APR 20
And Then There’s Trump…
(4-20-16) So why Donald Trump? What Trump is doing is advocating the positions that were always popular among the Grass Roots Right and were never popular among the Corporate Right. Part of this guy’s popularity is coming from saying things that should have been done decades ago. Germany and Japan need to change their constitutions which the US forced on them after the war (WWII). Germany, Japan a
APR 13
The Bern Problem: Feeling the Bern and Shorting the Bern
(4-13-16) Market trader and art impresario Asher Edelman, when asked why he supports Bernie Sanders, said “I would also support Bernie because I think that he understands the plight of the middle classes on down to the poor and understands certain things are solvable. We've dropped, I believe the last time I looked, to about 17th in the world in education, and a similar number in medicine and our
APR 03
Populism Goes Global; The Smart Money Is Buying Gold. Why?
(4-4-16) Populism is growing around the world – but it comes in two flavors – Right and Left. And both are rising amid increased political tensions around the world. Why? Because the world’s political cohesion is destabilizing. This cohesion however was artificially created in the aftermath of the Second World War.
MAR 26
Could This Be the End of the Republican Party?
(3-14-16) With the ascendance of Donald Trump as a Republican presidential contender, there is plenty of speculation that a so-called civil war is brewing inside the Republican Party. But could this really be the end of the G.O.P.(Grand Old Party or Gay Old Party?)
Scalia’s Dead: Who’s Next? What’s Next?
(2-17-16) The unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has proved to be very divisive as reactions online have ranged from panic that an Obama-stacked Supreme Court would further a left-wing agenda all the way to humor with one wag wise-cracking that the reason Scalia died was that “he forgot to turn his ‘Comfort Zone’ mattress dial to ‘Stay Alive.’”
RealPolitik 101: When Putin Meets Kissinger, All Bets Are Off…
(2-9-16) Last week Henry Kissinger went to meet his old pal Uncle Vlad Putin. Why? The defense appropriation bill for 2016 which is a $742 billion bill is before Congress now. What they need in a political election year when nobody wants to stick their necks out, the Republicans are going to have some excuse and that excuse has traditionally come in having one of the Old Gang like Henry Kissinger
Global Equity Markets: Heading for Recession? Or Just a Correction?
(1-28-16) The markets have been on a roller coaster ride since the beginning of the year. What does this mean? It’s an overbought market coming into the first of the year with Price/ Earnings ratios way above historic averages, earnings falling down and global growth forecasts slowing. A lot of investors were short – and they stayed too long. They got flushed out in last week’s short-covering rall
The Future of Oil: 2016 Forecast
(1-17-16) Oil dipped below $30 on January 12, 2016 for the first time since December 2003 and then it held $30. Then on January 15, oil dipped below $30 again. We keep shorting the oil since we think the oil is going down to $20 which is a widely held belief. Other so-called analysts claim that if Saudi Arabia and Iran’s conflict turns into a hot war, then we could even see $250 oil, which would t
The Fed Raises Interest Rates. What Does It Mean?
(12-23-15) The Federal Reserve has finally raised interest rates a quarter of a point -- .25%. They tried to make a “dovish hype,” i.e., meaning going slow, in order to minimize the impact on the stock market, but all that did was set up a shorting opportunity for the rally on December 16. There was the initial knee-jerk dip in the markets which was only about 10 points in the SP 500s. Then they p
Force Majeure, the Price of Oil and the Race to the Bottom
(12-14-15) In recent news it was revealed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has allowed Ukraine not to pay back the money it was owed. First of all Ukraine doesn’t have the money to pay the IMF. Now because of the ongoing problems between Ukraine and Russia, the IMF is essentially allowing the Ukrainians to declare force majeure, which means that the contract is unenforceable because of t
The Paris “Event” on November Friday the 13th: What Does It Mean?
(11-20-15) Let’s not get too conspiratorial, but there are too many anomalies in this Paris “event” which should be examined from a geopolitical perspective, i.e. who has the most to gain in this situation? The Soviets had a word for it – “provokatsiya” – roughly translated as provocation. The “event” could also be compared to 9/11 when there was also an “exercise” and several “drills” that coinci
Refugees in Europe: A Manufactured Crisis? Yes, Just Soros Business as Usual...
(11-2-15) People have asked me if the mass influx of so-called refugees into Europe from Africa and the Middle East is some kind of conspiracy.
Real Politik in Syria and the Middle East: Cold War 2.0? Or World War III?
(10-21-15) There’s a joke going around that Russian President Vlad Putin said -- Negotiating with Obama is like playing chess with a pigeon. The pigeon knocks over all the pieces, craps on the board, then struts around like it won the game.
Syria and the Middle East: Is It WW3 in Slow Motion?
