October 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – October 27, 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his fifth short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams' weekly newsletter. If you are not a subscriber please subscribe for free by entering your name and email address in the box below.
Pastor David Bowen is pastor of Standing Stones Community Church in Phoenix, AZ. For more information about Pastor Dave please visit http://standingstonescc.org/
Pastor Dave is also creator of the website Interpreting The Times, understanding world events through scripture. You can find out more by visiting http://www.interpretingthetimes.com/
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Latest News Articles – October 27, 2016
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 October 21, 2016 to October 27, 2016:
- The Dark Agenda Behind Globalism And Open Borders
When people unfamiliar with the liberty movement stumble onto the undeniable fact of the “conspiracy” of globalism they tend to look for easy answers to understand what it is and why it exists. Most people today have been conditioned to perceive events from a misinterpreted standpoint of “Occam’s Razor” — they wrongly assume that the simplest explanation is probably the right one. In fact, this is not what Occam’s Razor states. Instead, to summarize, it states that the simplest explanation GIVEN THE EVIDENCE at hand is probably the right explanation. - How the Ballooning “Pension Crisis” Will Impact the Economy
In the very simplest terms, the Dallas Police & Fire Pension Fund is going broke, and the police who are counting on it for their retirement are beginning to panic. Police involved are retiring as early as possible and taking cash payouts because they fear that the fund will run dry and future checks may not be forthcoming. The whole thing is beginning to look like a run on a bank and it is just making matters worse. It’s not that the DPFP is all that different from most of the public and private retirement funds; it’s just that what is happening has been noticed and made the headlines. - Here’s How Long-Term Silver Prices Can Get to $150/Oz
Precious metals analyst Gary Christenson explains the phenomenon of exponential increases in asset values over time, and what that means for silver prices. Our financial systems create exponential increases in: Debt, Prices for stocks, Prices for commodities, Currency in circulation, Prices for gold and silver. - Housing Bust 2? Subprime No-Down-Payment Mortgages Surge, “Shadow Banks” Dominate
The value of the US housing market has ballooned to $26 trillion. In many markets, prices exceed even the peak of the prior house price bubble that blew up so spectacularly. This construct is weighed down by $14 trillion in mortgage debt, or about 76% of US GDP. Of that, $10 trillion is owed on one- to four-family residences. The numbers are big – and they matter. But who’s doing the lending? More and more: nonbanks, evocatively called “shadow banks.” They have now overtaken commercial banks “to grab a record slice” of government-guaranteed mortgages, Attom Data Solutions reported in its housing report. - Here’s what happens when a currency hits an all-time low
I’ll start with an admission that I don’t do vacations very well. Or frequently. Over the past ten years I’ve probably only taken a week or two off in total. A big part of that is a deep character flaw of me being a workaholic… but that’s a natural extension of genuinely loving all the exciting business ventures and wonderful people that I’m involved with each day. I do recognize, however, that taking a break is healthy, and I’m trying to get better at it. The last few weeks in particular have been a blur. My fellow executives at our agriculture business and I have been busy negotiating credit facilities with some of the largest financial institutions in the world, all while the company has been planting hundreds and hundreds of acres at a record pace. - Why the Jobs Aren’t Coming Back
The candidates in the current campaign – or any campaign – are all promising to “bring back good jobs” to “create good jobs.” When asked how they would do that, they are all a little light on details. About a year ago, Joe Biden was in Michigan to celebrate the opening of a new manufacturing plant that made “small metal clamps” used in all kinds of industries to hold wiring, hoses. Etc. in place. The largest market is the auto industry but they are sold to hundreds of other manufacturers. Depending on size, shape, and material, these parts sell for a few pennies or less. You have to make a lot of these parts to have any substantial billing numbers. This new plant is fully automated and runs 24/7/365 with just 14 people. Joe was quite happy saying “manufacturing is returning to America.” - Rents Are Too Damn High: NYC Retail Vacancies Soar As Commercial Rents Start To Rollover
Cushman & Wakefield recently released their 3Q 2016 New York City retail rental update and it's pretty much universally bad news for commercial real estate owners in Manhattan. Retail rental rates declined YoY in 9 out of the 11 Manhattan submarkets tracked by Cushman while vacancy rates soared to over 20% in several markets with the “Lower Fifth Avenue” corridor registering the highest vacancy rate in the city at 29.3%. - It Is Happening Again! Voting Machines Are Switching Votes From Donald Trump To Hillary Clinton
Is the 2016 election in the process of being stolen? Just a few weeks ago I issued a major alert warning that this exact sort of thing might happen. Early voting has already begun in many states, and a number of voters in Texas are reporting that the voting machines switched their votes from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton. The odd thing is that none of the other choices were affected when these individuals attempted to vote for a straight Republican ticket. If Hillary Clinton is declared the winner of the state of Texas on election night, a full investigation of these voting machines should be conducted, because there is no way that Donald Trump should lose that state. I have said that it will be the greatest miracle in U.S. political history if Donald Trump wins this election, but without the state of Texas Donald Trump has exactly zero chance of winning. So those living down in Texas need to keep reporting anything unusual that they see or hear when they go to vote. - Pre-crime returns to America with new Airbnb law
On Friday afternoon, New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill making it illegal to advertise your home for short-term rent on websites like Airbnb. The law specifically targets New York City homeowners in apartment buildings who advertise their properties, or even just a spare room in their homes, to rent for less than 30 days at a time. It’s important to note that New York already passed a law a few years ago making it illegal to rent your home out to short-term tenants. This new law makes it illegal to ADVERTISE… which is basically pre-crime. - Jim Rogers: It’s Time to Prepare; Economic And Financial Collapse Imminent
Regardless of how much information gets released through Wikileaks or Project Veritas revealing grossly immoral, or even criminal conduct between members of the Clinton campaign, neither the mainstream media nor our woefully corrupt Department of Injustice have done anything to even slow the Clinton Crime Syndicate’s march toward the oval office. With each passing day that brings us closer to the election, lies continue to be pumped out with impunity to the voting public at large by the very institutions the public should be able to trust to give them fair and honest reporting or education on important matters. In the following interview, legendary investor Jim Rogers, explains in detail why nothing being reported about the economy is true, and why financial and economic collapse is imminent. Who is Jim Rogers? Why should you care what he says? - USA Actually Bankrupt Now-Laurence Kotlikoff
Renowned Boston University Economics Professor Laurence Kotlikoff is running for President with a write-in campaign. He says we need an economic expert, not a politician, to fix our severe financial problems. Dr. Kotlikoff explains, “Our democracy is in trouble. We have 14% of the electorate who have chosen Hillary Clinton for us to vote for, and a different 14% have chosen Trump to vote for. The vast majority of the population realizes neither Clinton nor Trump are qualified. Just on the economic front, these folks have no idea how fiscally sick our country is. The fact that we have off-the-book liabilities that make our true debt roughly 15 times larger than the amount the government is actually reporting, so, our true debt is about $206 trillion. The debt the Congressional Budget Office is telling us about is about $13.5 trillion. . . . We’re short $206 trillion. The country is 53% underfinanced. So, the country is actually bankrupt right this minute. It’s not $206 trillion in the future that we owe, it’s $206 trillion today. It’s our credit card bill, and we’re broke.” - Bank of England Asks UK Banks To Detail Their Exposure To Deutsche And Italian Banks
In what may or may not be a coincidence, just hours after Bloomberg reported that DB launched a probe into whether it “misstated” derivatives, moments ago the FT reported that the Bank of England is seeking details from large British banks on their current exposure to Deutsche Bank and some of the biggest Italian banks, including Monte dei Paschi, “amid mounting market jitters over the health of Europe’s financial sector.” The FT notes that the request was made in recent weeks by the BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority as investors sold off Deutsche and Monte dei Paschi, both of which have been the subject of scrutiny over their capital levels. Supervisors worldwide have attempted to curtail the links between large institutions since the 2008 banking crisis, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers and other big groups threatened to drag down the entire global financial system. - US judge approves $15bn VW scandal settlement
A US court has approved Volkswagen's $15bn (£12.3bn) settlement package for almost half a million customers in America over the diesel emissions scandal. Under the deal, signed off by a federal judge, the owners of 475,000 VWs and Audis with qualifying diesel engines can now either have their vehicle repaired or formally request the company buys it back. In addition, consumers can also net compensation of up to $10,000 (£8,200) in cash. The settlement is not the end of the road for the group's troubles in the US as it still yet to agree terms with the owners of 3-litre diesel models. It faces regulatory action too – relating to the fitting of software designed to fool emissions tests. - Monte dei Paschi shares suspended after 23% fall
Shares in Italian bank Monte dei Paschi have been temporarily suspended from trading after plummeting 23%. It came after the ailing lender published a make-or-break turnaround plan which initially caused the stock to rally by up to 26.5%. Italy's third-largest bank said it would write down bad loans, lay off one in 10 of its workers and raise €5bn (£4.4bn). The European Central Bank had ordered it to reduce its bad debt in April. “There is a lot of speculation ahead of the bank's plan… amid rumours and leaks of possible interest of new investors in the bank,” Vincenzo Longo, a strategist for IG Markets in Milan, told Bloomberg. “We will soon discover if the plan is achievable and sustainable.” - The Boredom Before The Storm
With all the surprising and/or disturbing things going on – Brexit, China’s soaring debt, US/Russia/China saber rattling, the, um, unique US presidential race, the cyber attack that shut down big parts of the US Internet – you’d think that an unsettled world would be reflected in skittish financial markets. Instead we’re getting the opposite, with stock price movements becoming more and more placid as the year goes on. The following chart shows the volatility index (VIX) for the S&P 500 which, after some notable action in 2008 and 2011, has become ever-calmer, with recent readings comparable to the (in retrospect delusional) levels of 2006, just before the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. - This Is What Gold Does In A Currency Crisis, Brexit Edition
In June the UK shocked the world – or at least the world’s elites – by voting to pull out of the European Union. Economists predicted disaster, EU leaders threatened pain for British exporters and tourists, and the media settled in to watch the UK shrivel and die. Four months later, the appropriate response is a yawn rather than a scream. - Rigged Elections Are An American Tradition — Paul Craig Roberts
Do Americans have a memory? I sometimes wonder. It is an obvious fact that the oligarchic One Percent have anointed Hillary, despite her myriad problems to be President of the US. There are reports that her staff are already moving into their White House offices. This much confidence before the vote does suggest that the skids have been greased. The current cause celebre against Trump is his conditional statement that he might not accept the election results if they appear to have been rigged. The presstitutes immediately jumped on him for “discrediting American democracy” and for “breaking American tradition of accepting the people’s will.” - Paul Volcker Surfaces And What The Elites Are Trying To Foist On The Unsuspecting Public
Paul Volcker surfaces and what the elites are trying to foist on the unsuspecting public. Volcker Surfaces. John Embry: “Eric, the presidential campaign and debates have been so sophomoric as to be embarrassing to everyone connected to the whole process. It’s so bad it triggered an article in the New York Times by two luminaries, Paul Volcker and Peter G. Peterson, titled Ignoring The Debt Problem… - The Road To Financial Armageddon
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, spoke with King World News about the road to financial Armageddon. Gold Has Skyrocketed In Foreign Currencies. Egon von Greyerz: “As the gold market takes a break in its journey to much higher levels, it is good to step back a bit and understand why gold has appreciated so dramatically in the last 100 years and why this will continue for many years to come… - Jean-Marie Eveillard Oversees $90 Billion Warns This Might End Badly And There Is A Possibility Of ‘Extreme Outcomes’
News that the grand central bank experiment might end badly and there is a possibility of “extreme outcomes.” Eric King: “There’s talk now of helicoptering in trillions of dollars. Looking at the bigger picture for the West, you are a student of Austrian economics and you’ve said all along that we can’t print our way into prosperity or create more debt to get rid of the debt problem we have. And when you look at this so-called solution of helicoptering in trillions of dollars, that’s not going to solve anything. That’s just going to take this nightmare and make it worse.” Jean-Marie Eveillard: “It (the behavior of central bankers) is mindless and I think there will be unintended consequences. I suspect that it might end badly, and we have to worry about the long-term. I want to be careful here because I’m so old that I’ve been in this business one way or the other for a little more than half a century… - America Needs To Wake Up – There is ZERO Hope For Our Country Until We Turn From Our Evil Ways
America is never going to be great again until we deal with the wickedness in our own hearts. In recent days I have listened to so many national leaders tell us that Donald Trump is going to win the election and that this will usher in a new golden age of blessing and prosperity for America. Supposedly this is going to happen even though we continue to slaughter babies on an industrial scale, sexually-transmitted diseases are spreading at the fastest pace in decades, the percentage of births out of wedlock is more than 10 times higher than in 1940, and approximately two out of every three Christian men watch pornography on a regular basis. Even though there aren’t any signs of widespread national repentance, we are supposedly going to be showered with wealth, favor, protection and good times for as far as the eye can see. You can believe this if you want, but it doesn’t have any basis in reality. - Are The Polls Rigged Against Trump? All Of These Wildly Divergent Surveys Cannot Possibly Be Correct
Some of these polls are going to turn out to be dead wrong. With just over two weeks to go until election day, some surveys are showing a very tight race, while others say that Hillary Clinton has a massive lead. For example, the tracking polls put out by Rasmussen, the L.A. Times and IBD/TIPP have all consistently shown that the race is either tied or Donald Trump is winning by a small margin. But Fox News has Hillary Clinton ahead by six points, Bloomberg has Clinton ahead by nine points, and the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll has Clinton ahead by twelve points. So what in the world is going on here? If the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll is correct, we are likely to see a landslide of historic proportions for Clinton, and this is what many of the experts are now projecting. But if Rasmussen and the L.A. Times are correct, the race could easily go either way. So who are we supposed to believe? Could it be possible that some of the polls are rigged against Trump? - If Donald Trump Wins The Election, It Will Be The Biggest Miracle In U.S. Political History
Are we about to see the largest election day miracle of all time? Because as I will show in this article, that is precisely what it is going to take in order for Donald Trump to win. Before I go any further, I want to make it exceedingly clear that I am not saying what the outcome will be on November 8th. As I recently told a national television audience, I do not know who is going to win. In this article I am simply going to examine the poll numbers and the electoral map as they currently stand. But in this bizarre election things can literally change overnight, and it is entirely possible that we could still have another “October surprise” or two before it is all said and done. And without a doubt Donald Trump desperately needs something “to move the needle”, because if the election was held today Hillary Clinton would almost certainly win. - Trump is Molotov Cocktail You Can Throw on Crooked System-Catherine Austin Fitts
Investment advisor Catherine Austin Fitts is backing Donald Trump. Fitts explains, “Michael Moore said in an interview that Donald Trump is a Molotov cocktail you can throw on the system. Interestingly enough, if you look at the federal system, it has a negative return on investment to taxpayers. If you believe you can never fix that, then throwing a Molotov cocktail into the middle of that is the most intelligent thing you can do for productivity. It was when I wrote the theme for productivity for the second quarter wrap-up I realized . . . I may have profound disagreements with Trump’s style, but I can throw the Molotov cocktail (voting for Trump). . . . I was going to vote for Gary Johnson, but in the second debate when Trump said I will appoint a special prosecutor, I stood up and cheered. For the first time, we were talking about real accountability in America. Then, when he said if I were the President, you’d be in jail, I said that’s it, I am giving money to Donald Trump because that is the first time I have ever seen someone of national prominence on corporate media hold the leadership accountable for their actions.” - MSM Lies for Hillary, Russia US Closer to War, Economic Update
The mainstream media (MSM) is totally lying to the public about everything from voter fraud to Wiki Leaks. There are many current examples of possible voter fraud such as the recent revelation by the Pew Center that 24 million U.S. voter registrations are “significantly inaccurate.” Pew Center also says there are 1.8 million dead people still on the voter rolls. The other part of the MSM lie is done by omission. The MSM is simply not covering major news stories that are negative to the Clinton campaign. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is pure fraud on shareholders and the public by so-called news organizations that are really functioning as Democrat propaganda shills. - Banks’ Brexit Exodus to Start Before Year-End, Lobby Chief Says
Banks in the U.K. will start relocating operations out of the country by year-end, months before formal talks to leave the European Union begin, as London looks set to lose access to the EU single market, the head of the British Bankers Association said in a newspaper commentary. International banks’ “hands are quivering over the relocate button,” Anthony Browne, chief executive officer of the banking lobby group the BBA, wrote Sunday in the Observer newspaper. “Many smaller banks plan to start relocations before Christmas; bigger banks are expected to start in the first quarter of next year.” Without identifying any banks by name, he said lenders can’t wait until the last minute and have to “plan for the worst,” especially because “public and political debate at the moment is taking us in the wrong direction.” - Central African Republic: Four dead in UN Bangui shooting
Four people have been killed during protests against the UN peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic. Peacekeepers opened fire when demonstrators tried to force their way into the UN headquarters, says a BBC reporter, who saw bodies being taken away in a police vehicle. The UN denies using live bullets and says its soldiers only used tear gas.
A group of Central Africans wants the UN mission to withdraw, saying it is failing to protect people. The peacekeepers were deployed after civil war broke out in 2013 when then-President Francois Bozize was ousted by mainly Muslim Seleka rebels. - Where the Next Crisis Will Come From
Next year ends in a 7. If you’re superstitious or a little loose with statistics, that makes us due for another financial crisis. The biggest one-day stock drop in Wall Street history happened in 1987. The Asian crisis was in 1997. And the worst global meltdown since the Great Depression got rolling in 2007 with the failure of mortgage lenders Northern Rock in the U.K. and New Century Financial in the U.S. You can’t really mark the next crisis down on your calendar, of course. The point is that crackups come fairly regularly. And some of the prerequisites for the next one do seem to be falling into place. - Banker Deaths and WikiLeaks Deaths Have a Common Thread
Julian Assange, founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, is the man responsible for the daily release of emails showing the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign to be an unprecedented machine whose tentacles and snitches reach into Wall Street, big corporations and big media. Earlier this year, WikiLeaks released emails showing that the Democratic National Committee had maliciously conspired to undermine the presidential campaign of Clinton challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders, in order to elevate Hillary Clinton to the top of the ticket. - Look up! Facial recognition may soon replace MRT fare cards for Singapore commuters
Singapore commuters might soon be able to ditch their MRT fare cards and/or rely less on EZ-Link cards. The Straits Times today reported that Singapore Technologies (ST) Electronics has plans to roll out a facial recognition system that will identify commuters passing through the gates and charge the fares through post-paid methods such as credit cards (similar to ride-hailing apps like Grab and Uber). To be eligible to use the Advance Gate System, commuters must use a self-help terminal to sign up for an account, which includes having their photographs taken. This terminal will also allow commuters to purchase tickets, top up fare cards, and interact with customer service officers via video conferencing. - The Drug Story
Thirty years ago the Standard Oil Company became impressed with the methods of the big packing houses which used, processed and sold every part of the hog but the squeal. Their sales research department went ‘way back to the 1860’s when “Old Bill” Rockefeller, the itinerant pappy of John D. (the first) and a patent medicine showman, used to palm off bottled raw petroleum on the yokels as a cure for cancer. “Old Bill” was an upstate New York farmer, until 1850. He moved to Cleveland then, entered the patent medicine racket and had himself listed as a “physician” in the city directory. In selling raw petroleum in a pretty bottle “Old Bill” did nothing new. - Deutsche Bank pays $38 million to settle silver manipulation lawsuit
2016 is shaping up as the year when countless conspiracy theories will be confirmed to be non-conspiracy fact: from central bank rigging of capital markets, to political rigging of elections, to media rigging of public sentiment, and now, commercial bank rigging of silver. In short, tinfoil hat-wearing nutjobs living in their parents basement have been right all along. Two weeks ago we reported that “In A Major Victory For Gold And Silver Traders, Manipulation Lawsuit Against Gold-Fixing Banks Ordered To Proceed,” however one bank was exempt: Deutsche Bank. The reason why was known since April, when we first reported that Deutsche Bank had agreed to settle the class action lawsuit filed in July 2014 accusing a consortium of banks of plotting to manipulate gold and silver. - Bombardier to cut 7,500 jobs, raising fears for British workforce
Bombardier has announced it will cut another 7,500 jobs worldwide, raising fears for its British aerospace and rail workforce. It is the second wave of job cuts announced by the Canadian manufacturer in a year, meaning it will shrink its workforce by about 20% in two years. The multinational did not give full details of where the jobs would be lost other than 2,000 redundancies in Canada, while confirming that two-thirds of the total would be in Bombardier Transportation, the division that builds and maintains trains and track systems. - Here's The 30 Seconds After The Last Debate That CNN Would Rather You Didn't See
And continued and constant propaganda-peddling that the race is over because Trump's sexual assauly allegations are “sucking all the air out of the room” compared to Hillary's stream of WikiLeaks facts. CNN made the mistake of asking its focus group of real Americans who won the final debate… and instantly regretted it… - Government borrows higher-than-expected £10.6 billion
The UK's public finances were in worse shape last month as the Government surprised economists by borrowing a higher-than-expected £10.6 billion. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, jumped by 14.5% – or £1.3 billion – in September, compared with the same month in 2015. Economists were pencilling in a figure of £8.5 billion. However, Government borrowing excluding banks in the financial year to date – April to September – fell by £2.3 billion to £45.5 billion in contrast with the same period last year. - Air Force Chief Foresees Decades More US Wars
In comments yesterday at a spouse and family forum, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein discussed the growing number of airmen being deployed abroad for longer periods of time, saying that this problem is going to continue for decades to come. “We’ve been deploying now for 15 years, we’ve probably got 15, 20 years to go,” Gen. Goldfein warned. This wasn’t just about the current wars, either, as the general laid out some of the new deployments against new enemies, citing a “resurgent Russia and China” as driving future deployments.” The Air Force says they want a 1:2 deployment time, with airmen spending six months abroad then remaining at home for a year afterwards. Gen. Goldfein insisted the Air Force needs to be more flexible on the matter of combat deployments, saying he thinks there are too many individual deployments and not enough group deployments. - Obamacare Premiums Up 30% In TX, MS, KS; 50% In IL, AZ, PA; 93% In NM: When Does The Death Spiral Blow Up?
