Individual Economists

Gold And Silver Explosion: Something Big Is Happening

Zero Hedge -

Gold And Silver Explosion: Something Big Is Happening

Gold and silver prices, according to Brandon Smith of Alt-Market.com, are signaling stress under the surface of the economy. From shrinking physical inventories to record central bank buying, precious metals warn that the underlying issues aren’t resolved…

In early 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic hysteria I noted that the covid panic seemed to perfectly coincide with the Federal Reserve’s acceleration of interest rates and asset dumping. This trend, I argued, was a precursor to a Catch-22 scenario I have been warning about for some time.

Since the crash of 2008, the central bank has used stimulus measures and near-zero interest rates to protect “too big to fail” corporations while keeping debt afloat globally. Doing this required the digital printing of tens of trillions of fiat dollars and, inevitably, a sharp devaluation in the greenback.

I predicted that this would lead to stagflationary conditions (which finally hit in 2022), and the conundrum of inflation vs. deflation.

The Federal Reserve could continue to keep rates low and ignore inflationary pressures to avoid a collapse of debt.

Or, they could significantly raise interest rates, let the debt system take its medicine and tumble in price and squelch the effects of inflation by suppressing consumer demand.

Either choice could cause an economic crisis.

Maybe it’s understandable that the Fed decided not to choose.

Instead, they raised rates but not enough to reverse stagflation. They took the middle road and refused to allow the economy to take its much-needed medicine, postponing a reckoning for badly-priced malinvestments.

Essentially, kicking the can down the road for the next administration to deal with.

Consequences of the Fed’s too-little-too-late strategy

This means we are still stuck with the massive price increases we incurred during the Biden Administration.

Granted, the rate of inflation has slowed. But the cost of living is significantly higher than just five years ago. (Remember, above-zero inflation doesn’t mean prices fall – it means they keep rising, but more slowly.)

In 2020 I wrote an article titled Physical Gold Will Soon Break Free from the Paper Market in Spectacular Fashion, predicting skyrocketing precious metals values once this Catch-22 situation became apparent to investors. I predicted that buyers would increasingly drop financial derivatives (futures etc.) in favor of physical delivery of gold and silver, causing physical prices to go parabolic.

This is now happening.

Since I wrote that article, the price of gold per ounce jumped over 200%. Silver prices have exploded by 400%.

  • Global inventories of physical metals have plunged

  • London vaults are reportedly down 30% since 2022

  • Refiners report 10-14 week delays for new bullion bars (vs. normal 2-4 weeks)

  • Physical redemptions of commodities contracts have accelerated to historically unprecedented levels

Via Clive Thompson on LinkedIn. Thompson adds: “This marks a dramatic behavioral shift: historically less than 1% of COMEX contracts resulted in physical delivery, but in 2025, some months delivery notices reached 100%.”

Silver is sitting at an all time high of $90 an ounce as I write this. Gold is closing in on $4700 per ounce.

(Maybe large banks like JP Morgan are deliberately backing away from market manipulation for some reason?) Global central bank gold buying has reached historic levels every year since 2022, surpassing even the levels we saw in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis.

All that is background – what does it mean?

The economic singularity

It seems to me that we are witnessing an economic singularity – a moment of great change.

Or, at the very least, the warning signs of an imminent change.

Precious metals prices are trying to tell us something.

The problem is, that message is mostly being ignored, even by more conservative platforms. Not enough people are talking about what’s happening with precious metals and what it means for the economy as a whole.

Here’s what I think…

First, the rush to physical assets suggests that banking institutions, governments and the wealthiest 1% of investors are scrambling to hedge in preparation for a true crisis. (I’m specifying institutions and the very wealthy because a single COMEX gold delivery contract represents 100 oz. of gold, nearly half a million dollars at today’s prices – well outside the typical American family’s means.)

As I noted in 2020, when the banks start rushing to buy physical gold and silver, then the rest of us should do the same. They are likely acting to counteract losses in other assets. Or they are forecasting some kind of geopolitical earthquake that will send prices exploding.

It’s not hard to see the potential for geopolitical conflict right now. European governments have become increasingly hostile to the U.S. over tariffs. They keep trying to start World War III with Russia and so on.

