A River of Inflation is About to Bust the Dam

By Paul Kluskowski

We all know that big corporations - including lots of banks - have gotten millions of taxpayer dollars. Mortgage rates are remaining low and short term interest rates apparently going to stay that way for a while.

But foreclosures keep rising and folks just keep going broke. Why should this be happening? Is it not true that cash is being pumped into the economy?

The gatekeepers are keeping billions of dollars locked in the, uh... vault. But so much money has been printed and borrowed from our children's futures that the gate is bulging enough to break. And break it will. When it does the result is inflation that that will bring back all those fond memories we have of the late 70's and early 80's.

Though some money is starting to trickle out it still seems to dry up before it gets to producers, workers, and spenders. So capitalism as we like it is just plain anemic. Underemployed folks, like Tom Persinger who now makes 24k/yr as a nurses aid, have have pulled significant power from the economy. He used to make 60k/yr for GM before they got bailed out. He is relatively lucky though. Just under one out of ten Americans have no job at all so they cannot contribute earnings so that others have jobs. But the government is also manipulating statistics. Prior to the Clinton administration that 10% would have been closer to 21% unemployment which certainly echoes the Great Depression.

Even governments are squeezed. California is issuing IOUs and other states are shutting down for longer and longer periods to ease the pressure. Being a government employee just does not provide the security it once did.

Nervous about the stock market? Just when it seems equities are stabilizing you and every other investor gets faked out when they dump again. Real estate, though housing markets seem to no longer be in free fall, is still causing anxiety and hand wringing.

Bond trader pros are saying that the Fed is printing money just to keep the interest rates low. This is a long-term policy that is guaranteed to keep the economy anemic if not on all out life support. Until recently the US could console itself in the knowledge that all the other major world players were doing the same thing. Some of them are showing signs of solid recovery now. The reason? They did not sign on to a stimulus policy, took their bumps and the markets are recovering.

So the bankers are caught in a Hobson's choice where the only logical thing is to do nothing and reap the taxpayers largesse. After all, if they loan out all that money so people can buy assets that are not going to appreciate soon and jobs are still hard to come by then they lose.

The tragic consequence of all of this gross mismanagement is what third world countries usually experience - very, very high inflation. The government has borrowed to oblivion and the money is being printed with abandon. The banks must eventually let that money go. When is does we will be paying dearly. - 23217

About the Author:

My Market Friend is Paul Kluskowskis's blog. It is packedwith current financial, economic, and market news. He is a financial manager at T/R Financial Management Group. He has been in the business for over 10 years and writes extensively with many articles and three ebooks to his credit. Paul also manages the PINGP Work Control Center Mgr at Xcel Energy. You can gethis financial advice and information at My Market Friend

Student Loan Consolidation

By Layla Vanderbilt

When you have obtained the basic essentials on loan consolidation, you must even consider the genuine process of consolidating to make certain that you are geared up to take the essential steps. Make some selections: Although student loan consolidation could be very obliging tool, be certain to comprehend that establishing the arrangement that is perfect for you could require fairly huge efforts and a even a considerable time. Ensure that you have considered all the choices and are equipped to take the essential steps to achieve what you have aimed.

If you?re looking for a quick fix to solving your debt problems then consolidation may not be your best alternative. Ask yourself whether you?re choosing consolidation because you feel trapped by your current debt. While debt consolidation can be a good choice, it?s not the only one. You may also want to consider forbearance and deferment of your loans. These are both good options when you?re looking for a short term solution or you only have a relatively small amount left to pay on your student loans.

Once you?ve looked into all your options, if you still feel consolidation is best for you then there are a few initial steps that you should take:

- Evaluate your finances: Before you even consider consolidation, look at your finances and get a good understanding of them. See how well you?re doing with your loans ? how much you have left to pay ? and how your finances are doing overall. After a close look at the numbers, you?ll have an easier time knowing how to approach realigning your finances realistically and taking steps toward relieving your debt.

