QUESTION: What do you think about Steve Mnuchin as Secretary of Treasury? He does have a beautiful Scottish fiancee.

Bill

ANSWER: Not a fan. Yes, Steven Terner Mnuchin previously worked for Goldman Sachs but he left them in 2002. That is really not an issue. It is good that he has real, live experience as an investment banker and hedge fund investor. After he left Goldman, he worked for and founded a number of hedge funds but with George Soros involvement, which would leave a question mark in my mind. During the financial crisis, Mnuchin bought failed house lender IndyMac and rebuilt it into OneWest Bank, which he then sold in 2015 to CIT Group.

OneWest Bank gained a reputation for having 17% of the federally insured reverse mortgage market, and almost 40% of all federally insured reverse mortgage foreclosures during that time. I would have to say that as the CEO, there is no possible way he did not know what was going on. One of the most egregious examples of OneWest Bank’s insane foreclosures was the story of Ossie Lofton, a 90-year-old Lakeland, Florida, homeowner on a reverse mortgage who OneWest foreclosed on over a 27-cent payment error with her insurance.

Obviously, the computer program foreclosed anyone who was late on a payment, but it did not even have a basic amount test. Normally, a mortgage foreclosure results in a loss for the bank. Here we are talking about a reverse mortgage. That is where they get to buy the home on the cheap.

As for his Scottish fiancée, Louise Linton, well she is stunning. But then again, I may be prejudiced having some Scottish blood running in my veins.

I also strongly disagree with Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn for the top White House economic post — National Economics Council. This guy was deeply involved in sending Greece down the river. I think this is a huge conflict of interest.

QUESTION:  I am writing again to find out when and if the “Trader Level platform” will ever be released to the average follower and subscriber of the “Investor” platform. If I was a cynical individual, I would think its only reserved for those of wealth with the ability to attend the WEC conferences to get access. I hope the release is coming to the rest of us soon, not this quarter or next month as I have been told since I started inquiring.

Still waiting patiently,

BM

REPLY: I believe we will be releasing the trader in the first quarter. The delay has NOT BEEN the programming. It has been the banks. Many seemed to refuse to allow clients to pay using credit cards claiming this does not fit neatly into their business model. If I assume this is not a conspiracy of actually trying to prevent the launch of this system, then it really is about incompetence and being too far ahead of the cutting edge. They just have never heard of a computer that actually writes the reports of everything in the world.

The people who attended the WEC simply were given access and did not have to pay per click so no credit cards were involved. Some banks are put off by the global client bases we have spanning every country and they do not know who they all are. There is no other computer that does this and we may have the most diverse client base of anything they have seen before. Nobody seems to know what to make of this. We are in the process of setting up systems. However, this has been frustrating to say the least. Hopefully, we have the green light at last. Nevertheless, I concede, at times it has appeared to be a deliberate effort to prevent this system from launching globally.

Dow Jones Report – Investor Level

We should see a trend change come this month in Dow Jones Industrials so pay attention to events ahead. Last month produced a low at 1788356 and so far we have exceeded last month’s high. We now need to close above 1922529 at month-end to imply a technical reversal of trend to the upside for now. As of the close of Fri. Dec. 16, 2016, the market is immediately in a bearish posture near-term for now on the daily level warning caution should be taken yet this market is still trading above the November high. Dow Jones Industrials closed today at 1984341 and is trading up about 13% for the year from last year’s closing of 1742503. Thus far, we have been trading down for the past 2 days, but this has been an inside trading session warning caution following the high established Wed. Dec. 14, 2016.

On the weekly level, the last important high was established the week of December 12th at 1996643, which was up 6 weeks from the low made back during the week of October 31st. We have been generally trading up since that low, which has been a significant move of 11% percent in a stark panic type advance. The broader perspective, this current rally into the week of December 12th has exceeded the previous high of 1844988 made back during the week of September 19th. We have seen a rally so far from the last low at 1788356 made the week of October 31st, and only a break of that low would signal a technical reversal of fortune. Otherwise, the market remains strong at this time. Right now, the market is above momentum on our weekly models hinting this is still bullish for now as well as trend, long-term trend, and cyclical strength. Looking at this from a wider perspective, this market has been trading up for the past 13 weeks overall. Interestingly, the Dow Jones Industrials has been in a bullish phase for the past 15 months since the low established back in August 2015.

The market is trading sharply some 8.13% percent above the last high 1835136 from which we did originally obtain two sell signals from that event established during May 2015. Long-Term critical support still underlies this market at 1561754 and only a break of that level on a monthly closing basis would warn of a break of the current uptrend. From the May 2015, this market declined into a low during August 2015 at 1537033. Right now, the market has rallied from that low and is breaking out to the upside. At this time, the market is holding and is trading above last month’s high as well. From the low of August 2015, we have elected four buy signals. This warns that the trend is robust moving forward.

