AIG profitable?

According to Money.CNN.Com, AIG is Profitable again! I'm glad to hear that happy days are here again, except... wasn't AIG "profitable" just before the credit default swap debacle? So this supposed "great news" lends me to wonder: What parlor tricks could they possibly be using to try and keep the very charitable, big raise giving, drunk on their too big to fail status, throw a party after the tax payers bailed them out AIG going?

From CNN.com (commentary added by us):

"The troubled insurer said it continues to benefit from stabilization in the housing (what housing stabilization?) and credit markets (you mean the ones that are so frozen that small and medium sized businesses still can't get loans?), but future quarters will continue to be volatile (at least a little truth)."

http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/06/news/companies/aig/index.htm?postversion=2009110609

Obama Unemployment Would Not Exceed 8% With His Plan

The stimulus passed and where are we? 10.2% Unemployment! Any who believed in Obama's change I hope has woken up. He is just like all the other politicians. Just watch some of his videos like this one below. To save you the time just skip to 1:10 in it so you can hear him say that without his "stimulus" unemployment would reach double digits. Well the stimulus passed... WE'RE HERE!

We are without jobs, we are without a balanced budget, we've got banks falling left and right, we've got an insolvent FDIC, we've got record foreclosures, we've got the Fed monetizing our debt, we've people dumping the dollar (Most notable recently is Warren Buffett buying the railroad and China buying tons of Gold and Copper.), we can't raise the rates because of all of the ARMs that are resetting. America: WE ARE PAINTED INTO A CORNER.

If we don't raise interest rates we will have inflation, if we raise interest rates we'll have another housing crisis. If you aren't preparing for the worst then you will be sorely dissappointed in the future my friends, because we haven't seen anything yet!

A Metal Trading Primer For Gold and Silver

For all you young guys starting out, you may be wondering how you can get metal for as cheap as possible. I'll do the best I can to help you out here. These are some of the assumptions I'm making about you as I write this. If you don't fit these then you probably already know the information contained herein:

♦You probably don't have deep pockets
♦You're brand new to metal trading
♦You don't have a lot of experience doing many other types of trades

Part 1: Buying

The way you need to start out is the most obvious way: buying. The easiest way to get metal is to trade FRNs (Federal Reserve Notes, aka Paper Cash) for the Metal. This is also referred to as "buying" it. The cheapest way to obtain metal by this method is to, like everything else, buy it in quantity. This accomplishes two things:

♦Quantity Discounts offered by seller
♦Lower shipping and handling charges (yes, this must be included in your Dollar Cost Average (DCA))

This method is not wallet friendly but is about the only way that you can get started. Now, you can try buying locally, which I encourage to support small businesses, but you will most likely pay more. This will happen because of two reasons:

♦The seller doesn't know you, and you two haven't established a rapport
♦Small businesses don't have the same economies of scale as the large online sellers so they have to charge more. In addition, the store has the added overhead of rent, electricity, etc.

So, don't expect to walk into a coin shop "guns-a-blazin'" with the latest printout of today's spot price and demand it. You'll learn quite quickly that the dealer has probably run into a million people just like you and will just as soon tell you to walk out the door. Remember, this guy is sitting upon thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars worth of highly liquid assets, he doesn't need your business, he has other customers to serve.

Part 2: Trading Metal

Once you have some metal, you may want to increase that. There are a few ways to do this, but you need to understand your course of action. Smaller denominations (aka Fractionals, Fracs) like 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz, etc are considered more valuable to some because of their increased liquidity and higher price.

What does this mean? You could potentially buy 1/10 frac gold coins, and potentially trade 8 or 9 of them for a 1 oz gold coin. The reason I say 8 or 9 is that most times you have to make some type of cash offer along with your fracs to make it more fair. Few people will trade a 1 oz coin for just .8 oz in fractional. You will find more people willing to trade .9 oz worth of fracs for a 1 oz coin, but there probably won't be a line of customers so be patient. That sounds great, what's the drawback? Ahh yes, the drawback.

♦Fractional coins cost more per oz. You'll end up paying roughly spot + $100.00 (at the least, but more commonly +$200.00) for a fractional 1/10 gold coin. Meaning if spot is 1100 an oz, you'll probably be buying a 1/10 coin for $130.00 or $1,300 per oz.

Similar rules apply with silver as well, but due to silver's affordability, there isn't as much advantage trading silver fracs for silver 1 ozers.

Crossing Borders
Crossing the metal borders is where you can really gain some leverage trading. In order to do this you must become very comfortable with the concept of the Gold to Silver Ratio (GSR). The GSR is just that, the price of Gold (POG) divided by the price of silver (POS). What this ratio tells you is how many ounces of Silver you can get for each ounce of Gold. Historically the GSR has been on both sides of the spectrum.

During roman times, I believe, the GSR was 1:3 meaning one ounce of Gold could get you 3 ounces of Silver. The largest gap we've seen recently was about 1:85 and currently it is 1:60 meaning that one ounce of Gold will buy you 60 ounces of Silver.

