Fiat's Fire

Greek Salad Fryday- Greek Bond Yields Top 1000% as Greek GDP Collapses; Lakota Indians Declare All Treaties and Contracts With U.S. Void; Gun Sales Skyrocket; You Reap What You Sow; Illinois On Brink of Collapse; Trade Deficit, NFP and Other Nonsense; We're Calling Out the Turds; Fukushima and Radiation

2012-03-09T12:11:00.001-06:00

Not six months ago, Greek 1 year bonds were trading at 105% yield, and we laughed about the insanity of it all to believe that things (the economy of Greece) were "getting better." Nevertheless, after a careful and unbiased analysis, we cautioned that the situation in Greece would not only get worse, but that contagion would spread to all EU periphery.

Fast forward. Not one week ago, Greek 1 year bonds were 932%. Fast forward. Today, even after all the propaganda (and rumors of a 90% take rate) of debt swap participation, Greek bonds are worthless, trading as of this morning at a [insert any word that combines comedy with insanity] rate of 1140% and climbing. So much for ~~the ponzi~~ trying to write yourself IOU's and thinking it will work. (Shhhhh! Pay no attention to the coming downgrades! Just expect more fiat!)

The best part of this [insert that chosen word] is that not only has Greece's economy not even come close to reaching "targets" set forth by the ECB and Greek government in order to receive future bailouts, it seems the worst case scenario as about to get much worse - Greece's GDP just imploded by 7.5% YoY, on government "estimates" that Greece would by this time on track to grow 1%! And, pay no attention the Baltic Dry Index at record lows. If a fiat bond falls in a forest, will anyone with a printer hear it make a sound?

We're going to say, if the same yields that predicted the collapse of Greece are saying anything about Portugal, it's "watch out!" Just sayin'... Portugal's 10 year is at 14.5% and rising along with Greece's 10 year which is 34.7% and rising. Remember, 7% on the 10 year is the maximum threshold to watch for the next credit event.

Speaking of broken promises, the Lakota Indians yesterday declared all treaties and contracts with the U.S. to be void and they are no longer citizens of the U.S. Their reasoning? The U.S hasn't held up on their end of the deal, since, forever. We suspect "the markets" will understand this as bullish news for ammunition makers and the index will rally. Sure enough, Smith & Wesson is up 23% on huge increases in gun purchases.

Speaking of gun purchases, the most vile and corrupt corporation on earth, is about to experience the meaning of, "what you sow, is what you reap." No pun intended. We're just happy to see the truth coming into the sunlight, and growing.

Speaking of growing, don't look now, but that massive wave of muni defaults we talked about long, long, long ago is coming to fruition as the State of Illinois is on the brink of collapse. We're sure this is also a "bullish event" as it will push Dr. Deficit to print some more fiat, which will promptly send oil and gold and stocks higher, which will in turn cause more muni defaults and the like. Ahhh yes! The circle of the ponzi, is a tangled web they've weaved.

The markets are also rallying on news that the rise in the U.S deficit, is the largest rise since 2008. The worse the deficit, the better the markets. You see, very simple concept. Bad news is good news for the ponzi. Let's not forget about the Non-farm payroll out this morning. The fact that most of those ~~fabricated~~ jobs are either part-time or low paying services (read: McDonalds) doesn't matter to the markets. The markets just care that more fiat is coming their way.

Yesterday, we discussed briefly how we blasted the finest pros on Wall Street for their recommendation to buy Netflix 6 months ago. The results showed, as we predicted, NFLX plunged nearly 80%. Our fair value for NFLX was and still is $55-$65. That's including the potential losses as their Starz contract expired. Somehow, the CEO thinks you only care about made-for-TV dramas. We shall see.

Speaking of drama, we want to discuss another one of our favorite bloated turd stocks we love to blast - LinkedIn, LNKD. Here's another company we warned about in May of 2011 when it went public, and highlighted a few slightly important facts like: 1) nobody actually wants to use LinkedIn, they're just forced to through their employer, 2) untold numbers of "members" are either inactive or use it rarely, 3) the world already has Facebook and 4) where's the money to support a company worth $10 BILLION?

At least the snake oil salesmen managed to "LinkIN" enough retail suckers to buy this turd at $120+. Where did it go after ~~the insiders made out like bandits and the snake oil salesmen got their commission~~ it reached $120? A few weeks later, the bloated turd exploded and ~~threw fecal matter onto the faces of retail suckers around the world~~ plunged to $55. Our fair value for this king of turds? $20, and that's on a good day.

We can also add YELP to that list of growing turds to avoid. Here's another run-of-the-mill company that generates the majority of it's "cash" through advertising. The problem is, so does everyone else, and there's a million and one restaurant/hotel/small business review websites out there. Once again, the snake oil salesmen of Wall Street pulled in enough retail suckers to bring the price up to $26 on it's opening day so the insiders can buy new magemansions in the Hamptons. Whoops! Today, it's $19.90 and falling like a brick out of an abandoned Detroit factory. Our fair value for this overpriced turd? $7.00-$8.00.

Which bring us to ZYNGA. Here's a company that produces online ~~brain cell killing time wasting~~ games for Facebook and various platforms, hasn't made a dime of profit and yet is worth an astounding $10 BILLION. Those snake oil salesmen did it again! As far as on-the-street trends go, their fad games (Farmville, Mafia Wars) are already dropping off the charts. Like all good fads, they come and they go. Could you imagine the company that produced "fingerboards" going public and trading at a market cap of $10 BILLION? We can. Just get a good snake oil salesman. Our fair price for the two hit wonder ZNGA? $3.80-$4.50, and that's generous.

Finally, let's not forget about Groupon. Here's a company that's basically an online coupon cutter, and has a market cap of - drum roll please - $10 BILLION (that's a favorite number for snake oil salesmen as you can see). Do you have a failing business that needs a boost? Call up Groupon - they'll publish your 90% discount to millions of unemployed people searching for free stuff, and Groupon will charge you a small fee. You'll get a handful of customers who would have never heard of your place, or would have never visited your place of business were it not for that enticement. Sure, you'll get a short term boost of foot traffic as people give your business a try, but in the end - it's the business that makes the business. Don't expect to retain clients if your business sucks.

How does this apply to Groupon? Eventually, that business won't use Groupon because after the short term boost, it won't be sustainable without long term clients if it's not a good business to begin with. Thus, with the declining economy and slowing list of businesses, we think GRPN has a fair market value of $9.50-$10.00.

In other news, the cumulative radiation that continues to spread out of Fukushima is beginning to make it's mark (no pun intended) on the public health. But if you're happy and you know it, you'll be totally immune to the effects of radiation.

Note From The Editor

2012-03-08T16:03:00.000-06:00

We've received many comments and suggestions on how we can improve this blog and soon we'll be implementing some of these suggestions. You may have already noticed our new Editorial and simplified format. Every Wednesday we'll present an editorial piece designed to summarize "what is going on behind the curtain" in a very clear and easily understandable format without any sophisticated financial lingo - similar to how we started out.

Next, our Current Affairs, which we made a daily feature for 6 months will now be only on Mondays and Frydays, with regular updates. Tuesdays and Thursdays we'll present interesting and relative news articles and links with no commentary. Also on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can also expect to see more of our popular featured polls.

Unfortunately, our original plans to move to a dedicated website were put on hold when we went on hiatus last year and have decided that due to limited time and resources, that plan is on hold for the time being. However, this will allow us to tinker with several concepts and ideas for this blog and allow us to work out the details before making a move to a dedicated website. We're not like the Netflix CEO who makes decisions on a whim. By the way, speaking of Netflix, we hope our readers benefited from our review of that incompetently run company - when we first warned about NFLX back in July, it's stock was nearing $300 (THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS! LMAO!) and within 4 months time, it reached a low of $62 (we guessed it within $3). You do the math. A simple blog versus the pure genius of Wall Street's finest on CNBS saying that you should buy that corrupt turd. One ~~imbecile~~ Wall Street "genius" even said it could go to $500! You decide. We just loving calling out those frauds. Ok, enough patting our own backs. We celebrated, and we hope our readers benefited from that and other suggestions (like getting as far away from Fukushima as possible!).

Finally, we're working on a sort of forum for our readers to speak their minds and bring their own interesting current events from around the world. It will include lots of goodies which, for now, will be our surprise. We promise it will be good!

In any event, our Commodore 64 is telling us that we have less than 6 months before fireworks really begin. Until then, enjoy the show.

Your Friends,
Fiat's Fire

Cakes, Circuses and The Broken Market - Part One

2012-03-07T11:06:00.000-06:00

Today's article is one of a new series on Fiat's Fire that will reflect on "the markets" and how it impacts you. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion at the bottom of the page, or email us directly at fiatsfire@yahoo.com.

We hope you enjoy this new series!

Cakes, Circuses and The Broken Market

A key topic we have been writing about since we began this blog is the market, or whatever scrap remains of it in its current form. There really should be no question as to why, despite all the cake and circuses and smoke and mirrors, there is no recovery nor any organic growth to speak of despite the appearance of prosperity through the ever higher stock indices. Did you feel the wealth trickle down your way, yet?

Yesterday, we left our readers with a thought to ponder, thanks in part to another excellent article by ZeroHedge - what are the consequences of the ECB being over-leveraged and undercapitalized as their balance sheet reached stupendous new levels ~~of insanity~~ and are currently hovering around $4.1 Trillion versus $107 Billion in assets (the leverage of the Fed is even greater, but that's a whole 'nuther story).

The laws of economics has proven, every institution that overextends itself to such levels such as the ECB, as WaMu, as AIG, as the PIIGS, as Bear Sterns, as Dexia, as Indymac, as Merrill Lynch, and as Lehman Brothers just to name a few, ended up imploding for the simple fact that such leverage is not sustainable - even if you have a printer at your disposal. As we pointed out in April 2011, this is basic math. Worse still however, as the economic conditions across Europe (and globally) continue to deteriorate rapidly, we expect this ratio to increase exponentially as the ECB (and by extension the whole world) print to save their precious experiment. Do you see how we have already passed the point of no return?

How did this all begin? Long before 2007, long before the central bank intervention/manipulation reached a crescendo (instigated globally by the Fed and Dr. Deficit), any excess leverage was countered by "the markets" as a self-correcting, natural process. These built-in countermeasures of a normally functioning free market produced some economic pain during the correction, but for the most part, that pain was short lived and normalcy eventually returned. The laws of "supply and demand" would adjust prices accordingly and the important quality of demand destruction would balance out the excess. The interest rate mechanism would accurately reflect the true level of risk. Too Big To Fail should not and would not exist in a free market. The market's key attribute would make sure that Too Big To Fail would never exist in the first place by allowing firms to fail before they were able to cause major economic damage. Certainly, this is the complete opposite of what we have today. Thus, as we stated, we have passed the point of no return. The decision to bailout insolvent institutions and ignore all rules of the market was the key turning point - once they began, there would be no turning back.

We find it both ironic and unsettling that the whole concept of "free markets" has been turned entirely upside down in an attempt to save corrupt and insolvent institutions. It goes without saying, the seeds of destruction have been planted and mathematics says that the inevitable outcome is a hyperinflationary collapse. They know it. We know it. Dr. Deficit has painted the whole world into a corner but the cakes keep the masses happy and ~~obese~~ fat.

Further, one only needs to see other central bank balance sheets since that expansion in 2007 to know that the whole world is in the same boat of facing a global liquidity crisis and a insolvency crisis simultaneously, at any moment. This is not some Argentinian default, or the collapse of the USSR type of event. Now, the world is globalized and every nation is dependent on every other nation; end result - everyone suffers.

Additionally, don't forget the fact that the whole world revolves around oil. At the core, if oil producing nations begin to demand gold for oil instead of the fiat ponzi, you know which nations will be going after which in the name of "humanitarian efforts."

More fiat money equates to less purchasing power of your dollars, yen, euros, pounds, etc. Less purchasing power means higher prices for gold, silver, platinum, oil, guns, coffee, milk, and even, water. Yes, we're talking about inflation - not for the elite, who's wealth increases proportionately to the rate of inflation - but for the middle classes. We have already entered that period of the hockey stick where one or a series of events will trigger the great leverage trigger and light the inflation rocket; the point of no return has passed, and now we wait.

You see, the ECB will go the same way all other over-leveraged, insolvent Too Big To Fail institutions end up going - extending and pretending, denying, denying, denying, lying, lying, lying, secretly collapsing while denying, secretly seeking a bailout while denying, preparing golden parachutes for top brass while denying, publicly admitting to collapse after some "rogue blog" or reporter lets the cat out of the bag, begging for a bailout while pulling out the "Mutually Assured Destruction card," and finally receiving a bailout. Just look at Greece for a perfect example. Greece's clock is ticking, by the way so keep an eye on that situation.

By creating a world of Too Big To Fail, everything that a free market represents is invalid. There is no level playing field and thus, no recovery. As we have mentioned numerous times in the past, today's "markets" don't reflect the slightest ounce of economic reality. They simply reflect the amount of ponzi money being injected into this corrupt system to keep it afloat for the sake of the elite for just a little while longer. Therefore, without properly functioning free markets to clean out the trash and level the playing field, there never will be a recovery. Housing, the key factor to economic growth, will continue to decline. Dr. Deficit's attempt to prop up real estate through inflation will once again, fail. The real economy has been murdered - what you see is the corpse dressed up with makeup and the finest clothes to give the appearance of prosperity, and electrical shocks and impulses to stimulate the muscles to give the appearance of life.

Cakes and circuses. That is all.

Hardware Malfunction Tuesday- Planned Obsolescence in Action; Largest Bankruptcy Filing in U.S. History Gets Going in Alabama; Newt Says He Can Get Gas Back to $2.50; The World is Running on Fumes; Rolling Stones on BofA; Don't Worry About Asteroid 2012; Thoughts to Ponder as ECB Reaches New State of Insanity and Denial

2012-03-06T15:11:00.001-06:00

Due to a major hardware failure last week, we were not able to post anything of substance in the past few days. Here's the update on our progress: Last week, our main computer for nearly everything (including our GEES algorithm), ended up having a full meltdown - quite literally. This supposed-to-be "top of the line" video card overheated and melted down, leaving us with a $1400 hunk of made in China plastics.

Lo and behold, a little research on the net indicates that HP, the maker of this fine laptop knew about the design flaw - which could have been avoided with a $0.30 piece of copper or aluminum - but decided to produce it anyway with said card because the bean counters calculated (very well) it would begin to cause problems after the standard warranty was over. Call it planned obsolescence, mere coincidence or whatever you want, but we know that the corporate world works that way so you are forced to by another product. However, being the type of people we are (we are Fiat's Fire after all) we choose not to play their game. We don't buy new, and we never buy brands that purposely burn customers in the name of profit (HP can be added to the list which includes Apple for designing screens made to crack and Microsoft for their termination and sabotage of Windows XP (so, while we're working to recover our files and data, we'll keep this article short and sweet).

