Joe Biden became the 46th President of the United States of America as he was sworn into office this afternoon by Chief Justice, John Roberts. Kamala Harris was also sworn in as the Vice President, becoming the first woman, black and Asian American to become the VP. So whatever your political leanings and thoughts are of VP Harris, this was nonetheless an historic day on those fronts.
President Biden struck the right cord, tone, and balance in his speech today. This is typically the case for any incoming President as this is the first message to the nation as the new Commander-in-Chief. It is an all hands on deck effort to craft and deliver an inspirational and memorable address to the country. While words may motivate, it is action that ultimately counts. This is where reality meets optimism. This country has been and is torn apart for a number of reasons that The Kapital News discusses on a daily basis. So it is difficult to believe that the same cast and crew of yesteryear who are partially responsible for such decay, decline, and calamity, are now somehow going to be the people to rectify and structurally reform our economic and political systems.
We know well the math behind our fiscal situation and we know the trends and trajectory. And what we have already heard from the new Biden administration, is more of the same policies that are all but guaranteed to make matters even worse. This is true, especially with respect to the middle class and lower wage earners. We will soon witness and be in the midst of the largest transfer of wealth in human history – surpassing the one we experienced following the GFC and the one we are going through now. While we do not wish the new administration any ill-will, we do however, wish that they would change course and restore our constitution and free-market capitalism. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Biden #Trump #USA #Liberty #USA #Revolution #Leadership #FireCongress #Economy #Inflation #Gold #Silver #EndTheFed #bananarepublic
One day removed from election day and Americans and people around the world are awaiting the final tally of votes. At this moment, Joe Biden has 253 electoral votes, to President Trump’s 214 electoral votes. Despite Biden’s lead, there are still avenues for Trump to win re-election. However, these pathways are narrowing and Biden is currently in the lead in Arizona and Nevada. If these two states hold to Biden, then he will squarely hit the needed 270 electoral votes and he will become the President-Elect. The outstanding states that remain to be called are, AZ, NV, GA, NC, and PA. Biden has several pathways to victory with these remaining states. President Trump on the other hand would need to carry at least four of the remaining five, assuming one of them was PA, but not with an AZ and NV combo being two of those four, or carry all five. This remains a possibility – but it’s a steep uphill climb. A 269-269 tie is also a possibility. Both Arizona and Georgia are supposed to have further results this evening – and dependent on such results, decision desks, may be able to call these states (FOX and AP, have already called AZ for Biden). Other states may take an additional day or two, and North Carolina may not have a total count until next week. Please remain calm and allow people’s votes to be counted. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Election2020 #ElectionDay #Vote #USA #Liberty #Revolution #Economy
With two days to go until election day, 3 November, both Presidential candidates and their surrogates are zig-zagging the country to motivate their respective bases, and to drive as much voter turnout as possible. Well as of this evening, 93.3 million Americans have already cast their ballots. This represents nearly 67 percent of the total vote turnout in 2016! The in-person vote tallies to 34 million and mail accounts for 59.3 million – with more to come. It’s still either man’s race, but with the last of the polls coming in over the weekend, and perhaps some more on Monday, it does not appear that there is any significant tightening. Thus meaning that Biden still holds a good lead, both nationally, but more importantly, in some of the key battleground states.
However, what is so unsettling to The Kapital News, is that despite who wins, it’s likely going to be a contentious battle in the courts. Also, none of the structural issues that are and have been plaguing this nation for generations are being addressed, and thus the problems associated with said issues, will continue to rot this country from within. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Election2020 #Vote #USA #Economy #Liberty #Leadership #Revolution
A lot of data came over the wires today – economic and political. In today’s podcast we discuss the common Thursday topics of initial and continuing jobless claims, the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, and M2 money stock. Today was also the release of the initial reading for Q3 GDP, which came in at a record print of +33.1 percent. Such a large increase is no surprise to The Kapital News, and in fact, we have been discussing this for months. When you have the worst reading of GDP in Q2 at -31.4 percent, it’s not so difficult to come back with a big number in the subsequent quarter. This is especially more so the case when the federal government and Federal Reserve throw trillions of dollars (that we did not have), into the system. The question now is what happens moving forward? And also, do not forget that Q1 GDP contracted -5 percent. And the lockdowns and restrictions did not take hold until March on a large scale. So most of Q1 2020 was in the books prior to the COVID-19 actions. Again, this is something The Kapital News had been arguing throughout 2019 – that the economy was rolling over, and a recession was on the horizon – even before the onset of the pandemic. We also continue our coverage of early voting and the electoral college as analyzed by Real Clear Politics and Five Thirty Eight.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending 24 October were 751,000, maintaining a figure below that stubborn 800,000 mark for the second consecutive week. However, this is still a heartbreaking number, as before the pandemic, this statistic was in the low 200,000 range, week-to-week. So despite all the fiscal and monetary efforts, still seven/eight months into this downturn, we are still witnessing several hundred thousand layoffs per week. Continuing claims for the week ending 17 October are continuing lower and are now at 7.756 million, which is a week-over-week decline of 709,000. In aggregate, for all persons claiming a UI benefit, for the week ending, 10 October, 22.6 million Americans remained jobless.
