Category Climate Change

Mar 16 2022

Uber and Lyft Charging Gas Surcharge Fees


Armstrong Economics Blog/Energy Re-Posted Mar 16, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Both Uber and Lyft announced plans to add a fuel surcharge for all rides and deliveries. The average driver in the US is now paying $4.32 per gallon of regular-grade fuel. In comparison, the average driver was only paying $2.86 for regular fuel one year ago, which was considered high at the time.

Uber will add a fee of $0.45 to $0.55 per trip, and deliveries will cost an additional $0.35 to $0.45. The company is implementing surcharges in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. They believe the surcharge will last for two months, which seems baseless considering the energy crisis shows no signs of slowing. The surcharge will apply to electric vehicles as well.

Lyft followed suit and added a surcharge as well. “Driver earnings overall remain elevated compared to last year, but given the rapid rise in gas prices we’ll be asking riders to pay a temporary fuel surcharge, all of which will go to drivers,” CEO CJ Macklin said. Both companies said that the extra payment will go directly to their drivers, but driving for either company may seem less appealing. The average cost of gas is up over $0.26 in the past week, and the surcharge is likely not enough to account for the extra costs that drivers will face at the pump.

Mar 16 2022

The ECM & March 14th


Armstrong Economics Blog/ECM Re-Posted Mar 15, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

There are so many events that took place on the ECM turning point it is hard to cover them all. Aside from the fact that this target will most likely also see the first interest rate rise by the Fed signally that this trend has changed, the SEC came out in full force warning about count-party risks and that brokers need to collect full margins as they see a host of companies that were in Russia taking major losses just as Blackrock on its emerging market investment portfolio. Do not forget that Blackrock is a money manager and the loss in one fund cannot be covered by taking money from another separate fund. Hence, the bigger they are, the harder they do fall and we must be mindful of a crisis that can easily appear based upon a run on one entity.

We have bond markets crashing and the stocks have continued to decline in many areas because of the profound damage the Biden Administration has done globally that nobody in Washington seems to even comprehend. We are facing shortages in everything from aluminum cans to paper cups which now even Starbucks is discontinuing.

Then the London Metals Exchange (LME) for the FIRST time in history imposed a fixed price range for trading Nickel after extreme volatility in prices triggered a rare market shut down last week. The LME halted nickel trading and canceled trades after prices doubled on March 8 to more than $100,000 per tonne in a matter of hours. Naturally, they have blamed short-covering by one of the world’s top producers. Nevertheless, we are looking at a permanent disruption to world supplies and August looks to be exceptionally challenging ahead.

The LME also imposed 15% limits on other base metals including aluminum, copper, lead, tin, and zinc. This is the FIRST time in its 145-year history the LME has ever placed limits on outright contracts. This conflict in Ukraine has driven the prices of commodities higher from food to industrial metals with many reaching record highs supply from Russia has declined. Russia is a key world producer of aluminum, copper, and nickel. The price swings in Nickel last week saw the price jump more than $18,000 on Monday and then over $50,000 a day later which has sent the LME into a crisis adopting the suspension of trading.

What is unfolding is that the arrogance of the Neocons and their personal hatred of Russia and China has run its course. They are now setting in motion the decline and fall of the West. A crisis is unfolding. This crisis of commodities that our computer has been forecasting for this wave 2020-2024, is actually helping to undermine the world economy and shifting even the use of the dollar internationally. Saudi Arabia has agreed to accept the Chinese Yuan in return for oil. That is the start of this shift and this too took place on this turning point. The seizure of private Russian assets was such a profound violation of international law, that international capital realizes that the SWIFT system is now political and no longer trustworthy. The very foundation of the G7 has been undermined by the seizure of Russia’s FX reserves.

The United States has also announced a ban on Russian oil and, along with other Group of Seven (G-7) nations, moved to end Russia’s normal trade relation status, making it more difficult for Russia to do business with the West. While the US points to the collapse of the Russian Ruble and the Russian stock market remaining closed as evidence of the effectiveness of sanctions, they have not understood that they have severed the entire world economy and this has ended the dominance of Western multinational companies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed confidence to reporters Tuesday that Russia will “find a way to eliminate” its economic dependence on the West. Indeed, we are already seeing signs that China is following the same directions. This is not a one-sided victory for the Biden Administration. They have completely destroyed the world economy in precisely three years. Decades of building international trade and trying to create free trade agreements of the past several administrations are now completely destroyed.

