Economy

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Amateur Investors Cash Out 401(k)s To Buy Homes

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– What Could Possibly Go Wrong Here? (ZeroHedge, May 20, 2013):

You know it’s getting frothy when… “We’re seeing many people cash out 401(k)s or IRAs because they want to take advantage of the [real estate] market.” As CNNMoney reports, in order to get in on hot housing markets, amateur investors are buying up homes and taking risky measures – like tapping their retirement accounts – to fund the deals. As one adviser noted, “our average client has retirement accounts of about $150,000 and is looking to buy one or two properties,” he said. “After 2008, they didn’t trust Wall Street. They wanted hard assets.” but as with every bubble there is always the greater fool to rely on – “They bought a lot of stuff cheap last year, but now they’re paying market value,” said Jack McCabe, a Florida-based real estate consultant. “Sometimes they’re overpaying… There’s no way they can get an 8% return buying at today’s market prices.” The problem, of course, is amateur investors sometimes spend all their free cash on their purchases, as “a whole lot of the people in the markets are not experts.” If the real estate market turns south again, that could leave a lot of investors in dire financial condition for their golden years.

Read moreWhat Could Possibly Go Wrong? Amateur Investors Cash Out 401(k)s To Buy Homes

‘Famous’ Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans Quotes

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– Name The Year Of The Famous Chuck Evans Quotes (ZeroHedge, May 20, 2013):

Evans Quote #1: “Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Monday reiterated his belief that the US economy will begin to turn around in the second half of this year. “We think conditions will improve in the second half of this year,”

Evans Quote #2: “The sovereign debt crisis that has enveloped three European nations and threatens to spread to others will slow U.S. economic growth, but the impact will be “minimal to modest,” the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Friday.

Evans Quote #3: Chicago Fed’s Evans comments in speech in Chicago: “economy improving quite a lot; companies seem to be in pretty good shape. Optimistic [XXXX] Will Be Year of Turnaround; US growth will be self-sustaining in [XXXX+1]”

For clarification, three different quotes – three different years…

Answers:

Quote #1

Quote #2

Quote #3

Gold And Silver Inverse Baumgartner’d – Silver Futures Trading Volume 82% Higher Than 100-Day Average

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– Gold And Silver Inverse Baumgartner’d (ZeroHedge, May 20, 2013):

UPDATE 1: Chatter of a potential US downgrade from Moody’s is being blamed (but that news out hours ago)UPDATE 2: Silver futures trading volume 82% higher than 100-day average

While the mainstream media will likely be loathed to mention it, gold and silver are surging higher. Gold has retested $1400 and Silver $23 on no news… so it seems the demand for ‘cheaper’ precious metals was enough to warrant a 4.6% rally off overnight lows in gold and 12.5% in silver amid heavy volume in futures markets…

Obama Spends $11 MILLION To Create Each ‘Green’ Job

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– Economic insanity: Obama spends $11 million to create each ‘green’ job (Natural News, May 18, 2013):

There has been nothing you could call “successful” about President Obama’s so-called “green energy” initiatives, but the worst thing of all is the billions in taxpayer dollars he has utterly wasted on failed companies who were trying to push unproven, and ultimately failed, initiatives.

Indeed, according to new data, the Obama Administration has spent an incredible $11 million for each “green” job that has been created, Breitbart News reports.

Recall for a moment that candidate Barack Obama, in 2008, promised he would create a whopping 5 million new green energy sector jobs if elected.

Read moreObama Spends $11 MILLION To Create Each ‘Green’ Job

Belgian Police Investigate Millions Of Counterfeit Euro Coins

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– Belgian Police Investigate Millions of Counterfeit Euro Coins (Veterans Today, May 19, 2013):

WORLD NEWS TOMORROW – BRUXELLES -During the last month the Belgian Federal police has confiscated several tons of counterfeit Euro Coins that were shipped from China via the Belgian territory into the European Union. There seems to been a huge increase since 2012 in the production and sales of counterfeited Euro Coins.The counterfeit euro coins are smuggled into Belgium with description of old metal transports and it seems that there might have been several hundred tons of counterfeit euro coins already in the markets according to a radio interview confirmed by Ine Van Wymersch and that the Belgian federal police is investigating the matter at present.