Second, there are the domestic problems caused by protests against immigration enforcement. The deportation issue is merely a convenient excuse for wider conflict between the left and the right. )If ICE agents went home tomorrow and stopped their arrests, the left would find something else to riot about.)

Just as we witnessed in 2020, domestic chaos is a tool for political extortion. In the meantime, civil instability helps fuel the rise in metals.

Third, there are the tensions with Russia and China, who are not happy with the capture of communist dictator Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela’s oil exports have been vital to China’s industrial capacity. Though Venezuela’s supplies only made up around 4.5% of China’s imports, a loss of 4% or more in a volatile global market is unwelcome to say the least.

Venezuela has served as a launching point for military assets in the western hemisphere (including surveillance systems to watch the U.S.). Chinese and Russian weapons failed miserably against U.S. operations, which might lead to escalation going forward.

The larger effects of Maduro’s removal can’t be quantified yet, but they will be consequential.

Most Venezuelans seem overjoyed by their liberation from Maduro. The question is, can we avoid a long-term quagmire? Our military excels at blowing up enemies with precision, but we have a miserable track record at long-term military occupation.

Fourth, let’s not forget the protests in Iran and the potential for regime change there. I have no personal stake in terms of what happens in the Middle East. I think the U.S. should stay out of the mess as much as possible, but I have no illusions that Trump is going to quietly sit back and just watch. He’s proven to be a man of action.

I have to admit, his decisions on foreign policy have been surprisingly effective and welcomed by the populations involved – in most cases at least. That said, when geopolitical conditions shift so quickly, this inevitably sends shockwaves through the global economy. Even when the action is morally correct and strategically necessary, the consequences are unpredictable.

Finally, the Fed appears intent on cutting interest rates without ever addressing the original stagflationary problem. Consumer spending never went down. Debt accumulation, at the federal and the household level, continues to grow. Prices are still high on most goods compared to 2020. The U.S. has to suffer through at least a short-term deflationary period in order to correct for stagflation, and the banks have done everything in their power to avoid this.

In other words, if the Fed continues to cut rates then inflation will a comeback in 2026.

Here’s what happens next

I believe all the right factors are in play for a continued gold and silver run.

I would not be surprised to see silver close to the $200 per ounce mark by 2027. The combination of demand for all the various industrial uses of silver combined with the multi-year supply deficit, on top of the U.S. decision to declare silver a critical mineral – adding in China’s attempts to ban silver exporting PLUS the insatiable demand for silver as an investment? This is a combination of forces all but guaranteed to send price higher. And they aren’t any more “transitory” than the Covid-era inflation spike. I predict these forces will drive the gold/silver ratio to levels last seen during the spike of 2011 (35:1), which would put the price closer to $131 per ounce today.

I’m not seeing any indication that global pressures are going to slow down anytime soon. In fact, I think precious metals are telling us that things are about to get much more chaotic.

Today, maybe more than ever, owning physical gold and silver is a declaration of financial liberty. Of independence from the fiscal chaos of the Federal Reserve and federal government debt.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 14:40

Denmark Skips Davos Forum In Protest Over Deepening Greenland Crisis

Zero Hedge -

Denmark Skips Davos Forum In Protest Over Deepening Greenland Crisis

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos for 2026 is scheduled for this week (Jan. 19-23), focusing on the theme "A Spirit of Dialogue". Day one, which has kicked off Monday, isn't much of a display of "dialogue" as some key officials are absent, amid Europe's ongoing spat with President Trump over the future fate of Greenland.

Among a record number of 400 top political leaders, including over 60 heads of state and government - as well as hundreds of CEO's - conspicuously absent are officials from Denmark, who have decided not to attend this year in protest over the Greenland crisis.

Source: 2weforum.org

"We can confirm that the Danish government will not be represented in Davos this week... Danish government representatives were invited this year, and any decisions on attendance are a matter for the government concerned," the official statement said.

Trump has repeatedly declared that Greenland should become part of the United States, calling it a matter of national security as China and Russia make inroads in the Arctic region, and also questioning Denmark's right to oversee the autonomous resource-rich territory.

