Economy

Highly leveraged economies, particularly those in which continual rollover of short-term debt is sustained only by confidence in relatively illiquid underlying assets, seldom survive forever, particularly if leverage continues to grow unchecked. Words: 1264

Bernstein's attitude regarding the financial services industry is downright hostile: he suggests more than once that retail investors won't go too far wrong by considering any stock broker, financial advisor or insurance salesperson a "hardened criminal." That's with respect to evaluating whether their interests are more aligned with their own retirements or that of their clients. Words: 576

The book's crucial assumption is that “the market” does have a central value and that the world of stock markets is a “mean reverting” world. As a consequence, the market can be over-valued or under-valued but will, over time, return to its central value. Words: 1317

I would welcome a public debate of my thesis that risk-free bond speculation suppresses the rate of interest and destroys capital in the process. I have challenged neo-classical economists who still consider the open-market operations of the Fed as a ‘refined tool to manage the national economy’. I want them, instead, to see in open-market operations the cancer of the economy responsible for the withering of the world’s prosperity. So far my challenge has fallen upon deaf ears. Words: 2854

The effects of the credit crunch on the real estate market have been serious, but negative trends will not continue forever. Words: 512

Tax lien buyers can earn up to 16 percent annually if they acquire good liens. Lenders typically pay up all the unpaid taxes on properties they foreclose upon, so lien holders can expect immediate returns on their lien investments. Words: 298

Those in the U.S. power structure know what the plan is if the U.S. dollar should fail. They are not admitting publically that there is even the remotest chance that it could happen but, rest assured, there is a plan. There is always a plan. To paraphrase Franklin Roosevelt, nothing happens by chance in government, so don’t be caught up in such a ‘surprise’ event - whatever it may be and whenever it occurs. Words: 1345

In a search for safety and income, investors are stampeding into the apparent safety of government bonds and bond mutual funds. Over the last year, bonds have been purchased in record amounts despite historic low interest rate levels. It is likely that many of these investors do not understand the risks in bonds. These investors, with a false sense of security, are unknowingly setting themselves up for another rough rollercoaster ride ahead. Words: 599

We are currently about one year into a two year grace period before people will begin to realize that their money isn’t 'real' but simply 'magic' money. In the meantime the 'smart' money is buying up hard assets like gold, knowing that it is the only form of money that isn’t simultaneously someone else’s liability and, unlike 'magic' money, can’t be created out of thin air. Words: 785

With the global economy growing, with federal deficits exploding, and with central banks printing money like there’s no tomorrow, there can be little doubt that rising markets will also bring rising interest rates. Who gets hurt when interest rates rise? The answer is all borrowers with debts coming due because they must pay more to roll them over and all lenders who have extended medium- or long-term credit at fixed rates because they suffer an immediate loss in the market value of their loans. Words: 928