The Fed’s balance sheet rolled over slightly from it’s all-time seen last week. The balance sheet gave back about $31 billion and now sits at $7.146 trillion. This roll off is part of the natural process of assets expiring that the Fed is holding – think the duration of a Treasury note, bill, or mortgage-backed security. Nonetheless, The Kapital News remains steadfast in our analysis that the Fed’s balance, along with other central banks, will continue to grind higher. The M2 money stock continues to make new all-time highs and now rests at $18.815 trillion. This is a year-over-year increase of over 24 percent. In the 40 years of data provided for this figure, there is only one time the year-over-year figure was higher, and that was two months ago in early September! The next closest figure was around 13 percent back in the early-to-mid 1980s. This is extremely worrisome and will prove detrimental to the system.
Early voting is now 81.3 million, with 52.9 million being mail ballots, and 28.4 million in-person. This continues to break records and is simply a staggering figure. This represents 59 percent of the total 2016 voter turnout, and if estimates for 2020 are correct, we’re likely at the 50 percent mark on the high range, should 160 million votes be cast in 2020. With a few more days to go and depending on the state, early voting can still take place tomorrow, and of course mail-in ballots will continue to make their way into election offices over the weekend and into election day. With such high turnout, we may very likely know who wins the election within a couple of days of 3 November. To the electoral college – should Biden win Florida, then it’s likely an early night, as this would greatly diminish the chances that Trump could win re-election. With more polls coming in across the wires, Real Clear Politics now gives Biden 356 electoral college votes to Trump’s 182. The biggest changes since yesterday were switching both Florida and Georgia into the Biden column. With respect to Five Thirty Eight, they are now giving Biden an 89 in 100 chance of winning to Trump’s 11 in 100. Their model is also awarding Biden the battleground states of PA, AZ, FL, NC, GA, OH, and even both single districts in ME and NE. Such a turn out gives Biden 347 electoral college votes to Trump’s 191. Yet despite this, it is still either man’s race and there are a few more days of campaigning to go. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Election2020 #Debates2020 #Vote #USA #Economy #Jobs #Bailouts #Gold #Silver #Liberty #Revolution
It’s a dash to the finish line and pollsters across the country are looking to salvage their reputations and livelihoods, as 2016 went out with a surprise. While not as big a surprise as the President and his surrogates would have you believe, but nonetheless, it was clear that most pollsters had Hillary Clinton winning the White House (although she did win the popular vote). This year, with most polls being relatively stable, both nationally and at the state level, they have consistently been showing Joe Biden with the lead. Some of these states may be within a polling error, but others have Biden pulling away. This is not what the Trump campaign wants to see, as their avenue to winning re-election in getting narrower. Conversely, Biden has several lanes that can get him to 270 electoral college votes.
