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19 Reasons To Be Deeply Concerned About The Global Economy

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

Is the global economic downturn going to accelerate as we roll into the second half of this year?  There is turmoil in the Middle East, we are seeing things happen in the bond markets that we have not seen happen in more than 30 years, and much of Europe has already plunged into a full-blown economic depression.  Sadly, most Americans will never understand what is happening until financial disaster strikes them personally.  As long as they can go to work during the day and eat frozen pizza and watch reality television at night, most of them will consider everything to be just fine. 

Unfortunately, the truth is that everything is not fine.  The world is becoming increasingly unstable, we are living in the terminal phase of the greatest debt bubble in the history of the planet and the global financial system is even more vulnerable than it was back in 2008.  Unfortunately, most people seem to only have a 48 hour attention span at best these days.  They don't have the patience to watch long-term trends develop.  And the coming economic collapse is not going to happen all at once.  Rather, it is like watching a very, very slow-motion train wreck happen. 

The coming economic nightmare is going to unfold over a number of years.  Yes, there will be moments of great panic, but mostly it will be a steady decline into economic oblivion.  And there are a lot of indications that the second half of this year is not going to be as good as the first half was.  

The following are 19 reasons to be deeply concerned about the global economy as we head into the second half of 2013...

#1 The velocity of money in the United States has plunged to an all-time low.  It is extremely difficult to have an "economic recovery" if banks are not lending money and people are not spending it...

Velocity Of Money

#2 The fall of the Egyptian government threatens to bring even more instability to the Middle East.  In response to the events in Egypt, the price of oil rose to more than 101 dollars a barrel on Wednesday.

#3 Every time the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has risen over $3.80 in the past three years, a stock market decline has always followed.

#4 As the world becomes increasingly unstable, massive citizen protest movements have been rising all over the globe...

The protests have many different origins. In Brazil people rose up against bus fares, in Turkey against a building project. Indonesians have rejected higher fuel prices, Bulgarians the government’s cronyism.

 

In the euro zone they march against austerity, and the Arab spring has become a perma-protest against pretty much everything. Each angry demonstration is angry in its own way.

#5 The European sovereign debt crisis is flaring up once again.  This time it is Portugal's turn to take center stage...

From Greece to Cyprus, Slovenia to Spain and Italy, and now most pressingly Portugal, where the finance and foreign ministers resigned in the space of two days, a host of problems is stirring after 10 months of relative calm imposed by the European Central Bank.

 

Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho told the nation in an address late on Tuesday that he did not accept the foreign minister's resignation and would try to go on governing.

 

If his government does end up collapsing, as is now more likely, it will raise immediate questions about Lisbon's ability to meet the terms of the 78-billion-euro bailout it agreed with the EU and International Monetary Fund in 2011.

#6 It is being projected that Italy will need a major EU bailout within six months.

#7 Bond investors are starting to panic.  In fact, even prominent firms such as Pimco are seeing investors pull massive amounts of money out right now...

In June, investors pulled $9.6bn from Bill Gross’s flagship fund at Pimco, the largest single month of outflows at the fund since Morningstar records began in 1993, the investment research firm said.

The outflows came after investors pulled $1.3bn from the fund in May, which marked the first outflows since December 2011.

Overall, a whopping 80 billion dollars was pulled out of bond funds during June.

#8 Central banks are selling off staggering amounts of U.S. Treasury bonds right now.

#9 U.S. mortgage bonds just suffered their largest quarterly decline in nearly 20 years.

#10 We continue to buy far more from the rest of the world than they buy from us.  The U.S. trade deficit for the month of May was 45.0 billion dollars.

#11 The severe drought that the western half of the United States is suffering never seems to end.  What will it do to food prices if ranchers and farmers out west have to go through another summer like they did last year?

#12 European car sales have fallen to a 20 year low.

#13 Unemployment in the eurozone is at an all-time high.

#14 Could the paper gold Ponzi scheme be on the verge of crumbling?  There are reports that there is now a 100 day delay for gold owners to take physical delivery of their gold from some warehouses owned by the London Metal Exchange...

We’re told that bullion-buyers in London must now wait more than 100 days to take delivery of the bullion for which they have already paid.

 

The comedic drones at Bloomberg, and officials of the London Metal Exchange itself would have us believe this is due to “warehouse queues.” While precious metals bulls undoubtedly appreciate the imagery implied of a 100-day line-up of armored cars waiting to load their bullion – in the middle of this “bear market” – the implication is fallacious.

 

In an era of just-in-time inventories; the notion that there can be a 100-day backlog to load bullion into armored cars with the metal already sitting in the warehouse is ludicrous. Clearly what the LME is really reporting here is a greater-than-three-month delay to refine the gold (or silver) being purchased here – and then ship it to their warehouse.

 

In other words, the “bullion” which traders believe they are purchasing today is in fact merely ore which hasn’t even been dug out of the ground yet.

