Some people are pointing to Japan after the collapse of the paper tigers in the 90s as an example of what the US is going to go through. I disagree. I think Russia in the late-90s is a better example of the kind of financial and economic collapse that is coming domestically, and even then Russia was a relatively small economy and the damage was contained.

We are still at the very early stages of the crisis in the US. More banks will fail. People will lose jobs as small businesses cannot pay bills or meet payroll due to tight credit issues, and weaker domestic spending. The presure on the housing market will continue for many years and put further weakness into the economy. When the rest of the world stops buying US Treasury notes, then the game is done.

The tipping point will be when the US dollar goes into freefall, and all the talk and intervention will not revive it. I remember well how things went to hell in the Asian Contagion back in the late-90s and that was again relatively minor compared to the amount of US dollars that are circulating. This will be the far worse than any other fiat currency failure in history.

Anyone that thinks gold and silver are not going to be a safe haven had better get with the program soon. All decisions will be evaluated on one basis: those that happened before the collapse, and those that are made after.

We were talking about the issues in the financial markets at least 2 years ago. Now the general public is just finally starting to figure out there is a problem. Well I think its just as obvious that gold and silver are going to moon, and sometime soon the general public will figure that out too. There is still a lot of scared money out there, and very finite supplies of real bullion to be had (at any price). I think the rush to the lifeboats on the Titanic is a very appropriate analogy and most people are not going to figure that out until it is too late to act.

I regret having such an ominous tone but thats how I see it. I have been a buyer of gold and silver for several years, but I still do not have enough and my money is parked in stocks that are down bigtime. I own juniors that are going to survive this market, but I still do not expect a big recovery for a while. I am just going to ride out the storm the best I can, with the preparation I have been able to do.

I think we have one more chance to act once this bailout package is approved tomorrow and we get a fake rally. If you can find any real gold or silver, buy it and tuck it away for a rainy day. It is too late to shop for insurance the day after the hurricane hits...

cheers!

mike