Year-end Thoughts of Inequality and Fear

2013 was quite a year for stock investors, the best, in fact, since 1997.

As the annum comes to an end, and since the mainstream and financial media simply cannot or will not provide useful information, a couple of random comments from a favorite, anonymous author:

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"This is beyond depressing. Just what is it that the international banking cartel wants?

They already have the global reserve currency, central banksters in all but a few sovereign states, 90% of the world's most valuable art and sculpture, all the best yatchs, coastal land, and anything else that signifies wealth.

Ah, but they won't be satisfied until they have every nation on the planet so deeply in debt that they can never escape, all of it in completely fabricated, made-up-out-of-thin-air fiat money.

Fake money, produced by creating debt to bankers, is valuable, but real money, gold and silver, is supposed to be near-worthless. This is not reality; it is pure fantasy, conjured by central bankers and sold by the mindless trolls of Wall Street and the media. All that's left is farmland, and that's becoming scarce, and they will eventually come for that, or, drive its price so high none but the connected or extremely well-heeled can afford it.

A few years ago, I thought that a condition such as we have today (insolvent banks financing companies to all-time stock market highs while the real economy contracts - and forget the "official" data - the global economy has grwon over the past six years only in terms of inflation) would have fomented a revolution. However, I have become resigned to the idea that Americans have lost their spine, are completely disorganized and suffer greatly from the pervasive normalcy bias (thank you, CogDis) created by the bankers and politicians.

Nobody wants the party to end, and it certainly will not, unless the bankers want it to, and, at the time of their choosing, and not a momet before, they will surely end it, impoverishing even more of the population of the world.

We are ruled by the most pernicious, evil, conniving group of men and women to ever walk the planet... and, we like it.

So sad."

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"Yesterday, I picked up a can of tuna, thinking I might include it in a macaroni salad later in the day. Looked at the label and saw the word "Pacific" on it. Put it back.

A few days ago, I was buying vegetables and began to wonder where they came from. I live in upstate NY, so all winter vegetables are obviously coming from warmer climates. Bought a few peppers, a red onion and some broccoli, and thought that one day, perhaps soon, people will be asking where the vegetables come from.

Personally, I'm pretty freaked out about Fukushima. It's been nearly three years, and radiation of varying amounts and forms are still spilling out. I am not a nuclear scientist, but I know enough to realize that Fukushima needs to be contained and that the ongoing silence and probable coverup by various governments and the media are a sure warning sign that all is NOT well.

Sure, maybe I'm paranoid, but once February comes, and I move to my land in South Carolina, I'm growing as much as I can, as fast as I can, getting off the grid, eating only non-GMO vegetables and meats from locally-raised animals or fish from local waters. Not that I'm afraid of dying - I'm 60, and I'm not - but I like to think I have maybe 15-30 good years left and surely don't want to die from cancer because I ate food that was contaminated and our beneficent government didn't have the common decency to inform us.

Fuku may or may not be an ELE, but, if it proves to be, I plan on trying like hell to outlive it, and, if I can't, taking a bankster or two along with me on my final ride into Hades.

Happy New Year. Fight back."

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DOW 16,576.66, +72.37 (+0.44%)
NASDAQ 4,176.59, +22.39 (+0.54%)
S&P 1,848.36, +7.29 (+0.40%)
10-Yr Note 97.59, -0.45 (-0.46%) Yield: 3.04%
NASDAQ Volume 1.29 Bil
NYSE Volume 2.30 Bil
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3533-2201
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 458-50
WTI crude oil: 98.42, -0.87
Gold: 1,202.30, -1.50
Silver: 19.37, -0.245
Corn: 422.00, -1.50

Dow Down 6th Straight Session; Bummer for 5% of Population

Consider this salient factoid (and question its validity): Five percent of the US population owns 82% of all common stock.

So, with that in mind, who - besides the employees of the major corporate entities in this country (a big number) - cares?

It might be worth suggesting that a 5-10-15-20% pullback in stocks would be a healthy development, bringing down the elite to more moderate levels.

This is sophistry, of course. A diminution in the relative income or net worth of the wealthiest amongst us would surely trickle down to those not quite rich, the middle class and eventually the bottom income levels.

Yes. Those nearest the gutter would be dragged down into it and die. Others would take their places. Those in the middle would become less fortunate (say goodbye to paying U of Michigan $52,000 a year for tuition, room and board). Those in the upper tiers would eat strip steaks instead of filet mignon and the top five percent would drive their Mercedes or Lexus or Maserati a little less often.

This is all very relative; the deciding factors being, most prominently, not how much you're worth or how much you make, but what you can be productive with, what your knowledge and skills are and how much you spend.

Wall Street is a very cockeyed place, full of people who think they know better how to manage other people's money than those people themselves. For an alternative perspective, go to a farm, where a person's value is derived from utility, rather than fantasy.

Dow 14,897.55, -105.44 (0.70%)
NASDAQ 3,599.79, -13.80 (0.38%)
S&P 500 1,642.80, -9.55 (0.58%)
NYSE Composite 9,339.37, -82.19 (0.87%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,401,692,625
NYSE Volume 3,306,747,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1871-4677
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 83-178
WTI crude oil: 103.85, -1.26
Gold: 1,370.10, -2.50
Silver: 22.96, -0.108