“We are in a big fat ugly bubble, and we better
be careful,” declared Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump
at the first of three debates with Democratic rival on Monday.
'We all
want to believe that somehow the governments of the world will pull this global
financial chestnut out of the fire....will solve the derivative fiasco....will
get us out of debt.
We pray
that the current joblessness will be solved soon.
But the
Big Question is ' can they do it'..
And if
they can't do it, what then? How do we survive that kind of financial crisis?'
LJC
March 2016
If the objective data
proves that your banking system is illiquid and questionably solvent, then why
take the risk and keep all your money there, especially when all you’re being
paid is 0.1% interest anyhow?
You can take a LOT of that risk off the table by simply withdrawing a few
months worth of savings and holding some cash. The push to eliminate cash will inevitably
push people into cash alternatives including physical precious metals.
Similarly, if you know
that your currency is underpinned by record amounts of debt and promises that
are impossible to keep, why not take some of that risk off the table with an
asset like gold that has a 5,000 year history of preserving wealth?
The most important thing is
to have some perspective. The world isn’t coming to an end. Make no mistake, the
consequences are severe, especially for the unprepared. But our species has
suffered far worse incidents than the collapse of a debt supercycle. Simon Black
Home security is a matter to be
considered by everyone. Home security is not the same as personal safety of
home/personal defense. Think of home security as a passive endeavor and defense
as active and usually more immediate undertaking. This article does not touch on
home and personal safety and defense, but that subject needs to be addressed.
This article is only an introduction to Home Security.
Most home invasions occur when no one is
home, so the passive security which functions whether you are home or not is the
best choice. No one being home makes a burglar feel safer upon entering your
home. Make sure all doors and windows are not only securely locked when you are
out, but also at night when you are sleeping.
Read whole article......................
11-30-16 comment from
Jeff D.
Opdyke
Editor, Total
Wealth Insider
Too Many Bubbles
We are
in a paper bubble. A massive paper bubble.
Stock prices are not just at
historic highs
— they’re at valuations that have been seen only a few times in history, and
each time served as preamble to a monumental meltdown.
Bond prices are in the mother of all bubbles because of überlow interest rates
that have persisted for nearly a decade now.
The U.S. dollar — a paper asset in that it’s backed by nothing more substantial
than the petty whims of politicians — is in a bubble that has seen it rise to a
14-year high
Dec 28, 2016
from Jim Sinclair....
I have written and offered proof that we
are past the point of no return financially. The collapse is already
carved in stone, higher rates will expedite the process. The question as I
saw the election is whether we would deal with the coming financial, economic
and social ramifications under a true rule of law or not. I suspect we
will end 2017 “knowing” many things as “fact” that we only know in our gut now.
In fact, if I was asked advice for Mr. Trump, I would advise he contact John
Williams and go to the American people with his findings.
Be Thankful For All You Have To
Grumble about.
Lois Crawford
Thoughts and Commentary
Regarding Money.
Handling the world's coinage, as well as bullion gold and
silver over the past fifty years.
has led us into a deep interest in the history of 'money' and that of economics and
how the two subjects, money and economics co- exist , so to speak, as the two sides of any 'coin'.
And then we are concerned about modern 'paper/fiat money'
about which Daniel Webster (1782-1852) had this to say; "All bank notes,
to be safe, must be convertible into gold and silver at the will of the holder.
Irredeemable paper money is miserable, abominable, and fraudulent---a fraudulent
policy which attempts to give value to any paper, of any bank, one single moment
longer than such paper is redeemable on demand in gold and silver."
So all that follows are the thoughts, mine and others,
regarding
'Money' in our day.
From the Jim Sinclair
Website comes the following article......I tried to use excerpts for the
sake of making it shorter....but found that every word is important,
every statement ....and so here it is in its entirety...
The end of one year and
the beginning of another is always the time to reflect and look
forward. 2016 was a tale of two separate years. The first half
(which followed the Fed’s rate hike) saw unsettled markets.
Equities around the world looked like they were unraveling in
Jan. and early February. Sovereign credit markets were
generally firm while gold and silver took off like scalded dogs.
Then in the middle of the
year, equities rebounded, interest rates started to rise while
the gold and silver rallies were contained. Interestingly, the
mining shares which were at one point in May, up 150% ytd, are
still up roughly 50% but have been crushed anew. The second
half and in particular the last quarter has seen interest rates
all over the globe begin to rise fiercely. I believe this is
THE most important event of 2016, the end of a 35 year bull
market in “credit”!
