QUESTION: Marty you warned previously that an April high would have the potential to create an important temporary high with a decline into 2018 and then a slingshot up. Is that still a possibility?
ANSWER: Yes. We have the S&P500 and the NASDAQ Composite making new highs but NOT the Dow. This raises some concern that a correction is still possible. The Dow needs to make new highs above April intraday and on a monthly closing basis. This is a tall order right now. This will warn we are consolidating sideways and preparing for the breakout. The support on the Dow remains at 20,000 on a Weekly Closing basis. The majority has to be wrong for they are the fuel that drives the market. We have had nothing but bearishness in the bull market which has exceeded the 2007 high by nearly 50% yet throughout the rally everyone is bearish. This has been the fuel that made it rally. You even have people touting short the S&P500 and buy Emerging Markets. That has to be a suicide mission. Then you have people touting Europe is a wonderland and the Euro will be fine because Macron won. Of course these are Americans who obviously do not have clients in Europe nor do they visit often. Sure the Euro will rally for the key resistance is still in the 113-114 level.
We will be releasing a special report after the HK World Economic Conference just on the Dow, S&P500 and NASDAQ with timing. The broader market is rising and the Dow has flattened out. This is in part due to people assuming the Macron victory relieves the bearishness for Europe.
On the other hand, our risk is Trump. If Trump ever gets his act together and stops making stupid decisions that hand controversy to Democrats and ruthless pretend Republicans like Lindsey Graham, who backed the bill to allow the government to imprison people without a trial indefinitely for life and denied lawyers, then maybe we can get the tax cuts. Without the tax cut boom, we still have the chaos of Europe, and rising geopolitical tensions outside the USA. Those issues alone are capable of sending the dollar to the moon – but not yet. That’s still what we need to break the back of this monetary system and those cracks appear likely starting next year.
Lindsey Graham is a disgrace to our government and he is not qualified to dare criticize Trump for anything no matter how stupid Trump is. Graham is just an unconstitutional embarrassment. Graham and McCain are the biggest threats to our political-economy moving forward. They are protecting the establishment and are two people who I do not believe should be in Washington, and certainly do not trust them for a second. McCain would invade Canada to get even for his capture and betrayal of reading propaganda messages for the Vietnamese.
Trump has tweeted admitting that he had shared “facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety” with Russian diplomats in an Oval Office meeting last week. No matter what he does, they will try to make a controversy out of it. Trump was certainly not doing anything illegal and the info appears to have involved another attack on a Russian airliner. I suppose Schumer, Graham and McCain have no problem with innocent passengers getting killed as long as it makes for headlines against Trump. We are watching politics stoop lower than ever in history.
What we are really looking at is the Democrats and the Republican elite have joined forces to do whatever it takes to keep the corruption flowing in Washington and to resist any economic reforms. This is trying to keep everything as is. That is the real battle ground.
The real question will be the Congressional elections next year. It appears that the elite Republicans prefer that the Democrats gain seats to prevent any real “drain the swamp” measures if more anti-establishment come to Washington in 2018. I would rather see any Democrat than Lindsey Graham or John McCain.
It cannot be said enough: thank you for everything that you do.
While I would love the opportunity to sit down with you as I have a million questions concerning your excellent posts of today, let me focus in on The Coming Central Bank Crisis.
As the Fed begins to unwind its balance sheet this year, will that spur the Germans to demand Draghi stop with his program and unwind the ECB balance sheet in 2018, since the Fed will be successful? Also, how can that occur if we are in a recession? (Correct me if I’m wrong, but you are indeed calling for a recession by 2018?)
Thank You,
D
ANSWER:Wolfgang Schäuble has already been jawboning Draghi to reverse course. Draghi knows he has 40% of all Eurozone public debt. He has lost total control of the crisis and has become the crisis. He is frozen like a deer in headlights. Schäuble wants Draghi to leave, but he has a 10 year term. This will not end nicely. We may see the crisis be the reason the Euro turns back down after testing the overhead Reversals in the 113-114 zone.
