How The Federal Reserve Is Setting Up Trump For A Recession, A Housing Crisis And A Stock Market Crash

by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Most Americans do not understand this, but the truth is that the Federal Reserve has far more power over the U.S. economy than anyone else does, and that includes Donald Trump. Politicians tend to get the credit or the blame for how the economy is performing, but in reality it is an unelected, unaccountable panel of central bankers that is running the show, and until something is done about the Fed our long-term economic problems will never be fixed. For an extended analysis of this point, please see this article. In this piece, I am going to explain why the Federal Reserve is currently setting the stage for a recession, a new housing crisis and a stock market crash, and if those things happen unfortunately it will be Donald Trump that will primarily get the blame.
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Homebuilders Have Not Been This Confident Since The Peak Of The Last Housing Bubble

What happens next?

First that Guy Mad-Cow Now this Guy...Sad...

Hillary Ally Offers $5 Million Reward For Trump's "Complete, Legally Obtained Tax Returns"

"More questions than answers tonight. I'm offering a $5m reward to anyone with Trump's complete, legally obtained tax returns."

 

Canada Flagged For Recession By BIS

As if Canadians needed more proof that the country’s real estate is in a bubble, and that this misallocation has spread to other sectors of the economy, the BIS latest quarterly report confirms what any critical observer can see: binging on debt is rarely a good idea.

"Wrong Way Gartman"...

Gartman Is About To Short "Industrialized World" Markets

"We wish also to err upon the side of owning Japanese equities while being short of the markets of the rest of the “industrialized” world. We’ve refrained from taking that position ahead of the FOMC meetings... but barring some untoward and/or surprising event at the meeting’s end today, almost certainly we shall take such action tomorrow."

Trump Nominates Another Goldman Banker For Key Treasury Position

In the latest creeping takeover by Goldman Sachs of the White House, overnight the White House announced that Donald Trump will nominate another Goldman Sachs banker, James Donovan, for a key financial post as deputy Treasury secretary, the White House said on Tuesday, adding another alumnus of the Wall Street investment bank to his administration.

What Wage Growth? Real Earnings Tumble For Second Straight Month

Despite the surge in consumer confidence and exuberance at what lies ahead, real wages for America's average joes declined year-over-year in February (down 0.3%). This is the first consecutive monthly drop in real wages since 2011 (which forced Bernanke to to hint at and then unleash QE2 later that year).

"Jail Time!" Trump Slams Snoop Dogg Assassination Video, Mocks MSNBC's Tax Leak

"Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time!"

Retail Sales Decelerate, Rise 0.1% As Expected; Control Group Disappoints

Perhaps courtesy of the traditional aggressive seasonal adjustments, the Census Bureau announced that retail sales printed largely in line, and above the Bank of America suggested "whisper" decline, rising 0.1% in February, in line with consensus, but below last month's 0.4% growth. Similarly retail sales ex autos rose 0.2%, also on top of expectations, although the rate of increase slowed down from last month's 0.8%.

Stagflation Strikes As US Consumer Prices Surge At Fastest Pace In 5 Years

After the hotter-than-expected PPI print, Consumer Prices confirmed that inflation is running hot with the fastest rise since Feb 2012. Combined with the weakest GDP growth outlook in over a year, it appears stagflation is looming... and The Fed is hiking into its face.

JPM: "This Is The Bottom Line For Stocks"

"The bottom line for domestic equities remains the same: the SPX is only back to where it stood before Trump spoke in front of Congress on 2/28 (the index is down just ~1.5% from the 3/1 2400 high) and the larger risk remains whether the index retraces the whole “phenomenal” rally (which would move it back to 2300 or lower)."

Numerous High-Profile Twitter Account Hacked, Post Swastikas, Pro-Erdogan, "NaziHolland" Messages

On Wednesday a large number of Twitter accounts including news agencies, and policial entities were hacked by a pro-Turkish group and posted content supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his feud with Europe, with hashtags in Turkish reading “NaziGermany” and “NaziHolland.”

S&P Futures, Global Stocks Rise Ahead Of The Fed; Oil Rebounds

It is fitting that just a few hours until the Fed's second rate hike in two quarters, and one day after Goldman downgraded global stocks to Neutral for the next 3 months, not to mention with the results of the anticipated Dutch election due shortly, that global stocks as well as S&P futures are higher, while crude oil has finally managed to stage a rebound as the Dollar DXY index is fractionally in the red.

MSNBC's "Tax Records" Non-Story: Trump Made $150MM, Paid 25% Tax Rate, More Than Romney, Bernie

The real story here is that there is no story: what MSNBC confirmed is that Trump made more money than some of his accusers said he made, and that he paid a generous effective income tax rate, well above that paid by Mitt Romney.

Marine Le Pen's Perfect Storm

Polls missed the last two nationalist tremors; they may miss a third...

Monsanto Colluded With EPA, Was Unable To Prove Roundup Does Not Cause Cancer, Unsealed Court Docs Reveal

Monsanto Lead Toxicologist:  "You cannot say that Roundup does not cause cancer" because "[w]e [Monsanto] have not done the carcinogenicity studies with Roundup."
Chair of EPA Cancer Assessment Review Committee:  "If I can kill this I should get a medal."

What To Watch For As The Dutch Go To The Polls

Dutch citizens will vote today for a new government in one of the most-watched elections in years. While polls have tilted towards PM Rutte's VVD Party in recent days, the euroskeptic leader of the Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, looks set to gain the most seats but the necessary coalition will be anything but clean (since World War II, it’s taken an average of 72 days to form a government).

