This article was graciously contributed by Michael Snyder via his Economic Collapse blog.
Editor’s Note: Many have warned that a silent but ongoing global currency war is underway. Call it a reevaluation or shift if you like. The Euro is falling fast, in large part due to Greece’s woes, and is headed towards parity with the dollar and beyond. The stronger dollar means pain for the American export market – some 40% of U.S. business – and creates a difficult, and perhaps impossible, climate for foreign governments to repay debts and other obligations, which become more expensive under a stronger dollar, in which many are denominated. Market pains and suffering could spread pretty rapidly if things got out of control and sequenced towards destruction.
Does this create a window for China’s intent to offer the next global currency? That remains to be seen, but China’s intentions are clear enough after putting up billboards offering the yuan as a promising vehicle of worldwide trade. Meanwhile, the United States is poised for economic trouble if the strong dollar and combined low oil prices pull down the stock market. Absolute chaos and total depravity could ensue if the $74 trillion in global derivatives that are pegged to the dollar unravel. It will be interesting to see how these factors unfold.
The Last, Great Run For The U.S. Dollar, The Death Of The Euro And 74 Trillion In Currency Derivatives At Risk
By Michael Snyder
Are we on the verge of an unprecedented global currency crisis? On Tuesday, the euro briefly fell below $1.07 for the first time in almost a dozen years. And the U.S. dollar continues to surge against almost every other major global currency. The U.S. dollar index has now risen an astounding 23 percent in just the last eight months. That is the fastest pace that the U.S. dollar has risen since 1981. You might be tempted to think that a stronger U.S. dollar is good news, but it isn’t. A strong U.S. dollar hurts U.S. exports, thus harming our economy. In addition, a weak U.S. dollar has fueled tremendous expansion in emerging markets around the planet over the past decade or so. When the dollar becomes a lot stronger, it becomes much more difficult for those countries to borrow more money and repay old debts. In other words, the emerging market “boom” is about to become a bust. Not only that, it is important to keep in mind that global financial institutions bet a tremendous amount of money on currency movements. According to the Bank for International Settlements, 74 trillion dollars in derivatives are tied to the value of the U.S. dollar, the value of the euro and the value of other global currencies. When currency rates start flying around all over the place, you can rest assured that someone out there is losing an enormous amount of money. If this derivatives bubble ends up imploding, there won’t be enough money in the entire world to bail everyone out.
Do you remember what happened the last time the U.S. dollar went on a great run like this?
As you can see from the chart below, it was in mid-2008, and what followed was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression…
A rapidly rising U.S. dollar is extremely deflationary for the overall global economy.
This is a huge red flag, and yet hardly anyone is talking about it.
Meanwhile, the euro continues to spiral into oblivion…
How many times have I said it? The euro is heading to all-time lows. It is going to go to parity with the U.S. dollar, and then it is eventually going to go below parity.
This is going to cause massive headaches in the financial world.
The Europeans are attempting to cure their economic problems by creating tremendous amounts of new money. It is the European version of quantitative easing, but it is having some very nasty side effects.
The markets are starting to realize that if the value of the U.S. dollar continues to surge, it is ultimately going to be very bad for stocks. In fact, the strength of the U.S. dollar is being cited as the primary reason for the Dow’s 332 point decline on Tuesday…
The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 300 points to below the index’s 50-day moving average, wiping out gains for the year. The S&P 500 also closed in the red for the year and breached its 50-day moving average, which is an indicator of the market trend. Only the Nasdaq held onto gains of 2.61 percent for the year.
There’s “concern that energy and the strength in the dollar will somehow be negative for the equities,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. He noted that the speed of the dollar’s surge was the greatest market driver, amid mixed economic data and concerns about the Federal Reserve raising interest rates.
And as I noted above, when the U.S. dollar rises the things that we export to other nations become more expensive and that hurts our businesses.
This is so basic that even the White House understands it…
Despite reassurance from The Fed that a strengthening dollar is positive for US jobs, The White House has now issued a statement that a “strengthening USD is a headwind for US growth.”
But even more important, a surging U.S. dollar makes it more difficult for emerging markets all over the world to borrow new money and to repay old debts. This is especially true for nations that heavily rely on exporting commodities…
It becomes especially ugly for emerging market economies that produce commodities. Many emerging market countries rely on their natural resources for growth and haven’t yet developed more advanced industries. As the products of their principal industries decline in value, foreign investors remove available credit while their currency is declining against the U.S. dollar. They don’t just find it difficult to pay their debt – it is impossible.