In today’s podcast, we highlight some of these newer polls, (many more will be coming in throughout the week), we also update the early vote count, and briefly touch upon the market sell-off, and the European lockdowns. Early vote totals are now 76.5 million, with 50.7 million being mail ballots, and 25.8 million in-person. This represents nearly 56 percent of the total turnout in 2016, and also likely represents as least 50 percent of the 2020 total turnout. With such high numbers for early voting, it becomes more of a probability that the election results will either be on election night, or within a couple of days – which of course would be best for the country – as opposed to some long drawn out court battle. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Election2020 #Debates2020 #Vote #USA #Trump #Biden #Liberty #Revolution #Leadership
With only one week to go until 3 November, early voting continues to shatter through 2016 figures. Current early votes stand at 70.5 million with 47.2 million being mail ballots, and 23.3 million being in-person. This is now over 50 percent of the total turnout in 2016. It is estimated that this year will see anywhere between 150-160 million votes. Should the trajectory of early voting continue through this week, then it is highly possible that this will represent 50-70 percent of the total vote turnout of 2020. If this proves true, then it increases the likelihood that a winner will be announced on election night or within a day or two. However, if the race is shown to be close, especially in key battleground states, such as Pennsylvania and Florida, then we can expect a legal battle up to the US Supreme Court, and this could takes weeks, if not months to resolve. Despite the probability that the Biden/Harris ticket will prove victorious, it is still very much either man’s race. This is 2020 and a lot can happen in a week to put it mildly. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Election2020 #Debates2020 #Economy #Liberty #Revolution #USA #Trump #Biden #Vote
With one week to go until election day, it is still very much either man’s race. However, with the consistency in the polling, both nationally and across the states, the probability is that Joe Biden will win this election. When analyzing the electoral college map, there are several avenues to victory for the Biden ticket, as opposed to a few for the President. But recall, in 2016, there were only a few avenues for then candidate Trump – and he won – so it can happen again.
Early voting is simply on a roll as we are now standing at 64.2 million votes being cast! Mail ballots represent the largest block with 43.2 million votes, while in-person accounts for 21 million. This is shattering the numbers for early voting in 2016 and some analysts project as high as 100 million votes may be in prior to election day, 3 November. If this is the case, or even close to it, then it is likely that we will know the winner on election night or within a day or two. Of course, if it’s a close race, then this may drag on for weeks, if not months, as it makes its way through the courts. Another indicator of an early election night, would be if Joe Biden should win the state of Florida. Should this happen, Biden is nearly guaranteed a victory. However, should Trump win Florida, as he did in 2016, then it’ll likely be a long night, unless Biden sweeps across the board in other battleground states.
Election 2020 and Joe Biden are much different than election 2016 and Hillary Clinton. An outsider versus an insider, straight talk against political correctness, no political track record versus a lifetime in politics, and a few others. Now, in the midst of a global pandemic and the greatest depression, coupled with the President having a political record on the books, changes the dynamic. Lots of Democrats “crossed the line” to vote for Trump in 2016 as did many Independents. There was also a large contingency that didn’t vote due to the unpopularity of the two candidates. Also, many Democrats who wanted Bernie Sanders to be the nominee, did not like how the DNC treated Sanders, and so they either didn’t vote, or voted third party. A lot of this drama that helped Trump in 2016 appears to be non-existent or at least much smaller than before. Will those same Democrats be comfortable giving Trump another four years, now that they know how he governs? Same question for Independents and even Republicans who were hesitant last time, but are they now not going to vote for Trump in 2020?
With one week left to go, it’s anybody’s guess, but what is not a guess, is the fact that the structural issues are not being addressed, nor will they likely be regardless who wins. What’s also a near 100 percent certainty is the continuation of the political, social, and economic decline and decay – again, because the structural issues are not being dealt with and because of the lack of leadership. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Election2020 #Debates2020 #Economy #Liberty #Revolution #Trump #Biden #USA
The second and final debate between President Trump and former VP Joe Biden has concluded. This was a much more civil debate than the first – not a difficult proposition due to the nature of the prior engagement. Nevertheless, both candidates landed jabs and some power punches, but neither landed a knock out blow. With respect to certain issues, each side can declare victory as to how they conveyed their message to their respective political base, yet on some topics, also appealing to the broader electorate. With twelve days left to go until election day, it is still either man’s race. However, there are fewer paths to victory for the Trump campaign as opposed to the Biden campaign. Hitting the campaign trail hard over the next two weeks will likely be the plan for both men, as well as getting out as many surrogates as possible, and more importantly yet, getting as many people to vote early if possible, or on election day.
