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What the *%&^$ is going on?!?!?


DYoung
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I wouldn't be surprised if we start paying European prices for gas but at least they have more transportation alternatives.

I just threw up in my mouth.....

You have to remember that the Europeans tax the heck out of gas, that is why it is so expensive... for example, the average in the UK, it was 95.1p per litre about but 63.7p per litre was tax, 67% TAX...

http://www.petrolprices.com/fuel-tax.html

In the UK, the obvious targets for tax increases is gas, cigarettes and beer...

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I wouldn't be surprised if we start paying European prices for gas but at least they have more transportation alternatives.

I just threw up in my mouth.....

You have to remember that the Europeans tax the heck out of gas, that is why it is so expensive... for example, the average in the UK, it was 95.1p per litre about but 63.7p per litre was tax, 67% TAX...

http://www.petrolprices.com/fuel-tax.html

In the UK, the obvious targets for tax increases is gas, cigarettes and beer...

I think I just **** my pants.....

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I wouldn't be surprised if we start paying European prices for gas but at least they have more transportation alternatives.

I just threw up in my mouth.....

You have to remember that the Europeans tax the heck out of gas, that is why it is so expensive... for example, the average in the UK, it was 95.1p per litre about but 63.7p per litre was tax, 67% TAX...

http://www.petrolprices.com/fuel-tax.html

In the UK, the obvious targets for tax increases is gas, cigarettes and beer...

LOL! OOOO I just had to quote that!

I think I just **** my pants.....

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I wouldn't be surprised if we start paying European prices for gas but at least they have more transportation alternatives.

I just threw up in my mouth.....

You have to remember that the Europeans tax the heck out of gas, that is why it is so expensive... for example, the average in the UK, it was 95.1p per litre about but 63.7p per litre was tax, 67% TAX...

http://www.petrolprices.com/fuel-tax.html

In the UK, the obvious targets for tax increases is gas, cigarettes and beer...

That's not surprising because the governments are more proactive in encouraging you not to drive or giving you less incentive to. The US is a major non-signatory of the Kyoto Protocol to control greenhouse emissions and 'disincenting' its citizens not to drive isn't on the agenda nor practical for a lot of people.

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heres the thing with buying gold that you really should consider. the price of gold usually reflects the market. For example (i have records for the alst two years of gold fluctuation) when sales are down and the industry is not in "busy season" and gearing up for either Valentines day or Chistmas or somewhat Mothers day, gold can hit pretty low levels. Whats scares me is right now We are preparing for christmas and we are preparing for mothers day, but other then that who cares to buy? So Mike if that is true about IMF, then the gold your paying a high X for right now may just be worth a lot less X later on. Personally i remember when gold was at 450 and 530. Woe is me that im not older and dont make that kind of money otherwise it would have been a sure buy. consider that 450 all the way to 959!? that is out of this world. but i guarantee that if IFM does not reduce the current value of gold, by Christmas time we will be at least somewhere around the 1200- 1500 mark. Easily. mind you this is all IMO but ive seen it happening and i over hear my bosses and i pay attention to how its affecting my job and everyone else.

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I wonder if it's partly because Texas is the largest polluter of the 50 states, and the president comes from there. If we had a prez say from Oregon, for the past 8 years, would it be so bad?

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Not to get off topic but all this talk about buying gold got me wondering......can actually buy physical gold anymore? I mean other than prospecting in streams where would you go to buy lump amounts of gold? I live in WI so it's not exactly the center of the universe so I wouldn't know where to pick some up. It would be pretty cool to have a secret stash of gold though

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Not to get off topic but all this talk about buying gold got me wondering......can actually buy physical gold anymore? I mean other than prospecting in streams where would you go to buy lump amounts of gold? I live in WI so it's not exactly the center of the universe so I wouldn't know where to pick some up. It would be pretty cool to have a secret stash of gold though

No, but WI is the center of the beer universe (Go Badgers!). That's a great question - I believe what you buy is a certificate backed by gold, not the actual brick itself.

