24 hours before Joe Biden announced he was cancelling all previously issued oil and gas leases in Alaska’s ANWR region, Saudi Arabia and Russia announced oil production limits would continue.  Oil prices spiked near $100/bbl and then Joe Biden amplifies the problem by cancelling previously sold oil and gas leases.

There’s no other way to look at the timing here, other than to accept this is Joe Biden intentionally driving up the cost of domestic energy in the U.S. and creating as much pain as possible.

(Reuters) – Sept 6 (Reuters) – The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said it would cancel oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state development agency in the final days of former President Donald Trump’s term.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pledged to protect the 19.6 million-acre (7.9 million-hectare) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for polar bears and caribou.

“As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages,” he said in a statement.

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Oil prices shot passed $90/bbl today after Saudi Arabia and then Russia announced a continuance of production cuts through the end of this year.

The BRICS alliance is going to deliver some pain to the Western alliance.  Those people living in the yellow zone, with leadership chasing climate change and Green New Deal policies, are going to see more durable inflation as the cost of oil is attached to just about every product and service.

Gasoline, energy products, petroleum products, home heating oil, groceries, everything will cost more as the geopolitical battle continues; but we are supposed to pretend we are unaware of the global political dynamic.

(Zero Hedge) – […] Just after 9am ET, Saudi Arabia said it would extend the voluntary cut of 1 million b/d of for another 3 months, from October until the end of December, well beyond the expectation of just 1 more month. Saudi press agency SPA notes that the voluntary cut decision will be reviewed monthly to consider deepening the cut or increasing production.

The extension of cuts is meant to reinforce the precautionary efforts made by OPEC countries with the aim of supporting the stability of the oil market. The Saudi announcement came a shock to market as 20 of 25 traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg last week had predicted the additional cutback would be continued for just one additional month.

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The original BRICS economic alliance between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has expanded today.  During the summit held in South Africa, the group which is home to about 40% of the world’s population and a quarter of global gross domestic product, voted to accept the applications of Iran, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia.

What we see forming now is further evidence of the great energy cleaving.  As most western nations chase the World Economic Forum’s priority around ‘climate change’, the BRICS alliance hedges for more traditional energy sources (oil, natural gas, coal).  China will benefit the most as the Western industrial economies will not be able to compete in a global market using windmills and solar panels.

The western alliance (yellow) will be chasing climate change energy policy to power their economies.  The rest of the world (grey) will be using traditional and more efficient energy development.  The global cleaving around energy use would be complete.

This is not some grand conspiracy, ‘out there‘ deep geopolitical possibility, or foreboding likelihood as an outcome of short-sighted western emotion.  No, this is just a predictable outcome from western created events that pushed specific countries to a natural conclusion based on their best interests.

(New York Times) […] On Thursday, the bloc revealed its decision, adding six new countries, including the staunchly anti-Western Iran, in an apparent victory for Beijing.

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I wouldn’t normally write a post like this, but WE ARE NOT going to find this level of ground reporting anywhere in U.S. media.   As you might be aware, I have been doing extensive research on the Russian economy specifically with the outcome of western sanctions.

In his video a Youtuber I follow visited a local supermarket, similar to a WalMart Super Center to share information for his USA followers.

Dima Dear, a remarkably nice young man, lives in St Petersburg, Russia (formerly Leningrad), and he shares various experiences with his audience at their request.  There is a lot of U.S interest as people following his story are starting to realize life in Russia is not what western media portray.

If you are familiar with USA grocery prices, what Dima shares in this ground report is stunning from a U.S. perspective.  If you watch this livestream, keep in mind that 100 rubles equals $1.00.  350 rubles is $3.50.  Additionally for weighted products 1kg equals 2.2 lbs.   So generally speaking, if something is 100 rubles/kg it is $1 for two pounds.

Example from the video:

•Lean ground beef at 329 rubles/kg is less than $1.65/lb.
•Bacon at 250 rubles/kg is less than $1.25/lb.
•20 eggs are 139 rubles or $1.39.
•Boneless skinless chicken breast $4 for 4lbs.
•Typical Bagged salad mixes .79¢ each. etc.

The wild part is that in Russia they are getting worried these prices are too high.  👀

The average rent for a nicely furnished 2-bedroom modern apartment in St Pete Russia is around $500/month.  Something akin to downtown Manhattan. Including rent, utilities, food, transportation, personal items and purchases, a Russian citizen can live very comfortably, remarkably comfortably, on an income of around $1,200 to $1,500/month.  In downtown St Pete which is considered a more expensive place to live.

Put that into a USA middle-class perspective and evaluate the impact of western sanctions against the average Russian cost of living.

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Earlier today President Trump kicked off a new coalition of Farmers for Trump in Council Bluffs, Iowa {Direct Rumble Link}.

While much of the first segment of the speech covers topics of significant importance to farming and agriculture, President Trump also expanded his remarks to cover current political events. WATCH:

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Those of you who are keen financially minded individuals will note exactly what is happening in these recent reports, HOME DEPT HERE – TARGET HERE.  Those of you who are retail investors in the stock market might also see the bigger picture.

Home Depot and Target essentially share the same customer base or market audience. They service a larger segment of the American middle class.  Both companies are reporting negative financial outcomes as a result of low comparable sales, or same store sales comparisons, to last year.   This should not be a surprise, yet Wall Street is seemingly caught off guard.

Right now, we are on the tail end of the massive inflation cycle that took place in 2021 through 2022.  Current inflation, as measured by the rate of price increase over the same period last year, is lower.

