investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Traders Are Betting Big On An Oil Price Rebound

Global oil storage space is running low , production is not falling quickly enough , and yet last week hedge funds bought a record amount of WTI contracts , Reuters ’ John Kemp said Monday .
At the equivalent of 122 million barrels , the amount of crude futures purchased last week was the highest since at least last December .
According to Kemp , the reason for the increased buying is an expectation of an oil price rebound .
The buyers must expect this rebound to take place soon , even though there are no indications to support such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the latest price moves suggest the opposite .
On Monday , West Texas Intermediate dropped by 25 percent to less than $ 13 a barrel and continued falling on Tuesday in Asian trading , sinking below $ 11 a barrel .
The United States Oil Fund said yesterday that it would sell all its oil futures for June delivery within four days .
That had a lot to do with the drop in WTI prices , and it also had a lot to do with the growing worry about storage space – a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other market-making buyers last week .
It may change their mind this week , however .
Goldman Sachs yesterday became the latest to join the rising number of oil storage doomsayers .
The investment bank said that the world ’ s storage capacity could reach its limit within just three weeks .
This , the bank ’ s analysts said in a note , would heighten volatility and keep it high until supply and demand rebalances .
For this to happen , supply needs to decline by another 18 million bpd next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of demand loss that Goldman expects .
That is much easier said than done , because those additional 18 million barrels per day comes on the heels of a demand loss totaling 29 million bpd , according to International Energy Agency estimates for April .
In addition to the 9.7 million bpd in OPEC+ cuts that should begin next month , U.S. production has fallen by some 600,000 bpd and counting , and Canada has slashed its oil production by 300,000 bpd .
Brazil has cut 200,000 bpd off its daily average , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1 million bpd in production cuts outside OPEC+ .
While the chances are that U.S. production cuts will likely accelerate in the coming weeks as companies rush to shut in the wells that produce oil at rates higher than the selling price , it may be too little too late .
Global oil storage is filling at a rate of 10 million bpd , according to data from commodities analysis firm Kayrros , reported by the Wall Street Journal .
The firm ’ s chief analyst Antoine Halff called this rate monstrous and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ storage would be full in a little over three months .
Luckily for the industry , the rate of additions has slowed down a bit , Kayrros product manager Augustin Prate told Oilprice .
“ Crude demand in China has almost fully recovered , with refinery runs back to pre-lockdown levels , ” Prate said .
There is bad news as well but also a glimmer of hope .
“ In both India and the U.S. , refinery runs are 25 % below pre-lockdown levels , ” Prate said .
But “ In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 25-45 % of pre-lockdown level , traffic in major cities is now up 5-10 percentage points from the low points.
” The United States is among the places where storage space is already tight , so any improvement in demand would be a cause for celebration .
Cushing , the country ’ s largest oil storage complex , added 10 percent last week , to 59.7 million barrels .
This is 25 million barrels below maximum capacity , which may sound like a lot .
It isn ’ t if the rate of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this month offered producers space in its northbound Seaway pipeline , providing U.S. oil producers struggling to place their oil near the Gulf Coast the ability to ship their barrels to the storage hub at Cushing .
The problem—for producers and bullish hedge funds alike—is that there isn ’ t a quick solution to the storage problem .
Shutting in wells takes time and even setting wells on fire—which some Russian producers are reportedly considering as one way to reduce output quickly—takes time .
This is time that many smaller oil producers don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the way .
This would mean a more lasting decline in production , which is good news for bulls .
The question remains whether this decline will happen soon enough .
For now , this is highly unlikely , so we may see another massive selloff when the next front-month oil contract nears expiry .

By Irina Slav
Global oil storage space is running low, production is not falling quickly enough, and yet last week hedge funds bought a record amount of WTI contracts, Reuters’ John Kemp said Monday. At the equivalent of 122 million barrels, the amount of crude futures purchased last week was the highest since at least last December. According to Kemp, the reason for the increased buying is an expectation of an oil price rebound. The buyers must expect this rebound to take place soon, even though there are no indications to support such an attitude. On the contrary, the latest price moves suggest the opposite. On Monday, West Texas Intermediate dropped by 25 percent to less than $13 a barrel and continued falling on Tuesday in Asian trading, sinking below $11 a barrel.
The United States Oil Fund said yesterday that it would sell all its oil futures for June delivery within four days. That had a lot to do with the drop in WTI prices, and it also had a lot to do with the growing worry about storage space – a worry that did not bother hedge funds and other market-making buyers last week. It may change their mind this week, however.
And with a good reason.
Goldman Sachs yesterday became the latest to join the rising number of oil storage doomsayers. The investment bank said that the world’s storage capacity could reach its limit within just three weeks. This, the bank’s analysts said in a note, would heighten volatility and keep it high until supply and demand rebalances. For this to happen, supply needs to decline by another 18 million bpd next month, as this is the size of demand loss that Goldman expects.
That is much easier said than done, because those additional 18 million barrels per day comes on the heels of a demand loss totaling 29 million bpd, according to International Energy Agency estimates for April.
Producers, though, are cutting.
In addition to the 9.7 million bpd in OPEC+ cuts that should begin next month, U.S. production has fallen by some 600,000 bpd and counting, and Canada has slashed its oil production by 300,000 bpd. Brazil has cut 200,000 bpd off its daily average, Reuters reports.
This is barely above 1 million bpd in production cuts outside OPEC+. While the chances are that U.S. production cuts will likely accelerate in the coming weeks as companies rush to shut in the wells that produce oil at rates higher than the selling price, it may be too little too late.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Global oil storage is filling at a rate of 10 million bpd, according to data from commodities analysis firm Kayrros, reported by the Wall Street Journal. The firm’s chief analyst Antoine Halff called this rate monstrous and warned that if it continues unabated, storage would be full in a little over three months.
Luckily for the industry, the rate of additions has slowed down a bit, Kayrros product manager Augustin Prate told Oilprice.
“Crude demand in China has almost fully recovered, with refinery runs back to pre-lockdown levels,” Prate said.
There is bad news as well but also a glimmer of hope. “In both India and the U.S., refinery runs are 25% below pre-lockdown levels,” Prate said. But “In the U.S., after falling to between 25-45% of pre-lockdown level, traffic in major cities is now up 5-10 percentage points from the low points.”
The United States is among the places where storage space is already tight, so any improvement in demand would be a cause for celebration. Cushing, the country’s largest oil storage complex, added 10 percent last week, to 59.7 million barrels. This is 25 million barrels below maximum capacity, which may sound like a lot. It isn’t if the rate of addition continues.
Enterprise Products Partners earlier this month offered producers space in its northbound Seaway pipeline, providing U.S. oil producers struggling to place their oil near the Gulf Coast the ability to ship their barrels to the storage hub at Cushing.
The problem—for producers and bullish hedge funds alike—is that there isn’t a quick solution to the storage problem. Shutting in wells takes time and even setting wells on fire—which some Russian producers are reportedly considering as one way to reduce output quickly—takes time.
This is time that many smaller oil producers don’t have, so bankruptcies are on the way. This would mean a more lasting decline in production, which is good news for bulls. The question remains whether this decline will happen soon enough. For now, this is highly unlikely, so we may see another massive selloff when the next front-month oil contract nears expiry.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--This Engineered Social & Economic Powder Keg Is Ready To Blow

Bob Kudla is back to help us breakdown the social and economic powder keg the criminal elite have engineered – @ @ @ @ @ to blow .
Please consider supporting SGT Report on Patron with a monthly contribution : @ @ @

Bob Kudla interviewed by Sean on SGTreport
Bob Kudla is back to help us breakdown the social and economic powder keg the criminal elite have engineered – and its all getting ready to blow.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Please consider supporting SGT Report on Patron with a monthly contribution: www.patreon.com/user?u=5104183


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--The old saw that dividend stocks are good for bear markets is actually a high-risk gamble.

