from Peter Schiff
ECB Balance Sheet QT: -€2.2 Trillion from Peak, to €6.61 Trillion. Shed 25% of Total Assets, 53% of Pandemic QE
by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Fed and ECB combined removed $4 trillion in liquidity. Inflation, after decades of calm, is hammering some sense into these central banks.
Since the ECB began Quantitative Tightening, it has shed €2.22 trillion of its assets, as of the latest weekly balance sheet released on April 4. Its total assets are now down to €6.62 trillion, the lowest since September 2020.
In USD at the current exchange rate, the ECB has shed $2.40 trillion in assets, while the Fed has shed $1.53 trillion. Between the two, they’ve removed nearly $4 trillion in QE liquidity, something that was completely unthinkable just a couple of years ago. The resurgence of inflation, after decades of calm, is hammering some sense into these central banks.
More Easy Money Will Plunge Us into Stagflation
by Daniel Lacalle
Mises.org
Thirty major central banks are expected to cut rates in the second half of 2024, a year when more than seventy nations will have elections, which often means massive increases in government spending. Additionally, the latest inflation figures show stubbornly persistent consumer price annualized growth.
In the United States, headline PCE inflation in February will likely grow by 0.4%, compared with a 0.3% rise in January, and consensus expects a 2.5% annualized rate, up from 2.4% in January. This is on top of the already 20% accumulated inflation of the past four years. Core inflation will likely show a 0.3% gain, according to Bloomberg Economics, which means an annualized 2.8%, building on top of the price increases of the past years.
Thirty central banks easing and seventy national governments increasing spending in an election year means more fuel for the inflation fire in a year in which money supply growth has bounced significantly from its 2023 lows.
Why Debt Serfdom is Not Prosperity
by David Stockman
LewRockwell.com
The recent news that US home prices in December were up by 6.1% on a Y/Y basis is just one more reminder of why the Fed’s pro-inflation policies are so insidious. In essence, they set up a running battle between asset prices and wages, and the former wins hands down.
For avoidance of doubt, here is the long view on the matter:
[…] We have indexed the median sales price of homes in America and the average hourly wage to their values as of Q1 1970. That was the eve of Nixon’s plunge into pure fiat money at Camp David in August 1971 and all the resulting monetary excesses and metastases since then.
The data leaves no room for doubt. Home prices today stand at 18.2X their Q1 1970 value while average hourly wages are at only 8.7X their value of 54 years ago.
Your Bomb Shelter is Not Going to Save You – Steve Quayle
by Greg Hunter
USA Watchdog
Renowned radio host, filmmaker, book author and archeological dig expert Steve Quayle says just about every aspect of American life is under a new threat because America is on the verge of war. No doubt the coming global war will turn nuclear. Quayle explains, “Here is the critical issue. We are so tenuously and perilously poised at provoking a nuclear preemptive attack in the continental United States because the minute an F-16 (J-model), which can carry nuclear weapons, the minute we get our bombers in the air, there is a point Russia, with its superior hypersonic weapons, can take that aircraft out before they can even get over a target. This is most critical, and that is Russia has achieved electronic warfare dominance. That means imagine a net and you are firing missiles, bombers and they have no ability to navigate. . . . Anything that is stealth no longer exists as stealth. . . . I think there is a more sinister purpose to starting a nuclear war than most people recognize. The globalists, the Satanists, the Luciferians, the one world government people and the WTF-ers are all total haters of mankind. They all have the same goals as Satan, and that is the destruction of humanity. I think what is at stake is the global sacrifice of the western nations. All NATO countries, and it is amazing to me, that all these countries that want war on Russia have long since abandoned Christianity, and, yes, these are holy wars. . . . In my opinion, we are at the time and the revealing of the Anti-Christ.”
Joe Biden Balloons ‘Temporary’ Amnesty to Include 1.2M Foreign Nationals
by John Binder
Breitbart.com
President Joe Biden has helped balloon the number of foreign nationals living in the United States who are eligible or receiving Temporary Protected Status (TPS), making them ineligible for deportation, to nearly 1.2 million.
Analysis from the Pew Research Center reveals that as of late last month, almost 1.2 million foreign nationals are eligible or receiving TPS so they can stay in the U.S., secure work permits, and avoid deportation.
Since taking office, Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has added Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and Venezuela to the list of countries where nationals residing in the U.S. but who do not have any immigration status can qualify for TPS.
Last September, Biden extended TPS to almost half a million Venezuelans in the U.S. That was after almost a quarter of a million Venezuelans were offered TPS in 2021.
San Francisco Bill Would Let People Sue Grocery Stores for Closing Too Quickly
A proposed ordinance would empower people to sue supermarkets that close without giving the city six months’ advance notice.
by Christian Britschgi
Reason.com
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a remarkable policy that would allow people to sue grocery stores that close too quickly.
