investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--Doug Casey on the Corruptions of the English Language

Let ’ s discuss words .
Many of the words you hear , especially on television and other media , are confused , conflated , or completely misused .
Many recent changes in the way words are used are corrupting the language .
The corruption of language is adding to the corruption of civilization itself .
Words are extremely important because they provide the most important means we have to communicate with each other .
If you don ’ t mean what you say and say what you mean , then it ’ s impossible to communicate accurately .
Do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end of Cool Hand Luke , when Paul Newman gets shot ?
“ What we ’ ve got here is failure to communicate ” ?
That ’ s what I want to talk about .
Where shall I start ?
There are over a million words in English .
I ’ ve rather arbitrarily chosen a few that are especially relevant to investors and freedom lovers .
Many of these words are popular with the political classes .
For instance , stimulate the economy .
That phrase came out in the 1960s .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ money.
” They don ’ t use it much anymore because they can see it no longer results in stimulus ; rather , the opposite .
Now it ’ s called quantitative easing .
And everybody uses it without questioning the fact that it means “ print money , ” “ inflate the currency , ” or “ debase the currency.
” They say “ quantitative easing ” with no irony .
It makes me think the chattering classes are actually , in reality , quite stupid .
I ’ ll discuss that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The “ powers that be ” use a word , and all the jabbering monkeys follow their lead using the same word .
I advise you to call them on it .
When you use the enemy ’ s language , you ’ re playing the enemy ’ s game on his field .
And you can ’ t win a battle when you do that .
You may have noticed , for instance , that over the last 10 years , they only talk about gold in terms of tonnes .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ doubly confusing to the average guy .
Because they ’ re basically innumerate .
Most people are unaware that there are two kinds of tons .
There are metric tonnes , which are 1,000 kilos , or 2,204 pounds .
And English , or short tons , of 2,000 pounds .
And a lot of times , when I see things written , they ’ ll write “ a ton of gold , ” and they spell it T-O-N.
It ’ s totally different from a T-O-N-N-E of gold , but nobody knows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But they shouldn ’ t be using either “ tonnes ” or “ tons.
” If you ’ re going to price something in ounces , and use something in ounces , and miners report it in ounces , it ’ s idiotic to insert “ tonnes ” into the conversation .
Nobody buys or sells or uses a tonne of gold .
Even though gold is priced in dollars per ounce , you have fools who talk about tons or tonnes – not having a clue how many troy ounces are in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knowing what a tonne of gold is worth .
But it serves to make the subject of gold more confusing , and more irrelevant , to the average guy .
Let ’ s talk about bonds .
I ’ m short bonds right now .
But do you remember when debt instruments used to be called bonds and debentures ?
That is a critical but totally lost distinction .
A bond is a debt instrument that is guaranteed by a specific asset in addition to the company ’ s credit .
A debenture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guaranteed by the issuer ’ s general credit .
Whatever happened to debentures ?
Apparently , they don ’ t exist anymore .
Why ?
Because although almost all debt instruments are debentures today , they ’ re now called bonds – which are better than debentures .
It ’ s subtle , dishonest , and indicative of what ’ s happened to the credit universe in general .
Things are made to look better than they , in fact , are .
Another one .
Time deposits and demand deposits .
Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of those terms .
But , now , they ’ re completely conflated .
Banking is actually two totally separate and different businesses combined into one .
With time deposits , you give the bank X number of dollars for a specific length of time , and then the bank guarantees you a specific amount of interest .
Why ?
So it can lend it out at a higher rate of interest for an identical amount of time , generally in a self-liquidating , secured business loan to somebody of substance .
Consumer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question to a sound banker .
Time deposits still – kind of – exist in the form of CDs , but they ’ ve generally morphed into savings accounts in the common vernacular .
And even those have disappeared and have been conflated with demand deposits – called checking accounts by most people .
They are totally different animals .
At least if you ’ re running a sound bank .
Historically , with checking accounts , the bank doesn ’ t pay you interest ; you pay the bank a fee .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ your money , and the convenience of writing checks against it .
It ’ s as if you gave your furniture to Allied Van and Storage , paying them to store it .
Now , this distinction is totally lost , and they can , in effect , lend your furniture out .
This , plus the fractional reserve system , is why all the world ’ s banks are illiquid , and most are basically bankrupt .
Investment .
Savings .
Everybody uses these words , often interchangeably .
But nobody ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t understand what they actually mean .
So , they ’ re misused and conflated .
What is investment ?
“ Investment ” is the allocation of a certain amount of capital to a productive enterprise , intended to create more capital .
It ’ s like planting a seed .
“ Savings ” is simply putting aside the fruits of past production .
You should produce more than you consume .
When you set aside the excess , that is savings .
Saving creates capital , and with capital , you can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of savings and investment are conflated .
The difference between them is undefined and therefore uncertain in the public ’ s mind .
Speculation .
A lot of people think , “ Speculation ?
Oh , that ’ s gambling.
” Well , actually , no .
Speculation is allocating capital , not to create more capital , but to take advantage of distortions and misallocations created in the market – usually by government interference .
Gambling is to engage in a game of chance – roulette , dice , or the like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have no idea what they ’ re doing , they actually are gambling – just using their brokerage house as a casino .
Perhaps that ’ s why people conflate the two things .
Shareholders and stakeholders .
We all know that a shareholder actually owns a share in a company , but have you noticed that over the last generation shareholders have become less important than stakeholders ?
Even though stakeholders are just hangers-on , employees , or people who are looking to get in on a shakedown .
But everybody slavishly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve got to look out for the stakeholders.
” Where did that concept come from ?
It ’ s a recent creation , but Boobus Americanus seems to think it was carved in stone at the country ’ s founding .
We ’ re told to protect them , as if they were a valuable and endangered species .
I say , “ A pox upon stakeholders.
” If they want a vote in what a company does , then they ought to become shareholders .
Stakeholders are a class of being created @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the purpose of shaking down shareholders .
Inflation .
This is one of the most misused words ; few even think about its actual meaning .
What is inflation ?
“ Well , that ’ s prices going up.
” No , it ’ s not .
To say that is to confuse cause and effect .
Inflation is an increase in the money supply .
You inflate when the money supply is increased by more than real wealth increases .
Prices go up as a result .
People have forgotten about that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from out of nowhere , like a freak storm .
No cause .
Unless it ’ s blamed on the butcher , or the baker , or an evil oil company .
Nobody ever thinks it ’ s a central bank – the Fed in the U.S. – that actually creates more money and causes inflation .
You ’ ve heard that the Federal Reserve is trying to create a little bit of inflation because , they say , “ A little bit of inflation is good.
” No , even a little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For two reasons : It creates the business cycle .
And it destroys the value of savings .
Saving is the basis of capital creation .
People who say that a little inflation is a good thing are dangerous fools .
Well , what about deflation ?
That ’ s a bad thing , they say .
Well , is it ?
In fact , deflation is a natural thing in a healthy capitalist economy .
Why ?
Because in a healthy capitalist economy , every year , more wealth is created .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ denominated in a sound money , will go down .
And when prices go down , it means that the money you saved is worth more .
Your standard of living will rise .
Deflation encourages saving .
And that ’ s a good thing , not a bad thing , because remember , savings represents the excess of production over consumption .
That ’ s how you get wealthy , by producing more than you consume and putting aside the difference .
And when you have deflation , where your money becomes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re encouraged to save .
When the government destroys the currency by inflating it , saving is discouraged .
Of course , at this point , because of the unsound monetary system , we might get a catastrophic deflation .
A credit collapse .
Another misused word is money .
Money can be defined as a medium of exchange and a store of value .
Historically , it ’ s always been something tangible .
For instance , cows or salt .
The word pecuniary comes from pecus , which is the Latin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the Latin word for salt .
But gold – and sometimes silver – has always been preferred as money .
What you ’ ve got in your wallet , however – those dollar bills – are currency .
Currency is a relatively recent invention .
It ’ s the government ’ s substitute for money .
It originated as a receipt for money , i.e.
, gold .
Currency no longer has any relationship to money .
And now , forget about even having currency ; it ’ s all about credit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ circulation with the War on Cash .
Soon you ’ ll only have credit , ephemeral digits in the ether .
Everything you buy or sell will go through your bank account , so the powers that be can know exactly what you ’ re doing .
It ’ ll be pretty much impossible to evade taxes .
Or maintain any privacy .
The world ’ s rapidly going in that direction .
It ’ s a huge mistake , and we should not do that .
Wait a minute – what did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We should.
” Those are perfectly fine English words except when they ’ re used together .
We should .
You remember Tonto and the Lone Ranger ?
Do you remember the joke about when they were surrounded by a bunch of hostile Indians – excuse me , Native Americans – and the Lone Ranger says to Tonto , “ Tonto , we ’ re in a lot of trouble.
” And Tonto looks at the Lone Ranger – incidentally , Tonto means “ stupid ” in Spanish – and says , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white man ?
” We is a dangerous word .
Especially when combined with “ should.
” It often occurs in political speeches or in comments by talking heads .
Listen to the imbeciles on TV and see how many times the words we should occur .
I ’ m sympathetic to Tonto .
Another word the political class uses a lot lately is diversity .
“ We ’ ve got to have diversity.
” No , we don ’ t have to have diversity .
I don ’ t see why every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blacks , Hispanics , or women .
Well , of course , half of the human race are women .
But I occasionally like to go to a men ’ s club .
It ’ s odd that men are never invited to ladies ’ functions – and don ’ t care .
In fact , birds of a feather usually flock together .
This is perfectly natural .
I don ’ t think you need diversity .
If you want it in your club , fine .
But freedom of association is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form my friendships based upon neither diversity nor a lack of diversity , although there ’ s a natural tendency to associate with people like yourself .
I form my friendships based upon the character and the beliefs that a person has .
The attributes that create diversity are stupid accidentals .
The fact that diversity is emphasized draws attention to incidentals like race , sex , and gender , and diverts it from important things like character and beliefs .
Diversity has become destructive .
Cultural Marxists love it because they hate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That ’ s another one moronic politicians love to invoke : “ We ’ ve got ta have unity.
” No , we don ’ t have to have unity .
In fact , we shouldn ’ t have unity .
Unity is dangerous .
It ’ s what happens when all the chimpanzees get together and start hooting and panting to create a war .
People like Hitler , Stalin , and Mao required unity .
Remember when it was okay to have bank secrecy , or any kind of secrecy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So , moral cowards said , “ Let ’ s just have privacy ; the word sounds less threatening.
” Well , you can forget about privacy , too .
Now , you ’ re just supposed to have transparency .
That ’ s another word that ’ s just been revitalized in the last politically correct generation or two .
It ’ s promoted by busybodies as a good thing .
Transparency is a condition where everybody can see everything .
Frankly , in my life , I don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matter , to see anything ; it ’ s none of their damn business .
The ability to maintain privacy or secrecy is one thing that separates civilized men from primitives living in mud huts .
I don ’ t acknowledge either the necessity or the automatic goodness of transparency .
Now , if I own shares in a publicly traded corporation , as a shareholder , I ’ ll demand transparency from the management .
Generally speaking , management shouldn ’ t be trusted .
They ’ re hired suits , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leash .
But nobody , other than shareholders , has a right to demand transparency from a corporation .
In general , forget about this word .
It ’ s popular .
Everybody uses it .
But it should be expunged from your vocabulary simply because it ’ s become such a favorite of cultural Marxists and busybodies .
Fair .
That ’ s a great word .
But everybody ’ s got a different idea of fair .
Put a bunch of money on the table , and let ’ s divide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s fair ?
