Bill Holter: A Global Credit Crises is Rapidly Approaching

Bill Holter of JSMineset discusses the financial crises that continues to unfold behind the scenes. He states that credit crises will erupt and soon. Is he correct is 2018 the year it all comes apart?

- Source X22 Report

Thundering Collision Coming in Bond Market

Former Reagan White House Budget Director David Stockman says, “The central banks realize they cannot keep printing money at these crazy rates, and by that I mean the bond buying. Now, they are going to begin to normalize and shrink their balance sheet. 

By the fall (of 2018), they (the Federal Reserve) will be shrinking their balance sheet by $600 billion a year. What that means in plain simple English is that they (the Fed) are dumping $600 billion a year of existing bonds into the market just as Uncle Sam will be attempting to borrow $1.25 trillion more. 

Now, if you don’t think that is a financial collision waiting to happen, then I am not sure what would be. We are heading for a thundering collision in the bond market that will drive yields upward far more than the market is expecting. The stock market operates on the illusion of permanently low interest rates. When interest rates start to rise, everything is going to come apart because cheap debt has been priced in forever, and we are heading for far more expensive debt. 

Bond prices are going to collapse when yields begin to rise. Stock prices are going to collapse bigtime when the underlying predicate of cheap debt, massive stock buy backs and M&A deals and everything else supporting the market today finally reverses. 

So, we are going to have deflation in the canyons of Wall Street, and that will not be a happy day.” 

Stockman also likes gold and silver and says those are only "safe investments left."

- Source, USA Watchdog

Martin Armstrong: We Are in the Biggest Bond Bubble in History

Is renowned financial expert Martin Armstrong worried about central banks continually buying bonds to suppress interest rates? Armstrong says, “Yes, absolutely. We are in the biggest bond bubble in history, not a stock bubble, but a bubble. 

The scary thing in Europe is the ECB (European Central Bank) has been basically supporting the governments. It is subsidizing all the governments in the Eurozone. 

We are looking at almost 10 years of quantitative easing with that, and it hasn’t helped the economy. If the ECB backs off, who’s going to buy the debt?” How does this end? Armstrong says, “Our computers are showing that interest rates are going to go up faster than anybody has ever seen in history. 

You are looking at a doubling of interest rates very, very rapidly. Gold and equities are the place to be.”

- Source, USA Watchdog

A Cascading and Collapsing Collateral Crisis

Gordon Long discusses the shenanigans of central bankers and how outrageous it really is. This a must listen and watch to understand whats happening.

- Source, Gordon T Long

Tillerson is Ready For North Korea Talks... But Is Trump?

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told an audience this week that the US was ready to begin direct talks with North Korea without pre-conditions. But the White House has denied that the Administration's position has changed. Is Tillerson free lancing it? Or is something else going on?

- Source, Ron Paul

Robert Shiller: People Are Moving Into a State of Extreme Fear

(Please click Image, or HERE to play this video)

Robert Shiller, professor of economics at Yale University, discusses growth versus value and volatility in equities. He speaks with Guy Johnson on "Bloomberg Surveillance."

- Source, Bloomberg

Catherine Austin Fitts: Smart Money Buying Gold and Land

Catherine Austin Fitts, who was also an Assistant Housing Secretary in the first Bush Administration, talks about the Mueller/Trump investigation that she says is twisting in the wind and also the gun control and why Americans need firearms now more than ever. Fitts also says a large market correction will probably happen in 2018.

- Source, USA Watchdog

The Time to Buy Commodities is NOW

DoubleLine CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said Tuesday that historical and economic indicators point to a likely buying opportunity for commodities such as oil and gold.

"If you ever thought about buying commodities, ... maybe you should buy them now," Gundlach said in a webcast organized by his firm.

He pointed out that by comparing total returns of the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index with the S&P 500 over the last several decades, there are clearly defined points at which commodities outperformed stocks, leading to a sharp increase in stocks, and vice versa. For example, stocks far outpaced commodities during the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s into 2000. But commodities went on to rally hard until they peaked during the global financial crisis of 2008.

"We're right at that level where in the past you would have wanted commodities instead of stocks," Gundlach said, noting that commodity prices stopped falling in 2016 and the global economy is "definitely hanging in there." He said he does not see a recession likely for at least the next six months.

The S&P GSCI is up nearly 56 percent from its low in January 2016 after plunging more than 30 percent in 2015. The index is up just over 6 percent this year, while the S&P 500 has rallied more than 17 percent.

Gundlach also expects the U.S. dollar index's next major move will be lower as the Federal Reserve is unable to tighten monetary policy as much as they plan. A weaker dollar also helps commodity prices and emerging market assets, which Gundlach said he still likes.

In a response to a question about whether having 10 percent of a portfolio in gold is "too much," Gundlach said he would rather put 10 to 15 percent of his investments in commodities broadly rather than gold alone.

The investor also said the falling yield curve between the 2-year and 10-year Treasury yield is "getting to the point where it's worth watching." That fact that "people are starting to explain away the yield curve" indicates to him the U.S. economy is closer to the middle of the tightening cycle than the beginning.

"It's pretty relentlessly flattening," Gundlach said. "If the [yield curve] goes to zero then we get a flashing yellow light for [a] recession."

DoubleLine's $54 billion Total Return Bond Fund is up 3.6 percent year to date, according to Morningstar.

This summer, Gundlach put a big bet on the return of volatility to the market, predicting the Standard & Poor's 500 would tumble. He bought a bunch of put options on the index, a bet that it would fall and a move he described as a bullish bet on volatility. In August, Gundlach predicted the VIX would double to 20.

Just the opposite has happened for most of this year. The S&P has climbed while volatility as tracked by the CBOE's Volatility Index, or VIX, is down 20 percent. Only recently has Gundlach's bet been in a position to benefit. The VIX is up 21 percent this month and 16 percent so far this quarter.

Gundlach said on Tuesday's webcast that since the VIX jumped from below 10 to above 17 a few days after his August forecast, "I'm going to call it good enough."

- Source, CNBC

Jim Rickards: Gold Is Now Fully Priced For A FED Rate Hike

Inflation Can Return Much Faster Than You Think

Consumer price inflation has remained persistently low, despite the Fed’s best efforts. This has led many people to ask where the inflation is, because the Fed has created trillions of dollars since the financial crisis.

But there has been inflation. It’s just been in assets like stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. How about bitcoin? Bitcoin increased about $2,000 yesterday alone! It’s trading at about $16,000 as I write. We’ve never seen anything like it.

The bottom line is, we’ve seen asset price inflation, and lots of it, too.

But the question everyone wants to know is when will we finally see consumer price inflation; when will all that money creation catch up at the grocery store and the gas pump?

It’s difficult to say exactly. But once it does happen, it will likely strike with a vengeance. Double-digit inflation could quickly follow.

Double-digit inflation is a non-linear development. What I mean by that is, inflation doesn’t go simply from two percent, three percent, four, five, six. What happens is it’s really hard to get it from two to three, which is ultimately what the Fed wants.

It’s proving extremely difficult just to get up to two. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) is the core price deflator, which is what the fed looks at. Currently, it is at about 1.4%, but it’s stuck there. It’s not going anywhere. The Fed continues to try everything possible to get it to two with hopes to hit three.

The reason is that it’s not purely a function of monetary policy, it’s a partial function of monetary policy.

It’s also a partial function of behavioral psychology. It’s very difficult to get people to change their expectations, but if you do, it’s hard to get them to change back again.

