From James Harkin (Webmaster & Editor of LindseyWilliams.net). Here is a summary of articles of interest from around the world for this week. Please LIKE the Lindsey Williams Online Facebook Page to see stories posted daily regarding the current state of the economy around the world.
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Latest News From December 9, 2016 to December 15, 2016:
- If Everything is so Bullish, Why Are Bank Insiders Dumping Their Shares at Record Pace?
The Big Bullish signal with a capital B – for those who believe in this kind of religion – was that the Dow Jones Transportation Average jumped to a new high on Wednesday for the first time since 2014, and that it rose again on Thursday to another record, even as the Dow also hit new records. The theory goes that transportation stocks predict the broader market in some manner. There were other bullish signals. Everyone is finding them suddenly everywhere. The hopes are flying high that whatever Trump is going to do – from instigating trade wars to letting Goldman Sachs run the Trump administration – it’s suddenly all good for stocks. Then why are insiders at banks and industrial companies selling their share as if there were no tomorrow? - All Hell Is Breaking Loose In These Key Markets
On the heels of the U.S. election, all hell has broken loose in these key markets. The following charts are from Jason Goepfert at SentimenTrader. King World News note: Below you can see the commercial hedgers position in the 10-Year Treasury market. Note that commercial hedgers been dramatically increasing their long positions recently in the U.S. Treasury market — now near an all-time record. Meaning, the selloff in Treasuries has reached an extreme and may be ready for at least a significant countertrend rally. - Treasuries Melt Down, Junk Bonds Boom, Yield Spreads Collapse
The costs of borrowing for the US government are jumping. On Monday, the US Treasury auctioned $34 billion of three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.53%, the highest since October 2008. These short-term bills sell for less than face value and are redeemed at face value. The difference is the yield for investors. For a three-month bill with a face value of $10,000, the price was $9,986.60. Holding this bill for three months until redeemed will make investors $13.40 in yield. That’s an annualized rate of 0.538%. During the rest of trading on Monday, the yield settled down a bit, but today is up again, currently at 0.55%. While still low by historic measures, it’s up from about zero in October last year. - Wells Fargo fails ‘living will' test, faces restrictions: U.S. regulators
U.S. officials on Tuesday limited Wells Fargo & Co's (WFC.N) ability to grow its business, punishing the bank for not having a sufficient plan to protect markets in the case of bankruptcy. The ruling crowns a dismal year for the San Francisco lender roiling from a scandal in which bank employees created as many as 2 million accounts without customer authorization. Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf resigned in the wake of that controversy. Tuesday's ruling means the bank may not establish international bank entities or acquire non-bank subsidiaries, regulators said. - Who the Heck are these Households that are Worth $90 Trillion?
One thing is working in this economy that has been stuck for years in a slow-growth mire: the inflation of asset prices. And the Federal Reserve, which has been engineering this miracle so adroitly, just released its latest progress report. It reported today that the net worth of household and non-profits – they’re lumped together – rose in the third quarter by 1.8% or $1.59 trillion, to a record $90.2 trillion. That’s up 6% or $5.2 trillion from a year ago. - WARNING: Is This The Greatest Threat To The World?
Is this the greatest threat to the world? Stephen Leeb: “So far, Trump’s tough talk and promise to make America great again have been intoxicating to investors. Money has been leaving the shelters of bonds and gold and pouring into stocks and commodities, propelling the market’s powerful rally and leaving gold – for now – a sad wallflower… - Gerald Celente Blasts Washington Post, And Answers The All-Important Question, Will Alternative Media Survive?
Today the top trends forecaster in the world spoke with King World News and blasted the Washington Post. He also answered the all-important question, will the alternative media survive? Eric King: “One of your top trends for 2017 is Rest In Peace, The Fourth Estate. This has to do with newspapers being on their deathbeds — the mainstream media, etc — and there are some questions about what will replace it. But in the meantime, obviously there is a war on alternative media. Cover the war on alternative media and the Fourth Estate. Will alternative media survive and what about the Fourth Estate?” - James Turk – Central Banks Are Finally Losing Control
As we kick off the third week of trading in December, today James Turk told King World News that central banks are finally losing control of global markets. Central Banks Are Losing Control. James Turk: “Everybody needs to be focusing on what is happening with interest rates, Eric. The yield on the 10-year Treasury Note is flirting with 2.50%. The last time we saw a yield that high was over two years ago. But rising yields are not just happening in the US. Yields are rising in Europe and Asia too. The upward pressure on interest rates is global, and more to the point, central banks are losing control… - Stock Market Genius Warns Americans About False Hope With US Economy
In the recent weeks since Donald Trump was announced victorious in his bid for the White House, the general sentiment among a growing number ordinary Americans across country has shifted to the idea that Mr. Trump can somehow turn around the derelict vessel otherwise known as the U.S. economy, and prevent it from sinking. With daily sound bites covering how the “Post-Election Trump Bounce” has yielded a rise in the Dow by more than 1,200 points since Trump’s historic win, the announcement of Softbank investing $50 billion dollars and creating 50,000 new jobs in the United States, or the announcement of how the U.S. Dollar index is now at its highest levels since March of 2003, it’s hard to imagine why people wouldn’t be hopeful, right? - Brazil: Clashes as Senate approves 20-year austerity plan
The Brazilian Senate has approved a controversial amendment to the constitution capping public spending for the next 20 years. The approval of the austerity measure is an important victory for President Michel Temer. He took office earlier this year promising to lead the country out of its worst recession in many decades. Protests against the measure turned violent in the capital Brasilia and at least a dozen states in the country. The opposition says the measures will mainly hit areas such as health and education, which are already underfunded. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets during the Senate session to protest against the austerity plan. After the vote, many demonstrations descended into violence. - Dr. Jim Willlie, Peter Schiff, and Bill Holter: Cracks Forming in Bond Markets
After eight years of Obama’s disastrous economic policies, it’s understandable why Americans would want to be hopeful, and why they are consciously choosing to view the recent gains in U.S. equity markets as a harbinger of things to come under a Donald Trump presidency. Unfortunately, there is nothing to suggest the shifting sentiment toward the notion that Donald Trump can somehow fix our economy is warranted. In fact, it’s dangerous. Americans would be wise to heed a recent quote from Michael Snyder: “Now is not a time to party. Rather, it is time to batten down the hatches and to prepare for very rough seas ahead. All of the things that so many experts warned were coming may have been delayed slightly, but without a doubt they are still on the way. So get prepared while you still can, because time is running out.” - US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for first time in a year
