Altos reports that active single-family inventory was down 1.6% week-over-week.  Inventory usually starts to decline in the fall and then declines sharply during the holiday season.
The first graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015.
Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2025.  The black line is for 2019.  
Inventory was up 15.6% compared to the same week in 2024 (last week it was up 15.5%), and down 4.3% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week it was down 4.7%). 
Inventory started 2025 down 22% compared to 2019.  Inventory has closed most of that gap, but it appears inventory will still be below 2019 levels at the end of 2025.
This second inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research.
As of November 28th, inventory was at 817 thousand (7-day average), compared to 830 thousand the prior week.  
Mike Simonsen discusses this data and much more regularly on YouTube

The Impossible Two Percent: Why Central Banks Cannot Afford Price Stability

Authored by Hamoon Soleimani via The Mises Institute,

The Two percent inflation target—monetary policy’s sacred commandment for three decades—has become structurally impossible to achieve. Not because central bankers lack skill, but because every attempt to hit the target destroys the financial architecture that previous monetary expansion built. This is the endgame of central planning: a system that cannot tolerate its own success criteria without collapsing.

The Arbitrary Anchor

New Zealand invented the two percent target in 1989 by looking backward at what inflation had been when things felt stable—hardly rigorous science. Other central banks copied this guess, transforming it into dogma. But the economy of 2025 bears no resemblance to 1989. We’ve financialized every asset class, built supply chains optimized for fragility, and erected a debt tower requiring perpetual refinancing at suppressed rates just to avoid collapse. The two percent target was designed for a world we’ve already destroyed.

The Cantillon Trap: Winners and Losers by Design

Monetary expansion doesn’t spread evenly. New money concentrates where it enters—in financial assets, real estate, and the balance sheets of those with credit access. This creates two economies: one for asset-holders, enriched by expansion; another for wage-earners, crushed by the cost increases that follow.

To hit 2 percent consumer inflation, central banks must restrict money supply enough to destroy demand among ordinary households—the people furthest from the monetary spigot. But they’ve already inflated assets to the point where millions of families, pension funds, and governments depend on continued expansion to stay solvent. Tightening enough to hit 2 percent CPI means liquidating the phantom wealth propping up the entire system. We glimpsed this in 2022-2023: modest rate increases triggered bank failures and sovereign debt crises.

The trap is complete: monetary expansion enriches the few while punishing the many, but contraction would bankrupt both.

The Measurement Mirage

The CPI doesn’t measure what people experience. Housing costs appear through “owner’s equivalent rent”—a fiction understating reality by a significant amount. Healthcare, education, childcare—costs that have doubled or tripled—receive minimal weight. Meanwhile, falling electronics and import prices pull the average down.

A family whose rent has doubled, childcare tripled, and healthcare quadrupled is told inflation is “only” three percent. Central banks fight to hit a target disconnected from lived reality, using tools that damage those already most hurt by mismeasured inflation.

The Sovereign Debt Vise

The United States now carries $38.12 trillion in debt, with deficits locked in structural overdrive. For fiscal year 2025 (ending September 30, 2025), the federal budget deficit totaled approximately $1.8 trillion—marking one of the largest annual deficits in US history in nominal terms. In calendar year 2025 alone (through November), the debt has already climbed by over $1 trillion, representing one of the fastest accumulations outside of pandemic-era spikes.

The Fed cannot pursue “price stability” without triggering sovereign default. It cannot monetize the debt without abandoning its inflation target. Monetary and fiscal policy have fused into a single system where every path leads to ruin.

The Trump Tariff Dividend: Fiscal Lunacy as Stimulus

Trump’s proposed $2,000 “tariff dividend” crystallizes the absurdity. Tariffs might generate $300-400 billion annually. Distributing $2,000 to 150 million Americans costs $300 billion, consuming all revenue and leaving nothing for Trump’s simultaneous promise to “substantially pay down national debt.”

But fiscal arithmetic is merely the surface problem. This is stimulus injected into an economy already overheating from tariff-induced price increases. Tariffs function as a regressive consumption tax, raising prices across the board. What is the proposed solution? Send everyone cash, which immediately bids prices higher in a textbook demand-pull spiral. We learned this during the pandemic: stimulus checks fueled the inflation that hit 9 percent.

The circularity is perfect: American consumers pay the tariffs, raising prices. The government sends that revenue back, and consumers use it to pay higher tariff prices. It’s a perpetual motion machine of economic waste. Tariffs misallocate capital by making inefficient domestic production appear profitable, while dividends provide purchasing power divorced from productive activity. We’re restricting supply through tariffs while boosting demand through dividends—engineering an inflationary explosion while calling it economic nationalism.

The QT Surrender: Why the Fed Can’t Stop Printing

The Federal Reserve announced in October 2025 that quantitative tightening will end in December after reducing its balance sheet from $9 trillion to $6.6 trillion. This isn’t a policy choice—it’s mathematical surrender.

The Fed’s balance sheet remains bloated with low-yielding assets from QE rounds dating to 2008, earning two-three percent while the Fed pays 4.5 percent on reserves it created to buy them. The Fed operated at a loss for three consecutive years.

But the Fed cannot shrink its balance sheet to pre-crisis levels without triggering a liquidity crisis. The modern financial system operates under an “ample reserves framework”—a euphemism for permanent monetary expansion. Banks, pension funds, and Treasury markets have become structurally dependent on massive reserve creation. When the Fed attempted modest QT reductions, repo markets showed stress. They’re stopping, not because inflation is conquered, but because the financial system cannot handle genuine monetary normalization.

The QT cessation sets the stage for QE’s inevitable return. The Fed is now in what Austrian economists call the “crack-up boom” phase—the point where monetary authorities choose between deflation (and cascading debt defaults) or continued inflation (and currency destruction). The QT cessation signals their choice.

The Perfect Storm

The Fed needs tight policy to combat inflation—inflation partly driven by tariffs Trump defends as revenue generators. But tightening is impossible because government debt service already consumes $1 trillion annually and the financial system requires ongoing liquidity support. So the Fed will maintain its swollen balance sheet, ready to expand again at the first crisis signal, while Trump pumps fiscal stimulus through tariff dividends into the economy.

