While the Fed Board of Governors continues with its “we don’t see inflation anywhere” shtick, one of its own in-house measures (the underlying inflation gauge or UIG) is about to hit 3%.

The UIG estimated on the “full data set” increased from a revised 2.91% in October to 2.95% in November.

Source: the NY Fed.

Yes, one of the Fed’s OWN inflation measures (and one that leads the CPI) is about to hit 3%. And by the way, the UIG is from the NY-Fed: the regional Fed bank involved in daily market operations with the best understanding of how the financial system actually works.

Why does this matter?

Because, as I outlined in my bestselling book The Everything Bubble: the Endgame For Central Bank Policy, since the mid-1990s, the Fed has embarked on a policy of intentionally creating asset bubbles to keep the financial system afloat.

In the late ‘90s we had the Tech Bubble or bubble in Technology stocks.

When that bubble burst in 2000, the Fed dealt with it by intentionally creating a bubble in housing: a more senior asset class that was more systemically important.

When that bubble burst in 2008, triggering the Great Financial Crisis, the Fed dealt with it by intentionally creating yet another bubble…

… this time in US sovereign bonds, also called Treasuries.

By the way, these bonds are THE most senior asset class in the US financial system. The yields on these bonds represent the “risk-free” rate against which EVERY asset class in the financial system is priced.

So when these bonds went into a bubble, EVERYTHING followed.

This is THE endgame for Central Bank policy. And the bad news is that inflation is what will lead to this bubble bursting.

You see, bond yields track inflation (as well as economic growth). So as inflation rises (again, the UIG is clocking in at 3% already, bond yields will rise.

When bond yields rise, bond prices fall.

When bond prices fall, the Bond Bubble bursts.

When the Bond Bubble bursts, the EVERYTHING bubble follows.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

While the Fed Board of Governors continues with its “we don’t see inflation anywhere” shtick, one of its own in-house measures (the underlying inflation gauge or UIG) is about to hit 3%.

The UIG estimated on the “full data set” increased from a revised 2.91% in October to 2.95% in November.

Source: the NY Fed.

Yes, one of the Fed’s OWN inflation measures (and one that leads the CPI) is about to hit 3%. And by the way, the UIG is from the NY-Fed: the regional Fed bank involved in daily market operations with the best understanding of how the financial system actually works.

Why does this matter?

Because, as I outlined in my bestselling book The Everything Bubble: the Endgame For Central Bank Policy, since the mid-1990s, the Fed has embarked on a policy of intentionally creating asset bubbles to keep the financial system afloat.

In the late ‘90s we had the Tech Bubble or bubble in Technology stocks.

When that bubble burst in 2000, the Fed dealt with it by intentionally creating a bubble in housing: a more senior asset class that was more systemically important.

When that bubble burst in 2008, triggering the Great Financial Crisis, the Fed dealt with it by intentionally creating yet another bubble…

… this time in US sovereign bonds, also called Treasuries.

By the way, these bonds are THE most senior asset class in the US financial system. The yields on these bonds represent the “risk-free” rate against which EVERY asset class in the financial system is priced.

So when these bonds went into a bubble, EVERYTHING followed.

This is THE endgame for Central Bank policy. And the bad news is that inflation is what will lead to this bubble bursting.

You see, bond yields track inflation (as well as economic growth). So as inflation rises (again, the UIG is clocking in at 3% already, bond yields will rise.

When bond yields rise, bond prices fall.

When bond prices fall, the Bond Bubble bursts.

When the Bond Bubble bursts, the EVERYTHING bubble follows.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

While the Fed Board of Governors continues with its “we don’t see inflation anywhere” shtick, one of its own in-house measures (the underlying inflation gauge or UIG) is about to hit 3%.

The UIG estimated on the “full data set” increased from a revised 2.91% in October to 2.95% in November.

Source: the NY Fed.

Yes, one of the Fed’s OWN inflation measures (and one that leads the CPI) is about to hit 3%. And by the way, the UIG is from the NY-Fed: the regional Fed bank involved in daily market operations with the best understanding of how the financial system actually works.

