You've probably heard the saying "Success is not a destination, but a journey". It is not something achieved quickly. Also, it is almost always begun in the mind first. In a word, it is hope. You have to first make a decision on what you want and what will motivate you to overcome any obstacles along the way. You can learn how if you know what and you have a big enough why.
A new friend of mine put it in perspective for me. She said, "I'm in the transportation business. I help people get from where they are to where they want to go." How eloquent! So where do you want to go? You must know the direction you're headed. A person headed nowhere does not need your help to get there.
How often does this happen - someone else says something to you and all of a sudden the answer just clicks in your brain. How did that happen?
There are two different sides of your brain, the left and right. The left side is where logic and very detailed processes are executed. The right side contains your creativity and imagination. Over time, people tend to develop one side of the brain more than the other. They typically rely on the one side they are most comfortable with. Sometimes it takes just a word to two from someone else to bridge that gap between the left and right side of your brain - a matter of inches.
So what if that bridge didn't exist or was inaccessible? How far can you go on your own? There are people that proclaim to be self-made millionaires. However, in what position were they when they were born? Who fed them when they were little? Who taught them in school? Who put a roof over them while growing up? No man or woman is an island. Everyone needs help to accomplish success.
So I will add this thought to my friend's statement - many times the distance is only an inch or two, but the destination is miles from where they were. Who will be your bridge?
You can learn how if you know the what and you have a big enough why. The journey first begins in your mind. Where are you going?
Thanks Cass!
As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
What Is Your Currency?
Bailouts. Stimulus packages. Bank failures. Foreclosures. All of these things indicate that there is a sickness in our economy, a grave one. Is there really a shortage of money? No. The government proves this every day by printing more and more of it - now by the trillions.
The problem is that too many people don't have enough of it (money, currency) to continue in what they were doing. There is an imbalance. However, let us remember that our currency is only special green paper with numbers on it. Currency is only an accepted medium of exchange. It represents something. It represents faith or stability in our economy. Obviously, we do have a sickness, because things are not very stable.
Consider this - suppose you wake up tomorrow and the currency we are used to has no value at all. It is totally worthless. What would you do?
Obviously, you still need to eat and provide for your loved ones. How would you get those provisions? Would you barter (an exchange of goods and services without money)? What do you have that someone else wants or needs?
Now you really have to think to survive. You would have to use your thoughts, talents, abilities, etc. for real exchange without the convenience of money. Do you have enough?
I assure you that you do have enough if you really think about it. Physical strength, insight, attractiveness, friends, faith, family, health, problem solving capability, etc. are just some of the possessions you already have (in no particular order).
What would you use to survive? What things would you turn to first? What is most easily transferable?
Things are changing. It is likely to get worse, a lot worse. Our dollar is getting worth less and less each time they crank up the printing press. We have less to provide for our loved ones.
What can we do to prepare for more financial sickness when it comes? Now you will have to think on that. If you continue the way things have been, it is likely you will get financially sick also, like the many millions in this country that are under extreme financial pressure. Maybe you are already are. Can you get out from underneath that pressure?
What you do with these questions will likely impact the rest of your life.
As always, the choice is yours.
This bears repeating:
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
He who sows wickedness reaps trouble,
and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
A generous man will himself be blessed,
for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:6-9 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
The problem is that too many people don't have enough of it (money, currency) to continue in what they were doing. There is an imbalance. However, let us remember that our currency is only special green paper with numbers on it. Currency is only an accepted medium of exchange. It represents something. It represents faith or stability in our economy. Obviously, we do have a sickness, because things are not very stable.
Consider this - suppose you wake up tomorrow and the currency we are used to has no value at all. It is totally worthless. What would you do?
Obviously, you still need to eat and provide for your loved ones. How would you get those provisions? Would you barter (an exchange of goods and services without money)? What do you have that someone else wants or needs?
Now you really have to think to survive. You would have to use your thoughts, talents, abilities, etc. for real exchange without the convenience of money. Do you have enough?
I assure you that you do have enough if you really think about it. Physical strength, insight, attractiveness, friends, faith, family, health, problem solving capability, etc. are just some of the possessions you already have (in no particular order).
What would you use to survive? What things would you turn to first? What is most easily transferable?
Things are changing. It is likely to get worse, a lot worse. Our dollar is getting worth less and less each time they crank up the printing press. We have less to provide for our loved ones.
What can we do to prepare for more financial sickness when it comes? Now you will have to think on that. If you continue the way things have been, it is likely you will get financially sick also, like the many millions in this country that are under extreme financial pressure. Maybe you are already are. Can you get out from underneath that pressure?
What you do with these questions will likely impact the rest of your life.
As always, the choice is yours.
This bears repeating:
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
He who sows wickedness reaps trouble,
and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
A generous man will himself be blessed,
for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:6-9 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
Monday, March 15, 2010
Quick Tips
By the way, I'm still alive! I ran across a couple of quick tips that I had to pass along.
For those who would like to end the constant pre-qualified credit offers in the mail - check out www.optoutprescreen.com. It is simple and takes less than a minute to complete. This tip is courtesy of Patrick Kelly, author of Tax Free Retirement. I personally feel that this book is a must read for anyone who would like to achieve financial health, stability, and peace of mind. It is a very concise, effective, and easy read. The book value is priceless!
Also, from Patrick Kelly's endnotes - US National Debt Clock - www.brillig.com/debt_clock/.
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
He who sows wickedness reaps trouble,
and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
A generous man will himself be blessed,
for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:6-9 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
For those who would like to end the constant pre-qualified credit offers in the mail - check out www.optoutprescreen.com. It is simple and takes less than a minute to complete. This tip is courtesy of Patrick Kelly, author of Tax Free Retirement. I personally feel that this book is a must read for anyone who would like to achieve financial health, stability, and peace of mind. It is a very concise, effective, and easy read. The book value is priceless!
Also, from Patrick Kelly's endnotes - US National Debt Clock - www.brillig.com/debt_clock/.
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
He who sows wickedness reaps trouble,
and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
A generous man will himself be blessed,
for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:6-9 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
A New Dawn
In these troubling economic times, things can look pretty bleak. Well, I have received some news that some major changes are coming down the road over the coming months. So hang in there!
"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:27-31 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:27-31 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Starting Over
On this New Year's Eve for 2009, let us all remember reflecting on the past can serve multiple purposes. First, we can look back on all the good things that we can be thankful for, especially family and friends. If we have our health, we certainly must be thankful for that. Without our health, everything becomes dire.
Second, if we have had challenges, we can be thankful that we survived them or at least we are continuing on. Hope is strictly reserved for those that persevere.
Third, we can forget about our mistakes and grievances. Fretting about personal failures of one form or another does no good. The only good from these are the lessons applied to our lives.
Fourth, we have the opportunity to change our lives for the better in the New Year. Starting over is such a good thing, especially if things have gone badly. We don't have to wait for New Year's Day to do this, we can do this every day. New Year's resolutions don't do anyone any good unless a new good habit is formed. Activities must be done everyday for 21 days to become a habit. 3 short weeks! Who will stick to it? Once the habit is formed, it becomes more difficult to break it. 3 short weeks to a better life - isn't that worth it?
Remember my IKC principle:
Information is not knowledge without action.
Knowledge creates choices.
Choices allow us to change our lives.
As always, the choice is yours!
"The time is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them."
declares the LORD.
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
Second, if we have had challenges, we can be thankful that we survived them or at least we are continuing on. Hope is strictly reserved for those that persevere.
Third, we can forget about our mistakes and grievances. Fretting about personal failures of one form or another does no good. The only good from these are the lessons applied to our lives.
Fourth, we have the opportunity to change our lives for the better in the New Year. Starting over is such a good thing, especially if things have gone badly. We don't have to wait for New Year's Day to do this, we can do this every day. New Year's resolutions don't do anyone any good unless a new good habit is formed. Activities must be done everyday for 21 days to become a habit. 3 short weeks! Who will stick to it? Once the habit is formed, it becomes more difficult to break it. 3 short weeks to a better life - isn't that worth it?
Remember my IKC principle:
Information is not knowledge without action.
Knowledge creates choices.
Choices allow us to change our lives.
As always, the choice is yours!
"The time is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them."
declares the LORD.
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire2@hushmail.com
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Are You Ready?
For what? This is the obvious question to this question (unless he replies "for some football!!!).
This depends on you. What are you ready to change in your life? Do you really want to lose weight but have tried nearly everything with no success? Are you tired of the crushing debt with no relief? Are you tired of being alone and want a partner? Maybe you want to reconnect with someone you love but have no idea how to?
The answer lies within you. Motivation to change must come from within, not from someone else. Sure, a friend might make suggestions. A professional might steer you through the maze of legalese. A minister might get you in touch with what is really driving you.
However, it still relies on you to initiate the change. Until then nothing will happen. You have to take the first step. Next, there will always be obstacles. Change is never easy. If it was, you would have already done it long again. You must have the persistence and the willpower to push through or go around those obstacles.
This is the main reason why people do not change. It is too much work to push through the obstacles. They get too used to the idea of the way things are, whether good or bad. It is called their "comfort zone" or "status quo". "Why fix what isn't broken" is a common response of the uninspired.
Here is another way to put it. "Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." Some are so very comfortable where they are at, they never want to grow.
Some may never start for fear of failing again. Let me address this statement in two parts. Fear is really False Expectations Appearing Real. False expectations are just limits the we place on ourselves. It's our own internal walls or boundaries that we do not want to cross.
The second part of that statement is dealing with failure. Failure is always part of success. I will repeat that. Failure is always part of success. We always learn more from our mistakes than we learn from our successes.
So what is really stopping you. The simple answer - you. Only you can stop you.
"Do or do not, there is no try" is the great quote from Yoda in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
The simple truth is that if you really want to change, if it's really important to you, you will find a way. There are many words to describe this - persistence, determination, sheer willpower, drive, ambition, etc. All of these ideas come from within you.
As always, the choice is yours.
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. Romans 2:7 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
This depends on you. What are you ready to change in your life? Do you really want to lose weight but have tried nearly everything with no success? Are you tired of the crushing debt with no relief? Are you tired of being alone and want a partner? Maybe you want to reconnect with someone you love but have no idea how to?
The answer lies within you. Motivation to change must come from within, not from someone else. Sure, a friend might make suggestions. A professional might steer you through the maze of legalese. A minister might get you in touch with what is really driving you.
However, it still relies on you to initiate the change. Until then nothing will happen. You have to take the first step. Next, there will always be obstacles. Change is never easy. If it was, you would have already done it long again. You must have the persistence and the willpower to push through or go around those obstacles.
This is the main reason why people do not change. It is too much work to push through the obstacles. They get too used to the idea of the way things are, whether good or bad. It is called their "comfort zone" or "status quo". "Why fix what isn't broken" is a common response of the uninspired.
Here is another way to put it. "Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." Some are so very comfortable where they are at, they never want to grow.
Some may never start for fear of failing again. Let me address this statement in two parts. Fear is really False Expectations Appearing Real. False expectations are just limits the we place on ourselves. It's our own internal walls or boundaries that we do not want to cross.
The second part of that statement is dealing with failure. Failure is always part of success. I will repeat that. Failure is always part of success. We always learn more from our mistakes than we learn from our successes.
So what is really stopping you. The simple answer - you. Only you can stop you.
"Do or do not, there is no try" is the great quote from Yoda in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
The simple truth is that if you really want to change, if it's really important to you, you will find a way. There are many words to describe this - persistence, determination, sheer willpower, drive, ambition, etc. All of these ideas come from within you.
As always, the choice is yours.
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. Romans 2:7 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Pay It Forward
What have we done to make the world a better place? Think on that a moment. Is humanity better off because of our existence? This is a big responsibility that few have lived up to. Before we start to complain about this or that, ask yourself what you have done to change things, not only for yourself but for others also.
This concept is truly an eye opening experience. It is one that not only could change your life, but change the whole world as well.
In the 2000 movie "Pay It Forward", Social Studies teacher Eugene Simonet played by Kevin Spacey, gives his class an extra credit assignment. He challenges his class to come up with an idea that could change the world, and put it into action.
Trevor McKinney, a bright but troubled 7th grader played by Haley Joel Osment, comes up with the idea that you have to do 3 acts of kindness to others. They are not allowed to repay this act of kindness to the person who did it for them, but to in turn do 3 acts of kindness to others. Thus, they pay the debt forward to the next 3 people challenging them to continue the movement. The rules of multiplication take over, exponentially soon affecting countless numbers.
The rules of the concept are simple. It must be something that they cannot do for themselves.
The characters in this movie have plenty of flaws and problems, just as this world does. From drunkenness, to child abuse, to molestation, to car accidents, to the homeless, to desertion, and on and on.
Trevor tries this concept himself and discovers it is difficult. His attempts do not seem to change anything at first. He helps a homeless man get back on his feet by giving him food and shelter, but angers his mother played by Helen Hunt. His matchmaking attempt with his mother and his teacher does not go very well. Even once he discovers his own boundaries that he cannot cross when he sees another kid from school getting beat up by bullies. He wants to help, but freezes and cannot.
Just like in life, things do not go our way at first and too often we think we failed. But we do not always realize the impact that those actions have on others and the subsequent actions they take. Parents can certainly relate to this, both positively and negatively.
Trevor later is interviewed by a journalist, played by Jay Mohr. The journalist was impacted by the "Pay it forward" movement. He was given a brand new Jaguar after a car accident, and was dumbfounded by the explanation the stranger gave that he is "paying it forward". He begins to investigate the trail of persons affected by the chain reaction of the movement back to its original source of Trevor.
As Trevor is being interviewed, he expresses hope for the concept, but voices concern that people may be too afraid to change their own lives to make the world a better place.
Well, I won't spoil the rest of the movie for those who haven't seen it. It is not one to miss.
This movie was based on a book by the same title written by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Catherine Ryan Hyde's book has also inspired a foundation by the same name.
However, the concept has been around for ages. The term "pay it forward" was popularized by Robert A. Heinlein in his book "Between Planets" in 1951.
"The banker reached into the folds of his gown, pulled out a single credit note. "But eat first — a full belly steadies the judgment. Do me the honor of accepting this as our welcome to the newcomer."
His pride said no; his stomach said YES! Don took it and said, "Uh, thanks! That's awfully kind of you. I'll pay it back, first chance."
"Instead, pay it forward to some other brother who needs it."
The Heinlein society still carries on the philosophy.
Another hero of mine, Theodore P. Kalogris, lived by a motto that was passed to him from his grandfather. "Be ashamed to die until you have scored a victory for mankind". The Kalogris foundation still carries on this philosophy. www.relivkalogrisfoundation.org/US/EN/home.html
Benjamin Franklin wrote about it in a letter to Benjamin Webb dated April 22, 1784.
"I do not pretend to give such a Sum; I only lend it to you. When you [...] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money."
Even before that, Jesus shares the parable of the Good Samaritan found below.
So, are we too afraid to embrace this concept? Can we not find 3 instances that we can positively affect the lives of others and instruct them to pay it forward to 3 others? You can only change lives one at a time, but it must start with changing your own to work.
Together, we can all make a difference. Choose to pay it forward.
Where there's life, there's hope.
As always, the choice is yours.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:25-37 NIV
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
This concept is truly an eye opening experience. It is one that not only could change your life, but change the whole world as well.
In the 2000 movie "Pay It Forward", Social Studies teacher Eugene Simonet played by Kevin Spacey, gives his class an extra credit assignment. He challenges his class to come up with an idea that could change the world, and put it into action.
