Category War Proxy

Sep 10 2022

U.S. Household Net Worth Drops $6.1 Trillion in Second Quarter, Despite Home Values Increasing $1.5 Trillion


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 9, 2022 | Sundance

The U.S. Federal Reserve has published the second quarter 2022 balance sheet of U.S. total household wealth [DATA HERE].

In the second quarter (April, May, June) 2022, the total U.S. household wealth dropped $6.1 trillion, despite a calculated increase in home value of $1.5 trillion.  The majority of the loss is connected to a drop in Corporate Equity (stock market) and household investment in the stock market.

FED “The net worth of households and nonprofit organizations declined $6.1 trillion to $143.8 trillion in the second quarter. The value of stocks on the household balance sheet declined by $7.7 trillion, while the value of real estate increased by $1.5 trillion.”  Keep in mind this is backward looking data, and after a period of decelerating rates of growth, the overall real estate market is now in a period of decline as calculated for the most recent month of July [DATA].

The equity position of homeowners is now considerably less than the equity position when the feds calculated the second quarter household wealth (two months ago).  Part of the issue goes back to what we have been discussing with inflation and specifically energy driven increases in fuel and electricity.

Inflation sucks money out of the economy, making people less wealthy.  Energy inflation sucks money exponentially faster out of each household, potentially making the already working-class poor, much poorer.

The higher prices paid for housing, food, fuel and energy do not contribute to anything, the increased costs are just sucked out of the consumers’ pockets without generating any additional value.  It just costs more to live, and that reduces wealth.  Consider this the cost of going green.

Joe Biden and his economic team are introducing phrases like “a growth recession,” to explain a dynamic where earned wages are replaced by government subsidy.  You can no longer afford food, energy, housing etc, so the government steps in as the provider of subsidy based on income level to supplement the gap between wages and the new costs of products and services within the Biden created “green” economy.

However, in the bigger of big pictures, the government does not create wealth.  Wealth is created outside government by private activity.  Government income via taxation is lowered when the economic activity of the private sector drops.

There is currently a massive lag in recording dropped economic activity that is going to surface very soon.  The rate of energy price increase has been so large, so fast, the ability of producers to transfer the cost creates an economic lag.

Total product costs (except imports) are rising faster than finished good prices to consumers.  At the same time, consumer demand for goods has dropped dramatically due to the speed and rate of increased energy costs.  As a combined result, the equity market will likely continue to decline as each earnings report comes in lower than prior expectation.

Now, looking at wealth over time, what happens to the economic model of Biden when current housing value ($41.2 trillion) simply drops back to 2020 levels ($33.0 trillion a conservative real estate market correction)?

Continued higher prices to consumers, less money to government, less economic activity and lower household equity.   That’s trouble, big trouble.

Wave #3 of food inflation starts hitting hard next month as the increased costs at the field start to transfer through the supply chain from harvest to the fork.

WASHINGTON DC – […] The sour mood appears to stem from record food, energy and housing prices. Positive views of the grocery industry dropped 14 percentage points from last year, the biggest drop in the survey. The real estate industry dipped 9 points, the second-largest decline.

Just 22 percent of respondents reported having a positive view of the oil and gas industry, down from 28 percent last year. Twenty-nine percent reported having a positive view of electric and gas utilities, down from 36 percent last year. 

Grocery prices rose a stunning 13.1 percent over the last 12 months ending in July, the largest annual increase in more than four decades, according to Labor Department data. 

Housing affordability has fallen to its lowest level since the Great Recession, according to the National Association of Home Builders, with rents and home prices at record levels.

Gas prices reached an all-time high in June before falling slightly in recent months, while energy bills are also soaring amid huge demand for natural gas. (read more)

Meanwhile Biden’s economic team is bragging that Main Street is in better shape?

“The President’s first two years in office have been two of the most productive in American history, and as the Blueprint explains, these accomplishments are all part of one economic vision.”  (more)

Sep 9 2022

The Time of Separation of the USA is Rapidly Approaching


Armstrong Economics Blog/Gov’t Incompetence Re-Posted Sep 9, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Marty, is Steve Bannon another pre-election ploy to put a spike in the heart of Republicans for the elections?

ZB

ANSWER: Of course. Claiming that you raised money and then did not disclose you were paying salaries is really stretching it. You can put every charity in prison for the very same thing. How much really goes to the administration and not the people they claim?

The fraud claim is very ambiguous. I advised on so many takeovers and major corps they were sure they could have gotten me on insider trading. HSBC even came to me to ask me about buying Republic National Bank in April 1999. I told them to count their fingers and make sure they still had their arm.

