Anyone getting any hits, feelings, etc., regarding the economy?

[SeattleGirl]

I know the Japanese market is in trouble, and ours isn't looking so good either. I also read a post that said that someone (can't recall who, but some finance guy) says we may be looking at a depression as big as the Great Depression.

I'm not feeling so very good about this.

Just wondering if anyone has anything on this.

[Matariki]

1. I haven't really been getting any feelings of impending financial meltdown

- in spite of what I read daily here at DU, or in the news.

Wondering if my intuition is in hibernation mode, or what. So - I did some divination tonight. In fact, because most of my savings is in the stock market, I've been doing divination frequently on the topic.

What I'm getting is this - there is some positive input happening - the feds pumping money into the economy, etc. It might take a while for the market to react to this and stabilize. In the near term, the stock market will continue to fluctuate sharply. Reaction to news (good one day, bad the next), probably some hidden things coming to light, and volatile emotions will effect strong ups and downs in the near term. But also I'm seeing some wise guidance at play. Not sure where that's coming from exactly. I think by the end of the year things will be better - maybe Bush out of office and a Dem victory will revitalize things(?)

I'm cautiously optimistic. Let's hope this is right.

[SeattleGirl]

2. Thanks, kineta.

I just inherited some money that is in stocks, and I'd hate to see it all melt away.

[Why Syzygy]

3. This is what one astrologer has to say >

The funny thing about Uranus and the markets

(Please refrain from scatological jokes here!) On Monday the stock market rose over 400 points, the biggest single day rise since 2002, confirming the predictions of noted astrological money expert Ray Merriman who, noting the falling markets at the New Moon which was conjunct Uranus on Friday, predicted for this week:

For this week, Venus will enter Pisces March 12, followed by Mercury doing the same March 14. More Pisces. More confusion and uncertainty. This is followed by Venus starting its translation to the Saturn-Uranus opposition, starting with its opposition to Saturn on March 15, and culminating with its conjunction to Uranus on March 28. The roller coaster may pause this week, but more steep slopes could be ahead March 15-28. Of course with the new moon conjunct Uranus this past Friday, a sudden and sharp rally is also possible, for it can be counted on for one thing: it does what most people do not expect.

The one thing you can expect from Uranus is the unexpected, making it impossible to make astrological predictions when Uranus is involved. The New Moon/Uranus conjunction was in Pisces where it is idealistic and compassionate but with a tendency towards delusion. The rise in the markets came about due to a huge infusion of cash (transiting Jupiter (expansion) forming a sextile to Uranus and the New Moon) from the Federal Reserve, acting with the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank. I've read enough conspiracy theory to be very concerned when this kind of global banking cartel begins working to control the world's financial markets, particularly as Pluto begins its travels through Capricorn, the sign of banking, financing, and large corporations.

The philosophy behind most conspiracy thinking is that a few people behind the major banking elites control the wealth of large nations and now, with globalization, the wealth of the entire planet. While conspiracy theorists often go beyond the realm of logic to prove their point, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that they are not so crazy. In collusion, the world's central banks can easily manipulate the financial markets to rise and fall and even crash, virtually at their whim. When the peasant population (most of the rest of us) put all of our faith into these systems, and all of our life's savings, there is devastation that results when the system crashes as it did back in 1929. Small banks go under - the large ones eat up the small ones and the cycle continues.

Pluto is stationary now at 1 degree Capricorn preparing to retrograde on April 2 and it will re-enter Sagittarius on June 12 where it will remain until the end of November. I believe it could be a wise move to collect your winnings during this last Sagittarian period and then walk away from the table. The next few years could be very rough.
http://astrodynamics.blogspot.com/2008/03/funny-thing-about-uranus-and-markets.html
emphasis added

[Matariki]

7. I also wanted to say that the reading almost seemed to indicate *spiritual* input

probably more important than anything the Fed is doing. Again, not sure where it's coming from.

[Matariki]

13. pss

make sure your stocks are diversified across sectors. but you probably already know that ;-)

[SeattleGirl]

14. Mine are.

One of the reasons I'm asking this is that my siblings and I just inherited some money from our mom, and while the amount isn't great, I don't want to see it go "poof" overnight.

