Secretary Wilbur Ross Assesses Aluminum Anti-dumping Duty Against China…


From the U.S. Dept. of Commerce – Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the affirmative preliminary determination in the first antidumping duty (AD) trade case the Federal government has initiated since 1985. This historic self-initiated AD investigation concerns imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China.

This investigation, and the companion countervailing duty investigation, was initiated by the Enforcement and Compliance division of the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration under the authority granted to the Secretary in the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. The CVD investigation reached a preliminary determination in February 2018 and is still being adjudicated.

“The Department of Commerce will do everything in its power to stop the flow of unfairly subsidized or dumped goods into U.S. markets,” said Secretary Ross. “We will continue to strictly enforce U.S. laws to defend American workers, industries, and communities from the scourge of unfair and unbalanced trade.”

In its preliminary finding, Commerce determined that exporters from China have sold common alloy aluminum sheet in the United States at 167.16 percent less than fair value.

As a result of today’s decision, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from importers of common alloy aluminum sheet from China based on these preliminary rates.

In 2017, imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China were valued at an estimated $900 million.

The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump Administration. Since the beginning of the current Administration, Commerce has initiated 118 new AD and CVD investigations – this is 59 percent more than the 74 initiations in the last 514 days of the previous administration.

Antidumping duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of the unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 449 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.  (read more)

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President Trump Drops $200 Billion M.O.A.T on Red Dragon (Beijing)…


When you plant your tree in another man’s orchard, you might end up paying for your own apples; it’s a risk you take…

….and President Trump knows how to use that leverage better than anyone could possibly fathom; because in this metaphor Beijing relies upon the U.S. for both the seeds and the harvest.  President Trump drops the $200b M.O.A.T (Mother of All Tariffs):

White House – On Friday, I announced plans for tariffs on $50 billion worth of imports from China. These tariffs are being imposed to encourage China to change the unfair practices identified in the Section 301 action with respect to technology and innovation. They also serve as an initial step toward bringing balance to our trade relationship with China.

However and unfortunately, China has determined that it will raise tariffs on $50 billion worth of United States exports. China apparently has no intention of changing its unfair practices related to the acquisition of American intellectual property and technology. Rather than altering those practices, it is now threatening United States companies, workers, and farmers who have done nothing wrong.

This latest action by China clearly indicates its determination to keep the United States at a permanent and unfair disadvantage, which is reflected in our massive $376 billion trade imbalance in goods. This is unacceptable. Further action must be taken to encourage China to change its unfair practices, open its market to United States goods, and accept a more balanced trade relationship with the United States.

Therefore, today, I directed the United States Trade Representative to identify $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for additional tariffs at a rate of 10 percent. After the legal process is complete, these tariffs will go into effect if China refuses to change its practices, and also if it insists on going forward with the new tariffs that it has recently announced. If China increases its tariffs yet again, we will meet that action by pursuing additional tariffs on another $200 billion of goods. The trade relationship between the United States and China must be much more equitable.

I have an excellent relationship with President Xi, and we will continue working together on many issues. But the United States will no longer be taken advantage of on trade by China and other countries in the world.

We will continue using all available tools to create a better and fairer trading system for all Americans.

~ President Donald Trump

Historic Chinese geopolitical policy, vis-a-vis their totalitarian control over political sentiment (action) and diplomacy through silence, is evident in the strategic use of the space between carefully chosen words, not just the words themselves.

Each time China takes aggressive action (red dragon) China projects a panda face through silence and non-response to opinion of that action;…. and the action continues. The red dragon has a tendency to say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing privately.  The Art of War.

President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask.

It is specifically because he understands that Panda is a mask that President Trump messages warmth toward the Chinese people, and pours vociferous praise upon Xi Jinping, while simultaneously confronting the geopolitical doctrine of the Xi regime.

In essence Trump is mirroring the behavior of China while confronting their economic duplicity.

President Trump will not back down from his position; the U.S. holds all of the leverage and the issue must be addressed.  President Trump has waiting three decades for this moment.  This President and his team are entirely prepared for this.

We are finally confronting the geopolitical Red Dragon, China!

The Olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace and war. The symbol in any figure’s right hand has more significance than one in its left hand. Also important is the direction faced by the symbols central figure. The emphasis on the eagles stare signifies the preferred disposition. An eagle holding an arrow also symbolizes the war for freedom, and its use is commonly referred to the liberation fight of righteous people from abusive influence. The eagle on the original seal created for the Office of the President showed the gaze upon the arrows.

The Eagle and the Arrow – An Aesop’s Fable

An Eagle was soaring through the air. Suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt the dart pierce its breast. Slowly it fluttered down to earth. Its lifeblood pouring out. Looking at the Arrow with which it had been shot, the Eagle realized that the deadly shaft had been feathered with one of its own plumes.

Moral: We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.

“Markets”

 

Crash & Burn & the Sixth Wave


QUESTION: Martin, as all members do, I really do thank you and appreciate you for your knowledge and insight. I am a business owner – Real Water and do approximately $10 million in annual sales right now. As a concerned citizen, I have also run for political office and was elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 2015. With Republican control, our legislature pushed through the largest tax increase in our State’s history in the name of more money for education (I led the opposition against the tax, but failed in preventing it). Of course, our latest school ratings came out and we are still ranked at the bottom – 50th. More government is NOT the solution!

I completely understand we are headed for a financial crash and burn. You have frequently stated that the only reason you are doing what you are doing is for your posterity. Other than personal preparation, extra food, don’t be in bonds, etc., what do you believe is the most beneficial thing we can do to help our country come out of the crash and burn with more freedom and limited government (like our Founders so emphatically intended) as opposed to the other potential of totalitarianism that you frequently warn us about? What is the most effective way to rally the troops so to say to help push our civilization in the proper direction?

To an elevated lifestyle,

 

ANSWER: The Government always thinks that throwing more money at something make it better. I have NEVER seen where that has EVER corrected any such trend. The problem lies in the total mismanagement. Governments are simply incapable of operating even a bubblegum machine. They completely fail to understand the economy, human nature, or society as a whole. The only way to actually correct such a problem is to privatize. That installs actual management and employees must actually perform. Government unions demand benefits and they negotiate with themselves. This is why the entire socialist agenda is collapsing.

I had a friend who was a postmaster. He had to tell an employee he would be checking on them a day before to ensure they were doing their job. The union made them provide notice so the employee would not actually be caught doing anything. This is how government unions have destroyed themselves and society. This is what we are headed into a crash and burn because governments do not respect the people and assume we are an endless supply of revenue.

All government agencies should be privatized and then the services they provide would actually work. Going to the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles was a case study in how not to run a government. The people were nasty, you would wait in line and they would be having a conversation with the next employee about what they would do after work and actually make you wait even 5 minutes while they did this right in front of your face. The attitude was WTF do you want now. Just absolutely nasty and hostile. No supervision and nobody even forces them to actually work. Always a horrible experience – not just one time. Ask a question and you NEVER got a straight or correct answer.

It is a structural management problem. There is no accountability and you can look at any government agency and you will see the same pattern. Increase the budget and there is NEVER any actually change. They cannot improve because there is a lack of management ability.

What does the Crash & Burn look like? It all depends upon how long we have to wait to achieve it. If we get the start of a Crash & Burn in 2021, then there is real hope of a soft-landing. If we are looking at stalling and refusing to change as taxes continue to rise, we will see that last wave of totalitarianism and then what comes AFTER 2032 is a very hard landing. That type of decline historically results in civil war and/or revolution.

All I can offer is what has happened before historically. My personal opinion would be just a guess and that is not what clients want to hear. So the sooner the better and the longer this is stalled the worse it gets.

This hostile attack against Trump is symbolic of the bureaucracy fighting to keep its power. They think if they can get Trump out of office, they will return it back to normal with a career politician. They are seriously wrong for the people voted for Trump because they are fed up with the system as is. This was not a personal popularity contest that Trump won. It is the rising tension of the people. There is no going back. This can only lead to a confrontation between the left and right. Choose where you want to live based upon the political orientation of that area. The area I live in was conservative which voted overwhelmingly for Trump. That is a bit safer than a left area for they ultimate come after you because they see you are the problem, why things are not going their way.

