We came across this video today posted by the “Man of Truth” who apparently makes these sort of predictions. He made his in 2009 and we have to admit that every day that passes the financial world is careening towards this inescapable outcome. Last week we read how it is technically possible, no, probable, that this will occur. What do you think? The “Man of Truth” has his opinion, enjoy!
“Gone” Breathes Life into the U.S. Custom House Block
The U.S. Custom House has sat magnificently vacant since its last tenant, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, vacated it nearly five years ago.
This grand old building, which graces the block surrounded by NW Broadway, Park, Davis and Everett streets, was declared unfit for service. Ironically, the very thing that makes the building magnificent, its timeless masonry, makes it especially vulnerable to an earthquake.
The U.S. Custom House is a beautiful example of Italian Renaissance Revival style of architecture. It was built in 1897 by the architect Edgar M. Lazarus and was beautifully restored in 1992. Since May of 2010, the Federal Government has been searching for a buyer for this gem in the pearl. While the building initially allures would be buyers with its stately exterior, up until now none has been able to stomach the roughly $10 million estimated cost of retrofitting it to withstand an earthquake.
And so it sits, a beautiful, lonely museum piece.
The musuem was brought to life one year later. During the month of May 2011, the normally stoic U.S. Custom House became the center of a flurry of activity.
First came the cables, which began to across the sidewalks,up the walls, and into the windows of the Custom House from all sides. Next, the lights, generators, and scaffolding were installed. Was the long awaited retrofit about to begin?
Then appeared the costume trucks and the catering vans. Lights, camera, action! The set of “Gone“, a thriller written by Allison Burnett, directed by Heitor Dhalia, and starring Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter and Wes Bentley, had taken shape right under the nose of the inhabitants of Old Town China Town.
When the last of the cast a crew support vehicles took their familiar places at NW Sixth and Davis, the suspicions were confirmed. The U.S. Custom House was to be a star on the silver screen. The month of May saw countless extras roaming the streets of Old Town and generally breathing much needed life into the neighborhood.
Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the support vehicles pulled away, the power cables slithered out of the building and the booms were put away. “Gone” was…gone.
Do not despair! “Gone” is set to give chills to audiences across the nation in February of 2012. Will one of those viewers, upon seeing this Gem in the Pearl, have the vision to transform the U.S. Custom House from dormancy into a functional, modern, and vibrant space?
72 Hour Call for June 6, 2011
Today’s Call: Bank of America (BAC) to rise. Currently $10.83
Rationale: Banks, of which Bank of America, being the largest consumer bank, is an indicator, had some very bad press today as far at their prospects. While we believe that in the long run these stocks are nearly worthless, B of A is likely to rise in the face of such negative sentiment.
Result of Call for June 1, 2011: Greek 5-YR Sovereign Credit Default Swap to fall. Was 1608.50, Currently 1390.97. Good Call.
Calls to Date: Good Calls: 25, Bad Calls: 18, Batting .581
72 Hour Call for June 3, 2011
Today’s Call: Caterpillar (CAT) to fall. Currently $101.10
Rationale: Caterpillar has risen dramatically over the past year. The sudden downturn in economic indicators and commodity prices will mute demand for its products which will reflect in a share price that drifts quietly downwards through the summer months.
Result of Call for May 31, 2011: GSG Commodity Index to rise. Was $36.38, Currently $36.05. Bad Call.
Calls to Date: Good Calls: 24, Bad Calls: 18, Batting .571
72 Hour Call for June 2, 2011
Today’s Call: 10yr Bond Yield to fall (price to rise). Currently 3.064%
Rationale – Duplicating our call from three days ago for a different reason. Moody’s today threatened today to downgrade the US Government’s Debt rating citing their inability to act on the debt ceiling. Not surprisingly, Moody’s simultaneously warned some of the largest domestic holders of US Government Debt, namely Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citi of possible downgrades of their debt as well. In the absence of another round of quantitative easing, the FED is now using a scare tactic to push money out of the Treasury markets and into riskier assets. It will fail as the flight to safety that is to come will overwhelm it.
