Save me Ben!
Save me!
Meanwhile, dollar-denominated oil hit an all-time high today, the dollar hit an all-time low against the Euro, and gold is at $713 and climbing.
Everyone in the States feeling rich? Dollar-denominated stocks holding up for ya? Well, I've got some bad news. And here's a hint. I paid $20 for a hamburger tonight in London. And if Ben screws up and lowers rates, that burger is gonna be $30 real quick.
Dollar Falls to Record Low Versus Euro on Rate Differential
Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell to a record low against the euro as investors increased bets the Federal Reserve will reduce its target interest rate, narrowing the yield advantage between the U.S. and Europe.
The currency declined for a sixth day, the longest losing streak since April, as investors wager the Fed will cut its key borrowing rate by a half-percentage point to 4.75 percent next week, narrowing the gap to 0.75 percentage points.
80 comments:
What,they have no bread? Well let them eat cake then!
Got bunker?
If the dollar is crashing and home prices are falling doesn't that mean that home prices are down even more than people think?
I'd like to see home prices charted in gold terms
My portfolio is up 73% so far this year thanks to buying well timed puts and shorting CFC and others.
Inflation...ehhh whatever. I can handle it.
£10 For a burger!!!! Do you get them Hand delivered by Jamie Oliver???
The Dollar must go down in value until wages in America are similar to what are paid in India/China
Their is no reaon why a worker in America/Europe/Japan should get 10 times the wage for the same work/ with the same tools
If the fed has to choose between American voters or foreign creditors, who do you think they will choose?
If the dollar is crashing and home prices are falling doesn't that mean that home prices are down even more than people think?
I'd like to see home prices charted in gold terms
Good point Keith. We are insulated against reality and cannot recognized that we are in a severe inflationary/deflationary tailspin.
Lets not forget the record 9 bucks a bushel for wheat either!!
WTF are you freaks yapping aboout now? Gas is $2.50 a gallon. 6 months ago it was $3.15.
Milk is $2.99 at Walmart. If you shop at Whole Foods, don't bitch if it costs $4.29.
Inflation is in your heads.
I've been writing letters to my congressmen about this. I even emailed the FED board directly.
If you're in the US you NEED to call or fax your congressmen NOW!
$150 oil, $5 gas, $10 milk, and 18% interest rates. Think that'll help the economy? We're all screwed if he cuts and there's capital flight from foreigners... RENTERS TOO...
Hey I know let's do what Jimmah Cahtah did and impose price controls. Yea that was so effective.
Oh to have the glory days of the late 70s again...a time of demoRAT congress and demoRAT president, double digit inflation and unemployment.
You socialists make me want to vomit.
Oh please America elect Hitlery. With her and Nanncy Pelosi and Harry reid nothing but goodness can come.
cobra,
you do know that congress has nothing to do with bernake's decision right?
"Gas is $2.50 a gallon. 6 months ago it was $3.15."
Hey douchebag, check out what gas prices were between 1980 and 2000. That's right pretty steady between $1.00 and 1.25. Hell, before dipsh*t took office $1.25/gallon was high!
Go back to your fu*king hole.
"Hey I know let's do what Jimmah Cahtah did and impose price controls."
nixon had price controls. by the way, who went off the gold standard? who pursued an inflationary war? REPUBLICANS.
who had a commision to study the gold standard and eventually rejected it? ronald reagan. who ran up huge deficits? reagan.
don't forget who appointed paul volcker, that's jimmy carter.
This is an intractable problem. There is no solution. There is no choice between saving the dollar and saving the economy. The risks are balanced, but they are both tremendous. The US is heading for a hyperinflationary depression.
Inflation is in your head?.....wow, some folks are blinder than bats.
If you think gas will stay at $2.50 while oil is at a record high, you're in for a rude awakening. Now gas bears are being sucked in. They will be roasted shortly and then ejected into orbit as we bomb Iran. Oribital gas bear smores. Got gas?
whats wrong with a $30 burger
hell, whats wrong with a $50 burger
How in the world do people live in Europe?
are there soup and bread lines in London yet ?
Doesnt the BBC recommend a 'health tax' on non veggie foods ?
The Euro is irrelevant.
It is backed by aging French cheese
Anyone can age cheese.