Euro Members to INCREASE debt before the ECB stops buying!


 

Reliable sources are reporting that the European member states are going to rush out debt to try to lock in the low-interest rates before they start to rise and the ECB is still buying very aggressively. We are likely to see new issues of debt to increase before the ECB stops buying

IG Hearing: Senator Lindsey Graham, John Kennedy and Ted Cruz Question Segments….


As anticipated the majority of the Senate Judiciary hearing was a two-step.  Most of the questions presented to Inspector General Horowitz and FBI Director Chris Wray did little to advance the understanding of the issues at hand.  There was only one round of questions, several missing senators, and no senators for the duration. The hearing wrapped up early shortly after 5:00pm.

Here’s the only three question segments that approached the central issues.  We discover that former FBI Director James Comey is the subject of an ongoing investigation.  We also discover there is a grand jury impaneled.

Senator Lindsey Graham:

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Senator John Kennedy:

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Senator Ted Cruz:

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Senate Judiciary Hearing: IG Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Chris Wray – 2:00pm Livestream and Discussion Thread…


The Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Chuck Grassley presiding, is scheduled to hear testimony today from DOJ-OIG Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher Wray about the findings of the IG report of FBI conduct during the Clinton email investigation.  The hearing time is 2:00pm Eastern.

Livestream LinkAlternate Livestream LinkAlternate 2 Livestream Link

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This is the first time IG Horowitz will field questions since releasing his report last Thursday. Unfortunately, most of the members of this committee are benefactors of the DC Swamp, and less likely to confront Horowitz and/or Wray with tough and specific questions. It is likely that only Chairman Grassley has actually read the 568-page report.

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White House Responds to Southern Border Migration Crisis, Policies and Family Separations – With a Historic Recap…


The White House responds to the growing influx of illegal aliens seeking to exploit a loophole through the use of children seeking asylum to enter the U.S.

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To really absorb the history of this issue we must analyze current year events through the reality of prior year events.

We must look into the way-back machine. To that end we previously presented the entirety of:

    • A March 2014 Final Report from the National Center For Border Security – HERE
    • A June 2014 (Declassified) Intelligence Report on UAC’s and Central America – HERE
    • A June 2014 Congressional Research Report analyzing the prior four years of Central American UAC’s (Unaccompanied Alien Children) – HERE
    • A July 2014 internal White House and Dept. Of Homeland Security communique outlining the UAC crisis. – HERE
    • A January 2014 DHS and HHS Summary of UAC directives to include Contract Needs – HERE

…and we share them again today.  Because these reports are so critical to the full understanding we have also embedded them in their pdf. entirety near the end of the border crisis timeline:

TRINIDAD-AMERICAS-SUMMIT-CHAVEZ-OBAMAApril 2009 – After a Mid-East trip to Egypt to deliver his Cairo speech, President Barack Obama travels to South America for the “Summit of the Americas“. The summit included thirty-four South American countries. Obama wanted to promote his point that relations in North and South America can be heavily improved, especially after age old ideals on immigration and commerce are dropped. Hugo Chavez warmly embraced Obama and provided a gift, a book titled “The Open Veins of Latin America“. (link)

December 2009 – November 2010 – 100% of all political effort was leveraged to create and institute the ACA or ObamaCare. All media oxygen is focused on ObamaCare 24/7.

November 2010 – President Obama is “shellacked” in Mid-Term elections. Loses control of the House of Representatives to Republicans. Biggest electoral defeat since 1918.

January 2011 – Emphasis, and political strategy changes. “Comprehensive Immigration Reform“, ie. “amnesty” becomes the mainstay approach toward retention of political power. Throughout a contentious Republican primary season, to assist their ideological traveler, the U.S. media kept the issue on the front burner.

May 2011 – President Obama travels to the Rio Grande sector of the border to push for his immigration platform (ie. Amnesty). He proclaims the border is safe and secure and famously attacks his opposition for wanting an “alligator moat”.

November 2012 – Election year campaign(s). Using wedge issues like “War on Women”, and “Immigration / Amnesty”, candidate Obama promises to push congress for “amnesty”, under the guise of “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”, if elected. President Obama wins reelection.

