Podcast

Inflation and Radiation – Update

For those concerned about the reports of contaminated milk and radioactive rain, the levels are far, far below anything that should be on your personal worry list at this time. Perhaps that could change, but something would have to materially deteriorate at the Fukushima plant complex before I would devote much time to that here in the Americas.

And even if there were some sort of steam explosion over there, we’d have roughly eight days before that would reach the west coast. I am leery of the last-minute changes to the EPA radnet site and do not trust the site as my first source for radiation readings. The one I check every day is run by amateurs with no particular axe to grind or concerns about scaring the populace, and so I trust it a bit more. You can find it here:

Inflation and Radiation – Update

PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

Straight Talk with Jesse: Concentration of Wealth & Power Is the Root Problem

by Chris Martenson

"Straight Talk" features thinking from notable minds that the PeakProsperity.com audience has indicated it wants to learn more about. Readers submit the questions they want addressed and our guests take their best crack at answering. The comments and opinions expressed by our guests are their own.

This week's Straight Talk contributor is 'Jesse', founder and proprieter of Jesse's Café Américain (jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com), one of the more esteemed and veteran econoblogs. Jesse publishes regular observations on the macroeconomic factors impacting the financial markets, as well as exceptionally rich technical analysis – his price forecast charts of gold and silver are 'must reads' for anyone who seriously invests or trades precious metals. Recently, his site was rated as the fourth-most-influential blog in financial media by Mindful Money.

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1. Jesse’s Café Américain has emerged as a well-regarded source for insight into the key indicators driving the markets. Can you summarize your overall outlook for the economy and what macro trends investors and traders should be following most closely?

Stagflation has been my forecast for quite some time as the most likely outcome, with a real protracted deflation or hyperinflation as lesser probabilities.

Straight Talk with Jesse: Concentration of Wealth & Power Is the Root Problem

by Chris Martenson

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 6.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Verdana}

1. Jesse’s Café Américain has emerged as a well-regarded source for insight into the key indicators driving the markets. Can you summarize your overall outlook for the economy and what macro trends investors and traders should be following most closely?

Stagflation has been my forecast for quite some time as the most likely outcome, with a real protracted deflation or hyperinflation as lesser probabilities.

Nothing To Trust (UPDATED – Wed, 12:00 p.m.)

PREVIEW

by Chris Martenson

Here’s an update for Wednesday, March 30.

[quote=guardia]

My gut feeling is that the media here in Japan is so dramatically downplaying the severity of the situation that all Japanese have already forgotten all about it… I’m guessing it’s the same abroad

Samuelhte

[/quote]

The news blackout continues into today.

The NYTimes only has one article on the front page about the reactors and it’s about how confidence is slipping in TEPCO. No hard data of any sort, just a filler piece on the communication difficulties.
The WSJ has an article on the front about the 3,355x radiation found in the seawater, but absolutely nothing about the isotopes involved and what these would imply. I am 99% certain that they would indicate a resumption of fission. My best guess is that reactor #3, which we all saw blow up with our own eyes (at least the secondary containment vessel), is the main culprit here, but it doesn’t really matter. FISSION is happening. F.I.S.S.I.O.N. Fission. That’s the main story, not how many times background is in the ocean.
There’s not a single article – not one – about Japan’s reactor situation on the entire front page of Bloomberg’s on-line edition this morning. Not one.
There is nothing in any of the Japanese press right now that I would constitute as hard data about the true condition of the reactors. No temperature or isotope data to be seen.

(more)

Nothing To Trust (UPDATED – Wed, 12:00 p.m.)

PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

Here’s an update for Wednesday, March 30.

[quote=guardia]

Samuelhte

[/quote]

The news blackout continues into today.

The NYTimes only has one article on the front page about the reactors and it’s about how confidence is slipping in TEPCO. No hard data of any sort, just a filler piece on the communication difficulties.
The WSJ has an article on the front about the 3,355x radiation found in the seawater, but absolutely nothing about the isotopes involved and what these would imply. I am 99% certain that they would indicate a resumption of fission. My best guess is that reactor #3, which we all saw blow up with our own eyes (at least the secondary containment vessel), is the main culprit here, but it doesn’t really matter. FISSION is happening. F.I.S.S.I.O.N. Fission. That’s the main story, not how many times background is in the ocean.
There’s not a single article – not one – about Japan’s reactor situation on the entire front page of Bloomberg’s on-line edition this morning. Not one.
There is nothing in any of the Japanese press right now that I would constitute as hard data about the true condition of the reactors. No temperature or isotope data to be seen.

(more)

Food Storage Made Easy

by Adam Taggart

The events in Japan – stripping grocery shelves and leaving thousands of families without food, water, electricity, or sanitation – provide us with grim motivation to assess our own levels of personal resilience. How prepared are you if a similar disaster (natural or man-made) were to suddently strike where you live?

I, for one, still have more gaps than I would like. Like many folks, I've been genuinely intending to get around to filling them soon, but noble plans have little value the moment after the unexpected occurs. As Chris often says, it's immeasurably better to be a year early with your preps than a day late.

Food Storage Made Easy

by Adam Taggart

Reactor Breach Finally Admitted (sort of)

PREVIEW

by Chris Martenson

Japanese officials, who continue to stonewall even the IAEA, have finally admitted something that we all knew the instant we saw Reactor #3 blow a column of debris a thousand feet straight into the air: the core is damaged. It was unthinkable that the maze of pipes and wires required to be fully intact in order to both have pumps running and coolant not leaking could have survived that insult.