Why does this matter?

Because, as I outlined in my bestselling book The Everything Bubble: the Endgame For Central Bank Policy, since the mid-1990s, the Fed has embarked on a policy of intentionally creating asset bubbles to keep the financial system afloat.

In the late ‘90s we had the Tech Bubble or bubble in Technology stocks.

When that bubble burst in 2000, the Fed dealt with it by intentionally creating a bubble in housing: a more senior asset class that was more systemically important.

When that bubble burst in 2008, triggering the Great Financial Crisis, the Fed dealt with it by intentionally creating yet another bubble…

… this time in US sovereign bonds, also called Treasuries.

By the way, these bonds are THE most senior asset class in the US financial system. The yields on these bonds represent the “risk-free” rate against which EVERY asset class in the financial system is priced.

So when these bonds went into a bubble, EVERYTHING followed.

This is THE endgame for Central Bank policy. And the bad news is that inflation is what will lead to this bubble bursting.

You see, bond yields track inflation (as well as economic growth). So as inflation rises (again, the UIG is clocking in at 3% already, bond yields will rise.

When bond yields rise, bond prices fall.

When bond prices fall, the Bond Bubble bursts.

When the Bond Bubble bursts, the EVERYTHING bubble follows.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

The financial system is preparing for an inflationary shock.

The single best means of measuring inflation vs deflationary forces in the US financial system is the TIP to Long-Treasury (TLT) ratio. When this ratio rallies the system is predicting inflation. When it falls, the system is fearing deflation.

Running back to 2010, we’ve been in a long-term deflationary downtrend on this ratio.

This deflationary pull has dragged down the entire commodity complex over the same time period.

But this is about to end. In the short- term, the TIP:TLT ratio has MASSIVE support at current levels. And given the clear descending wedge pattern it’s formed, the odds are favoring a sharp breakout to the upside sometime in early 2018.

This is going to ignite a HUGE rally in commodities and other inflation hedges. Our big theme for 2018 is INFLATION. And we’re already producing numerous winners from this trend.

We just published a Special Investment Report concerning a FIVE secret investments you can use to make inflation pay you as it rips through the financial system in the months ahead

The report is titled Survive the Inflationary Storm

We are making just 100 copies available to the public.

To pick up yours, swing by:

https://www.phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/inflationstorm.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

The financial system is preparing for an inflationary shock.

The single best means of measuring inflation vs deflationary forces in the US financial system is the TIP to Long-Treasury (TLT) ratio. When this ratio rallies the system is predicting inflation. When it falls, the system is fearing deflation.

Running back to 2010, we’ve been in a long-term deflationary downtrend on this ratio.

This deflationary pull has dragged down the entire commodity complex over the same time period.

But this is about to end. In the short- term, the TIP:TLT ratio has MASSIVE support at current levels. And given the clear descending wedge pattern it’s formed, the odds are favoring a sharp breakout to the upside sometime in early 2018.

This is going to ignite a HUGE rally in commodities and other inflation hedges. Our big theme for 2018 is INFLATION. And we’re already producing numerous winners from this trend.

We just published a Special Investment Report concerning a FIVE secret investments you can use to make inflation pay you as it rips through the financial system in the months ahead

The report is titled Survive the Inflationary Storm

We are making just 100 copies available to the public.

To pick up yours, swing by:

https://www.phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/inflationstorm.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

I believe 2018 will be the year inflation arrives.

The reason, as I’ve noted throughout mid-2017, is that multiple Central Banks, particularly the European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of Japan (BoJ) and Swiss National Bank (SNB) have maintained emergency levels of QE and money printing, despite the fact that globally the economy is performing relatively well.

All told, in 2017 alone, these Central Banks will printed over a $1.5 trillion in new money and funneled it into the financial system. This is an all-time record, representing even more money printing than what took place in 2008 when the whole world was in the grips of the worst crisis in 80 years!

