The American Dream

I never bet against the FED. What I do try to do is not buy assets during the bubbles they create. For example stocks look to be kinda "bubbly" to me based on P/E ratios. (S&P 500 PE Ratio Chart)

As far as financials go, we'll see. There's a milestone for the "too big to fail" TARP banks this month - another round of stress tests. Some may finally be able to raise their dividends. Some will not.

the entire game is tilted in the financial's favor, and you're in "we'll see" mode? dividends are mostly coming in 2012.

the entire game is tilted in the financial's favor, and you're in "we'll see" mode? dividends are mostly coming in 2012.

Dividends are what I'm concentrated on. They can pay my cost of living, growth tackles inflation.

I'm not in a rush because I think we'll see a retrenchment over the next year and I'd like to feel as if I've purchased at the bottom of the next wave, or close to it. I made some long term investments last year in a "first wave", that was a start. I'm still 2/3rds cash today.

I do have a little Morgan Stanley in my portfolio currently, and I'll probably pick up some BofA at some point, FWIW.

Wilshre 5000 chart:

Wilshire Associates

Show me 2010 "crash"

Investing isn't much different from taking a trip to Vegas at this point

MBS ended April 1st, QE2 was announced Nov. 3rd. That matches up pretty good don't you think? My Vegas comment related to the fact that the market is tied to FED action. We don't know what they'll do next, do we?

To promote a stronger pace of economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to expand its holdings of securities. The Committee will maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings. In addition, the Committee intends to purchase a further $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011, a pace of about $75 billion per month. The Committee will regularly review the pace of its securities purchases and the overall size of the asset-purchase program in light of incoming information and will adjust the program as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.

Bob's "floor". But at some point, the artificial floor falls away. Either they replace it with a new floor, or market forces take over. 2011 is a repeat of 2010, IMHO, with a little added push from tepid economic growth.

Dividends are what I'm concentrated on. They can pay my cost of living, growth tackles inflation.

I'm not in a rush because I think we'll see a retrenchment over the next year and I'd like to feel as if I've purchased at the bottom of the next wave, or close to it. I made some long term investments last year in a "first wave", that was a start. I'm still 2/3rds cash today.

I do have a little Morgan Stanley in my portfolio currently, and I'll probably pick up some BofA at some point, FWIW.

BoA and C look rather good

Enjoying the discussion and various ideas.

I'm not surprised the idea of getting rid of our current monetary system is difficult. It is asking no less than a paradigm shift in modern thought and culture. It is akin to the paradigm shift we are currently experiencing, but in the opposite direction. As we continue to sell our future production in order to plug gaps in current and past failures, we are not allowing capitalism to do what it does best; seperate the wheat from the chaff by allowing the good to succeed and the bad fail. This is how nature works and it is good. More than good, it just is. We, can temporarily suspend or delay these self-correcting rules by manipulating money, but the end result will be the same. A reversion to the mean.

We can allow this to happen or it will be forced upon us.

When a monetary system is based on requiring debt payment for mere liquidity, the system is FORCED to grow. This is an abomination of nature. It is a ponzi system. I ask you; what is the end game? Growth for growth's sake is a recipe for disaster. It is neither stable nor healthy. That unhealthy aspect manifests itself in many many ways. As the system becomes hungrier with a need to fill these gaps, the problems get worse. Divorce rates due to money, mid-life crises' as true callings are not fulfilled, diabetic children as we become more sedentary, more corruption as it takes more bribes to keep the game going, highest incareration rate in the world, highest drug abuse in the world, illegal immigration from service sector vacuums, wars due to the growth mantra, etc ad nausem. If enough people are involved in a ponzi it merely takes longer to reveal the scam as more and more people place their faiths in it. When the tide goes out far enough, these things are usually revealed. The scary part is it has been revealed and we refused to acknowlege it.

Remember a few short years ago when our treasury secretary begged Congress for money or we would have an overnight systemic monetary collapse? Remember how scared they all looked on Capitol Hill? When was the last time you saw politicans come together so quickly? I've heard some say these predictions are exaggerated and hard to believe. Well, THAT WAS THE MOMENT. That was the moment the "hard to believe" was about to come true, unless we all buried our heads in the sand and loaned ourselves $1.3 trillion. How exactly does that work? It doesn't.