Inflation can really spin out of control very quickly. So is double-digit inflation rate within the next five years in the future? It’s possible. Though I am not forecasting it. If it happens, it would happen very quickly. We would see a struggle from two to three, and then jump to six, and then jump to nine or ten.

This is another reason why having a gold allocation now is of value. Because if and when these types of development begin happening, gold will be inaccessible.

To this point, I am often approached on, “How can you say gold prices will rise to $10,000 without knowing developments in the world economy, or even what actions will be taken by the federal reserve?”

It’s not made up. I don’t throw it out there to get headlines, et cetera. It’s the implied non-deflationary price of gold. Everyone says you can’t have a gold standard, because there’s not enough gold. There’s always enough gold, you just have to get the price right.

That was the mistake made by Churchill in 1925. The world is not going to repeat that mistake. I’m not saying that we will have a gold standard. I’m saying if you have anything like a gold standard, it will be critical to get the price right. To this regard, Paul Volcker said the same thing.

The analytical question is, you can have a gold standard if you get the price right; what is the non-deflationary price? What price would gold have to be in order to support global trade and commerce, and bank balance sheets, without reducing the money supply? The answer is, $10,000 an ounce.

The math is where I use M1, based on my judgment. You can pick another measure if you choose (there are different measures of money supply). I use 40%. A lot of people don’t agree with that. The Austrians say it’s got to be 100%.

Historically, it’s been as low as 20% so 40% is my number. If you take the global M1 of the major economies, times 40%and divide that by the amount of official gold in the world, the answer is approximately $10,000 an ounce.

Now, if you go to 100%, you’re going to get, using M1, you’re going to get $25,000 an ounce. If you use M2 at 100% you’re going to get $50,000 an ounce. If you use 20% backing with M1, you’re going to get $5,000 an ounce.

All those numbers are going to be different based on the inputs, but just to state my inputs, I’m using global major economy M1, 40% backing, and official gold supply of about 35,000 tons.

Change the input, you’ll change the output, but there’s no mystery. It’s not a made-up number. The math is eighth grade math, it’s not calculus.

That’s where I get the $10,000 figure. It is also worth noting that you don’t have to have a gold standard, but if you do, this will be the price.

The now impending question is, are we going to have a gold standard? That’s a function of collapse of confidence in central bank money, which is already being seen. It’s happened three times before, in 1914, 1939 and 1971.

Let us not forget that in 1977, the United States issued treasury bonds denominated in Swiss francs, because no other country wanted dollars. The United States Treasury then borrowed in Swiss francs, because people didn’t want dollars, at least at an interest rate that the Treasury was willing to pay.

That’s how bad things were, and this type of crisis happens every 30 or 40 years. Again, we can look to history and see what happened in 1998. Wall Street bailed out a hedge fund to save the world. What happened in 2008? The central banks bailed out Wall Street to save the world.

What’s going to happen in 2018?

Each bailout gets bigger than the one before. But the Fed is not in a position to handle another crisis with its traditional tools. It’s currently very low on“bullets.”

The Fed has been raising interest rates not because they’ve been justified by the economic data, but because it’s out of bullets and needs to raise rates so it can lower them again in event of another recession.

And despite the recent hikes, rates remain very low. If the next crisis is bigger than the last one, which I expect, the Fed is basically tapped out.

Of course, raising rates could cause the very recession the Fed’s trying to prevent. But that’s why it’s raising rates.

What about next week? Will Janet Yellen raise rates?

A potential government shutdown looms this weekend. It’s difficult to imagine the Fed hiking rates on December 13 if the government shuts down on December 8 and remains shut on the date of the FOMC meeting.

There’s not much middle ground between Democrats and Republicans on spending policy issues like immigration, Trump’s Wall, Obamacare bailouts, and a host of other hot button issues.

This looks like another 50/50 call.

The euro, yen, gold and Treasury notes are all fully priced for rate hike. If it happens, those instruments won’t change much because the event is priced. If there’s no rate hike, euros, gold, yen and Treasury notes will all soar.

So, there’s an asymmetry in the probable outcomes. If you go long euros, gold, yen and Treasury notes, you won’t lose much if the Fed hikes (assuming no geopolitical shocks), but you could win big if they don’t.

That’s the kind of coin toss I like. Heads I win, tails I don’t lose.

- Source, Jim Rickards via the Daily Reckoning

Ann Barnhardt: You Are Now Obsolete, The Elites Don't Need You

Have you suffered the disturbing experience of being treated by the system as though you are an unneeded nuisance? And rather than serving your needs, the system is dumping you as though it could go on just fine without you? 

Are you being displaced from one or many of your natural roles (Father / Mother / Employee / Investor / Patient / Customer / Citizen) and disenfranchised of your intrinsic rights? Ann Barnhardt, founder of Barnhardt Capital Management and a firebrand for justice, returns to Reluctant Preppers to examine two recent news stories that starkly exemplify the surreal inversion that is being perpetrated on ordinary people today. 

Don't miss Barnhardt's rousing call for principled individuals to reclaim our natural rights and our lives!

- Source, Reluctant Preppers

Catherine Austin Fitts: We Need Our $40 Trillion In Stolen Cash Back

Don’t expect the mainstream propaganda media to give you any warning or real information about what’s happening. Financial Expert Catherine Austin Fitts contends, “The conundrum for a CNN is how do we get ratings? How do we get attention without talking about the real news? 

The real news is, since fiscal 1995, we have disappeared or bailed out or stolen over $40 trillion of our money. If we are going to balance the budget, we need that $40 trillion or the assets thereon or the liabilities of the people who stole it back on the table, or else we’re toast. If we can give $27 trillion to the banks, I can assure you we can afford $4 trillion of a pension fund bailout. Mr. Global doesn’t want us to do the algebra. 

This is like fourth grade math. $27 trillion to bail out the banks, and we are not going to bail out the pension funds? Where does that come from?”

- Source, USA Watchdog

The Growing Debt Bomb: $21 Trillion Missing from US Federal Budget

Dr. Mark Skidmore thinks the federal accounting of $21 trillion in missing money is crazy and far outside the realm of normal. So, is this a legitimate U.S. national security issue? Dr. Skidmore, who holds a PhD in Economics, says, “Yeah, and that is one of the reasons I decided to look at this. 

How can this be, and what does this mean? If trillions of dollars are flowing in and flowing out, it appears to be outside of our Constitution and outside of the rule of law. If that is the case, that really is troubling because it suggests that there is a layer of things happening that are outside the rule of law. 

I know, for example, that some activities, just for the sake of protection of the people involved in national security, have to be black budget. There is always stuff like that. Usually, it’s authorized spending, and some percentage is this black budget where only a small percentage of people and some in Congress know about it, but this is way outside of that. So, I am worried about it.”

- Source, USA Watchdog

Paul Craig Roberts: The Markets Will Fall When The Dollar Falls

The biggest danger to Dr. Roberts, who has a PhD in economics, is the U.S. dollar. Dr. Roberts contends, “It seems to me that the only thing that would cause the Federal Reserve to stop the liquidity would be if the U.S. dollar fell under attack. 

If for some reason people said, hey, we don’t want the dollar anymore, and they started moving out of dollars into other currencies or into something else, if they cease to hold assets in dollars, if that happened, the Fed would have to try to raise interest rates to support the dollar. 

Then you could see that everything could come apart. If the interest rates would go up, there would be all kinds of derivatives that would not be sustainable. The stock market would collapse. It would be a mess. It would be an utter mess. That’s what the IMF is worried about. It’s a messy situation. How do you get out of it?”

