2016-09-18

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 September 2, 2016 to September 15, 2016:

Bayer clinches Monsanto with improved $66 billion bid

German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer clinched a $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto on Wednesday, ending months of wrangling with a third sweetened offer that marks the largest all-cash deal on record.

Italy Funding Panic? Target2 Liabilities Unexpectedly Soar To Record High

During the peak days of the European credit crisis in 2011 and 2012, one of the unfalsifiable indicators used by market watchers to observe the state of Italy’s banking system and regional fund flows (mostly outflows from the periphery, inflows into Germany and northern states), was the monthly Target2 balance. Positions within the Target2 system, which settles cross-border payments in the euro zone, are monitored because in a world where all other market signals are corrupt and distorted by central banks (Spanish 10Y bonds yield less than US bonds), they remain a reliable, concurent indicator of financial stress, for example when banks in a country lose foreign funding.

Brace For “VaR Shock” – How The Bank Of Japan May Be About To Unleash A Global Selloff

As we pointed out recently, Japan has been quietly undergoing a mini bond tantrum as over the past two months, its sovereign debt suffered the worst rout in 13 years, handing investors bigger losses over the past two months than any other government bonds, amid speculation the Bank of Japan plans to change its asset-purchase strategy.

The Only Sure Conclusion About the G20 Summit

The G20 summit in China came and went with the usual pompous statements at the end: “The communiqué reiterates the essential role of structural reforms in boosting productivity and output, as well as in promoting growth in G20 countries. The choice and design of structural reforms are consistent with countries’ specific economic conditions,” the People’s Daily sums up one of the points on the agenda. The other points where the G20 reached some kind of consensus were trade, anti-corruption, financial reform, investment, industrialization, entrepreneurship, climate change, innovative growth, and development.

This Will Devastate People All Over The World

With continued uncertainty in global markets, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, and major global events, warned King World News about what is going to devastate people all over the world. Egon von Greyerz:  “The autumn of 2016 has for some time looked like a period when dark clouds will move in over the world economy. Therefore, it was not surprising to see the first sign of things to come in the next few months. In one day the Dow erased all the gains since early July with an almost 400 point fall. Since the beginning of the year the Dow is now up a pitiful 2.6%. Almost 8 years of ZERO interest rates have not managed to revive the US economy, nor the world economy…

The Bubble Burst You Didn’t See Coming

In the next great crash, everything will get swept up in the onslaught – with virtually no exceptions. And that goes too for what we eat! The 30-Year Commodity Cycle peaked in mid-2008 and has been the first major bubble to crash and burn. The CRB (Commodity) Index has been down as low as 67%, with the potential for 74% or lower in the next few years. Among individual commodities, oil has been down as much as 82% in early 2016. Iron ore and steel have been down 76% with a potential for 88%.

Another Big Central Bank Warns on Housing Bubble, Frets about Risks to Banks, Blows Whistle on Stimulus

For Chinese households, owning residential property serves as a mix of risk-free savings account (on the premise, valid in the US as well, that “you can’t lose money in real estate”) and highly leveraged speculative betting game. Some people own vacant apartments like Americans own stocks. A report in 2014 showed that 75% of household wealth had been sunk into real estate. Whatever the percentage is today, it’s high, to where major declines in house prices have caused uproars.

George Soros Warns Europe: Accept Refugees Or Face Extinction

The refugee crisis in Europe was already pushing the European Union toward disintegration when, on June 23, it helped drive the British to vote to Brexit the EU. The refugee crisis and the Brexit calamity that it spawned have reinforced xenophobic, nationalist movements that will seek to win a series of upcoming votes – including national elections in France, the Netherlands, and Germany in 2017, a referendum in Hungary on the EU refugee policy on October 2, and a rerun of the Austrian presidential election on the same day.

Groupthink Lunacy—-Negative 2% Rates, Cash Bans And Monetary Voodo

Looking for group think, extrapolation of extreme silliness, linear thinking, and belief in absurd models? Then look no further than Fed presidents, their advisors, and academia loaded charlatan professors. Today’s spotlight is on Marvin Goodfriend, a former economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve’s Bank of Richmond, and Ken Rogoff, a chaired Harvard economics professor, a one-time chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.

The Signs Of Desperation In A “Twilight Zone Of Ignorance”

Idiocy and mendacity are a bad combo in the affairs of nations, especially in elections. The present case in the USA displays both qualities to near-perfection: on one side, a boorish pseudo-savior in zero command of ideas; on the other side, a wannabe racketeer-in-chief in full command of her instinctive deceit. Trump offers incoherent rhetoric in opposition to the current dismal order of things; Clinton offers empty, pandering rhetoric in defense of that order. Both represent an epic national drive toward political suicide.

Jim Grant Rejects Rogoff’s “Curse Of Cash”, Warns “Government Wants To Control Your Money”

If there is a curse between the covers of this thin, self-satisfied volume, it doesn’t have to do with cash, the title to the contrary notwithstanding. Freedom is rather the subject of the author’s malediction. He’s not against it in principle, only in practice. Ken Rogoff is a chaired Harvard economics professor, a one-time chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and (to boot) a chess grandmaster. He laid out his case against cash in a Saturday essay in this newspaper two weeks ago. By abolishing large-denomination bills, he said there, the government could strike a blow against sin and perfect the Federal Reserve’s control of interest rates.

