The Market Nobody Pays Any Attention To, But Should

[cmartenson (Chris Martenson)]

Originally published at: The Market Nobody Pays Any Attention To, But Should – Peak Prosperity

In this week’s podcast, I spoke with Dylan Ratigan about bonds, markets, and how the U.S. is on a path to financial ruin that will prove to bring enormous hardship to a very large number of people.

For thirty years, Dylan Ratigan sat in the rooms where money, media, and power actually operate. He built Bloomberg’s corporate-finance desk, created CNBC’s Fast Money, and hosted MSNBC’s highest-rated daytime show. Then, at the peak of his career, Dylan Ratigan walked away, not because he’d run out of things to say, but because talking wasn’t enough.

Truthfully, I really enjoyed this discussion.

Back to the story. Yes, there are other paths we could take – it really doesn’t have to be this way – but all of those require leadership willing to both tell the truth and take political heat. After all, telling people that it’s time to begin living within our means is never a popular political stance.

However, we backed up the story so that the full compounding of policy errors could be seen. It all begins with the Federal Reserve believing that it knew best what the price of money ought to be. Not the markets, not the lenders, but the Fed.

Bernanke’s 1% blowout rates gave us the housing crisis. The total bailouts of the GFC miscreants begat more unsavory practices and behaviors by the Wall Street classes.

And now? It’s hard to even imagine how any sort of fiscal or monetary restraint could be applied to a country awash in $40 trillion federal debt and $116 trillion of total debt.

Dylan also noted that we’ve crossed some sort of boundary where corruption and fraud now operate in the open, unpunished. Trump and his family at the top, ‘learing centers’ at the bottom, none of it stopped and all of it unpunished.

AI is going to add its own layers of disruption, assuming it doesn’t go all Skynet on us and simply extinguish humans for some reason. Where do we find meaning and purpose now that machines can do nearly everything? What does ‘money’ even mean in such a system?

Dylan foresees a major spiritual and cultural reckoning as traditional measures of status, employment, and identity become less reliable.

At the end? We’re both surprisingly optimistic.

Get through ‘the troubles’ that await, and afterward we can rebuild better lives, transitioning away from excessive centralization and consumption and toward local communities, human relationships, resilience, creativity, art, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Tune in to hear it all…

 

---

Timestamps

00:00 Why the Bond Market Matters
02:31 The Bond Market Sets the Price of Everything
05:03 The Fed’s Dangerous Control of Interest Rates
06:53 Dylan Ratigan’s Bond Market Education at Bloomberg
10:56 Could the U.S. Use the Military to Defend Its Debt?
12:55 America’s Declining Power and the Suez Canal Parallel
17:38 Who Are the Bond Vigilantes?
21:39 Rising Rates and the Coming Wealth Destruction
26:43 The Bond Vigilantes Are Getting Twitchy
30:22 The Reserve Currency Advantage
34:15 How Inflation Becomes a Hidden Currency Collapse
38:59 The Greatest Financial Bailout in History
44:06 When Corruption Becomes Blatant and Unopposed
50:17 Three Ways a Corrupt Society Can End
54:05 What Does a Bond Market Breakdown Look Like?
57:20 The Five Years After the System Breaks
01:00:32 Gold, Land and the Rise of a Feudal Economy
01:03:22 Is There a Way Out?
01:10:35 Can We Fix the Money?
01:15:10 AI and the Crisis of Human Purpose
01:19:15 What Happens If AI Goes Rogue?
01:21:35 A Coming Spiritual Crisis
01:24:24 Finding a Better Life After the Collapse
01:26:30 The Future Belongs to Poets, Musicians and Firemen

---

FINANCIAL DISCLAIMER:

The information contained in this video and the resources available for download through our affiliated website are not intended as and shall not be understood or construed as financial advice, nor should be interpreted as a solicitation to sell or offer to sell investment advisory services. No person who currently works for or contracts with Peak Prosperity or Peak Financial Investing is an attorney or accountant, nor are we holding ourselves out to be, and the information contained in the video and on the website is not a substitute for legal or tax advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation. While Peak Financial Investing is a registered investment advisor, please note that this podcast is not intended to be investment advice.

