investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Fed’s Power to Pump Corporate Debts Curbed by New Law

( Bloomberg ) — When Congress gave the Federal Reserve $ 750 billion of emergency firepower to backstop the country ’ s biggest companies , some lawmakers insisted on inserting a clause that now threatens to undermine the program — and could pose a major problem if markets go haywire again .
Under the stimulus bill passed last month to combat the coronavirus crisis , the central bank is wading into corporate credit markets for the first time since the 1950s .
One Fed facility will lend directly to companies and another will buy bonds in the secondary market .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ condition : Only a borrower with “ significant operations in and a majority of its employees based in the United States ” is eligible for Fed support .
That wording was left deliberately vague , according to people who participated in the congressional horse-trading , and may leave out hundreds of companies with far-flung operations , including Coca-Cola Co. , General Electric Co. and Mastercard Inc. No one knows for sure .
“ There is some confusion , ” Ron O ’ Hanley , chief executive officer of State Street Corp. , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facilities , said in an April 23 interview on Bloomberg Television .
“ These programs were stood up quite quickly.
” The situation is creating headaches for Fed officials at a time when the central bank is playing a critical role preventing the Covid-19 outbreak from crushing the economy , people familiar with the matter said .
In practical terms , restricting what it can and can ’ t do means the Fed might not be to supply all the liquidity needed to prop up prices if there ’ s another meltdown in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the strain on markets seems to be over , no economic forecaster can yet predict the shape of the recovery .
Even the strongest of companies may struggle to borrow in the future .
Also hamstrung is BlackRock Inc. , the investment firm retained to manage the corporate lending and bond-buying facilities .
Fed officials and BlackRock executives are working out how to execute the program under the legislative constraints , the people said , declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issues .
Spokespeople for the Fed and @ @ @ @ @

(Bloomberg) — When Congress gave the Federal Reserve $750 billion of emergency firepower to backstop the country’s biggest companies, some lawmakers insisted on inserting a clause that now threatens to undermine the program — and could pose a major problem if markets go haywire again.
Under the stimulus bill passed last month to combat the coronavirus crisis, the central bank is wading into corporate credit markets for the first time since the 1950s. One Fed facility will lend directly to companies and another will buy bonds in the secondary market. Yet the legislation also imposed a key condition: Only a borrower with “significant operations in and a majority of its employees based in the United States” is eligible for Fed support.
That wording was left deliberately vague, according to people who participated in the congressional horse-trading, and may leave out hundreds of companies with far-flung operations, including Coca-Cola Co., General Electric Co. and Mastercard Inc. No one knows for sure.
“There is some confusion,” Ron O’Hanley, chief executive officer of State Street Corp., an administrator and custodian for several Fed credit facilities, said in an April 23 interview on Bloomberg Television. “These programs were stood up quite quickly.”
Future Borrowing
The situation is creating headaches for Fed officials at a time when the central bank is playing a critical role preventing the Covid-19 outbreak from crushing the economy, people familiar with the matter said. In practical terms, restricting what it can and can’t do means the Fed might not be to supply all the liquidity needed to prop up prices if there’s another meltdown in credit markets.
And while the worst of the strain on markets seems to be over, no economic forecaster can yet predict the shape of the recovery. Even the strongest of companies may struggle to borrow in the future.
Also hamstrung is BlackRock Inc., the investment firm retained to manage the corporate lending and bond-buying facilities. Fed officials and BlackRock executives are working out how to execute the program under the legislative constraints, the people said, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issues.
Spokespeople for the Fed and BlackRock declined to comment.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--50 Million People Out of A Job?! Shocking Stats Warn of Historic Wave of Unpaid Debt!

What do you think the REAL number is ?
The real unemployment numbers do not reflect what you ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ know more ?
Well… Millions of Americans locked out of unemployment system , survey finds @ @ @ @ @ out of work are unable to register for unemployment benefits , survey finds | Daily @ @ @ @ @ : Fed to cut rates again as concerns grow Mnuchin Says No Bailout for States @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg Squawk Box on Twitter : “ “ I would say that ’ s highly @ @ @ @ @ starts buying stocks , says Treasury Secretary @ stevenmnuchin1 .
t.co/4T4CC0kZMh ” / Twitter CNBC @ @ @ @ @ will need to spend trillions more as economy takes until 2022 to fully recover HSBC @ @ @ @ @ hits loans | Financial Times Coronavirus Relief Often Pays Workers More Than Work – WSJ

What do you think the REAL number is?
The real unemployment numbers do not reflect what you’ve been told. Want to know more? Well…
Millions of Americans locked out of unemployment system, survey finds – Reuters
www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-unemployment/millions-of-americans-locked-out-of-unemployment-system-survey-finds-idUSKCN22A1MR?feedType=RSS&feedName=newsOne
Millions of Americans out of work are unable to register for unemployment benefits, survey finds | Daily Mail Online
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8264775/Millions-Americans-locked-unemployment-survey-finds.html
initial claims exp.jpg (976×509)
www.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/initial%20claims%20exp.jpg?itok=7L-3CG8I
Fed’s Power to Buoy Corporate Debt Market Curbed by Bailout Law – Bloomberg
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-28/fed-s-power-to-buoy-corporate-debt-market-curbed-by-bailout-law
CNBC Fed Survey: Fed to cut rates again as concerns grow
www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/cnbc-fed-survey-fed-to-cut-rates-again-as-concerns-grow.html
Mnuchin Says No Bailout for States With Badly Managed Budgets – Bloomberg
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-28/mnuchin-says-no-bailout-for-states-with-badly-managed-budgets
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Squawk Box on Twitter: ““I would say that’s highly unlikely” the Federal Reserve starts buying stocks, says Treasury Secretary @stevenmnuchin1. t.co/4T4CC0kZMh” / Twitter
twitter.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1255120315442700289
CNBC Fed survey: The US will need to spend trillions more as economy takes until 2022 to fully recover
www.cnbc.com/2020/04/28/cnbc-fed-survey-the-us-will-need-to-spend-trillions-more-as-economy-takes-until-2022-to-fully-recover.html
HSBC quarterly profit halves as pandemic hits loans | Financial Times
www.ft.com/content/9184658f-9d66-443a-8fb6-1739475b89b6
bfm865A.jpg (976×507)
www.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bfm865A.jpg?itok=jdC0dM-4
bfmCA31.jpg (976×509)
www.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bfmCA31.jpg?itok=hcEBfOBG
COVID-19 Disrupts 30% of Americans’ Jobs or Finances
news.gallup.com/poll/309299/covid-disrupts-americans-jobs-finances.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication
Coronavirus Relief Often Pays Workers More Than Work – WSJ
www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-relief-often-pays-workers-more-than-work-11588066200


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--The Birth of Fake News was 1/3/2013 when Obama signed HR 4310 / Sec. 1078 authorizing the use of pro

The Birth of Fake News was 1/3/2013 when Obama signed HR 4310 / Sec. 1078 authorizing the use of propaganda INSIDE the USA. It had been illegal since 1948

THE FOLLOWING IS THE ORIGINAL THAT WAS REPLACED : Except as provided in section 1461 of this title and this @ @ @ @ @ to be appropriated to the United States Information Agency shall be used to influence public @ @ @ @ @ , and no program material prepared by the United States Information Agency shall be distributed @ @ @ @ @ This section shall not apply to programs carried out pursuant to the Mutual Educational and @ @ @ @ @ ( 22 U.S.C .
2451 et seq. )
.
The provisions of this section shall @ @ @ @ @ Information Agency from responding to inquiries from members of the public about its operations , @ @ @ @ @ IT DOES ALLOW THE MATERIAL TO BE DISSEMINATED WITHIN THE US : Such material may @ @ @ @ @ United States and disseminated , when appropriate , pursuant to sections 502 and 1005 of @ @ @ @ @ Educational Exchange Act of 1948 ( 22 U.S.C .
1462 and 1437 ) ,

pic.twitter.com/gFZtzlynDj — Rick Hacker : Ghost Writers Association of America (@RickHackerGhost) April 27, 2020
THE FOLLOWING IS THE ORIGINAL THAT WAS REPLACED:
Except as provided in section 1461 of this title and this section, no funds authorized to be appropriated to the United States Information Agency shall be used to influence public opinion in the United States, and no program material prepared by the United States Information Agency shall be distributed within the United States. This section shall not apply to programs carried out pursuant to the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.). The provisions of this section shall not prohibit the United States Information Agency from responding to inquiries from members of the public about its operations, policies, or programs.
IT DOES ALLOW THE MATERIAL TO BE DISSEMINATED WITHIN THE US:
Such material may be made available within the United States and disseminated, when appropriate, pursuant to sections 502 and 1005 of the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (22 U.S.C. 1462 and 1437),
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Source: www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr4310/text


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Mortgage Forbearance – Skip 12 months of your payments!

