Yellen Admits Rates Could Stay at Zero Forever – Ep. 110

Catch Peter on Simon Black's podcast, "Sovereign Man" recorded yesterday in Italy. https://www.sovereignman.com/category/podcast/ Catch Me on Sovereign Man There's been a lot of action over the last couple of days in the U.S. stock market.  In fact, the market just closed a few minutes ago, as I am recording. It is now after 10pm in the evening here in Italy. If you don't already know by now, I am out here in Italy with my son, and that's why I'm not recording as many podcasts as I normally would.  Although, I did record a podcast with my friend Simon Black, of Sovereign Man. I'm actually staying with Simon and some other guests of his for a few days in Umbria.  We leave tomorrow for Florence, then Venice and then home. So I recorded a podcast with Simon yesterday.  We talked for about an hour.  So if you want more material, just go ahead and have a listen to that.  You'll get over another hour discussion. Check out my Debate with Art Laffer on YouTube Also, I put up the YouTube video this morning that I meant to put up a couple of weeks ago. I uploaded <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sovereignman.com%2Fpodcast%2Fcentral-banks-should-consider-giving-people-money-25448%2F%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dsm_notes%26utm_campaign%3Dnotes%26utm_content%3D20190812_schiff_gold%26fbclid%3DIwAR0Lg04egC7gFE6k5WUVC7QKPl9_AmIK_Om2K_vCzYJ9n1__QBwT7BweG7Y&h=AT1uaVwPmk8OFxsqSXtf2TV_-OBcSXaiw8CDQ_L42P6_JtbZP8_1ORbcw_RFCVXhOYwB8nl_XhcOvfNvq-8Hru1cHvmLZCsciddkataCqV1yUxXqghYRQLS-mut9VvUZ4Uwd1QTgVsxxb-dj1KOoqMBMBQ3UKIrHTM6t22uQKdi4z3gNPS89Ea62PJwS1uC9GD3f5tlJdU9gobEgJyHbtayma0mJ8hkXOMhv_pKd92LNG1j95O0gx2uPIHROAMKPWF_Hv-VH1mOdxaZBSM-ca5Gh-uFvYjDtSsCns748Ri7lUNs0sRpjC6V2u7VQdlmEVPfnLApAv5p8yDhMVNCZd9rlKfwhSHUwz7rp7t1gNn0pvTWoF3UlvX4G_IHUd446IXAiQpf3rvjiqEHkR31rLfkJCL14o-WlZp2CuVKEtpe-CcgF63NHSH6m2VRBXczOSdcwiLWwCXKltHWyNcb07jsvw_GcslY7yWi7aZL3USPnsXiYwMofiClyXirhDI7XBHFyuQ_n8G2pFVuA5_wR... Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

14 Elo 201942min

Recorded August 6, 2019 Trade War: New Tariffs and Accusation of Currency Manipulation Yesterday was the worst day of the year for the Dow Jones.  At one point, we were down about 950-odd points.  I think we closed down under 800; 767 points.  But it was a follow-though from the weakness that we had on Friday and the news, too, that we had on Friday about the escalation of the trade war, where Donald Trump announced the imposition of new tariffs on China. Normal Movements in a Currency Market But what happened overnight in China was the yuan went below 7:1 against the dollar. This is the first time it has been that low since China started to allow its currency to appreciate against the dollar. It had been appreciating… now 7 is not that much weaker than it was when Donald Trump became President.  The Chinese yuan is only down 2-3% since Trump took office. That's not a whole lot, when it comes to a currency. Everybody is up in arms; now Trump is upset that the Chinese are weakening their currency, when the currency has not weakened very much.  In fact, the U.S. dollar is down about 2 or 3% against the Swiss franc since Trump became President. So what's the big deal? Switzerland isn't accusing the United States of manipulating its currency, just because the currency dropped a few percent. These are normal movements in a currency market. Dow Trading Higher after China Blinks? But the minute the yuan dropped below 7:1, everybody was saying, "Currency War!"  and "Who knows how much further the yuan is going to drop?" And so that sparked a lot of selling in the Chinese market.  And so the U.S. market went down… I think the futures went down maybe about 300 Dow points or so before we opened.  But then, as soon as we opened, we sold off hard and we did have a little bit of a rally into the close, so we closed off the lows, but as soon as the U.S. stock market closed, the futures sold off again. I think at one point last night, the Dow was off another 4-500 points before reversing on the Chinese yuan having a fix, I think, that was a little bit higher than the markets were worried about, so that caused the traders to breathe a little sigh of relief that the yuan didn't fall again. So that sparked a rally. Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

