Posted on 11/04/2010 7:58:39 PM PDT by luv2ndamend
Well, its official, Ben Bernanke has officially gone all in regarding currency devaluation in the name of pumping the stock market. I have to admit, even though I knew this was going to happen, Im still in shock. After all, its not every day that you see a superpower collapse and lose its reserve currency status courtesy of a deranged mad man.
Regardless of your feelings on the matter, these are the cards the Fed has dealt us, so rather than devote space to critiquing our insane and corrupt Fed Chairman, I thought it better to devote todays article to detailing what is to come as a result of the Feds policies.
1) QE 1 Failed, so Will QE 2= The Fed Doesnt Have a Clue
This is the most obvious, but most commentators seem to be missing it. We were all sold on QE 1 as being an emergency measure meant to keep the financial world afloat. Now we find out that the Fed considers this formerly emergency measure to be one of its normal tools (its not yet been a year since QE 1 ended and weve already got QE lite and QE 2).
In plain terms, the Feds decision to implement QE 2 proves not only that QE 1 FAILED but that the Fed doesnt really have a clue on how to fix the financial system. Bernanke is literally making it up as he goes, which is truly horrifying if you consider the implications of this.
In light of this, you can bet that the Financial Crisis is nowhere near over. QE 1 failed. QE 2 will fails as well.
Moreover, you can bet that additional, GREATER systemic risks will be playing out in the next year. The problems that caused the 2008 disaster are still out there. The only difference between now and back then is that were running out of band-aids to cover them up.
2) Currency intervention, trade wars, and volatility will become the norm
Currencies are relative, meaning their values move relative to each other (you cant have the Euro, Yen AND Dollar go to ZERO at the same time). In light of this, the Fed has officially challenged the major currencies central banks to a game of devaluation chicken. Expect to see most world central banks, especially the Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, and Chinas central bank engage in similar practices of their own. All of these guys have a choice, devalue or kill exports. Theyve all proven to choose the former time and again.
Expect to see trade wars break out in a major way as this game progresses. Weve already had a hint of this with Chinas decision to cut rare earth elements exports. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Things are going to be getting very messy going forward. Expect to see capital controls, tariffs, and outright trade wars break out. As a result, prices of various goods will skyrocket (remember the rice scare in 2008?). Which brings me to the final point
3) Inflation is coming sooner rather than later
The cost of just about everything is going to be going up a LOT. In fact it already has. Most commodity prices are up double digits in the last year. This is just the beginning. Combine currency devaluation with trade wars and youve got a recipe for MASSIVE spikes in the price of goods.
In plain terms, the cost of living in the US will be going up sharply in the coming months. Oil is already at $86 a barrel. Food costs are rising. In fact, virtually everything but housing prices has risen in the last year. Forget future inflation, inflation is coming NOW. Weve already seen the Dollar lost 15% of its value in the last six months.
What will this do to a middle class whose savings have already been eviscerated by two stock Crashes, no private job growth, and a 37% decline in the US Dollar in the last ten years?
Also, what will this do to corporate profits? Companies will either try to pass their increased costs off on consumers (good luck with that) OR will eat the costs themselves. Either way profit margins will shrink. Im guessing the stocks are cheap crowd didnt bother considering whether those future earnings projections were illusory.
The simplest forecast from this would be a portfolio emphasizing commodities particularly precious metals and agriculture: the former will be the largest beneficiary of ongoing currency debasement while the latter is one of the few areas in the investment world where an argument for value can be made.
Stocks will also benefit from all of this in the near-term. But in the long-term look for pronounced weakness, particularly as trade wars and increased costs bite into profit margins.
Also, on a final note, its a good time to stockpile on food and other items that are sensitive to price increases. I suggest having 3 months worth of supplies on hand at all times. The worst thing that can happen is everything turns out fine and you eat the food anyway.
Good Investing!
Graham Summers
piss on them as it is getting time to go to war to keep sanity in the land...
piss on them as it is getting time to go to war to keep sanity in the land...
Headlines From 2008: “Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Soars As Others Crash”
http://www.businessweekly.co.zw/markets/21630-zimbabwe-stock-exchange-soars-as-others-crash-.html
Gold For Bread - Zimbabwe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ubJp6rmUYM
They're probably worth far more on the world market as collector's items than as money.
This all seems by design. The rats in state and Fed are doing everything they can to trash this country. Any uneducated man knows that adding new laws that make it harder to sell drugs is bad for business. In the same way someone who puts a puts more taxes on doing business, guess what happens? This is like a movie that does not end well.
It feels like 1994 all over Again - am I in a time warp?
Good question, where is Congress? Why isn’t Bernanke being grilled by Congress or the media, any media?
If people are so concerned about taxes why aren’t they concerned about the Fed ripping us off of 20% and possible a lot more of our net worth and income?
Make a point to tell at least ten people tomorrow what QE2 means to their economic survival and ask them tell keep spreading the word. Call your Congressmean and senators and tell them that Bernanke has to be stopped.
Glenn Beck’s been going over all of steps taken so far - by the thieves - for over a year, now. He’s been warning us to be prepared.
I got that as a souvenir. The pile of rocks is appropriate.
While the financial grim reaper has drawn a nut flush on the flop......
Were you the winning bidder at fifty cents on eBay?
Look they have spent the last two years blaming the Republicans for obstructing Obama’s agenda when everyone knows they didn’t have the votes, it was their own democrats doing it. Media went along, no surprise.
Now that the Repubs have the House they are going to blame it all on the Repubs. Everything. Anything goes wrong, republican obstruction, it’s their fault, they have even MORE power now. Media already has the stories written. All the templates are ready to go.
No, I got it FREE from some Indonesian dude. All I had to do was give him my bank account and social security numbers.
Wow... a hundred trillion..
What will they use in Zimbabwe when the dollar is worthless.
*
Wow! That’s a steal! Not sure which way, though.
Very true. Glenn Beck = 21st Century Paul Revere.
For a supposed Mormon, he sure seems to be a Holy Spirit-led individual.
I’m afraid we’ve moved past the point of criminality.
We’re now at the point where the Federal Reserve and the large banks they’re serving are a “clear and present danger to the security of the United States.”
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