xpatUSA

Gold Will Shine in 2009 (Part II)

Many articles are making similar predictions with reference to Fed actions and resultant inflation when all that money escapes from the Banks. My question is always "When?". But really, the question should be "what are the indicators for the onset of inflation for the price of goods and services, and what do those indicators do?".

T.C.

James Grant Wants to Know: Who Will Buy Our Greenbacks?

I think that Professor Antal Fekete has it just about right. He lets the dollar go it's merry way, complete with the Fed, Banks large and small, Forex, the whole shmear. He proposes a concurrent gold-based system, the which makes quite a bit of sense to me. The dollar would soon atrophy and die, methinks, and good riddance.

Meanwhile, GoldMoney offers a good alternative to fiat currency - goldgrams. Maybe they'll catch on!

T.C.

Even if GM (GM) is too big to fail, the threat of bankruptcy, or even downsizing, has potential customers looking elsewhere.

To me, at age 68, living three miles down a dirt road and eight miles from the nearest store - the author's rejection of vehicle ownership seems a little trite.

Some stuff that we have to buy, like cars, refrigerators, A/C's and such are not investments nor are they supposed to be.

So we'll hang on to Wifey's Jeep CRD and keep running my gas-guzzler on E85, thereby doing our little bit ;-)

Manhattan Mansions Fall from the Sky - Barron's

mdmrjsds wrote: "So stable or dropping world population is what we need for capitalism to work for everyone. Can we get there?"

Stable is doubtful, but dropping is highly likely in the decades and centuries to come.

Meanwhile, outsourcing is nothing new - not even in the USA. The Hamilton Watch Company was outsourcing it's military watch cases back in the 70's. Outsourcing is just easier now.

BTW, Americans have been at it for longer than that by voting directly with their wallets. Cars, TV's, stereos . . . the list is endless.

T.C.

GM: Buyout Better than Bailout

Why does the govt have to hand Detroit money directly? They've $350b left to hand out to "good banks" per Paulson's words. Just give a "good bank" or two the requested $25b on the basis that they do the lending. Buggers are said to be hoarding cash anyway.

Or can it be that the Fed is being asked to hand out money to 3 companies with zero credit rating? And was this not the cause of the housing bubble? Are we now going to see a "major company" bubble?

Puzzled.

Market Currents poll: Do buyers mount a late-afternoon rally, or are we headed for new intraday lows? Weigh-in in the comments.

@SA Editor Eli Hoffmann

"Buyers come out of the woodwork."

I did . . . . . this morning :-(

T.C.

Correlation Between the Loonie and Oil

Someone's making some pretty insane posts lately. Wish they would go someplace else. What do you think, OctoberFaith?

Stock Market Cycles, Part 4: Primary Cycles

"The article is pretty interesting and does bring up some good points. The typeo do draw from the case."

hmmm . . . . deliberate?

;-)

Why the Fed's Out of Control

The sad part to me (as a retired geezer with quite a lot of paper gold GLD) is that there is no discernible concensus on what will happen or when.

Today's posts predict deflation, inflation, hyperinflation, anarchy - all convincingly presented as our certain future here in the good old U.S. of A.

T.C.

The Dangers of Timing the Market

Simplistic statements and study presentation graphs can never tell the full story, IMHO. There are many investing styles and within those style there are those prosper and those who fail.

At 68 years old and being a diabetic, I don't have the luxury of putting my money for 20 years anywhere! Therefore, I am a very frequent trader, consciously timing individual investments, both stocks and commodities.

All I want is to beat about 1.5 % a month i.e. price inflation and taxes. Might even get there this week if stocks rise enough.

T.C.

How Is Inflation Related to CPI?

Sorry, I forget to mention that the article itself was most informative!

(blush).

T.C.

How Is Inflation Related to CPI?

If people, including the author sorry to say, would quit using the word "inflation" by itself without a qualifying phrase, we would all get a better understanding of what is meant.

While the Victorians were verbose and flowery in their prose, at least they did use full, grammatically correct, sentences and their meaning was, by and large, quite clear.

In modern times, we have to shorten everything down and use acronyms to the point of being meaningless to outsiders and to the point of ambiguity to insiders.

Don't even get me started on the disappearance of the hyphen ;-)

T.C.

Renewable Energy Is at the Center of the Presidential Debate

Gentlemen,

We may have different views but the concensus is that it CAN be done and will be ultimately necessary. The only problem would appear to be is the government and they who control it (vested interests in the suppression of significant growth of alternative energy).

Great thread!

T.C.

Renewable Energy Is at the Center of the Presidential Debate

frflyer,

A vigorous rebuttal indeed. A little knowledge can certainly be misleading. There is of course a place for alternative energy and we should do all of it, in fact about 20% of my portfolio is in GEX as we speak and 10% in an algaeic biodiesel Company. Another 10% sits in a Chinese wind turbine Co. But, with reference to your 80%: 80% of what?. By mid-centrury, crude oil and NG energy production might well be low enough to perhaps make the total provided by alternative energy close to your quoted percentage but the "American way of life" will be long gone, I reckon.

Makes me glad to be old and retired ;-)

T.C.

Renewable Energy Is at the Center of the Presidential Debate

Did Obama really say we import oil from Iran? I thought we didn't and the EIA import table for 2008 doesn't mention Iran.

A post on Carpe Diem is against energy sufficiency on the basis that other people's oil is cheaper! Like, should we also be coffee independent by the same logic? I can't really buy such simplistic thinking. Doesn't the balance of trade and our economy come in there somewhere?

The potential for alternative energy in the USA is quite a small fraction of our total future use. We would gain as much, if not more, by simply increasing energy efficiency in buildings, vehicles, appliances, etc. by a surprisingly small percentage.

McCain is perhaps a little more realistic than Obama on the energy front. On the other hand, McCain is less convincing on his grasp of economics. Sad, isn't it?

Roll on the NAU ;-)

T.C.