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How Ben Bernanke Sentenced The Poorest 20% Of The Population To A Cold, Hungry Winter
The following chart prepared recently by JPMorgan demonstrates something rather scary, and makes it all too clear how the Chairman's plan to "assist" the US population via some imaginary "wealth effect" due to QE2, is about to backfire. As is now becoming very evident, the prices of energy and food products are about to surge, and in many cases have already done so, but courtesy of some clever gimmicks (Wal Mart selling what was formerly 39 oz of coffee as a 33.9 oz product for example) the end consumers haven't quite felt it yet. They will soon. There is a limit to how much every commodity can open limit up before it appears on the SKU price at one's local grocer. And while a marginally declining "core CPI" is irrelevant for this exercise as it measures only items that are completely outside of the scope of everyday life, what will be far more important to end consumers will be the push higher in food and energy costs. The problem, however, is that for the lowest 20% of Americans, as per the BLS, food and energy purchases represent over 50% of their after-tax income (a number which drops to 10% for the wealthiest twenty percentile). In other words should rampant liquidity end up pushing food and energy prices to double (something that is a distinct possibility currently), Ben Bernanke may have very well sentenced about 60 million Americans to a hungry and very cold winter, let alone having any resources to buy trinkets with the imaginary wealth effect which for over 80% of the US population will never come.
Here is how JPM explains the phenomenon:
When the Fed considers the possible consequences of a falling dollar resulting from QE2, it should perhaps focus on food and energy prices as much as on traditionally computed core inflation. First, the food/energy exposures of the lower 2 income quintiles are quite high (see chart). Second, the core CPI has a massive weight to “owner’s equivalent rent”, which suggests that the imputed cost of home occupancy has gone down. Unfortunately, this is not true for families living in homes that are underwater, and cannot move to take advantage of it (unless they choose to default and bear the consequences of doing so). Due to the housing mess, there has perhaps never been a time when traditionally computed core inflation as a way of measuring changes in the cost of things means less than it does right now.
Since nothing else appears to have jarred America from its prime time TV/iPad hypnosis yet, perhaps this is for the best, and a few hungry months in subzero temperatures is precisely what several tens of millions of Americans need to finally march on Constitution avenue.
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Duh.. what do you think is the force behind skittle factories.. :)
+2
don't know what a skittle factory is, babe.
You beat me to it. I hate to burst your bubble, but having worked with M&M/Mars, I can categorically state that Skittles are not the product of the southbound end of northbound unicorns.
I am more equal...
Where the fuck you been? The Winchester brothers put paid on that bill last season. Devil is back in his box and Sam's returned as something seemingly not human.
Don't worry though Dean will save us all.
Dean: All those angels, all those demons, all those sons of *******, they just don’t get it, do they Sammy?
Sam: No, they don’t, Dean.
Dean: You see, Brady, we’re the ones you should be afraid of.
Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!
Religion was invented to control the masses. Now, in replace of the Magical Scary Big Guy in the Sky, we have Central Bankers controlling the masses.
It starts as mystical hyperbole and continues as media hyperbole. He who can control the message rules.
I dunno - "Ben Akbar" just doesn't have the same ring to it....
And Petraeus is the new messiah.
Seriously, your point is right on target. Now it's both message and distribution. Radio, then TV, now the Internet and the ubiquity of its access points (cell phones/SMS, Twitter...). The "democratization" of message has coalesced into a few major centers. There are hundreds of experiments being conducted all over the world right now to see how best to manage this: state controlled media in China, Iran, etc; hell even corporatist media here in the US vying to match the message with the largest, or at least most committed, audience (Fox? ZH?). The next twenty years are going to be interesting times.
looks like wheat has a ways to go yet!
Extrapolate the above chart for the poor of the world...massive intentional inflation for the poor of the world w/ little to no discretional income mean massive hunger and deaths. Anybody thinks this is Obama's plan to "redistribute" America's wealth to the world...Obama and Ben will be responsible for massive famine and die off for the poorest of the world. Somehow I don't think big O or Ben has the poor of the world's interests at heart any more than America's interest. Anybody really believe big O or Bush were really in charge? They are proxies for the real power of the ultra elite represented by the Fed.
PURE FUCKING EVIL - SERIOUS EVIL AND COMING DEATH BY STARVATION AND PRIVATION WILL BE ON THE ORDER OF WW2.
13 bankers
This crisis is mostly engineered.
http://www.marketskeptics.com/2009/12/2010-food-crisis-for-dummies.html
Make sure you can become adept at growing food via sheltered agricultural systems.
Yahweh Yireh.
No, it isn't.
ENOUGH around here with the Omnipotent Directors Fallacy
You spend too much time indoors, obviously.
The crisis is mostly created. Chemtrails & geoengineering have done my crops (and my health). I am about to move to safer ground.
Chill out.
Safer ground? Where? Under it , yea!
There are specific places that by the very nature of flora and topography/microclimate are able to deflect most of the cocktails. That's all I'll write on the internet.
Are you the bearded mystic?
Nah...got a hold of enough Schick Quattro@ 50% off and my last haircut cost four dollars!
You guys watch the stocks and the charts, I watch the skies, nature and NOAA:
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/tatl/loop-wv.html
That hurricane Thomas is man made.
this is fucking moonbat shit.
Why in the HELL would these Omnipotent Directors suddenly want to kill off the ponzi? If they are all-powerful, why not just continue to let the GOOD TIMEZ ROLL forever?
Manmade hurricanes...LOL
"Manmade hurricanes...LOL"
Better catch up with the times.
I have printed some wicked looking stuff from the NOAA site.
Stay indoors.
my subscription to Moonbat Times has expired, sorry...
amazing how I get junked for being skeptical that freakin hurricanes are manmade...lol
Hurricane and earthquake weapons are solar powered too, note that sunshine always precedes these events...
Wrong. You get junked because you ALWAYS post a load of shit. How much do they pay you to be the resident shill here?
tad behind the curve trav7777 - maybe start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_control
if you can't be bothered reading, scroll down to the references & general information and note the preponderance of corporations associated with the military, such as Raytheon, BAE, Microsquash, etc.
note that:
aluminium & barium chaff is aerosoled into the atmosphere to conduct these "experiments". . .
here are a few of the patents listed:
I could go on, but that's enough to confirm that weather control is a fact, and there is soooo much more proven information, should anyone care to look at it.
really, it's like trying to get people to be "aware" of the financial system, and the role of the Fed - unless one is ready, it will be mocked or laughed at.