That was the our opportunity or rather it was nature's bill coming due. However, we could not allow that. We were "too big to fail." Well, nothing is too big to fail. In fact, the bigger it is the more spectacular it's failure will be especially when it is artificially supported and INCREASED in size long beyond it's natural expiration date.

Fighting the Fed is indeed not wise. They are the true masters of our country. "He who owns the gold makes the rules." Remember that? Remember when they outlawed gold? No, of course we don't but they did. April 3, 1933 In America? Land of the free home of the brave? Surely not. Fort Knox holds all that. At least it's supposed to. I'm sure they wouldn't have paper sold and loaned all that gold out over the years to further support this failing ponzi. They wouldn't have done that right? I sure hope not, as the world's largest holder of gold, it will be our salvation.....unless.
But harder than the Fed, fighting Mother Nature is the more impossible battle and a recipe for guaranteed failure. One of them must give. One of them did. We just refuse to acknowlege it. We as a nation do not understand monetary history or the source of our very own money. And if we don't understand it's source or birth we cannot understand it's destination. I daresay, we are not allowed to understand it due to propoganda of the masees and ostrization of individuals who have opposed it. We trust and believe in the 'founding fathers' so much it is a rally cry. However, the founding fathers did not set up our current monetary supply. In fact, they fought it for hundreds of years only to lose in 1913.

After that time, in 17 short years we had the great depression and confiscation of gold. Because of this need to profit and grow we have become used to boom and bust cycles. As long as you are on the right side of the trade, you love this. If you are a banker, politician, insider or too-big-to-failer, greed is good. If you are among the other 99.9% of the population, it sucks. It gives birth to wholesale corruption, mindboggling policy, tax increase upon tax increase, degradation of culture. It turns lions into lambs.

I understand this refusal of acceptance. It is the most difficult of choices. To admit you are wrong when you stand to lose. WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT. I get it. Once I discovered the truth I was angry and in denial about it. Once I discovered the solution, I became empowered. I invite you to do the same.

I have studied and dug incessantly for truth for the past 2 years. I do not say I am an expert in studying economic intricacies. However, one does not need to understand how best to profit from a ponzi in order to recognize it. I am leaving out many lessons I have learned and discovered along the way. The truth is purposely obfuscated and the system is so interconnected that many of the problems we suffer all stem from the same thing. Fractional Reserve Banking.

End the Fed and discover true freedom.

I like analogies. I like them because it removes emotion from the current situation and allows you to see something for what it is. As long as it's an apples-to-apples comparison.

No analogy is perfect but speaking of being in the same boat...
I say I'm pointing to a lifeboat because our collective ship is sinking and people on the Titanic are telling me there's free stuff just floating around up here. Is this the same easy money which cranked out that last RE boom? They can have it. This is the 'bigger fool theory' market game by trying to collect more sheckels than the next guy before the bottom drops out. They don't think it will drop. I'm telling you the game is finished.

Where do these 'free markets' and corporations get their valuations today? I watch and trade in the market every day like a lot of people. I keep hearing from these same people they too think it's all a joke and completely rigged yet they still play it. Why? Because it's the only game in town. I say it is not. The only way to win this game is not to play it. Nothing makes you pay attention like having a stake in the game. I have enough in the game to keep my finger on the pulse and that is all. The interesting thing I have seen is the rules of the game keep changing.

There is a fascinating disconnect between the "law and order" society ceaselessly depicted on TV and the realities of the American financial system, which is now totally dependent on lies, fraud, embezzlement and misrepresentation of risk. Remove those and the system implodes.

We have plenty of laws, we just don't heed them because they get in the way of supporting a doomed system. The market trades on Fed monetary actions and constantly revised government numbers. It does not trade anymore on fundamentals. That is a problem. It is a HUGE RED FLAG in a supposed capitalist and free market economy. The signs are everywhere and we won't be able to say we weren't fair warned.