It has been estimated that emerging markets have borrowed more than 3 trillion dollars since the last financial crisis.
But now the process that created the emerging markets “boom” is starting to go into reverse.
The global economy is fueled by cheap dollars. So if the U.S. dollar continues to rise, that is not going to be good news for anyone.
And of course the biggest potential threat of all is the 74 trillion dollar currency derivatives bubble which could end up bursting at any time.
The sophisticated computer algorithms that financial institutions use to trade currency derivatives are ultimately based on human assumptions. When currencies move very little and the waters are calm in global financial markets, those algorithms tend to work really, really well.
But when the unexpected happens, some of the largest financial firms in the world can implode seemingly overnight.
Just remember what happened to Lehman Brothers back in 2008. Unexpected events can cripple financial giants in just a matter of hours.
Today, there are five U.S. banks that each have more than 40 trillion dollars of total exposure to derivatives of all types. Those five banks are JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citibank and Morgan Stanley.
By transforming Wall Street into a gigantic casino, those banks have been able to make enormous amounts of money.
But they are constantly performing a high wire act. One of these days, their reckless gambling is going to come back to haunt them, and the entire global financial system is going to be severely harmed as a result.
As I have said so many times before, derivatives are going to be at the heart of the next great global financial crisis.
And thanks to the wild movement of global currencies in recent months, there are now more than 74 trillion dollars in currency derivatives at risk.
Anyone that cannot see trouble on the horizon at this point is being willingly blind.
Michael 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 things in America are going to look like in a few years read his new book The Beginning of the End.
One World Money, it is coming…
Yeah eppe, One World Scrip and the IMF is the
global company store. “You load sixteen tons ……”
We are being structured to become a beehive with
no chance of ever sampling the honey.
“The Euro is falling fast, in large part due to Greece’s woes, and is headed towards parity with the dollar and beyond.”
Parity is probably the GOAL as this would iron out differences between two mature economies prior to the signing of the Trans Atlantic Partnership (TAP).
TAP is designed to unify Europe and America by tapping (excuse the pun) into the American Taxpayer. “What’s in YOUR wallet?” will have a whole new meaning. 🙁
I have been planning ways around this for some years now as I agree it’s coming.
I believe many here have mentioned their efforts to minimize the amount of money they need to earn through paying off debts, bartering, downsizing, and increased self sufficiency.
Keep it up, it’s coming.
IF a crisis in currency does materialize, what effect will that have on gold?
What exports? Doesn’t China make all our shit now?
Has the U.S. stopped hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs? Maybe, but only because there aren’t many left to bleed out.
New FCC Internet rules released
FCC Cites Soros-Funded, Neo-Marxist-Founded Group 46 TIMES In New Regulations
313 pages of new regulations
http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/12/fcc-cites-soros-funded-neo-marxist-founded-group-46-times-in-new-regs/
sixpack: Exactly right, and this was the second purpose to QE.
The first was to protect the Member Banks; the second to dry up the source of China’s wealth … The American consumer …. when China wanted to quit playing by the Rules. 🙂
A strong dollar is bad for exports, yes. But, how much are we exporting these days? Look at the products you regularly buy, stuff that is IMPORTED. Imports are becoming cheaper.
There are two sides to every coin, but to shtfplan.com, everything only points to apocalypse.
I thought of the same thing and then I realized that helping imports is short term gain for those buying imported crap at the expense of the longterm impact reduced exports.
Besides if you want to hear about rainbows, sunshine, and unicorns you should consider a different site. Though I believe we do sometimes get posts from a “skittle shitting unicorn.”
The military industrial complex exports huge amounts of armaments and we deliberately stir up conflict so we can keep exporting, e.g., the Ukraine coup, ISIL, all the F-Putin memes, etc.
And after the rubblization is complete, we get to help rebuild.
I am numb to what all is going on in the world. The many articles that we read here are excellent information but nobody does nothing to make things right.
Call it information overload or beating a dead horse, you would like to see someone say we need to fix it. Whatever it is.
Noticed the amounts of comments on articles are very low.
Nobody does anything to make things right for two reasons:
1 nobody knows or can agree on what is right.
