Bada-bing Badda-boom.
RealtyTrac says foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in March, a jump of nearly 19% from February, an increase of nearly 8% from March 2009 and the highest monthly total since beginning its reports in January 2005.
Maybe one day, instead of being fixated on who dances the best, sings the worst, who’s the thinnest, fattest, most eccentric, and other such superficial, inane tripe we see on sources like Yahoo News complete with a “Trending Now” box displaying the top 10 searches the idiocracy is looking for, it might look like this:
One could only hope 
PS: Sorry about the width…
On Treason:
"Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort…
"In Ex Parte Bollman (1807), the Supreme Court ruled that “there must be an actual assembling of men, for the treasonable purpose, to constitute a levying of war”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Three_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Section_3:_Treason
By any reasonable standard, there is–and has been, for quite a number of years–a war being waged against the accomplishments of “The Greatest Generation” and their offspring here in America. We are America. This war is being and has been waged against We, The People. We know who they are: Wall Street. We know where they are “assembled”: Wall Street. When are we going to decide to implement the rights that only The People (victims), by definition, have recourse to in order remedy such crimes against country?
On Punishment for Treason:
In 1790, the Congress of the United States enacted that:
“If any person or persons, owing allegiance to the United States of America, shall levy war against them, or shall adhere to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States, or elsewhere, and shall be thereof convicted on confession in open Court, or on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act of the treason whereof he or they shall stand indicted, such person or persons shall be adjudged guilty of treason against the United States, and SHALL SUFFER DEATH…”
If anyone here can honestly say they don’t think there are people on Wall Street and within our government that have, by definition, commited treason as defined within the founding documents of our country, please explain why? And if you are going to insist that it is not truly “war” that is being waged against the people, then you are merely not well enough informed to understand that thousands of people–at a minimum–are dying and will die as the direct result of the treasonous actions being perpetrated against The People by the corporatocracy that IS our current government–not that murder is a necessary requirement defining war.
Thank you Chris for continuing to expose the crimes against the American People.
Treason doth never prosper. What’s the reason. If it doth prosper, none dare call it treason. - Ovid
Cults doth never prosper. What’s the reason? If it doth prosper, none dare call it a cult. - TheRemnant.
This is why no-one calls christianity or other large sects, public education, the military, government, and other such brainwashing centers as “cults”.
The more I study this, the more I am being convinced “culture” is the residual scar tissue of child abuse.
The government reports on retail sales include a survivor bias at mentioned by a previous poster. Zero Hedge featured a critique of this around early March. The points I remember are these.
Numbers are for same store sales, open at least one year. They don’t include new stores or those that have been closed for lack of business. For example, when Circit City closed, their customers went to Best Buy. Best Buy only reported sales at their established stores, not new ones, or ones Best Buy its self closed for lack of business. The results are increased sales at a smaller number of stores, but decline in sales as a whole. The sales tax paradox was also discussed.
I have lost the link but their is a web site that reports actual sales based on purchases by credit and debit cards, giving real time figures for retail sales, and they were seriously down.
My conclusion is that the official reports give a rosy picture that is false. If the tax isn’t there the sales didn’t happen.
Well EVERYTHING is manipulated and you can’t trust ANYTHING (except here) !!! Seriously, it’s maddening.
That’s why I come here to get good balanced, logical and reasoned analysis. Good job Dr. C, and keep up the good work! 
Jim
Chris,
Exactly. Mish actually covered this nicely in a segment about same store sales. Basically, that stat is worthless or at best misleading. A great is example is Circuity City closing nation wide. Of course Best Buy same store sales are going to pick up some now that there are less choices. That doesn’t mean people are spending more overall. The best measure to pay attention to is tax receipts… and if u look most if not all are dropping.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/04/marketwatch-says-us-consumers-are-back.html
Remnant,
Post#21, what can I say - damn good!!!
+100!!!
~ VF ~
I share similar concerns about the disconnect. Luckily, I started moving back into the market in Dec. 08 and continued adding up until Aug. 09. Since then, I’ve been holding, with my finger poised over the “sell” button. I’m hoping my market savvy will allow me to jump ship ahead of the pack. We’ll see.
The stock market seems to be responding to the huge liquidity injections that the fed has pumped into the economy, along with the money flowing in from the stimulus packages. At some point this will run out, and as mentioned in the article, additional stimulus will come along, probably in response to a serious rout in the stock market.
Conditions appear to be moving toward those that existed in October 1987. Back then market participants were on edge, due to high valuations and deteriorating fundamentals, and then the Treasury secretary muttered something strange about where interest rates were headed and triggered a huge one day decline. My point is, the trigger will not be something that is on our radar screens; it will come out of the blue and surprise an already jumpy stock market.
I hate having to risk my financial assets like this. I am not trying to be a greedy hog. I would much rather have a stable currency; a non-inflationary economy where I don’t have to put my assets at a huge risk in order to maintain purchasing power. But that’s not the real world.
I'm hoping my market savvy will allow me to jump ship ahead of the pack. We'll see.
Now might be a good time according to Nathan’s post for 4/15:
http://economicedge.blogspot.com/
Let me paraphrase Dr. M. - better to be a year early than a day late. Good luck!
