EDITOR’S COMMENT:  I’ve posted this perceptive article by a self-employed carpenter, because I believe it discusses several important aspects of our current and near-term economy. Importantly, this discussion takes place from the perspective of an “everyday,” working, man-in-the-street, rather than the highly-paid, removed-from-reality economists of Wall Street and Washington. He discusses the outlook for the housing industry and how a craftsman, such as himself, should transition his skills for the advent of Read More »

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By Tim Iacono

They say that bottoms for long-term cycles are virtually undetectable in real time because they are so long and so flat with most market participants having lost interest in the sector, as was the case for stocks back in the early 1980s. According to two big investment banks, the long awaited bottom for the U.S. housing market will come in the year ahead, though it’s not clear if anyone will Read More »

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By John Tamny

Though it made the front page of USA Today last week, a headline about individual U.S. mobility drew little comment from the economic commentariat. This is odd given the economic peril it signals, particularly in light of the high rate of unemployment in the United States.

According to the USA Today account of Census Bureau statistics, only 11.6% of Americans changed their addresses from 2010 to 2011, “the lowest rate Read More »

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EDITOR’S COMMENT: I’m featuring this commentary, because there really are tens of thousands, formerly middle class Americans, living this economic despair.

There is no judgement here, as I’m merely trying to make everyone aware of these circumstances, since the mainstream press has almost totally ignored all this, since it doesn’t fit the image of the phony recovery that our government want you to believe is occuring. Unfortunately, given our current and future economic straits, I don’t Read More »

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By Doug Casey, Casey Research

I really dislike sounding inflammatory. Saying that things are going to go terribly wrong runs a risk of being classed with those who think the world will end in December 2012 because of something Nostradamus or the Bible says, or because that’s what the Mayan calendar predicts.

This is different. In the real world, cause has effect. Nobody has a crystal ball, but a good economist (there are Read More »

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By James West for Midas Letter

That the United States government, the U.S Federal Reserve, and a plethora of financial institutions, are in breach of numerous U.S. laws in regards to fraud and fiduciary duty to the American people, is held to be self-evident, by a growing minority of individuals around the world. That this breach of law and duty has resulted in the deterioration of the global marketplace, diminished opportunities for workers, Read More »

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By Bill Bonner for The Daily Reckoning

More evidence came in, showing that housing is weak. But no more evidence was needed.

Want to make some easy money? Buy a house! Get a DEEP discount on a distressed sale. Then mortgage the house for 30 years at a fixed rate. As big a mortgage as you can get.

The house will probably become even cheaper…but some time between today and 2041 your mortgage is Read More »

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By The Economic Collapse

We are officially in the middle of the worst housing collapse in U.S. history – and unfortunately it is going to get even worse. Already, U.S. housing prices have fallen further during this economic downturn (26 percent), then they did during the Great Depression (25.9 percent).  Approximately 11 percent of all homes in the United States are currently standing empty.  In fact, there are many new housing developments across Read More »

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By Alan Caruba

I have this theory that we, the adults, all function at the emotional level of 13-year-olds, the age of bar mitzvahs in which the young man can declare to the congregation, “Today I am a man.”  (Insert laughter here)

They are, of course, not adults and must wait until the ancient age of 18 to vote and 21 to get plastered. At that age, one would think that getting a bank Read More »

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