(10-7-15) Putin has begun airstrikes against ISIL (ISIS) forces in Syria for two reasons: 1/ To shore up his popularity at home by showing that Russia is still a player and 2/ Putin had a vested financial interest in keeping the Assad Regime in power because it’s a regime in which he has a huge degree of control over since Syria still owes Russia $8 billion, which Russia at some point would like t
Is the Global Market Correction Underway?
(9-28-15) According to his site which is promoting a documentary about him called “The Forecaster” – “After eleven years off the radar, a man resurfaces in Philadelphia, a man who used a computer model and the number pi in the nineties to predict economic turning points with astounding precision: Martin Armstrong predicted the exact date of the October crash in 1987, the demise of the Japanese bul
Is the Global Market Correction Underway?
(9-9-15) In a recent CNBC interview, Yale economics professor, Nobel laureate and author of the book “Irrational Exuberance” Robert Shiller warns -- “This is a dangerous time” -- adding that current P/E (Price/Earnings) ratios are misleading and that the Dow should actually be trading around 11,000 and the S-and-P 500 should be trading around 1300. “There is a risk of substantial decline,” conclud
Flash Crashes, China’s Currency Devaluation and the Global Economy
(8-31-15) The recent market declines represented a tremendous shorting opportunity for investors and brought the markets from what had clearly been an overbought condition to something more correct around the S-and-P 1850 level. We now have substantial bounce off that level thanks largely due to the effects that the global central banks led by China have had.
Global Commodity Meltdown: What Does It Mean?
(8-25-15) As we have been consistently writing about the dark clouds gathering on the planet’s economic horizon, this latest downward trend is connected. Now China is the precipitating catalyst in the commodities as it has been all along since it has become the largest user of commodities on the planet, specifically copper, iron, nickel steel, and aluminum. China is the largest user of base metals
Global Commodity Meltdown: What Does It Mean?
(8-10-15) What we have seen in the last three months is a meltdown in commodity prices, such as we have not seen since the 1980-81 time-frame, when we were also coming off a speculative bubble.
Update on Global Hot Spots: Greece’s Debt and China’s Stock Market
(7-15-15) In Greece an alleged deal has been reached between Greece (the debtor) and the so-called Troika (the creditors) – the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- but it is far from a fait accompli. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has to get the Greek parliament to vote on it – without amendments, and then it has to go through the
Greece: Liquidity Problem or Insolvency Issue?
(7-6-15) Every central bank likes to push the line that Greece is suffering from liquidity driven insolvency and that somehow if you provide enough liquidity, you can prevent something that’s already insolvent from becoming even more insolvent.
Will Greece Repudiate Its “Odious Debt"?
(6-19-15) In a ZeroHedge article called “Greek Debt Committee Just Declared All Debt To The Troika “Illegal, Illegitimate, And Odious,’” we read that “…two months ago Zoi Konstantopulou, speaker of the Greek parliament and a SYRIZA member, said she had established a new Truth Committee on Public Debt whose purposes was to "investigate how much of the debt is illegal with a view to writing it
Why the Currency-Rigging Bank Conspiracy Got Away
(5-25-15) Bloomberg reports – “Six of the world’s biggest banks will pay $5.8 billion and five of them agreed to plead guilty to charges tied to a currency-rigging probe as they seek to wind down almost half a decade of enforcement actions. Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase and Co., Barclays Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Plc agreed to plead guilty to felony charges of conspiring to manipulate the price of
From the Liquidity Crunch to the Last Bag Holders
(5-11-15) A brewing story that you hear more and more about in financial media is this growing problem of illiquidity in the planet’s financial marketplaces. Even Fed Head Janet Yellen has mentioned it, as have most of the Fed governors. It is a symptom of overvaluation in the planet’s equity, bond and commodity markets. This overvaluation has been fueled by cheap money and also by the world’s cen
Flash Point in the Gulf of Aden
(4-24-15) The situation in the Gulf of Aden has deteriorated noticeably even as it goes beyond what the Saudi strikes against Yemen are all about. The Iranian navy has gotten very active and has substantially put all of its naval forces into the Gulf of Aden. Its forces consist primarily of the Russian-made Sunburn guided-missile destroyers which are just as advanced as the guided missiles the Uni
The New Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): What Does It Mean?
(4-7-15) First of all here’s a secret for successful trading in today’ market volatility…
Central Banks Make Last Gasp Effort to Save Global Economy
(3-17-15) As mentioned in previous Al Martin Raw articles, every week now yet another central bank is joining the interest rate fray in the new race to the bottom.
The Greek Euro-Debt-Can Gets Kicked Down the Road… Again
(3-3-15) Last Friday the Greek government and the so-called Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) now called simply “the Commission” – because the Greeks don’t like the negative implications of the word “troika” --came to an 11th hour deal. The Germans caved in a little bit because they needed a deal to kick the can down the road for 6 months and they
Shakedown Planet: Reparations for Everybody?
