Yep, that's why the Fed started to demand US banks and US branches of foreign banks build a firewall. They did so quietly, and I have no doubt that it won't work as there is a lot of shadow banking going on here.
There is however the fact that US banks have been loaning money to European banks and demanding collateral. What kind is known only to a few. Is it enough to cover the loans in the event of a failure? We'll know sooner than we like I think.

 

so what is the latest with greece then? I figured they'd be defaulting by now...

 

so what is the latest with greece then? I figured they'd be defaulting by now...

Technically Greece has defaulted, several times. What makes it a non-default is that the creditors keep saying they haven't.

 

Yeah, that's the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Very much like the one in the US, where nobody will admit that all the banks in the US are insolvent and that the $$ is toast, just like the banks and currencies across the pond.

If you are broke and won't admit it, does that make you solvent?

 

Yeah, that's the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Very much like the one in the US, where nobody will admit that all the banks in the US are insolvent and that the $$ is toast, just like the banks and currencies across the pond.

If you are broke and won't admit it, does that make you solvent?

Only if you are in so much debt people are willing to suspend reason to avoid the pain.

 

Today they pumped US Dollars into the system, to float the EU. This will only work shortterm. They did so as most sane investors are fleeing the Euro and any stock/bond associated with it so "credit" has essentially frozen. THIS IS JUST LIKE WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE LEHMAN PROBLEM. This was undoubtably a 'push the button' pump/printing as there is no physical way to print that much money.
When this bubble blows, its going to take down a number of currencies, the USD being #1 behind the Euro. And look for the Swissy to be totaled, too.
This is not looking good - instead of dealing with the issue - they are just trying to string it along and instead are making it worse and worse.
Everyone needs to prepare for a worthless USD. I don't think that Hyperinflation is necessary now - they are doing it for us without it.

 

I wonder how many magic monkeys the Fed and other Central Banks can pull out of the hat, or wherever, before this all pops like a zit and makes a mess all over everybody? I have been astounded at the tricks pulled so far just in the US, since the 2008 credit lockup.

Lessee here. If the US $$ aren't worth anything, and the Euro, Swiss Franc, and the rest are all worthless too, who wins here? Is it just the last one down the sewer? I have lost all perspective now.

Wonder what Columbia will want for coffee when ALL the currencies crash? Or, what will the price of oil be after the Euro and the USD go down. Whose money will they use for pricing oil? Or maybe they will want it in gold? The Yen is worth more than the Japanese want it to be, but who wants radioactive Yen? Now WHY would gold/silver be down so much today in this environment? Manipulation, much?

I'm lost. I have never been a drinker in my entire life, but this might be a good time to start. :runforhills:

 

I'm lost. I have never been a drinker in my entire life, but this might be a good time to start. :runforhills:

Not quite yet, I have a feeling all of us will want to be sober for the events in the coming days.

 

I wonder how many magic monkeys the Fed and other Central Banks can pull out of the hat, or wherever, before this all pops like a zit and makes a mess all over everybody? I have been astounded at the tricks pulled so far just in the US, since the 2008 credit lockup.

Lessee here. If the US $$ aren't worth anything, and the Euro, Swiss Franc, and the rest are all worthless too, who wins here? Is it just the last one down the sewer? I have lost all perspective now.

Wonder what Columbia will want for coffee when ALL the currencies crash? Or, what will the price of oil be after the Euro and the USD go down. Whose money will they use for pricing oil? Or maybe they will want it in gold? The Yen is worth more than the Japanese want it to be, but who wants radioactive Yen? Now WHY would gold/silver be down so much today in this environment? Manipulation, much?

I'm lost. I have never been a drinker in my entire life, but this might be a good time to start. :runforhills:

Yeah, the market is broken. That is, it's been broken and we all knew it, but now there isn't any single functioning area I think.

If I had to make a guess I'd say that the market sees the US buying Europe. Basically the Euro is being replaced by the USD. If it works it's a genius move. When it fails it's the biggest blunder in fiat history. That's why gold down and dollar up.

 

When the banks fail, both in Europe and here, the governments will step in and nationalize them. Think of it, the government will have direct and unlimited access to all your checking account data. Imagine the possibilities! Not only that, they will hold your mortgage. You will truly be in their firm socialist grasp. Can you spell CONTROL?

 

Once the Swiss pegged their franc to the Euro, things were completely lost. The Swissy was the only currency that was stable and valued worldwide. That is gone now, so the currency wars will heat up to the point where its a race to the bottom.

If you haven't done prepping, or finished your prep, now is the time. I look for the value of the USD to plunge after this bolus of money printing flushes through the system. Hyperinflation is going to take off once they are done devaluing the currencies.

 

Once the Swiss pegged their franc to the Euro, things were completely lost. The Swissy was the only currency that was stable and valued worldwide. That is gone now, so the currency wars will heat up to the point where its a race to the bottom.

If you haven't done prepping, or finished your prep, now is the time. I look for the value of the USD to plunge after this bolus of money printing flushes through the system. Hyperinflation is going to take off once they are done devaluing the currencies.

Is it possible the US is just going to win though? The euro could be put out of commission and maybe the $$$ used everywhere?

 

There are no winners in this scenario, due to the size of the debt - we are talking sovereign debt now, not consumer debt and bank debt. Its not the same debt that fueled the 2008 debacle with Lehman's. Sovereign debt is money used to run gov'ts - a much bigger $ amount.
Often, the currency that is used to 'fix' the issues is sacraficed along the way as its perceived as the strongest and its over leveraged. The USD has been purposely inflated grossly to drive down the cost of repaying our own debt, and as was mentioned previously, its now a numbers game. There is no real 'value' in any of these currencies, and with the equivalence of QE3 having happened yesterday its only time before the race to the bottom is complete. That's why suddenly billions can be created out of thin air. Its a computer transaction made up of nothing.
What Helicopter Ben doesn't seem to realize is that Germany will NOT take the brunt of this problem with the euro, and they will come out ahead of the US despite what we do. The Germans aren't stupid. Neither are the Chinese.
China is as we speak is reducing daily their exposure in US bonds.
That would be our sovereign debt that is next on the chopping block. The debt we are creating out of thin air today. It's so huge there is no escape from it aside from sacraficing collateral or bankruptcy on a national level.
Which is where Greece is at the moment.

 

When the banks fail, both in Europe and here, the governments will step in and nationalize them. Think of it, the government will have direct and unlimited access to all your checking account data. Imagine the possibilities! Not only that, they will hold your mortgage. You will truly be in their firm socialist grasp. Can you spell CONTROL?

They already have it.
They already do.

I'm not too concerned

 

Is it possible the US is just going to win though? The euro could be put out of commission and maybe the $$$ used everywhere?

It is possible. As currency wars go the US is winning. I know it's a contrary view to us preppers and the like, but as a global thing it is true.

That doesn't mean that we won't see HUGE inflation in the near future though. I've been saying for months now, in a currency war you don't have to look GOOD, you only have to be the last man standing.

 

They already have it.
They already do.

I'm not too concerned

That made me think about a documentary I recently saw about Hitler and Nazi Germany marching into the streets of France. A lady that was being interviewed remarked that, in the beginning, they weren't too concerned.....they presumed it would only last a few months at most and then the Germans would be gone.

History tells us that it is folly to ignore government expansion or use of power. It NEVER ends well.

 

History tells us that it is folly to ignore government expansion or use of power

Amen to that. How quickly people forget.