The Economy

Our First October Surprise! The East Coast Port Strike Could Throw U.S. Supply Chains Into A State Of Chaos

September 29, 2024September 29, 2024 by Michael

If there is something that you really need to buy, you might want to get it now, because it might not be available later. The International Longshoremen’s Association port workers are on the verge of initiating a strike which would shut down ports all over the East Coast and the Gulf Coast, and if that strike lasts long enough it will throw U.S. supply chains into a state of complete and utter chaos. Needless to say, this could have a huge impact on the upcoming election. If store shelves are quite bare in early November, millions of Americans will be in a very bad mood when they go to vote.

If it happens, the strike will begin on Tuesday. This is the first time that we have seen a strike of this nature in nearly 50 years…

Thousands of longshoremen at ports from New England to Texas are set to strike early Tuesday in the first walkout of its kind in almost half a century, freezing commercial shipping on a massive scale and disrupting the national economy weeks before the presidential election.

A strike would be the biggest disruption to the flow of goods in and out of the country since the height of the pandemic. Even a short-lived work stoppage would snarl shipping and create havoc in supply chains for weeks. Cargo ranging from cars to electronics, from food to furniture, would be stuck on ships offshore. Each day a strike lasts could cost the U.S. economy up to $1 billion, according to analysts.

If the strike only lasts for a few days, it won’t really be a big deal.

But if it is an extended strike, major retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot will be facing massive supply chain headaches…

As the International Longshoremen’s Association port workers move closer to a strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, the union is warning that major importers such as LG Electronics, Walmart, Ikea, Samsung, and Home Depot will find no options to divert trade to Canada or the West Coast as other unions close ranks in support of its labor battle.

These companies are among the leading importers at the 14 major ports that an ILA strike would impact, according to ImportGenius. Overall, between 43%-49% of all U.S. imports and billions of dollars in trade monthly are at stake as the union moves closer to the Oct. 1 deadline for a new contract, over which talks between the union and ports management broke down in June and have not resumed. Cruise operations at ports would continue.

Joe Biden could have used a provision in federal law to delay the strike until after the election, but he has chosen not to do that…

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he did not intend to intervene to prevent a port strike on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico if dock workers failed to secure a new contract by an Oct. 1 deadline.

“It’s collective bargaining. I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley,” he told reporters.

Presidents can intervene in labor disputes that threaten national security or safety by imposing an 80-day cooling-off period under the federal Taft-Hartley Act.

This could end up being a colossal strategic mistake on Biden’s part.

If an extended strike causes serious economic turmoil as Americans head to the polls, that will not be good for the Democrats.

According to CNN, if there is an extended strike we could soon experience “shortages of chocolate, alcohol, popular fruit, including bananas and cherries, and even certain cars”…

Businesses have been nervously watching the 12:01 am Tuesday strike deadline approaching with little sign of progress toward a deal to avoid a strike of tens of thousands longshore workers. Many have been doing what they can to prepare for the shutdown – but there are limits.

It doesn’t make economic – or logistical – sense to ship many of the goods that come into East Coast ports by alternative ports of entry – or by plane.

That means America could see some shortages of chocolate, alcohol, popular fruit, including bananas and cherries, and even certain cars if the strike lasts a long time. That could mean higher prices for the goods that are available.

Of course that would just be the tip of the iceberg.

As we witnessed during the COVID pandemic, thousands of different products can be in short supply when there are major supply chain disruptions.

And once the strike is over, it may take some time to get supply chains back to normal…

As everyone discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, container ports are a choke point in a supply chain as essential to daily life in the United States as water, electricity and telecommunications. Disruptions have a ripple effect throughout the economy and are exponentially compounded as goods pile up at ports, terminals, warehouses and other distribution points. So it takes longer to restart the flow of goods than it does to stop it. Considerably longer.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene is also going to have an enormous impact on supply chains.

Sadly, the storm caught the vast majority of the population off guard as it carved a path of “apocalyptic chaos” all over the South…

Apocalyptic chaos has struck down in the South as millions are left without power with desperate families lining up at gas stations and roving mobs steal generators.

The southeastern United States has been plunged into crisis as the aftermath of Hurricane Helene continues to wreak havoc across multiple states.

The storm has left a trail of destruction in its wake with the death toll rising to 64.

This is being called a “once in a generation” storm, and at this moment hundreds of roads in North Carolina and South Carolina are closed…

About 300 roads are closed in North Carolina and another 150 are closed in South Carolina, acting Federal Highway Administrator Kristin White of the US Department of Transportation said Sunday. North Carolina officials on Sunday acknowledged those closures have hampered delivery of water supplies to communities in need, like the city of Weaverville in Buncombe County, which is without both power and water, Mayor Patrick Fitzsimmons said.

Even the largest highways in the region have been devastated.

In fact, it is being reported that Interstate 40 is “impassable” right now…

Interstate 40 is impassable between Tennessee and Asheville, North Carolina, and beyond, because of catastrophic floods from the remnants of Hurricane Helene.

A mudslide and flooding have shut down the route.

What a nightmare.

As I shared with my core supports on Friday, recovery is going to be measured in years in some areas.

