Category: Economics & Investing

What if TEOTWAWKI Arrives as a Slow Gradual Boil?, by LongJim

Sure we’ve watched  the  new television series Revolution, with their heroine and her post-SHTF world amazingly perfectly coifed hair-do. The series based loosely on an end of the world  scenario built around a “Sudden” abrupt change” a la the Dies the Fire novel series [by S.M. Stirling]. All power suddenly goes poof, and nothing electrical works, society collapses, and we’re all back to the age of bow and arrow, knives, and, weirdly deviating from the Dies The Fire premise, good old black powder front-stuffing rifles. Militias, which are all always portrayed by Hollywood, as evil, dictatorial, and brutally repressive, run …


Economics and Investing:

H.L. sent this bit of news from England that illustrates the Green crowd’s disconnect from reality: Street lights turned off in their thousands to meet carbon emission targets–Huge swathes of Britain are being plunged into darkness as more and more streetlights are switched off by councils and roads authorities. Economist Michael Pento Warns of Inevitable Financial Collapse: “The Real ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Is The Coming Currency And Bond Market Collapse.” Where Should Gold Be Based On Inflation? Items from The Economatrix: The One Headwind That Could Stymie The US Economy Recovery Schiff:  Think Gold’s Pricey?  Wait ‘Til It Hits $5,000 Will …


Global Economic Collapse: Causes and Some Potential Outcomes, by C.D.W.T.

I believe the global economy stands on the brink of meltdown. The immediate trigger of this collapse is the European Debt Crisis, but the build up to this catastrophe has been building for years and decades. Three of the major drivers of Global economic growth: the US, Europe, and mainland China , are all on the verge of economic slowdown, if not outright collapse. Usually, if one region of the globe is contracting other regions are growing and able to take up the economic ‘slack’. For the first time in modern history, all regions are slowing at once. This is …


Economics and Investing:

Part I: The Road To Bullion Default, and Part II. R.C. sent: Thirteen American Cities Going Broke Reader Jim W. sent: Switzerland Prepares Army for Euro Zone Fallout Items from The Economatrix: The Next Stock Market Crash Will Be Bigger Than “Black Monday” Orders For US Capital Goods Stagnate As Spending Slumps 230 Hedge Funds Suddenly Cried Out In Terror And Were Suddenly Silenced John Williams:  Dollar Sell-off And Hyperinflation By 2014


Economics and Investing:

Is The World Abandoning The U.S. Economy? Phoenix Capital Research outlines why Spain is Totally 100% Beyond Saving G.G. flagged this: Over $60,000 in Welfare Spent Per Household in Poverty Items from The Economatrix: Marc Faber:  US Stocks Could Fall 20% Buffett:  “No Question” Global Economy is Slowing Connelly:  The Countdown to the Fiscal Cliff Has Begun Sales By US Mint Of Silver Outpace Gold Over Fifty-Fold


Letter Re: Circulated Pre-1965 Silver Coinage Pricing

James, So I found a reputable dealer here in town, went to the store, He asked what can I do for you? I said how many pre-’65 silver coins do you have? A big smile on the owners face and he gets up from his desk walks behind a partition, and comes back with three boxes of loose coins. Half dollars, quarters and dimes. I ask what is the going rate and he told me 23.25 times face value.  I asked how much $2,000 would buy me. He calculated $86.80 in silver coin. He asked me why I was buying, …


Economics and Investing:

Rampant Recycling Fraud is Draining California Cash C.D.V. suggested: FAQ for Hyperinflation Skeptics Food Stamp Nation: What a Modern Day Bread Line Looks Like (Infographic) Items from The Economatrix: DeMark Sees S&P 500 Index Peaking ~1,480 Before Tumble Fed Calls Economic Growth “Moderate” While Maintaining Bond Buying Homes Sales Rising to Two-Year High Spur U.S. Growth Euro-Area Recession Deepens as Manufacturing Shrinks Economy


Economics and Investing:

G.G. suggested this: Fed considers upping QE3 size and language The ultimate tangible? Here is an asset that isn’t “created” by a Federal Reserve and US Treasury collusion: Iowa Farmland Sets Sales Price Record. (Thanks to Dan T. for the link.) Jim Rickards – Currency Wars Simulation. (Thanks to Rick A. for the link.) J.B.G. sent this news item: Bundesbank slashed London gold holdings in mystery move Items from The Economatrix: The Good Old Days Are Over Fabian Calvo:  Massive Foreclosures After Election 9 States With Sinking Pensions Good Economic Data Meets Bad Earnings-Which One Is Wrong?