Earlier this week, Supervisors Dean Preston and Aaron Peskin introduced an ordinance that, if passed, would require grocery stores to provide six months’ written notice to the city before closing down.
Supermarket operators would also have to make “good faith” efforts to ensure the continued availability of groceries at their shuttered location, either through finding a successor store, helping residents form a grocery co-op, or any other plan they might work out by meeting with city and neighborhood residents.
Lest one thinks this is some heavy-handed City Hall intervention, the ordinance makes clear that owners still retain the ultimate power to close their store.
Marxist Globalists Will Resort to Terror and Violence
by J.B. Shurk
American Thinker
It is important to understand that censorship does not occur in a vacuum. It is a symptom of a worsening disease. It is an early indicator of the political repression to come. Like a canary in a coal mine, the criminalization of speech forewarns that State-sponsored terror and murder are not far away. First, certain words and thoughts are banned. Next, certain people are rounded up and imprisoned. Finally, certain “enemies of the State” are executed quite publicly. The imposition of fear supersedes the rule of law. Terrorism undergirds social order. Oppression replaces popular support.
What is happening in the West today is a concentrated push for global communism. We could bicker about precise definitions — whether we are under attack from Marxists, socialists, Leninists, Trotskyites, Maoists, or other “revolutionaries” — but the end goal is clear. A small group of global “elites” seek to use ideological and economic leverage to centralize political power and direct all human activity. They seek the abolition of private property. They seek absolute control over individual lives and local communities. They are rebuilding twentieth-century totalitarianism with the privacy-destroying surveillance technologies of the twenty-first century.
Police: Less than 1% of ‘Hate Crime’ Reports Are Being Investigated
A ‘hate report’ has been logged with police every minute for the past week.
by Steve Watson
Modernity News
The Scottish Police Federation has declared that of the more than 8000 reports they have received under the new ‘hate crime’ law, less than one percent are leading to investigations.
General Secretary David Kennedy told The Sunday Times that “The number of complaints that translated into actual hate crime investigations is extremely small,” saying it constitutes under one percent.
The volume of hate reports that have been made in just one week is equivalent to one grievance every minute, according to the Times.
Despite Pledge to Audit Elites, New 80k+-Strong Biden IRS Legion Targets Middle Class
by Ben Bartee
The Daily Bell
Originally published via Armageddon Prose:
One might recall — if one strains oneself reaching back all the way in ancient history to a year and a half ago — the Brandon entity and its various handlers pledging that the new 80,000-strong army of IRS agents it procured funding for would only be targeting the ultra-rich.
Peruse the following letter, dated August 2022, from the Secretary of Treasury, infamous floppy-titted wildebeest Janet Yellen, to IRS Commissioner Rettig:
“The Inflation Reduction Act includes much-needed funding for the IRS to improve taxpayer service, modernize outdated technological infrastructure, and increase equity in the tax system by enforcing the tax laws against those high-earners, large corporations, and complex partnerships who today do not pay what they owe.
Greyerz Just Warned Gold & Silver Are Entering the Exponential Phase
from King World News
Today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE and historic moves in currencies and metals told King World News that investors need to get prepared because gold and silver are now entering the exponential phase. Meaning it is time to ignore pullbacks and remain focused on the big picture which will include a mania.
The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
GOLD AND SILVER ENTERING EXPONENTIAL PHASE
April 7 (King World News) – Egon von Greyerz, Founder of VON GREYERZ AG: Gold is now in a hurry and silver even more so.
FPX Nickel Initiates Steps Advancing Baptiste Nickel Project with CEO Martin Turenne
from Kerry Lutz's Financial Survival Network
We sat down with Martin Turenne, CEO of FPX Nickel (🇺🇸FPOCF — 🇨🇦FPX) to discuss the company’s financial state and its numerous strategic advancements. FPX has an impressive cash hoard, recently increasing from $30 million to $45 million, leaving the company fully funded for the next 2 years. This is the result of transformative investments from large strategic corporate investors like Sumitomo Metal Mining, a Japanese leader. He also delves into FPX’s innovative and collaborative approach to develop the Baptiste nickel project in British Columbia.
Martin has been forming important partnerships with major entities like Sumitomo, JOGMEC (a Japanese Government entity) and Prime Planet Energy and Solutions (a joint venture of Toyota and Panasonic), showcasing FPX Nickel’s integration into the Japanese battery metals ecosystem. The cost of admission to this exclusive club is increasing, requiring equity investment at a substantial premium to market. He emphasizes the innovative nature of FPX’s mining projects, including exploiting novel Awaruite nickel deposits in Canada and eventually elsewhere. The company’s commitment to environmental stewardship is key to its collaborative community engagement.
The broader market dynamics of nickel and copper prices were covered, providing insights into the industry’s financial landscape. Martin made the case that the company’s superior financial position and prospectivity is not reflected in the company’s current market undervaluation. As things move ahead, he’s confident that this will change greatly.
