Saturday, February 29, 2020

Historic Losses Occur as Wall Street Finally Realizes the Threat that the Coronavirus Poses to the Global Economy

Things are accelerating fast, as the markets have finally come to the same realization that I reached over a month ago, the coronavirus is going to have a massive economic impact, that could possibly send the world into a severe recession.

The reasoning for this has been well documented through my last number of articles, however, it bears reiterating that tourism, global travel and the vital supply chains that so many companies now rely on in this new age of globalism, are going to be severely impacted, possibly even crippled as this virus continues to spread across the world.

Many people are starting to become fearful and beginning to take precautions, buying whatever form of protection that they can, most notably in the form of protective masks with ratings of N95 or higher, even despite the fact that it has been proven that these do not fully protect a person from contracting the coronavirus

Still, anything helps and you cannot blame people for attempting to get ahead of the curve before these sell out across North America, as has been seen in other countries such as China, South Korea and any other region heavily impacted already by the coronavirus.

Already on websites such as Amazon and eBay, we can see people attempting to sell these face masks for outrageous prices, a common tactic in times of crisis. Anything reasonably prized has been sold out for days.

Wall Street, who has blissfully been ignoring the spread of the virus for weeks, finally woke up on Monday morning, realizing that this crisis is not going away and is indeed here to stay for many months to come.

This caused prices of stocks to absolutely tank throughout the trading week, resulting in losses that are truly historic given the short period of time in which they occurred. Trillions of dollars have been wiped off the books, resulting in staggering losses.

The drop throughout this week was so severe and so sharp that we have to go all the way back to 1928, days before the Great Depression began, to find a comparable scenario.



(Charts via google.com)

Even at the time of writing, on Thursday, February 27th, markets continue to nosedive lower, with the S&P 500 Index dropping by 2.25% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting by 2.41%.

These drops come after days of already heavy losses, compounding the pain and leading to additional selling by those who are fearful.

To make matters worse, we now have a number of stories hitting the airwaves about how numerous senior officials have contracted the coronavirus, such as the Iranian Vice President for women and family affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar and a former ambassador to the Vatican, Hadi Khosroshahi, the latter of which passed away due to the virus.

(Chart via worldometers.info)

As of today, the total number of coronavirus cases still continues to climb, reaching 82,758 in total, with 2,817 of these resulting in fatality, according to official reports. 

Many speculate that these numbers are an estimation only, with the real numbers being much higher.

It doesn't end there, as the State of California brings additional bad news, announcing today that they are in a state of emergency, as they monitor 8,400 people, whom they suspect may be infected with the coronavirus.


(Chart via goldprice.org)

Meanwhile, gold bullion, after an initial sell off earlier in the week, due to people needing liquidity, has now found support and is holding its ground, due to people purchasing it as a safe haven play.

Unfortunately, as I have been saying for weeks, this situation is in all likelihood only going to worsen in the months to come, as the true impact of the coronavirus is yet to be felt. 

As people become fearful, they begin to self isolate, travel less and thus spend less, the latter of which is a death nail for the consumer based economy we now live in.

If this virus continues to spread at the rate it has, then you should expect to see many more violent trading days in our near future, shaving additional trillions off of the markets as they descend lower and adjust for the financial impact that is coming.

Sadly, I believe this is far from over yet and the losses that we are now witnessing are just the tip of the iceberg.

- As first seen on the Sprott Money Blog

Friday, February 28, 2020

Record Breaking Stock Market Crash, What You Need to Know About What Comes Next


Tim Picciott of The Liberty Advisor and John Sneisen talk about the historic stock market dip as the Dow loses the most points in its 124 years. 

Records are being broken left and right as the stock market crashes and there's more than just a few reasons for this. 

Tim and John break down the many symptoms of this historic market move, as well as what is coming next.

What is the Deep State?

A new focus on the Deep State in undermining the national interests has become a serious thought for many citizens. Not known to many, the Deep State has its origin in the British Empire and how the Round Table infiltrated former British colonies (including India) through America.

Last year, fuel was added to this fire when internal memos were leaked from the British-run Integrity Initiative featuring a startling account of the techniques deployed by the anti-Russian British operation to infiltrate American intelligence institutions, think tanks and media.


The Integrity Initiative

For those who may not know, The Integrity Initiative is an anti-Russian propaganda outfit funded to the tune of $140 million by the British Foreign office. Throughout 2019, leaks have been released featuring documents dated to the early period of Trump’s election, demonstrating that this organization, already active across Europe promoting anti-Russian PR and smearing nationalist leaders such as Jeremy Corbyn, was intent on spreading deeply into the State Department and setting up “clusters” of anti-Trump operatives. The documents reveal high level meetings that Integrity Initiative Director Chris Donnelly had with former Trump Advisor Sebastien Gorka, McCain Foundation director Kurt Volker, Pentagon PR guru John Rendon among many others.

