Category: Economics & Investing

I recently had the opportunity to see the 2010 documentary titled “Inside Job“, via a rented Netflix DVD. It describes the background and aftermath of the 2008 global credit crisis. I highly recommend it. We are still paying for the mistakes (and crimes) described therein, as the bailout of the financial sector and bubble re-inflation continues, to the tune of $85 billion per month, via Quantitative Easing (QE). Regulators have done nothing to rein in the risk created by the global derivatives casino, which is now even bigger than in 2007. The Fed and the Treasury are busy re-inflating the …

IRS: Cheapest Obamacare Plan Will Be $20,000 Per Family. India’s coin shortage worsens. Gresham’s Law is showing its hidden hand. (Thanks to Diana for the link.) Peter Schiff – Whatever the Fed Does, Gold Will Rally! US Economy Already Ruined. Schiff posits that the current “recovery” is artificial and the that Fed will increase Quantitative Easing. In the long run, interest rates must rise. Schiff foresees more QE, larger deficits, and another currency/sovereign debt crisis, so he is quite bullish on gold. G.G. flagged this: U.S. disability rolls swell in a rough economy Items from The Economatrix: How The Fed’s …

Travis Brown of How Money Walks On Fox Business: Is It Worth Moving To Another State To Save On Taxes? Brown says that taxpayers worth $2 Trillion have already moved. Note that $45 billion in net worth has moved out of California, primarily to Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. The interactive web app at Brown’s site is fascinating. Speaking of voting with our feet, see the report: Location Matters, published by the Tax Foundation. Michael Noonan of Edge Trader Plus: Gold And Silver – Fed Taper? Never! Never, Never, Ever The U.S. Economy Is Close To Imploding X22 Report: …

James W. recommended: Derivatives, The Gift That Keeps On Taking. [JWR’s Comment: I’ve been warning my readers about derivatives since 2006. That was two years before derivatives CDOs torpedoed the real estate market and triggered a recoveryless recession with bailouts that have doubled the national debt and tripled our money supply. Ironically, the magical smokescreen “solution” to the ongoing recession (actually just a forestalled Depression) has been Quantitative Easing, which creates $85 billion per month out of thin air, mostly by means of buying up Mortgage Backed Securities (MBSes), which are derivatives!] The Never-Ending Charade Of Debt Ceiling Fights Items …

Stocks are about to plunge, Wells Fargo warns Marc Faber Warns “The Endgame Is A Total Collapse – But From A Higher Diving Board Now” Michael Snyder: The Greatest Debt Crisis The World Has Ever Seen Is Coming Items from The Economatrix: Pension Disaster Looms Over The Horizon: In 1980, 60 Percent Of Americans Participated In A Pension Program. Today It Is Less Than 10 Percent And The Amount Saved For Retirement Is Startling. The Percentage Of Americans That Consider Themselves To Be “Lower Class” Is At An All-Time High Jobless Claims Fall To 7-Year Low, But …

G.G. flagged this: The typical American family makes less than it did in 1989 10 worst economies in the world. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.) Median Household Income Has Fallen For Five Years In A Row Items from The Economatrix: Prepare For Tough Times If Your Job Has Anything To Do With Real Estate Or Mortgages United States Sets Another Food Stamp Record: Households On Food Stamps At New Peak And More Americans Live In Poverty Compared To The Entire Population Of Spain A Measurement Of Our Impoverishment

Gold Is Not A Safe Haven? Tell That To People In Indonesia U.S. on ‘unsustainable’ budget course: CBO Fed Says: No Taper. [JWR’s Comment: At this point, tapering from the artificial liquidity of “QE To Infinity” would spike interest rates, send the bond market into a tailspin, cause a derivatives tremor (if not a full tsunami), and crash the real estate market. Ben Bernanke has firmly backed himself into a corner. Ben will wean himself of QE about as quickly as your local crackhead will wean himself from his addiction.] Don’t say you weren’t warned: Mulligan Mint Files For [Chapter …

Investment Banker Alpert: ‘Massive Deflationary Forces’ Lurks Money Versus Currency – Australian Comedian Michael Connell’s View 25 Fast Facts About The Federal Reserve Reader “Subman762” wrote to warn: “There have been some fake Chinese silver plated copies of Northwest Territorial Mint’s Stagecoach silver bar circulating on eBay. The corner radii are a little off and the fakes come in plastic holders that open,while the genuine ones are sealed. I was unfortunate enough to buy some of them and they are very convincing. A scratch test quickly revealed their plated nature and the acid test produced mixed results, due to some …

Billionaire Eric Sprott: Gold is going to $2,400 by next summer Israeli government reportedly mulling Bitcoin tax For a limited time, Northwest Territorial mint is offering their divisible “Stagecoach Silver” coins for as little as 65 cents over spot. G.G. suggested: ‘Follow the Money’: NSA Spies on International Payments Items from The Economatrix: Jobless Claims Fall To 7-Year Low, But … Foreclosure Crisis Drawing To A Close

Fed set to unveil tapering of asset purchases next week. [JWR’s Comment: Don’t be surprised if you hear that this decision is quietly rescinded, just a few weeks from now. Free money is more addictive than crack cocaine. And I’m sure that TPTB realize that any substantive “tapering” would throw the credit market into a tailspin. Merely talking about tapering is much more comfortable to the banksters. This is something akin to your local crackhead talking about gradually giving up his addiction–and just as likely.] G.G. suggested: More Americans Struggle to Afford Food Reader “Dollardog” recommended this: An empty storefront, …

CFPB’s data-mining on consumer credit cards challenged in heated House hearing Gainesville Coins has produced a handy infographic on how to spot circulating silver U.S. coins. (Statistically, your best bet is to search rolls of half dollars. Ask for a few rolls, the next time that you go to your bank.) Items from The Economatrix: US Income Gap Soars To Widest Since “Roaring 20s” August Jobs Report:  Hiring Continues As Unemployment Falls An Alarming Jump In “Job Losers”

Reader Rick D. spotted this over at Zero Hedge: GLD ETF Investors Unable To Get Physical Gold. Here is a key quote: “[Hedge fund manager Grant] Williams warned that the massive and escalating paper claims on physical gold at COMEX warehouses will create an explosion in the price of gold. Paper claims on gold are now at 55 to 1 meaning that there are contracts worth 55 ounces for every one ounce of actual physical gold in the COMEX warehouses.” Singer Joni Mitchell foretells an economic collapse. (Skip forward to 4:20.) Items from The Economatrix: Employers Hoarding Labor: Here’s Why …

Record $175 Billion Due Makes Banks Worst Losers Conservative poll: Internet tax bill unpopular Greek unemployment rises to record 27.9 percent in June Items from The Economatrix: US Fed Expected to Forge Ahead with Modest Cut to QE3 Alcoa, Bank of America, and Hewlett Packard To Be Dropped From The Dow Why The Dow Is Getting A Makevoer And What It Means For The Economy

TANSTAAFL, Butter and Silver A new digital ecology is evolving, and humans are being left behind Items from The Economatrix: The Number Of Private Sector Jobs Fell By 278,000 Last Month But The Economy Is Getting Better? Jobs Figure:  Worse Than The Headline Number COMEX Default Risk As Gold Inventories Plummet 36%