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Nearly 50% of all global assets are now held in shadow banks, according to the IMF. These institutions, also called non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFIs), include pension funds, insurers, hedge funds, private equity funds, structured investment vehicles (SIVs), limited-purpose finance companies (LPFCs), and numerous other entities—each with their own acronym. Shadow banks are often the under-regulated middle men of the financial system, and they’re growing in number. For nearly a decade now, Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly warned about the hidden dangers present in these shadow banks. And it’s not just U.S. regulators that have expressed concern—from Ireland to China, the...

Dear Chuck, Is America heading towards an economic collapse? If so, how do I prepare? Worried Boomer Dear Worried Boomer, My view is we are headed towards another economic crisis with a low risk of an actual economic and/or currency collapse. In either scenario, there are ways to be prepared. Economic Crisis vs. Collapse An economic crisis is different from a collapse. America has worked through several in my lifetime: ‘70s stagflation, ‘81 recession, ‘89 savings and loan crisis, post-9/11 recession, ‘08 great financial crisis, and the 2020 coronavirus crisis we are in now. A collapse is brought on by...

Nigel Farage has told Sky News it "looks like Remain will edge it" as votes are counted in the EU referendum. The UKIP leader said it had been an "extraordinary" campaign and it looked like turnout had been "exceptionally high". He also insisted UKIP were "going nowhere" and predicted the party would "continue to grow stronger in the future". Although a long time campaigner for the UK to split from Brussels, Mr Farage is not the official leader of the Leave camp.

Has President Obama’s use of the “pen and phone” to circumvent Congress gotten out of hand? Some members of the GOP seem to think so. [...] a mounting chorus of Republicans are calling for impeachment. Here’s a list of the high-profile Republicans who want to kick the president out of office:

10 Signs That America Is On The Verge Of A Horrible Municipal Debt CrisisMarch 22, 2012 Is America on the verge of a horrible municipal debt crisis? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. From coast to coast there are an increasing number of cities, towns and counties that are rapidly going broke. Financial analyst Meredith Whitney took a lot of heat when her prediction of a municipal bond crash in 2011 did not happen, but she was not fundamentally wrong in her analysis. A horrifying municipal debt crisis is starting to unfold right in front of our eyes. It just did...

Society as we know it will break down and collapse in a five stage process outlined here. While it can be accelerated by certain events like war, a natural disaster, pandemic, terrorist attack, or even an impending asteroid impact, history has shown that economic collapse will essentially happen in this five stage process. To survive the collapse, it is important to read and interpret the signs and understand what assets are important to the current situation so you can be prepared for the worst thereby allowing you to survive intact and with as little damage as possible.

Just when you thought unemployment was dropping and stock markets were surging back, these three analysts today sent out a stark warning to Americans to brace for another financial crash. Trend forecaster Gerald Celente advises buying a gun to protect your family, stocking up on gold if the dollar crashes and planning a getaway, so it’s no shock he’s preparing for an ‘economic 9/11’. Share prices and unemployment are posting their best figures in four years since the recession hit, but Mr Celente, along with authors Harry Dent and Robert Prechter, says the rebound won’t last.

As the title suggests, please name the latest bubble: (see picture - answer below)

Fed chief Bernanke issues debt warningBy North America correspondent Jill Colgan, ABC February 3, 2012, 11:08 am United States Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that the US economy could face the same fate as troubled European countries if it fails to curb its growing debt. Mr Bernanke delivered a sobering assessment of the economy that defies recent attempts by the Obama administration to talk up the economic turnaround. Testifying before a House Budget Committee, he said the pace of recovery had been "frustratingly slow". He urged lawmakers to be more aggressive in reducing the nation's $15 trillion debt...

Are George Soros, The IMF And The World Bank Purposely Trying To Scare The Living Daylights Out Of Us? Michael SnyderJanuary 25, 2012 Over the past couple of weeks, George Soros, the IMF and the World Bank have all issued incredibly chilling warnings about the possibility of an impending economic collapse. Considering the power and the influence that Soros, the IMF and the World Bank all have over the global financial system, this is very alarming. So are they purposely trying to scare the living daylights out of us? Soros is even warning of riots in the streets of America....