The 2 percent inflation target becomes farcical. How can the Fed hit an inflation target when fiscal policy is overtly inflationary, when monetary policy cannot genuinely tighten without breaking the system, and when political pressure tilts entirely toward more spending? The Fed’s QT announcement is an admission they’ve lost control, even if they won’t admit it.

Policy Checkmate—The Impossible Choice

High inflation destroys savings, distorts price signals, and creates social instability. But we must be honest: the 2 percent target cannot be achieved without either.

The options seem to be: 1) a deflationary depression that liquidates the debt overhang—and likely the social order with it; 2) a financial repression that slowly confiscates wealth through negative real rates; or, 3) a restructuring of how we conceptualize monetary stability in a hyper-financialized economy.

The first option is politically impossible and humanly catastrophic. The second is what we’re already doing, just with more dishonesty. The third requires admitting central banking as currently practiced has failed.

The Austrian Vindication

Precision inflation targeting was always hubris—imposing mechanical control over an organic, complex system. The error wasn’t choosing two percent specifically; it was believing any centrally-planned monetary system could generate sustainable prosperity while coupled with fiscal incontinence.

We’ve created a monetary system that cannot tolerate the price discovery necessary for genuine economic coordination. Every attempt to hit an arbitrary inflation target generates distortions making the next cycle more severe. The Fed’s balance sheet cannot shrink because the economy was restructured around permanent monetary expansion. Interest rates cannot normalize because the debt burden makes higher rates catastrophic.

The 2 percent target isn’t failing because central bankers lack competence—it’s failing because it represents an impossible constraint on a system that has already inflated beyond the point of return.

The Endgame

The question isn’t whether we’ll abandon the two percent target. The Fed’s QT cessation and Trump’s tariff dividend have already abandoned it in practice, whatever they claim in theory. The real question is whether we’ll do so explicitly, through honest debate about what comes after central banking’s failure, or implicitly, through the slow-motion credibility crisis we’re witnessing—where inflation stays persistently above target, the Fed’s balance sheet can never shrink, and fiscal policy becomes increasingly untethered from reality.

This is the endgame of monetary central planning: not with hyperinflationary bang or deflationary whimper, but with the confused stumbling of policymakers who cannot admit their tools have welded them into a cage. The two percent target, tariff dividends, ample reserves frameworks, and technocratic jargon cannot obscure the simple truth: we have built an economic system requiring perpetual monetary expansion to avoid collapse, and we’ve run out of ways to pretend this is sustainable policy rather than slow-motion currency debasement with extra steps.

Tyler Durden Mon, 12/01/2025 - 08:05

The post Trumpian Nonsense on Employing Native-Born Workers appeared first on CEPR.

Black Friday Turnout Solid: Goldman, UBS Highlight Decent Start To Holiday Spending Season

Heading into Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there were mounting concerns about consumers, especially lower-tier ones - a cohort we've repeatedly warned as facing tough times. But early shopping data from this past weekend from Goldman and UBS suggest that, in aggregate, consumers held up better than feared. 

Goldman's top sector specialist, Scott Feiler, penned a note to clients earlier that "U.S. consumer does continue to show up for events, this Black Friday included. After all, Adobe did say Friday and Saturday both came in above their forecasts."

A long line of cars formed near a freeway exit in Dublin, California on Friday as shoppers flocked to score Black Friday deals at the San Francisco Premium Outlets. pic.twitter.com/1Bqy64MTKT

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 28, 2025

Feiler cited high-frequency data from Mastercard SpendingPulse, Adobe Analytics, Salesforce, and internal sources, all of which indicated a strong weekend. These are numbers that President Trump's economic team will likely highlight this week as economic proof that consumers are holding up late in the year.

Here's a snapshot of those data points:

Mastercard SpendingPulse

• Retail sales (ex. auto) increased +4.1% y/y on Black Friday. 

• Last year, Mastercard said Black Friday sales were +3.4% Y/Y.

• The breakdown of this year's +4.1%v was in-store sales +1.7%, while online sales were +10.4%

• It's 1 day only, but that +4.1% was compares to Mastercard's holiday prediction of +3.6%. They noted strength in apparel (+5.7%) and jewelry (2.3%).

Adobe Analytics

• Online sales grew +9.1% YoY, slightly below last year's +10.2%, but both Thanksgiving and Black Friday exceeded initial forecasts.

Salesforce

• Global online spend hit $79B (+6%), with U.S. online at $18B (+3%). Gains were price-driven, with unit volumes down YoY.

Goldman Sachs Store Checks:

• The GS Research team published takes this morning from their weekend store visits . They noted overall traffic at "traditional" Black Friday weekend destinations were in line to slightly better than last year. There were certain retailers where traffic was a little stronger than average like TGT, ULTA, ASO and at the mall at BBWI, Garage (GRGD) and Victoria's Secret (VSCO). They think toys, kids apparel, beauty and footwear were the areas within stores with the most traffic, while home goods traffic was lighter.

• Store traffic remains muted vs online.

Sensormatic

• Said physical retailer traffic dropped 2.1% y/y on Black Friday, compares to the 2025 average of -2.2%.

RetailNext

• Said Friday/Saturday traffic was -5.3% Y/Y. Friday was much stronger than Saturday. Would note most regions were consistent, but the negative Saturday data looks wonky, skewed by an outlier read in the Midwest. The total conclusion though is in store traffic remains soft, compares to online.

In a separate note, Goldman analyst Natasha de la Grense said that Black Friday data came in slightly better than expected. 

De La Grense noted, "Black Friday, Aspirational Luxury and the return of "boom boom." 

Here are her top observations from the weekend:

• Reassuring start to Holiday trading in the U.S., with Black Friday data coming in slightly better than feared, following last week's disappointing confidence print. In summary, retail sales growth was in line with NRF's forecast for the season as a whole, with discount levels that were very similar to last year.

• Lots of focus recently on the "K-shape" economy, with commentators observing that the top income earners are increasingly holding up discretionary spending in the U.S. While we do think this cohort is outperforming (driven by equity market wealth creation which accrues more to higher-income households), the very top of the income pyramid participates less in discount shopping events. Therefore, Black Friday is a good first check on gifting trends and mass-market spending ahead of holiday. By many accounts, retailers were pleased with their level of business – WWD cites a broad number of players confirming this.

