The FAO Food Price Index report for February 2022 was recently released and it has hit a new all-time high. The previous high was back in February of 2011 – which was also the beginning of the Arab Spring. Coincidentally, oil prices are back to 2011 levels as well. The cause of increase in world food prices is multi-faceted. There is of course the major fiscal and monetary policies that were implemented over the past two years and continue to this day – their very actions are inflationary by definition. Global supply chain disruptions persist adding chokepoints and contributing to upward price pressures. Growing conditions and crop production is also of concern – the FAO cites issues with corn production in Argentina and Brazil. Corn is not just used for human consumption, but also for livestock and ethanol – thus contributing to further downstream price increases. Lastly, the uncertainties that exist due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These two nations account for 25 percent of global wheat production and 20 percent of global corn production. Ukraine exports the bulk of their exports to Asian and Middle Eastern nations – as such, the stage is set for a redux of the Arab Spring – as bread is a main staple of the diet in the region. The conflict is also leading to some countries beginning to hoard their food production and limit or halt entirely the export of foodstuffs – Hungary just halted all grain exports. Other countries may very well follow suit and others, such as China, may go on a buying binge to obtain and store as much as possible in fear of continued rising prices – which if happens, such buying will continue to put upward price pressure on agricultural commodities. Further, in retaliation to economic and financial sanctions that have been placed on Russia, President Putin is retaliating by telling Russian fertilizer firms to stop exporting their products. This will have huge ramifications as Russia and Belarus, an ally of Russia, are two of the world’s top producers and exporters of fertilizers. In addition to this, natural gas prices have been rising, which is an input good and thus a cost to manufacturing fertilizers. It is easy to connect the dots and realize that higher food prices are likely the norm for the foreseeable future.
US gasoline prices are now averaging over $4 per gallon, a level not seen since 2008. The price increase is also the largest increase over a 10-day period, where the prior 10-day record high occurred following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Transportation costs have already been on the move higher through the pandemic and rising fuel prices will only exacerbate the concerns. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Inflation #FoodPrices #Revolution #USA #Russia #Ukraine #Gold #Silver #Wheat #Corn #Oil #Commodities #Protests #Liberty #Peace #Stagflation
I step aside for a few months and all hell breaks loose – exactly how I told you it would. Inflation has proven not to be transitory and the solutions that exist to combat inflation are not popular and will bring the entire economy to a screeching halt. Those trillions upon trillions of dollars in fiscal and monetary stimulus came with a price tag – and everyone is now paying that price – inflation! Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Inflation #Stagflation #Recession #Depression #FoodPrices #Oil #Gold #Silver #Liberty #Freedom #Protests #Revolution
The official unemployment rate is now 5.8 percent, this is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, as they released the jobs report this morning. For the month of May, 559,000 jobs were added to the roles. This figure was below market expectations, which was looking for a gain of 650,000. Recall that last month, analysts were looking for jobs gains near one million and fell way short of that number. The April figure was revised upward by 12,000 and now stands at 278,000. It would stand to reason that markets would be looking once again for a one million figure or close to it, considering more parts around the country have been re-opening. If one million was good enough for April, then it should have been good enough for May. This was not the case, however, and this was most likely due to the fact that analysts were so far off target in April. And not wanting to make the same mistake twice, they collectively lowered their estimates. It is a joke of an economy and it is a joke of markets. We are in a first world banana republic where the numbers seemingly do not even matter anymore. All that matters is how much central bank liquidity is being thrown into the system. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Jobs #Inflation #Gold #Silver #Protests #FoodPrices #Revolution #Liberty #USA #Leadership #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #FireCongress #Bailouts #Debt #Spending
From one economic figure to the next, it is never really good enough. At least not for the Federal Reserve and other major central banks to truly begin normalizing their respective balance sheets, let alone even discuss the topic. They are concerned how tapering and/or any subsequent increase to interest rates will impact global equity, bond, and currency markets. And rightly so. The Fed attempted to taper and increase interest rates only a few short years ago and it ended with equity markets dropping nearly 20 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018. The economy and equity markets could not digest a Fed’s balance sheet below $4 trillion or the Federal Funds Rate just north of 2 percent. Fast-forward to a balance sheet near $8 trillion and the FFR at the zero bound, and you can surely see their predicament. Equity and bond prices have been able to increase over this pandemic period for one reason and one reason only and that is due to the major liquidity injections by central banks and federal government programs. Remove these items and prices are nowhere near these levels. Policymakers are trapped, they know it, and they are getting more and more nervous by the day.
