Global Alert News – 05.09.18

What is the truth? What are the lies? How are each rapidly determining our collective futures? How can we have any chance of deciphering truth from lies unless or until we are willing to honestly investigate? The biosphere implosion cannot be hidden for much longer which makes the power structure more dangerous than ever. From the 911 attacks to wars …

Trends This Week – False faith, not hard data, boosting markets. Can it last? – 02.17.16

Trend forecaster Gerald Celente lays it on the table, dissecting why the bounce back in markets the last few days is bunk. After equity markets worldwide suffered one of the worst starts of a new year in history, stocks suddenly rebounded. For example, the Nikkei closed out last week at its lowest level since October 2014. But what economic fundamentals spiked prices higher this week? Was it the dismal news that Japan’s economy contracted 1.4 percent in the last quarter? No. What boosted stocks prices was the twisted rationale that despite the Bank of Japan firing two rounds of blanks from its “monetary bazooka,” the lousy Gross Domestic Product number was cause to launch yet another round of stimulus. Before Chinese markets opened Monday after being closed for a week, the Shanghai Index had fallen 47 percent since its peak in June. Was it on the rotten news that China’s exports fell 11.2 percent in January and imports plunged 18.8 percent that markets rallied? No. As with Japan, the dismal data was taken as a positive sign that the People’s Bank of China would take bold measures to boost sluggish growth. “Confidence,” trust the effectiveness of the rigged market game, not economic fundamentals, was the rationale for stocks suddenly moving higher. Tuesday’s New York Times headline summed it up: “Global Shares Buoyed by Investor Faith.” Yes, faith in more failed central-bank stimulus and stock and bond buyback sideshows… not faith in true price discovery and robust Gross Domestic product growth.

Neil Irwin – Negative 0.5% Interest Rate: Why People Are Paying to Save

When you lend When you lend somebody money, they usually have to pay you for the privilege. That has been a bedrock assumption across centuries of financial history. But it is an assumption that is increasingly being tossed aside by some of the world’s central banks and bond markets. A decade ago, negative interest rates were a theoretical curiosity that …