Jun 4 2023

Target CEO Ends They/Them’s Silence on the Boycott

Awaken With JP Published originally on Rumble on May3, 2023

Jun 2 2023

WOKE = Director Using Other People’s Money for Personal Beliefs

Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law Re-Posted Jun 2, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong; reading your piece on the unconstitutionality of this Woke Agenda, I must say as a legal expert that you are very accomplished in the law. You would have made one heck of a lawyer.

ANSWER: Thank you. I think we could take it one step further. You might want to consider a class action against the boards of directors PERSONALLY. This is no different than taking other people’s money for personal use. If they put their home gardening on the books and had the company pay those personal expenses on the side, that would be theft. Here they are also violating their fiduciary duty as a board member and using company money to further their own PERSONAL political agenda.

So while hiring people less qualified to fill spots to be able to check a box violates that person’s civil rights by engaging now in reverse discrimination, there is also a claim against the directors for using other people’s money for their personal political beliefs. A lawsuit should be brought against them to compel them to refund all the money they have spent on this WOKE agenda.

What if a board suddenly converts to some religion and decides to hand 10% of all profits to that church? Wouldn’t that violate their Fiduciary Duty? Where is the SEC when they really should be defending shareholders? There should be a Congressional hearing calling in these people from the SEC. Are they protecting corporate officers like the FBI is protecting Biden?

Write to your Congressman and demand an investigation into the SEC.

Jun 1 2023

WOKE = Unconstitutional

Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law Re-Posted Jun 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

ANY company engaging in WOKE should be brought to court for what they are doing is patently UNCONSTITUTIONAL and lawyers should start to wake up and bring class action lawsuits against Target, Budweiser, and North Face as well as every other company engaged in this activity of promoting transgenderism has rendered college degrees irrelevant. If you check a box, no qualification or experience is required.

This claim that WOKE is somehow establishing EQUALITY is total nonsense. Gays are now being discriminated against as part of this propaganda movement behind Transgender. When companies make targeted racial composition goals for their employees, they have to engage in discrimination to achieve those goals. That is discrimination to not hire a white person who is more qualified because the White House wants a black girl – not even a black man as its spokesperson.

Hiring people based on race and gender is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It is outright discrimination and whatever job is open should go to the most qualified – not to check some box of this discriminatory and unethical Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Here you have a pretend organization claiming it stands for human rights advocating abortion and ignoring any human rights of the unborn. They are a front for propaganda that is to actually divide the nation and deliberately target religious issues such as abortion and seek to give low “grades” to Christian beliefs.

The worst kept secret in corporate HR departments across the country is this thinking that they MUST deny employment based on qualification and instead check boxes to satisfy this unethical organization masquerading as human rights. If we are really talking about EQUALITY, then the most qualified person should get the job. In our company, we have every race, creed, and nationality from Asia to Europe. We hire based on qualification – not race or religion.

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) should be brought to court for they are denying qualified people employment. Not that they are claiming to be about Human Rights when they are openly engaging in the violation of our Civil Rights. Any company with an HR department engaged in checking boxes should be hauled into court on a class action for unconstitutional civil rights violations. This is the ONLY way to stop this agenda from pretending to be about equality when it is really about discrimination.

Jun 1 2023

Is BlackRock Responsible for the Woke Agenda?

Armstrong Economics Blog/Great Reset Re-Posted Jun 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

BlackRock and Vanguard own almost everything you see. BlackRock is responsible for creating the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) social credit score based on a company’s climate policies. The corporate equality index (CEI) is akin to the younger brother of the ESG score and dictates a company’s woke policies. BlackRock and Vanguard, World Economic Forum partners, support these social credit scores, and the companies in which they own a significant share are altering their policies to appease these titans.