6 Elo 201937min

Recorded August 2, 2019 July NonFarm Payroll Report: Great? Not so Great This morning we got the release of the July NonFarm payroll report, and the general consensus among the analysts seem to be that it was s strong report, a solid report. I saw Larry Kudlow this morning on Fox Business talking about another "solid performance" in job creation.  But once again, once you look beneath the surface, and you don't have to look too deep, this is not a good report. The Bar Was Set Pretty Low First of all, the bar was set pretty low.  The consensus was 151,000 jobs.  That's not a lot of jobs, so it's not that hard to beat it, and we did.  We got 164,000 jobs.  But the reason we beat it was because we created more government jobs than the market expected. For private payrolls, the consensus was 160,000 jobs and we only created 148,000 jobs.  So we created 12,000 fewer private sector jobs than had been expected and we made up the difference by creating government jobs, whether they are for the Federal government or state government. Public Sector Jobs vs Private Sector Jobs But there's a very big difference between private sector jobs and public sector jobs, in that the taxpayer isn't on the hook to pay the salaries of the private sector workers. They're working in companies that are generating profits, so the salaries are paid for by the profits that the businesses generate. The Government Does Not Generate Profits The government doesn't generate any profit. It just has to suck up tax revenue; we have to pay for these.  So it's not a good thing that government gets more bloated and hires more people.  Especially since a lot of government bureaucrats tend to complicate things. They make everybody less efficient.  If we're hiring more regulators to slow down the economy and get in everybody's way, that's not a good thing. I'd rather have a lean, mean government. Of course, that's not going to happen. Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

3 Elo 201955min

Recorded August 1, 2019 Trifecta Podcasts this Week I hadn't planned on recording a podcast today; I did one yesterday and I figured I'd wait until Friday, get the … payroll numbers and finish up the week with a Friday podcast.  But so much action in the markets today, that I just couldn't resist.  I knew there would be a lot of people who would be excited to get a podcast today, so we're going to have a trifecta - we're going to have three days in a row of podcasts. Nobody on CNBC saw the Rate Cut Coming… But I Did Before I even get into a lot of the market action today, I want to talk a little bit about what I heard on CNBC this morning. They're still talking about the rate cut that we got yesterday and the host said, "Six months ago, nobody could have possible predicted… nobody would have believed that we'd be here today and the Fed would be cutting rates. And nobody could have possibly believed that the Fed would be ending the quantitative tightening program, because it's now over!" So, according to CNBC, nobody could have possibly predicted this, yet it happened anyway. Wait a minute: what about me? I predicted it. I said it was going to happen.  I didn't say it on CNBC because they won't let me on, but I said it on my podcast.  I even said it on their competitor network, Fox Business. Maybe if they watched Fox Business they would've known about this. I Predicted, Live, That December Hike Would the Last Hike So, really, what they meant is nobody on CNBC saw it coming. None of their anchors, none of their regular guests saw an end to quantitative tightening. None of them saw the rate cut. But I did. Not only did I predict that the Fed would cut rates, I predicted, live, that the December hike was the last hike. and that the very next move by the Fed would be a cut. And that is exactly what they did. Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

2 Elo 201943min

I Bet an Ounce of Gold that Fed would Cut Rates Today I officially won an ounce of gold! I am referencing a bet that I made back in January of this year. During a panel discussion, I said that I though that the Fed was more likely to cut rates in 2019, than hike them.  I was the only person on the panel who believed that.  Everybody else thought that the Fed would be raising rates, which pretty much was the conventional wisdom in early January. Check out My Forecasts in December and January on YouTube So today, the Fed cut rates, which is what I have been saying they would do.  In fact, not only did I put up a small YouTube video of that bet, as well as a video of the entire panel on my YouTube channel. But I also cut a minute or so segment from my interview on the Monday in December 2018 the week the Fed raised rates, 2 days later on a Wednesday.  That was the final hike where the Fed went from 2% to 2.25%, to 2.25% to 2.5%. Fed Cut Rates by 25 Basis Points I was interviewed by Liz Claman- by the way I will be on Liz Claman's show tomorrow - they've renamed the show it is the Claman Countdown. But when I was on Liz' show back in December I made the forecast then: If the Fed raised rates in December that week, which, I thought they would, (everybody believed they would - they wouldn't want to disappoint the markets) I said that it would be the last hike, and that the very next move that the Fed would make would be to cut rates. And that is exactly what they did today. They cut rates by 25 basis points. December's Rate Hike Erased So they basically took away the last rate hike and the rate is now where it was prior to the December rate hike. Now, I believe that cutting rates was a mistake.  I think the Fed should have already raised rates by more than they have. Not because the U.S. economy is in great shape, because it's in lousy shape. It is a gigantic bubble. Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

