22 Red Flags That Indicate That Very Serious Doom Is Coming For Global Financial Markets

This is from the Economic Collapse Blog, but I find his assessments quite good really. He pulls together a lot of information to support the viewpoint he argues, which in this case is a global financial implosion. Cited only in part, please refer to link for entire article.

The Economic Collapse Blog

Right now, red flags are popping up all over the place. Corporate insiders are selling off stock like there is no tomorrow, major economies all over Europe continue to implode, the IMF is warning that the eurozone could actually break up and there are signs of trouble at major banks all over the planet. Unfortunately, it looks like the period of relative stability that global financial markets have been enjoying is about to come to an end. A whole host of problems that have been festering just below the surface are starting to manifest, and we are beginning to see the ingredients for a "perfect storm" start to come together. The greatest global debt bubble in human history is showing signs that it is getting ready to burst, and when that happens the consequences are going to be absolutely horrific. Hopefully we still have at least a little bit more time before the global financial system implodes, but at this point it doesn't look like anything is going to be able to stop the chaos that is on the horizon.

22 Red flags

#1 Level of selling by insiders at corporations is the highest that it has been in almost a decade.

#2 Home prices in the United States have fallen for six months in a row.

#3 The Greek economy will shrink by another 5 percent this year.

#4 Greece is still going to have a budget deficit equivalent to about 7 percent of GDP in 2012.

#5 Interest rates on Italian and Spanish sovereign debt are rapidly rising.

#6 The government of Spain recently announced that its 2011 budget deficit was much larger than originally projected.

#7 Bad loans now make up 8.15 percent of all loans on the books of Spanish banks. Highest level in 18 years.

#8 One key Spanish stock index has already fallen by more than 19 percent so far this year.

#9 The Spanish government has announced a ban on all cash transactions larger than 2,500 euros. Many are interpreting this as a panic move.

#10 It is looking increasingly likely that a major bailout for Spain will be needed.

#11 Analysts at Moody's Analytics are warning that Italy has now reached financially unsustainable territory....

#12 The Portuguese economy will shrink by 5.7 percent during 2012.

#13 There is even trouble in European nations that have been considered relatively stable up to this point. For example, the Dutch government collapsed on Monday after austerity talks broke down.

#14 The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, says that there are "dark clouds on the horizon" for the global economy.

#15 The top economist for the IMF, Olivier Blanchard, recently made this statement: "One has the feeling that at any moment, things could get very bad again."

#16 A recent IMF report admitted that the current financial crisis could lead to the break up of the eurozone....

#17 George Soros is publicly declaring that the European Union could soon experience a collapse similar to what happened to the Soviet Union.

#18 A member of the European Parliament, Nigel Farage, stated during one recent interview that it is inevitable that some major banks in Europe will collapse.

#19 The IMF is projecting that Japan will have a debt to GDP ratio of 256 percent by next year.

#20 Goldman Sachs is projecting that the S&P 500 will fall by about 11 percent by the end of 2012.

#21 Over the past six months, hundreds of prominent bankers have resigned all over the globe. Is there a reason why so many are suddenly leaving their posts?

#22 The 9 largest U.S. banks have a total of 228.72 trillion dollars of exposure to derivatives. That is approximately 3 times the size of the entire global economy. It is a financial bubble so immense in size that it is nearly impossible to fully comprehend how large it is.[/ex[

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Eurozone collapses- but am I wrong to wish it would just go ahead and happen quick so we can get over it?

That's a serious question.

I get the distinct feeling that we are now truly on the edge of the chasm. Something has changed in the last few weeks, something fundamental in the attitude of European people. You only have to look at the reactions and comments under recent news articles to realise that something major has happened. A few months ago if people openly called for armed rebellion, violence on the streets, supported extreme right parties etc they would be derided and the subject of abuse. All of a sudden however this has changed. Look at the comments and reactions now and you will see massive support for violence, revolution, actually physically removing politicians and a huge swing towards the extreme right. This was notably demonstrated in France this week, but it is much more widespread.