2 nobody has any idea how to go about it even if they did.
You got any ideas, realistic ones that people will accept and support?
I don’t, at least not in today’s world where people really don’t want to face the consequences of what they have been doing for the past 30 or so.years.
Sharon.
I agree with you two statements. You hear people make statements and wonder how they can do so. Many are plain stupid. I mean the cognizant mental capacity must be at an all time low.
I know a lot of people here want to help others when it goes down. I do not have the “want to care for others” as I had before. They had their time to prepare or fix the problems. God Knows the alarm bells we have sounded over the years. I am not going to put up with the B.S. It is better for me to be a loner.
Im the same as slingshot. Im totally service to self. Its simple I will take care of me & mine. other need to take care of them & theres. Noah didn’t open the gates and let any one else in the ark when the flood came. The strong dollar like cheeper gas is good for me. I can buy more goods with my few dollars.
Are we on the verge of an unprecedented global currency crisis?
You think? Just an acceleration of the continuing collapse of social economic system. This is going to end up far worse than ANYONE ever imagined. While others are waiting for a collapse I see us being in the midst of a collapse.
Batten down the hatches boys and girls because things are going to get interesting here in a short time period. Hyper inflation will be upon us before you now it. Those who stock up on real tangible assets such as toilet paper, chocolate, vanilla extract, Bic lighters, tobacco, alcohol and a million other things that will no longer be ready available will be the kings of their own futures. Buy low now and sell very high later.
BigB
Difficult to drink the water filled with radiation.
It’s easy enough to filter out. The water itself isn’t radioactive, just particles in it.
That’s the idea of socialism and how it spreads in a free republic. Create one crisis after another gradually until it overwhelms people who have already become numb to them. (the frog in the pot example)
Also, some of us are getting out to prepare for spring and warmer weather, so posting goes down this time of year.
It has to take its course because its a few years too late to fix it and besides, most sheeple have their heads in the sand. We are in a minority, about 3 million people who are doing something about it by preparing, becoming independent and self sustaining. That’s how our ancestors survived hardships while those who didn’t prepare and were unaware perished.
This crap gets old,
We all know what is going on and what the outcome will be, theres nothing any of us can do about these issues that we had no hand in creating,
So yea, it gets old,
Wake me up when the bullets start flying.
Woke up to a dream that there was a huge flash and explosion somewhere far away, ran to the big sliders in my livingroom that look out over the island and down the chain toward Oahu, there i could see a huge illuminated mushroom cloud about where Oahu was (Pearl, Hickam, Kaneohe, Shafter)
Woke me up yelling at my girlfriend that we needed to get to the basement,,,
I wonder how long we would need to hunker down for whatever fallout to sort of neutralize?
The initial fallout from an A-Bomb is the worst. Extremely energetic and intense. Represents about 1/2 the total radiation from the bomb. It comes out in approximately the first minute. Starting from a baseline at approximately 1 hr. every time, time goes up by a factor of seven: 7 re 49 hours (2 Days,) 14 days, the radiation goes down by a factor of 10. So after 14 days the total radiation being given off is 1/1000 of what it was after one hr. From then on individual radioactive issues tend to over ride. I, Cs, St?. Co etc. Iodine 131 is the worst one has a half life of 8 days. Saturating with Iodine supposedly helps a lot. For radioactive Calcium and strontium Taking large amounts of Calcium and Bone meal is supposed to help. Beyond that Best find an old “Handbook of Hazardous Materials” In the Islands a few large rains will help a lot if you stay away from runoff pools with sand and grit from the bomb.
Thanks for the input,
Had a discussion about this with BI last year some time, didnt seem to think we would be too bad off because of prevailing winds at the various levels mostly blowing away from us,
I could definitely see Oahu as a first strike in a nuclear conflict, the summits of Haleakala on Maui and Maunakea on the BigIsland as definite targets as well because of the satcom installations there, also Kokee and Barking Sands on Kauai, real important militarily, basicly eyes and ears for Pacific command and beyond, so is a concern,
If you mention any of that stuff people roll their eyes and laugh at you,,,
So in a way i hope it happens, then there can be a good told ya so moment that will flash over their minds right after they realize there wont be anymore food or water coming in for a while and that everything on the surface is poisoned.
