Economic pressures

[Danny B]

Right date,,, wrong party

"According to an editorial in The Guardian, Armstrong incorrectly predicted that a sovereign debt crisis, or "Big Bang" as he called it, would begin on 1 October 2015.[11]"
QUESTION: Hello Mr Armstrong
I have not forgotten when I saw the reportage about you on TV when you announced that in October 2015 will start the big economic collapse. do you think that that date was bit early or really there is some thing happened?"
"ANSWER: No, October 2015 was spot on. What you have to understand is this is really a complete process. That is the day Russia invaded Syria and that I said would mean that Syria would become a key focal point. "
Armstrong called for a "big bang" on 2015.75.
Evidently, he thought that it would be a crash of sovereign debt. What happened on that day was, Russia proved that it could stand up to U.S. military.
CENTCOM can no longer call all the shots in places like China, Russia, Venezuela, Germany, Turkey, Iran, Syria and, the former soviet satellites. LOTS of oil producers.
Armstrong was correct in forecasting a big change in the confidence model. He was incorrect in calling for a sovereign debt crisis on that day.

[Danny B]

It has all crashed but, it's not technically a recession

The reality on the ground is getting uglier by the day.
Ron Paul, "There is no doubt we are witnessing the last days of not just the Federal Reserve but the entire welfare-warfare system. Those who know the truth must do all they can to ensure that the crisis results in a return to a constitutional republic, true free markets, sound money, and a foreign policy of peace and free trade."
Many millions of beggars, bankers and bureaucrats depend on a lack of " true free markets, sound money, and a foreign policy of peace and free trade"
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-12/endgame-fed
People tend to gloss over a cessation of federal spending. It will bring death and revolution.

"When it comes to T-Bills the decision is simpler: it's all about liquidity preference - does one keep cash equivalents in the form of US Dollars, whether paper or electronic, or does one purchase Bills, with a maturity from 4- to 52-weeks. If investors are mostly happy to exchange money for Bills, it is generally said that liquidity in the financial system is ample; if however investors are unwilling to part with their "cash" in order to fund the US Treasury (as a reminder, in a time of chronic budget deficits, Uncle Sam has to issue debt to fund its operations), then there is a liquidity shortage.

We bring this up because last week we warned that as the Treasury scrambles to rebuild its cash balance to roughly $350BN from the latest $133BN in Treasury cash, a process that will require the aggressive gross and net issuance of T-Bills, liquidity in the system was set to collapse."
"In fact, according to Bank of America the liquidity shortage over the next two months - a period in which as shown in the chart above the Treasury would aggressively be issuing bills - would be so acute, that the Fed may be forced to launch QE, a conclusion which JPMorgan echoed just days later."
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...rket-liquidity
The Treasury is going to have to find some phantom buyers for it's paper.

India's car market is crashing the worst in 18 years. Consumption is dying.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...month-18-years

China is much the same;
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...rything-missed

Thiel: "Globalist" Google Is In Bed With Chinese Military; Must Be Investigated By FBI/CIA
They thought that there would be no price to pay for attacking Trump and conservatives. Collusion will be found, fines levied and, laws passed.
Middle Class Death-Spiral: Consumers Have Never Been Deeper In Debt, And Bankruptcies Are Surging
Stockman writes about the so-called savings glut. Keep in mind that cafr1 reports that self-reporting from 37,000 GOV agencies shows $237 trillion stashed away. Also, off-shore wealth stashed away is supposed to be $27 trillion bit, who really knows.
There may be a savings glut but, not for the middle class.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ub-zero-yields

[Danny B]

The herd is slowly moving to the exits

No matter how bad it gets for the lower loop, it's still not technically a recession.
USPS Reports First Drop In Package Volume In Nearly A Decade
"We Are Struggling:" Air Cargo Performance Slumps Across Major European Air Ports June registering a drop of 7.1%
"As many readers know, I own a bank. And I’ll never forget when we joined SWIFT, they told us that in order to run some of their software we needed to install an obsolete version of Windows that Microsoft stopped supporting years ago.

Seriously? This is the ‘secure’ system that is responsible for trillions of dollars of worldwide financial transactions?"
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...arrier-pigeons

The "Trump effect" is wiping out criminals around the world. Let's see if this cleanup extends to the vampire squid.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...ople-indicted/

"The yield curve for US Treasury securities has been “inverted” since June. That means short-term yields are higher than long-term yields. Inversions indicate that investors are snapping up long-term bonds in the expectation that interest rates will fall. Since central banks typically lower interest rates in a recession, an inverted yield curve is considered one of the most accurate predictors of a recession. Indeed, the last five recessions in the US have all been preceded by an inverted yield curve."
The CBs have pumped in so much liquidity that it is increasingly more difficult to find / justify high interest. This, of course, is devastating for anyone who depends on interest income.

"The US manufacturing industry, which employs almost 13 million people, is now contracting. Production fell sharply in the second quarter and excess capacity is rising. Factory activity is now at a 10-year low."
This is our prime value-added industry.
"Just as in the last recession, credit rating agencies are again using questionable assumptions to give trillions of dollars of credit to cash-strapped corporations. And the volume of debt rated BBB- (the lowest-rated “investment-grade” debt) has ballooned from $700 billion in 2008 to $3 trillion today. In 2007, companies rated BBB- had an average net debt of 2.1 times earnings. Today, that ratio is 3.2. And more than a third of companies with a BBB- rating have a debt-to-earnings ratio larger than five."
ZOMBIES everywhere you look.

"A less visible, but equally important result of a recession will be a big fall-off in the value of bonds rated BBB-. If a sizable chunk of that $3 trillion market is downgraded to junk status, institutional investors like pension funds that are legally required to hold only investment-grade bonds will have to sell their holdings all at once. That rush to the exits could lead to enormous losses, which could happen in a matter of hours."
So, Trump has to squash any attempt at honesty in the rating agencies.
"The European Central Bank has had negative interest rates in effect since June 2014. These rates apply to the “deposit facility rate,” which is the rate on “excess reserves” banks maintain at the ECB. If you’re a bank in the eurozone, your “reserves” gradually dwindle in value if you don’t lend them out."

"In the last recession, the Fed purchased about $4.25 trillion of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities to prop up the economy."
Last tango in FED can't be repeated this rime.
"Banks and governments don’t like that option one bit. In 2015, Citigroup Chief Economist Willem Buiter proposed abolishing cash to allow banks to impose negative interest rates. He suggested negative interest rates as low as -6.0% be imposed in financial crises to force banks to lend and consumers to spend."
You can't force consumers to spend money they don't have. You can't force them to borrow.
"the real reason is to force savers to help prop up the tottering banking system. And don’t forget that the global “bail-in” model applies to these deposits. If a bank goes bust, depositors must share in the losses, as I discussed in this essay."
It’s Official: The Worldwide Bail-ins Are Coming | The Nestmann Group
" That leads to lower velocity, and by extension, lower interest rates. Indeed, the velocity of money has fallen by one-third since 1998."
"Sell stocks and high-yield bonds and hoard cash. In the US, try to withdraw only newly issued bills. More than 95% of circulating bills have drug residue on them and under US law can be confiscated"

"My larger concern, though, is that a bear market could turn into a systemic financial collapse. This is the term economists use for the collapse of an entire financial system. In that event, a loss in the value of your portfolio will be the least of your concerns. A more pressing issue could be that someone else has a superior claim to the assets you thought you owned.

For instance, you don’t own the assets in your bank account. The bank does. You have only a debt claim on those assets. Your legal status becomes that of an unsecured creditor holding an IOU."
https://www.nestmann.com/the-r-word-...-its-ugly-head
If you read all of this clearly, you can see that regulatory capture will be used to move heaven & earth to rescue the banks no matter the cost to savers and investors.
We're in recession and investors are heading for the exits. The cheerleaders are trying to keep them at the table. Something will eventually set off a stampede,,, probably China.
That is when gold will become unavailable.

[Danny B]

Danse macabre everywhere you look

Automation has caused a collapse of employment. The bankers have held a position at the top of the money chain. They are trying to preserve / maintain their position even though they have no position in productivity. Their solution has been to produce megatons of new debt. Since so much of this debt is loaded on CBs, it is theoretically loaded on the back of the taxpayer. This isn't going to work out as planned. The crash will be justification for the State to get rid of the CB and, unroll debt-free money. Because of regulatory capture, debt-free money can't be rolled out before a CRASH.
We are now in a danse macabre with the bankers.

Armstrong, "QUESTION: Hello,
you said central bankers attend your conference and it means they know what’s coming.
I guess they talk to governments and I wonder if governments will tell people what’s
coming or they will pretend everything is fine until everyone ‘lose shirt’?"
"ANSWER: No. Just about every intelligence agency also tunes in. That does NOT mean they listen and do what we advise. They just want to know what we are saying. I was surprised that one central bank openly admitted who they were. They all want to know what is happening, but are not necessarily capable of acting. I do meet directly with some central banks because they know we are global and they need that perspective. When it comes crashing down, we will most likely get the call as it seems we always do. But that does not mean we can fix anything"
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...central-banks/

"Some" plan to lock in globalism or world GOV or cashless society or a borderless world or one-world currency. Then, there is the faction that wants to do forced population reduction. They will probably be the most successful. It is easier to destroy something than to support it.

Greenspan is part of a faction that thinks negative rates are fine.
https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/econo...E6Htkh76jz1yw/
"From my perch the only way the Fed can avoid a recession is to blow an even bigger valuation bubble versus the size of the underlying economy, a larger one than what we saw during the tech bubble or the housing bubble."
https://northmantrader.com/2019/08/13/tight-rope/
The CBs pumped in megatons of liquidity in the hope that everything would get uplifted AND, there would be no escape nor alternative. They have pumped up every market except physical gold.l That, they have depressed. Just the same, the money renters HATE negative rates. There are bazillions in new liquidity but, everybody expects to rent their part of the bazillions for a high interest rate. EVEN JUNK BONDS HAVE NEGATIVE RATES. Remember that 12% of companies worldwide are zombies that can't even pay the interest on their debt. They charge you for the privilege of loaning them money.
8/14 Negative yield for junk bonds a sight Buffett never thought possible – Value Walk

Armstrong, "Some people have asked why do we have Private Blogs that are all different Basic, Plus, and Pro. I promised to not leave anyone behind. "

8/14 Global central banks move to keep the party rolling, part 3 – Technical Traders
8/14 Global central banks move to keep the party rolling, part 4 – Technical Traders
The larger the bubble the more input it takes to offset the leakage.
8/14 Stocks plunge after yield curve inverts – CNBC
8/14 Entire yield curve inverts, 30-year dives to record low – Mish
Yeah, yeah, yeah,,, the yield curve.
8/14 What Germany’s dismal GDP number means for Europe and interest rates – MW
The danse macabre Hindenburg style.
8/14 Germany: the end of a golden decade – Think
Just like China, they took the jobs of their best clients.

8/14 U.S. student debt defaults have ‘grown stunningly’ – Yahoo!
8/14 Nearly 40% of education spending consumed by pension costs – Illinois Policy
Could there be a connection?
8/14 Bond markets are sending one big global recession warning – CNBC
8/14 Bonds meet the four criteria for defining a bubble – Bloomberg
The S L O W danse macabre.

8/14 Macy’s shares tank 15% as deep discounting leads to big earnings miss – CNBC
Everybody walked past Walmart and went to Dollar General. BTW, the Waltons gain $4 million per hour. They pay $11 per hour.
8/13 US consumer broadly higher in July – CNBC
Marijuana Use in the U.S. Has Increased Since 2005, https://www.newsweek

8/14 Solar power now cheaper than grid electricity across China – Caixin
Carbon Nanotubes Could Increase Solar Efficiency to 80 Percent

Israel lobby in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel...United_Kingdom
The Israel lobby in the United Kingdom is the diverse coalition of those who, as individuals ... Its first objective is "to maximise support for the State of Israel
8/13 300 Brits named in FBI dossier on Prince Andrew’s paedophile pal – Mirror
Yep, the Epstein / MOSSAD honetytrap caught a LOT of British flies.

8/13 Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself with prison bedsheet – NY Post
8/14 Jeffrey Epstein death: shrieking heard from jail cell the morning he died – CBS
He must be quite a ventriloquist to scream while he is hanging.

[Danny B]

recession in progress, collapse ?

"The collapse in global yields has been a theme since October of 2018 with the US 10 year dropping to 1.6% from its October 2018 high of 3.25%, but only now that the 2 year/10 year yield curve has inverted are the official recession alarm bells ringing. Why? Because every single recession in the past 45 years has seen a 2 year/10year yield curve inversion preceding it."
“A recession occurs, on average, 22 months following a 2-10 inversion. The S&P 500 is up, on average, 12% one year after a 2-10 inversion. It’s not until about 18 months after an inversion when the stock market usually turns and posts negative returns”.

