Despite Barack Obama claiming that American has "recovered from the worst economic crisis in generations" during his last State Of The Union address on Tuesday, we see dire warnings from multiple experts throughout the financial industry telling us the exact opposite as the "recovery" illusion drops away and the true state of the union is revealed.
Below we will cover the latest warnings by experts in their fields of what is coming before explaining what this will mean to the average American.
LATEST WARNINGS AND PREDICTIONS
We see a trillion dollars has been wiped out of the stock market in just the first two weeks of the new year. CNN Money puts that number into context - "it's like wiping out the combined value of the following tech giants: Google (GOOGL, Tech30) ($508 billion), Facebook (FB, Tech30) ($281 billion), Intel (INTC, Tech30) ($154 billion), Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) ($50 billion) and Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) ($29 billion)."
Portfolio managers are advising investors to "stash cash," because "global growth is decelerating at a rapid pace as well as commodities markets across the board are also hitting lower lows.
Because of the increased volatility, portfolio manager Chad Morganlander said his firm, Washington Crossing Advisors of Stifel Nicolaus, has been increasing cash exposure over the last three months.
Blackstone investor Byron Wien is predicting that investors will resort to cash amid global market turmoil while Erin Gibbs of S&P Investment Advisory highlights the cause of this move to cash, showing it is indicative of a decreasing appetite for risk among investors.
Economists at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) sent a memo to its clients, dated January 8, 2016, which states in part, "Sell everything except high quality bonds. This is about return of capital, not return on capital. In a crowded hall, exit doors are small," as we see stock markets could fall by up to 20 percent with oil predicted to plunge to anywhere between $10 (Telegraph) to $16 (MSN) a barrel with investors warning that 2016 could be a "cataclysmic year."
It said the current situation was reminiscent of 2008, when the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank led to the global financial crisis. This time China could be the crisis point.
The RBS predictions and forecasts are not the only ones referred to in the MSN article as they highlight the following quote by a JP Morgan analyst in regards to the plunge in oil, "We think prices could fall as low as $10 a barrel before most of the money managers in the market conceded that matters had gone too far."
WHAT A STOCK MARKET CRASH WILL MEAN TO THE AVERAGE AMERICAN
Many still think that if they are not investors or they do not play the market, a crash won't affect them.... they are wrong. Just remember 2008, when millions of Americans lost their jobs when businesses that employed them either closed or were forced to lay off employees (we see this already happening as company after company announces closures and layoffs already), those living paycheck to paycheck could no longer afford their rent, utilities, food, etc.....
Recent surveys show that approximately 62 percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts and 21 percent don’t even have a savings account. This quote from Market Watch should make it crystal clear what happens to the average American during a collapse.
"Faced with an emergency, they say they would raise the money by reducing spending elsewhere (26%), borrowing from family and/or friends (16%) or using credit cards (12%). And among those who had savings prior to 2008, 57% said they’d used some or all of their savings in the Great Recession, according to a U.S. Federal Reserve survey of over 4,000 adults released last year."
The portion in bold should truly capture attention though because it shows why this next crash will be far more devastating than 2008 was...... 57 percent of people that had enough savings to survive the crash in 2008, no longer have that to fall back on!
In August 2015, Damian McBride, a former adviser to Gordon Brown indicated that should a stock market crash occur it could lead to "civil disorder" and offered some excellent advice:
“Advice on the looming crash, No.1: get hard cash in a safe place now; don't assume banks & cashpoints will be open, or bank cards will work,” he tweeted.
“Crash advice No.2: do you have enough bottled water, tinned goods & other essentials at home to live a month indoors? If not, get shopping.
“Crash advice No.3: agree a rally point with your loved ones in case transport and communication gets cut off; somewhere you can all head to.”
The only two changes we would suggest from Mr. McBride's advice, is the time-frame of one month and we would advise people to invest in hard assets like precious metals because when the dollar ultimately collapses and/or the banks go on holiday and raid your accounts, it will be the only form of currency that still holds value... it is going to be uglier than 2008, since many still have not "recovered" from their previous losses, so we are suggesting to prepare for a long term depression.
Just to get everyone started, below are a few resources to help those on a budget. Feel free to add more links or prepping suggestions and tips in the comment section to help others to prepare for what is on the horizon.
When even the MSM is forced to finally start issuing warnings from experts as to what is coming at us like a freight train, it is time to kick your prepping into high gear.
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