As we end the year, there
is nearly no “RISK premium” anywhere to be found. In fact, the
mainstream explanation for higher rates is the “reflation”
trade, I disagree. I believe the higher interest rates are a
function of liquidity tightness. The old debt/growth leading to
more debt/more growth circle has been broken because “debt
saturation” levels have been reached. The central banks are
stuck as they have cornered too much collateral and are now
being forced to look at other markets (including equities) to
onload to their balance sheets. Risk premium serves a very
important purpose in “pricing” assets. Central banks have tried
to negate this concept and have only created a scenario of
“premium” nowhere and “risk” everywhere. In a world with more
debt and the worst debt ratios ever, risk is unaccounted for.
2016 also saw the rise of
the populist movement. We saw it in Britain, the U.S. and then
Italy. Globalism is in the process of being rebuked and will
again be tested in France and Germany next year. The movement
has clearly gained traction as the globalist policies have not
and are not working. People can “feel” this and see it with
their own eyes.
2016 may have been the
tipping point, 2017 could very well be the year the tipping
point is widely known and understood. The French and German
elections are slated, the validity of the “European Union”
stands in the balance. It will be quite interesting to see,
should the EU begin to unravel what will happen with the ECB?
Who guarantees the ECB and what happens with their giant balance
sheet? Of course, the same questions need to be asked about the
euro itself and how sovereign currencies will be reintroduced?
“Truth” was also a key
topic in 2016 thanks to WikiLeaks. Globalist propaganda “truth”
versus the actual truth has come out into the open and become a
battleground. In fact, several nations are trying to
“legislate” truth, the latest being Obama Quietly Signs The
“Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act” Into Law. This is
obviously quite dangerous and sews the seeds of potential
conflict. The last quarter of 2016 saw some extremely
interesting “truths” come out. Some that we certainly already
knew, some we could not even imagine. What was interesting,
nothing WikiLeaks put forth was denied, only their “methods” and
thus the shots fired at messengers only.
It is hoped 2017 will be
different and President elect does “drain the swamp”. Many do
not believe this will happen. Many are either scared stiffless
into their snowflake shelters while many others believe him to
be a Trojan horse set in place to continue the pillaging. I
personally do not believe this, we will find out shortly after
his arrival. Either Mr. Trump is real or he is not. If he is
not, what we have lived with over the last many years will
continue into a lawless hyperinflation. It is with the
assumption that Mr. Trump is real and truly a patriot that I
will look at 2017.
First, I believe we will
see some clues almost immediately as to whether Mr. Trump is
real or not. Who will he nominate to replace Justice Scalia?
Will he negate the many ridiculous (unconstitutional) executive
orders? How will Jeff Sessions proceed? These are just a few
questions but correct answers I believe will suffice to at least
knowing the direction we are headed.
Maybe the following is
wishful thinking, maybe not but I do believe 2017 has the
potential to be the year of the truth bombs (plural)! Interest
rates have already risen and will begin to expose the over
leveraged in a fashion often described by Warren Buffett as the
“tide going out”. We already see signs of this with various
cities (Detroit, Chicago, Dallas), various states (Illinois,
California, Puerto Rico), and even on a federal level. Higher
rates will undermine bond values and thus pension/retirement
funds. This is an ugly truth that will affect the general
population and cannot be ignored.
The “rule of law” is
another area. No one was prosecuted after the 2008 debacle,
will Wall St. finally be held accountable? Will crooks go to
jail or will it be smoothed over with monetary fines? What
about these firms who have already paid fines, will they be
successfully sued in civil courts? Will trustees be held
accountable as pension plans/benefits fail? What about election
fraud? Will there be investigations into cities who returned
more votes for Hillary than were cast in total? Will the
Podesta e-mails be investigated for Clinton foundation tax fraud
amongst other misdoings? What about the pedophilia information,
will this be a string they pull on or does it get a pass?
Banking is obviously another topic, how are the “insolvents”
handled? Will bail ins prevail in 2017 as per new legislation?
These are all tough
questions and by no means totally inclusive as fraud prevails
throughout every nook and cranny. It is my belief we will see
early on this coming year as to the “mechanics”. One thought
process to explore and likely in my opinion is a plan exists to
dump it all on Mr. Trump. In other words and as Jim has asked,
“will the machine even operate for him or do they just shut down
and let the roof cave in”?
Thinking this through, if
the Trump administration does actually pull on a few threads, do
they unravel the whole system? If they don’t pull on various
threads, will the “machine” (ESF) actually function for Trump?
I guess it boils down to whether or not he is “one of them”. As
stated, I do not believe he is “paid for” so it will be game
over one way or another. Either the administration digs under
the wrong rock or the fuse is lit before he even takes office.
I have written and
offered proof that we are past the point of no return
financially. The collapse is already carved in stone, higher
rates will expedite the process. The question as I saw the
election is whether we would deal with the coming financial,
economic and social ramifications under a true rule of law or
not. I suspect we will end 2017 “knowing” many things as “fact”
that we only know in our gut now. In fact, if I was asked
advice for Mr. Trump, I would advise he contact John Williams
and go to the American people with his findings.
