Ladies and Gentleman, a handful of sociopaths have declared war on the rest of the world.  And no, they are not all collaborating in a single room in New York, London or Tokyo – but instead a handful of rooms in “reserve currency” capitals, whose “leaders” have the most to lose.  In other words, the bankers controlling the printing presses and their “partners” in government have taken economic “can-kicking” to unprecedented levels – aided by the horrifying “financial weapons of mass destruction” invented over the past decade.

Back in 2002, when I went “all-in” the precious metals sector, I knew I was on the side of a major global trend change.  However, I could never have imagined how enmeshed the entire world was to the spreading cancer of fiat money – and certainly, that a mere 12 years later, it would be on the verge of all-out collapse.  We have not a doubt that the end of history’s largest Ponzi scheme is at hand; which is why, amidst its final, tortuous death throes, we warn 100% “financial defense,” no matter how you define it.

For me, it started with the sale of my last mining stock in Spring 2011, going 100% physical with the proceeds.  Before then, the periodic Cartel attacks – and ongoing sector erosion, regardless of PM prices – caused me a significant lack of sleep, given that the horrific portfolio losses I experienced might be permanent.  Instead, I now sleep the “sleep of the just”- aided by the exhaustion of minding my beloved Sylvie, who we adopted last summer; as no matter how hard the Cartel huffs and puffs they can’t take my invaluable metal.

But I must say, they are doing everything imaginable to make me miserable; not only in suppressing the prices of my savings and slowing the pace of my business (ironic, given record overseas demand), but doing so in such ignominious form.  Watching “them” take stocks to unprecedented overvaluations amidst the worst economic environment and financial footing of my lifetime is bad enough; but when QE takes toxic, worthless bonds to record high prices as well, it makes one want to pull their hair out.  Throw in the widening wealth inequality caused by such policies, in which Walmart dramatically reduces expectations, yet Maserati reports a doubling of sales and you can see why anyone would be angry – much less, the writers of the Miles Franklin Blog, who have been as dead-on right about the unfolding economic calamity as anyone in the financial universe.

However, as difficult as such manipulations have been to fathom the “good news” is that everything we write of is “self-correcting” by nature.  In other words, the more TPTB suppress precious metals, support stocks and bonds or devalue their currencies, the more they accelerate their mathematically certain demise.  Perhaps it will in fact be precious metals – i.e., the “Achilles Heel of the Financial World” – that supply the direct catalyst to the “big one.”  But if not, take heart that something else inevitably will; and when it does, if you haven’t protected yourself already it will be too late.  And given the unquestioned, near parabolic acceleration of the three “death trends” this article takes its namesake from, it’s quite difficult to believe said “big one” is too far off.

To that end, we have written endlessly of the catastrophic ramifications of collapsing oil, crashing currencies, and the competitive currency devaluations that are rapidly destroying the fragile smoke and mirrors-supported, fiat currency-fueled “world order.”  And right now, these “death trends” are reaching a fever pitch, yielding the potential for one or more to explode on any given day.

Regarding oil prices, we recently wrote of the “unspeakable horrors” such a rapid plunge would portend – and this month’s plunge to $76/bbl. will likely put the large majority of global production in the red; let alone, the socialist societies of countless oil exporters.  Yesterday’s news that Saudi Arabia is cutting prices for Western hemisphere exports is a loud and clear signal that it intends to “smoke out” the U.S. shale oil industry – which due to massive capital costs, depletion, and Wall-Street funded leverage could experience a production collapse as precipitous as what the Wall Street-starved gold and silver mining industry is about to experience.  We warned of this in April 2013’s “unending energy independence hype”; and fortunately for the Democrats, mid-term election day has arrived just beforehand – as unless oil prices explode higher in the coming months, their boasts of the “shale oil boom” will be memorialized with the likes of the “new paradigm” of internet prosperity circa 1999, or stocks reaching a “permanently higher plateau” in 1929.  But more important than the economic cataclysm plunging oil prices will create for the world’s numerous energy exporters is the expanding geopolitical tension that will arise from it – particularly in a world of hyper-monetary inflation causing the cost of living to rise despite plunging oil prices.

