THIS IS WHAT'S UP WITH INDIANA

Last Monday I wrote an article, "WHAT'S UP WITH INDIANA?" . What prompted me was an article I read stating that the government (read you and me) have paid for $14 billion in bogus unemployment benefits. The article also revealed that Indiana was the worst offender having paind out more in bogus payments than righteous.

I have also had my own experience with Indiana in that the kitchen cabinets Home Depot pushed on me come from a company called Innermost located in Indiana. Innermost is owned by a company called Elkay Manufacturing in Oak Brook, IL.

My experience thus far with Innermost has been a nightmare. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. 70% of the cabinets had to be replaced due to manufacturing flaws. Cabinets have been shipped upside down. The crown molding had to be replaced. The 1/4 round base board molding had to be replaced. A few booboos are to be expected but this company it has serious manufacturing problems, quality control issues and heaven only knows what else.

This morning I came across an article about GARY INDIANA and the decline in to which this city has fallen. You really need to click on the link, scroll through the photos and watch the video near the bottom to experience the level of blight. I'm not sure where the Innermost factory is located but if Gary is any indication of what's going on with Indiana it's really ugly.

If this country is out of the recession, as we are incessantly told, I wonder how the folks in Gary feel about that? My personal opinion is that we never got out of the recession. We've just been limping along waiting for the other shoe to drop which may be any time now. Once it does I'm betting things will get worse than they were in 2008.

©Kinsey Barnard

THE MARKET IS THE TITANIC

 Seating is limited and music is about to stop. Do you have your chair?

 Rick Santelli gives a wonderful rant on debt in the below video. Debt is the problem folks and we are sinking in it.

SOMETHING DARK THIS WAY COMES

Sorry, no pretty pictures today.

I have been an investor since I was ten years old. As of today that would make it fifty three years. My grandmother passed away when I was ten and left me 100 shares of AT&T. That began a life long interest in stocks and investing. I even went so far as to go into finance eventually becoming a VP with Lloyds International Corporation the investment banking arm of Lloyds Plc.

I have been a member of a site called Silicon Investor for the past fourteen years. It's a public forum where people of all investing skills get together and talk, stocks, finance, the economy etc. Over the years I have cut the wheat from the chaff, and believe me there is a lot of chaff, and come to respect certain opinions above others.

This morning I read a post from TH. It resonated with me because I have been having similar feelings myself. I believe the markets have been so corrupted and manipulated that there is no such thing as investing any longer. Other than some natural resource plays I am quit the markets to a great extent. But, I still pay attention because what's going on will impact each and every one of us whether we are in the markets or not.

With TH's permission I am just pasting his post verbatim.

"The Ten at 1.9 and the Thirty below 3.

Just one of many things that are not, "right". I see those yields not as a measure of fear, but out of requirement to keep the game running. And I can't see how these yields offer anything but a negative return. In light of the reality of our fiscal concerns and compounding debt/interest payments, it is nothing short of a measure of insanity.

Or, manipulation.

To my thinking it must be one of the other. Is it played out? One respected pundit says that 1.5 might be the ultimate top for the Ten. Based on all the broken markets, I would not bet against that prediction.

And each morning, around the usual magic hour of 3 AM EST, we get a futures ramp and a gold wacking.

And you, me, the entire world apparently, accepts these things as perfectly normal.

This is not normal.

Miners are sold down to levels reflecting much lower gold and silver valuations. And there appears to be very little real interest in what are now value plays. All while shorts continue to pound way at miners near 52 week lows. If these were financial or housing stocks in 07/08, I could see it.

The reason I think its so quiet on SI and all the threads I haunt around the net is there is a growing confusion and uneasiness. I see it on social websites and financial websites. Something is in the air, and while it can't be defined, the collective has grabbed hold. And yet no one can define it. I can't.