And it has finally unleashed the much sought after inflation. Around the world, inflationary data are breaking out to the upside. Producer prices are soaring in the EU, Japan, China and the US.

H/T Jeroen Blokland

Why does this matter?

Because the $199 TRILLION Bond Bubble trades based on inflation.

When inflation rises, so do bond yields to compensate.

When bond yields rise, bond prices FALL..

And when bond prices fall, this massive bubble, which I call The Everything Bubble bursts.

This process has already begun. Around the world, bond yields are spiking to the upside as the bond market adjusts to the threat of future inflation.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

I believe 2018 will be the year inflation arrives.

The reason, as I’ve noted throughout mid-2017, is that multiple Central Banks, particularly the European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of Japan (BoJ) and Swiss National Bank (SNB) have maintained emergency levels of QE and money printing, despite the fact that globally the economy is performing relatively well.

All told, in 2017 alone, these Central Banks will printed over a $1.5 trillion in new money and funneled it into the financial system. This is an all-time record, representing even more money printing than what took place in 2008 when the whole world was in the grips of the worst crisis in 80 years!

And it has finally unleashed the much sought after inflation. Around the world, inflationary data are breaking out to the upside. Producer prices are soaring in the EU, Japan, China and the US.

H/T Jeroen Blokland

Why does this matter?

Because the $199 TRILLION Bond Bubble trades based on inflation.

When inflation rises, so do bond yields to compensate.

When bond yields rise, bond prices FALL..

And when bond prices fall, this massive bubble, which I call The Everything Bubble bursts.

This process has already begun. Around the world, bond yields are spiking to the upside as the bond market adjusts to the threat of future inflation.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

The Fed concludes its final FOMC meeting of the year today.

The entire financial world expects the Fed to raise rates a final time. This will mark the fifth rate hike since December 2015, and the fourth of the last 12 months.

Throughout this time period, the Fed has routinely stated that it is confused as to why inflation is “too low.”

Inflation is not too low. The method the Fed uses to measure inflation is intentionally incorrect. As a result, the official inflation numbers reflect whatever the Fed wants, as opposed to reality.

Alan Greenspan devised this entire gimmick back in the 1990s. At that point, the amount of debt in the US financial had already become a systemic issue.

So Greenspan opted to “paper over” this fact via inflation… hoping that by aggressively devaluing the US Dollar he could keep this game going.

The only problem as far as the Fed was concerned was that the inflation numbers would reveal the Fed’s strategy. So Greenspan started tinkering with how the Fed measured inflation, removing various components (food and energy) and tweaking things so the Fed would no longer measure the cost of maintaining the same quality of life.

Greenspan hoped understating inflation publicly he would give him the cover he needed to pursue an aggressive devaluation of the US Dollar. The flip side of this was that the Fed would begin intentionally creating asset bubbles by maintaining loose monetary policy ad infinitum.

The late ‘90s was the Tech Bubble.

When that burst in the mid-‘00s, the Fed created a bubble in housing.

When that burst in ’08 the Fed created a bubble in US sovereign bonds or Treasuries.

And because these bonds are the bedrock of the US financial system, the “risk-free rate” of return against which ALL risk assets are valued, when the Fed did this it created a bubble in EVERYTHING.

That bubble is now beginning to burst. And ironically it is inflation (which the Fed claims is too low) that will do it.

It will take time for this to unfold, but as I recently told clients, we’re currently in “late 2007” for the coming crisis.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

The Fed claims we’re not in a bubble.

This, like the Fed’s claims inflation is too low, is hogwash.

As I outline in my bestselling book The Everything Bubble: The Endgame For Central Bank Policy, the reality is that the Fed’s entire monetary focus is on papering over declining living standards in the US.

Since 1971, real incomes are down. This fact stares us in the face: before that time, one parent worked and most families got by, today both parents work and rely on debt to get by. Indeed, the fact is that most Americans are worse off than they were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, even 40 years ago.

The Fed tries to mask this by making debt as cheap as possible, and then “inflating the debt away” by debasing the US Dollar.

