from Trends Journal
Oh Deary, Where Did My Rate Cuts Go? Fed’s Wait-and-See Now Entrenched? And Suddenly Lots of Talk About “Rate Hikes”
by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
What Powell Said about rate hikes, no rate cuts, rate cuts, and the QT slowdown while getting rid of MBS entirely.
“Hike” and “rate hike” were mentioned 8 times by reporters and by Powell during the FOMC’s post-meeting press conference today. Those terms weren’t mentioned at all in the press conferences during Rate-Cut Mania, which were all about “rate cuts,” how many and when.
Powell was obviously unenthusiastic about rate hikes, and thought it “unlikely that the next policy rate move will be a hike” – “our policy focus is really how long to keep policy restrictive,” he said. But rate hikes weren’t even on the table before, so that alone was a big shift, from a bunch of rate cuts to having to deal with the possibility of a rate hike. One step at a time.
When Governments Want More Revenue, Police Gin Up the Cash by Writing Traffic Tickets
by Ryan Wardle
Mises.org
On some level, all of us realize that traffic tickets are seen by local governments as a form of revenue. Supposedly, the intent behind issuance of fines for traffic offenses is to disincentivize behaviors which are deemed to be unsafe, such as driving over the speed limit or not wearing a seatbelt (despite the fact that the latter poses no risk to anyone but the driver). The punishment for this type of offense being almost always a fine, as opposed to any type of nonmonetary punishment, is suspect in itself. But even if the monetary cost of speeding tickets really is better at preventing speeding than some other punishment, the fact remains that local governments do lay claim to the money forfeited and for that reason have another incentive besides community safety to issue those tickets.
It is common wisdom that one runs an especial risk of being ticketed if caught speeding in or around a small town because those towns don’t have as much money as bigger cities, and they’d quite like to have some of yours. Intuitively, this makes sense. If a small town can accrue revenue from people passing through, they have less reason to burden their voting constituency with additional taxes, which makes the local officials’ outlooks in future elections a bit more favorable.
Noem On Dog Controversy: I Had a Choice Between Keeping My Small Children Safe or a Dangerous Animal
[Ed. Note: Listen up sugartits, the real problem isn’t that you killed the dog. The problem is that you’re stupid enough to write about it in a book, and not smart enough to listen to any of the people who advised against doing so. #SmartLikeRock]
by Jeff Poor
Breitbart.com
Wednesday on FNC’s “Hannity,” Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) insisted she had a binary choice on whether or not to kill a 14-month-old dog, as she disclosed in her book.
The South Dakota Republican is under fire for handling what she deemed an untrainable dog.
Partial transcript as follows:
HANNITY: Governor, I know you have — you have responded. You responded on X on Sunday. And you gave more explanation to this, but you talk about this 14-month-old dog as untrainable. You describe it as a trained assassin, how you — how the dog was killing chickens of a local neighbor, and how the dog even went to bite you, and I believe bit others as well.
This Elderly Man Was Arrested After Shooting a Burglar in Self-Defense – Because His Gun Was Unlicensed
Vincent Yakaitis is unfortunately not the first such defendant. He will also not be the last.
by Billy Binion
Reason.com
Dennis Powanda and Vincent Yakaitis are bound together by a common experience: They were both criminally charged in connection with an attempted burglary. Powanda was the burglar, and Yakaitis was the property owner.
Ah, justice.
Indeed, that’s not a misprint, parody, or a bad joke (although I wish it were the latter). Powanda was arrested and charged with criminal trespass and burglary, along with other related offenses, for executing the botched raid a little before 2:00 a.m. in February 2023 at Yakaitis’ property in Port Carbon, Pennsylvania. The government charged Yakaitis, who is in his mid-70s, with using a firearm without a license after he shot Powanda, despite that it appears prosecutors agree Yakaitis justifiably used that same firearm in self-defense.
On Oil Prices, Biden Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by Warren Beatty
American Thinker
For the appeaser-in-chief, lower gasoline prices are becoming politically expensive.