#15 The number of mortgage applications in the United States is falling at the fastest rate in more than 3 years.

#16 Real disposable income in the United States is falling at the fastest rate in more than 4 years.

#17 The percentage of companies issuing negative earnings guidance for this quarter is at a level that we have never seen before.

#18 Is the dark side of derivatives trading about to be exposed?  EU officials claim that 13 major international banks have been colluding to control the trading of derivatives...

The European Commission says many of the world's largest investment banks appear to have colluded to block attempts by exchanges to trade and offer more transparent prices for financial products known as credit derivatives.

 

The commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said Monday it has informed 13 banks — including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley — as well as the industry association for derivatives itself, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, ISDA, of the preliminary conclusions of an investigation that began in March.

#19 There are 441 trillion dollars of interest rate derivatives sitting out there and interest rates have risen rapidly over the past few weeks.  What is going to happen to those derivatives if interest rates keep going higher?

 

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Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:44 | 3724926 sudzee
sudzee's picture

Half win half loose = net 0, or so we have been told.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:54 | 3725128 jimmytorpedo
jimmytorpedo's picture

Loose=not tight

Loose is NOT the opposite of win for fucks sake.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 14:17 | 3726591 Seer
Seer's picture

Well, it could be if one loses if something gets loose, as would happen with a bad net (holes)...

Always reminds me of one of my favorite movie lines- from White Men Can't Jump, Gloria Clemente (Rosie Perez):

“Sometimes when you win, you actually lose and sometimes when you lose, you actually win. And sometimes when you win and lose, you actually tie.”

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:49 | 3729686 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

Depends what kind of lady yer lookin' for.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 00:05 | 3725804 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

half smart

half dumb

halfwits we have

become

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:17 | 3726087 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

half right!

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 20:40 | 3725402 NickVegas
NickVegas's picture

This is the shit. This is why I read the hedge.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:15 | 3724846 kito
kito's picture

and there is evidence that aliens have been stalking us since roswell.......and the sunspots are growing stronger..............ocean levels are rising.......and so are yields.....and stocks........so what???? 

 

im jaded.............................

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:19 | 3724854 Al Huxley
Al Huxley's picture

The aliens are probably pissed about their ships being confiscated.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:48 | 3724938 kito
kito's picture

lol, might not be good to piss off aliens with advanced technology......but im sure everything is ok....i hear the NSA has been checking on them............

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:19 | 3725027 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

The aliens bought huge shares of EFT gold and silver. They are angry at having been cheated.

Being as they assumed human form and were not fully aware of earth customs, it is a reasonable mistake.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 00:03 | 3725801 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

The aliens are in charge Obama is a Grey. those can't be real ears, they must be stick ons. Hence the teleprompter - Terrestrial english is not his native tongue he cannot speak it without prompting.

Michelle, she is his voodoo mama keeping away the angry spirits and Joe Biden.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 10:05 | 3726215 CPL
CPL's picture

Other way around.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:47 | 3729679 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

Don't be absurd.

Eminent domain.

I'm sure they're very happy with the Treasuries they were told would be worth a solid 2% return.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:15 | 3725023 CPL
CPL's picture

Actually our sun is in a Solar Minimum right now and changing, nobody can agree into what though yet, some say it's shutting down others point to a white star (notice how everything seems a little bleached out).  Or it might have lost a couple of colours in the spectrum (happens).  There are observed suns that don't produce the spectrum that we call "green", others don't produce violet spectrum.

Plus the magnetic shield surrounding our planet has been failing and doing very, very weird things, like blowing away then taking forever to reform.  We've had solar activity in flares and sunspots, but not enough to help 'power up' the magnetosphere that surrounds us.  Our planet acts like a battery, absorbing that magnetic energy (electric) to keep the magnetosphere up and running.  

http://www.spaceweather.ca/auto_generated_products/stackplot_e.png

When it shuts down or blows away for a couple of minutes it lets in ALL the radiation and plasma quick fry anything not shielded.  The charts show when it starts to get worrisome, and it's worrisome.  It's somewhat limited to the arctic circle for now.  But with the Arctic circle moving (because our sun is changing), the 'arctic' might be california in five years.  Or it could be Mongolia.  

http://hpiers.obspm.fr/eop-pc/images/pole.png

Thing is nobody really knows, but in most likelihood it means problems in modern terms unless we figure out to leverage it.  All that free electicity from space.  Unlimited, clean, unhindered and put Tesla in the poor house for various reasons, not just the political/money/oil thing.  In the meanwhile, if someone says that they are planning on shipping over the arctic corridor, get life insurance.  A direct dose of the sun's radiation is infinitely more dangerous than Fukishima, or 50000 Fukishima's to an individual.  Best case is agressive cancer depending on a variety of factors.  So hold off on that trip to the Yukon or arctic circle.  

