Business Insider: The Secret Of Bridgewater's Success Is In Its Understanding Of The Recession"

The Automatic Earth: "Global Demise Of Pension Plans"

Mish shows us that the Australian Housing Crash is now "ON"

Republicans to discuss putting US back on the gold standard, which would explode gold prices to $10,000 an oz. and beyond

Dr. Housing Bubble blog looks at housing's future with a shrinking middle class and an overburdened younger demographic

Gasoline/Oil Futures Jump On Hurricane Issac Closures In The Gulf And the Massive Refinery Explosion In Venezuela

Mike Maloney's 90 Minute Speech On Gold, Silver, Fiat Currencies, the Fed, Manias And What To Do Soon

We've all scoffed at the thought of $2,000 gold in the past. (I can remember people on a certain Motley Fool discussion board saying gold would never cross the $1,000 line.) But what do you say to the thought - the possibility - that gold might one day be priced at $20,000 per ounce?

How would it get there from here?



Even if you don't believe in $20,000 an ounce gold, but you feel something "just isn't right in the world economy", you will want to watch this video to learn what is happening to world markets in stocks, bonds, real estate and other cyclical assets

Mike Maloney, founder of Goldsilver.com, and the writer of a definitive book on gold & silver investing, Rich Dad's Advisors: Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver: Protect Your Financial Future, gives one of the very best 90 minute seminars - with accompanying screen shots of graphs, diagrams and photos which make his concise, brilliant talk come alive.

Not only is Maloney one of the best speakers on gold, silver, money and currency in the world, he also knows the history of gold, silver, manias, stock markets, the Federal Reserve and a dozen more macro-economic topics which he covers very well in only 1 1/2 hours.


And now, grab a cup of tea or java. Find a comfy seat. Sit and watch this video without any interruptions. Just absorb it like a sponge. You might know a lot of what Maloney covers, but its those historical tidbits about past crashes, government debt, government crisis, etc., which will make you admire the man and his thesis all the more.

After viewing this, you will feel like gold will definitely blow past the $2,000 an ounce mark even if $20,000 might be a stretch. But as Mike stresses, silver is an even better buy at this time in history. And he explains why in a way which shows how silver could outsprint gold for future returns.


Once you've seen this video, be sure to share it with your family and friends:

Corruption? 5400 Former Legislators Have Become Lobbyists In The Past Decade

The American Middle Class' Lost Decade

Here Comes Apple's Real TV

UBS Unauthroized Trade = $2 Billion Loss

As Their States Crumble, Republican Leaders Refuse To Invest In Infrastructure

Welcome to the United Corporations of America, Where A Crony Congressman Wants To Do Away With All Corporate Taxes

A Tsunami Of Foreclosures Is Just Beginning To Hit The US Housing Market . . . Here's Why

Housing Continues To Crash And Could Cost Too Big To Fail Banks More Billions

Aaron Task of the Daily Ticker interviews Dan Alpert, Managing Partner of Westwood Capital, who says Bank of America may have to post another $27 Billion in losses due to continued Housing losses.

Alpert points out that this number could be understated as the Top 4 banks in America are sitting on $1.1 Trillion of real estate paper which no one knows the real value of.

The Economist on The European "Great Reversal"

Atlantic Monthly - Housing Market Forecasting: Don't Even Bother

CCC - Greece Receives New Rating From Standards and Poor

The Largest Theft Of Funds In US History?

Greece needs $65 Billion more from the EU & the IMF

Salon: How America will collapse (by 2025)

Automatic Earth: "Generation Junk"

Michael Hudson: "A World At Fianancial War"

Governor Cuomo about to cut 9800 state jobs in New York?

Hillary Clinton To Become The Head Of The World Bank?

Another 10-25% Drop In Home Prices "Would Not Shock" Robert Shiller

School layoffs around the country spike upward

Art Laffer: Get The Government Out Of Housing

Art Laffer, of the "Laffer Curve" and the Reagan White House says the Federal Government needs to get out of the business of propping up the Housing Market. He said, "Everyone knows the Bush and Obama Economic Policies have failed." More in this interview:

Rodney Anderson Says We Are "Absolutely" Heading For Double Dip Recession And In Housing; Robert Shiller Says Housing Optimism Is "Fading"

Rodney Anderson Says We Are "Absolutely" Heading For A Double Dip Recession And In Housing

Latest report from the Case-Shiller Index shows home prices in major cities across the USA dropping. At the same time, despite Quantitative Easing II, rates on 30 year mortgages are rising, not falling. As long term rates rise, houses and big ticket items become less affordable. As rates rise, the pressure will build on home prices to keep falling. As a Fox Business News anchor says in his intro to the following piece, "...no end in sight for the decline in house prices." His first guest Rodney Anderson, author of "Credit 911" tells us long rates have been going up for 6 weeks now and we have still not seen any influx of potential buyers thinking, "You know what? I want to get it (that house and lower rate loan) before it goes higher!"