Enough about that. Right now, we want to keep you informed about important events and news that relates to you - like the start of muni defaults, nationwide which Meredith Whitney predicted in 2010. To be fair, although her timing is off a bit, the consequences will be just as devastating when they do occur. And occur they will. Something that is receiving little to no attention in the media is the now officially approved and ready to go bankruptcy of Jefferson County, Alabama, which we reported on back in July of last year. By the way, it just so happens that the first muni default of the new wave happens to be the largest in U.S. history by a long shot. Another ominous signal? We think so. Which is why you need to keep your eyes on Illinois next. If gas prices increase any further and contrary what the talking heads on CNBS say, expect a lot more trouble ahead in the municipal arena.

It seems the bottom of the barrel GOP candidate Newt Gingrich has finally pulled out his last attempt card on Americans in the form of, "if I get elected, I'll bring gas prices down to $2.50 per gallon." Poor Newt. So desperate. So stupid. The man has no clue what is going on nor why oil is so high (hint: the bald Dr. pulling the printer levers is your answer) and like 100% of all politicians these days, won't change a thing for the better.

If you needed any more confirmation that indeed the global ponzi is coming unglued, watch this video by Paul Gilding entitled, "The Earth is Full." Definitely plays well with what we have been saying about America's economy being an oil (and other finite resource) based economy and what it means for the future. In short, there's too many people, not enough sustainable methods of living in the current situation and we're running out of time fast. What's the outcome? Usually war. If Einstein was correct, the next world war (WWIII) will indeed be the war that ends all wars. You do the math.

In other useless but entertaining news, the ~~ponzi markets~~ stock markets are dropping today by 1%, or nothing compared to $600 Trillion in total outstanding derivatives. Surprise, surprise - the dollar is up by the inverse amount, forcing gold and silver down. In other words, another non-event. Unless the PPT loses control of "the markets" and a freefall of 1000 points on the DOW(n) Jones occurs, don't bother to wake us up.

Speaking of waking up, people are waking up to the fact that Bank of America is a corrupt TBTF institution sucking dry the common people after getting bailed out by the same people it sees as "useful idiots." We talked about Bank of America trying another stunt with the new account fees last week, and it seems Rolling Stone (yes, of all places to get factual financial information!) has discovered the same thing we already knew and have been warning about since over a year. If you don't have the time to read the whole article, here's the gist:

"In my opinion, there are four actions taken by financial services that signal the company is headed to serious trouble.
1. Management shake-up and major layoffs - lots of layoffs over the past year
2. Exploiting accounting rules to boost earnings - SFAS 159
3. Drawing down reserves to boost earnings: to the tune of $13.3 billion in 2011 and 2012
4. Bilking customers with new fees: tried it before and trying it again
Bank of America has taken all four steps. Bilking customers with new fees is a desperate measure of last resort because it requires exploiting the one asset the bank has left, namely its customers."

Ouch. We'll you can't say you weren't warned about ~~another bailout~~ this fraud. Plain and simple, as a reader of ours recently said: 'BofA is the most overexposed, unethical, corrupt, insolvent, over-leveraged bank in the world.' We'll add to that statement with, "immediately before all the other TBTF banks." Ironically, those four key actions taking by Bank of America are the very same taken by many big Wall Street firms to keep their ~~ponzi~~ company going.

Speaking of keeping things going, there's been lots of talk online about Asteroid 2012 hitting the earth in a few months time and causing everything from a Tunguska Event to wiping out all life on earth. We're pretty certain neither will occur, but it will create a light show for amateur astronomers. We're also 100% certain that if TPTB did know about such a major earth shattering event in advance, they'd never tell the public about it. After all, one only needs to look at Fukushima and how Japan has handled that situation. For more info on that little event they want you to forget about, read here, here and here for some recent developments.

Finally, we'll leave you with something to think about until the next article - The ECB's balance sheet (there's nothing balanced about it!) just surpassed $3.1 TRILLION dollars versus total listed "assets" of $80 BILLION. For those mathematically challenged, that's a leveraged ratio of 37 times! In other words, the ECB is more overexposed than every other ~~ponzi~~ institution before it that has literally imploded. It goes without saying that such levels can be maintained, until they can't - which happens to be when something triggers it. Of course, ~~the greatest ponzi on earth~~ the Fe.deral Reserve will step in at that moment to bail them out as well. And sure, why not? The sky is the limit so long as other nations which produce oil continue to accept U.S. dollars. Who cares about inflation when you have the iPad3 (with 4G LTE no less) coming out just in time to keep you in your consumer spending induced coma? Remember, Dr. Deficit thinks you can eat iPads for breakfast.

Their answer to this upcoming "black swan" and any other catastrophe will be money printing. Earthquake shakes Manhattan into the sea? Print a few trillion dollars and yen and euros and such. Sovereign defaults? Forgetaboutit! Call it a non-event and promise to print some more. Giant asteroids? Mega Tsunamis? X50 class solar flares? Print as much as you need to keep the current system and it's elite in power - until, they can't. We don't like giving dates, but mathematics says stock up on toilet paper by July.

A Note From The Editor

2012-03-05T11:39:00.000-06:00

We're experiencing technical difficulties with our computer systems but hope to be online very shortly with new articles and posts.

Thank you for your patience,

Fiat's Fire

Thursday's News In Brief- "Occupy The Planet" turns out 40 Million Workers In India As The Largest General Strike In History; Bank of America Considering New Account Fees On Checking Accounts; Secret Banker Meeting; Ireland Gets To Vote; Ron Paul Knocks Out Dr. Deficit; 2012 Stocks Are The New 2006 Zimbabwe Stock Exchange; More

2012-03-01T14:12:00.001-06:00

News in Brief

On days like this, we can't help but continue to use the "propped-up dead corpse" illustration to describe the ~~bankster ponzi economy~~ almost entirely silicon based life form controlled "stock markets." Of course, the real masters behind the silicon are carbon based life forms who use the silicon to con other carbon based forms out of their... well, carbon - in the form of debt slavery.

Nothing helps lull the ~~ignorant fools~~ mindless carbons into slavery like cake, circuses and propaganda - and there's no better propaganda tool than the "stock indices" that flash all day for mom and pop on CNBS as they sit back and enjoy their short 5 years of retirement before they end up as fertilizer for the next generation's vegetable garden. The Dow at 13k makes everything seem like the roaring 2000's all over again, when Hummers were aplenty and McMansions were all the rage. Now, those gas guzzling Hummers and styrofoam McMansions are the cause of everyone's rage.

One quick look at the yield curves would indicate that we are indeed still currently in the midst of an economic depression. The rest of the data that can't be so easily cooked is also saying ~~we're in the eye of the storm~~ there is a major disconnect between reality and the ~~ponzi~~ "stock markets."

On that note, it's always interesting to see that if enough carbon based life gets together (after the pain becomes too much to bare) a small impact can be made on the silicon and their masters. In this case, "Occupy the Planet" in India, as over 40 million workers protested against the criminal enterprises in that region of the world, in the form of the largest general strike in the history of the world. You read that right - forty million workers in India are striking to protest against the 1%. Part of the reason for the protests, besides the usual poor working conditions and such, is the wealth discrepancy and astronomical cost of living increases they are starting to feel over there. Just more unintended consequences of bailing out the criminal Wall Street banksters, as we discussed in great detail last year (as we stated, Dr. Deficit can only export inflation to the rest of the world for so long before social unrest explodes).

Speaking of banksters, Bank of America is considering new monthly fees on your checking accounts - because how else can they earn those record bonuses? Remember last year's BofA fiasco with $5 per transaction debit card fees? BofA lost a ton of customers over that disaster, and the customers they managed to retain are no doubt included in the 18,000 ~~brain-dead zombies~~ individuals who are following Angelina Jolie's Leg on Twitter (nope, you can't make this stuff up! Her right leg has a Twitter account! We have to wonder if Twitter will count her leg as a "member" as Facebook counts every Tom, Dick and Fictitious person with an account?). Anyways, that's 18,000 less potential problems the banksters have to worry about that might want to get "all up in their biz-ness" and cause a riot... or two at their "secret meeting" being held today. Then again, if the WSJ publishes this news, only a handful of subscribers will know about the decision on the Greek CDS default. Of course, you will hear on the MSM that they have decided that Greece has not defaulted so as to not make waves or end up triggering a payout.

Also on the roster this week, Ireland is holding a referendum over the EFSF (the ponzi fund the ECB created to bail out the banksters) which means it could be a bumpy ride if the fightin' Irish say NO!

In case you were wondering, 2012 might actually be the year all the accumulated "doom and gloom" bursts on the scene as the rare earth bubble explodes, if predictions come true about China ending rare earth exports. Keep an eye on this because that means your iPhone could cost you double or triple next year if China really does end their export rights this year. It kind of makes living a "simple life" that much more appealing, doesn't it?

Speaking of rare earth, Ron Paul yesterday, once again tore a gaping hole into Dr. Deficit's credibility (as if he had any to begin with) and in case you didn't get a chance to watch all the action, here's a great rundown of the play book by Gold Made Simple. He asks some hard hitting questions and Dr. Deficit just mumbles.

Remember, the only thing that matters to the elite is how high the ponzi stock market goes. Why? Because as we said, most people who suffer from a severe case cognitive dissonance think the DOW(n) Jones Index is an indicator of the economy and of prosperity. I've got news for you - it isn't. In fact, the contrary is true given that with all ponzi markets, they all "go to the moon, Alice" before bursting into worthless dust. Anyone who needs further explanation, please see the Zimbabwe stock market of 2006-2007. R.I.P Zimbabwe stocks and currency; you paved the way for the rest of the world.

Leaping Wednesday - Connecting The Dots Isn't Always Easy; iPad3 And Food Stamps As Crowds Riot Over Sneakers; Record Profits for Banks, Pavlov's Dog; Banksters Resign En Masse, Timmy G Detained For Questioning; Stratfor And More; Consumer Confidence Back To Highs, And So Is Inflation; XL Pipeline Back Up, Detroit Running On Fumes; And Other News And Events

2012-02-29T13:51:00.000-06:00

Our loyal readers know through discernment, that one of our prime directives here at Fiat's Fire is to attempt to "connect the dots." Unfortunately, we don't always get the order of those dots correct. Thus, we often manage to assemble only a rough sketch of the global scene; think of this as organizing a complex and multifaceted 3 dimensional puzzle without instructions - all the while having only one hand. You get the picture.

That being said, the overall picture that has come into view since 2008 is quite hideous and paints a very bleak future, all things being constant. What has transpired in the 6 months of our absence (we're at level 5/6 on the GEES scale, but more on that later), has only helped to verify that although our timing for some events was off, the inevitability of it all is indeed a global economic collapse the likes of which the world has never seen and is being helped along by a generally complacent and ignorant population. For some recent examples, see here, here and here (this last one explains a lot). Incidentally, one reader emailed to say that "watching the '10 o'clock news' is now like watching Entertainment Tonight or TMZ," in reference to the death of Whitney Houston and Kim ~~Kashmachine~~ Kardashian drama.

It is well known among the elite that if you give the general masses "cake and circuses," you can keep things going (or make them appear so) for a very long time - but still a limited amount of time. The modern day rendition of that rule is "iPads and American Idol." Whatever you do, just keep the masses "occupied." And thus, while the masses ~~kill for~~ scurry over the latest Apple product like the good hungry Pavlov's dogs they are, the banksters and global elite pillage all they want with little or no ~~growling~~ backlash. Ask yourself, how can it be that while 47 million Americans subsist on food stamps and nearly 24% are unemployed, Wall Street banksters are reaping $120 Billion in profits in 2011? Read this excellent article from Jim Quinn at the Burning Platform, then connect your own dots.

We'll help you get started with the next "dot" by highlighting a developing and escalating story the main stream media has widely ignored. During the past two weeks alone, there have been 56 top level bankster resignations around the world, starting with the resignation of World Bank CEO, Rober Zoellick and continuing with other big players like the brass of Credit Suisse, Swiss National Bank, Deutsche Bank, Nomura, Lloyds and others. True, it is a normal occurrence after "earnings season" to see a slight increase in the number of top execs "resigning" and there is also no way of knowing for sure how many of those leaving are legitimately retiring. Could there be regulatory changes about to take place? Or maybe something else? We've even heard that the Federal Reserve Charter is ending this year - but with a little research discovered that is not true (the Dr. Deficit is here to stay til the very end!)

With rumors circulating around that Timmy G was detained for questioning last week and with the very suspicious timing of a Startfor email hacking release one has to wonder if the S is beginning to HTF behind the scenes - just as impeccably timed "leaks" about the new iPad3 circulate the headlines. We're certain that the search term "iPad3" will be taking top spot in the google search queue long before anything about an FBI investigation into the criminal acts of Wall Street does, and we can expect to hear about iPad4 if the global political/economic scene heats up.

Then again, there's nothing to worry about. Consumer confidence is almost back to pre-recession highs and the DOW is at a multi-year high of 13,000. Better still, the Nasdaq is at highs not seen since the year 2000 (that's TWO Thousand), all this as gasoline reaches all time highs on... what else besides record demand due to increased economic activity? Everything is just great! Hell, we're even getting that pipeline that BO said no to a few months ago, but has now been approved. You see? Nothing to worry about.

As most rational thinkers already know and blog about - there's $1.6 Trillion pumped into the ~~stock market~~ "economy" since 2008 that went somewhere. We'll, you decide. Have you noticed a marked decrease in the purchasing power of your dollars? Has your cost of living increased? Is it cheaper to fill up your car, go food shopping or pay the rent? How about "investing" in "worthless" silver and gold? That "worthless" stuff costs 33% more today than it did just a few weeks ago. Notice how tangible things we need everyday to live is increasing in cost, while Wall Street gets richer?

Of course, Wall Street doesn't care if whole cities, or whole states for that matter go bankrupt, so long as the money is flowing their way. Take Detroit for example. You've heard a lot about the big D recently and it's even made it's name to a Superbowl add. What you won't hear about until it's too late is that the Big D is almost out of Big C - as in cash to continue operations. The city estimates they'll run out of cash by April unless they get a cash infusion ASAP.

Speaking of hand outs, Fannie Mae is requesting another $4.6 Billion to keep the lights on - and what other choice does Uncle Sam have? (that's rhetorical) We're sure the $4.6 Billion is needed to ~~pay record bonuses~~ keep their books balanced as ever more home owners find their homes worth less and less and simply walk away. (Note to self: Find a high paying job at any TBTF institution. That's job security)

Notice how suddenly, everything is illegal? So have we.

In other world news, Greece is in default, the world will end in 2040 by an asteroid, and radiation levels 10 times Chernobyl evacuation limit are found in a Tokyo train station. But there's no need to worry - Kim "Kashmachine" Kardashian just tweeted "OMG I love the new special edition Louis Vuitton iPad... gotta have it now!" and immediately AAPL and LVMH stock jumped another 30% in 5 minutes. The world is safe for at least another day.