One official in North Carolina is even comparing the storm to Hurricane Katrina…

Towns throughout western North Carolina, including Swannanoa, were transformed overnight by the massive storm. Muddy floodwaters lifted homes from their foundations. Landslides and overflowing rivers severed the only way in and out of small mountain communities. Rescuers said they were struggling to respond to the high number of emergency calls. Anxious relatives took to Facebook to search for loved ones they hadn’t heard from.

“This is looking to be Buncombe County’s own Hurricane Katrina,” said Avril Pinder, the manager of the county, which includes Asheville.

This storm wasn’t supposed to be this powerful.

But after everything that we just witnessed, it is now being projected that the total damage from Helene could exceed 100 billion dollars…

Helene, a Category 4 hurricane when she hit the Big Bend of Florida on Thursday night, is forecast to leave behind between $95 billion and $110 billion in damage and economic loss. Property damage alone is forecast by Moody’s to run $15 billion to $26 billion.

Last year, the number of “billion dollar disasters” established a brand new record.

It appears that we will break that record this year.

But of course what we have been through so far is nothing compared to what is coming.

We really are living in apocalyptic times, and the chaos is just getting started…

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written eight other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Is There A Secret Ulterior Motive Behind The “Emergency Move” That The Federal Reserve Just Made?

September 19, 2024 by Michael

We aren’t supposed to question anything that the Federal Reserve does. We are just supposed to quietly accept their decisions and move on. Sadly, most Americans don’t even realize that the Federal Reserve has far more power over the economy than anyone else does. We often talk about the “Biden economy” or the “Trump economy”, but the truth is that the Fed is much more responsible for our economic performance than the White House is. So the fact that the Fed just made an “emergency move” that is normally only reserved for times of crisis should deeply alarm all of us. Has the Fed made this move for a secret reason that they aren’t telling us?

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve reduced interest rates for the very first time in more than four years…

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates for the first time since March 2020, as the central bank lowered the benchmark federal funds rate by 50 basis points amid progress in the fight against inflation.

The cut was larger than the 25 basis point cut forecast by LSEG economists, though interest rate traders saw a 64% probability of a 50 basis point cut as of Tuesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool. With the 50 point cut, the Fed lowered the target range for the federal funds rate to 4.75% to 5% – down from 5.25% to 5.5%.

It was expected that the Fed would cut rates.

But it was the size of the rate cut that stunned a lot of the experts.

Previously, the only times that the Fed has cut rates by more than 25 basis points has been during moments of crisis.

The last time this occurred was during the early days of the COVID pandemic, and prior to that we had not seen it happen since the financial crisis of 2008…

Outside of the emergency rate reductions during Covid, the last time the FOMC cut by half a point was in 2008 during the global financial crisis.

So why did the Fed pull the trigger on such a dramatic move on Wednesday?

According to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the U.S. economy is doing just fine…

“I don’t see anything in the economy right now that suggests that the likelihood of a downturn is elevated — you see growth at a solid rate, you see inflation coming down and a labor market that is still at very solid levels,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference on Wednesday to discuss the rate cut.

Of course the U.S. economy is not doing just fine.

In fact, small businesses have been bleeding workers for quite a few months…

ADP data shows small businesses with 1-49 workers have been reducing workers for four months. Those with 20-49 workers have shed workers for 7 straight months.

And more workers are getting the axe with each passing day. Here is just one recent example…

Nearly 40% of Michelin’s workforce reportedly took the company up on voluntary severance offers following news of impending layoffs.

Sources familiar with the situation told The Gazette that the company was planning to downsize only 80 positions — or about 21.6% of its workforce. Instead, about 38% of the workforce decided to accept the voluntary severance.

According to the summary of benefits provided to The Gazette, Michelin plans on “reducing production by 50% transitioning to a 5-day working schedule.”

We also just got more bad news about the housing market.

CNBC is reporting that existing home sales were down once again during the month of August…

Sales of previously owned homes fell 2.5% in August from July, to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.86 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.

That is slightly lower than what analysts expected. Sales were 4.2% lower than August 2023. It marks three straight months of sales below the 4 million mark, annualized.

The housing market has been in a depressed state for a long time, and so this rate cut will definitely help.

But I don’t think that this is why the Fed decided to cut rates.

Right now, we are less than 50 days away from the election, and this was the last opportunity that the Federal Reserve had to influence the outcome.

A 50 basis point cut is inevitably going to provide a short-term economic boost, and the financial markets were thrilled when it was announced.

In fact, it was being reported that stock prices were “exploding higher” on Thursday…

“Stocks are exploding higher as markets absorb the Fed’s outsized rate cut,” Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge said in a note to investors.

Lower interest rates help financial markets in two big ways. They ease the brakes off the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money, which can accelerate spending and investment. They also boost prices for riskier assets such as equities, gold and cryptocurrencies.

When stock prices go up, it makes the party that is currently in the White House look better.

By the end of the day on Thursday, the Dow and the S&P 500 had both reached new all-time record high levels…

Stocks jumped Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rising to new all-time highs, as traders cheered the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday decision to lower interest rates by a half percentage point.

The 30-stock index advanced 522.09 points, or 1.26%, ending at 42,025.19, marking its first close above the 42,000 threshold. The S&P 500 rose 1.7% to close at 5,713.64, topping 5,700 for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.51% to end at 18,013.98.

