Deciphering the Bank Stress Tests May 20, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money , add a commentHere are a couple highlights for a recent post over at Daily Reckoning regarding the bank stress test results.
- Banks need about $75 billion to reach “adequate capitalization”
- “Adequate capitalization” is when common equity equals 4%
- Common equity being at 4% means a debt-to-equity ratio of 25-to-1
- The current bank needs do not factor in the potential for bank assets to lose their value
- The current bank needs are based on a rosy worst case scenario of (more…)
News Flash: World Decides Not To End February 25, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, Precious Metals , add a commentI want to get this news flash out to you, but there’s no sense in reinventing the wheel. I think the first half of Bill Bonner’s recent blog post sums it up. See it here.
Microwavable economic epiphany for the lazy or ADD February 23, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Money, Personal Enjoyment, Personal Productivity, Precious Metals, Self Directed IRA Solo 401k, real estate , add a commentI’ve written several times about what I believe is one of the most important films ever produced: I.O.U.S.A. The film is 80 minutes long and came out in August of 2008. It’s a project of the former Comptroller General of the United States (our government’s chief accountant). He resigned to make this movie to warn our country about the coming financial train wreck of the government.
A few months ago, I linked you to a shorter, free 30 minute version available on YouTube. If you haven’t taken the time to watch the 30 minute or 80 minute version, then here’s the 2 minute, 24 second version;
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGgjU-h_xQw]
^— The hidden track record of U.S. deficits as told by the U.S. government’s chief accountant!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FSoXKapKQs]
^– If you can watch this video and (more…)
Could Obama's Stimulus Really Work? February 20, 2009
Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Health, Money, Personal Enjoyment, Personal Productivity , add a comment
Our economy is 70% consumerism. That means it is mostly based on individuals buying stuff. So the current setup of our economy holds two basic facts:
- Individuals buying more stuff than they can afford to buy (based on their income) has a net effect that is good for the economy.
- When individuals lower their spending and save and invest money, the net effect is bad for the U.S. economy.
That said, should we even care about “the economy” in its current setup? If individuals were really doing what is good for themselves (saving and investing), it would be terrible for the economy.
So could Obama’s stimulus really work? Absolutely not. Not if you consider “it really working” to mean more than just temporarily. We don’t need a stimulus. We don’t need a boosted economy. We need a changed economy. There are only three ways out of (more…)
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