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If you didn’t like economic conditions in 2022, then you are definitely not going to be pleased by what is coming in 2023. This year we have had to deal with rampant inflation, very sluggish economic activity and the beginning of a horrifying housing crash, and that hasn’t been fun. But it appears that next year will be even worse. Most of the big tech companies have been reporting dismal numbers for the third quarter, and that is a very bad sign. Even when just about everyone else was scuffling along, we could always count on the big tech companies to produce booming numbers. But now that has changed in a major way, and their stock prices are being absolutely hammered as a result.
Just look at what is happening to Facebook. Overall revenue actually declined during the third quarter, and the other numbers that they just released deeply alarmed investors on Wall Street…
While revenue fell 4% in the third quarter, Meta’s costs and expenses rose 19% year over year to $22.1 billion. Operating income declined 46% from the previous year to $5.66 billion.
Meta’s operating margin, or the profits left after accounting for costs to run the business, sank to 20% from 36% a year earlier. Overall net income was down 52% to $4.4 billion in the third quarter.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Perhaps Facebook should not have spent the past several years alienating a very large portion of their user base.
In the aftermath of the announcement of the third quarter numbers, the stock price fell like a rock…
Facebook parent company Meta’s stock plummeted on Thursday, following its announcement of a dismal third quarter.
At market close on Thursday, shares in the tech company had fallen nearly 25%, selling for under $98 apiece, a level not seen since 2016.
Things got so bad that Jim Cramer felt forced to apologize to his viewers for recommending the stock back in June…
In June, Cramer encouraged viewers to buy Meta stock. However, during Thursday’s Squawk on the Street, Cramer broke down.
“I made a mistake here. I was wrong. I trusted this management team. That was ill-advised. The hubris here is extraordinary and I apologize,” he said.
Whenever I go on Facebook these days, which isn’t very often, it just feels so dead.
And very few people even want to try the new “metaverse” that the company has been pushing.
The future of the company does not look bright, and one prominent investor is actually recommending that 20 percent of all employees should be immediately laid off…
An investor of Facebook-parent Meta Platforms urged CEO Mark Zuckerberg to cut 20 percent of the company’s workforce to reduce its loses ahead of the company’s bitterly disappointing third-quarter earnings report.
Shareholder Altimeter Capital Management said in an open letter to Zuckerberg that it was concerned about Meta’s controversial pivot to virtual reality, which is bleeding money.
If they had made much better decisions, things could have turned out very differently for the company.
But now Facebook is in a serious state of decline, and Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune is disappearing at a rate that is absolutely stunning…
Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune plunged by $11 billion after his Meta Platforms Inc. reported a second-straight quarter of disappointing earnings, bringing his total wealth loss to more than $100 billion in just 13 months.
Zuckerberg, 38, now has a net worth of $38.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a stunning fall from a peak of $142 billion in September 2021. While many of the world’s richest people have seen their fortunes tumble this year, Meta’s chief executive officer has seen the single-biggest hit among those on the wealth list.
Meanwhile, Amazon has just released numbers for the third quarter that were also quite depressing…
Amazon on Thursday posted weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue for the third quarter and gave a disappointing fourth-quarter sales forecast.
The stock plummeted as much as 16% in extended trading, which would mark its biggest decline since 2006 should the drop hold up on Friday.
Of course Amazon is in much better shape than Facebook is.
Revenue is still growing, it is just not growing as fast as Wall Street expected.
Several other big tech companies have also reported disappointing numbers for the third quarter. For example, Google did much more poorly than expected thanks to a decline in revenue at YouTube…
Ad revenue has been a particular point of contention for companies like Google-parent Alphabet, which saw revenue for its video streaming platform YouTube fall for the first time since it began reporting the value in 2020, according to The WSJ. Overall, Alphabet saw a 26.5% annual decline in net income to $13.9 billion in the third quarter, despite consistent revenue growth in its cloud-computing division, which saw an annual gain of 37.6% to $6.9 billion.
All of the big tech stocks have been falling for quite some time now, and at this point the six biggest have collectively lost a whopping 2.5 trillion dollars in market value…
This year, Meta, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Apple have lost $2.5 trillion in market value combined, Reuters reported Wednesday.
