Jim Puplava @ FinancialSense/StormWatch

[jbutsz]

http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/oldupdates/main.htm">http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/oldupdates/main.htm
(Thanks to whomever posted a link to this site the other day)

Am I justified in being as scared sh*tless as I am at what his writings are pointing to? :scared:

Has anyone picked out any BS in his writings?

Is this truly the way things really work?? :wow:

[Maple]

1. No

he's selling gold. Ignore him.

[jbutsz]

2. catch

Of course there's to be some sort of catch in giving out this much info/time for free, but it all still sounds so perfectly plausible and logical.

Is his selling gold on the back of those warnings the reason to ignore his warnings, or the warnings themselves the reason to ignore him?

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Too simple

He's selling gold, so he has a goldbug bias. But market analysts have been following a number of deleterious economic trends since the late 1990s; they accelerated dramatically after Bush came into office, and while I blame Bush for a lot of mischief, the example of Canute -- commanding the tides on the 10th century British beachhead -- still offers a lesson.

The sad fact is that, absent a growing economy, social progress, and an optimistic orientation toward the world, economic distress and collapse are inevitable. And we'll be facing an even larger threat within the next decade, a dramatic increase in the cost of lifting petroleum from ever-deeper sources to the surface where we can use it.

First, we now have a fundamentally pessimistic, cynical view of the world. The Clinton-driven optimism of the 1990s changed radically when Bush came into office. Instead of forging new partnerships in culture, technology, and business, "we" started to view the world as our adversary. Social progress came to a screeching halt as this attitude "tricked down" to affect our own population. The general timbre of fear and cynicism led inevitably to an economic downturn. It always does.

(As an aside, this is the real key to the Big Dog's success -- of all the politicians I can recall, he has consistently not just been the most optimistic, but he has actively promoted an optimistic vision of human events.)

I can't blame the gold bugs, because even if your stocks lose, say, 99.9% of their value, like local (to my area, north of Philly) high-tech firm VerticalNet, gold never drops to zero.

I have been trying to read from as many points of view as I can reasonably assimilate. FSO is one of the better starting points, though Jim Puplava does have a bit of an evangelical/apocalyptic point of view. The key is to become economically literate and draw one's own conclusion. Economic literacy is as important as political consciousness to achieving a just and progressive society.

--bkl
So sez I.

[jbutsz]

6. Economic literacy

That's what I'm digging into now, and it is daunting as I have no background in it whatsoever - all I have is an appetite for understanding. After first awakening to just how manipulated we all are through our political systems, I guess it was just a matter of time before it led me to economics, and that started with hearing about "PTT" everywhere.

What other sources paint a real no BS view of what's been going on, and future possibilities as a result?

[Resistance Is Futile]

9. Economic education

It's necessary to have a decent understanding of the fundamentals of macroeconomics before one can make a sound judgement on current economic events. Pick up a macroeconomics textbook or two and learn the principles involved. From here you'll be able to identify most of the bullshit artists (e.g. Chimp and the likes of Luskin) yourself.

Definitely beware of gold bugs.

[kalian]

4. Ahhh yes....Puplava is 'biased'....

:eyes:

[ozymandius]

5. Puplava is a good mechanic.

I post the stock thread every morning and start with the day's WrapUp - often an analysis of the previous day's stock markets' performance. When Puplava authors the WrapUp you can count on him being cynical and deferential to gold. His cynicism is an attribute I value. But when one looks at the salient elements of his opinions (the ones that are purely the Hows and Whys) then I believe that he presents a very meticulous critique of the smoke-and-mirrors gag that epitomize the markets today. Warren Buffett agrees.

I do not think that Puplava (and anyone who follows recent market history and policy) has forgiven anyone for the utter lack of oversight into the Enron-like financial transactions that gave us the tech bubble of the late 90s. The SEC has been utterly useless on this issue.

I would heed Puplava's warnings. I am not telling you to buy gold, by the way. What I do mean to say is that if anyone tries to sell you something by giving you a lot of bad news, he is a poor salesman. Gold is not his main product. Being correct in forming his opinions is his stock in trade.

[jbutsz]

7. I just started

watching that thread. Interesting. What first caught my interest in what's really going on in economy/finance was reading you all mentioning the "PPT" interventions.

Naturally, my first reaction was :wtf:

Puplava's piece on http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/oldupdates/2003/0702.htm">Silver: The Undervalued Asset Looking For A Catalyst was the only one I've read in which I felt he was pushing Gold and Silver hard like a salesman apocalyptically.

If he is full of shiat, well then that's another thing altogether. But if what he is saying about the workings of the Fed, economy, finance, credit & debt, etc. are true, I don't blame him for selling gold and silver on the back of warning people about what may be coming. I don't have money to invest anyways, except maybe for silver as cheap as it is - which he makes a good case for in the above piece and there wouldn't be much to lose in it.

Mostly though, I just want to understand "the powers that be" and learn to recognize a social problem in the making, to be as prepared as possible for if/when it hits the doorstep. So far it lends a bit better understanding of political problems and motivations as well.

I am just keeping up with the daily stock thread and may pester some there with questions here and there.

Could you recommend any other no-BS sources that are similiar (hub-like/analytic) to Financial Sense?

[specimenfred1984]

8. He, like others with guts, at least attempts to forecast

what's going to happen. And, he like others, isn't right all the time. I've been reading him for about a year and he does indepth research which is more than most other financial analysts do.

I've been trading my own portfolio since 1991 and can tell you that you have to make up your own mind. Investment decisions must be based on your understanding of the markets you're investing or speculating in. You need to know when to get in and when to get out; don't let anyone else tell you either.

If you can't do it yourself, let someone who can. The markets are worldwide beasts, it takes a few years to figure out what's going on because in the financial press 99% of what you read is corporate propaganda.

Puplava is not a propagandizer, he's a man with opinions that are open to change. That's as good as it gets.

[kalian]

10. There's no doubt that he's a bear...

BUT you have to look at the current economic situation as well as
the indicators. All things are pointing towards a major economic
mishap and he's just riding along reporting what is OBVIOUS.
He's definitely not mainstream although I find it curious that there
are both repukes and fringe groups hanging around within his forums.
Basically: doomsayers...

I've been reading Puplava for about 2 years now and he has pretty
much called everything that has happened and on top of that, he has
blasted economic policies of BOTH SIDES. Some of his guest writers
though are a tad "reich-wing" for my tastes.

I'll still keep on reading his articles and some of the other writers'
articles just to keep informed, i.e, since the mediawhores are
all touting the so-called "recovery"...

[duvinnie]

11. another source

http://www.prudentbear.com/

good analysis though very technical. essentially makes the case that the feds/market
are propping up the current bubbles but fears what will happen when overseas
institutions call the bluff.

[Infinite Velocity]

12. CrossCurrents

Here's another Bearish source.

http://www.cross-currents.net/

[junker]

13. yet another source

let us not forget the
http://www.urbansurvival.com/week.htm

Geo. Ure is a very good contrarian fellow.

[jbutsz]

14. Thanks everyone,

for the sources. It'll keep me busy in reading until I can afford (heh) some books.

[mhr]

15. Another Source: www.comstockfunds.com

www.comstockfunds.com