Of course the earth's magnetosphere collapsing probably doesn't help already rapidly melting ice caps and permafrost filling the atmosphere full of Methane and it's counterpart Hydrogen Sulfide gas.  The only nice thing about it is the sunsets should be spectacular as Methane gives the atmosphere a nice orangy/red glow.  Otherwise if you live on the coast line and not a couple hundred feet above sea level, it's basically a good time to sell.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:14 | 3725166 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

Not a problem...

~~~

kito will call up all his friends & they'll call their friends... & they'll round up all the giraffes, & kind natured hippos & rhinos, and walk them up onto a boat & float around for awhile...

It will all have sorted itself out in time for the Hamptons summer party season...

Note: Instead of saying "one each ~ of a male & female" [animal species] I elected to go with "all"... After all ~ I want to be sensitive to include all the potentially gay & lesbian hippos & such out there...

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 06:35 | 3726012 Tao 4 the Show
Tao 4 the Show's picture

Totally bizarro comments. Where do you get your information?

Actually we are nearing solar maximum in the 11 yr cycle, though it looks like we may be entering a grand minimum. Nobody knows for sure yet, but grand minimums may be associated with cooler weather.

Perhaps you need a good detox center?

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 07:00 | 3726017 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

I know you weren't talking to me about "solar maximums" & "minimum" cycles... But really ~ Who the fuck cares?... All it is is a bunch of horseshit that man is incapable of doing anything about anyway... All it does is lead to useless discussions... Loosely ~ Here's how it operates:

~~~

- You get a few 100 degree days & some people [somewhere's] crops burn up...

- Nobody talks about the crops somewhere else on the planet that have a bumper year [or the places where the weather is uncommonly beautiful]...

- Some politicians see the "negative" <above> as a way to spin some votes

- So they borrow to spend <your money> to hire a bunch of idiot scientists to doctor some data and produce the results they want as PROOF

- The scientists don't know what's going on anymore than a bears ass does, so they toss out shit like "solar maxes" & "minimums", & SUV's, & anything else they think might stick to the wall...

- skeptics, after time, debunk all the "man made" ideas [like SUV's], so the scientists are stuck with the "solar maxes" & "minimums" & shit as their last resort

- So the next thing you know, people are DEBATING on how to 'control' solar maxes & minimums ["yeah, see, if there weren't so many people driving SUV's on the surface of the sun, then the sunspot activity would be normal" & "if we send an Onobtanium ship down to the Earths core & fire off a few nukes, then the magnetosphere will patch itself back up"]...

Fucking Looney Tunes...

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 09:39 | 3726187 CPL
CPL's picture

Because we are finishing the Maximum (last year) and moving into a Minimum as you've mentioned.  Hence 'cycle', an 11 year cycle, well..sort of.

11 years ago though we didn't have the level of CO in the atmosphere to keep the temperature where it is.  Methane is powerful stuff as a greenhouse gas.  Either by design or accident, the global temperature drop is being slowed down by the CO explusion from the carbon sinks all over the place.  Since we are all bipedal earthlings and our understanding of complex systems is limited to complex salad bars and not complex science...at the moment.

We can only observe the current changes until someone gets a eureka moment and create a framework/foundation to help build models.  This is all 'new' to everyone and everything is theory, best anyone here can do is look at the observable effects with the limited information to form a clearer picture.  And of course argue in internet forums, lol.  Good science has a long history of shit flinging and tearing down arguments.  (e.g. Two most important tools in Architecture is an Eraser for the white board and A crowbar on the site)

Otherwise, it might be good to limit outdoor activity today in the arctic circle and wear lead aprons on one's junk and wear SPF 800.  UV levels will be high along with everything else.

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/rt_plots/GOEShp.gif

http://www.spaceweather.ca/auto_generated_products/stackplot_e.png

 

Want to see a magic trick?

http://solen.info/solar/images/charmap.jpg

See those sunspots?  By the time they are earth facing they'll have shrunk or disappeared like the last 100 or so.  With out those pops and flares our magnetosphere doesn't get charged up and the above links happen.

 

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:45 | 3729671 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

Hm. My reading of the charts is any distance away from 0 and staying away is good for us and seeing them all plunge (x,y,z) at once didn't happen.

So I'm not concerned about that.

We'd know if all the radiation got through. It would be more than a complaining matter.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:18 | 3724852 Al Huxley
Al Huxley's picture

By the way, the 100 days for delivery is the LME, not the LBMA, and it's talking about base metals not gold.  Although apparently when you buy gold (at least from the Comex) you NEVER get delivery (based on the way the inventory figures move in relation to the delivery notices) so compared to that, 100 days actually looks pretty fucking good.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:22 | 3724858 ShrNfr
ShrNfr's picture

I suppose we see what happens in the future, since that is what counts, but gasoline prices have been down during the past month: http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/?redirectto=http://fuelgaugereport.opisne...

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:24 | 3724863 Duke Dog
Duke Dog's picture

No. 19 is what few people realize will be a nuclear event - and the fuse is lit!