Sometimes it sucks being aware of stuff.
you mean cesium, not calcium, right?
Shutting down AIPAC, and removing Israel from American Politics would be a good start. Dismantling the Federal Reserve and it’s other Central Banking Mafia outfits would benefit the World as well.
Non of these high level key players live near me.
How does one attack a threat, when the threat is not in view?
They play their games, I’ll play mine when the time is appropriate.
I agree the amounts of comments on the recent articles are low.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but the recent articles are nothing more than regurgitated information. Most of us are not blinded by the deliberate treasonous acts of the financial sector and the global economy as a whole.
The Dollar is rising, who the fuck says? It’s an illusion, the dollar isn’t worth the ink that is printed on it. Paper money in reality is “fake”, it is not tangible, it’s a lie, it’s what they TPTB want us to think it holds value. What’s backing the dollar? Technically nothing, but the key here is the US Dollar is the “Worlds Reserve Currency” (petro-dollar) and this is why the illusion of the Dollar has any significant value at all. Without Oil being the key factor here in the illusion, chances are the dollar wouldn’t be better than our neighboring Peso.
Financially … I wouldn’t put much worry into it. Regardless how much this country is in debt or that other country is in, because none of it is mathematically possible to repay. I didn’t take this loan out, I’m sure you and others did not either. So, why should we get stuck with the Bill? Fuck these people who created this fiasco. They perpetrated the crisis, they can dig into their own pockets and fix it if they feel the need.
The World is the most unstable that I have ever witnessed. I would focus more on those issues of the upcoming WWWIII, then read articles of Financial issues that have no importance to anyone. The World is Bankrupt folks, and there is only one way to reset the ponzi scheme that they created, and that is by going to war. This time will be different, we won’t be watching it on T.V. – it will come to us here soon enough.
So continue to prep if need to be and focus on tangible items for survival. I don’t focus too heavily on gold or silver, because those things become worthless items if I end up dead sooner than I had planned on expected.
So, relax and keep a smile on your face while maintaining a FTW attitude. Play the cards that end up getting dealt to you, counter and react to it. That is all we have left to deal with. My life and yours are more worthy than those who have perpetrated the crisis across the globe – fuck ’em
It is not happening slingshot because at present the Constitutional patriotic citizen is overwhelmingly outmaneuvered. In that case, think massive and spontaneous. The comments get lower as Nanny’s computer clicks. We are at the post, the starters pistol rises and your horse Freedom is dead? Geez man, quickly ride double with this guy and his horse Liberty. Liberty can carry many but hold on tight. It is always a rough ride for Liberty once Freedom has died.
“It is not happening slingshot because at present the Constitutional patriotic citizen is overwhelmingly outmaneuvered.”
Out maneuvered? No. Out gunned? No. Under financed.
The NWO PTB are using American Taxpayer funds and the USD to promote “Globalism” and Agenda 21, while we subsidize their actions. 🙁
My bad. I should have stated ” …. while we subsidize their treason”. 🙁
None of these topics can be fixed. It’s the ‘disconnect’ between the populace and the elite/rule makers.
Lots of commentators on this site and others do things to make it right every day. We may not have the power to change the world just yet, but I can work to make it right for my family and friends.
One small example if I might: TV is crap, the shows are mostly terrible, and the format is bad for the brain. I knew I’d never fix that no matter how many letters I wrote to complain about the decline of morals or whatever . . . so we stopped watching about decade ago. Pretty simple. Except for the occasional family movie night we just don’t watch it.
Fix what you can, minimize what you can’t fix, then go get drunk and don’t worry about it. There’s my modified serenity prayer.
Dollar index touched a hundred today and currently still over 99.1
Everything else goes down in relation to the dollar going up, including the cost of foreign labor our labor has to compete against on world and domestic markets.
I believe that the global economy in general and the US economy in specific is so fragile that any rapid dynamic change, even one perceived as beneficial creates, disruptive forces that can bring down the entire system.
The supposed rising value of the dollar does’nt seem to be of benefit to the average American. It was recently worth under 3 cents as compared to it’s 1913 buying power. How does a stronger dollar help the American people in this present economy?
Well obviously if it was at 4 cents and has risen 23% in the last 8 months then it’s now worth 5 cents compared to 1913.
Be optimistic, say the 5 cents is using a 2000 nickle and it’s really worth 7 cents. Oh yeah, BOOM, I should work for the Fed in the statistics department.
