MUST WATCH - The American Dream (Animated)

Gold & Silver Represent Freedom From The Matrix - Mike Maloney in Red Sq...

Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis

Jim Sinclair's Mindset on Federal Reserve

Seriously, it is hard to hide my contempt of this disgusting scene. This band of fools somehow believes that prosperity can be created by printing money without any consequences whatsoever. The US is sinking under a mountain of indebtedness and the Fed chairman tells us that it stands ready to engage in even more QE should the need arise. Flash to Ben – the need shall arise. China is already balking at buying US debt meaning you are going to have to buy it all yourself Ben.

What we are witnessing is the death throes of a debt-based monetary system of which those presiding over it apparently have come to believe their own delusions. The US public is learning what our grandfathers learned as a result of the Great Depression – Debt is something to be avoided – not heaped up and accumulated. That the borrower becomes the lender’s slave and that living beyond ones own means is inherently foolish and dangerous. That saddling one’s children and grandchildren with a debt burden that they did not create is immoral and wicked. Yet, all of this is lost upon the monetary lords who have their noses so close to the ground sniffing out the scent that they cannot see the path ahead leads off the edge of an abyss from which there is no escape. Or perhaps they do see and are attempting to secure their own parachutes before leading the rest of the masses over the edge.

I repeat – if lasting prosperity could be created by printing money and giving it away, previous generations that were wiser and more frugal than ours would long ago have stumbled upon this axiom.

That brings us to the war on gold. I am still amazed that after all these years and notwithstanding all the evidence to the contrary, there are still those obtuse enough to insist that there are no official sector attempts to manage or stem the rise in the price of gold. Gold is the only currency that these debasement thieves cannot pollute by conjuring more of it into existence. It rises when distrust of paper currencies is high and confidence in the ability of those who supposedly manage monetary affairs wanes. Thus it is and always will be in direct competition with unbacked fiat currencies.

Our money masters hate the yellow metal because its rise mocks their absurd assertions and debunks their claims of being able to “manage the economy”. It strikes, dagger-like, at the very hubris of these elitists who think that they are wiser than the collective judgment of the entire market, they alone possessing such keen insight into the nature of these matters that we should entrust our financial health to their hands. Imagine the conceit of a few men who think that by pulling on this lever or pushing on this button, that they can assure continuous prosperity and lasting wealth for all. Every generation considers itself wiser than the previous one which is why history does indeed repeat itself. Arrogant men never learn for they lack the one thing essential to make one truly wise – the ability to admit that we do not know all things nor that we mere mortals can always fix what ails us.

-Dan Norcini

Taken from Jim Sinclair's MindSet

Part I: Eric Janszen interviews Elizabeth Warren for The Postcatastrophe...

The Great Con Job: Must Watch

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Greenspan, Summers and Economy

"One cannot fight this sort of evil with hatred and violence, or hysteria and intemperate accusations, for these are its creatures, and it uses them always to further its ends. The only worthy adversary of the darkness is transparency, openness, justice, and truth based on facts, in the light of reason, with the guidance of the light of the world. We are not sufficient of ourselves to stand against it, and if we knock down the law, the Constitution, to chase it with expediency and private justice, what will protect us when it turns around to devour us? But we should never be a willing victim, and even worse, a silent bystander or mocking accomplice. This is why were you born here and now, to stand witness to the truth, as you can find it and value it above all else.

It is not easy to find the truth, as it is a journey, a way that never ends. And without a proper guide and companionship, it may be all too easy to grow weary or panic, and lose one's bearings and one's heart. But sometimes it is easier to discover where and what is not the truth by its acts, its results, the fruit that it produces, and the darkness and secrecy in which it dwells."


via Jesse's Café Américain

Money As Debt

This should be mandatory viewing in order to get a High School Diploma.

Zimbabwe Ben

Ron Paul: On Market Economy & Creating Money Out of Thin Air

House Gambles with Economic Future

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Dylan's four (shockingly logical) proposals on how to fix the broken financial system:

Inject transparency, primarily to bring almost $500 trillion in swaps to the forefront.

Capital to back Wall Street's gambling. It is a guarantee that very few firms will have Goldman's trading pattern each and every quarter.

Enact a tax-code to discourage short-term profits. "Fortunes should not be made in minutes but over years through the creation of value to society."

Break up the Too Big To Fail banking institutions. Start with Goldman Sachs. Right Now. Christine Varney, we are still looking at you.

Ron Paul on the Daily Show

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Ron Paul
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

Thomas Jefferson on Private Banks/FED

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

-- Thomas Jefferson

The Culture that Spawned the Crisis

Summary

The Seventh Annual John M. Templeton, Jr. Lecture on Economic Liberties and the Constitution considers the social, cultural, and moral causes of the current financial crisis in the United States.

