{"id":39419,"date":"2016-10-08T05:15:27","date_gmt":"2016-10-08T12:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=39419"},"modified":"2016-10-11T09:20:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T16:20:49","slug":"black-coffee-reports-of-a-hurricane-are-unfounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id39419-black-coffee-reports-of-a-hurricane-are-unfounded.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Reports of a Hurricane are Unfounded"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hurricane-flags\"<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Okay, let’s get right to it …<\/p>\n

Reports of a hurricane are unfounded.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— BBC meteorologist Michael Fish, hours before the Great Storm of 1987<\/a><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> I see it’s not just Deutsche Bank that’s having problems. Germany’s second largest financial institution, Commerzbank, announced they are going to lay off 18%<\/a> of its workforce; that’s 9,000 jobs in all. Imagine that.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Never mind the commercial banks … with almost $16 trillion worth of sovereign debt trading with a negative yield, the real question everyone needs to be concerned about is how much longer will investors trust central banks<\/a>? Frankly, I lost faith in 2012. And if I was smarter, it would have been much sooner than that.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Need proof of the Fed’s incompetence? Behold their handiwork: Since 1999 year-end through 2015 home prices have risen 76%<\/a> while household mean real income has grown less than 2%. After all, where do you think the cash came from that enabled such price disparity in the face of stagnant wages?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Wait, there’s more: Without the Fed, the US wouldn’t have been able to end the 2016 fiscal year with $1.4 trillion more debt<\/a> either. As Simon Black notes, the US managed to increase the National Debt this year by a larger percentage of GDP than the entire cost of the New Deal, Marshall Plan, and 2008 bank bailout — and what do we have to show for it?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> If former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers’ recent proposal to allow sustained government stock purchases<\/a> is any indication — no, really — then that $1.4 trillion of additional debt obviously didn’t buy us much. Well … unless you consider keeping Americans’ artificially-high standard of living going a bit longer a wise “investment.” (Psst. It’s not — especially for our kids.)<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> The bottom line is that the world’s economic system is on its death bed<\/a> and real economic growth will never return until a new system is put in place. Just don’t tell that to the folks who prefer to keep their head buried in the sand — or inserted in dark and smelly orifices.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Our failing economic system is the reason why corruption is now rampant. In fact, some people say we’re in a state of peak corruption. The good news is that widespread graft is signaling we’re quickly approaching the end of the road<\/a> for our current international monetary system. Yes, the health of our monetary system and the level of corruption are inversely related.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Incredibly, despite all of the financial turmoil in the markets over the past fortnight, on Friday gold fell for the ninth consecutive day<\/a>. Nope, nothing strange about that. Nothing at all. Of course, only a nut would say there’s something wrong with the price discovery process. Why? Because, Silly, the markets are transparent, fair, and free!<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Financial analyst Dave Kranzler suggests the attack on precious metals may be signaling an imminent bank failure<\/a>. Specifically, the Fed is manipulating the market “to prevent gold from alerting the public that a potentially catastrophic financial hurricane is offshore.”<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Then again, the falling price of gold may not<\/em> be signaling an imminent bank failure. But something<\/em> bad is coming<\/a> — so watch out. More Kranzler: “If the masses were allowed to see gold’s ‘canary’ die in the ‘coal mine’ behind the elitists’ ‘curtain,’ it would enable those paying attention to get their money out of (the system) before it’s vaporized by whatever financial hurricane is brewing.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Whether that storm is just offshore or still far out to sea, one thing is certain: the US dollar’s days are numbered<\/a>. So make sure you’re prepared because, just like with Hurricane Katrina, the government won’t be around to save you when you find yourself underwater.<\/p>\n

By the Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past week, Hurricane Matthew seemed to steal all the headlines. Here’s a few numbers on the massive storm:<\/p>\n

300<\/strong><\/span><\/span> The approximate number of people killed by the storm through Friday evening.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong><\/span><\/span> States of emergencies declared in the US as a result of Matthew. (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina)<\/p>\n

130<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Speed, in miles per hour, of the storm’s maximum sustained winds while it was in Florida.<\/p>\n

3785<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Number of flights cancelled as a result of the storm.<\/p>\n

4,800,000<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Number of customers served by Florida Power & Light.<\/p>\n

2,500,000<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Number of customers who were expected to lose power as a result of the storm.<\/p>\n

Source: USAToday<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Question of the Week<\/strong><\/p>\n

[poll id=”132″]<\/p>\n

Last Week’s Poll Result<\/strong><\/p>\n

Does your stove, oven and clothes dryer run on electricity or natural gas?<\/p>\n