The west coast is shaking again.  In recent weeks we have witnessed so much seismic activity along the portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire that sits directly along the California coastline.  There had been hope that the shaking would settle down, but instead it appears to be accelerating.  As you will see below, there have been 321 earthquakes in the San Francisco area within the past 7 days.  If I was living in northern California, that would definitely get my attention.  Scientists have warned us over and over again that “the Big One” is inevitably coming, and almost every day there are more reminders of this.  In fact, San Ramon was just hit by a swarm of more than 30 earthquakes on Monday morning…

A 4.2 earthquake struck near San Ramon Monday morning, following a 3.8 quake amid a string of over 30 temblors in the area, U.S. Geological Survey said.

The 4.2 quake struck at 7:01 a.m. and followed a string of quakes that began with a 3.8 at 6:27 a.m. Dozens of earthquakes have followed.

USGS said the 4.2 quake was about 9.4 km in depth.

A magnitude 4.2 quake is quite significant.

The shaking that it caused was so extensive that people living in the heart of San Francisco actually felt “windows rattling”…

Residents in San Francisco’s Glen Park and Nopa neighborhoods reported rumbling and ‘windows rattling’ during the quake, and public transportation throughout the area was also affected by the swarm, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The moderate quake even activated the National Tsunami Warning Center, however, officials said there was no danger of a major wave hitting the Bay Area.

Of course this was not an isolated incident.

According to the USGS, this latest earthquake swarm was “a continuation” of a pattern of heightened activity that the region has been experiencing since last November…

ABC7 Eyewitness News spoke with the USGS Monday morning, and they say this is a continuation of the swarm of quakes the area has been experiencing.

On Friday, the area saw its first earthquake in several weeks, but there have been dozens of quakes since November.

Could it be possible that all of this activity is building up to some sort of a really big event?

According to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center, there have been 321 earthquakes in the San Francisco area in the last 7 days.  The following is a screenshot…

Needless to say, this isn’t normal.

The swarm of earthquakes that hit San Ramon on Monday was centered on one of the main branches of the San Andreas Fault System…

Still, Monday’s noticeable swarm broke out right on the Calaveras Fault, a main branch of the San Andreas – the monstrous 800-mile-long fault spanning from Southern California through the Bay Area and into the Pacific.

The Calaveras splits off from the main fault line near Hollister in central California and runs parallel to it through the East Bay region.

Scientists with USGS have warned that one of these faults or other major branches nearby could soon reach their anticipated breaking point and rupture right in the heart of California.

And it isn’t just northern California that has been shaking lately.

A couple of weeks ago, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake rocked Southern California…

A 4.9-magnitude earthquake and several aftershocks rattled Southern California on Monday night, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The first and largest quake happened approximately five miles northeast of Indio Hills, which is in the Palm Desert region of Riverside County, at around 5:57 p.m., the USGS reported. It occurred at a geological depth of nearly two miles. The preliminary magnitude of the earthquake was first reported as 5.1 before it was downgraded to 4.6 and then adjusted to 4.9 by USGS officials.

Scientists keep telling us that it is just a matter of time before the San Andreas Fault System “rips wide open”.

This is something that I have written about extensively over the years.

These latest quakes are a major league wake up call.

Unfortunately, most people living in California have learned to tune out such warnings.

Interestingly, the earthquake swarm that shook San Ramon on Monday morning occurred just after the Sun released “a relentless barrage of powerful solar flares”…

The sun has erupted in a relentless barrage of powerful solar flares over the past 24 hours, firing off at least 18 M-class flares and three X-class flares, including an X8.3 eruption — the strongest solar flare of 2026 so far. Solar flares are ranked by strength from A, B and C up to M and X, with each letter representing a tenfold increase in energy — meaning X-class flares are the most powerful explosions the sun can produce

The culprit is sunspot region 4366, a volatile active region that has grown rapidly in just a few days. The flurry of activity began late Feb. 1 and has continued into Feb. 2, with multiple M-class and X-class flares erupting in quick succession. The prolific region appears to be far from finished. Spaceweather.com described the region as a “solar flare factory”, warning that its rapid growth and magnetic complexity make further eruptions highly likely.

Many scientists believe that we tend to see more seismic activity when the Sun is highly active.

Needless to say, the Sun has been extremely active lately.

And we are being warned that Sunspot AR4366 will soon be directly facing our planet…

It’s also possible that more eruptions are still to come. Sunspot AR4366 remains highly active and continues to rotate into an Earth-facing position, raising the chance that future eruptions could launch CMEs more directly toward our planet. NOAA forecasters say they expect more exciting space weather activity from this region in the coming days.

Sunspot AR4366 is absolutely massive, and I think that we should all be watching it very closely.

We live at a time when the giant ball of fire that we revolve around is becoming increasingly unstable.

We also live at a time when the ground under our feet is becoming increasingly unstable.

