December 3, 2023 | Digital IDs Ramping Up in Australia

Australian federal Finance Minister, Senator Katy Gallagher, has introduced legislation for a national digital ID. The new program aims to create a single platform that unites a person’s identification documents and connects it with government services such as myGov, Centrelink, and the Australian Tax Office. The government claims that the digital ID will have strong […]

December 3, 2023 | Healthcare, a Minor Major Problem

Back in the Great Financial Crisis era, someone quipped that the federal government had become a giant hedge fund with an army attached. That wasn’t far off. Various agencies and entities were absorbing all kinds of risky assets to stabilize an overleveraged system. It was ugly but worked, more or less…. with a heavy dose […]

December 3, 2023 | My Brash Call for a Top

  They don’t ring a bell at the top, as the saying goes, but it’s hard to see how Mr. Market can avoid it this time. The stock market’s heedless, nutty short squeeze since October will end when Microsoft hits $430, probably early in the new year. It’s that simple.  How do I know this? […]

December 2, 2023 | Trading Desk Notes For December 2, 2023

Stocks, bonds and gold soar; the US Dollar falls as markets anticipate Central Bank cuts The DJIA has rallied ~4,000 points (~12.5%) in five weeks and is only ~2% away from All-Time Highs. It is up ~26% from October 2022 lows. The Nasdaq 100 has rallied ~13% in five weeks and is only ~5% away from ATH. […]

December 2, 2023 | US DC Court of Appeals Just Destroyed America

  The legal system is clearly trying to absolutely destroy Donald Trump for simply going to Washington to “Drain the Swamp,” which he discovered included both sides. We now have a ruling that is so BIASED against Trump that it has now effectively removed all immunity for anyone in Congress and even prosecutors. All you […]

December 2, 2023 | Tech Talk for Saturday December 2nd 2023

The Bottom Line Momentum by North American equity markets remains strong during its current period of seasonal strength from late October to the first week in January. A word of caution! Strength frequently is damped temporarily by yearend transactions for tax purposes between now and December 15th. Thereafter, the Santa Claus rally ‘kicks in” until […]

December 1, 2023 | Canada Heads into an Economic Contraction

Canada’s economy is shrinking, based on per capita GDP numbers. GDP results showed a contraction for the quarter ending September 30, 2023. Is Canada in a recession? Will there be a household debt crisis? Canadian GDP numbers, adjusted for inflation and population growth, showed a negative result for the third quarter. This means that there’s […]

December 1, 2023 | Someday This Will Happen To Silver And Everything Will Change

In March 2022, there was a disruption in the nickel market that spiked the metal’s price. The lucky investors and market-makers who owned long futures contracts made fortunes. Just kidding. The exchange on which the futures traded canceled them and stiffed the contract owners. Some of the victims understandably brought suit and were awarded a […]

December 1, 2023 | Fauci to Testify Before Congress

  Pandemic orchestrator and former NIH Director Anthony Fauci is set to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on January 8-9. Fauci has yet to appear before the 118th Congress for his involvement in the pandemic as his legal team successfully delayed the hearing for nearly a year. “Americans deserve trusted […]

December 1, 2023 | Sri-Kumar: Base Case is Something Breaks Soon

Komal Sri-Kumar, president of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies, joins ‘Squawk Box’ to discuss the latest market trends, the Fed’s inflation fight, why he believes the Fed will hold rates steady again at its next policy meeting because ‘they just don’t know what to do’, and more. Here is a direct video link. 

