Gallup Poll: Reaches Highest Level of Small Business Confidence in Decade…


The latest quarterly poll of small business owners shows an overall confidence index of +106, the highest level in a decade.  This 3rd quarter results is a full 11 points higher than the Quarter 2 confidence level that was also high.

This indicates growing optimism in the most important economic index for MAGAnomics, Main Street.  President Trump continues to focus economic policy away from Wall Street and toward Main Street, with removal of burdensome regulations and improvements to capital access and national economic interests.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Small-business owners’ optimism about their business situation has edged up in the past quarter to a new 10-year high. The Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index for the third quarter is at +106, up 11 points since Quarter 2 and the highest since +113 measured in the second quarter of 2007. Index scores between the first and third quarters of 2016 ranged between 64 and 68.

These results are based on July 10-14 interviewing with a random sample of small-business owners nationwide. Owners are asked to evaluate both their present business situation and expectations about their business going forward.

Small business owners are more positive about the future than about their current circumstances, a pattern that has generally been the case historically. But, the overall increase in the index this quarter is mainly the result of an uptick in present situation ratings, rather than expectations about the future. The present situation score rose from +36 in the second quarter to +45 in the third quarter, while the future expectations score this quarter remained essentially constant — +61 compared to +59 last quarter. Both of these measures are as high as they have been since 2007.  (read more)

HUD Secretary Ben Carson Poised to End Obama-Era Section 8 Housing Grants…


Following his reelection victory in 2012 President Obama removed the bidding process from section 8 housing; instead Obama’s HUD initiated grants to their hand-selected organizations.  After years of lost lawsuits the HUD bidding process is set to return.

WASHINGTON DC – […] Section 8 housing is a federal program that pays rental assistance to landlords to help low-income people acquire affordable housing.

Because HUD had problems administering the program, in 1995 it started to contract out the management of Section 8 housing units through a competitive bidding process. However, in March of 2012, HUD suddenly shifted away from the competitive bidding process, and began using funding mechanisms which were more like grants.

Contractors who had previously gained HUD’s business under the bidding process appealed to the Government Accountability Office in 2012, just months after HUD changed course. And by August of that year, the GAO ruled that HUD’s actions were “unreasonable and in disregard of applicable statutory guidance.”

Undeterred, HUD pressed forward with their choice, which then made them the target of a lawsuit. From that point, HUD lost an embarrassing string of rulings which culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court denying to hear an appeal from the agency in April of 2015.

Despite all those rulings, HUD didn’t budge. But the Trump administration is now set to return to the previous methods.  (read more)

Canada Looking to Tax Small Business 93%?


 

The Finance Minister of Canada, Bill Morneau, has announced that the government is now targeting private corporations and fundamentally changing the way businesses are taxed. The Canadian government is focusing in on income sprinkling, earning passive investment income in a corporation, and converting a corporation’s ordinary income into tax-preferred capital gains. Effectively, the Canadian government is looking at itself first with no consideration whatsoever for the people or the economy. It is always about them just surviving. As for democratic processes, they rely upon tell the ignorant that they will get a free lunch if they tear those who create jobs into pieces.

In Canada, the “income sprinkling” is where small business owners “sprinkle” dividends and capital gains among adult relatives. In other words, you cannot give your children any money whatsoever unless they work. So under socialism, you are not allowed to be charitable with your own family. This is what the new hunt for taxes in Canada is all about. Take this with the other two proposals for tax increases and the combination will send taxation on small business to potentially as high as 93%. Government never really cares about the impact of their proposals. It is always just about them. The question we will be confronted with which we will examine at the Orlando World Economic Conference November 3rd & 4th, 2017, just how far can society be pushed in various regions until we hit the reset button?

Australia Hates Foreigners – Now Their Property Taxes Are Doubled if you are Not Australian


New South Wales in Australia has doubled property taxes for foreign real estate buyers. Of course this violates international law, but governments are broke and they are doing their best to destroy the world economy from every which directions. The politicians are responding to Australians who see foreign buyers of property causing a real estate boom. Much like Britain who raised taxes to stop the real estate boom in London, the greatest problem with all these laws is rather simple. ALL LAWS ENACTED should automatically expire within 4 years. The patch work of draconian laws as Australia have been installing will isolate the economy and do far more harm than anyone suspects. The Japanese bought all sorts of property in the USA during their boom days. They then turned and sold it at a loss.
Until now, foreigners had to pay a 4% surcharge when buying properties in New South Wales. The surcharge has now been increased to 8%. New South Wales has become the second state in Australia to increase taxes for foreigners. Victoria announced a similar measure last year. The Australian government has also announced fines on foreign buyers who keep their homes unoccupied for more than six months in a year. The government claims that foreigners leave their properties vacant, which adds to housing shortage. This is clearly more of a racist view since the majority of foreigners buying properties in Australia are Chinese investors. They have accounting for two-thirds of a total A$47.3 billion invested in the property market in the 2016 financial year.
The government also plans to impose a 50% limit on foreign ownership in new developments, which the government sees as a way of ‘increasing the housing stock for Australian purchasers’. Yes, but what they are really doing is creating a real estate crash. Then Australians who have mortgages will be hurt where as the foreign buyers tend to pay cash.

