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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 8:51:34 GMT -5
Here is a tune that I found this morning that hit the spot!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 9:26:27 GMT -5
Kid and Jeff ....two great reasons to love Michigan. : )
I was just reading the morning headlines from the Wall Street Journal online (which is my usual thing to do). It's not just Greece with debt problems. Indonesia is pushing through a bill to ban foreign money in domestic transactions since their currency is falling. Puerto Rico is a financial mess. China's economy showed more weakness in June too.
Gotta tell you this one. Our future daughter-in-law in Chinese so they go visit family back in China every year. She's the only one in her immediate family here who was born in the U.S. So China is just part of the fabric of our lives.
They've been building entire cities of houses which sit empty because no one can afford to buy them. But they keep building them because it creates jobs and they keep believing that soon people will be able to afford them.
There's a whole lot of stuff in the world that makes no sense. Just a few days I read an article on how this tech bubble isn't like the last tech bubble because smaller percentages of investments are in it but then the next article will tell you how investors are banking on good profits there to offset the other slumps...and yet the next article will tell you how over valued they are and how many of them will fail.
As for bonds, FIL has been saying to steer clear for months now and he's the one who is good at this stuff.
There are also mainstream warnings now from international money regulators who say the world is relying too much on government monetary policy.
Keep watching the price on precious metals Michael. There's a lot going on.
One of the ironic things is that the stock market and the big healthcare companies lobbyied very heavily for the Supreme Court to keep the subsidies in place..which they did last week. Big mergers were in place as soon as the decision was announced and the market and investors cheered at the decision. They had about a half minute to do that before the Fed said, just a minute now, we don't want you to consolidate because you'll control too much of the market and make it even more uncompetitive. ...and there are a whole lot of investment firms who were playing on the bet that they would continue to make tons of money from the ways things have been going for their industry.
On moving...I'll do another post.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 9:40:52 GMT -5
Michael,
Where do you peeps want to move?
I have some real concerns about how we'll be able to afford living where we do once we hit retirement. Our house is paid for so it's not that. It's the general overhead. Our monthly slush amount for property taxes and insurance (both home and auto) is $700 a month. We already live in a small house in an older neighborhood. What we pay is a small fraction of what the people around us pay. We don't even have MUD taxes or HOA fees. We're pretty much as low on overhead as we can get already. We have high deductibles, good driving records, good credit and subcompact cars. Not that I have any desire too, but we aren't living "high".
Do your peeps want to move out of frustration with the weather or are they are lot of factors?
...and, on a personal level, while I sometimes think about moving, I'm not so sure I've got many more moves in me. I've moved 40 times in my lifetime. You get tired of starting over all over again.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 9:50:06 GMT -5
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Post by jeff2k6 on Jul 1, 2015 22:03:34 GMT -5
Praying for your wife, Nash. Also praying that myself, you, and anyone else struggling in this world right now..find the peace we all deserve in this world. See, people are spending so much time debating views these days, that they forget what's really most important and that's to love one another. After all, that's what Jesus is about.. Acceptance and love, not division and hatred. Thank you so much for your prayers Jeff...it means a lot. It takes people who have been through a lot to understand pain and suffering. I have came to believe that these are only tests...tests to see how strong you are. Jeffery my friend...you are the strongest person that I know. That being said...how are you with moving 20 foot logs? Your right, Nash. They are just tests.. if he brings you to it, he'll bring you through it. Not on our time, but in his. You got this =] and ehh.. I'm doing so so.. trying to hang in there. Not having the best week or so lately.. physically, but I'm doing what I can. It's not fun, but I'll navigate through it. Keep doing your thing, bro. It'll all be alright.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 10:14:46 GMT -5
