Economics and Investing:

Alyce at The Motley Fool Goes Doomer: The Four Things You Need. (Thanks to Lynne W. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Credit Union Collapse Signals Depth of Financial Crisis On Wall Street, Talk of Trust and Civil War Marc Faber: It Will All End in Disaster Economic Dirty Bo Goes Off in NY In NY, a Second, Silent 9-1-1 Accidents Can Happen (The Mogambo Guru) The End Game Approaches Ron Paul: Bankruptcy is Economic Stimulus  




Economics and Investing:

Gerald Celente Predicts Economic Armageddon by 2012. (A hat tip to Reader P.D. for the link.) OBTW, take it as a warning sign if you hear that Gerald Celente has moved from New York to say… Wyoming. From D.V.: Goldman Sachs’s Cohen Predicts More Bad News on Banks Items from The Economatrix: Our New National Currency: The US Fuffle IBM to Cut 5,000 US-based Jobs, Shift Work to Emerging Markets Wall Street Turns Cautious But Logs Third Weekly Advance Failed Bank: Omni National Bank, Atlanta Georgia Lendman: Obama’s Latest “No Banker Left Behind” Scheme “Nobody can be confident that the …




Economics and Investing:

HPD sent this: Geithner plan will rob American taxpayers: Stiglitz Kevin A. recommended a piece by Bill Fleckenstein over at The Silver Bear Café: Got gold? You’re right on the money. Here is a quote: “We are attempting to print our way to prosperity. That can’t be done, any more than we could speculate our way to prosperity during the stock bubble or borrow our way to prosperity in the real-estate/credit bubble.” Jeff K. suggested: Bernanke Inserts Gun in Mouth. Jeff’s comment: “We disagree on inflation versus deflation [in the next few years], but one must take notice when a …




Economics and Investing:

From Joan M.: Sen. Gregg Criticizes ‘Banana Republic’ Budget Proposal A quote: “The ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee warned on Monday that President Obama’s budget proposal will lead to unsustainable debt levels and send the country on a fiscal path resembling that of a ‘banana republic….called the deficit estimates attached to the budget plan “staggering,” and he warned that such deficits would trigger a national debt that amounts to “running your country into the ground.’” MVR sent this interesting perspective on the US Dollar and debt from Thailand: The real US financial crisis has yet to begin G.G. …




Economics and Investing:

Lisa forwarded us the link to the PDF of a new think tank report: Manning the barricades: Who’s at risk as deepening economic distress foments social unrest SurvivalMama sent a great Schumeresque snippet from Brad DeLong’s Grasping Reality With Both Hands blog: Q: What if markets never recover, the assets are not fundamentally undervalued, and even when held to maturity the government doesn’t make back its money? A: Then we have worse things to worry about than government losses on TARP-program money–for we are then in a world in which the only things that have value are bottled water, sewing …




Economics and Investing:

Do you remember how back in 2007 I described commercial real estate as “the other shoe to drop..”? Matt B. sent this article on how it is indeed collapsing. “Elfin” spotted this: Fed Planning Inflationary Dollar Destroying 15-Fold Increase in US Monetary Base – and then things really go bad! G.G. alerted us to the new video and and audio clips of Peter Schiff speaking at the 2009 Austrian Scholar’s Conference: “Why the Meltdown Should Have Surprised No One”. G.G. notes: “This is very entertaining. Listen closely to last 15 or so minutes for Schiff’s description of what he sees …




Economics and Investing:

I spotted this linked at Drudge: White House Agenda on Track Despite Worsening Deficits. ($9.3 trillion in deficits projected!) Just as I warned, the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) is becoming uncontrollably self-perpetuating. (“If Industry X is deemed worthy, then why not Industries Y and Z?” Down and down we’ll go–down the road to ruin.) From reader HPD: GM, Chrysler May Need Additional Aid, Rattner Says MVR flagged this commentary from the National Post‘s Terence Corcoran: Is this the end of America? “N” mention a piece by Simit Patel, over at the Seeking Alpha blog: Fed Intervention, Market Response Confirm: …




