Tag Archives: recession

A Tale of Two Depressions

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The following content is from www.voxeu.org and the link to the original article is here.  All content is in its original version with no modifications.

I don’t normally completely republish posts, however I thought this one important enough to take such action.  We know that history tends to repeat itself, well humans do the same things over and over.

What struck me were figures 4 and 5.  If history does indeed repeat we are about to see a pull of liquidity, which will strengthen the dollar, while collapsing equity and commodity prices.  However, we have helicopter Ben at the helm who has studied the Great Depression extensively.  Regardless of his conclusions he knows that a reduction in liquidity will push us over the brink into a depression.

As I’ve said before he is threading the needle between depression and recession.  While depression is possible, the increase in the money supply coupled with an increase in government deficit spending at alarming rates points to inflation.  I have to keep an open mind as to the possibilities, which can be difficult when looking at exponential charts.  Perhaps we will have a one two punch.  Read on as it is a fascinating article…

A Tale of Two Depressions

Barry Eichengreen Kevin H. O’Rourke
4 June 2009
This is an update of the authors’ 6 April 2009 column comparing today’s global crisis to the Great Depression. World industrial production, trade, and stock markets are diving faster now than during 1929-30. Fortunately, the policy response to date is much better. The update shows that trade and stock markets have shown some improvement without reversing the overall conclusion — today’s crisis is at least as bad as the Great Depression.

Editor’s note: The 6 April 2009 Vox column by Barry Eichengreen and Kevin O’Rourke shattered all Vox readership records, with 30,000 views in less than 48 hours and over 100,000 within the week. The authors will update the charts as new data emerges; this updated column is the first, presenting monthly data up to April 2009. (The updates and much more will eventually appear in a paper the authors are writing a paper for Economic Policy.)

New findings:

  • World industrial production continues to track closely the 1930s fall, with no clear signs of ‘green shoots’.
  • World stock markets have rebounded a bit since March, and world trade has stabilised, but these are still following paths far below the ones they followed in the Great Depression.
  • There are new charts for individual nations’ industrial output. The big-4 EU nations divide north-south; today’s German and British industrial output are closely tracking their rate of fall in the 1930s, while Italy and France are doing much worse.
  • The North Americans (US & Canada) continue to see their industrial output fall approximately in line with what happened in the 1929 crisis, with no clear signs of a turn around.
  • Japan’s industrial output in February was 25 percentage points lower than at the equivalent stage in the Great Depression. There was however a sharp rebound in March.

The facts for Chile, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Sweden are displayed below; note the rebound in Eastern Europe.

Updated Figure 1. World Industrial Output, Now vs Then (updated)

Updated Figure 2. World Stock Markets, Now vs Then (updated)

Updated Figure 3. The Volume of World Trade, Now vs Then (updated)

Updated Figure 4. Central Bank Discount Rates, Now vs Then (7 country average)

New Figure 5. Industrial output, four big Europeans, then and now

New Figure 6. Industrial output, four Non-Europeans, then and now.

New Figure 7: Industrial output, four small Europeans, then and now.

Start of original column (published 6 April 2009)

The parallels between the Great Depression of the 1930s and our current Great Recession have been widely remarked upon. Paul Krugman has compared the fall in US industrial production from its mid-1929 and late-2007 peaks, showing that it has been milder this time. On this basis he refers to the current situation, with characteristic black humour, as only “half a Great Depression.” The “Four Bad Bears” graph comparing the Dow in 1929-30 and S&P 500 in 2008-9 has similarly had wide circulation (Short 2009). It shows the US stock market since late 2007 falling just about as fast as in 1929-30.

Comparing the Great Depression to now for the world, not just the US

This and most other commentary contrasting the two episodes compares America then and now. This, however, is a misleading picture. The Great Depression was a global phenomenon. Even if it originated, in some sense, in the US, it was transmitted internationally by trade flows, capital flows and commodity prices. That said, different countries were affected differently. The US is not representative of their experiences.

Our Great Recession is every bit as global, earlier hopes for decoupling in Asia and Europe notwithstanding. Increasingly there is awareness that events have taken an even uglier turn outside the US, with even larger falls in manufacturing production, exports and equity prices.

