Showing posts with label Michael Snyder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Snyder. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Who Is Behind A Series Of “Mysterious Explosions” At Natural Gas Facilities In The United States? – Michael Snyder

 

Who Is Behind A Series Of “Mysterious Explosions” At Natural Gas Facilities In The United States? – Michael Snyder

Posted: 10 Jul 2022 05:38 PM PDT

Are we under attack?  Previously, I have written about a series of very strange fires that have occurred at key food production facilities in the United States this year.  Authorities insist that each one of those fires was an “accident”, and maybe they are correct.  But now the same thing is starting to happen to the energy industry.  In particular, we have seen a number of “mysterious explosions” at natural gas facilities in the United States during the past two months.  Of course natural gas prices were already spiking dramatically all over the world, and so this string of disasters comes at a really bad time.

On Saturday, an absolutely massive explosion at a very important natural gas facility in Medford, Oklahoma made headlines all over the nation.  The following comes from CBS News

A large fire Saturday afternoon engulfed a natural gas plant in the small northern Oklahoma town of Medford. Video posted to social media showed heavy flames and smoke billowing hundreds of feet into the air.

The fire occurred at a “natural gas liquids fractionation facility” operated by ONEOK, a company spokesperson confirmed in a statement to CBS News.

The explosion that caused this fire was so large that it actually caused “a 1.74 magnitude earthquake”.

Massive explosion at a natural gas plant in Oklahoma. Caused a 1.74 magnitude earthquake.

Expect more accidents like this.pic.twitter.com/6qbNhzS8gD

— The Plymothian (@plymouthian) July 10, 2022

The black smoke that came billowing from the plant could be seen for many miles all around, and the damage that was done is likely to disrupt operations at the facility for a long time to come.

Just two days earlier, there was another “mysterious explosion” near Houston, Texas

Authorities say a fire is now out after an explosion along a natural gas line sent up a column of flames from a field in Fort Bend County on Thursday.

According to the Fort Bend County Pct. 1 Constable’s Office, the explosion occurred before 11 a.m. in the 15400 block of JoAnn near FM 1952, west of Orchard.

Nearby residents report hearing “a loud pop” when the explosion occurred…

Is it normal to have two major natural gas explosions like this in just a matter of three days?

No, it is not.

And it is important to note that there have been other “suspicious explosions” recently.

Last month, a massive explosion at a liquefied natural gas terminal in Quintana Island, Texas ended up “taking a substantial amount of the fuel off the market”

An explosion at a liquefied natural gas terminal in Texas has left nearby residents rattled and is taking a substantial amount of the fuel off the market at a time when global demand is soaring.

Freeport LNG will be offline for at least three weeks, the company said Thursday, following a fire in its export facility.

So who would benefit from all of this?

I think that is a very important question to ask.

Some are suggesting that the Russians could be behind these “accidents”.  According to Washington Examiner editor Tom Rogan, the Russians actually have a cyber unit that is fully capable of pulling off such attacks…

That brings us to the Russian cyber unit involved in the targeting reconnaissance against Freeport LNG.

Named XENOTIME by researchers, the unit has utilized boutique TRITON/TRISIS malware developed by the Russian Ministry of Defense’s Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics. That malware is designed for the seizure of industrial control systems and the defeat of associated safety systems. In 2017, GCHQ (Britain’s NSA-equivalent signals intelligence service) outlined the need for network compartmentalization to protect safety systems against this malware better. In March 2022, the FBI warned that TRISIS malware remained a threat.

XENOTIME is assessed by the U.S. and British governments as a critical infrastructure-focused, advanced persistent threat actor. The unit’s modus operandi involves targeting industrial control systems and supervisory control systems in order to effect unilateral control of a network. XENOTIME has caused specific concern in Western security circles for its targeting of safety systems that would otherwise mitigate threats to life during a cyberattack. XENOTIME’s activity has escalated in 2022.

Of course there are similar cyber units in the western world and in Asia that could be conducting such operations for their own reasons.

The truth is that even if it could be proven that cyberattacks are causing these explosions we will probably never know who was ultimately behind them.

This is just another reason why it is a major national security risk to have so much of our critical infrastructure connected to a global Internet.

Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and we are exceedingly vulnerable.

Many on the Internet are pointing out that there was another very unusual fire at a facility in Valdez, Alaska on June 27th

A tanker truck that caught fire at a Valdez refinery Monday afternoon halted fuel-loading activities at the facility on Tuesday, state officials say.