Don’t be numb. Be prepared.
That is why sites like this exit. To be forewarn is to be prepared.
But do live each day.
The USA is falling like a house of cards from the inside.
It is not by accident.
Let us just pray that when we hit bottom, that we can bounce to soften the hit.
I am convinced that future programs of population control for us is being tested in different countries now. Such as a cashless society, national ID and such.
I am certain we are almost at the verge of a racial war.
Also, not an accident.
How many people know that The leader of The New Black Panther Party has told his military Leaders(?) to get prepared to do things that will violate their very conscience and to get into shape and train with weapons.
There are at least 22 plus Jihad training camps in this country. Two in North Carolina alone……
Don’t lose your mind. Don’t get depressed. Never lose the will to live.
End the end only Jesus will be there.
It is going to get nasty when the dollar falls. Could get nasty
before that.
Just my opinion…….
Off topic…
So much is going on. Bee colonies dying off and now a major bat die off is taking place. We may not particularly like bats (I don’t), but they eat LOTS of INSECTS.
“White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an infectious disease associated with a recently identified fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) responsible for unprecedented levels of mortality among hibernating bats in North America. WNS is named for the white fungal growth that invades the skin tissue on the muzzle, wings and ears of cave-dwelling bats during winter hibernation.
The disease was first noted in New York in 2006 and has since spread unchecked to 25 states and five Canadian provinces. The fungus that causes WNS has been found in three additional states.
Ten different bat species have been affected. … The disease has caused the death of an estimated 5.7 – 6.7 million bats across eastern North America with estimates of mortality often exceeding 90% in caves that have experienced multiple years of infection.”
Indiana – 80 percent decline in little brown bats
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5404.htm
Kentucky – 98 percent die off of little brown bats and
80 percent decline for tricolored bats
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2015/02/24/white-nose-syndrom-takes-heavy-toll-bats-kentucky-indiana/23963583/
I wonder if we will see a corresponding increase in insects this year? How will this affect crops?
Homeopathic insect repellents? Please share.
House of cards….
All I can say in response to yet again more bad financial news is drop out of the money matrix as much as possible thru barter/alt currencies ect.,tis the best we can do.The more alt markets in play the better off long term economies will be on the other side of financial crashes.I do not know what happened in fergey with 2 cops getting shot,what a dumb protest to protect in theory that asshole who got shot.I can understand protesting death by cop when legitimate,say guy in NM shot on camera(cop camera)or baby flash banged in raid in Georgia,but protesting for that piece of shit who just strong armed and robbed a store owner is just plain stupid!
Warchild D has it right. The only way to truly do anything is to do all you can to starve the beast. Barter, trade, off-book exchange agreements between neighbors, grow & preserve yr own food, take $$ out of banking system, buy PMs (and personally hold last two…not in bank SD box). Of course it is likely impossible to cast off the matrix completely, but we can all work to not actively involve ourselves in it.
I know by experience being an importer when other countries currency is strong. Their export manufacturers in that country go out of business. It happened to one of our suppliers.
Just another domino in the row that could send our economy tumbling.
Drawn-Out Syrian Civil War Spawns A Literal Dark Age
http://www.npr.org/2015/03/12/392432928/drawn-out-syrian-civil-war-spawns-a-literal-dark-age
“One United Nations agency says life expectancy has plummeted by 20 years in the once-developed nation, while another new study based on nighttime satellite imagery finds that, in the past four years, 83 percent of the country’s lights have gone off.”
shades of Selco
Shades of things to come as well,
The CIA should be so proud of their handiwork…
SHIP STATE ROOMS
Traveling by steamboat was considered the height of comfort. Passenger
cabins on the boats were not numbered. Instead they were named after
states. To this day cabins on ships are called staterooms.
SLEEP TIGHT
Early beds were made with a wooden frame. Ropes were tied across the
frame in a criss-cross pattern. A straw mattress was then put on top
of the ropes. Over time the ropes stretched, causing the bed to sag.
The owner would then tighten the ropes to get a better night’s sleep.
SHOWBOAT
These were floating theaters built on a barge that was pushed by a
steamboat. These played small town along the Mississippi River. Unlike
the boat shown in the movie “Showboat” these did not have an engine.
