Global Stocks Meltdown Could “Trigger a Cataclysmic, Uncontrollable Backlash”

by | Feb 12, 2016 | Aftermath, Commodities, Conspiracy Fact and Theory | 82 comments

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    This article was written by Michael Snyder and originally published at his Economic Collapse blog.

    Editor’s Comment: It is all just a matter of time, but so clear that so many foreboding financial events are converging into one giant disaster. Things are so far gone at this point, that the system can’t even hold back the gold price, though it obviously still remains suppressed and undervalued.

    How much more time is there, and are you ready to brace for impact? If you haven’t set aside plenty of back up funds, and diversified them in the cash-under-the-mattress account, and the hidden/buried/stored gold-and-silver account, then it is well past time. But until the whole thing crumbles, it still isn’t too late.

    Global Stocks Continue To Crash As Oil Plummets And Gold Skyrockets

    by Michael Snyder

    Stock markets around the world continue to collapse as this new global financial crisis picks up more steam.  In the U.S., the Dow lost 254 more points on Thursday, and it has now fallen for five days in a row.  European stocks continued to get obliterated, and financial institutions are leading the way.  But this week what is happening in Japan has been the most sobering.  After falling 918 points the other day, the Nikkei plunged another 760 points early on Friday.  The Nikkei has now fallen for seven of the past eight days, and investors in Japan are in full panic mode.  Overall, global stocks are well into bear market territory, and nearly 17 trillion dollars of global stock market wealth has already been wiped out.

    As panic rises, investors are seeking alternative investments.  On Thursday, the price of gold hit $1,260 an ounce at one point before settling back a bit.  But even with the fade at the end of the day, it was still the biggest daily gain in more than two years.  Overall, gold is having its best quarterly performance in 30 years.

    Whenever a financial crisis happens, investors seek out safe havens such as gold that can help them weather the storm.  In particular, demand for physical gold is going through the roof all over the planet.  Just check out the following excerpt from a Telegraph article entitled “Investors ‘go bananas’ for gold bars as global stock markets tumble“…

    BullionByPost, Britain’s biggest online gold dealer, said it has already taken record-day sales of £5.6m as traders pile into gold following fears the world is on the brink of another financial crisis.

    Rob Halliday-Stein, founder and managing director of the Birmingham-based company, said takings today had already surpassed the firm’s previous one-day record of £4.4m in October 2014.

    BullionByPost, which takes orders of up to £25,000 on the website but takes higher amounts over the phone, explained it had received a few hundred orders overnight and frantic numbers of phone calls this morning.

    Meanwhile, the price of oil continues to drop to stunning new depths.  On Thursday U.S. oil dropped as low as $26.21, which was the lowest price in 13 years.  Not even during the worst parts of the last financial crisis did oil ever go this low.

    And remember, the price of oil was sitting at about $108 a barrel back in June 2014.  Since that time it has fallen about 75 percent.

    Needless to say, this crash is having some very serious consequences for the energy industry.  Previously, I have reported that 42 North American energy companies have gone into bankruptcy since the beginning of last year.

    But I just found out that the true number is much worse than that.

    According to CNN, “67 U.S. oil and natural gas companies filed for bankruptcy in 2015″…

    Bankruptcy filings are flying in the American oil patch.

    At least 67 U.S. oil and natural gas companies filed for bankruptcy in 2015, according to consulting firm Gavin/Solmonese.

    That represents a 379% spike from the previous year when oil prices were substantially higher.

    With oil prices crashing further in recent weeks, five more energy gas producers succumbed to bankruptcy in the first five weeks of this year, according to Houston law firm Haynes and Boone.

    A lot of people tend to think that my writing is full of “doom and gloom”, but the truth is that I often understate how bad things really are.  I’ll often report one number and find out later that an updated number is even worse than the one that I originally reported.

    What we desperately need is for the price of oil to go back up.

    Unfortunately, the International Energy Agency says that isn’t likely to happen any time soon

    The International Energy Agency said earlier this week that it expects the global oil glut to grow throughout the year.

    With the market already awash in oil, it is very hard to see how oil prices can rise significantly in the short term,” the IEA said in its monthly report.

    And of course all of this is incredibly bad news for financial institutions all over the world.

