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Image | Dollar Crisis – What are the odds?
Dollar Crisis – What are the odds?
by Chris Martenson

The US dollar is poised to face its most serious challenges since the slamming of the gold window by Nixon in 1971.  If the dollar fails and loses 20%, 40%, or even 90% of its international value, everything that we import, notably energy, will skyrocket in price.

And with that, so will all other basic living expenses, such as goods that are tied to energy.  This means pretty much everything.
Dollar Crisis – What are the odds?
 by Chris Martenson

The US dollar is poised to face its most serious challenges since the slamming of the gold window by Nixon in 1971.  If the dollar fails and loses 20%, 40%, or even 90% of its international value, everything that we import, notably energy, will skyrocket in price.

And with that, so will all other basic living expenses, such as goods that are tied to energy.  This means pretty much everything.
Image | Treasury seeks to expand definition of “troubled assets” covered by bailout
Treasury seeks to expand definition of “troubled assets” covered by bailout
by Chris Martenson

I know things are moving fast, but I object to
retroactive editing of online articles without any indication that
this has been done.

I captured the quote (below) from this article in Bloomberg
earlier, but it no longer exists in the linked article.  You can still
find this quote in the Google flush, but I don’t know how long it will
remain there either.

Treasury seeks to expand definition of “troubled assets” covered by bailout
 by Chris Martenson

I know things are moving fast, but I object to
retroactive editing of online articles without any indication that
this has been done.

I captured the quote (below) from this article in Bloomberg
earlier, but it no longer exists in the linked article.  You can still
find this quote in the Google flush, but I don’t know how long it will
remain there either.

Image | Dollar down, gold up, and markets down – bailout hits a snag (?)
Dollar down, gold up, and markets down – bailout hits a snag (?)
by Chris Martenson

Looks like the markets are not all that impressed with the bailout plan.  I suspect that his reflects concerns that the plan may not sail through smoothly, as hoped by Paulson and Bush.

Turns out a bunch of people wrote their representatives (thanks everybody!),and a lot of editorial pages came out against this massive act of larceny.  
Dollar down, gold up, and markets down – bailout hits a snag (?)
 by Chris Martenson

Looks like the markets are not all that impressed with the bailout plan.  I suspect that his reflects concerns that the plan may not sail through smoothly, as hoped by Paulson and Bush.

Turns out a bunch of people wrote their representatives (thanks everybody!),and a lot of editorial pages came out against this massive act of larceny.  
Image | What the latest bailout plan means
What the latest bailout plan means
by Chris Martenson

Now that the details are out, we can safely state that the US political and financial leadership has completely sold out the taxpayers and has done so in a manner that is startling, both in its recklessness and its brazenness.

The reckless part I will spell out in the details below.

The brazen part is in how this is being spun out, as if the entire plan were hatched in a hurried rush, at the last minute, after events forced the issue.  This is the spin, but it is completely false.
What the latest bailout plan means
 by Chris Martenson

Now that the details are out, we can safely state that the US political and financial leadership has completely sold out the taxpayers and has done so in a manner that is startling, both in its recklessness and its brazenness.

The reckless part I will spell out in the details below.

The brazen part is in how this is being spun out, as if the entire plan were hatched in a hurried rush, at the last minute, after events forced the issue.  This is the spin, but it is completely false.
Image | The Day Everything Changed
The Day Everything Changed
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson
Friday, September 29, 2008

Executive Summary

  • Official market intervention has been openly confirmed.
  • US markets can no longer inspire world confidence.
  • The rules have changed.

"After today, nothing will ever be quite the same in the US financial markets.  A turning point has been reached.  Many people will not be aware of this for another 6 to 8 months, but we will someday refer to our financial markets as “before 9/19” and “after 9/19.”

Prior to this week, mine was one of a few voices that warned of the degree to which official intervention had been creeping into our markets.  I first noticed this behavior some years back, with very strangely-timed, massive futures-buying operations that would hit the market at the most improbably fortuitous times.

If this had happened once or twice, I could have written it off as a strange trading strategy, worked out by some clever hedge fund. But one of the rules of trading is that if you try the same thing over and over again, eventually the other players will see what you are doing and steal your lunch.

Yet whoever was doing this did it brazenly and seemingly without regard for their entry prices…a surefire way to shovel money into the market and lose it.   Who could be doing this, and why?  I formed  suspicions, talked to people, gathered evidence, weighed the odds, and concluded that this had to be official intervention.
The Day Everything Changed
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson
Friday, September 29, 2008

Executive Summary

  • Official market intervention has been openly confirmed.
  • US markets can no longer inspire world confidence.
  • The rules have changed.

"After today, nothing will ever be quite the same in the US financial markets.  A turning point has been reached.  Many people will not be aware of this for another 6 to 8 months, but we will someday refer to our financial markets as “before 9/19” and “after 9/19.”

Prior to this week, mine was one of a few voices that warned of the degree to which official intervention had been creeping into our markets.  I first noticed this behavior some years back, with very strangely-timed, massive futures-buying operations that would hit the market at the most improbably fortuitous times.

If this had happened once or twice, I could have written it off as a strange trading strategy, worked out by some clever hedge fund. But one of the rules of trading is that if you try the same thing over and over again, eventually the other players will see what you are doing and steal your lunch.

Yet whoever was doing this did it brazenly and seemingly without regard for their entry prices…a surefire way to shovel money into the market and lose it.   Who could be doing this, and why?  I formed  suspicions, talked to people, gathered evidence, weighed the odds, and concluded that this had to be official intervention.
Image | Is anyone left to save WaMu?
Is anyone left to save WaMu?
by Chris Martenson

This was the title of an article from what seems like a hundred days ago.  But it was only Monday.

Tonight we found out the answer.  No.

[quote]SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Washington Mutual, which put it self up for sale this week, has yet to attract any bidders, the Financial Times reported late Thursday on its Web site.

Potential buyers are reluctant to take on WaMu’s huge portfolio of risky mortgages, the newspaper explained. [/quote]
Is anyone left to save WaMu?
 by Chris Martenson

This was the title of an article from what seems like a hundred days ago.  But it was only Monday.

Tonight we found out the answer.  No.

[quote]SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Washington Mutual, which put it self up for sale this week, has yet to attract any bidders, the Financial Times reported late Thursday on its Web site.

Potential buyers are reluctant to take on WaMu’s huge portfolio of risky mortgages, the newspaper explained. [/quote]
Image | Markets down – a rule change – then markets up
Markets down – a rule change – then markets up
by Chris Martenson

Here’s my take on why the stock market bolted up out of the blue and gold got hit at the exact same time.

We are now in the stage of this crisis where the financial authorities are going to be using every trick in the bag to keep asset prices up and in safe territory.

Every trick except honesty and transparency, that is.
Markets down – a rule change – then markets up
 by Chris Martenson

Here’s my take on why the stock market bolted up out of the blue and gold got hit at the exact same time.

We are now in the stage of this crisis where the financial authorities are going to be using every trick in the bag to keep asset prices up and in safe territory.

Every trick except honesty and transparency, that is.
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