Reach in your pocket and take out that big roll of bills. Depending on how many of them you have you feel pretty good. BUT did you know they are not worth the paper they are printed on? Huh? Let me explain.
Yes, those bills are legal tender because those guys in Washington passed a law stating they must be accepted for payment. They are Federal Reserve Notes and it states right on the bill, "This is legal tender for all debts, public and private". That is OK, but if you go to the U.S. Mint will they redeem it in gold or silver? Years ago they did, but not since 1971.
Almost everyone has bought stock in a company. The company issues shares and each share represents a portion of the ownership in that company. It is against the best interests of the stockholders to issue additional shares unless something of equal value is added. Why? Let's keep it very simple. Suppose the company is worth $100,000 and it has issued 100,000 shares of stock. The stock has a book value of $1.00 per share. If the officers of the company decide to issue another 100,000 shares to hire security guards (like soldiers), lease (not buy) an airplane, increase the accounting staff (these folks do not increase production) and pay the executives more (who will produce the same amount as they are now) you will notice that all these expenses do not add to the company's profits. The value of all shares is now 50 cents per share because the value of the company has remained the same. $100,000 divided by 200,000 shares is 50 cents per share.
What has all that to do with your money? You have seen in the paper that the Federal Reserve Bank (it is neither Federal nor maintains a reserve) has had an auction for Treasury Bills. Sir Alan Greenspan has authorized the printing of those T-Bills. With just paper and ink he has created billions of dollars of debt for the government. And who is the government? YOU. Each time the Fed turns on the printing presses to sell government bonds it effectively dilutes the value of the money you have. That is called inflation. Unless the productivity rate of the country increases by a like amount it devalues your currency.
Should you care? What it amounts to is everything will cost more because your money represents less. This is monetary inflation and has nothing to do with the supply of goods. Yet some day (who knows when) those bonds will have to be redeemed. The idea of the central government is to keep watering down the money so they can pay off the debt with cheaper and cheaper dollars. This is a method of creating money instead of raising taxes yet you are paying for it.
Throughout history there have been scores of private and government banks that have issued fake (fiat) money and in every case they have failed and the holders of the fake money have lost. Will that happen this time? I would not bet against it.
Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.
Copyright 2005
shuttle to Midway Beardstown .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareThis article describes the model of a natural relationship between... Read More
You probably have been told that options are risky. Even... Read More
Ever turn down a street, get half way and suddenly... Read More
Everybody is riding the Wall Street Roller coaster. Even if... Read More
Most stock traders know that momentum trading can be a... Read More
The bulls and bears of the stock market are both... Read More
In 1960 an engineer working for a watch company in... Read More
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... Read More
Do you have a nest egg? You know, a place... Read More
Financial markets provide their participants with the most favorable conditions... Read More
You remember the story about the frog that was put... Read More
Peter is a professional trader, Paul is not. Peter has... Read More
Investing in long-term financial vehicles give you the most gains... Read More
Regardless of the fact that the world's stock markets have... Read More
I am taking the time to help others learn the... Read More
I would like to share with the reader an article... Read More
As the man said, "I've got some good news and... Read More
What is the Series 7 Exam? If you... Read More
We all know that emotions control every decision that an... Read More
If you have not back tested your trading system, you... Read More
Using Swing Trading Strategies and Technical Analysis when Trading Stocks... Read More
You'd have had to be living on a desert island... Read More
The date October 13, 2000 will forever be embedded in... Read More
Most people think the stock market is a zero sum... Read More
Before they go over the cliff to their destruction these... Read More
Green Bay Hummer H2 SUV rentals ..Where is the beef? Or maybe it should be where... Read More
The Winter Games for the Olympics are coming up soon... Read More
Alfred Winslow Jones started hedge funds in 1949. He was... Read More
Let me start by saying that...Most online brokers do not... Read More
Every day I hear someone on CNBC proclaim that "this... Read More
Investors who exclusively use broadly diversified, no load mutual funds... Read More
Let's say you are interested in this one company. You... Read More
If you haven't heard of the technical indicator with the... Read More
If you want one.And I don't recommend any broker with... Read More
After finding the price of a particular stock, usually the... Read More
Disclaimer: Please note that I do not necessarily purchase, own,... Read More
TOO OFTEN, INVESTORS SIMPLY CHOOSE TO follow the crowd. This... Read More
First let's see what protectionism is. According to Mr. Webster... Read More
One of the big advertising kicks today from mutual funds... Read More
You'd have had to be living on a desert island... Read More
Let's hope you did not have any of the Enron... Read More
Sidney felt sick as she looked at her latest OptionsXpress... Read More
On Friday or Saturday evening my wife gets a movie... Read More
Caught in a whirlpool and being sucked under. No life... Read More
I know there are a lot of you out there... Read More
With all the bad news that has been dumped upon... Read More
Never lose money in the stock market again. Yeah, I... Read More
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... Read More
(1) CHK stock price $16.74, NAV $32.5CHK is my favorite... Read More
The bulls and bears of the stock market are both... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |