Update 3/19

Copper continues to be rangebound in the $3.30-$3.45ish area; I'm still going to maintain my "sell" orders. The British Pound actually went up early this week, but it was just crushed today and I fully believe my sell order will get filled early next week.

It looks as though ObamaCare will become reality; for the average working serf it'll mean higher taxes and higher health insurance rates so that 30 million very poor serfs will get free healthcare. It requires that everyone carry medical insurance.. something that will not likely pass Constitutional muster, and more or less provides public funding for abortions. Rep.Grayson of Florida introduced a bill last week {HR 4789} the MediCare Buy-In Bill, which will allow any citizen who so chooses to buy into Medicare. Should this pass, most serfs will simply opt for the cheaper Gov't plan, essentially completing the socialization of medical care. (This bill might not make it thru the Senate; we'll see) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/10/grayson-offers-medicare-b_n_492831.html

Step by step, day by day, we're heading towards a day when the US Gov't controls better than half of the US economy. It was never intended to be this way. After making these promises {Soc Sec, Medicare, repayment of US debt, military spending, etc}, let's see if they can keep them. (Hint.. not a snowball's chance in hell). Trillion dollar deficits are the norm now; we will likely never again see a sub-trillion dollar deficit, despite Obama's speeches to the contrary.

Many people who read this are doing well enough today and fully believe that while taxes will go up a tad, nothing major will happen in the future; our enlightened leaders have this one figured out; America can't ever really fail {ie.. your fearless blogger is a paranoid quack} But I assure you that we can, and unless we change how things are done, we most certainly will. Think not ?? Here's a delightful video of US Congressman Kanjorski describing just how close we came to the Dark Ages in Sep '08: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0dHE5SE2g0

But before it happens to us, it's going to happen to small countries the world over; I cover Greece a lot; in fact, the EU has now officially decided to dither, and Greece will in the end likely have to seek an IMF bailout. Just when I was thinking things might be OK for Athens. Latvia's government collapsed yesterday over the economic crisis; their unemployment rate is over 20%. Spain's is also over 20%, and Greece's will rise to those heights as well. As these small countries bite the dust and fall into grinding poverty, there is a great temptation to simply tell the bankers who put them into this mess "Hell no we won't pay" and default on loans. Iceland did just this. I can easily see the Greeks doing this as well. Here's a list of the most likely small nations to fall apart due to economic distress: http://www.cnbc.com/id/34465366?slide=1

So.. who cares if Greece, Venezuela and Latvia collapse ?? You should, and here's why: their governments owe hundreds of billions of dollars to western banks. Greek & Venezuelan banks also owe western banks yet more hundreds of billions. Those western banks also underwrote credit default swaps worth tens of billions. When enough of them go under, countries like England, Spain and Switzerland {who's banks loaned out money to these governments and their banks} begin to totter. Remember I told you this: if you see a medium sized nation like Italy, England, Spain, Switzerland or Japan begin to totter, be scared. Be very scared. Only a global rescue operation involving all the world's major players will solve the situation. The EU and the US, for example, have already admitted that they alone cannot save Spain: http://www.businessinsider.com/wharton-if-spain-goes-down-the-entire-global-economy-is-in-trouble-2010-3