TRENDS ON THE ECONOMIC AND MARKET FRONT
ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
Worried about the economic future, what to invest in, and what to do? Never before in modern history will it be so important to look beyond the economic perimeter and understand the crucial megatrends shaping the future.
FED HOLDS RATES STEADY
On 1 November, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it will continue to hold its key interest rates steady at 5.25 percent on deposits and 5.5 percent on loans. The Fed has not changed the rates since July.
BANKRUPTCIES RISE AGAIN IN THIRD QUARTER
In this year’s third quarter, 182 major U.S. businesses filed bankruptcy, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT
TOP TREND 2023, MIDEAST MELTDOWN: ISRAEL WAR THREATENS GLOBAL ECONOMY
If the Mideast war is prolonged or becomes regional, the world’s food and fuel costs could rise once again, extinguishing the global post-COVID recovery and halting economic expansion, several major economists have warned.
WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS JOBS GO WITH IT
The U.S. job numbers reported last week, as we have detailed, were weak... as they are throughout much of the world.
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS
The facts are clear, the numbers are there. The worst of the economic times is coming. Just take a look at the long list of businesses going out of business that we have been publishing each week.
EUROZONE UNEMPLOYMENT JUMPS IN SEPTEMBER
In September, 69,000 workers lost their jobs in the 20-nation Eurozone, nudging the jobless rate to 6.5 percent. More than 11 million people across the region are now out of work, 165,000 more than a year earlier, the Financial Times reported.
CHINA LEADS WORLD’S CENTRAL BANKS TO RECORD GOLD PURCHASES
Central banks around the world bought roughly 800 metric tons of gold this year through September, 14 percent more than during the same period in 2022 to set a new record, according to the World Gold Council, a rate the council called “voracious.”
JAPAN’S GOVERNMENT UNLEASHES $113-BILLION STIMULUS
To add extra energy to a reviving economy, the government of Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida will offer about $35 billion in temporary income and residential tax cuts and cash gifts to low-income households.
MAERSK THROWS 10,000 WORKERS OVERBOARD
AP Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest ocean shipping company by fleet size, will lay off a total of 10,000 workers this year due to “a radically changed business environment.”
ESTEE LAUDER SHARE PRICE CRASHES AFTER COMPANY SLASHES EARNINGS PROJECTION
Estée Lauder, owner of Clinique, Aveda, and other major beauty brands, warned of a possible $80 million decline in 2024 earnings next year due to poor sales expected in China and possible disruptions from the Mideast war.
SPOTLIGHT: OFFICE BUILDING BUST: “COME BACK TO THE OFFICE” BECOMES DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION
Employers demanding workers return to centralized offices are being hit with a growing number of charges that they discriminate against employees with disabilities.
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S ECONOMY
In September, foreign direct investment (FDI) in China totaled about $10 billion, down 34 percent year over year and the biggest decline since at least 2014 when figures first became available, the Financial Times reported.
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
As we have noted since the Central Banksters started to rapidly raise interest rates, the decade’s long merger and acquisition spree is over.
THE ISRAEL WAR
BIDEN TELLS JEWISH RABBIS, NO TIME FOR CEASE FIRE
Jessica Rosenberg, a rabbi, interrupted a speech by President Joe Biden last week and urged him to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
HEZBOLLAH HEAD BLAMES IDF FOR CARRYING OUT 7 OCTOBER MASSACRE
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, said in a widely watched speech that the major 7 October attack was carried out by Israel’s own forces and not Hamas.
ISRAEL: BOMBS AWAY OVER PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP
Multiple Israeli missile strikes on the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp has been a new source of division between Israel, the U.S., and much of Europe, and the rest of the world.
SURGE IN ANTISEMITISM SEEN IN EUROPE AFTER HAMAS ATTACK, REVENGE BOMBING BY ISRAEL
Jewish people living in Europe have expressed concerns about an increase in antisemitism as Israel continues to reject international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza after a major 7 October attack by Hamas that killed 1,300 Jews.
WHITE HOUSE CONDEMNS UNHINGED FOX NEWS HOST WHO ACCUSED CNN ANCHORS OF BEING ‘SELF-HATING JEWS’
Mark Levin, the neocon Jewish “conservative” on Fox News, drew criticism from the White House last week after he excoriated CNN anchors for reporting on Israeli atrocities in Gaza, calling them “self-hating Jews.”
