Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Open forum

Feel free to post up links, your thoughts, discuss issues, etc...

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've gone from being angry and pessimistic about the things going on in this country, to apathetic and amused. I honestly don't care who wins in November, neither candidate can (or even wants to) stop the madness. The rumors of a possible war with Iran just make me laugh. Equity markets no longer react realistically to fundamental shifts in the economy. And we're obviously running on the theory that dollars do not have intrinsic value, and can be created and spent at will. I just wish Paulson and Bernanke would send me some paper Benjamins.

Justin_n_IL said...

For the sake of sanity check out this video. Totally off the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U67aLClWpjM&feature=related

Randy said...

Excellent video Justin.

Randy said...

Tim,

Couldn't agree w/you more - I feel exactly the same way

Matt said...

Tim,

I agree wholeheartedly with you! While I still follow the economy, the news (propaganda), and everything else, I no longer do it with the outrage that I once felt. I think I've reached the point where I got so angry that I am clinically insane. I now sit on the sidelines and eat my popcorn. It's all over, man.

Anonymous said...

I do not agree with the comments on the economy and mortgage situation. I worked for a mortgage broker and we mortgage 150% of the home value based on what the customer said the house was worth; no appraisal.

This is the downfall. American consumers overspend on credit cards; then put $20k-$30k on their home; bi-monthly. This is the facts, and what has caused many to lose their home. Their disposable income after second and third mortgages was $400-$500 a month.

The funny thing about it is even with all the housing crisis the radio is bogged with commercials for banks saying;" want a vacation, put it on your home" " want a new boat; put it on your home." "Credit card debt, want to open your spending abilities; put it on your home."

This is the American way; we do not hold back; we are not savers and we are greedy.

We needed the housing slump to occur to stop Americans from spending into bankruptcy and losing their homes. This will help with slowing down and making better purchases hopefully. We need to save and not try to keep up with the "Jones".

Anonymous said...

Hocus Pocus is what we are going to see, in large amounts, coming at us through the propaganda machine(s), over the next few months. It's going to turn into the main event of the circus. So hang tight, and try not to "hold on" to those things we so dearly have been programmed with, ie; what a dollar is worth, what the government takes care of, what the DOW numbers mean, what the system is doing...let's let it all go, as we sit on the sideline, and then we can pull out of the mess rather than tumble down with it.

Randy said...

Excellent, spot-on analysis from Jim Willie - as usual:


Achilles Heel, Shock Wave, Transformation

Snippets:

Something big this way comes. Events will center upon the arch-nemesis of gold, the USTreasury Bond. Market interference is too huge, for bonds, for bank stocks, for the entire financial sector. Banking system structures are too broken. The pillars of the USEconomy are all in deep trouble, with profound deficits and insolvency the rule of the day. See the USGovt federal deficit (growing fast), the trade deficit (chronically large), the housing negative equity (worsening gradually), and insolvent banks (worse each quarter, despite the denials). A massive shock wave is coming. In all likelihood plans are in place, with events already set in motion, as the plan is probably to be event driven. Their objective is to disable the US juggernaut, whose principal parts are a fraud centrifuge with numerous supporting mechanisms, and an aggressive military machine with key banking supporting mechanisms. In order to disable, derail, and bring a halt to abuse by the US leaders in banking, politics, commerce, and military, the foreigners (not just perceived enemies), have turned their attention to the Achilles Heel. Timing is critical, probably centered at the US presidential election, or events aligned for its distraction. Details on a possible scenario are to be found in the September Hat Trick Letter, which will be of a simpler more succinct format this month. Typical information flow and usual analysis seem out of place. Like with the US system of schools and business, the new year starts in September. This will be a strategic report.

***

Encircling the Big Bear has led to a powerful reaction, one that comes. It is planned, and awaits execution in an event-driven scenario. Quietly, physical demand for gold & silver has grown to monumental levels. Do not be deterred or distracted by the falling gold & silver prices. The price mechanism has totally broken, as supply is absent and vanishing. Since Russia, China, and the Arabs own so much gold, they are motivated to endorse the plan that comes, the plan in place, the plan that needs only the trigger events. Powerful foreign entities are increasingly angered by the price decline in gold, as US paperhanger conmen fraud kings have intervened to do harm to foreign savings accounts. Perhaps foreign entities will hatch an event, whose trigger remains unclear. Perhaps they will permit unwitting reckless US leaders to proceed down the path, where they continue to fall into traps, where doors continue to close behind them. In any newly established vacuum could quickly come new gold-backed currencies. Two are already planned, whose launch date is uncertain but clearly tied to the upcoming plan. The Arabs, Chinese, and Russians have accumulated gigantic reserves, much of which is held in the form of US$-based securities. These nations and peoples are not friends of the United States. Recent friendship has been a convenience for them and a trap for Americans. Arabs have an extremely uneasy alliance with Americans, who continue to trumpet their war against (Islamic) terrorism.

