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 23, 2016 to September 29, 2016:

• The Biggest Monetary Transformation Since WWII
  Every 30 to 40 years the world has a new monetary system. And the global dollar standard is the worst design of all these systems — yet it’s 45 years old. It’s way overdue for its own demise. And when this one crumbles, everyone is going to feel it.
• Major Dollar Shortage Exposed In Europe As Deutsche Bank Contagion Spreads
  “Storm in a teacup” this is not. While global markets remain calm(ish), distracted by OPEC headlines, US election ‘entertainment', and Middle East proxy wars, the reality is, something very ugly is accelerating in Europe. With the collapse of the “most systemically dangerous bank in the world” we should hardly be surprised, but Deutsche Bank's crash is being shrugged off by average joes on mainstream media… and besides, the central banks will save us, right? Well, Deutsche contagion is spreading… rapidly. Since Deutsche's recent highs, the short-end of the EUR-USD basis swap curve has collapsed…
• As Jubilee Nears, Martial Law Rolls Out Across The US
  This is not going away with the end of the Jubilee Year in October or even with the end of 2016.
  It’s just getting started… As we enter into the last week before the end of the Jubilee Year, the National Guard has been deployed in Charlotte, North Carolina and massive military convoys have been deployed in the streets of New York City. This is a continuation of last summer’s Jade Helm seven-state military exercise that many in the area saw as a prelude to military occupation. After Jade Helm came the US Army Special Operations Command’s Unconventional Warfare Exercise 16 (UWEX 16) that ran in Texas through June.
• Jim Willie: If Deutsche Bank Goes Under It Will be Lehman TIMES FIVE!
  A bank failure contagion, that’s whats going to push the price of gold WAY over $2,000/oz again. The Price of Silver is going to be moving over $100 and the price of gold is going over $5,000… A failure of Deutsche Bank would trigger a systemic banking contagion the likes of which the Western world has never seen…
• Famous Last Words – Deutsche Bank: “We Don’t Need A Bailout”
  “[The] share price is low but that is not what is worrying us and that is not what we are looking at. What is really important to us is our credit story which is very strong, it is fundamentally strong.” – Jorg Eigendorf, head of communications at DB on CNBC (sourced from Zerohedge). “The credit story is strong?”  To begin with, I’m not sure what the head of communications is doing on bubblevision talking about “credit.”  If he understood the meaning of the words he was regurgitating from script, he would not have made that statement if he were under oath.
• Insider Warren Buffet Knows A Massive Crash Is Coming: “Has $70 Billion On The Sidelines… Clearly Anticipating The Biggest Buying Opportunity Of His Life”
  With the U.S. stock market near all-time highs and financial pundits touting the miracles of economic recovery, investors would have to be totally insane to not be snapping up as many stocks as they can get their hands on. But if America’s economy is doing so well, why are billionaires and major investment firms warning of rough waters ahead? Even Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha, known for his investing acumen and foresight, appears to see the writing on the wall. Having made billions in the fallout of the 2008 crash by taking advantage of lucrative government machinations, Buffet now looks to be positioning himself for a very massive buying opportunity. According to analyst Jeff Nielsen, the head of one of the largest investment companies in the world isn’t invested as heavily into stock markets as you may think. In fact, Nielsen says in his latest interview with SGT Report that Buffet has over $70 billion sitting in cash on the sidelines. And that can mean only one thing: Buffet knows a crash is coming and he is waiting for perhaps the biggest buying opportunity of his lifetime.
• Germany ‘prepares Deutsche Bank rescue'
  The German government and financial authorities are working on a rescue plan for Deutsche Bank in case it cannot pay fines in the US, according to Die Zeit newspaper. Germany's biggest lender is facing a $14bn (£10.8bn; €12.5bn) bill for mis-selling mortgage-backed bonds before the financial crisis of 2008. In the worst-case scenario, the government would even take a 25% stake in the bank, according to the article. Deutsche Bank has denied the report.
• Deutsche Bank Is Going Under: Is The Real Reason Germans Were Told To Prepare For A National Crisis?
  There is a very real possibility that Deutsche Bank is going down. If the most prominent bank in Germany fails, the effect on Europe will be profound, and I don’t think the United States will escape the effects. The ripples will turn into a tsunami as they travel across the Atlantic. Already, the bank’s troubles have stressed the American stock market. Angela Merkel has stated that Deutsche Bank will not be getting a bailout from the European Central Bank – the lender of last resort for European banks. The Department of Justice recently issued a $14 billion fine to the bank to settle a mortgage-backed securities probe…and the bank has no intention of paying.
• Euro “Might Start To Unravel” If Deutsche Bank Collapse
  The euro “might start to unravel” if Deutsche Bank collapses according to respected financial journalist Matthew Lynn. “It all has a very 2008 feel to it …” he warns in the Telegraph where he outlines his growing concerns about Deutsche Bank, concerns we have written about in recent months. He writes: Our image of German banks, and the German economy, as completely rock solid is so strong that it takes a lot to persuade us they might be in trouble.
• ‘Something Very Serious Transpired' Between Russia and US Over Syria
  The current “level of violence in verbal attacks” on Russia at the UN is unprecedented,” Gilbert Doctorow, European Coordinator for the American Committee for East West Accord told Radio Sputnik, adding that this seems to indicate that something grave must have happened between the two countries with regard to Syria behind the scenes. The United States and Russia have lashed at each other over the Syrian conflict, with Washington and Moscow trading blows at the urgent UN Security Council meeting on Sunday.
• As they left the White House, the Clintons Defaced Walls, Stole Furniture and Much Much Worse
  In 2001, the Clintons were moving out of the White House to make way for the Bush Administration. Not only did the Clintons steal furniture on their way out of the White House, but they did something far worse. It’s yet another reason why they should not be allowed to step foot in the White House AGAIN! Besides the stolen furniture, Hillary Clinton and her lackeys defaced walls, stole a presidential seal dating back to the Eisenhower years, damaged furniture they deemed not expensive enough to take, and left a huge mess in the offices, making it look like a rave party had taken place there.
• Dangerous Bubbles In Plain Sight
  Jesse Felder published an incisive bubble finance chart over the weekend. It is yet another reminder that Janet Yellen and her merry band of money printers are oblivious to the dangerous speculation and valuation excesses that their policies have implanted throughout the financial system. Relative to disposable income, the value of household financial assets now far exceeds the last two bubble peaks. And that has happened in an economic environment which suggests just the opposite. To wit, valuation multiples and cap rates should be falling owing the fact that the productivity and growth capacity of the US economy has been heading south ever since the turn of the century.
• The Global Housing Bubble Is Biggest In These Six Cities
  One year ago, when UBS last looked at the world's most expensive housing markets, it found that London and Hong Kong were the only two areas exposed to bubble risk. What a difference a year makes, because in the latest report by UBS wealth Management, which compiles the bank's Global Real Estate Bubble Index, it found a new champion for the title of “world's biggest housing bubble”, namely a familiar name, Vancouver, but also that as many as six cities had made the “bubble” category, up from last year's two. Of last year's two “winners”, London has been knocked into second place this year, and Hong Kong sixth, but both are still in bubble-risk territory.
• The Donald Nailed It: “We Are In A Big Fat Ugly Bubble”
  Most of the 90 minutes last night was a waste—with both candidates lobbing well-worn clichés, slogans and sound bites at the audience and each other. But there was one brief moment that made it all worthwhile. That was when Donald Trump peeled the bark off the Fed’s phony recovery narrative and warned that the stupendous stock market bubble it has created will come crashing down the minute it stops pegging rates to the zero bound.
• Deutsche Curve Inverts As Bundesbank Dismisses State Support Of “Zombie” Banks
  Deutsche Bank Sub CDS closed above 500bps for only the second day in its history (and the longer-term CDS curve inverted once again) as a bad day ended worse with Bundesbank member Andreas Dombret exclaimed “state support of banking sector must end,” warning that it only “props up zombie banks.” His pronouncements also pushed politicians to make the hard decisions and “tell banks they need structural reform.” As Bloomberg details, “Political support for the banking sector has to end at last,” Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret says in text of speech in Vienna. “Unfortunately I’m only seeing this to a limited extent.”
• The Stunning Roadmap To $26,000 Gold
  With many investors worried about the economic turmoil that has engulfed the globe, is gold headed to $26,000? The Stunning Roadmap To $26,000 Gold. Stephen Leeb:  “The Fed’s decision this past week to hold rates steady was no surprise. After all, going into the confab, the odds of a hike had been put at around 20 percent. And only two of the 23 market makers in government securities had any expectation rates would rise, and even those two said they weren’t really sure. Still, the markets exhaled, and a two-day rally in stocks, gold, and commodities followed, though it petered out by Friday…
• John Embry Warns Global Implosion Edges Closer
  As we get ready to head into what may well be a very interesting October for global markets, today John Embry warned King World News that we are edging closer to the ultimate global implosion. John Embry:  “Eric, as I watch the unfolding economic and financial saga unfolding globally, I’m reminded of the famous quote from Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.  When asked, how did you go bankrupt?  One of the protagonists responded: “Gradually, then suddenly.”…
• Standing on House of Cards-Jonathan Cahn
  Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, a Messianic Jew, is out with a third best-seller in a row called “The Book of Mysteries.” In the “Harbinger,” he has said things like the attack on America on 9/11 was a warning.  Now, Cahn is out with some new warnings.  On the economy, Cahn says, “We are still on a house of cards, standing on a house of cards. There’s debt, and all the propping up, and actually, since the Shemitah of 2008, the world economy has never recovered.  It’s been paralyzed.  The growth has been paralyzed since 2008, and that’s with all the lowering of rates, which means we have no room for anything . . . . We are in the most dangerous months of the stock markets. . . .  We are right now . . . in the period following the seventh Shemitah, which is the Jubilee period.  It doesn’t have to happen, but it means the same dynamics (market crash) can happen as well into this period.  There is a principle in the Bible that is linked to this . . . it says that if a nation follows God, it’s going to be lending to many nations and not borrowing.  That is a sign of God’s favor.  America has been the greatest creditor nation in history, but that changed as America has been falling away from God.  This goes with the harbingers, and that has not stopped either. . . . As America continues to rapidly accelerate away from God, at the same time, America turned from the greatest creditor nation to the greatest debtor nation.”
• China debt could wreck the global economy: Leading economist warns country could suffer a calamitous slowdown
  China poses the biggest threat to the global economy as its debts soar, according to a leading economist. Ken Rogoff, the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said the country could suffer a calamitous slowdown – dragging the rest of the world down with it. A so-called ‘hard landing' in the world's second biggest economy, where growth drops to dangerously low levels, would be a disaster for other countries including Britain. China is the UK's sixth biggest export market with sales of goods made in British factories to the People's Republic jumping from £877million in 1998 to £15.5billion in 2014.
• Deutsche Bank Stock Crashes Near Single-Digits As CDS Spike To Record Highs
  The “most systemically dangerous bank in the world” is in grave trouble. Despite exclamations that there is “no need for additional capital” and that “Deutsche Bank is no Lehman” investors are fleeing the bank's assets en masse as professionals pile in to buy counterparty risk protection. With the only thing standing between bank runs and stability being the confidence of depositors, and knowing full well that everybody lies when it gets serious, one witty trader noted, “if it walks like Lehman, and talks like Lehman… it is Lehman.”
• IMF and WTO issue alerts on global trade
  It is the kind of headline that sends a shiver through economists' spines: “Global trade growth hits new low.” After all, over the past few decades, economic growth has been closely correlated with trade flows. And on the occasions throughout history when trade growth has plunged – in the 1930s, for instance, or the 2008 financial crisis – it has prefigured deeper problems with the world economy.
• Harvard Professor Demands Ban On $20, $50, $100 Bills
  Six months since Larry Summers first suggested “it's time to kill the $100 bill,” and three months after The ECB actually killed the €500 Note, another Harvard scholar is reinvigorating the war on cash. Amid claims that paper money fuels corruption, terrorism, tax evasion, and illegal immigration, Ken Rogoff (ironically of “It's Different This Time” infamy) says the US should get rid of the $100 bill (and $50s and $20s) proposing, in his words, “a ‘less-cash' society, not a cashless one, at least for the foreseeable future.” According to the esteemed ivory tower academic, paper currency lies at the heart of some of today’s most intractable public-finance and monetary problems. As Rogoff explains in The Wall Street Journal, getting rid of most of it – that is, moving to a society where cash is used less frequently and mainly for small transactions – could be a big help.
• Washington Tries to Break BRICS – Rape of Brazil Begins
  Washington’s regime change machinery has for the time being succeeded in removing an important link in the alliance of large emerging nations by railroading through a Senate impeachment of the duly elected President, Dilma Rousseff. On August 31 her Vice President Michel Temer was sworn in as President. In his first speech as president, the cynical Temer called for a government of “national salvation,” asking for the trust of the Brazilian people. He indicated plans to reform, and has also signaled his intention to overhaul the pension system and labor laws, and cut public spending, all themes beloved of Wall Street banks, of the International Monetary Fund and their Washington Consensus. Now after less than three weeks at the job, Temer has unveiled plans for wholesale privatization of Brazil’s crown jewels, starting with oil. The planned Wall Street rape of Brazil is about to begin.
• Party Loyalty Can’t Make Me Vote for Clinton
  I have been steeped in the Democratic Party all my life. My father, Jerry, was a New York City Democratic chairman and power broker, and I grew up in and around the Democratic Party. When I was a young man, former senators and Democratic presidential and vice-presidential nominees Hubert Humphrey and Estes Kefauver stayed at my apartment and we would proudly discuss the great traditions of the Democratic Party. My father was a pallbearer at St. Patrick’s for Bobby Kennedy’s funeral. When I was young, Robert F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy were (and remain) my political heroes. Four years ago, former New York Gov. and liberal lion Mario Cuomo spoke at my father’s funeral. I think his son, current Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is a very effective leader.
• Switzerland votes in favour of more government surveillance amid fear of terror attacks
  Swiss voters have approved a bill which give their security services more power to eavesdrop on its citizens. A proposed law was approved by 65.5 per cent of those who voted in the referendum, results on Sunday showed. The law grants the Swiss police and intelligence services the right to tap phones and communications of a suspect with the permission of the federal court, the defence ministry and the cabinet – something that has been banned in the country unlike many of its European neighbours.
• Saudi Arabia Bails Out Banking System After Interbank Rates Hit 2009 Highs
  Amid what some might call self-inflicted economic collapse, Saudi Arablia has announced a $5.3 billion bailout of its banking system as interbank borrowing rates near the highest since Lehman. In what the supposedly central bank calls “supportive monetary policy…on behalf of government entities,” is easing liquidity constraints with 28-day repo agreements and is the second liquidty injection this year. While Saudi default risk has fallen – as the entire world has been liquified in recent months – it remains worse than Mexico, Russia, and South Africa.
• Germany Goes There: “You Can't Compare Deutsche Bank To Lehman”
  “When it's important, you have to lie,” is the now well-known mantra from European leaders when the crisis hit. So when a German politician proclaims “you can’t compare Deutsche Bank with Lehman. The bank is in a position to get out of this situation on its own,” it's time to panic. Just a week after the 8th anniversary of Lehman's collapse, the multi-trillion dollar derivative book of Deutsche Bank dwarfs that of Lehman… and the credit markets are starting to wake up again.
• Global debt climbs towards fresh high as companies and countries keep on borrowing
  Global debt issuance is on course to hit a record high in 2016 as figures showed sales this year topped $5 trillion (£3.9 trillion) at the end of September. Debt issuance rose to $5.02 trillion in the nine months to September 22, according to Dealogic, putting 2016 on course to beat the all-time high of $6.6 trillion recorded in 2006. Record low interest rates have encouraged countries and companies to issue debt as central banks around the world try to stimulate growth.
• Chinese Contagion Risks Surge: Banks' Reliance On Each Other For Funding Hits All Time High
  It's getting increasingly more difficult for China to deny its massively overindebted reality. The latest striking confirmation that things in the world's former growth dynamo are deteriorating rapidly, come yesterday from none other than PBOC advisor Huang Yiping, who during a speech in Beijing said that China's “deleveraging isn't making progress” and that the “high leverage ratio is becoming a big financial problem for the country” noting that the household leverage ratio has “surged sharply in China.” Adding something ZH readers have known for the past year, Yiping said that “mining and property sectors have the highest leverage ratio” in the country and while the M2/GDP ratio is “not the best gauge to measure leverage for China” he notes that the “leverage ratios in state-owned companies have kept growing since 2008.” None of this is a secret: one look at the chart below from the IIF according to which China's gross leverage is now roughly 300% of GDP, confirms just that.
• Why Deutsche Bank’s Shares Are at a Record Low: QuickTake Q&A
  Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s largest bank, has been in the spotlight for months as Chief Executive Officer John Cryan struggles to reorganize the business in the face of tougher capital standards, negative interest rates and soaring legal bills. Shares fell to an all-time low on Monday amid escalating concerns over the future of the bank, one of the world’s most systemically important financial institutions.
• Germany Will Rescue Deutsche Bank If Necessary, Allianz Says
  The German government will have to bail out Deutsche Bank AG if its financial situation gets bad enough, Allianz Global Investors AG Chief Investment Officer Andreas Utermann said. “I don’t buy at all what’s coming out of Germany in terms of Germany not wanting to step in ultimately if Deutsche Bank was really in trouble ,” Utermann said Monday in a Bloomberg Television interview with Francine Lacqua and Tom Keene. “It’s too important for the German economy.”
• “It All Has A Very 2008 Feel To It” – For Deutsche Bank, The News Just Keeps Getting Worse
  It has already been an abysmal day for Germany's biggest lender: overnight Deutsche Bank plunged to fresh all time lows on speculation whether the German government would or wouldn't provide state aid to the bank (if needed), forcing the bank to state it does not need the funds at the same time as the government urged markets that “you can't compare” Deutsche Bank and that “other” bank, Lehman Brothers, although looking at the chart, one may beg to differ.
• A Crashing Deutsche Bank Scrambles To Assure Markets That It Is “Fine”
  With Deutsche Bank stock plunging to fresh all time lows in early trading after Merkel reportedly ruled out state aid the embattled German lender, the bank found itself in the unenviable position of once again having to defend its balance sheet to avoid further stock price declines, especially as doubts mounted if the German government response was due to a pre-emptive request for aid.  DB quickly tried to squash such speculation when a bank spokesman said that  “CEO John Cryan at no point asked the German Chancellor for the government to intervene in the U.S. Justice Department's mortgages case.” He added that Deutsche Bank will solve its problems without relying on help from Berlin, Germany's flagship lender said on Monday. The market remains unconvinced: shares in Germany's biggest bank hit a record low of 10.62 euros on Monday…
• Merkel Rules Out Bailout For Deutsche Bank: Depositor Bail-In Coming Up?
  The €42 trillion (notional) derivatives mess known as Deutsche Bank remains under severe pressure. Its market cap is $17 billion. It has no earnings and pays no dividend. On April 23, Deutsche Bank was Fined $2.5 Billion over LIBOR rate rigging. Twenty-one people face criminal charges following a seven-year investigation. On September 16, the US Department of Justice Fined Deutsche Bank $14B for mortgage securities fraud leading up to the 2007-2009 global meltdown. Today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Ruled Out Assistance for Deutsche Bank.
• As China prepares to announce their gold reserve amount by end of the month, debate over gold backed Yuan increases sharply
  As part of their requirements to enter into the SDR basket of currencies in October, China will soon be revealing the quantity of their gold reserves sometime between now and Sept. 30.  And with them also recently being appointed the managers of the M SDR internationalization program, debate over China implementing a gold backed currency is once again increasing at an accelerating rate. At the heart of the discussion is how China is using their growing geo-political power to integrate 3rd world nations, especially those in Africa, in moving forward despite not having the economic finances to expand their infrastructure base.  And to date this has been shown to be moderately successful in a myriad of different ways, and could be the catalyst for catapulting a gold backed Yuan using their growing alliances and Silk Road strategies to envelop a large portion of the world under a financial umbrella that would be impervious to U.S. and Western subjugation.
• New World Order Mouthpiece Warns We Are on Verge of Greatest Debt Jubilee in History
  “Alarm bells have been ringing over the explosion of corporate debt levels in emerging economies, which now exceed $25 trillion … Damaging deflationary spirals cannot be ruled out”. This grim assessment comes from an article posted at Telegraph.co.uk, that quotes a  recent annual UN “Conference on Trade and Development” report. The article is entitled, “UN fears third leg of the global financial crisis – with prospect of epic debt defaults,” The writer’s name is Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and he’s one of Britain’s most prominent journalists, known for his hard-hitting reporting. He’s also the editor of the International Business section of the Daily Telegraph.
• German Politicians Are Getting Nervous About Deutsche Bank
  Just a few short days after Germany's premier financial publication Handelsblatt dared to utter the “n”-word, when it said that in the aftermath of last week's striking $14 billion DOJ settlement proposal, “some have even raised the possibility of a government bailout of Germany’s largest bank, which would be a defining event and a symbolic blow to the image of Europe’s largest economy”, German lawmakers are finally starting to get nervous. According to Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank’s suddenly troubling finances, impacted by the bank's low profitability courtesy of the ECB's NIRP policy as well as mounting legal costs courtesy of years of legal violations, “are raising concern among German politicians.” At a closed session of Social Democratic finance lawmakers on Tuesday, Deutsche Bank’s woes came up alongside a debate over Basel financial rules. Participants discussed the U.S. fine and the financial reserves at Deutsche Bank’s disposal if it had to cover the full amount.
• Living In A Van Down By The River – Time To Face The True State Of The Middle Class In America
  Do you remember the old Saturday Night Live sketches in which comedian Chris Farley portrayed a motivational speaker that lived in a van down by the river?  Unfortunately, this is becoming a reality for way too many Americans.  As the middle class has shrunk and the cost of living has increased, a lot of people have decided to quite literally “live on the road”.  Whether it is a car, a truck, a van, a bus or an RV, an increasing number of Americans are using their vehicles as their homes.  Just recently, someone that I know took a trip down the west coast of the United States and stayed at a number of campgrounds along the way.  What she discovered was that a lot of people were actually living at these campgrounds.  Of course there are some that actually prefer that lifestyle, but many others are doing it out of necessity. Earlier this week, Circa.com posted a story about “the van life”.  One of the individuals that they featured was a recent graduate of the University of Southern California named Stephen Hutchins.  Without much of an income at the moment, he decided that the best way to cut expenses was to live in his van…
• Monte Paschi Rescue On The Rocks: Regulators Now “Expect Bank To Ask Italy For Bailout”
  Ever since two months ago, when Italy's third largest bank – and the world's oldest – Sienna's Monte dei Paschi, failed Europe's latest stress test, it had scrambled, and assured markets, that it would obtain a private sector cash injection, aka bailout, amounting to roughly €5 billion in fresh capital, there was significant speculation in the Italian press that the capital raise was not going well as third party investors were uncomfortable to allocate funds to a bank whose history of failure and unprecedented bad NPL book remained a daunting obstacle. The reason why Monte Paschi was forced to seek a private sector bailout is that Germany had repeatedly shut down Italian PM Matteo Renzi's attempts to pursue a public sector bailout. Instead, the Germans demanded that instead of a public sector bailout the bank should implement a bail-in, and impair various liabilities, which however could result in another bout of public anger, due to the substantial retail investment in the bank's unsecured bonds, perhaps culminating with a run on the bank.
