Coronavirus: Next Two Weeks are Critical

As  posted to the Peak Prosperity YouTube Channel on February 18, 2020 (Run time 25 min 53 sec) In Update #25, on the Wuhan New Coronavirus (now officially "Covid-19"), Chris Martenson reports: "While China remains largely in lock down, Covid-19 cases in the rest of the world are at a key juncture. To-date, confirmed cases have been lower than feared. Though increasingly, we're suspecting that's due to inadequate testing & reporting. And the cases we *do* know of (now at ~1,000) appear to be growing at an exponential rate. So the next two weeks will be critical in telling the tale. We'll soon know whether the spread is indeed slower than initially feared, or we'll start to see huge increases in the number of infected ex-China. Meanwhile, the authorities around...

Legit Coronavirus Updates Becoming Harder to Obtain

As  posted to the Peak Prosperity YouTube Channel on February 17, 2020 (Run time 39 min 33 sec) In Update #24, on the Wuhan New Coronavirus (now officially "Covid-19"), Chris Martenson reports: "Good updates on the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic (aka Covid-19) are becoming harder to obtain as governments tighten their grip on news sources. The data being shared, particularly by the Chinese are increasingly hard to believe, as they don't match the massive response the government is undertaking. Likewise, outside of China, reported cases remain lower than we would expect given the powerful R0 (i.e., infectiousness) of the virus, as well as its long asymptomatic incubation period. Are we being intentionally kept in the dark? Quite possibly. Chris walks through the possible reasons why, and points to the stock markets...

New Blood Plasma Treatment for Coronavirus

As  posted to the Peak Prosperity YouTube Channel on February 15, 2020 (Run time 19 min 39 sec) In Update #23, on the Wuhan New Coronavirus (now officially "Covid-19"), Chris Martenson reports: "Finally, some good news? While the Coronavirus continues its spread throughout China and elsewhere in the world (we now have the first confirmed case in Africa), we are hearing about an encouraging development on the treatment front. Chinese hospitals are reporting success treating severely sick patients with the blood plasma of those who have recently recovered. At least 11 patients treated this way went from 'critically ill' to much improved in just 24 hours. This is not an uncommon form of treatment, so it's a process the medical establishment knows how to successfully replicate. The big questions now...

Coronavirus Re-Infection May Be Deadlier

As  posted to the Peak Prosperity YouTube Channel on February 14, 2020 (Run time 35 min 05 sec) In Update #22, on the Wuhan New Coronavirus (now officially "Covid-19"), Chris Martenson reports: "While China is ground zero for this epidemic, Japan is now experiencing a bloom of coronavirus cases. With nearly 40 known people now infected, Japanese officials fear that a 'silent outbreak' is underway and that many more people are catching and spreading the disease.  Most of the new cases are of people with no connection to China, signaling that the virus has now gained a foothold in the local population. In other breaking news, not only does it seem that it's possible to contract the virus more than once, but if you do, the second time can be...

Filing Your Taxes Early Can Minimize Identity Theft

The IRS opened the 2019 individual income tax return filing season on January 27. Even if you typically don’t file until much closer to the April 15 deadline (or you file for an extension), consider filing your taxes early this year. The reason: You can potentially protect yourself from tax identity theft — and you may obtain other benefits, too. Tax identity theft explained and how filing your taxes early can help In a tax identity theft scam, a thief uses another individual’s personal information to file a fraudulent tax return early in the filing season and claim a bogus refund. The legitimate taxpayer discovers the fraud when he or she files a return and is informed by the IRS that the return has been rejected because one...

Is The Coronavirus Now Unstoppable?

As  posted to the Peak Prosperity YouTube Channel on February 13, 2020 (Run time 19 min 26 sec) In Update #21, on the Wuhan New Coronavirus (now officially "Covid-19"), Chris Martenson reports: ". . . the scientific research on covid-19 (the new name of the Wuhan Coronavirus) continues to reveal what a huge challenge containing this virus is. A new report from Los Alamos Labs calculates its R0 at between 4.7 to 6.6. That is massively contagious! It's little wonder then why we're seeing more and more reports of doctors and health workers falling sick, despite using proper PPE and contamination protocol. China, which bumped up the number of total infected within the country by 33% last night, is clearly facing a public health nightmare of epic proportion. As...

Coronavirus threat greatest in densely populated environments

As  posted to the Peak Prosperity YouTube Channel on February 12, 2020 (Run time 10 min 27 sec) In Update #20, on the Wuhan New Coronavirus (now officially "Covid-19"), Chris Martenson reports: "The Coronavirus continues its spread through China and surrounding Asian countries. The data increasingly show that this virus is wickedly contagious, especially in crowded environments where population density is high -- like the densely-packed buildings in cities. As a frightening example: in Japan, a health worker was infected while inspecting a quarantined cruise ship, despite wearing a hazmat suit and taking standard precautions. On the more positive side, we are hearing "success" stories from those who have now recovered from the virus. These are mostly folks who had less serious cases, which is around 80% of those...

Employers Must Disclose Retirement Income to Employees

As you’ve probably heard, a new law was recently passed with a wide range of retirement plan changes for employers and individuals. One of the provisions of the SECURE Act involves a new requirement for employers that sponsor tax-favored defined contribution retirement plans that are subject to ERISA.  Soon, employers must disclose retirement income to employees.  Specifically, the law will require that the benefit statements sent to plan participants include a lifetime income disclosure at least once during any 12-month period. The disclosure will need to illustrate the monthly payments that an employee would receive if the total account balance were used to provide lifetime income streams, including a single life annuity and a qualified joint and survivor annuity for the participant and the participant’s surviving...

Potential for a Coronavirus Vaccine

As  posted to the Peak Prosperity YouTube Channel on February 11, 2020 (Run time 22 min 57 sec) In Update #19, on the Wuhan New Coronavirus (now officially "Covid-19"), Chris Martenson reports: "After updating on the latest case information, this video explains what a cytokine storm is, how that actually is the cause of harm, and additional troubling information that nCoV (now "Covid-19") spreads through the air. Can a vaccine be developed soon? Well, a prior attempt to create one for SARS ended up doing more harm than good in animal models. This means we may need to temper our hopes for a quick vaccine and allow the process to run. It may take a while - a year or more? Which means people need to be ready to hunker...