Best Wishes, Joe & Kamala, From 80 Million Deplorables; Mudville, Bitcoin, and Max Keiser's Reveal

So, it's Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, right?

Congress made it official, albeit a little later than they had planned, thanks to a small insurrection and breach of the nation's capitol. Not a biggie.

What congress and their newly-appointed president and vice have to now consider is how to deal with:

80 million angry, disenfranchised, armed adults

millions more on lockdown

hundreds of thousands of small businesses shuttered for good

millions more unemployed

$600 checks that were spent on guns, ammo, and bitcoin

millions of past due rents of six months or longer

millions of mortgages in forbearance

fake news

tech censorship

fake plague

vaccines that are killing recipients

$27.8 trillion national debt

$4 trillion current deficit

US$ sinking

wealth disparity at all-time high

broken election system

ongoing, self-inflicted pandemic

Those are just for starters. Soon to come on the menu are regional wars, China, Europe's inevitable implosion, unworkable Brexit in the UK, a blizzard here and there, and maybe a natural disaster down the line. Joe has the answer: mandatory mask-wearing everywhere and a 90-day, nationwide lockdown.

This is what is expected to be handled by the uniparty in congress, an aged, grifter president who often doesn't know where he is, and a VP with no foreign relations or governance experience. And Janet Yellen at Treasury. Oh, joy!

They've got less than two weeks to get plans together to deal with all of this, besides the usual moving-in disruptions, internecine office warfare, a few doses of graft and bribery, undermining of plans by their new hires, and more demands of Green New Deals, reparations, and loony leftist ideas from AOC and her "squad."

While a peaceful demonstration turned into a brief storming of the barricades early Wednesday afternoon, wall Street was enjoying another make-believe rally on the back of the falling US dollar. The trading crew in the tall Manhattan buildings expect big spending by Biden and company, and they're not wrong about that at all. There will be massive give-aways of money and priviledge, and inflation running north of 15% per annum.

Joe and Kamala ought to be given a prize or trophy for wishing to inherit the wind... and getting it.

Hosea 8:7: “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”

Gold and silver took their usual weekly beating with appropriate humility. An ounce of silver (it's assumed that Mike Pence got a number of those, as a Judas of biblical fame) sold down into the $26.60 range. Since the start of December, it's continued to climb upwards from $23.

Gold stumbled badly, losing nearly $50 an ounce, but it's holding its own between $1910 and $1920. This too has been in rally mode for weeks. It's likely to soar right past $2050 shortly, then beyond. Silver will finally breach $30, then higher.

Bitcoin and Etherium, the two major cryptocurrency assets, continue to amaze. Just a moment ago, Bitcoin topped $38,000. A week ago it was $28,500. Less than a month ago, it was $17,500. Less than a month ago, Ether, or Etherium, was $550. A week ago, it was hovering around $750. This morning it's over $1200.

Bitcoin is a rocket ship to Nirvana. Ether is heading to Valhahla, all because what central banks issue as currency is counterfeit and people are catching on. Not everybody, but enough people are scared to death about what's happening to - as Larry Kudlow calls it - "King Dollar" that they're scurrying to other asset classes besides stocks. One can tell by the dollar index that something is afoot, but looking no further than the yield on the 10-year note, opening today at a nine-month high of 1.04% is as good a proxy for dollar flight as can be found anywhere.

Treasury bonds have reversed course with yields heading higher. This is not a head fake. The Fed's efforts to keep rates low while stoking inflation with ceaseless cutesie "Quantitative Easing" (counterfeiting) is about as crude a bludgeon to the economy as a pole axe to the side of the head. The bleeding will never stop until the victim is exhausted. It's happening. It's not going to stop.

Across America, 787,000 people filed initial jobless claims last week. So much for the V-shaped recovery. The letter q or Q might be a more distinct impression for the chartists.

Although it's the heart of the "dark winter" that Quid Pro Joe has promised us, it's hard not to have some hope that in about seven weeks, young and aging pitchers and catchers alike may possibly be assembling on various playing fields of Florida and Arizona for the start of baseball's Spring Training. If the Ides of March are kind, the regular season might start around the first week of April, if April Fools Day passes without incident and the annual tax filing deadline isn't extended too far into the future.

