Pat Schwind Presents: Strategic Edge Thursday, 11/20/2008

Election Wrap-up: What Happened & Why. Speakers: Libertarian Ernie Hancock, Republican Roy Miller, & Democrat Donna Greathouse.

Minutes of 11/06/2008

1. Attended 11/06/2008 : Frank Rickey, Mark Sorhdal, Ed Stroup, Olga Strickland, Russ & Margot Wittenberg, Marty Montry, Donna & Ernie Hancock, Tim Gustafson, Jim Soudriette, Jim Shahbazian, Geri Seckinger, John Kizis, Pat Schwind, Powell Gammill, Barb Bently, & our speaker, Jack Gregson.

2. My friend & "political junkie" Jack Gregson, is from an old California family that had substantial land holdings in Sonoma since the 1850's. But that was all lost in the 'Great Depression'. Jack was determined to avoid such a catastrophe. After leaving Long Beach State U., he pursued a career in the printing & publishing industries. As a hobby, he spent many years studying politics & finance; eventually investing for his own portfolio. He brought his family to Az. in '96. Jack's devoted much of the last 4 years ("~ 5K hours"!), intensely analyzing the health of the global economy, particularly the U.S. Real Estate & Financial sectors. He brought along a 50 page compilation of some the scariest stats & info I've seen in some time; (everyone got a copy!). Jack went through this in a concise but quick fashion, & took a massive # of questions. He did a great job, but space prohibits a presentation of the details; I can only summarize the major points here: 1. Many of our financial institutions (Banks, Finance & Brokerage firms; perhaps some Insurance Co's.), some 'house-hold names', are simply 'on the brink' of insolvency. They're over-leveraged & short on cash. The recent "Bailouts" are only postponing the inevitable. 2. The continued massive inflation of our money supply by the FED only debases our currency further. The real economic impact is akin to "pushin' on a string". 3. The U.S. gov't is manipulating the precious metals markets, artificially suppressing the "real price" of gold, etc. These metals, especially silver, should be much higher than their recent range. We're only months away from a return to the traditional relationship of the real money supply to the nominal price of metals; they could 'sky-rockett'. 4. Falling home values have wiped out 'home equity', once a 'life saver' for many; it's just evaporated in the last few years, in much of the U.S. Too many folks borrowed, & bought 'to the hilt', in 'the good times'. Now it's gone. 5. Without this financial 'cushion', as our economy contracts, more people with less resources will just flat not be able to pay their bills. Foreclosures will increase, depressing values further. With mounting job losses, the 'snowball effect' could result in a "perfect financial storm": the mother of all depressions. It could be very BAD! 6. What should you do now? Analyze your spending habits, & 'cut out the fat': stop 'eating out'; do not buy anything expensive (e.g. vehicles, electronic goodies, etc.), unless absolutely necessary; try to fix & repair whatever you can to conserve your cash. Invest in tangible commodities that may allow you to survive for months on end during times of collapse & crisis: food, water storage, basic cleaning & personal hygiene products, weapons, ammo, alcohol, medicine & drugs. Finally, be useful, preferably "indispensable" at work, to survive the coming layoffs. Good Luck!

3. Our next meeting is this Thursday, 11/20/2008

   Please arrive before 7:30 AM at “JIM’s CONEY ISLAND CAFE”, 1750 No. Scottsdale Rd., Tempe, at the southwest corner of Scottsdale & Cavalier, Click Here for a map, 1 block south of McKellips, ~ 1 mile north of the 202 Freeway.

   Our speaker will be Election Wrap-up: What Happened & Why. Speakers: Libertarian Ernie Hancock, Republican Roy Miller, & Democrat Donna Greathouse.

   Bring Guests!

4. Future Speakers
   • 12/4- Fight Fascism Locally!! CameraFraud.Com: Fight Photo-Radar.
   • 12/18- Boston Tea Party Congressional Candidate, Powell Gammill re: Bio-Terrorism: Relevant Threat or Outright Hoax?
   • 1/15/9- Professional Coach, Motivator, Speaker & Cartoonist, Don Robinson: Even You Can Learn to Draw Cartoons!
   • TBA'd- Do Gay & Lesbian folks "choose" to be Homosexual, or are they JUST BORN THAT WAY?
   • TBA'd- Marriage Survival 101: Lessons from the front lines of marriage longevity, with my good friends Bill & Barb Blewster (45 years); I also hope to recruit Dr. Paul & Cybil Eppinger (50 yrs), plus Dave & Doris Newman (60+).
   • TBA'd- Arizona NORML: What's Up with that wonderful WAR ON DRUGS?
   • TBA'd- Economic "Bailouts": Necessary Evil or Just "Welfare for the Rich"? Abolish the FED? Hmmmmmm?

Sincerely, Pat Schwind, MBA