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(The Economic Collapse Blog)—The Federal Reserve is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the Fed pushes rates higher, interest payments on our 34 trillion dollar national debt could spin wildly out of control and bank balance sheets will be in even worse condition than they are now. First Republic just bit the dust, and literally thousands of other small and mid-size banks and in serious jeopardy. So it would be suicidal to hike rates at this point. But if the Fed were to reduce rates, that would be like injecting jet fuel into a raging fire. Our ongoing inflation crisis is absolutely crushing working families, and the rising cost of living has risen to the top of the list of things that U.S. voters are concerned about. The Fed seems very hesitant to cut rates, because that would make inflation even worse. So at this point the Fed is essentially caught in a “deer in the headlights” moment because it doesn’t know which way to go.
But staying on the path that we are currently on is only going to end in disaster.
Mark Spitznagel, the chief investment officer of Universa Investments, recently warned that he believes that the “worst market crash since 1929” is ahead of us…
One of Wall Street’s most bearish skeptics told Business Insider last month that he thinks the “worst market crash since 1929” is coming.
For years, our leaders have been “kicking the can down the road”, but according to Spitznagel all of that intervention has set the stage for an absolutely epic collapse…
In an interview with New York Magazine’s Intelligencer last year, Spitznagel likened the Fed’s “constant monetary intervention” to forest fire suppression.
He went on to say “when you suppress it enough, it gets to a point where you can no longer afford to have any fires burn because they would be too big and too intense.”
That’s where the U.S. economy is at, according to the hedge fund manager.
If Spitznagel’s dire market predictions come true, you really don’t want to have all of your eggs in one basket — because that basket could easily go up in flames.
In the months ahead, we will want to keep a very close eye on our banks.
Our banks are the beating heart of our economic system, because without the banks we would not have a functioning economy.
Coffee the Christian way: Promised Grounds
The banks are where we get mortgages to buy homes, auto loans to buy vehicles, and credit cards to go on shopping sprees. Without the credit they provide, we would be in a world of hurt. Unfortunately, our banks are in very serious trouble right now.
Higher interest rates have blown a hole that is hundreds of billions of dollars wide in their balance sheets. And they are sitting on mountains of commercial real estate loans that are going bad because the value of commercial real estate has collapsed all over the nation.
One consulting firm that examined data from approximately 4,000 U.S. banks is warning that hundreds more banks could potentially fail during this crisis…
According to recent reports, hundreds of banks face the potential of failing just like Republic First Bancorp.
Consulting firm Klaros Group analyzed roughly 4,000 U.S. banks and found that the banks face a threat of losses due to “secular changes in social patterns accelerated by the COVID pandemic (such as work-from-home, which has materially impacted demand for office space) and to the impacts of higher interest rates and related inflation.”
“You could see some banks either fail or at least, you know, dip below their minimum capital requirements,” Christopher Wolfe, managing director and head of North American banks at Fitch Ratings told CNBC in an interview.
Meanwhile, we continue to get even more signs that the overall economy is really slowing down.
For example, we just learned that Rue21 is going to be shutting down all 543 of their stores…
Rue21 – the teen fashion chain that is a fixture in malls across America – is to shut all 543 US stores.
Customers will be able to pick up deals while the company clears its stock over the next four to six weeks – but then the 40-year-old chain will be gone forever. At its peak, it had 1,200 shops.
It is expected clearance items will start at 20 to 50 percent off then rise up to as much as 90 percent to clear stock that doesn’t initially sell.
All over America, stores are closing, businesses are fleeing our core urban areas, and once bustling office buildings are standing empty. At this stage, everyone should be able to see where all of this is heading.
The Chinese certainly understand the direction that things are moving. The following comes from an article entitled “China Is Buying Gold Like There’s No Tomorrow”…
“China is unquestionably driving the price of gold,” said Ross Norman, chief executive of MetalsDaily.com, a precious-metals information platform based in London. “The flow of gold to China has gone from solid to an absolute torrent.”
Gold consumption in the country rose 6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the China Gold Association. It came on the heels of a 9 percent increase last year.
Chinese consumers are voraciously buying gold because their own economy is crumbling and they can see what is happening to the global economy as a whole.
At the same time, China’s central bank is gobbling up gold at an unprecedented rate…
Another major buyer of gold in China is the country’s central bank. In March, the People’s Bank of China added to its gold reserves for a 17th straight month. Last year, the bank bought more gold than any other central bank in the world, adding more to its reserves than it had in nearly 50 years.
Beijing is buying up gold to diversify its reserve funds and reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar, long considered the most important currency to hold in reserve. China has been reducing its U.S. Treasury holdings for more than a decade.
Traditionally, buying gold and other precious metals has been a way to preserve your assets if you think that a major crisis is coming.
And the truth is that a major crisis has already begun.
I have been warning my readers that 2024 would be a very important year, and that has definitely turned out to be the case.
- Preserve your retirement with physical precious metals. Receive your free gold guide from Genesis Precious Metals to learn how.
Of course all of this is very bad news for Joe Biden.