“For the ten [2/10] inversions back to 1956, the S&P 500 topped out within approximately three months of the inversion six times (1956, 1959, 1965, 1973, 1980, and 2000). The S&P 500 took 11 to 22 months to peak after the other four inversions (1967, 1978, 1989, and 2005).”
SO, buy more popcorn.

Armstrong writes about the complete chaos in Europe and, the risk of China going into Hong Kong.
"The problem with the collapse of socialism is that the promises made to retain power cannot be supported. The Pension Crisis will explode and at the currency projection, by 2032, we will be looking at a $400 trillion unfunded catastrophic liability. There is no way we could even make it that far."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a.../crisis-ahead/

"The real issue, I believe is the war that is going on regarding freedom of access to making informed decisions on more important matters such as parenting and vaccines. Your blog at least has not been wiped off of Google and Facebook like Natural News, Mercola, and a host of other sites that call into question the efficacy and safety of vaccines. Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc have made it very difficult to find dissenting views on vaccines due to a letter from a Congressman."
"ANSWER: California is actually the worst. Illinois is in trouble, but that is because their constitution forbids renegotiating state employee pensions. In the case of California, it is really just a Socialist’s dream of directing pensions to invest green. Losing money is just the tip of the iceberg."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...re-in-the-usa/

"QUESTION: What makes currencies rise & fall in value?

ANSWER: Many people want to reduce this to a logical explanation. It reminds me of when I testified before Congress at the House Ways & Means Committee. They had to put me on a panel with academics. I told them to make me last. The Committee was asking about changes in taxes and the impact upon currency. The academics said there should be no impact. When they came to me, I dealt with the truth."
"Currencies will rise and fall BECAUSE, first and foremost, this is the way international capital gets to vote on the CONFIDENCE in that political government. You see this in the spreads within the Eurozone such as buying Germany selling Italy or Greece for an example. The dollar has been rising of late BECAUSE the confidence in Europe has been collapsing. This becomes self-evident just plotting the Dow Jones Industrials in dollars v euro. If capital perceives a problem, it will flee from that region to another. The dollar rose during World War I and II, but it declined with the Korean War because the former was a reservoir of capital and the latter was not."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...fall-in-value/

8/15 US government is beholden to the Fed; and vice-versa – Kelsey Williams
So, bring on debt-free money.
8/15 China curbs gold imports as trade war heats up – Reuters
Why are they afraid of gold now?
8/15 As election looms, Argentina’s Macri announces higher spending – Reuters
One more guaranteed Argentine bond default.
8/14 Bitcoin draws premium in Argentina and Hong Kong amid sell-off – Bloomberg
The new confidence barometer.

[Danny B]

Credit creation alone does not make a healthy financial system

Armstrong said that investors would flee public debt and, move to private debt. How do you flee when somebody has chopped off your feet?
"Corporate debt to GDP is at its highest level in all of recorded history.
50% of that debt is BBB, or one level above junk.
Decreased cash flows and less corporate debt demand in a recession will stop buybacks and lead to insolvency in the junk bond market.
This may lead to another wave of bail outs and increased sovereign debt.
Increased sovereign debt will lead to Japanese and European-like economic malaise unless the U.S. creates inflation."
QE didn't create substantial inflation,,, what's next?

" wages have remained relatively stagnant for decades, credit has become the engine of economic growth in the U.S."
"Without wage growth, the credit economy must be pumped up to increase consumption (and therefore GDP)."
"Then credit froze as banks held worthless mortgage backed securities until the government stepped in. Government balance sheets assumed most of the banks' debt "
And now, the GOV is bust.

"Corporate debt has doubled since the 2008 crisis. Corporate debt to GDP is at its highest level in all of recorded history. Naturally, too much debt lowers your credit quality. This is evident by the fact that roughly 50% of the corporate debt market is BBB, or just one level above junk. "
https://seekingalpha.com/article/428...te-debt-bubble

"and my main point here is that time to take these steps is fast running out. Market sentiment is shifting rapidly from euphoria & complacency to fear.
As we’ve often reminded readers, market tops are processes. They occur over time. But market corrections are events. They tend to happen suddenly and violently."
https://www.peakprosperity.com/we-in...rtant-message/

This article has an excellent explanation of the reason and process of an inverted yield curve. Good read.
https://dailyreckoning.com/major-rec...-alarm-sounds/
Also an excellent article on the strengths and weaknesses in China. MUCH depends on what they do in Hong Kong.
https://dailyreckoning.com/china-paper-tiger/
Here is a good, comprehensive on the life cycle of the dollar as the reserve currency.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...eign-could-end

Now, to the bad news.
Farming in the U.K.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...t-report-warns
The bees are losing the battle with pesticides.
https://www.businessinsider.com/worl...pensive-2019-8

8/15 Euro, bond yields tumble as ECB says stimulus “may overshoot” – ZH
Lagarde doesn't have a prayer.
8/15 Negative-yielding debt hits record $16 trillion on curve fright – Bloomberg
Seems like it was only yesterday when it was only $13 trillion.
8/15 Even cryptocurrencies are now getting clobbered in this market – Bloomberg
But, not gold
8/15 Our galaxy’s black hole suddenly lit up and nobody knows why – Vice
It's simple. Our central black hole is getting prepared to be joined by our local black hole,,, Wall street.

[Danny B]

Banks are currently leading the meltdown

Everyone speculates what the "black swan" will be. There are so many candidates, it is impossible to predict. Armstrong called a for a collapse of the world economy on January 18, 2020. Evidently, his program, Socrates knows just what will happen. BIG subscribers pay $millions and, don't want him giving out info for free. Armstrong's time in prison gave him an appreciation for the plight of the common man. He said that he would not leave us behind. A worldwide crash would seem to involve a worldwide system for it to all go down at once.

"As we've previously reported, five mega-banks on Wall Street hold the fate of the entire financial system of the United States in their crony, frequently soiled hands. Yesterday's trading action clearly showed the ugly warts between those banks and their derivative counterparties in the insurance industry. "
"The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a whopping 800 points or 3.05% percent but each of the five mega-banks outpaced the Dow's losses on a percentage basis. That's not a good thing when Congress has left the fate of a nation in such perilous hands -- especially when those very same banks caused the greatest financial crash in 2008 since the Great Depression.

