Historians will have a field day with 2008, and it ain't over yet.

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Was October/November "Panic"? Or is that still up ahead?

Tick... Tick... Tick...

Inflation - deflation - inflation. Crash - recovery - bigger crash?

Many here are in the inflation - then deflation - then inflation camp.

I think many are now gelling around the crash - recovery - even bigger crash idea.

What will it be? And is buy-and-hold dead?

And what's this S&P 500 double-bubble stock chart trend called? The "Pam Anderson"?


Shares traders and investors have one more solid quarter, in our view to regain some stock market losses on the forthcoming Obama Trillion Dollar handouts. We think the rising share markets will help most all sectors gain some recovery and provide the illusion the bottoms are in and new bases found.

The stark reality hits home after shares peak in April or early May taking an unprecedented selling high dive scaring the wits out of Americans and the watching world.

Even with these events and rising unemployment and social problems, economic observers and analysts could continue to plead the worst is over, the bottoms are in and a fine, new, shiny world of trading and investing in our bright economy lies just ahead for the fall of 2009. Then, in later September and early October, the New York, London, Tokyo and Asian markets take a monster crash.

How low is low and how bad can it get? We think the Dow could end-up on November 1st, 2009 anywhere from 5,600 to a low of 3,000 or even 1,500. One guideline will be a falling overshoot of PE's on our largest, so-called international corporations posting lows of 4 to7. Today, many of them are near 18. What does this tell us about the severity of our projections?

Unemployment nationally in the USA is now touching 16%. The officially posted number is somewhere near half of that. By the fall of 2009, American REAL UNEMPLOYMENT WILL BE NEAR THE ALLTIME 1930'S DEPRESSION HIGH OF 25% UNEMPLOYED.

The reset button

Dinosaurs saw it once

Monkeys may live long enough to see it too

(if they don't hit the button themselves)

With oil prices having crashed 75% in six months, how f*cked is Iran?

And Venezuela.

And Russia.

And the UAE.

And Mexico.

And ....?

David Lereah finally admits that he was a paid liar, sent out by the evil National Association of realtors to deceive and ruin lives

The NAR should be banned, broken up under RICO and Robinson-Patman. They are evil, they are directly responsible for the ongoing worldwide financial collapse, they have been exposed, and they should be destroyed.


Former real estate bull admits, “I spun”

As chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, David Lereah was famously optimistic. Now a private consultant, he’s abandoned what he calls the “positive spin.”

Q: Were you wrong to be so bullish?

A: I worked for an association promoting housing, and it was my job to represent their interests. If you look at my actual forecasts, the numbers were right inline with most forecasts. The difference was that I put a positive spin on it It was easy to do during boom times, harder when times weren’t good. I never thought the whole national real estate market would burst.

Q: The NAR’s latest forecast calls for a slight increase in home prices next year. Thoughts?

A: My views are quite different now. I’m pretty bearish and have been for the past year and a half. Home prices will continue to drop. I think we’ll see a very modest recovery in sales activity in 2009. But we’ve still got excess inventories, a bad economy and a credit crunch that will push prices down further, another 5% to 10% more. It’ll take a long time to get back to the peak prices we saw in many markets.

Q: Any regrets?

A: I would not have done anything different. But I was a public spokesman writing about housing having a good future. I was wrong. I have to take responsibility for that.

Don't forget, you're all just a bunch of monkeys too

Monkeys with credit cards, CDO's, guns, strange religious beliefs, beer and music.

Silly monkeys. Many who still refuse to acknowledge their monkeyness.

"None of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died, and the rest of us will be cannibals"

"We'll have eight degrees -- we'll be eight degrees hotter in 10 -- not 10, but in 30 or 40 years. And basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died, and the rest of us will be cannibals.

"Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state like Somalia or Sudan, and living conditions will be intolerable.

"The droughts will be so bad, there will be no more corn growing. It will -- not doing it is suicide. Just like dropping bombs on each other, nuclear weapons, is suicide. So, we've got to stop doing the two suicidal things, which are hanging on to our nuclear weapons, and then after that we've got to stabilize the population."

