I'm really worried...

[CameronCN]

(This is my from my dA journal for today, but it's very important and applies you too.)

Now normally I pretty much stick to talking about me here--what I'm doing, my art, what I think of politics--because, well, it's my journal. But today I want to talk a bit more about something I'm worried about that's not going to affect me, but rather you.

This morning the dollar fell to 1.51 against the Euro, 1.02 Canadian, and .94 Australian. Gold is almost to $1000, Silver to $20, and Oil is at $100 a barrel. Food prices are also skyrocketing. The Fed, meanwhile, wants to cut rates even further. The dollar is collapsing, and there is nothing to stop it.

I don't have to tell you that this is very bad news for all US citizens, so I'll skip to my point: if you have any savings at all, please get it out of dollars! Buy gold, silver, stockpile food, even buy foreign currency. I don't care what you do, get it out of the bank and into something safe!

The dollar crash is mostly only a problem for us Americans, but the real estate crash effects everybody. If you have a house, sell it! You've probably lost tons of money on it already, but if you wait, you'll lose even more. Get out of debt! Store some food!

You are all good friends of mine, so I hope you'll perhaps listen to me on this. A lot of people are going to be made desperate and miserable by all this, and I don't want it to be any of you. There's still time.

These are going to be hard times for everybody, but you can avoid the worst of it. The thought that any of you might have your lives ruined by this is very upsetting to me, and I hope that you will take a moment to think about it and do something. Please.

[Muninn]

The Fed has cut rates already, by 1.25 percentage points. A huge ammount for a one-month period in recent decades. Predictions are it'll do so again.

I don't think the situation is that dire, though there's definite discontent. I've heard several economists say it's not so much recession as stagnation. Though maybe they're just trying to reassure investors. Not that I understand it as good as the professionals do.

[CameronCN]

The Fed has cut rates already, by 1.25 percentage points. A huge ammount for a one-month period in recent decades. Predictions are it'll do so again.

The Fed, meanwhile, wants to cut rates even further.

Cutting rates is a bad thing right now. It boosts inflation, which is already so bad that we might have $4 gas by spring (in the words of the NYTimes.) These huge rate cuts are speeding up the slide.

[rabid_fox]

Unlucky. Still, a full blown economic collapse could lead to the resurrection of authentic blues music.

[Arloest]

"Mom! We have to sell our house! Someone on the internet told me to!"

[Baconsticks]

Let's not forget Peak oil too.

[CameronCN]

"Mom! We have to sell our house! Someone on the internet told me to!"

XD That'd be funny...

I should clarify the "sell your house" thing. Thing is, lots of people bought their houses when they were way overpriced, and now the houses are worth less, but they still owe tons of money on them. Not a good situation, obviously, and if you're having a hard time paying your mortgage you'll be kicked out of your house anyway, so extricate yourself while you can.

But house prices are only going down, so if you have money wrapped up in one, getting out might be an excellent idea. They'll be a lot cheaper in a couple of years, what with all the subprime mortgages, and you'll have made out like a bandit on the high prices that are still mostly there. Rent is really low, too.

[Fritz]

"Mom! We have to sell our house! Someone on the internet told me to!"

But what if Cameron then tells me to buy it back?

[Comrade K]

Invest in CAD. Man, soon it'll be worth heading south of the border for cheap goods.

US will become Canada's Mexico!

And if it does hit really bad (which I highly doubt), I'll put one of my crazy survivalist plans into action.

Beans Bullets and Bandaids.

[Richard K Niner]

so bad that we might have $4 gas by spring

Funnily enough, we already pay that up here.

(Not to make light of the whole thing. Stagflation is a bad thing, and is probably what's going to happen if that rate doesn't go down. With the lack of confidence in the greenback, the cuts are probably necessary to keep people spending.)

Interesting note: a student at my university (originally from Houston) got a call last September from his bank, and after some discussion, mentioned that his account was switched over to Euros. A lot of us knew this was coming.

[Dr. Dos]

Image leeching itt.

Rates are getting cut because of a lack of spending.

The problem is cutting rates increases inflation which we already have plenty of.

So basically the government gets to hear "YOU CAN'T CUT BACK ON [s]FUNDING[/s] INTEREST RATES! YOU WILL REGRET THIS!" or "[s]We need more adequately funded grade schools[/s] Hey cut interest rates so we can have some money to spend"

man why doesn't this forum support strikethrough in html or bbcode

[CameronCN]

(Not to make light of the whole thing. Stagflation is a bad thing, and is probably what's going to happen if that rate doesn't go down. With the lack of confidence in the greenback, the cuts are probably necessary to keep people spending.)