For those still optimistic about our new congressional and executive branches, and, to all the wheezy economists at the Federal Reserve, offered is the final quatrain of Ernest Lawrence Thayer's humble addition to the national consciousness, Casey at the Bat.

Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.

Max Keiser Reveals Bitcoin Price Forecast for 2021:

At the Close, Wednesday, January 6, 2021:
Dow: 30,829.40, +437.80 (+1.44%)
NASDAQ: 12,740.79, -78.17 (-0.61%)
S&P 500: 3,748.14, +21.28 (+0.57%)
NYSE: 14,788.83, +252.30 (+1.74%)

Georgia Goes Full Democrat, Triggering Bond Yield Spike, Gold, Silver, Bitcoin Gains

Just in case you haven’t noticed, Democrats took two more seats in the US Senate on Tuesday, which will put the chamber at an even 50-50 split between Republicans and Democrats (two independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and angus King of Maine caucus and almost always vote with Democrats). That will leave it to the Vice President (whoever that turns out to be) to break any ties, which may not be a problem as the Republican party features three Senators - Utah's Mitt Romney, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, and Maine's Susan Collins - one of which, if not all, can usually be swayed to vote with the Democrats.

So, you're thinking, great, more free everything for everybody. But, hold on a minute. Wall Street, ever vigilant in keeping their DC enablers on a short leash, don't like the idea of Democrats or Republicans holding all the cards. With a slim margin in the House, a breakable tie in the Senate and Joe Biden ostensibly the next president, Democrats have tipped over the balance of power to their favor.

Wall Street prefers split government, simply due to the idea that when the government is fractured, it can't pass any new laws to screw up the orderly function of business. Thus, they're a little bit miffed over the developments out of Georgia and stock futures are pointed dramatically lower. Gold is adding to Tuesday's gains and silver is approaching $28 an ounce. Bitcoin rallied as high as $35,868 overnight and has settled in around $34,500.

Later today (Wednesday, Jan. 6) a joint session of congress will consider the electors in the presidential race for certification. There will be objections from Republicans and debates on dual slates of electors from as many as seven states, maybe more. Out on the streets of DC, millions - yes, millions - will be rallying for Donald J. Trump and to save the nation from what many consider a stolen election and other grand crimes committed by Democrats in the quest for power. In all likelihood, the pro-Trump demonstrators will be joined by groups from ANTIFA and BLM. It's going to be quite the spectacle, although the mainstream media will give it about 30 seconds of coverage, call the crowds "large" and try to move on to their coronavirus agenda.

That's the agenda today in the newly-crowned banana republic of America, where rich people and Democrats get 60 days for most crimes if they're even arrested, arraigned, tried, and convicted and poor people and Republicans get thrown into dungeons if they aren't shot first.

Perhaps the most alarming number to come out of recent events is the rise in yield of the benchmark 10-year note, which topped 1.00% overnight, a number that everybody agrees is bad for the economy, stocks, the federal debt, this year's deficit, and probably NFL TV ratings. Rising interest rates mean that debt cannot be so easily disposed of and the cost of servicing the massive debt on government, business, and individual books is higher.

If anything is capable, by itself, of bringing down the house of cards that is the US economy, it's higher interest rates. While the appearance of 1.00% on the 10-year yield may be just another number in a sequence, but the psychological impact will be felt far and wide, especially if that sequence continues higher, which has been the recent trend.

The last time the 10-year yield was above 1.00% was on March 19 of last year when it closed the day at 1.12%. It was during that period in which stocks were bottoming out and the Fed was in the process of cutting the federal funds rate to Zero. On Friday, the yield on the 10-year note was clipped by 20 basis points, to 0.92%. By Monday of the next week (March 23), the Fed having issued more emergency policies over the weekend, the 10-year would yield 0.76. The one-month bill caught a yield of 0.01%, its lowest ever.

