James- I have started using Mara Helland [one of SurvivalBlog’s advertisers] as my CPA after finding her on your site. She is very helpful, very friendly, and very reasonable. There is also a major benefit to using her service as she understands the SurvivalBlog mindset and goals. Thanks for your help, – D.C.
The Army Aviator notes: “Just a head’s up, perhaps a sea change of some sort: Bloomberg[‘s televised financial news on Sunday] started off by saying that several Asian countries had pooled together a fund of $125 Billion to fight FOREX attacks against their currency but it didn’t seem like enough. Then they described Hillary’s visit to [mainland] China in an unusual way. Their comment: ‘We thought she was a presidential candidate but she’s just a bond salesman.’” From reader HPD comes this BBC news link: Is the US heading for a depression? The US economy is contracting sharply. Is there …
I was raised in a missionary family, on nine different mission fields around the world. At the age of nineteen, I went out to serve the Lord on my own in the former Soviet Union. I had no formal Theological training, but was accepted by the missionary societies of my denomination because of my experience under my father and my willingness to go to dangerous areas. I married, and my wife and I have now six children. A few years ago, due to some changes in my theology, I fell out of favor with my denomination and had to return …
Several readers sent this: Santelli’s Chicago Tea Party Gone in 60 Days: Citi and Bank of America Won’t Live to See May (A hat tip to KT for the link.) Another Friday FDIC bank failure notice: Citizens Bank, Corvallis, Oregon, Assumes All of the Deposits of Silver Falls Bank, Silverton, Oregon Items from The Economatrix: Stock Decline Hits Depression Levels Get Ready for Mass Retail Closings (220,000 stores may close) GM Break-up Close as Saab Files Bankruptcy No Bailout Can Mend the Economy Now. A quote: ” …the life of the depression is being deliberately extended in order to complete …
Justin sent us a link to an excellent documentary on the chain of events in the global credit collapse, with a bit of pro-interventionist coloring from PBS: Inside the Meltdown. Heather sent us this: Volcker: Crisis May be Even Worse than Depression Jim Willie nails it: Russia’s Post U.S. New World Order Blueprint ( A hat tip to KT for the link.) Luddite Jean in England sent us three bits of news of ill-portent: £2trillion – the terrifying total of our national debt… that’s £33,000 for every man, woman and child in Britain. — Car industry in meltdown as plant …
We’ll start with a bit of levity, to temper all the recent bad news: The Monster Crash. (Kudos to Richard at KT Ordnance for sending the link.) I’ve added 90-Day and 5-Year price charts for silver and gold to the bottom of my Investing page. Reader M.H. sent a reminder that anyone in the US that is expecting a tax refund on their state income tax should file their tax returns as early as possible this year. As states increasingly run into budget crises, some taxpayers that wait until April 15th to send in their tax forms may end up …
Mr. Rawles: I took your advice you posted last year and have been investing in some high cap magazines. I’ve bought about $2,000 worth since the [November 2008 presidential] election, and I haven’t had any second thoughts. Thank you sir, your advice is making me a tidy profit. The 75-round Romanian [RPK] drums that I bought for $135 each the day after the election are now going for $250 each. And the 31-round Glock 9 milly magazines that I paid $33.50 each for are now going for $65 each. Oh, I found +2 [magazine floorplate extension]s for those, so now …
James, A few interesting things happened in the market [on Tuesday]. This wasn’t in the market, but is relevant. Hearing lots of chatter generally about things moving to “the final phase”. “Gold is moving as the last phase of the crisis appears to have started,” said Martin Hennecke, associate director with Tyche Group in Hong Kong. I’m assuming that the last phase starts out with gold, silver, Treasury notes, and the dollar all moving up, together. (It is quite unusual for the dollar and gold to move together, even though that’s been the case recently.) Then at some point – …
Brett forwarded this item: Depositors turned away from Stanford banks Garth S. sent this New York Times news story link: Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down. Garth’s comment: “At least [in America] we don’t have debtors prison.” From Todd S.: Swift, steep downturn crisscrosses globe G.G. flagged this: Publishers See Red, Magazine Ad Pages Down 21.5% in Q1 Thanks to Robert B. for sending this: Sales Tax Time Bomb Explodes as Consumption in Freefall The Drifter sent us a link to this piece by Mish Shedlock: The Nationalization Train Has Left The Station FloridaGuy flagged this: Gold hits record …
In a recent edition of his Reality Check e-newsletter, my mentor Dr. Gary North mentioned this alarming piece posted in the Not A Sheep blog: The Disappearing £16.3-trillion. In the age of the Internet, it has become difficult for the Powers That Be to spike a news story! Laura and Garth were the first of a dozen readers to send this link: Kansas suspends income tax refunds, may miss payroll Ben H, sent this link to an interesting (and frightening) article at the Von Mises Institute: Printing Like Mad I noticed that spot silver and gold prices are solidly back …
The Old Yooper mentioned this FSU piece: Signposts Towards the Inevitable. The graph showing the upcoming second wave of ARM is particularly alarming. There will be some real ARM-twisting then! Thanks to G.G. for this piece: Irish government faces growing fears of debt default Steve S. recommended a video of a lecture on the history and nature of debt-based modern currencies, and their implications on freedom. DS spotted this: As U.S. Borrowings Rise, Treasurys Begin to Pop. As I’ve mentioned before, look for a big jump in Treasury yields as a key indicator that stagflation is ahead. Items from The …
Howdy James, I hope you and yours are doing well. I recently came across the Preparedness Podcast and in Episode 5 – Gold, Silver, and a look at what’s coming in 2009 is an excellent primer on investing in gold & silver. Basically silver is your ‘checking account’ and gold is your ‘savings account’. A 20% silver and 80% gold ratio is suggested as good mix of spending power and portability. A few gold coins take up a little space when you have to bug out, but the same dollar amount in silver will weigh you down when you need …
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s planned “Son of TARP“, also dubbed “TARP 2.0” bank bailout is rumored to be more than twice as expensive as the first round that was enacted in late Aught Eight. This is more evidence that the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) has no limits, and will not end until the the taxpayers are on the hook for decades of substantially higher taxes and not before the value of the Dollar is reduced to near fire-kindling status. Thanks to Brandon S. for these two items that he spotted in the Alabama media: “Here is what happens when …
Jim: I sent the following letter to my legislative representatives: Here is macroeconomics as I see it: Wealth comes from commodities, manufacturing (improving commodities), and agriculture (same principle). Service industries do not create wealth, they distribute it. This includes financial industries. Government consumes wealth as it re-distributes it. Even in the admittedly vital services such as protection of its citizens. Fact: There are already (pre-”stimulus”) more government employees than there are employees in manufacturing and agriculture in the US. Observation: The aforementioned being true, increasing the size of government is like a snake thinking it can sustain itself by eating …
G.G. sent this: Rogers Renews Bets U.S. Stocks Will Slump on Rescue. From Brian F.: 25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis: Bill N. set a link to a speech transcript where a US Senator has the guts to point out the pork in the Stimulus Bill. OBTW, it is no wonder that the omnibus spending package is now widely referred to as The Porkulus Bill. Items from The Economatrix: FDIC Shutters Four Banks in One Day Home Prices in Record Plunge in Q4 Economic and Financial Systems Deliberately Destabilized. A key quote: “There probably won’t be bank runs …