Dividend yield can be an irresistible siren song in the era of central-bank interest-rate and bond-yield repression : Harley Davidson ’ s dividend yield was over 7 % until this morning – when it announced that it would slash its dividend by 95 % , from 38 cents to a symbolic 2 cents to conserve cash .
Going forward , the dividend yield will be close to 0 % .
GM , whose dividend yield was an alluring 6.5 % , announced yesterday that it would eliminate its dividend altogether to save about $ 2 billion in cash ; and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be 0 % .
Ford had a dividend yield of over 11 % before it eliminated its dividend .
Mortgage REITS have reduced or eliminated their rich dividends – and dividends is the primary reason to hold REITs .
This started in late March , when AG Mortgage Investment Trust announced that it would stop paying dividends .
Investco Mortgage Capital and TPG RE Finance Trust both said they would “ delay ” paying their previously announced dividends to preserve liquidity .
In April , AGNC announced that it would reduce its dividend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had theoretical dividend yields well into the double-digits .
Investco ’ s theoretical dividend yield – which reflects the past annual dividend payments as a percent of current share price – is over 60 % .
Mall REITs are under enormous pressure , with most of their tenants shut down and many of them not paying rent .
For example , Macerich announced mid-March that it would reduce its dividend from 75 cents a share to 50 cents , of which it would pay only 20 % in cash and the remaining 80 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big names that eliminated their dividend is getting longer by the day : Boeing , the airlines , the automakers , the cruise lines , cosmetics company Estee Lauder , hospital firm HCA Healthcare , hotel chains such as Hilton Worldwide and Marriott , casino operator Las Vegas Sands , retailers of all kinds including TJX , Kohl ’ s , and Macy ’ s… .
This has been a persistent drumbeat over the past few weeks : Companies are struggling to preserve cash in order to survive this crisis , and dividends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Directors has decided to make them vanish .
Through Monday morning , 81 US companies and publicly traded investment funds , such as REITs and business development companies ( BDCs ) , have announced that they would suspended or cancel their dividends , according to S & P Global Market Intelligence , cited by the Wall Street Journal .
It has only been a little over one month when this dance started , but those 81 suspensions or cancellations are already by far higher than the announcements of dividend suspensions and cancellations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the beginning of the data in 2001 .
The prior record calendar year was 2009 with 63 announcements of dividends getting suspended or canceled .
Those 81 announcements so far are already higher than the combined total of the 10 years since 2010 ( 55 ) .
And it doesn ’ t include those that will announce dividend cuts , including Oxford Square Capital [ OXSQ ] , a publicly-traded BDC , which announced today that its dividend ( or rather “ distribution ” ) will mostly or totally vanish when it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ placed on the prospect for any particular level of distribution for those months , or for any other periods.
” Upon which its shares plunged 20 % .
And 135 companies have announced in 2020 through Monday morning that they would their dividends .
This does not include companies like Harley Davidson that have chimed in since Monday morning .
Those 135 announcements of dividend reductions so far this year is already the fourth highest number of any full calendar year in the data since 2001 .
The number two and three calendar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 138 ) and 2008 ( 137 ) .
The year 2020 will take out those two in a couple of days , which will make 2020 the second highest year on record .
The number one calendar year on record for the highest number of dividend reductions was in 2009 , with 316 such announcements .
But 2020 is still young , and the crisis has just begun .
All dividend actions so far this year through Monday amount to a cut in payouts of about $ 22.8 billion , according to S @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Wall Street Journal .
Dividends look very attractive to income investors until the dividends disappear .
That dreaded press release is all it takes .
And income investors wonder where is there to go as the Fed systematically represses and destroys income from other sources such as investment grade bonds , government bonds , and savings products .
Well , for those investors , there are dividend stocks that still haven ’ t issued that infamous press release yet , such as energy giants Exxon and Chevron , which are caught @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crude oil market , powered by the global collapse of demand for crude oil .
Both have already announced large-scale cuts to their capital expenditure programs .
Given the plunge in their shares , dividend yield has taken on juicy proportion : Exxon ’ s dividend yield is 7.8 % and Chevron ’ s is 5.7 % .
Will they , like the others that once had a juicy dividend yield , eliminate their dividends to preserve cash to get through this crisis ?
That ’ s a thorny question , given the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far this year .
Chevron shares are down 26 % year-to-date , despite the huge rally since March 23 ; Exxon shares are down 37 % year-to-date .
These share price declines show that investors have serious doubts about the dividends .
And it shows how the old saw that dividend stocks are good for bear markets is actually a high-risk gamble .

Dividend yield can be an irresistible siren song in the era of central-bank interest-rate and bond-yield repression: Harley Davidson’s dividend yield was over 7% until this morning – when it announced that it would slash its dividend by 95%, from 38 cents to a symbolic 2 cents to conserve cash. Going forward, the dividend yield will be close to 0%.
GM, whose dividend yield was an alluring 6.5%, announced yesterday that it would eliminate its dividend altogether to save about $2 billion in cash; and going forward, its dividend yield will be 0%. Ford had a dividend yield of over 11% before it eliminated its dividend.
Mortgage REITS have reduced or eliminated their rich dividends – and dividends is the primary reason to hold REITs. This started in late March, when AG Mortgage Investment Trust announced that it would stop paying dividends. Investco Mortgage Capital and TPG RE Finance Trust both said they would “delay” paying their previously announced dividends to preserve liquidity. In April, AGNC announced that it would reduce its dividend by 25%.
All of them had theoretical dividend yields well into the double-digits. Investco’s theoretical dividend yield – which reflects the past annual dividend payments as a percent of current share price – is over 60%.
Mall REITs are under enormous pressure, with most of their tenants shut down and many of them not paying rent. For example, Macerich announced mid-March that it would reduce its dividend from 75 cents a share to 50 cents, of which it would pay only 20% in cash and the remaining 80% in stock.
The list of big names that eliminated their dividend is getting longer by the day: Boeing, the airlines, the automakers, the cruise lines, cosmetics company Estee Lauder, hospital firm HCA Healthcare, hotel chains such as Hilton Worldwide and Marriott, casino operator Las Vegas Sands, retailers of all kinds including TJX, Kohl’s, and Macy’s….
This has been a persistent drumbeat over the past few weeks: Companies are struggling to preserve cash in order to survive this crisis, and dividends vanish with an announcement that the Board of Directors has decided to make them vanish.
Through Monday morning, 81 US companies and publicly traded investment funds, such as REITs and business development companies (BDCs), have announced that they would suspended or cancel their dividends, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, cited by the Wall Street Journal.
It has only been a little over one month when this dance started, but those 81 suspensions or cancellations are already by far higher than the announcements of dividend suspensions and cancellations in any full calendar year going back to the beginning of the data in 2001. The prior record calendar year was 2009 with 63 announcements of dividends getting suspended or canceled.
Those 81 announcements so far are already higher than the combined total of the 10 years since 2010 (55).
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
And it doesn’t include those that will announce dividend cuts, including Oxford Square Capital [OXSQ], a publicly-traded BDC, which announced today that its dividend (or rather “distribution”) will mostly or totally vanish when it said “that no reliance should be placed on the prospect for any particular level of distribution for those months, or for any other periods.” Upon which its shares plunged 20%.
And 135 companies have announced in 2020 through Monday morning that they would reduce their dividends. This does not include companies like Harley Davidson that have chimed in since Monday morning. Those 135 announcements of dividend reductions so far this year is already the fourth highest number of any full calendar year in the data since 2001.
The number two and three calendar years for dividend reductions were 2015 (138) and 2008 (137). The year 2020 will take out those two in a couple of days, which will make 2020 the second highest year on record.
The number one calendar year on record for the highest number of dividend reductions was in 2009, with 316 such announcements. But 2020 is still young, and the crisis has just begun.
All dividend actions so far this year through Monday amount to a cut in payouts of about $22.8 billion, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, cited by the Wall Street Journal.
Dividends look very attractive to income investors until the dividends disappear. That dreaded press release is all it takes. And income investors wonder where is there to go as the Fed systematically represses and destroys income from other sources such as investment grade bonds, government bonds, and savings products.
Well, for those investors, there are dividend stocks that still haven’t issued that infamous press release yet, such as energy giants Exxon and Chevron, which are caught up in the global collapse of the crude oil market, powered by the global collapse of demand for crude oil. Both have already announced large-scale cuts to their capital expenditure programs. Given the plunge in their shares, dividend yield has taken on juicy proportion: Exxon’s dividend yield is 7.8% and Chevron’s is 5.7%.
Will they, like the others that once had a juicy dividend yield, eliminate their dividends to preserve cash to get through this crisis?
That’s a thorny question, given the dividend massacre that has already happened so far this year. Chevron shares are down 26% year-to-date, despite the huge rally since March 23; Exxon shares are down 37% year-to-date. These share price declines show that investors have serious doubts about the dividends. And it shows how the old saw that dividend stocks are good for bear markets is actually a high-risk gamble.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--With Superfluous Demand in Free-Fall, What’s the Upside of Re-Opening a Small Business?

Since superfluous demand was the core driver of most consumer spending , and that demand is in free-fall , what ’ s the upside of re-opening ?
The mainstream view assumes everyone will be gripped by an absolutely rabid desire to return to their pre-pandemic frenzy of borrowing and spending and consuming , the more the better .
While the urge to believe the Titanic scraping the iceberg will have no consequence and the collision was nothing but a spot of bother is compelling ( so party on ! )
, many people will reassess their pre-pandemic lives and ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to circling the pavement in a dead end ?
Being away from the crazy-busy churn invites reassessment , especially for small business owners who are facing the near-certainty of uncertain sales and still-high fixed costs .
When we ’ re embedded in the crazy-busy churn , we ’ re only trying to get through the day .
Once we ’ re removed from the pressure-cooker of running the business , we start wondering : is this craziness what I want to spend the rest of my life pursuing ?
For what gain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and my customers/clients , or am I just telling myself that I love my business and my customers/clients as duct tape to keep the whole contraption from flying apart ?
Then there ’ s the question of Superfluous Demand , a topic Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert and I discussed in their recent Double Down podcast .
Superfluous demand is demand that ’ s a manifestation not of what we might call authentic or organic demand for essentials but demand driven by cheap credit and the consumerist mania to fill the insatiable black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raise their publicly posted social status with an endless stream of aspirational goods and services that shout “ Look at me !
I have the same things and experiences the top 5 % have !
” But sadly , no amount of aspirational goods and services will fill the insecurity or create an authentic positive social role , or express an authentic selfhood that exists outside of the consumerist definition of “ self ” as nothing more than a consuming machine .
Every business owner and manager has to anticipate a decline in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tightens , and households and enterprises recalibrate their exposure to risks of further downside and forego spending in favor of rebuilding a cash reserve .
How severe the drop in demand will be correlates with how much of their pre-pandemic sales were manifestations of superfluous demand .
Entertainment , travel and a vast array of consumables were virtually all superfluous , so the decline in superfluous demand will be consequential to virtually every business .
But humans are not just consuming machines generating superfluous demand with credit .
Humans have to create the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an intrinsically risky process .
Decisions have consequences , and those consequences weigh heavily on those who are accountable : managers , executives and especially owners , who must cover expenses with their own personal cash if the enterprise ’ s expenses exceed its net income .
Only owners and previous owners of small businesses know what this potential for personal loss and bankruptcy feel like .
Very few of the punditry and corporate media commentators have personal experience in running a business , and especially one on the knife edge between covering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these media commentators , “ small business ” is an abstraction .
Employees also have no idea what it ’ s like to be responsible for losses and accountable for decisions that may make or break the enterprise .
Which brings us to the asymmetrical impacts of owners , managers and essential workers in the economy , which is effectively a complex network of critical nodes that all the millions of network participants depend on .
Examples include oil refineries , nuclear power plants and slaughterhouses .
The fewer the number of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impact when one or more go offline .
Put simply : not all nodes are equal in their impact .
This dynamic is also present in human capital : if a small business has 10 employees , the business will survive the loss of an employee , but it won ’ t survive the loss of the owner .
A region can survive 500 white collar workers not showing up for work , but if 500 slaughterhouse workers don ’ t show up for work , meat production in the region falls to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real-world experience , the financial punditry devote their attention to the trillion-dollar Big Tech behemoths , as if they dominate the economy because they ’ re so incredibly overvalued by Wall Street .
But in the real world , Big Tech ’ s share of the work force is essentially signal noise .
A tiny sliver of the 150 million people with earned income in the U.S. toil for a Big Tech company .
Who really matters in terms of employment and earned income are small business owners , not the Big Tech @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the owner who ’ s wondering if they want to return to the heavy burdens and crazy-busy churn of a business that may well lose money or flounder for years .
What ’ s the pay-off for working extra hours because you can ’ t afford to hire back all your previous staff ?
What ’ s the payoff as rents , healthcare , fees , taxes and the cost of goods all increase while customers balk at any increase in your own prices ?
Is struggling to survive really what I want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doing ?
And for what ?
To slowly go bankrupt ?
Small business is not a financial abstraction .
It is real people who were often burned out even before the pandemic and who are now wondering if it ’ s wiser to bail out now and close the doors rather than endure a slow side into bankruptcy and exhaustion .
Since superfluous demand was the core driver of most consumer spending , and that demand is in free-fall , what ’ s the upside of re-opening ?
Isn ’ t it more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whatever capital and health one still has , and pick a way of life that doesn ’ t require meeting payroll , paying outrageous rents and being liable for calamities that are outside of your control ?
Can we be honest , and note that for many owners and managers , their pre-pandemic life was nothing more than a crazy-busy dead end ?
Why continue the struggle now with even heavier burdens and greater risks , and for what gain ?
I ’ ll tell you what : if “ small business ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how about you go plunk down thousands of dollars for rent , healthcare , payroll for employees , tax payments , insurance , fees , and on and on , and then take your chances that superfluous demand hasn ’ t dried up and blown away .