Citigroup, the bank that received the largest government bailout in U.S. history in 2008, including a secret $2.5 trillion in almost zero-rate loans from the Federal Reserve, led the losses among the Wall Street mega-banks yesterday with a decline of 5.28%. Bank of America was next with a loss of 4.69%. Goldman Sachs lost 4.19% with JPMorgan Chase following on its heels with a decline of 4.15%. ..."

"A bank holding company, such as Morgan Stanley and the other four banks, which is allowed to own a Federally-insured, deposit tanking bank, tens of trillions of dollars in non-transparent derivatives,"
Keep in mind that the FDIC is only capitalized with a couple $billion.
" then held their big ammunition until the last half hour of trading, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
According to Bloomberg data, Citigroup’s average daily trading volume over the past 30 days of 13,973,364 more than doubled yesterday to 29,370,676."
They smell blood
"But the really eyebrow-raising selloff occurred yesterday in the shares of the giant insurer, AIG. That’s the same AIG that had to be taken over by the Federal government in 2008, with a bailout that eventually topped out at $185 billion. At least half of that money was funneled out the back door of AIG to the Wall Street banks and their global counterparts who had derivative deals and security lending arrangements that were never properly collateralized by AIG. AIG’s shares shed 4.86 percent yesterday. (See Wall Street Has Placed a Derivatives Noose Around the U.S. Insurance Industry.)"

"Also coming as unwelcome news to rising questions about market integrity, is a report out this morning from Harry Markopolos, the forensic financial expert who pounded on the SEC’s door for years telling them that Bernie Madoff was likely running a Ponzi scheme. The SEC ignored his warnings. Today’s report from Markopolos calls the iconic General Electric company, a “bigger fraud than Enron.”

General Electric had been a component of the equally iconic Dow Jones Industrial Average for 111 years on a continuous basis until it was unceremoniously booted from the index in June of last year. (The decidedly non-industrial company, Walgreens, replaced GE.)"
Yesterday’s Market Plunge Shines Harsh Light on Big Banks and their Derivative Counterparties
So, the markets are going down and, the banks are leading the way.
CITI is always in trouble.
82% of Wall Street Bank Analysts Have a Buy Rating on Citigroup: Run for Cover

Paul Weiss, the Law Firm that Has Represented Citigroup through Serial Fraud Charges, Is the Number One Donor to Democratic Presidential Hopeful Kamala Harris
Economist Nouriel Roubini Compares Crypto Coin Market to “Cocaine’s pushers"
Metals Markets
The Wolves Have Turned on Each Other on Wall Street
Today’s Wall Street Has All the Hallmarks of Tulip Mania
OCC Report: JPMorgan Chase and Citibank Control 76 Percent of all Precious Metals Contracts at 5,362 Federally-Insured Banks
When the paper-gold market eventually blows up, it will take most other markets with it.

There is growth in finance but, a fall in manufacturing.
https://imageproxy.themaven.net/http...fp-debug=false
Markit reports Germany Manufacturing PMI at seven-year low as downturn gathers pace.
https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/econo...kal8Umv-ibTAw/

8/16 Cass Freight Index contracts 8th month: Cass predicts negative GDP – Mish
Obviously, this must be some kind of mistake in reporting.
8/16 Economy looks far better than the bond market’s recession warning – CNBC
NO, of course there won't be a recession.
8/16 ‘Crazy inverted yield curve’ vexes Fed, with no clear resolution – Reuters
The VIX is the "fear index" and, the cheerleaders have been pumping money into it (futures) to keep everything looking rosy. The Yield Curve is a measure of market confidence where the greater investing public "vote" on actual markets. The cheerleaders have pumped in $trillions but, funny money doesn't buy confidence.

Have you got $400 trillion to spare?
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...d-i-am-not-25/

[Danny B]

Battle of the flations

The Acme Widget company makes widgets. They have widget-making machines That they financed and, carry a interest burden that they must service every month. They also buy widget-making materials. Their monthly debt burden is X amount of dollars. Because price inflation outran wage inflation, there is less disposable income and, a fall in the sales of widgets. This is compounded by the fall in the consuming population as the old farts die off and the birth rate is below replacement. They also have to pay dividends and bond service.
Their sales volume has fallen. To maintain debt service and dividends in the face of falling demand, they have raised their prices hoping to compensate for falling volume with rising margin. As they raise their prices, their volume falls even further.

Armstrong, "In STAGFLATION, the driving engine is NOT demand, but rising costs. "The cost of everything rose that was connected to oil even plastics. But this was NOT due to DEMAND but costs while in fact DEMAND declined because of price."

Wage deflation often causes price inflation as vendors try to make up for falling sales.
Armstrong, "Inflation is not a single one-dimensional field. It is driven by various causes. The central key component is DEMAND for here we have a rather binary stimulant that produces important different effects."
"rising prices that are really driven by DEMAND. However, you can also have a decline in economic growth with rising prices that ends up being DEFLATIONARY"
"Such confusion admixture trends of inflation/deflation emerge with rising prices because of the rise in taxation and regulation increase the cost of doing business. This is by no means set in motion by rising DEMAND. The total volume of business declines as DEMAND collapses with the velocity of money. The first trend of inflation with rising prices coincides with a BULL MARKET and the second form of rising prices unfolds with a BEAR MARKET driven by rising taxes and regulation – not an increased in DEMAND."

"This is the real strength behind the dollar – the currency of the dominant EMPIRE. It is the lack of ability and confidence in the currencies of other nations such as Russia, China, and even developing now in the Euro. The net result has nothing to do with money supply compared with CONFIDENCE in the government"
"Germany makes this fatal mistake of imposing austerity upon the rest of Europe assuming it is only money supply. This theory is destroying Europe tearing it apart at the seams. Unfortunately, there are now far too many people living off the taxes in Brussels in charge and they will not go quietly into the light. They will rage against the fading of the light. The Euro is collapsing for fear it will not survive and no degree of monetization will reverse the economic implosion. We are in the collapsing stages as was Rome. This is a CONFIDENCE factor those in charge are refusing to see."

