Today is the first day of the Democratic National Convention with keynote speakers being that of Senator Bernie Sanders, and former First Lady, Michelle Obama. Also notable, from the standpoint of at least attempting to show unity, was a message from Republican and former US Congressman and former Governor of Ohio, John Kasich. How effective all of their remarks were will be determined in November. The biggest common thread throughout tonight’s performance was that of the contrasting characteristics between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. On the one hand the speakers from this evening made it about Biden’s empathy and strong character against Trump’s lack of empathy and character – in their opinions. While this may prove effective if the Biden campaign can stick to this message, neither the DNC or the RNC will discuss or highlight the core structural issues at play.
It will be this “convenient” absence of serious discussion pertaining to the structural issues of this country that proves the DNC and RNC are only simply concerned with their side winning. They will not discuss what the proper role of government ought to be. They will not call for the abolishing of the income tax and the Federal Reserve System. They will not call for a massive down-sizing of government. They will not discuss the devastating effects of the coming inflation and stagflation and even perhaps hyperinflation, which they have set into motion. They will not discuss the out of control government and its spending habits and along with it the multi-trillion dollar deficit(s), and national debt. They will not discuss the unsustainable path of our welfare state. No, no. They will simply make this about character and higher taxes versus lower taxes versus extreme right and left political views. And make no mistake about it, no matter what either party tells you, your taxes are going up. They’re going up at the Federal level either through direct taxation and/or inflation, and they will be going up through direct taxation at the state and local levels. There are massive shortfalls due to mismanagement and COVID-19. These shortfalls will be made up or at least state and local governments will attempt to bridge them. So remember, higher taxes (direct and inflation) are coming as are higher costs of living, lower standards of living, and if you’re on a fixed income or receiving government benefits, those are likely to be diminished as well. But go ahead and pay attention to the three-ringed circus that the DNC and RNC are going to put on for us. And then go ahead and vote for one of these two jokers at the top of the ticket. And then hope that the real issues are addressed. But don’t be surprised in another election-cycle that you’re back to square one arguing the same points then as you are today. So I say to you, please remain focused on the key structural issues and do not endorse this two-party system with your vote – they haven’t earned it and they do not deserve it. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #DNC #Economy #2020 #BananaRepublic #Economy #Gold #Silver #Inflation #Debt #Jobs #Recession #Depression #Protests #EndTheFed
With the additional $600 weekly benefit having come to an end, many questions remain as to what happens next? For many, this may have been the only income received over the past several months. For others, the $600/week was additional income on top of what they may have been receiving from their State’s unemployment office. In addition to this Federal assistance expiring, there are also serious concerns pertaining to what can be considered the eviction moratoriums. A couple of months ago, The Kapital News discussed experts projecting some 20-28 million Americans could be evicted in the coming months. Now, an analysis from the Aspen Institute suggests that it may be closer to 30-40 million Americans facing evictions in the coming months. For context, some 10 million Americas were evicted over a couple of years in the midst of the GFC. In addition to the expiring unemployment benefits and moratoriums, hunger is also a major concern. With surveys put out by the Census Bureau and others stating that some 30 million Americans are underfed and/or concerned about where their next meal will come from.
These issues are structural and the massive amounts of spending, borrowing, begging, and printing has only kicked the can down the road for a little. Now the chickens are coming home to roost and the piper wants paid. But hey, don’t worry, because the Fed and the Congress and the White House via the Treasury Department are purchasing corporate debt of the world’s largest companies. So don’t worry where your next meal is coming from. Don’t worry about not getting that extra $600/week, and don’t worry about being evicted. You know why? Because our government is buying corporate debt of the world’s largest firms, among other “assistance” programs and bailouts. Billions and trillions to the bigs and corporations and screw the little guy. Welcome to your banana republic. #Economy #Debt #Bailouts #Jobs #Gold #BananaRepublic #Congress #USA #Silver
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released some inflation data this morning and it came in “hotter” than the consensus – this is no surprise to The Kapital News. Inflation plus a stagnant economy equals stagflation and if the printing press and the out of control Congress and White House continue to beg, borrow, and spend money we don’t have, then hyperinflation may not be too far off into the future. Hyperinflation is already an issue in several countries around the world and is likely to become an issue for the several others over the coming months. The United State is not the exception nor are we immune to the devastating effects of inflation, especially in high percentages.