In fact, when we look globally, as in Figure 1, the decline in industrial production in the last nine months has been at least as severe as in the nine months following the 1929 peak. (All graphs in this column track behaviour after the peaks in world industrial production, which occurred in June 1929 and April 2008.) Here, then, is a first illustration of how the global picture provides a very different and, indeed, more disturbing perspective than the US case considered by Krugman, which as noted earlier shows a smaller decline in manufacturing production now than then.

Figure 1. World Industrial Output, Now vs Then

Source: Eichengreen and O’Rourke (2009) and IMF.

Similarly, while the fall in US stock market has tracked 1929, global stock markets are falling even faster now than in the Great Depression (Figure 2). Again this is contrary to the impression left by those who, basing their comparison on the US market alone, suggest that the current crash is no more serious than that of 1929-30.

Figure 2. World Stock Markets, Now vs Then

Source: Global Financial Database.

Another area where we are “surpassing” our forbearers is in destroying trade. World trade is falling much faster now than in 1929-30 (Figure 3). This is highly alarming given the prominence attached in the historical literature to trade destruction as a factor compounding the Great Depression.

Figure 3. The Volume of World Trade, Now vs Then

Sources: League of Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, http://www.cpb.nl/eng/research/sector2/data/trademonitor.html

It’s a Depression alright

To sum up, globally we are tracking or doing even worse than the Great Depression, whether the metric is industrial production, exports or equity valuations. Focusing on the US causes one to minimise this alarming fact. The “Great Recession” label may turn out to be too optimistic. This is a Depression-sized event.

That said, we are only one year into the current crisis, whereas after 1929 the world economy continued to shrink for three successive years. What matters now is that policy makers arrest the decline. We therefore turn to the policy response.

Policy responses: Then and now

Figure 4 shows a GDP-weighted average of central bank discount rates for 7 countries. As can be seen, in both crises there was a lag of five or six months before discount rates responded to the passing of the peak, although in the present crisis rates have been cut more rapidly and from a lower level. There is more at work here than simply the difference between George Harrison and Ben Bernanke. The central bank response has differed globally.

Figure 4. Central Bank Discount Rates, Now vs Then (7 country average)

Source: Bernanke and Mihov (2000); Bank of England, ECB, Bank of Japan, St. Louis Fed, National Bank of Poland, Sveriges Riksbank.

Figure 5 shows money supply for a GDP-weighted average of 19 countries accounting for more than half of world GDP in 2004. Clearly, monetary expansion was more rapid in the run-up to the 2008 crisis than during 1925-29, which is a reminder that the stage-setting events were not the same in the two cases. Moreover, the global money supply continued to grow rapidly in 2008, unlike in 1929 when it levelled off and then underwent a catastrophic decline.

Figure 5. Money Supplies, 19 Countries, Now vs Then

Source: Bordo et al. (2001), IMF International Financial Statistics, OECD Monthly Economic Indicators.

Figure 6 is the analogous picture for fiscal policy, in this case for 24 countries. The interwar measure is the fiscal surplus as a percentage of GDP. The current data include the IMF’s World Economic Outlook Update forecasts for 2009 and 2010. As can be seen, fiscal deficits expanded after 1929 but only modestly. Clearly, willingness to run deficits today is considerably greater.

Figure 6. Government Budget Surpluses, Now vs Then

Source: Bordo et al. (2001), IMF World Economic Outlook, January 2009.

Conclusion

To summarise: the world is currently undergoing an economic shock every bit as big as the Great Depression shock of 1929-30. Looking just at the US leads one to overlook how alarming the current situation is even in comparison with 1929-30.

The good news, of course, is that the policy response is very different. The question now is whether that policy response will work. For the answer, stay tuned for our next column.

References

Eichengreen, B. and K.H. O’Rourke. 2009. “A Tale of Two Depressions.” In progress.

Bernanke, B.S. 2000. Bernanke, B.S. and I. Mihov. 2000. “Deflation and Monetary Contraction in the Great Depression: An Analysis by Simple Ratios.” In B.S. Bernanke, Essays on the Great Depression. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Bordo, M.D., B. Eichengreen, D. Klingebiel and M.S. Martinez-Peria. 2001. “Is the Crisis Problem Growing More Severe?” Economic Policy32: 51-82.