All information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. There is no representation or warranty as to the current accuracy, reliability or completeness of, nor liability for, decisions based on such information and it should not be relied on as such. We have done our best to ensure that the information provided is accurate and provides what we feel is valuable information. The views expressed are subject to change based on market and other conditions.<

No guests or clients appearing on the podcast receive any form of compensation for their appearance and obtained no other benefit from either Peak Prosperity or Peak Financial Investing.

All investing involves risks including the possible loss of capital. Asset allocation and diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against loss. Please note that out- performance does not necessarily represent positive total returns for a period. There is no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful. All investments carry a certain degree of risk. Dividends are not guaranteed, and a company’s future ability to pay dividends may be limited.

Additional important disclosures for Peak Financial Investing may be found in our Form ADV Part 2A, which can be found at https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/319672.

 

[millyissa]

Bonds are dying, stocks are fragile, global cooperation is failing. But,if you’re a federal employee, you’re limited to a combination of 5 funds (S&P500, medium to small companies, global companies, US company bonds, and treasuries). I don’t like any of them. So my money just sits in a TSP lifecycle fund (balances daily at % based on your retirement age). We might be to a point that it’s worth any penalty to pull it out, but I’m not really sure where to put it either. Any other TSP guys out here crying?

[westcoastjan]

I am only half way through watching but paused because I felt the need to
It is not just this podcast, but so many now, by different people, every day, spelling out the beyond egregious corruption that makes me want to puke.

Braveheart - William Wallace - Burn It!

Edit after initial post:
Aside from wanting to barf re all the corruption, this was a great conversation. I like how Dylan pushed Chris with some realistic questioning re what may happen going forward, and the back and forth banter re responses to problems faced. I especially liked how Dylan framed the next decade or so as being a spiritual one, where humanity has the chance to really rise with regard to what is actually important.

I have been following Dylan on X for awhile now. He is well worth the follow for his cogency. I hope you have him back on again soon, Chris.

[flyingdoc]

@millyissa

,if you’re a federal employee, you’re limited to a combination of 5 funds (S&P500, medium to small companies, global companies, US company bonds, and treasuries). I don’t like any of them.

LIke most Australian workers, for decades they forcibly took money from each paycheck and ‘invested’ it on my behalf as ‘superannuation’ to pay for my retirement.

About 8 years ago, I spent several thousand accounting dollars to set up a ‘self managed super fund’ - SMSF, and sought to transfer that money from the state fund managing it into my SMSF. I did this so I could place that money in gold and bitcoin.

The state refused to release the money to me, saying that yes, whilst they were obliged to facilitate employees who wanted their fortnightly deductions to go into an SMSF, they werent obliged to move existing funds into SMSFs.

At the time, gold was around $1100 USD and BTC $7500.

I estimate that their decision since cost me around $5 million USD.

Thankyou for keeping me safe.

[westcoastjan]

https://x.com/DowdEdward/status/2096017109604274571?s=20

[chipshot]

In my dreams, a Martenson/Ratigan ticket would win in 2028. I’ll settle for Massey/MTG (having never voted republican).

[thc0655]

I agree with you and Dylan: we absolutely MUST go through a very painful period of destruction and then and only then can we rebuild a much healthier, stronger and morally superior existence. Another way of saying that is we have to survive The Bottleneck in which death is a clear possibility and having survived then we, The Remnant, must take the lead locally and nationally in rebuilding.

Many can’t face the depth of the darkness The Bottleneck will bring, and in fact IS now bringing. Therefore they aren’t prepared for it. Many refuse to think about it and even many of those who have thought about it refuse to prepare for it.

I suggest we learn here at PP to distinguish between The Bottleneck and The Rebuilding. We have to survive The Bottleneck, and that is a worthy goal. But The Bottleneck is not our destination. The Rebuilding is. Guns, gold, and grub are going to help me get through The Bottleneck. But faith in God, compassion, honor and integrity will be the stuff of The Rebuilding. Not one or the other: first The Bottleneck, then The Rebuilding.

[samui (Odell Rhodes)]

“Dylan foresees a major spiritual and cultural reckoning as traditional measures of status, employment, and identity become less reliable.

At the end? We’re both surprisingly optimistic.”

We probably need to confront NOW and rather dramatically the IT Oligarchs’ premise that we are simply a composite of all of our Data that can be owned by a 3rd Party before it’s too late?

