Posted originally on Apr 27, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
Interview: Are We On the Brink of Economic Collapse
Tag Archives: Economic Confidence Model
The Collapse of a Nation Takes 13 years
Posted originally on Mar 11, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
In law, it has been a maxim that bad facts make bad law. Every lawyer knows that. That is why the government will seek the worst case to expand the law and apply it to others. This legal maxim is certainly not new. All of those who go to law school are never taught that this maxim was, according to my research, first stated by Julius Caesar in 63BC during the trial of the Cataline Conspiracy, which was the alleged scheme to over through the government no so different from the allegations against Trump in the January 6th event they have called an “INSURRECTION” to desperately try to apply the 14th Amendment that was written concerning the American Civil War.
In 63 BC, Julius Caesar delivered a speech to the Roman Senate where they had to protect him from corrupt senators like Cicero. This alleged conspiracy was led by the patrician Catiline, whom Cicero set out to prosecute because he was of the opposition. The allegation was that he intended to overthrow the Roman government. Cicero did his best to deny Catline every right a Roman would have in a legal constitutional sense. Cicero whipped up the mob, demanding their execution against the law. When the Roman Senate convened, Cicero stood up and asked what should be done to them, and his co-conspirators shouted out death.
The historian Sallust recorded the incident and tells us that Gaius Julius Caesar stood up and explained that Roman law forbids the execution of Roman citizens even for heinous crimes. He argued that executing the conspirators would thus require the creation of a radical and dangerous precedent in and of itself that would really overthrow the legal foundation of the government. Caesar argued:
“Whatever befalls these prisoners will be well deserved; but you, Fathers of the Senate, are called upon to consider how your action will affect other criminals. All bad precedents have originated in cases which were good; but when the control of the government falls into the hands of men who are incompetent or bad, your new precedent is transferred from those who well deserve and merit such punishment to the undeserving and blameless.”
I have explained that we have entered very dangerous times. Most historians have concluded that the entire conspiracy was invented by Cicero for his own political advantage. The fact did not add up to any true plot that would have even been remotely successful. They were summarily executed after a fierce senate debate without any constitutional rights on December 5th merely on the fake evidence of Cicero.
What they have unleashed against Trump is EXTREMELY dangerous. The allegations and summary execution of the fake Cataline Conspiracy by Cicero was a turning point that ultimately led to the Civil War and the collapse of the Roman Republic 13 years later. When we reach 2032, it will be also about 13 years from the entire conspiracy that began in 2019 to overthrow the United States as we have known it.
These prosecutions of Trump have done the same damage as the Catline Conspiracy – bad facts make bad precedent. They subjected Trump to two impeachments, and naturally that only provides an incentive to the Republicans to do the same to Biden. We now have confirmation that Fani Willis met with Kamala Harris BEFORE Trump was indicted. In New York, the courts are so corrupt that they are desperately trying to use legal persecution to bankrupt Trump. Even a $91 million award to this politically motivated E Jean Carroll or anyone else with such an absurd judgment would be dismissed by a real judge. There is no relation to any economic loss; she would never have earned that kind of money in her entire lifetime.
New York City should be kicked out of the United States because, like California, it opposes Due Process and everything that the Founding Fathers ever intended. The Rule of Law has collapsed, and with it, our nation, just as the Catline Conspiracy tore the soul out of the rights of Roman citizens. This was just one reason why Caesar crossed the Rubicon. It was the Senate that fled because the people never saw them as worthwhile—just corrupt political to rig the game.
History Repeats because Human Nature Never Changes
A Look Back At Socrates’ Forecasts from January 2020
Posted originally on Mar 11, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
My January 2020 interview with Andrew McCreath from BNN Bloomberg came up in recent conversation, and I was asked how I knew then that we’d be where we were at now. My answer is the same — I just follow the models. Some unfamiliar with my work merely looked at the headline “DOW 40,000” and dismissed my forecast as if it were my personal opinion. The Dow was 29240 on the day of the interview and while many feared a correction was coming I explained any dip was likely short-term in nature that that it would need to drop below 19000 to be truly considered a bear market and – BUT that fell on deaf ears. Even with the notable COVID dip that soon followed this interview, the market bounced right back to new highs thereafter and the models stayed on track over the long term. We experienced one of the most HATED bull markets in history. Despite all of the turmoil over the years, The Dow consistently went up for over a decade but all the talking heads insisted it would go down.
