1. Low-carb foods list

Mayo Clinic Minute: The trouble with fruit juice

"I put fruit juice, if it's processed highly, in the same category as sugar-sweetened beverages," says Dr. Donald Hensrud, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. 

"Even though something contains 100% fruit juice, it may be very processed and refined," explains Dr. Hensrud. "So what ends up in the glass is not what came from the fruit itself. For example, apple juice: It's processed very highly, and it's basically sugar water without a lot of nutrients." 

"It seems like we’re doing our children a favor by giving them fruit juice, says Dr. Hensrud. "In general, though, we need to limit all sources of juice because they're extra calories."

DYI:  Fat whether saturated FAT or not does NOT cause obesity, high blood pressure, type II diabetes, and definitely does not cause heart disease.  SUGAR or I should say refined carbohydrates are the villain for all of those diseases.  If you move to a diet that is 85% fat, 12% protein, with the remaining 3% carbohydrates from above ground harvested vegetables you will drop weight quickly and if the diet is maintained so will your weight loss.  When it comes to fruits stick to berries – blackberries, raspberries, strawberries – they are very low in sugar and eat them very, very, and sparingly.  It works!  At the age of 65 I have all six abs showing.  Add a bit of exercise all of you ladies will in no time be in a two piece bathing suit [whether string or not]!

DYI

Will the Multi-Polar World be Backed by Gold?

The basic thesis is that the U.S. and China are headed for a mostly amicable divorce of their economies, a disentangling as it were.  

And that that would then allow for the emergence of the so-called multi-polar world that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping are working towards. 

China, on the other hand, has only in the past couple of years joined Russia’s party of announcing its gold buying on a monthly basis. Previously, China would simply drop a 500-600 tonne bomb on the markets and see what would shake out of it. 

It’s easy when looking at these trends that something big may be on the horizon, that gold is on the verge of being re-monetized and a major shakeup to the world financial system is imminent.

If you count the estimated 16,000 tonnes held privately in China and that was convertible into currency that would still only get China up to 12.2% backing of M1 with gold. 

Russia is the closest there is to a gold-backed currency there is. 

The ruble by that metric (M1) 84.0% backed by Russia’s official gold reserves!

DYI:  Any wonder why all the Russian talk??  At 84% and climbing the Russian Ruble is now a hard currency [the U.S. dollar in not] by any definition so much so, in time they just might displace the Swiss for the top spot.  For myself I’m looking [after I’m finished with this post] for a Russian bond mutual fund.  With such a hard currency if the U.S. decides to print their way out [a likely event] of economic trouble hard currencies is a great place for one’s money.  Not within the scope of DYI’s model portfolio just something I’m looking into gold [hard currency] portion of my savings.     

That is an eye-popping number and it tells you that the Russians have very prudently saved over the past fifteen years or so. They have built what we Austrian economists like to call a ‘pool of real savings’ to lever into higher order investments.

Russia is now ready to deploy a significant part of its trade surplus and even some of its pool of real savings to build new and needed infrastructure for Russia. Putin mentioned in his annual 4-hour direct line that he was ready to begin spending some of Russia’s oil revenues, drifting away from neoliberal and monetarist Alexei Kudrin and towards the nationalist/Keynesian Sergei Glazyev.

To sum up, what killed Bretton-Woods was the same thing that killed the British pound post-WWI, a refusal to price gold accurately by the governments printing the money. Britain could have kept the gold standard and more of its empire had it re-valued the pound to reflect the money supply in 1918. 

It didn’t and it destroyed the British post-war economy. 

The same thing is happening now. 

And the U.S. will either have to allow the world’s assets to plunge by 50-90% or allow the price of gold to rise to reflect the amount of money in circulation [DYI most likely a combination].

DYI:  What my hope for the Russian people is for Putin to have gold reserves at 120%.  At 120% this leaves plenty of room for recessions/depressions, national disasters etc.  In other words that extra 20% for when the crap hits the fan the Russian federal government has the gold/money to swing quickly into action dealing with problems that always spring up at the wrong time.

Federal government become debt free – not difficult as the central banks last reporting debt was only 20% of GDP – AND their political subdivision debt free as well [Putin has pushed hard in this direction].  Flood the Russian people with gold and silver coins topping off the Austrian economic super hard currency.

 

Once accomplish Putin should shift with 30% going to the military/military industrial complex and the remaining 70% building up the Russian infrastructure along with their portion of the China Silk road trade infrastructure.  This will go a long way to lifting the Russian people’s spirits so much so, I wouldn’t be surprised once the people have faith this is for real a baby boom takes place.