- Source, USA Watchdog

It's About To Get Alot Worse For Retail, The Economy Will Decline Rapidly In 2018

US debt is rising very quickly, auto, student and credit card debt overtook mortgages. The Fed's most watched indicator for inflation is starting to tick up. US retail companies are very worried about 2018, we are going to see a lot more stores close down because when the holiday season is a bust they will not be able to pay for the debt that is coming due. Global equities have been rising for 13 consecutive months in a row, even with the printing of currency, hmmm.

- Source, X22 Report

Forget About Catalonia And Brexit, The Next European Black Swan Could Be Transylvania

Over the past 100 years, the borders in Central and Eastern Europe have been redrawn time and time again, often leaving groups of people separated from their home country by new borders. Although land often changed hands relatively peacefully, suddenly finding one-selves as an ethnic minority in a new country was bound to lead to tension and resentment.

While these resentments may reveal real disenfranchisement of ethnic minorities in Central Europe, politicians, especially populist figures, have seized on the outsider narratives inherent in the diaspora experience.

As the April 2018 election approaches in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been reaching out to the Hungarian minority in Romania, drawing criticism from Romanian leaders, while his supporters insist he is trying to lend his support Hungarians everywhere.

Rooted in History

Tensions between Romania and Hungary can be traced back to World War I and the Treaty of Trianon.

Although the Treaty of Trianon ended hostilities between the Allied Powers and the Kingdom of Hungary, the peace came at a great price to the Austro-Hungarian successor state. Hungary lost 2/3rd of its population and territory, leaving the former imperial hub landlocked in the heart of Central Europe. Most of its territory was ceded to Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Romania, as well as Austria, Italy, and Poland. Romania was granted the entire region of Transylvania, where an estimated 1.3 million ethnic Hungarians reside, making Hungarians Romania’s largest minority.

The loss of such a large chunk of territory and population would certainly leave its mark on national memory. Recently in Hungary, politicians have been revitalizing this narrative.

Speaking on the June 4th anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, Jànos Làzàr, Minister of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, called on the beneficiaries of the treaty to apologize, insisting, “Trianon was a diktat, a historic injustice against a nation. The entire western world is indebted to Hungary.”

Lazar was careful to say that Hungary does not advocate for the redrawing of borders, rather they merely mean to ensure that the rights of minority Hungarians are protected everywhere. Romania has not taken it that way. The Romanian authorities used words like “provocative” and “dangerous” to describe the Hungarian government’s treatment of the issue.

Diaspora Politics

This isn’t the first time Lazar has intervened on behalf of Hungarians in Romania. Last spring, Lazar interceded in the case of an ethnic Hungarian brewer, Andras Lenard, in Romania who was being pressed by Heineken. Heineken was suing the upstart brewer claiming that their names, although different languages, were too similar. Hungarian politicians reacted by calling for a boycott of Heineken products as well as proposing legislation to ban the use of the Heineken red star as a communist symbol. Heineken responded by dropping the charges against Lenard.

The intervention of Hungary on behalf Lenard reflects a larger government policy of considering the Hungarian minority in Romania as Hungarians. In 2010, the Orban government expanded Hungary’s citizenship laws, making ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries eligible for citizenship and therefore voting privileges. As the 2018 parliamentary elections appear on the horizon, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been encouraging Hungarians in other Central European countries to register to vote.

Orban’s critics claim that he is merely trying to leverage the 1 million eligible voters in Romania to attain a coveted 2/3rd majority in parliament for his Fidesz party. Fidesz is just two seats away from a majority that would allow them to make constitutional changes. Considering that in the 2014 elections 95% of the vote from citizens domiciled outside of Hungary went to the Fidesz party, mobilizing the Transylvanian vote is of key importance to the Orban administration. The fact that Orban may be able to mobilize thousands of votes in the diaspora is a sign that minority protection in Central Europe is an issue that should not be overlooked.

Orban doesn’t just encourage the dual-national Hungarian minority in Romania to vote in Hungarian elections, drawing further criticism from Romanian figures. In a trip to Transylvania just before the 2016 Romanian elections, Orban stirred angst against the government, claiming that the government is failing to help the ethnic Hungarians. Orban went as far as to say that the Romanian government lacks respect for the Hungarian minority. He urged them to vote in their own best interest in the elections.

Romanian critics of Orban have accused him of trying to meddle in their politics. Former President Traian Basescu even called for the removal of the Hungarian ambassador from Romania.

ReConnect Transylvania

ReConnect Hungary is a birthright program for Canadian and American young adults of Hungarian heritage. The program aims to help Hungarians in North America forge a sense of Hungarian patriotism through travel in the region and volunteer opportunities. Interestingly, the study trip is not limited to the country of Hungary, rather participants visit Hungary, as well as the Hungarian Diaspora in Serbia, Ukraine, or Slovakia to witness, “how young Hungarians outside Hungary are maintaining their identity and traditions.”

As of 2017 the program offers a three month long ReConnect Transylvania program. Participants in this program will spend 3-6 months working with an NGO in Transylvania to “discover the deepest layers of being Hungarian.”ReConnect Hungary also now offers a week long extension on the original two week long ReConnect Hungary program to explore Hungarian culture in Transylvania. By including the Diaspora in the discussion about Hungarian culture, this private-public partnership builds a concept of a Hungarian nation that traverses accepted borders.

ReConnect Hungary is part of a larger trend called diaspora tourism. Proponents of the trend argue that it cultivates a sense of cultural heritage abroad and encourages tourism, while critics claim local leaders are using it to manipulate foreign nationals.

Cultivating strong national identity abroad can be a powerful tool, and not just in dual-citizens. Hungary has already seen some success in this regard. In 1987 the Hungarian Human Rights Foundations, comprising of second generation American citizens, successfully lobbied congress for the removal of Romania’s Most Favored Nation status. The lobbying efforts were in response to the human rights violations of the communist regime, as well as specific abuses of the Hungarian population in Romania.

- Source, Zero Hedge

As One Economy Implodes Another Economy Explodes

The further back in history one looks, as I have heard Mike Maloney say, the further into the future one can see. What do we see as we look forward from here?

For those paying attention it is easy to see that China, along with her closest ally, Russia, are forming alliances’, growing business opportunities and retooling their domestic economies from the ground up. These nations are embracing the 21st century and 21st century technology that has the worlds attention. Well, most of the worlds attention. If you listen to the US, UK, and their allies mainstream media you would think China and Russia are still 3rd world nations with barely two sticks to rub together to create fire. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything the Western “developed” nations, like the US, UK and their allies are the nations that are in fact stuck in the 1950’s mindset that their respective nations are in charge of the world – they are not.

If we review what has happened, just this week, in China and Russia and compare this to what is happening in the US/UK we will see polar opposite scenarios playing out.

First up, the positive side of the fence – China and Russia

The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) has approved two loans – for a water infrastructure project in India and the other is for a transport infrastructure project in Russia.
The Board of Directors (BoD) of the NDB approved two infrastructure projects with a loan value of US$413.8 million during the 12th BoD meeting in Shanghai on November 20.

“The NDB was established to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, and the two projects approved today are fully in line with the Bank’s mandate and national development plans of our member countries,” said Mr. K.V.Kamath, the NDB President.

The larger loan of $345 million will be lent to the Government of the Republic of India, which will forward it to the Government of Rajasthan for rehabilitating the Indira Gandhi canal system.

It will be a multi-tranche facility so it will be drawn down in stages as the project progresses.

Moody’s Investors Service upgraded India’s credit rating to Baa2 last week from Baa3 and changed the outlook to stable from positive. Its decision was underpinned by expectations that continued progress on economic and institutional reforms will, over time, enhance India’s high growth potential and its large and stable financing base for government debt, and will likely contribute to a gradual decline in the general government debt burden over the medium term.

