Cyprussification - Keep Your Dry Powder Safe

[beauanderos]

Planning on saving your dry powder for a better entry point in what some assume is going to be a downward trending market for the near future, ie between unwanted "help" and the Summer Doldrums? Just throwing some "what if" scenarios out for discussion.

What if force majeure occurs on the LBMA and/or COMEX and silver supply dries up? One would presume the price would soar and people would scramble to secure whatever they could find, as fast as they could.

What if they could no longer do that? What if the next step of the evil bank stirs were to link such an event (silver supply) to bank exposure (TBTF's in trouble) and they implemented "the new template" of a bank bail-in confiscating unsecured depositors savings and checking accounts? Tell yourself that will/could never happen, and let's pray you're correct.

But what if you're wrong? Just at the moment silver and gold are taking off... the banks will have your money. And THEY will be the ones using your previous funds to buy up all the physical as fast as they can. It's all about transfer of wealth. However they can accomplish it. Either by means stealthy or overt.

Nothing wrong with keeping dry powder. Just keep it somewhere that a downpour won't affect it.

[barrytrot]

So you didn't say where to keep it? All in cash? Please elaborate.

[beauanderos]

So you didn't say where to keep it? All in cash? Please elaborate.

If you have "exposure" to big banks, Chase... Bank of America... those extremely vulnerable to wayward fallout from black swan derivatives-induced events, and yet you still have faith in FDIC protected accounts (yeah, right) then at least consider opening up some further accounts at local banks and credit unions and downsizing the amounts of any individual account at risk. That's even assuming FDIC would come to your rescue, but with only 91 billion in funding and multiple trillions in deposits... how far do you think that coverage will extend? They've already reduced it from $250,000 to $100,000... but more worrysome is the idea that they will tap these monies as the next source of funding for their predicaments. Small banks are safe for the moment, but if contagion spreads the TBTF's will pull the good down with the bad. It's not a problem yet, and let's hope it never will be... but I for one will not take that chance.

Yes... cash.

[68Camaro]

Vodka, the new cash...

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

Vodka, the new cash...

Maybe!!

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

If you have serious concerns about where to park your wealth so Uncle Sam can't get a hold of it~~(Like you SHOULD)~~~ What is wrong with gold?

Can you even buy gold right now?

At these spot prices, there ought to be a firestorm of buyers filling the back of trucks with the stuff.

How many ozt of Au can you stuff into a money belt and carry it off into the hinterlands?

[NiBullionCu]

one word

Credit Union

(OK that's two words, but remember, a credit union is not a bank).

[barrytrot]

one word

Credit Union

(OK that's two words, but remember, a credit union is not a bank).

Does the Government have the same power over Credit Unions? Also are their deposits insured by FDIC? If they are I would assume that the Government can claim sway over them.

[rexmerdinus]

Vodka, the new cash...

+1 Very true. And to take it a step farther, if the stuff really contacts the oscillator and things go bad, like Mad-Max-bad, PM's won't mean squat, at least for a good long while. Time (labor), shotgun shells, canned peaches and toilet paper. And yeah, lots of vodka!

[rexmerdinus]

one word

Credit Union

(OK that's two words, but remember, a credit union is not a bank).

Does the Government have the same power over Credit Unions? Also are their deposits insured by FDIC? If they are I would assume that the Government can claim sway over them.

I believe it's something like FDIC, but not the same organization. without looking it up, because I'm that lazy, the acronym "SIPC" rings a bell from radio commercials I've heard...but I could be totally wrong.

[dannan14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_C ... rance_Fund

SIPC is the FDIC for brokerage accounts

[beauanderos]

If you have serious concerns about where to park your wealth so Uncle Sam can't get a hold of it~~(Like you SHOULD)~~~ What is wrong with gold?

Can you even buy gold right now?

At these spot prices, there ought to be a firestorm of buyers filling the back of trucks with the stuff.

How many ozt of Au can you stuff into a money belt and carry it off into the hinterlands?

I'm talking about people who ALREADY have gold and silver... and are building a warchest to buy more... when the price drops "just a little bit more." Some of us are already "all in." Just trying to shake some of the complacency I see around me (at work)... hopefully our community is already alert to these potential pitfalls and have taken appropriate measures to safeguard against them.

[LooseChange]

The NCUA is like the FDIC for Credit Unions, but I'm not sure of all the similarities and/or differences.

http://www.ncua.gov/about/Pages/default.aspx

Might be worth looking into

[beauanderos]

The NCUA is like the FDIC for Credit Unions, but I'm not sure of all the similarities and/or differences.

http://www.ncua.gov/about/Pages/default.aspx

Might be worth looking into

Isn't the primary (if not the sole reason) for credit unions to extend loans only to its members? Car purchases, home loans, etc? Without exposure to risky assets (derivatives) why would they ever suffer a collapse requiring a bail-in?

[Lemon Thrower]

the biggest risk is in large too big to fail banks like BAC and Citi imho.

secondary risk is in too small to matter banks.

lots of credit unions are conservatively managed but many are too small to matter or to hire competent lending officers. a lot of them make mostly real estate lonas.

insurance for credit unions is basically like for for banks. unless you have gobs of cash it shouldn't be an issue.

one thing that makes credit unions a tad riskier is that since they are non-profit, they don't usually do M&A. If they fail, there is a bigger chance of delays than with a bank since banks have for profit M&A acquirers.

i would not be surprised if one of the super big banks like BAC or Citi failed in the next 2 years. JPM could too, but they have a lot of government support so they are least likely.