BlackRock has been extremely vocal about the need for the ESG score. Republicans have condemned the ESG score for being a political tool. Blackrock CEO Laurence Fink penned a letter in January 2018 called “A Sense of Purpose” in which he decided that BlackRock needed to involve itself in social issues. Fink said the government fails to prepare for the future and “society increasingly is turning to the private sector and asking that companies respond to broader societal challenges.” He continued: “Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society. Companies must benefit all of their stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate.”

“Without a sense of purpose, no company, either public or private, can achieve its full potential. It will ultimately lose the license to operate from key stakeholders. It will succumb to short-term pressures to distribute earnings, and, in the process, sacrifice investments in employee development, innovation, and capital expenditures that are necessary for long-term growth. It will remain exposed to activist campaigns that articulate a clearer goal, even if that goal serves only the shortest and narrowest of objectives. And ultimately, that company will provide subpar returns to the investors who depend on it to finance their retirement, home purchases, or higher education.”

Fink went on to say that BlackRock was willing to sell off assets of companies that fail to remain in “the relevant index.” “Companies must ask themselves: What role do we play in the community? How are we managing our impact on the environment? Are we working to create a diverse workforce?” Fink continued. As a World Economic Forum member, Fink is adhering to Agenda 2030 and the plans for the Great Reset. Instead of merely managing assets, those at the top attempting to restructure society.

It is common knowledge that BlackRock backs the climate change agenda and penalizes companies that fail to obey. However, not many realize that the asset manager is also responsible for the woke agenda. These companies are not trying to appease the LGBTQ+ community; they’re trying to appease BlackRock so that they can maintain high social credit scores and maintain funding.

May 31 2023

Target: CEI Score 100 – $10 Billion Gone in 10 Days

Armstrong Economics Blog/WOKE Re-Posted May 31, 2023 by Martin Armstron

Target achieved a 100% score on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI) in 2022, and was rated #4 by the Human Rights Campaign for being one of the wokest companies. This arbitrary social credit score goes against American values and people are protesting with their dollars. Target managed to lose $10 billion in ten days after the public became aware of their aggressive rainbow marketing campaign geared toward children. Will Target become the next Bud Light?

In my opinion, Target’s campaign was far worse than Bud Light’s because it was targeting the most vulnerable among us – the children. Not only did Target sell clothing for children and toddlers promoting the woke agenda, but they also attempted to normalize “binding” and “tuck-friendly” clothing for “transexual children.” Any parent forcing their toddler to bind or tuck their genitalia is likely not fit to be a parent.

The top designer for this abhorrent apparel was Erik Carnell, a woman turned man who mixes trans art with Satanic symbols. “Satan respects pronouns” is one of Carnell’s designs that did not make it to the big box retailer. He has pictures online wearing devil horns and outright mocking Christianity, the only religion that is acceptable to mock openly. He advocates violence against “normies” with slogans like “burn down the cis-tem” and an image of a guillotine labeled “homophobe headrest.” Erik was forced to take down his personal website after the Target controversy, but said he did so due to a growing demand for orders. His art is also colorful and cartoon-like to appeal to children. If a major retailer partnered with an artist who mocked Islam or Judaism, there would be a much larger backlash.

Target is attempting to employ major damage control, but it is too late. Bomb threats have been called into numerous stores by people within the LGBTQ+ community who are angry that the retailer is pulling attire for transexual children. “Target is full of cowards who turned their back on the LGBT community and decided to cater to the homophobic right wing redneck bigots who protested and vandalized their store,” one of the threats read.

Target managed to lose 14% of its value within ten days because it attempted to pander to the woke crowd. Videos are going viral of moms cutting up their Target credit cards and a rap song about boycotting Target even reached a top spot on the iTunes charts. Someone needs to tell the top shareholders that the people do not approve of the woke CEI score, and the people will not allow the Human Rights Campaign to normalize rainbow marketing. This has absolutely nothing to do with gay rights and everything to do with grooming children. We read what the United Nations wants to promote. Target made a fatal mistake by going after our children.

May 26 2023

Is the Rise of LGBTQ Part of the Decline & Fall of the West?

