Never before in the history of the United States have we been faced with the threat of such a great financial catastrophe but, sadly, most Americans are totally oblivious to all of this. They continue to have faith that their leaders know what they are doing, and they have been lulled into complacency by the bubble of false stability that we have been enjoying for the last couple of years. Unfortunately for them, however, this bubble of false stability is not going to last much longer and when the financial crisis comes it is going to make 2008 look like a Sunday picnic. Let me explain why I believe the aforementioned to be the case.

China's model (and economy) will fail drastically, proving once and for all that government-planned economies do not work as well as free market capitalism balanced by democracy. This article identifies seven signs showing that the end is near.

Investors generally assign higher multiples to many Nasdaq firms, as they expect significant future growth, but if volatility ensues and growth, which is already priced in, isn't realized by these firms a violent reaction to broken promises will ensue just as happened in 2000. For that matter there are a number of similarities between the current level of the Nasdaq index and back then that strongly suggest that the bubble is here. Let me explain why I believe that is the case.

The Fed has manufactured a parabolic move in the stock market...which is much more aggressive (and thus even more unsustainable) than witnessed at either the 2000 or 2007 stock market tops. Parabolas always collapse - there are never any exceptions - so when the pin finds this bubble it's going to take down not only our stock market, but unleash a destructive force on the global economy.

Bubble predictions are headline-grabbing claims that are sure to attract reader/viewership and more than a few worried individuals who will be pushed to act but, like all forecasts, these bubble warnings should be taken with a grain of salt.

I would think that we are probably in the slow build-up to something interesting – a badly overpriced market and bubble conditions. My personal guess is that the U.S. market, especially the non-blue chips, will work its way higher, perhaps by 20% to 30% in the next year or, more likely, two years, with the rest of the world including emerging market equities covering even more ground in at least a partial catch-up.

The real value of the stock market is positively correlated, over time, with the amount of freight hauled by the nation's trucks (in other words, the physical size of the economy has a lot to do with the real, inflation-adjusted value of the economy) and the latest numbers (see chart) strongly suggest that we are not in a stock market bubble.

Never before has the world faced such a serious debt crisis. Yes, in the past there have certainly been nations that have gotten into trouble with debt, but we have never had a situation where virtually all of the major powers around the globe were all drowning in debt at the same time. Right now, confidence is being shaken as debt levels skyrocket to extremely dangerous levels. Many are openly wondering how much longer this can possibly go on. [Here's my take on the situation.]

We have NEVER been this overextended above this line at any point in the last 20 years. Indeed, if you compare where the S&P 500 is relative to this line, we're even MORE overbought that we were going into the 2007 peak at the top of the housing bubble.

What does it look like when a 30 year bull market ends abruptly? What happens when bond yields start doing things that they haven't done in 50 years? If your answer to those questions involves the word "slaughter", you are probably on the right track. Right now, bonds are being absolutely slaughtered, and this is only just the beginning. So why should the average American care about this?