You won ’ t “ skip ” paying mortgage .
You might not have to pay now but you will @ @ @ @ @ .

You won’t “skip” paying mortgage. You might not have to pay now but you will eventually pay what is owed.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Starbucks building 130Million dollar manufacturing plant in CHINA!?!?!

Starbucks Coffee Innovation Park in China Elevates Manufacturing and Extends Global Roasting Network 12 March 2020•3 min read SHARE Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare in email New roasting facility in 2022 will be Starbucks largest manufacturing facility outside the U.S. Investment of $ 130 million ( USD ) further deepens Starbucks long-held commitment to elevate specialty coffee in China Starbucks Coffee Company , the global roaster and retailer of specialty coffee , announced today it will invest approximately $ 130 million ( USD ) in China to open a state-of-the-art roasting facility in 2022 as part of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As Starbucks largest manufacturing investment outside of the U.S. and its first in Asia , the CIP will incorporate a roasting plant , warehouse and distribution center , creating highly-skilled jobs and new career opportunities that will further drive smart and sustainable coffee manufacturing in China .
The plant will serve as a key component of the Company ’ s global roasting network , and the bold infrastructure investment further deepens Starbucks multi-decade commitment to strengthen the specialty coffee industry in China , where it aims to have 6,000 stores by 2022 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20 years sharing its passion for coffee across China and helping to build a leading industry that makes us all proud .
The roasting facilities at the Coffee Innovation Park will set a blueprint for the future of coffee roasting and supply chain management , and further elevate China ’ s coffee industry , while supporting Starbucks growth in China , with China , ” said Belinda Wong , chairman and chief executive officer , Starbucks China .
“ Starbucks has always taken a long-term view in China , and our commitment to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ”

Starbucks Coffee Innovation Park in China Elevates Manufacturing and Extends Global Roasting Network
12 March 2020•3 min read
SHARE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare in email
New roasting facility in 2022 will be Starbucks largest manufacturing facility outside the U.S.
Investment of $130 million (USD) further deepens Starbucks long-held commitment to elevate specialty coffee in China
Starbucks China Coffee Innovation Park (CIP) will advance sustainable manufacturing and smart supply chain management
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Starbucks Coffee Company, the global roaster and retailer of specialty coffee, announced today it will invest approximately $130 million (USD) in China to open a state-of-the-art roasting facility in 2022 as part of its new Coffee Innovation Park (CIP). As Starbucks largest manufacturing investment outside of the U.S. and its first in Asia, the CIP will incorporate a roasting plant, warehouse and distribution center, creating highly-skilled jobs and new career opportunities that will further drive smart and sustainable coffee manufacturing in China. The plant will serve as a key component of the Company’s global roasting network, and the bold infrastructure investment further deepens Starbucks multi-decade commitment to strengthen the specialty coffee industry in China, where it aims to have 6,000 stores by 2022.
“Starbucks has spent the past 20 years sharing its passion for coffee across China and helping to build a leading industry that makes us all proud. The roasting facilities at the Coffee Innovation Park will set a blueprint for the future of coffee roasting and supply chain management, and further elevate China’s coffee industry, while supporting Starbucks growth in China, with China,” said Belinda Wong, chairman and chief executive officer, Starbucks China. “Starbucks has always taken a long-term view in China, and our commitment to the market has never been stronger.”
stories.starbucks.com/asia/stories/2020/starbucks-coffee-innovation-park-in-china-elevates-manufacturing-and-extends-global-roasting-network/?fbclid=IwAR0HLcgAqvoBqnqS09G3d2rxMpUGWdYeryecZVyd7nUV9ggmUmmh_8BpgYc


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Your phone still remains on even if you turn it off

It says AT & T but all networks all probably the same You are constantly being tracked No escape from @ @

It says AT&T but all networks all probably the same
You are constantly being tracked No escape from big brother
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
AC


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-30--Stable, mending patients become critically ill with little warning. Doctors aren’t sure why…  ‘Secon

Stable, mending patients become critically ill with little warning. Doctors aren’t sure why…  ‘Second-week crash’

‘ Second-week crash ’ is time of peril for some covid-19 patients During the first week she had covid-19 , Morgan Blue felt weak , with a severe backache and a fever .
The symptoms did not alarm doctors at her local emergency department , however .
They sent her home after she showed up at the hospital .
But on Day 8 , she abruptly felt like she was choking .
“ That day , I suddenly couldn ’ t breathe , ” said the 26-year-old customer service representative from Flint , Michigan .
An ambulance took her to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days , four of them in intensive care , before she recovered and was able to go home .
For people who suffer the most severe reactions to the novel coronavirus – and their caregivers – the second week of the disease can become a time of sudden peril and heightened concern , when some of those who seem stable or mending can suddenly become critically ill .
There is little consensus among doctors and experts about why days five through 10 , or thereabouts , seem to be so dangerous for some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the virus .
But everyone from critical care specialists to EMTs is aware of this frightening aspect of the disease .
“ This second-week crash has certainly been well described , but 2 1/2 months in , why it happens we ’ re still not entirely sure , ” said Ebbing Lautenbach , chief of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Pennsylvania ’ s Perelman School of Medicine .
Learning on the fly as they confront the new virus , clinicians interviewed by The Washington Post speculated about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the virus ’ s effect on lung tissue , overactive immune responses , blood clotting and even the impact of the ventilators used to save patients ’ lives .
There is little , if any , current research to guide them .
“ I ’ ve been thinking about this a lot , ” said Naftali Kaminski , chief of pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine at the Yale School of Medicine , who studies the genomics of lung disease .
“ There ’ s an early stage of infection and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look at the virus as a fifth column coming in , securing its stronghold and then slowly inducing more cells to let it in .
“ Because of this lurking nature , your genetic makeup and preexisting conditions will affect presentation of the disease , ” he said .
Doctors say the overwhelming majority of covid-19 cases do not require hospitalization .
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , U.S. covid-19 patients are currently hospitalized at a rate of 29.2 per 100,000 people , or just under 10 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Of those , only a small percentage require intensive care or ventilators , and only some will experience a rapid downturn in their health .
But people with the coronavirus can crash before or after they are hospitalized .
Doctors report seeing patients who wait too long to seek care , including those who do not feel the symptoms of plummeting oxygen levels , such as shortness of breath , until they are in crisis .
No one is sure why .
Many people ’ s lungs remain flexible for a while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sensation they aren ’ t getting enough oxygen .
“ The people who actually crash , they ’ ve actually been sick a while , ” said Merceditas Villanueva , an associate professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine .
“ They ’ ve underestimated how sick they are , or they ’ ve just waited .
”

‘Second-week crash’ is time of peril for some covid-19 patients
During the first week she had covid-19, Morgan Blue felt weak, with a severe backache and a fever. The symptoms did not alarm doctors at her local emergency department, however. They sent her home after she showed up at the hospital.
But on Day 8, she abruptly felt like she was choking.
“That day, I suddenly couldn’t breathe,” said the 26-year-old customer service representative from Flint, Michigan. An ambulance took her to the hospital, where she spent eight days, four of them in intensive care, before she recovered and was able to go home.
For people who suffer the most severe reactions to the novel coronavirus – and their caregivers – the second week of the disease can become a time of sudden peril and heightened concern, when some of those who seem stable or mending can suddenly become critically ill.
There is little consensus among doctors and experts about why days five through 10, or thereabouts, seem to be so dangerous for some people with covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. But everyone from critical care specialists to EMTs is aware of this frightening aspect of the disease.
“This second-week crash has certainly been well described, but 2 1/2 months in, why it happens we’re still not entirely sure,” said Ebbing Lautenbach, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
Learning on the fly as they confront the new virus, clinicians interviewed by The Washington Post speculated about the influence of an individual’s genes, the virus’s effect on lung tissue, overactive immune responses, blood clotting and even the impact of the ventilators used to save patients’ lives.
There is little, if any, current research to guide them.
“I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” said Naftali Kaminski, chief of pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, who studies the genomics of lung disease. “There’s an early stage of infection and the virus sits somewhere. You can almost look at the virus as a fifth column coming in, securing its stronghold and then slowly inducing more cells to let it in.
“Because of this lurking nature, your genetic makeup and preexisting conditions will affect presentation of the disease,” he said.
Doctors say the overwhelming majority of covid-19 cases do not require hospitalization. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. covid-19 patients are currently hospitalized at a rate of 29.2 per 100,000 people, or just under 10% of the 1 million known cases so far. Of those, only a small percentage require intensive care or ventilators, and only some will experience a rapid downturn in their health.
But people with the coronavirus can crash before or after they are hospitalized. Doctors report seeing patients who wait too long to seek care, including those who do not feel the symptoms of plummeting oxygen levels, such as shortness of breath, until they are in crisis. No one is sure why. Many people’s lungs remain flexible for a while, allowing carbon dioxide out and forestalling the sensation they aren’t getting enough oxygen.
“The people who actually crash, they’ve actually been sick a while,” said Merceditas Villanueva, an associate professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. “They’ve underestimated how sick they are, or they’ve just waited.”


