Good morning world. Welcome to the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Hey - did someone just say PANIC?!

Northern's dilemma will rock markets

Northern Rock crisis sparks banking panic

Run on the bank

Scramble to quit UK bank


So, no surprise for HP'ers. We've been predicting runs on the banks for months. And now they're here. So what should you do to get ready for the collapse? Here's Ten Ways to Prepare for the Great Crash:

1) Get to cash, NOW. Every financial mania ends with a rush to cash, and a liquidation of assets at greater and greater loss. Get to cash. Even gold is at risk as owners liquidate to raise cash.

2) Know where your cash is, and that it's protected by the "full faith and credit" of the host government. If you have more than the allowed limits in any one institution, and they go tits up, it's your own damn fault. If there's no protection, get your money out of there NOW.

3) Unless you plan on keeping your house forever, sell your house as fast as you can at whatever price you can get for it. Because you'll never get that price again in your lifetime. And then rent (for a fraction of the cost of buying)

4) Get out of all stocks and money market funds. Yes, that's right, even money market funds are not secure, and they can and will lose value

5) Get into short term US government t-bills and liquid FDIC-insured savings accounts (up to the FDIC limits). Wait for the bad storm to pass

6) Tell everyone you care about that The Great Unwinding is here. Use the "email this post" function (the little envelope by the comments link below) to send this to your friends and family. DO NOT be the last one out of the pool - be the first.

7) Get 100% out of ANY troubled bank or brokerage, and any bank exposed to the subprime cancer. If and when they go belly up, even getting your FDIC insured deposits out will be a pain.

8) Check your mutual funds and 401k. Get them to cash and T-bills if you can.

9) Watch what the central banks do. Their actions may present you with some short-term trading opportunities. Watch for currency meltdowns - don't have all your cash in one currency. Use the currency ETFs to spread your risk.

10) Get some popcorn. You're gonna witness some historic stuff these next few days, weeks and months.

From The Independent:

Panic on the streets of Britain: Northern rocked, City shocked

Yesterday something happened that I have not seen in my lifetime, a run on a major British bank. There were queues outside Northern Rock branches as depositors tried to get their money out.

This is the sort of event that happened in America after the Great Crash of 1929. For Northern Rock, this is catastrophe. For the rest of us it marks the end of an era of easy money.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!!!! British HousingPANIC (HousingPANIC.co.uk) is now here!!!

UK Prices start falling, "housing ladders" can go down too

Boom turning to gloom as house prices begin to show signs of falling

UK Banks start failing

Northern Rock Gets Emergency Bank of England Funding

Renting significantly cheaper than "owning"

Now is time for renting, not buying your property!

UK has its own bubble blog

SPECIAL FLASH FROM THE UK: THERE HAVE BEEN LINES OUTSIDE NORTHERN ROCK BANKS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, RUN ON BANKS IS AMAZING TO SEE IN PERSON

Never in my life did I think I'd witness a real run on the banks. But that's exactly what's happening here in England today and is still going on tonight. PANIC is in the air, the BBC is running non-stop coverage, the papers are ablaze, and it's like a virus has just gotten loose.

There are still people queuing outside of Northern Rock locations all around the country right now. The media is reporting that branches will stay open as long as queues are still forming. Panic is everywhere, all the papers leading headlines were about the panic, creating more panic, and a classic bank run is underway.

In England, savers are only protected for 100% of the first £2000 and 90% of the next £33000 - and that's it, after that, if an English bank fails, the saver loses EVERYTHING. Thus the queues and panic. And calls by people on TV right now to "remain calm" and "don't be irrational".

A Special HousingPANIC message to Northern Rock savers: Get your money out of there tonight if you still can. And for UK homedebtors - your housing Ponzi Scheme is over. The UK housing and credit bubble have burst. Get out now, get out fast, and thank us later.

Northern Rock customers queue for cash as crisis hits high street

The credit crisis spilled onto Britain's high streets today as worried Northern Rock customers queued up to withdraw their savings.

Their fears were prompted by the revelation this morning that Britain's fifth-biggest mortgage lender had to ask the Bank of England for emergency financial assistance.