The exposure of the British hand behind the scenes affords us a unique glimpse into the real historical forces undermining America’s true constitutional tradition throughout the 20th century, as Mueller/the Five Eyes/Integrity Initiative are not new phenomena but actually follow a modus operandi set down for already more than a century. One of the biggest obstacles to seeing this modus operandi run by the British Empire is located in the belief in a mythology which has become embedded in the global psyche for over half a century and which we should do our best to free ourselves of.

Myth of the “American Empire”

While there has been a long-standing narrative promoted for over 70 years that the British Empire disappeared after World War II having been replaced by the “American Empire”, it is the furthest thing from the truth. America, as constitutionally represented by its greatest presidents (who can unfortunately be identified by their early deaths while serving in office), were never colonialist and were always in favor of reining in British Institutions at home while fighting British colonial thinking abroad.

Franklin Roosevelt’s thirteen year-long battle with the Deep State, which he referred to as the “economic royalists who should have left America in 1776″, was defined in clear terms by his patriotic Vice-President Henry Wallace who warned of the emergence of a new Anglo-American fascism in 1944 when he said:

“Fascism in the postwar inevitably will push steadily for Anglo-Saxon imperialism and eventually for war with Russia. Already American fascists are talking and writing about this conflict and using it as an excuse for their internal hatreds and intolerances toward certain races, creeds and classes.”

The fact is that already in 1944, a policy of Anglo-Saxon imperialism had been promoted subversively by British-run think tanks known as the Round Table Movement and Fabian Society, and the seeds had already been laid for the anti-Russian cold war by those British-run American fascists. It is not a coincidence that this fascist Cold War policy was announced in a March 5, 1946 speech in Fulton, Missouri by none other than Round Table-follower and the butcher of Bengal, Winston Churchill.
The Round Table Movement

When the Round Table Movement was created with funds from the Rhodes Trust in 1902, a new plan was laid out to create a new technocratic elite to manage the re-emergence of the new British Empire and crush the emergence of nationalism globally. This organization would be staffed by generations of Rhodes Scholars who would receive their indoctrination in Oxford before being sent back to advance a “post-nation state” agenda in their respective countries.

As this agenda largely followed the mandate set out by Cecil Rhodes in his Seventh Will who said “Why should we not form a secret society with but one object: the furtherance of the British Empire and the bringing of the whole uncivilized world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, and for the making of the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire?”

- Source, Great Game India, read more here

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

If the coronavirus isn’t contained, a severe global recession is almost certain

The world woke up Monday to the reality that the coronavirus epidemic is going to have a much bigger impact on the global economy than investors and policy makers had assumed. Just how big, no one really knows.

Last week, it seemed as if financial markets believed that COVID-19 would be contained. But new cases in Italy, South Korea and Iran over the weekend undermined that belief. The World Health Organization tried to reassure the public on Monday, saying the disease was not yet a pandemic because it was not spreading in an uncontained way.

No matter, stock markets GDOW, -2.81% SPX, -2.87% and other financial markets BUXX, +0.02% TMUBMUSD10Y, -6.89% GC00, +0.72% were quickly recalibrating the worst-case scenario, one in which hundreds of millions of people would be infected, and millions would die.

Nasty, brutish and short

Investors are just beginning to price in the possibility of a sharp and nasty global recession that would be followed by a rapid rebound once the disease has run its course. Whenever that will be.

In the longer run, of course, a pandemic could have more far-reaching effects, including a smaller and less productive workforce and even a reordering of globalization.

We’d like to think that we can know the worst that could happen, but there is still so much that isn’t known about COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that emerged in China and now spreading around the world. Most of the economic analysis is based on past pandemics, such as the 1918 global influenza pandemic, and more recent bouts with avian flu, SARS and MERS.
Nothing like it in recent history

But none of those examples fit the current situation perfectly. For one thing, unlike the flu, no one in the world has any natural immunity to this disease, nor is there a vaccine. The coronavirus is quite contagious, and many more people are likely to get COVID-19 than is assumed in these generic pandemic simulations.

The more recent pandemics weren’t nearly as widespread or deadly as this one seems to be. People who don’t appear to be sick can transmit the virus, making efforts to contain its spread magnitudes more difficult.

What’s more, the 1918 flu pandemic occurred in a different world, the world before airlines shrank the world, the world before globalization knitted our economies closer than ever, and the world before the internet, a technology that can spread misinformation and fear virally around the globe in an instant.