As yields on bonds rise, issuers scramble to sell what they're holding at discount, as their lower-yielding bills, notes, and bonds are of lesser value. The danger is of setting off a vicious cyclical event, a selling panic in the bond market, pushing yields even higher. In the most extreme cases, yields spiral out of control, much fixed-income wealth is destroyed and lending eventually siezes up. With the Fed intent on keeping interest rates as close to zero as humanly possible, rising rates is the last thing they want to see. It's a sign that they've lost control of the currency, the economy, the whole ball of wax.

While the circus in Washington continues to play out, people with money are going to focus more on the realities of the economy. Rising interest rates natuarally pulls investment away from stocks and into fixed income. If rates continue to rise, the stock market will crash as money flees to the less-risky and more profitable fixed income space.

The trend toward higher rates is not something that began with the election of two Democrat Senators from Georgia. The entire treasury complex has been gradually rising since the March lows, but the 10-year note in particular has been gaining momentum since October of 2020, topping 0.90% a couple of times in November and remaining above that level all of December, the highest yield of 0.97% coming on December 4. The rising yield will probably be hailed as a positive sign that the economy is recovering by the putrid financial press at Bloomberg and CNBC when the truth is that inflation is about to run rampant and push the economy further into recession.

Be prepared for fireworks on political and economic fronts beginning Wednesday and for the immediate future.

Here’s a very entertaining interview with Lawrence Lepard... "The Currency Reset Is Coming | Gold, Silver & Mining Stocks Will Moonshot"

At the Close, Tuesday, January 5, 2021:
Dow: 30,391.60, +167.71 (+0.55%)
NASDAQ: 12,818.96, +120.51 (+0.95%)
S&P 500: 3,726.86, +26.21 (+0.71%)
NYSE: 14,536.53, +159.83 (+1.11%)

BOHICA: On Being A Boy Scout As Government, Economy Disintegrates Into The Greater Depression

Are you thinking about getting some young chicks from Tractor Supply in a couple of months?

You should be, if you like eggs and if you want to stay alive because here in the United States, the Greater Depression - that has been delayed via actions by the Fed and the federal government - is about to go live.

Since March of last year, when the pandemic went live in the US, profound changes to the landscape of life have been underway, though the immediate effects have not been felt. The lockdowns and COVID-related restrictions damaged millions of small businesses and devastated many to the point at which they closed their doors permanently. Incomes were slashed, employees laid off, and extra money was pumped into a collapsing economy via additional unemployment insurance checks, mortgage forbearance, a moratorium on evictions, and other safety net remedies.

While the economy was salvaged for a while and the stock market boomed, there was still a massive degree of income and wealth destruction. Rents and mortgages haven't been paid for nearly in year in many circumstances. A huge number of people are facing either eviction or foreclosure within months, if not weeks.

The Greater Depression (a coinage which should hold up as a comparison to the "Great Depression" of the 1930s) is likely to last anywhere from six to 12 years. There's only so much money and resource that the federal and state governments can throw at the problem. Eventually, either the rents and mortgages get paid or they don't and the probability of them not getting paid is rising by the hour.

Our political class is about to engage in internecine warfare on Capitol Hill. Forget the Georgia elections, which conclude tonight. That's a sideshow to the electoral college counting of votes on Wednesday, January 6 in a joint session of congress. Republicans are poised to contest the electors chosen for Joe Biden in six or seven states, including Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, and possibly New Mexico, where dual sets of electors - one each for Biden and President Trump - have been delivered. Vice President Mike Pence, in his role as President of the Senate, will present, in alphabetical order by state, the slates of electors for confirmation by the House and Senate. When he gets to Arizona, after Alabama and Alaska, the fireworks begin and the process is not likely to go smoothly. It could last days if House members and Senators object and trigger debates on all six or seven contested states.

In the meantime, maybe a million or two million supporters of President Trump, opposed to what they consider an attempt by Joe Biden and the Democrats to steal the presidential election through various means of fraud, will be occupying much of Washington, DC. Along side the protesters will be the National Guard and maybe elements from ANTIFA and BLM, just to make things interesting.

