Monday, December 31, 2012

John Embry - The Price Of Silver Will Go Ballistic In 2013

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/31_John_Embry_-_The_Price_Of_Silver_Will_Go_Ballistic_In_2013.html

The Real 2013 Cliff

http://azizonomics.com/2012/12/31/the-real-2013-cliff/

Will Gold Make It 9 Out Of 9?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-31/will-gold-make-it-9-out-9
Click on Image to Enlarge

Pentagon To "Temporarily" Fire 800,000 If No Cliff Deal; Chaos To Ensue

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-31/pentagon-temporarily-fire-800000-if-no-cliff-deal-chaos-ensue

Ron Paul’s New Year’s Message to Congress: Follow the Constitution

http://www.ronpaul.com/2012-12-30/ron-pauls-new-years-message-to-congress-follow-the-constitution-in-2013/

When Priced in Gold, the US economy is at Depression-Era Levels

http://www.sovereignman.com/highlight/when-priced-in-gold-the-us-economy-is-at-depression-era-levels-10286/

Alasdair Macleod's Outlook for 2013

http://www.goldmoney.com/gold-research/alasdair-macleod/alasdair-macleod-s-outlook-for-2013.html?gmrefcode=gata

Japan lashes out over depreciating dollar and euro

Anybody still have doubts about whether a currency war of devaluation isn't taking place?

http://www.gata.org/node/12080

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Public Buying “Monstrous” Amounts Of Physical Gold & Silver

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/30_Public_Buying_Monstrous_Amounts_Of_Physical_Gold_%26_Silver.html

FDR's policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409.aspx

The Keynesian Legacy Unravels

http://www.economicnoise.com/2012/12/28/the-keynesian-legacy-unravels/
Ideology is powerful, capable of masking unpleasant facts. Whether we recognize it or not, we are all slaves to ideology.

Economists are no different in that regard than other people. They hold preconceived ideas which affect the interpretation of data and facts. In the extreme, ideology is capable of blocking the recognition of contradictory information, effectively blinding a person to valuable evidence.

Keynesian economists believe, regardless of logic and data, that economies can be managed from the top down. In their world, economies are little different than machines. Change some inputs here, speed them up over there, add some lubrication, etc. and the machine will respond in the fashion desired. Output can be “managed” to whatever level needed purely by adjusting the parts of the machine.

Austrian economists on the other hand do not see a machine. They see millions of individuals all making decisions to improve their own lives. The price system provides the coordination among these separate pieces, performing a function no human, supercomputer or government could ever accomplish. For Austrians, economics is a bottom up approach. To effect change, you must change the incentives and disincentives that individual decision makers are afforded.

Quite simply, if government were to offer constructive ideas and options, there would be no need for coercion and violence on its part to force people into behavior they are uninterested in.

Likewise, if government would leave the economy alone rather than continue to intervene to prevent necessary corrections, the economy would recover rather quickly and return to its normal growth path. But that is not what activist government does and it is the reason why this Great Recession drags on and on. In 2004, before the Great Recession hit, two economists discussed the Great Depression and why it lasted so long. Not surprisingly, they concluded that government had made matters worse.
Two UCLA economists say they have figured out why the Great Depression dragged on for almost 15 years, and they blame a suspect previously thought to be beyond reproach: President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
After scrutinizing Roosevelt’s record for four years, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian conclude in a new study that New Deal policies signed into law 71 years ago thwarted economic recovery for seven long years.

“Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump,” said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA’s Department of Economics. “We found that a relapse isn’t likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies.”

These findings would not surprise anyone of the Austrian persuasion. Nor would they register with anyone of the Keynesian persuasion which includes most Washington policy makers. As a result these (and many other findings with similar conclusions) were ignored by policymakers and we are repeating the mistakes of the Great Depression.
The reasons we are still in this deep recession are the same ones that accounted for the Great Depression lasting as long. If we continue on the same intervention / stimulus path, economic conditions will only deteriorate from here. Japan has been in their economic malaise for more than two decades. The US cannot last that long before falling into what history will call The Greater Decession.

