Food for Thought

[shanagarry]

Make yourself a cup of tea and take the time to read this - it's a sobering thought provoking piece.

If you thought Portugal, Greece, Spain and Ireland were in a 'bad' place - what does this do for you

http://pro.moneyweek.com/myk-eob/LMYKP316/

[Jaylay]

Make yourself a cup of tea and take the time to read this - it's a sobering thought provoking piece.

If you thought Portugal, Greece, Spain and Ireland were in a 'bad' place - what does this do for you

http://pro.moneyweek.com/myk-eob/LMYKP316/

Strange this post made on April 1st

[shanagarry]

Regretfully - it's been around since March 27th - I've only just got round to digesting it

[HampshireRich]

Most of these facts and figures around the national debt, interest rates are readily and openly available if you read even the BBC website - though not the slant this publication puts on it. If these people were actually as good as they say there would be a lot greater knowledge of their publication.

[cereza]

The facts are true and the dangers are real but when the motivation is to sell magazines and advise investments based on scare tactics then alarm bells should ring. If their version of Armageddon happened would there be any safe investment? Doubtful.
Keep your money in your pocket and just be very careful

[pato]

The facts are true and the dangers are real but when the motivation is to sell magazines and advise investments based on scare tactics then alarm bells should ring. If their version of Armageddon happened would there be any safe investment? Doubtful.
Keep your money in your pocket and just be very careful

My judy helps out by keeping some of my dough in her purse, she's very helpful like that.

[HampshireRich]

The facts are true and the dangers are real but when the motivation is to sell magazines and advise investments based on scare tactics then alarm bells should ring. If their version of Armageddon happened would there be any safe investment? Doubtful.
Keep your money in your pocket and just be very careful

My judy helps out by keeping some of my dough in her purse, she's very helpful like that.

I'm surprised she knows where you keep your dough in the first place

[roy4eyes]

If true, the only short term answer is compulsory euthanasia at 70 to save on pensions and NHS costs !!

Bye-bye from Pato and myself

P.S. Together with a long term solution of compulsory vasectomies for all males at puberty.

[sunman]

This sounds like another one of those scaremongering reports which all end by telling us to buy Gold, fear of hyperinflation has led lots of investors into buying Gold, they're all long from $1,000 oz in the last wave and bought it up and over $1,900, and now of course they need other people to buy it again as it's slipped to $1,570 and broken down through the charts and could drop to $1,350 before reaching the next decent support level.

So, with well reasoned arguments about rising interest rates and impending inflation they try to persuade us all to pile in; a friend scribe from Singapore has been telling me for 18 months that the Chinese are going to sell piles of US Bonds & reinvest in Gold; and under interrogation he admits he's long of bullion and Gold mining stocks up to his eyeballs.

The underlying issue at the moment is safe asset classes; where to keep one's cash.

Events in Cyprus has scared the life out of everyone; & Portuguese banks could be the next to go, much of their balance sheets are bolstered by overvalued loans to property developers so the underlying assets are pretty worthless; take a look at Banco Espirito Santo share price chart & you'll see what the markets think of it all, http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=BES.LS&t=5y

people are clearing their accounts out here & in Spain in fear of Cyprus syndrome, so where's it all going?

Traditionally IT SHOULD be going into Gold, but I think it's going into property, good old bricks and mortar. London is festooned with foreign owned empty apartments; there are tons of property funds in Asia buying up property in the big cities, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai etc., as well as the main US cities,

You can't eat, wear, drive or live in Gold, but you need a roof over your head, & I think that explains the current state of affairs.

[dennisg]

Make yourself a cup of tea and take the time to read this - it's a sobering thought provoking piece.

If you thought Portugal, Greece, Spain and Ireland were in a 'bad' place - what does this do for you

http://pro.moneyweek.com/myk-eob/LMYKP316/

Have just read the report and am going off to slit my wrists now!

[cereza]

people are clearing their accounts out here & in Spain in fear of Cyprus syndrome, so where's it all going?

Traditionally IT SHOULD be going into Gold, but I think it's going into property, good old bricks and mortar. London is festooned with foreign owned empty apartments; there are tons of property funds in Asia buying up property in the big cities, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai etc., as well as the main US cities,

You can't eat, wear, drive or live in Gold, but you need a roof over your head, & I think that explains the current state of affairs.

Fully agree sunman but the big money is also being moved into equities which is why they have had such a big rally. Everyone and his brother is now advocating to buy stocks even at current levels and also on any setback. Money will probably also flow into Japan following the tectonic shift in policy today. Obviously the danger is that another bubble is created !

[sunman]

people are clearing their accounts out here & in Spain in fear of Cyprus syndrome, so where's it all going?

Traditionally IT SHOULD be going into Gold, but I think it's going into property, good old bricks and mortar. London is festooned with foreign owned empty apartments; there are tons of property funds in Asia buying up property in the big cities, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai etc., as well as the main US cities,

You can't eat, wear, drive or live in Gold, but you need a roof over your head, & I think that explains the current state of affairs.

Fully agree sunman but the big money is also being moved into equities which is why they have had such a big rally. Everyone and his brother is now advocating to buy stocks even at current levels and also on any setback. Money will probably also flow into Japan following the tectonic shift in policy today. Obviously the danger is that another bubble is created !

I was talking about the safe asset classes really Cereza, i.e. the money that normally lies in Gold or tax & identity anonymity friendly bank accounts. Now that Cyprus has done what it's done I more than suspect that lots of money has winged its way electronically (as opposed to lines round the block a la Northern Rock) out of Portuguese & Spanish banks.
I went into my bank here & asked for my money out the other day (not that I'm an oligarch or have that much in there), but I don't want to hear that I can only draw €300 a day when we're back in the summer; the poor girl rolled here eyes with a 'oh,you as well' look.
So I think there will be (and probably already are) a few banks here with capital adequacy issues which will need to be covered by the government, which will probably lead to at least some bank mergers or even possibly a closure or two.
IF Portugal or Spain go to the EU with the cap out again we've had an indication of the new terms & conditions that will be applied

[cereza]

Yes I'm sure you are right sunman. The politicians keep telling us that Cyprus is a special case but wasn't Greece as well ?
Anything is possible now and with that realisation why leave your money somewhere with that sort of risk when there are better alternatives.