from Dr. Steve Turley
America’s Housing Market is in a Deep Freeze
by Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse Blog
This is a very bad time for those that work in the real estate industry. Thanks to the Federal Reserve, mortgage rates are much higher than they were a couple of years ago, and this has deeply frozen America’s housing market. Millions upon millions of U.S. homeowners are currently paying off fixed rate mortgages that were financed when mortgage rates were at historic lows. If you are one of those homeowners, selling your current home and buying another home that will come with a mortgage at a much higher rate would be very painful financially. So vast numbers of current homeowners feel “locked in” to their current homes. At this point, the number of Americans that are selling homes has fallen to a depressingly low level, and the number of Americans that are buying homes has fallen to a depressingly low level. This isn’t going to change until interest rates go down significantly, but the Federal Reserve is very hesitant to reduce interest rates because of the nightmarish cost of living crisis that we are facing. So our housing market will probably continue to be in a deep freeze for the foreseeable future.
The Great Precious Metals Catch-Up is Happening Now with Michael Arries
from Kerry Lutz's Financial Survival Network
Kerry and Michael Arries discussed the recent surge in gold and silver prices, attributing it to economic factors such as inflation, political uncertainty, and lack of faith in fiat currency. They predicted that the precious metals would continue to rise in value, with the possibility of gold reaching $10,000-$15,000 an ounce and silver reaching $300-$500 an ounce. The speakers emphasized the significance of the current market conditions in driving the surge and the importance of staying attuned to market trends for portfolio growth. They also explored the historical performance and potential future outlook of gold and silver investments, including the optimal allocation of investments based on the Dow to gold ratio and strategies for capturing gains in free ounces of gold.
Click Here to Listen to the Audio
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The “Old Money” Secret to Wealth
by James Rickards
Daily Reckoning
I believe that we’re heading for another liquidity crisis or financial crisis. That doesn’t mean it’ll happen tomorrow, but there are disturbing signs that it might not be too far off.
It doesn’t mean the world’s going to end. But investors who aren’t prepared could see large portions of their portfolios wiped out. It could take years to rebuild them, and many investors just don’t have the time to recoup those losses.
But how do you prepare? You might want to start by looking at how “old money” preserves its wealth. Today I want to explore that.
On a cool evening in the fall of 2012, I joined a private dinner in Rome with a small group of the world’s wealthiest investors.
From Covid-19 to Campus Protests: How the Police State Muzzles Free Speech
by John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead
The Rutherford Institute
“Politicians of both parties want to use the power of government to silence their foes. Some in the university community seek to drive it from their campuses. And an entire generation of Americans is being taught that free speech should be curtailed as soon as it makes someone else feel uncomfortable.” – William Ruger, “Free Speech Is Central to Our Dignity as Humans”
The police state does not want citizens who know their rights.
Nor does the police state want citizens prepared to exercise those rights.
This year’s graduates are a prime example of this master class in compliance. Their time in college has been set against a backdrop of crackdowns, lockdowns and permacrises ranging from the government’s authoritarian COVID-19 tactics to its more recent militant response to campus protests.
Dedollarization is Picking Up Steam
Bond market auctions are rigged to always deliver a near-perfect 2.4 bid-to-cover ratio. Why does this matter to you? Because rigged markets always fail spectacularly. This time, with a Great Taking waiting in the wings…
by Dr. Chris Martenson
Chris Martenson’s Peak Prosperity
The signals from gold and silver and copper are loudly clanging away. Most have not yet caught on, but they will.
Dedollarization is underway and picking up steam.
Remember; slowly, then all at once.
That’s how these things tend to go. We’re in the quickening phase. Soon the too-fast-to-follow phase.
Then the dust settles and we all glance around to find out how well prepared we were. None of us as much as we’d like, I’d wager.
As Promised, the Debt Problem
by Karl Denninger
Market-Ticker.org
This is the issue for the United States folks.
If we don’t fix it then there is no solution for inflation and the destruction of consumer capability from a standpoint of families, sustainability and prosperity.