Joe Biden finds himself, as a “political and world leader,” between a rock and a hard place when it comes to rising gasoline prices, despite record U.S. oil output and his raiding of the Strategic Oil Reserve (SRO). The scale of Biden’s SRO releases, roughly 200 million barrels, dwarfed those of his predecessors, sending stores in the reserves to their lowest levels since the 1980s. Pressure by Congress is building to actually enforce sanctions against Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.
If (and this is a big “if”) Biden does enforce existing sanctions, prices will increase. That’s bad politically. A YouGov and Economist March poll suggests that inflation is the most important issue to voters, with 24% of them considering it their top priority.
Top Trading Strategies
by Craig Hemke
Sprott Money
Watch Craig Hemke and David Brady wrap up the volatile month of April in the precious metals market. From discussing price movements to analyzing market trends and offering insights into trading strategies, this episode covers it all. Plus, learn why physical gold and silver are essential for protecting against economic uncertainties.
Topics Discussed:
- Volatility in April’s precious metals market
- Importance of physical precious metals as a hedge against economic uncertainty
- Elliott wave analysis and trading signals
- Factors driving gold and silver prices, including loss of confidence in the dollar and global geopolitical tensions
- Potential scenarios for the future, including stock market crashes and Federal Reserve interventions
- Strategies for accumulating precious metals and navigating market fluctuations
- Long-term outlook for gold and silver prices and the role of fiat currency
Trump: London, Paris Have “Opened Their Doors to Jihad”
by Steve Watson
Modernity News
Speaking at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, Donald Trump urged that Europe has “opened its doors to jihad” and as a result, cities including London and Paris are sacrificing their own culture and tradition.
“We’ve seen what happened when Europe opened their doors to jihad,” Trump told the large crowd, adding “Look at Paris, look at London – they’re no longer recognisable.”
“I’m going get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, that’s the fact,” he continued.
“They are no longer recognisable and we can’t let that happen to our country,” Trump urged, adding “We have incredible culture, tradition – nothing wrong with their culture, their tradition – we can’t let that happen here.”
An Absolutely Enormous Economic Shift of Historic Proportions is Now Taking Place Right in Front of Our Eyes
by Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse Blog
Can you feel it too? Over the past few weeks, I have heard from so many readers that are deeply troubled about economic conditions where they live. In some cases, sales are way down. In other cases, it seems almost impossible to find a decent job. It is almost as if a tremendous chill descended upon the U.S. economy as the second quarter of 2024 began. Yes, economic conditions have certainly not been good for a few years, but it appears that an absolutely enormous economic shift of historic proportions is now taking place right in front of our eyes. Other than the early stages of the pandemic, we haven’t seen anything like this since 2008 and 2009.
Let me give you an example that will illustrate what I am talking about. A reader that lives near Seattle recently wrote me about the horrible downturn that she is witnessing in the tech industry, and she said that I could share this information with all of you…
The U.S. Constitution is Another Victim of Genocide
by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts
PaulCraigRoberts.org
A 19th century plantation slave suffered less abuse than an American today and was less likely to have his head cracked open by a police baton than a Columbia University Student. Here are the lost rights of Americans from A to Z: https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/05/no_author/the-steady-slide-towards-tyranny-how-freedom-dies-from-a-to-z/
Republican US senators are no better friends of the US Constitution than the administrators at Columbia University, Netanyahu and the Israel Lobby, the NYPD, and the whore media. For example, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R, TN) labeled as “terrorists” students who protest against Israel’s destruction of Palestine. In order to protect Israel from students protesting genocide, Blackburn wants the students added to the terrorist watch list and prohibited from flying:
OpenAI CEO’s Eyeball-Scanning Digital ID Project, Worldcoin, Hopes To Partner With OpenAI & Has Had Conversations With PayPal
Worldcoin eyes partnerships with OpenAI and PayPal amid regulatory challenges and privacy concerns, signaling a potential expansion in digital ID networks.
by Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net
Info Wars
Worldcoin, a digital ID project based on biometrics, namely, eyeball scanning, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is eying (no pun) partnerships not only with OpenAI, but also PayPal, reports say.