• By category, it sounds like apparel did well (benefiting from cold weather), while jewellery remains strong and we are continuing to see signs of life in the handbag category. I still think that aspirational spending is recovering in the U.S. – that was a theme emerging from Q3 earnings season and seems to have continued into Q4 based on 1) November guidance raises at Ralph Lauren, Tapestry and The RealReal; 2) qualitative commentary over Black Friday weekend. Note that a number of retailers have called out younger cohorts showing up to spend on Black Friday – consistent with Deloitte's survey heading into the event.

• Our preferred sub-sector within Consumer Discretionary right now remains Luxury Goods. While Black Friday isn't a perfect read for this sector (given the cohort behaviour mentioned above), there's enough data suggesting that high end spending is improving QTD in the U.S. Outside of the U.S., China luxury is also recovering (off a low base) - the high frequency data here is a bit mixed as handbag imports through October were not as good as Q3 (although with the caveat that the 2-year comp is very tough). However, jewellery/cosmetics sales in China have been strong, Macau GGR just beat expectations meaningfully (+14% YoY this morning and reaching the highest recovery level vs pre-pandemic since reopening) and micro feedback/channel checks are good.

UBS analyst Michael Lasser struck a similar tone to Goldman, pointing to the same data and noting that "spending has been decent, but the shape of the season has yet to be determined."

Here's from Lasser:

Overall, the data points to steady demand during the key holiday weekend for retailers. Though, it is still quite early. Plus, we suspect that there will be steep drop off following Cyber Monday as consumers have tended to concentrate their spending around key events. This has been the pattern for some time. Importantly, there's still a good amount of time remaining. For many retailers, we think December can account for 40% to 45% of the fourth quarter. Thus, we think it's best to reserve judgement on the overall result of the holiday season for the next few weeks.

However, the analyst said it's still too early to draw conclusions about the overall shopping season. He noted several important considerations to keep in mind as the Christmas shopping period quickly approaches:

• Consumers are likely prioritizing essentials and seeking discounts this year as inflation continues to weigh on budgets. This favors retailers like Walmart and Costco who are perceived to be pricing aggressively.

• We believe retailers have been more aggressive with promotions to drive sales. Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods suggested last week that promotions were higher this year than in the past. Yet, we think that many retailers are finding ways to mitigate the impact to their profits. This is from areas like improving shrink, generating growth in retail media, and driving increases in third party marketplaces.

• The adoption and influence of Artificial Intelligence is in its early stages, but is having a growing impact. Data from Adobe shows that the use of this technology is up significantly YoY. This follows recent announcements from retailers like Walmart and Target, which are partnering with OpenAI in various ways. We suspect that with each passing day, the effect that this technology is going to have on the retail sector is going to significantly grow. This will favor the larger, well-positioned retailers, in our view.

While the consumer in aggregate is still holding up, the split (read report) between lower-income shoppers and higher-income households has increasingly widened. Trump's "Operation Affordability" initiative is framed as an effort to reverse the Biden-era inflation that has squeezed the working poor and younger Americans.

Tyler Durden Mon, 12/01/2025 - 07:45

As Money Gets Tighter, More People Are Selling Gold and Silver

Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times,

For years, Jakob stacked silver coins and bullion, building his treasure and waiting for the perfect moment to let it go, if that moment ever came.

With prices in late 2025 rapidly rising, money running low, and the holidays approaching, he decided to sell them on Nov. 18 at the spot market price of $50.13 per ounce.

He received more than $1,400 from a coin dealer in Phoenix. Enough to cover this year’s gifts.

“I wasn’t really wanting to sell, but everything is expensive,” Jakob, who didn’t want his last name used, told The Epoch Times.

“Christmas kind of made the decision for me,” he said. “I’ve got little kids. They’ve been wanting to go to Disneyland.”

As economic conditions worsen for many Americans, more precious metals investors are selling assets to take advantage of higher prices and bolster their finances, according to several coin and bullion dealers and customers who spoke with The Epoch Times.

For many, the need for cash is immediate, with essentials like groceries and electricity bills taking priority over holding onto their investments.

A coin and bullion dealer in Navajo County, Arizona, said that three out of every four transactions were people selling their silver and gold.

Many of these sellers were having a hard time making ends meet, he said, and asked not to use his company’s name.

The dealer said one woman, who looked in pain, needed money for dental care. Another woman, a single mother, needed cash to buy food.

At least two married couples sold their gold wedding rings for quick money to buy basic items.

Southwest Coin & Bullion, a gold and silver buyer in Phoenix, on Nov. 18, 2025. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

“It’s a hard time,” the dealer told The Epoch Times.

“One customer flat out said, ‘I don’t want to sell right now, but I have to.’ He had a car repair, and [needed] Christmas money.”

The man received $2,200 for his collection of 1-ounce silver rounds.

“They aren’t all desperate,” the dealer noted. “The thing is, for the last two years, I’ve had more sellers than buyers, significantly more sellers than buyers, especially the last year,” due to rising prices.

“October was my best month. A lot of that was larger purchases, people who were on the fence or were thinking about it. It’s the price. People buy on the fear of missing out.”

The dealer explained that selling gold and silver when prices are rising quickly seems “counterintuitive” because it often makes more sense to buy and hold as prices climb.

He added that, as the saying goes, the goal in precious metals trading is to buy low and sell high.

A worker polishes gold bullion bars at the ABC Refinery in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 5, 2020. David Gray/AFP via Getty Images

But that stable high is nowhere in sight, he said.

“Seriously, maybe one in 10 are taking a profit; the vast majority are selling out of need,” he said. “Most people who buy gold and silver buy it to sit on it as savings or insurance.”

“And with that being said, the majority of people are selling out of need, not out of  wanting to take a profit.”

Gold and Silver

On Nov. 28, gold’s per-ounce value closed at $4,220.40 in U.S. dollars, and by 1 p.m. Eastern Time, silver hit a record high of $56.38 per troy ounce, precious metals analyst kitco.com reported.

Patrick McKeever, a precious metals dealer at Southwest Coin & Bullion in Phoenix, said the gold and silver markets remain highly volatile and unpredictable, as prices continue to rise with no clear end in sight.

He said that as the dollar drops in value and inflation goes up, more people are choosing to buy for the long term or sell to take advantage of higher prices in the short term.

“I think it’s just high demand,” McKeever told The Epoch Times.

