United States

The US economy continues to implode as inflation ignites.

GDP Now has collapsed from 3.4% in early February to 1.3% today. It will be revised even lower based on the awful deficit numbers (the US trade deficit hit a five year high in January).

Meanwhile, inflation is soaring.

The Fed tracks FOUR inflation metrics. They are Core CPI, Core PCE, Trimmed Mean CPI and Cleveland Median CPI.

Roughly all four are now at or above the Fed’s so-called “target” of 2%.

·      Core CPI is growing at an annualized rate of 2.1%.

As 2016 drew to a close, even as US bank stocks posted some of the biggest gains since Mr. Trump got elected, it seemed their counterparts down-under aren’t doing that well! All signs point to a huge weakening in Aussie bank stocks in 2017. But the bigger question is: Will we hear a loud boom as banks down under go bust?

THE OMINOUS SIGNS

Back in March 2016, Trump trashed the current H-1B visa system, saying "The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration; these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay."

MY POSITION ON VISAS#MakeAmericaGreatAgain #Trump2016https://t.co/JGmOd5gr5z pic.twitter.com/OLg6N3Ug9U

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2016

Via Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

If you didn’t know better, you might be tempted to think that “Space Available” was the hottest new retail chain in the entire country.

Via Kevin Muir of The Macro Tourist blog,

Although the market is convinced the Federal Reserve will get aggressive with their rate hikes, I am not sure market participants have thought this through. Let’s not forget the Federal Reserve is sitting on the largest balance sheet in history.

This portfolio is the result of years of Quantitative Easing. It was made riskier with the Fed’s “Operation Twist” that extended the duration of their balance sheet by buying long dated securities while selling shorter ones.