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-30--Every bear market gives bulls one last grand chance to get out. Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft all back

Every bear market gives bulls one last grand chance to get out. Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft all back to their highs. This is boomers last chance to cash out the retirement. We’re not coming back here for very long time. Hypernova of debt bursting means deflationary annihilation — hks55 (@hks55) April 29, 2020
Our IWM Optimism Index (for small cap stocks) has reached 99, the highest level *EVER* The 2nd highest reading was in Oct 2011, when stocks fell -12.8% over the next month. Less extreme readings also led to pullbacks pic.twitter.com/WF67uR9EsJ — SentimenTrader (@sentimentrader) April 30, 2020
A young wealthy friend of mine who I recommended to sell stocks in late Feb (she didn't) is now making fun of me because not listening to me was "the right thing to do". And she will never sell her stocks "no matter how fast the market drops". Because it will always come back. — Yuriy Matso (@yuriymatso) April 30, 2020
"The US unemployment rate may have already reached 20%. One survey found that close to 50 million Americans might already have lost their jobs. The hit to the consumer demand, the main driver of the US economy, will be massive."#depression2020 t.co/pKAGXEH1Up — Tuomas Malinen (@mtmalinen) April 30, 2020
Important to remember there are real people behind the devastating unemployment figures. t.co/jHDINZSr2U — Nomi Prins (@nomiprins) April 30, 2020
Inflation or Deflation? Collapse in Demand Trumps Supply Shocks@dlacalle_IA @biancoresearch
I firmly side with @TimDuy on this one. Deflation it is. But I believe has one thing wrong. t.co/GboBeTFA91 — Mike "Mish" Shedlock (@MishGEA) April 29, 2020
Energy Stocks: major value play or major value trap? t.co/YH5Pkf0lej pic.twitter.com/bZ35Yadd6V — Topdown Charts (@topdowncharts) April 30, 2020
it's a good piece from GS, selective interesting charts below pic.twitter.com/c7b7q9R4bz — Tian (@RealTianZeng) April 30, 2020
None of the trillions the Fed has thrown at markets in the past few weeks has created economic growth. — Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) April 30, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-30--The Economic Numbers That Are Coming Are “Going To Be The Worst In The Post-World War II Era”

We just witnessed the largest quarterly GDP decline since the last financial crisis , and experts are warning that the figure for the second quarter will be far , far worse .
In fact , as you will see below , one expert is telling us to brace ourselves for the worst economic numbers “ in the post-World War II era ” .
On an annualized basis , U.S. GDP fell by 4.8 percent during the first quarter , and that was a bit worse than most economists were projecting .
And economists were also surprised that consumer spending was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down 8.6 percent during January , February and March .
Under normal circumstances , those would be absolutely horrible numbers , but these are not normal circumstances .
Yes , January and February were relatively normal , but the coronavirus shutdowns began in March and that is why these numbers are so dismal .
Unfortunately , it looks like the economic numbers for the second quarter are going to be much more depressing .
One economist that was interviewed by the New York Times believes that they will actually be the worst that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Second World War… And at this point even the Trump administration is publicly admitting that the economic numbers are going to start getting really , really bad .
On Monday , Kevin Hassett actually told CNBC that U.S. GDP could fall by up to 30 percent on an annualized basis during the second quarter… But we don ’ t have to wait until three months from now for numbers that are truly horrific .
On Wednesday , we learned that U.S. home sales in March were down by double digits in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are attempting to gradually “ reopen ” their economies , and that is good news .
But the bad news is that officials are telling us that all of the restrictions in big states such as California and New York will not be lifted until many months from now , and that is going to greatly depress economic activity for the foreseeable future .
With economic activity so low , companies all over America are laying off workers at a staggering rate .
More than 26 million Americans have lost their jobs so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on rolling .
For example , we just learned that Uber is planning to let thousands of employees go… Of course it isn ’ t just the United States that is facing an unprecedented unemployment crisis .
According to the International Labour Organization , close to half of all the workers in the world “ are in immediate danger of losing their livelihoods ” … This is one of the biggest reasons why lockdowns all over the globe need to be ended as quickly as possible .
If people are not allowed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t going to have anything to feed their families .
Even in the United States , we have already seen an explosion of need that is absolutely shocking .
All over the country , people have been lining up for miles to get whatever food that local food banks are able to give them , and we witnessed more examples of this growing phenomenon on Tuesday… If things are this bad already , what is this nation going to look like as we get even deeper into “ the perfect storm ” ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ quite a bit about the coming “ meat shortage ” that the mainstream media has been warning about , and now we are being told that a serious shortage of boneless chicken is already upon us… As I discussed yesterday , President Trump has decided to order meat processing facilities that were closed down because of COVID-19 to reopen , and many are hoping that this move will put a quick end to the shortages .
But on Wednesday the mainstream media was full of stories about how meat processing workers may decide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go back to work… If fear of COVID-19 keeps a substantial percentage of workers from returning to their jobs , that could cause the emerging meat shortages to get even worse in the weeks ahead .
Of course fear of the coronavirus is paralyzing many sectors of our economy right now , and that is not going to end any time soon .
So we should expect really dismal economic numbers for the foreseeable future , and it appears exceedingly unlikely that there will be any sort of a turnaround before the election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic depression has begun , and it is going to be really , really painful .

by Michael Snyder
We just witnessed the largest quarterly GDP decline since the last financial crisis, and experts are warning that the figure for the second quarter will be far, far worse. In fact, as you will see below, one expert is telling us to brace ourselves for the worst economic numbers “in the post-World War II era”. On an annualized basis, U.S. GDP fell by 4.8 percent during the first quarter, and that was a bit worse than most economists were projecting. And economists were also surprised that consumer spending was down 7.6 percent and business investment was down 8.6 percent during January, February and March. Under normal circumstances, those would be absolutely horrible numbers, but these are not normal circumstances. Yes, January and February were relatively normal, but the coronavirus shutdowns began in March and that is why these numbers are so dismal.
Unfortunately, it looks like the economic numbers for the second quarter are going to be much more depressing. One economist that was interviewed by the New York Times believes that they will actually be the worst that our nation has seen since the end of the Second World War…
“They’re going to be the worst in our lifetime,” Dan North, chief economist for the credit insurance company Euler Hermes North America, said of the second-quarter figures. “They’re going to be the worst in the post-World War II era.”
And at this point even the Trump administration is publicly admitting that the economic numbers are going to start getting really, really bad. On Monday, Kevin Hassett actually told CNBC that U.S. GDP could fall by up to 30 percent on an annualized basis during the second quarter…
On Monday morning, the White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett warned the second quarter could reflect a 20 to 30 percent decline – something that has not been seen since the 1930s Great Depression. ‘You’re looking at something like minus 20 percent to minus 30 percent in the second quarter. It’s a very grave shock and it’s something we need to take seriously,’ he told CNBC.
But we don’t have to wait until three months from now for numbers that are truly horrific.
On Wednesday, we learned that U.S. home sales in March were down by double digits in every region on the country…
Signed contracts to purchase existing homes, referred to as pending home sales, fell 20.8% compared with February and were 16.3% lower annually, according to the National Association of Realtors. Regionally, pending sales fell 14.5% in the Northeast for the month and were 11% lower than a year ago. In the Midwest, sales decreased 22% monthly and 12.4% annually. In the South sales dropped 19.5% for the week and 17.8% annually, and in the West they fell 26.8% weekly and 21.5% compared with a year ago.
Some states are attempting to gradually “reopen” their economies, and that is good news.
But the bad news is that officials are telling us that all of the restrictions in big states such as California and New York will not be lifted until many months from now, and that is going to greatly depress economic activity for the foreseeable future.
With economic activity so low, companies all over America are laying off workers at a staggering rate. More than 26 million Americans have lost their jobs so far, and the layoffs just keep on rolling. For example, we just learned that Uber is planning to let thousands of employees go…
Executives at Uber are discussing plans to cut around 20% of the company’s employees, as it copes with a sharp decline in its ride-hailing business due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports The Information. Layoffs of that magnitude, which haven’t been finalized but could be announced in stages in the coming weeks, could result in more than 5,400 of Uber’s 27,000 employees losing their jobs.
Of course it isn’t just the United States that is facing an unprecedented unemployment crisis.
According to the International Labour Organization, close to half of all the workers in the world “are in immediate danger of losing their livelihoods”…
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Some 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, representing nearly half of the global labour force, are in immediate danger of losing their livelihoods due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday. The U.N. agency’s latest report sharply raised its forecast for the devastating impact on jobs and incomes of the COVID-19 disease, which has infected more than 3.1 million people globally, killed nearly 220,000 and shut down economies.
This is one of the biggest reasons why lockdowns all over the globe need to be ended as quickly as possible. If people are not allowed to make a living, they aren’t going to have anything to feed their families.
Even in the United States, we have already seen an explosion of need that is absolutely shocking. All over the country, people have been lining up for miles to get whatever food that local food banks are able to give them, and we witnessed more examples of this growing phenomenon on Tuesday…
Masses of cars waited in line for the drive-thru food giveaway in Pico Rivera, California, as volunteers sporting face masks, gloves and high-vis jackets helped dish out supplies. Over in Prospect, vehicles were seen snaking through the Big Butler Fairgrounds. It comes as millions of people across America lose their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic and households have been thrown into turmoil.
If things are this bad already, what is this nation going to look like as we get even deeper into “the perfect storm”?
In recent days I have been writing quite a bit about the coming “meat shortage” that the mainstream media has been warning about, and now we are being told that a serious shortage of boneless chicken is already upon us…
Goodbye, boneless chicken. Food retailers across North America are swapping boneless chicken legs for less popular thighs and drumsticks as a wave of shutdowns at meatpacking plants has reduced supplies of sought-after cuts.
As I discussed yesterday, President Trump has decided to order meat processing facilities that were closed down because of COVID-19 to reopen, and many are hoping that this move will put a quick end to the shortages.
But on Wednesday the mainstream media was full of stories about how meat processing workers may decide to defy President Trump and refuse to go back to work…
Meat-processing plant workers are concerned about President Donald Trump’s executive order that compels plants to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic. Meat plant employees are among America’s most vulnerable workers, and some say they expect staff will refuse to come to work. “All I know is, this is crazy to me, because I can’t see all these people going back into work,” said Donald, who works at Tyson’s Waterloo, Iowa, facility. “I don’t think people are going to go back in there.”
If fear of COVID-19 keeps a substantial percentage of workers from returning to their jobs, that could cause the emerging meat shortages to get even worse in the weeks ahead.
Of course fear of the coronavirus is paralyzing many sectors of our economy right now, and that is not going to end any time soon.
So we should expect really dismal economic numbers for the foreseeable future, and it appears exceedingly unlikely that there will be any sort of a turnaround before the election in November.
America’s next economic depression has begun, and it is going to be really, really painful.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-30--All Of The Coronavirus Models Were Wrong