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:30 | 3724878 Al Huxley
Al Huxley's picture

I've been hearing that for years.  I'm starting to suspect that every fucking bank in the world has looked at that gigantic stack of 'disaster waiting to happen' and they've all collectively decided 'you know what, lets just fucking forget about those derivatives, lets just pretend they don't exist.  They're all OTC anyway, off balance-sheet, everybody knows ABOUT them, but nobody knows any details.  So lets all just agree to ignore them, take the trillions in free money from the CBs, buy up a bunch of stuff and live happily ever after - I mean, surely, if we're collectively gang-raping 99.99% of the population then we .01% can share the spoils equitably amongst ourselves can't we?  We don't have to play last man standing and risk all of us getting destroyed, do we?'

 

It's the only explanation....

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 05:55 | 3724976 KickIce
KickIce's picture

Yeah, they'll come out with a final, er new solution to save the world.  The people will bite and the liabilities will all disappear, never mind that these are the same people that created the problem.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 07:29 | 3726030 Incubus
Incubus's picture

They won the game, then.

 

Meanwhile, on the bottom...we're still pretending.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 11:35 | 3726328 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

We are the fuse waiting to ignite.

Spark anyone?

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:41 | 3729660 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

If deflation is desired can they use regulation, law or fraud to force the derivatives onto unwilling parties?

And I mean real loss of money supply (credit in our fiat system), so that giant negative trillions appear where they are least wanted at the most opportune time to put the King in check?

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:33 | 3724888 knicks3005
knicks3005's picture

The link to #8 is no longer found. 

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:29 | 3725221 MeelionDollerBogus
Sat, 07/06/2013 - 09:59 | 3726210 CPL
CPL's picture

That happens alot now.  If you are using linux, print to PDF and it'll dump a pdf'ed copy of the site into your user home directory.  If you are using windows or Apple, other than Adobe, there are hundreds of options which are much cheaper but do the trick (sometimes a little better).

Or screen capture it.  

Then share it everywhere.  If google doesn't want to cache it that's too bad for google.  MAKE google cache it.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 08:18 | 3727932 Brass farthing
Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:36 | 3724897 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

From #14:  "...While precious metals bulls undoubtedly appreciate the imagery implied of a 100-day line-up of armored cars waiting to load their bullion – in the middle of this 'bear market' – the implication is fallacious."

Fellatious too.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:56 | 3725780 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

Phallicashus as well. Someone's getting boned.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:46 | 3724919 q99x2
q99x2's picture

You forgot to mention my Art Appreciation essay that is due on artifacts from Mali. It is about a butterfly flapping its wings.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:46 | 3724931 eddiebe
eddiebe's picture

Is it just me? Is anyone else getting just totally sick and disgusted with always being on the verge of the shit hitting the fan, and then it just doesnt? Fucking unreal. 

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:54 | 3724962 knicks3005
knicks3005's picture

Look on the bright side: At least it gives us more time to prepare. 

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:28 | 3725047 CPL
CPL's picture

It's not a light switch.  

 

Think of it like glass marbles in zero gravity box.  Stacked and rowed, long and deep.

All the marbles are organised in rows, some are bigger, some are smaller.  Marbles, randomly and planned, are dropped on the neatly arranged marbles in rows.  Then like a curling stone, one taps another one, and then sets off a chain reaction in every direction where momentum and energy is given.  Eventually small bumps turn in many small bumps, the grid of marbles is starting to lose it's shape.

One more after another, and another, then eventually everything is zooming around taking chips out of one another until everything moving pounds everything else into sand.

It's a process.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:27 | 3725212 SIOP
SIOP's picture

eddiebe, +1 , I couldn't agree with you more. If I acted on all these The-End-Is-Near! stories I would be a LOT poorer. 

So do we simply ignore this stuff?  We cant because it is news, it is real, and it is really bad but at the same time the markets are manipulated and propped up, we all know that.

The only thing that I can do is act on things that I can control and that simply means having an exit strategy, exit meaning getting my money out of the market. Can I predict when to get out precisely? No, No one can, All I can do is pretend the market is like it used to be, invest in growing stocks and have trailing stop losses on all of them all the while riding this artificial propped up market up and hopefully make a little money.

(P.S. and before anyone screams at me at trailing stop losses not being a good preventative measure in a FAST falling market, I am fully aware of that but I have no other alternative other than not playing the game at all, and like I said, if I did that, I would be a LOT poorer now)

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 02:22 | 3725933 LongBallsShortBrains
LongBallsShortBrains's picture

If those stops are pretty loose, double them and reverse. Come play on the dark side.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:50 | 3724943 justamousesquared
justamousesquared's picture

Got food, got water, got a chance. Anyone watching with a brain has been able to see this coming for the last 3 years 

Anyone that gets caught out with their pants down holding their balls deserves it.