In doing so, the Lecture revisits basic lending principles and examines our nation's skyrocketing debt, our lack of savings, and basic understanding of economic principles within the household, as well as corporate America, and the effects of our political and legislative effort to reduce discriminatory credit practices.

David Rosenberg on the Recovery

"The government has its hands in 40% of the economy and when public sector officials can influence how banks can value their assets, how mortgage servicers should be doing their business, who shall fail in the financial industry and who shall not; and when we have a central bank that is not just the lender but the market of last resort, even for RVs, and a government willing to run up its deficit to levels that would have made FDR blush, then perhaps we can end up seeing a recovery occur sooner than we had thought." 

- David Rosenberg

Banking Crisis, Government Regulation and Ron Paul

This is one of the best examples I have seen regarding the banking crisis with the Mid South Bank President and CEO R.J. “Rusty” Clouthier.  I would ask you take 5 minutes of your day and listen to what he says. He says that he saw this coming back in 1999 with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. I believe we cannot solve the problems of today without looking back at what got us here in the first place.

Clouthier says that unless we break up the big banks that pose systemic risk and get back to sound banking, we’re just going to re-live this over and over again. 

The host says an amazing thing "If you cannot fail, the whole system breaks down—then you take to many risk and taxpayer eats it". Clouthier follows up by saying that "Free enterprise has to have the right to fail". Every American should know this no matter their situation. It should be a very solid and understandable principle.

I haven't spend a lot of time studying the subject, but it seems to me that we need to get back to sound banking. The policy that gave us all this trouble isn't going to be the policy that helps us recover. You hear most people say it was the lack of regulation that got us here. We had banking, SEC, FDIC and many more regulations which have failed! WE DONT NEED ANYMORE  REGULATION! Listen to Ron Paul below:

Ron Paul is one smart man, why can't we not have him or someone like him running our country that understands economics and understands policy that is hurting our country. I think one investment idea that I have is to donate to Ron Paul if he runs for president next time. 

If we do not wake up soon the only people that will have wealth will be wall street, banks and the government. Once that happens or if it hasn't already we are in a world of hurt. 

This blog is about my financial journey and it has turned half political because the two are connected. Every cent that the government spends comes out of taxpayers pockets. This ultimately hurts us, the people that care about personal finances. Ronald Reagan said "We are a nation that has a government" and as my father pointed out, it seems like we are a government that has a nation. 

Am I in left field? I know we need a government, but a limited one. Should I stop blogging about political subjects? or stick to PF? leave me a comment!

Dr. Doom & Gloom or Sunny Bono

I don't know, but lately I just have been Dr. Doom & Gloom. I have been reading and studying experts about how to keep my money and investments safe during these shaky economic times we are seeing. You listen to me write a lot about how our government is making all the wrong moves with interfering with banks, businesses, wall street, automobiles, and now energy and health care. I truly believe we are going through an extraordinary time in the history of America. I have talked with friends, family, and even strangers and no one can talk me into believing that what our government is doing is going to help out. 

One side I have been studying is the Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, and Jim Rogers outlook. If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know their outlook and their beliefs in that we are going to see hyperinflation and they suggest purchasing gold. I have the most confidence in these guys and I am sure we will see inflation at some point over the next 3-6 years.

Another side I have been studying is Harry Dent, Nick Guarino, and Joe Saluzzi who predict there is going to be another Great Depression and a run on the markets. Harry and Nick think that we are going through a deflationary period and that all the banks are completely broke. I agree with them as well that all the major financials are completely broke. If not, why would our government feel the need to step in and bail them out. Also, just wait till the commercial real estate bubble burst, we will be seeing more banks going under than we already are. They say, eventually it will all collapse and that is probably the case unless we go through a period of hyperinflation because of the government intervention.

I have also been been following a couple energy guys Chris Nelder and Gregor Macdonald that think we are going through a period of Inflation and Deflation. And I tell you what, these guys are thinkers and they factor in energy so I am not ignoring these guys for one second.

So as you can see I have no idea what to do. I think the best thing I can do is hedge against everything in hopes there is no big swing one way or another. I have been throwing around the idea of buying Gold, I just do not know enough about it. Also, lately I have been thinking of buying some shares of  SKF or FAZ (ETF's that shorts financials). I called a friend last night and talked to him about it and he doesn't like it because he thinks no matter how bad the shape of financials are, we do not know what the government is going to do which can ultimately effect the price of these. He mentioned SDS which is a ETF that shorts the S&P and he suggested that more so than the others. I would hedge by investing in money that I would be willing to lose if it did not work out.