Its is unclear as to how many tons of counterfeit Euro coins might have been smuggled into the Belgian territory. Seeing that Belgium is a very small country with a population of only 6 million , only a few tons of counterfeit Euro coins could hugely effect the true monetary value of Belgium.

Read moreBelgian Police Investigate Millions Of Counterfeit Euro Coins

World Renowned Author Stuart Wilde Died From A Heart Attack On May 1st, 2013 (‘Beltane’) – Articles, Videos, Books

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As a side note (just to warn you about ‘Transcendental Meditation’):

Stuart Wilde is also a ‘Transcendental Meditation’ practitioner:

– David Sieveking’s Documentary ‘David Wants To Fly’ Exposes Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation As What It Really Is: A Billion Dollar Business & A Total Scam

God Rot Our King by Stuart Wilde


YouTube Added: 28.03.2013

– In Loving Memory of Stuart Wilde (Stuart Wilde’s Website, May 10, 2013):

World Renowned Author & Metaphysical Teacher Stuart Wilde Dies, Age 66

Friends & Family sadly announce the passing of globally respected Author & Metaphysical Teacher Stuart Wilde. Wilde suffered a fatal heart attack on a scenic drive through Ireland on Wednesday May 1st, 2013.

As Author of over 20 books (translated into 27 languages and selling millions of copies) on Spirituality & Personal Development, Wilde was considered by many to be one of the greatest metaphysicians that ever lived. Many famous New Age, New Thought writers & teachers privately studied with him including Deepak Chopra & Dr. Wayne Dyer.

“Stuart’s sudden departure from the physical realm was very shocking and millions of hearts worldwide will be weeping with despair over the loss of a great teacher, a great man, and a great friend. He touched the lives of so many people, and he will be greatly missed.” said Stuart Wilde spokesman Tom Lishman

Read moreWorld Renowned Author Stuart Wilde Died From A Heart Attack On May 1st, 2013 (‘Beltane’) – Articles, Videos, Books

Confirmed: Bilderberg 2013 Held in Watford, UK

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– Official Confirmation: Bilderberg 2013 (Bilderberg, May 9, 2013):

The 2013 Bilderberg conference is now confirmed at the Grove hotel, Watford. A spokesman for Herts Constabulary said:

“I can confirm that the Bilderberg group meeting is taking place at The Grove hotel,
Watford, between 6th-9th June 2013?

Watford’s finest hotel, playing host to the world’s most powerful political summit. A bright day indeed for the Grove.

– The Bilderberg Group to meet in The Grove Hotel in Watford (Watford Observer, May 7, 2013):

A secretive meeting involving some of the most influential figures in Western Europe and North America will take place in Watford next month, the Watford Observer can reveal.

The Bilderberg Group will be meeting in The Grove Hotel between June 6 and June 8.

Around 100 invited dignitaries from around the world will descend on the town for a three-day conference and the entire 220-room hotel is booked out for the event.

The guestlist for the “small, flexible, informal and off-the-record international forum” is a closely guarded secret but previous participants are believed to include Prime Minister David Cameron, his predecessors Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher and Gordon Brown as well as Chancellor George Osborne, Henry Kissinger and first in line to the throne Prince Charles.

A Hertfordshire Police spokesman confirmed the event was taking place but declined to comment on operational policing details.

The spokesman added that the force would “facilitate people who want to undertake peaceful protest.”

The group got their name from the Hotel de Bilderberg in Holland where the first meeting was held in May 1954.

Bilderberg 2013 Held in Watford, UK

U.S. Senate Shows It Has Its Priorities Straight … (Friday Humor)

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From the article:

“So basically what governments in Europe and the Land of the Free are telling us is

Beer and Populism: good.

Private property rights, freedom, privacy, business, price stability: bad.”

– Friday humor: US Senate shows it has its priorities straight… (Sovereign Man, May 17, 2013):

Well, you have to admit one thing– the United States Senate certainly has its priorities straight.Early last week they passed S.743, the Marketplace Fairness Act. This bill requires US-based online merchants to charge, collect, report, and pay sales tax to the roughly 9,646 jurisdictions within the Land of the Free which levy such a tax.