Initial jobless claims came in at 385,000 for the week ending 29 May. This is the lowest figure since 14 March of 2020 when the number was 256,000. The number from last week was revised slightly lower by 1,000 to now stand at 405,000. In aggregate, some 15.4 million Americans continue to claim some form of unemployment insurance. This gives a de facto unemployment rate of 11.1 percent. The official unemployment rate is currently 6.1 percent. The May jobs report will be released tomorrow morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, and it will be watched closely by global markets. Analysts are looking for nearly 1 million jobs having been added to the roles for the month of May. A recent report released by ADP has stated that 978,000 private sector jobs were added in the month of May. Recall that last month, expectations were for nearly 1 million job gains for April, however, the official statistic came in at 266,000. Will May be a repeat of April or more in alignment with market forecasts?
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet has hit another all-time and now currently stands at $7.935 trillion. This is a week-over-week increase of some $32 billion. It is somewhat laughable how the Fed stated only yesterday that they will begin to taper their holdings of corporate bonds, which amount to $14 billion. And even this is supposed to be a process that could take until the end of the year. Meanwhile, they added $32 billion to their balance sheet in one week alone! The Fed also remains committed to their QE policy of purchasing at least $120 billion per month in US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. M1 and M2 money stock has also been updated and both currently stand at all-time highs, as of April. Coming in at $18.935 trillion and $20.109 trillion, respectively, really puts things into perspective, especially when considering that M1 was at $4 trillion prior to the pandemic and M2 was at $15.5 trillion. So what exactly did we get for all of this funny money? Because we can assure you that this is no free lunch. Jay Powell, Chair of the Fed is expected to speak tomorrow. Most likely this will be some form of damage control for the jobs report whether the number is good looking or ugly. These markets need continued hand-holding in order to grind higher. Talk about a command and control economy. Land of the free, eh? Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Inflation #FoodPrices #Gold #Silver #Protests #Riots #Liberty #USA #Leadership #Revolutions #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #FireCongress #Jobs #Bailouts #Debt
Global markets have been distorted for a long time, but never before have we witnessed such obvious market manipulation alongside the implementation of distortionary policies. What this ultimately translates into is a system that is over-indebted, over-leveraged, and extremely fragile. It can take the slightest of pin-pricks to burst one bubble after the next. The causes of the bursting of the bubbles are near limitless. They can arise from within the financial and economic systems or they can take the form of an exogenous shock to the system. In any event, one bursting bubble will trigger the bursting of others. The economic, financial, political, and societal fallout will be enormous. In such an event, the blame game and finger pointing will ensue almost immediately.
The reason for today’s discussion is due to the ever-changing and shifting narrative that we hear from the mainstream media and policymakers alike. The Kapital News believes this to be a somewhat coordinated effort to distract the people from the bigger picture. Best to keep the people occupied with circuses than the actual truth of what is actually happening around the globe. In this vein, it is quite evident that the narrative around COVID-19, the Chinese, and their Wuhan laboratory are making headlines. Last year, such connections and questions were not allowed to be asked, otherwise you were labeled a conspiracy theorist. Today, it is front page news. So what shifted? What has changed? While The Kapital News does not specifically know the reasoning or the cause behind the sudden change in narrative, we do question why now and may this be used as part of an excuse as to why markets may breakdown? This is a serious question and it needs to be pondered. Because it may provide the perfect cover for policymakers to put the blame on China, thus deflecting any scrutiny of themselves and the asinine and criminal policies that they have been implementing. There will be more to come on this situation. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Inflation #Gold #FoodPrices #Housing #Silver #Debt #Spending #Protests #Liberty #Riots #Leadership #Revolution #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #FireCongress #Bubbles
The S&P/Case-Shiller US national and 20-city home price indexes, saw year-over-year increases of 13.2 percent each. These types of increases have not been since either 2013 or prior to the GFC in 2005. Now while mortgage rates have also ticked up with housing prices, they are still near all-time lows. However, due to such rapidity in housing price increases, buyers are stepping away from the market. They simply cannot afford to purchase these homes. Furthermore, builders are reluctant to sign offers from buyers because they are concerned with the rapid rise of construction material costs. Should they sign a deal and then costs continue higher, their margins will take a hit and it could be significant. This in turn reduces sales.