But spending what?! Everybody's broke! Our savings rate is negative! You can't borrow forever, no matter how low the rate is. This is going to be a very impressive crash.

And like it or not, it's going to affect you Canadians too, though not as badly.

[Svix]

Get out of debt! Store some food!

1. Do you know the warning sounds?
2. Do you know what action you must take when you hear each warning?
3. Have you chosen your fall-out room?
4. Have you blocked up the windows and other openings (e.g. vents, chimney) of your fall-out room?
5. Have you strengthened the outside walls and the floor above your fall-out room?
6. Have you made your inner refuge, inside the fall-out room?
7. Have you strengthened it with dense materials?
8. Have you put the following items in your fall-out room?
a) enough water, in sealed or covered containers, to last you and your family for 14 days?
b) enough food to last you and your family for 14 days, including tinned or powdered milk for the children, and food for the babby - and a closed cupboard or cabinet in which to store these supplies?
c) a portable radio (two if possible) and spare batteries?
d) a tin opener, bottle opener, cutlery, crockery and cooking utensils?
e) warm clothing and changes of clothing?
f) bedding?
g) a portable stove and fuel for it?
h) torches, with spare bulbs and batteries, candles and matches?
j) table and chairs?
k) toilet articles?
l) first aid kit?
m) notebook and pencils?
n) cleaning materials, including cloths, tissues, brushes, shovels and a box of dry sand?
o) improvised lavatory seat, polythene buckets fitted with covers, polythene bag linings, for emptying the containers, strong disinfectant and toilet paper?
p) a clock and calendar?
9. Have you made arrangements to cover your extra water supplies in the bath, sink and wash-basin?
10. Have you put the following just outside the fall-out room?
a) a dustbin for temporary storage of waste matter?
b) a second dustbin for food remains, empty tins and other rubbish?
11. Have you painted all windows that are not blocked up?
12. Have you got rid of all old papers and other junk that can catch fire easily?
13. Have you taken down the net curtains?
14. Have you got buckets of water ready on each floor?
15. It you have a fire extinguisher, is it ready and in working order?
16. Have you sent the children to the fall-out room?
17. Have you turned off the gas and electricity at the mains?
18. Have you turned off all pilot lights and oil supplies?
19. Have you closed the stoves and damped down fires? 20. Have you shut all the windows and drawn the curtains?
21. Have you filled the bath, sink and wash-basin with water, and covered them?
22. Have you remembered to push in any aerial on your radio?
23. Have you checked that the gas and electricity are turned off at the mains, and that all pilot lights and oil supplies are turned off?
24. Have you checked that any small fires in any part of the house have been put out?
25. Have you replenished your water supplies?
26. Have you taped up the handle, or removed the chain, from the lavatory?
27. Have you turned off the water supply at the mains?
28. Have you checked your survival kit?
29. Have you done any minor repairs, to keep out the weather?

HAVE YOU?!

[Cosmic^Chicory]

Selling right now is the worst thing you can do, because the value will inevitably go up again. Remember the late 90's, early 2000 dot com 'bubble' that collapsed? Millions sold, prices went up, those that kept what they had rode the new wave.

Late 1980's, same thing, same in the late 70's, late 60's, all over the 50's, 40's, I shouldn't even have to mention the 30's, the 20's, 10's, and the late 1890's had some major financial issues with the Boer war over in South Africa putting a big dent in home values. Before that, 1880's in the States especially had concerns with Mexico draining the economy, and there was that whole Civil War, and and and and...

Yup. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Take a deep breath, stop letting the news mess with your head, and go eat some delicious pudding. Vegan pudding, if you're feeling healthy. It is delicious!

[Richard K Niner]

You can't borrow forever, no matter how low the rate is.

Lend a man a thousand dollars, and you have power over him. Lend a man 9 trillion dollars, and he has power over you.

Nobody's going to stop giving the States the funds they need to stay afloat; the moment they do, their own economy will suffer worse than the money they save. And yet, the longer they wait, the worse it'll get. If you can get some of those cheap loans (minimum requirement a good credit score), you've got money to use until the economy improves. If enough people take advantage, you might even avoid the recession and earn enough to pay off the interest. Then you can return it when the rates start going back up.

And like it or not, it's going to affect you Canadians too, though not as badly.

Hey, when your biggest customer stops showing up, you notice

Of course, we seem to have gotten ourselves in much better shape, as evidenced by the fact that we avoided recession last time around.