Advising around the world meant I had to comply with everyone’s laws. My lawyers on every continent concluded I just could not have any personal accounts for trading. I had to give that up and that is why I was the highest paid in the world and could walk into all the central banks and government wealth funds BECAUSE they all knew there were no conflicts of interest.

It was so bad that if I had owned one share of Republic Bank and I advised HSBC on the takeover, I would have to disclose my entire portfolio, not just the one share of Republic, and then disclose by my advice to buy meant I could profit $10 or whatever the bid would be. It was totally insane. Our politicians should have to comply with the same laws they imposed on me.

It became a choice between being an investor and an advisor. I could not be both.

After my case began, the lead prosecutor Richard Owens just said, you are one smart SOB. They could not find anything. Instead of running a clean shop, I was just so smart they could not prove anything yet surely I had to have something hidden. For the bank, suddenly he told the truth that the notes were in yen. For me, he kept claiming they were in dollars to impose a higher penalty. He would use different theories all the time it would change and it got to the point I didn’t even know what the case was about.

That is the thinking process of any prosecutor. NEVER let your child ever marry one. They are trained to lie, deceive, and are genuinely dishonest in order to do the job.

I submitted a motion to compel him to explain even what my case was about it had become so confusing. They tried to claim I was pro see and I did not know the law to defend myself. I moved for dismissal because if I did not know the law to defend myself, then I could not knowingly violate any law. Judge McKenna smiled and ordered them to respond. He then went to the Chief Judge, had my case taken away from that Judge, and reassigned to Judge Kennan who immediately denied that motion. They sealed the docket so I cannot see how they did that, which violated my Due Process Rights. In his mind, the Constitution seemed to become just a “guideline” – not binding to these people.

He even had to admit to my face, well we know you didn’t take any money but still refused to drop the charges. I looked at them as idiots. How could you get $1 billion out of a bank and nobody knew where it was? There had to be a wire, a check some evidence of a withdrawal. They finally figured out that the bank lied. How idiotic to even start a case on such an absurd theory of the bank claiming they had no idea where the money was when they stole it, to begin with. The only reason the bank had to plead guilty, and not one banker went to jail, was because my clients listened to me and filed suits against the bank which they could not cover up.

That is the real world of law – it is as corrupt as you expect in China, Nicaragua, or Venezuela. As Thrasymachus warned Socrates even in a Democracy, justice will be only what the government says it is. This is what we are seeing with Trump and Bannon right now. They are desperate to criminally indict Trump BEFORE the midterms and they will then plaster all the headlines that these people Trump has endorsed are all criminals like him. He will be tried and convicted in the mainstream press all without any trial before the midterms. That is their goal and they will destroy the country in the process. Instead of He’s Not My President, we will see This is Not My Country.

Once the Rule of Law collapses, the end is not too far down the road. They are destroying our country right before our eyes. As I have said, the computer warns that we may not even see a presidential election in 2024. Next year will be the year from Political Hell. This quest to win at all costs here in 2022 will divide the country deeply and this WOKE agenda is destructive dividing everyone so there is no more We the People.

Our computer has NEVER been wrong. This was the computer forecast from 2018. It has been showing 2023 as the start and 2026 would be the Panic Cycle. I am not looking forward to 2023 in the least. The Democrats are desperate and they will NOT tolerate a Republican victory that might overturn their agenda that has been choreographed by the World Economic Forum.

This is the Array you can find on our old site with the Wayback Machine. In 1998 it projected a Panic Cycle in 2008, which was right on target. There are plenty of people who hate my guts. I really do not give a shit. This is NOT my personal opinion. They hate me because it projects something they usually want the opposite to happen like in gold. The markets are here to TEACH us how to read them and see what lies ahead. The past whispers to us quietly. We have to pay attention if you want to hear the message.

Scream all you want. Hate me all you want. What will be will be. I cannot stop that and silencing me will not change the future. I was in prison when the model peaked in 2007.15, which was the precise day of the peak in the Schiller Real Estate Index and then the Panic of 2008. That proved it was not me and personal influence.

Julius Caesar said long ago, that men are willing to believe what they wish. I know it is IMPOSSIBLE to argue with a fool or someone indoctrinated into whatever the belief. You can only help those with an open mind and willingness to look at the facts from an UNBIASED perspective.