S&P Global Ratings rate India at BBB- with stable outlook, while Fitch Ratings has the same rating at BBB- with stable outlook.

The smaller loan of $68.8 million will be lent to the Government of the Russian Federation who will use it for the construction of a toll transport corridor connecting the Ufa city centre to the M-5 federal highway. 

The Russian economy expanded by 1.8 per cent year-om-year (y/y) in the third quarter after a near five-year high of a 2.5% y/y gain in the second quarter.

While the NDB gave the go-ahead for loans to seven projects reaching $1.5 billion in 2016, the amount of approved loans is expected to reach $2.5 in 2017.

“We want to fund projects that are creative and bring benefits to the local people and environment,” NDB Vice-President Zhu Xian said earlier. Source

After conducting a couple of searches for long term infrastructure projects that are being funded this week, I find a sad lack of any funding for any such projects in the west. What we were able to find were excuses, lies and a very serious need for infrastructure projects within the United States. If the US is going to remain the top economy in the world, it needs to address the crumbling infrastructure and stop funding so many unConstitutional wars.

What is the overall state of the nation’s infrastructure?The U.S. population has more than doubled since the 1960s, when most of the country’s major infrastructure systems were designed. Many are reaching the end of their lifespan, and are dangerously overstretched, experts say.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has compiled regular “report cards” on the state of U.S. infrastructure since the 1980s. In its 2017 report, the ASCE finds that the nation’s infrastructure averages a “D,” meaning that conditions are “mostly below standard,” exhibiting “significant deterioration,” with a “strong risk of failure.” The group estimates that there is a total “infrastructure gap” of nearly $1.5 trillion needed by 2025.

Other analysts agree that the shortfall is large. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) estimates that over $800 billion is required just to shore up the nation’s roads and bridges. McKinsey researchers say that $150 billion per year will be required between 2017 and 2030 to keep abreast of all the country’s infrastructure needs. Source

Here is a short video produced by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This group of people should know a thing or two about the importance and maintenance of roads, railway, bridges and water systems.

If our so-called “leadership” continues to ignore infrastructure and continue to waste our investment dollars on war we will awaken to much higher taxes, fewer jobs and our world, the United States, will have one of the worst road, bridge, railway and water systems in the world.

- Source, Rory Hall via Sprott Money

How Much Longer Can the Petrodollar Survive?

Jerry Robinson, explains why a dollar crash may be imminent, what it will mean for your investments and how to protect yourself.

Is the end of the Petro Dollar era upon us?

- Source, Jay Taylor Media

The Abandonment of Honesty: How They’re Hiding the Truth from Us

From deception on the micro-scale of consumer goods packaging and ingredients labeling, to the mega-scale of falsified government employment and inflation statistics, is the propaganda we are being fed intentionally designed to CONCEAL THE TRUTH so as to prevent alerting the masses to the caving economy and rampant loss of: employment, earning power, and buying power? Are we being LIED TO about the ongoing THEFT of our current and future financial freedom?

- Source, Reluctant Preppers

Bitcoin is a Reflection of the Hidden Panic in the Markets

Bitcoin’s rapid rise in value is sending a warning signal, according to former Fed insider Danielle DiMartino Booth. She says, “To me, Bitcoin is a reflection of panic. It’s a reflection of people trying to get money into a safe place knowing the major governments of the developed world have got their printing presses running 24/7. 

It is a reflection of anxiety in fiat currencies and the fact it’s not practical to go back to a gold standard. What scares me about Bitcoin is the central bankers are studying it to figure out how the blockchain works.

They are going to be controlling our spending with blockchain technology that is being perfected in the crypto currency universe.I am not a gold bug, but we do know that in times of corrections that there is no place to hide in traditional asset classes that you can get at your Merrill Lynch brokerage. 

Gold and silver in the precious metals complex are the only places to hide and get true diversification and safety.”

- Source, USA Watchdog

John Rubino: A Repeat of the 1970's Inflation or Even Worse?

John Rubino gives his thoughts on the increase in the money supply, velocity of money and what it means for the Fed’s monetary policy in light of debt levels.

- Source, Jay Taylor Media

Hyperinflation Watch: 300% Obamacare Premium Increases

Over the past several months, Democrats have jumped on every opportunity possible to blame the Trump administration for yet another year of staggering Obamacare premium increases. Ironically, despite arguments from the Left that Trump’s defunding of Obamacare’s marketing budget would cause 2018 signups to plunge, as Politico recently noted, they’re actually up in 2018…which begs the question:was the Obama administration just wasting $100 million a year in taxpayer money for nothing? Shocking thought, we know.

Meanwhile a fresh barrage of outcries from Democrats, most notably Ms. Nancy Pelosi, came after Trump’s decision to cut federal subsidies, an action which the CBO insisted could result in devastating premium increases of up to 20%.

Of course, if Trump is responsible for 20% of Obamacare’s premium hikes in 2018, then perhaps Nancy Pelosi should explain to the Dixon family in Charlottesville, VA precisely who is responsible for the other portion of the 235% premium hike they just received.

As the Washington Post points out this morning, the Dixons, a family of 4 in Virginia, were shocked earlier this month to find that their Obamacare premiums were going to surge from roughly $900 per month in 2017 to over $3,000 per month in 2018.

Ian Dixon, who left his full-time job in 2016 to pursue an app-development business, did so because the ACA guaranteed that he could still have quality coverage for his young family, he said.

But when the 38-year-old Charlottesville husband and father of a 3- and a 1-year-old went to re-enroll this month, his only choice for coverage would cost him more than $3,000 a month for his family of four, which amounted to an increase of more than 300 percent over the $900 he paid the year before. And this is for the second-cheapest option, with a deductible of $9,200.

“Helpless is definitely a good word for it,” Dixon said. “Rage is also a good word for it.”

Of course, Democrats and the MSM also applauded Obamacare’s ‘great success’ earlier this year when several counties that were previously feared to be left with no coverage options in 2018, suddenly picked up a carrier. That said, perhaps Bloomberg, Reuters, NBC, etc. should reconsider just how meaningful these Obamacare monopolies are if the premiums charged are so high that no one can afford them anyway…
Earlier this year, Aetna and Anthem pulled out of the Albemarle market, citing too much unpredictability and risk. A smaller carrier, Optima, came in to fill the void. Consumers in the area went from having 19 plans offered in the options from Aetna and Anthem to only five coverage options with Optima.

Several factors led to Optima’s offering such high-priced plans, said Michael Dudley, the president of Optima.

First, small communities like Charlottesville tend to be pricier to cover because there is a small patient pool to balance out risks. So Optima took a cue from the carriers who had already ditched the market when actuaries predicted it was a place where the insurance companies might be paying out more to cover claims than it receives in premiums.

It is also a more expensive coverage area because the primary provider is University of Virginia Health System, an academic medical center that charges higher rates for its care than a community hospital. Optima will include UVA Health System in-network, unlike many carriers who have dropped the big medical centers as a cost-saving measure.

…perhaps local business owner Shawn Cossette can provide the Obamacare cheerleaders within the media some helpful insights…
Among them was Shawn Marie Cossette, 55, who runs her own event and floral design business in Charlottesville. Last year, she purchased an Anthem silver plan for $550 a month for herself. This year, under Optima, a silver plan would cost her $1,859 monthly.

“It’s a huge percentage of my income,” she said. “I really believed in the ACA. I really feel everyone deserves the right to health insurance, but who can afford those prices if you don’t qualify for subsidies?”