So you're asking yourself: How can I play this ratio? By Trading your Silver and Gold on http://bullionstacker.com/ (BS) you can take advantage of this ratio. How you play it will depend on where you think Silver or Gold is going. Today you can get 1 oz of Gold with 60 oz of your silver, but if you believe that Silver will out perform Gold, meaning that the POS will increase faster than the POG, then you will want to wait, because if POS does increase faster then you'll see the GSR decrease. Lets say the GSR decreases to 52, Now you can get 1 oz of Gold for only 52 oz of silver, which means you've saved 8 oz of silver!

But What if I think Gold is going to outperform silver? Then you better buy Gold now, or trade for it now. When the POG outperforms the POS then the GSR goes up. So if you can get into Gold now then you can wait for the GSR to go up. So let's say you trade your 60 oz of silver for 1 oz of Gold. Then the GSR goes up to 72. You can now trade your 1 oz of Gold for 72 oz of Silver. You've now increased your Silver holdings by 12 ounces and you really didn't have to do anything! Or you can stay in Gold and be happy that it outperformed Silver.

Conclusion:
This is just a Primer to help you learn the fundamentals. I did take liberties with my numbers and do not guarantee that anything in this Article will go as stated. In many scenarios I neglected the cost of shipping and handling, which should be considered. In nearly all instances, the person shipping the Silver will need to pay more and this should be considered in the calculations.

Using this Article: This article is the copyrighted work of Debris and is to not be republished anywhere without this notice and citation links to both http://bullionstacker.com/ and http://uselephant.blogspot.com/ . Thank you.

Your Safe Deposit Box, Not Safe

Snipped from ABC News, Link at the bottom of the article:

"The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they're supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a "Good Morning America" investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn't really unclaimed and then use the money -- your money -- to balance their budgets. " (continued at link)

http://i.abcnews.com/GMA/story?id=4832471&page=1

Nature Is Taking Detroit Back

With the mass exodus of people, Detroit is now having its vacant buildings being taken back by nature. Check out this link to see the stunning images!

CIT Looking Hard At Bankruptcy

CIT, as many have suspected, is looking very hard at the possibility of bankruptcy. To be honest, I don't know how companies like this and Capmark are able to still be standing. I suppose it was because of TARP, but it seems like an awful waste to toss so much money at these companies just to delay the inevitable...

100 Things That Run Out In An Emergency

I found this list posted all over the place and felt that it may be beneficial for my readers. This is a list of 100 things that disappear first in an emergency. I'm not sure who created this list, it was not me, but if you happen to know who created it, leave a comment so I can properly cite it and give credit where credit is due on such a fine composition.