Trevor McKinney, a bright but troubled 7th grader played by Haley Joel Osment, comes up with the idea that you have to do 3 acts of kindness to others. They are not allowed to repay this act of kindness to the person who did it for them, but to in turn do 3 acts of kindness to others. Thus, they pay the debt forward to the next 3 people challenging them to continue the movement. The rules of multiplication take over, exponentially soon affecting countless numbers.
The rules of the concept are simple. It must be something that they cannot do for themselves.
The characters in this movie have plenty of flaws and problems, just as this world does. From drunkenness, to child abuse, to molestation, to car accidents, to the homeless, to desertion, and on and on.
Trevor tries this concept himself and discovers it is difficult. His attempts do not seem to change anything at first. He helps a homeless man get back on his feet by giving him food and shelter, but angers his mother played by Helen Hunt. His matchmaking attempt with his mother and his teacher does not go very well. Even once he discovers his own boundaries that he cannot cross when he sees another kid from school getting beat up by bullies. He wants to help, but freezes and cannot.
Just like in life, things do not go our way at first and too often we think we failed. But we do not always realize the impact that those actions have on others and the subsequent actions they take. Parents can certainly relate to this, both positively and negatively.
Trevor later is interviewed by a journalist, played by Jay Mohr. The journalist was impacted by the "Pay it forward" movement. He was given a brand new Jaguar after a car accident, and was dumbfounded by the explanation the stranger gave that he is "paying it forward". He begins to investigate the trail of persons affected by the chain reaction of the movement back to its original source of Trevor.
As Trevor is being interviewed, he expresses hope for the concept, but voices concern that people may be too afraid to change their own lives to make the world a better place.
Well, I won't spoil the rest of the movie for those who haven't seen it. It is not one to miss.
This movie was based on a book by the same title written by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Catherine Ryan Hyde's book has also inspired a foundation by the same name.
However, the concept has been around for ages. The term "pay it forward" was popularized by Robert A. Heinlein in his book "Between Planets" in 1951.
"The banker reached into the folds of his gown, pulled out a single credit note. "But eat first — a full belly steadies the judgment. Do me the honor of accepting this as our welcome to the newcomer."
His pride said no; his stomach said YES! Don took it and said, "Uh, thanks! That's awfully kind of you. I'll pay it back, first chance."
"Instead, pay it forward to some other brother who needs it."
The Heinlein society still carries on the philosophy.
Another hero of mine, Theodore P. Kalogris, lived by a motto that was passed to him from his grandfather. "Be ashamed to die until you have scored a victory for mankind". The Kalogris foundation still carries on this philosophy. www.relivkalogrisfoundation.org/US/EN/home.html
Benjamin Franklin wrote about it in a letter to Benjamin Webb dated April 22, 1784.
"I do not pretend to give such a Sum; I only lend it to you. When you [...] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money."
Even before that, Jesus shares the parable of the Good Samaritan found below.
So, are we too afraid to embrace this concept? Can we not find 3 instances that we can positively affect the lives of others and instruct them to pay it forward to 3 others? You can only change lives one at a time, but it must start with changing your own to work.
Together, we can all make a difference. Choose to pay it forward.
Where there's life, there's hope.
As always, the choice is yours.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:25-37 NIV
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The Second Wave
The second wave of many bank failures is now here. Last year, 25 banks failed. 77 banks have already failed this year. On Friday another large bank, Colonial BancGroup, is now being gobbled up by one of its rivals BB&T. The troubled Colonial was closed earlier by state regulators and a federal judge froze its $25 billion in assets. BB&T is now purchasing $22 billion of Colonial's assets.
Colonial is the sixth largest bank in US history to fail, and by far the largest of 2009 failures. 4 more regional banks also failed on Friday, two in Arizona, one in LasVegas, and one in Pittsburgh.
What does this have to do with the economy or the public? Banks typically fail before violent economic upheavals. They are usually a strong warning of things to come. The FDIC was created to protect deposits in troubled banks. They have raised their protection to $250,000 per depositor. However, what happens if the FDIC runs out of money?
On July 18, 2008, I posted a blog titled "The FDIC" and went into detail about what it does. The FDIC has $49 billion in funds to protect troubled banks, but insures more than $3 trillion in deposits. Is that really enough? The fund took a $35.1 billion hit in 2008, and an additional $4.3 billion decline in the first quarter of this year, leaving it with assets of only $13 billion as of March 31. But most of last year's decline was due to $25 billion the agency set aside to cover future losses.
Last year, financial behemoths such Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, and Indy Mac all failed. The trickle down effect are now hitting the medium and smaller banks. All of this leads to consolidation. The bigger banks are gobbling up the smaller banks. How much of the government's TARP funds are being used to buy up other assets, rather than loan it to consumers and businesses to get the economy moving again?
My last post on July 31, 2009 included an article from Dan Caplinger about the ultimate sucker's rally that was forming over the last 5 months. In it, he compared the current times to the Great Depression and what happened in early 1930 after the horrendous October market drops of 1929.
I also did a post on March 17, 2008 when Bear Stearns first failed. The next day I reported on how the Federal Reserve responded, and predicted that the stock market will fall in September 2009, six months before it happened! JP Morgan reported to stockholders in March of 1929 to get out of the stock market before the October crash. In early 1930, the market rallied as pointed out by Dan Caplinger. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Many times I've pointed out in this blog that history repeats itself. Why? Because the manipulators that have used scenarios already have a model to predict behavior and consequences. The action created in early 1930s was to ultimately acquire more than two thirds of the farms of America and make the farmers tenants on their own lands.
In this century's Great Depression, the aim is different, but similar. Their aim this time will be to grab as much residential and commercial real estate as possible. Once a majority of homeowners are renters again, their level of control will be greater and they will have another piece of their plan is place. That is how it is in most of Europe.
If this sounds too far fetched, go back to the week of August 4, 2008 in this blog where I shared John Loeffler's article "The Sad Road to Socialism". Isn't Obama getting criticized for being a socialist?
These bank failings again only act as a warning. Bloomberg reported yesterday that more than 150 publicly traded U.S. lenders own nonperforming loans that equal 5 percent or more of their holdings, a level that former regulators say can wipe out a bank’s equity and threaten its survival.
The biggest banks with nonperforming loans of at least 5 percent include Wisconsin’s Marshall & Ilsley Corp. and Georgia’s Synovus Financial Corp., according to Bloomberg data. Among those exceeding 10 percent, the biggest in the 50 U.S. states was Michigan’s Flagstar Bancorp. Are these the next victims in the near future?
On August 8, 2008, I shared excerpts of John Loeffler's article "What Will Stop It?" Here are a couple reminders.
Americans have enjoyed so much freedom for so long, they have forgotten that freedom is a fluke in the history of the world; not the norm. Our freedoms were hard-won over hundreds of years of human tears. The current view that freedoms are somehow self-sustaining and "obvious" ignores a primary rule of the political universe, well established in human history: governments and those in them always gravitate toward power, money and control; power for themselves, confiscating money and property from their people, who then have to be controlled lest they protest too much.
The founding fathers thoroughly understood this, having experienced a lack of protections first hand. They understood that government is a necessary evil, not a paternalistic good. In assembling the Constitution, they knew that only a clear statement of citizens' rights would prevent power money and control from having their way.
Every one of our rights was established to protect individual citizens, the minority against the majority and to block abuse of power. "Shall not be infringed" was designed to prevent government encroachment; not as a guide for a "delicate balance" between "liberty" and "security." Delicate balances always collapse uni-directionally toward power, money and control and away from individual freedom!
In a free society, rights protect the individual from the government. In a dictatorship, rights protect the government from the people. If enough legal precedents for end-runs of all the protections contained in the Bill of Rights are allowed to continue unchecked, where will those precedents be taken by future leaders when all protections have been dismantled? What will stop the tyranny that will invariably follow? Nothing.
In essence, when a government goes from being a protector of private property to a plunderer of it, it places itself on a course of chaos, economic ruin and its own ultimate self-destruction.
Are we concerned enough to take action?
As always the choice is yours.
Here is a lesson from Biblical times of Nehemiah.
When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, "You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!" So I called together a large meeting to deal with them and said: "As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!" They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them—the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil."
"We will give it back," they said. "And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say."
Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!"
At this the whole assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. Nehemiah 5:6-13 (NIV)
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Colonial is the sixth largest bank in US history to fail, and by far the largest of 2009 failures. 4 more regional banks also failed on Friday, two in Arizona, one in LasVegas, and one in Pittsburgh.
What does this have to do with the economy or the public? Banks typically fail before violent economic upheavals. They are usually a strong warning of things to come. The FDIC was created to protect deposits in troubled banks. They have raised their protection to $250,000 per depositor. However, what happens if the FDIC runs out of money?
On July 18, 2008, I posted a blog titled "The FDIC" and went into detail about what it does. The FDIC has $49 billion in funds to protect troubled banks, but insures more than $3 trillion in deposits. Is that really enough? The fund took a $35.1 billion hit in 2008, and an additional $4.3 billion decline in the first quarter of this year, leaving it with assets of only $13 billion as of March 31. But most of last year's decline was due to $25 billion the agency set aside to cover future losses.
Last year, financial behemoths such Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, and Indy Mac all failed. The trickle down effect are now hitting the medium and smaller banks. All of this leads to consolidation. The bigger banks are gobbling up the smaller banks. How much of the government's TARP funds are being used to buy up other assets, rather than loan it to consumers and businesses to get the economy moving again?
My last post on July 31, 2009 included an article from Dan Caplinger about the ultimate sucker's rally that was forming over the last 5 months. In it, he compared the current times to the Great Depression and what happened in early 1930 after the horrendous October market drops of 1929.
I also did a post on March 17, 2008 when Bear Stearns first failed. The next day I reported on how the Federal Reserve responded, and predicted that the stock market will fall in September 2009, six months before it happened! JP Morgan reported to stockholders in March of 1929 to get out of the stock market before the October crash. In early 1930, the market rallied as pointed out by Dan Caplinger. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Many times I've pointed out in this blog that history repeats itself. Why? Because the manipulators that have used scenarios already have a model to predict behavior and consequences. The action created in early 1930s was to ultimately acquire more than two thirds of the farms of America and make the farmers tenants on their own lands.
In this century's Great Depression, the aim is different, but similar. Their aim this time will be to grab as much residential and commercial real estate as possible. Once a majority of homeowners are renters again, their level of control will be greater and they will have another piece of their plan is place. That is how it is in most of Europe.
If this sounds too far fetched, go back to the week of August 4, 2008 in this blog where I shared John Loeffler's article "The Sad Road to Socialism". Isn't Obama getting criticized for being a socialist?
These bank failings again only act as a warning. Bloomberg reported yesterday that more than 150 publicly traded U.S. lenders own nonperforming loans that equal 5 percent or more of their holdings, a level that former regulators say can wipe out a bank’s equity and threaten its survival.
The biggest banks with nonperforming loans of at least 5 percent include Wisconsin’s Marshall & Ilsley Corp. and Georgia’s Synovus Financial Corp., according to Bloomberg data. Among those exceeding 10 percent, the biggest in the 50 U.S. states was Michigan’s Flagstar Bancorp. Are these the next victims in the near future?
On August 8, 2008, I shared excerpts of John Loeffler's article "What Will Stop It?" Here are a couple reminders.
Americans have enjoyed so much freedom for so long, they have forgotten that freedom is a fluke in the history of the world; not the norm. Our freedoms were hard-won over hundreds of years of human tears. The current view that freedoms are somehow self-sustaining and "obvious" ignores a primary rule of the political universe, well established in human history: governments and those in them always gravitate toward power, money and control; power for themselves, confiscating money and property from their people, who then have to be controlled lest they protest too much.
The founding fathers thoroughly understood this, having experienced a lack of protections first hand. They understood that government is a necessary evil, not a paternalistic good. In assembling the Constitution, they knew that only a clear statement of citizens' rights would prevent power money and control from having their way.
Every one of our rights was established to protect individual citizens, the minority against the majority and to block abuse of power. "Shall not be infringed" was designed to prevent government encroachment; not as a guide for a "delicate balance" between "liberty" and "security." Delicate balances always collapse uni-directionally toward power, money and control and away from individual freedom!
In a free society, rights protect the individual from the government. In a dictatorship, rights protect the government from the people. If enough legal precedents for end-runs of all the protections contained in the Bill of Rights are allowed to continue unchecked, where will those precedents be taken by future leaders when all protections have been dismantled? What will stop the tyranny that will invariably follow? Nothing.
In essence, when a government goes from being a protector of private property to a plunderer of it, it places itself on a course of chaos, economic ruin and its own ultimate self-destruction.
Are we concerned enough to take action?
As always the choice is yours.
Here is a lesson from Biblical times of Nehemiah.
When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, "You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!" So I called together a large meeting to deal with them and said: "As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!" They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them—the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil."
"We will give it back," they said. "And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say."
Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!"
At this the whole assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. Nehemiah 5:6-13 (NIV)
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sucker's Rally?
I found this today in one of my subscriptions and thought I would share. It is from Motley Fool.
July 27, 2009
After seeing the stock market lose more than half its value, the recent rally has brought welcome relief to battered investors. But as stocks continue to plow higher, the question on everyone's mind is whether they'll continue to rise -- or whether smart investors are starting to tiptoe toward the exits before a next wave down.
Of course, there are plenty of other models that would lead you to different conclusions. After the 1987 crash, for instance, stocks recovered quickly and kept on moving to new highs in relatively short order. During the 1970s, on the other hand, a substantial recovery for stocks hit a ceiling, and markets traded roughly sideways for much of the rest of the decade.
OK, but what should I do now?
History can't tell you whether stocks will rise or fall tomorrow, but it can give you some good long-term basic rules to follow.
Is This the Ultimate Sucker's Rally?
July 27, 2009
After seeing the stock market lose more than half its value, the recent rally has brought welcome relief to battered investors. But as stocks continue to plow higher, the question on everyone's mind is whether they'll continue to rise -- or whether smart investors are starting to tiptoe toward the exits before a next wave down.
Of course, how you answer that question depends on a lot on your view of not just the stock market but the overall economy as well. If you believe that the economy has bottomed and that things will only get better from here, then the gains we've seen so far could be just the beginning of the next bull market. On the other hand, many believe that plenty of bad news is yet to come -- and that the stage has been set for the biggest sucker's rally since 1930.
The Great Depression's post-crash rally
For some perspective, take a look at the situation right after the 1929 stock market crash:
- From early September 1929 to mid-November, the Dow lost almost 50% of its value.
- Then, though, the market rebounded over the next five months until mid-April 1930, as the Dow jumped over 50% and recovered more than half of its previous losses.
- Only then did the worst of the fall begin, as the Dow plunged an astounding 85% before bottoming in 1932.
Now compare that to the situation we've faced lately:
- From late 2007 to March 2009, the S&P lost about 58% of its value.
- Since the March lows, though, the market has rebounded, and the S&P has jumped 47% and recovered about a third of its losses.
Of course, there are plenty of other models that would lead you to different conclusions. After the 1987 crash, for instance, stocks recovered quickly and kept on moving to new highs in relatively short order. During the 1970s, on the other hand, a substantial recovery for stocks hit a ceiling, and markets traded roughly sideways for much of the rest of the decade.
OK, but what should I do now?
History can't tell you whether stocks will rise or fall tomorrow, but it can give you some good long-term basic rules to follow.
Perhaps the most important lesson is that even in the worst economic downturns, some companies survive and later thrive. While it's difficult to track back long-term returns over 80 years, look at how these Depression-era survivors have done in recent decades:
| Stock | Stock Data Available | Average Annual Return |
|---|---|---|
| Ford Motor (NYSE: F) | 30 years | 8.9% |
| General Electric (NYSE: GE) | 45 years | 9.4% |
| JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) | 25 years | 10.7% |
| Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) | 35 years | 11.8% |
| General Mills (NYSE: GIS) | 25 years | 15.2% |
| PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) | 30 years | 16.0% |
| Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) | 45 years | 9.4% |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
It's easy to get caught up in markets rising and falling. Obviously, many stocks will track the overall market, and as we've seen over the past two years, it's tough for even the best companies to see good stock performance when the market is plummeting.
