Analyst: Skyrocketing Debt Cannot Be Supported By Money Printing Forever

Something is eventually going to have to give.  The United State’s debt which has shot up over $21 trillion dollars cannot be sustained by printing money forever, says a financial analyst.

According to TeleTradeBel analyst Mikhail Grachev, the US debt, supported by the printing of dollars could be coming to an end. “From 2009 to 2014. The Fed was actively buying Treasuries as part of a quantitative easing policy (QE). After the QE was scrapped, the Fed continued to purchase the securities, only in smaller quantities. American legal entities and individuals have always been the third major buyer of debt. The growth of debt and the volume of issuance of securities was possible due to the continuous flow of liquidity from the Fed at zero interest rate. It has also supported the unrestrained growth of the American stock market,” Grachev told RT.

But the tides have now turned and the Federal Reserve has begun hiking interest rates citing a “strong” market. In fact,  interest rates are expected to increase to 3.75 percent by 2020, the analyst noted. The investors’ interest in treasuries began to decline and the yield automatically went up. This week, 10-year securities showed a yield of 3.018 percent. “This factor led to nervousness in the markets and raised a lot of questions,” Grachev says.

As other analysts have pointed out, rising interest rates and a $21 trillion debt present a problem. With the rising interest rate and Treasuries’ yields, the question of servicing the mounting debt could become a problem for the US economy, the analyst warns. “Although the economy of the US is great, even they don’t always have the extra money,” said Grachev. When the yields on the 10-Year US Treasury Note rise, it indicates that the demand for the American securities falls, Grachev explains.

“If the yield continues to grow, it can lead to a massive exodus of capital from Treasuries, and even result in the collapse of the world dollar financial system,” Grachev said. The analyst added that a dollar collapse seems far-fetched at the moment since the global economy is very dependent on the greenback. According to the expert, it is more likely that the dollar bubble will continue growing for the while, but a dollar collapse is all but imminent.

Geopolitical Expert: The Coming Financial Crisis Is ‘Going To Be A BLOODBATH’

Charles Nenner, a geopolitical expert, and financial cycle analyst says the coming financial crisis will see the DOW Jones at 5,000. Nenner went on to say that it’s going to be “very bad,” yet he remains “dollar positive.”

Nenner, who appeared in an interview with USA Watchdog’s Greg Hunter said the coming financial crisis will be “Very bad. I called for Dow Jones 5,000, and I still call for Dow Jones 5,000. . . . It’s going to be a bloodbath, but as I said the last time, in the 1990’s when the Dow was 5,000, the world still looked okay.”

“The mainstream media talking heads are telling you to buy, but never tell you to sell,” Nenner says. He added that the time to sell stocks is getting close and explains, “It’s just a hopeless situation. I feel sorry for people who invest their money. We have had a nice ride, but soon the whole thing will come tumbling down. They listen to all these things and have no clue on how to invest . . . . I think soon . . . this will become the longest expansion in financial history. . . . So, this could be the longest expansion ever, what are you playing with? You are gambling with nonsense. So, it’s over.”

 

Nenner goes on to say, “Then, you have the inflation story. The inflation story is brought about by people who don’t do their historical homework. They remember for the last 30 years, there was always inflation. So, they continue to talk about inflation. I proved that in most of the financial history that deflation is the norm. . . . They have talked about inflation for two years, and there is still no inflation. . . . Copper is going down. Crude is going down, and we have a deflation problem, not an inflation problem.”

When asked about whether or not a big debt reset is coming, Nenner says, “The last time we were in this situation was when Roosevelt was President. It was very interesting because they paid off only 25% on the dollar because the inflation that came. Now, the problem is if you don’t have inflation, you still owe the whole amount of money. This is why they urgently need this inflation. So, the value of the money goes down, and you have to pay off less. There is no inflation. So, it is a big problem, but they can keep this going forever. I don’t think it’s a problem because countries can keep printing money as long as they want.”

The other huge concern is a big cycle Nenner has been seeing and is the so-called “war cycle.” Nenner says, “The next four or five years in this war cycle is very dangerous.” But on gold and silver, Nenner is bullish, but “not until after this summer.”

 

Geopolitical Expert: The Coming Financial Crisis Is ‘Going To Be A BLOODBATH’

Charles Nenner, a geopolitical expert, and financial cycle analyst says the coming financial crisis will see the DOW Jones at 5,000. Nenner went on to say that it’s going to be “very bad,” yet he remains “dollar positive.”

Nenner, who appeared in an interview with USA Watchdog’s Greg Hunter said the coming financial crisis will be “Very bad. I called for Dow Jones 5,000, and I still call for Dow Jones 5,000. . . . It’s going to be a bloodbath, but as I said the last time, in the 1990’s when the Dow was 5,000, the world still looked okay.”

“The mainstream media talking heads are telling you to buy, but never tell you to sell,” Nenner says. He added that the time to sell stocks is getting close and explains, “It’s just a hopeless situation. I feel sorry for people who invest their money. We have had a nice ride, but soon the whole thing will come tumbling down. They listen to all these things and have no clue on how to invest . . . . I think soon . . . this will become the longest expansion in financial history. . . . So, this could be the longest expansion ever, what are you playing with? You are gambling with nonsense. So, it’s over.”

 

Nenner goes on to say, “Then, you have the inflation story. The inflation story is brought about by people who don’t do their historical homework. They remember for the last 30 years, there was always inflation. So, they continue to talk about inflation. I proved that in most of the financial history that deflation is the norm. . . . They have talked about inflation for two years, and there is still no inflation. . . . Copper is going down. Crude is going down, and we have a deflation problem, not an inflation problem.”

When asked about whether or not a big debt reset is coming, Nenner says, “The last time we were in this situation was when Roosevelt was President. It was very interesting because they paid off only 25% on the dollar because the inflation that came. Now, the problem is if you don’t have inflation, you still owe the whole amount of money. This is why they urgently need this inflation. So, the value of the money goes down, and you have to pay off less. There is no inflation. So, it is a big problem, but they can keep this going forever. I don’t think it’s a problem because countries can keep printing money as long as they want.”

