Category: Economics & Investing

B.N. suggest an essay by Charles Hugh Smith: Is America’s Social Contract Broken? EXography: 19 U.S. cities have proportionately bigger workforces than bankrupted Detroit. (Thanks to Mark A. for the link.) G.G. flagged this from Jim Sinclair: Comex Must Change Its Delivery Mechanism Soon Items from The Economatrix: Sales of Existing US Homes Unexpectedly Decreases Pump Prices Jump 12 Cents, AAA Sees Further Rise The Tip of the Iceberg Of The Coming Retirement Crisis That Will Shake America to the Core

George Friedman of Stratfor: Big Trouble in Big China. (Thanks to P.W. for the link.) Treasuries Not Safe Enough as Foreign Purchase Pace Slows Items from The Economatrix: Bernanke:  Congress Still a Risk to the Economy The Real Budget of McDonald’s Workers Home Building Slows in June

Items from The Economatrix: How Crude Oil’s Fast & Furious Rise Will Hit Consumers Hard US Outlook Raised By Moody’s Jobless Claims Fall Suddenly Why Gas Prices Are Likely To Keep Climbing

Reader James W. spotted this: IMF Economists Say The Economic Recovery Is A Fake H.L. sent us this: Now That Detroit’s Gone Bust, Is Your City Next? Items from The Economatrix: Food Stamps Are Corporate Welfare Europe: It’s Going to Get a Lot Worse Before It Gets Any Better Does It Matter That Americans Are ‘Subsidizing’ Astronomical CEO Pay?

JPM Eligible Gold Plummets By 66% In One Day To Just Over 1 Tonne, Total Gold At Fresh All Time Low Jim Rogers:  Beware The Man On The White Horse…” Items from The Economatrix: Big Drop In Housing Starts Suggests a More Shaky Recovery U.S. Outlook Revised by Moody’s to Stable on Deficit Cuts Leading Economic Indicators Index in U.S. Was Unchanged

As I’ve mentioned before, a big jump in interest rates could create chaos for the holders of many MBS derivatives. Here is an example of how just a small rate rise caused turmoil: Analysis: Bank of America’s interest-rate exposure may be worse than rivals. Do Western Central Banks Have Any Gold Left? Part III Detroit files for bankruptcy protection. (Is it just a coincidence that all of the city’s mayors for the past 50 years have been Democrats?) Speaking of Detroit, Commander Zero had some quite wry commentary. (Thanks to Gil in Montana for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: …

Peter Schiff: “I Think The Dollar Is Going To Collapse Before The Market Does” Over at Code Green: 70% of All Our Food Relies on Refrigeration C.D.V. sent: China reportedly planning to back the yuan with gold Items from The Economatrix: Yuan Hailed As The World Reserve Currency Karl Denninger:  An Economic Collapse That is Going to be Worse Than 1929 Mac Slavo: Brinks Vaults Are Being Depleted: “This Has the Appearance of a Run on the Bank”

I heard from the folks at Mulligan Mint that the one ounce American Redoubt silver coins, are still selling well, and they have cleared most of their order backlog. When I last checked they only had about 500 ounces in Redoubt coins left to fulfill, and they expected to mail all of those this week. But anyone placing orders henceforth can still expect delays of up to three weeks, during times of peak demand. (Whenever spot silver dips below $20 per Troy ounce, the floodgates open.) For some perspective: The U.S. Mint reported that it sold a whopping 27.6 Million …

Jumbo Mumbo Jumbo: Treasury: Debt Has Been Exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 Days. (Thanks to Darin Mc.C. for the link.) Fraud Confirmed: 100-Day Delay to Take Bullion Delivery in London Deutsche Bank Opaque Loans From Brazil to Italy Hide Risk It is sad to see The Daily Bell closing down. I’ve been a reader since back before their name was truncated. I’m also someone who observed the SEC’s merciless attack on Anthony Wile’s good name. (Lesser men would have called it quits, but to his credit, he persevered.) The good news is that all of The Daily Bell content will be …

SurvivalBlog reader V.H. suggested this interview with Doug Casey: You MUST get assets outside of the U.S. Der Gruppe Deutsche Börse’s MNI reports: China Government Advisor Says Economy In Crisis As Debt Costs Spiral. (Thanks to Andre D. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Game Over – “It’s All A Farce, The Fed & German Gold Is Gone”  The Flash Point Looms The Decline Of Breadwinner Jobs Has Resulted In The Longest Bread Lines In American History Fed Split In June On QE Timing; Bernanke Sees Easy Policy For Now

Five years of the Fed and Treasury Department’s forced Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) have badly distorted our economy, removing any pretense of a “free market.” All that we have left are markets on life support. With yields of less than 1/4 of 1%, passbook savings accounts are joke. Money market rates ranging from 0.40% to 0.85% aren’t much better. With ZIRP, local, state, and Federal government over-spending has had no serious consequences. But when rates eventually do spike, there will be a bloodbath. Bond yields are completely out of whack. Banks have been given unrealistically high reserves. So ZIRP …