When U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue proclaimed that the Keystone XL pipeline would create 250,000 jobs, he touched a nerve in the environmental community. “That’s just not true,” Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s international program, told reporters Friday, calling Donohue’s jobs estimate “wildly inflated.” It’s a familiar refrain from the environmental community, which has been working overtime in recent weeks to counter Republican and industry claims that the 1,700-mile pipeline would create a mini-job boom in the United States. The fight over the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil sands crude from...

22 Signs That We Are On The Verge Of A Devastating Global RecessionJanuary 12, 2012Michael Snyder 2012 is shaping up to be a very tough year for the global economy. All over the world there are signs that economic activity is significantly slowing down. Many of these signs are detailed later on in this article. But most people don't understand what is happening because they don't put all of the pieces together. If you just look at one or two pieces of data, it may not seem that impressive. But when you examine all of the pieces of evidence that...

WASHINGTON – The desperation of homebuilders was a running joke among top Federal Reserve officials during the waning phase of the housing bubble in 2006, according to transcripts released Thursday. They laughed about the cars that builders were giving to buyers. They laughed about efforts to make empty homes look occupied. They laughed at a report that one builder said inventory was rising “through the roof.”

When things get bad – and they will – the most essential items necessary for survival will disappear first. As currencies collapse, financial market destabilize and economies come to a standstill, critical supplies like food and medicine will become difficult to acquire at any price. This is exactly what is now taking place in Greece, where access to life-saving drugs and even common over-the-counter medicines like aspirin is becoming a tragedy where the losses will be measured not in Dollars or Euros, but lives.

Politico has a story about Newt agreeing not to go after Romney any more about Bain, and Newt was just on Hannity’s radio show on the issue. (I’ll post the audio if I can get it.) Newt said there are three or four instances where the record is really bad and Romney needs to defend it. Newt said the challenge is not to the model but how Romney acted in specific instances, and how odd it is that Romney runs on his business record but doesn’t want to discuss the record. Newt made the point that it is impossible to...

Chinese stock have been on a 2-day tear as Premier Wen Jiabao has come flat out in support of the stock market. Moreover, money supply in China is up the most since last April and new Chinese loans exceeded the estimates of all 18 Bloomberg economists. M2 rose 13.6 percent, the fastest pace since July. Bloomberg reports China Stocks Rise Most in 3 Months on Loan, Money Data

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. At issue is whether the EPA’s use of “administrative compliance orders,” which are essentially government commands issued to property owners, should be subject to judicial review under the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause. In other words, when the EPA tells a homeowner to stop building because of a possible violation of the Clean Water Act, does that homeowner have the right to promptly challenge the EPA in court? As Robert Barnes observes in The Washington Post, “Justices across the ideological spectrum appeared troubled by...

Are you ready for the vegetable census? Yesterday I received the “2012 National Agricultural Classification Survey” from the US Dept. of Agriculture. It was accompanied by a cover letter stating (in large, bold font) that my response is required by law; and, if I do not reply, I “may be personally visited.” I am not and have never been a farmer or rancher. My land has never been farmed or ranched. I do, however, have a vegetable garden that I built in 2009. This garden is private and noncommercial. There is no illegal activity whatsoever on my property. The survey...

Well, here’s the totalitarian state, right before my eyes! Today in the mail came a largish envelop for me from The “National Agricultural Statistics Service”, postage and fees paid by USDA Permit No. G-38. A prominant blocked off area on the envelop front stated in large bold letters, “YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW.” Also on the envelop and several places inside I find Obama-style logos for the USDA, and one with “AGRICULTURE COUNTS” around the outside, and at the base of the rolling landscape “NASS,” which stands for National Agricultural Statistics Service. That’s right: now we have a National...

Hostess Brands Inc. is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, said people familiar with the matter, a move that would mark the second significant court restructuring for the Twinkies and Wonder Bread baker in the past several years. The privately held Irving, Texas, company, which employs roughly 19,000 people and carries more than $860 million in debt, has been facing a cash squeeze amid high labor costs and rising prices for sugar, flour and other ingredients, according to people familiar with the matter. Those costs together have proved higher than the company's roughly...