The other huge concern is a big cycle Nenner has been seeing and is the so-called “war cycle.” Nenner says, “The next four or five years in this war cycle is very dangerous.” But on gold and silver, Nenner is bullish, but “not until after this summer.”

 

Leading Investor: The Next Financial Downturn Will Be Caused By Corporate Debt

The last recession in 2008 was spurred by excessive debt in the private sector, mostly in the housing market.  But this time, it’ll be worst and much more difficult, as the problem will be caused by corporate debt, according to several leading investors.

The ensuing downturn could be immediate and sharp, once the bull market ends. But some, such as Peter Schiff, already believe we are in a bear market. “Stocks are expensive. The bull market is over. It’s now a bear market. People want to get out. People are allocating out. Growth is slowing whether people want to acknowledge it or not,” said Schiff.

But others still think they have yet to hit the top. “Once we peak, our work shows that we should expect maybe a 40% decline in equities from their peak,” Scott Minerd, chairman of Guggenheim Investments, told Yahoo Finance. “I’m talking about a recession, possibly in early 2020. Stocks tend to do well two years before a recession. But in this rally, it’s the opportunity to sell.”

At the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, the world’s top investors are asking how much longer the good times can last. They claim the current bull-market rally began in 2009, making it one of the longest on record. But others, such as Peter Schiff, said it’s a false recovery because of the money printing scheme employed.

“When we do all that [print money to recover from a recession], the dollar is going to implode because everybody is going to know that the [money printing scheme] experiment failed. Everybody is going to know there is no way out of this box. There is no normalization of rates. That is ever going to happen. Their [The Federal Reserve’s] balance sheet is never going to shrink. The balance sheet is going to grow permanently, which means this banana republic debt monetization. They can no longer pretend that they’re not doing the same things as South American banana republics. It’s a pure ‘we just print money to finance government spending,’ which is going to explode,” said Schiff. –SHTFPlan

The good news, if there is any to be had, is that the tax cuts President Donald Trump signed in 2017 could juice markets a bit longer by leaving more money in American’s pockets. But some investors gathered at the Milken Conference also feel that the corporate forces are now swirling that will trigger the next downturn.

Because the tax cuts didn’t offer a decrease in the size of government, they will add to US government debt. Spending, not taxation, is the problem and will be until the government is reduced. And while the Federal Reserve is gradually raising interest rates, they may still not be high enough to allow for aggressive monetary policy by the time a recession hits and the Fed needs to cut interest rates. “We’re in danger of having a collision between monetary policy and fiscal policy,” Minerd says.  Once interest rates rise, the amount owed on the massive amount of debt corporations hold will increase along with the debt owed by the federal government.

We are in for a rough ride, everyone.

If Minerd is right, some of the riskiest investments include high-yield bonds, other fixed-income securities, and eventually stocks. But some investors will undoubtedly hold on, hoping to squeeze out the last gains before the market turns.

Yahoo‘s suggestion? Keep a parachute handy. But we prefer you actually prepare and store things that are of use. Prepping can be difficult and it’s often hard to take that first step, but if you’re new and interested in learning, it’s never too late to start preparing for any potential outcome.  The book titled The Prepper’s Blueprint offers a simplistic and easy to follow guideline for those who would like to take that first step.

Hayward Bay Fault Line MORE DANGEROUS Than San Andreas: It’s A ‘Ticking Time Bomb’

Scientists are now saying that the “Big One” in California may not be caused by the San Andreas fault line, but by the Hayward Bay fault line. It is now thought to be the “ticking time bomb” fault line and more dangerous than the San Andres.

The scariest scenario for the next major earthquake may not be from the San Andreas Fault (though that one still threatens), but from the Hayward Fault that runs along the east side of the San Francisco Bay. In fact, many say that the next earthquake on the Hayward Bay fault line would be “disastrous.” According to KTUV, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake along the Hayward Fault could kill as many as 800 people and injure 18,000, according to results of a new research released Wednesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey, citing findings from a simulated tremor with an epicenter in Oakland, said the disaster would cause 400 fires that could destroy 50,000 homes. Nearly half a million people would be displaced, authorities said.

The simulated quake in the video above, known as the “HayWired scenario,” was modeled to occur at 4:18 p.m. on April 18 (yesterday). It replicates a rupture along the fault’s entire 52-mile length, from San Pablo Bay in the north to just east of San Jose in the south. According to this model, the violent shaking from the earthquake could cause the two sides of the fault to split six feet apart in some places. Some of the aftershocks would continue for several months as well. Cities in the East Bay would be hit hard, including Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro, and Hayward.

If a 7.0 magnitude quake occurred like the one simulated, researchers say that the East Bay residents could be without water from anywhere between six weeks to six months. Electricity could be out for up to four weeks in some locations.

According to Business Insider, the statistical chances of this type of an earthquake occurring are not very comforting either. There’s about a 76% chance that the San Francisco Bay Area could experience a 7.2 magnitude earthquake within the next 30 years, according to some recent reports.

The San Andreas Fault under San Francisco rumbled apart about 112 years ago, causing the devastating 1906 earthquake that swallowed city blocks, broke water mains, and triggered massive fires that burned for days.  However, the threat of another major quake for the Bay Area is “real and could happen at any time,” according to researchers for the US Geological Survey.

The Hayward Fault is a “tectonic time bomb, due any time for another magnitude 6.8 to 7.0 earthquake,” according to a 2008 USGS report. Since then, research has indicated that the likelihood of a Hayward quake is greater and more threatening to the 7 million Bay Area residents than a San Andreas quake would be.

“It’s just waiting to go off,” USGS earthquake geologist emeritus David Schwartz warned when speaking to the Los Angeles Times.

Hayward Bay Fault Line MORE DANGEROUS Than San Andres: It’s A ‘Ticking Time Bomb’

Scientists are now saying that the “Big One” in California may not be caused by the San Andres fault line, but by the Hayward Bay fault line. It is now thought to be the “ticking time bomb” fault line and more dangerous than the San Andres.