    During the boom times, the big banks showered energy companies with loans.  Now those loans are going bad, and the big banks are feeling the pain.  The following comes from CNN

    It’s never a good sign when the country’s financial lifelines are under stress. Large U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) that helped bankroll the energy boom are already setting aside billions to cover potential loan losses in the oil industry. Investors are worried about imploding energy loans for European banks like Deutsche Bank (DB). High yield bonds in your investing portfolio wont be looking good either — Standard & Poor’s warned that half of all energy junk bonds are at risk of defaulting.

    Speaking of Deutsche Bank, their stock price continued to plummet on Thursday, as did the stock prices of most other European banks.

    Things were particularly bad for France’s Societe Generale.  Their stock price plunged 12 percent on Thursday alone.

    This is what a global financial crisis looks like.  It began during the second half of last year, and now it is making major headlines all over the planet.

    At this point, things are already so bad that the elite are starting to freak out about what this could potentially mean for them.  I want you to carefully consider the following two paragraphs from an editorial that I came across in the Telegraph earlier today…

    We are too fragile, fiscally as well as psychologically. Our economies, cultures and polities are still paying a heavy price for the Great Recession; another collapse, especially were it to be accompanied by a fresh banking bailout by the taxpayer, would trigger a cataclysmic, uncontrollable backlash.

    The public, whose faith in elites and the private sector was rattled after 2007-09, would simply not wear it. Its anger would be so explosive, so-all encompassing that it would threaten the very survival of free trade, of globalisation and of the market-based economy. There would be calls for wage and price controls, punitive, ultra-progressive taxes, a war on the City and arbitrary jail sentences.

    I think that the author of this editorial is correct.

    I do believe that another financial crisis on the scale of 2008 would trigger “a cataclysmic, uncontrollable backlash”.

    In fact, I believe that is what we are steamrolling toward right now.

    We can already see the anger of the American people toward the establishment being expressed in their support of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

    But if the financial system completely collapses and it becomes exceedingly apparent that none of our problems from the last time around were ever fixed, the frustration is going to be off the charts.

    Many people believed that this day of reckoning would never come, but now it is here.

    The “coming nightmare” is now upon us, and this is just the start.

    The rest of 2016 promises to be even more chaotic, and ultimately this new crisis is going to turn out to be far worse than what we experienced back in 2008.


    GetPreparedNow-MichaelSnyderBarbaraFixMichael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years.

    Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and The American Dream

    If you want to know what is coming and what you can do to prepare, read his latest book [amazon text=Get Prepared Now!: Why A Great Crisis Is Coming & How You Can Survive It&asin=150522599X].

    URGENT ON GOLD… as in URGENT

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      82 Comments

      1. ” It still isn’t too late”. Hell no, of course it isn’t, there needs to be time left for Snydley to make more money! Christ, he’s been spouting the same crap for years and I see that finally some have become tired of the ” death is around the corner” crap which has been Snydley’s stock in trade for a long time. I wonder what kind of a lawyer he is. Do you think he tells his clients ” We may as well just plead guilty, You’re doomed anyway.”

        • No kidding, Snyder has said its gonna happen tomorrow for 7 years. I no longer read anything written by that hack. What ever happened to it will absolutely collapse by the end of 2015 prediction? SNYDER = 0 CREDIBILITY.

          • If you “no longer read anything written by that hack”, then how did you come to post a reply to his article? I think I smell a troll

            • Maybe what you smell is emanating from your underwear. Lots of people skip right to the comment section brain surgeon. looks like another one ready for the ” canon fodder” team when it gets rough.

            • Pursuer ,^5

        • THE LATEST FUCKING PSYOP

          Two teens “killed” in AZ. Dead from one bullet each. Uh-huh. I barely even skim these articles anymore.

        • AMAZING HOW THE STOCK MARKET ALWAYS BOUNCES BACK THE NEXT DAY

          SURE. SURE IT DOES.

          • Yep Oil closed up 12% bounce today. Snyderville is for lemmens and frightened sheep. Zero cred. Who keeps buying His fear. I see he gets pounded on other sites too. Come on Mac.. Enough already.

