Depressedallready

The Truth Behind China's Currency Peg

Peter Schiff if one of few economists whose common sense predictions are ahead of the majority economists. But in this senario, it is more complicated and he is wrong in assuming that China will benefit from the crash of the dollar and the de-pegging from the dollar as the major currency of the world! Just recently, Europe's Central Bank, the equivalent of our Federal Reserve's has been quoted that they feel that Their euro, as a currency will fail, with respect to the import/exports of goods between US and China! Since the US and China is "welded at the hip" that is, THEY need the United States MORE than WE need them! The United States is the major "consumer" nation of the world and we depend upon "cheap imported goods" and China, as the major manufacturing capital of the world needs to produce the products that Americans request/need on a daily basis! China has overbuilt the number of its factories and even now, more and more Chinese factories are closing down because of the demand for Chines imports has decreased because of the high unemployment in the US! So, do YOU really think China will "pull the plug" on the dollar? When that happens, expect more and more Chinese factories to close down, unemployment in China to rise and possibly strikes and anarchy to be a chief consequence and concern to the Chinese government! Peter Schiff is wrong on this call! To depeg the dollar as the main currency of the world is going to lead China down the road of economic depression. What would China have left to maintain their standard of living is their factory products are suddenly curtailed due to the fact that the Chinese government withdrew the financing our federal debt? We here in the US have a crippled financial sector, a crippled construction sector, and a crippled manufacturing sector (due to outsourcing, use of temporary workers etc)! The expansion of China's economy/government is due primarily to their manufacturing sector producing inexpensive products. Take away their factories or cause the majority of their factories to decrease the production of their products and you will have a Country looking more like Detroit as it is now!

China in a Bubble?

This is in response towards Albertarocks comments of Marc Anthony! I wouldn't give two cents for the majority of economists predictions! Nouriel Roubini, Peter Schiff, McAlvaney, Marc Faber are the predominant economists/investors who can aptly see "the forrest from the trees" and are right on target in seeing through the false statistics and "cooked books" of our government and Wall Street! Two years before the housing meltdown, Peter Schiff, and Nouriel Roubini predicted the Housing Market Meltdown. Most Wall Street brokers, economists, and investors jeered him and made fun of him (see You Tube's replay). Now, these "Dr. Dooms" are in the limelights because of their "COMMON SENSE FORESIGHTS". There is this old saying, "if you want to make a name for yourself, and have a hard time finding employment...become an economist!" The trouble with the MAJORITY of ANY economical theory is that they no longer work! Trying to fit a nineteenth century economical theory with the twenty-first's centuries economies and all the newest banking investment tools, ie. , CDO's etc in the light of Fiat currencies all over the world is like trying to tell people that "buggy whips" are still needed! You cannot erase the history of gold-backed currency versus fiat (paper-backed currency)! Any nation/country that depends upon "printing press" to solve their problems ends up like the "Weimar Republic", Rome, or Zimbabwe!
Every country in the world is now on fiat currency thanks to the combination of the Federal Reserve, the Bildenburgs, World Bank, etc. We, China and the US are welded at the hip! Ya! China could dump the dollar, but when they do this the consequences will be uninmanageable for the Chinese! The majority of China's growth is through their exports to the US and when WE, as the number one debtor nation no longer purchase Chinese goods, i.e. decrease in consumer spending, trade tariffs, or US protectionism via labor unions in the US; China will experience a great deal of pain! The only time countries "stock-pile goods" is for the preparation of war! Remember all the stockpiling of the Japanese government from the 1920's! NOW, there is troubling news that our military is starting to see a Chinese build-up in their military and increase in military manuevers! Whenever a country feels threatened in that their economy will die......or because there is too much inventory and not enough consumption......there is planning toward war! China is NO different! Check history, and you will see this!

Jim Rogers on the Next 10 Years

Mr. Jim Rodgers and the majority of those opinions that state that China will be the next coming superpower are failing to see the forest from the trees! People forget two very important points....while we, the US is maintaining our debt through China and all the other Eastern countries; they are "joined at the hip" with the world, but primarily through the US! The number one consumer nation is the US and the number one exporting nation is China! Keep in mind of the old axiom, "When America sneezes, Europe catches cold." That still applies to the Far East as well!