Let me propose a question.
What would failure look like to you? What will you have to personally see, experience or witness before you say to yourself, "this is bad and I need to do something?" I can guarantee you one thing. You will never ever get notice of failure from the masters of the failing system. Baghdad Bob will tell you all is well. Maybe you'll ask me, "what will you have to see before you admit the system is ok?"

I've asked myself this question all my life. I've always worried I wouldn't recognize an emergency situation for what it was in that moment. In the movies, there is music and skillful cuts to action to clue us in something bad is about to happen. "Run you fool!", we yell at the screen. In real life, it works differently. The time to act usually reveals itself only after the moment of impact or until it's too late.

Is a scream someone playing around or a cry for help?
Is someone splashing in the ocean playing around or struggling?
Was that a gunshot or a backfire?
Was that the house settling or my back door being opened.
Was that a bomb that just shook my house or did someone run into my house with their car? ;-)
Is our financial system in real trouble or was it just some Wall Street guys who made bad bets and it's all ok now?

It's a chicken little thing. It is normalcy bias. We get used to everyday noises and events that we have a hard time recognizing true danger in that very moment. I think this is natural and why most people are reactive and not proactive. It is why there is a herd mentality. You see it in nature with stampedes, lemmings off the cliff and runs on a bank.


Let's take a look at what KC Fed President Hoening said 3 days ago.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A gold standard that forces countries to back their currency reserves with bullion is a "legitimate" monetary system, though it would not prevent financial crises, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig said on Wednesday. "The gold standard is a very legitimate monetary system," Hoenig said, adding: "We're not going to have fewer crises necessarily. You will have a longer of period of price stability or price level stability, but I don't know that you'll have lower unemployment, I don't know that you'll have fewer bank failures."
Fed's Hoenig Says Gold Standard "Legitimate" System - ABC News


This is unprecedented to hear from a Fed chief. It opens the door to legitimate discussion for backing at least a portion of the dollar with gold. The race is on friends. It has to because that is what must happen. These guys are well aware of what the endgame is. Do not be fooled. When they say don't panic, you need to look for the exit. BUT, what will be the value of gold in order to backstop, say, 40% of the dollar and it's mountain of fiat created wealth while simultaniously artificially depressing the price of gold these past 100 years?
Answer: A LOT more than it currently is.

The greatest wealth transfer of all time has been happening for the past 10 years as gold has risen 400% and the dollar has dropped. It is a slow systematic transfer. The plan is to do it slowly enough that most don't realize they are being boiled alive like the preverbial frog in a pot. Maybe there won't be an overnight collapse. I hope not. Hope is not a strategy though.

"Be prepared." - Lord Baden Powell. I learned that earning my Eagle Scout rank. But if there isn't a collapse into hyperinflation, then you just may wake up 10 more years from now and realize somehow gold has risen another 400% and the dollar is half of it's current value.

Gresham's Law states: "Bad money drives out good if their exchange rate is set by law." Bad money is cheap and easily produced. Good money is un-reproducable and hoarded when bad money flows. Who trades good for bad? Nobody. That is why bad drives out good. Or rather, drives it into collections and holdings.

I do not buy precious metals because I think it is a good investment and that the worst will come true. I buy them because they are a historically stable currency insurance policy with no counterparty risk. The dollar is a derivative of gold.
Derivatives bad - originals good.
Prints cheap - originals expensive.
In an age of electronic accounting and virtual realities, tangible goods are becoming more and more rare and valued. Remember the Matrix or the Wizard of Oz? Most are so deep in the system they don't know they are in one.

If you watch the video I posted above about The Wizard of Oz, you will learn that L.Frank Baum originally wrote that as a metaphor for our central banking system. Dorothy's ruby slippers were silver in the original book. The yellow brick road was a gold bricked road which lead to the wizard behind the curtain. Dorothy, you always had the power to go home. You only need to click your silver heels.
Watch it.

Executive Order 11110 was issued by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on June 4, 1963. This executive order delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the president's authority to issue silver certificates under the Thomas Amendment of the Agricultural Adjustment Act. A few months later he was dead. In March 1964, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon halted redemption of silver certificates for silver dollars. In the 1970s, large numbers of the remaining silver dollars in the mint vaults were sold to the collecting public for collector value. All redemption in silver ceased on June 24, 1968.

