The leaders of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrghyzstan and Uzbekistan are meeting for two days (June 15-16) in Yakaterinburg, Russia (see map) to create strategies of interdependence that expressly avoid usage of the U.S. Dollar. The reason? Their respective concentrated financial exposure to a recently ridiculously weak currency ($USD) exceeds existing risk tolerance.

There is special word to describe a powerful entity that oppresses and controls less powerful entities: hegemony. Loads of places seem to be fed up with answering to and being financially beholden to America. Leadership from Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia will attend and monitor the talks.

Exchanges are like casinos. In fact, they are “the house.” Think about it, at the casino, who is the guy that slides cards across the table? Got the answer? Okay. Now, who is the guy that slides stock certificates across the table? The answer to both is “the dealer.” The casino dealer and the agent of the broker dealer.

Many Americans shop around for a good broker (lowest commissions, best executions, etc.) and some Americans shop casino’s for “the loosest slots,” but I’ve never met anyone that shops around for the best exchange. If someone did shop the world for the best stock exchanges looking for the most bullish pools of stocks, here is what they would discover (found at the World Federation of Exchanges):

Within the past two weeks my neighbor, my lawyer, and my doctor each told me that Warren Buffett is suggesting that Americans buy shares in American companies. I tolerated the first two, but I really let my doctor have it today.  I blurted out - “AND???” “How does that apply to me and you?” “Are you a billionaire?” “Do you draw a $100k salary?” “Did you just give $30B to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?” “Have heads of State begged you to make verbal intervention because your wealth is the size of a second tier economy?” “What, precisely, do you have in common with Warren Buffett?”

These are perfectly sensible questions given that the risk tolerance of one person is rarely the risk tolerance of another. How many Americans have the exact retirement goals, financial means, and other suitability fingerprints of Warren the Oracle of Mutual of Omaha Buffett?  GET YOUR HEADS ON PEOPLE!

You’ve read the news, now here is how it works: The government gives money to Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM). Then, to reimburse themselves for this generosity, the government takes money from you or your employer or both. In return, your employer leaves the U.S. while you stay and suffer. Get more details in the next two paragraphs and enjoy the video at the end.

When state governments overzealously tax corporations (entities without a pulse), those states suffer economic declines of nearly 50%.  When state governments overzealously tax individuals (entities with a pulse), then those individuals vote with their feet and move to where the corporations set up shop (usually a neighboring state).

Friends, it’s time to get hedged, cut your losers, and start swinging for the fences with shorts as our economy goes down.

Our monetary program is founded on the American consumer and those consumers, in addition to recoiling from the sting of inflation, are collectively making less money (by about one half of one percent per month for the last 3 months).