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Jeeezzz, good reading, sometimes schocking but alas..it's the truth.

Over here in the Netherlands the government keeps putting up taxes on all the fuels, gas, diesel and natural gas..The same story on smokes..I quit that a short while ago. Smoking has gotten out of fashion a long time ago but the current prices made it even uncooler. But you shouldn't be smoking in the 1st place.

To get back on the fuel part, over here they are consulting about a law that gives you a kind of a discount when you buy an fuel economic car like a prius. But when you buy a musclecar you gotta have muscle on your account as well

They promote enviromental cars..as if cars are enviromental friendly

Gas prices over here are:

Natural gas: $1,01 per gallon

Diesel: $7,12 per gallon

Gas(95 octane) : $9,05 per gallon

Nuts should I say, but we also have to pay road taxes get our car inspected every year, for emissions, tyres...the lot. If it's not in good shape, it's cough up the repairs or say goodbye to it and start looking for a replacement.

The food prices aren't that high at the moment but we keep a close eye on what is happening on the other side of the pond.

The € euro is quite strong and stabil at the moment, but that doesn't mean that we got a lot more to spend.

What Mike tells about investing is a good thing to do, especially gold...it keeps it value...

And concerning your current president, let's just say that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed...understatement of the year

Posted Image

But try to keep it up over there bro's

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Not to get off topic but all this talk about buying gold got me wondering......can actually buy physical gold anymore? I mean other than prospecting in streams where would you go to buy lump amounts of gold? I live in WI so it's not exactly the center of the universe so I wouldn't know where to pick some up. It would be pretty cool to have a secret stash of gold though

You can buy gold bullion in the shape of coins.

http://www.blanchardonline.com/

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Jeeezzz, good reading, sometimes schocking but alas..it's the truth.

Over here in the Netherlands the government keeps putting up taxes on all the fuels, gas, diesel and natural gas..The same story on smokes..I quit that a short while ago. Smoking has gotten out of fashion a long time ago but the current prices made it even uncooler. But you shouldn't be smoking in the 1st place.

To get back on the fuel part, over here they are consulting about a law that gives you a kind of a discount when you buy an fuel economic car like a prius. But when you buy a musclecar you gotta have muscle on your account as well

They promote enviromental cars..as if cars are enviromental friendly

Gas prices over here are:

Natural gas: $1,01 per gallon

Diesel: $7,12 per gallon

Gas(95 octane) : $9,05 per gallon

Nuts should I say, but we also have to pay road taxes get our car inspected every year, for emissions, tyres...the lot. If it's not in good shape, it's cough up the repairs or say goodbye to it and start looking for a replacement.

The food prices aren't that high at the moment but we keep a close eye on what is happening on the other side of the pond.

The € euro is quite strong and stabil at the moment, but that doesn't mean that we got a lot more to spend.

What Mike tells about investing is a good thing to do, especially gold...it keeps it value...

And concerning your current president, let's just say that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed...understatement of the year

Posted Image

But try to keep it up over there bro's

My what a difference a few years makes. Can you imagine being able to post such a t-shirt a few years ago? You'd have gotten flamed immediately. Now, it's like stating the obvious.

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where i work i get to see real actual gold bricks and they truly are awe inspiring. the first time isaw one i was like HOLY #$%^ straight out of the movies, you know? i was allowed to handle one and one thing you got to remember is that they are soft because it is 24kt and then from there we melt it down and do whatever else needs to be done. i know this may sound weird but it looked so good i wanted to bite it. so i did. i bit a 24kt gold bar and it left my teeth imprints in it too! i wasnt hungry and im not overweight but the way it looked lol, i just HAD to bite it.

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My what a difference a few years makes. Can you imagine being able to post such a t-shirt a few years ago? You'd have gotten flamed immediately. Now, it's like stating the obvious.

You'll get no such censorship here. While I would like to keep politics off the board, I think the WORLD will unanimously agree that GW Bush is a moron. His reaction yesterday to $4.00 a gallon fuel was just... it was as-if he was a high school kid with no concept of economics.