Fuck everyone that I have warned in the past and ignored the advice.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 20:40 | 3725400 imbrbing
imbrbing's picture

I up arrowed you 50 times, even though it wouldnt take, I still went through the process, just sayin :)

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 17:54 | 3724963 B2u
B2u's picture

Bernanke projectile vomited when he saw the 10 year bond today.  Some how much is the Fed down?

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:15 | 3725022 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

And shit himself as well.

Last week the 5-year was at 1.44 and today it is at 1.62. That is an over 11% up-change in a week or so.

A week! "And we have lift off."

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:53 | 3725125 CPL
CPL's picture

Can a percent be shown as a larger percentage change from a smaller number?  11% of a fraction.

 

Wait until it's over the 40% mark and the only number.  People will then have the option to decide to put the house on VISA, Mastercard or Bank of American mortgage brokers.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 10:13 | 3726222 moonstears
moonstears's picture

Please bear with me, if you CREATE money, YOU CREATE(see FED) money, at will(see TARP money sent to European banks, without Senate approval, as swaps) are you really shitting over 11% or 1100%???

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:09 | 3725009 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

Off-Topic:

NBCNews.com has been running this, "At least 6 dead as Morsi supporters protest," for a few hours. Isn't that like, "At least 4 dead as anti-war students protest at Kent State?" Way to dance around the military shooting at protesters.

And this, "Once painted as America's 'dictator' of Iraq, Bremer finds 'stress relief' in art," about the war and Constitutional criminal Paul Bremer. Well ain't that nice?! They even had photos of his paintings. They always start running this kind of shit when they begin a push to "rehabilitate" a scumbag's and criminal's reputation. Sorry Bremer, but you are still on my guillotine list.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:16 | 3725024 HaroldWang
HaroldWang's picture

Dude on CNBC just told me it's all clear to buy the SPX. So, I guess I'm all in. He should know, right?

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:20 | 3725029 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

Let's be serious the ONLY problem we have is MSM unwilling to speak the truth in so that we can unite and seek out the Solutions. End Of!

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:52 | 3725773 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

MSM isn't unwilling, its a paid organ of the state. It receives its marching orders from the oligarchy courtesy of the cia et al.

Read up on operation mocking bird and capital cities/abc/disney.

Disney was making movies for the CIA in the 1950's, same as it ever was. The liars control the lies.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 18:58 | 3725141 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

"What is going to happen to those derivatives if interest rates keep going higher?"

Well, ever seen the film, Trinity and Beyond?!

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:05 | 3725157 involuntarilybirthed
involuntarilybirthed's picture

There is a chance that the CBs will get this all wrong and it will work out for the best.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:48 | 3725772 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

Zat you MillionDollarBonus?

if pigs had wings they could fly

and if central bankers knew

anything about economic activity

they wouldn't be bankers.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 14:39 | 3726628 Seer
Seer's picture

Ever consider that it's more of an issue with the System than with the players?

These folks are at the helm of a crashing airplane.  They had the unfortunate luck of being in the right place at the right time to stick their hands on the controls, the controls of "perpetual growth on a finite planet."  Whether They or a any other select group of people had their hands strapped to the wheel would make for no discernible difference in the long-term.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:12 | 3725178 razorthin
razorthin's picture

Spiking yields and spiking oil are the surest harbingers of doom.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:30 | 3725230 thismarketisrigged
thismarketisrigged's picture

i just hope the next crisis in the u.s happens under obama, because if there ever was a jackass that is deserving of having total chaos under his watch, its our fucking asshole president, who only blames everyone else for his problem, vacations to the most expensive places on a consistent basis on our tax money ( yes all presidents vacation, but they r not always going to hawaii which is as far as u can go in the u.s, and yes bush went away a lot but to his ranch in texas, not fucking hawaii, africa, places that cost a fucking insane amount of tax money) and is fucking running this country into the ground.

 

so please let this big crash/crisis happen under obama, that would be great

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:46 | 3725769 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

Obama

Hope

Less

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:23 | 3726095 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Bush spent millions on posing in front of a banner off the coast of San Diego and wasted taxpayer money so he could make a show of landing on the deck (almost fucking it up and leaving us with President Dick) with his pretend-soldier codpiece on full display like the world's proudest little chickenhawk while trillions in American blood and treasure spilled in the sand.

I hope the next crisis comes to your front door, smacks you upside your pointed head, and breaks you out of the red-team/blue-team matrix so you can think for yourself for a change.

 

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:39 | 3725250 f16hoser
f16hoser's picture

I agree we're all Totally Fucked. I just hate reading the same thing over and over and over again. It's gonna happen when "they" decide to let it happen. Let's talk about something different like the weather. We may see 200 dollar Gold and 4.00 Silver before this is all said and written in the history books.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:32 | 3729643 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

We already got that covered at ZH.