I don ’ t know .
But I guarantee everybody will have a different idea of what ’ s “ fair.
” So , let ’ s forget about the idea of fair , because nobody knows what that is .
It ’ s a floating abstraction .
I have a better idea .
Whatever happened to justice ?
What is “ just ” ?
It means everybody gets what they deserve .
Now , perhaps you can solve the problem .
It ’ s a bit more specific , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you deserve as opposed to what ’ s fair .
Because , frankly , some people don ’ t deserve anything .
Simply existing doesn ’ t necessarily give you a right to a piece of the pie – or even a right to vote on it .
But nobody talks about justice today ; they talk about fairness .
And , of course , this corrupts the moral character of society .
What about freedom of speech ?
You can forget about freedom of speech .
One reason is because nobody knows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ words in order to speak .
But if you don ’ t define and use words accurately , they mean nothing .
Forget about all the non-PC words you ’ re not even allowed to think , much less use .
Freedom of speech is a phrase now divorced from reality .
It ’ s actually no longer very important , except , oddly enough , among the political classes , where it ’ s become very important in exactly the wrong way .
Because freedom of speech , today , often means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an antagonistic person , and I like most other people , if they ’ re of good character .
Here ’ s a shocker for you : I don ’ t see anything wrong with hate speech .
Why ?
Because there are a lot of things in the world worth hating , because they ’ re evil and destructive .
But , if you want to live in a civilized environment , you shouldn ’ t conflate so-called hate speech with bad taste .
Most so-called hate speech is simply bad taste @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far worse than anything that can possibly be said .
One good thing about hate speech is that it lets you discover something about the person speaking .
If he can ’ t speak , you may not really know who you ’ re actually dealing with .
Which can be dangerous .
Well , of course , now that we have “ hate speech , ” that draws attention to “ aggressive speech.
” That ’ s another newly coined phrase .
Be aware of neologisms , newly minted words that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d been around since the day of Aristotle .
One of them is microaggression .
This one is really popular with so-called minorities at universities today .
It can occur when somebody says something that – by really parsing it in the manner of a Talmudic scholar – might make a person feel uncomfortable .
As a result , these weenies are demanding segregated “ safe spaces.
” It ’ s not just completely ridiculous .
It ’ s actually psychotic .
You should laugh off the concepts of microaggressions and safe spaces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recognize the difference between hate speech and bad taste speech .
“ And that ’ s a genuine fact.
” Does anybody say that anymore ?
Another change in the language over the last generation is that nobody says fact anymore .
Facts are now factoids .
“ Here ’ s a factoid.
” Do you know what a factoid is ?
It ’ s an artificial fact , or something that looks like a fact but isn ’ t .
What , for instance , is an asteroid ?
An asteroid is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isn ’ t .
What ’ s an android ?
An android is something that looks like a human but isn ’ t .
That ’ s what the ending -oid means – something that resembles the object in question .
So , a factoid is really a phony , made-up fact , a created fact .
I never say “ factoid ” unless I mean something that somebody ’ s made up .
It ’ s a BS fact .
What they really mean to say , to be cute , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trivial fact .
But people now use factoid .
They don ’ t even think about what the word means .
But that ’ s true of so many words today… Like United States .
Everybody likes the United States .
Well , I ’ m not sure I do , because they so often conflate the United States with the U.S. government .
Talking heads will say , “ The U.S. did this .
The U.S. should do that.
” Wait a minute .
Do they mean the nation-state that lies in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they mean the U.S. government ?
They ’ re almost always talking about the U.S. government .
So , they ’ re conflating the U.S. itself , a conglomeration of 300 million people , with the U.S. government .
They ’ re two different things .
The U.S. government has a life of its own .
And it only really cares about the U.S. the way a flea cares about a dog .
A flea needs the dog ; it wants the dog to survive .
But not because it cares about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every living being , whether it ’ s an amoeba or a corporation or a government , is SURVIVE .
That ’ s the prime directive ; it comes before anything else .
The U.S. government is an entity that has a life of its own .
Its prime directive is looking out for number one .
So , don ’ t conflate the U.S. and the U.S. government .
If you mean the government , say it .
If you mean the country , say , “ … the U.S. , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government.
” Unfortunately , it ’ s now necessary to be extremely clear .
Otherwise , people will assume what they will… But it ’ s worse than that , because people now conflate the U.S. with America .
They ’ re totally different things .
America is a unique concept , and it was an excellent concept .
Its values – what it stood for , at least in theory – were actually unique in the world ’ s history .
But people conflate that with the U.S. , which is now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation-states that cover the face of the Earth like a skin disease .
I ’ m all for the idea of America .
It ’ s unique , it ’ s good , it ’ s wonderful .
But the U.S. is just another nation-state , like Burundi , Burma , or Ecuador – there ’ s less and less practical difference .
Be especially careful when you conflate the U.S. and America .
Another good thing that people always confuse , conflate , and define improperly today is health care .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health care.
” “ I want to buy some health insurance.
” No , you don ’ t .
And , no , you can ’ t .
What they mean to say is medical care .
Health care is something you do for yourself .
It ’ s diet , it ’ s exercise , it ’ s prudent habits .
Those things increase your odds of having health .
They ’ re how you maintain your health .
Your insurance policy , whether it ’ s Obamacare or something else , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It only insures some costs of your medical care .
Recall the beginning of the movie Dances with Wolves , when they show the surgeon cutting off people ’ s limbs on a battlefield .
That ’ s medical care , in effect , emergency damage control .
It ’ s important and necessary , but medical care can ’ t maintain your health .
That ’ s something you do .
But people love to use the words health care ; it sounds so wholesome .
The political classes never say “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ health care , ” because everybody wants to be healthy , but people are scared by medical care .
It means anesthesia , doctors cutting into you , and dreaded diseases .
That ’ s why health insurance is so easy to sell to the average chimpanzee .
It ’ s because he thinks to himself , “ Yeah , health insurance .
Sure , I want to insure that my health stays good.
” He doesn ’ t want to think about medical care ; that ’ s a scary scientific @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t say “ health insurance ” when you really mean “ medical insurance.
” I just mentioned the movie Dances with Wolves .
That was partly about the so-called American Civil War .
Well , no , it wasn ’ t a civil war , and you shouldn ’ t call it “ the Civil War.
” A civil war occurs when two or more groups use military violence in trying to take over the same government to control a designated area .
That ’ s not what the so-called U.S. Civil War @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war of secession , where the Southern states were simply trying to secede .
A war of secession is totally different from a civil war .
The Spanish Civil War was a real civil war .
There , the fascists and the communists were both trying to take control of the same real estate .
What we had in the U.S. was not a civil war ; it was a war of secession .
So , call it the War Between the States .
Some call it the War of Northern Aggression .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ camps .
Who can tell me when concentration camps started , and who started them ?
No one ?
Most people would say , “ Oh , it was those damn Nazis in World War II.
” No , it wasn ’ t .
It was the Brits , the wonderful Brits , our perpetual allies , in the Boer War in South Africa .
The Afrikaners call it the British War for Gold .
The British created the first concentration camps in modern history , incarcerating and intentionally starving scores of thousands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s kind of forgotten , since the victors always write the history .
Or “ herstory , ” which , believe it or not , some “ gender equality ” types prefer to say .
They believe everything should be politicized whenever possible .
When I was in college , people used to joke , “ We ’ ll never have concentration camps in the U.S. ; we ’ ll call them something else.
” And , by God , it was a joke in those days – but today , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now call them detention facilities .
Talking about war and concentration camps , do you all remember that until 1946 , the U.S. government used to have something called the War Department ?
That ’ s what it was called .
The U.S. , technically speaking , didn ’ t go to war unless Congress declared war .
But since World War II , it ’ s had nothing but undeclared wars .
From Korea and Vietnam , which were pretty big wars , to all these little , but very expensive , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We don ’ t have a War Department anymore .
That would be too honest .
It ’ s called the Defense Department , but it doesn ’ t defend the U.S. Actually , it draws in trouble and danger to the U.S .
They should call it the Opposite of Defense Department , because it ’ s actually the biggest single existential danger to the U.S .
Entirely apart from the fact that , fiscally , it ’ s going to bankrupt the U.S. A generation from now ( assuming they don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I wouldn ’ t be surprised to see the Seventh Fleet rotting at the dock like an Argentine destroyer , or like the Soviet Navy 20 years ago .
But in the meantime , don ’ t call it the Defense Department .
It doesn ’ t defend anything .
You may be thinking , “ This guy doesn ’ t sound like a patriot.
” Patriot .
That ’ s a loaded word .
“ I ’ m a patriot , you ’ re a nationalist , he ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I know the difference .
Why is everybody supposed to be a patriot of the country that they ’ re born in ?
I don ’ t care if you come from Rwanda ; you ’ re supposed to be a patriot .
It ’ s a ridiculous concept .
“ My country is the best one in the world , because I was born there.
” It ’ s an accident of birth .
If you were born just five feet north of the Canadian border , now you ’ ve got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what point does a patriot turn into a nationalist ?
And at what point does a nationalist turn into a jingoist ?
Patriot is a word to use very carefully .
Be very , very careful of people that use it promiscuously , because they usually don ’ t know what it means , nor what its implications are .
And they ’ re often warmongers .
It ’ s similar to the axiom “ I ’ m a freedom fighter , you ’ re a rebel , he ’ s a terrorist.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing .
But don ’ t dare broach the subject to a patriot .
God forbid a nationalist or a jingoist should hear it .
It ’ s funny how they call these ISIS people in the Middle East – horrible people , quite frankly – they call them terrorists .
Well , I don ’ t know .
They ’ ve established their own nation-state in exactly the way most nation-states are established .
You know , by killing the people that were there before , taking over the government , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They ’ re nasty .
I don ’ t like them ; I ’ d be one of the first people they ’ d put up against the wall .
But that ’ s how most states get started .
They ’ re just as legitimate as any other nation-state out there today .
People say , “ Well , they shouldn ’ t dismember Syria.
” Well , Syria is not a real country .
It ’ s a dozen different tribes that mostly hate each other .
Iraq is not a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s at least three separate , distinct countries .
Afghanistan , Pakistan , India – none of these is a real country , either .
None of those countries in the stans is a real country .
What do I mean by that ?
They have no real ethnic , tribal , religious , cultural , or linguistic homogeneity .
None of the countries in Africa is a real country , either .
It ’ s crazy to consider them countries .
A real country is homogeneous .
There are very few – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re overwhelmed with migrants .
Most “ countries ” are actually domestic empires .
Non-interventionism .
There ’ s nothing wrong with non-interventionism .
It ’ s a highly benign concept , but nobody says that .
If you don ’ t want to stick your nose into somebody else ’ s business and kill the natives , then you ’ re called an isolationist .
“ These are the good natives ; those are the bad natives.
” I can ’ t tell the difference , and I promise you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t , either .
Conflating the pejorative word isolationist with the benign non-interventionist typifies the intellectual dishonesty that ’ s accepted – and rarely challenged – today .
Actually , what have I been talking about this whole speech ?
I ’ ve been talking about stupidity .
So , why don ’ t we define the word stupidity ?
It ’ s usually taken to mean a low IQ .
But that ’ s not a very helpful definition .
It ’ s rather circular .
More accurately , stupidity is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consequences of an action , but an inability to see the indirect and delayed consequences .
That ’ s a much more useful definition of stupidity .
But I ’ ll give you an even better one .
It ’ s an unwitting tendency toward self-destruction .
And so , when I use the word stupidity in reference to the misuse of words and the conflation of concepts , it ’ s appropriate .
These things are not trivial factors in the degradation of Western civilization .
And we ’ ve only scratched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last few minutes .