            -WWTI…

          • Lets get real. So 60 plus oil drillers get smashed. Who in their right mind goes to drill oil at a cost of $75 to $90 per barrel break even in the US. when the Saudi’s cost is like $4 per barrel. Idiots who over leverage and borrow to drill At $90 cost deserve to be bankrupt along with the dumbass banks that loaned them money to drill. Its a bad business model not an indication of a crushed economy. Its fear porn for fucksake.

            I guess the lawyer business is so bad these days He now resorts to fear porn writing as a full time back up plan. DurangoKiddy and Snyder must buy eachothers financial planning CD’s.. LOL..

            -WWTI..

          • Here is what happened to make the stock market go up on Friday: Nothing but the King of Saudi Arabia state that He wants OPEC to cut production, no details of any kind and no response from any other OPEC member.

            However and this is where it starts to get interesting Iran is sending in forces to Syria to fight moderate Muslims against Assad. Saudi Arabia wants to send forces in against Assad but needs the U.S. backing. Me think for staving off a collapse of our markets by his statement the U.S. is going to back Saudi Arabia and start WW3.

            This will give Obama reason for Martial Law and thus extend his kingdom for as long as he wants.

            Just one mans conspiracy theory.

            BigB

        • http://time.com/3138176/ferguson-demographic-change/

          IN 1990 FURGUSON MO WAS 70% WHITE AND A REALLY NICE PLACE

          NOW IT’S 76% BLACK AND A FUCKING SHITHOLE

          YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKING “INAR” I’M NOT A RACIST BOOMER NUMBSKULLS

          GET THIS THROUGH YOUR EMPTY FUCKING HEADS

          EVERY CITY BLACKS COLONIZE TURNS INTO A MODEL OF AFRICAN SQUALOR

          JUST STOP YOUR BULLSHIT AND ADMIT THE TRUTH

          NUMBERS AND WORDS ARE TOO DIFFERENT THINGS

          OUR SCHOOLS HAVE FAR TOO LITTLE QUANTITATIVE REASONING COMPARED TO DUTCH AND GERMAN SCHOOLS

          • I’ll bet that in 1990, pre NAFTA and China Free Trade there was one or more large employers that paid good wages that have since closed due to Free Trade.

          • AE

            i like your posts because at least you are an honest shithead. fr your info, there is an difference between negros, and africans. negros are from the tribe of judah. africans are from the tribe of ham. messiah is from the tribe of judah so be careful who you slam in your posts. because the day is surely coming (which i know u can see) that u are going to be made to give an account for your words. and another thing i guess u never heard of “black wall street” u should google it sometime and find out what happens when negros do for themselves.

          • I’d go along with some of your premises, but I’d bet that the good, ol’ US government is behind this Ferguson crap. Blacks have been the punching bags of the elites, the elites use them as proxy troublemakers. Blacks are instigated to riot by trained troublemakers on the government payroll. Ferguson was a planned psyop. It’s not just Obama, although he’s part of the gangbangers, it’s the shadow government that seeks to destroy America and turn it into a slave country with a failed economy. America’s destruction is all PLANNED!

        • http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_IRAN_VALENTINES_DAY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-12-10-40-05

          MOOSE LIMBS IN SAUDI ARABIA AND IRAN CRACK DOWN ON “DECADENT” WESTERN STYLE VALENTINES DAY CELEBRATIONS

          AS THE MOOSE LIMBS RAPE OUR CLEAN WHITE WOMEN IN DEUTSCHLAND

          NON-WITES ARE INCAPABLE OF MAINTAINING CIVILIZATION

          ENOUGH OF THE BULLSHIT FAIRY TALES OF MULTICULTURALISM

          THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED

          CHIMPOLOGISTS AGREE

          EVERYWHERE NON-WHITES COLONIZE BECOMES A SHITHOLE

          YOU CAN VISIT THE WEBSITE “STUFF BLACK PEOPLE DONT LIKE”

          OR READ SOME BOOKS BY “PAUL KERSEY”

          TAKEN FROM CHARLES BRONSON’S CHARACTER IN “DEATH WISH”

      2. As of right now 1330hrs my time the stock market ahs regained everything it lost yesterday.

        HELP______________HELP_________________HELP_____________

        Can any one tell me how? How can it loose 255 points one day and then make 255 points the next? this is NUTS!

