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Episode-968- Listener Feedback for 8-27-12

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Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

It’s Monday and time for another round of you your feedback, questions and commentary sent to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com.

Make sure if you submit content for a feedback show that you put something like “comment for jack”, “question for jack” or “article for jack” in the subject line to assure proper identification for my screening process.

Today we discuss the nationalizing retirement on the sly, forcing investor money into government bonds, the stages of an economic collapse, pockets of freedom, concealed carry and creating change in the world.

Please understand I receive several hundred emails a day and can’t get them all on the air. I do put out a lot of information on Facebook from emails that I can’t fit on the program though so keep em coming.

Join Me Today As I Respond to Your Emails On

  • Have many 401Ks already been covertly “nationalized”
  • How money market accounts are seen as a threat by the Federal Reserve
  • What do the stages of an economic collapse look like
  • What stage of collapse do you feel we are in right now
  • What is a “pocket of freedom” in the world of alternative housing
  • Another way to crack the over reach of government, honest prosecutors
  • Young people with a message of how we can change the world
  • Why an ideal higher then seems reasonable is what we need to achieve the best we are capable of

Resources for Today’s Show…

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK and you might hear yourself on the air.

Comments

Episode-968- Listener Feedback for 8-27-12 — 55 Comments

  1. This isn’t related to today’s podcast, but I thought I’d throw the idea out there anyway. For those in the Gulf Coast in the path of Isaac, now would be a good time to test those bug out preps… Remember, bugging out works best when you do it ahead of the horde and before it becomes urgent.

  2. Haven’t listened for a few days, been outside working like crazy. So just have got bits and pieces. Thought today I would take the day off. As usual you lit the fire under my butt. dang back out side I go. Hubby is getting big guns from all the work. My jeans are getting pretty baggy lol.

    Last Oct and into the first part of Jan I was going off telling hubby that “NO we DON’T HAVE 3-4 yrs to get it together. We will be lucky if we have a year. If we are really lucky we will have till the end of the first 1/4 of 2013. After that hang on it’s going to get ugly!” I do hope I am very very wrong & we have much more time than that.

    Now to hear you saying almost the same thing. Time to really seriously look at things and possibly tweek our plans a bit. We were going to pay off our house (30k @ 4% payment $300) Decided to let it ride. Instead invested in wood stove livestock chickens turkeys and pigs. Built several out buildings (7 this summer)remodeled the barn along with other land improvements. We also increased savings.

    Just seemed like the best thing to do even though I really want this house paid off. ( I HATE debit ) We just couldn’t do both. So went with what will give us the biggest return on the money. Meat! & heat (energy)

    A planning show? I know you do them all the time. The closer we get to the edge is not the time to panic. I could use some good advice & moral booster. Aren’t we due for a fall/winter planting show too?

  3. Regarding electing the right local Sheriff and District Attorneys:

    Back in the late 90s the Sheriff of Sutter County, California decided he would no longer issue CCWs.

    People organized and, through a recall election, forced the Sheriff to stand for re-election. During the campaign the Sheriff backpedalled saying he never intended to to stop issuing permits and that anyone who passed the training class and background check would be issued a permit. The election was very close but the sheriff kept his office. However he was on record as allowing CCWs.

    We’ve had new sheriffs since and CCWs permits are still issued.

  4. Our local trainer for ccw permits works for the sheriff’s dept. And we’re a green county, too.
    When I bought this five acres, I expected to have a perk site, but there is none, so I lived here in a camper trailer with an outhouse, temp. elec., and hauled water from a spring three miles away. Six years later I put a mini-barn/ storage shed on the property but couldn’t get elec. permit without a septic tank, EXCEPT if the building had no water inside. We got a commercial permit for a high tunnel greenhouse, which the power company, on it’s own converted to residential. A neighbor crossed my property to put in city water and gave me a tap. We added a meter so I pay her for my water usage, and my son put in a kitchen sink dumping the gray water on the garden. I still don’t have a bathroom, but we are working on an indoor shower. All this freedom to survive my way because I live in a Freedom Pocket. My dream home is a WOFATI.
    Jack, for days now, I’ve been thinking it’s time to buy silver, but I don’t have the confidence to trust sellers. I want to put what little cash I have into silver, now. Where should I even start?