The current early vote tally stands at 47.7 million, with 34.2 being mail ballots, and about 14.5 million in-person. This is smashing the numbers witnessed in 2016, and current vote totals as a percentage of all votes in 2016 is already at 35 percent! In 2016 there were about 137 million votes. Political analysts are expecting 2020 results to come in the 150 to 160 million range. This is a staggering increase and will be interesting to see where the momentum lies. We know this is at the very least a referendum on President Trump – especially with respect to his character, rhetoric, and divisive tendencies. Still, the President has a highly motivated and enthusiastic base of support – but will it be enough to get him over the finish line for re-election? This is not 2016 and Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton. Despite this fact, President Trump and his surrogates are using the 2016 playbook attacks for Hillary Clinton, on Joe Biden. This will likely work for the Trump base of support, but it’s effectiveness on Democrats and Independents is most likely nil. Less than two weeks to go and anything can happen and either man can win. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Election2020 #Debates2020 #USA #Economy #Trump #Biden #Vote #Jobs #Bailouts #Liberty #Revolution
This country is beyond its tipping point and the economic and political system is to blame – as are the people for allowing this to build up around them. The merger of big business with big government was always going to bring us to this point in time – it was merely a question as to when this would happen. Well, here we are. Taken with the two-party system, which is really just one party, has brought this nation to her knees, and because of the economic and political system, our choices are more of the same. This time with two, seventy-something years-old men, who, as we’ll put it nicely, have lost their fast ball. In such trying and dire times, we get to choose between a bombastic demagogue who takes zero responsibility and someone who has been in government for nearly fifty years who very much is a part of the problem and the system. This is pathetic, embarrassing, and a disgrace. And because these are bad choices, the country is still naturally split on who to vote for. It’s possible that there will be a red or blue wave, but it’s also possible that there’s a divided government – we don’t know which scenario is the worst one!
We are in the midst of the greatest depression. The reason we do not yet realize this is due to the fact that central governments and banks have thrown trillions of dollars into the system. All this has done is to buy the system some time. And in the interim, for these governments and central banks to give the newly printed money to their closest of friends and corporations. Meanwhile, small businesses and individuals are suffering, and unfortunately, this will continue. In fact, this is likely to get even worse. This is because the trillions of dollars have only served the purpose of keeping the system afloat. Once these dollars have been used and thus their effects diminished, then markets are going to have to face reality. This reality consists of, a commercial real estate collapse, millions of evictions, a countless number of insolvencies and bankruptcies, which will bring massive layoffs, residential real estate declines, and if the funny money cannot continue to lift equity prices, then massive selloffs in the equities markets. This podcast highlights the destructive nature of our system and provides an untold amount of data points and evidence affirming our argument. So the question becomes – when will you leave this two-party system and demand real change? Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Elections2020 #Bailouts #Debt #Inflation #Gold #Silver #BananaRepublic #EndTheFed #Liberty #Revolution #USA #RNC #GOP #DNC
Wall Street did not like the fact that there was not another round of spending agreed to over the weekend or during the day’s trading session – equities sold off. This is the same song and dance we have witnessed several times before throughout 2018-2019 with the US-China trade talks, and the last several months with talks of more spending. Of course, we don’t have the money – but we guess, who cares?! Nonetheless, these stories are thrown out there to juice and pump stocks higher even though there isn’t really anything agreed to. But as we noted last week, as was the case in previous situations, there will come a day when the markets say enough talk – put up or shut up. Well that appears to have been the case today as noted by the selloff across the major indexes. Now, in overnight futures trading, we have the major indexes trading higher again on hopes that Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, along with the White House, and Republicans will continue talks tomorrow, and believe something can be agreed to prior to election day. These headlines are an insult, pure propaganda, and market manipulation, but we digress. And of course, it’s the country and the American people who suffer the consequences and are caught in the crossfire.
On the election front, some 31.3 million votes have already been cast, representing about 22.5 percent of the 2016 total vote turnout. This is quite astonishing and we may very well witness more than half the 2016 turnout occur before election day. This will likely lead to knowing on election night or the day after, who has won the Presidency – as opposed to having all or the majority of votes on election day. A potential con of all this early voting is voters may miss an, “October Surprise,” but we doubt this would have any major effect – most people know who they want to vote for and not much will sway that in either direction.
The President is campaigning heavily and has even been going to some strong red-states, such as Arizona and Georgia, thus signaling that the Trump campaign is concerned with the polling results coming out of these traditional red-states, which Trump won in 2016. President Obama will also be on the campaign trail this week for his former Vice President, as he makes stops in Pennsylvania. The race is still very much up for grabs, but if Biden is able to win Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, which he’s up in the polls for all three, then Joe Biden is likely the next President. This would even assume Trump wins the south as in 2016, Iowa, Nevada (which he lost in 2016), Texas, Arizona, and Ohio. So this paints a very big uphill battle for the President to gain those 270 electoral votes that are needed to cross the finish line. It can happen, but the path is slim. The last debate between the Presidential candidates is also taking place this Thursday. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Elections2020 #Debates2020 #Inflation #Debt #Gold #Silver #Bailouts #Liberty #Revolution