        I don’t trust the market that is why I’m staying in Silver.

        • Thats the PPT in effect.I don’t think were far off now from the balloon going up

        • The stock market for most people is a gamble. If you plan long term you will do OK. Most people can’t think much more than quarterly earnings. Some PM are good as something to barter with, but if it is such a good investment why are these companies selling it for other than industrial uses?
          Stocks and PM’s are faked up markets designed to enrichen the sellers of stocks and PM’s. Don’t be surprised that the market corrects itself once in a while.

          • A very sound comment. Very well said.

        • Sgt Dale, I have traded for 30 years. I will tell you how it happened. It is not nuts What you are seeing is a temporary bounce off of support that is a double bottom off the January lows in an oversold market. Look at weekly chart and you will see what I going on. We will probably have some more upside as the market consolidates. It does not necessarily mean we will not again test these lows again and go lower.

          • To the above
            THANKS
            Sgt.

          • Yep, it’s a dead cat bounce..

        • I read this morning the bounce back in the stock market is from oil price raising $30 a barrell

      3. Crash It.

        • Yes once and for all !!!!!!!!

          • At least correct it,,,

            • The Dow needs to lose at least 5,000 more points.

              • At least 5k. Being overvalued as it is, it’s long overdue for a proper correction.

              • Yep, and thats just a correction, not a crash,

      4. The stock market is based on the fed and government moves. Not only our government but OPEC as well. It seems to have nothing to do with profits and growth anymore. I have been on the sideline for about two years now. Better early than late I guess.
        Just goes to show how rigged it really is. With economies world wide in trouble the rigging may be about to break. Hope I am wrong but I think we are close to where governments and banks lose control. Time will tell.

        • Actually I think the stock market is based on perception and right now our perception of the world economy sucks.

        • Next is Helicopter money and NIRP…

      5. I concur with the statements made here and on other posts regarding Snyder. However, the MSM is starting to sound the alarm which means that collapse of some sort is coming and they cannot hide it anymore. When the mainstream starts to sound like SHTFPlan.com, I know for sure something bad is coming.

        We’ve all heard this before, ad infinitum, but if you haven’t started to prep (meaning: you must be a newbie here) do it now in any way you can. Second job to pay off bills while you can still get one. Chickens in the backyard, garden in the front yard, etc. Whatever you can do to ensure you weather the coming storm.

        As they say in one of my favorite shows “Winter is Coming”

      6. Rawles today had a brief mention of a possible Saudi Army of about 350,000 invading into Syria within a short time.

        Russia/Iran has said that they would consider it an act of war if it happens. Supposedly the IDF is “gunning up” as well for action.

        Needless to say, a Saudi/Iran/Russia war will push the price of oil upward, and rally Stock Markets.

        Sad to say, War is good for Big Business.

        • Correction: The article about a Saudi invasion of Syria is on Creedmore’s site not Rawles.

          Get some love’n on Valentines day, ya’ll!

          • Semi,
            I called that a few months ago. Its basic tactics. Saudi declared economic war on Russia. Saudi is protected by USA military. But, with current soothsayer in charge there is no better time for Russia to blast that sh*t out of existence. The financial incentives for Russia are enormous. Wipe out their #1 competitor. Follow the money and the money says Russia would LOVE a confrontation with Saudi Arabia. Russians ain’t no joke. I suspect America has a damn good military but would not want a full-on war with Russia. Saudi’s may have picked on the wrong person. They would be absolute IDIOTS to poke the Bear more.
            Nutter Out

      7. When it happens, “Remember Who The Real Enemy Is”.
        The “BIS”, and All Central Banks along with current political leadership that allowed this.
        Traitors All!!!

      8. Off Topic (kind of)

        It looks like Trump and / or Sanders just picked up 2800 votes in Indiana. Carrier just informed 1400 of their employees that the manufacturing facility is moving to Mexico.

        • K2: I just watched the video on Zerohedge. I am pretty sure I heard a few people yell “fuck you” to the guy in the suit.

          There was another story about a mob of farmers in Greece that showed up at the Agriculture department office with staves, Shepards hooks, and rotten tomatoes (I hope they had some rotten fish mixed in because that smell is really hard to get rid of). Apparently their social security taxes and income taxes have gone up and they aren’t very happy about it.