Sorry, You Can’t Have Your Gold

We warn regularly of the risk involved in storing wealth in banks. They’ve made the removal of your deposits increasingly difficult in addition to colluding with governments to allow them to legally freeze or confiscate your money. To add insult to injury, they’re creating reporting requirements with regard to the contents of  safe deposit boxes and restricting what can be stored in them – again, at risk of confiscation.

The Coming Crash Will Create An Economic Tsunami, Skyrocketing Gold And Usher In A Whole New World

With many investors worried about the economic turmoil that has engulfed the globe, the coming crash will create an economic tsunami, skyrocketing gold, and usher in a whole new world. Gold Will Anchor New Monetary System. Stephen Leeb:  “All roads lead to Rome, which is to say there are many ways the Chinese have of effecting a new monetary system that will include gold as an anchor. The new system may evolve gradually, but it is growing more likely that it will be created out of chaos. In the last interview with you, Eric, I spoke of SDR’s as a route. And that is still a high probability. Recall, the SDR route requires the inclusion of the Renminbi in the SDR basket along with the Dollar, Euro, Pound, and Yen…

Globalized, Centralized, Compacted: They Cull The Population To Make Us Rely On Government

With each step forward, the powers-that-be are controlling us more and more, reducing the population and forcing people to rely upon a centralized, collective government. The global agenda to centralize control explained by Aaron Dykes in the video below.

Wells Fargo scandal is just the beginning… here’s what else they’re hiding–

On Thursday, Wells Fargo admitted to secretly creating millions of bank and credit card accounts over the past 5 years without their customers’ knowledge or consent. They would typically create, say, a new savings account for a customer, then transfer funds from his/her existing checking account into the new bogus savings account without ever once asking permission. This is a pretty horrendous practice that tells you everything you need to know about banking.

Why Are So Many Conservatives, Preppers And Christians Moving To The Great Northwest?

Thousands of Americans are flocking to “Big Sky” country, and this movement has become so prominent that it has even caught the attention of the mainstream media. Within the last several weeks, both The Chicago Tribune and The Economist have done major articles on this phenomenon. From all over the country, conservatives, preppers and Bible-believing Christians are moving to Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and the eastern portions of Oregon and Washington. As you will see below, this region has become known as the “American Redoubt”, and for a variety of reasons it is considered by many survivalists to be one of the top “safe zones” for when things really start falling apart in this nation.

Tent Cities Full Of Homeless People Are Booming In Cities All Over America As Poverty Spikes

Just like during the last economic crisis, homeless encampments are popping up all over the nation as poverty grows at a very alarming rate.  According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than half a million people are homeless in America right now, but that figure is increasing by the day.  And it isn’t just adults that we are talking about.  It has been reported that that the number of homeless children in this country has risen by 60 percent since the last recession, and Poverty USA says that a total of 1.6 million children slept either in a homeless shelter or in some other form of emergency housing at some point last year.  Yes, the stock market may have been experiencing a temporary boom for the last couple of years, but for those on the low end of the economic scale things have just continued to deteriorate.

ALERT: Celente Warns This Is About To Rock Global Financial Markets And Gold

Today the top trends forecaster in the world, Gerald Celente, warned King World News about what is about to rock global financial markets and gold. The Fed Is In A Trap. Gerald Celente:  “You have all of this money that has been borrowed and it went into emerging markets and inflated them artificially.  But if the Fed raises interest rates the dollar gets stronger.  If the dollar gets stronger, the resource-rich currencies get weaker.  And they have to pay back all of this debt in dollars.  So the Fed is in a trap…

12 Survival Skills to Learn and Master for SHTF

When it comes to survival, having a stockpile of stuff is not enough.  You need to have skills, too.  And yet, when it comes to preparedness skills, there is no hard and fast set of rules.  There are simply too many variables for a one size fits all list of things you must know and things you must learn if living conditions and economic realities become dire.  It is for that reason I often write in generalities.  That way you can pick and chose those skills and those items that fit your lifestyle.

The Six Presidents Causing US Bankruptcy

Since Reagan came to power in 1981, the US has had a total of five presidents who have spent ever increasing amounts of money to hang on to power and buy votes. This has resulted in the most extraordinary money printing venture in history. It is not just central banks that print money. Governments that borrow vast amounts of money are also performing a printing function since money is created out of thin air. And even worse than that, the US government neither has the intention nor the ability to ever repay the debt with real money. Thus the US debt can only vaporise when the country defaults. Since there is no other way of eradicating this debt, a default by the US is guaranteed to take place in coming years. But before that, the Fed and the US government will flood the market with jumbo jet money since helicopter money won’t suffice. The jumbo jet money will create hyperinflation but it will never repay the debt since all it does is to increase the amount of debt outstanding from trillions of dollars to quadrillions.

Mexico To Cut More Than US$5 Billion From Pemex Budget

Mexican finance minister Jose Antonio Meade announced on Thursday that approximately US$5.4 billion in funds for state-run oil firm Pemex will be eliminated from the proposed federal budget in 2017. “Pemex is making the biggest contribution to the cuts,” Meade said about the company that will see an 18 percent reduction in funds and will make up some 41 percent of the US$12.83 billion slashed from the budget.

