Macron Hacked – But it Looks Like Anti-Establishment Anti-Soros Movement


Emmanuel Macron and his staff were the target of a major co-ordinated computer hack on Friday night with only 48 hours before the election. This is similar to the cyberattacks that hit the Democratic Party during Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign last year. Macron’s campaign announced Friday that tens of thousands of its internal emails and documents were leaked to the public via a file-sharing website Pastebin. The government has ordered that the French media is not aloud to publish the content of any messages to make sure the truth remains hidden. Mainstream media is following suit even outside of France. Some nine gigabytes of data were posted by a user called EMLEAKS to Pastebin, a document-sharing site that allows anonymous posting.  They posted: (see below)

The similarity with the DNC hack raises the question if this is part of a collapse in government confidence because the targets in the Clinton and Macron incidents were clearly against”establishment” and anti-democratic forces. The DNC and Macron supporters clearly have one thing is common – maintain the status quo and no real change to government.

It was on June 14, 2016, when Crowdstrike published a study commissioned by the DNC, in which they accused the Russian government of breaching the DNC’s computer systems. They have a debatable track record and I would not take them seriously. In fact, I highly question any real ability to trace a professional hack. When we were being attempted to hack into our systems back in 1999, we traced it to Langley, Va, but to do so it had to be live. Trying to trace who was trying to get in after the fact was pointless, and all we could do was trace it to a location. After the fact, it is impossible to trace for one can relay the origin around the world.

Of course everyone is again blaming Russia. This is raising a much more deeper issue. Is this really part of the rising civil unrest and not Russia? It’s not like there is no anti-establishment/anti-Soros movement. The politicians call it “populism” but that is what they all call any anti-government movement whenever government becomes too correct. Here is a cartoon from 1896 showing William Jennings Bryan as the Populist Presidential Candidate of the Democratic Party.

Putin himself has come out publicly in support of maintaining the EU. Everyone blames Russia and even claimed Putin supported BREXIT, Newsweek reported: “If you search Putin’s speeches or official statements since the official announcement of the British referendum in February 2016, you won’t find any mention of it.” Indeed, there is no indication that Putin wants to see the EU break apart either. A search of his comments produces the opposite result, which tends to make sense. There is no advantage to having the EU fall apart to Russia, but it may actually present greater risks.

It is popular to blame Russia for everything. That was an Obama strategy to deflect criticism about the content of the leaks from the DNC. The press has been touting Putin conspired with Trump to beat Hillary. The top Democratic member of the Senate Intelligence Committee,California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, says she has yet to see any evidence of collusion between Donald Trump advisers and the Russian government. Nevertheless, all the mainstream media continue to imply Putin and Trump conspired yet they never discuss the contents of the Podesta emails revealing how corrupt the DNC really was.

Macron is coming out and claiming there are fake documents being released. This seems to be a desperate measure and he hopes he will win so he does not have to verify anything he says. How can someone read 9 gigs of data in less than 30 minutes to claim they include some fakes? But there is something deeply wrong here. It seems doubtful that any documents incriminating Macron are fake. None were fake in the Podesta email hack. So if this is a common source being Russia, then why fake documents with Macron but not Podesta?

The hack is real and the incriminating evidence shows the same disdain for the French people as the Democrats had for the American people. What they reveal is clearly the conspiracy of the “establishment” to sell out the French people just as the Democrats did in 2016.

Macedonia 3-26-2017

The source of the hack is more of an anti-establishment anti-Soros movement that is building globally. Many people see this as a war against Soros and his attempt to recreate the world in his own vision. I have warned that I too oppose Soros, and I believe he is trying to fund civil unrest on a global scale.

Soros is allegedly behind funding civil unrest in Poland and Hungary and countless other places including the United States. Perhaps with hindsight we will see that Soros is trying to take over France.

