower William Binney (former Technical Director, World Geopolitical & Military Analysis, NSA), have posted an open letter on consortiumnews.com that destroys the Obama administration’s “Russian hacking” narrative. Within the letter, Binney argues that, thanks to the NSA’s “extensive domestic data-collection network,” any data removed remotely from Hillary Clinton or DNC servers would have passed over fiber networks and therefore would have been captured by the NSA who could have then analyzed packet data to determine the origination point and destination address of those packets. As Binney further notes, the only way the leaks could have avoided NSA detection is if they were never passed over fiber networks but rather downloaded to a thumb drive by someone with internal access to servers.
Russia more financially stable than China – report
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest ranking of developing nation economies has put Russia ahead of China in terms of financial stability. The report released earlier in the week predicted a recovery in emerging markets – Russia, being a case in point – amid modest global economic growth. “Modest economic growth of 4.7 per cent is expected in emerging markets [in 2017], up from 4.1 per cent, which is better than in the U.S. and the rest of the developed world,” the report said. The report looks at fiscal stability versus vulnerability, growth and inflation versus stagflation, and high debt, among other factors. South Korea is the most fiscally stable emerging market; Russia comes in second, followed by China. India will gain top the world in terms of GDP growth, coming in at 7.6 per cent – a full one per cent ahead of China, but it came in fourth, one ranking below China in fiscal stability. Brazil fell to the eighth ranking while South Africa remained where it was last year, at the bottom of the top 10 emerging markets.
Germany to force Facebook, Google and Twitter to act on hate speech
Germany is to consider new laws that would force social media platforms such as Facebook and search engines such as Google to take a more active role in policing illegal hate speech on their sites. Measures considered by Angela Merkel’s coalition government include forcing companies to set up clear channels for registering complaints, to publish the number of complaints they receive and to hire legally qualified ombudsmen to carry out deletions.
We’re Starting to See a Huge Disconnect Between Physical and Paper Gold
Each day, when the stock market closes, it’s surprising that Americans on Main Street can’t hear coastal elites in their network studios by the sound of all their “Oooooohs,” and their “Ahhhhhhs,” as equity markets keep closing higher and higher. Sadly, for the American people who are relying on our woefully dishonest mainstream media for the valuable information they need, no one is talking about what’s happening in the bond market. If there is one thing liberals hate, it’s history (unless of course we’re talking about revisionist history), but if you look throughout history, virtually every single stock market crash we’ve ever had came immediately after a major bond crash, and bonds are beginning to crash in a major way! Despite the mainstream media ignoring it, there has been plenty of information available about enormous amounts of U.S. Treasuries being dumped at once. On multiple occasions over $100 billion in Treasuries has been dumped, often within just a few days.
What’s Missing From The Russian Hack Argument?
Without any proof or evidence being presented that Russia interfered with our election, we’re just seeing political grandstanding at this point by both President Obama and Secretary Clinton. Have you noticed that there’s never any mention or concern about Secretary Clinton having a private server in her home? If anything, that server would have made it much easier for Russia (or anyone else) to know what was going on with our government.
Senate Quietly Passes The “Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act”
While we wait to see if and when the Senate will pass (and president will sign) Bill “H.R. 6393, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017”, which was passed by the House at the end of November with an overwhelming majority and which seeks to crack down on websites suspected of conducting Russian propaganda and calling for the US government to “counter active measures by Russia to exert covert influence … carried out in coordination with, or at the behest of, political leaders or the security services of the Russian Federation and the role of the Russian Federation has been hidden or not acknowledged publicly,” another, perhaps even more dangerous and limiting to civil rights and freedom of speech bill passed on December 8. Recall that as we reported in early June, “a bill to implement the U.S.’ very own de facto Ministry of Truth has been quietly introduced in Congress. As with any legislation attempting to dodge the public spotlight the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016 marks a further curtailment of press freedom and another avenue to stultify avenues of accurate information. Introduced by Congressmen Adam Kinzinger and Ted Lieu, H.R. 5181 seeks a “whole-government approach without the bureaucratic restrictions” to counter “foreign disinformation and manipulation,” which they believe threaten the world’s “security and stability.”
New York Times to Vacate ‘at Least’ Eight Floors as Profits Tumble
The New York Times is planning to vacate “at least eight floors” in its Manhattan headquarters as part of a plan to cut costs, generate rental income, and redesign office space, according to an internal memo. In a message to company employees, CEO Mark Thompson said that the company had “made the decision to consolidate our footprint across the building to create a more dynamic, modern and open workplace, one that is better suited to the moment.” “We’re planning significant investments in a redesign of our existing space in order to facilitate more cross-departmental collaboration. We expect a substantial financial benefit as well. All told, we will vacate at least eight floors, allowing us to generate significant rental income,” he continued.