Read moreU.S. Senate Shows It Has Its Priorities Straight … (Friday Humor)

The World’s Uberwealthy Scramble To Buy Greek Isles

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– The World’s Uberwealthy Scramble To Buy Greek Isles (ZeroHedge, May 17, 2013):

The emir of Qatar is a busy man: in addition to providing funding and weapons to the mercenary group formerly known as Syrian “rebels” in order to boost his already incalculable wealth and promote his LNG interests in the region over those of Saudi Arabia, in the process isolating Russia as the marginal provider of energy to Europe and furthering western interests even if it means escalating the Syrian civil war, he is also diversifying his assets. And he is doing so in a way that would provide for a quick and painless getaway should things in his country turn sour (now that the US and Russian fleets are converging nearby, this is no longer a merely token possibility): by buying Greek islands. So now that the world has seen the “lead investors” step in, the uber-wealthiest are scrambling to copycat one of the world’s richest people and stake their own Greek island claim.

As reported two months ago, Qatar’s emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani paid €8.5 million for six islands in the Ionian sea. As Guardian reported, “The isles, known as the Echinades, caught the oil-rich monarch’s fancy when he moored his super-yacht in the turquoise waters off Ithaca, took in the view and liked what he saw. That was four summers ago.”

When the royal eventually got off the yacht, he inquired about the pine-covered chain as he strolled about Ithaca in sandals and shorts. “They have a fund with a couple of hundred million in it,” enthused Kassianos, a former US economics professor who assumed the mayorship of Homer’s fabled isle three years ago. “And as far as I know they want to buy all 18 of the islands, the whole lot.”

Read moreThe World’s Uberwealthy Scramble To Buy Greek Isles

Welcome To The UK Recovery: Indebted British Man Sets Himself On Fire

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– Welcome to the UK Recovery: Indebted British Man Sets Himself on Fire (Liberty Blitzkrieg, May 17, 2013):

Nothing says recovery like citizens in debt setting themselves on fire due to economic hardship.  In this tragic case, Antony Breeze self-immolated after being preyed upon by payday lending companies that began to harass his father.  Similar stories are sure to reach U.S. shores before too long, particularly considering how TBTF domestic banks are partnered up with payday loan companies charging up to 500% interest.

From the Daily Mail:

A debt-ridden father doused himself in petrol and turned himself into a human fireball after being harassed for money by payday loan firms.

Antony Breeze, 36, died after setting himself alight, telling passers-by who tried to extinguish the flames: ‘I’ve had enough.’

Read moreWelcome To The UK Recovery: Indebted British Man Sets Himself On Fire

Amazon UK Pays $3.7 MILLION Tax On $6.5 BILLION Sales

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– Amazon UK pays $3.7 million tax on $6.5 billion sales (Reuters, May 15, 2013):

Corporate tax avoidance has risen to the top of the political agenda in Europe following revelations in the past couple of years about how little big names like Apple Inc., Starbucks, Google and Microsoft pay in tax in markets where they reap billions of dollars in sales.

Read moreAmazon UK Pays $3.7 MILLION Tax On $6.5 BILLION Sales

From Petrodollar To Petrogold: The US Is Now Trying To Cut Off Iran’s Access To Gold

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– From Petrodollar To Petrogold: The US Is Now Trying To Cut Off Iran’s Access To Gold (ZeroHedge, May 16, 2013):

The US is moving to broaden its ‘blockade’ efforts of Iran to the movement of pure gold into the Islamic Republic. The US-led embargo of Iranian crude succeeded in slowing the flow of petrodollars into the nation but as Foreign Affairs committee chairman Edward Cohen remarked, there is “no question that there is gold going from Turkey to Iran.” While the official line from US elite such as Bernanke remains that ‘gold is not money’ it appears that increasingly other nations would disagree, as Cohen admitted, “in large measure what we’re seeing is private Iranian citizens buying gold as a protection against the falling value of Iran’s currency.” It would seem somewhat self-evident that the US is admitting, by attempting to embargo this gold flow, that outside the US, the Dollar is becoming increasingly irrelevant (see China’s gold demand); and that for many countries the petrodollar no longer exists, having been replaced by ‘Petrogold’.