Should be fine as long as it isn't that nasty carbon dioxide stuff...Right? </sarcasm>
Will that aluminum and barium chaff help my roof last longer?
Screw the roof, I'm hoping it will help me keep a nice shiny head of hair. Nevermind forgot about the barium.
hahahahaha...cloud seeding to manmade hurricanes. What a HELL of a leap. There is no moonbat conspiracy theory you guys won't swallow, is there?
@Trav, There are many more patents related to weather modification than stated above. The topic (I think) has even come up in congress (amongst other important venues) ... so there must be something to it ...
... as Kuato said in the movie Total Recall ... "open your mind".
... See ... http://www.weatherwars.info/
"Others [terrorists] are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves... So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations...It's real, and that's the reason why we have to intensify our [counterterrorism] efforts." Secretary of Defense William Cohen at an April 1997 counterterrorism conference sponsored by former Senator Sam Nunn.
. . .thanks Goldilocks - that's one of the better sites, I was working my way up to linking it, ha!
but here's some interesting RECENT (29Oct2010) news:
http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/un-votes-to-ban-chemtrails/
one of the "excuses" put forward about aerosoling the atmosphere is to reflect the solar radiation back, as in putting up an aluminium "layer" to "protect" the earth.
again, the information is readily available should anyone seek to research it. . .
and, according to the washington post: “The prohibition does not apply to the United States, which has yet to ratify the convention.”
with regards bills put forward in Congress - there have been quite a few, they change the wordage over time, but there's usually at least one bill hanging in limbo - HR2977 Space Preservation Act was one of the first I think:
http://vodpod.com/watch/3280523-hr-2977-chemtrails-haarp
Great...seeing as how we think we have ourselves completely under control and we think we know all there is to know about everything (finance, culture, disease, justice etc.)...let's start screwing around with what we know we don't have under control.
Perfect.
Man's arrogance is only surpassed by his stupidity.
Gonna be one hell of a snow storm in Iran... WTF ???
ZH has always had its share of tin hatters.
Hey, Trav, I think it's the same people who took down Building 7.
Whaddaya say?
Hey Rocky
Building 7 ? There never was a building 7....
building what?
Smartru!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrzKd5Wexmw
get drunk and fornicate (don't have to be married), bitchez
WOW that was made over a year ago. over 3000 hits. i had no idea about zero hedge.
night.
"get the full adrenaline rush" at zero hedge
"it's like a bunch of people on the titanic running around stealing the silver"
complete package
shhhh
LOL...tinfoil hat much?
check this trav - there has been some controversy around this story, that Monsanto bought out Xe/Blackwater - Max Keiser (trying to keep with people "reputable" to ZH'ers) has some interesting links & explanations in the comments threads:
http://maxkeiser.com/2010/10/16/monsanto-now-owns-blackwater-xe/
and this is an important addition to the mix:
http://blacklistednews.com/Machines-of-War%3A-Blackwater%2C-Monsanto%2C-...
if you just apply a bit of thinking, the connection between Monsanto's new aluminium resistant GMO seed, and Gates funding research towards stealth vaccines:
and you understand that skies are being aerosoled in many NATO countries, that nanoparticles are part of the heavy metal "soup" sprayed. . . well, it's not rocket science. . .well then the elites will be exposed to it also ? I feel like a guiny pig or vegetable being sprayed from the sky,fluoride in the drinking water, hell, gas in some drinking water. Gulf coast fish are poison and so is the air, folks are sick and dying down there. All kept quiet from most of us. This sure is awful bad for us common folk, unable to make a stand against superior armed forces and not heard by our leaders.
A lot of us will die because of these criminals even if we do nothing.
Might as well fight back then, but how? The folks on the east coast seem to be the deciders as they are where the action is. Here in the west it feels like we dont matter.
That is an incredibly weak argument. Would you willingly expose yourself to it if you knew it was happening?
The elites allow themselves to be exposed to it because they have access to the treatments and antidotes. We are in the eugenics wars and the Great Culling is underway. To understand what is going on you need to get yourself informed. A good starting point is to watch ENDGAME.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-CrNlilZho
I'm fully informed! You, sir, are the one who is confusing the "useful idiots" with the true oligarchs who are planning the cull and don't even live in the USSA.
Make no mistake, the destruction and enslavement of the US is underway. The US has served its purpose and the circus is moving on. But most of those in what those on here call "the elites" have no comprehension of what the consequences to them and their families will be.
In typically American fashion, most commenters here think that the public faces -- the Dimons, Bernankes, Blankfeins, Obamas, etc -- are the planners. They are not. They are simply appointed officials, with no security of tenure, who are in on the scam but are entirely disposable at any time they step out of line. Bernanke serves at the whim of the oligarchs. Blankfein serves at the whim of the oligarchs. Buffet and Gates prosper at the whim of the oligarchs. The members of Bilderberg and the CFR are invited at the whim of the oligarchs.
Those useful idiots who have sufficiently enriched themselves -- the corporate executives, Wall Street players, elected representatives and appointed officials -- will escape to their offshore boltholes, but most of their families and supporters will be too poor, too dumb or too obstinate to leave until it is too late.
For example, the body and vehicle scanners at every airport and border crossing are not there to detect terrorist bombs, they are there to ensure that -- after the cutoff date, whenever that may be (my guess is late 2012, but things are moving so fast now that they may have to bring it forward to retain control) -- nobody leaves the country with hidden PMs or currency. The laws prohibiting farmers' markets and sales of home-grown food are not there to protect your health, they are there to allow them to control the quantity and content of foods that you will be permitted to eat. The planned electronic money system is not being introduced to stabilise currencies, it is to ensure that you won't have, or be able to spend, a cent unless you are fully submissive to their rule.
The only hope for America to defeat the oligarchs at this very late stage is for a complete change in paradigm ... away from a central government and back to individual sovereign states, each with their own militia and currency -- and powers limited to protecting the individual rights of their citizens. The oligarchs can't herd 50 cats with 300 million kittens, but they can control anyone who is controlled from Washington, DC.
