Catherine’s Money & Markets Commentary: October 4th, 2018

By Catherine Austin Fitts

Theme:

The Fed Raises Rates: The Turn of the Screw:

Rising interest rates, LIBOR transition, impact on derivatives book, including interest rate swaps, equities markets

Stories:

Europe Unveils Special Purpose Vehicle to Buypass Swift
Push for War with Iran
Trump at UN; Lavrov speech
The Battle for the Constitution
NAFTA moves to Congress; Promotes GMOs & Fracking
NY Times, Cuomo & AG tango on Trump Taxes
Kavanaugh: Confirm or not? Unpacking the issues and the distraction/manipulation underway
Impact on Election: From WSJ –
The 63 million or so Americans who voted for Donald Trump weren’t the lunatic fringe. For many, Mr. Trump was their vessel for two concerns—the future of the Supreme Court and the implications of a Hillary Clinton presidency after Barack Obama’s two terms. The Kavanaugh nomination has put both these powerful subtexts from 2016 back in play. The Democrats have managed to shift the midterm elections away from Mr. Trump’s personality and make it about the Supreme Court, the status of the law in the U.S. and the nature of Democratic rule. The sincerity of Ms. Ford’s testimony notwithstanding, this phase of the confirmation began with no corroborative evidence against Judge Kavanaugh and is ending with no evidence. The acceptance of this no-evidence standard, not just by the Judiciary Committee Democrats but by nearly all Democrats and most of the media, is something people have noticed.
Memphis Chamber President Shooting: A message about “the purge?”
Tencent Music Files for $1-2 Billion IPO in US; WSJ 83% of US Listed IPOs are firms that have lost $ in last 12 months
House Passes Tax Reform 2.0
US farmers hurting; Farm tech and robotics making headlines
California is 4th state to pass/sign net neutrality bill; DOJ sues; what did Kudlow say?
Rebalancing to foreign markets?
DOJ investigating Harvard, now Yale for discrimination against Asian-Americans
SEC Engineers Chairman and 2 independent Board members into Tesla
Presidential Alert Test Message on Wed