Federal Reserve

• Wall Street Has Doubts About Fed Lifting Interest Rates (WSJ)
• Global stocks at three-week highs as Fed decision looms (Reuters)
• Charting the Markets: The World Awaits the Fed (BBG)
• Powerful quake off Chile slams waves into coastal towns; eight killed (Reuters)
• As Fed Storm Brews, Europe Stocks Seen Weathering Turmoil Best (BBG)
• Fiorina's rise adds another insurgent to U.S. election fray (Reuters)

Today, most of the developing world, tomorrow most of the developed world. Today Ukraine, Syria, South Africa and Brazil. Tomorrow Ireland, Greece, the UK, the EU, other Middle Eastern and African nations and the U.S. (see important charts) 

In the end, whatever the Feds announce at 2PM NY time today should not affect your long-term outlook on markets as neither of the two possible decisions will significantly alter the future fate of global markets. Instead, the most important thing to understand is the massive fraud that is systemic in the global financial system and to allow a deep and complex understanding of this fraud to drive your investment decisions.

With a complex and disaster-prone system of interdependence causing social strife and chaos, why not just simplify everything with a global currency and perhaps even global governance? The elites will squeeze the collapse for all it’s worth if they can, and a Fed rate hike may be exactly what they need to begin the final descent.

"If only The Fed would get out of the way... Monetary policy designed to spare us from pain has instead made the system more vulnerable to a crash."

"Every day brings another reason why the Federal Reserve should hold off before raising interest rates... First and foremost there was the recent plunge in stock prices."

The Fed may have noble mandates to help the real economy, but it will in the end always decide to do what’s best for Wall Street banks. And these banks could well make a huge killing off a rate hike. They can profit from trouble and volatility in emerging markets as well as domestic markets, provided they’re well-positioned. Given that they’ve had ample time, and it’s hard to answer the question who else is in a good position, we may have an idea which wind the wind will blow. Increasing credibility for the Fed and increasing profits for Wall Street banks. Might be a winning combination. And if Yellen is realistic about the potential for a recovery in the American economy, why would she not pick it?

A week ago, we noted Goldman Sachs' 'strawman' that Janet should "think about easing," despite the world's misplaced confidence that rates will rise "inevitably" since the US economy is doing so well. Today, we get to hear what 'god' thinks as the only thing that matters for The Fed's decision is - keep Lloyd happy  - and Goldman CEO Blankfein just said "U.S. economic data doesn’t support the case for higher interest rates."

Will she raise or will she not? As financial markets focus on whether we will see a Fed rate hike this week, investors may be in for a rude awakening.

The OECD is well aware of the possibility that a Fed hike could plunge emerging markets into chaos. Nevertheless, the time to hike is apprently now...

No, we're not kidding. We can solve the immigration and refugee crises without more wars, without rounding people up like animals, and while boosting the GDP. It’s not hard. All you have to do is stop thinking inside the same old status quo. Here’s the plan...

Reports that the official unemployment rate has fallen to 5.1 percent may appear to vindicate the policies of easy money, corporate bailouts, and increased government spending. However, even the mainstream media has acknowledged that the official numbers understate the true unemployment rate. Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, few in Washington, DC acknowledge that America’s economic future is endangered by excessive spending, borrowing, taxing, and inflating. Instead, Congress continues to waste taxpayer money on futile attempts to run the economy, run our lives, and run the world.

"It Does Not Work"

The data continues to suggest that the Fed is contemplating actions inconsistent with those they have taken in the past. It is possible the Fed is motivated to increase interest rates to support the illusion that their higher interest rate projections and rosy economic forecasts are finally coming to fruition. It is incumbent upon investors to separate illusion from reality. Investing in such a misunderstood and distorted economic environment is fraught with risk especially for those failing to grasp this reality. While current Fed monetary policy is clearly unsustainable, the Fed runs the risk of severely damaging asset markets with any deviations from such policy.

The world today sits upon a very precarious point. One thing that’s not a “guess” is the way nations or economies have dealt with economic turmoil. History is far too littered with varying forms of “war” as not only the response, but also as the direct consequence of failed economic policies. Either of their own making or brought about by another. It doesn’t matter whether self-inflicted or not. The end game is the same: Currency war, Trade war, Diplomatic war, right down to actual combative kinetic war.