International Forecaster Weekly

But this is still... the time of New Year cheer, so let me leave you with a more whimsical thought: All New Year's predictions inevitably fail.

Truly the conspiracy toothpaste is out of the tube and there’s no point in trying to put it back. While in many ways this represents the crowning achievement of the tireless efforts of generations of conspiracy researchers who have toiled in relative obscurity, it is not an unmitigated good.

With the creation of this new system, the petrodollar, the oiligarchs reached unprecedented levels of control over the economy. Not only that, they backed the world monetary system with their commodity, oil, and brought potential competition under their control all in one step.

Overall, if you have the feeling that these types of helter skelter neo-voodoo economics can't be sustained for very long, then join the club.

The real significance of the raid is that it breaks the supposed "independence" of the Fed, by which it can claim that “The Federal Reserve is an independent agency...

this latest proposal, expected to be tabled next Tuesday, is the end result of a series of agreements-in-principle between the European Commission, the European Council, and European Parliament over the creation of a joint European Border and Coast Guard System.

Now let’s be real here. The main stream media has been the liberal lap dog for decades. They bend over backwards... So the question becomes… how far would evil people with an agenda go to further that agenda?

Such concern played at least some part in the Fed's decision to avoid raising rates at the last meeting, but a rate hike at next week's meeting now seems a foregone conclusion and the FX markets have already priced them in.

There's a lot going on right now, and whatever the outcome we're likely to see some huge changes in Turkey and in the war in Syria as a result of recent events.

It means that the yuan is now effectively a world reserve currency. Not the world reserve currency; that’s still the dollar, a position that isn’t likely to change for a few years yet. But regardless, the effect will be immediate and profound.

Barring some very unexpected events, it looks virtually certain that there is going to be some economic pain in the forecast for anyone looking to sell their gold in the near future...

The strategy is remarkably simple. Provoke an attack, stage an attack, allow an attack to happen or simply capitalize on a spontaneous attack. Use the public's own outrage to push through draconian new legislation, all the while pretending to be the savior.

France is a nation in mourning. But perhaps the French people can reserve at least some of their outrage for the government which has used their own tax money to fund, supply and support the terrorists they are now at war with.

Without mass education on this subject, it is unlikely that such massive protests can derail this TPP deal. Given the amount of time, money and energy the multinationals have sunk into the negotiation of this agreement, it's not going down without a fight.

While this kind of eye-popping, record-setting art sale isn't particularly important in isolation, the overall trend in the art market is a reflection of much bigger forces at work in the economy.