Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Another Low for the US Government
From the 5 Minute Forecast Blog....
"...the group Transparency International just released its annual ranking of nations based on how corrupt their governments are. For the first time, the United States has fallen out of the list of 20 least-corrupt nations, coming in at No. 22.
New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore rank as the cleanest. Iraq, Burma, Afghanistan and Somalia come in at the bottom.
Coincidence? Except for Burma, each of the four most-corrupt governments in the world owes its very existence to U.S. intervention: Your tax dollars at work.
"...the group Transparency International just released its annual ranking of nations based on how corrupt their governments are. For the first time, the United States has fallen out of the list of 20 least-corrupt nations, coming in at No. 22.
New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore rank as the cleanest. Iraq, Burma, Afghanistan and Somalia come in at the bottom.
Coincidence? Except for Burma, each of the four most-corrupt governments in the world owes its very existence to U.S. intervention: Your tax dollars at work.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
How This Economy Recovery Stacks Up - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Not only does this article point out the moronic approach that this administration and it's congressional lapdogs have taken, it also shows what a great period of growth and prosperity was ignited during the Reagan revolution. Numbers do lie but the apple to apple relative comparisons between the 1980's recovery and this one are stunning!
Hopefully some GOP candidates will take note of this....
How This Economy Recovery Stacks Up - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Hopefully some GOP candidates will take note of this....
How This Economy Recovery Stacks Up - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Inflation in the Real World
If you sometimes feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter, this chart won't make you feel any better...
Chart of the Week: Inflation in the Real World - Casey Research
Chart of the Week: Inflation in the Real World - Casey Research
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America--and Spawned a Global Crisis
An excerpt from the book "The Monster" by Michael W Hudson
How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America--and Spawned a Global Crisis - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America--and Spawned a Global Crisis - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
What is the Proper Role of Government in our Economy?
Last weekend I had an exchange on LinkedIn with a connection over what our government should be doing. His argument was that the government should be focused on creating jobs, my point was that they:
This piece by Joel Bowman showed up today in my inbox which add's fuel to the discussion....
Joel Bowman, from Punta del Este, Uruguay...
In his 1958 interview with Ayn Rand, a young Mike Wallace asked the following question:
"Suppose, under your system of self-sufficiency, one single corporation were to get a stranglehold on a vital product or a raw material, uranium for instance, which might be vital for the national defense, and then would refuse to sell it to the government, then what?"
To which the original objectivist responded:
"Under a free system, no one could acquire a monopoly on anything. If you look at economics and economic history, you will discover that all monopolies have been established with government help, with the help of franchises, subsidies or any kind of government privileges. In free competition, no one could corner the market on a needed product. History will support me."
The above exchange is pertinent today for multiple reasons.
First and foremost, it calls each and every one of us to ask some very important questions of the society in which we live today...and about where it is heading tomorrow and beyond. What is the proper role of government in economics? Should, as Rand argued, there be separation of economy and state, just as there is of church and state? Should the government be able to use force and compulsion against the will of free men and women, to supersede or suspend the rights of the very individuals it affects to represent? And in what special case, if any, would this be permissible?
- Couldn't
- Shouldn't try, and;
- Should be focused on eliminating the barriers they have constructed that are now hindering economic growth
This piece by Joel Bowman showed up today in my inbox which add's fuel to the discussion....
Joel Bowman, from Punta del Este, Uruguay...
In his 1958 interview with Ayn Rand, a young Mike Wallace asked the following question:
"Under a free system, no one could acquire a monopoly on anything. If you look at economics and economic history, you will discover that all monopolies have been established with government help, with the help of franchises, subsidies or any kind of government privileges. In free competition, no one could corner the market on a needed product. History will support me."
First and foremost, it calls each and every one of us to ask some very important questions of the society in which we live today...and about where it is heading tomorrow and beyond. What is the proper role of government in economics? Should, as Rand argued, there be separation of economy and state, just as there is of church and state? Should the government be able to use force and compulsion against the will of free men and women, to supersede or suspend the rights of the very individuals it affects to represent? And in what special case, if any, would this be permissible?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
O Canada! - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
This article shows proof that a liberal who truly cares about their country can find a balance and get things moving in the right direction. This is even more damning evidence that the people in power either don't have our best interests in mind or that they are totally inept......
