crisis

Did #GoldmanSachs’ Latest Move Into Main Street #Banking Just Give Us A Warning About The Coming Financial Crisis?

April 26, 2016 by mac slavo

(Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has claimed his company is “Doing God’s Work.”)

If there were ever a signal that large investment banks may be preparing for financial crisis and that they’ll be using your money to bail themselves out when it hits, this could be it.

According to a new report from the Financial Times via The Daily Star, mega-banking giant Goldman Sachs is now getting into the retail banking business and looking for more depositors to help fund their operations. The bank has reportedly “been under pressure to develop new streams of funding” after posting lower than usual equity returns in the first quarter of 2016. In response, Goldman recently acquired a portfolio of 145,000 retail depositors from GE Capital totaling some $16 billion in deposits.

Goldman now intends to aggressively pursue retail depositors whose accounts they will then tap to help fund their investing and trading operations:

The bank last week launched GSBank.com, a platform it inherited via the acquisition of a $16bn book of deposits from GE Capital.

Through that deal it gained about 145,000 retail depositors and is now seeking more, offering annual interest rates of 1.05 per cent on a savings account – many times better than the rates of the biggest US brick-and-mortar lenders such as Citibank, JPMorgan Chase or Bank of America. Stephen Scherr, Goldman’s chief strategy officer, said the aim was to broaden sources of funding for GS Bank, its New York State-chartered lender. Until now, the unit has focused on wholesale funding sources and so-called “brokered deposits”, which are bulk sums that banks acquire from brokers in exchange for high interest rates.

By tapping regular retail depositors, Mr Scherr said, the bank can open up “a different avenue to use, with a different orientation and a different tenor”.

For as little as $1 you can now start your own savings account with Goldman at a whopping annual interest rate of 1.05%.

What could possibly go wrong when you deposit your money with one of the firms directly responsible for the fraud that led to Crash of 2008? They are, after all, doing God’s work according to Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein.

While depositing your money at Goldman’s new bank could well be a spiritual experience, we highlight for our readers the fact that Goldman is doing this for one specific reason: to fund their trading operations with new deposits from retail customers. And if they’re doing business anything like they did ahead of the 2008 crash, we can assume that when the whole thing blows up again Goldman is going to be in serious trouble, and that means depositors will be in serious trouble. Back in 2008 Goldman Sachs was “forced” to take a $10 billion TARP bailout from the Federal government.

According to Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, the next time such a crisis strikes, there will be bailouts, but not like before. This time, those bailouts, dubbed “bail-ins” will not come from the government, but rather, from you, the bank account holder.

Recent comments delivered by Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer suggest that not only are global and domestic economies still struggling, but the U.S. government itself is preparing financial contingency plans in anticipation of another widespread economic event.

However, this time around, according to Fischer, the government won’t be bailing out financial institutions in need of cash. Instead, failing banks will turn directly to their unsecured creditors when they need money. And within this context, that means you:

As part of this approach, the United States is preparing a proposal to require systemically important banks to issue bail-inable long-term debt that will enable insolvent banks to recapitalize themselves in resolution without calling on government funding–this cushion is known as a “gone concern” buffer.

Though Fischer doesn’t detail exactly what “bail-inable long term debt” actually is, one only needs to look to Europe, namely Cyprus, to understand what he means.

When the Cypriot banking system collapsed because of an inability to service its debt in 2013, the government forced bank depositors to cover the debts. This led to banks forcibly seizing funds from depositor accounts in order to pay their debts.

Goldman Sachs needs more money for their Wall Street gambling houses.

They’re coming to you to get it.

And when the whole thing detonates, they’ll simply seize your funds to compensate for their losses… and every other retail bank in America will do the same.

Just so we’re clear, we are all bank creditors by these definitions, thus the regulations being created apply not to just large bond holders, but every individual depositor.

Notice how they didn’t say “in case future bank rescues are necessary.” That’s because they know what’s coming.

…When the next banking crisis hits the United States you can be assured that creditors (i.e. individual depositors) will be forced to ‘bail them in.’