Armstrong Economics Blog/ECM Re-Posted May 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: What do you think about Target now selling books on this transgender stuff for even first graders? This has gone full circle from recognizing their rights to pushing their influential anti-religion on everyone else. We should boycott Target like Bud from what I see.

ANSWER: This has indeed gone from equal rights to denying civil and religious rights of everyone else. Target rolled out its Pride collection offering over 2,000 products, including books for kids aged 2–8 with titles like “Pride 1,2,3,” “Bye Bye, Binary,” and “I’m Not a Girl.” Target also suggested “The Pronoun Book” to kids aged 0–3.

If they wanted to crucify Epstein as a pedophile for having girls 16 and 17, which are legal ages in Europe and Asia, they do not even teach sex education at such a tender young age. Barbie and Ken dolls did not have genitalia when my daughter was growing up. So now showing child pornography is prison time but not books like these teaching sex to pre-puberty children?

I am just glad I am not raising kids today. I would agree to not shop at Target and I would no longer take my children to Disney.

It is one thing to discriminate against LGBTQ, and another to promote it shoving it down children’s throats at such a young age. This is all going too far and instead of promoting equal rights, it is severely dividing the country offending the religious rights of others. How about we teach atheism in first grade that there is no God and it is all fiction? Would that be acceptable? The world has really gone insane. Civilization works ONLY when everyone benefits – not by dividing it into groups and pitting them against each other.

The Christians were persecuted BECAUSE they refused to respect the beliefs of others. When Rome started to fall, they were persecuted because the Romans thought they offended the gods by refusing to show any respect for other religions. From a historical perspective, this LGBTQ movement is no longer about inclusion and equal rights. This becomes a movement that has no respect for other people’s religious beliefs and is promoting their beliefs and forcing them upon everyone else. This is clearly offending the First Amendment and is courting our own demise.

I fear when the History of the Decline & Fall of Western Civilization is written, as our computer is projecting, there will be an equal parallel to the religious divisions that also tore Rome apart. We are becoming so divided, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to stand together as one nation or society. During the 1840s, gun battles were taking place even on the streets of Philadelphia between Catholics and Protestants. We are messing around with a tinder box. This is feeding into the cycle of our demise for 2032.

May 19 2023

Bud Light Sales Worsening, -23.3% in Week Five of Widespread Boycott

Posted originally on the CTH on May 18, 2023 | Sundance

In the fifth week since the Bud Light backlash began, the latest scan data released shows a worsening drop in sales. The overall trend now shows Bud Light has lost a full quarter of its market position, dropping 23.6% in unit volume and -27.7% in dollar sales.

Despite these dollar losses, the parent company does not seem willing to address the root cause. Despite North American sales impacts, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion outlook of the Anheuser-Busch global company is still strongly entrenched in the branding. It does not appear the company is going to modify anything as the very vocal Alphabet ideologues have them captive.

(Washington Examiner) – Bud Light sales are down for a fifth straight week as the financial beating endured by the Anheuser-Busch brand following its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney appears to have no end in sight.

Sales of Bud Light fell 23.6% for the week ending on May 6 compared to numbers recorded in 2022, according to a report citing data acquired by Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ. (read more)

Previously – Across the United States, wholesalers are on the hook for inventories of Bud Light and Budweiser products that no one is buying. These products have an expiration date, thanks in part to the A/B freshness campaign long ago created. The wholesalers have to swap out the close-dated products that are not being sold in retailers and restaurants. The wholesalers are then stuck with out-of-date product and turn back to the corporate office for help.

From reporting in the Wall Street Journal, Anheuser-Busch (A/B) is telling the wholesalers to give the product free to their employees rather than dump it. By law, they cannot give it away to consumers, and they cannot cross promote the beer by “bundling” alcohol with another CPG product (ie, buy chips, get free beer).