An OPEC Production Freeze Could See Oil Prices Rise To $60

Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to reach an agreement with OPEC to freeze oil production in hopes of prices regaining strength. With the U.S. shale boom supplying most of North America, OPEC has increased production to maintain their market share. This has caused massive price reductions, putting many countries at a loss. Two years ago crude oil was priced at around $100/barrel, but in today’s inundated market it rests below $50. Russia is struggling economically, as it leads the world in energy exports and oil comprises 40 percent of its revenue. The country is considering tax reforms on oil companies, potentially hurting the industry further. This could lead to job cuts and shutting down of decade old wells. President Putin is determined to repair his nation’s economy.

Employee Pay Slashed by 5 Percent at Baker Hughes

A new furlough plan is to blame for a 5 percent cut in pay for workers at Baker Hughes. The Houston energy giant’s program was meant to lower costs and the need for job cuts, but current employees are feeling the effect of the plan on their paychecks. Baker Hughes says the cuts aren’t permanent, that they will only occur from the pay period starting September 11 through the last paycheck of 2016. In an internal memo obtained by the Houston Chronicle, Baker Hughes offered holidays in exchange for the loss in pay. The holidays given are for October 10, November 23, December 23, and December 28.

Saudi Arabia Said to Weigh Canceling $20 Billion of Projects

Saudi Arabia is intensifying efforts to shrink the highest budget deficit among the world’s biggest 20 economies, aiming to cancel more than $20 billion of projects and slash ministry budgets by a quarter, people familiar with the matter said. The government is reviewing thousands of projects valued at about 260 billion riyals ($69 billion) and may cancel a third of them, three people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. The measures would impact the budget for several years, according to two of the people.

South African economy reaps benefit of weak rand

The South African economy has reaped the benefits of a weaker rand, with a 6.6 per cent increase on final sales in the second quarter, an 18.1 per cent surge in exports and 5.1 per cent decline in imports, a report from the national statistics agency showed on Tuesday. Final sales are calculated by subtracting the change in inventories from the gross domestic product (GDP), on a quarter-by-quater (q/q) seasonally adjusted annualized (saa) basis.

G20 2016: Toward an inclusive global economy

The G20 summit opens today, attempting to bring back the spotlight on the global economy and strengthening trade ties in a climate that sees the international sphere huddle over security concerns. This year’s summit is hosted by China in the southeastern city of Hangzhou, and many analysts have said that it is Beijing’s chance to host one of the most significant gatherings of world leaders in its history.

Rising Rates: Financial Extinction Level Event Coming-Michael Krieger

Former Wall Street analyst Michael Krieger says the key to predicting this market is to watch interest rates. Krieger explains, “Do I think that there is going to be a huge U.S. currency devaluation next month?  No I don’t, but on the flip side, there is going to be some sort of financial calamity.  What I am looking at personally is interest rates.

Iconic Hedge Fund Perry Capital Loses 60% Of AUM As Investors Flee

The slow-motion trainwreck that is the hedge fund investing world, which as we documented one month ago has failed miserably – if predictably – to compensate LPs for its 2 and 20 model, and generate outsized returns during a regime of central planning, having created zero alpha since 2011…

Friday Was Just The Start: Here Are Goldman’s 5 Reasons Why The Selling Will Continue

After 40+ days of the S&P going virtually nowhere on muted volume, cross-asset correlations soaring to all time highs, and quant funds leveraging to record levels, it all just snapped on Friday the “volatility on the sidelines” finally made a grand entrance right back into the market, which tumbled the most since Brexit, and closed below its 2015 highs.

Visualizing The (Massive) Size Of The US National Debt

When numbers get into the billions or trillions, they start to lose context. As Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins notes, the U.S. national debt is one of those numbers. It currently sits at $19.5 trillion, which is actually such a large number that it is truly difficult for the average person to comprehend. How big is the U.S. National Debt? The best way to understand these large numbers? We believe it is to represent them visually, by plotting the data with comparable numbers that are easier to grasp.

The Disturbing Signs Of Global Conflict Continue To Gather Pace

The signs are ominous, the rhetoric constant. Whichever way you look at it, the world is slowly descending into an ever greater spiral of conflict. We all know that the current wars raging in the Middle East have the potential to go catastrophically wrong and pull the super-powers into something much bigger.

This One Chart Should Drive Investors Into Buying Gold & Silver

The U.S. financial system is in serious trouble and this one chart confirms it.  Investors who understand the negative consequences of this chart would be buying physical gold and silver hand over fist.  Unfortunately, Americans have been put to sleep by the Mainstream media as they continue to report that “business as usual forever and everything will be okay.” However, the opposite is the case as the U.S. economy and the financial system continue to disintegrate under the forces of massive debt, zero interest rates and a collapsing energy industry.  This is not a situation that will continue for many years or decades.  This will likely collapse much sooner than most Americans realize.

The Era of Central Planning is Crumbling… and the Elite Are Terrified

The biggest issue in financial political power structure today is the End of Centralization. In the post 2008 era, the Globalists made a major push to hold the system together. The multi-billionaire class, particularly those who made fortunes from crony capitalism and bubble economics joined forces with the Keynesian media shills to convince the world that the only way we would survive would be if trillions of Dollars were given to those who were deemed “systemically important.”