Paul Krugman, “The Great Recession versus the Great Depression,” Conscience of a Liberal (20 March 2009).

Doug Short, “Four Bad Bears,” DShort: Financial Lifecycle Planning” (20 March 2009).
This article may be reproduced with appropriate attribution. See Copyright (below).

A bond bubble… Really?

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Bonds, bonds, bonds…  United States Government bonds ARE the safest investment in the world besides cash.  Right?  They are aren’t they?  I mean they are backed by the taxing power of the United States Government so they have to be.  Well, sure you will get your money back at a measly 2.x% these days.  Isn’t that below the rate of inflation you ask…  why yes it is.  T-bills are paying tenths of a percentage so you choose.  Besides stocks and commodites have cost many a small fortune so investing in bonds is a wise decision.  Right?

There is much talk about a bond bubble, and I’ve been watching bond prices and their rates take off recently and also have a nice correction.   Generally I watch $TNX, which is the 10-year government bond yield.  Remember bond yields move inversley to their prices.  So, if yields go down then prices go up and vice versa.

So, we have seen equity and commodity prices collapse, housing prices, and while that was occuring treasury bond prices have taken off.  This MUST be a bubble right?  Perhaps, but you have to take into account who buys and sells bonds.  We have the individual investor, which makes up a small group.  The major purchasers of bonds are large institutions and governments.  For institutions let’s look at the money market industry.  They must hold a number of bonds based on their funds requirements.  For governments they buy and sell bonds all the time.  They sell them to raise money and other governments or institutions buy them for a “safe” return.

As a last resort the Federal Reserve will purchase bonds directly, thus monetizing debt (PRINTING MONEY), thus keeping bond prices high and yields low. Therefore bonds aren’t really controlled by investors as we like to think, but much larger fish in the sea.

So, what might we see when the world loses faith in the bond markets?  Auctions will be devoid of foreign buyers signaling that foreign demand has dried up.  This will spark the necesitated increase in interst rate as an incentive for others to borrow.  Simultaneously we might see a flee from bonds as investors are concerned about their future safety.

If you look at the news you will see exports are way down from exporting countries, which means that importing coutries aren’t importing anywhere near previous levels.  Welcome to a major recession, yes there are grumblings of this being a depresssion.  I supose it depends on your viewpoint.  Now what happens when these net exporting countries decide to stop buying our debt because they have their own problems at home and have to use their saving?  They will no longer be purchasing our debt, which will make it more and more difficult for the USA to spend, and service existing debt.  Being that most of our debt is short term as the interest rate rises so do the debt servicing costs.  As these costs rise, tax income decreases then we are stuck with either printing more money (the short and easy “solution”), we cut back on gov’t services, or a combination of both.

Watch out for rising interest rates and a falling dollar.  So far we have neither, but once we do this will signal a shift from the US Dollar as secure to the US dollar as a high risk.  Expect other currencies in better situtations than us to see their currencies gain value, while the major winners will be commodities and gold.

Congressional Budget Outlook :: CBO

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Hold your hats folks as here are some of the forecasts for 2009 (link):

  • GDP falling by 2.2%
  • Slow recovery in 2010
  • > 9% unemployment by 2010
  • Decline in inflation (hmmmm… if monetary policy says anything this will reverse or at least eventually destroy the dollar)
  • Continued decline in housing prices
  • Decline in real consumption of more than 1%
  • Indeterminate on the financial system

And the best of all

$1.2 trillion dollar budget deficit for 2009*

*That doesn’t include the proposed stimulus package
*That amounts to 8.3% of GDP

So, we have an economy in decline, and digging a deeper and deeper hole to climb out of.  What I really want to know is how are we going to pay for 1) a 1.2T dollar deficit, and 2) a large fiscal stimulus package of a indeterminate size.

Let’s see our foreign friends have been purchasing our debt, which enabled us to essentially live off of their productive labor.  China for example is seeing a marjor reduction in exports, its economy is contracting, and eventually it is going to have to decide if it is worth supporting the American lifestyle at their own expense.  Presently, everyone is so intertwined I think there is a fear that if one jumps the house of cards falls down and we all lose.  However, is it possible for say China to pull out of the house of cards with minimal damage?  Is there a way they can reduce their exposure to US debt, and not have their savings collapse?  This is something I’d really like to know.