Result of Call for May 27, 2011: 10yr Bond Yield to fall (price to rise). Was 3.064%, Currently 3.03%. Good Call.
Calls to Date: Good Calls: 24, Bad Calls: 17, Batting .585
The US House of Representatives, Unable to Function, Waffles on Derivatives Rules and Libya Resolution
The US House or Representatives, Unable to Function, Waffles on Derivatives Rules and Libya Resolution
6/1/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…
The leadership of the United States finds itself publicly handcuffed to the interests of the banks and defense contractors and at this point appears effortless to free itself. Two glaring and pertinent examples have appeared in this week in what can only be described as an utter and complete failure to act on behalf of the people. This inability to govern, as a QE program is evidence of the failure of a currency regime, is evidence of the very failure of a government.
Both examples are from the US House of Representatives:
Exhibit A of House Dysfunction: House Financial Services Committee Votes to Delay Derivatives Rules
For the uninitiated we offer a humble and intentionally oversimplified explanation of what this means.
You may recall that In 2008, The United States gave a $700 Billion blank check to the financial services industry (commonly known as TARP) with few, if any, questions asked. When the inevitable, albeit insincere political backlash from the masses began to surface, the taxpayer was pacified with a piece of legislation called the Dodd-Frank Act.
The Dodd-Frank Act is a fictional attempt to regulate the financial markets. Its passage was meant to put to rest any doubts that the US Government knew what it was doing when it immediately and blindly ceded over 5% of GDP to the sharks of the financial industry.
Senators Chris Dodd and Barney Frank were going to make sure that the financial markets never put the US Government in the uncomfortable position of having to bail them out again.
The main culprit was identified as the OTC derivatives market, presented to the people as a clandestine exchange where financial companies freely traded promises that they couldn’t keep for money that their counter parties didn’t have. The whole thing was a fraud to begin with.
Unfortunately, passage of the Dodd-Frank Act has simply legitimized and encouraged this fraud. Now, nearly two years later, Congress is having trouble implementing rules with teeth to apply the fairy tale derivatives market which is now reportedly worth $600 Trillion dollars, or roughly 10 TIMES GLOBAL GDP.
The failure to write rules for this worthless piece of legislation simply underscores how far the money lenders have infiltrated the US Government.
Meanwhile, large cap companies continue to raise large amounts of cash in preparation for a complete breakdown of traditional credit markets which could occur later this summer, no matter what the authorities do.
Exhibit B of House Dysfunction: House puts off Vote on Libya Resolution
In what is perhaps an even more shocking example of how far the defense contractors have infiltrated the US Government, we have this report of a House resolution being pulled for fear that it will pass. From the Associated Press:
“The GOP leadership had scheduled a vote Wednesday on the resolution by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, that “directs the president to remove United States Armed Forces from Libya … not later than 15 days after the adoption” of the measure. The vote was delayed as the leadership and Obama administration realized frustrated lawmakers likely would support it.”
If this is to be believed, there is widespread support in congress for the US to immediately cease and desist all military activity in Libya. At The Mint, we had speculated that the US had no business intervening in Libya. It appears that the House of Representatives agrees.
But as appears to be the case with the Dodd-Frank Act, a mysterious force seems to be impeding the US Government from following the simple guidelines laid out for it in its own founding document, the long since forgotten Constitution of the United States of America.
With the government quickly running out of money and virtually impotent to do anything, let alone carry out its basic functions of protecting the life and property and its citizens, a time of “adjustment” (chaos in the financial markets) appears to be rapidly approaching on the horizon.
Are you prepared?
Stay Fresh!
Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com
P.S. Please check out our latest 72 Hour Call at www.davidmint.com
Key Indicators for Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
Copper Price per Lb: $4.09
Oil Price per Barrel: $99.82
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 2.97%
FED Target Rate: 0.10% FED IN DESPERATION MODE!!!!
MINT Perceived Target Rate*: 2.25% INFLATION HERE WE COME!!!!
Unemployment Rate: 9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI): 0.4%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,290
M1 Monetary Base: $1,892,800,000,000 THE CRACK-UP BOOM BEGINS!!!!
M2 Monetary Base: $9,036,600,000,000 MORE FUEL FOR THE CRACK-UP BOOM!!!!
*See FED Perceived Economic Effect Rate Chart at bottom of blog. This rate is the FED Target rate with a 39 month lag, representing the time it takes for the FED Target rate changes to affect the real economy. This is a 39 months head start that the FED member banks have on the rest of us on using the new money that is created.
72 Hour Call for June 1, 2011
Today’s Call: Greek 5-YR Sovereign Credit Default Swap to fall. Currently 1608.50.
Rationale – Announcement of new bailout fund for Greece to occur shortly. Greece and any other sovereign nation will be bailed out in various fashions in a frantic attempt to avoid a default. A sovereign default would mean the beginning of the end of the currency regime and the regime will do everything in its power, no matter how illogical, to avoid it.
Result of Call for May 26, 2011: Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall. Was 12,402, Currently 12,290. Good Call.
Calls to Date: Good Calls: 23, Bad Calls: 17, Batting .575
The Bill for Club Med comes due (the concept of Central Bankruptcy eloquently explained), a Parable
5/31/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…
Today the focus of the financial world is on events around the Mediterranean where the Greek and increasingly the Spanish people again find themselves at odds with their respective governments and their IMF / ECB / German debt collectors.
How did they get there? The Greeks and arguably the Spanish have been living in the social equivalent of a Club Med ever since they joined the Euro. The initial sting of higher prices was offset for most by lower borrowing costs. Life was good. The advent of the Euro along with a boom in tourism began to feed a property boom in Spain and a government spending boom in Greece.
Alas, as an economy slows, the government is usually the last to know.
Like the father whose family takes a vacation to Club Med, he is content to let the family splurge with little worry as to how he will cover the bill. “Just throw it on the credit card, we’ll take care of it later” becomes the mantra.
Unfortunately for the father (who represents the Greek, Spanish, and arguably the US governments in our parable), his bank decides to cut his credit line just before the vacation is over. The bill comes due and the man frantically negotiates with his bank (the ECB, IMF, and arguably the US FED) to extend his credit line enough to cover the bill.
- Club Med – Paradise Lost!
To make matters worse, upon his return the man finds that the income from his job (the government’s tax receipts in our parable) has been cut due to “the economy*.” He now has no realistic prospect of repaying his extended credit line and instead must now consider a painful reduction in the family’s standard of living.
Naturally the family, who has developed some expensive habits while away at Club Med, rebels. The father is now in a no win situation. On the surface, he appears to have a choice between satisfying his family at the expense of his creditors or vice versa.
In reality, with his reduced income, he cannot satisfy either of them. This is where the Greek and Spanish governments currently find themselves, and this is where the US Government will soon find itself.
There is, of course, an easy way out. The man who is in this hopeless situation can declare bankruptcy. Problem solved, right? Not so fast. You see, because of “the economy*,” the bank cannot release the man from his debts and have enough money to make good on its own obligations.
At this point, the Central Banks of the world (which are represented by the bank in our parable) lack not only the credibility but also the practical tools to perform their make believe function as protectors of the value of their respective currencies.
Today we read a piece by Michael Pento of Euro Pacific Capital (run by Peter Schiff) which seems to give logical credence to what we have long suspected to be the case:
“In the end, any meaningful attempt to withdraw liquidity will not only bankrupt the institution (The FED) but also zero out their remaining credibility. That’s why they’ll never even make an honest attempt.”
