Unemployment and Options Matter. OK, Cases, Too

We can roll first with the Big Number of the day – which is the number of people filing for first-time unemployment this week:

In the week ending May 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 2,981,000, a decrease of 195,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 7,000 from 3,169,000 to 3,176,000.

The 4-week moving average was 3,616,500, a decrease of 564,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 7,000 from 4,173,500 to 4,180,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 15.7 percent for the week ending May 2, an increase of 0.3 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.1 from 15.5 to 15.4 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 2 was 22,833,000, an increase of 456,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

The previous week’s level was revised down by 270,000 from 22,647,000 to 22,377,000. The 4-week moving average was 19,760,000, an increase of 2,729,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 67,500 from 17,097,750 to 17,030,250.

Yes, in case you’re wondering, this is going down faster than the Great Depression.

Stocks in “Trouble?”

Oh, duh.  Options expiration today.  So look for more “froth” than usual today (downside) and tomorrow a covering rally – maybe.  Next week?  Who knows.,

Based on the early futures today, here’s one way to consider things.

The biggest yellow box is Wave 1 down.  The big greenie is the wave 2 up.  More boxes define the 5 waves each…

I would draw your attention to that mighty-stylish yellow arrow which points to a horizontal red band.  Until the market gets down (and lower) than that level, there is still a chance that the market could rally as the top of the II box.

A worst of all things would be to drop to the red line, then bounce 0.618% and then start down again.  That’d be the time to cozy up with the dust bunnies and hang out under the bed for a while.  Because the modern world will be collapsing from sight.  People will discover “paper” ain’t exactly a strong foundation for cooperative society.

Politically, both corporate-owned political front organizations are trying to work it:  Dems want utter collapse.  Reprobates want to make up Weimar paper, so’s no one will notice.  Confused?

“What-zit Mean?”

You don’t need to be “papered in economics” of any kind to grok what’s going on:  There is a Titanic battle for the future underway.  As one of our readers summed up in a very good comment earlier this morning:

“Once the spiral of defaults and bankruptcies begins to be fueled by imploding social mood, helicopter money will run down the Wall Street Rabbit holes. If all the helicopter money goes only to finance ever-expanding defaults by hedge funds and other monetary leeches, the monetary hyperinflation never makes it to the street level except in the form of government paralysis and expanding private and sovereign defaults. At the consumer level, deflation and hyperinflation exist simultaneously in a dizzying pattern. The illusion of stability and control evaporates. Depressions do not favor debtors or normalcy biases.

While the virus may have been the black swan economic event, it is now simply an environmental hazard. The real danger is in depression, which is giving the appearance of already being in a self-perpetuating downward spiral. Credit deflation with random consumer hyperinflation looks to be on the menu.”

Which, if you’re paying attention, is what we have been worried about ever since this outbreak (release?) of the bioweapon occurred – something those in “official-dumb” as still ass-covering on and afraid to tell us the Truth.

Bioweapon? Jury Still Out, But….

Not on it being a bioweapon.  Just on the (minor?) detail about whether its release was intentional or accidental.  Nukes hang in the balance on the answer to that one.

Let’s build up a simple statistical reason why it looks like a bioweapon:

  • China  pop. 1,380,000,000.  Cases: 84,025.  1 case per 15,423 people.
  • U.S.  pop. 327,000,000  Cases: 1,390,764  1 case per 235 people.
  • Germany  pop. 80,600,000  Cases: 174,098  1 case per 463 people.
  • U.K.  pop. 65,800,000  Cases: 230,985  1 case per 284 people.
  • Japan  pop. 126,000,000  Cases:  16,049  1 case per 7,851 people.
  • Singapore  pop. 5,890,000  Cases: 26,098  1 case per 226 people.

Those countries where masks were acceptable going in (Japan) and where there was a Gestapo-like smash to lock people in (like China), the case incidences were low. At least what was admitted was low.  Open societies with little social distancing (up front) got hammered.

Which gets us to this morning’s data.  In our latest roll through the data, globally we should be over 5-million cases by May 24, or so.  And we are on track to pass half-a-million dead globally first week of June.

Then the “magic of compounding” kicks in for the summer.  Labor Day is Monday September 7, this year.  By then, our numbers are estimating global cases could be as high as 115-million.  The global death toll would then pencil out in the 6.3-million range And the U.S. death toll could be as high as 1.7 million deaths on nearly 37-million cases.

Rather remarkably, the global markets are not even  beginning to reflect this rising calamity-in-waitingInstead, normalcy bias continues.  And the usual spew of political bullshit pretending that $3-trillion in democrat-backed spending of made-up money will help.  While the Trumpsters are trying to push “back to work” we can’t help thinking the world has gone absolutely bonkers.

