Kerry Lutz's--Financial Survival Network

We spoke with author Jim Mosquera, who's just published a follow-up book Escaping Oz: Navigating The Crisis. He covers how neither Federal Reserve, nor the Federal Government have rescued the economy by issuing record amounts of debt. Rather they have simply aided the wealthiest members of society by inflating asset prices. This has led to more income equality and less opportunity for the middle class. Jim advocates market based solutions, which will have the effect of lifting all boats and solving the crisis much faster than any economic intervention possibly can.  

Nick Barisheff wrote his book $10,000 Gold almost 2 years ago. While many laughed, we certainly didn't. Nick is sticking to his prediction and feels that the recent moves in the Euro, Swiss Franc and Oil, further bolster his case. Gold has been moving up since the beginning of the year. Nick sees the ceaseless pm appetite of the Russians and Chinese as further proof that his target will be attained sooner rather than later. So buckle your seat belt for the ride of a life time.

Greece just elected an anti-austerity government that insures there will be a conflict with Germany and the ECB. Will they default or repudiate their debt. According to the mainstream media's meme this is an act of pure insanity. But then again, if you're Greece and have seen your economy dessimated by the Euro, it makes perfect sense. And so do precious metals, so turn off CNN and CNBC and turn FSN!

Recent moves in precious metals make it look more and more like the 3 year PM bear market is over. But is a break-out coming? Many of our recent guests believe that it's happening now. We're not so sanguine, but we don't really care all that much about it. We treat precious metals as the ultimate insurance policy, and save a small amount of our funds for a few speculative situations and leave it at that. Eventually all life insurance policies that are kept in force pay off. So look it as a life insurance policy on the dollar, with a substantial surrender value built in, and you'll be just fine. 

Dr. Frieda Birnbaum believes that there would be many benefits to having a female President, although she doesn't believe that it should be Hillary Clinton. It's surprising that the country has not yet elected a woman to the highest office in the land. Very few have even tried to get there. Dr. Birnbaum and I go through a list of potential candidates and see if they have the right stuff. The answers might surprise you. 

Criag Hemke a/k/a Turd Ferguson was on today to explain why gold and silver have risen dramatically since the first of the year. The answer is really quite simple, confidence in currencies is falling rapidly and will continue to do so. Manipulation of precious metals through derivatives has found its limits. There will continue to be times where the paper price of gold and silver are susceptible to manipulation by the computer algorithms, but these will decrease over time as worldwide demand increases. 2015 promises to be an intense volatile and perhaps scary year. Precious metals may be your only defense. 

Gordon T. Long joined us today. In our last discussion, we talked about the continued decline in credit quality across the nation and the world. Now Gordon has uncovered a new wrinkle in student loan debt. Much of it is being deferred or forebearanced under various government programs, all under the radar screen. We also discussed the reason that QE failed in the US, Japan and elsewhere, and why it will fail in the EU. QE cannot create new demand, it can only move up future demand to the present. Also discussed the buck, the Euro, the Franc the peg and more. 

Nick Santiago of InTheMoneyStocks.com joined us today. When he last appeared on November 14th of 2014, he was extremely bullish on the metals. He received much flak from the pm doubters, who believed that gold/silver had no place to go but down. Here we are in the 3rd week of January and Nick remains bullish and who can blame him? Japan is printing money like there's no tomorrow, the ECB is emarking on a futlie QE program and the dollar is heading to record heights. And now the old barbarous relic has started its rise. What's going to happen next? 

So much of life boils down to keeping control of your emotions. In 2011 most precious metals investors believed that the sky was indeed falling, that the dollar was going to soon be found in the dustbin of history, including yours truly. But not Don Harrold. While some were putting everything they had into $49 silver, Don was busy taking profits. It turned out to be a wise move as the past three years have proven. Now Don thinks that gold and silver have hit bottom and are getting ready to make another big move upward. If past is prologue then he deserves to be listened to. 