(2-12-14) It seems that everybody wants reparations -- compensation for crimes committed against them in the past. This bespeaks of the desperation of governments in a fiscally depleted planet.
European Dis-Union and the Conundrum of Greece
(2-3-15) In another case of strange bedfellows, it should be noted that financial alchemist George Soros has provided financial support for the newly elected “communist” Syriza Party in Greece, which was cobbled together from about 17 different left-wing political parties. However the funding wasn’t so much as for Syriza itself as for the newly elected Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Also Sor
Milquetoast Mario: Too Little, Too Late… Again
(1-25-15) On January 22, 2015, ECB (European Central Bank) Chief Mario Draghi announced a new QE (Quantitative Easing) program which means “monetary stimulus” -- purchasing a combination of government sovereign debt and high-grade corporate bonds. This is usually accompanied by a reduction in the central banks’ benchmark interest rate – which was not done because the ECB benchmark rate is already
Economic Danger Signals 2015 (Part 2)
(1-16-15) To continue with our theme from last week, we would like to mention important changes that have taken place even during the last week that bespeak of more warning signals for 2015. One of those certainly is the continuing problem of credit quality deterioration of Planet Earth. We saw a milestone on Jan. 13 when there was a further SP downgrade of Venezuela from Double Junk to Triple Jun
Danger Signals: Economic and Political Outlook (2015)
(1-8-15) In a recent interview, Bloomberg pundit Marc Faber says we’re in for a year of volatility in the markets and he’s not making any predictions. And that’s what everyone’s saying because it comes down to the same old battle and that is – can the United States be an island of prosperity in a growing tide of foreign red ink? Last year in 2014, the United States remained the only island of pros
Bloomberg Gets It Wrong… Again
(01-01-15) In a Bloomberg article by William Pesek called “China Steps In as World's New Bank,” we read – “Thanks to China, Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund, Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank and Takehiko Nakao of the Asian Development Bank may no longer have much meaningful work to do. Beijing's move to bail out Russia, on top of its recent aid for Venezuela and Argentina, signal
Putin, the Price of Oil and the End of Sanctions
(12-24-14) Russia’s President Vladimir Putin just had his annual address or press conference, which was four hours long, the equivalent of our State of the Union address. He didn’t express any desire to back-pedal on Ukraine and was really as belligerent as ever, trying to mask over the pain that the Russian economy is feeling because of sanctions and lower oil prices. However the situation in Rus
The Contemporary Art Market Bubble
(12-17-14) In the wake of Art Basel Miami Beach, the contemporary art fair and the 19 or so other so-called “satellite” art fairs held in Miami during the first week of December, it’s becoming evident that the art market is beginning to get strained. It’s less liquid. You can see this by simply looking at the Sotheby's and Christie's auctions and other large houses that handle contemporary art and
Oy Oy Oil Gevult: The New Oil Price War
(12-5-14) Led by Saudi Arabia, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) decided not to institute a oil production cut and that’s what hit the price of oil last week. Saudi Arabia has made it clear that they want prices lower in order to squeeze out so-called marginal producers, but what they’re effectively talking about is US fracking shale production. They want to keep OPEC relevant s
Paul Craig Roberts: There He Goes Again
(11-26-14) With his executive order on immigration, many Americans are wondering – has Obama crossed the Rubicon, so to speak, and transitioned the United States from a so-called Republic into a new American form of Caesarism?
Paul Craig Roberts: There He Goes Again
(11-20-14) As Ronald Reagan famously said during his debate with Jimmy Carter, “there you go again.” The same could be said about Paul Craig Roberts, another discredited so-called Reagan-Bush era supply-sider which would also include David Stockman, Larry Kudlow and Arthur Laffer, inventor of the so-called Laffer Curve.
Geopolitics of Ukraine: Rumors of War Roil the Markets
(11-11-14) Last Thursday the markets were roiled when Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a press conference wherein he threatened to declare war against Russia and essentially announced that he’s “all in” as they say. By “all in,” he means that he has all of the Ukrainian military and all the reserves stationed against the Russian border and against the so-called Eastern line that the Russi
The Geopolitics of Oil: Beware of the Shills
(11-3-14) In an article published on Zero Hedge entitled “The US Economy Runs Into A Problem If Oil Hits $75,” we read that “US shale oil is now the marginal swing barrel in the new world oil order, and as Goldman Sachs warns a decline in WTI to $75/bbl would start to significantly slow US shale growth (and thus employment, business cap ex, and the entire US economy).” This is the line that’s bein
Global Deflation Threatens the World: Look Out Below…
(10-29-14) It appears that global deflation is coming right on schedule as commodity prices including Coffee and Cocoa got hit as soon as this Brazilian president Dilma Roussef got re-elected. We knew right away that it would hit the ‘trops’ (tropical commodities) and they did since she was up against Social Democrat Aecio Neves, who represented business and industry. In her last four year term, R
How To Make Money on Market Volatility
(10-20-14) There has been record market volatility this past week, the total range of volatility being 747 points in the Dow. This has created tremendous trading opportunities and it was an easy week to trade, particularly for the shorts like myself. All you had to do is keep shorting the December Spoos every time they got back up into the 1880s or so.