Of course the Fed insists that cutting rates by 50 basis points had nothing to do with the election.

But don’t let Fed officials fool you.

They knew that a rate cut of this magnitude would cause stock prices to surge.

And they waited until just the perfect moment to pull the trigger.

The “sugar high” from this enormous rate cut should last for at least a month or two.

And at this moment we are less than two months away from November 5th.

We are supposed to believe that this is just a “coincidence”, but I am not buying it and neither should you.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Bankruptcies Spike Again As America’s Economic Slowdown Accelerates

September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 by Michael

Large businesses are declaring bankruptcy at a staggering rate, and yet we are being told over and over again that the economy is just fine. Needless to say, most of the country isn’t buying it. Survey after survey has shown that most Americans believe that the economy is on the wrong track. But those that are running things continue to push their “booming economy” narrative anyway, and I suppose that will continue all the way through the election in November. Of course anyone with half a brain should be able to see the truth, because day after day we just continue to get more troubling economic numbers. For example, it is being reported that U.S. corporate bankruptcies “spiked” during the month of August…

U.S. bankruptcy filings spiked in August after a slowdown in July, propelling the total for the first eight months of the year to the highest level since 2020 and second-highest since 2010, S&P Global Market Intelligence said Monday.

There were 452 filings in the year through end August, which compares with 466 in the same period in 2020, when the pandemic was still in full swing, and 604 in the same period in 2010.

In August alone, the tally comes to 63, up from a revised 49 in July. That was the third-highest monthly total this year, behind 72 in June and 68 in April.

You can see a list of corporations that filed for bankruptcy in August right here.

It is a very long list.

The last time that corporate bankruptcies were this high was during the early days of the pandemic in 2020.

But this time around, we don’t have lockdowns to blame for the tsunami of corporate bankruptcies that we are witnessing.

Prior to 2020, we have to go all the way back to 2010 to find a time when corporate bankruptcies were this high.

Needless to say, we were just coming out of the Great Recession in 2010.

Sadly, it appears that September will be another banner month for bankruptcies. BurgerFi is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, and it just filed for Chapter 11 protection on Wednesday…

An upmarket US burger chain is the latest restaurant business to file for bankruptcy – as casualties in the industry mount up.

BurgerFi – which also owns Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza – sought Chapter 11 protection at a Delaware court on Wednesday. It has as much as $500 million of debts.

Across the two brands, the company has 162 locations – including a flagship BurgerFi in New York that only opened a few months ago. All are under threat.

So many restaurant chains are in very serious trouble these days.

If you have a favorite eatery that you really enjoy, you might want to visit it now while you still can, because a lot more restaurants are going to close in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, small business confidence was way down last month…

Small business confidence fell in August and reversed the prior month’s gains amid growing uncertainty ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election and expectations that sales will be sluggish.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said Tuesday that its Small Business Optimism Index dropped 2.5 points to 91.2 last month.

In this economic environment, small businesses are hurting even more than large businesses are.

Of course there is more than enough pain to go around. At this point, most U.S. consumers are really struggling because the cost of living crisis never seems to end.

Since Joe Biden entered the White House, the cost of just about everything is way up…

Gas: +46.1%
Electricity: +30.7%
Fuel oil: +43.4%
Airfare: +21%
Hotels: +49.4%
Groceries: +21.5%
Baby food: +29.5%
K-12 food: +66.2%
Rent: +22.5%
Transportation: +32%
Car insurance: +54.9%
Overall inflation: +20.3%
Real average weekly earnings: -3.4%

I am glad that car insurance was included on that list.

Over the past few years, car insurance premiums have risen to absolutely absurd levels…

A new report published by Insurify, an insurance comparison shopping site, shows the average U.S. rate for full auto insurance surged to $2,329 in the first half of 2024. That marks a 15% increase from 2023 and a stunning 48% spike when compared with 2021.

By the end of 2024, the cost of coverage is expected to rise even further, to $2,469, according to the report.

The problem is even worse in some states, where prices are projected to rise more than 50% this year.

What a disaster.

We are facing 1970s-style inflation at the same time that we are facing 2008-style layoffs.

Earlier today, I was saddened to learn that UPS has decided to conduct another round of layoffs…

Sandy Springs-based UPS is laying off more of its employees, after earlier this year announcing it was cutting 12,000 jobs in its management ranks.

The company did not specify how many employees are losing their jobs in the latest round of cuts, but said Monday night that the layoffs are part of ongoing efforts since the January announcement of reductions. It was not clear which departments were affected and how many of the cuts might be in the Atlanta area.

And apparently close to a third of all Samsung employees in some divisions of the company are about to get the boot…

Samsung is starting to lay off staff globally, impacting up to 30% of employees in some divisions by the end of this year, according to three sources familiar with the scope of the layoffs, Reuters reports Wednesday.

Sales and marketing departments are reportedly being reduced by 15%, while up to 30% of administrative staff are expected to be laid off. Samsung has about 25,000 sales and marketing staff, according to the report, meaning over 3,700 employees may be included in the layoffs.

Our economy has been declining for years.

Our standard of living has just kept going down, bankruptcies have been surging to frightening levels, and large businesses have been conducting mass layoffs.

But the elite just keep putting on a happy face and telling us that everything is going to be okay.

