TRENDS ON THE ECONOMIC AND MARKET FRONT
ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
Where are the global economies and equity markets going?
They, as well as the lives of billions, are going to Hell, right in front of the eyes and ears of all who have the courage and dedication to watch, look, and listen.
THIS YEAR’S FEDERAL DEFICIT PASSES $1.7 TRILLION
In the U.S. government’s current fiscal year, the annual budget deficit roughly doubled to $2 trillion, even though the treasury reported the shortfall as $1.7 trillion, The New York Times reported.
WORRIES INCREASE OVER U.S. DEBT, BUDGET CRISIS
Uncertainty about whether the U.S. Congress will raise the debt limit has helped push bond prices to multi-decade lows and given the U.S. Federal Reserve second thoughts about raising interest rates again when it meets next week, Bloomberg reported.
CONFERENCE BOARD’S ECONOMIC INDICATOR SHOWS RECESSION AHEAD
The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index, which tracks business cycles, fell 0.7 percent to 104.7 in September, its 18th month in a row showing declining economic activity.
RISING BOND YIELDS EVENTUALLY WILL SWAMP CONSUMERS, BLACKSTONE CHIEF WARNS
Rising yields on the 10-year U.S. treasury bond, now brushing up against 5 percent, will eventually crimp consumer spending and slow the economy, Jonathan Gray, president of Blackstone Group, the world’s largest asset manager, said last week in a Financial Times interview.
LATE LOAN PAYMENTS GROWING IN NUMBER
Persons who borrowed during and after the COVID War are now falling behind in their payments “at unusually high rates,” according to the Financial Times.
HOME FORECLOSURES INCREASE 28 PERCENT IN THIRD QUARTER
The number of home foreclosures across the U.S. grew 28 percent in this year’s third quarter, year over year, reaching 124,539, real estate research service ATTOM reported.
HOME SALES FALL TO SLOWEST PACE SINCE 2010
In September, home sales fell 2 percent from August and reached their lowest annual pace since October 2010, sunk by steadily rising interest rates through this year. Sales for the month declined 15.4 percent from the same month in 2022.
EMPLOYER HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS RISE FASTEST IN 12 YEARS
The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage is rising an average of 7 percent next year to about $24,000 per employee, the sharpest yearly increase since 2011, according to health care research organization KFF.
U.S. TREASURY HIRES SERIAL OFFENDER J.P. MORGAN TO POLICE BANK PAYMENT INTEGRITY
J.P. Morgan has signed a five-year contract with the U.S. treasury to audit the approximately 1.7 billion payments government agencies make each year to ensure that the payments are accurate and genuine, Wall Street on Parade (WSOP) reported.
TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT
TOP TREND 2023, MIDDLE EAST MELTDOWN: MIDEAST WAR SPILLS INTO EUROPE’S ECONOMY
The Israel-Hamas war threatens Europe’s energy prices and should prevent the European Central Bank (ECB) from raising interest rates further, Yannas Stournaras, governor of Greece’s central bank, said in a Financial Times interview last week.
WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS JOBS GO WITH IT
This is week 59 of our job loss report. Inflation and interest rate hikes are causing companies in many sectors to lay off employees. To illustrate the employment trends and the socioeconomic implications, each week we will list job losses.
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS
In recent times, the economic landscape has presented an array of challenges that have profoundly affected the business community. Some of the most significant challenges include soaring inflation rates, escalating interest rates, looming fears of a recession, and a tangible decrease in revenues for many sectors…all made worse by the COVID War which destroyed the lives and livelihoods of billions across the globe.
CHINA CURBS EXPORTS OF GRAPHITE, A KEY EV BATTERY MATERIAL
Seeking to hold its control over markets for materials related to electric vehicles (EVs), China will now require export permits for some forms of graphite.
UNION PACIFIC PROFIT DROPS AS SHIPPING VOLUMES DECLINE
Union Pacific Railroad reported third-quarter revenue of $5.94 billion, 10 percent less than the same period in 2022, and a 19-percent reduction in profits, which fell to $1.5 billion.