But remember: Market barometers like the Dow and S&P 500 are only averages. They're important for index fund investors, but if you've singled out individual stocks to invest in for the long haul, don't let the overall market's direction sway you too much. It’s far more important to focus on the particular business conditions that your companies face and whether they can meet their own unique challenges to keep producing profits for shareholders.
Don't get suckered
I don't know whether this is a sucker's rally or not. But the best way to get suckered is to let the current uncertainty lure you into abandoning your long-term investing plan. Although stocks will inevitably drop again at some point in the future, the best rewards come from promising companies that will survive no matter what happens.
Dan Caplinger
Sounds like good advice to me. Don't get suckered and change your long term approach. However, that is assuming you have a long time before you need your funds. If you approaching retirement, I would not want to be heavily into the stock market now.
As always, the choice is yours.
Wail, you who live in the market district;
all your merchants will be wiped out,
all who trade with silver will be ruined.
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who are complacent,
who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, 'The LORD will do nothing,
either good or bad.'
Their wealth will be plundered,
their houses demolished.
They will build houses
but not live in them;
they will plant vineyards
but not drink the wine. Zephaniah 1:11-13 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Invisible Prisons
My last post talked about prisons of the mind. I did an earlier post on November 8, 2008 about invisible boundaries. Both have relevant lessons for all of us.
We learn from our experiences and our environments. However, far too often we learn of what doesn't work, what we shouldn't try, what we failed at, etc. Why don't we spend some energy on learning what works. And more importantly, why don't we spend more time sharing those valuable lessons with others.
Part of the problem with this is we are educated from early on to rely on outside influences such as the school system, the government, the company, the health care system, etc. When what we really should be relying on is our family, our friends, our neighbors, and our faith. Restrictions vs. enablement, entitlement vs. self-sufficiency, reactive vs. proactive. Well, you get the idea. These are lessons taught to us.
When life or the system continually beats us down, we start succumbing to these external forces rather than relying on our inner strength, our drive, our willpower, our belief systems. Once the behavior is witnessed and reinforced, it becomes a recurrent theme. This theme over time becomes an invisible boundary, a internal prison that we confine ourselves to.
So when did this happen to you first? Your childhood? From your parents? In school? When did you stop dreaming about what 'you want to do when you grow up'? Maybe it was during college or after getting your first real job. The reality of working for someone else who controls when you work, when you have vacation, what functions you perform, - all for a meager existence that we may call "a living". Is it really though? Or is it really a confinement that we may never escape from? Ultimately, a prison that the only parole we get is when we die. That is not a living! That is merely an existence, a controlled one with invisible prison bars around us.
America used to be called the land of the free. That is hard to imagine now - what freedom really is. It certainly resembles the land of the enslaved, entitled servants. We are getting more and more dependent on the government, the credit system, the medical and big pharma community, and other systems powered by big multinational conglomerate corporations.
When did we lose our independence? When we stopped using our imagination, our ingenuity, our collective knowledge base that can solve problems! We can get it back any time we want to.
As always, the choice is yours.
You have seen many things, but have paid no attention;
your ears are open, but you hear nothing.
We learn from our experiences and our environments. However, far too often we learn of what doesn't work, what we shouldn't try, what we failed at, etc. Why don't we spend some energy on learning what works. And more importantly, why don't we spend more time sharing those valuable lessons with others.
Part of the problem with this is we are educated from early on to rely on outside influences such as the school system, the government, the company, the health care system, etc. When what we really should be relying on is our family, our friends, our neighbors, and our faith. Restrictions vs. enablement, entitlement vs. self-sufficiency, reactive vs. proactive. Well, you get the idea. These are lessons taught to us.
When life or the system continually beats us down, we start succumbing to these external forces rather than relying on our inner strength, our drive, our willpower, our belief systems. Once the behavior is witnessed and reinforced, it becomes a recurrent theme. This theme over time becomes an invisible boundary, a internal prison that we confine ourselves to.
So when did this happen to you first? Your childhood? From your parents? In school? When did you stop dreaming about what 'you want to do when you grow up'? Maybe it was during college or after getting your first real job. The reality of working for someone else who controls when you work, when you have vacation, what functions you perform, - all for a meager existence that we may call "a living". Is it really though? Or is it really a confinement that we may never escape from? Ultimately, a prison that the only parole we get is when we die. That is not a living! That is merely an existence, a controlled one with invisible prison bars around us.
America used to be called the land of the free. That is hard to imagine now - what freedom really is. It certainly resembles the land of the enslaved, entitled servants. We are getting more and more dependent on the government, the credit system, the medical and big pharma community, and other systems powered by big multinational conglomerate corporations.
When did we lose our independence? When we stopped using our imagination, our ingenuity, our collective knowledge base that can solve problems! We can get it back any time we want to.
As always, the choice is yours.
You have seen many things, but have paid no attention;
your ears are open, but you hear nothing.
But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.
They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them;
they have been made loot,
with no one to say, "Send them back."
Which of you will listen to this
or pay close attention in time to come? Isaiah 42:20,22-23 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Released from Prison
Today, I have released myself from prison. I'm not talking about the actual gray bars and cement walls, I'm referring to the prisons of the mind.
How many times do we confine ourselves to be overcome by obstacles? How many problems do we let control our lives? Why do we let others or situations dictate our life rather than making our life what it should be - our life?!!
The answers are simple. We do not search hard enough for solutions. We limit our thinking to what we know, what we believe, what we are capable of. What if we expanded that scope to what others who have already mastered that solution and solved that particular problem? Can we learn from others? Can we use other resources than our own meager intellect?
There are very few problems that are unsolvable. And depending on your faith, there are no problems that God cannot solve. Why don't we let Him? Who is to say that He may lead you to the person that has already solved that problem?
These mental bars prevent us from living our lives the way that we should live them. Release yourself!
As always, the choice is yours.
There will be more to come. Stay tuned ...
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
How many times do we confine ourselves to be overcome by obstacles? How many problems do we let control our lives? Why do we let others or situations dictate our life rather than making our life what it should be - our life?!!
The answers are simple. We do not search hard enough for solutions. We limit our thinking to what we know, what we believe, what we are capable of. What if we expanded that scope to what others who have already mastered that solution and solved that particular problem? Can we learn from others? Can we use other resources than our own meager intellect?
There are very few problems that are unsolvable. And depending on your faith, there are no problems that God cannot solve. Why don't we let Him? Who is to say that He may lead you to the person that has already solved that problem?
These mental bars prevent us from living our lives the way that we should live them. Release yourself!
As always, the choice is yours.
There will be more to come. Stay tuned ...
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Romans 8:27-31 (KJV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below. Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A New Global Currency
I ran across this article today and I thought I'd share it. Also, I thought a quick post to let my readers know I'm still kicking.
The following complete article is from Paul Proctor, a freelance writer and regular columnist for NewsWithViews.com - very interesting stuff.
The following complete article is from Paul Proctor, a freelance writer and regular columnist for NewsWithViews.com - very interesting stuff.
A NEW GLOBAL CURRENCY
By Paul Proctor
March 26, 2009
NewsWithViews.com
It was reported recently that two of the world’s superpowers, Russia and China, have called for a new global currency. I believe they’re doing this because they know that the U.S. is printing huge amounts of dollars right now to pay on its own massive debts – debts that other countries, like China, have been financing for years by purchasing U.S. Treasury Bonds. They understand something that most Americans do not – that the more paper money you print, the less it’s worth – and right now, we’re printing it as fast as we can.
We owe China alone over a trillion dollars. And, that’s just one of many countries that we owe money to – countries that have also been buying our bonds.
You see, when you buy a bond, you’re loaning money and charging interest to the issuer of that bond to be paid upon maturity. If you buy a U. S. Treasury bond, you’re loaning the U.S. government money for them to spend as they see fit.
When you think of bonds, think of bondage.
Well, for years now, other countries have been buying our bonds so we could in turn buy all of their made-overseas stuff. They were essentially loaning their biggest customer the money we needed to buy from them.
That put us in financial bondage to them.
But, now that we’re not buying nearly as much from anyone anymore, resulting in millions of workers being laid off overseas as foreign factories close down, those countries are not buying as many of our Treasury bonds anymore either. In other words, they’re not loaning us near as much money as they once did.
So now, to get America’s bills paid, The Federal Reserve is purchasing those U.S. Treasury bonds other countries used to buy – and to do that, a lot more dollars have to be printed to buy them – and I mean a lot more, because, as most everyone knows by now, our debts are quite extraordinary and growing fast.
Well, who controls the printing of money?
You guessed it – the same folks who are loaning it to us by purchasing our bonds – a very secret and very private institution called The Federal Reserve. I’ll bet you thought they belonged to Uncle Sam, didn’t you? Nope, Uncle Sam belongs to them because, as the bible teaches, “the borrower is servant to the lender” and the lender here is The Federal Reserve.
For those who have a hard time understanding how all this affects the average person, let me put it as simply as I know how: It means that the price of everything you and I buy is going to start going up and up as The Federal Reserve has more and more money printed over the coming months and years until even the basic necessities of life here become unaffordable – or until the U.S. government steps in and starts initiating price controls, which frankly, is just more socialism.
When prices go up, it’s called “inflation.” And, if prices go up really high and really fast, it’s called “hyperinflation.” I prefer to call it what it really is: the deflation of the dollar. In other words, the goods and services we purchase day-to-day are not really increasing in value as much as the dollars we use to buy them with are decreasing in value.
They’re decreasing in value because The Federal Reserve has entirely too many of them printed up to loan out. Again, the more there is of something, including money, the less it’s worth.
This sleight-of-hand system, used by The Federal Reserve for decades, makes consumers blame producers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers for rising prices, when they should be blaming those who print all of that paper money for Congress to waste (I mean spend) – money that is not given to the U.S. government by the Federal Reserve, you understand, but is in fact loaned.
And guess who makes the payments on those loans from The Federal Reserve and pays all of the interest on those piles of paper money created out of nothing?
That’s right – you and I do – in the form of new and higher taxes.
So, every time a new “stimulus” package is announced, recognize it for what it really is: another huge loan to the American taxpayer to benefit somebody else with payments and interest you and I and our children and grandchildren after us (as taxpayers) will be responsible for paying back to that little private bank called The Federal Reserve.
Would you say the name is a little deceiving?
Over time, the American taxpayer gradually goes broke, even with money in the bank, and becomes the slave of a financial system built upon debt that he or she has absolutely no control over and can never repay.
You see, the loan can never be repaid in full because only the principal is created and loaned out by The Fed. You and I, the taxpayer, have to somehow come up with the interest. The Fed doesn’t print interest – only the principal – which means the taxpayer has to keep borrowing principal to repay interest that was never created to begin with.
Breathtaking, is it?
Now, Russia and China are calling for a new global currency because they know what’s coming: The dollar’s collapse into absolute worthlessness. Good grief, it’s barely worth 4 cents now compared to what it was when The Federal Reserve Act was passed back in 1913. So, frankly, it doesn’t have that far to fall; but fall it will, because The Federal Reserve is now mass-producing dollars to loan the U.S. government to pay its bills – which will all have to be paid back with interest (that was never created) to the very same people who made the money out of nothing but ink and paper and then loaned it to us.
Brilliant, huh?
Now, it’s becoming painfully clear to other countries, who have been footing our bills via U.S. Treasury bonds, that some other currency needs to be created ASAP to replace the dollar they’ve been forced to use (as the world’s reserve currency) before it collapses completely and leaves everyone around the world scrambling.
How this will actually play out over the next few years is anyone’s guess. Some believe regional currencies will emerge, like the controversial “Amero” which would purportedly serve the needs of Mexico, Canada and the U.S. in preparation for a world currency later, while others suggest the accelerating global financial crisis will compel the issuance of a world currency straightaway.
In the meantime, here are some questions for you to consider as all this unfolds in the coming days:
1. What’s going to happen to the dollars you have in the bank?
2. Will those dollars be exchangeable for the new currency, whatever it is?
3. If they are exchangeable, will they be worth what the new currency is worth or a lot less?
This is the fiscal future we face, my friends – a future of financial uncertainty.
In spite of these disturbing events, let’s remember that ultimately, our fate is not in the hands of corrupt politicians and greedy bankers who are only men themselves, but rather in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ who Himself was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and hung on a cross 2000 years ago to pay an enormous debt that you and I could not, so that we might enjoy the eternal treasures of a kingdom not of this world.
But, even if we lose it all here, by trusting Him as both Lord and Savior, we stand to gain so much more hereafter.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” – Matthew 6:19-20.
Related articles:
1. China calls for new reserve currency
2. At G20, Kremlin to pitch new currency
3. Geithner to open China proposal
4. China's U.S. Debt Quandary
5. Fed begins move that could sink dollar
© 2009 Paul Proctor - All Rights Reserve
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Friday, February 6, 2009
Words of Encouragement
Sorry, it has been way too long since I last made a post.
Here is something I ran across today that is very appropriate, so I thought I would share it.
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Here is something I ran across today that is very appropriate, so I thought I would share it.
The world economy is in a downturn, people are getting laid off in mass, governments are bailing out financial institutions, unscrupulous financial gurus bilk billions out of unsuspecting clients, countries are at war, and the list goes on. The media continues to bombard us daily with images and words about scarcity and suffering. If we pay attention to everything they report it only reinforces negativity and makes us withdraw from life robbing us of our personal power.
We have within us the power to create our own world, but in order to awaken this power we need to stop listening to what’s going on with the outside world, especially the media, and concentrate on what we can do with our given space in this world. One by one we can awaken others to do the same and create a world of blessing and abundance. It’s been said that one person can make a difference; so why can’t that person be YOU?
Here’s a quote from Mahatma Gandhi that sums it up best…
“you must be the change you wish to see in the world”
YOU can make a difference beginning today by simply changing the way you think!
Here’s another quote that is still a classic…”for things to change…you’ve got to change and for things to get better…you’ve got to get better.”
Don’t try to change anyone around you, just refocus on changing the only person you can change, and that’s YOU.
As I always point out, the choice is yours.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:4-7 (NIV)If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Auld Lang Syne
Nearly everyone is familiar with the popular song sung on New Years Eve. But most have probably wondered what the words actually mean. These three words were the title of a Scottish poem by Robert Burns in 1788 according to www.wikipedia.org. The words literally translated mean "old long since" or more commonly used as "long, long ago".
So as you sing the popular verse tonight, think about what the words really mean.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne ?
Should we really wait until the end of the year before we think about our past relationships and friends? What about the people we care about now? As our fast paced lives get more and more hectic year by year, we need to remind ourselves about the truly important people in our lives, past and present.
Let me give you some examples.
I know parents will be able to relate to this. Imagine your loud and obnoxious teenager leaves with the car one afternoon to go to the mall. Hours later he has not returned. You begin to wonder why he has been gone so long. Your anxiety builds with each passing minute. Your imagination begins to think of countless possibilities for the delay, each one becoming more and more distressing. Minutes seem like hours. Hours begin to turn into eternity fearing the most dreadful possible outcomes.
Later that evening, he strolls in the door like nothing has happened. Your frantic nerves are shot. You barrage him with questions about where he was and your concern. You convey that you were about to call the police. He casually answers that he met some friends and went to movie and forgot to call, wondering what the big deal is. How precious is that relationship now when you think that it could have been gone in an instant?