I went in to sign the paperwork for my portion of it last Friday, and the financial advisor told me that most of the stocks were in "safe" funds, and only a couple of the smaller ones were of higher risk.

I don't want to go into panic mode or anything, but I know there is some ugly stuff happening with the markets, not only here but overseas too.

[Grateful for Hope]

11. Thank you, Kineta

Your post really resonates with me. Despite the posts I have been seeing in GD, I have had the gut feeling that, in fact, things are not going to be as bad as predicted.

I have wondered if this is yet another diversion. I think this could be, but, even in that event, I think that, if this is the case, it will be unsuccessful.

[Matariki]

15. Interesting thought about it being a diversion

certainly plays into the whole fear factor, but I can't see how it could help the neo-cons, except maybe as a play on anxiety to segue to war(?)

It seems that it is a very natural human trait to lean toward worry and pessimism. Not that there aren't legitimate concerns over the economy right now. Hope our intuition proves to be true on this.

[Grateful for Hope]

16. Me too, Kineta

Me too...

[Why Syzygy]

18. It could help the neo-cons if

there is a worldwide panic, or even just one in our country, and it is used as an excuse to enforce martial law, or something of the sort. Bush has driven us into a ditch for sure, but I'm wondering if the Democratic primary is making anyone nervous? I don't know if I believe the marital law hype. But then there's NOLA.

They do have a way of working disaster into their agenda.

[Callie McAllie]

19. The economy as a diversion

I think there are some major economic problems that need to be resolved, but you could also be right about the diversion tactic. There's an election coming up, right? When the economy is bad, people typically vote against the party in power. Although Bush is still in office, he's no longer in power.

Who is? Pelosi. And she's a democrat. All politics is local.

It's not a very clever diversionary tactic, but maybe this is why. I'd hate to think there's something bigger that they're distracting us from. Invading Iran, perhaps?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. I'm not getting anything about the economy in general

but I am getting a feeling we need to "batten down the hatches" so to speak. I'm not sure how long the business I'm working for right now will last, as the building boom has dried up; I am testing out a possibility for a new job in a totally new field today.

[NJCher]

5. a different way of looking at this

I've been listening to Sean David Mortin (http://www.seandavidmorton.com/) on C2C and he (among others I've heard) say that pumping money into the system is the last thing we need. He said they are literally printing up money with no backing whatsoever and this mirrors what happened in 1913, led to the roaring 20s, and then the Great Depression.

He thinks they will start a war with Iraq to distract from the economy. He says from now through October will be pure chaos, and especially to look at the last two weeks of October.

He said they are printing up a second currency that will be backed by silver, the Amero (I think that's the name) and the dollar will be left to plunge. He said awhile back that our dollar will be worth 10 cents. That's not such a stretch at all when you think that it's now worth 65 cents. The Amero will be the countries in the western hemisphere.

So I guess the "bad" news is that the guiding hand you're seeing is guiding, all right, but not in the right direction--more like straight into the abyss. He still believes there is time to buy gold or silver and that is what I intend to do.

He is suggesting the U.S. will have a two-tiered currency system like what Japan had.

I intended to start a thread this a.m.--and I still will--about why it's important to maintain a positive view through all this. I am doing it and have found it to help, be intellectually engaging, emotionally satisfying, and a more interesting way to go through this than from the vantage point of fear. I am going to call upon a couple recent shows I've heard from C2C on what certain experts have to say about thinking positively. I have to run off to work for awhile, though, so I won't be able to do this until later.

BTW, don't be put off by SDM's website. It should be more informative but it's not. He has had a good many predictions come through. I do very much doubt, however, that his claim that Hillary is the "annointed one" is true. He says she's been to the WH with meetings with bush and that she will be the carrier of the policies for all those that bush represents.



Cher

[Why Syzygy]

8. This is what I've been thinking also..

a new currency. All of our money is worthless. They have been printing money with no backing for decades. It is an unsustainable system .. the Federal Reserve. I hope they have nothing to do with a new system.

The chaos is echoed in the astrology excerpt I posted above. It's blamed on Uranus.

[Why Syzygy]

10. Your new OP

Were you going to post that in this group or another?
Would you mind giving a link after you get it up? Thanks!

[midnight]

6. If you remember the savings and loan scandle of the 80's....

And then multiply it a couple of times....What a confussion of criminals at the vaults.

