Question: What do Neiman Marcus, JC Penny's, Lord & Taylor, Men's Warehouse, Pier 1 Imports, Brooks Brothers, J. Crew, and Ann Taylor have in common?
If you answered that they are all retailers, you're on the right track, but only partially correct. They are all former retailers, because the correct answer is that - according to this Yahoo! Finance article - they've all filed for bankruptcy protection within the past six months.
They are not alone, of course. Many other big companies have gone the bankruptcy route, along with scores of smaller firms. About 3,600 companies filed for Chapter 11 in the first half of 2020 nationwide, more than any year since 2012, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. That number may not sound very large, but it should be couched in the understanding that these are corporations, and many smaller companies, sole proprietorships, LLCs, partnerships and such haven't bothered to go through the legal system
Updating those figures, there were another 642 filings in July, pushing chapter 11 U.S. Commercial Bankruptcy Filings up 52% in the month. Through July, Chapter 11 commercial filings are up 30% over the same period last year, with a total of 4,246 filings.
The same article notes that Chapter 13 (personal) non-commercial filings are actually down 38% so far in 2020, with 99,136 filings, from 159,602 filings in the same period of 2019. Chapter 7 - which is liquidation - non-commercial filings are down 21% in July 2020 with 30,177 new filings, which is down from 38,033 the same period of 2019.
However, total non-commercial filings have increased each of the last four months and are up 11% since April, with 40,072 in July 2020, which is up from 36,151 in April 2020.
What all these numbers are suggesting is that some big retailers took an early exit with more business failures on the way, and that governments, banks and other credit institutions have done a good job of incentivizing bad behavior by allowing people to skip rent and mortgage payments, car payments, credit card payments and student loan payments. Such programs began in March or April, with the onset of the coronavirus and resulting government responses and continue today, in some cases being extended far beyond what was originally considered prudent.
Between the actions by the Federal Reserve, federal and state governments, banks, mortgage, and credit companies, the whoop-butt can of financial ruin that's descended upon American and the world has been kicked down the proverbial road for six months and counting.
But, time is running out and the consequences of playing along with stupid quick-fixes like temporary furloughs, deferrals, forbearance, and other cutesy-sounding programs like "stay safe at home" and "wear a mask" are leading to a major disaster later this year, just in time for - you guessed it - the elections in November.
Not trying to sound too cynical, it's a safe bet that much of what's happened so far in 2020 was thought out well in advance, as a means to inflict the maximum amount of fear, pain, and suffering upon the U.S. electorate. The fright dials will be turned up significantly as summer turns to fall and the elections of 2020 approach. Of course, the big one is the presidency, which has the Trump-Pence team lined up to defend its incumbency against the Biden-Harris squad.
To the assembled mainstream media, this looks like a fair fight. To anybody who hasn't been persuaded that president Trump is a secret Russian agent, a racist, or an otherwise evil person, the 2020 presidential race appears to be close to a slam dunk for the Republicans because they have more money, better candidates (Joe Biden is likely suffering from Alzheimer's or some other form of dementia), a better platform (Dems are running a "We Hate Donald" campaign), and Donald Trump will make mincemeat out of Joe Biden if and when there is a debate.
The elections are a but a sideshow to the national nightmare that is unfolding. Whoever wins locally, statewide, nationally, will have to dal with the same problems. Candidates on either side are barely equipped with enough skills to get them through a day without saying something utterly stupid, so who wins and who loses won't make much of a difference. Election hoopla and assorted finger-pointing, name-calling and mud-slinging will prove to be a short-lived distraction from the real issues.
That said, the global catastrophe that has been slowly proceeding is going to accelerate in the fall and winter. There will be more COVID cases, more deaths, more panic, all of it made up by an out-of-control media and government propagandists. Almost nothing presented so far has been trustworthy or useful and the coming spate of glaring, scary headlines and fake news stories are pretty much assured to be complete fabrications.
As the seasons change, people are going to find out that their unemployment insurance payments do actually run out at some time, deferrals of rent, mortgage, credit card, auto loan, and other debt didn't stop the interest from running and still need to be paid back, and that much of the world - particularly big cities - is a very messy place, ill-suited for human habitation. Personal bankruptcies will go through the roof and trigger another round of corporate and business bankruptcies. When law firms start going bankrupt, run for the hills, because if the people that sue people can't make a go of it, that says things have gone from sideways to downhill in a very bad way.
(It should be pointed out that the various forms of bankruptcy are usually followed by the word "protection." What bankruptcy protects companies and/or individuals from are creditors, i.e., banks, mortgage companies, credit card companies, auto loan financiers, which, if you've ever been through the process before, might give one pause to consider why any sane person would want to conduct business with any entity from which one might eventually need protection. It's like lambs and lions. Everybody's fine until the lions get hungry.)
Life is going to get more complicated, less fun, more frightening and probably, for a lot of people, significantly shorter and/or more unhealthy. Nothing on the horizon - like 30% of all renters in America not paying their rent in August - seems to indicate that the economy is picking up or will improve soon. Rather, there are signs that despite Wall Street's irrational exuberance, Main Street is dying a slow, painful death and with it the whole of society. Depending largely upon where one lives and maybe works, life in America is either going to get worse, a lot worse, or stay about the same.
In wide, general terms, big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, Atlanta will get a lot worse, smaller cities will only get a little worse, and rural areas may slip through the cracks only marginally affected by the coming debt tsunami and greater depression. Your mileage may vary, depending upon your levels of frustration, resiliency, savings, overall health, age, and future prospects along with other intangible variables.
As Chris Martenson recently offered on dealing with economic catastrophe now or later: "I'd rather fall off the fifth rung of the ladder than the twelfth rung." We're now somewhere between the fourth and seventh rung of Chris' hypothetical ladder. Some have already fallen off. Others are just barely hanging on. Only a brave few will make it to the top rung and manage to hang on through the chaos.
Thank you for slogging through the gloom and doom.
Please enjoy our nomination for COVID-19 song of the year: The Kinks, "Apeman" circa, 1970.
I think I'm sophisticated 'cause I'm living my life
like a good homo sapien
But all around me everybody's multiplying and
they're walking round like flies man
So I'm no better than the animals sitting
in the cages in the zoo
Cause compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees
I am an apeman.
I think I'm so educated and I'm so civilized
'Cause I'm a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
and the crazy politicians
I don't feel safe in this world no more,
I don't want to die in a nuclear war.
I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman.
I'm an apeman, I'm an ape, apeman, oh I'm an apeman
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voodoo man, oh I'm an apeman
Cause compared to the sun that sits in the sky,
Compared to the clouds as they roll by,
Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies I am an apeman.
In man's evolution he's created the city
and the motor traffic rumble.
But give me half a chance and I'd be taking off my clothes
and living in the jungle.
Cause the only time that I feel at ease
Is swinging up and down in the coconut trees.
Oh what a life of luxury to be like an apeman.
I'm an apeman, I'm an ape, apeman, oh I'm an apeman
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voodoo man, oh I'm an apeman
I look out the window but I can't see the sky,
The air pollution is a-f**king up my eyes,
I want to get out of this city alive and live like an apeman.
Oh come on and love me, be my apeman girl
And we'll be so happy in my apeman world.
I'm an apeman, I'm an ape, apeman, oh I'm an apeman
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voodoo man, oh I'm an apeman
I'll be your Tarzan, you'll be my Jane,
I'll keep you warm and you'll keep me sane,
We'll sit in the trees and eat bananas all day,
Just like an apeman.
I'm an apeman, I'm an ape, apeman, oh I'm an apeman
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voodoo man, oh I'm an apeman
I don't feel safe in this world no more,
I don't want to die in a nuclear war.
I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman.
Songwriter: RAY DAVIES
At the Close, Wednesday, August 12, 2020:
Dow: 27,976.84 +289.93 (+1.05%)
NASDAQ: 11,012.24, +229.42 (+2.13%)
S&P 500: 3,380.35, +46.66 (+1.40%)
NYSE: 12,974.82, +125.45 (+0.98%)
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Gold, Silver Smashed Lower, Stocks, Bonds Follow Down But Nobody Is Selling Gold Or Silver
What happened in the futures and spot markets for gold and silver on Tuesday was nothing short of criminal. It was a sort of gang rape by the collected purveyors of fiat, who cannot stomach excessive gains in other currencies, the precious metals being the most frighteningly destructive to their counterfeiting of paper currencies, paper assets, and paper promises.
With gold wafting past the $2000 mark earlier and silver briefly touching $30 an ounce and up more than 55% over just the past month, the forces controlling the futures market embarked on one of their more ambitious raids, designed to discourage further investment in precious metals.
How successful they were only time will tell, but if past is prelude, their efforts will be short-lived. In an environment in which physical silver and gold are scarce to say the least, how in the world can a 14% one-day decline in silver and a $110 loss on gold be justified? It simply cannot, which is why the paper markets such as the COMEX must be dissolved, to allow true price discovery for actual purchasers and real sellers instead of he fakery of paper short and long contracts that are 99% of the time settled in cash, not physical metal.
To say that the futures market is rigged would be a massive understatement, but Tuesday's raid showed that the central banks are not only afraid of gold, they are absolutely terrified of silver as currency.
The reason is simple. Silver is plentiful and cheap (for now). If silver were ever allowed to be employed widely as currency, the end of fractional reserve banking would commence in a dizzying rush that would leave the lobal economy staring into an abyss of their own making. The math that says this outcome is inevitable notwithstanding, the terrorizing of futures markets - indeed, all markets - by imbecilic people with god-like power to conjure up currency out of thin air will continue for a while longer, but not much longer. It is coming quickly to a horrible conclusion as the Tuesday slaughter on the futures markets reeks of desperation and last-ditch attempts to keep a lid on the price of real money, gold and silver.
There's a certain amount of ironic futility in the effort to suppress precious metals at this juncture. All the central bank proxy shorting did was erase a week's worth of gains and likely encourage even more buying of the dip by savvy gold bugs and silver stackers who have seen this kind of activity all too many times.
By all indications, this was a one-off event, though there may be a follow-up raid, just to reinforce the mad machinations of the people who cannot bear to see the reign of fiat currency come to an end. Silver, while it was smacked down as low as $23.54 overnight, was already back above $26 an ounce earlier and currently hovers in the $25.60-25.90 range. Gold was knocked down to $1866.70, but is already up sharply, at $1931.
Truth be told, nary a single "true believer" in the power of real money so much as thought about unloading any physical gold or silver during this engineered crash in the futures.
Meanwhile, the carnage in precious metals futures spilled over somewhat as a liquidity drain into the financial markets. The Dow, which was sporting a gain of more than 300 points most of the day, ended lower by 104. The NASDAQ was was modestly higher in the early going, but ended lower for the third straight session, the 185-point loss the biggest since July 23.
Bonds were also sent reeling, with yields on longer-dated maturities up sharply. The 10-year note finished the day with a 0.64% yield, a move of six basis points, while the 30-year gained seven basis points to 1.32%.
With markets being bought and sold in tandem, the danger is that falling stocks will not translate into lower yields, with investors heading to gold. A resultant rise in interest rates and loss of control by the Fed would signal disaster. A simultaneous selloff in equities and fixed income would be a crushing blow, the gates of hell flung open wide.
Here's a nominee for quote of the year, by Eugene Fama, Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago, who, in 2013, shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with Robert J. Shiller and Lars Peter Hansen. The renowned economist and creator of the Efficient Market Theory, known as the "Father of Modern Finance," recently did an interview with Market/NZZ:
Market/NZZ: Professor Fama, the efficient market hypothesis has revolutionized the way people invest. What goes through your mind when you look at the wild swings the stock market made this year?
Fama: The market seems pretty good. It held up even though the economy is deep in the bucket. This is a good example of how forward looking the market really is: It’s looking past what we are going through now, and it’s saying that the future doesn’t look that bad.
Market/NZZ: Do you think that’s the correct assumption?
Fama: If I could forecast, I wouldn’t be a professor.
Bada Bing! A rare expression of shameless self-deprecating humor. Kudos to Professor Fama.
At the Close, Tuesday, August 11, 2020:
Dow: 27,686.91, -104.53 (-0.38%)
NASDAQ: 10,782.82, -185.53 (-1.69%)
S&P 500: 3,333.69, -26.78 (-0.80%)
NYSE: 12,849.37, +5.35 (+0.04%)
With gold wafting past the $2000 mark earlier and silver briefly touching $30 an ounce and up more than 55% over just the past month, the forces controlling the futures market embarked on one of their more ambitious raids, designed to discourage further investment in precious metals.
How successful they were only time will tell, but if past is prelude, their efforts will be short-lived. In an environment in which physical silver and gold are scarce to say the least, how in the world can a 14% one-day decline in silver and a $110 loss on gold be justified? It simply cannot, which is why the paper markets such as the COMEX must be dissolved, to allow true price discovery for actual purchasers and real sellers instead of he fakery of paper short and long contracts that are 99% of the time settled in cash, not physical metal.
To say that the futures market is rigged would be a massive understatement, but Tuesday's raid showed that the central banks are not only afraid of gold, they are absolutely terrified of silver as currency.
The reason is simple. Silver is plentiful and cheap (for now). If silver were ever allowed to be employed widely as currency, the end of fractional reserve banking would commence in a dizzying rush that would leave the lobal economy staring into an abyss of their own making. The math that says this outcome is inevitable notwithstanding, the terrorizing of futures markets - indeed, all markets - by imbecilic people with god-like power to conjure up currency out of thin air will continue for a while longer, but not much longer. It is coming quickly to a horrible conclusion as the Tuesday slaughter on the futures markets reeks of desperation and last-ditch attempts to keep a lid on the price of real money, gold and silver.
There's a certain amount of ironic futility in the effort to suppress precious metals at this juncture. All the central bank proxy shorting did was erase a week's worth of gains and likely encourage even more buying of the dip by savvy gold bugs and silver stackers who have seen this kind of activity all too many times.
By all indications, this was a one-off event, though there may be a follow-up raid, just to reinforce the mad machinations of the people who cannot bear to see the reign of fiat currency come to an end. Silver, while it was smacked down as low as $23.54 overnight, was already back above $26 an ounce earlier and currently hovers in the $25.60-25.90 range. Gold was knocked down to $1866.70, but is already up sharply, at $1931.
Truth be told, nary a single "true believer" in the power of real money so much as thought about unloading any physical gold or silver during this engineered crash in the futures.
Meanwhile, the carnage in precious metals futures spilled over somewhat as a liquidity drain into the financial markets. The Dow, which was sporting a gain of more than 300 points most of the day, ended lower by 104. The NASDAQ was was modestly higher in the early going, but ended lower for the third straight session, the 185-point loss the biggest since July 23.
Bonds were also sent reeling, with yields on longer-dated maturities up sharply. The 10-year note finished the day with a 0.64% yield, a move of six basis points, while the 30-year gained seven basis points to 1.32%.
With markets being bought and sold in tandem, the danger is that falling stocks will not translate into lower yields, with investors heading to gold. A resultant rise in interest rates and loss of control by the Fed would signal disaster. A simultaneous selloff in equities and fixed income would be a crushing blow, the gates of hell flung open wide.
Here's a nominee for quote of the year, by Eugene Fama, Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago, who, in 2013, shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with Robert J. Shiller and Lars Peter Hansen. The renowned economist and creator of the Efficient Market Theory, known as the "Father of Modern Finance," recently did an interview with Market/NZZ:
Market/NZZ: Professor Fama, the efficient market hypothesis has revolutionized the way people invest. What goes through your mind when you look at the wild swings the stock market made this year?
Fama: The market seems pretty good. It held up even though the economy is deep in the bucket. This is a good example of how forward looking the market really is: It’s looking past what we are going through now, and it’s saying that the future doesn’t look that bad.
Market/NZZ: Do you think that’s the correct assumption?
Fama: If I could forecast, I wouldn’t be a professor.
Bada Bing! A rare expression of shameless self-deprecating humor. Kudos to Professor Fama.
At the Close, Tuesday, August 11, 2020:
Dow: 27,686.91, -104.53 (-0.38%)
NASDAQ: 10,782.82, -185.53 (-1.69%)
S&P 500: 3,333.69, -26.78 (-0.80%)
NYSE: 12,849.37, +5.35 (+0.04%)
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Fake Pandemic Ushers In Real Depression
Slow news day, Monday.
Looting in Chicago, armed man shot outside White House. Dow up, NASDAQ down, silver up, gold down.
