The economy: on the edge.

The government media reports that the economy is getting healthier. Really? Let's look at some numbers and trends.


How can the economy getting better while the middle class is getting crushed? Target, Home Depot, WalMart, Low's, PetSmart, Staples and Sears have all reported disappointing earnings. (Tiffany is doing fine though).


The Bureau of Labor Statistics (should that be known as BS Statistics?) reported Year Over Year inflation figures as 3.3% for energy, 6.4% for meat, fish and poultry and 9.9% for health care. In addition to the biggest jump in inflation in years, taxes have also gone up.


Inasmuch as the inflation figures may be consistently underreported, Q1 may have actually seen an economic contraction. That is, the reported figure of 1.4% growth in Q1 (0.1% growth + 1.3% inflation), may mean that the economy actually contracted in Q1. On top of this we have the tapering and it does not take a genius to figure out that we are heading for a recession, unless we are actually in a recession already.


Meanwhile, gold has been capped between 1,310 and 1,280 per oz. It no longer keeps inflation down.