If you need help:  This is a potential planet-killer, though in very slow-motion.  It is a bioweapon-on-the-loose problem and that’s a medical problem.  Anything you hear that links politics to the outcome will be purely incidental distraction.

Did You Resupply?

Not to be a nag here, but You have one mission:  Survive this shit.  Three years from now, the Global Depression will be well underway and life will be sketchy and unpredictable.  Power, phones, and the internet may all be “up and down” and the US and China will be on  the verge of war before then

If you want to make “paper money” – have at it.  We’re just stupid enough to keep investing in  the actual things of survival and not the  phony representations of success in the current paradigm.

Just a silly-me guess here:  Owning solar panels and an inverter could be much deliver much more status than, oh, say an electric car, which can’t be charged with tyhe grid down.

Don’t mean to sound glum, but AYFKM?  This is the “rally” in the collapse you will have been using to double-up your preps and brace.  If you’ve been paying any attention, at all.

Things That Don’t (or Marginally)  Matter

Yet fill up our excess news capacity and capture small minds so they miss the Big Ugly Reality (BUR) now unfolding.  Like fer-instance…

This isn’t really painful, right?  Toke-up before reading: Consumer Financial Stress Index Declines, in Reversal, As Policymaking Actions Temporarily Relieve Pain.

We see CNN has found a story suitable for their talents: Everything you need to know about cutting your own bangs, with Farrah Fawcett’s hair stylist.”

Speaking of genius-level reporting, how about CNBC’sThe jobs recovery could be choppy, with some coming back quickly and others lost forever…”  (They figured this out without help?  Saddle up my robot so I can ride over and talk to these ol’ boys…)

And while we’re on smart people, Fortune has “CEOs don’t see a full economic rebound happening for years.”  My, aren’t CEO’s smart?  We repeat:  Any company with a stock buyback in the last two years should get zero public bailout dough (which includes the Fed made-up money).

Better odds than Publishers Clearinghouse? Some Social Security recipients to get stimulus checks today.

This is so much fun we’ll have to do it again tomorrow.  Off for a nice before-breakfast flogging now.

Write when you get rich,

george@ure.net

63 thoughts on “Unemployment and Options Matter. OK, Cases, Too”

  1. Me? (if I was younger) I would start up a chain of home schooling services. There’s been an obvious break in the traditional centralized schooling and between the continued coronavirus threat and internet schooling potential a significant number of (many unable to find jobs anyway) parents will choose home schooling.

  2. I can charge my Chevy Bolt EV from my solar power when the grid is down by using the 110 v charger that came with the vehicle but not the Level 2 240 v charger. Of course it takes much longer.

    • Very instructive lesson is to hook it all up and do some test recharging.
      The Bolt battery is 60 Kwhrs. So, assuming you have not a lick of loss in your inverter and ten 100 watt panels (for 1,000 watts) at a nominal 24 volts, by the time you step up to the 350 nominal for the Bolt, you will lose 15% in the up conversion.
      That is, at 100 percent discharge, your Bolt will take 60-hours of direct sunlight, or about 10-days to fully charge (assume 6 hours of direct sunlight and high efficiency panels). Since you will need an inverter (and a buffer battery for when clouds go over) more like another 15% loss, so Maybe 12 days, assuming no clouds…

      • I have a 8 kW system with battery backup so the 110 v charging system doesn’t provide much of a problem.

  3. “DID YOU RESUPPLY?”

    Always……

    Everyone has always thought I was a slight bit crazy because I keep a can or two extra.. but..

    I went through some pretty tough times.. some Really tough times.. if you haven’t walked twelve miles to go to work.. or you haven’t had to scrape gain up off of the ground to pound into a gruel.. shivered in a down sleeping bag good to thirty below zero.. you haven’t a clue..
    the problem with the youth and privilaged of today.. they have never had to deal with things like that.. they had daddy and mommy that would bail them out.. or get them the good jobs.. give them a start..