The Federal Reserve has raised a key interest rate in response to a solid US economy and expectations of higher inflation, and it foresees three rate hikes in 2017. The central bank announced after its latest policy meeting that it is increasing its benchmark rate by a modest quarter-point to a still-low range of 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent. The Fed's action will mean modestly higher rates on some loans. It should have little effect on mortgages or car and student loans because the Fed does not directly affect those rates, at least not in the short run. But rates on some other loans — notably credit cards, home equity loans and adjustable-rate mortgages — will likely rise soon, though only modestly. - The Conspiracy to Shut Down Truth, Donald Trump, and The American People
There is circumstantial evidence that the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the rest of the presstitute media are part of a conspiracy with the oligarchs, the military/security complex, the Hillary Democrats, and neoconized Republicans to shut down the dissident Internet alternative media and to deny Donald Trump the presidency. Consider the brand new website PropOrNot and its fake news list of 200 Internet Russian agents. PropOrNot is a website hidden behind multiple screens as would be an offshore tax avoidance scheme. In other words, no known, responsible entity is behind the site, which has libeled 200 other websites, or if it is, it is too ashamed of what it is doing to be associated with it publicly. - IBM to hire 25,000 more workers in the US in the next four years and invest $1billion in employee development, tech boss vows ahead of Trump meeting
US technology giant IBM has said it will hire 25,000 people in the United States over the next four years, ahead of a meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and tech industry leaders. About 6,000 of those appointments will be made in 2017, IBM chief executive Ginni Rometty wrote in opinion article published in USA Today. IBM, which in recent years has restructured its activities, will invest $1billion on employee training and development in the next four years, said the IBM president, chairman and CEO. - Has Liberty Departed From America? — Paul Craig Roberts
Can a few Internet sites save your existence as a free person protected by the US Constitution? Not without your help. If 400,000 Americans gave up the cost of a 6-pack of beer, it could mean the preservation of your freedom. If the millions of my readers were willing to give up the small cost of a 6-pack of beer, we could defeat the evil that rules the West. Are your civil liberties less valuable to you than a 6-pack of beer? The fake news stories pouring out of the blood-drenched Obama regime, the ruling Oligarchy’s “liberal progressive” well paid front groups for war criminal Hillary, and secret and unnamed propagandists, such as PropOrNot, endorsed by the Washington Post, New York Times, and the rest of the press prostitutes who lie for money, are intended to discredit those few who tell the truth. This column from August 31, 2016 is worth reading again. Are You a Mind-Controlled CIA Stooge? - Art Cashin – 1930 Economic Collapse And Traders Worry This Will Be The Next Move By The Left Wing Conspiracy Theorists
With the Nasdaq hitting new all-time highs along with the Dow, which is now approaching 20,000, today one of the greats in the business takes a look at the 1930 economic collapse and traders worry this will be the next move by the “left wing conspiracy theorists.” Today’s note from Art Cashin: On this day (-2) in 1930, American savers, the Federal Reserve and a Republican President all got a nasty surprise. The banking system had been shaky for a year or two but it looked like things might finally be beginning to stabilize. That is until today. On this day, a major financial institution, The Bank of the United States went belly up. And, with it went the savings, “in whole or in part”, of over 400,000 depositors. The Bank of the United States has been a historically unlucky name for several institutions. The first “Bank of the United States” was proposed by no less than Alexander Hamilton. It was a privately held central bank for the United States some 125 years before the Fed was created. It was very controversial as Southerners saw it as a boon and tool of the mercantile North while the South’s main industry, agriculture, didn’t need strong banking. The bank’s charter was allowed to expire and the bank disappeared. - Dr. Jim Willie: What Happens When the U.S. is Forced to Launch a Domestic Only Currency?
In the following interview, Dr. Jim Willie joins Elijah Johnson with SilverDoctors with for a discussion on recent developments in global financial markets. Several of the topics discussed include the recent Italian referendum that failed to pass by nearly a 20 point margin, which will likely result in Italy ultimately abandoning the common Euro Currency (not to be confused with abandoning the European Union), and how that decision will affect financial markets around the world. The interview then transitions into the recent presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and how the mainstream media here in the United States has reached unprecedented levels of dishonesty with the American people. How can you tell if something is “fake news” these days? The mainstream is covering it. Any “actual news” that people need to know so that they can make informed decisions, is avoided completely by the mainstream. - So Who Gets to Pay for Italy’s Banking Crisis?
“There is not and there will not be a banking crisis in Italy, nor will there be a European financial crisis coming from Italy.” Those were the emphatic words of EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici over the weekend. “We have the capacity to deal with the situation and it will be dealt with from both Italy and at the European level” he told France Info radio. Clearly, quixotic delusions are as rampant as ever at the loftiest heights of Brussels’ ivory towers. Either that, or things are now so serious that lying is the only tactic left available. The markets also appear to be in a state of eerie complacence. Since rumors of yet another publicly funded bailout emerged early last week, bank shares have taken off, not only in Italy but across most European markets. Shares of Unicredit, Italy’s only “systemically important financial institution,” has surged 20%, while Italy’s second largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, is up 10%. - Why U.S. Dollar Will Absolutely Collapse; What Losing Global Reserve Currency Means
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last two or three years, it’s been almost impossible not to hear about how there’s a global economic collapse of some kind coming in the near future. Even if all you’ve heard about the coming collapse has been William Devane’s gold pitch for Rosland Capital (seemingly every other commercial on television), odds are you’ve heard at least something. Unfortunately, often due to no fault of their own, many Americans haven’t been taught economics, so they don’t really pay much attention to news that comea out regarding a coming global collapse, especially not when the President of the United States keeps telling them we’re in a “recovery.” If there was something people needed to know, our always honest and truthful politicians, or the mainstream media would tell everyone right? Wrong. - Is Donald Trump Going To Nominate Ted Cruz To Fill The Open Seat On The Supreme Court?