Unfortunately, nothing that they can do is going to stop the chaos that has already started to erupt all around us.

Bad decisions inevitably lead to bad consequences, and we have been making bad decisions for a really, really long time.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

A Shocking New Survey Has Discovered That Only 23 Percent Of Independents Think The Economy Is On The Right Track

September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 by Michael

Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to persuade the American people to vote for either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. But ultimately two things are probably going to matter more than anything else. Millions of Americans will be basing their votes on how they currently feel about the economy and who they trust to handle it moving forward. This will be particularly true for independents, and they actually make up the largest block of voters at this point. About 30 percent of the population considers themselves to be Democrats, about 30 percent of the population considers themselves to be Republicans, and almost everyone else considers themselves to be independents. In the end, how independents vote will be of paramount importance, and a brand new survey has discovered that only 23 percent of independents believe that the U.S. economy is on the right track…

A majority of voters think the U.S. economy is on the wrong track, according to a new poll, as the Federal Reserve appears likely to lower interest rates this month after months of holding them steady.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll showed 63 percent of respondents said the economy is on the wrong track, while 30 percent said it’s on the right track and 8 percent said they’re not sure.

Opinions were split along partisan lines, with 54 percent of Democrats saying the economy is going in the right direction but only 9 percent of Republicans saying the same. The poll found 23 percent of independents said it’s on the right track.

Needless to say, this is horrible news for Kamala Harris.

She desperately needs to convince independent voters in the swing states that the policies of the Biden administration have the economy moving in the right direction, and that is not an easy sell.

Economic conditions are very tough all over the country right now, and everyone can see it.

In a recent editorial, small business owner Bruce LeVell detailed what things are like in Georgia at this moment…

Inflation is crushing small businesses like mine. Between rising costs for supplies, utilities and gas, it’s becoming harder to keep up. And I’m not alone. Families across Georgia are feeling it, too. From the grocery store to the gas pump, prices are out of control, making it harder for working folks to make ends meet.

We’ve all watched as our favorite Georgia products, like peaches, have skyrocketed in price. Peaches were up 25% last year. Chick-fil-A is up 21%. Even Bulldogs game tickets have jumped 45%. This inflation has cost Georgia families more than $27,000 since 2021, and that’s a hit most of us just can’t afford. The reality is clear: the Biden-Harris administration’s reckless spending and misguided policies are to blame.

He is right.

The cost of living has been going up much faster than paychecks have, and that is one of the biggest reasons why 37 percent of Americans are struggling to pay for their most basic expenses.

Millions of households are just barely scraping by, and as a result many are using credit cards to stay afloat…

But fast forwarding just one month later, when in a stunning reversal, July consumer credit growth unexpectedly reversed the dramatic June slowdown, and soared more than $25 billion, to a new record high of $5.093 trillion.

Looking at the components, the sudden spike in revolving credit was most notable as credit card debt growth suddenly reversed its recent slowdown, surging by $10.6 billion, the biggest monthly increase since February and the 2nd biggest of the year.

This is a really bad time to be racking up credit card debt.

But a lot of people feel like they have no choice.

Meanwhile, the personal savings rate has fallen to the lowest level since the financial crisis of 2008…

Yet with consumers ever more strapped for actual cash and equity, as the personal savings rate in the US collapses from over 5% to 2.9% – the lowest since the Lehman bankruptcy – in just one year, as all the excess savings from covid are long gone…

U.S. consumers have not been in such bad shape since the Great Recession, and now there are signs that the overall economy is rapidly slowing down all around us.

For example, a trucking company in Illinois that had about 480 drivers just suddenly ceased operations…

An Illinois-based trucking and logistics company, which contracted with the U.S. Postal Service to haul mail has notified over 650 employees, including more than 480 drivers, that the carrier is ceasing operations, according to sources familiar with the closure.

Former truck drivers for Midwest Transport Inc. (MTI), headquartered in Robinson, Illinois, told FreightWaves that they received telephone calls from their regional managers late Thursday notifying them the company was winding down operations.

And week after week, large banks continue to shut down even more branches…

Major banks have shuttered more than 40 locations in just two weeks as the local branch bloodbath continues.

Chase, Wells Fargo and Santander were among the banks who closed locations between August 4 and August 18.

Bank of America led they way, notifying the regulator that they would be removing 12 of their local branches from use.

Last, but certainly not least, I did not want to leave the stunning bankruptcy of Big Lots out of this article…

Another huge nationwide retailer filed for bankruptcy this morning – raising questions over the future of its 1,400 stores.

The Chapter 11 filing from discount home goods retailer Big Lots is the latest from big American retailers and restaurant chains, with the highest profile until now being Red Lobster.

A total of 21 have filed for bankruptcy in the first half of this year – the most since the pandemic wrecked havoc with businesses in 2020, S&P said in a July report.

Normally, troubled retailers will do whatever is necessary to hang on through the lucrative holiday shopping season before declaring bankruptcy.

But apparently Big Lots was so far gone that they were not able to do that.

Every piece of bad economic news that we get brings Kamala Harris even closer to defeat and Donald Trump even closer to victory.

In my entire lifetime, the economy has played a major role in determining the outcome of almost every single presidential election.

And it won’t be any different this time around.