Speaking of Greece defaulting per the S&P, we don't think anything official about their default will be made public until next month, as the printers are prepped for the fallout.

Speaking of fallout, Fukushima remains one of our greatest ongoing and escalating concerns. Yes, you've heard nothing about it on the MSM and thus, everyone has imagined that the whole ELE situation has simply vanished, in a big white cloud. As we said in the days following the epic tragedy, "you haven't seen anything yet." It's the cumulative radiation that will have profound consequences on the environment - the first consequences of which show up in plant and animal life and eventually spread to humans. As in Canada and around the world, scientists are being told to keep their mouths shut, or else. In other words, don'r raise the alarms about real disasters (of any kind) happening right now; instead, sidetrack with some remote possibility that could occur decades from now - like an asteroid.

Speaking of asteroids, there's no need to worry about some rock that may or may not hit earth 30 years from now. We think this story made headlines as simply more smoke for the mirrors while the here and now is in full meltdown mode. Remember the man behind the curtain?

Finally, at the outset, we mentioned the GEES Scale which we created back in July '11. We were able to determine that at that time, we were already at between level 4 and 5 and remained there for a while. Today, the GEES has finally been reactivated. Although it's currently stuck between level 5 and level 6, if this were a solely binary system, we would be at level 6. We're currently in the process of calibration so stay tuned. We're working against the clock to get the GEES back up and running accurately as much as Dr Deficit is working to turn the printers up to 100%. Who will win?

Fiat's Fire Will Return 2/29/12!

2012-02-27T15:55:00.000-06:00

We're leaping forward this year. Fiat's Fire will return Wednesday, February 29th, 2012. Stay tuned.

Tracking Tuesday- Quick Midweek Update on Unemployment, Gold, QE3, Consumer Confidence, Case Shiller, New York State Thruway Shutdown, and Everybody's Favorite- Fukushima

2011-08-30T12:56:00.000-06:00

It's Tuesday afternoon. It's time for a midweek update.

There has been an overwhelming amount of news the past few weeks - gold, Irene, total Euro banking sector economic meltdowns, BofA going bust and then being bailed out by a senile old fool two Plavix pills short of the grave, verified total U.S. economic meltdown, Fukushima going full global nuclear, WWIII about to break out in the Middle East and a whole list of other things we'd need days to discuss - then a quick check at "the markets" shows the DOW at nearly 12,000 again, on zero volume. Literally. At least from the carbon based lifeforms. Which begs the question - what is a stock really worth if there is nobody to trade it? Better yet, how does an global economic depression justify stock valuations of 1200x earnings set by high frequency computers? The short answers are, nothing and it doesn't.

Speaking of hurricanes, it's ironic that it has taken MSM and so many "experts" this long to start to figure out that there never was a recovery and it's pretty much "light's out" for the global economy going forward. Even CNN is reporting that "the economic slowdown is here to stay." But hell doesn't freeze over and the fat lady doesn't sing until CNBS joins that bandwagon. Last we heard, they're still talking "Green Shoots" and 5% GDP growth for 2011. Yes, you are allowed to laugh out loud.

While they talk "job growth" and "positive economic activity," we talk reality. Like the reality of unemployment, which is about to get much worse - we don't hide the fact that the real unemployment continues to grow exponentially. Need proof? If McDonald's "Hiring Day" in which over a million people signed up for didn't lock that in, try this for size, and then do the math. All the figures you need to extrapolate a good estimate of the job condition in this country are there.

Of interest to gold bugs, is this piece about confiscation of gold coins by the feds. Smells very much like executive order 6102 redux. How much gold does Libya have again? Oh, right. Not enough to fill all physical demand should paper take delivery but they sure will try. Oops.

Even better news for gold bugs is the Federal Reserve comments on QE3 which is now guaranteed in at least two forms and at least one new friendly name - Operation Twist(er) (aka, take your money and give it to the banksters 3.0.) As we like to say, gold is never old when the economy catches a cold and Dr. Deficit is at the printing machine helm. Ok, so it doesn't rhyme, but you get the point.

Speaking of con... fidence, Consumer Confidence just plunged to the lowest since April 2009 and looks more and more like the makings of 2008 all over again but much, much more. This should help the markets rally today. Because, as you know, it's super bull...ish. Oh, and the Case Shiller housing index? Plunged 4.5% YoY while the MSM spins housing recovery KoolAid garbage. Oops. QE3, are you ready for it? Gold sure is.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, a 100 mile section of the New York State Thruway is closed as well as the light rails to NYC. Should be bullish for productivity.

Finally, for the Fukushima in all of us (literally), here are three updates which require no commentary from us.

-"Nuclear plant worker dies of acute leukemia, TEPCO denies radiation"
-"Survey finds higher radiation than Chernobyl evacuation zone over wide area of 165 locations in Japan"

-"Radioactive cesium in San Francisco Bay Area milk close to exceeding EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level" (!!!)

Drink up.

So that's all for now. We'll update once we begin returning to a more normal, "normal."

Fallout Fryday- Hurricane Coming to Town, Wash Out Wall Street; BofA is Toast; Evacuation Maps, Zone A in NYC Already Evacuating; Dr. Deficit Ready's the Printers for another $2 Trillion to $999 Quadrillion in Fiat; Greek Bonds Go Bust; Germany Enters Recession or Great Depression?; Ireland Demands $2 Trillion From Vatican; Former Moody's Analysts Spills the Beans, But We Already Knew About Moody's; Fukushima Times 6; Much More

2011-08-26T07:00:00.006-06:00

Yes, we've been gone for just over a week and we're sure you miss us as much as we miss you. Of course, we don't want to let our loyal readers down, so we decided to give a quick "random rants and ramblings" post for Fryday's article and filled it with pictures instead of this week's events. Have no fear - we will be returning in full force very soon, with daily articles as soon as a current overwhelming project is completed shortly.

The big news all this week is of course, Hurricane Irene - and for good reason. It's expected to pass directly over Wall Street (in an ironic twist on reality) and hopefully we pray, floods out Goldman Sach's high frequency supercomputer and washes out all of the Wall Street scum. Now, the question is: who will be the first to pull out of stocks before that day and begin the mass exodus?

How devastating would a cat 3 hurricane in NYC really be? Not three years ago, the History Channel did an exclusive documentary on exactly that - almost too predictive for our likes, but very informative nonetheless. Must watch. Are you ready? We might be jumping conclusions but, this could very well be the final nail in the global coffin. How does one get to work if the Lincoln and Holland tunnels are flooded out? Who can buy and sell stocks if Wall Street is under 40 feet of water? Will you be able to take money out of the bank? Like Bank of America ~~which is the most corrupt bank in the world, right after the other TBTF~~ is looking like it's short a buck fifty. In Trillions. Even Warren Buffet, who has now gone bananas and has officially lost his marbles, can't save them. Neither can JP Morgue, now flooded with Trillions in fresh fiat. Notice how the economy continues to plummet and yet oil stays high, relative to economic activity? Floods of fiat coming to the streets near you.

Speaking of floods, Mayor Bloomberg has just released an evacuation map, showing mandatory evacuations in all of Zone A. So far, it looks like fun for gold in the next few weeks. Time to call up Dr. Deficit (who is already planning to print another fresh $500 Billion to $1 Trillion) and tell him to ready the printers. We're going to need $2 Trillion for Irene and another $2 Trillion for Wall Street ~~bonuses~~ TBTF banks. After all, last year's bonuses we're not even enough to keep up with the hyperinflation - or Greek bond yields. Exactly as we predicted, Greek bonds have officially exploded - 45.6% (that's fourty five point 6 percent yield) on the 2 year and 18.96% on the 10 year. Greece, is officially dead. Enter Germany.

In Another Ironic Twist

Looks like Germany is entering their own Great Depression as downgrade rumors circulate and their economy collapses. It's starting already. Forget CME manipulation to control the price of gold - just use your brain to figure out where the money is still going.

It seems at least one insolvent European nation is on the right track about making some money - Ireland is demanding $2 Trillion (yes, we said two trillion dollars) from the Vatican. And sure, why not? They've got that and then some. Along with the same number of... oh, never mind.

And today's big OOPS! goes to Moody's, as a former analysts spills the beans. Who would have guessed that Moody's was corrupt? If you're short time, the key words are - Wall Street, corruption, greed, rotten and Moody's. Enough said.

Now, before we bust a vein about the greatest man made disaster to ever hit the earth thus far that we have been warning about every single day for 5 months straight, Fukushima is killing millions of people and they don't even know it yet.

Fukushima. Bad for you. Bad for the whole world. Ready?

- Radiation levels climbing rapidly. Higher levels than Chernobyl exclusion zone discovered 250 km outside ground zero. Must read.

- Japanese gov't to monitor blogs and twitter over Fukushima comments. Gee, I wonder why...

- Japan raising radiation limit to 20 millisieverts/year leads to 160,000 lifetime cancers per million people

- Argentum-110m detected in marine life: China researchers — All water samples contain strontium-90

- Radiation Hot Spots Spreading as the gov’t checks radiation up to 460 km from ground zero.

- New Data Supports Previous Fairewinds Analysis, as Contamination Spreads in Japan and Worldwide

- 27,000 Bq/kg cesium in kindergarten near west coast of Japan — 200+ km from meltdowns

and about a dozen other important news updates on this ELE. We don't know about you, but we're sick of it all.

Regards!

Waxing and Waning Wednesday- Record Number of People Say Inflation Is Hitting Food; Droughts To Impact Beef Prices, Expect 15-20% Increases By Fall; Target's "Fantastic" Number's Explained; Housing, Say Hello To 1959 Data; UK Unemployment Jumps, Records Made; China Pharmaceuticals Sell Aborted Babies As "Stamina Pills"; Fukushima Updates; More

2011-08-17T10:03:00.000-06:00

We can't help but think how Dr. Deficit lives with himself. He obviously sees only what he wants to see, for his own agenda. Case in point - inflation. "There is no inflation," is one of the quotes that will go down in history as one of the most absurd and embarrassing of all time, from anyone in any position of power. It's right up there with "Read my lips! No new taxes!"

We've been reporting what we like to call "real time inflation" which is what you and I are paying at any given time. It's not "transitory" as the good doctor wants you to believe, but rather, a permanent fixture part of the "new normal."

Yesterday, ZeroHedge ran an article entitled, "Record Number Of People Say They Are Paying More For Groceries Now Than Ever Before." The title in itself says it all, but as we have been pointing since we began, inflation is real and it's here to stay. An incredible 93% of the people polled said they are paying more for food than last year - just read the whole article for perspective. Of course, if you are human, living on planet earth and you don't belong to the top 5% earners, you already knew that.

As we said, all things being constant, inflation will continue to increase and this time, it's not transitory. It turns out, all things are not constant, as the recent all time record breaking droughts across much of the U.S. has shown. Expect beef prices to jump as the drought forces record sale lots of cattle in DFW. A quick napkin diagram says to expect beef prices to jump by at least 15-20% this fall. They might need to retake the above Rasmussen poll in December.

The PPI is out today, and it shows producer inflation at the core had the biggest jump since January, which already was near a record high. Eventually, those price increases will trickle up (versus trickle down like the wealth you are feeling) to the consumer as margins are protected at all costs.

Another one of our daily reads, The Burning Platform, has an interesting piece about retailer Target's "fantastic" results. It turns out, despite the MSM spewing their radioactive propaganda about how Target's results are bull...ish for the economy, TBP says it plainly - "The truth is that Target’s core retail business is making less than last year. The 3.9% sales increase is completely driven by food and clothing inflation as they have shifted their mix to groceries." Yes it is. As we've been pointing out to our readers, sales in price data is nothing but more smoke and mirrors when you have inflation rooted in 12% YoY M1.

Another "look behind the numbers," shows that yesterday's housing data, which in itself was horrid (and thus completely ignored by the MSM) was even worse than the surface data suggests. The 425k new single family starts was the worst number since they started records in 1959(!) and we're smack in the middle of the home building season. Oops.

Of course, housing analysts have to be ultimately bullish, because their business depends on retail suckers buying the bait. However, the false hope that housing demand is "pent up" has been touted since 2009 and has utterly failed. Multi-generational living is the trend and it will not change anytime soon. Housing, is dead for at least the next decade... or five.

Speaking of dead, UK unemployment data was released today and shows (surprise, surprise!) that unemployment in the Unemployed Kingdom was higher by 37k, to 7.9% - the highest single monthly increase since June 2009 - not that bad, right? The real juicy parts are deeper in the pudding. The number of people working part time jobs because they can't find a full time job is at the highest since the records began 20 years ago. That says more than all surface numbers.

Finally, we focus on Asia:

- where in China we find that aborted or stillborn human babies, are microwaved dry, ground up into powder and sold by pharmaceutical companies as "stamina booster" pills. Did you expect anything less shocking from the same country that, 1) skins dogs alive and leaves them to die a slow painful death, 2) endorses eating boiled human fetuses in rural areas, 3) produces toxic products that are passed off as safe for infants and children and 4) that treats humans like a natural resource to be used in any way they find fit? No wonder why greedy American CEO's move entire businesses to China where slavery is legal.

- where in Japan, the truth about Fukushima continues to be hidden from the public. Also here and here for recent occurrences. And those 30km evacuation zones? Try 186,000 Bq/kg 100km (one hundred kilo meters) from Fukushima. Now, what expert said Fukushima is not even as bad as Three Mile Island?

To The "Neins" Tuesday- Germany Says Nein To Eurobonds, as German GDP Collapses; New Gold Currency To Be Standard For Arab World; Anything Related To Real Estate is Collapsing; Shell Oil Reporting Another BP in North Sea; Wealth Gap Growing as Saks 5th Ave Sees Strong Growth and Wal-Mart Sees More Food Stamps; Fuksuhima Updates, No Good News For Japan and The World

2011-08-16T11:52:00.000-06:00

New Gold Standard, But It "Ain't Money" Says Dr. Deficit

We continue to be amused by "the markets," which have no clue what is going on other than holding onto a slight hope that Dr. Deficit will print, print and print some more. At this point, given the reality of an economic depression, we're more than guaranteed QE3 will be a go for the fall/winter. Of course, as we mentioned months ago, QE3 will have to undergo a total image transformation so it can be sold to the sheeple as a positive waste of money boost for "the economy" and whatever remains of it after the pillaging by Wall Street banksters.

Unfortunately, McDonald's "hiring day," which the MSM spun as a positive event for the economy, really should be another warning signal that the economy is no longer on the brink, but rather now falling off a cliff. Why? Over 1 Million people applied for hamburger flipping jobs, yet only 62k jobs were available. That leaves 938,000+ people still searching for hamburger flipping jobs. During "normal" economic conditions, it would have been difficult to find 6k people to fill those 62k McDonald's jobs. You figure it out. (FYI- Our GEES scale is fluctuating between mid 6 and high 6, once again. What is this signaling? Higher gold prices and further global instability, most likely.)