A quarter from 1964 or earlier contains 90% silver. Today it's valued nominally at $5.50 in silver, but in fiat face value terms it's still .25 cents. Who's face is on the '64-'69 half dollar containing 40% silver? Kennedy. Sick.

These are facts. Draw your own conclusions or 'conspiracies'. I'm not a conspiracy nut or a Kennedy/911/whatever theory guy. These are things I came across trying to understand what powers the larger wheel of our system. It's just one of many curiosities one runs across studying the history of currency.

Nobody is bigger than the Fed but gold and silver. They are the enemy of the Fed. If confidence is gained in PMs (precious metals) then there must be a loss of confidence in the dollar. "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." There is a tipping point in societies when ideas take root and go 'viral.' This must be avoided at all costs for the Fed to remain in control. They plan to keep control by downplaying gold calling it a bubble and such. Meanwhile they are hoarding all the gold.

Gold's paper derivative, the dollar, has a new derivative. ETFs like gold's GLD or silver's SLV. These instruments can create bubbles. This is the paper price. Paper price and physical availability are two different things. PM ETFs were created to divert investing enthusiasm from the physical to paper. Another derivative. Very crafty. Those ETF holders don't own gold or silver. They own a derivative of a derivative of gold and silver.

I would welcome a paper price plunge of gold and silver. BUT, good luck finding any to buy in the real world when and if that happens. I won't sell mine and any left locally will be bought up quickly or coin shop owners will merely put a sign in the window which says "out of stock." It will be a last desperate attempt to shake confidence in PMs. Do not be fooled. Just because it's cheap on paper does not mean you can actually attain it at that price physically.


Possession is 9/10ths of the law. The ETFs will merely default or pay you in Federal Reserve Notes. They won't pay in gold. You get gold price action sure, but only to be redeemed in paper. Truly mind-boggling to make the decision to invest in gold on paper because it's counter, the dollar, is debasing. THEN only collect your winnings in the very paper you were betting against. Stunning.

Bubble?
The dollar is the last great bubble. After bonds perhaps. Physcial gold is the anti-bubble.

I'm spent. It's difficult and draining for me personally to susinctly explain what I have concluded based on a myriad of reading, watching, studying. I welcome questions, but to me this isn't a debate, it is absolute. Some are equally resolute in the other camp. I understand. I just want others to know there are options and solutions beyond getting so upset and feeling they have no recourse or fair representation.

Your leverage is leveraged on a fiat currency which is backed by nothing.
Be your own central bank.
Have your own reserves.

TNJed, I am slowly, one-by-one, absorbing all the videos and links you have posted on this thread. I am learning a lot.

I wish the state of affairs wasn't the way it very much seems to be... but most of the "inklings" that have been growing in me (from distasteful financial/legal experiences) over the last few years, CLICK with a big "A-HA!" as I absorb the info in the provided links.

I am very appreciative of the time you've taken. I'm a methodical planner and dislike being taken by surprise... almost as much as I despise being duped. Knowledge and preparation are currencies I hold dear. Armed with those, I usually feel empowered to withstand anything!

BoA and C look rather good

Only because of government bailouts.

DuneAHH thank you very much for responding. Sometimes I feel like this stuff just disappears out there. I did not write that lightly. The fact that one person has confirmed they are looking deeper for their own answers makes it all worth it.

I feel the more of us that are prepared, the softer the transfer will be.

I have tons and tons of links on this. Its hard to know where to begin or end when introducing this subject. It takes time to first read it. Then it takes time to sink in. And some more time to witness it thru this new found filter and have a-ha moments every day thereafter.

"No man can enter the same river twice." - Heraclitus

The one article or writings I should say, which really woke me up was this:
The Gold Trail -- a new gold market begins to evolve

It wasn't the first nor the last of my search, but it made the big picture come into view. It's quite long. When I started reading it I didn't stop for about 8 hours straight. Woke up the next day and read for another 7 hours or so. It's quite long. A collection of posts from an anonymous source in '97.


Here's a nice interview with Jim Rickards about President Hoenig's recent comment.

