Hi James,
First, thanks for sharing Mike [“Mish”} Shedlock’s recent article with the SurvivalBlog.com community. Like you, I’ve grown to trust his observations and analysis and I read his work as often as I read yours – daily.
I wanted to add a couple of comments, which will strengthen both Mish’s and your viewpoints concerning your observations on the potential for a nationwide banking panic.
First – is that [as mentioned,] the FDIC is preparing for this crisis right now, by hiring back some retirees, with specific experience in dealing with bank failures, as they are expecting a large number of banks to fail. This is, of course, very big news and we all know the obvious reasons why this announcement was so poorly lit by the mainstream shills.
Second, FDIC is no longer capable of insuring all of the coming bank failures, so it is astonishing to me that they can actually raise their limits on how much they can insure. This seems like a desperate attempt to head off a panic state. At this point in time, I see very little chance that this crisis can end without at least several major failures. Once everyone learns that FDIC cannot insure all which they claim they can, then it may be game over and a gargantuan panic far beyond anyone’s wildest expectations could, indeed, unfold.
They will reap what they sow. Regards, – HHH
Sir:
I earn my income from two primary sources, one from a “dot.mil” source and the other from a “dot.edu” source. I have made moderate progress on preps and other issues, but have one external factor that I cannot control very much, short of an unrealistic change in jobs (I will have earned my retirement in another five years, for example, from one of the jobs).
Both of my income sources require the use of [payroll] Direct Deposit. I cannot change that without changing my employer. I have some savings, cash and precious metals, but my regular income flow is purely electronic. Are there reasonable steps in that area I can take to protect myself from a banking crisis? Are there special vulnerabilities I should be aware of for this type of pay method? Thanks! – Todd in Virginia
JWR Replies: Anyone trapped in a “direct deposit only” payroll system has limited options in the event of a banking panic. If the banking panic is widespread or if there is a nationwide “bank holiday” declared, I suspect that many employers will revert to paper paychecks within a few weeks after the crisis begins.
The best thing that you can do is to have your direct deposit sent to a checking account that is in a relatively safe bank that has minimal exposure to subprime mortgage debt. For many years, I have recommended Weiss Ratings (now part of TheStreet.com) as an information source for judging the safety of banks and insurers, for my consulting clients. Marty Weiss and his staff do excellent research and, unlike Standard & Poors, they are truly independent and objective.
The only other thing that comes to mind is keeping the equivalent of three months worth of rent and important expenditures on hand in greenback cash or in very liquid assets (such as precious metals), at home, as a reserve. I realize that A.) Few readers have that sort of cash available, B.) You will be foregoing any interest income on the cash, and leaving it fully vulnerable to inflation, and C.) It will be vulnerable to theft. To minimize that latter risk, construct a Rawles “Through the Looking Glass” wall or door cache, or something similar.