<<diesel fuel mixed with beeswax....>>
... I will stay with chicken soup for the mo :0)
<<Re: extended family - How effective have you been in getting them to make appropriate investments, buy Tamiflu, and take other measures ?>>
... on investment, they are selective about what I recommend. On Tamilflu, I bought for them. On flu shot, I scared them into it ;0)
HK is getting agitated over the flu thing, plenty of warnings about hand washing and mask wearing, on TV and all around. So much so that my wife told me yesterday that we ought to start shopping for real estate so that we can make quick decisions when the time is right.
I think the flu thing will be, in Maurice's language, a fizzer.
<<Platinum>>
Folks in Asia seem really into platinum and white gold for jewelry. It is a fashion thing. I think the demand at Pt = USD 1,000 is OK, and as the price goes higher, demand could actually rise.
Also, when China / India requires cat converters, watch out.
<<Also, $ 1000 is a BIG ROUND NUMBER, where I expect lots of selling and price resistance>>
... yes, and a good solid number it is, until gold starts to catch on and catch up, making Pt at 1k seem like a bargain :0)
<<Monetary reset will tend to be process, not an event ... How will it unfold ?>>
... I figure yes on the process, but historically speaking, there are certain defining events that act as milestones for the process. We can imagine and look forward to:
(a) parliamentarians, financial players, and the press shout "more printed paper, looser liquidity spigot, ..." as they now do;
(b) people lining up to buy assets of one flavor and then another variety, as they no do;
(c) plant closures and business shutdowns, caused by malinvestment and wild speculation, as is now happening;
(d) competitive devaluation and trade acrimony, encouraged by the politicians devoid of imagination and stuffed full of ignorance, as is now taking place
(e) cost of money starts rising ... oops, it has started, for the first round
(f) more of the same of all of the above, round and around several more times
(g) more destitute people and desperate families, destruction of the middle class (there has always been a middle class, statistically speaking)
(h) confidence event marker
(i) crisis event marker
(j) casualties (personal, corporate, nation, region) mount
(k) more of the same of all of the above, round and around several more times
(l) systemic collapse, ala Argentina 2000s or France 1700s, namely debt repudiation, accompanied by political radicalism and mass chaos
(m) monetary reset, either before war breaks out or after everything gets pulverized.
<<Euro can be a useful excahnge medium for buying undervalued property in "Eastern Europe">>
... too small an opportunity relative to the size of the obligation, I fear, and they may need to re-arm, for Russia rises again off the backs of energy pricing.
<<2006 ? It should be a good year. Expectations are low....>>
... I only hope to not lose anything. Very low expectation indeed :0)
Chugs, J |