The scariest scenario for the next major earthquake may not be from the San Andreas Fault (though that one still threatens), but from the Hayward Fault that runs along the east side of the San Francisco Bay. In fact, many say that the next earthquake on the Hayward Bay fault line would be “disastrous.” According to KTUV, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake along the Hayward Fault could kill as many as 800 people and injure 18,000, according to results of a new research released Wednesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey, citing findings from a simulated tremor with an epicenter in Oakland, said the disaster would cause 400 fires that could destroy 50,000 homes. Nearly half a million people would be displaced, authorities said.

The simulated quake in the video above, known as the “HayWired scenario,” was modeled to occur at 4:18 p.m. on April 18 (yesterday). It replicates a rupture along the fault’s entire 52-mile length, from San Pablo Bay in the north to just east of San Jose in the south. According to this model, the violent shaking from the earthquake could cause the two sides of the fault to split six feet apart in some places. Some of the aftershocks would continue for several months as well. Cities in the East Bay would be hit hard, including Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro, and Hayward.

If a 7.0 magnitude quake occurred like the one simulated, researchers say that the East Bay residents could be without water from anywhere between six weeks to six months. Electricity could be out for up to four weeks in some locations.

According to Business Insider, the statistical chances of this type of an earthquake occurring are not very comforting either. There’s about a 76% chance that the San Francisco Bay Area could experience a 7.2 magnitude earthquake within the next 30 years, according to some recent reports.

The San Andreas Fault under San Francisco rumbled apart about 112 years ago, causing the devastating 1906 earthquake that swallowed city blocks, broke water mains, and triggered massive fires that burned for days.  However, the threat of another major quake for the Bay Area is “real and could happen at any time,” according to researchers for the US Geological Survey.

The Hayward Fault is a “tectonic time bomb, due any time for another magnitude 6.8 to 7.0 earthquake,” according to a 2008 USGS report. Since then, research has indicated that the likelihood of a Hayward quake is greater and more threatening to the 7 million Bay Area residents than a San Andreas quake would be.

“It’s just waiting to go off,” USGS earthquake geologist emeritus David Schwartz warned when speaking to the Los Angeles Times.

CBO Report: Republicans Accelerate The US’s Path Toward Bankruptcy

It doesn’t take a math whiz to know that the nation is headed toward a complete bankruptcy. But now, a new CBO (Congressional Budget Office) report released is ripping the mask off of the Republicans in Congress and showing us who they really are: Democrats.

After the last horrifying budget deal which saw trillion dollar deficits, Republicans can no longer be called the party of being fiscally conservative.  It appears that the Deep State will get their way regardless of who is in power, and there’s nothing the rest of us can do about it.

Last year the Congressional Budget Office warned that Uncle Sam was racing toward fiscal insolvency. Although the CBO expected the deficit to fall to “only” $487 billion this year, it would start growing again next year. By 2022 the flood of red ink would near $1 trillion. By 2027 it would reach $1.4 trillion. The cumulative deficit over the following decade would be more than $9.4 trillion and 4 percent of GDP, as outlays grew ever higher. Expenditures currently are about 21 percent of GDP, above the 50-year average of 20.3 percent. By 2027, CBO projected spending would hit 23.4 percent of GDP. –National Review

The corporate government is bankrupt, and it’s only getting worse in spite of Republican promises to “fix” it.  The CBO’s report on the federal government’s finances over the next decade is the stuff of nightmares.  And with Republicans holding all three branches of government, there’s little they can do to shake the truth: they are all the same.

As the agency politely put it, “projected deficits over the 2018-2027 period have increased markedly since June 2017.” The rise was almost entirely the result of the spending and tax bills approved last year: Uncle Sam will be spending a lot more while taking in a good bit less in the future. That is, the Republican-controlled executive and legislative branches went wild and abandoned even the pretense of fiscal responsibility. It wasn’t the first time, of course: In the early 2000s, President George W. Bush and the Republican Congress spent money faster than even Lyndon Johnson and his Democratic congressional majority. The latest round of GOP budget-busting provides a dramatic reminder that the spending problem in America is bipartisan. -National Review

The US continues to move rapidly down the path of insolvency.  And the numbers continue to look worse when peering down that path. According to the new CBO analysis, the deficit this year will exceed $800 billion, well above last year’s prediction. The deficit will be just shy of $1 trillion next year, continue to shoot upward to $1.3 trillion in 2027, and reach an astounding $1.5 trillion in 2028, higher than even during the financial crisis, which generated four years of trillion-plus-dollar deficits. Total red ink over the next decade will be around $12.4 trillion. As a percentage of GDP, the deficit will run 4.9 percent. In 2027 the total national debt held by the public will be $27 trillion and 94.5 percent of GDP, the highest it’s been since 1946 when the U.S. was paying down its World War II debt.

Future deficit gaps will be accelerated by “mandatory spending” on entitlements, such as social security. According to the CBO, the “increase reflects significant growth— mainly because the aging of the population and rising health care costs per beneficiary are projected to increase spending for Social Security and Medicare, among other programs. It also reflects significant growth in interest costs, which are projected to grow more quickly than any other major component of the budget.” The agency figures that interest payments will rise three times in total and two times as a percentage of GDP by 2028. Revenues also will increase significantly, but not as fast as outlays.

There is no real silver lining.  Spending will not decrease, not enough to keep the government from its eventual implosion and collapse under its own weight anyway.  The only thing we can do is to pay off as much debt as possible and prepare for an economic collapse of the government’s doing.

Prepping and survivalism can be a daunting task.  But if you’re interested in getting started, not only is now a great time to begin, but a book called The Prepper’s Blueprint written by Tess Pennington can be a helpful ally in giving you a launch point.

Bad News For The Economy: Some Have Stopped Paying Loans On Mobile Homes

Some people in the United States have stopped paying their loans on mobile homes. This is a bad sign for the economy as many no longer can afford the increase in interest rates.

