Category: Economics & Investing

Kevin S. suggested this article: Concerned Roman Hoarded Gold to Protect Against Hyperinflation at the Outer Reaches of Roman Empire The Washington Times reports: Welfare spending jumps 32% in four years. (Our thanks to B.B. and P.D. who both sent the link.) P.D.’s comment: “As you’ve written before, when the EBT cards stop working, there will be blood.” Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher recently offered a stunning assessment about our policymaking central bankers down in Washington. They’re winging it. Items from The Economatrix: Why Are Gasoline Prices Suddenly Falling? Iran Renews Cyberattacks on US Banks Moody’s Downgrades World’s Oldest …

AmEx (American Expat) sent this: U.S. to Get Downgraded Amid Fiscal ‘Theater,’ Pimco Says Reader A.T. suggested this essay by Martin Armstrong: What Destroyed Rome was its Unfunded Government Employee Pensions The Daily Bell reports: Now Mexico Bans Cash. JWR’s Comment: Don’t mistake this new law as part of the so-called war on drugs or the war on terror. Rather, it is plainly a part of the war on privacy and individual liberty. Izzy Friedman: What Now For the Price of Silver?

Have you noticed that the spot price of platinum is now about $90 below the spot price of gold? This is a sign of major economic turmoil and is predictive of a very weak manufacturing sector in the year to come. This price inversion doesn’t happen very often, so when it does, take advantage of it, just as I did. I was recently able to pick up some 1/10th-ounce and 1/4-ounce slabbed U.S. Mint Liberty bullion platinum coins for just under the spot price of gold! But beware of fake Chinese platinum and gold coins that are now becoming commonplace! …

G.G. sent this: Study shows $1.2 trillion gap for public pensions Items from The Economatrix: Moment of Truth Approaching for Manufacturers Foreclosure Filings Drop to Five-Year Low in September Home Heating Oil Cost Forecast to Jump 19% This Winter Banks Still Raising Fees-And Hiding Them

Why doesn’t this give me a warm, fuzzy feeling? Drone demand could be big boost to economy Stagflation Warning: When You Look At What Happened In The First Half Of The 1970s, The Similarity Between Then And Now Is Frightening Reader B.B. sent a link to this at the oft-quoted Zero Hedge: China Central Bank Refuses To Join Global Print Fest, Warns About Inflation Risks Items from The Economatrix: Alert: Highly Sophisticated Large-scale Cyberheist Targets Customer Funds At Major US Banks Marc Faber:  Market Setting Up For “Serious Setback” The Real Fiscal Cliff Is Much Bigger Than You Think, Warns …

Panetta Sounds Alarm on Cyber-War Threat: “It is the kind of capability that can basically take down a power grid, take down a water system, take down a transportation system, take down a financial system.” Standard of living, meet falling US dollar – how a falling US dollar benefits banks at the expense of working Americans. Prosecutors seek criminal charges in London Whale fiasco. Charles Hugh Smith: About That “No Recession” Call… Items from The Economatrix: Roubini Foresees Spain’s Doomed Despite Bankia Nationalization The Horrific, Worst-case Scenario for Spain S&P Cuts Spain Crediting Rating To Near Junk Jack Welch:  I …

Reader P.D. sent: US Nears Fiscal Disaster: ‘Washington Doing Nothing’ Kurt sent this: No Currencies Will Survive What Lies Ahead, But That’s OK Mac Slavo: Warning Signs: FedEx to Slash Thousands of Jobs Citing “Weak Global Economic Conditions” Items from The Economatrix: Confidence Among Small US Businesses Cooled in September Price of Gold Could Reach $2,400/oz. By Next Summer Is Housing Recovering Like People Think It Is? Greece’s Debt Nightmare Just Got Worse