WTF Wendsays With Andrew Hoffman:

SNB announcement;

ECB announcement (leaked an hour ago);

BOJ announcement  (this morning) - lack of credibility;

BOCananda surprise rate cut this morning;

FOMC meeting next week;

gold exploding in all currencies - near record in Yen - others to come;

plunging U.S./global interest rates - as ECB validates global QE to infinity;

and of course, today's comedic "Manipulation Wednesday" action.

Bix Weir and I connected today. With the unannounced end of the Swiss Franc Peg, Bix believes that the potential carnage at the large banks is potentially huge. We won't know how huge for perhaps several months. But it's events like this that show us the fragility of the world financial system. And Bix believes the ultimate set-up is about to take place and when it does, it's farewell too big to fail banks. And then you'll need all the gold and silver you can hoard because the system will be no more. 

We connected with Martin Armstrong today. The movie made about him, The Forecaster, is quickly becoming a European blockbuster. He's hoping that it will become available in the States before too long. With the Swiss ending the Franc-Euro peg and the coming sovereign debt collapse, it's all starting to move very quickly. The potential for the world to become a very unpleasant place is increasing by the day. The politicians seem to be more concerned about the next election than the long term well-being of the country. Start planning your defensive strategy now. Forget that pension you were promised, it's probably not going to happen. There's lots more in this timely interview. 

David Horowitz was a typical leftist until one day his friend who was doing bookeeping for the Black Panthers disappeared. Her body wasn't found until much later, but it made David understand what the left was really all about. He carries that understanding into his latest series of books, The Great Betrayal: The Black Book of the American Left. In Volume 3 he continues his work on how the president and the modern Democratic Party have betrayed the country and left us open to an inevitable terrorist attack and how President Bush was 100% correct in the aftermath of the 9-11 Attacks. 

Heather Wagenhals talks about how millions of homeowners got burned during the Great Recession but real estate can still be the best investment available to the average American. You need to look for cashflow not windfalls! Heather's been a longtime believer in the strategy. We also talked about the Verizon and IRS scams. They're like the EveryReady Bunny. They'll keep going and going until everyone has been hit or at least attempted to be hit up.  

Jerry Robinson was on talking about the recent action by the Swiss National Bank and its affect upon the world financial system. Other shoes will be dropping. The recent oil price plunge is another area showing weakness and indicating that things are not what the mainstream media is telling you. We also discussed the plight of the Millennials and what they can do to survive and prosper. They need to learn how to build and fix things, currently skills that are in short supply. Jerry also has a new free service he'd like to share with you. 

Ned Schmidt joined us today amid a back drop of exploding debt bombs around the world. Just when you thought it was safe to sell a Swiss Franc short, the Swiss National Banc goes and ends the Euro Peg and all Hell breaks loose. And it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Other counties with pegs are going to see those get broken too. Pegs never work in the long run. Ned's looking forward to some good action in the ag-commodities and some ag stocks as well. But the real action is going to take place in gold and silver. He likes the GDX and thinks the GDXJ may be getting ready for a break-out as well. Take a look and decide. The charts look sweet!

John recently wrote, Switzerland, as everyone knows by now, has slipped out the back door of the drunken orgy that is the modern financial system. And the other revelers are wondering if it’s time to find their own clothes and start tiptoeing towards the exit.

Because the Swiss have such a big “mind share” in the world of finance, it’s easy to forget how tiny their country actually is: Eight million people, a landmass of 40,000 square kilometers (less than half that of Virginia, for instance), and a few interesting but by no means essential exports like watches, chocolate, and pharmaceuticals. But in banking it’s a behemoth. Traditionally the place where money ran to hide, whether gold stolen by Nazis, tax revenues stolen by kleptocrats or personal wealth stashed by reasonable individuals living in unreasonable countries, it has for centuries been as reassuringly — and purposefully — boring as an aging accountant.

In other words, the Swiss are purveyors of financial stability, which requires a rock-solid currency and predictable behavior. The franc, as a result, has for long stretches been the only fiat currency to hold its value versus gold.

I had the pleasure of attending Jason'so annual real investing event. It was a great weekend. I learned so much and met so many jinteliven successful people.  Many of them were long term clients of Jason's organization. It left me more convinced than ever that real estate can have a place in any investor's portfolio. But it needs to be done right and Jason shows you how.