Seems to me that if they slowly shift some of their dollar reserves into commodities and other currencies SLOWLY, especially when there is increased demand they will be able to lessen their exposure.  The US import market is tanking, and has been tanking.  With unemployment increasing Bloomberg people are going to have a smaller income and will be forces to save thus hurting exporting countries.  This isn’t a US phenomena alone as Europe and frankly the rest of the world is contracting simultaneously, while being fed a mouthful of credit from central banks to re-inflate the bubble.  Last I checked it is very difficult to inflate a popped bubble.

Let’s take the latest number from Taiwan Bloomberg.  Their exports dropped by a record 41.9%.  We all know that Taiwan exports electronics, which have been a major boon ever since the technological revolution, which also saw a major hiccuup in 2000-2003.  So, this is confirmation of a major exporting taking a major hit.  There will be ramifications for the Taiwanese economy.

I can’t imagine that after the dust settles the world’s economies will look the same.  The sea of money will shift to where is sees the most opportunity and in its movement will tear apart the economies of many.

Here are a few more headlines on Bloomberg alone that tell a um telling story:

Fed Revives Discussion of Inflation Target to Counter Risk of Price Slide

ECB Expanded Balance Sheet by 36 Percent Last Year to Revive Bank Lending

Apartment Rents Fall, Vacancies Rise to Four-Year High on U.S. Job Losses

Shopping Center Vacancies in U.S. Approach 10-Year High as Stores Fail

Procter & Gamble Fights to Refinance as U.S. Borrowings Reach $2 Trillion

U.S. Banks Will Need to Raise More Cash in 2009, Meredith Whitney Writes

I’ll leave it at that, but what I’m seeing is RECESSION coupled with the Fed trying to stave it off through any means necessary, which is now including outright purchases of securities on the open markets.  Again we have no savings and are either monetizing debt or borrowing it from somewhere.  To do this will be disastrous to the dollar and our reputation as a solid financial center of the world.  Sure there are plenty of other economies in dire situations, but in the end who will come out with the heads up high and who will come out still in the sand?

Withdrawal Symptoms

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If my emotional barometer is any indication of where people’s minds are at the moment then I can only label it as coming down or recovering from a major hangover. It is the Sunday afternoon after a big night out sipping on your bloody mary to ease the pain.

We have been living on credit and tons of it.  At some point it becomes unsustainable and the house of cards tumbles down.  

Getting back to my analogy, think of drinking a ton of alcohol or coffee.  You keep wanting more and more when you finally get to a point where your body is completely dependent.  Any reduction in the drug will cause mild to severe withdrawal symptoms, any increase doesn’t do anything. 

This is what happens with credit expansion.  Too much and everyone goes on a spending spree with all the cheap money.  Take away the cheap money and people stop spending, jobs vanish, incomes decrease, and the previously incurred debt can’t be paid off.

So, instead of going through withdrawal you decide to take a lesser amount of the drug to make your hangover go away or slightly abate. However, you are still hungover. This pattern will continue until either you are completely free of the drug or your tolerance is now much lower enabling you to start increasing the amount as it now has a new profound effect as it did when you first started.  

It seems to me that we are in the post-crash hangover stage, but we aren’t completely free from the addiction.  We have taken a bit of the drug to ease the suffering.  The more of the drug we took the more likely we are to repeat the cycle.  We still need the drug to continue, otherwise we are going to feel like crap.  Hence, we still have a ways to go before we can recover.

If all goes as planned we will have a new President tomorrow and no longer will have to listen to the political banter at least for a while.  One piece of the uncertainty puzzle will be put into place, and we can focus on other issues.

In a NY Times article:

“We don’t know if it’s the end of the bear market yet, but it looks as though the bear has taken a nap,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s equity research. “So investors are thinking, let’s enjoy a bit of a relief, both from the market’s lows and from the endless pre-election rhetoric.”