For example, the 1918 pandemic didn’t seem to have much impact on global trade or financial markets. Compare that to what we’ve already seen with COVID-19. Here’s what Apple, Procter & Gamble, Walmart and other U.S. companies are saying about the coronavirus outbreak.

That means the economic impact of a global pandemic of these proportions could be much larger than what investors and policy makers have assumed...

- Source, Market Watch

Trump To Hold News Conference At 6pm ET To Dispel Media's "Fake News, Panicking" Over Virus Outbreak

Having already urged the American public to 'buy the dip', just before another 900 point drop in the Dow, President Trump has decided to take matters into his own hands - the only way he knows how.


In a double tweet this morning, Trump announced he will hold a news conference at 6pmET to put the American people straight.,

"I will be having a News Conference at the White House, on this subject, today at 6:00 P.M. CDC representatives, and others, will be there. Thank you!"

The reason for his sudden need to address the public (aside from the 2000 points drop in the Dow) is that

"Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. "

And responding to Democrats new narrative that The Trump administration is not doing enough, he lashed out:

"Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape!"

One thing does make our eyebrows raise a little is the CDC official that raised what is somewhat unprecedented alerts yesterday has an interesting family linkage.


Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the CDC Director of the Center for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned ominously that:

"As more and more countries experience community spread, successful containment at our borders becomes harder and harder. It’s not a question of if this will happen but when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illnesses. Disruption to everyday life might be severe."

Well, it turns out Dr. Nancy Messonnier is the sister of the former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

- Source, Zero Hedge

Democratic Debate: Chaos Reigns as Shouting Match Breaks Out in South Carolina

The South Carolina presidential Democratic debate quickly devolved into a scrappy schoolyard screaming match on Tuesday night — all of the candidates furiously talking over each other as the CBS moderators seemed helpless to do anything about it.

CBS News moderators Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell struggled to keep the unruly seven candidates in line as they rushed to attack Bernie Sanders who they now realize is on an unstoppable march to the nomination.

At one point, all of the candidates were wildly flapping their hands and yelling over each other before former veep Joe Biden chastised their on-stage decorum.

“I guess the only way to do this is jump in and speak twice as long as you should,” Biden said as ex South Bend-mayor Pete Buttigieg went on a long sermon about how Sanders would cost Democrats the House majority, a statistic based on polling conducted by Bloomberg’s campaign.

Showing more fire than he has in many debates, Biden shot back when Buttigieg and other candidates tried to cut him off after King has specifically called on him to speak.

“You spoke over your time so I’m going to talk,” the former veep bellowed at the rest of the crowded field to huge cheers from the crowd.

Biden is in a fight for his life in South Carolina ahead of Saturday’s primary, with Sanders and billionaire Tom Steyer swallowing his lead with black voters.


- Source, NYPost

Monday, February 24, 2020

Get Ready: Coronavirus is the Real Deal, Stock Market Plunges, Gold Rallies


How bad economically will the Covid19 virus crisis get? Martenson points out, “One in eight companies are so-called zombie companies.” Meaning, they have to keep borrowing cheap money to stay in business. 

Martenson says governments are hooked on huge deficits and cheap money too, and now the China virus chaos hits an already over-leveraged economy, and more massive money printing is needed to keep debt from defaulting. 

Martenson says, “This is taking the world’s most important manufacturing center and shutting it down all at once. That’s like throwing a car into reverse at 60 miles per hour on the highway.  Supply chain disruptions are going to be legendary.

This isn’t like one company having trouble like AIG where Hank Paulson has to ride to the rescue with $700 billion of fresh U.S. taxpayer money. We are talking about a system of tens of thousands of interlocking components that are frozen, and nobody quite knows how to unravel all of that. 

I think that is well beyond the capability of the Federal Reserve to throw more QE money into the market and goose stocks a little longer. This is the real deal. This isn’t a dress rehearsal. It is happening. 

People need to be able to make sense of this, and in the absence of being able to make sense of all of this, having some gold makes a lot of sense. I think that’s why we are seeing it pop here.”

- Source, USA Watchdog

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Gold Eases, but Holds Near Seven Year Peak on Virus Concerns

Gold prices dipped on Thursday after China unveiled measures to soften the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, but the metal held close to a nearly seven-year peak scaled in the previous session as concerns over the epidemic prevailed.

Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,606.62 per ounce, as of 0749 GMT. U.S. gold futures dipped 0.1% to $1,609.60.

“It seems to be a bit more corrective mostly because ... it’s not just in gold that we are seeing a bit of a walk-back in risk-off dynamics, but across a variety of assets,” said DailyFx currency strategist Ilya Spivak.

