Archive for the 'money/trade' Category

Global Currency? Undependable US Dollar?

John Havener July 13th, 2009

If you check on this site from time to time you might have wondered what happened to me, even if I was still around! What have I been doing? Well, quite a few things actually as the spring was busy with visitors, etc. But of possible  relevance to you…I have been preparing. I am not an investment expert or economist and I have no “inside track” of revelation from the Lord Jesus about the future…but there are strong currents of economic activity…more than one…that give me the sense that we could wake up tomorrow and find the US dollar drastically devalued, or worthless, or switched to a new international world currency. I am looking way beyond the conventional wisdom and buzz about the “recession.” Here are a few things that are flowing together: the nation is drastically in debt and going at lightening speed into the deepest indebtedness of any nation in history; this debt is held by foreign nations mostly who are very nervous about the value of the USD; There is a strong move to dump the dollar as the international trading currency and establish some kind of  super world currency. Whatever part of the massive debt the US treasury cannot borrow, the Federal Reserve must print (The “Fed” is totally unaccountable to anyone)…I could go on, but you have heard this stuff before and probably feel there is nothing you can do about it but pray (please pray!)  At some point in time  a world currency or mark has to happen and will. Consider the world of God referring to the false prophet, Antichrist’s servant: “And he requires everyone–small and great, rich and poor, free and slave–to be given a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of his name.
(Rev 13:16-17) Are we moving rapidly in this direction? Perhaps so, but even if not, I have a conviction that our country is already under the redemptive, disciplinary judgment of God. So I am preparing with my limited personal assets (and at the natural level my resources are limited!) What I have tried to do over the past few months is to convert dollars, which I believe may soon be near worthless, and invest them into tangible things that might help us and others in a super crunch. By investing I do not mean buying gold and silver which are selling at very high levels! I mean buying that grain mill, or water purifier or something else you might really need in a collapse. Can you get SOME of your stuff out of debt, so that you have something that won’t be taken away from you? For example, if you have two vehicles, can you pay off one? We have a new truck and paying it off seems to be out of sight…but we have some older wheels that are debt free.

Years ago a book was written titled, “The Day the Dollar Dies.” If you live to see that day, will you have prepared any debt free resources that you can use to help you overcome the situation and serve others?

Investing…for Eternity!

John Havener December 29th, 2008

As the year closes, there is much talk in the media of the battering the equities markets took this year and how to recoup your looses and profit in the future. Perhaps we need to “revalue” our investments and think in terms of returns in the eternal Kingdom of Christ. A dear friend shared a few year-end “investment” thoughts with you:

John, I have long thought that the loving reward system God has set up to encourage our growth has been neglected to be taught. (consider this illustration):
There were two little boys whose birthdays were celebrated quite differently. The entrance into the next stage of his life for one of the boys was celebrated with only a cupcake and small candle, the bare acknowledgment that he had been born. The other was given an “abundant entrance” into that next year – balloons, a beautiful cake, gifts, trophies for his past year’s accomplishments, cards from little friends perhaps telling how much he meant to them.That could be an illustration of the two kinds of entrance believers will have as they enter their next life. The entrance of some into heaven is described as just making it, “so as by fire” as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:9-15. And others will have “an abundant entrance”, Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:11. In the preceding verses of this chapter we are told how this desired “abundant entrance” is achieved by how we live and do in this life.Of course the illustration above breaks down because the two boys are the recipients of what their respective mothers decide to do to celebrate. Perhaps the first is limited by poverty or illness while the second has ample resources. Our Lord is not limited either in resources or love. He receives all us believers into his Home with measureless love and joy. But in love he has set up a reward system as a wise and loving incentive to growth. If we ignore or fail to honor this “abundant entrance” he envisions for us as the reward for our godly lives(2 Peter 1:3-8) our future joy will be limited. (Who wants to enter that Door thru a fire which will burn away all God cannot honor?) The Apostle Paul speaks very plainly about this reward system in the 4th chapter of Philippians. He expresses his warm gratitude to the people of the

church in Philippi who had repeatedly sent him aid when he was in need. Then he ads this disclaimer in verse 17. “Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.” (NIV) Our heavenly savings account!

In Hebrews 13:16 the Word says, “Do not forget to do good and to share with others for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown HIM as you have helped his people, and continue to help them.”

(Hebrews 6:10) “Let us not become weary in doing good,” Gal. 6:9 tells us, “for at the proper time we will reap a harvest”- and rejoice in that abundant entrance!

“Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
I Cor. 15:58.

More than anything else, however, we want to please him, whether in our home here or there. For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by him. We will each receive what we deserve, according to everything we have done, good or bad, in our bodily life.
(2 Corinthians 5:9-10 GNB)

Erica Koehler

Are You Paying Attention?

John Havener December 11th, 2008

Celente Predicts Revolution, Food Riots, Tax Rebellions By 2012

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, November 13, 2008

stock market
Gerald Celente

The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions – all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.

Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week.

Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.

“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.

“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.

Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.

Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as “The Panic of 2008,” adding that “giants (would) tumble to their deaths,” which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.

The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.

The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, “The world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest,” and that, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class.”

In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.

“There will be a revolution in this country,” he said. “It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen.”

“The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop.”

“It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more.”

“We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension.”

The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente’s accuracy as a trend forecaster.

“When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.”
— CNN Headline News

“A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.”
— The Economist

“Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right.”
— USA Today

“There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.”
- CNBC

“Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.”
— The Wall Street Journal

“Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark … he’s one of the most accurate forecasters around.”
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Mr. Celente tracks the world’s social, economic and business trends for corporate clients.”
— The New York Times

“Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority.”
— 48 Hours, CBS News

“Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing.”
— The Detroit News

“Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, ‘green marketing,’ and the boom in gourmet coffees.”
— Chicago Tribune

“The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of Popular Culture.”
— The Los Angeles Times

“If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.”
— New York Post

“The Great Consumer Crash of 2009″

John Havener November 22nd, 2008

 This is title of a 19 page report by James Quinn, Sr. Director of Strategic Planning, Wharton School of Economics, University of Penn. The full report was posted on August 14, 2008, and can be viewed at www.seekingalpha.com . Here are the first few words of this sobering article and his conclusion:

 “It is easy to ignore the storm if you look at the opposite horizon. When the storm reaches your location there can be no more ignorance.”

I hate to tell you, but the storm has reached your location and it is a Category 5 hurricane. The levees are leaking. Ignore it at your own peril…

In conclusion, the gathering storm has arrived. It will be long, painful and destructive. Those who prepared for the storm by not taking on excessive debt and living above their means, will ride it out unscathed. Those who built their house on sand by leveraging up and living the “good” life, will see their house swept out to sea. The storm will pass and we will rebuild. Our c ountry is resilient. The purging of this massive debt will result in the creative destruction that is the hallmark of American capitalism. New opportunities, new technologies and a new attitude will put us back on course.


There has been and will be resistance to the inevitable deep recession that is coming. The American consumer is not cutting back willingly. They are being dragged kicking and screaming towards the joys of frugality. The “material generation” needs to dematerialize. My biggest concern is that our politician leaders and their cronies running our government will continue to try and reverse the normal capitalistic course of recession and expansion. Companies need to fail, housing needs to find its bottom based on supply, demand and price. Those who gambled must be allowed to lose and suffer the consequences. If the government attempts to shift the losses to those who lived lifestyles of thrift, an angry uprising will ensue. Government intervention in this natural process could lead to a decade long depression.

Let’s hope that reasonable heads prevail”

The Collapse of Iceland’s Economy

John Havener November 9th, 2008

This week the NY Times published a riveting article on the sudden- and for Icelanders- stunning collapse of this small country’s economy. Earlier this year their economy seemed to be booming…last year a UN report rated Iceland the best place in the world to live…but now the little country is reeling from the total collapse of its banking industry which brought down the economy, all in one month, this October! Some practical fallout reported by the NY Times: Iceland’s currency, the Krona, now worth 1/2 of what it was worth earlier in the year, 16%+ inflation and rising, massive layoffs, some investments worthless, difficulties importing product and raw materials because of foreign exchange cricis, foreign workers leaving the country in droves because of the devalued Krona…all this in a month…long term fallout???

All this happened in one month and the suddenness of it all caught most in Iceland by surprise…shock and anger have to be dealt with by many as they try to move on with their lives. I have a twofold challenge: look up to the Lord as never before as your Source and demonstrate the reality of this by living more and more by faith and action upon His financial principles and promises. Consider one example: “Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. ” Prov28:27

My second challenge is to pray about translating some of your assets now into things you and others would need if things really got tough- like the collapse of the US economy. Using Iceland as a possible forecast of what could happen: the things you need could cost twice as much as now, if you could get them at all (most of our stuff is made in _____!)

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