Other factors seemed to be playing into the rally as well, including a continuing round of coordinated interest rate cuts worldwide, the ongoing thaw in the credit markets, and the increasing resiliency of the markets to the daily drumbeat of bad economic news. The extreme volatility of recent weeks has calmed in recent days, though trading volume remained light.

Yes, the bear is taking a nap, but we are still very hungover and have taken a bit of the drug to help relieve the pain.  People haven’t completely capitulated and given up on equities.  They are hesitant yes, but still hopeful that things will turn around.

There is a major bear lurking around the corner and it isn’t just in the US.  They are giving birth around the world and China is no exception.  In a Financial Times article:

Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, warned that high growth was needed to maintain social stability as fresh evidence emerged on Monday that China’s economy was slowing quickly.

…

“We must be crystal-clear that without a certain pace of economic growth, there will be difficulties with employment, fiscal revenues and social development . . . and factors damaging social stability will grow,” he wrote in the magazine, Seeking Truth.

So, while equity markets recover mildly on noticeably low volume, bears are growling from afar.  Manufacturing is way down, consumer’s aren’t spending, banks still are reluctant to loan, major exporters are slowing.  I’d call this a worldwide slowdown of massive proportion.  We still have credit cards right?

What lies ahead…?

Recession, higher interest rates, massive inflation, higher commodity prices, continued decrease in housing, rising unemployment, and eventual devaluation of the United States dollar.  When will all of these things play out?  

My crystal ball has a few cracks, but for inflation to take hold we have to complete the current phase of de-leveraging and disinflation (which is bringing down prices).  Once this phase is complete all the newly created money will directly cause inflated prices.

Purgatory….

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Ever watched a sci-fi movie where the crew goes into stasis while they travel from one end of the galaxy to the other?  Ever contemplated Purgatory where heaven and hell meet?  

I feel as though this is a period of semi-consciousness awaiting judgement…  Last night I was catching up on some news online when I was watching the futures markets turning deeper and deeper shades of red.  The morning was locked limit down and then we had an immediate spike — DOWN.  However, the day is turning out to be mild in comparison to what may have happened.  

The reason I label this as purgatory is because I think we are either going to swiftly swing in one direction or the other.  Emotion is in control at the moment and perhaps irrational.  Once the herd stampedes watch out.  If people want cash watch out markets.  As I said in a earlier post we haven’t really seen an exodus or pure panic yet.  

The news from around the world is to be expected given the size of the credit contraction.  

I think we may see a rally, perhaps not today, but maybe next week as people see bargains.  News will continue to be increasingly gloomy, spreading a shadow around the world.  The contraction will not abate and people in a moment of fear and panic will sell.  Hedge funds will continue to implode sending equity prices down further.  Mutual funds will have to begin liquidating.  The dollar will roar ahead.  

Only problem is that we have never seen such a huge monetary expansion. Once banks decide to start lending again that money they are now hoarding and using to purchase other banks will flow into the system.  Bam!!@! huge credit expansion at a completely unsustainable rate, and thus hyperinflation.  Equities may rebound, but given the recession they will probably be somewhat stagnant as the new capital investment will take time to be realized.  Meanwhile, gold, oil, and food will goto the moon as the dollar plummets.  Interest rates will also soar as the reality of our debt burden takes hold alongside major inflation.  People will want to be compensated for holding a worthless and bankrupt currency.  

My only real complaint with this prognostication is strength in the dollar.  I’m having a hard time comprehending or even believing that this dollar rally will continue.  It is a flawed currency, and has no basis for strength.  Then again what fiat currency really has any value?

 

my2cents

The day of reckoning has arrived…

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As I write this the Nikkei is down 580.52 points to 7,880.36.  All of Asia is down across the board.  A sea of red you might say.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the European markets once they open.  I imagine if Asia is down so will be Europe.  None of the fundamentals have changed.

There are various people who are quite knowledgeable that see a reversal in the markets, but I just don’t see it.  If the dollar declines in value, which is on the horizon commodities will probably once again increase in value.  However, we are in a major contraction, with the severity of the recession increasing on a daily basis, which bodes ill for the equity markets.  

