Stock Market Update - Year End Review

As we take the time to reflect on the year, it's important to note that much of what we anticipated last year happened in 2017. Social unrest continued to expand across the globe. The economic situation worsened despite the narrative to the contrary. Not much changed under Trump with regard to government corruption or how the deep state operates. And we saw the loss of faith continue with fiat currency with the mammoth rise of cryptocurrencies in 2017. We also saw a crackdown on alternative media with regard to widespread demonetization, fake news bot filters, the disappearance of Ben Swann, freezing of RT US bank accounts and being forced to register as a "foreign agent" (a cold war term essentially admitting to being an outside propaganda influence despite responsible news coverage). Now we are beginning to see outright censorship on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. We saw the continued build up of forces from many nations in the Asia Pacific in preparation for something much larger. We saw the continued degradation of relations in the Middle-East despite the progress Russia and Syria have made against Western backed ISIS. We saw Qatar and Iran come under direct threat by Saudi Arabia and the Saudi's also have been shown to have colluded with Israel in preparation for a larger conflict in the region while also cracking down on their own people in an illegal confiscation of wealth and property while claiming it was cracking down on corruption.

The stock market melted higher this year on the expanded stimulus from the Bank of Japan and the drawn out stimulus from the European Central Bank - yet hardly anyone questions why we are still pumping stimulus into the global economy if everything is so awesome?

So what is in store for 2018? In a nutshell, more of the same - but expect it to ramp up quite a bit. This will not change until the real problems of government corruption, wealth inequality, systemic market risk, and too big to fail banks are addressed. They will continue to dig in and do what they need to do to protect their own wealth and power - no matter what the cost to everyone else. You can bank on that.

There are rumors swirling within Washington that a major war will break out in the first quarter of 2018. I expect this to be a real possibility esp. when we consider the rumblings in the markets with regard to credit markets (HYG,JNK) and the insurance industry (KIE) thanks to record claims via the hurricane storm season and wildfires on the West Coast which are estimated to amount to around 1 trillion combined.

While we have been warning of the "Mother of All Bubbles" since 2013, the "Everything Bubble" is now becoming widely accepted thanks to the monetary debasement policies of the central banks over the last NINE YEARS!!! People are beginning to see the bubbles in bonds, pensions, student loans, credit cards, corporate debt/stock buybacks, margin debt, derivatives, subprime auto loans, subprime energy loans, equities, and yes, mortgages (again). It truly is the prelude to a major economic collapse along with a hyperinflation. This is the calm before the worst economic storm to hit since the Great Depression. If we survive, it will be known as the GREATER DEPRESSION... but I am not at all convinced we will.

With the economic rumblings of something dark on the horizon (keep an eye on the credit markets and the insurance sector), so do the drums of war pick up pace. We fully expect a stronger response from Saudi Arabia towards Iran in 2018. It is very likely that war will ensue between the to nations along with Russia and US involvement to the aid of their mutual allies in the region. We fully expect Israel to launch an open war against Syria (they have already been bombing inside Syria) in 2018 as well. In addition, we expect the situation to continue to worsen in the Pacific with the increased US presence near North Korea and the build up of troops and defense systems by both China and Russia as well. The stage is now set for WWIII. Yet for most, they are oblivious to this fact because the mainstream media continues to omit these important facts.

In 2017, the mainstream media took off the gloves and revealed it's true intentions as a propaganda machine by way of heavily skewed polls, never ending ad-hominem attacks against Trump, clear favoritism with regard to Hillary Clinton leading up to and during the election (some reporters cried on the night of the election), while ignoring the widespread and blatant fraud that the DNC committed during the primaries. And if that wasn't enough, the media resurrected the McCarthyiest Russian Red Scare narrative without providing any solid evidence of direct Russian interference but instead solid links to collusion and false reporting in order to influence the average citizen.

As a result, we have only one message for the MSM - you are no longer relevant. You are not interested in unbiased reporting. You are not interested in the facts. You are only interested in telling people what to think. You are no different than Nazi propaganda. The only reason to pay attention to the MSM is to know what the ruling class wants you to think. Other than that, it's best just to turn it off.

The MSM knows it's losing it's control over society. This is why it launched the "Fake News" campaign against alternative media in 2017. At the same time, respected news sources like "We Are Change", "The Money GPS", "The Jimmy Dore Show", "The Keiser Report", "China Uncensored", "The Corbett Report", have all been demonetized on Youtube. Every. Single. One. Let that sink in... Anything outside of the mainstream media is being demonetized - not just extremist or terrorist material. Anything that is not controlled by the MSM is being monetarily dis-incentivized.

