Tag Archives: Great Depression

Does Trump Really Want a Trade war?

Thursday, 25 January 2018 06:27

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, January 24, 2018:

It would seem so. Following Monday’s announcement by President Trump that tariffs of between 30 and 50 percent would immediately apply to imported solar panels from China and washing machines from South Korea, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer rejoiced: “The president’s action makes clear again that the Trump administration will always defend American workers, farmers, ranches, and businesses.” This view was confirmed by a White House trade official who told reporters:

Keep Reading…

Trump Launches First Salvo in Trade War

Wednesday, 24 January 2018 06:26

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, January 23, 2018:

Seal of the United States International Trade ...

Seal of the United States International Trade Commission.

Following the announcement by the White House on Monday that it was imposing tariffs and import quotas on solar panels and washing machines, effective immediately, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer rejoiced: “The president’s action makes clear again that the Trump administration will always defend American workers, farmers, ranches, and businesses.” This view was confirmed by a White House trade official who told reporters:

If you look at solar closely, you have a clear example of Chinese trade policy propping up an industry, creating excess capacity in an industry [causing] significant harm to the United States and globally as well.

He assured reporters that this isn’t just about washing machines coming from South Korea or solar panels from China, either:

Keep Reading…

Gunmakers’ Stock Prices Continue to Rise Following Las Vegas Massacre

Wednesday, 04 October 2017 06:07

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, October 3, 2017:

Dianne Feinstein, member of the United States ...

Dianne Feinstein

After the Las Vegas massacre on Sunday night, the stock prices of gunmakers rose two to three percent on Monday. Following the noisy threats of more gun controls by anti-gun politicians, those stocks have continued to rise on Tuesday. Since the close of business last Friday, for example, the stock price of Sturm Ruger & Co. has jumped by 6.3 percent, while American Outdoor Brands Corp. (which owns Smith & Wesson) is trading seven-percent higher. The stock price of Vista Outdoor Inc., the conglomerate with ownership of ammunition makers American Eagle, Blazer, and Federal Premium, as well as gunmakers Savage Arms and Stevens Arms, is trading 3.5 percent ahead of Friday’s closing price.

The simple explanation for this was expressed by Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics:

Keep Reading…

Shiller’s CAPE, Harvey, Irma, and now Jose: How Much More is Needed for a Stock Selloff?

Saturday, 09 September 2017 06:08

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, September 8, 2017:

English: (left) and meeting shortly after the ...

Republicans Smoot and Hawley

Wall Street prognosticators have watched Robert Shiller’s CAPE – “cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings” ratio – for years for signs that stocks are becoming overvalued. It’s now at a nosebleed level reached just before the October 1929 crash. The good news is that CAPE has been at that level ever since Shiller said that stocks were overvalued earlier this year. It is not a market timing tool, but more of an early warning indicator.

Short sellers have gotten smashed as the stock market continues to defy gravity. Bets against the SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, the largest ETF tracking that index, fell to lows in July not seen since May 2013.

But Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and now possibly Jose may finally bring things back to earth. The jump in unemployment claims for the week ending September 2, caused by Harvey and reported by the Department of Labor (DOL) on Thursday, not surprisingly exceeded economists’ consensus. The increase of 62,000 for the week to

Keep Reading…

Social Security Disability Fraud Hides the Biggest Fraud of All

Thursday, 13 April 2017 05:26

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, April 12, 2017:

English: Mug shot of Charles Ponzi (March 3, 1...

Mug shot of Charles Ponzi (March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949).

The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General reported in 2015 that nearly half of the nine million people receiving SSI (Supplemental Security Insurance) benefits were being overpaid, running up $17 billion in excess disbursements over the previous 10 years.

Such overpayments were just the beginning of the story. On Monday, a former Kentucky attorney pleaded guilty to filing more than 1,700 false SSI disability claims in a scheme that netted him millions in fees that he lavishly dished out to his co-conspirators: a Social Security administrative law judge and a psychologist, among others. In his plea bargain, former attorney Eric Conn fingered Judge David Daugherty (whom he said birthed the scheme originally) and Dr. Alfred Adkins.

The fees that Conn collected ran into the millions, while Social Security dished out some $550 million in benefits to beneficiaries who willingly participated, some of them saying later that they didn’t really know what was happening but were happy to pay Conn $200 in cash under the table for his “advice” and assurance that their claims would be approved.