by Charles Hugh-Smith
Since superfluous demand was the core driver of most consumer spending, and that demand is in free-fall, what’s the upside of re-opening?
The mainstream view assumes everyone will be gripped by an absolutely rabid desire to return to their pre-pandemic frenzy of borrowing and spending and consuming, the more the better. While the urge to believe the Titanic scraping the iceberg will have no consequence and the collision was nothing but a spot of bother is compelling (so party on!), many people will reassess their pre-pandemic lives and ask: do I really want to go back to circling the pavement in a dead end?
Being away from the crazy-busy churn invites reassessment, especially for small business owners who are facing the near-certainty of uncertain sales and still-high fixed costs.
When we’re embedded in the crazy-busy churn, we’re only trying to get through the day. Once we’re removed from the pressure-cooker of running the business, we start wondering: is this craziness what I want to spend the rest of my life pursuing? For what gain? Do I really love my business and my customers/clients, or am I just telling myself that I love my business and my customers/clients as duct tape to keep the whole contraption from flying apart?
Then there’s the question of Superfluous Demand, a topic Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert and I discussed in their recent Double Down podcast. Superfluous demand is demand that’s a manifestation not of what we might call authentic or organic demand for essentials but demand driven by cheap credit and the consumerist mania to fill the insatiable black hole of insecurity inside every debt-serf to raise their publicly posted social status with an endless stream of aspirational goods and services that shout “Look at me! I have the same things and experiences the top 5% have!”
But sadly, no amount of aspirational goods and services will fill the insecurity or create an authentic positive social role, or express an authentic selfhood that exists outside of the consumerist definition of “self” as nothing more than a consuming machine.
Every business owner and manager has to anticipate a decline in superfluous demand as incomes decline and credit tightens, and households and enterprises recalibrate their exposure to risks of further downside and forego spending in favor of rebuilding a cash reserve. How severe the drop in demand will be correlates with how much of their pre-pandemic sales were manifestations of superfluous demand.
Entertainment, travel and a vast array of consumables were virtually all superfluous, so the decline in superfluous demand will be consequential to virtually every business.
But humans are not just consuming machines generating superfluous demand with credit. Humans have to create the goods and services, and that is an intrinsically risky process. Decisions have consequences, and those consequences weigh heavily on those who are accountable: managers, executives and especially owners, who must cover expenses with their own personal cash if the enterprise’s expenses exceed its net income.
Only owners and previous owners of small businesses know what this potential for personal loss and bankruptcy feel like. Very few of the punditry and corporate media commentators have personal experience in running a business, and especially one on the knife edge between covering expenses and losing money. To all these media commentators, “small business” is an abstraction.
Employees also have no idea what it’s like to be responsible for losses and accountable for decisions that may make or break the enterprise.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Which brings us to the asymmetrical impacts of owners, managers and essential workers in the economy, which is effectively a complex network of critical nodes that all the millions of network participants depend on. Examples include oil refineries, nuclear power plants and slaughterhouses.
The fewer the number of these essential nodes, the more consequential the impact when one or more go offline. Put simply: not all nodes are equal in their impact.
This dynamic is also present in human capital: if a small business has 10 employees, the business will survive the loss of an employee, but it won’t survive the loss of the owner. A region can survive 500 white collar workers not showing up for work, but if 500 slaughterhouse workers don’t show up for work, meat production in the region falls to near-zero.
Blinded by their absence of real-world experience, the financial punditry devote their attention to the trillion-dollar Big Tech behemoths, as if they dominate the economy because they’re so incredibly overvalued by Wall Street.
But in the real world, Big Tech’s share of the work force is essentially signal noise. A tiny sliver of the 150 million people with earned income in the U.S. toil for a Big Tech company.
Who really matters in terms of employment and earned income are small business owners, not the Big Tech monopolies.
Which brings us back to the owner who’s wondering if they want to return to the heavy burdens and crazy-busy churn of a business that may well lose money or flounder for years. What’s the pay-off for working extra hours because you can’t afford to hire back all your previous staff? What’s the payoff as rents, healthcare, fees, taxes and the cost of goods all increase while customers balk at any increase in your own prices? Is struggling to survive really what I want to spend the rest of my life doing? And for what? To slowly go bankrupt?
Small business is not a financial abstraction. It is real people who were often burned out even before the pandemic and who are now wondering if it’s wiser to bail out now and close the doors rather than endure a slow side into bankruptcy and exhaustion.
Since superfluous demand was the core driver of most consumer spending, and that demand is in free-fall, what’s the upside of re-opening? Isn’t it more prudent to close up now and preserve whatever capital and health one still has, and pick a way of life that doesn’t require meeting payroll, paying outrageous rents and being liable for calamities that are outside of your control?
Can we be honest, and note that for many owners and managers, their pre-pandemic life was nothing more than a crazy-busy dead end? Why continue the struggle now with even heavier burdens and greater risks, and for what gain?
I’ll tell you what: if “small business” is so great and profitable, then how about you go plunk down thousands of dollars for rent, healthcare, payroll for employees, tax payments, insurance, fees, and on and on, and then take your chances that superfluous demand hasn’t dried up and blown away.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Carnival Cruise Chest CT Findings: Of 104 cases, 76 (73%) were asymptomatic, 41 (54%) of which had l

Carnival Cruise Chest CT Findings: Of 104 cases, 76 (73%) were asymptomatic, 41 (54%) of which had lung opacities on CT

This is pretty wild .
They took scans of 104 patients from the cruise ship and of 104 , 76 ( 73 % ) showed no symptoms including difficulty breathing yet ground-glass opacities were found in 54 % of them .
That means that the disease was eating at their lungs even without any symptoms .
Remember that Harvard study which showed up to 80x the number of “ asymptomatic ” carriers could be out there… Of 104 cases , 76 ( 73 % ) were asymptomatic , 41 ( 54 % ) of which had lung opacities on CT. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were symptomatic , 22 ( 79 % ) of which had abnormal CT findings .
Symptomatic cases showed lung opacities and airway abnormalities on CT more frequently than asymptomatic cases [ lung opacity ; 22 ( 79 % ) vs 41 ( 54 % ) , airway abnormalities ; 14 ( 50 % ) vs 15 ( 20 % ) ] .
Asymptomatic cases showed more GGO over consolidation ( 83 % ) , while symptomatic cases more frequently showed consolidation over GGO ( 41 % ) .
The CT severity score was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , particularly in the lower lobes [ symptomatic vs asymptomatic cases ; right lower lobe : 2 ± 1 ( 0-4 ) vs 1 ± 1 ( 0-4 ) ; left lower lobe : 2 ± 1 ( 0-4 ) vs 1 ± 1 ( 0-3 ) ; total score : 7 ± 5 ( 1-17 ) vs 4 ± 2 ( 1-11 ) ] .