The ongoing talks about "Eurobonds" that are to somehow magically save the whole global economy from collapse, are just as we suspected, nothing but talk, as the German magazine Der Spiegel points out. We know, the German people will not take too kindly to the notion that they will be paying through the nose for the next 80 years just to save a few little PIIGS. Is it worth saving the EU? Expect mass unrest if Angie says "Ja!," and market turmoil if Angie says "Nein!" Either way, the global economy is headed to the dumper.

Speaking of dumps, it looks like the German economy took a big dump, as ZeroHedge explains in detail. The bottom line - The German economy has just about halted to a complete stop and a recession is looking likely. Now, if the world's strongest industrialized economy is coming to a full stop and rolling backwards in some areas, how exactly, Mein Herr, is Germany going to save the PIIGS? Answer: it won't. Insert Dr. Deficit's solution: print more money. Logical reaction to Dr. Deficit's solution: gold. Which is why the demand is so strong - $1776 (Ja!) and climbing higher. There is no way out for Dr. Deficit and Co.

Speaking of gold, the prototype of the "Khalifa Coin" will be presented to the public next Monday. The gold Khalifa coin is "to be established in the Arab world as its official currency." Dr. Deficit, what did you say about gold not being "money?" Oops. Remember they wanted gold for oil and not fiat? Gee, you wonder why?

Anyone interested in real estate (the five people on the radio trying tell you that "the real estate market is red hot!") might want to read up on what we predicted months ago before the good doctor began fiscal suicide. In short, your "housing recovery," won't be for another decade... or five.

Sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but Shell Oil is reporting a massive oil leak in the North Sea a' la, the BP gulf major catastrophe which is still ongoing. Should be good for the economy, as all disasters are bullish for the markets. Right, CNBS?

As we have reported since day one, the Dr. Deficit printing plan is a total failure of epic proportions. One unintended consequence, is the giant wealth gap it has created, which is a clear signal that not only is the world on the verge of total economic collapse, the world is on the verge of societal collapse as well. As Reuters highlights, Saks 5th Avenue is experiencing strong growth, while Wal-Mart is seeing more and more people using food stamps. Two ends of the spectrum and as we speculated, it's the wrong side that is growing. Expect social unrest, flash mobs and general anger.

Finally, let's talk Fukushima for a minute. Everyone needs to start paying attention to this ongoing and escalating global disaster. To the people 5000 miles away that think they are safe and cozy from Fukushima radiation, think again. A "rogue citizen" armed with a radiation monitor in Toronto, Canada did a test 2 days ago after it rained. He discovered the the radiation amounted to 20,000 cpm/sq meter of alpha/beta particle combinations. God only knows which one(s) of the dozens of radioactive isotopes Fukushima is spewing around the world the test is detecting.

In California, researchers have just published an article that showed they discovered the highest levels ever detected of radioactive sulfur in the weeks following the events at Fukushima. Why this is just published now should be obvious.

It seems the slow death of the people of Japan has already started, as this article is leaking to the public. A volunteer who has been helping animals 20km from Fukushima has died suddenly of acute leukemia. There are not many details and the article says the media is not reporting this event (for obvious reasons) but Strontium 90, which has been spreading all over Japan is a cause of leukemia. Also, the same article mentions a 32 year old woman who was a co-founder of "Save Fukushima Children in Toyama" suddenly died of acute cardiac infraction - the cause of which is Cesium. Very disturbing to see this already, but we warned everyone back in April to prepare for this. We're afraid this is just the beginning, as the 5-8 month time frame placed on victims begins. The ongoing events in Japan need to be monitored and is far more important than money.

Anniversary Monday- Today is the 40th Anniversary of Gold-free Fiat; Made in China Report Almost Too Comical; NY Empire Manufacturing Plummets to Fresh Lows, Worst Readings Since 2001; ECB Buys Up $32 Billion Worth of Worthless Bonds; June's TIC Data Signals Exit For Private Investors; Bank of America Fire Sale; Fukushima, Deadly News, Warnings; Much More

2011-08-15T13:41:00.000-06:00

Time to run to the Hallmark store and buy one of those "Happy 40th Anniversary" cards (Made in China, of course) that plays music when you open it, and send it to former El Presidente Richard Nixon and thank him for creating this floating fiat monetary system removed from the gold standard and by extension, the debt crisis the whole world is currently in. Now, before you go off on a tantrum and argue that the benefits outweighed the negatives, remember that gold (that yellow "tradition" which is not money per Dr. Deficit's definition) at that time was $35/oz. We don't think it necessary to reiterate the price of gold today, 40 years later (it's $1760 FWIW). Nor do we think it's necessary to remind our readers of the fact that a new Ford Mustang in 1971 cost $3,200 compared to $32,000 today. Worse still, for what a new Mustang costs today, a home could have been purchased in 1971. The list goes on.

Dr. Deficit's argument ~~is moot~~ is based on his own ~~personal insanity~~ claims that because today's Mustang has an MP3 jack, HID headlamps and 6 airbags, you are getting more so you should pay more. Sorry Jack, that bird don't fly.

Which brings us to our next point - our "Happy 40th Fiat Anniversary" card is made in China, along with dozens of components and electronics in the Mustang. Therefore, if fiat currency is declared legal tender by virtue of... well, nothing of real intrinsic value, how does a now 90% service economy "service" it's own fiat currency? One word, faith.

The problem is, bailing out the banksters means a lot more fiat is floating around today than just in 2008. You can figure out the rest. But before you do, you must read this ~~propaganda~~ MSM piece floating around the internet and making the front page of Yahoo News and other sites, written to disguise the ugly reality of global insanity. The article is entitled, " 'Made in China' Goods Only Small Sliver of U.S. Consumption." You did not read that incorrectly. It says, Wal-Mart is filled with American made sutff. You can figure out where this is going. In its contents, you will find "statistics" provided by two Federal Reserve "economists" (it really pains us to use that word) that show just 2.7% (that's two point seven!) of all U.S. purchases made have the "Made in China" label and an incredible 88.5% (eighty eight point five!) of consumer spending is on products "Made in the USA." If you think they are clearly lying, you're right.

A quick glance around our office reveals the complete opposite of their findings - 88.5% of all products are "Made in China" while just 2.7% are "Made in the USA." Nearly, every electronic item here - from the copy/fax/printer, to the computer monitors, to the telephones, to the computer speakers, to the mouse pads, to the keyboards, to the file organizers, to the calculators, to the IKEA lamps, to the staplers, to the surge protectors, to the paper shredder, to every electronic cable, the battery chargers, to even the coffee cup - all "Made in China." You get the point. Needless to say, every Apple product we use is also "Made in China." The list is endless, and we're sure if you were to take inventory of everything in your home or office, your results would be similar - unless you have not bought a single item since 1985.

About the only things we found in the office that are not "Made in China" are the 5 Hour Energy drinks (Yippie! Made in the USA) and various items of clothing we are wearing (Made in India, Pakistan or Vietnam). Other than that, it's all Chinese made. No wonder, the Federal Reserve has everything wrong. Wait. What's that? You mean you've been holding the charts upside down? No wonder you guys see "recovery" when we see economic depression!

Another ~~propaganda~~ MSM piece that stinks worse than gangrened flesh of European Banks, and yet somehow made the top headlines in this morning's Yahoo News was this article entitled, "Futures higher despite NY factory data." The best part about this article is the fact that it does not even mention the Empire State manufacturing numbers directly, but only says they are worse than expected. Probably because they were so horrific. Ironically, the article mentions very specifically that the "S&P made gains of 5.8 points[...]" Simply amazing. The level of reporting by the MSM has gone from bad to worse these past few days and is shaping up more and more like a George Orwell novel.

Here's our take on the horrific numbers from the Empire State Manufacturing Index: 1) This is now the third consecutive month that manufacturing has plunged off a cliff, printing at -7.72 from -3.76 on "expectations" of 0.00 (that's zero). Once again, Wall Street's finest outdo themselves with precision and perfect expectations. 2) We find it hard to believe that nobody on Wall Street is talking recession given today's data - three months straight. Just ignore the cold hard facts and rally the markets on a weaker dollar and more hopium crack. 3) New Orders plunged to -7.80 and unfilled orders plunged to -15.2. Which means come next month, the economy (or what remains of it) will be screaming "depression!" and nobody will be able to deny reality. 4) Finally, straight from the horse's mouth:

"The future general business conditions index plummeted twenty-four points to 8.7, its lowest level since February 2009, and the future new orders and shipments indexes, while positive, fell to near-record lows exceeded only by their September 2001 readings. The capital expenditures index was also down sharply."

We don't think we need to add anything to this. Next.

Last week, it seemed as if the markets were about to implode over the EU's debt troubles. This week, the ECB buys up an all time record $32 Billion worth of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Irish ~~toilet paper~~ bonds and suddenly, market euphoria is back. Bond yields come down, stocks go up. All of the problems that were last week's news have suddenly vanished because the ECB is buying up all of the worthless debt, tearing a page straight out of Dr. Deficit's own playbook. We asked this question back in March when the Fed was the buyer of ~~only~~ last resort of U.S. Treasuries and we'll ask it again as it seems fitting - "If a central bank can buy up its nation's debt, why haven't they done this all along?" Got faith? We wonder how long this circus can keep going.

Speaking of faith, June's TIC data (courtesy of ZeroHedge) shows all time record amount of monthly selling of U.S. Treasuries by non-Central banks, or $18.3 Billion worth. Central banks bought $13.8 Billion worth of worthless toilet paper - simply because, just like China - they have to. It's that simple. If China was to really dump U.S. Treasuries as they have been blabbing about since 2008, they would have to call it quits as well. The whole global ponzi requires China to buy up U.S. Treasuries for all eternity. It will end in war for sure, once they say no more to the ECB's bluff and the U.S.'s games. The question is, ~~Hu's~~ who's debt is worse? All things being constant, the EU's debt is not only toxic, it's downright radioactive. And just wait until the Italians come back from vacationing and realize that their pensions and benefits have been wiped out due to "austerity measures," we'll be sure to see the same riots in Italy as in Greece. Perhaps worse. Guess who is buying gold? Next.

Speaking of riots, Bank of America is having a fire sale, to keep the lights on for another month or so until the the next TARP 2.5 QE3.9 bailout package is approved. Be sure to keep your eyes on BofA. We just hope Wall Street's finest ~~scum~~ who have been calling BofA a "Strong Buy" and who have been calling for U.S. growth of 4% or more finally get the boot. They are not worth $10/hr let alone $4.2 Million per year + bonuses for being wrong 88.5% of the time.

In other radioactive news, Fukushima is still spewing giga Becquerels of radiation around the globe and we really fear for the lives of the people of Japan who do not have the resources or means to leave those death zones while they still can. The situation continues to escalate, now even 5 months later as you will soon see.

First, we learn from a reliable source inside Japan - EX-SKF - that an astonishing 166,000,000 Bq/m² of iodine-131 and 21,200,000 Bq/m² of cesium 134 was detected by researchers 4 km from Fukushima. These numbers are more worrisome because the presence of iodine 131 which has a short 8 day half-life means nuclear fission continues to take place.

Also from EX-SKF, we learn that a hospital in Miyagi (Sendai) is reporting the typical radiation sickness symptoms - decrease in white blood cells, headache, nausea and hair falling out in clumps. One nurse reports,

"When we wash their hair, it comes off in a clump. It is really scary. The doctor says, "I really wonder why the white blood cell count is down..." Doctor, don't be so relaxed about it. There is going to be more and more people who don't respond to treatment."

Well of course. What do they expect when they are finding radioactive iodine in 50% of the children? Certainly, the man last week in Tokyo with high levels of radiation was not a one off rarity. We suspect millions of people all over Japan are exposed to high levels of internal radiation and certainly the hot particles which kill them slowly.

A recent ABC news Australia documentary shows the real story behind what is going on in Japan. The principal of a pre-school almost broke down in tears while discussing the high radioactivity of the school and the impact on children. Her geiger counter shows levels "off the charts" and the gov't is saying to do nothing, just go on with your lives. Very sad, but a must watch. If you need still more information on this ELE event, then we advise you to watch this documentary from 60 Minutes.

Free Fall Fryday- Texas University Looking Like Geniuses After April's $1 Billion Delivery of Gold; Consumer Confidence Plunges to Worst Since 1980, Signals Ongoing Depression; Radioactive Rice Sends Rice Up 40% at Auction; Short Selling Ban in Effect; Stage Set for Another European Liquidity Crisis; Retail Sales, a Wash; Student Loan Debt More Than Credit Card Debt, First Time Ever; Much More

2011-08-12T10:50:00.000-06:00

We continue to be amused by the market's actions and even more amused by big tyme ~~amateurs~~ CEO's of asset management firms who are short gold, the VIX and Treasuries. While short term moves may be in his favor, longer term he will get fried like the dozens of trading shops in London that were short gold big tyme and now, have gone the way of the Dodo bird. Sorry guys, you should have read our blog.

Of course, any seasoned trader knows, large moves up or down (such as gold's epic move up to $1800) need to be filled, so a healthy move down in gold is in order - especially given now that CME raised margin requirements, again.

We're sure the people at Texas University are happy. They took delivery of $1 Billion in gold back in mid April when gold was $1450. We remember Texas U received a lot of slack from the MSM about such an "irrational" move as the MSM called it, and immediately the hedgefunds and asset management teams jumped on the short gold bandwagon based on false economic data (green shoots anyone?) and "hope." Remember, hope is not a sound investment strategy. Neither is investing in phony markets.

Will we see a repeat? With every central bank of the world locked in a race to devalue their currency the fastest, gold has only one way to go. Central planning has thus failed, because they have created a self-fulfilling feedback loop. The more money they "print" to shore up the banksters, the worse the global economic conditions become. A reader recently emailed us his take: "You are right. It seems like the higher the markets go on false recovery hopes, the worse the REAL economy gets." We know. Which is why gold is in high demand. And, which is why the markets are so screwed up - on the worst Consumer Confidence report since 1980(!) "the markets" rally - 54.9 versus 63.7, almost a full 9 point drop in a month. Can't wait to here the pompom cheer leaders on CNBS call that bull...ish.

Speaking of bull...ish news, the ~~insolvent and ready to go belly up~~ USPS is planning to cut 120,000 jobs. All in the name of cost cutting. This news should be worth a few hundred points on the Down(n) Jones today. Until... reality strikes. We just like to stay ahead of the curve.

Any "analyst" worth his weight in radioactive rice knows that the latest Consumer Confidence report is signaling ~~the global economic depression we are in is about to get much, much worse~~ the wonderful "green shoots recovery" you have been enjoying (that is, if you are a CEO of a TBTF bank), is officially over. Oops. Just wait til those 120,000 Postal workers go postal.