Is the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice going to be Ted Cruz? As wild as that might sound, there is buzz that it might actually happen. We all remember the bitter words that were exchanged between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump during the Republican primaries, but since that time they have mended fences, and Cruz ultimately ended up endorsing Trump. And Trump has shown that he is willing to work with his former rivals. He has already chosen Ben Carson to be his Housing Secretary, for a while there it looked like Mitt Romney was the leading contender to be Secretary of State, and on Monday Carly Fiorina actually met with Trump about a potential position in his administration. So just because Ted Cruz and Donald Trump clashed on the campaign trail does not mean that Trump would hold a grudge. - Financial Black Hole Will Be Filled-Gregory Mannarino
Analyst/trader Gregory Mannarino says the bond market and stock market are way out of kilter and look for a big correction. Mannarino explains, “Something has to give here. Either a lot of cash has to go back into the bond market, and I don’t know where it’s going to come from, or the stock market has to come down to normalize this. Right now, the market is trying to price in a new President here with his outlook on the economy, lowering corporate taxes and trying to create jobs.” Mannarino also points out, “Asset prices have been pushed to extremes, and either an extreme to the top or an extreme to the bottom. In the middle is kind of like a black hole, and this black hole has to be filled. . . . That hole has been created by runaway central banks that have done everything they can to re-inflate bubbles that have burst. For example, the last housing bubble that they re-inflated. Housing is now more expensive than it has ever been. It’s the same with the stock market bubble. They have done this on the back of a debt bubble, which is the most epic bubble the world has ever seen.” - Saudi Arabia Has Funded 20% Of Hillary's Presidential Campaign, Saudi Crown Prince Claims
In what may be the pinnacle of hypocrisy, moments ago Hillary Clinton, while speaking live on national security and addressing the Orlando shooting took some time from her constant bashing of the Second Amendment and calling for a ban on assault rifles, to say some less than kind words about Saudi Arabia whom it accused of supporting radical organizations. This is what she said: ‘The third area that demands attention is preventing radicalization and countering efforts by ISIS and other international terrorist networks to recruit in the United States and Europe. For starters, it is long past time for the Saudis, the Qataris and the Kuwaitis and others to stop their citizens from funding extremist organizations. And they should stop supporting radical schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path towards extremism. We also have to use all our capabilities to counter jihadist propaganda online. This is something that I spend a lot of time on at the State Department.' There is nothing wrong with that statement, as it is the whole truth – Saudi Arabia's involvement in supporting terrorism stretches from Sept 11 all the way through to ISIS – however, where there is a big, and potentially law-breaking, problem is what Jordan's official news agency, Petra News Agency, reported on Sunday citing the Saudi crown price, namely that Saudi Arabia is a major funder of Hillary Clinton’s campaign to become the next president of the United States. - Rogue Elements of the CIA Are Operating Against President-elect Trump — Paul Craig Roberts
Alex Jones catches a lot of grief. Some of it he brings on himself by being over the top, but most of the criticism he receives comes from his practice of dragging into the news issues that otherwise would remained cloaked in silence. Alex is certainly correct to stress that elements in the CIA, or someone claiming to be CIA, are planting stories in the media that Russia hacked Hillary’s emails and used the damning information to elect Trump. The truth of the emails is not what is in question. It is their alleged Russian origin. There is no evidence for this claim. Wikileaks said the emails came to them as a leak from inside, not from an outside hack, and former top NSA official William Binney has said that if Russia was the source the NSA would have conclusive proof. - If You Are For Peace You Are A Russian Agent — Paul Craig Roberts
Speaking of fake news, the latest issue of the National Enquirer at the supermarket checkout is giving the mainstream presstitute media a run for the money: “Castro’s Deathbed Confession: I Killed JFK. How I framed Oswald.” That’s almost as good as the fake news going around the presstitute media, such as the TV stations, the Washington Post, New York Times, and Guardian—yes, even the former leftwing British newspaper has joined the ranks of the press prostitutes—that the CIA has concluded that “Russian operatives covertly interfered in the election campaign in an attempt to ensure the Republican candidate’s victory.” - MSM Makes Trump a Devil, Stocks Are Sky High-Again, US Drought Moves East
Time Magazine chose President-Elect Donald Trump as the “Person of the Year.” Is that the mainstream media (MSM) trying to make amends for the way they treated Trump? Maybe, but it appears Trump has devil horns by the way Time laid out the cover. It says it was an inadvertent mistake, but this is a magazine company with 90 “Person of the Year” covers. A professional magazine company that makes a mistake that big on an incoming President that the liberal biased media tried to destroy sounds disingenuous to me. Stocks are hitting the 27 to 28 PE ratios again. This is what the price to earnings were the last time the markets melted down in 2008. Look out for a big correction. - Trumphoria: Americans Are More Optimistic About The Economy Than They Have Been Since Obama’s Win In 2008
Optimism about the future of the U.S. economy has not been this strong since Barack Obama’s first presidential election victory in 2008. Donald Trump promised us an economic resurgence, and what is not to like so far? As I discussed earlier this week, stocks are soaring, businesses are already announcing that they are bringing jobs back to the United States, and the U.S. dollar has been lifted to levels that we haven’t seen in many years. Many are referring to this post-election surge as “Trumphoria”, and I think that is quite appropriate. Personally, I couldn’t imagine financial markets behaving this way if Hillary Clinton had won the election. Right now tens of millions of Americans are feeling deeply optimistic about the future for the first time in a very long time, and this is clearly reflected in the results of the most recent CNBC All-America Economic Survey… - Russian hackers ‘probably swayed Brexit vote'
Russian hackers “probably” swayed the EU referendum vote in favour of Brexit, a former Labour minister has claimed in the Commons. Leading Remain campaigner Ben Bradshaw questioned the validity of the result in June, claiming people were underestimating the extent of cyber warfare by Russian President Vladimir Putin. His extraordinary claim came in an emergency Commons debate on the latest developments in Syria, where President Bashar Assad's Russian-backed forces have been storming the city of Aleppo. But his allegation was given short shrift by Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman, who responded: “I have not come across any evidence that Russian cyber warfare was used to influence the referendum.” - 14 Signs That There Is A Plot To Use Russia As An Excuse To Steal The Presidency From Trump On December 19th Or January 6th
Donald Trump could have the election legally stolen from him on either December 19th when the Electoral College casts their votes or on January 6th when a joint session of Congress gathers to count those votes. The establishment is in full-blown panic mode at this point, and they seem to have settled on “Russian interference in the election” as the angle that they plan to use to try to deny Trump the presidency. As you will see below, there is an all-out effort to try to persuade members of the Electoral College that are supposed to be committed to Donald Trump to cast their votes for someone else instead. And if that doesn’t work, the groundwork is being laid for the Electoral College votes to potentially be invalidated when a joint session of Congress meets to count those votes on January 6th. I will explain how that would work later on in this article, but first let’s take a look at 14 signs that indicate that there is a plot to use Russia as an excuse to steal the presidency from Donald Trump… - Scientists Want to Give the Atmosphere an Antacid to Relieve Climate Change
As long-term global average temperatures steadily rise, and international efforts to address them steadily fall short, some scientists and engineers are working on increasingly desperate solutions to the symptoms of global climate change. One approach to “geoengineering” the earth is to mimic the natural atmospheric cooling effect that tends to follow the massive dispersion of sulfur dioxide into the air during a volcanic eruption. There are a few obvious problems with this approach. For instance, it's unclear what nation or international body would be authorized to release the sulfur dioxide. The chemical is also a pollutant that can cause acid rain. It might indirectly both eat away at the layer of ozone that protects living things from ultraviolet light and warm the lower part of the stratosphere above the tropics, about 19 miles up. - Secret Agenda: Are They Planning To Use ‘Russian Interference’ As An Excuse To Invalidate Trump’s Election Victory?