If Mr. Trump was smart
(and gave no fear for his life), he would go to the American
people with “benchmark” revisions going back some 30 or more
years. Yes, the entire system will come down (as it will
anyway) on his watch but coming clean is the best way to do it.
Show true inflation, growth and unemployment numbers …during
each previous administration and where we are truly now! This
would be one heck of a truth bomb but the easiest way to avoid
blame AND clear the slate to go forward.
To finish, yes there was
much speculation and even “hope” in this writing. But one thing
is for sure, we will one way or another see more “truth” than we
have for many years. The truth will come because as Ricky used
to tell Lucy, “you got a lot of ‘splaining to do”!
The conditions now exist
that the “old truth” cannot be stretched any further, recent
elections are proof the common man is no longer being fooled.
Whether they be internal, external, international, financial,
economic, social and of course criminal, truths of all sorts
will most likely circle the globe like a flock of black swans in
2017!
That will do it for the
remainder of the week unless something big comes up and needs
commentary. We wish you a safe, healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year!
The majority of
Americans know the basics behind the story of the
pilgrims’ 1620 journey on the Mayflower, their
eventual landing at Plymouth Harbor, and the physical
and mental hardships they faced helping form the first
permanent settlement of Europeans in New England.
Native American
tribes like the Pokanoket were instrumental in helping
the Pilgrims survive harsh winters, showing them how to
plant corn, the best places to fish, and where to catch
beaver. Thanksgiving is the day we celebrate the harvest
feast the Pilgrims shared with the Pokanokets as an
expression of thanks and good will.
Trade with other
cultures, like the Pokanokets, was as essential for the
Pilgrims’ survival just as it is for Americans today.
Unlike our nation’s early European ancestors, however,
today we use some pretty sophisticated ways to exchange
goods and services. Credit cards, electronic transfers,
bank wires, and cryptocurrencies make the Pilgrim’s form
of currency seem like an alien technology, but that
doesn’t mean it didn’t (and still doesn’t) work just as
effectively today.
Spanish
Dollar
Early on in the
New World, coined money simply wasn’t an option. Little
coinage was brought from the Old World, and England
strictly prohibited the colonists from producing their
own. Early arrivals like the Pilgrims traded through
barter or with objects like nails, tobacco, or Indian
Wampum, according to the
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Coins brought
with Pilgrims were quickly sent back to Europe to
purchase supplies.
Eventually, trade
with the West Indies brought coins from a variety of
different areas to the burgeoning colonies. One of these
currencies was the silver
Spanish Dollar, which gained popularity because of
its uniformity in weight and size, along with its
distinctive notched-edge design.
The Spanish
Dollar served as the unofficial national currency of the
colonies until the
Coinage Act of 1857, which prohibited the use of all
foreign coins as legal tender. Also known as the “piece
of eight”, the silver coin was typically cut into eight
pieces or “bits” for making change, which is where the
term “two bits” or a quarter gets its name.
The
Pine Tree Shilling
England’s ban on
New England establishing its own currency was an
impractical prohibition doomed to failure. Geographical
distances lead to shortages, and what coins still
remained soon were worn so badly they became
unrecognizable. Eventually, the commercial success of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony would lead to it
challenging the law by passing the Mint Act in May of
1652 and secretly minting its own coins.
The first
Massachusetts coins were rather crude silver blanks in a
variety of sizes and contained the value denomination in
Roman numerals on one side and the letters “NE” on the
other. One of these new coins was the silver Pine Tree
Shilling, named for and featuring one of the colony’s
chief exports, the pine tree. The Shilling would
eventually become a monetary standard and accepted
throughout the Northeast.
The
Coinage Act of 1792
After the
Revolutionary War, the newly minted country finally
began considering the need for its own national
currency. The Constitution had given Congress the
exclusive power to coin money, and it passed the
nation’s first coinage act (Coinage Act of 1792), which
established a national mint in Philadelphia.
The nation’s mint
adopted a denomination system derived from Alexander
Hamilton’s bimetallic standard with Thomas Jefferson’s
believe that the dollar should be the standard unit of
US currency.
The 1792 Coinage
Act created silver coin denominations of half dime,
dime, quarter dollar, half dollar, and dollar. Gold coin
denominations were to be the quarter eagle ($2.50), half
eagle ($5) and eagle ($10). Although copper coins
weren’t given the status of legal tender, the Coinage
Act did provide for copper cents to be struck by the
U.S. Mint.
The road to
creating the nation’s first currency began with the
humble beginnings of the Pilgrims, a group who dealt not
only with hostile environments, disease, and starvation,
but with the lack of a proper currency to exchange goods
and services. This holiday season, we should be thankful
the dollar has continued to maintain value, especially
given the decades of monetary policies that continue to
challenge its position as a monetary standard for the
world.