About the only item of significance actually occurred after midnight, ergo, Tuesday, when the "Protectors of Fiat" (POF) managed to beat the price of gold back down below $2000, currently stumbling down $40, at $1988.90.
Why? The world's central banks cannot allow gold and silver to be priced at anything that might inspire people to want to hold them, so they allow some gains before shorting them back down to more "reasonable" levels.
It's a game, and the central banks are still winning, though that is all dependent on a majority of the population playing. Pricing everything in Federal Reserve Notes preserves the fantasy of control. They have none over people who have chosen to opt out. People who have had enough, who are home-schooling their kids instead of packing them off for daily trips to the government indoctrination centers, who have backyard gardens, own guns for personal protection, and invest in shiny metals rather than worthless electronic bits of paper contracts commonly known as stocks, are not playing.
These are people who do things for themselves, without assistance from government bureaucrats who only help to make everything more difficult and time-consuming. These people are not interested in creating a wealth nest egg based on fake money. They're interested in raising their families as they see fit, eating food they raise themselves, living life on their terms, not those of some government or central bank.
The people we see looting, protesting, rioting, tearing down monuments, and engaging in otherwise destructive activities are the opposite of those described above. They are useful idiots who measure themselves in fiat currency and rail against the same government from which they expect to receive all benefits: money, food, clothing, shelter, communications, everything.
They hurl insults over injustice, then ask for social justice. The loot stores in their neighborhoods, then complain when there is no bread on the shelves. They are the dregs of society, and they've always been there, just now they are emboldened by the biased mainstream media, communist infiltrators, and a left-leaning Democratic party which has sailed off on an election campaign without a rudder.
In the end, when the reality of a failed economy, fake pandemic, and burning cities collide, the useful idiots will cease to be useful and a culling will commence. Unless they change their ways - a doubtful expectation - they will no longer be useful to anybody and will be discarded one way or another.
At the same time, those who have opted out, the preppers, home-schoolers, backyard gardeners, gun-toters, silver and gold hoarders, will find their footing on the other side of the social equation.
In between these two mega-groups, millions of civil servants (a misnomer since 1980) will continue to exist, albeit at levels that will have to be readjusted to a new reality. Their privilege will be lost. Their pay, health care coverage, and pensions reduced. They will find that a life spent making other people more miserable doesn't end well. They will either learn new skills and survive or resist and die.
That's just the way it goes during a depression. And make no doubt about it, the United States - and most of the rest of the world - is in the early stages of what is likely to be known as the greatest depression.
The Federal Reserve and fellow central banks can't just continue conjuring up trillions of dollars out of thin air and handing it off to banks and oligarchs and the federal government can't continue to borrow far in excess of their tax revenues. States have been broken by this fake pandemic; the worst of them are bankrupt.
A great reset is upon us, and it will be painful for many.
Slow news day, but the gloom continues to descend, slowly, inexorably, deliberately.
At the Close, Monday, August 10, 2020:
Dow: 27,791.44, +357.94 (+1.30%)
NASDAQ: 10,968.36, -42.64 (-0.39%)
S&P 500: 3,360.47, +9.19 (+0.27%)
NYSE: 12,844.02, +78.22 (+0.61%)
Looting in Chicago, armed man shot outside White House. Dow up, NASDAQ down, silver up, gold down.
About the only item of significance actually occurred after midnight, ergo, Tuesday, when the "Protectors of Fiat" (POF) managed to beat the price of gold back down below $2000, currently stumbling down $40, at $1988.90.
Why? The world's central banks cannot allow gold and silver to be priced at anything that might inspire people to want to hold them, so they allow some gains before shorting them back down to more "reasonable" levels.
It's a game, and the central banks are still winning, though that is all dependent on a majority of the population playing. Pricing everything in Federal Reserve Notes preserves the fantasy of control. They have none over people who have chosen to opt out. People who have had enough, who are home-schooling their kids instead of packing them off for daily trips to the government indoctrination centers, who have backyard gardens, own guns for personal protection, and invest in shiny metals rather than worthless electronic bits of paper contracts commonly known as stocks, are not playing.
These are people who do things for themselves, without assistance from government bureaucrats who only help to make everything more difficult and time-consuming. These people are not interested in creating a wealth nest egg based on fake money. They're interested in raising their families as they see fit, eating food they raise themselves, living life on their terms, not those of some government or central bank.
The people we see looting, protesting, rioting, tearing down monuments, and engaging in otherwise destructive activities are the opposite of those described above. They are useful idiots who measure themselves in fiat currency and rail against the same government from which they expect to receive all benefits: money, food, clothing, shelter, communications, everything.
They hurl insults over injustice, then ask for social justice. The loot stores in their neighborhoods, then complain when there is no bread on the shelves. They are the dregs of society, and they've always been there, just now they are emboldened by the biased mainstream media, communist infiltrators, and a left-leaning Democratic party which has sailed off on an election campaign without a rudder.
In the end, when the reality of a failed economy, fake pandemic, and burning cities collide, the useful idiots will cease to be useful and a culling will commence. Unless they change their ways - a doubtful expectation - they will no longer be useful to anybody and will be discarded one way or another.
At the same time, those who have opted out, the preppers, home-schoolers, backyard gardeners, gun-toters, silver and gold hoarders, will find their footing on the other side of the social equation.
In between these two mega-groups, millions of civil servants (a misnomer since 1980) will continue to exist, albeit at levels that will have to be readjusted to a new reality. Their privilege will be lost. Their pay, health care coverage, and pensions reduced. They will find that a life spent making other people more miserable doesn't end well. They will either learn new skills and survive or resist and die.
That's just the way it goes during a depression. And make no doubt about it, the United States - and most of the rest of the world - is in the early stages of what is likely to be known as the greatest depression.
The Federal Reserve and fellow central banks can't just continue conjuring up trillions of dollars out of thin air and handing it off to banks and oligarchs and the federal government can't continue to borrow far in excess of their tax revenues. States have been broken by this fake pandemic; the worst of them are bankrupt.
A great reset is upon us, and it will be painful for many.
Slow news day, but the gloom continues to descend, slowly, inexorably, deliberately.
At the Close, Monday, August 10, 2020:
Dow: 27,791.44, +357.94 (+1.30%)
NASDAQ: 10,968.36, -42.64 (-0.39%)
S&P 500: 3,360.47, +9.19 (+0.27%)
NYSE: 12,844.02, +78.22 (+0.61%)
Sunday, August 9, 2020
WEEKEND WRAP: Big Week for Silver; President Trump Delivers For America, Bypassing Inept Congress
We'll get to the good stuff in a few paragraphs, but first, for the record, the salient numbers.
Stocks had another mostly impressive week, slowed down slightly on Friday by the reality of the July non-farm payrolls data. While the July jobs number exceeded expectations with the creation of 1,763,000 employment positions. The unemployment rate fell from 10.6% to 10.2%, and it was that nagging reminder that millions of Americans are still out of work that took some steam away from Wall Street.
Led by an impressive 1000+ point gain on the Dow Industrials (+3.80%), stocks out-performed expectations in the face of continuing COVID-19 issues, the NASDAQ making another in a long stretch of record closes Thursday (11,108.07) before Friday's giveback.
Fixed income rallied alongside stocks, with the 10-year note recording a record low yield of 0.52% on Tuesday. The Treasury complex did, however, finish the week roughly where it started, with the 30-year at 1.23% and the 1-month bill off a mere one basis point to 0.08%.
Crude oil continued to trade rangebound, as WTI crude closed out the week at 41.22 Since mid-June, a barrel of WTI crude oil has been priced between $38 and $42 due to slack demand and a glut on the world market.
The real story was in the precious metals space, where silver stole the spotlight from gold. A little more than a week earlier, the price of gold in US dollars set an all-time high, but by Thursday's close of 2,069.40, was beginning to gain the attention of many more than the usual gold bugs. Finishing the week at 2,028.00, gold's rise seems to be an unstoppable force.
Silver was a runaway success on the week, reaching as high as $29.88 on the COMEX. even though it closed Friday at $27.54, it still managed a gain of $3.32, or 13.7%. Silver is up an incredible 51.24% in just the past 30 days.
GoldMoney.com's Allasdair Macleod believes bullion banks and fiat currencies have no way out as gold vaults past $2000 and silver powers forward as a secondary current.
Ted Butler reminds us that silver is also an industrial metal and an even more significant price move could develop if makers of solar panels and electrical devices get the idea that it's getting too expensive and move to buy up existing or future supplies.
In the physical world, premiums and shortages are widespread on both metals. Here are the most recent prices for selected items on eBay (including shipping, which is often free):
Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 33.00 / 43.11 / 35.99 / 35.45
1 oz silver bar: 32.95 / 43.90 / 36.83 / 36.08
1 oz gold coin: 2,000.00 / 2,204.28 / 2,152.10 / 2,168.32
1 oz gold bar: 2,053.90 / 2,237.00 / 2,151.87 / 2,136.22
At the Close, Friday, August 8, 2020:
Dow: 27,433.48, +46.50 (+0.17%)
NASDAQ: 11,010.98, -97.09 (-0.87%)
S&P 500: 3,351.28, +2.12 (+0.06%)
NYSE: 12,765.84, +36.68 (+0.29%)
For the Week:
Dow: +1005.16 (+3.80%)
NASDAQ: +265.71 (+2.47%)
S&P 500: +80.16 (+2.45%)
NYSE: +300.79 (+2.41%)
The biggest news of the week, however, came Saturday afternoon, when President Trump took to the podium at his private golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, to announce the signing of four executive orders after congress wasted weeks trying to negotiate a stimulus package.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows spent countless hours over the past three weeks trying to sway intractable, unbudging Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, senator from New York toward a workable compromise.
When discussions broke down entirely on Friday, the President was ready to act on his own and did so on Saturday.
The four executive orders are 1) to continue paying a supplemental federal unemployment benefit for millions of Americans out of work, lowering the amount from $600 a week to $400 through the end of 2020; 2) extending a moratorium on federal student loan payments; 3) recommendations for a continuation of a freeze on some evictions and foreclosures during the COVID-19 crisis, and; 4) deferral of the employee portion of the payroll tax from August 1 through the end of the year for people who earn less than $100,000.
Missing was the $1200 checks to eligible Americans that were promised by both sides, though many of the recipients of the government stipend were already receiving enhanced unemployment. Congress may step forward with a smaller, slimmed-down relief bill to address the needs of seniors and the self-employed and destitute.
Thus, President Trump stepped around congress and acted forcibly on his own, prompting cries of derision and unfairness from the liberal side and threats of lawsuits challenging his authority to distribute funds. However, the President seemed to be within his rights since the money, especially for enhanced unemployment payments, was already in the hands of the states. No further money was needed to be appropriated.
Finally, here's the late, great Robert Goulet, singing "The Impossible Dream," a song from the Broadway smash hit, "Man of La Mancha." Based on the novel, "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes, the 1965 musical by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh is a loose interpretation of Cervantes' greatest novel, itself a masterpiece of Western literature, published in two parts in 1605 and 1609.
The original 1965 Broadway production of "Man of La Mancha" ran for 2,328 performances and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It has been revived four times on Broadway, becoming one of the most enduring works of musical theatre.
"The Impossible Dream" was the principal song from the show and it became an American classic. We present it here in tribute to President Trump. The lyrics aptly capture the essence of Trump's crusade against the deep state and successive campaigns for the presidency of the United States.
Enjoy.
The Impossible Dream
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest, to follow that star
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march
Into hell for a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lay peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star.
Stocks had another mostly impressive week, slowed down slightly on Friday by the reality of the July non-farm payrolls data. While the July jobs number exceeded expectations with the creation of 1,763,000 employment positions. The unemployment rate fell from 10.6% to 10.2%, and it was that nagging reminder that millions of Americans are still out of work that took some steam away from Wall Street.
Led by an impressive 1000+ point gain on the Dow Industrials (+3.80%), stocks out-performed expectations in the face of continuing COVID-19 issues, the NASDAQ making another in a long stretch of record closes Thursday (11,108.07) before Friday's giveback.
Fixed income rallied alongside stocks, with the 10-year note recording a record low yield of 0.52% on Tuesday. The Treasury complex did, however, finish the week roughly where it started, with the 30-year at 1.23% and the 1-month bill off a mere one basis point to 0.08%.
Crude oil continued to trade rangebound, as WTI crude closed out the week at 41.22 Since mid-June, a barrel of WTI crude oil has been priced between $38 and $42 due to slack demand and a glut on the world market.
The real story was in the precious metals space, where silver stole the spotlight from gold. A little more than a week earlier, the price of gold in US dollars set an all-time high, but by Thursday's close of 2,069.40, was beginning to gain the attention of many more than the usual gold bugs. Finishing the week at 2,028.00, gold's rise seems to be an unstoppable force.
Silver was a runaway success on the week, reaching as high as $29.88 on the COMEX. even though it closed Friday at $27.54, it still managed a gain of $3.32, or 13.7%. Silver is up an incredible 51.24% in just the past 30 days.
GoldMoney.com's Allasdair Macleod believes bullion banks and fiat currencies have no way out as gold vaults past $2000 and silver powers forward as a secondary current.
Ted Butler reminds us that silver is also an industrial metal and an even more significant price move could develop if makers of solar panels and electrical devices get the idea that it's getting too expensive and move to buy up existing or future supplies.
In the physical world, premiums and shortages are widespread on both metals. Here are the most recent prices for selected items on eBay (including shipping, which is often free):
Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 33.00 / 43.11 / 35.99 / 35.45
1 oz silver bar: 32.95 / 43.90 / 36.83 / 36.08
1 oz gold coin: 2,000.00 / 2,204.28 / 2,152.10 / 2,168.32
1 oz gold bar: 2,053.90 / 2,237.00 / 2,151.87 / 2,136.22
At the Close, Friday, August 8, 2020:
Dow: 27,433.48, +46.50 (+0.17%)
NASDAQ: 11,010.98, -97.09 (-0.87%)
S&P 500: 3,351.28, +2.12 (+0.06%)
NYSE: 12,765.84, +36.68 (+0.29%)
For the Week:
Dow: +1005.16 (+3.80%)
NASDAQ: +265.71 (+2.47%)
S&P 500: +80.16 (+2.45%)
NYSE: +300.79 (+2.41%)
The biggest news of the week, however, came Saturday afternoon, when President Trump took to the podium at his private golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, to announce the signing of four executive orders after congress wasted weeks trying to negotiate a stimulus package.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows spent countless hours over the past three weeks trying to sway intractable, unbudging Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, senator from New York toward a workable compromise.
When discussions broke down entirely on Friday, the President was ready to act on his own and did so on Saturday.
The four executive orders are 1) to continue paying a supplemental federal unemployment benefit for millions of Americans out of work, lowering the amount from $600 a week to $400 through the end of 2020; 2) extending a moratorium on federal student loan payments; 3) recommendations for a continuation of a freeze on some evictions and foreclosures during the COVID-19 crisis, and; 4) deferral of the employee portion of the payroll tax from August 1 through the end of the year for people who earn less than $100,000.
Missing was the $1200 checks to eligible Americans that were promised by both sides, though many of the recipients of the government stipend were already receiving enhanced unemployment. Congress may step forward with a smaller, slimmed-down relief bill to address the needs of seniors and the self-employed and destitute.
Thus, President Trump stepped around congress and acted forcibly on his own, prompting cries of derision and unfairness from the liberal side and threats of lawsuits challenging his authority to distribute funds. However, the President seemed to be within his rights since the money, especially for enhanced unemployment payments, was already in the hands of the states. No further money was needed to be appropriated.
Finally, here's the late, great Robert Goulet, singing "The Impossible Dream," a song from the Broadway smash hit, "Man of La Mancha." Based on the novel, "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes, the 1965 musical by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh is a loose interpretation of Cervantes' greatest novel, itself a masterpiece of Western literature, published in two parts in 1605 and 1609.
The original 1965 Broadway production of "Man of La Mancha" ran for 2,328 performances and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It has been revived four times on Broadway, becoming one of the most enduring works of musical theatre.
"The Impossible Dream" was the principal song from the show and it became an American classic. We present it here in tribute to President Trump. The lyrics aptly capture the essence of Trump's crusade against the deep state and successive campaigns for the presidency of the United States.
Enjoy.
The Impossible Dream
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest, to follow that star
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march
Into hell for a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lay peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star.
Friday, August 7, 2020
July Jobs Number Shows 1.76 Million Gain, Unemployment at 10.2%; Markets Not Overly Impressed
While Friday looks to be an interesting day for traders of all stripes, next week could be one of the more volatile in some time.