Trump's New Gold Standard

http://blog.localcoinshops.com/trumps-new-gold-standard

The Most Bullish Chart on the Face of the Planet

http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/dominic-frisby/2011/11/17/the-most-bullish-chart-on-the-face-of-the-planet

Saturday, December 29, 2012

What's Driving Gold Companies?

http://www.usfunds.com/media/files/pdfs/researchreports/2012-research-reports/USGlobalInvestors-Gold_Special_Report.pdf

A Development In The Controversial 'Lagarde List' Case Is Causing An Uproar In Greece Today

This is what happens in class warfare.  As in the US, Greece's upper 1% is under attack.  This is further evidence that no one wins when the pie is shrinking, and the war between classes will intensify.  This includes wars between poor vs. rich, young vs. old, non-working vs. working, pensioners vs. taxpayers, takers vs. makers.

http://www.businessinsider.com/papaconstantinou-lagarde-list-allegation-2012-12

Ordinary Folks Losing Faith In Stocks

With investor sentiment so bearish, a contrarian might be tempted to buy equities.  However, looking at the debt problems and their resultant onerous costs, economies in the developed world will be dragged down by the dampening effects of servicing that debt.  Markets peak and bottom out, and despite historically low interest rates as far as the eye can see, it might be too early to be calling a bottom in equities.

The structural problems in the global financial system have not been resolved--in fact they've grown larger due to the grotesque liquidity injections by central banks worldwide.  Central bankers are attempting to solve an insolvency problem with more liquidity--mistakenly believing this economic malaise is cyclical.  The banking system and sovereign governments are weighed down by debt, and issuing more debt will only end in tears.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=168146046

Friday, December 28, 2012

Man That First Spotted QE4 Now Says Gold To Break $10,000

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/28_Man_That_First_Spotted_QE4_Now_Says_Gold_To_Break_%2410%2C000.html

2013 - Financial Destruction & How Gold & Silver Will Perform

Egon von Greyerz has a more dystopian view of financial markets than I do, if that's possible.  Will he be proven right?  No one knows for sure, but the monetary history of fiat currencies is certainly on his side.  My take is he will be proven right--even if his prognostications may be early.  My timeline for a currency collapse is within the 2013 - 2015 time frame, based on historical gold bull market cycles.  Of course, governments and central bankers can delay reality a long time, so that time line could be extended.  But eventually government largesse has its unintended consequences.

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/28_2013_-_Financial_Destruction_%26_How_Gold_%26_Silver_Will_Perform.html

Milk, grocery prices on the rise if Congress ignores farm bill

Speaking of higher prices...expect higher milk prices if the farm bill isn't passed.  Yet, the Fed insists inflation is benign.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57560791/milk-grocery-prices-on-the-rise-if-congress-ignores-farm-bill/?pageNum=2

Mississippi River Recedes Faster Than Expected, Shippers Say

If tugboats are shut down on the Mississippi River due to low river levels, expect high prices--on just about everything.

http://www.agweb.com/article/mississippi_river_recedes_faster_than_expected_shippers_say/

Are You Living in a “Death Spiral” State … And If So, What Should You Do About It?

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/11/28/are-you-living-in-a-death-spiral-state-and-if-so-what-should-you-do-about-it/

ProPublica: Govt Now Runs the US Mortgage Marketplace

http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/mortgage-nationalization-Freddie-Fannie/2012/12/21/id/468658?s=al&promo_code=113F0-1

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Next Move May Be A Stunning $3,620 For Gold & $125 Silver

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/27_Next_Move_May_Be_A_Stunning_%243%2C620_For_Gold_%26_%24125_Silver.html

Time Bomb...Bomb Shelter

Click on Image to Enlarge

A Politician’s Promise

http://mises.ca/posts/blog/a-politicians-promise/

Presenting the decline of the West in two easy infographics

http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/presenting-the-decline-of-the-west-in-two-easy-infographics-10277/

Extremely Important Gold & Silver Charts

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/26_KWN_-_Extremely_Important_Gold_%26_Silver_Charts.html

U.S. will reach debt ceiling on Dec. 31: Geithner

Anybody want to bet the US debt ceiling WON'T be raised again?  That's what I thought...

