from Forbes Breaking News
Expect Hyper-Accelerated Currency Devaluation in 2025
from King World News
Investors around the world need to buckle up because the world is going to see hyper-accelerated currency devaluation in 2025.
November 20 (King World News) – Gregory Mannarino, writing for the Trends Journal: The people of the world and the economy of the world are in a transition phase. A transition into a new system with a new set of rules.
Global debt is surging as the world economy is free-falling. Here in the U.S., we have factory activity, manufacturing, industrial output, along with business activity overall in contraction.
Moreover, ever since the beginning of the year we are getting mass corporate layoffs (which was one of my main “themes” I said would happen at the end of last year moving into 2024). With that, debt and deficits continue to HYPER-INFLATE.
ECB’s Own Measure of Wage Increases Blows Fuse, Sets Off Alarms About Stubbornly Hot Services Inflation
by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Meanwhile, the ECB’s QT marches on, balance sheet has shed €2.45 trillion since the peak, or 59% of its pandemic QE.
The ECB’s own measure of wage increases, its index of “Negotiated Wages,” is based on collective bargaining agreements after they were negotiated between employers and organizations that represent workers. It’s a forward-looking measure, reflecting wage increases that are going to be implemented soon. “Negotiated wages” cover about two-thirds of the Euro Area economy. These “negotiated wages” exclude bonuses, overtime, and other individual compensation that is not linked to collective bargaining.
And it blew a fuse today. In Q3, “negotiated wages” spiked by 5.4% year-over-year, according to the ECB today, after the false-hope deceleration in Q2.
The Impact of Inflation On the 2024 Presidential Election
Johns Hopkins political economist David A. Steinberg explains how rising costs dampened enthusiasm for Kamala Harris and played a key role in Donald Trump’s victory
by Claire Goudreau
John Hopkins University
Rising costs were top of mind as voters cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election. According to exit polls from CBS News, 75% of voters reported that inflation had caused moderate or severe hardship for them over the past year, with 45% saying they were worse off now than they were four years ago. During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to end inflation and strengthen the economy. Political economy professor David A. Steinberg explains the role inflation played in the election outcome and what might happen next.
How has inflation affected Americans over the past few years?
Inflation in the United States reached 9% in 2022, meaning that the average cost of goods and services went up by that amount. That is the highest rate of inflation that this country has experienced in over 40 years. Inflation has slowed down considerably since that time, with the overall price level rising just over 2% per year now, but the price level today is more than 20% higher than it was four years ago. As a result, many Americans cannot afford to buy as many things as they otherwise would.
What’s Up with Buffett and His $325 Billion Pile of Cash?
by James Hickman
Schiff Sovereign
Much has been written about Warren Buffett having sold a substantial amount of stocks. And his company, Berkshire Hathaway, is sitting on a record $325 billion cash pile as a result.
Buffett has often said that his preferred holding period for an investment is “forever”. So the fact that he has sold so much stock has many observers proclaiming that “Buffett is predicting an imminent stock market crash.”
Except that he’s not. Buffett is a pretty transparent guy who has never been afraid to speak his mind. If he were predicting a crash, he’d probably say it.
Besides, Buffett has sold plenty of stocks in the past; this is not an anomaly. In 2022 and 2023, for example, he dumped shares of Chevron, Activision Blizzard, Taiwan Semiconductor, and HP.
Cuellar: People Suffering with Inflation ‘Don’t Want to Talk About’ ‘Joy’ Like National Democrats Did
by Ian Hanchett
Breitbart.com
On Tuesday’s broadcast of “NewsNation Now,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) argued that Democrats “need to focus on strong border security,” and that another takeaway from the 2024 election is that “People don’t want to talk about the talk of joy, like the Democrats did at the national level, when they’re hurting in paying prices for the eggs and the [milk] and the bread every day.” And Democrats need to focus on cost of living issues.
Cuellar said, “Certainly, we need to focus on what’s important to the working class. I would say this: Look, in Starr County, for example, that has not elected a Republican — or voted for a Republican in 125 years. Trump got 57% of the vote there. I got almost 70% of the vote. So, I was able to focus, and Democrats need to focus on strong border security, number one.
