Hemorrhage

The news looks more and more grim. I'm really starting to wonder if I'll have a chance to get any money invested before this whole thing hits -- let alone have enough to actually be financially sound. The only good thing (for me, at least, not for the economy) is that the other countries seem to be intent on slowly reducing their dollar assets...which will hopefully buy me some time. But it will likely become more and more difficult to invest in the coming months (even if the economy doesn't collapse), as the weakening dollar will mean foreign stocks will be increasingly more expensive.

Our economy is bleeding out, and I'm a long way from the hospital.

Is it already too late?

I read this article today, and it really has me worried. It isn't so much the smugglers who got caught; it's the other things -- the increasing derision foreign nations have for our economy. Things really do look very bad right now, and I'm afraid it all may tank before I have a chance to do anything about it. I'm working as fast as I can, but will it be enough? Could the whole thing fall apart in the next few days, before I have a chance to even make an initial investment?

Hopefully not. Most people seem to think not. I hope they're right. But that's the problem with awakening to a new reality. Suddenly there's so much you don't know, so much you aren't prepared for. There's a period of fear and uncertainty as you try to reorganize yourself to be ready for what may come. And it's so hard to know how much fear is justified.

Pin drop?

China is reining in their investments in the US economy*. This is exactly what Schiff predicted, although China swears nothing should be read into it...and they seem to think they are pot-committed** as the river card is set to turn. China is also drastically reducing their trade surpluses, which undermines one of Schiff's principal tenets (that they will benefit from our collapse because of the absurd trade imbalance in their favor). China is even looking to increase investment "overseas," which would seem to indicate the US. If such is the case, it gives them significant reason to continue propping up the dollar...and weakens their independent standing, should the American economy fail. Still, they seem to be voicing stronger concerns about their role in our economy, so who knows what may happen.

* This is an older article, I know, but it is much more recent than Schiff's book.
** Key quote: "...Beijing has little choice but to keep buying US debt."