Happy Healthy New Years to all you HPers
Rosh Hashuna begins this evening.
Its been a fun filled year here in HP land.
If the dollar is crashing and home prices are falling doesn't that mean that home prices are down even more than people think?
I'd like to see home prices charted in gold terms
-------
Well if this be the case I think tomorrow morning I am going to call
my lender and request that my loan be reworked to the actual value of my home...far fetched but what does one have to loose.
"Gas is $2.50 a gallon. 6 months ago it was $3.15."
Hey douchebag, check out what gas prices were between 1980 and 2000. That's right pretty steady between $1.00 and 1.25. Hell, before dipsh*t took office $1.25/gallon was high!
Go back to your fu*king hole.
---------
word
A WEAK DOLLAR POLICY means INFLATION! INFLATION! INFLATION!
If the US goverment do not care why should you, SHORT the US Dollar now.
Initially a weak Dollar is one of the best bail out, because it is an invisible tax.
It tax everyone from the gas we pay to the food we eat.
The government likes it because when gas price goes to $4 per gallon people blame the rich greedy oil companies and Opec.
People will blame the higher gas price on supply and demand even thought demand has stayed the same and supply has gone up.
People will blame the higher gas price on hurricanes, even thought production has remained the same.
People won't blame the Federal Reverse or the US Treasury for the WEAK DOLLAR POLICY until they are made to understand that a weak dollar policy will cause inflation, but by that time it is too late price will settle in and people will get us to the higher price.
What people do not understand is that higher gas price will mean higher transportation cost.
Not like in years past when inflation was low in China, inflation will be imported back to the US.
Today wage and food price are going up in China; therefore, there is not a whole lot of room for Chinese companies to squeeze so US companies that is in the import business will get squeeze.
Even if US companies were to reopen manufacturing facilities in the US, the start cost to the time it take to produce goods will make US production not effective. Therefore count this option out.
So if the Yuan and the Dollar were to stay the same, higher inflation in China means US companies like Walmart will have to pass those transportation cost to the consumers.
Back to school supply, children clothes, and day to day stamp items will have to go up.
If companies have to pass transportation cost to the consumers then price of food like milk and butter will have to go up.
IF day to day goods goes up then resturant have to increase price on their menu again.
Look at a menu 7 years ago then look at it today, if you think price went up allot you have not seen anything yet.
The biggest question is will wage go up as well.
If not then everyone is paying for the bail out of US housing market, because the Federal Reverse has to bail out the greedy speculators and mortgage brokers by cutting interest rate and letting the US Dollar take a fall.
[senseless garbage justly deleted]...Cahtah did and impose price controls.
Carter did not have price controls, you idiot. It was the patron saint of the republican party, Dick Nixon, who did that.
And oil goes to $80 a gallon...but the real question are iPhones selling???
A big mac in the UK is $3.90 and $3.30 in the USA.
I can buy a $20 burger in NY or LA as well but I'm not an idiot.
In the USA, you can still get a top tier burger for $7 at many diners and restaurants (see Texas Roadhouse... http://tinyurl.com/2gopz9). So yeah, there's dollar devaluation but there are also ways to crimp down on the more expensive items.
The dollar will devalue further and faster because we have no more cons to keep it strong. Well, actually the stock market is the final scam that we are running. It is totally isolated from reality and manipulated to benefit key people; ask Angelo Mozilo for further explaination.
A crash in stocks would be much better than the dollar slowly slipping away to nothing. At least the crash will get us on the road to correction and recovery based on real things instead of wealth based on bubbles and just transfering manufactured wealth from and to e/o.
$20 for a burger? At that price, I sure wouldn't be eating out. What's a pound of hamburger "worth" over there now?
I paid $20 for a hamburger tonight in London.
My question is why did you pay $20 for this thing? If people are ready to pay $20 for fatburgers then the price will never go down. It costs $20 out there only because people are ready to pay this kind of money, that's it. Last evening I bought two cheeseburgers for my kids in McDonalds for $0.99 each. I wouldn't pay even $3 for this crap.
$20 for a hamburger that’s crazy!
Keith you may find these charts interesting:
http://www.sharelynx.com/chartstemp/USHLSPOG.php
I've seen a better chart that covers 100 years, but I can't remember where and Google's not bringing it up. But, as they say, "the truth is out there".