It's going to get crazy and at the end of it, there is going to be one enormous segment of the population that's not going to be happy, and another, equally large segment that thinks it has won. Or, it could drag on and on without resolution for days or weeks, even beyond the scheduled date for inauguration, January 20. There's a chance that the nation's capitol will be under siege, as has been the case in countries that have endured so-called "color revolutions" in places like Tunisia, Macedonia, Armenia, Georgia, and elsewhere.

What a sight for the world to behold would be an encampment of Americans at the seat of government, protesting everything corrupt, everything wrong, everything suspect, basically, everything.

Thus, for those of us not interested or otherwise occupied, the world will seemingly stop. Nobody will really know what's going on for at least 48 hours, probably from the reveal of the Georgia Senate elections around 9:00 pm ET Tuesday through the joint session of congress and bayond, through, at least, 9:00 pm ET Thursday night.

The power may go out. The internet may go down. Telecommunications networks may be compromised, so it would be a good idea to adopt a Boy Scout mentality based on their "Be Prepared" model, to charge up your phones and computers (even though they may not work anyhow), get candles and generators ready, have extra batteries ready for the worst if only because it could happen.

With the coming mad side show in Washington, DC - oh, yeah, and maybe some urban terrorism, like last summer, in big cities, courtesy of our progressive friends - ushering in the Greater Depression, being prepared just makes sense. Beyond the next few days to a few weeks, people should be preparing for the long haul, like making plans for a garden and buying those young chicks or getting some adult ones from producers.

If you've never tended to a garden, you're about to find out how much hard work and fun it is. For those in the Northern exposures, you're going to have a wait a few months for the pleasure (and, not to be facetious, it can be an enjoyable experience) unless you've got a working greenhouse. Southern folks can get an early start because temperatures are warmer and soon will be conducive to growing hardy vegetables like broccoli and various greens.

Let's not forget that the media will be constantly bombarding you with contagious disease stories to keep you off the streets and on your toes... at home. The stock market and all other markets will probably continue to function, albeit imperfectly, and the possibility of not just a long-overdue correction in stocks, but a outright crash is not to be dismissed. After all, the Fed can print up as many new dollars as it pleases and send them to the banks for quick entry into stocks, but only for so long. They've been pumping the market for years with counterfeit funds. Eventually, even big money will seek an escape from hopelessly rigged markets.

As a prelude to where all this is heading, stocks opened trading for 2021 on Monday with a nasty sell-off. At the same time, gold and silver were being bid up, as was Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin actually topped $34,000 on Sunday (Jan. 3) before drifting a little lower. It's still well above $30,000. It was less than $20,000 three weeks ago.

Silver is at its best level since September, checking in above $27 an ounce while gold continues to climb, hitting $1950 as of this writing. Stock futures are pointing toward another negative opening on Tuesday.

At its core, everything in stocks, bonds, crypto, commodities, politics, and daily life is all about the demise of the US dollar, the world's reserve currency, which has been in a downdraft since well before the pandemic struck, continues to this day and will experience unrelenting decline through all 2021.

The era of fiat money is coming to an end. The Fed already has plans in place for a cryptocurrency of its own which is not likely to provide much in the way of a "reset" or restart unless it's backed by gold and is limited, which it won't be, at least not right away. Otherwise, the Fed is prepared to go full frontal MMT, complete with UBI (Universal Basic Income) for the masses. Everybody will get some to spend, but it's going to be like the $600 checks being delivered in the second big COVID relief bill, not enough for anything beyond the basic necessities.

Hollowing out the middle class through inflation and government confiscation (taxes) has been the aim of the Federal Reserve and the central bank global cabal since the GFC of 2007-09. It's now about to reach a new phase with 800,000 new jobless claims every week and even more devastation, lockdowns, forced evictions, crime, and yes, starvation.

Those who have been willing to seek the truth and discount the lies of government, medicine, and media will probably manage to survive most of the coming carnage. It's unavoidable at this point as the politicians, whether by accident or with full knowledge and purpose, have pushed people to the edge and segregated them into two opposing groups of liberals and conservatives, blue team and red team at each other's throats while the real villans play out their evil charade.