The truck was loading diesel when the explosion occurred, according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

In the old days, a random fire like that never would have even made a blip in the news.

But with all of the other fires that are now happening, people are on alert.

Over and over again, really bizarre accidents have been happening, and people want answers.

I wish that I had all of the answers, but I don’t.  Like many of you, I am just trying to ask the right questions.

What I do know is that we live in very chaotic times, and I have a feeling that they are about to get a whole lot more chaotic.

I fully expect that the second half of this year will be even crazier than the first half, and that is really saying something.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”“Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending digital copies as gifts through Amazon to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post Who Is Behind A Series Of “Mysterious Explosions” At Natural Gas Facilities In The United States? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Friday, June 10, 2022

The Worst Economic Gloom In 50 Years – Michael Snyder

 

June 10, 2022

We haven’t seen anything like this in decades.  Energy prices are soaring to unprecedented heights.  Food shortages in some parts of the world are starting to become quite severe.  Rampant inflation is out of control all over the globe.  Meanwhile, economic activity is slowing down everywhere that you look.  Some are comparing this current crisis to the “stagflation” of the 1970s, but I believe that is a far too optimistic assessment.  Just about everyone can see that economic conditions are rapidly deteriorating, and there is a tremendous amount of alarm about what the months ahead will bring.

According to a brand new Wall Street Journal-NORC survey that was just released, the percentage of Americans that believe that the state of the U.S. economy is “poor or not so good” is 83 times larger than the percentage of Americans that believe that the state of the U.S. economy is “excellent”…

A severe pessimism grips the U.S. economy and Americans report the highest level of dissatisfaction with their financial situation in at least half a century, poll results released Monday show.

Eighty-three percent of Americans describe the state of the economy as poor or not so good, according to a Wall Street Journal-NORC Poll. Only one percent describe the economy as “excellent.”

I would like to talk to someone from the one percent of Americans that still believe that the U.S. economy is in “excellent shape”.

To me, it is always fascinating to find someone that can completely deny reality even when all of the evidence points in the other direction.

The same survey found that the percentage of Americans that are “not at all satisfied with their financial condition” is the highest in at least 50 years

Thirty-five percent said they are not at all satisfied with their financial condition, the highest level of dissatisfaction since NORC began asking the question every few years starting in 1972.

Sixty-three percent of Americans say they are extremely or very concerned about the price of gas. Fifty-four percent say they are extremely or very concerned about the impact of high grocery prices on their household’s financial situation. Just 13 percent say they not very or not at all concerned about gas prices and 19 percent about grocery prices.

In other words, this is the gloomiest that Americans have been about their own personal finances in at least five decades.

Wow.

One of the big reasons why people feel this way is because the price of just about everything is going up.

In particular, the price of gasoline has been making national headlines just about every day.  On Tuesday, it set another brand new record

The national average price of gas is now $4.955, reflecting an over three-cent jump overnight, 28-cent rise in the last week, and nearly 64-cent rise in the last month. Diesel also hit another record on Tuesday, reaching $5.719.

Currently, 16 states are experiencing an average price of gas of $5.00 or more. That includes Maine ($5.023), Massachusetts ($5.21), New Jersey ($5.032), Pennsylvania ($5.031), Michigan ($5.214), Ohio ($5.061), Indiana ($5.234), Illinois ($5.532), Idaho ($5.025), Alaska ($5.469), Hawaii ($5.493), Washington ($5.489), Oregon ($5.485), Nevada ($5.564), Arizona ($5.181), and California ($6.390). California’s Mono County appears to be reporting the highest gas price average in the Golden State — $7.213.

Unfortunately, there is a growing consensus among the experts that this is just the beginning.  Here is one example

With the summer travel season just getting underway, demand for gasoline, coupled with the cut-off of Russian oil shipments due to the war in Ukraine, is sending oil prices higher on global markets.

The national average for gasoline could be close to $6 by later this summer according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the OPIS, which tracks gas prices for AAA.

And here is another example

GasBuddy head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan provided insight into record-high gas prices, warning on Wednesday that “we’re going to be swimming in these high prices for a while.”

Speaking on “Varney & Co.” on Wednesday, De Haan also revealed his forecasts for how high prices at the pump will climb, arguing that they could reach a national average of $6 a gallon in the coming months, but “what seems like more of a guarantee is that $5 mark.”