According to a report by Yahoo Finance, the mobile home market is showing the first signs of stress.  The delinquency rate on mobile home loans has increased by 200 basis points, or 2 percentage points, over the past year, according to research cited by UBS. The 30-day-plus delinquency level is now about 5%, the highest level since 2005.

The increase in the number of struggling mobile-home borrowers suggests that a large chunk of these people haven’t benefitted from the economic growth of the past few years, despite the low unemployment level. For those living paycheck to paycheck, even the slightest increase in interest rates could force them to decide whether to eat or pay their loan on their home.

“We interpret this data to mean that these individuals have not largely benefitted from these macro-dynamics, and may also be disproportionately exposed to industries that have experienced compression — rather than expansion — in the current economic conditions, such as retail or some areas of energy extraction,” UBS said.

Although this is a warning sign for the economy, conventional single-family residential loan delinquencies haven’t seen a similar uptick. Instead, they are continuing their steady downward path through the post-recession recovery.  But many analysists would argue there was never actually a recovery. In 2016, Peter Schiff warned that we were in a false recovery: one that’s worse than a legitimate recession. 

“The real choice is not between recession now or recession later. It’s between a massive recession now, or an even more devastating one later … Now is the time to bite the bullet, endure the pain, and allow the wound to actually heal,” said Schiff, who accurately predicted the 2008 recession and says the recovery isn’t a real one.

Since 2009, all of the standard metrics for indicating a recovery have shown sub-par results. The only growth has occurred in asset prices. However, higher prices in stocks and bonds haven’t occurred because of upward pressure from a free market, but have been artificially inflated by easy borrowing and risky speculation. Consequently, the “recovery” we’re supposedly experiencing is as artificial as asset prices themselves. The next bubble that will have to burst is the Fed’s own fantasy it’s been selling investors. –Schiff Gold

The truth is, the US economy is stuck; raising rates will send the US into a recession, but keeping them the same will make the eventual pain of an economic crash much worse. “I agree with those who believe that rate hikes now will bring on a recession,” Peter Schiff stated in an article. “But I disagree that we should keep rates where they are … despite the short term pain that will surely follow, we need to raise rates now to break the addiction before it gets worse.”

But UBS did admit that losses will start to impact other debts as well, and likely soon. “We believe weakness in these two groups [lower and middle class] will drive higher credit losses at some stage over the next few years — particularly in credit card, installment, and student loans — with macroeconomic inflection from job growth to job loss as a likely catalyst,” UBS said.

Now is a great time to prepare for the economic collapse.  The economy won’t last forever being propped up by debt and Feds manipulation of the markets. But the good news is, prepping for the eventual collapse is made easy with the book titled The Prepper’s Blueprint.  It’s a great resource for those just starting out and for those who may have overlooked something.

Crack In East African Rift: Continent Is ‘Splitting In Two’

A large crack, spanning several kilometers, made a sudden appearance recently in south-western Kenya. The tear, which is continuing to grow, is evidence to scientists that the continent is “splitting in two.”

The huge crack caused part of the Nairobi-Narok highway to collapse recently and was accompanied by seismic activity in the area. The East African Rift Valley stretches over 3,000 kilometers from the Gulf of Aden in the north towards Zimbabwe in the south, splitting the African plate into two unequal parts: the Somali and Nubian plates. Activity along the eastern branch of the rift valley, running along Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, became evident when the large crack suddenly appeared in south-western Kenya.

Rifts exhibit a very distinctive topography, characterized by a series of fault-bounded depressions surrounded by higher terrain. In the East African system, a series of aligned rift valleys separated from each other by large bounding faults can be clearly seen from space.

A crack that opened up in Kenya’s Rift Valley, damaging a section of the Narok-Nairobi highway, is still growing… pic.twitter.com/T5YocDauYj

— BBC (@BBC) March 26, 2018

An example of a place on Earth where this has happened before is in the South Atlantic Ocean, which resulted from the break up of South America and Africa around 138 million years ago. Those coastlines match like pieces of the same puzzle.

Continental rifting requires the existence of extensional forces great enough to break the lithosphere. The East African Rift is described as an active type of rift, in which the source of these stresses lies in the circulation of the underlying mantle. Beneath this rift, the rise of a large mantle plume is doming the lithosphere upwards, causing it to weaken as a result of the increase in temperature, undergo stretching and breaking by faulting. –PBS

Evidence for the existence of a “hotter-than-normal” mantle plume has been found in geophysical data and is often referred to as the “African Superswell.” This superplume is not only a widely-accepted source of the pull-apart forces that are resulting in the formation of the rift valley but it has been used to explain the anomalously high topography of the Southern and Eastern African Plateaus.

 

China Challenges The US Dollar By Launching Petro-Yuan: Dollar’s Death Imminent?

China is the world’s largest crude oil consumer, and its eyes are now on the rival United States’ currency, the dollar.  The Chinese have effectively challenged the dollar’s dominance by launching the petro-yuan, leading some to believe the US dollar’s collapse is all but imminent.

According to the South China Morning Post, China’s state-run media outlet, trading of the new oil futures contracts for September settlement started on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange at 440.20 yuan ($69.70) per barrel. Some 18,540 lots have reportedly been sold and purchased so far. Concerns that the dollar’s glory days are over began last year.

China set to roll out petro-yuan before year end, dollar dominance demise looms? https://t.co/TiaiXjIB0N pic.twitter.com/iqmm0FRvKr

— RT (@RT_com) October 28, 2017

The long-awaited step evoked a surge in global prices for oil with Brent Crude soaring to $71 a barrel for the first time since 2015. US crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) reached the highest level in three years at $66.55 per barrel, before retreating to $65.53, reported RT. 

This could be bad news for the dollar.

Oil surging to multi-year highs as China launches petro-yuan https://t.co/jwBwKblRH6

— RT (@RT_com) March 26, 2018

Chinese authorities have reportedly accelerated the launch amid growing crude imports and just last year, the country outpaced the US as the world’s number one importer of oil. Thus, the contracts may not only help to win some control over pricing from the major international benchmarks but also promote the use of Chinese currency in global trade.