Kid and Jeff ....two great reasons to love Michigan. : ) I was just reading the morning headlines from the Wall Street Journal online (which is my usual thing to do). It's not just Greece with debt problems. Indonesia is pushing through a bill to ban foreign money in domestic transactions since their currency is falling. Puerto Rico is a financial mess. China's economy showed more weakness in June too. Gotta tell you this one. Our future daughter-in-law in Chinese so they go visit family back in China every year. She's the only one in her immediate family here who was born in the U.S. So China is just part of the fabric of our lives. They've been building entire cities of houses which sit empty because no one can afford to buy them. But they keep building them because it creates jobs and they keep believing that soon people will be able to afford them. There's a whole lot of stuff in the world that makes no sense. Just a few days I read an article on how this tech bubble isn't like the last tech bubble because smaller percentages of investments are in it but then the next article will tell you how investors are banking on good profits there to offset the other slumps...and yet the next article will tell you how over valued they are and how many of them will fail. As for bonds, FIL has been saying to steer clear for months now and he's the one who is good at this stuff. There are also mainstream warnings now from international money regulators who say the world is relying too much on government monetary policy. Keep watching the price on precious metals Michael. There's a lot going on. One of the ironic things is that the stock market and the big healthcare companies lobbyied very heavily for the Supreme Court to keep the subsidies in place..which they did last week. Big mergers were in place as soon as the decision was announced and the market and investors cheered at the decision. They had about a half minute to do that before the Fed said, just a minute now, we don't want you to consolidate because you'll control too much of the market and make it even more uncompetitive. ...and there are a whole lot of investment firms who were playing on the bet that they would continue to make tons of money from the ways things have been going for their industry. On moving...I'll do another post. Thank you for the in depth explanation of how I feel...the worlds economy is in deep do do. Silver and gold prices are still stable...but I heard that the mints are cleaned out. It will take just a few days then I will see that spike that I have been betting on. This money crisis is interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 10:19:27 GMT -5
I found this today and thought that I would share...Jo...do you think these facts are correct?
The Stansberry Research...
Dear Fellow American,
Do you believe America's financial problems from 2008 have been fixed?
Do you think we'll have another banking crisis in the next few years, or a problem with our currency?
If you are concerned about these possibilities, you are not alone.
After all: What we are witnessing in America today is unprecedented.
Our government has embarked on a gross, out-of-control experiment, expanding the money supply 400% in just six years, and more than doubling our national debt since 2006.
It took our nation 216 years to rack up the first $8.5 trillion in debt... then just 8 more years to double that amount.
And this is precisely why so many questions about the economy and our future remain. For example...
Why has there been very little inflation thus far? How will we possibly pay back all this debt?
And of course, perhaps the most important question of all: Why has nothing "bad" happened after our government printed more than $4 trillion new dollars out of thin air and borrowed $9.4 trillion more?
Well, as someone who has been investigating this situation closely for years, who has built a $100 million business by capitalizing on expertise in finance and accounting... I am here to tell you with 100% certainty:
America is in for some major changes to our economy, our country, and our very way of life over the next five years.
The way you live, work, travel, retire, invest... everything is going to change. Some of it in ways most people would never expect.
Some time in the next few years, we will experience a "new" crisis of epic proportions.
We're going to have a major stock market crash - and it will be worse than the one we experienced seven years ago.
We're going to have a currency crisis too - because investors and governments around the world will realize the U.S. dollar is not the safe haven it once was.
Sooner than most people think, we'll see the U.S. dollar lose it's "reserve currency" status, and this will make it much harder for our government to borrow money, and have our military stationed in more than 150 countries.
As my friend James Rickards (who's a financial lawyer and consultant for the U.S. government) wrote in his book Currency Wars:
"If the currency collapses, everything else goes with it... stocks, bonds, commodities, derivatives and other investments are all priced in a nation's currency. If you destroy the currency, you destroy all markets and the nation."
We're going to have massive changes to our retirement system and Social Security. We're likely to see huge tax increases and even a "wealth tax," which levies a fee on all your savings and any assets of value.