This is pretty wild. They took scans of 104 patients from the cruise ship and of 104, 76 (73%) showed no symptoms including difficulty breathing yet ground-glass opacities were found in 54% of them.
That means that the disease was eating at their lungs even without any symptoms.
Remember that Harvard study which showed up to 80x the number of “asymptomatic” carriers could be out there…
From the paper:
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Of 104 cases, 76 (73%) were asymptomatic, 41 (54%) of which had lung opacities on CT. Other 28 (27%) cases were symptomatic, 22 (79%) of which had abnormal CT findings. Symptomatic cases showed lung opacities and airway abnormalities on CT more frequently than asymptomatic cases [lung opacity; 22 (79%) vs 41 (54%), airway abnormalities; 14 (50%) vs 15 (20%)]. Asymptomatic cases showed more GGO over consolidation (83%), while symptomatic cases more frequently showed consolidation over GGO (41%). The CT severity score was higher in symptomatic cases than asymptomatic cases, particularly in the lower lobes [symptomatic vs asymptomatic cases; right lower lobe: 2 ± 1 (0-4) vs 1 ± 1 (0-4); left lower lobe: 2 ± 1 (0-4) vs 1 ± 1 (0-3); total score: 7 ± 5 (1-17) vs 4 ± 2 (1-11)].
pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ryct.2020200110
h/t BFD


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Bix Weir: Here’s Why The Market Rigging Is LEGAL

The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 made Market Rigging 100 % if you are the US Treasury Secretary and instructed @ @ @ @ @ the Exchange Stabilization Fund even Crypto Currencies are free to MANIPULATE .
Hang on tight @ @ @ @ @ going to be HUGE !
Bix Weir has 30 years ’ experience in the financial @ @ @ @ @ companies .
He is the creator of the “ Road to Roota Theory ” and @ @ @ @ @ www.RoadtoRoota.com .
Bix has dedicated his efforts over the last 15 years to exposing the @ @ @ @ @ gold and silver markets .
He has worked closely with the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee @ @ @ @ @ away from the Cabal of International Bankers that has taken control of our free market @ @

Road To Roota, Released on 4/28/20
The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 made Market Rigging 100% if you are the US Treasury Secretary and instructed by the President! Through the Exchange Stabilization Fund even Crypto Currencies are free to MANIPULATE. Hang on tight as the market swings are going to be HUGE!
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Bix Weir has 30 years’ experience in the financial industry with various fortune 500 companies. He is the creator of the “Road to Roota Theory” and his commentary is published at www.RoadtoRoota.com. Bix has dedicated his efforts over the last 15 years to exposing the long term manipulation of the gold and silver markets. He has worked closely with the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee helping to pull the curtain away from the Cabal of International Bankers that has taken control of our free market system.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Corona will go down as one of the world’s biggest, most shamefully overblown, overhyped, overly & ir

Corona will go down as one of the world’s biggest, most shamefully overblown, overhyped, overly & irrationally inflated & outright deceptively flawed responses in world history

The response is hyped .
And in time , this hype will be revealed as politically hoaxed .
In fact , COVID-19 will go down as one of the political world ’ s biggest , most shamefully overblown , overhyped , overly and irrationally inflated and outright deceptively flawed responses to a health matter in American history , one that was carried largely on the lips of medical professionals who have done nothing but push ‘ worst case ’ scenarios based on nothing but what they can make up , and have no business running a national economy or government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a real disease that sickens some , proves fatal to others , mostly those with comorbidities , — and does nothing to the vast majority .
That , in a nutshell , is it .
Or , in the words of Dan Erickson and Artin Massih , doctors and co-owners of Accelerated Urgent Care in Bakersfield , California : Let ’ s get the country reopened — and now .
“ Do we need to still shelter in place ?
Our answer is emphatically no .
Do we need businesses to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ T ] he data is showing it ’ s time to lift , ” Erickson said , in a recent interview .
The data to keep America closed and Americans closed in simply doesn ’ t exist .
If truth be told , it ’ s questionable it ever did .
The scientists leading the coronavirus shutdown charge predicted in March that in America , between 100,000 and 250,000 would die .
They based those estimates on computer modeling .
But at the same time they were basing those estimates on computer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ modeling is inaccurate and errs on the side of hype .
“ I ’ ve never seen a model of the diseases I ’ ve dealt with where the worst-case actually came out , ” said Dr. Anthony Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of President Donald Trump ’ s White House coronavirus task force , during a CNN interview in March .
“ They always overshoot.
” Catch that ?
Fauci ’ s message : Computer models are flawed and inaccurate and always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faulty overinflated computer figures came all the constitutionally questionable actions by government anyway — from ordering businesses closed to quarantining-slash-house arresting American citizens to doing some quick and pitiful and economically painful income redistribution schemes via stimulus funds ’ legislation .
Since , about 56,000 have died in America due to coronavirus — or have they ?
Again , the facts are flimsy .
Government ordered hospitals weeks ago to stop performing elective surgeries to make way for the projected numbers of coronavirus patients .
So they did .
And in so doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So Congress passed legislation giving hospitals billions of dollars to treat coronavirus patients .
Conflict of interest ?
Yikes .
Yes .
The coronavirus counts , already flawed from computer modeling , were then given another flaw treatment .
“ [ Pennsylvania ] removes more than 200 deaths from official coronavirus count as questions mount about reporting process , data accuracy , ” The Inquirer reported .
Add to that the ever-changing nature of a virus that spreads by air and contact , and honestly , suddenly , even expert Fauci ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Joe Neighbor ’ s best guess .
So that leaves common sense , combined with knowledge of past viruses , to guide .
But the quote-unquote medical experts refused to go there , refused to acknowledge common sense , refused to compare with past viruses in any way that didn ’ t hype the coronavirus counts .
This virus was different , Americans were told .
This virus was far more contagious than anything ever before seen or studied , Americans were told .
And any time the case counts dropped off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , this was due to the social distancing and quarantining and face-mask wearing that Americans had been doing , by government ’ s order — Americans were told .
They can never be wrong .
That is why they pushed Sweden so hard .
Never have a true control to compare to .
It never added up .
It just didn ’ t , and doesn ’ t , justify the utter shredding of civil rights .
And now some in the medical community , thank goodness , are starting to point out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that have plagued this overhyped , overreaching coronavirus crackdown that has stretched on far , far too long .
Among some of Erickson ’ s remarks : “ This is immunology — microbiology 101 .
This is the basis of what we ’ ve known for years : When you take human beings and you say , ‘ Go into your house , clean all your counters , Lysol them down ’ … what does it do to our immune system ?
… Sheltering in place decreases your immune system.
” And this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new in the [ medical ] community , it sparks fear — and I would have done what Dr. Fauci did … initially .
… But you know , looking at theories and models — which is what these folks use — is very different than the way the actual virus presents itself throughout communities.
” And this : “ Do you think you ’ re protected from COVID when you wear gloves that transfer disease everywhere ?
… We wear masks in an acute setting to protect us .
[ But ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Why is that ?
Because we understand microbiology .
We understand immunology .
And we want strong immune systems .
I don ’ t want to hide in my home , develop a weak immune system and then come out and get disease.
” And this : “ When I ’ m writing up my death report I ’ m being pressured to add COVID .
Why is that ?
Why are we being pressured to add COVID ?
To maybe increase the numbers , and make it look a little bit worse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being pressured in-house to add COVID to the diagnostic list when we think it has nothing to do with the actual cause of death .
The actual cause of death was not COVID , but it ’ s being reported as one of the diseases processes .
… COVID didn ’ t kill them , 25 years of tobacco use killed.
” They are killing patients in NYC , murder .
To get numbers up .
Nurse blows whistle via friend youtu.be/lvsKh-M_fSQ Does it get any clearer than that ?
Seriously , America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in shutdown mode is political .
Either politicians are too afraid to make any move that might come back to bite them politically or politicians are using this coronavirus to political advantage — to , say , pass gun control laws , like Virginia ’ s governor , Ralph Northam .
Or to , say , float campaign hopes on the current ravaged economy , like former Vice President Joe Biden and oh , all the Democrats facing races .
But for the rest of America — the rest of hardworking , freedom-loving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reel in the radically unconstitutional .
“ If you ’ re going to dance on someone ’ s constitutional rights , you better have a good reason — you better have a really good reason , not just a theory , ” Erickson said .
“ The data is showing us it ’ s time to lift … so if we don ’ t lift , what is the reason ?
” That is the key question .
As time goes by , the answer will only become more and more evident .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hype is hoaxed .
Now let ’ s just hope this is a one-time hoax that doesn ’ t roll around every time flu season approaches .

