[Kristen]

The problem is the entire economy is based on Fraud, and once you use the F word, the cover is breached.

[Ludi]

should I start taking action

Personally, and this is just my opinion, I think you should have started taking action 4 - 5 years ago.

[the48thronin]

should I start taking action

Personally, and this is just my opinion, I think you should have started taking action 4 - 5 years ago.

After basicly agreeing ..(wow put that one in your diary) I have to add better late than never. Moved out of the city and bought rural land over 20 years ago.. so in my mind 4 or 5 years ago was a late start! If I hadn't started yet I would certaily consider starting now rather than simply blowing it off!

[Ludi]

so in my mind 4 or 5 years ago was a late start!

I was looking at when IslandCrow joined po.com.

[the48thronin]

so in my mind 4 or 5 years ago was a late start!

I was looking at when IslandCrow joined po.com.

When I realized that unsustainability had been surpassed, I wasn't thinking of OIL near as much as I was thinking of unsustainable population and agriculture practices. Poisening the land to grow more today was my own personal tipping point! It took me 4 years to identify land meeting my criteria of never used for farming after 1960, Water supply secure for the last 100 years historicaly, and neighbors who would defend themselves from what was later named as zombie hordes..LOL It was 12 years later before I even started playing with a home computer and my wife will tell you that only a year before I brought one home and started a wilcat BBS network connection for my small town that I would "never" allow a computer in my house. LOL Times change.

[IslandCrow]

Ludi ... I did start taking some action years ago, moving from a small city to a very small village with some land, dug a garden, planted some fruit trees and berry bushes (not nearly enough food or land or wood for self sufficiency), installed a wood burning stove etc.....

However, in this time before a collapse I am still part of the system as I haven't become a hermit! Thus I still have money in the bank....pay bills through the on-line banking system. I suppose I was wondering if I should take what I would term panic actions in light of a possible bank crash (eg withdraw most of my money from the bank).

By now it looks as if other things are effecting the system, like oil spills or the crisis with Greece.

[basil_hayden]

Are you kidding?

Buffet says SEC has no case against GS.

That dip in GS stock prices last week? That was the "Buy" signal.

Things will be going even more exponentially than before. As in hyperBusiness As Usual (hBAU).

Now when this ride ends I don't know, but when it does there will be nothing but dust to settle.

After they outlaw "too big to fail", and stuff starts failing, what's left over is what the new economy gets built of, from the ground up.

Just an opinion, mind you...don't have a red cent invested in anything or anyone except myself.

[mattduke]

The trading operations of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase made money every single business day in the first quarter, a feat that was a first for the companies and underlines the boom in Wall Street’s investment banking revenues.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d2e2f0c8-5c62 ... ab49a.html

[Cloud9]

This is like the dealer winning every hand of black jack. Anybody that does not understand the game is rigged, is an idiot.

[jbrovont]

"Bank," as in a business that makes money by successfully storing, loaning and protecting money for its clients, has really become a misnomer.

The trading operations of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase made money every single business day in the first quarter, a feat that was a first for the companies and underlines the boom in Wall Street’s investment banking revenues.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d2e2f0c8-5c62 ... ab49a.html

[Tyler_JC]

They can borrow money at 0% and lend it out at 5%. If the borrower defaults, the government steps in and bails them out.

How could they NOT make money?

[Timo]

What was it that the French were famous for inventing??? 1600s, i think????

[ElleS]

Goldman executives squirmed under harsh questioning from lawmakers as the Goldman Sachs Senate hearing opened Tuesday morning in New York. The Goldman Senate Hearing is one that was brought to case to grill seven former and current Goldman executives about possible fraud in last year’s financial meltdown. Goldman personalities set to appear including Lloyd Blankfien, head honcho, and Goldman Sachs fraud suspect “Fabulous” Fabrice Tourre.

Goldman Senate and Hearing zingers
The Goldman Senate Hearing featured intense scolding from members of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Some notable comments from committee members reported by Frank Ahrens at the Washington Post contain Sen. Claire McCaskill telling the group of Goldman Sachs execs "You are the bookie. You are the house. You had less oversight than a pit boss in Las Vegas." McCaskill was talking about Goldman's role in making a 2007 investment seeking quick money by betting against a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that was intended to fail. Later referring to Goldman's fee for setting up the bets, she asked them "What's your vig?".