"On the one hand you expect INFLATION under the one-dimensional relationship thinking. When you realize that if the VELOCITY of money collapses (AS WE ARE WITNESSING TODAY) you cannot create more money fast enough to offset the collapse."
"This is why we too must crash and burn. CONFIDENCE will only be restored with a new reformed government"

"ANSWER: That is one of the reasons the Deep State is fighting so hard to remove Trump. They simply believe it will take a seasoned Bureaucrat to sign such a bill. That said, a cashless society will be arriving in Europe before it will appear anywhere else. You must understand that all governments are in their death throes. Instead of stepping back and looking at this from a practical perspective, they remain fixated on their debt crisis that is propelling them to raising taxes. They firmly believe if everyone paid their taxes, they would have no problem. "
"It pains me deeply that our systems are so corrupt"
"The system will self-correct as did Rome. Who will be our Caesar today who knows? But it will come. That is why I say my concern is not Trump, it is who comes after Trump. All I can do is show there is a better way to manage things and we are all connected in this mess. I know the game. They will not listen until there is blood on the streets. Then and only then will they listen out of fear it might be their turn next"
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...n-the-streets/

https://d33wjekvz3zs1a.cloudfront.ne...es-600x409.jpg

Luongo, "The central banks have run out of room to battle deflation. QE, ZIRP, NIRP, OMT, TARGET2, QT, ZOMG, BBQSauce! It all amounts to the same thing.
How can we stuff fake money onto more fake balance sheets to maintain the illusion of price stability? "
"he consequences of this coordinated policy to save the banking system from itself has resulted in massive populist uprisings around the world thanks to a hollowing out of the middle class to pay for it all.
The central banks’ only move here is to inflate to the high heavens, because the civil unrest from a massive deflation would sweep them from power quicker. '
"For all of their faults leaders like Donald Trump, Matteo Salvini and even Boris Johnson understand that to regain the confidence of the people they will have to wrest control of their governments from the central banks and the technocratic institutions that back them.

That fear will keep the central banks from deflating the global money supply because politicians like Trump and Salvini understand that their central banks are enemies of the people. "
"But all of this is a consequence of the faulty foundation of the global financial system built on fraud, Ponzi schemes and debt leverage… but I repeat myself.

And once the Ponzi scheme reaches its terminal state, once there are no more containers to stuff more fake money into the virtual mattresses nominally known as banks, confidence in the entire system collapses.

It’s staring us in the face every day. The markets keep telling us this. Oil can’t rally on war threats. Equity markets tread water violently as currencies break down technically.'
"If Epstein’s murder tells you anything, there’s a war going on for control of what’s left of the crumbling power structure.'
https://tomluongo.me/2019/08/15/the-...ons-has-begun/

[Danny B]

The new liquidity injection channel

Everybody and their pet chimpanzee is attacking the FED. The FED is a tool of the private banks. It is also highly manipulated by the State. Many writers are talking about the end of the central bank era. The CBs are a focal point of the "elites" trying to maintain control. All are working towards a cashless society where your "money" would be worth just what they tell you it is worth.
At the same time, the economy at large is crashing down. Capitalism endeavors to reward only it's participants / producers. This system is no longer viable when most production is done by machines. The money-renters are fading away because the finance sector has grown so much larger than the actual productive sector. The State grows enormously as an attempt to compensate for job loss in the private sector. More and more resources are shifted to the parasitic sector. Then, there is the cost of pensions.
8/17 $240,000 – the amount each American owns of debt and unfunded obligations – CNS
"Distortion' is inadequate to describe the situation.

Could gifting free money boost the economy? - BBC News
Why doesn't the Central Bank give people money directly
But then, there is another view;
Central banks should sell money, not give it away - Econlib
https://www.econlib.org/central-bank...-give-it-away/
Aug 2, 2019 - Central banks should sell money, not give it away.
Seeing the writing on the wall, the FED has a survival plan.
'Anyone keeping pace with the myriad of speeches and publications emanating from central banks will know that globalists are working incrementally to introduce a cashless monetary system under their control. "
"less than a week after the rate cut, the Fed announced that they were planning to devise a new ‘round-the-clock real-time payment and settlement service.’ Called ‘FedNow‘, the system would be an RTGS run service designed to initiate faster payments.
RTGS stands for ‘Real Time Gross Settlement‘

"In a press release announcing ‘FedNow‘, the Fed justified the venture on the premise that the ‘rapid evolution of technology‘ had presented them with a ‘pivotal opportunity‘ to modernise the U.S. payment system. "
"The press release also pointed out that over 10,000 financial institutions are incorporated into the current Fed payment system known as ‘Fedwire‘, and argued that new real time infrastructure developed through the central bank would be best placed to offer full nationwide coverage."
'The big selling point was 365 days a year access, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Funds would be available immediately after payment is sent. It would be a system built on convenience and one that was fit for the speed of the 21st century."
https://stevenguinness2.wordpress.co...ayment-system/

'Imagine instead that, people also kept accounts at the central bank. New money could be added to their accounts, providing a direct, equitable boost to spending. That is one of several potential benefits of individual central-bank accounts, which are among the more intriguing of the radical policy ideas in circulation.'
https://www.economist.com/finance-an...ts-to-everyone

So, there you have it. The FED wants to create a mechanism where every person can draw liquidity directly from the Central Bank. This would OF COURSE be electronic liquidity. Cash would fall into disuse and, be abandoned. China has their social credit system where EVERY action that you do is recorded and, affects your credit rating.
China also has their direct payment system that eliminates the banks. If you are a good upstanding citizen, your account balance never goes to zero. By eliminating cash, all outside transactions must be done by barter.

[Danny B]

Ice age bond market

"It has been a thesis over 20 years in the making, but with every passing day, SocGen's Albert Edwards - who first coined the term "Ice Age" to describe the state of the world in which every debt issue ends up with a negative yield as capital markets and economies collapse into a deflationary singularity - is that much closer to having the victory lap of a lifetime. Although, we doubt he is happy about it.

Commenting on the interest rate collapse he has been (correctly) predicting ever since he first observed Japan's great bubble bust of the 1980s and which resulted in both NIRP and QE, and which he (correctly) expected would spread across the rest of the world, leading to a "Japanification" of every major bond market..."
"... Edwards said that what bond markets are telling us is "that the cycle is ending with the central banks having failed to drive core CPI inflation higher. So Japanese-style outright deflation lies ahead at a time when western economies have piled debt sky high."

Needless to say that's not good, not least of all because we now live in a world in which the bond universe with negative yields continues to grow at an exponential pace, rising rapidly over the past two weeks and reaching a record $16.4 trillion..."