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-will-reach-debt-ceiling-on-dec-31-geithner-2012-12-26?link=MW_latest_news

DE GAULLE predicted the US monetary crisis in 1965



http://youtu.be/i-g2iGskFPE

American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-21/american-dream-fades-for-generation-y-professionals.html

MONETARY MALPRACTICE: Deceptions, Distortions and Delusions

http://gordontlong.com/Articles/art-2012-12-MM-DDD.htm

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Avoid the Fiscal Cliff - Economic Freedom Speech - Pierre Poilievre


http://youtu.be/wWkUaJId7pM

A Canadian Summarizes America's Collapse: "Everyone Takes, Nobody Makes, Money Is Free, And Money Is Worthless"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-26/canadian-summarizes-americas-collapse-everyone-takes-nobody-makes-money-free-and-mon
"Once the US citizen is in debt, the US government encourages them to stay in debt," noting that "the US government encouraged millions of Americans to spend money they did not have on homes they could not afford using loans they could never repay and then gave them a tax incentive never to repay it."

"through debt interest alone, soon the US taxpayer will be funding 100% of the Chinese Military complex."
"By 2020, the US Government will be spending more annually on debt interest than the total combined military budgets of China, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, Italy, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Spain, Turkey, and Israel."

"Through government spending the indulgence of one is the burden of another; through government borrowing, the excess of one generation becomes the yoke of the next; through international bailouts, one nation's extravagance becomes another nation's debt"

"Everyone takes, nobody makes, work doesn't pay, indulgence doesn't cost, money is free, and money is worthless."

Welcome to the Currency War, Part 6: Japan Gets Explicit

I've warned readers of a currency war for years, and recommended Jim Rickards' aptly named best-seller "Currency Wars", before it was even published in 2011.  The race to debase, or the race to the bottom, is now officially on.  I'll let readers connect the dots on the prices of tangible assets when all global paper currencies are devalued.

After a currency war, what comes next is a trade war.  What comes after that is usually military conflict.  There are geopolitical risks in every corner of the globe.


http://dollarcollapse.com/currency-war-2/welcome-to-the-currency-wars-part-6-japan-gets-explicit/

Thestreet.com reiterates Sell recommendation--Which is a contrarian signal to Buy

Adam Feuerstein is the biotech analyst at Jim Cramer's Thestreet.com.  He had a Sell recommendation on Dendreon ("DNDN"), before it subsequently soared from $3 to $58 after its prostate cancer drug Provenge was approved by the FDA on April 29, 2010.  (Editor's note:  shares of DNDN have subsequently plummeted back to $5.28 as of today due to commercial uptake issues).

Feuerstein has also had multiple Sell recommendations on another battleground biotech company, Arena Pharmaceuticals ("ARNA").  Shares of arena have also soared from its 52-week low of $1.23 to its 52-week high of $13.50 upon FDA approval of its anti-obesity drug Belviq ("Lorcaserin").  Today, Thestreet.com reiterated a Sell recommendation on ARNA, with the shares trading around $8.72.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11800338/1/arena-pharmaceuticals-inc-stock-sell-recommendation-reiterated-arna.html

With the benefit of hindsight, any investors listening to Thestreet.com's recommendations would have lost money--or worse, missed out on spectacular returns of more than 1000%.

Meanwhile, Thestreet.com settled Federal civil charges of accounting fraud.  In typical Wall Street fashion,
TheStreet Inc. and the three executives neither admitted nor denied the allegations but agreed to refrain from future violations of the securities laws.
This outcome occurred despite these shenanigans by the company's executives:
The company filed false financial reports throughout 2008 which reported revenue from sham transactions at the subsidiary, which it acquired in 2007, the SEC said. The subsidiary conducts promotions such as sweepstakes on the Internet.

