BLOOMBERG – September 5, 2017: Trump agreed to support new weapons sales to South Korea and Japan. (BATTLEFORWORLD: And this is what it is all about, panicking Japan and South Korea to buy more US dollars for the US to create more debt to meet its balance sheet in September, using North Korea.) In a phone conversation on Monday with South Korean President Moon Jae-In, Trump said he would support “in principle” the U.S. ally fitting its missiles with heavier warheads, boosting its deterrence against North Korea. (BATTLEFORWORLD: These updated missiles will be used to target China and Russia, but they already know this – the game that is being played.)
A day later, Trump tweeted: “I am allowing Japan & South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States.” Link: Read Complete Article
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North Korea Bomb Test Sends Jitters (i.e. Happiness) Through Wall Street
CNBC – September 5, 2017: U.S. equities fell on Tuesday, the first trading day of the week, as tension between North Korea and the West sent jitters down Wall Street. (BATTLEFORWORLD: So investors can buy low. This panicking roller coaster will not be indefinite, because the stock market is going to crash one day with no recovery insight.)
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped about 170 points, with United Technologies and Goldman Sachs contributing the most to the losses. United Technologies’ stock dropped after announcing a $30 billion mega-deal to buy Rockwell Collins. Link: Read Complete Article
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US National Debt Tops $20 Trillion
CNSNEWS – September 11, 2017: The federal debt officially surpassed $20 trillion for the first time on Friday, as the debt subject to the legal limit set by Congress jumped $317,645,000,000 in one day–following President Donald Trump’s signing of a spending-and-debt-limit deal that will fund the government through Dec. 8.
At the close of business on Thursday, Sept. 7, according to the Daily Treasury Statement for Friday, the total debt of the federal government was $19,844,587,000,000 and the portion of it subject to the legal limit set by Congress was $19,808,747,000. After President Trump signed the legislation suspending the debt limit, the total debt immediately jumped to $20,162,177,000,000 and the portion of it subject to the limit jumped to $20,126,392,000,000, according to the Daily Treasury Statement for Sept. 8, 2017.
That means the total debt jumped $317,590,000,000 on the day it officially topped $20 trillion for the first time and that the part of the debt subject to the legal limit jumped $317,645,000,000 on that day. Link: Read Complete Article
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Hundreds Scuffle With Police Over US THAAD Launcher Deployment In South Korea
RT – September 6, 2017: Residents of the South Korean province of Gyeongsangbuk-do have taken to the streets objecting to the local installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Hundreds of protesters confronted police, the Yonhap news agency reports. (BATTLEFORWORLD: It appears that the South Koreans are aware of the deception and are protesting.)
Nearly 400 people showed up in front of the community’s administrative building to protest the deployment of the advanced US missile defense system. The standoff occurred near the future site of the rocket launchers at the US base in Seongju, some 300 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of the capital.
Injuries have been reported among the residents, as police officers tried to scatter the crowd. The protesters reportedly tried to break into the administration building. Link: Read Complete Article
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September Bringing Tons of Catalysts to Shatter Market Calm
BLOOMBERG – September 5, 2017: Debt ceiling ‘brinkmanship’ looms along with German election. Cascade of central-bank decisions due amid tame inflation.
Welcome to the cruelest month for U.S. equities.
The S&P 500 Index limps into September after stalling amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula and historic flooding in Texas. Those broke a stretch of calm that’ll be hard to replicate in a month loaded with major events that could set the tone on financial markets the rest of the year — from a dozen G-20 central bank decisions to a deadline on the U.S.’s ability to pay its bills and elections in Europe and Oceania.
Here’s what’s coming. Central Bankapalooza:
The fate of currency and bond markets will hinge on a slew of central bank policy meetings and speeches, with the euro the most likely to get jostled as the European Central Bank decides the timeline for ending its unconventional easing.
Treasuries, meanwhile, have been on a tear — something that’s got to start to concern Federal Reserve officials looking to begin the process of balance sheet normalization as soon as on Sept. 20.
“Now, when QE is about to be reversed, I don’t see any papers or speeches talking about the coming big negative impact on equities, widening credit spreads, and boosting yields,” he wrote of monetary policymakers who championed the benefits of asset purchasing programs. “It cannot be asymmetric such that QE only has positive effects and reversing QE will have no negative effects.”
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BofA: Even The Bubbles Are Becoming More “Bubbly” Thanks To Central Banks
ZEROHEDGE – September 5, 2017: Back in June, Citi’s credit strategist Hans Lorenzen pointed out that while QE had failed to spark inflation across the broader economy, it had achieved something else: “the principal transmission channel to the real economy has been… lifting asset prices.” That however has required continuous CB balance sheet growth, and with the Fed, ECB and BOJ all poised to “renormalize” over the next year, the global monetary impulse is set to turn negative in the coming year. Meanwhile, as financial markets scramble to maximize every last ounce of what central bank impulse remains, we get such bubbles as London real estate, bitcoin and vintage cars, or as Citi puts it: “the wealth effect is stretching farther and farther afield.” Link: Read Complete Article
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