China does NOT play by any rules but their own! They manipulate and float their own currency to keep it low so as to maintain their balance of payment for exports! Their employment picture is not rosy either! Because many Americans lost their jobs, there are fewer consumers to purchase their products which means more Chinese getting their pink slips from their factories! China has also been guilty of "unfair trade practices" by unlawful dumping of their steel products and other products shipped to America! As unemployment becomes more deeply entrenched in our economy, so to, will the number of Chinese getting their pink slips from the factories because there are fewer and fewer American consumers unwilling to make the purchases that they used to make prior to this recession! Look at Japan's economic stagflation! A country far less in population of that of China; yet, they are experiencing a continuous stagflation/inflation for over ten years! If this is happening to Japan, who has a better capitalistic base, mega-corporations etc. then China; How can ANYONE predict that China will be the NEXT superpower! This Recession is more like a Depression, a Depression like no one else saw or experienced before! If you think the housing market and then the commericial market crash is bad......then, WAIT to the commodity Derivatives Markets hits the fan! It is NOT only the US and its investors but also China who owns a great deal of American stocks, bonds, real estate, and DERIVATIVES! I can just bet you that the "risk taking" of the Chinese Government is just as great, if not greater, than the "died-in-the-wool" followers/investors of Wall Street in the US! Look around! There is NOT one country within Europe who has NOT escaped the Wall Street debacle, because, the European banks/bankers have and are experiencing the same/similar problems of the US! Every country in Europe is NOW trying to protect their currency which ultimately means that the Euro is showing "cracks" with regards to a "Unified Europe!" Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Iceland are near levels of bankruptcy! According to past history, When national interests are threatened, either internally, or externally, nationalism raises its ugly head!

No, don't look at ANY country as being a "superpower" because there will be too many problems withi EVERY country, including China, with the problems that face every country that utilizes a FIAT MONETARY SYSTEM!

Will Windows 7 Resurrect IT Spending?

Most of all the opinions are consistent with one fact! That fact is the majority of Windows/Vista users have had it up to their wazoo with the arrogance, bloat, inflated promises (but never deliver!), security that does nothing to safeguard against hackers, bots, etc! Its security has more holes than "swiss cheese." More and more people don't mind the "higher end prices of Apple computers" because of its security! More and more people are discovering the benefits of BOTH security and great savings of "open source" of Linux. For those who do NOT know about Linux (the best kept secret, but the cat is coming out of the bag!); check You Tube and enter Ubuntu, Fedora, or Mandriva! Ya, MIcrosoft has the majority market for now, but security equals time and time equals money BOTH Apple and Linux can provide that, especially Linux! The only thing that these two are deficient is in "gaming!" Apple has/uses parallels and Linux can use BOTH parallels and Crossover to use Microsoft Office as well as for gaming! When people get disgusted with the products of Microsoft, they look for products that offer security and ease of use....Enter Linux and enter Apple!

Obama Placing the Economic Cart Before the Horse

And guess what political party has had control of the House and Senate for the majority of the time....you guessed it!! The spend-a-holic, socialistic Democratic Party! I am amazed at the "gullibility" of the populace who let "hope" replace reasoning. LBJ and his social welfare programs only added millions to the US Deficit. No political party has more of a historical record of wasteful spending, called "pork" projects, then the Democrats who have had control over BOTH houses since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And since FDR have through their reckless political agenda/monetary policies have done more damage to the US economy. Throughout the years that they controlled both houses, they, the Democratic Party has not in any form/fashion tried to balance the budget or enact a responsible fiscal policy/budget for the United States. Senate/House voting records support this as a fact and history as always will repeat itself. Unbridled greed and the "fudging" of economic data along with the manipulation of financial instruments will be the undoing of the US and world economies as we once knew. Stability as we know now, in every form and fashion will be the "sacrificial victim" to the Fed's printing press and hyperinflation!!


