Posted on 01/08/2010 11:07:28 AM PST by Zeddicus
Now this is a guaranteed rape job.
In a short conversation this noontime that CNBC apparently has omitted from their archives (Why's that folks?) Rick Santelli was talking about a potential to effectively force money into the Treasury market.
Where would they get this?
From your 401k and IRA accounts!
From Businessweek:
The U.S. Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comment as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams, according to Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, who are spearheading the effort.
Let me tell you what this is - it is an attempt to prevent the collapse of the Treasury market!
Forcing people into Treasuries as an "annuity" is exactly what Social Security allegedly is. Except that Treasury stole the money that was collected in FICA taxes and spent it!
Guess what? They'll do that here too - you're going to "invest" in Treasuries which of course are effectively a CALL option on the future taxing ability of the government.
The problem is that with an aging population and the immigrant problem (illegal immigrants that is), along with offshoring, the aggregate wage base will drop and thus this is the most dangerous investment of all!
What's even worse is that the government has intentionally suppressed Treasury yields during this crisis (and will keep doing so by various means, including manipulating the CPI - the "inflation index" - as they have for the last 30 years) so as to guarantee that you lose over time compared to actual purchasing power.
THIS HAS BEEN THE CASE SINCE THE 1980s AND IT WILL NOT CHANGE!
I have been talking about this for quite some time and recall writing a Ticker on it a year or more ago, although I can't find the entry immediately.
Let me be clear:
I have no quarrel with the government mandating that you have a choice in your IRA or 401k account to buy short-duration Treasuries - much like the "G" fund that government and civil-service workers have.
But - "choices" have a funny way of turning into mandates, and this looks to me like a raw admission that Treasury knows it will not be able to sell its debt in the open market - so they will effectively tax you by forcing your "retirement" money to buy them!
This may be the only way for Treasury to hold down interest rates to something reasonable in the intermediate term, but doing so will instantaneously remove a major source of funding for the stock market - that is, the monthly and quarterly inflows from retirement accounts.
You can bet this won't be good for you, the ordinary American.
You can also bet that once such an "option" is made available there is a very high probability of the government doing things that either promote or simply don't stand in the way of another stock market crash as a means of "herding" your money into Treasuries - so they can blow it - all under the guise of being allegedly "safe".
Of course this begs the question - what if the government can't pay down the road when you retire, just as they can't pay on a forward basis with Social Security and Medicare?
This "proposal" can only mean one thing - Treasury smells smoke. Maybe you should pay attention to what they're huffing!
And before you say "oh they'd never do that" I want you to read this:
Here is a warning to us all. The Argentine state is taking control of the country’s privately-managed pension funds in a drastic move to raise cash.
...
My fear is that governments in the US, Britain, and Europe will display similar reflexes. Indeed, they have already done so. The forced-feeding of banks with fresh capital – whether they want it or not – and the seizure of the Fannie/Freddie mortgage giants before they were in fact in trouble (in order to prevent a Chinese buying strike of US bonds and prevent a spike in US mortgage rates), shows that private property can be co-opted – or eliminated – with little due process if that is required to serve the collective welfare.
Any questions?
On Wednesday the Obama administration took its first major step in a plan to ban all firearms in the United States. The Obama administration intends to force gun control and a complete ban on all weapons for US citizens through the signing of international treaties with foreign nations. By signing international treaties on gun control, the Obama administration can use the US State Department to bypass the normal legislative process in Congress. Once the US Government signs these international treaties, all US citizens will be subject to those gun laws created by foreign governments. These are laws that have been developed and promoted by organizations such as the United Nations and individuals such as George Soros and Michael Bloomberg. The laws are designed and intended to lead to the complete ban and confiscation of all firearms.
Touching my 401K is an act of war. WILL respond in the proper fashion. I hope that millions do the same.
Technically, they’re not going to “touch it”. They’ll give you the option to put it in their treasury bond ponzi scheme. If you don’t, you’ll be wiped out when they decide to stick a pin in this current artificial stock bubble.
Either way, you lose, and they win.
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My thought on this is you don’t have to have it in stock based funds. My employer’s IRA has an investment option of a guaranteed fixed rate 4% minimum with a guarantee of principal. I’ve had my 100% of my old and new investment contributions going into this account since 2003, and avoided the stock market massacre in 2008. If rates go up and the stock and bond market tank again, the fixed investment account will not lose value and the interest rate paid on deposits will likely rise to reflect rising interest rate markets. I think it’s a wonderful place to have my retirement dollars. Most employers should have this sort of an option but I realize most employer based options only have stock, bond and money market funds.
Last year. Where do you think they got the idea for this grand scheme? We are becoming Argentina, the land I left 40 years ago. In 1900 it was the 5th wealthiest nation on earth. Today it is 86th and sinking fast...
The financial advisor who runs my company's 401(k) plan began telling his clients the same thing . . . after I predicted exactly what you said!
My rationale was that I would be "right" even if I was wrong and it never happened. Why trade in a tax break you already have for a tax break that may not even be there decades from now when you retire?
What’s worse is that flashing a krugerrand would mean home invaders, muggers and kidnappers would be taking numbers to get in line to cash in on the “millionaire.”
Yes indeed, Chief. Argentina with nukes.
BTW, have you read FerFAL's book about the 2002 monetary collapse down there, called "The Modern Survival Manual?" A lot of lessons for our future, I think.
Can we sell the market short?
My employer also has this option (guaranteed rate of return) for retirement savings. Trouble is, this fund is basically an (actually 3) insurance company sponsored plan (look at AIG, now dismissed, but before, one of the 3 of my company’s plan). I do not know what parties are currently guaranteeing principal and interest of my savings, but their guarantee is only worth something if they haven’t stuffed their portfolio’s with toxic assets.
My son found a $1 silver certificate in his wallet last week. He thought himself lucky, but then found out that the US government doesn’t honor it’s commitment to redeem it for a silver dollar anymore. He hung it on his wall. A reminder to himself of the “honorable”, “ethical”, (gag) blatant and outrageous and contemptible thieves we have throughout government now.
So the guv. can confiscate Gates’, Jobs’, Buffet’s money anytime they want? Micheal Moores’?
Fortunately for me, the insurance company backing my retirement assets is rated in the top 10 insurance companies in the U.S. for financial strength. There are some commercial mortgages in their portfolio, which kind of concerns me, but overall are conservatively managed and well diversified.
Seems like the market would crash anyway if they used the confiscated funds to buy Treasuries. They'd have to sell all existing securities to make the conversion to dollars to buy the treasuries with.
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