The Last Time These 3 Ominous Signals Appeared Simultaneously Was Just Before The Last Financial Crisis - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

The Last Time These 3 Ominous Signals Appeared Simultaneously Was Just Before The Last Financial Crisis Posted: 15 Nov 2017  Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG We have not seen a “leadership reversal”, a “Hindenburg Omen” and a “Titanic Syndrome signal” all appear simultaneously since just before the last financial crisis.  Does this mean that a stock market crash is imminent?  Not necessarily, but as I have been writing about quite a bit recently, the markets are certainly primed for one.   On Wednesday, the Dow fell another 138 points, and that represented the largest single day decline that we have seen since September.  Much more importantly, the downward trend that has been developing over the past week appears to be accelerating.  Just take a look at this chart.  Could we be right on the precipice of a major move to the downside? John Hussman certainly seems to think so.  He is the one that pointed out that we have not seen this sort of a threefold sell signal since just before the last financial crisis.  The following comes from Business Insider… On Tuesday, the number of New York Stock Exchange companies setting new 52-week lows climbed above the number hitting new highs, representing a “leadership reversal” that Hussman says highlights the deterioration of market internals. Stocks also received confirmation of two bearish market-breadth readings known as the Hindenburg Omen and the Titanic Syndrome. Hussman says these three readings haven’t occurred simultaneously since 2007, when the financial crisis was getting underway. It happened before that in 1999, right before the dot-com crash. That’s not very welcome company. In fact, every time we have seen these three signals appear all at once there has been a market crash. Will things be different this time? We shall see. If you are not familiar with a “Hindenburg Omen” or “the Titanic Syndrome”, here are a couple of pretty good concise definitions… Hindenburg Omen: A sell signal that occurs when NYSE new highs and new lows each exceed 2.8% of advances plus declines on the same day. On Tuesday, they totaled more than 3%. Titanic Syndrome: A sell signal triggered when NYSE 52-week lows outnumber 52-week highs within seven days of an all-time high in equities. Stocks most recently hit a record on November 8. You can see the other times in recent decades when these three signals have appeared simultaneously on this chart right here. Once again, past patterns do not guarantee that the same thing will happen in the future, but if the market does crash it should not surprise anyone. 10 days ago, I published an article entitled “The Federal Reserve Has Just Given Financial Markets The Greatest Sell Signal In Modern American History”.  I pointed out that this stock market bubble was created by unprecedented central bank intervention, and now global central banks are reversing the process that created the bubble in unison.  There is no possible way that stock prices can stay at these absolutely absurd levels without central bank help, and if global central banks stay on the sidelines a market decline would seem to be virtually inevitable. Meanwhile, we are also witnessing a very alarming flattening of the yield curve… Hogan said the market is nervous about the “flattening” difference between the 2-year yield and the 10-year Treasury yield, which have been moving closer together. The curve dipped to 68 basis points Tuesday, a 10-year low. Hogan said 70 has become a line in the sand, and when it falls below that traders get nervous. A flattening curve can signal that the curve will invert, which historically means a recession is on the horizon. If the yield curve does end up inverting, that will be a major red flag. But the experts assure us that we have nothing to worry about. For example, just check out what Karyn Cavanaugh of Voya Financial is saying… “Now that the earnings season is wrapped up, markets are more beholden to macro data. Weakness in oil prices and skepticism about the passing of the tax bill are also weighing on sentiment,” said Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at Voya Financial. Despite the drop on the day, major indexes remain within 1.5 percentage points of record levels. “Any pullback at this stage should be viewed as an opportunity to buy, however. Earnings outlook for U.S. stocks, especially with the synchronized global growth environment is still good,” Cavanaugh said. And U.S. consumers continue to pile on more debt as if there is no tomorrow.  This week we learned that U.S. household debt has almost reached the 13 trillion dollar threshold… Americans’ debt level rose during the third quarter, driven by an increase in mortgage loans, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report published on Tuesday. Total U.S. household debt was $12.96 trillion in the three months to September, up $116 billion from the prior three months. Debt levels were $605 billion higher than during the third quarter of 2016. The fundamentals do not support this kind of irrational optimism. What the fundamentals have been telling us is that in the absence of central bank support we should see the markets start to decline, and that it is quite likely that a painful recession is on the horizon. As the next crisis erupts, the mainstream media is going to respond with shock and horror.  But the only real surprise is that this ridiculous bubble lasted for as long as it did. The truth is that a market decline is way overdue.  If central banks had not pumped trillions upon trillions of dollars into the global financial system, there is no possible way that stock prices would have ever gotten so high, and now that the central banks are removing the artificial life support we shall see how the markets do on their own. Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