"Here, a perverse "negative gamma" type of feedback loop emerges, as this growing universe of negatively yielding bonds becomes self-reinforcing as certain investors such as insurance companies and pension funds rush to avoid locking in negative yields to maturity. This has been a contributing factor to the significant flattening of the Euro area and Japanese curves, with most curves now firmly in negative territory, and leaves USTs as the last high yielder left among core bond markets. Indeed, as BofA shockingly found yesterday, the US share of global investment grade yields has climbed to 94% in the entire world, and is set to become 100% in the coming days.."

"Europe, is less of a reflection of an improving economy and more a reflection of European pension funds and insurance companies being forced to shift into corporate bonds to avoid very negative yields in the government space. "
So they are abandoning European government debt.
"Needless to say this would be a historic catastrophe for capital markets, where central banks - in control over interest rates for the past century - will have officially lost control"
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...evastate-world
The world of bonds is looking pretty shaky.

Argentina is looking at total collapse once again.
Argentina Treasury Minister Dujovne Resigns Amid Currency Crisis
Hard Brexit will hit UK with food, fuel & medicine shortages, leaked govt doc warns
Juncker Warns of Brexit Calamity: C'est la Bullsh!t Says French Ports Chief
https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/econo...kewjxtGJM5OrQ/

According To The Feds, 19 Million Acres Of Farmland Went Un-Planted With Crops This Year
The Average US Farm Is $1.3 Million In Debt, And Now The Worst Farming Crisis In Modern History Is Upon Us
Wells Fargo Blindsides Customers By Charging Thousands In Overdraft Fees On 'Closed' Accounts
Deutsche Falls To New Record Low Showing 'Lehman Shock' Contagion Risk

The campaign press: members of the 10 percent, reporting for the one percent – Taibbi
8/18 Stocks will tumble if Fed doesn’t get more aggressive: James Bianco – CNBC
8/18 Recession may be coming a lot sooner than anyone thought – CNN
8/18 Treasury about to flood market with debt to fund $1 trillion deficit – MW
So, just how aggressive are we talking about?
8/18 US national debt spiked $363 billion in two weeks, $1 trillion in 12 months – Wolf Street
8/18 Hong Kong finance secretary warns of looming ‘economic typhoon’ – Bloomberg
8/18 Why the trucking ‘bloodbath’ is a signal for a recession – Business Insider
We dont need no stinkin recession.

8/18 Healthcare services inflation yoy highest on record – Upfina
We're all going to die in the waiting room.
8/17 Fearful Argentines pull dollars from banks after election shock – GATA
8/17 Fitch, S&P downgrade Argentina debt as default risk grows – Reuters

8/18 Colorado River water: Arizona, Nevada and Mexico face first-ever cuts – AZ Central
Jul 9, 2019 - Almost a month's worth of rain fell in just one hour in Washington D.C.
More than 14” of rain in about 12 hours in Wharton, TX
Preliminary data shows that from April 14 to 15, 49.69 inches of rain accumulated at ... Waipa, Kauai o
a month's worth of rain soaks parts of England in less than six hours, .
Get used to it.

8/18 Austin slammed by crippling ransomware attack – Zero Hedge
Get used to it. It is a marvellous business plan.
Kunstler, https://kunstler.com/cluster****-nat...he-yang-of-it/

[Danny B]

Hong Kong,,, rising debt

China is an authoritarian regime. When Hong Kong protested the extradition law, China should have backed off. NOPE, they have sent the army to the border of Hong Kong.
Armstrong, "The War Cycle is by far on schedule. We have tensions rising almost everywhere."
"In Hong Kong, there are fears that China will send in troops and take military action, which would trigger an international crisis as fear in Asia as a whole will rise sharply over the future of economic stability. This could send the yuan crashing and even force the break of the Hong Kong peg. The Hong Kong share market peaked in January 2018. It has not made new highs in 2019 and remains at risk of breaking the 2018 low of 24540.43. That gives way and capital is showing its concern for the future of Hong Kong."
"We have a serious crisis building in Asia on three fronts.
Right now, I am working from Asia in the middle of a real crisis with a front-row seat."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...ng-king-korea/
China wants to "save face" but, that is soon to become impossible.
https://sputniknews.com/asia/2019081...ith-activists/
8/19 “I don’t want my money trapped here” – Hong Kong hit by capital exodus – ZH

The Blob State;
"I believe that ever since Bush Jr was elected, the power shifted from the president to the bureaucracy."
'Ever since that point in time, the bureaucracy rose to power. They took on a mantle of authority that no one has been able to challenge. Trump has tried, but look at what they have done to him. This is what people are calling the Deep State."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...state-reality/
This isn't completely correct. The Deep State is comprised of rich, powerful people. The Blob State is comprised of millions of bureaucrats who make our lives miserable to guarantee their salaries and pensions.

"In addition, good people of sound mind and honest intentions are racking up debt like never before. Mortgage debt recently topped $9.4 trillion. If you didn’t know, this eclipses the 2008 high of $9.3 trillion that was notched at the precise moment the credit market melted down.

Total American household debt, which includes mortgages and student loans, is about $14 trillion – roughly $1 trillion higher than in 2008. Credit card debt, which is over $1 trillion, is also above the 2008 peak. To be clear, these debt levels are not signs of economic strength; rather, they are signs of impending disaster."
https://acting-man.com/?p=54671

8/19 Dow set to jump 300 points as Wall Street continues rebound – CNBC 'SET" huh,,, we'll see.
C. H. Smith writes about the wobbly stock market.
oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: A Wobbling Stock Market
8/19 Japan’s exports slip for eighth month as recession fears grow – Reuters
How many months does it take for fear to turn to reality?
8/19 Barron’s nonsensical idea: cut rates like mad to avoid recession – Mish
The economy is constrained by a lack of consumption, NOT a lack of loanable funds.
8/19 Inventory glut plagues US auto sector, new prices plunge in July – Zero Hedge

8/19 Aussie reserve bank admits “we’re almost out of ammo” – ZH
Just wait til China crashes. They won't even have any bazookas.
8/19 India’s central bank demands more enthusiasm for gold paperizing campaign – GATA
The Indian CB has been trying to trade paper for gold for years.
8/19 How Modern Monetary Theory could spike a new bull cycle in gold – GATA
There was a proposal to credit everybody's account with $80,000 from the FED. The Current federal debt is far too high to be payable. If the FED pumped in $bazillions, this would create high inflation. This would have the final effect of making it much easier to pay down the debt. The banks are deathly afraid of inflation so the CBs always lean towards deflation.

