Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are on pace for their worst December performance since 1931 when stocks crashed during the Great Depression. Both are already down nearly 8% making the possibility that we will live through another Great Depression very real.
The Dow and S&P 500 are already down 7.8 percent and 7.6 percent this month, respectively, according to a report by CNBC. December is typically a very positive month for the markets. The Dow has only fallen during 25 Decembers going back to 1931. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 507 points, closing more than two percent lower on Monday while the S&P 500 lurched to a 14-month low, also showing more than a two percent loss for the day.
The selloff continued on the Asian markets as well, with Japan’s Nikkei slumping by 1.8 percent on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai Composite closed almost one percent lower, according to RT. These numbers do not look great for the “booming” and “expanding” economy we are allegedly experiencing.
S&P 500 plunges to lowest since Oct2017 w/no sign of Santa Rally. Focus has shifted dramatically away from exogenous issues (trade, politics) towards something more germane to stocks & risk sentiment: growth, JPM says. Trade backdrop better than few mths, but it may be too late. pic.twitter.com/G0wKbz3IRU
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) December 17, 2018
Analysts explain the market’s bad performance by investor fears over the cooling economy and lack of signs on the US-China trade dispute settlement. Fears of the expected interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve became one of the major forces driving the market’s volatile behavior in the last few months. U.S. president Donald Trump put pressure on the Fed on Monday, arguing it would be madness to raise interest rates. –RT
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1074657278974939138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1074657278974939138&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fbusiness%2F446757-stock-market-great-depression%2F
“With increased stock market volatility and signs of slower growth overseas, there are increasing calls for the Fed to halt its rate increases,” wrote David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. “This is where the Fed needs to keep its head first because current Fed policy is neither too aggressive nor too tight and second because a change of course at this point could undermine confidence.”
Another demonstration of useless statistics.
SPX UP 50% in 4 years but a perfectly normal (and healthy) retracement and… THE SKY IS FALLING! THE MARKET’S CRASHING!
Know one thing: EVERY stock market crash has happened in a recession.
The U.S. is NOT in recession at this time.
Bet accordingly.
About 2 months ago my gas was $3.91 per gallon. This weekend it was $3.51, I hope it keeps heading down. I’m waiting for prices of other things to drop.
Bring on the depression!
Here in Texas the price is $1.96 and dropping.
As a basic input for so many things, a drop in oil/gas makes everything else drop too.
That equals expansion, not depression.
I’m mainly referring to my local market when I speak of a depression. We cannot expand much. Our biggest industry is tourism. A depression of prices here, can only help those numbers, but the possibility of new resorts is almost zero due to local laws and regulations. The second largest employer, government can expand but with almost the highest taxes in the nation we are pretty well maxed out. Those high wages they boast about are mostly government wages. The average non-government wage is far lower. We have very low un-employment, but that doesn’t translate to higher wages as most our industry is service oriented, thus mostly optional, and very price sensitive.
Depression would be good for us.
Stuart, in Shorewood, Il., I gassed up for $1.97 the other day. That’s .50 a gallon cheaper than where I normally gas up in Cook County, Il.
rellik, I think I finally understand your situation in Hawaii with respect to shipping costs. I ordered something the other day and it auto-filled in Guam, as the destination/shipping address, and it was over $1,000 shipping. WOW!
And I thought I was getting robbed at $2.19 a gallon.
From here on out every dollar is precious. Why, because the economy is in the early stages of collapse.
All of my PREPPER Dollars go exclusively towards food. I keep going back and forth between quality and quantity. We have to choose wisely because the consequences are important.
Question: How much rice and beans is enough for 4 people?
Let’s do some math. They say 1 pound per person per day. So, a 50 pound bag will last for approximately 10 days. That’s 150 lbs. of Rice per month. Over 1 year that is 36 50 lb bags.
I think this downturn/collapse will last 10 years, so that’s 360 50 lb. bags of Rice. You know how many I have (keep in mind Rice is my last fallback food) (8 bags x 50lbs.) = 400 lbs. total!
I think I know what I need to focus on?!?!
Realistic longer term prepping should be based on supplementing the scant and rationed food supply that is available during the collapse, not providing 100% of it.
Even in famines in Africa and such at least some food supplies make it through to the people, just not enough, so at least part of your storage will be used to enhance whatever amount does manage to make it through to you.
It’s unlikely that you will eat a pound per day of just rice; more likely it will be half that (combined with beans). Rice doubles in size / volume when cooked, so you’ll need 4 oz. of dry rice per person per day.
For one year, that’s about 91 pounds of rice per person.
WW II started earlier for England than it did for us, and shortages / rationing continued into the mid-1950s! Overall, rationing and deprivation lasted in the UK for about 15 years.
Depending on how bad things get (think “EMP”) planning for ten years of scarcity might turn out to be overly optimistic.
Brought to you by the shadow banking system and its government cronies .
Under SHTF conditions, based upon the weather, you would expect to use far more calories because of heavy labor versus the stanadard 2000 calories for a 70 kg man.
Refugees eat beans and rice, some oil, and vitamins in UNHCR camps. The problem is they are extremely thin and you never want to have the bear minimum.
The Latter Day Saints have food calculators which actually break down the recommended amounts of various basic inexpensive foods but based upon how many calories versus daily labor. I am not a Mormon but they have nutritionists who work in basic preparedness so it’s authoritative information.
Then factor in morale needs otherwise you undermine your efforts. That means holidays, sweets, and spices.
Rotate and constantly incorporate food ingredients to reduce waste versus expectations.
Consider that military grade MREs are often based upon 3200-3750 calories per day by comparison yet combat soldiers can have extremely low body-mass indices.
Like this LDS food calculator.
http://www.thefoodguys.com/foodcalc.html
I want the bear minimum (the least amount a hungry bear would eat) versus the bare minimum of food.
Man I make tons of spelling and grammar errors!
Thanks Maranatha. I always appreciate your positive/helpful posts.
YouTube
CENTURY OF ENSLAVEMENT
THE HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE
corbett report
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corbettreport.com/federal reserve|
James Corbett
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I use VideoGrabby (The YouTube Downloader) to preserve important information for posterity.
http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/2012/08/a-year-of-food-storage-for-300-for-a-family-of-four.html
$300 and a very basic way to start prepping(albeit imperfect) but include an inexpensive cooking oil to boost calories and vitamins particularly iron and calcium (heavy labor requires calcium especially in children and potentially pregnant ladies).
I wonder: does site ever say “things seem okay, and should remain so for at least the next few months”? I ask, because I started following this site, I’m guessing about 8 years ago at least? Back then, the end was nigh too, and, having a wife and 2 small children in tow, I panicked. My wife cashed out her 401k, and we used up our savings buying food, gear, and got involved in a prepping group that ultimately went belly-up due to personality clashes, and we essentially lost everything. It was heartbreaking! Meanwhile, every day seemingly, this site continues to predict collapse is just around the corner. It’s disaster-porn.
I’m done with it, at this point. I think that instead, I’ll focus on enjoying however much time I have left on the planet with my precious family, rather than live it on the edge of panic.
The only lessons we really learn from are the expensive ones.
At least that is how it’s always been with me.
The market is way up from 2 years ago. The market was way over due for a correction. The algorithms are causing the volatility now. Someone is making a lot of money off of this.