DYI

Above is a flywheel energy storage used for electrical peak demand. 

The Energy Storage Industry Is Exploding

DYI:  Energy storage is not a cure all for our future energy needs; however, it is an excellent stretched out for our diminishing hydrocarbons.  Unfortunately the article does not go into the many forms of energy storage that is fascinating all by itself simply stating the amount of dollars many countries are spending on these technologies.  If you want more simply google up energy storage devices the articles are almost endless.

DYI

Piracy

On The High Seas

Merchant ships urged to avoid using private armed teams in Mideast Gulf

LONDON (Reuters) - Shipping companies sailing through the Middle East Gulf are being urged to avoid having private armed security guards on board as the risk of escalation in the region rises, industry associations say.

DYI:  Pirates are nothing like the sanitized version seen in the movies or on TV they are desperate men willing to commit desperate acts to hijack a ship for its bounty.  These crew men have the right to self defense as this is the only thing these desperate men will understand.  If it escalates so be it; these well healed transportation companies have at their disposal the most advance weapon systems money can buy making them no match for underfunded pirates.      

DYI

Oil

Wars

Tomgram: Michael Klare, 

It's Always the Oil

What more did you need to know once Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted that a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, claimed by the Taliban, was Iranian-inspired or plotted, one “in a series of attacks instigated by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its surrogates against American and allied interests”? In other words, behind the Sunni extremist insurgents the U.S. has been fighting in Afghanistan since October 2001 lurks the regime of the Shiite fundamentalists in Tehran that many in Washington have been eager to fight since at least the spring of 2003 (when, coincidentally enough, the Bush administration was insisting that Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime had significant ties to al-Qaeda). 

It couldn’t have made more sense once you thought about it. I don’t mean Pompeo’s claim itself, which was little short of idiotic, but what lurked behind it.  I mean the knowledge that, only a week after the 9/11 attacks, Congress had passed an authorization for the use of military force, or AUMF, that allowed the president (and any future president, as it turned out) “to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons.”

DYI:  For those of you who are the uninitiated 9/11 was an inside job committed by rogue elements of the U.S. government and working in concert with the Israeli Mossad [their version of the CIA].  This staged faked attack was designed to immediately drum up support for an invasion of all of the countries in the Middle East and eventually Iran.  The author title “It’s always the oil” is 100% correct plus more.  For the U.S. it is about nailing down oil [and gas] reserves dedicated to the U.S. primarily AND for pipelines going through Israel to power their economy plus the transit fees as oil and gas proposed pipeline to Italy [on the sea bed floor of the Mediterranean].  Plus the added benefit to Israel of subduing any of their competitors plus securing additional fresh water supplies from Syria.  A win, win situation if you are the U.S. or Israel and a lose, lose if you are Iraq with your country systematically being looted of all natural resources. 

Here is a link to September clues .info they have it nailed as to how those rogue elements pulled off this staged faked psychological event to promote nation wide war fever.  This blogger is 65 years old and I knew the minute this event happened it was a staged faked event to beat war drums.  September clues has an in depth video and written material detailing how it was done.  Actually it was very simple since those elements had the backing of the main stream press/media in their hip pocket.  Be as that may be; take a look. 

This is NOT the first staged faked event for propaganda Miles Mathis is a top notch researcher of decades past and present staged faked events.  I have confidence in him as about 45% or so of these events I already knew to be faked.  His writing ability is very good thus making your journey through past events informative as well as a bit entertaining.

DYI

The

Coming

Dollar Smash

De-Dollarizing the American Financial Empire

Imperialism is getting something for nothing. It is a strategy to obtain other countries’ surplus without playing a productive role, but by creating an extractive rentier system. An imperialist power obliges other countries to pay tribute. Of course, America doesn’t come right out and tell other countries, “You have to pay us tribute,” like Roman emperors told the provinces they governed. U.S. diplomats simply insist that other countries invest their balance-of-payments inflows and official central-bank savings in US dollars, especially U.S. Treasury IOUs. This Treasury-bill standard turns the global monetary and financial system into a tributary system. That is what pays the costs of U.S. military spending, including its 800 military bases throughout the world. I’m Bonnie Faulkner. Today on Guns and Butter:
 Dr. Michael Hudson. Today’s show: De-Dollarizing the American Financial Empire. Dr. Hudson is a financial economist and historian. He is President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trend, a Wall Street Financial Analyst and Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
 His most recent books include, And Forgive Them Their Debts … Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption from Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year; Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Destroy the Global Economy; and J Is for Junk Economics: A Guide to Reality in an Age of Deception.
 We return again today to a discussion of Dr. Hudson’s seminal 1972 book, Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire, a critique of how the United States exploited foreign economies through the IMF and World Bank.

