In Part Four of his ongoing series on economic basics, Bill Whittle talks about the type, the morality and the fairness of corporations.
Monthly Archives: January 2018
3. CAPITALISM
In Part Three of his We The People v2.0 series, host Bill Whittle explains how capitalism not only incentivizes extra work, it also is, by far, the most moral and fair economic system ever devised.
2. SOCIALISM
In Part Two of his WE THE PEOPLE V2.0 series, host Bill Whittle looks at the false “fairness” of socialism and demonstrates why they are economically unsustainable.
1. MONEY
In this first installment of this new series aimed at younger Americans, Bill Whittle starts with the basics: the demonized, misunderstood commodity called MONEY.
The Dow Down & Dirty
Armstrong El economics Blog/Dow Jones
Posted Jan 31, 2018 by Martin Armstrong
COMMENT: OK Mr. Armstrong. Looks like the government was right. You come out and said the Dow reached a turning point and it crashes. You posted: “In the US Share Market, this is now a turning point we have reached. I have warned for months that exceeding the November high would lead to a January high.” You are too influential.
REPLY: Or perhaps our models are correct. This nonsense that people can move the market is absurd. Governments have spent trillions and failed. Why is it I am the only person who can move the world? Does a tree make a sound when it falls in a forest even when nobody is there to listen? They tried to silence me yet it still did not matter. Here is the internal 37.33-week cycle within the Economic Confidence Model. The target date 2007.86 was November 9th/10th. It was November 9th, 2007 that all four Daily Bearish Reversals were elected from the major high. Why do things take place precisely to the day even when I do not announce them?
So far, we have elected the first Daily Bearish Reversal. There are three more to go before we can say we are headed into a March low. Time will tell. It should be choppy for the next couple of weeks. When you gap lower like this, you normally will bounce and eventually fill that gap. So caution is always advisable.
The first high was the precise day that the Real Estate market peaked in 2007. They called that Armstrong’s Revenge on the trading floor that day since it was again to the day. That was precisely to the day of which the same calculation produced the very day of the low during the 1987 Crash. Markets peak and bottom in sync with our models around the world even when I do not mention them. Even Greece petitioned the IMF for help precisely on the turning point. Then on the very day, Russia entered Syria on 2015.75. These events are all the same model and the calculations are cast in stone.
Sorry – there is just something beyond the surface that warrants our attention. These dates are not random. They cannot be fudged. You can blame me, but they have existed before my time and will continue beyond my lifetime.
McCabe Resigns Ahead of Internal Investigation Report on FBI
Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption
Re-Posted Jan 31, 2018 by Martin Armstrong
Andrew McCabe, who has become the face of the Deep State, has finally resigned ahead of waiting for his pension on March 18th. Don’t worry, he is using his leave time to stall the clock so he gets his pension which he should forfeit. He was pressured to quit by FBI Director Christopher Wray in advance of an inspector general report examining the agency. This guy is a symbol of everything that is wrong in Washington. An internal communication authored by Mr. Wray shows Mr. McCabe’s early departure was the result of a forthcoming FBI inspector general report that concluded the agency must perform at the highest standards, according to CBS News.
The New York Times reported that Mr. Wray had expressed an interest in moving Mr. McCabe to another job, which would have been a demotion, ahead of the inspector general report. The rumors are running wild in DC and then the Deep State is starting to be noticed even by Congress. The sheer corruption in the Department of Justice and the Judiciary is off the charts. Let us hope this is just the first step in exposing how they have seriously acted against the people of the United States to embolden their own power of oppression. Naturally, James Comey has supported McCabe illustrating that indeed McCabe is not trustworthy.
The rumor has it that the Inspector General Report looks into actions taken by McCabe and other bureau officials during the campaign when the FBI was probing both Hillary Clinton and the Trump camp’s ties to Russia. The mere fact that no notes were taken by Comey in the questioning of Hillary is against ALL protocol and was clearly intended to protect her. Mueller’s demands to interrogate Trump are a trap and Trump should NOT appear before Mueller, who is also ex-FBI.
James Comey was the US Attorney in the Southern District of New York. He had no problem keeping me in prison without any charges, denied counsel, or any trial. They kept me in contempt even admitting that there was “no … description of criminal liability.” We are supposed to be entitled to Due Process of Law which means they are supposed to charge you with something against which you then defend.
If it were not for the Supreme Court, Comey would have been perfectly happy to leave an American citizen in prison until he dies totally denied any Due Process of Law. If what they did was legal, then they would never have released me when the Supreme Court ordered them to explain what I was doing in prison. They released me and then told the Supreme Court the case was moot since I was no longer being held.
This is how they operate. McCabe resigns now ahead of a report that shows he was corrupt as well as Comey?
These people should be the ones in prison. They are drunk with their own power.