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. Bush then, Bush now.

Things that make you go "Hmmm..."

[SeattleGirl]

12. I was working at an S&L in the 80's, but left before the wheels

came off.

[cliss]

17. I asked my internal esp last night,

what to expect?

I got 2 words: "Worldwide panic".

When I got these two words, I was actually thinking in terms of food supplies, like grains wheat and so on. I was thinking more in terms of a food panic, rather than a financial panic.

I'm feeling really nervous about current events.

[Callie McAllie]

20. A food panic is also possible

The price of grain is very high, farmers are raking in the dough because of the burgeoning need for grain in growing markets like China and India.

[BanzaiBonnie]

21. Our food supply is vulnerable

I too am getting the food panic thing going on.


I'm planting a big garden here this year. As much as I can will be root crops that I can leave in the ground or things I can store in a cool house. We'll also be putting some up.


Depending on how things go, I can plant even more the next year. Enough to feed the neighborhood. But if that's needed I expect we won't be the only ones gardening.

[cliss]

23. That sounds like a great idea, BB.

Gardens are really good.

Re: grains. I'm currently working with a friend we are trying to order large quantities of food commodities like grains, wheat, etc.
We're going to get a good price and then go in on it with several friends. = Co Op.
We'll split the purchase and then start hoarding.

I'm really worried about my parents. For their sake, I want to start an emergency "hoard" for them so they can have food in case of a collapse.

I think every person should have around 6 months worth of emergency food storage. It's not that big of a deal, the cost is not enormous. It should be done gradually. I think no matter how bad it gets, if we have food stashed away, we will make it through the storm.

[PinkTiger]

22. Here's my take on it:

Some of you "city slickers," take note - Hank's first wife was raised about one mile from here; when he wrote this song, he was talking about McDonald County, and staying with his inlaws. His son, Hank III, spent his summers here while growing up, and has made similar comments. It is true. We aren't worried. We can make it. But you all in the city? I feel for ya.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg



Hank Williams Jr, Country Boy Can Survive Lyrics

Artist: Williams Hank Jr
Song: Country Boy Can Survive
Album: Greatest Hits


The preacher man says it’s the end of time
And the Mississippi River she’s a goin’ dry
The interest is up and the Stock Markets down
And you only get mugged
If you go down town

I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

I can plow a field all day long
I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too
Ain’t too many things these ole boys can’t do
We grow good ole tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

Because you can’t starve us out
And you cant makes us run
Cause one-of- ‘em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn

We came from the West Virginia coalmines
And the Rocky Mountains and the and the western skies
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name, just hillbilly
My grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a businessman
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway nights
And I’d send him some homemade wine

But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For 43 dollars my friend lost his life
Id love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes
And shoot him with my old 45
Cause a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

Cause you can’t starve us out and you can’t make us run
Cause one-of- ‘em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn

We’re from North California and south Alabam
And little towns all around this land
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive


"A Country Boy Can Survive" is a single, released in 1981, by country music artist Hank Williams, Jr. The song reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts in early 1982. It is considered one of Williams' signature songs.
Shortly after 9/11, Williams re-wrote and re-recorded the song with a patriotic theme, as "America Will Survive". This rewrite peaked at #45 on the Billboard country charts.
In early 2007, Williams re-recorded the original version to commend the 25th anniversary of its original release, in addition to creating a music video for it. This re-recording also peaked at #45 on the Billboard country charts.
The song has also gained popularity as the fight entrance song for former UFC champion Matt Hughes, and for former ring Ring of Honor champion James Gibson.
Chad Brock version (Y2K version)

“A Country Boy Can Survive (Y2K version)”
Single by Chad Brock
from the album Yes!
Released December 1999
Genre Country
Length 3:59
Label Warner Bros.
Chad Brock singles chronology
"Lightning Does The Work"
(1999) "A Country Boy Can Survive"
(Y2K version)
(1999) "Yes!"
(2000)
Hank Williams, Jr. chronology
"I Ain't Goin' Peacefully"
(1995) "A Country Boy Can Survive"
(Y2K version)
(1999) "America Will Survive"
(2001)


George Jones chronology
"Choices"
(1999) "A Country Boy Can Survive"
(Y2K version)
(1999) "Sinners and Saints"
(2000)

In late 1999, Chad Brock and George Jones collaborated with Williams to record a re-written version of the song with a Y2K theme, with lines such as "If the bank machines crash, we'll be just fine". This version peaked at #30 on the Billboard country charts, and #75 on the Billboard Hot 100.