As The World Economy Is Burning Central Bankers Are Clueless

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The financial world loves focusing on some future event that they think will change everything. There is always some economic data, an important meeting like G20, the Fed, the ECB or a speech by Yellen or some other central bank head who hasn’t got a clue what is happening or what will happen. So now at the end of August, markets have all been focusing on Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole Wyoming. Jackson Hole is of course a very befitting name since what the Fed is starring into is a massive black hole into which major parts of the financial system will disappear.

One Of Richard Russell’s Last And Most Amazing Predictions Is Now Unfolding

Late last year, Richard Russell made one of his last and most amazing predictions ever.  Below is what the Godfather of newsletter writers had to say. From legendary Richard Russell:  “Americans are scared to death and befuddled by the news of the day. They are well aware that their own lives and jobs have little to do with the nonsense that the Fed and the government is shoveling out to them.

Gerald Celente Issues Updated Trend Forecast For The Rest Of 2016

With the price of gold and silver surging recently, today top trends forecaster Gerald Celente issued an updated trend forecast for the rest of 2016. Trend Alert: Central Banks Shooting Blanks. Gold Bull Run. Gerald Celente: Go back to the end of August. It was all the business news. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, speaking at a meeting of leading central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, boasted that thanks to Fed policy, the United States economy was on the road to solid recovery and labor-market growth was strong…

The Tide is Turning: The Official Story Is Now The Conspiracy Theory — Paul Craig Roberts

In a few days it will be the 15th anniversary of 9/11, and this November 22 will be the 53rd anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. These two state crimes against democracy destroyed American democracy, accountable government, and the Constitution’s protections of civil liberty. Years after the damage done by these events, the American people no longer believe the official stories. Neither does the government, but the government will never validate the distrust that Americans now share of the oligarchs’ government by acknowledging the truth.

When they say ‘hoarding’ instead of ‘saving’ you know you’re in trouble

As Mark Twain is purported to have once said, “Predictions are hard, especially about the future.” And with this principle in mind, libertarian Harry Browne advocated a four-factor portfolio to protect investors “no matter what the future brings”. Such a portfolio would have to cater to at least four separate economic outcomes: Prosperity: a period during which living standards are rising and the economy is growing; Inflation: a period during which consumer prices are rising; Recession: a period during which the growth is slowing (or negative); Deflation: a period in which consumer prices are declining. Only four types of investments would cover all these separate bases in Browne’s so-called ‘Permanent Portfolio’.

Police seize over 5,000 ounces of silver from man’s home

Last week in the Australian state of Queensland, federal police confiscated a whopping 5,465 ounces of silver (worth roughly $106,000) from a man’s home. This was part of a larger series of police raids instigated by the Australian Tax Office against individuals suspected of tax evasion.

Major Problems Announced At One Of The Largest Too Big To Fail Banks In The United States

Do you remember when our politicians promised to do something about the “too big to fail” banks?  Well, they didn’t, and now the chickens are coming home to roost.  On Thursday, it was announced that one of those “too big to fail” banks, Wells Fargo, has been slapped with 185 million dollars in penalties.  It turns out that for years their employees had been opening millions of bank and credit card accounts for customers without even telling them.  The goal was to meet sales goals, and customers were hit by surprise fees that they never intended to pay.  Some employees actually created false email addresses and false PIN numbers to sign customers up for accounts.  It was fraud on a scale that is hard to imagine, and now Wells Fargo finds itself embroiled in a major crisis.

Peter Schiff: History Will Remember These Times as a Great Depression

For whatever reason (cough, the globalist controlled media trying to use sheer willpower to force a narrative into reality, cough), there have been several articles that have come out lately suggesting gold and silver might getting ready for a potential crash. If you happen to own gold or silver, don’t worry, because the vast majority of most economists are long on both metals. Nonetheless, since there have been a fair number of rogue articles suggesting a possible a dip in prices, or even a crash, in the following interview between RT television and Peter Schiff, it’s the first topic Peter is asked to comment on.

Soros: Western Society Must Fall Before One World Govt Can Be Established

In the following video, Alex Jones begins by making a general statement in response to a question he’s been asked more times than he cares to count over the course of his professional career. The question always comes from the willfully ignorant, normally in a very condescending tone, and it often sounds something like, “If there really is a big bad secret world government, then where is it, and tell us who runs it.” Alex’s response is perfect. He says it’s really not a secret who runs the TransPacific Partnership. It’s really not a secret who runs the IMF, and the World Bank. It’s also really not secret who runs the United Nations. These days, the globalists are so over the top and in our faces about what they’re doing, sometimes information is learned that can later appear to have been kept secret, but that’s normally more the result of the public’s limited access to programs inside certain institutions, rather than a deliberate effort to conceal information.

Bubbles are Everywhere in Franken Markets-Chris Martenson

Resource analyst and futurist Chris Martenson says “bubbles are everywhere,” and it’s the fault of central banks.  Martenson explains, “Italian 10-year debt is trading with a lower yield than 10-year U.S. debt.  That’s because the European Central Bank (ECB) has created a massive bubble in the bond market. . . . We’ve got housing bubbles all over the globe in Australia, Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, London and you name it.  This is simple because, and there is no mystery about it, the central banks have printed lots and lots of money, trillions and trillions, and people have gone out and bought things with all that money, and it has driven up the prices of things.  That’s what the Fed wanted to accomplish.  The only problem is when the Fed does, this they want to say, hey look, record high stock prices.  Hey look, record high bond prices, as if this is a win for everybody and it’s not.  There’s a lot of losers in that story.”

