from The Economic Collapse Blog:
Do
you want to see what a 21st century economic depression looks like?
Just look at Greece. Once upon a time, the Greek economy was thriving,
the Greek government was borrowing money like there was no tomorrow and
Greek citizens were thoroughly enjoying the bubble of false prosperity
that all that debt created. Those that warned that Greece was headed
for a financial collapse were laughed at and were called “doom and
gloomers”. Well, nobody is laughing now. You see, the truth is that
debt is a very cruel master. Greeks were able to live way beyond their
means for many, many years but eventually a day of reckoning arrived.
At this point, the Greek economy has been in a recession for five years
in a row, and the economic crisis in that country is rapidly getting
even worse. It was just recently announced that the overall rate of
unemployment in Greece has soared above 20 percent and the youth
unemployment rate has risen to an astounding 48 percent. One out of
every five retail stores has been shut down and parents are literally
abandoning children in the streets. The frightening thing is that this
is just the beginning. Things are going to get a lot worse in Greece.
And in case you haven’t been paying attention, these kinds of conditions
are coming to the United States as well. We are heading down the exact
same road as Greece went down, and the economic pain that this country
is eventually going to suffer is going to be beyond anything that most
Americans would dare to imagine.
Read More @ TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Do
you want to see what a 21st century economic depression looks like?
Just look at Greece. Once upon a time, the Greek economy was thriving,
the Greek government was borrowing money like there was no tomorrow and
Greek citizens were thoroughly enjoying the bubble of false prosperity
that all that debt created. Those that warned that Greece was headed
for a financial collapse were laughed at and were called “doom and
gloomers”. Well, nobody is laughing now. You see, the truth is that
debt is a very cruel master. Greeks were able to live way beyond their
means for many, many years but eventually a day of reckoning arrived.
At this point, the Greek economy has been in a recession for five years
in a row, and the economic crisis in that country is rapidly getting
even worse. It was just recently announced that the overall rate of
unemployment in Greece has soared above 20 percent and the youth
unemployment rate has risen to an astounding 48 percent. One out of
every five retail stores has been shut down and parents are literally
abandoning children in the streets. The frightening thing is that this
is just the beginning. Things are going to get a lot worse in Greece.
And in case you haven’t been paying attention, these kinds of conditions
are coming to the United States as well. We are heading down the exact
same road as Greece went down, and the economic pain that this country
is eventually going to suffer is going to be beyond anything that most
Americans would dare to imagine.Read More @ TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
John Williams of ShadowStats: “This is End of the World Type Stuff”
The DHS Defends Globalism, Not America
Under any collectivist society, the act of non-participation is always painted as an attack on the group. In a fully interdependent system, refusing to contribute automatically hurts others, and therefore, makes you a criminal by default. These systems are built this way deliberately, in order to control a population by exploiting their sense of innate guilt. The DHS may claim a limited involvement in globalization, restricted to security issues, but the very process of integration with the international corporate framework as well as foreign institutions makes the agency a catalyst for forced collectivism. Bombs in shipping containers (the bombs we’re supposed to believe are everywhere), do not warrant the massive shift of our security apparatus into a policy of global centralization. In the end, this move on the part of the DHS has nothing to do with security, and everything to do with manipulating the attitude of the general public towards globalization. It is much more difficult to challenge a methodology when that methodology is suddenly treated as a national security issue, and is defended by an army of bureaucrats and blue-shirted thugs. When a world view is made violently essential to the very survival of a people, defiance is held tantamount to treason, and change, no matter how wise, becomes impossible.
[Ed. Note: Related.]
by SGT:
I speak with two YouTuber’s we admire: Fabian Calvo from Fabian4Liberty, and Scott from HyperReport, to find out what drives them to fight the machine and stand for Liberty.
Click Here for ‘The Liberty Option’ (documentary)
[Video goes public for 3 days only, starting Friday Feb. 10th at 8pm EST.]
by SGT:
I speak with two YouTuber’s we admire: Fabian Calvo from Fabian4Liberty, and Scott from HyperReport, to find out what drives them to fight the machine and stand for Liberty.
Click Here for ‘The Liberty Option’ (documentary)
[Video goes public for 3 days only, starting Friday Feb. 10th at 8pm EST.]
from King World News:
With
growing fears about the stability of the financial system, a looming
war and a stampede of wealthy investors into hard assets, today King
World News interviewed Gerald Celente, Founder of Trends Research and
the man many consider to be the top trends forecaster in the world.