We're going to see all kinds of new laws and rules about what you can do with your money, just like House of Representatives bill H.R. 2847, which went into effect July 1, 2014. This law made it extremely difficult, if not possible, for the average American to get some of his money out of U.S. dollars, and into more stable currencies via foreign banks. In the months and years to come we're going to see more and more of these "capital controls" placed on our personal savings... We're going to have a massive inflation - when the trillions and trillions of newly printed dollars begin making their way into the economy.
We'll also witness major changes to the very fabric of our society. Destroying a nations' money in this manner wrecks businesses, friendships, and families, who simply don't understand and aren't prepared for what will happen.
Believe me, I don't take these predictions lightly - and I have no interest in trying to scare you.
I'm simply following my research to its logical conclusion.
I did the same thing when I was one of the first analysts to accurately predict the collapse of the world's largest mortgage bankers - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
I did the same when I dug into the finances of GM and realized this once great American institution would soon go bankrupt as well. I did the same General Growth Properties (the biggest owner of mall property in America).
When I first presented my case and exposed the facts about these institutions at economic conferences, people got angry.
They couldn't refute my research... but they weren't ready to accept the enormity of the conclusions either.
And now, the same financial problems I've been tracking from bank to bank... and from company to company for the last decade have found their way into the U.S. Treasury.
The next phase of this crisis will threaten our very way of life.
The savings of millions will be wiped out. This disaster will change your business and your work. It will dramatically affect your savings accounts, investments, and retirement.
It will change everything about your normal way of life: Where you vacation... where you send your kids or grandkids to school... how and where you shop... the way you protect your family and home.
Look...
I know many people see the recovered stock market, the rebound in real estate prices, and want to believe everything is "back to normal."
But I promise you, nothing is "normal" about what is happening in America today. It is all smoke and mirrors - the result of an out-of-control government experiment with our money supply.
After all, how can it be "normal" when...
* Roughly 75% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, with essentially zero savings, according to a recent study by Bankrate.
* The "labor force participation rate" (basically the percentage of able-bodied people who are actually working) has fallen every year since 2007 and is at its lowest level since the 1970s. (Source: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
* How can things really be "normal" in America, when the number of people on food stamps has basically doubled since Barack Obama took office... and when HALF of all children born today will be on food stamps at some point in their life?
Yes, you read that correctly: Roughly 50% of all children born in America today will be on food stamps at some point in their lifetime. Does that sound "normal" to you?
* Can our country really be back to "normal" when, according to the most recent numbers from the Census Bureau, an incredible 49% of Americans are receiving benefits from at least one government program EVERY SINGLE month?
* Or when 52% of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year?
* Can things really be "normal" in America when at one point, a single U.S. government-controlled agency (the Federal Reserve) was purchasing up to 70% of the bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury - simply by creating money out of thin air?
* Or when the "too-big-to-fail-banks" that got bailed out in 2007 are actually 37% larger than they were back then?
* And how can things be normal when our country's money supply has increased by 400% since 2006 - all just printed out of thin air. Look at this chart below... it should scare the hell out of you...
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 10:47:51 GMT -5
Thank you so much for your prayers Jeff...it means a lot. It takes people who have been through a lot to understand pain and suffering. I have came to believe that these are only tests...tests to see how strong you are. Jeffery my friend...you are the strongest person that I know. That being said...how are you with moving 20 foot logs? Your right, Nash. They are just tests.. if he brings you to it, he'll bring you through it. Not on our time, but in his. You got this =] and ehh.. I'm doing so so.. trying to hang in there. Not having the best week or so lately.. physically, but I'm doing what I can. It's not fun, but I'll navigate through it. Keep doing your thing, bro. It'll all be alright. There you are Jeffery...huggs! What is going on man...you are right...this flood stuff is nothing compared to anthers load.
My neighbor Johnny showed up yesterday to move my propane tanks and do some dirt work...he said that he just wanted to help.
He said that he was having surgery today and then start chemo...what can you say...I told him to hurry back...get er done!