I know what has happened, and I've been warning of it for a few years now but few have taken me seriously. Austerity and financial discipline and cuts are needed, if we are to keep the current system going, but that system can now only serve those of a certain age; the 'Baby Boomers' - those who already have property, assets and savings. Those who made their lives in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. To them austerity means 'tightening the belt' and living within their means for a while. They still see a decent future for themselves though. Most politicians fall into this category. However, the young have finally woken up to what this means. In all truth it means the 'Baby Boomer's have willingly thrown several younger generations to the wolves. Those who are now in their teens, twenties and thirties see that there is no future for them. What are they supposed to do? Do the 'Baby Boomer' generation really think that you can tell several generations that they are to face massively falling living standards, the death of aspirations and dreams, more stress and hopelessness?

Well what has happened is that the younger generations have finally realised (or are more probably just starting to realise) the depth of the crisis, just started to realise it means they have no future, and they have just realised why the politicians and Baby Boomers have an 'I'm alright Jack' attitude'. They realise now that they have been effectively sacrificed!

The result is horrific and now inevitable. Those younger generations now have nothing to gain by playing by the rules, nothing to gain and everything to loose by playing along with the system. So, in all honesty why the hell should they? So they can suffer for the mistakes of those who created the mess, whilst those culprits hide away in relative comfort? No, they won't play along any longer. They are waking up. Whether 'right' or 'wrong' (and I fear those two terms are now meaningless anyway), their anger is about to boil over - they will rip this society limb from limb.

Mass social chaos, disorder, looting, rioting, collapse of law and order, revenge, opportunism, dismay, fear, rape, war. That is the legacy that is now about to unfold across the European continent. And the saddest thing of all - those responsible will still plead as though they are the victims.

reply to post by hadriana


All the European countries need to default on their debt and tell the IMF that you cannot get blood from a stone. They must refuse to pay. Haircuts are not the answer. The corporatists made a bad gamble and they lost. They must take the hit. Then the EU must be broken up so that the countries can adjust their currencies.

Then the United States must default. Refuse to pay. Then the United States must then hand over the Reserve Currency to the BRICS nations.

Every Western country must get a fresh slate and build their economies back up through Autarky. They must bring the jobs home and end the corporatist outsourcing. Globalization/Internationalization has destroyed the West. We the people must take back our economies from the corporatists and ensure that these 'job destroyers' never again have the power to ruin us all.

Or we could just all keep nodding our heads at our 'corporatist oligarchy imperial overlords' and cower in the corner as they force Austerity on us all and steal our sovereignty. We could just bow down before them and allow them to destroy us all.

Normally, I try to enter into a thread with a level of balance and diplomacy. In this instance however, I find it difficult, in that many people in positions of influence have foreseen these events coming for some time now, and have served to make the situation worse in many ways. It's as if it was intended to augur this way.
In short, greed and disregard from governments, sworn to serve the people they are dragging into this mess. Poor regulatory standards, and nothing short sometimes of resembling a drunk in a casino with a pocket full of coins.
I fear for the immediate future, and for the world we are leaving for our future generations. Money has served its purpose, but its purpose was never to dictate the conditions under which humankind exist, it was meant as a means of exchange.
I used to be confident that if money was made very scarce, the vast majority would still get by, virtue of values and principles, the collective, but I am far from sure now. We are all conditioned to accept the pursuit of trinkets as the way of things, the higher your salary was, the more important you were and so on.
I have actually started ditching things I no longer consider necessary for my families happiness, call it frugality, call it old fashioned, but I am of the opinion that when, not if things crash, if you have a lot, then by definition you have a lot to lose.
Take stock of what you have and need, brace yourself for harder times, and try to remain happy and focussed on what is more important.
(I realise this might sound wishy washy, and in the cold light of day if you lose your job for example, things get really tough, but it has happened before; people can adapt, become more community based, and do something which will make a contribution to the lives of others and not just themselves)
At very least, few can say they didn't see it coming.

They've been able to kick the can far longer than I thought possible. The bad debts are still sitting, rotting on the balance sheets of the FED and ECB. It's quite obvious that the Euro is doomed. The dollar has been debased so severely that I think at best it can maintain it's Reserve Currency status a decade or two at most. BRICS having the reserve currency is laughable at this point, but who knows in a quarter century. Had the system been allowed to clear the bad debt in 2008-09 we would be three years into recovery. Sure many more financial institutions,companies, individuals, and governments would have been forced to liquidate, things would have been worse than they were, but it would be behind us now instead of still looming.

