海角大神

蚕鈥�E鈥�
聽Waitin鈥� for ya
聽Prayin鈥� for ya

Not much follow through in the stock market yesterday. The Dow was up鈥�but only 46 points.

Meanwhile, gold fell $46.

We long for clarity. For a day of reckoning. But it seems far in the future. Yesterday, the world waited for Mr. Bernanke to reveal his intentions. Instead, he said he was keeping his options open.

That was good enough to keep some steam in the stock market. But not enough to keep gold going up.

Both gold bugs and stock market bulls are counting on the Fed to come through. And it probably will.

We saw yesterday how the 1% got to be so rich. The feds 鈥� aided and abetted by consumers and the financial industry 鈥� bubbled up the amount of cash and credit in the US by 50 times in the last 50 years.

鈥淭hat explosion of credit changed the world,鈥� writes Richard Duncan in his new book, The New Depression.

Yep鈥�for one thing it made the rich richer. That money didn鈥檛 go to wage earners. It went into stocks and bonds 鈥� the assets owned by the 1%.

The stock market began its epic march up the mountain in 1982. Since then, it鈥檚 gone up 13 times (as measured by the Dow).

US GDP is up about 13 times too.

But much of the 鈥済rowth鈥� in stocks and GDP in this period was phony. The tape measure, used to track growth, was calibrated in dollars. And the dollars 鈥� stretched by the feds 鈥� lied.

Just look at what has happened in the last ten years. From its low in the early 2000s, stocks are up about 50%. Investors might think they are ahead of the game.

But measure that increase in terms of gold鈥�and the gains disappear. Instead, stocks are DOWN 16%. In terms of oil, stocks are down even more 鈥� 43%.

And now the feds tell us the economy is in 鈥榬ecovery.鈥� Yes, they admit, it鈥檚 not a great recovery. But the economy is growing. And if we wait long enough everything will be put right.

Oh yeah? At this rate the US will never reach full employment. Because, each month, more people are looking for work than finding it. Why? Because little of this 鈥榞rowth鈥� is real. It鈥檚 just what you get when you put an extra $2 trillion of cash and credit into the system.

But investors don鈥檛 seem to care whether the growth is real or not. Instead, they鈥檙e waitin鈥欌��prayin鈥欌��hopin鈥� for another round of MONEY! They want that old elixir鈥�more cash and credit鈥�that Miracle-Gro that the feds use to turn the economy green.

Oh yes, dear reader, we are five years into the Great Correction crisis鈥�and once again, the world (and especially Barack Obama) turns its weary eyes to Dr. Bernanke.

鈥淭ouch us鈥�heal us鈥� Take away our pains. Lift us up to paradise.鈥�

Or, at least put us back in the White House!

And word on the street is that Ben Bernanke is getting ready.

鈥淔ed considers more action鈥︹�� says The Wall Street Journal.

鈥淪tocks rise on hopes of more stimulus,鈥� reports The Financial Times.

But not all the Fed team is on the same page. Richard Fisher, of the Fed bank of Dallas, is clearly not:

鈥淚 believe that were we to go down the path to further accommodation at this juncture, we would not simply be pushing on a string but would be viewed as accomplice to the mischief that has become synonymous with Washington.鈥�

Our guess is that Mr. Fisher will be left behind. If not now鈥�later.

Matthew O鈥橞rien, writing in The Atlantic, explains why.

Will the Fed be an accomplice to Washington鈥檚 mischief? You bet. Because this is an economy that has depended on more cash and credit for at least 30 years. It can鈥檛 stop now.

Here鈥檚 another Fed governor, more in sync with the times. The Wall Street Journal has the report:

You heard it here first, dear reader: There鈥檚 no reverse gear in this car. It won鈥檛 back up to correct its mistakes. Instead, it races along until it hits a brick wall.

Regards,

Bill Bonner,
听蹿辞谤 The Daily Reckoning