Via Casey Research
Let’s discuss words. Many of the words you hear, especially on television and other media, are confused, conflated, or completely misused. Many recent changes in the way words are used are corrupting the language. The corruption of language is adding to the corruption of civilization itself.
Words are extremely important because they provide the most important means we have to communicate with each other. If you don’t mean what you say and say what you mean, then it’s impossible to communicate accurately. Do you remember that famous line at the end of Cool Hand Luke, when Paul Newman gets shot? “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”? That’s what I want to talk about.
Where shall I start? There are over a million words in English. I’ve rather arbitrarily chosen a few that are especially relevant to investors and freedom lovers. Many of these words are popular with the political classes.
For instance, stimulate the economy. That phrase came out in the 1960s. It really just means “print up money.” They don’t use it much anymore because they can see it no longer results in stimulus; rather, the opposite. Now it’s called quantitative easing. And everybody uses it without questioning the fact that it means “print money,” “inflate the currency,” or “debase the currency.” They say “quantitative easing” with no irony. It makes me think the chattering classes are actually, in reality, quite stupid. I’ll discuss that word – “stupid” – later.
The “powers that be” use a word, and all the jabbering monkeys follow their lead using the same word. I advise you to call them on it. When you use the enemy’s language, you’re playing the enemy’s game on his field. And you can’t win a battle when you do that.
You may have noticed, for instance, that over the last 10 years, they only talk about gold in terms of tonnes. Not ounces, tonnes. This is doubly confusing to the average guy. Because they’re basically innumerate. Most people are unaware that there are two kinds of tons. There are metric tonnes, which are 1,000 kilos, or 2,204 pounds. And English, or short tons, of 2,000 pounds. And a lot of times, when I see things written, they’ll write “a ton of gold,” and they spell it T-O-N. It’s totally different from a T-O-N-N-E of gold, but nobody knows that, including the ignorant journalists.
But they shouldn’t be using either “tonnes” or “tons.” If you’re going to price something in ounces, and use something in ounces, and miners report it in ounces, it’s idiotic to insert “tonnes” into the conversation. Nobody buys or sells or uses a tonne of gold. Even though gold is priced in dollars per ounce, you have fools who talk about tons or tonnes – not having a clue how many troy ounces are in either of them. Or even vaguely knowing what a tonne of gold is worth. But it serves to make the subject of gold more confusing, and more irrelevant, to the average guy.
Let’s talk about bonds. I’m short bonds right now. But do you remember when debt instruments used to be called bonds and debentures? That is a critical but totally lost distinction.
A bond is a debt instrument that is guaranteed by a specific asset in addition to the company’s credit. A debenture is a debt instrument that is just guaranteed by the issuer’s general credit.
Whatever happened to debentures? Apparently, they don’t exist anymore. Why? Because although almost all debt instruments are debentures today, they’re now called bonds – which are better than debentures. It’s subtle, dishonest, and indicative of what’s happened to the credit universe in general. Things are made to look better than they, in fact, are.
Another one. Time deposits and demand deposits. Some of you may remember the proper use of those terms. But, now, they’re completely conflated. Banking is actually two totally separate and different businesses combined into one. With time deposits, you give the bank X number of dollars for a specific length of time, and then the bank guarantees you a specific amount of interest.
Why? So it can lend it out at a higher rate of interest for an identical amount of time, generally in a self-liquidating, secured business loan to somebody of substance. Consumer and mortgage loans are out of the question to a sound banker.
Time deposits still – kind of – exist in the form of CDs, but they’ve generally morphed into savings accounts in the common vernacular. And even those have disappeared and have been conflated with demand deposits – called checking accounts by most people. They are totally different animals. At least if you’re running a sound bank. Historically, with checking accounts, the bank doesn’t pay you interest; you pay the bank a fee.
Why? For the service of storing your money, and the convenience of writing checks against it. It’s as if you gave your furniture to Allied Van and Storage, paying them to store it. Now, this distinction is totally lost, and they can, in effect, lend your furniture out. This, plus the fractional reserve system, is why all the world’s banks are illiquid, and most are basically bankrupt.
Investment. Savings. Everybody uses these words, often interchangeably. But nobody ever defines them, because they don’t understand what they actually mean. So, they’re misused and conflated. What is investment? “Investment” is the allocation of a certain amount of capital to a productive enterprise, intended to create more capital. It’s like planting a seed.
“Savings” is simply putting aside the fruits of past production. You should produce more than you consume. When you set aside the excess, that is savings. Saving creates capital, and with capital, you can invest. But now, the concepts of savings and investment are conflated. The difference between them is undefined and therefore uncertain in the public’s mind.
Speculation. A lot of people think, “Speculation? Oh, that’s gambling.” Well, actually, no. Speculation is allocating capital, not to create more capital, but to take advantage of distortions and misallocations created in the market – usually by government interference.
Gambling is to engage in a game of chance – roulette, dice, or the like. Since most people in the markets have no idea what they’re doing, they actually are gambling – just using their brokerage house as a casino. Perhaps that’s why people conflate the two things.
Shareholders and stakeholders. We all know that a shareholder actually owns a share in a company, but have you noticed that over the last generation shareholders have become less important than stakeholders? Even though stakeholders are just hangers-on, employees, or people who are looking to get in on a shakedown. But everybody slavishly acknowledges, “Yes, we’ve got to look out for the stakeholders.”
Where did that concept come from? It’s a recent creation, but Boobus Americanus seems to think it was carved in stone at the country’s founding.
We’re told to protect them, as if they were a valuable and endangered species. I say, “A pox upon stakeholders.” If they want a vote in what a company does, then they ought to become shareholders. Stakeholders are a class of being created out of nothing by cultural Marxists for the purpose of shaking down shareholders.
Inflation. This is one of the most misused words; few even think about its actual meaning. What is inflation? “Well, that’s prices going up.” No, it’s not. To say that is to confuse cause and effect. Inflation is an increase in the money supply. You inflate when the money supply is increased by more than real wealth increases.
Prices go up as a result. People have forgotten about that. Today, inflation seems to come from out of nowhere, like a freak storm. No cause. Unless it’s blamed on the butcher, or the baker, or an evil oil company. Nobody ever thinks it’s a central bank – the Fed in the U.S. – that actually creates more money and causes inflation.
You’ve heard that the Federal Reserve is trying to create a little bit of inflation because, they say, “A little bit of inflation is good.” No, even a little bit of inflation is deadly poisonous. For two reasons: It creates the business cycle. And it destroys the value of savings. Saving is the basis of capital creation. People who say that a little inflation is a good thing are dangerous fools.
Well, what about deflation? That’s a bad thing, they say. Well, is it? In fact, deflation is a natural thing in a healthy capitalist economy. Why? Because in a healthy capitalist economy, every year, more wealth is created. An increase of wealth means prices, denominated in a sound money, will go down. And when prices go down, it means that the money you saved is worth more. Your standard of living will rise.
Deflation encourages saving. And that’s a good thing, not a bad thing, because remember, savings represents the excess of production over consumption. That’s how you get wealthy, by producing more than you consume and putting aside the difference.
And when you have deflation, where your money becomes more valuable every year, you’re encouraged to save. When the government destroys the currency by inflating it, saving is discouraged. Of course, at this point, because of the unsound monetary system, we might get a catastrophic deflation. A credit collapse.
Another misused word is money. Money can be defined as a medium of exchange and a store of value. Historically, it’s always been something tangible. For instance, cows or salt. The word pecuniary comes from pecus, which is the Latin word for cow. We get salary from the Latin word for salt. But gold – and sometimes silver – has always been preferred as money.
What you’ve got in your wallet, however – those dollar bills – are currency. Currency is a relatively recent invention. It’s the government’s substitute for money. It originated as a receipt for money, i.e., gold. Currency no longer has any relationship to money. And now, forget about even having currency; it’s all about credit. Even currency is going out of circulation with the War on Cash.
Soon you’ll only have credit, ephemeral digits in the ether. Everything you buy or sell will go through your bank account, so the powers that be can know exactly what you’re doing. It’ll be pretty much impossible to evade taxes. Or maintain any privacy. The world’s rapidly going in that direction.
It’s a huge mistake, and we should not do that. Wait a minute – what did I just say? I said, “We should.” Those are perfectly fine English words except when they’re used together. We should. You remember Tonto and the Lone Ranger? Do you remember the joke about when they were surrounded by a bunch of hostile Indians – excuse me, Native Americans – and the Lone Ranger says to Tonto, “Tonto, we’re in a lot of trouble.”
And Tonto looks at the Lone Ranger – incidentally, Tonto means “stupid” in Spanish – and says, “What do you mean we, white man?”
We is a dangerous word. Especially when combined with “should.” It often occurs in political speeches or in comments by talking heads. Listen to the imbeciles on TV and see how many times the words we should occur. I’m sympathetic to Tonto.
Another word the political class uses a lot lately is diversity. “We’ve got to have diversity.” No, we don’t have to have diversity. I don’t see why every room has got to have a few blacks, Hispanics, or women. Well, of course, half of the human race are women. But I occasionally like to go to a men’s club. It’s odd that men are never invited to ladies’ functions – and don’t care.
In fact, birds of a feather usually flock together. This is perfectly natural. I don’t think you need diversity. If you want it in your club, fine. But freedom of association is far, far more important.
I form my friendships based upon neither diversity nor a lack of diversity, although there’s a natural tendency to associate with people like yourself. I form my friendships based upon the character and the beliefs that a person has. The attributes that create diversity are stupid accidentals. The fact that diversity is emphasized draws attention to incidentals like race, sex, and gender, and diverts it from important things like character and beliefs. Diversity has become destructive. Cultural Marxists love it because they hate people.
Unity has also become poisonous. That’s another one moronic politicians love to invoke: “We’ve gotta have unity.” No, we don’t have to have unity. In fact, we shouldn’t have unity. Unity is dangerous. It’s what happens when all the chimpanzees get together and start hooting and panting to create a war. People like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao required unity.
Remember when it was okay to have bank secrecy, or any kind of secrecy? And then secrecy became somehow wrong. So, moral cowards said, “Let’s just have privacy; the word sounds less threatening.” Well, you can forget about privacy, too. Now, you’re just supposed to have transparency. That’s another word that’s just been revitalized in the last politically correct generation or two. It’s promoted by busybodies as a good thing.
Transparency is a condition where everybody can see everything. Frankly, in my life, I don’t want everybody, or anybody for that matter, to see anything; it’s none of their damn business. The ability to maintain privacy or secrecy is one thing that separates civilized men from primitives living in mud huts. I don’t acknowledge either the necessity or the automatic goodness of transparency.
Now, if I own shares in a publicly traded corporation, as a shareholder, I’ll demand transparency from the management. Generally speaking, management shouldn’t be trusted. They’re hired suits, and shareholders should keep them on a short leash. But nobody, other than shareholders, has a right to demand transparency from a corporation. In general, forget about this word. It’s popular. Everybody uses it. But it should be expunged from your vocabulary simply because it’s become such a favorite of cultural Marxists and busybodies.
