[JuanP]

Please post here links related to Black Monday news. Thanks!
http://news.yahoo.com/u-s--stocks-poise ... 02330.html
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/24/the-only ... ntary.html
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/24/wall-str ... lunge.html

[davep]

Harrowing images of panic in world markets:

[salinsky]

Dave, you nailed it. One thing missing, a certain star.

[efarmer]

Those server racks look terrified, are the cables quivering as well?

[dolanbaker]

Looks more like a PABX MDF rather than a server farm.

[dinopello]

Sometimes it helps ease the pain if we understand why bad things happen.

Televangelist Pat Robertson responded to the dramatic market sell-off today by suggesting that it was only a foretaste of God’s judgment for legal abortion and federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

Following a report on demonstrations against Planned Parenthood that took place this weekend, the “700 Club” host said that God is not pleased with the Obama administration’s position on Planned Parenthood and abortion rights, as made clear by today’s market slide.

“We will pay dearly as a nation for this thing going on,” he said. “And possibly if we were to stop all this slaughter the judgment of God might be lifted from us. But it’s coming, ladies and gentlemen. We just had a little taste of it in terms of the financial system, but it’s going to be shaken to its core in the next few months, years or however long it tastes and it will hurt every one of us.”

Earlier in the program, Robertson claimed that the market crash was prophesied by Jonathan Cahn, who believes that something bad will happen in late September as part of the biblical Shemittah cycle. Today’s market turmoil, according to Robertson, is a sign that conditions will only get worse next month.

“This thing is hitting with great force and if Cahn is right on that Shemittah we could be in for some really rough days in the markets,” he said, before urging his viewers to buy gold in preparation for greater market deterioration.

[GregT]

Peter Schiff on U.S. Dollar Crisis: "The Dollar Bubble Is Going to Burst"

"Many blame the surprise China yuan devaluation for the sell-off."

"But Schiff has a completely different take. He believes investors should be worried about the United States, not China…"

"Schiff went on to say the dollar has been propped up on hype and speculation. And the U.S. Federal Reserve is to blame – not China."

"Our economy is in much worse shape than the Chinese economy. The Fed is going to be forced to admit this," Schiff said. "They're not going to be raising interest rates; they're going to be doing QE4. That's going to sink the dollar, and then the Chinese are going to have to revalue their currency much higher in the future against the dollar, and it's the dollar collapsing that's going to hurt the U.S. Not this recent move by China."

"Schiff pointed out in his Newsmax interview that the United States has an enormous trade deficit with China. The goods Americans want to consume are made in China – not vice versa."

"[China's] economy is far more powerful, far more dynamic than the American economy. That's why we have these big deficits. But people believe in the myth of this U.S. economy, they believe that this bubble is genuine. They made the same mistake in the late 1990s; they made the same mistake right before the financial crisis of 2008. They're making a mistake again," Schiff said."

"We're on the verge of a much worse financial crisis than the one we went through in 2008, and it's going to take the form of a currency crisis."

http://moneymorning.com/2015/08/24/pete ... -to-burst/

Hmmm. Schiff was certainly correct in '07. Could he be right again.........

[Hosj]

This is fairly entertaining. Hitting refresh on the google finance DOW chart is about as fun as watching election results come in. Looks like it is plunging. Down 4% again.

[davep]

Looks more like a PABX MDF rather than a server farm.

Curse you, Google image search!

[GoghGoner]

This is fairly entertaining. Hitting refresh on the google finance DOW chart is about as fun as watching election results come in. Looks like it is plunging. Down 4% again.

Yes, very entertaining. Fear and greed.

Don't worry stock market beggars, the government will buy some stocks and give y'all more handouts.

[salinsky]

Today, the President of the church of The Latter-day Saints has called all out-of-state members to immediately travel to Utah as the world is going to end on October 1, 2015. Among those members, forty-seven thousand will be taken to heaven. (Sounds like a lottery with a quite a few winners, but mostly losers, as there 14 million Mormons).
Gasoline, airline travel and tissue sales should see a big bump in the coming weeks. Expect a shortage of golden harps and angel wings.