On Mar 02 02:44 PM manya05 wrote:

> If the economy were such a simple system as a three-body trading
> problem, the basic principles would be obvious and we would all be
> geniuses. So, I do not think this is particularly a good article.
> But let me make my position very clear: 1) Obama did not create this
> mess, the Republicans did, 2) Obama IS screwing up the opportunity
> of his lifetime to really enact change and lead the country and the
> economy in a new direction, instead, he surrounded himself by also-rans
> invested in the system who cannot see beyond their feet. They (Obama
> included) think that by doing more of the same that got us here,
> we will get out of it. Maybe so, but for how long? We need a real
> change of direction here, if not Obama, who?

Finally a Silver Lining?

There's talk that WHEN the Second Great Depression is well on its way that our Government under the direction of President Obama/Federal Reserve will repeat the same fiscal policy that Franklin Delano Roosevelt enacted and that was a law enacted to prohibit the ownership of gold by private citizens and that all Americans who owned gold had to relinquish it back to our government. This will be the "gut" policy by the politicians to prohibit ANY chance of a "gold backed currency" and to enlarge the coffers of our government who will have the printing presses running 24/7 which will debase our fiat currency leading to the same debacle of hyperinflation experienced by the Germans during the Weimar Republic! NO currency/economy ever survives through printing money which debases its value as more printed money is in the total money supply of our country. When gold is then sought after by our government......what then will happen to the value of silver? Will silver then be the replacement for gold for barter/legal tender once our fiat currency is worthless?

Analysts Don't Know Squat

I totally agree with Matthew Rafat concerning the advice of experts and also to those who stated that people listen to these experts NOT for their advice but they wish to hear and follow "those experts" that agree with their portfolio picks!

Now, you have "experts" out there that clearly what will happen in the economy two to three years from now based on a clear understanding of past Wall-Street and governmental spending spending trends. BUT because these people don't bury their heads in the sand like many, if not most, financial experts, investors call them "doomsday prophets."

Three "doomsday prophets" that predicted the current economic recession we are in through the mortgage/credit meltdown are in great demand for their financial foresight, or should I say, financial common-sense. Nouriel Roubini, Peter Schiff, Peter Schilling, and McAlvaney are in the "limelight" because of their warning from two years ago that our economy would be headed for a major housing/credit crisis. Two years ago they were ridiculed. Now, like the commercial on EF Hutton....When Roubini, Schiff, Schilling and McAlvaney speak......EVERYBODY LISTENS or SHOULD listen considering that their predictions and the accuracy of their predictions have been 100%. Just like the prophets of the "Old Testament", nobody wants to hear "bad news". They just want to hear WHAT they want to hear. And the truth won't "go away" just because "Wall Street" want to keep up their "illusion" of continuing "good times and easy credit." Peter Schiff has recently stated that all of his predictions have not materialized as yet. But based on the reckless financial policies of our government and Wall Street, rest assured, they will. All of the above individuals comments can be seen on You Tube, and to a lesser degree, on Yahoo financial news.

Mac Demand May Be Slowing

I usually go to our Best Buy about three or four times a year. This year I saw two things that blew my mind! For the first time I saw Apple computers for sale and on display and customers signing up for Apple purchases and Apple Care Plans. The second trend was even more astonishing! Instead of having two long display cases of third-party software for sale, I saw only one display case that was only one half the length of what I saw two years ago!

Do I believe that Apple Computer sales are diminishing? NO! Instead I see it doing slow, but steady growth while the growth/sales of PC's with Vista Software diminishing. The constant threat of ID theft, bots, rootkits and over one million pieces of malware and still growing exponentially are reminders to those with PC's that easy accessability to third-party software and gamers that security from internet suites are both too-expensive and a tendency to not deliver the average PC/laptop owner! Enter the security of Mac computers. While many say there will be a time when there will be more viruses/trojans be written for Mac's, the reality is....So far there hasn't and probably won't ever be! Too much work involved for even the most dedicated hacker! On-line sales where people can call in the Apple store and Best Buy are increasing the numbers of Mac computers substantially! As more and more people get disillusioned with the performace/security of Vista they will search for a more "secure" computer enter Mac and to a lesser degree but growing...open source software and Linux, which is even MORE secure than Mac computers! Don't forget....the recession we are undergoing will depress the overall number of sales...But inspite of this...Apple Computer sales are growing and holding their ground!

Is the Microsoft Empire Cracking?