As of right now I am still in limbo. I still have money going into my 401k, and Roth IRA. I am seriously thinking about pulling most of my money back into cash and let it sit on the sidelines if A) the market goes to 10,000 or B) if we are still stagnate mid to end of July. I think the market is going to take a long long time to correct itself and as long as the government is making moves I am going to be watching very carefully.

I do not suggest anyone follow my advice because I am forming my own opinion and even experts cannot agree on what is going to happen. How can I sit here though and post about how I think our government is going to do harm to our economy and personal finances without actually living by what I preach.

Again I am not making any drastic moves right now, and it could all change next week. I will keep you posted with the next moves I am going to be making.

Am I just over thinking? Should I be so concerned? What the hell do I do with my money? Who's right, inflation, deflation, or stagnation? Leave a comment

Ways That Banks Take Your Money

One of the ways in which you start to create wealth is to make your money work for you and not against you. Currently I have a 3 different types of banking accounts. 

I have my regular checking account that only has monthly expenses and enough in saving so that I am not charged a monthly fee. (This is one of the mega banks, I keep just the minimum in there because I have connivence with them such as bill pay, ATM locations, etc..) I make no interest from having my money with this bank, if anything, I loss money for not using their ATM's. They charge me $2-4 along with the other bank for taking my money out(so silly). I would consider this bank to be working against me, but having some connivence is worth it to me even though I make no money from it. I can also say that I am really conscious about not getting charged ATM or any other fees with this Bank.

My second savings account is with ING Direct where I make 1.40% interest monthly on my balance for having my money with them. That has dropped from 2.40% at the beginning of the year. I still make a little each month, so overall I can say that my money is working for me in this scenario.

My third type of savings account is a money market account that has an interest rate of 2.35%(down from 4.25%) which I make on my balance every month. In this account I have the bulk of my emergency fund and housing fund. I have around 12-13k and make around $125.00 a month just for having my money sitting with them. This clearly shows how you fully take advantage and start making your money work for you. With my money market I can write a check at any moment as well, so it is fully accessible(I have to write a check larger than $250.00 though). Again, I feel like this is making my money work for me and not the opposite.

These are just some of the ways that bank accounts can work in your favor. There also seem to be a lot of banks that want and can work against you. I came across this article in the WSJ by Jennifer Waters about the 10 Ways Banks Take Your Money. Most of these seem to happen with the mega banks like Bank of America, Citi, etc...

One stat that jumps out at me was how banks generated some of their income:

Late fees, loan-origination fees, over-the-limit and overdraft charges helped generate 53% of banking-industry income in 2008, according to R.K. Hammer, up from 35% of income in 1995.

Seems to me banks have figured out a way to make their money work for them and that we the customers are allowing them to do it right in-front of our eyes. You cannot blame them right? If you do not care about your money enough to know or to change banks, would you expect anything different? Here are a few of ways Banks Take Your Money: (see this article for the all 10)

Checking account: Consumers shouldn't assume their checking accounts are fee-free or, if they are, that they will always continue to be so. Charges vary from a flat monthly fee to one that is dependent on how many transactions you have or on a minimum account balance.

ATM:If you use an ATM that doesn't belong to your bank or doesn't have an agreement with your bank, you could get whacked twice -- once by your bank and once by the bank whose ATM you're using. Fees typically range between $2 and $4. (This has got to be the money maker, esp. in Vegas)

Overdraft: Charges can add up when you unknowingly bounce a check or go over your account balance. Many consumers argue that banks should deny them cash at the ATM if the withdrawal is going to overdraw the account. But most banks don't do so because allowing the transaction to go through and charging the subsequent penalty brings in money.

Tellers: Banks drew fire from consumers in the 1990s when they tried charging a fee if human interaction occurred when depositing or withdrawing money. There are scattered reports of these fees popping up again, mostly for "excessive" use of tellers. Some banks give you two free teller visits per month, but charge you after that -- say, $2 or $4 for each extra visit. (This one is crazy, I have never come across this one?)

Closing accounts: Many banks will charge you a fee if you close an account within 90 days -- and sometimes within six months -- of opening it. Bankrate has seen fees between $5 and $25.

Credit cards: Legislation going into effect next year will put caps on some credit-card late and over-limit fees and on how they're charged against old and new balances. Until then, expect to see them grow. Grace periods also are expected to end or be severely restricted.

By avoiding these types of fees, I believe it is just one more way that you can start creating more wealth for yourself, it starts with the little things, saving $25-$100 a year in fees. It also is about caring enough about your money that you don't waste money. I have to admit I used to not care about this stuff when I was in my early twenties and it was, by far, one of the dumbest thought processes that I have ever had. Once you start cutting cost/fees in every area of your life and reinvesting them, the more your money starts working for you. In the long run 20-30 years from now it all piles up and you will eventually have yourself a nice little nest egg.

Any other tips? or Comments? Let me know...and remember let your money start working for you!