It has been said that nothing happens by accident in politics, and it is certainly no accident that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, members of the U.S. Senate and the mainstream media are all suddenly buzzing about “Russian hacking” and “Russian interference” in our elections. Over the past 48 hours, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and just about every other major news source in America has been breathlessly telling us that the CIA has concluded that the Russians “intervened” in the presidential election with the specific goal of helping Donald Trump win. The implication is that if the Russian interference was significant enough, it could have “unfairly” altered the outcome of the election and thus Donald Trump’s victory was not legitimate. And if his victory was not legitimate, that opens up all sorts of possibilities for the Democrats. For those that have been wondering if the establishment was going to attempt to steal the presidency away from Donald Trump before he can be inaugurated, we now appear to have our answer. - The December 19 Electoral College Vote Must Be Postponed Until We Figure Out What’s Going On With Russian Electoral Interference
In a post-truth political sphere, it’s almost impossible to find consensus. Trump won the Electoral College resoundingly; Clinton won the popular vote by millions. Trump’s November 8th coalition comprised as unusual and diverse an ideological coalition as the U.S. has seen; nearly half of Clinton voters thought Sanders should’ve been the Dem nominee. But here are three things all Americans, no matter their politics, agree on: 1. Foreign governments should play no role in the outcome of American elections. 2. No person should ascend to the presidency due to the interference of a hostile foreign government. 3. We have absolutely no idea whether a foreign government played a role in the outcome of the recent general election, and therefore we have no idea whether a political candidate is about to ascend to the presidency due to the interference of a hostile foreign government. I’ve been watching wall-to-wall coverage of the election for the past month, and I can’t recall hearing any Republican or Democratic operatives disagreeing with any of the above premises. - Greece faces permanent crisis as IMF warns bail-out plan ‘simply not credible'
The International Monetary Fund has hit back at claims that it is demanding more austerity in Greece, as the Fund warned that the country's ambitious budget targets were “simply not credible”. Firing a broadside at Brussels and Athens, Maurice Obstfeld, the IMF's chief economist, and Poul Thomsen, director of the IMF's European department, said cuts to investment and discretionary spending had “gone too far” and would prevent the Greek economy from recovering. Just 48 hours after Euclid Tsakalotos, Greece's finance minister, accused the IMF of “betraying” the country by pushing for more belt tightening, the senior IMF officials insisted that they were “not demanding more austerity”. “We have not changed our view that Greece does not need more austerity at this time. Claiming that it is the IMF who is calling for this turns the truth upside down,” they wrote in a blog post. - Italy poses a huge threat to the euro and union
Chronic inability to separate the probable from the desirable has been the tragedy of 2016. Wishful thinking is becoming a threat to the survival of liberalism itself. This tendency is especially evident in the discussion about Italy’s future in the eurozone. The complacent now say that Italy is good at muddling through; that the establishment can always stitch up the electoral system to prevent a victory by an extremist party. In any case, the Italian constitution does not allow for a referendum on leaving the euro. So it cannot happen. Really? I don’t think so. Start with the discrepancy in economic performance between Germany and Italy. One metric is the imbalances within Target 2, the eurozone’s payment system. At the end of November these reached higher levels than during the height of the eurozone crisis in 2012. Germany’s surplus is at €754bn, while Italy’s deficit is at €359bn. A part of the imbalances relates to the European Central Bank’s programme of quantitative easing, and is thus harmless. But the bulk is due to what might be described as a silent bank run. - One River CIO's Disturbing Prediction: “This Is The Biggest Policy Error In 50 Years”
With the Dow Jones just a handful of gamma imbalance rips away from 20,000, the CIO of One River Asset Management, Eric Peters, shares some critical perspective on the market's recent euphoric surge, going so far as to brand what is going on as America's “Massive Policy Error”, the biggest in the past 50 years. - Top Conspiracy Theories about India’s Demonetisation Mess
The sudden demonetisation of large denomination currency notes by the Government of India on 9th November 2016 has created a mix of shock, horror, confusion, speculation and conspiracy theories across the Subcontinent. The Government of India, led by BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claimed that this was a necessary measure because, 1. These large denomination notes were being used to hoard “black money” in India. Since demonetisation would require such notes to be deposited in a bank account or exchanged at the bank during a small window of time, the Government, eagerly monitoring the banks, would be able to spy on such “hoarders of black money” and seize/penalize/confiscate their moolah. Those who did not deposit their “black money” would be expected to sit crying while it turned into toilet paper after the deposit window expired. (And those of you without access to a bank account in India are expected to hang on these currency notes as souvenirs). 2. A very big portion of these notes was being counterfeited by a foreign power(s). Since these arguments are too simplistic to suffice readers of this website, Cabal Times presents the Top Demonetisation Conspiracy Theories currently swirling across the Subcontinent. - Leaked Footage Exposes CNN Producing Fake News During First Gulf War
Leaked footage has emerged of Charles Jaco when he was the CNN anchor made internationally famous for heroically covering the 1990 Persian Gulf War. The first part of this video shows the stage set he was on while he clowns around with fellow CNN staff. The Saudi Arabian “hotel” in the background is adorned by fake palm trees and a blue wall in a studio. This clip was leaked by CNN staff. The second part of this video is a live CNN satellite feed recorded onto VHS showing the final cut. Charles Jaco is wearing a different jacket, but he had the same act. Even though the acting is terrible as Charles Jaco wore a gas mask, and his fellow correspondent Carl Rochelle wore a helmet—the American public were manipulated and duped en masse. The sirens and missile sound effects are part of the stage set. The camera never pans out or shows the sky as they appear terrified of chemical weapons being dropped from above. These clips are the highest quality of this newscast and behind the scenes. And yes, Charles Jaco was a reporter for CNN and then worked as a reporter for FOX 2 NOW in Saint Louis, Missouri. - TPP Could Go Forward without the United States
The election of Donald Trump has closed the door to consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during the lame duck session of Congress this year. During the campaign, Trump vowed to rip up TPP; Republican leaders in Congress, beholden to Trump for saving their majorities in the Senate and House, will not challenge him in the flush of this unexpected but decisive electoral victory. What’s the future for TPP? Most likely, Trump will simply not implement it. Without US participation, the pact cannot definitively enter into force. It’s death by malign neglect. - TPP bill passed by New Zealand Parliament
Parliament has passed the Bill that allows the Government to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement amid opposition complaints that it's a waste of time. The Bill lines up New Zealand laws with its obligations under the 12-nation agreement which covers 40 percent of global trade and 800 million people. Partner countries signed it in February but it still has to be ratified – and the United States is the big problem. President-elect Donald Trump is a vehement opponent and Prime Minister John Key has said the chance of the US Congress ratifying it before the January 20 inauguration is “close to zero”. - Catholic Church: New Priests Will be Expected to Preach Global Warming
Catholic Online reports that new priests will be expected to be familiar with and promote efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Whats next? Excommunication of scientists whose theories aren’t approved by the Pope? - Saudi Arabia informs US and European customers of oil supply cuts from January
Saudi Arabia is said to have told its customers across the US and Europe that it will be cutting down on its crude shipments from January. The world's second largest oil country in terms of proven reserves, has reportedly said that the move was in line with the outcome of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting last week. During the talks, member countries committed to cutting 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd). “We told our customers of the allocations and the compliance with allocations (for the cuts) for Saudi Arabia is 100 percent,” anonymous Gulf oil industry told Reuters. - Revealed: the extent of the buy-to-let market collapse