McD's still has doulble cheeseburgers for .99 cents in the U.S.
Yes,
We shall be burning them soon, just for warmth...
But not yet.
Look at it as a Tsunami.
The water rushes away first, like the dollars will rush away from America. (It is not that the dollars are "rushing away", the credit stopped, but it is the same effect.)
It will be deflationary; for the non-essential luxuries only.
Food and energy will continue to surge in price, as the entire world bids for the raw materials. The demand will be stronger than we have ever seen before. The price rise (demand) backdropped against the falling dollar (inflation) will make it harder than most people think.
STAGFLATION?!?!?
But wait, it gets worse, the dollars WILL come rushing home (3-5 years?), as all the debt that exists in foreign countries are converted to actual assets within or from this country.
The steel containers will be loaded with old coins, muscle cars, and antique furniture;
heading straight for Asia.
But remember, only older things that cannot be made in todays factories will be desired.
Art, collectables, and "Estate Sales" will draw alot of foreign wealth (U.S. debt).
Oh ya,
Real Estate will be bought by the foreigners for pennies on the dollar.
They WILL eventually bail out these toxic funds, but only when the systen is already broken.
They will buy these CDO's for pennies on the dollar, then take title, and send the people over here to live.
By this time, food and energy costs will be high (for us), but cheap for them (new homeowners), because the monetary conversion will make them rich here.
(Like an American in Mexico for the last 200 years.)
Then it will look like massive inflation. As all this debt returns, ALL prices in the U.S. will skyrocket, for everything.
To make a long story short, if you have cash on hand, do NOT hold it in dollars. As prices drop hard, find the desperate sellers, there will be ALOT of them,and offer cash; make it a lowball offer.
You might just get those Mickey Mantles or that 1969 RS/SS Camero you always had your eyes on, at a RIDICULOUS price.
As long as you do it before the Sunami Wave comes in and destroys everything at the beach (dollar holdings).
So, that is my take.
Stagflation, then massive Inflation.
Good Luck.
LOOSE NUKES IN USA
This week we learned that on August 30 the United States Air Force flew a B-52, locked and loaded with nuclear warheads, from North Dakota to Louisiana. This broke a military policy going back to the 1960s against such flights.
There is a still more dreadful prospect though. Our "unitary executive" may be threatening or preparing a strike against us, the unruly and now war weary American People who are the greatest impediment to the Neocon New American Century plan. It used to be that only the 911 Truth community would entertain the idea that the next 911, the "911-2B" attack, could come from our own government. However, a recent spate of Bush administration pronouncements that we are due for such an attack has made it apparent to many other Americans that Bush would welcome a 911-2B event -- or might even arrange one
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6749
----------------------------------
Why was a nuclear-armed bomber allowed to fly over the US?
Wednesday’s revelation that a US Air Force B-52 bomber flew over the length of the United States armed with six cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads has attracted amazingly little media attention.
RUMOR: Within intelligence circles there are rumors that the munitions airmen acting on their own without orders, disconnected the powersuppy to each of the missiles prior to mounting them on the B52's pylons. This act prevented the onboard missile computers from being overridden from the ground and launched remotely [out of the control of the B52 pilots].
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6723
I will help everyone out and probably assist in most threads here, the dollar is becoming worthless, and also the biggest thing overlooked overshadowing anything that gets posted here that really seem to thrive on the housing crisis, is that OPEC, is backed by (once upon a time the strongest currency) the dollar...if oil producing nations drop the dollar for Euros its over, none of the subprime crisis will even touch it..this spells out plain and simple world war...without a doubt
"Milk is $2.99 at Walmart. If you shop at Whole Foods, don't bitch if it costs $4.29."
then milk is a loss leader for Wal-Mart or they pressure thier suppliers to keep the price down, because at Albertson's and Publix in Florida (no such thing as Whole Foods down here that i know of), milk is at least $3.99. i don't like Wal-Mart meat and their variety of everything else is a little lacking, so i very rarely shop there unless there's no other alternative (i.e, in the middle of the night for somehting i absolutely need).
Anonymous said...