My Blog

Jim Rickards - Gold Standard Coming, Fed?s Hoenig Correct

Fed Governor Hoenig shocked many observers yesterday when he stated, ?The gold standard is a very legitimate monetary system...We're not going to have fewer crises necessarily. You will have a longer period of price stability or price level stability, but I don't know that you'll have lower unemployment, I don't know that you'll have fewer bank failures.? King World News immediately interviewed Jim Rickards who has worked with both the Fed & US Treasury, and who also has a background in national defense as well as consulting with government directorates around the world.

Jim, you said that battle lines would be drawn on this debate and this is the second major figure who has joined with World Bank President Zoellick openly discussing the use of gold in the monetary system. What is your take on this development?



?What Hoenig has done, as Robert Zoellick did before him, is to legitimize the debate. This is not the last word on gold and there is a long way to go both intellectually and mechanically before we get to a gold standard. What is important is that the discussion is now out of the shadows and in the main arena and it will take on a life of its own from here with participation from many sides. Hoening may have lost his vote on FOMC but he has not lost his voice.?



With regards to the battle lines, how do you think Fed Chairman Bernanke will feel about this?



?Hoenig and Zoellick are not stalking horses for Bernanke and the Board of Governors. An honest debate about a gold standard is the last thing Bernanke wants. However, because of speeches like Hoenig's and the new prominence of Ron Paul in the Congress, this debate is now taking off whether Bernanke likes it or not and he will not be able to contain it.



The battle lines are being drawn between honest gold backed money and fiat money. The G20, IMF, central banks and most academic economists are on the side of fiat money and the citizens, certain honest intellectuals and a few economists are on the side of gold. Let the games begin.



Hoenig is right that even with a gold standard there will continue to be business cycles with occasional periods of higher unemployment and bank failures. But it's not as if fiat money has avoided those calamities. From the severe recessions in the 1970's and 1980's, the sovereign debt crisis of the early 1980's, the stock market crash of 1987, the recession of 1989-1990, the bond market crash of 1994, the LTCM collapse of 1998, the tech bubble crash of 2000 and the Panic of 2008 it's not as if it's all been smooth sailing under fiat money.



It's hard to see how gold could do worse and history says it will do much better. One need only look at inflation, unemployment and economic growth in the period 1870-1914 versus 1971-2010 to see the clear beneifts of gold which seems to produce both consistent growth and low inflation notwithstanding occasional business cycle volatility.?



You can still have variations due to tightness in supplies, but it is proven that there is tremendous stability in pricing when you are on a gold standard. We had food riots in 2008 from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic foods. Food costs have now eclipsed 2008. It seems it is not only morally the right thing to do, being on a gold standard, but also the humane thing to do as far as providing price stability?



?Good question. Commodities are not just the playthings of speculators or mere industrial inputs. In many cases, commodities are actually food and their price volatility represents the difference between a steady diet or starvation for billions of people. If a gold standard contributes to lower volatility in food prices and fewer price related supply disruptions that's a social good over and above any economic good that is created.?



How do we get there Jim?



?Well, as I've said before, there's more to a gold standard than just snapping your fingers and wishing it to be so. It will require a lot of study, a lot of planning and a lot of technical work to execute. One clear implication is that given the amount of money printing in recent years, a much higher price of gold is required to create an equilibrium between the current money supply and the amount of official gold available to support it.



Estimates of that higher price can vary over a wide range depending on what definition of "money" you use and what gold to paper ratios you require. My own analysis indicates a range of between $5,000 to $11,000 per ounce of gold; of course, some estimates are much higher.?



There is the easy way and there is the other path which could very well involve social disorder, violence and failure of the current monetary system. A gold standard is coming to the United States, and the US can do this willingly, or ?kicking and screaming? as Jim Rickards has said in the past. Let?s hope we choose the easy path.



Eric King

KingWorldNews.com

Who does Alan Greenspan, the former Fed chairman, work for now?

John Paulson's hedge fund.

What is Paulson & Co. largest holding?

Gold.

And lastly for the evening, if you want to keep up with the daily COMEX gold and silver contracts, deliveries, and supposed vault inventories I recommend the Harvey Organ blog.