Anticipation of July non-farm payroll data at 8:30 (at this writing, half and hour away) has put some pressure on equity futures, at their worst levels in weeks though the jobs data is not expected to be a major drag on stocks.
Perhaps more worrying is President Trump's late night executive order banning Americans from transactions involving China’s ByteDance (parent of TikTok) and WeChat (owned by Tencent). The order will go into effect in 45 days. The president's Working Group on Financial Markets (aka, Plunge Protection Team, or, PPT) has also made a recommendation to delist Chinese companies on US exchanges that are not become compliant with US accounting standards. There's a bit of dark humor here, as the Working Group is notorious for putting a bid under stocks when they're approaching collapse and the idea of US companies actually in compliance with GAAP standards is somewhat laughable when earnings reports are laden with one time charges, off-balance sheet transactions, pre-tax calculations and other accounting tricks designed to shield firms from investor backlash.
The president appears to have struck a nerve with his recent verbal and written attacks against communist China. They are a major trading partner, albeit the one-sided flow of money having headed to them over the past 40 years, and many companies are stuck with agreements and supply chain parameters that are being eroded as US-China relations deteriorate. A lot of money is at risk and the whole world knows it.
Beyond the president's trade and sleepless night antics, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary have made little to no progress with steadfast Democrats - particularly NY senator Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - who haven't budged on their demands for a much bigger and more encompassing stimulus bill currently under negotiation.
It's all politics all the time in Washington, but this struggle has implications that will likely have a major effect on the November elections. Apparently, the Democrats believe that by holding out on key tenets of their $3 trillion HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) act over the roughly $1 trillion proposal offered by the White House, they can lay blame on "stingy" Republicans and look good holding out for more free things for everybody.
Of course, the strategy is not without risks. Potential voters may see the Democrats holding out for too much and scuttling any chance of getting most Americans another round of $1200 checks and an extension - of any kind - on the added unemployment benefits that recently expired. Rightly, citizens should blame both sides, just for being politicians and using the American people as a foil for their election hopes. The White House has indicated that if a deal is not reached Friday, they will cease negotiations and let congress deal with it on its own. Republicans in the Senate should be a shamed of themselves for not being involved in some kind of compromise, but, of course, they have no shame left after doing nothing when they had the presidency and majorities in both houses from 2016 through 2018.
That said, it's looking like average working or laid off Americans are sure to suffer again for the foibles of feckless politicians. And people wonder why voter turnout is so low...
Getting closer to non-farm payroll data, here (An Effective COVID Treatment the Media Continues to Besmirch) is an excellent analysis by Steven Hatfill published on RealClearPolitics.com on August 4 about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroqine in the fight against COVID-19. Why is nobody listening to respected authorities like Hatfill?
Steven Hatfill is a veteran virologist who helped establish the Rapid Hemorrhagic Fever Response Teams for the National Medical Disaster Unit in Kenya, Africa. He is an adjunct assistant professor in two departments at the George Washington University Medical Center where he teaches mass casualty medicine. He is principle author of the prophetic book “Three Seconds Until Midnight -- Preparing for the Next Pandemic,” published by Amazon in 2019.
It's just after 8:30 now and the July non-farm payroll numbers are out.
As expected, the mangled data was benign at worst and positive at best, showing that the US added 1.76 million jobs during the month. The unemployment rate fell to 10.2%. For what it's worth, futures brightened up a bit on the announcement, but are still solidly in the red as the opening bell for the final trading day of the week approaches.
At the Close, Thursday, August 6, 2020:
Dow: 27,386.98, +185.46 (+0.68%)
NASDAQ: 11,108.07, +109.67 (+1.00%)
S&P 500: 3,349.16, +21.39 (+0.64%)
NYSE: 12,729.17, -2.39 (-0.02%)
Anticipation of July non-farm payroll data at 8:30 (at this writing, half and hour away) has put some pressure on equity futures, at their worst levels in weeks though the jobs data is not expected to be a major drag on stocks.
Perhaps more worrying is President Trump's late night executive order banning Americans from transactions involving China’s ByteDance (parent of TikTok) and WeChat (owned by Tencent). The order will go into effect in 45 days. The president's Working Group on Financial Markets (aka, Plunge Protection Team, or, PPT) has also made a recommendation to delist Chinese companies on US exchanges that are not become compliant with US accounting standards. There's a bit of dark humor here, as the Working Group is notorious for putting a bid under stocks when they're approaching collapse and the idea of US companies actually in compliance with GAAP standards is somewhat laughable when earnings reports are laden with one time charges, off-balance sheet transactions, pre-tax calculations and other accounting tricks designed to shield firms from investor backlash.
The president appears to have struck a nerve with his recent verbal and written attacks against communist China. They are a major trading partner, albeit the one-sided flow of money having headed to them over the past 40 years, and many companies are stuck with agreements and supply chain parameters that are being eroded as US-China relations deteriorate. A lot of money is at risk and the whole world knows it.
Beyond the president's trade and sleepless night antics, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary have made little to no progress with steadfast Democrats - particularly NY senator Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - who haven't budged on their demands for a much bigger and more encompassing stimulus bill currently under negotiation.
It's all politics all the time in Washington, but this struggle has implications that will likely have a major effect on the November elections. Apparently, the Democrats believe that by holding out on key tenets of their $3 trillion HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) act over the roughly $1 trillion proposal offered by the White House, they can lay blame on "stingy" Republicans and look good holding out for more free things for everybody.
Of course, the strategy is not without risks. Potential voters may see the Democrats holding out for too much and scuttling any chance of getting most Americans another round of $1200 checks and an extension - of any kind - on the added unemployment benefits that recently expired. Rightly, citizens should blame both sides, just for being politicians and using the American people as a foil for their election hopes. The White House has indicated that if a deal is not reached Friday, they will cease negotiations and let congress deal with it on its own. Republicans in the Senate should be a shamed of themselves for not being involved in some kind of compromise, but, of course, they have no shame left after doing nothing when they had the presidency and majorities in both houses from 2016 through 2018.
That said, it's looking like average working or laid off Americans are sure to suffer again for the foibles of feckless politicians. And people wonder why voter turnout is so low...
Getting closer to non-farm payroll data, here (An Effective COVID Treatment the Media Continues to Besmirch) is an excellent analysis by Steven Hatfill published on RealClearPolitics.com on August 4 about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroqine in the fight against COVID-19. Why is nobody listening to respected authorities like Hatfill?
Steven Hatfill is a veteran virologist who helped establish the Rapid Hemorrhagic Fever Response Teams for the National Medical Disaster Unit in Kenya, Africa. He is an adjunct assistant professor in two departments at the George Washington University Medical Center where he teaches mass casualty medicine. He is principle author of the prophetic book “Three Seconds Until Midnight -- Preparing for the Next Pandemic,” published by Amazon in 2019.
It's just after 8:30 now and the July non-farm payroll numbers are out.
As expected, the mangled data was benign at worst and positive at best, showing that the US added 1.76 million jobs during the month. The unemployment rate fell to 10.2%. For what it's worth, futures brightened up a bit on the announcement, but are still solidly in the red as the opening bell for the final trading day of the week approaches.
At the Close, Thursday, August 6, 2020:
Dow: 27,386.98, +185.46 (+0.68%)
NASDAQ: 11,108.07, +109.67 (+1.00%)
S&P 500: 3,349.16, +21.39 (+0.64%)
NYSE: 12,729.17, -2.39 (-0.02%)
Thursday, August 6, 2020
75 Years Out From Hiroshima, Silver Is Exploding The Futures Market and With Gold Will Decimate Global Currencies
75 years ago today, the first nuclear bomb was used in warfare, as the United States dropped "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, the US did the same to the Japanese city of Nagasaki with a nuclear device known by the nickname "Fat Man." Together, the two bombs ushered in a quick end to World War II in the Pacific, with Japan surrendering on August 15, and formally signing the instrument of surrender on September 2, aboard the USS Missouri, harbored in Tokyo Bay.
The 13-kiloton blast on Hiroshima destroyed nearly 5 square miles of the Japanese city. Upwards of 70,000 died instantly, and tens of thousands later perished from injury and radiation sickness. Though no official count was ever undertaken, estimates near 150,000 total killed are common.
No other nuclear device has ever been used in military combat since the two that ended World War II. Today's nuclear weapons are orders of magnitude more powerful than the two dropped on Japan. According to a 2104 article by the Brookings Institute, the largest ballistic missile warhead in the US arsenal is 455 kilotons on the W88, carried by the Trident II SLBM. The B83 nuclear weapon, which is the largest nuclear weapon currently in the U.S. stockpile is estimated at 1.2 megatons, 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, "Little Boy."
While these explosions occurred 75 years ago, there's another explosion evident today, that being the one in the price of silver, which is up more than 50 percent in just the last 30 days.
Overnight, the price of an ounce of silver not only passed $27 an ounce, it surpassed $28 per ounce. As of this writing, the bid price on August silver futures is $28.22. As is the case with gold, getting physical metal at anywhere near the futures or spot prices is basically an impossibility.
For instance, there's little availability of gold in bars or coins of over one ounce at dealers worldwide. Typical prices for one ounce gold coins or bars carries a premium of roughly $100 beyond spot. Silver is even more dear, with 30-40% premiums common. Typical prices for one ounce coins or bars is $34 and higher.
Money Daily has outlined the reasons for silver and gold's spectacular gains this year in previous posts, mostly attributing the rise to destruction of fiat currencies by incessant central bank counterfeiting and negative real interest rates. Outstripping every other asset this year, precious metals are just beginning what is likely to become known as the greatest rally ever.
The Federal Reserve, trapped into a corner of their own making, cannot do anything except prop up their favored equity and fixed-income markets via special buying programs that are essentially illegal and serve only as a temporary reprieve for companies that are insolvent and should be headed to bankruptcy. Beyond the roughly 30-40% of listed companies that are technically "zombies" - meaning current profits are not enough to pay the interest on their debt - US and other significant international banks have been frantically ramping up their loan loss reserves while also having taken advantage of handouts from the Federal Reserve.
Gold and silver's ascent is a signal the the entire monetary system of the planet - all based on faith and credit - is about to collapse. As it is, stocks are only being kept afloat by the Federal Reserve's ZIRP and special bond-buying programs. Their next step is to buy stocks directly, another violation of their charter. The same is being done in Europe and Asia. Japan and Switzerland have been buyers of equities for years.
It's not just big money institutional investors who see the damage being done to the global currency regime. Ordinary people are losing faith in the dollar, euro, pound, Swiss franc, yen, and China's yuan, though the US dollar has been the hardest hit recently when measured against other currencies.
Gold has been making record highs against all other currencies for months and years. Just last week gold topped the all-time high against the dollar, signaling that the real rout of all currencies is just beginning. Silver hasn't even come close to its record high of $49 an ounce, though it certainly will, probably early in 2021, if not sooner. The rocket-like nature of silver's price explosion gives credence to current thinking that it is the gentleman's way of saying good-bye to other currencies.
There's an old adage that goes something like this:
Gold is the money of kings.
Silver is the money of gentlemen.
Copper is the money of commoners.
Debt is the money of slaves.
Smart money is on gold and silver replacing the fiat currencies within one to three years.
You can have your stocks, your bonds, your Federal Reserve Notes, but gold and silver are blowing them all away. If you don't own physical gold or silver or other tradable hard assets within the next few years, you're going to be out of luck and likely out of money.
Right now, the economic wheels are wobbling on their axles. When they finally fall off - and they will - chaos will ensue. We've seen nothing yet.
At the close, Wednesday, August 5, 2020:
Dow: 27,201.52, +373.05 (+1.39%)
NASDAQ: 10,998.40, +57.23 (+0.52%)
S&P 500: 3,327.77, +21.26 (+0.64%)
NYSE: 12,731.55, +119.46 (+0.95%)
The 13-kiloton blast on Hiroshima destroyed nearly 5 square miles of the Japanese city. Upwards of 70,000 died instantly, and tens of thousands later perished from injury and radiation sickness. Though no official count was ever undertaken, estimates near 150,000 total killed are common.
No other nuclear device has ever been used in military combat since the two that ended World War II. Today's nuclear weapons are orders of magnitude more powerful than the two dropped on Japan. According to a 2104 article by the Brookings Institute, the largest ballistic missile warhead in the US arsenal is 455 kilotons on the W88, carried by the Trident II SLBM. The B83 nuclear weapon, which is the largest nuclear weapon currently in the U.S. stockpile is estimated at 1.2 megatons, 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, "Little Boy."
While these explosions occurred 75 years ago, there's another explosion evident today, that being the one in the price of silver, which is up more than 50 percent in just the last 30 days.
Overnight, the price of an ounce of silver not only passed $27 an ounce, it surpassed $28 per ounce. As of this writing, the bid price on August silver futures is $28.22. As is the case with gold, getting physical metal at anywhere near the futures or spot prices is basically an impossibility.
For instance, there's little availability of gold in bars or coins of over one ounce at dealers worldwide. Typical prices for one ounce gold coins or bars carries a premium of roughly $100 beyond spot. Silver is even more dear, with 30-40% premiums common. Typical prices for one ounce coins or bars is $34 and higher.
Money Daily has outlined the reasons for silver and gold's spectacular gains this year in previous posts, mostly attributing the rise to destruction of fiat currencies by incessant central bank counterfeiting and negative real interest rates. Outstripping every other asset this year, precious metals are just beginning what is likely to become known as the greatest rally ever.
The Federal Reserve, trapped into a corner of their own making, cannot do anything except prop up their favored equity and fixed-income markets via special buying programs that are essentially illegal and serve only as a temporary reprieve for companies that are insolvent and should be headed to bankruptcy. Beyond the roughly 30-40% of listed companies that are technically "zombies" - meaning current profits are not enough to pay the interest on their debt - US and other significant international banks have been frantically ramping up their loan loss reserves while also having taken advantage of handouts from the Federal Reserve.
Gold and silver's ascent is a signal the the entire monetary system of the planet - all based on faith and credit - is about to collapse. As it is, stocks are only being kept afloat by the Federal Reserve's ZIRP and special bond-buying programs. Their next step is to buy stocks directly, another violation of their charter. The same is being done in Europe and Asia. Japan and Switzerland have been buyers of equities for years.
It's not just big money institutional investors who see the damage being done to the global currency regime. Ordinary people are losing faith in the dollar, euro, pound, Swiss franc, yen, and China's yuan, though the US dollar has been the hardest hit recently when measured against other currencies.
Gold has been making record highs against all other currencies for months and years. Just last week gold topped the all-time high against the dollar, signaling that the real rout of all currencies is just beginning. Silver hasn't even come close to its record high of $49 an ounce, though it certainly will, probably early in 2021, if not sooner. The rocket-like nature of silver's price explosion gives credence to current thinking that it is the gentleman's way of saying good-bye to other currencies.
There's an old adage that goes something like this:
Gold is the money of kings.
Silver is the money of gentlemen.
Copper is the money of commoners.
Debt is the money of slaves.
Smart money is on gold and silver replacing the fiat currencies within one to three years.
You can have your stocks, your bonds, your Federal Reserve Notes, but gold and silver are blowing them all away. If you don't own physical gold or silver or other tradable hard assets within the next few years, you're going to be out of luck and likely out of money.
Right now, the economic wheels are wobbling on their axles. When they finally fall off - and they will - chaos will ensue. We've seen nothing yet.
At the close, Wednesday, August 5, 2020:
Dow: 27,201.52, +373.05 (+1.39%)
NASDAQ: 10,998.40, +57.23 (+0.52%)
S&P 500: 3,327.77, +21.26 (+0.64%)
NYSE: 12,731.55, +119.46 (+0.95%)
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Bond Yield Collapse Boosts Gold Over $2000; Silver Rips Higher; The Argentina Treatment: New Normal for Debt Settlement
The name is Bond. Treasury Bond.
Anyone with a recollection of the classic 1963 initial intonation of the James Bond introduction from the film, "Dr. No," is likely to also have some memories of five percent interest at savings banks, CDs offering yields of seven, or stocks that were marked by quarter or half-point gains and losses.
Whether one relates to Sean Connery, Roger Moore, or even the contemporary Daniel Craig, the message remains the same. When the secret agent with the license to kill shows up, it's a sure thing that the bad guy is going to have a rough go of it.
The treasury bond market is relatable in similar fashion. Normally, when bonds announce their arrival at the scene of the financial panic of the day via lower yields, it is normally a signal for hard times ahead. These days, with the Fed put in place through various schemes, asset purchase programs, and nefarious back-room dealings, bond yields and the structure of the curve don't seem to matter very much. Stocks keep churning higher. Life - or whatever we're calling the continuing COVID crisis today - goes on.
