Europe’s Banks Begin to Fail

Guess who did eventually bail out Greece.

An article from 2011 with lessons to learn from for today:

 

A chain reaction is set in motion—and a lot of people are going to get hurt.

The date is May 11, 1931. Creditanstalt, a little-known Austrian bank, suddenly announces it can’t make its debt payments. An unstoppable chain reaction results.

Bank failure, stock market crash, mass business closures, 25 percent unemployment, trade wars, runaway inflation, multiple currency collapses, the Great Depression, World War ii. All of it began with a little-known bank in a small country in the heart of Europe.

That is history. And it is happening again.

A similar epoch-changing event may be about to occur in Europe.

Lowest Ever: The Baltic Dry Index Plunges To 394 As Global Trade Grinds To A Standstill

 

For the first time ever, the Baltic Dry Index has fallen under 400.  As I write this article, it is sitting at 394.  To be honest, I never even imagined that it could go this low.  Back in early August, the Baltic Dry Index was sitting at 1,222, and since then it has been on a steady decline.  Of course the Baltic Dry Index crashed hard just before the great stock market crash of 2008 too, but at this point it is already lower than it was during that entire crisis.  This is just more evidence that global trade is grinding to a halt and that 2016 is going to be a “cataclysmic year” for the global economy.

Forgetting National Security, Ignoring Truth

 

The 1992 presidential election turned on one key phrase: “It’s the economy, stupid.” The Cold War had been won. America was the sole superpower of the world. We had just won the Gulf War. And, Americans were tired. We wanted to enjoy our prosperity. It was at that moment that we officially began to separate and silo the critical issues of the day. President Reagan, twelve years before, had integrated three critical issues and focused the whole of his administration on them. These were known collectively as Reagan’s “three-legged stool.” Judeo-Christian Values. Free Market Economics. Strong National Defense. But when Clinton arrived, we were told that the economy mattered most. What a President does in his private life is irrelevant so long as the economy is booming, or so we were told. Who cares if something called al Qaeda attacks targets overseas? Why should that matter as long as we have the most powerful weapons?

Will the Stock Market Crash in 2016?

China’s stock market crash on Monday triggered its first ever halt and rattled markets worldwide.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average lost 3.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.7%, and South Korea’s Kospi declined 2.2%.

UBS: A Stock Market Crash Is Inevitable

The bull market is about to end, says UBS’ Julian Emanuel.

For months we’ve been warning of a stock market crash.

Money Morning Capital Wave Strategist Shah Gilani – a former CBOE trader, co-creator of the VIX (“fear index”), and hedge fund manager – has seen a bear market just over the horizon since March 2014.

America Is About to Import a Global Debt Crisis

A global debt crisis is coming. The warning signs have been emerging for months.

“This market instability is not going away. It’s been building for six years. It can only end one way – with a ‘Super Crash,'” Money Morning Global Credit Strategist Michael E. Lewitt told readers back on Sept. 8. “It’s not just China that’s creating this next (much worse) sell-off. It’s also the massive, $200 trillion global debt bubble that’s driving the world economy to its knees.”

Berlin WEC Nov 28th/29th

 

Unquestionably, there is now an overwhelming majority of people who are predicting A Stock Market Crash In The Fall Of 2015. Most are centered on our target date plus or minus a few days. We are in a period where the central banks are against the wall and are indeed defenseless against any market implosion.

An Expert That Correctly Called The Last Two Stock Market Crashes Is Now Predicting Another One

 

What I am about to share with you is quite stunning.  A well-respected financial expert that correctly predicted the last two stock market crashes is now warning that we are right on the verge of the next one.  John Hussman is a former professor of economics and international finance at the University of Michigan, and the information in his latest weekly market comment is staggering.  Since 1970, there have only been a handful of times when a combination of market signals that Hussman uses have indicated that a major market peak has been reached.  In 1972, 2000 and 2007 each of those peaks was followed by a dramatic stock market crash.  Now, for the first time since the last financial crisis, all four of those signals appeared once again during the week of July 17th.  If Hussman’s analysis is correct, this could very well mean that the next great stock market crash in the United States is imminent.

It was an excellent article by Jim Quinn of the Burning Platform that first alerted me to Hussman’s latest warning.  If you don’t follow Quinn’s work already, you should, because it is excellent.

When someone is repeatedly correct about the financial markets, we should all start paying attention.  Back in late 2007, Hussman warned us about what was coming in 2008, but most people did not listen.

“I’m Not Crazy, I’m Scared” – Why For One Trader, This Time It Is Different

Bloomberg’s Richard Breslow, author of “Trader’s Notes” is painfully accurate with his latest take on the “markets.”

I’m Not Crazy, I’m Scared

…

Over the last three days, we have reported that some of the most important investment voices in the world are more than a little scared about the ravenous appetite for risk playing out in the market, and the fact that they have been ignored is beyond unnerving. Central banks are driving all investment decisions, and what this implies is that they are in this trade so  deeply that there is no obvious or practical exit.

Federal Reserve Insider Alan Greenspan Warns: There Will Be a “Significant Market Event… Something Big Is Going To Happen”

 

With the Federal Reserve printing trillions upon trillions of dollars to keep the economic system afloat, many investors and financial pundits have surmised that the fundamental economic problems facing the United States during the crash of 2008 have been resolved. Stocks are, after all, at historic highs.

Oil Is a Warning of What’s to Come

 

Weeks ago, we first warned that the collapse in Oil was a BIG sign of trouble brewing in the financial system.

Indeed, in the larger picture, Oil just called “BS” on the whole claim that any economic growth or recovery post-2009 was legitimate. For five years, Oil prices remained elevated, suggesting that there was some kind of economic recovery underway… that there was growth, however anemic.

Charles Nenner — Who’s Been Warning Of Market Collapses For Years — Warns A ‘Major Collapse’ Is Coming In 2018

Charles Nenner, who has claimed to have never been wrong on a market call, appeared on CNBC and warned that deflation and a stock market crash both coming.

Nenner, who developed the “Nenner cycle,” which he says can time the ups and downs of any market, said on CNBC that “for the next many years, you will not see the S&P more than 5% higher than [current levels.]”

But he warns this period of low returns will be followed years of large losses.

Billionaire Warns: Yellen Collapse ‘Will Be Unlike Any Other’

Another horrific stock market crash is coming, and the next bust will be “unlike any other” we have seen.

That’s the message from Jeremy Grantham, co-founder and chief investment strategist of GMO, a Boston-based firm with $117 billion in assets under management.

Grantham pulls no punches when assigning responsibility for the coming financial carnage. In a recent interview with The New York Times, he calls Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen “ignorant” and says the Federal Reserve all but killed the economic recovery.

Is the West Finally Waking up to Reality? Is it Too Late?

When we first started writing this Blog in 2011, few ever considered economic warfare. When we pointed out Vladimir Putin’s threats against the dollar, few paid attention. When we explained the risk of EMP, few cared to listen. When we stated that World War 3 could be around the corner, few understood. But, over the past weeks we have seen a slow recognition of these realities. The unfortunate thing is that this recognition is only beginning. And the threat is escalating quickly.

Here are some of the headlines and excerpts from four critical articles over the past week. The first from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard explains the reality of economic warfare:

US financial showdown with Russia is more dangerous than it looks, for both sides