by Venus230
The virus is real.
The response is hyped. And in time, this hype will be revealed as politically hoaxed.
In fact, COVID-19 will go down as one of the political world’s biggest, most shamefully overblown, overhyped, overly and irrationally inflated and outright deceptively flawed responses to a health matter in American history, one that was carried largely on the lips of medical professionals who have done nothing but push ‘worst case’ scenarios based on nothing but what they can make up, and have no business running a national economy or government.
These are the facts: COVID-19 is a real disease that sickens some, proves fatal to others, mostly those with comorbidities, — and does nothing to the vast majority.
Thats it.
That, in a nutshell, is it.
Or, in the words of Dan Erickson and Artin Massih, doctors and co-owners of Accelerated Urgent Care in Bakersfield, California: Let’s get the country reopened — and now.
“Do we need to still shelter in place? Our answer is emphatically no. Do we need businesses to be shut down? Emphatically no. … [T]he data is showing it’s time to lift,” Erickson said, in a recent interview.
He’s right. They’re right.
The data to keep America closed and Americans closed in simply doesn’t exist.
If truth be told, it’s questionable it ever did.
The scientists leading the coronavirus shutdown charge predicted in March that in America, between 100,000 and 250,000 would die. They based those estimates on computer modeling.
But at the same time they were basing those estimates on computer modeling, they were acknowledging that computer modeling is inaccurate and errs on the side of hype.
“I’ve never seen a model of the diseases I’ve dealt with where the worst-case actually came out,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of President Donald Trump’s White House coronavirus task force, during a CNN interview in March. “They always overshoot.”
Catch that? Fauci’s message: Computer models are flawed and inaccurate and always overestimate the problem.
But from these faulty overinflated computer figures came all the constitutionally questionable actions by government anyway — from ordering businesses closed to quarantining-slash-house arresting American citizens to doing some quick and pitiful and economically painful income redistribution schemes via stimulus funds’ legislation.
Since, about 56,000 have died in America due to coronavirus — or have they? Again, the facts are flimsy.
Government ordered hospitals weeks ago to stop performing elective surgeries to make way for the projected numbers of coronavirus patients. So they did. And in so doing, they cut off their revenue streams. So Congress passed legislation giving hospitals billions of dollars to treat coronavirus patients. Conflict of interest? Yikes. Yes.
The coronavirus counts, already flawed from computer modeling, were then given another flaw treatment.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
“[Pennsylvania] removes more than 200 deaths from official coronavirus count as questions mount about reporting process, data accuracy,” The Inquirer reported.
Add to that the ever-changing nature of a virus that spreads by air and contact, and honestly, suddenly, even expert Fauci’s best guess is about as good as Joe Neighbor’s best guess. So that leaves common sense, combined with knowledge of past viruses, to guide.
But the quote-unquote medical experts refused to go there, refused to acknowledge common sense, refused to compare with past viruses in any way that didn’t hype the coronavirus counts.
This virus was different, Americans were told. This virus was far more contagious than anything ever before seen or studied, Americans were told. And any time the case counts dropped off and the numbers proved wrong, well, this was due to the social distancing and quarantining and face-mask wearing that Americans had been doing, by government’s order — Americans were told.
They can never be wrong.
That is why they pushed Sweden so hard. Never have a true control to compare to.
It never added up. It just didn’t, and doesn’t, justify the utter shredding of civil rights.
And now some in the medical community, thank goodness, are starting to point out the glaring omissions of logic and fact that have plagued this overhyped, overreaching coronavirus crackdown that has stretched on far, far too long.
Among some of Erickson’s remarks: “This is immunology — microbiology 101. This is the basis of what we’ve known for years: When you take human beings and you say, ‘Go into your house, clean all your counters, Lysol them down’ … what does it do to our immune system? … Sheltering in place decreases your immune system.”
And this: “Any time you have something new in the [medical] community, it sparks fear — and I would have done what Dr. Fauci did … initially. … But you know, looking at theories and models — which is what these folks use — is very different than the way the actual virus presents itself throughout communities.”
And this: “Do you think you’re protected from COVID when you wear gloves that transfer disease everywhere? … We wear masks in an acute setting to protect us. [But] we’re not wearing masks. Why is that? Because we understand microbiology. We understand immunology. And we want strong immune systems. I don’t want to hide in my home, develop a weak immune system and then come out and get disease.”
And this: “When I’m writing up my death report I’m being pressured to add COVID. Why is that? Why are we being pressured to add COVID? To maybe increase the numbers, and make it look a little bit worse than it is. We’re being pressured in-house to add COVID to the diagnostic list when we think it has nothing to do with the actual cause of death. The actual cause of death was not COVID, but it’s being reported as one of the diseases processes. … COVID didn’t kill them, 25 years of tobacco use killed.”
They are killing patients in NYC, murder. To get numbers up. Nurse blows whistle via friend youtu.be/lvsKh-M_fSQ
Does it get any clearer than that?
Seriously, America. The only reason America is still in shutdown mode is political.
Either politicians are too afraid to make any move that might come back to bite them politically or politicians are using this coronavirus to political advantage — to, say, pass gun control laws, like Virginia’s governor, Ralph Northam. Or to, say, float campaign hopes on the current ravaged economy, like former Vice President Joe Biden and oh, all the Democrats facing races.
But for the rest of America — the rest of hardworking, freedom-loving America — it’s time to reel in the radically unconstitutional.
“If you’re going to dance on someone’s constitutional rights, you better have a good reason — you better have a really good reason, not just a theory,” Erickson said. “The data is showing us it’s time to lift … so if we don’t lift, what is the reason?”
That is the key question.
As time goes by, the answer will only become more and more evident. The coronavirus may be real — but the hype is hoaxed. Now let’s just hope this is a one-time hoax that doesn’t roll around every time flu season approaches.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--COVID19: the heads-up on a cock-up, a cover-up, a catch-up…and élites gearing up to tear up the rule

COVID19: the heads-up on a cock-up, a cover-up, a catch-up…and élites gearing up to tear up the rules.

A saga of leaders making it up as they go along , and then signing up to the Game Plan Before we go any further today , I must share this this wonderful piece of Virusatire with you : The clip above might seem at first hearing to reflect little more than Establishment SNAFU ( and such is indeed very much apparent ) .
However , the yes-and-no-with-reservations cacophony of “ advice ” we ’ ve been getting from those who would Reign Over Us is the key to many other learnings .
Between Autumn 1988 and Spring 1989 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about an Opposition Party that invented a non-existent crime wave to use against the Government , then once in power used an ad agency to run a campaign about ‘ cracking down ’ successfully on this fiction .
This was , of course , years before social media….and in the end , the plotters came to grief because both , eventually , the Office of Statistics and the police blew the whistle .
Not something , I ’ m afraid , we could rely upon today .
The other two fiction tomes I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trade calls the Slush Pile , but Blue Murder intrigued Pan books enough to assign me an editor ( who taught me a lot , but was a pain in the backside ) before eventually , at the last stage , their editorial board turned it down .
The rationale for so doing was that the plot “ was simply not believable , particularly the intitial compliance of the civil service and police in the conspiracy ” .
How the world has changed .
I mention this episode not to compare the plot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the editor schooled me in an important ‘ law ’ of writing fiction , viz , characters drive plot and the writer must mercilessly remove any action or episode that is out of character .
This lesson has served me well ever since ; perhaps the main reason why I read politicians better than most is that , as a former focus group psychologist , I learned the art of divining body-language ; and over the years , I had many Sir Humphrey and Ministerial clients .
But a key component of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the question – as if the person under scrutiny might be somebody from a novel – is this opinion he/she espouses consonant with personality ?
My overwhelming impression of Westminster politicians over the decades consisted of mediocrity , bombast , bigotry , received truth , but above all predictability .
Leopards never change their spots , and the big cats can always be relied upon to go for the mouth of the prey or its jugular to either cut off the air , or compromise the blood supply .
My system is far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I make errors of judgement – but it does act as an excellent ‘ Geiger counter ’ for mendacity .
This is particularly pertinent in the context of Covid19 .
Specifically , it has focused my mind at those points in the pandemic when I lean back and ask myself why would they want to do that ?
Emmanuel Macron is an Enarque , merchant banker , accountant and rabid neoliberal .
He is under the EU cosh thanks to France ’ s seeming inability to obey eurozone deficit rules .
His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money and power have propelled him to the top .
Yet every reason he gives for Lockdown revolves around a desire to protect the French people via a strategy that will only make his position worse .
Boris Johnson is a corrupt politician equally attracted to those who run the world ’ s bourses , those who control the media , and money .
His career is a paper trail of lies as a journalist , lies about Hackgate , cover up at Elm House , lies about taxi emissions and the promotion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to turn Britain into a financial epicentre up there with Singapore , and prove the Brexit doubters wrong .
Yet he accepted an EU exit deal no better than Theresa May ’ s and now , at this crucial point in Britain ’ s go-it-alone period , he claims to care about protecting the NHS via a strategy that will only make his position worse .
Angela Merkel is a former East German ( DDR ) Jügendfuherin who has lied comprehensively about her seniority in the Erich Honeker régime , who changed from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being a Christian Democrat the following Monday , shafted both the men who helped her to the top in the CDU , has a husband usefully close to the American unelected State , said multiculturalism was a crock but then supported open borders , and claims to be a Good European but took a line on Covid19 control that screamed Deutschland über Alles .
Merkel is a driven technocrat and scientist whose grasp of the role of testing for infection is light years ahead of any other EU leader .
She is acutely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ existential threat to the EU if over-hyped .
But in her latest statement she was in hyperdrive : “ We ’ ll have to live with this virus for a long time and Germany is ready to make very different , meaning much higher , contributions to the EU budget ” .
She knows this will exacerbate the EU ’ s perilous position , and that more EU payouts can only drive the sceptics in AfD ( Alternative für Deutschland ) forward .
Yet she too is adopting a public position that will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isn ’ t wild conspiranoid mental imbalance that drives me to ask this question .
Rather , it is the glaringly obvious wisdom of anyone who ’ s been around the block a few times , and knows that politicians do not stab themselves in the front without a very good , higher order ‘ reason ’ for so doing .
There is , it seems to me , a motive involved here of such planetary scale that not being on board with its aims is a far worse prospect for the political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over choppy seas .
This isn ’ t me suddenly showing a conversion to New World Order thinking .
On the contrary , what fascinates me is that ( as always ) power junkies will cooperate if they see personal gains involving unlimited power .
That really is all they ever think about .
And somebody or something has planted in the engorged egos of these born chancers , risk-takers and wannabe Gods the idea of a future that only megalomaniac systemic minds could envisage and covet .
Now clearly , that somebody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re taught to hate both of them and they ’ ve learned not to confide in us .
And it ’ s highly unlikely to be the Brussels shower , because they ’ re not very bright .
As many of us already feel , I think , if Covid19 was a malign caper , then the responsibility lies somewhere along the axis that runs CIA > Texas > Pentagon > State Department > NATO > Davos .
Among all those places , there lies a trail of unfortunate ( and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times ran a major story on August 5th last reporting that a Pentagon/CIA germ warfare lab close to Fort Kendrick was to close ‘ due to concerns over the disposal of highly dangerous materials ’ .
In spook-speak , that usually means somebody screwed up , and now the trail is being covered up .
In fact , the ‘ biodefense ’ lab was shut down very abruptly – just after the departure of the Military Games team left for China to take part in the athletics event there .
They were housed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up at a hotel….in Wuhan .
The hotel was….80 metres from the Point zero market .
Within five days of arrival , several team members were hospitalised….with Covid19 .
In October – very much at Bill Gates ’ request – a simulation of a global pandemic was undertaken at Davos .
In November , the US withdrew its senior CDC expert from the virology team in Wuhan….a major loss to the Chinese .
In December and January , there were several FBI arrests involving two Americans and four Chinese nationals at US airports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biodefense materials .
By early January , Secretary of State Pompeo was already pointing the finger at China for covering up the Covid19 outbreak .
When the Chinese responded formally ( using the timeline I present above ) Pompeo ran around like a headless chicken begging Beijing not to engage in public mud-slinging .
And now ( as I posted Sunday last ) the Let ’ s Get China narrative has reappeared in earnest .
In the 24 hours since he returned to work , Boris Johnson has been like Action Man on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t been a word from Downing Street about the immeasurable cost of lockdown….this despite 30,000 jobs being at risk at Oil & Gas UK , the Airbus plant in Wales “ bleeding cash ” and demanding a bailout , bankrupt airlines flooding the market with bargain-basement planes , and the Bank of England expanding its balance sheet £111 billion , easily the largest six-week increase in history .
Theresa May said there were no money trees .
But there don ’ t seem to be any shortages of electronic creation buttons to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ narrow rhetoric : during an FT interview twelve days ago , the French leader said that “ all the jobs and companies will be saved – whatever the cost ” .
He was just a little light on the how thing .
And Mutti Merkel – as ever generous with other people ’ s money – went along last Thursday with the EU proposal to build a trillion euro emergency fund to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic….but as always with Brussels , ‘ there was no consensus on how this would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trouble is , however , brewing ; this time – having been hit badly by poor preparations for the outbreak – Macron is siding very strongly with ClubMed : he proposed an emergency investment fund of hundreds of billions of euros this week , and startled Merkel by saying 10 % of eurozone gdp would be needed to pay for it .
Some of his utterances now seem to me to suggest that he sees C19 as a golden opportunity to almost admit that fiat money has no value – and somehow in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without consequences .
“ We are all embarking on the unthinkable , ” he says , “ the crisis is an existential event for humanity that will change the nature of globalisation and the structure of international capitalism ” .
It is , of course , nothing of the kind .
Unwittingly though , Macron is giving away his idea of what the novel coronavirus can be used for .
As so often happens , those in the élite web almost certainly know what ’ s coming : what they ’ re doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ price .
The American Unelected State is about to start doing the same thing .
But in their case , heaping the blame onto China is the key to getting public approval of hardship .
Be it the EU , the UK or the US , how Covid19 initially occurred will be the subject from here on of nonstop denial , obfuscation , media propaganda and fake news until every last trace of Truth has been diluted down to a sub-atomic level .
The sole point of this post is to establish something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gets going and things turn nasty : I believe the US has more of a ‘ causal ’ case to answer than China ; I supect the US Games team may well have been infected by accident in the US ; and I am increasingly certain that those right at the top among NATO nations ’ Alt States – some elected , some not – already have some outline agreement about how to turn a biodefence cock-up to their advantage .