“There’s several different entities buying up precious metals. You have the world governments, China, Russia, and the big banks aren’t hiding the fact that they’re buying as much as they can get,” he said.

McKeever pointed out that although precious metals are sometimes dismissed as outdated or poor investments, history shows their remarkable ability to retain value amid the rise and fall of currencies.

“Finding that top right now, I don’t think anybody knows,“ he said. ”All we see is the price continuing to go up, demand continuing to stay solid.”

At current prices, McKeever said he’s more “bullish” on gold than silver, the latter being an industrial metal. 

Regardless, he sees both as valuable hedges against inflation and financial hardship, and uncertainty.

The United States Gold Bullion Depository, also known as Fort Knox in Kentucky in 2009. Michael Vadon/CC BY-SA 2.0

“They’re just a good safety net, so if you have the ability to hold them—yep,” McKeever said. 

According to a 2023 Gallup study, the proportion of people who viewed gold as one of the best long-term investments rose from 15 percent in 2022 to 26 percent a year later.

Cash Shortfall

In the meantime, a 2025 survey by the online gold buyer Cash for Gold USA found that seven out of 10 Americans are selling jewelry to pay for basic needs.

“Despite gold prices increasing by nearly 45 percent over the past year, significantly more Americans have been selling gold to serve as a household lifeline rather than the precious metal’s record high prices,” the company revealed.

More than half of the people surveyed in June said that they sold gold for quick cash to cover money problems.

The survey included 1,002 people who had sold items such as gold, diamonds, jewelry, coins, and watches to Cash for Gold USA.

Although 50.5 percent sold items to get money, 68.4 percent said the cash was used for household essentials. Most of it went toward paying bills (52.6 percent) and buying groceries (15.9 percent).

The survey found that besides helping with money problems, people sold their metals because they had items they did not use, or had forgotten about (45.4 percent), or because they got them from someone else (13.8 percent).

Nearly 70 percent of people in the survey used the money to make their finances better now or in the future, including paying off debts (13.4 percent) or purchasing a home (3.2 percent).

‍“We were shocked by the responses,” said Barry Schneider, co-founder of Cash for Gold USA, in a statement.

Mikah Snowden, a sales representative at Galina Fine Jewelers in Cottonwood, Ariz., works behind the showcase on March 20, 2023. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

“We expected more people to tell us it was the record-high prices of gold driving their decision to sell, which have increased by around $1,000 per ounce over the past year. Gold has been selling for more than $3,300 an ounce.”

The study reported other reasons for selling. About 10.8 percent sold because of divorce or separation, 5.4 percent due to job loss or reduced hours, and 3.6 percent because of medical bills.

Most sellers spent their money on basic needs. Only 9 percent used the money for a vacation, 4 percent for new jewelry, and just 2 percent for electronics. Fewer than one in six used their money on luxury items.

“This is not the gold rush of 1849, but this survey suggests to us that those employed in America face financial hardships, despite holding down jobs,” Schneider said.

Gabe Wright, co-owner of Coin Heaven in Cottonwood, Ariz., holds gold and silver coins, two of the hottest-selling items on March 20, 2023. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

The Epoch Times contacted major bullion dealers, such as SD Bullion and Battalion Metals, but did not get a response to its request for comment.

On Nov. 18, Levi from Phoenix visited a busy downtown bullion shop with 124 quarters from around 1964, the last year American coins were made with 90 percent silver.

Levi told The Epoch Times he spent years collecting coins, saving them as an investment since he was young.

He decided to sell because he needed the money and ended up making more than $1,000.

“I’ve just been collecting them over time. I’ve been finding them at gas stations, things like that. I still have more,” Levi said.

Tyler Durden Mon, 12/01/2025 - 07:20

My back-to-work morning train WFH reads:

• The $260 Billion Mom-and-Pop Funds Distorting the Credit Market: Popular with individual investors, fixed-maturity funds are hoovering up the debt of big companies, reducing borrowing costs but obscuring repayment risk. (Bloomberg)

• Goodbye, Price Tags. Hello, Dynamic Pricing. Businesses increasingly are using algorithms to determine prices, and to rapidly adjust those prices throughout the day. This new technology is called dynamic pricing, and it’s poised to change the way businesses set and advertise their prices. Think of the ever-changing electronic signs at gas stations, but for everything. (New York Times) see also Gen X-ers Have Money to Spend. Why Are Retailers Ignoring Them? Three in four Americans ages 45 to 60 say they expect to overspend for the holidays. They’re “sort of like the glue within the consumer spectrum.” (New York Times)

• Unpacking the Mechanics of Conduit Debt Financing: Understanding the pass-through financing model behind the AI infrastructure boom. (This Is Not Investment Advice)

• Private Equity Firms Could Face More Litigation as They Push into Retail: TAMU’s William Magnuson and Oxford’s Ludovic Phalippou argue that misleading metrics and opaque fees pose “significant litigation risks when ordinary investors enter the picture.” (Institutional Investor)

• Are the rich fleeing Mamdani’s Manhattan? Not according to the data. The reasons for the increase in sales can be attributed in large part to overall gains in the stock market, the expectations of big Wall Street bonuses and declining mortgage rates. (USA Today)

• What Is a Tariff Shock? Insights from 150 years of Tariff Policy. What are the short-run effects of tariff shocks on macro aggregates? A careful review of the major changes in US tariff policy since 1870 shows no systematic relation between the state of the cycle and the direction of the tariff changes, as partisan differences on the effects and desirability of tariffs led to opposite policy responses to similar economic conditions. (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)

• Mapping the Sense of What’s Going On Inside: Scientists are learning how the brain knows what’s happening throughout the body, and how that process might go awry in some psychiatric disorders. (New York Times)

• The Ultrarich Are Spending a Fortune to Live in Extreme Privacy: In Miami and elsewhere, the wealthy are moving in increasingly private spheres, shelling out big money to bypass the indignities of public life. (Wall Street Journal)

• YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads. The popularity of YouTube podcasts among conservatives is driving a boom in small businesses tailoring ads to their millions of listeners, paying hosts like Joe Rogan and Candace Owens to read out promotions in the hope that fans will place orders. The phenomenon has enriched both the hosts and YouTube, supporting further growth of the businesses using ideology to sell. (Bloomberg free) see also How Right-Wing Superstar Riley Gaines Built an Anti-Trans Empire: The swimmer tied a trans woman for fifth. The MAGA industrial complex took care of the rest. (Mother Jones)

• Life in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry borderlands, from beatosu to goblu: The legend of beatosu originated with a prank carried out by Peter Fletcher, a Michigan alumnus who served as chairman of the Michigan State Highway Commission in the 1970s. Fletcher was in charge of the state highway maps, which include a tiny strip of northern Ohio. At Fletcher’s direction, the highway commission’s 1978 maps included a fictional town called “goblu” near Toledo and another called “beatosu” in a rural part of Fulton County, Ohio. (New York Times)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of famed watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne, the Glashütte, German watchmaker, recorded live at the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance.

Bitcoin Disconnecting From Nasdaq

Source: Apollo

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The post 10 Monday AM Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Visualizing The $19 Trillion Global Cost Of Conflict

Last year, the economic impact of violence reached $19.1 trillion, or $717 billion higher than the previous year.

This came as conflict deaths hit 25-year highs, and wars continued in the Ukraine and Gaza. In response to heightened geopolitical tensions, European nations have injected billions into defense spending. Even Japan plans to double its defense spending to 2% of GDP.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows the global cost of conflict in 2024, based on analysis from the Institute for Economic and Peace.

Breaking Down the Cost of Conflict

Below, we show the economic impact of violence worldwide, with figures including direct and indirect costs:

In 2024, military spending grew by $540 billion to reach $9 trillion.

Overall, 84 countries increased spending on military as a share of GDP, with Norway, Denmark, and Bangladesh seeing the greatest jumps. U.S. military spending totaled $949 billion, while China followed at $450 billion, in international dollars.

As the second-highest cost, internal security expenditure hit $5.7 trillion. This includes costs associated with policing and the judicial system.

Meanwhile, GDP losses causes by conflict surged 44% in 2024 to reach $462 billion. Compared to 2008, GDP losses have more than quadrupled, while the cost of conflict deaths has followed a similar trend.

Adding to this, the cost of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) had an economic toll of $343 billion. Today, 122 million people globally are forcibly displaced, more than doubling from 2008.

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on Europe’s biggest armies.

Tyler Durden Mon, 12/01/2025 - 05:45

'Surgical Removal Of An Organ': Ukrainian Recruiter Arrested For Allegedly Beating Conscript's Genitals In Heinous Attack

Via Remix News,

After a forced conscript was beaten in his groin area to the point that he lost an “organ” following emergency surgery, Ukrainian authorities have moved to arrest the recruitment center head.

The staff of the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) arrested the head of one of the district recruitment and military service preparation centers (TCK) in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.

The recruiter is accused of brutally beating a conscripted man for refusing to perform a fluorographic examination during the medical aptitude test (VLK), reported by the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine and the DBR, based on the announcements of Ukrainian news outlet Pravda.ua.

The DBR investigated complaints from citizens and parliamentarians that beatings, torture, and demands for money had taken place in a TCK operation in Transcarpathia. Notably, neighboring Hungary has alleged that recruits from the Transcarpathia region are targeted for recruitment at an especially high rate due to them being ethnic Hungarians.

“Investigators uncovered numerous abuses of power committed by a senior officer at the center,” the DBR communication was quoted by the source.

Based on the investigation, it was revealed that the man was sent to the hospital for a VLK examination together with other citizens.

When he refused the examination, the lieutenant colonel deliberately inflicted at least five blows against the victim, targeting the groin area.

As a result, the victim suffered serious physical injuries that required the “surgical removal of an organ.”

The officer was charged with abuse of power during martial law, with serious consequences. On the motion of the prosecutors, the court ordered an arrest without the possibility of bail. Based on the source, it was also revealed that the possible involvement of other persons, including police officers, in the case is currently being investigated.

This beating is likely just the tip of the iceberg, though. As already reported by Remix News, a Hungarian citizen and entrepreneur, József Sebestyén, died in July in the Beregsász hospital after Ukrainian recruiters severely beat him with iron bars in a forest, with the incident also caught on film.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has forcefully condemned forced conscription in Ukraine after the beating death. Speaking on Kossuth Radio, Orbán linked the tragic incident directly to the ongoing war, asserting that a country where such events occur due to forced conscription is unfit for European Union membership.

“A country where this could happen cannot be a member of the EU,” said Orbán.

“We are talking about a Hungarian-Ukrainian dual citizen. This entitles us to avoid using cautious language. They beat a Hungarian citizen to death, that’s the situation. And this is a case that we need to investigate, as this cannot happen,” Orbán stated, emphasizing the gravity of the situation. 

He highlighted that while the front lines might seem distant to many Hungarians, “the war is taking place in our neighboring country. The threat is directly here.”

A video post on this topic from Remix News was immediately flagged by X and censored, meaning that EU censors may be jumping on this report due to its sensitive nature.

For years, videos of Ukrainian recruits being dragged off the streets and beaten have been circulating, making the arrest of one of these recruiters quite out of the ordinary.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Mon, 12/01/2025 - 05:00

Future Of Fertility Chronically Overestimated

The newly released OECD Pensions at a Glance report shows how fertility projections have been wrong again and again over the years, grossly underestimating how much fertility would decline each time.

As fertility rates and pension funds are intrinsically tied, this can cause problems down the line, when incoming payments from workers to pension funds are smaller than expected and payouts to current pensioners exceed them.

As Statista's Katharina Buchholz shows in the following data, the lifetime births per woman in OECD countries sank from 2.2 in 1980 to 1.9 in 1994.

You will find more infographics at Statista

At the time, demographers estimated that the rate would recover up to around 2.1 by the middle of the upcoming century.

By 2002, births rates had declined to 1.66, yet a recovery to 1.85 by 2047 was once again expected.

By 2012, there was actually a slight recovery back up to 1.75 births per women, prompting demographers to expect the number of births to rise to an average of 1.8 per woman by 2050.

Yet, birth rates started to fall again to below 1.5 by 2024, the latest year on record.

Still, the tale of recovering fertility has not been eliminated, as birth numbers are currently projected to rise again, albeit only slightly, to 1.52 by 2050 and 1.54 by 2070.

Many scientists now see the official UN demographic forecasts as conservative estimates and believe that the world population will actually shrink significantly faster than they project.

