Looking towards the future. Wondering when the next shoe drops.
Hyper Inflation Book
Showing posts with label inflation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inflation. Show all posts
When Rome was sacked, did it look like this?
This is a very sad and depressing video that hits the nail of the crisis we are in square on the head. It's about a half hour long, but very well worth your time.
End of the world
Well then.
That hurt.
I'm tired of the government trying to save me by voting no. It hurts too much.
Screw buying gold. I'm buying canned goods, ammunition, gasoline and water.
The next five years of our lives are going to suck.
That hurt.
I'm tired of the government trying to save me by voting no. It hurts too much.
Screw buying gold. I'm buying canned goods, ammunition, gasoline and water.
The next five years of our lives are going to suck.
Welcome to 1973
Last weekend, we wandered around looking for gas. Almost all stations were sold out. The one station that had gas had a line, which we waited in before filling up. We will have to do the same thing this weekend. The lines will be there, they get longer every day. Gas stations in Georgia are surrounded by cars that devour every bit of what they have in minutes. Gas trucks are like pied pipers leading a line of cars to some station awaiting a fill up.
It's amazing.
The stock market is in shambles, the economy sucks and hopes are grim. (Sharp contrast to just a few months ago when everything was rosy)
Things are so bad that Warren buffet is buying. Inflation is as high as it was then (even though they are better at hiding it now) and will get even worse going forward. Our president is a republican ass capable of mass destruction on a scale that will be regarded as historic. We have hope and idiocy in the upcoming presidential race and Iran and Russia are really pissed at us.
Hair styles are shaggy, shirts are patterned, plaids and funk are in. (I've seen some really big "afros" out there) BIG round sunglasses are on all the cool faces.
All the import car manufacturers have tiny, fuel efficient cars and all the American car manufacturers have gigantic musclecars. Chevy is just now releasing a new big-block Camaro with promises of small efficient cars "in a couple of years", almost every car on the road today weighs more than two cars from 1979 and takes twice as much gas to run. In terms of autos, we are on par with the early 70's in every way.
Walt Disney could not make a better "re-live the 70's" alternate reality ride than the one we are in now. The similarities are eerie.Personally, I loved the seventies. I wore cowboy boots with spurs, strapped my guns on my belt and wore my ten gallon hat everywhere I went. I got to play with toys all day and never had to work.
And while, to a certain degree I'm loving the nostalgia of this time warp, I hope that the acid wears off soon. I'd really like this "trip" to be over.I just hope that it doesn't take me back through the 80's on the way home.
Too late...
Crash Manufactured?
So, one thing that has been worrying me lately is that it's been about a year since this thing officially started.
During that time, the "economy" has done very well. People bought stuff, they took vacations and spent money on frivolous things. A lot of money on frivolous things. People have lived "paycheck to paycheck" but that still allowed them to get by and spend while doing so. Some collapsed in bankruptcy, but many more just kept going.
My thought is this: If nobody talked about a "recession" would this one have come about? If the word "depression" was never uttered on CNBC would investors have pulled their money out?
Sad times none the less.
Good luck all.
During that time, the "economy" has done very well. People bought stuff, they took vacations and spent money on frivolous things. A lot of money on frivolous things. People have lived "paycheck to paycheck" but that still allowed them to get by and spend while doing so. Some collapsed in bankruptcy, but many more just kept going.
My thought is this: If nobody talked about a "recession" would this one have come about? If the word "depression" was never uttered on CNBC would investors have pulled their money out?
Sad times none the less.
Good luck all.
On Panic in the market
Yesterday was truly stunning to watch. During the last two panics, I did not have a window into the stock market. All my trading was done via broker and my understanding of how hard I was being hit was limited to monthly statements.
Being able to watch this panic (albeit, while I was working) was an awesome sight. Watching nearly every company that I had in my list drop by 5% to 25% or more in a matter of a minute was humbling. Watching it climb was amazing and having almost everything end very green felt like winning the lottery despite being down big for the week.
Of course, the next couple days might be the biggest short squeeze that the world has seen in a while. I cannot fathom the fear that short sellers are feeling right now. Well... Actually I can, it's probably pretty close to what I have been feeling for the last few weeks. I've been trying hard not to panic, but the fear has been as big a part of me as it ever has.
I believe in the market and I believe in this country, but we have been on our way to an ugly place much worse that people have a grasp of. I only hope that this malaise gets a shot in the arm with the action happening now.
People, real people are riding on this. There are those who think that Wall street only affects fat cats and bankers. The truth is that it affects small mom and pops much more. The bankers and fat cats know how to maneuver around these markets. Even the CEO's of the companies that massively failed walked away with more money than I'll ever have in my life. But average investors get chewed up and take their money out of the market in times like this, literally selling at the worst possible time.
The next year is going to be a momentous time. We will either crash massively as a country, an economy and a market or we'll see the bottom of the hill and start a climb back up. My hope is for the latter.
Good luck all.
Being able to watch this panic (albeit, while I was working) was an awesome sight. Watching nearly every company that I had in my list drop by 5% to 25% or more in a matter of a minute was humbling. Watching it climb was amazing and having almost everything end very green felt like winning the lottery despite being down big for the week.
Of course, the next couple days might be the biggest short squeeze that the world has seen in a while. I cannot fathom the fear that short sellers are feeling right now. Well... Actually I can, it's probably pretty close to what I have been feeling for the last few weeks. I've been trying hard not to panic, but the fear has been as big a part of me as it ever has.I believe in the market and I believe in this country, but we have been on our way to an ugly place much worse that people have a grasp of. I only hope that this malaise gets a shot in the arm with the action happening now.
People, real people are riding on this. There are those who think that Wall street only affects fat cats and bankers. The truth is that it affects small mom and pops much more. The bankers and fat cats know how to maneuver around these markets. Even the CEO's of the companies that massively failed walked away with more money than I'll ever have in my life. But average investors get chewed up and take their money out of the market in times like this, literally selling at the worst possible time.
The next year is going to be a momentous time. We will either crash massively as a country, an economy and a market or we'll see the bottom of the hill and start a climb back up. My hope is for the latter.
Good luck all.
Enron part two
I made a little money on Enron a few years back... a very little. But it was better than losing money.
This time around, I'm really perplexed as to how we are finding ourselves in the same bucket and everyone is surprised. Everyone is amazed by the price of crude oil, but what few understand is that the reason oil is priced that high has less to do with a lack of oil and more to do with an unregulated market.
Keith Olberman has an entertaining view of the situation, and Obama is planning on doing something. But I'm watching my stocks go down in value and the general economy collapse and I wonder how close we'll get to a replay of Enron.
I was in oil a few weeks back before it rocketed to 138+ and I got out because I believed it was (and still is) an unsustainable bubble and that I had made the easy money and that the most likely direction for Oil stocks at that time was down. I was wrong, I've missed a good 20% in the stocks that I sold.
Knowing now that this is caused by an unregulated market left open by Enron leads me to believe that I might have to get back in and ride this up to it's inevitable pop. Since the speculation others are still doing is causing me to lose money, I may have to adjust my approach to take advantage of the speculators.
Of course, I actually think that what I should do is to get out of the market entirely for a while. This economy is effed and apparently there are people in power (like John McCain) who want it that way.
On a long shot, there are those who are speculating in the other direction. Since Obama is working to close the loophole, we may have a collapse of the price of oil back down to 50% of it's current price. Time to buy puts on Exxon and Conoco perhaps??
Go Obama!
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