Democrats Have Filed Articles Of Impeachment, But We Aren’t Going To Allow Them To Impeach Trump Posted: 15 Nov 2017 04:43 PM PST On Wednesday, a group of congressional Democrats filed five articles of impeachment against President Trump, and they say that they are doing this “because of great concerns for the country and our Constitution and our national security and our democracy”.  Of course this effort is probably not going anywhere because Republicans control both the Senate and the House, but it shows what could happen if the 2018 mid-term elections go badly.  If the Democrats are able to take back control of both the Senate and the House in 2018, they will attempt to impeach Trump.  And even if they get close to taking back control, they could potentially convince some establishment Republicans to join them in getting rid of the president. Elections really matter, and just because someone uses the “Republican” label does not mean that they will stand up for Trump when push comes to shove.  For example, state representative Christy Perry just entered the race for the open seat in Idaho’s first congressional district, and she could end up being my most formidable opponent.   Unfortunately, her voting record is very liberal and she would not be someone that Trump could count on at all.  It is absolutely imperative that we fill this seat with someone that will be an ally of the president, and that is why Trump supporters all over the district are getting involved in my campaign. The future of the Trump presidency hinges on what happens in 2018, because the Democrats have already shown us what they intend to do once they are back in charge.  The following comes from NBC News… The five articles accused the president of obstruction of justice related to the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, undermining the independence of the federal judiciary and other offenses. “We have taken this action because of great concerns for the country and our Constitution and our national security and our democracy,” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said at a news conference to announce the effort. Cohen said he understands that Republicans hold the majority in the House and are unlikely to allow hearings on the impeachment articles. He said the group will hold occasional briefings to explain each of the five articles of impeachment and where they believe Trump ran afoul of the law or committed misdeeds that warrant impeachment. If 2018 goes very well for pro-Trump forces, the threat of impeachment will go away entirely. But usually the opposition party makes substantial gains in Congress during the first mid-term elections of a new presidency, and if we allow the Democrats to take back control of the Senate and the House in 2018, President Trump may not even make it to the 2020 election. If you support President Trump, I hope that you will stand with pro-Trump candidates such as myself in 2018. The left wants to cut Trump’s presidency as short as possible, but we aren’t going to let that happen.  Instead, we are going to make sure that he wins again in 2020, and we are going to do all that we can to get the Make America Great Again agenda fully implemented. Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

Global Recession? The Canadian Economy Shrinks At The Fastest Pace Since The Last Financial Crisis - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Global Recession? The Canadian Economy Shrinks At The Fastest Pace Since The Last Financial Crisis Posted: 31 Aug 2016   Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG Things have not been this bad for the Canadian economy since the last global recession.  During the second quarter of 2016, Canada’s GDP contracted at a 1.6 percent annualized rate.  That was the worst number in seven years, and it was even worse than most analysts were projecting.  This comes at a time when bad news is pouring in from all corners of the global economy.   While things in the United States are still relatively stable for the moment, the same cannot be said for much of the rest of the planet.  Canada in particular has been hit very hard by the collapse in oil prices, and the massive wildfire in northern Alberta back in May certainly did not help things.  The following comes from the BBC… The recent drop in GDP was larger than analysts had projected, but not far off the predicted 1.5% loss. “[The figure] could have been worse, given the hit from the wildfire, and clearly confirms the disappointing downward trend in exports over the last few months,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. In May, wildfires devastated the parts of northern Alberta where much of Canada’s oil and natural gas is produced. For many years, high oil prices and booming exports enabled the Canadian economy to significantly outperform the U.S. economy.  