Tag Archives: WEF Universal Basic Income

Mar 9 2020

South America – Economically & Politically on Fire


Armstrong Economics Blog/South America

Re-Posted Mar 9, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

South America has been intertwined with socialism and corruption. Political stability and economic recovery for South America have been a wish that has seemed to be always very elusive. But the hopes and dreams have never been fulfilled. In many countries, politicians with sole claim to power are pushing to power, heavily indebted countries are facing bankruptcy, the rich are getting richer, the poor are poorer, demonstrators and police are fighting bloody street battles. An entire continent is in turmoil — South America is on fire! There appears to be a political-economic crisis that is coming to a boil.

Today, South America appears to be unraveling economically and politically. It was only a decade ago when its future seemed bright and all we heard was about investing in emerging markets. Its economy was growing whereas poverty and income inequality were in decline. Yet, the economic boom came on the back of commodities. The abundance brought by high commodity prices even allowed counter-cyclical policies at the time of the US subprime crisis. As always, foolish investors pour in money without regard to historical problems with repaying debt.

As the economies implode and political chaos rises, commodity production will decline over the next two years and this may set things up for the commodity boom into 2024 based on a SHORTAGE OF SUPPLY rather than outright demand.

 

Mar 9 2020

2022 & Repo Crisis


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Mar 9, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION:  Mr. Armstrong I Hope your health is holding up with all the viruses. My first question is Feb 13 the Fed printing money increased by 13 billion however it is buying short term debt as in 1-day debt how long can they keep this up it is a fake stimulative of the stock market right?

The second question Do you still see something happening to Trump in 2021 ?

Thank you

S

ANSWER: The year 2022 looks to be more of an issue for the president. I do hope Trump is there for 2021, because I fear a career politician will not understand the Repo and Monetary Crisis. They will do whatever the Deep State instructs them to do. The Repo Crisis is in no way similar to people’s understanding of the crisis. I am not concerned about the amount of money. They are going to be forced to be the market-maker in Repo permanently.

Categories: Economics
Mar 8 2020

I Am Not A Communist, Bernie Sanders


“THE BERNIE DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH, METHINKS”

“Obviously I am not a communist,” Sanders likes to proclaim. We beg to differ.

Recently, Bernie has proclaimed his love for communists such as Castro.

He spent his honeymoon in the Soviet Union. He expressed admiration for the communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua. He spouts communists clichés such as ‘our struggle,’ uniting workers, and talks about revolution. He wants to transform the Democrat Party into the Socialist Party. Some would say that has already happened.

Sanders wants to install the final communist planks in America. Some are already here, such as a graduated income tax and the centralization of credit via central banking, but Bernie wants state-run, ‘free’ health care, free college education, and control over industries, which will be shut down in the name of his ridiculous ‘climate change.’ Count on Bernie to keep flying on private jets and enjoying his three homes.

Combining free stuff with open borders will mean even higher taxes. Bernie wants to steal the fruit of our labor and redistribute it as he sees fit.

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Bernie will greatly bloat and centralize a government that will be filled with communist bureaucrats who will be ready to micromanage our lives. He guarantees jobs for all and higher wages while he wages war on capitalism and Christianity. He will eventually abolish private property, which will be the final communist nail in our national coffin.

Bernie needs to be kept far, far away from the levers of power.

—Ben Garriso

Mar 7 2020

SCHUMER THREATENS SUPREME COURT JUDGES!


SCHUMER, THE ABORTION LOVING BULLY

During a speech delivered on the steps of the Supreme Court, Senator Chuck Schumer threatened conservative Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Both were appointed by President Trump. He warned them not to attack a woman’s ‘right to choose.’ In other words abortion. Here is his quote:

“You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Trump asked that Schumer be impeached for making such a blatantly violent threat. Chief Justice Roberts also denounced Schumer. I doubt anything will happen to him. Democrats such as Schumer are above the law, but even CNN condemned his threat. Of course, they immediately said Trump has said similar things. The president hasn’t—otherwise CNN would have stated them.

Abortion is at the center of such violent emotionalism on the part of the Senator. Any talk of lessening abortion prompts instant anger from the Democrats, Hollywood, and the mass media. They have been extolling abortion as ‘health care.’ To them, it’s a virtue. Something to be celebrated. Some celebrities have proudly bragged about getting abortions. Elizabeth Warren compared an abortion with having one’s tonsils removed. Hillary Clinton said a child isn’t a human being until the second it is born. A few seconds before birth? Well, the baby is not legally human, according to her. Now some are even saying infanticide, or ‘post birth abortion’ should be legal.