The events in Georgia and Washington, DC, may pass without dispute or disruption, but only the most wide-eyed optimists or criminally insane are counting on that. Better to be prepared for the worst than experience it unprepared.

Like all depressions or disruptions of economies, this one will end in war or revolution or both. Probably both.

Get some chicks and some batteries. Be A Boy Scout for once in your life. Be Prepared.

Some Bitcoin wisdom from Michael Saylor:

At the Close, Monday, January 4, 2021:
Dow: 30,223.89, -382.59 (-1.25%)
NASDAQ: 12,698.45, -189.83 (-1.47%)
S&P 500: 3,700.65, -55.42 (-1.48%)
NYSE: 14,376.70, -148.10 (-1.02%)

WEEKEND WRAP: Year-end Prices, New Year Projections, Great Reset?

Well, 2020 is finally over. If you're reading this, you've survived. Now, the focus shifts away from getting through the "pandemic", which is totally fake and contrived just to enslave people and take away their rights, their incomes, their savings, and their humanity and towards either a recovery, a relapse or a reset.

If you don't agree with this, you can just stop reading now. There's no intention to make this blog a sounding board for the status quo, the "conspiracy theory" finger pointers or the President Elect Biden crowd. That's all going down within weeks. In case January 20 comes along and somehow, the most criminal lying traitor to the constitution ever to run for president is inaugurated, everything changes. Nothing goes back to normal. Democracy is dead. Those and other, more serious, severe realities will unfold if the stolen election is allowed to stand.

For purposes of this blog and posts over the coming days and weeks, the next 12 months of living on planet Earth, especially in the USA, Canada and Europe, must be based upon the re-election of Donald J. Trump as the reality. Otherwise, every financial and economic action of consequence will be distorted, but, it is on good information that many Senators and members of the House of Representatives will challenge the electoral slates presented to them by Vice-President Mike Pence on January 6, and a positive resolution for the patriots that have stood up and will not stand down is expected.

With that said, a hop-scotch through the end-of-year market activity, followed by some food for thought going forward can commence.

As the year 2020 came to a close, just about everybody was doing the social distancing and mask-wearing that is either mandated or become social convention. That will wear out in 2021. People have had enough, but, with widespread cancellation of New Year celebrations, it appears that the media/government/medicine deep state cabal still has a pretty good grip on the general population through COVID-19 propaganda.

Stocks just kind of meandered to new highs without much fanfare or catalyst. Indeed, it was almost as though stocks were just supposed to go higher all by themselves, whether the companies behind the securities were faring well or ill. It didn't matter the last few weeks of 2020 and obviously wasn't much of a concern from mid-March forward as the general economy cratered under the weight of lockdowns and civil unrest, stay-at-home orders, and fake science.

For whatever its worth, here's how the various major indices and other assets did in 2020:

Index: Close 12/31/19 / Close 12/31/20 / Gain (Loss) / % Gain (Loss)
Dow: 28,538.44 / 30,606.48 / 2,068.04 / +7.25%
NASDAQ: 8,972.60 / 12,888.28 / 3,915.68 / +43.64%
S&P 500: 3,230.78 / 3,756.07 / 525.29 / +16.26%
NYSE: 13,913.03 / 14,524.80 / 611.77 / +4.40%

Commodities:
Item: Close 12/31/19 / Close 12/31/20 / Gain (Loss) / % Gain (Loss)
Gold: 1517.25 / 1895.10 / 377.85 / +24.90%
Silver: 18.01 / 26.46 / 8.45 / +46.92%
Copper: 6,076 / 7,749 / 1,673 / +27.53%
Nickel: 13,736 / 16,540 / 2,804 / +20.41%
Zinc: 2,283 / 2,729 / 446 / +19.54%
WTI Crude Oil: 63.05 / 48.42 / (14.63) / (23.21%)
Corn: 3.88 / 4.86 / 0.98 / +25.26%
Soybeans: 9.31 / 13.14 / 3.83 / +41.14%
Wheat: 188.50 / 213.50 / 15 / +13.26%