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Stewart_(philanthropist)

    similar to larry.. I had some really tough times.. been there done that.. someone saved me each time.. I swore I would never forget where I had been and I haven’t.. I am not a wealthy man make less than probably most of the people reading this’s lunch money..
    but I help where I can.. give a hand up..
    IN todays ME world very few do consider those.. People don’t have a clue.. this goes south.. they are the ones that will suffer the most.. where industrialists and executives of large firms should be looking out for the employees.. they aren’t.. even with the cares act.. who got it.. they gave the most away to those that will take a fifty million dollar bonus and never think twice about the lady with a sick child in the mail room..
    that is the world we live in.. where if they just considered them for a little bit.. they would have employees like the ceo of my fathers firm.. that will not only protect them but work for them and do the very best.. the schindler’s of the world..
    If this follows the path of the weimer depression or there is a war.. the ones that are usually targeted are those in power.. the wealthy.. the concentration camps were filled with wealthy jew’s.. their goods were stolen right down to their gold fillings.. its similar to when I was in dire pain.. I was in so much pain I cannot even tell you just how miserable I was.. but.. today.. even though I lived it I cannot remember that pain.. it is the same thing I think.. if you haven’t ever lived it.. you can’t even imagine what you will be facing.. in your mind you will think the electricity will always be on.. the gas in the pumps.. and there will be a supply line..
    Now I am hearing from people I know and trust that there will be a supply line cut.. a shortage of many goods.. so resupply.. the money well your smart.. you have to be smart to be on urban survival.. reading.. you know just from reading Georges take on things coming that the dollar is gone.. it is just a matter of time before it is seen in real life..
    it takes teamwork and disipline to gather what will be needed.. do it one can at a time.. or one roll of toilet paper at a time..

  4. George,

    Have you read about Dr. David Brenner’s research into far ultraviolet light for sanitizing the air in buildings, etc.

    Of course we know that UV in certain frequencies is harmful to humans or other mammals. Causing such things as cataracts and/or skin cancer. However, Dr. Brenner’s research has shown that UV in the 222 nm range proves to be safe for humans; while killing airborne microbes (including the flu virus) in indoor environments.

    There is a firm in Kansas City that is producing these lights for commercial applications. Haven’t heard about this on the lame stream media? Doesn’t fit the vac and track paradigm pushed by Big Pharma and Bill Gates. It would be too simple to ramp up production of a product that could make workplaces, etc., safe for the general public.

    After all, we have to keep the economy flat on its’ arse; to increase the chances of getting a “one world government” stooge elect this November.

    Seems that according to Dr. Brenner’s research, UV light in this range, more or less blows apart viruses; such that they cannot reconstruct. But I am sure that Dr. Fauci will say that we need at least 10 years of peer review by him and his ilk to make certain that we can use the technology. Just because several members of the NIH board own stock in Gilead (which produces Remdesevar), has no bearing on his opinion. Same reason that a proven drug Hydroxychloroquine cannot be used because it is cheap and works when paired with zinc and Zithromiacin.

    In the meantime, keep your vitamin C and D levels up; and continue to practice safe social interaction.

    • Safe social interaction – we live hermit like.
      Closest LED lamps for 222nm are not available – incandescents – very low efficiency and not suited to biomedical.
      But yes – we’ve covered it

  5. Throw me on as a “false flag in Lansing” today.

    I think something is fishy and I think the murder cycle is soon.

  6. https://www.infowars.com/watch-live-flashpoint-for-tyranny-the-nwos-last-stand/

    an interesting video..

    they forget medical… most of our medications and our equipment and supplies are supplied from other area’s.. the medical feild is very fragile.. they rely on insurance premiums and payments to survive.. with the loss of jobs.. is the loss of insurance.. most places won’t see or treat you without it or the payment up front.. we all know that you cannot do that.. the medical system broken already is really screwed this time..
    it was one in three people without the ability to pay.. today it will be almost everyone.. once insurance raises the costs.. ( one friend was told the his renewal was going to be sixty percent higher.)

    • Samaritan Ministries!!! Samaritan Ministries!!! Samaritan Ministries!!! MediShare! MediShare!! Medishare!!! Liberty HealthShare!!!!

      When will America WAKE UP, and QUIT the Insurance SCAM????