Money – Most of us understand
that precious metals are real money. Precious metals are not
dependent on a government’s promise to do anything or pay anyone.
Precious metals have no national borders and are a store of value
and medium of exchange. Having precious metals is an important part
of preparedness, yet you can’t eat a Krugerrand and you can’t defend
yourself with silver eagles.
There is much more to
preparedness than possessing precious metals. Precious metals alone
are not enough to be truly prepared for an emergency, but possessing
them is an important step. Having some junk silver coins in your
possession can be a readily accepted medium of exchange for goods
and services. Even so, during a period of chaos or disruption of
essential services, we need to plan further. Since most people
readily accept paper currency, it is a good idea to have a month of
dollars, or euros, etc. in your possession to pay for your needs.
Paper currency is for
transactions. Precious metals are for a store of wealth to be used
when paper currencies fail. Three months of paper currency is
better, but enough paper currency to pay bills for a month is a
first aim. Having cash on hand could aid you and your loved ones
enormously. If you couldn’t access an ATM, and your credit/debit
card didn’t work, how well off would you be if it happened in this
moment – without a moments notice? How much currency would you have
to live? Some people live from ATM transaction to ATM transaction or
rarely use cash at all. Consider what you would do if you had no
credit or debit cards, or electronic ability to pay.
Home security is
a matter to be considered by everyone. Home security is
not the same as personal safety of home/personal
defense. Think of home security as a passive endeavor
and defense as active and usually more immediate
undertaking. This article does not touch on home and
personal safety and defense, but that subject needs to
be addressed. This article is only an introduction to
Home Security.
Most home
invasions occur when no one is home, so the passive
security which functions whether you are home or not is
the best choice. No one being home makes a burglar feel
safer upon entering your home. Make sure all doors and
windows are not only securely locked when you are out,
but also at night when you are sleeping.
HOME ENTRY AND
ACCESS POINTS:
Locks and Doors:
Although locks
truly only protect against honest people, locks are
still important. Have good locks which can’t be
disengaged with a plastic card or jimmied with a metal
pry bar. This usually means deadbolts are a good choice.
On the inside of exterior doors brackets can be placed
on either side of a door which will accommodate a 2”x4”
piece of lumber across the door. There are more
aesthetically pleasing types of door jams available on
the Internet, but the lumber jam is cheap and easy. This
is a security back up for a lock to be used when you are
home, or for doors not normally used as entry doors. If
you have a door between your garage and your home, don’t
forget to secure that door too. Also, locks don’t work
if they aren’t used, so practice locking your doors and
windows when you leave home, even if it is only for a
few minutes. Peep hole lenses can be installed in solid
doors, and the wide angle peep holes will give you a
larger field of vision. Be sure that everyone who may
answer the door can see through the peep hole. Solid
metal doors are best, or metal clad doors, but even
solid wooden doors are preferable to doors which contain
glass windows, or have glass windows connected to them.
If your doors have window glass on or near them, then
the glass can be reinforced with film to help it be less
able to be breached or shattered.
Windows:
Windows should be
locked at all times, even when open. Ventilation is
important, but bars which limit exterior access can be
installed inside on the window frames. In cities these
are used to keep children from opening windows too much
and prevent children from falling out. Screens are no
protection and even a cat sleeping up against a screen
can push it out. Bars on windows in cities are an
option, but for emergency egress, these bars either need
to be specialized for opening from within or run only
half way up the windows. Most fire codes in the USA
require 5 square feet of available opening to be
compliant, so check with your fire department before
installing barriers of any kind.
Sliding glass
doors are more like windows. They not only allow a large
access, but they also have a large area from which the
interior of your home can be viewed from the outside.
These doors need to have a pole bar which fits into the
track. Sliding glass doors are easily jimmied and can
then be lifted off of the wheels which slide the door on
the track. A blind over this door can be used when you
are not at home to prevent peeping into your home and
all windows are best to be covered when you are not at
home for this reason.
ALARMS AND
DETERRENTS:
Many households
around the world have sophisticated alarm systems. Some
are silent and notify authorities and private security
companies and some are loud and noticed by everything
outside in the vicinity and deter an invader from
proceeding into your home. Intelligent security can be
electronic with back up power and remote access, or a
dog, and everything in between.
DOGS:
A dog, large or
small is a deterrent to a home invader. Dogs are
territorial and most tend to guard their spaces. A large
dog with a small dog is a good choice, if you are
inclined toward dogs. A small dog will usually sound the
alarm and the large dog will usually handle the guard
duty. The greatest deterrent to burglary in the USA is a
large, black dog. The Tibetans kept small dogs with
their Mastiff’s for this purpose. Today, a barking
chihuahua dodging, jumping and barking all the while
around inside your home may not seem like much of a
threat, but a home invader armed with a 45 ACP could
probably unload it in the direction of the dog and never
hit it.
