Kerry Lutz's--Financial Survival Network (general)

John writes, "  Interest just posted a nice summary of a McKinsey report on the growth of global debt during what some persist in calling the “great deleveraging.” Turns out that since the crisis of 2008, debt has actually risen by $57 trillion, and the ratio of debt to GDP is up 17 percentage points to 286%. Meanwhile, central banks are monetizing 100% of newly-issued sovereign debt. 

The obvious response to this is 1) wow, nothing has been fixed; in fact just the opposite, and 2) these stats, horrendous as they are, are incomplete because they don’t include unfunded liabilities of governments and private pensions, which are just as real as any other kind of debt.

But unfunded liabilities must be getting better, what with the stocks and bonds in pension fund portfolios soaring lately. Right? Since that’s an effortless Google search, that’s what I did. And the results were both counterintuitive and scary. It seems that even with pension fund investment portfolios booming, obligations to future retirees are rising even faster, making these entities even more underfunded today than in 2007."

Lance Edwards has been investing in residential real estate since 2002. Best of all he's been doing it with none of his own money. He's got a free book that available to you that explains it all. First and foremost he looks for value. Once he's got a piece of real estate that produces cash flow, the rest is easy. While we can't endorse his methods, he does have a track record of success. 

David Jensen, prolific writer on sound money and finance, joined us to discuss the potential ramifications of the recent Canadian lawsuit dealing with the Bank of Canada and it's mandate to make interest-free loans to the provinces and how that mission somehow got subverted by the BIS (Bank for International Settlements). Now the policy has been challenged in court and the appellate tribunal has allowed the case to continue. This is only an intermediate appeal and whether the plaintiffs will ultimately prevail is an open question. However, it did send some shock waves across Canada and directed some unwanted attention towards the bank's practices. Where it will eventually wind up is anyone's guess. 

Carol Swain rose from high school dropout and teenage mother to esteemed Vanderbilt University law professor. She is passionate about empowering others to confidently raise their conservative voices in the public square. Dr. Swain’s education and experiences make her a credible and powerful force for change in today’s social and political climate where conservatives are intimidated to champion an often-unpopular message.

Carol Swain’s own courageous voice for conservative causes is expressed among a variety of popular media. She’s a frequent guest on Hannity’s: Great American Panel on Fox News and appeared regularly on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight. Now she joins FSN to tell us about a recent run in she had with her college community over an article she wrote violent Islam. 

We spoke with Mark Skousen, founder of FreedomFest. Mark has been teaching courses at California Based Chapman University, which has become a leading institution of higher learning. It was gratifying to hear that the student body is predisposed to free markets and free thought, unlike so much of academia today. Mark contrasted them with his students at Mercy College in New York who were much more likely to support government programs and intervention in the marketplace. Perhaps there's hope. 

This year's FreedomFest is also shaping up nicely. More debates are on tap and the Moore-Krugman debate is attracting quite a bit of attention. It promises to be the highlight of the event. We can't wait to see it and Mark will be the moderator. It will be the shoot-out at the Mises Corral. 

We caught up with Ned Schmidt today and the word of the day is Peak Food! A recent paper released showed that many crops, while their production is still increasing, are requiring more and more input and their yields per acre aren't rising as fast as they once were. This doesn't mean famine is coming to the world, rather it means that food prices will be going much higher in the years to come and a higher percentage of incomes will be devoted towards food, where possible. Proits of food producers and related companies will also tend to go higher. 

We also discussed precious metals. Ned hasn't seen a better "set-up" for gold and silver since 2009. The gold to S&P ratio is extremely favorable as is the gold to silver ratio. This could mean a big move for the sector is on the way. But then again, we've been disappointed far too many times in the past to remain unskeptical. 

Bill Tatro believes that before you trust any number issued by the government, you should probably have your head examined by several mental health professionals. Every number issued by the government is part of an agenda to make the populace feel better about things, even though they know that things are not getting better. Nowhere is this truer than with the unemployment numbers. The government says it's around 5.6 percent, but the real number is much higher, just look at the labor force participation rate and you'll understand why. It's hovering at generational lows and keeps going lower. This is a sure sign that recovery is not right around the corner. 

Whatever it Takes Wednesdays with Andrew Hoffman!

Greece!

Central banking gone mad - 65% of survey participants believe Central bank actions will be the most important market movers in 2015.

U.S. economic data plunge!

- housing starts, refi activity, retail sales, industrial production, consumer confidence, jobless claims

-today biggest ever PPI drop for January - but BLS says largest real wages increase in years!