  5. Illinois is the only state which explicitly denies CCW permits.

    This wikipedia articles lists the current status of each state, including both official stance and practice. They also feature a really cool animation from http://www.gun-nuttery.com/rtc.php that shows the progress of CCW laws in the US.

  6. To further expand on Jared’s point and Jack’s question. Illinois is the only state which does not issue a CCW at all. They are correct in saying that, because states like CA and NY do issues permits. However liberal states like CA and NY are “may issue” states. The difference between a “shall issue” state and a “may issue” state is night and day. I live in California, and unless you live in a rural county with a lax sheriff you will never get a CCW. It really annoys me when they say California issues permits, even though it effectively doesn’t. To obtain a CCW in CA, you need to give the sheriff in your county a “compelling reason”; and self defense doesn’t count / isn’t an accepted reason. So for 90% of average citizens in CA there is no way to obtain a CCW. Hurray for moving to WA in 2 months where I get a little more freedom (shall issue state)!

    • Well Welcome to WA! Glad to have ya when you get here. Don’t forget to pack the Vit D and you can get your rubber boots here until your webs grow on your feet.

    • Welcome to WA also! I’ve lived in a lot of places; this is one of the best. Much of the benefits of California geographically and economically, but a whole lot more sensible…
      Check out the WA state constitution, Article 1, Section 24 – Right to Bear Arms:
      “The right of the individual citizen to bear
      Arms in defense of himself, or the state,
      shall not be impaired…”
      A bit less subject to misinterpretation. 😉

  7. Jack,
    Technically 49 of the 50 states have concealed carry at some level, with Illinois being the only holdout; however, you need to examine each states law carefully, especially if you’re traveling. As an NRA Instructor who teaches the Ohio CHL (Concealed Handgun License) class, I recommend the following site to keep on track of the states and their ever changing laws, including which states issue to non-residents, and which states have reciprocity. In my case I travel to PA to visit family (I’m an Ohio transplant after college) so I have both the Ohio resident and PA non-resident permit. This allows me to travel across WV and into PA, but also adds some additional states to the travel list.

    http://handgunlaw.us/

  8. Jack,

    I am a resident of Illinois. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS! I am located a half hour north of Carbondale. Down here pretty much everyone is considered rural and in our day to day lives guns are a very big part. Illinois is the only state in the union without a CCW program on the books. We are also the only state to require residents to have a FOID(Firearm Owners Identification) card as well. Right now in the state a lot of counties are voting on their own CCW programs. Whether this will circumvent the state law or not is yet to be seen. The Chicago political machine controls 99% of the political decisions that go on in this state. Which is unfortunate for the rest of the state. We will have another CCW vote up on the Hill this year. Last year we missed it by 2 votes. The reason for that is we need a super majority vote this time because Pat Quinn said he would veto any CCW bill that passed, which he can’t do if we get the super majority vote. Just some info for you.

  9. On the CCW, Hawaii is a may issue state. They just don’t issue any permits. No one here can legally carry except police and federal law enforcement. Honolulu Chief of police issues the yay or ney. The chief is appointed by the mayor, not elected.

    So yes, Hawaii has CCW laws on the book. However no one has a permit. You tell me if Hawaii is a CCW state or not. HAHA!

  10. Jack,

    Regarding the 401Ks and money market options – my wife and I have three plans between us. Mine is a private company of about 250 people, and I currently work there now. Her’s are from past employers – each company still has thousands of employees, even after recent layoffs at each. All places are in DFW. I have no ticker symbols to send you, which is why I’m commenting here. The plans are run through Principal, Fidelity and Vangaurd.