We discuss how the United States has dominated the world economically both as the world’s largest creditor, and then later as the world’s largest debtor, and take a look at the coming demise of dollar domination.

DYI:  Intriguing, fascinating, super informative pod cast well worth an hour of your time.

If the U.S. is going to continue with ultralow and going lower interest rates European stocks using Vanguard’s European Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares (VEUSX) is sporting a yield of 3.25% as compared to the S&P 500’s 1.86% and greater than the Treasury’s 30 year bond yielding 2.64%.

DYI doesn’t use foreign stocks in our model portfolio however it is your money [you can do what you want] and for a portion of the gold shares you may want to venture out into the European markets.  I’ll leave that up to you.

Again a top notch pod cast well worth your investment in time!

DYI

Housing

Bubble Trouble

Here We Go Again!

The

Great Melt!

DYI:  Household real estate will not be in a crash mode; it will be what I call The Great Melt.  Boomers who are desperate for money have been slowly selling off their house once they have exhausted all of their stocks and bonds.  Of course for every seller there must be a buyer.  The Millennials and Cyber generation have very little money and income to purchase these homes despite the low interest rates.  When household real estate begins to go south [along with the economy] the Fed’s will once again drop rates.  Most likely this time we will experience negative rates.  This will hold property prices up for a while but as Boomers in need of money will place more and more real estate on the market driving prices lower.  Over the next 25 years [until Boomers sell off their properties] household real estate will be in decline or what I call The Great Melt! 

 DYI

Keep on Dancing

Till the Music Stops?

Powell: Rate cut is likely coming soon

Reduction by Fed would be first in decade

WASHINGTON — Pointing to a weaker global economy, rising trade tensions and chronically low inflation, Chairman Jerome Powell signaled Wednesday that the Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates late this month for the first time in a decade. 

The chairman’s remarks led investors to send stock prices up, bond yields down and the value of the U.S. dollar lower on expectations of lower interest rates. The S&P 500 index briefly traded over 3,000 for the first time.

Investors have collectively put the odds of a rate cut this month at 100 percent. The Fed’s benchmark rate stands in a range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent after it raised rates four times in 2018 — action that incited the initial attacks on the Powell Fed from Trump.

DYI:  As long as the music [speculation] keeps on playing market participates will keep on dancing [speculating].  Once the euphoria of the speculation wears off the music will end along with the dancing as all the dancers will leave the floor in a panic.  Stock markets will tumble.  High yield and junk bonds will be smashed.  Hold onto your hats, your cash and gold better values are ahead.  The Great Wait Continues…However it is now coming sooner rather than later!

DYI

Gold

Get’s its Mojo Back!

Summer doldrums turned upside down Gold’s June upturn separates 2019 from the pack

“Much of what is going on right now recalls the early 1970s,” writes Martin Wolf in a Financial Times editorial, “an amoral US president (then Richard Nixon) determined to achieve re-election, pressured the Federal Reserve chairman (then Arthur Burns) to deliver an economic boom. He also launched a trade war, via devaluation and protection. A decade of global disorder ensued. This sounds rather familiar, does it not? In the late 1960s, few expected the inflation of the 1970s.” The few who did, though, profited enormously by purchasing gold at $35 prior to the devaluation and holding it through the tumultuous decade that followed. Gold rose nearly 25 times. 

Though almost no one expects an uptrend of that magnitude for gold in the 2020s, Forex Live‘s Adam Button offers a framework by which gold might return to the record highs of 2011. “If the choice is between gold or a bond that yields 5% that’s one thing but the balance changes when it’s gold versus something that yields nothing,” he says. “Add on the chance of more QE, a currency war or a real war and gold looks better and better. It’s not going to be a straight line but we’re back in an easing cycle. The last easing cycle ended with gold at $1900. If central bank easing unfolds as expected, we will get back there. If there’s a recession or war, it will go even higher.” 