Fed’s Schmid Prepares for Interest Rate Decisions Amid Uncertain Inflation Trends
by Finimize Newsroom
Finimize
What’s going on here?
Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid is keeping a watchful eye on interest rates as inflation drifts toward the Fed’s 2% target – highlighting uncertainties despite recent rate reductions.
What does this mean?
Recent economic data offers glimmers of hope, with gains in labor and product markets balancing economic conditions and bolstering confidence in achieving the Fed’s inflation goals. Yet, Schmid stays cautious about interest rate paths, not committing to a rate cut at December’s meeting. His voting position next year means a meticulous monetary policy approach is key. Factors like demographics and productivity could redefine inflation dynamics, while ongoing fiscal deficits might demand high rates to curb inflation. Schmid underscores central bank independence as crucial to avert political pressures from disrupting inflation control.
Inflation May Not Be Tamed. How Commodities Can Protect Your Portfolio.
If prices start rising again, copper, corn, and oil could offer protection.
by Andrew Bary
Barron’s
The Bloomberg Commodity Index, a leading gauge, is down 2% this year against the 25% gain in the S&P 500 index. That comes after a 13% drop in 2023, when the equity benchmark returned 26%.
Most retail investors have little or no direct exposure to commodities, even as so-called alternatives like private equity, real estate, and private credit prove increasingly popular with wealthy individuals. A Goldman Sachs survey of family offices—ultrahigh-net-worth families that manage their own money—found that they had just a 1% allocation to commodities, against 26% for private equity.
A Tight Housing Market and Inflation Are Holding Back the Remodeling Business
Lowe’s said it’s seeing less demand for expensive DIY home projects.
by Sarina Trangle
Investopedia
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The DIY crowd isn’t doing it for Lowe’s.
In a tight housing market, Americans are remodeling less, and that’s challenging for a “DIY dominant business” like Lowe’s, CEO Marvin Ellison said during an earnings call Tuesday. Fewer people are looking to market a home or make it their own: Housing turnover is near a 30-year low, Ellison said, while Americans are still feeling squeezed by high interest rates and inflation.
“Continued underlying pressure in big-ticket discretionary—so, categories like kitchen and bath, flooring and décor—[we] really continue to just see that tied to the macro,” CFO Brandon Sink said, according to a transcript of the call made available by AlphaSense.
In response, executives said, Lowe’s Cos. (LOW) has been trying to focus its core customer on less expensive projects like painting, and generate excitement with a rewards program. The retailer is also trying to serve more home contractors, they said.
U.K. CPI Inflation Rebounds to 2.3% YoY in October vs 2.2% Expected
United Kingdom’s annual CPI jumped 2.3% in October vs. 2.2% estimate.
by FXStreet Team
FX Street
The United Kingdom (UK) Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at an annual rate of 2.3% in October after increasing by 1.7% in September, the data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Wednesday.
Data beat the expectations for a 2.2% acceleration, moving back above the Bank of England’s (BoE) 2.0% target.
Core CPI (excluding volatile food and energy items) edged higher by 3.3% YoY in October as against a 3.2% growth in September while outpacing the market forecast of 3.1%.
The UK October Services CPI inflation advanced to 5.0% YoY in October versus September’s 4.9%.
Breitbart Business Digest: How Bidenomics Triggered the Inflation Crisis and Cost Democrats Everything
by John Carney
Breitbart.com
How Biden’s Spending Explosion Caused the Inflation Crisis
Now that the election is safely in the past, we are finally getting some clarity about the economically damaging inflation that crippled Joe Biden’s presidency and swept the legs out from Kamala Harris’s attempt to become the 47th president.
The Wall Street Journal on Sunday night published a piece by Nick Timiraos, the paper’s chief economics correspondent and the nation’s leading Fed interpreter. Timiraos’s status as the Fed’s main conduit for indirectly communicating with investors and the public and as the Journal‘s top economic news guy is important to understanding the impact of this story.