On a 12-month basis ending July 2020, the “All-items” category increased by 1.0 percent. Food increased by 4.1 percent. Energy declined by -11.2 percent. And medical care services rose by 5.9 percent. Lastly, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent over the past 12 months. Recall that the Federal Reserve targets a 2 percent inflation rate and has repeatedly noted that they are comfortable with inflation going higher than 2 percent and being there for awhile. Jay Powell, Chairman of the Fed has also stated on separate occasions that he is not even thinking about thinking about thinking about raising interest rates. This is US dollar destruction and with it higher prices and lower standards of living will follow. This is a recipe for disaster and if you think the global protests and riots are bad now – you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Lastly, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were together for the first time as Presidential and VP candidates. They gave a speech in Biden’s home state of Delaware where they praised each other, addressed several issues facing the nation, and attacked the Trump Administration. While The Kapital News does not endorse either of the two-party candidates, if Biden and Harris are able to stick to the script and the teleprompter(s), and continue to repeat what they said this afternoon and hold the tone, then the Trump campaign should be concerned. Net-net The Kapital News believes that this is a referendum on Trump and whether the American people want to give him another four years, as opposed to being excited about Joe Biden and his message. Many Democrats crossed the party line last time and many independents gave Trump a chance – will they do it again? Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Inflation #Gold #Debt #BananaRepublic #USA #Silver #Congress #Recession #Depression #Protests #Stagflation
Today Democratic Party Presidential candidate Joe Biden announced his pick for VP, and it’s California Senator Kamala Harris. Sen Harris was a candidate for the Presidency on the Dem side, but failed to gain enough traction to win the nomination. Nonetheless, she has evidently earned the trust and confidence of Biden as she is now his running-mate. With this announcement, the Presidential race is now heating up. With only a few short months to go, it’s still a close toss-up as to who will win the Presidency in the opinion of The Kapital News. And if 2020 continues on its current trajectory, then a few short months may feel like an eternity and anything and we mean anything could happen.
Despite what the politicians themselves will tell you and what the mainstream media would have you believe – there’s really not that much of a difference between both sides. Yes, they’ll tell you otherwise. Yes, they’ll tell you how they’re different and one side wants to raise taxes and the other cut them. How one wants to handle foreign policy this way and the other side that way, etc… But understand and understand well that at the end of the day on a net-net basis we have to look at the results and the actions. And one administration after the next whether Republic or Democrat, in conjunction with Congress, have led us to a path of ruin. There is no major difference between the two-parties – they are virtually one-in-the-same. All you have to do is pay attention and put aside the party and put the country first. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Debt #2020 #USA #BananaRepublic
Since the President wanted to sign executive orders to extend unemployment benefits and to suspend the payroll tax cut, among others, which is unconstitutional, we wanted to discuss the unfunded liability situation in the US. The payroll tax is responsible for funding the social security fund as well as that of medicare. Understand that at this juncture, the payroll tax cut is really just a suspension, meaning that the tax will have to be paid at a later date – by the tax deadline in 2021. This could prove to be a big shock to many people who may decide to spend the extra income as oppose to saving it. Of course, many employers will be hesitant to comply with this executive order since it is unconstitutional and because it will likely cause obstacles with respect to their bookkeeping. But hey, it’s an election year, so who cares about the details and the US Constitution?
In other news, we also discuss the decision by the Lebanese government today to resign their post. The weakest link of any chain is the first to break and the dominoes are set as we continue to see countries in economic collapse and others on the brink. The global protests and riots that were occurring prior to COVID-19 were not and are not transitory, but rather history in the making. They will continue and likely escalate as we continue through 2020 and beyond. The world is lacking leadership and direction. Governments are unaccountable and corrupt and central bankers are in a currency war to the bottom where the true costs of these fraudulent acts are borne by the people – and the lower on the income scale, the worse the effects. People around the world are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and thus we are witnessing history in the making with these global protests. Some are violent, some will turn violent, others will demand government resignations, others will overthrow their governments, civil war(s) may ensue, as wars between nations. Let us pray for a peaceful resolution, but if current policies are implemented, then we are sealing our fate to a dim future. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Recession #Debt #Gold #Depression #BananaRepublic #Silver #Bailouts #USA #Lebanon #Protests
Another month is in the books for 2020 and as such we have the July jobs report being released last Friday. Since we were away last week, we were unable to discuss the report. So today, we take the time to read the report in its entirety as we have been since the start of the pandemic with the April jobs report. A couple national and international political and economic stories are also discussed during this episode. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Jobs #Recession #Gold #Bailouts #Silver #Depression #BananaRepublic
We discuss the Thursday data release since we were away during the last week. Therefore, we cover the typical initial and continuing claims data, the Fed’s balance sheet, and also discuss some national political stories. One such story pertains to Congress and the White House not being able to come to an agreement on another round of spending. They can give billions and trillions to corporations at the drop of a hat, but extend something for the people, and they just can’t get their act together. Don’t worry, they will pass something. However, in the interim as we wait, the President has taken it upon himself to sign executive orders that will extend unemployment assistance as well as to suspend the payroll tax. The President does NOT have the authority to do this. Yet the Constitution is rarely considered to begin with – so does anybody really care? Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Jobs #Debt #Gold #Bailouts #BananaRepublic
With another busy news week, we thought it prudent to go over some of the major points. Recapping the decision by the Federal Reserve, the GDP and jobless figures, and market performance rounded out the economic and financial news. While on the political front, we covered the disgraceful hearing of AG Barr earlier this week before the House Judiciary Committee, and briefly discuss Joe Biden’s upcoming decision as he announces his VP candidate next week. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Gold #Recession #Debt #Protests #Depression #Bailouts #Inflation #BananaRepublic #EndTheFed
A big data release today as we saw the first estimate for Q2 GDP, initial and continuing jobless claims, and the Fed’s balance sheet. On the GDP front, we witnessed an annualized contraction of -32.9% for Q2 of 2020. This is an historic contraction with nearly every facet of the economy experiencing a decline. One area of increase of course was federal government spending.