    In our plans we both have items classified as what would appear to be money market funds. But, the big picture is that almost all options are on average 75% US bonds, 20% other, and 5% real estate – or something in that ballpark. (No cash in any of them.) The only outliers are one fund that is mostly non-US bonds and another that is 100% commercial real estate. Finally, I can’t even see details of what makes up these bonds beyond “the top 10 investments”, which obviously include US Treasuries.

    Overall I believe you’re onto something here. I moved all our allocations into bonds and real estate a while back, which is what’s doing the best. I also stopped contributing to my 401K a long time ago so we could pay off our debt. The house and my car are all that’s left, and I’m not trying to pay those off faster than what’s required. Instead, what would have gone into retirement gets automatically drafted out of my account and goes to a savings account at ING. That’s about the best option we have. Gotta have that cash if something bad happens, such as a layoff since we’re a one income household.

    Oh, and obviously I have a small percentage that I allocate from each paycheck for anything prepper related, whether it be food storage, “personal safety items”, water storage, extra toiletries, silver, cash on hand, whatever.

    Thanks for the great episode.

    • Thanks for sharing. My thought is you might want to consider spreading the money going into the ING account out around several banks/credit unions – if ING goes belly up or they pull a MF Global/Corzine and your money is mysteriously gone/lost, you’re screwed.

  11. Jack,

    I work for a medium size company, a few hundred people I guess here in the Boston area. I thought I was all done with 401k stuff as I have no interest in any of that anymore but we are required to sign up for one if we want to participate in profit sharing. If we get a bonus for the year do to profit sharing or what not, that money goes into the 401k so I had to sign up for the 401k to get that. I think I allocated it into CD’s but i can’t remember. They just sent me a big wad of paper explaining the whole thing including fees and all but I just filed it away in my big box full of records.

  12. A bit of interesting inside info of money market funds. I use to do accounting for a large custodian bank for mutual funds and money market funds. The Money market funds lost money daily just due to fees and other charges, so we had to do reverse entries to offset those charges and build a fee schedule outside of the fund that the owner of the fund would then have to pay for. Otherwise the NAV of the funds would have fallen below $1. Its no surprise to me that the funds are falling out of favor and being phased out. It does explain another harmful side effect of the low interest rate environment pushing investors to Treasuries. This definitely builds a stronger case for metals and possibly mining companies.

  13. I just looked at my wifes’ 401k plan with the idea of moving the money to a money market. Not a option. The most conservative fund option has treasury bonds, not a huge percentage but it is there. HCA (Hospital Corp. of America) only allows you to invest in funds, no cash option that I can find.

  14. Today’s show reinforced my need to evaluate how to draw cash out of my lousy 401K. Lousy because most people think401K means something fancy and is a work benefit. Actually it’s an IRS code number which is revolting enough. It was created to aid failing companies bail out of their pension plans and force employees to manage their own retirement accounts.

    A simple question I like to ask is “Would you let your least financially knowledgeable staff member manage your 401K?” “No of course not.” “Then why are they put in a position to manage their own.” The number of bad mistakes being made out there is staggering.

    Federal employees are forced into the Thrift Savings Plan which consists of the following funds. No cash equivalents whatsoever.

    G Fund a buys a nonmarketable U.S. Treasury security that is guaranteed by the U.S. Government. This means that the G Fund will not lose money. Really? What is inflation?
    C Fund is invested in a S&P 500.
    F Fund’s investment objective is to match Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
    S Fund’s investment matches performance of the Dow Jones
    I Fund’s investment matches performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International

  15. When I explained to my parents, who are nearing retirement, about the behind the scenes nationalization of 401ks I knew I had hit the nail on the head. With all the news I have told them Ive never see their eyes get as wide. I think they realized just what was happening. My father has already moved into cash, he still had that option. My mother no longer has that option. She works in benefit management and I think this connected some dots for them to see. People begin to pay attention when its their money your talking about.