Crypto:
Item: Close 12/31/19 / Close 12/31/20 / Gain (Loss) / % Gain (Loss)
Bitcoin: 7,360.97 / 29,004.26 / 21,643.29 / 394.03%
Etherium: 135.39 / 737.85 / 602.46 / 544.98%

Treasuries:
Item: Close 12/31/19 / Close 12/31/20 / Gain (Loss) / % Gain (Loss)
3-month yield: 1.55 / 0.09 / (1.46) / (94.20%)
10-year yield: 1.92 / 0.93 / (1.01) / (51.56%)
30-year yield 2.39 / 1.65 / (0.74) / (30.96%)

Finally, here are recent prices for commonly-purchased gold and silver items on eBay (numismatics excluded, shipping - often free - included):

Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 31.13 / 42.50 / 35.72 / 34.98
1 oz silver bar: 29.99 / 40.00 / 35.32 / 36.00
1 oz gold coin: 1,975.00 / 2,196.96 / 2,034.16 / 2,012.32
1 oz gold bar: 1,862.00 / 2,071.30 / 1,994.66 / 1,998.54

The dollar index fell from 96.84 to 89.93 over the course of the year 2020, a decline of 7.14% against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies: euro, Swiss Franc, Japanese Yen, Canadian dollar, British pound, and Swedish Krona. Meanwhile, those currencies are have been or are devaluing against each other as they are all fiats, backed by nothing more than promises, as is the US dollar, the world's reserve currency.

So, with all this knowledge in hand on prices, generally rising, other than the obvious declines in treasury yields, what does this portend for 2021 (we knew you'd ask)?

It's important to value everything in something, usually currencies. Valuing oil in terms of gold or corn in terms of zinc may be instructive, but most people are going to view the economic world through a prism of currency, and that usually means the US dollar.

With almost everything higher against the US dollar, is that due to a decline in the dollar itself or are these items (gold, silver, oil) actually more valuable to hold as savings that are not currencies? In a nutshell, an ounce of gold, or silver, or a bushel of corn or some shares of stock did not suddenly become more valuable. What's changed is the purchasing power of the US dollar, and, to varying degrees, that of other currencies. Because faith in fiat currencies and the governments which back them is waning, how people value their cash is eroding, forcing many to flee to hard assets, especially in the case of precious metals and cryptocurrencies, the latter being a special case in that they are babes in the woods. Bitcoin was only birthed in 2009, but, having all of the characteristics of a store of value and a currency, these marvels of block-chain technology have caught on with a fury.

As adoption of cryptocurrencies goes mainstream, holders of Bitcoin (known as HODLers, for Hold On for Dear Life) are creating a virtuous cycle, pushing out the bad money ($$) with good (BTC), replacing central bank debt-based currency with distributed peer-based currency that cannot be inflated away with the striking of a keyboard. Other hard assets such as gold, silver, oil, agricultural land and crops, machinery, equipment, art, collectibles, and business assets found new life and new investors in 2020, a trend that has been growing since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-09.

Now, as hard assets threaten to become a crowded trade due to inflation (too much money in circulation), the trend only seems to be accelerating. The advance of copper, zinc, other metals, and agricultural commodities (corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.) are notably pointing toward a massive bull run off of historic lows. The more the Fed and their central bank cohorts continue injecting fresh currency into the system, the more a dozen eggs, a pound of butter, a liter of cola is going to cost. Food is the last thing to experience inflationary pressure because input costs are not uniformly passed along to consumers, and because it is the final hurdle between civil society and disruptive anarchy. A nation's stomachs must be at least partially full to keep the populace from protesting, revolting, rising up and overthrowing the governing class. We're not quite there yet, but, especially if food prices continue rising, social unrest could begin to spread coast to coast and everywhere in between.