          • IF JOBS ARENT MOVED TO MEXICO

            MEXICANS WILL JUST COME HERE TO TAKE THEM

            BECAUSE YOU COCK SOCKETS WONT CLOSE THE MOTHERFUCKING BORDER AND THROW THOSE FUCKING WETBACKS OUT

            “INAR” “IM NOT A RACIST”

            THE WHITE MAN HAS TO PICK UP AFTER EVERYONE?

            POUND SAND UP YOUR CUNTS, BABY BOOMERS

            THANKS FOR WRECKING THE COUNTRY IN JUST A FEW DECADES

            SELF SERVING BASTARDS

            • Guess who was controlling the media that the Baby Boomers so readily absorbed in their youth? Yep, it was the evil Norwegians, as always…

              • And here I always thought it was the reptilians…

            • AcidEtch, you are lumping all boomers in your remarks!
              Not all boomers fit your profiling of us and not all boomers have cunts!
              You remind me of a very spoiled brat that cannot speak with out using profanity and obscenity!
              I see people that say certain things that the group does not like are accused of being a “troll”! With your belligerent attitude, I would think the other posters would consider that you are a troll! It seems that most readers just ignore your bellyaching! That is the best thing to do with commenters like you!

              • INVSBLTY

                I skip Acid Etch comments since he is stuck in adolescence bratty boy stage. Troll? Yep. Some are more comfortable with an adolescent bratty boy they can dismiss than engage with intelligence that they cannot dismiss.

          • I seen both videos. The Greeks were attacking the police with pretty heavy clubs. I don’t believe the police opened fire on them at all. I think the outcome would have been more Kent State like if it was in the US. Here in the US the police shoot people because they think they might have a weapon. The standard in the US for LEO’s using lethal force is, “I felt threatened”. “Felt” not actually “were” but “felt”.

          • Seen both the videos. Interestingly the Greeks attacked police with pretty significant clubs and no one was shot. I guess they have strict rules using lethal force by law enforcement in Greece.

            • The article from Zerohedge just went live here. More people that will want to vote for Trump. Good!

      9. the trumpets are sounding

      10. Stocks,,,
        Arent those the wooden things they used to put people in when they did something bad back in the old days?

        • Oh, I thought they were thor puthing your theet intho.

      11. Trading the market? Better not do it with index funds. Stay in food,tobacco, some pharm and anything that is based in a need.

      12. Prepper tip…

        Natural antibiotics to stockpile now: 10 herbs and foods that kill superbugs

        Honey

        Colloidal silver

        Pascalite

        Turmeric

        Oil of Oregano

        Tea tree oil

        Olive leaf extract

        Garlic

        Echinacea

        Goldenseal

        Natural news dot com

          • Be careful with the silver folks. Metals are not really the best things to put in your bodies. Like other meds, they could kill the bacteria before the human; but, can mess you up good.

            • Nutnation
              I leave colloidal silver on the list but would never use it on myself. Too many healthy alternatives out there that will also strengthen your immune system… and your immune system is the greatest antibacterial ever “invented”. Works 24/7/365. Tip: your immune system requires healthy water and food without poisons or GMOs. Source: common sense.

      13. I’m well supplied with popcorn. What I could use more of is agreeable distaff talent with whom to eat it.

        Last night I watched a video of the trial and execution of Charles I of England. Videos of
        several queens separated from their crania. Sweat it, elites. What are you gonna do if your hired muscle decides no amount of money would please them more than hanging you?

        Banksters Defenestrate; Plebians Wager on Their Bounce is the headline I await with bated breath.

        Mikey, you’re such a cheerful fellow. One could not wish to live in more interesting times than these.

        • JA: those that fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. Apparently during the French Revolution the streets ran with rivers of blood.

      14. Many disparage gold, and love their paper because that’s what they’ve been taught. Volatility is what you see, and it is what will destroy you, why? Because the guys who control the markets are able to control them with the touch of a key. They write bad checks and get away with it, you can’t. When markets go up everybody makes money, when they go down, They make a killing… but people think they’re trapped in The Market. You’re not, your mind is because you are lazy and you have succumbed to Wall street propaganda. You may have made a few percentage points with stocks, but I made 4x multiples with gold and silver. Timing and patience. As in all things, is your friend.