They were gaudy and attention grabbing which is why we say someone who
is being the life of the party is “showboating”.
Just waiting for the next shoe to drop at this point.
Our dollar is getting stronger all that means is the rest of the world is getting weaker. It means if there was anything worth buying from over seas it wouldn’t cost as much as what it would if it was made here. No one from overseas would be able to buy US goods.
(There is a bright side AMMO prices from overseas might go down.)
BINGO I just gave you the answer.
This might just be the last play to kill the US Dollar.
I bought some silver yesterday and was talking to the dealer. He told me that even with Silver at around $15.00 to $17.00 an OZ. nobody is buying it they are selling it to pay taxes and just to get along. TELL ME THERE IS NO INFLATION!!!
Slingshot: How to fix it. In my humble opinion. Close the UN in N.Y. send it somewhere else and let them pay for it.
Only support nation that will Give 100% allegiance to the USA.
Close the FED.
Close ATF
Close IRS
FLAT TAX
Put us back on the Gold standard
Term Limits in Washington.
This would be a start!
Yes I noticed that comments are down. The weather is getting nice and maybe folks are outside enjoying it while they can.
Stay Strong
Sgt.
None of that stuff will ever happen, too many stupid people voting the same lame ass politicians into office term after term after term,
You and I and anyone like us will eventually be targeted,
I dont care anymore,
Its going to be a bumpy ride but i really dont care, will do my best to make sure and share the bumps with those wo support this crap we are headed into
Yep Sgt. Dale all that would be great but as Kulafarmer states it’s never going to. There will have to be a complete reset for any of it.
My take on the lack of comments: Between the Ass wipes like Acid Tech and the fervent religious types like Granny this site has become a very unproductive place. I too have stopped posting for the most part because of these types who add nothing to the conversation but biblical quotes as reasoning or sniping comments to create chaos.
BigB
I hear ya BigB
Keep coming back hoping for articles like a couple years ago,
End up just joining in with the chatter from the family here,,
All of us know stuff is not right,
Some of us are bring pushed toward a cliff,
Just not sure whats going to happen when we are finally at the edge ready tobe shoved over or go along to get along,, for me, my go along to get along is busted so that aint going to happen,
Am going to start documenting the journey shortly here, even if its just a journal of sorts, but will either be a snapshot of another life destroyed through the awakening, realization and fall or the redirection that just leads to a different place, right now i really dont know were things are taking me.
Big B and Kula
You are wright, but wouldn’t it be nice.
We just might get out Republic back.
Sgt.
It would sarge, it definitely would.
It sure would.
BigB
Awake, or willingly blind.
Off. Topic:
Two Cops ambushed and shot in Ferguson last night during a protest. Sounds to me like it might have been a sniper. (some of the folks the video’s I saw said it came from the hill.)
Looks like someone is trying to start something. This something won’t be good. This is all over a Thug that got shot when he attacked a Cop. All the investigations say so, even the Guberments.
Want to bet it was someone from the outside and they were sent there to keep stirring the SHIT until this summer. Or was it another False Flag by the Guberment!
Pray for the Officer if you can find it in your heart to do so. I AM!
Sgt.
makes you wonder if the “official” narrative is even the truth
so easy to falsify news anymore these days,, they been so dam good at it for so long.. maybe no cop or anyone really got shot.. its all just for a reaction
Now if you said your in the hospital sitting next to the guy I might be inclined to believe you.. but these news hounds.,, no F-ing way
E
It happened. I have some connection in that area.
What I was told it was a sniper at around 100 to 150 yards away took the shots.
I said this could also be a False Flag, But what I was told by my connection, is was some one unknown at the time I talked to her.
Sgt,
I’m with you, Big B, I’m sitting high and dry of 432 rolls of Scott’s 1,000 sheet TP.
The older I get the more I like tangible items. I’ve always stock a 3 year supply of cordwood to heat the house, this year I may just bump that up to 5 years. Nothing warms my heart more then the sight of my 14 by 28 foot shed neatly stacked to 6 foot high with split oak & maple.
Don’t worry they just flipped the switch and brought it down today. No one is manipulating the currency. It’s like our leader, because he said it; it’s so!! Relax!!! now that it’s so; the market could come up 300 points today. We have nothing to worry about. Besides most of us have that much cash in the markets anymore.