The greenback will get weaker, as soon as other nations have a real credible alternative to it, Ann Lee, Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at New York University and author of the book “What the US Can Learn From China,” told RT.  Lee also says this is a “game changer” for the US.  “It is more of a game changer for the US. As soon as other nations have a real credible alternative to the US dollar, they can dump dollars and switch to the yuan which can spark a dollar crisis. If that happens, not only will there be inflation from the tariffs, but also from the flood of dollars,” said Lee.

Peter Schiff, a financial guru who predicted the 2008 recession, also said that the dollar will collapse. And when it does, things won’t look optimistic for those who use dollars. Although Schiff holds firm that the consequence of the Federal Reserve manipulating the economy will be the crash of the dollar, the Chinese petro-yuan could also play a role.

“They [the Fed] actually made the bubbles bigger than the ones that popped. So now, the dollar’s collapse is going to be that much bigger, because it’s now a bigger bubble with more air to come out of it. And I think they have no more tricks up their sleeves,” said Schiff. “When this happens – it’s over.”

 

Peter Schiff: There’s A BIG Problem With The Economy, ‘Americans Are BROKE’

Financial analyst Peter Schiff says there’s a big problem with the economy even though the mainstream media is reporting that rising interest rates are a good thing.  The problem, however, is that Americans are broke, and those interest rates could have a major impact on some of our wallets.

“The bad news is, we are going to live through another Great Depression and it’s going to be very different. This will be in many ways, much much worse, than what people had to endure during the Great Depression,” Schiff says. “This is going to be a dollar crisis.”

“When you are talking about the magnitude of the debt we have, that extra money [raising interest rates] is big. That’s going to be a big drain on the economy to the extent that we have to pay higher interest to international creditors…a lot of this phony GDP is coming from consumption, while the average American who is consuming is deeply in debt and they are going to impacted dramatically in the increase in the cost of servicing that debt…given how much debt we have, and how much debt is going to be marketed the massive increase in supply will argue for interest rates that are higher.” –Peter Schiff

 

Retail sales “unexpectedly” fell again in February even though most media outlets are touting a booming economy that can support raising the interest rates. It was the third straight monthly drop and the first time the US economy has seen three straight months of declining retail sales since 2012.

Sales fell 0.1% in February even though analysts had expected an uptick of 0.3%. According to CNBC, households cut back on purchases of motor vehicles and other big-ticket items, pointing to a slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter. But Peter Schiff won’t sugarcoat this one for us: Americans are broke.

And the worse things get, the less investors seem to notice.

What makes matters even worse is on Friday, we got the “too good to be true” and “just what the doctor ordered” Goldilocks jobs report that said 1 million people got jobs. Schiff said this “good news” report doesn’t make any sense, actually.

“So why didn’t any of those million people take their paychecks and spend them at a retailer? I mean, Trump is talking about all the great jobs, and all the raises that people have, and all the tax cuts. Why are retail sales down for three months in a row?” –Peter Schiff

Unfortunately, we also saw Americans running up record high levels of debt at the same time that the government is running massive deficits.

Last month, the New York Fed released the latest data on US household debt, revealing it has grown to a record $13 trillion. So yes, Americans have been spending, but they’ve been putting a lot of it on plastic. Credit card balances grew by $24 billion in the last quarter of 2017 alone. Could it be that Americans have maxed out the plastic?

At some point, a house of credit cards will collapse.

Schiff is hard on Donald Trump too, and rightfully so.  Lower taxes are always a good thing, the lower the better, in fact.  But Republicans refused to cut any government spending while instead, increasing it to the point of running massive deficits, making them worse than Democrats when it comes to being fiscally conservative.

The cold truth is that a back plan is needed, and most Americans don’t have that.  Many would be in some serious trouble during a financial downturn, and the country is most definitely headed that way.

What Do They Know That We Don’t? DC Officials Flock To Doomsday Camps

Washington D.C. government officials are flocking to doomsday camps around the country.  Which of course begs the question: what do they know that we do not?

According to the Washington Examiner, a building network of backwoods doomsday camps around the country are pulling in members from affluent areas and even Washington national security officials as the threats grow from nuclear war, an EMP (electromagnetic pulse), or virus attack.  Dubbed Fortitude Ranch, the outposts promise protection and a year’s supply of food for those unable to build their own bunker with preparations for a SHTF scenario. What’s more, until a crisis strikes, the doomsday camps are being used for prepper training and vacations.

One of Fortitude Ranch’s members from the Baltimore area said that he and others joined after “waking up” to the potential of a national crisis from an attack, financial meltdown, or political violence. “For most of us, something rattled our cages and woke us up,” he said.

“We’re seeing members from all the three letter agencies,” said Fortitude creator Drew Miller, a retired Air Force colonel, and intelligence officer, in a reference to the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and more.  Miller called an attack or even a weather-related electromagnetic pulse shutdown of the electric grid “inevitable,” and a driving force in his project.

Prepping has offered many a sense a freedom none of us have anymore.  No longer needing the government for anything, preppers can survive most scenarios that will leave many others begging for their slavery again and in return, for the government to give them abject poverty in exchange.

Through memberships and his own cryptocurrency called “Fortitudes,” Miller has raised about $400,000 and established a ranch in West Virginia and Colorado with 10 others planned. An open house at the West Virginia ranch is scheduled for April 21-23.

He said that for the West Virginia ranch, “most members are professional Washington area folks. They don’t have time to do this own their own.” The cost is about $1,000 per person per year to join. –Washington Examiner

“You’d have to be an idiot not to think it will happen,” said Miller, author of “Rohan Nation: Reinventing America After the 2020 Collapse.” Miller also said that the camps are nearly as survivable in an attack as the Mt. Weather FEMA site near Virginia’s Shenandoah River where several Washington leaders were housed after the 9/11 attacks.

