On the evening of June 18, 1815, in the Belgian hamlet of Mont-Saint-Jean, nearly 70,000 troops under the command of the Duke of Wellington, alongside 50,000 allied Prussian soldiers, fought against the French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte in the historic Battle of Waterloo.
Waterloo was a bloody affair, with heavy casualties on both sides. But the Anglo-Prussian alliance won the fight, and Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne just a few days later.
The Napoleonic Wars-- more than 12 years of constant conflict-- were over, and Europe was finally at peace.
Now, legend has it that famed banker Nathan Mayer Rothschild was present at Waterloo and witnessed the battle himself. He then braved a massive storm over the English Channel to reach London as quickly as possible where he bought up all the government bonds before news of the victory had reached Britain.
In another version of the story, Rothschild was in London during the battle. But his private intelligence network quickly passed the news of Napoleon’s defeat, giving Rothschild the opportunity to buy up British government bonds on the cheap before anyone else heard the news.
And in yet another version of the story-- personally endorsed in 1940 by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels-- Rothschild bribed a French general to deliberately lose the battle so that he could make a fortune on British government bonds.
None of these stories is remotely true. In fact, most people don’t realize that Rothschild almost lost his fortune because of Waterloo… and that he personally played a vital role that helped Britain win the war.
Rothschild was essentially given a secret mission in January 1814 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who commissioned Rothschild to smuggle gold to British generals in Europe.
Britain didn’t have the gold; fighting against Napoleon for so long was extremely expensive and had drained the British treasury. So, government had to issue tons of debt to pay for the conflict.
Rothschild’s job was to turn those government bonds-- which were just pieces of paper-- into real money, i.e., gold, that British generals could use to pay and feed their troops.
This was an enormous challenge; Rothschild not only had to procure vast sums of gold, but he had to transport it all through French blockades and checkpoints.
Fortunately for Britain, Rothschild was incredibly good at his job. And both the Duke of Wellington as well as one of the most senior officials at the British Treasury praised him for his skill and discretion.
But Rothschild did make one huge mistake: he assumed the war would drag on for years.
And in anticipation of the British government having to go deeper into debt to pay for it all, Rothschild used all his profits to buy more gold that he could then send to the troops.
By the summer of 1815, Rothschild was sitting on a mountain of gold.
But then came Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo… and Rothschild knew instantly that the price of gold would plummet because of the peace. He also knew the losses he would suffer would potentially wipe out his entire fortune.
So, Rothschild made a risky bet and used his gold to buy up British government bonds, which were still quite cheap. He believed that, with Napoleon defeated, Britain’s economy would grow dramatically, and the bonds would increase in value.
He was right. And over the next two years, Rothschild realized a 40% return on the bonds, minting him a profit of roughly $1 billion in today’s money.
What’s interesting about this story is that, on July 20, 1815, the evening edition of the London Courier newspaper reported that Rothschild had made “great purchases” of British government bonds.
While Rothschild didn’t formally intend to ‘rate’ the quality of the bonds, news of Rothschild’s investment was received as almost an endorsement... or even a recommendation.
People thought that if someone as sophisticated as Rothschild saw value in the bonds, then they must be worth buying.
Rothschild had essentially put his gold seal of approval on Britain’s national debt. And his analysis proved to be true.
More than two centuries later, this business of analyzing and rating a sovereign government’s bonds has grown into a highly formalized industry. And it’s primarily controlled by three companies: S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch.
Similar to Rothschild’s unintentional endorsement back in 1815, these agencies formally grade the creditworthiness of governments, with the highest rating generally being ‘AAA’.
The United States government has long enjoyed this pristine AAA rating. Until, that is, S&P downgraded the federal government’s credit rating on August 5, 2011.
Back then, S&P said they were “pessimistic” that Congress would be able to “stabilize the government’s debt dynamics anytime soon”. And the agency projected the government’s debt burden would reach an unbelievable $20.1 trillion by 2021.
(It turns out that S&P was wildly optimistic; US government debt reached $20.1 trillion on September 8, 2017, more than four years ahead of their forecast.)
The Treasury Department was furious about the downgrade. And according to the Chairman of S&P’s parent company, then-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called to make threats against the company, claiming that he had just spoken to President Obama about the downgrade.
And to absolutely no one’s surprise, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against S&P shortly after, alleging that the company engaged in fraud. (The case dragged on for years until S&P finally settled for a $1 billion fine.)
That was enough to scare the entire ratings industry into submission. No matter how high the debt burden became, how incompetent the Congress, how outrageous the budget, how ridiculous the legislation… the rating agencies refused to downgrade the US government.
