“Financial-tainment” Journalism: An Exposé

…[T]he doom-and-gloom “financial-tainment” industry will say anything to grab your attention. If a sensational title with limbic-priming [?] powers doesn’t work, throw in stimulating visuals of nuclear explosions – that always does the trick!

In case you’re not sure whether the sites you’re visiting fall under this category, here are a few tell-tale signs:

1. Anything positive about the economy is actually negative or the result of government manipulation.
2. Gold and silver are always on the verge of exploding to $5,000, $10,000, or more.
3. Headlines like “World War III, Total Global Collapse, & The Greatest Depression” make a frequent appearance.

Given that many of these sites are quite well-known for making such imminent crash or collapse predictions on a consistent basis, why do they have such a large following after so many failed calls?

In his recent Big Picture on this topic, Jim Puplava says that many people have unwittingly bought into a highly addictive, sensationally-driven religion of doom-and-gloom. “You go to the headlines and every day is a bad day. Everything is a crisis and there is no balance to the coverage. It’s just like I’m going to just scare the wits out of you…One site had four different stories all predicting an imminent crash…never mind that headlines like these appear every single week!”

Is this really the world we live in where everything is ready to collapse at a moment’s notice? In the doomsday industry, yes, it is. Every war is a possible prelude to World War III. Every market correction is a prelude to another financial crisis. Every poor economic statistic is proof of a coming collapse.

In theory, the above could all be true, and that’s why framing any event in such a fashion is so tantalizing. When we look back, however, we see that this is not how the world really works. Like broken clocks, such predictions may eventually be right, but at the expense of being wrong most of the time.

Unfortunately, because many of these sites or commentators expend a fair amount of time and energy looking for anything that paints a bearish or fearful outcome, their followers end up doing the opposite of what longtime investors, like Warren Buffett, have cautioned when making investment-decisions…”be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful.”

Conclusion

[While] you shouldn’t ignore bad data, or fail to take appropriate actions when necessary, it sometimes is a good idea to ignore bad reporting or, at least, understand that it’s simply for your entertainment and not much else….

Editor’s Note: The author’s views and conclusions in the above article are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original post. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.

*http://seekingalpha.com/article/2428725-the-religion-of-doom-and-gloom?ifp=0 (© 2014 Seeking Alpha)

Some Examples of Financial-tainment Articles:

1. A Financial Train Wreck IS Coming & That’s When All Hell Breaks Loose! Here’s Why

A financial train wreck is coming! When does it hit the wall? The answer to that question is it’s not very far down the road, and I can promise you that is when all hell is going to break loose. [Let me explain why that is the case.] Read More »

2. NO Amount of Money Printing Can Cleanse the Rot of the U.S. Economy

The U.S. economy is on life support, graciously provided by Central Planners but no amount of money printing can cleanse the rot of the U.S. economy. In this Markets at a Glance, we investigate the U.S. consumer and show that for a large portion of the population, things are not anywhere close to being better, in fact they are worse than before the recession. Read More »

3. Majority of Americans In Dire Economic Shape – Here Are The Facts

We live in a country where almost everyone is drowning in debt and where most people are either flat broke or very close to flat broke…The following are 21 ways to end the phrase “Americans are so broke”. Read More »

4. How Much Time Before “The 7 Bubbles of America” Start to Burst?

History has shown us that all financial bubbles eventually burst. It is not a question of “if” they will burst. It is only a question of “when” and when the 7 current financial bubbles in America burst, the pain is going to be absolutely enormous. That being said, how much time do you believe that we have before these bubbles start to burst? Read More »

5. Resurgence of Subprime Auto Debt Spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E

During the credit crisis, one of the problems that occurred was that too many loans were being made to people that had no ability of paying their debt back. We see this trend in full stride once again in the auto industry. Subprime auto lending is back in a big way. Why is this happening? What are its repercussions? This article explains. Read More »

6. Only A Matter Of Time Before Eurozone Debt Crisis Re-erupts – Big time! Here’s Why

If you thought the Eurozone crisis was in the past, think again…It’s a near mathematical impossibility that its weakest members can grow their way out of their debt and if deflation takes hold—as it has already in Greece and Cyprus, and is close in Portugal, Spain, and Italy—all bets are off. Read More »

7. We’re Doomed! Rising Interest Rates Will Cause Our Financial System To Implode

We’re doomed! Even if the economy were growing at a faster pace, it wouldn’t come close to offsetting the interest payments on our ever-expanding debt. As such, any sort of credit shock – either rising rates or a decline in the rate of debt expansion – will cause the system to implode. Let me explain why that is the case. Read More »

8. A Crash of the Financial & Monetary System Seems Inevitable. Here’s Why & How to Prepare

A crash of the financial and monetary system seems inevitable. This presentation connects the dots between issues like currency wars, rigged markets, central bankers’ interventions, statistics manipulation, monetary mismanagement and financial repression in a factual way that is also easy to understand. Read More »

9. U.S. Economy Headed Toward Deep Recession – Here’s How to Take Advantage

I believe that the economy is headed toward a deep recession and that the stock market is extraordinarily overvalued based on unrealistically high expectations for economic output and corporate income… Read More »

10. World’s Stock Markets Are Saying “Let’s Get Ready to Tumble!”

To ignore all the compelling charts and data below would be irresponsible and, as such, will NOT go unnoticed by institutional investors. Such bearish barometers for stocks worldwide will, unfortunately, be ignored by the ignorant and gullible hoi pollo causing them severe financial loss as investor complacency in the past has nearly always led to a stock market crash. Read More »

11. Silver Is THE “Achilles Heel” Of the Entire Financial System

In my opinion the “final financial shot’ which leads to live financial fire (collapse) will be in either the gold or silver pits of the COMEX or, ultimately, both. Why? Because, at $20 per silver ounce, it would take only $1.2 billion to crack that market open like a watermelon; because, for a pittance of money in today’s world, “trust” in the entire financial system of the West can be shattered. Some will say “big deal” or “who cares?” but it is a big deal and YOU should care! Read More »

12. The Case For $5,000 Silver – Yes, $5,000 Silver

If the price of silver were based directly on the real physical silver market, silver’s price should be at $5,000 an ounce. I’m not saying the price of silver will reach $5,000 an ounce; I’m just saying that the actual PHYSICAL silver spot price is not only extremely undervalued, but that it is an illusion compared to the real value of an ounce of physical silver, since it is totally disconnected from reality. [Let me explain further.] Read More »

13. Gold Production to Drop By 50%; Few New Discoveries Will Exacerbate Problem

The amount of gold becoming available for production in the near term will be well under 50% of that currently being produced and the longer-term downward trend in discoveries will likely continue for at least the next few years. Read More »

14. Will Crisis In Middle East Cause Oil Price to Skyrocket?

Unrest in the Middle East (and elsewhere throughout the world) has an economic impact and, specifically, on crude oil prices. Find out how the current state of Middle East affairs is affecting oil prices in this infographic. Read More »

15. A 5-digit Price for Gold Is Not That Far-fetched – Here’s Why

When I suggest that the gold price can rise to a level in the 5-digit range, I expect to be ridiculed or to have my forecast overlooked by most market participants. Nevertheless, as we will see in a moment the prospect of 5-digit gold is not so far-fetched. Read More »