[southerncrone]

24. Yes. We are in deep trouble.

The US economy has been artificially inflated for the last 10 yrs.

We have a NEGATIVE savings factor; which means we spend far more than we make as a country. The lack of regulation, or enforced regulation in the financial markets has made this worse. Banks loaning 125% of the value of homes. The massive takeovers in the commercial banking industry during the last 20 yrs. We are seeing this takeover beginning now in the investment bank industry (JP Morgan buying Bear Stearns for $2 share). Energy prices becoming unaffordable for many Americans. The value of the $ declining drastically. Massive layoffs in ALL sectors. All these are indicators of an economy in deep trouble.

We are no longer a manufacturing nation. The song & dance that Raygun sold us about becoming a service economy, simply meant we shipped our skilled trades over seas to other countries. Now, we don't have the infrastructure, nor the skilled labor force, to manufacture the goods we need....we MUST rely on other countries to supply our hard good needs. Dependency dilutes freedom.

The money has been sucked out of this country to finance the development of manufacturing facilities in Third World countries. The World Bankers recognize that the US is "yesterday's news" as far as productivity. We've given it all away. NAFTA, CAFTA, & GATT pulled the rug out from under the working man in this country. They were huge betrayals of the American citizens. Our jobs are being shipped overseas, we have an influx of cheap illegal immigrant workers, so the standard of living for most working Americans is going down hill fast. Unemployment is much higher than the GAO figures indicate, since individuals who have run out of their eligible unemployment benefits are NOT counted in those figures. This results in a huge distortion of the facts.

WE ARE A DEBTOR NATION. Most of our citizens have large amounts of debt, plus our National Deficit is in the Trillions of dollars. We are borrowing money from other countries, mostly China & Japan.
So who owns us NOW??????? Who are we INDEBTED to? :(

Learn to grow your own food & make friends with your neighbors.....we are going to NEED EACH OTHER!!

And, yes, "a country boy can survive".

[Callie McAllie]

25. Maybe I'm naive, but I believe we can still salvage something

I agree with so much that you say, and yet so disagree with other piece of it.

Yes, we save nothing, people are totally in debt. Some people made money off this subprime debacle off the backs of people who could not afford to pay. That account has yet to be settled, but essentially the rich got richer and the poor got kicked out of their homes. But the debt thing was true before the subprime problem. Haven't you known folks who ran up their credit cards, who declared bankruptcy before now? I have. WELL before now, frankly.

Yes, traditional manufacturing is leaving this country. Cars, in particular. Yes, we are as a nation that is not much "adding value" these days, but I do not believe that will always be true. I believe we will use that excess manufacturing capacity for things like wind turbines and robots and who knows what else. I believe there are still important things to be manufactured and that American workers are ready to manufacture them. We have to make the effort to capture those options, but I think there are a lot of new manufacturing opportunities to be explored. Or exploited, which we are so good at.

I also believe, given current demographics, which show a serious decline in children 5 - 18 over from 2000 to 2006, that America will in 5 - 10 years be seeking out, and will be damn grateful for, the immigrants that come to this country to do a job.

Yes, our deficit is in the trillions of dollars. F#%*ing W Bush. I blame Congress only slightly less. I have no glib answer here.

Yes, I do think we should all learn to grow our own food. I also think we should all get much better about riding a bicycle.

AND I also think we should keep big gallon jugs of water and a mattres and blanket in the basement, just in case. I have had those things in my basement since 9/11, FYI. Just in case. And probably I'm an alarmist and a conspiracy theorist. But maybe I'm just prepared.

And at the same time perhaps I am just naive. But I am not without hope. I believe and hope and pray that we can move through this stage to a new, more productive place. I think the pieces are there for us to pick up. I think we just have to recognize it and want it and do it, and none of that is easy when you're unwilling to let go of the old ways.

I believe the world is about to become a new place, in a way we weren't expecting.

Or, as Montey Python used to say, "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition."

(I can't be that serious for a whole post without saying something out of line."