Category: Economics & Investing

Deleveraging from one bubble to another – Since the peak in 2008 $1.3 trillion in US household debt is gone but another bubble is brewing hidden under the rubble of the busted housing market. Precious metals market analyst Ted Butler: Transparency Impending Catastrophe: Spain Has Entered A Full-Scale Collapse And Created A Tremendous Amount of Instability Which Could Trigger An Imminent Lehman-Like Event And A Rerun of The Great Panic of 2008 B.B. sent this: Estimate of California’s real debt upped from $28 billion to… $335 billion In Forbes: Run On The Banks Would Make Fiscal Cliff Look Like A …

Sue C. sent: Analysis: As worst euro fears fade, U.S. fiscal cliff looms J. McC. sent: Corn and soybean supplies at an eight year low. Jim Rogers on Quantitative Easing: “We’re All Going To Pay A Horrible Price For This.” (Thanks to Jim W. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Former ECB Chief Economist Says ECB is in a Panic, as Czech President Warns the End of Democracy is Imminent Euro Crisis Even Staggers Irish Pubs Consumers Cut Credit Card Use For Second Month

G.G. flagged this: Household electricity bills skyrocket Also from G.G.: The Great California Exodus: A Closer Look In the red: From Stockton to Scranton, cities are going broke Kevin S. sent: EU heavyweights call for radical foreign and defence policy overhaul Items from The Economatrix: Financial Markets Tumble On News Of Unrest In Greece And Spain How High Oil Prices Will Permanently Cap Economic Growth Inflation Boogeyman Is Becoming Germany’s Worst Nightmare Nobel Winner Stiglitz Says Time Running Out For Europe’s Leaders Gerald Celente-The First Great War of the 21st Century Has Begun

R.B.S. recommended this article: A trip back to 1964 proves Silver creates wealth. (BTW, this has a nice correlation with the current opportunity to acquire nickels at face value.) Linda U. sent: World on track for record food prices ‘within a year’ due to US drought 13 States Now Considering Gold and Silver as Money. (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.) Where Does Money Come From? The Giant Federal Reserve Scam Americans Do Not Understand Items from The Economatrix: Deutsche Bank Issues A Terrible Warning on the Health of the Global Financial System Unemployment Rates Rise in Half of US …

p>Deustche Bank: Western Economies Are Screwed, And Investors Face A ‘Disturbing Paradox. The article begins: “In a new report entitled Gold: Adjusting For Zero, Deutsche Bank analysts Daniel Brebner and Xiao Fu paint an incredibly dark picture of the bind the global economy is in right now. Brebner and Xiao are pretty frank about how levered up the financial system is at the moment, and they warn that the next shock will be totally involuntary and unexpected.” John Mauldin: QE Infinity: Unintended Consequences Those pesky derivatives again: Deriving the True Size of U.S. Megabanks Is Far From Simple Items from …

James Wesley: I read with interest your article on saving nickels. My question to you is why are nickels better than quarters?  Is it not easier to store a larger sum of funds in the same physical space with quarters than nickels?  If they do devalue the [printed] US Dollar by a factor of 10, then a nickel will [effectively] be worth 50 cents but a quarter will be worth $2.50.    Regards, – Richard F. JWR Replies: As a hedge against a zero (or two) being dropped from the paper Dollar, nickels (the U.S. five cent piece) and clad quarters …

Jim W. suggested this: The Next Panic: Europe’s crisis will be followed by a more devastating one, likely beginning in Japan. Andre sent us this: Concerted QE – The Beginning of Hyperinflation   G.G. suggested: Fed Wants Inflation Now, Will Clean Up ‘Mess’ Later: El-Erian More Americans Added to Food Stamps Than Find Jobs Readers recommended two interesting essays over at Zero Hedge: Bank Of America to Fire 16,000 by Year End and What Mitt Romney Also Said: A Glimpse Of The Endgame? Items from The Economatrix: Household Worth in US Fell in 2Q as Stocks Dropped Dollar Index Headed …

By way of Tam at the View From The Porch blog comes this account of multiple mass inflations in Argentina: “¡Qué Quilombo!” Here is a key quote: “What seems peculiar about Argentina’s case is the government’s Herculean effort to ignore the immutable laws of economics in their pursuit of grand larceny. The country has seen five currencies in just the past century, averaging a collapse every twenty years or so. In 1970, the peso ley replaced the peso moneda nacional at a rate of 100 to 1. The peso ley was in turn replaced by the peso Argentino in 1983 …

Green Acres: The Case for Investing in Farmland Now Jim W. mentioned some commentary on empty retail store parking lots, over at The Burning Platform: Are You Seeing What I’m Seeing? QE3’s looming flaw: Big banks’ mortgage operations Marc Faber Warning: Store Your Gold Overseas Items from The Economatrix: Fed’s “QE-Infinity” Will Push Gold to $2,400 Deposit Flight From Europe Banks Eroding Common Currency 10 Shocking Quotes About What QE3 is Going to Do to America Gerald Celente:  Criminal Banksters Launching New World War

Jim W. sent: CITI: When Gold Hits $1790, Silver Will Go Bonkers G.G. flagged this: Tungsten-Filled 10 Oz Gold Bar Found In The Middle Of Manhattan’s Jewelry District Glenn Beck Uses Pies as an Illustration When Discussing Inflation and Tangible Hard Assets The latest from the LEAP think tank in France: GEAB N°67 is available! Global systemic crisis/October 2012 -The global economy sucked into a black hole and world geopolitics heated to white-hot: The seven key factors of an unprecedented double shock Items from The Economatrix: Jeff Berwick-0% Interest Rates Until The System Dies How QE3 Will Make The Wealthy …

G.G. flagged this headline: 8,786,049: Yet Another Record for Americans Collecting Disability Also from G.G.: Moody’s: More California cities at risk of bankruptcy–Credit agency sees greater chance of municipal bankruptcies, bond defaults in California Paypal suspends domestic transactions in Argentina From reader B.B.: For Every $1 Added to the Economy, Obama Added More Than $3 in Debt Peter S. sent: FedEx says economy is stalling, cuts outlook Bond Wars: Chinese Advisor Calls For Japanese Bond Dump Items from The Economatrix: Ron Paul:  “Country Should Panic Over Fed’s Decision” QE3:  Helicopter Ben Bernanke Unleashes An All-out Attack On The US Dollar

100 million credit card accounts are gone since 2008 – Credit card balances decline by 22 percent since their 2008 peak. R.C. sent this: Nevada man dies with $200 in bank, $7M in gold hidden inside home. I thought Nevada was the Silver State… But of course $7 million in silver would be too bulky. R.B.S. pointed me to a fairly well-balanced British documentary: The Great Euro Crash – 2012. (If you jump 25 minutes forward, you’ll see described the sneaky role that derivatives played in this debacle.) Items from The Economatrix: America Is Facing A Lost Generation:  Jim Rogers …

Does anyone really believe this Pollyanna pie-in-the-sky nonsense now coming from the mainstream media? With QE3, We All Win — Poor and Rich Alike. What balderdash! Let’s face facts, folks: The Federal Reserve has backed itself into a corner. They can’t do anything that will trigger higher interest rates. So the only arrow left in their quiver is monetization (“quantitative easing” is the gentler, sugar-coated name.) Their brilliant plan is to re-inflate the housing bubble by buying up $40 billion per month, indefinitely, in mortgage derivatives using make-believe money. This pure fiat “money” is coming from their Sunshine Pump. I …