Posted originally on Mar 2, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
Everyone keeps asking if mortgage rates will collapse in 2026 as if the entire real estate market revolves around the Federal Reserve pulling a lever. That is simply not how the system actually functions. Mortgage rates are tied to long-term capital flows and the 10-year yield, not just whatever the Fed does at the short end. This obsession with rate cuts magically reviving housing is a complete misunderstanding of the cycle.
Everyone is obsessing over mortgage rates dipping below 6% in early 2026 and assuming that this alone will thaw the housing market, but the data coming in right now tells a very different story that aligns far more closely with the cyclical model than the mainstream narrative. The 30-year mortgage has indeed slipped to roughly 5.98%, the lowest level since 2022, largely following declines in the 10-year yield and bond market volatility.
We are coming out of an abnormal period where rates were artificially suppressed during an emergency liquidity phase. The 2–3% mortgage era was never sustainable. That was not the free market. That was crisis policy. Historically, when governments accumulate massive debt and confidence in fiscal management declines, long-term rates do not just collapse because policymakers wish them to. Capital begins to demand a risk premium.
Even if mortgage rates drift slightly lower into 2026, that does not translate into a housing boom. Real estate is a confidence asset far more than an interest-rate asset. I have repeatedly stated that taxes, regulation, insurance costs, and economic uncertainty weigh more heavily on property than a modest move in borrowing costs. You can lower rates and still have a stagnant housing market if people are worried about jobs, inflation in living costs, and the long-term direction of the economy.
The mainstream narrative assumes that lower rates automatically equal higher demand. That was true during the liquidity bubble, but bubbles distort historical relationships. Into 2026, the issue is not just the cost of borrowing. The variables now include declining confidence in government policy, rising debt burdens, and structural costs associated with ownership. Those factors do not disappear with a half-point decline in mortgage rates.
So no, the model does not support a dramatic collapse in mortgage rates in 2026. At best, you may see stabilization or modest easing, but not a return to the artificially low levels of the post-crisis period. The bigger risk is that people are focusing on interest rates while ignoring the true driver of real estate: confidence. And when confidence is under pressure, even lower rates fail to produce the boom everyone is expecting.
Posted originally on Mar 2, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
🚨 HOLY CRAP! Secretary Noem just revealed @ElonMusk helped find that a few DHS staffers installed SPYWARE on her phone and computer, as well as on the devices of of other political hires
These people need to be JAILED! There HAVE to be consequences, or they’ll keep doing it!… pic.twitter.com/tjhnZyPnEP
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has now alleged that officials inside her own department secretly installed spyware on her government phone and computer, claiming the software was used to record meetings and monitor internal communications. She stated that outside technical specialists examined departmental devices and identified suspicious software downloads that appeared to function as surveillance tools. In her telling, the same spyware was not limited to her alone but was allegedly found on the devices of multiple political appointees, suggesting a broader internal breach rather than an isolated incident.
Once the issue surfaced, staff members believed to be involved were brought in, questioned, polygraphed, and ultimately dismissed after the alleged internal spying operation was uncovered. The story becomes even more peculiar when she describes how internal inquiries into department facilities led to the discovery of a secure room containing files and materials that she suggested were not widely known within the leadership structure. Elon Musk had the resources to help Noem identify the responsible parties.
“I always believed when people talked about the deep state before that it existed: I never would have dreamed that it was as bad as it is,” she said. “I’m still every day trying to dig out people who don’t love America, not just [those] who work at this department, but also work throughout the federal government, Kristi Noem stated.
The so-called “Deep State” is not some theatrical villain standing at a podium, nor is it the elected figure you see on television, nor even the president of the United States. That is political theater. The real machinery of government has always been institutional, bureaucratic, and self-preserving. It does not change with elections because it is not elected. It survives administrations the way empires survive emperors.