Anderson also emphatically says, "Double Dip Recession in 2011? Absolutely!"

Is a Double-Dip Ahead for Housing?


Robert Shiller Says Housing Optimism "Fading"

Robert Shiller, Economics Professor from Yale University and the man who co-founded the Case-Shiller Index on Housing is every bit as glum as Rodney Anderson in the previous video. Shiller was interviewed by Bloomberg TV earlier today. He said his latest numbers are not good for the overall economy. He did say this could be a temporary "blip", but if the numbers continue downward, it will mean some big trouble for institutions and people.

Shiller, unlike Robert Anderson, is not as positive that we will suffer a Double Dip Recession. He seems to think Keynesian policy has saved us from a worse fate, that we have seen a mild recovery, but he hedges his words by saying we have to see what will happen next. The question in Shiller's mind is if this is like 1938-1939, when the economy started moving down again, and here today the people are in no mood for more stimulus or bailout packages.

Shiller also says the problem in Housing dates back to artificial government subsidies since 1934, that people are starting to question these subsidies, and that these questions are leading to anxiety and worry which hurts public optimism about the Housing Market.

As Bloomberg TV just removed the video clip from youtube moments ago, you may click here to go directly to the Bloomberg TV site to see the Robert Shiller interview.

Housing Will Double Dip In 2011: Two Housing Experts, Dolly Lenz & David Lykken

Douglas Elliman Vice Chairman Dolly Lenz and Mortgage Banking Solutions President David Lykken offer their outlook for the housing industry, and it isn't pretty.

Both of them are basing their bleak look on Huge Inventory + Stealth Inventory, Rising Interest Rates during Quantitative Easing II, and Rising Property Taxes.

Business/Economic/Housing/Layoff News for September 9, 2010

Meredith Whitney: Wall Street’s Biggest “Ponzi Scheme” Is How It Keeps Investors In The Dark On Their Own Investments

"The 'Ever-Expanding' Government Sector, Illustrated"

Shift from T-Bonds and into Gold and Commodities?

Gold: The Future & The Way Through

Jim Sinclair: Strapping In For The Big Move On Gold



Erin Burnett Slaps Down Rude Guest On CNBC While Another Slides By Saying, "Nothing Is A Bubble When Everybody Wants To Buy It!"

Mish: Consumers Shun Credit Cards - Credit Card Usage Drops, Debit Card Usage Rises

Dr. Housing Bubble: The Banking Stockholm Syndrome

Housing Hitting Bottom, Or Just Getting Hit?

Lockheed to cut 600 executive branch jobs

Harley Davidson looking to cut 200 jobs after settling with Unions on new work contracts allowing for seasonal and part-time workers who get half-pay and no benefits

Business/Economic/Housing/Layoff News for September 8, 2010

Commodities watch: Cotton Rallies to Highest Closing Price in 15 Years: Orange Juice Advances

AP analysis: Economic pain failed to ease in July

Harry Reid (D-NV) blames Bush, Wall Street for sick economy

The Infinite Elasticitiy of Credit - Part 1 (from the Automatic Earth)

Paul Krugman: 1938 in 2010

Depression Written into Law, Part II

John Mauldin: "The Last Chapter"

Fossil Fuels vs. The Public Interest

Peak Denial About Peak Oil

What Is Going To Happen To Global Economies If Rapid Money Velocity Kicks In

William K. Black - Why Covering up Fraud Losses Impairs Economic Recovery: Part One

Motley Fool: Thread On Aging Population And Macro-Economics

Did A Homeowners Association In Ogden, UT Drive A Homeowner To Suicide?

Shock Therapy for the Housing Market

Toll Brothers Building Upper Class Neighborhood On IC Waterway In Florida (They Crash, They Burn, They Never Learn)

Canadian Housing: Another Debt-Fueled Bubble?