Manifestly, my longstanding view projection recognizes that the current directional movement since the low made back in August 2015 has been a long-term Bullish trend in Dow Jones Industrials which remains in motion as long as we hold above 1601364 on a monthly closing basis. It is incredibly important to identify the broader trend for that is the underlying tone. It is wise to take position counter-trend only with this understanding of what you are doing.

Consequently, this has been a 7 year rally in motion since 2009. This puts us on notice that it now becomes imperative to exceed this year’s high next year to keep the upward momentum moving in place. A lower closing at year end would warn the caution bell for a near-term correction.

Searching the immediate trend remains bullish since November made new highs and we have exceeded that high so far this month. This is further illustrated given the fact that last month also closed higher. To date, the market has exceeded last year’s high of 1835136. In order to maintain an upward advance, we need to close above last year’s high at year end. On the weekly level, last month was an outside reversal to the upside which is implying we have a bullish bias currently. Currently, this market remains in an uptrend posture on all our indicators looking at the weekly level. We see here the trend has been moving up for the past 6 weeks. The last weekly level low was 1788356, which formed during the week of October 31st. The last high on the weekly level was 1996643, which was created during the week of December 12th. On a broader perspective, this market remains in an uptrend posture on all our indicators looking at the monthly level. We see here the trend has been moving up for the past 15 months. The last monthly level low was 1537033, which formed during August 2015, 2015. The last high on the monthly level was 1922529, which was created during November.

To Mr. Trump;

If you really want to demonstrate that you do stand for the all people, begin by making it clear that any police officer who kills a citizen like this in North Charleston, South Carolina will no longer be tolerated. Police officer, Michael T. Slager, was arrested on a murder charge after video surfaced of him shooting eight times at 50-year-old Walter Scott as he ran away. The officer in this video does not even think twice about shooting someone in the back.

Yes he was caught. But how many murders take place without a video by a third party? He shoots a citizen in the back without hesitation because police are routinely cleared. First, there should be a separate department in Washington that investigates shooting by police. Having his buddies investigate him by the same local office is a conflict of interest. There should be a separate department in Washington. Then, and only then, will police think twice before shooting.

This video is of a woman pulled over for a traffic stop and tries to flee as the police is trying to arrest her when she has 5 kids in the van. They open fire on the van as it pulls away. Nobody was killed, but there is no hesitation to open fire. This is what is wrong. They immediate start shooting.

This is also not a race issue. It appears to be a power-trip problem. The protest at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge over the government’s claim to land ended in bloodshed. The police opened fire on unarmed white people in a SUV with children and kept firing. They outright killed a man when he got out of the SUV with his hands up.

There was the murder of Amadou Diallo, 22, back in 1999 in New York City. The police gunned him down when he had no gun, they thought he might be going for a gun when it was his wallet and they murdered him shooting him 41 times. Two of the Police Officers Edward McMellon, 26, and Sean Carroll, 35 didn’t stop firing until the 16-bullet cartridges in their 9-mm. handguns were spent. Three of the cops have been involved in prior shootings, one of them a Halloween incident that left a man dead. If they can kill citizens, even unarmed, then unless this becomes a federal crime that is SOLELY investigated by a special department set up in Washington, DC that has no local conflict of interest, then these wild cops will have no restraint. The police who really wanted to help society should demand this type of reform for people are looking at them with the eyes of actions by the wild police who shoot out or power or ignorance.

I have friends who were police 25 years ago. They NEVER acted like what we have seen over the last decade. It seems they like to hire the crazy veterans from Iraq or Afghanistan who seem not to have made the transition to civilian life very well. This is not a war zone where they get to shoot whomever for fun. Police MUST be criminally charged and put on trial. This has to stop. Just being pulled over for anything even I have to take pause because there is a growing chance you are confronted by a lunatic with a gun on some power trip.

As local governments are broke, they themselves push the police for more tickets solely for revenue. They pump up these guys and they view the people as a presumption of being hostile or a criminal. This has got to stop.

There should be no movement that Black Lives Matter – it should be All Lives Matter. We should all be on board against such outrageous police activity. It is time to set up a separate department in Washington and these murdering police should be charged by the Feds. This already violates the Civil Rights Act regardless of color.