They say the Deep State is Trump, or Biden, or whoever is currently in office. That misses the mark entirely. The permanent state is the institutional class: career agencies, intelligence networks, embedded contractors, regulatory bodies, and unelected policy architects who remain in place regardless of election cycles. Presidents come and go. Bureaucracies do not. That is the cycle of governance that I have explained repeatedly where institutions always outlive leaders.
The Deep State often operates in plain sight. As Noem reported:
“I just found the other day a whole room on this [DHS headquarters] campus that was a secret SCIF secure facility [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility] that had files nobody knew existed. So we just happened to have an employee walk by a door and wonder what it was. Started asking questions. We went there. There was individuals working there that had secret files that nobody knew about on some of these most controversial topics, like that. And now I’ve got that turned over to attorneys, and we’re getting to the bottom of what exactly happened there.”
Federal agencies are controlled by the Deep State without their knowledge. True power does not exist in a political party, and it certainly does not exist among elected officials. The government watches us, and the Deep State watches the government. The permanent Deep State will always seek to control the government, which in turn controls the people.
Posted originally on Mar 1, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced that they struck the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with four ballistic missiles. Their statement read:
“The powerful strikes by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the exhausted military body of the enemy have entered a new phase, and land and sea will become an ever greater graveyard for terrorist aggressors.”
Posted originally on Mar 1, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
COMMENT #1: Thank you!
I was going to ask for it. Will read it now.
I am out of the Middle East because I read your posts. Back in September 2024 you started to warn. Thank you!!!!
I stayed in Dubai the past 2 months, but last week the USA ordered all their diplomats in Israel (except emergency staff) to get back to the States. So we decided to leave Dubai 3 days before they started the attack.
My friends in Dubai leave from Muscat. There are flights now from Muscat, Oman. It is a 5 Hour drive and the border is open.
NH
COMMENT #2: I can see why they call you the legend. Your call on silver really impressed me. When people were shorting it and swearing this was just a major high, you called for a February low and said we had war, sovereign debt. and just chaos. You have shown the way that everything is connected and you cannot forecast anything in isolation.
I really hope this Hollywood movie shows the entire world there is a better way. That will be your legacy.
Thank you so much for the education.
RP
COMMENT #3: I had to say thank you. I took my family out of Dubai. I heard my apartment building was hit by a drone and I heard Iran hit the commercial airport as well. Iran is attacking everyone and as you warned, they do have missiles that can reach Europe.
ADC
REPLY: Just remember, nobody can forecast so many things from an opinion basis. The computer allows us to see the whole world and how everything is interconnected. It is a sad day when we have such manipulated world leaders who have let the Neocons rule the world. There used to be strong leaders like Margaret Thatcher. We need her more than ever today. I have encountered people in Congress afraid to go against the Neocons and they pretend to represent us!
ADC
REPLY: Just remember, nobody can forecast so many things from an opinion basis. The computer allows us to see the whole world and how everything is interconnected. It is a sad day when we have such manipulated world leaders who have let the Neocons rule the world. There used to be strong leaders like Margaret Thatcher. We need her more than ever today. I have encountered people in Congress afraid to go against the Neocons and they pretend to represent us!
Posted originally on Mar 1, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
QUESTION: Does Socrates suggest that this will become a widespread Middle East War? Socrates’ Crude Oil forecast showed a Directional Change and a major target for March with yet a Panic Cycle in June. Socrates just gave a buy signal. My interpretation of what Socrates has been projecting is that this will not be like Venezuela short and sweet.
Paul
ANSWER: As I have explained in more detail in the report we priced at just $25 what cannot be fully aired on a blog post. The risk here is a religious war of Shia vs Sunni. The heads of the various states other than Iran are Sunni. The likelihood of them coming to aid Iran is zero. You saw Iran attacking the US military bases in all of the various states. The risk here that the Neocons have willfully ignored is civil uprisings throughout the Middle East.