But now conditions have changed dramatically, and all of the economic bubbles up in Canada are starting to burst.  This includes the housing bubble, as we have seen home sales in the hottest markets such as Vancouver drop through the floor late in the summer.  In fact, it is being reported that home sales during the first two weeks of August in British Columbia were down a whopping 51 percent on a year over year basis. Do you remember the housing bubble in the U.S. that helped fuel the last financial crisis?  Well, a very similar bubble is now bursting up in Canada, and some investors have positioned themselves to make a tremendous amount of money when the whole thing comes violently crashing down.  The following comes from Wolf Richter… This summer, famed short seller Marc Cohodes came out of retirement (he now raises chickens on a farm in Sonoma County, CA, and sells the eggs for a fortune in San Francisco) and jumped into ring with a number of interviews on TV and in the print media, and this too rattled some nerves – largely because it hit home. “I think it’s a money laundering-induced market,” he said as we reported at the time. “Where the local politicians, or the BC Liberals, are kept or in cahoots with the real estate brokers, developers, lawyers, that angle. And they have sought Chinese money to keep the market propped up and it won’t last,” he said. “China has capital controls on, and Vancouver has become the money laundering mecca of either the world or North America, and something is going to change and change drastically.” If the price of oil does not rebound in a major way, the Canadian economy is going to continue to deeply struggle. Meanwhile, one of the biggest economies in Africa is also shrinking.  Nigeria is yet another oil-dependent economy that has fallen on really hard times, and during the latest quarter their GDP shrunk by 2.06 percent on an annualized basis… Nigeria has slipped into recession, with the latest growth figures showing the economy contracted 2.06% between April and June. The country has now seen two consecutive quarters of declining growth, the usual definition of recession. Its vital oil industry has been hit by weaker global prices, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS). There are so many signs that indicate that the global economy has entered a new major downturn.  Yes, the U.S. is doing better than almost everyone else for the moment, but this will not last indefinitely.  Our planet is more interconnected than ever before, and just as we saw in 2008, big trouble on one side of the globe quickly affects the other side. Today we also learned that the 7th largest container shipping company in the entire world has completely imploded.  Total global trade has been declining for quite some time now, and it was inevitable that this sort of thing would start happening… After years of relentless decline in the Baltic Dry index… … today the largest casualty finally emerged on Wednesday when South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping, the country’s largest shipping firm and the world’s seventh-biggest container carrier, filed for court receivership after losing the support of its banks, leaving its assets frozen as ports from China to Spain denied access to its vessels. Over in Europe, an emerging banking crisis continues to simmer just under the surface. Most Americans are completely oblivious to the fact that major global financial problems could be just around the corner, but CNBC is reporting that banks over in Europe are “preparing for an economic nuclear winter situation”… European banks, in particular, have had a very tough six months as the shock and volatility around Brexit sent banking stocks south. Major European banks like Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse saw their shares in free-fall after the referendum’s results were announced. In the U.K., RBS was the worst-hit, with its shares plunging by more than 30 percent since June 24. The current uncertainty over when the U.K. will start the process of quitting the EU has banks on tenterhooks. But a source told CNBC that banks are “preparing for an economic nuclear winter situation.” Speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the topic, a source from a major investment bank told CNBC that financial services firms have put together a strategy in place that takes into account the worst-case scenario that could happen by the end of this year. So precisely what would an “economic nuclear winter” look like? I don’t know, but it certainly does not sound good. We should be thankful that things have been as calm and stable as they have been so far in 2016, but nobody should be fooled into thinking that our problems have been fixed. The truth is that the global debt bubble is at an all-time high, the banks are being more reckless and are more vulnerable than ever before, and troubling economic numbers continue to pour in from all over the planet. The stage is certainly set for the next major global economic crisis, and it isn’t going to take much to push the world over the edge.