Is Americans’ Unfettered Optimism Starting to Border on Dangerous?
In a survey conducted by CNBC for the fourth quarter, the survey found that the percentage of Americans who believe the economy is going to get better in the next year jumped an unprecedented 17 points to 42 percent after Donald Trump’s victory, when compared to surveys taken before the election results were in. Right now, it’s hard to deny that much of the country is experiencing what Michael Snyder refers to as “Trumphoria,” but is what they’re experiencing safe? According to another survey taken earlier this year, only six percent of Americans polled said they have “a great deal of confidence” in the mainstream media, and with good reason. Because the mainstream media has failed so horribly to live up to even the most basic of journalistic standards, and because they media has failed to give the American people honest and unbiased reporting, far too many Americans greatly overestimate what any president can do to alter our economic trajectory, particularly after decades of the abysmal monetary policy this country has been engaged in.
Canadian Journalist on lies about Syria | December 9th 2016
Press Briefing by Syrian Mission. Speakers: Sara flounders, Activist, Donna Nassor, lawyer and human rights and peace activist, Dr. Bahman Azad, Member of the Coordinating Committee for the Hands Off Syria and Organization Secretary of US Peace Council, and Eva Bartlett, Independent Canadian Journalist.
Inevitable Global Ruin: Top Hedge Fund Managers Sound the Alarm
When monetary control is centralized, as it is today, prosperity withers. The Wall Street Journal just surveyed top hedge fund managers and found a significant belief that full-fledged, global ruin is on its way. Tamper with freedom, monetarily or otherwise, and you end up facing catastrophe. That’s just where we are today. The managers pointed directly at the purposeful monetary mismanagement of central banks around the world. These central banks large and small are pumping oceans of money into financial markets as well as lowering rates until they are actually negative, which has never happened before in recorded history. When the final catastrophic implosion eventually occurs, we will look back on this era with amazement, wondering how people didn’t sense the disaster to come.
The House Passes A Microchipping Law That Is Intended To Help Local Authorities Microchip Disabled People
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would get the federal government heavily involved in microchipping disabled people for tracking purposes. If you would like to read it for yourself, you can find H.R. 4919 right here. The bill is also known as Kevin and Avonte’s Law, and the idea behind it is that if disabled people are microchipped it won’t be so easy for them to get lost. Of course we have been microchipping pets in this country for years, and this is yet another giant step down the road toward universal microchipping of everyone. We are being told that implanted microchips will make those with developmental disabilities “safer”, but where does this stop? Pretty soon there will be a huge push to microchip all children “for their safety”, and once that is accomplished it won’t be too long before they will want to microchip the entire population.
ECB Warns Paschi on Post Referendum Liquidity in Stress Test
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA said the European Central Bank rejected its request to extend a capital increase into January over concerns that the Italian lender’s liquidity “is progressively deteriorating in the wake of the Dec. 4 referendum.” The ECB said that under a negative stress-test scenario, the Siena-based bank has “a 29-day time horizon” in which it can meet its liquidity needs without resorting to new intervention,’’ according to an updated prospectus for its capital increase. The stress test scenario assumes a liquidity exit of 10.3 billion euros ($10.8 billion) within a month, according to the prospectus.
Major Economic Warning Sign: The Euro Is Heading For Parity With The U.S. Dollar
The collapse of the euro is accelerating, and it looks like we could be staring a major European financial crisis right in the face early in 2017. On Thursday, the EUR/USD fell all the way to $1.0366 at one point before rebounding slightly. That represents the lowest that the euro has been relative to the U.S. dollar since January 2003. Ever since 2011, I have been relentlessly warning that the euro is heading for parity with the U.S. dollar. When the EUR/USD was trading at about $1.40 that must have seemed like crazy talk, but I never wavered. I just kept warning people that the euro was going to weaken greatly relative to the U.S. dollar. Here is one example from March 2015: “How many times have I said it? The euro is heading to all-time lows. It is going to go to parity with the U.S. dollar, and then it is eventually going to go below parity.” After Thursday, we are almost there, and once we do hit parity that is going to be a sign that all sorts of chaos is about to erupt in Europe.
