by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.
In the first days after the Fed's history-breaking Bear Stearns
bailout, a parade of Wall Street pundits preached the theory that ...
"The worst of the crisis is behind us" ...
"The dollar has hit rock bottom," and ...
"The great investor flight to hard commodities is over."
Markets that had been surging fell. Markets that had been falling
surged. Investors cheered. And everyone who wanted to believe
believed.
But nothing changed.
All across America, home prices were still falling, home sales were
still plunging, and consumers continued to suffer withdrawal pains
from the greatest debt addiction of all time.
That's why we learned last week that consumer confidence is in a free-
fall, consumer spending has just taken a huge blow, J.C. Penney sales
are swooning, and retail stocks are getting hammered.
That's why Wall Street firms such as Lehman Brothers are rumored to be
on the brink of collapse, while commercial or savings banks -- like
Fremont in California with $7 billion in deposits -- are known to be
near failure.
And that's why we recently held an emergency online teleconference,
"Judgment Day for Wall Street." I hope you attended.
with Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.,
Larry Edelson, and Sean Brodrick
A few months ago, our world was stable and your retirement was secure.
Today, suddenly, all heck is breaking loose and your future seems like
a role of the dice.
A few months ago, Wall Street and Main Street were counting on Fed
Chairman Ben Bernanke to protect them from disaster. Now, suddenly,
they have awoken to the realization that his efforts have done nothing
to end the credit crunch or save the economy ... and have done
everything to gut the value of the U.S. dollar.
Just a few months ago, most Americans believed they could count on a
dollar to buy a dollar's worth of food, energy and other products.
Today, inflation is devouring our buying power at the fastest pace in
nearly 30 years -- and it's accelerating.
In response, Mr. Bernanke is panicking. He's di****ng out hundreds of
billions in new "monopoly" money even as we speak. He's getting ready
to cut interest rates again. He's gutting the dollar, driving
inflation higher. And still, credit markets and the economy are
swooning.
Millions of Americans are stunned. And for Wall Street, it's judgment
day.
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