December 2012 – Immediately following reelection President Barack Obama signs an Executive Order creating the “Deferred Action Program“, or DACA. Allowing millions of illegal aliens to avoid deportation. (link)

According to their own documents and research, this Deferred Action Program is what the Central American communities are using as the reason for attempted immigration. In both the border control study and the DHS intelligence report the DACA program is mentioned by the people apprehended at the border in 2013 and 2014.

Obama Jesus Pose

deportation

Chart Source: 2013 DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics – Enforcement Analysis – Table 39:

May 2013 – President Barack Obama visits South America. Following a speech Mexican entrepreneurs, Obama then travelled to Costa Rica, his first visit as president. In addition to meetings with Costa Rican President Laura Chincilla, Obama attended a gathering of leaders from the Central American Integration System, (CAIS). The regional network includes the leaders of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. (link) President Obama meets with the leaders of the Central American Countries.

Summer 2013 – Numbers of Illegal Unaccompanied Minors reaching the Southern U.S. border from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua doubles. 20,000+ reach U.S. Southern border by travelling through Mexico. Media primarily ignores. (link)

uac graph 2

October 2013 – At the conclusion of the immigrant travel season. White House receives notification that tens of thousands of illegal Unaccompanied Minors should be anticipated to hit the Southern U.S. border the following Summer [2014]. An estimated 850% increase in the number of UAC’s (from 2012’s less than 10,000) was projected. (link)

January 2014 – In response to the projections, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posts a jobs notification seeking bids to facilitate 65,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children. The posting outlines DHS and Health and Human Services (HHS) requirements for contractors to fulfill the job. (link)

February 2014 – President Obama visits Mexico for “bilateral talks”, in an unusual one day visit (link):

deferred action chart

Spring 2014 – With a full year of successful transport and border crossing without deportation – DHS begins to notice a significant uptick in the number of criminal elements from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua; which have joined with the UAC’s to gain entry. Internal DHS documents reveal the “refugee” status is now being used by both criminal cartels, and potentially by Central American government(s) to send prison inmates into the U.S. (link)

June 2014 – As expected tens of thousands of Unaccompanied Alien Children from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua hit the border and the headlines. Despite the known planning, and recently discovered prior internal notifications, the White House claims it did not see this coming. However, internal documents including a –DHS Border Security Alert– show that in March, fully three months earlier, the White House was aware of what was coming in June.

June 20th 2014 – Congressional leadership and key Latino Democrats from the Democrat Hispanic Caucus meet with representatives from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

[…] “As long as (U.S.) immigration reform is not approved, the exodus of children to the United States will continue,” Jorge Ramon Hernandez, the senior representative of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, said at the talks. (link)

June/July 2014 – By the end of June the media have picked up the story and it’s called “A Border Crisis”. However, the White House is desperate to avoid exposure to the known criminal elements within the story. (link)

IMMIG-BORDER

July 3rd, 2014 – President Obama requests $3,700,000,000 ($3.7 billion) in supplemental budget appropriations to deal with the border crisis. Only $109 million is for actual border security or efforts to stop the outflow from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Growing concern amid Democrats brings out a defense position that George Bush created the crisis in 2008.

Hidden inside a massive budget request is President Obama seeking legal authorization to spend taxpayer funds for lawyers and legal proceedings on behalf of the UAC’s and their families.

In essence congress is being asked to approve the executive branch’s violation of previous immigration law. Section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits representation of aliens “in immigration proceedings at government expense“. President Obama is seeking authorization to use taxpayer funds to provide the Illegal Aliens with government lawyers.

It becomes increasingly obvious the spending request is to facilitate President Obama in expanding the services toward ALL illegal immigrants throughout the U.S.

The stealth nature of the request is brilliant. Once the funds are established and appropriated the administration can then use millions of taxpayer funds to essentially integrate not only the UAC’s but any illegal alien currently within the system.

The $3.7 Billion becomes the amnesty program Obama has sought but been blocked from achieving.

illegal alien 10

July 9th 2014 – Fearful that U.S. political interests might bring a halt to the outflow already in place, and/or actually result in a backlog of travelling migrants stuck at the border inside Mexico:…

[…] Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina held a joint press conference in Playas de Catazaja, Mexico, to officially announce an agreement to make it easier for those making the illegal journey to the United States from Central America, to cross into Mexico.