Yes I totally agree with the lords plans always wins over mine...for good reason.
Can I get an Amen Brothers and Sisters?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 10:49:03 GMT -5
Aaaaaamen!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 14:19:17 GMT -5
And a big Amen along with Kid Rock.
I don't know if you paid attention to the eulogy that President Obama gave recently at the black church where the pastor and some of the parishioner's were shot. Honestly, I hadn't paid any attention to it until I started reading articles about it online. There were the pro folks who wrote at length about how it was a moment that transcended and how it was a shame that it didn't happen 6 years earlier (the eulogy) when people were still listening to Obama. Then there were the folks who said, I can't believe Obama used an eulogy and a terrible tragedy to promote his political agenda.
I wanted to be fair so I took the time over the weekend to google the eulogy and watch it. It was pretty long but it went like this. First Obama started off with talking about the Pastor and those who died and talking about their lives. The usual eulogy stuff. Then he moved on...or rather back in time and talked about the historical struggle of blacks from slavery on. He talked about Jim Crow laws. He talked about civil rights.
Then he talked about the confederate flag and how it had always been a symbol of hate and oppression and that God wanted us to remove it from the public. Not only the confederate flag though. He said that gun owners wanted something to be done about guns. He said that the police should not treat blacks unfairly. That the criminal justice system needed to be changed so that the blacks in jail would be treated fairly. He said that churches were a sanctuary and the black church was the place in society where black children could hear that they were beautiful and loved. (Inserting a criticism I read in an article here....as if the only place black children could find love and hear they were beautiful were in black churches.) There was more. Economic justice. The whole campaign spiel of how blacks have struggled and continue to struggle.
But here's the kicker that Obama repeated again and again in the eulogy. The country should be showing "God's grace" in the face of this terrible struggle by finally giving black people justice. Seriously, Obama stood up there and advocated that if blacks don't get all the things he listed, including removing the confederate flag, "God's grace" is not being shown.
I don't have any feelings about the confederate flag, but as Kid was just singing, there are those who would have us feel guilty about being white.
The President of the United States using a eulogy for his political platform. Speaking divisively about special privileges in the face of rising racial tensions. Made me sad. And doing it in God's name.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 14:36:49 GMT -5
This is just a segment of the eulogy but at 3:19, Obama says that taking down the (confederate) flag is a way of showing "God's grace".
Then he continues saying, he doesn't believe God wants us to stop there.
The President speaking for God.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 14:39:14 GMT -5
Michael,
I know you've been interested and following precious metals since the days we were back on the CWO boards. I have a lot to say relative to the post you made about the Stansberry research. Let me see if I can organize my thoughts so they make maybe a little bit of sense. : )
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 15:54:41 GMT -5
Michael, I think I'll start by answering the questions posed in the Stansberry thing you posted. I don't think our financial problems from 2008 have even been addressed, much less fixed. In fact, there's a really strong push now for even more affirmative action programs, especially in housing. HELOC's (Home Equity Lines of Credit) loans made before the housing bubble now coming due adds to this problem, especially in poor, inner city neighborhoods where they used inflated home values as ATM's and now have abandoned homes that have no resale value. Let me do the very short version of this for you. The FHA and the National Housing Act of 1934 brought us "redlining". Basically drawing a redline on a map where loans were considered more risky because neighborhoods were bad. Fewer home loans were made inside those areas, leading to urban decay. The "fix" for "redlining" was the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. Basically banks were required to make risky loans in minority neighborhoods. By 1992, that had been legislatively changed so that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were required to devote a percentage of their lending to support affordable housing. There were more revisions and in 1999, the Clinton Administration signed an amended Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Along with it and Gramm-Leach, the only way banks could merge or expand was to embrace the Community Reinvestment Act. On signing the Act, Bill (Clinton) said as we expand the power of banks, we will expand the reach of the Community Investment Act. In 2003, they decided that 30% of loans involving CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) loans weren't enough. So