Obamacare premiums are skyrocketing out of sight. A jump of a mere 30% looks like a good deal compared to jumps of over 50% in six states, and 93% in New Mexico. Congratulations are in order for those living in a handful of states whose premiums only rose 20%. The Wall Street Journal reports Rate Increases for Health Plans Pose Serious Test for Obama’s Signature Law. - Risk of ‘Mass Exodus’ of Doctors from Medicare
In what may be the most significant modification to Medicare since the program began in 1966, on Oct. 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). It dramatically changes how Medicare pays doctors for their services. Does it really matter how doctors get paid? Yes — the success or failure of the new payment system will profoundly influence the future of the U.S. health care system. And while the goals of MACRA are laudable, its implementation carries a number of unknowns and the potential for unintended consequences — for patients and doctors alike. - The Federal Reserve Is Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon
Say what you want about Donald J. Trump, but he is correct about one thing: the Federal Reserve has, with near certainty, been holding interest rates down for political purposes — namely, to aid Hillary Clinton in getting elected president of the United States. In September’s first presidential debate, Mr. Trump said: “We have a Fed that’s doing political things. … The Fed is [being awfully] political by keeping the interest rates at this level. And believe me: The day Obama goes off, and he leaves [office], and goes out to the golf course for the rest of his life to play golf, [is the day that] they raise interest rates. … The Fed is being more political than Secretary Clinton.” The Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) September meeting minutes, released on Wednesday, have proven Mr. Trump’s assertion to be true. As the 2016 election season draws to a close, the Fed has suddenly become more bullish on the prospect of raising interest rates — and this precipitous change-of-heart has come despite there being few notable signs of hope in the US’s economic data. - Social Security checks get measly $3.92 bump in 2017
The typical retiree's monthly Social Security check will get only $3.92 bigger next year. That amounts to an increase of just 0.3% — the smallest ever put in place to help cover higher prices. That's still an improvement from this year, when the lack of inflation kept benefits from increasing at all. The average retiree's monthly benefit is currently $1,305.30. Social Security benefits go to 66 million people, including retirees, widows, orphans and people with disabilities. The annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) was put in place in 1975. - Social Security Taxes to Rise for Higher-Income Americans
Higher-income workers will pay more in payroll taxes next year to support Social Security, while retirees and other program beneficiaries see a scant increase in their monthly benefits. Nearly 66 million people, or roughly 1 in 5 Americans, receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments from the U.S. government. Based on subdued inflation over the past two years, their benefits will see a 0.3% cost-of-living increase for 2017 following no adjustment this year, the Social Security Administration said Tuesday. - To Some, it “Feels More Like a Crash”
“There’s enormous risk in public markets because that’s the one that central banks have distorted to the greatest extent,” El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz SE, told Bloomberg TV, in reference to stock and bond markets. He confessed to the heresy of holding 30% of his portfolio in cash. “It’s very hard to say I’m going to buy a basket of public equities and go to sleep for the next five to 10 years and feel good about the returns. Similarly with bonds,” he said. These “public markets” are not the only markets that central banks have totally distorted and larded with “enormous risks.” Practically everything that is an asset has been inflated, including residential and commercial real estate in much of the country, and assets that are the objects of admiration of the wealthy: collector cars and art. But these markets have started to crack at the edges, and some of the cracks are spreading. - Is Chicago’s Housing Market Next?
Does it always start at the top? Because there’s just no letup in dismal tidbits piling up about big-city high-end condo market: Manhattan, San Francisco, Miami – and now Chicago too? Just last year, things were still so good on the Magnificent Mile, those tony 13 blocks of Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River north to Oak Street, of landmark towers, shops and restaurants – rents rank among the most expensive in the country – museums, hotels, and high-end condos. April last year, the 65th-floor penthouse at the Park Tower on 800 N. Michigan Ave sold for $18.75 million, “to a firm with ties to ‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas and wife Mellody Hobson, president of a Chicago investment firm,” the Chicago Tribune speculated. It was an all-time record. The real estate business was ecstatic. But it might have marked the peak. - Housing starts unexpectedly plunge
New residential construction unexpectedly fell in September. Housing starts fell by 9% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.05 million, according to the Census Bureau. Starts of multi-family structures with five or more units fell 39%, and were the biggest drag on overall construction. Regionally, the biggest drop was recorded in the Northeast, where new construction fell 36% from August, and 32% year-on-year. Housing starts in the South — typically the strongest region for construction in the US — fell 5.3% from August. Economists had forecast that starts rose by 2.9% at a rate of 1.18 million, according to Bloomberg. - WikiLeaks: Donna Brazile Shreds Obama Economy
In an email to Hillary Clinton campaign Chair John Podesta from February 2016, released Friday by WikiLeaks, now-acting chair of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile gave a frank and honest assessment of the Obama economy — and it wasn’t good. “I think people are more in despair about how things are — yes new jobs but they are low wage jobs,” she admits. “HOUSING is a huge issue. Most people pay half of what they make to rent,” she continued. - Visa to Launch Blockchain Payments Service Next Year
Visa has announced new details about a forthcoming business-to-business payments service developed in partnership with blockchain startup Chain. Dubbed Visa B2B Connect, the near real-time settlement platform is aimed at providing a more secure, transparent mechanism for businesses making payments via Visa’s netowrk. That the two firms would co-develop a platform for payments is perhaps unsurprising given their existing relationship and the fact that Visa was took part in Chain’s $30m funding round, announced last September. The credit card giant has made other blockchain tests related to payments public in the past year. - Will a US Digital Currency Make the Fed Even More Dangerous?
In a recent episode of Ron Paul’s Liberty Report, the former presidential candidate and Libertarian icon examines the future of digital currency. Paul and co-host Daniel McAdams talk with NYU Law Fellow and digital currency expert Max Raskin about how a future form of US digital money might give the Federal Reserve even more control over monetary policy than it enjoys today. - China House Price Bubble Soars Most Ever, Government Freaks out, Preannounces Plunge
As a consequence of a dizzying buying frenzy in September, the average price of new homes in China soared 11.2% from a year ago, after a 9.2% jump in August, the National Bureau of Statistics reported today. It was the 12th month in a row of year-over-year gains, and the largest increase on record. The average price of new homes rose in 63 of the 70 cities in the index. It dropped in six cities and remained flat in one. But all heck broke lose in tier-one cities: In Beijing, the average price skyrocketed 27.8%, in Shanghai 32.7%. - Who’s Powering the War on Cash?
On Monday in Japan, Apple CEO Tim Cook vented his spleen once more against physical currency, telling the Nikkei that “we don’t think the consumer particularly likes cash.” It’s a bizarre conclusion to reach, especially in Japan where cash is still the undisputed king. At ¥90 trillion ($885 billion), or about a fifth of gross domestic product, the value of banknotes in circulation is the highest in the world as a proportion of the economy. Many small businesses, including many restaurants, don’t even take plastic. Yet, the country was also the first to popularize mobile wallets and smartphones. “We would like to be a catalyst for taking cash out of the system,” Cook said, his mind fixed on Apple Pay, which takes a cut on every transaction it processes. - Before It Is Over This Decline Will Engulf Every Country On The Planet
On the heels of yesterday’s KWN viral interview with Gerald Celente This Is The Shocking Truth About How Bad The Economy Really Is In The United States, it appears that an already bad situation for the U.S. and the rest of the world may be about to get a lot worse. What Celente noticed after yesterday’s viral interview about the collapsing restaurant industry in the United States was this note from Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. analyst Paul Westra, who just cautioned: “We warn investors that restaurant-industry sales tend to be the ‘Canary that Lays the Recessionary Egg,’” He also stated this “may also represent a harbinger to a U.S. recession in early 2017.” - What is the Taxpayer Protection Pledge?
“It has transformed American politics.” — Jonathan Alter, Newsweek. “Signing it has become de riguer for GOP candidates running for federal or statewide offices across the country.” — The Hill. “Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge has solidified opposition to tax increases in Congress and state legislatures over the years.” — Michael Barone. “The Pledge has become something of a rallying cry in conservative circles.” — National Journal. Politicians often run for office saying they won't raise taxes, but then quickly turn their backs on the taxpayer. The idea of the Pledge is simple enough: Make them put their no-new-taxes rhetoric in writing. - 50 Holistic Doctors Have Mysteriously Died In The Last Year, But What’s Being Done About It?
Recently, Erin Elizabeth from HealthNutNews wrote up an expose about the past year’s findings concerning the many disappearances of holistic doctors. In case you’re not aware, the confusing conundrum first began when Dr. Bradstreet was found dead exactly one year ago – yes, on Father’s Day – in the U.S. The noted autism doctor, researcher, and parent was found in a river with a gunshot wound to the chest. While authorities at first thought his death was a result of suicide, it has since been confirmed that Dr. Bradstreet was murdered and that the wound was not self-inflicted. His family, like the families of many other missing and dead naturopathic practitioners and MD doctors, believe that he was murdered for using and promoting controversial therapies, such as GCMaF. - Did a Secret Central Banking Cabal Just Turn AGAINST the US?
Quietly and with little if any attention, foreign Central Banks have begun DUMPING US Debt. Take a look at this chart. Does this look like a bull market to you? Because to me it looks like it could be the beginning of a panic sale. Put simply, foreign Central Banks haven't owned this little US Debt since 2012. Bear in mind, these SAME Central Banks are currently buying their OWN debt (national and corporate) AT A PACE of nearly $200 BILLION per month!!! - List of dead bankers 2016
Yep. The list keeps growing. Just focusing on major players, or cases where ‘foul-play’ may be involved. I’ve done a little research into the causes of all these bankers dying, which can be found at the bottom of the article. Having had to spend too much time on youtube recently, has led to the accumulation of the latest and most credible conspiracy theories. Perhaps the most interesting, is the demise of the common-or-garden ‘master of the universe’. Banker, as they were once known.
They’ve been having problems with mortality recently. And there’s a very long list of them. - Canada Walks Out Of European Trade Talks, “Deal Impossible”
With ‘trade' at the center of any substantive differences between US presidential candidates, 1000s protesting ‘trade' deals across Europe, ‘trade' collapsing in China, and lame-duck Obama trying to push his ‘trade' agenda, it is perhaps shocking that Canada’s trade minister walked out of talks to finalize a trade pact with the European Union, saying it now seems the bloc is incapable of reaching such agreements and that Canadian officials are returning home. - US Freight Volume Drops to Lowest Level since 2009, “Industrial Recession” Hits Full Stride, Overcapacity Crushes Rates
This just keeps getting worse. The Cass Freight Index, tracking US shipment volumes by all modes of transportation, fell 3.1% in September from a year ago, the 19th month in a row of year-over-year declines, and the worst September since 2009! Donald Broughton, Chief Market Strategist at Avondale Partners, wrote in the report: “After offering a glimmer of “less bad” hope in August [the index was down “only” 1.1% year-over-year], the Cass Freight Index shipments data in September disappointed, providing hindsight that August only gave us “false hope.” September data is once again signaling that overall shipment volumes (and pricing) continued to be weak in most modes, with increased levels of volatility, as all levels of the supply chain (manufacturing, wholesale, retail) continue to try and work down inventory levels.” - Head Of Democratic Party Makes Stunning Admission: “The People Are In Despair About How Things Are”
While readers may be used to tin-foil-hat-wearing digitial dickweeds and alt-right bloggers seeing through the veil of ignorance and media hype that hides a considerably uglier economic reality than The White House (and the stock market) might suggest, many Democrats may be shocked to discover that none other than now-acting chair of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile agrees… - Shadow Banks, No-Down-Payment Subprime Mortgages in Canada’s House Price Bubble
“The pundits have been raising red flags on the Canadian housing market for more than five years – and have been consistently wrong,” former Royal Bank of Canada CEO Gord Nixon told BNN today, in response to the federal government’s new mortgage rules designed to tamp down on risk in the housing market: “I appreciate why policymakers have been moving in the direction they have been moving but we have yet to have – and I don’t believe we are going to have – a major, major collapse in housing.” - DNS Cyber Attack Returns As Northeast Internet Traffic Grinds To A Crawl For Second Time
What was supposed to be a temporary internet outage, after an attack “of unknown origin” on DNS service provide DYN took down much of the internet in the North East, appears to have returned, and moments ago DYN announced that it was once again experiencing the same “attack” as this morning. DDOS ATTACK MAY ALSO AFFECT MANAGED DNS ADVANCED SERVICES: DYN. DYN SAYS DDOS ATTACK MAY CAUSE POSSIBLE DELAYS IN MONITORING. Even the White House was involved. - It Starts: Shutdowns, Production Cuts, Layoffs at Auto Plants
It’s been years since we’ve heard about production cuts by automakers, but here they come. After a record-breaking 2015, the hot air is audibly hissing out of the auto industry. September sales were down 0.5% from a year ago. Year-to-date sales were about flat. Some individual models got clobbered. Inventories are piling up on dealer lots. Automakers lavished incentives on the market. Nothing worked. Yet, auto production in September had jumped 7.3% year-over-year, according to the industrial production report this morning. In my article earlier today on this phenomenon [Is this Why US Industrial Companies Don’t Invest?], I explained: “Something has to give: either a miraculous jump in sales or a cut in production.” - With Cash Levels Drying Up, Who is Left to Buy Stocks?
While the “cash on the sidelines” myth has infuriated many, it remains a staple excuse for why there’s always a buying opportunity in stocks when the market dips. However, as Ned Davis Research warns “we can’t find much cash on the sidelines… and when we do it seems mostly offset by debt/liabilities,” crushing yet another pillar of strength for stocks. Ned Davis notes there is a lot of talk about all the cash on the sidelines from pessimistic investors that could power the market higher. There is some public caution and overall savings have risen somewhat, but I am having a hard time finding evidence that cash (potential demand) is anywhere near the market value of stocks (potential supply). - Hillary is running against locker room talk and the Russians
Russia’s very able Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said that the US presidential campaign is “simply some sort of a global shame” unworthy of the American people. She certainly hit the nail on the head. Hitlery’s criminal record had to be suppressed by the Obama regime in order to move the oligarchs’ candidate in the direction of the White House. So here we are on the verge of nuclear war with Russia and China, and the important issue before the American people is Trump’s lewd comments with Billy Bush about sexually attractive women. I mean really. Men’s talk about women is like their fish and hunting stories. It has to be taken with a grain of salt. But this aside, why is lewd talk about women more important than military conflict with Russia, which could mean nuclear war and the end of life on earth? Trump has declared that he sees no point in conflict with Russia and that he sees no point in NATO a quarter century after the demise of the Soviet Union. - 10-Trillion-Dollar Bye-Bye – The Calm Before The Storm
From a cyclical perspective, the stock market has effectively gone nowhere since mid-2014 (with zero total return on the broad NYSE Composite since then). The past two years can be characterized less as an ongoing bull market than as the extended top-formation of the third speculative episode since 2000, the third most extreme equity market bubble in history (next to 1929 and 2000), and the most extreme point of overvaluation in history across the broad cross-section of individual stocks and asset classes. We don’t expect the current situation to end well for investors who insist on taking larger investment exposures than they’re actually willing to hold, with discipline, through a period of severe market losses. From present valuation extremes, a 40-55% market loss would represent a fairly run-of-the-mill resolution to the current market cycle; a decline that would take valuations only to the high-end of the range they’ve visited or breached over the completion of every market cycle in history. By the completion of the current cycle, I expect over $10 trillion of what investors count as paper “wealth” in U.S. equities to disappear without a trace. - Hidden Fragility – What Happens When The Electricity Is Off For Three Days?
What happens when an electricity dependent society and economy has an extended loss of electrical grid and communications? One of the hidden realities of modern life is its fragility. For example, few people are aware of the precariousness of the supply chain that refills gasoline/petrol stations around the world every few days. A new book, When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation explores the fragilities of our truck-dependent supply chains. Longtime correspondent Bart D. (Australia) recently experienced a multi-day regional loss of electricity. His first-person observations help us understand what breakdowns in energy are like on the ground. - This Is The Shocking Truth About How Bad The Economy Really Is In The United States
With continued uncertainty in global markets, this is the shocking truth about how bad the economy really is in the United States. (King World News) Gerald Celente — Across America, from established restaurant chains to upstarts, bankruptcies are rising, locations are closings and profit margins are shrinking… - The Man Who Made A Perfect Call On The Silver Market Just Released This
Tom Fitzpatrick: “Crude WTI (West Texas Intermediate) is seeing a bullish break through the triangle top which may develop into a double bottom… For now this remains a short term dynamic; however, it is worth noting that major resistance levels come in around $52.08. A weekly close above that area would be bullish and suggest a broader medium term rally is taking shape that could see a move in WTI to $60+ and potentially higher. A weekly close (above $52.08), if seen, would confirm the pattern which would then target $77, in line with the lows from 2011 and 2012. The 200 week moving average is around $72.” - Fed Fearful About What It Has Done-Gregory Mannarino
Trader/analyst Gregory Mannarino says don’t be fooled by the recent surge in the markets. Mannarino explains, “I think the Federal Reserve is legitimately becoming fearful of what they have done. There is no recovery here whatsoever. All you have to do is look at two metrics and two metrics only. The Labor Force Participation Rate remains near record lows. The money velocity, that’s the rate the money is moving through our economy, is remaining at record lows. Without these two metrics moving higher, you cannot have a recovery. What we have here is a debt bubble, and everything is being inflated right now on the back of that debt bubble. I think some people at the Federal Reserve are trying to warn people that the environment we are in is very dangerous. We’re hearing the biggest guns on Wall Street, all of them, and not one of them is not trying to say something is very wrong here. We keep hearing about a debt market super nova, that the bond market is in a bubble, which is inflating a stock market bubble. . . . There’s never been anything like this. This is uncharted territory. The Federal Reserve never had a plan to get out. . . . Now, their new scheme is they want the economy to ‘run hot.’ . . . Janet Yellen (Fed Head) said ‘the only way to prevent this economic horror show from becoming a permanent scar is to allow the economy to run hot. Meaning, to let inflation creep in while continuing to suppress interest rates. In other words, make all of us pay more for everything. They are so desperate.” - The Federal Reserve Is Hillary Clinton's Secret Weapon
Say what you want about Donald J. Trump, but he is correct about one thing: the Federal Reserve has, with near certainty, been holding interest rates down for political purposes — namely, to aid Hillary Clinton in getting elected president of the United States. In September’s first presidential debate, Mr. Trump said: “We have a Fed that’s doing political things. … The Fed is [being awfully] political by keeping the interest rates at this level. And believe me: The day Obama goes off, and he leaves [office], and goes out to the golf course for the rest of his life to play golf, [is the day that] they raise interest rates. … The Fed is being more political than Secretary Clinton.” The Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) September meeting minutes, released on Wednesday, have proven Mr. Trump’s assertion to be true. As the 2016 election season draws to a close, the Fed has suddenly become more bullish on the prospect of raising interest rates — and this precipitous change-of-heart has come despite there being few notable signs of hope in the US’s economic data. - DANGER: The Last Time This Happened Was Right Before The Stock Market Collapsed!
With the Dow trading near the 18,000 level, the last time this happened was right before the stock market collapsed. From Jason Goepfert at SentimenTrader: “Speculative assets have reached a 16-year high. In the Rydex family of mutual funds, traders have allocated more than $2 in assets betting on a market rally for every $1 invested in the money market or inverse funds. That’s the widest ratio since 2000 and at a level that has been eclipsed only three distinct times since 1994, all of which led to a struggling stock market. - Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – October 20, 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his fourth short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams’ weekly newsletter.
THE FINAL BUBBLE! Pastor Williams says the information shared by this economist is outstanding and correct. What he says will happen. >>> CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO (This video is being shared because the information within it is truly good and correct. Half way through the video it turns into a sales pitch to sell a book and related products. Pastor Williams has asked me to state that Pastor Williams and LindseyWilliams.net do not endorse this book).
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – October 20, 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his fourth short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams' weekly newsletter. If you are not a subscriber please subscribe for free by entering your name and email address in the box below.