How is it possible that all of the coronavirus models could have been so completely and utterly wrong about what was going to happen ?
Very early in this pandemic , some models that were predicting millions of deaths caused quite a bit of panic all over the globe .
In fact , a projection done by researchers at the Imperial College of London warned that 40 million people could die from COVID-19 this year alone .
Obviously that estimate was dead wrong , and it has become quite clear that this pandemic is not an “ end of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other extreme , there have been a lot of models that were forecasting a relatively low death toll , and those models have been proven to be completely wrong as well .
For example , the Los Angeles Times just published a story that discussed the fact that a number of models had projected that the U.S. would not reach 60,000 deaths until “ late summer ” … Well , we just blew by that figure and we are rapidly moving up toward 70,000 deaths .
During the 24 hour period that just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 , and the number of daily deaths is likely to escalate as some states attempt to “ reopen ” in the weeks ahead .
But a prominent model that the Trump administration has been relying on very heavily had been projecting that there would not be a single U.S. death from the coronavirus after June 21st… Obviously some U.S. officials must strongly disagree with that sort of a projection , because the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the federal government just ordered 100,000 more body bags… That would seem to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic is essentially going to be over in June .
Of course the truth is that this pandemic is not going to end any time soon , and every day we continue to get more indications that it is going to be much more grisly than many had originally anticipated .
For instance , on Wednesday police in New York found dozens of dead bodies stored in trucks outside a funeral home… And the entire nation was stunned to learn that almost 70 people have died at a home for aging veterans in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic is not “ the end of the world ” , nobody out there should be attempting to claim that it is a “ nothingburger ” either .
Just check the carnage that authorities in Ecuador have been dealing with… Front line medics in one of Latin America ’ s coronavirus epicenters are lifting the lid on the daily horrors they face in an Ecuadoran city whose health system has collapsed .
In one hospital in Guayaquil overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients , staff have had to pile up bodies in bathrooms because the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In another , a medic told AFP that doctors have been forced to wrap up and store corpses to be able to reuse the beds they died on .
The only reason why we haven ’ t seen a lot of other health systems around the world get overwhelmed is because most of the planet is shut down right now .
As some parts of the globe attempt to “ reopen ” , it is inevitable that cases will start to surge again in those areas .
In fact , that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Germany .
Sadly , this pandemic has become highly politicized at this point , and there are many out there that would love to exploit it for their own nefarious purposes .
For example , Hillary Clinton told Joe Biden during an online town hall that “ this would be a terrible crisis to waste ” … This is a high-stakes time , because of the pandemic .
But this is also a really high-stakes election .
And every form of health care should continue to be available , including reproductive health care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And then it needs to be part of a much larger system that eventually — and quickly , I hope — gets us to universal health care .
[ Biden nods ] So I can only say , “ Amen , ” to everything you ’ re saying , but also to , again , enlist people that this would be a terrible crisis to waste , as the old saying goes .
[ Biden nods ] We ’ ve learned a lot about what our absolute frailties are in our country when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ justice .
Instead of dividing us even more deeply as a nation , this pandemic should be bringing us together .
And hopefully that will happen , because even greater challenges are in our future .
But for now , we still have a very long battle with this virus ahead of us .
Many more Americans are going to get sick and many more Americans are going to die , and we really don ’ t have any idea what the final numbers are going to look like because all of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrong so far .

by Michael Snyder
How is it possible that all of the coronavirus models could have been so completely and utterly wrong about what was going to happen? Very early in this pandemic, some models that were predicting millions of deaths caused quite a bit of panic all over the globe. In fact, a projection done by researchers at the Imperial College of London warned that 40 million people could die from COVID-19 this year alone. Obviously that estimate was dead wrong, and it has become quite clear that this pandemic is not an “end of the world” scenario. But on the other extreme, there have been a lot of models that were forecasting a relatively low death toll, and those models have been proven to be completely wrong as well.
For example, the Los Angeles Times just published a story that discussed the fact that a number of models had projected that the U.S. would not reach 60,000 deaths until “late summer”…
The death toll from COVID-19 reached nearly 60,200 in the United States on Wednesday, and confirmed cases surpassed 1 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. Some models had suggested the U.S. would not reach this milestone until late summer.
Well, we just blew by that figure and we are rapidly moving up toward 70,000 deaths.
During the 24 hour period that just ended, another 2,390 Americans died from COVID-19, and the number of daily deaths is likely to escalate as some states attempt to “reopen” in the weeks ahead.
But a prominent model that the Trump administration has been relying on very heavily had been projecting that there would not be a single U.S. death from the coronavirus after June 21st…
An influential model cited by the White House predicts that coronavirus deaths will come to a halt this summer, with zero deaths projected in the United States after June 21. Not a single person will die in the ensuing month and a half, according to the model, which makes predictions until August.
Obviously some U.S. officials must strongly disagree with that sort of a projection, because the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the federal government just ordered 100,000 more body bags…
The federal government ordered 100,000 new Covid-19 body bags, in what officials described as preparations for a “worst case” scenario. The giant order last week for “human remains pouches” comes as more than 58,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
That would seem to be a tremendous waste of money if this pandemic is essentially going to be over in June.
Of course the truth is that this pandemic is not going to end any time soon, and every day we continue to get more indications that it is going to be much more grisly than many had originally anticipated. For instance, on Wednesday police in New York found dozens of dead bodies stored in trucks outside a funeral home…
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Police found dozens of bodies being stored in unrefrigerated trucks outside a Brooklyn funeral home and lying on the facility’s floor Wednesday, law enforcement sources told The Post. Between 40 to 60 bodies were discovered either stacked up in U-Haul box trucks outside Andrew Cleckley Funeral Services in Flatlands or on the building’s floor, after neighbors reported a foul odor around the property, sources said.
And the entire nation was stunned to learn that almost 70 people have died at a home for aging veterans in Massachusetts…
Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for aging veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest known outbreak at a long-term care facility in the U.S. While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers’ Home continues to climb, federal officials are investigating whether residents were denied proper medical care and the state’s top prosecutor is deciding whether to bring legal action.
While it is true that this pandemic is not “the end of the world”, nobody out there should be attempting to claim that it is a “nothingburger” either. Just check the carnage that authorities in Ecuador have been dealing with…
Front line medics in one of Latin America’s coronavirus epicenters are lifting the lid on the daily horrors they face in an Ecuadoran city whose health system has collapsed. In one hospital in Guayaquil overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, staff have had to pile up bodies in bathrooms because the morgues are full, health workers say. In another, a medic told AFP that doctors have been forced to wrap up and store corpses to be able to reuse the beds they died on.
The only reason why we haven’t seen a lot of other health systems around the world get overwhelmed is because most of the planet is shut down right now.
As some parts of the globe attempt to “reopen”, it is inevitable that cases will start to surge again in those areas. In fact, that is precisely what is starting to happen in Germany.
Sadly, this pandemic has become highly politicized at this point, and there are many out there that would love to exploit it for their own nefarious purposes. For example, Hillary Clinton told Joe Biden during an online town hall that “this would be a terrible crisis to waste”…
This is a high-stakes time, because of the pandemic. But this is also a really high-stakes election. And every form of health care should continue to be available, including reproductive health care for every woman in this country. And then it needs to be part of a much larger system that eventually — and quickly, I hope — gets us to universal health care. [Biden nods] So I can only say, “Amen,” to everything you’re saying, but also to, again, enlist people that this would be a terrible crisis to waste, as the old saying goes. [Biden nods] We’ve learned a lot about what our absolute frailties are in our country when it comes to health justice and economic justice.
Instead of dividing us even more deeply as a nation, this pandemic should be bringing us together. And hopefully that will happen, because even greater challenges are in our future.
But for now, we still have a very long battle with this virus ahead of us.
Many more Americans are going to get sick and many more Americans are going to die, and we really don’t have any idea what the final numbers are going to look like because all of the “scientific models” have been dead wrong so far.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-30--The Crisis Won’t Stop Until The Globalists Are Removed From Power

In the first week of February I published an article titled ‘ The Lies We Are Being Told About The Coronavirus ’ .
I focused primarily on the disinformation coming out of China , and for those with short memories there was a flood of it being spread on various web forums by what I believe was a army of paid disinformation agents .
The lies seemed to revolve around keeping the rest of the world passive to the potential threat by promoting a set of assumptions : 1 ) The disinfo suppressed the information on human-to-human spread and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus was not very transmissible or that it “ only infects Asians ” ( anyone who actually believed this nonsense at the time was truly gullible ) .
2 ) The disinfo suppressed the actual number of deaths in China to minimize the response time of people in other countries .
The assumption was “ it ’ s nothing , why worry ” .
Well , as we now know , there is no way China has only suffered 4600 deaths .
All the evidence leaked by health officials on the ground in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths , but the disinfo was enough to keep many people from taking the threat seriously .
3 ) The disinfo hid the source of the virus , claiming it came from an animal/food market in Wuhan even though many of the initial patients infected by the coronavirus never had any contact with the market .
This was openly admitted by scientists within China as far back as January .
Remember the “ bat soup ” rumors ?
All lies .
And perhaps not coincidentally , the only Level 4 Biohazard lab in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ viruses , is right down the road from that same market .
4 ) The disinformation was not only coming from China .
The World Health Organization consistently tried to downplay the spread of the virus , refusing to call it a pandemic for months even though it fit all their criteria .
They also lavished China with praise , taking all data the Chinese government reported as if it were verified fact and defended China against any and all detractors .
5 ) The level of disinformation coming from US government sources @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies was almost enough to match China ’ s lies .
The US government and the WHO have been working closely with social media corporations to disrupt any analysis that runs contrary to the Chinese narrative as well as the WHO narrative .
While Donald Trump and the DoD are suddenly interested in the possibility that Covid-19 is a bioweapon ( something that those of us in the alternative media tried to report months ago ) , at the end of January Trump was also offering China praise , saying that their data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ control ” .
Dr. Anthony Fauci was in the media saying : “ This is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States should be worried about right now… ” Fauci would later go on to change his tune completely , calling for strict government controls of social behavior in order to stop the spread of the virus .
The CDC and the mainstream media actively attempted to obstruct any information that might suggest the coronavirus was made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 experts in bio-safety warned that the lab in Wuhan might eventually cause a dangerous virus to “ escape ” due to lax standards .
Slapped together studies based on a long list of assumptions ( such as the false assumption that any bioweapon would be engineered to kill a maximum number of people ) were designed to “ debunk ” the theory , but only served to raise more questions as people began to wonder why certain “ experts ” and journalists were so intent on dismissing the bioweapon issue so out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the meantime , the most egregious disinformation in the US centered on the economy .
Trump ’ s economic adviser Larry Kudlow claimed on February 4th that the damage to the US economy from the virus would be ‘ minimal ’ .
With over 26 million people now added to the unemployment rolls , millions of small business owners desperate for bailout money , GDP in freefall , manufacturing in freefall and supply chains strained to the breaking point , I think it ’ s safe to say Larry Kudlow is either a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from a propaganda script that was given to him .
“ The US economy is interdependent with multiple nations , and is tightly connected to China .
The greatest danger of globalism in terms of economics is that it forces national economies into losing the redundancies that protect them from systemic collapse .
When one major economy goes down , it brings down all other economies with it .
Not only that , but the US financial structure is precariously unstable anyway , with record levels of national debt , consumer debt and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declines in manufacturing and demand .
The US sits atop one of the most massive economic bubbles of all time – The Everything Bubble , created by the Federal Reserve over ten years of stimulus measures , barely keeping the system alive in a state of zombification .
The bubble was always going to collapse .
In fact , recent events in Fed repo markets suggest it was already collapsing .
The coronavirus outbreak is a perfect cover event for this implosion… ” The downplaying of the economic danger in particular , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks not working , the claims that buying food and supplies is “ panic behavior ” akin to hoarding , a few months ago everything seemed designed to convince the public to NOT prepare for this event .
And it was not just China and the WHO behind it ; it was also our own government , the White House and the mainstream media .
Now , there is still ample debate about how deadly Covid-19 really is .
Is it really “ no worse than the flu ” ?
I have seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more infected people than initially believed which would diminish the death rate .
I have also seen data which suggests that deaths from the virus are being under-reported , just like they were in China .
I say it is foolish to rush to conclusions until the virus actually runs the same course and infects hundreds of millions of people as the flu does annually .
I will also say that I have never heard of hospitals and morgues being overwhelmed by the flu in modern times like they have been overwhelmed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a distraction from the real issue – It DOES NOT MATTER how deadly the virus is , what matters is that the current government response is unacceptable regardless .
The false dichotomy being constructed right now is that you either believe the virus is a horrible killer plague and that martial law is necessary to stop it , or , you believe the entire pandemic is somehow “ staged ” and that the whole thing is a hoax , making martial law unnecessary .
The truth is more likely somewhere in-between .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is most likely a chimera with SARS-like qualities , it is indeed killing many people but it is certainly not the Black Plague ( a friend of mine just lost someone in their mid-40 ’ s with no previous conditions ; it is still smart to take precautions ) , and even if it was it would not matter because government tyranny and economic lockdown do not solve the problem , they only make the situation much worse .
Now that the Chinese propaganda campaign is falling apart as the data continues to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to point out , as mentioned above , that China did not do all this alone .
It had the help of the UN , the mainstream media and yes , even the CDC and the White House .
Without all these entities working together to suppress information on the threat and its source , the public would have had far more time to prepare .
And most of all , if governments including our own had restricted travel from China a month sooner when it was clear that human-to-human transmission of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic may have never happened in the first place .
Yet , they did not .
Why ?
Why was the threat downplayed and ignored ?
Why was travel from China kept open for weeks after the pandemic began killing thousands ?
Why did everyone including Trump defend China initially , only to now accuse them of at the very least negligence , and at worst biowarfare ?
I have a theory , of course .
I outlined the problem in great detail the in my article ‘ How Viral Pandemic Serves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ January .
This article stemmed from another article I wrote in 2014 during the Ebola event which predicted everything that is now happening today .
And , this month I published an analysis on open globalists admissions on how they plan to use the pandemic to promote one world cashless society and medical tyranny in my article ‘ Waves Of Mutilation : Medical Tyranny And The Cashless Society ’ .
The narrative has shifted into blaming China for everything , and they are certainly guilty of many crimes , but they are only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a whole is not the prime beneficiary of the crisis .
In fact , they are suffering economic collapse like most others nations .
But , the globalists within China , the globalists within the WHO , the globalists within the US including those in Trump ’ s cabinet , they all benefit greatly .
And this is where many people simply can ’ t wrap their heads around the scenario .
They can accept the idea of a Chinese conspiracy , or a UN conspiracy , or even a Trump conspiracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elites within all these countries and the White House working together ?
Well that ’ s just “ crazy ” , right ?
I ’ m sorry to say that this is the reality .
The US and Canada poured millions of dollars into the experiments at the Wuhan lab and the funding was greenlit by none other than Dr. Anthony Fauci in 2015 .
Trump ’ s cabinet is stacked with global elites and people like Dr. Fauci that are intimately associated with the WHO .
Fauci continues to defend the WHO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in January .
The WHO has been aggressively defending the Chinese handling of the outbreak and has thoroughly praised their response , which has included using tracking apps and QR codes to watch their citizens 24/7 and implement medical totalitarianism .
This same medical totalitarianism was suggested during Event 201 , the “ simulation ” of a coronavirus pandemic funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Economic Forum which was held only TWO MONTHS before the real thing happened .
This is the same medical totalitarianism that Bill Gates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a solution today .
The globalists have consistently called for a shift into a cashless society and a technocratic surveillance culture .
Is it not convenient that these are the solutions being consistently offered in the face of the pandemic ?
If you examine the chain of events , the amount of give and take between China , the WHO , and other governments including the US government and the fact that the globalists are about to get everything they want from this catastrophe , I do not think it is outlandish to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deliberately and that globalists in multiple nations are working together to achieve a specific outcome .
With the US blaming China and the Chinese blaming the US , the truth is being lost in the fog of propaganda .
The truth being that BOTH sides and the WHO made this pandemic possible , and that the elites on ALL sides have something to gain .
The end game they desire is global governance , a one world digital currency system and a rationale for full spectrum surveillance of the citizenry .
The pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , unless the people take action to fight back and disrupt their plans .
Some people will call this “ wild speculation ” or “ conspiracy theory ” , but these people are either ignorant of the facts .
The evidence is substantial .
I have outlined it over and over again the past few months .
Luckily , I do see a growing to counter the globalist script .
Hopefully , we have the time and tenacity to stop them from getting what they want .
Understand , however , that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are unseated .
The current “ wave ” of the virus is only the first .
Expect wave after wave of infections , and wave after wave of lockdowns by complicit government officials .
And when COVID-19 doesn ’ t scare people anymore , all the elites have to do is release ANOTHER virus with varied effects .
To stop the lockdowns and to stop the pandemic we have to stop the globalists .
We have to go to the root of the threat .