My portfolio is up 73% so far this year thanks to buying well timed puts and shorting CFC and others.
Inflation...ehhh whatever. I can handle it.
September 12, 2007 10:33 PM
Unless your portfolio is over a couple hundred million, your "ehhh whatever" might just turn into "ehhh what happened".
Maybe you are the one that uses the wheelbarrel to get your bread???
ehhh whatever...
amigauser said...
"If the fed has to choose between American voters or foreign creditors, who do you think they will choose?"
ehhh...ya, whatever
Anonymous said...
cobra,
you do know that congress has nothing to do with bernake's decision right?
September 12, 2007 10:56 PM
Never an audit?
Never a penny paid in taxes? (all interest collected SHOULD be retained!!!)
WHO MADE WHO???
Anonymous said...
Go back to your fu*king hole.
September 12, 2007 11:05 PM
Chill out dude, it's just a bad trip!!!
Dollar degrades more...nice rant...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKblnX4TPFE
Hey dumbass anaonymous
It was Nixon who imposed price controls, not Carter. While I agree Carter was one of our worst presidents, the entire US macro policymaking during the 70s was a disaster, and a series of dumb responses to the Vietnam/great society spending of LBJ. Staying on topic, what we are doing right now does indeed smack of late 60's macro policy. The hangover, once it starts, is going to be pretty bad.
The Fed needs to go back to the wisdom of Volcker, who cranked up interest rates to crush inflation and save the dollar, and that fed goveroner whose name I have forgotten, who said something to the effect that the purpose of the fed is to take away the punch bowl once the party gets going. Our current fed's view is to hand out extacy and cocaine once the punch bowl has been empted by the partygoers.
I live in Maui and cheap gas is 3.58 a gallon, milk at costco is 5.19 a gallon, and the cheapest family health plan is 554.00 monthly and that does not cover drugs or dental or exrays etc. I already can see what the effect has on the non tourist consumer here. People who live here buy very little new clothes, cars, dinners out, save nothing, no regular dental work, kids don't have all the latest crap, no vacations, etc. So if it werent for the tourist spending this place would have very little consumers. If the prices go up across the counrty like here the consumer will spend much less and kill the economy. By the way Maui is in general moving into the slow season but the high end restuarant i work at has in the past few week went from 500+ dinners per night down to the low 300's and the people bitching about the prices and sharing meals and less drinks. I guess the housing atm is getting less. Dec 15 starts the busy season so well see if business pick up. I am really curious to see if it will. I've been concerned about the housing atm so we will see.
Can we join the European Union now? How about the new "World Dollar"! Backed by the full faith of The World Police! Coming soon to a continent near you right along with the national identification card complete with DNA profiling and the cashless society to chronicle your every move.
Keith
Sorry I never signed up for user name but I have posted on and off for at least a year. My question is I have 150,000 or so in ingdirect,hsbc, and one other bank. I have a house in a low cost state with a 5.5 30 year fixed with extremely low balance and payment which i rent for postive cashflow of around 1000 a month. I currently live in paradise and rent for cheap compared to owning here. I posted earlier where that is. What would you do with the savings and house right now. I do also have some other investment.
Anon September 12, 2007 10:52 PM :
"Gas is $2.50 a gallon. 6 months ago it was $3.15."
I have to concur with Anon September 12, 2007 11:05 PM; you, sir, are a douche bag. Please remove your head from your anus, and please stop opening your mouth or typing messages. Clearly, you are unintelligent, and should not be allowed to speak, ever.
"Hey douchebag, check out what gas prices were between 1980 and 2000. That's right pretty steady between $1.00 and 1.25. Hell, before dipsh*t took office $1.25/gallon was high!
Go back to your fu*king hole. "
Hmm, you mean they are double now what they were 27 years ago? Yup, that comes out to 2-3% inflation. Saying we are in hyperinflation now because gas has doubled in cost is like saying we were in deflation in the 90s because oil wasnt rising in value over the course of decades. Comparing short timespans is silly. Look at the entire 30 year period. Inflation is very much under control. There always has been and always will be something spiking that you can point to as proof of inflation. Things dont rise at a constant rate over time, they spike here and there. Gas spiked recently and now milk is spiking. It doesnt mean that we are experiencing hyperinflation.