I look at the primary coverage for Paul. And while I'm a strong Paul supporter, I also believe I can step back and objectively look at how he is being treated by the media. The fact that the effort to smear and marginalize him is so pervasive has shocked even a cynic like me. For me it's like the machine has shown itself in full. No mystery here. Its overt and in your face. And it operates on the assumption that the majority are either stupid or don't care. And maybe those assumptions are accurate.

Now there is talk about this internet piracy bill. This is nothing but a tool to stop free and open communication. That is ALL THIS IS. And we stand by and do nothing, while our rights are being stripped away by this liar and fraud Obama (and yes, it is Obama, for it is the President who must step up and do the right things...and yet, we have just the opposite).

It's a rant, but not really. It's more a reference point. Something has changed in just the past few weeks or months and it feels like it's about to snowball.

And while it is just a feeling, it's worth noting that many must be tuned into it.

Something bad is coming, but the smoke from all the recent bad is so thick, I have no a clue what it is.

Maybe going physical and really getting off the grid is the path. I usually just joke about such things, but more and more I'm starting to wonder if that is absolutely the right play.

GT
TH"

©Kinsey Barnard

Cartoons of the Day

A little off the normal topic, these are a few of the political and economic cartoons that I ran across this week. They would be a lot funnier if they didn't hit so close to home.

Rained cats and dogs over night and the cool, wet weather was welcome. Further down south, Montanans are fighting fires.

1. 

The Collapse of the Middle Class

A video well worth taking time to watch. I don't think it's going to be all that long until people start to wake up and find out their destiny is not going to be what they thought it would be.




The market could fall as much as 6,000 for starters. Its' all about the dollar. The dollar has never been at great er risk. Much shorter video well worth listening to.

Some images that speak volumes to me.

Sunshine In Montana- In the Rest of the World Not So Much

Hot digity dog! It was sunny yesterday. Amazing how a little sunshine can lift the spirits. Koty and I took a long hike in the woods. Snow is still pretty deep up higher on the mountain but gads it was good to bask in the sun! We saw two sets of mountain lion tracks in the fresh snow, lots of bunny and bobcat tracks too. The birds were tweeting and all was well with the world. Well, my world anyway.

Snow-capped Mt. Henry in the distance and Lake Koocanusa below. Mt. Henry is actually in British Columbia.

Unfortunately, things in "the other world" aren't all that great. The middle east is in a mess and oil is over $106 this morning. I also just learned that Irish bonds are yielding 10%, a very bad sign. Many people actually think that the Fed can control interest rates. Well, short rates they can but not long bonds. Those rates are set by the marketplace. When faith in the US economy and the once mighty dollar really goes to hell in a hand basket long bond rates will rocket. Anyone with credit card debt or an adjustable mortgage will get slaughtered. When people start having to make higher payments on a house that is losing value I'd imagine there will be a whole new wave of people just walking away. It is going to happen, the only unknowable is the precise when.

I just love reading all the BS about the economic recovery. It is such blatant BS. It shows just how dumb the government thinks the public is. For the most part I think they're right. Or maybe people just believe in the power of positive thinking. Actually, I believe in it myself but positive thinking cannot overcome stupid, irresponsible living and people have been living so far beyond their means it's almost laughable. Only it's really not funny and it hasn't happened by accident. This used to be a country built on self-reliance and hard work. Today it sits in the quicksand of debt and dependence.

Funny and not so funny statistics about our so-called economic recovery.

Precious metals have been on the move again, silver in particular. I believe JP Morgan has a very large short position in silver and it looks like a short squeeze on. Since I believe JPM is amongst the biggest crooks on the planet I'd love to see them get crushed. Problem with that is; the government would mostly likely bail them out with taxpayer money. What a racket these bankster gangsters have. They cannot lose. They make a fortune screwing the public when things go their way and if things should turn against them, no problemo, the government just bails them out and the public gets screwed again. If memory serves the averge walls street bonus is around $128,000. And they say crime doesn't pay?!


©Kinsey Barnard

Spring? Happy Days are Here Again?