China’s central Hubei province had 349 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the province’s health commission said, down from 1,693 a day earlier and the lowest since Jan. 25, although it was accompanied by a change in methodology.

Beijing cut its benchmark lending rate to support an economy hit by the epidemic, keeping Chinese stocks supported.

Also limiting any uptick in gold prices, the dollar was sucking up funds across Asia after a steep and sudden slide in the Japanese yen called into question its safe-haven status. The U.S. currency .DXY rose to a near three-year high against key rivals.

Analysts, however, said concerns over the outbreak capped losses in bullion, keeping prices close to a high of $1,612.62 hit on Wednesday, its highest since March 25, 2013.

There’s still a lot of haven-based buying of gold, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

“I suspect this means not everybody is buying into the hype that China is on the verge of controlling this virus.”

Actions by the Federal Reserve would also continue to determine gold’s trajectory, analysts said.

U.S. Fed policymakers were cautiously optimistic about their ability to hold interest rates steady this year, minutes of the central bank’s last policy meeting showed on Wednesday, even as they acknowledged new risks caused by the epidemic.

“Gold is getting its lions share of equity hedge-related buying, which is clearly showing up in the gold exchange traded funds (ETFs), which are increasing,” Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp, said in a note.

Elsewhere, deficit-hit palladium fell 0.9% to $2,688.40 an ounce, having touched a record high of $2,841.54 in the previous session.

Silver eased 0.5% to $18.30, but hovered near its highest in more than a month, hit on Wednesday.

Platinum slipped 1.2% to $993.40.


- Source, Reuters

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Gold Hits Seven Year High Due to Global Fears: Is a New Bull Market Upon Us?

Sparked by a tidal wave of uncertainty surrounding the continued spread of the coronavirus, safe haven assets, such as gold and silver bullion continue to move higher, with the king of metals reaching a seven year high throughout Thursdays trading session.


(Chart source, goldprice.org)

This was the third straight day of gains for gold bullion, as it reached as high as $1623 an ounce at one point, before dropping down slightly lower.

This puts gold bullion up roughly 7% since the start of 2020, a staggering gain in such a short period of time, while at the same time, if you invested in the yellow metal just one short year ago, you would find yourself with huge gains, up 21.3% in just twelve months.

(Chart source, CNN Business)

The reasons for these impressive gains are due to the incredible uncertainty that the global economy now faces and what many believe will be the reaction of central bankers around the world, if these uncertainties come to fruition.

It is widely expected that central banks, including the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates throughout 2020 as the true economic impact of the coronavirus begins to be felt, due to restraints within the global supply chain.

Large sectors of China have become a virtual ghost town, as quarantine restrictions continue to bring the country to a standstill, including its vital manufacturing sector, which many businesses in the West are almost entirely dependent upon.

Today's renewal of fears surrounding the coronavirus come as Chinese authorities report another spike in new cases and deaths.

(Chart source, worldometers.info)

Additionally, many have become outraged over the handling of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which continues to remain under quarantine in Japan and of which had its first two fatalities due to the coronavirus occur just today.

Japanese health authorities state that they are doing the best that they can, given the circumstances and despite the fact that infection rates continue to increase among those remaining aboard the Diamond Princess. 

Already the Chinese government has enacted numerous stimulus measures, intervening and propping up domestic markets, which otherwise would in all likelihood be a complete and utter free far if it were not for their aid, however, this seemingly has not been enough, as the crisis continues to drag on, prompting further stimulus.

CNBC reports;

"The country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, cut the one-year loan prime rate from 4.15% to 4.05%, and the five-year rate from 4.80% to 4.75%. The PBOC publishes the rates every month. Thursday’s move was the first cut since October last year."

This reduction in rates was widely expected by the markets and did not come as a shock at all, with many even believing that it was too little, given the threat that the Chinese economy currently faces.

However, this is likely far from the last cut that we are going to see, as I believe it is only the beginning and other countries around the globe are soon going to be forced to take action, cutting their own interest rates as the financial contagion spreads.

This fear is helping propel gold prices to new multi year highs, prompting many within the industry to state that a new bull market for precious metals is upon us, including Citibank, who believe that gold could reach $2000 USD per ounce within the next 12-24 months.

As seen on the Financial Post;

“While negative real yields are also supportive for equity markets, gold can further outperform on a risk market unwind should coronavirus risks impact supply chains and thus U.S. earnings momentum.

We still expect fresh nominal highs of US$2,000 per ounce to be breached in the next 12 to 24 months." Citibank said.


Meanwhile, also helping buoy the price of precious metals is a familiar face, Russia, who has once again reported that they have increased their gold reserves, adding an additional seven tons throughout the month of January.

This puts their gold reserves at 73.2 million troy ounces as of the first of February, with no indications that they intend to slow down their purchases any time soon.

This underpinning of central bank buying, in addition to the current cocktail of risks that the global markets now face, could be a recipe for explosive prices higher in the price of safe haven assets such as gold and silver bullion, of which will continue to bought as long as risk remains, sending prices to possibly even new all time highs.

- As first seen on the Sprott Money Blog

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Move Along Citizen, Nothing To See Here, Except Deposit Theft


Move Along Citizen, Nothing To See Here (But Deposit Theft). AITS (Average Inflation Targeting) new acronym for negative interest rates. Commercial Banks will be complicit with FED in next crisis. Malcolm Bryan on inflation policy: “Hold still, little fish! All we intend to do is gut you”.

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Michael Pento: Upcoming Economic Data Rancid Beyond Belief


Money manager Michael Pento predicts, “The economic data for the next few weeks, at a minimum, is going to be rancid beyond belief. 

I would be very cautious in thinking that the trading algorithms and the tape reading machines on Wall Street are going to ignore all of that, especially if this virus starts to spread to other nations in a more significant manner. 

Then it’s going to be game over.” Pento likes gold and silver and recommends some in every portfolio. Pento is overweight gold between the two metals. Pento also predicts a “global recession in 2020” if the China virus does not get fixed soon. 

Pento also predicts massive amounts of global money printing will increase to fight the China virus and a coming global recession.

- Source, USA Watchdog

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Japan Confirms 88 More Cases Aboard Diamond Princess, Bringing Total To 542 One Day Before Quarantine Set To End

Global Times editor Hu Xijin, a government mouthpiece whose tweets were closely followed during the 'Phase 1' trade-deal negotiations, is touting China's dubious data as a sign that the Communist Party is winning the 'People's War' against COVID-19.

Last night, the western press exposed the Americans for breaking Japan's quarantine on the 'Diamond Princess' by ferrying some 14 infected individuals to the US. But with one day left to go before the Japanese government ends its quarantine and releases thousands of terrified and paranoid passengers into the streets of Tokyo.

On Tuesday, another 88 passengers from the Diamond Princess were diagnosed with the virus, bringing the total to 542.


Japan has completed tests for all passengers and crew aboard the ship as of Monday, but the results for the last batch of tests aren't expected until Wednesday, the day that the quarantine is slated to end. So far, results are back for 2,404 passengers and crew, out of the 3,711 who were on board the ship when the quarantine began on Feb. 5.

Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said Tuesday that people who have tested negative for the virus would start leaving on Wednesday, but that the process of releasing passengers and crew won't be finished until Friday, according to the Washington Post.

The remaining 61 American passengers on the DP who opted not to join the evacuation will not be allowed to return to the US until March 4, according to the American embassy in Tokyo. The governments of Australia, Hong Kong and Canada have also said they would evacuate passengers.

Elsewhere, Japan confirmed three more cases of the virus. This time, they were confirmed in Wakayama, a prefecture in eastern Japan.

In the latest indication that the 14-day quarantine simply wasn't enough to kill the virus, a British couple has tested positive for the virus just one day before Japanese authorities are set to release everybody from quarantine, according to the Guardian.

"David and Sally Abel, a British couple onboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan, have tested positive for coronavirus, a day before passengers who tested negative were due to start leaving the ship after spending two weeks in quarantine."

Including all of the cases announced overnight, there are now 73,336 confirmed cases of the virus worldwide, compared with 1,874 deaths.



As the battle against the virus rages in Wuhan, Liu Zhiming, 51, a neurosurgeon and the director of the Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan, became the latest high-profile medical worker to succumb to the virus, as we noted last night. Late last week, China confirmed that nearly 2,000 medical workers had been infected.

The Commission overseeing China's virus response has released a statement commemorating Liu's life and honoring his death.


"From the start of the outbreak, Comrade Liu Zhiming, without regard to his personal safety, led the medical staff of Wuchang Hospital at the front lines of the fight against the epidemic," the commission said. Dr. Liu "made significant contributions to our city’s fight to prevent and control the novel coronavirus," it added.

In Beijing, senior officials including President Xi continued to play down the economic blowback from the virus. During remarks on Tuesday, Xi insisted that China could still meet its 2020 economic targets - which called for a doubling of the size of the Chinese economy in 10 years - despite the outbreak...

- Source, Zero Hedge

Monday, February 17, 2020

Economic Crisis Ahead: Powell Claims QE4 Will Be Able To Handle It?


The Fed's counterfeiting has created the biggest economic bubble in history. 

A severe economic crisis will be the inevitable result. Indications from Fed Chairman Powell are that more QE will be on the way. 