 


Torrent Files

1)https://archive.org/download/Pierrpersongmail.com.7z/Pierrpersongmail.com.7z_archive.torrent
2)https://archive.org/download/langannerch/langannerch_archive.torrent
3)https://archive.org/download/quentin.lafay/quentin.lafay_archive.torrent
4)https://archive.org/download/Cedric.oen-marche.fr/Cedric.oen-marche.fr_archive.torrent
5)https://archive.org/download/Alaintourretgmail.com/Alaintourretgmail.com_archive.torrent
6)https://archive.org/download/Box_pierrpersongmail.com/Box_pierrpersongmail.com_archive.torrent
7)https://archive.org/download/xls_cedric/xls_cedric_archive.torrent
8)https://archive.org/download/Macron_201705/Macron_201705_archive.torrent

Zip/RAR Files

1)https://archive.org/download/Pierrpersongmail.com.7z/pierrperson@gmail.com.7z
2)https://archive.org/download/langannerch/langannerch.rar
3)https://archive.org/download/quentin.lafay/quentin.lafay.rar
4)https://archive.org/download/Cedric.oen-marche.fr/cedric.o@en-marche.fr.rar
5)https://archive.org/compress/Alaintourretgmail.com/formats=RAR&file=/Alaintourretgmail.com.zip
6)https://archive.org/download/Box_pierrpersongmail.com/box_pierrperson@gmail.com.rar
7)https://archive.org/download/xls_cedric/xls_cedric.rar
8)https://archive.org/compress/Macron_201705/formats=RAR&file=/Macron_201705.zip
Two smaller files with no ZIP/RAR

1)https://archive.org/download/Pierrpersongmail.com_drive.part2/Pierrpersongmail.com_drive.part2_archive.torrent
2)https://archive.org/download/Pierrpersongmail.com_drive.part1/Pierrpersongmail.com_drive.part1_archive.torrent

 

Healthcare Still a Mess


healthcare-1

QUESTION:  I read the obamacare repeal blog. I agree with the tax part. But removing pre existing conditions and most of the coverage protections when majority of families in US is one disaster away from bankruptcy and dying without coverage. is that right?

Thanks

T

ANSWER: No. There was a very simple solution. The healthcare industry should be nationalized as are utilities (not ownership) because it is a necessary monopoly. Any price increase must be approved and lawsuits must end. There should be predefined limits for damages not open-ended.

Anyone with problems of health that were uninsured should have been covered by Medicaid. There was no need to change the insurance of 300 million people for 20 million.

They made student loans non-dischargeable in bankruptcy to help bankers. What they should do is the reverse – exempt hospital bills from being able to garnish wages or assets or push anyone into bankruptcy.

Healthcare and Education have become abusive because they bribe politicians to keep their funds flowing. If they really had to compete, prices would decline.

Nobody should suffer and nobody should die because they lack money. That is how the justice system works. You get a court appointed lawyer who job is to lose – that have a near perfect record of losing every case about 99%. Any wins are by stupidity of prosecutors not brilliance of defense lawyers.

Hospitals have been doing their pest to put private practitioners out of business. You join the club, or you are out. Sound familiar?

Hunting Tourists in Europe for Fines


Milan Bus

COMMENT:

Hi Marty,

The hunt for taxes is really getting out of control.

I enjoyed a week of vacation in Italy and on my way back home I had a few hours to kill in Milan.
So i decided to spend some time in the City center of Milan before leaving from Linate airport.

I bought 3 bus tickets Linate – Milan, enjoyed my stay and on my way back I bought again 3 tickets.
On my way back to the airport the bus way half full, many of them tourists like me on their way to the airport.

Halfway 2 public officers got on the bus and started to check for valid bus tickets.
Although I nicely bought my tickets (6 in total) I did get fined because I did not validated my tickets in a machine that was nowhere in site.

Tickets where completely in Italian language, not even the bus driver pointed out to stamp the tickets.
No excuse was taken seriously. The fine had to be payed.

What stroke me was that only the non local persons on the bus got checked (easily identified by caring luggage).
All locals/native Italian where left alone.