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We as a people have to be more informed, wake up and know what's going on, question what we see and hear, take nothing at face value and stand up when the forces in power take away our freedoms.

Much of what has happened to this country has been done in plain sight and broadcast 24-7 on C-SPAN. Much of what has been done to this country "never happened" according to those who covered it up.

It sickens me to see, every day, the facades in our print and television media.

Question everything.

History is written and edited by the victors. History is being made every day and false histories written down as fact. Already today, and certainly in several generations, whatever is written down as historical fact will become truth, whether it is or not.

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We as a people have to be more informed, wake up and know what's going on, question what we see and hear, take nothing at face value and stand up when the forces in power take away our freedoms.

Much of what has happened to this country has been done in plain sight and broadcast 24-7 on C-SPAN. Much of what has been done to this country "never happened" according to those who covered it up.

It sickens me to see, every day, the facades in our print and television media.

Question everything.

History is written and edited by the victors. History is being made every day and false histories written down as fact. Already today, and certainly in several generations, whatever is written down as historical fact will become truth, whether it is or not.

Agreed.

One thing that I think people are afraid to do though, is speak up. People are afraid of being called conspiracy theorists and whack jobs. Even when I raise some concerns to my live-in girlfriend, she looks at me as-if I'm an alarmist and going off the deep end. Yet everything I raise to her is clearly documented and researched. If we get this kind of reaction at home, I can see why we're afraid to voice our opinions and outrage publicly.

(The following is not a political agenda, just an example.)

Take Ron Paul for example. He talks about common-sense stuff that many people dismiss as non-sense. For example, when he talks about the Federal Reserve and our constitutional rights being eroded, he's not making stuff up. He's telling people exactly what they DON'T want to know because it's too painful. For that reason alone, he'll never be president. Instead of making people feel good, he's telling us how dire things are right now and that radical change is needed to make things better.

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We as a people have to be more informed, wake up and know what's going on, question what we see and hear, take nothing at face value and stand up when the forces in power take away our freedoms.

Much of what has happened to this country has been done in plain sight and broadcast 24-7 on C-SPAN. Much of what has been done to this country "never happened" according to those who covered it up.

It sickens me to see, every day, the facades in our print and television media.

Question everything.

History is written and edited by the victors. History is being made every day and false histories written down as fact. Already today, and certainly in several generations, whatever is written down as historical fact will become truth, whether it is or not.

Agreed.

One thing that I think people are afraid to do though, is speak up. People are afraid of being called conspiracy theorists and whack jobs. Even when I raise some concerns to my live-in girlfriend, she looks at me as-if I'm an alarmist and going off the deep end. Yet everything I raise to her is clearly documented and researched. If we get this kind of reaction at home, I can see why we're afraid to voice our opinions and outrage publicly.

(The following is not a political agenda, just an example.)

Take Ron Paul for example. He talks about common-sense stuff that many people dismiss as non-sense. For example, when he talks about the Federal Reserve and our constitutional rights being eroded, he's not making stuff up. He's telling people exactly what they DON'T want to know because it's too painful. For that reason alone, he'll never be president. Instead of making people feel good, he's telling us how dire things are right now and that radical change is needed to make things better.

A Revolution is good from time to time......

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“Cui prodest scelus, is fecit.” ”The one who derives advantage from the crime is the one most likely to have committed it.” ~ Seneca

"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive." - C.S. Lewis

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We as a people have to be more informed, wake up and know what's going on, question what we see and hear, take nothing at face value and stand up when the forces in power take away our freedoms.

Much of what has happened to this country has been done in plain sight and broadcast 24-7 on C-SPAN. Much of what has been done to this country "never happened" according to those who covered it up.

It sickens me to see, every day, the facades in our print and television media.

Question everything.

History is written and edited by the victors. History is being made every day and false histories written down as fact. Already today, and certainly in several generations, whatever is written down as historical fact will become truth, whether it is or not.

Agreed.