Now, those same analysts are mad that they missed the entire bull market. The short-term forecast called for a dip in 2020 and a chance to get in on the action (and COVID provided that dip in spades), but I explained that there would not be a change in the long-term trend as my computer indicated we would enter a private wave that would peak in 2024 and go off into a half-8.6-year cycle into 2028. This was all indicated by the computer system as no individual could have foreseen the events that have unfolded over the past four years.
All of the models were heating up for 2024. This is why we focus primarily on the long-term, and closely monitor capital concentration – follow the money. There was trouble in Europe and Asia, so the capital needed to flee, and that safe haven happened to be the US. It is America’s final years as the leading financial capital of the world as historically it always changes. America dethroned Britain after World War II and China is on it’s way to dethrone America after 2032.
I also pointed out that inflation would be the focal point for 2024, leading to interest rates changing and becoming a key factor for central banks globally. Volatility paired with the private wave, where capital must escape the public sector, would also lead to an uptick in the commodity cycle.
The business cycle cannot be manipulated, but it can be analyzed. However, that’s not how most market analysts work. Long-term, macro requires looking at every market throughout the globe, studying past behavior through historical patterns in price and time. The models do a tremendous job doing this.
Now, everyone is praising the rising Dow that will touch the 40,000 level. Of course, it is easier to say that now that we are almost there. Again, few believed me back in 2020, but here we are. Governments throughout the world are still in trouble and the money remaining on the grid is fleeing into the US. This is another reason why I watch the Dow a bit more closely than the S&P 500, as it provides a more accurate indicator of the big foreign money piling in from throughout the world.
For those who wrote in asking if I still stand by my claims – yes, the computer is still indicating that we are looking at a Dow that could rise to 65,000 by 2032, when we are likely to see a change in not just the markets but governments worldwide. I wish I could tell you something different.
Forecasting the Future Based on the Past
Posted originally on Feb 26, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
COMMENT #1: I was there at your 2011 WEC. I was dragged along by a friend. I remember well your forecast for war starting in 2014 and your forecast that the Dow would go to 40,000. I thought you were crazy. I bet my friend $100 you would be wrong. I had to pay up. Here we are at 40,000 and the Ukraine war started in 2014. I have to admit, I now see why institutions line up at your door and the government wanted your model.
You are a gift to mankind when we need clarity more than ever.
Thank you. It was the best bet I ever lost.
EP
COMMENT #2: everyone thought you were crazy years ago when you said dow 40000–here we are. it all came true.
ok see you soon
Brent
COMMENT #3: You are the only analyst who is consistent. I appreciate it is not your personal opinion like everyone else. That forecast the Dow would reach 40,000 is here and so is the war.
Stay safe. My whole family now listens to you.
HW
REPLY: Because my father was a lawyer who always hoped he would put “and son” on the door, I disappointed him in that regard. For whatever reason, I was always fascinated by what made the rise and fall of markets as well as empires, nations, and city-states. He did teach me about law from probably 7 years old. He handed me Aristotle to read for one summer. I handed that to my son in the family tradition when he became a teenager. Yet he also instilled an interest in history. I bought my first Roman coin for $10, probably when I was 10 to 12 years old. I could hold history in the palm of my hand. I saw the US take silver out of the coins in 1965, and I saw the parallel to Rome and how the same pattern emerged.
I also have to thank him for seeing the future of computers and pushing me into computer engineering, where in the ’60s, we had to study hardware design as well as software. I learned to code in machine language and connected the dots between programming and trading in the ’70s. Taking the family to Europe for the summer of 1964 opened my eyes to the world of currencies since we traveled all over from Sweden to Italy and everything in between.
That all set the stage for this journey I have been on, which I never set out to accomplish. Nevertheless, because of that worldview instilled in me by my father, I saw the world of finance, and that 1964 trip taught me, moving from one current to the next, that my home currency was really a mental language of value. I would have to listen to the price in whatever currency and then convert that in my head back to dollars. Only then could I rationalize if it was a fair price or not.