Each camp has a shooting range and is equipped to handle between 50 and 500 people during any SHTF scenario. The camps will have lodges, underground bunkers, and guard towers. In the event of a social meltdown, members will be responsible for manning those towers.

With all of the high-powered government officials signing up as members at Fortitude Ranch, it’s pretty safe to say that if you are not prepping now, you should probably start. A good reference for those just beginning to tread into the realm of prepping is the book titled The Prepper’s Blueprint.

 

Financial Strategist: Trade War Could Usher In Dire Financial Crisis MUCH SOONER

According to a Societe Generale strategist Albert Edwards, a trade war would bring about a financial crisis a lot sooner than anyone expected. Edwards has warned in the past that currency devaluation could spark an economic recession worse than 2008, and now he’s sounding the alarm about Donald Trump’s trade policies.

Edwards now points to the Trump administration’s trade policy as yet another catalyst that could hasten the next crisis. Recent tariffs the US imposed on steel and aluminum imports threaten a full-scale trade war, he claimed.  While tariffs and taxes always get passed onto the American consumer in the form of higher costs for goods, it is unfortunate that the tariff talk is ongoing.

The US could also turn on other trading partners as Trump continues to advance his “America First” agenda, reported the Financial Tribune. “Boiling away in the background is Germany’s, and now also the eurozone’s, outsized trade surpluses” with the US, Edwards said. He added, “Expect Trump to soon turn his protectionist fire on both Germany and the EU. That will be messy.”But there is some good news many in the mainstream media continue to ignore:

While much of what Trump is announcing today has already been leaked, here are the details of the import tariffs Donald Trump formally adopted on steel and aluminium imports which allow US allies to negotiate and apply for exemptions, a sign of the growing concern that the president was alienating America’s closest international partners, and that 2 of the 4 largest foreign suppliers of steel will be exempt. –Zerohedge

“A trade war and competitive currency devaluation was always going to be the end game in our Ice Age thesis as a global deflationary bust destroyed wealth, profits, and jobs,” Edwards said in a note on Thursday. “But it looks as if it might be arriving sooner than we had anticipated.”

China exports just 1.1% of its steel to the United States, therefore, the tariffs are considered unlikely to do any serious damage to Chinese businesses. The more immediate fuel for a trade war, Edwards said, is retaliatory action against China by the US for alleged intellectual property theft. The Nikkei Asian Review reported Wednesday that the US was set to impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of Chinese products as punishment. Yet remember, a tariff isn’t going to punish the Chinese; it will punish the American consumer as prices go up to cover the cost of the new tax.

A White House official says there will be no significant downstream price effects, and thus no significant downstream job effects, according to Zerohedge. But that expectation counters multiple statements and prognostications from several companies and industry groups that use steel and aluminum, as well as lawmakers representing them, who have warned the tariffs will harm their businesses or industries.

The Socialist Crisis In Venezuela Is About To KILL The Oil Market

A new report is warning that the socialist engineered economic crisis in Venezuela will completely kill the global oil market. Plunging oil production in Venezuela is causing a national economic and humanitarian crisis that could tip the global oil market “decisively into deficit,” according to the report.

Published Thursday, the report laid out concerns that Venezuela’s socialist regime could impact all of us globally. Although critics claim the experimentation with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the petro, is doomed to fail epically, Maduro claims it will help deliver “everything our country needs.”

Maduro claimed Wednesday the pre-sale of the digital coin had been a huge success, raising $5 billion from 83,000 investors in 127 countries. However, there is no evidence that he spoke in fact.  A report from the Brookings thinktank harshly criticized the petro project, saying it would likely fail and in doing so would harm the legitimate use of cryptocurrencies in general, contributing “to the idea that cryptocurrencies facilitate fraud.”

What makes matters worse, is at the same time, Maduro appears to be ignoring warning signs about the socialist regime’s oil production. “Within the OPEC countries, the biggest risk factor is, and will likely remain Venezuela,” the International Energy Agency said in its closely-watched monthly report.

Along with the fact that the population is being starved and impoverished by government policies which spurred hyperinflation, Oil production in Venezuela has plummeted in the last two years, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration claiming production is 300,000 barrels a day less than in 2017. OPEC cut back oil production in recent years to boost the price of oil after 2014 collapse, but now the unplanned drop in Venezuela’s oil production could cause a shortage of oil.

“Without any compensatory change from other producers it is possible that the Latin American country could be the final element that tips the market decisively into deficit,” the report said.

Despite the worsening political crisis, Maduro has continued to brag about the petro, which he believes will help the country avoid crippling international sanctions. He told the members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela last week that the money raised from the sale of the petro would form part of a wider “economic solution” and would strengthen the country’s “monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.”

The Public Fears An Eruption At Yellowstone: ‘Spate Of Tremors’ Reported

Laying underneath the tranquil and beautiful geysers, waterfalls, and mountains of Wyoming lies the Yellowstone caldera.  The supervolcano has been worrying some for decades, but now experts fear an eruption could happen soon after reporting a “spate of tremors.”

According to WMD, a spate of four mini-tremors in the area following a period of “rest” has raised fears among some that the supervolcano is about to blow. Although the Yellowstone supervolcano hasn’t erupted for 631,000 years, scientists have been diligently working to understand the last eruption so they can more accurately predict when a big one will happen again.

The most recent quake came on March 11 when a small 1.5 tremor took place beneath the surface. The strongest one, a 1.8 magnitude earthquake, came just hours before this, and people are concerned that Yellowstone could be about to blow.

The growing concern among the public is evident, but many scientists still say the activity at the supervolcano is perfectly normal. Tom Skilling, a meteorologist for WGN News, a local news site in Chicago, explains that is it normal for the volcano to have less active weeks. “Minor earthquakes occur in the Yellowstone area 50 or more times per week, but a major eruption is not expected in the foreseeable future.”

