Product Description

From desperate interest rate cuts and chaos in global financial markets to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and a fast-crumbling tower of public and private debt, Wall Street insider Michael J. Panzner exposes the cracks in the dike, the looming economic threats, and the vast array of promises and obligations that will ultimately go unfulfilled.

How did we get to this place, and how can we protect ourselves from the fallout?

This revised and updated edition features a new introduction by the author on the predictions that have come to pass since the book was first published. It also provides a financial bomb shelter for every American by identifying the most pressing risks we face today as well as what we can do to survive the crisis:

• How an unraveling economy will affect each one of us
• When to sell, what to buy, and where to invest as the crisis unfolds
• The social, political, and geopolitical fallout from widespread financial upheaval

Everyone must learn of the disaster-in-the-making so they can protect themselves, their families, and their economic well-being—before it's too late. Financial Armageddon is today’s call to action.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20125 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Seeking Alpha on Yahoo! Finance, March 17, 2007
Financial Armageddon doesn't pull any punches....[it's] a hard-hitting exposé of what may be our future.

Review
“I may not always agree with him, but 'Armageddon' Panzner is a brilliant analyst and a great trader. He has a tremendous grasp of investment principles.”

—Larry Kudlow, Host of CNBC's Kudlow & Co.

“A disturbing book about the all-too-possible scenarios for our future which we must work hard to avoid coming to pass.”

—Thom Hartmann, progressive talk show host and a three-time Project Censored Award-winning New York Times bestselling author

“This is an informative work with much food for thought and excellent advice in preparing for the coming financial storm. It provides concrete and uncommon ideas on how to protect yourself and your investments…. For many, this will be a disturbing book. But if it is disturbing enough to awaken Americans from their current slumber, that is precisely its value.

—Michael Nystrom , www.bullnotbull.com

“Michael Panzner fluently describes the build-up of financial risk on a number of fronts—from credit derivatives through to the government’s long-term fiscal problems—and imagines how a future crisis might develop. A breathtaking and coherent vision of financial disaster.”

—Edward Chancellor, author, Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation

“The end of the credit bubble, derivatives excesses, unfulfilled government promises and the upcoming retirement squeeze will provide investors with their greatest challenge since the 1930s. Financial Armageddon lays out the blueprint for what will happen and how to best prepare yourself and protect your loved ones.”

—David Tice, President and Fund Manager, Prudent Bear Funds

“A wonderful, entertaining, and easy-to-digest account of some very disturbing economic and financial trends….Panzner has done a great service to reveal the truth, which the over-paid Wall Street crowd and the government have conspired to hide from the ‘working man.’”

—Marc Faber, Managing Director, Marc Faber Limited

“Our country faces many large financial problems which the media largely ignores. Financial Armageddon alerts you to the painful scenarios that may lie ahead, including the worst case outcome. It may not come to pass, but you will not be caught off guard if it does.”

—William A. Fleckenstein, President, Fleckenstein Capital, and MSN Money columnist

“Too busy cutting down trees, people fail to see what’s happening to the forest. Panzner, however, is one of the few people I know who can deal with day-to-day Wall Street action and yet have a big picture perspective—a picture he paints in Financial Armageddon as one that should terrify us.”

—Bill Cara, BillCara.com (Forbes Favorite, 2006)

“Timely, accessible…Readers who follow Panzner’s advice will be among the few who successfully weather the storm ahead.”

—John Rubino, co-author, The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It

“The definitive work on our economic future. Read it now or dwell on the consequences later.”

—Bruce Stratton, SafeHaven.com

“An absorbing report on the gruesome inner workings of the Frankenstein Finance monster that is dragging the rest of our economy into a dark future.”

—James Howard Kunstler, author, The Long Emergency

“A Magnum Opus of the facts and figures of the astounding monetary and fiscal stupidities of the last decade, the incredible financial ignorance, intellectual sloth and shameful gluttony of the public, and the despicable, pandemic corruptions that made it all possible, all perfectly intertwined with timeless economic wisdom.”

—Richard Daughty, the Mogambo Guru

Bruce Stratton, SafeHaven.com
"The definitive work on our economic future. Read it now or dwell on the consequences later."

