Category: Economics & Investing

From The Appenzell Daily Bell: More Sovereign Defaults Loom? Brett pointed us to some great Afterburner commentary on the “carbon credits” nonsense as well as personal initiative versus Nanny Statism: Flying Solo: Choose Freedom Over the Nanny State. I warned you, folks! U.S. Sales Tax Rates Hit Record High. (Thanks to Loren for the link. OBTW, I expect even more tax rate increases as the recession deepens, and more states face crises.) Williams: Expect Hyperinflation Within The Next Five Years. (Thanks to H.H. for the link.) S.M. liked this piece of commentary about the national debt and precious metals by …

JDD sent this item: China ready to end dollar peg. The article begins: “The head of China’s central bank has given the strongest signal yet that the country will move away from pegging its currency to the dollar, but he said any changes would be gradual.” Brian B. sent this news story that illustrates that the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) won’t stop growing: Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss. I found this linked at The Drudge Report: Congressional estimates show grim deficit picture. Jeff B. offered this for the No Great Surprise Department: IRS to Track …

Chad S. suggested this commentary by economist Bill Bonner: Losing Control of the US Debt Machine EMB sent this: Iceland Voters Set to Reject Debt Deal. Items from The Economatrix: Our World Balances on a Sea of Debt More Consumers File for Bankruptcy Protection

Situational Awareness is simply knowing what is happening. Information enables us to make more intelligent or informed decisions. Informed decisions could be the difference between surviving or not surviving. Communications is the exchange of information between a sender and receiver. It could be a simple shout, Morse telegraph or a complex computer network. This article will focus on using radios that are available to the general public. All frequencies listed in the following, except AM broadcasting, are in megahertz (MHz) or million cycles/second. Radio and Television Broadcasting There is usually a radio playing in my home and vehicle. The radio …

“Card House” sent us this: CBO: National Deficit to Hit Nearly $10 Trillion Over Upcoming Decade GG flagged the latest Friday Follies news: Regulators shut down banks in 4 states, making 26 US bank failures this year Also from GG: National debt to be higher than White House forecast, CBO says Another from GG: Greece is a harbinger of austerity for all–The effects of the stimulus are wearing off, leaving us with a nasty hangover, says Jeremy Warner. E.M.B. sent us this piece by Mish Shedlock: Construction Developer Says Banks Suddenly Playing Hardball, Asks “Mish, What’s Going On?” Items from …

GG flagged this piece over at Zero Hedge: CLSA’s Chris Wood “In Five Years The US Dollar Paper Standard Will Collapse” Greg C. suggested a piece posted at Money News: Rogoff: U.S. Has Defaulted Before, May Do So Again Bob G. liked this piece: ‘Buy some gold every month’ as protection against falling currencies, says Marc Faber Items from The Economatrix: Gold Going Higher: Even George Soros Agrees With Marc Faber Is Moving Out of the US A Way to Escape the Coming Economic Collapse? Gold and Silver Supply: Get Some While You Can (The Mogambo Guru)

Economists: Another Financial Crisis on the Way. (Thanks to “Straycat” for the link.) Fronm Brett G.: Greenhouse Gas Taxes to Push Gasoline to $7 a Gallon? Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Falter After Drop in Pending Homes Sales US Economy Continues to Slow Pending US Home Sales Fall 7.6% in January Investing In Gold: Protection From Runaway Inflation Karl Denninger: Speculative Premium and Why the Markets Will Crash Darryl Robert Schoon: Will the US Devalue the Dollar?

C.M. suggested this alarming opinion piece by Niall Ferguson that ran in the Los Angeles Times: America, the fragile empire–Here today, gone tomorrow — could the United States fall that fast? Items from The Economatrix: Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Don’t Go Wobbly on Us Now, Ben Bernanke The Sovereigns and the Serfs Peter Schiff: Don’t Bet on a Recovery The Financial Battle For The Middle Class: Underemployment At 20%; 38 Million Americans On Food Stamps; Little Hiring; Can It Be A Recovery With No Jobs For This Long?

Reader John S. spotted this: California is a greater risk than Greece, warns JP Morgan chief I found an article linked in a piece by Dr. Gary North that illustrates just how deep a hole the Federal government is digging: $126.9 Billion and Counting. The charts in Nathan’s recent blog piece tell a thousand words. This is no ordinary recession. We’ve fallen off a cliff. George Gordon spotted this: Gold Hits Record High In Euros, Pound. Items from The Economatrix: Ron Paul Discusses Coming US Collapse Jim Rogers: Pound Could Collapse Within Weeks Housing Recovery Looking Shakier than Expected Consumer …

GG flagged this: WTO says global trade shrank 12 percent in 2009, biggest collapse since Second World War From Brian B.: Head of IMF Proposes New Reserve Currency – ABC News Another from GG: American reliance on government at all-time high Items from The Economatrix: Manufacturing Grows in February, Jobs Gauge Rises January Spending Increases But Income Growth Slows January Construction Spending Slides IMF Says New Reserve Currency to Replace Dollar is Possible Mish Shedlock: Short-Selling Restrictions “A Great Indicator of Imminent Market Crashes” Temporary Hiring: A Different Kind of Signal Jobless Benefits Begin Ending on Sunday

JDD sent this: Greenspan: Worst Financial Crisis Ever, Including the Great Depression. Blunt words: Bernanke delivers warning on U.S. debt. (Thanks to A. H. in Tucson for the link.) GG suggested this, over at Seeking Alpha: Something Very Strange Is Happening With Treasuries Kevin S. sent us two interesting map links: Bank Failure Map and Interactive Job Loss Map

Jeff Recommended an article over at George Ure’s site on the plight of a surveyor, which is a macrocosm of the national economy: And the Bottom Line Is? Don’t like the record number of foreclosures? Well, ban them! See: Obama May Prohibit Home-Loan Foreclosures Without HAMP Review This comes from Pravda, so I’m naturally dubious: China has confirmed the intention to purchase 191.3 tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund at an open auction, Finmarket news agency said. (Thanks to J.D.D. for sending the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Sultans of Swap: Explaining $605 Trillion of Derivatives Common Sense …

Damon alerted us to this: Concerns grow over China’s sale of US bonds; Evidence is mounting that Chinese sales of US Treasury bonds over recent months are intended as a warning shot to Washington over escalating political disputes rather than being part of a routine portfolio shift as thought at first. Kevin S. sent us this from John Galt’s blog: Looking at some deadly charts. Another link from Kevin S. is for a video posted at YouTube: Gerald Celente Predictions Jim D. forwarded an interesting article about the financial crisis in Greece and how it may be a window into …

The various state budget crises are increasing in severity. Here is the news from California, and Illinois. (Thanks to GG, for both links.) Reader “Burrito Boy” forwarded this warning of darker days in Europe: Greece leads Europe’s winter of discontent Michael H. suggested a piece by Professor Bainbridge: What, Me Worry? Credit Default Swaps on US Treasuries. Oh, don’t miss his advice at the end of the article: “Although sovereign defaults are hardly unknown, things would have to get incredibly bad for the US to default on Treasuries. And if they got that bad, you’d probably have been better off …