Pre-Collapse Market Volatility: The Trader’s Best Friend
(10-13-14) The opportunity to accumulate wealth always comes in the preamble of economic collapse. This has always been true and it is important for those who understand economics and markets to capitalize on the volatility that is always the first signpost of economic collapse.
The Problem with Bill Gross
(10-2-14) Bill Gross managed PIMCO’s Long Term Total Return Fund which was their flagship fund, and as a manager of a bond fund, Gross had to change his portfolio all the time. The problem is that he’s been wrong consistently for the last 2 years and as a consequence the PIMCO Total Return Fund, which had a stellar track record and as a matter of fact the best cumulative 40 year track record for a
Why Bond Bears Are Wrong -- And Will Be Wrong Again
(9-25-14) Definitions first. A bond bear is someone who believes that interest rates are going higher hence the value of bonds is going to decline.
The Geopolitics of Oil - Starring NATO, Russia, Ukraine and China
(9-9-14) The question remains -- will Ukraine be returned to the Russian/ Soviet Empire?
The Ukrainian Gambit: Fun and Games with Uncle Vlad
(9-1-14) Uncle Vlad Putin’s new strategy regarding the Ukrainian situation has become clear and you can see that reflected in the markets, in that the markets are no longer selling off, as they had been on every fresh move by Uncle Vlad. Why? Because he’s making his longer-term strategy clearer by his recent actions – the reinforcement of the Russian position in eastern Ukraine.
Wealth Confiscation and Capital Controls: Not in My Back Yard
(8-24-14) After Cyprus and Spain, Portugal is now the next country that is considering capital controls – but it’s not that onerous. Capital controls simply means preventing the shipping of money out of the country. It doesn’t mean anything more than that.
How the Economic Collapse Will Be Different This Time – And Why
(8-15-14) Economic decline is occurring in Europe and Asia. For example, the economic statistics we’ve seen in the last month in the Eurozone economy point to this fact, even as more recently the German GDP has become a red number. French GDP is close to being a red number. Italian GDP is a red number now. So Europe is clearly sliding back into some sort of recession and the rate at which inflatio
Debunking Internet Mythology
(8-8-14) It’s time once again to refute internet nonsense, so here goes… So-called analyst Gregory Mannarino is mixing apples and oranges in his take on the Argentinian bond default and how it could trigger a global daisy chain of sovereign defaults. “This issue with Argentina is going to trigger a credit default swap event,” he says. “A credit default swap is an insurance policy that is purchased
Ukraine: Cold War 2.0? Or World War 3.0?
(8-1-14) So who’s making mischief in Ukraine? Putin is the principal mischief maker because he’s under domestic political pressure not to stop support for Russian paramilitaries. Part of this is due to elections coming up next year in Russia. Putin is under pressure from Russian nationalists in Russia, which is his largest voting constituency, to continue funding Russian paramilitary operations in
The De-Dollarization Hoax
(7-24-14) Even though the US dollar is the world’s reserve currency, there has been much talk recently regarding nation-states using other currencies and moving away from using the dollar in trade.
The BRICS New Development Bank: Another Third World Fantasy?
(7-16-14) ABC News reports – “Leaders of the BRICS emerging market nations meet to launch a development bank and emergency reserves fund, an ambitious challenge to Western-run multilaterals that have shaped global finances since the end of World War Two.
The Price of Oil and The Return of the Petro-Dollar
(7-9-14) The 1970s-era plan by Henry Kissinger to recycle Middle East oil revenue, called petro-dollars, into purchases of weapons systems from the West may be a byproduct of the current ongoing disengagement by the Western powers. In this case disengagement means a return to the previous status quo which means that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Arab Emirates would be increasing their purchase of U
The Balkanization of Iraq and the Middle East
(7-1-14) What we are seeing in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East is the beginning of the Grand Disengagement Policy which is a return to the past and which is the only way that the Middle East can now be stabilized. Otherwise the rest of the world is going to have to have military forces there forever to hold together artificial constructs, i.e. the current nation-states. Even Time Magazine has
Middle East Chaos: Why Now? Why Again?
(6-21-14) War and rumors of war continue apace. In preparation for Invasion of Iraq 2.0, the Obama Regime’s plans earlier in the week at least made sense. He sent an aircraft carrier task force and then planned to make some air strikes to slow up this new Sunni coalition and that would at least buy some time to pressure Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki -- or get him out altogether. But the Oba
Did Mario Draghi Just Postpone the Global Financial Apocalypse?