Dr. Martenson and Readers,
These are interesting and precise observations indeed and demonstrate one dominant aspect of the American economic situation:
Totalitarianism.
The free market that defined American policy through the 20th century is closing. The Open Society that was the United States of America, the engine of global growth that pulled Europe to its feet after the World Wars, that economically and politically outmaneuvered the Soviet Union, that is sucking dry the Middle East of oil, is in its final stages of a transition to a Closed Society.
Small businesses fail because they are priced out by existing monopolies. These existing monopolies have been allowed to continue to exist, despite the fact that they have already gone bankrupt and limp along on life support at the expense of the American taxpayer. That is, Americans are paying twice for most domestic goods and services – first to make sure that the provider remains solvent as a business, and second to purchase a product. To top it off, prices in the United States are no longer negotiable. They are fixed. Anti-dumping policies, both covert and conspicuous have ensured that foreign competition will never undermine American companies, and have destroyed the competitiveness that defined the American economy.
To Americans: You can reverse it if you find your voice and speak out.
Chris, excellent work as always and I too am wrestline with cognitive dissonance.
A few thoughts:
- The one highlight of the retail numbers was wholesale clubs, people stocking up on tangibles while they have money. If I only had one paycheck left or if I was worried about my job, I would head to costco and buy alot of rice and can goods (they don’t sell dry beans, I’ve checked).
2) Inflation is higher than officially reported with John williams SGS alternate CPI reading about 10% higher than a year ago.
- Credit / M3 is still falling like a rock so small businesses confidence that they can cover if things stay tough is in the trough as well.
These three items could help explain why small business is seeing no recovery.
I’ll tell you what is really causing me cognitive dissonance, its the whistleblowers (re: Goldman/JPMORGAN) making it to day light increasingly in the MSM. Its almost like they are trying to precipitate a crash in confidence in the economic system. Very incongrous with their past behavior.
I like to compare the difference between the increase in GDP and the increase in the federal deficit. With the deficit increasing by $300 to $400 billion per quarter, I am unimpressed with GDP growth of $200 billion per quarter. What happens if we reduce the deficit?
Chris - no matter how much the Fed prints, legions of workers in China still work for < $1 hr. As long as this doesn’t change, they can print an unlimited amount of dollars to distort any and all aspects of the market. If we were more of a closed system like in the 1970s, inflation would have totally exploded by now. Quite frankly, the Fed must be amazed at how much it can print at this point without any inflation.
Then we will disproportionately reduce GDP growth most likely, and that’s part of the predicament we face. If we start pulling on one strand of the economy, there is a dramatic effect on another strand.
[quote=dyoakam@hotmail.com]
I like to compare the difference between the increase in GDP and the increase in the federal deficit. With the deficit increasing by $300 to $400 billion per quarter, I am unimpressed with GDP growth of $200 billion per quarter. What happens if we reduce the deficit?
[/quote]What value is GDP?
retail sales fourth quarter, up 1.9% http://blog.retailtrafficmag.com/retail_traffic_court/2010/01/14/commerce-department-says-retail-sales-tanked-in-december/
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sales taxes, 4th quarter:
http://www.rockinst.org/pdf/government_finance/state_revenue_report/2010-04-16-SRR_79.pdf
31pp, detailed sales tax breakout on p 15 & 16, texas is one of the worst declines @ 13%...
from p 6&7:
State sales tax collections in the October-December
2009 quarter were down 5.3 percent from the
same quarter in 2008, and 11.3 percent from the same period two
years earlier. This decline is the mildest since the start of the 2007
recession but still far worse than declines in the previous recession.
After adjusting for inflation using the gross domestic product
price index, state sales tax revenue declined by 5.9 percent in
the October-December quarter of 2009.
Sales tax declines were reported in all regions but New England.
The Southwest had the largest decline at 15.2 percent, followed
by the Rocky Mountain at 3.9 percent. The New England
region was the only region reporting growth in sales tax revenue
collections in the fourth quarter at 4.8 percent. However, Massachusetts
was the only state in the region reporting sales tax
growth, mostly attributable to legislated changes. If we exclude
Massachusetts from the region, sales tax collections in New England
show a 6.2 percent decline.
Forty-one of 45 states with broad-based sales taxes had declines,
and ten states had double-digit declines. Massachusetts
had the largest increase at 20.8 percent, followed by North
Carolina at 17.6 percent. The other two states reporting growth in
sales tax revenues were California and Utah at 1.9 and 1.6 percent
respectively. Wyoming led the states with the largest decline at 40
percent followed by Georgia at 24.7 percent.
sales taxes, fourth quarter:
I’m open to the possibility that just because I don’t understand all of the mechanics of current economic data, doesn’t mean that there is an evil conspiracy to enslave Americans and turn us into a Muslim/Socialist/Fascist (pick your “tea”) nation…
It’s not a conspiracy, yes, that’s exactly the point… The whole deal is widely published across the whole planet through the Internet (I don’t see it as anything more fancy than wealth transfer and a power grab BTW), but people still don’t care about their future, that’s the problem. IMO, it’s been going smoothly until now because the rich could get richer, while the rest could retain their standard of living through the increase use of energy, but with peak oil and no viable alternative in sight, the game has changed.
Samuel
Samuel,
That was beautifully put …
My Best,
Paul