After discussing this with Italian friends at the airport, I understood this was just common practice.
The Italian public officers are worse than mafia.
RVL

REPLY: Italy is becoming notorious for extorting tourists. If you rent a car, after one year they will start sending you traffic tickets and never identify where or when you committed some offense. One friend paid the first ticket, then the second, and stopped paying. When they sent me tickets from Rome, I refused to even pay anything. They then turned it over to a collection agency and I blew them off the phone so aggressively they never called again. They cannot legally turn it over to a collection agency with no validation of anything and they can never put it on your credit report. It’s just one giant fraud. The collection agency cannot prove you owe anything.

Use taxis and make sure they turn on the meter. They like to talk and pretend to be friendly to distract you from noticing they never turned on the meter. They then try to get you to pay twice or three time what the trip would have been.

Ah – the pleasures of tourism in Europe these days. France is no better. You have a red target on your forehead and it says sucker.

French Elections – A Sell Signal Long-term for the EU Regardless of Who Wins


2017 Election

QUESTION:  Martin, I know your computer has a prediction for the French election and I am sure you have an opinion, I am of the opinion that the French deplorables will come out in mass to vote for LePen. Vive la France!!! What is your opinion. This could be the event that crumbles the EU for good. Thoughts?

ANSWER: This is the craziest election because the computer projected Le Pen would beat both the socialists and the conservatives back in 2015. I gave that forecast back then when it really sounded nuts. It’s my job to say what the computer is forecasting. I have learned over the years that my opinion comes in second-place.

So strangely, the computer is correct even if Macron wins because all mainstream parties were defeated by Le Pen in the first round.

I really hope Le Pen wins because that will force Brussels to look in a mirror just once. If Macron wins, we are looking at a very hard landing for the EU next year. This will probably rise up even violently and places Europe at risk of civil war from the standpoint that Brussels has federalized Europe behind everyone’s back.

The French polls being reported put Macron at 63% and Le Pen at 37%. Her followers will be more passionate about voting and the polls are making a serious mistake as they did in BREXIT. They are trying to manipulate the election. Even Brussels is desperately trying to hand out huge bills to leave. They want €100 billion from Britain and they have threatened Italy and France if they try to leave. How do they enforce their demands? Invade with the federal army they are trying to build? Or will Germany, Netherlands and others lend troops to invade Italy or France? Oh, let’s see. The reason to federalize Europe was to eliminate European War. Hm!

CAC40-M 1998-2017

 

The CAC40 has finally broken the Downtrend Line on the Monthly Chart. This has not been because of bullishness for the French Economy – this is capital fleeing the government sectors and running into private assets. With BREXIT, the bankers support the government ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even HSBC said they would leave Britain if BREXIT passed and move to Paris. Hm. The European banking system is in serious danger of crumbling. A good stiff wind can blow it over. ANY bank that were to be stupid enough to move to the EU is a MAJOR SHORT for the long-term.

Italy Dependent On ECB “Buyer Of Last Resort” As Foreign Investors Dump Bonds Amid Capital Flight


Tyler Durden's picture

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Italy is increasingly dependent on the ECB to hold down bond yields as foreign investors dump Italian bonds like mad.

Eurointelligence bills this as Further Evidence of Capital Flight in Italy“. 

In a column earlier this week, Federico Fubini notes that, according to the Bank of International Settlements, in 2016 international banks reduced their exposure to Italy by 15%, or over $100bn, half of it in the last quarter of the year. The counterpart to this exposure reduction is the increase in the negative Target2 balance of Italy, which the ECB has already attributed to foreign investors selling into its asset purchase programs, and reinvesting the proceeds away from Italy. As a result of all this, Italy’s financial stability is increasingly dependent on the ECB.

The Capital Flight article by Federico Fubini is in Italian. Here is an unmodified snip from the article.

Distrust Widespread

Clearly, therefore, there is a conspiracy, but a widespread distrust of the direction being taken in the third euro area economy. Especially the banking system in Germany seems to have developed a deep-seated distrust. His exposure to the country late last year is worth little more than a quarter of that of the French banks, and now has dropped so much that is 30% below that that German institutions had on Italy at Euro 1999 debut. No other major banking system has implemented a retreat of these proportions, as if the integration of the single currency had never even begun.

