Posted: 23 Jul 2017 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG
One mystery trader has made an extremely large bet that the stock market is going to crash by October, and if he is right he could potentially make up to 262 million dollars on the deal. Fortunes were made and lost during the great financial crisis of 2008, and the same thing will happen again the next time we see a major stock market crash. But will that stock market crash take place before 2017 is over?
Without a doubt, we are in the midst of one of the largest stock market bubbles in U.S. history, and many prominent investors are loudly warning of an imminent stock market collapse. It doesn’t take a genius to see that this stock market bubble is going to end very badly just like all of the other stock market bubbles throughout history have, but if you could know the precise timing that it will end you could set yourself up financially for the rest of your life. I want to be very clear about the fact that I do not know what will or will not happen by the end of October. But one mystery investor is extremely convinced that market volatility is going to increase over the next few months, and if he is correct he will make an astounding amount of money. According to Business Insider, the following is how the trade was set up…
But just because he has made this wager does not mean that he has some special knowledge about what is going to happen. For example, just look at what Ruffer LLP has been doing. They are a $20 billion investment fund based in London, and they have been betting tens of millions of dollars on a stock market crash which has failed to materialize so far. But even though they have lost so much money already, they continue to make extremely large bearish bets… As of earlier this week, Ruffer had spent $119 million this year betting on a stock market shock, $89 million of which had expired worthless, according to data compiled by Macro Risk Advisors. The investor has gradually amassed holdings of about 1 million VIX calls through three occasions so far in 2017, and each time a significant portion expired at a loss.I can understand why Ruffer has been making these bets. In a rational world, stocks would have already crashed long ago. The only way that stock prices have been able to continue to rise is because of unprecedented intervention by global central banks. They have been pumping trillions of dollars into the financial markets, and this has essentially completely destroyed normal market forces. The following comes from David Stockman… The Fed and its crew of traveling central banks around the world have gutted honest price discovery entirely. They have turned global financial markets into outright gambling dens of unchecked speculation.In the “bizarro world” that we are living in today, many companies are trading at prices that are more than 100 times earnings, and some companies are actually trading at prices that are more than 200 times earnings. Stock prices have become completely and totally disconnected from economic reality. As I discussed the other day, U.S. GDP has only risen at an average yearly rate of just 1.33 percent over the past 10 years, but meanwhile stock prices have been soaring into the stratosphere. Nobody in their right mind can claim that makes any sense at all. Just like in 2000, and just like in 2008, this absolutely ridiculous stock market bubble will have a horribly tragic ending as well. Once again, I don’t know what the exact timing will be. Stocks could start crashing tomorrow, but then the Swiss National Bank could swoop in and buy 4 million shares of Apple just like they did during the months of January, February and March earlier this year. The biggest players in this ongoing charade are the global central banks. If they decide to keep pumping trillions of dollars into global financial markets, they may be able to keep the bubble going for a little while longer. But if at any point they decide to withdraw their artificial assistance, those that have placed huge bets against the market are going to make absolutely enormous piles of cash. 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. |
Entering Into Worship That Breaks the Bonds of Egypt
Did you know there is a much deeper level of worship than what we can do? Admittedly, in response to the Holy Spirit our actions of praying, praising, listening, loving and obeying are part of worship. And there is nothing wrong with that. But there is a much deeper level of worship, one in which we are unable to express ourselves verbally or non-verbally—where we are utterly passive. The highest and most intensive worship takes place when we can do nothing but be amazed, when we are rendered helpless and speechless with wonder and gratitude, when we just sit back and watch God work. This is what Isaiah is talking about when he says, "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (Is. 30:15).
In worship at this depth, we are kept from even saying "thank You." For, at the risk of being misunderstood, I am prepared to say that our gratitude sometimes gets in the way of praise. Gratitude can be an attempt to get the balance even again. Probably you have experienced on a human level something of what I am getting at. Someone does something for you, and you know very well that he or she wants you to be thankful, and you are, so you express your gratitude. You try to be extremely thankful so that this person will see how you really feel. Or you try to return the favor in some way. This gives you a feeling of satisfaction.