Fair. That’s a great word. But everybody’s got a different idea of fair. Put a bunch of money on the table, and let’s divide it up. Well, what’s fair? I don’t know. But I guarantee everybody will have a different idea of what’s “fair.” So, let’s forget about the idea of fair, because nobody knows what that is. It’s a floating abstraction. I have a better idea.
Whatever happened to justice? What is “just”? It means everybody gets what they deserve. Now, perhaps you can solve the problem. It’s a bit more specific, more focused, to find out what you deserve as opposed to what’s fair. Because, frankly, some people don’t deserve anything. Simply existing doesn’t necessarily give you a right to a piece of the pie – or even a right to vote on it. But nobody talks about justice today; they talk about fairness. And, of course, this corrupts the moral character of society.
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What about freedom of speech? You can forget about freedom of speech. One reason is because nobody knows what words mean anymore. You need words in order to speak. But if you don’t define and use words accurately, they mean nothing. Forget about all the non-PC words you’re not even allowed to think, much less use.
Freedom of speech is a phrase now divorced from reality. It’s actually no longer very important, except, oddly enough, among the political classes, where it’s become very important in exactly the wrong way. Because freedom of speech, today, often means hate speech.
I’m not an antagonistic person, and I like most other people, if they’re of good character. Here’s a shocker for you: I don’t see anything wrong with hate speech. Why? Because there are a lot of things in the world worth hating, because they’re evil and destructive.
But, if you want to live in a civilized environment, you shouldn’t conflate so-called hate speech with bad taste. Most so-called hate speech is simply bad taste or stupidity. Outlawing hate speech is far worse than anything that can possibly be said.
One good thing about hate speech is that it lets you discover something about the person speaking. If he can’t speak, you may not really know who you’re actually dealing with. Which can be dangerous.
Well, of course, now that we have “hate speech,” that draws attention to “aggressive speech.” That’s another newly coined phrase. Be aware of neologisms, newly minted words that the average chimpanzee uses as if they’d been around since the day of Aristotle.
One of them is microaggression. This one is really popular with so-called minorities at universities today. It can occur when somebody says something that – by really parsing it in the manner of a Talmudic scholar – might make a person feel uncomfortable. As a result, these weenies are demanding segregated “safe spaces.”
It’s not just completely ridiculous. It’s actually psychotic.
You should laugh off the concepts of microaggressions and safe spaces, revel in free speech, and recognize the difference between hate speech and bad taste speech.
“And that’s a genuine fact.” Does anybody say that anymore? Another change in the language over the last generation is that nobody says fact anymore. Facts are now factoids. “Here’s a factoid.”
Do you know what a factoid is? It’s an artificial fact, or something that looks like a fact but isn’t. What, for instance, is an asteroid? An asteroid is something that looks like a star but isn’t. What’s an android? An android is something that looks like a human but isn’t. That’s what the ending -oid means – something that resembles the object in question. So, a factoid is really a phony, made-up fact, a created fact.
I never say “factoid” unless I mean something that somebody’s made up. It’s a BS fact. What they really mean to say, to be cute, is factette. A little fact. A trivial fact. But people now use factoid. They don’t even think about what the word means. But that’s true of so many words today…
Like United States. Everybody likes the United States. Well, I’m not sure I do, because they so often conflate the United States with the U.S. government. Talking heads will say, “The U.S. did this. The U.S. should do that.” Wait a minute. Do they mean the nation-state that lies in between Canada and Mexico, or do they mean the U.S. government? They’re almost always talking about the U.S. government. So, they’re conflating the U.S. itself, a conglomeration of 300 million people, with the U.S. government.
They’re two different things. The U.S. government has a life of its own. And it only really cares about the U.S. the way a flea cares about a dog. A flea needs the dog; it wants the dog to survive. But not because it cares about the dog itself. The prime directive of every living being, whether it’s an amoeba or a corporation or a government, is SURVIVE. That’s the prime directive; it comes before anything else.
The U.S. government is an entity that has a life of its own. Its prime directive is looking out for number one. So, don’t conflate the U.S. and the U.S. government. If you mean the government, say it. If you mean the country, say, “… the U.S., and I don’t mean the U.S. government.” Unfortunately, it’s now necessary to be extremely clear. Otherwise, people will assume what they will…
But it’s worse than that, because people now conflate the U.S. with America. They’re totally different things. America is a unique concept, and it was an excellent concept. Its values – what it stood for, at least in theory – were actually unique in the world’s history.
But people conflate that with the U.S., which is now really just another one of the 200 nation-states that cover the face of the Earth like a skin disease. I’m all for the idea of America. It’s unique, it’s good, it’s wonderful. But the U.S. is just another nation-state, like Burundi, Burma, or Ecuador – there’s less and less practical difference. Be especially careful when you conflate the U.S. and America.
Another good thing that people always confuse, conflate, and define improperly today is health care. “We need the state to pay for health care.” “I want to buy some health insurance.” No, you don’t. And, no, you can’t. What they mean to say is medical care.
Health care is something you do for yourself. It’s diet, it’s exercise, it’s prudent habits. Those things increase your odds of having health. They’re how you maintain your health. Your insurance policy, whether it’s Obamacare or something else, can’t maintain your health. It only insures some costs of your medical care.
Recall the beginning of the movie Dances with Wolves, when they show the surgeon cutting off people’s limbs on a battlefield. That’s medical care, in effect, emergency damage control. It’s important and necessary, but medical care can’t maintain your health. That’s something you do. But people love to use the words health care; it sounds so wholesome.
The political classes never say “medical care;” they always say “health care,” because everybody wants to be healthy, but people are scared by medical care. It means anesthesia, doctors cutting into you, and dreaded diseases. That’s why health insurance is so easy to sell to the average chimpanzee. It’s because he thinks to himself, “Yeah, health insurance. Sure, I want to insure that my health stays good.” He doesn’t want to think about medical care; that’s a scary scientific thing. So, please don’t say “health insurance” when you really mean “medical insurance.”
I just mentioned the movie Dances with Wolves. That was partly about the so-called American Civil War. Well, no, it wasn’t a civil war, and you shouldn’t call it “the Civil War.” A civil war occurs when two or more groups use military violence in trying to take over the same government to control a designated area. That’s not what the so-called U.S. Civil War was about. It was actually a war of secession, where the Southern states were simply trying to secede. A war of secession is totally different from a civil war.
The Spanish Civil War was a real civil war. There, the fascists and the communists were both trying to take control of the same real estate. What we had in the U.S. was not a civil war; it was a war of secession. So, call it the War Between the States. Some call it the War of Northern Aggression.
Here’s another one: concentration camps. Who can tell me when concentration camps started, and who started them? No one?
Most people would say, “Oh, it was those damn Nazis in World War II.” No, it wasn’t. It was the Brits, the wonderful Brits, our perpetual allies, in the Boer War in South Africa. The Afrikaners call it the British War for Gold.
The British created the first concentration camps in modern history, incarcerating and intentionally starving scores of thousands of mostly women and children. But that’s kind of forgotten, since the victors always write the history. Or “herstory,” which, believe it or not, some “gender equality” types prefer to say. They believe everything should be politicized whenever possible.
When I was in college, people used to joke, “We’ll never have concentration camps in the U.S.; we’ll call them something else.” And, by God, it was a joke in those days – but today, it’s actually true. We now call them detention facilities.
Talking about war and concentration camps, do you all remember that until 1946, the U.S. government used to have something called the War Department? That’s what it was called. The U.S., technically speaking, didn’t go to war unless Congress declared war. But since World War II, it’s had nothing but undeclared wars. From Korea and Vietnam, which were pretty big wars, to all these little, but very expensive, sport wars we get into now.
We don’t have a War Department anymore. That would be too honest. It’s called the Defense Department, but it doesn’t defend the U.S. Actually, it draws in trouble and danger to the U.S. They should call it the Opposite of Defense Department, because it’s actually the biggest single existential danger to the U.S. Entirely apart from the fact that, fiscally, it’s going to bankrupt the U.S.
A generation from now (assuming they don’t start World War III), I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Seventh Fleet rotting at the dock like an Argentine destroyer, or like the Soviet Navy 20 years ago. But in the meantime, don’t call it the Defense Department. It doesn’t defend anything.
You may be thinking, “This guy doesn’t sound like a patriot.” Patriot. That’s a loaded word. “I’m a patriot, you’re a nationalist, he’s a jingoist.” I’m not sure I know the difference. Why is everybody supposed to be a patriot of the country that they’re born in? I don’t care if you come from Rwanda; you’re supposed to be a patriot. It’s a ridiculous concept. “My country is the best one in the world, because I was born there.” It’s an accident of birth.
If you were born just five feet north of the Canadian border, now you’ve got to be a Canadian patriot.
At what point does a patriot turn into a nationalist? And at what point does a nationalist turn into a jingoist? Patriot is a word to use very carefully. Be very, very careful of people that use it promiscuously, because they usually don’t know what it means, nor what its implications are. And they’re often warmongers.
It’s similar to the axiom “I’m a freedom fighter, you’re a rebel, he’s a terrorist.” It’s mostly a point-of-view thing. But don’t dare broach the subject to a patriot. God forbid a nationalist or a jingoist should hear it.
It’s funny how they call these ISIS people in the Middle East – horrible people, quite frankly – they call them terrorists. Well, I don’t know. They’ve established their own nation-state in exactly the way most nation-states are established. You know, by killing the people that were there before, taking over the government, and killing people that fight against them. They’re nasty. I don’t like them; I’d be one of the first people they’d put up against the wall. But that’s how most states get started. They’re just as legitimate as any other nation-state out there today.
People say, “Well, they shouldn’t dismember Syria.” Well, Syria is not a real country. It’s a dozen different tribes that mostly hate each other. Iraq is not a real country, either. It’s at least three separate, distinct countries. Afghanistan, Pakistan, India – none of these is a real country, either. None of those countries in the stans is a real country. What do I mean by that?
They have no real ethnic, tribal, religious, cultural, or linguistic homogeneity. None of the countries in Africa is a real country, either. It’s crazy to consider them countries. A real country is homogeneous. There are very few – places like Denmark and Finland – unless they’re overwhelmed with migrants. Most “countries” are actually domestic empires.
Non-interventionism. There’s nothing wrong with non-interventionism. It’s a highly benign concept, but nobody says that. If you don’t want to stick your nose into somebody else’s business and kill the natives, then you’re called an isolationist. “These are the good natives; those are the bad natives.”
I can’t tell the difference, and I promise you, the morons in Washington can’t, either. Conflating the pejorative word isolationist with the benign non-interventionist typifies the intellectual dishonesty that’s accepted – and rarely challenged – today.
Actually, what have I been talking about this whole speech? I’ve been talking about stupidity. So, why don’t we define the word stupidity? It’s usually taken to mean a low IQ. But that’s not a very helpful definition. It’s rather circular.
More accurately, stupidity is the ability to see the immediate and direct consequences of an action, but an inability to see the indirect and delayed consequences. That’s a much more useful definition of stupidity. But I’ll give you an even better one. It’s an unwitting tendency toward self-destruction. And so, when I use the word stupidity in reference to the misuse of words and the conflation of concepts, it’s appropriate. These things are not trivial factors in the degradation of Western civilization.
And we’ve only scratched the surface of the problem in the last few minutes.