Now we are starting to see companies reporting sales comparable without the benefit of massive inflation to assist.

Example – when inflation is running at 10%, a company can report 8% sales growth, and everyone smiles.  However, the sales growth was created by the inflation.  The actual unit sales of goods have declined; the store is reporting higher sales because the prices are higher.  When the sales cycle through to lower inflationary comparisons, the drop in unit sales shows up as drops in topline sales.   This is the cause of both Target and Home Depot now reporting lower than expected comparable sales versus last year.

In real terms, this is why using sales data as a measure of economic growth is less valuable during periods of high inflation.  Significant inflation hides the diminished sales of units, which should be the true measure of sales growth.  I have been tracking unit sales as a measure of economic activity, and the truth is that unit sales have been declining since the fourth quarter of 2021.

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We have talked about the stunning price increases in pet foods during our discussions about food price overall.  However, a remarkable study by Veterinarians Org gives some context to just how much the Joe Biden inflation has driven up the cost of pet foods. [ARTICLE HERE]

Mostly driven by Biden’s created inflation hitting raw farm materials, energy prices, manufacturing and transportation costs, the prices for the most popular wet and dry dog foods have skyrocketed.

One in four pet owners have even contemplated giving their animal up for adoption because they can no longer afford them.   This is terribly sad.

(Veterinarian Org) – […] The largest percentage increase compared to 2020 prices is for a wet dog food product by PEDIGREE, which has increased by 207% compared to its 2020 price.

The largest dollar amount increase compared to 2020 prices is for a dry dog food product by Royal Canin, which is currently $43.99 more expensive per bag than it was in 2020.

In a recent Veterinarians.org survey of 1,000 U.S. pet owners, 50% of respondents indicated having to shop for cheaper alternatives to pet food as a result of rising costs. Pet owners also found themselves shopping for cheaper alternatives to pet treats (41%), pet toys (34%), and pet health supplements (28%).

55% of surveyed pet owners indicated having to cancel pet food subscriptions on Chewy.com, Amazon.com, or through a raw food/pre-cooked meal service as a result of rising costs.

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If you understand what Samantha Power does via her role in using USAID as the mechanism to advance the color revolutions around the globe, these remarks from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador are subtle like a brick through a window.

Power has recently been trying to create political turmoil in Hungary [HERE] and Georgia [HERE].

However, after AMLO delivered a speech where he called out Joe Biden, the DEA and the CIA for trying to interfere in Mexico [HERE], many people reading here predicted Samantha Power would now show up in Mexico.

Those of you who made that prediction were correct. You guys are smart!

Keep in mind that nearly a million central American economic migrants can be unleashed by AMLO, and likely will be, as Joe Biden and the Mexican president have faced off for almost two years over North American energy policy.  Stunningly, AMLO has not backed down an inch, and instead went on the offensive against Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau.  This put a target on his back and was likely the impetus for U.S. intelligence agencies to call upon Samantha Power to do her thing.

MEXICO CITY, May 3 (Reuters) – Mexico’s president asked his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to stop the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from funding groups hostile to his government, according to a letter presented to journalists on Wednesday, echoing previous Mexican criticism of U.S. interventionism.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador did not specify which Mexican groups the U.S. should stop funding, but he has in the past accused several media organizations of being part of a conservative movement against his government.

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The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their first quarter estimate of economic growth [DATA HERE] and the result of 1.1% growth shows how the U.S. economy has become dependent on government spending money we don’t have. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculation is a valuation of all goods and services created within the U.S. economy, minus the value of goods and services imported.

Keep in mind that all calculations are in dollar terms. Personal consumption expenditure (PCE) prices increased 4.2% in the first quarter after increasing 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Excluding food and energy, the PCE “core” price index increased 4.9% after increasing 4.4%.   Two-thirds of the increased spending on goods was driven by higher prices, only one third by consumers purchasing more stuff.

Looking at Table 2 (the percentage change by sector) the increase in prices provided 2.48% lift to the GDP but the actual purchasing of goods only delivered 1.45%.  Meanwhile the decline in inventories subtracted 2.26% from the GDP, a major factor, and domestic investment has dropped subtracting 2.34%.

Government expenditures (+0.81) drove more than 70% of the total GDP growth as national defense spending (Ukraine War) was a major federal component.  The local and state government spending increase was driven by higher wage rates.   Don’t forget there’s $2.2 trillion in Inflation Reduction Act (Green New Deal) spending that is also within the economy.

Overall, this is a dark picture.  Inflation is still raging. Inventories are dropping as consumer purchasing is squeezed, and replacements goods are not being manufactured. Companies are tightening their belts.  The federal government is spending to try and assist the economy, but the private sector is contracting economic activity.

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Earlier GM cut 5,000 salaried workers and several hundred hourly jobs. Ford previously announced it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India.  Now, today, Chrysler parent company Stellantis announces 3,500 auto sector job cuts.

Stellantis owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands. Apparently, there is something in the U.S. economy that’s happening despite the great pretending….

Biden in Michigan, speaking to auto-workers, 2020

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) – Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV (STLAM.MI) wants to cut approximately 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs and is offering voluntary exit packages, according to a United Auto Workers union letter made public Tuesday.

The automaker is looking to reduce its hourly workforce offering incentive packages that include $50,000 payments for workers hired before 2007, UAW Local 1264 said in a letter dated Monday posted on its Facebook page.

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