Posted originally on Sep 17, 2025 by Martin Armstrong |
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to reduce the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points, setting the new target range at 4 percent to 4.25 percent. The Fed statement was clear, with one dissenter, Stephen Miran, who recently joined.
“Recent indicators suggest that the growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year. Job gains have slowed, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remains low. Inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated,” the FOMC said in a statement.
The market was widely expecting a 25 basis point cut in rates, as our computer has been forecasting for months that any cut would be in September, not before. However, there were the typical groups of questionable analysts touting that a 50 basis point cut could lead to a more significant market rally.
With the prospect of war on the horizon and a sovereign debt crisis brewing in the EU, there are realistic expectations for a continued decline. The risk is that Trump will interfere in the Fed, leading to a loss of confidence worldwide, which would result in unrealistic interest policy into early 2026. There remains the risk of another cut during the next quarter.
Posted originally on Sep 16, 2025 by Martin Armstrong |
President Donald Trump believes that companies should cease reporting on a quarterly basis and switch to semiannual reports instead. Trump said that the concept is “subject to SEC approval” and would “save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies.”
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett also once voiced support for semiannual reporting. “In our experience, quarterly earnings guidance often leads to an unhealthy focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term strategy, growth and sustainability,” the pair wrote in an op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal in 2018.
The SEC currently has a 3-1 Republican voting majority, but why does this seem to be a bipartisan issue? The issue is global, in fact, as Norway’s sovereign wealth fund recently proposed switching to semiannual reporting, and the UK and Europe do not currently require quarterly reports. Providing the consumer and investor with less, infrequent information alludes to bad news. Companies would willingly share praise of quarterly earnings with the public if they were bullish on their future, but in the current stagflationary trend, companies are cautious. Those at the top are losing confidence in their company’s ability to meet or exceed expectations.
Dimon and Buffett argued that the public’s attention should be on the long-term results. That aligns with Buffett’s buy and hold strategy but does not work for most portfolios that require investment strategy changes based on incoming data. In Trump’s personal predicament, the price adjustments due to tariffs are a reason to halt quarterly reporting.
Still, lowering transparency raises market risk, and the markets do not respond well to volatility. Columbia Law Schoolpublished an article that looked at the 2017 regulatory adjustment on the Tel-Aviv Exchange (TASE) when small-cap firms switched from mandatory quarterly reports to semi-annual updates. “The stocks of firms that chose that option dropped an average of 2 percent in price in a window of (-5,+5) days,” the analysis found. “Conversely, the stock of firms that chose to continue quarterly reporting rose an average of 2.5 percent over an immediate window of (-5,+5) days.”
The study also noted that while compliance costs dropped by 19.8% by eliminating two annual reports, the firms that chose to maintain four annual reports did not see a significant change in audit fees. There was a clear trade-off between cost reduction and maintaining investor confidence, the study noted.
The US markets cannot be compared to the TASE, and that 2% reduction in investment would likely rise for US firms, as consumer confidence is absolutely paramount. The proposition of semi-annual reports stems from the belief that companies will be unable to provide optimistic earnings reports. Reducing reporting fees is not the concern, and the repercussions are vast as massive portfolio shifts would ensue as investors and money managers need to reduce risks and would be less likely to take short-term risks if the data is unavailable to them. Reducing transparency would shake up confidence in the markets overall, and as mentioned, capital does not like volatility.
Posted originally on Sep 9, 2025 by Martin Armstrong |
Vietnam has erased and/or frozen 86 million unverified bank accounts as the nation surrenders to the globalist Great Reset. Anyone wishing to function in society must surrender their biometric data to maintain a bank account. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) claims that the measure was a system cleanup aimed at preventing fraud. In actuality, the measure is one step closer toward a national ID system that enables the government to control its citizens’ every move.
“This is a data-cleansing revolution,” said Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payment Department. “While the total number of bank accounts remains 200 million, by September 2025, once the legal framework is complete, all accounts without biometric data will be closed to prevent scams and fraud. After seven years of promoting non-cash payments, we are moving toward real efficiency.”