PIMCO, the bond fund, has developed an analytical tool that tracks “the relationship between gold prices and interest-rate yields,” writes Lauren Silva Laughlin in the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column. “[It] concludes that for every 1 percentage point decline in inflation-adjusted yields, gold prices should move up by roughly 30%. In that light, the recent jump in gold prices looks fairly tame. Since the end of October, inflation-adjusted yields on 10-year Treasurys have fallen roughly 0.9 percentage point, while gold is only up about 13%, PIMCO notes. The fund manager figures gold should have risen 20% to 30% in total based on the yield movement.”  At the end of October gold was trading at $1215 per ounce.  For gold to reflect PIMCO’s projected gains, it would need to be priced in the $1450 – $1575 range.

DYI:  As the chart above shows gold bottomed back in July of 1999 at $256.20 as stock markets around the world ramrodded to obscene levels.

  

    As of 7/9/19 Shiller PE is

30.39

Any one who knew about valuations would have systematically sold off stock positions all through the late 1990’s nailing down profits.  Those who understood the Dow to Gold Ratio [see below] would have known that gold and the precious metals mining companies were on the give-away-table setting up for massive bull market for both.

 

As of 7/10/19 Dow/Gold Ratio

19 to 1

That was then today is now.  Depending how you calculate your average – DYI averages from 1913 – gold in relationship to stocks is a bit of a bargain.  The above chart averages their entire chart thus having Dow/Gold right at average or fair value.  Be as that may be DYI using our averaging formula has our position at 32% of the portfolio.  This is an excellent course of action especially with stocks at such extreme valuations and the Dow/Gold Ratio at a reasonable cost.

  Updated Monthly

AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO - ACTIVE ALLOCATION - 07/1/19

Active Allocation Bands (excluding cash) 0% to 50%

68% - Cash -Short Term Bond Index - VBIRX

32% -Gold- Global Capital Cycles Fund - VGPMX **

 0% -Lt. Bonds- Long Term Bond Index - VBLTX

 0% -Stocks- Total Stock Market Index - VTSAX

[See Disclaimer]

**Tocqueville Gold Fund TGLDX is a pure play 100% junior gold mining gold fund.  Vanguard's Global Capital Cycles Fund maintains 25% in precious metal equities the remainder are companies they believe will perform well during times of world wide stress or economic declines.  

 This blog site is not a registered financial advisor, broker or securities dealer and The Dividend Yield Investor is not responsible for what you do with your money.

This site strives for the highest standards of accuracy; however ERRORS AND OMISSIONS ARE ACCEPTED!

The Dividend Yield Investor is a blog site for entertainment and educational purposes ONLY.

The Dividend Yield Investor shall not be held liable for any loss and/or damages from the information herein.

Use this site at your own risk.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS.

 DYI

When Everything from Bat Guano to Quatloos Is Soaring, Speculative Euphoria Has Reached an Extreme

Bubble

Trouble

When Everything from Bat Guano to Quatloos Is Soaring, Speculative Euphoria Has Reached an Extreme

In other words, asset valuations don't need to make any sense; just buy now and you'll be rewarded with guaranteed gains thanks to central banks. This strategy has worked exceedingly well for 10 years, so why won't it work for another decade? 

Put another way: central banks have created a speculative monster. The public cover for central bank easing has always been to "stimulate growth" in the real economy, but the real effect has been to concentrate the newly issued currency and leverage ("money") in the few hands that own most of the speculative ("risk on") assets. This pool of new money has been augmented by cheap credit for global corporations, enabling management to buy back trillions of dollars of stock, thereby enriching stock holders and those collecting stock options as part of their management compensation. 

The more extreme the speculative euphoria, the greater the risks of a reversal.As Lao Tzu observed, the way of the Tao is reversal, and a fever-pitch extreme of speculative euphoria makes an equally extreme decline inevitable as gargantuan asymmetries unwind. 

But speculative extremes eventually reverse, regardless of the monster's agonizing screams.

DYI:  It appears to me that the market when measured against gold top out back in September of 2018.  When the actual indexes begin their decline is any ones guess.  DYI’s model portfolio is with zero stocks for a few years waiting for this Fed induced speculative monster to die of exhaustion.

Amazingly the Fed’s have generated policy papers stating that if necessary they will move the five year note as low as negative 4%!  This would drive the U.S. 30 year T-bond to negative rates!  WOW!  Eventually no matter how much stimulus the Fed’s eject into the financial system the tide will turn as more and more market participants realize the party is over and stocks come tumbling down.  Until then... The Great Wait Continues.     

DYI