The Keynsian lockhold on economic policy worldwide will either lead us into a World War or Greater Depression. I could get over my utter contempt of Keynsian economists if any government in the world was able to pay down debts created during recessions when economies improve, but modern political history proves that democratically elected governments overspend in both good and bad economies therefore the only sane answer is austerity or complete reset. And in my opinion the sooner the better. This didn't just happen either. If you look at growth of GDP vs Growth of Debt in the US, Debt in the US (government, business, and consumer) has grown faster than GDP since 1980. So both the Reagan and Clinton economies were lies based on easy money via debt. A hard reality that partisans of either party will never admit to.

I would almost feel sorry for what the baby boomers have coming. They are going to be entering their "golden years" in the most uncertain economic environment of their lives. The only shot they have of having their expectations of retirement being met is by looting their children and grandchildren. That boomer couple wanting to downsize their house is not going to be able to sell it to a late 20's early 30's couple starting a family saddled by onerous student loans. Those boomers who didn't save anything are going to be disappointed when social programs go belly up because there are not enough younger workers making good salaries to support the level of payouts they are expecting. Which is ironic in that by and large the leaders of companies who sold out our nation to foreign cheap labor and environment arbitrage were in large part Boomers. Social Security (retirement not disability) might be salvageable if the age to draw it is increased and all wages are taxed instead of the first $108k in wages as is currently. Medicare cannot be fixed without fixing the underlying issues with the medical system. They are going to be facing this uncertain and frightful time while battling declining health and other issues that come with age. As their generation is largely responsible for where we are as a nation, I can only muster up enough sympathy for those in my family. The rest (especially those that chose not to have children) should unfortunately have to fend for themselves.

Originally posted by Mufcutcakeyumyum
Normally, I try to enter into a thread with a level of balance and diplomacy. In this instance however, I find it difficult, in that many people in positions of influence have foreseen these events coming for some time now, and have served to make the situation worse in many ways.

I too normally try to be the "voice of reason" in many of ATS's over-the-top threads, but the collapse of the global economy is one "theory" that I truly believe is like a freight train heading right at us. It's not so much a conspiracy theory as an eventuality. All the pieces are in place and stacking up daily and a reckoning is in our future. Decades of reckless debt accumulation by both individuals and governments has led us to a point that is no longer sustainable. Our debt vastly exceeds our ability to ever pay it back and the leaders we keep electing are career politicians who are solely interested in maintaining the status quo and pushing the hard decisions down the road to "someone else", but that "someone else" doesn't deal with it either so it just keeps snowballing. Just check out the numbers here in the US:

www.usdebtclock.org...

US total debt per family is 692,000.00 and climbing. Can your family do its part to zero out the debt? Can you send a check in to the government for 692k right now? Can all your neighbors do the same? Of course not, it's a completely insurmountable amount. And it's CLIMBING every second of every day. What is the answer? Eliminate all social and military programs immediately. Cut social security, medicare, medicaide, and military spending to zero. Does that sound harsh? Sure it does, and it would be political suicide, so it will never happen. In fact when politicians talk about "cuts" to these programs they aren't cuts to the programs to themselves, but are really reductions in the INCREASE in spending. So all those programs continue to increase in cost, the "cuts" only reduce the increase by a slight amount. Ironically when the inevitable collapse does hit us, these programs will cease anyway. But we'll have no control over it then like we would if we intentionally wound these programs down. All these people who think they deserve their entitlements are going to discover that once the collapse happens it will be like the old days, you either work your butt off to survive or natural selection takes you out of the picture.

All the symptoms are there, the ones in the OP are only a small fraction of the warning signs popping up all over. There is zero possibility that politicians will fix this, so get prepared.

reply to post by Germanicus


I agree and say that most of your post has valid points.

But what will come from all the collapse, inevitably, would be global panic.
Investors won't make the same mistake twice.

So I forsee a much larger collapse taking place.
Because the average joe who didn't pull out in 2008, will not be burnt twice.



Good thread.

Originally posted by Germanicus
Then the United States must then hand over the Reserve Currency to the BRICS nations.

IMO This is the #1 goal of China...to possess the reserve currency. I'm just curious as to why you think that's a good idea.

reply to post by SavedOne


I was just looking at the debt clock and then saw it posted! I also look at the Irish one, being in Ireland, and this is just as severe for a massively smaller nation.

www.financedublin.com...

With a population of 4.25 million, it is approximately €29,000 per capita. Small numbers I know in comparison, but nevertheless, I feel that being self employed here in a rented house, I will never be able to own a house or get a mortgage.
But that's OK, I know where I stand, and can work from it. Right now, I have more important things to focus on.

So almost all western countries are seriously in debt. How bout we just grab our balls and give the banksters the middle finger? what is their goal?

I firmly believe in Bible prophecy and that the European Union will eventually be presided over by an Hitlerian-type "Beast" dictator along with 10 "kings" or deputy leaders and a "miracle"-working "False Prophet" or religious leader. You can see where the European economic crisis is leading since there are parallels with the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler that led to WW2. Whether the Eurozone will be reduced to 10 nations or be divided up into 10 regions as a consequence of this crisis I don't know. And how fast this collapse or readjustment will be is anybody's guess, but it sure doesn't look like this "experiment" is going to end well.
Also, regarding the "baby boomers" and the legacy they're leaving the next generation with unsustainable debt, massive unemployment, over-burdened health system, etc. I'm of the view that the "baby boomers" have had it so good for so long ie not having to go to college to get a job because there were plenty of good jobs back then that you could retain till retirement and if they chose to go to college it'd be free or at minimal expense such that you could either get a part time job to support yourself through college or a job would be waiting for you after graduation that would pay your debts in no time at all unlike now when jobs have gone offshore or foreigners are brought in to do the jobs we supposedly "don't want." Or you go to college only to come out at the other end with a huge debt and a non-existent job! And these "baby boomers" when they are on the pension they complain that it's not enough! And they have the gall to criticise the younger folk as an "entitled" generation. I think seeing they've squandered the resources of what was once the wealthiest nation shows the stupidity of the social security system wherein our generation has to slave away to support the previous generation when logic teaches us that the parents should work and save to support their children not the other way around!

Originally posted by OliArtist
I get the distinct feeling that we are now truly on the edge of the chasm. Something has changed in the last few weeks, something fundamental in the attitude of European people. You only have to look at the reactions and comments under recent news articles to realise that something major has happened. A few months ago if people openly called for armed rebellion, violence on the streets, supported extreme right parties etc they would be derided and the subject of abuse. All of a sudden however this has changed. Look at the comments and reactions now and you will see massive support for violence, revolution, actually physically removing politicians and a huge swing towards the extreme right. This was notably demonstrated in France this week, but it is much more widespread.

I just wanted to add that while I agree that public sentiment toward government is expressing a deep mistrust and a prediction of revolution, we shouldn't confuse this sentiment with one of the far-right.

There is always a risk that the extremists will rise and gain power through times like this, but we are not actually seeing this played out.

Intolerance and bigotry is not clearly on the rise, even though the extremists are being more vocal and trying to increase their support. People are not falling for it.

Just look at the EDL involvement in that "protest" in Europe recently. They promoted it as some massive rally to try to gather all the right-wing of Europe together to force out multiculturalism and promote their propaganda of Islam, and they managed 300 people at most!

I could throw a party with three days notice and get more than 300 people!

The National Front in France managed to come in third. And while that is a concern, their party has been promoting itself as softer than their history suggests. Unfortunately, they managed to lie pretty well and convinced enough people. That's the only reason they got that support - lying convincingly.

I guess things are more dangerous in the USA, because poverty seems to follow racial lines too. Not only are there racial divides in the country, but massive economic ones to go with it. It's a double-whammy of revolutionary opportunity right there.

I don't think we need to worry so much about the extreme right. They are dangerous, and increasingly so on an individual extremist level, but they're not gaining traction with the people and I don't think we'll see any party rise to power in the next ten years with extreme nationalist views, as we saw with Hitler.