"It kept interest rates at 2 percent, and intoned that "the downside risks to growth and the upside risks to inflation are both significant concerns."
"It brought to mind what economist R. G. Hawtrey had said about the Great Depression. Back then, central bankers had worried more about the possibility of inflation than the grim reality of deflation. It was, Hawtrey said, like "crying Fire! Fire! in Noah's flood."
"The world changed on August 9, 2007. That's when French bank BNP Paribas announced that it wouldn't let investors withdraw money from its subprime funds anymore. It couldn't value them, because nobody wanted to buy them. The effect was immediate. Banks stopped trusting, and lending to, each other. "
https://www.theatlantic.com/business...n-2008/284054/
The article is a long examination of FED policy as it related to flation.

8/19 Russia hoax coup and Epstein interlocked – Kevin Shipp – USA Watchdog
8/19 La danse Mossad: Robert Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein – Counterpunch
THAT show is going to run for a long time.

[Danny B]

China,,, social credit,,,Kudlow BS,,,about face in Germany

I have to do a correction. The Chinese DID withdraw their extradition law. Paul Craig Roberts claims that the CIA is behind the protests in Hong Kong. China is really screwed on this one.
Hong Kong's ultra-rich lose patience with protesters as their profits dive
Germany has a pathological fear of high inflation. They push austerity for Europe. Now that Germany is slipping away, they have been newly converted to stimulus.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...deep-recession
Oil prices go down,,, frackers go bankrupt.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ergy-producers

China has social credit and facial recognition. This has allowed "1984" on steroids.
China restricted 2.56 million discredited entities from purchasing plane tickets, and 90,000 entities from buying high-speed rail tickets in July
Trump Advisers Accuse China of Reneging on Trade Commitment
Fentanyl Flowing Into US Overwhelmingly Sourced From China

Brexit Begins - Stephen Barclay signs 'commencement
order' formally starting the process that will take Britain out of the EU on October 31
Armstrong, "Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow stated that he does not foresee a recession. “Our banks are well-capitalized, our financial system’s in very good shape,” Kudlow noted in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd. Kudlow noted that current Todd reminded Kudlow that he made similar statements in 2007 prior to the Great Recession. Undeterred, Kudlow insists that this time is different."
"OPEC released their latest report downgrading their forecast for global oil demand, lowering it to only 1.1 million barrels per day for 2019. It also stated that the supply could grow by 1.97 million barrels per day, outpacing demand."

[Danny B]

Persecution of UK,,, fundamental economic laws that havs never been correct

Armstrong has GREAT perspective and, a front row seat. The cheerleaders can't "interpret" his statements.
Keep in mind that most of our problems are a result of regulatory capture. The banks get the laws that they want. The London banks want continued access to Continental markets.
"The recent polls in Britain show that the people are MORE AFRAID of Labour and Jeremy Bernard Corbyn than they are about BREXIT!
"This is a chart that speaks 1,000 times that Britain has NEVER received a fair deal since joining the EU. This is data from your own government which I have not altered. The peak in GDP took place in 1973 just before Britain joined the EU. There was a major faction that believed joining the EU would create a global economy that would surpass the USA. That never happened because each member state can veto what any other state tries to do. "
Ah yes,,, tribal politics.

"On the subject of Phillip Hammond and Brexit, this is just the latest in a long list of pro-elite politicians who are looking to protect their career interests by aligning with the globalist system.

Blair made hundreds of millions, Brown and Darling bailed out the banks and then went to work in the financial sector and failure that is Nick Clegg is now an exec at Facebook. Theresa May will no doubt have her payday coming. These politicians are selling out their country "
"REPLY: All of these politicians who are for the REMAIN side, which included Theresa May, all have a self-interest which is counter-trend to their own country. They like the establishment of the political class to be left alone."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...self-interest/

Armstrong, "Come September, Draghi at the ECB will make loans to Eurozone banks on a long-term basis at rates less than the short-term lending window. The objective is to encourage banks to lend money to businesses."
"The world economy is crashing BECAUSE of negative interest rates. These insane people have REFUSED to consider that this entire idea of lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy will NEVER work. You are wiping out pension funds and the elderly who are a vital part of the economic base. They keep using the same theories that are decades old and have ALWAYS failed each and every time."
" Lowering interest rates has NEVER worked even once, yet they keep trying the same theory over and over again because they cannot think of anything else to try."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...rn-lend-again/
May I suggest Seppuku?

"Mr. Armstrong;. They constantly try to ignore you in the press and even Wikipedia distorts everything and fails to mention the banks pled guilty and had to repay your clients."
"ANSWER: There is ABSOLUTELY no historical evidence that negative interest rates will ever stimulate the economy no less are they even viable. This wipes out pension funds where many around the world are obligated by law to buy government paper. Social Security in the USA is 100% in government bonds. It is beyond comprehension where all these people cheer negative rates as if this is a good thing. The US share market declined with the rate cut, it did not rally."
"rumors of Roosevelt devaluating the dollar creating a currency inflation. Am I wrong when I understand they feared losing money so they bought tangible assets?"
"Correct. Tangible assets are always the hedge against a decline in the currency. This is why gold has been rising more so in other currencies than US dollars."

Gold acts as a barometer of confidence in a given currency. As the currency crashes, money renters buy up tangibles and, create price inflation. Capital flight also acts as a barometer of confidence in a sovereign currency.
We are now in a holding pattern while they try to save the banks at ALL costs.
"ECB will make loans to Eurozone banks on a long-term basis "
Who knows when it blows?

[Danny B]

More big speedbumps

I've already written about how the banks take your savings and, front-run / buy up everything that you need. Add to that the free money from the FED, ESF and PPT.
There is another mechanism at work in other sectors / markets. Here is an excellent article about the reason that education and health care have risen so far and fast.
https://mises.org/wire/what-student-...re-have-common

"If the economy cannot be reversed, despite the likelihood of rate cuts in September and a possible resumption of “QE” by the end of the year, President Trump will probably look for some “victory” or success to divert public attention away from deteriorating economic conditions. The most likely targets will be renewal of hostilities toward Iran and/or an escalation of pressure on Venezuela"
"In electoral politics, voter enthusiasm can sometimes offset money and media control which was certainly the case for Trump both in the Republican primaries and the general election. To win again, he will need to mobilize similar sentiment.

