El Filosofo Liberal

Robert Kiyosaki Monday, November 24, 2008, 12:00AM How did we get into the current financial mess? Great question. Turmoil in the Making In 1910, seven men held a secret meeting on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia. It's estimated that those seven men represented one-sixth of the world's wealth. Six were Americans representing J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and the U.S. government. One was a European representing the Rothschilds and Warburgs. In 1913, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank was created as a direct result of that secret meeting. Interestingly, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank isn't federal, there are no reserves, and it's not a bank. Those seven men, some American and some European, created this new entity, commonly referred to as the Fed, to take control of the banking system and the money supply of the United States. In 1944, a meeting in Bretton Woods, N.H., led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. While the stated purpose

by Andy Kessler Friday, November 21, 2008 The Wall Street Journal Down in the morning, up in the afternoon. Or is it the other way around? The topsy-turvy stock market is tough to read. In the last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has briefly been over 13,000 and below 8,000. The past month has felt like the Cyclone roller coaster on Brooklyn's Coney Island -- lots of ups and downs, the whole rickety thing feeling like it's going to crash at any minute. Great investors are taught to listen to the market. Each tick of the tape has something to say about expectations for growth, inflation, policy changes and looming recessions. The stock market is like a giant mass of pulsing plasma doing price discovery and a game of hot potato, getting stocks into the correct hands with the right risk profile. It's way too big for any one person to manipulate, let alone touch directly. Instead, millions of us provide input with our buying and selling decisions. When it's at its mo

By CONRAD de AENLLE Published: November 21, 2008 WHEN crude oil sailed above $140 a barrel, analysts forecast even higher prices, virtually without dissent. Four months have passed, crude has fallen below $50, and now a rally generally seems to be considered almost out of the question. Betting against the consensus by selling energy stocks would have paid off several months ago, and the opposite play, equally contrarian, might be profitable now. Shares of many suppliers of oil and natural gas have lost half their value or more in the stock market’s race to the bottom, and may be good buys. Robb J. Parlanti, an analyst and fund manager at Turner Investment Partners, expects gas producers to be the biggest beneficiaries if energy prices recover. He emphasizes the “if,” however, and advises investors to “stick with high-quality companies that are good to own even if the market doesn’t come back.” Those he has in mind include XTO Energy, Range Resources , Southwestern Energy , Petrohawk En

Doug Kass 11/17/08 - 12:00 PM EST This blog post originally appeared on RealMoney Silver on Nov. 17 at 8:03 a.m. EST. For nearly a decade, a surplus of cash has led to a shortage of common sense in the lending and borrowing of capital, and the markets are now in disarray as a financial hurricane has wreaked havoc upon the world's economies. In a haze of uncertainty, market participants' visions of our economic future remain cloudy. That uncertainty and the loss of investor confidence and liquidity are manifested in historic intraday swings, suggesting that investors see a very wide range of possible economic outcomes. A crisis 10 to 15 years in the making does not get fixed overnight. There are going to be difficult days ahead, but, as I have noted , there are tentative signs of improvement. For example, the actions taken by the U.S. and other nations are beginning to have an impact. Though credit remains dear, credit markets are beginning to thaw. Businesses are slowly gainin

1. We, the Leaders of the Group of Twenty, held an initial meeting in Washington on November 15, 2008, amid serious challenges to the world economy and financial markets. We are determined to enhance our cooperation and work together to restore global growth and achieve needed reforms in the world’s financial systems. 2. Over the past months our countries have taken urgent and exceptional measures to support the global economy and stabilize financial markets. These efforts must continue. At the same time, we must lay the foundation for reform to help to ensure that a global crisis, such as this one, does not happen again. Our work will be guided by a shared belief that market principles, open trade and investment regimes, and effectively regulated financial markets foster the dynamism, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are essential for economic growth, employment, and poverty reduction. Root Causes of the Current Crisis 3. During a period of strong global growth, growing capital f

The Wall Street Journal - Opinion NOVEMBER 14, 2008 As committees to save the world go, Saturday's Washington confab of the Group of 20 world leaders may be the most poorly timed in history. In their wisdom, the politicians have decided to meet to solve the world's financial troubles smack in the middle of a U.S. Presidential transition. But thank heaven, at least the Saudis and Brazilians will be there. For some world leaders, this timing is part of the appeal. They know President Bush is on his way out and at a low popular ebb, while Barack Obama hasn't even named a Treasury Secretary. From the safe harbor of Chicago, the President-elect is dispatching a pair of supporters with no great experience in global finance -- former Congressman Jim Leach and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright -- to attend on his behalf. He is right to keep his distance before he has his own economic team in place. All of which makes the meeting a wonderful forum for other national leade

The Wall Street Journal - Opinion NOVEMBER 14, 2008 You may have heard about Argentina's plan to nationalize private retirement accounts. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are inspired, and with their big election victory they may get the chance to test Peronist ideas in America. Meet Congressmen George Miller and Jim McDermott, who are eager to change the way Americans save for their golden years. They'll also be powerbrokers in the next Congress. Mr. Miller, who came in with the Class of 1974 from California, chairs the House Education and Labor Committee. Mr. McDermott, who has represented Seattle the past two decades, runs a House Ways and Means subcommittee on income security and family support. Before Election Day, the Congressmen began to target the $3 trillion in 401(k) accounts held by about 60% of Americans. Mr. Miller called the system "an inadequate vehicle" that "has not been terribly successful" in encouraging retirement savings. He wants a "