The agency said Alwine and Barnett made the phony transactions and also fabricated and backdated documents to enable the fraud.
Here is a link to the story:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/thestreet-com-company-3-executives-182033815.html;_ylt=A2KJjb3ILNtQwGgApCSTmYlQ

Meanwhile, shareholder value of Thestreet.com has plummeted over the years.  Here is a price chart of TheStreet ("TST") shares from 1999 to December, 2012:

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=TST+Interactive#symbol=tst;range=my;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

Shares have plummeted from $45 to $1.61.  How this firm has been accused of and prosecuted for accounting fraud, and has consistently put out wrong directional investing recommendations, and is now trading as a penny stock--but can still stay in the business of stock-picking is beyond me.  But wait--we have our answer:  Jim Cramer, the clownish host on CNBC's Mad Money show is Thestreet.com's co-founder.

In hindsight, TheStreet.com should have put a Sell recommendation on itself 13 years ago.  As for Thestreet.com's reiteration of a Sell recommendation for ARNA, you be the judge.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Dan White: The economic return of Iceland has proved that the joke was on us

Not only did I forecast the collapse of the Icelandic bubble due to its obscene 100 x leverage ratios in their banking system, I also forecasted Iceland's subsequent recovery due to their default from debt obligations to British and Dutch banks.  While painful and inflationary for several years, default is necessary to cleanse out the excesses--and to re-emerge from the other side.  Iceland traded in decades of financial chaos and economic stagnation, and instead took their bitter medicine to recover within five years.  By stiffing their creditors, they cleared the toxic debt from their previously impaired balance sheets.

This Irish author correctly chronicles why Iceland and Ireland have had two very different outcomes.  Despite Ireland's bail out, they are even more indebted to banks, and have only extended and exacerbated their pain.  The neo-Keynesian solution of piling new debt on top of old debt will end in tears for the developed world--for decades.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/dan-white-the-economic-return-of-iceland-has-proved-that-the-joke-was-on-us-3327164.html

Iran Launches Week-Long Straits Of Hormuz Naval Drill On Friday, Next To US Aircraft Carrier

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-25/iran-launches-week-long-straits-hormuz-naval-drill-friday-next-us-aircraft-carrier

Why are (Smart) Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver than Gold?

http://sprottglobal.com/markets-at-a-glance/maag-article/?id=7124

Sunday, December 23, 2012

THE MATTERHORNINTERVIEW – Review 2012: Alasdair Macleod “We are quite likely to have a failure on COMEX in the silver market”

http://goldswitzerland.com/a-failure-on-comex-silver-alasdair-macleod/

James Turk's Outlook for Gold for 2013 to 2015


http://youtu.be/lhLzT4-9p78

2012: Calm Before the Storm

http://www.scribd.com/doc/117803160/Article-2012-Calm-Before-the-Storm

Who’s Been Naughty Or Nice & What To Expect In 2013

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/23_Whos_Been_Naughty_Or_Nice_%26_What_To_Expect_In_2013.html

Ending the Era of Ponzi Finance

The Boston Consulting Group is one of the most respected in the world.  For them to call our global financial system a Ponzi scheme is an eye-opener.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/117792941/BCG-Ending-the-Era-of-Ponzi-Finance-Jan-2013

Marc Faber Trolls CNBC Shills Over Fiscal Cliff Optimism, Warns of Massive Market Meltdown


http://youtu.be/IXW5g7PhbTE

Tom Cloud: How to Sell Gold Without Reporting It

I work with Tom Cloud.  He knows precious metals.  Contact me if you have any questions.

"TC: A lot of people are asking for British sovereigns, Swiss francs, and Austrian coronas, coins that don’t require filing 1099s when you sell them. 

DC: The fact that some coins and bars have to be reported and some don’t seems both arbitrary and important in deciding what to buy. Could you give an overview of US precious metals reporting rules and how your clients tend to approach the issue? 