…So, if you’ve got any significant amount of money at financial institutions, you’d better think twice about how safe it is.

You’ve been warned.

Hattip Durango Kid

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

29 Essential Tips for the New #Prepper: “Start Small. Develop Your Skills. Create a Plan”

March 25, 2016 by mac slavo

Whether you are just starting out with prepping and are figuring out what to focus on first, or whether you are a veteran prepper tracing over your plans for potential flaws, you can always make improvements.

These videos can help you cover the essentials, boil down to the most important factors and start actually putting your preps into action.

Don’t wait until the trouble starts, because it will already be too late.

How would you survive if the food supplies stall out, the economy and digital grid crashes, or para-government forces unleash a round-up plan?

Have you made your family as secure as they can be with stored goods, equipment and a fool proof bug out plan for continuity of life off the grid?

There are some good answers on where to start and how to account for just about everything, but the point is that you must start somewhere.

For beginners, the best tip may be to start small and build up from there as you learn what you’re doing:

10 Tips for New Preppers: Supplies, Survival food and Emergency Essentials

Survival Know How explains his Top 10 Tips For New Preppers:

1. Start small. There is no need to prepare for the zombie Apocalypse if you don’t have enough supplies to last you 3 days without power.
2. Start with Food and Water. To often new preppers want to focus on guns, knives and ammo. It may not be as glamorous but your first preps should be food and water.
3. Develop your skills. Prepping is not just about what you buy but is also about developing your skill set and expanding your knowledge.
4. Build a prepper community. Talk about prepping to your friends, co-workers and family.
5. Tailor your preps to your geographical location. If you live up north you need to focus on keeping warm in the winter, if you live down south you need to focus on staying cool in the summer.
6. Develop a plan B. AKA a Bug Out Bag. Bugging in should always be your plan A. Only Bug Out if you absolutely need to.
7. Practice with your preps. Having preps is not enough, you need to be proficient with them and know how to use them when shit hits the fan.
8. Use List to stay organised. Create prepper supplies list, emergency food list and anything else. This will help you stay organized and buy everything you need.
9. Get into shape. When the shit hits the fan and you are forced to fend for your self you want to be in the best shape possible.
10. Learn First Aid. Skills in first aid will literally save your and your family life.

Even if you have everything you need to survive at home, there are many bad situations that could force you to leave your home and seek survival somewhere else – if you can make it.

Here are some important factors to consider when planning to bug out. What will the roads and highways look like during disaster? Likely they won’t be easy to travel on, and could be downright dangerous. Foreknowledge of the back roads and other alternative means of travel are essential if you are in a serious situation.

Setting up cache sites along your bug out route could also be vital to your survival plan, particularly if your travel plans hit a snag.

Bugging Out: What to Know Before You Go! 19 Tips for Preppers for SHTF Escape Planning!

The Healthy Prepper explains her 19 Tips for Preppers for SHTF Escape Planning:

1. Know your routes.
2. Have multiple forms of travel. (car, bike, foot, zodiac etc.)
3. Preload car with bug out bag
4. Bury caches along routs.
5. Know your final destination.
6. Lay low and blend in.
7. Choose off roads, back roads etc.
8. Sleep in a different location than you cook your food or build a fire.
9. Have back up fuel on the car.
10. Keep bug out vehicle maintained and full of gas.
11. Know when it is time to go.
12.Learn to use maps, compass, star navigation
13. Expect to get lost forced off route.
14.Avoid ridge lines and tops of hills.
15. Have alternative bug out locations in mind if the first one does not pan out.
16. Practice you bug out plan with your family.
17. Know where water, food, fuel can be found along your bug out routes.
18. Be prepared for interactions with others.
19. Be prepared someone may have already pillaged for bug out location or has already set up camp there.

Realistically, you may not be able to cover all of these points, and may find some of them to be contradictions with your real world situation. Regardless, you must prepare for all eventualities.

The point is to consider the best information you can, match it up with the realities of your area, your home, your financial situation and the reliability of the people around you (or lack thereof).

Plan ahead, and avoid becoming paralyzed by fear and inaction if and when the SHTF.