The FED is helpless to remove the liquidity it has injected and will soon have to decide which of its member banks to sacrifice if the dollar is to continue as a functioning currency. Our money is on the dollar and all who rely on it as a store of value to be the sacrificial lambs.
Back to our parable. Both the man and the bank will continue to pretend to negotiate with each other, giving the illusion that what is now their mutual problem will supernaturally disappear. The family will continue to pretend to debate which expenditures to cut back on as if it will make a difference.
Unfortunately, the likelihood of the problem disappearing is equivalent to the likelihood of the family being able to go back in time to cancel their trip to Club Med prior to departure. Such is the nature of debt.
So the bank, the father, and the family find themselves clinging to a myth as they helplessly hurtle towards the unknown.
Where will they end up?
Stay Fresh!
Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com
*Definition of “the economy”, circa 2011 – A term used to describe the large scale collapse of Central Banking and the Socialist / Communist economic model that it has created over the past 100 years. Generally used by politicians and others in authority to “explain” why they cannot pay their obligations. This explanation is presented to the masses as a failure of capitalism when quite the opposite is true. Thus, this simple two word phrase is used as an excuse to further the Socialist / Communist agenda and that of the police state that is forming all around the world.
Key Indicators for Friday, May 31st, 2011
Copper Price per Lb: $4.17
Oil Price per Barrel: $102.83
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 3.05%
FED Target Rate: 0.09% FED IN DESPERATION MODE!!!!
MINT Perceived Target Rate*: 2.25% INFLATION HERE WE COME!!!!
Unemployment Rate: 9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI): 0.4%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,579
M1 Monetary Base: $1,892,800,000,000 THE CRACK-UP BOOM BEGINS!!!!
M2 Monetary Base: $9,036,600,000,000 MORE FUEL FOR THE CRACK-UP BOOM!!!!
*See FED Perceived Economic Effect Rate Chart at bottom of blog. This rate is the FED Target rate with a 39 month lag, representing the time it takes for the FED Target rate changes to affect the real economy. This is a 39 months head start that the FED member banks have on the rest of us on using the new money that is created.
72 Hour Call for May 31, 2011
Today’s Call: GSG Commodity Index to rise. Currently $36.38.
Rationale – Renewed flight to out of financial assets to acquire tangible goods due to continued uncertainty.
Result of Call for May 25, 2011: Euro to fall vs. USD. Was $1.4076:1€, Currently $1.4282:1€. Bad Call. We are coming to the conclusion that the USD/EUR rate may be impossible to call on a short term basis.
Calls to Date: Good Calls: 22, Bad Calls: 17, Batting .564
World record truck jump – “Team Hot Wheels – Yellow Driver Behind The Scenes”
Incredible.
Champions Final Highlights, Barcelona vs Manchester United
Simplemente Messi…Visca Barça!
72 Hour Call for May 27, 2011
Today’s Call: US 10yr Bond Yield to fall (price to rise). Currently 3.064%.
Rationale: Contagion in Sovereign debt markets to initially benefit US Bonds as safe harbor.
Result of Call for May 24, 2011: Copper price to Fall. Was $4.00 / lb, Currently $4.16. Bad Call
Calls to Date: Good Calls: 22, Bad Calls: 16, Batting .579
Grants for Democracy? It’s Getting Ugly in Spain, US Housing Capitulates, Greek Government to Default on Austerity and then Simply Default
5/27/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…
We’ve said it before, things are beginning to happen at a rapid pace and the authorities are absolutely and completely helpless to do anything about it. Not for lack of money, have you, for they are second in line behind the banks to pick at the money tree. No, the authorities lack the one thing that is indispensable to getting things done. Credibility.
Have things improved for you, fellow taxpayer? Unless you are a banker, lobbyist, are a contractor who works for a banker or lobbyist, the answer is probably no.
And we haven’t even begun to talk “austerity” on US shores.