That, in a nutshell, is the Fed’s entire game.

Asset bubbles are a natural consequence of this, as the Fed is forced to maintain “loose money” policies ad infinitum (the alternative is to risk triggering a sovereign debt crisis/ debt deflationary spiral).

This latest bubble is perhaps the most egregious.

Talking heads like to talk about Price to Earnings (P/E) ratios, but earnings can be easily faked to make this multiple unrealistically low. Sales are much harder to fake: either the money comes in the door or it doesn’t.

With that in mind, consider that based on P/S, the market is right where it was at the peak of the 1999 Tech Bubble: arguably the most insane stock bubble of the last 100 years.

H/T Bill King

The big difference between this bubble and that of 1999 is that currently we are MUCH FARTHER down the monetary rabbit hall than we were during the late ’90s.

The Fed has already engaged in $3.5 trillion in QE. And it’s also employed Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) for seven years. And that is what lead to the current bubble.

So when this one bursts, the Fed will be forced to engage in even more extreme monetary policy. I’m talking about policies that will make ZIRP and $3T in QE look like child’s play.

It will take time for this to unfold, but as I recently told clients of my Private Wealth Advisory report, we’re currently in “late 2007” for the coming crisis.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

The Fed claims we’re not in a bubble.

This, like the Fed’s claims inflation is too low, is hogwash.

As I outline in my bestselling book The Everything Bubble: The Endgame For Central Bank Policy, the reality is that the Fed’s entire monetary focus is on papering over declining living standards in the US.

Since 1971, real incomes are down. This fact stares us in the face: before that time, one parent worked and most families got by, today both parents work and rely on debt to get by. Indeed, the fact is that most Americans are worse off than they were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, even 40 years ago.

The Fed tries to mask this by making debt as cheap as possible, and then “inflating the debt away” by debasing the US Dollar.

That, in a nutshell, is the Fed’s entire game.

Asset bubbles are a natural consequence of this, as the Fed is forced to maintain “loose money” policies ad infinitum (the alternative is to risk triggering a sovereign debt crisis/ debt deflationary spiral).

This latest bubble is perhaps the most egregious.

Talking heads like to talk about Price to Earnings (P/E) ratios, but earnings can be easily faked to make this multiple unrealistically low. Sales are much harder to fake: either the money comes in the door or it doesn’t.

With that in mind, consider that based on P/S, the market is right where it was at the peak of the 1999 Tech Bubble: arguably the most insane stock bubble of the last 100 years.

H/T Bill King

The big difference between this bubble and that of 1999 is that currently we are MUCH FARTHER down the monetary rabbit hall than we were during the late ’90s.

The Fed has already engaged in $3.5 trillion in QE. And it’s also employed Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) for seven years. And that is what lead to the current bubble.

So when this one bursts, the Fed will be forced to engage in even more extreme monetary policy. I’m talking about policies that will make ZIRP and $3T in QE look like child’s play.

It will take time for this to unfold, but as I recently told clients of my Private Wealth Advisory report, we’re currently in “late 2007” for the coming crisis.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

In the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis, Central Banks began cornering the sovereign bond market via Zero or even Negative interest rates and Quantitative Easing (QE) programs.

The goal here was to reflate the financial system by pushing the “risk free rate” to extraordinary lows. By doing this, Central Bankers were hoping to:

1)   Backstop the financial system (sovereign bonds are the bedrock for all risk).

2)   Induce capital to flee cash (ZIRP and NIRP punish those sitting on cash) and move into risk assets, thereby reflating asset bubbles.

In this regard, these policies worked: the crisis was halted and the financial markets began reflating.

However, Central Banks have now set the stage for a crisis many times worse than 2008.

Let me explain…

The 2008 crisis was triggered by large financial firms going bust as the assets they owned (bonds based on mortgages) turned out to be worth much less (if not worthless), than the financial firms had been asserting.

This induced a panic, as a crisis of confidence rippled throughout the global private banking system.