Letter Re: Ammunition Shortages in U.S. Might Become Chronic

Hi Jim, A man with the Customer Service department at Midway explained that backorders are expected to continue and there appears to be no reduction in demand. Browsing their web site, I see ‘expected’ delivery dates pushing further into the future, and up to six weeks delay for the less expensive and common caliber hunting bullet, mostly .30 caliber bullets. Many premium bullets are also on ‘back order’ since my last visit. And now, even less common caliber bullets are backordered as well as other reloading components and reloading tools. The shortage at Cabela’s also continues. The Civilian Marksman Program …




Economics and Investing:

U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar. (Kudos to Laura H. for the link.) The Appenzell Daily Bell reports: AIG world of $1.6 trillion derivatives trouble England may be unable to sell all of its bonds: UK overhauls debt issuance protocol. In related news: Dollar falls sharply on Fed statement. And, meanwhile in Japan: BoJ ramps up purchase of government bonds. Sounds like a race to the bottom, to me. (Thanks to G.G. for all three of those links.) Three More Banks Go Down: Teambank, Paola, Kansas; Colorado National Bank, Colorado Springs, Colorado; FirstCity Bank, Stockbridge, Georgia. And in the …




Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this editorial at US News & World Report: Obama’s Out of Control Spending Dwarfs the Wasted AIG Bailout Money Markku sent this: For Sale: The $100 House Items from The Economatrix: WH: Agenda on Track Despite Worsening Deficits Growing Transatlantic Tensions on Eve of G20 Summit UK Car Production Slumps 60% Sacramento Tent City to Be Relocated US is Already Bankrupt China Backs Russia’s Call to Replace Dollar as Reserve Joel Skousen: AIG Bonus Outrage–How Insiders Will Defuse It (Excerpt) Treasury Throws $5 Billion to Auto Suppliers The Mother of All Depressions (MOAD) “The meeting of the G20 …




Economics and Investing:

A recent headline grabbed my attention. It mention the “bottoming” or real estate price. That made me chuckle, because we are nowhere near the bottom yet. I did some searching, and I found a chart posted last year at the Calculated Risk blog. If you thought the subprime mortgages caused a lot of foreclosures, just wait until the Option-ARM resets peak in 2011. Methinks that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Reader HPD mentioned this at Forbes that quotes Peter Schiff: CPI Rises Despite U.S. Recession GG sent this: Merkel adviser warns US on …




Economics and Investing:

John in Ohio forwarded this: At G20, Kremlin to Pitch New Currency. JWR’s Comment: Gee, so they propose replacing numerous un-backed fiat currencies (with free-floating values) with a single un-backed fiat currency of a “fixed” (constantly inflating) value. Cui bono? As I’ve written before: inflation is a hidden form of taxation. How do I vote for a genuine specie-backed currency? Only with a trip to my local coin shop or arms bazaar. Vote with your wallet. For our own protection, get out of paper currencies and into tangibles! From The Appenzell Daily Bell: Banks pop on talk of [FASB] accounting …




Letter: Full Capacity Magazine Price Inflation and Scarcity

James, I too purchased a PTR-91 [HK91 clone] rifle and ordered 50 magazines from PTR 91 Inc. The shipping was reasonable and when I received them, there were [actually some free “bonus”, for a total of] 55 magazines. They ranged from good to like new condition and had dates all the way from 1963 thru early 1990s. For $107 delivered, I got 55 magazines and a very big smile on my face. – M.E.K .




Economics and Investing:

HPD sent this: Citi, Morgan Stanley look to sidestep bonus caps: report. (Your tax dollars at work.) HPD also sent: Paul O’Neill: Banks must show U.S. the money Laura H. mentioned: this WorldNetDaily piece: Montana considers return to gold, silver dollars, Proposed bill slams Fed, allows payments in precious metals Items from The Economatrix: Investors Restart Wall Street Rally GM CEO Says Bankruptcy Would Force Liquidation Congress Looking at Huge Taxes on AIG Bonuses Housing Starts Surge, Wholesale Prices Edge Up Completed Foreclosures Hit New High in February Corporate Meltdown Leaves Renters in Limbo US Mint Suspends More Production of …




Letter Re: Private Gated Communities May Not be Gated After All

Hi Jim, Due to the real estate slump and the poor economy, my wife and I are trying to unravel our mess of real estate investments. One thing we did, was to abandoned our McMansion in a rural area near Seattle, Washington. It was a new four thousand square foot custom home in a gated community. All the other houses were as large and some significantly larger. We had abandoned the house about a year ago after failing to sell it for what we owed, and have not made any house payments since then. We also chose not to pay …