American Fear

9/26/14

Fear is defined by the ‘online dictionary’ as ‘a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined’. America is in a permanent state of distress. America is in a permanent state of fear. Americans are, or must be, very fearful people. Why else would they surrender all their assets and all their liberties in exchange for some perceived protection?

That perceived protection is a standing offer from the Federal Reserve Bank and its puppet, the US government. Then Fed President Greenspan usurped powers when he spread the fear of the Y2K computer crash in 1999. Americans cowered in fear. The US regime usurped more powers as they imploded the twin towers in 2011. WTC7 (not hit by plane or anything else external) followed with what can only be described as ‘spontaneous implosion’.  Americans cowered in fear. They continued to scare americans with a boogeyman (Mr. Bin Laden) that wanted to kill everyone. Americans cowered in fear. Of course, when he died at the hands of a Pashtun war lord in 2003, there were more boogeymen introduced to the american public who were now cowering in a fetal position underneath their desks. Then Fed President Bernanke, after stating in 2008 that the threat of economic collapse had passed, usurped more power as he offered to save the economy of the world if he just had a few more legal options at his whim. Granted! Just keep the boogeyman away from us! 

Security, real or perceived, is expensive. Now america is nearly $18 trillion in debt and completely addicted to Federal Reserve stimulus and manipulation. Americans are also addicted to the idea of military prevention of eminent acts of, well, terror! 

What are the signs of america’s growing fear? 

I saw a financial show a week ago on which a panel of supposed ‘financial experts’ were discussing the collection of personal data by the NSA. All agreed it was a good thing because none of them were doing anything wrong. Besides, the NSA was protecting them from the boogeyman. Idiots! Freedom and liberty from the american government is the very thing that once made america great. Americans live in fear.

When we go to an airport, we submit to being stripped or groped as if we were on a fourth date. Why? Americans live in fear.

The stock indexes were all reflecting the recessionary conditions of a few years ago. When Bernanke and Paulson offered to save investors, everyone quickly surrendered capitalism and free markets to kleptocracy and manipulation. More fear.

To the present, a report came out today that new home sales increased some 18% in August. That fabulous news lifted stock indexes around the world. Of course, as I have written numerous times, whenever we get a report that existing home sales were down in a month, we also get a report that new home sales were up for the same month. If existing home sales were up, new home sales were down. Now, what kind of mendacious, ridiculous, propagandist group comes up with this absolute dishonesty? What? Oh yes, there it is. The US Commerce Department released this data point on 9/24/14. Interestingly, KB Homes, a builder of such new homes that were selling like hotcakes according to the afore mentioned, and more accurate, DOPE (Department of Pathological Embellishment), said their sales were actually down during the third quarter. The only reason, other than grotesque, profound ignorance, that anyone accepts this obvious nonsense is that americans live in perpetual fear and cannot accept the truth. 

Fences. Fences have always been used to keep out unwanted intruders. They have also been used to keep subjects of ownership from drifting away. All of the terrible places to live on the planet are lousy because of their overbearing, power-hungry, kleptocratic governments. These governments propagandize fear of everything to their subjects. If citizens try to flee, they will likely find themselves to be incarcerated by some kine of fence. Or, should they attempt to scale the fence, they will likely be shot. This is a good sign that the government in control can only maintain control with the threat of a gun barrel (to borrow form Mao). North Korea would be a classic example. Interestingly, North Korea’s regime tells its subjects that the rest of the world is about to invade and kill them. Fear.

Welcome to the new america. While the american regime lies to the public in the assertion that the Fed’s actions are not inflationary, the cost of renouncing citizenship is going up five-fold. The american regime is trying to prevent citizens from leaving. Fear is growing on both sides.

There is a growing fence line on the southern border of america. Most people think the fence is to keep immigrants out. Most likely, when it is complete, the fence will be there to keep citizens from fleeing.

There have been several high profile US corporations that have moved their headquarters to other countries. The reason is simple. The US has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. Corporations can save money by relocating to less taxing countries. Burger King is the latest example as they announced the purchase of a Canadian coffee company, Horton’s, and the relocation of their headquarters from Miami to Canada. The regime has responded by trying to impose penalties and restrictions on companies exercising free market intelligence. The US regime is trying to incarcerate corporations out of fear. 