      Galatians 6:2

      Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

      • “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

        SM.. you have something there…
        I love to watch birds and other animals.. two of my favorite hobbies is to look at fluffy clouds and see how many different shapes I can see in them..
        and watch the animals.. people think that they are mindless.. no purpose.. but I see other wise..
        take the local squirrel.. Rocky.. yup I name them.. put corn out for rocky and the mrs.. one day rocky brought her to the corn pile and I got a picture someplace of rocky with his little arm around her as they ate corn..in the spring.. there was baby rocky and he was playing hide and seek from his parents..
        then there is the finch.. had a nest in the tree.. rocky comes over and the momma finch is giving ole rocky hell.. get away from my nest… rocky of course seen little momma as no threat to him and kept edging closer and closer to the nest…
        momma flys like a bat out of hell to the light post a block away.. you could hear her frantic chirps.. all of a sudden birds of every color and race came flying like hell to her nest and chased ole rocky back home.. it was funnier than hell.. every bird in hearing distance came to her rescue…
        yesterday.. the little sparrow.. she has a bunch of little babies in her nest.. is busy trying to find food to feed them.. you could see her frustraition as she searched.. she was squaking away and a bunch of other birds came landed around her and just stood there..
        I wondered what in the world are they doing.. she flys over to one he takes off.. she picks something up and flys to her nest.. then comes back and lands next to another one that flew off.. the other birds obviously had landed to show her were there was food to feed her babies..
        a few years ago.. a meadowlark was flying.. had a snake in its beak.. dam thing was bigger than the bird as he struggled to get into full flight.. the image of a female bird telling him he was a lousy provider came to mind.. and the thought the bird might of had.. I will show you whos a lousy provider.. so here you go.. LOL…
        animals are amazing.. peanut the rabbit.. I would be pulling weeds in the garden and peanut would be sitting at my feet eating.. a few times came up to the wife and you could tell that in the dead of winter couldn’t find food.. we took out a carrot.. Jackie.. safe in a cage.. lived in the back yard.. my grandson was so worried about jack the bunny not having food that he would go out and take it a carrot every day.. the thing would come right up to him and take it from his fingers.. well we caught it and it lives safely in a cage.. the grandson gets to hold it because they both seem to like each other.. before we caught it .. he fell on his bike.. the rabbit that was watching him ran off.. then came back to make sure he was ok.. LOL well we found out right away that jack the bunny was .. in real life Jackie the rabbit.. she had babies.. snowball and thumper.. ghost.. is peanuts baby lives under the lilac bush.. if you are lucky.. you can get a glimpse of it eating the sugar beats I planted for the animals.. you know who it is by this funky thing with its tail.. we keep hoping that the blue jay will come back.. for a bit we didn’t put out the feeder.. when the owl came to live close by he vanished.. my hope is he hasn’t been eaten by the owl..

  7. April 2020 Cass Freight Index® Collapsed by 22.7%

    This should get your attention.

  8. I should be realy concerned but for the fact my doctors tried to stage my death 2 years back for insurance moneys..

  9. “Any company with a stock buyback in the last two years should get zero public bailout dough (which includes the Fed made-up money).” – In my opinion, companies should not get any bailout, all companies and people should have prepared during the good times for the bad times. But I have a problem with singling out companies that returned money to investors using stock buyback, vs those that returned money to investors with dividends, fundamentally they are very similar just taxed differently. Maybe some other metric on taking on new debt and still paying out with stock buyback or dividends. If a company was taking on new debt while doing either of the payouts, then perhaps they have been cooking the books instead of properly running your company.

    • “In my opinion, companies should not get any bailout, all companies and people should have prepared during the good times for the bad times.”

      That should apply to individuals as well. Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” should have been in every body’s Curriculum, JMHO.

  10. Cash is king in a depression. You don’t have to make a lot of money on your investments…you just have to not lose your money. The purchasing power of cash increases in a deflationary collapse. There is a museum in St. Augustine, Florida which is full of items a regular guy bought from wealthy people in the depression for pennies on the dollar because they needed cash….fabulous works of art, etc. Right now it is estimated that we have already seen about 10 Trillion dollars of asset destruction. They are talking about a 3 Trillion dollar stimulus package…good luck with that. It won’t make a bit of difference and we wont hyperinflate. It is all being swallowed up in a deflationary black hole.

    • This is exactly true… depending on how you define “cash.”

      During the Depression, the USD was a “new issue” (series of 1934A, IIRC), a very young currency, and so was both trusted and respected (and also fractionally-backed by both gold & silver). TODAY, WE ARE ON THAT SAME SERIES OF CURRENCY, meaning it is now very old (and no-longer backed by anything except the US Navy). Our favored “cash” is at the end of its life expectancy, and when the SHTF will not survive. The most-stable currency right now is, unfortunately, probably the Mexican Peso. Would you bet your future on Cartel-land? I certainly wouldn’t.

      So, that gets us back to “how do you define cash…”

    • @Gary

      Really Now…Would YOU take a TRILLION DOLLAR Zimbabwe Note Today for anything….

      and by the way…MONEY in that depression you site…was REAL….coin of the realm….NOT today’s FIAT/cash…They ain’t the same

  11. This is too funny G.

    – U really seem to believe U will be able to get along independently – living there all alone in the East Texas outback.

    NEWS FLASH !

    We Have been INCEPTED..duhoooh!

    “we are the Borg, lower Ure shields and surrender Ure ships. We will add Ure biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Ure culture will adapt to to service Us. Resistance is Futile.”

    “Freedom is irrelevant, self-determination is irrelevant. U must comply” -Borg Collective/CFR.

    here in the great state of Pennsyltucky – our fugly Secretary of Health pulled He-She’s own Mother out of Nursing Home – just as He-She was Ordering State Nursing Homes and Long Term Care Facilities to Accept Covert-19 INFECTED patients!

    Expected Nothing less from governor Adolf Vonn Wolf – leftist POS!

    Why does it smell like Hoppes#9 around these parts..is luv in the air?

    • “Secretary of Health pulled He-She’s own Mother out of Nursing Home – just as He-She was Ordering State Nursing Homes and Long Term Care Facilities to Accept Covert-19 INFECTED patients! ”

      …And seems genuinely offended that the news media has called her on it. I don’t blame her for installing “mom” in a hotel suite, but she should have done it after arranging for all other home residents to have the same option.

  12. Not sure this fits in with today’s article George but it sure is some food for thought. I’m smack dab here in rural Colorado in one of the states highest infection rates per population ratio. Been prepping long before Y2K was even thought of. So far as to say January 1970 when the first all paper edition of the Mother Earth news was published. Knocking on 70 in few short weeks so that puts me in the supposed higher risk category. Went to town yesterday 60 mile round trip for my monthly forte into the hot LZ. Mask, nitrile gloves, bright black and yellow DeWalt safety goggles, spray bottle of military grade bleach to use on my boots and door handles before getting back in my truck. Why take a chance. Since my last visit surprised to see huge one-way and do not enter decals in every aisle. Huge blue stand here decals on the floor providing social distancing.
    Anyway back on point. Going down one of the aisles there were 4 college age kids standing grouped together no masks, no gloves, nothing. We have a state college here which is closed now so I guess the grocery store is the new place to congregate, it has a Starbucks in it. So in passing by one of the kids says ” Hey old man you look like a f%$#&ing hornet with that get up on and what’s with all that useless crap you have to prepare yourself in your cart” Cart had replacement and fill in some blanks beans, rice, condiments, powdered milk, few other odds and ends. My response to the young man was there is a strong possibility of a potential food crisis approaching and these items possibly could prove to be extremely valuable. What the kid said next just about floored me! ” I don’t have to worry about that old man I’m an alchemist, I can turn lead into anything”. Kid has no idea I’m a Nam combat veteran, carrying a Colt Commander SOB, and have chunks of guys like him in my daily stool. But what he said is the key point here. If that mind set is out there at his age, what are other people circulating in there gray matter! If and when things really do go tits up this is a another potential issue we might have to really deal with! Watch your 6, be safe!

    • “Kid has no idea I’m a Nam combat veteran, carrying a Colt Commander SOB, …………….”

      With reference to your post doesn’t it make you wonder what you were doing in Nam, and for whom? Fighting for Democracy? ;-(.

      • Bolshevic, all those folks over there were really only interested in 3 things. To go back to there temples, there rice paddy’s, and there hooch’s, and not necessarily in that order. I know exactly what we were fighting for over there: FOR EACH OTHER!

    • ” If that mind set is out there at his age, what are other people circulating in there gray matter! If and when things really do go tits up this is a another potential issue we might have to really deal with! Watch your 6, be safe!”

      I see it, too: “I’m a witch.” “If I need stuff, I’ll just conjure it up,” or “I won’t have needs,” or “I’m immune,” or some such BS. They have never experienced a want for anything, and have no concept of same. Many believe it’ll magically spawn when they need it, just like it does in their console or computer game of-choice.

      They are incredibly “entitled,” most without any realization of their affliction.

      These kids (probably aged from puberty to about 40) are going to be deadly dangerous if/when our society collapses, because hunger, thirst, cold, wet, and abandonment are going to hit them like a 2×4 across the forehead, they’re not going to like, or be able to cope with it, and because they’re “entitled” will believe anything they do to anyone is justified, if it spares THEM hunger, thirst, etc.

      I’ve a really good friend who lived on point of a Marine patrol in ‘Nam for nearly 6-weeks, before he collected his Purple Heart. All y’all have my respect.