-rig counts

-record low Baltic Dry Index

-record high oil inventories

Record Chinese gold imports

2/28 India will probably repeal PM import tariffs

miner armageddon thus far - as planned, with tomorrow being super thursday for earnings

FOMC minutes today

-fed's gambit of goosing 10-year backfiring

-now in oil manipulation (supporting) business now, too - will FAIL

Charles Hugh Smith has written about the we are living in An Empire of Lies. We discuss what that means and why it must eventually end. The surprising thing is how long it has lasted. This is why it's so important to go back to the local investing and keep the money in your community where it will do the most good. Because when it all collapses, you'll be living in your local town, not in the global economy. Which is why you investing always needs to begin at home. 

We talked with the Gold and Oil Guy today, Chris Vermeulen. He says that Gold is still in a bear market, like it has been for the past three years. There's an opportunity to pick up a quick profit when it rebounds from its current plunge, but don't be fooled. It's all setting up very nicely for the ultimate bull market that's getting closer. Same with the much maligned Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX:V), which is at record lows due to its composition of miners and resource companies. Chris believes that when it comes back, it will come back very big, so consider the ETF. Chris is very bearish on Oil and doesn't see it for quite some time, so don't chase it lower. Believe the technicals, not your heart. 

John writes, "Global capital is looking for a place to hide. But after decades of enthusiastic currency creation and financial engineering, there’s way too much of it for any one country to accommodate. This mismatch between money knocking at the door and available space is leading the handful of remaining safe havens to put up “no vacancy” signs in order to avoid being swamped. Among the things they’re trying is negative interest rates. That is, if you want to deposit money in a Swiss or Danish bank or lend money to the Japanese or German governments you now have to pay them for the privilege.

This sounds a little crazy, and from a historical perspective it is indeed highly unusual. But it’s exactly what you’d expect in a world of ever-increasing debt and ever-more-exotic financial speculation: Too much bad paper gets created which eventually blows up, causes instability and leads worried investors to value return of capital over return on capital. They all pile into whatever seems most likely to still exist a decade hence, forcing (or enabling) the managers of those assets to charge rather than pay interest."

Dave Barnett has found the key to investing locally and profitably. Find local entrepreneurs who need capital and either don't want to deal with a bank or who are priced out of the small business loan market. Dave has been making loans to small business owners in his area for years and has only had one bad loan during that time. Now he's got a referral network that keeps the deals flowing. He show;s you how to do it too in his book Invest Local. 

Our guest and friend Woody O'Brien joined us for a wide ranging discussion about what's happening with the world economy and the oil patch. He sees oil going back up in price at some point because the so-called surplus is just not great enough to keep the price down for long. Also he's extremely bullish on cyber-security and loves the HACK etf. As always he's bullish on food, because of rising population and the fondness of humanity for 3 squares a day. And as usual he's down on the banksters for putting the world in the current mess it finds itself in as today. There's so much more. Woody has a talent for cutting through the bull. 

According to the Survival Doctor James Hubbard, the vaccine critics are all wet. The science behind vaccines is well established and beyond repute. Before the measels vaccine, approximately 1000 Americans per year died of this illness. Once vaccination became near universal that number went down to zero. In addition, Dr. Hubbard says the fears of adjutants and preservatives used to store and suspend the vaccine agents have been completely disproven and have only been kept alive due to the power of the Internet. But you need to be the judge. 

We also discussed how one needs to react to life threatening situations. Because the average person has not received medical training and is not prepared for such events, the odds are panic will set in when confronted with these situations. The key is preparation. Only by preparing can we expect to avoid the onset of panic to stressful, traumatic situations. 

Goldmoney's Director of Research Alasdair MacLeod stopped by yesterday to give us an update on what's happening in Europe. Since he's based in the UK and he's beholden to no one, he's got a great perspective on things and they're not pretty. Seems the Greek Government has been taken over by a group of determined adolescents. Their solution to everything is, when in doubt spend more money that you don't have. Raise the minimum wage, increase bankrupt pension payments, hire more civil servants to do nothing and on and on. The very same behavior that has caused the crisis across the globe. And of course they're expecting a different outcome a la Krugman. Good luck on that one! 

And Alasdair explains that this will no doubt lead to an exit from the Euro and it's spawning similar movements in Spain, Italy and elsewhere. The failure of leadership is nearly universal and the results will be catastrophic. More good news for your weekend. Buy gold and silver and forget about it!

John Manfreda is convinced that oil prices will return to and exceed their former highs, sooner rather than later. Whether he's right or wrong, there are some screaming buys among the downtrodden sector in the stock market. As usual the baby has been thrown out with the bath water. There's some dividend plays that would bring a smile to Benjamin Graham's long withered face. John tells you all about them. 

Howard Davidowitz lists a half dozen more stores that are in bankruptcy or closing down, including such names as Radio Shack, Jones New York, Izod and Delia's with many more on the way. The economy is sinking and the White House is doing nothing but doubling the debt and increasing the number of people living in poverty. Howard calls it crackpot economics. The American People gave the Democrats a failing report card in the last election and Obama and the Party are in denial. Howard says the Democrats can't even negotiate with him. He listens to no one, except perhaps Al Sharpton. And it's no better overseas with the latest defeat Yemen. Which explains why Obama and Biden have never had jobs. Obama and the teachers' unions cannot and will not be evaluated. 