TC: Sure. When they created the Patriot Act [in 2001], the excuse was that the terrorists who blew up the Twin Towers had used pure gold and silver to finance their flight training. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know. But the US imposed reporting requirements on sellers of 24-carat gold coins. If you sell more than 24 ounces in one year you’re required to file a Form 1099 with the IRS.

The 24-coin threshold applies to individuals, not families. If a husband and wife buy gold under their own names, they can each sell up to 24 ounces without having to report it. But if they bought the gold jointly, for instance with a check with both their names on it, they can only sell a total of 24 ounces in any given year. If a client sells 12 in March and 13 in December, all 25 ounces have to be reported to the government. If a client comes to me and sells 12 ounces and goes to another dealer and sells 13 ounces, they have triggered the reporting requirement, and it’s their responsibility to report it. Even if they think they’re getting away with something they may not be. I’m required to keep records, so if the government calls I have to reveal them. There are several cases where coin sellers have had to pay huge penalties for trying to avoid reporting by using more than one dealer.

Most 22-carat gold coins are exempt from Patriot Act reporting requirements, the only exception being the krugerrand. 

DC: You mentioned European coins. Why are they exempt? 

TC: There are some European coins that aren’t being made any more. Technically, people consider them to be rare, semi-numismatic coins. But some of them are actually cheaper than the major bullion coins. For example, the Austrian corona was only made from 1908 to 1915. It has .9802 oz of gold in it. If you’re out there today buying a gold eagle, you’re going to pay 5% – 6.5% over spot. But I buy Austrian coronas from a central bank as bullion coins, and can sell them at 2.75% over spot.

Another good example is the French 20 franc coin, which was made from 1856 to 1914. It contains 0.1867 ounce of gold, so it takes 5.35 of them to equal an ounce. Fractional coins usually have very large premiums. For example, a quarter-ounce gold eagle is somewhere between 10% and 12% over melt. We’ve got French 20 franc coins at 4.5% over spot and we’re selling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of them because they’re completely confidential. So the best buy right now is the European coins because of their combination of low premiums and confidentiality. Every major wholesaler that I deal with puts a price out trying to buy these European coins every day. There’s big demand for them. 

DC: Let’s summarize with a list of which coins are and are not reportable. 

TC: The following one-ounce gold coins are reportable beyond the 24-ounce threshold: the maple leaf, philharmonic, kangaroo, krugerrand, Mexican onza, and buffalo. All one-ounce gold bars are also reportable above 24 ounces.

The following 22-carat gold coins are not reportable: US gold eagle, Mexican 50 peso, Austrian 100 corona, British sovereign, French 20 franc, Swiss 20 franc. 

DC: Got it. What about silver? 

TC: Silver is very easy. There are only two things. One is a full bag of junk silver which contains 715 ounces and constitutes $1,000 face value. It is reportable in the calendar year that it’s sold. The other is silver bars and coins in any combination – one-ounce, ten-ounce, 100-ounce or 1000-ounce – once the total hits 1,000 ounces. So you can actually sell more ounces in silver bars than you can of junk silver and not have to report it. 

DC: Any risk of these rules being tightened? 

TC: They tried with the health care bill provision that any transaction over $600 required a 1099, but when everybody realized that whether you bought a high-def TV at Wal-Mart or a gold bar or a car, both the buyer and seller would have to send a 1099 to the government, they dropped that rule. I don’t see anything similar on the horizon."

Celente: This Will Usher In A Massive Financial Collapse in 2013

While I agree with Celente that the US Treasury bond market will collapse, I am not so sure of his prediction that the bubble will burst in 2013.  After all, Japan's bond bubble should have collapsed 20 years ago, but they've ginning up the money printing press, and thus able to extend and pretend the inflation of the bond bubble over these years.  Granted, Japan has several advantages the US doesn't have (a homogenous population, a trade surplus--although today--like the US, they also have a current account deficit, and a patriotic citizenry willing to buy increasingly worthless Japanese government bonds).  However, they also have bigger disadvantages--namely, an aging demographic of dis-savers, which means future entitlements are not only at-risk, but unsustainable.

