These 5 red flags will give you anywhere from a few days to a few months of warning that things are about to change drastically…and well before those around you grasp the full extent of what is going on. This is hopefully a scenario that never happens as this will truly be the end of the world as you knew it. The comments above and below are edited excerpts from an article by Marjory Wildcraft (disasterandemergencysurvival.com) The indicators below will give you anywhere from a few days to a few months of warning that things are about to change drastically. 1) Interest rates on US Treasuries go up steeply, and/or suddenly The definition of ?defaulting' on it's debt means the U.S. Gov't isn't able to pay the interest on the almost $16 trillion it owes. Currently interest rates are at all-time lows…but, as interest rates rise, the interest expense will get bigger ? and this will be very difficult for a Gov't that is already deficit spending way beyond its means. You want to keep an eye on the current rates on Treasuries for two reasons: - Increasing rates will require a debt laden Gov't to borrow more and will accelerate inflation and the date of collapse. This is a 6-12 month red flag. As of today, rates are slowly rising although they are still very low.
- A sudden and sustained spike in the interest rates indicates that there are fewer buyers of US debt. Without the ability to borrow more money or rollover the existing debt the US Gov't will have to shut down or do desperate things like stealing from retirement plans or citizens bank accounts. [If, and when, this happens] get your money out of the banks or markets immediately. This is a very severe red flag indicating only weeks before major financial crisis and economic collapse.
Here and here are sites for monitoring Treasury interest rates. Also read Rapid Rise In Interest Rates Will Collapse U.S. Financial System ? Here's Why 2) Price of oil goes above $120/barrel Essentially everything on this planet depends on oil; food, transportation, heating & cooling, and basically every consumer item you can think of. The world economy cannot sustain high prices of oil without collapsing. We saw that very clearly in 2008 when the price of oil hit a high of $146/barrel in June, and by September of that year we were in a full blown financial crisis… If the price of light sweet crude oil [rises to, and] stays above $120/barrel, then you have only a few months before a major financial crisis unfolds. The financial crisis of 2008 was ?solved' by atrocious US Gov't spending of more than a trillion dollars/year. That particular solution won't be available to use in the next crisis. Does ?the powers that be' have another card up their sleeve for the next financial crisis? I don't know, but I assume the answer is ?no?. Go here for prices on crude oil. Look on the left sidebar a bit lower on the page. 3) Food prices rise dramatically
There is a direct correlation between rioting and the cost of food. It is a very simple principle ? when people can't afford to eat, they revolt [as was the case] in 2010 when food prices soared and Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Tunisia in December of that….sparking a series of revolutions throughout the Arab world…[Such] revolutions are predictable as detailed in this article… The level of hunger and desperation in the Untied States has increased in recent years indicated by the increasing numbers of people on food stamps and increasing strain on local food banks. According to FeedingAmerica.org 1 in 6 Americans are dealing with hunger?. We are approaching conditions for civil unrest and revolt here in the Untied States… The UN FAO Food Price Index has climbed recently to within 10% of the February 2011 high of 237 and should have you on alert right now. Were the index to cross into the 240s and then stay above that level then the probability is very high you only have weeks or possibly months before widespread violence will break out world-wide. 4) Category 5 hurricane hits Texas City/ Houston area. Approximately 30% of all US oil refining is done in a small area called Texas City near Houston. A category 5 hurricane… hitting these refineries would cripple diesel production and, without diesel, the vast just-in-time trucking system would come to a crawl. Food, fuel, and medicine are the three most crucial items trucked around in this county and all of those deliveries would be dramatically reduced drastically limiting their supply. Food inventoried in the grocery stores, for example, would only last about 4 days while delivery of everything else we commonly depend on would also come to a crawl. Prices would skyrocket… Red Flag: if a category 5 hurricane hits the Houston area, you've only got days before rampant price increases and martial law breaks out. 5) EMP Disaster EMP stands for electro-magnetic pulse and is a strong burst of energy that would have the net effect of destroying the electrical power grid. An EMP pulse would either be man made (i.e. terrorist induced) by exploding nuclear device(s) in the atmosphere above the U.S. or as the result of an intense solar flare from the sun. The net result would be the same - the loss of human life as high as 90% within a six month period according to U.S. Gov't studies… Keep an AM radio with charged batteries in a ?Faraday cage' that protects the electronics from EMP pulse. AM radio signals can travel extremely far and checking transmission from AM radio stations at night is a way of determining the range of destruction. This protocol will give you awareness of the situation hours and days before those around you grasp the full extent of what is going on. This is hopefully a scenario that never happens as this would truly be the end of the world as we knew it. Related Articles from the munKNEE Vault: 1. A Light-hearted Look At Our Financial World 
We often take things far too seriously when looking at the world of high finance, the global economy and the ins and outs of investing. Lighten up and relax. See the world for what it really is through the eyes (and words) of some individuals who can do just that. 2. Rapid Rise In Interest Rates Will Collapse U.S. Financial System ? Here's Why  There is one vitally important number that everyone needs to be watching right now, and it doesn't have anything to do with unemployment, inflation or housing. If this number gets too high, it will collapse the entire U.S. financial system. The number that I am talking about is the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries. Here's why. Words: 1161; Charts: 2 3. Economic Forecasters Are Consistently Wrong ? Here's Proof & Why It Is Important to Know  New research shows that forecasters tend to underestimate the expected outcome of anticipated economic data for several months in a row, and then overestimate it for several months in a row thereafter. Why does that matter? Read on. 4. Rising Interest Rates Could Plunge Financial System Into a Crisis Worse Than 2008 ? Here's Why If yields on U.S. Treasury bonds keep rising, things are going to get very messy. What we are ultimately looking at is a sell-off very similar to 2008, only this time we will have to deal with rising interest rates at the same time. The conditions for a ?perfect storm? are rapidly developing, and if something is not done we could eventually have a credit crunch unlike anything that we have ever seen before in modern times. Let me explain. 5. Another Crisis Is Coming & It May Be Imminent ? Here's Why Is there going to be another crisis? Of course there is. The liberalised global financial system remains intact and unregulated, if a little battered?The question therefore becomes one of timing: when will the next crash happen? To that I offer the tentative answer: it may be imminent?[This article puts forth my explanation as to why that will likely be the case.] 6. Bonds Getting Slaughtered, Interest Rates to Rise Dramatically, Economic Bubbles to Implode What does it look like when a 30 year bull market ends abruptly? What happens when bond yields start doing things that they haven't done in 50 years? If your answer to those questions involves the word ?slaughter?, you are probably on the right track. Right now, bonds are being absolutely slaughtered, and this is only just the beginning. So why should the average American care about this? The global financial system is potentially heading for massive amounts of trouble if interest rates continue to soar. So what does all this mean exactly? [Let me explain.] 8. U.S. Economy: Reduce Spending (Future Depression) OR Keep Spending (Future Hyperinflation) The U.S. government is in what is known as a ?debt death spiral?. They must borrow money to repay prior debts. It is as if they are using their Visa Card to make an American Express payment. The rate of new debt additions dwarf any rate of growth the economy can possibly achieve. The end is certain, only its timing is unknown, and, once interest rates begin to rise, and they will, it's game over. It seems that the past few years of falling interest rates have lulled a big part of the global economy into financing with variable-rate debt?[As such,] when interest rates go up there's a world-wide reset in interest costs that, best case, amounts to a tax increase on individuals and businesses and, worst-case, threatens to blow up the whole system. The post 5 Red Flags of Imminent Economic Collapse appeared first on munKNEE dot.com. |