This digression into lawlessness can be stopped, but only by consensus of the disenfranchised, which currently are those citizens who voted for Donald J. Trump in the presidential race and feel cheated. Unless and until those people are satisfied, there isn't going to be any kind of peace and harmony in America. That is why making predictions on the future of trading, holding, buying, and selling of assets of all classes so difficult and confounding. The immediate future is not just cloudy, it is downright dense, like a steel wall nobody can break through, see through, or climb over.

Also weighing heavily on future outcomes is the continuation of the COVID conspiracy. The longer the public is led along by fake science and locked down by oppressive governments at the state and local levels, the worse becomes the anger, frustration and outrage, which leads nowhere good.

When these two important elements are finally resolved, then decisions based on real world circumstances can be made.

Outside of anything else, non-dollar assets appear to be on a trajectory straight up, as dollar hegemony has been declining for years, is accelerating, and is unlikely to halt or reverse. The global fiat currency system has been shattered and there's no coming back from currency collapse and solvency crises. The era of centralization and globalization is dying, kicking a screaming all the way towards a new paradigm of decentralized finance and localized commerce. That is an undeniable trend.

Finally, as we enter a new year full of hope, think about this:

Central banks (FED, ECB, BOJ, PBOC, BOE, etc.) create currency with a few keystrokes on a computer. It's the essence of counterfeiting.

With that counterfeit, what are they buying? Corporate debt, mortgages, government debt (treasuries), gold, other assets, maybe even Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

How is this even possible? It is because there isn't much attention paid to, nor knowledge of the global currency creation system.

Central banks are buying up the greatest assets of the world with currency that has no basis, no backing, other than the outstanding debt by which it was sprung into existence. It's like playing a game of monopoly where the bank not only gets to play, but is able to give itself - and only itself - as much money as it needs to win, i.e., controlling the best assets on the board and making everybody else pay rent until they're broke and eliminated from the game.

There are ways out of this mess, but they all involve some degree of pain and destruction. Alternative currencies are one good answer. Owning assets paid for with currencies outside the control of the central banks crimps their monopolistic tendencies, thus the meteoric rise of Bitcoin over the past six months.

Lastly, in case you're interested in what was formerly called a conspiracy theory but is now a conspiracy fact, follow the link for a FREE PDF of COVID-19: The Great Reset authored by World Economic Forum (WEF) founder and director, Klaus Schwaub, and Thierry Malleret.

2020 is finally WRAPPED. Happy New Year!

At the Close, Thursday, December 31, 2020:
Dow: 30,606.48, +196.92 (+0.65%)
NASDAQ: 12,888.28, +18.28 (+0.14%)
S&P 500: 3,756.07, +24.03 (+0.64%)
NYSE: 14,524.80, +47.33 (+0.33%)

For the Week:
Dow: +406.61 (+1.35%)
NASDAQ: +83.65 (+0.65%)
S&P 500: +53.01 (+1.43%)
NYSE: +143.20 (+1.99%)

Some Considerations for Surviving, Maintaining, and Prospering in 2021

Heading into 2021, there's almost universal certainty that the year will offer a multitude of challenges to Americans, be they emotional, financial, or safety-related. The main threats to freedom-loving people come not from they mystery virus, but from corrupt politicians with rapacious taxation schemes and illicit mandates, an out-of-control medical community, or lies and falsehoods from the mainstream media propaganda machine.

The following are suggestions that would apply even in the best of times. Being prepared is just good common sense. Most people aren't capable of handling a crisis without panicking, so avoiding crisis conditions in the first place is recommended. Living conditions can go sideways in a hurry, by natural or man-made forces, so being informed and suitably prepared are primary concerns under circumstances that may well become beyond the control of individuals and families, as many have learned from the various CV-19 restrictions, rules, lockdowns and subsequent reactions.

If your intention is to survive the coming depression that - by all appearances - will arrive and intensify in 2021, the very first thing you have to do is put together a personal or family budget and determine if your income is sufficient and secure enough to afford your current lifestyle and reasonably expected expenses.