We have been in a major economic declining trend ever since the 1950s. Yes there are bouts with booming economic periods, but the growth during such rallies is progressively making lower highs. Once upon a time, we had growth of 8-10%. Volcker raised interest rates to 14% to stop inflation. Today, we celebrate 2% growth. This is a worldwide consequence of socialism. Government have doubled in size since 1950 and people wonder why Trump, BREXIT or even Le Pen won nearly 35% of the vote compare to 5% 20 years ago in France.
So are we in a recession? Economists would say no unless there are two-consecutive quarterly declines in GDP growth. As a trade, you have to say we are on a very long protracted Bear Market in economic growth and the future, for us and our children, rests solely in the hands of this “populist” movement to replace socialism.
Earlier today the U.S. State Department held a special briefing to outline concerning discoveries within Syria, including a new crematorium for use in the disposal of bodies.
[Transcript] MS NAUERT: It’s great to see you. Thanks, everyone, for assembling here so quickly today. Welcome to the State Department. We asked you here to provide you with some new information on the six-year crisis in Syria. I’m joined today by Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones. Stuart recently returned from the talks in Astana. He’ll give us an update and also provide you with some newly declassified information on Syria today.
Last week, Secretary Tillerson met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for more than an hour here in Washington. You’ve read the readout from that meeting, but I’d like to provide you with some additional context and details coming out of that meeting today.
Secretary Tillerson was firm and clear with Minister Lavrov: Russia holds tremendous influence over Bashar al-Assad. A key point that took place in that bilateral meeting was telling Russia to use its power to rein in the regime. Simply put, the killing and devastation has gone on for far too long in Syria.
Minister Lavrov was clear as well that he shares the same goals as the United States does in Syria: a unified and stable nation. Both men agreed that the way to bring stability to Syria must come through diplomatic and political means.
We call upon Russia to use its influence with the Assad regime to get it to adhere to a lasting negotiated ceasefire. That ceasefire, we believe, will reduce violence and also ensure unhindered humanitarian access and stop the indiscriminate killings of civilians. These actions will help create the conditions on the ground for a political resolution of that conflict.
And with that, I’ll turn it over to Acting Assistant Secretary Stuart Jones. He will take your questions at the end. Thank you.
Sir.
MR JONES: Thank you, Heather. Good morning. Thank you for being here this morning. Since Syria’s civil conflict began in 2011, the Assad regime has treated opposition forces and unarmed civilians as one and the same, committing widespread violations of international law, including the Law of Armed Conflict and Human Rights law. Today, we are releasing newly declassified reporting and photos that underscore the depths to which the Syrian regime has gone with the continuing support of its allies Russia and Iran.
The facts we’re presenting today are based on reporting from international and local nongovernmental organizations, press reporting, and also Intelligence Community assessments. The continued brutality of the Assad regime, including its use of chemical weapons, presents a clear threat to regional stability and security as well as to the national security interests of the United States and our allies.
According to the United Nations and credible human rights organizations, the Syrian civil war has claimed more than 400,000 lives, many of which were civilians. The Assad regime’s actions include well-documented airstrikes and artillery strikes; chemical weapons attacks; arbitrary arrests; extrajudicial killings; starvation; sexual violence; and denial of essential services such as food, water, and medical care to the civilian population.
Since 2012, the regime has routinely conducted airstrikes and artillery strikes in dense urban centers, including with barrel bombs, improvised unguided bombs, which are sometimes described as air-dropped IEDs. The Assad regime systemically targeted eastern Aleppo’s hospitals in multiple strikes, killing patients and medical professionals. (Coughs.) Excuse me.
In addition to airstrikes, the regime continues to systematically abduct and torture civilian detainees, often beating, electrocuting, and raping these victims. A former regime photo-documentarian working under the name Caesar has shared more than 10,000 photos of Assad’s victims with the international community. According to numerous NGOs, the regime has abducted and detained between 65,000 and 117,000 people between 2011 and 2015[1].