Then again, we've been saying since we began this blog, the recovery was all an illusion and the global economy was in a depression. Don't worry about the global economy entering a "new recession" because the global economy never got out of the first one - and all this despite "the markets" rallying 100% since the lows. Which should tell you how good "the markets" and the carbon based lifeforms that run them behind silicon based lifeforms are at reading reality. Epic. Fail.

Just yesterday we asked if the signals for an international ban on short selling was about to be enacted, as the EU dismissed rumors that they would ban short selling. Sure enough, before the day was over, the ban on short selling was enacted. Oops. Once again, ZeroHedge tears them apart. Here's a rundown of yesterday's game - At 1:00 PM, short ban yes. At 2:00 PM, short ban dismissed as rumor. At 4:00 PM, no short ban. At 5:00 PM short ban on. Ahhh yes. Confidence.

One thing we can have confidence in is another major liquidity crisis in Europe. The stage is set. Confidence.

Speaking of confidence, Retail Sales, which we speculated last month will go higher this month based on M1 money supply of a whopping 12% YoY, went higher. But not by much - just 0.5% (with +/- 0.5%) on expectations of 0.3%, and that includes gasoline sales which were up 23.6%! Isn't it ironic that Wall Street's finest can't even get this number right, based on M1 money supply? Do they even know how to add and subtract basic math?

Further, as we explained last month, sales in price is not sales in units. So, once again, retail sales signal nothing good about the economy other than that we have inflationary pressures mounting. It doesn't take a ~~poison~~ Ivy League degree to read through the smoke. But the markets will rally on this and ignore the consumer confidence disaster - only to collapse shortly.

We learn that for the first time ever, student loan debt has increased so much that it now exceeds credit card debt in the U.S. But why not? After all, student loans are doubly and triply back up by the U.S. gov't which is the U.S. taxpayer. Must read article on the big scam called a college degree.

Speaking of scams, the whole "corporate profits" thingy is about to blow up - another smoke and mirrors game going down in flames as Charles Hugh Smith explains in great detail. Must read.

Before we leave the whole Europe ~~is on the verge of complete collapse~~ scene, you might want to read about the big miss in French GDP, which won't help their efforts at paying their debts anytime soon given zero growth and rising costs. And people are wondering why one of France's largest banks, SocGen went down the drain? Blame those darn shorts for your troubles. Next, we'll hear selling of anything in the stock market is banned.

Be sure to check back often as we update Fukushima news later on in the day. You won't want to miss it.

Desperate Measures Thursday- Is an International Ban on Short Selling Imminent?; Repeat of 2008 is Clearly on the Way, But Much Worse; UK's PM Wants to Shutdown Social Media, Like China; Initial Claims, and Laugh; Big Companies Preparing For Slowdown; TEPCO Lost Contact With 143 Nuclear Plant Workers, We Speculate On Their Location; Fukushima Updates; Much More

2011-08-11T11:43:00.001-06:00

All the world's a stage, and it's in the final scene. Here's why.

The old cliche about 'when times get tough the tough get going,' still holds true. With "the markets" now making the same wild daily swings as they did in 2008 just before the great collapse of Lehman Brothers et al, we can say with confidence that all confidence in the markets is lost. With that said, what are TPTB to do to keep the appearance up of "stability?" The same desperate measures they tried in 2008 - a ban on short selling - will most likely be tried again. And fail.

Of course, just as in 2008, this ban did nothing but shake the confidence in "the markets" even further as ZeroHedge points out in this article. As if somehow, banning all selling (in essence what they tried to do) would have a positive impact on the markets to keep them propped up. Sure, let's invest in something that we can never sell in this "free market."

Today, Italian stocks continue to get battered and two favorites, Unicredit and Intesa Sanpalo, both were halted multiple times during the day. Attention retail investors - you are not allowed to sell stocks, only buy them. It's a mad, mad world run by mad, mad people. As the possible Presidential candidate for Ireland says, the whole EU is run by "mad people." Seeing what the UK wants to do to the internet, we'll have to agree.

Now, today is Thursday, which means ~~the irrelevant and bogus~~ Initial Claims data is out. We will only report the numbers because it's comical to watch the cheer leaders come out with pompoms in hand and rally "the markets" on this bogus number again, only to have next weeks "revised" number swept under the rug. Today's comical print at 395k on "expectations" of 409k. We guarantee 99.99% that next week the number will be revised upward.

As always, one of Wall Street's finest analysts come out with pompoms in hands to rally the sheeple into buy on this "news." Read it for fun anyways so you can see what these "analysts" are worth. Two words for the amateur who wrote it: Epic. Fail.

Of course, that big companies like Pepsi, Honda, Walt Disney et al are bracing for weakened demand should come as no surprise. Also not surprising will be the big jobs cuts from these companies in their best efforts to preserve profits.

The bull...ish (for CNBS) record breaking droughts that are sweeping the nation will be adding a ~~dozens~~ few percentages points to the price of your next meal as this crop report indicates. In short - significantly less crops for this year equals significantly higher prices at the grocer. Here's the report, but only if you dare know the future. Might want to keep track of it for later.

In other radioactive news, TEPCO says that they "lost contact" with 143 nuclear plant workers. We could make a million jokes about this, but it's plain to see that this is more than clerical errors. The Japanese are not known to be inaccurate ~~unless they hired Americans working for the DMV~~ which leads us to conclude that most likely, these "missing" workers were either 1) abducted by "purple squid looking aliens" (hat tip to Stephen Hawkings for that laugh out loud moment) or 2) most of the missing are in a hospital somewhere dying or dead of radiation poisoning. Given ~~TEPCO's notorious track record for this kind of stuff~~ their handling of past situations and reality, we'll bet on option 2.

From one of the best sources to come from inside Japan, EX-SKF, we learn of many horrific events over the past week - in essence, crimes committed against humanity; many of which we discussed and speculated about and now have been confirmed. One of particular interest however, is concerning what is more recently going on between citizens and the gov't. He says,

"It's all about money. The national and prefectural governments don't want to spend on the residents, decontamination, compensation. So what do they do? They return the residents to their high-radiation homes and schools by telling them Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is broken in a stable way, so carry on with your lives and stay there."

If you have the time, read his posts. They will enlighten you about what is really going on in Japan.

Finally, from Energy News we learn that Japan's nuclear authority is hiding the test results of at least 1,000 Fukushima children. We already know the reason why and it breaks our hearts. Just like the man we reported on yesterday who never even visited Fukushima and had deadly levels of radiation and the shipping container seized in Egypt that was laced with deadly radiation, the handwriting is on the wall for all to see.

Updates
Update 1: Exactly as we predicted, Japan's economy will be taking big hits sooner rather than later as the exported "stuff" is confiscated at ports around the world due to high radiation levels. Incredible. Russia is rejecting cars from Japan because they are coming into the country will high levels of radiation. Oops.

Twilight Zone Wednesday- GEES Scale Flashing Warning as Systemic Breakdown of Global Financial System Begins; Stock Broker Jumps Out Window Over Losses; London Riots Spreading; French Banks Take Dirt Nap; Contagion Spreads as Sarkozy Cuts Vacation Short For Emergency Meeting; Fukushima Events Are Terrifying; Much More

2011-08-10T12:31:00.003-06:00

We are living it.

If you've been reading this blog and keeping up to date with all of the developments, you are not shocked to see the markets in total chaos. You know ~~the world has entered the end game~~ it's pathetic when the direction of "the markets" is based solely on whether or not Dr. Deficit will run the printers. Fundamentals have as much meaning as a tooth pick holding up the Empire State Building. Worse still is the fact that direct intervention by every central bank in the markets is making the situation much worse. Sure, the indexes have been propped up to 2007 levels with all that free money, giving the illusion to the sheeple ~~and bimbos on CNBS~~ that all is well. But what justifies P/E ratios of 1200x is mystifying - no, it's comical.

Just yesterday, we alerted our readers that our Goldman Sachs fighting GEES Scale algorithm is flashing the big neon red "WARNING" sign, as we were about 75% of the way through level 6 already. Today, thanks to the VIX exploding and gold itching to move over $1800 cleanly, the GEES scale has moved up a few notches to about 92% of level 6. You already know the next level and what you should expect if that hits.

Granted, the GEES scale is still in the late "developmental stage" and there are still kinks to work out but without a doubt, and very frighteningly, it's been spot on so far. Just re-read the Level 6 definition. It reads like today's news.

Obviously, the chaos that is "the markets" is starting to shape up like the first Great Depression (as opposed to this Greatest Depression) and not just on the financial loss side of the equation but also on the social unrest and mental depression side. Just today, we learn that a Korean stock broker leaped to his death amid the market turmoil. Sadly, this will be the first of many cases. However, we find it odd that NBC LA decided to list this news in the "weird news" section. Why is that news weird?

It's interesting to note that the London riots were not about race but about social unrest and poor economic conditions we see spreading all around the world as this article points out. According to the BBC, the riots are just getting worse minute by minute. Social unrest is a good indicator of the real economic conditions as it's directly related to overall well being. You do the math here. Once again, everything that we predicted was based on basic math - 1+1=2. That's how simple it's to see where everything is heading. Our GEES algorithm is based on the same principal of 1+1=2, unlike in Greece where 1+1=4.

The same can be said of what is happening in the banking industry. Today, France's largest bank, Société Générale, got the proverbial boot to the groin as it takes a 20% stock plunge on rumors that it's game over for the big baguette and the countries AAA credit rating is about to be cut up like fresh bread. Oops.

Needless to say, most of Europe followed the same course because, the ironic economic twist called the circle jerk EU, whereby every bank is somehow on the hook for the other bank. Oops again. Which could be why President Sarkozy is not feeling so cozy today as he cuts his vacation short to hold closed door emergency meetings. Double oops, because now he's got to explain that to the wifey.

A whole boatload of Italian stocks saw the big halt order as they plunged 10% or more, only to plunge after restarting. Contagion - It's what's for dinner.

Of course, American banks are ~~over exposed over leveraged insolvent~~ not immune to contagion as they all feast off one another. Which means BofA's problems are Duetsche Bank's problems and Deutsche Bank's problems are BofA's problems and SocGen's problems. Which means BofA's CEO has got lot's 'o 'splaining to do about putback risk. Oops. Watch for TARP QE 2.5 to begin if BofA's stock plummets another 20% or so. Is QE2.5 and QE3 and QE9 to QE Infinity coming? Eventually. As soon as hyperinflation in other countries slows down.

Let's not forget that the global economy is still in a full swing recovery like the bimbos on CNBS and the whole MSM have been telling us for the past two years - jobs are plentiful, the cost of living is going down, length of time for the unemployed is next to nothing, and who need's food stamps when everyone's got a job? In short, everything is just great. And there is no inflation. Did I forget anything? Yes. Hu Who wants to own that "worthless tradition" called gold? Nobody!

And Fukushima? Forgetaboutit! Everything is great and getting better by the minute. First, we learn that a recent environmental study that collected fish about 35 miles (55 kilometers) from the coast of Japan, showed that every single sample taken contained deadly levels of radioactive cesium(!). It goes without saying what that means for every living creature in the ocean, hundreds of miles out. We'd advise you cross off all sushi and fish from the Pacific Ocean if you care about living. We have been warning everyone that this would happen based on simple mathematical calculations and data from "rogue" citizens armed with radiation detectors. And as the resigned and now possibly dead former official who said two months ago - 'the revelations that will be discovered will be shocking [...].' Nothing is more bullish for the economy than an "extinction level event" such as Fukushima.

Next, we learn that now for a third time in recent weeks, another shipping container was seized by Egyptian authorities because they were "infected with deadly radiation." Oops. If shipping containers are spewing deadly radiation, well - again, it goes without saying. We told you so. And there is more coming.

And finally (for now, only because there is so much activity going on), from our favorite source of Fukushima news, Energy News is reporting that a Tokyo man who never even visited Fukushima has just tested positive for 7,000 (that's seven thousand!) Becquerels of Cesium 134 and 868 Becquerels of Cesium 137(!). In other words, if he was a fish, the Japanese gov't (who raised the "safe" limit from 250 Bq/kg to 500 Bq/kg after the accident because suddenly radiation became healthy for you) would have tossed him in the incinerator. According to world renowned radiation expert, Ann Coulter, this must be the healthiest man on the planet, along with the millions of Tokyo residents.

If this is not the Twilight Zone, then I don't know what is.

Printing Presses Tuesday- Dr. Deficit Painted Into Corner As Markets Collapse and Inflation Hits China; Debt Ceiling To Be Breached In 7 Months or Less; Housing Dead For Years If Not Decades; Massive Riots and Unrest Sweep Across London; S&P Downgrades Thousands of Munis; Top Fed Official Under Dr. Deficit Resigns; GEES Scale In Full Emergency Watch Level 6; Much More

2011-08-09T14:44:00.001-06:00

A Night To Remember By WB7. Visit His Site For Great Stuff!

To print, or not to print. That is the question! What is Dr. Deficit to do? As we pointed out to our readers way back in March in one of our earliest articles entitled, "Painting The Global Economy In a Corner," Dr. Deficit has really run out of options - and time - and "the global markets" (now consisting of 80% computer algos and 10% carbon based life forms and 10% we don't know what) are starting to wake up to cold, hard realities. Such realities as, P/E ratios of 1200x earnings (LNKD), broken (fundamentally) housing markets, an obliterated middle class, sky-high unemployment, 12% real time inflation, negative real GDP, completely bogus and manipulated statistics, etc., etc., and etc., are all coming home to roost. This is the year it all comes apart.

Not one week ago, we warned that due to the compounding nature of ~~a global ponzi economy~~ fiat debt, the "debt ceiling" will need to be raised in 7 months time at the current rate - barring no major catastrophes that is. As the Washington Post highlights following last week's limit increase, the U.S. ate up 60% of the initial debt ceiling increase in a single day (hey, somebody must be looking to make another Guinness Book of World Records for most money spent on stupidity). Oops. We can't wait to see how this is spun in November by the bimbos on CNBS when it is "discovered" (like the newly discovered radiation in Japan, who could have known?) that the Treasury has used up 60% of the entire 2 year $2.7 Trillion allotment in just 3 months(!).

We said when we return next Tuesday (today) that we would discuss other "events" including the housing situation. Well, we have good news and bad news for you. The good news is housing is dead. The bad news is housing is dead. Needless to say, people want to get out of their homes, like right now but due to this wonderful "economic green shoots recovery" (hey, look! The Dow is up to 12,800! Everything must be great!) nobody is buying. And why would they? Better yet, how can they?