- Ted Turner on global warming, 2008

Devalue the dollar overnight, end the crisis - and unleash inflation

Most of us think we can get out of dollars gradually, when the time comes.

But that 'time' may come with no warning folks.

You could wake up one day to the news that your savings have been devalued, all so that housing gamblers can be made whole.

Desperate times call have usually called for desperate measures. Let's see how desperate we truly are.


Dollar Devaluation To Fix The Great Recession

Frank Beck, Forbes

A quick dollar devaluation would work wonders for submerged borrowers. Don't kid yourself: It could happen.

World currencies should be devalued overnight.

It can be done on a country-by-country basis, but a coordinated devaluation would work best. A devaluation of 30% would raise the dollar value of all assets by 43%. A $200,000 home with a $230,000 mortgage would become a $286,000 home with the same mortgage. Presto!

The homeowner who was $30,000 upside-down now has $56,000 equity and a good reason to make his payments. Both the homeowner and the bank are immediately better-off.

Soot and Ashes Quote of the Day

"If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart."

- Pope Benedict XVI, draped in gold and surrounded by the trappings of extreme horded wealth, commenting on selfishness and greed, December 25, 2008

"I'll have a blue Christmas without you.. I'll be so blue just thinking about you"

Ill have a blue christmas without you
Ill be so blue just thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green christmas tree
Wont be the same dear, if youre not here with me

And when those blue snowflakes start falling
Thats when those blue memories start calling
Youll be doin all right, with your christmas of white
But Ill have a blue, blue blue blue christmas

Merry Christmas from two Dicks

Does the Christmas season seem different this year without all the crass consumerism, commercialism and overconsumption?

Have you cut back this year?

Feels kinda good, eh?

Are the across-the-board salary cuts coming?

Here's the choice:

A) Keep your job, but 40% pay cut

or

B) Set of steak knives and the door

The prices you're seeing for commodities today will seem shocking a few years from now. Shocking.

And the US should be out buying up everything it can.

Especially oil.

Wars will soon be fought over commodities, even though they're being given away at fire-sale prices today.

And even though it doesn't look like it, THIS is when the serious money is being made.

Buy low, sell high, and may you live in interesting times.

All comin' together now for ya?

Isn't it time for America to be America again?

In America:

* We arrest our criminals
* We respect the rule of law
* We know our neighbors and lend them a hand
* We embrace and trust science, scientists and knowledge
* We want better lives for our children
* We grow our own food and have plenty more for others
* We innovate, create, invent and inspire
* We mock ignorance and call it by its name
* We are guardians of the environmental health of our planet
* We respect others' choice of religion or lifestyle
* We separate church and state
* We do not torture. Never. Ever.
* We don't live beyond our means, and we save for a rainy day
* We don't pick people off the streets and hide them in secret prisons
* We don't spy on our people without warrants
* We believe "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" trumps all
* We are respected, admired and trusted around the world
* We are that shining city on a hill

In addition:

* Our leaders in DC answer to the people
* Our banks are sound, well-capitalized, well-regulated and trusted
* Our markets are free, but they are sternly and competently looked after
* Our schools produce the best and brightest bar none
* Our borders are secure and impregnable
* Our country is open to those who would legally like to come
* Our infrastructure is the best in the world
* Our people are good, kind and gentle
* Our nation is proud but humble
* Our purpose is good


I am truly sickened of what became of America these past 20 years, after three failed presidencies and one truly corrupt and incompetent Federal Reserve. Not only have the United States' institutions and leaders failed America, but Americans have failed America as well.

2009 can be the first year of our long renewal. Or it can be just another year down the path of decay and destruction.

You yourself can be a force for change and good, in whatever way you choose. Or you can give up like so many others.

Our leaders and people put us on a path of ruin, but the concept of America is still a good one. I want to see America be America again. Because this new one sure sucked.

Now that there's no question we've hit the brink, let's see which way this goes.

I'd bet on America.

F*CK YOU AMERICA. F*CK YOU ALL!! I AM ABOVE THE LAW!! I OWN YOUR CONGRESS!! I CASHED IN, I GAMED THE SYSTEM, I'M RICH, AND YOU'RE NOT!!!