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A Digital Noose ‘Round Every Corner

By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com

Graduation season. Parties, commencements, speeches and lots and lots of photos. Recently, I loaded all of the pictures onto a PC and saved them into a folder, digitally labeled and timestamped, for posterity. The next day, I noticed a message from Microsoft. It said: “Click here to see the photo album we created for you!” I clicked and saw the very same photos I had loaded just hours before. However, I never requested for my personal memories to be shared, let alone arranged into an album organized by the company whose operating system runs my computer. Evidently, somewhere a while back, a box must have been checked, or unchecked, thus surrendering my right to privacy.

Every day I receive e-mail requests from Linkedin.com, Facebook and other networking websites to follow, like, or join, with people I am actually acquainted with in the real world. The messages ask me if I “know” them as I see their photos and information along with the opportunity to electronically consummate with them, should I so choose.

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Full Circle: An Encore Performance, New Venue, Fresh Actors

By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com

History is written by the victors.

Winston Churchill

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

Proverbs 22:7

The Wheel of Time is a notion shared by many religions and philosophies. In modern paganistic traditions, like those celebrated by Wiccans today, annual festivals are arranged into what is called the Wheel of the Year and marked by various equinoxes, solstices, and the dates in between. The ancient Greeks and Romans considered destiny as spinning like “yarn” on a wheel; and the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, once wrote how the universe is “change”, life is what “our thoughts make it”, and of time’s cycling to and from infinity while aligned into a succession of finite periods. From the days of the earliest Druids through the life of the Viking Leif Ericson, the most commonly used nomenclature for Wheel of the Year festivals are descended from the Celtic and Germanic cultures.

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STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

If you prefer fake news, fake data, and a fake narrative about an improving economy and stock market headed to 30,000, don’t read this fact based, reality check article. The level of stupidity engulfing the country has reached epic proportions, as the mainstream fake news networks flog bullshit Russian conspiracy stories, knowing at least 50% of the non-thinking iGadget distracted public believes anything they hear on the boob tube.

This stupendous degree of utter stupidity goes to a new level of idiocy when it comes to the stock market. The rigged fleecing machine known as Wall Street has gone into hyper-drive since futures dropped by 700 points on the night of Trump’s election. An already extremely overvalued market, as measured by every historically accurate valuation metric, soared by 4,000 points from that futures low – over 20% – to an all-time high. Despite dozens of warning signs and the experience of two 40% to 50% crashes in the last fifteen years, lemming like investors are confident the future is so bright they gotta wear shades.

The current bull market is the 2nd longest in history at 8 years. In March of 2009, the S&P 500 bottomed at a fitting level for Wall Street of 666. In a shocking coincidence, it bottomed on the same day Bernanke & Geithner forced the FASB to rollover like mangy dogs and stop enforcing mark to market accounting. Amazingly, when Wall Street banks, along with Fannie and Freddie, could value their toxic assets at whatever they chose, profits surged. The market is now 240% higher.

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SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

I stopped trying to predict markets back in 2008 when the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, Wall Street bankers, and their propaganda peddling media mouthpieces colluded to rig the markets to benefit the elite establishment players while screwing average Americans. I haven’t owned any stocks to speak of since 2006. I missed the the final blow-off, the 50% crash, and the subsequent engineered new bubble. But that doesn’t stop me from assessing our true economic situation, market valuations, and historical comparisons in order to prove the irrationality and idiocy of the current narrative.

The proof of this market being rigged and not based upon valuations, corporate earnings, discounted cash flows, or anything related to free market capitalism, was the reaction to Trump’s upset victory. The narrative was status quo Hillary was good for markets and Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric would unnerve the markets. When the Dow futures plummeted by 800 points on election night, left wingers like Krugman cackled and predicted imminent collapse. The collapse lasted about 30 minutes, as the Dow recovered all 800 points and has subsequently advanced another 1,500 points since election day. Krugman’s predictive abilities proven stellar once again.

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ALL TIME HIGHS

The stock market has reached new all-time highs this week, just two weeks after plunging over the BREXIT result. The bulls are exuberant as they dance on the graves of short-sellers and the purveyors of doom. This is surely proof all is well in the country and the complaints of the lowly peasants are just background noise. Record highs for the stock market must mean the economy is strong, consumers are confident, and the future is bright.