Can an increase in the disease succeed in being the cure?

- Source, Ron Paul

Saturday, February 15, 2020

The Markets Are Foolishly Discounting the Economic Impact of the Coronavirus

At the end of the trading session on Wednesday, February 13th, the markets were jumping with joy, celebrating the fact that for the first time since the coronavirus crisis began, things were beginning to turn around, with new infection cases dropping off in a significant way.

Unfortunately, less than 24 hours later, this hope would be completely and utterly shattered, as reality returned and China's health authorities reported 15,152 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection, plus an additional 254 new deaths.

This should of sent the markets lower, but in this upside down world that we live in, in which the markets can seemingly only go up, the markets shrugged off this spike in new deaths and cases, moving once again to new highs.


(Chart via google charts)

This massive 15,000 increase in new cases is apparently largely to do with revisions by the Chinese health authorities, in which they changed their guidelines in regards to the coronavirus, Shine.cn reports;

"In line with the latest version of the diagnosis and treatment scheme released by the NHC, suspected cases in Hubei with pneumonia-related computerized tomography (CT) scan results are identified as clinically diagnosed cases, said Mi, explaining why the confirmed COVID-19 cases soared on Wednesday.

The diagnosis criteria revision, which only applies to Hubei, was made to give clinically diagnosed patients in the province timely and standard treatment to further improve the recovery rate, according to the NHC."

However, this just confirms many peoples suspicions that the numbers coming out of China are largely being downplayed, whether maliciously, or simply due to the fact that they are overburdened by this crisis, due to just how large scale that it truly is, overwhelming their medical infrastructure in the process.

The coronavirus is often compared to the last major outbreak, SARS, which at the time had huge ramifications for the markets, causing a major correction as fear spread across the globe.

The coronavirus, with these latest figures taken into account, now surpasses the SARS outbreak by leaps and bounds, both in the spread at which it is spreading and the raw number of cases.

Already the SARS outbreak would of been in decline, slowly down in its spread, however, the coronavirus shows no signs of doing so with these latest figures taken into account.

(Chart source, worldometers.info)

Still, the markets continue to whistle a happy tune, comfortable in the fact that the Federal Reserve and others central banksters around the globe will throw oodles of money at the problem, if the need does arise. 

In fact, Fed Chairman Powell stated just this week, that they would intervene in the next recession, combating it aggressively with additional quantitative easing.

The problem is, is that interest rates are already at laughably low levels, standing at just 1.5%, while prior to the 2008 crisis, rates stood at over 5%. 

There simply is not much room to cut, meaning that the Fed will need to rev the printing presses up to full capacity, throwing money at the markets and ballooning their already bloated balance sheet.

(Charts via goldprice.org)

The only market that seems to have any sense of sanity are precious metals, which continue to hold strong and move incrementally higher as the threat of the coronavirus spreads and some smart money seeks the protection of safe haven assets.

Already, companies that rely on China for many of their parts in manufacturing and products that they sell are reporting issues due to the impact that the coronavirus is having on that country, which continues to suffer under heavy quarantine conditions, bringing their economy to a standstill.

Additionally, if the virus continues to spread to other countries in a meaningful way, people are going to become fearful, limiting travel and trips out to only what is required. Exasperating the economic problem even further.

This is going to have a rippling effect, that I believe is not yet being priced into the markets, of which is very likely going have its day of reckoning very soon, as more and more major companies begin to report the impacts that these supply restraints are having on their bottom line.

Expect a major correction in the near future if this virus is not swiftly brought to an end in the coming weeks, expect gold bullion to continue to move higher, expect volatility.

- As first seen on the Sprott Money Blog

Friday, February 14, 2020

Why Central Banks Can No Longer Stop the Everything Bubble


Etienne de Marsac, Head of Absolute Return at Sunny Asset Management, joins Real Vision's Roger Hirst to argue why he believes that central banks have created an "everything bubble." 

With risks rising in all corners of the market, central banks have made a fragile web that they cannot help but continue spinning. 

De Marsac provides his insights on what factors could catalyze a market breakdown, how central banks could begin correcting the global imbalances they have created, and what trades he is making in this risk-on environment.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Economic Red Alert From Within the Trucking Industry


Wary of the official claims about "the greatest economy in history," when your own eyes and ears and gut are telling you things are headed in a seriously wrong direction?

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Wednesday, February 12, 2020

The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future


The movement that brought Donald Trump to the White House has better ideas than the old right or the new left. It’s time that the rest of America started listening.

The Tea Party began as a protest for patriots who feared Big Government. President Trump has become a hero for patriots who are against Big Everything.