Peter Schiff: Riding Into the Sunset or a Brick Wall? Goldman Sachs President: We’re In A Unique Period of History Where ALL Major Economies Are In Deep Trouble “Legalized Plunder of the American People” – G. Edward Griffin Items from The Economatrix: Fed’s Fisher Says US “Drowning In Unemployment” High Cost Of Energy Leading Economy Into Recession Will The Chinese Remnibi Replace The US Dollar As The Primary Reserve Currency Of The World? Reality:  More People Requested Emergency Food Assistance Than Found Jobs

Greece Hits 25% Unemployment, Germany on Brink of Recession, France And Italy Could Face Another Credit Downgrade, Social Breakdown Is Taking Place Inside Europe… AmEx (American Expat) sent: IMF Sees ‘Alarmingly High’ Risk of Deeper Global Slump Reader Pat S. recommended: Radical Simplicity, or Life after the Great Disruption Those pesky derivatives again: Cynicism aside, why the NY AG’s MBS suit vs JPMorgan matters Items from The Economatrix: 16 Critical Economic Issues That Obama And Romney Avoided During The Debate India’s Stock Exchange “Closes” After State Bank “Flash-Crash” Food Is The New Oil And Land The New Gold Gasoline Prices …

Eric P. sent this from Der Spiegel: How Monetary Policy Threatens Savings A key quote: “Anyone who can afford it is seeking protection from inflation and fleeing to material assets.” G.G. flagged this: Nine in ten Scots ‘living off state’s patronage’ Also from G.G.: The dollar’s days as reserve currency are numbered Decline, Decay, Denial, Delusion, And Despair (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: The Largest Economy In The World Is Imploding Right Before Our Eyes The Inflation Rate Is A Lie Too People Are Flipping Out:  California Is On The Brink Of Collapse And Panic …

Trivest, a private equity firm headquartered in Florida, has wisely acquired Wise Foods, a maker of long-term storage foods. I found this over at Gold-Eagle: Unraveling Why A Fed President Just Suggested Doubling QE3 GammaRei sent: The Five Most Surreal Financial Apocalypses from History (Warning: Foul language.) Rich businessmen pulling out of France as tax-hit looms. (A hat tip to K.A.F. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: The Real Unemployment Rate Faber Warns “Everything Will Collapse” Money Printing Trumps Fundamentals Stock Exodus Continues As Investors Yank $5.1 Billion Out

Hyperinflation Hits Iran Like Weapon Of Mass Destruction. The article begins: “‘Better buy now,’ advised the rice merchant in Tehran. The retired factory guard took him up on the advice, buying 900 pounds of the stuff to feed his extended family for the next 12 months.” G.G., SurvivalBlog’s Poet Laureate, flagged this: Global Food Prices Set To Soar–Again. [JWR’s Comment: We can expect to see more instability in Third World countries, just like the last time there was a big price shock in agricultural commodities.] Also from G.G.: Big Bank Derivative Bets Nearly Double In Six Years European Economic Depression …

Wall Street’s Grand Old Man, Richard Russell declares: The Only Way Out Is to Devalue. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) Reader H.L. sent word of some ill-advised State Level Cap and Trade. H.L. call it “…the final nail in the coffin of the once Golden State.” G.G. suggested this piece at Tyler Durden’s oft-quoted Zero Hedge blog: Do the Swiss Know Something the Rest of Us Don’t? Also from G.G.: Greece ‘to run out of money’ Items from The Economatrix: California Cities In Fiscal Trouble “Conga Line” Warnings That A Massive Stock Market Crash Is Imminent Iran In Economic …

Those pesky derivatives: Task force slaps MBS-related charges against more banks The Other B.B. suggested this interview: Kyle Bass On The Federal Budget: “I Don’t Know How To Fix This”. Not surprisingly, Bass recommends getting out of dollars and into productive tangible assets. Real Homes of Genius – Silver Lake back in action with 4 garage duplex. Raging gas prices and luring in the next round of dreamers. At Forbes: Managing The Risks Of A Globalized Supply Chain Items from The Economatrix: Last Housing Crash Is Not Even Over But Bernanke As Set The Stage For The Next One Bill …