The era of cheap money appears to be ending

[jeffrey]

In just a few days, shares of Internet travel company Expedia lost 12 percent of their value, one of the highest-flying executives on Wall Street watched his fortune shrink and the nation's largest mortgage lender said many Americans with good credit were in danger of losing their homes.

At the root of those seemingly unrelated events is a single new reality, one that could portend trouble for the broader U.S. economy: The era of cheap money appears to be ending.

washingtonpost.com

[txex86]

This section of the article you linked was very alarming:

This week, Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender, said there were more borrowers with good credit falling behind on their home-equity loans.

That shook the markets because of Countrywide's size and its reputation as a shrewd lender. The thinking was that if Countrywide saw trouble spreading, "the problems are likely to spread even more," said David A. Hendler, senior analyst at CreditSights, a securities research firm.

Yikes! This could spell trouble for many home mortgage lenders and the economy in general.

[Broken Arrow]

Actually, this is only one of many articles I've read, coming even from mainstream, credible sources, that point to our weakening economy.

I don't think we'll implode like ancient Rome (at least I hope not), but we're definitely in for some rough waters.

[seo2020]

You have to look at why our economy is weakening.

It is because the dollar is weak... It is only worth $.04.

Our economy has begun a collapse ever since we moved off of the gold standard and granted full power to the Federal Reserve Bank (which is not government owned) to print monopoly money and pass it around to us as if it had real value.

The Federal Reserve prints the money they need without backing it with gold or other precious metals. Each time they do this the value of our dollar shrinks even more.

To make matters worse. The federal reserve is lending money to the US government.

The privately owned federal reserve runs our country, not the government.

This is a wake up call!

[Broken Arrow]

Wanna see something depressing?

The above is a direct link to Yahoo's currency converter from US to Canadian dollars. Therefore, that number is going to change depending on when you click on it.

However, to give the readers an idea of where we stand at the time of this post, $1 US is worth $1.02 Canadian.

The US dollar worth about the same as the Canadian dollar!

No offense to our Canadian friends of course, as it was not meant that way. Rather, I used to remember a time when $1 US was worth at least $1.50 Canadian or more. Heck, just a few days ago, it was at $1.04!

Of course, such circumstances don't necessarily spell disaster for opportunistic investors. I'm just concerned for our country as a whole. I feel like I'm watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon where Wile E. Coyote doesn't realize that he's already fallen off the cliff and is floating on air. How long can we defy financial gravity?

[seo2020]

Welcome to the world of "paper money".

It has never worked in the past and it is not working this time either.

[Fred333]

Yea the US dollar really doesn't hold up to against the rest of the world anymore. I wonder if it will every come back around?

[Broken Arrow]

Welcome to the world of "paper money".

It has never worked in the past and it is not working this time either.

Er, well, I don't know if I'd go so far as to say "never". I think that it can work, but at the very least, it needs to be backed by at least a strong economy and is managed wisely. Unfortunately, I can not say that this has been the case in our current administration.

Contrast that with the Euro which is doing surprisingly well right now thanks to good collaboration and management from the top. Remember, this was a currency that was once based on the equivalent value of the US dollar.

[jIM_Ohio]

The issue is the strength of the dollar, and this is probably related more to deficit spending than it is to the savings rate or mortgage industry.

[seo2020]

Yea the US dollar really doesn't hold up to against the rest of the world anymore. I wonder if it will every come back around?

If we get rid of the IRS (which is not a government agency) then we can begin to regain control and get back on the gold standard.

Ron Paul is the one to vote for if you want to see an end to the IRS.