        When paper crashes, and it must, numbers do not lie… when They go to negative rates, all bets are off…

        Gold is the top of the asset pyramid for a reason, and gold is now signaling ‘something wicked this way comes’.
        Do you have eyes that see?
        Do you see that when you sew the wind, you reap the whirlwind?

        Nobody can say, and nobody can know, when. I say, it is coming, but what if, collapse is not a simple event, but a process, as it was with Rome? I think war will be the deciding factor.

        Then prudence dictates, to understand that the only way to survive and give your children a future, is to gain knowledge and pass it on.

        I was a robotics engineer, and they gave that job to Chinese after 20 years. So I went ‘Galt’, and refused to give them anymore of my skilled labor, or my designs. The company died, and was bought out. I was a pivot point, a lynchpin on a multiple hundred million dollar project, which then failed, because I took most of it in my head with me, and many cursed me, but they were too stupid, greedy and evil to survive the Darwinian process. They hired many to replace me, what was simple become complex, what was relatively cheap became outragiously expensive, the Board sold the Company out from under The Lying Management. Good riddance, reality is a bitch.

        So now I’m a black smith, a skill that may come in useful, after Obama and his Muslim friends start WWIII with the Russians. This is happening, over Syria? No. Its over pipelines. Russia doesn’t want Saudi pipelines to Europe. It was American arms and money that started ISIS, remember Benghazi?

        IF there is one thing I’ve learned in my 60+ years of life in this world, is that nothing is as it seems, and behooves one to at least cultivate a little cynicism and wisdom for reality. For ultimately, reality rules, and realpolitik wins.

        The only way for us to thrive, is to unite behind the idea of leaving The System, to ‘go into the wilderness’, to go Galt en masse and deprive Them of Us. One day, you will see, but by then, will it be too late?

        • Im starting to tool up to do knives and small stuff,
          A friend turned me on to a Whisper Baby, am looking to build a wood forge similar to the Whitlock though, propane is expensive here, and at some point may be unavailable,
          Am reading reading reading on heat treating etc, interesting stuff,and a lot to it to get it right,,,

          • Hey kula. You are talking my game there. Propane forges are the way to go for knife making. By the time yiu get a coal or charcoal forge going you could have made a primitive knife. Look into building your own forge at ron reil’swebsite for the forge burners and ceramic fiber on ebay or amazon for the insulation. If you think you’re going to forge weld look at castable refractory for the bottom of the forge. Welding flux will eat the ceramic fiber like what water does to. cotton candy. A 250 gal propane tank with a forge or two will probably outlast the both of us. Good luck with this!
            https://www.abana.org/ronreil/design1.shtml

            • I went into my backyard and dug out some clay.
              I mixed it with chicken poop and a handful of lime.
              Formed it with the consistency of putty, then lined the inside of the force liner(an old #10 can).
              Let it set up slowly, very slowly.
              I have had a few cracks that were patched with the same mixture, but no failures.

              Only old ways will work, when the shipping companies can’t ship…

          • HI Kula, long time…
            Heattreating is a subject all to itself. Just remember this, tool steel, spring steel, axle steel, are the ones to quench and temper. Go to anvilfire.com
            Lots of info there…

            There is no feeling like hot iron being moved to your will. I have a micro propane forge and a brakedrum forge, and make my own charcoal… make a bellows and you’ll never have to worry about power or bearings going bad on ya. I currently have a crank blower, but would like to make a double bellows. They are much more controllable, and you don’t waste fuel…

            PS: Besides, once the gas stops flowing cheaply, all those old rustbuckets lying around will be useful…
            😉
            PPS: Invest in a good anvil and hardy tool first, with those, you can make your own tools…

            • Worked around big boilers of 1930s vintage three decades ago. The old timers, WWII vets would get machine shop to cut steel wedges for splitting firewood. It was referred to as, “A Government Job” in refinery slang. Once cut and sharpened they put them in the boiler firebox for an hour or so until they were so red / white hot that they looked somewhat transparent. They pulled them out with tongs and dropped them into 5 gallon metal pails of 600 Weight Super Cylinder Oil for steam engines and the like. The oil would boil and the wedges were allowed to cool. The oil never caught fire as the flash point was very high on this vicious oil and there was no source of ignition on the surface. The oil had a very high carbon contact and was very dark brown, almost black. The wedges came out with a blue like case hardening color and were HARD, very very HARD.