Toyota’s sales are down for the first time in seven years reports Bloomberg <article>.  We aren’t just seeing a slowdown in the USA, we are seeing a worldwide contraction.  A recent article in IBD (Investors Business Daily) showed workers outside a toy factory in China protesting for their overdue paychecks.  China the unstoppable growth machine is slowing drastically because demand is falling off a cliff for their exports.  People are consuming fewer items, and banks are hoarding cash.  The entire system is coming to a standstill.  

What amazes me is the rate at which this entire process of de-leveraging, credit constipation, and economic contraction is taking place.  It was only a year ago or so when banks started showing signs of cracking and the markets started their descent.  At every turn there have been reassurances that everything is okay, but it has all been a smoke screen.  I wonder if tomorrow will be the day that will never be forgotten.  

So far we have seen major market swings in the all the equity markets.  Speaking solely of the US markets they tend to go down about 7-8% on a really bad day, which is nothing compared to the 20+% in 1978 on Black Monday.  All in all this decline has been somewhat orderly until we hit the latest consolidation phase where the markets are still moving down, but primarily sideways.  

A beautiful triangle formed, which was recently broken if you follow the charts.  It formed in the Dow, Nasdaq, S&p500, and Russell 2000.  Many believe that the rebound from the 23rd (today) started the next leg up, but I think as many others do that we might (this is hopeful) see a bounce to the underside of the triangle and then a complete meltdown (not hopeful).  

For the worst credit crisis in history the markets really could continue down much further.  All the indicators indicate that the market is oversold and ripe for a bounce.  However, the same was said with the ascent from 1997-2007.  Indicators help with market sentiment and direction, but are no means the definitive measure of what is happening.  At times of extreme volatility and uncertainty indicators may need to be readjusted or ones perception of them need be readjusted.

Let’s say you are a trader and do quite well in makets that are trending either up or down.  However, the markets start consolidating and move sideways.  All of a sudden your gains start to be erroded by your losses.  Why?  How could this happen?  The adept trader would shift their trading style to accomodate the new trend, which is sideaways and no longer trending.  The faithful would keep trading as they would in a trending market, which at the end of the day loses them money.

What happened?  The faithful was unable to see that their system was broken given the new market conditions.  Now it works beautifully given certain macro conditions, but if you system isn’t modified when those conditions change then you are in for a world of hurt.

How many people alive today went through the Great Depression and crash of 1929?  I sure didn’t, and the few who were alive are quite old and few.  Unless you are a student of history, and able to visualize what really happened I think we all may be in for a major shock.  Panic and distaste for the markets has yet to set in.  We may be at act 2 of how many I don’t know.

Banks are lending — NOT

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The theory was beautiful (well in the abstract)…

Give troubled banks more credit and they will lend it out and the economy will stop its free-fall.  Now, that sounds like utopia to me.  Create credit and we will all be saved for unemployement, slowing production, decreased consumer spending, and rising interest rates.

HOLD ON… let’s put a toe back on the plane of reality…

Banks aren’t lending much more than before eventhough they are being handed gobs of cash.  Why wouldn’t banks lend out free money?

What if…

  1. there aren’t any borrowers worthy of getting loans? — Let’s say during a recession!  Oh right the economy slows WAY… DOWN.
  2. there are more troubled banks and unknowns on banks balance sheets.
  3. banks are holding the cash knowing full well that there is another storm on the horizon

I didn’t pull this out of thin air like the Fed does with money.  An article in the NY Times starts with

The banks aren’t lending. And despite what you have heard, they probably won’t start just yet.

Sorry Paulson your plan isn’t working.

“Our purpose is to increase confidence in our banks and increase the confidence of our banks, so that they will deploy, not hoard, their capital,” Mr. Paulson said in a statement Monday. “And we expect them to do so, as increased confidence will lead to increased lending. This increased lending will benefit the U.S. economy and the American people.

Of course, with a $250 billion injection into America’s biggest banks — not all of which were troubled — Mr. Paulson has a political sales job to do. And no requirements to lend were attached to the money. (Some banks may use the money to buy others.)

But Mr. Paulson is making a big assumption about confidence, because until the real economy recovers — which could take more than a year — lending to Main Street is unlikely to return rapidly to normal levels.

