spence,

1. you're not getting any real return after inflation, the true handle of which is 9% or more.

2. your money is tied up with a bank that might go belly-up. not because of sub-prime, but because of global illiquidity and panic runs on the deposit base.

3. the FDIC deposit insurance reserves (~$55 billion) are being rapidly depleted as we speak. indy mac's failure alone was originally supposed to cost $4-$6 billion of reserve money, that figure has shot up to $9 billion (might even be more). just for one thrift. there are others that are blowing up and require attention.

4. the recently passed TARP act increased FDIC deposit insurance. but banks aren't paying increased contributions to the FDIC insurance reserve. this will aggravate #3.

the safest asset right now is the hardest of the hard assets. physical gold, preferably stored safely outside of the u.s.

Why do I sense this is just the tip of the ice berg??? Recession??? If this ain't one......I don't want to see one! Depression???? Oh boy!:hidin:

what do you mean ' recession bigfish? this country has been in a recession for years. A false economy was created to hide the recession. Now we face the wake up call..

"false economy" = consumer consumption fueled by easy money ... and sharply higher gov't spending.

greenspan:nailem:

Thats my point...they keep saying we are not nor have been in a recession.....what a joke!:bs:

hey larry :wave:

it's not official until the national bureau of economic research calls it one.

from 2005, we've had a rolling recession in that various sectors like housing and financial services were not doing too well.

now it's spreading to the rest of the economy.

He is a major investor in GOLD,,,,

The only reason I did CD's was because of how I felt about the market.. As far as my bank... They say they are ok,,,:err::err:

When I am in South Africa next month I will pick up some south african krugerrands

Probably true, but I'm certainly not out to maxamize my return but keep things simple. I agree there's a chance banks could flounder, but I'm hoping for the best.

-spence

hang onto your hats it's gonna be another rough day

futures are taking back lost ground...

s&p 500 index futures were down something like 30 points an hour ago, now they're only down 18 points. hell, in this environment, that's a rally. :rotf2:

Looks like we are in for another shellacing ....:deadhorse::deadhorse: I also don't think there is any way in hell there will be any buying heading into the weekend either

hey what's another 1000 points right?

Yup... and for the guys that buy now they sure have some HUGE nuts,,,

Wow,, what a ride today,,,,