Big changes are coming. The euro currency will not continue in its present form for long. The Germans refuse to join fortunes with wrecked Latin southern nations. The split is sure to lift the euro remaining in the German corner and lift gold in the process from extreme disruption. When the plan is hatched and put into action, the extreme disruptions to the US Achilles Heel will lead to a historically unprecedented beneficial discontinuity that favors gold, since its paper-based bond alternative will have been relegated to the basement. The USTreasury Bond must soon reflect its Third World characteristics. The flipside of the American Peso (Dollar) is the USTreasury Bond. It is the feeder system to too much that cannot justifiably continue. So many dangerous assumptions are made by arrogant complacent folks. As a bright German colleague recently said to me, “People do not embrace change, but change will embrace people.” Change comes. If your stomach is not churning by recent events, you are not in possession of a stomach.

The gold & silver markets are downtrodden in a harsh correction, when their safe haven status is actually improving. Something is soon to erupt, and it will change the world, especially the United States. The gold & silver prices will suddenly find themselves at 50% to 100% above their current prices, after the upcoming planned pre-emptive event staged against the USTreasurys. As numerous US financial instruments are defaulting, one must examine the potential for USTreasury default. Some must wonder what attack could come about. Imagine a steady large batch of sell orders, of larger size than the recent buy orders from central banks. The sell orders are repeated each day. The USGovt would not permit its continuation and extremely damaging effects. Unwittingly, the central bankers have taught the powerful adversaries to the United States how to cripple the national financial structure.

Amidst profound changes soon to be forced upon the United States, the principal losers will be the USDollar &USTreasury Bond, with the big winners being gold & silver. Foreigners, some with newly forged alliances, are preparing for the next global chapter. That new era will NOT have the United States at the helm, or even at many tables for decision making. The US has earned through fraud, bullying, and arrogance a banishment. The US will be isolated and relegated to the backwaters, which can be properly the New Third World. It will be glorified by US leaders and US press. DO NOT SELL YOUR GOLD & SILVER. RATHER, TRY TO BUY SOME IN PHYSICAL FORM, IF YOU CAN FIND IT!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm so very put out with the American way of life. Very few want to be acccountable for thier poor decisions and actions. Our government lets it happen so they have a reason to control us. I'm wondering, with Uncle Sam holding Fannie and Freddie, will the government start garnishing income tax returns of individual defaulters? Is that a possibility?

Justin_n_IL said...
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Justin_n_IL said...
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Justin_n_IL said...

Hey Randy,

I just read the article by Jim Willie. It walks well with my following post from today. So much so that I had to go back and edit mine to include a quote from him. The link to that article>
http://justinnil.blogspot.com/2008/09/america-beautiful.html

Another recommended post of mine.

http://justinnil.blogspot.com/2008/09/sainst-vs-horn.html

Justin_n_IL said...

I'm sure you've already heard about Lehman being on the ropes.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/clock-ticking-lehman/story.aspx?guid={7AF6A25E-D494-409E-A4F3-332F0E409F43}&siteid=yahoomy

Anonymous said...

Matt, I take my hat off to ya for being able to disconnect from the economic turmoil.

I had watched a delusional financial bozo on some news channel video link, who was willing to say anything to get his puss in front of the camera so as to make his mommy happy. He was glowing over the 2Fs getting pulled out from the swaling waters. He bloviated about how the market was positive with Hank "the Paulie" Paulson performing the rescue.

"Freddie and Fannie overboard!! Throw out the lifeboats!"

He was telling the commentator that there would be ups and downs, but this was a good sign. Consumers were holding back but the economy was going to pick up in 2009.

What bull!!! Who was he trying to kid? A one day bounce and now the reality sinks in. The fundamentals are broken. The bad debt is there and no matter how much money "The Paulie" will throw at it ($20 million per day?), the consumers are not going to spend, jobs are not returning, stocks are not looking better, foreclosures are not going away, and Xmas will fade into those Glory Days.

There is no accountability anywhere. Where is the media's accountability of those they question? It has disappeared. It is all about propaganda.

Justin_n_IL said...

Follow up from my last post.

I believe that America is about to crash both economically as well as financially. So do a lot of other people. It is my belief that she will emerge from it rather quickly to regain her status as the SUPERPOWER of the earth. Before you laugh such a statement off bear with me.
http://justinnil.blogspot.com/2008/09/american-collapse-and-immediate-rebound.html

FOFOA said...

The Real Reason Commodities Are Tumbling

By John Heinzl
The Globe and Mail, Toronto
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

To hear Donald Coxe tell it, the commodity selloff ripping through Canada’s stock market is no accident. It is the result of a deliberate, brilliantly executed plan hatched at the highest levels of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury.

Mr. Coxe is no paranoid conspiracy theorist. As the chairman and chief strategist of Harris Investment Management in Chicago, he is one of the most respected investment authorities in North America. He also happens to have lost about 10 per cent of his personal wealth in the commodity rout, which came at the worst possible time for his Coxe Commodity Strategy Fund, which started trading in June.

“This has done more damage to my personal wealth than anything in the last 20 years,” he said in an interview yesterday. But he has too much respect for how the U.S. authorities engineered the collapse in commodities — a move he said was necessary to shore up the global financial system — to be bitter.

“My attitude is, ‘Goddamn it, they’re good — it was brilliant.’” …
Link

I find it interesting when more and more "mainstreamers" admit this crazy market has been manipulated. It is so obvious to me.

