echo5 is no j6p. A monster train is coming and the securitization of subprime debt is driving it. In the engine car we have the fed, feeding the furnace with bushels of dollars at an ever-increasing speed that somehow never seems to keep pace with the train. In the caboose we find Joe 6-pack, discussing (during commercial breaks from Hee-Haw, American Idol, and Lost) what Obama’s pastor said or what Hillary’s husband did or where McCain was born or what Britney is up to these days.
Why not precious metals? Because they may be just as bubbly. What if someone, somewhere, discovers the mother-of-all-mother-lodes gold vein? What makes these metals “precious”? Just their rarity? I know gold is used in some semiconductors but silicon is much cheaper and precious IMO.
Anyhow, for some comfort you can look at past recessions to see how those panned out. There are some similarities to what’s going on now, but still we are in a never-before-seen situation here and nobody knows what will happen.
