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4/6/11

Economic, Social and Geopolitical

Does anyone really believe this stock market?

We've surpassed the economic crisis of the real estate boom and crash, related mortgage mess, debt overhang along with high unemployment and have already moved into deeper global problems than many imagined. Earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, Burma with an even more devastating one in Japan accompanied by a tsunami causing highly radioactive water leaking into the ocean.

There are political disruptions all across the Middle East that are not going to be quelled by European nations, the US and NATO bombing Libya. In fact that's the last thing we should be doing, getting involved in "foreign entanglements." We are on the verge, if not already in, the Third World War.

Al of the above significantly involves the supply chain and management of vital parts and goods we need, not to mention food supply that has had a bad crop year due to weather. The only people reaping profits are Midwestern farmers who are doing well on government crop welfare. What all this adds up to is inflation and more inflation. Bernanke and Geithner wanted inflation to pump up the economy on consumption of consumer goods. The result is already beginning to reflect what many predicted, too much inflation on necessary goods.

We are a nation that consumes goods produced by other countries. We manufacture very little anymore and we have trillions of dollars of deficit now and what do we have to show for it? New clothes? Furniture? Lots of fattening snack foods? The vociferous over-printing of money has largely been spent on payments to the low or non-producing sector of the economy. In other words, largely the public sector or in some form of welfare to subprime consumers or subsidizing financial institutions that services them, creating an illusion of a "slow recovery."

The only thing recovering is the cash reserves of private sector companies that they are hoarding because they don't know what the government is going to do next. Individual savers are losing because their cash is becoming inflated and interest rates are for all practical purposes nil. We're rewarding credit spenders and punishing savers.

It is no wonder Ron Paul and others want the Federal Reserve audited. The Treasury and the Fed have also been subsidizing the stock market by buying and selling shares in wholesale blocks. The movement and trends are easy to spot to anyone with a perceptive eye. Aided for good measure by CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, Barrons and the New York Times, among others. To once again state a repeating refrain, the fundamental underpinnings of the economy are not sound. In particular the Gross National Product and employment alongside the unrealistic price to earnings ratios of companies do not bear out the US Stock Market being as inflated and "bullish" as it is.

When the Federal Reserve starts withdrawing support from the Markets, then what? Careful of the shards of glass falling from high rise buildings on Wall Street.

End of rant...