Destroying the Middle Class..............from Rico

Two of the pillars of the Middle Class in America are [1] real estate (home ownership) and [2] retirement savings (the IRA/401K).
- We won't talk about that other pillar...having a JOB, because we all know perfectly well what the unemployment picture truly is (low 20-percent) as opposed to the bogus [read: offishul] numbers being openly reported to us of 9-percent.

[1] Real estate.
- Zillow says the current price situation [read: drop] puts 27-percent of U.S. homeowners underwater.

[2] Equities.
- If you still have an IRA or 401K it looks more like a 104K.
- Sure, the S&P 500 is UP 36-percent since Oct 2008, but the Zimbabwe stock exchange made a LOT of billionaires before anyone 'noticed' that it took a few billion just to buy eggs or ride the bus and shortly thereafter trillion dollar notes didn't buy anything and were replaced by 100 trilion dollar notes which have since become worthless for anything but a conversation piece [I keep one on the wall of my office as a reminder of (a) what is happening to the S&P 500 courtesy of (b) the ever-diminsihing US Dollar].

BUT, because I have been called a "sour puss" and slightly negative IVO our current economic debacle, let's look at the glass as half-full here and discuss the one bright spot...precious metals!
- Gold [GLD] is UP 80-percent from Oct 2008.
- Silver [SLV] is UP 200-percent from Oct 2008.

I'll save the discussion of GLD and SLV being paper bullion* for another time, and just say here that there is a huge counterparty/thirdparty 'risk' inherent in these shares since they are fractional or unbacked by any physical bullion.
- If you don't hold any physical bullion you can expect that one day you will be paid in paper US Dollars for your paper bullion. Yep! You are really holding a handfull of Zimbabwe Dollars and you don't even know it!

*The curious might find the trustee of these i-Shares accounts to be of significant interest to them. I don't trust these guys (they are market-manipulators and crooks), but you can decide for yourselves.
- For MY money, the Canadian Eric Sprott [read: PHYS, PSLV] is the "real deal" and a damned sight more reliable and honest than the custodian of GLD or SLV!