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--WINNING: Gender Now Defined By Biology Instead Of Gender Identity

The Trump administration on Friday announced revised federal policy regarding sex discrimination , rolling back an Obama-era rule that had redefined “ sex ” under federal antidiscrimination statute to include a broad , subjective interpretation of “ gender identity.
” The earlier rule change was a concession to LGBT activists , who in recent years have sought to have significantly broadened interpretations of sex enshrined into local , state and federal law .
The rule expanded sex to include “ an individual ’ s internal sense of gender , which may be male , female , neither , or a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that fall under federal Title IX statute were forbidden from discriminating against anyone on the basis of that revised definition .
A press release from the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday announced that the government was formally rolling back that re-definition , returning to a strictly objective definition of the word “ sex ” as determined by biological indicators .
“ HHS will enforce [ the rule ] by returning to the government ’ s interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain meaning of the word ‘ sex ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by biology , ” the press release stated .

Trump administration rolls back Obama-era rule that redefined ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity’
The Trump administration on Friday announced revised federal policy regarding sex discrimination, rolling back an Obama-era rule that had redefined “sex” under federal antidiscrimination statute to include a broad, subjective interpretation of “gender identity.”
The earlier rule change was a concession to LGBT activists, who in recent years have sought to have significantly broadened interpretations of sex enshrined into local, state and federal law.
The rule expanded sex to include “an individual’s internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female.” Entities that fall under federal Title IX statute were forbidden from discriminating against anyone on the basis of that revised definition.
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A press release from the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday announced that the government was formally rolling back that re-definition, returning to a strictly objective definition of the word “sex” as determined by biological indicators.
“HHS will enforce [the rule] by returning to the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology,” the press release stated.
justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/trump-administration-rolls-back-obama-era-rule-redefined-sex-include


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--The U.S. Has Already Lost More Than 100,000 Oil And Gas Jobs

The US oil and gas labor market is amongst the world ’ s most severely hit by the downturn that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought , a Rystad Energy analysis of the latest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics ( US BLS ) reveals .
More than 100,000 oil and gas jobs have already been lost in total , with most of them coming from the support activities market .
The data shows that the four oil and gas segments most affected are support activities for oil and gas operations ( 44,550 jobs cut from a pre-Covid-19 level @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and related construction ( 16,000 jobs cut from 227,000 ) , drilling of oil and gas wells ( 13,450 jobs cut from 79,450 ) and oil and gas extraction ( 9,600 jobs cut from 156,600 ) .
In addition to the above four segments from the US BLS , Rystad Energy has included more components of the oil and gas industry chain , thus independently estimating the total job cuts to exceed 100,000 to date .
The support activities segment in particular reveals a staggering employment slump of 20 % compared to February @ @ @ @ @ @ @ job cuts can be attributed mainly to the nosediving oil prices driven by a sharp contraction in domestic oil demand , which has resulted in an unprecedented demand-supply imbalance .
In response to the weakened demand , operators and service providers alike have been frantically cutting jobs , “ says Rystad Energy ’ s Vice President Energy Service Research Matthew Fitzsimmons .
Heavy construction labor demand in the US increased by 3.4 % in May , but the oil and gas industry did not contribute to this increase .
Since the outbreak of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ February , oil and gas construction jobs have decreased by more than 10 % .
We believe this sector within the oil and gas industry will take a more cautious approach to new construction activity , waiting for the safety risks associated with Covid-19 to recede .
While onshore construction workers can social distance and execute their tasks on duty , issues arise during tool-box talks , mid-morning , lunch , and mid-afternoon breaks .
Spreading out the times for breaks and installing additional breakout trailers to minimize the risk from these situations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In addition to battling the safety risks with ongoing work , various large operators are now delaying or pulling out of new facility construction .
In Louisiana alone , more than 40 % of liquefied natural gas ( LNG ) investments scheduled for this year have been postponed or canceled .
A revival in construction labor demand may take some time as delays mean weather windows for construction will be missed .
In addition , the weak financial stability of service companies may leave them unable to ramp up hiring fast when conditions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ongoing downturn will also manifest itself in the form of deep pay cuts .
According to our estimates , the wages for various trades in the oil and gas industry are likely to witness a decline of at least 8 % to 10 % heading into 2021 .
The decline in wages and steep job cuts may see workers migrate to other industries with overlapping skill requirements , while some senior workers may retire altogether , as we saw in the previous downturn .
Combined with social distancing measures , severe restrictions on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this will adversely impact the hiring of labor once prices and demand stabilize .
Some parts of the US have been affected more than others .
Texas has lost more than 45,000 jobs in its upstream sector since February 2020 .
Similarly , Louisiana will likely see a decline of nearly 25 % in its total oil and gas workforce , according to the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association .
“ Overall , the impact of the job cuts would be greater for the oilfield services ( OFS ) sector than for exploration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely to see more than 20 % of its shale , onshore and offshore workforce combined cut by the downturn .
While other industries have started to see labor demand embark on a road to recovery , oil and gas workers will have to wait longer for demand to increase , “ Fitzsimmons concludes .