    Jack don’t shy away from more economic shows like this. I know its been heavy lately but its a sign of the times. Your not telling anyone to panic just to get their stuff in order sooner than later. Its been a good wake up call. Which we all need every now and again.

  16. Regarding 401ks, our company uses John Hancock pension fund and we’re a medium sized company (<250). Since I started with the company in 2006, there hasn't been a cash equivalent or money market fund option – I thought that odd, but didn't give it much consideration back then. The "Conservative" investment option for our plan is the "John Hancock Stable Value Fund” Here’s how it breaks down:

    Asset Allocation:
    Bond 88.7%
    Cash 11.3%

    Bond Allocation
    U.S. Mortgage-Backed 33.0%
    U.S. Treasuries 25.4%
    Corporates 15.5%
    CMBS 4.7%
    Agency 4.5%

    The inception date for the sub-account is May 14, 2004 and for the current underlying Portfolio is May 8, 2006.

  17. And we can go to court and vote not guilty, to the guy who is not guilty and stop just sending everyone to jail

  19. Sorry. I think I just posted this under the wrong episode.

    Jack,

    As of right now Illinois is the only state that has no legislation allowing conceal carry. As a native Illinoian It’s my biggest problem with the state among many. Don’t take just my word for it though. Here’s a link from the government accountability office on conceal and carry in all the states. The “Good Stuff” starts on page 71. http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592552.pdf

    Clint

  21. Hey Jack,

    Work for a company of over fifty thousand. The 401k is a fidelity freedom fund. The bond portion only accounts for about 14% of the fund. I was surprised by the presence of cash and startled by the amount of MBS. Here is the breakdown:
    U.S. Treasury 25.39
    U.S. Agency 0.35
    Other Government Related (U.S. and Non-U.S.) 1.89
    Corporate 20.80
    MBS Passthrough 37.79
    ABS 1.91
    CMBS 5.10
    CMO 2.51
    Cash 12.68

  22. Company of 2000+, publicly traded, Fidelity 401k

    Asset Allocation as of 04/30/2012

    Bonds 69.56%
    Cash and Other 30.44%
    Foreign 8.44%

    9 out of the top 10 holdings is in US Gov or FNMA bonds.

  23. Thank you for your interest in my observation. The plan that anti-gun commie Bank of Amerika’s financial liar said that the safe equivalent of the money market was the T. Rowe Price Retirement Income fund, ticker, or “TRRIX”, funny enough, but it is very sad. There are several methods of evaluating the composition of the fund. One (March 31, 2012) says that it is 29.7% US stocks, 11.7 Foreign stocks, 50.5% Bonds and only 7.5% cash and .5% other. Morningstar says that it I 43.72% Government 25.01% Corporate 17.43% Securitized, .76% Municipal, 12.98% Cash, and .10% other. Most of the other investment options are “Target Date Funds” that invest increasingly into bonds as the retirement date approaches. Keep in mind that some of these hold funds of funds, each of which also holds a percentage of bonds. Of the funds that I am allowed to invest in within the plan, there are some equity funds, but they are very aggressive; they are juicing the stock market. Another “stable” fund in the plan is Wells Fargo Stable Return Fund CL K. (No ticker known). It says “stable” so it must be so, right? Turns out it is 78% Guaranteed Investment Contracts (GICs). I am not sure what these are, but they sound like some sort of derivative. Like CDOs. So, according to the Fed, Money Markets pose systemic risks and these don’t???

    My current employer grosses approximately $2 Billion in revenues. Previously, I worked for a financial services firm that managed over $4 Trillion in customer and institutional assets. That’s right – ¼ of the “official” US debt. I documented some of their practices and platforms for financial transactions when I consulted for them as a tech writer and business process analyst. Money markets are an important component for settling transactions and holding assets until the customer knows how to invest them. Without money markets, settling transactions will become tricky and take longer. Expect more restrictions on transactions and stricter windows when transactions can be executed and assets withdrawn. For example, changes can be made only monthly or quarterly, instead of daily. Money Markets allow only 6 electronic withdrawals per year currently.