On Tuesday, the evidence of stress was plain to see. Bond prices racked higher, sending the yield on the 10-year note to a record low, 0.52%. The 30-year crumbled to 1.19%, leaving the complex with a top to bottom spread of 110 basis points (1.10%). There's also inversion at the 1-year and 2-year level, the former yielding 0.14, the latter, 0.11. Even worse, the 3-year dipped to 0.10.
None of that bodes well for the US economy, but Wall Street barely batted an eyelash. Stocks gained across the board, though the day's rally could best be described as "nervous."
There's nothing good about the US or global economy, no matter how hard the Fed and the Wall Street, CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg stock jockeys whip their mounts. There just isn't. Month-over-month data will show the occasional impressive uptick, but whatever the measure, it's from some dismal low point created by coronavirus and government edict.
So, when bonds make their ominous introductions, don't expect much to happen to stocks. Rather, look to precious metals for a suitable response. While bond yields were headed toward Hades in a handbag, gold and silver were launched to impressive levels. Gold vaulted past $2000 and silver gained almost two dollars on the day, ripping from $24.50 to beyond $26 the ounce. This is the natural reaction in the precious metals when storage costs become cheaper than real (negative) yields and price appreciation appears to be a no-brainer as opposed to declining interest rates.
The moves haven't slowed overnight either. Traders in the near and far East know currency and empire collapse when they see it and have made the requisite adjustment in the price of real money. Those expecting a slowing of precious metals' daring ascent are going to be disappointed. The recent spike - especially in silver, normally the more volatile of the pair - is the natural reaction to the global mess created by central banks and aided by coronavirus. The destruction of fiat currencies is a slow process, but the precious metals aren't wasting any time signaling the coming cataclysm.
While the recent gains may not be entirely sustainable, long term prospects for gold and silver are nothing short of magnificent. When every currency is backed by good faith and credit - and there is little left of those - a runaway response by precious metals is to be expected. Over the next two to five years, gold could easily triple or more; silver could be priced well over $100 per ounce as the gold:silver ratio executes a reversion to the mean.
There was more good news on the bond front.
Argentina finalized deal with creditors over $65 billion in long-term debt that has been hanging over the South American nation like the sword of Damocles since May, when a scheduled interest payment went missing.
The deal worked out has some interesting non-moving parts, most notably the swapping out of old bonds for new ones at a price of 55 cents on the dollar, with principal payments delayed until 2024, ostensibly to give Argentina time to get its fiscal house in order (or to find another way to screw over even more creditors).
No matter the case, the Argentina Treatment is likely to set a new standard - a "new normal" - for debt negotiations.
This is what credit card companies and home equity specialists will be hearing in coming months and years.
"I'm unable to meet my debt obligations, so I would like the Argentina Treatment. If you can see to it that 45% of my debt is forgiven, I'll gladly pay you back at two percent or so, beginning in three years. Or, would you rather have your financial institution pound sand?"
Not exactly a debt jubilee, but what some may call a suitable solution to decades of high-interest credit card debt and squeezed homeowners with no piggy bank left.
At the Close, Tuesday, August 4, 2020:
Dow: 26,828.47, +164.07 (+0.62%)
NASDAQ: 10,941.17, +38.37 (+0.35%)
S&P 500: 3,306.51, +11.90 (+0.36%)
NYSE: 12,612.09, +75.28 (+0.60%)
Anyone with a recollection of the classic 1963 initial intonation of the James Bond introduction from the film, "Dr. No," is likely to also have some memories of five percent interest at savings banks, CDs offering yields of seven, or stocks that were marked by quarter or half-point gains and losses.
Whether one relates to Sean Connery, Roger Moore, or even the contemporary Daniel Craig, the message remains the same. When the secret agent with the license to kill shows up, it's a sure thing that the bad guy is going to have a rough go of it.
The treasury bond market is relatable in similar fashion. Normally, when bonds announce their arrival at the scene of the financial panic of the day via lower yields, it is normally a signal for hard times ahead. These days, with the Fed put in place through various schemes, asset purchase programs, and nefarious back-room dealings, bond yields and the structure of the curve don't seem to matter very much. Stocks keep churning higher. Life - or whatever we're calling the continuing COVID crisis today - goes on.
On Tuesday, the evidence of stress was plain to see. Bond prices racked higher, sending the yield on the 10-year note to a record low, 0.52%. The 30-year crumbled to 1.19%, leaving the complex with a top to bottom spread of 110 basis points (1.10%). There's also inversion at the 1-year and 2-year level, the former yielding 0.14, the latter, 0.11. Even worse, the 3-year dipped to 0.10.
None of that bodes well for the US economy, but Wall Street barely batted an eyelash. Stocks gained across the board, though the day's rally could best be described as "nervous."
There's nothing good about the US or global economy, no matter how hard the Fed and the Wall Street, CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg stock jockeys whip their mounts. There just isn't. Month-over-month data will show the occasional impressive uptick, but whatever the measure, it's from some dismal low point created by coronavirus and government edict.
So, when bonds make their ominous introductions, don't expect much to happen to stocks. Rather, look to precious metals for a suitable response. While bond yields were headed toward Hades in a handbag, gold and silver were launched to impressive levels. Gold vaulted past $2000 and silver gained almost two dollars on the day, ripping from $24.50 to beyond $26 the ounce. This is the natural reaction in the precious metals when storage costs become cheaper than real (negative) yields and price appreciation appears to be a no-brainer as opposed to declining interest rates.
The moves haven't slowed overnight either. Traders in the near and far East know currency and empire collapse when they see it and have made the requisite adjustment in the price of real money. Those expecting a slowing of precious metals' daring ascent are going to be disappointed. The recent spike - especially in silver, normally the more volatile of the pair - is the natural reaction to the global mess created by central banks and aided by coronavirus. The destruction of fiat currencies is a slow process, but the precious metals aren't wasting any time signaling the coming cataclysm.
While the recent gains may not be entirely sustainable, long term prospects for gold and silver are nothing short of magnificent. When every currency is backed by good faith and credit - and there is little left of those - a runaway response by precious metals is to be expected. Over the next two to five years, gold could easily triple or more; silver could be priced well over $100 per ounce as the gold:silver ratio executes a reversion to the mean.
There was more good news on the bond front.
Argentina finalized deal with creditors over $65 billion in long-term debt that has been hanging over the South American nation like the sword of Damocles since May, when a scheduled interest payment went missing.
The deal worked out has some interesting non-moving parts, most notably the swapping out of old bonds for new ones at a price of 55 cents on the dollar, with principal payments delayed until 2024, ostensibly to give Argentina time to get its fiscal house in order (or to find another way to screw over even more creditors).
No matter the case, the Argentina Treatment is likely to set a new standard - a "new normal" - for debt negotiations.
This is what credit card companies and home equity specialists will be hearing in coming months and years.
"I'm unable to meet my debt obligations, so I would like the Argentina Treatment. If you can see to it that 45% of my debt is forgiven, I'll gladly pay you back at two percent or so, beginning in three years. Or, would you rather have your financial institution pound sand?"
Not exactly a debt jubilee, but what some may call a suitable solution to decades of high-interest credit card debt and squeezed homeowners with no piggy bank left.
At the Close, Tuesday, August 4, 2020:
Dow: 26,828.47, +164.07 (+0.62%)
NASDAQ: 10,941.17, +38.37 (+0.35%)
S&P 500: 3,306.51, +11.90 (+0.36%)
NYSE: 12,612.09, +75.28 (+0.60%)
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
We Are All In This Together, But You Are On Your Own
This morning, the Miami Herald reports: 2 more Florida teens die of complications related to COVID-19, data show
That brings the number to seven the number of children under the age of 19 that have died from COVID-19. A total of 38,171 children have contracted the disease, according to Florida's data, bringing the case fatality rate (number of deaths divided by the number of positive tests) for teens and pre-teens in Florida to 0.018, or just less than two in 10,000 who will die from COVID-related illness or complications of those diagnosed with it.
Just to be doubly sure to cover all the bases in an effort at "honest journalism," the Herald reporters made sure to include this oft-used phrase:
Nationwide, nearly 90% of all deaths attributed to COVID-19 were people with pre-existing medical conditions, the most prevalent being obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
It is stories like this one in the Miami Herald that are designed to keep the level of panic and confusion high among the general population. Fear and panic are key to getting people to submit to the will of government, be it wearing face masks, sheltering in place, keeping "social distance" or any of a handful of useless ideas that federal and state governments have imposed upon citizens over the past six months.
It being useless to try to convince millions of Americans that there's really little danger to the vast majority of people when the mainstream media is mimicking Chicken Little with a "sky is falling" message, Downtown Magazine has taken to presenting information that diverges from the fake news in an effort to at least keep some critical conversation active. Here are some of our findings, with links and occasional commentary.
COVID-19 poses virtually no health risk to athletes.
Quercetin Antiviral Effects with Zinc (Ionophore)
This is a very positive paper promoting quercetin as an ionophore (a substance which is able to transport particular ions across a lipid membrane in a cell) for zinc, to allow zinc (Zn2+) to enter cells and inhibit entry of coronavirus, thus eliminating the risk of infection nearly 100%.
Quercetin + Zinc = NO COVID
The comment thread at Zero Hedge is loaded with stories and links:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/vaccine-may-not-be-magical-cure-everyone-anticipates#comment_stream
by user TRM (with edits):
Moderna and NIAID (Gates, Fauci, etc.) have a BLATANT conflict of interest.
"It’s completely correct to say that NIAID (National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the NIH and is headed by Dr. Fauci) will reap a profit on the Moderna/NIAID vaccine. There are 6 NIAID scientists who work for Dr. Fauci, each of whom would get $150,000/year indefinitely as their reward. So that’s $900,000 to his subordinates every year in perpetuity." - Mary Holland, General Counsel, RFK Jr's Children’s Health Defense
1) They skipped animal testing and went straight to humans.
2) The COVID vaccine it’s working on utilizes brand new RNA technology.
3) No RNA drug or vaccine product has ever been certified for public use.
4) Other companies have tried and failed, mainly because safety was a serious problem.
5) Moderna is partnering with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the federal agency headed up by Tony Fauci. This is a BLATANT conflict of interest.
Ian Haydon volunteered to test Moderna’s experimental COVID vaccine. Moderna chose Haydon for the study because of his robust good health. He was among the 15 volunteers in the high dose group. Less than 12 hours after vaccination, Hayden suffered muscle aches, vomiting, spiked a 103.2 degree fever and lost consciousness. His girlfriend caught him as he fell.
Within 45 days 20% experienced “serious” adverse events according to Moderna’s press release meaning they REQUIRED hospitalization or medical intervention.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous SARS-CoV Vaccine Attempts
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22536382/
At first, the experiment seemed successful as all the animals developed a robust antibody response to coronavirus. However, when the scientists exposed the vaccinated animals to the WILD VIRUS, the results were horrifying. Vaccinated animals suffered hyper-immune responses including inflammation throughout their bodies, especially in their lungs. Researchers had seen this same “enhanced immune response” during human testing of the failed RSV vaccine tests in the 1960s. Two children died.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Influenza Vaccine "Significantly Associated" With Increased Risk Of coronavirus
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X19313647#!
The study found that those who had been vaccinated with the flu vaccine had a 36 percent higher risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FDA Lowering Effectiveness Requirements
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/child-health-topics/exposing-truth/fda-director-peter-marks-and-the-ever-shifting-covid-vaccine-narrative/
"In its guidance, FDA said it expected sponsors to demonstrate a vaccine is at least 50% effective in a placebo-controlled trial, with an adjusted lower bound of >30%."
Yes, you read that correctly. The FDA will accept a coin toss for effectiveness when you need 70% to stop the virus! Don't worry though you'll need multiple shots anyway because ...
Fauci conceded that vaccine immunity may only last a few months and both he and Bill Gates are suggesting that the vaccine may not even prevent transmission!
-Conclusion: If you need a conclusion for this part I am truly at a loss for words.
It is quickly becoming a solution looking for a problem. The Oxford vaccine group are lamenting the fact that it is dying out so quickly in the UK that they may not have anyone to test it on. Like that is a bad thing?
Nobel-laureate Dr. Michael Levitt (Chemistry and structural biology at Stanford) has made another prediction.
July 25, 2020: "US COVID19 will be done in 4 weeks [Aug 25] with total reported deaths below 170,000. How will we know it is over? Like for Europe, when all cause excess deaths are at normal level for week. Reported COVID19 deaths may continue after 25 Aug. & reported cases will, but it will be over."
Now, past performance doesn't guarantee future results but at least he was correct on his predictions unlike the "experts" the governments are mindlessly following.
The CDC is now showing "total/excess" deaths so we can all track it here. Scroll down to the chart:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm
Quercetin + Zinc = NO COVID
From user NotAGenius:
Never had the flu and I'm 72. Never took that horrible flu shot since it's worthless at best. Been trying to catch this cold bug for months, never wore any muzzle, never will. I'm probably testing (+) for covid-19 by now but so what - it'll never affect me and these antibodies I've acquired over 72 years confer lifetime immunity, that's what antibodies do and why they exist, so folks like me never get sick. In fact we now know that old cold and flu antibodies make at least 60% of us immune to covid-19 from day 1, that's me and millions like me.
Read about my acquired immunity to covid-19, like 60% of Americans / ~180 millions of us who'd never be affected by this cold bug due to our antibodies acquired over a lifetime:
https://fort-russ.com/2020/06/revealed-studies-show-60-of-people-naturally-resistant-to-covid-19/
From user DYS:
According to the CDC website, national deaths related to Covid have been declining since April 18. Every week, less deaths. You'll never hear about it, though.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm
From user Jugs Fan:
The whole Covid 19 vaccine thing is a scam to enrich big pharma, at best. At worst, it's a depopulation ploy (I doubt this). Evidence:
1) There has never been a vaccine for a coronavirus. Common cold aids, aids, etc. They mutate too fast. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-vaccine-may-be-impossible-to-produce-scientists-covid-2020-4?op=1
2) The fastest vaccine for anything took 5 years. https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/other/the-fastest-ever-vaccine-took-5-years-deputy-cmo-ronan-glynn-rules-out-covid-19-vaccine-being-ready-by-late-summer/ar-BB14irpk
3) The all out disinformation campaign against HCQ.
4) France banned HCQ before trump ever mentioned it. I.e., its a global scam.
5) Fauci is in on it. https://prepareforchange.net/2020/07/13/new-docs-nih-owns-half-of-moderna-vaccine/comment-page-1/
From user Being Free:
Aug 2, Sweden: 66,971 active cases only 37 (0.06%) are serious or critical, 1 new death reported. 7-day avg # deaths is 1/day and falling.
It's already over, over there.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/
also:
https://theconversation.com/immunity-to-covid-19-may-not-last-this-threatens-a-vaccine-and-herd-immunity-142556
Jon Rappoport checks in with:
COVID case numbers far lower than claimed
A main reference for Rappoport's and other articles is https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/if-covid-fatalities-were-90-2-lower-how-would-you-feel-about-schools-reopening/
Quercetin + Zinc = NO COVID
Just checking... has anyone ever seen or heard any government operative ever talk about strengthening one's immune system as a way to limit the possibility of contracting COVID-19 or any other illness?
Check your memory banks. Waiting.... Waiting.... Waiting.................
Yeah, I thought so.
Why?????? Does the government want us to be ignorant? Don't answer that.
Quercetin + Zinc = NO COVID
Moving on.
Finally, this is interesting:
Culprits Behind Covid-19 Coronavirus Epidemic Reveal Their Destructive Agenda, by Bill Sardi, covers the Great Reset Summit scheduled for 2021 by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Yes, that's the one held every winter in Davos, Switzerland where world political and business leaders rub elbows and dream up world domination schemes.
Here's how the WEF puts it:
We are all in this together, but, you have to make your own decisions, so, in some very real ways, you are on your own.
At the Close, Monday, August 3, 2020:
Dow: 26,664.40, +236.10 (+0.89%)
NASDAQ: 10,902.80, +157.50 (+1.47%)
S&P 500: 3,294.61, +23.49 (+0.72%)
NYSE: 12,536.81, +71.81 (+0.58%)
That brings the number to seven the number of children under the age of 19 that have died from COVID-19. A total of 38,171 children have contracted the disease, according to Florida's data, bringing the case fatality rate (number of deaths divided by the number of positive tests) for teens and pre-teens in Florida to 0.018, or just less than two in 10,000 who will die from COVID-related illness or complications of those diagnosed with it.