The setup was simple:

Keep Reading…

Can the American Dream be Revived?

Tuesday, 10 January 2017 06:43

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, January 9, 2017:

The term American Dream was coined by James Trustow Adams in 1931, just as the economy was entering the worst of the Great Depression. In The Epic of America, Adams wrote:

[It is] that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement….

It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.

In 2012, American cultural historian Lawrence Samuel, author of The American Dream: A Cultural History, echoed Adams:

Keep Reading…

There is No “Permanent” Fix for Social Security

Wednesday, 14 December 2016 06:46

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, December 12, 2016:

Social Security Poster: old man

Social Security Poster:

There’s no doubt that Texas Representative Sam Johnson means well. He and his constituents are concerned about their financial futures and about the viability of Social Security as an important part of those futures. So on Thursday he offered his plan “to permanently save Social Security.” He calls it the “Social Security Reform Act.”

The plan doesn’t deserve a close look.

Keep Reading…

Investors Remember Black Monday 1987: Dow Loses 22 Percent

Wednesday, 19 October 2016 15:20

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, October 19, 2016:

Embed from Getty Images

Wednesday is the 29th anniversary of the largest percentage sell-off of stocks in the history of Wall Street, including the sell-off that triggered the Great Depression on October 28, 1929. On that day in 1929, the Dow dropped 13 percent. In 1987, it dropped 22 percent.

Concerns abound about whether a repeat is likely to take place this month.

Keep Reading…

Big Taxi Wins Big in Massachusetts

Wednesday, 24 August 2016 05:07

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, August 23, 2016:

Massachusetts is now the 35th state to regulate ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, but with a vengeance not seen elsewhere: A portion of a new 20-cent tax per ride will be used to fund improvements for the old taxi cartel.

First, the new tax is not called a “tax” but a “fee.” Second, the tax won’t be charged either to the driver or to his customer, but to the ride-sharing company itself. Third,

Keep Reading…

Practical Considerations Likely to Thwart Trump’s plans to Deport Illegals or Build His Wall

Monday, 18 July 2016 08:28

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, July 18, 2016:

Donald

As the November presidential election draws closer and Trump draws closer to Hillary in the polls, skeptics are beginning to ask some hard questions: If Trump wins, just how is he going to keep his promise to deport 11 million illegal aliens over the next two years? How is he going to build the Mexico – US wall to keep them from returning? How much will that cost? How long will that take?

The math is daunting:

Keep Reading…

China’s Stock Market Continues Its Sharp Decline

Thursday, 09 July 2015 04:05

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, July 8, 2015:

View image | gettyimages.com

As predicted, the Chinese stock market accelerated its decline on Wednesday despite efforts by Chinese government officials to slow it.

The combination of over-leveraged investors with little prior experience about the prudent use of margin to buy stocks has turned the decline of the Chinese stock market into a rout. Closing on Wednesday at 3,507, the Shanghai Index has lost one-third of its value just since June 12 when it hit 5,178. The smaller Shenzhen Composite, made up of smaller technology stocks, is down 40 percent.

Jeremy Warner, economics commentator and assistant editor at London’s Daily Telegraph, viewed the carnage and remarked:

Keep Reading…

“The most Bullish thing the Stock Market can do is go up.”

Thursday, 11 June 2015 05:25

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, June 10, 2015:

Charles Dow -an American journalist who co-fou...

Charles Dow -an American journalist who co-founded Dow Jones & Company with Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser.

Right up until early April, that is. The Value Line Geometric Index, the unweighted index of approximately 1,700 stocks that fund manager Dana Lyons likes to watch, topped out at 522 and has declined by almost 10 percent since then.

By Monday, June 8 the Dow’s decline had wiped out all of its gains and is now flat for the year. The Dow Transportation Index fell 2 percent that day, its worst day since January 6, wiping out its 11 percent year-to-date gain. The Dow Utilities Index has suffered an even greater decline, erasing all of its 16 percent gain.