But no matter what the outcome is, I fully anticipate that there will be widespread chaos afterwards.

I have never seen so much political animosity in this country, and there will be tens of millions of people that will be absolutely furious once the results of the election are revealed.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Preparing For A Crash? Warren Buffett Has Been Selling Off Hundreds Of Millions Of Shares In 2024

September 8, 2024September 8, 2024 by Michael

Warren Buffett did not become a billionaire by being stupid. According to Forbes, Buffett is worth more than 144 billion dollars, and that makes him one of the wealthiest men in the entire world. He made his money in the stock market, and so why is he now pulling money out of the stock market at a feverish pace? Does he anticipate that a crash is coming? Earlier this year, Buffett shocked the investing community when his company sold off half the Apple shares that it was holding…

Warren Buffett, the legendary investor known as the “Oracle of Omaha” (and “Fireball” by his father), is famous for his smart investment choices. So when it was revealed that his company, Berkshire Hathaway, sold half its Apple shares, many investors were puzzled, trying to understand what it meant.

The number of Apple shares that Berkshire Hathaway has dumped is absolutely astounding.

It is being reported that close to 500 million shares were sold during the first and second quarters combined…

In the first quarter of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway sold over 100 million Apple shares, and in the second quarter, they sold an additional 390 million shares.

More recently, Berkshire Hathaway has been selling off Bank of America shares…

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N), opens new tab has trimmed its stake in Bank of America (BAC.N), opens new tab once again, making the total sales since mid-July nearly $7 billion.

The conglomerate, run by one of the world’s most revered investors, disclosed late on Thursday it sold 18.7 million shares of the second-largest U.S. bank between Sept. 3 and Sept. 5 to rake in roughly $760 million.

Buffett’s moves look quite savvy based on what has been happening so far this month.

In fact, we just witnessed the worst week for the S&P 500 since March 2023…

The S&P 500 dropped Friday, notching its worst week since March 2023, as investors assessed the fallout from a weak August jobs report and ditched leading technology stocks.

Will this week bring even more pain?

Right now, investors are concerned that the economy may be slowing, and those concerns were bolstered by Friday’s employment report.

As Zero Hedge has noted, that report told us that the U.S. lost a whopping 438,000 full-time jobs last month…

Starting at the top, while the number of employed workers did rise by 168K, looking closer at the composition of this increase is disastrous: that’s because it consisted of an increase of 527K part-time jobs, offset by a 438K plunge in full-time jobs.

This means that since last June, the US has added just over 2 million part-time jobs, and lost over 1.5 million full-time jobs.

If you want a low-paying part-time job, it is still fairly easy to find one.

But good paying jobs have been rapidly disappearing. The president of a firm that finds positions for white-collar workers says that the market is in “bad shape” at this moment…

Economists largely agree that the labor market is “cooling,” but one recruiting industry veteran says that is a significant understatement.

Brian Howard is the founder and president of the Howard Group, a boutique search firm located in Overland Park, Kansas, that has been in business for more than 30 years, which companies hire to recruit candidates in an array of white-collar positions.

He said the job market is in “bad shape.”

I would say that “bad shape” is quite an understatement.

Earlier today, I came across an article about a man with an MBA that has been unable to find work even though he has applied for more than 1,500 jobs…

Marcial Quinones, 48, used to have few problems getting jobs in the 1990s without a high school diploma. Now, after what he estimates is over 1,500 applications since the early 2010s, he can’t land any stable job in his field even with an MBA.

Quinones, a father of four who lives in rural eastern Pennsylvania, said he’s struggled to land a long-term job in tech or counseling. He has held part-time positions and built his own inventory software to sell to companies, though he rarely gets interviews, even after redoing his résumé two dozen times.

There are so many people that are looking for work right now.

For many Americans, low-paying part-time jobs just won’t suffice because the cost of living just continues to go up.

Thanks to the rising cost of living, the percentage of U.S. households with children that are “food insecure” has risen to a very alarming level…

Now, the inflation crisis under the Biden-Harris administration has intensified this issue even more. It was especially families with children that suffered during Covid-19 as school lunches disappeared and they have been hardest hit again in 2022 and 2023.

As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, the USDA just published its latest report on the issue, showing that last year, almost 18 percent of households where children lived were food insecure, up from 17.3 percent in 2022 and 12.5 percent in 2021.

In a lot of those households, at least one adult is actually working.

But in many cases there simply is not enough money coming in to even cover the basics.

At this point, working Americans have so little discretionary income to spare that even dollar stores are really struggling…

Dollar Tree stocks plunged to a 9-year low earlier this week, after the chain delivered a disappointing earnings report.

Earlier this year, the company announced it would close 600 Family Dollar stores in 2024, after it struggled to integrate the chain into its business.

Dollar General, which is the biggest dollar store in the US and is located mostly in low-income, rural areas, also reported dismal sales last month and saw its stock plummet.

This is where we are at now.

And since our leaders simply refuse to stop wildly spending money, it is inevitable that the cost of living will just continue to go up.

Our standard of living is being absolutely eviscerated, and it is because of decisions that have been made by those in positions of power.

If our leaders had made different decisions, we could have gotten different results.

But now tens of millions of U.S. households are deeply hurting, and much more pain is on the horizon.

