Stocks creep up; Dow rises for seventh day running

[Psephos]

27. The value of fiat currency is proportional to the solvency of its issuer.

The US government is bankrupt by any standard under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Which means the value of its fiat currency is zero, once the music stops.

By law, for any business, unfunded future obligations must be moved onto the balance sheet with a present cost. But GAAP doesn't apply to the Treasury or Fed. Which means there's literally no accounting for the net present value of those future must-pays in the current "budget." (Haven't had one of those in four years, either.) It's like knowing you have to put aside money for your kid's college tuition, which starts next year by the way, but then you never get around to actually doing it - AND you shout down anyone who brings it up. Which means disaster when next year rolls around.

Even all the sacred SS money has been siphoned out and spent, with nothing in its place except IOUs that can only be redeemed by issuing more debt. It's a dog chasing its own tail.

The future obligations of the government, combined with its present debt and obligatory interest payments, are so massive (between 65 and 120 trillion dollars, depending on how rosy one's economic growth projections are) that they could not be paid even if the government confiscated every asset of every person and business. All the real estate, factories, oil and gas, cash, grandma's tchotchke collection...everything, all of it.

I suggest reading outside your current list. If you are hesitant or indignant to do so, it's often a sign that you've got selection bias. Selection bias neutralizes science and history.

Start with the Zero Hedge website. The articles and especially the discussion are usually awesome and enlightening.