O Canada! - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
O Canada! - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Failing to Learn From History
From Stansberry & Associates, The S&A Digest:
At the beginning of the American War of Independence, the Continental Congress decided to print money, the Continental. The value was supposed to be based on the Spanish dollar, the famous "pieces of eight," which equaled eight silver Spanish reales.
The Continental Congress intended on printing 2 million Continentals. It soon realized it didn't have enough to pay its debts (sound familiar?). So by 1779, the congress had printed more than 242 million Continentals. The British waged a counterfeiting campaign, compounding the problem. By the time the Continental Congress stopped printing them in 1781, it took $168 worth of Continentals to buy a $1 silver coin. Hence the old saying, "Not worth a Continental."
The Spirit of the Continental lives on in today's U.S. dollar... The Federal Reserve came about in 1913, largely as a political response to the Panic of 1907. Among the Fed's stated goals today are "conducting monetary policy... in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates," and "maintaining the stability of the financial system."
I'll let you judge how stable the financial system is and how the Fed's doing at maintaining "maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates." But the monetary policy? The Fed has done quite a number on your money: What cost $1 in 1913 now costs more than $21. What cost $1 in 2009 would have cost about $0.05 in 1913. Hence, the Federal Reserve has reduced the value of the U.S. dollar by approximately 95% during its 97-year tenure.
And the Fed's not done yet! Not by a long shot. In fact, Tim Geithner told the whole world yesterday the devaluation of the U.S. dollar is an absolute certainty now. He didn't put it in so many words. They never do. But according to Reuters, he said, "It is very important for people to understand that the United States of America, and no country around the world, can devalue its way to prosperity, to [be] competitive. It is not a viable, feasible strategy and we will not engage in it."
Geither sounds a lot like a child denying the inevitable. I learned a lot about this sort of thing growing up: "We will not devalue the currency" lives in my mind next to, "I'm not getting in that bathtub," "I'm not eating those vegetables," and perhaps most memorable of all for me, "I'm not going to bed now, because I'm not tired." Every time I uttered that last one, I was sawing logs within minutes.
Maybe after its rapid rise, the gold price is in for some type of correction. I don't know, and I don't care. The U.S. Treasury Secretary has virtually guaranteed gold will increase in value in the coming years, how can you afford not to own it? The government is manipulating the gold price; and it's determined to shove it straight up.
At the beginning of the American War of Independence, the Continental Congress decided to print money, the Continental. The value was supposed to be based on the Spanish dollar, the famous "pieces of eight," which equaled eight silver Spanish reales.
The Continental Congress intended on printing 2 million Continentals. It soon realized it didn't have enough to pay its debts (sound familiar?). So by 1779, the congress had printed more than 242 million Continentals. The British waged a counterfeiting campaign, compounding the problem. By the time the Continental Congress stopped printing them in 1781, it took $168 worth of Continentals to buy a $1 silver coin. Hence the old saying, "Not worth a Continental."
The Spirit of the Continental lives on in today's U.S. dollar... The Federal Reserve came about in 1913, largely as a political response to the Panic of 1907. Among the Fed's stated goals today are "conducting monetary policy... in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates," and "maintaining the stability of the financial system."
I'll let you judge how stable the financial system is and how the Fed's doing at maintaining "maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates." But the monetary policy? The Fed has done quite a number on your money: What cost $1 in 1913 now costs more than $21. What cost $1 in 2009 would have cost about $0.05 in 1913. Hence, the Federal Reserve has reduced the value of the U.S. dollar by approximately 95% during its 97-year tenure.
And the Fed's not done yet! Not by a long shot. In fact, Tim Geithner told the whole world yesterday the devaluation of the U.S. dollar is an absolute certainty now. He didn't put it in so many words. They never do. But according to Reuters, he said, "It is very important for people to understand that the United States of America, and no country around the world, can devalue its way to prosperity, to [be] competitive. It is not a viable, feasible strategy and we will not engage in it."