Warren Buffett is clearly concerned about the short-term future.

He has been dumping hundreds of millions of shares, and it appears that this could end up being one of the best moves of his entire career.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Death Of The Consumer Economy: Over A Third Of U.S. Adults Now Struggle To Pay For Their Most Basic Expenses

September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 by Michael

When U.S. consumers are doing well, the U.S. economy does well. But of course the opposite is also true. When U.S. consumers are not doing well, the U.S. economy really suffers. The government has been trying really hard to put a happy face on things, but the truth is that the standard of living for most U.S. consumers has been going down for a long time. The cost of living has been rising faster than paychecks have, and so most of us have less discretionary income than we once did. And that is really bad news for the U.S. economy, because as the official White House website has pointed out, consumer spending typically accounts for about two-thirds of all economic activity…

Consumption spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy on average, so as the U.S. consumer goes, so goes the U.S. economy.

For once, the White House has told us something that is actually accurate. In the first quarter of 2024, consumer spending accounted for 68 percent of GDP. It has been right around the two-thirds mark for many years, and that makes it one of the most stable numbers in economics.

Unfortunately, consumers are more financially stressed today than they have been in ages. In fact, a survey that was recently conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau discovered that 37 percent of U.S. adults now struggle to pay for their most basic expenses each month…

About 37% of American adults are in households that found it somewhat or very difficult to pay for typical expenses between late June and late July, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.

When you are barely able to pay for food, housing and other essentials, there is not going to be extra money to blow at retail stores and restaurants. This is one of the primary reasons why so many retailers and restaurant chains are going bankrupt in 2024.

Of course the economic pain is not spread equally across the entire country.

According to that same survey, consumers are particularly struggling in “poor” states such as Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia…

Mississippi (49.5%), Alabama (45.5%) and West Virginia (43.5%) have the highest percentage of adults who say they’re having trouble affording their basic needs.

I think that there are many good things that could be said about all three states.

In fact, I have Alabama ranked 11th for survivability out of all 50 states in my book about the great turmoil that will soon hit our society.

But if you don’t have money, it can be really tough to live in an area of the country where employment prospects are relatively poor.

Needless to say, lots of people in big states are really hurting right now too.

The Census survey found that 41.8 percent of Florida residents, 40 percent of New York residents, 39.9 percent of Texas residents and 37.5 percent of California residents are having difficultly paying for their basic expenses at this point.

When close to 40 percent of the population is just barely scraping by, you have a major economic crisis on your hands.

No matter how they want to frame things, our leaders are not going to be able to ignore this forever.

The lack of consumer spending is hitting the restaurant industry particularly hard…

The year has not even reached its fourth quarter and bankruptcies among restaurant chains, operating companies and large franchisees are already nearly double what they were in 2023.

Jonathan Carson, co-CEO of bankruptcy services and technology firm Stretto, says there have been 17 such Chapter 11 filings in the sector so far in 2024, and there were only nine at this point last year. He expects the trend to continue.

According to Carson, a number of factors have contributed to the nightmare that the restaurant industry is now facing…

“In this situation, a challenging economic environment, post-pandemic recovery issues, rising labor costs, changing consumer habits and inflation have caused more restaurants to struggle in 2024,” Carson told FOX Business in an interview, noting those issues have also impacted other sectors of the economy.

Retailers have also been going bankrupt at a staggering rate.

Just today, I came across another example. Earlier this year, LL Flooring shuttered close to 100 stores, but now the company has decided that it is time to permanently shut down all 442 stores…

LL Flooring – previously known as Lumber Liquidators – is shutting all its stores after going out of business after three decades.

The retailer, one of America’s biggest flooring suppliers, was looking for a buyer after filing for bankruptcy.

Earlier in the summer it had 442 stores, but shut nearly 100 as it looked to cut costs and woo investors. No buyer could be found.

You can’t get blood out of a stone.

If consumers had plenty of discretionary income, they would be out spending it.

But they don’t, and things will only get worse during the months ahead.

Politicians can keep giving more speeches about “how well the economy is doing”, but it won’t change the cold, hard facts on the ground. If someone tries to tell you that the economy is in good shape, just point out that the number of business bankruptcies has been absolutely exploding…

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 486,613 in the year ending June 2024, compared with 418,724 cases in the previous year.

Business filings rose 40.3 percent, from 15,724 to 22,060 in the year ending June 30, 2024. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 15.3 percent to 464,553, compared with 403,000 in the previous year.

The moment that you point this out, the argument will be over.

There is no way that anyone can monkey with that number.

Either businesses are filing for bankruptcy or they aren’t.

Right now, companies all over America are really hurting, and as a result many of them are also laying off workers.

In fact, things are so bad that even the tech industry has been conducting mass layoffs…

Tech companies continued to cut jobs at a rapid pace in August 2024. More than 27,000 workers in the industry lost their jobs as over 40 companies, including big names like Intel, IBM, and Cisco, as well as numerous smaller startups, announced layoffs. To date, more than 136,000 tech workers have been laid off by 422 companies in 2024, indicating significant upheaval in the sector.

The momentum of our economy is clearly taking us in a very troubling direction.

Our standard of living has been in decline for years, and now our economic problems are accelerating.

