Thirteen Reckonings Hanging in the Balance

Posted on September 7, 2018 by MN Gordon

The NASDAQ slipped below 8,000 this week.  But you can table your reservations.  The record bull market in U.S. stocks is still on.

With a little imagination, and the assistance of crude chart projections, DOW 40,000 could be eclipsed by the end of the decade.  Remember, anything and everything’s possible with enough fake money.

Still, we consider DOW 40,000 to be about as probable as having a dinosaur step on our car as we drive to work today.  More than likely, a return to DOW 10,000 will first grace the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

In the interim, while still in the delight of this “permanently high plateau,” we’ll turn our attention to another equally suspect record that’s presently unfolding with imperfect precision.  If you haven’t noticed, the current economic expansion’s approaching its own record duration.  At 111 months and counting, this economic expansion is closing in on the post-World War II record of 120 consecutive months of growth that occurred between March 1991 and March 2001. Continue reading →

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The Degrading Facts of a Fake Money Hole in the Head

Posted on August 31, 2018 by MN Gordon

Today we begin with the facts.  But not just the facts; the facts of the facts.  We want to better understand just what it is that’s provoking today’s ludicrous world.

To clarify, we’re not after the cold hard facts; those with no opinions, like the commutative property of addition.  Rather, we’re after the warm squishy facts; the type of facts that depend on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.

The facts, as far as we can tell, are that we’re presently living in a land of extreme confusion.  The genesis of this extreme confusion is today’s fake money system.  And the destructive effects of this fake money system have spread out like a virus into nearly all aspects of daily life.

Plain and simple, central bank fiat money creation, multiplied by commercial banks through fractional-reserve banking, propagates financial and economic chaos.  The experience of long periods of money supply expansion punctuated by abrupt, episodic contractions, has the effect of whipsawing the working stiff’s labors to get ahead.  This trifecta of offenses has debased the rewards of hard work, saving money, and paying one’s way. Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

As the Credit Cycle Turns

Posted on August 24, 2018 by MN Gordon

A rising stock market has the illusory effect of masking the economy’s warts and blemishes.  Who cares if incomes are stagnant when everyone’s getting rich off stocks?  Certainly, winning wealth via the stock market beats working for it.

Without question, the pleasure that comes when opening an inflated quarterly brokerage statement is much more satisfying than a lackluster biweekly paycheck.  But not only does paper wealth grow when the stock market rises, implied intelligence grows too.  The quarterly statements, with growth lines moving up and to the right, prove it.

Why grumble over a labor participation rate that’s at a 40 year low when Netflix is up over 6,000 percent?  The abundance of cheap, frivolous, and on demand content, more than makes up for the lack of well-paying jobs.  Indeed, there’s never been a better time in the history of the world to be a couch potato – particularly when 75 inch flat screen televisions can be bought on credit. Continue reading →

Posted in Government Debt, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Fake Promise of Adult Day Care

Posted on August 17, 2018 by MN Gordon

The sun always shines brightest in the northern hemisphere during summer’s dog days.  Here in America, from sea to shining sea, the nation burns hot.  But, all the while, cold dark clouds have descended over the land of the free.

For example, Senator Mark Warner – an absolute goober – is currently running interference for the Democrats on a proposal to silence political criticism.  Yet for Warner, and his cohorts, all political criticism is not created equal.  Criticism of President Trump is allowed and encouraged.  Criticism of Washington insiders, like Warner, is what they want to prohibit.

The guise of Warner’s would-be regulation is to prevent the bugaboo of Russian spread disinformation.  Hence, Warner wants to destroy free speech to save it.  Zero Hedge, via Martin Armstrong, offers the particulars…

“The Democrats want full disclosure regarding any online political speech.  They even want the Federal Trade Commission to have unbelievable power and require all companies’ algorithms to be audited by the feds as if they even have qualified staff to conduct such audits. Continue reading →

Posted in MN Gordon, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments