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The thick black smoke… the smell of burning rubber… overturned smoldering cars. Looters smashed out shop windows and took whatever they could carry away. Ancient landmarks were desecrated. Soldiers patrolled the wreckage as tanks are parked on the street corners. Have aliens attacked? Was a third world dictator deposed? Did the government demand
We have been talking about the pension crisis for years now. It’s without a doubt one of the biggest, financial disasters. These pools of capital, responsible for paying out retirement benefits, are terribly underfunded. So anyone depending on a pension in their retirement years should seriously consider a Plan B – and sooner
I guess none of this should surprise me anymore. Our old friends at Wells Fargo are involved in yet another banking scandal. And this one is really bad… people wrongfully lost their homes and ended up on the street. But before I get into the details of this particularly atrocious mishap, let’s have
Several years ago back in 2004-2006, if you had a pulse, you could borrow money from a bank to buy a house. In fact, bank lending standards were so loose back then that there were some infamous cases of people who DIDN’T have a pulse who were still able to borrow money. That’s
[Editor’s note: While Simon is traveling today, other members of the Sovereign Man team penned today’s missive.] We’ve discussed this on and off for several years now. Civil asset forfeiture is a legal process that allows the government to seize assets and cash from citizens without any due process or judicial oversight. You
[Editor’s note: While Simon is traveling today, other members of the Sovereign Man team penned today’s missive.] This doesn’t make front page news… But it should. Every year, cost of living adjustments increase Social Security benefits. Over the past decade, payouts have increased by an average of 1.66% per year, according to the
Tens of thousands of years ago, humankind was practically an endangered species. Our early proto-ancestors had little means to protect against the harsh elements or defend against terrifying predators. And finding enough food was a constant challenge. Tribes of humans would roam from place to place, foraging for whatever they could eat until
Hong Kong has for decades been one of the most stable places in the world. When the British took Hong Kong over in the late 1800s, it was nothing more than an irrelevant backwater made up of fishing villages and illiterate fishermen. But after a few decades, it became one of the most
According to the latest jobs report, averages wages for US workers increased 3.1% – the strongest growth since 2009. Median individual income in the US is now around $31,000, which means the typical American put an extra $1,000 in their pocket last year. That’s solid extra cash. But if you really want to
Something strange happened in the markets last month that signals trouble ahead… When stocks fell from their September highs, you would have expected investors to run for cover in the world’s safe-haven asset – US Treasurys. But that’s not what happened. While stocks were plunging, Treasurys also fell. Yields on 30-year Treasurys increased
This one is pretty disturbing. In January 2016, Detroit police were tipped off that someone was selling small quantities of marijuana out of their home. Given that the City of Detroit’s murder rate exceeds that of Mexico, you’d think that the Police Department would have had bigger fish to fry. Apparently they didn’t.
In July 1996, flight TWA 800 exploded in mid-air, 12 minutes after taking off from JFK International Airport in New York. All 230 passengers on board were killed. It would be four years before an investigation concluded the likely cause of the explosion was a short circuit in the plane’s fuel tank. But
Tell me this isn’t crazy– A few days ago the creator of the most famous consumer ‘credit score’ in the United States announced a major overhaul in how it rates borrowers. Consumers live and die by this ‘FICO score’. A high FICO score means that it’s easy to obtain loans at lower interest
Shares of Netflix soared today on news the company lost a record $859 million in cash in the third quarter. Why are investors applauding this egregious destruction of capital? Well, it’s because investors only look at one number when Netflix reports earnings – subscriber growth. And on that metric, the company outperformed, adding
On June 15, 1215, King John sat in a field in Runnymede, England, surrounded by angry nobles. His Barons—the big landowners throughout England—had rebelled and seized London, forcing King John to sign an agreement guaranteeing certain rights to the people of England… and restrictions of his power. This agreement was called the Magna