Customer Reviews

All Americans should read, unfortunately most will not!
If you care about your family's future financial well being, this book is a must read. This is the second edition of the work, but Panzer made some predictions in the first edition, written a few years ago, that have come to pass alrady. While, I hope we never see the "armageddon" that Paznzer lays out, I do believe that we are poised for a massive recession or depression due to the recent credit and houing bubbles. Panzer lays out a series of events led by a weakening dollar, national trade budget shortfalls, and credit derivative misuse that could ultimately change the face of America and our current way of life. I would also recommend "The Demise of the Dollar" as a follow on read to this work.

Credit Default swaps make up the fastest growing segment of the $415 trillion derivatives market
1. Hedge funds are structured around a performance-based compensation system. Hedge fund advisors are paid an incentive fee based on how well they do. Hedge fund advisors get a 20 percent cut above a preset benchmark, in addition to a 2 percent fee, of the total funds under management. Many hedge funds have become comfortable using large amounts of debt to boot returns. Many on Wall Street switch sides and became a hedge fund. The goal is too generate the highest possible returns in the shortest period of time, ignoring any long-term consequences.

2. The pricing of options is dependant on time remaining until maturity, interest rates, and investor expectations on market volatility.

3. According to Towergroup, US brokerage firms expected to generate $33.2 billion from derivatives-related revenue in 2006.

4. Credit Default swaps make up the fastest growing segment of the $415 trillion derivatives market. "The credit derivative has one party making periodic payments to other and receives the promise of a payoff if a third party defaults. The former party receives credit protection." (Wikipedia)

5. Credit Default Swaps can be used to manage risk without selling the corporate bond or government bond. Credit Default Swaps are a form of insurance for banks, pensions, and hedge funds (Party A) too protect themselves against the companies they invest in against debt default.

6. Insurance is bought to protect against loss. Without insurance, if company X defaults on debt, the bond value is lost. For example, a pension fund (Party A) buys a CDS and pays a 2% premium per year broke up over four quarterly payments, payable too a derivative bank; on the books, the risk of default is eliminated by the insurance; and CDS coverage lasts 5 years.

7. Since the CDS is not tie to a physical asset it can be bought and sold. Speculation on the credit-spread works drives buying and selling of CDS contracts. Without a CDS, a third party profits by identifying, a company with weak financial performance and offers to pay $900k for a $1 million bond from party B and profits $100k, if the company paid its debt. With CDS, party B profits: "Alternatively, one could enter into a credit default swap with the Party B, by selling credit protection and receiving a premium of $100,00. If the company does not default, one would make a profit of $100k without investing anything." Speculation profits are on the margin. Swap prices decline as credit quality increases and rise when quality worsens. "Some who believes that a company's credit quality will change could potentially profit more from investing in swaps than in the underlying bonds."

8. Problem: Party A buys the CDS from Party B, Party B can assign the insurance contract to another party; the final party may or may not be in a position to pay the bond's full value in the case of Party A default. If companies default on their obligations, buyers of credit default swaps would lose money, banks would tighten credit, and interest rates would rise.

9. In 2006, at least $200 billion of General Motor's CDS were estimated to exist, covering $30 billion of bonds. There is a risk that major financial operators are in over their heads leading to dangerous systematic pressures. The danger occurred in 2005 when 100,000 CDS had been verbally agreed to but not settled.

10. According to the US comptroller, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wachovia, and HSBC accounted for 96 percent of the $100 trillion of derivatives controls outstanding among the 836 US banks. JPMorgan being the largest derivate player. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had $1.5 trillion of derivates to hedge against risk in their portfolios.

11. "Credit derivatives have never been tested in times of acute market stress, such as a collapse of the real estate market, a cratering economy, or a 1987 type stock crash."

Awakening
Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes, Revised and Updated Edition
Excellent book for giving you an idea of how things might happen. Roving bands of mercinaries, Etc. Etc. Not to sound like a Pollyanna here but I think you left out the part where we downsize to the community/Township size & take care of our own. Yes, the government can & probably will have control of the money..But it's their's to start with isn't it? We the people are the ones who give it value. I enjoyed the book, gained some insight from it, and will incorporate some of the measures. If what you want is solution for Mr. Panzer's future, I suggest you get busy reading the foxfire series (A Serious course in "Self-Reliance")