And btw, what on earth are you talking about Keith? A 20 dollar hamburger? I dont think I could find a place within a hundred miles of me that would charge that if I tried. I think that speaks more to the exorbitant cost of living wherever you are right now. Hamburgers cost anywhere from less than a dollar at a crappy fast food place to 10 dollars at a sit down restraunt with tip and fries and all that other stuff that comes with the meal. Claiming 20 dollars for the hamburger itself is totally nuts.
Hey I know let's do what Jimmah Cahtah did and impose price controls. Yea that was so effective.
Oh to have the glory days of the late 70s again...a time of demoRAT congress and demoRAT president, double digit inflation and unemployment.
---------------------------------
you know, deja vu all over again, I think we are headed back to dumocrat congress and white house and inflation and watch them try price controls again.
Many of you are missing the point ont the $20 hamburger sold in every pub in London
Burger and chips, 9.95 pounds. Anywhere you go. The locals have no problem with that, since they're paid in pounds, and 9.95 is a damn cheap meal compared to going out to restaurants, where dinner for two is gonna usually be $150 to $200.
So yanks, at 2.03 dollars to the pound, are paying $20
Did I tell you that a movie ticket is $26? Or that a mini USA Today (you only get half the paper here) is $2?
Get it? THE DOLLAR IS BECOMING WORTHLESS, and eventually this will be felt in the US as well
Well, it wasn't for lack of warning. We HP'ers have been yelling from the top of buildings for people to buy gold and foreign currency. But noooo, DOPES knows better. So, for all of you who hang around here and don't listen: F*CK YOU!
Oh, by the way, THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING AND IT WILL GET MUCH, MUCH WORSE.
Apparently some people don't know how much oil it takes to produce the food we eat. It's like we put a little straw in a can of oil and suck it real good. Or how much milk and eggs are used to produce just everything we eat. Getting uglier as we speak.
Only those who lived in Europe for at least a year know how the American dollar is in the toilette. If you think that London is expensive, try Paris, the land of US$5 can of coke. Do you like scotch instead, while watching the French ladies? US$ 30 for a glass of Chivas "avec glace". When you go the market to buy a few things to eat, don't be surprised to pay US$50 for almost nothing. That's how it's going to be in the US sans the same salary or benefits (like cheap health insurance, for instance).
Talking about health insurance, how's that renewal coming about? Prepare the wallet because mine just went up 10% and I have never been to a hospital in my freaking life; not even for a broken finger. Gotta subsidize all those millions of Mexicans and Cubans that Bush and Giuliani love so much.
Gas spiked recently and now milk is spiking. It doesn't mean that we are experiencing hyperinflation.
Perhaps you are not experiencing inflation, but I am...a lot. And I keep methodical records of my personal finances on the computer. Lots of things are skyrocketing for me: Health insurance (just went up 10%), tuition (about 18% / year), food, housing, car insurance, utilities, concert tickets, movie theater, cars, dentist, cable TV, broadband (mine went from $30 to $50 after AT&T bought Cablevision), tolls, hotel rooms, airfare, car rentals, auto mechanic, building materials, contractors...Now, is there anyone out there that's not experiencing steady higher prices on all of the above and much more in an annual basis? I must be the only one in America then.
Perhaps you are living with your parents still or one of Bush's cronies. Or you calculate inflation like the government, by leaving out food, housing, tuition, healthcare and everything else a NORMAL person needs to survive these days. Sorry, I forgot that I should be leaving in a cave and hunting for my own food.
Anon wrote : whats wrong with a $30 burger
hell, whats wrong with a $50 burger
How in the world do people live in Europe?
are there soup and bread lines in London yet ?
At least in Holland, we live really well. People live here the way folks used to live in the States. No one uses credit cards. People pay with cash or debit bank cards. People save money. Taxes are much higher than the States, but the cities are efficient and clean, there are parks everywhere, the roads are maintained, there are very few homeless, and the elderly are well supported. Oh yeah, and we even get 6 weeks vacation a year and can manage a household nicely on 1 salary. So yeah, eating out can be expensive here... so people make most of their meals, bring sack lunches to work, and eat out less than in the States. And gas costs an arm and a leg. But the cities are compact and designed for bikes. Most people, even the elderly, use bikes as their main method of transportation. And you will hardly ever see fat Dutch person. So yeah... it's more fun being a consumer in The States but more vibrant living in Holland.
