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Have four retail credit cards serviced by Synchrony Bank. One of the cards (Crate and Barrel) was locked by them yesterday, with a credit balance of almost $700. Called to ask why the lock was put in place. They said that a "fraud" lock was put on. We see no unusual activity on the account and don't use it very often. None of our accounts have a balance owed. In order to remove it they are demanding biometrics. A five-second video recording showing all angles of the face - that will then be fed through an AI program to generate...

Massive Toilet Paper Shortage Seen at the Super Bowl

DENVER – Two people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Colorado, Governor Jared Polis announced Thursday, confirming the rapidly spreading virus had made it to Colorado. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) said Thursday a man in his 30s visiting Summit County tested “presumptive” positive for COVID-19. Polis in a news conference later Thursday said there was a second positive case of coronavirus reported in Colorado. The two cases were not connected, Polis said. More information about the second case was not yet available.

How the Health Care Bill Passed – In Plain English Our nation has come a long ways since the days when Schoolhouse Rock taught all of us kids “How a Bill Becomes a Law”. We learned archaic things such as where our US Constitution states in Article I Section 7 that: “All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.” We also learned quaint things – such as a bill can ONLY become a law after going through the legislative process and then being...

The Second Battle of the Second American Revolution The shot heard ‘round the world"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;Here once the embattled farmers stood,And fired the shot heard 'round the world." Concord Hymn – Ralph Waldo Emerson The date was April 19, 1775. The battle was at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts American patriots threw off the shackles of their “masters” in Britain and sought to teach the Redcoats a lesson about true liberty and freedom! Under the seeking of Divine Providence, they gave their lives , their fortunes, and their...

As we, in my opinion, march towards financial meltdown I have a few thoughts to throw out: We have been living in an economy where everyone wants their things NOW! The idea is to enjoy the “fruits of one’s labor” prior to performing the “fruits of one’s labor”. This, of course, is known as debt – and people are willing to pay usury (interest) in order to get that which they desire. Everyone in debt is a debt servant, but those that live the lifestyle of wanting things now and working for them later are what I refer to as...

Here’s a thought to ponder. Let’s think of a community of families that each agree to put aside a minimum of $100 CASH a month. They agree that this cash will henceforth ONLY be spent within the community – and physical cash will be the only currency accepted. Any purchases not made in the community will be made with other resources. There would be no “central bank” within the community. There would be no central figure to “trust”. The only requirement is a verbal agreement to use that money within the community by buying and selling with other members, or...

In an effort to better understand the construction of the U.S. economy I created a scenario where the entire economy contains $1,000. The Fed would have $1,000 of assets in the form of U.S. Teasury securities, and liabilities of $1,000 as a computer entry that the U.S. government owns The U.S. government would have $1,000 of assets as a computer entry, and $1,000 of liabilities as U.S. Treasury securities. Then I assumed that the U.S. government bought a plane from ACME Airplanes for $1,000. The U.S. government would send ACME a check for $1,000 and would now have assets of...

Let’s analyze the economic condition of a hypothetical family – the Bailey’s (I don’t know too many Bailey’s, so I hope I’m safe with this one). The Bailey family is made up of a husband, wife, and two kids. Mr. Bailey is the sole income producer and Mrs. Bailey works even harder by homeschooling their two children. Tough times have befallen the Bailey household. Mr. Bailey used to have a net income of $50,000/year. His employer has recently cut his work hours down to 30 hrs./week and his “after taxes and deductions” hourly wage to $20/hour. Mr. Bailey works 50...

I’m going to take a few moments to address the health care debate. President Obama spoke in New Hampshire today. Here’s a video link to some of his comments: Obama Health Care Town Hall. Now I’m going to give you a little quiz about what you just watched. Question #1: What did he just say??? I hope you know, because it took me three times of watching the video before I could make ANY sense out of his ramblings. Question #2: Did President Obama just inform us that private industry does “just fine” – while government-run entities have the “problems”?...