Rob Kirby is first and foremost a seeker of truth. He sees that the globalist system is a method of enslaving humanity. Key to that system was the Euro. With the death of the Euro becoming more likely by the day, he believes that extremely tough times are ahead for all of us. Soon the dominos will begin to fall and it will end with the dollar. Everyone needs to be prepared for this eventuality. 

John  LeBoutillier and I discussed the latest scandal in New York and its affect upon the political future of the state. John believes that we need a full time legislature and that outside income for the state assembly and senate should be eliminated. This would shut down the major source of corruption. We also discussed the emergence of Scott Walker as the leading Republican presidential contender. John is worried that he won't sustain attacks from Jeb Bush's vicious campaign team. However Walker beat Wisconsin's public unions and the leftist courts, so there's hope that he'll make it. The real question is whether he can beat the mainstream media and that remains to be seen. 

Whatever it Takes Wednesdays with Andrew Hoffman:

Greece

                -today's Eurogroup emergency meeting

                -yesterday's lie of bailout extension, not happening

                -Russia to rescue?  

Euro       -Grexit will NOT be good for Euro, will destroy it

                -explosion of Syriza-like parties in PIIGS

                -all will want secession from Euro, debt writeoffs

India

                -Getting rid of all tariffs

Baltic Index

                -all  time low today

Oil prices

                -plunging again, after failed deadcat bounce

                -NFP report had just 1,900 energy job losses!  Need to discuss this ridiculous report

FOMC

                -all goes back to 4/11/13 Obama/TBTF meeting

                                -claim employment and inflation are key goals (as well as stock market, of course)

                                -fake data, rig markets, and of course attack gold

                                -no correlation with reality, such as tomorrow's expected negative retail sales number                  

Mining Armageddon

                -KGC got ball rolling last night with catastrophic report

                -by next week, nearly all PM majors will report

                -production will collapse

Tekoa DaSilva of Sprott Global Resource Investments is still high on the resource sector. But he cautions that you've got to buy quality at this point in the cycle. Otherwise you could just be gambling. The major resource companies are poised to prosper when the precious metals cycle finally turns, which it will. There's also a number of companies out there which have large cash hoards and are trading for less than the value of their cash alone. But you've got to look closely and make sure that they're poised for growth. In short, there's much to be excited about for the informed investor. 

David Morgan is still a believer in precious metals. While gold and silver have backed off a bit from their New Year's Rally, that doesn't change the reasons why they're going higher in the long term. Global debt continues to increase at geometric rates. Unsound economic and governmental practices haven't changed and when individuals and companies look for safety, they have few other choices available. David also has a special project that he's made available to subscribers that he describes as low risk, high profit potential. All the more reason to pay attention to the Morgan Report. 

Bestselling Author and fellow Libertarian Charles Goyette joined us for a discussion of what's going on in America and around the world. While the forces of deflation and inflation appear to be slugging it out, the real loser is the middle class. Charles believes that they are the bulwark against totalitarianism and the protector of freedom. When they decline, freedom declines along with them and that's exactly what's been happening since the crash. Can this trend be reversed? We don't know now and can only hope that the forces of freedom regain the upper hand. 

Gerald Celente has been following America's Downfall through his Trends Journal for decades. No need to recount all of his incredible calls. He's disgusted with the quality of leadership in the country. He believes that the people in high places only desire is to keep America mired in war and to keep the populace brainwashed in front of their TV's. It's time to end the madness and that's why he started Operation Peace. He's hoping to mobilize millions to demand peace and bring prosperity back to the land. It's time for a revolution. Start by getting healthy and putting only quality food into your body and quality thoughts into your mind. If enough people do it, there's no stopping us. 

Dave Kranzler has been following housing price trends for many years now. Government can spin, create new low downpayment and now downpayment schemes, but if people aren't working or are underemployed, it's going to be very difficult to get the housing market going again. What we're seeing in most of the country, with the exception of the internationally influenced markets like New York City and Miami, is a market that's going nowhere fast and Dave believes it will stay that way into the indefinite future, until something changes in the general economy at large. 

And when it comes to employment numbers, they were cooked last month just like they've been cooked for years. They're really at depression era levels. The head of Gallup Research finally came out and said so, at the risk of being disappeared. So you can pretty much take it to the Too Big To Fail Bank.

Finally, Dave's just put together a report showing that while Amazon is a great company with wonderful service and hard to beat prices, they have a problem; they're not making any money and have been relying upon debt to stay afloat, just like the American Economy. How much longer can they go on like this? Will they go the way of Brick and Mortar retailing?