November 30, 2023 | Bulk of Equity Losses Happen During Rate Cutting Cycles, Not Before

Reminder: while equity bear markets typically start from full employment and an expanding economy, the bulk of cycle losses (81%) happen once recessions begin (blue bars below since 1933), when the unemployment rate is jumping, and central banks are slashing monetary conditions once more. Canada’s TSX has gone nowhere since June 2021, but propped up […]

November 30, 2023 | Alex Jones and the Largest Defamation Case in US History

Alex Jones’ comments on Sandy Hook were merely the pathway for the government to target Jones after a career of questioning the establishment. Alex Jones found himself in the largest defamation case in American history for questioning the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut. The InfoWars host was coerced into paying the families […]

November 29, 2023 | Zelensky Lives in Luxury – Top Aides Acquire $75 Million Yachts

As the people of Ukraine continue to suffer under his rule, Zelensky is living a lavish lifestyle. The former comedian is said to have properties around the world. So while he is begging the world to “do their part” and fund his war, he is using much of the funds for his own pleasure. Two of […]

November 29, 2023 | Real Estate Cycle Hitting Hard

Each week, more people realize they have too much overhead and need to cut costs. Our family knows several people in all different age groups who bought or borrowed against real estate during the pandemic and are now trying to sell. It’s not going well. It is a very stressful, sad time, and I empathize […]

November 28, 2023 | Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America, Nov. Update: From 2022 Highs, San Francisco -11%, Seattle -10%, Las Vegas -6%, Phoenix -6%, Portland -5%, Denver -5%, Dallas -5%, San Diego

Home prices in the 20 metropolitan areas that today’s S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index covers eked out the smallest month-to-month gain (+0.2%) since January, and remained a tad below its all-time peak of June last year. Here’s the close-up. We’ll get into the most splendid of the 20 metros in a moment in all […]

November 28, 2023 | Study Examines Deaths After COVID Vaccination

  A team of researchers wanted to review whether COVID-19 vaccine adverse events were linked to an increase in morbidity. The team looked at published necropsy and autopsy reports related to the COVID vaccine, and identified 678 studies including 44 papers containing 325 autopsy and necropsy cases. Three physicians peer-reviewed these deaths to determine if […]

November 28, 2023 | Where’s The Recession?

November 27, 2023 | The Business Cycle & National Debt

The US national debt has exceeded $33 trillion and counting. For decades, people have predicted that the dollar will crumble to dust and gold will rise to the moon. They have applied to the Austrian School of Economics to no avail. Then you have the opposite side pushed by economists like Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul […]

November 27, 2023 | Next Year’s Housing Crash, In Charts and Anecdotes

Signs are multiplying that the US housing bubble is about to pop. To start with the headline number, home sales are back at Great Recession levels: Declining sales are no surprise when viewed against a backdrop of the worst affordability in American housing history. The following chart explains why Boomers are such a cocky generation: […]

November 27, 2023 | More Firing than Hiring

Happy Monday Morning! Consumer prices eased in October, clocking in at 3.1% year-over-year, and down from 3.8% last month. This is welcome news for mortgage holders sweating over upcoming mortgage renewals. For Bank of Canada watchers, the BoC’s closely watched 3 month average core inflation measure dropped to 2.95%. We are getting close. Mortgage interest […]

November 27, 2023 | Bear Markets Bottom After Central Banks Near the End of Easing Efforts

As central banks resume easing in 2024, a bear market bottom should follow months later. Waiting for cyclical lows may feel challenging, but not waiting ends much worse. Here at the end of 2023, confidence in the economy and the financial markets is a lot higher than it was at this time a year ago. […]

November 26, 2023 | COVID-23 First Announced

  Here we go again – the World Health Organization has requested information from China in regard to a new respiratory illness and clusters of pneumonia in children. Chinese authorities are blaming the lack of COVID-19 regulations/lack of continued government control in the name of public health. The WHO said that the “influenza-like illness” is […]

November 26, 2023 | The Survival of the Republic

Thanksgiving brings to mind not only turkeys, family, and friends, but also should help us recall the remarkable ideas and philosophies that helped shape, and indeed were, the foundation for the United States of America as a Republic. In that spirit, we will forgo for this week the series we have been exploring on cycles […]

November 26, 2023 | What Has AI Done for YOU Lately?

  AI hubris has become America’s chief source of good news. Over the past year, artificial intelligence surpassed bitcoin as mankind’s most easily imaginable pathway to quick riches, shortened work weeks, ingenious solutions to every problem, and endless satisfactions. An AI-assisted world supposedly will revolutionize the way we do business, enabling high school graduates, even […]