One thing that I think people are afraid to do though, is speak up. People are afraid of being called conspiracy theorists and whack jobs. Even when I raise some concerns to my live-in girlfriend, she looks at me as-if I'm an alarmist and going off the deep end. Yet everything I raise to her is clearly documented and researched. If we get this kind of reaction at home, I can see why we're afraid to voice our opinions and outrage publicly.

(The following is not a political agenda, just an example.)

Take Ron Paul for example. He talks about common-sense stuff that many people dismiss as non-sense. For example, when he talks about the Federal Reserve and our constitutional rights being eroded, he's not making stuff up. He's telling people exactly what they DON'T want to know because it's too painful. For that reason alone, he'll never be president. Instead of making people feel good, he's telling us how dire things are right now and that radical change is needed to make things better.

And that is why Ron Paul has no shot in **** of being president

**** if the The founding fathers where alive today they would be seen as

terrorist... not as patriots.

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Ironically, Ron Paul advocated a return to the gold standard as part of his aborted campaign. As pointed out earlier, gold is a good source of reserve capital for many central banks and an economic hedge. Too much investment in gold however could lead to market inflation and volatility - that's why its kept in reserve and one of the reasons in '71, Mr. Nixon and the IMF switched to a monetary standard with the Bretton-Woods agreement. Before then, the global market was less diverse.

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It's getting worse....

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tumbled Friday, resulting in the second worst day of 2008, after AIG's record loss added to worries about the financial sector and more weak economic news intensified fears about a recession.

According to early tallies, the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost about 315 points, or 2.5%. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index lost 2.7% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) fell 2.6%.

Treasury prices rallied, sending yields higher, as investors sought safety in the comparatively safer haven of government debt, while the dollar held near a record low versus the euro. Oil prices dipped after topping all-time highs over $103 a barrel during the session. Gold prices jumped too.

"It's a debacle today," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams. "There's just no good news out there."

AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) reported a steep $5.3 billion quarterly loss after the market close Thursday and said it took an $11 billion writedown related to big losses in investments tied to bad mortgage bets. Shares of the Dow component tumbled 7% Friday.

Brokerage UBS said financial firms could end up facing $600 billion in losses as the credit crisis continues to unfold. Banks, brokers and insurers have already lost more than $160 billion related to bad mortgage bets. UBS also cut its first-quarter earnings estimates on a number of investment banks.

Also late Thursday, Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) reported quarterly profit that fell from a year earlier and missed estimates, due to a number of charges it took in the quarter. The company was also cautious about its outlook, saying it was seeing some large customers hold back on purchases. Shares dipped 4% Friday.

"We got some horrible news today with UBS and AIG, then you also have Dell, oil, everything else, and this market is just looking to sell off," said Greg Church, president at Church Capital.

Bond insurers get a mix of news. CNBC reported that a proposed $2.5 billion bailout of troubled bond insurer Ambac Financial has hit some significant snags, sending Ambac (ABK) shares 7.5% lower and adding to economic worries. Rival MBIA (MBI) slumped too.

Also dealing a blow to Ambac and MBIA was news that billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said he was injecting up to $1 billion in rival bond insurer Assured Guaranty (AGO). Assured stock rose 14%.

Church said that some good news on the bond insurers in the near term could temper fears a bit. Yet, worries are going to remain in place because of the uncertainty about the depth and extent of the housing and credit market crises.

Economic news mostly negative. The Chicago PMI, a report on manufacturing in the Midwest, fell more than expected, sliding to 44.5 in February from 51.5 in the previous month, marking a more than six-year low. Economists thought it would fall to 49.5. Any number below 50 indicates weakness in the sector.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was revised up slightly to 70.8 in February from an earlier read of 69.6, the lowest level since the early 1990s. Sentiment stood at 78 in January.

Both personal income and personal spending rose more than expected in January, the Commerce Department reported. But the report pointed to signs of inflation pressure.

Income rose 0.3% after gaining 0.5% in December. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought income would rise 0.2%. Spending grew 0.4% after gaining 0.3% in December, versus expectations for a rise of 0.2%.

