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Red Alert: Major Meltdown Imminent! Your Escape …
Money and Markets ^ | 02/23/09 | Martin D. Weiss

Posted on 02/23/2009 8:46:10 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster

Red Alert: Major Meltdown Imminent! Your Escape …

by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. 02-23-09

Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.

The nation’s largest banks are so close to collapse and the world economy is coming unglued so rapidly, a major Wall Street meltdown is now imminent.

Specifically, it’s now increasingly likely that virtually all of our forecasts of recent months could come to pass in a very short period of time, including …

* Stock market crash: A swift plunge in stocks to about 5000 on the Dow, 500 on the S&P 500 and 900 on the Nasdaq … or lower. (For our reasons, see “Stocks to fall AT LEAST another 40%!“)

* Corporate bankruptcies: A chain reaction of Chapter 11 filings or federal takeovers, including not only General Motors and Chrysler, but also Ann Taylor, Best Buy, Jet Blue, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, Toys “R” Us, U.S. Airways and even giants like Ford or General Electric.

* Megabank failures: Bankruptcies or nationalization not only of Citigroup and Bank of America, but also JPMorgan Chase and HSBC. (See my January issue, “Megabanks Could Fail Despite Federal Aid.”)

* Nationwide epidemic of small and medium-sized bank failures: Outright FDIC takeovers, with little prospect of nationalization. (I’ll give you a link to our free guide with a more extensive list in a moment.)

* Insurance failures: State takeovers of companies like Ambac Assurance, Bankers Life and Casualty, Conseco, FGIC, Medical Liability Mutual, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance, Nuclear Electric Insurance, PMI Mortgage, Standard Life of Indiana and many others. (Our free guide also contains a more extensive list of insurers.)

* Cities and states: An epidemic of defaults by thousands of cities, states and other issuers of tax-exempt municipal bonds.

(Excerpt) Read more at moneyandmarkets.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: collapse
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To: unkus
"I don’t know if she is smart doing that or not."

I don't either but I did it weeks ago. I put an appropriate amount of money back in whenever I write a check.

21 posted on 02/23/2009 9:18:20 PM PST by blam
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To: unkus
"I don’t know if she is smart doing that or not."

I don't either but I did it weeks ago. I put an appropriate amount of money back in whenever I write a check.

22 posted on 02/23/2009 9:18:21 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

Looking at him, I would too.


23 posted on 02/23/2009 9:19:51 PM PST by Jolla
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To: TigerLikesRooster
You'll find out next week when the Postmaster General explains his salary package to Congress. It's not all that good but those guys want to know why the USPS is running out of revenue to pay the bills.

The difference is currently $4.5 billion (annualized)

At the same time The PMG just slashed costs by $2.0 billion and got a reward for doing so.

Having "watched" this particular problem very closely most of my working life, I'd suggest the USPS is presently running short more than 10% ~ which means that mail volumes are probably down about 15% ~ mostly in the periodicals category as well as the standard mail category where you find all the direct mail advertising.

That's a really big drop ~ last time that happened was back in the 1950s and the cause was a drought of major proportions. Later droughts tended to affect primarily agricultural areas, but this situation is affecting all postal sectors.

Let's put it this way ~ we may have a large, looming nationwide drought underway but we just don't know it yet.

So, what would be the signs? First, farmers know these things months before everyone else. So, they retrench to avoid wasting capital planting crops that will fail. Secondly, they seek new water resources, or seek to secure those they have. Wonder how many new farm ponds have been carved out since January? Since farmers also stop paying bills (and bankers stop sending them) in the face of a severe drought, the mail volume should reflect this.

Potter (the PMG) sees that he was able to cut some costs, but not enough to balance the revenue loss. That means that the biggest part of the revenue loss involves his largest single sector of fixed costs ~ and that's the various farm belts and agricultural zones in the USA ~ just like the early l950s and in 1987.

We also see the weather gals now telling us about coming water cutoffs in agricultural regions of California INCLUDING Northern California. The SE is having a resurgence of the drought that has nagged at them off and on for the last decade.

It's large enough this time that it extends up into Virginia nearly to DC. Texas has a large drought region.

If Obama imagines that there's sufficient income in the country to pay for his wasteful spending this week, he's got a surprise coming. This drought is one of those old time FAMINE type droughts. You'll see what at $25 a bushel, and corn lucky to find at all. With a 50% or higher loss expected in California fruits and vegetables this year, you'd best put out your own garden this year and make sure to drain your "gray water" into cisterms to use to raise veggies.

24 posted on 02/23/2009 9:21:00 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: TigerLikesRooster

In the 19th century, these things happened every 15 years or so - they were called PANICS.

Back then, people did not rely on the Gov’t and were much more independent, and of course, relied less on finance, etc... in their lives (indeed, in 1860’s half of all Americans were farmers).

Speculation and bad-debt eventually will, as if by force of nature, be expunged from the system.


25 posted on 02/23/2009 9:23:29 PM PST by PGR88
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To: muawiyah
So you expect commodity run on grains and other food stuffs?
Really troubling.
26 posted on 02/23/2009 9:29:58 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster (kim jong-il, chia head, ppogri, In Grim Reaper we trust)
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To: PGR88

fiat money destroyed us.


