It goes without saying that during the Russell 2000 crash the fast money traders did not lose 55 percent—not by a long shot. It was the Main Street “investors” and their proxies–mutual fund managers like Bill Miller—who got fleeced, owing to the naïve belief that they were investing in stocks for the long run and that picking good companies mattered. So the true evil of the Fed’s financial bubble making sits right here: Main Street Investors had no clue that their cherished “stock picks” could drop 55 percent in a matter of months because in an honest free market share prices wouldn’t inflate to absurd heights in the first place, nor plunge irrationally during a monetary panic afterward. –David Stockman
Central Banks and Cyprus
A classic to read: How to Profit from the Coming Devaluation by Harry Browne
An EU bureaucrat offers insightful advice, “Get your money out of the EU!” http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/03/nigel-farage-get-your-money-out-of.html (Video)
A history and economic lesson on the failure of the Soviet Union (must see): http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/03/the-truth-about-collapse-of-soviet-union.html
Why the Greenbackers Are Wrong (AERC 2013)
One of Ron Paul’s great accomplishments is that the Federal Reserve faces more opposition today than ever before. Readers of this site will be familiar with the arguments: the Fed enjoys special government privileges; its interference with market interest rates gives rise to the boom-bust business cycle; it has undermined the value of the dollar; it creates moral hazard, since market participants know the money producer can bail them out; and it is unnecessary to and at odds with a free-market economy.
…In short, there is no need to replace the Fed with another government creation. There is no good reason to replace the Fed’s monopoly with a more directly exercised government monopoly. All we need for a sound money system are the ordinary laws of commerce and contract.
Let’s oppose the Fed for the right reasons, and let’s oppose it root and branch: not because it doesn’t create enough money out of thin air (is this really a fundamental critique of the Fed, after all?) but because the causes of freedom, social peace, and economic prosperity are at odds with any coercively imposed monopoly, and because the naive confidence in the American political class that the Greenbacker alternative demands is beneath the dignity of a free people. Read more on http://www.tomwoods.com/paper/
Cyclical Industries
A lecture on investing in cyclical businesses (Junior Mining Companies) http://youtu.be/BOzJaaih8Bc Listen to the first 8 minutes. You can substitute steel, cars, home-building for mining companies.
“Own stuff the central banks can’t print.” — John Mauldin