And speaking of economic pain, the U.S. will ironically be impacted as negatively as some of the world’s most backward emerging economies.  Remember, the only real “recovery” America has seen in the past six years was in high-end real estate –which has since rolled over, despite record low mortgage rates; and shale oil drilling, which undoubtedly contributed a significant amount to recent years’ GDP, as well as a (slightly) declining trade balance.  Well, this morning it was reported that the trade deficit “unexpectedly” surged anew; and this, before the recent catastrophic oil price plunge.  Moreover, even more ominously, the trade deficit excluding energy has never been higher – portending an utter explosion in the trade deficits in the coming months.  Which, of course, will need to be funded with additional Federal Reserve printed debt.

Throw in today’s negative factory orders number – rounding out a trifecta of such negative numbers, following yesterday’s construction spending and last week’s durable goods orders disasters – and we have an economy likely running at negative nominal speed as we speak.  Recall, Goldman Sachs reduced its 4Q GDP estimate from 3.0% to 2.2% this weekend; and following this data, I wouldn’t be surprised if the “consensus” falls below 2.0% before next weekend.  Of course, given that it’s Election Day, the “Dow Jones Propaganda Average” was immediately goosed by a prototypical “dead ringer” algorithm (as it was yesterday).  You know, the type that theoretically should no longer occur given the Fed’s 10:00 AM EST “permanent open market operations” were suspended following last week’s “end of QE (LOL).”  And forgive me if I was off by 10 basis points, given the chaos of the October 15th “liquidity vacuum” when Treasury yields freefell to 1.9%; as clearly, on the topic of the Fed’s new “line in the sand for the world’s most important interest rate, not 2.2%, but “2.3% is the new 2.6%.”

Regarding the other two “death trends,” they are as inexorably entwined as yin and yang.  We have written for years of the collapse in global currencies following the world’s “leading” economic powers going “all-in” in late 2011 with exponential money printing – yielding massive inflation exportation the world round.  Well, at this very second, such currency collapses have never been deeper – which is probably why social unrest and geopolitical tension have never been more pervasive, nor the prospects for catastrophic trade and/or military confrontations.  The “kamikaze attack” initiated by the Bank of Japan Friday may well prove the straw that broke the camel’s back – particularly if it prompts a reprisal at Thursday’s ECB meeting, on the heels of the ECB reducing its 2015 continent-wide GDP estimate this morning from 1.7% to 1.1%.  We have long deemed the unprecedented currency volatility resulting from history’s largest fiat Ponzi scheme the “single most bullish precious metals factor imaginable” – particularly when it accelerates the “final currency war”; in which the “race to debase” explodes to its horrific, currency-destroying conclusion.  In my view, the aforementioned “final currency war” (January 2013) and “most damning proof yet of QE failure” (May 2014) are two of the most important articles I’ve written – which cumulatively, describe the Fed’s conundrum of attempting to relentlessly debase the dollar whilst controlling interest rates.  It cannot be done, which is why it inevitably, the Fed will be consumed by these “death trends.”

Of course, the Fed’s “death” will ultimately be at the hands of real money, as all Central banks have experienced throughout history.  So I’ll simply follow up on what Bill Holter focused on today – of how the Cartel is on the verge of being blown away in the physical silver market.  Yes, just as “inexplicably” as the 2% “Sunday Night Sentiment” raid on paper silver following Friday afternoon’s news that the U.S. Mint had its best-ever non-January month of Silver Eagles sales, is today’s paper raids following yesterday afternoon’s news that the U.S. Mint sold a whopping 625,000 Silver Eagles on November’s first business day.  Or that “junk silver” premiums are starting to rise as are silver bullion delivery times.  Or, per below, that COMEX open interest has not been this high relative to price since literally the price bottom of the equally orchestrated 2008 plunge!

Today, we focused on three particularly virulent “death trends.”  However, countless others are emerging – from Thursday’s ECB meeting, to Sunday’s Catalonia secession vote (though not “binding”), to the November 30th Swiss gold referendum, for example.  Never has the price of insuring one’s assets been cheaper – but sadly, we don’t expect this “window of opportunity” to last.  And if you choose to act, we humbly ask you to call Miles Franklin at 800-822-8080 and give us a chance to earn your business.