VIX at record lows


Having watched the VIX break the psychological 10 level once again today, it looks comfortable in single digits having digested Fridays NFP’s report. YTD, it remains down around 25% but with volumes so low, we must ask the question – does this indicator still warrant such attention! As traded volumes decrease and market participants walk to the side, we watch a rally that still no-one has especially as we hit record high after record high. This has been the most hated bull market in history and still investors watch the DOW setting records daily.

One of the main reasons the fear cage is at such levels is precisely because people have missed this rally! If you don’t own it – why hedge? The velocity of money is also telling us that we are in a period of deflation and with the misunderstanding of QE only just distorting the picture. Yes, there are scary stories of geopolitical concerns but when the asset bubble is in the bond market, why fear the stock market.

So is the VIX the calm before the storm? We certainly need a good scare to get people convinced they were right all the time and its really a bear market that keeps going higher – you can’t fool them!

US Share Market Broad Overvaluation Index – One of the Best Leading Indicators We Have Ever Created


QUESTION: Marty; back in the 1980s you would show your proprietary index on the overvaluation of the broad share market filtered in currency and capital flows. You have mentioned it is by no means an overbought market. Can you post an update of that index? You haven’t shown it recently that recall.

I know you said this was your best revenge. They either try to steal your work or ignore you.

Nevertheless, hang in there.

Thank you really for all you do.

See you in Orlando

BP

ANSWER: Yes, here is the index on a monthly basis up to the close of July 2017. We are by no means overbought and we are a VERY VERY VERY VERY long way away still – no matter how nuts that seems to many. We are well below the 1929 highs still.

The historical low in this index took place in August 1981, one month prior to the low in the bonds and the shift from Public to Private investment following the 1929 high. It retested that low in August 1985, one month before the Plaza Accord and the Plateau move we were forecasting back then for the breakout in the US share market.

This index has been correlated to major shifts incredibly often one month leading events. It may be our best index ever created. It has been back tested starting in 1790. It is something I most certainly look at to see where we are historically. So while everyone has been screaming CRASH, this index has stood its ground just saying – sorry boys – just no way.

The historical high took place in December 1928 and then the retest came in August 1929 and failed one month before the major high.

This complex Index is being added to the Global Market Watch for it is time to begin paying attention to this on a daily level.

WEC November 3-4, 2017 – The Monetary Crisis Cycle


This year’s WEC (World Economic Conference) is time to address the beginning of the most important event perhaps in our lifetime that stands on the event horizon to begin in 2018. We have nearly reached our second target on the Dow Jones Industrial Index – 23,000. They laughed at our forecast back in 2011 that the Dow would make new highs.  As many people have noticed, if the mainstream media believed our forecast would be true back then, they would have naturally did a follow-up asking why we were right. Since 99% of the world was bearish, they thought our forecast was a joke and impossible.

Nevertheless, that is a very GOOD thing. I grant very few interviews because clients generally do not want to see our forecasts all over the front pages of mainstream media. That will never happen because they have their stable of people they promote and they are looking for people who like to call themselves a guru or prophet. If you have to call yourself that, it proves you are just selling hype to the next sucker. So no worries. The major mainstream media will NEVER report what we do. It goes against the grain.

We have been warning that we are nearing a Phase Transition lift-off. This year’s WEC will focus on what is about to unfold and how to trade this one – because it will be by no means a walk in the park. We are preparing a special report for those who attended Hong Kong & those attending Orlando – HOW TO TRADE A VERTICAL MARKET. You are going to need this one.

We have been moving ever closer to this major event of a Sovereign Debt Crisis which begins next year with the start of the Monetary Crisis Cycle. Governments are clueless as to what is about to unfold. The same is true about 99% of all analysts. Why? You cannot make such forecasts without extremely long databases. You have to see how everything comes together to make these major events in history unfold. That is why most models have at best been back-tested to only 1971. Within the course of history, that is like looking at the last 10 days in the Dow and basing a model only on that slice of time. The obvious conclusion of such a model is the Dow only goes up.

Historically, the majority MUST be wrong for that is the fuel behind the economy and the business cycle. Consequently, the booms and busts cannot be eliminated by government for they react and never prevent anything since they do not understand that they are ALWAYS, and without exception, the primary cause in making the worst economic disasters throughout history. Government will also ALWAYS bite the hand that has feeds it because the object is simply to control the people never properly run the economy for the benefit of all. It historically has ALWAYS come down to a confrontation between the government and the people. Throughout history, there has never been one benevolent government that has EVER surrendered power willingly for the good of the country. That has NEVER happened even once. Power has always had to be ripped from their grasp either by the people, an internal coup, or some foreign invader.

This year’s WEC will focus on the Monetary Crisis Cycle, for now the clock will begin ticking. We have reached almost 23,000 on the Dow – our second target. Will we now reach the third 38,000-42,000 before this is all over?