Harvey Organ's - The Daily Gold & Silver Report

There has been unprecedented action in the COMEX vaults this year. A commercial signal failure seems to be imminent but somehow the extend and pretend has continued as the CFTC looks the other way.

Only because of government bailouts.

and this precludes you realizing a gain

Who does Alan Greenspan, the former Fed chairman, work for now?

John Paulson's hedge fund.

What is Paulson & Co. largest holding?

Gold.

If you were buying gold two years ago you made a good call, but I think if you're still buying it today you're taking a big risk. If I bought gold over the last three years, I'd be selling now at the peak. As the economy continues to improve and the panic subsides, gold will be sold off and the price will fall.

If you were buying gold two years ago you made a good call, but I think if you're still buying it today you're taking a big risk. If I bought gold over the last three years, I'd be selling now at the peak. As the economy continues to improve and the panic subsides, gold will be sold off and the price will fall.

What all encompassing factors convince you that the economy is and will continue to improve?

If you've posted all this before and I missed it, I apologize.

What all encompassing factors convince you that the economy is and will continue to improve?

If you've posted all this before and I missed it, I apologize.

Economic factors indicate mediocre growth this year. Check out the link in http://www.sowal.com/bb/politics-current-events/53056-ten-economic-predictions-2011-a.html. There's a lot of data there that indicates this. Granted we'll be stuck with crummy growth for a while, but growth none the less. I think there'll be a constant stream of moderately positive economic news across the year, and it's not an election year so, I think this is the year everybody finally starts to relax a little. That won't be good for gold, IMHO. That of course is just my opinion, I'm not an expert, and I've been wrong before.

If you were buying gold two years ago you made a good call, but I think if you're still buying it today you're taking a big risk. If I bought gold over the last three years, I'd be selling now at the peak. As the economy continues to improve and the panic subsides, gold will be sold off and the price will fall.

It is quite the conundrum. IF you had bought gold 2 years ago around $600-$700 you would be selling today you say. That means you think the fundamental reasons you would have bought at $700 have now changed. But, you don't have gold. I'm sure it looks expensive. Probably as expensive as $700/gold looked when it was $700 coming from $300. Now, $700 looks like a "good buy" as you said from today's point of view. Sure $700 looks good KNOWING it's over $1300, but when it was $700 it looked expensive. That is normalcy bias.

You don't have any so you think it will come down. I have some and think it may come down, but not as far as some believe. This is a global crisis because of the dollars reserve status. The world is a bit bigger today than the USofA. If PM prices fall too far they will be bought quickly and the price will rise faster than you expect or can plan.

Central Banks around the world are trying to get out of the dollar and are buying gold. Follow the money.

Full disclosure: I haven't bought gold since $1000 or silver since $24.50 except for some Christmas presents bought at $28. The rapid rise in silver over the past 3 months has shocked me personally. A correction was needed. But PM bull runs are decades long. We are just starting phase II. Phase III is when it will run parabolic. I was begging for it to come down as it topped $31. And it has! I want it to come down because I want as much as I can get in the mid 20s. I seriously doubt it will drop below $25.

I have my fill for the time being so it is easy for me to relax. My money comes seasonally and I will buy at whatever price it is when I have FRNs to get rid of. I have enough cash to pay bills and living expensive. I do not store my effort in fiat currency.

The historic GSR (gold/silver ratio) is 16:1. Divide gold price by silver price. The GSR in the last 20 years has been about 60:1 and a few years ago was as high as 100:1. I started buying silver at 62:1 and today it is 46:1. If I were to trade my silver in for gold today I would have arbitraged and gained 16 ozs. silver for every oz of gold had I bought gold instead. I plan to slowly trade my silver for gold around 40:1 with a final target of 20:1. I don't think this is exactly the final GSR, it's just my personal target. Gold is the end goal for me. Playing the GSR is just a way for me to increase my stack while never being without PMs of some sort.

That being said, if I didn't have any today I would at least start a position. We'll never pick a bottom or top.

It sounds like you view the gold price as rising and falling instead of the dollar rising and falling. At this point it's just a mental exercise if you don't have gold. It is a much different experience if you actually hold it in your hands. Then you start to ask yourself, "do I want to buy dollars with my gold?" No.