Visiting jail cell of Athens
Thus, I designed Socrates to look at the world and determine who will do what, for everyone will make a judgment call based upon their home currency, which is a language of value in their head. Here, you can see how the same market appears differently depending on your currency. I chose the name Socrates because he was really accused of knowing too much. They put him on trial for influencing the youth and executed him for sharing that knowledge.
All of that set me on the path to where I am today, but it also taught me a lesson that opinions are not the way to forecast. I probably have more experience than most. I have been to White House dinners, been on a board of a bank, met with board members of IMF and heads of state, addressed boards of the largest banks internationally, been an international hedge fund manager, and been called in by so many central banks as well as testified before Congress and been called in for just about every financial crisis around the world. That’s just the shortlist.
Because I specialized in currency, that has put me in the middle of almost everything since the 1970s. Currency was the mover and shakers behind the politics of the world. It was far more than simply trading buy here and sell there. It is why the CFTC had even subpoenaed me, demanding a list of all my clients worldwide so they could prove I manipulated the world because I was too influential in their view. I defended in court and won. They were always seeking to shut down the forecasting.
History repeats because humanity never learns. These people who push for war have no end game. Nobody ever seems to ask – what comes next. They took down Saddam Hussein and never once asked: What would happen if you overthrew a government?
They are doing that again with Russia. Victoria Nuland is highly dangerous. She personally hates Russians, and nobody has a view of what would happen if you overthrew the Russian government. Would you then have nukes for sale on the black market?
I have been behind the curtain. I have never witnessed such evil and incompetent people in charge. I suppose this is necessary as we head into 2032. I want to stress that these forecasts are NOT my opinion. They are not based on anything other than the raw economics and capital flows. They are not based on religious philosophy, nor did I introduce astrology. They are the objective view of the computer, the ONLY fully functioning AI system in the world monitoring the global economy with a track record of nearly 50 years.
Yes, people are saying I should float it now. It would be worth hundreds of billions. I don’t have the time or the energy to take that on now, and I have more than enough to support me until Scotty beams me up. Nobody respectful has been beating down my door who would maintain my dream to ensure it helps the world – not a small WEF billionaire click.
Interview: Martin Armstrong’s Socrates 2024 Election and Economic Forecasts — Part 1
Posted originally on Jan 31, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
Join Kerry Lutz and renowned economist Martin Armstrong for a captivating discussion centered around the Socrates computer model’s uncanny accuracy in predicting political and market trends since 1985. Discover the model’s compelling projection of a 61% chance for a Republican victory in the upcoming 2024 election and its implications for the political landscape. Delve into the erosion of confidence in government, potential election irregularities, and the profound impact of deviations from historical election norms. Gain insights into the influence of various political agendas, including discussions about veiled threats and the involvement of influential figures like Klaus Schwab and George Soros in funding Democratic elections. Transitioning to market forecasts, Martin Armstrong reaffirms his earlier prediction regarding the crucial turning point in January. Explore the far-reaching effects of global capital trends on stock markets, with a focus on how geopolitical events shape investment decisions and influence various stock market indexes. The conversation also tackles pressing economic issues, such as the potential consequences of increased taxes and selective debt default, the dollar’s reserve currency status, and the challenges faced by farmers and migration trends within the United States. Despite technical challenges, Kerry Lutz and Martin Armstrong exhibit adaptability and resilience, making this discussion a must-watch for those seeking insights into the ever-evolving world of politics and finance.
New Video on Models
Posted originally on Jan 27, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
Gold v Political Reform
Posted originally on Jan 14, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, My wife insists that I write to thank you for making me invest in stocks rather than gold. We split the money, and my wife invested in the Dow with your 2015 ECM turn, and I kept the gold. She beat me on the Dow since it closed in 2023, up about 250%. After reading your input into history, am I correct that this argument of fiat currency is erroneous? It seems like civilizations have risen and fallen, no matter the money system at the time. Could you elaborate on whether this is true or false?
Disappointed goldbug.
ANSWER: Not many men would admit their wives beat them in investments. Many things have been used for money, from bronze and clam shells to emergency paper currency. Those who insist that somehow gold is the only thing that is money do not know their history, and in the process, they have been misled seriously, which actually prevents them from seeing the real problem. Bitcoin is not money nor a medium of exchange because not everyone will accept it. A medium of exchange has to be something that everyone accepts.