• UN fears third leg of the global financial crisis, with epic debt defaults
  The third leg of the world's intractable depression is yet to come. If trade economists at the United Nations are right, the next traumatic episode may entail the greatest debt jubilee in history. It may also prove to be the definitive crisis of globalized capitalism, the demise of the liberal free-market orthodoxies promoted for almost forty years by the Bretton Woods institutions, the OECD, and the Davos fraternity. “Alarm bells have been ringing over the explosion of corporate debt levels in emerging economies, which now exceed $25 trillion. Damaging deflationary spirals cannot be ruled out,” said the annual report of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
• China’s Holdings of U.S. Treasuries Fall to Lowest Since ’13
  China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell in July to the lowest level in more than three years, as the world’s second-largest economy pares its foreign-exchange reserves to support the yuan. The biggest foreign holder of U.S. government debt had $1.22 trillion in bonds, notes and bills in July, down $22 billion from the prior month, in the biggest drop since 2013, according to U.S. Treasury Department data released Friday in Washington and previous figures compiled by Bloomberg. The portfolio of Japan, the largest holder after China, rose $6.9 billion to $1.15 trillion. Saudi Arabia’s holdings of Treasuries declined for a sixth straight month, to $96.5 billion.
• First Factories, Now Services Signal Cracks in U.S. Economy
  Some cracks could be starting to appear in the picture of an otherwise resilient U.S. economy. An abrupt drop in the Institute for Supply Management’s services gauge on Tuesday to a six-year low is the latest in a string of unexpectedly weak data for August. Other less-than-stellar figures include an ISM factory survey showing a contraction in manufacturing; a cooling of hiring; automobile sales falling short of forecasts; and an index of consumer sentiment at a four-month low. While there is hardly any evidence that growth is falling off a cliff, the run of disappointing figures make it tougher to argue that the underlying momentum of the world’s largest economy is holding up. It also potentially complicates the task of Federal Reserve policy makers, who are debating whether to raise interest rates as soon as this month; traders’ bets on a September move faded further after the report on service industries, which make up almost 90 percent of the economy.
• Goldman Sachs Bans Employees from Donating to Trump
  Timing of rule, which OKs Clinton contributions, will be questioned. Goldman Sachs has enacted a set of rules that bans the firm’s top employees from contributing to certain campaigns, including the Trump-Pence ticket. The rules kicked in Sept. 1 and will apply only to partners of the firm. The memo detailing the rule change was first reported by Politico. The firm says the rules were meant to remove any implication of so-called “pay to play.” Four years ago, the bank paid $12 million to settle charges that a former Boston-based banker had picked up bond underwriting business in the state while working for and contributing funds to the campaign of a then Massachusetts state treasurer and governor-hopeful, Tim Cahill.
• See The 5 Facts That Prove Trump Is ACTUALLY Beating Hillary Badly
  Donald Trump has been taking names and not taking prisoners. He is killing Hillary Clinton and has even had to do it by going up against the media’s rigged polls. Truth Division recently posted the following five statistics that prove that Trump is really winning. FACT #1: Trump has twice the amount of followers on Facebook. Fact #2: Trump has 10.6 million twitter followers. Fact #3: Trump averages 30k viewers per live stream. Fact #4: Instagram – Trump has 2.2 million followers. Fact #4: Reddit – Trump: 197,696 subscribers.
• Take Your Money Out of the Bank, While You Still Can
  It is now clear, the government of Cyprus was given two options by the IMF and the EU in which they were told that they could steal  money from private bank accounts or they could leave the Eurozone all together and face total economic annihilation. This theft involves seizing the funds of all accounts over 100,000 euros, then stealing up to 40% of those funds sometime over the next few weeks, or whatever EU finance ministers decide exactly how much to steal. I However, no accounts containing less than 100,000 euros will be impacted. This amount was not arbitrarily chosen. The 100,000 mark was chosen because all EU bank accounts are insured up to 100,000 euros. Therefore, the criminal banksters believe that they can steal anything over 100,000 euros because it is not insured.
• Deutsche Bank Investors Fret Its Legal Reserves Won’t Be Enough
  Deutsche Bank AG is moving closer to settling one of its biggest legal cases. How it manages to pay will depend on whether it can persuade the U.S. to lower its initial request of $14 billion, and by how much. The shares of Germany’s biggest bank plunged on news the Department of Justice is seeking an amount that’s more than twice the 5.5 billion euros ($6.1 billion) Deutsche Bank has set aside for litigation. Aside from the U.S. probe into residential mortgage-backed securities, the lender also faces inquiries into matters including currency manipulation, precious metals trading and billions of dollars in transfers out of Russia.
• Italy Is the Mother Of All Systemic Threats
  Italy has been in a crisis for at least eight months, though mainstream media did not recognize it until July. This crisis has nothing to do with Brexit, although opponents of Brexit will claim it does. Even if Britain had voted to stay in the EU, the Italian crisis would still have been gathering speed. The high level of non-performing loans (NPLs) has been a problem since before Brexit. It is clear that there is nothing in the Italian economy that can reduce them. Only a dramatic improvement in the economy would make it possible to repay these loans. And Europe’s economy cannot improve drastically enough to help. We have been in crisis for quite a while. Banks were simply carrying loans as non-performing that were actually in default and discounting the NPLs rather than writing them off. But that only hid the obvious. As much as 17 percent of Italy’s loans will not be repaid. This will crush Italian banks’ balance sheets. And this will not only be in Italy. Italian loans are packaged and resold, and Italian banks take loans from other European banks. These banks in turn have borrowed against Italian debt. Since Italy is the fourth largest economy in Europe, this is the mother of all systemic threats.
• Money Is Pouring Into Property Deals Banks Won't Touch
  Heightened scrutiny of U.S. commercial real estate lending is paving the way for lightly regulated investors to gain a bigger toehold in lucrative deals. Private funds are seeking a record $32 billion for commercial-property debt as buyout firms, real estate investment trusts and hedge funds expand lending. These companies, which typically charge higher interest rates, can move quickly on large loans that may be seen as too speculative for banks.
• Recession Watch: US Freight Drops to Worst Level since 2010, “Excess of Capacity” Crushes Rates
  When FedEx announced its quarterly earnings today, it included some telling tidbits. In its largest segment, FedEx Express, domestic shipping volume edged up merely 1%. In its smaller FedEx Ground Segment, shipping volume jumped 10%, “driven by e-commerce and commercial package growth.” Sales by e-commerce retailers jumped 15.8% year-over-year in the second quarter, according to the Census Bureau, and companies involved in getting the packages to consumers and businesses have seen growth in those segments. For the rest, not so much – as the goods-based economy is getting bogged down.
• We Are Headed For War-Paul Craig Roberts
  Former Assistant Treasury Secretary (in the Reagan Administration) Dr. Paul Craig Roberts has a stark warning for the world. Dr. Roberts says, “We changed our nuclear doctrine.  It used to be we used nuclear weapons only in retaliation.  There was no first use, but the George W. Bush regime, the Neocons, changed our nuclear doctrine.  It’s now a preemptive first strike.  So, this tells both the Russians and Chinese they could get a preemptive first strike.  Then, we tell the Russians we are putting missiles right on your border.  You won’t have two minutes’ notice.  They can’t accept that.  It’s too much risk from a crazy country (U.S.) that won’t negotiate with them. . . . So, we’re headed for war. I think the only thing that would block it is if one or two of the European governments realize that they have nothing whatsoever to gain with a conflict with Russia. . . . The only thing they could do to prevent a nuclear war is to pull out of NATO.”
• BRICS commit to global growth, stability
  Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has praised fellow BRICS member nations for their combined efforts to push for a political solution to the Syrian Civil War but urged the bloc to work diligently to preserve world peace and help promote global growth. Speaking following a meeting with BRICS foreign ministers on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Wang said: “We need to continue to be an advocate for using peaceful means, including dialogue and negotiation, to solve global hot spots.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov seized on Wang’s statement and said that the BRICS members are fully capable of working toward establishing a fairer and more just international order, with better coordination on key political and economic issues.
• Michael Pento On The Coming Bond Bubble Collapse
  All asset classes will collapse in tandem when this bursts – an event that will send SHOCKWAVES throughout the global economy: In this week’s podcast, Michael Pento, fund manager and author of The Coming Bond Bubble Collapse, explains how the United States is fast approaching the end stage of the biggest asset bubble in history. He describes how the bursting of this bubble will cause a massive interest rate shock that will send the US consumer economy and the US government—pumped up by massive Treasury debt—into bankruptcy, an event that will send shockwaves throughout the global economy.
• Jim Willie Warns US Dollar Faces 30% Devaluation As BRICS Prepare Return of Gold Standard!
  The Fascist Business Model incorporates all the worse elements of Keynesian economics, a broken fallacious school of thought. The model also integrates a vast system of economic heresy, put forth as public address dogma. All their messages are wrong. They are instead aligned with support of the power structure where big banks conduct self-dealing and print money for themselves. Consider many of the Fascist Business Model messages, laced within the endless din of propaganda. Their messages are all false, in support of the existing power structure in place. The Jackass privately calls it Reich Economics, a truly broken appendix to the demonstrably broken Keynesian chapters of heretical economics. The West has followed the methods of John Maynard Keynes, who also held disdain for the Gold Standard. In doing so, the West has destroyed the financial platforms, eroded the capital formation devices, polluted the business arenas, and put the entire USEconomy at risk of systemic failure. The only success of the model is preservation of power, which soon will come to an end.
• Four Flash Points That Could Trigger World War III: “We Have Not Been This Close To Nuclear War In A Long Time”
  As can readily be seen by the current events, the world has not been this close to a nuclear war and World War 3 in a long time.  There are four major flashpoints right now that could easily escalate and ignite a powder keg, transforming from a regional conflict or conflicts into a world war: Syria, the South China Sea, Ukraine, and North and South Korea.  The “reconstruction” of a Cold War-type faceoff, initiated by the U.S. and NATO building up forces in Eastern Europe and facing off against Russia. A nuclear war will be initiated by an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) detonation over the continental U.S., followed by a nuclear exchange and a war with conventional forces. As of this writing, the U.S. has “mistakenly” bombed Syrian governmental military forces, causing at least 60 deaths with more than 100 others wounded.  The Russian government is sizzling, especially with the response by (of all people) Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the UN had this to say to the media, as reported by CNN: “We are investigating the incident.  If we determine that we did indeed strike Syrian military personnel, that was not our intention. And we of course regret the loss of life.”
• Trump and Clinton Are “Positive For Gold” – $1,900/oz by End of Year
  Trump or Clinton are “positive for gold” and prices could rise to between $1,700 and $1,900 per ounce by year end according to Canadian gold mining magnate Rob McEwen. Gold “is a currency that doesn’t have a liability attached to it,” McEwen said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg at a gold conference in Colorado Springs.
• John Embry – The Key To Surviving The Destruction Of The Current Monetary System
  As the world awaits tomorrow’s Fed decision, today John Embry spoke with King World News about the key to surviving the destruction of the current monetary system. John Embry:  “Eric, I think this should be an interesting week with the Fed meeting taking place tomorrow, and a Japanese monetary meeting taking place simultaneously.  I really think the Fed is so out of touch with reality that nothing would shock me…
• Australian property market to collapse in 6 weeks – US think tank
  Over the past couple of months, we have written frequently about the impact of Chinese money laundering operations on home prices in a couple of large cities around the globe. So far, the Vancouver market has seemingly been the hardest hit with homes prices collapsing over 20% in one month after the city passed a 15% property tax on foreign buyers on July 25, 2016 (see “As The Vancouver Housing Market Implodes, The “Smart Money” Is Rushing To Get Out Now“). Now, a U.S. based think tank, International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), is warning that similar efforts to restrict Chinese investment in Australian real estate could send prices tumbling there as well.
• Is U.S. Shale Nearing Collapse?
  Crude oil production in the United States has decreased by more than 10 percent since the record high of 2015, from 9.6 million barrels per day (mmbpd) to less than 8.6 mmbpd. However, the drop in shale oil production has reached almost 20 percent. Moreover, if the increasing Permian Basin production were left out of the equation, the decrease in U.S. shale oil output would be about 33 percent! And this fall will deepen as the number of new wells is still not sufficient. The collapse of the shale oil production is related to the decline curve of tight oil, but shale oil well production starts to decline much faster than that from regular wells.
• Central Banks are Buying 385 Tons of Gold Every Year
  Central banks have got the economy and markets covered. They know what they’re doing. Their theories are backed up by decades of academic research and expert advice. Expert advice, as we all know, is completely apolitical, changes rarely, and never, ever does a complete U-turn, like – I don’t know – telling us all to start eating butter after years of telling us not to, or something crazy like that. So why worry? I mean, what kind of deluded neurotic doom-monger would keep hanging onto gold (as insurance, of all things!) in their portfolio with people of this calibre in charge? Well, I hate to break this to you, but… Guess who’s buying lots of gold? Central banks are piling into gold. They have been ever since the financial crisis blew up in 2008.
• Why the Fed Destroyed the Market Economy
  Swing voters are a fickle bunch.  One election they vote Democrat.  The next they vote Republican. For they have no particular ideology or political philosophy to base their judgment upon. They don’t give a rip about questions of small government or big government.  Nor do they have any druthers about the welfare or warfare state. In effect, they really don’t care.  What’s important to the swing voter is much simpler.  In fact, it can be boiled down to the following essential question.  What have you done for me lately? The answer to this question, of course, comes back to money.  As far as the swing voter’s concerned, if their brokerage account’s growing they vote the incumbent party.  If it’s shrinking, they vote the challenger party.
• Great Causes, a Sea of Debt and the 2017 Recession
  We continue our work with the bomb squad. Myth disposal is dangerous work: People love their myths more than they love life itself. They may kill for money. But they die for their religions, their governments, their clans… and their ideas. Some people think that even an idea as abstract as “freedom of speech” is worth dying for. It was Voltaire who said: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Most people jump onboard the train of a Great Cause with enthusiasm and conviction. But many have the good sense to hop off quietly before their lives are in real danger. We suspect that Mr. Voltaire would have done the same. That’s why the deadliest myths are those that you can ride along with at no personal risk. Foreign wars, for example, are always a favorite. When Pericles proclaimed that the honor of Athens was at stake, and that it must take up the imperial burden and continue its war with Sparta, he was not offering to invade Sicily himself. Nor was George W. Bush, in announcing his War on Terror, suggesting that he would personally march into Mosul.
• Surprise! Wall Street Goes “All In” for Hillary Clinton
  Hordes of industry executives will descend on the city to celebrate Hillary Clinton’s nomination for president and renew close associations that vexed the Democratic standard-bearer throughout her primary battle with Bernie Sanders. Blackstone, one of the nation’s largest private equity firms, will hold an official reception in Philadelphia on Thursday featuring its president, Tony James, sometimes mentioned as a possible Treasury Secretary in a Clinton administration. The financial contingent will be in an especially good mood following Clinton’s selection of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate.Kaine has shown a willingness to fight for regional bank relief from the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. But more than that, he’s not Elizabeth Warren, the potential VP pick that long had Wall Street terrified.
• Abenomics Crushes It——Japanese Exports, That Is!
  Japan’s poor exports performance continued in August, with shipments falling for an 11th straight month as a strong yen and tepid global economy undercut demand. Key Points: Exports dropped 9.6 percent in August from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg pointed to a 4.7 percent decline. Imports fell 17.3 percent, resulting in a trade deficit of 18.7 billion yen ($184 million).
• Daily Data Dive: What Housing Recovery—–SF Starts Still 15% Below 1991 Recession Level
  The Commerce Department reported that the headline number for August housing starts was 1.142 million units. This was below the overly optimistic consensus estimate of economists of 1.186 million, and below the July figure of 1.212 million. The numbers are reported on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, which means that any month to month error in the seasonal factor finagling is multiplied times 12. We prefer to look at the actual data on a rate of change basis, comparing years for a measure of whether the current report was weak or strong.
• Small Business Survey Trips Economic Alarms
  Earlier this week, the National Federation of Independent Businesses released their monthly Small Business Survey. While this data is much overlooked by the mainstream media, it really shouldn’t be. Out of the 26 million businesses registered in the United States, only 6 million have active employment and generate revenue. Of that total, almost 80% have fewer than 5-employees. Simply, it is small businesses that drive the economy, employment, and wages. Therefore, what the NFIB says is extremely relevant to what is happening in the actual economy versus the headline economic data from Government sources. In August, the survey declined 2-tenths of a point to 94.4. While that may not sound like much, it is where the deterioration occurred that is most important. Furthermore, despite an improvement from the financial crisis lows, the current levels are still well below the levels normally witnessed at the late stage of an economic recovery.
• U.S. wants Deutsche Bank to pay $14 billion over toxic mortgages
  The U.S. Justice Department wants the bank to pay $14 billion over allegations it packaged up toxic mortgages between 2005 and 2007. But Germany's biggest lender says the huge sum demanded by the U.S. government is just the opening move in what's likely to be a lengthy back-and-forth. Deutsche Bank has no intent to settle these potential civil claims anywhere near the number cited,” it said in a statement. “The negotiations are only just beginning.” Deutsche Bank (DB) said it expects the wrangling to result in “an outcome similar to those of peer banks which have settled at materially lower amounts.”
• Americans See Current Economic Conditions Worst In 11 Months As Inflation Expectations Plunge
  University of Michigan survey results show Current Economic Conditions plunged to 103.5 – the lowest since Oct 2015. The biggest driver of this weakness is tumbling inflation expectations (with 1Y outlook dropping to 2.3% – the lowest since Sept 2010). Confidence was unchanged in early September from the August final and barely different from the July reading. Small and offsetting changes have taken place in the third quarter 2016 surveys: modest gains in the outlook for the national economy have been offset by small declines in income prospects as well as buying plans.
• That $100,000 Painting Bought to Flip Is Now Worth About $20,000
  Art dealer and collector Niels Kantor paid $100,000 two years ago for an abstract canvas by Hugh Scott-Douglas with the idea of quickly reselling it for a tidy profit. Instead, he is returning the 28-year-old artist’s work to the market this week at an 80 percent discount. Such is the new art season. At auction houses in London and New York, sellers are preparing to bail on their investments after the emerging-art bubble burst and the resale market for once sought-after artists dried up.
• Trump shatters GOP records with small donors
  Donald Trump has unleashed an unprecedented deluge of small-dollar donations for the GOP, one that Republican Party elders have dreamed about finding for much of the past decade as they’ve watched a succession of Democrats — Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and, to a lesser extent, Hillary Clinton — develop formidable fundraising operations $5, $10 and $20 at a time. Trump has been actively soliciting cash for only a few months, but when he reveals his campaign’s financials later this week they will show he has crushed the total haul from small-dollar donors to the past two Republican nominees, John McCain and Mitt Romney — during the entirety of their campaigns.
• Tiger Cub Citrone Sees Market in Biggest Correction Since 2008
  Robert Citrone, the Tiger cub who now runs one of the best-known macro hedge funds, is warning investors that the market moment they’ve been anticipating is at hand. “We believe we are in the midst of the market correction we have been expecting,” Citrone, founder of Discovery Capital Management, told investors in an e-mail obtained by Bloomberg. “It will likely persist over the next 3-4 months and be the largest correction since the 2008 crisis,” he said. The firm managed about $12.4 billion at the start of 2016.
• Gerald Celente Issues Major Trend Forecast For The Rest Of 2016
  With the world focused on the Fed decision, today top trends forecaster Gerald Celente issued an important trend forecast for the rest of 2016. Trend Alert: BIS Issues Warning As Gold Bides Time. (King World News) Gerald Celente — Central Bank policies rule the financial world. Their never-in-the-history-of-the-world negative and historically low interest rate policies, plus massive government and corporate bond buying schemes have enriched equity markets but not the general economy…
• Fitch reveals the $2trillion black hole in China's economy that heralds a lost decade
  Bad debts in the Chinese banking system are ten times higher than officially admitted, and rescue costs could reach a third of GDP within two years if the authorities let the crisis fester, Fitch Ratings has warned. The agency said the rate of non-performing loans (NPLs) has reached between 15pc and 21pc and is rising fast as the country delays serious reform, relying instead on a fresh burst of credit to put off the day of reckoning. It would cost up to $2.1 trillion to clean up this toxic legacy even if the state acted today, and much of this would inevitably land in the lap of the government.
• Martin Armstrong On “The Coming Dark Age”
  Over the years you have made several comments about directional changes and have alluded to the idea that a crossroads is coming in that we will either enter another Dark Age or we will see the light towards greater liberty and freedom. More recently, you mentioned the year 2032 as a critical year in this regard. In addition, you have mentioned that Trump winning the election would postpone the inevitable chaos, but that HRC winning would speed it along. In terms of the distal effects of the November election on 2032, does either Trump or Clinton winning increase the likelihood of entering a Dark Age over something more hopeful? Should we be attempting to kick the can down the road or should we get it over with?
• The Three Stages Of Empire
  I consider it self-evident that we are in the third and final stage of self-serving Imperial decay. Though Edward Luttwak's The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century CE to the Third is not specifically on the rise and fall of empires, it does sketch out the three stages of Empire.
• Gold & Silver Surge, Break Technical Levels
  Gold and silver are surging this morinng after BoJ's disappointment as a stronger yen weighs on the USD index. Heavy volume has lifted Gold off key technical support and silver through a major technical resistance… Gold bounces off its 100-day moving-average…

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.

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 16, 2016 to September 22, 2016:

• The Federal Reserve confronts a possibility it never expected: No exit.
  Two years ago, top officials at the Federal Reserve mapped out a strategy for withdrawing the central bank’s unprecedented support for the American economy. The official communiqué was titled “Policy Normalization Principles and Plans,” and it was supposed to serve as a rough outline for the tenure of newly installed Fed Chair Janet L. Yellen. Essentially, it consisted of two basic parts: Raise interest rates and shrink the central bank’s massive balance sheet.