Or, think about what Jimmy Stewart learned in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". With the help of his guardian angel Clarence, he got to learn what things would be like without him. The town was totally different, the people he cared about did not know him and were much worse off. He was not there to save his little brother from drowning in the frozen pond, and because of that, his little brother never became a war hero saving the lives of many fellow soldiers on a plane. And on and on.
After this lesson sunk in with Jimmy, everything had new meaning. From the movie theater in town to the rickety banister that kept popping off. And of course, his wife, children, friends, and all the other people he helped through his family's savings and loan bank meant so much more to him.
Do we really have to experience some drastic occurrence before we too realize what is really important in our lives? Do we only think about our departed friends and loved ones lost long long ago only one day a year?
Our relationships are precious. From the time God gave Adam a helpmate to him from one of his ribs, we were meant to have others around us to help us and strengthen us.
Let us never forget our loved ones and friends. Not one day a year, but all the time.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
If you have questions or comment, please feel free to contact me at the address below:
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
So as you sing the popular verse tonight, think about what the words really mean.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne ?
Should we really wait until the end of the year before we think about our past relationships and friends? What about the people we care about now? As our fast paced lives get more and more hectic year by year, we need to remind ourselves about the truly important people in our lives, past and present.
Let me give you some examples.
I know parents will be able to relate to this. Imagine your loud and obnoxious teenager leaves with the car one afternoon to go to the mall. Hours later he has not returned. You begin to wonder why he has been gone so long. Your anxiety builds with each passing minute. Your imagination begins to think of countless possibilities for the delay, each one becoming more and more distressing. Minutes seem like hours. Hours begin to turn into eternity fearing the most dreadful possible outcomes.
Later that evening, he strolls in the door like nothing has happened. Your frantic nerves are shot. You barrage him with questions about where he was and your concern. You convey that you were about to call the police. He casually answers that he met some friends and went to movie and forgot to call, wondering what the big deal is. How precious is that relationship now when you think that it could have been gone in an instant?
Or, think about what Jimmy Stewart learned in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". With the help of his guardian angel Clarence, he got to learn what things would be like without him. The town was totally different, the people he cared about did not know him and were much worse off. He was not there to save his little brother from drowning in the frozen pond, and because of that, his little brother never became a war hero saving the lives of many fellow soldiers on a plane. And on and on.
After this lesson sunk in with Jimmy, everything had new meaning. From the movie theater in town to the rickety banister that kept popping off. And of course, his wife, children, friends, and all the other people he helped through his family's savings and loan bank meant so much more to him.
Do we really have to experience some drastic occurrence before we too realize what is really important in our lives? Do we only think about our departed friends and loved ones lost long long ago only one day a year?
Our relationships are precious. From the time God gave Adam a helpmate to him from one of his ribs, we were meant to have others around us to help us and strengthen us.
Let us never forget our loved ones and friends. Not one day a year, but all the time.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man."
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:20-24 (NIV)
If you have questions or comment, please feel free to contact me at the address below:
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The Bucket List
I apologize to my regular readers for the prolonged absence. The past six months have been very challenging for me personally, so I have not been able to post frequently.
As stated before, I am somewhat of a movie buff. I just had a chance to see the movie "The Bucket List" released last year starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Both men meet in a hospital room where they each are dealing with terminal cases of cancer. One is a billionaire, the other a mechanic. Outside of their imminent futures, they have nothing in common.
They decide to make a list of things to do before they "kick the bucket", but want it to be a positive experience rather than just waiting to die. This brings me back to the title of this blog and why I started writing these posts 15 months ago. What is the meaning of life? How do we want to be remembered? What is our purpose for our lives?
The most telling thing about the movie can be summed up in two questions asked while looking at the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Have you experience joy in your life? Have others experience joy because of you?
There is a lot to contemplate in the last two paragraphs. The question is, do you want to answer those questions?
The past 15 months I've tried to share many insights and things I've picked up over the years. The more I learn, the more questions I have. I don't have all the answers. No one does. I have tried to make a positive difference in the lives of others. I have no regrets. One life at a time. One person at a time.
What about you? What is important to you? What gives your life meaning? On your deathbed, what do you have to say? How do you want to be remembered? Did you have an impact on others?
The last several months the financial markets have been in turmoil to say the least. If you create wealth, does that really change things? In the movie, the billionaire still faced imminent death. It did allow them to do their final wish list and enjoy those experiences that they never had before. But nonetheless, we all die. We cannot take material things with us.
Wealth only allows more choices while you are alive. Because of wealth, you may be able to impact far more people, either positively or negatively. As I like to say, the choice is yours.
What will you put on your bucket list? Don't wait until you have a terminal disease to do it.
Live each day as if it is your last. As always, the choice is yours.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
As stated before, I am somewhat of a movie buff. I just had a chance to see the movie "The Bucket List" released last year starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Both men meet in a hospital room where they each are dealing with terminal cases of cancer. One is a billionaire, the other a mechanic. Outside of their imminent futures, they have nothing in common.
They decide to make a list of things to do before they "kick the bucket", but want it to be a positive experience rather than just waiting to die. This brings me back to the title of this blog and why I started writing these posts 15 months ago. What is the meaning of life? How do we want to be remembered? What is our purpose for our lives?
The most telling thing about the movie can be summed up in two questions asked while looking at the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Have you experience joy in your life? Have others experience joy because of you?
There is a lot to contemplate in the last two paragraphs. The question is, do you want to answer those questions?
The past 15 months I've tried to share many insights and things I've picked up over the years. The more I learn, the more questions I have. I don't have all the answers. No one does. I have tried to make a positive difference in the lives of others. I have no regrets. One life at a time. One person at a time.
What about you? What is important to you? What gives your life meaning? On your deathbed, what do you have to say? How do you want to be remembered? Did you have an impact on others?
The last several months the financial markets have been in turmoil to say the least. If you create wealth, does that really change things? In the movie, the billionaire still faced imminent death. It did allow them to do their final wish list and enjoy those experiences that they never had before. But nonetheless, we all die. We cannot take material things with us.
Wealth only allows more choices while you are alive. Because of wealth, you may be able to impact far more people, either positively or negatively. As I like to say, the choice is yours.
What will you put on your bucket list? Don't wait until you have a terminal disease to do it.
Live each day as if it is your last. As always, the choice is yours.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever. Psalm 23 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@hushmail.com
Monday, December 15, 2008
New contact information
Due to a number of reasons, I have a new email account for those who wish to contact me. It is DeltaInspire@hushmail.com.
Please feel free to use it for questions or comments.
DeltaInspire
Please feel free to use it for questions or comments.
DeltaInspire
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Being Grateful
We are fast approaching the holiday of Thanksgiving in America. It is a time when we are to be grateful of the blessings that we have received. It has its roots as being a autumn harvest festival starting with the Plymouth Pilgrims in 1621. There are even records of previous Thanksgivings held at St. Augustine in Florida beginning in 1565, but the Pilgrims are most remembered.
On a lighter note, some in 2008 are simply thankful that the presidential election is over, and the end to constant bombardment in the media of sound bites and commercials trying to sway voters.
This has been a very trying year for many. The stock market is down more than 40%, the economy has been sluggish at best and with a very dim outlook on the near future. What do we have to be grateful for?
Let's just start with the basics. Each of us are still alive and breathing. Nearly everyone of us certainly look like we have not missed a meal in some time. Most of us have loving and caring families that despite differences, tend to make up and come together for the holidays. Most of us have jobs or a way to earn an income for the time being at least. Providing for our families has always been a priority even dating back far before the Pilgrims. And on a more spiritual sense, most believe in a loving God that will provide for our needs.
Despite all that will seem to be the bleakest of times, there are always things to be thankful for. To fall back to the analogy of the half-full glass, there are always positives to be looked at in every situation. Perception is a very personal thing as I have pointed out before. You control what you think and respond, no one else does. When you think otherwise, you are out of control. You become a slave to the situation or person. Exercise your brain. Exercise your freedom to choose.
As always, the choice is yours.
I ask again, what do you have to be grateful for?
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 136:1 (KJV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
Also please note that you should now be able to leave anonymous comments to this blog without having a Google account (I finally found the settings tab!). If you find an interesting post in the past, feel free to comment.
On a lighter note, some in 2008 are simply thankful that the presidential election is over, and the end to constant bombardment in the media of sound bites and commercials trying to sway voters.
This has been a very trying year for many. The stock market is down more than 40%, the economy has been sluggish at best and with a very dim outlook on the near future. What do we have to be grateful for?
Let's just start with the basics. Each of us are still alive and breathing. Nearly everyone of us certainly look like we have not missed a meal in some time. Most of us have loving and caring families that despite differences, tend to make up and come together for the holidays. Most of us have jobs or a way to earn an income for the time being at least. Providing for our families has always been a priority even dating back far before the Pilgrims. And on a more spiritual sense, most believe in a loving God that will provide for our needs.
Despite all that will seem to be the bleakest of times, there are always things to be thankful for. To fall back to the analogy of the half-full glass, there are always positives to be looked at in every situation. Perception is a very personal thing as I have pointed out before. You control what you think and respond, no one else does. When you think otherwise, you are out of control. You become a slave to the situation or person. Exercise your brain. Exercise your freedom to choose.
As always, the choice is yours.
I ask again, what do you have to be grateful for?
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 136:1 (KJV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
Also please note that you should now be able to leave anonymous comments to this blog without having a Google account (I finally found the settings tab!). If you find an interesting post in the past, feel free to comment.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Invisible Boundaries
I apologize to my regular readers for my recent absence. I've been out of town for two weeks.
Did you ever think about why your life is the way it is? Before I get into this, read the following sentence and count the number of times the letter f appears.
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC
STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS
How many did you count? Three? Would you be surprised to learn that there are actually six f's in that statement? How many times did you see the word 'of'? It's so simple, that our brain sometimes ignores the obvious even though it might be right in front of us.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
--Aldous Huxley
Let me give you something else to think on. Consider the following social experience.
So what does bananas and monkeys or counting f's have to do with invisible boundaries? The point is we see what we want to see. We do what we want to do as long as it is accepted among those around us. But is the world that we have around us reality, or is it just the boundaries we constructed to make us comfortable? Did the replaced monkeys ever feel the cold water? No. But they did feel the attacks and learned what not to do. There is an English proverb that says One who makes no mistakes, never makes anything.
Meanwhile, there are opportunities all around us every day to change our lives. Some may be attractive, some not. Just as when we don't see the 'of' because it is so simple, many times others have to point out the obvious before it registers with our brain.
Now, let me add another level of complexity to the situation. Everyone understands what 2 dimensional means such as a piece of paper - length times width, but no depth. 3 dimensional adds depth such as a box or a cube so that something can be stored inside it. The fourth dimension is usually referred to as time. For example, a person can occupy the same space that another person did earlier, such as in a bathroom. For many reasons, it's not a good idea to share the same space at the same time!
So where am I going with all of this? What if you had a chance to meet yourself 30 years from now? What do you think 'your older self' would tell you to do now? Do you think your older self would tell you take more risks or play things more cautiously?
The answer to this really depends on the choices your have made with your life to date. Have you made horrible decisions in the past that carry consequences you are dealing with? Or, have you played it safe and are stuck with your life being boring and uneventful?
Earlier today I was driving to an event with some friends. We were talking about the location of our destination. Since I was driving, I was familiar with one way to go. My friends knew the area better and suggested an alternate route. Let's say it took the same time to get to the destination. Which way was better? Was it the way I had gone hundreds of times or the new way? Was there something wrong with the new way? No.
It's just because I was comfortable with what I knew. Habits are familiar. Our lives are probably comfortable because we are used to our surroundings. But are those lives truly fulfilled? Is living a fulfilled life even a possibility?
Now that we have a new president-elect of Barack Obama, many think that he can bring change. Obviously, this is why he was elected. But I will challenge you this - name one example of just one person you know that their life was made significantly better by a decision made by the government. I would be greatly shocked if there is one.
All the time we wait for someone else to act. It's easy to blame our misfortunes on the economy or the government or the current target of society's persecution. What about us? Don't we make the decisions that direct our lives? Aren't we driving the car of our own life?
As I have described my motto in this blog many times, here it is one more time.
Information is not knowledge without action!
Knowledge creates choices
Choices allow us to change our lives
As always, the choice is yours! Choose your own path wisely.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
Did you ever think about why your life is the way it is? Before I get into this, read the following sentence and count the number of times the letter f appears.
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC
STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS
How many did you count? Three? Would you be surprised to learn that there are actually six f's in that statement? How many times did you see the word 'of'? It's so simple, that our brain sometimes ignores the obvious even though it might be right in front of us.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
--Aldous Huxley
Let me give you something else to think on. Consider the following social experience.
Start with a cage containing five monkeys.
Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.
After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.
After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.
Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done round here.
So what does bananas and monkeys or counting f's have to do with invisible boundaries? The point is we see what we want to see. We do what we want to do as long as it is accepted among those around us. But is the world that we have around us reality, or is it just the boundaries we constructed to make us comfortable? Did the replaced monkeys ever feel the cold water? No. But they did feel the attacks and learned what not to do. There is an English proverb that says One who makes no mistakes, never makes anything.
Meanwhile, there are opportunities all around us every day to change our lives. Some may be attractive, some not. Just as when we don't see the 'of' because it is so simple, many times others have to point out the obvious before it registers with our brain.
Now, let me add another level of complexity to the situation. Everyone understands what 2 dimensional means such as a piece of paper - length times width, but no depth. 3 dimensional adds depth such as a box or a cube so that something can be stored inside it. The fourth dimension is usually referred to as time. For example, a person can occupy the same space that another person did earlier, such as in a bathroom. For many reasons, it's not a good idea to share the same space at the same time!
So where am I going with all of this? What if you had a chance to meet yourself 30 years from now? What do you think 'your older self' would tell you to do now? Do you think your older self would tell you take more risks or play things more cautiously?
The answer to this really depends on the choices your have made with your life to date. Have you made horrible decisions in the past that carry consequences you are dealing with? Or, have you played it safe and are stuck with your life being boring and uneventful?
Earlier today I was driving to an event with some friends. We were talking about the location of our destination. Since I was driving, I was familiar with one way to go. My friends knew the area better and suggested an alternate route. Let's say it took the same time to get to the destination. Which way was better? Was it the way I had gone hundreds of times or the new way? Was there something wrong with the new way? No.
It's just because I was comfortable with what I knew. Habits are familiar. Our lives are probably comfortable because we are used to our surroundings. But are those lives truly fulfilled? Is living a fulfilled life even a possibility?
Now that we have a new president-elect of Barack Obama, many think that he can bring change. Obviously, this is why he was elected. But I will challenge you this - name one example of just one person you know that their life was made significantly better by a decision made by the government. I would be greatly shocked if there is one.
All the time we wait for someone else to act. It's easy to blame our misfortunes on the economy or the government or the current target of society's persecution. What about us? Don't we make the decisions that direct our lives? Aren't we driving the car of our own life?
As I have described my motto in this blog many times, here it is one more time.
Information is not knowledge without action!
Knowledge creates choices
Choices allow us to change our lives
As always, the choice is yours! Choose your own path wisely.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.
The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them,
but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness. Proverbs 11:2-5 (NIV)
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Most have heard the story of the boy who cried wolf! It was one of Aesop's fables written in 1673. For those who haven't heard it, here is a condensed version.
There was a Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was lonely for him, so he devised a plan to get a little company. He rushed down towards the village calling out "Wolf, Wolf," and the villagers came out to meet him. This pleased the boy so much that a few days after he tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help. Shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out from the forest. The boy cried out "Wolf, Wolf," still louder than before. But this time the villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again lying, and nobody came to his aid. So the Wolf made a good meal off the boy's flock.
The moral of the story is that a liar will never be believed, even when he is telling the truth.
