junkyarddog

Relative Strength of Countries

I'm not exactly sure what to make out of this:

1) The US is in terrible shape.
2) But the US is not in "such terrible" shape because others are in similar predicaments.

So, let me throw the question out there: are we EVENTUALLY looking into a financial collapse in the entire world?

Saudi Arabia and the Price of Crude Oil

I must confess I'm ignorant as to how oil is traded in the world and how its price is really determined. Is it by the OPEC, perceived supply and demand, hedge funds, private contracts? What really is it?

Like most everybody, I need to work to make a living and I still remember gas prices at over $4.20 / g last year. The volatility is what hurt me financially (add heating oil costs to that). If this move by Saudi Arabia will reduce oil volatility -- albeit temporarily -- I'm all for it; with or without our good ol' USA involvement. I wonder if the US does more harm than good here...

I guess it remains to be seen what the impact will be on us consumers, if any in the short run. In the not-so-long run we need alternative forms of energy.

Very informative article, thanks!

Dollar Bear Trade Looks Dangerously Crowded

You shared some thought-provoking information.

Like many, I'm frustrated with our government lack of fiscal discipline, and seeing congress spend money like there is no tomorrow. If I had a huge amount of dollars, I'd be very nervous too: I'd simply dump the US dollar! However, in exchange for what? Definitely not for yuans.

I trust the Chinese government as much as I trust monkeys to safeguard bananas. So, the author's assessment on the bearishness of the dollar made me think, if anything, simply because of lack of many other alternatives as world reserve currencies in the short-run. Still, if our Congress doesn't reign in its spending, the dollar will be dead -- and maybe that's exactly what our leaders want.

A Crude 10 Year Perspective: The DJIA, Oil and Gold

This article is awesome!! I just have one suggestion: since 1999 the dollar has lost at least 30% of its value; just compare it to the Euro if one wants to make it really simple. Then add inflation on top of it and the adjusted price of oil in 1999 would not present as large of a gap (hey: I know it's still large! :-)).

The author's main point still stands, I'm just making this suggestion to make the comparison more realistic.

One last point: oil can still be refined from tar sands and coal. Sweet crude is the only economical option for now, but there are plenty of more expensive "non-sweet" reserves. Again, I'm not trying to say we're not in an energy crisis, all I'm saying we still have time to fix this.

Best wishes,

Roger

Inflation with Gary North or Deflation with Mish?

Why do people even pay attention to Gary Norht? He predicted "the end of the world as we know it" several times, the latest being with the Y2K bug. I don't care what he is predicting now. Before that was banking crisis, nuclear war, soviet invasion, you name it.

Please, let's not waste our time with Gary North.

Who Owns the Gold

Very interesting article.

I wonder how much the balance of these reserves has changed over the past year since the world entered this financial crisis. I wonder if central banks are hoarding more gold (expected) or if they're seeking other types of reserves (other currencies, commodities).

China's Statements About U.S. Debt Are Overblown

Nice try, but where did I say China needs the US? Last I checked they exported to many other countries. The question is: can they consume internally all what they produce and still be a strong economy? Lucky we got your analysis, eh?

On Jun 01 03:55 PM Dave Wrixon wrote:

> Yes, the Chinese cannot survive unless they give us all their money
> to squander. Lucky they got us, eh?

China's Statements About U.S. Debt Are Overblown

Donald, interesting points.

However, I'd argue that the Chinese DO need their exports. The Chinese population is economically still poor and they can't absorb all what China produces -- thus the need for exports.

And as far as taking the hit.. I don't know... it's over 1/2 of trillion dollars in bonds and I don't care how rich you are: no one likes to take a "hit" like that! If we go into hyper-inflation, well that's a different story..

Bank of America Punishes Customers Who Dare to Have a Balance

I know all of this is tough, but... why on Earth would anyone have a credit card balance? Sorry, I'm not here to step on your toes, but what happened to living within your means?

I just want to point out that people made the "mistake" of borrowing from the Mafia (sorry, you should have known better). Now they're sending their wise guys to collect. And why are you surprised?

$200 Oil Is Coming While We Waste a Perfectly Good Crisis (Part 3)

No doubt, oil will be at $200 one day. But this will be due to inflation. Now the question for you is: WHEN will it be at $200? Let me guess: you don't know. Then why make such "predictions"?

Have you ever heard of demand destruction? Another question for you: at $200 who can afford it? Hint: demand destruction.

There is enough oil in the world to sustain us for hundreds of years (not sweet crude oil alone) and even $200 barrel is too expensive for today standards to explore non-sweet crude alternatives. You know all of this information anyway, so why do you waste our time with such unfounded "predictions"? Put your money where your mouth is: $200 barrel -- WHEN????

Vonage Loses Subscribers but Does Anyone Care?

I've been using Vonage since 2005 and I'm extremely happy with their services.

I do have the option to switch to VoIP from my cable company, but Vonage does offer more benefits at a lower price. I hope Vonage manages to stick around.

I wouldn't buy their stock though...

Nationalize Citigroup and Bank of America

Nice job, Felix! You wrote a satire just to get people going.

It's too bad this kind of publication doesn't belong here; it's stuff for the "National Enquirer".

To make your "article" even more humorous, you should include GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Now, that's funny --- even though no one is laughing.

Goldman Cuts Sun Rating as Revenues Expected to Dim

This is just to show how stupid and useless David Bailey is.

Downgrade a stock after it had already lost 80% of its value?

Nice job, great timing.

iTunes Breaks 6 Billion, DRM is Dead

$37 dollars in the past 3 years...

I mostly imported my physical CD's into iTunes (not a whole lot) and I keep buying a few songs here and there. Like you, I'm also past my music buying prime.

Citigroup Sees Gold Reaching $2000

I don't know what it's going to happen to gold. What I know is that FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) is the best seller. It worked well for oil for a while (i.e. peak oil theory, wars over oil, you name it). We see the same thing now being played on gold.

It's possible gold will rise, but it's also possible gold will drop as many people -- believe it or not -- still see safety in the US dollar. I just question the "author's" motive for this doomsday scenario, predicting even nuclear wars. A bit of desperate sales pitch, don't you think?