• $195 Billion Asset Manager: “The Time Has Come To Leave The Dance Floor”
  We find it surprising how, having covered the unprecedented growth in US corporate debt over the past few years, which has more than doubled from $2 trillion at around the time of the financial crisis to approximately $6 trillion currently resulting in a debt/ETBIDA ratio that has never been higher some are still amazed by what is taking place on corporate America's balance sheets. Overnight, one person warning how all this will end is TCW Group's Tad Rivelle, who is the latest to observe that “corporate leverage, which has exceeded levels reached before the 2008 financial crisis, is a sign that investors should start preparing for the end of the credit cycle.”
• Dallas Police Pension On Verge Of Collapse As Record Number Of Cops Seek Full Withdrawals
  The rampant fraud at the DPFP left the fund over $3BN underfunded and its board of directors with no other option but to seek a $600mm infusion from taxpayers to keep the fund afloat.  Even worse, a review of the pension's financials revealed $2.11 of annual benefit payments to members for every $1.00 contributed to the plan by members and taxpayers (mostly taxpayers)…the typical pension ponzi whereby plan administrators borrow from assets reserved to cover future liabilities (which are likely impaired) to cover current claims in full.
• “We Haven't Seen This Since The Great Depression” – Gallup CEO Destroys The “Recovery” Lie
  I've been reading a lot about a “recovering” economy. It was even trumpeted on Page 1 of The New York Times and Financial Times last week. I don't think it's true. The percentage of Americans who say they are in the middle or upper-middle class has fallen 10 percentage points, from a 61% average between 2000 and 2008 to 51% today.
• Bill Blain: What The BOJ Just Did Is “Recipe For Disaster”
  Some interesting, and accurate, thoughts in this morning's edition of Bill Blain's “Morning Porridge”, who – despite calling this website a “tabloid” in the past – now agrees with what we have claimed all along for the past 7 years.
• US federal debt expanding at fastest rate since the crisis
  A few days ago, the federal debt of the United States rather quietly and unceremoniously passed the $19.5 trillion mark. And while that figure may seem absolutely confounding, what’s even more alarming is how rapidly the US government is racking up this debt. In fact, for the 2016 fiscal year that ends in just ten more days, the US government’s debt growth of $1.36 trillion is on track to be the third biggest annual increase ever. The only two years in all of US history that posted higher US debt growth were 2010 and 2011– the peak of the financial crisis. Even more acutely, last month the US federal debt grew by $151.5 billion.
• The Biggest Washington Whopper Yet
  You can’t find lazier people than in the mainstream financial press, but their exuberant cheerleading about the purported 5.2% gain in the real median household income in 2015 surely was a new high in mendacity. And we are not talking about the junior varsity here: The Washington Post was typical with a headline of superlatives followed by even more exuberance in the text: ‘U.S. household incomes soared in 2015, recording biggest gain in decades………The data represents the clearest evidence to date that the nation’s long, slow and topsy-turvy economic recovery has finally begun to deliver prosperity for wide swaths of workers.' The self-evident fact is that the median household couldn’t have had an after-inflation income gain of 5.2% in 2015. There is not a single data point in the mountains of “incoming” economic data that is consistent with that proposition. Yet nothing in the Post story, or any other mainstream coverage, even hints that the Census Bureau’s whopper isn’t on the level. In the context of what was by all accounts a sputtering economy during 2015, in fact, the Census Bureau unleashed the largest year-over-year gain in recorded history. But not a single reporter smelled a fish.
• 10 Must Have Skills For a Collapsed Economy: “Increase Your Ability To Survive”
  Sometimes it is astounding to think how vulnerable and prone to collapse society has become. In many ways, there is every chance that civilization could have become vibrant and largely self-sustaining. But that isn’t the direction that the larger system took at all. Instead, it chose a disposable economy, with planned obsolescence and extreme dependence. Individuals, however, can still make that choice. It is possible to enjoy the fruits of modern life, while preparing your family for survival conditions that could strip society down to the bare basics. If you invest in your own pipeline to food, water, fuel, knowledge of nature, DIY skills and the like, you can become highly immune to unstable market conditions and the collapse of civilization.
• “Deutsche Bank May Ultimately Need A State Bailout” – Handelsblatt
  While the most recent set of troubles plaguing Deutsche Bank have been duly documented here, most recently yesterday when the stock price tumbled once again just shy of all time lows over fears the bank's multi-billion DOJ settlement could severely impact its liquidity and/or solvency, this may be the first time we have heard the “n”-word tossed around in an official German publication: as Germany's top financial newspaper, Handelsblatt said, “German financial officials reacted with shock and dismay to the leaking of a U.S. government demand for a $14 billion fine against Deutsche Bank, which may ultimately need a state bailout to pay the bill.”
• Understanding the Root Cause of the Coming Global Reset…
  Everywhere you turn today, you hear people talking about a coming “global reset,” or a coming “global economic collapse,” but what does that mean anyway? Is it just people or companies fear mongering for personal profit, or is there something to it? Furthermore, if there is something legitimate to all of it, what should you do? If you don’t know, because you you’re not big on following economics, this post should help explain those issues to you in a simple to understand way.
• Trust in mainstream media reaches lowest point in history
  Americans’ trust and confidence in the mass media “to report the news fully, accurately and fairly” has dropped to its lowest level in Gallup polling history, with 32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. This is down eight percentage points from last year.
• US ‘War on Terror’ has cost $5 trillion and increased terrorism by 6,500%
  On September 11, 2001, one of the most tragic events in recent American history took place. Close to 3,000 civilians lost their lives in horrific terror attacks that took place on American soil. Fifteen years later, it is time to ask the question: have our counterterror efforts helped to reduce the amount of terrorism in the world? Or at the very least, have they tried to make the world safer? According to a report released by Dr. Neta Crawford, professor of political science at Brown University, spending by the United States Departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Veteran Affairs since 9/11 is now close to $5 trillion USD. Before we have the chance to ask how a country that has racked up over $19.3 trillion USD in debt can spend $5 trillion USD on war, the focus of this article is to ask: What has all of this spending achieved?
• After 40 Years of Boom, Bust Hits America’s Cowboy Coal Basin 
  The last bastion of the American coal industry has been breached. The bust that’s devastated Appalachia for five years has finally reached cowboy country’s Powder River Basin. For four decades, the 300-mile corridor stretching from Wyoming north into Montana thrived on the strength of the cleaner low-sulfur coal carved from its vast plains. No more. After producing more than 400 million tons every year since 2004, the region’s output this year will drop by about 100 million tons, analysts say, undercut by cheap natural gas, growing utility use of renewables and new environmental rules. Since last fall, 1,100 workers, or 17 percent of the mining workforce, have lost their jobs, leaving the industry and the economy reeling.
• Goldman Sachs Crushes Hopes Of Oil Price Recovery
  Goldman Sachs has been extremely pessimistic about the oil market over the last year and a half, and the latest from their head of commodity research, Jeff Currie, is no exception. According to Currie, crude will continue to trade within the US$45-50 band over the next 12 months. Any improvement above US$50 is highly unlikely. The analyst noted that the primary reason for the gloomy forecast is the simple lack of any upside potential for oil at present. He also suggested that the market may have already balanced itself at the current price levels, comparing the overall environment to that in the early 1990s when a barrel of crude sold for US$20.
• When Is The Price of Gold Going Up?
  Several analysts in favour of gold are predicting a spike to come in the precious metal’s price. They base this prediction on several arguments: – Negative rates: For a long time gold has been put down as “yielding no interest”. It may have been the case before but now that the yield on traditional investment vehicles (savings accounts, life insurance) is plunging toward zero, this argument is no more valid. The amount of sovereign borrowing at negative rates is increasing, thus the situation, likely, isn’t going to improve. – Stock markets at their highest: The levels reached just prior to the 2008 crisis have been surpassed, but there is still no recovery on the horizon. Obama is set to become the first president in the history of the United States under whom there has not been a single year of growth above 3%. Unemployment statistics are being artificially deflated by the number of discouraged people who have stopped looking for work (nearly 100 million Americans of working age are not working). And let’s not talk about Europe and Japan, with their even weaker growth rates. And the “Chinese locomotive” has run out of steam. – Sales of physical gold are robust, to the point where refiners have difficulty catching up.
• Gold Is The Ultimate Wealth Preservation Against Reckless Governments
  The autumn of 2016 has for some time looked like a period when dark clouds will move in over the world economy. Therefore, it was not surprising to see the first sign of things to come in the next few months. In one day the Dow erased all the gains since early July with an almost 400 point fall. Since the beginning of the year the Dow is now up a pitiful 4%. Almost 8 years of ZERO interest rates have not managed to revive the US economy, nor the world economy. On a longer timeframe the Dow, together with many other markets, looks extremely vulnerable.
• Long Term Consequences Of The Oil Price Crash
  The World Energy Investment study released by the IEA on September 14 confirmed what analysts have been prophesying for months: the current decline in oil-and-gas investment is the biggest one in half a century. The current bout of low prices has gotten so deep and remained there for so long that capital investment in new projects, and hence new production, has taken a major hit. But in an era of shifting energy policies, surging interest in renewables and uncertainty over the consistency of demand, what does this drop in investment really signify? And what could it mean, over the long term? There are a lot of factors to keep in mind when taking a look at this new report from the global energy watch-dog.
• This is How You’ll Bail out Municipal Pension Funds. Check the bills in your mailbox. Happening now in Chicago.
  It has gotten so bad that the phrase “Pension Crisis” made it into Wikipedia. It’s the perplexing reality that municipal, state, federal, and corporate pensions in the US and similar schemes around the world are so badly underfunded that it will be impossible to fulfill the promises by a wide margin. By many trillions of dollars. With state and municipal pension funds in the US, the situation is particularly tricky because the beneficiaries are voters and employees of the government, and politicians of all stripes bought their votes with promises of low contributions and rising benefits. They got away with it for decades because no one cares about “underfunded pensions.” Even the term makes people’s eyes glaze over. But someone is going to pay. And it’s not going to be the politicians.
• George H.W. Bush to vote for Hillary Clinton
  Former President George H.W. Bush is bucking his party's presidential nominee and plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November, according to a member of another famous political family, the Kennedys. Bush, 92, had intended to stay silent on the White House race between Clinton and Donald Trump, a sign in and of itself of his distaste for the GOP nominee. But his preference for the wife of his own successor, President Bill Clinton, nonetheless became known to a wider audience thanks to Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, the former Maryland lieutenant governor and daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy.
• Obama Used His Final UN Address To Promote A ‘Liberal World Order’ And A Palestinian State
  During Barack Obama’s eighth and final address to the United Nations he let his true colors show. He staunchly defended globalism, he took several not very subtle shots at Donald Trump, and he boldly declared that Israel “cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land”. That statement about “Palestinian land” was extremely alarming to many, because there are indications that Obama may decide to support a UN Security Council resolution that establishes the parameters for a Palestinian state during his final months in the White House. Barack Obama has promised to squeeze every ounce of “change” out of the remainder of his term that he possibly can, and his last UN speech showed what is on his heart at this moment. According to the Washington Post, Obama’s final UN address represented “an impassioned plea on behalf of a liberal world order”…
• “We had a lot of Drama in the Markets this Week,” Thanks to the Bank of Japan
  Japan has invented QE and zero-interest-rate policies. It conducted umpteen iterations of them over the past two decades. Throughout, it has demonstrated and documented with ample evidence that QE and ZIRP do not stimulate demand in the economy, though they can have all sorts of other effects. Now once again, Japan is out on front. This week, something interesting happened, even by the standards of the NIRP-absurdity currently in vogue. The 10-year yield of Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) rose sharply. It had been negative ever since the BOJ announced its negative interest rate policy in February and had dropped as low as -0.30% by late July. But on July 28, the BOJ, to show it’s easing further, expanded its QE program by announcing yet another stock market pump-up scheme: it would nearly double its annual purchases of equity ETFs from about ¥3.3 trillion to ¥6 trillion ($60 billion).
• Business Cycle Tinder For A Global Banking Fire
  This week, Raoul Pal, founder of Real Vision TV and Global Macro Investor, joined the MacroVoices podcast for a full-length feature interview wherein he sweeps through a plethora of convergent global financial issues. In addition to his thoughts on his long U.S. dollar thesis, the recent sell-off in bonds, gold, central bank policy, and soft commodities, Pal explains why the crumbling European banking system, within a slumping global business cycle, is the biggest systemic risk yet.  This is an interview you don’t want to miss. The episode starts with a weekly market summary and the interview begins at 13:30, which is summarized below.
• Dark Warning from World’s Largest Hedge Fund
  With a great crisis comes a significant opportunity, however, and we always want to urge readers to be prudent first in this environment. Hold a significant amount of cash and physical precious metals. Eliminate debt. Long-term investments should focus on cash flow (growing your income).
  For speculative positions, use only money you don’t need for up to 3 years and would not harm your family’s finances if you lost it all. Habitually over-deliver in your work, business, or job. Your core source of income must be treated the same as your favorite investment. Keep in mind that most Americans are literally living paycheck to paycheck, so don’t ever submit to peer pressure when it comes to spending.
• Obama’s Tax Collections Surpass $20,000,000,000,000; Still Runs Up Debt by $8,878,290,996,028
  With the additional $231,327,000,000 in taxes that the U.S. Treasury collected in August, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today, President Barack Obama has now presided over more than $20,000,000,000,000 in federal tax collections during the 91 full months he has served in the Oval Office. From February 2009 through August 2016, the Treasury collected approximately $20,197,437,000,000 in tax revenues (in non-inflation-adjusted dollars), according to the Monthly Treasury Statements. During those same 91 months, the federal debt rose from $10,632,005,246,736.97 to $19,510,296,242,765.66—an increase of $8,878,290,996,028.69.
• Why The EU Is Doomed
  We are accustomed to looking at Europe’s woes in a purely financial context. This is a mistake, because it misses the real reasons why the EU will fail and not survive the next financial crisis. We normally survive financial crises, thanks to the successful actions of central banks as lenders of last resort. However, the origins and construction of both the the euro and the EU itself could ensure the next financial crisis commences in the coming months, and will exceed the capabilities of the ECB to save the system. It should be remembered that the European Union was originally a creation of US post-war foreign policy. The priority was to ensure there was a buffer against the march of Soviet communism, and to that end three elements of the policy towards Europe were established. First, there was the Marshall Plan, which from 1948 provided funds to help rebuild Europe’s infrastructure. This was followed by the establishment of NATO in 1949, which ensured American and British troops had permanent bases in Germany. And lastly, a CIA sponsored organisation, the American Committee on United Europe was established to covertly promote European political union.
• Foreign Central Banks Sell A Record $343 Billion In US Treasuries In The Last Year
  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 $17 billion, bringing the total to $2.871 trillion, the lowest amount of Treasuries held by foreigners at the Fed since 2012. One month later, we refresh this chart and find that in the latest weekly update, foreign central banks accelerated their liquidation of US paper held in the Fed's custody account, which tumbled by $27.5 billion in the past week, the biggest weekly drop since January 2015, pushing the total amount of custodial paper to $2.83 trillion, the lowest since 2012.
• The Obamacare Death Spiral—-Health Exchanges Languish As Insurers Flee
  Obamacare appears to be in a death spiral, with a shrinking pool of insurers offering coverage, far fewer individuals purchasing insurance than advocates had anticipated, and double-digit price increases making policies unaffordable — not only to many individuals and families, but to taxpayers, who are required to underwrite the hefty subsidies Washington promised. The law is not working and its condition is getting worse. The centerpiece of the program, the health insurance exchanges (misleadingly labeled “Marketplaces” by the administration), will pretty much cease to exist within a few more years.
• Infrastructure Spending Does not “Grow the Economy”
  In a new twist, the presidential nominees from both major political parties have fallen for (or hope that the voters have fallen for) a time-worn fallacy, and have proposed government spending on infrastructure “to grow the economy and create jobs.” As David Stockman has shown, infrastructure in the United States is not “crumbling,” nor is spending on infrastructure disappearing. What is equally important to our analysis, though, is the fallacy that government spending, on infrastructure or anything else, creates jobs or economic growth in the aggregate. This fallacy and related myths need to be dispensed with before anyone begins to take them seriously. Murray Rothbard addressed the issue in great detail in his article “The Fallacy of the ‘Public Sector.’” Below I seek to summarize, in simple terms that even Donald Trump and Paul Krugman can understand: there is no such thing as the Infrastructure Fairy that takes government spending and magically turns it into economic growth.
• Italy's PM Unloads On Deutsche Bank's Unfixable Problem: “Hundreds And Hundreds Of Billions Of Derivatives”
  After a tumultuous week for Deutsche Bank which saw the DOJ demand a $14 billion settlement for the bank's past RMBS transgressions, it was another bad day for the giant German lender, whose stock and contingent converts tumbled after the investing community realized that even a modest $5.5 billion final settlement would leave it perilously undercapitalized and likely scrambling to raise more cash.
• Warnings Coming Fast And Thick—–The Red Ponzi Relies On Property Bubbles To Prop Up GDP
  Lots of China again today. Most of it based on warnings, coming from the BIS, about the country’s financial shenanigans. I’m getting the feeling we have gotten so used to huge and often unprecedented numbers, viewed against the backdrop of an economy that still seems to remain standing, that many don’t know what to make of this anymore. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard ties the BIS report to Hyman Minsky’s work, which is kind of funny, because our good friend and Minsky adept Steve Keen is the economist who most emphasizes the need to differentiate between public and private debt, in particular because public debt is not a big risk whereas private debt certainly is. And that happens to be the main topic where people seem to get confused about China. To quote Ambrose: “..Outstanding loans have reached $28 trillion, as much as the commercial banking systems of the US and Japan combined. The scale is enough to threaten a worldwide shock if China ever loses control. Corporate debt alone has reached 171pc of GDP..”
• Peter Schiff: “We’re Already in a Recession”
  Peter Schiff appeared on the Next News Network to give some insights into the possible US war in South China, Hillary Clinton’s recent health problems, international trade, ObamaCare, and quantitative easing.
• David Stockman Warns: The Elections Will Bring Pandemonium To Washington and Chaos To The Markets
  Donald Trump has made repeated calls to remove Fed chair Janet Yellen from office, saying that she should be ‘ashamed’ of what she’s doing to the country. So what exactly would a Trump presidency mean for the Fed and for the markets? We speak with David Stockman, former Office of Management and Budget Director under Reagan and author of “Trumped! A Nation on The Brink of Ruin and How to Bring it back.”
• James Turk – The World Is Headed For A Crisis Far Worse Than 2008
  As the world awaits this week’s Fed decision, today James Turk warned King World News that the world is headed for a crisis far worse than 2008. James Turk:  “The Federal Reserve’s 2-day monetary policy meeting this week should be an interesting one, Eric, but not because they are going to raise interest rates. Rather, it will be interesting to hear their explanation regarding why they aren’t raising rates…
• Greyerz – The Roadmap To A Staggering $10,000 Gold And $1,000 Silver
  As we get ready to enter the final quarter of 2016, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, and major global events, just spoke with King World News about the roadmap to $10,000 gold and $1,000 silver. Egon von Greyerz:  “If you look at the euro, it’s not going to survive.  At some point European investors will realize that and they will flee the euro into gold.  It’s the same with the yen.  The Japanese economy has no chance of surviving and so at some point point the Japanese will start buying gold.  People in the U.S. will also turn to gold as the dollar starts falling.  And there will not be enough gold or silver to satisfy the massive increase in demand.  The only way to satisfy demand will be through a higher price.  That’s why we will easily see $10,000 gold and $1,000 silver.
• Ron Paul: The Fed is Prepping for the Next Crisis
  From Ron Paul: The Federal Reserve’s insistence on ever-growing influence in the financial markets is a signal that they’re preparing for the next crisis — and citizens’ rights are bound to be violated.
• Deutsche Bank Shares Fall Again; Bank “Significantly Undercapitalized”
  Things are going from worse to worst once again for Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) as equity and credit markets deteriorate further as analysts warn Germany’s biggest (and the world’s most systemically dangerous) bank would be “significantly undercapitalized” even if an eventual settlement with the DoJ can be covered by the bank’s reserves.
• China’s Stunning Plan For Gold And A New Monetary System
  With many investors worried about the economic turmoil that has engulfed the globe, here is China’s stunning plan for gold and a new monetary system. China’s Plan For Gold & A New Monetary System. Stephen Leeb:  “The world is headed to a new monetary system. But most in the West are still valiantly trying to deny that reality. Whether you’re reading The New York Times or Bloomberg News, or delving into recent white papers released by various institutions, you’re sure to find anti-gold propaganda, stories about how oil is plentiful, all the while stalwartly maintaining that the dollar won’t be superseded by the renminbi…
• China Now Dumping Unprecedented Amounts Of U.S. Treasuries
  Ahead of this week’s Fed decision, China is now dumping unprecedented amounts of U.S. Treasuries. China Dumping U.S. Treasuries. Here is how Peter Boockvar summed up the situation:  In case you didn’t see, on Friday at 4pm the Treasury International Capital flow data for July was released and it continues to be a big focus of mine. For a 4th straight month foreigners were net sellers of US notes and bonds. They sold a net $13.1b in July which brings the year to date level of selling to $156b which compares to net selling of $20b in 2015, net buying of $165b in 2014, $41b in 2013 and $400b in both 2011 and 2012. This level of selling is unprecedented going back to when data collection started on this in 1977…
• Stock & Bond Bubbles Much Worse Than 1929-David Stockman
  Economic expert and best-selling author David Stockman offers a dire view of the deep financial trouble America faces in his new book titled “Trumped!”   Stockman warns, “I think we are on the very edge, but what is different this time and makes it scarier . . . is I believe the central banks that ruled the roost have gone from one extreme to the next and done unfathomable things like negative interest rates on $13 trillion of bonds around the world, monetization of the debt, and bond purchases that are staggering such as $90 billion a month in Europe. . . . So, this time, as the phrase goes, they went all in.  They have violated every principle of sound money and sustainable finance that mankind has ever learned about over many centuries.  They have taken us to the edge, but they are out of dry powder.  I think it’s pretty obvious that they can’t go any deeper with subzero interest rates, or negative interest rates. . . . If they tried this in the United States, I think there would be a huge political uprising. . . . They are out of dry powder and out of tools, and therefore, the financial markets of the world are more vulnerable, maybe even more so than in 1929.  You are talking about a bond bubble like never before imagined or conceived, and the stock market is the same way as well as derivatives.”
• The Bank For International Settlements Warns That A Major Debt Meltdown In China Is Imminent
  The pinnacle of the global financial system is warning that conditions are right for a “full-blown banking crisis” in China.  Since the last financial crisis, there has been a credit boom in China that is really unprecedented in world history.  At this point the total value of all outstanding loans in China has hit a grand total of more than 28 trillion dollars.  That is essentially equivalent to the commercial banking systems of the United States and Japan combined.  While it is true that government debt is under control in China, corporate debt is now 171 percent of GDP, and it is only a matter of time before that debt bubble horribly bursts.  The situation in China has already grown so dire that the Bank for International Settlements is sounding the alarm…
• Analyst: Stocks Will Crash by 75% in Coming Years
  Société Générale analyst Albert Edwards is famous for his bearish prognostications, but his latest forecast — where he calls for a 75% crash — might be his the gloomiest yet.