Moreover, the regime has also authorized the extrajudicial killings of thousands of detainees using mass hangings at the Saydnaya military prison. Saydnaya is a 45-minute drive outside of Damascus and is one of Syria’s largest and most secure prison complexes. Saydnaya is but one of many detention facilities where prisoners are being held and abused. Others include the Mezzeh airport detention facility and Military Security Branches 215, 227, 235, 248, and 291, which are all located throughout Syria.
The regime holds as many as 70 prisoners in Saydnaya in cells that have a five-person capacity. And according to multiple sources, the regime is responsible for killing as many as 50 detainees per day at Saydnaya. Credible sources have believed that many of the bodies have been disposed in mass graves. We now believe that the Syrian regime has installed a crematorium in the Saydnaya prison complex which could dispose of detainees’ remains with little evidence.
Beginning in 2013, the Syrian regime modified a building within the Saydnaya complex to support what we believe is a crematorium, as shown in the photos that we have distributed to you. Although the regime’s many atrocities are well documented, we believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place in Saydnaya prison.
The United States is on record, has stated many times, that we are appalled by the atrocities that have been carried out by the Syrian regime. And these atrocities have been carried out seemingly with the unconditional support from Russia and Iran. Two weeks ago, as Heather said, I attended the Astana conference in Kazakhstan as the U.S. observer. At that meeting – led by Turkey, Russia, and Iran, the guarantors of the Astana process – it was agreed to create de-escalation zones that would reduce violence and save lives.
In light of the failures of the past ceasefire agreements, we have reason to be skeptical. The regime must stop all attacks on civilians and opposition forces, and Russia must bear responsibility to ensure regime compliance. Russia joined the unanimous UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which demands that all parties immediately cease any tacks – any attacks against civilians. Russia has either aided in or passively looked away as the regime has conducted an airstrike against a UN convoy, destroyed east Aleppo, and used chemical weapons, including sarin, against civilians in Idlib province on April 4th.
During his visit here last week, Foreign Minister Lavrov acknowledged that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict. Russia must now with great urgency exercise its influence over the Syrian regime to guarantee that horrific violations stop now.
So with that, I’ll take your questions. Thank you very much.
MS NAUERT: And I’ll help facilitate that.
QUESTION: Thank you. Two things. One, are you suggesting that Russia and/or Iran have anything to do with this crematorium?
MR JONES: No.
QUESTION: No, okay. And then secondly, do you have any idea how many – you said thousands, mass hangings – how many of the bodies are being disposed of in mass graves or – and how many are being burned?
MR JONES: No. So you’re familiar with the Amnesty International report which projected that as many – between 5- and 11,000 people had been killed in Saydnaya between 2011 and 2015[2].
QUESTION: Right.
MR JONES: So that gives you some idea of what the —
QUESTION: Right.
MR JONES: And then there’s other – other data which suggests as many as 50 murders a day coming out of the complex.
QUESTION: That’s a lot. I mean, that’s a lot. Do you – are all of those – do you think all of the 50 a day are being burned or are —
MR JONES: So I don’t know. But so – but our – what we’re project – what we’re assessing is that if you have that level of production of mass murder, then using the crematorium would help – would allow the regime to manage that number of corpses coming out of the prison complex.
MS NAUERT: Margaret.
MR JONES: And without evidence.
QUESTION: Thank you very much for doing this. Two questions for you. One, do you have any status update on the Americans, Austin Tice or others, who may be held or believed to be held by the regime? And if there’s any connection here, please tell me. And secondly, you talked about the conversations with Lavrov – again the case made that Russia is aiding and abetting here. Did the Secretary walk away with any kind of agreement from his meeting or any kind of achievement to have them say they’re willing to step back? They’ve been telling multiple secretaries of state for some time they’re not wedded to the Assad regime.
MR JONES: So on the issue of the U.S. hostages, no, we don’t see a connection between U.S. hostages and what we’re talking about what’s going on here at Saydnaya prison.
