Bill Holter’s Blog | BillHolter.com | Page 84

June 4, 2023 / Bill Holter / 1 Comment

Bill’s commentary:

“Erik with an interesting read.”

Bill’s commentary:

“Dismal Dave with some ugly math.”

‘A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. My desk is a work station.’ Dismal Dave. (Mind Your Own Business.)

Bill’s commentary:

“More bank problems…”

Last week, on Tuesday, May 23, the Federal Reserve and California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (the state banking regulator) hit the collapsed federally-insured bank, Silvergate Bank, and its parent, Silvergate Capital Corporation, with an enforcement action called a “Cease and Desist Consent Order.” The action was not announced to the public until yesterday.

Bill’s commentary:

“Our pal Stanley on overnight rates and derivatives.”

On June 30, 2023 the financial world changes. On that date all contracts that were based on the LIBOR (London Interbank Offer Rate) that have not already switched, will begin using the SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) as the new standard rate on which to base financial contracts upon.

Bill’s commentary:

“Ooops!!!”

After much delay and legal protests by JPMorgan Chase, its Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, was forced by a Manhattan federal court to testify under oath in a deposition about what he personally knew about the bank’s long-term customer relationship with child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. (Epstein died in a Manhattan jail on August 10, 2019. His death was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner.)

May 30, 2023 / Bill Holter / 1 Comment

Bill’s commentary:

“Deficits never mattered …until here and now!”

Back in 2002, then-Vice President Dick Cheney claimed “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter” and went on to push for tax cuts combined with more federal spending. Indeed, the Bush administration would go on to push immense amounts of new spending, supporting a huge Medicare expansion and blowing hundreds of millions of dollars on costly and pointless occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bill’s commentary:

“Bravo Dave from Down Under! You killed it with this one. “Annual mortgage cost as a percentage of household income” and “Why rates can’t rise that much”. Debt service is exploding across the board and will expose the extreme nature of leverage up to and including The U.S. Treasury. The end of the road is here and now!”

Bill’s commentary:

Bill’s commentary:

“Debt to GDP over 100% …can you say unpayable debt and Banana Republic?”

‘Remember ‘I’ before ‘E,’ except in Budweiser.’ Professor Irwin Corey. (1914-2017).

May 26, 2023 / Bill Holter / 1 Comment

Bill’s commentary:

“Investigators investigating themselves? Surely we will get some real answers ..when hell freezes over?”

Unlike his three immediate predecessors who chaired the Federal Reserve (Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan), who all had doctoral degrees in economics, the current Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, has a law degree from Georgetown University.

Bill’s commentary:

” OK, but who lent the money? This question will soon be asked in many parts of the world!”

Recent statistics from China’s central bank show that home buyers’ enthusiasm has fallen drastically. Despite price cuts and incentives, the world’s largest housing market continues to slump, and China’s banking sector is taking a hit on two fronts, as both defaults and prepayments rise. Meanwhile, China’s developers are starting to show the strain, with real estate giant Wanda Group making headlines this week as the value of its dollar bonds plunged.

May 25, 2023 / Bill Holter / Leave a comment

Bill’s commentary:

“And you thought it was “your” money?”

A reader sent me this graphic which is circulating on social media. Whenever I see an unattributed image like this going around I want to verify it, lest it be photoshopped, a deep-fake or some derivation of “urban legend”.

Sure enough, if you go to NatWest bank’s website, right here – you see this cash withdrawal policy spelled out for all to see:

Bill’s commentary:

“Broke is broke!”

‘Society deserves equal protection from both the burglar and the banker.’ George Bernard Shaw. (1856-1950).

May 24, 2023 / Bill Holter / Leave a comment

Bill’s commentary:

“They’re Taking America and System Down.”

Precious metals expert and financial writer Bill Holter is looking at what is going on with the financial system and says there is not really an effort to save it. Holter thinks the moves they are making are designed to take the financial system down, and along with it, they want America destroyed too.

Bill’s commentary:

“And again, how exactly do you starve a Ponzi scheme?”

The U.S. banking crisis, which has claimed a few victims since March, is the direct result of the Fed’s fight against high Inflation. Uncertainty about the health of regional banks and rising yields in the money market led to a steady outflow of deposits, bringing banks’ balance sheets to their knees.

Bill’s commentary:

“The new rocket science?”

The recent spate of bank failures is upending a long-held theory among banking executives and regulators—that the value of a lender’s deposit business goes up when interest rates move higher.

The theory rests on an assumption: That banks don’t have to pay depositors much to keep their money around, even as rates rise. The deposits would be a stable source of low-cost funding while the bank earned more money lending at higher rates.

May 22, 2023 / Bill Holter / 1 Comment

Bill’s commentary:

“And a Fed dancing between 2 crocodiles: something gets eaten—the system or the dollar?”

Bill’s commentary:

“China wants to de-risk from the dollar. The G-7 wants to de-risk their supply chain with China. How is this going to work? Do you have any idea how destroyed the standard of living will be?”

Economic security was a major focus on the second day of the G-7 summit of leading industrial nations in Hiroshima, with leaders outlining actions to counter Beijing’s “economic coercion” and non-market practices.

The G-7 countries—the United States, the UK, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy—announced on May 20 their plan to address the “disturbing rise in incidents of economic coercion.”

Bill’s commentary:

“One must wonder what economic growth would look like if there were no ‘government interventions’?”

‘There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men.’ Ludwig von Mises. (1881-1973).

Bill’s commentary:

“Wow, what a shocker! Now the question is, will WHO connect the obvious dots?”

UK authorities are investigating an “unusual” surge in severe myocarditis which has hit 15 babies in Wales and England and has killed at least one, the World Health Organization has announced.