The vast interior of the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Jordan, Syria (majority), and Turkey remain predominantly Sunni. There is significant hostility between some Shia and Sunni Muslims in certain parts of the world today. However, the relationship is incredibly complex. It ranges from peaceful coexistence and intermarriage in some cities to violent sectarian conflict in others.
As there is the typical Neocon claim that the people will rise up, overthrow their government, rejoice and give the Neocons a tickertape parade, has never happened even once. They say the samething about removing Putin and the Russian people will rejoice. They said the Iraqi people would rise up. That did not happen.
Regime Change has NEVER been accomplished with airpower alone. It always takes boots on the ground. Iran is 3 times the size of Iraq and it is mountainous (see Map). The Neocons have sold Trump a pile of BS to achieve their goal, which they have had for decades. This is not what Trump expected and they are destroying his legacy. Netanyahu is a Neocon, He went to school in Philadelphia and hung out with Irving Kristol, the father of the Neocons. Trump has been misled from every which direction.
The greatest risk that the Israelis and Americans have a lot of blood on their hands and people remember lost ones. Some 85 school girls were just killed in Iran. Do you think their parents will now welcome the Neocons with a tickertape parade? This risk remains turning this into a religious war which Iraq never presented. The Neocons are ruthless people who only see their objectives and nothing else. Iran was the ONLY state where the Shia were in charge of the government. I do not see the Sunni coming to their aid. This greater risk is a Shia uprising against sunni governments.
I agree, Socrates on Crude Oil is also suggesting that this will not be like Venezuela. I have said before, I believe the Neocons have so infiltrated the Trump Administration that they have constructed their version of the Iron Curtain around him because they see this as their moment in the sun.
I am naturally swamped right now. But I hope to do a private blog on all the month-end buy signals that were elected in February.
Countries with a Shia Majority
Iran: 90–95% of Muslims are Shia. Iraq: 60–65% of Muslims are Shia. Bahrain: 60–70% of Muslims are Shia. Azerbaijan: 65–75% of Muslims are Shia.
Countries with Significant Shia Minorities (10% – 40%)
Lebanon: 27% – 35% of the total population (approx. 30–40% of the Muslim population). Kuwait: 20–25% of the citizen population. Qatar: Approx. 10% of the citizen population. Syria: 13–15% of the total population (Alawites and Twelvers). Yemen: 35–40% of Muslims are Shia (specifically Zaydi).
Countries with Small Shia Minorities (Under 5%)
United Arab Emirates (UAE): Approx. 5–10% of the citizen population. Saudi Arabia: Approx. 5–10% of the citizen population. Oman: Approx. 5–10% of the citizen population (includes both Shia and other sects). Jordan: Approx. 1–2% of the population (mostly recent refugees or immigrants). Turkey: Approx. 1–3% of the population. Egypt, Palestine, Israel: Less than 1%
Posted originally on Mar 1, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
QUESTION: Marty, According to NASA, on Feb. 28, the rare phenomenon occurred, with six planets appearing to align and form a parade across the evening sky. I recall back in 1989 when you were forecasting the fall of Communism, the planets also aligned. Socrates pinpointed February for Iran months in advance and you have said this is no blip like 2025. Do the planetary movements play any role in Socrates? Does this alignment foretell of your war cycle taking us into 2032?
SL
ANSWER: No. Neither astrology nor religious prophecy are part of Socrates. If I pick up my coffee cup, both my dogs know I am going to the kitchen. If I pick up my keys, they know I am running to the store. My dogs are smarter than most politicians. They look for patterns and connect the dots. Politicians live in the world where everything is haphazard and random so they have the power to manipulate society. Yet they are always surprised and cannot predict the future even to the extent of my dogs.
Astrology and Prophecy are both based on cycles and patterns. The universe is NOT random and neither is human nature or Prophecy. The fact that Socrates pinpointed February and on the 28th the planets aligned is interesting. My dogs understand pattern recognition. Those who use technical analysis look for repeating patterns. But those patterns are the footsteps of human behavior – not random noise. Socrates is just looking at the data, so when it aligns with Astrology or Prophecy, perhaps it is just because the universe is cyclical based.
This time it is different. The Neocons have infiltrated EVERY administration including the more recent Clinton, Bush I & II, Obama, Biden, and now Trump. Trump has allowed the Neocons to undermind his legacy. He may have thought attacking Iran would be in and out like Venezuela and the people will rise up after killing the Ayatollah. The Neocons said the same thing about Iraq and that never happened. Regime Change cannot be accomplished from the air. Like Iraq, it requires boots on the ground. Iraq was NOT religious. This time it is. Shia Muslims are NOT confined to Iran. They are a large part of the population in all Middle Eastern nations. They have proxies, but also sleeper terrorist cells in American and Europe.
This has the danger of a religious war and the Neocons NEVER think beyond the end of their nose. They are traitors to America, for they NEVER stand for election. They weasel their way into every administration and seize our Foreign Policy for personal objectives. They do not care about the country or the people. Anyone who wants to blame Trump, is an absolute fool. They will infiltrade every administration no matter who you vote for.
Dick Cheney endorsed Kamala because Trump was anti-war. His daughter did everything she could to undermind Trump and tried to prevent him from winning the presidency. Do you really think they gave a shit about the economy, the people, or the country? This was always a military agenda. They are, in my opinion, a cancer within society filled with irrational hatred.
If the stories of the Devil sending his agents to undermine humanity are true, the Neocons are perhaps such agents of evil. Under cyclical analysis, there should be a Devil because you need the opposite to create the cycle. You need the bad to oppose the good to create a cycle. That believe in good vs evil actually began in Persia under the Zoroasters.
The computer has been targeting 2026 since 2014. As my mother always told me, “there is a time and place for everything.” This year was a target for a Panic Cycle in War. Pakistan just attacked Afghanistan. When I have been warning that the computer was projecting World War III, it would NOT be as World Wars I or II where there was one adversary.
This is world war around the globe where whatever old grudge existed, they are all rising again and this is set in motion by the Sovereign Debt Crisis because the fiscal mismanagement since World War II is coming home to roost.
When I stood up at our 2011 World Economic Conference in Philadelphia, I warned that the war cycle was turning up in 2014. That proved to be correct for it was the Ukrainian Revolution that was instigated by the Neocons, and they installed an UNELECTED government and instructed them to attack the Donbas to draw in Putin to come to their rescue. The computer in 2013 forecast that Ukraine was the place to watch one year in advance. These Neocons are traitors to not just America, but to humanity. None of this has been my personal opinion. I an merely relaying the forecasts from the computer because NOBODY can possibly be correct most of the time using opinion.
The concept of a cyclical universe undergoing destruction and rebirth is a core, defining doctrine of Stoic cosmology. The Stoics believed the universe is governed by a rational principle called the Logos. This divine reason is perfect and orderly. A perfect, rational God would create the best possible world. After it is destroyed, the same perfect, rational God would create the same best possible world. It couldn’t be any different, because that would imply a lesser, or at least a different, creation. The cycle is a necessary consequence of divine perfection and rationality.
The Stoics were materialists; everything that exists is a body, including God. They saw God as a creative, artistic fire, similar to but more refined than the fire we know. Just as a seed contains the entire plan for a mighty tree, this divine fire contains the logoi spermatikoi (“seminal reasons” or “generative principles”) for everything that will ever exist in the universe. During ekpyrosis, everything is contracted back into these seeds. During palingenesis, the seeds unfold again to create the cosmos exactly as it was.
The first Christians rejected everything from the Greeks and argued that the world was linear – not cyclical. They based that on the idea of a final conclusion of Armageddon and the final battle. They saw the Greeks assuming there was no final conclusion but it would start all over again. This interpretation led to centuries of a Dark Age rejection all the knowledge acquired previously even in medicine on the assumption that it was all just paganism.