New research has exposed the scale of the fall in buy-to-let purchases in the year that the Government hiked stamp duty by 3pc on such transactions. The number of properties sold to buy-to-let investors has fallen 63.7pc in the year to November in England and Wales, according to the estate agency Haart, dropping 8.2pc last month alone. In London, the number of such properties sold fell by 40pc. It also reported that the number of landlords registering to buy properties is down 59.2pc annually. There was a big surge of transactions in March, before the stamp duty came in, followed by a sharp decline. - India Confiscates Gold, Even Jewelry, In Raids On Hidden Money
Global financial repression picks up steam, led by India. After declaring large denomination notes illegal, India now targets gold. It’s not just gold bars or bullion. The government has raided houses, no questions asked, confiscating jewelry. For background to this article, please see my November 27 article Cash Chaos in India, 86% of Money in Circulation Withdrawn; Cash Still King in Japan. Large denomination means 500-rupee ($7.30) and 1,000-rupee notes ($14.60), which account for more than 85 percent of the money supply. They are no longer legal tender, effective immediately. - Rise Of The Machines: Millions Of American Jobs Will Be Wiped Out In The Next Five Years
There is a paradigm shift coming and it is about to rewrite everything we know about economics, human labor, and government dependence. Earlier this week Amazon launched its first Amazon Go store, which allows a customer to walk in, grab the items they want, and simply walk out. Everything is tracked utilizing RFID chips, so the second you step out of the store Amazon knows exactly what you’ve purchased and automatically charges your account. Amazon’s latest move is simply the next evolution designed to make human labor obsolete. - Goldman President Gary Cohn Accepts NEC Director Role
As reported last week, Trump had offered Goldman Sachs president and COO the job of his top economic advisor, as Director of the National Economic Council Director. Moments ago CNBC reported that, as expected, Cohn has accepted the role. The National Economic Council, which Cohn would lead, is meant to “coordinate policy-making for domestic and international issues, to coordinate economic policy advice for the president, to ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the president's economic goals, and to monitor implementation of the president's economic policy agenda,” according to the office's website. While we have no reason to doubt Cohn' patriotism, we are confident that another motivating factor was the ability to sell some his $210 million or so in Goldman shares tax free, saving approximately $80 million in taxes simply for becoming officially a part of the US administration, instead of merely running the country from the shadows. - Here’s what happens when a currency completely breaks down
In Venezuela, hyperinflation has become so pitiful that shopkeepers are no longer bothering to actually count money. Instead, they’re weighing it… as in literally pulling out a scale and weighing giant stacks of money. Do you want to buy a bottle of Coca Cola? That’ll be 1 kilo of currency please. One shopkeeper interviewed by the Guardian newspaper said he’s piling up bricks of cash so quickly he feels like Pablo Escobar. And yet Venezuela’s hyperinflation continues growing worse; those bricks of cash are buying less every week. This is an important lesson. - China flies nuclear bomber over South China Sea to ‘send a message' to Donald Trump
China has flown a nuclear-capable bomber outside its borders in a show of force for the first time since US President-elect Donald Trump's phone call with the president of Taiwan. The 10-minute telephone call with President Tsai Ing-wen was the first by a US president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of “One China”. It led to protests from Beijing. The Xian H-6 bomber flew along the disputed ‘nine-dash line' around the South China Sea on Thursday, US officials told Fox News, passing over a number of disputed islands. The officials said it was designed to send a message to the incoming administration. The Pentagon found out about the flight on Friday and officials said it was the first long-range flight along the demarcation line in more than 18 months – though this sortie extended further than previous ones. - Which of these would you rather have in your safe?
Let’s say you have two equal size safety deposit boxes. One box you completely fill up with stacks of $100 bills. The other box you fill up with gold. Which of the two is “worth” more? It’s easy to calculate. A stack of 100x $100 bills is 6.14 inches long, 2.61 inches wide, and 0.43 inches tall. That’s a volume of 6.89 cubic inches (112.92 cubic centimeters… and we’ll use the metric system from here on out because it really does make more sense!). A stack of 100x $100 bills is worth $10,000. So the paper money’s ‘value density’ is about $88.55 per cubic centimeter. Gold, on the other hand, is much more value dense. A 1-kilogram bar of gold is 11.55 cm long, 5.25 cm wide, and 0.92 cm tall, for a total volume of 55.79 cubic centimeters. - Marc Faber on 2017 Trump Rally, Gold, Bonds and The Market
Marc Faber’s ‘Contrarian’ Trump Strategy: Buy Gold, Emerging Markets Marc Faber, the editor and publisher of “The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report,” speaks to Brian Sullivan. “I think that in 2017 my recommendation would be to overweight emerging economies, and I would also overweight Europe, partly because I think that the sentiment about the U.S. dollar is far too optimistic. I think the dollar is terribly overbought and overvalued, so I wouldn’t get into the U.S. dollar at this time,” Faber said. - Euro Devaluation Accelerates – Millions Of Europeans Wishing They’d Bought Gold
ECB Chairman Mario Draghi’s announcement of bigger and better QE this morning should have surprised no one. The fact is that the eurozone is coming apart at the seams and the only tool left to delay the inevitable is easier money. As the following chart illustrates, the euro has been declining since 2008, with the descent accelerating lately. And more is coming. The only way for Italy, Greece and possibly France to keep it together is for their currency to plunge relative to those of their trading partners, thus making it easier to sell domestically-produced stuff abroad. So euro parity with the dollar will generate headlines when it happens but will just be a way-point on a journey to much lower numbers. That is, if the whole global financial system doesn’t blow up first. - No Surrender in the Fed’s “War on the Markets”
People never intend to bring disasters upon themselves. But they sometimes put themselves in situations in which disaster is the only way out. The War Between the States was supposed to be quick and decisive. The glorious histories of the war were already written – at least in the minds of the combatants – by the time of the First Battle of Bull Run. There would be a few heroic charges; Napoleon’s Marshal Ney would have nothing on the dashing Confederate generals in their gray and red tunics. Mounted on their fine Tennessee horses, waving their swords and shouting encouragement to their cavalry, they would sweep the enemy from the field… send him fleeing back across the Potomac… and the war would be over. But even authors often don’t know how their stories will turn out. Events and personalities take over. Between the first chapter and the final one, there are twists and turns that few expect. The hero turns out to have a fatal flaw. Circumstances weren’t what they thought. The enemy had surprises. And then, at the end, the great victory turns into a nightmare defeat. - Shell Studies Green Energy Deals to Prepare for Future After Oil
Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s second-biggest publicly listed oil company, is studying acquisitions in the green energy sector, its CEO told Reuters, as it bows to shareholder demands for a strategy beyond fossil fuels. Shell, which has a market value of $200 billion, produces two percent of the world’s oil and gas but rapid technological change coupled with policies to protect the climate have kick-started a shift in energy markets that has put enormous pressure on oil companies to plan for a time after fossil fuels. “The idea that you can just be a very clever observer and step in when the moment is right, forget about it,” Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden told Reuters. “I am convinced that in this space we will play an active role, a leading role and we will plan acquisitions in it.” - Three Member Countries Bail On OPEC’s Plan To Raise Oil Prices