Just to be doubly sure to cover all the bases in an effort at "honest journalism," the Herald reporters made sure to include this oft-used phrase:
Additional information on both teenagers, including whether they had any preexisting heath conditions, was not immediately available.
Nationwide, nearly 90% of all deaths attributed to COVID-19 were people with pre-existing medical conditions, the most prevalent being obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
It is stories like this one in the Miami Herald that are designed to keep the level of panic and confusion high among the general population. Fear and panic are key to getting people to submit to the will of government, be it wearing face masks, sheltering in place, keeping "social distance" or any of a handful of useless ideas that federal and state governments have imposed upon citizens over the past six months.
It being useless to try to convince millions of Americans that there's really little danger to the vast majority of people when the mainstream media is mimicking Chicken Little with a "sky is falling" message, Downtown Magazine has taken to presenting information that diverges from the fake news in an effort to at least keep some critical conversation active. Here are some of our findings, with links and occasional commentary.
COVID-19 poses virtually no health risk to athletes.
Quercetin Antiviral Effects with Zinc (Ionophore)
This is a very positive paper promoting quercetin as an ionophore (a substance which is able to transport particular ions across a lipid membrane in a cell) for zinc, to allow zinc (Zn2+) to enter cells and inhibit entry of coronavirus, thus eliminating the risk of infection nearly 100%.
Quercetin + Zinc = NO COVID
The comment thread at Zero Hedge is loaded with stories and links:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/vaccine-may-not-be-magical-cure-everyone-anticipates#comment_stream
by user TRM (with edits):
Moderna and NIAID (Gates, Fauci, etc.) have a BLATANT conflict of interest.
"It’s completely correct to say that NIAID (National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the NIH and is headed by Dr. Fauci) will reap a profit on the Moderna/NIAID vaccine. There are 6 NIAID scientists who work for Dr. Fauci, each of whom would get $150,000/year indefinitely as their reward. So that’s $900,000 to his subordinates every year in perpetuity." - Mary Holland, General Counsel, RFK Jr's Children’s Health Defense
1) They skipped animal testing and went straight to humans.
2) The COVID vaccine it’s working on utilizes brand new RNA technology.
3) No RNA drug or vaccine product has ever been certified for public use.
4) Other companies have tried and failed, mainly because safety was a serious problem.
5) Moderna is partnering with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the federal agency headed up by Tony Fauci. This is a BLATANT conflict of interest.
Ian Haydon volunteered to test Moderna’s experimental COVID vaccine. Moderna chose Haydon for the study because of his robust good health. He was among the 15 volunteers in the high dose group. Less than 12 hours after vaccination, Hayden suffered muscle aches, vomiting, spiked a 103.2 degree fever and lost consciousness. His girlfriend caught him as he fell.
Within 45 days 20% experienced “serious” adverse events according to Moderna’s press release meaning they REQUIRED hospitalization or medical intervention.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous SARS-CoV Vaccine Attempts
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22536382/
At first, the experiment seemed successful as all the animals developed a robust antibody response to coronavirus. However, when the scientists exposed the vaccinated animals to the WILD VIRUS, the results were horrifying. Vaccinated animals suffered hyper-immune responses including inflammation throughout their bodies, especially in their lungs. Researchers had seen this same “enhanced immune response” during human testing of the failed RSV vaccine tests in the 1960s. Two children died.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Influenza Vaccine "Significantly Associated" With Increased Risk Of coronavirus
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X19313647#!
The study found that those who had been vaccinated with the flu vaccine had a 36 percent higher risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FDA Lowering Effectiveness Requirements
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/child-health-topics/exposing-truth/fda-director-peter-marks-and-the-ever-shifting-covid-vaccine-narrative/
"In its guidance, FDA said it expected sponsors to demonstrate a vaccine is at least 50% effective in a placebo-controlled trial, with an adjusted lower bound of >30%."
Yes, you read that correctly. The FDA will accept a coin toss for effectiveness when you need 70% to stop the virus! Don't worry though you'll need multiple shots anyway because ...
Fauci conceded that vaccine immunity may only last a few months and both he and Bill Gates are suggesting that the vaccine may not even prevent transmission!
-Conclusion: If you need a conclusion for this part I am truly at a loss for words.
It is quickly becoming a solution looking for a problem. The Oxford vaccine group are lamenting the fact that it is dying out so quickly in the UK that they may not have anyone to test it on. Like that is a bad thing?
Nobel-laureate Dr. Michael Levitt (Chemistry and structural biology at Stanford) has made another prediction.
July 25, 2020: "US COVID19 will be done in 4 weeks [Aug 25] with total reported deaths below 170,000. How will we know it is over? Like for Europe, when all cause excess deaths are at normal level for week. Reported COVID19 deaths may continue after 25 Aug. & reported cases will, but it will be over."
Now, past performance doesn't guarantee future results but at least he was correct on his predictions unlike the "experts" the governments are mindlessly following.
The CDC is now showing "total/excess" deaths so we can all track it here. Scroll down to the chart:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm
Quercetin + Zinc = NO COVID
From user NotAGenius:
Never had the flu and I'm 72. Never took that horrible flu shot since it's worthless at best. Been trying to catch this cold bug for months, never wore any muzzle, never will. I'm probably testing (+) for covid-19 by now but so what - it'll never affect me and these antibodies I've acquired over 72 years confer lifetime immunity, that's what antibodies do and why they exist, so folks like me never get sick. In fact we now know that old cold and flu antibodies make at least 60% of us immune to covid-19 from day 1, that's me and millions like me.
Read about my acquired immunity to covid-19, like 60% of Americans / ~180 millions of us who'd never be affected by this cold bug due to our antibodies acquired over a lifetime:
https://fort-russ.com/2020/06/revealed-studies-show-60-of-people-naturally-resistant-to-covid-19/
From user DYS:
According to the CDC website, national deaths related to Covid have been declining since April 18. Every week, less deaths. You'll never hear about it, though.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm
From user Jugs Fan:
The whole Covid 19 vaccine thing is a scam to enrich big pharma, at best. At worst, it's a depopulation ploy (I doubt this). Evidence:
1) There has never been a vaccine for a coronavirus. Common cold aids, aids, etc. They mutate too fast. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-vaccine-may-be-impossible-to-produce-scientists-covid-2020-4?op=1
2) The fastest vaccine for anything took 5 years. https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/other/the-fastest-ever-vaccine-took-5-years-deputy-cmo-ronan-glynn-rules-out-covid-19-vaccine-being-ready-by-late-summer/ar-BB14irpk
3) The all out disinformation campaign against HCQ.
4) France banned HCQ before trump ever mentioned it. I.e., its a global scam.
5) Fauci is in on it. https://prepareforchange.net/2020/07/13/new-docs-nih-owns-half-of-moderna-vaccine/comment-page-1/
From user Being Free:
Aug 2, Sweden: 66,971 active cases only 37 (0.06%) are serious or critical, 1 new death reported. 7-day avg # deaths is 1/day and falling.
It's already over, over there.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/
also:
https://theconversation.com/immunity-to-covid-19-may-not-last-this-threatens-a-vaccine-and-herd-immunity-142556
Jon Rappoport checks in with:
COVID case numbers far lower than claimed
A main reference for Rappoport's and other articles is https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/if-covid-fatalities-were-90-2-lower-how-would-you-feel-about-schools-reopening/
Quercetin + Zinc = NO COVID
Just checking... has anyone ever seen or heard any government operative ever talk about strengthening one's immune system as a way to limit the possibility of contracting COVID-19 or any other illness?
Check your memory banks. Waiting.... Waiting.... Waiting.................
Yeah, I thought so.
Why?????? Does the government want us to be ignorant? Don't answer that.
Quercetin + Zinc = NO COVID
Moving on.
Finally, this is interesting:
Culprits Behind Covid-19 Coronavirus Epidemic Reveal Their Destructive Agenda, by Bill Sardi, covers the Great Reset Summit scheduled for 2021 by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Yes, that's the one held every winter in Davos, Switzerland where world political and business leaders rub elbows and dream up world domination schemes.
Here's how the WEF puts it:
"The Great Reset" will be the theme of a unique twin summit to be convened by the World Economic Forum in January 2021. In-person and virtual dialogues will address the need for a more fair, sustainable and resilient future, and a new social contract centered on human dignity, social justice and where societal progress does not fall behind economic development. The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
We are all in this together, but, you have to make your own decisions, so, in some very real ways, you are on your own.
At the Close, Monday, August 3, 2020:
Dow: 26,664.40, +236.10 (+0.89%)
NASDAQ: 10,902.80, +157.50 (+1.47%)
S&P 500: 3,294.61, +23.49 (+0.72%)
NYSE: 12,536.81, +71.81 (+0.58%)
Sunday, August 2, 2020
WEEKEND WRAP: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), Zinc, America's Frontline Doctors and the COVID-19 Tipping Point
The amount of misinformation that is being presented by the mainstream media surrounding the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 has become practically overwhelming. The degree to which the media now stretches and distorts events and statistics that do not comport to their ongoing, accepted narrative has reached a point at which the nightly broadcasts from the likes of ABC, CBS, and NBC and the 24-hour non-stop train wreck of coverage by CNN can aptly be regarded as propaganda. It is not news. It is not journalism. It is agenda-driven, twisted, stretched beyond reasonable limits of credulity propaganda.
What broadcast media - and by extension, the readers of discredited, biased reportage by the New York Times and Washington Post - wants the public to believe is that COVID-19 is a existential threat to all of humanity, that it is raging out of control and that it can only be stopped by a vaccine which must be universally accepted when it (or any number of vaccines) becomes available sometime in early 2021.
In other words, the media pushed an agenda driven by government officials who relied on sketchy, unreliable data to shut down most of the US economy, badly damaged the general psyche of the American populace, and they're pushing to go back into nationwide lockdown mode again or at least mandate nationwide mask-wearing, school closings and business disruptions.
The over-the-top propagandizing of the "pandemic" and the now-evident pushback, notably by doctors, has put America and the COVID-19 debate at a veritable tipping point.
So intensely arrogant and oppressive is the media onslaught that it needs to be examined for journalistic competence. We'll start with one article that highlighted a study concerning the drug, hydroxychloroquine, or HCQ, for short.
This article on CNN.com needs to be analyzed from a journalistic perspective, not from a scientific or political point of view, because the science is unsettled and the politics is known to be badly biased. Bear in mind, this was published on June 3, 2020.
Here's the headline:
Trump said he took hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus, but new study shows that doesn't work.
Fine. Let's examine the journalistic rigor involved in coming to the headline conclusion.
At about the middle of the article, this is what is posted:
No difference between hydroxychloroquine and placebo - That's a sub-headline.
Then the article makes this claim:
The University of Minnesota study is a double-blind randomized clinical control trial, considered the gold standard in medicine.
Keep that in mind. This statement will be challenged by the article itself.
Here is the meat of the article:
Fine. No statistical difference. Keep in mind the part about the study being "double-blind randomized clinical control trial, considered the gold standard in medicine," because the article itself - remember, we're judging journalistic integrity here - will refute this statement in the very next paragraph.
Wait a minute. Most of the patients did NOT receive a Covid-19 diagnostic test? The conclusions of this "gold standard" study were based upon the opinions of "four physicians involved with the study reviewed the study subjects' symptoms to see if they were compatible with a Covid diagnosis."
Sorry, the opinions of four physicians involved with the study (who were they? How involved were they? How much were they being paid by anybody?) to draw conclusions does not qualify as a randomized, double-blind study worth any scientific value.
Usually, in conditions such as this, actual blood samples and real tests would be performed upon which conclusions could then be scientifically concluded. This was not what happened here. This is not a "gold standard" study.
Let's go on.
Wait a minute. What's that? "Maybe if they take the drug before they're exposed, before the infection has had time to set up shop, it could have an effect at preventing disease." That is a statement from the lead author of the study. That's honest. That's truth.
Here comes the kicker and how we find the CNN authors of the story to be derelict in their application of journalistic integrity:
Hold it. We thought this was a "gold standard" clinical trial. According to Dr. David Boulware, the lead author, he's still waiting for one.
If a professor at a journalism school was grading this as a paper, he might give it a C- or a D. The headline is completely misleading. Some of the claims made in the story are refuted further down the story line.
The study may have been randomized, it may have been double-blind. But it was certainly not a "clinical control trial," since the results were nothing other than observations by four physicians. There were no diagnostic tests for Covid-19. Therefore, the study fails miserably at the level of being "gold standard."
This would be like taking your car to a mechanic because the engine was sputtering, and getting the opinions from four shop-hands who listened to the engine running and concluded that it was "bad gas" or something else, like "fuel pump," or "gaskets."
This study is just an example of many that have been presented by the mainstream media to undermine any useful information that could be gleaned from physician experience with patients treated with hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ).
This article doesn't even pass a basic smell test for journalism. It starts with a biased headline that isn't supported by the body of the article. It's trash. It should not be believed. It should have never even been published if there were honest editors in the CNN newsrooms. Ha! That's a good one. Honesty and CNN should never be used in the same sentence.
Futhermore, almost none of the studies - as aptly pointed out innumerable times by Peak Prosperity's Dr. Chris Martenson - of HCQ involved the use of ZINC, which happens to be a key element, the main inhibitor of viral infection.
Had enough? We're just getting started.
Let's take a look at the article on this study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.
You are encouraged to read the article in its entirely yourself, but considering that you may be a lazy, numb, sheep-like American zombie, we'll offer the highlights here. First off, the dosages of hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ) administered were nearly toxic (800 mg once, followed by 600 mg in 6 to 8 hours, then 600 mg daily for 4 additional days). That's 1400 mg. the first day, then another 2400 mg. over the next 4 days, for a total of 3800 mg.
The CDC's recommendations as a prophylaxis (preventive) for malaria (yeah, malaria) is 310 mg base orally once a week. For patients with malaria, the recommended dosage is 620 mg orally as an initial dose, followed by 310 mg at 6, 24, and 48 hours after the initial dose. Total dose: 1550 mg.
Hmmm. 3800 mg. in the study, when the total dose for people with malaria is 1550 mg. Sounds a little fishy, like maybe too much HCQ.
Here's the conclusion, per NEJM:
Please note the term "postexposure," as in after you already have the disease.
Moving on to the NEJM commentary:
Remember, this was June 3, 2020 and the dig down the rabbit hole goes even deeper. While you are encouraged to read the NEJM report yourself, here are some of the highlights from the commentary:
Still with us? In a nearly-complete backtracking from the CNN headline, the conclusion from this study is pretty much inconclusive. The NEJM even raises the possibility that HCQ could be an effective treatment, a complete 100% about-face from the headline. It's a pretty good bet that Dr. Chris Martenson had already ripped this "gold standard" study to shreds in one of his twice-weekly Youtube videos.
At this point (12.20 am ET, Sunday morning), this clip seems suitably appropriate on a number of levels (OK to search your soul here):
OK, have we all achieved moral clarity now? Not yet? Let's proceed.
COVID-19 and the stay-at-home orders, the media onslaught of "wear a mask," "social distance", the lockdowns, the millions of people unemployed, the businesses needlessly bankrupted was all a monstrous scam on the public and the scam continues to this day. If there ever was a time to string up federal and state elected officials, Fed presidents, high-profile medical "professionals", and bankers, this is it. This is all lies and propaganda designed to scare people into submission, funnel trillions of dollars to nearly-insolvent (again) major banks, financial institutions and other top-line corporations and prepare the American public for a "new normal" in which shaking hands is dangerous, breathing might kill your neighbor, kids shouldn't go to school, nobody should touch anything handled by another human, major league sports need to be played in a "bubble", and other absurdities and insults to the intelligence.
If you still accept the mainstream media interpretation of what's happening, adjust your mask (and goggles) and read on, little lamb.
We've been hoodwinked by people who want complete control over everybody and everything, all the time with no questions asked, no critical thinking applied, no objections to the mendacious, tyrannical, bizarre psychological derangement that could have even thought up such a diabolical, global control function such as this.
From this Yahoo News story, we can clearly see the media bias and essential narrative. Nothing readily available and inexpensive will be adequate to halt the relentless spread of COVID-19. Only the vaccination of billions of people with unproven, potentially dangerous chemicals will do.
This is an outrageous lie:
That, friend, is propaganda on a level that would make Joseph Goebbels blush with pride.