Until this year.
A few months ago, Fitch made the first move and downgraded the United States; in their report, Fitch cited the government’s inability to solve problems and compromise, such as waiting until the last minute to fix the debt ceiling fiasco earlier this year.
(The Biden administration responded with genuine confusion, calling Fitch’s downgrade “strange” and “bizarre”.)
Now comes Moody’s, the last of the big three credit rating agencies, which on Friday downgraded the US outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’.
Moody’s cited obvious risks like rising interest rates and the explosion in the national debt, which have “increased pre-existing pressure on US debt affordability.”
In other words, the US government won’t be able to afford to make payments on the national debt for much longer.
I’ve written about this before: the government’s own projections show that interest payments on the national debt, plus mandatory spending like Social Security, will consume 100% of tax revenue by 2031.
Then Social Security’s primary trust fund will run out of money two years later. It’s an enormous problem.
But it’s not just the fiscal mess. Moody’s also cited “continued political polarization” that prevents the government from tackling any of America’s big problems.
Ironically, almost as if to prove Moody’s point about political polarization, the White House blamed the downgrade on “Congressional Republican extremism and dysfunction”.
Unbelievable. These people really can’t solve problems. They can’t even acknowledge problems. They only know how to fight and argue and create more problems.
Almost fifteen years ago when I started this publication and making predictions about America’s fiscal ruin, my comments were considered extremely controversial.
Today this view is officially mainstream; all three major rating agencies cite these clear and obvious risks. They’re finally stating what everyone already knows to be true.
I’ve written before that, technically, America’s enormous fiscal challenges are still fixable. But there’s only a very narrow window of opportunity remaining to do so.
(I’ll walk you through the math of how this could happen in a future letter.)
Sadly, it’s pretty clear that the people in charge don’t seem to care in the slightest. They’re not moving in the direction of solutions… rather they’re creating more problems.
What a great lesson to us all. Never accept a story without a lot of patient waiting (for time to do your own research) and a lot of common sense at the same time. Things aren't always what they seem.
Thanks for all the effort you put into each and every day for US. Sad thing is, the only thing we can do is become our own central bank to protect our wealth and that's about it. The rest we have no control over. God help us !
Absolutely agree! They will force a new system upon everyone. All that is happening now is to support and drive this effort. To me this is written. God tells us this will happen in the Bible. Why should we expect any different. A system of control. You will not buy or sell unless you have the mark of the beast.
There is another "Climate" think tank said to be funded by Soros that says the U.S. & UK should dismantle their military to help with the Climate crisis. Both should pay reparations too. Much talk about reducing carbon and so forth. People are carbon too and I wonder if they discuss a culling of what they consider useless eaters. https://frontline.news/post/globalist-groups-demand-us-close-military-over-climate-change there are links to their direct website which you can visit if you wish.
Used car prices have fallen to their lowest levels since April 2021.
The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index has extended its maximum drawdown to -18%, the largest in index history. Used car demand is waning as borrowing rates for used cars have surged to 7.3%, sparking an affordability crisis.
Weak president. US bankrupt. Out of munitions. Distracted by impeachment inquiry. fighting to stay in the white house for Justice to provide protection. Inept Department of defense. Country being overrun by military age men. Pending attack from within. Looks like a perfect set up.
Yes Dave.... Didn't we all think the Pres. took an oath to protect and defend America? Maybe he forgot it in the meantime. Maybe his vision distorted the oath to say "protect all who want to come here for free benefits? Maybe international leaders are chipping to retirement fund for him if he will just . . . ."
You wrote, "The root cause of the current geopolitical situation is a lack of liquidity in the system;" but I want to add another even deeper root cause, "man's inner spiritual absence". I mean an absence or weakened connection with our Creator that sooner or later leads to belief of absolute self-sufficiency. But we are the created not the Creator!
I don't, I just saw it show up first thing on MSN when I opened my emails. Totally garbage, but that's what people see and since most people are headline grazers, some people will actually believe that...
Greg, how can you say there's lack of liquidity, when QE has pumped 4.8 trillion $ into the system, which eventually went into stocks and real estate. Causing massive inflation and record breaking stock and home prices. Maybe there has been too much liquidity! The FED now has the conundrum of reducing the too much liquidity by increasing the bond rate. It has no other tool in its repertoire. And that going to hurt in an attempt to stabilize our fractured monetary system.
While doubling down on crude oil production, especially closer to home, ExxonMobil unveiled plans on Monday to produce lithium in Arkansas, aiming to become a leading supplier of the key metal for electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030.