(6-12-14) Mario Draghi has finally stopped dragging his feet and did what was necessary. He was the master of jawboning, but he got all the economic lift he could out of jawboning the markets, intimating that more QE was on the way in Europe. Essentially Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, just re-established the Euro version of Quantitative Easing or QE. Why? To create “inflation” –
Euro Nations Take Hard Right Turn After Elections
(6-3-14) So what’s the historical significance? The illusion of “democracy” and bogus elections are sprouting up all over the world. For instance, in Syria, this election becomes just an excuse for not getting involved in the Syrian situation. Other countries like Germany, UK and even the Obama Regime use a Syrian election and the fact that Assad is going to allow elections, despite the fact he’s
Hear Ye, Hear Ye: The Market Correction Has Begun…
(5-19-14) The markets are getting hammered after the SP 500 failed to establish a close above 1900 -- even as we had put out a shorting recommendation at 1896 on our sister site Insider Intelligence.
Ukraine on the Grand Chessboard
(5-5-14) Putin has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss “the serious escalation of violence in Ukraine” and there’s been a lot of speculation on what his intent is – since obviously he’s not going to get anything he wants out of the UN in terms of asking for protection of Russian nationals in eastern Ukraine. And of course the UN is not going to put in some force for moni
Trading with Uncle Vlad
(4-29-14) There have been reports that the Russians have amassed four divisions of troops on the Ukrainian border. These are the same four divisions they’ve had there for the last six weeks. They’ve just been moving them back and forth. Last week what killed the end of the week “fear bid” was when there was an agreement for disengagement and, as we reported, Putin would back away from it in order
Putin Snookers the West…Again, Or How to Make Money in a “Fear Bid” Driven Market
(4-20-14) The latest Geneva deal between the US, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union is a faux settlement of the Ukrainian issue. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov finally gave in to American and European requests to meet his Ukrainian counterparts because Russia had refused to recognize them, but supposedly an accord was reached wherein Russia and Ukraine would act to de-escalate the situ
Keeping Up with Dennis Gartman and Other CNBC Shills
(4-11-14) In a recent CNBC interview, financial newsletter publisher Dennis Gartman, who edits the Gartman Letter, said he ‘got scared’ and moved his equity exposure to near zero from 100%. “Friday morning I came back from the gym, and I was very comfortable: I owned aluminum, I owned coal, I owned money-center banks. Then between 11 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. it was as if they flipped the switch. Everyt
High Frequency Trading: Are the Markets Really Rigged?
(4-2-14) According to Michael Lewis, author of “Flash Boys,” the UK Guardian reports that “the US stock market is rigged in favor of high-speed electronic trading firms, which use their advantages to extract billions from investors.”
U.S. vs. Russia: Cold War 2.0
(3-25-14) Bloomberg reports “Putin Clears Crimea Annexation as Ukraine Signs EU Pact” – even though last week he said that Russia would not annex Crimea. What he’s doing is he’s testing the limits...
Why the Fear Bid Has Come into the Markets
(3-16-14) Markets got run up last Friday based on better than expected US unemployment data which supported the markets. However the run-up was marginal and light volume as run-ups have been since the first of the year. It’s been an 8.3 : 1 market, where we have seen declining volume on red days exceeding volume by 8.3. What it demonstrates is that the Unwashed are the lightest buyers of all becau
Russia and Ukraine: Uncle Vlad Wins Again
(3-8-14) The Ukraine so-called “crisis” is another Big Media Distraction. Kremlin oligarch Vladimir Putin a/k/a Uncle Vlad has been doing the same play almost since the time he came into power. So what does he do? He rattles everybody’s cage… and then he gets bailed out. That’s what the rest of the world has taught him.
Go Short, Young Man!
(2-27-14) In the olden days, the smart money advice was “Go West, Young Man” because of the perception that opportunity awaited those who ventured to the western region of the United States. Today in the crumbling global economic environment, the smart money advice would be “Go Short, Young Man.” Here’s why --
Civil Unrest Sweeps the Planet; Globe Spec Bubble II Keeps Expanding
(2-21-14) The Global Speculative Bubble II is still concentrating wealth and while civil unrest is created by rampant corruption in all governments, which flourishes when economic speculative bubbles occur because it’s simply an opportunity to be corrupt.
Financial Juggernaut? Or Not? Where’s the End of the Cliff?
(2-13-14) Since the House of Representatives voted to suspend the US debt limit until March 2015 – and passage by the Senate seems quite likely – this will be the first time since 2008 that a debt limit extension is actually going to happen.
Big Trouble in Big Bad China
(2-5-14) With the recent downturn in the market, what everybody wants to know – is this just a 5-10% correction or is this the beginning of something bigger?
The Downward Spiral in the Currencies of Emerging Markets
(1-29-14) It was reported on CNBC that the Argentine peso lost 84% of its value, Brazil’s real lost 35% and the Turkish lira lost 22% of its value against the US dollar. Some analysts are blaming Fed “tapering” -- but what does this really mean?