- Source, Zero Hedge

How Much Longer Can the Petrodollar Survive?

Jerry Robinson, explains why a dollar crash may be imminent, what it will mean for your investments and how to protect yourself.

- Source, Jay Taylor Media

The FED's Bubblenomics Run Amuck

If you Google “dot com bubble,” you will get nearly 1.2 million hits, and 3.3 million hits if you Google “tech bubble.” A Google search of “housing bubble” will return nearly 11 million hits. (The searches were conducted on March 29, 2017). And if you search Amazon books for financial crisis 2008 you will get more than 1200 hits.

Given all the books, monographs, essays, articles, and editorials that have been written about back-to-back bubbles that occurred within two decades, one would think there would be nothing else to write about.

The purpose of this book is to present to the general public, my fellow academicians and policymakers with an brief account and review of one of the most turbulent periods in United States history without the usual jargon academics are noted for.

As the two quotes from the Federal Reserve’s website above reveal, the Fed has been given the responsibility by the Congress of the United States to essentially promote sustainable prosperity, stabilize prices and maximize employment. During the past 100 years of the Federal Reserve’s operations, the economy has grown substantially (see Figure 1 for data since 1929), but the path to higher living standards have been interrupted by depressions/ recessions, a few bouts with double-digit price inflation and occasionally widespread unemployment. Although the Congress has expected the Federal Reserve to be a wise and prescient “helmsman,” navigating the economy from becoming overheated or plunging into a recession or worse, the Fed’s track record belies its mandates.

The Federal Reserve's primary tool, open market operations, the buying and selling of US government securities with money created out of thin air, is supposed to provide sufficient "liquidity" to grease the wheels of commerce so the US economy reaches its optimal output of goods and services and maximizes employment. Thus, the Federal Reserve has what every American wishes it had, an unlimited checking account.

The US Congress created the Federal Reserve in 1913 to stabilize the economy after the Panic of 1907, and was “sold” to the American people as a measure to rein in the banks for their reckless behavior and enormous power over the economy. The fact that bankers and their allies helped draft the Federal Reserve Act seems to have been downplayed by most economists and financial historians. Others have taken a less sanguine view of central banking.

Critics of the Federal Reserve have put the blame squarely on the shoulders of former Federal Reserve chairmen, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, and their colleagues at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) for voting to inflate the supply of money and credit in order to “stimulate” the economy to maintain "aggregate demand." Both Greenspan and Bernanke defended their decisions to keep interest rates low during the second half of the 1990s and the run-up to the housing bubble of the 2000s.

Although numerous observers of the Federal Reserve's monetary policies were warning of the incipient dot com bubble of the 1990s, Greenspan and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve brushed off their warnings, even though the former Fed Chairman himself did warn of “irrational exuberance” of stock prices in a December 1996 speech. Nevertheless, after the bubble burst in 2000 and the economy entered a mild recession, the Fed did what it always has done to "combat" an economic downturn--lower interest rates to boost output and employment.

As the federal funds rate — the rate banks borrow from each other for overnight loans — fell to 1 percent in 2003 and was kept there for a year, critics assert that the Fed helped ignite a housing bubble that led to the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression (see Figure 2). In fact, some analysts pointed out that the housing boom actually began in the 1990s and accelerated after the relatively mild 2001 recession to its bubble peak in 2006. The 30- year mortgage rate also declined precipitously, making housing more attractive for many new homebuyers. (See Figure 3) We will discuss interest rates and the housing market in chapter 1. 

So why another book on financial bubbles? The goal here is to integrate several fundamental economic and financial issues such as money, prices, interest rates, financial markets, banking, entrepreneurship, economic cycles and, of course, central banking (in chapter 1) in order to review how both policymakers and economists have assessed the US economy. In other words, if policymakers maintain that a market economy is inherently unstable and they believe they have the tools to guide employment and output on the correct path, then why did the US economy experience so much financial and economic turmoil during the past two decades? And for that matter for the past 100 years since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913?

In addition, what were Federal Reserve policymakers thinking and saying as the dot com bubble and housing bubble were unfolding? Moreover, what were economists from various schools of thought writing in real time about the boom and bust of the late 1990s and of the first decade of the 21st century? We will review their major writings and speeches in chapters 2 through 7.

In chapter 2 Alan Greenspan's speeches, testimony to Congress and other public statements during the 1990s and early 2000 will be reviewed and analyzed. Chapter 3 will focus on Ben Bernanke’s views as the housing bubble was unfolding after he became Fed chairman in January 2006. In chapter 4 the analyses and forecasts of other Fed officials such as Janet Yellin and former Dallas Fed Pres. Richard Fisher will be examined. In addition, a review of several research papers by Fed economists during the booms and busts will also be scrutinized.

Chapter 5 will highlight the views of prominent Keynesian economists while chapter 6 will focus on the analyses of well-known monetarists and supply siders. In chapter 7, the essays and other public presentations-- both written and media – of economists writing in the Austrian school tradition will be scrutinized as well.

The bottom line is what lessons have been learned by policymakers, economists, financial analysts and others who are interested in understanding how the Federal Reserve conducts its policies "to promote optimal macroeconomic performance." If the Federal Reserve's critics are correct, that the Fed’s "groupthink" ignored the warnings of individuals during the 1990s and early 2000's, then the public and members of Congress should call for a reassessment of the central bank’s mission and policies—and its very existence.

If Federal Reserve officials are "blameless" for the economy’s booms and busts, then how can the average American small business owner, employee, corporate executive and retiree manage their economic and financial affairs knowing that they will have to live through more painful economic cycles in the years and decades ahead? In other words, if a market economy is always susceptible to booms and busts, then how can the Federal Reserve better “manage” the U.S. economy to avoid a painful episode like the Great Recession of 2008 – 09 in the future?

But based on the evidence compiled during the research phase of this study, the Federal Reserve cannot achieve its goals. If it could, the US economy would not have had financial bubbles in the 1990s and early 2000s. That’s why the incontrovertible fact is that the Federal Reserve is a counterproductive institution, because it is the engine of inflation, creates bubbles that causes pain among a substantial percentage of the population when the bubble bursts and increases inequality by enriching the 1 percent, who realize that the Fed is their best ally in DC, because it enormously inflates the nominal value of their assets. In short, to use the contemporary vernacular, the Federal Reserve really sucks.

- Source, The Mises Institute

Hyperinflation Watch: £45 Painting In 1958 Just Sold For $450,000,000 USD

Leonardo da Vinci’s 500-year-old painting known as Salvator Mundi (Saviour of the World) is the only work in private hands. It just sold at Christie’s auction room in New York for a record $450m – almost half-billion. The painting apparently once belonged to King Charles I of England back in the 1600s. The last time it was sold at auction was 1958 when it was sold in London for a mere £45. At that time, it was generally believed to have been the work of a follower of Leonardo rather than the work of Leonardo himself.

The painting was sold by the family trust of the Russian billionaire collector Dmitry E Rybolovlev, who is reported to have bought it in a private sale in May 2013 for $127.5m. So that’s a pretty good profit. It is the highest auction price ever paid for any work of art. There are fewer than 20 of Leonardo paintings in existence. The Salvator Mundi, is believed to have been painted sometime after 1505. 

The bidding began at $100m and the final bid for the work was $400m, with the buyer’s premium, the full price up to $450.3m. The unidentified buyer was involved in a bidding contest, via telephone, that lasted nearly 20 minutes. The mystery buyer hopefully lives outside of New York so that avoids the sales tax. Purchases above $110 are subject to a 4.5% New York City Sales Tax and a 4% NY State Sales Tax. 