I am sorry, but he has not basis to refuse to show his evidence. He is clearly trying to instigate a revolution in the Electoral College. He should be held in CONTEMPT of Congress and he is clearly playing politics now with the intelligence community. This is just showing how far we have gone already from our model’s forecast that 2015.75 was the PEAK IN GOVERNMENT. This is becoming blatantly obvious. Congress should hold Clapper in prison on Contempt until he agrees to brief the nation showing the EVIDENCE that the DNC was hacked by Russia. Even if it was, the emails released have exposed unbelievable corruption and collusion between the Democrats and the media, who obviously will not really push this issue for their own conflict of interest issues.

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was — in the Commission’s view — honest, equitable, and balanced. The FCC eliminated the Doctrine in 1987, and in August 2011 the FCC formally removed the language that implemented the Doctrine. This Doctrine should be reinstated as an Act of Congress and any media outlet that violates this principle should be shut down forthwith.

The Clintons will never accept responsibility for anything. Now they are blaming Huma Abedin for the Hillary’s lost election. Vanity Fair reported that one campaign insider commented, “[Abedin] was enjoying the red carpet and enjoying the photo spreads much too much in my opinion. She enjoyed being a celebrity too much.”

Obama blamed Putin for revealing the truth about the corruption inside the Democratic Party, as if that was unfair because they would have gotten away with it. In the same manner, Hillary is blaming Abedin because her emails were discovered on Abedin’s estranged husband Anthony Weiner’s computer, which then prompted a letter to Congress from FBI Director James Comey in late October. Here too, it’s certainly not that Hillary did anything wrong, it’s that she would not have been caught had it not been for Abedin.

The Democrats tried rigging the whole game by outspending Trump about 2 to 1. Additionally, 77% of the press on Trump was negative whereas about 99% endorsed Hillary. In her mind, she should have won. She had all the cards in order. She cannot accept that there is a civil uprising against corruption spanning across the world. This is not just a USA trend.

On November 17th Director James Clapper told congress there was no basis to identify Russia’s involvement in the DNC and Podesta email leaks release by WikiLeaks in the run up to the election. He then tendered his resignation because he knew Trump would replace him. So now all of a sudden, Russia hacked the DNC with no proof whatsoever. Clapper is now guilty of perjury and a full scale investigation should take place and he should be indicted for perjury before Congress and the nation. Either he lied before, or he lied now. He MUST be criminally charged and then he will sing loud and clear who was behind this nonsense.

There should be no deal whatsoever. He should be put on full trial no plea bargains. That is what I would do for only then will we get to the truth.

A student in California videoed what his professor was saying in class and how they are trying to create a revolution. He actually said that the people who voted for Trump were engaging in an act of TERRORISM because the socialist lost. He went on to say that the nation is divided as it was during the Civil War. Formal education is becoming indoctrination, not education. Children are being subjected to brainwashing and this video is just the tip of the iceberg.

Even with much of core Asia selling-off Japan managed a small positive return aided by the ever weakening currency. There was a similar picture painted in China where the Shanghai exchange managed a small gain but to the detriment of the Yuan. The PBOC set the currency at its weakest in eight years at 6.9508 and in late US trading the off-shore trades 6.9650. Asian stock futures are all around -0.5% weaker as we head into the weekend after news reports that China had captured an American underwater drone.

Core Europe closed with just moderate gains of around +0.2% but did see a strong +0.8% performance in the IBEX, but be mindful that it was off of a low base. Volumes were light today but having seen a volatile week, many dealers were just happy it was Friday! Supply news from the Middle East lifted oil prices which settled around +0.6% by the end of trading. The USD came off of its weeks highs as we saw weekend book squaring in both the Euro and GBP. Expect light volumes again next week which implies it could be a little more volatile as market-makers widen spreads through fear of year end financing and especially weary of the Bond futures contracts. Around this time there is usually a run of the 1st and 2nd CTD (Cheapest to Deliver). Given the geo-political concerns late Friday we have seen a brief rally in the price of gold as a weekend comfort hedge.

US stocks drifted lower for the majority of the session but did bounce off of afternoon lows just into the close. The news of surrounding the US drone in the south China Seas certainly wobbled US stocks but given the amount of monies still sitting on the sidelines, was always going to be temporary. All eyes and ears will be on the weekend press and the US/China relations but will probably all be forgotten by Monday. The DXY came off of the weeks highs but remains the key focus of many money managers.

US 10’s closed 2.59% (-1bp), German Bunds closed 0.31% (-5bp), Italy 1.87% (+5bp), Greece 7.07% (-8bp), Portugal 3.76% (+2bp) and UK Gilt 10yrs at 1.43% (-5bp).