[Lore]

Today, the President of the church of The Latter-day Saints has called all out-of-state members to immediately travel to Utah as the world is going to end on October 1, 2015. Among those members, forty-seven thousand will be taken to heaven. (Sounds like a lottery with a quite a few winners, but mostly losers, as there 14 million Mormons).
Gasoline, airline travel and tissue sales should see a big bump in the coming weeks. Expect a shortage of golden harps and angel wings.

Oh crap, my ticket was 47,001!

[phaster]

Sometimes it helps ease the pain if we understand why bad things happen.

Televangelist Pat Robertson responded to the dramatic market sell-off today by suggesting that it was only a foretaste of God’s judgment for legal abortion and federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation
(Luke 6:24)

After the recent market turbulence I'm considering giving up being an "investor" and switching to becoming an evangelical holy roller who preaches a "prosperity gospel" because I've kinda researched the topic:

http://phaster.com/burningman_2007/Envi ... ology.html

problem is, I know to become a successful "holy roller" I'd have to hone the talent to act as if I really believe the BS, be willing to sell my soul and screw some dumb bastard out of their hard earned money....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg

[Apneaman]

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Televangelists (HBO)

"U.S. tax law allows television preachers to get away with almost anything. We know this from personal experience.

Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption will not be able to accept donations from Church supporters from the states of Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania, or South Carolina. We apologize for any inconvenience.
"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg

[Tanada]

There is nothing Black about Monday. It's a buying opportunity. I'm putting all my money into Compaq. They invented a portable computer that will runs rings around my IBM!

Dang Peter, I told you it is spelled CSX! Maybe NS and BNSF while you are at it!

[Sixstrings]

Sometimes it helps ease the pain if we understand why bad things happen.

Televangelist Pat Robertson responded to the dramatic market sell-off today by suggesting that it was only a foretaste of God’s judgment for legal abortion and federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

Preachers and finance don't mix.

I remember when I was a kid, glued to the tv watching Jim Bakker sell the same (unbuilt) spiritual resort condo to 1000 different buyers.

Even sold one thousand times over, somehow, there still wasn't enough money to build it.

[Sixstrings]

Peter Schiff on U.S. Dollar Crisis: "The Dollar Bubble Is Going to Burst"

"Many blame the surprise China yuan devaluation for the sell-off."

"But Schiff has a completely different take. He believes investors should be worried about the United States, not China…"

"Schiff went on to say the dollar has been propped up on hype and speculation. And the U.S. Federal Reserve is to blame – not China."

Nope, I'd say Schiff is wrong.

Dollar is strong because:

* Capital flight to safety, with all the turmoil in the world past couple years. Safety is the US dollar, I'm not spinning a narrative, it just is what it is. People buy dollars, dollar goes up.

* Fundamentals. Europe actually has more economic problems than we do. So, people buy dollars, the dollar goes up.

* Real economy deflation. Lack of dollars in working class and middle class hands, out there in "real america." And lots of poor folks. Lack of dollar circulation = dollar value up.

* There has been all the quantitative easing and low interest rates and such, but that money all went to the financial sector and growth in China and then just hoards of cash on corporate balance books. But the cash sits there, or is invested offshore. Lack of dollars actually circulating, on main street, = deflation and dollar value up.

* China has been devaluing, whereas we have not, plus we've got all these people in the world buying dollars which is pushing it up. The "strong dollar" problem could be solved, with government policies aimed at boosting dollars circulating in working class and middle class pockets, on main street.

"Our economy is in much worse shape than the Chinese economy. The Fed is going to be forced to admit this," Schiff said.

I wouldn't say "much worse," maybe not even "worse" at all and actually we're better off than Europe as far as economic health.

The Fed is actually worried about the fact there aren't enough dollars in the pockets of working and middle class people, and enough dollars circulating in the real main street economy. As yet, our politicians have not done anything to get more dollars circulating. The Fed alone is actually very limited in what it can do -- just interest rates and liquidity to banks.

It takes a government to raise a minimum wage, or hire government workers, or government spend on infrastructure, or do *something*.

Lots of different ways to bake a cake, but somebody needs to start cooking.

"They're not going to be raising interest rates; they're going to be doing QE4. That's going to sink the dollar, and then the Chinese are going to have to revalue their currency much higher in the future against the dollar, and it's the dollar collapsing that's going to hurt the U.S. Not this recent move by China."