• 3 Terror Attacks In America In 24 Hours
  New York City, New Jersey and Minnesota were all hit by terror attacks within a 24 hour time period, and authorities are concerned that this may be the start of a fresh wave of terrorism in this country. Those that conduct acts of terror do so because they want to create fear and because they want attention. All three of these attacks accomplished those goals, but in particular the bombing in New York City’s thriving Chelsea neighborhood instantly captured the attention of the entire nation.
• 10 Things That Every American Should Know About Donald Trump’s Plan To Save The U.S. Economy
  Can Donald Trump turn the U.S. economy around?  This week Trump unveiled details of his new economic plan, and the mainstream media is having a field day criticizing it.  But the truth is that we simply cannot afford to stay on the same path that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Democrats have us on right now.  Millions of jobs are being shipped out of the country, the middle class is dying, poverty is exploding, millions of children in America don’t have enough food, and our reckless spending has created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the planet.  Something must be done or else we will continue to steamroll toward economic oblivion.  So is Donald Trump the man for the hour? If you would like to read his full economic plan, you can find it on his official campaign website.  His plan starts off by pointing out that this has been the weakest “economic recovery” since the Great Depression…

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.

From James Harkin (Webmaster & Editor of LindseyWilliams.net). Here is a summary of articles of interest from around the world for this week. Please LIKE the Lindsey Williams Online Facebook Page to see stories posted daily regarding the current state of the economy around the world.

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Latest News From September 2, 2016 to September 15, 2016:

• Bayer clinches Monsanto with improved $66 billion bid
  German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer clinched a $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto on Wednesday, ending months of wrangling with a third sweetened offer that marks the largest all-cash deal on record.
• Italy Funding Panic? Target2 Liabilities Unexpectedly Soar To Record High
  During the peak days of the European credit crisis in 2011 and 2012, one of the unfalsifiable indicators used by market watchers to observe the state of Italy's banking system and regional fund flows (mostly outflows from the periphery, inflows into Germany and northern states), was the monthly Target2 balance. Positions within the Target2 system, which settles cross-border payments in the euro zone, are monitored because in a world where all other market signals are corrupt and distorted by central banks (Spanish 10Y bonds yield less than US bonds), they remain a reliable, concurent indicator of financial stress, for example when banks in a country lose foreign funding.
• Brace For “VaR Shock” – How The Bank Of Japan May Be About To Unleash A Global Selloff
  As we pointed out recently, Japan has been quietly undergoing a mini bond tantrum as over the past two months, its sovereign debt suffered the worst rout in 13 years, handing investors bigger losses over the past two months than any other government bonds, amid speculation the Bank of Japan plans to change its asset-purchase strategy.
• The Only Sure Conclusion About the G20 Summit
  The G20 summit in China came and went with the usual pompous statements at the end: “The communiqué reiterates the essential role of structural reforms in boosting productivity and output, as well as in promoting growth in G20 countries. The choice and design of structural reforms are consistent with countries’ specific economic conditions,” the People’s Daily sums up one of the points on the agenda. The other points where the G20 reached some kind of consensus were trade, anti-corruption, financial reform, investment, industrialization, entrepreneurship, climate change, innovative growth, and development.
• This Will Devastate People All Over The World
  With continued uncertainty in global markets, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, and major global events, warned King World News about what is going to devastate people all over the world. Egon von Greyerz:  “The autumn of 2016 has for some time looked like a period when dark clouds will move in over the world economy. Therefore, it was not surprising to see the first sign of things to come in the next few months. In one day the Dow erased all the gains since early July with an almost 400 point fall. Since the beginning of the year the Dow is now up a pitiful 2.6%. Almost 8 years of ZERO interest rates have not managed to revive the US economy, nor the world economy…
• The Bubble Burst You Didn’t See Coming
  In the next great crash, everything will get swept up in the onslaught – with virtually no exceptions. And that goes too for what we eat! The 30-Year Commodity Cycle peaked in mid-2008 and has been the first major bubble to crash and burn. The CRB (Commodity) Index has been down as low as 67%, with the potential for 74% or lower in the next few years. Among individual commodities, oil has been down as much as 82% in early 2016. Iron ore and steel have been down 76% with a potential for 88%.
• Another Big Central Bank Warns on Housing Bubble, Frets about Risks to Banks, Blows Whistle on Stimulus
  For Chinese households, owning residential property serves as a mix of risk-free savings account (on the premise, valid in the US as well, that “you can’t lose money in real estate”) and highly leveraged speculative betting game. Some people own vacant apartments like Americans own stocks. A report in 2014 showed that 75% of household wealth had been sunk into real estate. Whatever the percentage is today, it’s high, to where major declines in house prices have caused uproars.
• George Soros Warns Europe: Accept Refugees Or Face Extinction
  The refugee crisis in Europe was already pushing the European Union toward disintegration when, on June 23, it helped drive the British to vote to Brexit the EU. The refugee crisis and the Brexit calamity that it spawned have reinforced xenophobic, nationalist movements that will seek to win a series of upcoming votes – including national elections in France, the Netherlands, and Germany in 2017, a referendum in Hungary on the EU refugee policy on October 2, and a rerun of the Austrian presidential election on the same day.
• Groupthink Lunacy—-Negative 2% Rates, Cash Bans And Monetary Voodo
  Looking for group think, extrapolation of extreme silliness, linear thinking, and belief in absurd models? Then look no further than Fed presidents, their advisors, and academia loaded charlatan professors. Today’s spotlight is on Marvin Goodfriend, a former economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve’s Bank of Richmond, and Ken Rogoff, a chaired Harvard economics professor, a one-time chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.
• The Signs Of Desperation In A “Twilight Zone Of Ignorance”
  Idiocy and mendacity are a bad combo in the affairs of nations, especially in elections. The present case in the USA displays both qualities to near-perfection: on one side, a boorish pseudo-savior in zero command of ideas; on the other side, a wannabe racketeer-in-chief in full command of her instinctive deceit. Trump offers incoherent rhetoric in opposition to the current dismal order of things; Clinton offers empty, pandering rhetoric in defense of that order. Both represent an epic national drive toward political suicide.
• Jim Grant Rejects Rogoff's “Curse Of Cash”, Warns “Government Wants To Control Your Money”
  If there is a curse between the covers of this thin, self-satisfied volume, it doesn’t have to do with cash, the title to the contrary notwithstanding. Freedom is rather the subject of the author’s malediction. He’s not against it in principle, only in practice. Ken Rogoff is a chaired Harvard economics professor, a one-time chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and (to boot) a chess grandmaster. He laid out his case against cash in a Saturday essay in this newspaper two weeks ago. By abolishing large-denomination bills, he said there, the government could strike a blow against sin and perfect the Federal Reserve’s control of interest rates.
• Sorry, You Can't Have Your Gold
  We warn regularly of the risk involved in storing wealth in banks. They’ve made the removal of your deposits increasingly difficult in addition to colluding with governments to allow them to legally freeze or confiscate your money. To add insult to injury, they’re creating reporting requirements with regard to the contents of  safe deposit boxes and restricting what can be stored in them – again, at risk of confiscation.
• The Coming Crash Will Create An Economic Tsunami, Skyrocketing Gold And Usher In A Whole New World
  With many investors worried about the economic turmoil that has engulfed the globe, the coming crash will create an economic tsunami, skyrocketing gold, and usher in a whole new world. Gold Will Anchor New Monetary System. Stephen Leeb:  “All roads lead to Rome, which is to say there are many ways the Chinese have of effecting a new monetary system that will include gold as an anchor. The new system may evolve gradually, but it is growing more likely that it will be created out of chaos. In the last interview with you, Eric, I spoke of SDR’s as a route. And that is still a high probability. Recall, the SDR route requires the inclusion of the Renminbi in the SDR basket along with the Dollar, Euro, Pound, and Yen…
• Globalized, Centralized, Compacted: They Cull The Population To Make Us Rely On Government
  With each step forward, the powers-that-be are controlling us more and more, reducing the population and forcing people to rely upon a centralized, collective government. The global agenda to centralize control explained by Aaron Dykes in the video below.
• Wells Fargo scandal is just the beginning… here’s what else they’re hiding–
  On Thursday, Wells Fargo admitted to secretly creating millions of bank and credit card accounts over the past 5 years without their customers’ knowledge or consent. They would typically create, say, a new savings account for a customer, then transfer funds from his/her existing checking account into the new bogus savings account without ever once asking permission. This is a pretty horrendous practice that tells you everything you need to know about banking.
• Why Are So Many Conservatives, Preppers And Christians Moving To The Great Northwest?
  Thousands of Americans are flocking to “Big Sky” country, and this movement has become so prominent that it has even caught the attention of the mainstream media. Within the last several weeks, both The Chicago Tribune and The Economist have done major articles on this phenomenon. From all over the country, conservatives, preppers and Bible-believing Christians are moving to Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and the eastern portions of Oregon and Washington. As you will see below, this region has become known as the “American Redoubt”, and for a variety of reasons it is considered by many survivalists to be one of the top “safe zones” for when things really start falling apart in this nation.
• Tent Cities Full Of Homeless People Are Booming In Cities All Over America As Poverty Spikes
  Just like during the last economic crisis, homeless encampments are popping up all over the nation as poverty grows at a very alarming rate.  According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than half a million people are homeless in America right now, but that figure is increasing by the day.  And it isn’t just adults that we are talking about.  It has been reported that that the number of homeless children in this country has risen by 60 percent since the last recession, and Poverty USA says that a total of 1.6 million children slept either in a homeless shelter or in some other form of emergency housing at some point last year.  Yes, the stock market may have been experiencing a temporary boom for the last couple of years, but for those on the low end of the economic scale things have just continued to deteriorate.
• ALERT: Celente Warns This Is About To Rock Global Financial Markets And Gold
  Today the top trends forecaster in the world, Gerald Celente, warned King World News about what is about to rock global financial markets and gold. The Fed Is In A Trap. Gerald Celente:  “You have all of this money that has been borrowed and it went into emerging markets and inflated them artificially.  But if the Fed raises interest rates the dollar gets stronger.  If the dollar gets stronger, the resource-rich currencies get weaker.  And they have to pay back all of this debt in dollars.  So the Fed is in a trap…
• 12 Survival Skills to Learn and Master for SHTF
  When it comes to survival, having a stockpile of stuff is not enough.  You need to have skills, too.  And yet, when it comes to preparedness skills, there is no hard and fast set of rules.  There are simply too many variables for a one size fits all list of things you must know and things you must learn if living conditions and economic realities become dire.  It is for that reason I often write in generalities.  That way you can pick and chose those skills and those items that fit your lifestyle.
• The Six Presidents Causing US Bankruptcy
  Since Reagan came to power in 1981, the US has had a total of five presidents who have spent ever increasing amounts of money to hang on to power and buy votes. This has resulted in the most extraordinary money printing venture in history. It is not just central banks that print money. Governments that borrow vast amounts of money are also performing a printing function since money is created out of thin air. And even worse than that, the US government neither has the intention nor the ability to ever repay the debt with real money. Thus the US debt can only vaporise when the country defaults. Since there is no other way of eradicating this debt, a default by the US is guaranteed to take place in coming years. But before that, the Fed and the US government will flood the market with jumbo jet money since helicopter money won’t suffice. The jumbo jet money will create hyperinflation but it will never repay the debt since all it does is to increase the amount of debt outstanding from trillions of dollars to quadrillions.
• Mexico To Cut More Than US$5 Billion From Pemex Budget
  Mexican finance minister Jose Antonio Meade announced on Thursday that approximately US$5.4 billion in funds for state-run oil firm Pemex will be eliminated from the proposed federal budget in 2017. “Pemex is making the biggest contribution to the cuts,” Meade said about the company that will see an 18 percent reduction in funds and will make up some 41 percent of the US$12.83 billion slashed from the budget.
• An OPEC Production Freeze Could See Oil Prices Rise To $60
  Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to reach an agreement with OPEC to freeze oil production in hopes of prices regaining strength. With the U.S. shale boom supplying most of North America, OPEC has increased production to maintain their market share. This has caused massive price reductions, putting many countries at a loss. Two years ago crude oil was priced at around $100/barrel, but in today’s inundated market it rests below $50. Russia is struggling economically, as it leads the world in energy exports and oil comprises 40 percent of its revenue. The country is considering tax reforms on oil companies, potentially hurting the industry further. This could lead to job cuts and shutting down of decade old wells. President Putin is determined to repair his nation’s economy.
• Employee Pay Slashed by 5 Percent at Baker Hughes
  A new furlough plan is to blame for a 5 percent cut in pay for workers at Baker Hughes. The Houston energy giant’s program was meant to lower costs and the need for job cuts, but current employees are feeling the effect of the plan on their paychecks. Baker Hughes says the cuts aren’t permanent, that they will only occur from the pay period starting September 11 through the last paycheck of 2016. In an internal memo obtained by the Houston Chronicle, Baker Hughes offered holidays in exchange for the loss in pay. The holidays given are for October 10, November 23, December 23, and December 28.
• Saudi Arabia Said to Weigh Canceling $20 Billion of Projects
  Saudi Arabia is intensifying efforts to shrink the highest budget deficit among the world’s biggest 20 economies, aiming to cancel more than $20 billion of projects and slash ministry budgets by a quarter, people familiar with the matter said. The government is reviewing thousands of projects valued at about 260 billion riyals ($69 billion) and may cancel a third of them, three people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. The measures would impact the budget for several years, according to two of the people.
• South African economy reaps benefit of weak rand
  The South African economy has reaped the benefits of a weaker rand, with a 6.6 per cent increase on final sales in the second quarter, an 18.1 per cent surge in exports and 5.1 per cent decline in imports, a report from the national statistics agency showed on Tuesday. Final sales are calculated by subtracting the change in inventories from the gross domestic product (GDP), on a quarter-by-quater (q/q) seasonally adjusted annualized (saa) basis.
• G20 2016: Toward an inclusive global economy
  The G20 summit opens today, attempting to bring back the spotlight on the global economy and strengthening trade ties in a climate that sees the international sphere huddle over security concerns. This year’s summit is hosted by China in the southeastern city of Hangzhou, and many analysts have said that it is Beijing’s chance to host one of the most significant gatherings of world leaders in its history.
• Rising Rates: Financial Extinction Level Event Coming-Michael Krieger
  Former Wall Street analyst Michael Krieger says the key to predicting this market is to watch interest rates. Krieger explains, “Do I think that there is going to be a huge U.S. currency devaluation next month?  No I don’t, but on the flip side, there is going to be some sort of financial calamity.  What I am looking at personally is interest rates.
• Iconic Hedge Fund Perry Capital Loses 60% Of AUM As Investors Flee
  The slow-motion trainwreck that is the hedge fund investing world, which as we documented one month ago has failed miserably – if predictably – to compensate LPs for its 2 and 20 model, and generate outsized returns during a regime of central planning, having created zero alpha since 2011…
• Friday Was Just The Start: Here Are Goldman's 5 Reasons Why The Selling Will Continue
  After 40+ days of the S&P going virtually nowhere on muted volume, cross-asset correlations soaring to all time highs, and quant funds leveraging to record levels, it all just snapped on Friday the “volatility on the sidelines” finally made a grand entrance right back into the market, which tumbled the most since Brexit, and closed below its 2015 highs.
• Visualizing The (Massive) Size Of The US National Debt
  When numbers get into the billions or trillions, they start to lose context. As Visual Capitalist's Jeff Desjardins notes, the U.S. national debt is one of those numbers. It currently sits at $19.5 trillion, which is actually such a large number that it is truly difficult for the average person to comprehend. How big is the U.S. National Debt? The best way to understand these large numbers? We believe it is to represent them visually, by plotting the data with comparable numbers that are easier to grasp.
• The Disturbing Signs Of Global Conflict Continue To Gather Pace
  The signs are ominous, the rhetoric constant. Whichever way you look at it, the world is slowly descending into an ever greater spiral of conflict. We all know that the current wars raging in the Middle East have the potential to go catastrophically wrong and pull the super-powers into something much bigger.
• This One Chart Should Drive Investors Into Buying Gold & Silver
  The U.S. financial system is in serious trouble and this one chart confirms it.  Investors who understand the negative consequences of this chart would be buying physical gold and silver hand over fist.  Unfortunately, Americans have been put to sleep by the Mainstream media as they continue to report that “business as usual forever and everything will be okay.” However, the opposite is the case as the U.S. economy and the financial system continue to disintegrate under the forces of massive debt, zero interest rates and a collapsing energy industry.  This is not a situation that will continue for many years or decades.  This will likely collapse much sooner than most Americans realize.
• The Era of Central Planning is Crumbling… and the Elite Are Terrified
  The biggest issue in financial political power structure today is the End of Centralization. In the post 2008 era, the Globalists made a major push to hold the system together. The multi-billionaire class, particularly those who made fortunes from crony capitalism and bubble economics joined forces with the Keynesian media shills to convince the world that the only way we would survive would be if trillions of Dollars were given to those who were deemed “systemically important.”
• As The World Economy Is Burning Central Bankers Are Clueless
  The more things change, the more they stay the same. The financial world loves focusing on some future event that they think will change everything. There is always some economic data, an important meeting like G20, the Fed, the ECB or a speech by Yellen or some other central bank head who hasn’t got a clue what is happening or what will happen. So now at the end of August, markets have all been focusing on Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole Wyoming. Jackson Hole is of course a very befitting name since what the Fed is starring into is a massive black hole into which major parts of the financial system will disappear.
• One Of Richard Russell’s Last And Most Amazing Predictions Is Now Unfolding
  Late last year, Richard Russell made one of his last and most amazing predictions ever.  Below is what the Godfather of newsletter writers had to say. From legendary Richard Russell:  “Americans are scared to death and befuddled by the news of the day. They are well aware that their own lives and jobs have little to do with the nonsense that the Fed and the government is shoveling out to them.
• Gerald Celente Issues Updated Trend Forecast For The Rest Of 2016
  With the price of gold and silver surging recently, today top trends forecaster Gerald Celente issued an updated trend forecast for the rest of 2016. Trend Alert: Central Banks Shooting Blanks. Gold Bull Run. Gerald Celente: Go back to the end of August. It was all the business news. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, speaking at a meeting of leading central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, boasted that thanks to Fed policy, the United States economy was on the road to solid recovery and labor-market growth was strong…
• The Tide is Turning: The Official Story Is Now The Conspiracy Theory — Paul Craig Roberts
  In a few days it will be the 15th anniversary of 9/11, and this November 22 will be the 53rd anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. These two state crimes against democracy destroyed American democracy, accountable government, and the Constitution’s protections of civil liberty. Years after the damage done by these events, the American people no longer believe the official stories. Neither does the government, but the government will never validate the distrust that Americans now share of the oligarchs’ government by acknowledging the truth.
• When they say ‘hoarding’ instead of ‘saving’ you know you’re in trouble
  As Mark Twain is purported to have once said, “Predictions are hard, especially about the future.” And with this principle in mind, libertarian Harry Browne advocated a four-factor portfolio to protect investors “no matter what the future brings”. Such a portfolio would have to cater to at least four separate economic outcomes: Prosperity: a period during which living standards are rising and the economy is growing; Inflation: a period during which consumer prices are rising; Recession: a period during which the growth is slowing (or negative); Deflation: a period in which consumer prices are declining. Only four types of investments would cover all these separate bases in Browne’s so-called ‘Permanent Portfolio’.
• Police seize over 5,000 ounces of silver from man’s home
  Last week in the Australian state of Queensland, federal police confiscated a whopping 5,465 ounces of silver (worth roughly $106,000) from a man’s home. This was part of a larger series of police raids instigated by the Australian Tax Office against individuals suspected of tax evasion.
• Major Problems Announced At One Of The Largest Too Big To Fail Banks In The United States
  Do you remember when our politicians promised to do something about the “too big to fail” banks?  Well, they didn’t, and now the chickens are coming home to roost.  On Thursday, it was announced that one of those “too big to fail” banks, Wells Fargo, has been slapped with 185 million dollars in penalties.  It turns out that for years their employees had been opening millions of bank and credit card accounts for customers without even telling them.  The goal was to meet sales goals, and customers were hit by surprise fees that they never intended to pay.  Some employees actually created false email addresses and false PIN numbers to sign customers up for accounts.  It was fraud on a scale that is hard to imagine, and now Wells Fargo finds itself embroiled in a major crisis.
• Peter Schiff: History Will Remember These Times as a Great Depression
  For whatever reason (cough, the globalist controlled media trying to use sheer willpower to force a narrative into reality, cough), there have been several articles that have come out lately suggesting gold and silver might getting ready for a potential crash. If you happen to own gold or silver, don't worry, because the vast majority of most economists are long on both metals. Nonetheless, since there have been a fair number of rogue articles suggesting a possible a dip in prices, or even a crash, in the following interview between RT television and Peter Schiff, it's the first topic Peter is asked to comment on.
• Soros: Western Society Must Fall Before One World Govt Can Be Established
  In the following video, Alex Jones begins by making a general statement in response to a question he’s been asked more times than he cares to count over the course of his professional career. The question always comes from the willfully ignorant, normally in a very condescending tone, and it often sounds something like, “If there really is a big bad secret world government, then where is it, and tell us who runs it.” Alex’s response is perfect. He says it’s really not a secret who runs the TransPacific Partnership. It’s really not a secret who runs the IMF, and the World Bank. It’s also really not secret who runs the United Nations. These days, the globalists are so over the top and in our faces about what they’re doing, sometimes information is learned that can later appear to have been kept secret, but that’s normally more the result of the public’s limited access to programs inside certain institutions, rather than a deliberate effort to conceal information.
• Bubbles are Everywhere in Franken Markets-Chris Martenson
  Resource analyst and futurist Chris Martenson says “bubbles are everywhere,” and it’s the fault of central banks.  Martenson explains, “Italian 10-year debt is trading with a lower yield than 10-year U.S. debt.  That’s because the European Central Bank (ECB) has created a massive bubble in the bond market. . . . We’ve got housing bubbles all over the globe in Australia, Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, London and you name it.  This is simple because, and there is no mystery about it, the central banks have printed lots and lots of money, trillions and trillions, and people have gone out and bought things with all that money, and it has driven up the prices of things.  That’s what the Fed wanted to accomplish.  The only problem is when the Fed does, this they want to say, hey look, record high stock prices.  Hey look, record high bond prices, as if this is a win for everybody and it’s not.  There’s a lot of losers in that story.”