Fed up with Silicon Valley, the media, liberal higher education, the military-industrial complex, Twitter mobs, swamp monsters, Big Pharma, out-of-control prosecutors, and gun-grabbing fascists, ordinary Americans miss the days when America cared about rule of the people, by the people, and for the people. Remember when you didn’t feel bombarded on all sides by coastal billionaires and their government stooges? The MAGA Doctrine urges an overdue restoration of self-rule by a populace long taken for granted by its rulers.

Turning Point USA founder and social media superstar Charlie Kirk explains once and for all why a New York real estate magnate found an audience among young conservatives all over the country. Trump and his allies are working to protect all the small things that both parties dismissed: local businesses, families, churches, and the rights of the individual. Kirk explains why it took a reality TV superstar to see past the sclerotic and power-hungry institutions, from the United Nations and Google to Harvard and Viacom, working to crush real America. The Trump Doctrine is all about giving you a say in the future of America and a hand in making it happen.

As the mainstream media keep churning out lies about the “real reasons” behind the new conservative agenda, Charlie Kirk’s The MAGA Doctrine is a powerful reminder of the true narrative of freedom and greatness that swept Donald Trump to the presidency.

- Click here to read, The MAGA Doctrine

The Massive Enthusiasm Gap Between the Democrats and Trump


Even the largest dem rallies are tiny compared to Trumps medium-sized events.

- Source, Styxhexenhammer

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

The Stock Market Will Crash: Massive Exodus Into Precious Metals and Crypto


Josh Sigurdson talks with Kenneth Ameduri of Crush The Street about the everything bubble and the slow, incremental move towards a major stock market crash. 

Record rallies end eventually and there seems to be a lot of people insuring their wealth with gold, silver, rhodium and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. 

What's leading to this trend?

- Source, WAM

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Reduced Tariffs, Direct Intervention and Acquittal of President Trump Cause Markets to Shrug off Coronavirus Threat

Stocks, gold, oil, and just about everything else are trending higher, despite the ongoing concerns about the coronavirus, of which continues to spread across the globe, despite many countries' best efforts to contain it.

However, the stock markets appear to care less and are unconcerned with the short to medium term damage that this virus is causing to many sectors of the economy and will continue to cause for at least the next couple of months, if not longer.




(Charts via google.com)

This move higher in prices not only includes Western stock markets, but also Chinese markets, with the CSI 300 in China rising by 1.1 percent throughout Wednesday's trading session.

This move higher in the CSI 300 is largely being driven by direct intervention by the People’s Bank of China, who unsurprising are pouring billions of dollars into the markets, propping it up, while the coronavirus continues to wrack the economy as a whole due to the widespread restrictions that the country has placed on its people in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.

Many in the financial industry are taking heart with this direct intervention, as they believe that other countries will follow suite and intervene in the markets if need be as well. Likely an accurate assessment given our past history.

This intervention is playing a part in the recent rally seen in the S&P 500 and Dow Jones, however, other news is also being factored in as well, such as another softening in the trade wars between China and the United States, in which China plans on massively cutting tariffs of certain US goods entering into the country.

These cuts will affect $75 billion worth of U.S. imports including soybeans, pork and auto parts, taking the effective tariff rate from 10%, down to 5%.

However, many of the tariffs that were enacted during the ongoing trade wars of last year still remain in place and are likely to remain so until both parties can fully resolve their issues.

Additionally, the acquittal of President Trump on Wednesday has led to a reduction of risk in the markets, as fears of an upheaval have been mitigated for the time being, meaning it is business as usual for Wall St. 

This has played a part in alleviating many peoples fears, as overall President Trump continues to receive favorable polling in regards to the state of the economy. In fact, Americans confidence in the economy is the highest it has been in the past two decades.

(Chart source, goldprice.org)

All of this perceived positive news had an initial effect on the price of gold and silver bullion, both of which had suffered pull backs early on in the week, only to rally once again on Thursday as people once again realized that not everything is fixed and many problems still yet remain.


The World Health Organization announcing the largest increase in cases, in any single day since the outbreak of the coronavirus began is one the risks causing people to return to safe haven assets such as gold bullion.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had the following to say;

“Our greatest concern is about the potential for spread in other countries with weaker health systems and who lack the capacity to detect and diagnose the virus,” he said. “We’re only as strong as the weakest link.”

“We cannot defeat this outbreak without solidarity. Political solidarity, technical solidarity, and financial solidarity.”


As Mish Shedlock recently stated, there appears to be "no containment in sight".

The question that remains now, is how long can this rally in the markets continue? How long can governments around the world continue to print fiat currency, throwing it at any problem may arise?

We shall see.

Until then, keep stacking and stay prepared.