That makes anything bought in New York City subject to a total Sales and Use Tax of 8.875%. What is astonishing, is that with taxes, rates rise with the more people. That is counter to capitalism which dictates that prices decline with scale. Government costs rise with the scale showing something is just not right!

Obviously, this is serious money still moving off the grid!

- Source, Martin Armstrong

China’s Plans For A Reserve Currency

If all this sounds like Utopian musing, it becomes relevant in discussing China’s plans for a reserve currency, plans that in turn are central to my very bullish forecast for gold. I continue to believe, as I have been saying for more than a year, that China will launch an Eastern oil benchmark denominated in yuan exchangeable for gold. But China’s goal isn’t to destroy the dollar. In fact, the U.S. could end up benefiting. However, we need to be willing to broaden our world view so as to see U.S. interests as being better served by being part of an exquisitely integrated network in which all can thrive. The blood and guts of what I am getting at is that China’s ultimate goal isn’t to make the yuan, backed by gold, the world’s new reserve currency, though that may be a first step. China has a longer-term goal in mind.

To explain my thinking, go back to the above example of Zhengzhou. It illustrates China’s ability to do something that at first seems senseless –– a crazy anomaly – but that later is revealed as a necessary step to an intricately planned goal. In a very different context, something analogous is going on today – a seemingly inexplicable anomaly that is actually a step along a carefully crafted road, in this case China’s path to a new reserve currency.

China’ Staggering Blockchain Energy Usage

The latest anomaly is this: China recently banned cryptocurrency trading – even bitcoin no longer can be legally traded. Yet the government continues to allow highly skilled computer professionals to “mine” bitcoin. Mining bitcoin, as I have mentioned before, requires tremendous computer power and therefore a tremendous amount of energy. Because of China’s access to cheap electricity and its wide pool of skilled programmers, the country accounts for between 70 and 80 percent of the world’s bitcoin mining.

To give you some idea of what the country is donating to the world, each bitcoin transaction uses the equivalent of 3.3 gallons of gasoline. There are typically about 12,000 transactions an hour, meaning about 40,000 gallons of gasoline an hour. Because of the blockchain’s structure and the rules that govern it, the number of operations associated with each transaction is rising rapidly, by about fivefold a year. Assuming that fivefold yearly pace holds – and it could rise – and assuming China continues to do about 75 percent of bitcoin mining, it means that by the decade’s end China will be using the equivalent of about 20 million gallons of gasoline a day or close to half a million barrels of oil. That’s a lot of energy to expend, especially for a venture you do not even approve of.

China To Create Its Own Digital Currency

So why not ban mining? Because China will need the miners not for a bitcoin ecosystem, but to create an ecosystem for another digital currency. My best guess is that China’s eventual goal is to create a blockchain to serve a reserve currency, a currency that China itself does not need to manage.

In 2009, in the wake of the global financial crisis, Zhou Xiaochuan, the influential head of China’s central bank the People’s Bank of China, wrote a paper about reserve currencies in which he decried not the dollar per se but the use of any fiat currency as a reserve currency.

- Source, Stephen Leeb via King World News

As the Dollar Falls Gold Bulls Prepare to Charge

Gold was lower on Friday, Nov. 10, but finished last week with a net gain after hitting a three-week high in the Nov. 9 session. Spot gold was $9.60 lower at $1,275 after rising 0.40 percent on Nov. 8 and hitting its highest level since Oct. 20 at $1,287. December gold futures fell $13.30, or 1.03 percent, to end last week at $1,287.

Despite Friday’s dip, gold prices continued to hold firm above the October lows as the sideways drifting trend for gold continues against a backdrop of strong global equity markets and a rising crude oil price. The gold bulls are clearly gathering their strength for an attempt at regaining control of the short-term trend. In this commentary we’ll examine the prospects for their success.

Asia stocks hovered near a 10-year high late last week following record-breaking highs on Wall Street earlier in the week. However, U.S. equities showed signs of profit-taking on Thursday and Friday as the S&P 500 Index (SPX) dipped temporarily below the 15-day moving average before rallying to close above it (see chart below). Further weakness in the equity market would be a blessing in disguise for gold, as it would give the bulls something to rally around. It would almost certainly focus the attention of nervous investors back on the safe havens, making gold a logical choice to park their cash in the event of a stock market pullback.

Meanwhile in Washington, a Senate tax-cut bill, differing from one in the House of Representatives, was unveiled on Thursday. The Senate’s version of the bill calls for delaying a tax cut in the corporate tax rate by one year. It also differs from the House version in several other key areas, including property tax, mortgage interest, and medical expense deductions. The two chambers will have to resolve their differences in order to receive the president's approval. The Senate's version of the bill frustrates a Republican push to overhaul the federal tax code, and many observers expressed doubt over Congress' ability to arrive at a consensus.

- Source, Seeking Alpha

Here's How to Safeguard Your Money in Uncertain Times

When someone says "it's not about the money, it's about the money." Simon discusses different ways to protect your money in these uncertain times. The key is not in predicting but instead in preparing for the future.

- Source, TEDx Talks

James Rawles: Panic Early and Prosper, Wait and Suffer

What are the easiest things to do wrong in preparing for disaster? James Rawles, founder & Sr Editor of SurvivalBlog.com, returns to Reluctant Preppers to reveal the most common pitfalls - and more importantly - how to AVOID them! 

Do any of these sound like you?

- Video Source, Reluctant Preppers

The Fed Just Gave The Stock Market The Greatest Sell Signal In Modern American History

Why have stock prices risen so dramatically since the last financial crisis? There are certainly many factors involved, but the primary one is the fact that the Federal Reserve has been creating trillions of dollars out of thin air and has been injecting all of that hot money into the financial markets. But now the Federal Reserve is starting to reverse course, and this has got to be the greatest sell signal for financial markets in modern American history. Without the artificial support of the Federal Reserve and other global central banks, there is no possible way that the massively inflated asset prices that we are witnessing right now can continue.

The chart below comes from Sven Henrich, and it does a great job of demonstrating the relationship between the Fed’s quantitative easing program and the rise in stock prices. During the last financial crisis the Fed began to dramatically increase the size of our money supply, and they kept on doing it all the way through the end of October 2017…

Unfortunately for stock traders, the Federal Reserve has now decided to change course, and that means that the process that has created these ridiculous stock prices is beginning to go in reverse. In fact, according to Wolf Richter this reversal just started to go into motion within the past few days…

On October 31, $8.5 billion of Treasuries that the Fed had been holding matured. If the Fed stuck to its announcement, it would have reinvested $2.5 billion and let $6 billion (the cap for the month of October) “roll off.” The amount of Treasuries on the balance sheet should then have decreased by $6 billion.

And that’s what happened. This chart of the Fed’s Treasury holdings shows that the balance dropped by $5.9 billion, from an all-time record 2,465.7 billion on October 25 to $2,459.8 billion on November 1, the lowest since April 15, 2015

Does anyone out there actually believe that the immensely bloated balance sheet that the Fed has accumulated can be unwound without having an enormous negative impact on Wall Street?

And even more frightening is the fact that central banks all over the planet appear to be acting in coordinated fashion. I really like how Brandon Smith made this point…

An observant person, however, might have noticed that central banks around the world seem to be acting in a coordinated fashion to remove stimulus support from markets and raise interest rates, cutting off supply lines of easy money that have long been a crutch for our crippled economy. The Bank of England raised rates this past week, as the Federal Reserve indicated yet another rate hike in December. The Europeans Central Bank continues to prep the public for coming rate hikes, while the Bank of Japan has assured the public that “inflation” expectations have been met and no new stimulus is necessary. If all of this appears coordinated, that is because it is.

