Bill N. sent this very observant piece: Gold, Spam, and Ruger vs the S&P 500 [1].Bill notes “This is an interesting article, it even has a graph at the end comparing the S&P 500, gold, Hormel (makers of Spam), and Ruger Firearms for the last year.”
Insurance giant AIG (now 80% US government owned [2], thanks to a $125 billion bailout with taxpayer funds) is not out of the woods yet. Asset values are continuing to decline, creating more credit default swap (CDS) derivatives counterparty risk [3]. $300 billion in assets have already been affected. For some details, see this Wall Street Journal article Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG Aid [4]
Robert B. mentioned this piece by Richard Daughty (aka The Mogambo Guru): Golden Butter on Inflation Toasted Dollars [5]. Robert notes: “Recent comments in the media note that the current DJIA is at its lowest since 1997. But it’s worse than that. Mogambo Guru quotes Bob Chapman: … “since 1997, real inflation, as opposed to ridiculously understated official inflation, has raged at a minimum of 8% annually, and has soared as high as 14-16%. This means that you have lost a minimum of two thirds of your 1997 purchasing power”,…. It seems to me then, that the current DJIA is actually only one-third the level of 1997. In a word, “Yikes!”
DS spotted this: Gandhara is Latest [Hedge] Fund to Die [6]. Since October of 1997, I’ve been predicting that there will be successive quarterly waves of hedge fund failures and redemption suspensions [7]. I stand by that prediction. There are many more to come!
Items from The Economatrix:
Hedge Fund Hotel Yields Up Secrets [8]
Corporate America Giants Crumbling [9]
Worst is Yet to Come in Job Market [10]
The Truth Behind the Headline Unemployment Numbers [11]
The Bottom for Stocks is a Long Way Off [12]
The Markets Go Cliff Diving Again [13]
Financial and Economic Crisis Entering Panic Phase [14]
Martin Weiss: Beginning Now–The Panic Phase of the Economic Collapse [15]
When the Economy Bottoms Out, How Will We Know? [16]
Tent City Has Returned to Haunt America [17]
Recession Crime Wave Hits Britain, US Next [18]
“Run On UK” Show Foreign Investors Pull $1 Trillion Out [19]
IMF: 20% of UK GDP Spent on Bailouts
Argentina: This is What a Collapse Looks Like [20]
G7 Outlook Worsens [21]