Thousands of retail stores are going bankrupt and closing. But, stocks are up at record levels.
Kiosks, robotics and automation are eliminating jobs. Especially around the minimum-wage level.
More and more people are being laid off from failing businesses. But we're at "full employment."
Malls are being boarded up, hence the increasingly-used term "ghost malls."
Gasoline (in the United States) is cheap. But the oil companies are losing money. (Fracking, Oil Sands, Ultra-Deep Sea)
Americans have cars and houses. But they are in more debt than ever. (Mortgages, leases, loans, rentals.)
Auto loan debt is over $1 Trillion.
Student loan debt is about $1.3 Trillion.
Credit card debt has recently exceeded $1 Trillion.
The wealth gap is widening, as the middle class is moving down a notch.
Wages have remained relatively flat while the cost of living has increased.
The "Petrodollar" system seems to be collapsing. For example, Russia could sell oil to China for yuan, and then Russia can go exchange that yuan for gold, at the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Iran and other middle eastern countries may wish to sell oil, for something other than the US Dollar. Thus the selling off (or dumping) of US Treasury reserves.
Banks in Greece, Spain and Italy are failing. ("Contagion" or "Dominoes" ring a bell?)
Bank failures in Greece and Spain are bad enough! Italy is a much bigger deal. And then Germany?!
Deutsche Bank may be in trouble. Something about derivative exposure?
Speaking of derivatives (which are kind of like strange bets on all kinds of debts and so-called assets), I've seen reports that total global derivative risk is in the $1 QUADRILLION to $2 QUADRILLION range! (HOLY FRICKIN' SHIT!)
I keep hearing financial news stories with words similar to.... "haven't seen numbers like this since 2008."
And what's all this crap about "bank stress tests?"
One Bitcoin - Now worth more than one ounce of gold.
Anyone heard of "Quantitative Easing?" (Hint: printing TRILLIONS of dollars out of thin air. AKA legal counterfeiting.)
US National Debt - Approaching the BIG $20 T!
PLUS: $150 Trillion to $200 Trillion in "UNFUNDED LIABILITIES."
Venezuela is in collapse and chaos.
Some of the United States, such as Connecticut, New Jersey, California and Illinois, are at risk of bankruptcy.
Pension funds, such as CalPERS in California, are underfunded and benefits will be cut or eliminated.
The pension fund problem across America is much bigger than you can imagine, unless you can imagine really big numbers, of money and people. You'll see many more pension-disaster stories in the news, this year and going into 2018.
Gold and Silver price fixing. (Headline, Reuters, April 14, 2016, "Deutsche Bank settles U.S. gold, silver price-fixing litigation")
Our current economic system requires continued growth and debt.
Growth is slowing and debt is maxed out.
Too many risky (sub-prime) home and auto loans have been given.
Auto loans are being made for up to 84 months (or longer!).
Auto dealers should know better than giving out risky loans. If someone can't afford to pay off a car in 3 to 5 years, maybe the responsible thing to do would be, trying to find the buyer a less-expensive used car, or turning the buyer down. BUT, gotta keep rollin' those vehicles off the lot. Otherwise, there's gonna be a lot of channel stuffing and looking for places to store the excess inventory.
The last generation or two has been herded into colleges for degrees that won't necessarily pay off. At least, when a car loan goes bad after 4 to 6 years, it can be repossessed and used as scrap metal. A student loan debt will keep grads in debt, potentially for the rest of their lives!
The real unemployment rate is probably closer to 24.3% than the currently-reported "official" rate of 4.3%.
The DOW may need to be renamed the DOWN, 'cause that's where it may be headed, in the near future.