Others are even more pessimistic.  In fact, the head of commodity trading giant Trafigura just warned that the price of oil could actually make a “parabolic ” move in the months ahead.

Needless to say, energy prices have a domino effect throughout the entire economy.  When commentator Anthony B. Sanders contacted moving companies about his coming move out of state, he could hardly believe the quotes that he was given

As I line up my move from Fairfax VA to Columbus OH, I am getting a variety of quotes from moving companies. And wow! The cost of moving using a national moving company for a 4 bedroom house is $15,000 to $20,500. That includes International, North American and Bekins.

One of the reasons for the high cost of moving is the massive increase in diesel fuel used for trucking. Diesel fuel under Biden has risen 117%. And since it was revealed that natural gas often is used for electric charging stations, and NATGAS is up 281% under Biden (but there aren’t many electric moving trucks yet).

Could you imagine paying $20,000 to move from Virginia to Ohio?

In the old days, you could purchase your own new vehicle for that much money.

In this crazy environment, some companies are attempting to hide inflation by shrinking their package sizes

“Joining the parade of downsized products is cereal stalwart Honey Bunches of Oats, which has seen the weight of its standard box, previously 14.5 ounces, lessen to 12 ounces — a reduction of roughly 17 percent,” the U.K. paper said.

Angel Soft toilet paper has also reduced its size from 425 sheets per roll to 320, while Bounty paper towels have cut their rolls from 165 sheets per roll to 147 late last year. Gatorade also cut its bottle size from 32 ounces to 28 ounces.

Do they actually believe that we will not notice that the packages have changed?

And this isn’t just happening here in the United States.  At this point, this is taking place all over the globe

In the U.S., a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues; a few months ago, it had 65. Chobani Flips yogurts have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. In the U.K., Nestle slimmed down its Nescafe Azera Americano coffee tins from 100 grams to 90 grams. In India, a bar of Vim dish soap has shrunk from 155 grams to 135 grams.

Our standard of living is falling with each passing day, and that process is only going to accelerate during the second half of this year.

In a desperate attempt to keep living the way that they always have, many Americans are turning to their credit cards at an alarming rate.

Needless to say, that is only a short-term solution.

And at the same time, overall economic activity continues to slow down

A closely followed measurement from the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank suggests the economy could be headed for a second-quarter decline in gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced in a country. The GDPNow tracker shows the economy grew at an annualized pace of just 0.9% in the spring, a steep decline from its previous estimate of 1.3% on June 1.

If U.S. GDP is actually negative for the second quarter, that will be two quarters in a row, and that will mean that we are officially in a recession right now.

But what we are heading into in 2023 and beyond is not going to be just a “recession”.

Ultimately, we are heading into the sort of “nightmare scenario” that I have warned about for years.

It took decades of very foolish decisions for us to reach this point, and our leaders in Washington continue to make very foolish decisions.

So the truth is that there are no long-term solutions in sight.

Only pain.

So if the American people are this upset about the economy now, how will they be feeling six months down the road?

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”“Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending digital copies as gifts through Amazon to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

Monday, May 9, 2022

Point Wipeout Just The Beginning Of A Historic Financial Nightmare? – Michael Snyder

 

The Stock Market Is Crashing! Is This 1,000 Point Wipeout Just The Beginning Of A Historic Financial Nightmare? – Michael Snyder

Posted: 05 May 2022 02:26 PM PDT

Is this “the Big One”?  On Wednesday, I warned that the Federal Reserve had made a “colossal mistake” when it increased its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points, and it looks like investors on Wall Street fully agree.  We just witnessed one of the largest single day stock market crashes in history, and of course this comes at a time when stock prices had already fallen quite dramatically.  Even before the carnage on Thursday, stocks were off to their worst start to a year in decades.  So will things settle down soon, or is this the beginning of a truly historic stock market collapse?

Millions of Americans better hope that it is the former, because trillions upon trillions of dollars in paper wealth is on the line.

I have always warned my readers that you only make money in the stock market if you get out in time.

It doesn’t matter if you were holding certain stocks when they soared to all-time record highs.  What is going to determine if you make a profit or not is when you choose to sell.

And markets tend to go down a whole lot faster than they go up.