All the troubles documented by myself and all the other so called “doomers” must have dissipated under the avalanche of central banker liquidity. Printing fiat and layering more unpayable debt on top of old unpayable debt really was the solution to all our problems. I’m so relieved. I think I’ll put my life savings into Amazon and Twitter stock now that the all clear signal has been given.

Technical analysts are giving the buy signal now that we’ve broken out of a 19 month consolidation period. Since the entire stock market is driven by HFT supercomputers and Ivy League MBA geniuses who all use the same algorithm in their proprietary trading software, the lemming like behavior will likely lead to even higher prices. Lance Roberts, someone whose opinion I respect, reluctantly agrees we could see a market melt up:

“Wave 5, “market melt-ups” are the last bastion of hope for the “always bullish.” Unlike, the previous advances that were backed by improving earnings and economic growth, the final wave is pure emotion and speculation based on “hopes” of a quick fundamental recovery to justify market overvaluations. Such environments have always had rather disastrous endings and this time, will likely be no different.”

As Benjamin Graham, a wise man who would be scorned and ridiculed by today’s Ivy League educated Wall Street HFT scum, sagely noted many decades ago:

“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.”

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WHY IS THE MSM COVERING UP RECESSIONARY DATA?

The Census Bureau put out their monthly retail sales report this morning. During good times, the MSM would be hailing the tremendous increases as proof the consumer was flush with cash and all was well with the economy. Considering 70% of our GDP is dependent upon consumer spending, you would think this data point would be pretty important in judging how well Americans are really doing.

It’s not perfect, because the issuance of debt to consumers to purchase autos, furniture, appliances and electronics can juice the retail sales numbers and create the false impression of strength. That’s what has been going on with auto sales for the last two years.

The retail sales figures have been propped up by the issuance of subprime auto loans to deadbeats, 7 year 0% interest loans to good credit customers, and an all-time high in leases (aka 3 year rentals). Despite this Fed induced auto loan scheme, retail sales have still been pitiful, as the average American has been left with stagnant wages, 0% interest on their minuscule savings, surging rent and home prices, and drastic increases in their healthcare costs due to Obamacare.

The retail sales for March, reported this morning, were disastrous and further confirmed a myriad of other economic indicators that the country is in recession. GDP for the first quarter will be negative. And this time they can’t blame it on snow in the winter. They have already doubly seasonally adjusted the figures, and they will still be negative. Retail sales in the first quarter were atrocious. It might make a critical thinking person question the establishment storyline of solid job growth being peddled by politicians and their MSM mouthpieces. If people had good paying jobs, they would be spending money.

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BULLSHIT SELLS

Amazon made $588 million in profits in 2004 on $7 billion in sales. This past year they made $596 million in profits on $107 billion in sales. Dumbass investors have rewarded its 0% profit growth over the last 11 years by driving the stock from $50 per share in 2004 to $586 per share today. And this is after a $54 plunge last week. This juggernaut has a PE ratio of 473. Amazon is proof that bullshit sells on Wall Street and Main Street. Bezos has been saying he’ll make it up on volume for 11 years, but it never seems to happen.

You will find more statistics at Statista

WHAT ARE THEY LOBBYING FOR?

You will find more statistics at Statista

MAYBE VALUATIONS DO MATTER

The raging bulls were so sure of themselves a few months ago. Valuation measures were for suckers. This time was different. It’s the new Obama economy. Profits are so old school. I suddenly sense a little panic amongst the big swinging dick Wall Street traders. Not too much scorn and laughter being directed towards John Hussman lately.

I wonder if the brainless twits and shills on CNBC will be telling their audience that the S&P 500 is now lower than it was in May 2014. That’s right. Anyone in the stock market over the last 20 months hasn’t gained a penny. The S&P 500 is now down 11% from its all-time high in May 2015. Only 40% or 50% more to go to reach fair value.

Remember the can’t miss hot stocks being touted by Wall Street and their CNBC mouthpieces? The IPOs were being rolled out like crazy in 2015 and the stocks would soar to heights not seen since the good old Dotcom bubble. Let’s take a look at those fantastic can’t miss opportunities of a lifetime:

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