by Brandon Smith
In the first week of February I published an article titled ‘The Lies We Are Being Told About The Coronavirus’. I focused primarily on the disinformation coming out of China, and for those with short memories there was a flood of it being spread on various web forums by what I believe was a army of paid disinformation agents. The lies seemed to revolve around keeping the rest of the world passive to the potential threat by promoting a set of assumptions:
1) The disinfo suppressed the information on human-to-human spread and the level of infections, suggesting that the virus was not very transmissible or that it “only infects Asians” (anyone who actually believed this nonsense at the time was truly gullible).
2) The disinfo suppressed the actual number of deaths in China to minimize the response time of people in other countries. The assumption was “it’s nothing, why worry”. Well, as we now know, there is no way China has only suffered 4600 deaths. All the evidence leaked by health officials on the ground in China suggested a much higher number of deaths, but the disinfo was enough to keep many people from taking the threat seriously.
3) The disinfo hid the source of the virus, claiming it came from an animal/food market in Wuhan even though many of the initial patients infected by the coronavirus never had any contact with the market. This was openly admitted by scientists within China as far back as January. Remember the “bat soup” rumors? All lies. And perhaps not coincidentally, the only Level 4 Biohazard lab in Asia, which studies specifically in SARS-like viruses, is right down the road from that same market.
4) The disinformation was not only coming from China. The World Health Organization consistently tried to downplay the spread of the virus, refusing to call it a pandemic for months even though it fit all their criteria. They also lavished China with praise, taking all data the Chinese government reported as if it were verified fact and defended China against any and all detractors.
5) The level of disinformation coming from US government sources, the White House and social media companies was almost enough to match China’s lies. The US government and the WHO have been working closely with social media corporations to disrupt any analysis that runs contrary to the Chinese narrative as well as the WHO narrative.
While Donald Trump and the DoD are suddenly interested in the possibility that Covid-19 is a bioweapon (something that those of us in the alternative media tried to report months ago), at the end of January Trump was also offering China praise, saying that their data was accurate and everything was “under control”.
Dr. Anthony Fauci was in the media saying :
“This is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States should be worried about right now…”
Fauci would later go on to change his tune completely, calling for strict government controls of social behavior in order to stop the spread of the virus.
The CDC and the mainstream media actively attempted to obstruct any information that might suggest the coronavirus was made in a lab, even though in 2017 experts in bio-safety warned that the lab in Wuhan might eventually cause a dangerous virus to “escape” due to lax standards. Slapped together studies based on a long list of assumptions (such as the false assumption that any bioweapon would be engineered to kill a maximum number of people) were designed to “debunk” the theory, but only served to raise more questions as people began to wonder why certain “experts” and journalists were so intent on dismissing the bioweapon issue so out of hand based.
6) In the meantime, the most egregious disinformation in the US centered on the economy. Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow claimed on February 4th that the damage to the US economy from the virus would be ‘minimal’. With over 26 million people now added to the unemployment rolls, millions of small business owners desperate for bailout money, GDP in freefall, manufacturing in freefall and supply chains strained to the breaking point, I think it’s safe to say Larry Kudlow is either a complete moron or he was dutifully reading from a propaganda script that was given to him.
As I noted in February:
“The US economy is interdependent with multiple nations, and is tightly connected to China. The greatest danger of globalism in terms of economics is that it forces national economies into losing the redundancies that protect them from systemic collapse. When one major economy goes down, it brings down all other economies with it.
Not only that, but the US financial structure is precariously unstable anyway, with record levels of national debt, consumer debt and corporate debt, not to mention steep declines in manufacturing and demand. The US sits atop one of the most massive economic bubbles of all time – The Everything Bubble, created by the Federal Reserve over ten years of stimulus measures, barely keeping the system alive in a state of zombification.
The bubble was always going to collapse. In fact, recent events in Fed repo markets suggest it was already collapsing. The coronavirus outbreak is a perfect cover event for this implosion…”
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
The downplaying of the economic danger in particular, the lies all over the web about N95 masks not working, the claims that buying food and supplies is “panic behavior” akin to hoarding, a few months ago everything seemed designed to convince the public to NOT prepare for this event. And it was not just China and the WHO behind it; it was also our own government, the White House and the mainstream media.
Now, there is still ample debate about how deadly Covid-19 really is. Is it really “no worse than the flu”? I have seen data which suggests that there are many more infected people than initially believed which would diminish the death rate. I have also seen data which suggests that deaths from the virus are being under-reported, just like they were in China.
I say it is foolish to rush to conclusions until the virus actually runs the same course and infects hundreds of millions of people as the flu does annually. I will also say that I have never heard of hospitals and morgues being overwhelmed by the flu in modern times like they have been overwhelmed by the coronavirus, but this debate is a distraction from the real issue – It DOES NOT MATTER how deadly the virus is, what matters is that the current government response is unacceptable regardless.
The false dichotomy being constructed right now is that you either believe the virus is a horrible killer plague and that martial law is necessary to stop it, or, you believe the entire pandemic is somehow “staged” and that the whole thing is a hoax, making martial law unnecessary.
The truth is more likely somewhere in-between. The virus is a moderate threat, it is most likely a chimera with SARS-like qualities, it is indeed killing many people but it is certainly not the Black Plague (a friend of mine just lost someone in their mid-40’s with no previous conditions; it is still smart to take precautions), and even if it was it would not matter because government tyranny and economic lockdown do not solve the problem, they only make the situation much worse.
Now that the Chinese propaganda campaign is falling apart as the data continues to contradict what they initially reported, I have to point out, as mentioned above, that China did not do all this alone. It had the help of the UN, the mainstream media and yes, even the CDC and the White House. Without all these entities working together to suppress information on the threat and its source, the public would have had far more time to prepare. And most of all, if governments including our own had restricted travel from China a month sooner when it was clear that human-to-human transmission of the virus was a reality, then the pandemic may have never happened in the first place.
Yet, they did not. Why?
Why was the threat downplayed and ignored? Why was travel from China kept open for weeks after the pandemic began killing thousands? Why did everyone including Trump defend China initially, only to now accuse them of at the very least negligence, and at worst biowarfare?
I have a theory, of course. I outlined the problem in great detail the in my article ‘How Viral Pandemic Serves The Globalist Agenda’, published in January. This article stemmed from another article I wrote in 2014 during the Ebola event which predicted everything that is now happening today. And, this month I published an analysis on open globalists admissions on how they plan to use the pandemic to promote one world cashless society and medical tyranny in my article ‘Waves Of Mutilation: Medical Tyranny And The Cashless Society’.
The narrative has shifted into blaming China for everything, and they are certainly guilty of many crimes, but they are only partly responsible for the disaster. China as a whole is not the prime beneficiary of the crisis. In fact, they are suffering economic collapse like most others nations. But, the globalists within China, the globalists within the WHO, the globalists within the US including those in Trump’s cabinet, they all benefit greatly. And this is where many people simply can’t wrap their heads around the scenario.
They can accept the idea of a Chinese conspiracy, or a UN conspiracy, or even a Trump conspiracy, but the idea that there are elites within all these countries and the White House working together? Well that’s just “crazy”, right?
I’m sorry to say that this is the reality. The US and Canada poured millions of dollars into the experiments at the Wuhan lab and the funding was greenlit by none other than Dr. Anthony Fauci in 2015. Trump’s cabinet is stacked with global elites and people like Dr. Fauci that are intimately associated with the WHO. Fauci continues to defend the WHO. Trump initially praised the Chinese response in January. The WHO has been aggressively defending the Chinese handling of the outbreak and has thoroughly praised their response, which has included using tracking apps and QR codes to watch their citizens 24/7 and implement medical totalitarianism. This same medical totalitarianism was suggested during Event 201, the “simulation” of a coronavirus pandemic funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Economic Forum which was held only TWO MONTHS before the real thing happened. This is the same medical totalitarianism that Bill Gates and others like MIT are promoting as a solution today.
The globalists have consistently called for a shift into a cashless society and a technocratic surveillance culture. Is it not convenient that these are the solutions being consistently offered in the face of the pandemic?
If you examine the chain of events, the amount of give and take between China, the WHO, and other governments including the US government and the fact that the globalists are about to get everything they want from this catastrophe, I do not think it is outlandish to suggest that perhaps this virus was unleashed deliberately and that globalists in multiple nations are working together to achieve a specific outcome.
With the US blaming China and the Chinese blaming the US, the truth is being lost in the fog of propaganda. The truth being that BOTH sides and the WHO made this pandemic possible, and that the elites on ALL sides have something to gain. The end game they desire is global governance, a one world digital currency system and a rationale for full spectrum surveillance of the citizenry. The pandemic allows them to have all of this, unless the people take action to fight back and disrupt their plans.
Some people will call this “wild speculation” or “conspiracy theory”, but these people are either ignorant of the facts. The evidence is substantial. I have outlined it over and over again the past few months. Luckily, I do see a growing to counter the globalist script. Hopefully, we have the time and tenacity to stop them from getting what they want.
Understand, however, that this crisis will not stop until the globalists are unseated. The current “wave” of the virus is only the first. Expect wave after wave of infections, and wave after wave of lockdowns by complicit government officials. And when COVID-19 doesn’t scare people anymore, all the elites have to do is release ANOTHER virus with varied effects. To stop the lockdowns and to stop the pandemic we have to stop the globalists. We have to go to the root of the threat.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-30--Life Under Draconian Lockdown: I Can Barely See the Light at the End of this Long, Dark Tunnel