The story is being promoted as A/B being magnanimous in giving the beer to the employees; however, in reality as the product hits its expiration or sell-by date, A/B only has that option, other than to dump it in the garbage and recycle the containers.

May 18 2023

The COVID Refinance Boom is Over – See Who Benefitted

Armstrong EconomicsBlog/Real Estate Re-Posted May 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

New mortgage originations have reached their lowest level since Q2 of 2014. Inventory remains historically low, shelter costs are historically high, and it makes no sense for most to refinance with current mortgage rates over 6% on the 30-year. Originations, including refinances, came in at $323.5 billion during Q1 of 2023. The NY Fed reported that borrowing in general has reached $17.5 trillion, a $150 billion increase, as families grapple with inflation. The refinance boom in 2020 and 2021 will impact real estate for generations to come.

The NY Fed discusses the COVID refinance boom (Q2 of 2020 to Q4 of 2021) in a recent article. Fourteen million mortgages were refinanced during this period when mortgage rates reached record lows. Mortgage rates plummeted 200 bp from Nov. 2018 to November 2020. The last upticks in refinances occurred in 2003 and again in 2013 when rates also fell 200 bp. However, rates were at their lowest level during the COVID refinance boom, allowing many to take out equity from their homes and reinvest. Home equity reached a record high in the time leading up to the pandemic, and the continued rise in home prices provided numerous owners with additional equity.

One-third of all outstanding mortgages were refinanced over the span of 7 quarters. About 64% of refinances were “rate refinances,” classified as those with a balance increase of less than 5% of the mortgage amount. Those who chose this route saved an average of $220 per month. Cash-out refinancers took out $82,000 on average, increasing monthly payments by $150. Around 5 million borrowers extracted a total of $430 billion during the COVID refinance boom—a significant sum.

The 9 million who did not extract equity reduced mortgage payments by $24 billion annually. These figures are something I do not expect to see again in my lifetime. Those holding their breath for rates to drop under 3% again should come up for air. Homeowners are disincentivized to sell at current rates, not to mention home prices are AT LEAST 36% higher than before the pandemic. Everyone’s investment strategy is unique, but those who were able to use their home’s equity to invest during the bottom of the market made out well. The period between Q2 of 2020 to Q4 of 2021 will be a reference point for years to come.

May 18 2023

Durham Report Explained – Everything was a Lie

Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted May 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Special counsel John Durham revealed in his report that all American intelligence agencies knew the Trump-Russian collusion story was a lie. You can read the full 300-page report here. Hillary Clinton needed a way to take the heat off of her email scandal and was the mastermind behind this plot. The CIA and FBI knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Steele Dossier was a lie designed by Clinton to take down Trump. The FBI then leaked deliberate misinformation to the press to condemn Trump on behalf of Hillary and the Democrats.

Christopher Steele was bribed $1 million to write his fictional Steele Dossier. Igor Danchenko was known to be Russian intelligence. Intelligence agencies paid Danchecnko a quarter of a million USD to reveal classified information to back Steele’s claims. He could not provide any evidence since it did not exist, but he was paid anyway. Former intelligence chair Shiff said he saw first-hand evidence of Russian collusion — a complete lie.

Will anyone be held accountable for these extreme crimes? All Americans should be completely outraged that we were lied to by our intelligence agencies and media outlets in an attempt to alter our election. This is a direct attack on our freedom and electoral process. Hillary knows she is above the law and can commit crimes in the open without penalty or even criticism. Obama, Biden, the FBI, the CIA, and numerous politicians knew that everything regarding “Russian collusion” was a complete lie. Trump was correct — this has been one of the biggest witch hunts in American history.

May 18 2023

Home Depot Cuts Forecasts, Target Earnings Suffer – Watch Comparable Same Store Sales, Now We Are Cycling Sales Value of Inflation

Posted originally on the CTH on May 18, 2023 | Sundance

Those of you who are keen financially minded individuals will note exactly what is happening in these recent reports, HOME DEPT HERE – TARGET HERE. Those of you who are retail investors in the stock market might also see the bigger picture.

