Canadian Dollar in Free Fall, Drops Below 70 Cents USD

The collapsing loonie: this is the talk of the town in Canada as I write this post. The loonie, which only a few short years ago was worth more than the US dollar, has suffered a series of attacks and is in what most would call an utter free fall, plunging below 70 cents US in value.

To find the cause of this, all one needs to do is look at the collapsing price of oil. The reason for the plunge in the loonie is simple: the Canadian dollar is predominately based on the price of oil, especially given the country’s strong dependency on the commodity.

Unfortunately for Canadians, this has and is going to cause a further increase in prices across the board because of their strong dependency on imports, similar to the Unites States.

Just like the US, Canada has hollowed out most of its manufacturing base, choosing to outsource its business and production to China. Although this has saved them money in the past, it has destroyed many of their small mom-and-pop businesses and manufacturers.

This scenario has been played out across most of the Western world, with only a few safe havens still existing. One such example is the strong manufacturing base still seen in Germany.

On its own, the increase in the cost of goods, although a detriment to the standard of living, is not the end of the world. Consumers can put off their spending and be satisfied with the functioning car, TV or computer that they have. Wants are not the same as needs.

What cannot be put off, and what is having a more immediate effect on Canada as their loonie continues to plunge, is the cost of food, which continues to see strong inflation.

With the Canadian dollar dropping below 70 US cents for the first time since May 1 st, 2003, a massive wave of citizens has taken to social media and twitter, posting images of the rising cost of food and how truly unsustainable everyday living is becoming.

Some examples of this explosion in prices are cauliflower, which is now $8.00 per head; cucumbers, which are over $3.00 each; and eggs, milk, and pepper, all of which have moved sharply higher as well.

Although there is not a crisis yet, it is not far off. As I stated in my last article, the true ramifications of this plunge in oil prices has not yet truly set in.

Once the savings and unemployment runs out for those laid off from the oil industry, then you will see the true ramifications of this plunge in oil; then you will see the true crisis.

- Source, Nathan McDonald via the Sprott Money Blog

Central Banks Shouldn't Meddle in Money

"I believe that money is too important to leave to [a] central bank, that it is intolerable that a group of non-elected people should have the power to create a major inflation or a major recession."

- Milton Friedman

Rob Kirby - End Game Machinations Happening Now

How long do we have until the game is up? Macroeconomic analyst Rob Kirby predicts, “I’m guessing the window is four or five months. We are certainly working our way to a blow off event that is going to change our financial universe forever. . . . These are end game machinations. This is like going to see David Copperfield and he ends with the biggest illusion of the night. That’s what this is. That’s what we are seeing. The Lear jet is about to disappear.”

- Source, USA Watchdog

UBS Warns of a 30% Correction in Stocks, Shockingly Says, “Buy Gold!”

We've been writing about it for months, we've been talking about it – we in the precious metals community can feel it in our bones. A bear market or outright crash is coming and it is coming soon.

The Santa Claus rally that the markets experience throughout the month of December is already wearing off and the market is beginning to get the jitters. Investors are worried and rightly so.

Economic report after economic report is indicating that it is not only the West slowing down; so is almost the entire global economy. China in particular is experiencing an increasingly difficult time despite the fact that their current growth (although much lower than the past) would make most countries drool with envy.

We have been saying this, we know this, but the mainstream media has done its best to keep the lemmings onboard until it is too late. Time after time, throughout history, this has been the case: the man on the street is left holding the bag while the financial elite reap the profits of the bull market and get out while the getting out is good.

Time is growing short; now, the financial elite via their banking system can ignore the facts no longer. UBS just released a report with their guidance for 2016 and the image isn't pretty.

In their report, they indicate that they see a 20% to 30% correction coming within the next year! You can bet your last dollar on the fact that if that correction is what they are calling for through their rose colored glasses, then it will be much, much worse in reality.

With reports like this coming out, it is only a matter of time before others in the financial sector jump ship and call for a correction in the banking system. This, of course, is long in the coming, as the current economic situation in the world is abysmal. In addition to this situation, the impending scramble to "get out" will speed up the process of correction.

Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg: what is UBS recommending that you buy as you sell your stocks and position yourself for a correction? Believe it or not, they are recommending gold and gold stocks, as shocking as that sounds.

"Gold has been trading in a cyclical bear market since 2011.

In 2016, we expect gold and gold mines moving into an eight-year cycle bottom as the basis for the next multi-year bull market."

I, for one, am stunned that this is their recommendation given the banking elites’ extreme hatred towards precious metals. Perhaps they know the facts: gold has been suppressed so much that it is, simply put, a beach ball waiting to explode.

The time to buy gold and silver at these extremely discounted prices grows short. Are you prepared for the coming crash in stocks and the explosive rise in precious metals? If not, I ask, what are you waiting for?

- Source, Nathan McDonald via the Sprott Money Blog

Chris Powell Of GATA - Gold Is The Nuclear Weapon Of Currencies

Gold inventory at the Comex has recently fallen to historic lows. Could this be a sign that the price suppression is coming to an end? Chris Powell of GATA discusses on the Daily Coin.

Our Biggest Threat

"The most significant threat to our national security is our debt."

- Retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Michael Pento - Fed Trying To Maintain Illusion Of Credibility

If the global economy is going down no matter what, why raise interest rates? Pento says, “Yellen has boxed herself into a corner . . . she wants to make people confident in the economy. She wants to fulfill that confidence by going off zero. . . . They are going off zero to maintain the illusion of credibility.”

So, if the global economy tanks in 2016, what will Fed Head Janet Yellen do then? Pento contends, “It doesn’t change the intractable motion towards a recession. So, she’s going to have to take back that interest rate hike. She goes back into QE sometime in 2016. . . . I think the U.S. dollar is really in jeopardy here because the ‘dot plots’ say we are going to be at 1.5%, and I don’t think we ever get there without completely flattening out the yield curve and sending the U.S. economy into a depression.

- Source

Grant Williams - The Fed's End Of The Road

Grant Williams returns this week to set the context for this week's FOMC meeting, where the Federal Reserve is widely expected to hike interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. To say he is very skeptical of the Fed's ability to continue to control market forces much longer is a gross understatement.

- Source

Silver Is Now A BUCK In 1980 Dollars

Excellent economics and silver researcher Steve St. Angelo from SRS Rocco.com joins me to discuss all things silver and the deflationary economic collapse. Thanks for joining us.