GERALD CELENTE: Stock Market is a Guessing Game
The biggest guess is if the Ukraine War and Israel War will make WWIII official
NOTE TO READERS: The following story appeared in this week’s issue of The Trends Journal, please consider subscribing here to get our weekly magazine delivered to your inbox each week.
Here is the hard fact.
No one in the world, other than The Trends Journal, had forecast that a Top Trend of 2024 would be a “GOLDEN YEAR FOR GOLD.”
When we made that forecast, spot gold was selling at $2,040 per ounce. As we go to press, it’s selling at $2,382 per ounce… yes, up $300 since that time. Yet, not a word from the mainstream media about our historic megatrend forecast, but nonetheless, it was a precious metals OnTrendpreneur® opportunity for Trends Journal subscribers.
And that is our mission. To give you trends analysis and trend forecasts to help you prepare, prevail, and prosper in these very volatile times. And these are the most volatile geopolitical and socioeconomic times since World War II.
As for the equity markets, at this point, it is a guessing game, and the biggest guess is the direction the world is heading as the Israel War and the Ukraine War escalate into World War III. Indeed, beyond the risk of nuclear annihilation, which is an increasing reality, the more these wars heat up, the higher inflation will rise.
And with inflation high, the U.S., Fed, and the European Central Bank will keep interest rates high. And high interest rates will bring down the already stagnant and/or recessionary economies across the globe.
We had forecast that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the run-up to the Presidential Reality Show® climax in November. However, the interest rate cuts, because of inflationary pressures, may be slower than we had forecast.
As we say, no one can predict the future because there are too many wild cards, be they man-made or made by nature. And the wild war cards being played have greatly, and will greatly, impact inflation.
Some of the big economic news this week in the U.S. is retail sales increasing in March. Other than people spending more online, with the Israel and Ukraine wars intensifying, as we had forecast, oil prices would climb and push inflation higher. At the start of this year Brent crude was selling at around $75 per barrel… today it’s up to $90 a barrel, thus the inflation factor is there for all to see.
As for ignorance being bliss, as World War III heats up, rather than negotiating for Peace on Earth, the imbecilic politicians will only make life worse for the Plantation Workers of Slavelandia, who are struggling to live by taking action that will push prices higher.
Here is an article from today’s Wall Street Journal, buried on the next-to-last page of its business section, illustrating the proof of political ignorance and arrogance:
Metal Prices Rise After Sanctions on Russian Exports
Aluminum and nickel prices rose in London after the U.S. and U.K. banned fresh trading in metals originating from Russia.
Aluminum rose 2.4 percent on Monday to $2,555 a ton, while nickel was 0.3 percent higher at $17,846 a ton. The metals had hit highs of $2,728 a ton and $19,355 a ton respectively earlier in the session.
The governments of the U.S. and U.K. jointly announced on Friday fresh restrictions on Russian aluminum, copper and nickel focused on Western exchange activity—crucially, announcing that any Russian metal produced on or after Friday couldn’t be delivered into Western metals exchanges such as the London Metal Exchange or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
“Our new prohibitions on key metals, in coordination with our partners in the United Kingdom, will continue to target the revenue Russia can earn to continue its brutal war against Ukraine,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Russia’s “Brutal war against Ukraine,” Yellen? How about Israel’s “Brutal” Genocidal War against Palestinians?
Oh, we forgot, they don’t count as human beings in the eyes of America and its Israeli allies. And, as for targeting Russian revenue, it will drive up the prices of products, which, of course, will drive up inflation.
And as for the effectiveness of these actions, the Wall Street Journal notes that:
Russia is responsible for around 6% of global nickel production, 5% of aluminum and 4% of copper.
“Prices of copper, nickel and aluminum are likely to initially move higher and in the short term, the market will remain volatile [and] mainly due to the large uncertainty in supply and LME delivery post the sanctions changes,” ING analysts said in a note.
Again, by the facts, the sanctions did nothing to hurt Russia and only hurt the people in the West and other nations who have to absorb higher prices.
For example, while Russia’s economy did contract 2.07 percent, when the U.S. and its allies imposed oil and gas sanctions on Moscow, following the start of the Ukraine War in 2022, its GDP went up 2.25 percent last year.
However, the sanctions that Biden said would “Punish Putin,” instead punished the people. Gas and oil prices spiked and nations, such as Germany, the third largest economy in the world, slumped into recession… and the people suffered from higher inflation.
The Anglo-American Hegemony is not long for this world. But will they save it by igniting WWIII? It appears grown men who are acting like children are running the world headlong into a BRICS wall.