MASS MURDER AND GENOCIDE: ISRAEL’S GAZA CARPET BOMBING MURDERS TENS OF THOUSANDS, WOUNDS SCORES OF THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIANS
Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza, one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, combined with its total lockdown so the people can’t escape, has created an unusually cruel environment for the 2.3 million people who are trapped in the city amid the Israeli attacks.
FRENCH POLITICIAN PUSHES BILL THAT WOULD MAKE CRITICISM OF ZIONISM A CRIME
A group of French senators have introduced a bill that would make any criticism of Zionism a crime as the country tries to get a grip on a rise in antisemitic attacks since the 7 October Hamas attack.
ISRAEL CONTINUES TO TARGET AMBULANCES
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that one of its ambulances near the entrance to the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza was struck by missiles launched by Israeli forces, which sparked new criticism.
LEAKED ISRAELI INTEL: NEW “SETTLEMENT”, PUSH PALESTINIANS FROM OUT OF GAZA
A leaked Israeli document indicated that Israeli leadership is considering moving all 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and into Egypt’s Sinai peninsula—as Israel played down the document as merely “initial thoughts” on the matter.
TOP UN OFFICIAL STEPS DOWN AFTER CALLING ISRAEL’S ACTIONS IN GAZA A ‘TEXTBOOK CASE OF GENOCIDE’
Israel’s heavy-handed reaction to Hamas’s surprise attack last month fits the “textbook” definition of genocide, an outgoing top UN official said.
UN: ISRAELI ATTACK ON JABALIA REFUGEE CAMP A ‘WAR CRIME’
An Israeli airstrike on the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza that killed at least 195 could amount to a war crime, the UN’s Human Rights Office said in a statement.
PRO-ISRAEL BILLIONAIRE PUSHES CENSORSHIP. WANTS TO ENFORCE FINANCIAL BLOCKADE AGAINST PENN STATE
The pro-Israel campaign being waged by billionaires against universities that do not come out forcefully in favor of Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza has reached a fever pitch as Wall Street tycoons try to wield their influence.
JEWISH SETTLER (ILLEGAL OCCUPIERS) VIOLENCE SKYROCKETS IN WEST BANK AND NOBODY CARES
Palestinians in the West Bank have reported a major increase in Jewish “settler” violence after the 7 October Hamas attack, and Israeli forces, who are supposed to protect them, have turned a blind eye.
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS THEY TAKE YOU TO WAR: NETANYAHU KNEW ABOUT LOOMING ATTACK
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was facing mounting pressure due to his push for a sweeping judicial overhaul in Israel, was told repeatedly that a major attack was looming but brushed off the warnings for the months before the 7 October Hamas attack.
HEZBOLLAH HEAD WARNS ISRAEL: KEEP KILLING PALESTINIANS, GET READY FOR MULTI-FRONT WAR
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, gave a televised speech on Friday—his first since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel—and warned Israel that it is just a matter of time before it faces a muli-front conflict.
STATE DEPARTMENT DIVIDE: DIPLOMATS CALL ON BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO CONDEMN ISRAEL’S GAZA GENOCIDE
A leaked State Department memo from mid-level diplomats called on the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and that the U.S. should be able to publicly criticize the country’s bombing campaign in Gaza that has killed over 10,000—mainly women and children.
UKRAINE WAR UPDATE
TOP UKRAINIAN GENERAL OFFERS BLEAK ASSESSMENT, RANKLING KYIV
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny said in an interview last week that his forces seem to be stuck in a stalemate, and that he does not expect to see any significant breakthroughs in the near future.
FEATURED TRENDS GUEST ARTICLE by Philip Giraldi
THE GAZA GENOCIDE CONTINUES
Mainstream media and official government commentary on the violence in Gaza appears to have acquired a certain rhythm to make sure that everyone understands that it is the poor Israelis who are the real victims being assailed by a group called Hamas that is invariably labeled as “terrorists.”
FEATURED TRENDS GUEST ARTICLE by Dr. Joseph Mercola
WHY MOST PEOPLE NEED A MULTIVITAMIN
Food is your best source of nutrients, but with soil health declining and many people not eating an ideal diet, multivitamins may help address any gaps. This may be particularly true for adults age 60 and over.