Economics and Investing:

R.B.S. sent: Across Corn Belt, Farmland Prices Keep Soaring Brad in Texas spotted this: US may soon become world’s top oil producer The Next Stock Market Crash Will Be Bigger Than “Black Monday” PIMCO Recommends Hard Commodities To Weather Inflation Items from The Economatrix: IMF’s epic plan to conjure away debt and dethrone bankers We Have Been Warned – Part 2 The Demise of Cash World “Close” To Recession:  Stanley Fischer


Economics and Investing:

Highest (and Lowest) State & Local Tax Burdens Bank of Canada Fires Shot Across Bow, Says “Withdrawal of Stimulus Will Likely be Required” Hot Off the Press: Fed to Print $470 Billion in 2013. Note the mention of increased demand for $100 bills, going overseas. Items from The Economatrix: Jim Sinclair:  Change In Spread Management By Bullion Banks Will Send Gold Prices $3,500-$12,400 Weimar:  Here’s What We Know About The Hyperinflation Horror That Haunts Europe Today Suddenly, Everyone on Wall Street is Taking the “Red Pill” of Economics Marc Faber:  Western World In “Colossal Mess” In 5-10 Years


Attitude Adjustment, by Dena M.

As a single mother of two I know and live the word budget all to well. My income is limited and I have wasted a lot of time and money because I was too focused on getting ‘only the best.’ I quickly realized that the path I was on was getting me nowhere. I began to look at past purchases and realized that a lot of my purchases were unnecessary and quite frankly irresponsible. If I wanted to better guarantee the safety and sanity of myself and my young children, I needed to take a different path to self-sufficiency and …


Economics and Investing:

When I last checked, spot platinum had plummeted to $1,569 per ounce, while gold was more resilient at $1,707. This disparity is attributable to the platinum price being driven by its industrial uses. (And the global industrial forecast presently looks grim.) But, as I’ve mentioned before: whenever you can buy platinum for less than the price of gold, it is a good time to diversify your holdings. (Geologically, platinum is 16 times more rare than gold, so in most years it sells for a 20% to 150% premium over gold. The times that platinum has sold for less than gold, …


Letter Re: Observations on the Price of Milk

Dear Editor: In the 1880s milk sold for $0.56 per quart or $2.24 per gallon which at the time was 0.112 oz of gold per gallon of milk. To put that in perspective today, it would cost $190 for a gallon of milk. So if you had a cow producing 1 gallon per day 10 months out of the year, it would have been the equivalent of having $57,000 / year in revenue today. (You have significant capital and labor costs gathering hay and water for just one cow not to mention the distribution costs and short shelf life). At …


Economics and Investing:

Is A Debt Jubilee The Next Big Meme? The World Is Moving Closer To A Full-Blown Currency War Just Like The Great Depression of The 1930s. Repo Man Goes to Ghana to Tow Away Argentinean Navy’s Flagship Eric G. sent: 10 nations that control the world’s gold Unless We Act, High-Frequency Trading Will Crash The Stock Markets Items from The Economatrix: Existing U.S. Home Sales Decline As Supply Drops Weekly Jobless Claims Drop Proves To Be Short-Lived Morgan Stanley Posts Loss in Q3 on Debt Valuation Adjustment


Economics and Investing:

Keith Weiner: ‘I Don’t Think The System Can Survive, We’re On The Road Now Where The System Collapses, Everybody Will Be Killed’ Matt H. recommended this 4-minute video (auf Deutsche, but with English subtitles): A Grim But Realistic Prognosis Of What Lies Ahead For The European Union. (Dictatorship ahead?) Items from The Economatrix: Not Just Gas!  Check Out The Drastic Price Increases On 21 Everyday Items GE, McDonald’s Give Wall Street A Black Eye On ’87 Crash Date Firm Dollar, Weak Euro Crimp US Industrials’ Sales “Fiscal Cliff” May Be Bigger Than You Think