Dogs require love
in order to thrive. If you are considering a dog for
home security, and you have room in your home, but not
in your heart, a dog may not be the highest choice for
you.
Electronic dogs
are a great choice if you don’t want or can’t keep a
dog. Dog alarms are easy to find on the Internet, and
some are very good. Some will detect movement for 25
feet and through walls and floors. The motion
sensitivity can be set and so can the volume of the dog
alarm. Some will bark one time when motion is detected.
If motion continues, three barks follow. Thereafter if
motion doesn’t cease, the electronic dog will bark
continuously as long as motion is detected. These range
in price from $60 USD and up. A home invader only needs
to hear a dog once to be deterred, and that is what is
needed.
SECURITY LIGHTS:
Security lights
usually come on when motion is detected. These are a
good choice, but are normally dependent on electric
power to work. There are battery operated units, but
then you have a problem if batteries are not available.
These lights should be placed strategically around your
home, and at a height where the bulbs cannot be easily
removed or unscrewed. Burglars don’t want the light as
it draws attention to a property and may illuminate
their activity. Although security lights are great
tools, if you live in a rural or remote area, having
outside lights on all the time, may pose a different
threat. Continuously on lights act like a beacon in
attracting attention. Since no amount of darkness can
blot out the light, a light in a remote area will act
like a sign which says, “Hey, we have a home here and
you can find us if you follow the light.” This can be a
use of light which disadvantages you in a rural area by
signaling where you are in the middle of nowhere when
your home would otherwise be hidden.
Backup solar
security lights are easy to obtain and the price of them
has significantly reduced in the past few years. They
aren’t as bright as electric flood lights, but they do
the job. They will turn on when they sense motion, but
most of the less expensive models only remain on for 15
seconds, and only stay on while there is motion. Be
discriminating if you buy these lights for off grid
applications or for back up for your electric security
lights. Some of these lights do not turn off completely
in the dark, but remain on at low lumens and become
bright when motion is detected. Lights which remain on,
no matter how dim, may present the problem addressed in
the preceding paragraph. Most of these lights are LEDs
and have long lasting bulbs and are durable and reliable
in terms of weather as long as the solar panels are
appropriately facing and angled to the sun and
obstructions like snow are not permitted to occlude the
solar panels.
SIGNS:
Signs can serve a
good purpose in securing your home. All manner of signs
are available on the Internet. A “No Trespassing” sign
is ok, but a “No Trespassing – Beware of Dog” sign is
better. It provides more information and a warning.
“CCTV” and “24 hour Surveillance” signs are good, but
“Smile – You’re on Camera” may seem friendlier for the
people you choose to visit your home and still provide
the message you need. In addition, having a visible
camera which can’t be easily seen works well in
combination with signs.
CAMERAS AND FAKE
CAMERAS:
In this day and
age, there are actual CCTV and other cameras everywhere.
Real remote cameras are not very expensive. Many hunters
use game-cams and these can just as easily be used for
home security.
If you can’t
afford a real remote camera, consider some of the many
dummy cameras available on the Internet. You can get 4
of them for around $20. These are cheap and can do the
job if you conceal the names on the cameras and don’t
use the blinking red light which comes with most of
them. Most real security cameras don’t have blinking red
lights, and the lights can be somewhat of a giveaway
that your blinking light is part of a phony camera. This
will also save you money in maintaining batteries.
Cameras, and camera dummies can be placed near the sign.
Since actual cameras are so prevalent today, a would-be
burglar will probably not want to risk it and seek a
less threatening location to rob.
ALARMS:
In addition to,
or as an alternative to a dog, there are many cheap and
easy alarms. The cheapest and easiest alarms to install
yourself without the need for tools can be obtained
on-line or in dollar stores. These alarms come in two
pieces with magnets on each side. If the magnets are
separated (for example when a door or window is opened)
a 100 db alarms sounds. (Google – window door alarms)
These alarms run on watch batteries which are (usually)
included when you buy them. These alarms can serve a few
purposes. The first purpose is to surprise the burglar
who will normally run from the sound. If you happen to
have a dog, it will alert your dog that there is a
potential intruder. If you are home, and don’t have a
dog, it will alert you to prepare to defend yourself,
protect your property and call for help. These alarms
stick to either side of a door or window with double
sided tape and are very cheap and easy to install. There
are other cheap alarms which sense vibration on the
surface of a door or window, but these are visible
through glass and can also be set off by pets and are a
nuisance if accessible to children.
Less conventional
alarms for rural areas, remote areas and off the grid
areas are Guinea fowl. These birds are amazingly loud
when someone they don’t know or a predator approaches
where they live. These birds are from Africa, but are
kept around the world. They have some of the same
drawbacks people have with dogs.