Three OPEC member states won’t be complying with the group’s deal to reduce oil production, according to a new survey. Angola will ignore OPEC’s plans to slash production, while Nigeria and Libya aren’t even bound by the cuts, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data. Angola increased production by 200,000 barrels a day last month while Nigeria and Libya increased their combined production by 140,000 barrels a day. OPEC recently announced production cuts, causing the price of oil to rise to around $52.04 per barrel. The move comes after OPEC refused to cut production in 2014 to depress prices and counter new competition, largely from U.S.-based hydraulic fracturing. The cheap prices were intended to kill off the American fracking industry and other new producers, but they have not had their intended effect. OPEC members were hurt even more than U.S. companies. - A Major Red Flag? Chinese Oil Demand Growth Could Shrink 60% In 2017
Chinese growth of crude oil imports may likely shrink by more than 60 percent next year, as storage facilities are filling in and smaller refiners face more scrutiny over taxes and licenses, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. According to Energy Aspects analyst Michal Meidan, Chinese crude oil imports are expected to grow by 5 to 9 percent in 2017, compared to an estimated growth of 11 to 14 percent this year. According to customs data quoted by Bloomberg, Chinese imports increased by 14 percent to average 7.5 million bpd between January and November this year. The median estimate of 8 analysts in the survey showed that China would increase oil purchases by 4.8 percent on the year in 2017. - A Major Red Flag? Chinese Oil Demand Growth Could Shrink 60% In 2017
Chinese growth of crude oil imports may likely shrink by more than 60 percent next year, as storage facilities are filling in and smaller refiners face more scrutiny over taxes and licenses, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. According to Energy Aspects analyst Michal Meidan, Chinese crude oil imports are expected to grow by 5 to 9 percent in 2017, compared to an estimated growth of 11 to 14 percent this year. According to customs data quoted by Bloomberg, Chinese imports increased by 14 percent to average 7.5 million bpd between January and November this year. The median estimate of 8 analysts in the survey showed that China would increase oil purchases by 4.8 percent on the year in 2017. - Deutsche Bank Provides “Smoking Gun” Proof Of Massive Rigging And Fraud In The Silver Market
Back in April, when we first reported that Deutsche Bank had agreed to settle allegations it had rigged the silver market in exchange for $38 million, we revealed something stunning: “in a curious twist, the settlement letter revealed that the former members of the manipulation cartel have turned on each other”, and that Deutsche Bank would provide docments implicating other precious metals riggers. To wit: “In addition to valuable monetary consideration, Deutsche Bank has also agreed to provide cooperation to plaintiffs, including the production of instant messages, and other electronic communications, as part of the settlement. In Plaintiff’s estimation, the cooperation to be provided by Deutsche Bank will substantially assist Plaintiffs in the prosecution of their claims against the non-settling defendants.” Overnight we finally got a glimpse into what this “production” contained, and according to documents filed by the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, what Deutsche Bank provided as part of its settlement was nothing short of “smoking gun” proof that UBS Group AG, HSBC Holdings Plc, Bank of Nova Scotia and other firms rigged the silver market. The allegation, as Bloomberg first noted, came in a filing Wednesday in a Manhattan federal court lawsuit filed in 2014 by individuals and entities that bought or sold futures contracts. - Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil Expected to Be Named Trump's Secretary of State: Sources
Donald Trump is expected to nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, two sources close to the transition process told NBC News on Saturday. The 64-year-old veteran oil executive has no government or diplomatic experience, although he has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pick would put to rest weeks-long speculation of who would earn the post as the U.S.'s top diplomat, and would place Tillerson fourth in line to the presidency. He will also be paired with former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as his deputy secretary of state, one of the sources added, with Bolton handling day-to-day management of the department. - BRICS to share tax information
Tax officials representing BRICS countries have reiterated their pledge to automatically share tax information between them. At the conclusion of their two-day meeting in Mumbai, India, heads of revenue said this efforts would pave the way for the adoption of global standards to tax transparency which would strengthen their efforts against tax evasion. They also said that they wanted to implement the standards used by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the G20 on Automatic Exchange of Information. “We recognise the importance of the exchange of information between competent authorities in preventing cross- border tax evasion and we resolve to exchange information, both on request and on automatic basis, and to adopt global standards on tax transparency,” said the communique issued after the meeting. - China, Egypt sign $2.6 bln currency-swap deal
Egypt and China have signed on Tuesday a currency-swap deal worth about $2.6 billion, a move aimed at bolstering economic activities in the cash-strapped North African nation. The deal is worth 18 million yuan and will last three years, with a possibility for extension upon agreement of both sides, Egypt’s Central Bank said in a statement. “The currency swap is a mutually beneficial arrangement between both countries, and mirrored China’s support for the Egyptian economic reform program,” the statement read. The deal allows the central banks of both countries to exchange payments in one currency for equivalent amounts in the other which will facilitate bilateral trade settlements and provide liquidity support to financial markets. China has carried out swaps with more than 30 central banks around the world to increase the use of the yuan as a global reserve currency and to stimulate bilateral trade, Reuters reports. - Why Time’s Trump Cover Is a Subversive Work of Political Art
Time Magazine’s annual “Person of the Year” announcement is, year after year, grossly misunderstood. Time Magazine is clear on its sole criterion – “the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year” – yet, do a simple search on Twitter and you will find countless people who seem to think that the “Person of the Year” selection is tantamount to an endorsement. Previous winners have included Joseph Stalin (1939, 1942), Ayatollah Khomeini (1979), Adolf Hitler (1938), and other figures who I think it is safe to assume the Time staff does not endorse. This year, it should come as no surprise that President-elect Donald Trump was chosen to grace the cover of Time’s annual issue (shot by Jewish photographer Nadav Kander). “For better or worse,” Trump, during his campaign and now after his election, has certainly been among the greatest influences on the events of the year. For clues as to how Time feels about that question — is it “for better or worse?” — we can look to the image chosen for the cover of the issue. The decisions that Time made regarding how to photograph Trump reveal a layered, nuanced field of references that place the image among, in this viewer’s opinion, the magazine’s greatest covers. - Are We Being Set Up For A Crash? Stocks Hit A Level Only Seen During The Bubbles Of 1929, 2000 And 2007
Will the financial bubble that has been rapidly growing ever since Donald Trump won the election suddenly be popped once he takes office? Could it be possible that we are being set up for a horrible financial crash that he will ultimately be blamed for? Yesterday, I shared my thoughts on the incredible euphoria that we have seen since Donald Trump’s surprise victory on November 8th. The U.S. dollar has been surging, companies are announcing that they are bringing jobs back to the U.S., and we are witnessing perhaps the greatest post-election stock market rally in Wall Street history. In fact, the Dow, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 all set new all-time record highs again on Thursday. What we are seeing is absolutely unprecedented, and many believe that the good times will continue to roll as we head into 2017. What has been most surprising to me is how well the stocks of the big Wall Street banks have been doing. It is no secret that those banks poured a tremendous amount of money into Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and Donald Trump had some tough things to say about them leading up to election day. - ‘It Is Like A Nuclear Bomb Went Off In The Prepping Community’
