Quoted:





Can't say this thought isn't crossing my mind.  At the current economic state and inflation it seems stupid to invest in something that only repays itself in 15 years.  But if the SHTF... maybe my wages can keep up with inflation (big maybe), but what a world of peace it would bring me without having to pay that 500% larger electric bill

Quoted:




Can't say this thought isn't crossing my mind.  At the current economic state and inflation it seems stupid to invest in something that only repays itself in 15 years.  But if the SHTF... maybe my wages can keep up with inflation (big maybe), but what a world of peace it would bring me without having to pay that 500% larger electric bill

Quoted:


..not to mention the fact that IF some are right, and we actually have a monetary collapse.  Having all the power you need might come in handy.  Worst case, you pay up front for your power.  Moderately higher inflation, you make a lot more money and look brilliant.  SHTF, and you'll have reliable consistent power a big fat target on your back.  

Quoted:
Pro tip - Mrs. L  told me the Duck Commander (?) said car tires were gonna become the common man's shtf currency.

Quoted:


..not to mention the fact that IF some are right, and we actually have a monetary collapse.  Having all the power you need might come in handy.  Worst case, you pay up front for your power.  Moderately higher inflation, you make a lot more money and look brilliant.  SHTF, and you'll have reliable consistent power.  Honestly it looks like decent insurance.

Quoted:


If you had a couple smaller DIY type systems you could potentially take them with you. Also in the event of any massive economic collapse I doubt evictions would be very high on any banks priority list.

Quoted:
Currency Wars might be a 'comin
Even CNBC cheerleaders are publishing it



There is no way Bernanke will submit to superior Japanese inkjets.  

While the rest of the developed world is scrambling here and there, politely prodding its central bankers to destroy their relative currencies, all the while naming said devaluation assorted names, "quantitative easing" being the most popular, here comes Venezuela and shows the banana republics of the developed world what lobbing a nuclear bomb into a currency war knife fight looks like:

VENEZUELA DEVALUES FROM 4.30 TO 6.30 BOLIVARS
VENEZUELA NEW CURRENCY BODY TO MANAGE DOLLAR INFLOWS
CARACAS CONSUMER PRICES ROSE 3.3% IN JAN.
And that, ladies and gents of Caracas, is how you just lost 46% of your purchasing power, unless of course your fiat was in gold and silver, which just jumped by about 46%. And, in case there is confusion, this is in process, and coming soon to every "developed world" banana republic near you.

Quoted:






WE 'broke the buck' that day...how it was explained to me.


Example: People have money in a 'Safe' Money Market Account.


Expectations are small interest gains, but their principal would always be returned; $1=$1


The 'electronic run on the banks' led to that 'safe' $1 returning less than a $1; Banks basically were/are Bankrupt.


Everything would have Frozen, No ATMs, No CC, No Checks, No Account withdrawals, No Pension Payments, etc. because they would have to Re-Organize their Debts and WE would have to get in line for a portion of OUR money.


Banks leveraged those 'safe' dollars, along other 'Investments', to the point of no return...Betting with other peoples money; Kind of a Systemic Madoff Scam


They conveniently define his crimes as Fraud, but the Publicly Traded Banks are defined as 'Too Big to Fail'





Not one Bankster goes to Jail for fraud, and WE the People are used as new leverage to fund the Bailouts





Why do you think they are pushing US to a Cashless Society...Right, I forgot WE get Points each time that Credit Card gets used; How convenient.


Banks/Credit Card Companies, Treasury, the FED have become 'One'; Consolidation to give US Zero Options, only 'Legal' Monopolies.


Cash or PMs are Limited, Physical Items accepted as a means to Barter, that's the problem Central Banks face; They've allowed those Limited, Physical Items leverage into Imaginary Wealth.





The Central Planners, All Branches of Government, haven't changed a thing, but have joined in this continued Fraud; High-Treason?
       

Quoted:
Do you remember this guy?  He was the top American accountant, Comptroller of the GAO back until 2008.   He did this piece when he still has his job back in the Summer of 2007, before the "financial Crisis".   He tried to get the political class to take action, they wouldn't, so he went to the press.  

Quoted:


The thing that gets me is how anyone who can do basic math can delude themselves into believing this will end well.  It's not even complex math.    

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-11/chart-day-households-foodstamps-rise-new-record

total number of foodstamp recipients as of November: 47.7 million

Quoted:







Let's see...  310 million Americans including children...  maybe 160 million of those actually employed (full or part-time), and almost 50million on supplimental food assistance?    



Good thing we're not running trillion-dollar annual operating deficits too.   Oh, um...  

Quoted:


Speaking of beer math - where did you come up with your "most" number ?

Quoted:









Tea leaves...

Quoted:
Do you remember this guy?  He was the top American accountant, Comptroller of the GAO back until 2008.   He did this piece when he still has his job back in the Summer of 2007, before the "financial Crisis".   He tried to get the political class to take action, they wouldn't, so he went to the press.  

Quoted:


What was the "most" number?  