Read 'Atlas Shrugged' and you will understand why most of those destroying the system from within actually go down with the ship.
This video explains who the real "elites" are: Max Keiser interviews Damon Vrabel (part 2 of 3), yet still doesn't go to the tip of the pyramid to the real "oligarchs" who have been planning this for many generations.
way to tie up some "loose ends" i-dog!
it's really important to keep one's mind open just now, not shut down, as there are many many fronts this battle is being waged on - it's NOT just financial folks.
I'll keep it short, but here are a few links for those who are interested/ready:
Atmospheric Geoengineering: Weather Manipulation, Contrails and Chemtrails (Revised)http://coto2.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/case-orange-60-years-of-geoenginee...
Stratospheric Welsbach seeding for reduction of global warming
United States Patent 5003186
(lists aluminium oxide, thorium oxide as materials used)
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5003186.html
and THIS is something people might want to think about:
Leaked trade agreements and hidden dangers of S 510: Corporations plan to end normal farming“Under provisions in CETA [Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement], using saved seed could result in a farmer’s land, equipment, and crops being seized for alleged infringement of intellectual property rights attached to plant varieties owned by corporations such as Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, and Bayer..."
http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/leaked-trade-agreements-and-...
we are all aware that those-who-want-to-rule stealth these bills into law while "other news" is distracting us. . . it pays to share information when we find it!
I-dog -"I'm fully informed! You, sir, are the one who is confusing the "useful idiots" with the true oligarchs who are planning the cull and don't even live in the USSA..."
If you were fully informed (which would be pretty awesome as I know of no one who’s got the complete handle on this unbelievably nebulous and interlocking global takeover) you wouldn’t have made the statement – “That is an incredibly weak argument. Would you willingly expose yourself to it if you knew it was happening?” in the first place but I’d agree with a lot you’ve said…. Watched that Kaiser interview you linked to. (Really like Max Kaiser)
In previous comments I have stated clearly that what the public is exposed to, indeed drenched in 24/7 is propagandistic theater, The Mighty Wurlitzer. The real power is exercised behind the scenes and out of public sight.
So I m very much in agreement with your statement – “most commenters here think that the public faces -- the Dimons, Bernankes, Blankfeins, Obamas, etc -- are the planners. They are not.” And in a real sense the Dimons and the Obamas are just theatrical props paraded before the public to mislead them in a chickenshit, concocted narrative. It’s a shame that many people can not get past this. You might like this statement from an insider who left the White House in early October - as reported by Joel Skoulsen:
“It’s a nightmare in there. Obama is just a television watching second fiddle guy. He doesn’t make any of the decisions. He doesn’t have any interest.”
My understanding is that basically there are 30 families that control most of this planet that have, in part, ceded great authority to a group of 200 scientists who head a Global Scientific Dictatorship which relates to Cathartes Aura’s postings. The Western governments by and large no longer exist.
I would encourage others to watch ENDGAME - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-CrNlilZho
i-dog, you're the man.
Between the southern earthquakes and the Cascades, you don't matter. Sorry, MH.
I don't know about aerosoling, HAARP, or the rest--and at this point, don't really want to--but I gotta say that Monsanto and Blackwater make for the most deadly synergy that I've ever heard. There's one that speaks the truth very clearly on its face alone.
Had the same thought, They are in the same business, control
Creepy shit. Monsanto, Xe, Micro$oft/Gates Foundation, a triumvirate super creepola. I had no idea about this, thanks again ZHers for the most pertinant factoids.
Throw in JPM and GS and welcome to hell.
dub
To witness the accelerating total domination and destruction of what’s left of free humanity is nothing to be cheerful about. Monsanto is one of the flagship fronts for the Globalist’s scientific dictatorship and they are as evil as it gets on this planet. Bill Gates was literally set up by the ruling oligarchy, and, his whole contrived mythos is merely a front for eugenics and the supposed ‘national security’ apparatus. His agenda is run and controlled by the NGOs. (His father headed up Planned Parenthood which exists to implement global eugenics.) Your post is a very important one giving us a glimpse into the tapestry of the Brave New World.
As far as 7777, I wouldn’t waste the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2f-MZ2HRHQ
Fuck you you goddamned moron. The only reason they get away with this vile shit is because of your fucking programming. If people like you actually used the fucking mind that you were provided at birth, all your Leftist fantasies would perhaps become reality. Instead what we get is an artificial construct supported by those to weak, timid, cowardly, SLAVE like to be MEN (and WOMEN); HUMAN.
I don't blame people for it too much, as the Oligarchs WANT us to believe they are omnipotent. They may not be in 100% control of the crisis, but they definitely knew it was coming, and have prepared for its inevitable result: the destruction of the US dollar as world reserve currency.
Right now we are experiencing a 'race to the bottom', which will make it easier to convince the citizens of the world they need to accept the new fiat reserve currency (likely a modified form of the present SDR). Its not a currency war as much as co-ordinated devaluation, with the intent to bring in a new reserve currency at the culmination.
From that perspective, it doesn't matter if the crisis has been engineered or not, because the (hoped for) RESULT has been engineered.
http://psychonews.site90.net
Read our latest PsychoNews stories:
Misconceptions:Quantitative Easing & The Fed
Misconceptions: Hyperinflation & The Oligarchy
The destruction of the dollar is by design and so is its replacement. The Bible mentions it: the Dinar.
moonbat alert AGAIN. Wow.
Why is it that you guys HAVE to believe that there is some kind of deterministic certainty to everything?
SOME of the leadership saw this crisis coming...those who produced the military's peak oil reports, for example. But people in power are used to 20 years of having their asses kissed. They live in bizarro realities. They are irrational. They are certainly not in fucking control. They are out of touch and clueless, by and large.
Yet you guys see sinister, calculating malice in all this ineptitude...lol
"They live in bizarro realities. They are irrational. They are certainly not in fucking control. They are out of touch and clueless, by and large."
Occam's razor.... ++
hey Trav, so your living in a nice little pluralistic society and the good layers, judges and politicos are going to make sure that bad asses don't get out of hand
is that what you've been taught by your peerless peer group
if this doesn't pan out, you may want to go virtual back to plural land so as to sleep good at night with the little goblins running around on their witch programs
edit - message i replied to has disappeared..