Unfortunately, I am entirely convinced that what we have experienced so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post 321 Earthquakes Hit The San Francisco Area In 1 Week – Is The San Andreas Fault Entering A Very Dangerous New Phase? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

The violent clashes that are causing so much chaos in the streets of our major cities aren’t going to stop.  Tens of thousands of anti-ICE activists have already been recruited, and more are joining their ranks with each passing day.  At this stage, the only thing that could put a lid on the volcano of fury that we are witnessing would be if President Trump decided to pull ICE out of all of our cities and stop deportations.  Of course there is no way that is going to happen.  In fact, as you will see below, Trump is now converting 23 enormous warehouses around the country into giant ICE detention centers.  The goal is to deport a million immigrants per year, and that means that the war between ICE and anti-ICE protesters is just getting started.

I have always warned that civil unrest would be one of the key elements of “the perfect storm” that our society would be forced to endure, and now we have reached a stage where the civil unrest never seems to stop.

On Friday, law enforcement authorities used pepper balls and tear gas to disperse “a mob of violent agitators” that had gathered in front of the federal detention center in Los Angeles…

Los Angeles police arrested multiple violent agitators after issuing dispersal orders as protests erupted across the city Friday evening.

Thousands of protesters met in front of City Hall in the afternoon, before many marched to the federal detention center, where a mob of violent agitators swarmed the area, pushing a large construction dumpster and blocking the entrance to the building’s loading dock.

LAPD shared video on social media of the unrest, adding in a separate post that authorities had deployed pepper balls and tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Even after pepper balls and tear gas had been used, some of the protesters continue to throw bottles, rocks and “other objects” at the police…

While some protesters dispersed, others remained and continued to throw bottles and rocks at officers, according to the LAPD.

In addition, the department said that federal authorities were being hit with “debris, bottles and other objects,” resulting in authorities declaring an unlawful assembly at the detention center.

Footage of the violence that took place on Friday evening is extremely disturbing.

Of course this wasn’t the first anti-ICE violence that we have seen in L.A., and it most certainly won’t be the last.

On Saturday, a crowd of thousands of anti-ICE protesters marched on an ICE facility in Portland.  When they arrived, federal agents “deployed several rounds of tear gas, pepper balls, and flash-bang munitions”…

By the late afternoon, there were thousands of people participating in a protest in South Portland that began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park, according to the Portland Police Bureau, who monitored the activity. Local labor unions organized the demonstration.

The crowd later marched to the ICE facility a few blocks away, closing down South Bancroft Street.

Around 5 p.m., federal agents deployed several rounds of tear gas, pepper balls, and flash-bang munitions into the crowd, including children, as observed by KOIN 6 News Reporter Ariel Salk in the field. The crowd dwindled to less than 1,000 people after that.

The reason why this didn’t make headline news all over the nation is because this sort of thing has become quite common in Portland.

Shockingly, one protester says that someone actually brought a “kid in a stroller” to the event…

“There were so many people who came out, there were parents, kids. I saw one kid in a stroller with a little helmet on. And we were all marching down the street towards the building to protest. And there was — it was like fog had rolled in — it was coming down the street,” one protester said.

Why would you bring a “kid in a stroller” to a protest where tear gas and pepper balls are almost certainly going to be used?

That is insanity.

A lot of the protesters did not disperse after the first wave of non-lethal munitions, and so about 6 PM there was a “second wave of tear gas, as well as pepper balls and flash-bang munitions”…

A second wave of tear gas, as well as pepper balls and flash-bang munitions, was deployed into the crowd by federal agents around 6 p.m. After that, only a few hundred people remained.

KOIN 6 also saw people move a dumpster into the vehicle entryway of the ICE building just before the second round of tear gas was deployed. By the time the smoke cleared, the dumpster was gone.

Portland has been a war zone for much of the past year.

Sadly, it appears that the violence in the city is now escalating.

Meanwhile, the craziness in Minnesota never seems to end.

Over the weekend, protesters decided to stage events inside quite a few Target stores…

Multiple Target stores across Minnesota and in other states were targeted by protesters with demands for Target’s corporate leadership to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from being allowed in Target stores to arrest criminals.

Video from a Target location in Richfield, Minnesota, shows reportedly over 100 protesters illegally marching through the store, chanting, “The people united will never be defeated,” while holding a Socialist Alternative banner that read, “National Strike Shut Down Trump & ICE.” Local police were at the scene but refused to do anything as the anti-ICE protesters berated them and called for Target to be shut down.

At one location in West St. Paul, a police officer made it abundantly clear that his heart was very much with the protesters…

At a West St. Paul, Minnesota Target protest, a police officer lauded the protesters, saying, “I appreciate what you guys are doing. I understand what you guys are doing. Unfortunately, the store has the right to do what they need to do,” after threatening to arrest them for trespassing. “I have a hard job. As much as I want to come over here, and you know what I mean, and do what I need to do, I still have a job to do, unfortunately. And so, I appreciate you guys,” he continued.

The entire state has been thrown into an uproar thanks to what has transpired over the last couple of months.

