Under Pressure

We noticed the following chart and subsequent commentary from Investment Research Dynamics.

What are we to make of the information presented?

Market manipulation.

And no, there has never been such a sustained absence of volatility historically.

The FED wants to insure any volatility remains in check, for if the beta became uncontrollable, things could unwind in high velocity.

Although we have no documentation, it appears certain the FED is buying and selling stocks when the deem necessary to stop any downdrafts from gaining traction.

This cannot continue, as the market will take control of itself sooner rather than later.

We have great respect for the thinkers over at Investment Research Dynamics, particularity their spot on analysis of the capital markets, although we do part company politically on occasion.

IRD nails it again, and it is warning you should heed.

The U.S. collapse will happen either now or later. For the latter outcome, at some point the Fed will need to print 10’s of trillions of dollars to prevent that horizontal line on the graph above from turning into a downward-pointing near-vertical line. Of course, please review the history of Germany circa 1923 to see how the money printing alternative worked out…

The Ghost of History

China Ghost City

The talking heads on the financial channels are blaming China for the recent downdraft in the stock market. China is a real problem; a ticking time bomb.  However, this is not new. They manipulate their numbers, and do not operate efficient markets based on supply and demand principles. China has several ghost cities, for crying out loud, which are well known and truly stunning.

It is the mess created by the US government, with complicit partners on Wall Street and in the mainstream media, that has placed America and her finances in peril.  Every decision that was made in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis was in error, and eroded liberty and freedom for all. Once such action was extending the unemployment coverage for longer periods of time. As famed author Art Laffer once quipped, "when you people not to work, don't be surprised if get a lot of people not working." Got it.

Speaking of the job market, investors hope a strong jobs number Friday morning will held turn the market tide.  But that is a manipulated number as well, as it captures only those who have recently sought full employment, not the high number of those who have given up.  In fact, if the job market was improving, you would see a slight increase in the unemployment rate, as more individuals would enter the capsule of those actively seeking work. The most accurate indicator of the job market can be found in the labor participation rate, painting a dismal snapshot in time sunk at level not seen since the days of Jimmy Carter over 35 years ago.

It is noted that it is most difficult to find any market indicator not flashing a high level of caution. The following excerpt from an excellent piece from Jim Quinn over at The Burning Platform, "Corporate profits are plunging. Labor participation continues to fall. A global recession is in progress. The strong U.S. dollar is crushing exports and profits of international corporations. Real household income remains stagnant, while healthcare, rent, home prices, education, and a myriad of other daily living expenses relentlessly rises. The world is a powder keg, with tensions rising ever higher in the Middle East, Ukraine, Europe, and China."

The experts always claim this time it is different; nothing but financial folly. As noted in the piece, "The reckless herd has been in control for the last few years, but their recklessness is going to get them slaughtered. The lessons of history scream for caution at this moment in time, not recklessness." True.

We warned about the economy and capital market months ago, and our position has not changed. Once again, this time isn't different.

The ghosts know.

 Please see  THIS TIME ISN'T DIFFERENT by Jim Quinn over at The Burning Platform.

The Truth Be Told?

Have you heard of Arthur Melvin Okun?

I had to rattle my brain something bad awful to jog memory of this chap, but the outstanding website Zero Hedge not only recalled him, but put his economic theory to the test.  You see, Okun identified a correlation between GDP and the unemployment rate, and in doing so offered proof of data manipulation.

This thorough and illuminating piece is well worth your time and can be accessed at Zero Hedge.

THE REAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HAS LONG BEEN OVER 12%!

All our readers should understand the information presented in this article. Shortly after election in 2009, Obama brought the Census Bureau under the direction of the White House. While most know about the efforts to reclassify voting districts to benefit Democrats, few are aware the Census, under contract from the Labor Department, conducts the household survey used to tabulate the unemployment rate.

Okun's Law Unemployment Rate/Zero Hedge

The government has been manipulating data and lying to the citizenry since the first jump in effort to pump up a recovery that does not exist. Imagine what else they lie about!

And when memory failed and written records were falsified—when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested."

---George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

Misleading and Fraudulent Housing Data

In February of 2009, the Government Census Bureau was moved to the executive branch, most thought to deal with congressional redistricting. A byproduct was the reporting of misleading and fraudulent data.

Of note this week was the "discovery" of some real questionable activity with the reporting of the housing numbers, specifically new home sales.  Already, we have documented erroneous data with respect to how unemployment rates are calculated.  Why not extend the propaganda throughout government data?  NBC will be happy to report it.

While housing is performing in certain locations, rental rates are rising due to higher demand of folks who ordinarily would be potential home buyers, giving indication the equilibrium in these markets the incorrect measurements suggests is not real.

Most of America does not have time to sift through the bull crap to figure out what is real and what is a manipulated fabrication. Therefore, most everything goes unquestioned, and when caught and reported, the level of deception is to intricate for the average person to comprehend.

As such, we get the government we deserve, one which is diminishing liberty and freedom for all of us on a daily basis, and on a much larger scale than even those who "get it" can imagine.

"When you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed"  --Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged”