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Chris Martenson

Image | The Journey From Here to There Has Begun
The Journey From Here to There Has Begun
 PREVIEW

Well, things at the reactors seem to have been far worse than we were told.  Again, regrettably, I am operating on incomplete information that is out of date, and quite probably not only incomplete but also, if past trends are predictive, understated.  Sooner or later I am going to get something very wrong in this story, which I worry about a lot, but so far I have been well ahead of the curve.

The conclusion of the data and educated guesses below is that if you live in Tokyo or closer, and can take a vacation to Nagoya, or somewhere further, please do so. If not, please be ready to shelter in place for a while by having food and water stored in your domicile.

The troubling news (admission?) has to do with a neutron beam detected last week over a three day period:
The Journey From Here to There Has Begun
 PREVIEW

Well, things at the reactors seem to have been far worse than we were told.  Again, regrettably, I am operating on incomplete information that is out of date, and quite probably not only incomplete but also, if past trends are predictive, understated.  Sooner or later I am going to get something very wrong in this story, which I worry about a lot, but so far I have been well ahead of the curve.

The conclusion of the data and educated guesses below is that if you live in Tokyo or closer, and can take a vacation to Nagoya, or somewhere further, please do so. If not, please be ready to shelter in place for a while by having food and water stored in your domicile.

The troubling news (admission?) has to do with a neutron beam detected last week over a three day period:
Image | Straight Talk with John Rubino: The Damage Is Already Done
Straight Talk with John Rubino: The Damage Is Already Done

"Straight Talk" features thinking from notable minds that the PeakProsperity.com audience has indicated it wants to learn more about. Readers submit the questions they want addressed and our guests take their best crack at answering. The comments and opinions expressed by our guests are their own.

This week's Straight Talk contributor is John Rubino, publisher of DollarCollapse.com, a popular hub for news impacting the economy. John is the author of several well-received books foretelling (years in advance) the collapse of the housing market and the decline of the US dollar. Before starting his website, John was a featured columnist with theStreet.com, Individual Investor, and a number of other influential financial publications. His perspective on Wall Street and the currency markets is shaped by his past roles as a Eurodollar trader, equity analyst and junk bond analyst in the 1980s.

1. Several times, you’ve published prescient forecasts when it mattered. For example, you and James Turk published The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit From It in 2004 – about a year and half before the US Dollar Index dropped from 90 to nearly 70. Similarly, How to Profit From the Coming Real Estate Bust was released in 2003. What led you to accurately predict these major market moves so far in advance?

I’ve been involved, one way or another, with financial bubbles for most of my life.

Straight Talk with John Rubino: The Damage Is Already Done

"Straight Talk" features thinking from notable minds that the PeakProsperity.com audience has indicated it wants to learn more about. Readers submit the questions they want addressed and our guests take their best crack at answering. The comments and opinions expressed by our guests are their own.

This week's Straight Talk contributor is John Rubino, publisher of DollarCollapse.com, a popular hub for news impacting the economy. John is the author of several well-received books foretelling (years in advance) the collapse of the housing market and the decline of the US dollar. Before starting his website, John was a featured columnist with theStreet.com, Individual Investor, and a number of other influential financial publications. His perspective on Wall Street and the currency markets is shaped by his past roles as a Eurodollar trader, equity analyst and junk bond analyst in the 1980s.

1. Several times, you’ve published prescient forecasts when it mattered. For example, you and James Turk published The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit From It in 2004 – about a year and half before the US Dollar Index dropped from 90 to nearly 70. Similarly, How to Profit From the Coming Real Estate Bust was released in 2003. What led you to accurately predict these major market moves so far in advance?

I’ve been involved, one way or another, with financial bubbles for most of my life.

Image | Special Report: Japanese Reactor Situation is Likely Far Worse Than Admitted
Special Report: Japanese Reactor Situation is Likely Far Worse Than Admitted
 PREVIEW

I know that I have been almost exclusively focused on the Fukushima situation even as the Middle East is erupting and the West has declared war on another small, oil-rich country. I wish I had time to analyze both situations with equal attention. Since I don’t, I’m focusing more on the situation in Japan, which I see is still the more dire of the two.

Analysis of another ‘shaky-cam’ video released yesterday reveals what appears to be a startling hot-spot in the rubble of Reactor #1, which we will examine below.

The Fukushima nuclear situation is the most drastic nuclear event of our lifetimes, and could easily surpass Chernobyl in terms of its impacts on the world economy, to say nothing of the people living near and downwind of the reactors.

I am simply aghast that the reactor situation almost entirely disappeared from the front pages of the US news media over the March 20-21 weekend, to be replaced by (comforting?) images of military and technical superiority against Libya.

While I am quite concerned about the timing, strategy, and intent that lies behind this sudden support for the Libyan rebels (Wag The Dog, anyone?), it is clear to me that what happens in Japan next has a greater chance of impacting most of the rest of the world, to say nothing of Japan itself.

Here’s an example of the latest news, such as it is, about the reactor situation in Japan:

Special Report: Japanese Reactor Situation is Likely Far Worse Than Admitted
 PREVIEW

I know that I have been almost exclusively focused on the Fukushima situation even as the Middle East is erupting and the West has declared war on another small, oil-rich country. I wish I had time to analyze both situations with equal attention. Since I don’t, I’m focusing more on the situation in Japan, which I see is still the more dire of the two.

Analysis of another ‘shaky-cam’ video released yesterday reveals what appears to be a startling hot-spot in the rubble of Reactor #1, which we will examine below.

The Fukushima nuclear situation is the most drastic nuclear event of our lifetimes, and could easily surpass Chernobyl in terms of its impacts on the world economy, to say nothing of the people living near and downwind of the reactors.

I am simply aghast that the reactor situation almost entirely disappeared from the front pages of the US news media over the March 20-21 weekend, to be replaced by (comforting?) images of military and technical superiority against Libya.

While I am quite concerned about the timing, strategy, and intent that lies behind this sudden support for the Libyan rebels (Wag The Dog, anyone?), it is clear to me that what happens in Japan next has a greater chance of impacting most of the rest of the world, to say nothing of Japan itself.

Here’s an example of the latest news, such as it is, about the reactor situation in Japan:

Image | Nuclear Expert’s Step-By-Step Assessment of the Fukushima Disaster & What You Need to Know
Nuclear Expert’s Step-By-Step Assessment of the Fukushima Disaster & What You Need to Know

Chris speaks with a nuclear expert to demystify Fukushima’s reactor crisis, exploring reactor mechanics, decay heat, and the risks of radioactivity versus contamination.
Nuclear Expert’s Step-By-Step Assessment of the Fukushima Disaster & What You Need to Know

Chris speaks with a nuclear expert to demystify Fukushima’s reactor crisis, exploring reactor mechanics, decay heat, and the risks of radioactivity versus contamination.
Image | Bud Conrad: Japan Is Forcing Us out of the Eye and into the Storm
Bud Conrad: Japan Is Forcing Us out of the Eye and into the Storm

Bud Conrad, Casey Research's chief economist, believes that our historic paradigm of continuous economic growth has reached an end.  In his view, we have been funding growth in recent decades via first issuing an unsustainable amount of public and private debt, and more recently by runaway money printing. This has led to a temporary sense of calm – which Bud calls the 'eye of the storm' – which he believes we are now emerging from into much more troubled waters.

The tragic developments in Japan are likely to serve as one of (probably several) the catalysts that will trigger market dislocations that will accelerate the collapse. He and Chris are concerned that the global economy is unprepared for the world's third largest economy to quickly shift from being a net exporter of goods and funding to a consumer of them.
Bud Conrad: Japan Is Forcing Us out of the Eye and into the Storm

Bud Conrad, Casey Research's chief economist, believes that our historic paradigm of continuous economic growth has reached an end.  In his view, we have been funding growth in recent decades via first issuing an unsustainable amount of public and private debt, and more recently by runaway money printing. This has led to a temporary sense of calm – which Bud calls the 'eye of the storm' – which he believes we are now emerging from into much more troubled waters.

The tragic developments in Japan are likely to serve as one of (probably several) the catalysts that will trigger market dislocations that will accelerate the collapse. He and Chris are concerned that the global economy is unprepared for the world's third largest economy to quickly shift from being a net exporter of goods and funding to a consumer of them.
Image | Alert: Nuclear (and Economic) Meltdown In Progress
Alert: Nuclear (and Economic) Meltdown In Progress
 PREVIEW

This post and its related comments are dedicated to covering the ongoing situation in Japan, which we continue to believe is more serious than official reports portray. 

 
Alert: Nuclear (and Economic) Meltdown In Progress
 PREVIEW

This post and its related comments are dedicated to covering the ongoing situation in Japan, which we continue to believe is more serious than official reports portray. 

 
Image | Alert! – Nuclear (and Economic) Meltdown In Progres
Alert! – Nuclear (and Economic) Meltdown In Progres
 PREVIEW
Important note: 

It is with a heavy heart that I am now issuing the highest level alert to my readers than I have to date. The threshold for an alert is one or more world events that personally cause me to take action.

I’m making this alert publicly available less than 36 hours after releasing it to my enrolled subscribers given its importance and the speed at which events are accelerating.

The substance of this alert centers on the unknown aftershocks that may result from the world’s third largest economy, Japan, rapidly shifting from an exporter of funding to a consumer of it. In situations like these, we are by definition operating with incomplete and often confusing information, and events are developing more rapidly than they can be fully analyzed and internalized. We regret in advance any mistakes that we might make due to making calls and decisions in this highly fluid environment.

This alert warns you that major world-changing events are now underway and that your personal preparations for an uncertain future should either be completed or take on a new sense of urgency. On the basis of the information contained here and in the past two days of posts, I am personally ratcheting up my preparations, making purchases, and topping off what needs to be topped off.

Important caveat:  At this point in time, I cannot fully support 100% of my concerns with hard data and evidence. Some of what has tipped me into this state of urgency is data, evidence, and stories that I can point to. Some is due to the absence of data or information, the remainder results from watching market gyrations and correlations shift into new patterns, which tell me something is afoot.

I have not been this concerned since October of 2008.

Alert! – Nuclear (and Economic) Meltdown In Progres
 PREVIEW
Important note: 

It is with a heavy heart that I am now issuing the highest level alert to my readers than I have to date. The threshold for an alert is one or more world events that personally cause me to take action.

I’m making this alert publicly available less than 36 hours after releasing it to my enrolled subscribers given its importance and the speed at which events are accelerating.

The substance of this alert centers on the unknown aftershocks that may result from the world’s third largest economy, Japan, rapidly shifting from an exporter of funding to a consumer of it. In situations like these, we are by definition operating with incomplete and often confusing information, and events are developing more rapidly than they can be fully analyzed and internalized. We regret in advance any mistakes that we might make due to making calls and decisions in this highly fluid environment.

This alert warns you that major world-changing events are now underway and that your personal preparations for an uncertain future should either be completed or take on a new sense of urgency. On the basis of the information contained here and in the past two days of posts, I am personally ratcheting up my preparations, making purchases, and topping off what needs to be topped off.

Important caveat:  At this point in time, I cannot fully support 100% of my concerns with hard data and evidence. Some of what has tipped me into this state of urgency is data, evidence, and stories that I can point to. Some is due to the absence of data or information, the remainder results from watching market gyrations and correlations shift into new patterns, which tell me something is afoot.

I have not been this concerned since October of 2008.

Image | The Good News & Bad News About The Reactors
The Good News & Bad News About The Reactors
 PREVIEW

Note: I am simply going to continuously add material to this article on Japan and the impact on the world economy so that we don’t ‘lose’ a very rich discussion that resulted from the alert by splitting it into a different thread.

Friday, March 18, 2:12 P.M. 

First, the fact that it’s been 24 hours without any significant reported deterioration of the heat or radiation emitting from the Fukushima complex hints that the situation has possibly hit bottom and/or stabilized.  No news is good news.  One view would be that the spent fuel has had plenty of time to do whatever it was going to do, and so far there are no signs that it’s gone critical or burst back into flames. Perhaps it’s done all it’s going to do.