But first, we are obligated to take a peek at what the G-8 is doing. We suspect we know but it is important to confirm ones suspicions.
From the Associated Press:
DEAUVILLE, France (AP) — Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies, officials said at a Group of Eight summit Friday.
Officials didn’t fully detail the sources of the money, or how it would be used, but the thrust was clearly to underpin democracy in Egypt and Tunisia — where huge public uprisings ousted autocratic regimes this year — and put pressure on repressive rulers in Syria and Libya.
We suspected more aid to someone but this appears even more misguided than we thought. The first line of the second paragraph is especially laughable but you can see where this is going. We speculated Wednesday about the events in Palestine getting ready to take center stage, largely as a distraction to the “utter and complete collapse” of the world’s current financial system.
The G-8 is now throwing what is left of their credibility into extending their influence in the Middle East. They have Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Egypt and Tunisia as footholds. Will they be strong enough to hang on to this newfound influence? Only time will tell if the new regimes can be bribed as easily as the old ones.
The credibility of the Western Governments and their worn out welfare state economic models is nearly spent. In Greece, the IMF / Eurozone bailout participants are finding out that the Greek politicians don’t have the collective stomach to play the repo man on their countrymen’s future.
It appears that the government is refusing more austerity measures and is rethinking whether or not this whole Euro adventure is such a good idea. Failure to agree now places the spotlight on the IMF / Eurozone plunge protection team. Will they have the stomach to let Greece default?
The gauntlet has been thrown down, and what happens to Greece will set the tone for how the inevitable sovereign defaults of the Western Governments are likely to play out. Are the Greeks the Lehman Brothers of Sovereigns?
On the other side of the world, Japan’s sovereign debt was officially downgraded as if to underscore the fact that the world monetary system is hurtling towards a catastrophic failure.
Back in Europe, a sequel to the Greek experience is now playing itself out across the Mediterranean Sea on the Iberian Peninsula. The youth in Spain are finally arising as they clearly see that the politicians have shamelessly “handed their future” to the nation’s banks.
With protests in nearly every major city, their resolve grows with every passing day. In Barcelona, one day before Barça plays for the Champions Cup against Manchester, the authorities attempted to clear Plaça Catalunya to clean it in anticipation of the celebrations that would surely take place there when Barça, led by the great Liionel Messi, wins the cup.
With over 100 persons injured between protestors and police officers, they will now have to clean up blood in the square. The Spanish authorities, not unlike their western peers, just don’t get it. The old way of doing things is over, fini. The youth are taking matters into their own hands. With 45% of the Spanish youth unemployed, their sheer numbers, if they stay at it, will simply overwhelm the authorities.
All the same, we are pulling for Barça tomorrow.
A final piece of news to share with you here at The Mint, the US Housing Market has finally capitulated. In other words, it is now safe to buy a house. The hope that the US Government and Central Bank could somehow revive this market has left town on the same train as the US Government’s credibility.
The US Government lost its credibility most recently as it continues to bicker over meaningless spending cuts as the nation thunders towards an imminent default on its sovereign debt and by affirming the Unconstitutional Patriot Act, which essentially gave legislative authority for the US to become the wards of an international police state.
The brave souls who gave their lives to create and protect a free America must be rolling over in their graves this Memorial Day.
Will there be a generation brave enough to reclaim it?
Stay Fresh!
Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com
P.S. Please check out our latest 72 Hour Call at www.davidmint.com
Key Indicators for Friday, May 27th, 2011
Copper Price per Lb: $4.16
Oil Price per Barrel: $100.74
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 3.06%
FED Target Rate: 0.09% FED IN DESPERATION MODE!!!!
MINT Perceived Target Rate*: 2.25% INFLATION HERE WE COME!!!!
Unemployment Rate: 9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI): 0.4%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,441
M1 Monetary Base: $1,892,800,000,000 THE CRACK-UP BOOM BEGINS!!!!
