What happened on Friday? A “moment of truth” arrived for Europe. But what is the truth? We’ll have to wait to find out. The Dow rose 259 points. Gold was up $28. But who cares? Up, down…up, down… Every day brings more ‘truth.’ But what we want is a truth with legs. We’re not day traders. Not week traders. Not even year traders. We want a long, sure…mega trend. We want the Dow at 900 in 1983. Or gold at 260 in 1998.
November 15th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 8 comments | ContinuedThe Bonner Diaries
The Daily Reckoning started out in 1999 as a personal letter from Bill Bonner to his readers. Today, even though we now have almost a million readers worldwide, it’s kept that personal touch. In this column Bill shares the trials and tribulations of living as an expat and global traveller in London, Paris, Buenos Aires and well, pretty much everywhere. Still haven’t subscribed to the Daily Reckoning? What are you waiting for… sign up here, it’s free!
A chronological listing of articles is below.
Handout Nation
The Dow rose 102 points yesterday. Gold rose $21. Nothing to get excited about…so let’s move on. “Ireland is the only country that has been able to pull off any significant amount of austerity,” said Chris Hunter, an analyst with the Bonner Family Office here at its Irish headquarters.
October 14th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 3 comments | Continued
When Empires Change Hands
We got back to Buenos Aires last night. When we got into a cab, we found the driver curious and loquacious. “You have an accent. Are you French?” “No…but it’s a good guess. I’ve lived in France for the last 15 years.” “Oh…I studied French for years. I was the best in my class. But I forgot it.
September 29th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 1 comment | Continued
Multiplying by Zero
Zero is a funny number. It is not a number at all. When you say there are ‘zero’ donuts on the table, how many are there? None at all. So how many is zero? And what happens when you multiply a Great Correction economy by zero rates of interest?
August 18th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 3 comments | Continued
Saving the US Economy by Presidential Decree
Investors are still bullish. What are the odds that it will pay off? About zero. Stocks are unlikely to go up far enough or for long enough to make owners much money. Why? You know why, Dear Reader. Because the debt is still there. And it’s getting bigger.
August 17th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 6 comments | Continued
La Fete de l’Assomption and the Beginning of Faith-Based Money
Forty years ago today, Richard Nixon changed the entire world’s monetary system and introduced new, purely-paper money. In trials, run over the preceding two thousand years or so, this new system had always failed.
August 16th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 1 comment | Continued
A Good Debtor
The latest news shows the US economy is practically dead in the water. GDP growth per capita has stalled. Consumer spending dropped for the first time in almost 2 years. And layoffs rose 60% last month… when a correction comes… everything goes bad.
August 5th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
The Great Correction: 4 Years…and Counting…Still No Recovery in Sight
Right now, a 10-year US note yielding less than 3% gives a current yield that is actually – in real terms – negative. Consumer prices – as measured by the feds themselves – are going up at about a 5% rate, giving that Treasury note a current yield of MINUS 2% before taxes.
August 1st, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 2 comments | Continued
Who Will Be Proven Right?
Are investors worried about gridlock in Washington? Or maybe it’s the European debt crisis that has them bugged? It doesn’t matter. When Mr. Market wants to go down, he’ll go down. The real reason? The US economy is sinking into a deeper Great Correction.
July 29th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 1 comment | Continued
Debts Make a Deal
After a certain point, debt becomes toxic. Professors Reinhart and Rogoff put that ‘point of no return’ at 90% of GDP. Greece, Japan, and the US are all beyond that point. America’s gross debt is 100% of GDP. Greece sits at 120%. And Japan is off the charts, at 229%.
July 25th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Overconfidence in Paper Currencies
After such stunning gains over the last few weeks, the stuff that Ben Bernanke does not regard as money, gold, needed a rest. But if gold isn’t real money, what is? Pieces of paper that a private bank and the US Treasury say is real money?
July 21st, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Deflation and the Gold Price Trajectory
Gold will go higher. A lot higher. …but not before it sinks. As debt is destroyed in the Great Correction the price of the dollar will go up and gold will go down. We will have deflation before we can move on to a super-boom. But, eventually gold will end up at twice today’s price – at least.
July 19th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 2 comments | Continued
Makers, Takers and the Transfer of Wealth
As the welfare state has matured, more and more people have found ways to game the system in order to get more and more out of it. From special parking places to tax credits to military contracts… ‘benefits’ have expanded far beyond what the public can afford.
July 15th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 5 comments | Continued
Imperial Suicide
The US economy was a free-market success story for a hundred years…from the end of the US War Between the States to the end of the Vietnam War. It was the richest, fastest-growing, most innovative, most competitive, and most admired economy in the world.
July 11th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 1 comment | Continued
The IMF: Leading the Way to Financial Ruin
Lending at the IMF increased 10 times under Dominique Strauss-Kahn. To borrowers who can’t pay it back, such as Greece and Portugal. Meanwhile, under Ben Bernanke, America’s central bank, has taken the same approach. Got a problem? Lend it more money!
July 8th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 2 comments | Continued