27 posted on 02/23/2009 9:35:30 PM PST by Porterville ( I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

“* Megabank failures: Bankruptcies or nationalization not only of Citigroup and Bank of America, but also JPMorgan Chase and HSBC. (See my January issue, “Megabanks Could Fail Despite Federal Aid.””

How does the Fed nationalize the US division of a foreign bank (HSBC, N.A.)? I assume he is talking about the US division and not the London based whole enchilada.


28 posted on 02/23/2009 9:42:31 PM PST by neb52 (Currently Reading: Mensa Guide to Chess by Burt Hochberg)
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To: unkus

Not if you’re telling everyone.


29 posted on 02/23/2009 9:44:13 PM PST by madison10
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To: TigerLikesRooster
Droughts brought on by periods of cool, dry air usually destroy grain crops and dramatically suppress vegetables and nuts. They are very widespread. At the margins they may actually increase rainfall for some areas ~ think the European Droughts of the 1800s that drove so many people to come to America.

Droughts brought on by hotter than normal weather are more like the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

I don't expect hotter than normal weather this year in America, but I do suspect more cool, dry weather if what's happening to the USPS is an indication.

Again, USPS has two kinds of costs ~ FIXED and VARIABLE, just like any business. The FIXED costs extend beyond the initial capital costs for equipment ~ they involve out of pocket "recurring expenses" related to pushing mail in lightly populated counties ~ typically rural areas with farming the predominant economic activity. The VARIABLE costs consist of mail handling costs.

If mail volume declines, mail handling costs decline, but fixed costs don't! USPS could lose 10% of mail volume, but see its costs only drop 5%. With a 15% or greater mail volume loss, costs could drop only 5% anyway.

The people resident in rural areas (with high fixed USPS costs) use mail. They receive it. They send it. At the same time they KNOW if there's going to be a drought just about January. They immediately cut costs. This is reflected in advertising mail volumes being sent to them ~ merchants respond by sending fewer ads. Next thing you know USPS has to go to the Rate Commission with a request for a postage rate increase.

That just happened.

This has happened before.

Australia is in drought and their grain crop for this year is unavailable. Same with Argentina. Large chunks of China ~ their wheat belt in fact ~ are in drought. They put out orders to farm districts about what to do to face the drought and mitigate the damage.

We are going to see the United States added to the drought list this summer.

The world's slim 30 day margin of grains will probably slip to nothing and hundreds of millions of people could be dead as a consequence of drought driven famine by this time next year.

30 posted on 02/23/2009 9:46:48 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: madison10

Not if you’re telling everyone.
__________________

I don’t know who else she told.


31 posted on 02/23/2009 9:48:27 PM PST by unkus
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To: null and void
Theoretically speaking, and I am speaking theoretically here, what would happen if we were all late on our mortgage payments next month?

Mortgage payments? You get foreclosed.

Tax / withholding payments? Now that could get interesting if enough people and organizations did it!

General Strike

A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants. It is also characterized by participation of workers in a multitude of workplaces, and tends to involve entire communities. The general strike has waxed and waned in popularity since the mid-19th century, and has characterized many historically important strikes.

So, I guess the question is, how do you update the concept for the 21st Century?

32 posted on 02/23/2009 9:49:52 PM PST by cynwoody
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To: muawiyah

Thanks for the heads up. We’re in for a heap of trouble.


33 posted on 02/23/2009 9:51:34 PM PST by unkus
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To: unkus; null and void

Null and Void didn’t pay his mortgage, the entire world economy goes down. Then NaV is arrested and beaten into signing a ‘confession’ and O, now “President for Life” announces that NaV is guilty of destroying everything and has him shipped to the Hague. Guilt is pre-determined of course and a global show trial begins.

The entire collapse is blamed on one lone “rightwing resistor” who also “brought the end of prosperity” in worldwide massive television footage of the “Trial of All History”.

His punishment??

Forced with his eyes wired open to watch Helen Thomas strip over and over for life.


34 posted on 02/23/2009 9:52:39 PM PST by GeronL (Hey, won't you be my Face Book friend??)
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To: muawiyah
"The world's slim 30 day margin of grains will probably slip to nothing and hundreds of millions of people could be dead as a consequence of drought driven famine by this time next year. "

Holy Moly.

I've been stocking up on food for the depression...I'd better double my efforts for the drought. Food prices will sky-rocket too.

35 posted on 02/23/2009 9:57:29 PM PST by blam
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To: GeronL

Now I’m afraid to go to bed and dream....


36 posted on 02/23/2009 10:04:08 PM PST by unkus
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To: blam

I’ve been stocking up on food for the depression...I’d better double my efforts for the drought. Food prices will sky-rocket too.
_____________________________
I bought about $500.00 in canned goods last week-end and things are damned expensive already.


37 posted on 02/23/2009 10:06:37 PM PST by unkus
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To: unkus
"I bought about $500.00 in canned goods last week-end and things are damned expensive already."

It'll seem like an easy burden if there are food shortages and panic buying in the future.

38 posted on 02/23/2009 10:11:25 PM PST by blam
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To: unkus

Lord and Master O will look over you while you sleep


39 posted on 02/23/2009 10:11:29 PM PST by GeronL (Hey, won't you be my Face Book friend??)
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To: GeronL

You sleep well, too. LOL


40 posted on 02/23/2009 10:12:43 PM PST by unkus
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