It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …
Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.
Let’s get right to it this week …
Credits and Debits
Debit: Shortages of basic medical supplies in the people’s socialist paradise of Venezuela are now so acute that citizens are hopping onto Twitter and sending out desperate tweets for treatment. Sad.
Debit: The dearth of prescription drugs and other key supplies is so dire there that 15% of Venezuelan cancer patients are dying as a direct result of the shortages. Folks, this is what happens when socialist utopias begin running out of other people’s money.
Debit: Frankly, it ain’t so great anywhere. Last week it was reported that the world’s central banks are now printing enough cash to buy the bonds required to cover 100% of government borrowing needs — plus a little extra for … well, whatever else is needed to keep global markets inflated.
Credit: As Bill Bonner notes, when markets were honest: “Bond traders could ‘just say no’ to government bonds. If inflation increased, bond vigilantes would ride to the rescue, forcing the feds to raise interest rates. Now debt really doesn’t matter!”
Debit: He’s right; if the central banks can get away with printing whatever is needed to cover all debts, then why bother being fiscally responsible? (Hint: They can’t — at some point, economic reality will prevail.)
Debit: Meanwhile, the Baltic Dry Index — which measures worldwide shipping costs of raw materials like coal, iron ore, steel and cement — has plunged 77% since December 2013. In fact, the index hit an all-time low earlier this week. How can that be, if everything is so rosy?
Credit: What makes the Baltic Dry Index so important is that it consists of inputs from multiple independent sources; therefore, it’s extremely difficult to manipulate. And that makes the BDI a realistic indicator of global economic health.
Credit: You couldn’t tell from the stock market that the world is struggling with a Weekend at Bernie’s economy; both the Dow and S&P hit all-time highs this week. If you’re thinking “deja vu,” you’re not alone.
Debit: Then again, the stock market is so hot that there’s now an IPO in the works from a startup that is hoping to raise lots of cash for a bigfoot expedition. I know. For what it’s worth, I tried clicking my heels three times. Unfortunately, I’m still here.
Credit: Laugh all you want at those who believe in sasquatches; but according to Peter Hug, a metals executive for Kitco, 25% of those who protect their wealth with physical gold are the ones who are truly cuckoo. Really?
Credit: We’ll see, Mr. Hug; but unlike the bigfoot mystery, I think we’re going to find out sooner rather than later whether the so-called gold bugs are crazy — or simply crazy like a fox.
By the Numbers
Amaze your friends with these bigfoot facts:
17 Length, in inches, of the typical sasquatch footprint.
1811 Year that the first sasquatch footprints were discovered.
35 A bigfoot’s top running speed, in miles per hour.
10 The maximum height of a bigfoot, in feet.
490 Typical sasquatch weight, in pounds.
80% Supposedly, the chance of surviving a bigfoot confrontation if you offer it food. (No, really.)
1965 Year that Russia put the sasquatch on its endangered species list. (Two years later, France and Germany did too.)
Source: Mirror
The Question of the Week
[poll id="49"]
Last Week’s Poll Result
How much credit card debt are you currently paying interest on?
- $0 (79%)
- $1 to $999 (8%)
- $1000 to $4999 (6%)
- $10,000 or more (5%)
- $5000 to $9999 (2%)
More than 300 people answered this week’s survey question and I’m happy to report that 4 out of 5 respondents don’t pay a dime of interest to their credit card companies. That’s awesome news!
Other Useless News
Here are the top — and bottom — five Canadian provinces and territories in terms of the average number of pages viewed per visit here at Len Penzo dot Com over the past 30 days:
1. Manitoba (2.13 pages/visit)
2. Alberta (2.09)
3. Newfoundland (2.00)
4. Quebec (1.94)
5. Saskatchewan (1.91)
9. Ontario (1.75)
10. British Columbia (1.69)
11. Yukon Territory (1.33)
12. Northwest Territories (1.25)
13. Nunavut (1.00)
Whether you happen to enjoy what you’re reading (like those crazy Canucks in Manitoba, eh) — or not (you hosers living on the frozen Nunavut tundra) — please don’t forget to:
1. Click on that Like button in the sidebar to your right and become a fan of Len Penzo dot Com on Facebook!
2. Make sure you follow me on Twitter!
3. Subscribe via email too!
And last, but not least …
4. Consider becoming a Len Penzo dot Com Insider! Thank you.
Letters, I Get Letters
Every week I feature the most interesting question or comment — assuming I get one, that is. And folks who are lucky enough to have the only question in the mailbag get their letter highlighted here whether it’s interesting or not! You can reach me at: Len@LenPenzo.com
My New York Times op-ed piece on restaurant no-tipping policies evoked some … let’s call them “passionate” responses — on their site and mine. Here’s one from Samantha:
This article is so offensive.
Uh huh. And I take it you must be new here.
I’m Len Penzo and I approved this message.
Photo Credit: brendan-c
So Len, do you think the powers that be will EVER stop the insanity of pretending that the economy is really improving? Or will they continue to marvel at how nicely the emperor’s new clothes fit, even as we go over the brink?
No, Lauren, I don’t. If I had to guess, I think this game is going to go on until there is a currency crisis resulting from a lack of confidence spurred by all of this central bank printing and market intervention. We’re getting there.
Clearly, a growing number of people and nations throughout the world are beginning to realize that the US dollar is increasingly backed by empty promises. The last month the US recorded a trade surplus was April 1982. Since then, not a month has gone by when our nation hasn’t spent more in trade than we sold to other nations. Based on those gargantuan trade deficits over the past 30+ years, the US dollar should already be dead — or at least massively devalued — the only reason it is still kicking is because the USD is the world’s reserve currency.
How many people need to wake up before the dollar crisis-in-confidence I’m talking about finally gets here? Not as many as you might think; after all, it doesn’t take much to start a panic! Consider a movie theater full of people who are watching a film. At first, you might observe one or two people get up and leave in a hurry. Then a few more. At some point, long before even half the crowd gets up, you can bet that the rest of the theater audience will sense danger and suddenly stampede for the exits — even if they have no idea why.
Although I am almost certain it will be here before the end of this decade, I don’t know exactly when our day of reckoning will get here — but when it does come, it will come quickly. And when it does there will be very little time, if any, to react.
And if I’m wrong? Well, there is very little financial risk in carrying a reasonable amount of wealth protection and being wrong. On the other hand, those who choose NOT to carry any wealth protection are exposing themselves to catastrophic financial risk if the dollar crashes. Which is why I believe those who consciously choose to avoid owning any wealth insurance are being fiscally irresponsible in their own right — especially with all the warning signs around us today that indicate our debt-based economic system is hopelessly broken. (Including all of this clucking from “Chicken Littles” like me.) 😉
You spell it out so well, and I DO hope people are listening, because this fantasy economy can’t continue much longer.
Aww I got an article mention. I’m flattered! No, I’m not new, I have been reading for quite a while. I just find your attitudes about servers and tipping to be… offensive. Everything else is pretty great, or I wouldn’t continue reading. Cheers!
Fair enough. Cheers, Samantha!
Len,
I continue to attempt to vote in your weekly survey, but hitting the vote button does not seem to work.
I’m sorry, Henry. There is a glitch in the voting software. It works for some browsers, but not others.; hopefully they update their software soon.
Would you *please* remove K Kardtrashian’s picture from your website? I am truly sick of looking at it.
I feel your pain, but judging from the number of people who click on those pictures, we’re in the minority, BillyBob.