What they’re really saying is an unborn baby is nothing more than a mass of cells. Mere matter. An unborn baby has no self-awareness, therefore it is not human. Just a blob of matter. That’s what some in the pro-abortion camp say, but some adult humans aren’t self-aware, either. Dementia patients, those in comas, and the mentally ill may not be self aware, either. Does that mean they’re no longer human as well? It’s dangerous thinking and it plays into the hands of the eugenicists.

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The Democrats and pro-abortion cheerleaders shouldn’t get to decide these things, but I also realize a woman will get an abortion no matter what if she’s determined. No law will stop her. We don’t need new laws, but many need to stop celebrating the death of millions of humans that didn’t get a chance to reach their potential. Abortion should be seen as a tragic thing regardless of the circumstances.

—Ben Garrison

Mar 6 2020

The European Bank Scandal Nobody Talks About


Armstrong Economics Blog/Banking Crisis

Re-Posted Mar 6, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

Last October, the European Union’s (EU) top court ruled in favor of Polish consumers who took out mortgages in Swiss Francs, allowing them to ask Polish courts to convert the loans into the local zloty currency in a blow for lenders. Back in October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union, based in Luxembourg, gave a judgment in favor of Polish victims of unfair mortgage agreements crafted by the banks. The bankers created mortgage loans in Swiss francs to be reimbursed in Polish zloty claiming that the currency was very stable and it was, therefore, a good deal. When the Swiss franc peg broke on January 15, 2015, mortgages throughout Europe were sent into turmoil for the bankers had been selling their mortgages linked to the Swiss franc.

The banks involved in crafting mortgages linked to the Swiss franc were Santander, BCP, BNP Paribas, and Commerzbank, as well as Poland’s biggest lenders PKO BP and Getin Noble Bank. Crafting such complex structures for the consumer is not something that will hold up very well in Europe moving forward.

Mar 5 2020

Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer Threatens Supreme Court Justices – Chief Justice Roberts Responds…


Posted originally on The Conservative Tree House on March 4, 2020 by 

Earlier today Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer threatened supreme court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch today during a rally in support of abortion.

“I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.” “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

The leading democrat Senator Schumer accused the supreme court justices of taking away peoples’ “fundamental rights” to kill babies, as the Supreme Court is currently hearing a case about a Louisiana law that regulates abortion providers.

Alarmed by the radical threats against the court, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts released the following statement:

Mar 4 2020

Fed Cuts Rate on Schedule!


Armstrong Economics Blog/Interest Rates

Re-Posted Mar 3, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

The Federal Reserve is in full panic mode. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates Tuesday in a rare emergency meeting, responding aggressively to the growing threat the coronavirus poses to the economy and markets. The Fed lowered its key federal fund rates by half a percentage point to a range of 1% to 1.25%, the central bank said in a statement.

We warned over the weekend that Socrates had pinpointed this week and then the week of March 23 for actions by the Fed. The Fed is between a rock and a hard place. It had to act in response to the collapse in economic data for the 1st quarter, but at the same time, rates are rising in the real world due to perceived credit risks. This means that the Repo Crisis will get worse and the Fed will have to become the permanent market-maker to maintain short-term rates at these levels.

The steep cut of 50 bp was an emergency half-percentage point rate cut on Tuesday in an effort to protect U.S. economic growth from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. However, the production lines are already declining. The Fed is looking at how the press has whipped this up into a global panic. But as we can see, volatility will rise further at the end of the month and we should expect this to manifest in a serious escalation of the Repo Crisis as early as May/June

Mar 4 2020

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Statement and Press Conference Following 50 Point Fed Drop…


Posted originally on The Conservative Tree House on March 3, 2020 by 

Earlier this morning the Federal Reserve (Fed) announced a .50 drop in their lending rate in response to the potential for economic impacts from the coronavirus.  Following the rate cut Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a statement and held a press conference.  [Video Below]

Mar 3 2020

Politics & the Bernie Effect


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Mar 3, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Hi Martin!
Like everyone else that has let you know…thanks for the call before the drop! My question pertains to the possibility of the slingshot….as this drop so far has only reached just under 24,700 on the downside, how far down would we need to go to get everyone bearish enough to throw in the towel (thus giving them the energy to sling to the upside)? If the DOW only tests that 24,000 area like you mentioned, it would be just under a 20% correction. That doesn’t seem to me to be enough to get everyone on the other side of things thinking the DOW is going to completely crater. In your studies on the % declines, would that suffice for the slingshot? Or would the “Bernie effect” give the international crowd the nervousness to drive the DOW into the 21,000 prior to the DNC stealing the nomination from him (to give to Hillary if it plays that way your sources are saying).