Core PCE, the report's inflation component, grew 0.3%, as expected, after rising 0.2% in December. But the measure, which tracks prices paid by consumers for goods other than food and energy, jumped 2.2% versus a year earlier. That's above the 1% to 2% range for that indicator that the Federal Reserve is said to prefer.

Eye on the Fed. The Fed has cut interest rates steadily since September, leaving the fed funds rate, a key bank lending rate, at 3%. Wall Streeters expect the bank to cut rates by another half-percentage point at the upcoming meeting on March 18.

However, in recent congressional testimony, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that rising inflation was making it harder for the Fed to continue cutting rates to stimulate the sluggish economy.

New York, Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and Frederic Mishkin, a member of the Federal Reserve board of governors

Fed Governor Frederic Mishkin and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren - speaking at a housing conference - said the crisis in the sector could hurt the economy more severely than it already has if steps aren't taken soon to correct it. (Full story).

St. Louis Fed Bank President William Poole spoke at the same conference in the afternoon. Poole said the Fed has a responsibility to help out borrowers who got themselves into trouble, but less so the financial firms.

On the move. Stocks declines were broad based, with all 30 Dow components sliding, led by AIG. Other big losers included Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), JP Morgan (JPM, Fortune 500) and American Express (AXP, Fortune 500).

Elsewhere in the financial sector, MF Global (MF) slumped 18% in active trade, falling for a second session after admitting it lost $141.5 million after a rogue trader made unauthorized bets. Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and UBS all downgraded the stock and Moody's and S&P cut their ratings on the company's debt Friday.

Telecom Sprint Nextel (S, Fortune 500) tumbled 10% in active New York Stock Exchange trade after S&P put the company on a watch list for a potential downgrade because of the subscribers its losing. On Thursday, the wireless carrier reported a fourth-quarter loss versus a profit a year ago, said it lost 100,000 subscribers in the quarter and forecast it would lose 1.2 million subscriptions in the first quarter, topping forecasts.

Among other movers, shares of R.H. Donnelley (RHD) plunged for a second session after Bear Stearns and Deutsche Securities downgraded the stock of the phone book publisher and search engine operator. R.H. Donnelley slumped Thursday as well after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that missed forecasts and issuing a first-quarter outlook that is shy of expectations.

On the upside, Gap shares gained 4% in active trade after reporting higher quarterly income that met forecasts. In the late Thursday announcement, the clothing retailer also said its board had authorized a $1 billion share buyback plan.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners six to one on volume of 1.26 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers three to one on volume of 2.04 billion shares.

Other markets. U.S. light crude oil for April delivery fell 75 cents to settle at $101.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after ending the previous session at a record close of $102.59. The front-month contract touched a new trading high of $103.05 in electronic trading.

COMEX gold for April delivery rallied $7.50 to settle at $975 an ounce.

Treasury prices jumped, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.53% from 3.66% late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar touched a fresh all-time low versus the euro before recovering a bit. The greenback hit a three-year low against the yen.

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Economic ebbs and flows.

Just figure this crap happens every 10-12 years or so, bubles burst, markets correct (back to reality), business as usual. Just tighten the belt for awhile and ride it out best you can.

Energy-wise...

What I hope happens is, fuel costs get so bad that the folks get ****** enough to force the gov't to create incentives for business' to fully develop alternatves then followed by the gov't creating programs to fund infrastructures to support those alternatives. Creates jobs and reduces dependance, go figure.

In the mean time open ANWR to drilling and build more refineries already!

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Economic ebbs and flows.

Just figure this crap happens every 10-12 years or so, bubles burst, markets correct (back to reality), business as usual. Just tighten the belt for awhile and ride it out best you can.

Energy-wise...

What I hope happens is, fuel costs get so bad that the folks get ****** enough to force the gov't to create incentives for business' to fully develop alternatves then followed by the gov't creating programs to fund infrastructures to support those alternatives. Creates jobs and reduces dependance, go figure.

In the mean time open ANWR to drilling and build more refineries already!

Doug, if you decide to run for President.... YOU'LL HAVE MY VOTE!!!!

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