So why I am writing about this? Well, for the last year, I've included many stories and warnings about the sagging economy and its likely demise. My last post recapping many of those warnings document this fact. I am certainly no liar, but because my warnings may have sounded incredible, they were not listened to by many.
Well, look at what is happening to the economy and the stock market now. Was I lying? Here are a few notes from today's headlines.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson signaled his top priority, having secured $700 billion rescue package from Congress, will be to buy equity in financial companies to restore market stability and ensure economic growth.
The International Monetary Fund earlier this week said banks around the world would need $675 billion in fresh capital in the next several years to recover from the credit crisis. The IMF also raised its estimate of losses tied to U.S. loans and securitized assets to $1.4 trillion -- roughly half of which have already been written down or recognized as losses.
Wolf! Maybe someone will listen now.
So what does this all mean? Ordo ab chao. Latin for "order from chaos". If you have read the History of Money series beginning January 28, 2008, you will find that the manipulators have used this formula time and time again throughout history. This is the Hegelian dialect of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. An event is created to cause a problem, resources are made available to combat or correct the conditions of the problem, and then a solution is created that they always wanted that would not have been possible if the problem didn't exist.
First, the sub-prime mortgage crisis was initially created by the Federal Reserve knocking interest rates down to 1% in 2003. This started a mad frenzy of banks and mortgage companies allowing prospective homeowners to buy homes with little or no money down because money was so cheap. Many got suckered into interest only loans on these mortgages on homes that they could barely afford. When interest rates went back up to 5% in 2005, the corresponding adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) went up as well. Many ARMs have caps on them allowing only a 1% increase per year. Thus, it took 2-3 years for many of these mortgages to hit monthly payment levels the mortgagees couldn't pay. They start defaulting on these loans (August 2007). The banks and mortgage companies start getting into trouble.
Meanwhile, the big banks and investment firms start bundling big blocks of mortgages as security for investments (credit-default swaps, CDS). Nothing is more secure than real estate, right?! It's like an insurance policy for an investments. But because they called them credit-default swaps, the regulation is not as strict as for insurance. For several years, these investments do really well. Everyone is making money and happy. Little did the buyers of these credit-default swaps know that the mortgages the investments were secured by were very shaky to begin with. (By the way, CDSs are just the tip of the iceberg when you consider the magnitude of the $400 trillion derivative market.)
When the sub-prime mortgage crisis started to unravel, the investment banks and mortgage companies started to sweat. But, most of these derivative investments were sold off to other investors, so they would probably be OK. Then, more and more homes were foreclosed on because people couldn't make their payments. As the foreclosures mounted, the banks could no longer hide their tenuous position. Liquidity dropped because the monthly payments were not being made. This would weaken their reserve requirement with the Federal Reserve of keeping approximately 10% of all money loaned out. Hence, you begin to have bank failures. This also caused many of the mortgage companies that underwrote the loans to have liquidity problems such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
So the dominoes start falling. Bear Stearns, IndyMac, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Lehman Brothers Holding, American Internation Group, etc. etc. Many of the smaller banks and investment companies are getting sold off at pennies on the dollar to the larger banks and to the Treasury. Can the US taxpayer afford this? Absolutely not! But what the heck, what is another trillion or so in debt. The $700 billion bailout is just the beginning.
Gross U.S. debt, which includes debt held by the public and by government agencies, this year reached about $9.6 trillion, or about 68 percent of gross domestic product. The rescue legislation increased the government's debt limit to more than $11.3 trillion from $10.6 trillion. The additional borrowing could push the national debt well past 70 percent of GDP, the highest since the immediate aftermath of World War II, when the U.S. was still paying off war debt.
Let me get back to "order from chaos". This was the plan all along. The World Bank and IMF could not implement all of their plans the way they wanted to. Consolidation was necessary. So it took 5 or 6 years to accomplish. So what! No one really understands the workings of the economy anyway. Who will understand that the Federal Reserve dramatically lowering interest rates in 2003 (after which the economy was already recovering from the high tech bubble burst from 2000-2002) would set off a chain of events that will rapidly consolidate the financial world down to a few major players (Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, all of which own shares in the privately held Federal Reserve Corporation)? Oh, and whatever these institutions can't buy themselves, the federal government will take over to stabilize the economy throught the bailout packages and the FDIC (another private corporation owned by the Federal Reserve). Sythesis - a solution never before possible.
Many of these lessons were first learned by no other than J.P. Morgan himself when he orchestrated the bank panic of 1907. History repeats itself.
Wolf! Few believed me.
Are you one of the sheep eaten by the big bad wolf? If you haven't been, your time will come soon enough. We are a long way from this sad story being over.
Will fear from the big bad wolf stop you from taking action?
As always, the choice is yours.
O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
You struck them, but they felt no pain;
you crushed them, but they refused correction.
They made their faces harder than stone
and refused to repent.
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
There was a Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was lonely for him, so he devised a plan to get a little company. He rushed down towards the village calling out "Wolf, Wolf," and the villagers came out to meet him. This pleased the boy so much that a few days after he tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help. Shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out from the forest. The boy cried out "Wolf, Wolf," still louder than before. But this time the villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again lying, and nobody came to his aid. So the Wolf made a good meal off the boy's flock.
The moral of the story is that a liar will never be believed, even when he is telling the truth.
So why I am writing about this? Well, for the last year, I've included many stories and warnings about the sagging economy and its likely demise. My last post recapping many of those warnings document this fact. I am certainly no liar, but because my warnings may have sounded incredible, they were not listened to by many.
Well, look at what is happening to the economy and the stock market now. Was I lying? Here are a few notes from today's headlines.
- US stocks fell for an eight consecutive day during a roller coaster session that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its biggest point swing ever.
- The Dow posted its steepest weekly slide ever in its history falling to 8,451.19
- The S&P 500 index had its worst week since 1933 falling to 899.22
- The Dow and S&P 500 index are down 18.2% for the week, reaching lowest levels in 5 1/2 years
- The S&P 500's eight day losing streak is its longest since 1996
- Both the Dow and the S&P 500 are down more than 40% since their peaks reached last October
- The price of oil dropped below $80 per barrel for the first time in a year on concern the weakening economy will hurt demand
- The Main Street Bank of Northville, Michigan and the Meridian Bank of Eldred, Illinois were closed by regulators today, boosting the total to 15 banks that have failed this year
- Sellers of credit-default protection on bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. will have to pay 91.375 cents on the dollar to settle the contracts, setting up the biggest-ever payout in the $55 trillion derivatives market
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson signaled his top priority, having secured $700 billion rescue package from Congress, will be to buy equity in financial companies to restore market stability and ensure economic growth.
The International Monetary Fund earlier this week said banks around the world would need $675 billion in fresh capital in the next several years to recover from the credit crisis. The IMF also raised its estimate of losses tied to U.S. loans and securitized assets to $1.4 trillion -- roughly half of which have already been written down or recognized as losses.
Wolf! Maybe someone will listen now.
So what does this all mean? Ordo ab chao. Latin for "order from chaos". If you have read the History of Money series beginning January 28, 2008, you will find that the manipulators have used this formula time and time again throughout history. This is the Hegelian dialect of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. An event is created to cause a problem, resources are made available to combat or correct the conditions of the problem, and then a solution is created that they always wanted that would not have been possible if the problem didn't exist.
First, the sub-prime mortgage crisis was initially created by the Federal Reserve knocking interest rates down to 1% in 2003. This started a mad frenzy of banks and mortgage companies allowing prospective homeowners to buy homes with little or no money down because money was so cheap. Many got suckered into interest only loans on these mortgages on homes that they could barely afford. When interest rates went back up to 5% in 2005, the corresponding adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) went up as well. Many ARMs have caps on them allowing only a 1% increase per year. Thus, it took 2-3 years for many of these mortgages to hit monthly payment levels the mortgagees couldn't pay. They start defaulting on these loans (August 2007). The banks and mortgage companies start getting into trouble.
Meanwhile, the big banks and investment firms start bundling big blocks of mortgages as security for investments (credit-default swaps, CDS). Nothing is more secure than real estate, right?! It's like an insurance policy for an investments. But because they called them credit-default swaps, the regulation is not as strict as for insurance. For several years, these investments do really well. Everyone is making money and happy. Little did the buyers of these credit-default swaps know that the mortgages the investments were secured by were very shaky to begin with. (By the way, CDSs are just the tip of the iceberg when you consider the magnitude of the $400 trillion derivative market.)
When the sub-prime mortgage crisis started to unravel, the investment banks and mortgage companies started to sweat. But, most of these derivative investments were sold off to other investors, so they would probably be OK. Then, more and more homes were foreclosed on because people couldn't make their payments. As the foreclosures mounted, the banks could no longer hide their tenuous position. Liquidity dropped because the monthly payments were not being made. This would weaken their reserve requirement with the Federal Reserve of keeping approximately 10% of all money loaned out. Hence, you begin to have bank failures. This also caused many of the mortgage companies that underwrote the loans to have liquidity problems such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
So the dominoes start falling. Bear Stearns, IndyMac, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Lehman Brothers Holding, American Internation Group, etc. etc. Many of the smaller banks and investment companies are getting sold off at pennies on the dollar to the larger banks and to the Treasury. Can the US taxpayer afford this? Absolutely not! But what the heck, what is another trillion or so in debt. The $700 billion bailout is just the beginning.
Gross U.S. debt, which includes debt held by the public and by government agencies, this year reached about $9.6 trillion, or about 68 percent of gross domestic product. The rescue legislation increased the government's debt limit to more than $11.3 trillion from $10.6 trillion. The additional borrowing could push the national debt well past 70 percent of GDP, the highest since the immediate aftermath of World War II, when the U.S. was still paying off war debt.
Let me get back to "order from chaos". This was the plan all along. The World Bank and IMF could not implement all of their plans the way they wanted to. Consolidation was necessary. So it took 5 or 6 years to accomplish. So what! No one really understands the workings of the economy anyway. Who will understand that the Federal Reserve dramatically lowering interest rates in 2003 (after which the economy was already recovering from the high tech bubble burst from 2000-2002) would set off a chain of events that will rapidly consolidate the financial world down to a few major players (Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, all of which own shares in the privately held Federal Reserve Corporation)? Oh, and whatever these institutions can't buy themselves, the federal government will take over to stabilize the economy throught the bailout packages and the FDIC (another private corporation owned by the Federal Reserve). Sythesis - a solution never before possible.
Many of these lessons were first learned by no other than J.P. Morgan himself when he orchestrated the bank panic of 1907. History repeats itself.
Wolf! Few believed me.
Are you one of the sheep eaten by the big bad wolf? If you haven't been, your time will come soon enough. We are a long way from this sad story being over.
Will fear from the big bad wolf stop you from taking action?
As always, the choice is yours.
O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
You struck them, but they felt no pain;
you crushed them, but they refused correction.
They made their faces harder than stone
and refused to repent.
I thought, "These are only the poor;
they are foolish,
for they do not know the way of the LORD,
the requirements of their God.
So I will go to the leaders
and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the LORD,
the requirements of their God."
But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke
and torn off the bonds.
Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them,
a wolf from the desert will ravage them,
a leopard will lie in wait near their towns
to tear to pieces any who venture out,
for their rebellion is great
and their backslidings many.
"Why should I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken me
and sworn by gods that are not gods.
I supplied all their needs,
yet they committed adultery
and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. Jeremiah 5:3-7 (NIV)
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
Friday, October 3, 2008
Did You Read the Signs?
Again, I apologize for the long delays between postings. It has been a very trying time for me. In the future, I will not be able to post as often as I did in the past. The conditions have changed that would make that impossible. But, I will still try to make sense of this crazy financial world and share that with you.
Since we have been in some extremely crazy times in the last several weeks (especially the last two with all the talks of the bailout packages), I thought it fitting to review some of the warnings I issued in this blog. You can be the judge on how accurate I was.
Friday, November 2, 2007
... gold is $806.40, silver is $14.55, oil is $95.93 per barrel ...
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates another quarter point to 4.5% on Wednesday to bolster the money supply and keep the economy moving. ...
The foreign exchange rates for the Great British Pound, the Euro, the Swiss Franc were all at multi-decade highs against the US dollar.
What does all this mean? The US dollar is getting weaker and weaker, eroding purchasing power of all consumers, increasing the US trade deficit and sending more money out of the country and even less entering. All of this leads to increased pressure for inflation. Now, with the Fed lowering interest rates again this week, they are trying to increase the money supply which further increases inflationary pressures. ... Gas prices will just be one of many things that will cost a lot more.
The road up ahead curves ... stay tuned.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
We are not looking at an eruption, but an implosion of the economy resulting from many factors. The sub prime crash is only one indicator. The declining real estate market, the eroding value of the dollar, the rising prices of more intrinsic precious metals are climbing such as gold and silver, and the continued rising price of oil. All of these are signs.
Now, to fast forward some. When you factor in Social Security facing insolvency within the next decade; and add in the imminent failure of MediCare and MediCaid coupled with the rising number of baby boomers retiring (or trying to), and inflation rising. All of these indicators are leading up to a 'perfect storm' developing. Never before have all of these factors come together at once.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
When the sub-prime loan issue started happening in August, adjustable rate mortgages were going up and people who couldn't afford the increases started defaulting on their payments. The decrease of incoming funds to the banks started restricting what they could lend out. Private banks had to bail out smaller banks by lending federal funds to keep them open. Then the loans started going into foreclosure, and more money had to be loaned to keep the banks open. Still, thousands of people lost their homes.
This was really bad for our economy, but it was leading to something far worse. The Federal Reserve, dropped the discount rate by 1/2 of percent in their September meeting, a big drop. They had to create more credit to keep the money moving. They again lowered the discount rate another 1/4 percent in October. They were willing to risk inflation to keep the economy from completely stalling. The sudden influx of cash and credit spurred on inflation. With the increasing cost of gas and now consumer goods, everything started going up. As mentioned yesterday, when costs rise and wages don't keep up, the overall economic situation for the consumer decreases each year.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
... Based on the beginning of wave 1 around Aug. 20 at $660 per ounce, gold will very likely go up to a minimum of $960 from its point now in the coming months. The upper target is $1250 per ounce. This wave 3 will likely happen over the next six months. ...
The Elliott Wave target prices for silver on the low end is $18.00 per ounce and the upper target is around $24.50.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Did you ever notice that the price of gas at the pump goes up almost immediately when oil prices go up? However, when the price of oil goes down, the price at the pump is slow to react. Interesting. Someone is making a lot of money on those slow fluctuations.
Monday, December 10, 2007
The first thing you have to understand is that oil is the currency of the world. Every 1st world country is heavily influenced by the price of oil because of its dependency on oil for energy, transportation, and manufacturing. How long could you or anyone you know last without filling up your car with gas?
The key thing to remember that as one asset classes increases, other classes will either follow suit because they are linked, or act conversely because of the inverse relationship.
Friday, December 14, 2007
So when the flow of money is controlled globally and nationally, it has a direct correlation to how businesses and consumers respond. The price of oil and interest rates are just some of the key variables that they use to dramatically influence the state of the world. Their ultimate goal is to have a world government and complete control over all financial matters. If we ever get to a cashless society, they would control who could buy or sell anything. Naturally, credit card companies would love this idea. Controlling the rates of exchange and money supply is not enough for them. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
This past week I've been discussing the inter-relationships among a number of key indicators that drive the world economy. With the price of oil at near record highs and the fallout of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the global economy was at an edge and was in danger of going into hyperinflation followed by depression. Thousands had lost their homes to defaults, and many banks were on the verge of bankruptcy due to the reduced cash flow from the defaults.