The crack in Microsoft is already here and getting bigger every year. I agree with the majority of those who commented that Microsoft will have to re-invent itself and come up with a better OS system. The current system will have to be based on the Unix Server security and NOT on the present Windows Server loaded with more holes then Swiss Cheese! The second point is that both Mac and Linux are becoming more popular with the desktop/laptop users because of their security and security is more of an issue then ever. With more than one million pieces of malware out there and Bill Gates stating that he is unable to tackle such a problem....people look elsewhere for Desktop/Laptop operating systems that don't disrupt their store data and don't lead to identity theft! Linux, while not point-and-click offers security since it is based on the IBM Unix Server. And yes, more and more nations are turning towards Linux in their school systems and businesses because of economics and security. When people realize that they either pay the outrageous prices of third-party internet security suites and spyware software etc, which doesn't really protect the computers against bots, root kits etc, they will realize and the term REALIZE is the key word that security/privacy/savin... is only through Mac or Linux Operating Systems! The days of operating systems for the "general public" and "simple point-and-click" are becoming less and less, unless you have an operating system like HP's touch system!

Third, Microsoft may have millions if not billions of money but they also have at least fourteen lawsuits against them! Two lawsuits in the European Union were already lost by Microsoft! The first lawsuit lost by Microsoft was 65 million dollars. The second lawsuit in the European Union was also lost by Microsoft and came to 165 billion dollars! There are two more lawsuits to be held in the European Union against the monopolistic business practices of Microsoft! Here, in the United States, there are approximately twelve lawsuits to be held against Microsoft!

Mega million dollar lawsuits have a tendency to lopside the cashflow/assets equation! For once, Microsoft will have to do four things in order to stay in business. One, they will have to re-invent an Operating System based on REAL security, based on the Unix Server, and NOT on third-party software whose security is a real laugh! Second, they have to sever their connections to Third-party software companies. Third, they have to have a REAL research and development department whose aim is to bring out an operating system based on quality control and not "how fast you can get it out to the market" without working out the "bugs" and flaws BEFORE it is released to the public. They need "think tanks" that think outside-the-box and not be penalized because they are "yes men." And they need consumer advocates, not advocates for the Microsoft that like Toyota came to the PUBLIC and asked what the public wanted and what they are looking for not only for a computer operating system but also what businesses are looking for and what/how they can help them realize that! UNLESS Microsoft does that.....their company and its hold on the Desktop/Laptop/Busines... will steadily be going down every year. And YES, the bottom line of business has always been economics/security and even business out of the need for security/savings will turn to Mac computers or Linux! Unless, Microsoft gains the trust of the public that they arrogantly mishandled.....their company will flounder and slowly die!

Is the Financial Crisis a Moral Issue?

"Greed, that's what the stock market is all about." Isn't that the famous quote from the movie "Wall Street?" Well, if it is not the exact quote, it's pretty close to it! Unbridled capitalism by its nature IS based on greed and when it comes to profits there is NO place for morals, morality, ethics, or rules/regulation. If people do not learn from history (events, capitalism etc from the 1920's) they will be forced to replay the events all over again (our current financial crisis!). You cannot expect Wall Street to employ any modicum of financial responsibility or any means of ethical self governing! By its own nature and by its past....it will NEVER set any regulations or rules without being enforced by our Congress! The history of Wall Street in and by itself, proves That GREED has to be monitored via rules and regulations by Congress. Besides, Wall Street and its past and present "financial engineering," fabricating complex and morally bankrupt schemes to make huge amounts of money are only PART of the reasons why when it comes to Wall Street and its practices.....ethics, morality, and responsible practices HAVE to be legislated through laws enacted by Congress. Wall Street and all it "glorious greed" are the players that have brough on this mess and have brought on the severe recession we have now! Many, if not most economists have already said that our economy is now "at a free fall." And how can you stop an ongoing avalanche that is yet to pick up more steam? Like a house of cards, when several key cards start the fall, the entire house will also collapse! Our ongoing recession is just the beginning.....As free and easy credit and cheap money supply started the 1930's Depression.......so will THIS recession turn into a Great Depression! How can even our government stop the economic free fall and implosion of the morally bankrupt practices of Wall Street from the 1950's? Looks like the the "roosters are coming back to roost" after all !! You can thank the Democrat Party and put a great deal of blame on their shoulders when President Clinton repealed the Glass-Steingle Act, a piece of legislation enacted after the Great Depression to make the Banks and the Banking System both accountable and transparent for all depositors and investors! Of course, the Democrats would like to appear as representatives of the people! But as we all know....politics and business (greed and money) make strange bedfellows!!