FEATURED TRENDS GUEST ARTICLE by John & Nisha Whitehead
STOP DRINKING THE POLITICAL KOOL-AID, AMERICA: VOTING WILL NOT SAVE US
We are one year out from the 2024 presidential election and as usual, the American people remain eager to be persuaded that a new president in the White House can solve the problems that plague us.
TRENDS IN THE MARKETS by Gregory Mannarino
MORE CENTRAL BANK CURRENCY AND DEBT MANIPULATION. AND THE GREATEST TRANSFER OF WEALTH IN HISTORY.
Last week the Federal Reserve began a new phase of currency and debt manipulation on an unprecedented scale. And as a result, the U.S. stock market had its best week in terms of gains for the year.
TRENDS IN TECHNOCRACY by Joe Doran
READY FOR A CRADLE TO GRAVE “AI COPILOT”?
In connection with an Orwellian named “AI Global Safety Summit” held this past week in the U.K., thousands of AI industry workers and experts have signed onto a letter arguing that AI is destined to become a “force for good” in the world, and not disaster.
TRENDS IN CRYPTOS
CRYPTOS AND COPYRIGHT: A PERFECT USE CASE?
The use of massive data sets containing Intellectual Property (IP) of many millions of human content creatives, is becoming a poison pill at the heart of generative AI systems.
BLOCKCHAIN BATTLES
A late October article by crypto outlet CoinDesk has called the end of the crypto downturn that characterized the sector from 2022 to 2023.
TRENDS IN THE COVID WAR
COVID WAR: THE BATTLE OF CHILDHOOD IMMUNIZATIONS
Americans and citizens of other countries may be rejecting further COVID mRNA gene level treatments (deceptively equated by authorities to traditional vaccines) at levels between 70 and 80 percent.
TRENDS-EYE VIEW
CELL PHONE USE LINKED TO SPERM ISSUES
A newly released study found that young men who use their cell phones more than 20 times a day had a 21 percent higher chance of having a lower sperm count than those who used their mobile devices less frequently.
TRENDS IN HI-TECH SCIENCE by Ben Daviss
NEW SIGNALS DETECTED IN BRAIN’S WHITE MATTER
Researchers at Vanderbilt University have found previously undetected signals emanating from the human brain’s white matter, opening new pathways for discoveries in brain function and, potentially, into novel treatments for illnesses such as schizophrenia.
NO PRESSURE! NEW, CHEAPER WAY TO STORE HYDROGEN AS FUEL
Hydrogen is in the headlines these days as a viable fuel for trains, planes, and vehicles that run on fuel cells. However, a key roadblock to hydrogen’s use is storage: the gas has to be kept under high pressure, which not only requires a lot of energy to compress it but also sharpens the risks of explosions.
A BETTER WAY TO TURN CARBON DIOXIDE WASTE GAS INTO FUEL
Several labs are working on different ways to turn waste carbon dioxide into engine fuel.
TRENDS IN AI
ENGINEERS ARE TRANSFORMING AIs FROM ASSISTANTS INTO AUTONOMOUS AGENTS
ChatGPT’s most popular uses so far are as an artist, assistant, brainstorming partner, and researcher. However, when engineers at Nvidia, the company making specialized AI chips, opened the hood and began tinkering with its engine, they found a much more sophisticated and capable entity than they had expected.
HELP WANTED: NEW YORK TIMES SEEKS SENIOR AI EDITOR, SIX-FIGURE SALARY
The New York Times, long known as the U.S.’s “newspaper of record,” has surrendered to the economic realities of newspapering in the 21st century: bots can help the bottom line by doing work that reporters used to do.
GOODBYE GOOGLE. PEOPLE ARE TURNING TO AI FOR INTERNET SEARCHES, WOLF SAYS
About 13 million American adults are using ChatGPT, TikTok, and other AI-powered search tools instead of Google, Bing, and the usual engines, a number that will grow to 90 million by 2027, according to data from consulting firm Activate.
LINKEDIN CREATES AN AI TO ANSWER SECURITY QUESTIONS
LinkedIn, the professional social media platform owned by Microsoft, has developed an AI that can answer questions about whether products, data downloads, and other digital tools comply with a company’s security policies or pose cybersecurity threats.
BAIDU LAUNCHES RIVAL TO CHATGPT
China’s Baidu, which ranks among the world’s top tech firms and operates the country’s most popular search engine, has launched an AI that it says will pose competition to OpenAI’s iconic ChatGPT.