Hopefully you have been making preparations for hard times, because a tremendous amount of pain is ahead.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

The Final Depressing Chapters For The Late, Great U.S. Economy

September 1, 2024September 1, 2024 by Michael

It is incredibly sad to watch the U.S. economy slowly but surely come apart at the seams all around us. For most of our history, the rest of the world marveled at our economic performance, and that is because we embraced economic values that led to great blessing. In recent decades, we have abandoned those values, but we were able to maintain a very high standard of living by going into unprecedented amounts of debt. Our leaders were able to keep the game going for longer than a lot of people thought, but now we have entered the final depressing chapters for the late, great U.S. economy, and we can see evidence of this all around us. If you doubt this, just look at all of the businesses that are going bankrupt. Last week, I discussed the fact that for the year ending June 30th, the number of business bankruptcy filings was up more than 40 percent compared to the previous 12 months. There is no way that the Biden administration can manipulate this number. Either a business filed for bankruptcy or it didn’t, and right now we are seeing a spike of historic significance.

On Sunday, CNBC published an article that listed ten prominent restaurant chains that have filed for bankruptcy this year…

-Roti

-Buca di Beppo

-World of Beer

-Rubio’s

-Melt Bar & Grilled

-Kuma’s Corner

-Red Lobster

-Tijuana Flats

-Sticky’s Finger Joint

-Boxer Ramen

We really are in the midst of a “restaurant apocalypse”, and more of our favorite eateries are getting into trouble with each passing day.

For example, a large number of KFC locations just suddenly shut down in the Midwest…

Dozens of KFC locations owned by one franchisee have abruptly closed across the Midwest.

Up to 25 restaurants owned by major fast food franchisee EYM Chicken have shut in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, according to reports.

The closure of several locations in Wisconsin will lead to nearly 100 employees being laid off, according to local media WKOW 27 News.

At one time, KFC was such a wonderful American success story.

But now KFC restaurants are becoming an endangered species.

There used to be one about an hour from where I live, but that one has been shut down too.

If you still have a KFC in your community, you should visit it while you still can.

Meanwhile, we just learned that a chain of gas stations and convenience stores in the Midwest has also abruptly shut down…

The gas station and convenience store sector has faced distress in recent years marked by bankruptcy filings and store closings.

The Store convenience stores and gas stations, owned by Team Schierl Cos., in July 2024 was forced to shut down all operations of its 25 locations in Michigan and Wisconsin after its landlord Mountain Express Oil Co. filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in August 2023, Convenience Store News reported.

Whatever is happening to the economy right now, it seems to be hitting the Midwest particularly hard.

At the rate that things are going, I think that it won’t be too long before even more communities in the Midwest resemble the nightmare that Gary, Indiana has become…

Gary, Indiana – best known as the birthplace of Michael Jackson – is home to the highest abandoned home rate in the nation at 31.41 percent, according to analysis from 247WallSt.

The data found that the population has staggeringly dropped by 18.2 percent from 2010 to 2020, with a population around 67,000.

We also continue to see more signs of trouble in the banking industry.

According to the Daily Mail, the U.S. lost 41 more bank branches in just one recent two week period…

Major banks have closed 41 branches in just two weeks as the shift toward online banking continues. Major banks such as Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo were among those shuttering locations.

When the economy is booming, banks tend to open up lots of new branches.

What we are witnessing now is the opposite of that.

Of course lots of retail stores are being permanently shut down as well.

Thousands of store closings have already been announced in 2024, and now Big Lots has raised the number of stores that it is likely to close “to a maximum of 315”…

In the first quarter, the discount retailer said its net sales for the three-month period declined 10.2% year-over-year to $1 billion. For all of 2023, net sales were $4.72 billion, a 13.6% decrease compared with the prior year.

More recently, in an Aug. 2 filing, the company told investors that it had upped the number of permitted store closings to a maximum of 315 as part of late July amendments to a credit agreement and term loan facility. That marked a 165-store increase from the 150 previously permitted.

There were nearly 1,400 Big Lots stores in the U.S. as of the first quarter. The discount retailer’s locations sell home goods, furniture, seasonal decorations and other products.

Sadly, this really is the beginning of the end for Big Lots, because it won’t be able to survive much longer.

Rite Aid is another major chain that is in serious peril.

They have already closed hundreds of stores, but that hasn’t helped much…

Another retail casualty this year has been the sudden bankruptcy of Rite Aid, leaving hundreds of stores empty in states such as Michigan and Ohio after closing up to 500 stores nationally. In its filing, the company said it expected its losses would increase significantly in the past quarter, following a loss of $750 million between March 2022 and March 2023 and another $307 million in the second quarter this year. The last quarterly report filed by Rite Aid was in June, when they had only $135.5 million of cash to work with, combined with $3.3 billion in long-term debt.

Needless to say, Rite Aid is far from alone.

All over the nation, once thriving businesses are being boarded up.

U.S. consumers simply do not have the same level of discretionary income that they once did.

The cost of living crisis has hit most Americans really hard, and at this point the vast majority of the population can no longer afford to purchase an average home.

These days most Americans are desperately trying to find a way to scrape by from month to month, and so there just isn’t a lot of room for discretionary spending.

Economic conditions are not good right now, but what is this country going to look like once they take a dramatic turn for the worse?