The video being referenced is the one of the press conference which was held on the steps of the Supreme Court by about a dozen doctors wearing lab coats, now known as America's Frontline Doctors. These are medical professionals with decades of combined experience who have been treating patients for COVID-19 since the virus became prevalent in their communities.
The video, in which the doctors praised the use of hydroxychloroqune (HCQ), proclaimed that schools could safely open now with nearly no risk of further spread of the disease and generally debunked the entire narrative of mask-wearing, social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and lockdowns as a strategy. The video, which was streamed on Brietbart news, received over 20 million views within hours prior to its removal from the internet by Youtube, a fully-owned subsidiary of Google. That is the video Dr. Fauci says "isn't true."
False statements? Which ones? If there are false statements, otherwise known in the real world as lies, shouldn't the American public be entitled to know exactly what they are? No, that's too hard for the propagandists at NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Google, Facebook, and Twitter. No, let's just expunge the video - which happened to be the fastest-spreading viral video ever seen before the censors at Youtube took it down. No, let's just let the little liar, the dictator of the CDC, Anthony Fauci, tell us that the video of a dozen frontline doctors is "false" and leave it at that. Sure, we can trust him because... well, we can, can't we?
Not only was the video taken down, but the website, americasfrontlinedoctors.com was taken down by Square, the hosting company. Since then the group, headed and founded by Dr. Simone Gold, has put up another website and another video at americasfrontlinedoctorsummit.com. Their message remains the same: stop the lockdowns and mask-wearing nonsense, make HCQ available to the general public, reopen the school on time without restrictions. It is highly recommended that everybody watch the new video on the home page of their website.
Also on the americasfrontlinedoctorsummit.com website is a white paper by Dr. Gold, with facts about HCQ. Not innuendo and sensationalized headlines. Cold, hard facts about the safety and efficacy of HCQ, a drug that's been used safely for 65 years.
There's also a Compendium of HCQ Studies, titled, Medical Studies Support MDs Prescribing Hydroxychloroquine for Early Stage COVID-19 and for Prophylaxis by Vladimir Zelenko, M.D., Harvey A. Risch, M.D., PH.D., George C. Fareed, M.D.
These doctors are highly-respected in the field of medicine. Dr. Risch is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine.
That's Yale, as in Ivy League. You want a gold standard? Dr. Risch is it and he says using HCQ could save 75,000 to 100,000 lives.
The compendium is 248 pages of data and findings. It's far too extensive to expect the average American to read it, much less understand it. But, the executives and news anchors and reporters at the media companies should be able to get it. They're smart people, right? Why are they doing everything in their power to keep the truth about a drug that saves lives from the American people?
As far as Dr. Fauci is concerned, he's done real harm to the American public and to the medical industry as a whole by continuing to push the false narrative of being helpless against the virus and the need for draconian measures to fight it.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has never once publicly advised anybody to strengthen one's immune system. He's never advised exercise or good diet. He's only promoted the inevitable preordained conclusion that COVID-19 will kill everything and everyone in its path unless a vaccine (or multiple vaccines) is developed by a big pharmaceutical company costing billions of dollars in record time, distributed and deployed sometime early in 2021.
That's his message and his only message. Fear the virus. Stop being human. Cower in abject terror. Meanwhile, the evidence is clear: 99.98% of the people alive today will not die from COVID-19 and there are more people born every minute of every day who will not die from it.
Dr. Fauci and the mainstream media don't want the American public to know the truth. They don't want the public to know how conflicted and compromised Dr. Fauci is.
Dr. Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx both have close associations with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the group that is pushing for a vaccine for COVID-19. There's a lot of money and power involved. Bill Gates says he talks to Dr. Fauci regularly.
Fauci's conflicts don't end there, but, they are so extensive they cannot be given the proper coverage in this post, which is already too long.
Here's more:
In 2013, Dr Fauci cheered Hydroxychloroquine success treating SARS-MERS-Cornoavirus, not any more though.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/wow-dr-fauci-cheered-hydroxychloroquine-success-treating-mers-coronavirus-2013-today-skeptical-weird/
Relevant links:
Big tech’s out to get conservatives. It’s time they face the consequences.
https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1288531314166190080
Petition to Revoke Federal Licenses Issued to Technology Companies that Violate First Amendment Free Speech Rights
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/revoke-federal-licenses-issued-technology-companies-violate-first-amendment-free-speech-rights
Related: Trump's Executive Order On Online Censorship (July 29):
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/huge-trump-white-house-implements-executive-order-online-censorship-prevents-tech-giants-altering-users-free-speech-demands-transparency-moderation-practices/
WATCH: Dems Unglued After Jordan Grills Big Tech for Censoring Conservatives
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/07/29/watch-dems-unglued-after-jordan-grills-big-tech-for-censoring-conservatives-n2573392
Big tech COVID-19 surveillance data & censorship threaten privacy & free speech: op-ed
https://sociable.co/technology/big-tech-covid-19-surveillance-data-censorship-threaten-free-speech-privacy/
Trump Administration Directs Federal Communications Commission to Combat Big Tech
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelinepeltzer/2020/07/29/trump-issues-executive-order-preventing-online-censorship-n2573389
Bozell, Tucker Carlson Condemn Big Tech Censorship of Doctors’ Viral Coronavirus Video
https://cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/bozell-tucker-carlson-condemn-big-tech-censorship-doctors-viral-coronavirus
If Big Tech Can Censor Political Speech, It Can Police Illegal Speech
https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/23/if-big-tech-can-censor-political-speech-it-can-police-illegal-speech/
Dr. Dan Erickson says YouTube’s censorship of anti-lockdown video helped it spread
https://reclaimthenet.org/bakersfield-doctors-censorship/
Free speech advocates call YouTube’s removal of coronavirus-related video 'egregious censorship effort'
https://www.foxnews.com/media/youtube-video-removed-coronavirus-free-speech
Rep Jim Jordan's Opening Remarks At Big Tech's Antitrust Hearing.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/snOxyqr_tnU
Donald Trump Jr. On Big Tech Censorship: They believe in their speech, not free speech
https://saraacarter.com/donald-trump-jr-on-big-tech-censorship-they-believe-in-their-speech-not-free-speech/
Exploiting COVID-19, Big Tech Censors Become Big Brother
https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/35722-exploiting-covid19-big-tech-censors-become-big-brother
Pollak: Big Tech, Establishment Media Crush Free Speech Through a Form of Prior Restraint
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/07/28/pollak-big-tech-establishment-media-crush-free-speech-through-a-form-of-prior-restraint/
Re-open Schools Full Time:
An Australian study found ZERO transmission from students to teachers. Kids are not good spreaders of the virus.
http://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/NCIRS%20NSW%20Schools%20COVID_Summary_FINAL%20public_26%20April%202020.pdf
There's some research into the whole hydroxychloroqine + zinc regimen, and, as it turns out, the over-the-counter supplement, quercetin, may be a reliable substitute for HCQ as an ionophore which helps zinc enter healthy cells and do its work, which is, to block viral replication, i.e., stopping COVID in its tracks.
So, the real answer to stopping the spread of COVID-19 may not be wearing masks or social distancing at all, but fortifying one's own immune system with Quercetin + Zinc, both readily available OVER THE COUNTER.
What's even better is that quercetin is found in lots of foods, including green tea, red wine, onions, most hot peppers, grapes, and especially, Dr. Chris Martenson's favorite, Elderberry.
It's becoming easier to conclude that there never was any need to shut down entire economies, because, while COVID-19 is very contagious, it is not particularly deadly, more or less an enhanced cold or flu. For people under the age of 50, the chances of dying from COVID-19 are about as remote as dying from the seasonal flu, about 1 in 100,000, or 0.01%. There's also widely-available evidence that nearly 90% of reported COVID-19 deaths have occured in people which had other underlying medical conditions, the top three being diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Interesting forum discussion at Peak Prosperity (Dr. Chris Martenson and Adam Taggart) concerning tonic water (quinine), quercetin and other natural preventatives (prophylaxis). Seems quercetin (available widely over the counter in the US and other countries) with zinc will inhibit COVID-19 effectively.
https://www.peakprosperity.com/forum-topic/quinine-tonic-water-zinc/
Here's webMD, which offers interesting information on quercetin, but, keeping with the "only a vaccine will stop COVID-19" narrative, they include this tidbit:
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-294/quercetin
So, maybe we don't need hydroxychloroquine for everybody. Maybe quercetin and zinc can boost the immune system to a point at which the body can fight off COVID-19 itself.
This is very interesting to Fearless Rick, who has been drinking lots of vodka tonics (quinine), but also, since it's been very, very hot in East Tennessee, gallons of green tea. Plus, Rick has a garden and eats plenty of onions and peppers (both good sources of quercetin), plus there are two fig trees on the property he maintains and figs are also a good source for quercetin per this unbiased article:
https://www.superfoodly.com/quercetin-foods/
Here is a very informative video covering the microbiology of HCQ and Zinc in relation to COVID-19 in plain English that the Covid-censor Googlebot apparently missed.
So, to the mask-wearing simpletons who would likely don a pussy-hat if told to do so, this has been an opening salvo of truth. I hope you hated it. I hope you vomited over it because you cannot argue effectively against it. I hope you choke on it, because more is on the way. I intend to shove it down your throats the same way the media shovels the fake COVID-19 news at you.
I am not taking prisoners here. People are either going to stand up for principles or lay down under the boot of servility and dehumanization. Kneel, and Bill Gates' COVID vaccine and the rest of a miserable existence awaits you. So long as you keep bowing to the perception of power, you will be a slave to their whims and executions.
The moment you throw off your false sense of security - for truly, you, and nothing you hold dear is secure in this world - you will have hope.
You can believe whatever you want to believe. But, when you believe in lies you have nothing to gain. You will become a fatality to your own version of normalcy bias. You will die as you lived, with your own invalid sense of self-worth and self-righteousness to etch upon your tombstone. You will have achieved nothing more than you were asked.
Forever, and again tomorrow and the next day,
--Fearless Rick
Oh, by the way, there were some market-moving events over the past week.
At the Close, Friday, July 31, 2020:
Dow: 26,428.32, +114.67 (+0.44%)
NASDAQ: 10,745.27, +157.46 (+1.49%)
S&P 500: 3,271.12, +24.90 (+0.77%)
NYSE: 12,465.05, -68.23 (-0.54%)
For the Week:
Dow: -41.57 (-0.16%)
NASDAQ: +382.10 (+3.69%)
S&P 500: +55.49 (+1.73%)
NYSE: +3.27 (+0.03%)
Stocks were boosted mostly by increased from Alphabet/Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), and Amazon (AMZN). The bulk of the market, such as the other 495 stocks in the S&P 500 were hardly changed.
Bond yields were driven to their lowest ever, with the 10-year note dropping to 0.55%, it's second-lowest ever, and the 30-year at 1.20%. The entire treasury complex, 1-month though 30-year is now covered by 111 basis points or 1.11%.
WTI crude oil remained anchored around $40/barrel, which has provided some relief at the pump for America's drivers.
Silver and gold got smacked around by heavy hitters in the futures markets, becoming more and more irrelevant every day.
The most recent prices (including shipping - often free) for select items on eBay:
Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 31.95 / 39.76 / 35.70 / 35.50
1 oz silver bar: 30.00 / 50.50 / 36.39 / 33.50
1 oz gold coin: 1,994.66 / 2,133.21 / 2,089.68 / 2,110.26
1 oz gold bar: 1,915.00 / 2,161.14 / 2,071.04 / 2,087.62
And that's the WEEKEND WRAP.
Enya, Only Time:
What broadcast media - and by extension, the readers of discredited, biased reportage by the New York Times and Washington Post - wants the public to believe is that COVID-19 is a existential threat to all of humanity, that it is raging out of control and that it can only be stopped by a vaccine which must be universally accepted when it (or any number of vaccines) becomes available sometime in early 2021.
In other words, the media pushed an agenda driven by government officials who relied on sketchy, unreliable data to shut down most of the US economy, badly damaged the general psyche of the American populace, and they're pushing to go back into nationwide lockdown mode again or at least mandate nationwide mask-wearing, school closings and business disruptions.
The over-the-top propagandizing of the "pandemic" and the now-evident pushback, notably by doctors, has put America and the COVID-19 debate at a veritable tipping point.
So intensely arrogant and oppressive is the media onslaught that it needs to be examined for journalistic competence. We'll start with one article that highlighted a study concerning the drug, hydroxychloroquine, or HCQ, for short.
This article on CNN.com needs to be analyzed from a journalistic perspective, not from a scientific or political point of view, because the science is unsettled and the politics is known to be badly biased. Bear in mind, this was published on June 3, 2020.
Here's the headline:
Trump said he took hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus, but new study shows that doesn't work.
Fine. Let's examine the journalistic rigor involved in coming to the headline conclusion.
At about the middle of the article, this is what is posted:
No difference between hydroxychloroquine and placebo - That's a sub-headline.
Then the article makes this claim:
The University of Minnesota study is a double-blind randomized clinical control trial, considered the gold standard in medicine.
Keep that in mind. This statement will be challenged by the article itself.
Here is the meat of the article:
Starting in mid-March, [Dr. David] Boulware and his colleagues recruited 821 people in the US and Canada who had been exposed to Covid-19. Some were health care workers and others lived in the same house as someone with the virus. The median age was 40.
About half the study subjects were assigned to take hydroxychloroquine for five days, and the other half were assigned to take a placebo, or a pill that does nothing. Neither the researchers nor the study subjects knew who was taking which drug.
The researchers then monitored the study subjects for two weeks.
In the end, it didn't matter if they received the drug or not: about 12% of those taking hydroxychloroquine came down with symptoms of Covid-19, compared to about 14% of those taking the placebo, a difference that was not statistically significant.
Fine. No statistical difference. Keep in mind the part about the study being "double-blind randomized clinical control trial, considered the gold standard in medicine," because the article itself - remember, we're judging journalistic integrity here - will refute this statement in the very next paragraph.
In both groups, most of the patients did not receive a Covid-19 diagnostic test, since at the time of the study, such tests were in short supply. Instead, four physicians involved with the study reviewed the study subjects' symptoms to see if they were compatible with a Covid diagnosis.
Wait a minute. Most of the patients did NOT receive a Covid-19 diagnostic test? The conclusions of this "gold standard" study were based upon the opinions of "four physicians involved with the study reviewed the study subjects' symptoms to see if they were compatible with a Covid diagnosis."
Sorry, the opinions of four physicians involved with the study (who were they? How involved were they? How much were they being paid by anybody?) to draw conclusions does not qualify as a randomized, double-blind study worth any scientific value.
Usually, in conditions such as this, actual blood samples and real tests would be performed upon which conclusions could then be scientifically concluded. This was not what happened here. This is not a "gold standard" study.
Let's go on.
Boulware said his story underscores the need to study drugs to find out if they work in particular situations.
"Even in the setting of a pandemic, we need research to help inform the best practice for what works in humans," said Boulware, senior author of the study.
This won't be the last word on hydroxychloroquine as prevention against Covid-19. Researchers at New York University and the University of Washington and elsewhere are also studying whether hydroxychloroquine might help people who have been exposed to the virus fight off a Covid infection.
The University of Minnesota team is studying whether hydroxychloroquine could work earlier on, to prevent infection in people who have not had an exposure.
"Maybe if they take the drug before they're exposed, before the infection has had time to set up shop, it could have an effect at preventing disease," he said.
Wait a minute. What's that? "Maybe if they take the drug before they're exposed, before the infection has had time to set up shop, it could have an effect at preventing disease." That is a statement from the lead author of the study. That's honest. That's truth.
Here comes the kicker and how we find the CNN authors of the story to be derelict in their application of journalistic integrity:
His team is also looking to see whether the drug might help people with early symptoms of Covid-19 from becoming so sick that they end up in the hospital.
"You don't know until you do the clinical trial," he said.
Hold it. We thought this was a "gold standard" clinical trial. According to Dr. David Boulware, the lead author, he's still waiting for one.
If a professor at a journalism school was grading this as a paper, he might give it a C- or a D. The headline is completely misleading. Some of the claims made in the story are refuted further down the story line.
The study may have been randomized, it may have been double-blind. But it was certainly not a "clinical control trial," since the results were nothing other than observations by four physicians. There were no diagnostic tests for Covid-19. Therefore, the study fails miserably at the level of being "gold standard."
This would be like taking your car to a mechanic because the engine was sputtering, and getting the opinions from four shop-hands who listened to the engine running and concluded that it was "bad gas" or something else, like "fuel pump," or "gaskets."
