Category: Economics & Investing

Lee H. sent this: China cutting rare earth exports to the world by 10+%. China provides 97% of rare earths to the world. Peter Schiff: Home Prices Are Still Too High. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) Steve C. sent a link to an article quoting Marc Faber: Long-Term US Treasurys Are ‘Suicidal Investment’ Items from The Economatrix: Fewer Join Unemployment Rolls; Good Sign for 2011   Stocks Down Slightly As Investors Lock In 2010   Oil Settles Below $90 On Government Supply Report   

C.T.L. sent this: Bailed-Out Banks Slip Toward Failure. From The Daily Bell: Brownian Schism–Ellen Brown Restoring Credit with a Publicly-owned Bank: The Model of the Bank of North Dakota. The article begins: “Neither states in the U.S. nor those in the eurozone can print their own money, but they can own banks, which can create bank credit on their books just as all banks do.” El Jefe Jeff E. suggested this Wall Street Journal report: The Price of Silver is Soaring. Items from The Economatrix: Silver Will Be Worth More Than Gold   If You Haven’t Bought Silver Yet, Read …

The UK inflation genie is out of the bottle Grain Prices Heading Higher In 2011 On Tight Supplies, Rabobank Says More from our friends in Appenzell, at The Daily Bell: Inflation Heard Round the World Ex Shell president sees $5 gas in 2012 Gulf CEO: Oil May Near $150 a Barrel by Summer

Life imitates art, right down to the terminology: ‘Doubling Up’ in Recession-Strained Quarters. (Thanks to Shawn M. for the link.) Bailed Out Banks on Brink of Bankruptcy — Again John R. sent these two items by Dave Cohen: Borrow Like There’s No Tomorrow  and The Debt Countdown Begins     Rosenberg: Housing Double-Dip Straight Ahead Items from The Economatrix: After Holiday Spree, Doubts About Economy Linger   Two Charts Which Tell The Whole Story   Open Interest In Silver Continues To Rise / Troubles In Major US Cities   Silver Is The Biggest Sleeper Of All   $500 Silver And …

And Now, Here’s The First 11 State Pension Funds That Will Run Out Of Money. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) Reader Jonathan C. pointed us to this: Outraged Yet? What if Fed Buys Munis? (I suspect that the MOAB will end only at the point of national bankruptcy and collapse of the U.S. Dollar.) Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Flat as Wall Street Shrugs Off China Rate Move   Oil Holds at $91 Per Barrel   East Coast Blizzard Chills End of US Holiday Shopping Season   Second Crisis Feared if Interest Rates Kept Low   US Changes How …

Senator Coburn: Control Government Spending or Face ‘Apocalyptic Pain’ Quantitative Easing 2 as Projected and Announced After 62 Years, a First for Harlequin: A Personal Finance Book, The Frugalista Files. “Written by former Miami Herald personal finance blogger Natalie McNeal, is a diary a 34-year old attempt to pay off her credit card debt — ‘without giving up the fabulous life.’” Items from The Economatrix: Ted Butler:  A Show Stopper “Commodity Super Cycle” Ripples Into China   Naked Emperor and the Conspiracy of Silence

Jeff Gundlach: The US Economy Is A Complete Horror [Slides] (A hat tip to Yishai for the link.) Fresh Humiliation for Eurozone as China says it will bailout debt-ridden nations. (Thanks to Jonathan C. for the link.) Robert Kiyosaki’s commentrary: The Eye of the Recession’s Storm Items from The Economatrix: Bloomberg Counters Gold’s Run With Absurd, Baseless Hit Piece   Treasuries’ Worst Drop In 2010 Driven By Central Bank Sales   Top Economists Debate The Crisis:  “Clinging to the Euro Will Only Prolong The Agony” 

News from England: Cost of the Weekly Shop Set to Rocket Next Year Reader F.B. notes: “I purchase bulk whole grain for animal feed in Kuna, Idaho. I bought Bulk dried corn in January, April & August at $12 per hundred weight, but on Dec 22 it was $13 per hundred. And I bought soft white wheat. It was formerly priced at $11 per hundred. The price at my most recent purchase in December was $1 per hundred.” Bolivia hikes gasoline prices 73 pct; protests hit. Big Freeze Thieves Target Heating Oil As Prices Soar And Families Wait For New …

Mo sent this: Alabama Town’s Failed Pension Is a Warning Sue C. sent this item from Yahoo Finance: 16 U.S. cities that could face bankruptcy in 2011 M.M. suggested this news item: New Interest in Turning Gas to Diesel. (But you have to wonder about the EROEI efficiency!) Items from The Economatrix: Unemployed Get Another Jobless Benefit–Yoga   Americans Made Less in 2009; Minimum Wage Set to Rise in 2011   In Tough Economy, Santas Are Also Suffering   In Tough Economic Times, Bodyguard Business Is Booming 

For Recession Victims, Gold Mining Pans Out From C.D.V.: 60 Minutes segment: “State Budgets: Day of Reckoning” Goldman Sachs Guru Sees 2011 as ‘the Year of the USA’ Goldman’s Jim O’Neill shot to fame by predicting the staggering rise of emerging-market economies like the BRIC nations, Brazil, Russia, India and China. But 2011, he says, “will be the beginning of a new phase in which the U.S. has strong GDP growth.”    Items from The Economatrix: Sales of Previously Occupied Homes Up in November   Oil Tops $90 as Government Says Crude Supplies Shrank   Citigroup Fears Fresh Wave of …

I recently took the tax hit and cashed out my Gold Eagle IRA that had been administered by GoldStar Trust (the assumed the accounts of American Church Trust). I did so because I suspect that precious metals IRAs will be nationalized before I hit retirement age. I’m presently 50 years old. Yes, I know that there is a huge tax hit. But thankfully that tax bite won’t be too painful, since I paid less than $500 per ounce for most of that gold, back when I was working in the corporate world. I then took most of those gold bullion …

B.B. flagged this piece at Zero Hedge: Nordea’s Chart of the Week – Collapsing US Import Demand AmEx (American Ex-pat) sent this bit of gloomage $2 Trillion debt crisis threatens to bring down 100 US cities Over at the It’s All About MunKnee blog: The U.S. Dollar: Too Big to Fail? Items from The Economatrix: Bernanke Denies Printing Money.  Mogambo Not Convinced.   Will Congress Delete Mortgage Deduction?   Higher Gasoline Prices May Linger Into 2011   Oil Prices Climb Amid Cold Snap  

KAF sent us this: Facing Closure, U.S.’s Largest Sleeping Bag Maker Seeks Relief From Free Trade Loophole. (JWR Adds: Meanwhile, Wiggy’s, a sleeping bag manufactures that produces all of their products in the U.S. at their small Colorado soldiers on, seeking no handouts or special treatment. This SurvivalBlog advertiser deserves your business!) Reader R.M. sent this: Moody’s slashes Irish debt to three grades above junk. Ouch! So what will a Punt be worth, if Ireland is ejected from the Euro circle? And what does this tell us about the indebtedness of the U.S. government? John R. recommended this piece over …