The weather is a hoax.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:40 | 3725253 4 wheel drift
4 wheel drift's picture

-lol  i think i can use the exact same 19 reasons why to become a wine drinker, or increase one's daly intake if

one is a wino already....

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:45 | 3725267 Infnordz
Infnordz's picture

The financial markets should really be considered a fraud, with just a thin veneer of honest trade; most of it is frankly overdue for demolition.

See all the dirt that http://solari.com/blog/ have on the Banks, US markets, government finance programs (which they were persecuted for mapping),  the war on drugs, and the street run for drug money laundering interests, and there is no doubt that criminals are involved, and that's before you even get into the various leverage frauds like fractional reseverve debt, the utterly corrupt cesspits of US government finance, hypothenication, naked shorts, and synthetic derivatives!  It's even worse than the decline of ancient Rome!

I have PMs stored outside the financial system, because any fiat currency in the system when it finally collapses will become worthless.

 

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 14:44 | 3726639 Seer
Seer's picture

I like Fitts, but all of this isn't unique to the US.  Further, ALL can be directly traced to the notion of basing our existence upon "increasing economic output," which is really code for perpetual growth, which is just slightly more than problematic given we're on a finite planet...  Start questioning the PREMISE!

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 19:57 | 3725302 Robert of Ottawa
Robert of Ottawa's picture

OK This is a great scaremonger piece, but some of the items are really scarey!

Hoping to follow my notes as I read the items, here is the order of importance I give them:

1. Money velocity drop is really significant.

17. # of companies showing loss (negative earnings) is worrisome.

14. The paper gold ponzi scheme. The paper is used to fix the gold price for the average Joe; I think real marketers of gold know this.

8. Banks selling off the US dollar, but it doesn't drop. Something is seriously wrong with our data, or our theory

 

 

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 14:46 | 3726641 Seer
Seer's picture

Go with the fundamentals.  We canNOT have perpetual growth on a finite planet; knowing this one can pretty much weather the BS (and know which way the wind is really blowing).

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:29 | 3729629 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

"8. Banks selling off the US dollar, but it doesn't drop. Something is seriously wrong with our data, or our theory"

DXY is a horrible way to measure the dollar. The metric is biased in ways that don't reflect reality against the other currencies & there's no time-sensitive or commodity-sensitive metric in the equation.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 20:02 | 3725310 kw2012
kw2012's picture

19? That's it? 

 

You mentioned nothing about China!

What about closer to home? I could name half a dozen other things there.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 20:02 | 3725311 The Heart
The Heart's picture

What...only 19?

A question for the crew.:

Would it cost more to let the system go down and see a TOTAL house cleaning and new start, or cost more to let the spin flow to its imminent stop?

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:19 | 3725729 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

do you measure in treasure or blood? Define your terms if you expect an answer. It's like asking where's the bottom while you are falling. Somethings become apparent on their own.

Some questions are more important than others, as are some answers.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 01:27 | 3725906 Stinko da Munk
Stinko da Munk's picture

In other words there are no stupid questions but there are some really stupid questioners.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:50 | 3726125 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

The latter, at least in terms of resources and effective utilization of same. As for financial 'cost', that depends on how much you personally stand to lose, doesn't it?

I doubt people who have been unemployed or working McJobs for years now would be upset about the playing field getting levelled as much as bondholders, Medicare recipients, and crony businessvermin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm-K5B9eGNs

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:20 | 3729604 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

When they realize the leveler is what's used to flatting new roads, and they're going under it, they will complain. For an entire 0.002 seconds perhaps 30% of them will realize what fools they've been. Then it's all over.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 20:13 | 3725336 imbrbing
imbrbing's picture

Gimme 1 reason why it hasn't crashed yet. This is getting old......

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 21:39 | 3725557 willwork4food
willwork4food's picture

If you still believe in the authorities trying to do the best they can, then you won't understand that this whole thing was planned since Bush 1 said we were in "a new world order' in the early '90's.

They will crash it when they wish to achieve maximum destruction and chaos..and loot us for all we're worth in the mean time.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:55 | 3725776 Free Wary
Free Wary's picture

history says it won't crash. History says the truck will intentionally be driven off the bridge at the precise moment the driver is ordered to drive it off the bridge.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 15:10 | 3726675 Seer
Seer's picture

Sorry to disagree...  It didn't start with Bush I.  What you're referring to was but part of the continuum, a next logical step in the otherwise illogical System (predicated on the impossible- facilitating perpetual growth on a finite planet).

Whether evil or benevolent, it really doesn't matter as it'll all come down to the same fate: and the same would go for any "revolution" that doesn't not address the System's shoddy premise.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 06:48 | 3726015 WTFx10
WTFx10's picture

It took alot of time to get control of 7 billion prople. 500 600 700yrs? Not that many cattle left to exploit. Could take many more years or could be next year.

You place a bet just like the stock market they try to push you into. You take a bet ,just like buying bonds. You take a bet, just like buying Gold and Silver.