[samui (Odell Rhodes)]

Speaking of “Spiritual and Cultural Reckonings”….

In your view, is “Microchimerism” a “Thang”?

My view of People, generally, and Women in particular, has shifted significantly since learning of the possibility that by engaging in unprotected promiscuous Sex that women may be incorporating other men’s DNA into their genetic makeup and subsequently passing it onto their children such that even if the “Husband” is the ostensible biological “Father”, genetically, the children may not be entirely his in a biological rather than a legal sense?

This paradigm freaks me out….

An Internet Search of Microchimerism immediately hits a Wall of absolute Denial which seems suspicious?

[samui (Odell Rhodes)]

Chris says that he’s “Optimistic”….

Question for Grok:

Assume that you’re the Quarterback on a football team going against an opposing team whose defensive linemen are 5 times bigger and stronger that your team’s offensive linemen protecting you. What should be your strategy in the game?

Grok:

Get the ball out of your hands in under 2 seconds, move the pocket, and never ask your offensive line to win a fair fight.

A 5× size/strength mismatch on the defensive line means traditional drop-back protection is suicide. Your O-line cannot hold up in pass pro or create running lanes between the tackles. Strategy must eliminate the need for sustained blocking.

Core principles

• Ultra-quick release: Three-step drops, one-step throws, and half-rolls only. Anything longer than ~1.8–2.0 seconds is a sack or scramble.

• Move the launch point: Bootlegs, rollouts, and naked bootlegs. Get outside the collapsing pocket so the big bodies have farther to chase.

• Spread the field and create space: Empty sets, trips, and spread formations force the defense to cover more ground and reduce the number of free rushers who can simply overwhelm the line.

• Use the run only as misdirection or perimeter threat: Inside zone and power are dead. Outside zone, jet sweeps, or option looks can still work if the defense over-commits to the pass rush.

• Screens and checkdowns as primary weapons: Bubble screens, tunnel screens, and RB/TE flats. Let the defense’s momentum work against them.

• Tempo and no-huddle: Keep the big bodies on the field and prevent them from resting or substituting fresh rushers. Short, high-percentage plays keep the chains moving and limit explosive negative plays.

Practical play menu

• Quick game: Slants, hitches, outs, digs on 3-step timing. Pre-snap reads and hot routes are mandatory.

• Rollout / boot game: Play-action bootlegs and naked boots that get you outside the tackle box immediately.

• Screens: RB screens, WR screens, and TE screens designed to be thrown almost as soon as you catch the snap.

• Shotgun and pistol only: No under-center drops that waste time.

• Max-protect only on rare deep shots: Even then, the ball must be out extremely fast or the play is a designed scramble.

• Scramble-first mentality: When the pocket breaks (it will), take off. Your legs become a primary “receiver.”

What to avoid

• Long-developing drops or seven-step concepts.

• Relying on your offensive line to win one-on-one blocks.

• Predictable early-down runs into the teeth of the defense.

• Sitting in the pocket waiting for deep routes to develop.

Game management notes

Stay ahead of the chains. Third-and-long against that front is almost always a loss. Short fields, high completion percentage, and avoiding negative plays matter more than explosive gains. Special teams and field position become magnified because your offense will struggle to sustain long drives against pure power.

In short: treat the pocket as a temporary and collapsing space. Get the ball out fast, get yourself outside, and force the oversized defensive line to chase rather than dominate.

[mathias_thorvik]

Great talk Chris, I had a thought when you were discussing at the end, the point about competition in money creation. This was tried by JFK by issuing executive order 11110. Under 9 months later he was publicly executed and the order revoked by the guy taking over.

Yet another humiliation ritual, but also a warning. I believe in the effect of this idea, but the implementation is rather unclear.

[stuff1802]

Great conversation, thanks! It exposes a fundamental issue in the US that has been pressed upon the public since at least the 1960s. That is attempting to shoehorn the entire public into a uniform mindset. How many today are capable of adequately digesting, and interested in, this content? My guess would be a small(ish) minority. One result of this shoehorning is a loss of participation by the margins as the program fails. A problem as expressed by crime, substance abuse, and other things seems to indicate those margins are growing resulting in a shrinking middle, now, while we are in historically Very Good Times.