PRICES FOR EV METALS CRASH
Prices for cobalt, lithium, and nickel—metals used extensively in building electric vehicles (EVs) and their batteries—have plummeted this year as demand for EVs and electronics in general has withered in China, the world’s largest EV market.
GERMANY’S PRODUCER PRICES FALL AT FASTEST PACE ON RECORD
The prices that German manufacturers charge for their goods plunged 14.7 percent in this year’s first nine months, the steepest nine-month plunge since records began being kept in 1949, the government reported.
U.K. INFLATION REFUSES TO YIELD
In September, Britain’s annual inflation rate held at 6.7 percent, the same as August, as rising fuel prices offset lower food costs.
SPOTLIGHT, TOP TREND 2023: OFFICE BUILDING BUST
The value of commercial loans officially considered “in distress,” meaning they are approaching default, reached $79.7 billion in this year’s third quarter, the highest since 2013, MSCI Real Assets reported.
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S ECONOMIC QUAGMIRE
Following a number of policy tweaks by Beijing, China’s economy grew at an annual pace of 4.9 percent in this year’s third quarter, beating a Reuters poll of economists predictions of a 4.5-percent expansion.
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. However, the “Bigs” will still get bigger, as they buy out overleveraged companies that can’t afford to borrow at high rates to refinance while, at the same time, recessionary pressures erode their profitability.
THE ISRAEL WAR
DEADLY RAID IN WEST BANK SPARKS ‘DAY OF RAGE’ PROTESTS
Israeli forces raided a Palestinian refugee camp on Friday, killing at least 13, including five children, which sparked major protests in the West Bank and elsewhere.
ISRAEL RAMPS UP WAR. KEEPS BOMBING SYRIA
The Israeli military on Sunday carried out another round of airstrikes on Syrian airports despite Russia calling these strikes a “gross violation” of international law last week.
BIDEN SAYS U.S. LEADERSHIP IS HOLDING THE WORLD TOGETHER
U.S. President Joe Biden took a victory lap last week and said it is the leadership from Washington that is holding the world together—despite global crises ranging from wars in Ukraine and Israel.
BIDEN VOWS TO HELP ISRAEL CARRY OUT ITS WAR AGAINST HAMAS
Five-time draft dodger who never saw a war he didn’t love, President Joe Biden last week visited Israel and assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. will provide support for as long as the war with Hamas lasts.
U.S. SPECIAL OPS FORCES IN ISRAEL
The White House tried to backtrack last week after publishing a photo on Instagram that showed President Joe Biden in Israel meeting with U.S. special operations forces, exposing their identity.
WHO ‘STRONGLY CONDEMNS’ ATTACK ON GAZA HOSPITAL
Dr. Tedros Adhenom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, announced last week that he “strongly condemns” the attack on the Gaza hospital that resulted in the deaths of hundreds seeking refuge at treatment amid an Israeli bombardment.
PETRAEUS WARNS THAT ISRAELI GROUND INVASION OF GAZA COULD LOOK A LOT LIKE THE U.S. MISADVENTURE IN MOSUL
Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview last week that an Israeli ground invasion in Gaza could be long and bloody, and compared it to U.S. forces in Iraq.
CENSORSHIP 2.0: THUNBERG FORCED TO DELETE TWEET CALLING TO PROTECT PALESTINIANS
Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, faced swift criticism from the Israeli Armed Forces after calling for a ceasefire as Israel wages a massive air campaign against Palestinians after the high-profile Hamas attack that killed over 1,400 people in Israel earlier this month.
VON DER LEYEN CRITICIZED BY STAFFERS OVER HER ‘UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT’ OF ISRAEL
A letter signed by workers from the European Commission took issue with their boss who is president of the Commision, Ursula von der Leyen, for expressing unconditional support for Israel while seemingly disregarding the devastation in Gaza from constant bombings.
AMERICANS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES WARNED TO TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTION
The U.S. State Department urged American citizens who are abroad to take extra precautions due to the elevated risks of terror attacks and other forms of violence, as Washington provided Israel its full-throated support to continue punishing Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas’s attack earlier this month.