@ Green leader above...I read the blog you inserted into your reply. It was for the most part doomsday speculation which in fact was proven wrong by events as they unfolded this year. There is no food shortage and that was clear by July. Yes energy costs will affect the food supply. However, one must also factor into the analysis market mechanisms which will compensate...for example in the US should energy costs rise to the point of making the current distribution system too expensive farmers will sell locally produced foodstuffs to take advantage of the differential in production costs and transportation. Our food distribution system depends on cheap transportation to ship food halfway around the world. Should those costs become too burdensome the market will act to encourage local production. Virginia, once a large apple producer, now imports apples from all over the world. I often eat apples from Chile. Should oil go sky high due to QE2,3,4,5....I expect to see orchards replanted in Virginia.
Hi,
We have been following this food (manipulation) crisis since 2006. Food can be grown on a short & mid term basis but the objective is to create a political-economic crisis. Orchards take a while to grow...peaches in about 5 years, olives around 25. Back in 2008, the coordinator of our group, told me of a dream she had about a white dust falling on orange trees. Later on we found it was chemtrail spraying.
The article is correct, not bogus. For some reason prices have not gone really high as we were expecting, in spite of the thousands and thousands of hectares of corn not planted and all the 'coincidental' crop failures. A few weeks ago I asked my man in the supermarket about the upcoming surge in food prices: his face was conveying very bad news. This guy is from Cuba (Granma) and emigrated after the Russians stopped subsidizing Cuba's agriculture. He told me people there ended keeping their pigs inside their homes to avoid being stolen.
This is going to hit in the first quarter of 2011, not 2010 like we were expecting.
Prepare yourselves.
never mind
If the banksters own all the food and the public can't afford it, enter the BREAD LINE.
The game is all about control - of you, by the banksters. Yes there was even a story about the power of food in the Bible......... Egypt owned a lot more wealth after the 7 year famine because they had saved food during the 7 years of overabundance. They didn't blow their wealth on McMansions and Granite countertops, SUVs or plastic surgury, they stored it safely.
Trading is all about anticipating scarcity and buying it on the cheap. :) Natural gas is still one of the most unloved commodities, usable in many forms, clean burning, and able to provide power plants and automobiles with an alternative to crude oil based stocks.
First things first, we need to stop using stand-in words. Inexact words are not our friends. It is not the bankers who are destroying our country. My personal banker is a swell Hispanic-Catholic fellow who earns 40k year. It is a small, greedy group.. Somebody help me out here.. Who are they?
We can not change what we don't allow ourselves to describe.
Bankster = professional manipulator, liar, owner of propaganda outlets, buyer of politicians, funder of both parties in wars / conflicts, etc. Typically wall street types, long (inter-generational) history of participation in legislation / lobbying, tied to the central banking system around the world. Admittedly it is a slang, derogatory term deserving of any banker who is also a criminal, so well connected to be above the law.
Banker = lower on the food chain, not in the controlling class. Small regional banks (which are not too big to let fail), credit unions, etc.
that's not a banker, that's a mgt trainee or a teller
you only talk to real bankers if you millions you want to put at risk
so please, stop the class warefare dialectic
What's Scum? Politicians, Bankers, Cattlekings...Scum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wH28Hg5eX0
@ 0:33
Online Food Stamps
http://foodstampsnow.org/?OVADID=6010797590&OVKEY=people%20on%20food%20stamps&SRCE=GOOGLE
Historically, apparently Joseph basically enslaved the Empire through this famine. Read the biblical account. He and the Pharoah knew of the coming famine, so they instituted a 20% tax.
When the people started starving and ran out of money, the Bible says they came to Joseph begging for food and so he gave it to them in exchange for their cattle and horses. When they ran out of the grain (taxed out of their own hands by him), he traded them more of their own grain back in exchange for their lands and their bodies.
Joseph's family, i.e., the jews, were spared from this. He ensured his tribe had abundance. After the famine was over, Pharoah and Joseph and his tribe owned the ENTIRE realm of Egypt and every single person outside of the priesthood or jews was a SERF. The best part of it was that they managed this by taxing the people and then selling their own grain back to them at insane markups.
This is inflation/deflation, the original banker racket. It really does go back fucking 5000 years with this tribe.
Eventually, the jews, who were protected from the famine by their Patron, multiplied and became so rich and powerful and numerous that interethnic strife occurred and eventually the egyptian people rose up and threw off the economic oppression under a new tyrant. The jews were then enslaved until the time of Moses.
You can read all about this shit in Genesis 47. What should stand out are the parallels between ancient and modern history. The oneline response from jewish historians is that it's all just "antisemitism" rearing its ugly head yet again.
And it continued.. We've had a few respites from the Jewish banking system. The greenbacks in America, Hitler's incredibly/amazingly/unbelievably successful monetary system during the Nazi years.. But few examples.
Libertarians think they can opt out of the system by buying gold. They think they protect themselves from the system with a metal.. Oh my, what a good bunch of poop. Why? Because Voldermort owns most of the gold. Voldermort's banks manipulate the gold market. In opting out of one system your just opting into a different form of exploitation.
It's shocking. History ain't over. It hasn't even changed much.
Libertarians think they can opt out of the system by buying gold. They think they protect themselves from the system with a metal.. Oh my, what a good bunch of poop. Why? Because Voldermort owns most of the gold. Voldermort's banks manipulate the gold market. In opting out of one system your just opting into a different form of exploitation.
Do you have any figures to back that up? I'll just go ahead and post this for the fourth time:
World gold holdings (2008) (Source: World Gold Council[18]) Holding Percentage Jewelry 52% Central banks 18% Investment (bars, coins) 16% Industrial 12% Unaccounted 2%http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve
crockett, with all due respect, it might be wise to at least question as to whether that 'unaccounted' category is really only 2%. this is not to bash the argument for holding it, only to say that we can't take anything for granted at this point.
The numbers come from the World Gold Council, not what I consider to be the most trusted organization. However, I invite others to post figures and citations as available.
My concern is mainly with the incorrect and often repeated assumption that the bankers own all the gold. That misconception leads folks to believe that a return to sound money is either impossible or it is a scam. Don't fall for the neighing of the naysayers.
