Reinke Faces Life

http://lewrockwell.com/spl3/gold-roadmap-to-1700.html

Gold & Gold Stocks: Roadmap to $1700
by Morris Hubbartt

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The US government is spending approximately three dollars for every one dollar taken in. You are told this is being done to create “economic recovery”. Houston, we have a US dollar spaceship problem, because there is no balance sheet recovery.

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Where does it all end?

Scary!

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http://www.governing.com/columns/smart-mgmt/Whats-a-Pension-Perk-Worth.html

SMART MANAGEMENT
What’s a Pension Perk Worth?
Employers can’t pinpoint what the real value of retiree benefits is to them.
BY: KATHERINE BARRETT & RICHARD GREENE | JUNE 2011

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It’s conventional wisdom that there’s an awful lot of cash being spent to keep pension promises made to employees during the course of their work life. But what benefits — aside from the obvious humanitarian desire to provide a good quality of life for retirees — are these pensions buying for the entities that offer them?

One argument has been that higher pension benefits make for lower turnover and more qualified applicants. There have been a small handful of studies over the past two decades that support the very broad idea that employees of governments that offer pensions are often more loyal than those working for entities that don’t offer pensions. But even if we accept those assumptions without question, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who can tell us what the marginal value each additional dollar of post-retirement benefits buys — and what we give up if we cut benefits by any given amount.

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Flying blind like this means governments that have been pushing for steep cuts in retiree benefits are risking a long-term negative change in their workforce that will make services costlier and less effective. By the same token, if cuts at a certain level could be shown to have minimal impact on workforce considerations, then there are a whole passel of states and cities that should consider making cuts without delay.

We don’t know the answer. But we sure believe somebody should.

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If managers are trying to figure out the value of the “pension”, or any “benefit”, then “employees” aka “wage slaves” should be figuring it out as well.

Argh!

Remember that the “rules” for “Success in Your Generation” have shifted away from “pensions”. (As well as imho 401ks and IRAs!)

(To explain that parenthetical remark. First, 401ks are a captive of the employer. Abuses like Enron were the very tip of the iceberg. The current crop of 401ks are full of abuses. And, the mutual fund choices inside of them are also abusive. Read Ric Edelman’s writings bout mutual funds. Second, there continues to be rumors of taking “tax deferred accounts” in exchange for “enhanced social security”. Third, tax rates in the future and the value of the dollar cast doubt on the value of a pension. Especially when that supposed pension is decades down the road. Fourth, a pool of savings might provide the capital for a business venture. That might be a good bet. Or at least a better bet.)

You can create your OWN pension. It’s nothing more than a very very expensive annuity.

Read the blog post about a 5 year quarterly cd ladder.

You can do it yourself … cheaper.

And, gold, silver, and junk silver coins may be the best bet over all.

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I’ve been preaching silver to my friends. It’s shocking that people don’t recognize how devalued the dollar really is. A hockey team moved to Canada from Atlanta today and the radio guy said a few years ago that was unthinkable because the dollar vs canadian dollar was so lopsided Canadian businessmen couldn’t compete. The NFL wants a franchise is Toronto and again the writer referenced that the dollar being so weak allows Canadians to compete in signing players. I’ve also been following the disaster better know and the Federal Reserve- Bernake may be a smart guy and a depression era expert but he can’t get out of his own way and talks himself into trouble.

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I like to use the 30¢ / gallon of gas (i.e., 3 silver dimes) and at today’s silver rule of thumb (20 x pre-64 face value) that means you have $6 for a gallon. :-) It’s so OBVIOUS! And, I remember gas at 20 with trading stamps and an ugly glass and the fellow cleaned the windshield, checked the oil, and spoke english. Argh!

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http://www.ricedelman.com/cs/pressroom/pressroom_detail?pressrelease.id=2431

Are Brokers Being Punished for Not Pushing Enough Product?
For Immediate Release
June 04, 2011

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It’s obvious how Merrill’s move might help shareholders: More revenue produces more profit. But it’s harder to see the value for clients. The only way brokers generate commissions is by selling investment products. That means the brokers must constantly pitch new products to their clients. Is that compatible with the clients’ financial goals?

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Interesting? How do you see if your interests are aligned with those running your accounts?

Good luck.

Even if you’re just using your 401k to save for your retirement.

The company that “generously” provides your 401k is getting kick backs from the the fund company. The fund company is sticking you with fees and commissions that are probably illegal. And that’s just what we can “see”.

ENRON was a disaster for employees because they required you to contribute to your 401k and it had to go into their stock.

And, everyone was encourage to roll over their old 401ks into it. That’s how that pac tel guy managed to lose everything including his 1m$ 401k from his life’s employment with Pacific Telephone. Argh!

I admit I’m a bullion kinda guy. Silver, Gold, Nickels, Pennies, Platinum, Palladium … anything that you can hold in your hands. Even a can of beans!

You have to think that perhaps, just maybe, the 401k that your being offered maybe a “poison pill”. Especially if the Gooferment is gazing wistfully at the umpty ump trillions in “retirement savings”. Your “retirement” savings.

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http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/whitewashing-the-auto-bailouts

Whitewashing the Auto Bailouts
Posted by Daniel Ikenson

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Any verdict on the outcome of the auto industry intervention must take into account, among other things, the billions of dollars in property confiscated from the auto companies’ debt-holders; the higher risk premium built into U.S. corporate debt as a result; the costs of denying the other, more successful auto producers the spoils of competition (including additional market share and access to the resources misallocated at Chrysler and GM); the costs of rewarding irresponsible actors (like the UAW) by insulating them from the outcomes of what should have been an apolitical bankruptcy proceeding; the effects of GM’s nationalization on production, investment, and public policy decisions; the diminution of U.S. moral authority to counsel foreign governments against market interventions that can adversely affect U.S. businesses competing abroad; and the corrosive impact on America’s institutions of the illegal diversion of TARP funds to achieve politically desirable outcomes.