Unemployment Data: Healthcare, Government Prop Up a Gloomy Picture

The old saying goes..."If you think this is bad.... you haven't seen nothing yet, baby!" This is just the tip of the iceberg! I predict that by November, the unemployment will probably reach 9.5% or 10.0%! This recession (or JUST the beginning of another Great Depression!), is different than the recession of the 1970's which took about five years before our economy got back on its feet! Back in the 1970's we didn't have the depth/degree of greed/fraud in our banking/lending/mortga... industries! And our US Government has taken over Fannie Mae/Freedie Mac to stop our economy, and probably the world's economy from divebombing into a massive Great Depression, or so they say! The next scenario is WHAT other institution or institutions will our Government play the role of "the Great Rescuer?" Our government preaches, "Let the market forces carry on and work." But their hypocracy broadcasts another message and that is "rescue the mega-institutions, the mega-corporations ONLY," and let the market forces work for the middle-class and newly start-up businesses only! The continual action of our government to rescue those greedy institutions that are now going bankrupt will have a legacy of unbridled debt to the present and following generations to come! Stagflations? I doubt it! How about a continual slide of unemployment and a recession that mostly resembles the Great Depression! Have you noticed that the majority of the job losses are in those areas which previously were high-paying jobs and mostly were filled by men? Those jobs that are holding their own, namely, the health care fields and education are primarily filled by women and women, as a whole gravitate towards! Except for the teachers unions, that seem to get their perks/pay raises after each strike; no other union in which women belong to have that much power/influence! Wages have not risen in the past five years and will continue to stay flat in the next five years! Back in the recession of the 1970's the economy wasn't based or gambled on through risky credit practices such as junk bonds or packaged mortgages for poor credit risks. It goes on and on....Greed knows no boundaries and the greed of many institutions, and corporations are just beginning to be examined and published in the newspapers and the internet! The mismanagement of funds and the high risk taking of putting everything into one basket, ie. junk bonds is JUST about to come out to public scrutiny! Baby! YOU haven't seen NUTHIN' YET!

Dell's Factory Sales: End of an Era

Hmmm!! Selling out all their computer plants in order to "remain competitive." Trying to purchase Yahoo to compete with Google and take some of the "advertising market" away from Google. Saddled with a multimillion loss in sales from the "despised" Vista software that it tries to force down the throats of its consumers and ignoring all the signatures of its loyal customers to save Windows XP from being sent to oblivion! Not to mention that it already lost two antitrust lawsuits in the European Courts and two more are expected to be heard! Microsoft lost 65 million dollars in the first lawsuit and 165 billion dollars in the second lawsuit! They are still in the process of appealing those two verdicts. But as they say....good luck! Microsoft should have paid more attention to the saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Taking his cut-throat business purposes overseas and failing to know the business laws of the European nations has cost him dearly! Coupled with at least four lawsuits regarding infringement of patents here in the US. I would say that the handwriting is on the wall and not only has Microsoft been unable to deliver "new technology" but now is no longer in the black financially! The rooster is coming home to roost and Microsoft which was the number 4th largest corporation in the world in the year 2004 is now the 59th largest corporation in the world as of 2008. Because of the factors mentioned above, the corporation could very well be sold out to another corporation because it is headed to the path of bankruptcy!