Put Together a Plan: decide what your goals are-how long can you realistically expect to take to eliminate your debts, what are your current earnings, how much can you afford to dedicate a month to your debt, how does this fit into your overall budget. Before you approach a debt consolidation agency it is good to have an idea of what your monthly resources are.

- Find out what the tailored and exact cost of monthly payments would be for you with the loan. Even glance into smaller aspects, such as interest, etc. (which could be far more significant than it may seem to be at this stage!) and once you have calculated it all (considering almost everything!) match it to the current monthly payments you have now and make it absolutely certain that you will indeed be obtaining benefits out of a student loan consolidation.

There are more steps to researching loan consolidation than can be discussed here. But sure to look into other steps and suggestions, and know what you?re getting yourself into before you begin to consolidate your student loans. - 23217

About the Author:

Layla Vanderbilt is the content coordinator for a leading website that offers for bad debt consolidation advice and guidance.

Understanding The Gold Standard

By Alyssa Rogers

The gold standard refers to the use of gold as the "insurance" to back what a country's paper currency was actually worth - if there was no physical asset to support the value of the paper, well, the dollar bill in your wallet was worth just that - paper. The gold standard has been in use in one form or another since the earliest days of coinage when rulers minted coins and the value of a coin was the intrinsic value of the gold or other precious metal contained within it. Stamping the head and name of the king or emperor whose treasury issued the coinage was not just a political statement as to who was boss, but also a symbol of quality control - you have one of my coins, I am saying it has this much gold included in it!

Pirates operating in the Caribbean raided Spanish treasure ships taking gold cargo back to the Old World - the problem was that their ill-gotten gains were too large a denomination to spend, especially when it came time to settling their bar tabs. As the gold was in a form which meant uniform purity and weight, the pirates and landlords of the inns they frequented would break the large standard gold coins up in to eight pieces - this is the origin of the pirate phrase, "Pieces of Eight".

In the middle of the Second World War, the Allies and most everyone else who was not on the German/Japanese side, met and thrashed out the Bretton Woods Agreement which laid out the financial foundations for the world for after the hostilities. Underpinning every country's currency was a tie to a "gold standard" - and within the range that was established a country could only issue so much currency in relation to its gold reserves. This arrangement continued until 1971 when gold lost its luster and Black Gold - oil - replaced it as the effective asset backing many of the world's currencies including the US Dollar.

The need for gold to support the "real" value of the paper currency issued meant that country's had to accumulate and maintain bullion reserves of gold. You may remember the James Bond film, Goldfinger and an audacious plot to raid Fort Knox in Kentucky. Though it was a fictional film, Fort Knox is certainly not and along with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, the US maintains enormous gold reserves required to support the US dollar - but it is not only the US that stores gold at these locations, friendly countries with close trading ties also maintain their gold reserves at these locations to, and while the gold standard does not apply as it once did, these reserves of gold bullion still play an enormous part in the global economy and how nations do business with each other.

The last country to be tied to the gold standard was Switzerland who dropped the standard in 1999, but after the recent economic upheaval and the almost total, global banking collapse, there are renewed calls for the gold standard to be re-introduced once again. - 23217

About the Author:

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What Does The New Year Promise For Las Vegas Real Estate

By Wilbur Q Zonjas

For real estate investments in Las Vegas for the year ahead, now today could the perfect time to plunge your hard earned cash into investment property. The downturn in the economy has reared its ugly head. There are many businesses that are suffering under the economic strain which means that both house prices and also interest rates are lower than normal. Due to the fact that interest rates are so low this is the perfect timing for real estate investors.

The Las Vegas real estate outlook for the coming year has been mixed dependant on the sources you rely on. One thing that seems to stand out is that things are going to get better. The time scale is the only thing that has been argued about. Everyone agrees that although the prices are down and jobs are low at the moment. The economy will reach a complete overhaul within a short time frame. Right now there is a lot of houses empty and such a low demand. There is only a small number of buyers looking to purchase them. Las Vegas was one of the relatively less hit of all the places within America. Things still got pretty bad and the real estate market still dried up.