      BTW I always watch my 6, and quarter-flanks, too. I’ve spent a day or two in cat & wolf country — makes a body careful, or dead…

      Be aware, be safe…

  13. It seems to me that Walmart starting it’s on line food ordering last summer with parking lot pickup,, would be exactly what I(as Walmart) would do, if I knew in advance of the incoming virus attack. Over 50% of the shopping yesterday in my local walmart, was walmart order fillers
    Just a thought as I observe the obvious,,,how did they know

    Henry Ford made model Ts to run on alcohol, til rockerfeller created prohibition, to force the public to buy his gasoline,,people could make their own fuel from corn,,I want a still and I do NOT drink alcohol, except what is in vanilla extract for my coffee–6 yrs of freedom(I was not able to keep it to 2 drinks or less per day)

    the same pattern is following Dr Fauci with his down play of Hydroxychloroquine
    he pushes Remdesevar ,, more profit less effective,, I call him Dr Fauxi

  14. According to Google, in my county in WA the infection rate is 16 per 100,000, no deaths. 14 cases,(less than 100,000 pop.) The only new case in the last month was in a nursing home that was locked down and quarantined.. According to state health dept. we are in the bottom 5 of all counties for overall health. Pretty sure the liver cirrhosis rate is much higher than Covid.

      • Ed Landon from the Cleveland faculty died out here a few years back, in his late 90’s. Bought me a beer once in the tavern he used to own. A number of southend escapees out here…In the birthplace of the unions, this county voted for a Republican president for the first time in 100 years.

  15. Should be interesting to see where ‘education’ goes (I use this term with some reservation). State and local revenues dropping like rocks with the drop in state and local economies. I wonder whether schools will open at all this fall (virus or no virus).

    • Hey! Never say die! Our local school district is planning on trying to pass a new school bond this Summer. It’s been heavily modified from before but we’ll see how it goes. ZH has a new article out saying Texas has just had a record number of CV deaths in the latest surge.

  16. Sorry G – we did NOT resupply because we didn’t shut things down. It’s been BAU except for having to steer clear of the insane corporate responses (plexi shields UP at the counter, but none in sight in food prep…LOLOL; herding folks into lines in the parking lot, everyone masked up but NOBODY wiping down the shopping cart grips; etc.)

    I re-watched The Stand with my kids, and all I said was, “now THAT’s a pandemic…’

    I’m trying to work what is likely my last gig on a drilling rig for the next few years – too much pay to stay home! But after that, I guess it’s time for career #3…

    I’m really enjoying the DC Show these days, as rats seem to be scurrying in all directions from many lights shining in those normally dark passageways….

  17. George, amen brother.
    -The bailout money/deficit stimulus is indeed going into ‘dead rabbit holes’ (well phrased) (as did the tax cut money). Good for Wall St., but only of minor help to Main St. Eventually, Wall St. has to sell its widgets to someone. So I grok you — loud and clear. And macro demand groks you too.
    -And now that Trump is beating the drum against China (obviously to distract from his initial 70 day Hoax gambit, and then when he changed positions so abruptly, from their ensuing screw-ups, such that we still don’t have enough stuff in place to re-open), of course that dramatically raises the chances of a War. Yikes.
    -Yes, my friend, I totally grok you. Best, Mike.

  18. There used to be a thing called The Plunge Protection Team that would buy stocks when they plunged to make everyone think all was ok. Are they doing it again now??

    • They’re all trying to arb this piece of shit skyward. Can’t blame ’em, if it lets go, it’s going down 1.6 to 1.8 times or more, the wave 1 down…and the higher the reinflation, the higher the ultimate low.
      Nuevo Dollars?

  19. There is no construction slowdown in Raleigh, NC. The earthmovers are hard at work everywhere. I am sure it is the same in Mark’s SF. Stores are slowly getting resupplied but the shelfs aren’t overflowing. Since those on unemployment are being cash supplied very generously by the Trump administration, they can survive the PANDEMIC with little financial harm. So the only ones really hurting are those who live on the edge of our civilization. For them, Cash is hard to come by. For those on SS & Welfare it is business as usual.

  20. I live on Vancouver Island. population 807,000. We have had a total of 125 cases with 5 deaths, no new cases in last 5 days and today there is 1 covid patient in hospital, none in ICU. We have been in lockdown since March. In the whole province of British Columbia with a pop. of 5,000,000, there have been 2,376 cases with 132 deaths. In hindsight, do those stats justify the lockdown and at what economic cost? We are now just starting to open up the economy. We have a long weekend coming up and will probably have lots of tourists come to the island. Be interesting to see if we get a spike in cases on V.I.
    IMO, the stats for V.I. are low because we have an older population that took self isolation and social distancing seriously and we live on an island which makes it somewhat difficult to travel to.

    • “British Columbia with a pop. of 5,000,000, there have been 2,376 cases with 132 deaths. In hindsight, do those stats justify the lockdown and at what economic cost? ”

      It depends wave….