Friday's Employment Report: A Sobering Dose of Reality

Let's face it! Our entire economy has been based on deceit and greed since the 1950's. Our banks and lending institutions thought up new credit tools to expand their profits to make money through a stroke of the pen! Now, these same new credit tools like CDO's etc are coming home to roost through fraudalent lending practices and fraudalent fine print contracts. The average consumer now is estimated to be sixteen thousand dollars in debt because of the easy flow of credit and the "If I can't afford it by cash, I'' charge my credit card attitude." The "I want to have it all and now" philosophy as perpetuated by the banks, lending institutions, mortgage institutions, multinational corporations like General Motors, Ford, Chrysler etc has been built on "greed, mismanagement of fiscal resources, easy credit with little accountability, and most of all BUILT ON DENIAL! Everyone has watched Wall Street and the US Government practices of printing more money on the printing presses causing inflation and at the same time spending more money then they make calling it "the Deficit"! The rooster is now coming home to roost and Uncle Sam pretends that they don't have a clue for the rising inflation rates and unemployment rates in this country! Any individual/household who spends more than they make, who live well beyond their means can expect to stay economically solvent for any period of time! If we regard these people as financially irresponsible, if not morally bankrupt; then it still applies to those governmental officials, institutions like the Federal Reserve as well! You can deny all you want that massive government deficits will not effect our economy, businesses in general, and the general populace but fiscal irresponsibility and outright greed has repercussions whether the individual practices them or the US Government/corporation... practices them! The rooster is coming home to roost and the era of instant greed through contrived credit tools/institutions is fastly coming to an end! Our government's uncontrolled spending as seen in the unbalanced budget will be seen in generations to come! Straddled by the costs of our government's deficit and the tightening of credit accross the board, our United States will no longer be the world's number one power. We will be looking inward to help solve our problems that we created through unbridled greed by both the large corporations as well as through our elected officials of our government. Both the House and the Senate have been bought out by special interest groups, unbridled spending, pork barrel projects, etc. Our nation will be headed to the same direction/destiny of Rome.....Economically bankrupt and morally bankrupt!

WaMu Borrower Purposely Defaults, Gets Foreclosed On, Sues

There is so much fraud today in the banking/lending/mortga... institutions that it would be VERY wise to "hire a lawyer" to read the "fine printed contract" to cover your A*** against "unscrupulous" money/credit lenders! IF in court these people proved that they went to WaMu to reconsider their loan to make it affordable, I would say that they have a "legal right." The fact that THEY contacted WaMU "in good faith" to keep making payments but that they could, for the moment, not be able to pay the going rate demonstrates to the Courts that it was WaMu who violated the rights by not opting for lower payments! "Good Faith" and willingness to keep making payment is ALL that is needed in a court to prove the point for the consumers. I feel that WaMu and other credit organizations have gone too far and as the credit market tightens even more, there will be this vicious circle of "defaults" and "foreclosures" UNTIL there will be the action upon the Justice System and Political laws and regulations to protect even the creditors against "unscrupulous and unfair credit practices" by the major credit lending institutions. The key word for litigation/rights is "Good Faith."

The End of U.S. Financial Domination

I laugh at those people who THINK that gold/silver/platinum will "protect" their assets when the dollar shrinks in value like that of the "Weimar Republic!" There are perhaps only a few thousand precious metal investors out of a total 200 to 250 million American citizens. So.....when the value of the dollar drops to forty cents or less OR becomes inflated like that during pre WWII Germany, the Weimar Republic those individuals with gold/silver will be able to barter food/shelter etc with their buillon and NOT be noticed by those individuals who have "relatively worthless fiat money?" Guess what! I hope you have plenty of guns/ammo because once your gold/silver is spotted by the "less fortunate" YOU will become the target or "criminal minds." Globalism has so intertwined within all countries, all cultures, all business/corporations that when "America sneezes, Europe will catch cold!" London is purported to be the "New York" of Europe with regards to business. When our leaders realize that UNLESS WE stop being the "policeman" of democracy/terroism throughout the world because it is fastly becoming bankrupt; then Europe will have to pick up the tab for their own countries against Islamic extremism! ALL the countries of the world are run on "fiat currencies." All the other countries of the world are now experiencing the same problems that the US is with regards to "credit," and mortgages. Russia is the only country who is now on the "gold standard!" Looks like a "New World Order and a New World Government" is just around the corner! Just a fluke? It has been said that NOTHING in politics or finances is coincident but rather has been planned and implemented by such groups as the Bilderburgs, Illuminati, and the Banking interests for world domination! By the way, the Federal Reserve IS NOT a governmental department but is privately owned by the large banking corporations here in the US and abroad! Looks like Thomas Jefferson was right when he said that the Banks who could control the movement/flow of money can control the nations of the world!