Pastor David Bowen is pastor of Standing Stones Community Church in Phoenix, AZ. For more information about Pastor Dave please visit http://standingstonescc.org/
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Latest News Articles – October 20, 2016
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 October 14, 2016 to October 20, 2016:
- Venezuela’s Latest Cruelty Is Full Shelves of Unaffordable Goods
Something strange has started to appear in Venezuelan grocery stores — food. After years of shortages of even the most basic items, shelves are once again heaving under the weight of imported goods such as Brazilian mayonnaise and margarine, or Colombian coffee and rice. This new-found abundance has come at a price though. Many shoppers can’t afford to buy the goods. “There is oil and bread, but it’s impossible to afford the prices,” said Veronica Parra, a teacher shopping in the eastern area of Caracas. “I earn more than the minimum wage, but I will still have to limit what I buy.” Without announcing any formal change in policy, Venezuela’s government has started to give up on imposing price controls at private stores, with shop owners reporting that they haven’t seen any inspectors since July. Instead, the government has ordered suppliers to sell half of their products to the state-distribution system known as CLAP that delivers subsidized food to the country’s poor. The rest can be sold at whatever price they want. - Investor Cash Levels Jump Toward Levels Not Seen Since 9/11
Fears of a bond-market crash, a breakdown in globalization, a new crisis in the euro area? There were a bevy of reasons for fund managers to push their cash balances to 5.8 percent of their portfolios in October, up from 5.5 percent last month, matching levels not seen since the aftermath of the Brexit vote. The share of cash hasn't been higher than that since November 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks in the U.S. The amount of dry powder in portfolios is above that seen during both Europe's sovereign-debt crisis and the U.S. debt-ceiling debacle, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch's monthly survey of money managers. - Commerzbank to Cut Most Jobs in German Branches, Union Says
Commerzbank AG, which announced the biggest overhaul since its 2008 bailout last month, plans to make most of the announced job cuts in its German branches, according to a letter by German labor union Verdi. About 3,000 jobs will be eliminated at the lender’s branch network in Germany, according to the letter seen by Bloomberg. Another 1,900 jobs will be cut outside of Germany and at Commerzbank’s subsidiaries. A Commerzbank spokesman confirmed that the management and the works council have held in talks on Monday over the job cuts, but declined to comment on them specifically. The news was reported earlier by Boersen Zeitung. - Two Major Central Bank Insiders Just Gave a Clear Signal What's to Come
Are you ready for inflation? On Friday, both the Bank of England AND the US Federal Reserve made clear signals that they WANT inflation. “The Bank of England is prepared to tolerate higher inflation over the next few years and will keep interest rates low to support economic growth, according to Governor Mark Carney. In a further indication that the Federal Reserve will be inclined to let inflation run hot for a while, Chair Janet Yellen on Friday said it's useful to consider the benefits of a “high-pressure economy.””… - The Big Retail Sales Lie
There’s a direct correlation between the scale and quantity of lies coming from Hillary Clinton and the Government. Why? It’s election season, of course. It’s easy enough to dismiss Hillary’s plea for debate viewers to go to her campaign website to see “fact” checking. We know how easy it is for her to hide the truth when she has assistance from the State Department, FBI and Obama. If you believe Hillary Clinton, you also believe in the Easter Bunny. But it’s also easy to fact check the Census Bureau’s retail sales reports. Now, it’s easy enough to believe that the Government would manipulate the statistics in order to help the incumbent party maintain control the White House. But it’s also easy to fact-check the Census Bureau’s tabulations for monthly retail sales, notwithstanding the fact that the Census Bureau is caught producing fraudulent statistics on a regular basis. - Why Oil Could Head Back To $90 Sooner Than Thought
I don’t know much about fashion, but I have heard that blue is the new black. And I know that by the time I buy blue, everyone else will be wearing green. In the oil business, modish pundits are now pronouncing, “60 is the new 90,” championing the thesis that productivity gains, cost improvements and price wars have pulled the global clearing price of oil to $60/B, down from $90/B a couple of years ago. The oilfields of the world share some similarity to fashion ateliers. - Subprime Auto Securitizations Show Signs Of Cracking As Delinquencies Rise
It will come as no surprise to our readers that sales of automobiles in the U.S. have bubbled over in recent years and stood at a SAAR of 17.7mm units at the end of September. To put that number in context, a 15-year useful life would imply that's more than 1 car for every driving age person in the United States. Obviously that's likely not sustainable which is probably why Ford executives admitted on a recent conference call that U.S. auto sales have likely reached a “plateau.” - Russia Is Deploying The Largest Naval Force Since The Cold War For Syria: NATO Diplomat
Just moments ago we reported that in the latest escalation involving Syria, the Russian aircraft carrier Kuznetsov was now sailing past Norway on its way to Syria, where it is expected to arrive in just under 2 weeks. As part of the carrier naval group, Russia also deployed an escort of seven other Russian ships, which we dubbed the “most powerful Russian naval task force to sail in northern Europe since 2014” according to Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily reports. It turns out it it was even bigger, because according to a NATO diplomat cited by Reuters, Russia is “deploying all of the Northern fleet and much of the Baltic fleet in the largest surface deployment since the end of the Cold War,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. “This is not a friendly port call. In two weeks, we will see a crescendo of air attacks on Aleppo as part of Russia's strategy to declare victory there,” the diplomat said. - Fed risks repeating Lehman blunder as US recession storm gathers
The risk of a US recession next year is rising fast. The Federal Reserve has no margin for error. Liquidity is suddenly drying up. Early warning indicators from US ‘flow of funds' data point to an incipent squeeze, the long-feared capitulation after five successive quarters of declining corporate profits. Yet the Fed is methodically draining money through ‘reverse repos' regardless. It has set the course for a rise in interest rates in December and seems to be on automatic pilot. “We are seeing a serious deterioration on a monthly basis,” said Michael Howell from CrossBorder Capital, specialists in global liquidity. The signals lead the economic cycle by six to nine months. - A Spirit Of Violence Rises In America Following The Unveiling Of The ‘Harbinger Of Baal’ In New York
Is it just a coincidence that we have seen violence erupt all over America since the unveiling of the arch that served as a gateway to the Temple of Baal in New York City on September 19th? First there were the terror attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota, then there were the unprecedented riots in Charlotte, and over the weekend there was a horrific mass shooting near Seattle. All of these events took place within a week after the Arch of Triumph was put up in New York. Baal was an ancient deity that was often associated with violence and bloodshed, and those that erected this arch have no idea what they are messing with. - Has World War 3 Already Started?
It took 3 million soldiers, 3,000 tanks, 7,000 artillery pieces, and 2,500 aircraft… “Operation Barbarossa” was the code name for Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. It was the largest military operation in human history. The Nazis had already conquered most of Europe. Hitler had grown overconfident from his recent military victories. Now he was hunting for big game… Stalin’s USSR. - An Inside Look At Two “Unrelated” Banker Suicides Reveals A Fascinating Rabbit Hole
It has been nearly four years since one of the most infamous, and still largely unexplained, banker “suicides” took place, the first in a series of many: we are talking about the death of the director of communications at Monte dei Paschi di Siena, David Rossi, who allegedly jumped to his death on March 6, 2013. Since this event has largely faded away from the public consciousness here is a quick recap: David Rossi, who was the head of communications for Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank, which was founded in 1472 and which is currently seeking to finalize its third bailout since the financial crisis, died after falling – or being pushed – from a third floor window of the bank's headquarters in a 14th century palazzo in the Tuscan city of Siena. - Debate Post-Mortem: “Bad Hombres”, “Putin Puppets”, Chris Wallace Wins “Bigly”
The debate started with ‘no handshakes' once again and while there was no ‘dancing' around the ring, a quiet, polite start rapidly turned ugly once the two candidates warmed up. Second Amendment supporting Trump slammed babyslaying Clinton; questions over who was the biggest “puppet”; Trump declined to support election result and threw a “such a nasty woman” comment across the stage. While it was a close-call between Trump and Hillary, for once we suggest Chris Wallace wins tonight. - The First Cities To Be Nuked
After all of the military command and control centers have been nuked, have you ever wondered which cities would be nuked first? You probably have not, because it is an unpleasant thought, and is something that most people believe would never happen. At one time between Russia and the United States alone, there were more than 20,000 nuclear warheads. Not that long ago during the years of the Cuban missile crisis, every American feared the worst while the U.S. and the USSR were seemingly ready to end the world as we know it… Since then, stockpiles have been reduced somewhat, but in the big picture it is mostly irrelevant. If anything, the world is more dangerous today as apparently radical nations add their own nuclear weapons to the world’s nuclear arsenal. Here is a mapped illustration of the top 30 most populated cities (and metro areas) in the United States which could potentially ‘go’ first in a nuclear war… - They think you’re crazy if you expect default. It’s crazy if you DON’T.
On May 12, 1780, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, “I must study politics and war that my sons have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. . . in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.” (… to which I would add, “so that their children can hide from the world in their safe spaces.”) There may be no other quote that so succinctly surmises the rise and fall of empire. - Wikileaks: Journalists Dined at Top Clinton Staffers’ Homes Days Before Hillary’s Campaign Launch
Several top journalists and TV news anchors RSVPed “yes” to attend a private, off-the-record gathering at the New York home of Joel Benenson, the chief campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton, two days before she announced her candidacy in 2015, according to emails Wikileaks has published from John Podesta’s purported accounts. The guest list for an earlier event at the home of John Podesta was limited to reporters who were expected to cover Clinton on the campaign trail. - Time to Buy Gold as Inflation Rises?
Commodities analyst John Ross Crooks explores the ramifications of rising inflation on gold prices, and concludes that a buying opportunity is likely developing. Alert the media — three key measures of U.S. inflation have exceeded the Federal Reserve’s threshold of 2%. - Trump’s Invisible Shield
It already seems like a lifetime ago that MachadoGate and Lewd-Comments-on-the-Bus-Gate appeared on the political scene and, according to all news sources, derailed the Trump candidacy. Little did we know that a few days later, the Trump campaign would be dealt yet another setback — only this time by a cadre of women parading around the alphabet stations with sudden flashbacks of memory that conveniently materialized just a few weeks before the election. According to the punditry and press, the Trump campaign has received a death blow from which it cannot recover. Clinton is president! - More Good News For Gold Bugs: The Bottom Is Getting Closer
In the latest gold and silver commitment of traders (COT) report (click here for an explanation of what this report involves), paper players made big strides in bringing the market back into balance — and setting the stage for an eventual rebound. Speculators – who tend to be emotional and therefore wrong at the extremes – scaled their long positions way back, while the commercials – who time-and-again sucker the speculators into those emotional extremes and then fleece them – are now considerably less short. - Doug Casey on the Self-Identified Elite
Mark Twain said, “If you don’t read the papers you’re uninformed. If you do read them, you’re misinformed.” That’s why I want to draw your attention to a recent article called “The Isolationist Temptation,” in The Wall Street Journal, written by Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. The piece wasn’t worth reading—except that it offers some real insight into what the “elite” are thinking. The CFR is one of about a dozen groups, like Bilderberg, Bohemian Grove, and Davos, where the self-identified elite gather. - Who Brought the World to the Brink of World War III?
Who has the major responsibility for creating the confrontation between the U.S. and Russia in Syria? How have these two major nuclear powers moved closer and closer to the brink of World War III? At the moment, one clear way to resolve this clash is for Syria’s armed forces to win an unambiguous victory over the forces seeking to overturn the existing government. Bloody as it may be, the defeat of the rebel forces will defuse the military portion of the conflict between the U.S. and Russia, at least within Syria. Russia, invited by Assad to aid him militarily, has been following that path. Obama has haltingly and unevenly been following a different but also effective path, which is that the U.S. pull back from the brink, that it stop calling for Assad’s resignation, and that it not directly become involved in attacking Syrian forces. - ‘With Her’ – Lobbyists Raise $20 Million for Clinton vs. Zero For Trump
With so much mud being slung from all directions in this circus of an election, it’s often hard to separate fact from fiction. However, on one particular topic there is little doubt. When it comes to the big money crowd, they are definitely “with her.” The Wall Street Journal reports: “Not a single registered lobbyist has raised a substantial amount of money for Republican nominee Donald Trump‘s campaign, according to campaign-finance disclosures filed over the weekend. Democrat Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, has drawn more than $20 million over the course of her race for her campaign and joint Democratic Party accounts through funds raised by registered lobbyists, according to her disclosures.” - Ganging Up on Gold
In last week’s update on the gold sector, we mentioned that there was a lot of negative sentiment detectable on an anecdotal basis. From a positioning perspective only the commitments of traders still appeared a bit stretched though, while from a technical perspective we felt that a pullback to the 200-day moving average in both gold and gold stocks shouldn’t be regarded as anything but a normal – and in this case actually long overdue – event. Between May and August, gold stocks became quite “overbought”. They had clearly risen too far too fast and a correction shouldn’t have been a surprise. The pullback was quite sharp, adequately mirroring the relentlessness of the preceding rally. This is nothing unusual in this sector. - James Turk – The Coming Financial Storm Will Devastate The World
As we kick off the third week of trading in October, today James Turk warned King World News that the coming financial storm will devastate the world. James Turk: “There was some remarkable news about the future of the euro reported here in London over the weekend, Eric. The Daily Telegraph picked it up from an obscure central banking publication, and I am pleased that they did… Otherwise this shocker might have been buried without the attention it rightly deserves. And the Daily Telegraph did not hold back, as the following quote leading into their article makes clear. “The European Central Bank is becoming dangerously over-extended and the whole euro project is unworkable in its current form, the founding architect of the monetary union has warned. ‘One day, the house of cards will collapse,’ said Professor Otmar Issing, the ECB’s first chief economist and a towering figure in the construction of the single currency.” - Negative Shocks, Deeper Recessions And The Great Threat To Financial Stability
As the world awaits the next round of monetary madness, here is a dire warning about negative shocks, deeper recession and the great threat to financial stability. Here is what Peter Boockvar wrote today as the world awaits the next round of monetary madness: In a speech titled “Why are interest rates so low? Causes and implications”, Stanley Fischer is premising the speech on “why we should be concerned about such low interest rates.” He raises the possible explanations for why and risks that it entails. Firstly, “the economy’s long run growth prospects are dim.” Secondly, “low interest rates make the economy more vulnerable to adverse shocks that can put it in a recession” which “could therefore lead to longer and deeper recessions when the economy is hit by negative shocks.” Thirdly, “low interest rates may also threaten financial stability as some investors reach for yield and compressed net interest margins make it harder for some financial institutions to build up capital buffers.”… - Saudis, China Dump Treasuries; Foreign Central Banks Liquidate A Record $346 Billion In US Paper
One month ago, when we last looked at the Fed's update of Treasuries held in custody, we noted something troubling: the number dropped sharply, declining by over $27.5 billion in one week, the biggest weekly drop since January 2015, pushing the total amount of custodial paper to $2.83 trillion, the lowest since 2012. One month later, we refresh this chart and find that in the latest weekly update, foreign central banks continued their relentless liquidation of US paper held in the Fed's custody account, which tumbled by another $22.3 billion in the past week, pushing the total amount of custodial paper to $2.805 trillion, another fresh post-2012 low. - The Danger Zone: Why Israel Greatly Fears Barack Obama’s Last Few Months In Office
Between right now and January 20th, 2017 is a real “pressure point” for U.S. relations with Israel. Barack Obama has always desired to “leave a legacy” in the Middle East, and at this point the only option for accomplishing anything tangible is through the United Nations. The Israeli government is extremely concerned that Obama may attempt to take such action before he leaves office, and so they recently asked Secretary of State John Kerry if the U.S. would promise to veto any anti-Israel resolutions that come before the UN Security Council for the rest of Obama’s time in the White House. Unfortunately for Israel, the New York Post is reporting that Kerry flatly refused to make such a promise… - RT: NatWest to close Russian channel's UK bank accounts
NatWest bank is to close the accounts of Russia's state-run broadcaster, RT. Editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan tweeted: “They've closed our accounts in Britain. All our accounts. ‘The decision is not subject to review.' Praise be to freedom of speech!” The bank said the decision was “not taken lightly” and that the accounts were “still operative” at present. An MP from Russia's ruling party has said its parliament will demand an explanation from the UK. RT says the entire Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group, of which NatWest is part, is refusing to provide its services. - Why Is Obama Threatening Russia With World War 3 Right Before The Election?
It sure seems like an odd time to be provoking a war with Russia. As I write this, we stand just a little bit more than three weeks away from one of the most pivotal elections in U.S. history, and Barack Obama has chosen this moment to strongly threaten the Russians. As I wrote about on Friday, Reuters is reporting that Obama is contemplating “direct U.S. military action” against Syrian military targets, and the Russians have already indicated that any assault on Syrian forces would be considered an attack on themselves. The rapidly deteriorating crisis in Syria has already caused tensions with Russia to rise to the highest level since the end of the Cold War, but now Obama is adding fuel to the fire by publicly considering “an unprecedented cyber covert action against Russia”. Apparently Obama believes that Russian hackers are interfering in the election and so he wants payback. - Huge Red Flags Could Be Telling Us Global Currency Reset Is Upon Us!
If you’ve listened to many of Dr. Willie's interviews, or you follow his work regularly, you probably already know that there aren’t too many people who have mixed feelings about the man. He’s either loved by people, or hated, and very little in-between. As a huge fan of his myself, I’ve often found it’s hard to get people who are unacquainted with Dr. Willie to listen to him, or give him a chance. Why? Without a doubt, Dr. Willie can be arrogant, overly sarcastic, insensitive, or even downright rude at times, and that can be a huge turnoff for some. He doesn’t have the same charm during interviews that someone like Peter Schiff does, and he often exhibits very little patience for those who can’t keep up with him on a subject matter level. - U.N. Says They Will Soon Occupy America: “Going Door-to-Door Taking Guns…”
My fellow patriots, do you realize that from the time of this writing, there are only 25 days left until the day we cast our ballots (however meaningless they may be) for the next President of the United States? The case can very easily be made, that in 26 days, we’ll know whether the United States as we’ve known it will live on to fight, or begin the slow march (or maybe not so slow, who knows), toward the ash bins of history. That is how important this election is, and it’s a safe bet that everything you’re about to learn in this post, is unfolding in preparation for all out chaos… - All Paper Will Burn-Rob Kirby
Macroeconomic analyst Rob Kirby has wealthy global connections. He says forget about the recent takedown in precious metals because his sources don’t think anything paper will survive the upcoming financial meltdown. Kirby explains, “The commentary that I get from people with much higher pay grades than me is that, in the end, the only thing that will stand is physical metal gold and silver. They say all paper will burn.” Kirby goes on to confirm that “stocks, bonds and pensions” will be toast. - Hussman Predicts 55% Decline in Stocks in “Hard-Negative” Outlook
From John Hussman: Several weeks ago, we shifted from a rather neutral near-term stock market view, to a hard-negative outlook, based on fresh deterioration in various trend-sensitive components within our broad measures of market action. From a cyclical perspective, the stock market has effectively gone nowhere since mid-2014 (with zero total return on the broad NYSE Composite since then). The past two years can be characterized less as an ongoing bull market than as the extended top-formation of the third speculative episode since 2000, the third most extreme equity market bubble in history (next to 1929 and 2000), and the most extreme point of overvaluation in history across the broad cross-section of individual stocks and asset classes. - They Will Not Allow Trump to Win Regardless of the Vote
The preparation to declare the election a fraud is in high gear. The newspapers are full of the planted stories that Russia will hack the election to ensure Trump wins – not Hillary. The Democrats are now putting out the argument that Wikileaks’ source on all these emails is also Russia saying they use to be about the truth and are now a pawn of Trump and Putin. The Democrats are even trying to claim that the emails are fake. Moving the disinformation plot to cartoons demonstrates this is a full fledged campaign for the coronation of Hillary regardless of what the people vote. Russia will be blamed regardless of what Putin does. It is impossible to absolutely identify the hacker who is truly professional. You can trace it to an IP address, but that will be typically several layers deep rerouting it around the world. Someone in the USA can create a fake hack from Russia with the first IP being placed there. So there would be no possible way to prove it was the Russian government. This is all hype. - Local GOP office in North Carolina firebombed
A GOP office in Hillsborough, North Carolina, was firebombed over the weekend, with a swastika and the words “Nazi Republicans leave town or else” spray painted on an adjacent building, according to local officials. No arrests have been made. Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday called the fire an “assault on our democracy.” - HP To Cut Up To 4,000 Jobs As PC Market Declines
In a filing with the SEC, HP said the cuts are part of a restructuring designed to reduce costs. The news came the same week that Gartner reported an 8th consecutive quarter of declining PC shipments. HP Inc., the PC and printing company that resulted from the split of Hewlett-Packard last year, plans to cut between 3,000 to 4,000 jobs in the next three years, the company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week. The layoffs will come in fiscal 2019 and are expected to generate a gross annual run rate savings of $200 million to $300 million beginning in fiscal 2020, according to the filing. - Analyst: S&P 500 Will Plunge 22% By The End Of 2016
Analyst Theo Vallee is out today with a bold prediction for a massive decline in the S&P 500 through the end of this year — and he has plenty of charts to back up his case. We see the SPX losing 22% over the next 2-3 months. The call is primarily based on technical factors; however, given the market’s current valuation, the fundamentals also support this view. We contend that the texture of today’s price action is very similar to the early 2000’s. - Euro ‘house of cards' to collapse, warns ECB prophet
The European Central Bank is becoming dangerously over-extended and the whole euro project is unworkable in its current form, the founding architect of the monetary union has warned. “One day, the house of cards will collapse,” said Professor Otmar Issing, the ECB's first chief economist and a towering figure in the construction of the single currency. Prof Issing said the euro has been betrayed by politics, lamenting that the experiment went wrong from the beginning and has since has degenerated into a fiscal free-for-all that once again masks the festering pathologies. - Germany HELL: Doom for Deutsche Bank as largest lender Qatar ‘pulls plug on future equity'
SINKING Deutsche Bank has been dealt a hammer blow today after its biggest backer pulled the plug on future equity, it has been claimed. According to sources the bank is now facing a crisis of gargantuan proportions after the Qatari royal family, who were reported to be involved in bond deals just last week, expressed concern over their long-term strategy. Analysts say this could be the final nail in the coffin for the bank which this week was accused of using stealth methods to woo investors. - ALERT: Massive Commercial Short Covering Has Taken Place In The Gold And Silver Markets!