The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti have just added fuel to the fire, and now we are being told that over 34,000 people in the state of Minnesota have signed up to be part of Minnesota’s anti-ICE army…

More than 34,000 Minnesotans have signed up to be trained as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement observers with various activist groups in recent weeks, many of them since Jan. 7, when a federal agent shot and killed Renée Good, a poet and mother of three, after an encounter with an ICE convoy in South Minneapolis.

The killings of Good and, on Saturday, ICU nurse Alex Pretti underscore the dangers for the city’s widespread resistance movement, a loosely connected network of neighborhood volunteers who communicate on Signal, the private messaging app, as they play cat and mouse with heavily armed and masked federal agents on snowy streets.

This week these ICE observers vowed to continue their work despite signs of a political thaw on the national stage, after Trump removed controversial border patrol head Greg Bovino from Minneapolis and renewed talks with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), a frequent critic.

The anti-ICE forces outnumber the ICE agents that have been deployed to the state by a more than 10 to 1 margin.

That is crazy.

But ICE agents continue to try to follow orders.

In fact, they just arrested an immigrant that actually rammed one of their vehicles as he attempted to escape…

ICE has arrested a criminal illegal alien from Mexico after the alien rammed into an ICE vehicle this morning in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Tranquilino Sixto-Anorve had a criminal record of multiple charges for driving under the influence.

Sixto-Anorve was taken into ICE detention at the Whipple federal building in Minneapolis, where anti-ICE demonstrators were seen earlier on Saturday parading in the streets in animal costumes, singing, “Kristi Noem is a bird-legged hoe.”

One thing has become very clear.

No matter what happens, the Trump administration is not going to stop deporting people.

In fact, there are plans to convert 23 giant warehouses throughout the country into “a large-scale network of immigration detention centers”…

The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to convert 23 e-commerce warehouses across the country, primarily in the eastern U.S., into a large-scale network of immigration detention centers aimed at expanding capacity to fulfill the mandate the American people gave President Trump to deport more than one million illegal aliens per year and restore national security. This comes after the Biden-Harris globalist regime collapsed borders and allowed a nation-killing invasion of ten million or more third-worlders.

Bloomberg reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s rapid move to build out a network of warehouses is being fueled by $45 billion from the signature “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” This includes the most recent purchases of a warehouse in Hagerstown, Maryland, and another in Surprise, Arizona, totaling $172 million. A third in El Paso, Texas, will be one of the largest of its kind, with 8,500 beds.

Wow.

I don’t even know what to say about that.

The warehouse that is being converted in Arizona has over 400,000 square feet of detention space…

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has purchased a massive warehouse in the West Valley, according to Maricopa County property records.

Filings showed the federal government purchased the more than 400,000 square-foot facility near Sweetwater Avenue and Dysart Road for $70 million in cash from RG Surprise, LLC last Friday.

According to an archived listing, the warehouse completed by Rockefeller Group was previously called the Surprise Pointe Commerce Center and was primarily set up to accommodate one to four tenants.

The Trump administration has no intention of backing down.

Neither do the anti-ICE protesters.

I believe that we will see things happen in the streets of America this year that we have never seen before.

Needless to say, that is not good news for any of us.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post A Volcano Of Fury Erupts In The Streets Of Los Angeles, Portland And Minnesota As Trump Converts 23 Giant Warehouses Into ICE Detention Centers appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

When the economy and the financial system are both greatly shaken at the same time, the consequences can be extremely painful. Most of you still clearly remember what life was like in 2008 and 2009. It was such a dark chapter in American history. But there have been other times when we have had a financial market crash but no recession. 1987 is a perfect example of that. Of course there have also been many instances when economic conditions have been very poor but the financial markets weathered it just fine. It is actually rare for a major economic crisis and a major financial crisis to occur simultaneously like we witnessed during the Great Recession and the Great Depression. Unfortunately, it appears that this is precisely the type of scenario that we are now facing.

The other day I authored an article entitled “12 Signposts That Indicate That A Monumental Economic Meltdown Is Now Upon Us”, and it received a tremendous amount of attention. That article clearly established that a significant economic slowdown is now upon us. Since I wrote that article, more evidence that the economy is slowing down has emerged.

For example, it is being reported that Las Vegas experienced a “devastating fall of 7.5 percent” in the number of people visiting the city last year…

Las Vegas’s long‑rumored tourism collapse has erupted into full public view, with new data revealing that 2025 was the year the desert empire finally stumbled.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) confirmed that the city drew just 38.5 million visitors in 2025, a devastating fall of 7.5 percent from the previous year.

This marked the sharpest annual decline since the post‑pandemic recovery and erasing years of hard‑won momentum.

Las Vegas has always been a leading indicator for U.S. economic performance.

When the number of tourists starts to fall, an economic downturn almost always follows.

The video game industry has also fallen on very hard times.

According to one recent survey, one-third of all video game industry workers were laid off in 2025…

One-third of U.S. video game industry workers say they were laid off last year, according to a new survey conducted by the organizers behind the newly revamped Game Developers Conference (GDC).