1 Elo 201950min

Two Camps: Inflation vs Deflation I did the first live stream a couple of weeks ago; that was on bitcoin. I got a lot of feedback on that one and a lot of people were coming up with potential topics for the next one.  I think the most common request was for inflation or deflation: which one is it going to be? Because there are a lot of people out there who see the world similar to the way I do, as far as the problems that are confronting the U.S. economy in particular but the global economy, but everybody seems to fall into two camps as to how it is all going to go down; whether it is deflation that is coming - we should prepare for that, or whether it is inflation that's coming and you should prepare for that.  Now I am an inflationist.  I am in that camp. Other people in that camp may be, like Jim Rickards or Jimmy Rogers or Marc Faber - there are a number of people who would be in the inflation camp. Deflation would be guys like Robert Prechter, Harry Dent, there are a number of guys that are looking for deflation. Defining Terms Now before I really get into it, I want to talk a little bit about the terms, so we know what we're talking about.  Let's define the terms.  What is inflation? What is deflation? The actual definition of inflation, the actual meaning of the word, is an expansion of the money supply. What does "Inflate" Really Mean? That's what inflation is; it's not about prices.  If you think of the word, "inflate" - what does inflate mean? It means to expand. You inflate a balloon; when you inflate a balloon, it expands. Prices don't expand - they go up, they go down; they don't expand. What expands?  Money supply. When the government creates money, the money supply expands, like a balloon.  It blows up. So that's what inflation is, it is an expansion of the money supply. What is Deflation? Deflation is the opposite; it is a contraction of the money supply. Now when you inflate the money supply-you create more money - you have more money bidding up prices. So inflation will result in prices going up. But prices going up is not the inflation they are the consequence of inflation. Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

30 Heinä 20192h 45min

Participate in my next YouTube Live Challenge next Monday, July 29, 9pm EDT The Topic: It’s Inflation, NOT Deflation What is Really Happening to Corporate Profits? Both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ rose to all-time record highs today; nominal highs, of course.  The Dow Jones didn't quite make it to a new high, it did close better than 50 points higher - 27,192.45, but probably the most interesting thing about the record high, is what's actually happening to corporate profits. I'm talking about operating profits, which are profits before you subtract interest and taxes.  I'm looking at some new statistics that came out today.  There were some revisions that came out from the government; some of them on the GDP, which I will get to a bit later in the podcast. Corporate Operating Profits Moved Sideways Since 2014 Just looking at corporate operating profits, it turns out that operating profits actually peaked in the third quarter of 2014.  That is while Obama was still President, a few years before Trump was President. So corporate profits - operating profits peaked in Q3 of 2014.  And they basically have been going sideways ever since, although they have been dipping recently.  If you take a look at the last quarter, operating profits are now the lowest they've been since 2011. Profits Have Gone up - but Not Operating Profits Now, the Dow Jones finished 2011 at about 12,000  - 12,200, I think was the end print. Well, we've more than doubled since then, but operating profits haven't gone anywhere. How are you doubling stock values when the profits are staying the same?  Now, of course it's not the profits - profits have gone up - but not operating profits. But operating profits are really more important if you want to look at what's going on in the companies in these averages. Operating profits is how much money the companies make from operating their businesses. Tax Cuts Boosted the Stock Market So, actual profits have risen even though operating profits have not. Why is that?  One: we got the big tax cuts. Corporate tax rates went way down so that enabled after tax earnings to rise. So that provided a boost to the U.S. stock market. But these corporate tax cuts are temporary. They are not permanent; corporate taxes are going to be raised.  Especially if I'm right about Trump being a 1-termer; the Democrat who succeeds Trump is going to raise corporate taxes. Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

27 Heinä 201956min

Participate in my next YouTube Live Challenge next Monday, July 29, 9pm EDT The Topic: It's Inflation, NOT Deflation Not to Praise the Tea Party but to Bury It President Trump originally won the Republican nomination by appealing largely to what used to be the Tea Party. A lot of Tea Party Republicans ended up embracing Donald Trump; in fact I think a lot of the support that might have otherwise gone to Rand Paul (a Tea Party favorite who went to Washington in 2010 as part of the Tea Party movement); a lot of his thunder was stolen by Trump, who appealed a lot to Tea Party Republicans. Even Tea Party Corpse Seems to Approve of its Demise When Trump went to Washington, he wasn't exactly praising the Tea Party, but few people expected that he went to Washington to bury it, either. But that's just exactly what he just did by agreeing to this budget deal with the Democrats.  The Tea Party is dead! President Trump just put the final nail into the coffin, lowered it in the ground and covered it in dirt. The irony is, nobody seems happier about this than the corpse itself! The Tea Party Republicans are not up in arms against the Commander-in-Chief. Everybody still loves Donald Trump. Where is Rick Santelli? Even the father of the Tea Party, Rick Santelli, (he is credited for getting it all going) where's Rick? Where are his tears, where's the eulogy as his child is being buried? Again, no criticism, everybody thinks Trump is great… As I said, I was back at Freedom Fest, which they should have just re-named "Trump Fest". Continuation of Policies Once Criticized by Candidate Trump Donald Trump is simply continuing all of the policies that he once criticized in order to become President. When he was running for the Republican nomination,  he was extremely critical of the big deficits under Obama. He was even critical of the big deficits under Bush. That was one of the things I liked about Trump. He was criticizing big spenders of both parties. He was supposed to be different. He was rising above politics.  He was going to drain the swamp. And draining the swamp meant putting an end to the deficits. Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

24 Heinä 201949min