The loss of one hundred billion dollars by large foreign banking investors would be a blow, not for purchases of Italian bonds by the European Central Bank. Throughout 2016 we continued at the rate of about ten billion Euros per month, on corporate bonds and especially on sovereign bonds. In fact the release of foreign banks is linked to the ECB intervention, because those have the opportunity to sell at the Institute of Frankfurt good part of their Roma government bonds. It is no coincidence if the public debt held abroad fell by 42 billion in just the first nine months of 2016, according to Bruegel. The irruption of the ECB in the market and the withdrawal of foreign banks are thus two sides of the same coin. The result is that the Italian financial stability is becoming more and more dependent on the support of an international institution, that next year will almost certainly cease.

I spoke about this process before in Target2 and Secret Bailouts: Will Germany be Forced Into a Fiscal Union with Rest of Eurozone.

One person I highly respect is adamant (or at least was) that rising Target2 does not represent capital flight.

But what else do you call it when foreign investors dump Italian bonds to ECB, the buyer of only resort

The Hunt for Taxes is Global


Hadrian-TaxRevolt

Trajan-Welfare-YouthTaxes are the root of all evil for this is the confrontation against the people that historically leads to civil unrest and then revolution. The American and French Revolutions were over taxes. Historically, even the Roman Empire was forced from time to time to grant tax amnesty as was the case in 119AD. You even have Roman Emperors such a Trajan (98-117AD) engaging in social legislation known as the Alimenta, which was a welfare program that helped orphans and poor children throughout Italy. The Alimenta provided general funds, food and subsidized education for children. The funding came from the Dacian War booty initially. When that ran out, it was funded by a combination of estate taxes and philanthropy.The state provided loans like Fannie Mae providing mortgages on Italian farms (fundi). The registered landowners in Italy received a lump sum from the imperial treasury. In return, the borrower was expected to pay yearly a given proportion of the loan to the maintenance of an Alimentary Fund – a kickback so to speak. Taxes and social programs have been a very long time.

Today, debts are never reduced. Consequently, governments only raise taxes continually. We see this is some of the richest countries in the world. Now Singapore is passing three amendments expanding the power of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) under the Property Tax Act. This new legislation is one that will hand the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) more enforcement and investigative powers. Singapore government is using the law to force people to pay more in taxes. There will be no privacy. Under this legislation, the tax authorities will be able to summon people to appear personally before them and to provide all information. They will be interrogated orally for investigation be it their own taxes, or another person’s property/properties.

Governments are moving ever more closer to totalitarian states eliminating privacy and human rights. This is a global trend that will come to a head for governments will never reduce their costs and will always demand more and more taxes from the people until the bubble bursts.

Obamacare Finally Repealed


TAX CUT

The American Health Care Act (HR 1628) finally passed by the House yesterday reducing taxes on the American people by over $1 trillion. The bill abolishes the most abusive taxes taxes imposed by Obama and the Democrat party back in 2010 known as Obamacare. The Democrats helped the insurance companies and burdened the youth trying to force them to pay for insurance they did not need to get insurance companies to cover people they would not.

Obama as a presidential candidate back in 2008, had promised repeatedly that he would NOT raise any tax on any American earning less than $250,000 per year. That was an outright lie. As always, they claim they will only tax the rich, but it never end up that way.

Antonin ScaliaIn KING v. BURWELL, 576 US –  (2015), the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare claiming it was a tax. There was no constitutional power for Congress to punish someone who did not buy health insurance. The only way to uphold such a power was under the taxing powers. Justice Scalia wrote in his dessenting opinion:

The Act that Congresspassed provides that every individual “shall” maintain insurance or else pay a “penalty.” 26 U. S. C. §5000A. This Court, however, saw that the Commerce Clause does not authorize a federal mandate to buy health insurance. So it rewrote the mandate-cum-penalty as a tax.