I say all this with the utmost respect for you guys. You all are some smart cookies and I appreciate this space for me to have my say as well. Always welcome different perspectives. Thank you for reading!


The United States Stuck in 2011 Catch 22

The United States Stuck in 2011 Catch 22 - International Business Times

One last reading recommendation for now...

Amazon.com: The Creature from Jekyll Island : A Second Look at the Federal Reserve (9780912986210): G. Edward Griffin: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516P995FZTL.@@AMEPARAM@@516P995FZTL


And a review by Stephen McCarthy. Just a regular reviewer but his description is spot on and wanted to give him due credit.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
"What is The Creature From Jekyll Island? Well, first of all, it's uglier than The Creature from the Black Lagoon; it's more densely wrapped in deception than the Mummy is in cloth; it sucks the lifeblood of America more ravenously than Dracula does his victims; it reeks worse than the Werewolf; and it's stronger and more dangerous than Doctor Frankenstein's miscreation!

The Creature from Jekyll Island is the PRIVATE Federal Reserve that holds America and Her People hostage with an astoundingly perverse and "criminal" economic system that is an evil beyond your worst monster-infested nightmare. But the Creature comes in a guise to mislead the people, like a Wolfman in sheep's clothing.

Why is the system "criminal"? Because the U.S. Constitution proclaims itself to be the "supreme Law of the Land" (see Article VI), and Article I, Section VIII of the Constitution states that "The Congress shall (Constitutionally speaking, "shall" has been legally defined as "must")...coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures." Why Congress? Because it is answerable to the People it represents! Remember, our Constitutional Republic was meant to be representational government! We're a long way from that now! The Federal Reserve is NOT Congress; it is unelected, meaning nonrepresentational, and being therefore unconstitutional, it is illegal, hence "criminal."

I first read G. Edwrd Griffin's magnificent study, 'The Creature From Jekyll Island' eight years ago. I had read plenty of political books prior to this one, and countless since, but Mr. Griffin's tour de force has yet to be equaled when it comes to educating the reader in wide-ranging topics that coalesce most of the geopolitical mysteries of our time into the diabolical scheme known as the Federal Reserve System.

Don't make the mistake of letting the sophisticated subject matter drive you away as forcefully as the intriguing title beckons you. Despite the complexity of the topic, G. Edward Griffin masterfully organizes the material and lays it out, not only in a very readable manner, but he actually fashions a carefully researched, extensively footnoted nonfiction tome into a spellbinding journey that reads nearly like a page-turning mystery novel.

In the process of explaining and demystifying the history, the stated goals of the Federal Reserve, and the real agenda behind it, Mr. Griffin necessarily enlightens the reader about myriad conspirators who occupy positions in a variety of social engineering organizations. Without this understanding, one could not possibly grasp the full scope of the problem, nor fathom how such a demonstrably evil entity could have remained cloaked and in power since 1913. (Indeed the thirteenth year of the Twentieth Century represented an unlucky number for America and eventually the world.)

You will find some reviewers here complaining that Mr. Griffin has unfortunately polluted his 600+ page study with John Birch Society style conspiracy theories. What you WON'T find is where any of those same reviewers have proven any errors in fact committed by Mr. Griffin. They challenge the idea of a conspiracy, but not any of the abundant and overt evidence that clearly points to it. I myself don't like little yapping dogs, but I'm not prepared to say that they don't exist simply because I'd prefer not to even think about them. And I can hear those yapping quadrupeds as clearly as I can see the indisputable evidence of underhanded collusion in high and influential places when it comes to this country's monetary system.

"You are a den of vipers!" President Andrew Jackson thundered at a delegation of supporters of the central Bank of the United States in 1834. "I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal God I will rout you out!" Jackson succeeded in ridding this country of the inherent perniciousness that a central bank levels on a nation. But President Jackson's hard-earned victory for his countrymen was sadly overturned in 1913, when a corrupt privately owned central bank was again foisted on the sleeping people of this once free nation in the form of The Federal Reserve cartel. As Griffin states on page 573, "The Federal Reserve is the world's largest and most successful scam."