What I see in the WGC numbers is that a plurality of gold is probably hanging around the necks of Indian brides. Proceeding from that point would make for an interesting discussion which would be more worthwhile than the false lament that the bankers own all the gold.
agreed, crockett. hence maharajabama's great adventure to attach u.s. to the hip going forward to counter the china/russia grand alliance?
fwiw, i wasn't implying that it was the bankers that hold all the gold or even that amorphous 'unaccounted' figure. i'm willing to argue that the only thing the 'bankers' really "own" at this point is information. and that information has been/is/will be strategically disseminated to further their best interests at the appropriate time in the fashion of a mass mindfuck.
+1 'unaccounted' category is really only 2%.
svend
Hitler's rise was floated through a huge output gap in the German economy. Once he started invading neighboring countries, he financed through plunder, just like every other invader.
Certainly, for America, it would be far cheaper to move all the Israeli people to some other place on the planet and stop financing Middle East security and wars.
Hey Trav,
Is that straight up bigotry/anti-semitism or just really bad sarcasm? Either way, just want to know whether or not to put ya on my permanent 'ignore' list.
WTF, dude...I'm quoting from the goddamned BIBLE, written by a jew!
I described exactly what happened from the jews' text itself and you call me a BIGOT?
Let go of your conditioning, dude. I know, it's hard to...anytime anyone details a set of facts that portray any nonwhite, especially a jew, in a bad light, your conditioning rears up and starts emotionalizing and the accusation of racism and whatever comes out of your mouth.
As an aside, I really honestly don't give a fuck if you put me on ignore or if anyone thinks I'm racist. I don't care. That epithet long ago lost any real meaning to me. When I see people applaud that 90% black support of a black candidate BECAUSE he is black is progress, it is utterly SILLY to worry about anyone saying ANYTHING to me about racism.
I used to be like you, hell we back in high school used to nearly come to blows over being accused of being racist. Then I went to NYC and I woke the fuck up after seeing things with my own eyes, the double standards, the nepotism, the clan mentality among every other group, the ostracism by ethnic minorities of other minorities who "broke ranks" and the rampant exclusionary mentality where color was always stronger than friendship.
There was no sarcasm whatsoever in my previous post. I cited to you from Genesis 47. Do you need a goddamned link?
have you read the Magna Carta recently?
Just heard a debate about those provisions.
trav7777,
The "Jews" descended from Judah, not Joseph...Judah sold Joseph to the Egyptians, remember? The Jew sold his own brother to the Egyptians.
Both Judah and Joseph are Israelites, as are the rest of the 12 (13) tribes, but only Judah is the father of the Jews.
Joseph held the birthright, he was an Israelite, but NOT Jewish.
And where are all these Israelites that are not Jewish???
Follow that trail and you are on the right track to the true oligarchs.
The Zionist nationalist myth of enforced exile as exposed by Prof. Schlomo Sand is a key piece in this puzzle:
Israel deliberately forgets its history. An Israeli historian suggests the diaspora was the consequence, not of the expulsion of the Hebrews from Palestine, but of proselytising across north Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East. by Schlomo Sand.http://mondediplo.com/2008/09/07israel
That's not what I mean. I'm talking about the Israelites who left hundreds of years before the Jewish religion started.
Holy sweet little eight pound baby Jesus...is this what ZH brings out on the weekends? Are the true oligarchs the ones controlling the weather and seeding the earth with intelligent nanoparticles, or am I unfairly lumping you with a different fringe group entirely?
Biosi
Good Question. Seems Divide and Conquer still reigns.
If memory serves me, Its been a while since the whole "the jews are to blame" thing has been in bloom. If you want to blame the "Jews" go ahead, just be a little more specific.
full disclosure: I am a Jew.
so can we just fast forward to the part where you call us all Nazis?
+1
"If you want to know who your rulers are, ask who cannot be criticized."
@chopper
I'm not sure how that applies to what I'm saying, but I get your point. fwiw - no one is above reproach in my book. But lay blame where it duly lies.
my comment is geared towards the fact that American Foreign Policy can often be explained by what benefits Israel. I do not believe this is a coincidence, but rather a result of Jewish culture deep within the highest echelons of our ruling elite. I believe America's large Christian population often acts as the useful idiots in support of Israel because Jesus was a Jew.
America did best when it was an isolationist country as it related to foreign wars. I believe the creation of the State of Israel was an imperialist endeavor, and occurred at the expense of the prior inhabitants of this land who toiled there for the most recent 3,000 years.
It is not a good thing for America to be defending a land grab with our lives and money simply because ancient scrolls suggest that a presupposed god made a promise for this land to it's favorite people.
often this viewpoint is viewed as racist towards Jews. Of course, i know that we (everyone on the planet) are all cousins within 30,000 years. Each of us is an individual, and religious and ethnic labels only divide us.
I'm on the side of liberty, property rights, and protecting the individual from both mob rules or jungle law. I despise group agendas over efforts to protect the rights of each person and what is rightfully their own.
I started to see the light when I found out about people being imprisoned for denying the 'holocaust'.
Who cares what others think?
Evidently the Zionists care.
I am Sephardim and I approve this message.
Zionist? Wrong agenda, GL. I'm just your average Jew looking to get along in this world. And here's one for you - I'm a religious/political atheist. I AM proud of MY Jewish heritage/experience, however. Think about that statement for a moment.
btw, are you of any religious faith, GL? And what is your racial profile, if you don't mind me asking?
I am not accusing you of being Zionist, Idiot.
Most Jew-ish are atheists. My university in NY was 20% Jew-ish.
I am a Sephardim/Hebrew-Celt, a disciple of Yahushua ha Mashiach, a true son of Ya'akov and do not belong to any organized religion.
Like Isaiyah prophesized, I was raised in an island and lost trace of my lineage. If you want to know about heritage, Google radiation experiment + Sephardic children.
Sounds like I misread your post, GL. If so, my sincere apology.
@chopper:
Wow! The scales have fallen from my eyes. I had no idea gay people were so powerful!
+1 hilarious!
"so can we just fast forward to the part where you call us all Nazis?"
Come on, trav, not my MO and you know it. Just asking the bashers around here to tighten up their game. I'm not disputing the fact that certain elements don't deserve blame.