With the repeal of Obamacare, tens of millions of middle income Americans will get tax relief from Obamacare’s long list of tax hikes that have oppressed so many. The taxes that will be abolished are:

  1. The Obamacare Individual Mandate Tax which hits 8 million Americans each year.
  2. The Obamacare Employer Mandate Tax. Together with repeal of the Individual Mandate Tax repeal this is a $270 billion tax cut.
  3. Obamacare’s HSA withdrawal tax. This is a $100 million tax cut.
  4. Obamacare’s 10% excise tax on small businesses with indoor tanning services. This is a $600 million tax cut.
  5. The Obamacare health insurance tax. This is a $145 billion tax cut.
  6. The Obamacare 3.8% surtax on investment income. This is a $172 billion tax cut.
  7. The Obamacare medical device tax. This is a $20 billion tax cut.
  8. The Obamacare tax on prescription medicine. This is a $28 billion tax cut.
  9. Obamacare’s Medicine Cabinet Tax which hits 20 million Americans with Health Savings Accounts and 30 million Americans with Flexible Spending Accounts. This is a $6 billion tax cut.
  10. Obamacare’s Flexible Spending Account tax on 30 million Americans. This is a $20 billion tax cut.
  11. Obamacare’s Chronic Care Tax on 10 million Americans with high out of pocket medical expenses. This is a $126 billion tax cut.
  12. The Obamacare tax on retiree prescription drug coverage. This is a $2 billion tax cu

When There is no Justice – It is Time To Turnout the Lights


Just-us

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; I am a law student in London and have reviewed your case after going to the premier here in London of the Forecaster. My professor said your case was “stitched up” and is indicative of how corrupt the American judicial system has become. They ordered you to turn over assets, refused to ever define what those assets are to prevent any compliance, and then when the bank pleads guilty and agreed to return all the money, they simply said there was another fraud without ever charging you with anything. How can the American press simply refuse to ever tell the truth? Is this indicative of American justice?

BW

ANSWER: Sadly to say yes. The US government cannot be sued, only the agents of the government. Consequently, those in the Justice Department are not forthcoming about admitting a mistake. I do not believe that a prosecutor should be able to bring charges. There should be a panel set up where every prosecutor presents his case to them and they are the one’s who bring an indictment. That would remove the personal liabilities.

Wilson Edwin PaulEdwin Paul Wilson (1928 – 2012) was a former CIA and U.S. Naval Intelligence officer who was convicted in 1983 of illegally selling weapons to Libya. His daughter fought to get documents to prove he worked for the government uncovered. When one agency caught him, the CIA denied he worked for them. He was tried and convicted.

You can tell he was innocent because they kept him in solitary confinement – the ultimate torture. They did that to prevent him from having free communications outside the prison.

It was later found that the United States Department of Justice and the CIA had covered up evidence in the case. Wilson’s convictions were overturned in 2003 and he was freed the following year.

Wilson filed a civil suit against seven former federal prosecutors, two of whom are now federal judges, and a past executive director of the CIA. On March 29th, 2007, U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal dismissed his case on the grounds that all eight had immunity covering their actions.

The Supreme Court committed the the worst crime against humanity ever recorded demonstrating their bias. They declared that those who are prosecutors of judges have ABSOLUTE immunity from being prosecuted for wrongful prosecution even if they know they are abusing their authority because they might be afraid to prosecute someone if they could be prosecuted in return. The Supreme Court’s most anti-Constitutional decision ever rendered implemented a nationwide policy declaring prosecutors must have absolute immunity for acts committed in their prosecutorial role. This decision has unleashed the most abusive legal system ever on the face of this Earth. The most notorious court in history had been that of Hitler where it had a 90% conviction rate. That to the Supreme Court, you have been stripped of every possible human right since the dawn of civilization. The conviction rate now exceeds 98% in the US federal courts. Lawyers tell you to just plee because you cannot win. Nobody will hold prosecutors accountable and then most judges are former-prosecutors so good luck of pleading your case. There is not a vein of morality in these people. When you stare into their eyes, all you see is coldness of evil stripped of all human emotion. The Supreme Court has unleashed the total destruction of the Constitution and there is a growing call to acknowledge and address an epidemic of prosecutorial misconduct in the United States, but nobody will listen. The case was Imbler v. Pachtman and its perverse holding is uncivilized in any democratic state for it is the decision of a totalitarian regime.

