Fake Money

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.

bathroom cleaning service Mundelein ...

In The News:

A fake Claude AI download scam uses Google ads and Bing redirects to trick Mac users into pasting a hidden malicious command in their Terminal.

Ahold Delhaize's cybersecurity incident knocked online ordering and digital coupons offline at Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford and Giant Food stores.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Amazon's About You feature includes personality details from your shopping history, and some shoppers are finding hilariously awkward results.

Identity theft recovery starts with securing bank accounts, freezing credit and enabling two-factor authentication within the first 24 hours.

Apple's $299 HomeView smart display uses facial recognition to personalize screens for up to six household members and show live security camera feeds.

Domonique DuBose spotted red flags when a man on Hinge with 85,000 followers and a blue checkmark claimed to be a San Francisco 49ers player.

Your phone's location data can expose visits to doctors, pharmacies and places of worship. The FTC took action against data brokers selling this data.

Hackers targeted Danfoss refrigerator controls across French supermarkets, forcing chains like Carrefour and Monoprix to discard massive food stocks.

iOS 27 finally lets iPhone Shared Albums store photos and videos at full resolution in iCloud, but new items count toward the owner's storage.

A fake Facebook Marketplace text scam uses your real name as the seller to trick you into replying, and Malwarebytes warns even one response helps.

The Pentagon data breach exposed 2.76 million Social Security numbers and military records, raising long-term identity theft concerns for veterans.

Kodiak AI plans to haul IKEA freight on Texas highways with no one in the cab, raising urgent cybersecurity and safety questions for drivers.

Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 adds Extend and Reframe tools to Photos, letting iPhones generate new background areas beyond your original borders.

Microsoft's X account was hijacked to promote a crypto pump-and-dump scheme, exposing its more than 13 million followers to a scam campaign.

Scammers can combine your name, phone number and address with data breach details to attempt SIM swaps, phishing and even identity theft schemes.

ChatGPT Work, Meta Muse and Gemini Spark can monitor flight prices, sort your email inbox and track important deadlines, but savvy users start small.

iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel each hide a built-in tool that turns a video frame into a separate photo without any screenshot needed.

Operation KillSwitch dismantled KillSec's ransomware infrastructure, but investigators say a 16-year-old allegedly ran the entire cybercrime operation.

The Fox News Artificial Intelligence newsletter covers where voters will decide on AI data center ballot measures and Jeff Bezos' tech vision.

Apple's Impersonation Risk Detection in iOS 27 can flag suspicious activity inside apps, but the setting is off by default and must be enabled.

Federal Election Commission records can expose your name, address, employer and donation history once contributions exceed the $200 threshold.

Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright says human skepticism remains the strongest defense against AI-driven phishing scams and voice cloning fraud schemes.

iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy each handle security updates differently, and one screen saying "up to date" may not tell the whole story.

Deborah Del Mastro heard what sounded like her daughter's terrified voice on the phone, launching a five-hour virtual kidnapping scam ordeal.

Fake Money

Stocks & Mutual Fund