Pre-Collapse More Dangerous Than Actual Collapse-Warren Pollock

Geopolitical and financial analyst Warren Pollock says danger for all Americans is here right now. Pollock explains, “Where we are is more important than where we will be because right now, we are in sort of a Twilight Zone of transition between stability and instability. I think this is a dangerous time, and for some, it will be more dangerous than the actual collapse. . . .   The entire system we live in today is one large racketeering engine, and we really have to understand that for us to negotiate around this looting that is going to occur.  You cannot eliminate all the looting from your life, but you can go around it to a certain degree.  For example, you might need a pair of eyeglasses and spend several hundred dollars when someone in China can make eyeglasses for $5 or $10 of the same or better quality. . . . There is no competition in the United States.  There is no free election.  There is no free market.  There is not capitalism.  All of these things that you believe to be in place right now are lies. . . . It’s procedural racketeering.  It is the veneer of a functioning economy or a functional system.  This sort of procedural racketeering is also procedural control and procedural information gathering.  It is dystopia of epic proportions.”

“Zombie Apocalypse”: The Hanjin Bailout that Didn’t Happen

South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co., the world’s seventh largest container carrier and a unit of Hanjin Group, Korea’s 10th-largest conglomerate that also controls Korean Air Lines, has been in financial trouble for a long time. Bankruptcy or rather a government bailout, not only for Hanjin, but also of the second largest Korean carrier, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), has been bandied about for as long. HMM was restructured, with creditors taking a big hit, including its main creditor, the state-owned Korean Development Bank which in the process became HMM’s largest shareholder, which boils down to a taxpayer bailout. Pending regulatory approval, the restructured HMM will join 2M carriers Maersk Line and MSC in a new alliance next April.

Crude Oil Freight Rates Plunge to Record Lows

The rates for shipping a tanker-load of crude oil by Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) from Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port for the throughput and storage of crude oil, to Singapore, the world’s largest crude oil transshipment center, have dropped another $200,000 since the last assessment, to $2.25 million, according to S&P Global Platts, the lowest level for that route since Platts started tracking VLCC data in 2006. That’s down by $4.15 million from the $6.4 million price tag in January – a 64% plunge in eight months! Platts blamed the “large supply of available ships” on the Europe to East route.

The Great Debt Unwind Beneath the Surface: US Commercial Bankruptcies Soar

Not that you would have guessed from the stock market, hovering at all-time highs, or from soaring junk bonds, even the riskiest paper: CCC-and-below rated junk bonds skyrocketed since their February 12 low as their average yield plunged from 21.6% to 13.5%. Even the S&P US Distressed High Yield Corporate Bond index has soared 57% since February 12. Those are miracles to behold.

Goldman Sachs Just Launched Project Fear in Italy

Project Fear began two years ago in the run up to Scotland’s national referendum. It then spread to the rest of the UK in the lead up to this summer´s Brexit referendum. But it keeps on moving. Its latest destination is Italy, where the campaign to instill fear and trepidation in the hearts and souls of Italy’s voters was just inaugurated by the world’s most influential investment bank, Goldman Sachs.

Dell-EMC to Lay Off 2,000 – 3,000 US Workers after Requesting 5,000 H-1B Visas & Green Cards to Import Foreign Workers

The ink was barely dry on Dell’s acquisition of EMC, the largest technology deal ever, valued at $67 billion when it was announced in October last year – and already the layoff rumors are oozing from the woodwork. “People familiar with the company’s plans” told Bloomberg that Dell will cut 2,000 to 3,000 jobs. Dell spokesman Dave Farmer refused to comment specifically on the report on Thursday but said instead, as sort of a confirmation: “As is common with deals of this size, there will be some overlaps we will need to manage and where some employee reduction will occur.”

Developing Countries Emulate The US, Turn Citizens Into Debt Slaves

One of the big advantages of being a Latin American or Asian country used to be — somewhat counter-intuitively — the lack of credit available to most citizens. The banking system in, say, Brazil or Thailand simply wasn’t “advanced” enough to offer credit card, auto, or mortgage loans on a scale sufficient to turn the locals into US-style debt slaves. But that, alas, is changing as those countries adopt their rich cousins’ worst habits. Brazil, for instance, was once seen as a Latin American success story and future world power. But then it ramped up government spending and started encouraging its people to become “consumers.” And the rest is familiar, if depressing, history.

More Indications of Labor Slowing—-Yellen’s Favorite Index Hits The Skids

The Federal Reserve’s Labor Market Conditions Index (LMCI) fell to contraction again in August. After rebounding in July for the first positive reading of 2016, the LMCI dropped to -0.7 in the latest update. As usual, revisions have reshaped the levels of indicated problems throughout the past two years, but overall the trend remains. From this view of the labor market, the economy is surely slowing even if taking two years to suggest by how much.