During the next crisis, this same development will unfold (a crisis in confidence induced by the underlying assets being worth much less than anyone believes), only this time it will be CENTRAL banks (not private banks) facing this issue.

The consensus view is that a Central Bank can never go bust because it can always print money to remain solvent.

However, this is misguided.

Central Banks are currently sitting atop over $10 TRILLION in bonds, courtesy of nine years of QE programs.

These bonds trade based on inflation.

If inflation rises, these bonds will drop in value as their yields rise to accommodate the move in inflation.

When a Central Bank is sitting atop trillion of dollars in bonds, an inflationary spike inducing those bonds to drop could very quickly wipe out $100 billion or more in capital.

Now, you might argue that the same Central Bank could simply print more money to prop up the bond markets… but doing so would only increase inflation … which in turn would force bonds prices lower… inducing greater losses.

You get the point.

Policies like QE and ZIRP only work as long as the financial system maintains confidence in the currency a Central Bank is printing. The minute that currency begins to devalue rapidly due to inflation, the whole game is over.

This process has already started. The explosion of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is just one way in which the system is losing confidence in primary currencies.

The recent spike in bond yields is another. Across the globe, the $100+ trillion bond market is begin to lurch towards an inflationary future. Below you can see these moves in Germany’s 10-Year Government bonds, Japan’s 10-Year Government bonds, and the US’s 10-Year Treasuries.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

In the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis, Central Banks began cornering the sovereign bond market via Zero or even Negative interest rates and Quantitative Easing (QE) programs.

The goal here was to reflate the financial system by pushing the “risk free rate” to extraordinary lows. By doing this, Central Bankers were hoping to:

1)   Backstop the financial system (sovereign bonds are the bedrock for all risk).

2)   Induce capital to flee cash (ZIRP and NIRP punish those sitting on cash) and move into risk assets, thereby reflating asset bubbles.

In this regard, these policies worked: the crisis was halted and the financial markets began reflating.

However, Central Banks have now set the stage for a crisis many times worse than 2008.

Let me explain…

The 2008 crisis was triggered by large financial firms going bust as the assets they owned (bonds based on mortgages) turned out to be worth much less (if not worthless), than the financial firms had been asserting.

This induced a panic, as a crisis of confidence rippled throughout the global private banking system.

During the next crisis, this same development will unfold (a crisis in confidence induced by the underlying assets being worth much less than anyone believes), only this time it will be CENTRAL banks (not private banks) facing this issue.

The consensus view is that a Central Bank can never go bust because it can always print money to remain solvent.

However, this is misguided.

Central Banks are currently sitting atop over $10 TRILLION in bonds, courtesy of nine years of QE programs.

These bonds trade based on inflation.

If inflation rises, these bonds will drop in value as their yields rise to accommodate the move in inflation.

When a Central Bank is sitting atop trillion of dollars in bonds, an inflationary spike inducing those bonds to drop could very quickly wipe out $100 billion or more in capital.

Now, you might argue that the same Central Bank could simply print more money to prop up the bond markets… but doing so would only increase inflation … which in turn would force bonds prices lower… inducing greater losses.

You get the point.

Policies like QE and ZIRP only work as long as the financial system maintains confidence in the currency a Central Bank is printing. The minute that currency begins to devalue rapidly due to inflation, the whole game is over.

This process has already started. The explosion of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is just one way in which the system is losing confidence in primary currencies.

The recent spike in bond yields is another. Across the globe, the $100+ trillion bond market is begin to lurch towards an inflationary future. Below you can see these moves in Germany’s 10-Year Government bonds, Japan’s 10-Year Government bonds, and the US’s 10-Year Treasuries.

The time to prepare for this is NOW before the carnage hits.

On that note, we are putting together an Executive Summary outlining all of these issues as well as what’s to come when The Everything Bubble bursts.

It will be available exclusively to our clients. If you’d like to have a copy delivered to your inbox when it’s completed, you can join the wait-list here:

https://phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html

Best Regards

Graham Summers

Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research