Subprime 2.0 Is Coming Soon to Suburb Near You: Edward Pinto

Housing Inventories Rise for Eighth Straight Month

9 Michigan employers to shed 863 jobs in the next few weeks

ZymoGenetics in Seattle to possibly give 320 pink slips after being taken over by Bristol-Myers Squibb

Meredith Whitney Says Wall Street Firms Will Cut 80,000 Jobs Worldwide In The Next 18 Months

"OVERDOSE", The Movie About The Next Deepening Financial Crisis Due To The Bailout Bubble

OVERDOSE - Part 1 of 3






OVERDOSE - Part 2 of 3






OVERDOSE - Part 3 of 3

Business/Economic/Housing/Layoff News for the Weekend of August 28-29, 2010

CEO: J&J let down public, must work to build trust

Stocks in Fallout Shelter provisioning are ratcheting up

Native Americans protest attempts by New York to collect taxes

Richard Russell: My Take On Gold

Fed Assets Decline to $2.3 Trillion as Housing Securities Fall

Home Prices May Drop Another 25% in the USA

Rising foreclosures and falling sales are discouraging potential buyers

Beijing District Reports That The Majority Of Its Houses Have Been Vacant... For Years

Ford recalls Windstar vans over axle corrosion

The American Nightmare: "You can't expect a recovery in the housing market in the absence of a recovery in the jobs market,"

Double Dip And Other Labels Do Not Matter: It's Jobs That Count

California gets $1.2 Billion from the Department of Education to Fund 16,500 teaching jobs

City of Port St. Lucie, FL to cut 27 jobs in Police Department

El Camino Hospital of Moutain View, CA to lay off 140

Business/Economic/Housing/Layoff News for August 25,2010

Any Bounce In Stocks Is Now To Be Treated As A Shorting Opportunity

Self-Cleaning Panel Tech Could up Solar Power Yields by 40 Percent

Mish: Japan's Finance Minister Threatens Yen Intervention to Halt "One-Sided Movement"

Elliot Spitzer: They Still Don't Get It

Santander Analyst Made Insider Trades Before BHP Bid for Potash, SEC Says

Burger King 4Q net income falls 17%; sales slip

Apple Said to Prepare New 99-Cent TV Show Rental Service

Traders Freaking Out Over WSJ Report On The Fed: Here's Why

U.S. Existing Home Sales in Record Plunge

Economy Caught in Depression, Not Recession: Rosenberg

Ireland Long-Term Sovereign Credit Rating Cut by S&P

Yes Folks, Hindenburg Omen Tripped Again. . . Creator Of Hindenburg Gets Entirely Out Of Market

The Automatic Earth: "How Low Can We Fall This Fall?"

Louis Navellier: 9 Mega Cap Blue Chip Stocks To Dump Immediately

Gross Says Mortgage Yields Would Soar Without Government Aid
PIMCO's Bill Gross on "Deep Demographic Doo-Doo"

Former Countrywide CEO Mozilo faces more allegations

Home Prices: They're Not Quite What They Seem

NYT: "The Overconfidence Problem In Forecasting

Realty Check: The Experts Failed To See The Housing Crisis Coming

The Two Gangs Of Economists Warring Over The Causes Of High Unemployment

Deal between Miami Beach and CWA Union falls apart putting 450 jobs in peril

Between 600 to 1,000 workers to be laid off in Arkansas Whirlpool Plant

Pfizer: 150 plant workers to lose jobs in December

Income Inequality and Financial Crises

Business/Economic News for July 13, 2010

Homeowners vs. Home-Loan Buyers

Treat reckless corporate behavior like DUI

The New Economy: Death By Savings

Dynasty Trusts Game No Taxed Pass Downs For The Rich: America Builds An Aristocracy

The Disappearing Intellectual in the Age of Economic Darwinism

James Howard Kunstler: "Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going?"

Charles Hugh Smith - "Con Of The Decade, Part 2"

U.K. Stocks Extend Drop After U.S. Housing Data Trails Forecast



Copper falls to lowest price in a week as US Housing starts lowest in a year

San Diego developers of giant condo project have yet to sell one of their 679 units, so they are renting them out, adding to San Diego's huge "Shadow Inventory"

Bush's Treasury Secretary, Henry "Golden Slacks" Paulson, Pays $24.5 Million For Aspen Mansion

The rich do it too – Los Angeles County and million dollar distressed properties. 1,947 homes in L.A. County valued at $1 million or more are three payments behind or in foreclosure. Beverly Hills prices down 31 percent from one year ago. 14 out 100 homes on the MLS are priced at $1 million and up

Disappearing Middle Class: 60 year old Florida Keys couple lose jobs and Islamorada home