Also, NHK is reporting that electricity has been restored and that the water pumps serving Reactor #3 have been restarted. That’s an enormous relief if it’s true. Let’s keep our fingers double crossed that it is.  

That’s the good news.

Now for the bad news.

The Good News & Bad News About The Reactors
 PREVIEW

Note: I am simply going to continuously add material to this article on Japan and the impact on the world economy so that we don’t ‘lose’ a very rich discussion that resulted from the alert by splitting it into a different thread.

Friday, March 18, 2:12 P.M. 

First, the fact that it’s been 24 hours without any significant reported deterioration of the heat or radiation emitting from the Fukushima complex hints that the situation has possibly hit bottom and/or stabilized.  No news is good news.  One view would be that the spent fuel has had plenty of time to do whatever it was going to do, and so far there are no signs that it’s gone critical or burst back into flames. Perhaps it’s done all it’s going to do.

Also, NHK is reporting that electricity has been restored and that the water pumps serving Reactor #3 have been restarted. That’s an enormous relief if it’s true. Let’s keep our fingers double crossed that it is.  

That’s the good news.

Now for the bad news.

Image | Market Turbulence & When to Buy Silver
Market Turbulence & When to Buy Silver
 PREVIEW

We always knew that this portion of the Great Destruction was never going to be easy. The main effect of any great bear market is to destroy the wealth of as many people as possible.

Simply moving everything to cash is not an option, because cash itself may lose its value more rapidly than it can be converted back into primary and secondary sources of wealth. Owning stocks and bonds is not a viable strategy, especially in a world where their prices are influenced/manipulated by the daily actions of the Fed and certain so-called ‘trading firms’ have turned in four-year win streaks without a single daily loss.

Parking everything in precious metals is probably the safest of the strategies, but that, too, is fraught with peril, as we still cannot be certain if inflation or deflation is going to win the day.

I deeply regret that this is the world in which we currently live, but here we are, and our job is to do the best we can.

I have two philosophies about investing.

The first is that I personally hate losses more than I fear missing out on gains. Some people are built exactly the opposite, and that fact helps to make markets the fun, dynamic places we know and love.

Market Turbulence & When to Buy Silver
 PREVIEW

We always knew that this portion of the Great Destruction was never going to be easy. The main effect of any great bear market is to destroy the wealth of as many people as possible.

Simply moving everything to cash is not an option, because cash itself may lose its value more rapidly than it can be converted back into primary and secondary sources of wealth. Owning stocks and bonds is not a viable strategy, especially in a world where their prices are influenced/manipulated by the daily actions of the Fed and certain so-called ‘trading firms’ have turned in four-year win streaks without a single daily loss.

Parking everything in precious metals is probably the safest of the strategies, but that, too, is fraught with peril, as we still cannot be certain if inflation or deflation is going to win the day.

I deeply regret that this is the world in which we currently live, but here we are, and our job is to do the best we can.

I have two philosophies about investing.

The first is that I personally hate losses more than I fear missing out on gains. Some people are built exactly the opposite, and that fact helps to make markets the fun, dynamic places we know and love.

Image | Warning Signs From China
Warning Signs From China
 PREVIEW

The economic miracle of China may be about to undergo a crash landing. The potential for social unrest to spread within and across China notwithstanding, China is trying to delicately nip an inflationary surge in the bud, but risks crashing its housing market in the process.

There are signs that it may have already done so.

High inflation is a sure-fire way to ignite the poorer classes of people, with which China remains generously endowed. So China is actively talking about and targeting inflation via its monetary policies:

Warning Signs From China
 PREVIEW

The economic miracle of China may be about to undergo a crash landing. The potential for social unrest to spread within and across China notwithstanding, China is trying to delicately nip an inflationary surge in the bud, but risks crashing its housing market in the process.

There are signs that it may have already done so.

High inflation is a sure-fire way to ignite the poorer classes of people, with which China remains generously endowed. So China is actively talking about and targeting inflation via its monetary policies:

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