On Thursday, the Dow was down more than 1,000 points, the S&P 500 plunged more than 3.5 percent, and the Nasdaq got absolutely crushed

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,063 points, or 3.12%, to close at 32,997.97. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 4.99% to finish at 12,317.69, its lowest closing level since November 2020. Both of those losses were the worst single-day drops since 2020.

The S&P 500 fell 3.56% to 4,146.87, marking its second worst day of the year.

The reason why the Nasdaq plummeted so dramatically was because tech stocks were in “free fall mode” once again

Large tech stocks were under pressure, with Facebook-parent Meta Platforms and Amazon falling 6.8% and 7.6%, respectively. Microsoft dropped 4.4%. Salesforce tumbled 7.1%. Apple sank 5.6%.

If you think that those numbers are bad, just look at what happened to Etsy and eBay

Etsy and eBay dropped 16.8% and 11.7%, respectively, after issuing weaker-than-expected revenue guidance. Shopify fell nearly 15% after missing estimates on the top and bottom lines.

The declines dragged Nasdaq to its worst day in nearly two years.

We have seen other bad days on Wall Street in recent years, but this definitely feels different.

I think that Kim Forrest has done a better job than anyone else of summarizing what we just witnessed

“I expected some selloff, but the great puking that’s happening, I didn’t expect,” said Kim Forrest, founder and chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners. “Is this capitulation? I remember what capitulation feels like — this kind of feels like capitulation, when everything, even the good names, are getting barfed out.”

I could not have said it better myself.

So precisely what was the trigger that prompted this rush for the exits?

Well, a lot of analysts are pointing to the Fed’s decision to raise interest rates on Wednesday.  Here is one example

“It’s going to be incredibly difficult for the Fed to normalize interest rates without having a negative impact on growth and earnings,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management. “So stock prices are too high if we’re going to see a flattening or a decline in earnings per share.”

Because there is so much leverage in the market right now, rapid declines could precipitate wave after wave of forced selling.

In fact, it appears that this is already happening to a certain degree.

Ultimately, it certainly won’t take too much to turn this “market slide” into a “market avalanche”.

Meanwhile, we continue to get more indications that the U.S. economy as a whole is really slowing down.  On Thursday, we learned that worker productivity declined “at its fastest pace in nearly 75 years” during the first quarter…

Worker productivity fell to start 2022 at its fastest pace in nearly 75 years while labor costs soared as the U.S. struggled with surging Covid cases, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.

Nonfarm productivity, a measure of output against hours worked, declined 7.5% from January through March, the biggest fall since the third quarter of 1947.

At the same time, we continue to get more bad news on the inflation front.

One of the largest meatpackers in the western hemisphere is warning that steaks and burgers will get even more expensive in the months ahead…

Beef will be getting even more expensive at U.S. grocery stores in the months ahead, according to one of the country’s biggest meatpackers.

National Beef Co., controlled by the Brazilian giant Marfrig Global Foods, sees relatively stable margins in the next two quarters, according to Tim Klein, who heads Marfrig’s U.S. operations. That means even though their costs to buy cattle are increasing, the company will ultimately be able to pass that on to consumers in the form of pricier steaks and burgers.

And the rapidly rising cost of fertilizer will inevitably make trips to the grocery store much more painful later this year…

A fertilizer shortage is putting the food supply at risk.

Fertilizer prices have tripled from where they were in 2021 and it’s forcing Mid-Michigan farmers to change how they grow their crops.

“You’re cutting off one hand to save the other,” said Seth Cords.

So many things are simultaneously going wrong, and the outlook for the second half of this year is exceedingly bleak.

But for a long time stock prices were able to defy economic reality.

Even though economic conditions were rapidly deteriorating all around us, investors just continued to party on as stock prices just kept going higher and higher.

Of course now everything has changed.

Trillions of dollars in paper wealth has already been wiped out, and trillions more will likely be wiped out in the days ahead.

But Wall Street doesn’t even realize that what we have been through so far is just a warm up act.

Much more difficult days are coming, and eventually we will see financial disaster on a scale that is absolutely unprecedented in our history.

Hopefully that time can be put off for as long as possible.

But the clock is ticking, and what happened on Thursday should be a major league wake up call for all of us.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”“Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending digital copies as gifts through Amazon to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post The Stock Market Is Crashing! Is This 1,000 Point Wipeout Just The Beginning Of A Historic Financial Nightmare? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.