Another historic day for the United States of America. Today the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, John Roberts, was sworn in today in the US Senate. Following his swearing in, the Chief Justice swore in the members of the US Senate. This is a serious process and it needs to be treated with the gravity and thoughtfulness that it deserves for the sake of the American people and for the respect of the US Constitution. The trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, 21 January 2020. The trial may last as short as a couple of weeks or perhaps stretch to over a month, should witnesses come forward and further documents be entered into the record. Time will tell and let us hope the members of the US Senate take their oaths seriously and administer impartial justice. May the truth be known and justice served. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Impeachment #Truth #Justice #USSenate #Senate #Congress #Politics #Economy #EndTheFed #Peace #USA #Constitution
Just as we have been predicting and warning, the US once again finds itself with a one trillion dollar deficit. The “official” figure from the government is $984 billion, but don’t be fooled, given some fuzzy accounting, we actually have to look at the year over year increase in the national debt. This figure takes us closer to $1.4 trillion. This deficit is the largest since 2012 when the US was making its way out of the Great Recession. Not that trillion dollar deficits were warranted and justified then, but at least they existed due to a major economic and financial collapse – not seen since the Great Depression. Now? We’re told we’re in the midst of the greatest economy ever in the history of the United States. Then why the trillion dollar deficits? Perhaps things aren’t as great as some would like us to believe.
Nevertheless, the major US market indexes are nearing or have hit new all time highs. This is likely on the back of earnings reports that have not been as bad as some were led to believe and a continuation of market manipulation headlines and statements around US/China trade talks. We’re also rather certain that the market is pricing in further interest rate cuts and is enjoying the $60B/month liquidity that the Federal Reserve is pumping into the markets. At $60B/month, the Fed will have expanded its balance sheet by $720B come this time next year. With trillion dollar deficits, this means that the Fed is basically monetizing roughly 70% of Uncle Sam’s poor spending habits. We also imagine that the Fed will have to do even more by this time next year – meaning larger amounts of money printing, even lower interest rates, and possibly some “other” tools will be employed.
There is no leadership in this country and The Kapital News feels for the younger generations and even those generations yet in existence, for they did not vote for these horrendous and wasteful policies, but they’ll sure have to pay for them. They’ll be paid for in higher taxes, higher rates of inflation, thus lower living standards, and fewer opportunities in the job market – a scenario that is already being realized. Debts and deficits, especially of this magnitude are immoral and unethical. But how can we be surprised when that’s exactly how our elected officials act? Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Deficits #Debt #Recession #Economy #EndTheFed #Truth #Justice #Peace #TradeWar #USA #China #Invest
As we continue our way through Q4 of 2019 and we’re only in the second day, the markets continued their sell-off. Could this just be a pullback from a strong run in September or is there something larger lurking just beneath the surface? Well, if we look at the economic data that has been released over the last couple of days, it appears that there is something beneath the surface. Earlier this week it was disappointing PMI data, especially for the manufacturing sector. Today, it was a miss on the expectations from the ADP jobs report, $7.5 billion worth of tariffs expected to be placed on EU goods – following a WTO ruling that was favorable to the US. And it was weak sales data for the auto industry. Sales of autos are starting to slow to the point where manufacturers had to provide customers with $4,100 worth of incentives in Q3 – their largest ever. This continues to squeeze profit margins and if you’re General Motors, this is a double-whammy as they’re currently in negotiations with the UAW and those workers want higher pay and more benefits – not less, thus putting more pressure on GM’s margins. In addition, auto prices continue to climb and consumers now have $1 trillion worth of auto debt, which is much higher than where it was prior to the Great Recession. Furthermore, these price increases have given rise to the 6,7, 8, and wait for it…possibly a 9 year auto loan! This isn’t because consumers can afford the vehicle – they clearly can’t if they’re taking loans of this duration. However, they can “afford” the payment and that’s all that matters to the debt hungry Americans who just has to keep up with the “Jones’.” Not realizing that the Jones’ can’t keep up with the Jones’. Every facet of this economy is saturated with debt and central banks the world over are pushing on a string when it comes to monetary policy. Diminishing marginal returns have kicked in and what was once used as “stimulus” will likely turn into one of the largest economic miscalculations in history. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Recession #Autos #Economy #EndTheFed #Debt #Politics
In a refreshing display of civil conversation, Senator and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, recently sat down with Joe Rogan for a podcast interview. The talk lasted about an hour and several topics were addressed at length. This is of course a different setting than the debate stage, where currently we have 20 candidates on stage all fighting for attention. So it becomes a game of sound bites and quick-witted responses, as opposed to substantive analysis and commentary. The Kapital News highly suggests taking the time to listen or watch the podcast, especially if you are not a fan/supporter of Bernie Sanders. This setting allows for a calm and lengthy discussion of the many structural issues that are facing this country and that personally affect millions of Americans. Maybe, just maybe, with this type of conversation, in this setting, the public can be made more aware of a candidate’s ideas and vision for this country. As opposed to the reality TV show debates that are much too common. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #BernieSanders #JoeRogan #DemDebates #WakeUpAmerica #Politics #Economy #2020
So we have a new deal, same as the old deal, as far as Brexit is concerned. PM Theresa May was out today providing new details to her deal to finally leave the EU. Of course this has to go to a vote before Parliament – for the 4th time mind you. This deal is basically the same, with a few “carrots” provided to appease some members of Parliament to finally pass the deal – will it pass is anyone’s guess. We also look at the underemployment rate regarding recent college grads and how this is likely to take center stage during the 2020 campaign. We have the President on one side, claiming that this is the best economy in US history, and on the other side, we have people who live in the real world, who are sacked with debt, are underemployed, and see a different economic picture. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds and we discuss some scenarios.
A recent article discussing millennials and their views on retirement and investing seem to think that the lottery is a better bet. While some of this may be tongue-in-cheek, at least we hope that’s the case, there’s still major concerns whereby 76% millennials are living paycheck to paycheck, and many others are unable to save due to their debt load(s) and/or do not have retirement plans. This is not looking good and this ties in nicely with episode 55A where we discuss Social Security and Medicare insolvency.
No surprise to us here, but a recent report is out highlighting the financial stress that exists within Social Security and Medicare. Over the course of the next decade, these programs will be insolvent. This is a direct result of our demographics and the aging population. In addition, the state of the economy is on a “record” run, so the question is, how much steam remains in the engine, because a slowdown, minor or major, will only place further strains on these programs and others. Also, where’s the leadership on these topics?
Only a few days in the hands of the public and the MSM and some Dems are continuing or renewing their calls for impeachment. This story, plus additional investigations of the Pres will take center-stage for the months ahead. There is also discussion of student debt forgiveness and free college tuition – yeah, we saw this coming. Don’t worry, we dismantle the argument and we didn’t even scratch the surface.