Geither sounds a lot like a child denying the inevitable. I learned a lot about this sort of thing growing up: "We will not devalue the currency" lives in my mind next to, "I'm not getting in that bathtub," "I'm not eating those vegetables," and perhaps most memorable of all for me, "I'm not going to bed now, because I'm not tired." Every time I uttered that last one, I was sawing logs within minutes.
Maybe after its rapid rise, the gold price is in for some type of correction. I don't know, and I don't care. The U.S. Treasury Secretary has virtually guaranteed gold will increase in value in the coming years, how can you afford not to own it? The government is manipulating the gold price; and it's determined to shove it straight up.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Glenn Beck Calls for ‘Largest Day of Fundraising’ for Chamber of Commerce | The Blaze
Support the people who support private enterprise...
Glenn Beck Calls for ‘Largest Day of Fundraising’ for Chamber of Commerce The Blaze
Glenn Beck Calls for ‘Largest Day of Fundraising’ for Chamber of Commerce The Blaze
China and the Future of Rare Earth Elements - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Take note as the current "leadership" in Washington Huff's and Puff's about the Chinese currencies. The Big Bad Wolf eventually got his ass burned......
China and the Future of Rare Earth Elements - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
China and the Future of Rare Earth Elements - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
What You Don't Know about "Mortgagegate" Could Crush the U.S. Banking System
This needs to be taken very seriously, the Obama networks won't start reporting it until it's too late.
What You Don't Know about "Mortgagegate" Could Crush the U.S. Banking System
What You Don't Know about "Mortgagegate" Could Crush the U.S. Banking System
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Audit of UN Climate Change Panel cites lack of Scientific Evidence
In the past, the American press would have been all over this scandal. It just shows how the left has infiltrated so many of our institutions and corrpupted our society for their own twisted cause.........
Sadly, most of these people are nothing more than useful idiots.....
GetLiberty.org Home
Sadly, most of these people are nothing more than useful idiots.....
GetLiberty.org Home
The View From the Big Money Guys
There is no doubt in my mind that the current activity by the Federal Reserve is unsustainable and will end badly, that is why it is important to learn how to trade a bear market...
From Porter Stansberry
"My friend at the Value Investing Congress was impressed by hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass' speech. So much so, he's giving him $5 million to manage. Bass, with Hayman Advisors, gained notoriety after making a fortune shorting subprime mortgages. Now, he's short the entire world (the host of the conference agreed with my view that Porter could have given the same speech).
Kyle started his talk by mentioning the recently awarded Nobel Prize for economics. The folks who won the prize found increasing unemployment benefits raises unemployment. Despite this revelation, the government is still preparing to spend $1 trillion on increasing unemployment benefits.
The rest of Kyle's speech was divided into three topics – the U.S, Europe, and Japan. In short, we're all in trouble. Everyone knows the problems in the U.S... We've got too much debt. We're losing an ever-increasing amount of money each year, and we're preparing to print more money. Europe is worse. I'll get to Japan in a minute...
The world is trying to paper this problem over, but it's too late. Eventually, we'll see serial defaults across the globe. Kyle argues the central banks know it's inevitable. They're just trying to get the global economy to a point where it can handle this crisis.
On to the Federal Reserve... Kyle says the Fed is "a mental crutch for depositors." The Fed's opacity is by design. The International Monetary Fund is the same way. By charter, a European has to run the IMF, but it's in Washington, D.C. Kyle said he recently visited congressman Barney Frank and asked him why the U.S. was giving the IMF $100 billion. Frank's response: "You and I both know it's not real money. It's just a journal entry." In other words, this money will never be drawn. It's just a backstop. Kyle said the IMF granted Greece 3,000% of the money it's allowed to draw from the fund... Again, it doesn't expect this money to be repaid.