Historically, housing (and real estate in general) was a relatively safe investment - one that usually appreciates in value over time and one necessity you actually build your dreams in. However, more and more people are waking up to the fact that their home values have plunged to levels not seen in 10 or more years - in some cases, levels not seen in 20 years. The picture is far, far worse when you consider property taxes and inflation over that time. Inflation alone has eaten up a whopping 17% of your real time purchasing power since 2008. In short, housing is in a death spiral for which there is no recovery. The house you are living in now, most likely will be the home you will be living in for the next, who-knows-how-long. Everyone knows this but no one wants to admit it.

Did we mention the giant 2.7 million shadow inventory lurking right around the corner?

Therefore, we can plainly see the inevitable outcome, and to answer the question at the outset, to print will ultimately be what the Dr. orders in the form of QE2.1 (followed by QE2.5 and QE3), because we all know who well the first round of QE1, QE1 Lite and QE2 worked out for everyone... we're still waiting to feel the "wealth effect" Dr. Deficit. Perhaps QE3 will not come today, but soon and the name will be changed to something softer. Perhaps, "Monetary Smoothies."

Speaking of the poverty effect, Dr. Deficit just shot a dead cat down Wall Street for the bounce this morning. Any whiff of QE3 in today's 2:15 PR, and the markets will rally (for inflation). But maybe they realize throwing money into an endless pit doesn't work after all (see also: Greece) it just makes everything expensive for the average Joe.

Of course, with China's CPI pushing now 6.5%, or a hot inflation level not seen since the hot inflation spike of 2008, we doubt China will continue to buy ~~worthless toilet paper~~ U.S. treasury bills if the Fed prints more worthless paper. Isn't it ironic that the only major export the U.S. now has is inflation? Soon the data will be released that shows the U.S. went from a 70% service economy to a 90% service economy and then, well... it will give the doctor more reason to print.

Any seasoned investor knows that this is not a market to invest money in if you want to have access to it later. Needless to say, if the markets were to drop to more fundamental levels (read: 4500 Dow), there would be a market holiday called and everything closes. Even banks. Nothing instills confidence like closing shop for a day, or month.

We're sure the bimbos on CNBS are cheering the massive London riots (which are now spreading fast) as bullish for the global economy, just like Fukushima was über bull...ish. Think about the hundreds if not thousands of homes and businesses that were burnt to the ground and will need to be built. That will mean more jobs. More jobs means more tax revenue for the insolvent cities. More tax revenue means more more more of everything! Green shoots! See, total bull...ishness for the economy. And that my friends, is why they get paid the big bucks - like CEO's of insolvent banks who are under investigation for massive fraud and write cheap prep rally letters to their employees. Epic. Fail.

Speaking of epic fails, ever notice how incredible market volume flows return when the markets plunge 600 points but volume dries up to barely a trickle when the markets rally. Yeah, that's the confidence in the markets we're talking about. Like confidence you can hope in - as Greece and South Korea ban all short selling. Yeah, that works well. We know free markets always operate freely when the big hand moves things around to benefit itself. That's how you spell confidence.

The same confidence can be found in the thousands of municipal bonds that the S&P just downgraded. In other words, no bond is safe. No dollar is safe. No stock is safe. No single country is safe. Now look at gold. $1777 today and not far off from many of our one liner jokes - $2000 by the time we come back (today). We don't pretend to know where "the markets" will be going but one thing is certain - gold (and by extension silver) is going higher no matter what Dr. Deficit chooses to do. All the fancy wording in their press releases won't buy them a single day more when the SHTF. And yet, gold will go higher. "To the moon, Alice!" And best of all, you don't need a ~~poison~~ Ivy League degree to figure that out.

Speaking of the SHTF, one of Dr. Deficit's top advisers, Nathan Sheets ~~His Pants~~ just resigned as the Chief International Economic Adviser after almost four years. Oops. Must have been for "personal" reasons. You know, the old "I wanted to spend more time with the family," or "I'm seeking a better paying job." Or not. Just another rat fleeing the sinking ship? Like the hot money fleeing risky investments? As Ret. Senator Tim Ferguson says,

"This is why so many CEOs are bailing out with insane profits from questionable practices which would normally ruin their career for life, as they have raped their corporation (the latest is Grasso of the New York Stock Exchange); but they know the game is over, and it is now or never - this is their last chance to make millions and move to an island, for insiders are able to see that the economy is literally going to hell, and it will not climb out of hell in their lifetimes. (Some of these characters believe they have a room reserved underground to protect them from what is coming. Some are correct in thinking this, some are not. But many of those underground cities will be death traps, so you had better think twice before paying millions for your reservation. There are earth changes coming that will fundamentally rearrange the crust of the earth, most likely including your future bedroom.)"

Greek bank deposits declined to levels not seen since 2007 - in other words, the people don't trust their money in the banks. Bank runs are taking place across Greece (and the whole EU) very silently (Shhhh don't panic the sheep).

The past week has been one wild ride, to say the least, of which you can be sure is just the tip of the iceberg. The global Titanic hit the iceberg back in 2008 but remember, as with most icebergs, 90% of its mass is unseen.

Which is why our GEES scale has exploded in excitement from a high 5 to the maximum level 7 in a single day, and then back to mid 6 as the anomalies were purged from the algo (in other words, our algo has a few kinks to work out). Nevertheless, the GEES scale has settled much higher than before - currently hovering about 3/4 of the way on level 6. This is where we stand as per our definition:

Level 6- This is the final stage before imminent collapse. Governments continue to drown in debt and sovereign defaults begin (check!) Central Banks enact all emergency measures available to them (check!) Fiat money "printing" increases dramatically and Quantitative Easing returns in other forms and under another name (soon to be check!) Social unrest and tensions are explosive (double check!) Violent mass protests erupt around the world (check!) Bond yields of insolvent peripheral nations skyrocket (check check and check!) Central Banks attempt to contain the contagion (check!) Financial risks are very high (big check!) Municipal defaults occur (14000 checks!) Unemployment increases dramatically (100% check!) Economic activity slows rapidly (check and check!) All emergency measures are implemented to keep economy alive as hyperinflation spreads rapidly across the globe (soon to be check!) Gold and silver skyrocket (check for gold now check for silver later check!) Oil prices become nearly unattainable to most consumers (soon to be check!) Tensions between ally nations rise, leading to political rifts (the big final check!)

[Note: Bold highlights added for emphasis.] We think this speaks for itself. What has increased the danger? One major variable of the GEES algorithm is the VIX (volatility index) which in recent days has gone absolutely bonkers (which in part is why the GEES scale went off the chart and sent the algo flying off a handle) and this is a major component of the fear factor. The other is the price of gold which has skyrocketed to new highs - but not just the price but rather it's the pace at which gold has increased. That is an important factor. Let us not forget such variables as U.S bond yields which took the fear factor down a few notches as yields plummeted(!) - bringing the GEES to low level 6 - but then shot straight up on volatility and market volume and the great sell off began. Then there is the major factor of the U.S. debt downgrade to be followed by thousands of municipal downgrades and many, many corporate downgrades. We'll begin, ahead of the crowd with a BofA long term unsecured debt downgrade of B to D for default (read: insolvent without endless funny money). Outlook negative. But that's a whole 'nother story.

In the meantime, with the GEES scale now at .75 (+/- .25) level 6, it's only a matter of time now before it moves into level 7 territory and the real fireworks begin. Oh, and Fukushima? You can scratch off "visiting Japan" from your bucket list.

For now, there is more than enough doom in the financial markets to digest so we will leave Fukushima updates to another day. In the meantime, hold on to your hats! Tomorrow is another day.

Wacko Wednesday Update- We're Here To Update and Amuse as Gold Makes New Highs, the EU Disintegrates, the Debt Ceiling Gets Breached in 6 Months and So On and So Forth. Not to be Missed is Fukushima.

2011-08-03T18:56:00.000-06:00

Stupendous! What a week! A total informational overload if you will. We're gone for less than 5 days and it seems all hell has broken loose. We've received several emails from readers asking us about the debt ceiling and gold and stock prices and Fukushima and, of course our specialty - fiat. We'll take a few minutes to recap this week's developments but will return officially next Monday. Think of this as the appetizer at 9pm.

As we predicted weeks ago, the debt ceiling vote would pass simply because it had to pass, and it would simultaneously accomplish nothing except buy the U.S. a few months of time - oh, well and it would also give the ratings agencies a nice excuse to keep the AAA+++ Triple AAA Shiny AAA debt ratings pristine. We can't be havin' the U.S. downgraded, now can we?

However, even with this record debt limit increase, it will only hold the U.S. over a few months because of the exponential nature of the debt spiral. Consider: the Treasury will issue another $72 Billion next week alone just to "pay back" some of the $250 Billion in Federal pensions they tapped to keep the lights on over the past two weeks. And here's a little tidbit of info you can bring to the dinner table tonight - the U.S. gov't currently "borrows" 40 cents of every dollar it spends. Try running your household budget that way and see how long you last.

All things being equal and barring no further increase in interest payments for the sake of argument, the debt limit increase "bought" the U.S. just 311 days (give or take a taco or two) officially until the next debt ceiling is (b)reached. However, in real time math (aka, our calculations) on the exponential ~~death~~ debt scale that the U.S. is on, the actual time bought is less than 200 days, or roughly 6-7 months (give or take a ham sandwich or two) until the doom is back on. And you thought all the drama you crave was only on the Lifetime channel.

What astounds us entirely is the number of ~~sheeple~~ people that actually ~~bit the bait~~ bought into the whole "recovery" and "green shoots" thing the talking bimbos on CNBS were spewing for the past two years - but now they suddenly find themselves shocked by reality. Oops.

For the sake of time, we'll recap only a few of the more important news events that occurred over the past five days. Ready? Ok, sit back and strap on your seat belt, and see if what has transpired since our last article seems reminiscent of what we have been warning about. For your viewing pleasure, we present it in a David Letterman style Top 10 Countdown.

The Top Ten Events of the Past Five Days That You Need to Know Now, or Otherwise Known As, Why You Need To Borrow a Pair of Grandma's Adult Diapers Now

10) Debt ceiling is increased after weeks and weeks of political drama. Everyone with half a ~~radioactive~~ brain knew it would have to pass or else the inevitable would come early (Worker says, "Captain, the underground bunkers aren't completed yet!" Captain says, "Well then get a move on! We just got a 6 month extension before the storm comes and that is the last one.")

9) Euro zone manufacturing PMI collapsed to 50.4 in July from 52.0 in June. This was the worst reading since October 2009 and just above the level considered contraction. Did we mention that reading is after $2.2 Trillion was pumped into "the economy" since March. Oops.

8) July ISM manufacturing plummets 4.4% to 50.9 on Wall Street expectations of 54.9. Again, a number just above 50 is not a signal of strong growth, especially given the latest M1 money supply data which shows an astounding 12% YoY increase.

7) Detroit is now the 3rd most dangerous city in the world as crime is skyrocketing due to unemployment and the typical economic depression "kinda stuff." So congrats for making the list. Or not. And New Orleans? Try the 9th most dangerous city in the world - that says a lot when you've got to compete with gems such as Baghdad, Karachi and Caracas. We have to wonder if France would be willing to trade St. Tropez for all of New Orleans and a Twinkie.

6) Russian President Vladimir Putin said what nobody else ~~has the balls to say~~ wants to say when he said, "the U.S. is a parasite living off the global economy [...]" Well, sure Mr. P, but lest you forget, Russia lives off of U.S. oil consumption, just as much as China lives off U.S. consumerism and excess so what does that make you? Next.

5) Europe burns while Angela goes into hiding. Just as we predicted, Spain and Italy are crumbling as contagion spreads fast like gangrene on an open wound. Keep in mind that we have noticed that 7% is the unofficial threshold for bonds in the EU so keep an eye on those yields. Currently, Spain's 10yr is yielding 6.35% and Italy is 6.16%. Now Hu who said they would buy up Euro debt and save all of Europe? Epic fail. Note: "Foot in mouth" disease is not the bovine strain of "foot and mouth" although they seem to be closely related these days.

4) China's Dagong credit ratings agency does what no other ratings agency wants to do and should have done a long time ago - downgrade U.S. debt (along with EU and UK debt). Although this downgrade was a soft blow (from A+ to A) ~~so as not to start a new kind of war~~, we're certain this is one of many to come. Remember how fast ~~Lindsey Lohan~~ Lehman Brothers fell and they were highly regarded ~~and pumped~~ by Wall Street's finest analysts.

3) Barclays PLC is set to cut another 3,000 jobs in addition to the tens of thousands of jobs other banks (i.e. HSBC bumped that 10,000 job cut last week to a whopping 30,000 this week!) have been cutting in the past 2 months due to poor trading conditions that ironically, they created. Why is this important? It's a clear indicator of things to come.

2) Food stamp usage continues to make records - this one's a biggie, and from our favorite source, ZeroHedge, but where else? We've been tracking the food stamp program (SNAP) usage since, well - forever and the chart looks very similar to our gold chart - which means a vertical trajectory not unlike the Atlantis space shuttle launch. Now, we can't wait to see what this chart will look like if today's Challenger record July jobs cuts are any indication.

1) Gold. It's up. Way up. That's all you need to know. Ok, maybe you want to know more. Last Fryday, we left a note to our readers and facetiously stated that as the global economy falls apart we may see "gold at $2000 by the time we come back" in less than a week. Of course, we were only joking about $2000, but it seems someone Hu who reads our blog took that quite literally. Only jesting. But, gold did today, hit another record high of $1672. Now the question is, when does this "tradition" become "money?" duh! #winning!

Needless to say, the global economy reminds us of those old(er) movies where it's terribly obvious that the background is totally fake; one scene from You Only Live Twice is a classic example of a projection screen blunder. Worse, often the actor who is driving, is turning the wheel in the wrong direction. Back then, people might have been fooled, as this was the best technology could offer. Today however, we laugh. The global economy is very similar, with all the smoke and mirrors set to create the illusion that things are moving forward when in reality, we're rolling back into the abyss at breakneck speed. And we mean that sincerely. One only needs to see today's Top Ten list to see what we're talking about.

Now, how's Rhode Island doing these days? Oh, never mind. We'll save that and housing for next week.

Fukushima
If you've been reading this blog since March 11th, you know we've been reporting the risks associated with the triple global catastrophes of Japan and warned everyone this event was just heating up (in so many ways) and was exponentially worse than Japan or any other gov't official ever admitted. Along the way, our "rogue" speculations have been proven true - the absolute worst case scenario has occurred, and exceeded that by many miles. Here are this week's top 5 events you need to know about Fukushima.

5) TEPCO has just now "discovered" radiation levels outside the reactors that are so high, there are no instruments in the world that can even read higher than what they are - 10Sv/hour, or enough to kill a human within seconds of exposure. Since no instrument exists that can accurately read above that level, we'll speculate that it's closer to 15Sv/hour. Of course, our guess is as good as anyone's but certainly better than underestimating the damage or taking TEPCO's word for it. After all, they told you that Fuksuhima was not even as bad as Three Mile Island, let alone 25 Chernobyls. Expect many more "discoveries" in the coming weeks ahead that will make your blood boil.

