European State of the Union Through the Eyes of a 23-Year-Old


european_union_3d_map_1600_clr_17749

I happened to have a conversation with someone from Portugal who was neither a trader nor an investor, just an observant 23-year-old. When I asked for her take on the state of affairs in Europe, she candidly replied:

“Yes, there are groups of people who expect civil war. Actually, the situation in Europe at this moment is a big mess. Those in the Baltic countries are afraid of Russians, others are in a big panic because of ISIS, and the other third are upset about EU not to mention a mess with refuges and etc… In general, war industry brings amazing profit. So it is a question of time when history will repeat once again, as you say.”

Censorship? Manipulating the News?


COMMENT: Dear Mr. Armstrong,

Is there a bug in my computer or has the latest the Nigel Farage video been removed from your blog? I also can’t find the recent more private video on migrant problems in Germany, which was rather shocking for us as the German press is not allowed to automatically report on migrant problems. It’s not a free and independent press anymore.

Thank you for your very interesting and excellent blog.

Kind regards,

ml

REPLY: The videos are still there on my end. It appears that perhaps someone in Germany is blocking those videos. Very curious.

China Corporate Defaults – Good, Bad, or just Ugly?


Shanghai-Stk-Exchnge-1

A fertilizer producer in north China default on bond payments has demonstrates a positive aspect that the state governments are not so eager to bail-out failed companies. This will be a positive step forward in transforming China into a major capital market. For now, it is still not ready for prime time.

Of course many are touting this as a reason to buy gold. It seems they will distort anything to justify a buy. Gold will rise on a sustainable basis when the GENERAL PUBLIC see that government is in trouble, not companies per se. That is starting to materialize in Europe and the election is starting to expose the corruption in the United States as “super delegates” hand Hillary the nomination nullifying the vote of the people. Bernie wants to keep going and on this issue he is correct. You cannot pretend this is a democracy and then do everything in your power to make sure the people really choose nothing.

That is the key to the future. When everyone wakes up and simply say – OMG. This is a joke! The 2016 election may lead to a real political revolution by 2018 overturning Congress entirely.

Saudi Arabia Banning Short Selling Against the Currency Peg


Saudi Arabia Flag

Saudi Arabia has banned financial products that amount to a short-position against the rial. The measure indicates high degree to which the peg is starting to come under attack. The government has announced a wave of layoffs in the public sector. This is an absolute first. The Middle East was considered beyond economics because of oil. Everything is changing.

We will see the same situation with respect to the Euro. If Britain does not leave the EU, it will stand in silence and what its financial standing in the world collapse. Brussels will adopt the same type of policies and just make it illegal to disagree with their policies.

Innovation — Unemployment — Business Cycle


CAPITALISM

QUESTION:

Hi Martin,

Thank you for everything that you do.

Comments have been made – to which you yourself have been alluding to for some time – that technology is replacing jobs at such a rapid rate, unemployment will be a major issue in the very near future.  However, these commentators conclude that this proves that capitalism has failed.

Obviously, since capitalism has been interfered with for decades, it can’t have failed since it has not been allowed to be practiced unfettered.

My question is, if we were living in a capitalist system without intervention, how would the system correct itself?  What I mean is since corporate profits depend upon consumption, and consumption depends upon wages from the masses, then how would capitalism prevent very high unemployment?  (This goes back to your example of Henry Ford providing higher wages to his employees, so they could buy the cars he was producing.)

Thank you in advance for any insight you can provide on this very critical issue.

Danny

ANSWER: People who claim that capitalism has failed are seriously burdened with propaganda. Capitalism is freedom, and socialism is effectively the lack of freedom. True, we have done nothing but interfere with the economy since the theories of Marx and Keynes were adopted. Yet, Paul Volcker admitted that this “New Economics” has failed. This whole theory was based on the idea that government could manipulate society to produce utopia, but they have never been able to achieve that. Larry Summers has admitted that publicly, but the socialists do not listen because they want to rob their neighbors.

Innovation comes in waves and technological advancements always displace jobs. The problem has been that people do not improve their worth, yet they demand pay hikes just because they want more money. If you go to Miami, the number one language is Spanish. They want to raise the minimum wage to $15 instead of encouraging people to learn English to broaden their worth. Anyone who has computer skills starts at $15+. So why should people without employable skills earn the same as a person with technology skills?

