Stockmarket fall imminent?

I've written recently about cash being boring, but safe until inflation gets going. Now, Charles Hugh Smith thinks the tipping point may be very close:



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Repeal the 1832 Reform Act

I have just caught the tail end of a celebrity edition of "Who Wants
To Be A Millionaire?", in which Andi Peters and Emma Forbes were asked where the 1381Peasants' Revolt took place. Peters was strongly drawn to Scotland, they used 50:50 and were left with England and Ireland. Forbes phoned a friend who has a history degree; the latter hesitated and then named England, "but it's just a guess".

The next question was, in which book does the following saying appear: "Four legs good, two legs bad?" Forbes remembered that Animal Farm was by George Orwell, because she'd done it for 'O' level; but was so uncertain that this successful media pair agreed to leave the question and take the money they'd already won.

We approach a General Election of historic significance, and (I still cannot believe it) within five years we will see the death of our constitution. Seemingly, only a tiny fringe party called UKIP and a few others know what is going to happen, and why it is so important.

Was the extension of the franchise over the last 170 years such a good idea? Or am I too pessimistic, and do the people have a better understanding of themselves than is implied by the astounding ignorance of tremendously well-paid and fussed-over limelight-hoggers?

King of the Beggars

In Totnes, even the panhandlers have style. Actually, Graham Walker is not a beggar but a Big Issue seller, and when we met him he was dressed like a Victorian entertainer in top hat and long coat, selling his personal broadsheet called the Big Tissue - far better than the regular magazine, in my opinion. He had a stuffed dog and a notice asking us not to feed it.

Graham is clever and witty and has written a book which I shall order, called "Unsettled: In a hole, climbed a mountain". (Cheque or P.O. for £7.99 payable to "K. Walker", 48 Thornleigh Road, Horfield, Bristol BS7 8PH). He also has a blog (http://bigtissue.blogspot.com/) which currently just has a video sidebar including the YouTube thing here, which tells his story in brief and is well worth watching.

Graham has raised large amounts for charity - the poor are the most generous to the poor.

Inequality rises - tipping point near?

From Jesse

What I ate on my holidays

You can keep your three-figure meals in Langan's Brasserie. Give me a medium (i.e. they have to break a bit off to fit it on your plate) haddock in light, crisp beer batter at the Start Bay Hotel in Devon, any day.

Planes and weather

All planes grounded and we get several straight days of lovely sunny weather. Any connection between high-altitude aviation-related waste products and vapour trails on the one hand, and cold nights/hot days? Does "clear the skies" = clear skies?

Hyperinflation or bust (actually, both)

Sprott Asset Management's chief investment strategist, John Embry, spelt it out back in November, in the investor newsletter voted the world's best: if the stimulus stops, the economy collapses; if it continues, first we get hyperinflation, and then a collapse. The price of gold is being held down to make it look as though all is well, but the manipulation can't hold out much longer (I've read elsewhere that for every ounce of real physical gold, there's 100 ounces in promises to deliver) - and then gold-you-can-touch will reach "a dramatic inflexion point." Silver, too.

These considerations, useful for the wealthy investor, will matter less to the ordinary person, who will be too busy coping with a suddenly unpredictable world of goods, services and employment.