"The Goldman Senate hearing was preceded on Monday by the release of incriminating documents by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the committee. CNN reports that the documents suggest that Goldman Sachs bet far more aggressively against the nation's housing market and its own customers than originally believed, collecting a pay day of as much as $3.7 billion in the process."

Goldman Sachs fraud denied
The Goldman Senate Hearing is the latest chapter in a drama that all began with the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and was continued with the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing Goldman Sachs of fraud, and continuing with the release of incriminating e-mails from Goldman bond trader "Fabulous" Fabrice Tourre. Marketwatch.com said that testimony prepared for Blankfien's appearance before the committee today denies Goldman Sachs fraud with claims that the CDO may look bad, but it fraud. Blankfien says that CDOs are too complicated for most people to understand, therefore the impression is that they are purposely created to confuse investors.

Tourre appears at Goldman Senate Hearing
The Goldman Senate Hearing was the first opportunity for "Fabulous" Fabrice Tourre to publicly defend himself after being named as the focus of the SEC investigation into Goldman Sachs fraud. He said he would fight the charges that he denied. He did say that he regret sending his girlfriend emails where he bragged about spinning an unsustainable web of risk to investors.

Resources for the article
Frank Ahrens at the Washington Post http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/
Marketwatch.com http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldma ... 2010-04-27

[efarmer]

Show trial.

Two things, the Congress wants to appear to set the fences shy of the area where the Too Big Too Fail minefield is, knowing they are owned by the bankers and would be forced to give them our money again if they go out there and set some more explosions off. The bankers wish to restore confidence so that people will let them operate with their money again (they only put their own on sure things or to clean up in the aftermath of losing other people's money) and so they will submit to tickling and some light spanking.

Being fully cooked already, I think the bankers will just submit to a light grilling so they have some appetizing grill marks on them, and then sigh as they are put on a tasty investor bun that is slathered in government cheese.

But where are we in this?

We are in the pickle on the side.

[ian807]

The headline made me smile, until I realized it was only figurative.

[Sixstrings]

Goldman came out with a report basically demanding (you know how these guys are) $4 trillion in money printing - so says the FX chatter and Zerohedge.

The result? The dollar took an instant header, down more than a 1/2% this evening alone.

How about the price of some of the things sensitive to threats of monetary debasement? These are all price changes since the futures started trading this evening - that is, they're six hour changes in price. These are all things you need to buy, either directly or indirectly.

Oil, up 1%.

Wheat, up 1.49%.

Corn, up 2.05%. (Oh yeah, and ethanol on your gas will soon be mandated to be 15%, not 10%.)

Soy, up 1.5%.

Rough Rice, up 1.51%.

Oats, up a stunning 4.27% (!)

Cotton is lock-limit up 500 ticks. To be fair there's a crop disruption related to Cotton, which is adding to the problem. Dollar debasement, of course, isn't helping.

Remember, these are all soft commodities we produce right here at home. These aren't import prices, they're home-grown products (excepting oil, of course.)

And they're moving - at anywhere from double to eight times the devaluation in the dollar.

The stock futures, of course, are skyrocketing, with the Dow futures up nearly 100 points. After all, everyone loves the market impact of you going broke trying to buy food - especially if you're not rich, and most of America isn't.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=170185

Pretty big price movements in just six hours.

[The_Toecutter]

This country would be much better off in the long term if Goldman and its significant owners were stripped of all assets, the Federal Reserve was abolished, the banks were forced to acknowledge all of their losses from gambling with derivatives AND forced to assure that deposits were paid out first, all debt was wiped away, and this government stopped wasting money trying to control the lives, thoughts, and actions of the people.

Sadly, we're probably going to see hyperinflation in the future combined with a dramatic loss in civil liberties... this article is more evidence that hyperinflation is impending.

[roccman]

4 trillion?

why stop there?

really - why not 700 Trillion?

or a google?

what this confirms for me is that 1) bunkers for the elite do exist and we paid for them and 2) those topside have been sacrificed for the sake of a few.

As planned - as predicted - on schedule.

So - get your food stores in order...say hi to the neighbor - and hug the ones you love more often with a slightly tighter squeeze - because this party is OVER.

[copious.abundance]

Sorry, this thread was off by $3.4 trillion!

[Sixstrings]

Sorry, this thread was off by $3.4 trillion!

So "just" monetizing the federal deficit is good news to you?