I had a friend who was a pilot during the Korean War. He told me that many of the old pilots could not make the transition when the new jets came in because they were unable to respond as quickly to the increased speed. Every field moves through the same advancement curve. Unions attempt to freeze skills by demanding more money rather than teaching people to adapt and move with the cycle.

The system will always correct itself as it has done throughout history, long before Marx/Keynes. It is always subject to the business cycle, which is influenced by many factors including weather. Capitalism began with the Black Death. Before then, it was a highly socialistic world or serfs. You worked the land and kept 20% of the food in return for a house to live in, and you could run into the castle when danger came. The Black Death killed about 50% of the workforce and the scarcity of labor resulted in landlords being willing to pay wages. The shortage of labor gave birth to capitalism. So, there will always be cycles to the economy.

Romans invented corporations. They bought and sold shares in the marketplace, and that freedom of capital created Rome (not centralized planning). The system has always been self-correcting. Technology will advance, which will displace jobs and cause unemployment to rise. In turn, corporate profits will be brought down and war will typically emerge to thin the herd. Eventually, the next generation becomes better equipped to ride the next wave of innovation.

Brexit Poll: Latest Trend Finds “Leave” Group Now Ahead of “Remain”…


I really do hope that the Brits leave the EU as I would hate to seem them go down when the EU collapses in the next couple of years. Lets get it over with and at least try and save the United Kingdom.

BREXIT v Yellen


 

BREXIT v Yellen

The debate shifted following the Jobs Report, and people now assume that the Fed will not raise rates. Hence, we have a bounce in gold and the euro. That makes no fundamental sense regarding gold since higher rates indicate inflation and lower rates warn of deflation. The real confusion has been that most only focus on domestic issues. The euro would bounce if BREXIT won, giving a bit of a bid there. Nevertheless, the typical US analysts and newspapers pay no attention to BREXIT and just assume it is a European thing.

To the contrary, BREXIT is a huge deal for if the “real” vote prevails if we do see an exit that the establishment cannot prevent. Sure, the pound will get hit at first, but thereafter, a contagion of separation movements will appear and contribute to the demise of the euro. That will have a broader long-term influence on capital flows pouring into the USA.

Two-bedroom condos in Brooklyn are now going for over $1 million. This is all foreign capital pouring into the USA on cash deals. The same is taking place in Miami, and this is why the IRS demands title companies to pierce corporate veils to get at the real owners only in New York and Miami.

Fed Excess Reserves

BREXIT can have a profound impact on the dollar because it has the potential to send mountains of cash fleeing Europe to the USA.

Then we have Donald Trump, and a victory there would really change America. Trump is talking about a 15% corporate tax rate that would match Hong Kong. If this policy were to happen, we would see $2 trillion in offshore corporate cash return to USA. Then if the Fed wisens up and fails to raise the 0.5 rate on excess reserves or eliminates it, as it should, there will be another $2 trillion freed up.

With $4 trillion free, the only place will be equities. We will see the Dow come into that sweet spot where you can buy it with two hands and watch it rally to test the 23,000 level in the years ahead. Nobody seems to expect a rally and that makes this even more explosive.

So for all the Fed watchers worried about a quarter point change in rates, they are missing the international picture. We have issued a special report on BREXIT for one simple reason:

 

BREXIT IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN A RATE CHANGE

Switzerland to Vote of Universal Free Income for Life


No WOrk

Well, believe it or not, the younger generation is extremely socialistic. Just tell them they will get something for nothing and they are on board. I suppose this is what we get for telling them to pay for schooling that they cannot find a job with. Now in Switzerland, they pushed for an actual vote on Universal Income where they will get a monthly payment of 2500 Swiss Francs paid to every citizen, for their whole life, no matter where they live, and they do not have to work to get anything nor did they ever have to earn anything. This is more than most people earn in retirement check after a lifetime of work. The solution, just give’m the money now. Why work for it? Seems like a waste of a life. They just want to cut to the end. This is the legal way to just rob your neighbor so you do not ever have to work.

Well, the proposal to guarantee a minimum monthly income of 2500 Swiss francs lost 76.9% to 23.1%. It could have, over time, lead to scrapping unemployment, social and pension payments, but it would have been in a dead-heat race with bankrupting the state, which probably would have came first. It was promoted by Daniel Haeni and Enno Schmidt who are really out of touch with how an economy even functions. This same idea has been talked about in Canada and the USA.

ECB Begins Buying Corporate Bonds


ECB European Central Bank

The European Central Bank (ECB) will start buying corporate bonds as officials’ stimulus program announced in March. This will broaden the Quantitative Easing expanding it to a new asset class in their desperate struggle against deflation. The Governing Council, meeting in Vienna, left the main refinancing rate at zero, the deposit rate at minus -0.4 percent, and as a component of its asset purchases of 80 billion euros per month, the ECB will begin buying corporate bonds beginning on June 8.

This type of stimulus is at least far better than buying government debt. Governments do not create jobs that truly contribute to economic growth because government produces nothing. Unfortunately, buying the corporate bonds from bankers will only means they are relieving the banks of paper they do not want. The ECB is hopelessly fighting against the head wind of deflation because they do not control the fiscal side of the balance sheet. That means which they try to stimulate the economy, we have the European Commission plotting against the economy by attempting to enforce taxation and raise taxes at every possible turn on top of creating a Byzantine system of serious over-regulation that prevent business expansion and formation.

The superficial view of how this will stimulate the economy is always good for a bounce as people trade within the noise of a market defines by resistance and support. However, the long-term prospects to this actually reversing the trend or “stimulating” anything is hopeless.

Comments from France


June 2nd Protest France

COMMENT #1: 

The current protests are not “The People against the State” and therefore it is not a revolution. It is the Left (CGT union and alike) against the Left (Presidency); it is a family affair like currently between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp.
When these people rioted in my street, the REAL PEOPLE on their balcony INSULTED them. How could the real people walk in the streets with these bastards to make a revolution? They gather 2-3% of the votes in elections ! They ravaged everything for 20 minutes including a bank. We called the police who’s station is just 100 meters always and they didn’t show up until 20 minutes after their departure ! The police is not using water cannons and they are releasing within hours those who burn police cars and injure policemen.
The real risk is when the REAL PEOPLE clash with the PROTESTERS. That would bring an interim military cabinet who would delay the 2017 election. There is already General Didier Tauzin who announced he is running for President.
REPLY: They are calling this the Second French Revolution, but you are correct, it is not the people so much as the left unions. We have the same problem in the States. It is government workers against the people.
French Polls
COMMENT #2: 

Hello Mr Armstrong,

A single image that would suffice to understand the situation in France : Hollande is at a historical low approval rate, 11%.

The common reaction is : “How come he enjoys so much support ?”.

Honestly, I think Hollande does not get it. He likes to show how satisfied and proud of his achievements he is, which people see as a permanent provocation. He’s as clueless as you can get.

On the other hand, Manuel Valls is an arrogant, angry and brutal prime minister who often uses a martial rhetoric to silence anyone who questions his judgment. The man is known for having some serious mental problems. Be sure that if this man could, he would turn France into a dictatorship overnight.

Hopefully, Hollande is weak and unable to make decisions. He’s known to be a pathological liar, including in his private life. Being a natural born coward makes it impossible for him to take any responsability, even the smallest. When a problem occurs, he usually run away after having scapegoated someone else for the mistake.

Regards.

Elysée Palace
COMMENT #3:
Hello Mr Armstrong,

Some news from France where the global atmosphear is looking like a complete moral and political meltdown.

The french president François Hollande, his ministers, especially the head of the Ministry of the Economy Emmanuel Macron, can’t travel in France. Ministers have been ordered to reduced their trip to a “strict minimum”. The bill to reform the job market regulations is at the epicenter of the broader french society existential crisis.

Here is a link for the record related to the great difficulty the government experience to move within France :

I discuss extensively with thousands of French from various background and regions. I think the anger is at an all time high. It’s pure hatred for the government, politicians and, because the leading one, Hollande and his prime minister Valls. People are more and more convinced that France is becoming a “socialist dictatorship”.

Thanks to police forces, Hollande is still alive, but if it were not for the cops, the crowd would already be sitting in the Elysée Palace.

I talked with a a person from Belgium leaving in Romania with high levels connexions in Brussels. They’re terrified about 2017 for they know Alain Juppé (former Chirac Prime minister, crooked as possible) or Sarkozy won’t be able to lead France for it is more of the same and people are all too aware of it.

I remember you told me that your computers do not see Sarkozy winning. I don’t see Hollande winning. And i don’t think Le Pen can win. It looks like a dead end at this stage.

Regards.

REPLY: This is not just a French Revolution, it is an American one as well. We are seeing it in Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Greece. Everyone has simply had enough of politics as usual. The elite around the world are in a complete state of denial.