Foreigners are Dumping US Treasurys as Never Before
All kinds of things are now happening in the world of bonds that haven’t happened before. For example, authorities in China today halted trading for the first time ever in futures contracts of government bonds, after prices had swooned, with the 10-year yield hitting 3.4%. Trading didn’t resume until after the People’s Bank of China injected $22 billion into the short-term money market. What does this turmoil have to do with US Treasurys? China has been dumping them to stave off problems in its own house. The US Treasury Department released its Treasury International Capital data for October, and what it said about the dynamics of Treasury securities is a doozie of historic proportions.
Currency Armageddon? A Word about the Hated Dollar – The “death of the dollar” will have to be rescheduled
Sharply higher yields on Treasury securities and the prospect of more rate hikes by the Fed – in a world where other major central banks are still stewing innocent bystanders in the juices of NIRP, negative yields, and “punishment interest” – sent the hated dollar, whose death has been promised for a long time, soaring. It soared against the euro. Or, seen from the other side, the euro plunged against the dollar, to $1.039, the lowest level since January 2003; down 35% from its peak of $1.60 during the Financial Crisis; down 10% from its 52-week high in March of $1.16; and down 2.7% from $1.068 yesterday before the Fed announcement. Pundits are once again declaring that the euro will fall to “parity” with the dollar, as the ECB has been wishing for a long time, though it cannot admit officially that it is trying to crush the euro to give member states an export advantage. That would be “currency manipulation,” which is frowned upon in other countries. But a big wave of “money printing” and forcing yields below zero “to stimulate the economy,” whereby the currency gets crushed as a side effect, is OK.
Rep. Rohrabacher: Putin didn’t steal election
The allegation that the Russians intervened in last month’s election remains just that: an allegation. Even the FBI and the CIA are conflicted over what happened. The absence of certainty has not stopped Hillary Clinton’s supporters from promoting the pathetic charge that the Russians rigged the election. One can appreciate our foreign policy establishment’s anxiety about the incoming administration’s apparent tilt toward Russia. The country is run by a strongman, Vladimir Putin, who has said and done much we don’t like. But suggesting he stole our election is a self-serving fallacy. More investigative journalism was undertaken by the hackers, whoever they were, than by the media establishment, which was consumed by a passion to defeat Donald Trump. The information they provided was factual, giving voters more information.
Yellen Speaks, Yields Spike, Mortgage Rates Jump, Oil Plunges: But Why?
Stocks sold off, starting at 2:04 PM, as the Fed’s slightly more hawkish stance was sinking in. The S&P 500 ended the day down 0.8%. Not even a tempest in a teapot. Gold sold off, now down 17.6% since July. Oil plunged over 4%, but unrelated to the Fed: the market is figuring out that nothing beyond wild jabbering by oil potentates is happening to contain the oil glut. But natural gas jumped nearly 3%, based not on the Fed, but on the weather. And bonds? Another opportunity to use the word “rout” or “carnage.” The Fed increased its target rate for the second time in nearly a decade, after having done so a year ago for the first time. It raised it from next to nothing by nearly nothing to a little above nothing: a range of 0.5% to 0.75%. But according to its dot plot, whose reliability has become a joke, it will raise rates three times next year, up from the prior dot plot which indicated only two hikes.
Barack Obama promises retaliation against Russia over hacking during US election
Barack Obama has warned that the US will retaliate for Russian cyberattacks during the presidential election. In an interview on National Public Radio on Friday morning, the US president said he is waiting for a final report he has ordered into a range of Russian hacking attacks, but promised there would be a response. “I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections … we need to take action,” Obama said. “And we will – at a time and place of our own choosing. “Some of it may be explicit and publicised; some of it may not be.” The CIA has judged that the Russian cyber attacks, including the hacking of emails from the Democratic National Committee, were intended to influence the election in Donald Trump’s favour, according to reports. The FBI agrees that there was Russian hacking but has not as yet concluded it was intended to favour the Republican contender. Senators from both parties have called for a congressional enquiry, while Trump himself has rejected the reports and his office has derided the CIA.
Money Under Fire – A reminder of the great wealth transfer underway
One serious predicament we face is that the current leaders in the halls of monetary and political power do not appear to understand the dimensions of our situation. The mind-boggling part about it is that the situation is easy to understand. Our collective predicament is simply this: Nothing can grow forever. Sooner or later, everything must cease growing, or it will exhaust its environs and thereby destroy itself. The Fed is busy doing everything in its considerable power to get credit (that is, debt) growing again so that we can get back to what it considers to be “normal.” But the problem is – or the predicament, I should more accurately say – is that the recent past was not normal.
Academic: Former Stasi Secret Police Informant Unfit to Lead Government Internet Censorship Task Force
The Ministry of Justice has come under renewed pressure to cut ties wi