BLINKEN ANNOUNCES HUMANITARIAN AID TRUCKS INTO GAZA, BUT U.S. WARNS HAMAS NOT TO INTERFERE
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Saturday that humanitarian aid trucks lined up in Egypt have begun to make their way across the Gaza border, which should offer some limited relief for the city’s population of 2.3 million that have been choked off since the Hamas attack earlier this month.
UNIVERSITIES THAT ALLOW FREE SPEECH LOSE MILLIONS FROM PRO-ISRAEL DONORS
Top universities in the U.S. are losing millions of dollars from donors who demand that only a pro-Israel view is acceptable, and if schools do not crack down on any opposing views, they should go out of business.
ISRAEL TANK STRIKES EGYPT DURING HUMANITARIAN AID TRANSFER
An Israeli tank struck an Egyptian position near Gaza during the second humanitarian convoy—injuring several border guards, Reuters reported on Sunday.
BBC NEWS HOST: U.S. BACKS ISRAEL BECAUSE OF ‘JEWISH WEALTH’
Gonzalo Cañada, a host on BBC’s Spanish-language service, BBC News Mundo, said during a program last week that Jewish wealth and influence can help explain why there’s so much support for the tiny Middle Eastern country in the U.S.
TOP RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT WARNS THAT ISRAEL WAR HAS CHANCE OF BECOMING REGIONAL CRISIS
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s top diplomat, told reporters that Israel’s war with Hamas risks becoming a full-fledged regional crisis—noting how Western countries have blamed Iranian influence on the conflict without any evidence.
ISRAEL INCREASES STRIKES IN THE WEST BANK AMID NEW STAGE OF WAR
Israeli forces increased attacks in the West Bank as it continued to pound Gaza with airstrikes after the Hamas attack earlier this month.
PROMOTE ISRAELI PROPAGANDA OR ELSE: ONLY ONE SIDE PERMITTED DURING ISRAEL WAR
There are two sides to every story, unless you are a mainstream media Presstitute, little boys and girls who act like men and women that put out for their corporate pimps and government whoremasters.
U.S. REJECTS UN RESOLUTION DEMANDING HUMANITARIAN PAUSE IN GAZA
The U.S. was the only country on Wednesday to reject a United Nations resolution that called for a humanitarian pause in the fighting in Gaza as Palestinians there face a crisis that has no end in sight.
ISRAEL WILL MAKE HEZBOLLAH PAY IF PARAMILITARY GROUP ENTERS WAR, NETANYAHU SAYS
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, warned Iranian-backed Hezbollah not to get involved in the current war playing out in Gaza, or be prepared to face Israel’s wrath.
FEATURED TRENDS GUEST ARTICLE by Paul Craig Roberts
RUSHING INTO CATASTROPHE
The Biden regime refuses to defend U.S. borders but does not hesitate to rush aircraft carrier task forces and the 101st U.S. Airborne Division to defend Israel’s borders.
FEATURED TRENDS GUEST ARTICLE by Dr. Joseph Mercola
VITAMIN D FOR COVID-19, DIABETES AND HEART HEALTH
Vitamin D levels affect the severity of COVID-19 infection and maintaining optimal levels may reduce symptoms and related long-term complications
FEATURED TRENDS GUEST ARTICLE by Douglas Macgregor
AVOIDING ARMAGEDDON
The U.S. must consider encouraging a ceasefire before stumbling into another complicated large-scale conflict.
FEATURED TRENDS GUEST ARTICLE by John & Nisha Whitehead
EVIL WALKS AMONG US: MONSTERS WITH HUMAN FACES WREAK HAVOC ON OUR FREEDOMS
“But these weren’t the kind of monsters that had tentacles and rotting skin, the kind a seven-year-old might be able to wrap his mind around—they were monsters with human faces, in crisp uniforms, marching in lockstep, so banal you don’t recognize them for what they are until it’s too late.” ― Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
TRENDS IN TECHNOCRACY by Joe Doran
GENERATION AI: AI LAYING WASTE TO JOBS, AS WE PREDICTED
No, AI isn’t creating a jobs boom. Quite the contrary: it’s spawning “Generation AI,” a human next generation that will be more dependent on artificial intelligence to write, do math and advanced calculations, write computer code, do scientific research—and substitute in other ways from the rigors of thinking.