Folks, it’s COMPLETE manipulation of the numbers taking place. Here are the facts to prove it: Here’s today’s GDP report: GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: SECOND QUARTER 2009 (ADVANCE ESTIMATE). Please note that GDP is reported on a “Quarter-Over-Quarter” basis instead of “Year-Over-Year”. However, the number is “annualized” (multiplied by 4), and it is based off of the previous quarter’s GDP. Let’s crunch the numbers…. Please notice on the very first page of the report how first quarter GDP WAS REVISED TO -6.4% FROM ITS ORIGINAL -5.5%! In other words, ALL of the numbers for the second quarter were BASED ON the...

We learned today that 328 of the 465 members of the US House of Representatives are treasonous individuals who should be impeached. Why? Article I Section 9 Clause 3 of our US Constitution plainly states: “No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed”. Our House of Representatives just passed legislation to tax AIG bonuses to the tune of 90% - creating a specific bill of attainder directed at punishing a particular class. What will be the reaction of most American citizens who have been brainwashed by the propagandizing news services? They will be elated. The “EVIL”...

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso told lawmakers Thursday that recent share price declines show that financial markets believe Washington's bank bailout plan was not large enough to restore confidence, and that additional injections of capital into the banking system were needed, according to reports.

Excerpt... Measure seen as most significant housing legislation in decades. The number of homeowners who could lose their homes to foreclosure by the end of 2009 is estimated by some to be around 2.8 million. Under the legislation, 400,000 having trouble with payments could avoid it by trading their loans for new, more affordable mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration.Their banks would have to agree to allow the swap and to take a large loss in exchange for avoiding the lengthy and costly foreclosure process. To qualify, homeowners would have to be paying more than 31 percent of their incomes...

Excerpt... SEC. 112. COORDINATION WITH FOREIGN AUTHORITIES AND CENTRAL BANKS. The Secretary shall coordinate, as appropriate, with foreign financial authorities and central banks to work toward the establishment of similar programs by such authorities and central banks. To the extent that such foreign financial authorities or banks hold troubled assets as a result of extending financing to financial institutions that have failed or defaulted on such financing, such troubled assets qualify for purchase under section 101.

I had mentioned in a previous post that you need to be watching the ‘flow of money’ rather than the stock market. As you can see today, there are a number of investors that are gambling that this whole ‘crisis’ was a hoax and that they stand to make a whole lot of money by getting in at market bottom. But what does the money movement say? I’m going to teach you a very easy way to know if liquidity in our market is expanding or drying up. In other words, is the circulatory system of our economy healthy? Or...

I just got off the phone with Congressman Tom Tancedo's Office and there is another bailout bill coming up for a vote soon! Melt those switchboards - call EVERY Republican House member. And pray!!

Welcome to Lesson 3 of ‘The Basics of Credit Derivatives’. For this lesson I will be referencing the following article: The Ballooning Credit Derivatives Market: Easing Risk or Making It Worse?, which was published in November 2005 by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. My comments will be in Red. Let’s get started: The Ballooning Credit Derivatives Market: Easing Risk or Making It Worse? (continued) Published: November 02, 2005 in Knowledge@Wharton Short Squeeze Rosen estimated there are $25 billion in credit derivatives riding on $2 billion in Delphi bonds. Just as any catastrophe triggers insurance claims, Delphi's problems...

Lesson 1 can be found here: Lesson 1 Welcome to Lesson 2 of ‘The Basics of Credit Derivatives’. For this lesson I will be referencing the following article: The Ballooning Credit Derivatives Market: Easing Risk or Making It Worse? , which was published in November 2005 by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. My comments will be in Red. Let’s get started: The Ballooning Credit Derivatives Market: Easing Risk or Making It Worse? (continued) Published: November 02, 2005 in Knowledge@Wharton Credit Default Swaps Credit derivatives are contracts that go up or down to track the fortunes of underlying...

Welcome to Lesson 1 of ‘The Basics of Credit Derivatives’. For this lesson I will be referencing the following article: The Ballooning Credit Derivatives Market: Easing Risk or Making It Worse?, which was published in November 2005 by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. My comments will be in Red. Let’s get started: The Ballooning Credit Derivatives Market: Easing Risk or Making It Worse? Published: November 02, 2005 in Knowledge@Wharton When Delphi filed for bankruptcy October 8, investors had to start assessing their losses on more than $2 billion in the auto parts maker's bonds, which have recently...