This study is just an example of many that have been presented by the mainstream media to undermine any useful information that could be gleaned from physician experience with patients treated with hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ).
This article doesn't even pass a basic smell test for journalism. It starts with a biased headline that isn't supported by the body of the article. It's trash. It should not be believed. It should have never even been published if there were honest editors in the CNN newsrooms. Ha! That's a good one. Honesty and CNN should never be used in the same sentence.
Futhermore, almost none of the studies - as aptly pointed out innumerable times by Peak Prosperity's Dr. Chris Martenson - of HCQ involved the use of ZINC, which happens to be a key element, the main inhibitor of viral infection.
Had enough? We're just getting started.
Let's take a look at the article on this study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.
You are encouraged to read the article in its entirely yourself, but considering that you may be a lazy, numb, sheep-like American zombie, we'll offer the highlights here. First off, the dosages of hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ) administered were nearly toxic (800 mg once, followed by 600 mg in 6 to 8 hours, then 600 mg daily for 4 additional days). That's 1400 mg. the first day, then another 2400 mg. over the next 4 days, for a total of 3800 mg.
The CDC's recommendations as a prophylaxis (preventive) for malaria (yeah, malaria) is 310 mg base orally once a week. For patients with malaria, the recommended dosage is 620 mg orally as an initial dose, followed by 310 mg at 6, 24, and 48 hours after the initial dose. Total dose: 1550 mg.
Hmmm. 3800 mg. in the study, when the total dose for people with malaria is 1550 mg. Sounds a little fishy, like maybe too much HCQ.
Here's the conclusion, per NEJM:
After high-risk or moderate-risk exposure to Covid-19, hydroxychloroquine did not prevent illness compatible with Covid-19 or confirmed infection when used as postexposure prophylaxis within 4 days after exposure.
Please note the term "postexposure," as in after you already have the disease.
Moving on to the NEJM commentary:
The majority of clinical studies of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 have focused on hospitalized patients. Yet, to alter the trajectory of the epidemic, it is necessary to break the chain of transmission. The risk of secondary household transmission has been estimated as 10 to 15%. Small, nonrandomized, noncontrolled cohort studies have suggested that the use of hydroxychloroquine might reduce or even eliminate this risk.
Remember, this was June 3, 2020 and the dig down the rabbit hole goes even deeper. While you are encouraged to read the NEJM report yourself, here are some of the highlights from the commentary:
Persons with symptoms of Covid-19 or with PCR-proven SARS-CoV-2 infection were excluded from this prevention trial but were separately enrolled in a companion clinical trial to treat early infection.
We assumed that health care workers would have access to Covid-19 testing if symptomatic; however, access to testing was limited throughout the trial period.
Although PCR or serologic testing for asymptomatic infection would have added to the scientific strength of this trial, this was not possible, and we cannot assess an effect on mild or asymptomatic infections.
Because of the lack of availability of diagnostic testing in the United States, the vast majority of the participants, including health care workers, were unable to access testing.
given the small number of PCR tests, it remains theoretically possible that hydroxychloroquine therapy limits proven infection.
Still with us? In a nearly-complete backtracking from the CNN headline, the conclusion from this study is pretty much inconclusive. The NEJM even raises the possibility that HCQ could be an effective treatment, a complete 100% about-face from the headline. It's a pretty good bet that Dr. Chris Martenson had already ripped this "gold standard" study to shreds in one of his twice-weekly Youtube videos.
At this point (12.20 am ET, Sunday morning), this clip seems suitably appropriate on a number of levels (OK to search your soul here):
OK, have we all achieved moral clarity now? Not yet? Let's proceed.
COVID-19 and the stay-at-home orders, the media onslaught of "wear a mask," "social distance", the lockdowns, the millions of people unemployed, the businesses needlessly bankrupted was all a monstrous scam on the public and the scam continues to this day. If there ever was a time to string up federal and state elected officials, Fed presidents, high-profile medical "professionals", and bankers, this is it. This is all lies and propaganda designed to scare people into submission, funnel trillions of dollars to nearly-insolvent (again) major banks, financial institutions and other top-line corporations and prepare the American public for a "new normal" in which shaking hands is dangerous, breathing might kill your neighbor, kids shouldn't go to school, nobody should touch anything handled by another human, major league sports need to be played in a "bubble", and other absurdities and insults to the intelligence.
If you still accept the mainstream media interpretation of what's happening, adjust your mask (and goggles) and read on, little lamb.
We've been hoodwinked by people who want complete control over everybody and everything, all the time with no questions asked, no critical thinking applied, no objections to the mendacious, tyrannical, bizarre psychological derangement that could have even thought up such a diabolical, global control function such as this.
From this Yahoo News story, we can clearly see the media bias and essential narrative. Nothing readily available and inexpensive will be adequate to halt the relentless spread of COVID-19. Only the vaccination of billions of people with unproven, potentially dangerous chemicals will do.
This is an outrageous lie:
On Monday, Trump shared versions of a viral coronavirus video that made false statements about the disease, including the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment; two days later, Fauci told MSNBC the video "isn’t true."
That, friend, is propaganda on a level that would make Joseph Goebbels blush with pride.
The video being referenced is the one of the press conference which was held on the steps of the Supreme Court by about a dozen doctors wearing lab coats, now known as America's Frontline Doctors. These are medical professionals with decades of combined experience who have been treating patients for COVID-19 since the virus became prevalent in their communities.
The video, in which the doctors praised the use of hydroxychloroqune (HCQ), proclaimed that schools could safely open now with nearly no risk of further spread of the disease and generally debunked the entire narrative of mask-wearing, social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and lockdowns as a strategy. The video, which was streamed on Brietbart news, received over 20 million views within hours prior to its removal from the internet by Youtube, a fully-owned subsidiary of Google. That is the video Dr. Fauci says "isn't true."
False statements? Which ones? If there are false statements, otherwise known in the real world as lies, shouldn't the American public be entitled to know exactly what they are? No, that's too hard for the propagandists at NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Google, Facebook, and Twitter. No, let's just expunge the video - which happened to be the fastest-spreading viral video ever seen before the censors at Youtube took it down. No, let's just let the little liar, the dictator of the CDC, Anthony Fauci, tell us that the video of a dozen frontline doctors is "false" and leave it at that. Sure, we can trust him because... well, we can, can't we?
Not only was the video taken down, but the website, americasfrontlinedoctors.com was taken down by Square, the hosting company. Since then the group, headed and founded by Dr. Simone Gold, has put up another website and another video at americasfrontlinedoctorsummit.com. Their message remains the same: stop the lockdowns and mask-wearing nonsense, make HCQ available to the general public, reopen the school on time without restrictions. It is highly recommended that everybody watch the new video on the home page of their website.
Also on the americasfrontlinedoctorsummit.com website is a white paper by Dr. Gold, with facts about HCQ. Not innuendo and sensationalized headlines. Cold, hard facts about the safety and efficacy of HCQ, a drug that's been used safely for 65 years.
There's also a Compendium of HCQ Studies, titled, Medical Studies Support MDs Prescribing Hydroxychloroquine for Early Stage COVID-19 and for Prophylaxis by Vladimir Zelenko, M.D., Harvey A. Risch, M.D., PH.D., George C. Fareed, M.D.
These doctors are highly-respected in the field of medicine. Dr. Risch is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine.
That's Yale, as in Ivy League. You want a gold standard? Dr. Risch is it and he says using HCQ could save 75,000 to 100,000 lives.
The compendium is 248 pages of data and findings. It's far too extensive to expect the average American to read it, much less understand it. But, the executives and news anchors and reporters at the media companies should be able to get it. They're smart people, right? Why are they doing everything in their power to keep the truth about a drug that saves lives from the American people?
As far as Dr. Fauci is concerned, he's done real harm to the American public and to the medical industry as a whole by continuing to push the false narrative of being helpless against the virus and the need for draconian measures to fight it.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has never once publicly advised anybody to strengthen one's immune system. He's never advised exercise or good diet. He's only promoted the inevitable preordained conclusion that COVID-19 will kill everything and everyone in its path unless a vaccine (or multiple vaccines) is developed by a big pharmaceutical company costing billions of dollars in record time, distributed and deployed sometime early in 2021.
That's his message and his only message. Fear the virus. Stop being human. Cower in abject terror. Meanwhile, the evidence is clear: 99.98% of the people alive today will not die from COVID-19 and there are more people born every minute of every day who will not die from it.
Dr. Fauci and the mainstream media don't want the American public to know the truth. They don't want the public to know how conflicted and compromised Dr. Fauci is.
Dr. Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx both have close associations with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the group that is pushing for a vaccine for COVID-19. There's a lot of money and power involved. Bill Gates says he talks to Dr. Fauci regularly.
Fauci's conflicts don't end there, but, they are so extensive they cannot be given the proper coverage in this post, which is already too long.
Here's more:
In 2013, Dr Fauci cheered Hydroxychloroquine success treating SARS-MERS-Cornoavirus, not any more though.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/wow-dr-fauci-cheered-hydroxychloroquine-success-treating-mers-coronavirus-2013-today-skeptical-weird/
Relevant links:
Big tech’s out to get conservatives. It’s time they face the consequences.
https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1288531314166190080
Petition to Revoke Federal Licenses Issued to Technology Companies that Violate First Amendment Free Speech Rights
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/revoke-federal-licenses-issued-technology-companies-violate-first-amendment-free-speech-rights
Related: Trump's Executive Order On Online Censorship (July 29):
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/huge-trump-white-house-implements-executive-order-online-censorship-prevents-tech-giants-altering-users-free-speech-demands-transparency-moderation-practices/
WATCH: Dems Unglued After Jordan Grills Big Tech for Censoring Conservatives
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/07/29/watch-dems-unglued-after-jordan-grills-big-tech-for-censoring-conservatives-n2573392
Big tech COVID-19 surveillance data & censorship threaten privacy & free speech: op-ed
https://sociable.co/technology/big-tech-covid-19-surveillance-data-censorship-threaten-free-speech-privacy/
Trump Administration Directs Federal Communications Commission to Combat Big Tech
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelinepeltzer/2020/07/29/trump-issues-executive-order-preventing-online-censorship-n2573389
Bozell, Tucker Carlson Condemn Big Tech Censorship of Doctors’ Viral Coronavirus Video
https://cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/bozell-tucker-carlson-condemn-big-tech-censorship-doctors-viral-coronavirus
If Big Tech Can Censor Political Speech, It Can Police Illegal Speech
https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/23/if-big-tech-can-censor-political-speech-it-can-police-illegal-speech/
Dr. Dan Erickson says YouTube’s censorship of anti-lockdown video helped it spread
https://reclaimthenet.org/bakersfield-doctors-censorship/
Free speech advocates call YouTube’s removal of coronavirus-related video 'egregious censorship effort'
https://www.foxnews.com/media/youtube-video-removed-coronavirus-free-speech
Rep Jim Jordan's Opening Remarks At Big Tech's Antitrust Hearing.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/snOxyqr_tnU
Donald Trump Jr. On Big Tech Censorship: They believe in their speech, not free speech
https://saraacarter.com/donald-trump-jr-on-big-tech-censorship-they-believe-in-their-speech-not-free-speech/
Exploiting COVID-19, Big Tech Censors Become Big Brother
https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/35722-exploiting-covid19-big-tech-censors-become-big-brother
Pollak: Big Tech, Establishment Media Crush Free Speech Through a Form of Prior Restraint
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/07/28/pollak-big-tech-establishment-media-crush-free-speech-through-a-form-of-prior-restraint/
Re-open Schools Full Time:
An Australian study found ZERO transmission from students to teachers. Kids are not good spreaders of the virus.
http://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/NCIRS%20NSW%20Schools%20COVID_Summary_FINAL%20public_26%20April%202020.pdf
There's some research into the whole hydroxychloroqine + zinc regimen, and, as it turns out, the over-the-counter supplement, quercetin, may be a reliable substitute for HCQ as an ionophore which helps zinc enter healthy cells and do its work, which is, to block viral replication, i.e., stopping COVID in its tracks.
So, the real answer to stopping the spread of COVID-19 may not be wearing masks or social distancing at all, but fortifying one's own immune system with Quercetin + Zinc, both readily available OVER THE COUNTER.
What's even better is that quercetin is found in lots of foods, including green tea, red wine, onions, most hot peppers, grapes, and especially, Dr. Chris Martenson's favorite, Elderberry.
It's becoming easier to conclude that there never was any need to shut down entire economies, because, while COVID-19 is very contagious, it is not particularly deadly, more or less an enhanced cold or flu. For people under the age of 50, the chances of dying from COVID-19 are about as remote as dying from the seasonal flu, about 1 in 100,000, or 0.01%. There's also widely-available evidence that nearly 90% of reported COVID-19 deaths have occured in people which had other underlying medical conditions, the top three being diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Interesting forum discussion at Peak Prosperity (Dr. Chris Martenson and Adam Taggart) concerning tonic water (quinine), quercetin and other natural preventatives (prophylaxis). Seems quercetin (available widely over the counter in the US and other countries) with zinc will inhibit COVID-19 effectively.
https://www.peakprosperity.com/forum-topic/quinine-tonic-water-zinc/
Here's webMD, which offers interesting information on quercetin, but, keeping with the "only a vaccine will stop COVID-19" narrative, they include this tidbit:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Quercetin may have benefit for some airway infections, but there is no good evidence to support using it for COVID-19. Follow healthy lifestyle choices and proven prevention methods instead.Still, here's a partial list of plants and foods containing quercetin:
Quercetin is a plant pigment (flavonoid). It is found in many plants and foods, such as red wine, onions, green tea, apples, berries, Ginkgo biloba, St. John's wort, American elder, and others. Buckwheat tea has a large amount of quercetin. People use quercetin as a medicine.Note that last line, "people use quercetin as medicine."
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-294/quercetin
So, maybe we don't need hydroxychloroquine for everybody. Maybe quercetin and zinc can boost the immune system to a point at which the body can fight off COVID-19 itself.
This is very interesting to Fearless Rick, who has been drinking lots of vodka tonics (quinine), but also, since it's been very, very hot in East Tennessee, gallons of green tea. Plus, Rick has a garden and eats plenty of onions and peppers (both good sources of quercetin), plus there are two fig trees on the property he maintains and figs are also a good source for quercetin per this unbiased article:
https://www.superfoodly.com/quercetin-foods/
Here is a very informative video covering the microbiology of HCQ and Zinc in relation to COVID-19 in plain English that the Covid-censor Googlebot apparently missed.
So, to the mask-wearing simpletons who would likely don a pussy-hat if told to do so, this has been an opening salvo of truth. I hope you hated it. I hope you vomited over it because you cannot argue effectively against it. I hope you choke on it, because more is on the way. I intend to shove it down your throats the same way the media shovels the fake COVID-19 news at you.
I am not taking prisoners here. People are either going to stand up for principles or lay down under the boot of servility and dehumanization. Kneel, and Bill Gates' COVID vaccine and the rest of a miserable existence awaits you. So long as you keep bowing to the perception of power, you will be a slave to their whims and executions.
The moment you throw off your false sense of security - for truly, you, and nothing you hold dear is secure in this world - you will have hope.
You can believe whatever you want to believe. But, when you believe in lies you have nothing to gain. You will become a fatality to your own version of normalcy bias. You will die as you lived, with your own invalid sense of self-worth and self-righteousness to etch upon your tombstone. You will have achieved nothing more than you were asked.
Forever, and again tomorrow and the next day,
--Fearless Rick
Oh, by the way, there were some market-moving events over the past week.
At the Close, Friday, July 31, 2020:
Dow: 26,428.32, +114.67 (+0.44%)
NASDAQ: 10,745.27, +157.46 (+1.49%)
S&P 500: 3,271.12, +24.90 (+0.77%)
NYSE: 12,465.05, -68.23 (-0.54%)
For the Week:
Dow: -41.57 (-0.16%)
NASDAQ: +382.10 (+3.69%)
S&P 500: +55.49 (+1.73%)
NYSE: +3.27 (+0.03%)
Stocks were boosted mostly by increased from Alphabet/Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), and Amazon (AMZN). The bulk of the market, such as the other 495 stocks in the S&P 500 were hardly changed.
Bond yields were driven to their lowest ever, with the 10-year note dropping to 0.55%, it's second-lowest ever, and the 30-year at 1.20%. The entire treasury complex, 1-month though 30-year is now covered by 111 basis points or 1.11%.
WTI crude oil remained anchored around $40/barrel, which has provided some relief at the pump for America's drivers.