While Psaki told reporters that: “We’ve made President Putin’s war of choice a strategic failure,” she had better look at the catastrophic collapse unfolding in the world economy. We have the Neocons to thank for this for all they have seen is hatred for Russia and China. They have NEVER been for peace and they have always needed an enemy. The press will not report the truth that there is rising discontent among Ukrainians against Zelensky when he was elected to reduce tensions with China but has done nothing but try to create World War III. Zelensky has finally admitted that Ukraine will not join NATO – something he cause a war over which violated the principles of the 2014 Minsk Agreement.

It has been the military that has been throwing cold water on this thirst for war driven by the Neocons who run their own government within the government regardless of the administration’s objectives. This time the Neocons have gone to war too far and have placed in harm’s way, not just the Ukrainian people, by the future of the world all for their personal hatred. This is why our model shows the Decline & Fall of the West post-2032. Our politicians have allowed the Neocons to run their own secret agenda whereas the American people are tired of their endless wars.

Mar 16 2022

The Insanity of the Biden Administration – Decline & Fall of the West


Armstrong Economics Blog/Neocons Re-Posted Mar 15, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The Biden Administration has been fully subordinated to the Great Reset. It is highly debatable if Joe is really doing anything. During an international crisis, he still takes off weekends and heads to Delaware. Gee, perhaps I should run for President and get weekends off instead of having to work 7 days a week during a crisis. OMG – I never knew I could work less as a leader of the questionable free world given the 2 years of COVID imprisonment.

Biden’s pick of Sarah Bloom Raskin for the Chair of the Federal Reserve will completely destroy the integrity of the Federal Reserve. Installing another Climate Change zealot is just beyond belief. There is no aspect of the economy that the Biden Administration has not undermined which he is desperately trying to blame inflation of Putin. From the perspective of China and Russia, they are watching their greatest adversary commit suicide. One does not step in to prevent that for it becomes an easy victory. Biden is even trying to cut a nuclear deal with Iran, which is the leading terrorist nation that was kept at bay by Saddam in Iraq who we removed. Biden will hand them money which will only be used against the United States. They will join Russia and China against the West – make no stupid mistake about that.

In all honesty, I have NEVER seen such total propaganda coming from ANY Administration as that of this one. No lie was told by any previous administration Republican or Democrat that has ever reached the level of total absurdity as what is coming from Biden and Pelosi. Pelosi actually said that government spending no longer increases the National Debt. The only possible way for that to happen is you stop borrowing and just create money. The end of Keynesian Economics. In Pelosi’s own words she actually said:

“When we’re having this discussion, it’s important to dispel some of those who say, well it’s the government spending. No, it isn’t. The government spending is doing the exact reverse, reducing the national debt. It is not inflationary.”

Then Pelosi claims that it is “Global Inflation” and that is why this is Putin’s fault. But sanctions have never work not even once in history, and they knew imposing these drastic sanctions would further the commodity shortage they already caused with the lockdowns. Then in the middle of international war, the Navy actually refused to deploy a warship because its Commander remained Unvaccinated! So you cannot defend the country unless you are vaccinated? I am sure Xi and Putin are having the biggest laugh of their life.

We are heading into war because this is not just part of the Great Reset to recreate another Bretton Woods and default on National Debts that have become no longer sustainable, but the Biolabs conducting “research” as the Neocons claim, were involved in creating Bioweapons that genetically target specific ethnic groups. They have collected a lot of DNA samples with all the COVID tests. Remember Macron refused a COVID Test by Russia because they would then have his DNA. Once you have a person’s DNA, you can create a disease that is targeted that will kill just that person. The biological weapons have advanced and this is what Russia and China are concerned about where the Neocons refuse to allow inspections.

Putin has been very consistent about stopping the advancement of NATO. It was 51.6 weeks into the Biden Administration when Russia insisted that Finland not join NATO which they rejected. In the Balkans, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has obscured the intentions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to also join NATO, which Moscow vehemently opposes. We are looking at Serbia, which is pro-Russian, also looking to oppose NATO on their border. While the West claims that NATO is defensive and not offensive, that is not what their actions suggest. They have kept trying to move forward against Russia and once NATO troops enter, they bring mobile nuclear weapons. For Ukraine to have entered NATO, that would have been the same threat to Russia as when they attempted to install nuclear weapons in Cuba during the Kennedy Administration.

In war, both sides twist the facts to support their own agenda. These Neocons have been pushing US policy regardless of the administration. The only one who stood up against them was Trump which is why they had to ensure he was removed.  Presidents appear to be afraid of the Neocons for they are a government of their own within the government.

Here is that interview where Chuck Schumer confirms that no politician will EVER investigate the intelligence branch or the Neocons for they hold unbridled power to do as they like when they like. The Neocons create the narrative and they direct the country to their agenda.

