World money is so entwined that anyone who thinks a single country stands alone hasn't been paying attention. It's bad all over. Not just the Euro and the dollar.

I heard an interesting radio ad from a gold-buyer on KOMO last night, the commentator (John Carlson, I think) was doing the commercial: something about the dollar being weak, but one good thing about the economy is that the value of gold is so high. INCREDIBLE!

What they're really saying is that your money is close to being worthless, your home is worth less than what you owe on it, but bring your last bit of gold to us so we can give you worthless paper money for it. Jeez!

Sue

Speaking of intertwined -- "Why The UK Trail Of The MF Global Collapse May Have "Apocalyptic" Consequences For The Eurozone, Canadian Banks, Jefferies And Everyone Else" is a good read -- http://www.zerohedge.com/news/why-uk-tra...ian-banks-jeffe "Reposting by popular demand, and because everyone has to understand the embedded risks in this market..."

That was my thought, too. I don't expect an extreme situation will happen without a lot of warning; I'd expect financial problems first. A sudden panic could lead to the banks closing their doors temporarily until things cool down again, so it would be good to have enough cash in hand to coast for a week or two. If you can afford it: inflation is officially around 5% now so it costs to keep cash.

I am not expecting massive inflation in the UK. Nor in the Eurozone, really. Nor a Euro-breakup. Quite the reverse: a basic problem with the Euro is the diversity of member countries, and they seem to be trying to solve it by imposing more uniformity.

Exactly. Gold is of little use DURING the hard times. It a way to move your wealth THROUGH the collapse and have it ready to convert into the new money when the hard times end.

Before my wife's family escaped China they had spent several years turning every bit of spare yuan (Chinese money) into gold rings. When they finally made a break for it (a hell of a story in its own right) the rings were sewn into their clothing. In each country they passed through the gold was easily converted into local currency, something they couldn't have done with yuans.

-Blast

Not certain of the value in retreating to precious and semi precious metals in lieu of other negotiable instruments.

The difficulty with this recession is the lack of benchmarks that were present during the Great Depression or even the recession of 1987. Notably the US dollar would have plummeted in value and gold would be sitting at over $2000/ounce. However, this hasn't happened.

This second roller coaster ride was predicted back in 2008 with the initial collapse.

Also, Canada, being a resource based economy would have taken a much more drastic hit owing to the fact that US is still our largest trading partner. Having said that - commodity values are all over the map. Anyone who attempts to predict the price of oil has to have either a strong stomach or ice water in their veins.

There is still reason to be cautious but I would lean more towards diversification rather than exclusion of the entire market for one form of capital.

Just my two cents.

A British perspective on preparedness and rising fears over an EU meltdown.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...eady-worst.html

Stocking up for Doomsday: As economists predict meltdown, meet the families ready for the worst

By TOM RAWSTORNE

17th December 2011

"Mr Blake set up Emergency Food Storage in Leeds in 2009. He took his lead from the U.S., where the idea of ‘self-preparedness’ is mainstream.

‘The American attitude is very different and the government there encourages people to be prepared,’ he says. ‘They see that civil unrest could follow a major disaster. If they encourage people to have food and water it will stave off that civil unrest while they put the infrastructure back on line.’

But in Britain, he says, people remain worryingly blasé about the ease with which they can get food and no longer feel the need to stockpile even basic supplies.

That brings up an interesting point. I have family in Germany, and when I visit them I take note that they, as well as other families in the area, tend to have very little food stocked up. They either get their cooking ingredients fresh from the local market or they go out to eat at one of the many local establishments. I'm not sure if that is common throughout most of Europe and the UK or not (at least in more urban/sub-urban areas), but it's just something I've noticed.

On one hand, I feel like that likely contributes to better overall health, as nearly everything they eat is prepared relatively fresh. On the other hand, it means they are heavily reliant on local markets and restaurants to maintain their stock of food. Any interruption in service could be problematic.

Where to put all the stuff would be more of an issue in Europe, according to stats on average home size (this is as of 2003, the subsequent housing boom may have exacerbated the difference):

US: 2,300sf
Denmark: 1,475sf
France: 1,216sf
Spain: 1,044sf
Ireland: 947sf
UK: 818sf

submitted without comment

Martin A. Armstrong audio on King World News

give it a moment or 4..5..6.. to load

Actually ... I think you are perfectly positioned in the UK.

All you really need to do is to wait for the next set of riots in Greece - then take a quick bus trip over to Athens. After those young Greek guys start smashing everything with crowbars, just walk around behind them and pick up anything useful on the ground. You know ... bits of old Greek temples, parts of the Parthenon, and stuff like that. I bet you could make some money if you sell your collection on EBay.

Hahaha !

Pete2