Over the weekend Trump took things well past just rhetoric, threatening on Saturday to slap a 10% additional tariff on EU countries, starting on Feb 1, unless there's a deal for America to purchase Greenland.

Eight nations have responded by issuing a firm joint statement saying they stand behind Denmark and the people of Greenland, writing, "Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral."

These eight include Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland - all which also happen to be NATO members.

Europeans have warned that the Greenland issue threatens to unravel the north Atlantic military alliance, especially if Washington were to unilaterally move on Greenland. And more:

  • DENMARK FOREIGN MINISTER: YOU CAN'T THREATEN YOUR WAY TO OWNERSHIP OF GREENLAND
  • DENMARK FOREIGN MINISTER: IT'S EUROPE THAT WILL RESPOND TO THE TARIFF THREAT, NOT DENMARK

Denmark and a handful of European countries have sent a troop contingency there, while at the same time the White House hasn't appeared to actually send in military forces. NBC newly reports that Trump hasn't said whether he would use force or not to seize Greenland:

As tensions escalate over President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, he was guarded Monday in how far he’ll go to take control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Asked if he would use force to seize Greenland, the president said, “No comment,” in a brief telephone interview with NBC News.

Previously US officials have said that given Greenland doesn't have a standing army, or much other defense to speak of, the US wouldn't have to move on it militarily.

There's still an idea floating around D.C. that the US could just purchase it, and that every Greenlander could receive millions of dollars, and reject Denmark's historic claims on it.

As for Davos, while Denmark will be absent in protest, Kremlin officials will be there. There are plans for Russian officials to meet with US envoys, at a moment Ukraine peace talks have largely stalled.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 14:15

Don Lemon Faces KKK Act Charges On MLK Holiday

Zero Hedge -

Don Lemon Faces KKK Act Charges On MLK Holiday

Update (1408ET):

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that former CNN host Don Lemon has been put "on notice" by the Justice Department and could face charges under federal civil-rights laws, including the Ku Klux Klan Act, for his role in storming a church service in Minnesota. Lemon allegedly joined a far-left mob that was on the hunt for a pro-ICE pastor at a St. Paul church. 

"The Klan Act is one of the most important federal civil rights statutes. Its a law that makes it illegal to terrorize and violate the civil rights of citizens. Whenever people conspire to do this, the Klan Act can be used," Dhillon told Johnson. 

Dhillon continued, "Everyone in the protest community needs to know that the fullest force of the federal government is going to come down and prevent this from happening and put people away for a long time."

"There is zero tolerance for this kind of illegal behavior and we will not stand for it," she emphasized. 

Johnson wrote on X, "DOJ confirms Don Lemon has zero 'journalism' protections against FACE Act violations. Lemon was fully aware of the violations and may face KKK Act conspiracy charges."

Lemon faces being charged with the KKK Act on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

*   *   * 

Washed-up former CNN host Don Lemon has been put on notice by the U.S. Department of Justice over claims that he joined a far-left group of anti-ICE protesters who stormed a Sunday church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.

"A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service," Harmeet Dhillon, the DoJ's assistant attorney general for civil rights, wrote on X.

"You [Lemon] are on notice!" Dhillon wrote. In a separate post, she said that the FBI has been "activated" and accused the left-wing mob of "desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers."

She also said, "The DoJ's Civil Rights division is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers."

Dozens of left-wing activists, some potentially paid agitators and others who admitted they were from out of town, stormed the Cities Church sanctuary on Sunday after believing that one of the pastors was the acting director of ICE's St. Paul field office.

Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote: "I just spoke to the pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law. If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned: "President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship."

Baptist minister Paul Chappell condemned Lemon and the left-wing activists:

We condemn the actions of Don Lemon and the group of activists who stormed Cities Church today in St. Paul, Minnesota, in clear violation of the FACE Act. Christians everywhere should demand that the Department of Justice arrest those who participated. We must protect religious liberty in this country.

Left-wing violence in Democrat-run blue cities in America is absolutely alarming. The president last week threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to restore order in Minneapolis after dark-money funded nonprofits and militant left-wing groups mounted pressure campaigns to impede federal deportation operations of criminal illegal aliens.