It doesn’t matter what you have, if it’s not in your possession; you have nothing when the SHTF.
I wish I had a camera to capture the look on the bankers face when mine left the bank. He asked me five times “You really taking this out of the Bank”? Finally shut him up when I wheeled and hissed “Homey don’t play that central banker game”. Any life highlights that come at my age are especially welcome. But I did catch the look on his face when I turned to look before leaving. Reminded me of that look Putin gets.
Yeah I would have liked to see that too, especially if it was a large amount.
My estimate from this morning was a little off though, the market only went up by 259 points. I really don’t know why people can’t see the markets driven by the banks, the fed and the media. Fundamental no longer seem to matter. It’s been a suckers rally for 6 years and I think they just about got all the mom and pops back in. It’s time for the big boys to cash out before the collapse!!!
I think there is another element that is keeping the market strong. It, or they, used to be called “day traders”.
A friend of mine has worked out his own system. He is, what he refers to as a “week trader”. He sold his business about ten years ago, put 50k into a trading account, and got busy. By market close on Friday, he has cashed out for the week, and starts over fresh each monday, early am.
With no hobbies, no desire to travel, and a wife that had rather stay around home and style around in her nice, shiney caddy, (trades in for a new one every three years); he has plenty of time to work his magic with his system. He averages about $500.00 each week, after taxes and brokerage fees, but does dedicate about eight hours a day on-line.
He has made as high as 1k a week, and as low as 300 bucks, but never loses his shirt because of shorting and stop gap measures, etc. I don’t know exactly all he does, but could join the fun if I chose too. Got too many hobbies and other things to be tied down to a desk 40 hours a week and miss out on retirement life on a budget.
If funds get tight before the eagle shits the next month, I just go fishing. Beats the crap out of watching a computer screen everyday, even if the fish aren’t biting.
He loves it though, and I suppose there are many more just like him. Some working larger account balances and some working smaller ones.
Skeptic
Almost all market fundamentals have been doing a slow but steady death spiral since August 2006. All the gains have come from currency manipulation and inflation. The official line is there is less then 2% inflation, but a trip to the grocery store tells you that’s not the case. If thing are so good why do you think central banks around the world are still printing money (Quantitative Easing)?? Did you read the headline of this article? 74 trillion in currency derivatives alone, that my friend is monopoly money. There are any number of black swans around the world today that could start a chain reaction in the financial markets. You could see the markets drop to 8600 on the Dow in as little as 14 trading days, accounting for circuit breakers. When it starts the high frequency traders will be out before the Mom & Pops even know what just happened. That’s why it’s a suckers rally. Everyone with a IRA, SEP, Money purchase, TSA, 401K and other pension products will get stuck holding the bag. It’s not a rally, It’s an Illusion!!!
oicu812
First off sorry for the double post. Got a few calls while writing it and forgot where I was.
To the subject of day traders, they are like winners at the casino. Not enough to affect anything. The real winner at day trading in most cases is the company you use to execute your trades. They still collect their fee and have no liability.
Patriot One;
That sounds kind of odd to me. A suckers rally of 6 years. Would that not just be a rally? I comment on this from time to time just because so many here are so down on the market. Any ideas as to how much money some have made over that time? I think that many people assume that people leave all in the market like continuing to let it ride on the roulette wheel. I was of a mind to pull all out of investments several years ago after a shellacking and did pull a bunch. Fortunately, my wife is smarter than me and did not.
I don’t make such comments to sound arrogant or piss people off. The fact is the market has smoked for years and fortunes have been made. It won’t last forever but if you are using the capital as it is made who cares if you eventually lose a bunch of your seed money?
Skeptic
Almost all market fundamentals have been doing a slow but steady death spiral since August 2006. All the gains have come from currency manipulation and inflation. The official line is there is less then 2% inflation, but a trip to the grocery store tells you that’s not the case. If thing are so good why do you think central banks around the world are still printing money (Quantitative Easing)?? Did you read the headline of this article? 74 trillion in currency derivatives alone, that my friend is monopoly money. There are any number of black swans around the world today that could start a chain reaction in the financial markets. You could see the markets drop to 8600 on the Dow in as little as 14 trading days, accounting for circuit breakers. When it starts the high frequency traders will be out before the Mom & Pops even know what just happened. That’s why it’s a suckers rally. Everyone with a IRA, SEP, Money purchase, TSA, 401K and other pension products will get stuck holding the bag. It’s not a rally, It’s an Illusion!!!