Based on responses from more than 2,300 gaming industry professionals, with surveys “customized for each participant group, ensuring that developers, marketers, executives, investors and others answered questions most relevant to them,” the 2026 State of the Game Industry Report found that 33% of respondents in the U.S. were laid off in the past two years.

That is crazy.

I think that AI is having a bigger impact in the video game industry than most of us realized.

But of course we are seeing mass layoffs in many other industries as well.

On Thursday, Mastercard announced that it will be laying off approximately 4 percent of its entire workforce…

‌Mastercard ​has ‌completed a review ​of its ‍business that will ​impact ​about ⁠4% of its full-time employees, the payment ‌processor’s CFO, Sachin ​Mehra, said ‌on ‍Thursday.

“Based on the ⁠recent strategic review of our business, we ​expect to record a one-time restructuring charge in Q1 of approximately $200 million,” Mehra said on a call ​with analysts.

Another really big name, Home Depot, has just made a decision to give the axe to hundreds of loyal workers…

Atlanta-based Home Depot announced hundreds of layoffs Wednesday in its corporate operations.

Around 800 employees who work for the Atlanta store support center are being laid off, according to the company. Less than 150 of them work in the center and the rest work remotely.

In a statement, a Home Depot spokesperson said the company is “simplifying our corporate operations to better support our stores and our customers.”

Just like in 2008, it seems like we are being hit by one wave of layoffs after another.

Everyone thought that Dow Inc. was doing well, but they just announced that 4,500 employees will be hitting the bricks…

Chemical maker Dow Inc. is the latest company to announce substantial layoffs as it pivots to a stronger reliance on artificial intelligence and automation.

The company, on Thursday, announced it would cut 4,500 jobs as part of a streamlining operation it calls “Transform to Outperform.” The cuts will provide a $2 billion boost in near-term revenue, the company said, but will bring with them between $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion in one-time costs, including severance and other costs.

Some of the employment markets that were once the hottest are now being hit the hardest by layoffs.

In Seattle, we are being told that the “tech boom” has now turned into “tech gloom”…

A cloud hanging over Seattle is usually a good thing, if you’re here for the rain, or if you work in that aspect of the tech industry. But the cloud of economic uncertainty is a less welcome occurrence.

The tech boom is showing more signs of tech gloom this week following layoffs at some of the region’s biggest employers.

Just this month, Amazon and Meta are among the big names that have slashed jobs in the Emerald City…

• Amazon is laying off another 16,000 corporate employees, bringing the total to 30,000 since October. The company is also shuttering all of its Fresh and Go grocery stores.
• Meta is cutting hundreds of workers in its Reality Labs division, with roots in the region.
• Expedia Group is slashing more than 160 jobs at its Seattle HQ.

For those that want even more examples of the mass layoffs that have been happening all over America, I would recommend checking out my previous articles.

As economic conditions continue to deteriorate, chaos is erupting in the financial system.

Japanese bond yields have been going nuts, currency rates have been flying all over the place, cryptocurrencies crashed again today, and the price of silver and the price of gold have both been absolutely skyrocketing.

Statistically, the probability of what we have witnessed in the financial markets during the month of January is very close to zero.  To illustrate this, I would like to share an extended excerpt from a social media post that a user known as “NoLimit” recently published on his X account…

The probability of what is happening is near zero.

Three 6-sigma events occurred in one week.

– Bonds
– Silver
– Gold

We are currently living through a statistical impossibility.

Let me explain:

Last Tuesday, Japanese 30-year debt recorded what’s called a “6-sigma” session.

2 days ago, silver did even better: it was at 5-sigma on the rally, then reached 6-sigma on the drop. IN A SINGLE SESSION.

Gold right now? It’s up 23% in less than a month. We’re getting very close to a 6-sigma event.

That’s three 6-sigma events in ONE WEEK.

To explain quickly: in finance, we measure price moves around an average using the standard deviation, which we call sigma.

1-sigma: mundane
2-sigma: common
3-sigma: becomes rare
4-sigma: exceptional
5-sigma: extremely rare
6-sigma: supposed to occur once in 500 million

Here are the 6-sigma-type episodes we saw previously:

– The october 1987 crash, 22% drop in 1 session
– March 2020 covid crash
– The swiss franc’s surge in january 2015
– WTI oil turning negative in april 2020

But we’ve never had 3 events occur in one week.

Do you see the point?

A 6-sigma event is almost NEVER triggered by a simple macro headline.

It almost always comes from the market’s structure: leverage, positions that are too concentrated, margin calls, collateral problems, and forced selling or buying.

That’s important to understand because we’re talking about internal strains in the system’s mechanics.

As you know, the Japanese bond market sits at the heart of the global financial system, and I won’t go back over the whole topic, but a 6-sigma move in a market that enormous doesn’t go unnoticed.

Seeing a 6-sigma move in silver a few days later gives one a lot to think about.