Vietnam recently implemented a nationwide digital ID (e-ID) system called VNeID that requires both citizens and foreign residents to surrender to the matrix and permit the government to store their personal information in a centralized database. Fingerprints, facial biometric data, photographs, passports, nationality, criminal records, and even medical records will be stored in the government database. Participation is not optional.
Project 06 launched in January 2022, hailed as a technological revolution to digitize the country. Project 06’s full name is the “Project on Developing Data Applications on Population, Identification, and Electronic Authentication to Serve National Digital Transformation in the 2022-2025 Period (Vision 2030),” which aligns entirely with the World Economic Forum’s plans for the Great Reset. The concept has been sold to the people as a convenience measure, but in truth, the aim is centralized, unrestrained control over the entire population.
Everything from banking to renting an apartment is linked to the digital ID. One wrong move and the government can completely erase someone from the system. One glitch in the power grid and the nation will come to a standstill. The Vietnamese government has the power to halt a person’s life instantaneously.
High-level Vietnamese officials met in Davos in January 2025, and shortly after, began voicing concern for bank accounts that were unverified through biometric data. Vietnam has been actively seeking OECD membership and signed a Memorandum of Understanding, citing that Project 06 will enable the nation to meet the OECD’s guidelines for regulatory reforms. Vietnam was one of the last nations disconnected from the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) that requires members to share banking information under the pretense of preventing tax evasion.
Vietnam signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC) with the OECD in March 2023, enabling automatic exchange of tax and financial information with over 146 jurisdictions. In early 2025, shortly after Davos, Vietnam joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR), broadening its commitment to AEOI and international tax transparency. In February 2025, Vietnam activated CbCR exchange relationships with 29 jurisdictions including the entire European Union.
Globalist entities defy democracy and demand the complete surrender of national sovereignty under the belief that the world population must be controlled by one centralized force. The majority of world leaders have willingly surrendered, unaware of the full extent of power a small unelected few will yield if the Great Reset succeeds.
Adult men are legally permitted to harass and intimidate young girls in the United Kingdom. Liberal governments insist that migrants should be above the law in all scenarios. These men are unvetted and from non-Western cultures that have an entirely different view of women. Crime has significantly spiked, and yet, the courts are punishing women who attempt to defend themselves from potentially dangerous men.
In Scotland, a 21-year-old migrant approached and began to verbally harass two young sisters. The man used the opportunity to gain 15 minutes of social media stardom and began filming the two young girls after intimidating them to the point where they are visibly upset and screaming for him to leave them alone. “I’m f**** 12 mate. You’re f***** battering kids mate. Coz you’re f***** kid bashers,” the younger sister said. The older sister valiantly protected her sister and warned the adult male, “Don’t f***** touch my little sister she’s f***** 12.” The foreign man continued to harass the girls and urged the children to “show the knife” as he filmed.
Authorities responded to the incident by arresting the 14-year-old girl for wielding a knife and an axe. The man was not arrested or questioned. Instead, he was permitted to film, harass, and publicly humiliate these young sisters for his own amusement because the UK government has abandoned all rationale.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 7.40 pm on Saturday, we received a report of a female youth with a bladed weapon in St Ann Lane, Dundee. Officers attended and a 14-year-old girl was charged in connection. She will be reported to the relevant authorities.” There was no mention of the man.
The man will not be charged under UK law. Any adult who saw an adult harassing children would immediately intervene. The UK government, however, intervened on behalf of the migrant and accused the schoolgirl of criminal mischief. This is the new norm across Europe—migrants are above the law.
Around 16% of the UK’s population is foreign-born. MIGRANTS COMMIT ONE IN FOUR SEXUAL OFFENSES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.There are countless stories of grooming gangs and rape across Europe, and the men are never charged. In fact, the Labour Party covered up the massive grooming gang scandal that was carried out by Pakistani nationals because they did not want negative press. The women, or young girls in this instance, are prohibited from self-defense. Where is the outrage?
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