Meanwhile, left-wing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has demanded the troops "get the f*** out of Minneapolis." The mayor did admit in a television interview about a network of nonprofits operating a pressure campaign against the federal government.

Trump has sent 3,000 ICE agents to the sanctuary city, with 1,500 troops on standby if social unrest worsens.

What's important to understand is that if temperatures hadn't been averaging around 10F, the Democratic Party and its billionaire-funded NGO network would have unleashed riots and chaos if temperatures had been just a bit warmer. This is a warning that Democrats are preparing to unleash chaos come spring, whether protests, riots, and whatever else, as we've warned - this is part of a color-revolution operation. This is highly organized and structured.

Related:

Why a left-wing mob and a former CNN host are roaming a sanctuary city hunting for a church pastor sounds like something that would only happen under Marxist regimes in third-world countries.

Lemon, in damage control mode, calls everything that happened "fake news" ... 

Let's not forget that even the deep state publication The Atlantic had to admit an uncomfortable truth for Democrats: "Left-Wing Terrorism Is on the Rise."

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 14:08

Nobel Foundation Says Prize Can't Be Passed On To Others After Trump–Machado Meeting

Zero Hedge -

Nobel Foundation Says Prize Can't Be Passed On To Others After Trump–Machado Meeting

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Nobel Foundation said Sunday reiterated its prestigious Nobel Peace Prize cannot be passed on to another person after a Venezuelan opposition leader gifted the prize that she won to President Donald Trump last week.

President Donald Trump meets with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in the Oval Office, during which she presented the President with her Nobel Peace Prize, on Jan. 15, 2026. Daniel Torok/The White House/Handout via Reuters

During a meeting at the White House on Jan. 15, the leader, Maria Corina Machado, gave her Peace Prize medal to Trump, which the president accepted.

However, the Nobel Foundation weighed in on the matter on Sunday, asserting that the prize can’t be transferred.

“One of the core missions of the Nobel Foundation is to safeguard the dignity of the Nobel Prizes and their administration. The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel’s will and its stipulations,” it said in a statement, referring to the Swedish chemist and inventor of dynamite who started the foundation in the late 19th century.

The will of Nobel had said that the prizes should be given to people who “have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind,” the statement said, adding that his will also “specifies who has the right to award each respective prize.”

“A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed,” the foundation said.

After the prize was awarded to Machado last year, she said she would give it to Trump. She also backed the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, although Trump has said that he would not support installing Machado as the leader of Venezuela and instead suggested that Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, be in charge of the country.

In a social media post on Jan. 15, Trump wrote that “Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you Maria!”

Machado last week said the gift was in recognition of what she called his commitment to the freedom of the Venezuelan people. The White House later posted a photo of Trump and Machado with the president holding up a large, gold-colored frame displaying the medal.

Text of the statement that she wrote said: “To President Donald J. Trump In Gratitude for Your Extraordinary Leadership in Promoting Peace through Strength.” She labeled the gesture as a “Personal Symbol of Gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan People.”

Trump had openly campaigned for the prize before Machado was awarded it, saying that he was snubbed after having ended wars around the world, including in the Middle East, and is seeking to end more armed conflicts.

Asked on Wednesday if he wanted Machado to give him the prize, Trump told the Reuters news agency: “No, I didn’t say that. She won the Nobel Peace Prize.”

In October 2025, Trump said that Machado had called him, telling him she was “accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it.“

After his capture, Maduro and his wife appeared in a federal courtroom in New York and pleaded not guilty to a range of charges, including drug trafficking. The Trump administration said that he was heavily involved in the smuggling of narcotics, namely cocaine, sourced from neighboring Colombia to other countries, including the United States.