• Pre-Collapse More Dangerous Than Actual Collapse-Warren Pollock
  Geopolitical and financial analyst Warren Pollock says danger for all Americans is here right now. Pollock explains, “Where we are is more important than where we will be because right now, we are in sort of a Twilight Zone of transition between stability and instability. I think this is a dangerous time, and for some, it will be more dangerous than the actual collapse. . . .   The entire system we live in today is one large racketeering engine, and we really have to understand that for us to negotiate around this looting that is going to occur.  You cannot eliminate all the looting from your life, but you can go around it to a certain degree.  For example, you might need a pair of eyeglasses and spend several hundred dollars when someone in China can make eyeglasses for $5 or $10 of the same or better quality. . . . There is no competition in the United States.  There is no free election.  There is no free market.  There is not capitalism.  All of these things that you believe to be in place right now are lies. . . . It’s procedural racketeering.  It is the veneer of a functioning economy or a functional system.  This sort of procedural racketeering is also procedural control and procedural information gathering.  It is dystopia of epic proportions.”
• “Zombie Apocalypse”: The Hanjin Bailout that Didn’t Happen
  South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co., the world’s seventh largest container carrier and a unit of Hanjin Group, Korea’s 10th-largest conglomerate that also controls Korean Air Lines, has been in financial trouble for a long time. Bankruptcy or rather a government bailout, not only for Hanjin, but also of the second largest Korean carrier, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), has been bandied about for as long. HMM was restructured, with creditors taking a big hit, including its main creditor, the state-owned Korean Development Bank which in the process became HMM’s largest shareholder, which boils down to a taxpayer bailout. Pending regulatory approval, the restructured HMM will join 2M carriers Maersk Line and MSC in a new alliance next April.
• Crude Oil Freight Rates Plunge to Record Lows
  The rates for shipping a tanker-load of crude oil by Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) from Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port for the throughput and storage of crude oil, to Singapore, the world’s largest crude oil transshipment center, have dropped another $200,000 since the last assessment, to $2.25 million, according to S&P Global Platts, the lowest level for that route since Platts started tracking VLCC data in 2006. That’s down by $4.15 million from the $6.4 million price tag in January – a 64% plunge in eight months! Platts blamed the “large supply of available ships” on the Europe to East route.
• The Great Debt Unwind Beneath the Surface: US Commercial Bankruptcies Soar
  Not that you would have guessed from the stock market, hovering at all-time highs, or from soaring junk bonds, even the riskiest paper: CCC-and-below rated junk bonds skyrocketed since their February 12 low as their average yield plunged from 21.6% to 13.5%. Even the S&P US Distressed High Yield Corporate Bond index has soared 57% since February 12. Those are miracles to behold.
• Goldman Sachs Just Launched Project Fear in Italy
  Project Fear began two years ago in the run up to Scotland’s national referendum. It then spread to the rest of the UK in the lead up to this summer´s Brexit referendum. But it keeps on moving. Its latest destination is Italy, where the campaign to instill fear and trepidation in the hearts and souls of Italy’s voters was just inaugurated by the world’s most influential investment bank, Goldman Sachs.
• Dell-EMC to Lay Off 2,000 – 3,000 US Workers after Requesting 5,000 H-1B Visas & Green Cards to Import Foreign Workers
  The ink was barely dry on Dell’s acquisition of EMC, the largest technology deal ever, valued at $67 billion when it was announced in October last year – and already the layoff rumors are oozing from the woodwork. “People familiar with the company’s plans” told Bloomberg that Dell will cut 2,000 to 3,000 jobs. Dell spokesman Dave Farmer refused to comment specifically on the report on Thursday but said instead, as sort of a confirmation: “As is common with deals of this size, there will be some overlaps we will need to manage and where some employee reduction will occur.”
• Developing Countries Emulate The US, Turn Citizens Into Debt Slaves
  One of the big advantages of being a Latin American or Asian country used to be — somewhat counter-intuitively — the lack of credit available to most citizens. The banking system in, say, Brazil or Thailand simply wasn’t “advanced” enough to offer credit card, auto, or mortgage loans on a scale sufficient to turn the locals into US-style debt slaves. But that, alas, is changing as those countries adopt their rich cousins’ worst habits. Brazil, for instance, was once seen as a Latin American success story and future world power. But then it ramped up government spending and started encouraging its people to become “consumers.” And the rest is familiar, if depressing, history.
• More Indications of Labor Slowing—-Yellen’s Favorite Index Hits The Skids
  The Federal Reserve’s Labor Market Conditions Index (LMCI) fell to contraction again in August. After rebounding in July for the first positive reading of 2016, the LMCI dropped to -0.7 in the latest update. As usual, revisions have reshaped the levels of indicated problems throughout the past two years, but overall the trend remains. From this view of the labor market, the economy is surely slowing even if taking two years to suggest by how much.
• The War On Cash Intensifies
  Government campaigns of intimidation — like the wars on drugs, terror, and poverty — have been used to extort the public for decades. Despite the previous failures of institutional “wars,” a new war on cash is being waged that threatens freedom in a more subversive way than ever before. Banks and governments around the world are cracking down on the use of paper money, and in turn, eliminating any anonymity left in the current system. Through strict rules on cash transactions and civil asset forfeiture laws, for example, the system has already instituted penalties for using cash. But as payments evolve into a purely digital network, the consequences of this new paradigm are being brought into the spotlight.
• The One Trillion Dollar Consumer Auto Loan Bubble Is Beginning To Burst
  Do you remember the subprime mortgage meltdown from the last financial crisis?  Well, this time around we are facing asubprime auto loan meltdown.  In recent years, auto lenders have become more and more aggressive, and they have beenincreasingly willing to lend money to people that should not be borrowing money to buy a new vehicle under any circumstances.  Just like with subprime mortgages, this strategy seemed to pay off at first, but now economic reality is beginning to be felt in a major way.  Delinquency rates are up by double digit percentages, and major auto lenders are bracing for hundreds of millions of dollars of losses.  We are a nation that is absolutely drowning in debt, and we are most definitely going to reap what we have sown.
• WTF Chart Of The Day: US Factory Orders Tumble For Longest Streak In History
  21 Months… US Factory Orders have decline year-over-year every month since October 2014 (the end of QE3). This is the longest period of decline in US history (since 1956) and has always indicated the US economy is in recession… While headlines will crow of 1.9% MoM gain (which missed expectations of a 2.0% rise), the trend is simply ugly – Year-over-year Factory Orders fell 3.5%.
• Services Economy Crashes To Feb 2010 Lows, Confirming Manufacturing Collapse
  Following last week's disappointing Manufacturing ISM/PMI data, Services PMI printed a six-month-low 50.9 over the weekend “pointing to an annualised GDP growth rate of a mere 1%,” according to Markit. Services jobs fell to their weakest since Dec 2014 but the ISM Services data collapsed to 51.4 – lowest since Feb 2010 with new orders imploding to their weakest since Jan 2014.
• From An Industrial Economy To A Paper Economy – The Stunning Decline Of Manufacturing In America
  Why does it seem like almost everything is made in China these days?  Yesterday I was looking at some pencils that we had laying around the house and I noticed that they had been manufactured in China.  I remarked to my wife that it was such a shame that they don’t make pencils in the United States anymore.  At another point during the day, I turned over my television remote and I noticed that it also had “Made In China” engraved on it.  It is still Labor Day as I write this article, and so I think that it is quite appropriate to write about our transition from an industrial economy to a paper economy today.  Since the year 2000, the United States has lost five million manufacturing jobs even though our population has grown substantially since that time.  Manufacturing in America is in a state of stunning decline, our economic infrastructure is being absolutely gutted, and our formerly great manufacturing cities are in an advanced state of decay.  We consume far more wealth than we produce, and the only way that we are able to do this is by taking on massive amounts of debt.  But is our debt-based paper economy sustainable in the long run?
• The Percentage Of Working Age Men That Do Not Have A Job Is Similar To The Great Depression
  Why are so many men in their prime working years unemployed?  The Obama administration would have us believe that unemployment is low in this country, but that is not true at all.  In fact, one author quoted by NPR says that “it’s kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940″.  Most Americans don’t realize this, but more men from ages 25 to 54 are “inactive” right now than was the case during the last recession.  We have millions upon millions of strong young men just sitting around doing nothing.  They aren’t employed and they aren’t considered to be looking for employment either, and so they don’t show up in the official unemployment numbers.  But they don’t have jobs, and nothing the Obama administration does can eliminate that fact. According to NPR, “nearly 100 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked” in the 1960s. In those days, just about any dependable, hard working American man could get hired almost immediately.  The economy was growing and the demand for labor was seemingly insatiable.
• Fed's-Own Jobs Indicator Tumbles (Again)
  For the 7th month of the last 8, The Fed's Labor Market Indicator has dropped. August's 0.7% slump slams the door shut on July's brief bounce which is confirmed by the collapse in ISM Services and Manufacturing employment indices… If The Fed hikes rates into this, then there is far more going on than meets the eye and Janet is in panic “out of ammo” mode.
• Low College Enrollment Sign of Education Bubble
  Another bad US economic indicator is becoming a focus for economic policy makers. Last month at the economic symposium at Jackson Hole, Janet Yellen said, “As a society, we should explore ways to raise productivity growth … improving our educational system and investing more in worker training.” Yellen is referring here to the production efficiency that occurs when incoming, better-educated college graduates enter the labor force, bring their new knowledge, and create better processes. This is commonly called the “productivity miracle” and has been a reliable economic phenomenon for 50 years.
• The One Trillion Dollar Consumer Auto Loan Bubble Is Beginning To Burst
  Do you remember the subprime mortgage meltdown from the last financial crisis?  Well, this time around we are facing a subprime auto loan meltdown.  In recent years, auto lenders have become more and more aggressive, and they have been increasingly willing to lend money to people that should not be borrowing money to buy a new vehicle under any circumstances.  Just like with subprime mortgages, this strategy seemed to pay off at first, but now economic reality is beginning to be felt in a major way.  Delinquency rates are up by double digit percentages, and major auto lenders are bracing for hundreds of millions of dollars of losses.  We are a nation that is absolutely drowning in debt, and we are most definitely going to reap what we have sown.
• There Are 9.93 Million More Government Workers Than Manufacturing Workers
  The August jobs report was filled with some interest factoids, like there are now 9.93 million government workers than there are manufacturing workers. That is a ratio of 1.81 government workers for every manufacturing worker. Such was not always the case. But a variety of factors such as labor cost differentials, EPA regulations and taxes had led to manufacturing jobs to be sent overseas. Now a 1.81 government to manufacturing employment ratio is called OVERHEAD. And you wonder why high paying manufacturing jobs are fleeing to other countries?
• Brzezinski's Ruse: American Empire Is Dead, China and Russia Take Over
  Zbigniew Brzezinski has written an article in The American Interest titled “Towards a Global Realignment” that has received a tremendous amount of attention on the internet, along with much gloating. Brzezinski is an architect of the world’s current military and economic disasters and as such he has plenty of enemies. With this article, they see him recanting his previous arrogance and vision of a worldwide US hegemony. In fact, in the alternative media, many champion his apparent admission as a huge win for the world and a huge defeat for imperialism.
• Wall Street Week Ahead: Sleepy summer may give way to freaky fall
  The dog days of summer have lived up to their sleepy reputation this year as far as U.S. stocks are concerned, but market gyrations could soon pick up as a traditionally more volatile time of year looms. The S&P 500 index's 1-month realized volatility, a measure of market choppiness over the past 30 days, is stuck near all-time lows, according to Thomson Reuters data. Even the early-summer jolt from the surprise Brexit vote proved short-lived, and the S&P has not seen a 1-percent price move, up or down, on any day since early July. Yet all that could change quickly given the abundance of catalysts that can rattle markets in the weeks ahead, market watchers said.
• Cuba Turns to Foreign Investors as Cheap Venezuelan Oil Fades
  Nearly two years after presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced a thaw in relations, Cuba’s communist government is turning to foreign investors to boost renewable energy as it faces cutbacks in cheap oil imports from Venezuela. The government formed by Fidel Castro in 1959 and led by his brother, Raul, is pitching large wind and solar projects and biomass plants that run on sugar cane to foreign companies at conferences like one opening Thursday in Havana. The goal: Bring billions of dollars into sectors that until recently were controlled by state-run entities, and lift the amount of electricity produced by renewables to 24 percent by 2030 from 4 percent today.
• Donald Trump: Champion For Christians
  The following is a list of the political resolves and policy positions Donald Trump has made in support of the Christian faith and the Christian community.
• Obama's Sneak Attack On U.S. Sovereignty Sets Stage For Climate Regulation
  The regulations, they are a-coming. That's what at least one noted climate skeptic warned, pointing to the very capable pen and phone politicking of President Obama that's allowed him great success in bypassing Congress on various pet agendas – particularly, on those dealing with the environment, and even more particularly, on one provision he signed earlier this year, the Paris Accord. The measure supposedly commits America to abide what the Obama administration described as “the most ambitious climate change agreement in history.”
• The Coming Bloody Revolution In America
  America IS being intentionally destroyed, says Roy Masters, and he's not talking about Russians. As an Englishman who loves America, the real America, Masters has for 27 years been warning Americans about the disintegration of their country on his syndicated radio program, “How Your Mind Can Keep You Well.” Here for the first time, he is laying out what he sees in store for this country in the years ahead. The American system was founded on an idea so radical and seemingly beyond human nature that, technically speaking, America shouldn't even exist. And the notion that human beings could govern their own lives responsibly, respecting the rights of others, without the need for a king or tyrant, but only for public servants, ran contrary to all other governments in the history of the human race. In just two short centuries, America has shamed the rest of the world with its mind-boggling success, freedom and wealth.
• 11,700 Petrobras Employees Sign Up To Get Fired
  Over 11,700 Petrobras employees signed up to get fired through the Brazilian energy firm’s voluntary dismissal program, according to a new report by Bloomberg. The government-owned company set up the program to reduce debt and reduce operational costs by $10 billion in the coming years as global oil prices stay low. Petrobras workers had until August 31st to sign up for the voluntary dismissal program, through which they would be eligible for severance benefits. Paying out the benefits for the 12,000 workers the company plans to let go will cost $1.23 billion, an official statement said Friday. The firm’s stock prices rick by 4.5 percent Friday morning – the highest jump since August 11th. Petrobras’ stock prices have doubled over the course of 2016 after sinking to a 17-year low in January. So far, the company has pulled out of major investments and stabilized fuel prices in Brazil in order to keep revenues up as the bear market for oil passes.
• Are You a Mind-Controlled CIA Stooge? — Paul Craig Roberts
  Do you smirk when you hear someone question the official stories of Orlando, San Bernardino, Paris or Nice? Do you feel superior to 2,500 architects and engineers, to firefighters, commercial and military pilots, physicists and chemists, and former high government officials who have raised doubts about 9/11? If so, you reflect the profile of a mind-controlled CIA stooge. The term “conspiracy theory” was invented and put into public discourse by the CIA in 1964 in order to discredit the many skeptics who challenged the Warren Commission’s conclusion that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a lone gunman named Lee Harvey Oswald, who himself was assassinated while in police custody before he could be questioned. The CIA used its friends in the media to launch a campaign to make suspicion of the Warren Commission report a target of ridicule and hostility. This campaign was “one of the most successful propaganda initiatives of all time.”
• Climate pact: After years of talk, focus shifts to action
  Eight months after 195 nations concluded a hard-fought climate rescue pact, pressure is mounting to put its carbon-cutting promises into action as world leaders gather at G20 and UN meetings this month. The historic deal reached in Paris in December has been signed by 180 countries, but will only take effect after 55 nations responsible for 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it—making it binding. China—responsible for around 25 percent of global carbon emissions—ratified the pact Saturday, ahead of a meeting of G20 leaders where the United States is also expected to follow suit, considerably boosting efforts. Until Beijing joined the club, only 24 nations emitting just over one percent of the global total had officially acceded, according to the UN climate body overseeing the deal to cap global warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.
• Sorry Losers! How the Fed has screwed the many to benefit the few
  By its actions, the Federal Reserve has selected a precious few winners and many, many losers.  Sadly, you are highly likely to be one of the losers. Sorry! I'm one, too, if that helps soften the blow. But we have a lot of company. Other losers include: Savers, Anyone with money in a checking account, Anyone with money in a savings account, Anyone with money in a CD, Anyone depending on bond income, All pensions, Endowments, First time homebuyers, Renters, Those who invest based on fundamentals, Everybody alive in the future, when the bills come due, Anyone on this list has been intentionally pre-selected by the Fed for losing. The Fed has done this deliberately, with full pre-knowledge that it was going to diminish the prospects of the majority in favor of the benefit of an elite few. And to make matters worse, it has no plans to — and no clue how to — reverse the damage it has wrought.
• Mike Maloney: This Is The Peak To be followed by ‘one hell of a crisis'
  Precious metals dealer and monetary historian Mike Maloney is quite confident the liquidity-driven ‘recovery' created by the world's central banks is now over. In his estimation, the path ahead is one of accelerating descent into inevitable currency destruction.
• Are You Ready For The End Game? […It’s Coming] — Andy Hoffman 
  Andy Hoffman is back to kick off September by helping us document the collapse. From 6.2 BILLION in PAPER Gold dumped on the futures market in just the past week to BREXIT 2 which Andy predicts is coming in November when Trump beats Hillary, the end game is coming into focus quickly.
• Prepping 101: The Ultimate Zero to Hero Guide to Prepping
  Forget the Zombie apocalypse. Real zombies are , in fact, starving mobs of people that will beg you for a loaf of bread when disaster strikes and they’ve got nothing to eat. Forget those reality T.V. shows, too. Those are just exaggerations by the media to get increased ratings. Prepping is like an insurance for a number of critical events that could harm you, your family, your home, your town, or your city. You don’t expect to crash your car and die every time you get behind the wheel, do you? Yet you still pay insurance. Think of prepping in the same way. You have to take steps to ensure your long term-survival.
• What Life Will Be Like After an Economic Collapse
  If you have been waiting for a public announcement or news headline to let you know that an economic collapse has begun, you are in for the surprise of your life. If history in other countries and in Detroit, Michigan is any indication, there won’t be an announcement. An economic collapse tends to sneak up on a city, region, or country gradually over time. In some cases, the arrival of an economic collapse is so gradual that most people living in it aren’t even aware of it at first. Things just get gradually worse, often so gradually that people and families adjust as best they can until one day they actually realize that it’s not just their home or their neighborhood that has been hit so hard financially, it’s everyone. By that time, it’s often too late to take preventative action.
• The Self-Reliance Manifesto: More Than 300 Resources to Guide You on the Path to Radical Freedom
  Self-Reliance. It’s a revolutionary word these days and I thought it deserved a manifesto. Have you happened to notice that our society is out of balance? The consumers outnumber the producers at such a rapid clip that we can’t possibly continue like this. But who has time to produce when they are indebted and working overtime to finance their current lifestyles in the hopes that they will finally be able to buy “enough” to be happy, fulfilled, and loved? We live in a society made up mostly of rabid consumers.  As soon as the advertising pros on Madison Avenue point them in a given direction, people flock to it like the zombies on The Walking Dead lurch toward a fresh human, completely oblivious to everything else.  They yearn for these things that are produced across the world and then delivered at a cheap price.  They fill up on cheap food that has been government subsidized, making it unrealistically inexpensive.  They are enslaved as they work to pay for it, or in some cases, accept a handout to pay for it. More people are deeply in debt than ever, living a fancy First World Lifestyle that would crumble with one missed paycheck. They are slaves and they don’t even know it.
• Why Did FEMA Just Put a Rush Order on 5 Million Bottles Of Water?
  Sometimes, we can get a hint of things that are to come by watching what the government is doing to prepare. After all, their intel is way better than ours, and they do have a tendency to keep secrets.  Of special interest to anyone who like to don the tinfoil and try to figure out what may be coming down the pipe are the actions of FEMA, the agency which is in charge of “managing” emergencies here in the US. So when they place a large order for something that they want absolutely immediately, I pay attention. A few days ago, FEMA put out a solicitation for 5 million bottles of water, to be delivered within 2 days. It said they had an “urgent requirement” for this water.
• Jumping Ship: Two Central Banks Just Printed Billions In Paper Currency… And Immediately Bought Gold Mining Stocks With It
  When former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was questioned by Ron Paul during a 2011 monetary policy report, he famously told the Congressman that gold is not money and the only reason central banks hold it is because of “long-term tradition.” Bernanke’s comments have since been cited by financial pundits as expert advice on why precious metals investments should be considered no different than other traditional investments like equities or bonds. Suggesting they may be a safe haven asset or that there are thousands of years of evidence supporting the claim that gold and silver are money are often laughed at and marginalized. But if gold and silver are not real money and they are not safe haven assets, then why did the central banks of Switzerland and Norway just print $2 billion dollars in currency and immediately move that paper currency into gold mining companies?
• ALERT: U.S. CDC Giving Itself Unconstitutional POWERS To Round Up And Detain Citizens En Masse Anytime, Anywhere And Throw Away The Key
  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention literally has overstepped its authority in proposing to grant itself powers that obviously negate any rights U.S. citizens thought they had by issuing the Proposed Rule “Control of Communicable Diseases” on August 15, 2016 wherein CDC will self-invest itself with the power to apprehend healthy people en masse and detain them indefinitely with NO process of appeal! That mammoth proposed rule is published in the Federal Register [Federal Register Number: 2016-18103] online at this website.  Before you read it, I suggest taking a very stiff shot of vodka or scotch, because you won’t believe what you read that is being proposed for what is supposed to be a non-communist country and its people, the USA! But, the CDC wants to hear your comments about the proposed rule, as if it really cares.  Citizens should file your comments at this website before October 14, 2016!  Officially, it’s Comment No. CDC-2016-0068-0001.
• Major Bank Official: Banks Are “Preparing for an Economic Nuclear Winter”
  After years of giveaways to megabanks, marketed to the taxpayers as ‘quantitative easing,’ the crutches shoved under the banker-controlled global stock trade are about to snap. Bankers now say they are preparing for the collapse. In June of 2015, former Congressman Ron Paul predicted that these crutches would fail, and the financial bubbles created by them would send the stock market into a free fall.
• How Much Will Silver’s Value Increase Compared To Gold During The Next Financial Crash? Check Out These Charts
  Many investors believe the value of silver will surge much higher in percentage terms compared to gold during the next financial and economic crash.  I happen to belong to that savvy group of silver investors, and for good reason.  If we look at the charts below, the data proves that silver bullion is certainly the more undervalued precious metal asset. Thus, it will likely make silver one of the best investment strategies of a lifetime…
• Economist Warns: “Physical Precious Metals Markets May Freeze Up- In A Buying Frenzy, $5,000 Gold Is A Conservative Estimate”
  Wait until the physical market freezes up.  I saw it once (1980)…I saw what happened with gold and silver when it was a panic buy… Economist David Morgan of The Morgan Report is one of the world’s best known silver investors. In the following interview with Future Money Trends Morgan discusses his personal experiences during the last major run-up in gold, when it hit a price of $850 in early 1980. As Morgan describes it, there was significant panic buying during that time period, and should central banks and governments continue on their current course, we’ll see a similar endgame play out this time around.