On the issue of the conversation between the Secretary and Foreign Minister Lavrov, there was productive conversations between the Secretary and the foreign minister. They talked about a way forward on Syria. And the president – and sorry, the Secretary acknowledged that the state of the relationship between Russia and the United States is at a low point. Syria is one of the factors where we would like to see the relations improve, but I would not say that they mapped out a specific way forward on how to address the issue of Syrian atrocities or even how to move forward on the Geneva process. Though of course we’re participating in the Geneva process, we support the Geneva process, we believe that in addition to achieving a ceasefire in Syria and cessation of hostilities that the political process needs to follow.
QUESTION: What made it productive, then?
MR JONES: I think —
MS NAUERT: (Inaudible) Nicole.
QUESTION: Hi, thank you for doing this. Have you presented Russia with this visual evidence? Have you asked them to take any actions and/or gotten any response from them?
MR JONES: So we have a – we have not presented this particular – I have not presented this particular evidence to the Russians, but we have an ongoing conversation with the Russians talking about the problem that their failure to condemn Syrian atrocities and their apparent tolerance of Syrian atrocities has created, and we have urged the regime – we have urged the Russian Government to hold the regime responsible for these atrocities.
QUESTION: Sir? Yeah, sir? (Inaudible.)
MS NAUERT: Rich Edson.
QUESTION: Doesn’t this or does this make the case, or is there a consideration of military action to destroy crematorium, some of this apparatus here?
MR JONES: As the President said, we’re not going to signal what we are going to do and what we’re not going to do. At this point we are talking about this evidence and bringing it forward to the international community, which we hope will put pressure on the regime to change its behavior.
QUESTION: Can I just – one very – extremely briefly? What makes you so sure that this is a crematorium and not just some other building? Is it this thing with the snowmelt? Because, I mean, people are going to look at this – the regime in particular or – and the Russians, who you’re – are going to look at this and say: Well, all this proves is that there is a building there and that that part where there’s – snow is melted is simply warmer than the rest of the building. It looks —
MR JONES: So if you look – so obviously, these photos date over several years from 2013 to 2017. If you look at the earliest photo, the August 13 photo, this is during the construction phase, and these HVAC facilities, the discharge stack, the probable firewall, the probable air intake, this is in the construction phase. This would be consistent if they were building a crematorium.
Then we look at the January 15 and we’re looking at snowmelt on the roof that would be consistent with a crematorium. So —
QUESTION: Or just a warmer part of a building, right?
MR JONES: Possibly.
QUESTION: Sir —
MS NAUERT: Dave Clark.
QUESTION: — could I ask you on —
MS NAUERT: Final question.
QUESTION: If Russia refuses to do anything about this, what’s next?
MR JONES: Well, the Russians – Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and the Russian Government have indicated to us that they are interested in finding a solution on Syria, and there is no solution on Syria without a political process and certainly an end to these atrocities. So we hope that the – we will now be able to work with the Russians in a constructive way to put pressure on the regime to end these atrocities, that the Russian Government will take responsibility for their partner, the Syrian regime, to end these atrocities and —
QUESTION: Can I just follow up briefly on that there? You said this evidence dates back – well, you had been built up over four years, 2013, 2017. Did this intelligence just become concrete recently and is that why you’re releasing it today? Or are you releasing it today with the hope of a political effect?
MR JONES: I would say that this information has been developing, and with the meeting last week between the Foreign Minister Lavrov and the Secretary, this was an opportune time to remind people about the atrocities that are being carried out inside of Syria all the time, of which this is one discrete additive piece of evidence.
QUESTION: Sir, on ending —
MS NAUERT: Thank you, everyone.
QUESTION: — on ending the attacks against the opposition, does that include ISIS and al-Nusrah?
Fox5 is reporting that a private investigator has turned up tangible evidence that murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich was in contact with Wikileaks. Which further provides more evidence he was most likely the source of the DNC leaks. The same report points out the FBI have been trying to cover-up the discoveries.
The motive for the leaks was obvious, the collusion within the DNC, specifically with the U.S. media, to eliminate Bernie Sanders as a potential risk to Clinton’s ambitions. If proven accurate this would also further prove “the Russians” had nothing to do with the DNC leaks. That’s the basis for the entire “muh russian conspiracy” narrative.