Paul S AppelbaumThere is nothing you can do. There is so much corruption in the Justice System it is beyond belief. The ONLY reason I was released was because I had been accepted by the Supreme Court. To prevent them from ruling, the prosecutors had no choice but to release me. They had a dog and pony show. Dr Paul S. Appelbaum was put on the stand. He was the Forensic Psychiatry / Psychology from Columbia University. He testified that no time in contempt would alter my position. The Appeals Court recused Judge Owen and handed it to Judge Castel with the job of releasing me. Dr. Appelbaum testified my position was simple. The bankers wanted me silenced because their manipulations were failing after the collapse of Long Term Capital Management in 1998 and they blamed me for exposing what they we doing.

Appelbaum-CFTC Silence Me

Dr Appelbaum had to testify that there was no way I would comply and that civil contempt is coercive so if it lost its coerciveness then I had to legally be released. If you will not comply, then they have to release you. Someone had to say I would never comply in court in order to justify releasing me to prevent the Supreme Court from ruling. The real paradox is after I was released, the court had to rule I did not owe anything or else I would get a trial and I could start calling the bankers to the stand. They had no choice. How can you spend time in prison to turn over something for 7 years and then the court rules you do not owe anything? Anyone with common sense would ask what’s going on here? This was all about (1) having me turn over the code and (2) silencing me so the bankers could manipulate markets undisturbed.

Appelbaum Will Not Comply

When I did the premier for the Forecaster in Amsterdam, the third night was all the bankers in Europe. The moderator wanted to appear impartial and asked me what happened to the $1 billion that was supposed to be missing and nobody knew where it was. I turned to the audience and asked: Is it possible for $1 billion to be missing from a bank and nobody knows where it is? The audience all laughed. You either wire it out, write check, bust into the vault with a tank, or beam it out like in Star Trek. It was a totally ridiculous accusation and not a single member of the press even bothered to ask was that possible? How incompetent is that? It would be like reporting someone is standing trial for murdering his wife while she is present in the courtroom. The press always protected the establishment.

In an interview for the Forecaster, David Glovin of Bloomberg News at least spoke to the director of the film while the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker all refused to be interviewed:

DAVID GLOVIN: And there is a legal issue that develops in terms of whether or not Martin is…this is proper, that he can be held for so long, without being convicted of a crime.

Katrin: So is that a normal thing…?

DAVID GLOVIN: No! It’s totally, completely not normal. (15:12:13:10) Martin…in a white color federal case, Martin was held longer in prison, better known as civil contempt charges, then any one else.

Marcus: It didn’t reach you, that they were hiding the evidence. I think it didn’t even reach the public, because nobody is listening and this is what makes me so crazy, because nobody knows about it.

DAVID GLOVIN: I mean…I don’t know. I can’t answer about what other people did, I can’t answer what judges heard, what did I hear? I heard Martin and I wrote stories about him, I went to prison and I wrote here’s the guy, but again I would present the other side, because that’s what you do. That’s what we do, at least. They say X, they say Y, sometimes X may seem so outrageous and Y may not really hold water or etc. Yes…

(16:13:54:12)

I am by no means unique. Only a fool would believe what government says in any case. Take Bernie Madoff’s case and why did he plead guilty so fast? That was to shut down the investigation for he was protecting someone. The banks claimed they had no idea it was a fraud. Madoff was asked if the banks knew once he was in prison. He said of course. In fact, only a fool would believe the banks were not also involved. I was interviewed by a journalist at the NY Post. I was asked if the bank was laundering money in my accounts for the Russian Mafia and Colombian drug cartels “as they were doing in Madoff?” She knew the truth, but that interview was never published.