Will they go up and you make fiat? Wil they go down and you loose fiat?(while the owners always make it)

So we place are bets waiting for the enevitable, do you know how it will turn out when it all falls apart? Knnow fucking way. Do we know we will be owned by the same Bankers who crashed the CON? Maybe or maybe not?

 

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 20:19 | 3725346 Abi Normal
Abi Normal's picture

Lookit, nobody knows when this peckerwood blows!?  It could crater next week, next year, or next decade.  Personally, I called the end of 2013 a while back.  Just like I called 2009 Q1 a while before it, yet I don't feel real confident about this call right now, seeing all the distortions and lies.  Nothing can be gleaned except failure at some point, as we are past the time of no return.  I guess it will depend of if there is a REAL market left, to cause the rates to spike, like they should, or the oil stops flowing for some reason (EG war in ME), that type of thing. Otherwise these arseholes can pump and dump for a while longer, but not for much longer, economies of scale for debt will bite these bitches in the jiggly places soon enough!

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 20:52 | 3725427 getblue
getblue's picture

LoL, let me translate that, next stop for Gold : 720 USD...

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 01:27 | 3725907 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

Get your resume together. Bloomberg needs more writers. You're a natural. How about next stop zero? That's where paper is going.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:45 | 3726119 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Sweet!

Know where I can find any?

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 10:23 | 3726230 Car 54 Where Are U
Car 54 Where Are U's picture

Here's where I buy physical. Small US Miner sells at 5% discount from US refinery. 1-10-100 Troy oz bars, assay certified and numbered. Deal direct. Greg@logigold.com

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 21:27 | 3725526 getblue
getblue's picture

I said, and this is crystal clear, next stop for Gold is USD 720 ! This makes me laugh, as people here have been so hot about Gold going always higher and higher... Que stupido ! Hmmm... Anyway, any place is still a marketplace as far as financial market is concerned, no ? LoL

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 21:40 | 3725563 CPL
CPL's picture

And we'll keep buying as much as we can on the way to that price.

 

Until it all runs out.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 22:12 | 3725638 getblue
getblue's picture

What did I write ? LoL !!!!

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 21:54 | 3725605 WAMO556
WAMO556's picture

LOL... Troll, the price is for paper!

You can play the paper game all you want. Just remember how does one go bankrupt? Slowly....and then ALL OF A SUDDEN!

Remember that troll! Enjoy your weekend!

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:14 | 3729593 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

Don't be silly.

Clearly gold will be 500.

Per gram.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 21:57 | 3725604 TNTARG
TNTARG's picture

Maduro (Venezuela) to grant Humanitarian Asylum to Snowden.

Many South American presidents agree.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:10 | 3725709 Widowmaker
Widowmaker's picture

...Boomers herding for the exits.

Everyone wants their piece of the pie.

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:14 | 3725722 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

Trust is earned, and confidence gained.

When the truth is found to be lies, trust and confidence dies. In its place rises an empire of distrust.

In the ghetto they never believed the lies, they knew only rule, get it while you can, and in the board rooms they only made the lies, but they too knew only that one rule,get it while you can.

Those in the middle, the dreamers seeking to rise by  playing by the rules, they were the sponge rung dry.

Now the middle flails, most don't understand and keep trying to do the same things that used to work, but the game is different and the results are always just more pain. more pain.

How long can they keep putting their hands into the flame before they understand where the burn comes from?

Will they seek to destroy the flame that burns them or will they lie impotent and withered?

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:30 | 3725749 Dexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan's picture

Derivitives BITCHEZZZZ!!!!!!

Fri, 07/05/2013 - 23:33 | 3725758 Monedas
Monedas's picture

The earth spins from west to east .... and it's slowing down .... if we take all nuclear weapons .... place them on western faces .... of mountain ranges .... nearer to the equator is better .... detonate simultaneouly .... this will speed up the rotation .... providing more temperate climate .... so we don't end up like Mercury ? 

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 00:15 | 3725822 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

good plan. should i pack a lunch?

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:44 | 3726118 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Make sure to stand within the blast radius; we have to be sure they went off. You know "trust, but verify" and all that.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 00:16 | 3725827 q99x2
q99x2's picture

I've caught up on my financial website reading ahead of my Art Appreciation Mid-term and I revoke all BTFD statements I've made in recent days.

I'm now convinced to sell the fucking ramp, get your money out and head for the hills.

I'm not headed to Pittsburgh quite yet and will wait until the FEDs attack with at least one false flag first.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 00:57 | 3725868 hejss
hejss's picture

Plans for a gold and silver backed economy will solve all problems with fake debt.

It´s supposed to already be happening.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNguBaVFMuA

 

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 01:25 | 3725893 slimething
slimething's picture

Flakemeister, see my reply to you above concerning temperature data. Sorry man, it just isn't happening as predicted.