We must be focused on the weeks of 03/28, 06/06, and 09/12 geopolitically looking ahead and 2023 looks crazy both in geopolitical terms as well as economically.

Mar 16 2022

Members Only


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 15, 2022 | Sundance 

This is the state of our union….

In order for the two-winged UniParty vulture to continue devouring the host they must always do two things:

(1) Present the illusion of choice; and
(2) Pretend not to know things.

The frustration you feel is a feature of the controlled program, it is not a flaw.  We The People are in an abusive relationship with our own government. The only real divide in our nation is the division between two classes: rulers (with wealth) and the ruled (without).  All other divisions are purposefully created by those who operate the system.

Inflation serves their interests.  Inflation cheapens the debt burden they create, which allows them to keep spending and transferring taxpayer wealth to themselves and the club insiders.  We The People are in an abusive and subservient relationship with our own government.

Ukraine is a shiny thing that keeps us from watching them.   Do not be distracted.

Mar 16 2022

Producer Price Inflation Sets New Record at 10 Percent, No Relief in Sight


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 15, 2022 | Sundance

The “Producer Price Index” (PPI) is essentially the tracking of wholesale prices at three stages: Origination (commodity), Intermediate (processing), and then Final (to wholesale). Today, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released February price data [Available Here] showing a dramatic 10.0% increase year-over-year in Final Demand products at the wholesale level.  This is the highest rate of inflation in the PPI ever recorded.

The single month increase in wholesale prices of 2.4% was driven by inflation built into the supply chain at every level that shows up in the final wholesale price.  Those price increases then get passed along to consumers along with the additional costs for warehousing, transportation and delivery.  I modified Table-A to take out some of the noise.

The January, December and November data was also revised significantly upward, and a sketchy footnote is included in the data. “Some of the figures … in this release may differ from those previously reported because data for October 2021 through January 2022 have been revised to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections.”   Remember that temporary drop in December, yeah, that’s wiped out now.

The reason the total demand inflation number is 0.8% is only because inflation in the service sector is lower than inflation in the goods sector.  Two reasons: (1) energy costs embed in goods first before services; and (2) when inflation on goods squeezes budgeted consumers, less services are demanded.

Unfortunately, there is nothing upstream in the supply chain and manufacturing pipeline to suggest that higher prices at the retail level are not coming.  The price of raw materials, and the wholesale energy costs to process those materials into finished goods, are still rising.  Factually, the recent massive increase in fuel and transportation cost is not included in this data.

You can see clearly in Table-B (again, cleaned up) the wave of inflation that took place in April through October 2021.  Inflation is backward looking, so when prices have already doubled in the previous year and the compounding price goes up another 35% this year, well essentially that’s another doubling when compared to 2020.   Put another way, raw materials (unprocessed intermediate goods) have tripled in price in the last two years.

In my estimation, the massive price increases the bureau quantified through January were the end of the first wave of massive inflation that CTH warned about last October.

“Do what you can do now to start preparing your weekly budget in ways you may not have thought about before.   Shop sales, use coupons, look for discounts and products that can be reformulated into multiple meals or multiple uses.   Shelf-stable food products that can be muti-purposed with proteins is a good start. Consider purchasing the raw materials for cleaning products and reformulate them yourself to avoid these massive increases in petroleum costs.” [October Warning]

The recent announcement of price increases we have discussed, from food producers specifically (Kraft-Heinz, Proctor and Gamble, etc.), in combination with massive fertilizer and farming costs for future yield, is the second wave that has yet to be fully quantified.  The second wave of retail inflation, only just beginning to arrive now in the February results, will extend throughout the spring.

Next month, March data reported in April, the second wave of inflation data should carry the first big jumps in gas and diesel prices.  For ordinary people, this next round of food inflation will be focused predominantly in the ‘Fresh Foods‘ categories.  Fresh produce, vegetables and fruits have short life cycles, and rapid increases in transportation costs hit that segment fast and hard.

On the positive side, our victory gardens are going up in value, very quickly.   A few backyard growing boxes can generate an easy $200 to $500/month in fresh produce as the price of ordinary row crops at the store starts to double and triple.  Mature citrus trees are worth their weight in gold right now.

FJB!

Mar 15 2022

We’ve just suffered through a global pandemic…


Posted originally by Tulsi Gabbard  Published March 15, 2022 on Rumble

Mar 15 2022

Tucker Carlson Notes the Moonbat Crazy Over Ukraine Is Bipartisan


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 14, 2022 | Sundance

Comrades, Tucker Carlson’s opening monologue outlined the insanity of our current situation tonight.

