So it happened, July 13, 2008, the headlines:

The second largest bank failure in history.

This year, so far, there have been 5.

Source: FDIC



Douglas National Bank: $7.3 million in assets January 25, 2008

Hume Bank: $11.2 million in assets March 7, 2008

ANB Financial: $2.1 billion in assets March 9, 2008

First Integrity Bank: $35.8 million in assets May 30, 2008

IndyMac Bank: $32 billion in assets July 11, 2008

With regards to IndyMac, the FDIC is still trying to comfort people into believing that their funds are covered, but by some accounts the coverage falls short and is also dependent on the sale of "future assetts" as found in the 'reverse mortgage department' of IndyMac.

A reverse mortgage can take place when there is enough equity, in a home for the equity to be doled out in monthly payments to the homeowner. The assets of IndyMac include many BabyBoomer homes in which there is a great amount of mortgage equity.

Anyone looking at the economy right now might surmize that the soon to retire baby boomers will be looking for finances. But they may do so at the risk of forfeiting their spouses, or childrens, inheritance they had worked for all their lives.

Do you think that banks taking advantage of the senior community in this manner should be allowed?

Think of the reverse effect. What if many thousands of these reverse mortgages are made and the recession continues into a full fledged depression. Every bank that took the chance of beating the capitolist money monger system by cheating seniors suddenly folds.

Another BLACK day for the market, and perhaps FINALLY the FAILURE of the Federal Reserve.

Would that be something to celebrate of regret?

DO YOU THINK "YOUR" MONEY IS SAFE?

I know mines safe. It's always put in someone elses hands as soon as I get it.

Between my Roth IRA and my 401k both consistently losing value....I would probably be better off investing in lottery tickets.

Krupra, If you win the lottery, DO NOT take your winnings on the payment plan.

I would also suggest creating a 'worthy' non-for-profit organization, possibly out of country, and pay yourself a stipend. You might even consider moving out of country to 'oversee' your organization. The best investment would be helping others while providing a good defence against the failing of the American dollar.


So honestly, is everyone so complacent in the concept of the American capitolist dream that they fail to see the past is upon them?

Rememeber CCR sang it best -

"I went down virginia, seekin shelter from the storm.
Caught up in the fable, I watched the tower grow.
Five year plans and new deals, wrapped in golden chains.
And I wonder, still I wonder who'll stop the rain."

Those 5 year plans and new deals ended up being welfare, the projects, social security, the federal reserve. ALL HAVE FAILED US.

And still no one wants to look at the truth.

Are you so secure in the thought that your futures are not linked by rusted chains?

If I won the lottery...I would take it in one lump sum and then go and buy it all in gold....and silver......

Gold and silver are already high .
What will happen if the oil comes down and the dollar goes up....?.

Gold and silver will continue to go up.....over a period of time....it is a very solid investment...especially when the government says paper money isn't worth the paper it is printed on...

Lemon - the world is bigger than the United States. In fact, the world is SO GREAT BIG that a small thing like gold or silver could never be the supporting foundation of capitalism. It's gotten way too big, it's spread has been one of the best hidden diseases in the history of man.

I have no money...sooooo...I have no cares...

Great answer!


But, the lady has a good point....and I have heard nothing but rave reviews by expatriated Americans who live in Belize..........hhhhmmmnnn

symbelmyne,


You do realize, it's people like you and me who will have to comfort the fall of those giants when they LOOSE all their money, don't you?

Afterall, someone at the bottom will have to show them how to live without all the creature comforts that money can buy. Are you ready?

Been doing that for years honey.....

When they need to know how to do an hard day's work for an honest days pay.....send thier soft bellies to me....I can give them a different perspective of economics.

What Money? Oh, wait...

Krupa - you got it.

By the way here's something interesting. The sceince of psychology tries to figure out the mind and the behaviors of humans and other animals.

At one time the question came up about the survivors of the holocaust. It was theorized that those who survived the longest would have been those who were already the poorest and had the hardest life of all those deported to the camps. The thought was that they would know what hard work was like, and being tough through experience would make the experience of the camps that much easier.

Oddly enough the opposite was true. Those who had been the the richest and lived the most lavish and coddled existence where the majority of the survivors.

Many surveys were taken to determine why. The answer was somewhat amazing.

It seems that those who had lived a hard live and worked manual labor and had never had much more than bare necessity, once imprisoned fell into the greatest state of hopelessness and despair, and had nothing to live for. While outside there was some small hope of life becoming better, if not for them then for their children, but inprisonment in the camps, left nothing to go back to but the grim reality of their already impoverished life.

On the other hand, those who had the best of life, knew what they were missing. They knew was possible and they held on becasue of the dream that they could once again attain what they had.

It seems that being rich and greedy, gives one strength we didn't know existed. Sad perhaps, but true.

Krupa & Sym - I hope you have experienced something you would want to live for, it may be your defense if times get tough.

In the mean time - I wish you all the best of experiences that life has to offer.

Then why is that so many governments own so much GOLD and SILVER.....and our money use to be backed by GOLD and SILVER.....GOLD and SILVER has always surived in the worst of times......When money isn't worth anything what will you use to buy things....GOLD SILVER.....

or oil or pharmeceuticals..........

The international gold standard only existed for a comparatively short period - from the 1870s to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Much has been written about it. Views on its success differ but there is broad academic agreement about certain points. It provided the backdrop to a period of fairly steadily rising economic prosperity and of generally low and stable inflation. The system survived the shocks of the period well (until the major shock of the first world war). A crucial advantage of the gold standard was that by offering the near-certainty to foreign investors that the value of their investment was unlikely to be hurt by the depreciation of the recipient country's currency relative to their own, it facilitated large flows of international direct investment capital that helped to open up and develop much of the United States, Canada, Australia and other "emerging markets" of that day. Relative to the size of the world economy, these flows were as large as or even larger than today's and they were far less volatile.

Since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in the early 1970s gold has no longer been been the formal backbone of the international monetary system and under IMF rules member countries can no longer back their currencies by it. It nevertheless retains certain monetary functions and is considered by some as "the ultimate form of payment". Its main formal use is as a reserve asset for central banks. It is widely used as a means of saving in Asia and the Middle East and at times used in transactions (for example property in Vietnam is often bought using gold). More recently there have been developments using gold as the basis for private electronic (digital) currency systems.

It is definitely more useful and serviceable as the best electrical conduit material on the planet than it is as jewelry.

March 6, 1933
Using a wartime statute passed in 1917, Mr Roosevelt issued a proclamation closing every bank in the U.S. for four days. The banks were closed from March 6 to March 9.

Makes one wonder if this ever could happen again...