A solution, perhaps, is content on the Internet where a greater variety of content is available than even the hundreds of TV channels so people in those margins can find meaningful content along with a push to return to traditional values like family, the church, and, I can’t believe this should be said, gender roles. If jobs go away in big numbers, perhaps stay at home wives is an easy transition if not currently familiar generally.

As a bit of opinion of a good strong man leader to clear out corruption and right the currency, as I didn’t see it expressed in another comment, I would be remiss to not ask how that office wouldn’t devolve from the princeps to the emperors who came to favor debauchery.

Thanks again for your fine, elevated content.

[binkey]

Loved the Q and A. Glad you did not go defensive with the tough questions.
In response to how would you fix the US. I think it could be accomplished by removing from the government the power to print/emit new money. No inflation of the money supply. Prices must adjust to an increasing buying power as growth occurs. Germany managed that after WW II. Inflation of the money is what causes acceptance of criminal and/or unethical behavior. The founders set it up with gold and silver as that limit. However, the degenerates who were subsequently voted into the House and Senate did the “termite” work that undid exactly the safeguards established by the US Constitution. a similar strain of termites were appointed to the Supreme Court.
Bottom line - everything goes in a circle over time. Therefore, we move toward wherever human ethical improvement is happening and improve our own sense of ethics.

[laclimber (George Hung)]

This was a rich conversation. Chris laid out the historical precedent well and the reminder of the real estate takeover that Dylan outlined, paired with Chris’s point about it being done to small banks, was a critical piece I didnt appreciate or connect.

The bond and reserve currency story is now clear. And I like how Dylan shared the bad policies survive solely because of our reserve currency status. The outcome that Dylan offered with three roads are sobering and I appreciated that he pressed Chris on what the next five years actually look like. Chris had an answer.

The high school experience Chris shared was the piece that made his reflex to farms click into place for me. I really appreciated that story, it explains more than any chart could.

I look forward to multigenerational living as a potentially healing step toward the humanity Dylan described. That might be one of the few bright spots.

I now see Chris has clearly thought through solutions inclusing gold backed currency and local governance. He’s a local leader, and we need more of him in that role. But we also need a Roosevelt / Justice Brandeis “light disinfectant reference” figure to emerge, I just don’t think he lives very long if he’s genuinely for the people without military backing.

One last thought is that I think AI is new Tower of Babel but I don’t think we get the drones to every human like Dylan proposed, very black mirror. More likely, the robber barons get AI/drone perimeter security. The rest of us will have to figure out something else which Chris is actively building.

[resiliencerob]

@binkey

In response to how would you fix the US. I think it could be accomplished by removing from the government the power to print/emit new money. … Germany managed that after WW II.

Yes, they managed to do that until the entire global banking system showed up and beat them up.

How do we dismantle something so powerful? Especially when so people understand any of it - and never will.

EDIT - Sorry - I see you said “WWII”. I read “WW1” and thought you were referring to Hitler’s rejection of the global banking system. I’ll leave my comment up though as it stands on its own re the power of the system and what happens if anyone tries to leave.

Like if any nation tries to leave the petrodollar. Coup and leader dead in a ditch.
It’s not new. Back in the day, if a nation tried to defy the Vatican, they’d set 2-3 countries on them. England, of course, the stand out case in Europe, again and again - We managed to get out of that and defeat the Armada that came to deal with us. Though global banking later hopped from Amsterdam to London and even brought a new King with them. But that’s another story for another day!

[larrythelogger]

Wow. Did I ever learn a lot.

[sand_puppy (sand_kitty)]

I really like Dylan!

The BYD Han passenger caris common in Italy. Also common in Mexico and Canada.

Price is $38,500 but has a 110% tariff in the USA.

[robie-robinson-2 (robie robinson)]

looks like Angie’s Model 3 highland

[sand_puppy (sand_kitty)]

@thc0655

Guns, gold, and grub are going to help me get through The Bottleneck. But faith in God, compassion, honor and integrity will be the stuff of The Rebuilding. Not one or the other: first The Bottleneck, then The Rebuilding.

Very, very good way of framing this. Two stages. What works in one stage will not in the other.

[sand_puppy (sand_kitty)]

One of the very valuable close up annotated videos of that day. The top floors DID NOT CRUSH the floors below. The block of top floors were blown up. Watch closely.

https://x.com/JackMedia7/status/2095691709581595005?s=20