The U.S. military under the Trump administration, meanwhile, has seized roughly a half-dozen oil tankers that officials say were trying to evade U.S. sanctions, including a vessel that was flying a Russian flag.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 13:50

Nigerian King Must Pay $72k Restitution For Defrauding NC Medicaid During Pandemic

Zero Hedge -

Nigerian King Must Pay $72k Restitution For Defrauding NC Medicaid During Pandemic

Authored by Stephen Horn via The Triangle Trumpet,

Ekelekamchukwu Alphonsus Ngwadom, 61, received a suspended sentence requiring three years probation and $72,014.66 in restitution after pleading guilty to twenty-seven felonies in regards to hundreds of Medicaid claims for children’s therapy he fraudulently filed in 2020 and 2021 at his Raleigh practice, Almarch Counseling. (¹, ², ³)

Mugshot: Ekelekamchukwu Alphonsus Ngwadom

It was during this same period that Ngwadom was crowned King or “Eze” of the Mbubu-Amiri kingdom in Nigeria’s Imo State, according to a local news source which also identified him as the Chairman of African Diaspora Coalition of North Carolina and Professor of Psychology and Sociology at the University of Mount Olive. (There are many such “traditional rulers“ recognized by and holding limited power under the Federal Republic of Nigeria).

Ngwadom is listed as the Director of Partnerships and Development for Nigerian Mental Health Practitioners USA and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Nigeria-American Institute for Mental Health.

Records show Ngwadom resides at a Garner address and has voted in Johnston County since 2008.

Investigation and prosecution

According to a search warrant obtained by the Medicaid Investigation Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice, Ngwadom’s practice was flagged by Alliance Health, the manager of the NC Medicaid plan for counties including Wake, Johnston, and Durham.

Ngwadom’s fraud was revealed when a legitimate claim for therapy was submitted for one of the children for which he had filed fraudulent claims, and it was discovered that the family had never received services from Ngwadom or Almarch Counseling.

In the ensuing investigation into the “overlapping services,” a total of 210 fraudulent claims were identified involving children from three families who never receiving services from Ngwadom or Almarch Counseling:

  • fifty-two claims for two minor children for a total of $3,037.28

  • one hundred and three claims for three minor children for a total of $8,476.88

  • fifty-five claims for two minor children for a total of $3,529.46

At sentencing, the state prosecutor explained that Ngwadom had met these families through an after-school program in the years prior to the pandemic, as reported by the News & Observer.

Although the search warrant was obtained and executed in 2022, the charges were not filled until January 2025.

The total amount of fraudulent claims submitted by Ngwadom totaled $72,014.66 across 27 Medicaid recipients between February 18, 2020, and March 18, 2021, according to a press release by Attorney General Jeff Jackson.

Ngwadom plead guilty to twenty-seven counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, a Class H felony, and received a sentence of 6-17 months incarceration, which was suspended with the following conditions:

  • three years probation

  • ninety days house arrest

  • surrendering professional license

  • one hundred hours community service

  • $72,014.66 in restitution

Zero stars: state inspections find repeat deficiencies at adult care facility

Outside of his counseling practice, Ngwadom’s five-bed adult residential care facility Almarch Family Care in Rocky Mount has racked up numerous statements of deficiency and penalties from the NC Division of Health Service Regulation which licenses and inspects such facilities, which assigned AFC a rating of zero out of four stars at seven out of the last eight inspections.

The NCDHSR website only lists penalties for the past 36 months, in which time AFC has racked up $35,200 in penalties, with $16,700 paid in full and the most recent $18,500 under appeal.

Sixteen statements of deficiencies are listed for the nineteen inspections since 2015, with the most recent statement consisting of eighty-four pages detailing how the facility violated at least nine rules, including by failing to have certified staff, failing to meet health care needs, failing to properly store and administer prescribed medication, and failing to implement an activity program.

AFC is located at an 1825 sq. ft. home in a residential neighborhood in east Rocky Mount; although Ngwadom’s lawyer cited his need to take out a second mortgage in order to pay the $72k restitution, Edgecombe County records show that Ngwadom and his wife Ngozichukwuka Mary Ngwadom sold the AFC property for $10 to a “Chukwuebuka Michael C Ngwadom” less than two months before his sentencing. (The property has a tax valuation of $113,866.00).

Google Streetview: the Rocky Mount residence listed as the location of Ngwadom’s deficient adult care facility Raleigh provider recruited refugees for Medicaid scam

Although perhaps not as prevalent as the recently publicized Somali scams in Minnesota, Ngwoma is not the only Nigerian to be charged with Medicaid fraud relating to “therapy” services in the Raleigh area, with a recent case matching a pattern of fraud enabled by modern immigration and welfare policy.