The process of reopening Spain has been dubbed , rather ominously , “ Operation New Normality.
” “ Is there any light at the end of this long dark tunnel ?
” That ’ s a question many people are asking themselves in Spain , whose government has implemented one of the most draconian anti-Covid lockdown regimes in the world and is now beginning to loosen some of the restrictions .
Sunday was the first time in 43 days that children were allowed to venture out , albeit only for a maximum of one hour .
And only if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under the age of 14 .
It was hardly a return to normality , but after six long weeks of being cooped up at home , most of the children and their parents were happy to take up the invitation of a little fresh air , a few rays of sunshine and some open space .
For the first time in a month and a half , the streets and squares of villages , towns and cities across Spain were alive with the sound of people .
This being Spain , not everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rules .
From the vantage point of our balcony , in the Exiample Dreta district of Barcelona , my wife and I could see many children being shepherded by both of their parents .
We could also spot groups of families together as well as opportunistic childless couples who were hoping to blend in with the crowds unnoticed .
Some got away with it .
Others were stopped by the police and given a stern warning or fined .
Since the lockdown began in Spain some 740,000 people — the equivalent of 18,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ breaking the government ’ s Covid-19 rules , according to El País .
That ’ s three times more than in Italy and almost 200 times more than in the UK during roughly the same period .
The only EU country that has dished out more fines is France , whose police issued over 900,000 fines in a five-week period .
In France administrative fines can range from €135 to €3,750 .
In Spain they can reach as high as €600,000 , a spine-chilling figure that was set by the previous Rajoy government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Security — popularly dubbed the “ Gag Law ” for its sweeping attacks on freedom of expression .
Passed in 2015 , the law was primarily intended to crack down on rising social and political protest .
Today ’ s governing parties , then in opposition , pledged to overturn the law .
They didn ’ t .
Instead , they have kept many of the most draconian measures in place and are now making liberal use of them .
If parents and children do not follow the strict criteria for outings , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government warned .
Surveillance and controls will be stepped up if necessary .
As countries around the world are gradually realizing , it ’ s a lot easier to go into lockdown than get out of it .
In Spain , where the number of new cases is averaging around 1,000 a day , the process of reopening the country has been dubbed , rather ominously , “ Operation New Normality ” .
It has been divided into four phases : Phase Zero .
Starting on May 2 , this phase is mainly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be able to open but only if they offer appointments , such as hairdressers , dentists , florists and opticians .
Citizens will finally be able to go outside for a spot of individual exercise or for a solitary stroll .
But as far as I can tell , the government is still debating about when to let couples go outside together , something we ’ ve not been able to do since the lockdown began .
This doesn ’ t mean that couples aren ’ t venturing out together , just that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Phase One .
In this phase , scheduled to begin in most provinces on May 10 , social contact will be allowed between people in the same city who are not deemed to be at risk of the virus .
But there will still be no travel between provinces without justification ( such as work ) .
Sidewalk cafés will be able to open , albeit at 30 % of their usual capacity .
This means that people will be able to have a drink with friends on a terrace .
Hotels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but without common areas available to guests , such as the buffet .
Phase Two .
With the arrival of phase two , citizens will be able to enter the inside of bars and restaurants , again with a limit of 30 % of capacity .
Cinemas , theaters , auditoriums , monuments and exhibitions centers will also reopen with a similar limit on capacity .
At outdoor events , up to 400 people will be allowed , provided they are seated .
Phase Three .
Loosely scheduled to take place mid-June , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mobility restrictions , albeit while wearing masks outside of the home .
Visits to senior homes will finally be allowed , under strict conditions .
Bars will be able to open with a limit of 50 % of capacity .
Travel between provinces will be allowed but only if they ’ re both in phase three .
The markers for each shift of phase will depend on : • The strategic capacity of the health system .
• The epidemiological situation in each province , including the infection rate , testing ( which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ severe infections or essential workers ) and other indicators .
• The degree of collective compliance with the protection measures .
• The evaluation of mobility and socioeconomic data .
If everything goes according to plan , which is far from likely given the complexity of the task and the volatility of the situation , the country will return to some semblance of normality by the end of June , says the government .
With Spain ’ s economy facing its worst crisis since the civil war ( 1936-39 ) , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos , time is of the essence .
In the first quarter of 2020 , Spain ’ s unemployment rate rose from an already high 13.8 % to 14.4 % .
That figure does not include the 3.7 million workers who have been furloughed by their employers and are currently receiving or waiting to receive government benefits worth 70 % of their normal salaries .
Nor does it include the more than one million self-employed who have either completely halted their activity or have lost more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now receiving or waiting to receive benefits .
It ’ s impossible to know how many of these people will go back to work once the restrictions are lifted , but if you include these two groups of “ temporarily ” unemployed in the statistics , Spain ’ s unemployment rate is actually closer to 40 % .
Also not reflected in the statistics are the hundreds of thousands of self-employed workers who have taken a massive hit to their income , in some cases as high as 60-70 % , but don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Many of my self-employed friends and contacts are in this situation .
Then there are the untold thousands of people who have applied for government assistance but still don ’ t know if they will ever receive it .
They include my wife , who stopped working on March 14 , the day the handmade-jewellery store she works for closed due to the lockdown .
Within days , the store ’ s owner , a German jewellery designer , had applied for my wife and her Portuguese colleague to be furloughed .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government ’ s self-employed assistance program and take out a government-guaranteed emergency business loan from her local bank .
Six weeks on , she still hasn ’ t received a response from the government and is still waiting to find out if she qualifies for the business loan .
Her two workers , including my wife , haven ’ t received a penny since March 15 .
“ Last time I went to the bank , the manager told me he had 200 signed applications for emergency loans sitting on his desk , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 had been given the green light by the government.
” Even in the best case scenario , in which she receives the government assistance ( maximum : €660 a month , a tiny fraction of what she was making ) and the bank loan , she knows that the prospects for her 15-year old business are pretty bleak .
“ My landlord has told me I don ’ t have to pay the rent for the shop while it ’ s closed , but I will have to pay the arrears once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I will also have to pay outstanding taxes .
To have any chance of doing all that , I will have to go into debt , something I never wanted or planned to do.
” Given that roughly 60 % of the business ’ customers were tourists , in particular big-spending Americans who were enchanted by the glistening bracelets , necklaces and earrings that were designed and crafted in front of them as they browsed ( some of which are on view at Instagram ) , business is unlikely to boom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ foreign tourists begin to return to Barcelona , later this year or early next , it will not be in nearly the same insane numbers as before .
The same thing is happening throughout Spain ( and far beyond ) .
Businesses that were perfectly healthy and viable before the crisis , providing jobs for enormous numbers of people , are now going to have to take on huge amounts of debt at a time that revenues are about to plummet .
It ’ s a recipe for economic disaster .
Many will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among many why the light at the end of this long , dark tunnel is still barely visible .
By Nick Corbishley , for WOLF STREET .