Patriot One; It sounds like you put a lot of thought into the evils of the equities markets. What have you chosen to do with your finances? This is a portion of our funds, not our entire thrust. We still spend dollars. I feel we are prepared for an awful lot of potential downsides but if any press is to be believed, most of the folks in the USA have virtually no net savings. I don’t know exactly what to think of the people who frequent this web site but tend to think the wealth factor goes from fairly day to day up to surprisingly wealthy folks.
If your real estate is paid for and you have most everything you will ever need and you are prepped and pretty self sufficient it just doesn’t seem prudent to me to bury what you think will be currency in the future in the back yard. I too think that there is plenty of doom and gloom on the horizon but will stick to our plans. Good luck to both of us.
Prior to the crash I invested in myself and hard assets, real estate, my business and other tangibles. It doesn’t matter what you owe, what matters is what you have in your possession when the SHTF. Consequently I have very little cash savings, but I have cash flow. I don’t think I’ll be paying the bills if the balloon goes up.
In the long run there is only so much you can do. There is plenty to do and the constant upgrade and redundant systems is a job in itself to maintain.
I like to think of myself as that character in a comic movie who is a survivalists. One scene he pops up out of the ground. You could smell me 50 yards off with all the muscle pain crème I’d be wearing.
Finally. The end may be here. Too many things for TPTB to save at one time. Is this what they wanted? Or is it out of their hands now?
the dollar looses value – oh the sky is falling.
the dollar gains in value – oh the sky is falling
Rich
“Too big to fail” needs to be shit-canned. The next economic downturn should see the failure of the big banks that gambled with derivatives. The banks made the idiotic decisions, they should pay the piper. Don’t saddle the taxpayers again.
The problem is that as those banks go down they take a lot of other seemingly unrelated financial stuff along with them.
Such as retirement accounts, both private and public, among others.
Those “too big to fail” banks and industries should have never been allowed to get that big in the first place, but now that they are how do we reduce them to manageable sizes without bringing everything else down in the process?
Every day I get older. Anthropy cannot be avoided. So all they have to do Is keep kicking the can down the road. Eventually we will all die off or be to old to resist.. I worry about my grand childrens future? my hope is for some sort of mega clatyclismic events. I want then big enough to cripple the goverments so bad they never regain power. Things like the New Madrid, Cascadia & San Andreas earthquakes really letting go. throw in a few volcano eruptions and hurricanes for extra measure. The cop shooting could be a false flag?
I think you mean Entropy.
My crystal ball says Tuesday 17th March may be the roughest morning on Wall Street ever.
Well, the No Agenda FBI six-week cycle comes due around March 15 (Boston Marathon bombing was also a 6WC event), so that prediction rings truer than most things I read on the net.
Bond massacre cometh 17 March??? Dollar index loses 15% in a single day??? DJIA closes 1,8000 pts down???
I’m not looking forward to a global collapse, but if it comes I envision a society where communities become self sufficient out of necessity. The farmers, ranchers, butchers, seamstresses, herbalists, dry goods merchants, lumbermill operators, blacksmiths, printers, well diggers, etc, all peacefully coexist with minimal outside intervention. Maybe there will be new occupations that didn’t exist 150 years ago such as people who provide water treatment, solar or wind power, precision machined parts, and ham radio connection to the outside world. I envision Backwoods Home Magazine, The Mother Earth News, and Lehman’s Non-Electric becoming the new Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. Old world skills, a cooperative nature, and local supply will be the key to survive and thrive. Loyal readers of SHTFplan (and their ilk) should be in the best position if current society comes crashing down. For those who can’t or don’t accept what may be coming, I feel sorry for you but you have sealed your own fate in refusing to think outside the box. To the 1% who take prepping seriously, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Not a single suggestion to load up on gold and silver cause hyper inflation is just around the corner.
I just stumbled across this and stopped reading this site years ago because it has an almost 100% history of being wrong. 7 years of almost uninterrupted wrongness. remember BRICS ? How are those currencies doing? In addition Brzil is corrupt and running out of water. China finally woke up to the fact that there realy is a limit to how much you can poop in your own home without actually dying. Probably to late.
But you guys, keep sending your money to these fearmongering idiots.