Have you ever been placed in a situation where there was nothing you could say or do? Someone did something immensely wonderful, and you weren't able to do anything except feel grateful? Or perhaps the person went away, and you wish you could find him or her to say how much you appreciated what was done. And maybe you felt frustrated, and some of your joy was taken away because it was not possible to express your gratitude. On the natural level, we always feel we must do something.
But Isaiah says that our salvation lies in the fact that we do nothing: "In returning and rest, you shall be saved." I did not say that we feel nothing, but that we do nothing. This, says Isaiah, is the best way to live—the way God wants us to live. It constitutes the greatest joy there is. And even though we are rendered helpless—as though we are just standing there with our mouth wide open—God sees how we feel and knows we are grateful.
Yet, though this is what God wanted, the people Isaiah was speaking to did not do this. It reads "... in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Yet you were not willing" (Isa. 30:15, emphasis added). The people wanted "to do" instead. They said, "for we will flee on horses ... We will ride on swift horses" (v. 16). And that's the way so many of us are. We can't imagine getting satisfaction from anything but "doing." We must be always working, always on the go. We feel guilty if we are not on the move.
Isaiah 30:15 is set in the context of a solemn rebuke. The people of Israel thought they had better ideas than God on how to fight their battles—and they had actually turned to Egypt for help.
And it is at this point that Isaiah had the boldness to tell the people what God envisioned for them: "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved" (v. 15a). Not in going to Egypt, but in just looking to God and relying on him. "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength" (v. 15b). All God asked for was the complete trust of the people. He wanted them to get their joy from seeing Him accomplish His Word. But they wouldn't have it.
Two Christian doctrines emerge here, the first of which is justification—being made righteous in God's sight—by faith alone. Romans 4:2 says "If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God." And verse 5 says, "But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness." So if any of us think we will go to heaven when we die because we've tried to live a good life and haven't done much wrong and haven't hurt anybody, then we must see that we are wrong and are at this moment on our way to hell. God does not justify us because of our actions or our words. Justification comes simply by trusting in what Jesus did on the cross.
The second doctrine concerns the living of the Christian life. Our Christian life must be lived without confidence in works. I don't mean it's to be lived without works, but it's to be lived without relying on what we do to get God's approval. We must not feel conscious of any good we are doing but must consider that what we are doing is nothing. As long as we are conscious of our works or derive our assurance from them—as long as we are so impertinent as to conclude that we are saved because we do good things—then we grieve the Spirit and cut ourselves off from the joy that can be ours just by trusting in His Word alone.
Isaiah very much wanted the people to enjoy hearing the voice of God. The way to do this is through rest! "In returning and rest you shall be saved." Hebrews 4:10 says, "For whoever enters His rest will also cease from his own works, as God did from His." And the key phrase here is, "from his own works." We need to stop feeling the need to be always on the go. We must stop getting our joy from "being involved." If we are frustrated and burnt out, then there is no trust. But when we cease from our own work and just do nothing—then we see that God likes us just the way we are—and that is when we worship!
Real worship is directed towards One who doesn't want anything from us for what He has done for us. There are no strings attached. God only wants us to trust Him. He wants us to experience the joy of doing nothing, nothing but resting on the fact that He loves us. God wants us just to look to Him and say, "Lord, I don't know how much I love You. But I know how much You love me." Rest on that and let God love you. Then you will stand in awe.
That's the way we are saved. That's the way we are to love. And that's what will bring true worship by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer Power for the Week of July 23, 2017
This week, meditate on the truth of God's Word regarding salvation and what it means to your life here and now. Engage in all facets of praise and worship as you incorporate them into your prayer life. Continue to pray for worldwide revival, and ask the Lord to give you divine connections with those of like mind so you can join with them in praying for our nation, its allies, our servicemen and women, our government and spiritual leaders. Remember Israel and the persecuted church. Read Isaiah 30:15, Hebrews 4:10, Matt. 6:3, Galatians 2:20.
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