Heres a few wrenches for the wheel....
The greatest wealth transfer in the history of the world is taking place right now.......Those baby boomers are passing their businesses and assets onward to a large extent ......This will increase at the birthrate for the years of the boom and perhaps may assuage the younger generations somewhat.......
I am a baby boomer, and i am just as ripped off by the goverment and corporations as you young whipper snappers....Do you think there arent lots like me? think again.........
Baby boomers isnt the problem.....There was far more real wealth created by the baby boomers than the youth.
It is the elite money grubbing ruler class who, for the most part, are the hand me down relations of princes and potentates, and the best of the business class who made their dough either in organised crime or corporate crime, or banking crime, or insurance crime, or stock market crime.
There is the lawyers and the politicians who reap huge benefits from producing nothing but influence and this is added onto the cost of everything you can think of, from roads and houses to food and medicine, we pay for the ads, the freebees, the trips to Bermuda, the secret Swiss bank accounts stuffed with bribes and graft.
Take away this suction from the peoples pocket and the goverment would be well able to provide the free health and dental care we should really be getting....
There is no reason on weath these needs of all humans are in the rrealm of goverments seeking to serve the people ......
Nobody needs to starve or go without anything aanywhere in the world.
It is all the in between bloodletting of countless small backsheesh grabs by inumerable people who felt they were entitled to something for nothing....
These elite scum not only steal what should be rightfully expected by everyone....but what peace of mind we may have as well......
Those who seek profits from the people have put more research and effort into making maximum dollars off every unit.....rather than putting the money into better engineering of the unit itself.....
So the units get ever cheaper built, and they tend to fail catasptophically ie, die completely when they fail, and must be replaced entirely....
The way we make and marlet this crap to ourselves is so illogical, and backwasswards thaat it boggles the mind.
Things we have, like nuclear power, should never have been built world wide......
All who know anythingabout the nuclear fule idustry know full well, the wastes far outwiegh any positive results in using these time bombs.....eventually the wastes pollute the earth for perhaps 500 000 000 years......!
These high up planners and schemers are working dilligently through the many facilities that their positions allow them, to perpetuate this travesty of a system, that benefits only one small segment of society .
These are the cause of the pain and suffering in this world......
not us poor baby boomers,
Who i may remind you have fought countless little wars and police actions faithfully serving in good times and bad,who have initiated many worthwhile efforts to counter these clowns who want the world...
Who achieved all those union benefits people enjoy today,(tho these are being clawed back by the corporate elite becuse they can.....even as they award themselves such outrageous "bonuses" that the stockholders alone should revolt against.....except the fat cats hold majority shares and they are invulnerable, making laws even, that protect them only from all kinds of things that we face daily......
Eliminate the corporate system, for public human needs, and put these in the handsof the goverment....
Regulate, and tax heavily every corporate entity that exists.......
Claw back all those stupid bonusses from undeserving charlatans who sit be heredity mostly on the boards of the corporate world.
Make insider trading puishable by death.....
Legalise personal choices which are not the goverments bailiwick.
Get rid of the rich man porr man concept, and bring in a more equitable arrangement.
Rich people consume far more of the worlds resources than poorer cousins.
It stands to reason they are the ones who must give far more back......the wealth of the world is so concentrated in so few hands that these swine reallt can control the goverments to their own profit and benefits......

The economy has supposedly been headed for "imminent collapse" every week for the past decade.

Guess what?

It hasn't happened.

Time to change the station. This song is getting old.

By coincidence I viewed the link below earlier today

Derivatives: The Unregulated Global Casino for Banks

Its a pictoral illustration(?) of physical $100 bills stacked to show the size of the derivative exposure of the 9 banks refered to in the OP's list of 22

The bills are stacked and displayed in relation to the size of US national landmarks - White House, Statue of Liberty etc

If we were to set military spending to zero, be ready to speak chinese or at least listen to it.

The military is one of the only allowable reasons for taxation...

In 2004 one could easily see that something was going on in the world economy and it went down hill from there.
Consumers started spending to much borrowed funds without thinking about the next day and the banks were over-greedy to make a profit.

How long will world oil still last, what will the US / UK / France etc. do when they have robbed it all and none is left, what happens to a world economy based on oil?

They forgot about one thing, the internet cannot be controlled ( yet ) and unlike old times there are no more delays in the sending of information, they cannot lie that easily and get away with it any more.

What was will be and it will be a very dark time, or not. With a bit of luck, the powers that be will give the world some of the tech they have been hiding, for so long. ( they will have to find a new way of enslaving all our small-minded people )

I for one can't wait.

reply to post by Germanicus


This.

I've seen three jobs sent overseas. I don't care what I "owe." I have nothing left. Let the system fall. All debt is illusion.

Originally posted by jtap66
The economy has supposedly been headed for "imminent collapse" every week for the past decade.

Guess what?

It hasn't happened.

Time to change the station. This song is getting old.

It hasn't happened in the last decade? I'd think the folks who were employed by Lehmann Brothers would hasten to disagree...