The Dow is one of the primary leading indicators used by financial advisors like Bruce Bittles, the chief investment strategist at RW Baird. Bittles manages $100 billion of other peoples’ money, and he’d better be right. Now, he’s getting nervous:

Keep Reading…

Stock Market Wipes Out All Gains for the Year

Wednesday, 10 June 2015 04:42

This article first appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, June 9, 2015:

View image | gettyimages.com

On Monday, June 8, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) declined by enough to wipe out all gains investors thought they had made in stocks since January 1. It was confirmed by action in the Dow Jones Transportation Index (DJTA), which is even older than the Dow and reflects the price performance of the stocks of 20 transportation companies such as Avis, Delta Airlines, and FedEx. On Monday that index fell by two percent, its worst day since January 6, bringing that index to a loss of nearly 11 percent from its high earlier in the year.

The decline in the Dow was further confirmed by

Keep Reading…

Hillary Finally Comes Clean: The Economy Is “Stalled”

Tuesday, 21 April 2015 13:46

This article first appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, April 21, 2015:

View image | gettyimages.com

During Hillary Clinton’s road trip to New Hampshire on Monday, something remarkable occurred: She told the truth about the economy, telling her supporters that the economy has “stalled out” and, adding, “It’s not enough to tread water.”

A month ago while she was busy not running for president, Clinton never uttered a word about the weakening economy, giving mute evidence that she was unwilling to risk telling the truth and offending both the president and her Democrat supporters. This despite evidence that Americans have put economic worries at or near the top of their concerns for months on end. This despite the fact that the nation’s GDP fell off a cliff in January and February. This despite the fact that job growth since the start of the Great Recession has been half what it was during the Reagan recovery in the 1980s. This despite evidence that new business startups have continued their decline since 2009, and evidence that business investment in new enterprises has dropped sharply at the same time.

But evidence just released has so overwhelmed the Democrat stance that everything is ducky that it apparently has forced Clinton to admit what is obvious to the voters whose support she is seeking:

Keep Reading…

United States Remains in 12th Place in Economic Freedom

Saturday, 31 January 2015 05:27

English: The 2010 Heritage Foundation Index of...

The 2010 Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom.

This article first appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Friday, January 30, 2015:

Except for a modest and temporary decline in federal government spending, the United States would have fallen even further from its current 12th-place spot in the Heritage Foundation’s 2015 Index of Economic Freedom just released this week. The authors were brutal in their assessment of the reasons behind the country’s frightful fall from near the top of the index a decade ago:

Keep Reading…

Congress to Grill Ex-Im Bank Chairman Over Corruption Charges

Wednesday, 25 June 2014 12:29

This article was first published at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, June 25, 2014:

English: , President of the

Fred Hochberg, President of the Export-Import Bank

On Thursday Fred Hochberg, Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank, will be grilled by members of the House Financial Services Committee over charges of corruption and mismanagement at the 80-year old agency. His task to defend the agency appears formidable, especially with its charter being up for renewal at the end of September.

On Tuesday the Wall Street Journal reported that four Ex-Im employees have either been suspended or fired over the last few months as a result of “investigations into allegations of gifts and kickbacks.” But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Heritage Foundation reported on the same day that

Keep Reading…

Controversial Harvard Professors predict high inflation and defaults for the US

Friday, 17 January 2014 11:51

The two Harvard professors who made themselves famous, and then infamous, are at it again, now predicting that America will soon be forced to

Keep Reading…

Monumental Hubris in Claim of Taxpayer Victory in GM Bailout

Thursday, 12 December 2013 05:52

This article first appeared at The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, December 11th, 2013:

In Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew’s fawning, obsequious, genuflecting announcement that the president had singlehandedly saved western civilization from a cataclysmic economic disaster, he said that by taking a loss, taxpayers actually scored a victory:

Keep Reading…

US Treasury sells the rest of its GM shares at a loss, claims taxpayer victory

Wednesday, 11 December 2013 05:40

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced on Monday afternoon that his department had sold the remaining shares of GM that it acquired following the forced bankruptcy of the auto giant in 2009, and made the $10.5 billion loss sound like it was a victory:

Keep Reading…

Scary Default Scenarios Based on Faulty Treasury Department Release

Monday, 07 October 2013 06:37

Within hours of the “brinkmanship” press release by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, major media began to repeat the highly dubious risks outlined by the department without reading carefully exactly what it contained. The headline and opening paragraph were all that the echo chambers needed:

Keep Reading…

Page 1 of 4

1
2
…
4
Next