Jay Walker’s Financial Traffic

Check out my latest piece on how The Securities and Exchange Commission has been promoting market socialism.

“This SEC order amounts to socialism and I find it hypocritical that a government agency of a country that claims to promote capitalism will act in such a manner. To watch market forces at work when unencumbered is a beautiful thing. Certainly, the occasional stock goes south but that’s the nature of the beast.”

The Dollar discontinued has been picked up by The American Chronicle

The Dollar has been discontinued.

I saw a weird commercial recently. One of Burger King where someone somehow got control of a Burger King franchise for a day. The ad agency somehow convinced Burger King that it was a good idea to get the staff in one of their restaurants announce to everyone ordering one that the Whopper was discontinued.

The 30 seconds TV commercial mentions a site, a 7:50 long video where the full effect of people’s reactions can be seen. They vary from confusion, shock and anger. One nearly gets violent.

…over a burger.

So how are people supposed to react now that Bloomberg got a story out about the U.S. Deficit to reach $490 Billion in 2009?

Where is the confusion, where is the shock and anger? Where are the riots?

I don’t want anyone to get violent but my point should be pretty clear; If some individuals are getting so upset about losing a burger, they should just be raging mad about losing their dollar.

$490 Billion is unprecedented. It’s roughly 8 times the estimated fortune of the richest man in the world, Warren Buffett.

So the dollar has been discontinued! Well, not exactly because before discontinuation, there is devaluation. It’s not unprecedented. Germany experienced this in the 20’s with the discontinuation of the PapierMark which was devalued before being replaced with the RentenMark and then the DeutscheMark. The United States has also experienced this with the Continental which was also devalued and replaced with the Dollar as we know it today.

The way The Federal Reserve has been acting by flooding the markets with dollars has done nothing but worsen the crisis and has assisted in a devaluation of the Dollar. Looking at history, we can see what’s coming next…

“Sorry, the Dollar has been discontinued”.

Bloomberg:

U.S. Deficit to Reach Record $490 Billion in 2009

It’s been reported today that California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to cut state employee’s wages to minimum wage until a resolution to the budget crisis is signed.

Evidently, state employees are screaming that this is unfair, that their wages are taken hostage.  I couldn’t agree more.

But I also agree with the Governor.  That’s right, I agree that state a employee’s salary should be brought down to the minimum wage of $6.55/hour.

Let’s make something clear.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is not only a former bodybuilder and movie star.  Between those two careers, he was a self-made millionaire…when a million dollars was a lot of money.  While his status as a known bodybuilder certainly assisted him, he got to be financially sucessful by applying two things.  Discipline and fiscal responsibility.

When Governor Davis was ousted, Schwarzenegger was brought in to clean up the house which is exactly what he is trying to accomplish.  The fact that he is considering such punitive measure just goes to show how much he has to put up with.  Don’t blame him, blame the people stopping him from doing his job of cleaning up the mess that is the financial books of the State.

If no agreement on the budget is passed, an economic collapse for California would be inevitable.  Since this is the largest economy in the U.S.A., it would only help in starting a domino effect and pull other states into financial chaos.  So moving out of state will not fix the problem if you’re considering that.

I suggest to the employees of the State of California to take on the minimum wage offer if it’s brought on the table.  If no agreement is passed, it might become the cushiest job in the state yet.

Financial analyst and journalist, Max Keiser shot a pilot in January 2008 for AlJazeera English titled The Oracle.

While the show has to be polished up (it is a pilot), the concept is simply brilliant; News before they happen.

He predicted the failure of a major U.S. bank by the end of 2008. Bear Stears in March and IndyMac in July. Take your pick. As usual, his predictions hit the nail on the head.

http://blip.tv/file/992928/

I believe this show should most definitely be picked up by AlJazeera. If you agree, please email:

tony.burman@aljazeera.net (Managing Director)
scott.ferguson@aljazeera.net (Programming Director)
nigel.parsons@aljazeera.net (Business Development)

Most will agree that we can tell there is fire when we see smoke.  We see it coming and while we’re hoping for the best, we’re getting ready for the worst.