Thermodynamics applies to all things. The laws of thermodynamics can be learned by taking a class, but you can sum them up as three sentences if you’re not interested in the finer points. They are:
- You can’t “win”; that is, getting more out than you put in is a physical impossibility.
- You can’t break even; that is, no matter what you do you will will always have loss in your endeavors.
- You can’t avoid playing the game; that is, refusing to participate simple means everything rots around you!
The International Criminal Court Violating International Law Itself
by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
There is something really wrong at the International Criminal Court. It has been taken over by the Neocons and is violating international law and its own jurisdiction. I had dinner with the ICC, and they were appalled at what was done to me. They expressed how they “wished” they could have charged the judges and prosecutors as well as politicians involved and viewed me as a whistleblower against the bankers and Neocons. I had that dinner, I believe, back in 2012. They said they LACKED THE JURISDICTION to bring charges against NON-MEMBERS.
[…] Here is a list of their members. The United States refused to sign because it did not want it to be charged in a court it did not control. Look closely; you will see that NEITHER Russia nor Israel are members of the ICC. They have NO jurisdiction whatsoever with regard to crimes of aggression, and for that, both states must be members. That is why the prosecution of Putin was clearly a fraud and obviously orchestrated by the Neocons.
Citigroup Gets Fined $79 Million Two Years After it Caused a $300 Billion Flash Crash in European Stock Markets
by Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Wall Street on Parade
Two U.K. regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), announced this morning that they have leveled fines totaling $78.5 million against Citigroup’s European trading arm, Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. (CGML). See here and here. The fines relate to a $300 billion flash crash in European stock markets on May 2, 2022.
Citigroup is the parent of the fourth largest federally-insured bank in the United States, Citibank. During the 2008 financial crisis, Citigroup imploded and became a 99-cent stock because of its high-risk market activities. It received over $2.5 trillion in bailouts and cumulative loans – the largest bailouts in global banking history.
New-Vehicle Supply Turns to Glut for Many Brands. Automakers Roll Out Incentives, but Not Nearly Enough
by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Inventory gluts are resolved by lower prices that boost sales. But that part hasn’t started yet; the glut is still building.
It’s a good thing for new-car and new-truck buyers to go from inventory shortages, the odious addendum stickers we saw during the pandemic, spiking prices, and obscene profit margins by dealers and automakers to an inventory glut.
The inventory glut is starting to take on momentum. Incentive spending by automakers has been ramped up. Ultimately, inventory gluts are resolved by lower selling prices that stimulate higher unit sales as more customers find attractive deals. But that part hasn’t started yet; the glut is still building.
Bidenomics is the Beginning of the End for the U.S. Economy
by Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse Blog
I have a great idea. Let’s wildly print money, let’s systematically destroy the reserve currency of the globe, let’s add a trillion dollars to the national debt every 100 days, let’s strangle the economy with all sorts of ridiculous regulations, let’s dramatically hike interest rates, let’s make things exceedingly difficult for our domestic energy industry, and let’s allow theft, violence, homelessness and migration to run wild. Then we’ll sit back and see what happens. What I have just described is essentially what we have witnessed over the last three years. Joe Biden and others in positions of power in Washington are running our economy into the ground. The system really is coming apart at the seams, and Bidenomics really is the beginning of the end for the U.S. economy.
Former Chrysler and Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli is also sounding the alarm about the severe damage that Bidenomics is doing.
Russia is About to Overrun Ukraine’s Defenses – Why Are There No Peace Negotiations?
by Brandon Smith
Alt Market
There are two classic propaganda narratives used by governments when it comes to keeping the public invested in any war campaign that does nothing to advance their national interests:
First, there’s the “commitment” lie, which says that once you step in to support a war effort you then must stay exponentially committed, even if that war effort is exposed as pointless. Anytime the public pulls back from that war in a bid to reconsider what purpose it serves they are ridiculed for potentially “risking lives” and setting the stage for defeat. In other words, you must support the effort blindly. You’re not allowed to examine the conflict rationally, because who wants to be blamed for losing a war?