ObamaCare – A Socialist Welfare Pyramid Scheme (Part 2)
(1-22-14) The thing with ObamaCare regarding pre-existing conditions is to deflect public attention from the underlying fact of what Obama is trying to accomplish – to give the 47% of have-nots medical insurance and have the 53% pay for it. Why? Because the 47% are his constituency.
Obama Care: Just Another Pyramid Scheme To Destroy America? (Part 1)
(1-16-14) People have asked me – so have you signed up for Obama Care? And I tell them I haven’t even looked at it yet. The problem is that they keep changing the mandatory sign-up date. The reason they have these mandatory dates is to try to force the young people in, so they keep extending the dates, since only 10% even understand what it is.
Economic Predictions for 2014
(1-7-14) So what is going to happen to the global economy? The answer to this question is divided into two camps. The financial media shills and the speakers of GovLie who keep trying to proffer this idea that not only the United States economy but also the Europe and Asia economies have reached what economists call “escape velocity.” They claim that GDP has improved so much thanks to massive “qua
How Uncle Vlad Outsmarted Obama and the EU
(12-20-13) It’s been a big week for Uncle Vlad Putin. First, he pledged to lend $15 billion to Ukraine, which Bloomberg called a “junk-rated Ukraine vassal” thus outfoxing the EU’s bid to bring Ukraine into the EU and NATO orbit.
Ukraine: Stuck in the Middle with EU and Russia
(12-11-13) The political and economic crisis in Ukraine continues as demonstrators tore down a statue of Lenin in Ukraine’s capital Kiev protesting President Yanukovich’s policies of cozying up to Russia and rejecting closer ties to the European Union. So will Ukraine become the next Cyprus, another basket case that needs "bail-in' money to stay afloat?
Trading the Bubblicious Market
(12-4-13) At our sister site Insider Intelligence.com, we have been recommending for the last 30 days that traders remain short the Gold, Silver, and Sugar, as we have been, under the guise that Gold is coming down for a test of 1200 and the Silver is coming down for a test of $18. The reason why this is happening is because the Unwashed are pulling money out of all the commodity ETFs, Gold and Si
Are You Doing Your Part To Support the Market Bubble?
(11-28-13) Now the market commentary is changing not only from financial media shills. but also from the Fed governors. There is an increasing admission that the markets are bubblicious but we can’t let any air out because the global economy is now so fragile that everyone has to do their part to maintain the bubble.
Marc Faber Proclaims The End of Capitalism. But Not Yet….
(11-20-13) It starts off with comments by the Notorious Corporate Raider Carl Icahn who says “markets could easily have a big drop” because he thinks that equities are overbought and that could be subject to a hit. But he’s not the only one saying that.
The Pernicious Cycle of Global Deflation on the Horizon
(11-8-13) The European Central Bank (ECB) caught markets off-guard this week by cutting their benchmark rates a quarter of a point and also talking about accelerated LTRO (Long Term Reserve Operation) which is their equivalent of yet another huge quantitative easing move. So what do the central banks see that markets and governments don’t – that suddenly they’re getting so aggressive in pumping ev
ObamaCare: Forensic Analysis
(11-1-13) What’s eventually going to happen with ObamaCare is what always happens in a situation like this and this happens only when Democrats are in power. It gets sub-contracted out to the cheapest bidder and they’ll always go to a socialist welfare nation-state. That’s why they went to Canada to express solidarity. They fuck it up and sub it out to somebody in India who fucks it up even more,
To Q E(ternity) and Beyond
(10-24-13) In a recent CNBC interview Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom Doom and Boom Report, says “Every government program that is introduced under urgency and temporary measures is always permanent. And in my view the Fed has boxed themselves in where there is no exit strategy. The question is at what point will they increase the asset purchases [from $85 billion per month] to 150, 200 billion
Political Brinksmanship… Just Wait Until January
(10-17-13) In the post-war regime there were fundamental changes undertaken as to the manner of the structure of the planet’s economy. The planet effectively abandoned the pre-war model which was sustainable, i.e. savings-generated economic growth.
Koch Brothers Playing Global Chicken with the Debt Ceiling Debate
(10-8-13) It hasn’t even been verified if the Koch Brothers are selling everything short -- but could so-called “technical default” of US Treasury Bonds on October 17 be the end of USA, Inc.?
Defunding Obama Care, Govt Shutdown, Et Al
(9-25-13) Financial media like CNBC and Bloomberg are promoting the “government shutdown” and defunding Obama Care as the next “crisis” du jour. CNBC even has a clock with flashing numbers counting down to the October 1 date when the government must pass a budget – or else.