There has been massive commercial short covering in the gold and silver markets on the recent takedown. The following charts are from Jason Goepfert at SentimenTrader. King World News note: Below you can see the commercial hedgers position in the silver market market. Note that commercial hedgers been dramatically reducing their short positions recently in the silver market. - China’s Stunning Move To Dominate The World And The Real Reason Why China Is Buying So Much Gold
With many investors worried about the economic turmoil that has engulfed the globe, here is a look at China’s stunning move to dominate the world and the real reason why China is buying so much gold. China Quietly Increasing Its Global Dominance. Stephen Leeb: “In a fairly lackluster week for the markets, the only news that seemed to arouse any response was China trade data. The headline numbers reported that, contrary to expectations, both Chinese exports and imports had declined in September compared to year-earlier levels, with exports dropping by more than 10 percent in dollar terms. Stock and commodity markets in the West fell in response, believing the numbers signified Chinese weakness that would hurt global growth… - MSM Committing Massive Fraud, Economic Red Alert, WWIII Update
The Wiki Leaks slimy revelations about the DNC and the Clintons’ emails prove the mainstream media (MSM) is committing massive fraud on shareholders and the public. Organizations such as the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC, CNBC, Politico, The Boston Globe and many others hold themselves out as news organizations and fair arbiters of the truth, when they are really just one sided political hacks. I predict the public will reject the MSM in droves, and share prices will plunge. Look out for shareholder lawsuits in 2017. - The Republican Party Has Spent $0 On TV Ads For Trump After Spending $42 Million For Romney In 2012
With so much stacked against him, can Donald Trump pull off a miracle and actually win this election? Right at this moment, things are looking quite grim for the Trump campaign. Following the release of the lewd audio tape, six women have come forward and have accused him of doing the exact sorts of things that he admitted to on that tape, and the mainstream media is going after him with all they’ve got. Of course the Clintons have done far worse things than Trump has, and that is the case that Trump must make to the American people in the last 25 days of this election. But it certainly isn’t helping that Trump is receiving very little help from his own party. In fact, earlier today Politico published an article entitled “RNC TV ad spending for Trump: $0” which documented the fact that the Republican National Committee has not spent a single penny on television advertising for Trump so far in 2016. - Drowning In Debt: 35 Percent Of All Americans Have Debt That Is At Least 180 Days Past Due
More than a third of all Americans can’t pay their debts. I don’t know about you, but to me that is a shocking figure. As you will see below, 35 percent of the people living in this country have debt in collections. When a debt is in collections, it is at least 180 days past due. And this is happening during the “economic recovery” that the mainstream media keeps touting, although the truth is that Barack Obama is going to be the only president in United States history to never have a single year when the economy grew by at least 3 percent. But at least things are fairly stable for the moment, and if this many Americans are having trouble paying their bills right now, what are things going to look like when the economy becomes extremely unstable once again. - World War 3? Barack Obama Could Take A Major Step Toward War With Russia On Friday
Because the mainstream media is devoting almost all of their time and energy to covering the Trump and Clinton campaigns, most Americans don’t realize that the Obama administration is bringing us perilously close to war with Russia. On Friday, Barack Obama is going to sit down with his foreign policy team and discuss “military options” in Syria. As you will see below, the options under consideration include direct strikes “on Syrian military bases”. Russia has already pledged to respond militarily to any direct strikes on Syrian forces, and so the decisions that Barack Obama makes regarding Syria on Friday could literally be the spark that sets off World War 3. The daily drama surrounding Trump and Clinton is far less important than a potential war with Russia. This should be front page news all over the country, but unfortunately most of the big news organizations are giving it very little coverage. - The US just bombed Yemen, and no one's talking about it
What if the United States went to war and nobody here even noticed? The question is absurd, isn’t it? And yet, this almost perfectly describes what actually happened this past week. While many Americans, myself included, were all hypnotized by the bizarre spectacle of the Republican nominee for president, a US navy destroyer fired a barrage of cruise missiles at three radar sites controlled by the rebel Houthi movement in Yemen. This attack marked the first time the US has fought the rebels directly in Yemen’s devastating civil war. - World War III On The Brink: War Will Continue Until It Triggers Economic Collapse
One of the main Shemitah Trends of late 2016 is the emerging war in the Middle East. It has every indication of turning into a conflict resembling World War III and day-by-day is becoming more dangerous and extreme. This could be the war that finally triggers the great economic collapse being planned. Certainly, the storm clouds of war are gathering, as we’ve been covering. In fact, on Friday, Barack O’bomber is scheduled to decide whether or not to initiate direct US military action against Syria – in part because of Russia’s bombing of Aleppo. Obama has been forced into making this decision because the Russians along with the Syrians are now winning the war. The wars in Libya, Iraq and now Syria are bankers wars intended to redraw the map in the Middle East while adding to the military burdens of the West – specifically the US. - European Commission denies fraud problem after EU auditors FAIL to sign off accounts AGAIN
THE European Commission has denied that Brussels has a problem with fraud after the EU’s auditors refused to sign off its accounts for the 21st year running. The 141.5 billion euro budget for 2015 – including £20 billion from Britain – has been blasted by the Court of Auditors for being “materially affected by error”. The court has issued an “adverse opinion” – reserved for serious accountancy failures – on the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the accounts. The report highlights dubious areas of spending, including a bid for a monorail for olive farmers in Italy. - The Day Has Arrived: As Of Today Prime Money Markets Can Suspend Withdrawals – Here Are The Implications
The big day has finally arrived: starting today, as previewed repeatedly over the summer, the SEC's 2a-7 money fund reform adopted in 2014 officially requires many prime money market mutual funds (those that invest in non-government issued assets such as short-term corporate and municipal debt) to float their net asset value. More importantly, these prime MMFs are allowed to delay client withdrawals under adverse market conditions. The rule aim to prevent the sort of chaos that hit the money market after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s 2008 bankruptcy, which helped spark the financial crisis. The goal is to give investors a way to monitor a fund’s health by tracking its fluctuating net asset value, and to contain the fallout that could be caused by many investors cashing out at once, the SEC wrote in the final rules. - Deutsche Bank To Fire Another 10,000 Bankers, Bringing Total Layoffs To 20% Of Workforce
The hits for Deutsche Bank just keep on coming. One day after a report that the German lender has imposed a hiring freeze in the latest bid to reassure investors that it has expenses under control and is stemming the outflow of cash, moments ago Reuters reported that Deutsche Bank's finance chief told his staff that job cuts at the bank could be double that planned, a step that could remove 10,000 further employees. Such cuts would likely take many years but setting such a goal could reassure investors that the bank is determined to tackle costs that sources said the European Central Bank sees as bloated. Unless, of course, they are forced to cut much faster. If 10,000 job losses were ultimately to follow the 9,000 announced by management in October 2015, roughly one in five of the bank's workforce around the globe would be affected. - A “Cat 5” Financial System Hurricane Swirls Offshore
Things are worse than are even being reported by alternative media. Heard from a friend east of the Atlantic whose employer is a financial institution in Europe – you can probably guess which country. Words used were “chaos” and “possible shutdown.” Advised to buy silver as much as possible… - Billionaire Gives NY Fed A Fire-Hose of Reality, Warns Of “Big Squeeze”
Ray Dalio, founder of the $160 billion investment firm Bridgewater Associates, was invited to speak at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s 40th Annual Central Banking Seminar yesterday. Rather than gush about how wonderful the Fed’s zero interest rate policies have been since the financial crisis, Dalio gave them a fire hose of reality. - Thai Stocks, Currency Plunge On Concerns Over King's Health, Fed Hike
Ever since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, investors have kept a close eye on financial developments in Thailand as canary in the Asian financial conditions coalmine, and overnight there was little to look forward to after Thai stocks crashed the most in over a year, plunging as much as 6.9% before settling 4.1%, lower while the baht currency tumbled 1.1%, its steepest plunge in three years. The Thai stock market was the worst performing in Asia, with the sharp selloff attributed to concerns about the health of the king and “sudden” fears about the prospect of a December rate hike. Thai stocks approached a correction, after sliding 8.8% in the week, the most among about 100 benchmark share indexes tracked by Bloomberg. Default risk also spiked with Thai CDS rising 8%, and more than 12 per cent since the start of the week. The Thai currency traded at 35.768 per dollar, headed for an eighth day of losses in the longest stretch since July 2015. It sank as much as 1.5 percent to 35.902, the lowest since Jan. 26, and is headed for its steepest weekly drop since 2013. The 10-year sovereign bond yield rose five basis points to 2.35 percent, the highest since January. - “We Didn’t Know Things Were This Bad” – Ericsson Shares Plunge 17% After Shocking Profit Warning
Our condolences to anyone long Swedish telecom giant Ericsson, who will observe the following chart first thing upon waking up today. The reason for Ericsson's 17% crash, is that the Swedish network maker reported a surprising slump in third-quarter sales and profitability, warning investors that its business was deteriorating faster than expected, with no turnaround in sight. Unexpectedly, the company said sales in the third quarter had dropped by 14% while its operating profit was all but wiped out, falling from SKr5.1bn a year ago to SKr300m. The sales drop was the biggest in 13 years, going back all the way to 2013. - Please Assume Crash Positions
Very few punters expect a real downturn here in stocks. The reasons for confidence are many: the Fed has our back, buy the dip has worked great and will continue to work great, the Fed won't raise rates until December (if ever), the Powers That Be will keep the market aloft lest a plunging market upset the election of the status quo candidate, and so on. - Extinction Level Event
Since they can’t sell people on electric cars, the next best thing is to outlaw internal combustion-engined cars. In order to force people into electric cars. Since they can’t sell people on electric cars, the next best thing is to outlaw internal combustion-engined cars. In order to force people into electric cars. The German Bundesrat (their version of our Congress) just passed a bipartisan agreement toward that end. The legislative details have yet to be worked out, but the idea is to impose a comprehensive ban on the use of cars powered by internal combustion on not just German roads but all European Union roads as well. - Wal-Mart Expects Profit Pressures, Fewer New Stores
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wants to make a big pivot: Instead of building supercenters to drive growth, the retailer hopes to become an e-commerce powerhouse that draws more shoppers to its existing stores. At an investor meeting Thursday, executives said Wal-Mart would open only about half as many supercenters next year as it did last fiscal year. Instead, Wal-Mart will direct more of its $11 billion in annual capital spending toward boosting e-commerce sales, technology used in stores and customer service. The decision is a fundamental shift for the world’s largest retailer that will require significant investment and also weigh on profit. - Google starts deploying its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans: first prototypes spotted
While Tesla’s fleet recently reached 222 million miles driven on Autopilot in about a year, Google’s fleet of self-driving cars just passed the 2-million miles mark last month after 7 years on the road. As we previously discussed, Tesla’s Autopilot miles are not really equivalent to Google’s self-driving miles, but it still gives us a good indication of the speed at which each company is deploying their semi-autonomous and autonomous programs. Now Google is about to speed up its effort by deploying a lot more vehicles through its partnership with Fiat-Chrysler to build a fleet of self-driving Pacifica, Chrysler’s new plug-in hybrid minivan. The first few prototypes were spotted in Mountain View over the weekend. - Deutsche Bank Implements Hiring Freeze, Stock Slides
While much attention in recent weeks has fallen on Deutsche Bank's balance sheet, with concerns over both the bank's capitalization as well as its liquidity forcing its stock price to all time lows as recently as two weeks ago, today we got a timely reminder that the bank also has substantial income statement problems when Bloomberg reported that the biggest German lender is implementing a companywide hiring freeze as CEO John Cryan “seeks to lower costs and shore up investor confidence.” However, the confirmation that the bank continues to hemorrhage cash and is in expense-slashing mode, and which hits just a day after Deutsche Bank completed a tack-on bond offering in which it sold a total of $4.5 billion in 5 year bonds in two tranches, paying junk bond spreads for the privilege of obtaining funds, will hardly “shore up investor confidence.” If anything it will short it, or perhaps short DBK stock, which was down 2.5% to €12.04 in German trading as of this writing. - Germany To Cut Off Welfare Benefits For EU Citizens
In what may be the latest indication that Merkel's immigration policy blowback is being heard by the government, Germany's Handelsblatt reports that Merkel's government plans to prohibit foreign E.U. citizens from receiving welfare benefits for five years if they haven’t worked in Germany before. Labor Minister Andrea Nahles, a center-left Social Democrat, introduced a corresponding draft measure during a cabinet meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government on Wednesday, according to the news agency Reuters. Under the draft law, E.U. citizens can claim one-time assistance for the period of a month to pay for food and shelter. They can also receive a loan to cover the cost of the trip back to their home country if they fail to find work. - US Retailers Blame “Election Preoccupation” For Slumping Sales
While record food-stamps, sinking real wages, and soaring healthcare and shelter costs are all in the realm of peddled fiction; US Retailers are never shy of alternative excuses for their underperformance. It's too-hot, it's too-cold; it's too-low gas prices; it's too-high gas prices; but now, as Bloomberg reports, US retailers and restaurants are floating another excuse to explain their lackluster performance – it's the election, stupid! - List of Hillary Tax Hikes
Trillion dollar tax hike – Hillary’s tax hike proposals will raise taxes on the American people by over $1,000,000,000,000 over the next ten years, based on her campaign’s own numbers. Payroll Tax Hike; Soda Tax Hike; 25% National Gun Tax; Doubling of federal excise tax on guns; 65% Death Tax; Capital Gains Tax Hike; No Corporate Income Tax Rate Relief for Anyone; No Personal Income Tax Rate Relief for Anyone; AND CARBON TAX. - Did Stumpf Lie To Congress? Wells Manager Admits Fake Account Creation As Far Back As 2006
Just when you thought the public floggings were over and another US bank proved that crime pays, it appears Wells Fargo – and its CEO – may not be as ‘Teflon' as they hoped. Having told Congress under oath that his bank committed criminal activities since 2011, VICE News reports that in fact John Stumpf's banking head Carrie Tolsetedt was actually aware of the creation of fake accounts since 2006. - 2 Simple Charts Show Which State Pensions Are Most Likely To Enforce Benefit Cuts
A new research note from Moody's found that State pension funds were underfunded by $1.3 trillion at the end of FY15 but was expected to grow to $1.8 trillion at the end of FY17 as pensions continue to struggle with low returns. We've discussed the unintended consequences of the Central Bank's low-rate polices on pension funds multiples times (see “Pension Duration Dilemma – Why Pension Funds Are Driving The Biggest Bond Bubble In History”)…with the two most likely outcomes being benefits cuts for pensioners and/or crippling tax hikes for citizens. - Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – October 13, 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his third 10 minute weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams’ weekly newsletter.
THE FINAL BUBBLE! Pastor Williams says the information shared by this economist is outstanding and correct. What he says will happen. >>> CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO (This video is being shared because the information within it is truly good and correct. Half way through the video it turns into a sales pitch to sell a book and related products. Pastor Williams has asked me to state that Pastor Williams and LindseyWilliams.net do not endorse this book).
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – October 13, 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his third 10 minute weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams' weekly newsletter. If you are not a subscriber please subscribe for free by entering your name and email address in the box below.
Pastor David Bowen is pastor of Standing Stones Community Church in Phoenix, AZ. For more information about Pastor Dave please visit http://standingstonescc.org/
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Latest News Articles – October 13, 2016
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 October 7, 2016 to October 13, 2016:
- One World Currency, The Rise Of The SDR: Jeff Berwick on A Minute To Midnight
Jeff is interviewed by Tony Koretz for A Minute To Midnight, topics include: the evils of central banking, the US petrodollar, US wars of imperial aggression, possible war with Russia, the destruction of the global economy, one world government, the SDR currency, China and the shift to the east, the collapse of the western standard of living, Adam Weishaupt and the destruction of the family, propaganda and indoctrination in the US, politics and gold, collapse is a mathematical certainty, hyperinflation, massive government debt, Deutsche Bank the first domino? the intrinsic value of precious metals, some investment advice! - Dr Papadopoulos Sets BBC Straight on Syria and Russiaphobia in Britain
Now here’s a rare sight: the BBC allowed a genuine dissenting voice on to its airwaves. Dr Marcus Papadopoulos, editor of Politics First, recently talked to the BBC News about the west’s massive disinformation campaign targeting Syria, and misinformation and Britain’s irrational fear-mongering over Russia. This week, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called for “demonstrations outside the Russian embassy”, because of of what Johnson alleges as “war crimes” Syria. It seems that Johnson’s dangerous rhetoric merely typifies a general level of ignorance and political malaise taking hold over the British Parliamentarians recently. - 10 Signs That An All-Out Attempt Is Being Made To Sabotage The Trump Campaign
Can the craziest election in modern American history get even crazier? At this point we are just 28 days away from the election, and it appears that an all-out attempt is being made to sabotage Donald Trump’s campaign. But the big surprise is where the worst of this sabotage is coming from. We always knew that politics in America is a dirty game, and that the Clintons are the dirtiest players in the game. And we always knew that the mainstream media was going to be in Clinton’s corner, although it has been a shock to what degree they have completely abandoned any pretense of objectivity during this election cycle. So it was always going to be an uphill battle for Donald Trump, but what he didn’t anticipate was blatant and widespread sabotage of his campaign from within his own party. In recent days it has become clear that the worst sabotage to the Trump campaign is being done by people that are supposed to be on his side. - 29 celebrities who love and endorse Donald Trump
Since announcing his bid for the presidency in June 2015, Donald Trump has steadily accrued (and lost) a number of endorsements from celebrities — some of whom are more notable than others. At this year's boisterous Republican National Convention in July, Trump trotted out three of his lesser-known supporters — actor Scott Baio and reality TV stars Antonio Sabato Jr. and Willie Robertson — as speakers for the event. - Part-Time Jobs Soar By 430,000 As Multiple Jobholders Surge To August 2008 Levels
While today's headline jobs print was somewhat disappointing, with the Establishment Survey missing the expected print of 175K, and growing by 156K, it was offset by a far higher 354K jump in the household survey which offset last month's weakness. But while the quantitative headline aspect is open to interpretation, the qualitative component of the September jobs print was clear beyond a doubt: it was ugly. First, looking at the reported composition of jobs, while full-time jobs actually declined by 5,000 to 142,296K part-time jobs soared by 430,000… - Interest Rates: The Real Cost of Borrowing
The basic definition of an interest rate is simply the cost of borrowing money. It’s the cost associated with acquiring credit, whether buying a car, getting a mortgage, or taking a vacation. We encounter interest rates every time we make a monthly credit card or student loan payment. Interest and interest rates are a major part of daily life, yet many people don’t have a good understanding of the most critical types of interest or how their rates are set. Broadening our understanding even a little can help empower us to make more informed decisions, whether at the bank or at the ballot box. - Titans of Finance Gather and Sulk Over Low Rates, Deutsche Bank
Mary Callahan Erdoes, one of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s most senior executives, summed up her industry’s mood like this: “There is no excitement,” she told throngs of bankers gathered in Washington. “There is a lot of handwringing.” Again and again, speakers at the Institute of International Finance’s three-day meeting in Washington, which wrapped up Saturday, bemoaned the inability of central banks to rev up economic growth, as well as the drag of tougher regulations and the looming impact of Brexit. Concerns over Deutsche Bank AG’s mounting legal costs deepened the gloom. - Singapore orders bank closure and fines over 1MDB links
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has ordered a Swiss merchant bank to close and fined two other banks for breaching anti-money laundering controls. The action follows an investigation into money flows linked to the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB. Falcon Bank will lose its merchant bank status in Singapore. Its branch manager was arrested last week. South East Asia's biggest bank DBS has been fined S$1m (US$726,000; £589,000) while UBS will have to pay S$1.3m. - Australian property bubble on a scale like no other
Yesterday Citi produced a new index which pinned the Australian property bubble at 16 year highs: Bubble trouble. Whether we label them bubbles, the Australian economy has experienced a series of developments that potentially could have the economy lurching from boom to bust and back. In recent years these have included: the record run up in commodity prices and subsequent correction; the associated boom in mining investment and current reversal; record low bond yields; the boom in housing construction, specifically apartments, that was spurred by the low interest rates. Housing indicators in the bubble meter are at record highs but interest rates remain at record lows. Typically monetary policy is well into tightening mode at this stage in the housing cycle. A destabilizing housing burst (both in activity and prices) is a clear risk, particularly the longer the upswing runs. - Deutsche Bank cuts another 1,000 jobs
Deutsche Bank has announced that 1,000 jobs will be cut in Germany. The move adds to the 3,000 job losses announced in June. Almost half of the latest job cuts will hit the company's chief operating office, with the rest spread over several departments. Deutsche Bank has been under intense pressure since mid-September, when US authorities said they wanted the firm to pay $14bn to settle an investigation into mortgage-backed securities. Since then, the company has been trying to reassure investors and staff that its finances are strong enough to handle such a large fine. To boost its finances, it has been selling assets and has promised cost cuts. - Lloyds is slashing 1,340 jobs
State-owned lender Lloyds Bank cut 1,340 jobs as part of a restructuring plan that will see as many as 12,000 staff leave the bank in total. The jobs will go from the operations, retail, customer products and marketing, finance and risk divisions, according to a report by BBC News. The bank, which is 9% state-owned, announced a plan in October 2014 to cut 9,000 jobs to reduce costs and boost profit while economic growth and interest rates stagnate. Another 3,000 cuts were announced in July, along with the closure of 220 branches, in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Antonio Horta-Osorio, Lloyds CEO, warned that a “deceleration” of UK economic growth “seems likely” in the bank's second quarter results statement. - The Diamond Engagement Ring: Greatest Marketing Scam In History
De Beers was founded in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes, and financed with help from the London-based NM Rothschild & Sons Bank. This involved mining operations in Canada, South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. In 1927, after his company Anglo American plc (founded with J.P. Morgan in 1917) became a majority stakeholder, Ernest Oppenheimer took over De Beers and it went on to flourish as one of the most successful international diamond cartels in the world. They have been able to restrict the supply of diamonds on the market to raise the price of diamonds far above what would have been market levels. They were able to do this because De Beers was successful in persuading the worlds diamond miners to market almost all diamonds through the De Beers Central Selling Organization (CSO). Today the Anglo American Group owns 85% of De Beers, while the Government of the Republic of Botswana owns the other 15%, they are the only two shareholders. - Why the World’s Biggest Market Is Acting Erratic
The world’s biggest financial market is acting erratic. We’re not talking about the global stock market, or even the bond market. We’re talking about the global currency market. The currency market is where paper money trades hands. It’s much bigger and more important than the global stock market. Yet the average investor almost never hears about it. That’s because major currencies rarely move more than a fraction of a percent in a day. When they do make big moves, they ripple across stock, bond, and even real estate markets. Paper currencies are the backbone of the global financial system, after all. Today, we’re going to look at some recent big moves by major currencies. As you’ll see, we could see a lot more moves like this in the months ahead. - UK will pay BILLIONS into EU coffers for single market access if May makes soft Brexit
BRITISH taxpayers will STILL be forced to pay BILLIONS of pounds into Brussels coffers even though the public voted to unshackle itself from the bureaucratic European Union (EU), it has sensationally been claimed. The Brussels club will still receive an eyewatering £5billion from Britain so the nation can secure access to the single market even when Article 50 is triggered, a cabinet minister has revealed. The shock revelation comes after official statistics revealed the EU billed the UK for £19.6billion in 2015 or almost £376million each week. - ALERT: This Astounding Signal Says Gold Will Soar Over The Next 12 – 36 Months!
With continued pressure in both the gold and silver markets, this astounding signal says gold will soar over the next 12 – 36 months! From Jason Goepfert at SentimenTrader: “Everything has rallied this year. As noted in a Monday article in the Wall Street Journal, the major markets (stocks, bonds, oil, and gold) have all rallied so far in 2016. If we go back to 1983 and look for other years when all four markets showed a positive return through September, then the fourth quarter showed consistent gains in stocks and (especially) gold, with weakness in bonds and oil. - The Donald Lives!
