David Stockman: The Illusion of Growth

The Illusion of Growth:

The Wall Street Journal published a superb example of hopium recently in a sunny-side-up story entitled “U. S. Manufacturing Rides Rising Tide, Buoyed by Global Growth, Optimism.”

Indeed, this lazy cheerleading excuse for journalism captured the sum and substance of why the punters keep buying the dips despite troubles gathering all around.

That is, as the tax bill falters, the crusade to remove the Donald from office gathers strength, the Fed moves into balance sheet normalization and instability breaks out all over the world from the Persian Gulf to the Korean peninsula.

Read moreDavid Stockman: The Illusion of Growth

The Swiss National Bank Now Owns A Record $88 Billion In US Stocks

In a quarter in which the world was – supposedly – growing on all cylinders, and in which the S&P was making record high after record high, one central bank was quietly buying everything in sight….

The Swiss National Bank Now Owns A Record $88 Billion In US Stocks

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$1 Trillion In Liquidity Is Leaving: “This Will Be The Market’s First Crash-Test In 10 Years”

$1 Trillion In Liquidity Is Leaving: “This Will Be The Market’s First Crash-Test In 10 Years”:

“The undoing of loose monetary policies (NIRP, ZIRP), and the transitioning from ‘Peak Quantitative Easing’ to Quantitative Tightening, will create a liquidity withdrawal of over $1 trillion in 2018 alone. This will be the first real crash-test for markets in 10 years.”

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The Last Two Times We Saw This The Economy Was In A Recession – The Pentagon Is Worried That A Cyber Attack Could Cause A Stock Market Crash – (Videos)

H/t reader Squodgy:

“He’s issuing daily updates as the events become so numerous.”

Yes, and I am also posting updates like crazy.

We are definitely living in very interesting times.

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Trump’s Touts “$5.2 Trillion” In Stock Gains, Promises More If “Congress Gives Us Massive Tax Cuts”

FYI.

Trump’s Touts “$5.2 Trillion” In Stock Gains, Promises More If “Congress Gives Us Massive Tax Cuts”:

“Stock Market has increased by 5.2 Trillion dollars since the election on November 8th, a 25% increase. Lowest unemployment in 16 years and if Congress gives us the massive tax cuts (and reform) I am asking for, those numbers will grow by leaps and bounds.”

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The Economic Reset Has Been Planned By The Central Banks & Is Happening Right Now: Lynette Zang (Video)

H/t reader squodgy:

“Bitcoin appears at the same time as QE. ?????

Coincidence?

Is it slightly possible we’ve been set up again by the Bankster Cabal again?

Doh!!!!”

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Trump Now Live-Tweeting The Market: “Record High For S&P 500!”

Trump Now Live-Tweeting The Market: “Record High For S&P 500”:

Apparently, having nothing else to comment on this morning, moments ago the president tweeted that as of this moment, the S&P just hit its latest, 40th YTD, all time high in 2017.

“RECORD HIGH FOR S & P 500!”

Putting this declaration in context, in April 2016, Trump was feeling increasingly bearish about stocks. He told The Washington Post that they were overvalued and that the strong data that showed a healthy economy were essentially phony.

“I think we’re sitting on an economic bubble. A financial bubble,” Mr. Trump said.

By September, he was arguing that the Federal Reserve was propping up a “false economy” that is actually weak.

Read moreTrump Now Live-Tweeting The Market: “Record High For S&P 500!”

The Stock Market Is Seriously Overvalued Based On This Benchmark

The Stock Market Is Seriously Overvalued Based On This Benchmark:

As Americans place a record amount of bets into a stock market that continues to rise towards the heavens, few realize how much the Dow Jones Index is overvalued. While some metrics suggest that the Dow Jones Index is very expensive, there is another indicator that shows just how much of a bubble the market has become.

If we compare the Dow Jones Index to the price of oil, we can see how much the market has to fall to get back to a more realistic valuation. For example, if the Dow Jones Index were to decline to the same ratio to oil back to its low in early 2009, it would need to lose 14,500 points or 65% of its value.