There is a common theme that runs through ALL forms of money, and it has NOTHING to do with what is being used as the medium of exchange.
If we are objective, even metal has varied. Bronze was valuable because it could be used to make a tool or a weapon – hence the Bronze Age. It was first used in an ingot form. However, it was cast in the shape of an earlier form of money – sheepskins. Thus, the story of Jason is in search of the golden fleece.
The Romans cast bronze into ingots, and the value was equal to one head of cattle. The first coins of Rome are also bronze, beginning with just lumps and then taking the standardized weight and shape. In Turkey, they began with what was known as electrum, which was a natural alloy mixture of gold and silver found in the riverbeds.
The official first coins were struck in Lydia, modern-day Turkey. This was the first “fiat” money since it was declared a standard value by the king, who applied the image of a lion. This was his badge, certifying its value and weight.
For example, there was a metal that was second to gold, which was really just brass. Orichalcum was the legendary metal of Atlantis, whose buildings were said to have been clad in this rare metal that looked similar to gold. Orichalcum was mined in Atlantis in ancient times, but by the time of Plato, this metal was unknown. Orichalcum was a legend by Plato’s time when he mentioned it in his story of Atlantis in the Critas of Plato. Critias (460–403 BC) says that Orichalcum had been considered second only to gold in value and had been found and mined in many parts of
Nero also experimented with issuing the traditional bronze coinage in Orichalcum (brass). In order to render the Dupondius distinguishable from its half-denomination, Roman As a radiate crown was added to this denomination, leaving the traditional laurel wreath style portrait for the Roman As. The Dupondius reform prevailed until the end of Dupondius’s regular issues, while the experiment in brass died out following Hadrian (117-138AD).
A gold standard will not solve the problem because it is NOT what is being used as money but the system. If governments issued platinum coins and claimed these are worth $100,000 each, that is also fiat, where the government decrees the value. This common thread that runs through everything is the trustworthiness of the government. As long as we have socialism, where politicians promise things, they will always create more money to accomplish that. DEBT = MONEY that pays interest. People also point to the Fed and overlook the fact that it is Congress that creates the money by issuing debt that can be used as an asset in a loan.
Gold will not solve the problem. We need political reform FIRST and then worry about constraining government thereafter.
January 2024
Posted originally on Jan 1, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
Believe it or not, on New Year’s Eve, we still celebrate the ancient Roman religion/myth of Janus, who presided over the beginning and end. So one face looked at the past and the other the coming new year. In fact, January is named after Janus. He also represented the beginning and end of the conflict. In ancient Rome, the Temple of Janus stood in the Roman Forum with doors on both ends and inside was a statue of Janus, who is always represented as the two-faced god. The doors of his temple were open in times of war and closed to mark peace. This represented that things could change politically during a war.
Janus, therefore, represented war and peace. This may be particularly true as the Neocons are determined to usher in World War III. They are scheming to create war BEFORE the election just in case Trump wins overwhelmingly to trap him into a war that he cannot negotiate his way out of. The critical periods in 2024 will be January, April, and July/August 2024.
So when we celebrate New Year’s Eve, we say goodbye to the past and look forward to the future, a concept stemming from Janus. So much of today is traditions extending back thousands of years and terms like your Achilles’ Heel, named after the Greek warrior who died at the battle of Troy. It was said that when he was born, his mother dipped him in a sacred river to protect him but held him by his heel, which the water never touched. He was shot in his heel with an arrow and died. This statue shows him pulling the arrow from his heel as he died.
The Greeks were masters in creating stories handed down through the centuries—even the state of New Jersey in Latin in Nove Caesaria – the land of the new Caesar. Even Christmas Day, December 25th, was the feast day of the ancient sun god – Sol.
Our Republican comes from Rome, and Democracy comes from Athens. Legal Codes go back even before Babylon.
So when we celebrate New Year’s Day, let us hope the doors are slammed shut rather than wide open.