By Rystad Energy
The US oil and gas labor market is amongst the world’s most severely hit by the downturn that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought, a Rystad Energy analysis of the latest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (US BLS) reveals. More than 100,000 oil and gas jobs have already been lost in total, with most of them coming from the support activities market. The data shows that the four oil and gas segments most affected are support activities for oil and gas operations (44,550 jobs cut from a pre-Covid-19 level of 233,550), pipeline and gas and related construction (16,000 jobs cut from 227,000), drilling of oil and gas wells (13,450 jobs cut from 79,450) and oil and gas extraction (9,600 jobs cut from 156,600).
In addition to the above four segments from the US BLS, Rystad Energy has included more components of the oil and gas industry chain, thus independently estimating the total job cuts to exceed 100,000 to date. The support activities segment in particular reveals a staggering employment slump of 20% compared to February’s pre-Covid-19 levels.
“The job cuts can be attributed mainly to the nosediving oil prices driven by a sharp contraction in domestic oil demand, which has resulted in an unprecedented demand-supply imbalance. In response to the weakened demand, operators and service providers alike have been frantically cutting jobs,“ says Rystad Energy’s Vice President Energy Service Research Matthew Fitzsimmons.
Heavy construction labor demand in the US increased by 3.4% in May, but the oil and gas industry did not contribute to this increase. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in the US in early February, oil and gas construction jobs have decreased by more than 10%. We believe this sector within the oil and gas industry will take a more cautious approach to new construction activity, waiting for the safety risks associated with Covid-19 to recede.
While onshore construction workers can social distance and execute their tasks on duty, issues arise during tool-box talks, mid-morning, lunch, and mid-afternoon breaks. Spreading out the times for breaks and installing additional breakout trailers to minimize the risk from these situations can result in increased indirect costs.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
In addition to battling the safety risks with ongoing work, various large operators are now delaying or pulling out of new facility construction. In Louisiana alone, more than 40% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) investments scheduled for this year have been postponed or canceled.
A revival in construction labor demand may take some time as delays mean weather windows for construction will be missed. In addition, the weak financial stability of service companies may leave them unable to ramp up hiring fast when conditions improve.
Job cuts aside, the ongoing downturn will also manifest itself in the form of deep pay cuts. According to our estimates, the wages for various trades in the oil and gas industry are likely to witness a decline of at least 8% to 10% heading into 2021.
The decline in wages and steep job cuts may see workers migrate to other industries with overlapping skill requirements, while some senior workers may retire altogether, as we saw in the previous downturn. Combined with social distancing measures, severe restrictions on international travel and stringent immigration audits, this will adversely impact the hiring of labor once prices and demand stabilize.
Some parts of the US have been affected more than others. Texas has lost more than 45,000 jobs in its upstream sector since February 2020. Similarly, Louisiana will likely see a decline of nearly 25% in its total oil and gas workforce, according to the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association.
“Overall, the impact of the job cuts would be greater for the oilfield services (OFS) sector than for exploration and production companies. OFS companies are likely to see more than 20% of its shale, onshore and offshore workforce combined cut by the downturn. While other industries have started to see labor demand embark on a road to recovery, oil and gas workers will have to wait longer for demand to increase,“ Fitzsimmons concludes.


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--COLLAPSE of Democrat-run cities now imminent as TRUCKERS say they will refuse delivering to cities w

COLLAPSE of Democrat-run cities now imminent as TRUCKERS say they will refuse delivering to cities with de-funded police

( Natural News ) God bless the truckers !
News is breaking today that nearly 4 out of 5 truckers across America will refuse to make deliveries to cities where Democrats have de-funded or abolished the police .
Truckers are the lifelines to cities , bringing food , fuel , medicine and other essential items into cities ( which are artificial constructs that depend on imports just to survive ) .
Sadly , truckers get little credit for their crucial role in keeping society running , and truckers put their lives at risk when they roll into Democrat-run cities that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and terrorism .
( BLM is now understood to mean Burn , Loot and Murder . )
The mad violence , looting and “ reparations ” demands of lunatic Left-wing terrorist groups means that trucks full of supplies are among the high-risk targets .
Truck drivers aren ’ t fools , and they are increasingly deciding to avoid carrying loads into cities where anarchy-oriented Leftists / Democrats are de-funding or abolishing police .
Just yesterday , the city council of Minneapolis voted to completely disband the police department .
Once implemented , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scenario of lawlessness and total chaos , perhaps making Ilhan Omar feel right at home as she successfully brings the lawlessness of her home country to America .
( Fact : Minneapolis , with an enormous number of immigrants from Somalia , is now the No .
1 radical Islamic terrorism recruitment city in America . )
77 % of truckers say they will refuse to deliver to cities where police are de-funded “ Truck driving is historically ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in the country .
In 2018 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ driving as the most deadly job in the country , ” writes CDLlife.com , a site dedicated to commercial trucking .
“ Truck drivers have spent the last year on the front line of a global pandemic and protests .
Now many are fearful of what might happen if police departs disband or are defunded.
” CDL Life , which has a mobile app , ran a poll that asked commercial truck drivers if they would deliver loads to cities where police departments have been de-funded or abolished .
So far , 77 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to deliver loads to such cities .
As CDLlife.com explains , some of the responses from truckers include : – I will not deliver to an area with a disbanded police department .
My life matter and I do this for my family .
We are already at the mercy of these towns and cities with laws and hate against us for parking , getting a meal or even using a restroom .
– For my own safety and security of my customers ’ loads , I have already informed my dispatcher that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that have defunded their police departments .
– …if something was to happen and you have to take matters into your own hands , and then you risk being prosecuted for protecting yourself .
As I wrote in January of this year in an important story that warned about a “ super supply chain crisis ” hitting America ’ s cities : Radical left-wing domestic terrorism groups such as Antifa routinely stage physical assaults on Trump supporters across America , using deadly weapons and mob violence to commit acts of intimidation against their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radical left-wing groups might quickly escalate their tactics into city-wide chaos , murder and mayhem is no stretch of the imagination .
This seems to be their plan .
Yes , I wrote that in January .
So don ’ t believe those who say , “ Nobody saw this coming.
” We saw this coming !
Without truck loads full of goods , every city collapses into total chaos within 96 hours By de-funding or abolishing police , radical left-wing Democrats ( “ DEMONcrats ” ) are deliberately pushing their own cities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then blame Trump for all the problems they caused themselves .
Every city in America collapses into chaos inside of 96 hours if the trucks stop rolling .
Grocery stores , for example , only stock enough food for about 2-3 days of normal grocery shopping .
Once the deliveries cease , the sudden increase in purchasing from the locals will wipe out grocery store shelves in less than 24 hours .
If you thought the George Floyd riots were bad , that was just a tiny taste of what you ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , medicine and consumer goods are halted .
It also begs the question : Who will be stupid enough to drive trucks full of goods into left-wing cities that have collapsed into chaos and “ warlord ” autonomous zones where police are banned ?
Nobody , of course .
Perhaps the city council members who voted to abolish the police can try to find an available rig and deliver a few truckloads of products themselves , but it won ’ t be enough .
Cities need a steady supply of large volumes of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stores and big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe ’ s .
Imagine the total panic when cities like Los Angeles run out of toilet paper and frozen burritos .
And with Walmart now donating $ 100 million to left-wing terrorism-linked groups , it seems that even corporate America is so stupid that they will empower the very terrorists who are going to destroy the cities and gut their own retail stores ( which will be mercilessly looted ) .
Behold your new liberal “ utopia ” depicted in this video , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is what ’ s coming to every city in America that ’ s run by terror-supporting democrats : Here ’ s another scene of what you can look forward to if you live in a city run by Democrats , a political party that now overtly supports left-wing terrorists , anarchy and lawlessness : And here ’ s a scene from the Oakland riots from a few years ago , when looters ransacked a truck and set fire to buses .
This is just a small taste of what ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cities : This underscores the critical urgency of getting out of the cities while you still can By destroying the rule of law , Democrats are making their cities unsafe for the execution of basic functions ( such as commercial deliveries ) upon which the citizens rely for basic survival .
A city without police protection , run by left-wing warlords and Black Lives Matter terrorist gangs , is a city that can not function .
Yet this is exactly what Democrats are doing quite deliberately , including the Mayor of Seattle and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whom are actively supporting rogue left-wing terrorist cells that have already seized six city blocks of downtown Seattle and declared themselves to be a new sovereign nation .
The critical takeaway from this is that every person living in a U.S. city needs to double down on their efforts to bug out from those cities as quickly as possible .
This is not a temporary weekend getaway ; it needs to be a permanent relocation out of the cities and into a low-density rural area .
The cities are rapidly collapsing into a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a collapse of food supplies .
And once that happens , everything descends into chaos and gang warfare .
The police will be unable to protect you .
Heck , they can ’ t protect you now .
Democrat city “ leaders , ” if you can even call them that , have already proven that they will side with left-wing terrorists rather than protect their own citizens .
Even though Americans who live in cities are paying sky-high property taxes that are supposed to provide services such as a 911 police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ de-funded and abolished .
Some sections of the cities — such as in Seattle — are being completely surrendered to terrorist groups like Black Lives Matter , which openly advocates the killing of police and executions of white people .
Thus , even if you are paying the city property taxes , you aren ’ t getting city services .
Instead , your cities are being handed over to terrorist cells with names like Black Lives Matter and Antifa , both of which are radical extremist terrorist organizations .
Only rural America will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against left-wing terrorist groups Since you can ’ t rely on clueless Democrats to assert the rule of law , your only play at this point is to get out of the cities and create physical distance between yourself and the hoards of starving looters who will soon be attempting to scour the countryside , looking for food and shelter .
Once the Black Lives Matter terrorists exit the cities and leave the protections of the corrupt Democrat mayors , they will enter rural counties where they will be met with an overwhelming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sheriff ’ s departments .
The Black Lives Matter terrorist groups can ’ t survive in rural America , because rural Americans will shoot back and hold their ground , unlike left-wing city dwellers who have been disarmed and transformed into weak-willed “ white guilt ” jellyfish who bow down and lick the boots of black extremist terrorist groups like BLM .
If you wish to survive the collapse of the cities — something I ’ ve been warning about for many years — your window of opportunity to get out is rapidly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ ANALYSIS : The big cities most likely to collapse into violence and social unrest.
” In 2015 , we published , “ America ’ s cities will collapse into utter chaos the day the EBT cards stop working.
” Early this year , I wrote about the “ super supply chain crisis , ” talking about how , “ America ’ s cities may collapse into war zones.
” From that story , published in January , before the pandemic was even news : James Lab issued a Dec. 17th press @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationwide riots that will impede truckers ’ ability to make deliveries of products for Americans ’ consumption.
” Those supplies include food , fuel , medicine , ammunition and other supplies on which Americans depend each day .
Radical left-wing domestic terrorism groups such as Antifa routinely stage physical assaults on Trump supporters across America , using deadly weapons and mob violence to commit acts of intimidation against their political opponents .
The idea that these radical left-wing groups might quickly escalate their tactics into city-wide chaos , murder and mayhem is no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be their plan .
In other words , yes , we saw all this coming .
We do you think I live way out in the country , far from any city , surrounded by rugged rural country ?
It ’ s because my entire ranch is basically one giant rifle range , and I know the ranges and the ballistics holds for every landmark on the ranch .
The zombies won ’ t get far in rural Texas .
You can bank on that .
You should really watch the whole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” that I filmed in central Texas with some of my military buddies .
Over several episodes , they teach you the basics of shooting and self-defense .
Check it out :

