Daily grab bag as the global debt ponzi continues to collapse.

I always said Apple stock would turn out to be a massive bubble.  I also said that when it finally went into free fall it would be a sign of big sign that the market is losing confidence in the con game.  Apple stock has now broken down in a big way.  Apple may have some cash in the bank but it's only $42 a share.  That's not as much as you might think when the stock is trading well north of $400 a share.  In other words, it is not a credible threat to shorts that AAPL will be able to buy the share price higher either through share buybacks or dividends.  In fact, AAPL dividend is only a crappy little 2.4% right now even after the recent share price crush.

In related news (yes, it's all tied together at the fractional reserve hip), Wal-Mart CEO is out making up excuses for falling profits: shelves that are not being stocked quickly enough.  He blames his employees and anyone else within blaming distance.  I call bull$hit.  His employees are doing the same reasonable job that they did last year and the year before.  They didn't just turn into lazy shiftless slugs.  Everytime I go in there late at night they are stocking the shelves diligently.  Not at a frenzied pace, but nobody is sitting around bulltalking either.  Long ago I predicted that one day the collapse would catch up to us an we would see dramatic shortages of products.  The first shortages are expected to be spotty, here and there.  They are caused by less shoppers coming in which makes store managers hold off on restocking so that Wal-Mart is never carrying more than X days of stock.  Shortages of certain other items at this early stage, like gun ammunition, should be a warning shot to anyone paying attention.  This is due to hoarding. When people get worried about the future, they hoard. 

In a Debt Ponzi collapse situation, hoarding is the main cause of early shortages.  As the collapse wears on, the product shortages are caused by lack of profitability by suppliers.  They simply get tired of giving their stuff away at a tiny profit or even at a loss.  As Wal-Mart screws its suppliers into the woodwork, the suppliers revolt by breaking off ties.  But the suppliers have to make a living somewhere and so after the shortages cause prices to rise they begin selling in alternate markets (like out the back of their van, out of their garage, etc.).  At some point government steps in to try to force people to go through the corporations.  Why: BECAUSE PEOPLE SELLING STUFF OUTSIDE OF GOVERNMENT BACKED CORPORATIONS CANNOT BE TAXED.  Corporations get in bed with governments because corporations want special treatment that small guys don't get.  The government provides these incentives because corporations have to submit to government scrutiny and it is easy to determine if taxes are being collected.    This is why corporations and government are so tight and for no other reason.  They have ganged up to screw the people.

Sooner or later the unholy corporation-government alliance breaks down and black markets are the result.  This is coming.  It has to.  This is math speaking.  If you have any sense at all, make sure you have a food stockpile and access to other things that you will need in order to live like you want to.  An economy built by massively leveraged debt must eventually collapse.   Try not to fear it.  Those who understand it and prepare for it in the sure and certain knowledge that it will eventually arrive will be just fine.

In perhaps sooner to be relevant than one might believe news, here is one of the best written interpretations of the 2nd ammendment that I have ever read.  It was written back in 1998 and so there is little reason for anyone to still be doubting the true meaning of the 2nd ammendment.  In case you are not sure, I invite you to have a look.

And finally, under the catagory of "a house divided against itself cannot stand", check out the fiery, anti-Obama rantings of Texas' own congressional representative Steve Stockman.  This isn't some cheezy blog (like Economati ;  0) but rather the web site of an official elected to a federal position from a major state.  He likes to use terms like "scarequester" and "Obama Failometer" in his posts.  He wouldn't be doing this if the people weren't eating it up with a stick.  Fake political correctness is flying out the window.  In fact, so it a good deal of common civility.  And it will get a Hell of a lot worse before it gets any better. The herd is very restless these days.