---
Stocks of lithium producers have been badly hammered in the current year as lithium prices continue on the race to the bottom.
After hitting an all-time high of $81,360 per tonne in November 2022, lithium carbonate prices in China have cratered to the worst level in two years at $20,782 per tonne.
Bank of America's Steve Byrne anticipates a lithium glut will continue into 2025.
To get silver from private hands they will print unlimited amounts of currency. They will give whatever unbelievable amount of currency per ounce of silver Once they think they have it all, they will simply make the currency worthless.
After 40 years of silver price manipulation and suppression on the COMEX, the physical market has experienced a lack of production growth and enhanced demand brought about by too-low silver prices. According to the immutable law of supply and demand, silver is now in a deepening physical shortage in which sharply higher prices are both required and inevitable. The key element that I speak of today is the likely behavior of the short sellers of silver derivatives. Investors hold 2 billion ounces of silver in industry-standard 1,000-ounce bars and a similar quantity in smaller bars and coins. Since these holdings are owned outright, there is no short position as exists in every derivatives contract, including COMEX futures and options and OTC swap contracts.
And here comes the China Taiwan all out conflict. Japan to be pulled in? Mother of all borrowings by the fed. Three front war. Massive supply chain disruption.
The Russia vs Ukraine conflict has run its course. Once the Israel vs Hamas conflict has run its course, I fully expect TPTB to roll out the China vs Taiwan conflict.
STOLEN FROM INTERNET
>>>
November 13, 2023
On the evening of June 18, 1815, in the Belgian hamlet of Mont-Saint-Jean, nearly 70,000 troops under the command of the Duke of Wellington, alongside 50,000 allied Prussian soldiers, fought against the French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte in the historic Battle of Waterloo.
Waterloo was a bloody affair, with heavy casualties on both sides. But the Anglo-Prussian alliance won the fight, and Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne just a few days later.
The Napoleonic Wars-- more than 12 years of constant conflict-- were over, and Europe was finally at peace.
Now, legend has it that famed banker Nathan Mayer Rothschild was present at Waterloo and witnessed the battle himself. He then braved a massive storm over the English Channel to reach London as quickly as possible where he bought up all the government bonds before news of the victory had reached Britain.
In another version of the story, Rothschild was in London during the battle. But his private intelligence network quickly passed the news of Napoleon’s defeat, giving Rothschild the opportunity to buy up British government bonds on the cheap before anyone else heard the news.
And in yet another version of the story-- personally endorsed in 1940 by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels-- Rothschild bribed a French general to deliberately lose the battle so that he could make a fortune on British government bonds.
None of these stories is remotely true. In fact, most people don’t realize that Rothschild almost lost his fortune because of Waterloo… and that he personally played a vital role that helped Britain win the war.
Rothschild was essentially given a secret mission in January 1814 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who commissioned Rothschild to smuggle gold to British generals in Europe.
Britain didn’t have the gold; fighting against Napoleon for so long was extremely expensive and had drained the British treasury. So, government had to issue tons of debt to pay for the conflict.
Rothschild’s job was to turn those government bonds-- which were just pieces of paper-- into real money, i.e., gold, that British generals could use to pay and feed their troops.
This was an enormous challenge; Rothschild not only had to procure vast sums of gold, but he had to transport it all through French blockades and checkpoints.
Fortunately for Britain, Rothschild was incredibly good at his job. And both the Duke of Wellington as well as one of the most senior officials at the British Treasury praised him for his skill and discretion.
But Rothschild did make one huge mistake: he assumed the war would drag on for years.
And in anticipation of the British government having to go deeper into debt to pay for it all, Rothschild used all his profits to buy more gold that he could then send to the troops.
By the summer of 1815, Rothschild was sitting on a mountain of gold.
But then came Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo… and Rothschild knew instantly that the price of gold would plummet because of the peace. He also knew the losses he would suffer would potentially wipe out his entire fortune.
So, Rothschild made a risky bet and used his gold to buy up British government bonds, which were still quite cheap. He believed that, with Napoleon defeated, Britain’s economy would grow dramatically, and the bonds would increase in value.
He was right. And over the next two years, Rothschild realized a 40% return on the bonds, minting him a profit of roughly $1 billion in today’s money.
What’s interesting about this story is that, on July 20, 1815, the evening edition of the London Courier newspaper reported that Rothschild had made “great purchases” of British government bonds.
While Rothschild didn’t formally intend to ‘rate’ the quality of the bonds, news of Rothschild’s investment was received as almost an endorsement... or even a recommendation.