• Russia, China Building Yuan-Based Alliance Against Dollar
  The yuan is nearing to become a true international currency. In October, the Chinese currency will be added by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to its list of reserve financial instruments. A day before the Eastern Economic Forum 2016 started in Russia’s Vladivostok the Russian-Chinese Financial Council held a meeting to discuss boosting ties between Russian and Chinese financial organizations. Currently, the council comprises 27 Russian and 29 Chinese financial institutions. The council is aimed at facilitating transactions in capital markets and promoting payments in national currencies.
• The enemy is us.
  Your government is on red alert: between 2006 and 2014, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency of the Department of Agriculture, spent nearly $4.8 million to purchase shotguns, propane cannons, liquid explosives, pyro supplies, drones, thermal imaging cameras, and more. APHIS describes itself as “a multi-faceted Agency with a broad mission area that includes protecting and promoting U.S. agricultural health, administering the Animal Welfare Act, and carrying out wildlife damage management activities.” Liquid explosives and shotguns are apparently necessary to carry out its “broad mission.”
• Bill Holter: Newly Solidified Chinese Superpower Will Replace Dead U.S. Dollar
  Will September 2016 be remembered as the month the dollar died? Yesterday, September 2nd on TRUNEWS, Rick Wiles was joined by financial writer Bill Holter to discuss the very real possibility that September 30th, 2016 might be the actual day the U.S. Dollar finally collapses, and then God help us all. During the interview, Bill Holter explains that Jim Rickards, world famous author of The Death of Money, and Currency Wars has predicted September 30th, 2016 will be the day, and he’s got his prediction narrowed down to the exact hour.
• US, China jointly ratify Paris climate accord
  The United States has joined China to formally ratify the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions, the world's two biggest economies said on Saturday (Sept 3), which could help put the pact into force before the end of the year. US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping submitted their plan to join the agreement to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who is in China to witness the announcement. Senior Obama adviser Brian Deese said the joint declaration should push other countries to formally join the agreement. “The signal of the two large emitters taking this step together and taking it early, far earlier than people had anticipated a year ago, should give confidence to the global communities and to other countries that are working on their climate change plans, that they too can move quickly and will be part of a global effort,” Mr Deese told reporters on Friday.
• We’ve Reached the “Zero Point” of Debt Creation 
  Forty-five years and counting: We’ve been on a debt spree since the early 1970s when we went off the gold standard, covering every possible angle. Trade deficits, government deficits, unfunded entitlements, private debt – you name it! Our total debt has grown 2.5-times GDP since 1971. How could economists not see this as a problem? How is this the least bit sustainable? It isn’t. We’re hurtling toward a massive financial crisis, and all we have to show for it are financial asset bubbles destined to burst. And when they do, they’ll wipe out the artificial wealth they’ve created for many decades… in just a few years, as they did from late 1929 into late 1932!
• It Starts: Rents Drop in 10 of the Top 12 US Markets
  The construction boom of apartment and condo buildings around the US, especially in high-priced metro areas on the East Coast and the West Coast, is now colliding with the reality of squeezed household incomes and soaring rents. As a consequence, in many of the hottest markets – including San Francisco, where the explosion in rents is called “The Housing Crisis” – rents have started to drop. Landlords are competing with a surge of new supply from new apartment and condo developments. Incentives, such as one month free rent, a rarity in hot markets like San Francisco, have reappeared. And in some of the neighborhoods with new apartment towers, the “now leasing” banners are everywhere.
• As 9-to-5 Jobs Vanish, Look Who’s Reinventing the Working World
  Estelle Becker Costanzo has worked in Pittsburgh restaurants since age 15. Now 56, she is a server at The Capital Grille, a position she is proud of. “This is a good job,” she says—relative to the rest of the industry. Still, because her base wage has stayed put at $2.83 per hour for 25 years, she struggles to cover her basic expenses. “Originally, [tips] were supposed to be 50 percent of our income. Now it’s more like 100 percent.”
• California Just Passed A $1.7 Billion Tax On The Whole Country That No One Noticed
  The California State Assembly recently passed a bill that received minimal recognition by the press, outside of the state, but has substantial negative consequences for basically everyone in the country.  Once signed by Jerry Brown, the bill, known as AB 1066, will make California the only state in the entire country to provide overtime wages to ag workers after 8 hours a day or 40 hours per week.  This change will add about $1.7BN annually to the cost of growing food in California which will ultimately be passed along to consumers.  And since eating isn't really optional, this is effectively a $1.7BN tax that California has decided to levy on the entire country.  Worse yet, increasing food prices is essentially the most regressive form of “tax” possible given the disproportionate share of wages spent on food by low-income families.  And, while you may not know it, California is an agricultural powerhouse that produces roughly 1/3 of all vegetables consumed in this country and 2/3s of the fruits and nuts.
• Fewest Stocks Traded In 32 Years – The Market Is Disappearing In One Giant Leveraged Buyout
  The number of common stocks traded on major U.S. exchanges are the fewest in three decades. As CNBC reports, “Currently, there are just 3,267 stocks in the University of Chicago's CRSP data, and this is the lowest since 1984,” wrote longtime Jefferies equity strategist Steven DeSanctis.
• Et Tu Austria – 3rd European Nation Abandons TTIP Trade Deal
  In our coverage on the slow death of TTIP we focused on Germany and France. We are now hearing that the Austrian SPÖ, the majority partner in the governing grand coalition, is also opposed – and not only to TTIP but also to the CETA deal with Canada. Der Standard quotes Chancellor Christian Kern as questioning CETA just after vice-chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner from the ÖVP, the centre right coalition partner, questioned TTIP.
• Retired Green Beret Warns: “World Governments Are Preparing For Disaster And War”
  As written in previous articles, it is my firm conviction that we will be involved in a World War that will be initiated by an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon detonated over the continental United States. That being said, this piece summarizes recent events that reinforce such a conclusion, a conviction that is shared by world leaders, senior military personnel, and prominent analysts, as well as being a general consensus of opinion worldwide.  As of this writing, the German government has instructed its citizens to prepare for a forthcoming disaster by stockpiling at least 10 days-worth of food and 5 days of water.  In Berlin, they are considering bringing back mandatory conscription (a draft) in view of the influx of Muslim aliens entering Europe. This concern is mirrored by Hungary and the Czech Republic who, in light of an influx of more than a million Muslims entering Europe are calling for an army in Europe representing the EU to be able to deal with this crisis affecting their borders.
• “Tremendous Ripple Effects” – Retailers Demand Bailout After Hanjin Collapse Paralyzes Trade
  When we first reported about the imminent paralysis of an unknown number of global supply chains and a potential shock in worldwide trade as a result of the historic bankruptcy of Hanjing Shipping, one of the world's largest container shipping companies which handles 8% of Trans-Pacific trade volume for the US market, we concluded that “the global implications from the bankruptcy are unknown: if, as expected, the company's ships remain “frozen” and inaccessible for weeks if not months, the impact on global supply chains will be devastating, potentially resulting in a cascading waterfall effect, whose impact on global economies could be severe as a result of the worldwide logistics chaos. The good news is that both economists and corporations around the globe, both those impacted and others, will now have yet another excuse on which to blame the “unexpected” slowdown in both profits and economic growth in the third quarter.”
• Physical Gold Delivery Failure By German Banks
  The physical gold delivery failure to clients of Deutsche Bank who own Xetra-Gold, the gold exchange traded commodity, was confirmed yesterday by Deutsche Bourse who said that the inability to deliver gold was not limited to Deutsche Bank and that other German banks were having “problems” delivering gold.
• One Firm Is Calling For Skyrocketing Gold, Silver & Oil And A Crash In The Dow!
  As we get ready to what should be a very exciting fall, one firm is calling for skyrocketing gold, silver & oil and a 7,000 point plunge in the Dow! “My fear is that because interest rates are suppressed, therefore earnings are inflated. So when rates go up … the hall of mirrors is shattered and we look at each other and see what actually is real rather than what the Fed wants us to believe.” — Jim Grant By Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, Incrementum AG Liechtenstein – Value judgments are subjective. Particularly in the valuation of investment assets, expectations about the future play a crucial role. One of the perhaps best known and quite informative ratios is the Dow/gold ratio…
• Is This About To Radically Change The World Forever?
  As we await the release of the U.S. jobs report on Friday, in order to see which direction it sends markets hurtling, is this new technology about to radically change the world forever? By Gerald Celente, Trends Research Institute. Anyone who’s conversed with Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana has made friends with a chatbot. A chatbot is a form of artificial intelligence that responds in a conversational manner, in print or verbally, to questions or requests from people: “Where’s the nearest McDonald’s?” or “Call Doug.”…
• Legend Issues Dire Warning About Deutsche Bank’s Failure To Deliver Gold
  The man who, unbelievably, predicted the collapse of the euro against the Swiss franc in 2015, today sent King World News a brief note about Deutsche Bank’s failure to deliver gold and issued a dire warning. Deutsche Bank & Germany To Collapse? Egon von Greyerz:  “The Deutsche Bank situation is not new and I have talked about it many times as you know.  Deutsche Bank is bankrupt, but you must realize that they are an institution, and therefore the German government will not let Deutsche Bank fail before the country fails. Both of these events will of course happen, but not yet.” King World News will have more coverage of the Deutsche Bank situation shortly…
• Trump Immigration Policy Update, MSM Lies for Hillary, Economic Update
  Donald Trump had a fantastic week that included a surprise trip to Mexico to talk with the President of Mexico. After that, Trump flew to Phoenix to give a 10 point immigration policy speech that went over big.  Of course, if you watch the mainstream media (MSM), Trump was a total disaster, but don’t believe the liars employed by legacy media.  The MSM lies and are freaking out that Trump could pull off a win despite their biased political spin.
• America You Need To Lose Weight: At Least 1 Out Of Every 5 People Are Obese In All 50 States
  The United States officially has an obesity crisis.  According to a brand new report that was just released by the Trust for America’s Health, at least one out of every five people meet the clinical definition for obesity in all 50 states.  But of course in some states things are far worse than that.  More than 35 percent of all adults are obese in four states, and the obesity rate is between 30 and 35 percent in 21 other states.  And it is important to keep in mind that just needing to lose weight does not mean that you are obese.  According to the CDC, you have got to have a body mass index of at least 30.0 to meet the clinical definition for obesity. Each year, the American people spend 60 billion dollars on weight loss programs and products.  That breaks down to about 188 dollars for every man, woman and child in the country.  We are a nation that is absolutely obsessed with losing weight, and yet obesity levels are hovering near all-time record highs.
• Global Recession? The Canadian Economy Shrinks At The Fastest Pace Since The Last Financial Crisis
  Things have not been this bad for the Canadian economy since the last global recession.  During the second quarter of 2016, Canada’s GDP contracted at a 1.6 percent annualized rate.  That was the worst number in seven years, and it was even worse than most analysts were projecting.  This comes at a time when bad news is pouring in from all corners of the global economy.  While things in the United States are still relatively stable for the moment, the same cannot be said for much of the rest of the planet.  Canada in particular has been hit very hard by the collapse in oil prices, and the massive wildfire in northern Alberta back in May certainly did not help things.
• A Timetable for the Dollar’s Demise
  The next five weeks will mark one of the most significant transformations in the international monetary system in over 30 years. Since the dollar is still the lynchpin of this system, the dollar itself will be affected. Whatever affects the dollar affects you, your portfolio and your personal financial security. It is vital to understand the changes underway in order to protect your net worth, and even prosper in the coming transition. Such radical transformations of the international monetary system have happened many times before, including the dual “accords” of the 1980s. These were the Plaza Accord in 1985, and the Louvre Accord in 1987 — named respectively after the Plaza Hotel in New York, and the Louvre Museum in Paris where the key meetings took place.
• Drudge: ‘HOMELAND SECURITY TO TAKE CHARGE OF ELECTIONS’
  Why does the Department of Homeland Security all of a sudden want to oversee security for the election in November? Just a little while ago I checked the Drudge Report, and I was greeted by the following headline all in red: “HOMELAND SECURITY TO TAKE CHARGE OF ELECTIONS”. I was immediately alarmed, because I had already heard about how local election databases had been hacked, and Donald Trump has expressed concern that the presidential election in November could be rigged somehow. So I immediately clicked on the link and it took me to an article from the Washington Examiner…
• Canada signals intent to join China-led bank
  Justin Trudeau has officially submitted Canada's application to join a controversial new international infrastructure bank led by China — an initiative the Asian country hopes will help build its economic credibility around the world. China founded the US$100-billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank late last year to provide other countries in the region access to capital for investments in projects in areas such as transportation, power and telecommunications. The Canadian government made the announcement after Trudeau met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday in Beijing, but did not immediately specify how much money it would put into the new bank. The government said in a statement that joining the bank will help Canada further engage in multilateral infrastructure efforts, and help pave the way for Canadian companies looking for new business opportunities. Trudeau hinted on Tuesday that Canada's application had been in the works.
• Norway Raids Sovereign Wealth Fund To Cover Government Expenses
  Saudi Arabia isn't the only oil-dependent nation struggling to make ends meet in the wake of weak oil prices.  For the first time since its establishment in 1996, the Norwegian government is starting to withdraw money from its sovereign wealth fund to cover government expenses.  In fact, in the first half of 2016 the government has withdrawn $5.4 billion.  Moreover, withdrawals are expected to accelerate in 2H 2016 reaching nearly $20 billion, a run-rate that would have them exceeding the fiscal limits imposed on fund withdrawals of 4% of assets, or $36 billion.  To put those withdrawals into perspective, Norway's economy is roughly $375 billion and federal spending accounts for roughly 60% or $225BN.  Therefore, a $20BN withdrawal in 2H 2016 represents roughly 18% of total government spending.
• Hoarding Cash – Prelude to the Crash & Burn
  We are monitoring confidence in the banking system as reflected by cash withdrawals. The sale of home safes has exploded in many countries. I previously reported that one in ten currency notes in Switzerland being printed is now the 1000 franc note. In fact, there is some 41.6 billion in Swiss francs now in circulation in 1000 CHF notes exclusively. The ECB is truly brain-dead for they thought by moving with negative interest rates, people would spend their money and that would rekindle inflation. They are correct that people would not want to pay negative interest rates. However, they totally never guessed that they would withdraw their money and hoard it rather than spend it. The trend toward hoarding cash really became in 2011. It started to make the news in 2012. Now the German savers are buying home safes as well and pulling out cash. Of course, they attribute this primarily to negative rates. However, the concerns that Deutsche Bank may be in serious trouble is also helping matters.
• G20 Summit to tackle rise in anti-globalization
  The G20 Summit is to take place amid weak economic recovery and the lowest rate of global trade growth in three decades. China would like to see G20 leaders resist protectionism and instead, seek economic growth through innovation and reform. CCTV’s reporter spoke to some of China’s brightest business leaders to hear their proposals to G20 leaders. “Globalization is nothing wrong. But we need to perfect it,” said Jack Ma, Alibaba founder & CEO. Alibaba founder Jack Ma is deeply concerned about the rising anti-globalization sentiment around the world.
• Deutsche Bank Refuses Delivery Of Physical Gold Upon Demand
  While the trading world was focused on the latest news involving Deutsche Bank, namely that the troubled German bank had been contemplating a merger with Germany's other mega-bank, Commerzbank as part of a strategy to sell all or part of a key business to speed up its flagging overhaul, a more troubling report emerged in a German gold analysis website, according to which Deutsche Bank was unable to satisfy a gold delivery request when asked to do so by a client of Germany's Xetra-Gold service. But first, what is Xetra-Gold? According to its website, the publicly traded company “provides investors with an efficient instrument to participate in the performance of the gold market. Xetra-Gold’s combination of features – cost-efficient trading and the right for physical delivery of gold – makes it an attractive product.”
• Pound jumps as UK manufacturing posts joint biggest rebound in 25 years
  UK manufacturing activity rebounded at the joint-fastest pace in a quarter of a century in August amid a jump in output and new orders as the initial shock of the Brexit vote faded. Sterling rose after Markit's latest survey of the sector showed factories were returning to “business as usual” following a steep downturn in activity immediately after the June 23 poll. Markit said the fall in the value of the pound triggered by the referendum result had helped to push up overseas orders, while domestic output also bounced back and employment rose for the first time this year.
• 68% of companies paid no corporation tax in 2014
  There have been calls for a rethink on corporation tax policy after official figures show that no corporation tax was collected on almost €17 billion worth of earnings by Irish registered companies over a five year period.
• Goldman Sachs: Brazil’s Economic Depression Could Take 5+ Years to Correct
  Brazil’s stock market has surged this year, despite spiking unemployment and a several-year-long economic depression. A Goldman Sachs analyst now notes there’s no real improvement in sight.
• China Sees “Great Difficulties” in Meeting Economic Growth Targets
  Based on a supply-side estimate of potential growth and projections of the main components of demand, Bloomberg’s Chief Economist Tom Orlik notes that China potential growth – the rate at which the economy could expand when firing on all cylinders – will slow to 7.1% in 2016 and 7.0% in 2017 from 7.3% in 2015. The government’s growth target for 2016 is 6.5-7% and – based on the 13th Five Year Plan – a minimum of 6.5% from 2016-2020.
• Canada’s GDP Plunges 1.6% in Q2, Worst Reading in Seven Years
  From Michael Snyder: Things have not been this bad for the Canadian economy since the last global recession. During the second quarter of 2016, Canada’s GDP contracted at a 1.6 percent annualized rate.
• Could This Earnings Recession Signal 1987-Style Market Crash?
  As earnings go, so goes the market. That’s the way things are supposed to work, anyway. Except that right now, they clearly don’t. Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research argues that even [current tepid earnings forecasts] might be overly optimistic. In a research note to clients Monday, he pointed to data that shows that companies have been consistently cutting their estimates for future earnings as the close of the quarter in question nears.
• The Central Banks Are Now Ready To Launch Their ‘Brave New World'
  The latest Federal Reserve meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is over and so far it would seem that the general investment world is not too happy about Janet Yellen’s statements as well as those of other Fed officials.  In fact, many people are looking for some simple clarity as to what the central bank is actually planning. Most importantly, investors want to know why the Fed is suddenly so adamant about continued interest rate hikes in 2016.  Only a couple months ago, almost everyone (including alternative economic analysts) was arguing that the Fed would “never dare” to raise rates again so soon, and that there was no chance of a rate hike so close to the presidential elections. Instead, investors have been greeted with surging rate-hike odds as Fed officials openly hint of another boost, probably in September. As I have been saying for years, if you think the Fed’s motivation is to protect or prolong the U.S. economy, then you will never understand why they do the things that they do.  Only when people are willing to accept the reality that the Fed’s job is to undermine the U.S. economy can they grasp central bank behavior.
• Chris Christie Did The Right Thing By Vetoing a $15 Minimum Wage
  Chris Christie, the Governor of the perennial blue state of NJ, is not someone who normally comes to mind when one thinks of free markets and liberty, but credit must be given when it's due. This week, Christie vetoed a bill pushed by the NJ legislature for a $15 minimum wage. This was a heroic act that should please every poor, low-skilled individual in the Garden State. Their chances of gaining employment have been greatly increased. Now if only the total elimination of the minimum wage were on the table…But alas, that day still lies in the future. For now, the cause of liberty and voluntary contracts can celebrate this token victory. The government has no right to stick its nose in other people's business. Contracts should always be voluntarily made without a third-party bullying its way in and messing everything up.
• Tractor for Modern Farm Features Everything But the Farmer
  As Detroit car makers and Silicon Valley tech giants vie to bring driverless cars to U.S. roads, one of the world’s largest tractor makers is looking to do the same down on the farm. Case IH, the agricultural-machinery unit of CNH Industrial NV, this week unveiled a sleek, aggressive-looking red-and-black machine at the annual Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa.
• QE, End of the Private Sector? Japanese Government Now Largest Shareholder of 474 Big Companies
  The Bank of Japan and the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) have been buying stocks to inflate the market, create some kind of “wealth effect,” and bamboozle regular Japanese into pouring once again into stocks, after many of them lost a big chunk of their savings when the prior bubble imploded without ever recovering. In 2014, the GPIF – buckling under the pressure from the Abe administration – decided to plow about 25% (“±9%”) of its assets into Japanese stocks. With assets at the time of still about $1.4 trillion, 25% would amount to about $350 billion. So the fund has been buying a lot! And it has been a disaster!
• What Rail Freight Volume just Said about China
  The Chinese government is getting nervous about the numbers and is insisting, top-down, on obtaining economic growth of 6.5% to 7% this year, one way or the other. China’s cabinet has sent inspectors fanning out to provinces across the country to “keep economic growth within a reasonable range and ensure the main objectives and tasks of this year’s economic and social development will be completed,” according to Xinhua news agency, cited by Reuters. Because, apparently not all of China was playing along. Some regions and government departments are not coordinating their policies well and some officials are lazy in their work, Xinhua said.
• Worst Plunge in Canada’s GDP since 2009
  In the second quarter, Canada’s economic activity, as measured by inflation-adjusted GDP, fell 0.4% from the first quarter, or 1.6% annualized, “the largest decline in quarterly GDP since the second quarter of 2009,” as Statistics Canada put it in its data release. It was a brutal reversal of the first quarter, when GDP had jumped an upwardly revised 2.5% annualized. Canada’s economy is to a considerable extent dependent on its resource sector, particularly oil and gas. But since mid-February, prices of crude oil, a crucial export product, soared (with the US benchmark grade WTI up over 80%!). Given the soaring oil prices in the quarter, it’s even more unnerving that exports, which add to GDP, plunged 4.5% (nearly 20% annualized!), the worst plunge since Q2 2009. While exports of services edged up 0.6%, exports of good plunged 5.5%.
• Prominent European Firm Issues A Nearly $60 Target For The Price Of Silver!
  As we come to the end of what has been a wild summer, this firm has issued a nearly $60 target for the price of silver. By Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, Incrementum AG Liechtenstein – Valuations are always subjective. They are in the eye of the beholder and often vary considerably. Objective factors, such as production costs are entirely irrelevant for valuations. The market value of a masterwork painted by Vincent van Gogh is significantly higher than its production costs, and a glass of water will be valued quite differently in the middle of a desert than on the shore of a lake. Last year we decided to set a time horizon of three years – i.e. to June 2018 – for our long term price target of $2,300 to be reached. This is based on the premise that the trend of price inflation is going to turn up…
• Former Soros Associate Says The ‘Fix’ Is In
  As we get ready to enter September, a former associate of George Soros says the “fix” is in. Victor Sperandeo manages over $3 billion, has been in the business 45 years, and has worked with famous individuals such as Leon Cooperman and George Soros.  Below is what Sperandeo had to say. Eric King:  “Victor, where is the gold market after what has been a powerful up-move so far this year?” Victor Sperandeo:  “Most of the gold and silver mining stocks went straight up.  They performed incredibly well and so they got overbought.  So did gold, but not as much…

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.