Now onto Japan... Japan has 2.5 quadrillion yen in debt. Its debt service will surpass total government revenue soon. Currently, retirement obligations and debt service costs Japan 44 trillion yen annually. The government only brings in 41 trillion yen. Japan has more people exiting the workforce every year than entering. The country can no longer fund itself internally. If Japan has to access the credit markets, its costs will increase. Kyle says it's not "if," but "when," Japan defaults. Japan's last move is to force banks to buy its debt. That will likely happen, prolonging the default. But that is Japan's last move.
Kyle is playing the Japanese default through interest-rate call options. It's like a credit default swap... He's paying a small amount of money every year to bet against Japan. When Japan starts failing, he'll make 50 to 100 times his money. Unfortunately, individual investors can't make this trade (unless your net worth is more than $100 million... then it may be possible). "
From Porter Stansberry
"My friend at the Value Investing Congress was impressed by hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass' speech. So much so, he's giving him $5 million to manage. Bass, with Hayman Advisors, gained notoriety after making a fortune shorting subprime mortgages. Now, he's short the entire world (the host of the conference agreed with my view that Porter could have given the same speech).
Kyle started his talk by mentioning the recently awarded Nobel Prize for economics. The folks who won the prize found increasing unemployment benefits raises unemployment. Despite this revelation, the government is still preparing to spend $1 trillion on increasing unemployment benefits.
The rest of Kyle's speech was divided into three topics – the U.S, Europe, and Japan. In short, we're all in trouble. Everyone knows the problems in the U.S... We've got too much debt. We're losing an ever-increasing amount of money each year, and we're preparing to print more money. Europe is worse. I'll get to Japan in a minute...
The world is trying to paper this problem over, but it's too late. Eventually, we'll see serial defaults across the globe. Kyle argues the central banks know it's inevitable. They're just trying to get the global economy to a point where it can handle this crisis.
On to the Federal Reserve... Kyle says the Fed is "a mental crutch for depositors." The Fed's opacity is by design. The International Monetary Fund is the same way. By charter, a European has to run the IMF, but it's in Washington, D.C. Kyle said he recently visited congressman Barney Frank and asked him why the U.S. was giving the IMF $100 billion. Frank's response: "You and I both know it's not real money. It's just a journal entry." In other words, this money will never be drawn. It's just a backstop. Kyle said the IMF granted Greece 3,000% of the money it's allowed to draw from the fund... Again, it doesn't expect this money to be repaid.
Now onto Japan... Japan has 2.5 quadrillion yen in debt. Its debt service will surpass total government revenue soon. Currently, retirement obligations and debt service costs Japan 44 trillion yen annually. The government only brings in 41 trillion yen. Japan has more people exiting the workforce every year than entering. The country can no longer fund itself internally. If Japan has to access the credit markets, its costs will increase. Kyle says it's not "if," but "when," Japan defaults. Japan's last move is to force banks to buy its debt. That will likely happen, prolonging the default. But that is Japan's last move.
Kyle is playing the Japanese default through interest-rate call options. It's like a credit default swap... He's paying a small amount of money every year to bet against Japan. When Japan starts failing, he'll make 50 to 100 times his money. Unfortunately, individual investors can't make this trade (unless your net worth is more than $100 million... then it may be possible). "
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The American Housing Market Is Headed for Total Destruction
This is a must read for anyone concerned about their future savings......
The American Housing Market Is Headed for Total Destruction
The American Housing Market Is Headed for Total Destruction
Monday, October 11, 2010
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure by Murray N. Rothbard
Remember that Recession is a recent economic term, likely created to ensure that we don't suffer another "depression" again.
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure by Murray N. Rothbard
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure by Murray N. Rothbard
The Federal Reserve is Deaf, Dumb and Blind
It is easy to be a liberal when you are wealthy or live within the sheltered confines of tenured academia where you are never accountable for your own stupid ideas.
The danger comes when they are given the power to apply their ideas on the population.....
Taipan Daily - Opportunities Behind the Headlines
The danger comes when they are given the power to apply their ideas on the population.....
Taipan Daily - Opportunities Behind the Headlines
IMF Warns Western Economies Mired in 'Near Depression'
Once again Obama believes that he knows how to spend our money better than we do.