Ivan writes, "Compare the worldwide saturation press coverage of the terrorist killings in Paris of 17 people, including 12 journalists at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, with the minimalist coverage of the even more heinous mass slaughter of innocents or by innocents in Nigeria. At roughly the same time as the Paris attacks, as many as 2,000 people were murdered in Nigeria when radical Islamists, in one of the largest terrorist attacks by a group in modern history (American’s catastrophic 9/11 attacks killed a little less than 3,000 people), razed 16 villages and killed mainly young children and older people, who were not fast enough to get away from spraying gunfire from automatic weapons and grenade launchers. In addition, in two separate attacks, child suicide bombers, who may not have even known they were carrying explosives, killed at least 19 people in markets in the same northeastern region of that country. Why the disparity of the media coverage?"

We also covered the declining Euro and what it means for Greece, Germany and Switzerland as well as the United States. The leadership void has once again brought the financial world to the precipice. Is there someone out there who can think past the next election? 

Bo Polny is a student of cycles. Based upon his observations during our interview on election day in November 2014, he predicted that a major precious metals rally was starting that day. While his timing was off by perhaps 48 hours at most, his call has been on the money. Listen to Bo's follow-up on where markets are heading. You'll be happy to know that all your stacking was not in vain. Quite the contrary, the big move is almost upon us!

John L. Casey has served his country, science, and high technology industries for over thirty-five years. He has been a national space policy advisor to the White House and Congress, a space shuttle engineer, consultant to NASA Headquarters, and consultant to or president of several leading edge technology start-ups. He is currently the President of the Space and Science Research Corporation (SSRC) a leading, independent, research organization in Orlando, Florida, USA. The SSRC specializes in the science and planning for the next climate change to decades of cold weather including its predicted concurrent ill-effects of record earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The SSRC is the primary USA advocate for national and global preparedness for this next cold climate era. 

You're not going to believe the effects of this cooling trend on everything from food production, to energy consumption, to lifestyle patterns. You need to be aware and start planning. The last two winters are just the tip of the proverbial and literal iceberg. 

Bob Mazur spent five years undercover infiltrating the criminal hierarchy of Colombia’s drug cartels. The dirty bankers and businessmen he befriended—some of whom still shape power across the globe—knew him as Bob Musella, a wealthy, mob-connected big shot living the good life. Together they partied in $1,000-per-night hotel suites, drank bottles of the world’s finest champagne, drove Rolls-Royce convertibles, and flew in private jets. But under Mazur’s Armani suits and in his Renwick briefcase, recorders whirred quietly, capturing the damning evidence of their crimes. Now his story is coming to the silver screen with Bryan Cranston playing Bob. It promises to be a great movie and a real shocker. 

Joe Messina joined us today for a closer look at a world that gets wackier by the moment. Did you hear about the Walmart Clerk who refused to print out the couple's picture because they were holding shotgun? Or how about New York, where the police are turning their backs on their mayor, Comrade deBlasio? What is a semi-sane person to do? Listen to FSN, that's for sure!

Rick Ackerman has been successfully investing in the stock market during the current run up. He's done it using his Hidden-Pivot system. While the market might be taking a bit of a breather right now, Rick believes that there's a good possibility that it will take off again soon. However, using his system, you're able to play the market in both directions with little risk. It's worth taking a look at. 

John writes, a few years ago (when the world was very different) veteran mining analyst Jay Taylor told me something that seemed counterintuitive: Deflation can actually be a good thing for the gold and silver mining business — if the prices of mining inputs like oil fall faster than the price of precious metals.

In other words, it’s not inflation or deflation per se that matter, but the distribution of price trends. “With quantitative easing,” said Taylor, “the liquidity being pumped into the system has caused energy and labor costs to rise, which has more than offset higher precious metals prices. Historically, the miners have actually done better in a deflationary environment in which gold and silver are seen as monetary metals and the cost of getting them out of the ground declines due to lower energy and labor.” 

So the relationship of gold to the rest of the commodities complex is a good indicator of the mining environment. Gold might be down, but if it’s relatively strong, the mining equation is favorable. Today it's improving.