Celente had this to say about an increased number of investors that have
been crowding into gold and other hard assets: “The smart people are
(buying gold) and more and more people are waking up to it. So the
people that are going to survive and thrive are going to be the ones
that are prepared, the ones that are going to see history before it
happens and get ready for it and there are very few.”
Gerald Celente continues: Read More @ KingWorldNews.com
With
growing fears about the stability of the financial system, a looming
war and a stampede of wealthy investors into hard assets, today King
World News interviewed Gerald Celente, Founder of Trends Research and
the man many consider to be the top trends forecaster in the world.
Celente had this to say about an increased number of investors that have
been crowding into gold and other hard assets: “The smart people are
(buying gold) and more and more people are waking up to it. So the
people that are going to survive and thrive are going to be the ones
that are prepared, the ones that are going to see history before it
happens and get ready for it and there are very few.”Gerald Celente continues: Read More @ KingWorldNews.com
Why Is Gasoline Consumption Tanking?
The cost of oil has declined sharply from mid-2008, yet consumption has tanked from 54.8 MGD in July 2008 to 42.4 MGD in July 2011. That's a hefty 21% decline. What other plausible explanation is there for the decline from 42.4 MGD in July 2011 to 30.9 MGD in November 2011 other than a dramatic decline in discretionary driving? That 27% drop in a few months in unprecedented, except in times of war or sharp economic contraction, i.e. recession. If we stipulate that vehicles and fuel consumption are essential proxies for the U.S. economy, then we can expect a steep decline in economic activity to register in other metrics within the next few months. Such a sharp drop would of course be "unexpected" given the positive employment data of the past few months. But as the data above shows, employment isn't tightly correlated to gasoline consumption: gasoline consumption reflects recession and growth. In other words, look out below.
Some Friday Humor
Dave in Denver at The Golden Truth - 4 hours ago
*The significant problems of our time cannot be solved by the same level of
thinking that created them -* Albert Einstein
Clearly Einstein did not consider the element of Governmental and banking
system fraud and corruption in implying that significant problems
can actually be solved.
Someone sent me a news link which reported that the Greek deputy foreign
minister resigned in protest over the "tough" austerity measures being
demanded before Germany and the IMF will sign off on bailing Greece out
with German and U.S. taxpayer money. This is hilarious. What the hell do
these ... more »
US Dollar Very Long Term Chart
Credit Card Fueled Binges No Longer Bring A Smile To US Consumers' Faces
To
be happy is to be confident. And at least until the recent past, in
America to be confident, meant to have purchasing power, which pretty
much always, at least for the bulk of the population, meant to lever up,
i.e., to take on debt and to spend it on worthless crap. Well, as we
reported earlier this week,
in December the US population literally jumped head first right back
into the credit frenzy, experiencing the largest jump in unadjusted
consumer credit since the peak of the credit bubble. however, very much
contrary to naive interpretations that this would reignite the economy,
as Lance Roberts explained, and as Charles Hugh Smith confirmed showing plunging gasoline usage,
it merely indicated that with savings again at record lows, US
consumer have no choice but to dig deep into their credit card stash
merely to pay for staples, and non-discretionary spending. And
one hardly is happy when one purchases a roll of toiler paper (not to
be confused with US Treasurys - there is far less than 15.4 trillion
pieces of toiler paper in the world) on credit. Sure enough, as the
following chart from John Lohman demonstrates, the recent (mini)
reincarnation (because it will last at most a month or two) of the
consumer credit bubble has done absolutely nothing for consumer
confidence. In fact, today's UMichigan data showed a decline in
confidence. Which shows all one needs to know about just what the
true state of the US consumer is...High Yield Plummets and VIX Flares Most In Almost 3 Months
UPDATE: EURUSD back over 1.32 and TSYs +2bps on Greek loan plan news.
Credit (and vol) continue to lead the way as smart deriskers as ES (the e-mini S&P 500 futures contract) ends down only 0.5% - which sadly is the biggest drop since 12/28. The late day surge in ES, which was not supported by IG or HY credit (and very clearly not HYG - the HY bond ETF - which closed at its lows and saw its biggest single-day loss since Thanksgiving), saw heavier volumes and large average trade size which suggest professionals willing to cover longs or add shorts above in order to get filled. Materials stocks underperformed but the major financials had a tough day as their CDS deteriorated to one-week wides. VIX (and its many derivative ETFs) had a very bumpy ride today. VXX (the vol ETF) rose over 14% (most in 3 months) at one point before it pulled back (coming back to settle perfectly at its VWAP so not too worrisome). After the European close, FX markets largely went sideways with the USD inching higher (EUR weaker) as JPY strength reflected on FX carry pair weakness and held stocks down. Treasuries extended their gains from yesterday's peak of the week yields as 7s to 30s rallied around 6bps leaving the 30Y best performer on the week at around unchanged. Commodities generally tracked lower on USD strength with Oil the exception as WTI pushed back up to $99 into the close (ending the week +1.1% and Copper -1.1%). Gold and Silver ended the week down almost in line with USD's gains at around 0.25-0.5%. Broadly speaking risk has been off since around the European close yesterday and ES and CONTEXT have reconverged on a medium-term basis this afternoon (to around NFP-spike levels) as traders await the potential for event risk emerging from Europe.