“It doesn’t matter how much Hank Paulson gives us,” said an influential senior official at a big bank that received money from the government, “no one is going to lend a nickel until the economy turns.” The official added: “Who are we going to lend money to?” before repeating an old saw about banking: “Only people who don’t need it.”

Again banks don’t want to lend into a very uncertain future.  They want confidence in the economy — there isn’t any and the opposite is occurring.  People are spending less as they become more concerned about the safety of their jobs.  Most Americans have no savings cushion to fall back on.

Roger Bootle and Jonathan Loynes of Capital Economics in London wrote a sobering note on Monday about the cash infusions into European banks that may apply here as well. “We expect rising loan defaults and further asset write-offs over the next couple of years to practically wipe out the governments’ capital injections, leaving banks back at square one,” they said. “Given that banks will need to increase their capital in order to expand their lending book, these measures on their own are unlikely to prevent bank lending from stagnating.”

Wait a minute… all that money being put into the system to restore confidence and spur lending may just vanish?  So at the end of the day more banks fail, the economy continues to contract, available credit continues to contract, unemployment rises, and interest rates eventually rise.  This isn’t what Paulson sold to us with his bailout plan.  Were we duped?

Nah, the individuals responsible for the government’s actions are always in need of votes and making a horrible situation look not so bad or at least feasible to fix.  At the end of the day our failed bailouts will have a disastrous effect.  The consequences are a HUGE debt burden, a larger interest payment on that debt, the world losing confidence in the value of the dollar, and a prolonged recession probably followed by major inflation.  I’ve been singing this song for a while and it will take time to play out, but as you can see this is a VERY rocky road.

Look both ways before crossing the street

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I received an email from a friend and here is my response.  You ought to be able to decipher what the questions were about.  These are my opinions of the present situation, and are by no means recommendations.  

—-
1) Voting for McCain…

I really don’t think voting for A or B is going to matter.  I’m voting for Ron Paul because I believe that change has to come from going against the herd.  I refuse to be partially responsible for either of them being in office.

The odds are in favor of the democrats getting into office and taking over Congress.  I’m actually a bit frightened by this, but either situation is grim. Hopefully it will be better than the last 8 years.

2) Deflation / Inflation
This is tricky and something I’ve been trying to better understand.  There are many many many factors at work here.  We are headed into a MAJOR recession… thus your cutting spending was a wonderful idea.  A recession is a drag on the stock market.  Many think that after a brief rally it is going to drop much further.  I know you are invested at the moment.  One way to hedge against a drop is to invest in a inverse ETF fund such as SDS, QID, DXD, or TWM (these are leveraged 2x FYI).  These ETFs have saved me much pain.  The overall trend in the market is down.  Bear market rallies tend to be severe and swift to the upside, while the markets overall continue to decline.

As for Deflation and Inflation what this means is a decrease or increase in the money supply.  Generally during inflation when the Fed is creating money prices of everything goes up because there is a surplus of money that has to go somewhere.  When the money supply contracts either by the Fed reducing the money supply or debt is paid off.  Then prices decrease.  However, under a fiat monetary system credit and continued inflation are essential to keep it up.  At the moment with the Fed creating TONS of money we are looking at the potential for hyperinflation in the future, which nobody wants.  So, the Fed is walking a tightrope between deflation and inflation.  I imagine they will lean towards inflation over deflation ultimately.  At the moment we are primarily seeing deflation as prices are coming down everywhere (commodities, housing, stocks).

During deflation the market will come down as will all prices.  I think that regardless the markets will continue their descent due to the upcoming recession, decrease in consumer spending, decrease in imports and exports, and increase in unemployment.  Once the recession takes hold and the effects of the monetary inflation occurring now start to be felt we will probably start to see increases in commodity prices across the board.b  With companies facing difficult times I don’t foresee the created money moving into equity markets.

3) War with Iran
The conflict between Iran and Israel is heating up.  I received a report that said Israel won’t be doing anything until after the election, but who knows.  In this case we would see the value of gold skyrocket, oil go through the roof, and the dollar go through the floor.  This is slowly moving from a remote to more plausible reality.  I hope this doesn’t happen as the US can’t afford to be involved in another conflict.  We are already spread so thin.  Because of this and the enormous debt load the US government (its citizens) now carries I fear for the support and longevity of the dollar.  At this point I think it important to own some gold and have some money invested in foreign currencies.  <Thank you Gary North and Chris Martenson>  These are for the long-term and may lose significantly in the short term.  There are many uncertainties at the moment.

