Unemployment Checks Set Record

From Yahoo Finance:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all-time record, the government said Thursday, as layoffs spread throughout the economy.

The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest on records dating back to 1967.

The total released by the department doesn’t include about 1.7 million people receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program authorized by Congress last summer. That means the total number of recipients is actually closer to 6.5 million people. [more]

GM Breaks 77-Year Record

Jan 22, 2009.

Toyota overtook General Motors in global vehicle sales for the first time, bringing to an end GM’s 77-year run as the world’s largest automaker.

GM, now struggling to restructure under a $13.4 billion U.S. government bailout, had held the title as the global auto industry leader for over seven decades and used the line in its marketing. [more]

Britain 3 Hours Away from “Going Bust”

This from Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper:

Britain was just three hours away from going bust last year after a secret run on the banks. This wasn’t revealed until Jan 24, 2009 by one of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s ministers.

City Minister Paul Myners disclosed that on Friday, October 10, the country was ‘very close’ to a complete banking collapse after ‘major depositors’ attempted to withdraw their money en masse. The Mail on Sunday has been told that the Treasury was preparing for the banks to shut their doors to all customers, terminate electronic transfers and even block ATM cash withdrawals.

Only frantic behind-the-scenes efforts averted financial meltdown.

‘There were two or three hours when things felt very bad, nervous and fragile,’ he said. ‘Major depositors were trying to withdraw – and willing to pay penalties for early withdrawal – from a number of large banks.’

The threat to the system was so severe that the Bank of England was forced to contact RBS’s creditors in New York and Tokyo to persuade them not to withdraw their funds, but it is not known which other banks faced a run on their reserves. ‘We faced the very real problem of how banks could stop depositors from withdrawing their money,’ a Treasury source said yesterday.

‘The banks themselves were selling their shareholdings, accelerating the stock-market falls, and preparing to shut up shop. Mortgages would have been sold on and savers would have been spooked, to put it mildly. It would have been chaos.’ [link]

What secrets about the US haven’t yet been revealed? How ’bout this for starters? Market Was 500 Trades Away from Armageddon

I re-read the warning from a financial guy I trust, Martin Weiss: Happy (bank) Holidays! In the Nov 28, 2008 post he said:

Banking Meltdown - Is it Possible?
On October 11, 2008, a single statement hit the international wire services that provides more specific clues:

“Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest U.S.-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown.”

This statement was not the random rant of a gloom-and-doomer on the fringe of society. Nor was it excerpted from a twentieth century history book about the Great Depression. It was the serious, objective assessment announced at a Washington, D.C. press conference by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The unmistakable implication: So many of the world’s largest banks were so close to bankruptcy, the entire banking system was vulnerable to a massive collapse.

And just because things have been relatively calm for a month I don’t believe for a femtosecond our banks are safe now.

Stay vigilant!

US Mint Clamps Down on Gold

U.S. Mint Actions Discourage Gold Ownership [link]

Over the past several months, the United States Mint has announced a series of actions and policy changes that make it more difficult for the average individual to buy gold. There have always been plausible or semi-plausible explanations, but the consequence of each action has been to limit or discourage gold ownership.

August 2008: The US Mint suspends sales of Gold Eagle bullion coins. Sales resume two weeks later on a rationed basis.

September 2008: The US Mint suspends sales of Gold Buffalo bullion coins. Sales resume more than one month later, but only to clear remaining inventory.

October 6, 2008: The US Mint announces that production will be halted for all but one gold bullion coin option.

November 10, 2008: The US Mint announces the discontinuation of numerous gold and platinum numismatic products.

November 24, 2008: The US Mint announces the delayed release of all but one 2009 gold bullion coin option.

January 6, 2009: The US Mint establishes a new pricing policy for gold and platinum numismatic products.

Conclusion?
The series of incremental changes outlined above has resulted in the following situation:

Production was halted for all of the US Mint’s fractional gold bullion and 24 karat gold bullion offerings several months ago. There has been no indication when production might resume.

The only 2009 gold bullion coin available from the US Mint is the one ounce American Gold Eagle. Sales of this single bullion coin offering remain subject to rationing.

The US Mint’s gold numismatic offerings for 2009 have been significantly reduced from the prior year. The remaining product offerings will be priced at prohibitively high premiums under a newly established pricing policy.

Whether or not it was the US Mint’s intention, every significant action they have taken since August has either limited gold availability, eliminated gold product options, or increased the cost of acquiring gold.

Has it all just been a consequence of surging global demand for gold, supply chain mismanagement, and bad timing for policy decisions? Or is there something else going on here?  [more]

Thanks to “Blunt Force Trauma” for the link.

1929 Redux: Ben Battles the Bear

Look at this chart by Mark Lundeen. It compares the 1929 “bear” depression with what’s happening NOW. He synchronized the market tops for both events.

Pithy comments from Mr. Lundeen:

This bear is the most volatile market in the 124 year history of the DJIA.