Well, the calendar may say it's spring but I sure wouldn't know it by looking out the window or at the thermometer. It snowed all day Friday and it's snowing right now. The temp is 35. Must be global warming. I said global warming was a boondoggle from the start and nothing has happened to change my opinion. The whole thing is just another scam to scare people and part them from their hard earned cash. Like we need more of those types of things.

Over the weekend the UN started to bomb the heck out of Libya and there seemed to be some progress on getting Japan's nuclear reactors under control. This morning the Dow made a moon shoot on all the happy news. Well, there was some not so good news on the economic front but on one wants you to focus on those. Building permits came it at an historic low and this morning real estate sales were reported down nearly 10%. Oil, which dropped during the Japanese earthquake, is now soundly back above $100.

These markets are just insane. It's like watching a manic depressive or someone with ADD. One minute this is good next minute it's bad. It happens so fast that it's hard to keep up.

There is one thing that seems to just keep moving along and that's precious metals. When I got into them, in 1999, gold was around $300/oz. Today, it's trading above $1,400/oz. I told many of my friends and acquaintances that gold was the place to put your money. But, the dot-com craze was the gamble du jour and I was laughed at universally. It always amuses me how people cannot wait to take the advice of so-called experts, all of whom have a vested interest in your taking that advice. And, when someone with absolutely nothing to gain tries to advise a little common sense they are shunned. There is an old saying "The more things change, the more they remain the same." One thing that never seems to change is peoples endless desire to be led down the primrose path.

The "Oracle of Omaha" came out and said Japan is a buy. So, I guess everyone will be buying the Nikkei. I use to have a lot of respect for Warren Buffett but that was before the media and the public decided to deify him. If you think Buffett gives a fig about you and your wealth think again. What he cares about is his shareholders and Bershire Hathaway. He talks his own book. He is well aware of the impact of his public proclamations.

Now I hear there is a new comet, Elenin, headed our way this fall and it's supposed to be a bad omen, as if we need more bad omens especially in the fall.

The "big" moon yesterday was quite something to see. They say it won't be that large again until 2029. It was much more extraordinary in person.

Things are changing and they are changing faster than most realize. I think within two years life as we have known it is going to be changed forever. How do I know? The same way I knew gold was a great investment back in 1999.

Guns and Gold

This morning I'm doing something a little different. One of my subscribers e-mailed me the video that you see below. It's a very good little primer on why one would want to own gold and what a financial and economic pickle this once great country has gotten itself into. It saddens me greatly.

When I was a kid back in the sixties and seventies I was fortunate that I was able to travel abroad. In those days everywhere you went people begged for dollars. American dollars were as good as gold. Not anymore. Today people are more likely to spit on them. Once upon a time we were a can do, self reliant bunch But, today our entitlement and something for nothing attitudes have bankrupted us and the rest of the world knows it.

The conversation is a little like listening to a couple of droids but I recommend you watch this video.



A number of people have had difficulty subscribing to this blog. I have a private subscribers list that I send notification out to each time I post to the blog. If you would like to be added to this list please contact me.

©Kinsey Barnard

Platform Collapse Image and Celente Video

Things beyond my sanctuary have not been pretty.

The oil spill in the Gulf is a terrible tragedy. I came across this image the Horizon collapse. It is the most dramatic that I have seen. It looks like something out of a science-fiction movie.

Sadly, they are still struggling to get things under control.  Crews Dealt Setback.
To think we can go about poking holes in the planet without suffering consequences is beyond naive.

I doubt there are many who are unaware of the 1,000 point intra-day collapse of the stock market last week. I think it was a warning shot across the bow of the Good Ship Lolly Pop. The so called recovery we have been hearing about is nothing but propaganda. There is no recovery and the worst is yet to come.

Below is a Gerald Celente video you should watch. Celente has proven himself time and again to be extraordinarily prescient.



I realize this post is a little off topic but I thought these items might be of interest. I personally believe the economy and the stock market are going to go the way of the Deepwater Horizon. If you aren't prepared for this I suggest you get busy.

©Kinsey Barnard