    Another thing to consider is that automatic enrollment/escalation in 401ks started around 2005, the same year when rules for bankruptcy and student loan debt were changed.

    To reply to an above comment, I don’t recall ever having to pay for my money market investments, but I recall that Jack mentioned last year that bond rates went negative and depositors had to actually pay banks fees to deposit large sums of money. With interest rates near 0.0%, it could very well be true, if the bank is not making money in some other fashion.

    My article from back in 2009 on the shenanigans of governments to steal more money might also be of interest: http://libertyconspiracy.com/greedy_gubmint

    • Oops! I meant to say that money markets allow up to six electronic withdrawals per 30-day period (not year). In person withdrawals are not limited quantity-wise. Please do check with your institution for current rules.

    • Thanks for your observation – it is really mind blowing! I guess the next question many of us have is this:

      Should we keep contributing to 401k’s at all? Yes, they are obviously tax advantages, and many of us get some company match, but is that carrot worth it? I’m beginning to think not. Maybe that’s the little crumbs they up on the hill graciously allow us so that we keep the ponzi afloat.

      • My answer is HELL NO. I would only contribute for an employer match and it would have to be so high as to offset penalties if I bailed and took the money early.

        Here is what I mean if you will do dollar for dollar up to 5% I MIGHT consider doing 5%. That would net me more than my own money back even with taxes and penalties, but I would only do this if funds were in the plan that truly safeguarded my money.

        Right now I would and AM saving as much as I can in cash, metal, hard assets (including tools, etc.) and keeping it as anonymous as possible. Our government can tax my money when I earn it, they can tax it when I spend it and they can tax my real property, sorry but I DRAW THE LINE THERE.

        They are at some point going to go after these plans, mark my words and it will be for “the good of the nation”.

        My view is if you want tax deferred do a ROTH IRA, at least you can get at your principle without tax penalties and some dumb ass financial liar and an HR person don’t get to decide the ten options you get to do with your money. You also won’t be told you can’t get your money unless you quit your job, etc.

        Tax advantages? LMMFAO! Really? So this assumes that taxes in 20-30 years will be like taxes are today? Tell you what if you believe that, I can sell you the Tappan Zee Bridge for a song, you just have to get the worms out of the pillars.

        http://www.roberthintersteiner.com/index.php?sub=3&art=1

  24. hey Jack,
    great show. Thanks as usual. 2 things:
    1) my keogh’s ‘cash/Stable value option is
    American Funds Money Market Fund [r3]

    Not sure breakdown.

    2) i also emailed you this, but I was under the impression that money market funds usually held some short-term treasuries, but not as a majority of their holdings. So i checked & according to this web page
    http://www.ici.org/mmfs/background/faqs_money_funds#Whattypesofinvestmentsdomoneymarketfundshold
    , they do. It occurred to me because unless they literally hold a pile of cash in a vault, or as bits in a computer ledger that is the bank’s ‘reserves’, then they have to put it somewhere. also- how would they pay any interest if it isn’t being invested somehow? Ii remembered from college that it would invest heavily in commercial paper, i.e. the daily flow of short-term often overnight cash that moves around the business words.

    So, I guess the fed is trying to tilt money markets away from paper & into more treasuries than they hold now.
    And then forcing big keogh’s to not have money market & only offer full tbill funds as the ‘lowest risk’ option goes even further to force holding their paper… ouch

  25. I can’t remove any money until I leave my company. This is the cash equivalent ticket symbol I can move my investment into. FRTXX.

  27. Pingback:2 Stories: Ron Pauls supportes cause a ruckus and the Fed tries another tactic to get your money « Facing the Cannonball

  28. Jack, the video you played at the end of the show really gives me hope for the future. I’m a thirty-something veteran using my benifits to go to school, so I’m surrounded by the next generation. I also have to daughters of my own in high school. I’m not a very outgoing person, but I hope that I can help inspire and educate (outside of academia) some of these young adults to make a difference. Thanks for sharing that video. By the way, I took my oldest daughter to see you in Arlington and I think her eyes where opened a bit. Keep doing what you’re doing – changing the world.