Silver and gold got smacked around by heavy hitters in the futures markets, becoming more and more irrelevant every day.
The most recent prices (including shipping - often free) for select items on eBay:
Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 31.95 / 39.76 / 35.70 / 35.50
1 oz silver bar: 30.00 / 50.50 / 36.39 / 33.50
1 oz gold coin: 1,994.66 / 2,133.21 / 2,089.68 / 2,110.26
1 oz gold bar: 1,915.00 / 2,161.14 / 2,071.04 / 2,087.62
And that's the WEEKEND WRAP.
Enya, Only Time:
Friday, July 31, 2020
HCQ + Zinc = NO COVID; Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) Debate Heats Up Despite MSM Effort to Quell the Uprising
HCQ + Zinc = NO COVID
This article is a bit rambling, but the points are nonetheless critical to our freedoms.
The mainstream media (Networks ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and newspapers, New York Times, Washington Post) has become nearly 100% propaganda for the anti-freedom, censorship-loving, COVID-19-pushing deep state. That's not idle banter. The facts are being lain bare on a daily basis. They're one-sided, biased, agenda-driven, partial and uninterested in the proper dissemination of the truth.
Nor are they alone. They have the backing and support of social media giants such as Facebook, Youtube (owned by Alphabet, i.e, Google), and Twitter. Anything that threatens to expose their agenda and narrative is labeled as conspiracy theory, distraction, or, as is the case currently over the issue of whether or not hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) can be employed as a safe and effective treatment in early stage COVID infection or as a preventive measure when taken with Zinc, the people arguing in favor of HCQ are characterized as right-wing radicals backed by "dark money." Sure, Breitbart.com and teapartypatriots.org are "dark money" because they don't support the fake virus, Bill Gates' vaccine promotion, or Dr. Fauci's outrageous lies and misinformation (Now he and his colleage, Dr. Birx, are promoting the wearing of face masks and eye shields or goggles, and would like to see a disposable hazmat suit worn by students in schools.).
The website, americasfrontlinedoctors.com was disabled after the group of doctors led by Dr. Simone Gold (twitter feed here, 94,000 followers), but a new site has been assembled at americasfrontlinedoctorsummit.com.
The site offers video and links to a white paper on HCQ and a compendium of articles about HCQ [PDF, 248 pages]. Strangely enough, both the white paper and compendium are hosted on Google Drive.
There's more:
Here's a 2005 study that details HCQ effectiveness against coronavirus (SARS-COV-1, a predecessor of SAR-COV-11, otherwise known as COVID-19):
Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread.
Same study on NIH site when Dr. Fauci was director.
Also in the HCQ news, Ohio's pharmacy board reversed its decision to ban hydroxychloroquine after a request from Governor Mike DeWine, and the Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the FDA, said the recommendation and use of hydroxychloroquine should be between patient and doctor, so the FDA is not standing in the way.
Other news:
Yahoo (wholly owned by Verizon) recently suspended the comment section on its news articles, site-wide. They are following the lead of Bloomberg, where comment sections were removed in 2018.
Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interest and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting.
-- message on Yahoo.com articles
Facebook (FB), Alphabet (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT) all handily beat vastly lowered earnings expectations after the closing bell on Thursday. Friday looks to be another day of incessant stock melt-up, despite the news yesterday that second quarter GDP was an absolute all time low, a contraction of 32.9%.
Otherwise, everything is just peachy-keen.
Enjoy the weekend. Sunday's WEEKEND WRAP will be a hum-dinger.
Spread the word: HCQ + Zinc = NO COVID
At the Close, Thursday, July 30, 2020:
Dow: 26,313.65, -225.92 (-0.85%)
NASDAQ: 10,587.81, +44.87 (+0.43%)
S&P 500: 3,246.22, -12.22 (-0.38%)
NYSE: 12,533.28, -136.34 (-1.08%)
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Double Whammy: Second Quarter GDP Shrinks by 32.9%; Initial Jobless Claims Rise Again
No doubt fudged by six to eight percent, second quarter US Gross Domestic Product shrank by 32.9 percent in the quarter ended June 30, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The proximate cause not the novel coronavirus, aka COVID-19, but state governments' ordered lockdowns of businesses, citizenry and government apparatus, making the worst decline in US output wholly a self-infliceted wound.
As predicted by Downtown Magazine, the slowdown was not as severe as expectations of -34.5% by economists surveyed prior to the release.
Additionally, initial unemployment claims rose for the second week in a row, at a seasonally-adjusted 1.4 million for the week ending July 25.
The 1,434,000 claims was an uptick from the revised 1,422,000 the previous week.
Weekly claims have surpassed an unprecedented 1 million every week since March.
So, with all this wonderful news, should we continue wearing masks and keep six feet away from each other, demanding curbside pickup of fast foods, no-touchie, no-feelie schooling and another round of stimus checks from the government?
Sure, keep 'em coming, knuckleheads.
The proximate cause not the novel coronavirus, aka COVID-19, but state governments' ordered lockdowns of businesses, citizenry and government apparatus, making the worst decline in US output wholly a self-infliceted wound.
As predicted by Downtown Magazine, the slowdown was not as severe as expectations of -34.5% by economists surveyed prior to the release.
Additionally, initial unemployment claims rose for the second week in a row, at a seasonally-adjusted 1.4 million for the week ending July 25.
The 1,434,000 claims was an uptick from the revised 1,422,000 the previous week.
Weekly claims have surpassed an unprecedented 1 million every week since March.
So, with all this wonderful news, should we continue wearing masks and keep six feet away from each other, demanding curbside pickup of fast foods, no-touchie, no-feelie schooling and another round of stimus checks from the government?
Sure, keep 'em coming, knuckleheads.
Fed Reiterates All-In Language; Treasury Bonds Yielding All-Time Lows; 2Q GDP Up Next
As expected, the FOMC of the Federal Reserve kept rates at "near-zero" and reiterated that they would keep rates at that level until the US economy picks up, which, depending on who you ask, might be anywhere between "never" and "next quarter."
Such is the stuff of populous economics in the age of the constant panic.
The Fed's announcement on Wednesday set off yet another stock-buying spree of over-valued, highly-indebted companies, most of them listed on the major exchanges, particularly the S&P 500, which put in a solid gain of 40 points on the nose, leaving it a mere 128 points, or, less than four percent, off it's all-time closing high of 3,386.15 (February 19, 2020).
This, of course, is absolute madness. Here we are, supposedly in the midst of a pandemic which has killed over 150,000, sickened many times that, shuttered businesses, cost over 30 million jobs (that number is a moving target), and pretty much wrecked not just the US economy but that of the entire civilized world (the uncivilized parts of the world having barely noticed any changes at all).
What the stock market and the Fed are relaying via their asset-boosting measures and ever-rising stock prices is that the global economy should have a crisis of this magnitude at least once a year. Sure, some people got hurt during the February-March decline, but they are rubes, obviously not attuned to the new rigors of investing, which is to hold stocks for mere weeks or months, not years, and, in the world of those wearing big boy pants, the best trades last mere minutes.
With the S&P bottoming out at 2,237.40 on March 23rd, the gains through Wednesday amount to a windfall of just over 45 percent. Annualized, that's 135%. If sustained, that would mean your $100,000 investment would be worth $235,000 in a year, and all of this comes under zero-interest-rate-policy (ZIRP).
Easy money!
But what about bonds? We thought you'd never ask.
As of today, a one-month treasury bill yields an exciting 0.09%. The ten-year note fell to its second-lowest yield ever, at 0.58%. And, for those of you with shorter investment horizons, yields on the one, two, three, five, and seven-year notes all made historic all-time lows on Wednesday, thanks to the confidence inspired by our brave central bank. Those yields are 0.13%, 0.12%, 0.15%. 0.25%, and 0.43%. So, if you would like to lend the US federal government $10,000 for five years, they'll pay you back a whopping $25 per year or $125 in total for the privilege. And, with luck, you'll get the principal back at the end.
This does not inspire much confidence in the continued smooth operation of our federal government. It speaks volumes to the sustainability of state governments and their bloated pension obligations. (This brings up an interesting point, a little off-topic: many teachers have not been in a classroom actually teaching since March. Many of these teachers - via their unions - are complaining that they don't want to go back into a classroom to teach when the school year begins again in a few weeks. Well, teaching in a classroom isn't kind of a job, it is their job, so why are they continuing to be paid?)
For those still interested, the entire treasury complex, from one-month out to 30-years, is now covered by 113 basis points, which isn't much, just more than one percent. Basically, lending to the federal government is a losing proposition if there's any time value of money or inflation whatsoever.
Cheers! (The crowd goes wild.)
Naturally, in the face of this obvious failure of the fractional-reserve, debt-based fiat currency system currently in play, the price of gold and silver went... wait for it... down. Well, that would be on the criminal exchanges known as the futures markets, obviously overseen and controlled (we don't like to use the word "manipulated" any more, makes it sound like a conspiracy theory) by the world's greatest gangsters in the world's largest criminal skimming enterprise, the consortium of sovereign central banks.
As of this writing, gold has been tamped down five times, as has silver, but the latter to a much greater degree. Seems that while the central bank gang doesn't like gold very much (it competes with their paper currencies), they like silver even less. Silver touched $26 a few days ago, but the big boys in their fancy suits saw best to slam it back to $22.98 this morning, though it has recovered to 23.20, presently.
The spot price and futures exchanges are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Try buying any quantity of silver at anything under $27 an ounce. You'll be laughed out of the coin shop. On eBay, single ounce bars and coins are going for anywhere from $27 to $40. Morgan silver dollars (90% silver, 10% copper, 26.73 grams) are going for upwards of $35. Numismatically prized specimens can fetch hundreds of dollars.
So, we're at war. Yes, war, but no guns have been fired yet unless you include the ones that went off either accidentally or on purpose at a few of the BLM protests over the past few weeks.
The war is being waged by the seven billion people on the planet who are not in the top 1% of wealth hoarders. They are fighting the government (whatever country you're in, plus all other governments of all other countries), the central banks (ditto) and their fiat currencies, mainstream media and the "official" medical community which fails to understand the simple equation: HCQ + Zinc + Z-Pac = NO COVID.
The weapons currently employed are words, currencies (vs. real money, gold and silver), brains, street smarts and assorted pamphlets, Molotov-cocktails, laser beams, rocks, barricades, fists, batons, spit, and finger-pointing.
Judging by the number of people "voluntarily" wearing masks and staying six feet away from the nearest co-habitant of the planet, the bad guys are winning. The tide needs to be turned.
With that, a reminder that we'll be back in about an hour to report on the release of second quarter US GDP, which figures to be a doozy on several levels. Downtown Magazine's current best guess is -41%, but, knowing how Wall Street and the number massagers at the BLS and Census operate, the figure is likely to come in at a cool -30%, because, as we all are aware, that would exceed estimates of -34.5% and will thus "beat the street" and encourage even more buying of stocks. Horray for us! We're not as poor as we thought!
See you again around 8:45 am ET.
At the Close, Wednesday, July 29, 2020:
Dow: 26,539.57, +160.29 (+0.61%)
NASDAQ: 10,542.94, +140.85 (+1.35%)
S&P 500: 3,258.44, +40.00 (+1.24%)
NYSE: 12,669.62, +178.40 (+1.43%)
Such is the stuff of populous economics in the age of the constant panic.
The Fed's announcement on Wednesday set off yet another stock-buying spree of over-valued, highly-indebted companies, most of them listed on the major exchanges, particularly the S&P 500, which put in a solid gain of 40 points on the nose, leaving it a mere 128 points, or, less than four percent, off it's all-time closing high of 3,386.15 (February 19, 2020).
This, of course, is absolute madness. Here we are, supposedly in the midst of a pandemic which has killed over 150,000, sickened many times that, shuttered businesses, cost over 30 million jobs (that number is a moving target), and pretty much wrecked not just the US economy but that of the entire civilized world (the uncivilized parts of the world having barely noticed any changes at all).
What the stock market and the Fed are relaying via their asset-boosting measures and ever-rising stock prices is that the global economy should have a crisis of this magnitude at least once a year. Sure, some people got hurt during the February-March decline, but they are rubes, obviously not attuned to the new rigors of investing, which is to hold stocks for mere weeks or months, not years, and, in the world of those wearing big boy pants, the best trades last mere minutes.
With the S&P bottoming out at 2,237.40 on March 23rd, the gains through Wednesday amount to a windfall of just over 45 percent. Annualized, that's 135%. If sustained, that would mean your $100,000 investment would be worth $235,000 in a year, and all of this comes under zero-interest-rate-policy (ZIRP).
Easy money!
But what about bonds? We thought you'd never ask.
As of today, a one-month treasury bill yields an exciting 0.09%. The ten-year note fell to its second-lowest yield ever, at 0.58%. And, for those of you with shorter investment horizons, yields on the one, two, three, five, and seven-year notes all made historic all-time lows on Wednesday, thanks to the confidence inspired by our brave central bank. Those yields are 0.13%, 0.12%, 0.15%. 0.25%, and 0.43%. So, if you would like to lend the US federal government $10,000 for five years, they'll pay you back a whopping $25 per year or $125 in total for the privilege. And, with luck, you'll get the principal back at the end.
This does not inspire much confidence in the continued smooth operation of our federal government. It speaks volumes to the sustainability of state governments and their bloated pension obligations. (This brings up an interesting point, a little off-topic: many teachers have not been in a classroom actually teaching since March. Many of these teachers - via their unions - are complaining that they don't want to go back into a classroom to teach when the school year begins again in a few weeks. Well, teaching in a classroom isn't kind of a job, it is their job, so why are they continuing to be paid?)
For those still interested, the entire treasury complex, from one-month out to 30-years, is now covered by 113 basis points, which isn't much, just more than one percent. Basically, lending to the federal government is a losing proposition if there's any time value of money or inflation whatsoever.
Cheers! (The crowd goes wild.)
Naturally, in the face of this obvious failure of the fractional-reserve, debt-based fiat currency system currently in play, the price of gold and silver went... wait for it... down. Well, that would be on the criminal exchanges known as the futures markets, obviously overseen and controlled (we don't like to use the word "manipulated" any more, makes it sound like a conspiracy theory) by the world's greatest gangsters in the world's largest criminal skimming enterprise, the consortium of sovereign central banks.
As of this writing, gold has been tamped down five times, as has silver, but the latter to a much greater degree. Seems that while the central bank gang doesn't like gold very much (it competes with their paper currencies), they like silver even less. Silver touched $26 a few days ago, but the big boys in their fancy suits saw best to slam it back to $22.98 this morning, though it has recovered to 23.20, presently.
The spot price and futures exchanges are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Try buying any quantity of silver at anything under $27 an ounce. You'll be laughed out of the coin shop. On eBay, single ounce bars and coins are going for anywhere from $27 to $40. Morgan silver dollars (90% silver, 10% copper, 26.73 grams) are going for upwards of $35. Numismatically prized specimens can fetch hundreds of dollars.
So, we're at war. Yes, war, but no guns have been fired yet unless you include the ones that went off either accidentally or on purpose at a few of the BLM protests over the past few weeks.
The war is being waged by the seven billion people on the planet who are not in the top 1% of wealth hoarders. They are fighting the government (whatever country you're in, plus all other governments of all other countries), the central banks (ditto) and their fiat currencies, mainstream media and the "official" medical community which fails to understand the simple equation: HCQ + Zinc + Z-Pac = NO COVID.
The weapons currently employed are words, currencies (vs. real money, gold and silver), brains, street smarts and assorted pamphlets, Molotov-cocktails, laser beams, rocks, barricades, fists, batons, spit, and finger-pointing.
Judging by the number of people "voluntarily" wearing masks and staying six feet away from the nearest co-habitant of the planet, the bad guys are winning. The tide needs to be turned.
With that, a reminder that we'll be back in about an hour to report on the release of second quarter US GDP, which figures to be a doozy on several levels. Downtown Magazine's current best guess is -41%, but, knowing how Wall Street and the number massagers at the BLS and Census operate, the figure is likely to come in at a cool -30%, because, as we all are aware, that would exceed estimates of -34.5% and will thus "beat the street" and encourage even more buying of stocks. Horray for us! We're not as poor as we thought!
See you again around 8:45 am ET.
At the Close, Wednesday, July 29, 2020:
Dow: 26,539.57, +160.29 (+0.61%)
NASDAQ: 10,542.94, +140.85 (+1.35%)
S&P 500: 3,258.44, +40.00 (+1.24%)
NYSE: 12,669.62, +178.40 (+1.43%)
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