Pi Day Contributions


Armstrong Economics Blog/ECM RE-Posted Mar 14, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Pi Day history compliments —-
On March 14, 1883 KARL MARX MADE HIS MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO MANKIND . . .
HE DIED.
Happy Pi Day!

SR

REPLY: Also, Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, on March 14th, 1879.

Toxic Currencies – Good for the Yuan


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Mar 14, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Chinese yuan has out-traded the US dollar by volume for one of the first times in recent Russian history. The dollar was king in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, but that is no longer the case after Moscow branded the dollar a “toxic currency” along with the euro. Toxic currencies accounted for 87% of exports from Russia at the beginning of 2022, but this figure fell to 48% by the start of the new year. The Bank of Russia has reported that the proportion of USD/ruble pair in exchange fell to only 36% in February. The central bank is calling this a “broad structural transformation of the Russian economy.”

As “unfriendly countries” and their “toxic currencies” band together, those on the outskirts are winning. China has become the new go-to country for new trade partnerships as it bypasses Western-imposed sanctions. Toxic currencies represented 46% of imports in December 2022 but were at 65% in January 2022 before the war. In contrast, the yuan’s share rose from 4% to 23% during that time.

Those who were previously shunned from the big table are now pulling up a chair to discuss economic prospects with China. This will make it much easier to phase out toxic currencies because more people are willing to accept the yuan. The confidence in the yuan is growing. Everything occurring may seem odd, but it is precisely on target. As I mentioned in my report “China on the Rise,” China will dethrone the United States to become the world’s leading economic powerhouse by 2032. It’s just time.

Kevin O’Leary Stuns CNN Panel Telling Them “Biden Just Nationalized U.S. Banking System”…


Posted originally on the CTH on March 13, 2023 | Sundance

The CNN panel was jaw-agape as Kevin O’Leary appeared earlier today to inform them the decision by Joe Biden to guarantee every deposit in U.S. regional banks is akin to “Joe Biden just nationalized the U.S. banking system.”

O’Leary is correct, and anyone who is holding assets like stocks or bonds in U.S. banks now needs to reconsider the disappeared line between government and the bank assets.  If the government can assume, control and backstop every single account balance within the bank, the government can assume and control all activity of the bank.  WATCH:

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Downstream…. think about the consequences.  Remember the frozen bank accounts in Canada as a result of defining truck protest supporting Canadian citizens as domestic extremists?

Now think about the government no longer needing to ask the bank to take action, the govt has a regulatory ability to demand the bank to take action.  This takes “debanking” to an entire new level.  People are wondering why cryptocurrencies went up in value today.  There’s your answer.

Comrade citizens, at the end of this rainbow of bank nudges, we will find ourselves at the footsteps of a government controlled central bank digital currency.

Charles Payne Hits the Nail on the Head – The Biden Action is a Bailout for Silicon Valley


Posted originally on the CTH on March 13, 2023 | Sundance

March 13, 2023 | Sundance | 279 Comments

The installed occupant of the White House said something today that is just brutally false on its face.

From the words typed into the teleprompter of Joe Biden you hear, “No losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund.” Who the hell does Biden think are paying those “fees”? Those fees paid into banks, and then out of banks, from all around the nation are paid by the people using the bank, that’s taxpayers.

The United States government does not create a single dollar of revenue. They transfer revenue from people to processes and systems of government. Charles Payne has a good perspective on this entire dynamic. {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:

Charles Payne: This was a bailout of Silicon Valley elites.

BREAKING – U.S. Treasury Steps In – All SVB Depositors Will Have Access to Their Money on Monday


Posted originally on the CTH on March 12, 2023 | Sundance 

BREAKING NEWS – The U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve Board, FDIC and Joe Biden collectively announce that *all* depositors with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) will have access to their funds – regardless of amount deposited.  Also, all senior bank management has been terminated.

This announced action appears to cover those under FDIC protection ($250k or less) and those above FDIC protection (deposits greater than $250k).  The only vulnerability is that SVB “shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected.”

