Bankruptcies galore, foreclosures, car repo man busier than ever. Who would expect this to be the new normal. What is the cause? We have had a volcanic eruption in interest rates during the past twelve months, from almost zero to 5%. Yes 5%, do you believe it? James Powell, the Sachem (big chief) at the FED, is in a bloody battle with the Inflation Tiger. Our take is that in the end the Sachem will win. This poses a question on what will happen come election time in 2024?
The interest rate hikes have decimated the bond market to such a degree, they suffered their largest losses in history. The twenty year bond rate has catapulted from 2.23% to 4.14% today, passing 4.45% six moths ago. In relation to value, the bond has imploded by 47%. Who said treasury bonds are safe? So, now what is the future.
Another reasons to increase the interest rate was due to the 32 trillion in debt we have built up. If rates remained at prehistoric levels the Almighty Dollar would have imploded even more. As it is, the dollar is losing value by the day. Any human with a beating heart realizes today’s cost of goods; affectively the dollar has lost value in purchasing power. This was built into the deck, more printing of fiat currency, the less they are worth. Printing finally caught up with us.
What remains to be seen is the continuation of the dollar printing charade. Will it continue ad infinitum? Sooner or later the dollar price in gold will reflect the largesse. However, we bring to light the effect the interest rate revival has had on those who have provide funds to the debtors. For instance, if rates have been at 5% all along, there would have been no need to lower the rates to zero. And why is that? Because those with cash were robbed of their life savings. Now the chickens have come home to roost.