M2 Monetary Base: $9,036,600,000,000 MORE FUEL FOR THE CRACK-UP BOOM!!!!
*See FED Perceived Economic Effect Rate Chart at bottom of blog. This rate is the FED Target rate with a 39 month lag, representing the time it takes for the FED Target rate changes to affect the real economy. This is a 39 months head start that the FED member banks have on the rest of us on using the new money that is created.
Watch “Desalojo Plaza Cataluña – Violencia policial 27/05/2011” on YouTube
Oprah Shares Invaluable Wisdom in Show Finale
Oprah Winfrey’s final show aired yesterday and the featured guest was Oprah herself. For 25 years, Oprah has captivated audiences a delved into life in ways that few thought possible and even fewer thought advisable.
In Oprah’s words, she “uncovered shame” and at times brought taboo subjects and controversial people on stage with her not to be judged, but to be seen, heard, and understood. In the process she did for television talk shows what Michael Jordan did for the sport of basketball. She raised it to a whole new level.
Oprah’s gift, what has made her personally and her show by extension an undisputed success is her ability to deeply connect to her guests and her audience. She has a genuine caring about her that has given herself, her guests, and perhaps society as a whole permission to bring things once thought unmentionable into the national spotlight.
Once things are brought into the light, the healing can begin.
During the finale, Oprah shared, in her classic warm and engaging style, wisdom that has helped her accomplish the impossible. The following is a brief paraphrase of some of the morsels she offered:
1. Follow your calling. There is something that each one of us was called to do. Find it and do it. Your calling is different than your occupation. If they are one in the same, as they are for Oprah, consider yourself extremely blessed.
2. There is a deep need inside of every person to be validated. Validate people. Look at them. Listen to them. Hear them. Accept them.
3. Listen to God.
4. You are worthy of being happy. There is a difference between thinking that you deserve to be happy and knowing that you are worthy of being happy. You are worthy because you are alive.
5. Nobody but you is responsible for your life. Do not live life as a victim.
A more complete list with direct quotes can be found at The Atlantic.
For those viewers who want to remain in contact, she graciously encouraged viewers to email her personally at oprah@oprah.com with the promise of a personal response.
While the era of exploring and sharing life with Oprah on weekday afternoons has come to a close, it is certain that Oprah will continue to break new ground via both her website www.oprah.com and magazine “O”.
In the end Oprah, like the Gambler in the famous Kenny Rogers song, let each of us an ace that we can keep.
72 Hour Call for May 26, 2011
Today’s Call: Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall. Currently 12,402.
Rationale: Dow rose today on mostly bearish news. Ripe for a selloff. Key Dow financials components are being seen as weak. Combination of selling and stronger dollar to lower Dow.
Result of Call for May 23, 2011: USD Index to rise. Was 76.14, Currently 75.57. Bad Call
Calls to Date: Good Calls: 22, Bad Calls: 15, Batting .594
Greece to exit Euro and Palestine to take Center Stage
5/25/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…
If the events of the past week have not convinced you that there has been a permanent, fundamental change in the financial markets, perhaps nothing will. As much as the numbers seem to stay the same, one has the sense that something is very, irreparably, wrong.
Trust that sense.
If you are trying to put your finger on what is causing the uneasiness you are feeling, allow us to offer our humble opinion. The world is coming to the realization that all of the financial rescue programs that have been floated as the “cure” to the financial crisis by various Central Banks and Governments have done nothing useful.
To put it harshly, they have not only failed, they have made things worse.
What they have done is to buy time for the banks to sell out of their losing positions and be made whole at the taxpayers’ expense. Now, the jig is up.
The taxpayers see that the fix is in and are calling for the heads of their elected officials. For the most part, the heads have been handed over peacefully via democratic elections. Those that still have their heads are quickly backpedaling and distancing themselves from any Government sponsored bailouts.