CFTC Has Made Spoofing a Crime
Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption
Re-Posted Jan 31, 2018 by Martin Armstrong
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that it has brought a case in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Investigative Division, charging criminal and civil enforcement actions against three banks and six individuals involved in commodities fraud and spoofing schemes, which they define as bidding or offering with the intent to cancel before execution. The problem with now claiming to spoof is a crime, they are dangerously destroying how markets have traded from the beginning and this is only reducing the liquidity. That means in the years ahead, during a crisis, there will be fewer and fewer big players left in the markets and that will become dangerous. The government tries to spoof itself during a panic and always comes out and says the market is fundamentally sound to try to stop a panic. They simply write a rule and it becomes a crime that is contrary to a Democratic form of government. Any crime should ONLY be authored by Congress – not agencies.
We use to call that “flash” bids or offers. It was simply a way of trading that was often mandatory. Of course, there was the risk that you could be tagged. I was short one time in gold about 5,000 lots and it was a turning point so I wanted to cover and flip to a long position. There was a large local trader in the pit. His style was to do these flash offers or bids to try to push the market to the next level. I instructed my guy on the floor to just wait for him and as soon as he would flash offer a thousand lots, buy them. He flashed 1,000 and I said done. He then flashed 1,000 again and I said done. He tried a third time 1,000 and I said done. Gold then rallied. It is one thing to bid or offer and you are not willing to take that position. I seriously doubt that anyone in their right mind would do that. If you are going to flash bids or offers, you can also be tagged and you have to be good for the trade.
The CFTC is totally destroying the market and liquidity. They filed charges and settled charges against Deutsche Bank AG (DB AG) and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (DBSI) (collectively, DB), requiring DB to pay a $30 million civil monetary penalty and to undertake remedial relief. The trades were between February 2008 and continuing through at least September 2014, in precious metals. They call this a scheme to manipulate the price of precious metals futures contracts by utilizing a variety of manual spoofing techniques with respect to precious metals futures contracts traded on COMEX, and by trading in a manner to trigger customer stop-loss orders. This is how the markets have traded since inception.
The CFTC also charged and settled against UBS AG(UBS), requiring UBS to pay a $15 million civil monetary penalty and to undertake remedial relief. Again, this was concerning precious metals futures contracts traded on COMEX.
The third charge was an Order filing and settling charges against HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. (HSBC) for engaging in numerous acts of spoofing with respect to certain futures products in gold and other precious metals traded on COMEX. HSBC was ordered to pay a civil monetary penalty of $1.6 million.
The CFTC Division of Enforcement Director James McDonald said:
“Spoofing is a particularly pernicious example of bad actors seeking to manipulate the market through the abuse of technology. The technological developments that enabled electronic and algorithmic trading have created new opportunities in our markets. At the CFTC, we are committed to facilitating these market-enhancing developments. But at the same time, we recognize that these new developments also present new opportunities for bad actors. We are equally committed to identifying and punishing these bad actors. The CFTC’s enforcement program is built around the twin goals of holding wrongdoers accountable and deterring future misconduct. We believe these goals are best achieved when we hold accountable not just companies, but also the individuals involved. As these cases show, we will work hard to identify and prosecute the individual traders who engage in spoofing, but we will also seek to find and hold accountable those who teach others how to spoof, who build the tools designed to spoof, or who otherwise aid and abet the wrongdoing. These cases should send a strong signal that we at the CFTC are committed to identifying individuals responsible for unlawful activity and holding them accountable.”
Trump’s First State of the Union Speech
Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics
Re-Posted Jan 30, 2018 by Martin Armstrong
President Trump delivered a conventional State of the Union address and moved to turn the successes of his first year in office, tax cuts, deregulation and an offensive against the Islamic State, into a second-year agenda that he said will bring about a “new American moment.” Given all the hatred that has been poured out against this president, it is amazing he managed to get a lot done. However, he also said he was signing an order to keep Guantanamo Bay open because terrorists are criminals. What he obviously fails to understand is if they were really terrorists, then put them on trial. They not been given trials because they are casualties of a war on terror that went too far. The one terrorist they did put on trial who was their best case, the jury acquitted of 223 counts finding him guilty of only a conspiracy. After that stunning defeat, that was the end of trials.
The government tried to release some, but they were killed back home assuming they had become CIA spies. That was the end of that programs. Then they gave 5 terrorists for one American soldier to try to get rid of some that way. Trump seems to be completely in the dark on this issue.
President Trump State of The Union Address – 9:00pm EST Livestream….
Tonight President Donald J Trump delivers one of the most widely covered speeches of the presidential year when he addresses a full congress during the State of The Union address.
The start time is 9:00pm, with speech remarks scheduled for 9:10pm EST. Every broadcast station and cable news outlet will be covering the speech. There are multiple livestream options available.