              • There were all kinds of “government jobs” at a yacht factory I worked at many years ago. Somebody built me a cedar toolbox there over 35 years ago. I still have it. There were uncountable numbers of knives created there with nice teak handles. I think most, perhaps all, of the work was from scrap materials.

                • The higher up on the food chain and the better stuff they got made with company material on company time. Seen a high level maintenance supervisor have a boat trailer made out of stainless steel using the tires and suspension from a towed welding machine. The templet was painted on the floor of welding shop.

                  • Back in the 80’a, One guy in the welding dept made a set of brass knuckles for most of us out of steel pipe rods. Cut the rings and welded them together. American ingenuity in a machine shop. Yeah buddy.

                    -WWTI…

            • Thanks for the info guys,, the propane forge definitely the way to go for serious stuff, good to learn old school too though,
              Have a nice big anvil that was my Pops shoeing anvil.
              Its a process…

      15. Ride the rollercoaster! Go to Vegas without leaving home. Offer them candy to get into your car. Throw your money on the water and watch it come back multiplied! Come my children and follow the Pied Pipers of Wall Street (twirling handlebar moustache).

      16. PM: yes to everything you said. Spot on.

        • I did show jumping and cross country. I don’t do it anymore because it is very dangerous. I mostly do long trail rides now, but I never did a sanctioned endurance event. I prefer western saddle.

          I used to think that reigning was cool, now I think it’s too hard on the horse and those events should be discontinued.

          If left in a stall alone out of sight from other horses for very long they will panic and try to kick the door down. Very social creatures. If there are no other horses they will befriend humans, dogs, or cats.

          A group that knows each other well, will line up on their own in the same order, single file, every time when you take them somewhere.

          I always had to groom them as a student. It’s part of the bonding process with the horse.

          I had far more problems with horses not wanting to move than horses who wanted to buck and rear. I used to think I would never use spurs or whips but after straining my legs on some lazy horses I think it’s a good idea.

          I have rode in desert, tropical, and forested regions.

          I only ever used the standard bit, but a good trail horse must know how to neck reign. You need to have a free hand on the trail.

          • And if your training a mountain horses or mule, you had better get him use to being mounted and dismounted from either side, cause you might be on a trail that is on the side of a mountain. Trekker Out.

            • MT: I agree.

      17. But the Baltic Dry Index went all the way up to 291 today. Does that mean everything’s going to be okay?

        A one-point rise after two months’ worth of constant decline doesn’t inspire much confidence in the economy.

        • I put in an “end sarcasm” tag at the end of the first paragraph, but the site software deleted it.

      18. They are too good at market manipulations for a collapse to happen until the triggering event happens. The markets are controlled by the so called elite, and they are very good at it.

        It will happen but not like this article reads.

        B4 2020.

      19. Obama says anyone saying the economy is in recession is peddling fiction. Oil under $30 a barrel and 300 point market swings with record unemployment is stability. If it walk like a duck looks like a duck quacks like a duck it’s a duck. Our tyrant leader is the one peddling fiction. People gotta be really dumbed down to believe this baloney.

      20. I topped up some of my preps today. I am already out of the market as much as I can be. I was out before 2008 also. That time I kept a lot of cash, but don’t trust cash this time, thinking about just paying off my mortgage, it ain’t that much.

      21. The stock market is rigged and has no real b5asis in popular opinion of worth. Like FDR used to rig the price of gold depending on his mood for the day. It will crash on que when the world leaders want it to. Great place for your money invest it all sucker

      22. And you could take a magic pill that would reduce your psychopathic rating to only twice that of normal and mover your IQ into the triple digit level.

        You have been predicting disaster for at least 6 years
        https://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/economic-anarchy-be-prepared-for-a-massive-meltdown_02132010. Disaster that is “just around the corner”.

        Your real goal is to sell fear to supid people. Well, there are a lot of those, so I am sure that you will make a lot of money.

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