The politically savvy neocons, which the President has insanely surrounded himself with, are certainly aware of this dynamic which will give them considerable leverage to push forward their agenda. A desperate Trump will surely be more malleable if a second term is in jeopardy. Just look at the recent capitulation when there is, as of yet, no recession, yet, he called off the additional Chinese tariffs after the Dow plunged 800 points.

Even if a recession does not rear its ugly head, an armed conflict with Iran is a distinct possibility. "
https://antoniusaquinas.com/2019/08/...ing-recession/

"In this brilliantly written explanation of the problems with negative rates, Macleod references two working papers from the IMF which address the problem of hoarding cash if commercial banks impose a negative rate on cash balances by “taxing” cash withdrawals. This would be the implementation of negative rate on money held at banks. Money spent electronically would not be taxed like this.

As preposterous as that may seem, if the International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) is publishing working papers which discuss taxing those who attempt to remove cash from the banking system,"
"The imposition of a negative rate policy in the form of a “tax” on cash withdrawals will likely lead eventually to a run on the banks by large depositors, who will “smell” this policy in advance. This cash – or “untaxed good money” – will be removed from the financial system"
Negative Rates, Gresham's Law And A Parabolic Move In Gold | Investment Research Dynamics
How much U.S. currency is in circulation? There was approximately $1.70 trillion in circulation as of January 31, 2019
We find that the percentage of U.S. currency currently held overseas is between 30-37 percent rather than the widely cited figure of 65 percent.
Harari describes money as a “collective fiction.” He notes that the total value of money worldwide is $60 trillion dollars, of which a mere $6 trillion is in cash or coins. This means 90 percent of all money is nothing more than entries in a computer server. Money, says Harari, is a “faith based object,” whose value is derived by the shared narrative about its worth.

8/20 McKinsey sees ‘ominous’ signs of another Asian debt crisis – Bloomberg
No such thing. Contagion will flow everywhere.
8/20 Alarm in Texas as 23 towns hit by ‘coordinated’ ransomware attack – CNBC
Get used to it.

JPMorgan Spoofer Pleads Guilty To Gold Manipulation, Faces 11 Yrs In Jail
Mark Mobius = Buy Gold At Any Price
This is a big change. Physical gold could break loose from paper gold.
Rich Danes will be forced to PAY bank to hold their deposits
The markets peaked a long time ago.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...risis-imminent
Hong Kong's days as global financial hub may be numbered – Jim Rogers
Major big tech antitrust investigation to start as early as September
You can tell that the bay area lefties have NO political awareness. They are techies who think that; you push a button and, get the results that you want. "anti-trust" never occurred to them.

[Danny B]

Too much inter connection,,, social credit,,, bankers still in control of the State

Big oil still holds a stranglehold on the State. It would like to get control of the oil in Venezuela and Iran. This doesn't look very likely. Same for the mega-deposit in the Golan Heights. America reached cheap-peak-oil years ago. CURRENTLY, American oil majors refuse to tap into the enormous reserves in Alaska. Search "Gull Island".
Our GDP is locked in to energy production. We produce Stuff by applying stored energy to raw materials.
Energy Slaves: every American has somewhere between 200 and 8,000 energy slaves
22 Billion Energy Slaves
Kunstler has long written about the complete wind down of civilization as we use up our stored energy supplies.
"We borrowed all we possibly could from the future to pretend that the system was still working, and now the future is at the door like a re-po man come to take away both the car and the house. The financial scene is an excellent analog to our collective psychology. Its workings depend on the simple faith that its workings work. So, it is easy to imagine what happens when that faith wavers.
We’re on the verge of a lot of things coming apart: supply lines, revenue streams, international agreements, political assumptions, promises to do this and that. "
https://kunstler.com/cluster****-nat...-is-no-normal/


The Bretton Woods agreement hoped to make gold the reserve currency. It ended up using the dollar as a proxy for gold. This allowed the FED and the Dollar to be leveraged way up. The U.S. dollar became the "one ring" in the world financial system. This opened the door to globalism. Globalism benefited just 6 countries. It is a system that appeared great to the money renters.Time has shown that they too eventually fall / fail.

“We have become interconnected in a way that we are almost in a prisoner’s dilemma - stuck in this equilibrium where no one can escape” from a decade of low interest rates, said Raghuram Rajan, a former Reserve Bank of India governor and current professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Increasingly, the answer seems to be NO!"
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1VA24V

Globalism and the drive down to a global mean wage have seeded a lot of big problems. They are soon to grow into giant blooms.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...risis-imminent

8/21 Regulators hand Wall Street major win on ‘Volcker rule’ – Reuters
8/21 Mr. President, this is how to get the Fed to launch quantitative easing – ZH
As long as regulatory capture continues to favor the banks over ALL else, everybody will continue to slip down. The banks are slipping badly but, they survive by hollowing out everything else.
8/21 Trump looking at possible tax cuts amid economic jitters – Reuters
8/21 Trump says Fed should cut rates by at least 1% ‘with perhaps some QE’ – CNBC
I don't blame him for wanting to get re elected. He has done a lot of good. The deep state stalled him for 2 years with the Russian hoax. He lost 2 years on his agenda. The crash will hurt his chances. 'They" hope to squeeze him out in the primaries.
Armstrong said that the critical question would be, 'What comes after Trump?"

8/21 Is $2,000 gold on the horizon? – MarketWatch
For now, gold will slowly rise in dollar terms. it will rise rapidly in the weaker currencies.
8/21 Italian bond yields tumble as investors brush off political turmoil – Reuters
Must be the same investors that recently bought the 100 year Argentine bonds that are now crashing.
8/21 Italy’s gov’t collapses, prime minister resigns: what’s next? – Mish
8/21 Trump looking at possible tax cuts amid economic jitters – Reuters
Sorry Donald, you're out of time.
8/21 Fed too late to prevent a housing market crash? – Technical Traders
The FED deludes itself and, everybody else that it is actually in control for the long-term.

8/21 Facebook bans “women for Trump” ads – Zero Hedge
They still don't get it. Trump puts a noose around their collective necks NEXT MONTH.

8/20 Chinese social credit score prevents 2.5 million from buying plane tickets – ZH
Kitson, Soddy and Douglas originally created the concept of Social Credit. You would receive a payment as a national dividend for being a good, law-abiding, productive citizen.
Their system was all "carrot" and, no "stick"
The Chinese system is a system that is all "stick" and, no 'Carrot"
I don't think that it will work out in the long run.