[mbailey1234]

One thing I'm not very fond of is our CU has 62% of their money loaned out for farmland and another 22% in (overpriced IMHO) home mortgages as of about 18 months ago. They hardly ever invest/make loans to the small independent business owner unless it's some minority group or something that is backed by Uncle Sam.

Maybe nothing will survive if we ever see a true SHTF scenario but I don't think they are diversified nearly enough as far as their risk.

Only reason I even know about this is they weren't wanting to loan me $150K if we ever did build a new restaurant and I even had 25% cash to put into it! I started asking some questions and that's what I was told.

[barrytrot]

One thing I'm not very fond of is our CU has 62% of their money loaned out for farmland and another 22% in (overpriced IMHO) home mortgages as of about 18 months ago. They hardly ever invest/make loans to the small independent business owner unless it's some minority group or something that is backed by Uncle Sam.

Maybe nothing will survive if we ever see a true SHTF scenario but I don't think they are diversified nearly enough as far as their risk.

Only reason I even know about this is they weren't wanting to loan me $150K if we ever did build a new restaurant and I even had 25% cash to put into it! I started asking some questions and that's what I was told.

The lending practices of Banks have been the source of many negative discussions

I would be shocked if Credit Union lending was WORSE than Banks As bad, maybe, but worse would be like being cuter than your own baby Not very likely

[neilgin1]

one word

Credit Union

(OK that's two words, but remember, a credit union is not a bank).

+10000....you betcha...i know where ALL the officers and board LIVE.

[JJM]

Don't post much anymore, but I like to lurk and read (and occasionally trade), and value the things I learn here highly (so thanks!). A couple things have caught my eye so I thought I'd weigh in today.

There was an article on ZH recently that showed the ratio of U.S. bank deposits (~9 trillion) vs. U.S. currency in circualation (~1 trillion). It noted that about 1/2 of that cash was overseas and used in INTL trading, as we are still the reserve currency in most places (rapidly changing, alarmingly so but not unexpected - but that's a whole different topic...). So the ratio of bank (and presumably CU deposits) vs. actual cash in the USA is roughly 18:1. The ~9 trillion number is the middle column in the related article below (which discusses the FDIC).

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-1 ... billion-de

What's this mean?

Should there be a bank run here, only one in eighteen dollars will be "made whole" by the banks. (Bank runs are likely if there is a huge deflationary crush - which history shows is a prerequisite for hyper-inflation...)

Of (perhaps) equally large importance, should the U.S. Dollar lose its "reserve currency" status, the monetary supply in the USA will eventually double as all those dollars "come back home".

I would echo Neil's recent suggestion of being your own bank, keep some cash for the deflationary enviroment, and some metals for the inflationary one. We'll likely see both IMO.

[NiBullionCu]

Another reason I like Credit Unions is because banks don't like them.

Banksters are always trying to get the laws changed to restrict Credit Unions, which are non-profits (how un-capitalistic! ).

What is a credit union?

A Credit Union is cooperative, nonprofit corporation, incorporated to encourage thrift among its members and create a source of credit at a fair and reasonable cost.

Just like with banks, though, If a credit union is in trouble of failing, they are taken over by a 'larger' credit union. This is usually handled by whatever State entity is auditing the Credit Union under NCUA guidance.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/11/22/in-pictures-banks-vs-credit-unions-in-the-financia/

In 2008, the rate of commercial bank failures was almost triple that of credit unions (0.60% to 0.23%), and that increased to almost five times the credit union rate in 2010 (1.86% to 0.40%).

[Treetop]

If I were as wealthy as I imagine several of you are Id likely try to buy an old bank with the vault intact and store my wealth there.

[68Camaro]

If I were as wealthy as I imagine several of you are Id likely try to buy an old bank with the vault intact and store my wealth there.

I understand and sympathize with your logic but in my oversimplification of the world mankind only builds two types of things: weapons and targets. This would be a juicy target.

[beauanderos]

If I were as wealthy as I imagine several of you are Id likely try to buy an old bank with the vault intact and store my wealth there.

I understand and sympathize with your logic but in my oversimplification of the world mankind only builds two types of things: weapons and targets. This would be a juicy target.

I still agree with Zac... this is what I'd like to do as well someday, but remodel it so that wouldn't become be a dead giveaway

[Engineer]

One thing to remember with CU deposits is that they're considered "shares". That makes you a "shareholder", which might put you at higher risk of being Cyprussed.

Just a thought from the peanut gallery...

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

one word

Credit Union

(OK that's two words, but remember, a credit union is not a bank).

Oh, Hell no! (No offense is meant! I am just emoting a past experience.)

I guess I am much older than most of you RC'ers. The SHTF already happened in the S&L industry in the '80's. I vividly remember S&L members getting pennies on the dollar when the FSLIC ( the S&L's equal to FDIC) was max'ed out.

There were actual runs on the S&L's. People pulled out their money as fast as they could to try to save it. It didn't work. All withdraws upwards to 60 days (?? I don't remember the exact number of days) before an S&L closed had to be paid back into the general fund for equal disbursement to all members. It was a real hardship for members.

This happened under Bush I. Under our current Dear Leader, I imagine the Treasury would just call up the FED and order however many billions of FRN's to cover the losses. You and I would once again get stuck with the bill to pay it all back.