Hmmmm.. he's BIT correct. The QE will be to BAIL CHINA OUT. And then, we'll be left holding the bag, with a collapsed dollar yet nothing to show for it either.

"Schiff pointed out in his Newsmax interview that the United States has an enormous trade deficit with China. The goods Americans want to consume are made in China – not vice versa."

True. We need to "make america great again" and at least cut down on the number of jobs going offshore, and get some jobs back in the USA, and also we have to do something about what is actually capital flight OUT of main street.

China's economy is far more powerful, far more dynamic than the American economy. That's why we have these big deficits. But people believe in the myth of this U.S. economy, they believe that this bubble is genuine. They made the same mistake in the late 1990s; they made the same mistake right before the financial crisis of 2008. They're making a mistake again," Schiff said."

Partly true. I wouldn't go so far as "much more powerful," but they are more diverse. US actually is still the #1 economy, no? Last I checked, China is close but didn't quite top us.

Our problem: we're too services sector and financial sector focused. We need to diversify, get some manufacturing back.

On creativity and innovation and science, we have a massive edge on that, already.

Asia's good on some engineering innovation though, like with mag lev and bullet trains and major projects.

"We're on the verge of a much worse financial crisis than the one we went through in 2008, and it's going to take the form of a currency crisis."

He's right on that.

[davep]

As yet, our politicians have not done anything to get more dollars circulating. The Fed alone is actually very limited in what it can do -- just interest rates and liquidity to banks.

90% of money creation comes from private bank loans (the other roughly 10% from Government debt). That's why there has been QE (to encourage the banks to loan). It's the banks who have decided to use the money elsewhere (because interest rates are too low to make a decent profit on loans) who are to blame, not the Government. The Government cannot create money. Their only way of stimulating the economy is to borrow even more and do some kind of New Deal.

That's what happens when you entrust money creation to entities that have their own interests that do not coincide with the common good.

[Sixstrings]

[It's the banks who have decided to use the money elsewhere (because interest rates are too low to make a decent profit on loans) who are to blame, not the Government. The Government cannot create money. Their only way of stimulating the economy is to borrow even more and do some kind of New Deal.

Well, I said *get dollars circulating*, not *create dollars*.

LOTS of money is getting created, sure. Banks loan to rich guys and hedge funds for them to play the markets and invest offshore.

The money is there, but it's not *in the real economy*. The "real economy" is brick and mortar in one's town, the businesses there, the big ones and small ones like restaurants and barber shops.

There is liquidity, but it's sitting in the markets or it's sitting on corporate balance sheets / is likely all offshore and won't ever be coming back to the domestic US anyway. (Bermuda alone has a building with 18,000 corporate "hq's." Each HQ is a post office box, and that's where the world's corps say all their profits originate. On the island of Bermuda.)

I don't know how the things are in Europe, but the "real economy" -- main street -- in the USA -- never really recovered, since '08.

There is not a money creation problem, we've got a money circulation problem. That's part of why the dollar is high, one of the factors.

A $15 min wage is a no brainer, that should have already been passed. It's actually exactly what the economy needs. It's not about "creating" more money, it's about forcing some dollars out of the corporate vaults and into the hands of all the actual people running around this country, so they can run around and circulate it at "main street" businesses.

Other ways to get money circulating in the "real world" real economy:

* Direct government spending. Could be infrastructure, could be new socialist benefits like free college or whatever, etc.
* Mail checks out to people. Welfare, or just mail checks out, whatever.

The best option, I think, would be to just boost workers' wages. And then real economy economic growth would follow that.

We've got a problem where the dollar is too high, a dollar can only be so high if there's a deflation situation and dollar scarcity in the "real world" on "main street." Ergo, circulate the dollars so there is not dollar scarcity, ergo, give the working class people a major pay raise. It would breathe life into the economy and get it growing, and bring the dollar down a bit which is what we need to do anyway in the face of China's ongoing yuan devaluations.

edit: or another idea, "universal basic income." We've got a definite problem in the US, there is money but it is all in those servers and bits and chips and 1's and 0's and it's digital and just sitting on one little circuit on a motherboard that's got nothing to do with a town in the USA actually growing and somebody opening a new barbershop and there being a line full of people that can afford a new haircut.