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 August 26, 2016 to September 1, 2016:

• Current Global Financial System is Toast-John Rubino
  Financial writer John Rubino says don’t be fooled by the phony economy propped up by central banks. Rubino co-wrote a book a few years ago called “The Money Bubble.” It could have been written this week because almost everything he predicted then is coming to a head now.  Rubino contends, “The money bubble is basically the big bubble that all previous bubbles have been built on.  All the previous bubbles have come and gone, and “The Money Bubble” is about money, government debt and financial instruments, in general.  So, it’s a global bubble that is bigger than anything that has come before.  Part of the reason it has gone on so long is everybody is participating.  Every central bank has a printing press, and that allows them to fool people . . . . It fools people into thinking that the world is basically normal, and it’s not normal. . . . We are creating the conditions for the Mother-of-All financial crises.  It is taking longer to happen than was thought of a few years ago, but it is starting to happen now.  The QE (money printing) programs of the past few years, which were wildly experimental and really shocking to economists and everybody else, turn out not to work. . . . Either the system is getting ready to break down shortly or go on to a new level of experiments that are going to be even more dangerous . . . either way, the current system is toast.”
• “The Fed Has Mastered Market Manipulation” – Bill Gross Explains Why He Is Not A “Broken Clock”
  One day after Stanley Fischer provided a bizarre justification for why “negative rates seem to work”, saying that “clearly there are different responses to negative rates. If you’re a saver, they’re very difficult to deal with and to accept, although typically they go along with quite decent equity prices”, this morning in his latest monthly investment oulook, Bill Gross takes not only Fischer but the entire Fed to town, and piggybacking on the words of Kevin Warsh, says that “I and others however, have for several years now, suggested that the primary problem lies with zero/negative interest rates; that not only do they fail to provide an “easing cushion” should recession come knocking at the door, but they destroy capitalism’s business models – those dependent on a yield curve spread or an interest rate that permits a legitimate return on saving, as opposed to an incentive for spending. They also keep zombie corporations alive and inhibit Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” which many argue is the hallmark of capitalism. Capitalism, almost commonsensically, cannot function well at the zero bound or with a minus sign as a yield.”
• Global Supply Chains Paralyzed After World's 7th Largest Container Shipper Files Bankruptcy, Assets Frozen
  … today the largest casualty finally emerged on Wednesday when South Korea's Hanjin Shipping, the country's largest shipping firm and the world's seventh-biggest container carrier, filed for court receivership after losing the support of its banks, leaving its assets frozen as ports from China to Spain denied access to its vessels. As Reuters reports, banks led by state-run Korea Development Bank withdrew backing for the world's seventh-largest container carrier on Tuesday, saying a funding plan by its parent group was inadequate to tackle debt that stood at 5.6 trillion won ($5 billion) at the end of 2015.
• Are Central Bankers Coming to a Bitter End?
  Central bankers these days are seriously trapped. They cannot now reverse their policies for that means they have to admit that they have failed. This is why the Yellen is not so eager to move to negative rates and has continued to take the view that rates must be normalized (raised). That is far more serious than you might imagine. To even entertain backing down from negative interest rates means they have to admit that Keynesian/Marxist economics has completely failed and therein socialism, which is based upon the very principle that government CAN and is CAPABLE of managing the economy. This is the real question presented in the American presidential elections, yet nobody will articulate it in this manner. Hillary still preaches the same failed socialist agenda as if government can even do anything other than attack people who earn more money as did Emperor Maximinus of Rome, but pretend to give it to those who produce less.
• War On Cash: Discontinue Professor Rogoff’s Stupid Commentary, Not the $100 Bill
  In a recent opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff declared that there’s “little debate among law-enforcement agencies that paper currency, especially large notes such as the $100 bill, facilitates crime.” Rogoff would like to discontinue the $100 in order to – try not to laugh – reduce crime. Can the eminent economist really be so naïve as to presume that the disappearance of a piece of paper would prove effective at making the U.S. (and the world) more honest and safe? Apparently he does, while lightly acknowledging what economists refer to as the “substitution effect.”  If $100 Federal Reserve notes prove scarce, then similar euro and Pound bills will do the job, as will 10,000 yen notes. If $100 bills simplify big criminal transactions, wouldn’t little gold coins simplify crime even more?
• Pierre Lassonde, $10,000 Gold, The BIS And A Desperate Gold Swap Dealer Short Position
  The most interesting thing about the recent trading action was that the government backstops the heavy short positions held by the banks in the gold market because the bullion banks act as agents for the Federal Reserve, but they don’t officially backstop a large swap dealer who is in trouble.  So KWN was particularly interested in seeing if the advance in gold would be brought to a halt and the price driven lower because of a swap dealer’s deeply underwater short positions…
• Debt, Deficits & Economic Warnings
  While the world has been focused on the Federal Reserve, the markets, and the upcoming election, few have noticed the expansion of the deficit in recent months which is now in excess of $667 billion up from a recent low of $530 billion. During the financial crisis, the deficit ballooned to a record of $1.35 trillion as tax revenue declined as Government spending swelled. Importantly, the Federal Deficit was approaching 10% in 2009, a historical record for the U.S., but still remains at levels associated with weaker economic growth rates and recessions.
• ALERT: James Turk Issues Dire Warning As Fed To Monetize ‘Everything In Sight’
  Today James Turk issued a U.S. dollar hyperinflation warning.  Turk warned that the Fed is going to “monetize everything in sight.” James Turk:  “There is a very important change taking place in the stock market, Eric. While subtle and little noticed so far, this change is starting to stick out like a sore thumb and can no longer be ignored. Although the Dow Jones Industrials and other major indices are making new highs, the banking sector is glaringly underperforming. This divergence is clear from the following chart showing the NYSE Composite Index of all stocks on that exchange compared to the sub-sector of companies involved in banking and finance, the NYSE Financial Index.
• The World Is Hurtling Toward A New Global Monetary System
  As we come to the end of what has been a wild summer, the world is hurtling toward a new global monetary system. By Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, Incrementum AG Liechtenstein August 28 (King World News): “It is well known that every boom must one day come to an end. The businessman’s situation, however, depends on knowing exactly when and where the break will first appear. No economic barometer can answer these questions. An economic barometer only furnishes data from which conclusions may be drawn. Since it is still possible for the central bank of issue to delay the start of the catastrophe with its discount policy, the situation depends chiefly on making judgments as to the conduct of these authorities. Obviously, all available data fail at this point. But once public opinion is completely dominated by the view that the crisis is imminent and businessmen act on this basis, then it is already too late to derive business profit from this knowledge. Or even merely to avoid losses. For then the panic breaks out. The crisis has come.” — Ludwig von Mises. A new recession is inevitable. As already mentioned above, precise predictions regarding the when or how are not possible. At this juncture we nevertheless want to warn about an economic scenario that we believe to be a realistic possibility, namely stagflation.
• Can Americans Overthrow The Evil That Rules Them? — Paul Craig Roberts
  Paul Wolfowitz and the lies that he told in the high government positions that he held are responsible for a massive number of deaths and massive destruction in seven countries. Wolfowitz has announced his vote for Hillary Clinton. Does this make you feel reassured? The real surprise would have been Wolfowitz’s announcement in favor of Donald Trump. So why was what was expected news? Trump has said that he doesn’t see any future in the conflict Washington has initiated with Russia, and Trump questions the point of NATO’s continuing existence. These peaceful attitudes make Trump into a “national security risk” according to Wolfowitz. What Wolfowitz means is that a peace candidate is a threat to Wolfowitz’s doctrine of US world hegemony. In the crazed mind of Wolfowitz and the neoconservatives, America is not safe unless it rules the world.
• Major Cities All Over America Have Become Infested With Opioid Addicts And Extremely Violent Gangs
  Violence and drugs are flooding the streets of our major cities, but those that live in cushy suburban neighborhoods may not have heard much about this because the mainstream media is so obsessed with covering Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. As you will see below, drug overdose deaths involving heroin and prescription opioid pain relievers have soared to unprecedented levels, and in some areas of the country health authorities are finding themselves absolutely overwhelmed by overdose cases this summer. Law enforcement officials are doing what they can to combat this epidemic, but because Barack Obama has left our borders wide open the gangs are able to transport these dangerous drugs into this country with ease. As a result, we are facing a crisis on a level that we haven’t seen since at least the 1980s.
• Witchcraft, Islam And Humanism Are Filling The Spiritual Void Left By The Dying Church
  A dramatic spiritual paradigm shift is taking place in the western world. At the end of last week, I discussed the fact that more Americans than ever before appear to be turning away from the Christian faith, and this is particularly true among our young people. And while it is undeniable that atheism and agnosticism are both growing rapidly, it is also important to point out that other faiths are on the rise in the western world at the exact same time that Christianity is shrinking. If you are a Christian, what you are about to read should concern you greatly. Let’s start with witchcraft. It has been estimated that Wicca (one very popular form of witchcraft) is now the fastest growing faith in America. Books and movies featuring Harry Potter and others that use “magic” for good have fueled a tremendous amount of interest in the dark arts these days.
• The Day The Lights Go Out And The Trucks Stop Running
  What would happen if some sort of major national emergency caused a massive transportation disruption that stopped trucks from running?  The next time you talk to a trucker, please thank them for their service, because without their hard work none of our lives would be possible.  In America today, very few of us live a truly independent lifestyle, and that means that we rely on the system to provide what we need.  Most of us take for granted that there will always be plenty of goods at Wal-Mart and at the grocery store whenever we need more “stuff”, and most of us never give a second thought to how all of that “stuff” gets there.  Well, the truth is that most of it is brought in by trucks, and if the trucks stopped running for some reason the entire country would devolve into chaos very rapidly.
• America The Debt Pig: We Are A ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Society – And ‘Pay Later’ Is Rapidly Approaching
  If you really wanted to live like a millionaire, you could start doing it right now.  All you have to do is to apply for as many credit cards as possible and then begin running up credit card balances like there is no tomorrow.  At this point, I know what most of you are probably thinking.  You are probably thinking that such a lifestyle would not last for long and that a day of reckoning would eventually come, and you would be exactly right.  In fact, anyone that has ever had a tremendous amount of credit card debt knows how painful that day of reckoning can be.  To mindlessly run up credit card debt is exceedingly reckless, but unfortunately that is precisely what we have been doing as a nation as a whole.  We are a “buy now, pay later” society, and our national day of reckoning is approaching very, very quickly. Often we like to focus on our exploding national debt, but household debt is out of control too.  In fact, the total amount of household debt in the United States is now up to a whopping 12.3 trillion dolllars…
• Clinton Foundation Largest Unprosecuted Charity Fraud in History-Charles Ortel
  Wall Street financial expert Charles Ortel claims the Clinton Foundation is the “largest unprosecuted charity fraud in world history.” He also says this global fraud could not be pulled off without a lot of help.  Ortel explains, “I think this is an example of a vast left-wing conspiracy.  If you go back into the history, the Clintons always like to expose the things that go down for their credit, and they always try to hide the stuff that doesn’t make them look so good.  When you go back into the history of the Clintons, Bill and Hillary, and now Chelsea, have been monetizing government service.  They have been operating as Robin Hood in reverse.  Stealing from the poor to reward their rich cronies. . . . I think what you have here is a case study on the proponents of the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party, and they tend to be left-leaning, how these people got together and figured out a charity where foreigners can give unlimited amounts of money, and U.S. players can give unlimited amounts of tax deductible money to an entity.  This could be a preferred vehicle for strengthening the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party and Clinton interests around the world.”
• G-7's Penny-Pinching Ways Clash With Central Bank Stimulus
  One big reason the global economy is spinning its wheels: some of the world's richest governments are being tightwads. Group of Seven governments have been cutting their investment spending since a brief surge as the global financial crisis took hold. As a share of the group's gross domestic product, those expenditures were 3.3 percent in the first quarter, matching the lowest since 2000 and down from 4 percent at the start of 2009, according to numbers crunched by Oxford Economics.
• Fed’s Fischer Says Negative Rates Seem to Work in Today’s World
  Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said negative interest rates seem to be working in other countries, while reinforcing that they aren’t on the table in the U.S. While the Fed isn’t “planning to do anything in that direction,” the central banks using them “basically think they’re quite successful,” Fischer said Tuesday on Bloomberg Television with Tom Keene in Washington. He reiterated that Fed rate increases will be data dependent without giving a specific timeline.
• Apple: You can have taxes or you can have jobs but you can't have both
  Apple's official statement on the EU ruling against its Irish tax arrangements tells you all you need to know about what is at stake: You can have taxes, or you can have jobs, but Apple is in no mood to deliver both. After learning this morning that the EU expects Apple to pay €13 billion (£11 billion, $14.5 billion) in back taxes, the company said, “it will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe.”
• German Government Proposes Bill To Confiscate Food Businesses
  In a shocking story from German news the Government is proposing a bill to confiscate company that do business in food. Food stores, grocery warehouses farm fields etc. All this is being suggested as a bill in the event of a War Crises, Terrorism, Blackout, or Pandemic.
• The US: A Dead Nation Walking — Paul Craig Roberts
  In his article Orlov concludes that the United States is a dead nation, still walking, but no longer a uni-power. I agree with Orlov that US weapon systems are more focused on profits than on effectiveness and that Russia has superior weapons and a superior cause based on protection rather than dominance. However, in his assessment of the possibility of nuclear war, I think that Orlov under-appreciates the commitment of Washington’s Neoconservatives to US world hegemony and the recklessness of the Neoconservatives and Hillary Clinton. Washington is incensed that Russia (and China) dare to stand up to Washington, and this anger crowds out judgment. Orlov, also, I think, under-estimates the weakness in the Russian government provided by the “Atlanticist Integrationists.” These are members of the Russian elite who believe that Russia’s future depends on being integrated with the West. To achieve this integration, they are willing to sacrifice some undetermined amount of Russian sovereignty.
• The Stunning Roadmap To The Coming Global SDR Currency
  With many investors worried about the economic turmoil that has engulfed the globe, here is stunning the roadmap to the coming global SDR. Stephen Leeb:  “Wake up, America. We have a problem that’s threatening our economy and perhaps even our continued existence as a free society, and no one is paying attention. The problem: we have too much money and too little wealth. Today our money-to-wealth ratio is probably lower than for any other developed country in history. But there’s no indication that policymakers here understand the key distinction between money and wealth or even see the dire implications. The Chinese do. They realize the vastly disproportionate amount of money compared to wealth in the West has made the world’s dollar-denominated monetary system a cancer. The Chinese are scared to death it could spread to contaminate them, and they’re determined to change the system.
• Don’t Wait For a Reset: When The Economy Crashes There Will Be A Reallocation Of Money – Bix Weir
  Don’t Wait For a Reset – Bix Weir warns that when the US Economy crashes, there will be a reallocation of assets…
• Jim Rickards: “There Will Be A War On Gold”
  Following a recent keynote presentation at the Sprott Natural Resource Symposium, James G. Rickards, best-selling author and advisor to the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence Communities, was kind enough to share a few comments with the Sprott’s Thoughts publication. It was a fascinating conversation, as Jim noted the world’s monetary structures resemble, “Two tectonic plates; there’s the natural tectonic plate—deflation—and then…the policy plate of inflation—which is money printing, currency wars, QE, operation twist, negative interest rates, and zero interest rates…” “These [tectonic] forces are not only coming together,” he explained, “[But] they’re getting more powerful and they’re going to snap…When? No one knows… [But] the effect will be dramatic.” That tectonic “snap”, Jim described, will have devastating impact on peoples’ confidence in fiat currencies. “Confidence will be lost very quickly,” he said. And like a coiled spring, “You will have your inflation—all at once.” Even more chilling, was a recent conversation Jim had with banking & government officials, while at the Pentagon.
• Is Dow Theory Signaling a Market Crash?
  The often-misunderstood Dow Theory is being bandied about in financial media these days, but is it actually flashing a bearish signal or not? The charts below show the Dow Jones Transportation Average (ETF version: SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA)) has failed to print a new high above the previous high made in 2015. Given the Dow has made a new high, a Dow Theory non-confirmation remains in effect.
• World's First Self-Driving Taxis Debut in Singapore
  The world's first self-driving taxis are picking up passengers in Singapore. Select members of the public began hailing free rides Thursday through their smartphones in taxis operated by nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup. While multiple companies, including Google and Volvo, have been testing self-driving cars on public roads for several years, nuTonomy says it is the first to offer rides to the public. It beat ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, by a few weeks. The service is starting small — six cars now, growing to a dozen by the end of the year. The ultimate goal, say nuTonomy officials, is to have a fully self-driving taxi fleet in Singapore by 2018, which will help sharply cut the number of cars on Singapore's congested roads. Eventually, the model could be adopted in cities around the world, nuTonomy says.
• Uber Loses at Least $1.2 Billion in First Half of 2016
  The ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. is not a public company, but every three months, dozens of shareholders get on a conference call to hear the latest details on its business performance from its head of finance, Gautam Gupta. On Friday, Gupta told investors that Uber's losses mounted in the second quarter. Even in the U.S., where Uber had turned a profit during its first quarter, the company was once again losing money. In the first quarter of this year, Uber lost about $520 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to people familiar with the matter. In the second quarter the losses significantly exceeded $750 million, including a roughly $100 million shortfall in the U.S., those people said. That means Uber's losses in the first half of 2016 totaled at least $1.27 billion.
• Venezuela's Latest Response to Food Shortages: Ban Lines Outside Bakeries
  The tragedy of Venezuela continues unabated, but that doesn't mean the government of President Nicolás Maduro has stopped trying to fix problems like the devastating scarcity of food which has led to malnutrition, riots, food truck hijackings, vigilante lynchings of petty thieves, and the starvation of zoo animals. No, Maduro hasn't admitted the failure of Chavismo — the brand of Bolivarian socialism imposed on the oil-rich country by his late predecessor Hugo Chavez — instead, Venezuela's embattled leader has launched a war on “anxiety.”
• Richmond Fed Manufacturing Survey Collapses By Most On Record
  Following flash PMI's drop, another early August indicator has collapsed as Richmond Fed's manufacturing survey plunges to -11 (lowest since Jan 2013) missing expectations of +6. The plunge from July's +10 to August's -11 is the largest on record – back to 1993. Biggest drop on record. Weakness was across the board with new orders crashing from +15 to -20, order backlogs and capacity utlization collapsed, and average workweek slumping.
• Truly, Minimum Wage Rises Cost Jobs – Germany's Minimum Wage Introduction Cost 60,000 Jobs
  Yes, I know, there’re all too many poeple who just flat out insist that a rise in the minimum wage just won’t cost any jobs. This is not, to put it mildly, an assertion backed up by any observations of the real universe that we inhabit. I entirely agree that there are potential and theoretical possibilities which mean that people won’t use less of something becoming more expensive. But as with any such potential and theoretical possibilities we do actually have to go and check, measure against reality, their existence and their size. And there just aren’t studies out there which show that they do exist in the required size. Our latest piece of evidence comes from Germany. For those who don’t know Germany never did have a minimum wage. Further, the country had great success in reforming its labour market by lowering wages under the Hartz IV reforms.
• US August Flash Services PMI Declines to 6-Month Low
  The Markit US PMI flash services-sector reading declined to 50.9 for August from 51.4 the previous month and the lowest reading since February. The data will maintain a cautious attitude towards the overall outlook, although this data series been relatively downbeat throughout 2016. New work expanded at the slowest pace since May and below historic trends with concerns surrounding political uncertainty having some negative impact. There was, however, a further increase in order backlogs to the fastest rate since April 2015. The increase in employment was at the slowest pace for 20 months with the need to cut costs and subdued demand conditions leading to more cautious hiring plans. According to Markit, the employment reading would be consistent with average monthly employment growth of around 130,000 and the Fed would be uneasy over tightening with employment growth at this pace unless there was clear evidence of rising inflationary pressures.
• What Does Inflation Really Mean?
  No other economic concept has created as much confusion and in-fighting among economists as the idea of inflation. Along with its antithesis deflation, they have been the boon and bane of many monetary policy makers, detractors, and admirers for decades. But what does inflation really mean? How does it affect the average business owner or the average individual?  More importantly, how do governments and central banks use inflation to justify their own actions? These are essential questions to understand for anyone interested in making informed decisions to protect their wealth.
• Capital Goods Shipments Collapse Most Since 2009 As Durable Goods Orders Bounce In July (Thanks To Revisions)
  Following June's disappointing relapse in Durable Goods Orders (which was revised lower), July's preliminary headline rose 4.4% (ahead of 3.4% exp) – the biggest MoM gain since Oct 2015. However, due to the revisions durable goods orders fell 6.4% year-over-year – the second big annual drop in a row. Under the hood most of the headline data beat expectations MoM as follows: New durable goods new orders rose 4.4%, vs Exp. 3.3%, New orders ex-trans. rose 1.5% vs Exp. 0.5%, Non-defense capital goods orders ex-aircraft rose 1.6%, Exp. 0.3%, … but we note that Capital Goods Shipments non-defense Ex-Aircraft fell 0.4% MoM… which led to a 9.5% collapse in year-over-year core capex unadjusted orders.
• “It's Gone” – Why Foreign Demand For US Treasuries Has Disappeared
  Last week's TIC data confirmed something the Fed's Treasury custody account has indicated for the past several months: foreign demand for US government bonds has not only tumbled, but there has been aggressive selling. So much so, in fact, that in the past 12 months foreign central banks have sold a gargantuan $335 billion in US Treasuries (and $242 billion when looking at all foreign transactions including private). But how is this possible: after all the yield differential between US government bonds and the rest of the DM complex is approaching record wides.
• The unrelenting hunt for yield may end in tears, says James Grant
  Listening to Wall Street pundit James Grant ought to make investors feel uneasy. The prominent author of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer is starting to sound a lot like many permabears roaming this yield-parched world. Grant told Swiss business paper Finanz und Wirtschaft in a Q&A published on Monday that he’s scooping up shares of gold GCZ6, +0.44%  and gold miners GDX, +0.08% because he fears that the world will lose faith in central banks, or as he terms it “monetary management.” That call makes Grant sound a lot like Peter Schiff, chief executive of Euro Pacific Capital, who harbors a low opinion of the U.S. Federal Reserve, and central banks in general, and who has a longstanding love affair with gold.