WASHINGTON DC – The following statement was released by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, and FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg:

Today we are taking decisive actions to protect the U.S. economy by strengthening public confidence in our banking system. This step will ensure that the U.S. banking system continues to perform its vital roles of protecting deposits and providing access to credit to households and businesses in a manner that promotes strong and sustainable economic growth.

After receiving a recommendation from the boards of the FDIC and the Federal Reserve, and consulting with the President, Secretary Yellen approved actions enabling the FDIC to complete its resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, California, in a manner that fully protects all depositors. Depositors will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13. No losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer.

We are also announcing a similar systemic risk exception for Signature Bank, New York, New York, which was closed today by its state chartering authority. All depositors of this institution will be made whole. As with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, no losses will be borne by the taxpayer.

Shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected. Senior management has also been removed. Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law.

Finally, the Federal Reserve Board on Sunday announced it will make available additional funding to eligible depository institutions to help assure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors.

The U.S. banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation, in large part due to reforms that were made after the financial crisis that ensured better safeguards for the banking industry. Those reforms combined with today’s actions demonstrate our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors’ savings remain safe. (LINK)

Will this action help stop any contagion related to California’s largest bank?

…The odds are, yes.

Despite Friday’s action to stop trading of FRB, with this action, I doubt First Republic Bank (FRB) is now at risk.

Fallout from SVB Collapse Begins Sending Twitches Through Tech Sector, While Congress Meets With Treasury


Posted originally on the CTH on March 11, 2023 | Sundance

The 44-hour collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is having some reverberations amid the tech sector as companies who carried unsecured deposits with the bank are facing an uncertain future.

Tech company Roku streaming services holds $487 million in cash reserves at SVB representing 26% of their liquid holdings. Those unsecured funds are now tenuous, depending on what steps are taken next.  Additionally, Etsy an online brokering retailer for mostly independent sellers, has also run into a snag with processing disbursement payments to those same sellers.  Etsy used SVB as a depository and payment transfer provider to the merchant accounts.

According to Axios, “Circle’s usd coin (USDC), the second largest stablecoin in the world” is also in a tough position “because a portion of its cash reserves were held at SVB, which the U.S. government took control of on Friday.”  These and other ancillary issues are now part of a larger conversation about whether SVB is representative of a weakness that may impact other banks.   However, current consensus is that a contagion effect is not expected.

SVB was exclusively a tech sector bank.  Small to mid-size tech companies who relied on SVB may have some immediate issues; but the larger banking sector seems much more solid and less exposed to the long-term treasuries that SVB was holding. “People are used to having zero interest rates and easy money, and it’s gone. And there are people who will manage that well and people who will not,” former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin said during an interview on “Cavuto Coast-to-Coast” Friday. {link}

Meanwhile, congress is meeting with treasury and FDIC officials to discuss if taxpayer intervention is needed.  {insert eyeroll here}:

March 11 (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers met with the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Friday to discuss the collapse of SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O), Coindesk reported on Saturday citing a source.

Democratic U.S. Representative Maxine Waters held briefings with officials from the two regulators and the Treasury Department, hours after the startup-focused SVB’s collapse, the report said.

[…] Separately, Representative Ro Khanna said in a tweet on Friday that he reached out to both the White House and the Treasury Department to discuss the situation with the bank.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday met with banking regulators on the collapse of SVB, as she and the White House expressed confidence in their abilities to respond to the bank failure. (more)

Nothing makes the Nope Meter peg with greater emphasis than hearing the name Maxine Waters and bank bailout in the same sentence.

I already made my position pretty clear yesterday.  NO BAILOUTS!

The tech sector has a tremendous amount of capital at hand.  Let the tech companies who used SVB as a launch vehicle sell some of their own stock holdings and backstop the bank as an investment mechanism.  There is no need for the U.S. taxpayer to get involved.

I am more concerned about this failure being used as a tool to initiate a conversation about digital currencies.  The ‘never let a crisis go to waste‘ team, are likely chomping at the proverbial bit….

Tucker Carlson Outlines SVB Collapse and Ponders Impact of Cultural Marxism on Outcome


Posted originally on the CTH on March 10, 2023 

For his opening monologue Friday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson outlined the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and ponders the deeper story that lay underneath the sudden failure. WATCH:

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