from World Alternative Media:
GOLD UP $3.10 TO $1214,90/SILVER RISES BY 7 CENTS TO $15.45
by Harvey Organ, Harvey Organ Blog:
CHINA CATCHES YUAN SHORTS OFF GUARD WITH CURRENCY SWAPS, TRYING TO CONTAIN THE HUGE FALL IN THE YUAN/TRUMP WARNS MORE TARIFFS AGAINST CHINA/CHINA RELEASES ITS LIST OF TARIFFS TO BE IMPLEMENTED/USA RELEASES ITS JOB REPORT AND IT WAS SUB PAR
Japan Officially Removes Taxes from Purchase and Sale of Bitcoin
by Kenneth Schortgen, The Daily Economist:
On July 1, a new law went into effect which removes all taxation from the buying and selling of Bitcoin in the nation of Japan. And with their already having recognized the cryptocurrency as a viable medium of exchange within their monetary system, the world’s third largest economy has moved another step closer to recognizing Bitcoin as a legitimate currency.
Japan’s tax reform bill which officially eliminated consumption tax on the sale of Bitcoin came into effect on July 1. Bitcoin trading activities are expected to rise in Japan following the activation of the bill.
Fundamentals Supporting Stock Market Further Deteriorate
by Dave Kranzler, Investment Research Dynamics:
The Bureau of Economic Analysis calculates and publishes an earnings metric known as the National Income and Products Accounts which presents the value and composition of national output and the types of incomes generated in its production. One of the NIPA accounts is “corporate profits.” From the NIPA handbook: “Corporate profits represents the portion of the total income earned from current production that is accounted for by U.S. corporations.”
The BEA’s measurement of corporate profits is somewhat similar to using operating income from GAAP financial statements rather than net income. The BEA is attempting to isolate “profits from current production” from non-production noised introduced by GAAP accounting standards. “Profits from current production provide a comprehensive and consistent economic measure of the net income earned by all U.S. corporations. As such, it is unaffected by the changes in tax laws, and it is adjusted for non-reported and misreported income” (emphasis is mine).
Unprecedented Housing Bailout Revealed, As China Property Sales Drop For First Time In 30 Months
from ZeroHedge:
Back in March, we explained why the “fate of the world economy is in the hands of China’s housing bubble.” The answer was simple: for the Chinese population, and growing middle class, to keep spending vibrant and borrowing elevated, it had to feel comfortable and confident that its wealth will keep rising. However, unlike the US where the stock market is the ultimate barometer of the confidence boosting “wealth effect”, in China it has always been about housing: three quarters of Chinese household assets are parked in real estate, compared to only 28{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} in the US with the remainder invested financial assets.
Beijing knows this, of course, which is why China periodically and consistently reflates its housing bubble, hoping that the popping of the bubble, which happened in late 2011 and again in 2014, will be a controlled, “smooth landing” process.
The other reason why China is so eager to keep its housing sector inflated – and risk bursting bubbles – is that as shown in the chart below, in 2016 the rise of property prices boosted household wealth in 37 tier 1 and tier 2 cities by RMB24 trillion, almost twice the total local disposable income of RMB12.9 trillion. For any Fed readers out there, that’s how you create a wealth effect, fake as it may be.
Unfortunately for China, whose record credit creation in 2017, and certainly in the months leading up to the 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress which started last week, has been the primary catalyst for the “global coordinated growth”, the good times are now again over, and according to the latest real estate data released last week, property sales in China dropped for the first time since March 2015, or more than two-and-half years, in September and housing starts slowed sharply reinforcing concerns that robust growth in the world’s second-largest economy is starting to cool.
Property sales by floor area fell 1.5{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} in September from a year earlier, compared with a 4.3{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} increase in August and a 34{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} jump in September 2016, according to Reuters calculations based on official data released on Thursday. That marked the first annual decline since the start of 2015. Separately, new construction starts by floor area, a volatile but telling indicator of developers’ confidence, rose just 1.4{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} in September on-year, slowing from a 5.3{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} increase in August, according to Reuters calculations.
“The negative September sale number shows that, unequivocally, the property boom has peaked,” Rosealea Yao, a property analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics told Reuters. “We have seen some big rebounds at the end of the first and second quarter, but given how fast the sale numbers are declining, we expect no big rebound this time.”
Read More @ ZeroHedge.com
Why Quantitative Tightening Will Fail
by Jim Rickards, DailyReckoning:
After nine years of unconventional quantitative easing (QE) policy the Federal Reserve is now setting out on a new path for quantitative tightening (QT).
QE was a policy of money printing. The Fed did this by buying bonds from the big banks. The banks would then deliver bonds to the Fed, and the Fed would in turn pay them with money from thin air. QT takes a different approach.
Instead, the Fed will set out policy that allows the old bonds to mature, while not buy new ones from the banks. That way the money will shrink the balance sheets ahead of any potential crisis.
For years leaders at the Federal Reserve have been rolling over the balance sheet to keep it at $4.5 trillion.
SELCO: These Are the Signs the SHTF Is Happening for Real
by Selco, The Organic Prepper:
How do you know if the SHTF is actually here? One of the cornerstones of survival is how to recognize that a situation has gone so bad that the S is truly going to hit the fan.
Basically, we are talking how to recognize that it is time to bug out or hunker down because it is going to be bad.
I call it “survival mode” (no, it is not invented by me), and it means that you at some point based on your own observations, feelings, the situation around you, events, etc. going to are going to jump into that mode where you gonna implement actions based on different priorities than everyday life.
Here’s Why Gold Could Stage a Powerful Rally Soon
by Marin Katusa, Katusa Research:
***Every week, the agency that oversees the U.S. futures market (the CFTC) releases a report that shows how companies and hedge funds are positioned in the futures market.
This report is called the Commitment of Traders (or COT for short) report. Various participants with various goals come together in the futures market.
GOLD DOWN $3.00 TO $1317.60/SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS AS THE CHINESE START THEIR WEEK LONG NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS
by Harvey Organ, Harvey Organ Blog:
CHINESE PMI TUMBLES FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE MONTH INDICATING RECESSION OVER THERE/ANOTHER BOGUS JOBS REPORT/MORE SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT
GOLD: $1317.60 DOWN $3.00 (COMEX TO COMEX CLOSING)
Silver: $15.92 DOWN 14 CENTS (COMEX TO COMEX CLOSING)