Read moreThe Stock Market Is Seriously Overvalued Based On This Benchmark

Shiller Warns Against Complacency: “Today’s Market Looks Like It Did At The Peaks Before Last 13 Bear Markets”

Shiller Warns Against Complacency: “Today’s Market Looks Like It Did At The Peaks Before Last 13 Bear Markets”:

The US stock market today looks a lot like it did at the peak before all 13 previous price collapses. That doesn’t mean that a bear market is imminent, but it does amount to a stark warning against complacency.”

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Finally the Contrarian Warning from Small Investors

Finally the Contrarian Warning from Small Investors:

They did the same in January 2000 just before the dot.com crash.

For years, individual investors in the US have been a dreary bunch, as stocks soared relentlessly since bottoming out in 2009. But 18 months ago, in February 2016, they finally caught the bug, and now optimism has surged at a record pace. Optimism about the stock market in particular has reached the record highs established during the Dot.com bubble, just before it all fell apart.

H/t reader squodgy:

“Looks like time to jump in and buy stocks then….YAY!!!”

Yes, the best time to buy is when the small investors are BTFATH (Buy The Fucking All Time High)!!!

And what could possibly go wrong?

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“Get Totally Out Of Stocks” – Charles Nenner Warns “US Social Unrest Is Bigger Problem Than North Korea” (Video)

“Get Totally Out Of Stocks” – Charles Nenner Warns “US Social Unrest Is Bigger Problem Than North Korea”

In this extensive interview with USAWatchdog.com’s Greg Hunter, Charles Nenner, renowned financial and geopolitical analyst, has been saying for a few years that “there would be no market crash until the end of 2017,” and “if people were not positioned correctly, they could lose everything.”

It’s nearing the end of 2017, and Nenner says, “I think we are there already. . . . We, personally, are totally out of stocks at this point.”

So, where is Nenner telling people to stash their cash?

Read more“Get Totally Out Of Stocks” – Charles Nenner Warns “US Social Unrest Is Bigger Problem Than North Korea” (Video)

Lord Rothschild: “Share Prices Are At Unprecedented Levels, This Is Not A Time To Add Risk”

Lord Rothschild: “Share Prices Are At Unprecedented Levels, This Is Not A Time To Add Risk”:

We do not believe this is an appropriate time to add to risk. Share prices have in many cases risen to unprecedented levels at a time when economic growth is by no means assured. Geopolitical problems remain widespread and are proving increasingly difficult to resolve.” – Lord Jacob Rothschild

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The Dow Falls 274 Points As ‘Eclipse Fever’ Hits The Financial Markets

FYI.

–  The Dow Falls 274 Points As ‘Eclipse Fever’ Hits The Financial Markets:

Have we now entered a time of major financial shaking?  On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 274 points.  The was the largest decline for the Dow since May, and high yield bonds were down dramatically as well.  Many are blaming the terror attack in Barcelona and “instability in the White House” for the downturn, but could “eclipse fever” also be a factor?  The closer that we get to the solar eclipse on August 21st, the weirder people seem to be getting.  You will see what I am talking about below.

But first let’s talk about the financial markets.  I have been warning that stocks are massively overvalued for quite a while now, and it turns out that the Federal Reserve very much agrees with me

Read moreThe Dow Falls 274 Points As ‘Eclipse Fever’ Hits The Financial Markets

One Trader Scoffs “Finally, A Market Where It’s Easy To Get Rich”

One Trader Scoffs “Finally, A Market Where It’s Easy To Get Rich”:

“…nothing matters except technical levels…the market is completely divorced from whatever is going on…”

*****

Nothing matters, until it does …

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Man Plunges To Death From Seventh Floor Of London Stock Exchange

Man Plunges To Death From Seventh Floor Of London Stock Exchange:

An unidentified man fell to his death from the seventh floor of the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Reuters and British news outlets reported.

”We were called to the London Stock Exchange in Paternoster Square on Tuesday, 15 August at 9.58am to a report of a man who had fallen from an upper floor in the building to the ground” City of London police said.  “The man was pronounced dead,” police said, adding that they were treating the incident as non-suspicious.

Read moreMan Plunges To Death From Seventh Floor Of London Stock Exchange