On Tuesday, the WHO issued an alert that there had been a rise in “severe myocarditis” in newborns and infants between June 2022 and March 2023 in Wales and England.

May 19, 2023 / Bill Holter / Leave a comment

Bill’s commentary:

“Erik on a rampage!”

Bill’s commentary:

“If you understand this chart, then then you understand what the mathematical problem is…”

In January, the $31.4 trillion debt limit—the amount of debt the U.S. government can hold—was reached. That means U.S. cash reserves could be exhausted by June 1 according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Should Republicans and Democrats fail to act, the U.S. could default on its debt, causing harmful effects across the financial system.

Bill’s commentary:

“The word they are arguing over should be “depression”, not some garden variety recession. In fact, shouldn’t the real discussion be about ‘end of empire’?”

Think seriously for a moment about what we were told about inflation over the last two years. As everybody knows, both the government and the Federal Reserve swore up and down to us that inflation was going to be transitory and they were, of course, dead wrong.

Bill’s commentary:

“If banks are losing deposits, then the next question is, what happens when you starve a Ponzi scheme?”

‘Democracy always collapses following loose fiscal policy; always followed by dictatorship.’ Alexis de Tocqueville. (1805-1859).

May 12, 2023 / Bill Holter / 1 Comment

Bill’s commentary:

“So now Facebook, Youtube, etc will now ban the Cleveland Clinic for heresy?”

A study conducted on the effectiveness of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine has surprised many at the Cleveland Clinic. The organization studied its employees to determine how the new bivalent vaccines stack up against some of the more prevalent COVID strains in circulation. The results weren’t what they expected.

Bill’s commentary:

“When all is said and done, you CANNOT FOOL Mother Nature! Please remember these words…”

Today, we get a new perspective on the market’s performance when normalized for the record collapse in breadth. According to SocGen it’s not so much a handful of stocks that has carried the entire market this year: it’s just one specific trade, Artificial Intelligence (which will soon spark hundreds of millions in margin-boosting layoffs across western countries).

Bill’s commentary:

“Of interest”

Governor Ron DeSantis signs legislation to ban a federally adopted central bank digital currency.

DeSantis was joined by Commissioner Wilton Simpson and President Kathleen Passidomo at Southwest Florida Public Service Academy at Fort Myers Technical College.

Governor Ron DeSantis announced comprehensive legislation to protect Floridians from the Biden administration’s weaponization of the financial sector through a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Bill’s commentary:

“Pay attention to the US CDS risk chart and total interest payments. The party is over …”

‘Debts are like children; begot with pleasure, but brought forth with pain.’ Moliere. (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin). (1622-1673).

May 8, 2023 / Bill Holter / 1 Comment

Bill’s commentary:

“The man has a way with pictures!”

‘Why then, is gold the unmentionable, four letter word of economics? The answer is threefold: A misunderstanding of the role of money; a misreading of history; and finally, visceral revulsion to the notion that a metal can do a better job of guiding monetary policy than a gaggle of finance ministers, central bankers and well-degreed economists.’ Malcolm Forbes. (1919-1990).

Bill’s commentary:

“David Tice produced a film re the “grid down”. Please watch and sign the petition if you choose?”

https://griddownpowerup.com/

Please watch either full movie or 12-minute highlights reel

Then write letters or sign petition .

Contact Your Legislators

Bill’s commentary:

“Some pissed off Erik for your week!”

Bill’s commentary:

“This is SIGNIFICANT!”

On May 2, a Texas House committee passed a bill to create 100% reserve gold and silver-backed transactional currencies. Enactment of this legislation would create an option for people to conduct business in sound money, set the stage to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money, and possibly create a viable alternative to a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Bill’s commentary:

“Not business but something to scratch your head over the weekend…”

May 5, 2023 / Bill Holter / 1 Comment

Bill’s commentary:

“And why exactly is the IRS armed? Are they defending against something or is this offensive in nature?”

What does it say about the state of our freedoms that there are now more pencil-pushing, bureaucratic (non-military) government agents armed with weapons than U.S. Marines?

Among the agencies being supplied with night-vision equipment, body armor, hollow-point bullets, shotguns, drones, assault rifles and LP gas cannons are the IRS, Smithsonian, U.S. Mint, Health and Human Services, FDA, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Education Department, Energy Department, Bureau of Engraving and Printing and an assortment of public universities.

Bill’s commentary:

“This is totally normal, nothing to see here!”

PacWest sank 50.6% and was halted for volatility multiple times. The slide began on Wednesday evening following news that the Los Angeles-based bank was exploring strategic options, including a potential sale.

Bill’s commentary:

“Posted without comment.”

Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill, who was on the mission to kill Islamic terrorist Osama bin Laden, is blasting the U.S. Navy for using a drag queen to recruit new sailors into service.

On Monday, The Daily Caller’s Micaela Burrow reported the Navy had recruited Joshua Kelley — an active-duty drag queen who goes by the stage name Harpy Daniels and identifies as non-binary — to be a “Navy Digital Ambassador.” According to the report, the Digital Ambassador pilot program ran from October 2022 to March 2023 and was designed to “explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates” for military recruitment.

Bill’s commentary:

“And the vast majority are owned via credit. One should ask, who loaned the money in the first place?”

In 1982, the mall meant freedom. You were dropped off at noon and picked up at dusk. In the hours between, you were left to roam in the preferred fashion—in a teenage pack. Some started at The Sweet Factory, then spent the afternoon dipping a hand into the candy bag like a wino with a bottle. Some started at the food court with caramel corn or Orange Julius. We all made a point of stopping by the knife shop to examine the throwing stars and Bowies.