 A 2020 study published in The Lancet actually calculates that contrary to what UN figures say the world population will have shrunk by 2100 and could potentially already be significantly lower than it is today.

While population growth has been studied at length and models in this field tend to be more reliable, less work has been done on the newer topic of population decline, making calculations more unreliable.

Tyler Durden Mon, 12/01/2025 - 04:15

"Made For Germany" Is History: Covestro Caught In The Waves Of The Sell-Off

Submitted By Thomas Kolbe

Abu Dhabi’s state-owned energy giant ADNOC has acquired nearly all shares of German chemical powerhouse Covestro. Germany is gradually losing its strategic position in critical industrial sectors. The sell-off is accelerating.

Remember the big media spectacle “MADE FOR GERMANY” this past July? Chancellor Friedrich Merz staged a meeting with 61 corporate CEOs, proudly announcing supposed future investments of €631 billion.

Even then, given the ongoing capital flight from Germany, it was clear that the event was mainly a media stunt – a sad attempt to distract the public from the real state of the German industrial base.

Sell-Off Accelerates 

Since that day, Germany’s industrial sell-off has not slowed – it has accelerated. Companies have already made their judgment: suffocating regulations, exploding compliance costs in the name of climate policy, and an administratively hostile environment have turned investments into a risk.

In short: industrial production is being systematically and willfully strangled by lawmakers.

Last week, German chemical giant Covestro grabbed the headlines. This time, it was Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC on a bargain hunt – Black Friday has become a daily routine.

At around €62 per share, for a total transaction value of €15 billion, ADNOC increased its stake to over 95% – effectively taking control of company policy.

Loss of Capital and Know-How 

Capital gains will no longer flow to Germany but to Abu Dhabi. Strategic decisions about investment and location policy are now made by owners abroad.

This is especially critical for a company of clear strategic importance: Covestro’s high-performance plastics and polyurethanes are essential for Germany’s key industries – from automotive and machinery to construction and electrical engineering. Covestro is a central element of the industrial value chain, whose stability largely determines the future of the entire German industrial base.

About 40% of the 15,000 employees still work in Germany, many at the Leverkusen headquarters. But even Covestro has not escaped the general decline. Germany’s chemical industry now operates at just 71% capacity – a drop of more than 20% from the record year of 2018 – a sector now navigating increasingly rough waters.

Covestro has reported negative net earnings in recent years, while operating profit (EBIT) fell by more than 50% from 2023 to 2024, down to €87 million. Pressure from international competitors, high energy costs, and increasingly complex Brussels regulations have pushed the company to the limits of its competitiveness.

A Broader Trend 

The trend of selling off Germany’s industrial crown jewels began with the sale of Augsburg-based robotics and automation specialist KUKA in 2016. At the time, China’s Midea Group acquired a majority stake for €4.6 billion.

Even then, the same spectacle played out: the new investor publicly promised jobs and location guarantees, but quickly shifted to a mode where strategic decisions were tied exclusively to return expectations and location quality.

There is simply no place for sentimental traditionalism or patriotic rhetoric in this world. Global industry moves forward – and no one outside Europe shares the passion for risky green policy experiments.

Dramatic Consequences 

Covestro and KUKA are just two prominent examples of a secular trend. Year after year, Germany loses net direct investment. Last year alone, €64.5 billion flowed out – capital that is being invested elsewhere in new production capacity. Note: this is a net figure, which is expected to be even higher this year.

Germany’s economy is bleeding, while political leaders respond with half-hearted industrial subsidies – like the so-called “industrial electricity price” – and ever-new regulations. Many companies are likely to exit in anticipation of the cost tsunami from the CO₂ certificate market starting in 2027.

The U.S. Factor 

Above all, the United States beckons as an alternative production base. The Trump administration has made it clear that it will use every lever – including tariff pressure – to advance reindustrialization. This includes deregulation of the energy sector, an end to costly renewable experiments, and an industrial policy that welcomes investors rather than driving them away.

Add to that promises from Arab states like Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia to invest trillions in U.S. production – concrete proof of Washington’s seriousness. “Made for USA” will become a major political and economic mantra in the years to come. The U.S. economy is currently growing at over 4%, accelerating global capital shifts.

The list of German companies moving to the U.S. is growing. Hamburg-based metal producer Aurubis, automotive groups Stellantis, and supplier Bosch are among firms planning to strengthen the North American economy with billions in investments.

No One Sacrifices the Green God 

It would be too simplistic to blame this trend solely on U.S. trade policy. Long before Trump returned to the White House, it was clear that industrial production in Germany – and across the EU – had become unprofitable. As long as national policy enforces the Green Deal and its “green transformation,” nothing will change.

No one dares to sacrifice the Green God – the destructive CO₂ narrative driving economic collapse.

Half-hearted protests by Mittelstand associations, such as the Family Entrepreneurs, calling for broader political discourse including the Alternative for Germany – and their sharp political and media pushback – show that Germany still does not recognize the seriousness of the situation.

With each major corporation relocating abroad, the backbone of the German economy – the deeply integrated Mittelstand – is weakened. Even the public sector hiring half a million people cannot mask the fact that industry has cut hundreds of thousands of jobs and will continue to lose value in the coming years.

Celebrating the reintroduction of an EV subsidy as a major industrial policy step is, at its core, nothing more than a declaration of bankruptcy of eco-socialist policies that have propelled the country into a spiral of poverty.

Tyler Durden Mon, 12/01/2025 - 03:30

The Dutch Are The Most Likely To 'Borrow' Their Neighbor's WiFi

According to data collected by Statista Consumer Insights, 16 percent of Dutch online respondents said that they mainly access their internet at home via their neighbor or landlord’s wireless connection.

As Statista's Anna Fleck shows in the chart below, this is double the rate of people in neighboring Germany and France.

You will find more infographics at Statista

According to the survey, only 41 percent of respondents in the Netherlands had access to broadband and 19 percent had a mobile connection via smartphone or tablet in 2025.

The United States and the United Kingdom had far lower rates of adults using their neighbors’ WiFi, at four percent and three percent, respectively.

The U.S. also had a relatively low share of people with broadband, at 37 percent, while the UK’s was higher at 63 percent.

While the reasons for this discrepancy are not fully clear from the data alone, it’s interesting to note that breaking into an encrypted WiFi is not a criminal offense in the Netherlands, even though it is in other countries.