Washington DC and the media echo chamber all agree that Ukraine is the most important shiny thing everyone should pay attention to…  and if you don’t, you’re a Russian agent – because freedom.

Mar 15 2022

Elizabeth Warren Promised High Gas Prices, Joe Biden Delivered Them


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 14, 2022 | Sundance

In September of 2019, Elizabeth Warren promised to do something on her first day in office that would rebuild the Russian economy, grow China’s influence and support the Maduro regime in Venezuela.  We immediately wrote about it HERE.

SEPT 7, 2019 – Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has made a campaign promise that was quite remarkable:

What Senator Elizabeth Warren promised in that tweet is EXACTLY what Joe Biden did on his first day in office.   Now, before going further, let me explain something about that relationship that will likely make a lot more sense.

You might remember when all the democrat candidates in the 2020 primary were told to drop out right before Super Tuesday, as part of the organized effort to stop Bernie Sanders from becoming the nominee.  The lone holdout was Senator Elizabeth Warren.  She was polling essentially even with Joe Biden while Bernie was leading.

It was very well documented at the time that Senator Warren was negotiating terms with the Biden team for her compliance and support.  Eventually, as the controlled party momentum grew, Warren agreed to drop out of the race, and she endorsed Joe Biden.  The terms of that agreement were never made public, but when we look at the priority of Warren (tweet), and compare it to the literal duplication of that pledge that was carried out by Joe Biden, well, the coincidence doesn’t look coincidental.   I digress…

Back to the original statement by Warren.  At the time she made this statement in 2019, we outlined a very specific series of consequences that would happen if she really did target fossil fuel on day one.  Now that Joe Biden has carried out exactly what Warren outlined, let’s go back to that 2019 outline of consequences and compare it to where we are today.

SEPTEMBER 2019 – The consequences of such policy are not esoteric; they are very real and very serious.  Who would immediately benefit from Warren’s policy: Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela. Who would suffer – Americans.  Here’s how…

Within the first 24 hours of Elizabeth Warren’s presidency she is promising to dramatically raise the price of Oil and Natural Gas.  This will:

  • Immediately hand Vladimir Putin hundreds of billions worth of enhanced Russian energy exports.  A windfall of economic growth that will mean Russian policy expansion globally.
  • Support the regime of Venezuelan dictator Maduro who relies on oil production and pricing to keep his socialist government in place.
  • Expand the influence of China; and increase the value of Beijing’s investments in Russian energy and 49% state in PDVSA (Venezuela).
  • Immediately help the Iranian economy; enhance the stranglehold of power by the Mullah’s over the Iranian people; help fund terrorist actions globally, and specifically create terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya and Israel.
  • Return U.S. policy and strategy back to a position of dependence on OPEC nations; so we can expect more U.S. military involvement in the middle-east (as above).
  • Destroy growth in American wages , and set up energy policy that will drive further industrial manufacturing out of the U.S. and into Mexico and Asia.
  • Simultaneously drive up the price of electricity in the U.S, further exacerbating the financial costs and losses to the U.S. middle class.
  • Raise gas prices back to Obama-era rates $5/gal.
  • In turn this will drive up the cost of transported products, and U.S. food prices will jump approximately 20% as massive inflation hits highly-consumable categories first.
  • The collective impact of the four domestic points above will drive down the ability of consumers to spend on other goods.  The U.S. economy is two-thirds dependent on consumer spending…. The collective impact means economic contraction.

Candidate Elizabeth Warren is promising to deliver these results in the first 24 hours of her administration if she was to win the presidency.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has never worked in the private sector, nor has she created anything that is materially not connected to government expansion.  She is proposing policy without any comprehension of downstream impact on a domestic, international, geopolitical or national security basis.  Senator Warren promises these impacts in her first 24 hours in office.

{BREAK}

Everything written above was written in 2019 and predicted to happen if the President were to: “sign an executive order that puts a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases for drilling offshore and on public lands. And ban fracking—everywhere.”

On his first day in office, Joe Biden did exactly that.

FORBES – “Through an executive action, Biden revoked permits for the Keystone XL Pipeline and put a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, moves hailed by environmental and indigenous activists.” (link)

MONEY MARKETS – “President Biden signed an executive order pausing new federal oil fracking leases. (link)

CNBC – “Biden’s orders direct the secretary of the Interior Department to halt new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters, and begin a thorough review of existing permits for fossil fuel development.” (link)

Now, think about where we are right now with gasoline prices and food store prices and inflation.  Scroll back up and look at what was predicted to happen in 2019 if those energy policies and executive orders were carried out.