WH Livestream Link – RSBN Livestream Link – GST Livestream Link – ABC Livestream Link – NBC Livestream Link – CBS Livestream Link
NAFTA Round #6 – USTR Robert Lighthizer Highlights Canada’s Deceptive Negotiation Approach…
NAFTA renegotiation round six ended yesterday in Canada will no substantive progress on the most contentious trade issues. One negotiation chapter on corruption was closed, but there was little to no agreement on much else.
Each of the primary Trade Representatives gave a closing statement at the conclusion of Round #6. U.S.T.R. Lighthizer blasted Canada for attempting to inject schemes, fraud and deceptive dealing within the negotiations. Princess Rainbow Sparkles from Canada tried to pretend the Canadian proposal was realistic. It was all awkward. Hopefully President Trump will soon get us out of this nonsense. Lighthizer Transcript below video:
Ambassador Lighthizer: It is a pleasure to be here in Quebec. Montreal is one of the great cities of the world, and I have not been back in many years, and I’ve missed it. I used to come here in the 70s and 80s with my wife and children to go to Mont-Tremblant and learn how to ski. We loved the French culture, we loved the excellent food, the wonderful skiing and as I recall, it was cold all the time. That hasn’t changed at least.
I always thought that Quebec has the greatest motto anywhere: “Je me souviens.” It is a perfect comment on history, culture, and even the future. I think it is a perceptive motto for a trade negotiator. Maybe we’ll put it up at USTR – “Je me souviens.” You can see it when you walk in.
Since we are in Canada, let me talk a bit about our bilateral trade relationship. I think there is some misunderstanding here that the United States is somehow being unfair in these negotiations and that is not the case.
Free trade agreements are essentially grants of preferential treatment to other countries in exchange for an approximately equal grant of preferential treatment in their economy. Thus, it is reasonable from time to time to assess whether the bargain has turned out to be equitable.
Using Canadian statistics, Canada sold the United States $298 billion U.S. dollars in goods in 2016, the last numbers that we have. We sold Canada $210 billion dollars in goods. Now that’s a lot of two-way trade, but it also means that Canada has an over $87 billion U.S. dollar surplus with the United States. To put this in perspective, that figure is equal to approximately 5.7 percent of Canada’s GDP. When energy is removed, and in some people’s opinion that’s a fair thing to do, the number is still $46 billion dollars. The projected figures for 2017 show that the surplus will be even larger when those numbers are in.
Now I ask Canadians because we’re in Canada, is it not fair for us to wonder whether this imbalance could in part be caused by the rules of NAFTA? Would Canada not ask this same question if the situation were reversed? So we need to modernize and we need to rebalance.
Now let me turn to the Sixth Negotiating Round and the status of our talks. We believe that some progress was made. We closed one chapter, as Ildefonso [Guajardo] said it was the chapter on corruption, which is a very important chapter, and we made some progress on a few others. More importantly though, we finally began to discuss some of the core issues. So this round was a step forward, but we are progressing very slowly.
We owe it to our citizens, who are operating in a state of uncertainty, to move much faster. Of course, negotiating as a group of three is more difficult than bilateral talks. Often, issues become more complicated and contentious when there are three parties.
I would like to comment on two proposals by the Canadians, one of which has been in the press quite a bit, and that is a presumed compromise on rules of origin.
We find that the automobile rules of origin idea that was presented, when analyzed, may actually lead to less regional content than we have now and fewer jobs in the United States, Canada, and likely Mexico. So this is the opposite of what we are trying to do.
In another proposal, Canada reserved the right to treat the United States and Mexico even worse than other countries if they enter into future agreements. Those other countries may, in fact, even include China, if there is an agreement between China and [Canada]. This proposal, I think if the United States had made it, would be dubbed a “poison pill.” We did not make it, though. Obviously, this is unacceptable to us, and my guess is it is to the Mexican side also.
Finally, I would like to refer, because I think it fits into this context to an unprecedented trade action that Canada brought against the United States very recently. It constitutes a massive attack on all of our trade laws. If it were successful, it would lead to more Chinese imports into the United States and likely fewer Canadian goods being sold in our market.
Now we understand that countries often challenge specific actions taken by another country in the context of trade laws. This is normal and what we expect. But this litigation essentially claims that 24 years ago, the United States effectively gave away its entire trade regime in the Uruguay Round. Of course, we view this case as frivolous, but it does make one wonder if all parties are truly committed to mutually beneficial trade. It also underscores why so many of us are concerned about binding dispute arbitration. What sovereign nation would trust to arbitrators or the flip of a coin their entire defense against unfair trade?
To conclude, some real headway was made here today. The United States views NAFTA as a very important agreement. We are committed to moving forward. I am hopeful progress will accelerate soon. We will work very hard between now and the beginning of the next round, and we hope for major breakthroughs during that period.
We will engage with both Mexico and Canada urgently, and we will go where these negotiations take us. Thank you very much.
Centinel2012 