MISCELLANEOUS
DETERRENTS:
There is a lot
you can do to deter people from looking at your home as
a target for invasion. Lights which go on and off with
timers are extremely useful. A radio on a timer is also
a good deterrent. A burglar doesn’t want to enter a home
where there is noise. Noise is a sign that someone is,
or may be present.
A TV simulator is
a small box that projects moving and colored lights
which can be seen from outside your home through windows
and appear to be a functioning TV set. These simulators
usually have various settings for on and off or be put
on a timer, or both. Some will go on automatically at
dusk and remain on for 4 or 8 hours. These features
accommodate time changes for day and night.
CONCLUDING
SUGGESTIONS:
If you live in a
town, suburb or urban area, get to know your neighbors
and form a neighborhood watch group. Your neighbors can
be a valuable asset to your home security and you can
provide the same services for them.
Be smart about
your trash. Cut up boxes and turn them inside out,
bundle them and dispose of them.
Don’t leave
ladders around the outside of your home. This could
invite someone to gain access to your roof, or check
your second floor windows for a point of entry. Don’t
leave valuables outside which make people think you
probably have valuables inside. Tools, grills, lawn
mowers, etc. should be secured away in your garage or a
shed and out of sight. Bicycles are a very popular item
to steal and easy to take away.
Be sure every
entry door has a bright working light for anyone who
comes to your home at night. If you are in a
neighborhood where houses are in view of each other,
trim shrubs so there are no hiding places for prowlers
and the area surrounding your home can be seen by
neighbors.
If you live in a
rural area, plant multi-flora rose bushes, raspberries
and other prickly shrubs and vines around your property
which create an impassable barrier for humans and even
some animals.
If you go on
vacation or are not home for a period of time, be sure
mail and newspaper do not accumulate and that your yard
is maintained. Ask a neighbor to keep an eye on your
home, or see if your community has a house alert list
with your local police or law enforcement department.
This article is
by no means exhaustive of home security measures and
further research needs to be done by you. A lot depends
on where you live and what your budget is. This article
is a mere introduction to home security.
Take good care.
Use good common sense. Assess your risks. Be Prepared.
Secure your home.
A few minutes ago, I answered the phone and a foreign
sounding female voice asked me if I was prepared?
And I asked, who she was, why was she calling ,
and for what should I be prepared. She said she was taking a survey for some
corporations and would I mind answering questions centering around current
financial situations , particularly concerning banking, about the stock
market....had I read anything concerning the expectations of a stock market
correction, did I have an opinion about bail-ins, bank closures and on and on.
I finally told her I was not expert in any of those
fields and didn't think I could help her.
However...
In as much as our business focus is on bullion gold and
silver as well as the collectible coins made of those metals, we are aware of
our customer concern stemming from the perception many have of the weakening
global economies. Many of our customers speak to us about the increasing debt levels of governments, of lack of jobs or
of jobs
moving offshore...many are concerned with the latest trade bill which they feel
may destroy jobs or quality jobs in the United States.
Then there is always discussion about the national debt
which is calculated to have increased by many Trillions ....and with no end in
sight ....and what to do about it...and there seems to be no answer...many are
concerned..
So when the voice on the telephone asked if I was
'prepared'....while I didn't hang on long enough to find out what she had in
mind, it did remind me of questions our customers ask us about basic
financial 'preparedness' as they share their thoughts and voice their
concerns
Our response, after
years of watching the US economy gradually deteriorate, has boiled
down to suggesting that all anyone can do is to prepare to survive whatever happens
and suggesting that in addition to having basic supplies, ie., food water etc,
one more step is to have either gold or silver bullion coins or some of both on
hand.
And how to do that? Well that is the ultimate question because each
one's survival is very personal. But we have seen fiat
currency, our paper dollars, buying less and less, day by day, and we have observed that
historically gold and silver have been and still are the 'real money' if
all else fails. And government itself is telling us to have certain items on hand in case of natural emergencies.
So it makes senses to have some gold and silver
coins on hand just in case the bankers fiat money system collapses....just in case
the banks decide to take a holiday in which case, any money/dollars we
have entrusted to them will now belong to them....including everything
in our safety deposit boxes.
We all want to believe that somehow the
governments of the world will pull this global financial chestnut out of the fire....will
solve the derivative fiasco....will get us our of debt We pray that the current joblessness will be
solved soon.
But the Big Question is ' can they do it'....at least,
can government get itself out of the mess government has gotten itself into without some
financial disruption
to all of us along the way. That is the Question and these are the ideas we would be happy to discuss with anyone who is
thinking along similar lines. It is easy to add a bit of gold or silver, coin or bullion, to your survival preparation....it
is easy to buy it....it is easy to sell it.
March 2016
Here is an
interesting article from
The Silver Bear Cafe
taking a
look at the financial situation facing America
The Escalating War on Cash and What It Means
For Metals
by Clint Siegner
Government bureaucrats, central bankers, and
Wall Street executives all have their own reasons for hating the cash in your
wallet. So, no surprise, they are working closely together to rid you of it.
