Things may be getting better

Incredibly enough despite the bleak outlook of many some companies have been doing incredible business. The chip giant Intel has reported its best quarter in history. That’s right in the midst of a global crisis a chip maker which should be experiencing a slowdown is making lots of money. What makes this extraordinary is that much of the sales have come from overseas that seem to be in the throngs of even a worse crisis. Microprocessors that intel produces and sells fuels new businesses worldwide and is a great indicator that things aren’t as bad as they seem. The lurking military showdown with Iran and continued military tensions with North Korea is not keeping companies away from buying hardware for its businesses. Things should be getting worse and they seem to be getting slightly better. What is going on?
Things are getting better because people sense that Obama is going to be a one term president and that the Republicans will win the next elections. This will send the markets up and give companies more money. When this happens jobs will be created and money made will be spent on goods and services. This will further fuel growth. If something bizarre happens and the Democrats fare well expect financial catastrophe. The markets will likely plunge and long expected inflation will ensue. Unemployment will rise and growth will slow. This will happen despite that latest signs of recovery.
Even more people will default on their credit card bills and debt settlement companies will abound.
If we are all lucky that won’t happen.

What is going to happen?

As the markets go up and go down and go up again nobody really knows where this is all headed.The Democrats are likely to lose the elections coming up and many think that will push the market forward. There may be a surge in the short term but long term things are looking bleak indeed. Inflation and devaluation of the greenback is what is being predicted. Obama seems to be spending and printing to much money. Some types of companies may stand to gain from all this like debt Negotiation Services company that seem to have sprung up in the thousands. They will extricate everyone from all the debt they will pile up as a result of the real crisis that seems to be looming and is just around the corner.Wise will be those that will try to take there money out of the market as cash will really be king soon.

Financial woes

Debt reduction

 

Everyone is trying to do it. Most European countries are desperately trying to reduce their debt by taking extreme measures. Greece for example has pushed up its VAT to 23 % trying to tax people who otherwise cheat on their taxes. Taxes on cigarettes have also gone sky high in so many places that it is common practice to smuggle cigarettes. Some countries have taxed cigarettes close to 300%. Israel a country where the economy has fared well in comparison to others has just recently raised its taxes on cigarettes. This may discourage the sale and usage somewhat but probably not very much. Some smokers will deny themselves food but continue to smoke so the regular microeconomic rules go mostly by the wayside. Many countries justify these measures on cigarettes at least on the massive money spent to deal with cigarette related illnesses. Medical costs for cigarette related problems are extreme and the taxes are supposed to mitigate those costs.  That is the debt of countries and governments. But it all really starts with the individual his fiscal planning and attempts to keep his head above water. The world crisis did start with unscrupulous financial institutions but there were irresponsible people who went way over their heads when trying to secure loans for homes. They should not have taken such huge mortgages and put themselves in a vulnerable position of credit despair. They did of course and the repercussions of their irresponsible actions are reverberating around the world.

The world is in debt crisis and doesn't seem to be pulling out of that crisis anytime soon. The emerging powerhouse of the world China is having some trouble in pulling itself out this mess. The Chinese stock market is at a 4 year low as deep concerns over the world economy continue. Europe is the grips of a crisis unprecedented since the end of the Second World War. In the backdrop of this is the looming showdown with a possible nuclear Iran and the repercussions that might have on the world economy.

In essence the Economies of the world work around the concept of going into debt and having borrowed money circulate freely. This allows for businesses to have access to funds they need for expansion. All this spurs growth. But sound economic principles have evolved into irresponsible fiscal planning. The little guy can shield himself from all this with proper spending practices.

Its people and not governments that have the solution.

What goes down should come up, maybe

Markets make a comeback

The seesaw on Wall street is continuing with the markets bouncing back big time yesterday. We all need to remember that borrowing money is still very cheap as interest rates are still very low. The fact that they are so low tells us the crisis is still very much with us. When getting money and saving money from the banks will go back to normal and the market will still go up then the crisis will be over. 

Many people are actually borrowing money trying to make a killing in the market. History has shown that short term quick fixes of this kind do not work. Instead of extricating themselves from debt they are borrowing 
more money to go deeper into debt. At some later point in time they will need debt settlement experts. They are high class gamblers. Gamblers usually lose.

What is the federal government doing about this?

Unemployment does not seem to be going away in the near future. The public sector is nervous to invest in new workers even if they are necessary. Investing in new workers necessitates confidence that new business is on the horizon. When that seems unclear no one gets hired. There is a lot of people who are working less hours as there companies take a attitude to reduce monthly payments for salaries. What that means is that many millions of people are underemployed and underpaid while their basic expenses have not changed. What is the federal government doing about this? They have tried almost everything imaginable under the Sun. Stimulus packages, tax rebates, millions of temp census jobs and much more.
Ronald Reagan once said that the worse thing the government could do was to try to help you. That was a kiss of death, big government. The small and midsize businesses are the heart of the economy. These mom and pop enterprises fuel the economy and growth. If Obama or anyone else wants to fuel things let him cut taxes to these businesses. Let him have less control over the money flow from different places. Let him and the Democrats spend less money that they have and somehow trim the almost unbelievable deficit that there is. Lowering taxes will increase the money available for the government in a complete paradox way. Raise taxes on cigarettes and gambling, clamp down online gambling sites and tax them. Let real businesses flourish so they will hire new people. When this happens people will have money in their pocket that they will spend on goods which will create even more jobs. Just leave it alone and it will come right.

Things don’t look that great.

Things don’t look that great.

For all of Obamas promises his empty slogans and other rhetoric he doesn’t seem to know or is not capable of getting America out of its quagmire. For all the programs and all the incentives and all the bailouts things are still bad, pretty bad. Unemployment is up the housing situation is still grim and the stock market is languishing. What was or is Obama thinking as he continues to pour trillions of seemingly endless money into the economy. Hundreds of thousands of people are about to lose their unemployment benefits and will now be in dire straits. If these people have still managed to somehow keep up their payments up till now then surely the worst is yet to come. They will default on their mortgage and their credit card bills and a mini cycle of crisis in the banks will happen again. Many of these people did not have any type of debt reduction plan and have lived on borrowed money in an irresponsible way.
In a paradox the fact that things are so bad in Europe has mitigated somewhat the troubles in the US. The Euro has been shown to be less stable than the greenback making the dollar and the US economy not look so bad. But this is fleeting and not encouraging news in the long run.
The recent economic news hinting of a double-dip recession has been sobering news but a upcoming election in the US may change things a bit. In almost all the midterm elections people have hoped for better times and put money into the markets. The Republicans are sure to gain from the mire of the American economy and will probably gain many seats in these upcoming elections. Obama looks like a one term disaster that will shuffle off the national scene much as Jimmy Carter did 30 years ago. This changing of presidents and power will encourage investors somewhat. It always has and will continue to do so. The best thing Obama can do is to not do any more damage just to say he will not seek a second term. That would be the best for the US.

Castro predicts nuclear war

Fidal says nuclear war imminent

He might be right. He just might be right. After all he was intimately involved in the last real nuclear standoff. The Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. President Kennedy after much deliberation put a full Military blockade on the Island after satellites discovered Ballistic missiles on the island aimed at the US mainland. The Soviets and Castro himself backed down back in 63 understanding that their destruction was at stake as a direct attack on the US would mean the certain death for Castro himself. Castro is the right man to correctly analyze the present situation and he may be right. Castro also understands that the Iranian regime is more fanatical than he was and mutual deterrence will have less effect on future conflict.
It won’t pretty.