He had been hoping that an improving economy would help his chances in November, but instead there has been a dramatic shift in the wrong direction just as we enter the most critical months of campaign season.
Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.
Angel Reese Slammed After Bragging About COVID Vaccinations – ‘Waiting for the Next One to Come Out’
by Western Journal
When young people say dumb things, those who know better tend to err on the side of grace. After all, let them make their mistakes. On the other hand, when those young people emerge as athletic stars and then build a platform from which to spew nonsense in a way…
Sylvester Stallone Survived an Abortion: “I Was Brought Into the World by Accident”
by Life Site News
Sylvester Stallone, known for his roles in Creed and Rocky, opened up about surviving an abortion attempt. His daughters, Sophia and Sistine Stallone, host the Unwaxed Podcast. They interviewed their father about his new Netflix documentary, “Sly.” During the episode, they discussed Stallone’s childhood, something that is addressed in the…
‘What the F***’: Joe Rogan Destroys NYT Headline Warning About Dangers of Constitution
by Daily Wire
Podcaster Joe Rogan absolutely destroyed a recent New York Times headline that warned about the dangers of the U.S. Constitution, suggesting that there’s no amount of “gaslighting” the news organization could do to make him see their side. During “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Rogan and his guest evolutionary biologist,…
What Do They Know? Russia Increases Daily Gold Purchases by 700%
by Sponsored Post
In a significant move, Russia’s Finance Ministry has announced plans to allocate 8.2 billion rubles ($92 million) each day for gold and foreign currency purchases until October 4, the nation’s Finance Minister announced. “The amount of funds allocated for purchases of foreign currency and gold totals 172.9 billion rubles,” the…
CNN Data Guru Says Trump Will Win if He “Outperforms His Current Polls by Just a Single Point”
by Jason Cohen, Daily Caller News Foundation
(DCNF)—CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said on Friday that former President Donald Trump will win the November election if he can slightly surpass his current poll projections. Vice President Kamala Harris is leading Trump by just 0.2% in the top seven battleground states, according to the RealClearPolling average. Enten,…
New Jobs Report Shows Millions of Americans Lost Jobs to ‘Foreign-Born’ Workers, F/T Work Yields to P/T
by Red State
Trying to nail down Joe Biden or Kamala Harris on the number of jobs they’ve “created” — the government does not create jobs; it can create economic conditions that can lead to job creation or job losses — during the last disastrous three-and-a-half years is like trying to nail Jell-O…
Putin Avoids ‘Kursk Trap’ as His Troops Poised to Take Pokrovsk
by SHTF Plan
President Putin has continued to downplay Ukraine’s major Kursk invasion, which has resulted in Russian territory occupied by Kiev forces, and has instead maintained that capturing and holding all the Donbas in eastern Ukraine remains the goal. “We have to deal with these thugs who made it into Russia,” he…
Leaked Army Advisory Warns of Migrant Gang Violence in Major Cities
by The National Pulse
A threat advisory issued by the U.S. Army to Department of Defense (DOD) personnel across the country warns the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) has established a significant foothold in multiple American cities and poses a serious danger to local, state, and federal law enforcement. The document—designated as Controlled…
Are You Ready for the Big Steal … Again?
by Richard Blakley, WND
(WND)—The 2020 election was a mess. Only the gullible and self-deceived believe Joe Biden legally obtained more votes than any presidential candidate in U.S. history. If this were true, Democrats would have beaten their drums concerning this “historic” vote, like the pig in the old Valleydale Sausage commercials, but even…
YouTube Uses DOJ Allegations to Justify Axing Tenet Media’s Channel Without Due Process
by The Federalist
The widely used video platform YouTube removed Tenet Media and related channels from its services on Thursday after the Justice Department accused the company of partaking in a secret Russian influence operation. The revelation comes days after the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the seizure of nearly three dozen…
Has Anyone Noticed That We Know More About Yesterday’s School Shooter Than Crooks?
by Hot Air
The mainstream media has already done a deep dive into the bizarre details of the perpetrator of yesterday’s school shooting, and we have gotten more media availabilities from law enforcement on the events than we have yet gotten from July 13th’s attack on Donald Trump and the three other victims…
Strong Dad Engagement Programs Are Funding the Fight for Fatherhood to Save the Fatherless
by Caldron Pool
“The men the world is raising are not the men the world needs.” No man is born an expert on fatherhood. Good fathers are taught through blunt advice, wise counsel, observation, experience, and their environment. This is why responsible fatherhood programs are saving lives, and why we should be talking…
Ex-CNN Analyst Says Commiela Harris “Has More Riding On” the Debate Than Trump, She’ll Be “More Nervous”
by Jason Cohen, Daily Caller News Foundation
(DCNF)—Former CNN political analyst Chris Cilizza said Friday he believes that the upcoming presidential debate holds more significance for Vice President Kamala Harris than it does for former President Donald Trump. Trump and Harris are slated to compete in their only scheduled presidential debate on ABC News on Tuesday. Cillizza…
Michael, do you have any recommendations for converting cash / savings into some form of bitcoin to protect your assets and which crypto would make the most sense for this purpose?