FOFOA said...

Bill Gross (appropriate name?) loaded up on Fannie and Freddie bonds betting on a govt. bailout. Then he publicly called for a bailout saying it was needed. Now he has just made $1.7b from the bailout. This is sick.

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Socialism for the super wealthy. When is enough, enough?

Do you get the feeling that we are being mugged through illegal manipulations as police stand back as onlookers, or perhaps partners, of the muggers?

Bail-out hands Pimco $1.7bn payday
By Deborah Brewster in New York
Published: September 9 2008 19:49

The Bill Gross-managed Pimco Total Return fund reaped a $1.7bn payday following the US government takeover of home loan giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

While shareholders in Fannie and Freddie suffered deep losses, the world’s biggest bond fund saw its highest ever one-day rise against its benchmark index on Monday, benefiting from the bet made by Mr Gross on mortgage bonds issued by the agencies.

Mr Gross had made a big shift out of US Treasuries and corporate bonds over the past year and into agency bonds, betting that the government would support Fannie and Freddie Mac. By May this year, more than 60 per cent of his $132bn fund was in mortgage debt.

Mortgage-backed bond prices rose after the US government seized control of the agencies.

Mr Gross’s fund, which side-stepped the housing market slide, had risen strongly before Sunday’s government bail-out. In the 12 months to August 1, the fund returned 9.2 per cent, beating all of its peers, according to fund tracker Morningstar.

More…

Anonymous said...

Fofoa: This indeed is very sick. But than again, there were fortunes made during the first great depression; and here we go again. Right before our eyes. "It's a big club and you're not in it"- George Carlin.

Anonymous said...

hello all, I want to recommend the Youtube link that one of Randy's regular commenters has put up on his blogspot. I found the Youtube video link interview of Bill Murphy, of GATA, done by Chris Powell, extremely interesting. The discussion was about GATA, the precious metals manipulation by the Fed, Treasury, bullion banks, and central banks, and what will happen to the price of gold and silver. FOFOA has posted the first video on the site, but you can scroll the bottom of the screen, once the first show is done, and click on the other two parts. They total around 30 minutes. A time well spent!

http://fofoa.blogspot.com

Justin_n_IL said...

http://themaestrosrep.org/wpblog/?p=18

http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski211.html

Justin_n_IL said...

Not sure if I ever left these links or not. Well worth reading. It just popped in my head a bit ago to look for part 3.

http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1219858261.php

http://www.commoditynewscenter.com/articles/Insight/Operation_Meltdown,_Part_II

http://www.commoditynewscenter.com/articles/Insight/Operation_Meltdown,_Part_III

Anonymous said...
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Justin_n_IL said...

I appreciated your pictures of your wife and yourself in the valley. It's kind of nice to put a face with the mind. I tried to put a slide show on my main blog but to no avail. So I put it on a blog I haven't done much with. It's my children along with a few of myself.

http://oddhumor.blogspot.com/2008/09/family.html

FOFOA said...

Randy,
Here's a new Jim Willie article. Wow.

Justin_n_IL said...

Hat tip Fofoa. Awesome article!
"Hidden from view is a giant severance package for Fannie Mae’s CEO Daniel Mudd and Freddie Mac’s CEO Richard Syron. They are to receive $14 million and $9.2 million respectively."

Once word...."shocked"

wink wink

FOFOA said...

Yes Justin! I posted this comment on Randy's article Bailouts for Everyone:

And how fair is this? If you ran Fannie or Freddie into the ground, you get dismissed with a $15m severance.

But if you simply worked for Fannie or Freddie, guess what, your retirement account is full of common shares... now worth 74 cents and 66 cents respectively. A 100 fold shrinkage in one year.

Anonymous said...

Randy,
thought I'd share some interesting links with you that may be helpful in the days ahead.

www.survivalblog.com - excellent book - fiction - written about econmic collapse w/helpful insights

www.thinkfree.ca - Bursting Bubbles of Govt deception

Randy said...

Hey folks,

I've been out of town for a couple of days and just now having the chance to scan through all these comments (currently at Newark Airport) will take a look at all the links this weekend.

The Donald Coxe article really has me curious and eager to read.

Regards

Randy

Justin_n_IL said...

http://www.investmentrarities.com/weeklycommentary09-09-08.html

FOFOA said...

Did you see this one? Jim Rogers on Monday

It is true what he says about them bailing out their friends on Wall St. How else do you explain Pimco making $1.7 billion on GSE debt?

FOFOA said...

Hahaha... I just realized that video was from July. How funny. Not from Monday. Sorry.

FOFOA said...

This one IS from yesterday morning on CNBC.

Live from Hong Kong, Martin Hennecke, senior manager of private clients at Tyche, told CNBC on Thursday, "We expect a depression in the United States."
Sept. 11, 9:11AM ET

Justin_n_IL said...

Emergency meeting Friday evening at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080913/ts_nm/lehman_fed_dc

FOFOA said...

Thanks Justin. I didn't see that but I'm not too surprised.

This seems somehow appropriate given an emergency Fed meeting!