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In that “confiscated from the auto companies’ debt-holders” is her 5k$ in bonds in her IRA. (Against my advice!)

Usually very non-political, that really put a knot in her shorts.

Mine too.

Not that it was a lot of money. 5k$ was about a ⅓ of a month’s pay when I was flying high.

She worked hard for her money. Scrimped and saved. Denied herself stuff. Because she was always afraid of being poor again.

It used to be that 5k$ was a LOT of money. But the politicians and bureaucrats have inflated away that value.

And, I know everyone thinks I have a tin foil hat.

But when the Gooferment just takes your stuff because they can and you don’t get mad, well then who has the tin foil hat?

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http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=10435

Boston archdiocese reaches settlement in nuns’ lawsuit over pension fund
May 25, 2011

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The lawsuit came after archdiocesan officials disclosed that the entire pension account is severely underfunded.

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I fear that this is just the tip of the old pension underfunded iceberg.

Anyone with a pension better start paying attention to it.

The Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee is reported to have not made a pension payment into the state workers fund for decades. Where are the unions leaders, the auditors, the state workers themselves. Where’s the litigation? Where are the feds? PGB, SEC, FTC, Treasury, FBI … …

Clearly, “workers” can NOT depend upon “pensions”. The “gold watch era” ended in the 60’s when the aircraft makers began screwing their senior engineers. That’s how ERISA came about.

And, personally, hope I’m wrong, but we keep seeing trial balloons about the Federal Gooferment “taking” IRA & 401k savings in exchange for an “enhanced social security” benefit. So where are the Feds going to find a big pit of money so they can keep spending. It wouldn’t be too hard. Only have to strong arm 2k+ “custodians”.

SO, everyone better start saving their pennies, nickels. As well as copper, silver, and gold bullion. It’s hard times ahead.

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http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/how-the-feds-conceal-inflation/

HOW THE FEDS CONCEAL INFLATION By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann 04.29.2011

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If the same methodology that was used in 1980 to chronicle the double digit inflation of that era were in use today, we would have an inflation rate of ten percent right now, according to Shadow Government Statistics. We are entering a massive era of stagflation which recalls to us our writing in Catastrophe, published two years ago, that “inflation may well be the enduring legacy of the Obama presidency.”

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You just can’t trust the Gooferment to do anything right; nor be honest.

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http://freetalklive.com/files/vonnothaus04.mp3

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Bernard joins us post-his conviction for “counterfeiting” to discuss the Liberty Dollar, the feds, and what is happening next. Grab the archive here.

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It’s worth spending an hour. You’ll learn what happens if you want your money to be intrinsically valuable.

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http://www.321gold.com/editorials/russell/russell042111.html

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In terms of gold: Assessing real estate values in terms of gold. At its peak, the housing market in March 2007, the median US home price was $262,600, which was equivalent to 340.6 ounces of gold. Today’s median income price is $186,100 or 109.2 ounces of gold. So in terms of real money, gold, the US median home price has lost 47% since 2007.

Applying the same measurements to the Dow, from the end of 2001 to the end of 2008 an investment in the Dow would have lost 81% of its purchasing power in terms of gold (statistic courtesy Larry Edelson of the outstanding “Uncommon Wisdom” advisory).

The great and harsh lesson of history now stares Americans in the face — no fiat currency in history has ever survived.

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It’s nothing but the inherent value of the dollar. It’s zero.

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http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13024

The Weak Dollar Problem
by Steve H. Hanke

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For the countries — like the oil producers in the Persian Gulf — the U.S. dollar bloc and fixed exchange rates are a necessity. These countries are mono-product economies, and their “product,” oil, is invoiced in dollars. Accordingly, if a floating exchange-rate regime were adopted, their nominal exchange rates would fluctuate erratically as oil prices fluctuate. When the price of oil rises (falls), the local currencies would appreciate (depreciate). Without a currency link to the dollar and a nominal anchor for its price level, the oil producing countries would experience a wild roller-coaster ride — one distinguished by deflationary lows and inflationary highs.

Thanks to the Fed’s weak dollar policy, the U.S. faces an inflation problem and so does the rest of the world. The weak dollar and the lack of “flexibility” — properly understood — also threaten the free flow of capital and the stability of the international monetary system. It’s time for the Fed to start focusing on the value and stability of the U.S. dollar.

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As a fat old white guy injineer, it would seem that any thinking person would recognize “the dollar” has failed in one of the definitions of money.

“Money is a matter of functions four, a medium, a measure, a standard, a store.” He repeated that four times like poetry. “Six Characters in Money: Portable – Durable – Divisible – Uniformity – Limited Supply – Acceptability.” — CHURCH 10●19●62 (Vol 1) 978-0-557-08387-9 page 110

It’s no longer “uniform”. And, it no longer functions as “a measure”, “a standard” or “a store”.

Imagine baseball or football, where each year “a yard” got smaller? Or larger?

In the grocery store, packages stay the same or get larger, while the contents shrink. And, the makers pray the consumer doesn’t get wise.

(What was the name of that Olive maker that destroyed his business by saving one olive per bottle? The consumers disciplined that company out of business.)

We’re on the road to be like pre-WW2 Germany with raging hyper-inflation.

At least, when the golden dinar becomes the world’s standard, we’ll have honest money!

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Hanke, Steve H. (2011, April 15). The Weak Dollar Problem. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from The Cato Institute Web site: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13024

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