With respect to initial jobless claims, for the week ending 25 July, we witnesses the second consecutive week over week increase. This is the wrong direction, but unfortunately this is not shocking to The Kapital News. Another 1.434 million Americans filed for initial jobless benefits, which was an increase from the previous week of 1.422 million. Continuing claims also moved higher for the first time in several weeks, now resting at 17.018 million Americans. In aggregate, which takes into consideration the various emergency and pandemic related programs, for the week ending 11 July, there were 30.202 million Americans receiving some form of unemployment compensation. This was a decrease from the prior week ending 4 July of 31.804 million. This is moving in the right direction, however, this data lags a couple of weeks. And with the recent set-back(s) in re-openings, this number may very well increase in the coming weeks. There is also the effect of some of these programs potentially coming to an end if Congress does not extend them or create something new. And there remains some distortionary effects on the “true” jobs picture as PPP loans are still being utilized. So, once these loans expire, will these employers retain all of their employees or will the let some of them go (again)? Time will tell.
Lastly, the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet was reduced slightly from the prior week continuing its recent plateauing trend. However, as Jay Powell stated yesterday following the conclusion of the FOMC meeting, that the Fed will continue to do whatever it takes and will continue to buy US Treasuries and mortgaged-backed securities at its current rate. With recent announcements of extension of various emergency facilities and dollar swap lines, and expectations that Congress will soon be passing another $1 trillion plus spending bill, it is reasonable to assume that the Fed’s balance sheet will be moving higher over the coming months. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #GDP #Jobs #Gold #USA #Depression #Recession #Silver #Liberty #Inflation
Well no surprise, as was expected, the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates at record lows between 0.00-0.25 bps. The Fed has also decided to extend their dollar swap line program until at least March of 2021. This is in addition to the extension of their alphabet soup of emergency facilities that are now set to expire by the end of December 2020. When asked this afternoon by a reporter about when the Fed may begin increasing interest rates, Jay Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, responded that he isn’t even thinking about thinking about raising interest rates. This has been a consistent answer as the Fed has cornered themselves by these various policies. If the Fed was unable to raise rates during 2018 and to “normalize” its balance sheet, (supposedly when the economy was strong), and the markets threw a tantrum and sold off some 20% in the Q4 of 2018, then how will the Fed be able to do it this time? Especially with their balance sheet nearly double where it was back in 2018. Recall that rates got to about 2.5% in 2018 and the economy and/or markets couldn’t tolerate it – hence the market sell-off. So presumably, if and when the Fed attempts to raise rates, we’ll be looking at 1 to 1.5%, maybe even less, that will have the same effect whereby the markets won’t be able to withstand such “high” rates. This is so laughable and yet so tragic at the same time. Be on the lookout for inflation, because it is coming – in fact, it’s already here.
In some other news, former VP Joe Biden is expected to announce his VP pick during the first week of August. This is one the biggest decisions that any Presidential contender has to make during their campaign and so we can expect quite a bit of news coverage on this topic. What we do know is that it will be a woman, as Biden has already made this commitment. Some of the top picks may be Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, along with former Obama Administration official and National Security Advisor, Susan Rice. This news event will take the campaign on both sides to the next level. There’s only a few months to go before election day and if 2020 continues in the same way, then that amounts to a lifetime between now and 3 November. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Gold #Debt #Bailouts #USA #BananaRepublic #EndTheFed #Depression #Recession #Silver #Protests #Liberty