On Thursday Dec. 13th, the 5 major central banks from around the world (the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of Canada), pooled $114 billion to prop up the global economy by injecting cash into the money markets. On Monday, the Fed will auction off $20 billion in loans and accept a wide range of collateral to spur on the economy. The Bank of England will auction off 11.35 billion pounds on Tuesday. "The banks hope that the new term auction facility at favourable rates will boost liquidity, ultimately benefiting their economies by making it easier for businesses and consumers to borrow money to invest and spend on goods and services."
My personal take on this latest move is that the imminent collapse of the US economy was happening faster than expected. Drastic measures never taken before had to be implemented because some elements of the plan were not fully in place.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
...gold and silver both shot up in value to $839.50 per ounce and $14.81 per ounce respectively.
In January, I expect this trend to continue and even pick up speed. Since putting 114 billion available to banks in loans has not encouraged spending, the value of the dollar will continue to plummet. This will spur on inflation. Double digit inflation for 2008 will almost be assured. The Fed will continue to reduce interest rates, but it will likely slow things down just temporarily as it has since Sept. Gold and silver and other precious metals will continue to climb in value as I mentioned on my Dec. 1st post. The target price I set for gold is $1250 and silver is $24.50 per ounce within 6 months. Those even may be low considering the perfect economic storm that is developing.
The wildcard that remains is what will happen to the price of oil. If oil continues to go up significantly in early 2008, that will accelerate things considerably. If oil inches up, it will be more gradual. The other major developments that can strengthen the economic storm will be events like the US invasion of Iran and the replacement of the US dollar with the Amero. However, I do not expect these events to happen until 2009.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
I've also mentioned that the US dollar has been losing its value over the last year. This has been one of many reasons why gold and silver has been appreciating significantly. The dramatic steps that the Federal Reserve has taken to prop up the dollar has risen the value of the dollar temporarily, as stated in previous Saturday posts. However, since Christmas, the value has started to plummet again, just as I pointed out it would. This week, the US dollar index fell to 76.02.
This is having a ripple effect on other markets as well, as I have also pointed out in previous posts. The stock market is starting to feel the pinch of the sluggish economy. Since the beginning of the 4th quarter, the NASDAQ has fallen more than 6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has also dropped 5.6%.
The point I am reiterating is that the economy is headed for a fall. Over the past several months I've given many reasons for this, but the facts are being validated each week. The signs are there.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
This week was very interesting in the financial world. On Monday, the markets were closed in the US because of Martin Luther King, Jr. day; however, stock markets worldwide sank drastically amid concerns about the overall health of the US economy and a pending recession. The current credit crunch as result of last August's sub-prime mortgage meltdown makes the matters worse. These concerns heightened this week due to declining corporate profits and the worse housing report on record. For the first time on record, year-over-year housing prices dropped 13% against 2007 prices. This caused the Federal Reserve to take a drastic step.
Before trading opened on Tuesday, the Fed slashed interest rates three quarters of a percent or 75 basis points. The federal funds rate now is 3.5% and the discount rate was lowered to 4.0%. This was the largest rate drop in 24 years. This move came 8 days before their next scheduled meeting suggesting that they are responding to a problem that couldn't wait. Immediate stimulus to the economy is needed to prevent the market from going into a free-fall.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The biggest economic problem in history has not been of wars, but what has led to those wars. That is greed.
This week gold closed at $908.70. Silver continued its upward trend to close at $16.84 per ounce. The US dollar index continued its slide to close at 75.47 against the other world currencies. It is nearing an all time low of 74.50, set just a couple months ago.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates another 50 basis points, knocking the federal funds rate to 3.0% and the discount rate to 3.5%. The Fed is doing everything it can to keep the economy moving by making cheap money available to banks and businesses. Even the analysts are having a hard time denying that a recession is in full swing.
Nathan Rothschild manipulated the market when Napoleon lost at Waterloo. He sold British bonds at the top of the market and bought them back for a fraction of their worth later that afternoon. By the way, do we have a war going on now? Do we have huge companies and a few bigwigs that are getting rich over the miseries of others in Iraq and Afghanistan? Incidently, what is Iraq and Afghanistan known for? Iraq has lots of oil fields and Afghanistan is the closest path to the sea for oil pipelines from rich oil fields in the southern part of the former Soviet Union. Is the war really on terror or is it just a way to get immense profits?
Furthermore, there will be others today that buy houses, loans, commodities, etc. when prices hit rock bottom. However, we have not come close to hitting rock bottom yet. The economic storm is only getting started. We still have Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid facing insolvency in the coming years. How will millions of baby boomers pay for their "necessary" prescription drugs after they retire?
Rest assured, there will be people that will profit immensely from these contrived events. Will you just be another victim of their greed?
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The sub-prime mortgage debacle means nothing to most people except the thousands that lost their homes. A recession doesn't mean much to people until their jobs are downsized. A depression starts waking people up, but usually too late. Bank failures are not new (remember the Savings & Loan scandals of the 1980s), but that will wake up some more people. How many banks have been bailed out in the last several of months?
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Today our dollar has the same buying power of 4 cents when compared to the same dollar in 1913. That year we had no national debt, today it is above $9 trillion and rapidly growing.
Is it going to take another stock market crash similar to 1929 where it lost more than 33% of its value in a month before we awake to the implications? The price of gold has gone up more than 50% in the last 18 months to $902.50 as of Friday from $560 per ounce in October of 2006. Silver has also gone up more than 50% in the same time period from $11.01 per ounce to $17.11 on Friday. Oil has hit again $95 a barrel, closing at $95.69 on Friday. The US dollar index closed at 76.03, less than one and one half points off an all time low against the other major world currencies. Can we not see the signs?
Incidentally, we should be aware of an escape clause that we have. This is the very one that presidential candidate Ron Paul is just hoping he can invoke if elected. The last provision of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, Sec. 30, states, "The right to amend, alter or repeal this Act is expressly reserved." This language means that Congress can at any time move to abolish the Federal Reserve System, or buy back the stock and make it part of the Treasury Department, or to alter the system as it sees fit. It has never done so.
Monday, February 18, 2008
It is interesting to note that President Bush and his administration has spent more money than all other presidents combined. And that was just in his first term! Melanie Hunter, a CNSNews.com Senior Editor, on November 4, 2005, reported that according to the Treasury Department, from 1776-2000, the first 224 years of US history, 42 US presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions, but the Bush administration borrowed $1.05 trillion in his first term as president alone. Do you think spending has gone down in his second term?
Saturday, March 1, 2008
This last Friday, gold closed higher again at $975.10 per ounce. Silver, also up, closed at $19.86 per ounce. Oil rose again and closed at $101.79 per barrel. The US dollar index closed at an all time low of 73.77 against the other major world currencies. If you've made no changes in the last year, and with inflation being over 10%; your net worth has eroded by at least 10%. The immediate future does not see any major signs of improvement either.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Gold rose again, finally topping the $1000 per ounce barrier closing on Friday at $1003.30 per ounce, of course a record. Silver also gain again this week closing at $20.72 per ounce. The price of oil hit another record closing at $110.15 per barrel. As pointed out many times in this blog, oil is very key to inflation and the price of many things we buy. The price of oil and food are the main components on why real inflation has been in double digits the last couple of years, with no letup in sight. Also, the value of the US dollar index has dropped to a new all-time low at 71.65, again for the 3rd week in a row. This index measures the strength of the dollar against the other world currencies including the Euro, the British pound, the Swiss franc, Japanese Yen, Australian dollar, and others.
Monday, March 17, 2008
On Friday, the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns became the first major casualty of the Great Depression of this century. The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, is leading a desperate struggle to prop up one of Wall Street's largest and most historic investment banks, as the credit crisis threatened to spiral into a full-blown banking crisis. The Federal Reserve agreed to offer financing for a proposed buyout from JP Morgan Chase bank and accept $30 billion of Bear Stearns' illiquid assets as collateral. Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, who pumped $200 billion of loans to cash-strapped institutions last week, said more would be available to help others in distress.
Meanwhile, one UK economist warned that the world is now close to a 1930s-like Great Depression, while New York traders said they had never experienced such fear. The Fed's emergency funding procedure was first used in the Depression and has rarely been used since.
Obviously, as I've been pointing out for months, there will be many problems with the economic storm that has been brewing. Bear Stearns is just the first of many banks that will have to close their doors. We will be examining in more detail the effects of these problems this week and the conditions that have led up to the problems. Ultimately though, this is all part of a planned event by the international bankers that run the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Today, the Federal Open Market Committee meeting voted and lowered the federal funds rates to banks by 75 basis points down to 2.25% from 3.00%. This means the Fed is continuing to try and keep the economy moving by making credit more readily available for banks and businesses alike. The banks will find it easier to lend to businesses with a lower rate and in turn can open new loans with the deposit and interest payments made by the businesses.
The good news in all of this is the Fed is not currently repeating the mistakes made in the first Great Depression that began in 1929. After the initial fall of the stock market in October, 1929, the Fed raised interest rates to 6% on November 1, 1929 making the liquidity problem at that time even worse. That constricted an already short money supply and caused the nation to sink deeply into the depression. That action then was by design to ultimately acquire more than two thirds of the farms of America and make the farmer tenants on their own lands.
I've received credible information that the international bankers will collapse the US economy in September 2008. This was linked to the closed door session of Congress last Thursday on March 14th, 2008, letting our policymakers in Washington know ahead of time. Whether this will hold true, only time will tell.
In this century's Great Depression, the aim will be different, but similar. Their aim this time will be grab as much residential and commercial real estate as possible. Once a majority of homeowners are renters again, their level of control will be even greater and they will have another piece of their plan in place.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
$200 billion is the approximate total amount of write-downs announced so far as a result of the current credit crisis. $14.1 trillion is the size of the entire U.S. economy And $53 trillion is (drum roll please) the approximate size of this country's bill for the Social Security and Medicare promises we've made.
According to the latest Social Security and Medicare Trustees report (and I use that term loosely since it has the word "trust" in it) released earlier this week, the economic asteroid will first make impact in the year 2019 when the Medicaid trust fund becomes insolvent.
Realizing that Americans have become pretty much numb to these kinds of ridiculous sounding proposals, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to up the ante this week. "Without change," he said, "Rising costs will drive government spending to unprecedented levels, consume nearly all projected federal revenues, and threaten America's future prosperity."
Monday, March 31, 2008
Over the weekend, the Federal Reserve has sponsored a plan to revamp regulation of the financial system. Did anyone see this coming? ... Their new plan will broaden the control the Federal Reserve has significantly.
For example, the Treasury plan calls for the merger of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission would go into a super agency responsible for business conduct and consumer protection. What does this have to do with the credit crisis in the subprime mortgage industry? Over-leveraged mortgage backed securities is what caused the problem with Bear Stearns.
Here comes the Fed with a solution - give us more control so these events won't happen in the future. If you go back to previous posts in this blog on the History of Money, JP Morgan did this in the Panic of 1907. Franklin D. Roosevelt (at direction from the Federal Reserve) did this in 1933 with the Executive Order 6102 making it illegal to hoard gold by US citizens. The Great Depression was caused by the international bankers. Many farms were lost and handed over to the banks. These events all have one goal, to strip the money from the public and send it to the international bankers who do control the Federal Reserve. How much more can we put up with? When do we actually stand up and say "No more!"?
Take at look at this comment from a finance professor at Drexel University. "These proposals address regulatory problems that may be generally necessary, but none of the suggestions provide ways of dealing with the crisis and economic roots of the crisis," said Joseph Mason.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The spiral continues. Even though the Fed and JP Morgan came to the rescue of Bear Stearns, as I pointed out a couple of weeks ago, this is only the first casualty. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have received billions in credit from the Fed to continue operation while writing off some of these bad loans. What major bank or investment company will be next?
As banks and companies merge when the weaker companies are gobbled up, more control over the public is gained. Here's an insight. JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Citibank will survive no matter what because they own shares in the Federal Reserve. Other banks and financial institutions may be suspect.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
All of the current moves are designed to increase federal control and minimize the rights of the citizens. With the future plans of the manipulators, the population must be docile and controlled. Remember when I described during the History of Money series the Hegelian dialect of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. An event is created to cause a problem, resources are made available to combat or correct the conditions of the problem, and then a solution is created that they always wanted that would not have been possible if the problem didn't exist. This formula is used over and over again in history.
Well, the current plan that Tom Raum refers to is to have the Federal Reserve to have more and much broader power and eliminate the "smaller" agencies currently in charge of financial regulation like the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Again, they are trying to consolidate the power base. Fewer players and more power make is easier to implement their plans. Beware of the changes coming later this year!
The price of oil will likely really shoot up the next month as the travel industry prepares for the upcoming vacation season in the United States. The price at the gas pump always spikes right before Memorial Day so that early vacationers of the summer season are hit with the increased prices. This makes for some huge profits for the oil companies.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
So, now many of the pieces are in place for their plan. You have heard many of these topics discussed in this blog over the last several months - government, politics, business leaders, markets, judicial system, military, the media, entertainment, etc. As long as they have a few key people in every major area listed, they are able to steer the public and policy to favorable terms for their goals. However, because most people do not like being deceived, their plans must be made in secret. That is why you don't hear much about groups like the Council on Foreign Relations, The Trilateral Commission, and the Bilderberg group. Furthermore, they have quasi government agencies to carry out many of their directives such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the Federal Reserve, the IRS, etc.
Is total control such a far fetched idea now?
... the price of oil continued setting new record levels closing at $118.91 per barrel. The US dollar index rose slightly to 72.67 against the other major world currencies. It should be noted that the Euro, set a all time record against the dollar this week hitting $1.60 USD for one euro before retreating.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
For months, I have passed a lot of information to my readers about many topics. Most of them are extremely important to my future, your future, the future of our country, and the future of the entire world. Have you recognized the importance? Have you acted on the information? Have you taken steps to protect yourself? Or, have you confined yourself to wait and see what happens? As always, the choice is yours.
As I have mentioned in previous posts in this blog regarding one of my mottoes
(the IKC principle) -
Information is not Knowledge without Action,
Knowledge creates Choices,
Choices allow us to Change our lives.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The increased price of oil not only drives up the price of gasoline, but also everything else. Food will cost more because of increased transportation costs. This also affects most other markets as well, so inflation as a whole goes up. In previous posts in this blog (November 20, 2007), it is important to understand the distinction of core inflation and real inflation. Core inflation, which is reported on news programs, measures the prices of selected consumer goods, but excludes the costs of food and energy. Thus, this figure means very little because everyone is truly affected by the price of food and gas. Therefore, they use this to core inflation number to soften and confuse the public on the real effects. Real inflation is well into double digits.
That is why inflation is really an invisible tax, affecting everyone. The Federal Reserve has so much more power than most people realize.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
a war or preemptive tactical nuclear strike on Iran will not be about their nuclear program, but about the macroeconomic reasons behind the American hegemony being eroded and the Iranian Oil Bourse trading in oil transactions other than the USD.
When an event does happen, it will likely happen in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrowest point between Iran and Saudi Arabia is 34 miles. Roughly 40% of all oil traded globally pass through this strait on way to global oil ports. Currently, some 16-17 million barrels of oil are carried through the narrow channel on oil tankers every day according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Ninety percent of oil exported from Gulf producers is carried on oil tankers through the Strait. Over 75 percent of Japan's oil passes through the Strait.
Because of the strategic location of the Strait, Iran has installed sophisticated anti-ship missiles on the Island of Abu Musa, and therefore controls the critical Strait of Hormuz – where all of the Persian Gulf bound oil tankers must pass. Iran also has a very robust military capability.
