John Kass of the Chicago Tribune has come out with a blunt article, yet it is the only possible solution since the government is effectively just bankrupt with no hope of recovery. He writes: “Illinois is like Venezuela now, a fiscally broken state that has lost its will to live, although for the moment, we […]

Merkel’s attempt to silence any internet site that disagrees with her government seems to be the resurrection of the idea of East Germany where she grew up. Freedom of speech was outlawed. When I went behind the Berlin Wall, people would speak freely only when nobody else was close enough to listen. Today they have […]

Another encouraging session for Asia as the confidence continues, at least until we see something to the contrary later in the week. Many are referencing the bond markets as they watch yields creep higher and the curve start to steepen as an indication that things have finally turned. China’s Shanghai settled small lower but the […]

Following on from the weak US session, Asia tended to drift in sympathy. Ahead of the US NFP’s it was always going to be light volume but with G20 also just stated numbers were even lighter. The Shanghai has managed a positive close (+0.17%), but not so for the Hang Seng which closed down -0.5%. […]

Geopolitics has taken centre stage today as Trump comments on the severity required towards North Korea and prepares for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has talks with President Trump are expected to be frosty as she commented, “He is the most disruptive and egotistical leader at the (G20) summit”. […]

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; it is becoming obvious that China follows your advice to the last letter. That makes sense when you were the western adviser they flew in to Beijing during the 1997 crisis. You told them to bypass the primary dealers and demand to buy US debt directly and they did within 30 days. […]

COMMENT: Dear Marty   I’m doing business w companies in Holland. So I go there with a colleague to visit one of the factories outside Amsterdam.   We rent a car and drive there. Everything is fine and all. No problems with traffic, finding our way or so …   After leaving Amsterdam back home it […]

  The most anti-democratic law perhaps ever to pass any western government just passed in the German Bundestag last week. Even the opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) votes to suppress free speech and it is all geared to end criticism of government. This new law obligates the operators of social networks to block off anything that […]

Following-on from the weak US session, Asia drifted in sympathy. The news from the US Senate, after their markets had closed, worried Asia as they responded to the news. On the whole core markets were lower, the exception being a +0.7% increase in the Australian ASX. Shanghai and the Hang Seng closed around -0.6% lower. […]

COMMENT: Hi Marty, As a former research scientist I read your blog post “The Plight of Junk Science in All Fields” with great interest. You wrote: “You just didn’t really hear the “oops we were wrong” but instead you heard of another great danger – saturated fat! It became evident that cholesterol in food by […]