And now gold?? That’s absolutely insane.

Why are we seeing extreme statistical events, only days apart, in such different markets?

When a pillar of global funding becomes unstable, leverage tends to contract, and two things happen at the same time: forced selling in certain assets and forced buying of protection in others.

Historically, precious metals are often among the beneficiaries.

Many of my readers are loving the fact that gold and silver prices have risen at an exponential rate.

JPMorgan is even suggesting that the price of gold could eventually hit $8,000.

But meanwhile the U.S. dollar and other fiat currencies are dying and investors are losing faith in the entire system.

At this stage, Peter Schiff is warning that we are headed for a global nightmare “that will make the 2008 financial crisis look like a Sunday school picnic”…

As gold prices keep rising, American economist Peter Schiff says investors should view the rally as more than a hedge — calling it a warning that inflation is speeding up, the U.S. dollar is losing global trust and a major economic reckoning may be near.

“Gold and silver are warning about a bigger crisis that’s gonna hit either later this year or maybe next year. We are headed for a U.S. dollar crisis and a sovereign debt crisis,” Schiff said Tuesday afternoon on “The Claman Countdown.”

“Central banks are buying gold to back up their currencies. They’re getting rid of dollars. They are getting rid of Treasuries,” he continued. “We are headed for [an] economic crisis, again, that will make the 2008 financial crisis look like a Sunday school picnic.”

The warning signs are all around us.

The last time we were forced to endure a major economic crisis and a major financial crisis at the same time was during the Great Recession.

Now it is happening again, and many prominent voices believe that the pain that we will soon experience will be off the charts.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post Just Like We Witnessed During The Great Recession And The Great Depression, Economic Activity Is Slowing Down All Around Us As Chaos Breaks Out In The Financial Markets appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

How would the American people respond if they suddenly saw images of a U.S. aircraft carrier burning after it had been destroyed by an overwhelming Iranian assault? If the U.S. attacks Iran, and that appears to be very likely at this stage, the USS Abraham Lincoln will almost certainly be targeted by the Iranians. In a previous article, I wrote about how the Abraham Lincoln’s defenses could be overwhelmed by a massive barrage of either missiles or drones. In particular, if I was in command of the Abraham Lincoln I would be deeply concerned about Iran’s SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship missile batteries. Staying out of range of those missiles will be of the utmost importance, because they come in at an absolutely blistering pace.

Nobody can deny that Iranian leaders have been thinking about sinking a carrier. On Sunday, they unveiled a giant billboard in Enghelab Square that conveys quite an ominous message…

The Iranian regime unveiled a new mural on a giant billboard in Tehran’s Enghelab Square on Sunday, depicting an aircraft carrier with damaged and exploding fighter planes on its flight deck.

The deck is covered with bodies and streaked with blood, which trails into the water and forms stripes reminiscent of the American flag.

A slogan – warning the US to not attempt a military strike on the country – is emblazoned across one corner: ‘If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.’

They aren’t exactly being subtle, are they?

In all my years, I have never seen anything quite like this…

The Iranians seem to believe that they are very capable of sinking a U.S. aircraft carrier.

But President Trump is sending the USS Abraham Lincoln toward Iran anyway.

On Wednesday, Trump specifically mentioned the Abraham Lincoln in a Truth Social post that was directed squarely at Iran…

Many are regarding this as a final warning to the Iranians.

When Trump said that “time is running out”, I believe that he fully meant it.

Of course the Iranians have no intention of negotiating a deal or giving up their nuclear program.

In response to Trump’s post, Iran’s delegation at the United Nations issued a very alarming warning…

Iran’s mission to the United Nations responded in kind.

“Last time the U.S. blundered into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it squandered over $7 trillion and lost more than 7,000 American lives,” it said in an X post quoting Trump’s statement.

“Iran stands ready for dialog based on mutual respect and interests—BUT IF PUSHED, IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF AND RESPOND LIKE NEVER BEFORE!”

As we have seen so many other times in recent weeks, the Iranians are threatening to do something extraordinarily dramatic if they are attacked.

What could that be?

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi is telling us that his nation is ready to “immediately and powerfully respond” to any attack…

Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, warned on X that Tehran’s forces were ready to retaliate.

He said: ‘Our brave Armed Forces are prepared – with their fingers on the trigger – to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea.

‘The valuable lessons learned from the 12-Day War have enabled us to respond even more strongly, rapidly, and profoundly.

In addition to striking U.S. targets, the Iranians would also inevitably launch missiles at Israeli cities.

Needless to say, the Israelis are fully prepared to strike back with overwhelming force.

And then there will be no turning back.

I hope that everyone understands what that will mean.  The Iranian regime is run by crazed Islamic zealots that will literally do anything to survive.  If you think that there are any limits to what they will do, you should consider the vast numbers of their own people that they have already killed…

As many as 30,000 people could have been killed in the streets of Iran on Jan. 8 and 9 alone, two senior officials of the country’s Ministry of Health told TIME—indicating a dramatic surge in the death toll. So many people were slaughtered by Iranian security services on that Thursday and Friday, it overwhelmed the state’s capacity to dispose of the dead. Stocks of body bags were exhausted, the officials said, and eighteen-wheel semi-trailers replaced ambulances.