 

While you're at it, perhaps you could explain why the lower atmosphere in the tropics (TLT) according to satellite data is not warming as advertised, a main tenet of the "greenhouse effect" theory.  It is known as the "missing hot spot".  Climate models were only off by 400%, but no sense in splitting hairs on that minor detail ROFL>

Oh and how can the surface warm faster than the troposphere when it should be the other way around according to the well established "theory" of AGW.

 

 

 

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 01:24 | 3725903 Stinko da Munk
Stinko da Munk's picture

Sales of the Ford F-150 are booming, bitchez. You just need to follow the right indicators.

 

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 02:32 | 3725946 ak_khanna
ak_khanna's picture

The true extent of slowdown in the world economy can be judged by the data points which are not subjected to adjustments by the government. Eg. Change in Electricity and Fuel consumption, Ratio of working population to the total population of a country, Miles driven, Baltic Dry Index, Change in commercial Rental Rates etc

The weakness in the democratic process ensures the victory of the Wall Street over the Real Economy for the foreseeable future. Things are definitely going to get much much worse before they get better for the real economy i.e. for more than 90% of the population.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article40231.html

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 07:03 | 3726019 hejss
hejss's picture

No need to worry. There are plans for a new system where money is and is backed up with gold and silver. Already taking place behind the curtains.

Anyone heard of Nesara?

 

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:42 | 3726116 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

"For that matter, what spell does the Caliphate hold over Brussels?"

I'll give you a hint: it costs more than $100 per barrel.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:38 | 3726113 Handful of Dust
Handful of Dust's picture

<<The velocity of money in the United States has plunged to an all-time low.>>

 

This is a big problem for commodity prices. Few are buying now, house sales are way down and retial is almost dead...walk into any mall...nothing sells unless it is discounted by a combination of discounts such as, "reduced 50% add an extra 40% and if you apply for a card take another 30% off"...type of stuff.

 

Heck, I bought a beautiful solid leather belt the other day and a cashmere blend sweater for $28.58 !

While food, energy, insurance, airfare (and similar) have doubled in price--or more) some other items like retail and housing have plunged (and will keep plunging, in part to massive oversupply and sinking demand).

 

Unprecedented in my lifetime..

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 09:19 | 3726169 10PastMidnight
10PastMidnight's picture

have to agree HoD, retail is looking dismal and so the casinos are also slimming down as i have observed for the last several months. i guess the 401s and credit cards are all but gone now, which is what most families have been living off of the last 5 years, just to maintain their standard of living.

 

the mass of the population has done what their leaders have done and asked of them, spend, spend, spend until you have nothing but debt to show for it, bravo, but who could blame them, they've been trained to do it for generations.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 15:27 | 3726707 Seer
Seer's picture

"the mass of the population has done what their leaders have done and asked of them, spend, spend, spend until you have nothing but debt to show for it"

Ah, but that's just fiat!  And further, many ZH comments over the years have had people suggesting/claiming to rack up debt to buy PMs.

But... yes, the majority HAVE been conditioned.  Sad part about the big calamity that will unfold is that the conditioning will be used to attack those who blame the system... divide an conquer, that's ALWAYS how it gets played out.  Attack of the zombies may not be far-fetched...

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:51 | 3726126 falak pema
falak pema's picture

Abandon Ship is the motto of the french banks when the interest spread goes above 5% for France 10 year bonds.

Like the man said : the Folies Bergeres great splits will bring the house down sometime in 2014/2015. 

Merkiavelli has three months to get elected as Queen Kaiser of Europe before the fireworks start. 

Good luck new lady at the FED. What a victory for Lady money bags with Merkiavelli, Lady Lagarde and Lady Fed running the west like daughters of Annie get your QE gun.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 08:52 | 3726127 AynRandFan
AynRandFan's picture

To offset the hyperbole of this article, I suggest you look at Shadowstats.com.  There, the charts of money supply, etc., show a moribund but relatively stable economy with -2% GDP growth.  The most disturbing trend is their unemployment figure of 24% and rising.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 09:35 | 3726186 22winmag
22winmag's picture

Conerned? Maybe. Skerd? No.

Sat, 07/06/2013 - 12:08 | 3726381 moneybots
moneybots's picture

"#4 As the world becomes increasingly unstable, massive citizen protest movements have been rising all over the globe..."

 

Not around here.  The DOW is at 15,000 and people are happy with the wealth effect.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:10 | 3729578 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

"#11 The severe drought that the western half of the United States is suffering never seems to end.  What will it do to food prices if ranchers and farmers out west have to go through another summer like they did last year?"

Clearly the farmers and the crops didn't get the memo that global warming is a hoax.

Naturally dumbfucks with sandy vagina syndrome (SVS is very serious) will deny everything and then call for an elliot wave analysis of cloud-cover along with the S&P500 and lose everything.

Believing that global temperatures are cooling is like believing inflation is under 2%. It's the same mathematical fraud & the same ineptness that guides such belief systems.

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