People thought that if someone as sophisticated as Rothschild saw value in the bonds, then they must be worth buying.
Rothschild had essentially put his gold seal of approval on Britain’s national debt. And his analysis proved to be true.
More than two centuries later, this business of analyzing and rating a sovereign government’s bonds has grown into a highly formalized industry. And it’s primarily controlled by three companies: S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch.
Similar to Rothschild’s unintentional endorsement back in 1815, these agencies formally grade the creditworthiness of governments, with the highest rating generally being ‘AAA’.
The United States government has long enjoyed this pristine AAA rating. Until, that is, S&P downgraded the federal government’s credit rating on August 5, 2011.
Back then, S&P said they were “pessimistic” that Congress would be able to “stabilize the government’s debt dynamics anytime soon”. And the agency projected the government’s debt burden would reach an unbelievable $20.1 trillion by 2021.
(It turns out that S&P was wildly optimistic; US government debt reached $20.1 trillion on September 8, 2017, more than four years ahead of their forecast.)
The Treasury Department was furious about the downgrade. And according to the Chairman of S&P’s parent company, then-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called to make threats against the company, claiming that he had just spoken to President Obama about the downgrade.
And to absolutely no one’s surprise, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against S&P shortly after, alleging that the company engaged in fraud. (The case dragged on for years until S&P finally settled for a $1 billion fine.)
That was enough to scare the entire ratings industry into submission. No matter how high the debt burden became, how incompetent the Congress, how outrageous the budget, how ridiculous the legislation… the rating agencies refused to downgrade the US government.
Until this year.
A few months ago, Fitch made the first move and downgraded the United States; in their report, Fitch cited the government’s inability to solve problems and compromise, such as waiting until the last minute to fix the debt ceiling fiasco earlier this year.
(The Biden administration responded with genuine confusion, calling Fitch’s downgrade “strange” and “bizarre”.)
Now comes Moody’s, the last of the big three credit rating agencies, which on Friday downgraded the US outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’.
Moody’s cited obvious risks like rising interest rates and the explosion in the national debt, which have “increased pre-existing pressure on US debt affordability.”
In other words, the US government won’t be able to afford to make payments on the national debt for much longer.
I’ve written about this before: the government’s own projections show that interest payments on the national debt, plus mandatory spending like Social Security, will consume 100% of tax revenue by 2031.
Then Social Security’s primary trust fund will run out of money two years later. It’s an enormous problem.
But it’s not just the fiscal mess. Moody’s also cited “continued political polarization” that prevents the government from tackling any of America’s big problems.
Ironically, almost as if to prove Moody’s point about political polarization, the White House blamed the downgrade on “Congressional Republican extremism and dysfunction”.
Unbelievable. These people really can’t solve problems. They can’t even acknowledge problems. They only know how to fight and argue and create more problems.
Almost fifteen years ago when I started this publication and making predictions about America’s fiscal ruin, my comments were considered extremely controversial.
Today this view is officially mainstream; all three major rating agencies cite these clear and obvious risks. They’re finally stating what everyone already knows to be true.
I’ve written before that, technically, America’s enormous fiscal challenges are still fixable. But there’s only a very narrow window of opportunity remaining to do so.
(I’ll walk you through the math of how this could happen in a future letter.)
Sadly, it’s pretty clear that the people in charge don’t seem to care in the slightest. They’re not moving in the direction of solutions… rather they’re creating more problems.
What a great lesson to us all. Never accept a story without a lot of patient waiting (for time to do your own research) and a lot of common sense at the same time. Things aren't always what they seem.
Forever wars old Rockie sent the Zionist to the so called Middle East
Where are the rest of your publications?
(Unfortunately) only distributed here in GMs blog.
Very interesting comments.
Hidden hand - Napolion!
Greg,
Thanks for all the effort you put into each and every day for US. Sad thing is, the only thing we can do is become our own central bank to protect our wealth and that's about it. The rest we have no control over. God help us !
Hell in a hand-basket comes to mind
Yeah was told that 40 years ago
Well said, Greg. Your explanation dovetails well with the book “The Creature from Jekyll Island.”
Absolutely agree! They will force a new system upon everyone. All that is happening now is to support and drive this effort. To me this is written. God tells us this will happen in the Bible. Why should we expect any different. A system of control. You will not buy or sell unless you have the mark of the beast.
There is another "Climate" think tank said to be funded by Soros that says the U.S. & UK should dismantle their military to help with the Climate crisis. Both should pay reparations too. Much talk about reducing carbon and so forth. People are carbon too and I wonder if they discuss a culling of what they consider useless eaters. https://frontline.news/post/globalist-groups-demand-us-close-military-over-climate-change there are links to their direct website which you can visit if you wish.