by John Ward
A saga of leaders making it up as they go along, and then signing up to the Game Plan
Before we go any further today, I must share this this wonderful piece of Virusatire with you:
The clip above might seem at first hearing to reflect little more than Establishment SNAFU (and such is indeed very much apparent). However, the yes-and-no-with-reservations cacophony of “advice” we’ve been getting from those who would Reign Over Us is the key to many other learnings.
Between Autumn 1988 and Spring 1989, I wrote a novel called Blue Murder about an Opposition Party that invented a non-existent crime wave to use against the Government, then once in power used an ad agency to run a campaign about ‘cracking down’ successfully on this fiction.
This was, of course, years before social media….and in the end, the plotters came to grief because both, eventually, the Office of Statistics and the police blew the whistle. Not something, I’m afraid, we could rely upon today.
The other two fiction tomes I wrote never got beyond what the publishing trade calls the Slush Pile, but Blue Murder intrigued Pan books enough to assign me an editor (who taught me a lot, but was a pain in the backside) before eventually, at the last stage, their editorial board turned it down.
The rationale for so doing was that the plot “was simply not believable, particularly the intitial compliance of the civil service and police in the conspiracy”. How the world has changed.
I mention this episode not to compare the plot with Covid19 today, but to explain that the editor schooled me in an important ‘law’ of writing fiction, viz, characters drive plot and the writer must mercilessly remove any action or episode that is out of character.
This lesson has served me well ever since; perhaps the main reason why I read politicians better than most is that, as a former focus group psychologist, I learned the art of divining body-language; and over the years, I had many Sir Humphrey and Ministerial clients. But a key component of my understanding is that I always ask the question – as if the person under scrutiny might be somebody from a novel – is this opinion he/she espouses consonant with personality?
My overwhelming impression of Westminster politicians over the decades consisted of mediocrity, bombast, bigotry, received truth, but above all predictability. Leopards never change their spots, and the big cats can always be relied upon to go for the mouth of the prey or its jugular to either cut off the air, or compromise the blood supply.
My system is far from infallible – like every human being, I make errors of judgement – but it does act as an excellent ‘Geiger counter’ for mendacity.
This is particularly pertinent in the context of Covid19. Specifically, it has focused my mind at those points in the pandemic when I lean back and ask myself why would they want to do that?
Emmanuel Macron is an Enarque, merchant banker, accountant and rabid neoliberal. He is under the EU cosh thanks to France’s seeming inability to obey eurozone deficit rules. His life has been one where cronyism, money and power have propelled him to the top. Yet every reason he gives for Lockdown revolves around a desire to protect the French people via a strategy that will only make his position worse.
Boris Johnson is a corrupt politician equally attracted to those who run the world’s bourses, those who control the media, and money. His career is a paper trail of lies as a journalist, lies about Hackgate, cover up at Elm House, lies about taxi emissions and the promotion of various mistresses. His ambition is to turn Britain into a financial epicentre up there with Singapore, and prove the Brexit doubters wrong. Yet he accepted an EU exit deal no better than Theresa May’s and now, at this crucial point in Britain’s go-it-alone period, he claims to care about protecting the NHS via a strategy that will only make his position worse.
Angela Merkel is a former East German (DDR) Jügendfuherin who has lied comprehensively about her seniority in the Erich Honeker régime, who changed from being a fervent Communist on Thursday to being a Christian Democrat the following Monday, shafted both the men who helped her to the top in the CDU, has a husband usefully close to the American unelected State, said multiculturalism was a crock but then supported open borders, and claims to be a Good European but took a line on Covid19 control that screamed Deutschland über Alles.
Merkel is a driven technocrat and scientist whose grasp of the role of testing for infection is light years ahead of any other EU leader. She is acutely aware of how C19 could represent an existential threat to the EU if over-hyped. But in her latest statement she was in hyperdrive: “We’ll have to live with this virus for a long time and Germany is ready to make very different, meaning much higher, contributions to the EU budget”. She knows this will exacerbate the EU’s perilous position, and that more EU payouts can only drive the sceptics in AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) forward. Yet she too is adopting a public position that will only make her position worse.
It isn’t wild conspiranoid mental imbalance that drives me to ask this question. Rather, it is the glaringly obvious wisdom of anyone who’s been around the block a few times, and knows that politicians do not stab themselves in the front without a very good, higher order ‘reason’ for so doing.
There is, it seems to me, a motive involved here of such planetary scale that not being on board with its aims is a far worse prospect for the political class to envisage than booking a passage over choppy seas.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
This isn’t me suddenly showing a conversion to New World Order thinking. On the contrary, what fascinates me is that (as always) power junkies will cooperate if they see personal gains involving unlimited power. That really is all they ever think about. And somebody or something has planted in the engorged egos of these born chancers, risk-takers and wannabe Gods the idea of a future that only megalomaniac systemic minds could envisage and covet.
Now clearly, that somebody is neither China nor Russia, because we’re taught to hate both of them and they’ve learned not to confide in us. And it’s highly unlikely to be the Brussels shower, because they’re not very bright. As many of us already feel, I think, if Covid19 was a malign caper, then the responsibility lies somewhere along the axis that runs CIA>Texas>Pentagon>State Department>NATO>Davos.
Among all those places, there lies a trail of unfortunate (and unexplained) circumstance. The New York Times ran a major story on August 5th last reporting that a Pentagon/CIA germ warfare lab close to Fort Kendrick was to close ‘due to concerns over the disposal of highly dangerous materials’. In spook-speak, that usually means somebody screwed up, and now the trail is being covered up. In fact, the ‘biodefense’ lab was shut down very abruptly – just after the departure of the Military Games team left for China to take part in the athletics event there. They were housed at….Fort Kendrick. The team was put up at a hotel….in Wuhan. The hotel was….80 metres from the Point zero market. Within five days of arrival, several team members were hospitalised….with Covid19.
In October – very much at Bill Gates’ request – a simulation of a global pandemic was undertaken at Davos. In November, the US withdrew its senior CDC expert from the virology team in Wuhan….a major loss to the Chinese.
In December and January, there were several FBI arrests involving two Americans and four Chinese nationals at US airports. They were accused of illegally exporting biodefense materials.
By early January, Secretary of State Pompeo was already pointing the finger at China for covering up the Covid19 outbreak. When the Chinese responded formally (using the timeline I present above) Pompeo ran around like a headless chicken begging Beijing not to engage in public mud-slinging.
And now (as I posted Sunday last) the Let’s Get China narrative has reappeared in earnest.
In the 24 hours since he returned to work, Boris Johnson has been like Action Man on Duracell batteries. But still there hasn’t been a word from Downing Street about the immeasurable cost of lockdown….this despite 30,000 jobs being at risk at Oil & Gas UK, the Airbus plant in Wales “bleeding cash” and demanding a bailout, bankrupt airlines flooding the market with bargain-basement planes, and the Bank of England expanding its balance sheet £111 billion, easily the largest six-week increase in history.
Theresa May said there were no money trees. But there don’t seem to be any shortages of electronic creation buttons to push.
Emmanuel Macron is using similarly narrow rhetoric: during an FT interview twelve days ago, the French leader said that “all the jobs and companies will be saved – whatever the cost”. He was just a little light on the how thing. And Mutti Merkel – as ever generous with other people’s money – went along last Thursday with the EU proposal to build a trillion euro emergency fund to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic….but as always with Brussels, ‘there was no consensus on how this would be funded’. Well I never.
Trouble is, however, brewing; this time – having been hit badly by poor preparations for the outbreak – Macron is siding very strongly with ClubMed: he proposed an emergency investment fund of hundreds of billions of euros this week, and startled Merkel by saying 10% of eurozone gdp would be needed to pay for it.
Some of his utterances now seem to me to suggest that he sees C19 as a golden opportunity to almost admit that fiat money has no value – and somehow in the end it can be written off without consequences.
“We are all embarking on the unthinkable,” he says, “the crisis is an existential event for humanity that will change the nature of globalisation and the structure of international capitalism”.
It is, of course, nothing of the kind. Unwittingly though, Macron is giving away his idea of what the novel coronavirus can be used for.
As so often happens, those in the élite web almost certainly know what’s coming: what they’re doing at the moment is haggling about the price.
The American Unelected State is about to start doing the same thing. But in their case, heaping the blame onto China is the key to getting public approval of hardship.
Be it the EU, the UK or the US, how Covid19 initially occurred will be the subject from here on of nonstop denial, obfuscation, media propaganda and fake news until every last trace of Truth has been diluted down to a sub-atomic level.
The sole point of this post is to establish something before the next stage of the circus gets going and things turn nasty: I believe the US has more of a ‘causal’ case to answer than China; I supect the US Games team may well have been infected by accident in the US; and I am increasingly certain that those right at the top among NATO nations’ Alt States – some elected, some not – already have some outline agreement about how to turn a biodefence cock-up to their advantage.