Obama won the general election with 52.9% of the popular vote. I have said many times, that the only presidents ever elected with more than 60% were FDR, Johnson after the Kennedy Assassination, and Richard Nixon. Everyone else wins with typically less than 55%. This is NOT a Democracy. We live in a Republic. ALL republics collapse from within. There will be no enemy that defeats America, we are doing that quite well without the help of Putin or Xi. You cannot do what Biden is doing using a couple of percents to impose a dictatorship.

We are approaching that fateful day when it will be time to just turn out the lights on the American Dream than has turned into an American Nightmare. The attitudes in California, Oregon, and Washington State, are so foreign to those in the South, that they might as well be their own separate country. The time of separation is approaching, for that is the only way freedom to pursue your own happiness and live your life the way you want to instead of how someone else tells you you must comply with their ideas. Freedom will never be possible again. It pains me to be around on this planet when it is time to write the eulogy on the American Dream.

Sep 9 2022

Deutsche Bank CEO Says a Recession is Inevitable


Armstrong Economics Blog/Germany Re-Posted Sep 9, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Yet another head of the financial system is coming out and warning that a recession is inevitable. Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing echoed the words of BoE’s Governor Andrew Bailey and blamed the coming recession on the war in Ukraine. “We will no longer be able to avert a recession in Germany. Yet we believe that our economy is resilient enough to cope well with this recession — provided the central banks act quickly and decisively now,” Sewing said.

Going a step further, Sewing blamed China along with Russia. “When it comes to dependencies, we also have to face the awkward question of how to deal with China. Its increasing isolation and growing tensions, especially between China and the United States, pose a considerable risk for Germany,” he warned. Around 12% of German imports and 8% of exports come and go from China. Sewing would like to see a declining dependency on China rather than strengthening their relationship.

Neither China nor Russia are to blame for Germany’s situation. Russia was simply a diversion to draw attention away from the collapse of the European economy. Negative interest rates beginning in 2014 wiped out pension funds and proved that the central bank was not thinking long-term. COVID restrictions killed the supply chain, and Germany’s insistance in backing Ukraine eliminated what could have been a lucrative pipeline. Had the pipeline gone through, Europe would not have an energy crisis! Ever since COVID, we have witnessed a rising trend of civil unrest. Politicians have been working hard to create war with Russia deliberately, all cloaked in their real objective of controlling the planet.

When the energy crisis is unavoidable for the average person and the standard of living declines, the politicians will point to Russia and China. The decline began long before Russia lined the border of Ukraine, and China is demonized for simply existing. They would never blame their fiscal mismanagement or detrimental policies for the undoable damage they have created. If Germany falls, all of Europe will follow.

Sep 9 2022

EU Central Bank Raises Interest Rate 75 Points in Further Effort to Withstand Storm of Energy Driven Inflation


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 8, 2022 | Sundance 

Energy inflation continues to pummel all western nations as they chase the climate change agenda. Today, the European Central Bank has raised interest rates to support the goal of lowered economic activity.   Lowering economic activity lowers energy use.

Absent of any desire to raise energy supply and/or energy production, monetary policy can support the goal of lowering energy use by driving down all economic activity.

In the big transition picture, the economies within the western alliance must be reduced until they match the energy output of windmills and solar farms.

FRANKFURT—The European Central Bank raised interest rates by the largest amount since the early days of Europe’s currency union, moving aggressively to combat record inflation even as an energy crisis puts Europe on the brink of recession.

The bank said in a statement that it would increase its key rate to 0.75% from zero—its second hike this year following a 50-basis-point rise in July—and signaled that further rises were likely over the coming months.

At a news conference, ECB President Christine Lagarde warned that inflation was spreading beyond energy to a range of products. She said the ECB was ready to increase rates aggressively over the next several meetings.

“We want all economic actors to understand that the ECB is serious” about combating high inflation, Ms. Lagarde said. (read more)

A few months ago, amid all of the headline warnings about inflation and prices of essential products, CTH noted that if we were to continue waiting about six months, we would see a massive backlog of unsold goods and as a consequence the prices of non-essential durable goods would begin a rapid decline.  That exact scenario is unfolding. Keep watching.

Keep in mind, this is not necessarily a collapse of total global economic activity; what we are seeing is a collapse of western nation economic activity that is impacting the rest of the world.  A great economic fracturing is taking place as the western nations intentionally shrink their economy.  The supplier nations are feeling the consequences.

All of this economic turmoil is running on an identical track -on a global basis- because the entire western plan was coordinated and followed.  What we are seeing right now is the outcome of the “Build Back Better” roadmap.  The “global inflation” is the outcome.

