[Buckeye McFrog]

#3 In a stunning move, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says that he will appoint an emergency financial manager to take care of Detroit's financial affairs...

Why is that stunning? Even the marginally aware have seen that coming for at least thirty years.

[PGalt]

...and I hope that you are getting ready.

Be prepared.

[ozzymandus]

But I just read a story about a coming 3 year bull market. Now I’m all confused.

[Para-Ord.45]

“”Most of the rally in the stock market since 2009 can be chalked up to the Federal Reserve’s attempt to create a ‘wealth effect’ through higher stock market prices. “

By POLICY and not words, Bernanke and Obama believe in trickle-down economics !?

[Shadow44]

I wish there would be a collapse, since it would shock people into realizing the failure of decades of idiotic policies and cultural practices.

The EU and Washington know better, and unfortunately won’t let it happen. They’ll cushion the blow with all this cooking of the books and instead slip into the “new normal” of stagnation.

People will adjust, and no one will question it except an angry minority like us who know better.

That’s my worst fear.

[alloysteel]

Most of the rally in the stock market since 2009 can be chalked up to the Federal Reserve’s attempt to create a 'wealth effect' through higher stock market prices. This only exacerbates the downside risk. Why? The stock market no is longer a lead indicator for the economy. It is instead reflecting Fed manipulation. Pushing the stock market higher while the real economy languishes has resulted in another bubble.

Suspicions confirmed. The stock market "rally" is a fudge by the Federal Reserve to build up a false confidence in the soundness of the US business climate.

It was ALWAYS smoke and mirrors.

[hosepipe]

http://www.afailureofcivility.com/

[Iron Munro]

One of the main reasons Obama had no interest in changing the Sequestration agreement is so he can blame the coming economic downturn on Sequestration and the republicans.

And the press will make sure his meassage gets out in a way positive for him.

You can almost hear his whiny voice crying:

“We were right in the middle of a big turnaround and on the threshold of a big economic boom when the evil republicans sabotaged my efforts to avoid the Sequestration cuts just so their rich and greedy 1% pals would not have to pay their fair share of taxes.”

[muir_redwoods]

Gold, silver, lead and storable food

[oldbrowser]

The fact of the sequester is coming and the stock market is peaking and maybe getting ready to adjust are positive signs.

It may be painful, but the economy is trying to correct, which is necessary before it can get healthy.
Now if we can just get the thieving administration under control, the gods of the copybook headings can fix this mess.

[PGalt]

from 2 zero hedge posters...

mick_richfield

That’s the brilliant thing about conquering a country with fiat currency.

Everybody thinks it’s still a democracy. It still looks like a democracy.

But it’s not. In a fiat currency nation, the political system will shortly be controlled by the people who create the fiat currency. The ‘citizens’ can vote all they want, but they will never quite be able to control their country again.

Then their reptilian conquerors say “You voted for thisss. You mussst pay.”

If they can convince a large enough part of the population that it’s their own damn fault, they have enslaved a nation without a shot fired.

Our enemies are not stupid.

OutLookingIn

“Democracy has proved only that the best way to gain power over people is to assure the people that they are ruling themselves. Once they believe that, they make wonderfully submissive slaves.”

- Joseph Sobran (1946-2010)

a couple of hundred more comments...here...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-04/12-things-just-happened-show-next-wave-economic-collapse-almost-here?page=1

[familyop]

"#1 According to TrimTab's CEO Charles Biderman, corporate insider purchases of stock have hit an all-time low, and the ratio of corporate insider selling to corporate insider buying has now reached an astounding 50 to 1.... "

Yeah, right. That's why the Dow is over 14,100. ;-) As for "retail," they've been told to buy for decades.

[familyop]

I am sure that there will be some ugly downward fluctuations and a continue collapse process, but when? A debt regime with low real, domestic production (not only American “based”) can continue, as long as enough bond investors are duped.

[upchuck]

Oh, I don't know. This guy, right here on FR is predicting stocks will rocket 95% in the next three years.

Somebody has to be right and somebody has to be wrong.

Personally, I'm gearing up for a major collapse.

[Southack]

Michael Snyder is an idiot. His article is birdcage liner.

Personal income went down because companies did special distributions in December to dodge the new 2013 tax rates.

Europe’s troubles don’t mean a collapse for the U.S., either...just the opposite: European money runs to safe U.S. banks.

Good grief. There should be an IQ test that bars idiots like Snyder from having internet access.

[Bon mots]

The real US unemployment rate is closer to 37%.
One need only look at the "Labor Force Participation Rate".

The labor force counts all the people of working age - from 16 to 65 years of age who are able bodied and able to work. Then it tallies how many of them actually work.
This gives us a much clearer picture of what is actually happening in the job market.

The 'unemployment rate' numbers have been so manipulated over the years so as to be virtually meaningless. They are political numbers that have been 'massaged' and manipulated so that they tell us nothing about what is actually happening in the job market.

Politicians are more adept at hiding problems than solving them. Like how they 'solved' bread lines. They didn't actually eliminate the bread line, they only took it off the sidewalk. The new bread line is the number of people on "FOOD STAMPS", and it's nearly 50 million souls long.

[Bon mots]

A bit more perspective.

You can clearly see that the labor force increased from 146,842,000 to 154,063,000 during Bush's last four years.

Under GW Bush, the labor force expanded by nearly 8 million in his last four years. Since the Labor Force Participation rate stayed steady at about 66%, that means that 66% of those new job market entrants found jobs - roughly 5.5 million of them.

Obama started with a labor force of 154,063,000, of whom 66% were working or 101,681,580 jobs. After four years, the economy has only 98,849,290 or nearly 3 million less jobs than when he won the election.

Had he maintained the same Labor Force Participation Rate that Bush did over his last four years, there would be 102,731,640 - or roughly some 4 million more jobs than there are today.

[Bon mots]

Final perspective.

Last 4 Years of Bush: +5million jobs
First 4 Years of 0bama: - 4 million jobs

Those numbers don't lie.