The War On Cash Intensifies

Government campaigns of intimidation — like the wars on drugs, terror, and poverty — have been used to extort the public for decades. Despite the previous failures of institutional “wars,” a new war on cash is being waged that threatens freedom in a more subversive way than ever before. Banks and governments around the world are cracking down on the use of paper money, and in turn, eliminating any anonymity left in the current system. Through strict rules on cash transactions and civil asset forfeiture laws, for example, the system has already instituted penalties for using cash. But as payments evolve into a purely digital network, the consequences of this new paradigm are being brought into the spotlight.

The One Trillion Dollar Consumer Auto Loan Bubble Is Beginning To Burst

Do you remember the subprime mortgage meltdown from the last financial crisis?  Well, this time around we are facing asubprime auto loan meltdown.  In recent years, auto lenders have become more and more aggressive, and they have beenincreasingly willing to lend money to people that should not be borrowing money to buy a new vehicle under any circumstances.  Just like with subprime mortgages, this strategy seemed to pay off at first, but now economic reality is beginning to be felt in a major way.  Delinquency rates are up by double digit percentages, and major auto lenders are bracing for hundreds of millions of dollars of losses.  We are a nation that is absolutely drowning in debt, and we are most definitely going to reap what we have sown.

WTF Chart Of The Day: US Factory Orders Tumble For Longest Streak In History

21 Months… US Factory Orders have decline year-over-year every month since October 2014 (the end of QE3). This is the longest period of decline in US history (since 1956) and has always indicated the US economy is in recession… While headlines will crow of 1.9% MoM gain (which missed expectations of a 2.0% rise), the trend is simply ugly – Year-over-year Factory Orders fell 3.5%.

Services Economy Crashes To Feb 2010 Lows, Confirming Manufacturing Collapse

Following last week’s disappointing Manufacturing ISM/PMI data, Services PMI printed a six-month-low 50.9 over the weekend “pointing to an annualised GDP growth rate of a mere 1%,” according to Markit. Services jobs fell to their weakest since Dec 2014 but the ISM Services data collapsed to 51.4 – lowest since Feb 2010 with new orders imploding to their weakest since Jan 2014.

From An Industrial Economy To A Paper Economy – The Stunning Decline Of Manufacturing In America

Why does it seem like almost everything is made in China these days?  Yesterday I was looking at some pencils that we had laying around the house and I noticed that they had been manufactured in China.  I remarked to my wife that it was such a shame that they don’t make pencils in the United States anymore.  At another point during the day, I turned over my television remote and I noticed that it also had “Made In China” engraved on it.  It is still Labor Day as I write this article, and so I think that it is quite appropriate to write about our transition from an industrial economy to a paper economy today.  Since the year 2000, the United States has lost five million manufacturing jobs even though our population has grown substantially since that time.  Manufacturing in America is in a state of stunning decline, our economic infrastructure is being absolutely gutted, and our formerly great manufacturing cities are in an advanced state of decay.  We consume far more wealth than we produce, and the only way that we are able to do this is by taking on massive amounts of debt.  But is our debt-based paper economy sustainable in the long run?

The Percentage Of Working Age Men That Do Not Have A Job Is Similar To The Great Depression

Why are so many men in their prime working years unemployed?  The Obama administration would have us believe that unemployment is low in this country, but that is not true at all.  In fact, one author quoted by NPR says that “it’s kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940″.  Most Americans don’t realize this, but more men from ages 25 to 54 are “inactive” right now than was the case during the last recession.  We have millions upon millions of strong young men just sitting around doing nothing.  They aren’t employed and they aren’t considered to be looking for employment either, and so they don’t show up in the official unemployment numbers.  But they don’t have jobs, and nothing the Obama administration does can eliminate that fact. According to NPR, “nearly 100 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked” in the 1960s. In those days, just about any dependable, hard working American man could get hired almost immediately.  The economy was growing and the demand for labor was seemingly insatiable.

Fed’s-Own Jobs Indicator Tumbles (Again)

For the 7th month of the last 8, The Fed’s Labor Market Indicator has dropped. August’s 0.7% slump slams the door shut on July’s brief bounce which is confirmed by the collapse in ISM Services and Manufacturing employment indices… If The Fed hikes rates into this, then there is far more going on than meets the eye and Janet is in panic “out of ammo” mode.

Low College Enrollment Sign of Education Bubble

Another bad US economic indicator is becoming a focus for economic policy makers. Last month at the economic symposium at Jackson Hole, Janet Yellen said, “As a society, we should explore ways to raise productivity growth … improving our educational system and investing more in worker training.” Yellen is referring here to the production efficiency that occurs when incoming, better-educated college graduates enter the labor force, bring their new knowledge, and create better processes. This is commonly called the “productivity miracle” and has been a reliable economic phenomenon for 50 years.

The One Trillion Dollar Consumer Auto Loan Bubble Is Beginning To Burst

Do you remember the subprime mortgage meltdown from the last financial crisis?  Well, this time around we are facing a subprime auto loan meltdown.  In recent years, auto lenders have become more and more aggressive, and they have been increasingly willing to lend money to people that should not be borrowing money to buy a new vehicle under any circumstances.  Just like with subprime mortgages, this strategy seemed to pay off at first, but now economic reality is beginning to be felt in a major way.  Delinquency rates are up by double digit percentages, and major auto lenders are bracing for hundreds of millions of dollars of losses.  We are a nation that is absolutely drowning in debt, and we are most definitely going to reap what we have sown.