Don’t tell me no one could see this coming.  Everything from the strength of the Russian position, providing them the economic leverage to enter Ukraine, to the current gas prices and food inflation is a natural outcome of those specific policies.

Last point – While I have no inside knowledge to make the case definitive, it certainly does look to me like the terms of Warren’s exit and endorsement were delivered by Joe Biden on his first day in office.  Now we are feeling the consequences.

Mar 15 2022

Whoops, Narrative Shifting – Ex British Special Forces Reported Among Victims of Russia Strike Against Military Training Facility in Ukraine


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 14, 2022 | Sundance 

As with all things Ukraine, when the initial reports of the Russian cruise missile attack against the military training facility located near the border with Poland, we said to be cautious about western reporting of no NATO military personnel present, killed or injured.

The reason is for the warning was simple – if NATO is providing weapons and training, they’ve got to be doing the distribution and training somewhere in Ukraine near the NATO border.  Conduct war operations in a war zone, and you run the risk of war outcomes.

Now the Daily Mail is beginning to report on ‘missing, feared dead’ former British special forces operators likely killed in the blast.  As the story evolves, how long will it be before U.S. headlines carry similar missing U.S. “contractor” stories?

Most of the U.S. and NATO warfighting is carried out by independent contractors or mercenary groups now.  Ukraine is the perfect battlespace for that unofficial type of war fighter engagement.

(Daily Mail) – Three British former special forces soldiers are feared to have been killed in a Russian airstrike near the Polish border. More than 30 Russian cruise missiles targeted the Yavoriv base yesterday, killing as many as 180 people.

Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for Russia’s ministry of defence, said the base was struck by ‘long-range, high-precision’ weapons because it was hosting ‘foreign mercenaries and a large shipment of foreign weapons’.

He added: ‘The destruction of foreign mercenaries who arrived on the territory of Ukraine will continue.’

Konashenkov said up to 180 people had been killed in the strike, though Ukraine initially said 35 people died and another 134 were wounded.

But a source told The Mirror today: ‘There were many more killed within the site than has been claimed and bodies are still being found.

[…] ‘This is extremely sensitive as there are believed to be no serving British military personnel inside Ukraine as politically that would be extremely controversial.’ 

[…] A Ukrainian officer said there were around 1,000 foreigners at the camp – officially known as the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security – at the time. (read more)

“1,000 foreigners” at the military camp, and we are supposed to believe none of them were American?

There’s a big motive to keep any American or British death quiet, because it would undermine the official narrative being broadcast by western media.  All of these mercenary soldiers know they are operating in an unofficial capacity in order to provide western government with plausible deniability.  That is the risk that “contracted” war fighters assume when they take the very generous money offered.  It’s a mess.

Keep watching.

Mar 15 2022

Congress To Hold Private Meeting With Zelenskyy To Celebrate the Allocation of Taxes While U.S. Citizens Are Kept Out Using Fences and Barbed Wire


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 14, 2022 | Sundance

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have announced a private congressional teleconference between the exclusive confab of DC elites and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that will take place on Wednesday.   Congress has allocated $13.6 billion in “Ukraine-related” aid, with “10% for the big guy.”

The subject matter of the virtual meeting will likely surround the allocation of taxpayer indulgency fees to support Ukraine and the Non-Governmental Organizations run by the families of DC conference participants.  The meeting provides Zelenskyy the first opportunity to thank congress for deposits into his offshore holdings and celebrate his magnanimous money laundering operation.

Meanwhile, taxpayers who fund the congressional spending will be kept away from the private meeting by armed guards, fences and barbed wire constructed around the House of Representatives.  There is apparently and ongoing concern that the people who fund government might actually get too close to the government they are required to fund.

Yes, this is the ongoing state of our union, and our voices are irrelevant to their conduct.

WASHINGTON DC – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will speak virtually to members of Congress on Wednesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced in a joint letter.

“As war rages on in Ukraine, it is with great respect and admiration for the Ukrainian people that we invite all Members of the House and Senate to attend a Virtual Address to the United States Congress delivered by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on Wednesday, March 16th at 9:00 a.m.,” they wrote.

“The Congress remains unwavering in our commitment to supporting Ukraine as they face Putin’s cruel and diabolical aggression, and to passing legislation to cripple and isolate the Russian economy as well as deliver humanitarian, security and economic assistance to Ukraine. We look forward to the privilege of welcoming President Zelenskyy’s address to the House and Senate and to convey our support to the people of Ukraine as they bravely defend democracy,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote in the letter.

The speech is only open to members of Congress. To attend, lawmakers who aren’t fully vaccinated will need to wear a mask. (read more)