Governments represent citizens. Regimes represent their backers only. Governments that work for citizens help to foster a positive environment that attracts business. Regimes work for their backers and therefore foster a negative environment for business. Business and intellect tend to flee. Governments welcome the competition. Regimes try to thwart competition. Ultimately, regimes have to resort to incarceration techniques to keep their subjects from escaping. Clearly, the US is a different country than it used to be. It is a nation of fear.      

Panophobia is defined as ‘an abnormal fear of everything’. The US should consider changing its name to Land of Panophobia. American leaders all talk about boogeymen. They try to keep the public in a state of eternal fear. We don’t want the banks to collapse! We don’t want stock prices to fall and in turn hurt our IRA accounts! We don’t want some religious crazy to jump out from behind a bush and blow us up with a bomb! Russia is after us! China is stealing our economy! The borders are sieves! The military had to go back to Iraq and Syria to bomb ISIS! They are coming for us! Run hide! Boo!

Why all the fear? Simple. When paralyzed by fear, sheeple will grab on to anything that promises to save them. Therefore, the US regime has promised to corral the boogeyman. The US regime has promised to never ever never let another big bank or Wall Street firm fail. The Fed has promised to keep interest rates low forever since this supports bubbly stock prices. Everyone gets insurance. Everyone goes to college. Everyone gets fed. Stocks always go up.

But, there is a price to pay. The bill is coming due very soon!

Relax. There is nothing to be fearful of here. As I have written numerous times, the Fed has ‘calendarized’ the stock indices. Quarterly portfolio statements go out at the beginning of October that will reflect the returns of the third quarter. And right on time, here is the Fed.

The chart below is the Dow for the third quarter, 2014. The Dow is the black line. The other lines are the XRT (retail ETF) in gold, F (Ford) in blue), UPS in red, and XHB (home builder ETF) in green. As we can see, the Dow index has performed better than the components of the economy that make up the Dow. For the period, home builders are down. Ford, the car maker, is down. Retail is down. Even UPS, the company that brings our purchases to us, is down. How then, can the Dow be up? Simple. As the Dow tried to sell lower in September, it suddenly enjoyed a great rally from nowhere because of nothing. It is, of course, the end of the quarter. Of course there is going to be a stock rally. The Federal Reserve will see to it! We wouldn’t want to get an investment statement showing that stocks went down, would we? Lest we be more fearful. Therefore, we have surrendered capitalism along with our freedom and dignity to the Fed so the stock indices will rise to infinity! Fear. And, this article is posted with two more wonderful rally filled days left in the month of September. But, I can confidently post this article because I know one thing. The Fed will make sure that the Dow does not fall at the end of the month/quarter. Oh yeah, I also know that america has been stricken with perpetual fear. No one even questions a stock rally anymore. See the chart.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

3rd Quarter, 2014

Dow in black, XRT in gold, F in blue, UPS in red, XHB in green

Disclaimer: The views discussed in this article are solely the opinion of the writer and have been presented for educational purposes. They are not meant to serve as individual investment advice and should not be taken as such. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell anything. Readers should consult their registered financial representative to determine the suitability of any investment strategies undertaken or implemented. BMF Investments, Inc. assumes no liability nor credit for any actions taken based on this article.

The Real DOPE

9/22/2014

The DOPE (Department Of Pathological Embellishment), or as some people still prefer, the US Commerce Department, said retail sales grew in August at a .6% clip. Sectors that reported negative sales were department stores and general merchandise. Gasoline was the only other sector to report negative sales for the month. Yeah, I know. I should always give readers a chance to finish their belly-laugh when I even mention the US Commerce Department. The Nazis had their own propaganda department that they used to try and form public opinion. The US regime has what I refer to as the DOPE. Truth is meaningless and frankly despised by the US government and certainly all departments of the regime must do what they can to sell the citizens on the economic nirvana that the regime wants us to believe. Of course, it is kind of hard to believe retail sales rose when department stores and general merchandise retailers reported negative growth. What does the DOPE use for data? Okay, that was pretty funny. Data is not an issue here. Numbers are just numbers and the DOPE has no problem making them up. Personally I have always listened to the companies themselves that sell things to the public. 

