TEOTWAWKI?

It is very difficult, while searching all the resources on the net, to avoid all of the analysts that believe that this is "The End Of The World As We Know It". But in some ways, I think that they are right.
"The times, They are a changin'"
As those of you who read my stuff regularly know, I think that the dollar is in serious trouble. At the very least I believe that in addition to some really awful times ahead for Real Estate, Auto Makers and Financials, I see some scary hyper inflation in the future.
But do we need to employ the bomb shelter mentality?
In my life time I have experienced several times when this was the "fringe" tendency. While growing up it was The Cold War, with the policy of "Mutually Assured Destruction".
When that threat ended, it was time to create another, Y2K. Remember when the computers were going to ruin the world because they couldn't count from 1999 to 2000?
Then came the very real and frightening 9/11. And now we have the, also very real, collapse of the financial system.
But the question remains, Is this financial Armageddon?
I don't believe that it is, yet.
and I don't really believe that it will be.
It all depends on what Washington does in the next few months.
But, have I stocked my shelves with a few extra cans of Beenie Weenie?
Maybe.
Being prepared is not the same as being paranoid. Having been part of a disaster response team I have been at ground zero for some serious events. Hurricane Ofa, Typhoon Russ, and the Loma Prieta earth quake in San Francisco in '89. I've had to eat MREs, out of necessity before. Here at home, I have also seen a time when our rivers flooded and took out bridges, leaving us isolated for days. So I do believe in being self sufficient and managing risk. That is a crucial element of investing, as well as surviving in any situation.
So let them call you paranoid, stock up on the Beenie Weenie and SpaghettiOs (and maybe some silver and gold) so that if something does happen, be it a man made or natural disaster, you can say "I told you so", as you toss your neighbor a spare can.

Good Luck and Godspeed

JT