Forecasting the Hamas Attack
Posted originally on Dec 15, 2023 By Martin Armstrong
QUESTION: Socrates picked up the Hamas attack, marking July as the high with a directional change, then another directional change in September before the attack, a panic cycle into November, and another directional change. The market then bounced. NBC reported that people were speculating in advance of the attack, and it may have been Hamas or the Israelis shorting the market. Socrates picked it up well in advance. Do you think whoever was using Socrates for the timing? They are starting to pick up on your theory about markets moving ahead of events on inside knowledge. You have never received credit for your discovery. That in itself demonstrates the lack of integrity in the mainstream press.
Anonymous
ANSWER: I do not know. Our model cannot say who it is. It might have been the Neocons funding an offshore slush fund as in Iran Contra or the alleged drug trafficking by the CIA. My concern is they always seem to target me and claim I have too much influence because they do not believe anything can be forecast. Just listen closely to Larry Summers. He says the economy cannot be forecasted, and if you could, it would be because of influence.
Some people would love to shut me down and destroy Socrates. That was what the bankers did, complaining to the CFTC after the Russian collapse. It does not matter. They make up schemes, and the press runs with them and NEVER looks too closely. In my case, the bank stole the money and told the government they had no idea where it was. No journalist ever asked how anyone gets $1 billion out of a bank, and the bank has no idea where it is. That much money has to be wired out, and you then know where the wire went. It did not matter how insane the allegation was; NOBODY in the press ever asked that question.
Mainstream media and Wikipedia are nothing more than the American version of Pravda of the old Soviet Union days, meaning TRUTH. Boris Berezovsky wrote a begging letter to Putin asking him to come home and apologizing for his scheme to become president. The press reported that the government claimed Berezovsky committed suicide. His bodyguard said he was killed by MI6. He was part of the conspiracy to seize control of Russia in 2000. He even called me when I refused to invest $10 billion into Hermitage Capital Management to seize control of Russia with the Bankers and Neocons.
Then look at Jeffrey Epstein. Based on where they put him, I wrote a post on July 25th, 2019, asking: When will Epstein be found Dead? Before or After a Deal? He was dead by August 10th, 2019.
Then, the very guy who tied Clinton together with Epstein also commits suicide and hangs himself but also shoots himself with a shotgun. They called that suicide along with Epstein, and mainstream media always looks the other way. Did he shoot himself first and then hanged himself as he was dying? Or did he hang himself and then shoot himself? Did someone hand him the gun?
Some people do not want anyone forecasting anything that hits too close to home. I’m sure they do not like Socrates’ forecast that governments will not survive past 2032. They locked me up in civil contempt to stop the forecasting. They never could prevent this model from the market and still complied with the forecasts. On the floor in 2007, which was the precise day of the high in the Shiller Real Estate Index and the very day Goldman sold its time bomb, they were calling it Armstrong’s Revenge on the floor.
The one that got me into trouble was when I forecasted the collapse of Russia in 1998 and that the stock market would make its high on the ECM which was July 20th. The London FT covered that forecast, and they were claiming it would not have happened but for me. Then the 9/11 World Trade Center attack also took place on the precise day of the Pi Target of that wave.
The ECM Pi target even picked the day Hitler was offered the Chancellorship. That was before I was born, so how did I have the influence to make that happen?
The model picked the very day of 9/11, the ERM Crisis, where Soros made his fortune.
Then there was the very day Greece petitioned the IMF for a loan, for they were broke, starting the financial crisis and the massive migration into Europe to distract from the Greek debt crisis.
The ECM even picked the precise day of the very day of the low for the 1987 crash – October 19th, 1987. All of these events were forecast, and none of them had to do with my “influence,” so it does not matter if they kill me or call it a suicide like Berezovsky of Epstein; it will not change the forecasts. Sorry, 2032 comes if I am here or not. Or perhaps I hang myself, then shoot myself with a shotgun, and they call that as usual – suicide.
In 2009, I warned that the low would be in place and the market would rally to New Highs would unfold as we rallied into the 8.6-year wave in 2015. Barrons ran a story on June 25, 2011, stating the forecast for a long-term bull market. The Dow was only 11450 – about one-third of its present value. They thought that was a funny forecast.
The number of turns following the ECM is astonishing. You cannot make up this stuff. Nevertheless, the world rejects the idea of any ability to forecast outside of fundamental guessing.
Centinel2012 