Second, there’s the “domino effect” lie, which says that if you allow a particular “enemy” to win in one conflict, they will automatically be emboldened to invade other countries until they own the entire planet.
When the Rubber Hits the Road: The Scorching Precious Metals Sector Rally Ahead
by Clive Maund
GoldSeek
The PM sector did exactly as predicted in the article WHEN THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD – THE SCORCHING PM SECTOR RALLY AHEAD posted on the site about a week ago with breakouts by metals and stocks last week from Flag / Pennant consolidation patterns into powerful uplegs. The purpose of this update is to appraise you of the fact that THE REALLY BIG ACTION HASN’T EVEN STARTED YET, but it will soon and we will proceed to see exactly why in this update.
Let’s start by reviewing what happened. Our first chart is the 6-month chart for gold and it’s interesting to see that while silver and PM stocks raced ahead last week, gold’s new upleg has barely gotten started and it has yet to break above the resistance at its early April highs – it will though and when it does it is expected to soar towards the upper rail of the uptrend channel shown and that implies further strong gains by silver and PM stocks in the days and weeks ahead.
Most Aid Delivered to Gaza Via U.S. Pier is Being Stolen
by Joel B. Pollak
Breitbart.com
Most of the aid being delivered to Gaza via the new “floating pier” constructed by the U.S. military is being stolen, according to reports.
The pier, announced by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address, was completed last week, and the Pentagon said Tuesday that 569 metric tons of aid had been brought ashore thus far.
However, the Pentagon is unable to say how much, if any, of that aid has actually reached the organizations that are supposed to distribute it, as reports have emerged of Palestinians simply seizing aid from the back of delivery trucks.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that “there has been no aid delivered to a U.N. warehouse from a U.S.-built pier for two days.”
Trump’s Tough Immigration Talk Comes with a High Price Tag
Are Americans prepared to spend a trillion dollars to deport undocumented migrants?
by J.D. Tuccille
Reason.com
With the endorsement of a prominent Republican U.S. senator who was formerly critical of Donald Trump’s immigration hawkishness, the Republican party seems wedded this year to a scheme for mass deportation of undocumented migrants. As it embraces the draconian policy, the GOP also attaches itself to the huge price tag inevitably associated with expelling millions of people from the country.
Turnaround on Immigration
“If reelected, Donald Trump has said he’s willing to build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military to deport the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country,” Kristen Welker asked of Sen. Marco Rubio (R–Fla.) on NBC News’s Meet the Press. “It would be the largest deportation operation in American history. Do you support that plan?”
D.C. Board of Elections Trains Illegals and ‘Non-Citizens’ How to Vote in U.S. Elections
by Olivia Murray
American Thinker
For anyone who thought 2024 was going to be free and fair, please disabuse yourself of that idea immediately.
The progressive Democrats constantly tell us that illegal aliens are not voting in our elections, because of course it’s illegal. Well, so is crossing the border illegally, but we’ve seen how that has gone—how many tens of millions of illegals are actually living here? (I suspect Ann Coulter is right when she puts that number around 50 million.)
Yet, those very same progressive Democrats have been teaching “non-citizens” how to participate in what should be, American elections. The District of Columbia Board of Elections (DCBOE) recently held two events in which government officials taught illegals how to vote; the first was the “Non-Citizen Voting Education Virtual Training” event in early April, and according to Wendi Staunch Mahoney at UncoverDC, the second was a “town hall” type training on April 30th. From Mahoney:
The China Syndrome
by Craig Hemke
Sprott Money
Are we witnessing an epochal shift? Are the COMEX and LBMA losing their roles as precious metal market price maker for the entire world as influence and control shift to China? Maybe. Frankly, it’s too soon to know. But things certainly appear to be trending in that direction.
And what would a shift in the balance of pricing power to China mean? The western Fractional Reserve and Digital Derivative Pricing Scheme has persisted for nearly 50 years. If the price begins to be driven by eastern physical demand instead of western paper supply, what might be the impact?
Perhaps we’re already seeing that.