Home Depot and Target essentially share the same customer base or market audience. They service a larger segment of the American middle class. Both companies are reporting negative financial outcomes as a result of low comparable sales, or same store sales comparisons, to last year. This should not be a surprise, yet Wall Street is seemingly caught off guard.

Right now, we are on the tail end of the massive inflation cycle that took place in 2021 through 2022. Current inflation, as measured by the rate of price increase over the same period last year, is lower.

Now we are starting to see companies reporting sales comparable without the benefit of massive inflation to assist.

Example – when inflation is running at 10%, a company can report 8% sales growth, and everyone smiles. However, the sales growth was created by the inflation. The actual unit sales of goods have declined; the store is reporting higher sales because the prices are higher. When the sales cycle through to lower inflationary comparisons, the drop in unit sales shows up as drops in topline sales. This is the cause of both Target and Home Depot now reporting lower than expected comparable sales versus last year.

In real terms, this is why using sales data as a measure of economic growth is less valuable during periods of high inflation. Significant inflation hides the diminished sales of units, which should be the true measure of sales growth. I have been tracking unit sales as a measure of economic activity, and the truth is that unit sales have been declining since the fourth quarter of 2021.

Inflation was hiding the recession, and as the rate of price increase diminishes, the sales contraction will show the recession. This is what Target and Home Depot are reporting, and we can all expect to see the same over the next 90 days. Retail stocks will drop as the earnings and sales reports are revised down due to lower inflation.

Wall Street Journal – Target sales suffered in the most recent quarter as shoppers stopped splurging as frequently on trendy clothes, home goods and other items that make up the bulk of the retailer’s annual revenue.

Comparable sales, those from stores and digital channels operating for at least 12 months, came in flat for the quarter ended April 29 compared with the same period last year. That is slightly lower than the previous quarter’s 0.7% rise and lower than analysts’ expectations for a 0.2% sales rise in the most recent quarter, according to estimates from FactSet.

Sales of food and beverage, beauty and home essentials such as detergent rose, while demand for apparel, home goods and items such as toys and electronics fell sharply in the most recent quarter as shoppers further pulled back on discretionary spending, said Target executives on a call with analysts Wednesday. The latter discretionary categories make up around 54% of Target’s annual sales, according to financial filings. (read more)

Reuters – Home Depot Inc (HD.N) on Tuesday cut its annual sales forecast and projected a steeper-than-expected decline in profit, stoking fears about inflation-wary consumers trimming discretionary spending as a big earnings week for U.S. retailers rolls out.

Shares of the largest U.S. home improvement chain, which also blamed a wet start to Spring and falling lumber prices for a first-quarter sales miss, tumbled about 4%, while those of smaller rival Lowe’s Cos Inc (LOW.N) dropped nearly 3%.

[…] Demand was weak for discretionary items like patio furniture and grills, as well as appliances, flooring, kitchen and bath, said William Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising at Home Depot.

[…] Home Depot now expects fiscal 2023 comparable sales to fall between 2% and 5%, compared to its prior outlook for nearly flat sales. (read more)

Next up…. Walmart

Centinel2012

De Oppresso Liber

Category Woke-ism Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI Score)

Awaken With JP Published originally on Rumble on May3, 2023

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Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law Re-Posted Jun 2, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

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Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law Re-Posted Jun 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

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Armstrong Economics Blog/Great Reset Re-Posted Jun 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

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Armstrong Economics Blog/WOKE Re-Posted May 31, 2023 by Martin Armstron

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Armstrong Economics Blog/ECM Re-Posted May 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

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Posted originally on the CTH on May 18, 2023 | Sundance

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Armstrong EconomicsBlog/Real Estate Re-Posted May 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

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Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted May 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

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Posted originally on the CTH on May 18, 2023 | Sundance

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