4) From Ex-SKF, we've got a great video for you to watch. Now, almost 5 months after the fact, the people are waking up to what we have already concluded and warned about. We hope that anyone who has the chance to evacuate to safety can do so, because as you saw last week, the gov't doesn't care one bit about you. We wish you all in Japan the best. Think hard about why the evacuation zone has not been expanded.

3) In addition to TEPCO's other recent "discovery" of at least 10Sv/hour outside the reactors, we learn that TEPCO has just "discovered" 5Sv/hour inside reactor 1 on floor 2. The only reason this reading was 5Sv/hour and not more was because again, the instrument could not handle anything higher than that. Incredible. As we said months ago, expect to see many "revelations" about what really was/is going on over there as they leak out to the public.

2) It gets better (or worse depending on your POV) because now, more and more of these "surprise pockets" are popping up all over but TEPCO does not plan to measure them. These sizzling pockets are not your ordinary hot pockets. They'll kill you in seconds. Of course, this could be why Japan in hiring anyone who is willing to work there for an incredible $600 per day. Not bad - so long as you don't care about living more than a few years.

1) Finally, this article sums up everything we already knew - in short, Fuksuhima is much, much worse than they admitted and about to get even worse.

Ok, that's all for now. This was supposed to be a quick update while we are away and we got all carried away with excitement and zeal. It's almost 9PM, time to retire to bed, but we look forward to providing another update soon - if things start to heat up again, and gold is $3000/oz by then.

See you soon!

Countdown FryDay

2011-07-29T07:51:00.000-06:00

A Note From The Editor:

Dear readers,

I will be away from 7/29/11-8/9/11 attending a business conference so there are no scheduled articles during this time, but we will do one or more recaps during this time just to catch up on things and keep you, our loyal readers updated.

These are truly momentous times in which we live and I urge all to stay awake to the developments. Next week should bring about some very interesting developments and it is always prudent to be prepared for the worst. If things "speed up" during this period, we will be sure to publish an update remotely, and update on Twitter, so check back often if things heat up.

Additionally, we recommend to our readers who have joined recently to read through some of the older articles during this time. We have covered a tremendous amount of information since March and it would be wise to catch up on the terms and acronyms we use and help you connect the dots. Also read our daily read list, which includes ZeroHedge and EconomicEdge.

Once we return, we will have a lot of information to share with you (particularly on housing) so join our growing list of Twitter followers for updates and such. When we return next week, gold might be $2000/oz as the economy falls off a cliff ~~more fiat is required to keep the hungry banksters bonus pool satisfied~~ as the world loses faith in all paper currency.

Regards to all and happy trading,
Fiat's Fire

Less Jobs Thursday- Jobless Claims Are About to be Revised Upward; HSBC Cutting 10,000 Jobs; Boston Scientific Cutting 1,400 Jobs, Guess What the CEO Takes Home?; Third World Problems Strike Boston as Child Hunger Rates Soar; It's "Official." CEO of Siemens Says "Global 'Recovery' is Over"; Tricks From Malls To Keep You Shopping; Fukushima Updates Astound; Much More

2011-07-28T10:52:00.000-06:00

Today is Thursday and that means it's time for another round of "Guess That Unemployment Number!" Jobless Claims come in at 398,000, just below the magical 400,000 figure to get the MSM all excited with phony headlines. But, a quick glance at every Jobless Claims number that has been released since who knows when, shows the data is always revised up at least a few thousand (for reference, last week's number saw an upwardly revised number of 422,000 from 418,000) which means we can almost guarantee 100% that next week, this number will be revised upward to 402,000. And that makes today's MSM headlines utterly and entirely moot.

We've been tracking the growing trend of mass layoffs across the country (and the globe) and we can already speculate 500,000 will be the new black this season. In addition to the growing list of TBTF&TCTS banks that announced big layoffs this week, just today we learn that HSBC will be cutting 10,000 jobs. Of course, we expect that number to grow over the coming months. And it seems the layoff disease is not contained to just the bankster industry - Boston Scientific announced 1,400 job cuts today, which will save them $225 Million annually. Of course, we don't buy it. If they really wanted to cut costs they should begin at the top. It's particularly interesting that they are cutting 1,400 ~~slaves~~ jobs to save only $225 million when Boston Scientific paid its CEO $34 Million in base salary in 2010 - that's not even including his millions in deferred stock. Why pay American employees $60k/year when you can move the work to China and pay a slave worker $2k/year? Don't worry though - what you see taking place is part of the death spiral that is helping to crash the global economy.

Speaking of Boston, here's an article that sounds as if it came from some poor third world nation in Africa - "Ranks of Hungry Children Swell, Worrying Doctors." It turns out, this is not some poor African nation, but instead, right here in Boston. Another sign of the times - while the banksters continue to build larger and larger 50 room mega mansions, children go hungry.

Which is ironic because the CEO of Siemens said today that the "global recovery" is over. That would be true, if the global recovery actually existed to begin with. Welcome to the Greatest Depression the world has ever seen. In the meantime, Apple will release the newest iPhone 5, 6 and 7 in short order to keep you occupied and distracted from reality and lure you in with trickery and cunning.

Again, the drama that is Washington is not going to solve anything. As we pointed out time and time again since this circus began, raising the debt ceiling or not raising the debt ceiling is of little consequence in the long term. If the latter occurs, the inevitable will come early; the Titanic is taking on water at a rate that gives it 2 months top. If the previous occurs, the inevitable will come later; the bilge pumps get turned on but are not able to keep up with the flood at a rate that buys 6 months. And by "inevitable" we mean total global economic collapse, which is mathematically guaranteed now. Gold and silver are on the one-way ride to infinity, and conversely all fiat currencies are on the one-way ride to being used as toilet paper. You can figure out the rest.

Now, the spark that started it all - Fukushima.

From our friends at EX-SKF, we learn about the giant propaganda machine and the brainwashing that the Japanese gov't tried and failed. A must read.

From Energy News, we learn that so far 154 U.S. servicemen have elevated radiation levels. But this is
where the story gets juicy - The military declines to release radioactivity levels where personnel worked. You fill in the blanks.

Finally, from Bloomberg we learn about a teacher who was "muzzled" against speaking about the dangers of radiation. In one word - sick.

The events of Fukushima should open your eyes to many things - the most important lesson is when disaster strikes, it's every man for himself and never believe anything "official."

Weather Forecast Wednesday- Stormy With a Chance of Economic Chaos; Durable Goods, Not So Durable; Delta Airlines Net Income Drops 58%, Goes to Plan F; Credit Suisse Cutting 2,000 More Jobs; Fed's Beige Book Turning Brown; Radiation is Not Healthy For You; More

2011-07-27T14:07:00.000-06:00

And now, today's weather: stormy with a chance of economic chaos. High 14.294 Trillion. Low -127.89 Trillion. Ultra Violent index 9.7. People are urged to seek shelter in gold and silver.

The economic storm clouds have been gathering for some time now, but because they have been lingering for so long, people have grown accustomed to the sight of them. And that is where the danger rests.

Today's June Durable Goods Orders plummeted 2.1% while inventories increased 0.4% to the highest level ever recorded. Demand down, inventory up - this points to a clear contraction in 2Q GDP and might put the U.S. back "officially" in recession. Oops. Then again, in the real world, we've been living in an economic depression since 2008 and now are entering the second leg of that depression so "officially" what they report "officially" doesn't matter one way or another.

Delta Airlines announced further cuts in flights as net income dropped 58%, which was blamed on higher oil prices. Now, they are planning for sustained higher fuel costs which they will pass on to the passengers. Delta gets an "F" for Failing.

Speaking of failing, another TBTF&TCTS bank named ~~Swiss Debt~~ Credit Suisse, is looking to cut 2,000 more jobs - which should be announced this Thursday. Keep an eye on that. On top of another wave of job cuts from the banksters industry, which we predicted three months ago.

Being that today we got a very late start, we're able to incorporate the Fed's Beige Book of inactivity, which showed "the economy" (or whatever remains of it) slowed down, ahem, more than "expected." Eight out of 12 regions experienced contraction and all of it was blamed mostly on Japan. Well, that and floods and droughts. Oh and maybe some snow for good measure. Don't bother wasting your time reading the 40 pages of blah, blah, blah when we can summarize it for you in two words - crumbling economy. Next.

As the drama in Washington roars on, we see gold and silver going up, up and away. More and more people are catching on to the fact that fiat currency is worthless. Now, combine what we predicted three months ago when we said the Comex is dry on physical, and it's setting up to be a long hot summer for those holding fiat and no gold.

Finally, as the financial world continues to burn and crumble, we present to you a video that proves what we have always known - radiation is not healthy for you. Take that, Ann Coulter.

Wormwood Tuesday- One Week Later and Already Greek Contagion is Spreading; PIIGS Bond Yields Remain Elevated; Great Quote From Obama for the History Books; Debt Ceiling Talks Continue; New Home Sales, Plunge Another 1% on Top of Last Year's Record Low; Fukushima Updates; Much More

2011-07-26T12:17:00.002-06:00

Not one week ago, Greece was granted ~~a final wish~~ a new bailout worth $140 Billion (on top of last years $140 Billion bailout) which despite all of the drama, solved absolutely nothing. As we reported, this band-aid solution which hyped "the markets" into typical KoolAid hysteria, would eventually wear off and reality would once again come back to bite - ever harder, ever deeper. (Thank you WB7 of ZeroHedge for the Hitchcock graphic!)

Sure enough, one week later, nothing has changed. Italian and Spanish bonds remain at elevated levels not seen since the inception of the EU and these levels are to be closely watched as investors doubt the solvency of the entire EU. Spain's 10yr continues to float just above the 6% threshold as does Italy's 10yr. We'll continue to monitor this rate and see what it predicts for the EU. On the heals of yesterday's moot Greek downgrade, Moody's noted that the new bailout would make it easier for Greece (exactly what the last bailout was supposed to do) to reduce its debts but debt to GDP will remain "well in excess of 100 per cent of its GDP" for years. Again, as we have been highlighting since forever, ratings agencies are good for "after-the-fact" events, but as with the whole 2008 debacle, they failed to forewarn the whole world of the pending doom. That's why you have Fiat's Fire!

In the meantime, the drama across the pond in the U.S. continues, as Obama fights a Boehner over a debt ceiling increase. More theatrics, more smoke and mirrors, more bread and circuses for the masses. While you watch the continuing circus, we want you to keep this quote from a 2006 Obama in mind:

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can not pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." - Senator Obama, March, 2006

What changed since 2006? Did debt all of a sudden in 2008 become necessary to keep the pyramid scheme going? Did Obama become privy to new information?

You know, he was 100% correct when he spelled it out in very plain terms then - raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can not pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.

We couldn't have said it any better. Now, with that being said, let's check the price of oil and the profits for the top oil companies. Oh, what a surprise! Record profits for the oil companies - and for Wall Street. But no soup for you, Main Street USA. Instead, you'll have to fight over the fewer and fewer jobs that Wall Street chooses to keep here. Remember, there is no quicker way for a company to cut costs than to cut jobs. Going "green" is costly in the short term but cost effective long term, so in this economic ~~depression~~ recession, they chose not to make that investment. What else can they do if they are to keep bonuses? How else can they keep this rigged casino operating for another month?

The bottom line - raising the debt ceiling or not is inconsequential in the long term. Period. Allow that to sink in.

If an agreement was reached tonight for example, it would only postpone one of two inevitable outcomes: 1) a U.S. default or 2) hyperinflation. We firmly believe they will choose hyperinflation as that buys them time, versus defaulting which would spell immediate disaster for them. It's a mathematical certainty.

Also certain, is the current U.S. cash burn rate (which has increased exponentially) will now only buy 6-8 months if the proposed $1.6 Trillion increase is passed, at which point they will have to decide to raise it again or not. Which is why so many Wall Street ~~banksters~~ "experts" are calling for abolishing the debt ceiling altogether, because they know, come 6-9 months from now it will need to be raised again. So if this giant ~~scam~~ global economy is to continue, that ceiling has to be abolished. If it's not raised, Wall Street's free money comes to an end. They can't have that now, can they?

Further, and this is the real kicker - any and all catastrophes (man made or naturally occurring) will be met with unprecedented fiat printing, which in turn equals more inflation for you and bigger bonuses for Wall Street. Which is certainly why immediately following the triple catastrophes of Japan in March, the talking bimbos on CNBS were celebrating this disaster. No joke. It was touted as "bullish for the economy," and one old filthy fleabag went as far as saying, "thank goodness the monetary toll is not as bad as the human loss." Remember that? Our blood is still boiling from that.

We will say, another major disaster such as the one in Japan, might just push oil up to $150pb and jump "real time inflation" from the current 11% to 18% or more. It's coming. Given 2011's record earthquake activity, our anti-Goldman HF data mining supercomputer is putting the odds of another major quake in 3 months time at 80%. And we're already 1/4 the way on a Level 6 GEES. Things are speeding up.

Fresh off the presses today is the New Home Sales data which, (surprise, surprise) "unexpectedly" dropped another 1% in June to a three month low, on top of last year's sales which were the worst recorded sales in over 50 years. Oops. June also now makes two consecutive months of "unexpected" drops. Of course, Fiat's Fire readers are not surprised and this news is not unexpected. Only Wall Street's finest found this "unexpected" as they awaken from their KoolAid induced comas. Then again, they also thought silver and gold were not monies, but traditions. We all know where gold and silver are today.

Fukushima update: Shocking. Absolutely shocking and disgusting. We've been trying to explain to our readers how Japan views its citizens when money is involved. Words often fail to describe what we have already known as our blood continues to boil. A must watch video, for the people of Fukushima. Watch it full screen. Save it on your computer. Make copies. And after you watch the video, see if you feel, as did we, that the urine sample should have been thrown in the director's face. Tragic.

Updates

Update 1: As if they couldn't see that the FHA was going to need a bailout. Oops.

Update 2: Birmingham AL, readies for going bust. Who could have known?

Update 3: Crude oil, back over $100. Very bullish for the economy. Or not. Got gold? Got ~~radioactive-free~~ Milk?

Short & Sweet Monday- Add BlackBerry Maker RIM to List of Companies Making Big Job Cuts, 11% of Workforce; Add National Association of Realtors to that List as Well, 10% of NAR Workforce Cut as Jobless Recovery Swings Into High Gear; Greek Debt, Junked; Cesium Spreads Across Japan

2011-07-25T12:00:00.000-06:00

As we have pointed out ~~14.249 Trillion~~ a dozen or so times already (one of our very first articles was on this topic), it bares worth repeating that real, organic economic growth is long dead and has been officially since 2008. Currently, the only way for things to appear as normal is to pump endless amounts of fiat into the system - which happens to be exactly what the Central Banks of the world have been doing since that dark day in 2008, to "fill the gaps" as companies cut jobs, and close stores and factories, etc. What this creates, besides the obvious inflation, is a perpetual system of economic destruction. No wonder then, why gold and silver, exactly as we predicted, have been and will be going "to the moon, Alice!" in the coming weeks and months ahead. Daily fluctuations are inconsequential - what matters are the long term trends.