What Happened in Syria
(9-18-13) Did Obama get snookered by Putin in the run-up to the US invasion of Syria? Certainly he tied his hands. He stole his thunder. He pulled the rug from under him. Whatever expression you want to use. After all it was Putin who was first to come up with this idea of Syria abandoning its chemical weapons – which of course is very self-serving because he knows the manner in which such surrend
So-Called “Tapering”: Will QE Have a Happy Ending?
(9-11-13) People have asked me what in the world is “tapering” of Quantitative Easing (QE) and how will it affect the economy? Fed Head Ben Bernanke told Congress that the Fed may “taper” or ease up the bond-buying program known as Quantitative Easing (QE) in the coming months which will cut bond purchases from $85 billion to $65 billion per month.
Realpolitik 303: Syria, Chemical Weapons and War
(8-28-13) So what is it about Syria, which is starting to look like Iraq 2.0?
What Is It With Egypt?
(8-21-13) Demonstrations by millions of Egyptians, riots in the streets and mass killings have rocked Egypt for months as the military, the Islamists and their secular opposition have turned the country into a state of chaos and turmoil. What will happen next?
From Genetically Modified Food to Population Reduction
(8-13-13) Now that US grown Genetically Modified commodities like GM Corn, Soy, Wheat and Cotton are so prevalent in the world’s markets, how does this relate to the fact that nation-states around the world are banning GM crops in Europe etc.? Will this precipitate a parallel market in non-GMO commodities?
The Global Shell Game of the Central Banks
(8-6-13) According to Bloomberg, private equity firms are getting ready to sell, sell and then sell some more – “Private-equity managers from Fortress Investment Group to Blackstone Group LP which made billions by buying low and selling high, say now is the time to exit investments as stocks rally and interest rates start to rise.” What does this mean?
Global Central Banks Go All In
(7-31-13) According to Bloomberg, "JPMorgan Chase and Co. will pay $410 million to settle U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission allegations that the bank manipulated power markets... JPMorgan Chase and Co. said July 26 it was considering the sale or spin off of its physical commodities business, including energy trading, three days after a congressional hearing examined whether banks are
Global Central Banks Go All In
(7-17-13) Now that Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor and now the Bank of England governor who took over from former Bank of England governor Mervyn King, and who will be meeting with ECB chief Mario Draghi and the other Euro Central Bank governors in the coming weeks appears to me to be a precursor to a final round of monetary stimulus, “all in” as it were, by the global central bank
The Snowden Affair
(7-8-13) Last week Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane was diverted to Austria because of a rumor that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board. Both France and Portugal denied Morales over flight privileges as his plane was flying from Moscow back to Bolivia.
The Bullish Gold Conspiracy Takes a Tumble
(6-26-13) Gold continues to move south, and as we have been saying on our sister site Insider Intelligence.com – short the Gold. Here’s why…
How Washington Will Plan-B the NSA Whistleblower
(6-17-13) Will Edward Snowden, the hapless NSA geek whistleblower end up in a Hong Kong flophouse? Or will he end up working for the Chinese Ministry of State Security? Which would you choose?
Are You Leaving the United Stasi of America? Here’s Some Handy Tips for Wannabe Whistleblowers…
(6-11-13) Ed Snowden, the 29-year old whistleblower exposed the world to the NSA Global Surveillance Program during his tenure at Booz Allen Hamilton, which has provided contractor support for the NSA’s National Security State -- called the United Stasi of America by Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsburg. Now understanding his situation, Snowden said in an interview to the UK Guardian -- “I don’t
Gold and Bonds on Disinflation Planet
(6-6-13) In an article called “Gold prices are heading towards $1,000. There are many reasons why the gold bubble is deflating, and why gold prices are likely to move much lower by 2015,” it appears that renowned economist Nouriel Roubini has changed his tune.
IMF, World Bank and ESF: Financial Fraud Rules
(5-28-13) In the latest financial scandal, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine LeGarde has been charged with fraud and embezzlement in her previous role as France’s finance minister under Nicolas Sarkozy. So why is there so much financial malfeasance connected to the IMF and the World Bank?
What’s Going on with Gold? ETFs vs. Bullion (Part 3)
(5-21-13) People have asked me -- is the decline in Gold price tantamount to a correction?
Pimco Bond Twit Bill Gross Tweets Again
(5-15-13) There he goes again, as Ronald Reagan used to say. Bill Gross, head of Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco) keeps promising to retire, but still hasn’t. Instead he tweets…
Realpolitik 2013: Diddling with the Planet
(5-8-13) So has the Obama Regime really continued and even expanded Bush Cabal foreign and domestic policies? Some wags have even quipped that Obama has out-Bushed Bush himself with the acceleration of heavy-handed tactics aimed at foreign and domestic “enemies.”