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--The market rate for virus supplies 3 months ago…

I ’ ve heard from friends at two different companies in the past week that are getting pandemic supplies for their staff .
There are large , national business supply companies out there who have started reaching out to other businesses , offering to be their supplier for pandemic items like gloves , masks , sanitizer , etc.
, in addition to the usual office supplies .
I just want anyone reading this to know , you are very likely getting severely price-gouged right now if you are ordering from that kind of company .
I do not have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how to avoid it ( I mean , if you didn ’ t buy what you needed in January , what choice do you have now ? )
, but my thought is , more information can ’ t hurt , when you ’ re shopping for a few hundred of these items at a time , and contemplating spending thousands to do it .
I bought each of these items in the last week of January and the first week of February 2020 , and here ’ s what I paid .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ at retail stores or big box membership stores .
Disposable , earloop surgical masks aka “ doctor ’ s masks ” were 3 cents each .
Price rose to 9 cents each in Feb .
Plenty of companies now charging over one dollar each now .
A box of 150 masks was worth $ 5 .
This week I saw an ad for 100 masks for $ 133 .
Disposable , paper N95s with elastic straps – the price depended on quantity , but I paid $ 1.33 up to $ 2.50 per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 7.50 for a 2-pack ( $ 3.75 each ) but for the same brand and style , I also found a 15-pack for about $ 20 .
There are companies now that will gladly take your order for $ 10 per mask .
Hand Sanitizer was $ 4 per half-gallon at bulk goods stores in January .
If you bought smaller containers , you might pay $ 1 to $ 2 for a cup-holder sized bottle , or $ 1 for a mini bottle that could fit in the palm of your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , etc. )
.
I saw an ad this week for hand sanitizer for $ 100 a gallon .
Nitrile gloves Blue or clear , a box of 100 gloves cost me $ 5 to $ 10 depending on the store .
By the way , I ’ m not a hoarder or reseller .
I bought just enough for my large household to use , in case one of us ended up getting sick , or in case we ended up needing to wear masks to go to the grocery store ( @ @ @ @ @ @

by TeRiYaki32
I’ve heard from friends at two different companies in the past week that are getting pandemic supplies for their staff. There are large, national business supply companies out there who have started reaching out to other businesses, offering to be their supplier for pandemic items like gloves, masks, sanitizer, etc., in addition to the usual office supplies.
I just want anyone reading this to know, you are very likely getting severely price-gouged right now if you are ordering from that kind of company. I do not have a solution for it, or advice on how to avoid it (I mean, if you didn’t buy what you needed in January, what choice do you have now?), but my thought is, more information can’t hurt, when you’re shopping for a few hundred of these items at a time, and contemplating spending thousands to do it.
I bought each of these items in the last week of January and the first week of February 2020, and here’s what I paid. I bought online, and in person at retail stores or big box membership stores.
Disposable, earloop surgical masks aka “doctor’s masks” were 3 cents each. Price rose to 9 cents each in Feb. Plenty of companies now charging over one dollar each now. A box of 150 masks was worth $5. This week I saw an ad for 100 masks for $133.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Disposable, paper N95s with elastic straps – the price depended on quantity, but I paid $1.33 up to $2.50 per mask. You could find some for $7.50 for a 2-pack ($3.75 each) but for the same brand and style, I also found a 15-pack for about $20. There are companies now that will gladly take your order for $10 per mask.
Hand Sanitizer was $4 per half-gallon at bulk goods stores in January. If you bought smaller containers, you might pay $1 to $2 for a cup-holder sized bottle, or $1 for a mini bottle that could fit in the palm of your hand (for travel, or school, etc.). I saw an ad this week for hand sanitizer for $100 a gallon.
Nitrile gloves Blue or clear, a box of 100 gloves cost me $5 to $10 depending on the store.
By the way, I’m not a hoarder or reseller. I bought just enough for my large household to use, in case one of us ended up getting sick, or in case we ended up needing to wear masks to go to the grocery store (both of which happened).


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--The US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a “freedom of navigation” operation in the

The US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a “ freedom of navigation ” operation in the South China @ @ @ @ @ at challenging China ’ s claims on the Paracel Islands .
@ USPacificFleet : “ @ @ @ @ @ the United States demonstrated that these waters are beyond what China can lawfully claim as @ @ @ @ @ that China ’ s claimed straight baselines around the Paracel Islands are inconsistent with international @ @ @

The US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a “freedom of navigation” operation in the South China Sea Tuesday aimed in part at challenging China’s claims on the Paracel Islands
The US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a "freedom of navigation" operation in the South China Sea Tuesday aimed in part at challenging China's claims on the Paracel Islands — Ryan Browne (@rabrowne75) April 28, 2020
.@USPacificFleet: “By conducting this operation, the United States demonstrated that these waters are beyond what China can lawfully claim as its territorial sea, and that China’s claimed straight baselines around the Paracel Islands are inconsistent with international law.”
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
.@USPacificFleet: "By conducting this operation, the United States demonstrated that these waters are beyond what China can lawfully claim as its territorial sea, and that China's claimed straight baselines around the Paracel Islands are inconsistent with international law." t.co/AAYkTABcvm — Ryan Browne (@rabrowne75) April 28, 2020
h/t Builder


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Huh What? Joe Biden Says We Need More ‘Economic Intercourse’ With the World

If you listen to a lot of what Joe Biden says , in all honesty , sometimes it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s saying .
Not just the words , which are often garbled or @ @ @ @ @ .
Most of what he says seems to be an effort to hit empty platitudes @ @ @ @ @ must do more ” ( what does that mean ? )
or saying Trump should @ @ @ @ @ ’ s already done .
Biden is still giving “ look at me , I @ @ @ @ @ from his basement and he gave one to CBS Miami on Monday .
He uses @ @ @ @ @ intercourse , ” as he was talking about the pandemic .
Basically Biden just said @ @ @ @ @ world more

If you listen to a lot of what Joe Biden says, in all honesty, sometimes it’s pretty hard to understand what he’s saying.
Not just the words, which are often garbled or confused, but the point. Most of what he says seems to be an effort to hit empty platitudes, such as “we must do more” (what does that mean?) or saying Trump should be doing things that he’s already done.
Biden is still giving “look at me, I’m relevant” interviews from his basement and he gave one to CBS Miami on Monday.
He uses the strange term “economic intercourse,” as he was talking about the pandemic.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Basically Biden just said we need to f*ck the world more
He’s not totally wrong.
Jake


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--An unprecedented number of ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ forms have been received from doctors, appear to hav

An unprecedented number of ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ forms have been received from doctors, appear to have been carried out without consent

Care home residents have been dying at a terrible rate , apparently barred from admission to hospital if they have @ @ @ @ @ also need to be asked about the plight of the mentally disabled .
According to @ @ @ @ @ supported living and residential care for people with learning disabilities across the country , an @ @ @ @ @ Not Resuscitate ’ forms have been received from doctors , which appear to have been @ @ @ @ @ patients or their families , and which they believe to be illegal… Exactly what I @ @ @ @ @ .
Getting rid of the mentally disabled , basically culling the dead wood .
And @ @ @ @ @ the doctors , this whole virus seems to leave super spreaders walking around indefinitely , @ @ @ @ @ We ’ ll be left with only the fittest .
Is it planned by humans @ @ @ @

Care home residents have been dying at a terrible rate, apparently barred from admission to hospital if they have symptoms of Covid-19..
Urgent questions also need to be asked about the plight of the mentally disabled. According to Turning Point, which provides supported living and residential care for people with learning disabilities across the country, an unprecedented number of ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ forms have been received from doctors, which appear to have been carried out without consultation with patients or their families, and which they believe to be illegal…
conservativewoman.co.uk/empty-hospitals-and-emptying-care-homes/
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Exactly what I thought when I read it. Getting rid of the mentally disabled, basically culling the dead wood. And it’s not just the doctors, this whole virus seems to leave super spreaders walking around indefinitely, wiping out the weak. We’ll be left with only the fittest. Is it planned by humans, or nature?
JW