Is the prepper movement in the United States dying? At one time it was estimated that there were 3 million preppers in the United States, but in late 2016 interest in prepping has hit a multi-year low. The big reason for this, of course, is that the election of Donald Trump has fueled a tremendous wave of optimism among those that consider themselves to be conservatives, patriots and evangelical Christians. Not since the election of Ronald Reagan has the mood on the right shifted in such a positive direction so suddenly. But now that everyone is feeling so good about things, very few people still seem interested in prepping for hard times ahead. In fact, it is like a nuclear bomb went off in the prepping community. As the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, I am in contact with a lot of people that serve the prepping community. And I can tell you that sales of emergency food and supplies have been crashing since Donald Trump’s surprise election victory. Firms that help people relocate outside of the United States have seen business really dry up, and I know of one high profile individual that has actually decided to move back to the country after Trump’s victory. It is almost as if the apocalypse has been canceled and the future history of the U.S. has been rewritten with a much happier ending. - Trump’s Infrastructure Spending Plan Might Be For Real
We saw an example of this polarity Tuesday morning when Trump took a shot at Boeing, tweeting to his nearly 17 million Twitter followers that the jet-manufacturer “is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” When journalists sought clarification, Trump said he wants Boeing to make money, “but not that much money.” As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, the current Air Force One has been in use for 30 years—since Ronald Reagan’s administration—and includes many cutting-edge modifications for communications and defense. It’s designed to withstand a nuclear blast. For the value we get out of the president’s main ride, in other words, the exorbinant sticker price might not be so exorbinant as it initially appears. - Thank You, President Obama
Many people are alarmed and concerned that president-elect Donald Trump will undo and dismantle all of President Obama’s accomplishments and hard-won achievements that have benefited the American people for some eight years now. I think, therefore, we ought to recognize and applaud these accomplishments so that we do not forget them or so lightly discard them. President Obama’s great endeavor to bring democracy to Syria has resulted in a catastrophic war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Lest you think this a small feat, bear in mind it took nearly a decade for the Iran-Iraq War to rack up that death toll over almost a decade of scorpions-in-a-bottle fighting. Of course, President Obama can also be congratulated for helping to launch a war that will certainly be more than a mere legacy from his administration. No, a war like this is one parent can be proud to hand down to their children, just like the war in Afghanistan which will probably be left in the will for the next generation to fight in it. - US provoking China into nuclear war? RT to air new Pilger documentary
Nuclear war is no longer unthinkable as it may be provoked by a US military build-up in the Pacific, clearly aimed at confronting Beijing, John Pilger says in his new documentary ‘The Coming War on China’, set to be aired on rt.com and the RTD channel. According to the BAFTA-winning journalist and filmmaker, mainstream media reports of Beijing’s ambitious expansion and reclaiming of land in the South China Sea is in fact a response to US military activity around its borders. US President Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia in 2011 has resulted in the construction of 400 American bases, including in Guam, elsewhere in the South China Sea, South Korea and Japan – thereby encircling China. - ECB extends bond-buying scheme but at slower pace
The European Central Bank has said it will extend its bond-buying programme until at least December 2017, but cut its purchases by €20bn a month. The €80bn-a-month quantitative easing scheme had been due to end in March, although the bank had been expected to extend it for at least six months. In a move that surprised markets, the ECB said it would only buy bonds worth €60bn a month from April. The bank also kept its key interest rate unchanged at zero as expected. Yields on most eurozone government bond yields rose slightly after the changes were announced, before returning to levels hit just before the statement. - Universities Strive for Diversity in Everything but Opinion
My seminar students at McGill University told me that you can't say anything at this university without being accused of being sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, fascist, or racist, and then being threatened with punitive measures. They felt silenced by the oppressive atmosphere of political correctness. Nothing significant — sex, religion, relationships, public policy, race, immigration, or multiculturalism — could be discussed. Only the acceptable opinions could be expressed without nasty repercussions. It is generally held today in the West, if not elsewhere, that diversity is a good thing. Diversity in origin, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexual preference is now regarded as not only desirable, but mandatory. Universities strive to increase their physical diversity. The currently accepted theory in Western academia is that physical diversity reflects diversity of experience and thus an enriching diversity of viewpoint. - Monte dei Paschi shares plunge on ECB reports
Shares in Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank have fallen following reports that the European Central Bank has rejected a request to give it more time to raise cash. Monte dei Paschi had sought a three-week extension until 20 January to seal a private sector €5bn rescue plan. If the ECB does deny the request, the Italian government will be under more pressure to bail out the country's third-largest bank. The ECB declined to comment. - Trump ignores Gore’s advice, instead picks skeptic to head EPA & dismantle climate agenda
Climate Depot’s publisher Marc Morano statement on President Elect Donald Trump’s selection of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt pick for EPA chief: “President-Elect Trump’s appointment of Scott Pruitt is a breath of fresh air. No longer do we have to suffer under President Obama’s ridiculous EPA ‘climate’ regulations. It is also refreshing that a Republican President is not throwing the EPA over to the green activists and the media by appointing a weak administrator. Christine Todd Whitman he is not! See: Bravo! Trump appoints ‘a fierce critic of the EPA’ — to head EPA! & Cheers! Trump picks leading EPA critic to head agency & NYT: ‘Trump Picks Scott Pruitt, Climate Change Denialist, to Lead EPA‘ & Wash Post: Trump names Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma AG suing EPA on climate change. Trump’s pick of Pruitt finally means that a Republican President is standing up the green establishment! Historically, EPA chiefs have been among the most pro regulatory members of past Republican presidents from Nixon through Ford, Reagan and both Bushes. Trump has broken the cycle! - Fresh survival fears for world's oldest bank
Monte dei Paschi di Siena's shares have plunged in Milan amid renewed fears for its future – sparking a wider sell-off in the country's troubled banking sector. Trading in shares of the world's oldest bank was temporarily suspended by the Italian stock exchange after the price fell 11% following a news agency report that the European Central Bank had refused it a lifeline. Reuters, citing a banking source, said that the ECB had denied its request for two more weeks to find €5bn from investors to keep it afloat. - National Grid nets £3.6bn in gas stake sale
A team of international investors, including the Chinese state, is to take a majority stake in National Grid's gas pipeline business. The UK's power network operator confirmed it was offloading a 61% holding to a consortium led by Australian investment bank Macquarie and it was to net £3.6bn in cash as a result and a further £1.8bn in debt financing. The deal values the division – which has 82,000 miles of pipeline delivering gas to 11 million UK homes and businesses – at almost £14bn when debt is excluded. - HSBC, JPMorgan and Crédit Agricole fined €485m by EU
A five-year investigation by competition authorities in Brussels into rigging of interest rates drew to a close Wednesday when three major banks – including HSBC – were fined €485m (£412m) for colluding to manipulate a crucial benchmark rate. The three banks, which also included JP Morgan Chase and Crédit Agricole, did not agree to earlier the settlement involving a seven-bank cartel over the setting of the interest rate known as Euribor. JP Morgan was fined €337m, HSBC €33m and Crédit Agricole €114m. The levels were set on the time they participated in the cartel and the value of products involved. - Trump: I Sold All Of My Stocks Back In June
From Tyler Durden: Following today’s tweet and follow up suggesting that Trump is now targeting Boeing’s contract pricing practices, questions emerged whether the President-elect wasn’t engaging in a conflict of interest due to his numerous, existing shareholdings. However, according to Trump spokesman Jason Miller, Donald Trump sold all of his stockholdings in June, removing himself from positions in numerous U.S. companies. Miller made the revelation during a phone call with reporters on Tuesday morning. He was asked about Mr. Trump’s past holdings in Boeing Co., a company the president-elect had criticized earlier in the day for what he alleged were high costs for the next Air Force One, the WSJ reported. “The President-elect sold all of his stock back in June,” Miller said. He subsequently clarified he was referring broadly to all of Mr. Trump’s stock, not Boeing specifically. - Protectionist Trump Policies To Crash Dollar, Gold and Bitcoin to Soar