Yet, to the Greeks, and followed by the Romans, they knew of the story of Noah and how the world was destroyed and reborn. They also saw that every empire rose and then fell. The Romans indeed also understood that they too would fall. Here is a coin of the Roman Emperor Philip I depicting the story of Noah from the Bible but it was issued in the very place where even the Bible said the Ark came to rest.
The Bible does predict a sequence of Armageddon, then the Second Coming, then a 1,000-year period (the Millennium) . However, according to mainstream Christian theology, it does not “begin again” as an eternal cycle. Instead, it leads to a final, permanent state.
After the final judgment, the old order of things passes away. Revelation 21 describes a “new heaven and a new earth.” This is where your question about the Bible “beginning again” comes in. While there is a pattern (Creation -> Fall -> Judgment -> Renewal), the Bible insists it happens once.
The Bible presents a linear timeline: Creation -> Fall -> Redemption (through Christ) -> Consummation (New Creation). The Stoics believed in a circle: Creation -> Destruction (Fire) -> Exact Re-Creation -> Repeat.
What is clear, is that the entire universe is based on cycles. To reject cyclical understand of the world we live in, all because of the idea of a final conclusion seems to be absurd. For in life we are born, we live, and we die. That is the cycle of life – nothing is forever thanks to cycles. We make mistakes and hopefully we learn from them individually and progress. In that sense, I would disagree with the Stoics and a cycle of rebirth after Noah would make no sense if it always repeated the same. We know that there was a great flood from many sources. That is not just a biblical story. After that event, there was a “new earth” but it was not the same. Technology also has a cycle and that too advanced. In part, that is also way I disagree with the Stoics that each cycle does not repeat the same.
Does the the Bible insist it happens once? That is interpretation. It may be just a description of the current cycle whereas there was a civilization that was wiped out before with the Great Flood. Who really knows? It is always interpretation and opinion. All I can say is that there is a cycle. Does it all end permanently? Or does it indeed begin all over again between Gog & Magog?
Posted originally on CTH on March 2, 2026 | Sundance
The U.S. State Department has provided an updated recap for those who are travelling and those who are currently abroad and transiting through the region of conflict. [State Dept. Website]
“Following the launch of U.S. combat operations in Iran, Americans worldwide and especially in the Middle East should follow the guidance in the latest security alerts issued by the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. They may experience travel disruptions due to periodic airspace closures. The Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution.”
To get the latest updates visit http://travel.state.gov/destination and enroll to receive alerts directly at http://step.state.gov. Americans who need consular help can reach us 24/7 by phone: +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad) and +1-888-407-4747 (from the U.S. and Canada).
Posted originally on CTH on March 1, 2026 | Sundance
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a very popular tourist destination in the middle east with most travelers traveling to the playground of Dubai. Their economy and image as a safe and secure country are very important. As a result, they are keenly sensitive, proactive toward negative impressions and highly focused on international opinion/security.
Iran has been sending drones and cruise/ballistic missiles into the entire region; hitting Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and Israel.
The UAE is sharing how intense they are being targeted along with the network of defense systems being deployed to intercept the attacks.
UAE Ministry of Defense confirms we successfully shot down: 165 ballistic missiles, 2 cruise missiles and 541 drones fired by Iran.
On day 2, we shot down 20 ballistic missiles (8 fell in sea), 2 cruise missiles, and 311 drones. 21 drones hit civilian targets. {SOURCE}
This is a remarkable amount of Iranian firepower being targeted toward one regional nation. The air defense system of the UAE is highlighting the value in very proactive defense positioning. Quite remarkable.
“[…] – The UAE’s air defense today achieved a success rate of more than 96% in intercepting missiles after destroying 132 out of 137, and more than 93% in intercepting drones after intercepting 195 out of 209, for a total of 327 threats intercepted out of 346 with a success rate of around 95%. This is a figure that places it among the highest interception rates globally, which typically range between 85% and 95% depending on the type of threat and the conditions of engagement.” (source)
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This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America