Donald Trump turned in perhaps the most effective performance in the history of presidential debates on Sunday night. As the day began, he had been denounced by his wife, Mike Pence, and his own staff for a tape of crude and lewd remarks in a decade-old “locker room” conversation on a bus with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood.” Tasting blood, the media were in a feeding frenzy. Trump is dropping out! Pence is bolting the ticket! Republican elites are about to disown and abandon the Republican nominee! - Imagine, A World Without Taxes (Here’s What It Would Look Like)
Imagine living in a world without taxes. Granted, that’s a bit unlikely to happen, considering mankind’s long history with taxes. It seems that taxes and government go hand-in-hand. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about the old European feudal system — where Barons and Earls taxed the serfs and merchant caravans crossing their lands — or you’re talking about modern socialistic and democratic governments. All governments tax. Not only does it give them a source of revenue, but it gives them a way of controlling the people. Nevertheless, let’s indulge our imaginations for a moment and think about the difference that would make to live in a tax-free society. While I don’t expect ever to find such a utopia, seeing what it would be like will show us what taxes are doing to our society. - Federal Judge Overturns Ban on Openly Carrying Guns in Public
In a quintuple victory for Second Amendment rights, a federal judge last week overturned a ban on carrying handguns in public, a ban on so-called assault weapons, caliber restrictions for long guns, a $1,000 tax on handguns, and a requirement that all guns be registered with the government. “The individual right to armed self-defense in case of confrontation…cannot be regulated into oblivion,” declared Ramona Manglona, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. - “Trump Will Be ALLOWED To Win,” Only to Be Blamed For The Coming Financial Crash
Unfortunately, the financial crash is coming. Things have been stretched too thin, and the real economy is toast. The elite know this; they know that QE3 has gone as far as it possibly can in holding back the carnage. With things poised for collapse, who will they blame? Conventional wisdom continues to say that Trump will lose, as people cast a vote for the only “grown up” and “responsible” candidate in the race (i.e. establishment). Perhaps conventional wisdom would be correct in a conventional election. But as things stand, the powers that be need to allow the considerable anger of the people to vent – and more importantly, they need someone to blame things on. Just as Obama inherited Bush’s 2008 economic crisis, Trump is likely about to inherent the crumbling system that Obama is handing over. If that scenario proves true, once the nationalist, populist, anti-establishment Trump takes office, they will simply step aside and let the crisis take hold on his watch. That’s the argument that Brandon Smith makes, and one which no one should allow to take them by surprise. - Tomgram: Dilip Hiro, Unipolar No More
Last week in Afghanistan, the Taliban, once almost lacking a presence in the northern part of the country, attacked Kunduz, a northern provincial capital and held parts of it for days (as they had in 2015). At the moment, that movement also has two southern capitals under siege, Tarin Kot in Helmand Province and Lashkar Gah in Uruzgan Province, and now seems to control more territory and population than at any time since the U.S. invasion of 2001-2002. Mind you, from an American perspective, we’re talking about the war that time forgot. Amid the hurricane of words in Election 2016, neither presidential candidate nor their vice presidential surrogates has thought it worth the bother to pay any real attention to the Afghan War, though it is the longest in our history. It’s as if, 15 years later, it isn’t even happening, as if American troops hadn’t once again been ordered into combat situations and the U.S. Air Force wasn’t once again flying increased missions there. - The pound has already fallen off one cliff, but it is about to fall off another
Deutsche Bank is backing the pound to slump even more in the coming weeks, pushing the UK's currency even further into record lows. In the bank's weekly equity strategy note, titled this week “Don't exit the Brexit trades” — Deutsche's strategists Wolf von Rotberg, Sebastian Raedler, Tom Pearce, and Andreas Bruckner argue that despite crashing almost every day for the last two weeks, sterling actually still remains substantially overvalued, pointing to even more drops in the pound's value. - Reek of Desperation Surrounds EU Banks, Regulators Prepare for “Derivatives Clearing Crisis”
The past week’s events in Europe were dominated by the pound sterling’s spectacular flash crash to its lowest point in 31 years. As is often the case with flash crashes, we will probably never know what exactly triggered the currency to free-fall by 6% during Asian trading hours, though the most cited cause, apart from a “fat finger,” is the gathering realization that a so-called “hard” Brexit is a very real possibility. But it’s an eventuality that can be expected to play out in roughly two and a half years’ time, at the earliest, and in light of the powerful forces arrayed against it, it may never occur at all. In the meantime, something far more dangerous is happening on the other side of the English Channel: the slow-motion meltdown of the Eurozone’s banking system. - As ObamaCare Death Spiral Continues, Flailing Institutions Attempt to Cope
As ObamaCare’s death spiral intensifies, with more and more edge cases demanding special treatment, the whole process reminds me of one of those black-and-white silent film comedies on airplane #FAILs, with bits of machinery flying through the air after the crash or explosion. The only thing missing is the piano soundtrack, but of course we have the 2016 election. So there’s that. For anybody who came in late, I’ll review the concept of a death spiral. Then I’ll briefly look at (and dismiss) the headline story, which is price rises. Then I’ll look the edge cases where a county has zero insurance carriers, or one, as well as the differing approaches to avoid getting sucked into the black hole of the death spiral taken by Minnesota, and the Federal government. Spoiler alert: I’m going to be using the word “insane” a lot. I think for good reason, and not Bill Clinton’s reasons, either. Oh, and “open enrollment” begins on November 1, just a week before Election Day! (It ends on January 31, 2017). - “Credit Squeeze” Planned in China to Deflate Housing Bubble?
All kinds of officials are fretting about the dangers of the housing bubble in China that has been fueled by easy credit that officials have made available last year to stop the implosion of the prior housing bubble. City by city, they’re grappling with this problem, trying to put a lid on it. Caixin Online reports: ‘About 20 Chinese cities tightened home purchasing requirements in late September to cool an overheated market, with some prohibiting property developers from selling homes to residents who don’t have a local hukou, or residency registration, and to those who already own more than one home. Other cities have raised the minimum down payment required.' But easy credit still rules: Total new loans in August reached 948 billion yuan ($142 billion). Over 71% of this debt was taken out by households, mostly mortgages. - The Billion Barrel Oil Swindle: 80% Of U.S. Oil Reserves Are Unaccounted-For
U.S. crude oil storage is filling up with unaccounted-for oil. There is a lot more oil in storage than the amount that can be accounted for by domestic production and imports. That’s a big problem since oil prices move up or down based on the U.S. crude oil storage report. Oil stocks in inventory represent surplus supply. Increasing or decreasing inventory levels generally push prices lower or higher because they indicate trends toward longer term over-supply or under-supply. - George H.W. Bush's granddaughter is voting for Hillary Clinton
George H.W. Bush’s granddaughter is with her. Lauren Bush Lauren, who’s also George W. Bush’s niece, posted a black and white photo of Hillary Clinton on Instagram Sunday, captioning the fashionable photograph “#ImWithHer.” The 32-year-old former model is the founder of FEED Projects, a fashion company that donates a large portion of its revenue to charity organizations that strive to end world hunger. She has also served as an honorary spokesperson at the World Food Program. Her sobering Clinton endorsement drew both ire and praise on social media. - These Debt & Rent Slaves Get Blamed for the Lousy Economy
Over the past few days, the Diamond Producers Association launched its first new ad campaign in five years after watching retail sales of diamond jewelry slow down, as Millennials built on the habit pioneered by prior generations of delaying or not even thinking about marriage, and thus not being sufficiently enthusiastic about buying diamond engagement rings. The campaign, according to Adweek, is designed to motivate Millennials “to commemorate their ‘real,’ honest relationships with diamonds, even if marriage isn’t part of the equation.” Mother New York, the agency behind the campaign, spent months interviewing millennials, according to Quartz, and learned that they associated diamonds with a “fairytale love story that wasn’t relevant to them.” So the premium jewelry industry, seeing future profits at risk, needs to do something about that. - Goldman Tells Clients To Go To Cash As “Growth Shocks” Are Coming
After last week's warning by Ray Dalio that a 100 bps rise in yields could lead to trillions in cross-asset losses, it was Goldman's turn to pick up the bearish torch with a note in which it warned that stock markets are set for volatility in the remainder of the year as a result of potential “growth shocks” which continue to loom until year-end as political risks remain elevated, given the upcoming US presidential elections and Italian referendum, and the UK government’s plan to trigger Article 50 by March 2017. - HSBC Says Stocks are on “Red Alert” for a Major Crash
The head of technical analysis at HSBC, Murray Gunn, sent out very bearish note to clients today, warning of an imminent major sell-off in stocks following yesterday’s big decline. Gunn has been monitoring the price action over the past few weeks, using what’s known as the Elliott Wave Principle. That technique measures alternating patterns in stock prices to help predict investor behavior. Just a few weeks ago, Gunn issued an “orange alert” on stocks, noting that the price action had begun to eerily resemble patterns seen just prior to the historic 1987 stock market crash. Citigroup analyst Tom Fitzpatrick pointed the same patterns out earlier this week as well. - RED ALERT — Get ready for a ‘severe fall' in the stock market, HSBC says
HSBC's technical-analysis team has thrown up the ultimate warning signal. In a note to clients released Wednesday, Murray Gunn, the head of technical analysis for HSBC, said he had become on “RED ALERT” for an imminent sell-off in stocks given the price action over the past few weeks. Gunn uses a type of technical analysis called the Elliott Wave Principle, which tracks alternating patterns in the stock market to discern investors' behavior and possible next moves. - What the Heck’s Going on with the New Global Reserve Currency, the Chinese Yuan?
The Chinese yuan fell to 6.722 to the US dollar currently, the weakest since September 2010. It’s down 3.3% so far this year. OK, a squiggle compared to the wholesale drubbing the UK pound has been taking since the Brexit vote, but there’s a difference: the yuan gets managed with an iron fist. Some folks interpret this to mean that the People’s Bank of China has been weakening the yuan to gain some trade advantages and revive the export boom and kick economic growth back into gear. But evidence is piling up that the PBOC instead has been trying to slow down the yuan’s descent. And this happened just days after the yuan joined the IMF’s special drawing rights (SDR) basket of reserve currencies, a huge milestone for the Chinese government that has been laboring on the internationalization of the yuan for years, mostly in tiny baby steps. - Deutsche Bank Sells Another $1.5 Billion In Debt At Junk Bond Terms
We were surprised when, just after the close on Friday, Deutsche Bank announced it would issue $3 billion in five year paper carrying a nosebleeding coupon of 4.25%, and a spread of 300 bps over Treasuries. By issuing debt at such a high yield – indicatively 300 basis points is close to the average for highly-rated junk debt in dollars and more than twice the 143 basis points Deutsche Bank paid for similar notes in August 2015 – DB management confirmed it had liquidity concerns (the issue did nothing to help the bank's ailing capitalization). As we said on Friday, “some have wondered why the need to sell new paper at such a wide concession: after all as we reported before, DB has no current liquidity constraints courtesy of substantial ECB generosity, which backstop DB's existing liquidity reserves of just over €200 billion” leading to the question: “does DB know something investors don't?.” - A World On The Edge Of The Abyss
With so many people worried about the chaos engulfing the globe, here is a look at a world on the edge of the abyss. From Art Cashin: Originally, on this day in 1922, the German Central Bank and the German Treasury took an inevitable step in a process which had begun with their previous effort to “jump start” a stagnant economy. Many months earlier they had decided that what was needed was easier money. Their initial efforts brought little response. So, using the governmental “more is better” theory they simply created more and more money. But economic stagnation continued and so did the money growth. They kept making money more available. No reaction. Then, suddenly prices began to explode unbelievably (but, perversely, not business activity). - Chinese Banks Will Need $1.7 Trillion To Cover Bad Debt Deluge, S&P Calculates
Just last week we noted that in the latest shocker to emerge out of corporate China, at least a quarter of Chinese companies were unable to generate enough cash to cover their interest expense: as we noted previously this is the Ponzi Finance stage of China's debt curve, the one that comes just before the inevitable “Minsky Moment” at which point all bets are off. The implications of this, for the nation with nearly $20 trillion in corporate debt as well as a grand total of 300% in debt to GDP are staggering: it means that sooner or later, up to a quarter of bank loan exposure will have to be discharged, restructured, equitized or otherwise eliminated due to its non-performing nature, dramatically impacting not just the asset side of the bank ledger, but the liabilities as well, namely deposits, which could see a drop in the trillion. - Deutsche Bank Walking Dead-Bill Holter
Financial writer Bill Holter says if you want to know how bad the global financial problems are in the world, start with Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DB). The problems keep mounting, and it’s been all downhill since June when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deemed DB as the most systemically dangerous bank in the world. Holter warns, “Deutsche Bank is dead. It’s a walking dead institution. . . .Just the fact that there is a debate, whether or not there’s a problem, means they’re dead. Once you start talking about a financial institution and whether or not they are solvent or not, it doesn’t matter. The sharks are going to come into the water.” - The Ugly Stench of Hypocrisy
The most insightful thing I’ve yet read about the Donald Trump sex talk scandal is this: How ironic, then, that a culture which rejects moral standards has suddenly become so pure and pristine, sitting in judgment of someone they deem too immoral to become president because of something he said in private. As a logical person, I have to ask these paragons of newly found virtue where this standard by which they’ve judged Trump is found. If morality is relative to each individual—a purely subjective experience—by what standard are they judging Trump? Obviously, in such a secular climate, there can’t even be a “standard.” Why should anyone listen to people who out of one side of their mouths declare the death of objective moral standards yet out of the other condemn someone for violating objective moral standards? Morality is not subjective. Human beings possess the capacity for rationality and objectivity. We’re able to distinguish what’s good and what’s bad. - Jim Rogers: Deutsche Bank Collapse Will Crash Entire World Financial System
In the interview below, Jim Rogers discusses with RT how much danger the global economy is in right now, specifically because Deutsche Bank is teetering on collapse, but that is just one of many potential reasons the global economy is in danger. Jim is very blunt in his response about what a Deutsche Bank collapse would mean for the world. Jim says, “If Deutsche Bank goes bankrupt, it is going bring down the entire world financial system.” Who is Jim Rogers? Why should you care what he says? First of all, listen to him because he’s right. Start learning facts, and stop listening to mainstream media propaganda. They are lying. Your life may depend on being prepared. Second, Jim is hardly alone in his line of thinking. Many of the world’s best economists are saying a global reset is coming that will have an effect on the world like nothing mankind has ever seen before. One famous investor even goes as far as to say the collapse of the U.S. Dollar, and the global reset that follows it, will be the single biggest event in all of human history. Let that sink in… - “Wonky, Lunging” Unwinds Hit Stocks, Bonds, VIX As Systematic Deleveraging Strikes
Where's Vladimir Putin when we need him? Having saved the world yesterday by spiking crude oil with his comments, the return of bond traders today sees a resumption of risk-parity fund deleveraging (as bond-stock correlations neared record highs). - Controlled Demolition Coming-Not a Crash-Catherine Austin Fitts
Renowned investment advisor Catherine Austin Fitts says there is $9.3 trillion missing from the Department of Defense in 2015 alone. Fitts explains, “This is a phenomenal number and a phenomenal amount of money. This is the cut and run. All this money has been disappearing from the federal government. . . . I’ve been demanding to know what banks and contractors are liable for the systems. We are talking about transactions that are in violation of the Constitution and the laws related to financial management. . . . As I have described many times, they’re using financial securities fraud, both mortgage securities and, I believe, government securities to basically shift all the assets out (of the country). I think you’ve got a game going on, and the Fed is accommodating all sorts of securities fraud. Then, the money is being pulled out in a variety of ways.” - Sterling stages a ‘dead cat bounce' but analysts expecting further dips
The pound staged a relief rally on hopes of a “full and transparent” debate on Brexit proposals in Parliament, but experts warned over further falls for battered sterling. Sterling made a cautious bounce back against most major currencies as Prime Minister Theresa May allowed Conservatives to back a Labour call for “proper scrutiny” of the plan, although she refused to commit to a Commons vote on the strategy. The pound rose nearly 1% or a cent to 1.22 US dollars and was more than 1% higher at 1.11 euro. It has been hammered since Mrs May announced earlier this month the formal Brexit negotiation process would start by the end of March 2017, suffering a further dramatic hit in last Friday's flash crash. - US/Russia Very Close to War, Global Debt Out of Control says IMF and MSM Political Hacks
The U.S. and Russia are a lot closer to war in Syria than the mainstream media (MSM) would like you to think. One top U.S general said that war would be “extremely lethal and fast” and he said it was “almost guaranteed.” Russia threatened to “shoot down U.S. aircraft over Syria. Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry has broken off all diplomatic relations with Russia in Syria. The International Monetary fund (IMF) is warning of much slower global growth. That means there is an even better chance that the ocean of debt accumulated around the world will not be repaid. Puerto Rico just defaulted on its $70 in debt, and that is just the tip of a much deeper debt iceberg. The IMF also warns that debt to GDP globally is an astounding $225%, and it says there is $152 trillion in debt around the planet. - Great News For Gold Bugs: The COT Report Is Playing Out As Usual, Which Means Lower – Then Much Higher – Prices Coming
This year’s recovery in precious metals prices – and the sudden spike in gold/silver mining stocks – convinced a lot of people that a new bull market had begun. Last week’s brutal smack-down scared the hell out of many of the same folks. The latest commitment of traders (COT) report implies that we should all relax. Things are playing out pretty much according to a script that’s been in place for decades — and which points to happy times by early next year. The quick and dirty COT story is that it’s a snapshot of what the big players in gold/silver futures contracts are up to. There are two main groups in this market: the commercials (mostly big banks and companies that buy metal to turn it into coins, jewelry and industrial products) and speculators who bet on price moves. The former consistently fool the latter into guessing wrong at turning points. That is, the speculators are usually way long at the top and very short at the bottom. So you can tell where prices are headed over next the six or so months by looking at what the speculators are betting on and assuming that if they’re excited, they’re wrong. The following chart illustrates the point. Ignore everything here except the red line, which represents the speculators. When it’s way up, they’re very long and prices are about to fall, and vice versa. - During The Coming Economic Crisis Two-Thirds Of The Country Will Be Out Of Cash Almost Immediately
Did you know that almost 70 percent of the U.S. population is essentially living paycheck to paycheck? As you will see below, a brand new survey has found that 69 percent of all Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. Of course one of the primary reasons for this is that most of us are absolutely drowning in debt. In fact, the total amount of household debt in the United States now exceeds 12 trillion dollars. So many Americans are so busy just trying to pay off their existing debts that they can’t even think about saving anything for the future. If economic conditions remain relatively stable, the fact that so many of us are living on the edge probably won’t kill us. But the moment the economy plunges into another 2008-style crisis (or worse), we could be facing a situation where two-thirds of the country is in imminent danger of running out of cash. - After This October Surprise, Donald Trump Only Has One Option Left: Expose The Clinton Crimes
It is going to take a miracle of Biblical proportions for Donald Trump to win the election now. If nothing changes between now and election day, Hillary Clinton is going to win in a landslide. Out of all the candidates that were running for president this election cycle (including third party candidates), a Hillary Clinton presidency would be the worst possible outcome, but it appears that is precisely what we are going to get. The 2005 recording in which Donald Trump admits that he used his celebrity status to grope women would instantly kill the career of a normal politician, but Donald Trump is no normal politician. In essence, he admitted to being a sexual predator, and there is no way that you can spin that to make it acceptable. Of course these comments were made 11 years ago, and Trump is a different man now, but that isn’t going to matter much to the mainstream media or to a large portion of the American public. No matter what you or I may think about this, the cold, hard reality of the matter is that he is going to lose a lot of votes over this, and those were votes that he desperately needed if he hoped to defeat Hillary Clinton in November. - The Total Amount Of Debt In The World Just Hit A Record $152,000,000,000,000 (152 Trillion)
If anyone ever asks you how much debt there is in the world, now you will know the answer. According to the IMF, the total amount of debt around the globe has now hit a staggering 152 trillion dollars. That is an amount of money that is almost unimaginable, and the IMF says that it is equivalent to 225 percent of global GDP. It is the biggest debt bubble in the history of the planet, and it is rising at an extremely alarming pace. Experts all over the world agree that when this debt bubble finally bursts, it is going to create an economic crisis on a scale that humanity has never seen before. When I first saw this number I was absolutely astounded at how reckless we all have become, and I was also amazed that there was hardly anything about this announcement in the mainstream media in the United States. - The New York Times Calls For Obama To Support A UN Resolution That Would Divide The Land Of Israel
While most Americans are focused on the endless circus surrounding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, a drama of earth-shattering importance is playing out behind the scenes. Most people seem to assume that we don’t have to be concerned about Barack Obama anymore because his second term is scheduled to end in a few months, but the truth is that an absolutely critical decision is in his hands right now. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have said that they will not support a proposed UN Security Council resolution that would formally establish a Palestinian state, that would set the parameters for the new state, and that would grant them East Jerusalem as their capital. So at this moment there is a tremendous amount of international pressure on Barack Obama to support such a resolution, because the U.S. veto power on the UN Security Council is the only thing standing in the way of formally dividing the land of Israel. I wrote about this in August, in September, and now I am writing about it again in October. If Obama is going to do this, it needs to happen by January 20th, 2017, and so for the next few months we are officially in “the danger zone”. - West Rattled Over Russian Missiles on NATO Border
Russia’s deployment of nuclear-capable missiles its enclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea is a “wake-up call” for the West of the current dangers, according to analysts. Germany warns the tensions between Moscow and the West are more dangerous than during the Cold War. Russia’s Iskander missiles have a range of around 500 kilometers, and their deployment in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, has rattled the West. “The dramatic reaction of the West about Iskander [missiles] now is that it is just a wake-up call, it is just a very clear message. It is that ice-cold bucket of water that says, ‘Wake up, you are not living in a safe world,” said Igor Sutyagin, a Russian military analyst at London’s Royal United Services Institute. Moscow says the deployment is part of a regular military exercise. - Major Election Fraud Alert – Is This How They Are Going To Steal The Election From Donald Trump?