Moody's expects debt levels for housing to stay at high levels for another 12 to 18 months, says foreclosures will not slow down any time soon

Revolving Door Sweetheart Deal: Ex-Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) Named New Head Of Chase Bank's Florida Market

Hugh Hefner Wants To Buy Back Playboy And Take It Private

FDIC sues former Executives at Indymac's homebuilding loan division

Municipal broadband haters in NC dealt a blow

Take Two: US Issues Revised Offshore Drilling Band

Florida Keys Wake Up Call: Cuba Allows Spanish Company To Drill For Oil In Area Only 60 Miles Off Key West's Doorstep

Florida Keys Island Mansion Still Has No Takers At Over 70% Off!

Dreamers:

Feast your eyes on the above island in the Florida Keys with house built by a "major recording artist" some years back and which is dropping in price precipitously over the past week. This house has been on the market since September 1, 2006 and has still not found a buyer.

Here is the MLS description of this mansion:

Private Offshore Island With 3/3.5 Luxury Home In The Keys! Owned & Improved By Major Recording Artist W/ New Pool, Hot Tub, Central Air, Concrete Pier, Jet Boat, 35kw Generator In Sound-proof Shed, 850-gal/Day Desalinization, New Electric, New Landscaping & High-end Finishes. Self-contained, 70' Onshore Lot W/ Concrete Dock, 3-story Custom Home, 360 Degree Ocean Views, Impact Windows & More.

Here are the stats:

Status: Active
Original Price: $10,000,000
Prior Listing Price: $3,799,000 (this change just 7 days ago)
Listing Price: $2,995,000
Address: 0 Melody Key
Key/Island: Summerland Key
Subdivision: Misc Summerland Key
Mile Marker: 28.0
Prop Type: Single Family
Days on Market: 1376
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 3.1
Square Ft. 2,822
Price Per Sq. Ft. $1oo.00
Lot Sq. Ft. 0
Year Built: 1992
Taxes: $14,800 (subject to change)
Tax Year: 2005
Exemptions: None

To see more photos of this house, click here: PHOTOS

At least the Realtor for this listing hasn't been playing games by taking the house off market and putting it back up a half-dozen times to try and hide it's real loss in value over the past 1,376 days.

How low will this one go? Well, since September 1, 2006, it has already lost more than 70% of its value. I'll wager this one loses another 20 to 50% from its current listing price of $2,995,000 before it is all over.

Stay tuned.

Rock in Paradise

Retail Woes Continue, Shopping Malls Fill With Vacancies

This past Sunday, Mish published a piece titled "Retail Sales Rise: Where? Let's Take a Look; Expect Nothing Less Than Panic".

Mish had a reader of his ask him:

"What puzzles me is that with such large numbers of people without jobs or adequate jobs, how can retail sales continue to hold their own? If people still had their house ATM or were increasing their credit card debt, I could see how they could keep spending at pre-recession levels. But people are paying down debt, not increasing it. Something just doesn't jibe IMO. "

"With the current job situation, I would expect to see retail sales at something like 90% of the bubble years sales. Do you have any retail sales data that verifies the stress in the employment situation? "

Mish started his response by saying,

"Retail sales are not what they seem."

"I have written about this before but not enough. The published numbers are based on "same store sales". Think about all the companies that have gone bankrupt. Take Circuit City for an example. Gone. The doors are closed. Some of those shoppers went to Best Buy where same store sales rose. "

"Also remember that Best Buy and many other chains closed weak stores. The result: same store sales went up again."

"Government methodology for reporting retail sales is based on sampling stores in existence. It does not factor in stores not in existence but recently were. Nor does it handle closed stores when the chain is still doing business."

"Government reporting of retail sales is fatally flawed. "

"To understand what is going on, all one has to look at actual tax data. Heard any rosy numbers from states about sales tax collections?"

"Let's take a look at some real numbers."

. . . and then Mish does an excellent job of parsing sales tax figures from New York, Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia . . . all of which shows retail isn't rebounding, but continuing to crater.

I urge all readers and viewers of this blog to read this great piece by Mish so you will understand what is really going to on at retail. You should also think about what the implications are for commercial Real Estate in 2010 and going forward.

Meanwhile, if any of you have a dying mall near you, take some video, and we'll spotlight it here on the Watchworld. Here's one from "uspimpclub" I found on youtube tonight, location of mall is unknown, but it looks like any dying mall in Anywhere, USA which was clobbered by the Housing Crash.