Best Bank Account Interest Rates - Summary for Week Ending October 8, 2011

Anonymous - #1, Sunday, October 9, 2011 - 2:16 PM

Any news on the I Savings rates for October? When will the rates be announced?

Anonymous - #3, Sunday, October 9, 2011 - 11:12 PM

Anyone who buys long-term CDs or Bonds now is nuts.  Real interest rates, once you deduct inflation, are deeply negative.  The real inflation rate is almost double the one that the government reports already, and it will get much worse once the economy really begins to recover and the velocity of money recovers with it. 

The Federal Reserve, as well as the Bank of England and soon, the ECB, are all debasing paper currencies.  The BofE just announced yet another 75 billion pounds ($127 billion dollars) will be printed up and distributed.  The Fed ALWAYS follows a month or two later with new printing programs whenever the BofE does this. 

The massive inflation that this printing orgy will cause will be a bit delayed, but we are already seeing a small part of it in food and energy prices.  Long-term CD investors are going to see their assets wiped out.  The only alternative is to use bank accounts only for storage of liquid assets, such as in money market, savings and checking accounts.  For the longer term, buy gold, silver and platinum. 

All the precious metals are highly volatile because the government allows them to be bought and sold with 25 or 30 to 1 leverage or more.  It is an intentional induction of volatility designed around frightening savers like us.  But, right now, we are close to the bottom of a manipulation cycle, and it is an appropriate time to buy.

Another possible alternative are Canadian or Australian dollar CDs and bonds, but they also pay negative interest rates.  But, even that is problematic.  Our northern neighbor and their Pacific counsin has not yet decided to debase the currency, but might in the future.  All paper currencies are subject to this type of abuse.  That is why only hard currency (metals) are suitable now as a long term store of value.

Anonymous - #5, Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - 9:09 PM

#3 - Do you have any facts whatsoever to support your very noteworthy conclusions and recommendations? You certainly talk like you are the man with the ultimate plan, but please explain the basis of your comments. After all, over the internet, it is difficult to tell whether a true genius is posting their much sought after opinion or whether it is simply a matter of a six-pack or two doing the talking in the buzz of the moment. Patiently awaiting more info...thanks, and the next one is on me.

Anonymous #3 (anonymous) - #6, Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - 11:28 PM

#5, Stocks are going to wallow, in spite of inflation, like they did in the stagflationary 1970s, because earnings will come under pressure from strapped consumers, even as commodity price inputs skyrocket from continuing money printing all over the western world.  As soon as the Federal Reserve comes under enough political pressure to stop intervening in the stock market through its primary dealers, the market will fall.  So, although you can speculate short-term with stocks, the market is no place to put money long-term.

US dollars, as well as Euros, Pounds, Yen, etc. are all doomed to deep monetary debasement, because, as Bank of England President Mervyn stated, last week, "Hurting savers is a better alternative than total world financial collapse." Therefore, CDs and bonds are no longer viable stores of value for the long term.  The central bankers, steeped as they are in Keynesian economic theory, are going to steal from the easiest place, which are the bank accounts of the passive savers who cannot fight back.

The plan is to keep liquid assets in the shortest term money market, savings and/or checking accounts.  Eschew all bonds and CDs as the currencies they are now denominated in will slowly become worthless in buying power.  Those who think 5% on bonds is a good rate are fooling themselves.  They can only get this by purchasing higher risk bonds, and 5% does not exceed even the current real inflation rate of about 6.5% per annum, let alone the double and triple digit rates that are coming.

Many of us are inherent savers by personality trait, but we must recognize that money is being stolen from us by desperate governments.  The easiest way to raise taxes is to do it stealthily, by stealing from passive savers, and that is what is being done, everywhere in the world.  As interest rates are exceedingly negative, your net buying power continues to decline day by day, even as they fool you into thinking your assets are growing by 1-3% depending on the CD.

Precious metals should never be bought when the leveraged buying crowd is leaping on them, because the government encourages that, in order to create an unstable situation, and an opportunity for their cohorts of primary dealer banks to strike at the gamblers on COMEX and NYMEX, and, in England, at the LBMA.  Metals should be purchased near the bottom of manipulation cycles, like now.  Now, for example, but most of the leveraged longs in precious metals, who were leveraged 25 to 1 or more, have already been ejected from the market.  That is how the price was reduced, as their positions were involuntarily sold out due to margin calls.  But, their exit is setting gold, silver and platinum up for another surge.

The M1 money supply in the USA has already been tripled since 2008.  M1 is the base upon which the tower of fractional banking stands.  It is inevitable that this tripling will eventually make its way into the form of inflation, as soon as the velocity of money increases.  Once again, anyone who buys long-term CDs and/or bonds better have a short-term expectation of his or her lifespan, because your life savings are going to be wiped out by inflation.

None of this is the result of "genius", but rather of common sense and logic.  Those of us who read the works of Austrian economists, Von Mises and Hayek, reject Keynesian economic voodoo.  We knew, well in advance of 2007, about the inevitable coming 2008 Financial Crisis,  well as the impending collapse of real estate markets.  All credit driven expansions end in credit driven busts, and governments that try prevent the inevitability of the bust, end up destroying the currency system.  That is where the USA and other western nations are headed.  Savers are going to be the victims of both "friendly fire" and intentional theft, under color of law, as the value of our saving are stolen from us in the form of deep monetary debasement.