If that is what they are willing to do to their own population, what would they be willing to do to us or to the Israelis?

These lunatics used trucks that had heavy machine guns mounted on them to mow down thousands of their own citizens…

Witnesses say millions were in the streets when authorities shut down the internet and all other communications with the outside world. Rooftop snipers and trucks mounted with heavy machine guns opened fire, according to eyewitnesses and cell phone footage. On Friday, Jan. 9, an official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on state television to anyone venturing into the streets, “if … a bullet hits you, don’t complain.”

We just witnessed one of the greatest slaughters of political protesters in human history.

One man that was actually in Kaj Square when the shooting started there told Iran Wire what he witnessed…

The protester told IranWire that from around 8:00 or 8:30 PM, security forces were already using tear gas and sound bombs. Green laser sights were trained on people’s heads, chests, and eyes, while the hum of low-flying drones filled the air. But the first live bullet was fired around 10:00 PM, striking a young man in the chest near the ice cream shop. There was no warning. No announcement. They began shooting once they realized the crowd could not be dispersed, and arresting such a massive gathering was simply impossible.

He said that in such an enormous crowd, nothing could be done – not even escaping. Perhaps more than 50,000 people had gathered: the old and the young, women and men, even children. The entire square and the streets around it were overflowing with protesters.

The protester continued: “The next bullet hit the stomach of a young woman; the next hit a man’s groin; the next hit a young man’s shoulder; the next… and the next… I still hear the sound of those bullets and the subsequent shrapnel in my ears every night. A few people were there – we never found out if they were government agents or ordinary people – who were collecting the bodies of the slain from among the crowd and taking them to one of the nearby shops. We don’t even know what they did with those bodies.”

“At 11:00 or 11:30 PM, the shooting became heavier. They were aiming directly for our upper bodies. We moved toward North Allameh Tabatabaei Street. However, they were shooting intensely north of Kaj Square as well. A young boy was in front of me; he didn’t look more than 15 or 16 years old. He was right there when he was shot and fell. They were firing from all sides; we were running, and we could hear the shell casings hitting the ground just a short distance behind us.”

Accounts such as this need to be shared all over the world.

The courage that these protesters have demonstrated has been astounding.

And guess what?

After all of the killing that we have already witnessed, we are being told that protesters are once again flooding into the streets…

I think that we are getting very close to a point of no return.

All of the preparations for a U.S. military operation have been completed, and I believe that President Trump will soon give the green light.

When that day finally arrives, missiles will start flying all over the Middle East, and nothing will ever be the same again.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post Despite Iran’s Threats To Sink A U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Trump Warns That “The Great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln” Is Coming And “Time Is Running Out” appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

We live at a time when the pace of change is so rapid that it can be overwhelming at times.  More change occurs in a single month than happened during most entire years when I was growing up.  When I pull up the news each day, there is always a fresh serving of chaos awaiting me.  Unfortunately, chaos is not good for the economy.  The U.S. dollar is in the process of dying, debt levels are exploding all around us, more mass layoffs have been announced within the past 24 hours, and the cost of living crisis is absolutely crushing most Americans.  Those that can look at the information that I am about to share with you and say “everything is fine” are simply not being rational.  The following are 12 signposts that indicate that a monumental economic meltdown is now upon us…

#1 Consumer confidence just fell to the lowest level that we have seen in 12 years…

America’s economic mood deteriorated in January to its lowest level in more than a decade as consumers fretted about geopolitical tensions, affordability and President Donald Trump’s unrelenting trade war.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for January, released Tuesday, declined 9.7 points to a reading of 84.5, the lowest since 2014, surpassing the lows of last year when Trump unveiled stiff tariffs and the depths of the pandemic recession in 2020.

January’s reading came in much lower than the 91.1 reading economists projected in a poll by data firm FactSet.

#2 One recent survey discovered that 56 percent of U.S. workers are experiencing serious financial strain…

Social media is rife with tearful videos of how hard it has become to make ends meet. Some 14% of workers can’t or struggle to pay their bills each month, PwC found. Another 42% pay their bills with little or nothing left over for savings. PwC says that’s more than half of the workforce experiencing financial strain in 2025.

“I have to work 40 hours a week just so I can have a place to live,” one woman said in one Instagram post. “Forty hours a week makes me $2000 a month and my rent is $1,660. So I work 40 hours a week so I can have a two-bedroom apartment and an extra $300 a month. Like, that doesn’t even cover my phone, internet, food.”

#3 According to the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, the percentage of the U.S. workforce that is “functionally unemployed” has risen to a whopping 25.2 percent…

Employment researchers are warning that the share of Americans who are only loosely attached to the labor force is on the rise, and that the true rate of unemployment may be far higher than official figures suggest.