Soros, I believe, is trying to do the same thing as Karl Marx. He is funding an experiment to alter society into what he thinks it should be. I believe in Adam Smith and the best way to help society is to rid it of people like Soros who think they have the right to reshape society into what they believe it should be. The invisible hand works fine and it is the essence of nature. People like Soros admit they do not believe in God, so that means they also assume the universe is theirs to manipulate and play the role of  God. People like Soros always want to rule the world through central planning. It is just not possible, for humanity is the inventor driven by the mother of everything — necessity — never the rulers.

Sorry, I have studied the world through the eyes of our clients globally, watching how we all act in our own self-interest just as animals in the wild also have a survival instinct. The design of nature is that one species survives by consuming another. The idea that we can create utopia where everyone enjoys perfect harmony is against the design of nature.

In trading, Soros was quick to recognize a currency peg that was against the natural cycle and thus was overvalued. He jumped on that currency and devoured it just like a lion. Then he wants to pretend to be God and make it an open society?

Soros needs to first study his own actions that are the same as a lion and its prey. He is not competent to judge the world while he bribes or supports politicians who will agree to his idea as long as he hands them the money.

Sorry, I believe in laissez-faire because the system is far too complicated for man to try to change it.

This is the picture that was used to start the global warming movement that man supposedly created. Of course, since the weather is not consistently warmer, they changed the term from “global warming” to “climate change.” They pointed to everything from pollution, cutting down trees, exhaust from cars and buses, and even attributed it to cows farting, but they never provided any historical proof of real climate change outside of a normal cycle.

I lived in London in 1985 when the buses spewed out black smoke. It was horrible and hard to breath. That is the kind of pollution that we all want to eliminate. We want clean water and clean air — absolutely. But cutting down trees and diesel-spewing buses do not change the historic climate cycle — it just makes where you live nasty.

Science was turned on its head after a discovery in 1772 near Vilui, Siberia, of an intact frozen woolly rhinoceros, which was followed by the more famous discovery of a frozen mammoth in 1787. You may be shocked, but these discoveries of frozen animals with grass still in their stomachs set in motion these two schools of thought since the evidence implied you could be eating lunch and suddenly find yourself frozen, only to be discovered by posterity.

The discovery of the woolly rhinoceros in 1772, and then frozen mammoths, sparked the imagination that things were not linear after all. These major discoveries truly contributed to the “Age of Enlightenment” where there was a burst of knowledge erupting in every field of inquisition. Such finds of frozen mammoths in Siberia continue to this day. This has challenged theories on both sides of this debate to explain such catastrophic events. These frozen animals in Siberia suggest strange events are possible even in climates that are not that dissimilar from the casts of dead victims who were buried alive after the volcanic eruption of 79 AD at Pompeii in ancient Roman Italy. Animals can be grazing and then suddenly freeze abruptly. That climate change was long before man invented the combustion engine.

Even the field of geology began to create great debates that perhaps the earth simply burst into a catastrophic convulsion and indeed the planet was cyclical — not linear. This view of sequential destructive upheavals at irregular intervals or cycles emerged during the 1700s. This school of thought was perhaps best expressed by a forgotten contributor to the knowledge of mankind, George Hoggart Toulmin in his rare 1785 book, “The Eternity of the World“:

” ••• convulsions and revolutions violent beyond our experience or conception, yet unequal to the destruction of the globe, or the whole of the human species, have both existed and will again exist ••• [terminating] ••• an astonishing succession of ages.”

Id./p3, 110

In 1832, Professor A. Bernhardi argued that the North Polar ice cap had extended into the plains of Germany. To support this theory, he pointed to the existence of huge boulders that have become known as “erratics,” which he suggested were pushed by the advancing ice. This was a shocking theory for it was certainly a nonlinear view of natural history. Bernhardi was thinking out of the box. However, in natural science people listen and review theories unlike in social science where theories are ignored if they challenge what people want to believe. In 1834, Johann von Charpentier (1786-1855) argued that there were deep grooves cut into the Alpine rock concluding, as did Karl Schimper, that they were caused by an advancing Ice Age.

This body of knowledge has been completely ignored by the global warming/climate change religious cult. They know nothing about nature or cycles and they are completely ignorant of history or even that it was the discovery of these ancient creatures who froze with food in their mouths. They cannot explain these events nor the vast amount of knowledge written by people who actually did research instead of trying to cloak an agenda in pretend science.

So yes, I regard the global warming/climate change groupies as a religious cult. They have never bothered to read history. The Age of Enlightenment was all about the study of everything and the sudden awakening that the world is cyclical and not linear. These religious fanatics have not put forth a shred of evidence that their theory has been tested over millions of years — only post-1950.