5 Mistakes Every New Prepper Makes

12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed

Report: Feds Take Down Preppers Accused of Stockpiling Guns and Ammunition: “Federal Conspiracy Charges”

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Putin to Withdraw Russian Forces in Syria: “Objectives Achieved… Terrorists Have Been Forced Out”

March 15, 2016 by mac slavo

Now it is Putin’s “Mission Accomplished” moment in the Middle East.

Who can say what Putin’s long term objectives are, but regardless, he has won this round.

His decision to bring Russian troops into Syria has weakened ISIS, secured Assad’s regime (for now) and put American aggression into check.

Perhaps the ceasefire in Syria means that WWIII has also been averted, or at least delayed.

RT reports:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to start the withdrawal of forces from Syria starting Tuesday. Russia will however keep a military presence at the port of Tartus and at the Khmeimim airbase to observe ceasefire agreements.

“I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished. That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow,” Putin said on Monday during a meeting with Shoigu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“In a short period of time Russia has created a small but very effective military group [in Syria]… the effective work of our military allowed the peace process to begin,” Putin said, adding that with the assistance of the Russian Air Force “Syrian government troops and patriotic forces have changed the situation in the fight with international terrorism and have ceased the initiative.”

The global chess game is hardly over, but President Putin managed to time his moves with the precision of a master. For all its heightened rhetoric, the other side blinked on the supposed “red line” in Syria.

After Vladimir Putin spent considerable effort politely calling out the hoax behind the ISIS crisis in Iraq and Syria – which has been covertly supported by the U.S. and 40 other countries, many of whom belong to NATO – the White House eventually seemed reticent to even go on pretending that it has a case against Assad, or a moral position in the rise of ISIS.

Seemingly, the entire broiling situation has been defused… for the moment anyway.

Erdogan, not Putin, has been caught engaging in a charade, pretending to fight against ISIS while in actuality funding and fueling their rise in the Middle East. It was Turkey who lost all legitimacy as a result of shooting down Russian planes, not the other way around.

The double game was revealed, and Assad is clearly relieved at the “save” on Putin’s part. For Assad, it can’t take much imagination to watch Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi go down, and know that they had plans for him next.

[During a] phone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Syria’s President Bashar Assad … [t]he two leaders agreed that the actions of Russia’s Air Force in Syria have allowed them to “profoundly reverse the situation” in connection to fighting terrorists in the region, having “disorganized militants’ infrastructure and inflicted fundamental damage upon them.”

[…]

Moscow launched its anti-terror campaign in Syria on September 30 last year. Russia’s participation in the operation, according to a previous statement by Putin, has its basis in international law and has been conducted “in accordance with an official request from the president of the Syrian Arab Republic [Bashar Assad].”

The Russian Air Force has been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and other terrorist targets in the region, eliminating military equipment, communication centers, vehicles, arms and fuel depots.

As many recall, Putin’s war on terrorism quickly made a mockery out of Obama and Bush’s War on Terror, which has raged on for 15 years only to face setbacks and blowback that has created many fold more terrorists than the region started with.

As RT reported, Putin’s air forces have essentially liberated Syria from terrorist domination, destroyed ISIS petroleum routes to Turkey and ousted them from 400 populated areas… while the U.S. hyped up the threat of ISIS but did little to nothing to stop them:

“Backed by our aviation, Syrian forces have freed 400 populated areas and over 10,000 square kilometers [3,860 square miles] of territories,” Shoigu said during a Kremlin meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Terrorists have been forced out from Latakia and Aleppo, and Palmyra has been “blocked,” the military official reported to Putin, saying that military actions to free the UNESCO heritage site from militants continue. Hama and Homs Provinces in central Syria have been largely mopped up, and Kuweires airbase that had been besieged by terrorists for over three years was retaken.

Saying that Russia’s Air Force in Syria has conducted more than 9,000 sorties starting from September 30, 2015 […] “As a result of airstrikes, terrorists’ resources’ provision has been largely cut,” Shoigu told Putin, saying that petroleum trade routes with Turkey, as well as main routes of weapons provisions to terrorists have been blocked.