Yellowstone is one of the most seismically active areas in the world and there are regular earthquakes detected in and around the supervolcano.  This latest spate of tremors follows a period in February where more than 200 small tremors detected were detected over a period of 10 days. According to experts with the US Geological Survey, that swarm began on February 8 in a region roughly eight miles northeast of West Yellowstone, Montana and increased dramatically in the days following.

Despite experts trying to calm nerves, concerned citizens have taken to Twitter to voice their concern about a potential eruption.  One person wrote on Twitter: “Pray to Yellowstone caldera. We can end it all.” RyGuy said on the social media site: “Yellowstone’s gonna blow up and get us all”.

If the volcano does explode, a climate shift would ensue as the supervolcano would spew massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which can form a sulfur aerosol that reflects and absorbs sunlight. The large spew of ash into the atmosphere would block out sunlight and directly affect life beneath it creating a “nuclear winter.”

Humanity’s WIPEOUT Foreshadowed? World Health Chief: Global Pandemic Imminent

According to a World Health Organization doctor, a global pandemic is imminent, and no one will be prepared for it when it hits. Dr. Tedros Adhanom, director-general for WHO, has said that the next outbreak that will hit us will be a “terrible” one, causing a large death all over the world.

“Humanity is more vulnerable in the face of epidemics because we are much more connected and we travel around much more quickly than before,” said WHO specialist in infectious diseases Dr. Sylvie Brand. “We know that it is coming, but we have no way of stopping it,” said Brand. According to Dr. Tedros, the flu is extremely dangerous to everyone living on the planet. This fear was also promoted by experts at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month.

The claims came exactly 100 years after the 1918 Spanish flu that claimed 50 million lives and killed three times as many people as World War I. A mutated strain is the most likely contender to wipe out millions because it can join together with other strains to become deadlier.

“This is not some future nightmare scenario. A devastating epidemic could start in any country at any time and kill millions of people because we are still not prepared. The world remains vulnerable. We do not know where and when the next global pandemic will occur, but we know it will take a terrible toll both on human life and on the economy,” said Dr. Tedros.

“Hidden underneath this fear-mongering message of a global pandemic is a far more sinister W.H.O. agenda,” warns Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, publisher of Medicine.news. “The real agenda is a global push for blind, fear-based acceptance of unsafe, unproven vaccines that will be rolled out alongside the next global pandemic,” Adams warns. “Fear circumvents rational thinking, which is why the vaccine-pharma cartels routinely turn to irrational fear propaganda to demand absolute and unquestioning acceptance of risky medical interventions that should always be scrutinized for safety and efficacy.” –Natural News

Dr. Tedros’ comments come on the heels of the plague outbreak in Madagascar, which was the most recent epidemic to receive international aid attention amid fears it would spread. More than 200 people were killed during the outbreak that ravaged the island over the winter, which prompted 10 nearby African countries to be placed on high alert.

 

Cost Of Housing Has Soared So High Americans Are Sliding Into Poverty

Housing prices in the United States continue to rise at unprecedented rates, forcing many into poverty. This worsening epidemic is explained well in a video by The Money GPS and it’s been engineered this way.

As nations increase taxes and regulations, the price of complying also goes up. Many of these hikes are passed onto to those who are already living paycheck to paycheck forcing them to live in poverty. “You came here for the truth, so let me unveil that for you,” says Money GPS.

 

Severe damage to the nation’s economy can occur when people don’t have disposable income. “People are spending a larger and larger share of their income on their housing. This is something they can’t avoid. It’s not as if they are buying a home and can be renting instead, we are talking about people who rent their homes. It’s very serious,” The Money GPS says.

“There’s definitely an issue with the amount that people spend on shelter, electricity, food, and other basic essentials…we have a big problem on our hands. It’s not being addressed and the bubble just keeps getting larger…they keep saying there’s a limited supply [of housing options].”

“The median asking rent for vacant rental units is consistently rising. when you rent prices continuously increasing specifically for vacant rental units.” All this is happening as the rate of homeownership declines as well. So perhaps there is some correlation between market saturation and prices, but we fail to account for the fact that property taxes put a heavy burden on homeownership and those taxes are passed on to renters in the form of higher rents.”

But the YouTube channel Bull Boom Bear Bust says this is all just a part of the global elitist’s plans to force more people into rentals and out of homeownership. According to the description of their video about this issue, it is becoming more and more clear that the central banking fiat currency system was designed to extract wealth from the poor and middle class and further enrich bankers that are creating a nation [sic] of debt servants.

“It’s a global plan,” says the narrator of the video. “These disasters and downturns in the economy are opportunities for the big money and big investors to come in and actually buy these homes.” He then discusses the reasons banks have for not foreclosing on properties right away, and it’s as simple as a wealth transfer from the middle and lower classes to the billionaires and investors:

“A reason why in some cases the banks don’t foreclose on the property right away, not only to keep the home off the market, but it also keeps the financial responsibility of the property onto the previous homeowner. So things like back due property taxes and fines for failure to keep the property up, banks don’t want to take on that responsibility, so technically in many cases, they’ll not take immediate foreclosure proceedings and in some cases, years and then the unpaid debt can come back and destroy the previous homeowner’s credit, and not hurt the bank.”

“This whole system…of the middle class being wiped out and the poor getting poorer, the increase in homelessness, the increase in people going into more and more debt, the shift from home ownership to home occupied to financial companies and institutions and investors owning these homes. This whole system has been engineered from the top down.”

He continues to explain that it all goes back to the Federal Reserve and was designed to break the average family while benefiting those already at the top. We often refer to these people as elitists. They are the politicians who are bought and paid for by corporations who push laws and regulations on the middle class that they themselves are exempt from and can profit immensely by doing. The entire system has been rigged to transfer wealth to the elites in the government and the deep state who pulls the strings.

Market Analyst: ‘The Fed Has Lost Control Of Markets! We Are In A Lot Of Trouble!’

Gregory Mannarino, the founder of TradersChoice.net joined USA Watchdog’s Greg Hunter for an interview.  While speaking with Hunter, Mannarino said that the Federal Reserve isn’t losing control of the market, it has already lost control and we are in some very serious financial trouble.

