Greece's Financial Woes

[Bobinator]

Fears of a bank run-
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/09/news...=Google+Reader

[808shooter]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

Fears of a bank run-
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/09/news...=Google+Reader

didn't a lot of their woes begin with the olympics in 2004?

[Kaonohi]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

Man -
This is why for over 20 years I have been keeping a significant portion of my ... uh ... capital in REAL value, like silver, gold, platinum, gemstones (lesser), real estate, and other manageable, transferable commodities with a history of value.

Money? Printed paper with arbitrary value? At a minimum. Mostly those units invested in shares of companies I trusted would survive. I expect to lose 50% at least, but I've made more than that - adjusted for inflation.

I don't know when the entire house of cards will crumble, but I'm certain it will.

Consider: What is valuable? What will you be able to trade for things of value you need? Buy those things. Keep them. They will save you.

[timkona]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

What is valuable? What will you be able to trade

Vegetables, from a garden. Eggs & Meat. Milk. Fruits. Dried products that have shelf life. Preserves & canned things.

[Bobinator]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

What is valuable? What will you be able to trade

Vegetables, from a garden. Eggs & Meat. Milk. Fruits. Dried products that have shelf life. Preserves & canned things.

Yes. In abundance.

Don't forget things like soap, toothpaste, candles, lamps, small propane single-burner stove, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and a manual can opener. But don't rely on canned goods. That stuff'l kill ya!

Here's another hint. If any of you shave with a razor, you can buy some from Greatrazors.com. They treat over-the-counter razors with nitrogen that makes them last 3-4 times as long. Costs 50-75% more, but lasts 300% longer. I used to go through a razor unit 1/month with my gillette. I now use 1 every 3 months. Stuff like this will be tradeable commodities. If not, you can always use them.

[Bobinator]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

Man -
This is why for over 20 years I have been keeping a significant portion of my ... uh ... capital in REAL value, like silver, gold, platinum, gemstones (lesser), real estate, and other manageable, transferable commodities with a history of value.

Hooray for you! Though I'd think twice before storing them in a safety deposit box. The government can shut down the banks and confiscate it, like they did in 1933. Ask Mr. Roosevelt.

Don't forget quarters and dimes made before 1965, and nickels minted before 1955. Those buggers are 90% silver.

[Bobinator]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

Hooray for you! Though I'd think twice before storing them in a safety deposit box. The government can shut down the banks and confiscate it, like they did in 1933. Ask Mr. Roosevelt.

Don't forget quarters and dimes made before 1965, and nickels minted before 1955. Those buggers are 90% silver.

Oops. I mean nickels minted before 1947, not 55.

[Bobinator]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

More updated news on Greece. They're in big... doo doo.

‘Greece infection’ spreads as stricken nation’s debt is rated junk -
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...SS&attr=797093

Greek debt crisis sweeps all before it-
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2960381

ECB may have to turn to 'nuclear option' to prevent Southern European debt collapse- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/e...-collapse.html

“We have gone past the point of no return,” said Jacques Cailloux, chief Europe economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland.“There is a complete loss of confidence. The bond markets are in disintegration and it is getting worse every day.

[808shooter]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

More updated news on Greece. They're in big... doo doo.

‘Greece infection’ spreads as stricken nation’s debt is rated junk -
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...SS&attr=797093

Greek debt crisis sweeps all before it-
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2960381

huh. well i did always think it was a bad idea to tie your currency and your ability to use fiscal policy to a union of countries that aren't all on the same page budget wise, philosophically etc. I mean the good of the whole outweighs the good of the individual country.

ECB may have to turn to 'nuclear option' to prevent Southern European debt collapse- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/e...-collapse.html

“We have gone past the point of no return,” said Jacques Cailloux, chief Europe economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland.“There is a complete loss of confidence. The bond markets are in disintegration and it is getting worse every day.

now what, EU long term rates are going to skyrocket because the greeks couldn't manage their budget??? I see a lot of folks getting nervous about this in the long run.

maybe the brits weren't so dimwitted after all huh? they didn't want to play nice nice and join the euro party?

meh, I wonder if a lot of money moves in the treasuries and now our long term rates stay low even though the fed is going to stop buying. anyone know what volumes we're talking here?

[Bobinator]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

I'm not sure what you mean about the Feds not buying. As far as I know, the U.S. Federal Reserve has been buying our debt faster than the printing press can work. In other words, we're monetizing our debt. Or course, they're doing it through other entities owned by the FedR, so we don't really know about it. After all, China isn't buying them anymore. They're selling our bonds and buying gold, silver and other precious metals. they're also stocking up on industrial raw material. And Japan's in deeper doo doo than we are. So who's buyin our debt? Us, of course!