Used car prices have fallen to their lowest levels since April 2021.
The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index has extended its maximum drawdown to -18%, the largest in index history. Used car demand is waning as borrowing rates for used cars have surged to 7.3%, sparking an affordability crisis.
https://site.manheim.com/en/services/consulting/used-vehicle-value-index.html
Yes, I guess people can't afford them if they have to take out a loan.
GRA gold revaluation account how can liquidity be drying up accounting rules don’t have to be followed Zero Hedge post
Weak president. US bankrupt. Out of munitions. Distracted by impeachment inquiry. fighting to stay in the white house for Justice to provide protection. Inept Department of defense. Country being overrun by military age men. Pending attack from within. Looks like a perfect set up.
Yes Dave.... Didn't we all think the Pres. took an oath to protect and defend America? Maybe he forgot it in the meantime. Maybe his vision distorted the oath to say "protect all who want to come here for free benefits? Maybe international leaders are chipping to retirement fund for him if he will just . . . ."
You wrote, "The root cause of the current geopolitical situation is a lack of liquidity in the system;" but I want to add another even deeper root cause, "man's inner spiritual absence". I mean an absence or weakened connection with our Creator that sooner or later leads to belief of absolute self-sufficiency. But we are the created not the Creator!
I literally just read a headline from MarketWatch that says: "Turns out that inflation really was transitory, no thanks to the Fed." Give me break...
The Market Watch guys are worthless shills. Don’t waste your time reading their articles.
I don't, I just saw it show up first thing on MSN when I opened my emails. Totally garbage, but that's what people see and since most people are headline grazers, some people will actually believe that...
Greg, how can you say there's lack of liquidity, when QE has pumped 4.8 trillion $ into the system, which eventually went into stocks and real estate. Causing massive inflation and record breaking stock and home prices. Maybe there has been too much liquidity! The FED now has the conundrum of reducing the too much liquidity by increasing the bond rate. It has no other tool in its repertoire. And that going to hurt in an attempt to stabilize our fractured monetary system.
Fiat is created out of thin air while they stack gold real money two kinds one they keep and give the rest of us Monopoly money
[They] "managed" the curve ...
https://www.cnbc.com/bonds/
While doubling down on crude oil production, especially closer to home, ExxonMobil unveiled plans on Monday to produce lithium in Arkansas, aiming to become a leading supplier of the key metal for electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030.
---
Stocks of lithium producers have been badly hammered in the current year as lithium prices continue on the race to the bottom.
After hitting an all-time high of $81,360 per tonne in November 2022, lithium carbonate prices in China have cratered to the worst level in two years at $20,782 per tonne.
Bank of America's Steve Byrne anticipates a lithium glut will continue into 2025.
Panasonic has already broken ground on a $5 billion dollar lithium battery production facility near Eudora, Kansas.
Wow, this is interesting.
I’m slowly waking up to their black lies and culture of death. I believe we have no choice they must leave our planet!
To get silver from private hands they will print unlimited amounts of currency. They will give whatever unbelievable amount of currency per ounce of silver Once they think they have it all, they will simply make the currency worthless.
After 40 years of silver price manipulation and suppression on the COMEX, the physical market has experienced a lack of production growth and enhanced demand brought about by too-low silver prices. According to the immutable law of supply and demand, silver is now in a deepening physical shortage in which sharply higher prices are both required and inevitable. The key element that I speak of today is the likely behavior of the short sellers of silver derivatives. Investors hold 2 billion ounces of silver in industry-standard 1,000-ounce bars and a similar quantity in smaller bars and coins. Since these holdings are owned outright, there is no short position as exists in every derivatives contract, including COMEX futures and options and OTC swap contracts.
READ MORE >>> https://www.silver-phoenix500.com/article/bonfire-silver-shorts
🤣
I would not be surprised.
And here comes the China Taiwan all out conflict. Japan to be pulled in? Mother of all borrowings by the fed. Three front war. Massive supply chain disruption.
America can't effectively fight and win a three-front war! Much of the entire world seems against us. Use this time to prepare if you can.
Agreed. We cannot and China knows this. Preparing we are. Appreciate your thoughts.
China plays the long game. Do you really think they will move against Taiwan soon?
The Russia vs Ukraine conflict has run its course. Once the Israel vs Hamas conflict has run its course, I fully expect TPTB to roll out the China vs Taiwan conflict.