Mannarino said the markets are out of control and it’s the Fed’s fault.  Not that we didn’t know that, but the whole economy is unraveling and not many seem to have noticed.  Mannarino, who is a professional trader says the new Fed Head, Jerome Powell, caused the market to sell off last week, not president Donald Trump’s tariff talk. Powell blurted out in Congressional testimony that the “U.S. is not on a sustainable fiscal path.” 

“They have already lost control. If they were in control, would they still be buying bonds like they are? Would they still be trying to ‘get it right’? They cannot unwind this in a normal way. They have created a system of bubbles, and they are well aware of this. These things tend to collapse very violently when they do. If the Federal Reserve or any of these central banks were in control, do you think we would be in the situation we are in right now? Absolutely not. All they have done is liquefy the world with debt and buy everything they can to keep this propped up. This is not control. This is some kind of a Frankenstein they have created by trying to prop everything up.”

“The stock market is in a bubble that is being suspended on the back of the debt bubble. So when the debt bubble pops, every other subsequent bubble connected to it is gonna burst along with it…forget the stock market…it’s the bond market that tells the story,” Mannarino warns.

Mannarino says that the whole system is fake, and he and Hunter say it’s definitely possible that central banks are giving each other money to buy their own bonds.  If that’s happening, and many market analysts firmly believe that it is then the Fed is in desperation mode.

“This [the markets] is a corpse here, that’s on life support. And that’s all it is. So, there’s going to be a terrible moment or reckoning. Inflation? Forget about it. Of course, there’s going to be massive inflation. They can’t stop it…we’re in a lot of trouble here…let’s say we start getting surreal inflation, and they’re going to start hiking super fast.  Well, what’s that going to do? BAM! There goes your debt bubble and then we’re done. Back to the stone age. Stock market down 6,000 will probably seem like a dream come true because it might even go lower than that.”

“People are going to lose everything; worse than last time if they’re not ready for what’s coming. That means watching the bond market….there’s gonna be an unbelievable price to pay for this at some point.”

Ron Paul: ‘The Fed Is At A Crossroads…Crisis Is Coming’

The Fed has created a mountain of problems for everyone in the United States and every single solution that they come up with leads to even more problems. Ron Paul recently discussed what the Fed has done, how it tries to keep things going, and the inevitable economic crisis that is coming.

Ron Paul has been one of the few steadfast proponents of liberty, which is likely why he’s no longer associated with the government at all. In a recent video, Paul discussed the problems the Federal Reserve created and why their solutions will generate an economic crisis of epic proportions.

“They [The Fed] have a lot of power, but their main goal is to do central economic planning which always fails. It’s also a gimmick because they have meetings, they are supposed to have eight a year, and then there’s a big announcement…they come out and they make a statement and the chairman is interviewed, and then, later on, you get the minutes. It’s big fanfare. But I see it as mostly propaganda, just carrying a message. Getting it from the people who really run things, the deep state, and they get it out there. But it does have a lot of effect on the market. I actually believe that there are some people who know how fictitious the Fed really is and how inept it is, but still watch it because they know a lot of other people are going to pay attention…the deep state is not a part of the government, but they have a lot of influence.”

Paul went on to explain that often we are told it’s not right to criticize the Fed. But that will change.

“The next downturn, which I think will come soon, the Fed’s not going to get credit for getting us out of it. They didn’t get any credit for getting us out this last recession which we’re really, in many ways, still in…times are different. But times are getting much worse now. This next downturn is going to be a serious one and the Fed doesn’t have any magic whatsoever…central economic planning never works no matter how long they get away with it.”

And something we’ve heard from top financial experts such as Peter Schiff, Paul also says there’s a trend to ditch the dollar, which will lead to its collapse.

“I think it [the dollar value] is going to continue to erode on international exchange markets and this will hurt us because that’s also the reason that we see interest rates going up,” Paul says. “Peter Schiff is right,” Paul continued. This whole house of cards will come crashing down as interest rates rise.

Human Beings Are On The Brink Of IMMORTALITY, Says One Doctor

According to a top futurologist, humans are on the brink of immortality. Dr, Ian Pearson said human beings will achieve this remarkable milestone, but not until the year 2050.

“By 2050, it will only really be for the rich and famous,” said Pearson. “Most people on middle-class incomes and reasonable working-class incomes can probably afford this in the 2060s. So anyone 90 or under by 2060. If you were born sometime in 1970 onwards, that would make you 48 this year. So anybody under 50 has got a good chance of it, and anyone under 40 almost definitely will have access to this.”

“One of the things you have to understand at the same time is the advancement of technology a la AI, and the fact that, there’s not going to be any middle-income families and reasonable working class in 2060 because by then, AI [artificial intelligence] and cyborgs, androids, robotics…whatever you wanna call it, is going to be doing all of that; assuming human beings still have control,” says Joseph.

According to the Express UK, scientists around the world are currently working on creating human organs using 3D printers loaded with living cells which could make organ transplants a thing of the past. Apparently, there are several ways in which people can live forever, such as renewing body parts. This could be done in several ways, including genetic engineering that prevents or reverses the aging of cells.

People may be able to replace vital body organs with new parts.

“I think there’s a lot of inherent danger in what’s going on here, in the pursuit of immortality,” says Joe Joseph with The Daily Sheeple. 

“There are quite a lot of people interested in living forever,” says Pearson.  “There always has been, but the difference now is tech is improving so quickly, lots of people believe they can actually do it. No one wants to live forever at 95 years old, but if you could rejuvenate the body to 29 or 30, you might want to do that.”

“AI and robotics are taking all the jobs away,” says Joseph. “Our whole economy is going to change by then.” Dr. Pearson likens immortality to ‘living in a cloud.’

“The mind will basically be in the cloud, and be able to use any android that you feel like to inhabit the real world,” said Pearson. But Joseph says instead, we’d be living “in a Matrix within a Matrix. This is what they want! How is that the real world? This speaks of a very dystopian type of existence.”