The process of reopening Spain has been dubbed, rather ominously, “Operation New Normality.”
“Is there any light at the end of this long dark tunnel?” That’s a question many people are asking themselves in Spain, whose government has implemented one of the most draconian anti-Covid lockdown regimes in the world and is now beginning to loosen some of the restrictions. Sunday was the first time in 43 days that children were allowed to venture out, albeit only for a maximum of one hour. And only if they were accompanied by one adult. And under the age of 14.
It was hardly a return to normality, but after six long weeks of being cooped up at home, most of the children and their parents were happy to take up the invitation of a little fresh air, a few rays of sunshine and some open space. For the first time in a month and a half, the streets and squares of villages, towns and cities across Spain were alive with the sound of people.
This being Spain, not everyone obeyed the government’s slightly loosened rules. From the vantage point of our balcony, in the Exiample Dreta district of Barcelona, my wife and I could see many children being shepherded by both of their parents. We could also spot groups of families together as well as opportunistic childless couples who were hoping to blend in with the crowds unnoticed. Some got away with it. Others were stopped by the police and given a stern warning or fined.
Since the lockdown began in Spain some 740,000 people — the equivalent of 18,000 per day — have been fined for breaking the government’s Covid-19 rules, according to El País. That’s three times more than in Italy and almost 200 times more than in the UK during roughly the same period. The only EU country that has dished out more fines is France, whose police issued over 900,000 fines in a five-week period.
In France administrative fines can range from €135 to €3,750. In Spain they can reach as high as €600,000, a spine-chilling figure that was set by the previous Rajoy government in its overtly authoritarian Law on Citizen Security — popularly dubbed the “Gag Law” for its sweeping attacks on freedom of expression. Passed in 2015, the law was primarily intended to crack down on rising social and political protest. Today’s governing parties, then in opposition, pledged to overturn the law. They didn’t. Instead, they have kept many of the most draconian measures in place and are now making liberal use of them.
If parents and children do not follow the strict criteria for outings, those outings will be withdrawn, the government warned. Surveillance and controls will be stepped up if necessary.
As countries around the world are gradually realizing, it’s a lot easier to go into lockdown than get out of it. In Spain, where the number of new cases is averaging around 1,000 a day, the process of reopening the country has been dubbed, rather ominously, “Operation New Normality”. It has been divided into four phases:
Phase Zero. Starting on May 2, this phase is mainly about preparation. Small service providers will be able to open but only if they offer appointments, such as hairdressers, dentists, florists and opticians. Citizens will finally be able to go outside for a spot of individual exercise or for a solitary stroll. But as far as I can tell, the government is still debating about when to let couples go outside together, something we’ve not been able to do since the lockdown began. This doesn’t mean that couples aren’t venturing out together, just that by doing so they risk getting fined.
Phase One. In this phase, scheduled to begin in most provinces on May 10, social contact will be allowed between people in the same city who are not deemed to be at risk of the virus. But there will still be no travel between provinces without justification (such as work). Sidewalk cafés will be able to open, albeit at 30% of their usual capacity. This means that people will be able to have a drink with friends on a terrace. Hotels will also be able to reopen, but without common areas available to guests, such as the buffet.
Phase Two. With the arrival of phase two, citizens will be able to enter the inside of bars and restaurants, again with a limit of 30% of capacity. Cinemas, theaters, auditoriums, monuments and exhibitions centers will also reopen with a similar limit on capacity. At outdoor events, up to 400 people will be allowed, provided they are seated.
Phase Three. Loosely scheduled to take place mid-June, this phase will include the relaxation of mobility restrictions, albeit while wearing masks outside of the home. Visits to senior homes will finally be allowed, under strict conditions. Bars will be able to open with a limit of 50% of capacity. Travel between provinces will be allowed but only if they’re both in phase three.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
The markers for each shift of phase will depend on:
The strategic capacity of the health system.
The epidemiological situation in each province, including the infection rate, testing (which is still broadly limited to people with severe infections or essential workers) and other indicators.
The degree of collective compliance with the protection measures.
The evaluation of mobility and socioeconomic data.
If everything goes according to plan, which is far from likely given the complexity of the task and the volatility of the situation, the country will return to some semblance of normality by the end of June, says the government. With Spain’s economy facing its worst crisis since the civil war (1936-39), according to the ECB’s Vice President and former Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos, time is of the essence.
In the first quarter of 2020, Spain’s unemployment rate rose from an already high 13.8% to 14.4%. That figure does not include the 3.7 million workers who have been furloughed by their employers and are currently receiving or waiting to receive government benefits worth 70% of their normal salaries. Nor does it include the more than one million self-employed who have either completely halted their activity or have lost more than 75% of their earnings and are now receiving or waiting to receive benefits.
It’s impossible to know how many of these people will go back to work once the restrictions are lifted, but if you include these two groups of “temporarily” unemployed in the statistics, Spain’s unemployment rate is actually closer to 40%.
Also not reflected in the statistics are the hundreds of thousands of self-employed workers who have taken a massive hit to their income, in some cases as high as 60-70%, but don’t qualify for government assistance. Many of my self-employed friends and contacts are in this situation. Then there are the untold thousands of people who have applied for government assistance but still don’t know if they will ever receive it. They include my wife, who stopped working on March 14, the day the handmade-jewellery store she works for closed due to the lockdown.
Within days, the store’s owner, a German jewellery designer, had applied for my wife and her Portuguese colleague to be furloughed. The owner also tried to register for the government’s self-employed assistance program and take out a government-guaranteed emergency business loan from her local bank. Six weeks on, she still hasn’t received a response from the government and is still waiting to find out if she qualifies for the business loan. Her two workers, including my wife, haven’t received a penny since March 15.
“Last time I went to the bank, the manager told me he had 200 signed applications for emergency loans sitting on his desk,” the owner says. “Only 30 had been given the green light by the government.”
Even in the best case scenario, in which she receives the government assistance (maximum: €660 a month, a tiny fraction of what she was making) and the bank loan, she knows that the prospects for her 15-year old business are pretty bleak. “My landlord has told me I don’t have to pay the rent for the shop while it’s closed, but I will have to pay the arrears once the shop reopens,” she says. “I will also have to pay outstanding taxes. To have any chance of doing all that, I will have to go into debt, something I never wanted or planned to do.”
Given that roughly 60% of the business’ customers were tourists, in particular big-spending Americans who were enchanted by the glistening bracelets, necklaces and earrings that were designed and crafted in front of them as they browsed (some of which are on view at Instagram), business is unlikely to boom when the shop reopens. Even when foreign tourists begin to return to Barcelona, later this year or early next, it will not be in nearly the same insane numbers as before.
The same thing is happening throughout Spain (and far beyond). Businesses that were perfectly healthy and viable before the crisis, providing jobs for enormous numbers of people, are now going to have to take on huge amounts of debt at a time that revenues are about to plummet. It’s a recipe for economic disaster. Many will go under. It is one reason among many why the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel is still barely visible. By Nick Corbishley, for WOLF STREET.