IMF Warns Western Economies Mired in 'Near Depression'
IMF Warns Western Economies Mired in 'Near Depression'
Do You Recognize This Marxist Country?
One note worth pointing out, "Dear Leader" does not actually advocate spreading Wealth around, that would mean that he and the other millionaires in Congress would have a bite taken out of their own net worth. They simply want to keep the rest of us out of the club by confiscation of income which they can then spread around to the poor unfortunate souls that keep voting for them.....
Do You Recognize This Marxist Country?
Do You Recognize This Marxist Country?
Turning Back Obamacare
A great discussion on the weakness of the bill and various strategies that could be employed to over-turn this abomination without the President's cooperation.
Just as he has had his czars try to end-around the Constitution, an informed congress could turn the tables on him and deconstruct the bill as he watches helplessly.....
Turning Back Obamacare
Just as he has had his czars try to end-around the Constitution, an informed congress could turn the tables on him and deconstruct the bill as he watches helplessly.....
Turning Back Obamacare
Europe is Headed for an Austerity Brick Wall
We are not being informed about what is really going on in the "more progressive" countries in the west. Socialized economies are collapsing under their own weight and it will get far worse before it gets better. The masses have been trained to expect "free handouts" from the government and were never educated about where those handouts came from. Someday we will see a scene out of Soilent Green when people finally figure out what they have been fed by the progressive movement.
Taipan Daily - Opportunities Behind the Headlines
Taipan Daily - Opportunities Behind the Headlines
What's Really in the Social Security Trust Fund?
Part 3 of a series analyzing the Social Security mess.
What's Really in the Social Security Trust Fund?
What's Really in the Social Security Trust Fund?
The End of Social Security as We Know It
Social Security is well on its way to becoming just another welfare program. The idea, though loosely framed as a government sponsored annuity was never a good idea to begin with and; of course, all that money under the control of the politicians, it was doomed to eventually become what it is today no matter what we did.
The End of Social Security as We Know It
The End of Social Security as We Know It
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Obama and Wall Street an Unholy Alliance says charlie gasparino: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance
Charlie Gasparino is a great investigative reporter and his last book was spot on.
obama and wall street an unholy alliance says charlie gasparino: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance
obama and wall street an unholy alliance says charlie gasparino: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance
Obama Use of Foe's Tax Records Reviewed
Remember when Bush was in the news every day for a year regarding "illegal" wire taps of US citizens.....?
Where is the press now?
Obama Use of Foe's Tax Records Reviewed
Where is the press now?
Obama Use of Foe's Tax Records Reviewed
Asiatic Adventurism, Part I
The idea that unfair currency rates, not over-regulation, over taxation over meddling by a government that has become the lap-dog of big labor and the radical environmental movement is simply folly. This is nothing but a stunt that will do more damage to this already weak economy.....
Asiatic Adventurism, Part I
Asiatic Adventurism, Part I
O‘Reilly Slams ABC About Cleric’s ‘Flag of Islam’ Over the White House Vow | The Blaze
If the goal of Islam is "one world guided by Sharia", then at what point do they lose protection under the 1st amendment? I don't think Hitler would have been welcomed here as he was off invading Europe......
O‘Reilly Slams ABC About Cleric’s ‘Flag of Islam’ Over the White House Vow The Blaze
O‘Reilly Slams ABC About Cleric’s ‘Flag of Islam’ Over the White House Vow The Blaze
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
ObamaCare Kicks In - Taxes Sure to Rise - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
As predicted in my wake up America series before the elections of 2008. These people have put us on a path of economic destruction starting with 3rd-world -quality healthcare.
ObamaCare Kicks In - Taxes Sure to Rise - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
ObamaCare Kicks In - Taxes Sure to Rise - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Government Workers: The New Upper Crust?
This of course is the best reason for limited government. Yhe more power and influence a government can wield, the more corrupt it will become by virtue of the people running it.
Government Workers: The New Upper Crust?
Government Workers: The New Upper Crust?
Friday, October 01, 2010
Pakistan and the U.S. Exit From Afghanistan - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
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