Category: Economics & Investing

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 …

Why Ben Bernanke Is Setting The Stage For Another Housing Crash   How QE3 and Higher Inflation Are Part of The Fed’s Master Plan 15 minutes of fun: CNBC: Jim Rogers vs. Marc Faber Items from The Economatrix: Gold Hits Record High In Euros And It’s Setting Up For Another Rally Top CEOs:  Fiscal Cliff Is Hurting Job Growth Fiscal Cliff Could Cost US Households An Extra US $3,446 In Taxes Bernanke Seeks Gains For Stocks In Push For Jobs Gold Fields Tells Miners To Pack And Go

Barter, anyone? For Spain’s Jobless, Time Equals Money. (Thanks to Kristina D. for the link.) Low Global Growth Is Worse Than Mega Sovereign Default: Slowdown Will Depress Corporate Earnings And Trigger Our Next Big Market Crash Rhonda T. sent: South African Economy Paralyzed As Miner Strike Spreads To Truck Drivers Items from The Economatrix: “You Better Look At Reality … And Understand What’s Coming Next 13 States Now Considering Gold And Silver As Money Why Your Money May Be At Risk After Bank Cyberattacks Water Prices Rise Sharply Across America; Double And Triple In Some Locales

Hyperinflation Has Arrived In Iran. Followed, not surprisingly, by riots in the streets. G.G. flagged this: Living Through a Currency Devaluation. JWR’s Comments: Norte Americanos are advised to learn from this preview of coming attractions. Zi sent: The Stock Market Is Heading For A Third Major Crash of The Century And Monetary Policy Is “USELESS” Under Current Bleak Conditions Reader Jim W. suggested this at Zero Hedge: The ECB – EUR22 Trillion Is Missing Items from The Economatrix: Hedge Funds Lagging:  Is “Enormous Unraveling” Near? Manufacturing Snaps Back:  Is It A Turning Point Or A False Positive? US Banks Hit …

Less than 900 days for hyperinflation in the US? A “Frightening Pattern” Indicate That We Are Heading To A Massive Economic Catastrophe Unlike Anything Ever Seen And Countdown Clock Is Quickly Approaching Zero Here it comes: Americans face $3,500 fiscal cliff tax hit Items from The Economatrix: Day of Rage in Greece as More Stringent Cuts Loom Eurozone Crisis:  Spain Inching Closer to a Meltdown Death Knells for the to Sharp Slowdown in Manufacturing Why Oil Prices are Likely to Slide Further

Dear James, I really enjoy your blog and try to read it every day. My husband and I live in New Jersey. We just sold our house in May and are renting for a year while we try to figure out where to move next. Unfortunately, our home lost a lot of equity so we only have $55,000 to use towards our next house. Do you believe it is better to pay cash for a house or is it wise to get a mortgage since interest rates are so low? Our original plan was to buy our next home with …

W.C.P. suggested this video: Why the U.S. Federal Budget CANNOT be Balanced. RBS sent another video link: America’s Book of Secrets – Fort Knox H.L. sent: Cronyism Is Destroying Spain’s Future Items from The Economatrix: Deleveraging from One Bubble to Another Bernanke is Now a Kamikaze Pilot Panic Cash Withdrawals in Spain Drain Banks; Greece-style Economic Implosion Now Imminent What Key Shipping Index Signals About the Economy

An update: A week ago I mentioned that the producers of the popular Silver Bullet, Silver Shield videos commissioned the minting one-ounce .999 fine silver medallions of their own design. They are being sold for as little as $2.99 over the spot price of silver. If you order yours using the link from SurvivalBlog, we will earn a small sales commission to help defray our considerable monthly bandwidth expenses. I’ve heard that they’ve now pre-sold more than half of their planned minting of 50,000 coins. Watch the spot price of silver carefully, and buy on the dip days! AmEx (American …

Eric Sprott talks precious metals on Squawk Box. Toward the end, he is asked about physical preparedness. Eric says: “Prudence is very much warranted.” (Thanks to SurvivalBlog’s G.G. for the link.) Faber Warns “Everything Will Collapse” G.G. sent this: USPS Prepares for Second Default in Two Months Bram suggested some good monetary analysis by Charles Hugh Smith: Why QE Won’t Create Inflation Quite as Expected Items from The Economatrix: The Truth About The Fiscal Cliff New Home Sales Dip, But Prices Hit 5-Year High Dr. Gary North:  Five Mainstream Economists Sound A Warning Europe Is Now In A Completely Unmanageable …

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