      We have over a million infected 80 thousand dead..and that is with social distancing.. loss of jobs etc.
      Now I agree the economic toll is huge and irreversible.. they should have came out large and in charge from the gate..froze everything and stopped everything. Give out rations and coupons.. for a two month period. Nothing due nothing gained .kept essential services moving. They have the plans on place even stockpiling of supplies for just such an emergency. but they didn’t they let the velocity of money continue. So.. we have jobs lost forever. Millions that couldn’t make their rent or utilities.. pure chaos.. we have to deal with it..but if they hadn’t pushed social distancing the numbers would have been a lot worse in my opinion..George did a graph over a month ago on just how bad it would have been.. and if my memory serves me right it would have exploded..
      Now we face the biggest correction in economic history..a weimer depression that will make Zimbabwe look like Disney land.
      The way I see it We are in totally uncharted waters. With shortages that will affect everyone and everything..possible ww3 and everyone thrust back to the stone age.. the time before Noah..
      Paper gold silver. Nothing of value. Just think about it.. you are the only one with a loaf of bread.. or a cabbage. Or drinkable water. You have just enough to survive if you ration it..someone comes up and says.. look I have this shiny.piece of soft metal. I’ll trade you.. would it be worth putting your life in jeopardy..the childs story of good king midas..comes to mind..or the childs story of stone soup..
      During the depression and drought of the early 1800’s a cup of water was three ounces gold the weimer depression the same way..
      Past civilization’s used grain as their wealth we use a promise from a group that could care less about anyone..
      Was it worth it.. it totally depends on what you value..what we are facing we were then. This just sped it up..of course that’s just my opinion.. I’m at the bottom looking up..those on top should be fearing the fall.. I need to worry will the land on me..
      I have said it before.. the ones that will survive the best are the homeless that deal with this every day and the colonies that have learned that a village together can face all odds..

  21. N’s comment comes right off Prechter’s script, social mood is going negative.

    Latest prediction from Prechter, stock market going down 50-70% in the next 2 – 6 mos. (oh yeah, he describes it as a ‘tsunami’, just like your dream! (parallel universe?)

    BTW, your conspiracy theory suggesting intentional infection is wrought with holes. So some countries have a higher rate, so do U.S. States, with New York accounting for 338k cases out of U.S. 1.43 million, who favors killing East Coast Democrats and Liberals at a higher rate (that would mean rural right wingers intentionally spread it in NY)? P.S. Your list omitted Russia, who now is in 2nd place behind U.S. for case numbers.

    https://www.google.com/search?q=new+york+coronavirus+cases&rlz=1CAHKDC_enUS892&oq=new+york+corna&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l7.11794j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/1043366/novel-coronavirus-2019ncov-cases-worldwide-by-country/

    Also I don’t mind having to autofill my email address (as long as it’s kept unseen, but I do object to the autofill of my proper/legal name, if I can’t use an anonymous blog name (like 95% of the other bloggers on this site do).

    • It is hard to discuss extremes of economic mayhem without crossing paths with Prechter. The Elliott waves are the mathematics of composite knee jerks, and right now the billiionaires heading for the sidelines seem to be inspiring a run at a primary wave 3 down. Hope for the best and resupply for the worst.

    • That must be your own computer doing that. It has saved your inputs. You need to learn how to deactivate, delete, or turn off that function. Google and Yahoo are notorious for doing that. Mine doesn’t do it.

  22. HAWAII ACHIEVES ZERO VIRUS GROWTH… BUT CAN WE HOLD IT?
    STATS FROM HDOH:
    Total cases: 637 (0 newly reported)*
    Hawai’i County: 75
    Honolulu County: 414
    Kaua’i County: 21
    Maui County: 117†
    Pending: 0
    Residents diagnosed outside of Hawai‘i: 10
    Required Hospitalization: 81‡
    Hawaii deaths: 17
    Released from Isolation: 564§
    Cumulative totals as of 12:00pm, May 14, 2020
    *AS A RESULT OF UPDATED INFORMATION, ONE HI RESIDENT DIAGNOSED OUTSIDE OF HAWAII WAS REMOVED FROM THE COUNTS.

    Zero Growth! Woo Hoo!!

  23. Dear Mr. Ure,

    “When waking a tiger, use a long stick” according to Chairman Mao Tse-tung.

    Brothers and Sisters of the Duopoly, pack up the vittles and kiddies, fold up your tables and chairs, and jump in the wagons. There’s a One New Party setting up over beyond that there depression. Head over as you are, they’ll take what you have and offer best values for new digital yuan dollars!

    cs.com.cn

  24. Woo Woo Report: Just happened. Hub working on a horn on an old jeep for a customer. Spring flung the inner piece somewhere into the open air jeep. We searched everywhere we could. After a while, we came into the office doing other things, he tried to find the replacement parts, but they don’t make that part anymore, have to get after market. He didn’t like that choice so he asked me to help him look again. I said, well grab a flashlight and let’s go. I go out there to more intently go over everything again under these old seats, etc., He shouts, I found it. Guess where this very small aluminum part was? Sitting right on top of the back seat in plain sight, with a small black metal part that also goes with this thing which he didn’t know he was missing. I searched that back seat myself; it was not there! I swear, my God, a miracle!!!!! It looked like both of these little pieces had been picked up and placed on the back seat for us to find!