The biggest retailer of all, Walmart, has not said that sales picked up. In fact, Walmart has reported seven straight quarters of declines in sales and foot traffic. The biggest restaurant retailer in the country, McDonald’s, just reported a sales decline. The parent company of Olive Garden is desperately trying to halt the restaurants declining sales. The DOPE even claimed that technology sales picked up in August. Tell that to Radio Shack who said on Thursday that they were headed to Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Interestingly, and bubblicously, the stock of Radio Shack leapt higher by 9% on the day! I could go on but who cares? Stock indices no longer seem tethered to fundamentals or truth or anything but Fed manipulation. 

The reason for all this is simple. The US is now ruled by an elitist group who are driven by political power. They have no desire, intelligence, or knowledge to affect positive changes for the populace. These elitists are slaves to the banks that own them. As such, war is good for banks because they loan money to the military machinery. Thus, the US regime tried to start a war with Russia in the Ukraine. They tried to start a war with Syria. Now they have succeeded by giving the gang known as ISIL birth. The key was toppling the governments in Iraq and Afghanistan and Ukraine and Libya and Egypt and …, well, where ever necessary to promote more war. And the US regime has the gaul to chastise Russia for annexing Crimea! 

This is, of course, just a ruse to further the Fed’s pilfering of the US Treasury so they can further enrich their bankster partners. Simply giving big banks immunity from law, natural economic force, and integrity should be enough. But no, the regime has to give them all the money too. Should the populace ever engage a brain cell, as unlikely as that is, there would likely be some resistance to the regimes actions.

What do we do this week? 

First, this coming week is the last full week of September. The key to fooling all of the people all of the time (yes, Lincoln was dead flat wrong) is to keep the positive quarterly investor statements rolling. Statements will be going out to investors in early October so the Fed will make sure not to lose the third quarter’s paltry gains in the last week of the month. So, we should expect a stock rally to put lipstick on the pig of the quarter. At worse, the Fed will make sure not to allow much selling to pull the Dow below its June ending mark. 

Second, there is somewhat of a cease fire in Israel-Palestine and the Ukraine. Scotland voted to remain subjects of the UK so all is well geo-politically. Domestically, nirvana has taken control of the US economy. There is a new high mark for wealth, everyone that wants one has a job and everyone is making more money. Corporations are earning more money than ever before and they are doing so by not raising prices as evidenced by the zero inflation as reported by the DOPE. At the same time, Japan’s economy has flattened and China’s economy continues to slow. There is a slow recession building in South America and Africa is paralyzed by the terrible ebola virus in the western part of the continent. Europe is in a recession and the ECB’s response has been to give banksters more free money. Sound familiar? 

So, things look pretty positive for the coming week. The vitality of the US economy rests squarely in the hands of the Federal Reserve Bank. Chairwoman Yellen has been pretty clear, I think, in her affirmation that she will not allow any bank to suffer from a limitation to currency. The Fed will continue to support the banksters even as the current round of QE comes to an end. Ms. Yellen made it clear that the next step would in fact be to raise the fed funds interest rate but that time is far in the future. And, interest rates will rise very, very slowly.

This is what will drive stock prices higher. Of course, Ms. Yellen does not know it yet but the Fed will, after they make the horrendous mistake of raising rates based on rosy economic data of which they themselves help to construct, turn course and bring back another round of QE. 

Lastly, we should all keep something in mind. Derivatives brought down the house in 2008 in part because Ms, Yellen’s predecessor, the Bernanke, began raising interest rates in a country already trillions in debt. Big banks all have more derivatives now than they did then. Typically, derivatives are interest rate sensitive. When rates rise, derivatives kick in. Fortunately all the derivative issuers have insurance to back up their derivatives that they would likely have to pay out in the event of a rate increase or two. Unfortunately, none of the insurance companies have enough money to cover the derivatives they will be required to pay out. 

Uh-oh! Now who is the real DOPE? 

Disclaimer: The views discussed in this article are solely the opinion of the writer and have been presented for educational purposes. They are not meant to serve as individual investment advice and should not be taken as such. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell anything. Readers should consult their registered financial representative to determine the suitability of any investment strategies undertaken or implemented. BMF Investments, Inc. assumes no liability nor credit for any actions taken based on this article.