The next thing is to make adjustments. Personal preferences may be in favor of a luscious lifestyle in the face of increasingly difficult circumstances or austerity to cope with what may become a stressful situation. In either case, it behooves the prudent to ensure that all life-supporting essentials are in good repair and working order, including everything from checking your roof, windows, doors, and basement for damage or potential failures to keeping your vehicles and appliances in good operating condition. Nothing can be more threatening to safe survival than a car that won't start, a roof that leaks, or a refrigerator or furnace that fails when most needed.

Health is going to be a primary concern, so it's a good idea to stock up on basic first aid materials like aspirin, bandages, antiseptics, and immune-boosting vitamins, especially, C, D3, Zinc, Quercetin, and a good stock of multi-vitamins.

If your pantry isn't already overflowing with canned goods, flour, rice, bottled water, and other basic foodstuffs, the time to stock up in now. Nothing harms the human spirit more than an empty stomach, and, with "food insecurity" rampant in the new American experience, keeping a supply of survival-type items on hand is not just a good idea, it's an essential one.

An even better solution to storing food is to grow some of your own. In case you've never planted a seed or grown some tomatoes, peppers, or lettuce, the time to start learning how was yesterday. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, most families had little garden plots in their back yards so they were at least partially self-sufficient. A 10 x 10 garden can produce quite a few edibles. Bigger is better of course. Even though it's the dead of winter, gathering information and checking on seed supplies right now may be a prudent endeavor. Gardening and farming is not easy. It's time-consuming, but can be fun, and the rewards of fresh produce are without equal.

Mental health may become a greater concern as conditions change. Normalcy bias dictates a certain intellectual comfort level that can be badly challenged when things just aren't going to be the same as they used to be. Developing some flexibility in your mental and emotional outlook may be the most important thing you can do to deal with changing conditions in your life and those around you.

Keep lines of communication open. News you get from television is likely to be distorted and overly pessimistic. Sourcing information off the internet will likely be a viable alternative to mainstream propaganda. Radio is another good source for reasonably good information, though much of it is biased toward either conservative or liberal audiences, so listen with a jaundiced ear.

Get to know your neighbors and their views. You may find that many of them aren't very well-prepared and it may be up to you to get them up to speed on important issues. Banding together on a local basis may become a necessity.

If you're fortunate enough to already have a good source of backup power in case of natural disaster, make sure it will function properly when needed. If you don't have backup power or energy sources, getting your hands on a working gas generator, some solar panels, a converter, and batteries should be a priority.

Keep cash on hand and as little as necessary in the bank. In the case of a national banking emergency, the money in your bank may not be readily accessible. That's been the case in the past and it's sure to be somewhat the same in the future.

Lastly, but obviously not the least of concerns is personal safety and that, for most people, means having guns and ammo at your disposal in case things really get out of control. Owning a gun is great, but better yet is knowing how to use one and keep it in working condition. Some shooting practice makes sense, and understanding how you will react under stressful conditions is also an important consideration. Hitting targets is fine, but what you're likely to be shooting at will be on the move. At the very least, a handgun, shotgun or rifle will give you the upper hand in many situations, whether you choose to use it as deadly force or employ it as a threat to keep dangerous matters under control.

Overall, 2021 isn't guaranteed to be anything. Probably, some of it will be good, some bad. Whether you choose to carry on with life as you always have or develop a hunker down in a bunker mentality is entirely up to you. At least taking the time to assess your personal situation and that of the world around you may offer some advantage toward staying alive, staying safe, and maybe even prospering during disruptive times.

There will be opportunities. There always are for people prepared to discover them. Your garden may feed half the neighborhood. Your skills may be in demand. You may discover things about yourself you never imagined that can be marketed profitably. There will certainly be opportunities to make money in stocks, currencies, commodities and other financial products. Stay aware and on the lookout for ways to make money or improve your net worth.

Here's to a Happy and Healthy New Year in 2021 and hope that conditions improve rather than deteriorate further.

At the Close, Wednesday, December 30, 2020:
Dow: 30,409.56, +73.89 (+0.24%)
NASDAQ: 12,870.00, +19.78 (+0.15%)
S&P 500: 3,732.04, +5.00 (+0.13%)
NYSE: 14,477.48, +79.55 (+0.55%)