The Southern Border Program to Improve Passage, will provide for more border checkpoints along Mexico’s border with Guatemala, and offer more protection and even emergency medical care to those making their way north. The illegal aliens will receive a so-called Regional Visitor’s Card, according to El Universal. (link)

July 10th, 2014 – Facing pushback from congress as well as sticker shock at the amount he is requesting, President Obama sends his DHS team to Capitol Hill to ramp up anxiety, and threats of consequences:

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday that as many as 90,000 unaccompanied child migrants could cross the southwest border before the end of this fiscal year in September.

That will place a huge strain on immigration agencies, which will badly need new money to get through the summer, Johnson says.

The 90,000 number — the highest yet given by the administration — is spelled out in written Senate testimony by Johnson as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who must also deal with the border crisis.

“We are preparing for a scenario in which the number of unaccompanied children apprehended at the border could reach up to 90,000 by the end of fiscal 2014,” Johnson’s testimony reads, and he bluntly warns that without an infusion of new funds, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will run out of money in August. (read more)

Not only did the White House know what was going to happen this year, as far back as 2012; but the White House actually appears to have constructed the events to fall into a very specific pattern and done NOTHING to stop the consequences from the DACA executive order issued in December 2012.

The amount of U.S. taxpayer money spent on the Illegal Alien Children, through HHS and DHS grants, since 2010 is staggering:

• Between Dec 2010 and Nov 2013, the Catholic Charities Diocese of Galveston received $15,549,078 in federal grants from Health & Human Services for “Unaccompanied Alien Children Project” with a program description of “Refugee and Entry Assistance.”

• Last year, the Catholic Charities Diocese of Fort Worth received $350,000 from Department of Homeland Security for “citizenship and education training” with a program description of “citizenship and immigration services.”

• Between September 2010 and September 2013, the Catholic Charities of Dallas received $823,658 from the Department of Homeland Security for “Citizenship Education Training” for “refugee and entrant assistance.”

From Dec 2012 to January 2014, Baptist Child & Family Services received $62,111,126 in federal grants from Health & Human Services for “Unaccompanied Alien Children Program.” (link)

When you see figures like that, it makes you wonder if the recent media claims, from the “faith based” leadership Obama met with last week, are based on religious charity toward unaccompanied minors – or maybe a vested financial interest in continuance of the program itself.

border fence 7 UAC

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UAC middleschoolers

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President Trump Meets With National Space Council…


President Trump delivers remarks at a meeting with the National Space Council:

Angela Merkel Down for the Count?


There are some saying that Angela Merkel will be overthrown in a matter of weeks and others saying that there is no plot to remove her. Nevertheless, scandal rising in Germany over the refugee crisis keeps brewing behind the curtain. Cyclically, 2018 may be a peak in Merkel’s career despite what people are trying to deny.

Angela Merkel was born in Hamburg, West Germany, on July 17, 1954, and was actually trained as a physicist. She entered politics after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. She eventually rose to the position of chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union party becoming Germany’s first female chancellor. Moreover, Merkel has actually become the best-known politician in Europe whose face is more recognized than anyone else in Europe no less Brussels.

Merkel grew up in a rural area of the German Democratic Republic or East Germany. She studied physics at the University of Leipzig, earning a doctorate in 1978, and later worked as a chemist at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences from 1978 to 1990. She has obviously not made the connection between physics and the economy for if she just looked at the laws of thermodynamics she would have an epiphany and realize that there MUST be a business cycle.

Nevertheless, with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Germany was caught up in a euphoric moment and many expected East Germans to have the same work-ethics as those in the West as well as an understanding of the way things really worked. Merkel joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party and was quickly appointed to Helmut Kohl’s cabinet as minister for women and youth. She rose simply because she was a woman and from the East. It made good political propaganda. Merkel would later serve as minister for the environment and nuclear safety.

The political tide began to change and with Kohl’s defeat in the 1998 general election, she was named secretary-general of the CDU. Then in 2000, Angela Merkel was chosen party leader, but she lost the CDU candidacy for the chancellor to Edmund Stoiber in 2002.