People,
There's no sure thing but don't forget the first line of defense; SPEND AS LITTLE AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN. When you must buy, buy used not new. Barter with others whenever possible. As far as health insurance goes some of us have been screwed for sometime already, something about being uninsurable because you're over 45 and your great-great-great-grandfather used to smoke cigarettes. Tough titty, the grandfolks did their best without it so will I.
Mr. Dutch person,
All that sounds great but tell me about the hash bars. I'm feeling kind of tired and I could really use a foot massage...
The Fed needs to go back to the wisdom of Volcker, who cranked up interest rates to crush inflation and save the dollar, and that fed goveroner whose name I have forgotten, who said something to the effect that the purpose of the fed is to take away the punch bowl once the party gets going. Our current fed's view is to hand out extacy and cocaine once the punch bowl has been empted by the partygoers.
September 13, 2007 3:59 AM
Hey genius. The policy Volcker was carrying out went by the name "controlled disintegration" which was the policy set by the bankers for US during the 1980's.
Volcker's high interest rate policy helped to kill this country's industrial economy and sent money running to speculative ventures.
In short Volcker killed things like steel production, agriculture, etc. while proping up real estate, derivatives, junk bonds and casino's
Not a bad trade eh?
One more time, in case you don't get it, to be crystal clear:
A burger at a pub, one of the cheapest things you can order if you're out, is $20
The quality: Crap. Horrible. Dry. Awful.
This is not a splurge. It's getting a bite to eat when you're away from home.
Now, if you're going out for a nice night in London, dinner for two with a bottle of wine, nice place, it's $200 to $300.
Get it?
It's the dollar stupid. And it's not good.
Anonymous said...
Apparently some people don't know how much oil it takes to produce the food we eat. It's like we put a little straw in a can of oil and suck it real good. Or how much milk and eggs are used to produce just everything we eat. Getting uglier as we speak.
POST OF THE CENTURY!!!!!!!!
ENJOY THE DIEOFF MO FOs!!!
I posted here almost two years ago the dollar is dead and that oil is peaking.
It hath been foretold.
Got bunker?
www.dieoff.com
Keith,
OK so a burger is $20. How much are salaries compared to the US? Convert to pounds and it's double. So Brits make more and spend more. Evens out.
Only way a $20 burger hurts is if you are an American tourist.
Now, if you're going out for a nice night in London, dinner for two with a bottle of wine, nice place, it's $200 to $300.
===============
Same thing can be said about New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle....
Volcker's actions were followed up by the 1981 Kemp-Roth Tax act, which opened up real estate and stock market to irrational speculations, destroyed U.S fiscal policy; and by the 1982, the Garn-St Germain Act, which deregulated the U.S. banking system. In 2000, the Glass-Spiegal Act enacted during the Great Depression to prohibit the merging of different institutions to prevent conflict of interest in investment practices, was abolished. Ordinary investors no longer have any true protections in a world fraught with cutthroat investment practices. The whole apparatus has shifted policy decisively away from financing physical production into pure speculation.
The policies of `controlled disintegration' are now ominously reaching the point of logical conclusion.
How about some practical advice: What's the safest, easiest, cheapest way to take cash stuffed into ING/HSBC/ED/etc. accounts and diversify some of it into Euros? Gold?
They don't make this easy or transparent in the U.S. E.g., neither Vanguard nor Fidelity have foreign money market funds.
I toyed with the idea of opening an account at Direxion Dollar Bear, but their 2% expense ratio scared me away. In hindsight, I would be happy to pay that now, but there must be a cheaper alternative for cash accounts!
“Even if US companies were to reopen manufacturing facilities in the US, the start cost to the time it takes to produce goods will make US production not effective.”
------------------
If Manufacturing does return to the US, we will be in for a rough start. Why?
Since so many of the support people have been laid off and fled the industry, every day there are fewer and fewer people left who know how to properly set up an efficient production line, and design & make the tooling necessary to manufacture a product.
