Nothing, As In NOTHING, Has Changed.

"Nations are not ruined by one act of violence, but quite often, gradually, and almost imperceptibly, by the depreciation of their currency, through excessive quantity."
-Nicolas Copernicus, 1525

Jobless Claims Hit New Record; Durable Orders Fall
The number of U.S. workers continuing to claim jobless benefits notched a fresh record in the second week of February, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, while new claims for aid were the highest since 1982.

The number of people remaining on the benefits roll after drawing an initial week of assistance increased by 114,000 to a 5.112 million in the week ended Feb. 14, the most recent week for which data is available. The so-called continued claims topped every estimate in a Reuters poll of 15 economists, which had a consensus forecast of 5.00 million.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits increased to a seasonally adjusted 667,000 in the week ended Feb. 21 from a revised 631,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. It was the highest reading since October 1982, when claims reached 695,000.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29406024

New-home sales tumble to record low pace in Jan.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New-home sales tumbled to a record-low annual pace in January and there's no relief in sight as mounting damage from the collapsed housing market pushes the country deeper into recession.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that sales fell 10.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, the worst showing on records going back to 1963. It also was weaker than the pace of 330,000 that economists expected, and shattered the previous all-time monthly low set in September 1981.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Newhome-sales-tumble-to-apf-14478139.html

Significantly, it should be noted in the data contained in both of these headlines that the historic lows referenced came at the end of a very long recessionary period. 1981 and 1982 were not pretty economic times, and these were the last years of a slowdown. The data we got today, these numbers are at the "beginning" of a long economic slowdown. YES! I don't care what that knucklehead Bernanke was trying to spoon feed our fiscally ignorant Washington Legislators. The worst numbers always come at the end of the recession, not at the beginning. The carnage has only just begun. 2008 was the blowup on Wall Street. 2009 is going to be the blowup on Main Street. I'm sorry if you dumped your Gold AND Silver in a panic. Those waiting to get in thank you though for your generosity.

Wall Street Opens Higher as Investors Bet on Banks
Wall Street opened higher as investors showed some relief over more government help for the banking system. President Obama's budget proposal outlines the possibility of spending $250 billion more for additional financial industry rescue efforts on top of the $700 billion that Congress has already authorized, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.

This morning's headline on Yahoo Finance. How could ANYBODY be dumb enough to put ANY investment cash into a bank right now? The banks have not bottomed, PERIOD. As a matter of fact, there may NEVER be a good time to buy bank stocks ever again. Don't laugh...I'm dead serious. Think about it, how does the government putting MORE money into the banks make them any better off? Has the government already poured TRILLIONS of Dollars down this sink hole already, and to NO effect? The government pours in money, the banks go lower. Why would pouring more in result in anything different? It's insanity. If they keep pumping Dollars into these banks all that's going to left is change. As in chump change.

Obama budget has new $750B bank rescue contingency
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is budgeting for a new $750 billion bank bailout this year, raising the prospect of a dramatic increase in the stake taxpayers already hold in the beleaguered financial sector.

The White House's 2010 budget released Thursday includes a $250 billion contingency fund for 2009, the projected cost to the government of purchasing $750 billion in assets from banks in need of capital infusions.

In essence, taxpayers would foot the entire $750 billion up front. Administration budget writers predict the value of the assets that the government purchases would result in a loss of 33 cents for every $1 spent, hence the $250 billion net expenditure.

"We hope that it will not be necessary," White House budget director Peter Orszag said Thursday.

Still, the inclusion of the money is the clearest sign yet that Obama's economic team is not certain that the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program that Congress approved last fall has done enough to unlock the capital markets and make credit more available.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-budget-anticipates-new-apf-14481515.html

Incredible! Bernanke and The Obama are so certain their "New Plan" is gonna work and send us down the road to recovery by "the second half", that they are already making plans for the failure of this New Plan with plans for the NEW New Plan. Insanity! And investors want to buy bank stocks? Good freaking luck to the lot of you!

The Obama unveils his $3.5 TRILLION budget for the next fiscal year, and projects the budget deficit at $1.75 TRILLION Dollars. That is 3.8 times bigger than last years budget deficit. How in the name of Thomas Jefferson does he plan to pay for this?

This week, the Treasury is offering a record $94 billion debt over three days, including $22 billion in 7-year notes being auctioned Thursday.

Stop and think about that for a moment. $94 BILLION of debt in ONE WEEK. Last years entire deficit, for 52 weeks, was $459 BILLION. In ONE WEEK, the US has taken on 20% of all of last years deficit as a down payment on this years. IN ONE WEEK! That is astonishing! It's fiscal Insanity! Where is the rage?

Timmy, Larry and Benny are Lost in the Fiscal Wilderness
The abomination of Obamanation will prolong economic pain; stretching out damage into many years of fiscal malaise driving wealth from critically needed investments into business friendly foreign lands. Those with the bucks are moving away. Handwriting is on the wall. Economically destructive Californian trends demonstrate where this once proud nation goes next. We are sinking into a dumbed-down cesspool of despair; into a land of drooling liberals, tossing around cash with abandon. Not being satisfied with the $800 Billion they just slammed this week, they propose much more for health care. We are spiraling down a rat hole with no bottom into a pit of depression.

“…George Soros said last Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding … there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis. Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union. His comments echoed those made earlier at the same conference by Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman who is now a top adviser to President Barack Obama, Volcker said industrial production around the world was declining even more rapidly than in the United States, which is itself under severe strain.”
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Wieg_cor/roger_feb262009.html

Gold and Silver took it on the chin today... Silver, as always, reacted more violently than Gold. From 974 to 1000 last week I recommended caution with regards to purchasing the Precious Metals at those levels. On the 19th I suggested that any drops to 930 in Gold, and 13.25 in Silver be bought aggressively. Reactions in Bull Markets are common AND necessary. It is far to soon to say that The Precious Metals have capsized, and gone into a reversal. To date, NOTHING HAS CHANGED.