Breaking into a computer, however, is.

Tyler Durden Mon, 12/01/2025 - 02:45

Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus



In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff talked about coronavirus and the impact that it is having on the markets. Earlier this month, Peter said he thought the virus was just an excuse for stock market woes. At the time he believed the market was poised to fall anyway. But as it turns out, coronavirus has actually helped the US stock market because it has led central banks to pump even more liquidity into the world financial system. All this means more liquidity — central banks easing. In fact, that is exactly what has already happened, except the new easing is taking place, for now, outside the United States, particularly in China.” Although the new money is primarily being created in China, it is flowing into dollars — the dollar index is up — and into US stocks. Last week, US stock markets once again made all-time record highs. In fact, I think but for the coronavirus, the US stock market would still be selling off. But because of the central bank stimulus that has been the result of fears over the coronavirus, that actually benefitted not only the US dollar, but the US stock market.” In the midst of all this, Peter raises a really good question. The primary economic concern is that coronavirus will slow down output and ultimately stunt economic growth. Practically speaking, the world would produce less stuff. If the virus continues to spread, there would be fewer goods and services produced in a market that is hunkered down. Why would the Federal Reserve respond, or why would any central bank respond to that by printing money? How does printing more money solve that problem? It doesn’t. In fact, it actually exacerbates it. But you know, everybody looks at central bankers as if they’ve got the solution to every problem. They don’t. They don’t have the magic wand. They just have a printing press. And all that creates is inflation.” Sometimes the illusion inflation creates can look like a magic wand. Printing money can paper over problems. But none of this is going to fundamentally fix the economy. In fact, if central bankers were really going to do the right thing, the appropriate response would be to drain liquidity from the markets, not supply even more.” Peter explained how the Fed was originally intended to create an “elastic” money supply that would expand or contract along with economic output. Today, the money supply only goes in one direction — that’s up. The economy is strong, print money. The economy is weak, print even more money.” Of course, the asset that’s doing the best right now is gold. The yellow metal pushed above $1,600 yesterday. Gold is up 5.5% on the year in dollar terms and has set record highs in other currencies. Because gold is rising even in an environment where the dollar is strengthening against other fiat currencies, that shows you that there is an underlying weakness in the dollar that is right now not being reflected in the Forex markets, but is being reflected in the gold markets. Because after all, why are people buying gold more aggressively than they’re buying dollars or more aggressively than they’re buying US Treasuries? Because they know that things are not as good for the dollar or the US economy as everybody likes to believe. So, more people are seeking out refuge in a better safe-haven and that is gold.” Peter also talked about the debate between Trump and Obama over who gets credit for the booming economy – which of course, is not booming.