According to a new report from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP), 25.2 percent of the U.S. workforce could now be classified as “functionally unemployed”—meaning jobless, seeking but unable to secure full-time employment or earning “poverty-level wages.”

#4 It is being reported that 1,500 HR employees that work for Amazon are facing the axe…

Amazon is expected to cut more jobs within its human resources team by a significant margin.

According to Fortune, the e-commerce giant is preparing to lay off approximately 15% of its HR department — equivalent to around 1,500 of the 10,000 HR employees. It is currently unknown when the layoffs will take place, and how many jobs in the Puget Sound region are at risk.

#5 At one time, Pinterest was flying high.  But now harder times are here and it intends to fire close to 15 percent of its entire workforce…

Pinterest said Tuesday it plans to lay off less than 15% of its workforce and cut back on office space as the company embraces artificial intelligence.

In a securities filing, Pinterest said it expects the cuts will be complete by the end of its third quarter in late September. Shares of Pinterest slid more than 9%.

#6 Nike just announced that it will be eliminating 775 jobs…

Nike is planning to cut nearly 800 jobs amid an automation push at the footwear and apparel giant’s distribution centers.

The company is cutting 775 jobs that will primarily impact jobs at the retailer’s distribution centers in Tennessee and Mississippi as the company looks to automate more of its supply chain. The news was first reported by CNBC, citing people familiar with the matter.

#7 Not to be outdone by any of the companies mentioned above, UPS plans to throw up to 30,000 employees into the streets this year…

United Parcel Service plans to cut up to 30,000 workers this year as it moves to cut costs, the delivery giant’s chief financial officer said Tuesday.

“In terms of semi-variable costs, we expect to reduce operational positions by up to 30,000,” UPS CFO Brian Dykes said during a company earnings call. “This will be accomplished through attrition, and we expect to offer a second voluntary separation program for full-time drivers.”

#8 The Washington Post is preparing for “big layoffs”, and that could include the entire sports department…

The Washington Post has been around for nearly 150 years and had a sports section for almost as long. But after years and years of declining revenue, it appears that big layoffs are coming – and the sports section could be gutted hardest of all.

According to Dylan Byers of Puck, “massive layoffs” are set to hit The Washington Post in the days to come with the foreign desk being hit hard. However, Byers noted that the sports desk is rumored to be getting “shuttered entirely.”

#9 The largest mall in San Francisco has been permanently closed even sooner than expected…

San Francisco’s beleaguered Westfield San Francisco Centre shopping mall closed its doors earlier than expected.

The city’s largest mall, which saw a string of retailers leave in recent months, closed on Saturday, two days ahead of schedule, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

A sign reading “closed until further notice” was posted at the front entrance of the once-bustling shopping center, the outlet reported.

#10 Pending home sales in the United States just fell “to the lowest level for any December on record”…

Pending home sales, which track the number of contracts signed in December, plunged by 9.3% seasonally adjusted from November, to the lowest level for any December on record in the data by the National Association of Realtors, which goes back to 2010. Compared to December 2010, during the Housing Bust, pending sales were down by 21.5%.

The market is now well into its fourth year of the collapse in transactions, and there has simply been no improvement.

#11 The U.S. dollar just declined for a fourth consecutive day, and it is now at the lowest level that we have seen in four months…

The U.S. ⁠dollar fell for a fourth straight day on Tuesday, slipping to a four-month low, as traders kept watch for possible coordinated currency intervention by U.S. and Japanese authorities and a ‍Federal Reserve interest rate decision.

#12 If someone tries to convince you that the U.S. dollar is not dying, just show them this chart…

When the value of the U.S. dollar declines, the purchasing power of our money goes down.

Meanwhile, the price of silver is currently sitting at 110 dollars an ounce.

Many of us have been warning that all of this was coming, and now it is happening right in front of our eyes.

Our leaders have been making very bad decisions for decades, and now we are paying the price.

But if you think that things are bad now, just hold on tight, because things are going to get even more chaotic in the months ahead.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post 12 Signposts That Indicate That A Monumental Economic Meltdown Is Now Upon Us appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

You can throw out all of the old rules, because they simply don’t apply anymore. The dominance of western financial institutions is faltering, and cracks in the system are starting to show up all over the place. They can’t keep the price of silver from exploding, they can’t stop the price of gold from relentlessly marching upward, they can’t stop the extremely alarming decline of the U.S. dollar, and they can’t stop debt levels from soaring into the stratosphere. The stability that the global financial system has known since the end of World War II is dissipating right in front of our eyes, and that should chill you to the core.

It was expected that the price of gold would smash through the $5,000 barrier on Monday, and that is precisely what occurred.

In fact, at one point it was trading above $5,100 an ounce…

Gold climbed to a fresh all-time high, crossing $5,100 an ounce on Monday and extending its record-breaking run as investors seek the safety of the yellow metal amid rising geopolitical tensions and global fiscal risks.