Unfortunately, it does not stop there. In the 4th quarter of this year, many alternative news sources have identified posts being removed altogether. We have moved from passive censorship to active censorship. In 2018, I fully expect that entire websites will be blocked within the US and entire channels will be removed from social media - for doing nothing other than reporting facts outside of the status quo and challenging the ruling class. Apparently, that is a crime now. So much for FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

But even if they do this, we can still turn to alternatives like Steemit.com and Dtube and use VPN for blocked sites. That may work for a time, but I fully expect a further crackdown on websites by blocking their DNS outright (when you go to their website, you will be blocked or receive a 404 error). VPN's have already been made illegal in Russia and China... it's just a matter of time before there is a crackdown here. This country is really no different. The Bill of Rights has been relegated to a worthless piece of paper thanks to the laws passed that override it (like NDAA). It's straight out of Orwell's "Animal Farm".

I used to think that if people "woke up" and worked together, we might be able to stop the systematic dismantling of our freedom. I now realize that society is so distracted, drugged up, overworked, and dumbed down, that there is neither the will or desire to rise up against their oppressors. Depressed? Take this pill. Now you can cope with this miserable existence at the behest of the ruling class ...until you snap. Then they'll use the carnage that you inflict on society as a justification to remove even more personal freedoms. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Of course the rise of cryptocurrency in 2017 stood to challenge the banks themselves and the ruling class elite who own/control them. Unfortunately, it appears that the ruling class has been working to take over Bitcoin and Ethereum. If that happens, the banks will have the power to implement their desired cashless society (because you can't easily confiscate or force taxes on cash transactions). This was once a conspiracy theory but the number of elite academics, central banks and ruling class think-tanks like the CFO conducting talks talking about moving to a cashless society have proved that it was never a conspiracy at all.

Of course we know the original creators of Bitcoin, the so-called whales, are anarcho-capitalists and are very much against central banks and their subservient "too big to fail banks". For this reason, I expect some whales to make a very loud statement in Bitcoin in 2018 and possibly sell their stakes (which would have a huge effect on the price) and move to other cheaper/faster alternatives that have not been corrupted by organizations like Bilderberg. This is why we recommend being cautious with Bitcoin and, at the very least, holding a basket of alternative coins like Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Dash. As a matter of disclosure we also hold Bitcoin Gold and cough, gag, hack... a small amount of Ripple (as a hedge).

To sum up, 2018 will be an accelerated version of 2017. We will witness even more how the government caters to a select powerful few and passes laws for them while our elected (if you want to call it that) representatives hold the voters in contempt and systematically continue to pass laws that remove our freedom esp. Freedom of Speech. We will see more censorship for anyone who challenges the narrative of the ruling class elite or who dares to question their government (facts be damned). We will see even more destabilization in the world and a very probable world conflict in both the Middle East and North Korea which will quickly spill over in to Europe making the likelihood of an all out nuclear conflict VERY PROBABLE. This is because the idea of mutual deterrence has morphed over the years to "he who fires first, wins". Yes, that is the policy in Washington and Russia has adopted the same policy. And if you question that then we encourage you to do your own research - start with Paul Craig Roberts interviews on the subject as well as speeches from Russia's military and even Putin himself. The MSM propaganda will continue to divide Americans and distract them from the true enemy - the ruling class. At the same time, I expect that STAGFLATION will pick up pace in 2018 forcing more business to close (especially in retail and the restaurant sector) while prices continue to rise and products you pay the same price for continue to shrink (see shrinkflation). We will see an increased crackdown on alternative media sites regardless of their fact based reporting. Your government labeling it fake news will be enough to shut it down. What happens in the stock market will be up to the CENTRAL BANKS. While there are too many signs of the largest economic bubble in history to list here, markets could move higher if the FED, ECB, and BOJ continue to pump trillions of debased money into the market. It will not make what you own worth more as the money will be worth less (a lot less) but most folks don't see a hyperinflation until it's way too late. Cryptocurrencies massive rise in 2017 is a clear indication that the global fiat monetary system if failing and while we expect to see the meteoric rise of cryptocurrency continue in 2018, it will be met with a solid attempt of the globalist ruling class elite to take over the top cryptocurrencies in order to solidify a place for banks in the future as well as maintain their hegemony over the financial system. Bitcoin and Ethereum are both at risk of being taken over. As a result, some of the altcoins may do better (or worse) depending on how informed the masses are, what the whales do, and the willingness of the ruling class to support Bitcoin.

It's just more of the same. More historical weather events. More mass shootings. More social unrest. More corruption. More tyranny. More war. More dumbing down. More deep state fuckery. It sucks really. Next year is not one I personally look forward to. But that's the way I see it.

Happy New Year
&
Act Accordingly,

The Market Vigilante