WASHINGTON DC – […] Rod Wheeler, a private investigator hired by the Rich family, suggests there is tangible evidence on Rich’s laptop that confirms he was communicating with WikiLeaks prior to his death.
Now, questions have been raised on why D.C. police, the lead agency on this murder investigation for the past ten months, have insisted this was a robbery gone bad when there appears to be no evidence to suggest that.
Wheeler, a former D.C. police homicide detective, is running a parallel investigation into Rich’s murder. Wheeler said he believes there is a cover-up and the police department has been told to back down from the investigation.
“The police department nor the FBI have been forthcoming,” said Wheeler. “They haven’t been cooperating at all. I believe that the answer to solving his death lies on that computer, which I believe is either at the police department or either at the FBI. I have been told both.”
When we asked Wheeler if his sources have told him there is information that links Rich to Wikileaks, he said, “Absolutely. Yeah. That’s confirmed.” (read more)
Members of President Trump’s administration denied details of a Monday Washington Post report that during a meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador to the United States, Trump shared confidential information pertaining to an Islamic State (ISIS) threat.
The Washington Post wrote:
“President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.”
Democrats on Capitol Hill jumped all over this. Trump has got to understand he has a hard of enemies within the Deep States and the Democrats will use every possible issue to stop any economic reforms or tax cuts. The
Democrats and the press continue in this move to demonize Russia and to prevent any coordinated effort against the common enemy ISIS. It is far more important to prevent any economic reform than to create world peace. This constant controversy after controversy is giving a life to the Euro and putting at risk an economic downturn.
People talk about the changing environment.In the financial world around us, things are also changing dramatically. What use to be is no more. There are no real ticker-tape parades any more and future pits are closing opting for online trading. What is changing and why can we not see it? The internet has changed the way people shop around the world with the retail sector currently dominated by Amazon, accounting for almost 65% of online sales. Amazon pasted Walmart (in market cap) back in 2015 and within the past two years has grown in value to be worth twice as much. Large department stores and the more traditional malls are closing but this is happening as retail spending continues to grow. Admittedly, online merchants have made it far easier, tap a button and our goods arrive at the doorstep the next day, but obviously at the expense of shop staff. The more comfortable we get with online retail the more intelligent we are shopping around and doing it ourselves. Is having the ease of service and renewed confidence a major influence upon why we are turning to index trackers and ETF’s rather than pay a money manager 2% to do it for us?
The ETF market has ballooned since the early 2000’s and is now worth approximately $2.5tn. With this “online” competition, the rumours are that the fees have been reduced to an almost nothing, with money managers taking just 20bp on the fund in the hope that they can make additional returns on the bid/offer spread. One of the problems we could face however, is that the derivative (ETF) becomes more liquid than the underlying. The relationship will work fine in an orderly market but will be tested in extremely or volatile conditions. The concern should be when will Market-Makers widen their spreads so just ensure you are not the last one to see the problems.
Macron’s funding reveals that elite Socialists were really behind him changing the label to sell a centrist agenda, but in reality, to maintain their agenda. Macron was able to raise funds from French abroad with the promises of change, and this targeted particularly the French who fled Hollande living in London and New York. He did a photo-op with Nobel Prize laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz before journalists who is critical of the management of globalization, against laissez-faire economists who he classifies a “free market fundamentalists”, as well as international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University and is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank. He was also a former member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Bill Clinton and supported Hillary over Obama saying she is more “liberal” (socialist) than Obama. Stiglitz believes in Georgism, which is a variety of Marxism whereby the State should own all the resources derived from land, which is an old Physicocrat (French) idea that wealth is derived from land. In this way, all natural resources should belong to government from mining to energy just for starters as if government operated industries ever ran efficient or were free from corruption. He also supported a single tax for all and believes that, while people should own the value what they produce themselves with everything derived from land should belong to government characterized as belonging equally to all members of society (government).
Joseph Stiglitz criticized Obama publicly saying that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) trade deal should not be about “who makes the trade rules—China or the United States?’” Stiglitz said “I think the big issue is, this is about who makes the rules of trade—the American people, our democratic process, or the corporations? And who they’re made for, which is, for the corporations or for all of us?”