Gerald Celente with Jeff Rense 09.Feb.2012
So you thought I was angry yesterday?
You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, as today was the first time since abandoning mining stocks last Fall that I lost my temper, screaming at the screen like the old days as I watched the Cartel desperately attempt to maintain the status quo by holding down PM prices.
And desperate is the operative word, as their operations are becoming borderline psychotic in their regularity, intensity, and blatancy. Once their suppression scheme fails, it will be GAME OVER for not only the U.S. dollar as “world’s reserve currency,” but ALL fiat currencies – which is to say, ALL CURRENCIES. TPTB know this is coming as sure as day follows night, and are rapidly acquiring PHYSICAL gold and silver while they relentlessly attack PAPER PMs such as futures contracts, ETFs, and mining shares.
Read More @ MilesFranklin.com
[Ed. Note: Related.]
Fox business network is dropping three of their primetime shows, one including the top-rated show “Freedom watch” hosted by Judge Napolitano. Judge Napolitano covers topics from Occupy Wall street, to the National authorization act, in fact he has been consistently pro-Ron Paul and anti-war. To talk more about the cancellation of these shows Wayne Allen Root, a libertarian and author book “The consistence of a Libertarian; empowering the citizen revolution with God, guns, gold and tax cuts”, joins RT’s Kristine
Frazao.
Fox business network is dropping three of their primetime shows, one including the top-rated show “Freedom watch” hosted by Judge Napolitano. Judge Napolitano covers topics from Occupy Wall street, to the National authorization act, in fact he has been consistently pro-Ron Paul and anti-war. To talk more about the cancellation of these shows Wayne Allen Root, a libertarian and author book “The consistence of a Libertarian; empowering the citizen revolution with God, guns, gold and tax cuts”, joins RT’s Kristine
Frazao.
from ZeroHedge:
S&P
just downgraded 34 of the 37 Italian banks it covers. Below is the
full statement. And so get get one second closer to midnight for
Europe’s AIG equivalent: A&G. As for S&P, this is the funniest
bit: “We classify the Italian government as “supportive” toward
its banking sector. We recognize the government’s record of providing
support to the banking system in times of stress.” Even
rating agencies now have to rely on sovereign risk transfer as the only
upside case to their reports. Oh, and who just went balls to the wall Italian stocks? Why the oldest (no pun intended) contrarian indicator in the book – none other than permawrong Notorious (Barton) B.I.G.G.S.
Read More @ ZeroHedge.com
S&P
just downgraded 34 of the 37 Italian banks it covers. Below is the
full statement. And so get get one second closer to midnight for
Europe’s AIG equivalent: A&G. As for S&P, this is the funniest
bit: “We classify the Italian government as “supportive” toward
its banking sector. We recognize the government’s record of providing
support to the banking system in times of stress.” Even
rating agencies now have to rely on sovereign risk transfer as the only
upside case to their reports. Oh, and who just went balls to the wall Italian stocks? Why the oldest (no pun intended) contrarian indicator in the book – none other than permawrong Notorious (Barton) B.I.G.G.S.Read More @ ZeroHedge.com
by Deepcaster LLC, GoldSeek.com:
“In
one of the most shamefully disingenuous reports we’ve seen in years,
the US Labor Department released the latest employment figures on Friday
showing that the headline US unemployment rate had fallen to 8.3%.
“Champagne and sound bites were pre-positioned in Washington as the self-congratulatory praise flowed like the bubbly. President Obama, beaming like he’d just caught the winning touchdown pass, told the American people on Sunday that he ‘deserved’ a second term.