When interest rates are low and central banks are injecting money directly into the financial system, that tends to promote economic activity.

But when they raise interest rates and pull money out of the financial system, the exact opposite is true.

At this point Americans are more optimistic about the stock market than they have ever been before, and it is at this exact moment that the Fed is pulling the financial markets off of life support.

And it isn’t as if the “real economy” ever recovered in any meaningful way. Most American families are still living paycheck to paycheck, and a new economic crisis would push millions more out of the middle class.

For a long time I have been warning that the only reason why stock prices ever got this high was because of the central banks, and I have also been warning that they could crash the markets if they wanted to do so.

Hopefully there is nothing nefarious going on, but I do find it very strange that all of the major global central banks are moving toward tightening at the exact same time.

If things go south for the global economy in the months ahead, we will know exactly where to point the blame…

- Source, Economic Collapse Blog

Cryptocurrency Is Going To Push The Fiat Money System Over A Cliff

Rob Kirby discusses the latest happenings in the world of economics.

Rob says that economics is much like politics in the eyes of the MSM. The goal is to paint a certain reality, even if that reality doesn’t exist. For example, the goal with the economy is to paint the picture that everything is fine when we know it is not.

Rob spends some time discussing the role of cryptocurrency moving forward. Rob does not see the likes of crypto becoming a success all unto their own, but rather, he sees cryptocurrency becoming backed by something tangible, such as gold, silver and even diamonds.

Cryptocurrency is going to be what thrusts the world monetary system into chaos, and while the globalists would love to control crypto, Rob says they will not be successful in the end.

- Source, X22 Report

Strange Things Are Happening In The Paper Gold Market

Back in September the hedge funds that speculate with gold futures contracts got extremely bullish, which – since speculators are usually wrong when they’re overexcited – was a signal that gold would be going down for a while. It did:

Then things departed from the usual script. A falling gold price tends to make trend-following speculators bearish, which leads them to close out their long positions and expand their short bets. It also leads commercial players – the banks and fabricators that tend to be right at turning points – to start shifting from short to long.

But not this time. As the most recent commitment of traders (COT) report shows, speculators are staying long and commercials are staying short.

Here’s another way to visualize the process. The gray bars on the next chart represent the speculators and the red bars the commercials. Note how their positions tend to move in waves either away from or towards the middle line that represents zero. But lately their positions have flattened out.

The implication? It might take a bigger drop in gold’s price to make speculators and commercials switch sides.

This of course means nothing for gold’s long-term, highly-positive trend. But it does matter for traders who want to play the monthly or quarterly squiggles, and investors looking for entry points to buy bullion or mining stocks. That entry point might be a few weeks and another hundred or so dollars off.

- Source, Sprott Money

The Stranglehold Of Property Taxes And Stunting Economic Growth

Kory Watkins joins us in this inspirational and educational interview, Kory is running for Governor and shares his unique insights regarding property taxes and the philosophy behind being a Libertarian. We also discuss the pros and cons of removing property Tax, Cannabis Industry, gun ownership laws in Texas and much more.

- Source, Crush The Street

The Nuclear Threat Is So Real That One Day Tomorrow Won’t Arrive

Before the idiots in Washington get us blown off of the face of the earth, the morons had better come to terms with the fact that the US military is now second class compared to the Russian military.

For example, the US Navy has been made obsolete by Russia’s hypersonic maneuvering Zircon missile.

For example, the speed and trajectory changes of the Russian Sarmat ICBM has nullified Washington’s ABM system. One Sarmet is sufficient to take out Great Britain, or France, or Germany, or Texas. It only takes a dozen to wipe out the United States.

Why don’t you know this?

For example, Washington’s enormously expensive F-35 jet fighter is no match whatsoever for Russian fighters.

For example, US tanks are no match for Russian tanks.

For example, Russian troops are superior in their combat readiness and training and are highly motivated and not worn out by 16 years of pointless and frustrating wars over no one knows what.

If the US ends up in a catastrophic war with a militarily superior power, it will be the fault of Hillary Clinton, the DNC, former CIA director John Brennan and the military/security complex, the presstitute media, and the American liberal/progressive/left, which, made completely stupid by Identity Politics, has allied with neoconservative warmongers against President Trump and prevented Trump from normalizing relations with Russia.

Without normal relations with Russia, nuclear Armageddon hangs over us like the sword of Damocles.

Do you not agree that it is outrageous, astounding, inexcusable, inexplicable, reckless and irresponsible that the Democratic Party, the print and TV media, the military/security complex that is supposed to protect us, and the liberal/progressive/left are working hand in glove to destroy the human race?

Why is there so much opposition to normalizing relations with a nuclear power? Why did even the Greens jump on the anti-Trump propaganda bandwagon. Don’t the Greens understand the consequences of nuclear war?

Why is there such a crazed, insane effort to eject a president who wants to normalize relations with Russia?

Why are these questions not part of the public discourse?

The failure of political leadership, of media, of the intellectual class in America is total.

The rest of the world must find some means of quarantining Washington before the evil destroys life on earth.

- Source, Paul Craig Roberts

Dollar Under Threat: China Readies Yuan Priced Crude Oil Benchmark Backed By Gold

The world’s top oil importer, China, is preparing to launch a crude oil futures contract denominated in Chinese yuan and convertible into gold, potentially creating the most important Asian oil benchmark and allowing oil exporters to bypass U.S.-dollar denominated benchmarks by trading in yuan.

- Source

Egon von Greyerz: A World Of Lies But Gold WILL Reveal The Truth

The dollar is dead but the world doesn’t know it.

It has been a slow death and the final stages will be very painful for the US and for the rest of the world. The US empire is finished financially and militarily.

NIXON WAS CONVICTED FOR THE WRONG CRIME

It all started with the establishment of the Fed in 1913 and escalated with Nixon. For anyone old enough to still remember him, they will think about the Watergate scandal. This was corruption and bribery at the highest level in the Nixon administration, including the president himself. In order to avoid impeachment which would have been a certainty, Nixon resigned. All this broke out 11 months after Nixon’s disastrous decision to take away the gold backing of the dollar on Aug 15, 1971. Nixon should not have been impeached for the Watergate scandal but for his decision to end the gold backing of the dollar. That disastrous decision is what will lead to a total collapse of the world economy and the financial system, starting sooner than anyone can imagine.

DE GAULLE UNDERSTOOD GOLD

By 1971, the US had already been running chronic budget deficits for 10 years consecutively. At the end of the 1960s, President Gaulle of France realised what would happen to the dollar and demanded payment in gold instead which was his right. This led to Nixon closing the gold window since this was the only way that the US could continue to live above its means. And this is exactly what the US has done for more than half a century now. Not only have they run a real budget deficit every year since 1961 but also a trade deficit every year since 1975.

THE UNHOLY TRINITY

Three things have allowed the US to do this: 1) The dollar being the reserve currency of the world, 2) The Petrodollar system. 3) Having a mighty military machine.

But the rest of the world now knows that the weakening US empire is losing out on all three fronts. The dollar has lost 50-70% against most major currencies in the last 46 years. And against gold, nature’s only permanent money, the dollar has lost 97% since Nixon’s fatal decision.

The US military superiority has been crumbling for many years. In spite of a military spending higher than the next 8 biggest countries together, the US has not been successful in any military action for decades from Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and many, many more. This weakening of the US military power, will make it impossible in future to enforce the petrodollar. The US attacks on Iraq and Libya were as result of these countries intention of abandoning the petrodollar.