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One Reason Why the Current Economic System is About to Die with Darryl Schoon
from Kerry Lutz's Financial Survival Network
Kerry and Darryl Schoon reflected on the 14-year journey of economic uncertainty, the struggles of central bankers to restore stability, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy. They also discussed the potential implications for China’s economy, the psychology of market participants, and the role of gold as a barometer of systemic distress. The conversation then shifted to Bitcoin, with Lutz discussing the institutional adoption of the cryptocurrency and suggesting that institutions are being sold debt and IOUs. He expressed skepticism about the motives behind institutional investment in Bitcoin, portraying it as a way for the fast boys to profit at the expense of the slow boys. The meeting also covered the potential impact of AI, with participants expressing concerns about the environmental and societal implications of AI technology, as well as the ethical and philosophical aspects of AI development. They discussed the potential negative consequences of creating machines that mimic human actions and the dangers of creating machines that are similar to humans but lack the ability to make ethical decisions.
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NATO Invites War, Israel/Iran War, Dem Panic
by Greg Hunter
USA Watchdog
In a surprise announcement, Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Ukraine will be joining NATO. This has grave implications for an expanded war with Russia. In 1991, the U.S. promised never to allow Ukraine to join NATO. Ukraine was supposed to be neutral and not have a robust army. All that changed in 2014 with the coup that was orchestrated by the Obama Administration. From then on, the West has inched towards war. Now, it looks like it’s an unstoppable slide of a NATO war with Russia, and NATO is inviting it with glee.
Israel attacked Iran’s embassy in Syria this week killing some high-ranking military commanders. Iran is vowing revenge. Israel is warning against attacking its territory. This could turn up the heat to high in the Middle East if these two nuclear powers start trading shots. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is about to sell Israel $18 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets. That will settle things down. Maybe this is why renowned cycle analyst Martin Armstrong said this past week on USAW, “Everything points towards war.”
Debt From Above: The Carbon Credit Coup
Latin America is quietly being forced into a carbon market scheme through regional contractual obligations – enforced by the satellites of a US intelligence-linked firm – which seeks to create an inter-continental “smart grid,” erode national and local sovereignty, and link carbon-based life to the debt-based monetary system via a Bitcoin sidechain.
by Mark Goodwin and Whitney Webb
Unlimited Hangout
Sweeping across the shores of Latin America comes a scheme from some of the most predatory figures in the venture capital ecosystem of the United States. It is a brazen attempt to assert foreign influence across Latin America and threatens to reshape the very fabric of the region and the day to day lives of its people. At its core is a serpentine set of contractual obligations, held at the municipal level, cast throughout Central and South America, upheld by an intelligence-linked satellite company, and controlled by a private sector consortium of green-washed financiers aiming to turn the region’s forests into equity and carbon credits. At the same time, it obliges local governments to spend “conservation” funds on projects that further financialize nature and aid the construction of an inter-continental “smart” grid. One of its key ambitions appears to be further entrenching the debt load of the region through the multi-lateral development banks and the dollarization of the continent from the subnational level up through carbon markets upheld by a digital ledger. What seems like a technological marvel aimed at progress and connectivity harbors a darker agenda — one that intertwines planetary surveillance, financial predation, geopolitical maneuvering, and the domination of a resource-rich continent buried in debt.
Gold and Silver Surge Higher
by Alasdair MacLeod
Gold Money
Gold and silver continued their run higher, defying predictions of profit-taking. From last Thursday’s close (Friday was Easter and market were closed), gold rose $50 to $2280 in early European trade this morning, after flirting with $2300. That’s a rise of $300 since St Valentine’s Day. And silver traded at $26.60, up nearly 19% over the same time period having traded as high as $27.30. Comex volumes in the silver contract were exceptionally high, but relatively subdued in gold. These are shown next.
[…] Comex gold deliveries continue apace, less so in silver, but more now in gold. 97 silver contracts representing 485,000 ounces were stood for delivery in silver in just four trading days, but in gold 7,689 contracts (768,900 ounces) were stood for delivery.
Biden’s Dictatorship – Why Executive Orders Are Unconstitutional
by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
These are just a few of the onslaught of Executive Orders Bidens signed within hours of entering the White House. He not only opened the border to the flood of illegal aliens that are now getting free healthcare and tax-free money and housing that Americans are not entitled to, but he immediately went to deal with the transgender issue, making that a national crisis and shoving it down everyone’s throats who never even heard about the subject before, and restored all the money to promote this fake science of Climate Change.
People ask me if I donate to the Judicial Watch. The answer is NO!!!! I have written to them, and they have refused to respond. They will NOT defend the Constitution and address this issue of Executive Orders. Biden can issue an executive order, which you can violate and go to prison as if it were legislation by We the People. They BS all the time that we live in this fake democracy when it is an autocracy no different from what they claim Putin is and when we should die on some battlefield to defend the Constitution that they ignore.