Sunday Night Special - Transition to a world without oil. Rob Hopkins points out that we have reached peak oil, proposes a unique solution to this problem - the Transition response, prepares society for life without oil & builds communities that are completely independent of fossil fuels... 17 minutes

Matt Simmons: The Oil & Water Mix... emphasizes the world will never run out of oil BUT oil & water are getting scarcer; looks at wind & ocean energy potential...
Matt Simmons on energy & water

The Implications of Velocity... John Mauldin explores the velocity of money & what is means for the economy... "when we talk about the velocity of money, we are speaking of the average frequency with which a unit of money is spent... Note that (with one exception in the 1970s) velocity drops during a recession. What is the Fed response? An offsetting increase in the money supply to try and overcome the effects of the business cycle and the recession... If velocity falls then money supply must rise for nominal GDP to grow. The Fed attempts to jump-start the economy back into growth by increasing the money supply"...(4+*)
John Mauldin's The Implications of Velocity

Investing in the New Normal... a Consuelo Mack review of Pimco's Bill Gross interview about 1 yr ago on the new investment environment... about 25 min, well worth a re-listen...if problems with video working, go to http://www.wealthtrack.com/ to listen...

Merkel Slams American Banks... German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized market speculation against the euro, saying that financial institutions bailed out with public funds are exploiting the budget crisis in Greece & elsewhere... "That’s very difficult to explain to people in a democracy who should trust us"... criticizes those banks "that brought us to the brink of the abyss" - thinks it would be a 'scandal' if those same banks were found to have helped Greece obscure its finances... 1st article: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-23/merkel-slams-euro-speculation-warns-of-resentment-update1-.html ... 2nd article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/08/us-banks-european-bond-trading (3*)

Mysterious Bond Buyers?... Rick Santelli explores

...Can China Accuse U.S. of ‘Protectionism’...? Premier Wen Jiabao warns other countries that to pressure China on currency policy is equivalent to protectionism, insists that China's currency is not undervalued... "We oppose all countries engaging in mutual finger-pointing or taking strong measures to force other nations to appreciate their currencies... What I don’t understand is depreciating one’s own currency, & attempting to pressure others to appreciate, for the purpose of increasing exports. In my view, that is protectionism"... http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d2d18014-2f34-11df-9153-00144feabdc0.html (4*)

Apocalypse in Japan?... not yet thinks The Economist... explores the alarming future for Japan's finances... Cassandra's curse "was that her warnings would never be believed." - for yrs, doom & gloomers have tried to short Japanese govt debt but the trade has never worked... points out just 4% of Japanese bonds are owned by non-residents - yields are still positive in real terms because of on-going deflation... however now more citizens are reaching retirement age & not saving & the govt pension fund has admitted it has no new money to buy more debt.. "The crisis will surely arise when Japan becomes dependent on foreigners for finance, or if a sharp rise in inflation or a sudden slump in the currency causes domestic private investors to take fright. But since the country is still running a current-account surplus, the yen is trading at 90 to the dollar (compared with 124 in June 2007) and deflation is forecast for the rest of the year, the apocalypse seems unlikely to occur in 2010."... http://www.economist.com/business-finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15663864 (4*)

Without China - No Growth in Construction

Courtesy of Agorafinancial.com

We're Doomed-Washington Can't Do Anything About It.. say Marc Faber & Mish Shedlock... say Washington lawmakers are a delusional bunch of boneheads - economy is not recovering, US faces either crushing deflation or runaway inflation... Faber: "It's beyond repair -- it's too late"... about 6 min video length...

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words,

Developed World Diverging from Developing World,

Courtesy of IMF & Morgan Stanley

Source: cracked.com,

(click to enlarge)

On the National Debt: “If the Treasury & the Fed just stare at this figure & don’t do anything, the compounding interest on $12 trillion will ‘eat us up alive’. With $12 trillion in national debt, the US must try to inflate the debt away or renege on it. Reneging on the debt is unthinkable, which leaves the inflation strategy. The problem must be addressed, since if it is not, the compounding factor will simply make the problem that much more intractable.”
- Richard Russell