  29. The key thing to remember here is that the fed controls the money supply through a balance sheet. Jack the markets have rules period created by the fed which is a coalition of banks. The goal was to keep the balance sheet interest rate low to keep money cheap. Technically if the people were to say put their money in cash driving up rates this would actually seize the cash supply. Now you have done a great job of encouraging the purchase of metals. BUTTTTTTTTT……this only works if financial institutions back the metals as a means of trade and value. You and others like you are at risk if the ‘markets’ demand that precious metals be placed under regulators and all trades must meet requirements and must be traded by licensed bankers. Oh yeah they can also ‘mark to market’. If the markets determine to return metals to their traditional hedge they mark the value to the current interest rates. Essentially wiping you out and forcing you to either stockpile physical cash. (good luck you have to deal with Patriot act and OFAC issues) Or you are forced to buy debt or you will need to create a new “hedge”. Don’t think that you are free or can truly control cash.

    • @ericpo, clearly you worship at the alter of “The Ben Bernank” fine if you want to but don’t try to tell me people saving cash is the problem. A debt based money system is the problem. Take your Keynesian bullshit elsewhere.

  30. I think there is a disconnect with people’s perception of what money market funds have traditionally invested in- commercial paper, short term government and agency paper. The average maturity prior to the meltdown ran around 40 days which meant that some was due today and some was due 3 months from now and the rest was in between.
    The thing was that the bulk of the commercial paper and therefore a large part of the fund overall was issued by financial institutions that, it turns out, were mostly in the “too big to fail” category.
    When the subprime CDOs started coming back to roost several of these commercial paper issues were covering calls by short term borrowing (ie issuing commercial paper to money market funds). Eventually this paper started coming due at a time when everyone woke up at once, so there was a run on these funds that only made things worse- fast. Think Lehman and Bear Stearns – A debt crisis doesn’t really exist and isn’t dealt with until it becomes a true liquidity crisis. The CDOs were a growing problem but money funds and their overnight evaporation of liquidity became the match that ignited the gasoline in the fall of 2008.
    So…. The “theory” behind the current movement for the regulation of money funds is that back in 2008 these vehicles were precipitously close not being able to meet redemption at a time where their true NAV would have been much less than the $1.00 posted daily. The funds had pushed for yield and held much more borderline paper (besides the big banks there were jewels like GMAC as well). Talk about a run on the bank….. The fed and the treasury felt like they were very close to losing control and not being able to stave off the complete meltdown and “too big to fail” was born immediately after Lehman set off the forest fire.
    So why regulation of money funds now?
    Look to Europe. Capital controls have been slowly put in country by country and the trend continues; the whole idea is to prevent or slow money fleeing the respective countries and the new (old) currencies that will re-emerge when the Euro drama runs its course.
    They want to regulate money funds so that
    1. some theoretical liquidity and credit quality standards would be met via transparency ie having to mark to market if they own crap vs posting $1.00 and juggling it until they can get out of the jam. Noble enough and not completely a bad idea imho but..
    2. To be able to control capital flow in a crisis is the big one. In their eyes they would have to step in again either way, so why not try and regulate it so that they can suspend redemptions of money funds in a crisis until everyone settles down and the crisis wanes. If the result pushes more funds into treasury/agency and fed backed paper then that’s fine with them since they already have direct control over these areas as we have seen.
    I think the issue isn’t really the desire to regulate money funds, that’s just a symptom of the larger problem: the centralized control obsession of the Keynesian boobs in charge of the world economy for now. Apparently price fixing is OK if you are the government / fed and the market is interest rates.