If a commenter just wants to be a hater, well, they probably (guessing) hate blacks, hispanics, gays, etc., and don't do this site a service. Why you ask? Instant loss of credibility. Ignorance. Need I go on? Where do you stand, trav?
edited
I'll call you no such thing. Just trying to understand the mind of the ignorant. How is it that you can blame an entire race of people for theoretical crimes committed by individuals? Trav my friend, let me break this down for you in simple terms:
Some jews are 'banksters'. Some 'banksters' have theoretically destroyed the US financial system while benefitting their own self-interest. It does not follow that all bankers are jews and that all jews destroyed the US financial system! I can guarantee your ignorant ass that Village Idiot's Bubbie has nothing to do with the rescue of Goldman Sachs! You can quote the Bibble til your blue in the tush, it makes no difference.
How can you discriminate against a person based solely on their religious or cultural identity? What a disgace/hate speech.
@Client 9
You drove the point home much better than I could, thanks. Every time the rhetoric reaches a certain pitch, I'll step in with the same theme (same words!) and it always ends up the same way - the crowd disperses...and the big fade. "They" can't counter or even rationalize the rebuttal when it comes at them this way. Give it a rest, people.
edited
actually, i believe the fear is that the discrimination is the other way around from Jews towards non-Jews, similar to Muslims discriminating against 'infidels'.
Trav
While I can agree with a lot of your argument, I for one, judge a man by his actions not his ethnicity or religion.
Cause and effect not, correlation and effect. Some of the most ruthless, filthy rich in history were not of the Jewish persuasion.
Full disclosure: Not a Jew, born into Christianity, believe in most Christian principles, do not believe in magic.
As I have stated before Religion is to control through fear of the unknown. IMO.
Personally, I don't think travis gives a shit what lies beyond his agenda. Smart dude, mixed message at best. Organizer of ignorance at worst.
most folks need a label in order to have an identity because thinking is too hard. However, for those who do accept a label, this psychological phenomena often causes them to dehumanize those outside of their group. Dehumanization is the prerequisite for genocide. Folks in power who take their chosen or assigned labels too seriously become dangerous to others at the expense of individual liberty.
'Frothy-mouthed Christians', 'self-absorbed Jews', 'wild-eyed Muslims', for example, can all get carried away from time to time, and its up to us to keep these folks in check, particularly if we share the same cultural background with them.
being from a Midwestern American Protestant upbringing, i'm forced to give the 'frothy-mouthed Christians' the proverbial slapdown routinely. Last time they were fully in charge we had Crusades, Inquisitions, and witch hunts. My friends of Muslim and Jewish upbringing do the same within their communal tribes.
i get an erie feeling that if the extreme elements of the 'self-absobed Jews' was ever fully in charge that 'frothy-mouthed Christians' would be marching off to Middle Eastern countries to murder 'wild-eyed Muslims' in order to fulfill an ancient real estate promise from a presupposed god.
i'm sure that one of these days we'll all pray to the exact same imaginary friend and then figure out another reason to kill each other (read: Northern Ireland on a global scale).
p.s. where are all of the Hindu extremists?
moved
Yes, in Egypt they did store the Grain in case of a Drought. When the 7 year Drought came the People sold their Sheep, their Cattle, their Herds to the Pharaoh in exchange for grain. When they ran out of Grain they sold their Lands to the Pharaoh in exchange for Grain. When they ran out of Grain they sold their future labor to the Pharaoh for Grain and became Slaves of the Pharaoh.
Tyler, I applaud you for talking about this demographic. The world of finance doesn't concern itself with them very much. But, these are the people who suffer the most acutely from poor economic policy decisions. I would like to see more posts like this. Besides, if America ever shakes up the ruling elites, these people are going to be the mob in the streets.
Agreed, this will be the lost story until it is front and center. The world of finance will be concerned. Their skillset insures it.
+1
This is a serious issue: Inflation is a tax on the poor.
These financial events are to explicitly rape the middle class, and especially the poor. Yes, this is including, and especially, the ones that don't even pay taxes.
Quite literally, there isn't enough money in the middle class. Jacking up inflation is *exactly* how we extract cash from the 49% in the US that pay no taxes.
<insert moral judgement here>
But - how does inflation affect massive consumer debt? It helps, doesn't it?
Marginally and only if two things happen:
1. Your salary is inflated along other prices.
2. You are smart enough to use your inflating income (and rise in asset prices) to deleverage debt.
Otherwise you suck it. When gasoline costs $5 a gallon is hard to get rid of your visa bill.
Inflation hurts creditors and fixed income.
I would speculate that the rich always got MUCH richer in times of low inflation. That's one reason, these basics, that I never totally bought into the inflation = always bad meme. still testing the theory.
That's true, but only to the extent you're being repaid with "depreciated dollars". Since banks have no reserve requirements, *technically* their old loan for 5% can "kind of" be perceived as a "loss" when inflation is 15%. For example, that would imply a 10% amortized loss, if marked-to-market, under the assumption that the capital could otherwise have been deployed elsewhere (e.g., "opportunity cost").
That's mostly true for you-and-me: As debtors, we have an "old" mortgage, so we benefit from lower-than-expected future liabilities by repaying our loans with a depreciated currency.
However, that's not really true for the banks: It will still be a 5% amortized "profit" (they technically didn't "lose" anything), they printed the money to extend the loan so it didn't "cost" anything, and there was no "opportunity cost" because they made every loan that crossed their doorstep (i.e., they didn't "skip" some other loan because they made this loan at 5%).
For the most part, the "rich" are not sensitive to inflation: They merely pass the costs on to you. That's true for all businesses too. Rather, the businesses might suffer under the scenario that they have fewer customers (e.g., due to economic climate).
The reason the "rich" are not sensitive to inflation is that they have "the means of production" (e.g., non-cash assets). If you're a landlord, and inflation is high, no problem, just raise the rent. If you're a small business owner that makes sandwiches, and inflation is high, no problem, just raise the prices of your sandwiches.
It's irritating to re-price your product daily, but that's what businesses can/will do. They pass the inflation on to the consumer.
It is only the "static/friction" costs that would force businesses to "eat" inflation: They signed contracts to provide for a given price, and now that their input costs are up, they are screwed until they can get out of those delivery contracts that assumed a lower rate of inflation (which is why the price of cereal should have gone up a year ago, but is only starting to go up now).
If you're a business owner making sandwiches, it might be bad that your customers can no longer afford to buy your sandwiches. However, as a business owner, you won't suffer inflation: You'll merely raise the price of your sandwiches a couple times a week (or at some rate to match inflation).
