OT - Oil et al. - That oil prices hit a 7 year low today isn't surprising. The Saudis seem quite serious about driving US frackers into bkup. What's interesting is the other side of that equation - e.g. Sanchez Energy - large positions in the Ford-Eagle shale deposits, not that far from the port LNG proposed to build to ship natural gas overseas. They were a $38 stock not that long ago. They're down another 17% today, to an all time low of $3.80. This is despite the fact that they have continuously increased barrels-per-day production, and said they have ample lines of credit from multiple sources ready to tap into if they need it. You wouldn't know it from the price action. One can jump on that train and say, "This is crazy - what a buying opp to double or triple easily." Or one can say, "This is crazy, the price action says they're heading towards bkruptcy." or, one can say - the glass is neither half empty nor half fully - it is broken.

Other pillars of a recovery don't seem so bright either - KBH/housing is floundering around $13.50.  If rate hikes make mortgages more expensive......

And our debt remains at $17 trillion or so, and no one's going to take hold of the wheel of that vehicle to avoid disaster.

But I have a plan to solve all our monetary problems: Given the Fed's active use of gross manipulation of money, not just indifference to it, why not:

Denote that the 2 and 5 year treasury bonds will be paid off in Confederate money.

10 and 30 year bonds will be paid off in Monopoly money. 

Other obligations can be handled with Bitcoins.

Why am I not a Fed governor?