[deMolay]

http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/red-aler ... cape-29835

[Daniel_Plainview]

The nation’s largest banks are so close to collapse and the world economy is coming unglued so rapidly, a major Wall Street meltdown is now imminent.

Specifically, it’s now increasingly likely that virtually all of our forecasts of recent months could come to pass in a very short period of time, including …

* Stock market crash: A swift plunge in stocks to about 5000 on the Dow, 500 on the S&P 500 and 900 on the Nasdaq … or lower. (For our reasons, see “Stocks to fall AT LEAST another 40%!“)

* Corporate bankruptcies: A chain reaction of Chapter 11 filings or federal takeovers, including not only General Motors and Chrysler, but also Ann Taylor, Best Buy, Jet Blue, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, Toys “R” Us, U.S. Airways and even giants like Ford or General Electric.

* Megabank failures: Bankruptcies or nationalization not only of Citigroup and Bank of America, but also JPMorgan Chase and HSBC. (See my January issue, “Megabanks Could Fail Despite Federal Aid.”)

* Nationwide epidemic of small and medium-sized bank failures: Outright FDIC takeovers, with little prospect of nationalization. (I’ll give you a link to our free guide with a more extensive list in a moment.)

* Insurance failures: State takeovers of companies like Ambac Assurance, Bankers Life and Casualty, Conseco, FGIC, Medical Liability Mutual, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance, Nuclear Electric Insurance, PMI Mortgage, Standard Life of Indiana and many others. (Our free guide also contains a more extensive list of insurers.)

* Cities and states: An epidemic of defaults by thousands of cities, states and other issuers of tax-exempt municipal bonds.

* Stock market shutdowns: Trading halts on major, big-cap stocks … plus on-again, off-again exchange shutdowns, making it increasingly difficult for investors to liquidate their holdings at any price.

* Credit market deep freeze: A virtual shutdown in all debt markets except U.S. Treasuries. An avalanche of selling — and virtually no buyers — for corporate bonds, commercial paper, asset-backed securities, municipal bonds and all forms of bank loans.

* Government bond collapse: A steep decline in the price of medium-and long-term government securities, as the U.S. Treasury bids aggressively for scarce funds to finance a ballooning budget deficit.

Shocking? Perhaps. Avoidable? No.

Nor am I alone in anticipating this rapid unraveling of the economy and financial markets. This past Friday, at a Columbia University dinner reported by Reuters …

* George Soros said the financial system has effectively disintegrated, with the turbulence more severe than during the Great Depression and with the decline comparable to the fall of the Soviet Union, while …

* Paul Volcker said he could not remember any time, even in the Great Depression, when things went down so fast and quite so uniformly around the world.

Both recognize that we’re in a new era of chaos. What’s the landmark event that separates us from the past era of relative stability?
...

[Mudpuppy]

Granted things aren`t good. But you`d have to be a raving idiot to believe someone when they say `Everything is going to hell just like we predicted, and as soon as you pay us for our services we will give you the inside scoop`.

Specifically, it’s now increasingly likely that virtually all of our forecasts of recent months could come to pass in a very short period of time, including …

Followed by a liberal interpretation of current financial news.

It`s very easy to take selected snippets of information, lump it altogether with liberal interpretation, and then claim that all your predictions are true. (I.e ... we are the only ones who can get you out of this mess if you just pay us for advice).

Things are not good. But these guys business is making you believe that what they have said is true. If you want doomer information there are plenty of places to get that for free

[TWilliam]

Granted things aren`t good. But you`d have to be a raving idiot to believe someone when they say `Everything is going to hell just like we predicted, and as soon as you pay us for our services we will give you the inside scoop`.

Actually,

Money and Markets is a free daily investment newsletter from Martin D. Weiss and Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, including tips and advice on investing in gold, energy and oil.

Although they do indeed offer paid subscription service as well, the particular newsletter from which DW quoted is free of charge, as is all the material referenced in the parenthetical notes...

[sameu]

is there any time left to make some money on shorting the markets?

[shady28]

is there any time left to make some money on shorting the markets?

Good question.

When your money is in an account like etrade or optionsxpress, it is not FDIC insured. This means you might make money, but if TSHTF in a major way while your money is out there in the market nobody is going to care that you lost, nor bail you out, with those kinds of accounts.

This can happen to shorts if people on the other side of the trade can't cover, and the underwriters go broke as well. With a put option, for example, someone has agreed to buy X shares of stock at a specific price. If that price is much higher than the market price, it appears you have made a lot of money (buy the stock at $5, sell it to the option underwriter for $30). Unless the other end of the trade can't be completed due to a lack of capital. Normally clearing houses complete the trade. If they can't, then you have a real gridlock in the market. The Fed usually steps in. Usually.

[sameu]

well the account I was thinking of is a brokerage that's also a bank
on their site they state your money is secured by the government, like is the case with every bank here in belgium
but when tshtf, and nations as a whole go bancrupt, all bets are off of course
thinking of shorting with a minimum amount of cash (say 1000-2000$) transfer the profits as quikly as possible in hard assets and when all hell breaks loose, my losses will not be dramatically

[Daniel_Plainview]

* Insurance failures: State takeovers of companies like Ambac Assurance, Bankers Life and Casualty, Conseco, FGIC, Medical Liability Mutual, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance, Nuclear Electric Insurance, PMI Mortgage, Standard Life of Indiana and many others.

I wonder how many more insurance companies the US will nationalize before bailout fatigue (or an empty coffer) sets in? Thankfully none will be as horrific as the AIG nationalization: the greatest bailout fiasco of all time.

[jasonraymondson]

Oh, I wonder who on here has a nice flag that would symbolize what is going on with this country... if only i could think of his name.

[Mudpuppy]

Money and Markets is a free daily investment newsletter from Martin D. Weiss and Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, including tips and advice on investing in gold, energy and oil.

It`s not the message that I have an issue with, it is the way it is wrapped up. The newsletter is free as that is a loss leading product designed to get people more interested in their other products which include,

Crisis Opportunity ETF : $1,000 Per year.
Crisis Opportunity Speculator : $ 5,000 per year.

If the crisis goes away so does a lot of their core business. So they have a vested interest in keeping it look like the world is ending, and they predicted it. This newsletter is printed by Weiss research, the same company that is in litigation with a cease and desist order placed against them.
http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:pyh ... =firefox-a

The original poster has pointed out many valuable news articles in the past, and it is not the claim made in the post that I am cautioning against per se. It is just you`d have to be cautious about getting reliable info from shady doom merchants who use loss leader products to drive encourage people onwards to their targeted products.The source article is from a company famous for inflating what is predicted, and showing how people would have profited if only they believed their writings.

"In June 2006 the Securities and Exchange Commission instituted cease-and-desist proceedings against Weiss Research Inc., Martin Weiss and Lawrence Edelson. The proceeding stated "13. Weiss Research, in promotional materials prepared by Martin Weiss, Edelson, and others, sometimes used selective, outdated, and/or hypothetical examples of specific returns that subscribers might have realized on individual trades had they followed Weiss Research's recommendations, without advising that the overall return was or might not be profitable" and that "14. The overall performance of Weiss Research's premium services did not support these profit claims. In fact, during the relevant time period, many subscribers who followed each Weiss Research trading recommendation – as Weiss Research encouraged its subscribers to do –experienced overall returns that were substantially lower than Weiss Research's profit examples and most actually lost money." [5]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_D._Weiss

The earlier poster asking if it is too late to short the markets is exactly the kind of questions they want to generate from their loss leader free newsletter. To find their answer to that you need to subscribe the above services. I do analysis consulting work, so am familiar with this type of organisation.