Opening a manufacturing facility and starting from scratch here will be prohibitively expensive – we’ll be like China in the mid-1990’s, figuring it out as we go along, making all kinds of expensive mistakes. At least they had American Engineers come there and help them. What will we do – import Chinese Engineers to help us get up & running again?
I have worked ten years as a Manufacturing Engineer, and if I get laid off I will leave the industry too, taking all my knowledge and experience with me. Let someone else figure out how to make the sh1t!
Maybe I will plant a bigger garden and sell vegetables & fruit at the local farmer’s market. What with the price of food going up these days, this actually may become a viable way to make a living!
-Mammoth
In addition, one GBP costs $2.0276 USD. Ten pounds is roughly $20 US. Just though I would help.
I just had this epiphane. Ben won't save the dollar. Few Americans care about inflation. The only Americans who realize the danger of inflation are those who have and save $$$, only to watch it depreciate. The rest live on credit and will have an easier time paying borrowed $$$ back down the road. We savers may really be the suckers in the equation. What was that old saying, "when you sit down at the table to play cards if you don't know who the mark is then it's you." I think savers have become the mark. Thanks FED.
Dutch Person Here:
someone asked about the hash bars... well, you know, they are sane about that here, too. Pot, hash, and mushrooms - totally legal. The government doesn't waste it's money making potheads criminal and blowing taxes on over stuffed prisons. Same with prostitution. It's all regulated and taxed, baby.
And for all the moralistic buffoons who claim that pot is a gateway drug and that legalizing it will lead to social collapse... well it's like a fricken Norman Rockwell painting here. The kids are smart and happy and the majority are actually drug free.
Just sayin...
At least in Holland, we live really well.
Enjoying the melting of the poles and glaciers? Don't forget to start taking scuba lessons.
my property taxes went up 33 percent over two years or a 16.5 percent yearly inflation in the misrepresentated bogus govt inflation numbers that are ..am i blind and stupid 400 percent under caLCULATED....SUCKER??? ONLY 4 PERCENT....
i THINK I BETTER LOOK INTO SHAREHOLDING A FEW COWS... COULD HAVE BEEN A COLA PROUUCER BUT THE LOCAL REGULATORs And land theives called preservationists and environmentalists stopped that very early.. 5 buck a cola in paris, guess the big shot treasoners did not want financial competion, sounds so worldly...
paid 3.33 for a fancy bottle of wine yesterday, but the price of eggs and milk in this health food store were double cheaper places...health insurance costs remind me that my doctor may trust and profit from the drug companies desire for profits and their designer diseases called medicine and not health inducing designer diseases.."trust me"(sheeple)???
Buy gold silver and oil stocks
Dollar Bear said...
How about some practical advice: What's the safest, easiest, cheapest way to take cash stuffed into ING/HSBC/ED/etc. accounts and diversify some of it into Euros? Gold?
They don't make this easy or transparent in the U.S. E.g., neither Vanguard nor Fidelity have foreign money market funds.
I toyed with the idea of opening an account at Direxion Dollar Bear, but their 2% expense ratio scared me away. In hindsight, I would be happy to pay that now, but there must be a cheaper alternative for cash accounts!
September 13, 2007 4:36 PM
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You could take a look at GLD and IAU for gold (0.4% expense ratio) and SLV for silver (0.5% expense ratio).
Mammoth,
I think Alcoa has already been importing metallurgists (from Russia) since there are hardly any schools in the US that still teach the subject.
The pound is worth twice the dollar at the current exchange rate you morons! Thanks to the Federal Reserve which does not answer to voters or congress or regulators--another moron.
j-dog said...
I just had this epiphane. Ben won't save the dollar. Few Americans care about inflation. The only Americans who realize the danger of inflation are those who have and save $$$, only to watch it depreciate. The rest live on credit and will have an easier time paying borrowed $$$ back down the road. We savers may really be the suckers in the equation. What was that old saying, "when you sit down at the table to play cards if you don't know who the mark is then it's you." I think savers have become the mark. Thanks FED.
September 13, 2007 6:12 PM
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Savers who diversify out of the dollar, before it's too late, should do OK, at least compared to most other people. The spenders will find it more difficult to spend as the dollar continues to depreciate in both absolute and relative terms and all that imported stuff (including oil/gas) will become prohibitively expensive. The naive think that inflation means that they'll be getting big raises too, but wage increases are all but guaranteed to lag far behind inflation. The result will be a sharply lower standard of living for the overwhelming majority of Americans.