The tech giants were on the cutting edge of the stock market boom on the way up, and now they are on the bleeding edge of the crash on the way down.
But of course the housing industry is in far worse shape than the tech industry is at this point.
This week, mortgage rates jumped above 7 percent for the first time in 20 years…
Mortgage rates rose again this week, topping 7% for the first time since 2002.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.08% in the week ending October 27, up from 6.94% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate stood at 3.14%.
The last time the average rate surpassed 7% was in April 2002.
Higher mortgage rates are driving countless prospective buyers out of the market, and this is going to drive down home prices dramatically.
In fact, one economist is now projecting that they could fall by as much as 20 percent next year…
Home prices are already falling at the fastest rate in decades as mortgage rates march higher, and could tumble another 20% next year, according to a noted Wall Street economist.
Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in an analyst note published last week that there is “no floor in sight” for declining home sales with mortgage rates approaching 7% for the first time since 2001. He anticipates that home prices will plunge by 15% to 20% next year.
Let us hope that doesn’t actually happen, because that would be disastrous.
And we are already seeing homebuilders get absolutely monkey-hammered…
Housing construction and renovation plummeted 26.4%, the sixth straight quarterly drop.
Fed rate hikes have driven up mortgage rates, pummeling home sales and building.
The months ahead do not look very promising at all.
But none of this should surprise any of us.
Our leaders have been making very bad decisions for a long time, and now we all get to suffer the consequences.
***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***
About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending digital copies as gifts through Amazon to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.
I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.
I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.
Article cross-posted from The Economic Collapse Blog.
Five Things New “Preppers” Forget When Getting Ready for Bad Times Ahead
The preparedness community is growing faster than it has in decades. Even during peak times such as Y2K, the economic downturn of 2008, and Covid, the vast majority of Americans made sure they had plenty of toilet paper but didn’t really stockpile anything else.
Things have changed. There’s a growing anxiety in this presidential election year that has prompted more Americans to get prepared for crazy events in the future. Some of it is being driven by fearmongers, but there are valid concerns with the economy, food supply, pharmaceuticals, the energy grid, and mass rioting that have pushed average Americans into “prepper” mode.
There are degrees of preparedness. One does not have to be a full-blown “doomsday prepper” living off-grid in a secure Montana bunker in order to be ahead of the curve. In many ways, preparedness isn’t about being able to perfectly handle every conceivable situation. It’s about being less dependent on government for as long as possible. Those who have proper “preps” will not be waiting for FEMA to distribute emergency supplies to the desperate masses.
Below are five things people new to preparedness (and sometimes even those with experience) often forget as they get ready. All five are common sense notions that do not rely on doomsday in order to be useful. It may be nice to own a tank during the apocalypse but there’s not much you can do with it until things get really crazy. The recommendations below can have places in the lives of average Americans whether doomsday comes or not.
Note: The information provided by this publication or any related communications is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. We do not provide personalized investment, financial, or legal advice.
Secured Wealth
Whether in the bank or held in a retirement account, most Americans feel that their life’s savings is relatively secure. At least they did until the last couple of years when de-banking, geopolitical turmoil, and the threat of Central Bank Digital Currencies reared their ugly heads.
It behooves Americans to diversify their holdings. If there’s a triggering event or series of events that cripple the financial systems or devalue the U.S. Dollar, wealth can evaporate quickly. To hedge against potential turmoil, many Americans are looking in two directions: Crypto and physical precious metals.
There are huge advantages to cryptocurrencies, but there are also inherent risks because “virtual” money can become challenging to spend. Add in the push by central banks and governments to regulate or even replace cryptocurrencies with their own versions they control and the risks amplify. There’s nothing wrong with cryptocurrencies today but things can change rapidly.
As for physical precious metals, many Americans pay cash to keep plenty on hand in their safe. Rolling over or transferring retirement accounts into self-directed IRAs is also a popular option, but there are caveats. It can often take weeks or even months to get the gold and silver shipped if the owner chooses to close their account. This is why Genesis Gold Group stands out. Their relationship with the depositories allows for rapid closure and shipping, often in less than 10 days from the time the account holder makes their move. This can come in handy if things appear to be heading south.