Via Trend,

…

With Iran’s currency already hit hard by European and Asian participation in the U.S.-led embargo of Iranian crude, Mr. Cohen asserted that his staff is broadening its efforts to include blocking the movement of pure gold into the Islamic republic.

“I can assure you that we are looking very, very carefully at any evidence that anyone outside Iran is selling gold to Iran,” he said.

Read moreFrom Petrodollar To Petrogold: The US Is Now Trying To Cut Off Iran’s Access To Gold

S&P Downgrades Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway From AA+ To AA, Outlook Negative

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– S&P Downgrades Berkshire From AA+ To AA, Outlook Negative (ZeroHedge, May 16, 2013):

Obviously with Buffett a major shareholder of Moody’s, the only place where a downgrade of Berkshire could come from was S&P. Moments ago, the rating agency that dared to downgrade the US for which it is being targeted by Eric Holder’s Department of “Justice”, did just that.

Read moreS&P Downgrades Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway From AA+ To AA, Outlook Negative

Hedge Fund Manager William Kaye: How A Criminal Syndicate Of Banks Is Raping The Gold Market

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– How A Criminal Syndicate Of Banks Is Raping The Gold Market (King World News, May 15, 2013):

…

So this is a great business for the bankster banks.  The same people who rigged LIBOR, I’m telling you are very obviously rigging the gold market.  It’s so obvious that only the mainstream media would not be able to figure this out.”

…

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Gangster State America

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Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

– Gangster State America — Paul Craig Roberts (Paul Craig Roberts, May 13, 2013):

There are many signs of gangster state America. One is the collusion between federal authorities and banksters in a criminal conspiracy to rig the markets for gold and silver.

My explanation that the sudden appearance of an unprecedented 400 ton short sale of gold on the COMEX in April was a manipulation designed to protect the dollar from the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing policy has found acceptance among gold investors and hedge fund managers.

The sale was a naked short. The seller had no gold to sell. COMEX reported having gold only equal to about half of the short sale in its vaults, and not all of that was available for delivery. No one but the Federal Reserve could have placed such an order, and the order came from one of the Fed’s bullion banks, one of the entities “too big to fail.”

Bill Kaye of the Greater Asian Hedge Fund in Hong Kong and Dave Kranzler of Golden Returns Capital have filled in the details of how the manipulation worked. Being sophisticated investors of many years of experience, both Kaye and Kranzler understand that the financial press runs with the authorized story planted to serve the agenda that has been put into play.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: Gangster State America

Bloomberg Accidentally Posted More Than 10,000 Private Trader Messages On Terminals Online

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– Bloomberg accidentally posted private terminal messages online (Yahoo Finance/Quartz, May 13, 2013):

This story has been updated and corrected.

Bloomberg says it accidentally posted on the internet more than 10,000 private messages that traders sent each other on their Bloomberg terminals. The new revelation, reported by the Financial Times, will undoubtedly escalate the furor over Bloomberg’s handling of data that its customers consider to be confidential.

Read moreBloomberg Accidentally Posted More Than 10,000 Private Trader Messages On Terminals Online

Brilliant And Hilarious: Jon Stewart’s Commentary On The IRS Scandal (Video)

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– Jon Stewart’s Brilliant and Hilarious Commentary on the IRS Scandal (Liberty Blitzkrieg, May 15, 2013):

While the video below is scathing and hilarious, it is much, much more than that.  Jon Stewart is well aware that the IRS being caught targeting groups for political reasons represents a major turning point in the psyche of the nation.  In the past, whenever anyone was targeted by the IRS the masses would generally assume that this person did something wrong.  Not anymore. From this point forward, every politically active person critical of the government who is targeted by the IRS will no longer be assumed guilty by the public, rather they will be seen as the victim of a federal witch-hunt.  With trust in the Federal government at a record low 29%, this is extremely significant and will only further erode whatever trust is left.

It is my view that the government is actually in full on collapse right in front of our eyes at the moment, and Jon Stewart understands that.  Will anyone at the IRS be held accountable?  Will people be jailed for this like a civilian who makes a tax mistake might be?  My favorite line in this clip is:

Hold on a minute, I didn’t realize apologies were sufficient in IRS related issues.

Enjoy!