Friday, May 16, 2008
When a wayward and corrupt fiscal policy and fiat currency, coupled with runaway government spending, forces a nation to only be able to sustain the value of its currency with bullets, the citizenry of the country involved in wars primarily to sustain its currency have historically first became slaves to their government, and then to the nations that finally conquer them. ... towards the end of the Roman reign, the Roman Empire was doing exactly what America is doing today; attempting to sustain a failed fiat money system with bullets.
Understanding fiat money is not an easy task, and the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund have purposely made it that way. They do not want the American people to realize that the money in their wallet loses its value with each new dollar that they print. They do not want people to understand that our money does not become money until it is borrowed. When the Federal Reserve has money printed, when it is in uncut sheets of paper, it is not yet money. After it is cut, bundled, and placed into the Federal Reserve vaults, it still is not money. It only becomes money once it is borrowed.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The price of gold increased this week to close on Friday at $925 per ounce. Silver also increased to $18.22 per ounce, up more than a dollar per ounce from last week. The price of oil continued to set new weekly highs closing at $131.70 per barrel. The US dollar index also fell to close at 71.99. How long can the credibility of the dollar last?
Over the last few weeks I have made comments about several invisible taxes - one being inflation and the other being the increased costs of fuel (oil, gas, and all the derived products). These invisible taxes are devastating on the general public unless their income is going up substantially. This is why a economic collapse of our markets is very likely, the only question being the timing.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Back on March 17th, 2008, I reported in this blog about the first casualty of the Great Depression of this century. That report was about the imminent collapse and subsequent bailout of Bear Stearns, one of America's longest tenured investment banks. At that time, I mentioned that this would only be the first of many bank failures. Today, we will look at the second casualty - IndyMac, a California based bank that closed its doors on Friday.
IndyMac is ground-zero of the sub-prime crisis and the poster-child of imprudent lending. Founded in 1985 by Countrywide Bank, whose own recent failure was masked by its acquisition by Bank of America, IndyMac pioneered the issuance of so-called Alt-A mortgages to borrowers who do not fully document their income or assets, which typically means borrowers with blemished credit histories or real estate speculators looking to 'flip' houses during the bubble years. Alt-A mortgages were considered to be less risky than the subprime loans which started the current financial crisis last year, so IndyMac's plight may cause everyone to re-think that credit quality fairy tale.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The FDIC deposit fund only has $53 billion of assets, and around 10% or perhaps more of that is now going to be used to bail-out IndyMac. So how safe is the FDIC?
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I will disagree slightly with James Turk as to the timing of the imminent collapse of the US dollar. I do not think it will happen this summer, but I believe it will happen in September or October for a lot of reasons. First, the Fed is unlikely to shake things up by raising rates during the summer. Many traders and power brokers on Wall Street take vacations during the summer usually causing the markets to remain fairly stagnant. Once fall returns, all bets are off. Third, the earlier closed door session of Congress in March was rumored to prepare the legislature for financial collapse in the fall. The powder keg is prepared, all that is needed is a spark. Time will tell.
Gold closed slightly lower on Friday from last week at $955.40 per ounce. Silver also closed lower this week at $18.14 per ounce. The price of oil fell $16 per barrel the last four days closing at $128.50 per barrel. Despite these moves, the US dollar index still is languishing but rose slightly to close at 72.17.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The financial system will collapse before "zero-hour" actually occurs. I think we are seeing signs of it in the desperate measures being employed to nationalize companies which trade on market exchanges as private enterprises. There is simply no way to defend the SEC's decision to selectively enforce the prohibition of naked short selling for 17 ‘fragile' financial companies and to not enforce it for the over 5000 other companies which trade on US stock market exchanges. And plans to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac breathe of a sort of corporate nationalism. Over time this will deal a massive psychological blow to financial markets.
A couple of weeks ago, William Poole, formerly of the St, Louis Fed warned that Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac) were insolvent. These aren't the warnings of bombastic flamethrowers. These are former respected and responsible government officials who courageously dare to speak the truth!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
... the manipulators do not want a total breakdown of the system. If that happens, too many things are unpredictable such as a revolution. They slowly and methodically control the movements of the economies in their favor, so that they can reap the benefits and have more power and control.
With the bank failure of IndyMac, the insolvency pressures on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the SEC's decision to prohibit the naked short selling of 17 high profile financial institutions, all of these factors signify that they are losing control on the system. The financial 'wind shear' of inflation (rising prices) and deflation (shortage of liquidity due to the credit crunch) was threatening to tear the economy to pieces.
So, they come up with a new trick. No longer can they play games with the federal funds interest rate by the Federal Reserve (currently at 2%, the lowest since 2004), they began to play more with the price of oil to affect the economy and the global currencies. I ask you, what has transpired in the last three weeks that would cause oil to drop from $147 all the way to $115?
So between the drop in the price of oil and the weakening of the European currencies, the US dollar rose remarkably in strength reaching 75.90 yesterday, a gain of 2.5 index points, the highest since Feb. 21. This is steepest weekly rally by the US Dollar Index since January 2005. This action spurred the S&P 500 to its biggest weekly gain since April. The S&P added 2.9 percent to 1,296.32, the highest since June 25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 3.6 percent to 11,734.32.
Every American is starting to breathe a little easier at the news and will likely resume their spending habits, exactly as the manipulators expected.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Gold closed on Friday at $824.20 per ounce from $786.00 per ounce last week. Silver also closed higher at $13.41 per ounce from $12.70 per ounce last week. The price of oil closed slightly higher at $114.78 per barrel from last week before retreating after nearly hitting $122 per barrel on Thursday. The US dollar index closed slightly lower at 76.74. Oil has driven these other prices dramatically over the last several weeks.
Well, how do you think I did at reading the signs and predicting the future?
Obviously, I was wrong about the demise of the dollar and the recent drop in oil prices. But in hindsight, that was part of the manipulators plans to give the Fed more power to print more money and have the much bigger banks swallow up the smaller ones at bargain basement prices. The current huge financial bailout is going to be the burden of the taxpayer, and they get more control of the system.
How have you fared over the last year? Are you getting worried? Are you taking action?
As always, the choice is yours.
Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Jeremiah 31:21
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
Since we have been in some extremely crazy times in the last several weeks (especially the last two with all the talks of the bailout packages), I thought it fitting to review some of the warnings I issued in this blog. You can be the judge on how accurate I was.
Friday, November 2, 2007
... gold is $806.40, silver is $14.55, oil is $95.93 per barrel ...
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates another quarter point to 4.5% on Wednesday to bolster the money supply and keep the economy moving. ...
The foreign exchange rates for the Great British Pound, the Euro, the Swiss Franc were all at multi-decade highs against the US dollar.
What does all this mean? The US dollar is getting weaker and weaker, eroding purchasing power of all consumers, increasing the US trade deficit and sending more money out of the country and even less entering. All of this leads to increased pressure for inflation. Now, with the Fed lowering interest rates again this week, they are trying to increase the money supply which further increases inflationary pressures. ... Gas prices will just be one of many things that will cost a lot more.
The road up ahead curves ... stay tuned.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
We are not looking at an eruption, but an implosion of the economy resulting from many factors. The sub prime crash is only one indicator. The declining real estate market, the eroding value of the dollar, the rising prices of more intrinsic precious metals are climbing such as gold and silver, and the continued rising price of oil. All of these are signs.
Now, to fast forward some. When you factor in Social Security facing insolvency within the next decade; and add in the imminent failure of MediCare and MediCaid coupled with the rising number of baby boomers retiring (or trying to), and inflation rising. All of these indicators are leading up to a 'perfect storm' developing. Never before have all of these factors come together at once.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
When the sub-prime loan issue started happening in August, adjustable rate mortgages were going up and people who couldn't afford the increases started defaulting on their payments. The decrease of incoming funds to the banks started restricting what they could lend out. Private banks had to bail out smaller banks by lending federal funds to keep them open. Then the loans started going into foreclosure, and more money had to be loaned to keep the banks open. Still, thousands of people lost their homes.
This was really bad for our economy, but it was leading to something far worse. The Federal Reserve, dropped the discount rate by 1/2 of percent in their September meeting, a big drop. They had to create more credit to keep the money moving. They again lowered the discount rate another 1/4 percent in October. They were willing to risk inflation to keep the economy from completely stalling. The sudden influx of cash and credit spurred on inflation. With the increasing cost of gas and now consumer goods, everything started going up. As mentioned yesterday, when costs rise and wages don't keep up, the overall economic situation for the consumer decreases each year.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
... Based on the beginning of wave 1 around Aug. 20 at $660 per ounce, gold will very likely go up to a minimum of $960 from its point now in the coming months. The upper target is $1250 per ounce. This wave 3 will likely happen over the next six months. ...
The Elliott Wave target prices for silver on the low end is $18.00 per ounce and the upper target is around $24.50.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Did you ever notice that the price of gas at the pump goes up almost immediately when oil prices go up? However, when the price of oil goes down, the price at the pump is slow to react. Interesting. Someone is making a lot of money on those slow fluctuations.
Monday, December 10, 2007
The first thing you have to understand is that oil is the currency of the world. Every 1st world country is heavily influenced by the price of oil because of its dependency on oil for energy, transportation, and manufacturing. How long could you or anyone you know last without filling up your car with gas?
The key thing to remember that as one asset classes increases, other classes will either follow suit because they are linked, or act conversely because of the inverse relationship.
Friday, December 14, 2007
So when the flow of money is controlled globally and nationally, it has a direct correlation to how businesses and consumers respond. The price of oil and interest rates are just some of the key variables that they use to dramatically influence the state of the world. Their ultimate goal is to have a world government and complete control over all financial matters. If we ever get to a cashless society, they would control who could buy or sell anything. Naturally, credit card companies would love this idea. Controlling the rates of exchange and money supply is not enough for them. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
This past week I've been discussing the inter-relationships among a number of key indicators that drive the world economy. With the price of oil at near record highs and the fallout of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the global economy was at an edge and was in danger of going into hyperinflation followed by depression. Thousands had lost their homes to defaults, and many banks were on the verge of bankruptcy due to the reduced cash flow from the defaults.
On Thursday Dec. 13th, the 5 major central banks from around the world (the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of Canada), pooled $114 billion to prop up the global economy by injecting cash into the money markets. On Monday, the Fed will auction off $20 billion in loans and accept a wide range of collateral to spur on the economy. The Bank of England will auction off 11.35 billion pounds on Tuesday. "The banks hope that the new term auction facility at favourable rates will boost liquidity, ultimately benefiting their economies by making it easier for businesses and consumers to borrow money to invest and spend on goods and services."
My personal take on this latest move is that the imminent collapse of the US economy was happening faster than expected. Drastic measures never taken before had to be implemented because some elements of the plan were not fully in place.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
...gold and silver both shot up in value to $839.50 per ounce and $14.81 per ounce respectively.
In January, I expect this trend to continue and even pick up speed. Since putting 114 billion available to banks in loans has not encouraged spending, the value of the dollar will continue to plummet. This will spur on inflation. Double digit inflation for 2008 will almost be assured. The Fed will continue to reduce interest rates, but it will likely slow things down just temporarily as it has since Sept. Gold and silver and other precious metals will continue to climb in value as I mentioned on my Dec. 1st post. The target price I set for gold is $1250 and silver is $24.50 per ounce within 6 months. Those even may be low considering the perfect economic storm that is developing.
The wildcard that remains is what will happen to the price of oil. If oil continues to go up significantly in early 2008, that will accelerate things considerably. If oil inches up, it will be more gradual. The other major developments that can strengthen the economic storm will be events like the US invasion of Iran and the replacement of the US dollar with the Amero. However, I do not expect these events to happen until 2009.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
I've also mentioned that the US dollar has been losing its value over the last year. This has been one of many reasons why gold and silver has been appreciating significantly. The dramatic steps that the Federal Reserve has taken to prop up the dollar has risen the value of the dollar temporarily, as stated in previous Saturday posts. However, since Christmas, the value has started to plummet again, just as I pointed out it would. This week, the US dollar index fell to 76.02.
This is having a ripple effect on other markets as well, as I have also pointed out in previous posts. The stock market is starting to feel the pinch of the sluggish economy. Since the beginning of the 4th quarter, the NASDAQ has fallen more than 6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has also dropped 5.6%.
The point I am reiterating is that the economy is headed for a fall. Over the past several months I've given many reasons for this, but the facts are being validated each week. The signs are there.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
This week was very interesting in the financial world. On Monday, the markets were closed in the US because of Martin Luther King, Jr. day; however, stock markets worldwide sank drastically amid concerns about the overall health of the US economy and a pending recession. The current credit crunch as result of last August's sub-prime mortgage meltdown makes the matters worse. These concerns heightened this week due to declining corporate profits and the worse housing report on record. For the first time on record, year-over-year housing prices dropped 13% against 2007 prices. This caused the Federal Reserve to take a drastic step.
Before trading opened on Tuesday, the Fed slashed interest rates three quarters of a percent or 75 basis points. The federal funds rate now is 3.5% and the discount rate was lowered to 4.0%. This was the largest rate drop in 24 years. This move came 8 days before their next scheduled meeting suggesting that they are responding to a problem that couldn't wait. Immediate stimulus to the economy is needed to prevent the market from going into a free-fall.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The biggest economic problem in history has not been of wars, but what has led to those wars. That is greed.
This week gold closed at $908.70. Silver continued its upward trend to close at $16.84 per ounce. The US dollar index continued its slide to close at 75.47 against the other world currencies. It is nearing an all time low of 74.50, set just a couple months ago.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates another 50 basis points, knocking the federal funds rate to 3.0% and the discount rate to 3.5%. The Fed is doing everything it can to keep the economy moving by making cheap money available to banks and businesses. Even the analysts are having a hard time denying that a recession is in full swing.
Nathan Rothschild manipulated the market when Napoleon lost at Waterloo. He sold British bonds at the top of the market and bought them back for a fraction of their worth later that afternoon. By the way, do we have a war going on now? Do we have huge companies and a few bigwigs that are getting rich over the miseries of others in Iraq and Afghanistan? Incidently, what is Iraq and Afghanistan known for? Iraq has lots of oil fields and Afghanistan is the closest path to the sea for oil pipelines from rich oil fields in the southern part of the former Soviet Union. Is the war really on terror or is it just a way to get immense profits?
Furthermore, there will be others today that buy houses, loans, commodities, etc. when prices hit rock bottom. However, we have not come close to hitting rock bottom yet. The economic storm is only getting started. We still have Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid facing insolvency in the coming years. How will millions of baby boomers pay for their "necessary" prescription drugs after they retire?
Rest assured, there will be people that will profit immensely from these contrived events. Will you just be another victim of their greed?
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The sub-prime mortgage debacle means nothing to most people except the thousands that lost their homes. A recession doesn't mean much to people until their jobs are downsized. A depression starts waking people up, but usually too late. Bank failures are not new (remember the Savings & Loan scandals of the 1980s), but that will wake up some more people. How many banks have been bailed out in the last several of months?
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Today our dollar has the same buying power of 4 cents when compared to the same dollar in 1913. That year we had no national debt, today it is above $9 trillion and rapidly growing.
Is it going to take another stock market crash similar to 1929 where it lost more than 33% of its value in a month before we awake to the implications? The price of gold has gone up more than 50% in the last 18 months to $902.50 as of Friday from $560 per ounce in October of 2006. Silver has also gone up more than 50% in the same time period from $11.01 per ounce to $17.11 on Friday. Oil has hit again $95 a barrel, closing at $95.69 on Friday. The US dollar index closed at 76.03, less than one and one half points off an all time low against the other major world currencies. Can we not see the signs?
Incidentally, we should be aware of an escape clause that we have. This is the very one that presidential candidate Ron Paul is just hoping he can invoke if elected. The last provision of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, Sec. 30, states, "The right to amend, alter or repeal this Act is expressly reserved." This language means that Congress can at any time move to abolish the Federal Reserve System, or buy back the stock and make it part of the Treasury Department, or to alter the system as it sees fit. It has never done so.