they tweaked again. In 2005, we were up to 50% of loans involving CRA. Then we had the housing meltdown. In 2008, the Higher Education Opportunity Act was passed. Guess what they did...they started lumping student loans into the CRA. Pausing for a moment here for Dodd-Frank, which was supposed to "fix" the whole bank problem that caused the economy to melt down...it's a joke Michael. Most of it is not even written yet even though it's thousands of pages long now and the compliance costs are pushing and have pushed small banks more and more out of the picture. The big banks are getting bigger. The Democrats were in control of House, Senate and White House when Dodd-Frank was written and you know they protected the CRA, Fannie and Freddie. They put up straw men, protected their party platform and went about business as usual. So we haven't even addressed the banking issue for housing. Plus they created a student loan bubble which is of such massive proportions now that Obama's solution is to single out universities he puts on his "hit lists" and forgive all the students loans that students going to them took out. Plus he has a bunch of other programs for student loan forgiveness. Under Obama, all students loans have now become government loans. Of course, the reason Obama and some Democrats want those debts forgiven is both economic and socialism. On the economic side, with so many student debt, brought about by the ever increasing government enabling of higher tuition costs, we have an entire generation now who can't afford to move out of their parents home much less buy homes of their own or new cars or new furniture...or...or....or. Our economy depends on people buying stuff. Now that we've wiped out the buying power of an entire generation with debt during the years they would normally be purchasing, the economy suffers. Jobs suffer, except in education of course. Then there's Obamacare which has half of all medical payments in the US now being made by the US government. You can create jobs in the medical field that way and increase the stock market that way....temporarily. But it's not real wealth creation. Not any more than than the student loan bubble is real wealth creation. So now we sit, with the interest rate held down by the Fed, way too low for too long. Years and years of QE (printing money) with nothing to show for it and a whole ot of problems with servicing the interest on that debt when the interest rates rise. We haven't addressed any of the systemic issues that caused the economic problems of the last meltdown. There's no political will to do so. If anything, the left is really riding an emotional high now with recent Supreme Court decisions, including the disparate impact ruling and they are hungry, hungry, hungry and motivated to do more, more, more of the social engineering that, if it is to actually succeed in the long run, has to be balanced with solid economic realities. But it's not balanced and if you speak about the need to balance solid economic realities, the social engineering crowd calls you names and talks about how you have no heart. Guess I only answered the first question. Gotta make supper. I'll provide even more info you don't want to know later on tonight.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 18:56:16 GMT -5
Moving on to why hasn't there been inflation.
Basically lack of consumer demand. Private incomes haven't increased in any real way. People had and have huge debt loads. Savings were way down. People lost a lot of security in the economic downtown...or perceived security...the value of their homes, the values of their retirement funds. There were job losses. There are more people who can only find part-time work. The labor participation rate is at the lowest level since 1977 (a time when many women were just entering the workforce).
Consumer demand limits supply. A limited supply increases prices. We even have a glut of energy.
That said, I don't trust the inflation indexes at all Michael. They are so rigged for so many political reasons. An example is that social security benefits and many pay contracts are tied to inflation. If you control the parameters for defining inflation, you control raises to all those folks who are tied into those calculations. Since so many of those folks received government benefits, the government has a vested interest in the rate of inflation.
Edited to add: A prime example is that the CPI (Consumer Price Index) only counts the cost of co-pays for medical costs. Which isn't even remotely the cost of medical care. Especially now that are increasingly higher deductibles and people are delaying going to the doctor or not going at all because they can't afford to pay the first $6,000 out of pocket before ANY benefits click in.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 19:20:13 GMT -5
Michael,
Moving on to the overall point of the author you posted, will the dollar and the stock market in the US collapse soon.
IMHO, there are new financial realities coming. I see it as long and drawn out though rather than quick and here in the blink of an eye.
I guess the contrast is that I feel tougher times ahead. I actually see people drawing more to faith rather than to chaos.
Just my personal opinion, of course.
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