1) Yet, VALUE is different things in different parts of the long-term cycle. 2) This is because VALUE IS “SEEN” IN DIFFERENT ASSET CLASSES at different points in the cycle depending on how money printing and interest rates affect different parts of the economy.

"The U.S., with $15 trillion in debt, and roughly $1.5 trillion in tax revenues, is an enormous disaster waiting to happen. At 10% interest rates the U.S. would use 100% of its tax revenues to finance the debt....This is why money printing is guaranteed...and this time, like it has before, it will lead to a financial crash [which] will be of a worldwide magnitude.”

The perfect storm is the real fiscal cliff that we’re going to go over. The real fiscal cliff is when we can’t borrow any more money because our creditors wake up to the fact that we’re no good for the debt and interest rates start to rise.

"… those who are waiting for the Fed cavalry to ride over the hill and rescue the economy are doomed to disappointment....The banks are awash in loanable funds, businesses are cash-rich and opportunity-poor, and interest rates are already so low that lower still will not attract borrowing....More liquidity is unlikely to impart more impetus to the sluggish economy…. Congress and the President should not count on the Fed to bail them out of their mistakes…. Central banks are unable to help in the face of persistently flawed economic policies."

If you are angry about LIBOR – angry that 18 banks can set one of the world’s most important interest rates in such a poorly supervised, ill-understood manner - you should be even angrier that just 12 people sitting in a room can set the world’s single most important interest rate to suit the needs of the stock market, all under the pretence of controlling inflation? Let me explain. Words: 810

If you are angry about LIBOR – angry that 18 banks can set one of the world’s most important interest rates in such a poorly supervised, ill-understood manner - you should be even angrier that just 12 people sitting in a room can set the world’s single most important interest rate to suit the needs of the stock market, all under the pretence of controlling inflation? Let me explain. Words: 810

The Federal Reserve is in quite a pickle. Mr. Market expects them to print money to support the economy...but if the economy continues down this path, we may have a deflationary depression on our hands...Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said he will not allow this to happen under any circumstances. The Fed wants to keep interest rates low and create inflation so that it can pay off existing debt with cheaper dollars, avoiding insolvency. [The fact of the matter, however, is that] the Federal Reserve cannot stop printing money or the U.S. will experience the economic phenonmenon referred to as the Minsky Moment. [Let me explain just what the aforementioned all means.] Words: 1195

The Federal Reserve is in quite a pickle. Mr. Market expects them to print money to support the economy...but if the economy continues down this path, we may have a deflationary depression on our hands...Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said he will not allow this to happen under any circumstances. The Fed wants to keep interest rates low and create inflation so that it can pay off existing debt with cheaper dollars, avoiding insolvency. [The fact of the matter, however, is that] the Federal Reserve cannot stop printing money or the U.S. will experience the economic phenonmenon referred to as the Minsky Moment. [Let me explain just what the aforementioned all means.] Words: 1195

If inflation starts to head towards 5%, you can be sure it’s headed for 10% because they don’t have the ability to stop it now. The only antidote they have to the mess we are in, which is massively excessive debt reinforced by derivatives, is unlimited money printing. The idea that you can withdraw the punch bowl or sharply raise interest rates, it just doesn’t exist, unless you want to take a complete deflationary collapse.

For those who think bonds are a safe place to be, you might want to reconsider. In addition to rising sovereign risk (yes, for the U.S. as well as other countries), there is interest rate risk....[should you not] hold it to maturity. If interest rates rise, then the value of your bond falls (Bonds can produce capital gains/losses, just like stocks.) and the possibility of interest rates rising is pretty good. Words: 530