  31. Oh, and the company that swallowed the carcass of the company that bought my company, ie the corporation that signs my paychecks currently, has approximately 230,000 employees at last count.
    In our 401k there are a fairly broad number of selections of both direct and indirect (ie pre allocated “target date” retirement portfolios).
    Included are two “safe” cash or cash like choices.
    1. A US Treasury money market fund, ie TBills.
    2. A stable value fund- a fixed price investment contract fund, ie a traditional “GIC”, which is not a bond fund.

    • Look closely at what that “stable value fund” has… I have a similarly named option in my 401k and it’s stuffed with Treasury debt.

    • same here- my cash equivalent was almost 94% government paper [tbills, munis etc]. or, a treasury fund… some choice!

  32. Jack,

    My 401K money market option is “JPMorgan 100% U.S. Treasury Securities Money Market Fund Capital Class” (CJTXX).

    The fund name says it all.

    This is the only money market option in the 401K plan from a S&P500 company, top 20 defense contractor.

    I noticed the change a while back, but like you the light did not go on until I heard you mention it.

    Thanks to Agorculture for starting the wheels turning.

  33. Jack,

    I may be wrong here, I am more trader than financier (if that makes sense). The systemic risk she (he?) was talking about was essentially a run on the bank type situation (I don’t believe the money market accounts are insured).

    Also, I think treasuries are instruments that are traded in the “money markets” (so some portion of your value in a money market type account might be in treasuries).

    I don’t really think that disputes your greater point though, I could easily see the gubment trying to shift dollars into treasuries in this way if it had the power.

    cheers

    • It more reminds me of what Gerald Celente said after getting ripped off at MF Global: if you don’t have the cash in your pocket, you don’t own it. Period, paragraph – as he would say 😉 Even when you go to take significant cash out of the bank these days they want you to fill out forms regarding where you got it, what you’re using it for, etc. And, as I’m looking into money market funds more & more and finding out that they really hold a good chunk of treasury debt, it’s really becoming clear – it’s all BS and it’s going to be really painful when this sumbitch comes crashing down.

  34. I’ve seen We Are Change on youtube. They have a solid libertarian perspective, but I’m not wild about Bilderberg/illuminati stuff.

    • @BeninMA, it is sad that people who are actually bringing awareness to and fighting the elites with in groups like the Bilderbergers bring in nonsense like the Illuminati.

      Sad because then people like you write off the Bilderberg Group (fact, on the record, scumbags discussing how to shape world events) with the Illuminati (a pointless historical footnote now seen as the root of the New World Order by tinners).

      If you doubt the Bilderberg group and their agenda you just are not paying attention to the facts.

      • Jack, I’ve listened to hours of you talking about economics and you’ve mentioned the Bilderberg group in passing only once that I can recall. Unless you’re holding back on us, I think that speaks to the group’s relative unimportance. Yes, the group actually exists, but I just don’t think it’s behind a grand conspiracy as some people believe. We Are Change also supports “9/11 Truth,” which I also think is a misguided conspiracy theory.

        Having said that, they put out a lot of interesting videos. In a new one, they ask Gary Johnson about prepping. Even the video of them asking Steve Doocy (of all people) about “9/11 truth” is funny.

  36. Regarding nationalized 401k, I looked up what is contained in our “Stable Value Fund” and your suspicions are spot on. I work for a company with 3,000 employees.

    Risk
    The Portfolio has a relatively low level of risk due to its
    focus on high-quality investments of short to
    intermediate maturity. The Portfolio strives to maintain a
    $1 unit price, but cannot assure that it will do so.

    Portfolio Diversification(%) as of 7/31/2012
    U.S. Treasury 36.26
    U.S. Agency 9.27
    Other Govt Related (U.S. And Foreign) 0.83
    Corporate 19.28
    Mbs Passthrough 9.95
    Abs 7.34
    Cmbs 4.10
    Cmo 2.69
    Guaranteed Investment Contract 0.00
    Cash 9.59

    Hardly seems like a “cash” option at all does it? WTF!

    Here’s the full sheet:
    https://advisor.fidelity.com/advisor/AFCPerformancePortlets/generatedFactSheet.pdf?sasid=771&dplid=7

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