Goodbye Old EU, Hello New Multi-Speed Europe

Calling a spade a spade, the EU is a bloc on the verge of destruction. The process of disintegration has started and it is unstoppable. A multi-speed Europe is merely recognition of the reality. This is the time to say goodbye to the EU we once knew. A patchwork of clubs is emerging instead to change the European political landscape once and for all.

New European Regulations Set To Crush Equity Research Budgets By $300 Million

According to a new survey, the European Union’s MiFID II regulations, which will require investment banks to charge for equity research and trading fees separately, could cost I-banks around the world as much as $300 million in fees.  Turns out hedge fund clients don't assign that much value to 1,000s of research reports that all say the same thing: "Buy The Fucking Dip." 

After Destroying Cambodia, The US Wants The Country To Repay It For The Bombs They Dropped

Cambodians are responding with outrage to the U.S. government’s demand that the country repay a nearly 50-year-old loan to Cambodia’s brutal Lon Nol government, which came to power through a U.S.-backed coup and spent much of its foreign funds purchasing arms to kill its own citizens, according to Cambodia’s current prime minister Hun Sen.

Ruled By Thieves: One Week In The Life Of The American Kleptocracy

The American kleptocracy (a government ruled by thieves) continues to suck the American people down a rabbit hole into a parallel universe in which the Constitution is meaningless, the government is all-powerful, and the citizenry is powerless to defend itself against government agents who steal, spy, lie, plunder, kill, abuse and generally inflict mayhem and sow madness on everyone and everything in their sphere.

INSANITY: Hawaii Launches Homeless Bill That Could Allow Doctors to “Prescribe” Homes as “Treatment”

by JD Heyes , Natural News:
Just when you think the Marxist Left could not out-Marxist itself, it happens – this time in Hawaii.
As a way to battle its growing homeless problem, lawmakers in the state are actually considering legislation that would give doctors authority to – now get this – prescribe homes to those who need one, as part of their “treatment.”
As reported by The Guardian – content that, by the way, was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s series on “homelessness in America” – the legislation is the brainchild of an E.R. physician-turned-legislator, state Sen. Josh Green, a Democrat, who says the cost of treating homeless patients and then returning them to the street where they are bound to get sick again would be more than offset by providing them with housing instead.
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Federal Courts Say Foreigners, Not US Citizens, Are Entitled To Due Process — Paul Craig Roberts

by Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Craig Roberts:

The US Constitution applies to US citizens, and the amendments known as the Bill of Rights guarantee due process as a protection of US citizens’ civil liberties. That’s the theory but not the practice.
Trump’s travel ban applies to non-US citizens, primarily to refugees from the Bush/Obama bombings of numerous Muslim countries. Some of these refugees, whose families and countries were destroyed by American troops, could harbor feelings of revenge against Americans. The Ninth Circuit Panel’s injunction against Trump’s executive order gives the Constitution’s protection of US citizens to non-citizens, apparently on the basis of due process and religious discrimination arguments. The panel of judges said that Trump’s executive order “runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy.”
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Bond “Carnage” hits Mortgage Rates, Aims at Housing Bubble 2

by Wolf Richter, Wolf Street:
“Many fear the Fed is behind the curve. The market is even further behind: This is clearly a dangerous situation.”
US government debt took another beating today. As prices fell, yields rose to new multi-year highs. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 5 points to 2.625%, the highest since September 2014, when it just briefly kissed that level. At this pace, the yield will soon double from the record low of 1.36% in July last year.
This chart shows the progression of the 10-year Treasury yield since late August (chart via StockCharts.com):
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GOLD AND SILVER WHACKED IN THE ACCESS MARKET: HOWEVER GLD INVENTORY RISES BY 2.93 TONNES TO 834.99 TONNES

SLV ALSO HAS AN ADDITION OF 1.136 MILLION OZ/CHINESE RETAIL SALES PLUMMET SO FAR TO BEGIN THEIR NEW YEAR/THERESA MAY MAY INVOKE ARTICLE 50 AS SHE GETS APPROVAL FROM PARLIAMENT
from Harvey Organ:
ERDOGAN CALLS OFF DEAL WITH EUROPE AND NOW THREATENS TO RELEASE MILLIONS OF MIGRANTS ONTO GREECE AND THEN ONTO OTHER EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS: JUST IN TIME FOR THE DUTCH ELECTIONS!/ TOMORROW 3 BIG EVENTS: 1. DEBT CEILING REACHED OFFICIALLY. 2. FOMC WILL RAISE RATES BY 1/4% /DUTCH ELECTIONS.
In silver, the total open interest ROSE by 229 contracts UP to 188,619 with respect to YESTERDAY’S TRADING. In ounces, the OI is still represented by just less THAN 1 BILLION oz i.e. 0.943 BILLION TO BE EXACT or 134% of annual global silver production (ex Russia & ex China).
FOR THE NEW FRONT MARCH MONTH: THEY FILED: 241 NOTICE(S) FOR 1,205,000 OZ OF SILVER
In gold, the total comex gold ROSE BY A CONSIDERABLE 7,593 contracts EVEN WITH A SMALL PRICE RISE IN GOLD ($1.70 with YESTERDAY’S TRADING) The total gold OI stands at 426,020 contracts. Note the difference between gold and silver.
Read More @ Harveyorganblog.com

War Drums Beating Around the World as U.S. Foreign Relations Deteriorate

from Truth Blitz:
2017 is shaping up to be a great year for the Military Industrial Complex that President Eisenhower warned us about in his farewell address.
Iran is at it again with another provocative ballistic middle test despite Trumps numerous warnings.
How Trump will respond to this provocation is yet to be seen. If he does nothing he will look weak, but if he goes too far he could risk open conflict between the United States and Iran.
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