There Are 9.93 Million More Government Workers Than Manufacturing Workers

The August jobs report was filled with some interest factoids, like there are now 9.93 million government workers than there are manufacturing workers. That is a ratio of 1.81 government workers for every manufacturing worker. Such was not always the case. But a variety of factors such as labor cost differentials, EPA regulations and taxes had led to manufacturing jobs to be sent overseas. Now a 1.81 government to manufacturing employment ratio is called OVERHEAD. And you wonder why high paying manufacturing jobs are fleeing to other countries?

Brzezinski’s Ruse: American Empire Is Dead, China and Russia Take Over

Zbigniew Brzezinski has written an article in The American Interest titled “Towards a Global Realignment” that has received a tremendous amount of attention on the internet, along with much gloating. Brzezinski is an architect of the world’s current military and economic disasters and as such he has plenty of enemies. With this article, they see him recanting his previous arrogance and vision of a worldwide US hegemony. In fact, in the alternative media, many champion his apparent admission as a huge win for the world and a huge defeat for imperialism.

Wall Street Week Ahead: Sleepy summer may give way to freaky fall

The dog days of summer have lived up to their sleepy reputation this year as far as U.S. stocks are concerned, but market gyrations could soon pick up as a traditionally more volatile time of year looms. The S&P 500 index’s 1-month realized volatility, a measure of market choppiness over the past 30 days, is stuck near all-time lows, according to Thomson Reuters data. Even the early-summer jolt from the surprise Brexit vote proved short-lived, and the S&P has not seen a 1-percent price move, up or down, on any day since early July. Yet all that could change quickly given the abundance of catalysts that can rattle markets in the weeks ahead, market watchers said.

Cuba Turns to Foreign Investors as Cheap Venezuelan Oil Fades

Nearly two years after presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced a thaw in relations, Cuba’s communist government is turning to foreign investors to boost renewable energy as it faces cutbacks in cheap oil imports from Venezuela. The government formed by Fidel Castro in 1959 and led by his brother, Raul, is pitching large wind and solar projects and biomass plants that run on sugar cane to foreign companies at conferences like one opening Thursday in Havana. The goal: Bring billions of dollars into sectors that until recently were controlled by state-run entities, and lift the amount of electricity produced by renewables to 24 percent by 2030 from 4 percent today.

Donald Trump: Champion For Christians

The following is a list of the political resolves and policy positions Donald Trump has made in support of the Christian faith and the Christian community.

Obama’s Sneak Attack On U.S. Sovereignty Sets Stage For Climate Regulation

The regulations, they are a-coming. That’s what at least one noted climate skeptic warned, pointing to the very capable pen and phone politicking of President Obama that’s allowed him great success in bypassing Congress on various pet agendas – particularly, on those dealing with the environment, and even more particularly, on one provision he signed earlier this year, the Paris Accord. The measure supposedly commits America to abide what the Obama administration described as “the most ambitious climate change agreement in history.”

The Coming Bloody Revolution In America

America IS being intentionally destroyed, says Roy Masters, and he’s not talking about Russians. As an Englishman who loves America, the real America, Masters has for 27 years been warning Americans about the disintegration of their country on his syndicated radio program, “How Your Mind Can Keep You Well.” Here for the first time, he is laying out what he sees in store for this country in the years ahead. The American system was founded on an idea so radical and seemingly beyond human nature that, technically speaking, America shouldn’t even exist. And the notion that human beings could govern their own lives responsibly, respecting the rights of others, without the need for a king or tyrant, but only for public servants, ran contrary to all other governments in the history of the human race. In just two short centuries, America has shamed the rest of the world with its mind-boggling success, freedom and wealth.

11,700 Petrobras Employees Sign Up To Get Fired

Over 11,700 Petrobras employees signed up to get fired through the Brazilian energy firm’s voluntary dismissal program, according to a new report by Bloomberg. The government-owned company set up the program to reduce debt and reduce operational costs by $10 billion in the coming years as global oil prices stay low. Petrobras workers had until August 31st to sign up for the voluntary dismissal program, through which they would be eligible for severance benefits. Paying out the benefits for the 12,000 workers the company plans to let go will cost $1.23 billion, an official statement said Friday. The firm’s stock prices rick by 4.5 percent Friday morning – the highest jump since August 11th. Petrobras’ stock prices have doubled over the course of 2016 after sinking to a 17-year low in January. So far, the company has pulled out of major investments and stabilized fuel prices in Brazil in order to keep revenues up as the bear market for oil passes.

Are You a Mind-Controlled CIA Stooge? — Paul Craig Roberts

Do you smirk when you hear someone question the official stories of Orlando, San Bernardino, Paris or Nice? Do you feel superior to 2,500 architects and engineers, to firefighters, commercial and military pilots, physicists and chemists, and former high government officials who have raised doubts about 9/11? If so, you reflect the profile of a mind-controlled CIA stooge. The term “conspiracy theory” was invented and put into public discourse by the CIA in 1964 in order to discredit the many skeptics who challenged the Warren Commission’s conclusion that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a lone gunman named Lee Harvey Oswald, who himself was assassinated while in police custody before he could be questioned. The CIA used its friends in the media to launch a campaign to make suspicion of the Warren Commission report a target of ridicule and hostility. This campaign was “one of the most successful propaganda initiatives of all time.”