    It’s confirmed; WE are in the zone! Thanks be to God!!!

  25. Dr. Frank Shallenberger writes a newsletter called “Second Opinion”.
    https://www.secondopinionnewsletter.com/
    He is a proponent of oxidative therapy using Ozone or Hydrogen Peroxide IntraVenously. Ozone is irritating to the lungs, but he has had success knocking out viruses using a nebulizer with dilute Hydrogen Peroxide. So here is another way you can knock out a lung virus.

    First… obtain a small, battery powered ‘Travel Nebulizer’ that turns liquid into a fog or mist that may be inhaled. The nebulizer formula to use is 100 cc of ‘Normal Saline’ solution with 5 cc of Hydrogen Peroxide (3%). Normal drugstore Peroxide is 3%… although ‘medical grade’ stuff is recommended, this will work in a pinch.

    “Normal Saline” is a solution of 0.9% salt (sodium chloride) in water. If you cannot obtain medical grade stuff, you can make your own by adding 9 grams of salt to one liter of water. Boil well and store sterile. Sea salt will add trace electrolytes that are a good thing.

    I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice… just information for those who wish to self-prepare.

  26. Land north of 53 degrees lattitude has been off-limits to south of ’53 resident travel in this province in step with the date-limited declared state of emergency. On May 5th the northern travel restriction was extended indefinitely until the chief health officer says otherwise. An anecdote came from a northern acquaintance who cleared the roadblock at the line a couple of days ago. Fuel stations are not a dime-a-dozen out there so it’s wise to top up the tanks at each opportunity. Anyhow an oil major operating at one of the final main intersections on the route is apparently closing shop tomorrow…for the summer.

    The only thing travelling these days is cargo. Just prior to the pandemic rolling in, the First Nations had put a stranglehold on rail traffic with strategic blockades. Nothing was moving. Then the virus came along and everyone went home. Your Saskatchewan bureau may have additional perspective. However my understanding is that a First Nations elder had a vision that holding a Sun Dance ceremony last weekend north of Saskatoon would aid the fight against covid-19. Those gatherings are sacred to the believers. Apparently the feds sent the police in to read rules and regs of there being a more than 10 person attendee violation. This Settler intrusion was said to be not well received. Hopefully the trains and trucks keep on keeping on, otherwise it might be a hot summer in the cities.

  27. Scientists warn of freezing weather, famine and earthquakes as sun goes into ‘lockdown’

    As the world is on lockdown to control the coronavirus pandemic, the sun is going through its own lockdown as it enters a period of “solar minimum” and its activity decreases

    https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/scientists-warn-freezing-weather-famine-22024410
    ________________________

    A Taste Of What Is Coming – Food Prices Just Increased By The Most That We Have Seen Since 1974

    Get ready to pay much more for groceries. I have been warning that the flood of new money that the Federal Reserve and Congress have been pumping into the system would have very serious consequences,

    http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/a-taste-of-what-is-coming-food-prices-just-increased-by-the-most-that-we-have-seen-since-1974
    _________________

    George, you’re starting to hit the mainstream…

  28. NYT Panics After Instagram Influencers With Millions Of Followers Start Going Down The Rabbit Hole

    The New York Times is in panic mode after seeing popular influencers are sharing the viral “Plandemic” conspiracy flick and talking about ObamaGate with their millions of followers instead of just posting selfies and pushing product.

    http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61445
    ________________________

    One can only hope…

  29. Poland Takes On Soros: NGOs Must Declare Their Foreign Funding

    Poland is set to consider new laws that require non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating there to declare foreign funding they receive. Reuters has revealed the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is planning to follow in the footsteps of Russia and Hungary in standing up to Soros interference in Polish internal affairs.

    https://nationalfile.com/poland-takes-on-soros-ngos-must-declare-their-foreign-funding/
    ____________________

    Maybe we could learn something from the Hungarians and Poles…

  30. The unemployment numbers are badly contaminated. This is the first time in history we have self employed people applying. Not a single state in the Union was prepared for this. As a result, self employed people have been required to apply multiple times. In S.C. self employed people had to apply THREE times. In N.C. It was a minimum of two times. The data is full of garbage and not currently useful.

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