Every ounce of effort that ordinary Americans have put into getting Donald Trump elected could be completely wasted if we allow them to steal the election. If you have confidence in the integrity of our elections, that confidence will be shaken by the time you are done reading this article, because I am about to share some information with you that is absolutely astounding. Yesterday, I showed you that dead people are being registered to vote right now and that they have been voting in elections across the country for years. I also showed you that illegal immigrants have been voting in important swing states such as Virginia and Pennsylvania. But all of that pales in comparison to the evidence of systematic election fraud that we witnessed on election day in 2012. Because Mitt Romney threw in the towel very early on election night in 2012, very little scrutiny was given to the actual voting results. But if Romney had been willing to fight, there was actually quite a bit of evidence that the election was potentially stolen from him. - Russia Is Preparing For A Nuclear War With The United States
In Russia there is talk that war with the United States is inevitable, and they are feverishly preparing to win such a war when it happens. Thanks to tensions over Ukraine, Syria and the price of oil, U.S. relations with Russia are the worst that they have been since at least the end of the Cold War. In fact, one false move could result in U.S. and Russian forces shooting at each other in Syria as you will see below. The Russians have worked incredibly hard to upgrade and modernize their military in recent years, but meanwhile the U.S. military is being transformed into a radically politically-correct social experiment by the Obama administration. Most Americans simply assume that we will never fight a war with Russia, and that if for some reason we did that we would win easily. Unfortunately, things have changed dramatically over the past decade, and the truth is that the Russians now have the upper hand. - Is This How World War III Begins, In Almost Complete Silence?
I used to wonder how these massive World Wars happened. World War I, for instance. The “official” story for why it happened makes absolutely no sense. The mainstream reason for the war was because some Archduke from Austria got killed. Then, like some bizarre drunken bar fight, tens of millions of people from dozens of different countries all were wounded or injured in the ensuing four years. Did ANY of these tens of millions of people really care if some rich guy got killed? Probably not. So, what happened? Well, like most wars backed by the financial elites, it appears they just wanted a big war. And through the use of propaganda, fear and coercion, they somehow got tens of millions of people to butcher each other. - Barclays Warns The Party Is Almost Over As Payouts Exceed Cash Flow By $115 Billion
Over the past several years, there have been two primary sources of upside for the stock market: trillions in corporate buybacks, as companies themselves engaged in record repurchases of their own stock, often at price indiscriminate levels in a bid to not only raise the stock price but also the stock-linked compensation of management , and a similar amount of dividend payments which in a time of negligible yields, became one of the main drivers for buyers to scramble into the “safety” of dividend paying stocks. Collectively these account for an unprecedented amount of payouts to shareholders. Today, Barclays' head of equity strategy Jonathan Glionna quantifies just how much corporate cash flow has and will be used to fund these payouts. Glionna finds that in aggregate the companies within the S&P 500 are returning a record amount of cash to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. Since 2009 dividends have increased by more than 100%, reaching $98 billion in the most recent quarter. Meanwhile, gross buybacks have tripled and Barclays forecasts that they will reach $600 billion in 2016. In fact, buybacks plus dividends could surpass $1 trillion in 2016, for the first time ever. - Vladimir Putin pushes up oil prices as Russia signals it will cap production
Oil prices climbed to a one-year high after Russian president Vladimir Putin said the country was ready to join OPEC efforts to limit oil production with either a freeze or a cut. Prices climbed almost 2.5pc to $53.14 a barrel on Monday after Mr Putin told an energy congress in Istanbul that Russia was “ready to join the joint measures to cap production” and would “call for other oil exporters to join”. Khalid Al-Falih, the Saudi energy minister, said other producers outside OPEC had expressed their readiness to work with the cartel. - FTSE 100 hits record high as pound weakens
A further weakening of sterling has helped push the FTSE 100 to a record high during trading on Tuesday. The country's premier share index climbed above 7,123 points just after midday – beating its previous highest level recorded in April last year – going as high as 7129 before slipping back. Shares in its constituents have soared this month, in pound terms, as the currency has weakened. The FTSE 100 consists largely of export-dominated multi-nationals which make the bulk of their sales in dollars – making the stocks of such firms more attractive when those sales are converted back to pounds. However, on dollar terms, the FTSE's market value remains well below its referendum result level – down more than 6%. - Here's Where The Next Bank Deposit “Bail-In” Will Strike…
One shot from a pistol pierced the night right before Antonio Bedin collapsed, dead. Antonio, a 67 year-old retired Italian, had just committed suicide. He was plagued by health problems and by the loss of his savings. Last year, four small Italian banks became insolvent and immediately needed capital. They turned to a bail-in. Antonio was one of thousands of small savers who were wiped out. Antonio lost everything. Then he shot himself. - Deutsche Bank CEO Returns Home Empty-Handed After Failing To Reach ‘Deal' With DOJ: Bild
Following the seemingly endless procession of short-squeeze-fueling trial balloons last week – from settlement rumors to German blue-chip bailouts to Qatari investors – Germany's Bild newspaper confirms the rumors that sparked weakness on Friday: Deutsche bank CEO John Cryan has failed to reach an agreement with the US Justice Department. - Worst Crash of All Coming-Mike Maloney
Gold and silver expert Mike Maloney has been producing an internet series called “The Hidden Secrets of Money.” His latest is episode seven in this ongoing series, and it gives a stark warning about “The USA’s Day of Reckoning.” Maloney explains, “Watch episode seven if you want to see the future. I was very accurate in predicting the crash of 2008 and the consequences of it. I believe the rest of my predictions that did not come true have not come true—yet. They are about to. Episode seven is the USA’s day of reckoning. . . . It’s going to be devastating for most people. . . . I believe there is going to be an enormous wealth transfer. It is up to every individual whether that wealth is transferred away from them or towards them. Sometimes the wealth transfer goes from 100 people to one or 1,000 people to one. This time, it’s going to be hundreds of thousands to one. There are going to be very few big winners and a whole lot of losers.” - Ray Dalio Warns A 1% Rise In Yields Would Lead To Trillions In Losses
Last week, we shared with readers a fascinating presentation that Bridgewater's Ray Dalio made to NY Fed staffers at the 40th Annual Central Banking Seminar held on Wednesday, October 5, 2016. In it, Dalio pointed out that thoughts which dared to question the economic orthodoxy, and which were once relegated to the fringe blogs, have become the norm, pointing out that it is no longer controversial to say that: …this isn’t a normal business cycle and we are likely in an environment of abnormally slow growth …the current tools of monetary policy will be a lot less effective going forward …the risks are asymmetric to the downside …investment returns will be very low going forward, and …the impatience with economic stagnation, especially among middle and lower income earners, is leading to dangerous populism and nationalism. He further notes that the debt bubble which was not eliminated during the financial crisis of 2008, has since grown to staggering proportions, and notes that “the biggest issue is that there is only so much one can squeeze out of a debt cycle and most countries are approaching those limits.” - Globalization Is Done
I read a lot, been doing it for years, about finance and affiliated topics (a wide horizon of them), which means I’ve inevitably seen a wholesale lot of nonsense fly by. But for some reason, and I think I know why, Q3 2016 has been gunning for a top -or bottom- seat in that regard, and Q4 is looking to do it one better/worse. Apart from the fast increasingly brainless political ‘discussions’ that don’t deserve the name, in the US and UK and beyond, there are the transnational organizations, NATO, IMF, EU and all those things, all suffocating in their own hubris, things I’ve dealt with before in for instance Globalization Is Dead, But The Idea Is Not and Why There is Trump. But none of it still seems to have trickled through anywhere that I can see. The end of growth exposes the stupidity and ignorance of all but (and even that’s a maybe) a precious few (of our) ‘leaders’. There is no other way this could have run, because an era of growth simply selects for different people to float to the top of the pond than a period of contraction does. Can we agree on that? ‘Growth leaders’ only have to seduce voters into believing that they can keep growth going, and create more of it (though in reality they have no control over it at all). Anyone can do that. So ‘anyone’ who’s sufficiently hooked on power games will apply. - The Coming Recession: Blame the Federal Reserve, Not the President
No matter who is elected this November, there will be a recession before the next President is elected. This is why we should not lose sight of cause and effect: central banking. This is true in every major nation and the Eurozone. Central banks operate domestic banking cartels. These cartels operate for the advantage of large multinational banks. The central banks establish the rules of money creation domestically. This places limits on the banking system as a whole. When there is a recession, blame the central bank. It establishes the rules governing the creation of the central economic institution: money. - WARNING: The Coming Collapse Will WIPE OUT Millions Of Americans
As the Financial Circus continues today, pushing down the precious metals prices, millions of Americans are going to get WIPED OUT when the collapse of U.S. net worth begins in earnest. Anyone with a tad bit of common sense realizes these financial markets today are totally disconnected from reality. With new stories of 40 million Russians to take part in “Nuclear Disaster” drill, the Philippine President telling President Obama “To Go To Hell”, he’s buying weapons from Russia, U.S. Suspends Diplomatic Relations With Russia on Syria, U.S. Ends Fiscal 2014 With $1.4 Trillion Debt Increase: Third Largest In History, Deutsche Bank Troubles Raise Fear of Global Shock, it’s completely hilarious that the gold and silver prices are selling off big time today. - Chinese yuan weakens to six-year low against USD
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 230 basis points to 6.7008 against the US dollar on Monday, the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) said. It was the weakest level since September 2010 as increased market expectations for an interest rate hike in the US led to a stronger dollar, Xinhua news agency reported. In September, the yuan exchange rate composite index, which measures the yuan's strength relative to a basket of currencies including the US dollar, euro and Japanese yen, weakened by 0.28 per cent month on month to 94.07, CFETS data showed. - A Look Inside The Pound Flash Crash: What Really Happened In Those 30 Seconds
At just after 7 minutes after hour, whether 7pm on the east coast, midnight GMT or early Friday morning in Asian trading, pound sterling plunged by more than 6%, in the span of 2 minutes although the bulk of the plunge took place in just 30 seconds: from 7:16 to 7:46, when the market became “disorderly” in technical parlance, or in simple terms, broke. And since earlier today the Bank of England mandated none other than the BIS (specifically the bank's “Head of Foreign Exchange & Gold”, Benoit Gilson) to explain what happened, here is a place to start trying to reverse engineer the latest flash crash. For the best forensic analysis piecing together what happened last night, we go to Citi's Daniel Randall who tells the overnight story of the GBP, who also shows that the key pair involved in the selling was indeed cable… - Deutsche Bank Tells Investors Not To Worry About Its €46 Trillion In Derivatives
Having first flagged Deutsche Bank enormous derivative book for the first time back in 2013, it wasn't until last week that JPMorgan admitted just what the biggest risk facing Deutsche Bank was. In a note by JPMorgan's Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, the strategist warned that, “in our opinion it is not so much funding issues but rather derivatives exposures that more likely to trouble markets going forward if Deutsche Bank concerns continue. This is especially true if these concerns propagate into a confidence crisis inducing more rapid unwinding of derivative contracts.” - USA's Day Of Reckoning Looms – “We've Had 2 Warnings, The 3rd Strike Is Game Over”
History shows that once or twice in a generation a global crisis comes along that radically devastates people’s way of life. A fundamental shift so big and drastic and overwhelming that it destroys their standard of living and impacts every area of their lives. We are about to experience one of those events… As Mike Maloney outlines in his brand new episode of the Hidden Secrets of Money, that next major event is deflation. And the culprit will be a relatively obscure monetary term that will impact virtually every area of your life: money velocity. You may not know exactly what money velocity means, but we will all soon experience it firsthand. In fact, money velocity will be the culprit of not just deflation, but the resulting inflation—and maybe hyperinflation—that will immediately follow. [Mike refers to it as “currency” velocity, a more accurate term, since true “money” is gold and silver.] - The pound is falling again
There is no let up for sterling. After a disastrous week that saw the pound repeatedly mark new 31-year lows against the dollar, sterling is falling against the greenback again on Monday morning. - Global debt hits all-time high of $152 trillion; billionaire warns of “big squeeze”
“This is a global problem,” said billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio yesterday to a packed audience of central bankers. “Japan is closest to its limits, Europe is a step behind it, the US is a step or two behind Europe, and China is a few steps behind the United States.” I can only imagine the mood in the room was a bit tense after that comment. Mr. Dalio, founder of the $160 billion investment firm Bridgewater Associates, was invited to speak at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s 40th Annual Central Banking Seminar yesterday. Rather than gush about how wonderful the Fed’s zero interest rate policies have been since the financial crisis, Dalio gave them a fire hose of reality. His primary thesis was that the debt supercycle that has lasted for decades is coming to an end, and that there’s going to be a “big squeeze”. “The biggest issue,” he said, “is that there is only so much one can squeeze out of a debt cycle, and most countries are approaching those limits.” - China heading for ‘financial crisis' that could have ‘very serious repercussions' for global economy, IMF warns
China could be heading for a financial crisis due to the level of financial and corporate debt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of the IMF's Asia-Pacific department, said the level of debt in the Chinese economy was on an “unsustainable path”, adding that a financial problem in China would have “very serious repercussions” for the global economy. Mr Rodlauer told The Telegraph: “The level of financial and corporate debt and the complexity of the financial system and rapid growth in shadow banking is on an unsustainable path. “While still manageable in its size given the size of the public assets under public control, the trend is dangerous”. “The longer it lasts … the more serious the disturbance and the disruption might be. [The reaction could range] from a mild growth slowdown, to a sharp slowdown in growth to potentially a financial crisis.” - More Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: This Time, They’re Coming for Your Democracy
Twelve years ago, John Perkins published his book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, and it rapidly rose up The New York Times’ best-seller list. In it, Perkins describes his career convincing heads of state to adopt economic policies that impoverished their countries and undermined democratic institutions. These policies helped to enrich tiny, local elite groups while padding the pockets of U.S.-based transnational corporations. - Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – October 6, 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his second 10 minute weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams’ weekly newsletter.
Precious Metals Are The Only Lifeboat! I have persistently WARNED you what was happening in the gold market and why you needed to convert your paper assets to physical gold and silver by the middle of September 2015. You need to hedge against the financial instability with physical gold and silver. Call the experts to help you convert your IRA or 401k into Gold, Silver and Other Precious Metals. Call GoldCo NOW before it's too late! Call Toll-Free 1-877-414-1385.
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – October 6, 2016
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Pastor David Bowen is pastor of Standing Stones Community Church in Phoenix, AZ. For more information about Pastor Dave please visit http://standingstonescc.org/
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Latest News Articles – October 6, 2016
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 30, 2016 to October 6, 2016:
- BofA Says It Has Found Evidence Of An “Imminent Recession”
As Bank of America's Savita Subramanian writes in an overnight note titled “Is it about time for a recession?”, while the bank's economists do not officially predict a recession in the coming year, instead forecasting slow and steady growth in the US, the strategist admits that over seven years and more than 270% into this bull market, “one wonders how much longer this cycle can last.” While BofA writes that it has not yet found a model that accurately forecast recessions, “and even if we did, not all recessions result in bear markets” in examining some of some of the bank's favorite indicators’ recent trends, it has “found evidence for an imminent recession.” It adds that while the range of signals is wide, in aggregate they do suggest that, if data were to continue to weaken in line with the recent pace, history would point to a recession in the second half of 2017. - Here’s some compelling data about the next recession
In the modern history of the US economy over the past seven decades, the longest period of time the country has gone without a recession was 10 years. Since the end of World War II there have been 11 recessions in the United States of America, so the average time in between recessions is 6 years and 5 months. The average length of recession was 336 days; the longest recession in modern history was 18 months in 2008-2009, and the shortest was 6 months in 1980. - China Shocker: A Quarter Of All Companies Can't Pay The Interest On Their Debt
Almost exactly one year ago, we reported that as a result of the commodity crash of 2015, more than half of Chinese companies in the commodity sector did not generate enough cash flow to pay the interest on their debt. Months later this has manifested in a countrywide push for debt-for-equity exchanges, and outright bankruptcies including the first ever liquidation of a Chinese state-owned enterprise. While dramatic, the question remained: what about other Chinese companies not directly involved in the commodity space? We now know the answer: according to Reuters, profits at roughly a quarter of all Chinese companies were too low in the first half of this year to cover their debt servicing obligations, i.e., merely the mandatory interest payment let along debt maturities, as earnings languish and loan burdens increase. - Governments must heed IMF warning of $152tn global debt timebomb
First it was the august Bank for International Settlements. Now it is the International Monetary Fund sending out a warning about global debt. For the first time, the IMF has had a comprehensive look at indebtedness and the numbers are huge. Global debt is estimated at $152tn, or about 225% of annual global output. Two-thirds of the debt – approximately $100tn is held by the private sector. The IMF hopes the debt data published in its half-yearly fiscal report will chivvy governments into action before it is too late. - The big chop: European banks slash over 20,000 jobs
European banks are set to slash more than 20,000 jobs as tougher capital requirements and negative interest rates bite into the sector’s profitability, putting fresh pressure on many lenders to cut costs further. Dutch lender as it focuses on internet and mobile banking and automates systems. ING expects to save about $1bn (£780m) a year through its job-cutting programme. - Pew: Most Americans Don’t Believe in ‘Scientific Consensus’ on Climate Change
Nearly three-quarters of Americans don’t trust that there is a large “scientific consensus” amongst climate scientists on human behavior being the cause of climate change, according to an in-depth survey on “the politics of climate” released Tuesday by Pew Research Center. According to the survey, only 27 percent of Americans agree that “almost all” climate scientists say that human behavior is mostly responsible for climate change, while 35 percent say that “more than half” of climate scientists agree on this. An additional 35 percent of those surveyed say that fewer than half (20%) or almost no (15%) climate scientists believe that human behavior is the main contributing factor in climate change. - It’s official: US government ends fiscal year with $1.4 trillion debt increase
It’s official. The United States government closed out the 2016 fiscal year that ended a few days ago on Friday September 30th with a debt level of $19,573,444,713,936.79. That’s an increase of $1,422,827,047,452.46 over last year’s fiscal year close. Incredible. By the way, that debt growth amounts to roughly 7.5% of the entire US economy. By comparison, the Marshall Plan, which completely rebuilt Western Europe after World World II, cost $12 billion back in 1948, or roughly 4.3% of US GDP at the time. The initial appropriation for the WPA, perhaps the largest of Roosevelt’s New Deal “make work” programs that employed millions of people, cost 6.7% of US GDP. And, more recently, the US $700 billion bank bailout at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis was the equivalent of 4.8% of GDP. So basically these people managed to increase the national debt by a bigger percentage than the cost of the New Deal, Marshall Plan, and 2008 bank bailout. - Banks With $12 Trillion In Assets Threatened By Persistent “Shocks”, IMF Finds
In its latest report on financial stability released today, the IMF, which is also currently meeting to find a solution to globalization that benefits all people not just the very top, warned that risks to financial stability are growing. It warned about what it calls “medium-term” dangers in both emerging and developed economies, and expressed particular concerns about Europe, Japan and China. As cited by the BBC the report says investors were taken by surprise by the result of the British referendum on the European Union, but the political shock was absorbed by markets. They passed what it calls “this severe stress test”. But looking further ahead, the IMF sees growing risks. A key factor for future bank health is profits or lack thereof. As Deutsche Bank has found out the hard way in recent weeks, weak profitability makes it harder for banks to build up their capital – which they can do by holding on to some profit rather than giving it all to shareholders as dividends. It also makes it harder for them to expand lending to business and consumers, as is needed to support economic recovery. - Investors Piling Into Junk Bonds Could Be Overlooking Warning Signs
More warning signs are flashing in the junk-bond market. Investors that have been loading up on the securities as an alternative to ultra-low interest rates are now barely getting paid more than higher-ranking bank lenders, who would typically get their money back first in the event of a default. The difference in yields between junk bonds and the more senior leveraged loans is the narrowest in two years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. “The risk-reward is getting skewed,” said Peter Tchir, head of macro strategy at Brean Capital LLC. “It’s a sign markets are not assigning enough risk to those high-yield bonds.” - For Crispin Odey This Is The Engame: Hedge Fund Billionaire Goes All In Betting On “Violent Unwind” Of QE Bubble
In mid-August, when the market was enjoying its low-volatility grind higher, we observed that one of the biggest bears in the hedge fund industry, Crispin Odey, was having a bad year, with his hedge fund sinking some 30% through the end of July. Since then, conditions have only gotten more precarious for the billionaire hedge fund manager, and as the FT writes, for Odey, who is betting it all “on a violent unwind of a QE bubble”, the endgame may have arrived. As Miles Johnson writes, “many financial commentators have warned that current monetary policy has inflated a bubble that will one day violently pop. Few of them have risked money betting on the precise manner in which a chaotic unwinding of quantitative easing will play out through financial markets. This makes the portfolio of Crispin Odey, a London-based hedge fund manager, an interesting outlier. Mr Odey is one of only a handful of investors who has backed up his dire prognosis for the global economy with a series of large, leveraged trades designed to pay off in the event of a crash.” To be sure, as we noted two months ago, Odey's bets are predicated on a collapse of Japanese bond prices, a surge in the price of gold and immolation of equities. Or as the FT puts, it, “If it works he may make hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients. If wrong his fund may not survive.” - TARGET2 Shows Europe's Banking Crisis Is Escalating Again (Fast)
Problems of Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Monte dei Paschi and other German, Italian and Spanish banks are not the only concern of the European Banking System. Trouble is much deeper than it is thought because there is a systemic imbalance that has been increasing for almost ten years. Politicians do not want to tell us the truth, but soon we will experience the same crisis in the Monetary Union as we did in 2012. The extent of the problems in the European Banking System is TARGET2 and its balances of the National Central Banks of the Eurosystem. These balances, or rather imbalances, reflect the direction of the capital flight. And there is only one way: from Southern Europe into Germany. After Mario Draghi’s famous words “I do whatever it takes to save the euro”, things seemed to improve; however, since January 2015 problems have been escalating again. - Another Banking Crisis Begins?