Spot gold prices gained 2.4%, trading at $5,102 an ounce, before slightly paring gains to last trade at $5,086. Meanwhile, U.S. gold futures for February rose 2.1%, reaching $5,087 an ounce.

This was never supposed to happen.

Just like they had always done, those that pull the strings were supposed to be able to stop the price of gold before it ever got even close to $5,000.

But now it has become apparent that they simply lack the ability to be able to do that.

Of course the price of silver has been going up far faster than the price of gold, and on Monday it exploded higher…

Silver also rallied Monday, with spot prices jumping 4.9% to $107.9 per ounce, also benefiting from industrial demand.

Analysts at Union Bancaire Privée said Friday that prices have rallied on the back of sustained demand from both institutional and retail buyers.

Over the past year, western financial institutions have lost all control over the price of silver.

Those that are still holding short positions are in for a world of hurt.

Global demand for physical silver has soared, and now that there is nothing holding it back there is no telling how high it could go.

One of my readers recently alerted me to something that I wrote about the price of silver a number of years ago…

I have always said that I believe that the price of silver will eventually go over $100 an ounce.

When that happens, those that got in today will be exceedingly happy with their returns.

When I wrote those words, the price of silver was $15.81 an ounce.

If you had invested in silver at that time, your investment would be worth 6 times more today.

At this moment, the price of silver has risen to over $108 dollars an ounce.

Those that have been waiting for a “financial reset” can stop, because one is literally happening right in front of our eyes.

There are some analysts that are convinced that silver is now extremely overbought and that there is no way that this rally can continue for much longer…

Heraeus analysts noted that the gray metal’s move above $100 per ounce last week was largely driven by strength in the gold market as geopolitical tensions surrounding Greenland drove safe-haven flows.

“From a technical perspective, this rally now looks very extended,” they wrote. “The daily relative strength index (RSI) remains above 70, signalling overbought conditions, although currently there is a divergence as the RSI was much higher at the lower price peak in late December. Speculative net long futures exposure has continued to build through January, increasing from 146 moz to 160 moz week-on-week. That said, positioning remains well below the extremes seen in 2025, when speculative net length peaked close to 300 moz, suggesting that there is still potential for further investor engagement.”

I am sure that we will see some volatility up and down in the short-term, but ultimately what is driving the price of silver is a historic imbalance between the demand for physical silver and the amount of physical silver which is actually available…

Persistent supply deficits in silver over several consecutive years, combined with rapidly rising industrial demand from sectors such as solar energy, electric vehicles, electronics and defense, have created a physical shortage in the last 5 years that paper markets can no longer mask.

At the same time, the volume of outstanding paper contracts in London and New York now vastly exceeds the amount of physical silver available for delivery.

In our high tech society, silver has become an absolutely essential global commodity.

There is nothing that western financial institutions can do to change that.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar continues to plummet.

The latest leg down is being driven by speculation that the Federal Reserve is “considering coordinated action” to support the Japanese yen…

The U.S. dollar has been in relative free fall since late Friday after it emerged that the New York Federal Reserve had conducted a rare “rate check” with currency traders on the dollar/Japanese yen exchange rate.

The purpose of the move implies that the U.S. Federal Reserve may be considering coordinated action with the Bank of Japan to support the latter’s currency.

As a result, traders began selling the dollar, which is now down more than 2.26% over the past five days against a standard basket of international currencies—an unusually steep decline given the gargantuan scale of the dollar in the global economy. Over the last day alone it lost 0.46%. The yen is up more than 3% against the dollar over the same time period.

Japan is teetering on the brink of financial collapse.

Europe is in big trouble too.

And last year was the worst year for the U.S. dollar in a very long time.

Personally, I don’t see how things are going to get any better for the U.S. dollar any time soon.  The rest of the world is steadily losing faith in our currency, we are more than 38 trillion dollars in debt, and economic conditions are rapidly deteriorating.  In fact, we just learned that New York City experienced a net loss of almost 5,000 businesses last year alone…

New York City lost nearly 5,000 businesses early last year as employers closed their doors or left for other low-tax states, according to a new report.

The analysis comes as newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushes to hike business taxes to foot the bill for his agenda.

The report, released Thursday by the Economic Development Corporation, showed more than 3,500 new businesses opened their doors in New York City during the second quarter of the fiscal year but that was offset by a loss of about 8,400 employers. That’s the weakest quarter for business formation since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report’s authors said.

Needless to say, this isn’t just happening in the United States.

Economic conditions are heading in the wrong direction all over the globe, and at a time like this it makes perfect sense for investors to flock to gold and silver.

Those that were wise enough to invest when the price of silver was under 20 dollars an ounce are loving life right now.

But we also need to understand that the system that we all depend upon is coming apart at the seams all around us, and that means that there is going to be an enormous amount of chaos in the days ahead.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post The Exploding Price Of Silver Shows That We Have Reached A Critical Turning Point In Human History appeared first on The Economic Collapse.