Nevertheless, the world is hardly peaceful, and with so much angst over the sour deal with Iran and the rise of Trump-lican politics, people would be best to stay on watch for nasty tricks and devilish surprises.

US Complains As Putin Bombs its Terrorists: “ISIS Is An Intentional Creation of U.S.”

Watch Putin Hammer Obama: “Not Grounded In The Real World… Absolutely Unprofessional Politics”

New Patch for U.S. Troops Fighting ISIS… Looks Like ISIS Logo

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

As Banks Seek Monopoly Over Economy, “Cash Is Being Gradually Taken Away”

February 18, 2016 by mac slavo

There is a war on for the extermination of cash.

It is the ultimate monopoly game, but there are those who are willing to put up a fight to keep cash in the game.

The powers that be on Wall Street and in the central banks are aiming to eliminate paper money in large part to continue “sustaining and even intensifying the central banks’ nightmarish experiment with negative interest rates” – a doubly dangerous effort for economic

And banks stand to have all the control as digital transactions flow through their institutions, closely monitored and accumulating fees, penalties and charges that enrich the banks and hold customers hostage.

As Europe moves to take the 500 Euro note out of circulation, former Treasury Secretary and enabler of past crises, has called for an end to the Benjamins – the celebrated $100 note of outlaws, gangsters and all those who would oppose the new world economic order.

As Wolf Street notes:

Those motives include sustaining and even intensifying the central banks’ nightmarish experiment with negative interest rates, increasing public dependence on big banks, destroying the last vestiges of personal financial freedom and anonymity, expanding government surveillance of and control over the economy, and in the case of credit card companies and fintech firms, doing away with their biggest competitor, physical currency.

The powers that want to kill off cash already have vital technological and generational trends firmly on their side, as a result of which cash’s days as a commonly used payment method may well be numbered anyway. They also have the added bonus of widespread public ignorance, apathy, and disinterest.

[…]

“It would be fatal if citizens got the impression that cash is gradually taken away from them”: Bundesbank President Weidman.

As Don Quijones argues – the countries that have been quickest to adopt cashless societies in Scandanavia tend to be very well adjusted and relatively trusting of their governments.

By contrast, Americans, developing countries, and even Germany and Japan have less trust in their government, and will likely put up a fight against attempt to disarm cash:

All too often we hear about the countries in Europe and elsewhere that are furthest along the path toward a completely cashless existence — countries with high levels of public trust in public institutions such as Denmark, Sweden, Australia and Singapore. By contrast, we hardly ever hear about countries where public trust is low in government and financial institutions and physical cash is still revered. They include many of the nations of the Global South as well as two of the world’s biggest, most advanced economies, Germany and Japan.

[…]

“Cash allows us to remain anonymous during day-to-day transactions. In a constitutional democracy, that is a freedom that has to be defended,” tweeted the Green MP Konstantin von Notz. Even the head of the Bunderbank, Jens Weidmann, criticized the government’s proposals, telling Bild (emphasis added): “It would be fatal if citizens got the impression that cash is being gradually taken away from them.”

The right to a free exchange medium has been understated in Constitutional debates, as well as outlook to the global future, though gold and silver is mentioned in Article I Section 10.

But the going rate towards the use of credit/debit, phone apps and other digital payments strips away the fundamental free exchange of currency that historically come with physical currency.

Instead, it grants something pretty close to a monopoly for the handful of banks and online entities like PayPal who will operate the systems, decide the fees and surcharges, and freeze accounts for behaviors that could include things like trying to sell a firearm on a platform that has a policy against it.

Cash transactions (as well as those made with gold and silver or historically utilized mediums) are practically anonymous, rather than scrutinized and available as evidence to creditors, competitors, prosecutors or those with an agenda.

It will also make it harder for small businesses, who stand to be forced out of cash-only operations and onto the reservation of digital payments, where they will have to comply and qualify for status.

If cash dies, they will control authorization, they will hold nearly all the power.

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com