With the resolve of the Governments of the west to continue “bailing out” the financial sector clearly in doubt, the heavy lifting is left to the ultimate and most deserving scapegoats, the central banks.
But what can they do? Their only solution involves further exposing themselves for the fraud they are. “If the central bank can simply print the money to pay debts, why should I work?” is the cry from the Proletariat.
That cry is being heard steadily in Greece and now Spain.
- Austerity Protests in Athens today courtesy of occupiedlondon.org
It has taken a different tone in the Arab world, where revolution has increasingly been the rule ever since the Gregorian calendar turned to 2011. The media explains what is happening in the Middle East as a “cry for democracy,” as if all of these people would be appeased if they could simply have the pleasure of voting for their dictator, as we do in the west.
No, the Middle East is burning due to the confluence of 1,300 years of festering hatred which for the past 90 years has had the Israeli / Palestinian conflict as its flashpoint and rapidly rising prices for basic necessities, which have always been dear in the desert regions.
These rising prices, of course, are the direct result of the debauchery of the currencies by western central banks.
From our vantage point, it is clear that the central banks have no more room to maneuver and that they will soon throw in the towel as well. Central banking as we know it is expiring.
So who will bail out the western governments and central banks? The taxpayers who have grown to loathe them? Don’t count on it. The simple answer is that no one will. What logically follows is that the world is about to embark upon an amazing journey called “price discovery.” A journey that has been delayed for three long years by the meddling of the authorities will now begin without further delay.
One of the first discoveries will be to find out what are Greek Bonds are worth. Nobody really knows, but unofficially the 10 year note is trading at 51 cents on the dollar. And now the barbarians from the north are storming down demanding that the Greeks make good on their austerity measures or else lose their support which would mean an almost immediate default by the Greeks.
But with riots becoming a way of life, the Greeks are beginning to wonder aloud whether or not the pain is worth it. Our guess is that the barbarians will relent in an attempt to save the Euro. You see, the Greeks still hold the ultimate trump card, as do we all, of defaulting on their debt and doing business in another currency. For the Greeks, it would mean a return to the drachma.
Will they play it?
With the utter and complete failure of the world financial system at hand, those who soberly decided not to heed Harold Camping’s rapture warning and are looking forward to a world that will exist post October 21. We believe that the world will increasingly turn their collective attention to Palestine.
We recently read The Haj in an attempt to beef up our understanding of the conflict. You can read our review of this book at https://davidmint.com/?p=361.
The summary is that Palestine needs a miracle for there to be peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This conflict will move to center stage as a distraction to the aforementioned utter and complete failure of the world financial system.
What has become crystal clear to us over the past two months is that if there is not peace in Jerusalem, there cannot be peace in the world. Those of us who believe in Jesus (if you do not, please accept this as an invitation to believe) will not be raptured until there is peace in Jerusalem. We do not know exactly why, we simply know that this is true.
For if there is peace in Jerusalem, there will be peace in our hearts.
Once we are raptured, the tribulation will begin, which is why we urge you to accept Jesus now. You have nothing to lose and eternity to gain.
Stay Fresh!
Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com
P.S. Please check out our Affiliates!
Key Indicators for Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Copper Price per Lb: $4.10
Oil Price per Barrel: $101.47
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 3.13%
FED Target Rate: 0.10% FED IN DESPERATION MODE!!!!
MINT Perceived Target Rate*: 3.25%
Unemployment Rate: 9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI): 0.4%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,395
M1 Monetary Base: $1,880,400,000,000 THE CRACK-UP BOOM BEGINS!!!!
M2 Monetary Base: $9,011,900,000,000 DESPERATION!!!!
*See FED Perceived Economic Effect Rate Chart at bottom of blog. This rate is the FED Target rate with a 39 month lag, representing the time it takes for the FED Target rate changes to affect the real economy. This is a 39 months head start that the FED member banks have on the rest of us on using the new money that is created.
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