Finally, on October 10th, 2005 Germany was on the brink of a new and volatile political era until a deal was cut that made the conservative leader Angela Merkel the country’s first ever woman chancellor. It came only after three weeks of a long, complicated dispute over the previous month’s indecisive election, Gerhard Schröder announced he was resigning. Angela Merkel became chancellor leading a “grand coalition” between her Christian Democrat party and its Bavarian ally the Christian Social Union, and Schröder’s Social Democrats.

Many questioned just how long such a coalition would last. Nonetheless, Schröder’s resignation came with a huge price tag. The Social Democrats emerged from days of secret negotiations with eight seats in Germany’s new cabinet and virtually all the big portfolios – including foreign, finance, health, environment, and transport. Merkel gave up tremendous economic power to become chancellor with the CDU taking only six cabinet posts. Merkel denied that the Social Democrats had got all the best jobs, and instead called it a “new beginning for Germany”.

Therefore, Merkel became Germany’s first female chancellor since it became a nation in 1871 who was also from East Germany fulfilling a dual role as the first female chancellor and the first East German chancellor to take control of Germany. Merkel was then elected to a second term in 2009.

Angela Merkel was reelected for a fourth term as chancellor in September 2017 with a vote that was well below 35%. However, although her CDU party held its majority in the Bundestag, because of her policy on allowing all the refugees into Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 13% emerging as the new third-largest group in parliament for the first time a right-wing political party regained any power since 1961.

Following the 2017 election, political problems surfaced by mid-November 2017 in the attempt to form a new government coalition collapsed. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) pulled out of talks with the CDU/CSU and the Greens, over differences regarding the refugee crisis.

The entire refugee crisis is clearly going to be Merkel’s downfall. Then in March 2018, the SPD voted to renew its coalition with the CDU after its leader Martin Schulz resigned. This step finally cleared a path for Merkel to retain the position as chancellor, but she would have to give up financial control to the socialists to maintain her political power for a fourth term.

Nevertheless, the refugee crisis and the mismanagement of the entire issue has resulted in clashes between Angela Merkel and German interior minister Horst Seehofer. There is a serious political crisis brewing where Merkel could be forced out of her chancellor position.

Is Draghi Really Ending QE?


Mario Draghi said the euro-area economy is strong enough to overcome increased risk,  and therefore this justifies the European Central Bank’s decision to end bond purchases bringing to an end a decade-long failed experiment. The truth behind this statement is starkly different than being portrayed in the press. Draghi also pledged to keep interest rates unchanged at current record lows until his personal term is finished next year. There is the contradiction for if the ECB stops buying debt, who will do so at artificially low rates of interest?

Draghi knows full well that he has utterly destroyed the bond markets in Europe. The ECB has also made it clear that they will REINVEST when the bonds previously purchased mature. The Federal Reserves has taken the opposite position and will NOT reinvest allowing their balance sheet to shrink.

If the economy is that strong, then why not end the QE right now? The fallacy here is that this has nothing to do with the economy. The ECB has simply had the member states on life-support. Interest rates will soar in Europe on long-term debt or there will be no buyers. Pension funds cannot buy 10-year bonds at even 3% when they need 8% to cover liabilities.

The statement by Draghi is creating a total paradox. You cannot keep short-term interest rates where they are and charge negative rates for deposits and simultaneously end QE and expect to sell bonds to the public at insanely low levels.

The press interprets this as the ECB with ending QE because they are “betting that the euro-area economy is robust enough to ride out an apparent slowdown amid risks including U.S. trade tariffs and nervousness that Italy’s populist government will spark another financial crisis” reported Bloomberg. What is seriously omitted here is that the member states will be UNABLE to sell long-term debt at these low levels to the private sector and the free market will send rates higher. This means that the states will have to then raise taxes to stay within the EU criteria and that will further suppress the European economy.

We are simply at the end of the road of this complete insanity. So buckle up. Get ready for the ride of a lifetime and make sure you keep your hands and feet safely inside the vehicle. Is the ECB risking a total collapse in public confidence when they discover you cannot keep rates artificially low and end QE simultaneously