Climate pact: After years of talk, focus shifts to action

Eight months after 195 nations concluded a hard-fought climate rescue pact, pressure is mounting to put its carbon-cutting promises into action as world leaders gather at G20 and UN meetings this month. The historic deal reached in Paris in December has been signed by 180 countries, but will only take effect after 55 nations responsible for 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it—making it binding. China—responsible for around 25 percent of global carbon emissions—ratified the pact Saturday, ahead of a meeting of G20 leaders where the United States is also expected to follow suit, considerably boosting efforts. Until Beijing joined the club, only 24 nations emitting just over one percent of the global total had officially acceded, according to the UN climate body overseeing the deal to cap global warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

Sorry Losers! How the Fed has screwed the many to benefit the few

By its actions, the Federal Reserve has selected a precious few winners and many, many losers.  Sadly, you are highly likely to be one of the losers. Sorry! I’m one, too, if that helps soften the blow. But we have a lot of company. Other losers include: Savers, Anyone with money in a checking account, Anyone with money in a savings account, Anyone with money in a CD, Anyone depending on bond income, All pensions, Endowments, First time homebuyers, Renters, Those who invest based on fundamentals, Everybody alive in the future, when the bills come due, Anyone on this list has been intentionally pre-selected by the Fed for losing. The Fed has done this deliberately, with full pre-knowledge that it was going to diminish the prospects of the majority in favor of the benefit of an elite few. And to make matters worse, it has no plans to — and no clue how to — reverse the damage it has wrought.

Mike Maloney: This Is The Peak To be followed by ‘one hell of a crisis’

Precious metals dealer and monetary historian Mike Maloney is quite confident the liquidity-driven ‘recovery’ created by the world’s central banks is now over. In his estimation, the path ahead is one of accelerating descent into inevitable currency destruction.

Are You Ready For The End Game? […It’s Coming] — Andy Hoffman

Andy Hoffman is back to kick off September by helping us document the collapse. From 6.2 BILLION in PAPER Gold dumped on the futures market in just the past week to BREXIT 2 which Andy predicts is coming in November when Trump beats Hillary, the end game is coming into focus quickly.

Prepping 101: The Ultimate Zero to Hero Guide to Prepping

Forget the Zombie apocalypse. Real zombies are , in fact, starving mobs of people that will beg you for a loaf of bread when disaster strikes and they’ve got nothing to eat. Forget those reality T.V. shows, too. Those are just exaggerations by the media to get increased ratings. Prepping is like an insurance for a number of critical events that could harm you, your family, your home, your town, or your city. You don’t expect to crash your car and die every time you get behind the wheel, do you? Yet you still pay insurance. Think of prepping in the same way. You have to take steps to ensure your long term-survival.

What Life Will Be Like After an Economic Collapse

If you have been waiting for a public announcement or news headline to let you know that an economic collapse has begun, you are in for the surprise of your life. If history in other countries and in Detroit, Michigan is any indication, there won’t be an announcement. An economic collapse tends to sneak up on a city, region, or country gradually over time. In some cases, the arrival of an economic collapse is so gradual that most people living in it aren’t even aware of it at first. Things just get gradually worse, often so gradually that people and families adjust as best they can until one day they actually realize that it’s not just their home or their neighborhood that has been hit so hard financially, it’s everyone. By that time, it’s often too late to take preventative action.

The Self-Reliance Manifesto: More Than 300 Resources to Guide You on the Path to Radical Freedom

Self-Reliance. It’s a revolutionary word these days and I thought it deserved a manifesto. Have you happened to notice that our society is out of balance? The consumers outnumber the producers at such a rapid clip that we can’t possibly continue like this. But who has time to produce when they are indebted and working overtime to finance their current lifestyles in the hopes that they will finally be able to buy “enough” to be happy, fulfilled, and loved? We live in a society made up mostly of rabid consumers.  As soon as the advertising pros on Madison Avenue point them in a given direction, people flock to it like the zombies on The Walking Dead lurch toward a fresh human, completely oblivious to everything else.  They yearn for these things that are produced across the world and then delivered at a cheap price.  They fill up on cheap food that has been government subsidized, making it unrealistically inexpensive.  They are enslaved as they work to pay for it, or in some cases, accept a handout to pay for it. More people are deeply in debt than ever, living a fancy First World Lifestyle that would crumble with one missed paycheck. They are slaves and they don’t even know it.

Why Did FEMA Just Put a Rush Order on 5 Million Bottles Of Water?

Sometimes, we can get a hint of things that are to come by watching what the government is doing to prepare. After all, their intel is way better than ours, and they do have a tendency to keep secrets.  Of special interest to anyone who like to don the tinfoil and try to figure out what may be coming down the pipe are the actions of FEMA, the agency which is in charge of “managing” emergencies here in the US. So when they place a large order for something that they want absolutely immediately, I pay attention. A few days ago, FEMA put out a solicitation for 5 million bottles of water, to be delivered within 2 days. It said they had an “urgent requirement” for this water.

Jumping Ship: Two Central Banks Just Printed Billions In Paper Currency… And Immediately Bought Gold Mining Stocks With It

When former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was questioned by Ron Paul during a 2011 monetary policy report, he famously told the C

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