Many people seem to think Trump is going to “fix” the US by invoking the isolationist, nationalist, and oft failed economic policy of protectionism. But, as Ludwig von Mises put it in Nation, State and Economy, “From the purely economic point of view nothing speaks against free trade and everything against protectionism.” In other words, there is no economic argument in favor of protectionism. It is not a viable economic policy. Any basic economics class will inform you that protectionism is the opposite of free trade and the opposite of the harmony of nations. “The philosophy of protectionism is a philosophy of war. The wars of our age are not at variance with popular economic doctrines; they are, on the contrary, the inescapable result of consistent application of these doctrines.” Mises said. There is no fixity in that direction. Trump’s protectionist policies are sure to fail! - Get Used to Lousy Growth AND Rising Rates: Fed Dove Dudley
For the year 2016, economic growth is expected to be a miserably slow 1.6%, according to a survey of “professional forecasters,” released today by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). For next year, the forecasters are more optimistic, but it’s the same lousy optimism that would have been considered rampant pessimism before the Financial Crisis. They lowered their forecasts to 2.2% growth for next year. And as they nearly always do as they get closer to reality, they’ll likely lower that forecast again and again. - Panic Time?…Washington Post Walks Back its ‘Fake News' Claim
Wow! It was so great to hear back from so many of you when I asked what we should do about the Washington Post's scurrilous and defamatory article claiming that the Ron Paul Institute — along with other major sites such as Drudge, ZeroHedge, David Stockman's Contra Corner, Counterpunch, and others — were actually tools of the Kremlin whose secret mission is to undermine Americans' faith in the democratic process. Funny, most of us would agree that it's the Washington Post and the rest of the “mainstream” media that are engaged in “fake news” propaganda on the behalf of government entities. They are the real threat to our peace and prosperity! - Trump Sets Stage for Huge Gold Rally in 2017
Global political tensions have not been this palpable since 9/11, when gold prices jumped 32.87% in a single day, and the amount of uncertainty being ushered in for 2017 promises to be great for the precious metal—our age-hold hedge against chaos and instability. For a fully-funded junior gold miner backed by heavy hitters in one of the world’s hottest venues–Fiore Exploration Ltd (TSXV–F.V) the timing is excellent, the production costs appealing, and the future golden. What we have right now is a situation in which gold prices are stable, but mining and exploration, which has been all but halted, is very cheap, leaving all kinds of plays up for grabs. - Trump To Name CEO Of Fast Food Restaurants As Labor Secretary
Considering that during the Obama administration, the only job category that has performed remarkably well has been fast food workers, waiters and bartenders, a category which has added 571,000 jobs since 2014 as the US has lost 34,000 manufacturing workers in the same period… it is perhaps fitting that the next Labor Secretary will be the CEO of fast food chains. According to the WSJ, Donald Trump is set to name fast-food executive Andy Puzder as labor secretary. Puzder is the chief executive of CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent company of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s burger chains, and has been a vocal advocate for cutting back regulations he says have stifled growth in the restaurant industry, which represents 10% of the American workforce. - Stocks Haven’t Been This Expensive Since 1929
Careful not send the investing into a panic, Robert Shiller appeared on CNBC this morning to explain just how insane the valuation levels of the market are currently. I hate to rain on this parade. But the latest lurch upwards in stock prices has just taken market valuations up into the skybox levels, according to the market timing measure with the longest pedigree on Wall Street. It’s just gone from flashing amber to flashing red – meaning, if it’s right, that there is now a significant and rising risk of a crash, and a bigger risk of simply very poor returns. This has little to do with President-elect Donald Trump, by the way — and much more to do with President Ulysses S. Grant and all his successors. - War On The Homeless: Cities All Over America Are Passing Laws Making It Illegal To Feed And Shelter Those In Need
If you want to be a “Good Samaritan” to the homeless in your community, you might want to check and see if it is legal first. All over the country, cities are passing laws that make it illegal to feed and shelter the homeless. For example, in this article you will read about a church in Maryland that was just fined $12,000 for simply allowing homeless people to sleep outside the church at night. This backlash against homeless people comes at a time when homelessness in America is absolutely exploding. In a previous article, I shared with my readers the fact that the number of homeless people in New York City has just set a brand new all-time high, and the homelessness crisis in California has become so severe that the L.A. City Council has formally asked Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency. Sadly, instead of opening up our hearts to the rapidly growing number of Americans without a home, way too many communities are trying to use the law to force them to go somewhere else. - CRACKS IN THE BOND MARKET – Jim Willie Warns US Debt Default DEAD AHEAD
Foreign USTreasury Bond dumping continues, and even accelerates. China and the Saudis are selling USTreasurys in a NEAR PANIC. The USGovt debt default is within view, DEAD AHEAD: Foreign USTreasury Bond dumping continues, and even accelerates. China and the Saudis are selling USTreasurys in a near panic. Foreign central banks liquidated a record $375 billion in USGovt debt in the last 12 months. An American disaster lies in the making from debt saturation, debt overload, and debt dumping. It is all denied by the Washington mouthpieces and the Wall Street handlers, as they lie. The USGovt debt default is within view, dead ahead. One month ago in October tally, the USFed update of Treasurys held in custody revealed a frightening picture of foreign sales, big sales, even accelerated sales. The total amount of custodial paper had fallen to $2.805 trillion, the lowest since 2012. One month later, foreign central banks continued their relentless liquidation of US debt paper, as measured by the same custody account. - Paul Craig Roberts – The Matrix Of Lies And What The Elite Are Really Up To Is Terrifying
Today former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, warned about the Matrix of lies and exposed what the elite are doing to keep the unsuspecting public in the dark. (King World News) Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: The presstitute media delivered the false news, not from Russian propaganda websites such as the Washington Post accuses this one of being, but from Obama’s US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The false news is that the collapsing economy continues to boom with 178,000 new jobs in November and a further fall in the rate of unemployment to 4.6%… - Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – December 8, 2016
Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his regular short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams’ weekly newsletter.
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In Celebration of Lindsey Williams 01/12/36 – 01/23/23
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” – Lindsey Williams In Celebration of LINDSEY WILLIAMS January 12, 1936 – January 23, 2023 On Saturday, April 1, 2023, at FBC Fountain Hills dba Cornerstone Family Church in Fountain Hills, Arizona, there was a special Memorial service in celebration of […]
Pastor Lindsey Williams – At Bio Care Hospital – Getting Over COVID
This is part 11 of a series of 12 informative videos on how to cope with all the damage COVID brings. Where Pastor Lindsey Williams interviews Rodrigo Rodriguez, MD, founder of BioCare Hospital and Wellness Center. Call BioCare Now: 1-800-262-0212 Website: International BioCare Hospital and Wellness Center Pastor Lindsey Williams Hi, this is Lindsey Williams. […]
Pastor Lindsey Williams – At Bio Care Hospital – COVID and Supplements
This is part 10 of a series of 12 informative videos on how to cope with all the damage COVID brings. Where Pastor Lindsey Williams interviews Rodrigo Rodriguez, MD, founder of BioCare Hospital and Wellness Center. Call BioCare Now: 1-800-262-0212 Website: International BioCare Hospital and Wellness Center Pastor Lindsey Williams Hi, this is Lindsey Williams. […]