I could see the 21,000 area being more of a reason for people to throw in the towel emotionally. Just wondering how patient we need to be….the monthly array is showing August as a turn….which I could see lining up with the theft of the nomination from Bernie at the DNC convention. Or is the slingshot something that may be farther in the future? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated to understand what you have been mentioning over and over!
Thank you!
CG

ANSWER: The strength of the Euro is reflecting the Bernie Effect. While Americans like to attribute everything to Conoronvirus, the rest of the world is scared to death of Bernie in charge of America. It takes everything off the table that they ever thought about the United States. That is the #1 question I get from overseas. What the “hell” are Americans thinking?

The real crisis will be coming to a head soon – the Repo Crisis that people fail to understand and nobody wants to talk about it. I am not a liberty to say, but if anyone asks a central banker about the Repo Crisis the will either double-talk them or end the questions.

The bounce in the Euro is all the Bernie Effect. Here is the front cover of the Economist in London. This is a serious issue. They are used to things carrying on no matter who really wins. Yes, we get some programs like Obamacare. The Supreme Court will finally hear the case on whether Obamacare is Constitutional – in my humble opinion, it is not! That can be an interesting question coming this June. The Chief Justice upheld it on the grounds it was a tax that Obama said it was not. Now that the tax punishment has been removed as a penalty for not having insurance, can it stand as a commanding social program? I would rule no way.

We did not elect any Monthly Bearish Reversals in the cash S&P500 nor in the NASDAQ Composite – only the Dow. This suggested that we would bounce first and that it may take s further decline to the 22000-23000 level to help create the sentiment for a slingshot. Keep in mind that the press has caused the Coronavirus Panic which is completely overblown. That will have a devastating impact on the economic numbers for the first quarter and that will help any further decline. Watch the NASDAQ and cash S&P500 to elect a sell signal. Then the next leg becomes possible.

Mar 3 2020

Why Goldbugs Get Crushed


Armstrong Economics Blog/Gold

Re-Posted Mar 3, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: This is what infuriates those that like gold. All of the shorting. Why? No other sector looks like this. So how is it that gold miners are restricted but no other sector sees shorting to the extent that restrictions are in place??? Gold is $1600 and these stocks traded double this price in 2008 with gold at $800. You ask why “goldbugs” are so angry, this is your answer.

S

ANSWER: For decades, I have watched “The Club” rally the metals and then crash them because the goldbugs treat it as a religion rather than a market. Every rally is touted as, here we go, the world will crash and only gold will survive. The Club uses that sentiment against them all the time for they know it is easy money. When they step back and look at the metals as markets, then they will win. Many other markets have made long-term profits but they are always demonized by the goldbugs. Why? I believe that some of the people promoting gold are the very ones involved in selling it to them. Everything has a cycle. It goes up and goes down. These chants from the goldbugs are not realistic and they cost countless people their life savings as they get sucked in by people who act like used car salesmen.

Short sale restriction is a rule that came out in 2010 and it’s also referred to as the alternate uptick rule, which means that you can only short a stock on an uptick. You will note that there is no such thing as a long buy restriction where you can’t buy a stock as it’s going up.

Inevitably, the goldbugs blame shorts. That is NEVER the case in any crash. The real cause is that you have exhausted the buying. When you run out of buyers, that is when markets become vulnerable. The smart do not short, they sell to take profits. That starts the decline and the hated short-player is blamed but never found.

The short selling rule came in only because of shorting Lehman Brothers. When the shorts turned on Goldman Sachs, they pulled the strings. But those were shorts looking at reality, not speculative. There has NEVER been a discovered mythical short position that causes the entire market to collapse.

I have stated countless times that gold will rally ONLY when the general public perceives there is a crisis with the government. Forget deficits, quantitative easing, and fiat currency. They will never convince the average person to take gold seriously. When you begin to look at the market without emotions and trade them up and down, then you will see the light.