Joe Biden is blocking domestic energy production as he follows through with the agenda of the Green New Deal.  In Europe, not coincidentally demanded by Biden, a similar outcome comes from the sanctions and blocking of Russian energy resources.

One could make a reasonable argument that the team behind Joe Biden specifically wanted the EU sanctions against Russia, because the U.S. crew wanted to keep both industrial economies mirroring each other as the U.S. energy system was dismantled.  It would make sense to avoid a spotlight on the U.S. economic collapse, by forcibly pushing the EU economy into the same situation.

Taking that line of geopolitical and economic consequence one step further, and that would be part of the strategy -albeit undiscussed- behind having a consistent global cap on the price that any nation could pay for Russian oil.  That approach is not about punishing Russia, it is to make all of the economic pain and problems equal amid all western nations.  Globalists, and the central bankers, are good at creating economic systems to deliver equitable misery.

Sep 8 2022

Is the US Sacrificing Europe to Maintain Global Dominance?


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Sep 8, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Vladimir Putin believes that Washington is sacrificing Europe to maintain global dominance. The United States has always been the world police, and the top country that others turn to in times of crisis. America’s post-World War II status left it as the financial capital of the world, and the dollar has remained the world’s reserve currency. Nothing has topped the dollar.

Europe attempted to create the European Union in an effort to prevent European conflicts, but it also created the euro to compete against the dollar. I explained various times how their attempts have failed. However, the euro is now beneath the dollar and on the decline. Nations maintain diplomatic relations, but only Schwab wants a one-world government as everyone is competing for global dominance.

Putin claims that the West rushed to place sanctions on Russia. There was indeed a rush to place sanctions on Russia despite Joe Biden himself coming out and admitting sanctions never work. Peace talks were never an option. Returning land or promising to curtail NATO was never an option. Sanctions and threats were immediately imposed. Why?

“The pandemic has been replaced by new challenges of a global nature, carrying a threat to the whole world, I’m talking about the sanctions rush in the West and the West’s blatantly aggressive attempts to impose their modus vivendi on other countries, to take away their sovereignty, to submit them to their will,” Putin told delegates at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum in the port city of Vladivostok on Russia’s Pacific coast, as reported by CNBC.

It is true that Europe is facing the brunt of these sanctions as they sacrificed their main supplier of energy to save a nation with a GDP of roughly only $200 billion. Europe did not want to allow Ukraine to join the euro, and they had no interest in the country prior to this conflict. The hatred for Russia runs deep in Europe, especially in Germany after Russia took hold of the east after the last World War. The politicians are certainly old enough to remember when Germany was split in two until 1989. There is a reason Russia’s integral support for the axis powers during World War II is diminished in Western history books.

Putin went on to say that the standard of living in Europe and overall social and economic stability was “being thrown onto the fire of sanctions.” The United States has been eager to sanction Russia since the war in Syria began. Obama tried but failed to kick Russia out of the SWIFT system in 2014, with Christine Lagarde offering her support. Zelensky, who rand the NYSE bell this week remotely, admitted that he needed America to place harsh sanctions on Russia to accelerate the war.

“So far, I think that the United States of America is the accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country. And this is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom,” Zelensky told reporters at Fox in May.

The dollar remains strong and is the last safe haven. The war in Ukraine has only promoted capital to rush into the dollar. So is Europe “being sacrificed in the name of preserving the US dictatorship in global affairs,” as Putin claims? Europe will suffer more than the United States due to these sanctions. In fact, had Biden not eliminated domestic oil production, the US would not be facing an energy crisis at all. One thing is clear – the support to Ukraine is not an act of kindness. The invisible hand is at play.

Sep 7 2022

JACKSON HINKLE JOINS TUCKER CARLSON ON FOX NEWS


The Dive With Jackson Hinkle Published originally on Rumple on September 6, 2022 

The Deep State now controls Congress, the White House and who every controls Brandon.

Sep 7 2022

Nancy Pelosi: Inside Trader of the Year


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Sep 7, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Pelosi knew when to sell! Paul Pelosi, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, sold off 25,000 shares of Nvidia. A month later, the US government banned Nvidia from selling chips to Russia and China to “address the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a ‘military end use’ or ‘military end user.’” Nvidia also happens to produce the A100 GPU in Taiwan, where Nancy’s attention has been suddenly diverted.

The microchip ban for Russia and China could cost Nvidia $400,000,000. Yet, Paul Pelosi managed to save $600,000 by selling his stock off a month before the news broke. Paul claims he does not consult his wife about trades, but what married couple would not discuss millions being moved? This is no coincidence. Paul even knew when to buy as he purchased the stock back in June when his wife was pushing for a multi-billion dollar government grant for the domestic production of semiconductor chips.

