Category: Economics & Investing

William J. sent this: Texan investor hedging with $1 million in nickels. Does this sound familiar?) A Swedish newspaper reports: Germany has rush-ordered the printing of new D-Marks. (Thanks to J.B.G. for the link.) Darin H. mentioned this: Gerald Celente: The Crash will happen sometime this month Rhonda T. flagged this: “EU preparing bank rescues amid Greece doubts. Here is a key quote: “All roads now point to a mid-November crunch.” Italy downgrade deepens contagion fears over euro debt crisis. (Thanks to Al H. for the link.)

Things are looking more like my novels with every passing day. Here are the latest headlines… Stocks tank as Greece admits it won’t hit targets. Mentioned over at Don’t Tread On Me: 2011 US Mint Silver Set To Have Bigger Sales Than ’86 to ’92, combined! Are Hedge Fund Managers Dumping Gold Assets To Raise Cash? Four (4) Market Signs Signaling A Recession John R. kindly sent me a whole bunch ‘o links: The Dollar and Reserve Currency (Martin Armstrong)  Debt Men Talking (Richard Webb)   Batten Down The Hatches, A Big Storm’s Coming (Dave Cohen) The FINal Countdown (over …

World is heading for ‘Great Stagnation’, says Goldman “It’s Going to Get a Lot Worse”: ECRI’s Achuthan Says New Recession Unavoidable. (Thanks to Alan W. for the link.) J.B.G. sent this: Protectionism beckons as leaders push world into Depression Erik B. spotted this article: Greece to Miss Deficit Targets Imposed by Lenders as Part of Bailout Texas Bank Is Closed; U.S. 2011 Failures at 74. (Link courtesy of G.G.)

F.G. flagged this from The Wall Street Journal: House Is Gone but the Debt Lives On Max Keiser provides some manic comments on the European debt crisis, the Euro, bailouts, the ECB, the Fed and the potential loss of sovereignty for some nations on the European periphery. CNN: Forecast says double-dip recession is imminent. (Thanks to C.D.V. for the link.) Jonathan B. sent this: How to Stop a Second Great Depression. (Note that this is coming from globalist billionaire George Soros, so don’t be surprised to see “more government” as the proffered solution.) John R. sent the link to this interesting …

Doug Casey Answers The Hard Questions About Hard Times The latest economics animation by Omid Malekan is great: Inflation Explained. (The closing line was priceless: “In a world where cartoon bears on YouTube are the most reliable source of information, anything is possible.”) A bit of confirmation for one of my predictions in 2005 that was then called “alarmist”: No Rise in Home Prices until 2020: Bankers Items from The Economatrix: “Massive Jobs Shortfall” Predicted For Global Economy Fed Dissenter Says Latest Step Won’t Help The Economy Cash Is King No More, Gold Reigns Financial “Cataclysm” To Come; Gold To …

Chris Martenson: The Economy Is on The Ropes and Going Down–We are down to the wire in terms of time to prepare Miek F. flagged this bit of Agenda 21-style nuttery: Gas Tax Should Yield to Mile Fee as Cars Evolve: James M. Whitty Items from The Economatrix: Tightening The Noose:  France Bans Cash Sales of Silver & Gold Over $600 Wall-Street Protestors:  Over-educated, Under-employed, Angry Geithner Plan For Europe Last Chance For Catastrophe Consumer Confidence Remains Weak In September Stocks Rise For Third Day On Optimism About Europe

Commodities Are Down, But Far From Out Tulare County [California] walnut farmers fight theft. (Thanks to Sean B. for the link.) Kevin S. sent: A new supply risk index for chemical elements or element groups which are of economic value Items from The Economatrix: Silver Soars 26% In 26 Hours Denninger:  I Hope You Have Taken the Last Couple of Years to Prepare 10 Million More Mortgages Set to Default, Expert Says Global Financial Meltdown:  Investors Dump Nearly Everything Amidst Worldwide Market Crash Oil Wavers on Weak Home Sales

Chris D. recommended this piece over at Don’t Tread on Me: 12 Reasons Not To Fear September’s Gold And Silver Price Smackdown. JWR’s Comment: In this piece, Scott Wolf notes that the COMEX governors just raised margin requirements on gold, silver and copper again. They can keep manipulating the rules in the futures market, but they cannot stop the demand side of the physical market. In the long run that is what will prevail–even if the futures market is destroyed by outrageous margin requirements–a la Silver Rule 7.) G.G. flagged this: Fed Vice Chair: Economy worse than you think. Also …

Several readers mentioned a video that caused some jaw-dropping by the newscasters: Trader on the BBC says Eurozone Market will crash Reader R.J. wrote to mentIon: ” So just how is ‘Operation Twist’ supposed to fix the economy? One positive from it: It gave me a chance to buy some relatively cheap silver.” J. McC. pointed me to this: The €2 trillion fund to save the euro: The numbers keep getting bigger. When the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was created in May last year it was underwritten to the tune of €440bn (£384bn). Marty Weiss: Twelve (12) Giant U.S. …

I’m sure that most of you noticed that gold and silver took deep dips on Thursday and Friday. (Spot silver declined nearly 20%–almost $9 per ounce!) Then an odd thing happened last weekend: I attended a gun show deep in the American Redoubt. I was happy to see that there were four coin dealers that had rented tables there. I had brought some cash with me, hoping to buy some more silver. I also brought a few fractional gold coins to swap for silver, or perhaps even platinum. (Since spot platinum is presently priced below gold!) But my more realistic …

Pierre M. sent this: Bank of America is Becoming a “Counterparty Risk” Like Bear and Lehman Over at Fierce Finance: Banks downgraded, but is too-big-to-fail really over? G.G. sent a link to a noteworthy news article dated September 19th that I had missed: Israel Has Dumped 46 Percent of Its U.S. Treasury Bills; Russia 95 Percent Also from G.G.: Virginia regulators closed another bank, bringing the nationwide tally of bank failures to 72 for the year. Items from The Economatrix: Oil Falls Below $80 On Demand Concerns Global Leaders Struggle to Calm Recession Fears Signs of China Slowdown Add to …

FOREX Crunch recently noted: Everything is going against French banks: a senior figure said that there are “signs of an institutional bank run” in France that may be followed by retail accounts,  BNP Paribas is seeking for an investment in Qatar and a senior French EU official admits that the the government may need to help the banks. John R. kindly sent this piece: Is the US Monetary System on the Verge of Collapse? (David Galland of Casey Research) John T. pointed me to an article that illustrates that the IRS is getting desperate for revenue. “DaddyO” suggested an interesting look at …

Hello, I am a fairly new reader to SurvivalBlog.  I must say I enjoy reading it and have found a ton of useful knowledge here. I have a question If you have time to answer.  I have a large amount of old U.S. Coins and would like to refine the silver out of them myself.  Is the possible for a do-it-yourselfer? If so, what is the best process for this?  I am also considering melting down some old silverware and jewelry.  I would want to cast my own mini bars or silver coins for ease of storing and bartering.  I …

J.B.G. mentioned a recent piece by the ever-cheery Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Fear gauge enters the red zone. Bama Man sent this: Chicago Tower Year’s Largest Muni-Bond Default Rhonda T. sent this sign of the times: Spam Turns Serious and Hormel Turns Out More From The Washington Post: World Market Fall Sharply After Fed Action on Bonds (Thanks to Linda U. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Peter Schiff On Obamanomics:  “There Are Not Enough Open Minds In The Capitol To Keep This Ship From Sinking” S&P Downgrades Italian Sovereign Debt Rating; Fear of Contagion Spreads Implosive Fusion of Global Financial …