When financial systems begin to fail, the banks are always at the center. When your assets are mostly tied up in long-term, relatively illiquid transactions while your funding is mostly of the overnight variety, from depositors, money market funds and other banks, trouble is never far away. Banks are the perfect stress indicator within the system. Deutsche Bank (DB) became the story last week as its $14 billion market cap would be wiped out by a proposed $14 billion fine from the U. S. Justice Department for various transgressions going back to the financial crisis. Most expect the eventual settlement will be much less. For a better perspective, DB's $14 billion market cap should be compared to its debt, which totals around $160 billion. The markets may not be able to pull apart a typically labyrinthine bank balance sheet, but extreme imbalances like this can be understood. To put this ratio in context, Citicorp, hardly a paragon of virtue, has a market cap of around $130 billion backing its debt of $163 billion. - Deutsche Bank Brings Too-Big-to-Fail Quandary Home to Merkel
When it comes to speculation about German government support for Deutsche Bank AG, Chancellor Angela Merkel has no good answer. After years spent leading the push for new European Union rules to contain banking crises without putting taxpayers on the hook, you might expect Merkel to rule out state aid for Deutsche Bank. She hasn’t, even though that would be politically expedient with an election looming next year. Confronted with ailing banks, Merkel and other EU leaders face a quandary. Markets assume they won’t deploy their biggest weapon — bail-in, or imposing losses on private investors — when it comes to a giant like Deutsche Bank because of the risk of contagion. Yet policy makers are also increasingly ambivalent about the bloc’s solution for too-big-to-fail banks, largely for the same reason. - Minnesota Commissioner Slams Obamacare As “Unfair & Unsustainable” As Rates Soar
Soaring Obamacare premiums and declining insurer participation rates in exchanges across the country have been a frequent topic of conversation for us (see “Obamacare On “Verge Of Collapse” As Premiums Set To Soar Again In 2017″ and “Stunning Maps Depict Collapse Of Obamacare “Coverage” In 2017″). So it should come as no surprise to our readers that Minnesota has just announced that 2017 Obamacare rates have been set and are expected to soar nearly 60% on average. Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman posted a letter to the state's website saying that the state succeeded in preserving the exchanges for one more year by agreeing to massive rate hikes but warned they are on the “verge of collapse.” The letter goes on to describe Minnesota's healthcare rate environment as “unsustainable and unfair” and notes that “middle-class Minnesotans” are being “crushed by the heavy burden of these costs.” - 5 Stories The Mainstream Media Ignored While Reporting On Kim Kardashian's Robbery
One of the saving graces of the ailing corporate media – for the folks setting the agenda, anyhow – is its relentless ability to hyper-focus the public’s attention on altogether meaningless events. Take, for instance, an armed robbery that sees property stolen but no one harmed. Such an event is unfortunate, yes, but such is life. People get robbed. It certainly isn’t something that should consume the news cycle — particularly when developments of actual importance are unfolding around the world. Yet that’s exactly what happened this week after reality TV star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris on Monday morning. Kardashian, who was in town for Fashion Week, was forced into the bathroom of her hotel room, tied up, and robbed at gunpoint. The perpetrators, men dressed as police officers, stole about $10 million. Again, it was an unfortunate incident, but the starlet is fine, and Paris officials have assured the Kardashian clan the perpetrators will be brought to justice. At this point, had the celebrity been an average citizen, the media would have likely concluded there was nothing more to the story and moved on. But then, if she were an average citizen, the media wouldn’t have covered the story in the first place. - WARNING: Protect Yourself As China Seizes Control Of The Internet
With many investors worried about the economic turmoil that has engulfed the globe, protect yourself as China seizes control of the internet. Also, this will be the greatest bull market in history. Gold’s Greatest Bull Move And China’s Seizure Of The Internet. Stephen Leeb: “If today seems like just another ordinary Saturday, think again. Someday Oct. 1, 2016 will be recognized as a momentous day in world history, for it marks the official transfer of economic power from the West to the East and in particular to China, the East’s clear hegemon… - In Major Victory For Gold And Silver Traders, Manipulation Lawsuit Against Gold-Fixing Banks Ordered To Proceed
Back in April, precious metal traders felt vindicated when Deutsche Bank agreed to settle a July 2014 lawsuit alleging precious metal manipulation by a consortium of banks. As a reminder, In July 2014 we reported that a group of silver bullion banks including Deutsche Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC (later UBS was also added to the defendants) were accused of manipulating prices in the multi-billion dollar market. The lawsuit, which was originally filed in a New York district court by veteran litigator J. Scott Nicholson, a resident of Washington DC, alleged that the banks, which oversee the century-old silver fix manipulated the physical and COMEX futures market since January 2007. The lawsuit subsequently received class-action status. It was the first case to target the silver fix. The alleged conspiracy started by 1999, suppressed prices on roughly $30 billion of silver and silver financial instruments traded each year, and enabled the banks to pocket returns that could top 100 percent annualized, the plaintiffs said. - The Biggest Scandal
Certainly, any attempt to identify the most serious current financial scandal involves stiff competition and the need for objective measurement. Scandals have become almost commonplace and come in all varieties and sizes and vary in the degree of publicity they attract. But there’s a big difference between the scandals that create the most headlines compared to the scandals that financially damage the greatest number of victims. I would contend that the biggest scandal must be defined by the greatest financial damage to the most people and not the amount of publicity a scandal might generate. A case in point is the current scandal involving the bank Wells Fargo. For sure, the bank was fined an attention-getting amount ($185 million) and admitted to firing 5300 employees involved in the fraudulent opening of millions of accounts without the knowledge or permission of customers. No doubt there will be more shoes to drop in the Wells Fargo affair, including compensation claw backs from upper level managers, a variety of lawsuits and possible labor violations, but in terms of financial damage to aggrieved customers, the scandal hasn’t amounted to much – a few million dollars at best. - Bill Gross on Today’s Markets: “This Cannot End Well”
Bill Gross of Janus Capital published his monthly investment outlook yesterday, and once again the famous “Bond King” put out a scathing review of central banking policy. - Pentagon Paid British PR Firm $500mm To Create Fake Al Qaeda Propaganda Videos
Per new discoveries revealed by the The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the United States government paid over $500mm to a British public relations firm, Bell Pottinger, between May 2007 and December 2011 to create fake Al Qaeda propaganda films aimed at tracking terrorist viewing locations. According to a Bell Pottinger insider, propaganda films were categorized into three categories with “White” being accurately attributed, “Grey” being unattributed, and “Black” being falsely attributed material. The media firm created various types of content ranging from TV commercials to news items and “fake Al Qaeda propaganda films.” - Iraq Will Use Sept 11 Bill To Sue US Government For 2003 Invasion, Demand Compensation
As reported on Saturday, a September 11 widow was the first American to take advantage of the recently passed Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism (JASTA), aka the “Sept.11” bill courtesy of Congress which for the first time in Obama's tenure overrode his veto, by suing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Stephanie Ross DeSimone alleged the kingdom provided material support to al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden leading to the death of her husband, Navy Commander Patrick Dunn, who was killed at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2009, when Stephanie was two months pregnant at the time with the couple's daughter. Her suit is also filed on behalf of the couple’s daughter. She sued for wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. - Saudi Arabia Responds To US 9/11 Bill Veto
With the first 9/11 lawsuit already winging its way to The Kingdom following Congress' decision to un-vet, Saudi officials have broken their silence “stressing their concern” and warning of “consequences.” - FBI Allowed 2 Hillary Aides To “Destroy” Their Laptops In Newly Exposed “Side Agreements”
Just when you think the Hillary email scandal can't get any more bizarre and corrupt, it does. According to a just released letter from the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Bob Goodlatte (R – Virginia), to Attorney General Lynch, the FBI apparently struck “side agreements” with both Cheryl Mills an Heather Samuelson to “destroy” their “laptops after concluding its search.” - Morgan Stanley charged with running unethical sales contests: regulator
Morgan Stanley was charged with “dishonest and unethical conduct” by Massachusetts' top securities regulator on Monday for having pushed its brokers to sell loans to their clients. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin alleges that the bank ran high-pressured sales contests in Massachusetts and Rhode Island where brokers could earn thousands of dollars for selling so-called “securities based loans.” (SBLs) The contests, designed to boost business, were officially prohibited by Morgan Stanley but turned out to be lucrative for the bank with the pace of loan origination tripling and adding $24 million in new loan balances, Galvin said. - Podcast: European Banks In The Eye Of The Storm
Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, the Italian banks…it’s getting ugly across the pond, and the worst is yet to come. Here’s a brief look at the reasons why, including derivatives, ridiculous capital rules, dumb lending practices and, of course, negative interest rates. If you’re looking for short sale candidates, Europe’s banks should be on the list. - Bring Back The Cold War — Paul Craig Roberts
Pundits have declared a “New Cold War.” If only! The Cold War was a time when leaders focused on reducing tensions between nuclear powers. What we have today is much more dangerous: Washington’s reckless and irresponsible aggression toward the other major nuclear powers, Russia and China. During my lifetime American presidents worked to defuse tensions with Russia. President John F. Kennedy worked with Khrushchev to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Richard Nixon negotiated SALT I and the anti-ballistic missile treaty, and Nixon opened to Communist China. President Carter negotiated SALT II. Reagan worked with Soviet leader Gorbachev and ended the Cold War. The Berlin Wall came down. Gorbachev was promised that in exchange for the Soviet Union’s agreement to the reunification of Germany, NATO would not move one inch to the East. - China’s elderly population 240 mln by 2020
The National Health and Family Planning Commission predicts the number of China’s elderly (above 60) to reach 240 million – or 17 per cent of the population – by 2020. The Commission’s deputy head Liu Qian said the government would improve the medical insurance system and basic public health services. But he also said that there were about 260 million Chinese afflicted with chronic disease. The growing number of elderly and the falling number of working age people is a concern for Chinese leaders. China faces the risk of ending up with an outsized elderly population before it becomes a developed economy. - Obama Wages “Economic War” Against Deutsche Bank, ATM’s Go Dark
As you’ll learn below, on Friday things seemed to be turning around, if only slightly, for the much beleaguered German Deutsche Bank. The bank’s stock rose around 14% on rumors that Deutsche Bank had reached a settlement with Obama’s Department of Injustice regarding a $14 billion demand. It was believed that a settlement was reached with the DOJ for $5.6 billion, which would still utterly cripple Deutsche Bank, but since the $14 billion originally demanded is the entire market capitalization of the bank, $5.6 billion felt like a little hope anyway. As it turns out, the rumors were false, and there was no validity to the existence of a settlement. - October Surprise Coming-Gerald Celente
Trends researcher Gerald Celente sees an “October surprise” coming for the economy, terror or war. Celente contends, “Even that sellout, Mario Draghi (Head of the European Central Bank-ECB) the former head of the Goldman Sachs European division, now playing the ECB President, came out and said the central banks can’t do anymore, and they are looking now for government stimulus. That’s going to be the new game. What I am saying is it’s collapsing. Look what happened in Japan a week and a half ago. Everybody was waiting for the bank of Japan to play another card, and they had none to play. So, look for October for things to go bad. Traditionally, when things go bad in markets, it’s October, and they are going bad now. By the way, we are now going into the sixth consecutive quarter in the United States with the S&P 500 negative. Negative earnings in the S&P 500. The only reason the markets are going up is like Trump said, the cheap dough going in there, stock buybacks and mergers and acquisitions. Number two: This is number two A and B. That is either a terror strike, false flag or real. You almost saw it in New York a couple of weeks ago when some guy went nuts. Now, multiply that times 70. Also, war because they are heating it up, and they are putting out more war talk. The anti-Russian propaganda is like nothing we have ever seen before, and it continues. Even at the debate, Hillary put it out there blaming Russia for hacking into the DNC. There is absolutely no positive proof. Do you think they have bigger things to do? Oh, and this is an important one . . . Julian Assange says he’s holding on to information that is going to be very detrimental to Clinton.” - US and Russia Close to War, Global Economy on Brink of Collapse, NBC Biased for Clinton
The United States is reportedly suspending diplomacy with Russia, and it also says it’s preparing military options in Syria. The U.S. has asked Russia to stop its bombing campaign in Syria, and Russia will not agree to do so. State Department spokesman John Kirby says, “More Russian lives will be lost, and more Russian aircraft will be shot down.” This is a serious escalation between Washington and the Kremlin, and the only outcome to this is a wider war in Syria that could mean an eventual global war between America and Russia that would, no doubt, involve all allies as well. - Repeat of 2008 Financial Crisis Coming-Only Worse-Peter Schiff
In Monday night’s first Presidential debate, Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve’s handling of the economy and warned, “. . . if you raise interest rates even a little bit, that’s going to come crashing down. We are in a big, fat, ugly bubble.” Money manager Peter Schiff explains, “Trump says if we raise rates, a lot of bad things are going to happen. Then, he criticizes the Fed for keeping rates low. So, which is it? He’s trying to have his cake and eat it too. What Trump has to explain is low interest rates don’t help the economy. Low interest rates are one of the biggest headwinds to the economy because all they do is inflate asset bubbles and prevent legitimate economic growth. Donald Trump has to explain that rates have to go up, and when they do, it’s going to burst the bubble, and it’s not going to be fun. If we are ever going to have a real recovery that’s going to produce a higher standard of living and good paying jobs . . . we are going to have to let this bubble deflate. That means raising interest rates, and we are going to have to live with the consequences. That means a collapsing stock market, a collapsing bond market, a collapsing real estate market and failing banks. It’s a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis–only worse.” - Deutsche Bank Collapse: The Most Important Bank In Europe Is Facing A Major ‘Liquidity Event’
The largest and most important bank in the largest and most important economy in Europe is imploding right in front of our eyes. Deutsche Bank is the 11th biggest bank on the entire planet, and due to the enormous exposure to derivatives that it has, it has been called “the world’s most dangerous bank“. Over the past year, I have repeatedly warned that Deutsche Bank is heading for disaster and is a likely candidate to be “the next Lehman Brothers”. If you would like to review, you can do so here, here and here. On September 16th, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice wanted 14 billion dollars from Deutsche Bank to settle a case related to the mis-handling of mortgage-backed securities during the last financial crisis. As a result of that announcement, confidence in the bank has been greatly shaken, the stock price has fallen to record lows, and analysts are warning that Deutsche Bank may be facing a “liquidity event” unlike anything that we have seen since the collapse of Lehman Brothers back in 2008. - State Dept: Washington Halts Bilateral Contact With Moscow Over Syria
According to the US State Department, the US has officially stopped all bilateral contact with Russia on Syria. “The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the Cessation of Hostilities,” US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday. The US will withdraw personnel who were preparing to establish the Joint Implementation Center (JIC). Kirby added that channels will remain open to address air operations over Syria. Kirby also blamed the Russian and Syrian governments for the collapse of the ceasefire, though it was a US strike on Syrian government positions that started renewed fighting. - Some Deutsche Bank Clients Unable To Access Cash Due To “IT Outage”
While it now seems that Friday's rumor of a substantially reduced Deutsche Bank settlement with the DOJ, which sent the stock price soaring from all time lows, was false following a FAZ report that CEO John Cryan has not yet begun the renegotiation process, and in the “next few days” is set to fly to the US to discuss the proposed RMBS misselling settlement with the US Attorney General, Germany's largest lender continues to be impacted by the public's declining confidence, exacerbated over the weekend by a disturbing “IT glitch.” For one, it remains unclear if Friday's report halted, or reversed, the outflow of cash from DB's prime brokerage clients, which as Bloomberg first reported last week was a major catalyst for the swoon in the stock price. However, as UniCredit's chief economist Erik Nielsen notes in a Sunday notes, one thing is certain: “so long as a fine of this order of magnitude ($14 billion) is an even remote possibility, markets worry.” - U.K.’s May Unveils Brexit-Day Plan for ‘Great Repeal’ of EU Law
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday will unveil her most detailed plan yet for the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union, saying she’ll repeal a 1972 law that gives direct effect to all EU legislation. The planned “Great Repeal Bill” will abolish the 1972 European Communities Act, while converting all EU laws governed by it into domestic laws on the day Britain eventually completes its EU pullout, May’s Conservative Party said in an statement e-mailed on the eve of the party’s annual conference. The government will then be able to amend and repeal individual laws if deemed necessary. - The Complete A To Z Of Nations Destroyed By Hillary Clinton's “Hubris”
In an email sent to his business partner and Democratic fundraiser Jeffrey Leeds, former Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote of Hillary Clinton, “Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris.” Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State during Barack Obama’s first term was an unmitigated disaster for many nations around the world. Neither the Donald Trump campaign nor the corporate media have adequately described how a number of countries around the world suffered horribly from Mrs. Clinton’s foreign policy decisions. Millions of people were adversely harmed by Clinton’s misguided policies and her “pay-to-play” operations involving favors in return for donations to the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative. - As The Monetary Madness Continues, Here Is A Dire Warning
“Inflation makes it possible for some people to get rich by speculation and windfall instead of by hard work. It rewards gambling and penalizes thrift. It conceals and encourages waste and inefficiency in production. It finally tends to demoralize the whole community. It promotes speculation, gambling, squandering, luxury, envy, resentment, discontent, corruption, crime, and increasing drift toward more intervention which may end in dictatorship.” — Henry Hazlitt - Should You Be Concerned About Bank Runs? Maybe
Fears of a banking crisis and memories of the 2008 financial crisis are being whispered about on Wall Street today. Hedge funds are reportedly pulling billions out of the German bank Deutsche Bank amid concerns about the lender's stability this week. Can Bank Runs Still Happen? While a true bank run in the United States hasn't occurred since the 1930's, some point to troubled Wachovia Bank in 2008 that faced what bank executives called “a silent run” on deposits. On a Friday in 2008 large depositors began fleeing from Wachovia. - ECB Watch – Will the ECB buy equities?
The ECB stepped up its unconventional policy around the middle of 2014, by taking its deposit rate into negative territory. Early in 2015, it launched a large-scale QE programme focused on public sector bonds. Since then it has added regional bonds and investment-grade credit bonds to the mix. Despite the positive effects on financial conditions, the outlook for growth and inflation remains disappointing. At the same time, there are market concerns that there are not enough bonds available to be bought and that current monetary policy is losing its effectiveness. This has led to questions about what else the ECB can add to its policy mix. In this research note, we consider whether the ECB will turn to equity purchases. We first look at whether equity purchases are possible from a legal and practical perspective and what such a programme could look like. We then go on to assess how effective buying equities would be in boosting equity prices, and hence growth and inflation, drawing on the experience of Japan. Finally, we look at the risks that the ECB would be exposing itself to. We do this in a Q&A format. - It’s Not Just Deutsche Bank. The Entire Financial Sector Is Sick
These are great times for financial assets — and by implication for finance companies that make and sell them, right? Alas, no. Just the opposite. Each part of the FIRE (finance, insurance, real estate) economy is imploding as “modern” finance hits the wall. Interest rates, for instance, have fallen for three decades… - What to do to Prepare for Financial Collapse: “Get Out Of Debt. Store. Prep. Cash. Gold.”