However, these movements are not accompanied by any clarity for now, an example of this being another Worldcoin co-founder and its CEO Alex Blania refusing to make a direct announcement regarding the deal with OpenAI.
Blania at the same time confirmed that the company (specifically, Tools for Humanity, the main Worldcoin developer) is talking to PayPal – but the payments transactions giant is currently not commenting on any of this.
Guns, Girls, and Greed: I Was a Blackwater Mercenary in Iraq with Morgan Lerette
from Kerry Lutz's Financial Survival Network
Kerry and Morgan Lerette discussed various topics related to the challenges and complexities of military engagements in Iraq. They explored Lerette’s experiences as a mercenary, the difficulties of nation-building, the challenges of providing support in a self-interested environment, and the historical and contemporary role of private military contractors. The conversation shed light on the lack of coordination between different agencies, the limitations of General Petraeus’ strategy, and the difficulties of instilling democratic values in societies where tribal loyalty takes precedence. They also discussed the potential impact of private military contractors on political decision-making and the need for greater scrutiny and regulation in this area.
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The Great Gold vs Bitcoin Debate: ZeroHedge Presents Roubini and Schiff Against Scaramucci and Vorhees
from Zero Hedge
Proponents of gold and bitcoin often hail from the same ideological background: Austrian economists, dollar bears, Libertarians tired of State manipulation of fiat currencies and, generally, the anti-Fed crowd. Yet shared principles have not eased the age-old rivalry between the two assets.
Relative to Bitcoin, gold lost considerable value last year as an ounce of gold fell from 0.11 BTC to almost 0.03 BTC, a historically important level. The last month has seen the precious metal rebound somewhat relative to ‘digital gold’:
The Steady Slide Towards Tyranny: How Freedom Dies From A to Z
by John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead
The Rutherford Institute
“As I look at America today, I am not afraid to say that I am afraid.” – Former presidential advisor Bertram Gross
The American governmental scheme is sliding ever closer towards a pervasive authoritarianism.
The American people, the permanent underclass in America, have allowed themselves to be so distracted and divided that they have failed to notice the building blocks of tyranny being laid down right under their noses by the architects of the Deep State.
This steady slide towards tyranny, meted out by militarized local and federal police and legalistic bureaucrats, has been carried forward by each successive president over the past fifty years regardless of their political affiliation.
Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton: they have all been complicit in carrying out the Deep State’s agenda.
Will Trump Survive This?
by James Rickards
Daily Reckoning
This is a highly consequential election year, to say the least. The policy differences between Biden and Trump are enormous. Whether it’s taxes, regulation, borders, energy or foreign policy, the differences couldn’t be clearer.
And though I prefer to focus my analysis on markets alone, I can’t. These days especially, politics plays too great a role in how markets behave.
But this year’s election is about far more than policy.
In the past, the D.C. establishment could live with a typical Republican or Democrat. They knew neither candidate would rock the boat too much if he got elected. Both candidates were cut from the same basic cloth and played by the accepted rules.
The President Overtaking the Federal Reserve – Bad Idea
by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
I do not agree with Donald Trump’s view of the Federal Reserve. I speak on behalf of sound economic policies that benefit the people. I do not blindly support a political candidate for the sake of being on the right side. Now, I criticized Trump during his presidency for constantly pressuring the central bank to lower interest rates. There are rumors swirling that Trump, if elected, would set the price of interest rates himself without the advice of the Federal Reserve. While this may be an extreme side of the rumor, Trump and every other president would like more power over the Federal Reserve — BAD IDEA!
What we must keep in mind is that the Federal Reserve’s original design, which lasted for about one year, was brilliant. The classic banking model involved borrowing from depositors on a demand basis and lending long-term, making a profit on the spread in interest rates, such as for business loans and mortgages. This was relationship banking, not today’s transactional banking model.