MAJOR RESEARCH: LITTLE REAL DATA SHOWS ANY CORRELATION BETWEEN GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS AND GLOBAL TEMPS
Just-released Norwegian research says that over the past 200 years, there is no real world data that shows any significant link between rising so-called greenhouse gasses like Carbon Dioxide (C02) and global temperature variations.
THE FIRST AMENDMENT IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court has decided to rule on the government censorship and manipulation issues involved in the now unquestionably landmark Missouri vs. Biden court case.
TRENDS IN CRYPTOS
CRYPTO THAW CONTINUES, AS SEC DROPS CHARGES AGAINST RIPPLE FOUNDERS
XRP scored another victory in its years-long legal battle with the SEC this past week.
BLOCKCHAIN BATTLES
Gemini, one of the only crypto exchanges besides Coinbase given legal status to offer services in New York, is now being sued by New York State Attorney Letitia James.
TRENDS IN THE COVID WAR
TOP CDC JOURNAL’S TAKE ON MASK USE CHALLENGED
The authors of a recent article accepted in a top medical journal took issue with claims that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made about mask use and their effectiveness in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
TRENDS IN GEOPOLITICS
CHINA, RUSSIA RISING WHILE U.S. IS DECLINING: XI, PUTIN DESCRIBE ‘FAIRER, MULTIPOLAR’ WORLD
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, in China last week and the two expressed interest in building their no-limits partnership and their visions for a “multipolar world” not led by any one country.
TRENDS-EYE VIEW
SOCIAL MEDIA BLAMED FOR EPIDEMIC OF TEEN DEPRESSION
Social media use among teenagers could be a major factor in the surge of depression, as there’s more focus on environmental risk factors for the condition.
POLL: DEMOCRACY DEAD IN AMERICA
Democracy is no longer viable, and a new system should be implemented in the U.S., according to a large portion of American voters from both political parties.
AMERICANS NOT BUYING PRESSTITUTE BULLSHIT: TRUST IN MASS MEDIA PLUMMETS
American trust in the mainstream news hit its lowest point since 2016, with those who identify as Democrats seeing biggest declines, according to a newly released Gallup poll.
TRENDS IN HI-TECH SCIENCE by Ben Daviss
ANCESTORS’ DNA COULD BECOME THE NEWEST ANTIBIOTIC
Superbugs that resist known antibiotics kill more than two million people a year worldwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a number that could reach 10 million by 2050. Now those bugs may finally have met their doom, thanks to strings of DNA salvaged from our prehistoric ancestors.
REDESIGNED REDOX FLOW BATTERY COULD POWER YOUR HOUSE
Electrochemists at the University of Cincinnati have reinvented the redox flow battery. Their design could one day power your house.
HAS THE WORLD CROSSED THE SOLAR ENERGY TIPPING POINT?
Based on current trends in cost and technology development, the world may already have passed a tipping point leading to solar energy inevitably becoming the world’s dominant source of electricity by 2050, according to a study by University College London and the University of Exeter.
TRENDS IN AI
AI WILL IMPROVE JOBS MORE THAN IT KILLS THEM, STUDY SAYS
AI is more likely to improve the quality of jobs exposed to it than to erase positions en masse, according to an August study by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
EIGHT MORE COMPANIES PLEDGE AI SAFETY
Adobe, Cohere, IBM, Nvidia, Palantir, Salesforce, Scale AI, and Stability AI have promised to actively promote AI systems that are secure against hackers, safe for users, that identify their creations as products of AI instead of people, and that continually seek and weed out biases and other socially harmful elements.
SOCIETY IS UNPREPARED FOR SPEED OF AI TRANSITION, EXPERTS SAY
By 2030, “AI will do 80 percent of 80 percent of all jobs we know of today,” renowned venture capitalist Vinod Khosla said last week at the Tech Live conference, sponsored by The Wall Street Journal.