by: Mike Adams
(Natural News) God bless the truckers! News is breaking today that nearly 4 out of 5 truckers across America will refuse to make deliveries to cities where Democrats have de-funded or abolished the police.
Truckers are the lifelines to cities, bringing food, fuel, medicine and other essential items into cities (which are artificial constructs that depend on imports just to survive). Sadly, truckers get little credit for their crucial role in keeping society running, and truckers put their lives at risk when they roll into Democrat-run cities that are collapsing into Black Lives Matter chaos and terrorism. (BLM is now understood to mean Burn, Loot and Murder.)
The mad violence, looting and “reparations” demands of lunatic Left-wing terrorist groups means that trucks full of supplies are among the high-risk targets. Truck drivers aren’t fools, and they are increasingly deciding to avoid carrying loads into cities where anarchy-oriented Leftists / Democrats are de-funding or abolishing police.
Just yesterday, the city council of Minneapolis voted to completely disband the police department. Once implemented, this will plunge Minneapolis into a third world scenario of lawlessness and total chaos, perhaps making Ilhan Omar feel right at home as she successfully brings the lawlessness of her home country to America. (Fact: Minneapolis, with an enormous number of immigrants from Somalia, is now the No. 1 radical Islamic terrorism recruitment city in America.)
77% of truckers say they will refuse to deliver to cities where police are de-funded
“Truck driving is historically ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. In 2018, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic reported truck driving as the most deadly job in the country,” writes CDLlife.com, a site dedicated to commercial trucking.
“Truck drivers have spent the last year on the front line of a global pandemic and protests. Now many are fearful of what might happen if police departs disband or are defunded.”
CDL Life, which has a mobile app, ran a poll that asked commercial truck drivers if they would deliver loads to cities where police departments have been de-funded or abolished. So far, 77% of respondents said they would refuse to deliver loads to such cities.
As CDLlife.com explains, some of the responses from truckers include:
– I will not deliver to an area with a disbanded police department. My life matter and I do this for my family. We are already at the mercy of these towns and cities with laws and hate against us for parking, getting a meal or even using a restroom.
– For my own safety and security of my customers’ loads, I have already informed my dispatcher that I will refuse all loads to cities that have defunded their police departments.
– …if something was to happen and you have to take matters into your own hands, and then you risk being prosecuted for protecting yourself.
As I wrote in January of this year in an important story that warned about a “super supply chain crisis” hitting America’s cities:
Radical left-wing domestic terrorism groups such as Antifa routinely stage physical assaults on Trump supporters across America, using deadly weapons and mob violence to commit acts of intimidation against their political opponents. The idea that these radical left-wing groups might quickly escalate their tactics into city-wide chaos, murder and mayhem is no stretch of the imagination. This seems to be their plan.
Yes, I wrote that in January. So don’t believe those who say, “Nobody saw this coming.” We saw this coming!
Without truck loads full of goods, every city collapses into total chaos within 96 hours
By de-funding or abolishing police, radical left-wing Democrats (“DEMONcrats”) are deliberately pushing their own cities toward collapse and chaos so they can then blame Trump for all the problems they caused themselves.
Every city in America collapses into chaos inside of 96 hours if the trucks stop rolling. Grocery stores, for example, only stock enough food for about 2-3 days of normal grocery shopping. Once the deliveries cease, the sudden increase in purchasing from the locals will wipe out grocery store shelves in less than 24 hours.
If you thought the George Floyd riots were bad, that was just a tiny taste of what you’ll see once deliveries of food, fuel, medicine and consumer goods are halted.
It also begs the question: Who will be stupid enough to drive trucks full of goods into left-wing cities that have collapsed into chaos and “warlord” autonomous zones where police are banned?
Nobody, of course.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Perhaps the city council members who voted to abolish the police can try to find an available rig and deliver a few truckloads of products themselves, but it won’t be enough. Cities need a steady supply of large volumes of trucks to restock the shelves at grocery stores and big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s. Imagine the total panic when cities like Los Angeles run out of toilet paper and frozen burritos.
And with Walmart now donating $100 million to left-wing terrorism-linked groups, it seems that even corporate America is so stupid that they will empower the very terrorists who are going to destroy the cities and gut their own retail stores (which will be mercilessly looted).
Behold your new liberal “utopia” depicted in this video, as looters ransack the local Target store. This is what’s coming to every city in America that’s run by terror-supporting democrats:
Here’s another scene of what you can look forward to if you live in a city run by Democrats, a political party that now overtly supports left-wing terrorists, anarchy and lawlessness:
And here’s a scene from the Oakland riots from a few years ago, when looters ransacked a truck and set fire to buses. This is just a small taste of what’s to come across America’s democrat-run cities:
This underscores the critical urgency of getting out of the cities while you still can
By destroying the rule of law, Democrats are making their cities unsafe for the execution of basic functions (such as commercial deliveries) upon which the citizens rely for basic survival. A city without police protection, run by left-wing warlords and Black Lives Matter terrorist gangs, is a city that cannot function. Yet this is exactly what Democrats are doing quite deliberately, including the Mayor of Seattle and the Governor of Washington, both of whom are actively supporting rogue left-wing terrorist cells that have already seized six city blocks of downtown Seattle and declared themselves to be a new sovereign nation.
The critical takeaway from this is that every person living in a U.S. city needs to double down on their efforts to bug out from those cities as quickly as possible. This is not a temporary weekend getaway; it needs to be a permanent relocation out of the cities and into a low-density rural area. The cities are rapidly collapsing into a level of lawnessless that will soon lead to a collapse of food supplies. And once that happens, everything descends into chaos and gang warfare. The police will be unable to protect you. Heck, they can’t protect you now.
Democrat city “leaders,” if you can even call them that, have already proven that they will side with left-wing terrorists rather than protect their own citizens. Even though Americans who live in cities are paying sky-high property taxes that are supposed to provide services such as a 911 police response, the police are now being de-funded and abolished. Some sections of the cities — such as in Seattle — are being completely surrendered to terrorist groups like Black Lives Matter, which openly advocates the killing of police and executions of white people.
Thus, even if you are paying the city property taxes, you aren’t getting city services. Instead, your cities are being handed over to terrorist cells with names like Black Lives Matter and Antifa, both of which are radical extremist terrorist organizations.
Only rural America will fight back (and shoot back) against left-wing terrorist groups
Since you can’t rely on clueless Democrats to assert the rule of law, your only play at this point is to get out of the cities and create physical distance between yourself and the hoards of starving looters who will soon be attempting to scour the countryside, looking for food and shelter.
Once the Black Lives Matter terrorists exit the cities and leave the protections of the corrupt Democrat mayors, they will enter rural counties where they will be met with an overwhelming kinetic response from armed rural citizens and sheriff’s departments. The Black Lives Matter terrorist groups can’t survive in rural America, because rural Americans will shoot back and hold their ground, unlike left-wing city dwellers who have been disarmed and transformed into weak-willed “white guilt” jellyfish who bow down and lick the boots of black extremist terrorist groups like BLM.
If you wish to survive the collapse of the cities — something I’ve been warning about for many years — your window of opportunity to get out is rapidly collapsing.
In 2017, we published, “ANALYSIS: The big cities most likely to collapse into violence and social unrest.”
In 2015, we published, “America’s cities will collapse into utter chaos the day the EBT cards stop working.”
Early this year, I wrote about the “super supply chain crisis,” talking about how, “America’s cities may collapse into war zones.” From that story, published in January, before the pandemic was even news:
James Lab issued a Dec. 17th press release in which he warned of “nationwide riots that will impede truckers’ ability to make deliveries of products for Americans’ consumption.” Those supplies include food, fuel, medicine, ammunition and other supplies on which Americans depend each day.
Radical left-wing domestic terrorism groups such as Antifa routinely stage physical assaults on Trump supporters across America, using deadly weapons and mob violence to commit acts of intimidation against their political opponents. The idea that these radical left-wing groups might quickly escalate their tactics into city-wide chaos, murder and mayhem is no stretch of the imagination. This seems to be their plan.
In other words, yes, we saw all this coming. We do you think I live way out in the country, far from any city, surrounded by rugged rural country? It’s because my entire ranch is basically one giant rifle range, and I know the ranges and the ballistics holds for every landmark on the ranch. The zombies won’t get far in rural Texas. You can bank on that.
You should really watch the whole series of “The Joy of Shooting” that I filmed in central Texas with some of my military buddies. Over several episodes, they teach you the basics of shooting and self-defense. Check it out:


