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Nic Bodiford's avatar

Interesting quote from Pomboy about discretionary/non-discretionary spending.

People bought pets like crazy during the pandemic, and many of them were abandoned at shelters on thereafter. Could that spike/decrease in pet ownership partially account for the non-discretionary dip? Probably not, given the overall context, but I figured I’d throw that out there.

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Rudy Havenstein's avatar

Thanks. I have one of her recent chats in the queue.

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Nic Bodiford's avatar

“sustained high levels of employment in that period with the aid of an exceptional expansion of debt outside of the banking system…”

This might get answered as I read further but is this basically just the economy under Biden?

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Joshua Hughes's avatar

I just read Chaos by Tom O'Neil, his multidecade investigation into the Manson Family murders. He gets into the CIA, MKULTRA, COINTELPRO mind control stuff and connects it plausibly to Manson. Enjoyable and quick if shaggy read... pulls at some interesting threads (pretty convincingly pokes big holes in Helter Skelter) but never quite locks it down. Sinister Forces sounds cool.

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Rudy Havenstein's avatar

That's on my long list to get to

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Brent Piper's avatar

Those Gold and DXY charts make Gold look so good. Also with all the dollar weakening talk, which makes sense to me, and Gold going home to those who know....

Who knows what's going on with Bitcoin. Both the EO giving it reserve asset status and the new permission for banks to hold it. Both seem pretty giant and the market is happy to be insane about it.

You think Silver plays a role if we get a monetary reset? Clearly Gold will. Bitcoin seems likely to, too. Silver - seems like the closest thing to cash besides cash.

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Rudy Havenstein's avatar

I avoid talking about Bitcoin, because that’s a very crowded field and I still don’t quite ‘get’ it, much to the annoyance of some very smart people. I’m very suspicious of Trump’s crypto plans (and billionaire hangers-on). Silver I view as more of a speculative asset. I personally don’t think it will have a monetary role. I do think it’s probably cheap, but timing wise, no idea. I view gold as money.

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Brent Piper's avatar

Yeah, I know that about you and Bitcoin. Fair.

I share your crypto suspicion if your suspicion includes stable coins. This income tax will never get higher than 2%; This stable coin will never become a CBDC. And I don't trust Lutnick, for one, tho I think I've come to a similar conclusion as he considering his (Cantor's) portfolio which has gobs of Microstrategy.

Just ordered Sinister Forces. Sounds like a fun sprawl.

Thanks for your thoughts and for writing.

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Rudy Havenstein's avatar

I tried to warn people: Sinister Forces is largely about the occult influences that permeate American (and world history), with modern emphasis on U.S. intelligence's documented attempts to tap into these forces. It's not easy reading, and it's disturbing.

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Brent Piper's avatar

I've read enough Icke, that I doubt it'll be that much more heinous. I do appreciate the warning, tho.

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Rudy Havenstein's avatar

If you're reading Icke, then Sinister Forces will not shock you.

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RAD's avatar
Mar 9Edited

It was the day Assad was ousted or shortly thereafter I remember Michael Yon was on a podcast explaining that the next thing the "moderate rebels" would be doing is taking names and addresses - who was a soldier, who had a family member working for the government, who was until recently clean-shaven - to be dealt with soon enough.

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John McCullough's avatar

Most delays were the result of "permitting, entitlement, and professional services" and projects no longer being economically feasible.

When your income from prior developments dries up and/or turns negative, it can be hard to pay for the services needed to start the next project, raising your concern about just how profitable it may be

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John McCullough's avatar

Love Groman's summary. And love the Bernanke quote, back from the days before we descended all the way into Fantasyland. No matter what you say, once you start down the path of monetary accommodation, the end point becomes inevitable, a combination of math and human nature.

I wonder how many of our elected elite realize the reality, and are just trying to keep the party going to amass as much personal wealth as possible to insulate themselves and their families from the debacle to follow

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Wildcat's avatar

Log and linear charts? Love em! Rudy, I had a hunch that deep inside you are a linear kind of guy. I just knew it!

NDX//M2? Very telling. An excellent and somewhat scary chart. Great post.

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Melody Wright's avatar

Excellent. Looking forward to starting Sinister Forces :)

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Rudy Havenstein's avatar

It’s not light reading. I keep getting lost in other books in the footnotes.

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Reston6's avatar

"whereas American assassins acted alone."

Sure Jan.

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