I’m writing Thursday night, with both Diana and Sylvie are deeply asleep. Last night was Sylvie’s first in a real bed; so naturally, she roamed the house, woke us up and exhausted herself watching Mickey Mouse. Moreover, the sudden shift in temperature – from 70 degrees Sunday evening to ZERO Wednesday morning – has put Diana under the weather. Thus, I have all night to write of very important topics.
To start, I simply cannot underestimate the message of last month’s “2008 is back, with one temporary exception.” At this point, it’s difficult to consider anyone truly believing financial markets aren’t just manipulation machines for the handful of “elites” clinging to power, milking “the 99%” whilst doing so. I mean, look around your own environment and tell me if you believe things are “recovering” or regressing. Personally, this is the first time in memory I am consciously reducing my spending; not because I’m broke but out of the fear of what’s coming. Fortunately, my mother taught me to be conservative; and thus, aside from the “financial defense” I employ in my investments – i.e., my home, and physical gold and silver – I am doing everything in my power to prepare for the worst. After all, I now have Sylvie’s future to consider. The below headline, atop Yahoo! Finance no less, depicts exactly what I speak of – of not only the fraud that is U.S. economic data, but the desperation the vast majority are feeling.
Sadly, what is occurring in the home of the “reserve currency” is exponentially worse elsewhere, as the only markets collapsing more rapidly than oil prices are currencies. Which, contrary to relentless U.S. propaganda is NOT yielding “deflation.” To that end, consider yesterday’s comments from Tillman Fertitta, America’s richest restaurateur.
Ben Bernanke was at Rich Handler’s house and he says “there’ no inflation.” Well go buy something, whether at the grocery store, the drug store, the broom and mop store, and there is inflation everywhere. I have so many types of businesses so I buy everything from labor, to mops, to food, to shrimp, to stake and everything is more expensive. We are raising prices: that’s why right now you pay more for an airline ticket, you pay more for a hotel room, you pay more for a pot of coffee. There is huge inflation going on right now.
-Zero Hedge, November 13, 2014
Regarding oil prices, we could not scream loud enough of the upcoming, catastrophic ramifications of the current, eerily 2008-like collapse – per last month’s “crashing oil prices portend unspeakable horrors,” when WTI crude was $84/bbl. Well, have a gander at what prices did today, amidst the so-called “recovery” TPTB are propagandizing. And no, it’s not just oil prices collapsing, but all industrial commodities.
As I have written ad nauseum, based on a decade of experience as a Wall Street energy analyst, today’s “shale miracle” has all the hallmarks of an historic investment bubble – particularly as its unsustainable foundation was funded principally by the Fed’s artificially cheap money. Consequently and unbenownst to me until today, shale oil producers represent America’s largest category of junk bond credits. And thus, as $70-$80 oil puts the vast majority of producers underwater, the risk of catastrophic financial collapse is “clear and present danger.” To that end, this terrifying article states that at $60 oil, a daisy chain of defaults will threaten the entire high yield industry’s solvency. Not to mention, the solvency of countless oil producing nations – such as Venezuela, whose bond market collapse suggests the first dominoes are about to fall.
Speaking of collapse, keep your eyes on the ball, as what we wrote in the “single most PM bullish factor imaginable” – i.e., proliferating global currency collapses – are rapidly expanding. The “dollar strength” we’ve warned of is taking on a life of its own as the entire world flees to the liquidity of the “reserve currency,” as flawed as it is. Looking at the Japanese Yen trading above 116/dollar, we have never been more confident it will approach 200/dollar – yielding massive Japanese inflation – before it inevitably collapses. And the same goes for nearly dozens of freefallingcurrencies; which is why this article warning that the “rising dollar” threatens to destabilize the entire global financial system could not be more prescient.
And the irony of it all is that the U.S. economy, contrary to relentless propaganda, NOT “stronger” than the rest. Even its expertly “cooked” economic data is rapidly heading toward the 2008 realm of ugliness, and what corporate America has been telling us is equally terrifying. And this is before the dramatically negative impact of the dollar surge has been fully felt.
Our earnings per share guidance assumes several important factors, including the (weak) economic conditions in several of our largest markets, and a highly promotional holiday season.
-Charles Holley, Wal-Mart CFO
I could devote pages to today’s “trading” farce as the PPT executed a blatantly obvious DLITR or “don’t let it turn red” algorithm on the “Dow Jones Propaganda Average,” whilst capping and attacking PMs each time they threatened to rise – particularly at the age-old “cap of last resort” at 12:00 PM EST, and the “crybaby attack” time of 2:00 PM EST. However, I don’t so I’ll delete the rest of my charts and articles – other than this one depicting the S&P 500 as the world’s most expensive equity market – to focus on today’s extremely important primary topic.
Which, of course, is our “call to the Swiss” to save themselves from the tyranny of their evil Central bank – which in just 15 years, sold the nation’s soul for the sole purpose of power. Most of the Swiss gold was sold at the lows a decade ago, whilst the nation’s reputation as a financial powerhouse was destroyed by devaluing the Franc, pegging it to the dying Euro, and allowing U.S. politicians to infiltrate its proud tradition of privacy. Since that faithful day three years ago, the Euro has plunged 16% against the dollar, the SNB’s balance sheet has nearly tripled, and Switzerland’s GDP growth has averaged a measly 0.4% per quarter. In other words, Switzerland has NOT “gained market share” from the weak Franc and NOT experienced deflation. Sure, their rigged CPI hasn’t changed much, but the fact that a referendum to raise the minimum wage increase to an astonishing $25/hour should tell you all you need to know about the Swiss cost of living.
As far as we’re concerned, the SNB is the “evil Empire” – led by its de facto Darth Vader, President Thomas Jordan; who every day is giving speeches about the “horror” Switzerland will face with a gold-backed currency and neutered Central bank. Unlike the Star Wars analogy, however, the Swiss have an opportunity to destroy the empire with the pen rather than the sword. Or, more accurately, the voting booth. With just two weeks before November 30th, polls are decidedly mixed with “no” propaganda not only dominating the media, but the “yes” movement constrained by legal gimmickry such as freezing a Pay Pal account where international donations were arriving.
Fortunately, no matter of propaganda will likely influence the Swiss – who aside from being the world’s most financially savvy population, are well attuned to the nuances of the direct democracy process. Sure, the Cartel is doing everything in its power to “influence” them by smashing PM prices. However, they clearly can’t control the Euro’s plunge to the abyss; and quite obviously, the Franc’s surge toward the 1.2 peg rate indicates increased investor “betting” on a yes vote.
Essentially, the Swiss have a unique opportunity to not only “fight its Fed,” but decisively beat it. And if they do in fact vote yes, they just may acquire a meaningful amount of gold before it permanently “sells out.” And this, as dying Western “leaders” like the U.S. and UK sit on the sidelines, and Germany begs the Fed to return its long ago sold, leased or swapped metal.
And thus, for the sake of all freedom-loving people the world round, we issue this “call to the Swiss” to not only save themselves, but catalyze an empowerment of the worlds’ masses; that like the Catalonians, they too have the ability to institute change – and in this case, protect themselves from the inevitable Central bank created global currency collapse.