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Chinese internet users who uploaded coronavirus memories to GitHub have been arrested. Project Termi

Chinese internet users who uploaded coronavirus memories to GitHub have been arrested. Project Terminus2049

A group of volunteers in China who worked to prevent digital records of the coronavirus outbreak from being scrubbed by censors are now targets of a crackdown .
Cai Wei , a Beijing-based man who participated in one such project on GitHub , the software development website , was arrested together with his girlfriend by Beijing police on April 19 .
The couple were accused of “ picking quarrels and provoking trouble , ” a commonly used charge against dissidents in China , according to Chen Kun , the brother of Chen Mei , another volunteer involved with the project @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since that same day .
On April 24 , the couple ’ s families received a police notice that informed them of the charge , and said the two have been put under “ residential surveillance at a designated place.
” There is still no information about Chen Mei , said his brother .
It is unclear whether the arrest of the couple and the disappearance of Chen are directly linked to their GitHub project , named “ Terminus2049.
” The Beijing police could not be reached for comment .
The project , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s series Foundation , has been preserving censored news stories , videos , and articles from individuals shared on messaging apps like WeChat since January 2018 .
The purpose of the project was to “ encourage the public to resist ‘ 404 , ’ ” referring to the error message displayed when a webpage has been deleted or banned by authorities , according to a 2018 post ( link in Chinese ) on Terminus2049 .

A group of volunteers in China who worked to prevent digital records of the coronavirus outbreak from being scrubbed by censors are now targets of a crackdown.
Cai Wei, a Beijing-based man who participated in one such project on GitHub, the software development website, was arrested together with his girlfriend by Beijing police on April 19.
The couple were accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a commonly used charge against dissidents in China, according to Chen Kun, the brother of Chen Mei, another volunteer involved with the project.
[Chen Mei has been missing since that same day. On April 24, the couple’s families received a police notice that informed them of the charge, and said the two have been put under “residential surveillance at a designated place.” There is still no information about Chen Mei, said his brother.
It is unclear whether the arrest of the couple and the disappearance of Chen are directly linked to their GitHub project, named “Terminus2049.” The Beijing police could not be reached for comment.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
The project, named after a planet in Isaac Asimov’s series Foundation, has been preserving censored news stories, videos, and articles from individuals shared on messaging apps like WeChat since January 2018. The purpose of the project was to “encourage the public to resist ‘404,’” referring to the error message displayed when a webpage has been deleted or banned by authorities, according to a 2018 post (link in Chinese) on Terminus2049.
qz.com/1846277/china-arrests-users-behind-github-coronavirus-memories-page/
AC


MISSING: 96%!

Hard to believe , but look it up on Congress website for HR 748 from 116th Congress .
Dividing the cost by every person in America is $ 6,051.74 The government could have given every person over $ 6,000 , but instead will give $ 1,200 to each adult under a certain income .
Wan na know where the missing 96 % of your tax dollars went ?
$ 100,000,000 to Nasa , because , who knows why .
$ 20,000,000,000 to the USPS , because why the hell not $ 300,000,000 to the Endowment for the Arts – because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the Humanities/ because no one even knew that was a thing $ 15,000,000 for Veterans Employment Training / for when the GI Bill isn ’ t enough $ 30,000,000,000 for the Department of Education stabilization fund/ because that will keep people employed $ 300,000,000 to Public Broadcasting / NPR has to be bought by the Dems $ 500,000,000 to Museums and Libraries / Who the hell knows how we are going to use it $ 720,000,000 to Social Security Admin / but get this only 200,000,000 is to help people .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Cleaning supplies for the Capitol Building / I shit you not it ’ s on page 136 $ 7,500,000 to the Smithsonian for additional salaries $ 35,000,000 to the JFK Center for performing Arts $ 25,000,000 for additional salary for House of Representatives $ 3,000,000,000 upgrade to the IT department at the VA $ 95,000,000 for the Agency of International Development $ 100,000,000 to Essential Air carriers pg 162 This of note because the Airlines are going to need billions in loans to keep them afloat .
$ 100,000,000 is chump change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Workers and Families Act This sounds like it ’ s direct payments for workers .
Pg 164 $ 25,000,000 to the FAA for administrative costs pg 165 $ 526,000,000 Grants to Amtrak to remain available if needed through 2021 pg 168 ( what are the odds that doesn ’ t go unused ) Hidden on page 174 the Secretary has 7 days to allocate the funds & notify Congress $ 5,000,000 Salaries and Expensive Office of the Inspector General pg 172 What DOES ALL of this have to do with the Virus @ @ @ @ @ @

Hard to believe, but look it up on Congress website for HR 748 from 116th Congress.
American population: 330,483,530
Stimulus bill: $2,000,000,000,000
Dividing the cost by every person in America is $6,051.74
The government could have given every person over $6,000, but instead will give $1,200 to each adult under a certain income.
Wanna know where the missing 96% of your tax dollars went?
$300,000,000 for Migrant and Refugee Assistance pg 147
$10,000 per person for student loan bailout
$100,000,000 to Nasa, because, who knows why.
$20,000,000,000 to the USPS, because why the hell not
$300,000,000 to the Endowment for the Arts – because of it
$300,000,000 for the Endowment for the Humanities/ because no one even knew that was a thing
$15,000,000 for Veterans Employment Training / for when the GI Bill isn’t enough
$435,000,000 for mental health support
$30,000,000,000 for the Department of Education stabilization fund/ because that will keep people employed
$200,000,000 to Safe Schools Emergency Response to Violence Program
$300,000,000 to Public Broadcasting / NPR has to be bought by the Dems
$500,000,000 to Museums and Libraries / Who the hell knows how we are going to use it
$720,000,000 to Social Security Admin / but get this only 200,000,000 is to help people. The rest is for admin costs
$25,000,000 for Cleaning supplies for the Capitol Building / I shit you not it’s on page 136
$7,500,000 to the Smithsonian for additional salaries
$35,000,000 to the JFK Center for performing Arts
$25,000,000 for additional salary for House of Representatives
$3,000,000,000 upgrade to the IT department at the VA
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
$315,000,000 for State Department Diplomatic Programs
$95,000,000 for the Agency of International Development
$300,000,000 for International Disaster Assistance
$90,000,000 for the Peace Corp pg 148
$13,000,000 to Howard University pg 121
9,000,000 Misc. Senate Expenses pg 134
$100,000,000 to Essential Air carriers pg 162 This of note because the Airlines are going to need billions in loans to keep them afloat. $100,000,000 is chump change
$40,000,000,000 goes to the Take Responsibility to Workers and Families Act This sounds like it’s direct payments for workers. Pg 164
$1,000,000,000 Airlines Recycle and Save Program pg 163
$25,000,000 to the FAA for administrative costs pg 165
$492,000,000 to National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) pg 167
$526,000,000 Grants to Amtrak to remain available if needed through 2021 pg 168 (what are the odds that doesn’t go unused)
Hidden on page 174 the Secretary has 7 days to allocate the funds & notify Congress
$25,000,000,000 for Transit Infrastructure pg 169
$3,000,000 Maritime Administration pg 172
$5,000,000 Salaries and Expensive Office of the Inspector General pg 172
$2,500,000 Public and Indian Housing pg 175
$5,000,000 Community Planning and Development pg 175
$2,500,000 Office of Housing
What DOES ALL of this have to do with the Virus?
Are you angry yet?
twitter.com/BreatheSaltAir/status/1244242234725281792
h/t QuantumLove


investmentwatchblog--2020-04-29--Worldwide 1930s Style Depression Has Begun!

The SCPA ’ s probability is 100 % for the markets of all 13 countries in the above tables to continue to decline to a minimum of 79 % below their 2020 highs when they reach their final bottoms in Q4 2022 .
All 13 have the exact same genealogy as the Dow 1929 and the NASDAQ 2000 market crashes .
The two crashes , occurring 71 years apart , declined by 89 % and 79 % with durations of 32 and 31 months respectively .
• The 13 countries in their aggregate represent 57 % of the world ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SCPA of empirical GDP data the probability is 100 % for the US and world GDP to decline through at least 2023 .
The 13 crash afflicted countries rank in the world ’ s top 14 GDP country rankings .
Together they represent 57 % of the world ’ s 2019 GDP .
For 2019 , the US ’ share of worldwide GDP was 23 % and aggregated share for the remaining dozen countries was 34 % .
In 1929 , the US ’ s share of world GDP was 9.61 % .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ declined by 28.6 % and world GDP declined by 13.2 % .

The SCPA’s probability is 100% for the markets of all 13 countries in the above tables to continue to decline to a minimum of 79% below their 2020 highs when they reach their final bottoms in Q4 2022. All 13 have the exact same genealogy as the Dow 1929 and the NASDAQ 2000 market crashes. The two crashes, occurring 71 years apart, declined by 89% and 79% with durations of 32 and 31 months respectively.
The 13 countries in their aggregate represent 57% of the world’s 2019 GDP.
Based on the SCPA of empirical GDP data the probability is 100% for the US and world GDP to decline through at least 2023. The 13 crash afflicted countries rank in the world’s top 14 GDP country rankings. Together they represent 57% of the world’s 2019 GDP. For 2019, the US’ share of worldwide GDP was 23% and aggregated share for the remaining dozen countries was 34%.
In 1929, the US’s share of world GDP was 9.61%. From 1929 to 1932, US GDP declined by 28.6% and world GDP declined by 13.2%.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!