You might want to think about that, because what we are experiencing at this moment is going to look like rip-roaring prosperity compared to what is eventually coming.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Extreme Gaslighting: Here Are 7 Signs That The Mainstream Media Is Flat Out Lying To Us About The Economy

August 29, 2024August 29, 2024 by Michael

How many times have you heard the mainstream media tell you that the economy is doing just great in recent months? Personally, I have seen the word “booming” used over and over again to describe the economy, and it makes me sick. The level of gaslighting that we are witnessing right now is off the charts. Millions of Americans are sleeping in their vehicles, thousands of businesses are failing all over the nation, and most of the country now believes that the American Dream is no longer attainable. If this is what a “booming” economy feels like, I would hate to see what would happen during a “recession”.

I totally understand why the mainstream media is gaslighting us. They want us to believe that everything is fine so that we will vote a certain way in November. They have an agenda, and they are pushing it really hard.

But what they are telling us simply does not match up with reality.

The following are 7 signs that the mainstream media is flat out lying to us about the economy…

#1 Survey after survey has shown that the economy is the number one concern for American voters during this election season. If the economy was in good shape, we would not be getting results like this…

The economy was still the top issue for 26 percent of voters, per the poll. Threats to democracy and extremism came in second at 22 percent, and immigration was third at 13 percent.

#2 At this point, the economy is in such rough shape that even Dollar General customers seem to be running out of money…

Dollar General shares tumbled Thursday after the discount retailer slashed its sales and profit guidance for the full year, suggesting its lower-income customers are struggling in this economy.

Shares of the retailer, which caters to more rural areas, tumbled 25% after the earnings report.

#3 When the U.S. economy was actually booming, Big Lots was thriving. Sadly, today’s economic environment has been very hard on the retail chain and it is now teetering on the brink of bankruptcy…

Discount home goods retailer Big Lots is reportedly on the brink of bankruptcy after years of falling sales.

The beleaguered chain may seek Chapter 11 protection within weeks, according to Bloomberg, if it is not able to find investors.

The Ohio-based company runs around 1,400 stores across the US, after closing hundreds of locations earlier this year.

#4 Needless to say, Big Lots is far from alone, because the number of businesses that are filing for bankruptcy has reached dizzying heights…

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 486,613 in the year ending June 2024, compared with 418,724 cases in the previous year.

Business filings rose 40.3 percent, from 15,724 to 22,060 in the year ending June 30, 2024. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 15.3 percent to 464,553, compared with 403,000 in the previous year.

#5 According to Zero Hedge, several regional Fed business surveys just fell even deeper into contraction territory…

‘Four more years’ is not the message being heard from the regional Fed surveys this week as the Philly, Dallas, and Richmond business surveys all slumped deeper into contraction…

#6 As I discussed yesterday, approximately two-thirds of the entire U.S. population no longer believes that the American Dream “is still alive”…

Only about a third of U.S. adults believe the American dream is still alive, a Wall Street Journal/NORC poll published Wednesday found.

A survey of 2,501 people conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute twelve years ago found more than half of respondents believed the American dream “still holds true,” but now only a third feel that way, according to a recent WSJ/NORC poll of 1,502 adults. The study also found an increasingly large gap between people’s economic goals and what they think is actually attainable — a trend that was consistent across gender and party lines, but was especially common amongst younger generations.

#7 Last, but certainly not least, total household debt in the United States has soared to a level that we have never seen before…

A quarterly report published this month by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on household credit and debt found that between the first quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2024, credit card debt surged 48.1% while household debt — which includes mortgages and auto loans — rose by 21.6%.

In dollar terms, credit card debt rose from $770 billion in early 2021 to $1.14 trillion in the most recent quarter, while household debt increased from $14.64 trillion to $17.8 trillion in the same period.

Yes, there is a small segment of society that is still doing really well.

Thanks to the unprecedented intervention that we have seen in the financial markets in recent years, they are still able to live the high life while most of the country suffers.

But while stock prices continue to set new all-time highs, much of the nation looks like a horror show.

For example, just consider what has happened to Pine Bluff, Arkansas…

A small Arkansas city suffering from severe population decline and economic turmoil has become so abandoned that properties are on offer for as little as $400.

Pine Bluff, a bleak metro that saw its population drop from 49,000 to 41,250 residents from 2010 to 2020, made headlines this month after being panned in a YouTube documentary from Abandoned Atlas.

In the movie, filmmaker Michael Schwartz said witnessing the city’s decay ‘shocked’ him, saying: ‘It seems like every time I turn a corner, there is another abandoned home or building left behind.’

The gap between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us has never been larger than it is right now.

The next time you walk past an abandoned store that has been boarded up, just remember how much the mainstream media has been lying to you.

The next time you walk past someone that is sleeping in a vehicle, just remember how much the mainstream media has been lying to you.

The next time you walk past someone that is hooked on drugs because they have lost all hope, just remember how much the mainstream media has been lying to you.

Our communities are falling apart right in front of our eyes, our economy is falling apart right in front of our eyes, and our entire society is falling apart right in front of our eyes.

So don’t let the mainstream media fool you. The economy really is moving in the wrong direction very rapidly, and it won’t be too long before even they are forced to admit the truth.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

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