• Pemex Collapse Threatens Biggest Banks in Mexico
  These days, the trend is not Pemex’s friend. Mexico’s loss-leading, debt-swamped, state-owned oil giant company announced that in July it had imported 554,000 barrels of oil a day — its highest monthly volume of imports since public records began in 1990. In total, two-thirds of all the oil Mexico consumed in July was imported — a staggering statistic for a country that until not so long ago was home to one of the largest oil fields in the world, the Cantarell. Pemex also acknowledged that its crude production fell a further 5% in July while its natural gas production shrunk 9%. The export figures were just as ugly. In 2011, when the price of Brent crude averaged over $100, Pemex’s export revenues hit a historic peak of $49 billion, a monthly average of $4.11 billion. In the first quarter of 2016 the monthly average was just $893 million. That’s a plunge of 78%.
• Bank of Japan Prepares for Crash Triggered by Fed Tightening
  No central bank of a developed country equals the Bank of Japan in trying to manipulate the stock market up by buying equities. The BOJ has done this for years. With breath-taking ineffectiveness. So on July 28, the BOJ announced another stock market pump-up scheme: it would nearly double its annual purchases of equity ETFs from about ¥3.3 trillion to ¥6 trillion ($60 billion). Hedge funds and other speculators expected for the BOJ to instantly throw its weight around in the stock market, and hopes were riding high that the Nikkei would surge, or at least rise in a visible manner. Alas, on Friday in Tokyo, the Nikkei dropped to 16,361, down a smidgen from where it had been on July 28.
• Legend Says Forget The Pullback – Gold Is Headed To $1,600 And Here Is The Big Surprise From China!
  As we approach the end of August in what has been a wild summer of trading in the gold and silver markets, today a legend in the business sent King World News a powerful piece about central banks heading toward trouble as gold is headed to $1,600 but here is the big surprise from China. Gold’s Surge To $1,600. By John Ing, Maison Placements. August 25 (King World News) – In the ultimate reality show, America’s political scene has become a reality drama and to no surprise, reality TV star Donald Trump has capitalized on the public frustration, however his solution, is to build a wall. Ironically, Mr. Trump is viewed as the candidate representing change and Hillary Clinton does not. Despite behind in the polls, Mr. Trump may still win. Although if he can’t build a “coalition of the willing” within his own party, how is he going to unify a divided America?
• The World Is About To Witness A Terrifying Mega-Bubble Collapse
  With continued uncertainty in global markets, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, and major global events, warned King World News that the world is about to witness a terrifying mega-bubble collapse. A Massive Black Hole For The Fed & Financial System. Egon von Greyerz:  “The more things change, the more they stay the same. The financial world loves focusing on some future event that they think will change everything. There is always some economic data, an important meeting like G20, the Fed, the ECB or a speech by Yellen or some other central bank head who hasn’t got a clue what is happening or what will happen. So now at the end of August, markets have all been focusing on Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Jackson Hole is of course a very befitting name since what the Fed is staring into is a massive black hole into which major parts of the financial system will disappear…
• World War 3 Coming Soon? Tanks Roll Across The Border As Turkish Invasion Of Syria Begins
  The invasion of Syria that so many people have been warning about is now happening.  On Wednesday, Turkish tanks rolled across the Syrian border, and they were accompanied by radical Islamic Syrian rebels that want to ultimately overthrow the Assad regime.  This invasion was conducted under the code name “Euphrates Shield”, and it was supported by airstrikes from A-10s and F-16s that are part of the U.S.-led coalition that has been conducting airstrikes against ISIS targets in the region.  The mainstream media in the United States has been very quiet about this escalation of the conflict in Syria, but things are much different in the rest of the world.  For example, a major Israeli news source announced the attack this way: “Turkey invades Syria“.  And without a doubt, that is precisely what is taking place.  The Syrian government denounced this move by Turkey as a “blatant breach to its sovereignty”, and the Russians are deeply alarmed.  The farther Turkish forces push into northern Syria, the more likely they will be to encounter Syrian or Russian forces, and one bad move could result in the outbreak of World War 3 in the Middle East.
• Paul Craig Roberts – The World Is Now At The Edge Of The Great Abyss
  Former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, warned that the world is now at the edge of the Great Abyss. (King World News) Dr. Paul Craig Roberts:  I use the writings of Orlov and The Saker as checks on my own conclusions. In his article Orlov concludes that the United States is a dead nation, still walking, but no longer a uni-power. I agree with Orlov that US weapon systems are more focused on profits than on effectiveness and that Russia has superior weapons and a superior cause based on protection rather than dominance. However, in his assessment of the possibility of nuclear war, I think that Orlov under-appreciates the commitment of Washington’s Neoconservatives to US world hegemony and the recklessness of the Neoconservatives and Hillary Clinton. Washington is incensed that Russia (and China) dare to stand up to Washington, and this anger crowds out judgment…
• How to stay optimistic even as terrorists “threaten our existence”
  Earlier this week the German government leaked a frightening 69-page memo entitled “Concept for Civil Defense.” Citing multiple terrorist attacks, cybercrime, and a host of other threats, the report states that Germans should prepare for an event that could “threaten our existence.” Yikes. The report proposes a number of mandatory countermeasures, including that Germans should stockpile food and water. There’s also peculiar language about “civil support for the armed forces” suggesting a possible return to mandatory military service, in addition to potential plans for emergency nationalization of food production and distribution. We’ve received numerous emails from friends and readers in Germany asking if it’s time to “get out”. Let’s be honest– most of the West is in the same boat right now.
• There Is A Mainstream Media Conspiracy To Hide Hillary Clinton’s Rapidly Failing Health
  Is Hillary Clinton healthy enough to serve as president if she wins the election? Over the past couple of weeks this has become a major issue, and the mainstream media is actively conspiring with the Clinton campaign in a desperate attempt to cover up the truth. For example, the Washington Post, which has essentially become a mouthpiece for the Clinton campaign at this point, has been publishing an article “debunking” claims about Clinton’s health almost every day recently. One of their headlines that really caught my attention was “Don’t believe everything you read about Hillary Clinton’s health on Google“. By the way, there were three Hillary Clinton campaign ads on that one page alone. But CNN took things to an entirely new level this week when it published an article entitled “Clinton’s health is fine, but what about Trump?” I was so flabbergasted by that headline that my wife came into my office to see what all of the commotion was about. No, Hillary Clinton’s health is not “fine”, and we will get to that later in this article.
• More Americans Than Ever Are Losing Their Religion
  Never before in U.S. history have so many Americans chosen to be unaffiliated with any particular religious group. As you will see below, the percentage of “nones” in this country has absolutely skyrocketed over the past decade. But not all faiths are losing members in the United States. In fact, Islam, Buddhism, Wicca and various New Age organizations have all experienced excellent growth in recent years. Sadly, almost all of the growth for the “nones” has come at the expense of Christianity. Americans are leaving the Christian faith in droves, and this is why many of our churches are less than half full on Sunday mornings. What we are doing right now is clearly not working, and hopefully we can get the church in America to wake up while there is still time to do so.
• NPR Promotes The Idea Of Carbon Taxing Us For Having Kids Because We're Causing Climate Change
  In a long fearmongering fluff piece titled “Should We Be Having Kids in the Age of Climate Change?” about how the world is overpopulated and too many people = man-made global warming so we’re all gonna die unless we stop procreating, NPR is promoting not only all of that propaganda, but the idea that people in developed nations should be carbon taxed by the government for having children. By 2050, it is estimated that every developed nation on the planet will be facing a population with twice as many elderly people as young people. This is happening all over the place. As the workforce shrinks and older citizens retire, countries like Japan that are suffering what has been dubbed “demographic suicide” are actually trying to pay their younger populace to reproduce. NPR and its current climate change profile darling Travis Rieder, Assistant Director for Education Initiatives at the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins, say they should not only stop doing that immediately but should actually tax people for having kids at all.
• Brewing Collapse of the Western Monetary System? German Government Warns of an Upcoming Catastrophe, Tags Russia as an “Enemy Nation”
  Germany has just warned its citizens of an upcoming catastrophe and urged them to stockpile food, water and money for at least 10 days, to be autonomous and independent until the government has caught up putting the necessary public safety systems in place – in case of a ‘catastrophe’. There was no mention on the type of disaster awaiting them. A war, an economic and or monetary collapse, or both? – The warning was later downplayed as part of a ‘routine exercise’ in Germany’s new defense strategy.
• Clinton Foundation donors include dozens of media organizations, individuals
  NBC Universal, News Corporation, Turner Broadcasting and Thomson Reuters are among more than a dozen media organizations that have made charitable contributions to the Clinton Foundation in recent years, the foundation's records show. The donations, which range from the low-thousands to the millions, provide a picture of the media industry's ties to the Clinton Foundation at a time when one of its most notable personalities, George Stephanopoulos, is under scrutiny for not disclosing his own $75,000 contribution when reporting on the foundation. The list also includes mass media groups like Comcast, Time Warner and Viacom, as well a few notable individuals, including Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate and largest shareholder of The New York Times Company, and James Murdoch, the chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox. Both Slim and Murdoch have given between $1 million to $5 million, respectively.
• Thought Volcker Rule Went Too Far? There’s More Coming for Banks
  After years of grappling with the Dodd-Frank Act, banks will soon learn what regulators want to do next to rein in Wall Street’s risky investments. The Federal Reserve and other agencies are poised to issue a long-overdue report required by the law that lays out recommendations beyond the Volcker Rule to prevent financial firms from triggering an economic crisis, said two people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named before its release. The document will include plans for restricting banks’ investments in copper and hard-to-value assets, said one of the people. While Congress said the report had to be completed within 18 months of Dodd-Frank’s approval in 2010, foot-dragging by regulators has made the exercise a bit of an afterthought in Washington. One group that has been dreading its release is bankers, who are worried the document might suggest sweeping changes to lenders’ ability to invest in physical commodities and buy direct stakes in companies.
• World’s Biggest Pension Fund Loses $52 Billion in Stock Rout
  The world’s biggest pension fund posted a $52 billion loss last quarter as stocks tumbled and the yen surged, wiping out all investment gains since it overhauled its strategy by boosting shares and cutting bonds. Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund lost 3.9 percent, or 5.2 trillion yen ($52 billion), in the three months ended June 30, reducing assets to 129.7 trillion yen, it said in Tokyo on Friday. That erases a 4.1 trillion yen investing return for the previous six quarters starting October 2014, the month it decided to put half its assets into equities. The quarterly decline follows a 5.3 trillion yen loss in the fiscal year through March, the worst annual performance since the global financial crisis. After benefiting from a surge in Japanese equities and a weaker yen earlier in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s term, GPIF has posted losses as domestic stocks tumble and gains in the currency reduce the value of overseas assets. Still, for Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd., that’s no reason to veer from the current approach.
• Why I Left Canada And Became A Citizen Of The Dominican Republic
  It took nearly ten years but this morning I was sworn in as a citizen of the Dominican Republic. Many might ask, why would a Canadian citizen want to become a citizen of the Dominican Republic? The answer is actually quite long and lengthy. To begin with, as an anarcho-capitalist, I consider governments to be illegitimate and taxation to be theft.  However, the entire world, unfortunately, is covered in statism like a giant skin rash… and so, then, the next best option if you want to live somewhat of a normal life and be able to travel is to become a citizen of the best country that suits your personal needs. I was born in Canada but I would never say I am a “proud Canadian”.  The reason is that you cannot be proud of something you had nothing to do with.  I was just born there… and that made me a Canadian citizen. Apparently, I owed the government about half of whatever I make in my life for that “privilege”.
• CNN Cancels Dr. Drew's Show One Week After He Voiced “Grave Concern” For Hillary's Health
  One week ago, board-certified medicine specialist, TV personality and CNN employee Dr. Drew Pinsky broke the mold of conformity, when he said that he is “gravely concerned” about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s health, pointing out that treatment she is receiving could be the result of her bizarre behaviors. Appearing on KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning, Pinsky said he and his colleague Dr. Robert Huizenga became “gravely concerned….not just about her health but her health care,” after analyzing what medical records on Hillary had been released. Pinsky pointed out that after Clinton fainted and fell in late 2012, she suffered from a “transverse sinus thrombosis,” an “exceedingly rare clot” that “virtually guarantees somebody has something wrong with their coagulation system.” “What’s wrong with her coagulation system, has that been evaluated?” asked Dr. Drew. Pinsky described the situation as “bizarre,” and said that Hillary’s medical condition was “dangerous” and “concerning”. Dr. Drew also went on to add that it was a sign of “brain damage” when Hillary had to wear prism glasses after her fall.
• Come 2017, will your name be on this list?
  The White House was completed in 1800. That same year, John Adams became the first president to live there. Every president since has occupied it. In years past, the White House was open to all … For example, Thomas Jefferson began the tradition of a public reception to celebrate the Fourth of July in 1801. Tables pushed against the walls of the State Dining Room were filled with bowls of punch and plates of sweets. Presidents held these receptions until just after the Civil War. President Herbert Hoover started the annual Easter egg roll on the South Lawn in 1929. White House police estimated more than 47,000 people attended that day. The following year, a crowd of 48,000 showed up. Mrs. Hoover used the Rose Garden as a lost-and-found bureau where children could be reunited with their parents.
• Terminal Economy: “Private Sector Will NEVER Recover…This Time, Replacing Humans Altogether”
  People are already taking the expected financial recession pretty badly. There are literally millions of people in the United States who’ve become deeply entrenched in a struggle to find or hold a good job, while keeping expenses covered on the income they do make. But most people assume they will shielded from the worst of it, that at some point things will pick up. Sadly, the forecast is much darker, and the next financial collapse much deeper than almost anyone has prepared for. The outlook from this global strategist at the Macquarie Group is beyond doom and gloom – it is a literal existential crisis.
• WAKE UP CALL: Our Entire World is Going To Change — BILL HOLTER
  The cartel hit gold hard again on Wednesday selling $1.5 BILLION is paper gold into the market in ONE MINUTE and as JS Mineset’s Bill Holter notes, “$1.5 Billion of gold is close to 2% of global production and to see that sold in one minute is laughable.” Bill asks, “Who has that amount of gold to sell? And the answer of course is almost no one. And what trader would ever sell in that fashion? And the answer is no one wo would want to keep a job if they were selling for profit. So the sell was obviously to create price, a lower one.” But as the bond market and rising LIBOR rates are telling us, the system is coming apart at the seams and the coming collapse will cause “our entire world to change.”
• Deutsche Bank CEO Warns Of “Fatal Consequences” For Savers
  Deutsche Bank's war of words with the ECB is not new: it was first unveiled in February when, as we wrote at the time “A Wounded Deutsche Bank Lashed Out At Central Bankers: Stop Easing, You Are Crushing Us.” Europe's largest bank, with the massive derivatives book, then upped the ante several months later in June, when its chief economist Folkerts-Landau launched a shocking anti-ECB rant in which it warned of social unrest and another Great Depression. Ironically, these infamous diatribes hurt more than helped: telegraphing to the market just how hurt DB was as a result of the ECB's monetary policy, the market punished its stock, which has been recently trading within spitting distance of all time lows, in effect making Deutsche Bank's life even harder as it now has to contend not only with its own internal profitability problems, but also has to maintain a market-facing facade that all is well. So far, it has not worked out very well, prompting numerous comparisons to another infamous bank.
• Demographic HomeMageddon Underway… Will Last Until At Least 2035
  91% of all US home buying is done by those aged 20-69yrs/old, according to NAR data.  In 2015, Millennials (20-35yrs/old) made up 35% of home purchases, Gen X (36-50yr/olds) bought 26%, Boomers (51-70yr/olds) 31%, and the Silent Generation (70+yrs/old) 9%.  I'm no great fan of the NAR, but this makes basic sense as most homebuyers need an income to be homebuyers and most 70+yr/olds are retired and have the lowest average incomes of all the above groups. Here's the very big problem for residential real estate… the chart below shows that over 70% of all the population growth among potential home buyers (20+yrs/old) from 2017–>2030 will be among the 70+yr/olds (chart shows average annual growth for the two groups from 2000–>2016 (left) and 2017–>2030 (right)).  This is simply unprecedented in US history.
• 5 Factors That Could Turn America Into Another Collapsed Empire
  Nations are just as likely to unravel after periods of prosperity as afte periods of depression. Have you ever met an Ottoman? Or a Habsburg? Neither have I. Like a chopped-up Magritte painting, all that is left of the Habsburgs is a homburg hat. Yet in the 1800s, the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires controlled a huge chunk of the modern world. One in 10 Americans can trace his or her heritage to Habsburg lands, which spanned most of middle Europe from Poland down to Dracula’s castle in Transylvania. Many people have written about poor countries that have fallen apart. But rich nations fall apart, too. In fact, nations are just as likely to unravel after periods of prosperity as after periods of depression. The 2016 presidential campaign appears so bitter precisely because so many Americans worry that the “other” party’s candidate will annihilate the nation.
• Largest Saudi Bank Crashes To Record Low
  Despite the exuberant rebound in the price of oil – and the hope that this means something other than an over-financialized commodity being short-squeezed by rumors – all is not well across the oil producers of the world. Having noted the record surge in default protection for Saudi Arabia (ahead of its looming debt deal)…
• On The Bizarre Media Blackout Of Hacked George Soros Documents
  Scandal: Leaked documents released a few days ago provide juicy insider details of how a fabulously rich businessman has been using his money to influence elections in Europe, underwrite an extremist group, target U.S. citizens who disagreed with him, dictate foreign policy, and try to sway a Supreme Court ruling, among other things. Pretty compelling stuff, right? Not if it involves leftist billionaire George Soros. In this case, the mainstream press couldn't care less. On Saturday, a group called DC Leaks posted more than 2,500 documents going back to 2008 that it pilfered from Soros' Open Society Foundations' servers. Since then, the mainstream media have shown zero interest in this gold mine of information. We couldn't find a single story on the New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, CBS News or other major news sites that even noted the existence of these leaked documents, let alone reported on what's in them.
• The Earth’s Crust Will Be Shaken By More Than 100,000 Earthquakes That Humans Can Feel In 2016
  Did you know that our planet will be hit by more than 100,000 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater this year alone?  Earlier today, I came across a report that contained this amazing fact, but it was so incredible that I felt that I had to go and verify it myself.  So I went to the official USGS website, and I found out that this is actually true.  Overall, there are about half a million earthquakes around the globe each year, but it is only when a quake is of about magnitude 3.0 or greater that humans actually feel them.  As the very large earthquakes in Italy and Myanmar within the last 24 hours have demonstrated, the shaking of our planet is getting worse, and this is something that I have written about over and over again.  So why is this happening?  Why does the crust of our planet seemingly become more and more unstable with each passing year?
• The Blessing of Cash
  Starting today, the Royal Bank of Scotland will become the first bank in the U.K. to impose a negative interest rate on depositors. The negative rate will apply only to corporate customers, including mutual fund managers and pension funds, holding deposits of certain foreign currencies including euros. This means that RBS—in which the U.K. government still maintains a majority ownership stake since its 2008 bailout—will actually charge these customers to “borrow” their deposits. A few weeks ago, RBS notified more than one million small-business customers that they could also be charged for deposits if the Bank of England lowered the target interest rate, which now stands at .25%, into negative territory. Experts are warning that the latest move by RBS would “set alarm bells ringing” among small businesses and ordinary customers. The stage is set for a glorious and long overdue old-fashioned bank run if the BOE ventures to push rates into negative territory.
• We Are on the Brink of World War III; Americans Totally Clueless – Part II
  If you heard Part I of today’s interview between “End Time Newsman, Rick Wiles” and Dr. Jim Willie titled, Dr. Jim Willie: We Are on the Brink of World War; Americans Are Clueless, then buckle up and get ready for Part II. As always with Dr. Willie, hold on because it’s going to be just as scary to think about, but just as informative! To begin Part II, Rick Wiles asks Dr. Willie what he has to say about America’s manufacturing PMI report that just came out. Dr. Willie responds by saying: “Implosion. Absolute implosion. Absolutely no equivocation whatsoever. Take a look at electricity usage. It’s way down. Look at trucking freight, it’s way down, shipping cars, they’re way down. The port facilities have set a record: In 2015, US ports exported 500,000 containers that were absolutely empty.” Can you imagine? We’ve actually been paying to export giant shipping containers filled with nothing more than stale air. Take a look at manufacturing PMI in the chart below from Zerohedge.com. The numbers are WAY down. Like virtually every major crash before the one that’s coming, all the alleged “experts” from the major banks haven’t even been close in their estimates, and don’t expect that to change.
• Even Hedge Funds Can’t Understand Today’s Manipulated Markets 
  One of the big surprises of the past few years is the number of brand-name hedge funds reporting terrible results. Why are hedge funds underperforming generic stocks and bonds? Because governments are now manipulating those markets, and doing so indiscriminately. Japan’s central bank, for instance, is now the biggest holder of most domestic ETFs and a lengthening list of individual equities. But its buying isn’t based on actual analysis; it simply acquires a cross section of major securities. This pushes all prices up simultaneously, giving the market a broad-based rally. Since hedge funds get paid to find special situations that will outperform the broad averages (known as “generating alpha”), when government intervention levitates the household names that dominate the broad averages it tends to leave the more obscure special situations and related strategies behind. So hedge funds end up underperforming, and fail to justify their aggressive fees. And customers respond by pulling money out of hedge funds hedge funds in favor of passive instruments like ETFs which seem to nenefit from indiscriminate government buying.
• John Embry Warns The ‘Deep State’ Shadow Government Is Hard At Work In Financial Markets
  On the heels of continued propaganda from the Federal Reserve, today John Embry told King World News that the “Deep State” shadow government is hard at work in financial markets right now. John Embry:  “Eric, as you know, we are in an extremely quiet period here in late summer, which allows the usual suspects to push markets around. As I said a week or so ago, everything is being done to assure Hillary Clinton’s ascension to the U.S. Presidency, and quiet periods like this make the manipulation of markets by the powers that be that much easier. World Economy Imploding But Propaganda Is Alive & Well. However, in the real world things continue to deteriorate.  In the last few days it has been announced that Apple iphone demand is plunging, Caterpillar has experienced a 20 percent year-over-year revenue decline, Cisco is laying off 20 percent of it s global workforce, etc, etc.
• Look Who’s In Debt! Big 4 Oil Companies Debt Hits Record $184 Billion
  So what do you do when the commodity you harvest and sell suddenly collapses by 50-60% and slashes your operating profit?  If you said, raise a whole bunch of debt and continue spending on new capital projects to drill for even more supply in a collapsing market then you might be an oil CEO.  The Wall Street Journal this morning pointed out that raising debt to cover cash burn is exactly what the largest oil companies in the world are doing.  In fact, the 4 largest oil companies have doubled their net debt positions since 2014 when the oil selloff started.

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