In one three year period, 2005-08 to be precise, the amount of unemployment within Las Vegas hit an all time high. There were fewer jobs being readily accessible for the people that lived there. This led to a decrease in the real estate interest and also to development and investment. With the construction of many multi-billion dollar resorts, casinos and hotels however, the shortages in jobs are said to be over. There is now said to be a lot of jobs waiting to be filled.

These new resorts that are being built have started somewhat of a trend in Las Vegas. There is a lot of then opened to the public in 2008. More are expected to open in 2009 and also 2010. The amount of jobs that are becoming available are higher than what they have been for a few years. The unemployment levels that had recently hit Las Vegas were said to be the reasoning behind the real estate market hitting a meltdown. The newer jobs can only mean one thing and that more investment and more opportunities within the real estate market.

Nevada is feeling the pains from nose diving house values and mortgage rates. This is proving to make things much simpler for investors and those looking to put their hard earned cash into the real estate market in Las Vegas. Ready sources of houses and other such properties are a great relief right now. The land prices hit the roof alongside the construction costs. For savvy investors this means that if you are thinking about investing in homes in Las Vegas, now may be your time.

With 6,000 new residents moving to Las Vegas per month and more jobs to accommodate them, the real estate market is starting to head towards. A complete overhaul with the house prices being said to rise steadily until the crisis is over. It has been reported that the real estate market will have returned to normal by the later end of 2009. There are some critics that claim this to be far too optimistic. These critics feel that in actual fact it can take much longer for this for the turn of events to change the real estate market outlook for Las Vegas.

Although REO property are always going to be a wild card in any real estate market, and more so with the Las Vegas market and the changes that it is currently going through. As long as numbers Bank repossessed homes start declining, the real estate market will soon return back to normal. For those looking to make the most out of the real estate forecast for Las Vegas in 2009, now is an excellent time to grab some deals before the Market turns around. - 23217

About the Author:

If you would like to find out more about the Las Vegas Real Estate markets, please feel free to look at the free articles at the website. Not only is there information on Las Vegas real estate, but you will find informative articles on Las Vegas Condo's and the top Las Vegas attractions coming in 2009.

Forex Trading Tutorials - What You Need To Know

By Roger Townes

Foreign Exchange or Forex trading involves lots of price swings and hence uncertainty. However, it's that very uncertainty which has given an opportunity to achieve very high returns when playing this market. By trading in foreign currency, with special focus on the trading of major currency pairs, one can expect to capitalize on these volatile if you follow a few simple guidelines.

Getting started with Forex does require an investment on your part, but offers great opportunities for success. However, before investing using the Forex methods, you need to understand the ins and outs of trading foreign currencies in todays highly volatile financial markets.

So of paramount importance is acquainting oneself with the "ins and outs" of the Forex business. By studying the jargon, the history and the specifics of how the market works, you will be able to develop some of the instincts and knowledge for navigating this market.

There are a lot of resources available in the market that helps in gaining knowledge and various strategies and techniques in the Forex business. There are many resources for beginners as well. There are some forex tutorials which has various videos and data that might be useful for the beginners.

With the assistance of the Forex trading tutorial, youll gain knowledge of the operations of foreign currency exchange markets, and insights needed to be successful in trading foreign currencies. Investing in the Forex system allows you as a new trader to earn good returns and reach new heights of success" assuming you follow the established Forex trading system.

Additionally, a good tutorial would emphasize the philosophies and theories that make Forex trading profitable. In other words, a step by step guide through the workings of the market itself.

Trading in foreign currency is not without risk. The Forex tutorials enable you to learn trading techniques that will allow you to minimize these risks, and to experiment with the techniques until you are comfortable with them -- all before you risk your own money trading foreign currencies. But there are thousands of Forex trading tutorials out there on the web - how do you know which one is for you?

Just remember to to search long and hard before submitting to any tutorial or online, as they will surely be worth some money. However, if you choose the right course that touches upon the needs I described above, you will be well on your way to understand the fundamentals of this market. - 23217

About the Author:

If you want to find out more about getting a forex education, then you need to check out this website: forex secret