I will tell you plainly that regardless of what you think you know about the political spectrum, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, civil rights and corporate greed, socialism and capitalism -- regardless of how well informed you may think you are by reading mainstream news magazines and newspapers, listening to NPR and talk radio programs and watching political debates on nightly news TV shows -- until you have read and digested G. Edward Griffin's, 'THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND', you will never really understand contemporary American and global politics. But afterwards, the political puzzle will come together before your eyes, and never again will you follow the red herring into the brainwashing house of mirrors which is our current political milieu.

If you're inclined to read only one political book, be sure it's this one, as it will make sense of your world like nothing else. 'THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND' belongs in the personal library of every American who truly cares about his or her country (regardless of political party affiliation); by rousing the people of this nation from the ignorance of deep sleep, it has the potential to be the silver bullet or the stake through the heart of America's worst monster! Read it now or the Wolfman's gonna getcha! "

I bought AAPL @ $85. Sold @ $135 I'm conservative like that.

If you hold AAPL now and have a realized 200% gain then buying gold after a mere 75% rise would be a great time to arb, no? I bet, literally, gold will double from here to $2700 before AAPL will see $672.

Let's revisit this in another 2 years ;-)

I bought AAPL @ $85. Sold @ $135 I'm conservative like that.

If you hold AAPL now and have a realized 200% gain then buying gold after a mere 75% rise would be a great time to arb, no? I bet, literally, gold will double from here to $2700 before AAPL will see $672.

Let's revisit this in another 2 years ;-)

That's an interesting bet. I would probably bet the opposite.

I agree that the stock market is due for a dip.

I agree that Wall Street and private closed door concerns (that may be redundant) are manipulating the markets and finances of our country and just like the housing market, it's going to be an ankle grabber.

I agree it's about to hit the fan if we don't make some changes.

I don't agree that switching to a gold standard and abolishing the Fed solves those problems.

A currency based on faith in the US government, backed by debt, and that varies based on political whims and global events is variable whether it's paper or gold.

And all the same people will have all the same puppet strings and fingers in the pot unless we change THAT. And THAT is a much bigger issue IMO.

And all the same people will have all the same puppet strings and fingers in the pot unless we change THAT. And THAT is a much bigger issue IMO.

Agree.

But the only way this will happen is if we abolish the Fed and allow, LOL, ourselves to print our own debt-free sovereign money. That's all it takes. Easier said than done. We don't NEED gold to back sovereign money as long as the money supply is maintained by Congress, who represents and is answerable to we the people. Like it says in the Constitution.

We will be forced into a gold backed dollar if we don't voluntarily abolish the Fed and issue our own money. Those are the choices.

If we stop printing now the we can't afford the interest alone. If we continue printing we will have to raise the debt ceiling. That is happening now. Default now or raise the debt ceiling. This will not end well.

How do we print debt free money? Either the debt still exists or we magically pay it all off.

And if we magically pay it all off, doesn't that strengthen our paper currency?

Inflation at less than 5% is part of my portfolio.

And if one is truly worried about the devaluation of the US dollar, take a trip outside the US. As Papa Scooterbug says of the dollar versus other currencies "the price was 1 milllion something, so I gave then $20 and told them to keep the change."

To summarize my thoughts:

You cannot extinguish debt with debt. ie Paying your mortgage with credit cards doesn't get rid of the debt. In fact, it increases it! Paying our national debt with currency born from debt, exponentially increases our debt as we print more debt notes. It's a vicious circle.

Only real money extinguishes debt.

Real money is either

a) sovereign controlled currency
or
b) gold, having zero counterparty risk


I do not think we as a country have the knowledge or political willpower to abolish the Fed. I would like to see this happen, but I doubt it will happen. Therefore, I believe gold must be used to absorb some of the debt. This means I am NOT betting against the Fed. If the Fed wins this war, gold will be used. The Fed banking cartel has lots of gold. win win win.

A new sovereign currency or gold-backed Fed notes. Either way, the value of gold must rise to absorb all the wealth diluted with the currency printing. Either way, gold wins.