May 2013: The Month of Desperation for the ECB and the FED
(5-1-13) Whatever the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) decide to do this week, there have been great expectations that they will act together and come up with another major shot of pabulum in the Hopium Cloud. There have been a lot of rumors in the markets during the last couple of days that the Fed and the ECB are going to step up to the plate instead of acting wimpy, which is
What’s Going on with Gold? (Part 2): Pent-Up Demand Spurs Gold Buyers
(4-24-13) On April 22, 2013, Financial Times reported “Asian bargain hunters pile into gold” -- but there’s nothing new about this. So is there really a dearth of physical gold around the world? Not really. There has been a so-called pent-up demand for the physical metal for some time. Therefore a price drop in Gold was bound to bring up the physical demand.
What’s Going On with Gold? The D-Word Is Back!
(4-16-13) The catalyst for the drop in the price of Gold last Friday, which had actually been rumored in the market since last Thursday, was that the central bank of Cyprus was going to be forced to sell thirteen metric tons of Gold from its holdings in order to meet the capital requirements for the 10 billion Euro bailout. The Bank of Cyprus didn’t actually confirm that until early Friday morning
Bushonomics: The Sad Legacy of David Stockman
(4-8-13) Reagan’s budget director David Stockman has written a disingenuous New York Times op-ed piece called “State-Wrecked: The Corruption of Capitalism in America.” It should be remembered that Stockman never spoke out at the time as he was the original proponent of taking the United States off of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and putting it on BFLAP (Bushonian Fantasy Land Ac
Here Comes Euro-Sodomy: When Does a ‘Haircut’ Become Outright ‘Confiscation’?
(4-2-13) In the Cyprus situation, “confiscation” is not really the right word to use since it assumes that there is something left to confiscate. The depositors’ money is gone. Why? Because the banks of Cyprus used it to buy worthless Greek bonds. This is just another example of the cascading Euro sodomy effect.
Collapsonomics (Part 6): Where Will Global Collapse Begin? The Same Old Place...
(3-28-13) As has always been the case in the past, global economic collapse will once again be triggered through a European event. Why? Because Europe, fiscally speaking, has never really recovered from the Dark Ages.
Collapsonomics (Part 5): Big Panic in Little Cyprus
(3-20-13) The government of Cyprus wants a bailout from the European Central Bank, which is primarily controlled by Germany, that will force depositors to give up 6.7% of accounts which are smaller than 100,000 Euros and 9.9% for accounts larger than 100,000 Euros. This confiscation is couched as “deposit insurance.” Since Cypriot banks have become a refuge for Russian KGB mob money, there has bee
Collapsonomics (Part 4): The Market Correction Cometh – How Soon? How Much?
(3-13-13) In a CNBC interview last week, market analyst Nouriel Roubini, dubbed “Dr. Doom” for his pessimistic outlook, said “I think the markets will be surprised by how much the U.S. will slow down even compared to last year and the second half of the year. The U.S. stock market could correct somehow.” Now everybody is just trying to make a guesstimate of how it plays out.
Collapsonomics (Part 3): The Impact of Sequestration
(3-5-13) The sequester is simply the automatic across the board spending cuts that Congress agreed to abide by two years ago. It was supposed to be a scare tactic for Congress agreed upon prior to the 2012 bi-elections since both military and domestic spending would be cut 50-50. Sequestration was supposed to be a government “poison pill” (like a corporate “poison pill) for incoming members who ca
Collapsonomics (Part 2): Why Gold and Silver Prices Are Falling
(2-25-13) The Gold Bugs have been told by the Gold and Silver Shills in financial media, who have a vested interest in rising bullion prices because they’re all involved in the selling of bullion in some fashion, that Gold is “going to the moon.” Nevertheless the price of Gold and Silver can decline during a deflationary cycle -- not only can, but in fact always declines in the initial stages of a
Collapsonomics (Part 1): Bonds vs. Equities vs. Gold, (Part 2) Why Gold and Silver Prices Are Falling
(2-20-13) For the last year or so, we’ve see that the Stock Shills on CNBC and Bloomberg have also doubled as the Bond Bears. Why? Because if you are a Retail Stock Tout in financial media, you have a vested interest in pooh-poohing the Bonds at every opportunity. The line that they have tried to sell is that money is coming out of US Treasury Bond funds and Bond Fund ETFs and supposedly the Smart
Why Venezuela Devalued Its Currency. Who’s Next?
(2-12-13) Last Friday President Hugo Chavez announced a major currency devaluation in Venezuela, raising the Bolivar to Dollar exchange rate from 2.15 to 4.30, while the black market rate has remained 6.25 per dollar. The Bolivar has been falling apart because Venezuela can not maintain the Dollar peg.What happened?
Dow Flirts with 14,000. What’s Next?
(2-7-13) It has been reported that “the Dow topped 14,000 for the first time since 2007, as investors applauded encouraging U.S. economic news.” This is the way it’s getting spun and that is the whole shill. The rally that has occurred is basically a four –year rally, which is nothing more than a cyclical rally within a secular bear market. This has been a so-called “professional affair,” meaning
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