The prediction I made yesterday was along the same vein.  I was hoping to be wrong, unfortunately, I was right.

In case you missed it, I wrote yesterday about the number of fraud victims to be on the rise as Americans are getting broke.

Ulises Garcia, I’m sad to say is now a statistic.  He is a victim of financial fraud.  One day after I wrote about this.

Who is Ulises Garcia?  He is just an average fellow.  I don’t know him and his fiancé personally.  But I’m quite positive that they are both decent people who minded their own business.  That is until they met their swindler, Wachovia Bank.

When withdrawing money at a Wachovia Bank branch, Mr. Garcia was given 10 counterfeit $100 bills.  Now, the bank will not reimburse the money.  However, it’s also been reported that in a separate incident, another person was reimbursed the $40 received in counterfeited money.

Possibly, the scam was done by a rogue employee.  However, judging by the recent reported troubles of Wachovia, the apparent lack of customer care and the possibility of criminal employees, I know who I will not bank with.

Link to the story

http://www.local6.com/news/16960809/detail.html

A very large multi-level organization, one notorious for allegations of having members making money by fraud or deceit has recently been advertising on national television.

I don’t view multi-level organizations of any kind as a good thing. I Particularly don’t have a high opinion of that specific corporation because I have seen first hand evidence of their alleged fraud, deceit and some would argue, brainwashing. Sadly, I saw many of their representatives acting in a ruthless manner and prey on people in need of something genuinely profitable which their offer was not.

Their commercial is standing out at the moment because it is unique to see a corporation with such a bad reputation advertise on TV. But my prediction is that many more companies having a colorful past and questionable morals will soon be advertising across all medias over the next years.

It’s no secret that a lot of people are now facing financial hardships. Many are losing their home and many more are just trying to keep up with mortgage payments. There is also too many people using credit cards and effectively going into debt just to pay the gas that allows them to commute between home and work.

Unfortunately, it’s during such difficult times that people are often the most vulnerable. Bills needs to be paid, in some cases, collectors have to be kept at bay. Cash has to be earned, and quick.

This is when a brilliant sales pitch is made, how could it not make sense? Easy quick cash is there. But it’s all an illusion and just like in a vivid nightmare, one wakes up to realize that their money is gone.

As Americans gradually have higher debts, the number of fraud victims is bound to increase. Please, don’t be a victim. As the old saying goes; before you invest, investigate.

The article I wrote was picked up by Newsblaze.com today

If you want to check it out, it’s at http://newsblaze.com/story/20080722081258jayw.nb/topstory.html

We now all have heard of subprime credit.  It even was recently introduced in the venerable Oxford dictionary.

It’s now time to introduce a new term.  Subprime credit.  To award credit, usually in the form of a credit card to someone unworthy.

American Express saw it’s shares fall by 11 percent today after withdrawing their 2008 earning forecasts.  Second quarter profits fell 37 percent.

And it’s no coincidence.

People all over America have been extracting equity from their homes effectively betting that the real estate value of their property would be in a perpetual increase.  That extracted equity helped maintain a lifestyle.  It financed filling up the SUV to stop at Starbucks for an overpriced latte and also financed overspending by the use of credit cards.

Now the SUV’s are for sale, Starbucks is closing 616 of their locations and American Express is crying uncle.

I predict that the other credit card companies, Visa, MasterCard and Discover will also be having difficulties within the next year.

This is because the business model of these companies can only function when the economy is in a sufficiently good shape as to allow people to pay what they owe.  Unfortunately for American Express, people want to generally prioritize the roof over their heads as opposed to credit card bills in a financial crunch.

This is a direct result of the dollar’s collapse and of the mortgage crisis.

But empathetic I am not.  American Express, like other major credit card issuers has been issuing credit too quickly and easily.  Just like mortgage brokers and banks, American Express will have to pay the price of their lack of judgement.

An article I wrote about IndyMac being investigated by the FBI got picked up by The American Chronicle