Monday, February 18, 2008
It is interesting to note that President Bush and his administration has spent more money than all other presidents combined. And that was just in his first term! Melanie Hunter, a CNSNews.com Senior Editor, on November 4, 2005, reported that according to the Treasury Department, from 1776-2000, the first 224 years of US history, 42 US presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions, but the Bush administration borrowed $1.05 trillion in his first term as president alone. Do you think spending has gone down in his second term?
Saturday, March 1, 2008
This last Friday, gold closed higher again at $975.10 per ounce. Silver, also up, closed at $19.86 per ounce. Oil rose again and closed at $101.79 per barrel. The US dollar index closed at an all time low of 73.77 against the other major world currencies. If you've made no changes in the last year, and with inflation being over 10%; your net worth has eroded by at least 10%. The immediate future does not see any major signs of improvement either.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Gold rose again, finally topping the $1000 per ounce barrier closing on Friday at $1003.30 per ounce, of course a record. Silver also gain again this week closing at $20.72 per ounce. The price of oil hit another record closing at $110.15 per barrel. As pointed out many times in this blog, oil is very key to inflation and the price of many things we buy. The price of oil and food are the main components on why real inflation has been in double digits the last couple of years, with no letup in sight. Also, the value of the US dollar index has dropped to a new all-time low at 71.65, again for the 3rd week in a row. This index measures the strength of the dollar against the other world currencies including the Euro, the British pound, the Swiss franc, Japanese Yen, Australian dollar, and others.
Monday, March 17, 2008
On Friday, the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns became the first major casualty of the Great Depression of this century. The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, is leading a desperate struggle to prop up one of Wall Street's largest and most historic investment banks, as the credit crisis threatened to spiral into a full-blown banking crisis. The Federal Reserve agreed to offer financing for a proposed buyout from JP Morgan Chase bank and accept $30 billion of Bear Stearns' illiquid assets as collateral. Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, who pumped $200 billion of loans to cash-strapped institutions last week, said more would be available to help others in distress.
Meanwhile, one UK economist warned that the world is now close to a 1930s-like Great Depression, while New York traders said they had never experienced such fear. The Fed's emergency funding procedure was first used in the Depression and has rarely been used since.
Obviously, as I've been pointing out for months, there will be many problems with the economic storm that has been brewing. Bear Stearns is just the first of many banks that will have to close their doors. We will be examining in more detail the effects of these problems this week and the conditions that have led up to the problems. Ultimately though, this is all part of a planned event by the international bankers that run the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Today, the Federal Open Market Committee meeting voted and lowered the federal funds rates to banks by 75 basis points down to 2.25% from 3.00%. This means the Fed is continuing to try and keep the economy moving by making credit more readily available for banks and businesses alike. The banks will find it easier to lend to businesses with a lower rate and in turn can open new loans with the deposit and interest payments made by the businesses.
The good news in all of this is the Fed is not currently repeating the mistakes made in the first Great Depression that began in 1929. After the initial fall of the stock market in October, 1929, the Fed raised interest rates to 6% on November 1, 1929 making the liquidity problem at that time even worse. That constricted an already short money supply and caused the nation to sink deeply into the depression. That action then was by design to ultimately acquire more than two thirds of the farms of America and make the farmer tenants on their own lands.
I've received credible information that the international bankers will collapse the US economy in September 2008. This was linked to the closed door session of Congress last Thursday on March 14th, 2008, letting our policymakers in Washington know ahead of time. Whether this will hold true, only time will tell.
In this century's Great Depression, the aim will be different, but similar. Their aim this time will be grab as much residential and commercial real estate as possible. Once a majority of homeowners are renters again, their level of control will be even greater and they will have another piece of their plan in place.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
According to the latest Social Security and Medicare Trustees report (and I use that term loosely since it has the word "trust" in it) released earlier this week, the economic asteroid will first make impact in the year 2019 when the Medicaid trust fund becomes insolvent.
Realizing that Americans have become pretty much numb to these kinds of ridiculous sounding proposals, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to up the ante this week. "Without change," he said, "Rising costs will drive government spending to unprecedented levels, consume nearly all projected federal revenues, and threaten America's future prosperity."
Translation: Every single tax dollar that is sent to Washington will be used to pay for just these two programs.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Over the weekend, the Federal Reserve has sponsored a plan to revamp regulation of the financial system. Did anyone see this coming? ... Their new plan will broaden the control the Federal Reserve has significantly.
For example, the Treasury plan calls for the merger of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission would go into a super agency responsible for business conduct and consumer protection. What does this have to do with the credit crisis in the subprime mortgage industry? Over-leveraged mortgage backed securities is what caused the problem with Bear Stearns.
Here comes the Fed with a solution - give us more control so these events won't happen in the future. If you go back to previous posts in this blog on the History of Money, JP Morgan did this in the Panic of 1907. Franklin D. Roosevelt (at direction from the Federal Reserve) did this in 1933 with the Executive Order 6102 making it illegal to hoard gold by US citizens. The Great Depression was caused by the international bankers. Many farms were lost and handed over to the banks. These events all have one goal, to strip the money from the public and send it to the international bankers who do control the Federal Reserve. How much more can we put up with? When do we actually stand up and say "No more!"?
Take at look at this comment from a finance professor at Drexel University. "These proposals address regulatory problems that may be generally necessary, but none of the suggestions provide ways of dealing with the crisis and economic roots of the crisis," said Joseph Mason.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The spiral continues. Even though the Fed and JP Morgan came to the rescue of Bear Stearns, as I pointed out a couple of weeks ago, this is only the first casualty. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have received billions in credit from the Fed to continue operation while writing off some of these bad loans. What major bank or investment company will be next?
As banks and companies merge when the weaker companies are gobbled up, more control over the public is gained. Here's an insight. JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Citibank will survive no matter what because they own shares in the Federal Reserve. Other banks and financial institutions may be suspect.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
All of the current moves are designed to increase federal control and minimize the rights of the citizens. With the future plans of the manipulators, the population must be docile and controlled. Remember when I described during the History of Money series the Hegelian dialect of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. An event is created to cause a problem, resources are made available to combat or correct the conditions of the problem, and then a solution is created that they always wanted that would not have been possible if the problem didn't exist. This formula is used over and over again in history.
Well, the current plan that Tom Raum refers to is to have the Federal Reserve to have more and much broader power and eliminate the "smaller" agencies currently in charge of financial regulation like the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Again, they are trying to consolidate the power base. Fewer players and more power make is easier to implement their plans. Beware of the changes coming later this year!
The price of oil will likely really shoot up the next month as the travel industry prepares for the upcoming vacation season in the United States. The price at the gas pump always spikes right before Memorial Day so that early vacationers of the summer season are hit with the increased prices. This makes for some huge profits for the oil companies.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
So, now many of the pieces are in place for their plan. You have heard many of these topics discussed in this blog over the last several months - government, politics, business leaders, markets, judicial system, military, the media, entertainment, etc. As long as they have a few key people in every major area listed, they are able to steer the public and policy to favorable terms for their goals. However, because most people do not like being deceived, their plans must be made in secret. That is why you don't hear much about groups like the Council on Foreign Relations, The Trilateral Commission, and the Bilderberg group. Furthermore, they have quasi government agencies to carry out many of their directives such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the Federal Reserve, the IRS, etc.
Is total control such a far fetched idea now?
... the price of oil continued setting new record levels closing at $118.91 per barrel. The US dollar index rose slightly to 72.67 against the other major world currencies. It should be noted that the Euro, set a all time record against the dollar this week hitting $1.60 USD for one euro before retreating.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
For months, I have passed a lot of information to my readers about many topics. Most of them are extremely important to my future, your future, the future of our country, and the future of the entire world. Have you recognized the importance? Have you acted on the information? Have you taken steps to protect yourself? Or, have you confined yourself to wait and see what happens? As always, the choice is yours.
As I have mentioned in previous posts in this blog regarding one of my mottoes
(the IKC principle) -
Information is not Knowledge without Action,
Knowledge creates Choices,
Choices allow us to Change our lives.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The increased price of oil not only drives up the price of gasoline, but also everything else. Food will cost more because of increased transportation costs. This also affects most other markets as well, so inflation as a whole goes up. In previous posts in this blog (November 20, 2007), it is important to understand the distinction of core inflation and real inflation. Core inflation, which is reported on news programs, measures the prices of selected consumer goods, but excludes the costs of food and energy. Thus, this figure means very little because everyone is truly affected by the price of food and gas. Therefore, they use this to core inflation number to soften and confuse the public on the real effects. Real inflation is well into double digits.
That is why inflation is really an invisible tax, affecting everyone. The Federal Reserve has so much more power than most people realize.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
a war or preemptive tactical nuclear strike on Iran will not be about their nuclear program, but about the macroeconomic reasons behind the American hegemony being eroded and the Iranian Oil Bourse trading in oil transactions other than the USD.
When an event does happen, it will likely happen in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrowest point between Iran and Saudi Arabia is 34 miles. Roughly 40% of all oil traded globally pass through this strait on way to global oil ports. Currently, some 16-17 million barrels of oil are carried through the narrow channel on oil tankers every day according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Ninety percent of oil exported from Gulf producers is carried on oil tankers through the Strait. Over 75 percent of Japan's oil passes through the Strait.
Because of the strategic location of the Strait, Iran has installed sophisticated anti-ship missiles on the Island of Abu Musa, and therefore controls the critical Strait of Hormuz – where all of the Persian Gulf bound oil tankers must pass. Iran also has a very robust military capability.
Friday, May 16, 2008
When a wayward and corrupt fiscal policy and fiat currency, coupled with runaway government spending, forces a nation to only be able to sustain the value of its currency with bullets, the citizenry of the country involved in wars primarily to sustain its currency have historically first became slaves to their government, and then to the nations that finally conquer them. ... towards the end of the Roman reign, the Roman Empire was doing exactly what America is doing today; attempting to sustain a failed fiat money system with bullets.
Understanding fiat money is not an easy task, and the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund have purposely made it that way. They do not want the American people to realize that the money in their wallet loses its value with each new dollar that they print. They do not want people to understand that our money does not become money until it is borrowed. When the Federal Reserve has money printed, when it is in uncut sheets of paper, it is not yet money. After it is cut, bundled, and placed into the Federal Reserve vaults, it still is not money. It only becomes money once it is borrowed.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The price of gold increased this week to close on Friday at $925 per ounce. Silver also increased to $18.22 per ounce, up more than a dollar per ounce from last week. The price of oil continued to set new weekly highs closing at $131.70 per barrel. The US dollar index also fell to close at 71.99. How long can the credibility of the dollar last?
Over the last few weeks I have made comments about several invisible taxes - one being inflation and the other being the increased costs of fuel (oil, gas, and all the derived products). These invisible taxes are devastating on the general public unless their income is going up substantially. This is why a economic collapse of our markets is very likely, the only question being the timing.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Back on March 17th, 2008, I reported in this blog about the first casualty of the Great Depression of this century. That report was about the imminent collapse and subsequent bailout of Bear Stearns, one of America's longest tenured investment banks. At that time, I mentioned that this would only be the first of many bank failures. Today, we will look at the second casualty - IndyMac, a California based bank that closed its doors on Friday.
IndyMac is ground-zero of the sub-prime crisis and the poster-child of imprudent lending. Founded in 1985 by Countrywide Bank, whose own recent failure was masked by its acquisition by Bank of America, IndyMac pioneered the issuance of so-called Alt-A mortgages to borrowers who do not fully document their income or assets, which typically means borrowers with blemished credit histories or real estate speculators looking to 'flip' houses during the bubble years. Alt-A mortgages were considered to be less risky than the subprime loans which started the current financial crisis last year, so IndyMac's plight may cause everyone to re-think that credit quality fairy tale.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The FDIC deposit fund only has $53 billion of assets, and around 10% or perhaps more of that is now going to be used to bail-out IndyMac. So how safe is the FDIC?
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I will disagree slightly with James Turk as to the timing of the imminent collapse of the US dollar. I do not think it will happen this summer, but I believe it will happen in September or October for a lot of reasons. First, the Fed is unlikely to shake things up by raising rates during the summer. Many traders and power brokers on Wall Street take vacations during the summer usually causing the markets to remain fairly stagnant. Once fall returns, all bets are off. Third, the earlier closed door session of Congress in March was rumored to prepare the legislature for financial collapse in the fall. The powder keg is prepared, all that is needed is a spark. Time will tell.
Gold closed slightly lower on Friday from last week at $955.40 per ounce. Silver also closed lower this week at $18.14 per ounce. The price of oil fell $16 per barrel the last four days closing at $128.50 per barrel. Despite these moves, the US dollar index still is languishing but rose slightly to close at 72.17.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The financial system will collapse before "zero-hour" actually occurs. I think we are seeing signs of it in the desperate measures being employed to nationalize companies which trade on market exchanges as private enterprises. There is simply no way to defend the SEC's decision to selectively enforce the prohibition of naked short selling for 17 ‘fragile' financial companies and to not enforce it for the over 5000 other companies which trade on US stock market exchanges. And plans to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac breathe of a sort of corporate nationalism. Over time this will deal a massive psychological blow to financial markets.
A couple of weeks ago, William Poole, formerly of the St, Louis Fed warned that Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac) were insolvent. These aren't the warnings of bombastic flamethrowers. These are former respected and responsible government officials who courageously dare to speak the truth!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
... the manipulators do not want a total breakdown of the system. If that happens, too many things are unpredictable such as a revolution. They slowly and methodically control the movements of the economies in their favor, so that they can reap the benefits and have more power and control.
With the bank failure of IndyMac, the insolvency pressures on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the SEC's decision to prohibit the naked short selling of 17 high profile financial institutions, all of these factors signify that they are losing control on the system. The financial 'wind shear' of inflation (rising prices) and deflation (shortage of liquidity due to the credit crunch) was threatening to tear the economy to pieces.
So, they come up with a new trick. No longer can they play games with the federal funds interest rate by the Federal Reserve (currently at 2%, the lowest since 2004), they began to play more with the price of oil to affect the economy and the global currencies. I ask you, what has transpired in the last three weeks that would cause oil to drop from $147 all the way to $115?
So between the drop in the price of oil and the weakening of the European currencies, the US dollar rose remarkably in strength reaching 75.90 yesterday, a gain of 2.5 index points, the highest since Feb. 21. This is steepest weekly rally by the US Dollar Index since January 2005. This action spurred the S&P 500 to its biggest weekly gain since April. The S&P added 2.9 percent to 1,296.32, the highest since June 25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 3.6 percent to 11,734.32.
Every American is starting to breathe a little easier at the news and will likely resume their spending habits, exactly as the manipulators expected.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Gold closed on Friday at $824.20 per ounce from $786.00 per ounce last week. Silver also closed higher at $13.41 per ounce from $12.70 per ounce last week. The price of oil closed slightly higher at $114.78 per barrel from last week before retreating after nearly hitting $122 per barrel on Thursday. The US dollar index closed slightly lower at 76.74. Oil has driven these other prices dramatically over the last several weeks.
Well, how do you think I did at reading the signs and predicting the future?
Obviously, I was wrong about the demise of the dollar and the recent drop in oil prices. But in hindsight, that was part of the manipulators plans to give the Fed more power to print more money and have the much bigger banks swallow up the smaller ones at bargain basement prices. The current huge financial bailout is going to be the burden of the taxpayer, and they get more control of the system.
How have you fared over the last year? Are you getting worried? Are you taking action?
As always, the choice is yours.
Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Jeremiah 31:21
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
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