The
war on cash is intensifying and bullion
investors are wondering what the transition to a “cashless society” might mean.
We’ll cover that, but let’s first recap why these organizations are, once again,
allied together to the detriment of your ability to transact privately.
The self-interest of bureaucrats is one
factor. They don’t like privacy. They dream of the day when they can access all
of your spending with just a few keystrokes. The knowledge will help them more
aggressively tax and regulate.
Central bankers want something a bit
different. The policy du jour among these central planners is NIRP – negative
interest rate policy.
Bankers in Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and
Japan have already launched NIRP. Their counterparts elsewhere, including the
U.S., are planning for it.
The challenge is to create an environment
where customers must either spend their savings or pay their bank
interest to hold deposits. To succeed, the government must corral
citizens into purely electronic money. Otherwise many will simply withdraw cash
and hide it under a mattress. When you have to pay a bank to borrow your money,
holding physical cash gives you a higher yield, i.e. 0% interest is a higher
yield than negative 1%.
Bank executives are licking their chops at the
potential for all transactions to be done electronically. They stand to rake in
processing fees every time you use your card or cell phone to make purchases
rather than using cash. Plus they will gather a larger deposit base as customers
no longer have the option of holding paper money outside the banking system.
People need to keep these motivations firmly
in mind, because politicians and bankers aren’t going to be honest about why
they want to eliminate cash. Wall Street wants you to focus instead on the
convenience of electronic payments. And bureaucrats are busy stigmatizing cash
as a tool for drug dealers, tax cheats, and terrorists.
Perhaps Americans will see through the
propaganda and recognize just how dangerous a cashless society would be to their
wealth and privacy. They might decide to punish banks such as
JPMorgan Chase for no longer accepting cash payments on loans and
insisting customers not put cash in their safe deposit boxes. They may ask their
elected representatives to oppose any measure to eliminate paper bills.
However, most Americans aren’t paying much
attention to the issue. Congress is barely accountable, and the Federal Reserve
isn’t accountable at all. A restriction on cash could indeed be imminent.
That’s certainly the goal of the “Better Than Cash
Alliance
If citizens ultimately lose the War on Cash,
here are some likely ramifications for precious metals investors.
Negative rates should drive significant demand
for gold and silver. NIRP is a testament to the fact that central bankers will
try literally anything to produce inflation. Such an extraordinary policy should
set off alarm bells for anyone who isn’t concerned about inflation, or is
betting on deflation. If central bankers want inflation, they have the power to
create it. As always, inflation fears will drive demand for physical bullion.
The good news is that while bureaucrats can
theoretically win the War on Cash because they have complete control over the
issuance of paper money, they cannot win a war on bullion. Metals don’t roll off
a printing press that can simply be switched off. Physical bullion is private
and off-the-grid – a nightmare for regulators.
If they attempt taxes and regulation, they
will fall victim to the law of unintended consequences. But that may not stop
them from trying. It’s happened before – most recently in India. Indian
officials dramatically hiked the tariff on imported gold in 2013 They
accomplished little more than angering a gold-loving population and driving an
eight-fold increase in gold smuggling.
Politicians and their friends in banking
aren’t going to stamp out peoples’ desire, or their ability, to transact
privately using barter instruments such as gold and silver coins. And they
aren’t going to force unwilling people to stand idly by as they take shears to
savers; bank accounts.
The push to eliminate cash will inevitably
push people into cash alternatives including physical precious metals.
Clint Siegner
October 6, 2016
Excerpts from article
Global Debt Hits All-time High
“This is a global problem,” said
billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio yesterday to a packed audience of
central bankers.
“Japan is closest to its limits, Europe is a step behind it, the US is a step or
two behind Europe, and China is a few steps behind the United States.”
Mr. Dalio, founder of the $160 billion investment firm Bridgewater Associates,
was invited to speak at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s 40th Annual
Central Banking Seminar yesterday.
His primary thesis is that the debt supercycle that has lasted for decades is
coming to an end, and that there’s going to be a “big squeeze”.
“The biggest issue,” he said, “is that there is only so much one can squeeze out
of a debt cycle, and most countries are approaching those limits.”
The largest economies in the world– Japan, Europe, the United States, and China
are racking up record amounts of debt and absolutely nearing those limits.
Just this morning the International Monetary Fund warned that global debt has
hit an all-time high of $152 TRILLION.
That’s an astounding figure that’s nearly TWICE the size of the world economy.
But it’s more than that, because in addition to nominal debt, there are further
obligations that must be paid– like healthcare and pension programs which are
largely underfunded.
We’ve been discussing this a lot lately; in the US, Social Security is
completely underfunded and will become cash flow negative in just a few more
years.
Soon after it will entirely run out of money.
