Great article, thanks for posting it.
It’s going EXACTLY as Meredith Whitney predicted…
She said that at some point banks would pull in TRILLIONS of dollars in consumer credit because of ever increasing loan losses. The brilliant part of her theory was…
This would occur at the EXACT moment those lines of credit would be needed most. Job losses make it impossible for consumers to get short term lending. As a result, they turn to their only available source of instant cash credit they have…Credit Cards…As those lines get pulled in it leaves these people with virtually no where to turn. 80% of all credit card accounts revolve at least once a year. That credit is DRYING UP…
The HSBC story is the tip of the iceberg.
As those lines get pulled in it leaves these people with virtually no where to turn.
WU
Mike
Interesting idea Mike…
Western Union…
Here’s somethig I saw the other day that didn’t mean anything to me until I saw your post.
Apparently Western Union makes most of it’s money from people sending cash OUT OF THIS COUNTRY…Immigrants mostly…sending money to family back in their home countries. As a matter of fact Western Union admits that this has become the bulk of their business. Think about it…I’ve sent money Western Union exactly ONE TIME in my life. My brother needed some cash when he was living in Hollywood playing drums years ago. So I used that service ONCE…Now if I had family in Mexico and was sending my pay back there…I’d be using that service EVERY WEEK!!! Makes sense to me…When you have historic levels of job losses that cash isn’t being sent because it isn’t be MADE.
If you look at a chart of WU it might as well be the DOW. Down across the board.
WHY???
Because WE (fat, lazy, Americans) aren’t hiring Jose to plow our driveways, build our patios, plant our trees, clean our pools, and mow our lawns. Anyone remember LANDSCAPERS in your neighborhoods when you were a kid??? I DON’T…
So Juan, Jose, and Padro…aren’t sending much money home lately. It’s literally killing Western Union. As a matter of fact, Illegal immigration is actually FALLING as jobs that Americans would never have considered 2 years ago suddenly look like…
FOOD!!!
There are also so many “would be” and current retirees that find themselves remaining/ re-entering the job market. Are we talking fistfights for Wal-mart and fast food jobs? :shocked
Great point…
My personal theory is RETIREMENT as we know it is OVER in this country for the majority of people.
Think about it…If they can keep you working because they’re paying you less (Social Security) what we’ll see is our retiree’s being rolled out of Walmarts and Home Depots on stretchers as they die at work.
The entire game is changing right in front of our eyes.
The lesson you absolutely MUST LEARN is this…
NO MUTUAL FUND
PENSION
IRA
PRIVATE EQUITY INVESTMENT
HEDGE FUND
Is safe…
The ONLY way to be TRUELY safe is to understand HOW TO MAKE MONEY YOURSELF!!!
It boggles my mind that this IS NOT TAUGHT in our schools.
I’ve been in a lot of businesses throughtout my life…If I had to start all over tomorrow…It would be like starting up a machine…You prime, pump it up, and fire it up…Once you LEARN how it’s done it can repeated OVER and OVER in multiple lines of business…
I started in constructon, moved into used cars, ALWAYS in real estate and stocks. The point is this… The same EXACT methods I used to find great used cars, also work to find great deals on REAL ESTATE.
The smartest guy I ever met had a 6th grade education…Here’s what he told me…
Kid,
Your smart, you work hard, you’ve got a steady income…That’s good…
Now…go find something ELSE you can do and SAVE THAT MONEY…Once you get a years worth saved call me and I’ll show you how to make money with that money…
I did EXACTLY as I was told and he did exactly what he said he would do.
THAT is THE most valuable lesson I have ever been taught.
I’m glad you liked it jake but I wish I didn’t have to post it…HSBC was touted as “extremely safe” in various media sources last fall while all the other bank failures were happening. Now they’re in trouble too, apparently (it seems so, anyway). Is anything safe?
I used to work in a store that did WU and I can vouch that 99% of the money being sent was either immigrants sending it out of the country or sending it to each other inside the country. Americans almost never used it.
When I was a kid I WAS the landscaper. Me and my friend printed flyers on his computer and passed them out all over his neighborhood, all fall we were busy from the end of school til dark raking leaves. Made a boatload of cash. 
EXACTLY!!!
Local kids were the only “landscapers” I ever saw.
just like their new “mac & cheese…yes we can” awareness campaign…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RwjLzol9Qg
my guess is that they’ll join the ranks of autozone, family dollar, etc. with some above expectation earnings sometime soon…
it’s very smart marketing…imo…tying desperation, (phone call for help), with a positive image.
would I hold it? not a chance…
-Mike