Quoted:





2376.73

Quoted:




2376.73

Quoted:


It's much worse then you imagine.  That's 47.7 million HOUSEHOLDS on food stamps.  There are only about 117 million households in the U.S.  So your looking at 40% of all U.S. households on the program.      

total US households on foodstamps just hit an all time record of 23,017,768

Quoted:



I think you misread the link - both figures are cited (and graphed), with "households" being about half of the total individuals receiving assistance stated as:

Quoted:

Dow up 1000 in just over a month. Should i jump in now?

Quoted:



The DOW companies will still be around 10 years from now. It is as good a place as any.


It would be better to wait for the next dip though to maximize your return.


One thing about securities. They usually inflate in value during inflationary periods.


I am still liking high dividend yield items myself.

Quoted:



The DOW companies will still be around 10 years from now. It is as good a place as any.


It would be better to wait for the next dip though to maximize your return.


One thing about securities. They usually inflate in value during inflationary periods.


I am still liking high dividend yield items myself.

Quoted:

Go back ten, twenty, fifty years and look at the Dow component companies.  Notice anything?

A growing number of European nations have seized private and public old-age funds that retirees assumed were off-limits to confiscation. In March 2009, the government of Ireland took 4 billion euros out of their National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) in order to prop up their insolvent banks during the financial crisis. In March of the following year, government officials stole the remaining 2.5 billion euros to bail out the rest of the country [Christian Science Monitor]. In May of 2011, the government began raiding the private pensions, with a special tax [Business Insider].

In November 2010, the French parliament decided to pay off debts in their massive welfare system – specifically, the social debt sinking fund Cades – using the 36 billion euros in the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR), their reserve pension fund [Financial News].

Also during that November, the government of Hungary decided to reverse the pension reform it wisely initiated in 1997, by forcing the private pension funds back into the national pay-as-you-go system, effectively taking 2.7 trillion forints ($13.5 billion) owned by 3 million people who had counted upon that money being available when they retired [Wall Street Journal]. Less than two years later, the Hungarian Cabinet had spent about 1.5 trillion forint of the assets buying back government debt. The remaining assets declined in value to 591 billion forint ($2.6 billion), another reminder of governments' abilities to manage assets [Bloomberg].

The Bulgarian government tried to pull off something similar, when they attempted to transfer $300 million of private early retirement savings into the state pension system, but snagged only 20 percent of the money because of protests by trade unions [Christian Science Monitor].

That Christian Science Monitor article points out that the United Kingdom appears to be moving in a similar direction, in the form of a minimum pension for up to 11 million workers, with automatic enrollment.

That same source also notes that the government of Poland nationalized one third of future contributions to individual retirement accounts, moving the funds over to the national social security system. That government scheme has no assets; consequently, the money will disappear into the state treasury, and savers will lose about $2.3 billion per year. Earlier, the government tapped their Retirement Reserve Account for current funding in 2010 [Zero Hedge]. Another article indicates that the confiscated amounts were much higher, at 5.6 billion euros [Zero Hedge].

In southern Europe, the insolvent government of Greece decided to freeze pensions, cut public bonuses, and raise several taxes, to comply with demands from the EU as part of their bailout deal [RFI].

Many of these government officials may have gotten the idea from Argentina, which in 2008 nationalized $30 billion in private pension funds [New York Times]. Other sources suggest that the value of the assets had dropped to $24 billion, by the time President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner euphemistically termed the takeover as a "recovery of the administration of the workers' resources" [Bloomberg].

In several African nations, such as Uganda, instances of government officials raiding public pension funds, are so numerous as to be almost expected from each administration that takes what it can while in office.

Pension funds can even disappear as a result of the actions of other countries. For instance, the Palestinian Authority lost two-thirds of its entire revenues when Israel froze the money in bank accounts [IMEMC News].

Quoted:


It's odd that we even consider the DJIA over long-term time periods.  Over the last 20 years, 19 of the 30 companies comprising the DJIA have been dropped and replaced by other companies.  Think about it, if it was a marathon, 63% of the competitors have dropped out somewhere in the race and been replaced by others.  Which if you think about it isn't a very accurate race, now is it.  

Quoted:


Well, somebody is making a huge bet against the banks.



traders buzzing










Whomever made the bet, could fulfill their own prophecy. News like this could scare a lot of folks into betting with him.

Quoted:
It's easy to find excuses to stay out...cherry-pick DJIA components that  haven't performed, or take every cynical doomer article on Zerohedge as gospel. But Bernanke has a printing press on the reserve currency of the world, and is essentially pushing investors into stocks. Everything else has shit return, or negative return (counting real inflation). Regardless of if that pisses you off, if true it means the giant horde of zombie investors will soon feel Bernanke's boot in their ass. Ease in now ahead of the herd, or get destroyed in bonds when that bubble bursts, or lose slowly in cash.

Hate to say it, but I agree w/sherrick (and Jim Puplava, with Ulli Niemann providing technical confirmation). High-dividend stocks are a good choice ATM.

Quoted:
Maybe the drop  in McDonalds is due to the news they have horse meat in their burgers.

And Walmart, well just fuck walmart

Quoted:


Meat is meat ... when I was a kid, I fried-up and ate a big mess of field larks ... they eat just like doves.   Horses are perfect for hauling an emergency lunch around in.  

Quoted:


The only way I'd eat a fried cat .... is if the grill was broke.