We are living in crazy times. I have a hard time believing that most of the general public is not awake, but in reality, they are. We've never seen anything like this; I mean not even under Obama during the worst part of the Great Recession." Now the Fed is desperately trying to keep interest rates from rising. The problem is that it's a much bigger debt bubble this time around , and the Fed is going to have to blow a lot more air into it to keep it inflated. The difference is this time it's not going to work." It looks like the Fed did another $104.15 billion of Not Q.E. in a single day. The Fed claims it's only temporary. But that is precisely what Bernanke claimed when the Fed started QE1. Milton Freedman once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." The same applies to Q.E., or whatever the Fed wants to pretend it's doing. Except this is not QE4, according to Powell. Right. Pumping so much money out, and they are accusing China of currency manipulation ? Wow! Seriously! Amazing! Dump the U.S. dollar while you still have a chance. Welcome to The Atlantis Report. And it is even worse than that, In addition to the $104.15 billion of "Not Q.E." this past Thursday; the FED added another $56.65 billion in liquidity to financial markets the next day on Friday. That's $160.8 billion in two days!!!! in just 48 hours. That is more than 2 TIMES the highest amount the FED has ever injected on a monthly basis under a Q.E. program (which was $80 billion per month) Since this isn't QE....it will be really scary on what they are going to call Q.E. Will it twice, three times, four times, five times what this injection per month ! It is going to be explosive since it takes about 60 to 90 days for prices to react to this, January should see significant inflation as prices soak up the excess liquidity. The question is, where will the inflation occur first . The spike in the repo rate might have a technical explanation: a misjudgment was made in the Fed's money market operations. Even so, two conclusions can be drawn: managing the money markets is becoming harder, and from now on, banks will be studying each other's creditworthiness to a greater degree than before. Those people, who struggle with the minutiae of money markets, and that includes most professionals, should focus on the causes and not the symptoms. Financial markets have recovered from each downturn since 1980 because interest rates have been cut to new lows. Post-2008, they were cut to near zero or below zero in all major economies. In response to a new financial crisis, they cannot go any lower. Central banks will look for new ways to replicate or broaden Q.E. (At some point, governments will simply see repression as an easier option). Then there is the problem of 'risk-free' assets becoming risky assets. Financial markets assume that the probability of major governments such as the U.S. or U.K. defaulting is zero. These governments are entering the next downturn with debt roughly twice the levels proportionate to GDP that was seen in 2008. The belief that the policy worked was completely predicated on the fact that it was temporary and that it was reversible, that the Fed was going to be able to normalize interest rates and shrink its balance sheet back down to pre-crisis levels. Well, when the balance sheet is five-trillion, six-trillion, seven-trillion when we're back at zero, when we're back in a recession, nobody is going to believe it is temporary. Nobody is going to believe that the Fed has this under control, that they can reverse this policy. And the dollar is going to crash. And when the dollar crashes, it's going to take the bond market with it, and we're going to have stagflation. We're going to have a deep recession with rising interest rates, and this whole thing is going to come imploding down. everything is temporary with the fed including remaining off the gold standard temporary in the Fed's eyes could mean at least 50 years This liquidity problem is a signal that trading desks are loaded up on inventory and can't get rid of it. Repo is done out of a need for cash. If you own all of your securities (i.e., a long-only, no leverage mutual fund) you have no need to "repo" your securities - you're earning interest every night so why would you want to 'repo' your securities where you are paying interest for that overnight loan (securities lending is another animal). So, it is those that 'lever-up' and need the cash for settlement purposes on securities they've bought with borrowed money that needs to utilize the repo desk. With this in mind, as we continue to see this need to obtain cash (again, needed to settle other securities purchases), it shows these firms don't have the capital to add more inventory to, what appears to be, a bloated inventory. Now comes the fun part: the Treasury is about to auction 3's, 10's, and 30-year bonds. If I am correct (again, I could be wrong), the Fed realizes securities firms don't have the shelf space to take down a good portion of these auctions. If there isn't enough retail/institutional demand, it will lead to not only a crappy sale but major concerns to the street that there is now no backstop, at all, to any sell-off. At which point, everyone will want to be the first one through the door and sell immediately, but to whom? If there isn't enough liquidity in the repo market to finance their positions, the firms would be unable to increase their inventory. We all saw repo shut down on the 2008 crisis. Wall St runs on money. . OVERNIGHT money. They lever up to inventory securities for trading. If they can't get overnight money, they can't purchase securities. And if they can't unload what they have, it means the buy-side isn't taking on more either. Accounts settle overnight. This includes things like payrolls and bill pay settlements. If a bank doesn't have enough cash to payout what its customers need to pay out, it borrows. At least one and probably more than one banks are insolvent. That's what's going on. First, it can't be one or two banks that are short. They'd simply call around until they found someone to lend. But they did that, and even at markedly elevated rates, still, NO ONE would lend them the money. That tells me that it's not a problem of a couple of borrowers, it's a problem of no lenders. And that means that there's no bank in the world left with any real liquidity. They are ALL maxed out. But as bad as that is, and that alone could be catastrophic, what it really signals is even worse. The lending rates are just the flip side of the coin of the value of the assets lent against. If the rates go up, the value goes down. And with rates spiking to 10%, how far does the value fall? Enormously! And if banks had to actually mark down the value of the assets to reflect 10% interest rates, then my god, every bank in the world is insolvent overnight. Everyone's capital ratios are in the toilet, and they'd have to liquidate. We're talking about the simultaneous insolvency of every bank on the planet. Bank runs. No money in ATMs, Branches closed. Safe deposit boxes confiscated. The whole nine yards, It's actually here. The scenario has tended to guide toward for years and years is actually happening RIGHT NOW! And people are still trying to say it's under control. Every bank in the world is currently insolvent. The only thing keeping it going is printing billions of dollars every day. Financial Armageddon isn't some far off future risk. It's here. Prepare accordingly. This fiat system has reached the end of the line, and it's not correct that fiat currencies fail by design. The problem is corruption and manipulation. It is corruption and cheating that erodes trust and faith until the entire system becomes a gigantic fraud. Banks and governments everywhere ARE the problem and simply have to be removed. They have lost all trust and respect, and all they have left is war and mayhem. As long as we continue to have a majority of braindead asleep imbeciles following orders from these psychopaths, nothing will change. Fiat currency is not just thievery. Fiat currency is SLAVERY. Ultimately the most harmful effect of using debt of undefined value as money (i.e., fiat currencies) is the de facto legalization of a caste system based on voluntary slavery. The bankers have a charter, or the legal *right*, to create money out of nothing. You, you don't. Therefore you and the bankers do not have the same standing before the law. The law of the land says that you will go to jail if you do the same thing (creating money out of thin air) that the banker does in full legality. You and the banker are not equal before the law. ALL the countries of the world; Islamic or secular, Jewish or Arab, democracy or dictatorship; all of them place the bankers ABOVE you. And all of you accept that only whining about fiat money going down in exchange value over time (price inflation which is not the same as monetary inflation). Actually, price inflation itself is mainly due to the greed and stupidity of the bankers who could keep fiat money's exchange value reasonably stable, only if they wanted to. Witness the crash of silver and gold prices which the bankers of the world; Russian, American, Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Arab, all of them collaborated to engineer through the suppression and stagnation of precious metals' prices to levels around the metals' production costs, or what it costs to dig gold and silver out of the ground. The bankers of the world could also collaborate to keep nominal prices steady (as they do in the case of the suppression of precious metals prices). After all, the ability to create fiat money and force its usage is a far more excellent source of power and wealth than that which is afforded simply by stealing it through inflation. The bankers' greed and stupidity blind them to this fact. They want it all, and they want it now. In conclusion, The bankers can create money out of nothing and buy your goods and services with this worthless fiat money, effectively for free. You, you can't. You, you have to lead miserable existences for the most of you and WORK in order to obtain that effectively nonexistent, worthless credit money (whose purchasing/exchange value is not even DEFINED thus rendering all contracts based on the null and void!) that the banker effortlessly creates out of thin air with a few strokes of the computer keyboard, and which he doesn't even bother to print on paper anymore, electing to keep it in its pure quantum uncertain form instead, as electrons whizzing about inside computer chips which will become mute and turn silent refusing to tell you how many fiat dollars or euros there are in which account, in the absence of electricity. No electricity, no fiat, nor crypto money. It would appear that trust is deteriorating as it did when Lehman blew up . Something really big happened that set off this chain reaction in the repo markets. Whatever that something is, we aren't be informed. They're trying to cover it up, paper it over with conjured cash injections, play it cool in front of the cameras while sweating profusely under the 5 thousands dollar suits. I'm guessing that the final high-speed plunge into global economic collapse has begun. All we see here is the ripples and whitewater churning the surface, but beneath the surface, there is an enormous beast thrashing desperately in its death throws. Now is probably the time to start tying up loose ends with the long-running prep projects, just saying. In other words, prepare accordingly, and Get your money out of the banks. I don't care if you don't believe me about Bitcoin. Get your money out of the banks. Don't keep any more money in a bank than you need to pay your bills and can afford to lose.











The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more













The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

The FBI released a summary of its file from the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Friday, showing details of Clinton's explanation of her use of a private email server to handle classified communications. The release comes nearly two months after FBI Director James Comey announced that although Clinton's handling of classified information was "extremely careless," it did not rise to the level of a prosecutable offense. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the next day that she would not pursue charges in the matter. "We are making these materials available to the public in the interest of transparency and in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests," the FBI noted in a statement sent to reporters with links to the documents. The documents include notes from Clinton's July 2 interview with agents, as well as a "factual summary of the FBI's investigation into this matter," according to the FBI release. Throughout her interview with agents, Clinton repeatedly said she relied on the career professionals she worked with to handle classified information correctly. The agents asked about a series of specific emails, and in each case Clinton said she wasn't worried about the particular material being discussed on a nonclassified channel.