Complete Collaspe of US Financial Market Soon?

[LA Woman]

Found this bit of information over at the Kitco forum. Anyone else heard this? Or is this just propoganda created to push up gold to $5000 oz that the crazies are predicting.

Fortis expects a complete collapse of the US financial markets within a few days to weeks.

That explains, according to Fortis, the series of interventions of last Thursday to retrieve € 8 billion. "We have been saved just in time. The situation in the US is much worse than we thought", says Fortis chairman Maurice Lippens.

Fortis expects bankruptcies amongst 6000 American banks which have a small coverage currently. But also Citigroup, General Motors, there is starting a complete meltdown in the US"

(Fortis is a large bank and insurer in the Netherlands and Belgium. It took over ABN Amro last year, together with RBS and another bank. Last Thursday, its share lost 17% because Fortis attracted foreign capital.)

 

[Crunch Hardtack]

Not if, but when. A few weeks sounds good, certainly it will be within the next 12 months or so.

 

[Tom Woolford]

Link Please?

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

Fortis Bank Forecast link:

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2008/06/fortis-bank-forecasts-us-financial.html


Economist Lawrence Summers' opinion on the economy:

What we can do in this dangerous moment

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/916e6012-45fa-11dd-9009-0000779fd2ac.html

It is quite possible that we are now at the most dangerous moment since the American financial crisis began last August. Staggering increases in the prices of oil and other commodities have brought American consumer confidence to new lows and raised serious concerns about inflation, thereby limiting the capacity of monetary policy to respond to a financial sector which – judging by equity values – is at its weakest point since the crisis began. With housing values still falling and growing evidence that problems are spreading to the construction and consumer credit sectors, there is a possibility that a faltering economy damages the financial system, which weakens the economy further.

After a period of intense activity at the beginning of the year with the passage of fiscal stimulus legislation, strong action by the Federal Reserve to cut rates and provide liquidity and the introduction of anti-foreclosure legislation, policy has again fallen behind the curve. The only important policy actions of the past several months have been those forced on the Fed by the Bear Stearns crisis. It would be a mistake to overstate the extent to which policy can forestall the gathering storm. But the prospects for a more favourable outcome would be enhanced if four actions were taken promptly.

First, the much debated housing bill should be passed immediately by Congress and signed into law.

Second, Congress should move promptly to pass further fiscal measures to respond to our economic difficulties.

Third, policymakers need to make a clear commitment to addressing the non-monetary factors causing inflation concerns.

Fourth, it needs to be recognised that in the months ahead there is the real possibility that significant financial institutions will encounter not just liquidity but solvency problems as the economy deteriorates and further writedowns prove necessary.

 

[LA Woman]

Here is the link-but its not in english

Link Please?

http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/ondernemi...t_financiele_instorting_in_VS.7828471-433.art

 

[LA Woman]

One of my favorite R.E. Gurus, Jack Miller has been saying pretty much the same thing for the past 2 years...."stay liquid"!

 

[LA Woman]

Cramer Says Banking Doom but no Crash

Video Link to Cramer/Street.Com saying Banking Doom but no Crash

http://www.thestreet.com/s/cramer-b...pdates/10422815.html?puc=_htmlbooyah#10422815

Suggested reading: "Down to a Sunless Sea by David Graham". End of the world type book written in 1979, but eerily similar to our current financial and oil/energy situation. Excellent read if you can get past the sexism and racism.



"Survival is not an entitlement." - Rourke

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

They are definitely not talking about a collapse, but:

Barclays warns of a financial storm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/06/27/cnbarclays127.xml

US central bank accused of unleashing an inflation shock that will rock financial markets, reports Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall "below zero".

"We're in a nasty environment," said Tim Bond, the bank's chief equity strategist. "There is an inflation shock underway. This is going to be very negative for financial assets. We are going into tortoise mood and are retreating into our shell. Investors will do well if they can preserve their wealth."

Barclays Capital said in its closely-watched Global Outlook that US headline inflation would hit 5.5pc by August and the Fed will have to raise interest rates six times by the end of next year to prevent a wage-spiral. If it hesitates, the bond markets will take matters into their own hands. "This is the first test for central banks in 30 years and they have fluffed it. They have zero credibility, and the Fed is negative if that's possible. It has lost all credibility," said Mr Bond.

 

[LA Woman]

Where is my crystal ball?

Well, a storm sounds a heck of a lot better than a collapse. I'll go with Barclays predictions.

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

Let's just call it a forecast financial $hitstorm.