Seating is limited as always – Ticket Price is $2500

2017 – The Year Without an Arctic Summer?


They are calling this in the Year without an Arctic Summer.  The Greenland Ice Sheet is gaining near record amounts of ice this year. Very little melting has occurred this summer, which is about to start coming to an end. Europe has been unusually cool once again after last year ice wiped out crops all the way down into Spain creating shortages of vegetables. With the sun activity declining and the North Pole reversing direction in 2000 heading toward Europe rather than Canada, things are not exactly supporting the Global Warming crowd. Since 1860, the magnetic pole shift has more than doubled every 50 years. That is rather significant. In geological terms, this is extremely rapid and could be the prelude to a pole shift nobody understands.

Still, during the past 150 years, the pole shift has been in the same direction. The most astonishing fact is that since 2000, the magnetic North Pole has shifted nearly half of the total distance of the past 50 years! In other words, the pole shift has apparently picked up speed so much so that they have had to re-calibrate airports and their GPS signals so planes can still find them. Europe is getting colder. Friends in Scotland have relayed that had a spectacular summer this year – it lasted a whole two days! The earth is changing rapidly. We are overdue for a major pole shift (see Maya Report). The poles flip on the Sun every 11 years. We have no idea what the net result will be on Earth since the last flip was well before recorded history.

Diesel Cars in Europe Received Tax Breaks to Compete Against Japan


COMMENT:  Just to give you the heads up on diesels (Source my brother in the Industry). During the 70’s when Japanese were dominating car imports in Europe. France came up with the idea of giving preferential treatment to diesel cars as the French Car Industry was ahead of the Japanese in diesel engines. (the pollution of Tokyo has meant that diesels were dismissed for cars). The fuel efficiency of diesels was well known as was the particulate problem and the need for better maintenance to maintain emissions. France lowered the tax on diesel fuel to make French cars attractive and competitive. France then lobbied the EU to keep the emissions tests stationary in the lab rather than on the road to hide the particulate problem. This has resulted effectually in much better small diesels but still the particulate problem remains. This could have been helped in cities by moving to LPG for buses and taxis but that never happened presumable for safety reasons. BTW if everyone plugs in a car overnight to charge up what is now provided by liquid fuel we need a seriously new and different electricity system.

DB

REPLY: Your are correct. There has been a significant tax advantage to a diesel in Europe which was to compete against the Japanese.

The Risk of North Korea


QUESTION: Dear Mister Armstrong, I have been pondering the thought of Mr. Trump actually welcoming a war with North Korea since Kim Jong Eng launched the first missile via the genesis of the Trump administration. If a war materialized would it not have a actual possibility of stinging China’s economy to a certain degree after all that was one of the main reasons why Trump ran for President “China is eating our lunch”!! Countless refugees would flood into South Korea undoubtedly, but I am a bit hesitant how far “North Korean refugees”would infiltrate as far as reaching the China? Alternatively at the time in question perhaps Kim Jong Eng would be terminated.

The coming times

Thank you

JS

ANSWER: From a timing perspective, 72 years from the birth of the 38th Parallel brings us right here to 2017. The War Cycle brings us to the last date being 2020.92. I doubt that China would allow any refugees to cross the border. Perhaps there will at least be some attempt to assassinate Kim Jong-il, but that is also a long-shot.

The division of Korea between North and South Korea was the result of the allied victory in World War II in 1945, ending the Empire of Japan’s 35-year rule of Korea. The United States and the Soviet Union occupied the country, with the boundary between their zones of control along the 38th parallel. The United States supported the South, and the Soviet Union supported the North, and each government claimed sovereignty over the whole Korean peninsula. American troops occupy southern Korea, while the Soviet Union occupies the north, with the dividing line being the 38th parallel of latitude, which was established on September 8th, 1945 (1945,68). This arrangement proves to be the indirect beginning of a divided Korea which will lead to the Korean War in 1950.

The Korean War (1950–1953) left the two Korea’s separated by the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the later part of the Cold War and beyond. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 deprived North Korea of its main source of economic aid. Without Soviet aid, North Korea’s economy went into an economic free-fall in 1992 pretty much in line with the Economic Confidence Model calculated from the birth of the 38th Parallel.

By this time in the early 1990s, Kim Jong-il was already conducting most of the day-to-day activities of running of the state. Meanwhile, international tensions were rising over North Korea’s quest for nuclear weapons. Former US president Jimmy Carter made a visit to Pyongyang in June 1994 in which he met with Kim and returned proclaiming that he had resolved the crisis. However, Kim Il-sung died from a sudden heart attack on July 8, 1994, three weeks after the Carter visit. His son, Kim Jong-il, had already assumed key positions in the government, succeeded as General-Secretary of the Korean Workers’ Party.

He needs to be a threat to the world to retain his power. If he every reversed so that all the sanctions would be removed, the people would most likely overthrow him. So for personal self-interest, he needs to keep a war posture. A war there would send the dollar higher against China. However, keep in mind that Congress is going insane with its sanctions against Russia and that too will alienate China.