They call it the headline unemployment rate for a reason… it’s the only number that the papers tend to run. All weekend long, mainstream press ran headlines like:
Read More @ GoldSeek.com
“In
one of the most shamefully disingenuous reports we’ve seen in years,
the US Labor Department released the latest employment figures on Friday
showing that the headline US unemployment rate had fallen to 8.3%.“Champagne and sound bites were pre-positioned in Washington as the self-congratulatory praise flowed like the bubbly. President Obama, beaming like he’d just caught the winning touchdown pass, told the American people on Sunday that he ‘deserved’ a second term.
They call it the headline unemployment rate for a reason… it’s the only number that the papers tend to run. All weekend long, mainstream press ran headlines like:
Read More @ GoldSeek.com
The World According to Koo – The Facile Keynesian Story
by Pater Tenebrarum, Acting-Man.com:
We came across an article by Rex Nutting yesterday the title of which at first made us suspect that a Krugmanesque rant was in the offing: “Investors demanding larger government deficits“.
This title seemed to suggest that Nutting holds, a la Krugman, that the current very low and at times even negative interest rates on the most highly rated government debt are an open invitation to the government to spend even more money it doesn’t have. To his credit, Nutting doesn’t quite fully veer off into this type of nuttiness, so to speak.
Rather, he suggests that ultra-low interest rates on certain government debt show that there is a ‘shortage of safe assets’, a concept we have discussed in these pages before (more on this in a follow-up post). Here is Nutting’s central point:
Read More @ Acting-Man.com
by Pater Tenebrarum, Acting-Man.com:
We came across an article by Rex Nutting yesterday the title of which at first made us suspect that a Krugmanesque rant was in the offing: “Investors demanding larger government deficits“.
This title seemed to suggest that Nutting holds, a la Krugman, that the current very low and at times even negative interest rates on the most highly rated government debt are an open invitation to the government to spend even more money it doesn’t have. To his credit, Nutting doesn’t quite fully veer off into this type of nuttiness, so to speak.
Rather, he suggests that ultra-low interest rates on certain government debt show that there is a ‘shortage of safe assets’, a concept we have discussed in these pages before (more on this in a follow-up post). Here is Nutting’s central point:
Read More @ Acting-Man.com
by Katheleen Conti, Boston.com:
Robert Shapiro recalls holding discussions nine years ago with Mexican leaders, including a senator and a member of the nation’s central bank, on the merits of using silver as a currency instead of pesos.
“I found out that Mexico’s economy was the right size, and at the time they were the number one silver producers in the world, and [I] thought that they would set the silver standard,’’ Shapiro said. “I tried to convince them that it would be a great advantage.’’
But Shapiro was not in Mexico representing the United States. In fact, as a math teacher in Methuen at the time, he wasn’t representing anyone officially.
“I went on my own,’’ said the Andover resident, on what he called his two-month stint as a consultant economist. “I sent them a letter with this outlandish proposal and one senator sent me a reply. . . . I like to think outside the box.’’
Read More @ Boston.com
Robert Shapiro recalls holding discussions nine years ago with Mexican leaders, including a senator and a member of the nation’s central bank, on the merits of using silver as a currency instead of pesos.
“I found out that Mexico’s economy was the right size, and at the time they were the number one silver producers in the world, and [I] thought that they would set the silver standard,’’ Shapiro said. “I tried to convince them that it would be a great advantage.’’
But Shapiro was not in Mexico representing the United States. In fact, as a math teacher in Methuen at the time, he wasn’t representing anyone officially.
“I went on my own,’’ said the Andover resident, on what he called his two-month stint as a consultant economist. “I sent them a letter with this outlandish proposal and one senator sent me a reply. . . . I like to think outside the box.’’
Read More @ Boston.com
from Tekoa Da Silva’s Bull Market Thinking:
I
had the great pleasure a few days ago of interviewing Thomas B.
Winmill, President of Midas Funds. Midas Funds manage over $250 million
in client funds, and offer three different mutual funds, two of which
carry significant exposure to gold, silver, and mining equities. Tom has
been in the unique position of being an early adopter of the precious
metals bull market, and his clients have been generously rewarded. Here
is the written form of our short, but very interesting interview:
TD: What are your philosophies toward precious metals and the mining equities?
Read More @ BullMarketThinking.com
I
had the great pleasure a few days ago of interviewing Thomas B.
Winmill, President of Midas Funds. Midas Funds manage over $250 million
in client funds, and offer three different mutual funds, two of which
carry significant exposure to gold, silver, and mining equities. Tom has
been in the unique position of being an early adopter of the precious
metals bull market, and his clients have been generously rewarded. Here
is the written form of our short, but very interesting interview:TD: What are your philosophies toward precious metals and the mining equities?
Read More @ BullMarketThinking.com
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