Prepare by balancing debt. Before you max out your credit cards on top notch gear, make sure you can survive the economic conditions that are coming. Mass unemployment. Loss of income. Heavy dependence on assistance. And the biggest strain on the system we can imagine. The United States is once again brought to the brink of collapse. Regardless of how dismissive mainstream voices are on the issue, it is clear that Americas is only a few shades and another crisis away from an all out return to the Great Depression era. - Federal Reserve Note Dying and Gold and Silver Recognized
Some say the U.S. dollar may die 5 days hence. The Chinese renminbi will kill it. Much is being made of plans by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to add the renminbi to its basket of strategic reserve currencies called Special Drawing Rights (SDR). The IMF will make the change on October 1. While the implications for the Federal Reserve Note, currently the U.S. dollar, as the world’s primary reserve currency may be profound over time and the importance of this even should not be overlooked, the impact is unlikely to happen overnight. - Bonds Are a Potential Powder Keg in the “New Normal”
“Despite low yields on safe assets, investors are reaching for duration rather than risk,” says Jim Puplava. Duration is the overall maturity value of a bond portfolio. Investors are buying bonds with longer maturities because those are the bonds that appreciate the most when interest rates go down. Investors have been accumulating large position holdings in these safe securities because of the rate of return they offer, Puplava added. However, the danger here is that longer maturities mean a greater potential for capital gains AND a greater potential for loss. - About That Deutsche “Settlement” Rumor: Cryan Hasn't Even Started Negotiations With The DOJ
Friday's market session was about one thing: will Deutsche Bank stock close the week ahead of a three day holiday at a record low. It did not because, as we reported, the AFP announced that based on “sources” (most likely from Twitter), the DOJ was willing to reduce the $14 billion settlement that sent DB stock on a rollercoaster ride over the past two weeks, to just under $6 billion. The news unleashed a massive short squeeze relief rally, which sent DB stock soaring on Friday, pushing the entire market up 1%. And while repeated attempts by the likes of Reuters to get additional information from either the DOJ, the German government or Deutsche Bank itself, have proven fruitless, overnight Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung reported that Deutsche Bank executives are heading to the United States in the coming days to negotiate the $14 billion settlement over a fine the infamous $14 billion for misselling RMBS. - Market Report: Option expiry and Deutsche Bank
Gold and silver drifted lower over the week, in falls which are commonly accepted to reflect prices being massaged ahead of option expiry on Comex. Gold lost $16 to $1325, and silver, 58 cents to $19.11 in early European trade this morning (Friday). If this sort of thing happened on a regulated market in London, the regulators would be crawling all over the suspected riggers. But hey, it’s America. Putting this behind us, we should focus on the rapidly developing banking crisis in Germany and on its impact on the US dollar. These are separate issues, but they are much intertwined. This week, a collapse of Deutsche Bank was openly discussed in the general media, and there are signs that institutional depositors in wholesale money markets have begun to minimise their exposure. The result is that DB’s shares on Wall Street last night dropped 7% into new low ground and continued this weakness overnight (Thursday/Friday) into the Frankfurt opening in heavy volume. - Republicans Slam Clinton for Deutsche Speeches as Firm Slumps
The Republican National Committee reignited calls for Hillary Clinton to release details surrounding her paid private speeches to Deutsche Bank on Thursday just as the firm's New York-listed shares fell to a record low. Officials from the German-bank, which U.S. regulators slapped with a massive $14 billion fine earlier this month, paid the Clintons $955,000 between 2012 and 2014 for a total of four speeches, according to financial disclosure records. Hillary Clinton was paid $225,000 for an April 24, 2013 speech and $260,000 for an Oct. 7, 2014 speech. Her husband was paid $200,000 for an Oct. 10, 2012 speech and $270,000 for a speech he gave on Aug. 27, 2014. - Three reasons why the banking system is rigged against you
If there were ever any doubt about how completely RIGGED the banking system is against depositors, allow me to introduce the following: Exhibit A: Governments are working to make banks LESS safe. Yesterday an unelected bureaucrat that no one has ever heard of made a stunning announcement that has sweeping implications for anyone with a bank account. Dombrovskis is Europe’s top financial services official, so he controls bank regulations in the European Union. He issued a stern warning to global bank regulators yesterday that he is prepared to reject any further plans they might have to tighten bank capital requirements. - Deutsche Bank’s Woes Put $2 Trillion of Bonds Beyond ECB’s Reach
The troubles of Deutsche Bank AG are making European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s job more complicated. The surge this week in relatively safe sovereign securities left about a third of the Bloomberg Eurozone Sovereign Bond Index ineligible for purchase under the ECB’s quantitative-easing program. The gains mean $2.2 trillion of debt in the index now yields less than the institution’s deposit rate — currently minus 0.4 percent — and is therefore off-limits. - IMF Says Brazil Needs Major Reforms Now, or Recession Will Continue
The International Monetary Fund sent out a warning to Brazilian lawmakers yesterday, urging the new regime to make the difficult policy decisions needed to rescue the country from its deep recession. - Deutsche Bank Paranoia Crosses Atlantic
It's no secret Deutsche Bank has struggled with U.S. demands to pay $14 billion to settle mortgage claims from the financial crisis. So why did the bank suddenly become the center of attention in U.S. financial markets on Thursday? Mainly because about 10 hedge funds that are Deutsche Bank clients have decided to withdraw some cash and listed derivatives positions from the bank, according to a Bloomberg News report. Listed derivatives positions refer to things like equity options and futures contracts, not the more esoteric over-the-counter contracts that caused so much trouble in the financial crisis. - BlackRock: Get Ready for More Fiscal Easing
Policymakers are changing their tone on fiscal policy. More governments are now looking at fiscal support, and the focus on austerity has faded as monetary easing reaches its limits. The shift away from austerity and the acknowledgement of the need for fiscal and monetary coordination matter for financial markets. In our inaugural Global Macro Outlook, we assess the potential for more fiscal easing in key economies, and gauge the impact on global growth and asset prices. - Trucker shortage prompts calls for driverless big rigs
America is facing a trucker crisis. As it readies for the busy holiday delivery season, the industry is expecting to be short about 73,000 long-distance drivers, more than three times the shortage of 2005, and that could lead to delivery delays and higher shipping costs. “It's at a point today where it is an operational hardship. It could soon be that at your store, not everything is there that you are accustomed to being there,” said Bob Costello, chief economist and senior vice president of the American Trucking Associations. “This is an industry that has problems finding drivers,” he told the Washington Examiner. - U.S. Signed Secret Document to Lift U.N. Sanctions on Iranian Banks
The Obama administration agreed to back the lifting of United Nations sanctions on two Iranian state banks blacklisted for financing Iran’s ballistic-missile program on the same day in January that Tehran released four American citizens from prison, according to U.S. officials and congressional staff briefed on the deliberations. The U.N. sanctions on the two banks weren’t initially to be lifted until 2023, under a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers that went into effect on Jan. 16. - REPORT: Billionaires Donate More to Hillary Than Trump. WAY More…
It’s safe to say the majority of leftists despise big business, right? Or at least that’s what they claim. It seems like the left consistently blames capitalism for all of its big business woes. But as it turns out, most of those huge corporations? Yeah, they’re in bed with the government. Democrats in particular. You might say that the two appear to enable one another. In fact, you might even say that there’s not much of a distinction between the two (see Dear Millennial Socialists: Actually, You Hate Big Government, Not Big Business…). Especially thanks to sneaky troglodytes like Hillary Clinton. Due to “pay to play” schemes and government bailouts, business and government stay close friends. - Secret Alpine Gold Vaults Are the New Swiss Bank Accounts
Deep in the Swiss Alps, next to an old airstrip suitable for landing Gulfstream and Falcon jets, is a vast bunker that holds what may be one of the world’s largest stashes of gold. The entrance, protected by a guard in a bulletproof vest, is a small metal door set into a granite mountain face at the end of a narrow country lane. Behind two farther doors sits a 3.5-ton metal portal that opens only after a code is entered and an iris scan and a facial-recognition screen are performed. A maze of tunnels once used by Swiss armed forces lies within. The owner of this gold vault wants to remain anonymous for fear of compromising security, and he worries that even disclosing the name of his company might lead thieves his way. He’s quick to dismiss questions about how carefully he vets clients but says many who come to him looking for a safe haven for their assets don’t pass his sniff test. “For every client we take, we turn one or two away,” he says. “We don’t want problems.” - Largest Dutch Bank To Fire Thousands
One day after Germany's second largest lender confirmed reports of a massive restructuring when it announced it would lay off nearly 10,000 employees, or about 20% of its entire workforce while slashing the bank's dividend for the rest of the year, the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad reported that ING Groep, the largest Netherlands lender, will announce thousands of job cuts at its investor day on Monday. The reorganization will result in more central management and may generate billions of euros in savings, the paper said cited by Bloomberg. Raymond Vermeulen, a spokesman for the Amsterdam-based bank, declined to comment on the report. The bank employs about 52,000 people, according to its website. - BlackStone Group Says The Market Is The Most Treacherous They Have Seen
There has rarely ever been another time like this. Not since 1999 and not since 1929 before that, have so many billionaires, central banksters, financial elites and fund managers, warned that we are on the verge of a catastrophic bust. And now, Joe Baratta, Blackstone Group LP’s top private equity deal maker, admits at a WSJ conference this week, “You have historically high multiples of cash flows, low yields. I’ve never seen it in my career. It’s the most treacherous moment.” The most treacherous moment! - Commerzbank plans to cut 9,600 jobs
Germany's second-biggest lender, Commerzbank, is planning to cut 9,600 jobs over the next four years and end dividend payments for the first time. In a statement, the bank said by the end of 2020 it would have “sustainably increased its profitability”. However, the bank also said it aimed to create 2,300 new posts in areas where its business was growing. Commerzbank's strategy for achieving this will be debated by the bank's board on Friday. Last year, it had about 51,300 employees. - WARNING: We Are Going To Be Living In An Incredibly Chaotic World
As the monetary madness continues, some of what you will read below is difficult to comprehend because it seems totally unimaginable. “If you have the power to print money, you’ll do it. Regardless of any ideologies or statements, that you should limit your counterfeit operations to three percent a year as the Friedmanites want to do. Basically you print it. You find reasons for it, you save banks, you save people, whatever, there are lot of reasons to print.” — Murray N. Rothbard - Legend Who Oversees $180 Billion Warns World Financial System ‘Is Headed For A Train Wreck’
On the heels of continued problems at Deutsche Bank, a legend who oversees more than $180 billion warned King World News that the world financial system “is headed for a train wreck.” ric King: “Rob, the central banks have been insane for some time now but that insanity is escalating. Can you talk about that?” Rob Arnott: “Of course the Fed did not hike in September. They have set the stage for what is characterized as a likely hike in December, but who knows? It’s not at all unlikely that they will flinch again. At the end of last year they were signaling four rate hikes for 2016 and it looks like we might very well finish with zero. So they talk a little hawkish but do not have the spine to do anything. - ECB “Refused To Answer Questions” – “Systemic Threat” Of Deutsche Is “Not ECB Fault”
The potential collapse of Deutsche Bank and the systemic risk it poses to banks and the European financial and monetary system moved into the German political sphere yesterday. The German government denied it was preparing a rescue of the embattled bank and the Bundestag attempted to ask questions of ECB President Mario Draghi about the causes of the “systemic risks” posed by the bank. - Deutsche Bank Charged By Italy For Market Manipulation, Creating False Accounts
For Deutsche Bank, when it rains, it pours, even when everyone tries to come to its rescue. One day after its stock soared from all time lows, following what so far appears to have been a fabricated report sourced by AFP which relied on Twitter as a source that the DOJ would reduce its RMBS settlement amount with Deutsche Bank from $14 billion to below $6 billion (and which neither the DOJ nor Deutsche Bank have confirmed for obvious reasons), moments ago Bloomberg reported that six current and former managers of Deutsche Bank, including Michele Faissola, Michele Foresti and Ivor Dunbar, were charged in Milan for colluding to falsify the accounts of Italy’s third-biggest bank, Monte Paschi (which itself is so insolvent it is currently scrambling to finalize a private sector bailout) and manipulate the market. Two former executives at Nomura Holdings Inc. and five at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena were also charged. - Yellen Dodges Questions on Interest Rates and Political Motives
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen testified before the House Financial Services Committee on financial regulation. The Fed Chair took criticism from both sides, with Democrats and Republicans criticizing the regulatory body for doing too much and for doing too little. Among the topics was the over-reach of Dodd-Frank, breaking up “too big to fail” firms, and the recent Wells Fargo phony account scandal. However, one important topic side stepped was the impact of low interest rates on any of the problems brought up at the hearing. - Mickey Fulp: Gold is Money, That's why I own Precious Metals! – Maurice Jackson
Mickey Fulp, the Mercenary Geologist, sits down with Maurice Jackson of ‘Proven & Probable‘ to discuss: Current State of the Natural Resource Space, Are we out of the Bear Cycle, What are the catalyst’s, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium, Stewardship of Precious Metals, How much allocation should investors have in bullion, Identifies the difference between bullion and mining companies, Investing Vs. Speculation. - Gerald Celente – What Is Happening In The Real World Is Extremely Distressing
With the world focused on the usual propaganda from the mainstream media, today top trends forecaster Gerald Celente said what is happening in the real world is extremely disturbing. Trend Alert®: Presidential Election will not affect economy. What will?? Gerald Celente —From Asia, to Europe to America, equity markets around the world on Monday swayed in anticipation of who would win the Presidential Reality Show® “debate” between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump… - Look At The Remarkable Flight From The U.S. Dollar
With continued uncertainty in key global markets, look at the remarkable flight from the U.S. dollar. From Jason Goepfert at SentimenTrader: Traders are giving up on the dollar. Currency-hedged ETFs have seen some of the biggest outflows among all funds in recent days, and funds that bet on a rising U.S. dollar have seen their assets dwindle to the lowest in years. That usually means limited downside for the buck going forward… - There’s currently a $2 quadrillion derivatives bubble, which is about to take down the entire global economy. ($2 quadrillion is 22 times all global GDP combined.)
All the world’s largest banks are overleveraged on these toxic derivatives contracts: Deutschebank, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, etc. Basically a derivatives contract is like insurance. I always use the example of oil. If an energy company knows it’s going to need oil to run their electricity plant, but the price of oil fluctuates daily, they might want to negotiate a “set-price” [to make it easier for them to build the cost into the accounting models]. Such an energy company might go to Goldman Sachs and say, “Can you negotiate with Saudi Arabia to give us a stable price?” Whereupon Goldman Sachs creates an insurance contract, locking in a spot-price of, say, $100 a barrel. No matter where the international price goes, Goldman Sachs is now contractually obliged to deliver the oil at that price. But what if oil plunges from $100 to $20 a barrel? Goldman Sachs has to eat $80 for every barrel sold. (And that’s just what happened.) So Goldman Sachs, that has $900 billion in assets, now owes $54 trillion on these derivatives contracts. - FBI Docs: Hillary Deleted Nearly 1,000 Emails With David Petraeus
A potentially explosive nugget from the FBI's Friday document dump of investigatory notes from the Clinton email probe has been all but ignored by the media. And that is the revelation that Hillary Clinton deleted 1,000 work-related emails between herself and General David Petaeus from his time as the director of the United States Central Command. - How October Could Signal a Stock Market Collapse
You’re probably unaware that the apocalypse is fast approaching. Indeed, it’s almost here. And how does the apocalypse manifest itself? As a Chinese financial takeover of the world: The Chinese renminbi soars; the U.S. dollar sinks, thus relinquishing its reserve-currency status; the U.S. stock market, with its assets denominated in dollars, collapses. Kick-off is this Saturday. I’ve actually been privy to this short-and-tidy rendition of doom and gloom for some time now. A stock-trading acquaintance of mine, who I’ll call Matt (because that’s his name), is always sure to remind me of impending doom and gloom every time we meet, approximately twice weekly. How does he know doom and gloom is impending? The surfeit of gold-hoarding, run-for-the-hills financial publications that feed his biases. - The countries where cash is on the verge of extinction
My dad, a former Wall Street trader always advised me “cash is king” and to “hold on to it” when the economy gets tough. But in the Netherlands, cash is definitely not getting the royal treatment. In so many places, it has simply ceased to be recognised as legal tender. More and more Dutch stores, from upscale health-food store Marqt to my local baker and bagel shop, take pin — or debit — cards exclusively. Some retailers even describe going cash-free as “cleaner” or “safer”. Tucking my debit card firmly away, I decide to see how far a bundle of cash will get me. Not far. The big-ticket items are strictly cashless affairs: my rent and my telephone bill among them. - Stocks Soar After French Press “Confirm” Deutsche Bank Near Settlement With DOJ
Seemingly confirming the rumor, Agence France Press reports that Deutsche Bank is nearing a $5.4 billion settlement with the US Justice Department. This has catalyzed another leg higher in Deutsche Bank stock and lifted the whole market as it would appear that unconfirmed sources have ‘fixed' the world's most systemically dangerous bank (despite the fact that short-dated counterparty risk is soaring). - Deutsche Bank Hangs By A Thread On Eve Of Jubilee
Nearly a year ago to the day, on September 28th, we wrote “Will Deutsche Bank Be This Cycle’s Lehman Brothers?” In it we asked, “In 2008, the financial crisis was set-off by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Could this year’s crisis be caused by a collapse of Deutsche Bank?” The day after the end day of the Shemitah in 2015, on September 14th, Deutsche Bank announced that it was laying off 23,000 employees, about 25% of its workforce. At the time, it was trading around $26 per share. Now, on the eve of the end of the Jubilee Year, Deutsche Bank was down another 7% on Thursday and is now at an all-time low near $11.50. - World Trade Collapsing On Schedule
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has warned that there is a “dramatic slowing of trade growth” unfolding. The WTO has revised downward its projections, saying trade is now on track this year to grow at the slowest pace since 2009. The hunt for taxes is destroying the world economy and on January 1, 2017, all governments will begin sharing info on foreigners. The assumption is that anyone doing anything outside the USA is hiding money from taxes. With this attitude, world trade will continue to collapse into 2020. - Bix Weir – Final Collapse is Happening Now
Bix Weir joined the show today. Deutsche Bank is imploding before our very eyes. Their bonds will soon be worthless and no one is coming to their rescue. Bix thinks it’s the end of the world economic system as we know it, and it can’t come soon enough for Bix. There’s nothing that can save it now. According to Bix the end is imminent, so buckle your seat-belts and be prepared. - Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – September 29, 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his new 10 minute weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams’ weekly newsletter. - Deutsche Bank's seesaw shares bounce back amid rumours stricken bank is close to a cut price fine over sale of toxic mortgages
A report that Germany's largest bank is close to a cut-price fine deal with American authorities over the sale of toxic mortgage bonds has helped boost its share price. Deutsche Bank, which employs about 100,000 people, has been engulfed by crisis after being handed a demand for up to $14 billion earlier this month by the Department of Justice for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities. The bank is fighting the fine but would have to turn to investors for more money if it is imposed in full. The German government this week denied a newspaper report that it was working on a rescue plan for the bank. - Here’s How the Government Is Turning the Entire United States into a Debt Prison
Since the United States was founded, citizenship has represented a safe haven from oppressive regimes around the world. By preserving the principles of small government and free markets, those who were willing to work hard found success, and America became a magnet for innovation. But as the U.S. continues to erode personal and economic freedom, more people than ever before are handing over their U.S. passports to seek better opportunities abroad. - ‘Partnership on AI' formed by Google, Facebook, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft
Google, Facebook, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft are joining forces to create a new AI partnership dedicated to advancing public understanding of the sector, as well as coming up with standards for future researchers to abide by. Going by the unwieldy name of the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society, the alliance isn’t a lobbying organisation (at least, it says it “does not intend” to lobby government bodies). Instead, it says it will “conduct research, recommend best practices, and publish research under an open license in areas such as ethics, fairness and inclusivity; transparency, privacy, and interoperability; collaboration between people and AI systems; and the trustworthiness, reliability and robustness of the technology”. - The era of robots: thousands of builders to lose jobs as machines take over, says construction boss
Skyscrapers in the City of London could soon be built by robots rather than by people, according to the boss of one of the UK’s biggest construction firms. The result would be huge productivity gains as more work could be done by fewer people – but also mass layoffs as traditionally labour-intensive construction projects hire fewer and fewer staff. “We’re moving into the era of the robots,” said Alison Carnwath, the chairman of Land Securities, the £8.2bn FTSE 100 construction company. - US Central Bank Chair: Blockchain Could Have ‘Significant' Impact
During an appearance before a House of Representatives committee hearing today, Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen remarked that the US central bank is “trying to understand” financial technologies like cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Yellen was speaking before the Committee on Financial Services, during which she was asked by Rep. Mick Mulvaney about the Fed’s position on cryptocurrencies and whether it investigating internal applications of blockchain. While Yellen said that the Fed wasn’t doing so, she did indicate that the US central bank was pursuing lines of inquiry within the broader context of fintech. However, she did remark that blockchain tech could have a major impact on payments and banking in the future. - Treasuries Gain as Deutsche Bank Contagion Fear Fuels Haven Bid
Treasuries rallied, reversing earlier losses, as traders sought haven assets on reports that some Deutsche Bank AG clients are pairing back their exposure to the beleaguered German lender. Treasury 10-year yields fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 1.56 percent as of 2:43 p.m in New York, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader data. The price of the 1.5 percent security due in August 2026 climbed to 99 13/32. Traders bid up traditional quality assets including Treasuries, gold and the yen after a Bloomberg News report said some funds that clear derivatives trades with Deutsche Bank had withdrawn some excess cash and positions held at the bank. Investors fled financial securities amid concern the Frankfurt-based bank’s woes could spread to counterparties, damping Europe’s fragile economic recovery. - This Is How Much Liquidity Deutsche Bank Has At This Moment, And What Happens Next
It is not solvency, or the lack of capital – a vague, synthetic, and usually quite arbitrary concept, determined by regulators – that kills a bank; it is – as Dick Fuld will tell anyone who bothers to listen – the loss of (access to) liquidity: cold, hard, fungible (something Jon Corzine knew all too well when he commingled and was caught) cash, that pushes a bank into its grave, usually quite rapidly: recall that it took Lehman just a few days for its stock to plunge from the high double digits to zero. It is also liquidity, or rather concerns about it, that sent Deutsche Bank stock crashing to new all time lows earlier today: after all, the investing world already knew for nearly two weeks that its capitalization is insufficient. - “It’s A Lot More Negative Than People Think” – China Beige Book Issues Stark Warning About The Economy
While China's excess debt problems have been extensively documented, the overall economy appears to also be slowing substantially as a result of the decline in the most recent credit impulse, noted as recently as one week ago when we reported that “Chinese Loan Demand Dropped To All Time Low.” Overnight, the latest warning about China's economy came from the authors of the China Beige Book, a quarterly survey that tracks the world’s second-largest economy, who said that recent stability in the Chinese economy masks deep-seated problems that threaten to rattle global markets in advance of a leadership change next year, and added that ignoring these risks is shortsighted. - General Collateral Rate Surges To Highest Level In 7 Years
In what may be an indication of a major collateral shortage, but most likely is simply a case of quarter-end “window dressing”, the overnight general collateral rate soared to 0.82% this morning, its highest print in nearly seven years, and roughly where it would trade if the Fed had hiked in September. GC soared to 0.85% yesterday afternoon yesterday after opening at around 0.68%. As SMRA points out, the GC rate often spikes as quarter end approaches. The early morning fed funds rate is at 0.40% this morning, unchanged from 0.40% yesterday. Both the effective fed funds rate and overnight bank funding rate were in line with the fed funds rate at 0.40% on Monday, unchanged from the prior couple weeks. - PANIC As Margin Calls Begin: Deutsche Bank Has Financial System On The Cusp Of Collapse
DB stock is now in a full panic sell-off as I write this. It just hit another new all-time NYSE low on by the heaviest volume ever in the stock since its 2001 NYSE listing. It’s currently down almost 10%. No doubt the Central Banks will try to bounce it. Deutsche Bank may well be the scapegoat this time around just like Lehman was the scapegoat in 2008. Central Banks in collusion can prevent just one bank from collapsing. It was the co-collapsing of AIG and Goldman Sachs that prompted then-Secretary of Treasury, ex-Goldman CEO Henry Paulson, to put in motion the bailout of the U.S. and European banking system. - Draghi Lays Blame for European Banks’ Woes on Industry Behavior
Mario Draghi said the financial industry must stop blaming the actions of central banks for their problems and focus on fixing internal management and risk failings. “Many banks have problems that don’t have primarily to do with the low level of interest rates but possibly with other reasons,” the European Central Bank president said after a meeting with German lawmakers in Berlin on Wednesday. He cited business models and risk management and said this was “generally acknowledged” by those at the talks. - Yuan in October 1st will be officially “into the basket” SDR what is the impact?
The international monetary fund strategy policy and evaluation department said in a conference call, adding SDR RMB currency basket has milepost sense, persistent China responded to the reform measures have been confirmed and strengthened. During the conference call, a spokesman for the International Monetary Fund said it was working with the Chinese side to carry out the final cooperation with the Chinese side, in order to ensure the final preparations for the international circulation of RMB after the entry into the basket. China's central bank and the major financial institutions have been well prepared in the past year, the International Monetary Fund has also set up a good circulation platform for RMB and new management architecture in the world. - Obama Humiliated: For The First Time, Congress Votes To Override President's “Sept 11” Bill Veto
US Congress, first the Senate and then the House, humiliated the president when it voted on Wednesday to override Obama for the first time in his eight-year tenure, as the House rejected a veto of legislation allowing families of terrorist victims to sue Saudi Arabia. The House easily cleared the two-thirds threshold with a 348-77 vote to push back against the veto. The Senate voted 97-1 in favor of the override earlier in the day, with only Democratic Leader Harry Reid voting to sustain the president’s veto. - The Run Begins: Deutsche Bank Hedge Fund Clients Withdraw Excess Cash
Deutsche Bank concerns just went to '11' as Bloomberg reports a number of funds that clear derivatives trades with Deutsche Bank AG have withdrawn some excess cash and positions held at the lender, a sign of counterparties’ mounting concerns about doing business with Europe’s largest investment bank. While the vast majority of Deutsche Bank’s more than 200 derivatives-clearing clients have made no changes, some funds that use the bank’s prime brokerage service have moved part of their listed derivatives holdings to other firms this week, according to an internal bank document seen by Bloomberg News.
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