US$ = Fake, US GDP = Fake, Published Au/Ag Price = Garbage
US gov`t released a revised 5% GDP (growth) for US in Q3, up from the original 3.5%. The 3.5% was fake to begin with. It included a lot of nonsense to begin with, but especially a higher increase in inventory for Christmas season, regardless of if the inventory gets sold or not. The Baltic Dry Index (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/BDIY:IND) has now fallen to 788 points, down from 1500 in November and 2300 from start of year. During the 2008 recession, it had fallen down to around 600 points. It is now less than 200 points from being at 2008 great recession level. This index is a good indicator of raw material purchases. It is typically a major indicator of global slowdown. You can`t have US booming when the rest of the world is completely falling apart. You name the country and I will tell you that that country is either stagnating/slowly moving down or completely falling apart economically. The world is now one big global economy. Thus, this 5% growth published today is complete nonsense - completely fictitious. They showed 5% because they stuffed in the increases from Obamacare. The Obamacare program is not growth. Many people`s health care costs are doubling or tripling or more due to Obamacare. That is not growth. That is called suffocating the people and putting more of their limited disposable income into the hands of big phama and other health care companies. Nevertheless, the increases were suppose to go through in Q1 2014, but they didn`t include it then because Q1 was already shot due to the winter storm. They then saved it to put through now, just before Christmas - so people can be faked out/feel good and spend like crazy to inflate their Christmas retail sales numbers. The 5% GDP pushed up their US dollar, which subsequently further knocked down the pathetically control worthless paper gold and silver prices. It is all a scam. There is no foundation to their so-called growth and recovery. Existing homes sales came out yesterday and it was 6% down. Durable goods came out today and it was very weak. The employment numbers they come out with represents complete nonsense. They are down more than 1 million full time jobs since 2008. The jobs they are getting are mainly low paying jobs, especially part-time, temp, contract, hospitality, etc.. No benefits. People can`t find full-time jobs (especially good ones) so they taking 2 or 3 part-time jobs to make ends meet (basically to put food on the table). This is why retail sales were poor on Black Friday. This is why wages are struggling to keep up with even the fake low inflation rate they publish. It is a supplier`s job market, thus no pressure/incentive for employers to increase wage rates. The unemployment rate is total nonsense. The true percentage is closer to 25%, not 5.8%. There are close to 100 million Americans either fully unemployed or severely underemployed. This includes the 50 million people on food stamps (can`t eat without gov`t help). When people give up looking for a job, and come off unemployment insurance, the gov`t no longer counts them in the unemployment rate. Some of them end up on welfare and some get a doctor`s note to go on disability (people on disability has gone from 6 million to 12 million in just a few years). The labor participation rate is around 62% - a 38 year low. This looks at the percentage of people working compared to people capable of working (for example, it doesn`t include school kids). Another reason the US $ has increased massively over the past while is due to all of the countries in trouble. People in these countries are running from their respective countries. They wrongly view the US treasury as a safe haven. They need to buy the US dollar before they can buy treasuries. For now, US has the world reserve currency, thus the dollar is benefiting from the global meltdown, plus the oil price crash. The US dollar will eventually cease to be the reserve currency, but for now it is surviving. The US cash debt has been doubled to $18 trillion just within the last 6 years, and no end in sight. That doesn`t include the trillions of dollars for future unfounded liabilities (medicare, old age security, pensions, etc.). This doesn`t even fully factor in the 4 trillion dollars the Fed had to print over the last 6 years. Also, there is no solution to the debt. They are running a true shortage of $1.1 trillion every year - hence, how this is much they are adding to the cash debt each year. The pin that might pop this massive US bubble might be the US oil and gas frac(k)ing companies, if the oil price doesn`t increase real soon. These companies probably still have a bit of cash to survive debt a bit longer, but not too long. They can`t survive with the oil price $60 or below. Frac(k)ing is hugely expensive. About 85% (if not all) of the US oil increase over the past 6 years came from high price frac(k)ing, that needs at least $80 oil, if not over $100, to truly make ends meets. I think about 50% of these US oil companies are focused on frac(k)ing. These companies took out high yield bonds (junk bonds) with US banks, to the tune of 250 to 500 billion dollars. There is going to be massive defaults either within the next 6 months or year or 2 years (if the oil price stays low) unless there are gov`t bailouts for the frac(k)ers. if the frac(k)ers default, it could lead to major bank failers, with major contagion globally. Aside from US frac(k)ing, the low oil price could bring down a number of countries, and could even lead to military war. For example, Iran needs $140 oil to keep the country going. Venezeula needs $121. Nigeria, Equador, etc. needs over $100. Even Saudi Arabia needs $93 oil. The Saudi`s can produce oil for $20 - 40, but they need $93 to run the country, just like all these oil driven economies. Today`s oil price of $56 doesn`t cut it. Yet, the US dollar is booming, the US stock market is at another all time high, Wall Street and Main Street Media are celebrating like it`s the biggest party the world has ever seen. Eventually there has to be a rude awakening.