Stiglitz is a core Marxist, which is why he is liked in France where Communism began and convinced Marx this was the way to go. In 2015, Stiglitz wrote two books, The Great Divide and Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy, which are based upon select years for research to support his idea rather than all history.Each book highlights a series of problems he maintains have led to the current state of economic inequality with the gap between the rich and the poor. Stiglitz merely maintains that taking from the rich in greater proportion is necessary to even the playing field and this somehow will make everything better ignoring the fact that as government grows, it consumes the wealth of a nation rather than raises the standard of living. He thus blames everything on a faulty tax code that rewards the rich and hampers the poor, an increase in behavior that boosts the economic gains of only a few while extracting more capital from the majority, and a misplaced focus on altering the economy in a way that benefits shareholders, executives, and investors, but not the average worker.
Macron publicly wanted to be photographed with Stiglitz who is a popular socialist in France. In total, he collected around €15 million, all from private individuals.1.7% of the donors gave 45% of the funds.He collected €1.9 million when he was still an economic minister illustrating that he saw the collapse in popularity of Hollande, and decides to repackage the same old agenda pretending it was now centrist.
Even Stiglitz believes the Euro is a failure and should be split into a “flexible” euro creating separate groups within Europe, which by default would also be the end of the European Central Ban
My brother went into town, and he put a cigarette out on the pavement.
Because he took 2 steps away from it before picking it up, he was told,
“l believe it was your intention to walk away instead of putting it in the bin”
Of which his response was, you just saw me pick it up and put it in the bin
They fined him on the spot 80 pounds.
A
REPLY: Local governments are the worst. They will be attacking people for anything and everything to fine them. Another person wrote in that they were fined for pouring a coffee in the street drain $100. I mention when I parked at Starbucks in a private parking lot, the first car was over the space line so every other car was slightly over by about 12 inches. I came out and there was the cop pulled in behind everyone so you could not leave and gave everyone parking tickets on private property. Totally illegal. But you pay $75 for the fine or take a day off from work. They know what they are doing.
A friend was given a ticket for looking at their cell phone while at a red light. They went to court to prove they were not texting or talking. They looked at Google Maps. The Judge said you are not even allowed to look at your phone and fined the $250.
This is insane for it cannot continue like this without causing society to just snap. This is how revolutions are formed. Those who work for government become abusive and arrogant. They end up becoming the criminals
To understand the larger objectives of the G7 Financial Ministers meeting it is important to understand the three-decade global financial construct they seek to protect. Global financial exploitation of national markets:
♦Multinational corporations purchase controlling interests in various national elements of developed industrial western nations.
♦The Multinational Corporations making the purchases are underwritten by massive global financial institutions, multinational banks.
♦The Multinational Banks and the Multinational Corporations then utilize lobbying interests to manipulate the internal political policy of the targeted nation state(s).
♦With control over the targeted national industry or interest, the multinationals then leverage export of the national asset (exfiltration) through trade agreements structured to the benefit of lesser developed nation states – where they have previously established a proactive financial footprint.
The ‘America First’ Trump-Trade Doctrine upsets the entire construct of this multinational export/control dynamic. Team Trump focuses exclusively on bilateral trade deals with specific policy only looking out for the national interests of the United States.
Under President Trump’s Trade positions exfiltration of U.S. national wealth is essentially stopped. This puts the multinational corporations, globalists who previously took a stake-hold in the U.S. economy with intention to export the wealth, in a position of holding interest of an asset they cannot exploit.
If you can see the ramifications, and can grasp the inherent anger, you can begin to understand the severity of the opposition to President Trump.
(Via Bloomberg) […] Finance chiefs in Italy at the weekend spoke of an improving relationship with their U.S. counterpart Steven Mnuchin, in a contrast to previous encounters. But with their gathering in Bari cementing rather than mending disagreements on free trade, the risk is that the diplomatic truce they achieved unwinds when Trump himself meets with G-7 leaders on the island of Sicily later this month. (read more)
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 