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--5 charts that tell the story of vaccines today

5 charts that tell the story of vaccines today t.co/V1UrZ7p7gs # coronavirus # vaccines pic.twitter.com/sSCMLzV8MK

5 charts that tell the story of vaccines today t.co/V1UrZ7p7gs #coronavirus #vaccines pic.twitter.com/sSCMLzV8MK
— World Economic Forum (@wef) June 14, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--WHAT WOULD A SECOND WAVE DO?

WHAT WOULD A SECOND WAVE DO?

WHAT WOULD A SECOND WAVE DO ?
pic.twitter.com/hE9c47zcqD

WHAT WOULD A SECOND WAVE DO? pic.twitter.com/hE9c47zcqD
— Win Smart, CFA (@WinfieldSmart) June 12, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--Federal Reserve hardly printed last week, only 4B$ issued for the week ending June 10th

Sure is a hell of a coincidence that the market decides to slow down the exact same week the feds @ @ @ @ @ comparison , throughout April about 200B was printed per week , and about 65B per @ @ @ @

by kimjungoon
Source:
Sure is a hell of a coincidence that the market decides to slow down the exact same week the feds stop printing money.
For comparison, throughout April about 200B was printed per week, and about 65B per week in May.


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--Thinking Like a Billionaire Slimeball (Psychological DD inside)

My port is down over 50 % since March 23rd by making decisions based on fundamentals and technicals .
This is my first experience with a market crash , so this has been a great learning experience for me .
Technicals and fundamentals are great when things are good , but are useless at best and misleading at worst in the corona market .
Its time we stop playing checkers and start playing chess with the big boys .
So , I put my psych degree to the test and started to think like a scummy billionaire .
Given recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to see whats happening .
Let me lay out the major points of things that I see , and Ill give my synopsis at the end • The past week there has been a large influx of news stories bashing robinhood investors .
Why should someone care if a bunch of autists want to pump a worthless bankrupt stock ?
Just let nature run its course once they get delisted .
It ’ s because the billionaires , who control the news outlets , don ’ t like that they are losing control @ @ @ @ @ @ @ = much lower odds of profit .
We saw this with Buffet and Ichan taking huge losses .
Money is control , and control is money .
Its a vicious circle .
• Media is all over the place with predictions , but very few are calling this the beginnings of a bear market .
CNBC created a new market out of thin air to avoid calling it a bear market .
# KangGang memes are great , but don ’ t lose sight of the fact that it only exists because the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ retail investors .
• The process is loosely following the Hegelian Dialectic , which is used often by societies to control the public ( shoutout to my boys at r/conspiracy ) .
The Hegelian Dialectic works as follows : introduce the problem , control the reaction to the problem , provide the solution to the problem in which you created that will further expand your sphere of influence on the population or sector you wish to control .
How this applies now , is that the news media is intentionally trying to confuse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ market , and once the problem gets introduced ( retail investors losing money ) , that will expand their sphere of control over the market .
Which is their goal .
• This has happened before .
The PDT rule was implemented after the dot come bubble because retail investors were making too much money .
They want to keep us poor .
• All the “ 2nd wave ” rhetoric .
Corona crashed the market before , 2nd wave rhetoric will crash it again .
Let ’ s not forget the billionaires @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 2nd wave is actually happening or if the first wave never ended , it is being pumped in the media and will be the scapegoat of the crash to hide the real reason for it- billionaire regaining control of the market .
Synopsis : Those in control of the market began to lose control after retailers flocked to the market in large enough numbers to move the needle in a huge way .
They didn ’ t like that .
We then started seeing a lot of RH bashing in the media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We then see a huge selloff paired with media outlets refusing to call it what it is- the likely beginning of a bear market .
Even more psychological warfare to confuse investors and encourage them to buy the dip .
This has been the biggest threat to the billionaires market control , probably ever .
The best way to weed out new investors is to confuse them as much as possible and psychologically control them where you can , then when the crash happens they will lose motivation and patience .
They are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end .
RH bashing , our brand new kangaroomarket , and corona 2.0 are all being pumped in the media to confuse and manipulate people , so whats going to happen when it crashes ?
Retail investors are going to lose a lot , become discouraged , think the market isn ’ t for them , and get out .
I dont know if the crash is going to be this week , next month , or after the election , but what I do know is that when it comes , its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ control moving forward .
EDIT : Got the Elon gold , so here is my TL ; DR as promised : Elites lost some control over the market .
They no like that .
They are using their influence to manipulate RH retards and will cause a dip to force them out of the market .
SPY calls on days -5 % for gains the following day Disclaimer : This information is only for educational purposes .
Do not make any investment decisions based on the information in this article .
Do you @ @ @ @

by FreshTatarSauce
My port is down over 50% since March 23rd by making decisions based on fundamentals and technicals. This is my first experience with a market crash, so this has been a great learning experience for me. Technicals and fundamentals are great when things are good, but are useless at best and misleading at worst in the corona market. Its time we stop playing checkers and start playing chess with the big boys.
So, I put my psych degree to the test and started to think like a scummy billionaire. Given recent news and media, its so easy to see whats happening. Let me lay out the major points of things that I see, and Ill give my synopsis at the end
The past week there has been a large influx of news stories bashing robinhood investors. Why should someone care if a bunch of autists want to pump a worthless bankrupt stock? Just let nature run its course once they get delisted. It’s because the billionaires, who control the news outlets, don’t like that they are losing control of the market. Loss of control = much lower odds of profit. We saw this with Buffet and Ichan taking huge losses. Money is control, and control is money. Its a vicious circle.
Media is all over the place with predictions, but very few are calling this the beginnings of a bear market. CNBC created a new market out of thin air to avoid calling it a bear market. #KangGang memes are great, but don’t lose sight of the fact that it only exists because the 1% wants to push out dumbass retail investors.
The process is loosely following the Hegelian Dialectic, which is used often by societies to control the public (shoutout to my boys at r/conspiracy). The Hegelian Dialectic works as follows: introduce the problem, control the reaction to the problem, provide the solution to the problem in which you created that will further expand your sphere of influence on the population or sector you wish to control. How this applies now, is that the news media is intentionally trying to confuse people about the current state of the market, and once the problem gets introduced (retail investors losing money), that will expand their sphere of control over the market. Which is their goal.
This has happened before. The PDT rule was implemented after the dot come bubble because retail investors were making too much money. They want to keep us poor.
All the “2nd wave” rhetoric. Corona crashed the market before, 2nd wave rhetoric will crash it again. Let’s not forget the billionaires control the media. Whether or not a 2nd wave is actually happening or if the first wave never ended, it is being pumped in the media and will be the scapegoat of the crash to hide the real reason for it- billionaire regaining control of the market.
Synopsis: Those in control of the market began to lose control after retailers flocked to the market in large enough numbers to move the needle in a huge way. They didn’t like that. We then started seeing a lot of RH bashing in the media the past couple weeks- psychological warfare. We then see a huge selloff paired with media outlets refusing to call it what it is- the likely beginning of a bear market. Even more psychological warfare to confuse investors and encourage them to buy the dip.
This has been the biggest threat to the billionaires market control, probably ever. The best way to weed out new investors is to confuse them as much as possible and psychologically control them where you can, then when the crash happens they will lose motivation and patience. They are using the Hegelian Dialectic to achieve that end. RH bashing, our brand new kangaroomarket, and corona 2.0 are all being pumped in the media to confuse and manipulate people, so whats going to happen when it crashes?
Retail investors are going to lose a lot, become discouraged, think the market isn’t for them, and get out.
I dont know if the crash is going to be this week, next month, or after the election, but what I do know is that when it comes, its going to be VIOLENT to maintain maximum control moving forward.
*
EDIT: Got the Elon gold, so here is my TL;DR as promised:
Elites lost some control over the market. They no like that. They are using their influence to manipulate RH retards and will cause a dip to force them out of the market.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Bulls r fuk
*
Positions: SPY 255p 9/30
Strategy: Close dated puts, puts on green days
VXX calls until July, then puts
SPY calls on days -5% for gains the following day
The Wheel #ThetaGang
Not financial advice, yada yada…
Disclaimer: This information is only for educational purposes. Do not make any investment decisions based on the information in this article. Do you own due diligence.


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-14--Voter ID: the most dangerous idea to the Democrats.

Here ’ s more .
Spread them around .

by KaliforniaX
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Here’s more. Spread them around.