This is *also* why inflation is a tax "on the poor": They have no pricing pressure. They can't demand higher wages (e.g., wages are "sticky"), and they have nothing they are able to "re-price" since they don't own apartments to rent out, and they don't make sandwiches that they can re-price with inflation.
Finally, because the "poor" get hammered during high inflation (remember the 1970's?), the price of assets drop because the poor cannot afford them, and the "rich" buy all the assets (because nobody else can afford them).
WARNING: Don't read that wrong. It's not a class warfare problem (e.g., it is NOT true that, "the evil rich are screwing the poor.") Rather, you should merely read that as, "Inflation is a weapon that dis-proportionately penalizes the poor", and yes, we probably agree that inflation is a tool that is currently being intentionally deployed by the Central Planners.
Excellent Mikla! Excellent!
Good post, thanks for the response. Lots to chew on. I still have the suspicion that high inflation is such a uncertain environment, it can't help the ultra-rich get much richer - as they are now (and through the 00's of low inflation and easy money). At the end of the day, if you're a debtor with a mortgage, and you still have your job, you're in better shape on that particular loan - you've been advantaged vis-a-vis inflation. Now, whether that hurts the bank or other creditor, I'll leave to you. A peek a bank charts in inflationary times might help guide. I understand what you're saying about the bank's cost shifting and opportunity cost, but I'm thinking in terms of the bank's shareholders (general creditor, capital class) versus the upwardly-mobile, employed debtor.
Do you think that debtor gets the advantage through inflation? That's usually the strongest political class - that group. Ironically, today, it might be the retired, fixed income for which inflation could cause a NEW government remedy and whole new debt problem for the country.
If you are a "renter", then you are absolutely *screwed*. Gas is $5/gal, and your rent keeps going up. Your Visa bill doesn't matter -- you're more "paycheck-to-paycheck" now than you have *ever* been.
That's *also* true for "homeowners-with-a-mortgage" -- they are *more* paycheck-to-paycheck now than they have *ever* been (because the cost of everything in their life is "up"). However, if they can "hold on" long enough for inflation to be reflected in *wages*, then yes, they don't have the problem of increasing rent. Unless they have a variable-rate-mortgage. Then they are *TOTALLY* screwed.
However, if you're in the 30%-40% of the homeowners-underwater-with-mortgages, AND you have a fixed-rate-mortgage, we're talking YEARS maybe DECADES before you break even. So, if it's inevitable that you default (because you can't break-even), then no, inflation does *nothing* in your favor.
No matter how you slice it, you're *screwed*. However, I *will* concede that there is *one* scenario with "mitigating circumstance" where the costs of inflation can be partially "offset": If you have a *fixed rate* mortgage, *and* you don't "walk away", then you can benefit somewhat. However, you probably don't "come out ahead". Rather, it depends on how much food-and-gas you buy, compared to how much the dollar depreciates, as reflected in your wages, to offset your mortgage payment (and these are exponential computations, so they often are not intuitive).
well, that last group that inflation usually does help was once the voter majority group: Fixed rate mortgage, inflation reflected in wages.
Granted, we have no idea that will happen tomorrow. For example, I'm 30-year fixed, not underwater. REFI'd lower.
By pure theory, the Fed's actions at holding interest artificially low and perhaps generating inflation would assist that group, even if you were underwater but intended on staying, it would certainly help to have the refi window, lock low and fixed, then have your wages inflate for the next five years. right? I suppose that's their dream scenario that stabilizes and increases real estate values as well.
I'm not saying i buy it or don't see more harm in the unintended consequences, just trying to visualize their perspective. You could make the argument that the Fed is attempting to assist the biggest voting/political class, employed debtors at the expense of the lowest 20% and the highest 5%. I won't get carried away with the top 5%. But, the top 5% definitely lose interest on easy and safe investments, like money markets. Now, I have to really THINK about what I'm going to do with money. It was never this hard to get a yield. That's a squeeze and the FED is not helping that class with an easy investment, but pushing them into a risk -equities. The top .5% is always served so i won't spend much time there. They're huge gainers from the 08 bailout.
But - is the '10 QE2 bailout aimed lower, at a different constituency, and hence all the anti-fed talk from the .5% the last week? They loved the Fed in 08.
IMHO, the "consumer", and even the "homeowner-with-a-mortgage" is absolutely irrelevant. They are so far in the "noise" that I don't think they register at all. Even if money-printing/inflation were to help them, the numbers are so insignificant that IMHO nobody cares (it would do absolutely nothing to change the structure or address the issues in the economy).
Rather, IMHO, it's pretty simple:
That's it. Nothing else matters.
IMHO, all the "squealing" you hear from the pundits (and yes, the big institutions too), is wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth because they are finally realizing that "The End Is Nigh". They don't like that, they want to whine about that, but it's mostly irrelevant. Before "big gestures" like this Fed action, people could pretend the "emperor had clothes". After actions like this from the Fed, they can't (because they would look like idiots if they did).
IMHO, they were morons not to see it miles away (that was their job). Even today, people are pretending this will "work out". LMAO.
thx. good answers.
Do you think buying the treasuries is better for Fed's sharholders (banks) or expanding their balance sheet by other emergency means, like buying more toxic assets off the banks books? I completely agree the 08 bailout was exclusively for the banks and the criminals. It was the crime of the century. 10T plus on the line. While I agree liquidity and some intervention was needed, Paulson's methods was a RICO and TARP was a distraction, IMHO. I'm not sure how Lehman fits this logic, but I'm discounting crime with human error and politics. I also believe it was unconstitutional for the FRBNY to purchase the Freedom CLO from Lehman in the Spring of 08, so it's not like special investors inside Lehman weren't rescued, some were. But - I digress.
I suppose I'm exploring whether QE2 is different in motives than the 08 bailout. You're saying we default now without QE2, instead of lending at higher interest rates and just dealing, which will probably lead to default by other means. Wouldn't the absence of QE2 lead to the certainty that banks and creditor class end up with even a higher ratio of assets v. the common man? In deflation, isn't cash and assets king and default of all but banks certain?
I agree with almost every comment of yours ever except for one critical point:
(e.g., it is NOT true that, "the evil rich are screwing the poor.")