First the news and then the analysis.

Reactor Breach Finally Admitted (sort of)

PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

First the news and then the analysis.

The Journey From Here to There Has Begun

PREVIEW

by Chris Martenson

Well, things at the reactors seem to have been far worse than we were told. Again, regrettably, I am operating on incomplete information that is out of date, and quite probably not only incomplete but also, if past trends are predictive, understated. Sooner or later I am going to get something very wrong in this story, which I worry about a lot, but so far I have been well ahead of the curve.

The conclusion of the data and educated guesses below is that if you live in Tokyo or closer, and can take a vacation to Nagoya, or somewhere further, please do so. If not, please be ready to shelter in place for a while by having food and water stored in your domicile.

The troubling news (admission?) has to do with a neutron beam detected last week over a three day period:

The Journey From Here to There Has Begun

PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

The troubling news (admission?) has to do with a neutron beam detected last week over a three day period:

Straight Talk with John Rubino: The Damage Is Already Done

by Chris Martenson

This week's Straight Talk contributor is John Rubino, publisher of DollarCollapse.com, a popular hub for news impacting the economy. John is the author of several well-received books foretelling (years in advance) the collapse of the housing market and the decline of the US dollar. Before starting his website, John was a featured columnist with theStreet.com, Individual Investor, and a number of other influential financial publications. His perspective on Wall Street and the currency markets is shaped by his past roles as a Eurodollar trader, equity analyst and junk bond analyst in the 1980s.

1. Several times, you’ve published prescient forecasts when it mattered. For example, you and James Turk published The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit From It in 2004 – about a year and half before the US Dollar Index dropped from 90 to nearly 70. Similarly, How to Profit From the Coming Real Estate Bust was released in 2003. What led you to accurately predict these major market moves so far in advance?

I’ve been involved, one way or another, with financial bubbles for most of my life.

Straight Talk with John Rubino: The Damage Is Already Done

by Chris Martenson

1. Several times, you’ve published prescient forecasts when it mattered. For example, you and James Turk published The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit From It in 2004 – about a year and half before the US Dollar Index dropped from 90 to nearly 70. Similarly, How to Profit From the Coming Real Estate Bust was released in 2003. What led you to accurately predict these major market moves so far in advance?

I’ve been involved, one way or another, with financial bubbles for most of my life.

Special Report: Japanese Reactor Situation is Likely Far Worse Than Admitted

PREVIEW

by Chris Martenson

I know that I have been almost exclusively focused on the Fukushima situation even as the Middle East is erupting and the West has declared war on another small, oil-rich country. I wish I had time to analyze both situations with equal attention. Since I don’t, I’m focusing more on the situation in Japan, which I see is still the more dire of the two.

Analysis of another ‘shaky-cam’ video released yesterday reveals what appears to be a startling hot-spot in the rubble of Reactor #1, which we will examine below.

The Fukushima nuclear situation is the most drastic nuclear event of our lifetimes, and could easily surpass Chernobyl in terms of its impacts on the world economy, to say nothing of the people living near and downwind of the reactors.

I am simply aghast that the reactor situation almost entirely disappeared from the front pages of the US news media over the March 20-21 weekend, to be replaced by (comforting?) images of military and technical superiority against Libya.

While I am quite concerned about the timing, strategy, and intent that lies behind this sudden support for the Libyan rebels (Wag The Dog, anyone?), it is clear to me that what happens in Japan next has a greater chance of impacting most of the rest of the world, to say nothing of Japan itself.

Here’s an example of the latest news, such as it is, about the reactor situation in Japan:

Special Report: Japanese Reactor Situation is Likely Far Worse Than Admitted

PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

Analysis of another ‘shaky-cam’ video released yesterday reveals what appears to be a startling hot-spot in the rubble of Reactor #1, which we will examine below.

Here’s an example of the latest news, such as it is, about the reactor situation in Japan:

Nuclear Expert’s Step-By-Step Assessment of the Fukushima Disaster & What You Need to Know

by Chris Martenson

Chris speaks with a nuclear expert to demystify Fukushima’s reactor crisis, exploring reactor mechanics, decay heat, and the risks of radioactivity versus contamination.

Nuclear Expert’s Step-By-Step Assessment of the Fukushima Disaster & What You Need to Know

by Chris Martenson

Chris speaks with a nuclear expert to demystify Fukushima’s reactor crisis, exploring reactor mechanics, decay heat, and the risks of radioactivity versus contamination.

Bud Conrad: Japan Is Forcing Us out of the Eye and into the Storm

by Chris Martenson

Bud Conrad, Casey Research's chief economist, believes that our historic paradigm of continuous economic growth has reached an end. In his view, we have been funding growth in recent decades via first issuing an unsustainable amount of public and private debt, and more recently by runaway money printing. This has led to a temporary sense of calm – which Bud calls the 'eye of the storm' – which he believes we are now emerging from into much more troubled waters.

The tragic developments in Japan are likely to serve as one of (probably several) the catalysts that will trigger market dislocations that will accelerate the collapse. He and Chris are concerned that the global economy is unprepared for the world's third largest economy to quickly shift from being a net exporter of goods and funding to a consumer of them.

Bud Conrad: Japan Is Forcing Us out of the Eye and into the Storm

by Chris Martenson

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