Oh and least I forget… At this juncture in the Republicans and Democrats are but different sides of the same coin.

The coming financial storm! Deja Vu

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A rotten onion

I watch the markets on a daily basis, and attempt to stay informed as to what is happening in the world.  To be honest it isn’t a easy task as there is so much information to digest.  Alas, that is the beauty of the Internet.  

Anyways, I started to notice a similar feeling that creeps back in every so often.  The feeling has been apparent over the last year or so about the time this whole mess started to unravel.  After the peak of the market in October of 2007 we have had a falling market with a few cliffs and hills along the way.  After every step down there is a period of reprieve when everyone feels safe, though a bit cautious.  October has been a horrible month for equity markets.  We are now moving up slightly and into the future.  Everyone is hoping for a rally and return to a bull market.  

Unfortunately, I think this is just another calm before the storm.  We will probably continue to rally as people on the sidelines jump in hoping to make a gain or get in at a bargain.  What concerns me is that the market fundamentals are not improving, they are looking much more dire.  Take shipping for example.  Imports and Exports are down significantly from last year.  Consumer spending is way down.  Unemployment is rising.  Interest rates are looking to be on the verge of rising.  Housing is still falling.  Manufacturing is down.  

Does it suck to be in a position where all I see is an endless abyss… sure.  However, I think that it is necessary to clean out and let the market clear away all the excesses.  This post isn’t about economic theory, but a gut feeling that is slowly bubbling to the surface.  When someone with major clout such as Warren Buffett makes an announcement that he is buying equities alarm bells start ringing in my ears.  

Why I ask does Buffet need to provide confidence to investors.  For one many of Berkshire’s companies aren’t doing very well this year.  Then again what stock are really booming?  For Buffet to reassure investors makes me think that things may actually be worse than we even know.  On the surface everything is a mess, but what is underlying the mess that we don’t yet know about?

Once this recession goes into full swing, ARMs continue to readjust, and people’s credit cards are maxed out… 

I end this post patiently waiting the next layer of the rotting onion to peel away just to reveal another layer.

Why Gold?

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I agree that we are probably going to see a continued decline in commodity prices especially PMs.  However, given the increases in the monetary supply I forsee this trend reversing.  When the trend reverses, which isn’t going to happen immediately because we are headed towards a major recession, with unemployment rising, and more likely interest rates as well, inflation will be severe.

The Money Supply graphs are frightening.  Once that money goes into the system I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to see hyperinflation.   For all of our sakes I don’t want that to happen.

As for investing in PMs I think there are two types of people who purchase them.  The first is the speculator, and the other the long term purchaser regardless of price. (I’m leaving out purchasers for industry and jewelry).  As much as I don’t like to see the value in relation to fiat currency of my PMs decline my intent on owning them is for more of the oh shit situation.   Throughout time gold, and silver to a lesser degree have held up as a store of value.  They aren’t going to be worthless as can a paper currency backed by nothing. Politicians and those involved in the government don’t like PMs as they aren’t easily created.  Having a currency backed by a scarce resource means that they have to control spending as they can’t print money to pay for various expenditures.

So, why gold and silver?  What happens if the fiat currency fails?  All of a sudden you and I have a bunch of roman numerals in our bank accounts.  Sure we can go get paper currency, but it is better to use as heat.  If this happens chaos will ensue until another solution is created or we go back to a currency backed by PMs.  I doubt the latter case would occur as bureaucrats aren’t going to want that option. 

My other concern is war with Iran, which is looking more and more likely.  In this scenario gold and oil will skyrocket.  Oil will also be much harder to obtain and the government will probably institute a rationing scheme instead of letting the price rise.   I’d rather pay $50.00 a gallon for gas then not be able to get it or to have to wait in line for days.  I presume many of you don’t agree, but gas or no gas you pick!  Would I drive much NO… however, if I needed to go somewhere I could get the fuel I needed.   

Lastely, beyond Gold and Oil we all need food and water.  Don’t forget food.

 

-T