Thursday, January 27, 2011

THIS IS YOUR MARKET ON CRACK ...

The good folks over at Zero Hedge have done us a favor and provided a list of 21 graphs and charts from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's report on the 2007-2008 market collapse. Here it is. The graphs make it clear that we're still in a mess. Seriously.

Want to know how much Wall Street has been betting on the real goods and services produced in the market? Check out this chart ...


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Note: In market-speak, the bets made (both for and against) on financial instruments, which are listed under "Gross Market Value," is represented by the "notional amount" (of outstanding derivative positions) ... I know, I know. But that's how Wall Street speaks.   
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As you can see, the bets on financial instruments (and claims on money) almost hit $700 trillion by 2008. How much is that? Our entire economy is forecasted to produce only about $15 trillion worth of tangible goods and services this year!

One thing becomes clear. After 2004, if not sooner, private investors and the market players on Wall Street began smoking some kind of financial crack.



- Mark

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