An investigation into the billing practices of “Our Treatment Center,” a Medicaid provider in Raleigh, resulted in the conviction of seven “mental health practitioners,” according to a June 2025 press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina, with at least three of the fraudsters appearing to have African origins:

The charging documents allege that OTC recruited “refugees” in North Carolina in order to fraudulently bill Medicaid for providing “social assistance” to the “indigent” foreigners for services not covered by the welfare program, including:

  • assistance with reading and understanding mail

  • understanding the American legal system

  • assistance with English as a second language

  • transportation to grocery stores, the Division of Motor Vehicles, and other appointments

Ondachi and Onuzulike are alleged to have helped recruit the refugees, obtaining Medicaid Identification Numbers and personally identifiable information from entire households of refugees with the promise of this “assistance with social needs.”

The scheme then involved fraudulently billing these services to Medicaid as “psychotherapy,” with Ondachi, Ezugwu, and Onuzulike each being accused of fabricating psychotherapy notes to justify billing for these non-psychotherapy services, and altering the dates/times of the services provided to meet the Medicaid coverage limitation of only one hour of psychotherapy per patient per day.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 13:27

Trump To Norway: No Nobel, No Greenland? The Letter That Has Shocked Europe

Zero Hedge -

Trump To Norway: No Nobel, No Greenland? The Letter That Has Shocked Europe

As news began breaking very early Monday of President Trump's scathing letter to Norway over the country's failure to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, some pundits and journalists immediately questioned whether it is real.

But confirmation came soon after. In the letter addressed to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Trump explained that he no longer feels obligated to focus exclusively on peace, while repeating his intent for US control over Greenland. In essence he lays out that no Nobel might turn into no Greenland for Europe (as Denmark exercises control over the resource-rich autonomous territory).

The White House/Reuters

"Dear Jonas: Since your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for stopping 8 wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace, although it will always be dominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States," the US President wrote.

Such is an example of kind of over the top and trolling-style rhetoric in the letter which has given people pause, questioning its authenticity. 

"Denmark cannot protect this land from Russia or China… The world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland," he added.

As for whether Trump indeed wrote it, and concerning the bombastic letter's authenticity, Forbes has noted that "According to PBS Newshour’s Nick Schifrin, who first reported on the matter, the letter has been forwarded by the National Security Council staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington."

The President also in the letter takes the opportunity to bash Denmark, saying it cannot protect Greenland from Russia or China, and again questioned its legal rights to Greenland: "There are no written documents; it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also."

The message in full, as first reported by a PBS correspondent:

Hours later, Norway issues a full, formal response:

Statement from Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre regarding communications with President Donald Trump.

"I can confirm that this is a text message that I received yesterday afternoon from President Trump. It came in response to a short text message from me to President Trump sent earlier on the same day, on behalf of myself and the President of Finland Alexander Stubb. In our message to Trump we conveyed our opposition to his announced tariff increases against Norway, Finland and select other countries. We pointed to the need to de-escalate and proposed a telephone conversation between Trump, Stubb and myself on the same day.

The response from Trump came shortly after the message was sent. It was his decision to share his message with other NATO leaders. Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter. We also support that NATO in a responsible way is taking steps to strengthen security and stability in the Arctic. As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to president Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government."

Norway's PM Store has since explained that letter came in response to a joint message he had earlier sent to Trump together with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, rejecting White House plans to impose higher tariffs on Scandinavian countries. Other leading EU countries have also complained and are pushing back publicly:

MERZ: GERMANY, EU ALLIES DETERMINED TO AVOID TARIFF ESCALATION

"We pointed out the need to de-escalate the exchange and requested a phone call between President Trump, President Stubb and myself," Store said, and reiterated Norway's stance on Greenland is unchanged.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 13:15

Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus

Financial Armageddon -


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.






Dump the Dollar before Bank Runs start in America -- Economic Collapse 2020

Financial Armageddon -












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

Hillary Clinton's Top Secret Files Revealed Here

Financial Armageddon -

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.





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