CHINA AND RUSSIA UNDERSTAND GOLD
China and Russia are now seeing what de Gaulle saw in the late 1960s. They know that it is only a matter of time before the dollar will lose its status as reserve currency. They also know that before this happens, the dollar will start crumbling and eventually disappear into a black hole resulting in an implosion of all the dollar assets and debts.

CHINA AND RUSSIA WILL ORCHESTRATE THE END OF THE DOLLAR

China and Russia are not waiting for this to happen They are actually going to orchestrate the fall of the dollar. Not by attacking the dollar itself but by killing the petrodollar. China will start to trade oil in yuan with Russia, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey etc. All these countries are now negotiating a number of agreements to facilitate the trading of oil and other commodities in yuan and rubles. These agreements cover a wide area such as new payment system and Forex trading between Russia and China as well as gold imports by China from Russia.

The intention of the Trump administration to repudiate the Iran nuclear agreement and to impose new sanctions will further strengthen the resolve of these countries to abandon the petrodollar. Sadly, it is also likely to lead to yet more terrorism in the West.

This is all happening at a much faster pace than the world is realising. And this time, the US cannot do anything about it. Because the US is unlikely to attack, China or Russia or Iran. A US attack with conventional weapons on any of these countries would be guaranteed to fail. The US wouldn’t stand a chance except in a nuclear war which would be the end of the world as we know it.

A BANKRUPT EUROPE

But it is not only the US empire which is crumbling. The decadent socialist system in Europe will not survive either. Socialism works until you run out of Other People’s Money. And this is happening fast in many European countries. Greece is totally bankrupt and should have defaulted on their debts many years ago and introduced a new devalued Drachma. This is the only way that Greece can ever progress and prosper. Instead, the EU insisted on them staying and imposed yet more loans that Greece will never repay leading to massive poverty and misery for the Greek people.

In addition, Brussels has forced them to process a massive number of migrants which Greece can ill afford. The same goes for Italy with their massive debt to GDP and crumbling economy. But it doesn’t stop there, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland and the UK are all economies with massive debts. Since these debts can never be repaid, there are only two alternatives; either a default by the ECB and most European countries or money printing on a scale that the world has never seen. The likely outcome is that we will see both options. First money printing by the ECB in the €100s of trillions and then default, as the Euro becomes worthless.

The Eurocrats in Brussels including the European Commission are only interested in protecting their own position. Their main concern as unelected and unaccountable representatives of 500 million people is to hold their empire together at any cost. What they are doing is not for the good of the European people, but rather to serve these bureaucrats’ self-interest. The Brussels elite is more concerned about their own massive expense accounts and pensions than the Greek or the Irish people.

THE SABOTEURS IN BRUSSELS

The European Commission in Brussels, with Junker leading, is now doing all they can do sabotage the Brexit decision by the UK electorate. They just can’t stand that anyone breaks rank in this very unholy alliance. Interestingly, the word sabotage, derives from the industrial revolution in Belgium when the workers threw their “sabots” (clogs) into the new machines that were taking their jobs away. So the Brussels tradition of sabotage is not a new phenomenon.

THE EU – A FAILED EXPERIMENT

The EU is a failed experiment that will eventually collapse. So will the Euro which is an artificial currency that can never work for 19 Countries with different backgrounds such as growth and inflation rates, productivity, industrialisation and cultures.

The dollar is likely to fall before the Euro as they both compete in the race to the bottom. Just think about it, here we have the two richest regions in the World, North America and Europe, both on the verge of collapse, economically, financially, politically and morally. How can anyone ever believe that all the bubble assets can survive under those circumstances. Well they won’t. That is absolutely guaranteed. It is only a question of how soon it starts and how deep it will be. The sad thing is that no one is prepared for it and it will be a devastating shock the whole world.

A WORLD OF LIES

Having just flown from Europe to the US, I watched “The Wizard of Lies” the film about Bernie Madoff. This was a $65 billion Ponzi scheme that went on for at least 20 years without being discovered. The combination of gullibility (returns 10-12% every year without fluctuations), greed and vested interest led to very few ever questioning this massive fraud. Banks, brokers, asset managers, introducers and investors all loved it and therefore no one suspected foul play.

Just like the world never questioned the massive Madoff Ponzi scheme, no one ever questions the $2 quadrillion (including derivatives and unfounded liabilities) Ponzi scheme that the whole world is now involved in. Madoff was a saint compared to what the world is now being subjected to. So why is no one protesting and why does everyone believe that this will continue. Well, for exactly the same reasons that they believed in Madoff – Greed and Vested Interest. Governments, central bankers, bankers, fund and asset managers and investors don’t want anyone to cry wolf. The whole world wants this wonderful Ponzi fraud to go on for ever. But it won’t. Instead it will come to a very abrupt end in the next few years and no one will be prepared.

INVESTING WITH THE HERD – THE ROAD TO THE PRECIPICE

Currently investors love the stock markets around the world and why shouldn’t they. Everyone is making so much money, just like with Madoff, that their greed prevents them from looking at the risk.

For investors who don’t worry about risk, the current period is absolute heaven. Stocks, bonds, property and bitcoin just goes up and up and up. You just can’t lose! Whatever investors touch today turns into gold. But it isn’t real gold. The winnings today are fake gold in the form of inflated and heavily leveraged paper assets. Like all bubbles this can continue further. But whenever it turns, and we are not far from that point, the move in the opposite direction will be so fast that it will be impossible to get out. Also, like for most of the last 30 years, investors will be certain that central banks will save them. But this time it will really be different. Because the next round of trillions or quadrillions of paper money will only have a very short lived effect. At last the world will understand that printed pieces of paper that governments call money are really worthless.

The coming collapse in all bubble asset markets will therefore be greater than the 80% fall of the Nasdaq in the early 2000s and greater than the 90% fall of the Dow in the 1930s.

Most investors will laugh at this in disbelief. We will see who has the last laugh.

THE CONTRARIAN ROAD TO WEALTH PROTECTION

With Nasdaq up 5x since 2009, investors are oblivious of risk. Silver on the other hand is down 65% since 2011. The chart below shows the Silver / Nasdaq spread. Silver has crashed against the Nasdaq since 2011 and is almost down to the 2001 level when the silver price was $4. This spread is likely to have bottomed and the next move should be back to the 2011 high – a 450% move.

Wealth preservation investors should of course not go short Nasdaq (the bubble can get bigger) but if they get out of their stocks and buy silver, they are likely to avoid the most massive wealth destruction in the next few years.

GOLD TO VASTLY OUTPERFORM BITCOIN

Bitcoin is continuing its meteoric rise and is almost at $6,000. This is a massive speculative bubble and like all bubbles, it can get bigger before it bursts. But this has nothing to do with wealth preservation. The price explosion in Bitcoin has been spectacular. Just in the last two years it is up 25x! Once gold and silver start to move, we are likely to see a similar price explosion. But the big difference is that the precious metals represent real wealth preservation and tangible wealth.

I might sound like the Roman Senator Cato who always finished every speech with “Praeterea censeo Carthaginem delendam esse.” – “Furthermore I consider that Carthage should be destroyed.”

I also always have the same message for an oblivious world which doesn’t realise what will hit them:

To avoid total wealth destruction, buy insurance in the form of physical gold and silver while there is still time. When history’s biggest Ponzi scheme is found out, it will probably be impossible to get hold of physical gold and silver at any price.

- Source, Egon Von Greyerz via Gold Switzerland