There is nothing to be proud of in the American legal system. Fair trials are simply IMPOSSIBL

March Trade Deficit Shrinks To Smallest Since October


Tyler Durden's picture

The US Trade Balance shrank to $43.7 billion in March, from an upward revised $43.8 billion in February, marking the month’s deficit the smallest since October and less than the conesnus estimate of $44.5 billion. Imports declined by $1.7 billion, or 0.7%, to $234.7 billion, while exports dipped fractionally more, or 0.9%, even as the recently weaker dollar did little to boost US exports. Notably, the US trade deficit with China was $31.4 billion, followed by the European Union at $10 billion. The trade deficit excluding petroleum stood at $35.82b in March.

The details: the deficit decreased in March 2017 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit decreased from $43.8 billion in February (revised) to $43.7 billion in March, as imports decreased more than exports. The previously published February deficit was $43.6 billion. The goods deficit increased $0.4 billion in March to $65.5 billion. The services surplus increased $0.4 billion in March to $21.8 billion.

The March decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $0.4 billion to $65.5 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $0.4 billion to $21.8 billion.

Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $9.4 billion, or 7.5 percent, from the same period in 2016. Exports increased $38.0 billion or 7.1 percent. Imports increased $47.5 billion or 7.1 percent

Exports

Exports of goods and services decreased $1.7 billion, or 0.9 percent, in March to $191.0 billion. Exports of goods decreased $2.1 billion and exports of services increased $0.4 billion.

  • The decrease in exports of goods mainly reflected decreases in industrial supplies and materials ($1.8 billion) and in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($0.9 billion). An increase in capital goods ($0.7 billion) partly offset the decreases.
  • The increase in exports of services mainly reflected increases in financial services ($0.1 billion) and in maintenance and repair services ($0.1 billion).

Imports

Imports of goods and services decreased $1.7 billion, or 0.7 percent, in March to $234.7 billion. Imports of goods decreased $1.7 billion and imports of services decreased less than $0.1 billion.

  • The decrease in imports of goods mostly reflected decreases in capital goods ($0.9 billion) and in industrial supplies and materials ($0.7 billion). An increase in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($1.1 billion) partly offset the decreases.
  • The decrease in imports of services mainly reflected a decrease in transport ($0.1 billion), which includes freight and port services and passenger fares.

Broken down geographically, the March figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Hong Kong ($2.9), South and Central America ($2.6), Singapore ($0.5), United Kingdom ($0.5), and Brazil ($0.2). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($31.4), European Union ($10.0), Mexico ($6.5), Japan ($6.5), Germany ($5.0), South Korea ($2.5), Italy ($2.1), Canada ($1.9), India ($1.7), OPEC ($1.6), Taiwan ($1.1), Saudi Arabia ($0.8), and France ($0.1).

  • The deficit with Japan increased $1.6 billion to $6.5 billion in March. Exports decreased $0.2billion to $5.3 billion and imports increased $1.4 billion to $11.8 billion.
  • The deficit with South Korea increased $0.6billion to $2.5 billion in March.Exports increased $0.1billion to $3.9 billion and imports increased $0.8 billion to $6.5 billion.
  • The deficit with France decreased $1.2 billion to $0.1 billion in March.Exports increased $0.6billion to $3.3 billion and imports decreased $0.6 billion to $3.5 billion.

While still a significant hole, the declining deficit trend will likely provide some satisfaction to president Trump; that said the US has a monumental task ahead of it if it wants to shrink the gap to zero.

 

How Small Events Can Cascade into Contagions


 

COMMENT: Dear Martin Armstrong,

This very unusual video about dominoes is 2½ minute and shows how a small domino can knock over big ones. I remember you writing about a small Austrian bank, Creditanstalt, that in 1931 was the first sign of the economic depression. Maybe these dominoes can illustrate what happened.

I hope you are fine and thank you for this blog

L

REPLY: This is a great example of how a small event can set off a contagion. This is exactly how it works within the global economy