Macro: When we read an article on the economic outlook, national or international, two of the questions we ask in evaluating the material presented are:
1. What is the track record of the predictor?
2. What’s his forum: both the place he‘s speaking from and his audience?
In the Leo Lewis (Asia Business Correspondent) article in the business.timesonline.co.uk of 2/22/10 – sourced from lifeaftertheoilcrash.net – entitled “Buy farmland and gold,’ advises Dr. Doom”, we get Marc Faber. He is “…the notoriously bearish market pundit, who predicted the 1987 stock market crash…” and he’s speaking “… in Tokyo at a gathering of 700 pension and sovereign wealth fund managers.”
Here’s some of what the article and Mr. Faber had to say:
- “Speaking today, Dr. Faber said that investors, who control billions of dollars of assets, should start considering the effects of more disruptive events than market volatility. “The next war will be a dirty war,” he told fund managers. “What are you going to do when your mobile phone gets shuts down or the internet stops working or the city water supplies get poisoned?”
- “He also said that they should consider holding part of their wealth in the form of precious metals “because they can be carried.”
- “At the heart of Dr. Faber’s argument is a fundamentally gloomy view on the U.S. economy and its capacity to service a growing mountain of debt.”
- “His belief, fund managers were told, is that the U.S. is going to go bankrupt.”
Micro: From a number of sources (i.e., drudge.com and survivable.com) earlier this week, we got information that says: “Citigroup Warns Customers It May Refuse To Allow Withdrawals”. This specific article is the one we’ll reference. It is by John Carney, posted on business insider.com on 2/19/10.
Here’s some of what it says:
- “… we heard that Citigroup was telling customers it has the right to prevent withdrawals from checking accounts for seven days.” This information was presented “… on statements received by customers all over the country.”, and said in part: “ While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change.”
- “It seems that this is something of an error. The seven day notice policy only applies to customers in Texas, Ira Stoll reports at the Future of Capitalism. It was accidentally included on customer statements nationwide.”
- “UPDATE: According to Stoll, Citi issued a statement saying that it had been required to make this change by federal regulations–and it no longer sounds like it’s limited to Texas.”
“UPDATE: Citibank has now released the following statement by way of explanation: … ,we have never exercised this right and have no plans to do so in the future.”
PH Comment: That banking institutions would have the foregoing power to prevent withdrawals at their discretion should provide the prudent home with at least a couple of considerations: have your money in at least two banking institutions to increase the chances of being able make a withdrawal from one, and have an emergency “cash stash” around the house (in at least two fireproof places and checked with a counterfeit detector pen) to enable your home to function in an emergency.
If there’s a real emergency, such as one without electricity, cash may be the only thing that works.
Until next time: keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers moving fast.
Posted in Economy, Geo-Political.
Tagged with china, Citigroup, debt, Dr. Doom, Economy, investors, Leo Lewis, Marc Faber.
By J.P. Redoubt
– February 28, 2010
Story Time: We going to tell you a story today. This story is unlike a lot you’ve read recently, such as a great deal of what passes for printed news, in that it is both true and timely. It comes from some very close family friends.
One of our friends’ family members was grocery shopping recently at a nearby “big box”
market. She had just corralled her two small children for the walk from the parking lot to the store when she noticed a bumper sticker on the back of a nearby pick-up truck. The sticker read, “What luck for rulers that men don’t think.” The young mother was intrigued.
All along her walk across the parking lot she thought, “I wonder who said that?” and – thinking about some of the bumper stickers she’d read in traffic recently – “ I wonder who would have a bumper sticker like that on their truck?”
All throughout her shopping experience her mind kept going back to the words on the sticker and wondering what the truck’s owner might be thinking in posting such a provocative comment.
She finally finished shopping, got back to her car and had just finished unloading her groceries and putting the kids in their car seats when she happened to look up to see a grandmotherly-looking woman in hospital scrubs putting several grocery bags in the bed of “bumper sticker” pick-up.
She couldn’t resist. “I was just noticing your bumper sticker and I wonder if you know who that quote was from?”, she asked. The woman smiled and said she did and began a conversation that included a number of interesting comments. Here are some of them as remembered:
- “You know that I’ve been around the block a few more times than you and with a young family like yours, you ought to begin storing up some extra food. I think in about three months or so we’re going to experience an attack right here in our own country.”
- “Stores like this one only have food for two days or so, even in good times.”
- “I’m now cooking with dried beans and rice from scratch. They’re especially good for you and they’re inexpensive.”
- “ Save and clean your used food jars because they’re great to store things like rice and dried beans.’
- “Start buying a little extra each shopping day and put it away for an emergency.”
- “People don’t know their history. History repeats itself and we’re about in the 1930’s.
- “About the quote; it was from Adolph Hitler. When I tell people that, they often think I’m supportive of him and/or his views but it’s just the opposite. However, the truth is the truth no matter who says it.”
- “We’re on the way to a one-world government now and a number of governments are involved in this effort.”
- “Imagine how you’d feed your family during a martial-law situation.”
- “Listen to what the people are saying.”
During the first telling of this little story, we were told that an especially spiritual member of the group listening speculated that the lady might be an angel. One of those with a more historical perspective noted that when a number of the German-Jewish survivors of the holocaust were asked how they could have missed the signs of its approach they said, “ … things happened so slowly.” And finally, a third speculated that the lady represented an example of the deep and growing dissatisfaction abroad in the country; along with a profound distrust in/of government.
Please feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.
Posted in Current Events, Using What You Have.
Tagged with big box, preparation, recession, Story Time, U.S. economy.
By J.P. Redoubt
– February 22, 2010
PH: Pop, haven’t seen you around lately. What have you been up to?
Pop: ’Been’ working on some “little” projects. Here are three that may be of interest to your readers:
1. ’Got’ this tip from ’Pack Rat” a couple of weeks ago at one of our coffee and fishing socials: get hold of one of those counterfeit money detection pens from your local business/office supply store. The purpose here would be to check your “stash cash” in order to make sure it’s real money. You can be sure that in an emergency, your local “Quick Stop” clerk will check your cash when you pay up for your gas.
2. You might want to set up some two-pack combos for fire starting kits for your neighbors in an emergency: use a couple of plastic, zip-lock type pill pouches that measure about 1&¾ in. X 3in. In one, put a regular book of matches and one of those little “can’t-blow-it-out” birthday candles, and in the other, put in about a half-dozen Vaseline soaked cotton balls. Put both filled and closed pill pouches in a zip-lock type sandwich bag to keep them together. Remember to tell your neighbors how to use this kit because if they have to ask you for “fire”, they may not know.
3. ‘Took’ your advice and ordered extra garden seed for my 2010 (or an “event”) garden and went a bit beyond that to have enough for next Christmas’ stocking stuffers for family. I guess there might be enough too, to have for barter – if I cut and tape a few of those bank envelopes you get back from the teller at the drive-thru – or charity, if I limit the “new” packs to 10-12 seeds each.
See you around.
Until next time; Keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.
Posted in Conversations With Pop Smith.
Tagged with emergency, fire, garden, Pop Smith, seeds, stash cash, tips.
By J.P. Redoubt
– February 17, 2010