By now, you know that the MSM has coined the term "jobless recovery" and made it a household term, which was supposed to be used in a positive ~~KoolAid induced~~ sense. However, it's backfired terribly on them in part because it's obvious that this "jobless recovery" is a "recovery" for Wall Street and it's "jobless" for everyone else. However, we know the worst is yet to come; this "jobless recovery" is far from over so get ready for more "jobless" on your street and more "recovery" for Wall Street CEOs.

We begin this week with more bull...ish news, by adding BlackBerry's RIM with an 11% workforce reduction (2,000 jobs) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) with a 10% reduction (somehow the NAR tried to spin this news into something positive despite giving numbers but we'll guess that 10% reduction equals 150-200 employees). We were hoping the spinmaster of horrific housing news, L. Yun, would be on that list, but we're sad to report that he will get a bigger bonus for his mastery of spinning. Looks like housing is about to drop off a cliff, again. This should be worth a few hundred points on the Dow(n) Jones. Like tomorrow's Case-Shiller/S&P Housing data.

Not that it matters, but Greek debt was downgraded again, this time to triple junk status; somehow we already knew Greek bonds were junk since 2009. Oops. The "markets" should rally on this news and the now 100% certain default. You have to like the way they eased you into this Greek default, though. Good job on the spin.

Just don't forget that Italian and Spanish bonds are looking ugly today, as once again, contagion is back. Over 6% on the 10yr for Italy. Clearly unsustainable. "Wwwwhat? I thought they fixed that problem last week!" says you. Nope. For some reason, band-aids on gangrene infested amputations never seem to work out too well for the patient. And just now we learn, courtesy of ZeroHedge, that Italy, in addition to Austria, has suspended August bond auctions. [insert Goofy voice] "Well gee! Who could have known?"

Like, who could have known that cesium-137 contamination would continue to spread across Japan? Japan ~~has been so busy in a massive cover up~~ forgot to provide standardized testing for radiation and now look what happens. It looks like Japan doesn't care much about its people, nor the people of the world as they are making it too obvious that their "thrown in the towel, the end is near" agenda has just gone full power.

Told you. Short and sweet and painless on this slow news day.

Faux Markets Fryday- Market Rallied On Inflation and Faux EU Band Aid Bailout, Savvy Investors Not Fooled; Monopoly Game is Almost Over; TBTF Banks Rotate Money From Left to Right; Dr. Deficit Makes a Joke While More Americans Suffer; SA Nations Mock the U.S. for Monetary Policy; IEA Halts SPR Release, Catch on to Scam; Fukushima, Still Leaking Radiation; Much More

2011-07-22T10:34:00.002-06:00

Want to know why gold is skyrocketing if everything is supposed to be so great? Remember, as we reported yesterday, the MSM want you to believe that the EFSF/EU/ECB and the Greek bailout miraculously saved the whole global economy from collapsing. Despite all of the drama, the EU (namely Germany and France) came together in perfect peace and harmony and proposed an agreement that would make everyone happy. Happy days are here again.

Wrong.

The "economy" continues to be flooded with fiat money and that ends up "trickling down" (you remember, the "trickle down Obamanomics" that is making you feel so rich these days) to you in the form of inflation. We won't beat a dead horse, but just go shopping for basics and fill up your car and let us know if this inflation is "transitory." Right, Dr. Deficit?

The Game.
Remember when you were a child (or last year) and you and your friends got together to play the classic board game, Monopoly? Do you remember that almost always, the guy who was the "banker" in charge of your money, won the game. No matter how many times he landed on your hotel properties (which you somehow mortgaged to him at the end to pay your bills) he always won? Well, how could this be? Proximity to the coffers had nothing to do with it. Riiight.

In an ironic (and depressing) sense, that is what our world has become. The game is called "Monopoly" for obvious reasons, and it's designed so that one person will always eventually win. The game can go on for a long, long time but ultimately, one person wins and then the game is over.

The real monopoly game is now almost over. We already know who "won" so why play any more? Because you love your iPad, silly!

If you needed more proof that the end of this game is almost over, just look at the price of gold (and silver). The higher they go, the closer the end of this Monopoly game is. And those banks which borrowed TARP funds and then paid them back, all of a sudden have been found to simply take money from their left pocket and put it in their right pocket by borrowing directly from the Fed. First good article in a long time to come from Yahoo finance. With all of the drama about debt ceiling this and Greek contagion that, could they (the U.S. and EU) be working to coordinate a strategic default, at the same time?

Today, we see an excellent article from Bloomberg's Anna Jackson that spells it out in simple terms. The latest data suggests most consumers are increasing their credit card purchases just to get by as inflation hits them harder and harder. And how does Dr. Deficit reply to this? He says, "The anticipated pickups in economic activity and job creation, together with the expected easing of price pressures, should bolster real household income, confidence, and spending." Really? You can't make this stuff up.

You know the U.S. economic policy is screwed royally when it's getting harsh words from South American nations who are experts in defaulting and a poor gov't structures. My oh my. How the tables have turned.

Which is why gold and silver still shine. Since the global economy runs on oil quite literally, it goes without saying that the higher the price of oil, the higher the cost of nearly everything else and in turn the slower the general economy. Very simply economics 101 here. With that said, we're looking at $100 oil once again (after the totally failed ~~Obama~~ SPR release) which would equate to about $4.00 gasoline by August. With that said, we're interested to find out more about the IEA calling for a halt of SPR oil releases. Did they catch on to the fact that the TBTF&TCTS banks (namely, JP Morgue) are now speculating with your tax money on commodities which in turn raise the price of oil higher, which in turn put more pressure on the IEA to release more oil from the SPR to try and lower the price of oil which in turn gets bought up by the TBTF&TCTS banks (namely, JP Morgue) and on and on and on and on - whoa! Our heads are spinning. Then again, none of us have a ~~poison~~ Ivy League PhD so maybe we don't understand economics 101 like the good Doctor.

On that thought, we'll leave you with some depressing news from Fukushima. First we learn that power to the cooling pumps at reactor 3 were shutdown and TEPCO assures us that no "major" radiation increases were found. Well, that all depends on your definition of "major." We know that could mean a whole Chernobyl was released and it still would be ~~healthy~~ safe according to TEPCO and the Japanese gov't.

We find it interesting that TIME.com is running an article on the cover ups of Fukushima. Although Fukushima is "out of sight, out of mind" for the majority of MSM, it doesn't mean that some individuals are not paying attention to this ongoing epic catastrophe. Since March 11th, the situation has escalated. So much so that more and more radioactive materials are being discovered in Philly, PA sewage water. Of course, officials claim that sudden and sharp rise in radiation is from "cancer patient's urine." Riiiight. Just like radiation is healthy for you.

Finally, we want to thank all of our readers for your support. We have finally reached 100 posts and 140k page views in just over 4 months time and we hope to be around for another 100k posts. Then again, the banksters control "The Bank" and they own Boardwalk, Park Place, all of the Rail Roads, Pennsylvania Avenue, the utilities and even somehow they managed to take over the Community Chests. Time to get a beer and call it a night.

Update:
The huge bomb that rocked Oslo today should be bullish for the economy.

It all makes sense now that Business Insider has confirmed what we suspected. 1 in 66 Americans are psychotic. And that works out to be roughly 5 million very sick Americans. We know of at least one who holds the top position at the U.S. Federal Reserve and a PhD. The other 4,999,999 all are on the same payroll. It makes sense. Now, who wants the the "Iron" or the "Thimble"?

Smoke and Mirrors Thursday- EU Enters 11th Hour, All Global Financial Problems Solved, Markets Rally; Initial Claims Get Swept Under Rug as They "Unexpectedly" Rise Again; Entire Memphis School District Shut Down Indefinitely; Tons of Bullish Economic News, Such as Store Closings and Mass Layoffs; Gold and Silver Still Shine; Mega Mansion Gives Marker; Much More

2011-07-21T10:53:00.001-06:00

Updates
Update 1: You asked for it. Here it is. What does total U.S. unfunded liabilities look like in fresh clean $100 Bills you ask? Sit down and enjoy. No problem a digital dollar created out of thin air can't fix. Again, smoke and mirrors.

Main Article
As the EU enters the 11th hour and a crisis meeting is held, already ~~KoolAid infused~~ hope is bubbling forth that somehow, in a single brush stroke of European genius, all of Greece's problems (and by extension, all of the world's financial problems) are solved. In an instant. Poof!

The biggest news to come out of this latest "Marshall Plan" is an expansion of the EFSF which will allow Greece to borrow for 15 years at 3.5% , which oddly enough happens to be 30 basis points less than current 15yr French bonds at 3.8%. Huh? Say what? Exactly.

Most of these latest 11th hour heroics are once again based on ~~hopium~~ assumptions that Greece will miraculously produce outrageous 3.5% GDP growth in a years time (for those keeping track, not only did the most recent 1H data show that Greece totally bombed and experienced a huge economic contraction, they missed all revised marks set forth as part of the bailout requirements as well). Now we learn officially that Greece will be allowed to default. Act surprised. When all else fails, close your eyes. This won't hurt one bit.

On this news, "the markets" once again rally as the dollar tanks. Sure, P/E ratios of 1200x are never enough - might as well run them up to 1400x on another dose of ~~hyperinflation~~ hope filled expectations, because we all know how good Wall Street's finest are at making estimations. Speaking of which, the SPR oil release ~~which did nothing for you or I~~ made JPMorgue about $20 million richer in just a few days time - on the tax payers dime, both ways. $100pb oil is very bull...ish for the economy. Right on.

No, scratch that - fundamentals don't matter one single iota so long as Apple sells a trillion iPads to children selling their kidneys and their virginity. After all, Apple stock is a leading indicator of good times to come.

For that reason, the news out today that Initial Claims rose again "unexpectedly" by 10k to 418k means nothing. Neither does that fact that this makes it the 16th consecutive week of Initial Claims above the 400k mark - a very important marker. What's that? You went to 6 years of college, paid $140k in tuition and you still can't find a job? We heard McDonald's is hiring hamburger flippers. Oh, wait. Sorry, those positions are already filled ~~with woodpulp~~.

Of course, today's Initial Claims data quickly and quietly gets swept under the rug so as not to shake your confidence in this ~~depression~~ recovery - just like yesterday's astoundingly horrific Housing data where "the markets" rallied on that news as well. Pay no attention to the fact that housing just fell off a cliff. We're once again at a loss for words over this total insanity. Any wonder why retail investors have left the building? The expression that that markets "can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent" don't apply here. There are no free markets. Period.

Then again, this great illusion which continues to be sold to the public as an economic recovery, is setting the world up for a Mega Black Swan. And that will occur when everyone least expects it. And yes, we've moved higher on the GEES scale because of it.

So while Wall Street celebrates the Xanax hope drug induced rally ~~and coming hyperinflation~~, we will continue to pay close attention at the real fundamental, structural changes that are taking place under everyone's noses. Consider:

-We wonder if the entire Memphis School District is celebrating the Dow(n) Jones rally today, as school has officially been indefinitely postponed over money (or lack of). One group of citizens will be celebrating however - the over 100k students who will not be going to school as planned on August 8th. Skool is officially out!

-Last year, over 1 million homes were repossessed by TBTF&TCTS banks and this year is not expected to be any different but new delays may push that out into 2012 and beyond as Bloomberg reports, is casting a real major storm cloud over housing for the foreseeable future.

-Worried about the debt ceiling drama? Don't be. The debt ceiling will be raised as we said it would and the U.S. will never be allowed to technically default thanks to the invention of the printing press. However, as Ron Paul so aptly said, "When a country is indebted to the degree that we’re indebted, the country always defaults. We will default because the debt is unsustainable [...] if we don’t understand this, this default will not be because we don’t send out the checks. We will send out the checks. It will be defaulted on because people will get their money back, or they will get their Social Security checks and it won’t buy anything." Well said. The entire basis for this blog is just that - inflation is required in order to keep the global ponzi economy going and TPTB in power. Everyone else is just another slave.

-How else can a public company keep its stock price ~~so insiders can sellout~~ high while the economy continues to plummet? Cut everything. All full time jobs become part time jobs with no benefits. Short term savings can be achieved by closing many stores in rapid succession, even if they are profitable long term. Now that Borders Books Stores is officially closing all 400 remaining stores (well, with a BK filing a few months ago, who could have seen that coming? Not Wall Street's finest.) and cutting the last of the 11k jobs they support, this should be worth a few hundred points on the Dow(n) Jones today.

- Nothing is more bullish for the economy than store closings. In addition to Borders, just today we'll add 220 Gap stores, 58 nationwide Perkins restaurants, and about 3,700 U.S. Post Office locations. Stay tuned, tomorrow we'll have a few more biggies.

- Besides the bullish store closings, Lockheed Martin is announcing 6,500 "voluntary" job layoffs which just came on the heels of a 2,700 involuntary job layoff.

- CA Tech just reported record profits, but they'll still have to cut 500 jobs if the CEO and ~~the other filth~~ the other execs are to keep bonuses this year.

- Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc.said it will layoff 60 workers. The move will save them $10 million. Ready for this? They cited "higher commodity costs and the effect of a 'challenging economy' on consumer spending habits" as the reasons for the cuts. I know a few people who will have a field day with this one.

- And on and on. We could list another dozen or so news articles just from today's tickers, but for the sake of time, we suggest you put your rose colored glasses on and enjoy "the market" rally today on this wonderfully bull...ish news. But before you do, remember that Gentworth Financial is down 20% today on "more mortgage woes and a poor outlook." Shhh, don't let this make a headline.

Our heads are still spinning from yesterday's rally. For what it's worth, the best way to win this rigged game, is not to play at all. Gold and silver are things they don't want you to own. So think about that.

Finally, ~~if you're living on the west coast you're probably being radiated & radiated & radiated by Fukushima~~ yesterday a 70,000 square foot mansion made the news and it reminded us of the time just before the French revolution in 1778 when the elite were building larger and larger palaces all over the country, while the people starved ~~on food stamps~~ and they suffered from a lack of jobs, lack of food and clean water, high taxes, inflation, etc. Sound familiar? We're not sure if that article about the mansion was written ~~as propaganda~~ to get people to get up out of their chairs and go buy a house, or to feel good because that mansion is supposed to be a signal of economic prosperity, but we will say in the terms of a temporal marker, it's obvious what is coming. Rally on, Mr. Market! 36k on the Dow(n) Jones can't come soon enough.