They are genocidal against "the poor". I mean the banksters who shape the culture, prey on society's prejudices for enacting policies that bring them political, economic, and genocidal profit. If you don't know this, it is because they have even managed to pull the wool over your formidable intelligence as well.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/184QQFdCAHRkFfqR1XeLc3sZXhdHuIxllYgLU...
If you actually read the documentation, listen to the testimonies and put the whole thing together, you will see that I am correct.
It might be a "definition of terms" problem.
We probably agree that socio-paths and psycho-paths *do* drive these central planning decisions, and yes, it so-happens that those people are almost universally "rich". It was, "for the greater good" that collectivist governments murder millions of their own people (an annoyingly recurring pattern), and those government officials were, in fact, "the evil rich". So, on that front, we agree.
However, if the little-old-lady next door won the "lotto" and is rich now, no, her bank balance doesn't make her genocidal. Similarly, if a widower is "rich" from a departed partner, or a teenager inherited piles of cash, that doesn't make them genocidal either.
Of course, with enough ambition, they could probably all *become* genocidal. ;-))
The apartment owner can raise rents all he wants, but if nobody can afford his rent he has a problem. The sandwich maker can raise prices all he wants, but if people stop buying his sandwiches, he has a problem.
Mikla
Thanks for bringing us back on point.
I agree with the bulk of your argument except that small business has a difficult time simply passing on increased (inflated) costs. The more competitive the market place the harder it is to pass on price increases.
And ultimately, you have a time lag where you eat into your (shrinking) liquidity while you watch how your competition reacts to inflation.
Only monopolies and cartels can pass on increased costs smoothly.
I *completely* agree with you: Because of economic decline, and because inflation ensures *more* people are living paycheck-to-paycheck, you'll lose a lot of customers that simply cannot afford what you sell. That's economic decline. Yes, it's triggered/amplified by inflation. However, inflation *itself* won't hurt businesses -- rather businesses will be hurt by the economic decline (i.e., the customers are now broke).
I attempted to assert that with this quote (from above):
So, I think we agree (maybe with some minor definition-of-terms problems). In short, businesses will be "worse off" under inflation because of economic decline (but they will pass the inflation on to their customers, other than for friction costs to repricing, which we agree *does* actually *hurt* businesses).
We pretty much agree there.
Of course, any "Mom&Pop" business with very low debt service (e.g., if they own the building and all their equipment) will be better able to weather the bad economy that will persist for a *long* time. In that respect, national chains will be disproportionately "hurt" (franchises typically manage high debt due to expansion pressures), while the immigrants running a family restaurant serving exotic cuisine are more likely to be "smarter" about that.
In that respect, long periods of economic decline will *wipe out* national franchises, but "Mom&Pop" eggs-flippers will appear out-of-nowhere.
Deflation kills creditors. Inflation helps creditors. Its that simple. Lord knows we don't want to kill creditors. <sarcasm off>
You got it backwards, huh.
Deflation kills debtors. You're paying the same principal in dollars earning less dollars.
Inflation helps debtors. If you owe 100,000 at 6%, five years of inflation can wipe 30% of the principal off.
Yep - you got it.
but only if:
Your income is above inflation. A 5% pay raise on 6% real inflation environment makes any savings on your debt a wash.
or
You own assets that keep up with inflation (eg. metals), and are able to sell the assets at the new inflated price in order to pay your debts.
Agreed. These fascist banksters are always going on and on about overpopulation, impose policies which end up in genocide and ethnic cleansing and then act all concerned about human rights and democracy around the world.
Out freaking rageous.
I agree too - however, when that socioeconomic class comes to your neighbourhood and eats your family then I suspect your attitudes will change.
Guns, fools gold (to hand out to the Army when they come to confiscate your stash), grub....................
beechez
But I do agree this inflation thing could be problematic for the large portion of the population who have no idea what inflation is.
adding my "voice" to Tiberius - and others - it is important to acknowledge that the people at the lower reaches of the "economy" will continue to suffer as this all ramps up - the chart showing how heating & food sucks up so much of people's after tax income doesn't even take into account housing payments - lower income people tend to pay between 30-50% of their after tax wages on rent (high mortgage payments passed on to the renter). . . many people are having to move in with family - kids back to parents, older parents in with their adult offspring, etc.
it would be a good balance to start looking at the real effects of this financial destruction from the ground up. . .
Now combine that with cutting off unemployment benefits starting December 1. January is going to be a very dreary month for millions of people.
Let them eat cake!
= Bennie Antionette Bernanke
Give it a rest ... The article in Bloomberg yesterday went something like "This will be a slow holiday retail season because people's unemployment benefits are running out," which leads one to the conclusion that while it might be more difficult to buy that new iPhone, it is highly unlikely that a lot of people are going to be going hungry for the winter. And given the size of most of the poor I saw on my last visit to a local mall in the dodgy part of town, more than a few could use a leaner winter.
You don't really have much idea about these people, do you?
Yeah, I get it ... they can't do anything for themselves in this tough environment? So when will it ever change, especially if we simply keep feeding them with no corresponding effort on their side? As the burden to productive society continues to grow, we run a greater risk that civil society will break down. Two things will come from this, the worst of which is that the unproductive poor will be seen as both a threat and a burden to be dealt with [harshly].
We haven't done anyone a favor if we let things deteriorate to that point.
No problem. Just double the digits dropped on the SNAP cards to keep pace with the price increases.
RE
why? when we can create payday food stamp loans and charge them 25% interest on their handouts?? plus fees
Interest and fees are only earned on the amounts that are recovered. My guess is that there is a large charge off factor that you fail to recognize. Of course, the feds could pass a law making loans illegal. That would be a great way to protect people from themselves, now wouldn't it?
just saying that where there's lots of loose free money, there will always be a parasite nearby... anyone selling smokes and beer in egg & milk cartons yet?
What the Fed fails to realize is that NOBODY in the markets believes that in the unlikely event that they will have to raise rates and sell assets, that they will be willing and/or able to do it. THat is why the dollar and the long bond are getting killed and gold/commodities arare going higher. The Fed thinks they can do it, but they are the only ones.
Commodities sounded the alarm in early 2008, right before the banking system collapsed. Could it happen again? The charts seem to think so....
http://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?t=ZS&p=w1