Yet despite all of this, we are constantly told that there is no inflation and that the Federal Reserve continues to purchase $40 billion per month in mortgage-backed securities. These monthly purchases are a part of the Fed’s QE program which came about during the GFC. So let us understand this, the purchasing of MBS during and after the GFC was done because it was an “emergency” due to housing prices falling. Now we have prices at all-time highs and they continue with QE and the purchasing of MBS. How does this make sense? They buy when prices are falling and they buy when prices keep going up. Something does not make sense and it is likely that a massive correction in housing and/or construction materials is on the horizon. However, the Fed will do everything in their power to prevent this from happening or at least cushion the blow. And not only is this an economic story, but also a political and social story because home-ownership is a very emotional topic. So if prices should continue higher and more and more people are priced out of the market, while at the same time also having to contend with rising rents, and other cost increases, then something is likely to break and give way. Expect political movements, protests, and the like because of this reality. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Housing #Inflation #Gold #Economy #Silver #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #Debt #Liberty #USA #Leadership #Commodities #Protests #FoodPrices #Revolution #FireCongress
Politicians and central bankers the world over have been boxed-in for some time. The road to responsibility, accountability, and leadership is not one they want to take. Therefore, they continue to implement the same asinine policies that led us to this point. And despite all of these artificial attempts to prop up the system and despite how powerful these institutions may be separately or combined, they are not larger than or more powerful than the markets. This means the day of reckoning awaits us. The question is when does this happen? Policymakers know this, but will never admit to it. However, by reading between the lines and listening carefully to their remarks, it is quite clear that they are getting nervous. They know the global economy is extremely fragile right now, as are whole countries from a political and societal perspective. They know this will not end well and they know they will be the ones who will be blamed.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending 15 May came in at 444,000. The lowest reading since the pandemic. The prior week was revised higher by 5,000 to now stand at 478,000. In aggregate, there remains nearly 16 million Americans that continue to claim some form of unemployment insurance. This gives us a de facto unemployment rate of 11.5 percent. The official rate is 6.1 percent.
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet has hit a new all-time high at $7.922 trillion! This is a week-over-week increase of $90 billion. This is a sign that the Fed is worried about the recent price action in the equity markets that has been trending lower, and this is a clear attempt at cushioning the blow in the least and sparking a rally at best. The Fed remains committed to their QE program of purchasing at least $120 billion per month in US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. The Fed is also starting to admit that they are paying closer attention to crypto and digital currencies, and announced that they will be publishing a report on this matter in the summer months.
In other news, the 11 day conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians has come to halt, at least for now as both sides have agreed to a cease-fire that went into effect early Friday morning. The deal was brokered by Egypt. At least 232 Palestinians, including 65 children have been killed. On the Israeli side, twelve people were killed, including two children. Let us pray that the ceasefire holds and turns into a more peaceful situation between the two sides. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Inflation #Jobs #Gold #Silver #FoodPrices #Protests #USA #Israel #Palestine #Commodities #Riots #Peace #Liberty #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #FireCongress #Leadership #Debt #Revolution
The price of Bitcoin is known to be volatile with large swings to the upside and the downside. Currently, it is swinging to the downside where it is trading at $39,300 per coin. Not long ago it was trading around $65,000 per coin, which translates into a loss of over 40 percent in a very short timespan. This type of volatility does not lend itself well for those who advocate that Bitcoin is a store of value. In fact, with such volatility it is quite the opposite. It is a speculative play whereby people are hoping to catch their lottery ticket that is going to give them eternal financial freedom. Markets just simply do not work this way. Some of the recent downside volatility has been a direct result of comments made by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, and statements from several Chinese regulatory agencies.
Mr. Musk, through Tesla, purchased around $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin earlier this year. As one would imagine, it caught the attention of the media and the markets and Bitcoin would eventually go on to make new all-time highs. Yet after only a few shorts months of being on the balance sheet of Tesla, Musk tweets out the flaws that pertain to Bitcoin, namely the energy consumption that is used to mine Bitcoin and to use it for transactions. This was a rather shocking statement, only because these facts have been well-known for years and Musk is supposed to be all about the “green” economy. Yet here he was supporting Bitcoin, at least temporarily, despite the inefficient nature of Bitcoin and the energy usage associated with it. Was this a pump and dump scheme? Because it is virtually impossible that Musk did not know those facts prior to adding it to Tesla’s financials.
Another issue to contend with are the Chinese regulators that are prohibiting institutions and their citizens of engaging with cryptocurrencies. Now it is interesting to note that China, along with many other countries and their respective central banks are planning, building, or testing their own versions of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). So it should come as no surprise that governments want to be the only game in town. After all, they can tax, fine, and imprison you if you do not comply with their orders. Bitcoin and other cryptos, or any private institution or individual lacks that power. It is therefore likely that more governments will start to come out and limit, restrict, or outright ban the use of cryptos other than their own. This speculative mania will without question be remembered in the history books, especially after it all comes tumbling down. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Bitcoin #Inflation #Gold #Silver #Protests #Liberty #USA #Leadership #Economy #bananarepublic #EndTheFed #Revolution #FireCongress #Debt