The Pelosi family has earned millions through insider trading. In July, Paul earned $5,300,000 after exercising a call option to buy 4,000 Alphabet shares. Not so coincidentally, this occurred when the House Judiciary Committee cracked down on antitrust practices. There have been numerous instances of the Pelosi family earning money through trades that could have been exercised due to Nancy Pelosi’s political insights. This is insider trading, and it is illegal.

Insider trading is so blatant that even the Democrats want to end the practice. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in December 2021: “There is no reason members of Congress should hold and trade individual stock when we write major policy and have access to sensitive information.” Even a broken clock is right twice a day. “It incentivizes this bad behavior,” she added in a separate tweet. So yes, US lawmakers are pushing legislation forward that directly benefits them. This is completely unethical and a threat to overall democracy.

Sep 7 2022

Washington Post Jumps Back onto the Foreign Nation Nuclear Secrets Angle to Mar-a-Lago Documents


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 7, 2022 | Sundance 

The Washington Post goes back to the prior narrative surrounding the Mar-a-Lago documents saying, “a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month.”…. with Devlin Barrett adding the usual, “according to people familiar with the matter” sourcing.

Keeping in mind the traditional relationship that exists between specific media outlets and their deep state sources, the most obvious source for Devlin Barrett is the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD), FBI Counterintelligence division, or larger intelligence community (IC).  However, what is also obvious from the way the documents are described is a narrative framework to make the innocuous seem looming.

PICTURED: Chairman Kim Jong-Un reads a letter from President Donald J Trump

I would be willing to bet the “document” in question is a letter from North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un to President Trump about the status of the DPRK military intent and weapons.  You might remember Chairman Kim and President Trump developed a good relationship and exchanged letters related to matters of national security between North Korea and the United States.

The Intelligence Community in combination with the U.S. military industrial complex and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not like that level of direct diplomatic contact and discussion between President Trump and Chairman Kim.  Direct communication between the two leaders subverted the IC’s ability to shape the DPRK messaging to support an interventionist and hostile U.S. geopolitical outlook.

The professional bureaucrats in charge of guiding and shaping all United States foreign engagements do not like being cut out of the geopolitical equations.  As the former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chuck Schumer famously said, “the intelligence community has six ways to Sunday to get back at you” if the President does not adhere and acquiesce to their power and authorities.

(more…)

Sep 7 2022

Ukrainian Parliament Lines Pockets with Western Aid


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Sep 7, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The pro-war People’s Deputies of Ukraine Party are using Western funding to line their pockets. It has been reported that the average paycheck went from 28,800 to 49,600 hryvnia, and taxpayers in other countries will pay for their raises.

This news came out shortly after CBS attempted to release a documentary that claimed weapon shipments from the US were frequently missing. CBS was forced to redact parts of the documentary, “Arming Ukraine,” after Ukraine’s government threatened them. The first report stated that 70% of the weapon purchases had gone missing, while another piece said only 30% of aid had arrived. “Since that time, Ohman says delivery has improved,” CBS backtracked. “We are updating our documentary to reflect this new information and air at a later date.”

“The weapons are stolen, the humanitarian aid is stolen, and we have no idea where the billions sent to this country have gone,” an anonymous veteran originally told reporters. He went on to claim that soldiers are receiving less pay while those at the top are lining their pockets. Zelensky continually claims that his country needs endless funds for the endless war. Where is this money going? Since WE are paying for the war, we deserve to know the truth.

https://rumble.com/embed/v1cekpj/?pub=4#?secret=N3Xrpl0SVY

Sep 7 2022

Tucker Carlson Outlines the Totalitarian Outlook of Joe Biden


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 6, 2022 | Sundance 

During the second segment of his opening monologue tonight Tucker Carlson accurately outlined the connective tissue behind the Democrat/Biden authoritarian agenda.  Carlson omitted the ideological connections to the totalitarian covid-19 mandates, which present excellent examples of the outlook; nonetheless, Carlson accurately outlined the continuum that Biden and his handlers are traveling.

According to the fiats of the power-centric focus, all opposition to the Biden agenda is bigoted racism and domestic extremism.  Not accidentally, the White House deployment of targeting orders toward their social media allies, mirrors the actions by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in silencing his political opposition, barring media from criticizing him and making political opposition illegal.  Both Biden and Zelenskyy are totalitarian figures hiding behind the false ruse of democracy.  WATCH:

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