- As first seen on the Sprott Money Blog

Friday, February 7, 2020

Gold & Silver Update: Coronavirus, Impeachment Acquittal, DOW Transports


This week we cover the price movements of gold, silver, platinum, Tesla, the DOW, & the DOW Transports in relation to the acquittal of the President, Coronavirus, and FED printing initiatives.

- Source, Golden Rule Radio

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Catherine Austin Fitts: Invest in Gold Because Inflation is Here


Investment advisor and former Assistant Secretary of Housing Catherine Austin Fitts says things in the global economy are out of balance and progress is not happening. 

Fitts says, “The other way to get back into balance is with war. 

We have had lots of covert wars going on, and my concern now is we are going to have more overt war.” 

Fitts says people need to get ready for dramatic challenges coming, and she says the theme for common citizens is “to become less dependent and more resilient.” 

Fitts also like gold as an investment because inflation is already here and is not going away anytime soon.

- Source, USA Watchdog

Monday, February 3, 2020

Golden Rule Radio: The Case For Gold In 2020


The Case For Gold In 2020. Political, Geopolitical, & Financial Market uncertainties. Where’s the support & where’s the resistance on price?

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Gold Bullion Reaches Six Year High as Fears of the Coronavirus Spread

Throughout the week, gold bullion prices, stock prices, oil prices, you name it, have all been sent on a roller-coaster of a ride, heading higher, then lower as the news about the spreading Wuhan coronavirus continues to dominate the headlines.

However, one thing is for certain, the coronavirus is not contained in any way, shape or form, as we continue to be bombarded with daily reports of new cases of the virus appearing in more and more countries around the world.

This has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to publicly declare that the coronavirus, which started in Wuhan China, to be a public health concern of international concern, aka, a global emergency that must be taken very seriously.

As per the WHO press release, detailing their announcement;

"It is expected that further international exportation of cases may appear in any country. Thus, all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread of 2019-nCoVinfection, and to share full data with WHO."

Indeed, it does appear that the virus is spreading, as new reports in Russia, the United States, Canada and nineteen other countries, have all included new cases of the coronavirus appearing, including the first human to human transmission of the virus outside of China, which occurred within the United States.

In Russia, measures were taken, including the containment of over 6000 cruise ship passengers, which were not allowed to depart their ship and were forced to remain on board, fearing that the passengers could be infected with the virus.

Additionally, numerous airlines in various countries around the globe have decided to cease all flights directly into and out of China, including such airlines as Air Canada, United Airlines, British Airways, Delta, Air India and many others, of which the full list can be found here.

This has taken a heavy toll on the financial markets as new, news about the virus's spread seemingly appears to be occurring on a minute to minute basis, enrapturing people around the world, many of which should have little to fear about the virus if they are in good health, according to health authorities.

(Chart source, goldprice.org)

On the back of this news, gold bullion has experienced a sharp increase in price throughout the trading sessions of the week, with only one minor setback occurring during Tuesdays trading session.

This has resulted in gold reaching levels that have not been seen since 2013, gaining back much of what was lost from its previous all time high.

Now that the $1590 level is well within sight, the next strong resistance level should come at $1600, of which may be promptly broken if fears of the coronavirus continue to spread and people continue to seek the protection of safe haven assets, such as gold bullion.

(Chart source, oilprice.com)

This increase in gold bullion prices comes at a time when oil prices across the board are down, with WTI Crude and both Brent Crude suffering significant losses throughout the week, attempting to recover, only to drop lower again.

(Chart source, oilprice.com)

As of today, the death toll from the coronavirus has been sharply revised, with the virus now reportedly claiming 219 lives, all of which hail from China, where the virus is now spreading across the country.

Additionally, there are 9900 officially reported cases of the virus within China and 130 cases from twenty-two other countries, however, it is widely speculated that this number is low and the true amount is likely much higher, with many more cases set to appear in the coming days, weeks and months.

The United States has issued a level 4 travel advisory, which is their highest level and is a "do not travel" warning.

As per by the US Department of State;

"Do not travel to China due to the novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. On January 30, the World Health Organization determined the rapidly spreading outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice. Commercial carriers have reduced or suspended routes to and from China.

Those currently in China should consider departing using commercial means. The Department of State has requested that all non-essential U.S. government personnel defer travel to China in light of the novel coronavirus."


Hopefully in the coming days, the threat of the coronavirus spreading will wane, as monumental efforts are now being made in stopping it from spreading and becoming a global epidemic, however, this is yet to be truly determined if it is even possible.

For the time being, expect that the news headlines are going to continue to be dominated by reports about the spread of the coronavirus, leading to increased uncertainty and volatility in the financial sector across the board, including both gold and silver bullion.

- As first seen on the Sprott Money Blog