Dalio summed it up by telling his audience, “There are too many promises that
can’t be kept, not only in the form of debt, but also in the form of health care
and pension costs. . .”
In other words, not only is government debt, corporate debt, and household debt
at record levels worldwide, but pension and healthcare obligations have become
impossible to pay.
This means that while debt is piling up, the ability to service those
obligations is actually decreasing.
Central bankers have been desperately trying to hold the system together by
keeping interest rates at record lows and printing trillions of dollars.
Yesterday we discussed why central banks are between a rock and a hard place.
If the Fed doesn’t raise interest rates quickly, they’ll be forced to make
interest rates negative in the next recession.
But if the Fed does raise interest rates, they’ll cause a massive decline in
asset prices, and potentially even engineer the recession that they’re trying to
prevent.
Dalio again: “[I]t would only take a 100 basis point [1%] rise [in interest
rates] to trigger the worst price decline in bonds since the 1981 bond market
crash.”
So no matter which direction central banks go, i.e. to raise or not to raise
interest rates, there are severe consequences.
crash in bond prices could easily wipe out bank balance sheets around the
world, especially across Europe where most of the banks are already insolvent.
This is the reality of our financial system, not some theory or conjecture.
It is dangerously overleveraged and quickly reaching its limits.
The question is– what to do about it?
The most important thing is to have some perspective. The world isn’t coming to
an end. Make no mistake, the consequences are severe, especially for the
unprepared. But our species has suffered far worse incidents than the collapse
of a debt supercycle.
Moreover, there’s nothing that’s going to happen immediately. China, Japan,
Europe, and the US aren’t going to default tomorrow morning.
This is a slow-moving train where the consequences pile up little by little.
Today we can already see early stage capital controls in Europe, corporate
defaults in China, multiple debt-ceiling crises in the US, and negative interest
rates around the world.
None of these things existed ten years ago. And in a few more years, today’s
financial conditions will seem tame by comparison.
Yet while this snowball keeps getting bigger, no one can possibly predict
precisely WHEN or HOW it will finally strike.
That’s why perspective is so important.
Anyone who hunkers down expecting the financial apocalypse could be waiting a
while… and simultaneously missing out on some compelling opportunities.
Similarly, people who delude themselves into believing that everything is going
to be just fine will likely have their entire lives turned upside down by an
erupting financial crisis.
It is possible to strike a balance.
As an example, we’ve talked a lot about holding physical cash.
If the objective data proves that your banking system is illiquid and
questionably solvent, then why take the risk and keep all your money there,
especially when all you’re being paid is 0.1% interest anyhow?
You can take a LOT of that risk off the table by simply withdrawing a few
months worth of savings and holding some cash.
Similarly, if you know that your currency is underpinned by record amounts of
debt and promises that are impossible to keep, why not take some of that risk
off the table with an asset like gold that has a 5,000 year history of
preserving wealth?
It’s hard to imagine you’ll be worse off holding a bit of physical cash or a
universal asset like gold or silver.
But if the worst happens, those holdings could turn out to be the best insurance
policy you’ve ever had.
” Investment advisor Catherine Austin Fitts is backing Donald
Trump. Fitts explains, “Michael Moore said in an interview that
Donald Trump is a Molotov cocktail you can throw on the system.
Interestingly enough, if you look at the federal system, it has a
negative return on investment to taxpayers. If you believe you can
never fix that, then throwing a Molotov cocktail into the middle of
that is the most intelligent thing you can do for productivity.
It was when I wrote the theme for productivity for the second
quarter wrap-up I realized . . . I may have profound disagreements
with Trump’s style, but I can throw the Molotov cocktail (voting for
Trump). . . .I am giving money to Donald Trump because that is the
first time I have ever seen someone of national prominence on
corporate media hold the leadership accountable for their actions.”
So, what needs to be done to fix the economy? Fitts contends,
“The big issue in 2017 is how the government is going to get people
to pay their taxes if the government is not viewed as legitimate? .
. . We have a win/lose relationship between human productivity and
labor productivity. If we want to get more labor productivity, and
if we want a stronger stock market, then we need to change those
models to win/win.
On the upcoming 2016 Presidential election, Fitts says, “A lot of
this is going to come down to how the machinery is operated and
rigged...
The system is rigged against the common man, and it’s totally
broken. Fitts adds, “If you look at the inhumanity rolling down on
the average family, whether it’s heavy schedules of vaccines that
cause autism, or GMO food that makes people sick, or spraying
overhead putting Nano particles in our brains and cause us to be
toxic with heavy metals, which produces all sorts of diseases and
high health care costs, and I could go on, and on, and on.
Basically, what you are talking about is destroying humanity and the
productivity of the general population. It’s not going to work. It
can’t continue, and we’ve got to stop it. That’s why I think if
Trump is the Molotov cocktail, I’m throwing it.”
