An eerie calm has descended upon world financial markets as they await perhaps the two most important financial events of the year this week. On Tuesday, investors will be eagerly awaiting the results of one of the most anticipated midterm elections in U.S. history. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected to end months of speculation by formally announcing the details of a new round of quantitative easing. If either the election or the meeting of the Federal Reserve open market committee delivers a highly unexpected result, it could have a dramatic impact on world financial markets. In fact, many are looking at this week as a potential turning point for the U.S. economy. The decisions that are made or not made this week could set us down a road from which the U.S. economy may never recover. (Read More...)
Why Is Indiana Putting Armed Security Guards Into 36 Unemployment Offices Across The State?
Did you ever think that things in America would get so bad that we would need to put armed guards into our unemployment offices? Well, that is exactly what is happening in Indiana. Armed security guards will now be posted at all 36 full-service unemployment offices in the state of Indiana. So why is this happening now? Well, Indiana Department of Workforce Development spokesman Marc Lotter says that the agency is bringing in the extra security in anticipation of an upcoming deadline when thousands upon thousands of Indiana residents could have their unemployment benefits cut off. But it is not just the state of Indiana that could have a problem. In fact, one recent study found that approximately 2 million Americans will lose their unemployment insurance benefits during this upcoming holiday season unless Congress authorizes another emergency extension of benefits by the end of November. At this point, however, that is looking less and less likely. (Read More...)
5 Dangers To Global Crops That Could Dramatically Reduce The World Food Supply
The world food situation is starting to get very, very tight. Unprecedented heat and wildfires this summer in Russia and horrific flooding in Pakistan and China have been some of the primary reasons for the rapidly rising food prices we are now seeing around the globe. In places such as Australia and the African nation of Guinea-Bissau, the big problem for crops has been locusts. In a world that already does not grow enough food for everyone (thanks to the greed of the elite), any disruption in food production can cause a major, major problem. Tonight, thousands of people around the world will starve to death. So what happens if things get even worse? Many agricultural scientists are now warning that global food production is facing dangers that are absolutely unprecedented. Crop diseases such as UG99 wheat rust and the “unintended effects” of genetic modification pose challenges that previous generations simply did not have to face. The outbreak of a real, live global famine looks increasingly possible with each passing year. So are you and your family prepared if a global famine does strike? (Read More...)
Is Crime Making A Comeback? 12 Crime Statistics That Make You Wonder What Is Happening To America
For about a decade and a half, crime rates in the United States have generally fallen. That is the good news. The bad news is that even during those “good” years, the United States still had the most car thefts, the most rapes and the most murders in the world. And even though the United States has the most people in prison in the entire world by a large margin, there are all kinds of signs that there are still enough criminals out there for crime to start moving back up again. Sure, there are some areas that are still recording small decreases in the crime rate, but there are other areas where the jump in crime statistics is more than a bit alarming. There are millions of Americans that have been out of work for over a year at this point, and when people lose everything that they have they tend to totally lose it. People get desperate when they lose their homes and they don’t have anything to eat. For example, police in Chesterfield, Virginia are investigating 16 separate incidents just this month in which thieves stole food or drinks from homes, cars and even people walking on the street. It wasn’t money that these crooks were after. They just wanted something to eat. As the economy gets even worse over the next couple of years, it is inevitable that we are going to start to see a lot more of this kind of thing. Frustration and anger are on the rise from coast to coast, and when people don’t feel like they have anything to live for they become very dangerous. (Read More...)
30 Reasons Why People Should Be Getting Really Nervous About The State Of The U.S. Economy
The mainstream media is full of happy economic news these days. The S&P 500 has shot up 16 percent since the beginning of July. Ford Motor Company just reported a profit that jumped nearly 70 percent in the third quarter. It was Ford’s best third quarter performance ever and it was the 6th quarterly profit in a row for the company. Other major firms have announced earnings that have far exceeded expectations in recent weeks. Hooray! The pundits are proclaiming that the economic collapse is over and that the U.S. economy has won. It is almost enough to make one tear into a stirring rendition of “Happy Days Are Here Again”. But perhaps we should take a moment and get a hold of ourselves first. After all, the underlying economic fundamentals have not changed. The same long-term trends that were ripping the U.S. financial system apart a month or two ago are still continuing to do so. Millions upon millions of American families are still deeply suffering. So exactly what in the world is going on here? Well, this is what is known as a “sucker’s rally”. Those on the inside know better than to throw money at this market. In fact, corporate insiders are now selling off stock so fast you would think it is going out of style. Meanwhile, hordes of innocent rubes are jumping back into the stock market thinking that it is the perfect time to get in. (Read More...)
Millions Of Unemployed Americans Now Live As Paupers Even As Foreign Nations Use Sovereign Wealth Funds To Buy Up Huge Chunks Of American Infrastructure
Most Americans still do not understand just how bad the economic horror we are facing really is. Today, millions of Americans are living as paupers in the land that their foreathers built even as America’s infrastructure is literally being sold out from under their feet by corrupt politicians. The “official” unemployment rate in the United States has been at nine and a half percent or above for 14 consecutive months, and today it takes the average unemployed American about 35 weeks to find a job. However, the “official” unemployment rate is misleading, because it does not include workers that have quit looking for work or that have had their hours cut back to part-time. According to 60 Minutes, when you add those “discouraged workers” and “underemployed workers” into the equation the actual rate is about 17 percent, and in the state of California the actual rate is about 22 percent. Meanwhile, foreign nations are using sovereign wealth funds to buy up staggering amounts of U.S. infrastructure. America is quite literally for sale in 2010. All across the United States, highways, ports, toll roads and even parking meters are being gobbled up by foreign powers. We have shipped massive amounts of wealth and jobs to other nations, and now those very same countries are turning around and buying huge amounts of U.S. infrastructure with the gigantic piles of dollars that they have accumulated. (Read More...)
100 Dollar Oil Is Coming
The price of oil has been hovering around 80 dollars a barrel for quite some time now, but get ready, because it is going to move significantly higher. Oil prices have already risen about 9 percent over the past month, and many believe that this could very well be the start of a new trend. Lawrence Eagles, a top analyst at JP Morgan, recently made headlines across the globe when he stated that oil could hit 100 dollars a barrel “much sooner than we expect”. Not only that, but a number of top OPEC officials are also publicly discussing the possibility of 100 dollar oil. But just because a few people are talking about it does not mean that it is going to happen. So are there any other reasons why we should anticipate a significant increase in the price of oil? (Read More...)
California Is Broke – 19 Reasons Why It May Be Time For Everyone To Leave The State Of California For Good
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a seemingly endless parade of pop songs about how great life was in California, and millions of young Americans dreamed of moving to the land of sandy beaches and golden sunshine. But now all of that has changed. Today, millions of Californians are dreaming about leaving the state for good. The truth is that California is broke. The economy of the state is in shambles. The official unemployment rate has been sitting above 12 percent for an extended period of time, and poverty is everywhere. For many Californians today, there are very few reasons to stay in the state but a whole lot of reasons to leave: falling housing prices, rising crime, budget cuts, rampant illegal immigration, horrific traffic, some of the most brutal tax rates in the nation, increasing gang violence and the ever present threat of wildfires, mudslides and natural disasters. The truth is that it is easy to understand why there are now more Americans moving out of California each year than there are Americans moving into the state. California has become a complete and total disaster zone in more ways than one, and an increasing number of Californians are deciding that enough is enough and they are getting out for good. (Read More...)