100 Items to Disappear First

1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy...target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 - 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks.
9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar
10. Rice - Beans - Wheat
11. Vegetable Oil (for cooking) Without it food burns/must be boiled etc.,)
12. Charcoal, Lighter Fluid (Will become scarce suddenly)
13. Water Containers (Urgent Item to obtain.) Any size. Small: HARD CLEAR PLASTIC ONLY - note - food grade if for drinking.
14. Mini Heater head (Propane) (Without this item, propane won't heat a room.)
15. Grain Grinder (Non-electric)
16. Propane Cylinders (Urgent: Definite shortages will occur.
17. Survival Guide Book.
18. Mantles: Aladdin, Coleman, etc. (Without this item, longer-term lighting is difficult.)
19. Baby Supplies: Diapers/formula. ointments/aspirin, etc.
20. Washboards, Mop Bucket w/wringer (for Laundry)
21. Cook stoves (Propane, Coleman & Kerosene)
22. Vitamins
23. Propane Cylinder Handle-Holder (Urgent: Small canister use is dangerous without this item)
24. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products.
25. Thermal underwear (Tops & Bottoms)
26. Bow saws, axes and hatchets, Wedges (also, honing oil)
27. Aluminum Foil Reg. & Heavy Duty (Great Cooking and Barter Item)
28. Gasoline Containers (Plastic & Metal)
29. Garbage Bags (Impossible To Have Too Many).
30. Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels
31. Milk - Powdered & Condensed (Shake Liquid every 3 to 4 months)
32. Garden Seeds (Non-Hybrid) (A MUST)
33. Clothes pins/line/hangers (A MUST)
34. Coleman's Pump Repair Kit
35. Tuna Fish (in oil)
36. Fire Extinguishers (or..large box of Baking Soda in every room)
37. First aid kits
38. Batteries (all sizes...buy furthest-out for Expiration Dates)
39. Garlic, spices & vinegar, baking supplies
40. Big Dogs (and plenty of dog food)
41. Flour, yeast & salt
42. Matches. {"Strike Anywhere" preferred.) Boxed, wooden matches will go first
43. Writing paper/pads/pencils, solar calculators
44. Insulated ice chests (good for keeping items from freezing in Wintertime.)
45. Work boots, belts, Levis & durable shirts
46. Flashlights/LIGHT STICKS & torches, "No. 76 Dietz" Lanterns
47. Journals, Diaries & Scrapbooks (jot down ideas, feelings, experience; Historic Times)
48. Garbage cans Plastic (great for storage, water, transporting - if with wheels)
49. Men's Hygiene: Shampoo, Toothbrush/paste, Mouthwash/floss, nail clippers, etc
50. Cast iron cookware (sturdy, efficient)
51. Fishing supplies/tools
52. Mosquito coils/repellent, sprays/creams
53. Duct Tape
54. Tarps/stakes/twine/nails/rope/spikes
55. Candles
56. Laundry Detergent (liquid)
57. Backpacks, Duffel Bags
58. Garden tools & supplies
59. Scissors, fabrics & sewing supplies
60. Canned Fruits, Veggies, Soups, stews, etc.
61. Bleach (plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite)
62. Canning supplies, (Jars/lids/wax)
63. Knives & Sharpening tools: files, stones, steel
64. Bicycles...Tires/tubes/pumps/chains, etc
65. Sleeping Bags & blankets/pillows/mats
66. Carbon Monoxide Alarm (battery powered)
67. Board Games, Cards, Dice
68. d-con Rat poison, MOUSE PRUFE II, Roach Killer
69. Mousetraps, Ant traps & cockroach magnets
70. Paper plates/cups/utensils (stock up, folks)
71. Baby wipes, oils, waterless & Antibacterial soap (saves a lot of water)
72. Rain gear, rubberized boots, etc.
73. Shaving supplies (razors & creams, talc, after shave)
74. Hand pumps & siphons (for water and for fuels)
75. Soy sauce, vinegar, bullions/gravy/soup base
76. Reading glasses
77. Chocolate/Cocoa/Tang/Punch (water enhancers)
78. "Survival-in-a-Can"
79. Woolen clothing, scarves/ear-muffs/mittens
80. Boy Scout Handbook, / also Leaders Catalog
81. Roll-on Window Insulation Kit (MANCO)
82. Graham crackers, saltines, pretzels, Trail mix/Jerky
83. Popcorn, Peanut Butter, Nuts
84. Socks, Underwear, T-shirts, etc. (extras)
85. Lumber (all types)
86. Wagons & carts (for transport to and from)
87. Cots & Inflatable mattress's
88. Gloves: Work/warming/gardening, etc.
89. Lantern Hangers
90. Screen Patches, glue, nails, screws,, nuts & bolts
91. Teas
92. Coffee
93. Cigarettes
94. Wine/Liquors (for bribes, medicinal, etc,)
95. Paraffin wax
96. Glue, nails, nuts, bolts, screws, etc.
97. Chewing gum/candies
98. Atomizers (for cooling/bathing)
99. Hats & cotton neckerchiefs
100. Goats/chickens

From a Sarajevo War Survivor:
Experiencing horrible things that can happen in a war - death of parents and
friends, hunger and malnutrition, endless freezing cold, fear, sniper attacks.

1. Stockpiling helps. but you never no how long trouble will last, so locate
near renewable food sources.
2. Living near a well with a manual pump is like being in Eden.
3. After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war
quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold's.
4. If you had to go without one utility, lose electricity - it's the easiest to
do without (unless you're in a very nice climate with no need for heat.)
5. Canned foods are awesome, especially if their contents are tasty without
heating. One of the best things to stockpile is canned gravy - it makes a lot of
the dry unappetizing things you find to eat in war somewhat edible. Only needs
enough heat to "warm", not to cook. It's cheap too, especially if you buy it in
bulk.
6. Bring some books - escapist ones like romance or mysteries become more
valuable as the war continues. Sure, it's great to have a lot of survival
guides, but you'll figure most of that out on your own anyway - trust me, you'll
have a lot of time on your hands.
7. The feeling that you're human can fade pretty fast. I can't tell you how many
people I knew who would have traded a much needed meal for just a little bit of
toothpaste, rouge, soap or cologne. Not much point in fighting if you have to
lose your humanity. These things are morale-builders like nothing else.
8. Slow burning candles and matches, matches, matches

H1N1 Watch: President Obama & New York Declare State of Emergency

It's culminating. This flu is no worse than the regular flu, yet it's being hyped up to try and fool people. There is a lot of double talk going on. We have news agencies saying there is a shortage of the vaccine, then we have news stories stating that some of the vaccine will need to be thrown out. It sounds like a big wall of lies is being formed to try and trick the American public. If you aren't comfortable with the Magical Mercury Elixir they want to inject into you and your child then don't take it, plain and simple.

President Obama Declares State of Emergency: http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=15742
New York State of Emergency: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/29/new.york.h1n1/


H1N1 Watch Articles:
Florida Forced Quarantine
President and NY Declare State of Emergency
Retired Chief Medical Officer Speaks Out About "Vaccine"
Over 50% Of Adults Say No To H1N1 Vaccine