This is a very serious matter for all of us. They were talking about it this morning on the Rick Hamada morning show on 830 AM. The crisis in Greece will spread and cause the downfall of the European banking system. This will eventually affect us and trigger a worldwide economic collapse.

Here' today's update

Roubini: "Greek Debt `Tip of Iceberg' for Inflation, Defaults"
http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/20...-recovery.html

Euro debt crisis deepens as 'contagion' spreads from Greece to Spain-
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...n-1957300.html

Roubini: "In A Few Days Time, There Might Not Be A Eurozone For Us To Discuss"
http://www.businessinsider.com/roubi...discuss-2010-4

[808shooter]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

meh, I wonder if a lot of money moves in the treasuries and now our long term rates stay low even though the fed is going to stop buying. anyone know what volumes we're talking here?

I meant " I wonder if folks who are fleeing EU debt will turn to US Treasuries as their foreign reserve currency of choice."

It blew me away when I learned about the shell game that the Fed was playing and recently I heard second hand that the Fed is planning to stop it's treasury purchases in the next few months.

[Bobinator]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

I meant " I wonder if folks who are fleeing EU debt will turn to US Treasuries as their foreign reserve currency of choice."

It blew me away when I learned about the shell game that the Fed was playing and recently I heard second hand that the Fed is planning to stop it's treasury purchases in the next few months.

I think only the misinformed or risktakers who think they know what they're doing are switching to U.S. Treasuries. The smart and wealthy are snapping up real estate, precious metals and agricultural stocks.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...en-buying.html

[Bobinator]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

Deadly rioting in Greece. Is this what we are to expect sometime in the future here in the U.S. of A?

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...g-greek-riots/

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

Deadly rioting in Greece. Is this what we are to expect sometime in the future here in the U.S. of A?

Three people were killed in last week's riot. They can have a riot this week where 30 more people get killed,....... and all for what??? The sobering fact is that it won't get them a single euro closer to paying off their country's debt.

Violence offers no solution to this problem. Neither are bailouts that are given without the necessary fiscal re-structuring and some good old-fashioned sacrifice on the part of the Greeks. I think a good place for those people to start looking for positive change is to learn from another country (namely, South Korea) that had to climb out of its own economic hole a decade ago.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Greece's Financial Woes

I can't see what the S. Koreans did to work here in America. First of all in order to let a bank fail and fire it's employees would be considered the right thing to do in a free market. Our free market economy is based on success and failure of any business. If it does good, it should reap it's rewards. If it sucks, then it should be allowed to fail instead of being bailed out. But Democrats embrace entitlements as opposed to Republicans who feel differently. By controlling the masses, the government controls the economy not the market.

As for S. Korea donating family gold to the government, well that's a noble thing to do in crisis, we here in America donate our hard-earned income thru taxes and increases in taxation would be the value for which Koreans would compare their gold donations against.

Tax increase? On the rich? Who's gonna have any money left to invest in our stock market? Who's gonna have any money left to put into our banking institutions? Do the poor invest? I'm middle class and yet I don't have enough money to invest like my rich friends.

The rich invest, they use money like a tool to make more money. That's how they get rich. You need money to make money as the saying goes. When you don't have any, it's that much harder to make more. Their investments into our indicator of national economic stability is what keeps America financially solvent (or insolvent) by investing in our stock markets.

Tax the rich and they won't be investing because they won't have the tools to do so anymore. Pretty soon they're not rich anymore and can claim entitlements like the rest of poor folk, and then who's gonna support the welfare system when there aren't any rich people to tax? Who? Us. We'll be putting in an extra dollar then claiming a fraction of that back as entitlements. Why don't we just keep that dollar and use all of it?

Isn't that what reducing taxes do? Allow taxpayers to keep more of what they earn so individually we can pull ourselves out of our own economic hell.

That's basic economics 101 here. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor sounds nice and ethical, but eventually there aren't gonna be any rich left to take from and who supports the system now when everybody's got their hands out looking for help. Look at what's happening to unemployment claims! The federal government has to add yet another extension to those still out of work and for new claims because more people are fast becoming poorer. Who are these people? If they weren't poor before they must have been richer before. It's happening...the rich are becoming poorer and cannot sustain anymore taxation. Good for them? No not good for us who need their tax dollars to pay for our entitlements, the biggest one that has yet to be implimented...National Health Care. Who's gonna pay for that when we're all poor and really could use it.