So why isn’t the DJIA below the 1929/32 bear’s valuation at this same point in time? Well, remember Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke a few months ago kept mentioning all the new tools he had, tools that were not available to “policy makers” in 1929? Funny how quiet he is about his new monkey wrenches as the DJIA keeps dipping below its 8000 line, again and again.

If you and I are puzzled about the lack of a good dead-cat bounce in the DJIA, think how bewildered Bernanke is! He was the acknowledged big-shot expert on the Great Depression bear market.

For years he bragged that he hoped to get a chance at a nasty stock market bear, a real rip-snorter of a bear market. All he needed, he would tell the guys in the FOMC room after few drinks, were some new tools to leverage his genius, and market forces would “cry uncle” PDQ. But that was then, and this is now.

So day after day, Ben goes down in the basement of the Federal Reserved. People walking the hallways of the Fed can hear him pounding all day and long into the night on the pipes of monetary policy. But he is finding out that the damn bear is just too stupid to know when to quit! Poor Benny. [more]

Poll: Big Oil’s Influence

Pastor Lindsey Williams has some interesting predictions about Big Oil and their plan to take over the world, starting with the US.

Wild?

Sounds that way until you realize the same inside sources  he relies on predicted oil would fall from $150 to $50. Oil Insider Warns of Economic Calamity

So, do YOU think Big Oil has been involved in other dirty deals in the last century?

For your consideration:
Who killed the electric car (YouTube)
Oil and Gas Production Induced Earthquake References
Government admits oil is the reason for war in Iraq (YouTube)

“The Iraq War is largely about OIL.” – Alan Greenspan (YouTube)
Free Energy suppressed (YouTube)
The End of Suburbia (YouTube)

Bill Moyers on Big Oil (YouTube)
Big Oil Sued Over Coastline  Flooding (YouTube)

Oil Insider Warns of Economic Calamity

On July 9, 2008 Lindsey Williams claimed to have inside info on future plans of the “elite of the world.”

Back then, oil was pushing through $138/barrel and gas had never been more expensive.

Mr. Williams said he had been told by the “elite” that oil would continue to rise until it hit $150 to $200/barrel, then plummet to under $50/barrel. Gas prices would collapse to under $2/gallon. You can verify this by listening to the original radio broadcast on YouTube [link].

Guess what he’s saying now?
Henry Makow listened to the latest interview of Baptist minister and former chaplain for Big Oil, Lindsey Williams, on American Voice Radio and took notes. [Edited for length, read it in its entirety here: link]

1) The reason why the “elite” dropped the world price of oil down below $50 a barrel was to wage economic warfare against the Arab/ OPEC countries.   “They” seek to bankrupt OPEC countries, especially the Iranians by cutting their revenues more than 75%. 

2) Gold and Oil generally move in tandem i.e., when oil goes up, so does gold.   This has not been the case since the oil market collapsed. Gold will now move independently of oil.

3) This year, 2009, the USA will face total financial collapse.  The dollar will also collapse in value, and it will take years for the US to recover.

4) He said we have more than enough oil in the USA for our own needs, but the so-called “elite” (as he calls them) have no intention of EVER developing a major oil field in the continental U.S. or Alaska.  “They” will not allow this country to become energy independent, and they intend to  continue to keep us dependent on foreign oil sources.

5) The handlers around Obama are, for the most part, members of the Council on Foreign Relations. There will be absolutely no change in either our domestic or foreign policy. Obama will follow orders and will take the fall for the economic calamity that is about to unfold.

6) Because of the tremendous cut in revenue to the Arab states (75%) Dubai will become a “wasteland.” 

7) The long term goal of “these people” is  to control and own everything.  “They intend to break us.” 

8) Gasoline will remain  at approximately $1.50 per gallon for the next year to a year and half.   This is killing the State government gas tax revenues.   Total, state tax revenues are collapsing. Expect many states to go bankrupt–especially California.

9) The ultimate objective is to “destroy the USA.”   At the same time “they” seek to consolidate control over all assets of any significance.  “They” already own and control, the banks, and the media. 

10) “They” intend to gain control of the entire auto industry.

11) “Within six to nine months we will be into full blown hyper inflation.”  Buy everything you need right NOW!!!!  Prepare your dinner table NOW!  It is going to be 1933 all over again.

12) “They” have given up on implementing the North American Union and are “going all the way.”  The goal is total global control of everything.  Global Government. Global bank. Global Currency.

Iceland’s Gov’t Resigns

Recent protests in Iceland over the economic catastrophy there have drawn blood.

Do you really think it’s impossible for something like this to happen in the US? Later this summer, perhaps?

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Iceland’s coalition government collapsed on Monday under the pressures of a financial meltdown and Prime Minister Geir Haarde said he would hand in his resignation to President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

“I will go to the president and hand in the government’s resignation. Then I will have a meeting with the opposition leaders to discuss the possibility of a national unity government,” Haarde told reporters.

Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir, the Social Democrat leader who had been considered a potential replacement for Haarde, announced she would not seek to be prime minister and would take a leave of absence for one or two months. [more]

 

See also: Iceland Burns

Week of Jan 26, 2009

The Secret Comes Out After 3 Months
Back on “Black Friday” Oct 10, 2008, it is revealed that Britain 3 Hours Away from “Going Bust”.

Dead Cat Bounce
Uh, ‘scuze me, but weren’t we supposed to get a nice “dead cat” bounce in the market this month? Check out this graph synchronizing 1929+ Dow with 2007+ Dow. 1929 Redux: Ben Battles the Bear   The picture ain’t pretty.

Market Bottom Is In!
I keep getting emails about “the market’s bottom is in.” KMA.

I’ve researched market indicators for years. There’s only ONE I have ever found that forecasted stock market trends accurately from 1920 onward.
It predicted the 1929-1935 crash and depression.
It predicted when the 1929 HIGH would be hit again (1960).
It predicted the 1970-1980 slump.
It predicted the massive bull market ov the 90s.
It predicts WHEN the real market bottom will be.
Link: Market Prediction for 2009-2010 (updated)

Meltdown Poll
Pastor Linsey Williams says Big Oil has Big Plans in 2009 (Oil Insider Warns of Economic Calamity).

So, do YOU think Big Oil has been involved in other dirty deals in the last century?
Poll: Big Oil’s Influence

Results from last week’s Poll: Obama’s 1st Crisis? 
Your most popular choices for the first crisis for the first family?
#1 US economy enters death spiral.
#2 Hyperinflation triggers riots and martial law.
#3 MidEast in flames as US or Israel atack Iran.

Only four of you thought a False-flag alien attack was it.

Iceland Heats Up
Icelanders shed their “nice guy” image and take to the streets in the first violent protests in that country in 60 years. Iceland Burns

This led to the collapse of their government: Iceland’s Gov’t Resigns.

Landmark Post
What if you had been warned over 3 years ago about the worldwide financial Armageddon currently unfolding?

Warnings & Advice from a Saint, Part 1 (depression and cataclysm)
Warnings & Advice from a Saint, Part 2 (global war of terrible proportions)
Warnings & Advice from a Saint, Part 3 (6 things to do right NOW)
Warnings & Advice from a Saint, Part 4 (best investments)
Warnings & Advice from a Saint, Part 5 (survive outside the city)

Vaporize COMEX
COMEX controls the paper price of gold and silver, and encourages manipulation by gov’t agents as a method of supporting the dollar through suppression of the price of gold and silver. Once COMEX inventories are sufficiently depleted this manipulation will end, freeing the price of precious metals.

Follow the progress:
Chart: COMEX Gold Inventory 
Chart: COMEX Silver Inventory.

 

- Stats Say Yes, It’s a *Depression* 
- Warnings & Advice from a Saint, Part 1 
- 2009: Worst Still Ahead 
- Best Way 2 Control the Masses
- Uncle Sam’s Gold Grab   
- Something of Historic Proportions Is Happening 
- Deflation Xforming to Inflation Soon
- Shadow Powers Plan for 2011 
- Sober Prediction for Nov. 2009 
- Market Prediction for 2009-2010 
 
- >> How to Rate Your Bank’s Safety <<
- History of the Meltdown… (on-going)

Remember what’s in store for us: What’s Coming R Way

Iceland Burns

Iceland began its historic collapse Oct 9 (when they closed their stock market after the failure of their three largest banks). Through November and December the normally genteel Icelanders organized weekend protests against their government.

Now things have gotten seriously violent, for the first time in 60 years.

Late Wednesday night, as thousands of protesters re-lit a large bonfire in front of the Parliament, the Reykjavik chapter of the Progressive Party… called for new elections in May 2009.

As the night wore on, though, matters descended into violence.

Around 1:30 am, police dispersed the crowd with tear gas, the first time tear gas had been used against Icelanders in 60 years. The crowd soon reformed and pelted riot police with stones. One officer was severely injured by a cobblestone.

This is what it’s like when a 1st world country slips into economic oblivion.

My heart goes out to the people of Iceland, with whom I feel we in the US and Europe share a fraternal bond. This is not  the demise of a banana republic.

Wednesday morning began with angry protesters throwing paint at the government building and surrounding Prime Minister Geir Haarde’s car. They banged on the vehicle’s windows and pelted it with eggs for several minutes before his bodyguards and police pushed them away.

The protesters gathered in front of the Parliament building banged on pots and pans while shouting “Unfit government!” “You’re fired!” and more creative insults. [more]

A full 1% of Iceland’s populace is in the streets protesting. If 1% of the US population took to the streets there would be 3 million of us agitating for change.

Bet that’d be enough for a declaration of martial law!

Read up on Iceland, follow this story. It may be a foreshadowing of what’s to come our way late summer 2009.

Please be prepared!

Iceland’s Gov’t Resigns
Iceland Warns of Bankruptcy
Krona Dies: Tuff Times in Iceland (Update 1)