The Federal Reserve begins Monetization

Monetization...or "Stabilization" is when the Federal Government issues debt, that a different branch of the Federal Govt purchases, in this case, the Federal Reserve which prints the "dollar" is purchasing from the Dept of Treasury, which issues Debt instruments.

So?

Basically the Fed is printing money and handing it over to the Federal Govt, that causes inflationary pressures, which in turn causes prices to rise across the board, everything from Ramen to Gasoline will rise in price.

The best hedges against the coming price inflation, besides marketable skills, are items that must be purchased either now, or 3 years from now, Motor Oil, Oil Filters, Toilet Paper, Food Items, key clothing items as well such as socks or briefs.

And keep in mind, the Porkulus monies, some 600 billion "dollars" remains largely unspent, add that to the 200 Billion in failed Treasury Debt that did not sell at auction, that produced 200 billion more that will be pumped into the US Economy, as well as the decline in the value of the Dollar v the ChiCom's Yuan, making even imported goods more expensive, and the Citizen is facing an inflationary spiral.

And the more the Obama Administration spends, the worse the cycle will grow, and they plan on spending Trillions more on non revenue producing projects, make work projects if one will.

Michael Janke's Take Control and change your life

Here on ye olde blog I think a new feature will be the "bargain book bin" featuring a review of a older book normally available for 1 dollar or less, but has content that merits mentioning.

This installment will highlight a work from the year 2000, Michael Janke's " Take Control Master The Art of Self Discipline and Change your life forever"

Found at the local Goodwill for the sum of $1.00, Janke was a one time motivational speaker who authored several other books along with a series of videotapes (it is from the Dot.com era).

Janke's work is small, 231 pages, and is mainly focused on increasing self discipline and productivity via a series of self assesing questions as well as worksheets that one designs that are a kind of Get Things Done system with absolutely no flab to be found. 

And that is the heart of the book and one of the most positive features of the work, Janke' is an ex SEAL and intersperses vignettes from his time in the military that, in my view, are written for the .com era new gen computer techie types, the stories don't add much to the overall message of the book, Efficiency via Time Discipline.

If the reader can put aside the SEAL references, and focus on the self assessment and goal setting portions, Janke's book can be very effective at turning dead time into productive time as well as focusing effort into finishing projects from the most mundane tasks to the longer term goals that must be completed. 

The simple system of a ledger and a box next to each task as well as Substitute Thinking is effective, and if followed, works surprisingly well. Results being the ultimate "proof test" Author Janke's should be given credit for writing a implementable system that actually works.

Janke' s Future Orientation is out of the norm for such a motivational work and makes for a interesting purpose in following his prescribed plan of Self Discipline. Actions now, ones that take concrete and positve steps in a parent's life do trickle down to the children, such a view is worth considering paying the $1.00 this book currently commands.

Summer time

We have had an incredible amount of rain this spring, literally, we have gone from drought to flood in 4 months.

Which is great for the plants, not so good for the people.

Inflation is slowly appearing out in the Real World

Alas, it's been a month since I posted simply because there is so much turmoil at the moment that patterns had yet to form, until now:

Gasoline has risen from 1.97 to 2.13

Motor Oil has suddenly spike upwards, premium brands are now 3.20 a quart, even the store brand at Advance Auto has jumped to 2.69 from 1.59 even during the height of the oil crunch last year.

Spaghetti Sauce has jumped from 1.00 or so to 1.25, even plain old boxed pasta has increased from .88 cents to 1.37 a box of rotini.

Ammunition is still scarce, with astronomical prices being asked for a single box of ammunition, 47.50 for a single box of aummunition.

The M1 supply has risen 10% already,  with more to come, meaning inflation will really kick in this year, meaning what you purchase now will be a better investment then most of the traditional intangiables investments that served so well from 1982-1999.

We've had an unusually wet spring so far, the home garden is doing well, and hopefully, home gardening will continue to grow in popularity as it will provide an offset to the inevitable increase in the price of gasoline and other food stuffs, in this case those in warmer weather climates will have an advantage over those in the northern parts of the US, or for that matter, the globe. If you have the climate and the space, there is little reason not to grow a garden this year, and grow that which will be expensive at the local grocery store, Red Peppers for example, are a good crop, Corn on the other hand, is not as 3/1.00 vs 1.89 per pepper makes quite clear.

The Propeht of Doom Syndrome v Enlightened Self Interest

No doubt about it, these are troubled times Spiritually, Ethically and Financially, from Bank Collapses to Nationalization to Inflation to increasing structural costs, and of course anyone who is even partially serious about a Religious Faith is the subject of scorn.

Times like these a Jeremiah or a Nietzsche arises to pronounce this era is the most trying ever and destruction is certain to come. It's human nature to seek out what we feel is the "truth" for the times, in good times, Anthony Robbins or Chris Warren, in bad times Gerald Celente or Peter Schiff.

The Prophet of Doom is set upon a pedastal and either praised or mocked depending on what one's views are, the Sunny Optimist is either called out of touch or bringer of hope, depending one what one wishes to hear. 

As a Preparedness Aware Individual, it is wise to maintain a balance between both, to be Optimistic about one's preparations but a Prophet of Doom subscriber is not a mutually exclusive philosophy, in fact, it is simple Enlightened Self Interest to grasp the fact that times are never as bad as they seem, nor as prosperous as they seem.

A year's worth of supplies should cost about a month's pay depending on family size and Cadillac tastes, and using the Alpha Strategy, one is insured either way, it is a safe bet that inflation will be a fact of life, so prebuying items that will cost more later makes sense in the case of job loss, or hyper inflation or simple piece of mind. So one has effectively hedged against both a crash or even a return to normalcy.

I enjoy Gerald Celente's work, I also like Rick Warren's outlook, I don't plan on moving to the hinterlands (yet) nor do I plan on putting on a happy face...

Ammunition is literally disappearing off the store shelves in what can only be described as a "panic". 

Nothing wrong with that, people should cherish their Rights, the problem is, how do you save money and still remain armed and accurate? 

Enter the ChiCom .177 pellet rifle, typically sells for 50 dollars or less, pellets are relatively cheap, and they hit hard enough to bring down small game such as rabbits or squirrels or soda bottles and since they are modeled after the SKS (which is now a 300 dollar rifle, weren't they 59 dollars not that long ago?) one can also have some training time behind a similar rifle. The cheapy ChiCom also allows for a telescopic site to be added which helps with accuracy a great deal.

This gentleman used his pellet rifle to successfully bring home some supper:

http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/huntingwithchineseAG.html

The price increase in SKS rifles is a great example of inflation in action, when they first became available in the early 90's, they were viewed as semi crappy fixed magazine rifles that could be had for next to nothing, now they command a week's pay and the ammunition is no longer 1.99 per 20 cartridges..and that happened in 13 years or so.

And so it begins, we are beginning to see the effects of all of the money that has been created even down to the "can of sauce" level of the economy, what used to be 98 cents is now 1.19, add in the coming increase in sales taxes and we are looking at a 1.25 a unit price.

The way around this is to rely on oneself and purchase Canning Jars and lids and the industrial sized cans of stewed tomatoes, and stir up your own sauce with a blender and can it before hand. Doing thus also lets the cook make their own sauces to taste, add basil from the garden or oregano or extra onions or garlic in either whole form, or powdered form.

Another clever way to enjoy pasta and to save some money is to harvest wild greens such as Nettle Tops or Kale or what have you, and make Pesto sauce with them, leave out the pine nuts and such pesto will be much more affordable to create and it utilizes one's own environment to improve your bottom line.