Lots of Potable Water
One of the biggest shocks that hit new preppers is understanding how much potable water they need in order to survive. Experts claim one gallon of water per person per day is necessary. Even the most conservative estimates put it at over half-a-gallon. That means that for a family of four, they’ll need around 120 gallons of water to survive for a month if the taps turn off and the stores empty out.
Being near a fresh water source, whether it’s a river, lake, or well, is a best practice among experienced preppers. It’s necessary to have a water filter as well, even if the taps are still working. Many refuse to drink tap water even when there is no emergency. Berkey was our previous favorite but they’re under attack from regulators so the Alexapure systems are solid replacements.
For those in the city or away from fresh water sources, storage is the best option. This can be challenging because proper water storage containers take up a lot of room and are difficult to move if the need arises. For “bug in” situations, having a larger container that stores hundreds or even thousands of gallons is better than stacking 1-5 gallon containers. Unfortunately, they won’t be easily transportable and they can cost a lot to install.
Water is critical. If chaos erupts and water infrastructure is compromised, having a large backup supply can be lifesaving.
Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies
There are multiple threats specific to the medical supply chain. With Chinese and Indian imports accounting for over 90% of pharmaceutical ingredients in the United States, deteriorating relations could make it impossible to get the medicines and antibiotics many of us need.
Stocking up many prescription medications can be hard. Doctors generally do not like to prescribe large batches of drugs even if they are shelf-stable for extended periods of time. It is a best practice to ask your doctor if they can prescribe a larger amount. Today, some are sympathetic to concerns about pharmacies running out or becoming inaccessible. Tell them your concerns. It’s worth a shot. The worst they can do is say no.
If your doctor is unwilling to help you stock up on medicines, then Jase Medical is a good alternative. Through telehealth, they can prescribe daily meds or antibiotics that are shipped to your door. As proponents of medical freedom, they empathize with those who want to have enough medical supplies on hand in case things go wrong.
Energy Sources
The vast majority of Americans are locked into the grid. This has proven to be a massive liability when the grid goes down. Unfortunately, there are no inexpensive remedies.
Those living off-grid had to either spend a lot of money or effort (or both) to get their alternative energy sources like solar set up. For those who do not want to go so far, it’s still a best practice to have backup power sources. Diesel generators and portable solar panels are the two most popular, and while they’re not inexpensive they are not out of reach of most Americans who are concerned about being without power for extended periods of time.
Natural gas is another necessity for many, but that’s far more challenging to replace. Having alternatives for heating and cooking that can be powered if gas and electric grids go down is important. Have a backup for items that require power such as manual can openers. If you’re stuck eating canned foods for a while and all you have is an electric opener, you’ll have problems.
Don’t Forget the Protein
When most think about “prepping,” they think about their food supply. More Americans are turning to gardening and homesteading as ways to produce their own food. Others are working with local farmers and ranchers to purchase directly from the sources. This is a good idea whether doomsday comes or not, but it’s particularly important if the food supply chain is broken.
Most grocery stores have about one to two weeks worth of food, as do most American households. Grocers rely heavily on truckers to receive their ongoing shipments. In a crisis, the current process can fail. It behooves Americans for multiple reasons to localize their food purchases as much as possible.
Long-term storage is another popular option. Canned foods, MREs, and freeze dried meals are selling out quickly even as prices rise. But one component that is conspicuously absent in shelf-stable food is high-quality protein. Most survival food companies offer low quality “protein buckets” or cans of meat, but they are often barely edible.
Prepper All-Naturals offers premium cuts of steak that have been cooked sous vide and freeze dried to give them a 25-year shelf life. They offer Ribeye, NY Strip, and Tenderloin among others.
Having buckets of beans and rice is a good start, but keeping a solid supply of high-quality protein isn’t just healthier. It can help a family maintain normalcy through crises.
Prepare Without Fear
With all the challenges we face as Americans today, it can be emotionally draining. Citizens are scared and there’s nothing irrational about their concerns. Being prepared and making lifestyle changes to secure necessities can go a long way toward overcoming the fears that plague us. We should hope and pray for the best but prepare for the worst. And if the worst does come, then knowing we did what we could to be ready for it will help us face those challenges with confidence.