Anonymous said...
Dutch Person Here:
someone asked about the hash bars... well, you know, they are sane about that here, too. Pot, hash, and mushrooms - totally legal. The government doesn't waste it's money making potheads criminal and blowing taxes on over stuffed prisons. Same with prostitution. It's all regulated and taxed, baby.
And for all the moralistic buffoons who claim that pot is a gateway drug and that legalizing it will lead to social collapse... well it's like a fricken Norman Rockwell painting here. The kids are smart and happy and the majority are actually drug free.
Just sayin...
September 13, 2007 6:16 PM
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But what about the Muslim invasion that's overrunning Europe?
@anonymous September 13, 2007 9:38 PM
"You could take a look at GLD and IAU for gold (0.4% expense ratio) and SLV for silver (0.5% expense ratio)."
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Thanks for the pointers. I may be Gold Bear too, having been influenced by Nouriel Roubini's analysis.
Any suggestions for a range of foreign currency money market funds available in the U.S.?
If the fed has to choose between American voters or foreign creditors, who do you think they will choose?
September 12, 2007 10:39 PM
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since no American voters vote fo rhte Fed, i'd say.....
What was that old saying, "when you sit down at the table to play cards if you don't know who the mark is then it's you." I think savers have become the mark. Thanks FED.
September 13, 2007 6:12 PM
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Not enough savers in America. We matter nothing. They are not even thinking about us.
Dollar Bear said...
@anonymous September 13, 2007 9:38 PM
"You could take a look at GLD and IAU for gold (0.4% expense ratio) and SLV for silver (0.5% expense ratio)."
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Thanks for the pointers. I may be Gold Bear too, having been influenced by Nouriel Roubini's analysis.
Any suggestions for a range of foreign currency money market funds available in the U.S.?
September 13, 2007 10:30 PM
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Hmmm... for gold to drop in value, it would have to drop in value *relative* to something else. What then? Dollars? Get real. Euros? Hahaha! When the supply of hard money (gold) is increasing by perhaps 2% a year, if that, and all the world's major central banks are inflating their money supply at 10%+, it's hard to imagine how any drop in the gold price vs. any fiat currency can be anything other than a short-term dip (buying opportunity). When the recession/depression gets going in earnest, what government is NOT going to massively inflate (even more massively than 10% a year) in order to stimulate the economy? What will that kind of monetary inflation do to the price of gold?
As for foreign currencies, Everbank has some stuff, but the deals don't look all that great. Also, you'd pay a fee and/or bid/ask spread for the currency conversion.
Dollar Bear said...
Any suggestions for a range of foreign currency money market funds available in the U.S.?
September 13, 2007 10:30 PM
Here's something,
Foreign currency exposure with a twist.
When they zig, you zag.
EWJ is a Japan Index fund.
Stronger yen equals less sales for these Japaneses companies (due to higher prices in America), so the fund begins to drop on lower expected earnings.
But wait, the stronger Yen is not being factored in...
yet.
It may take time, but the disperity will be seen by the "efficient" markets. Ha,ha efficient, that was a joke.
I own some Jan 2010 20 calls (LEAP)on EWJ. Still chipping away on them.
I also own some FXY calls.
FXY is a Japan Yen/ American Dollar conversion.
I bought some March 86 calls.
The carry trade is going away soon. China just raised rates again, and Japan is soon to follow.
Considering how low the interest rates are there 1/2 of 1 percent?
Imagine the changes when the Trillions of Yen start being bought to cover the carry.
The currency fluctuations will be breath-taking.
If you do futures, look at the Yen vs. dollar. Yen is going to get MUCH STRONGER, very soon.
Keep tight stops, and ladder the contracts.
You will eventually hit it big.
Good Idea looking at currencies, but metal funds might ALSO be a good idea.
Buy and hold these funds. They tend to trade crazy. But most of all,
"do your homework."
keith - go to wetherspoons and eat with the chavs. your burger and chips will cost you far less than a tenner and they sell decent beer.
£4.25 every day w/a free pint. still not a bargain but not quite $20.
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