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/23_Celente__This_Will_Usher_In_A_Massive_Financial_Collapse_in_2013.html

Bulletproof Backpacks And Combat Apparel Sales Soar

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-21/bulletproof-backpacks-and-combat-apparel-sales-soar

Argentina: Troops deployed after looting at ski resort

Overwhelming debt levels = currency collapse = economic collapse = unemployment = people starving = social unrest = looting

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20805042

One simple question you need to ask yourself

http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/one-simple-question-you-need-to-ask-yourself-10269/

Saturday, December 22, 2012

On The Morality Of The Fed

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-21/morality-fed

It Is Five Time More Difficult To Get An Attendant Job At Delta Airlines Than Enter Harvard

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-22/it-five-time-more-difficult-get-attendant-job-delta-airlines-enter-harvard

Tiny gold bars latest rage for jittery investors

Anybody who still doubts whether gold is money should read this article.  Germans, traditionally prudent savers, know their history.  Unfortunately, most Americans do not.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/21/swiss-gold-idUSL5E8NL4N820121221

Light at the End of the Tunnel for Gold

http://www.usfunds.com/investor-resources/investor-alert/?utm_source=SubscriberMail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IA-12212012&utm_term=USFunds.com%20Logo%20Link&utm_content=dc14275ca902476f96e5f1a8d1df0917#.UNXjknfNmSo

Maguire - Shocking $2.89 Premium For Physical Silver In China

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/21_Maguire_-_Shocking_%242.89_Premium_For_Physical_Silver_In_China.html

US Debt & Liabilities Set To Increase A Staggering $70 Trillion

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/21_US_Debt_%26_Liabilities_Set_To_Increase_A_Staggering_%2470_Trillion.html
“Actually, institutional investment into gold, currently, is only about 0.3%.  So we are talking about Japanese funds putting 1.5% to 3% or five to ten times as much (into gold) as the world average.

I’m convinced that in the next few years institutions will put a part of their assets into gold because they have to protect their assets against the inflation we will be experiencing....

“That (influx of new money into gold) will have a massive affect on the gold price.

As we go to current action in the gold market, I totally agree with Andrew Maguire.  We’ve seen heavy paper selling in a very thin market, while the physical market continues to be very strong.

As long as debt goes up, which it is guaranteed debt worldwide will go up, and as long as that continues the gold price will continue to rise and I expect a major rise in 2013.”

Greyerz also added:  “U.S. debt is increasing by approximately $1.5 trillion per year.  If you add to that the increase in unfunded liabilities, you get an increase, only in 2012, of $7 trillion.

So total debt and unfunded liabilities increase in 2012 by (a staggering) $7 trillion.  If you multiply $7 trillion by ten years you get to $70 trillion.  And you can see that the whole fiscal cliff debate is about a measly $1.2 trillion over ten years, against a potential increase in the total debt in the US of $70 trillion.

So it is so sad to see this desperate situation when politicians worldwide refuse to face up to the real catastrophic state the world is in.  Instead, they are just tinkering with the edges.”

CFTC Mission

What a crock of $hit.

http://www.cftc.gov/about/missionresponsibilities/index.htm
Congress created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 1974 as an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States.

The CFTC's mission is to protect market users and the public from fraud, manipulation, abusive practices and systemic risk related to derivatives that are subject to the Commodity Exchange Act, and to foster open, competitive, and financially sound markets.
A report card would show 100% failure.

Paul Volcker Panel Discussion

For the monetary history-challenged, Paul Volcker was the Fed Chairman in the late 70's and 80's who effectively squashed inflation by raising interest rates to all-time highs, effectively inducing a deep recession, but restored faith and confidence in the strength of the USDollar and eventually, the economy itself.  He basically ushered in two decades of the prosperity and one of the most prosperous eras in human history.  He forced America to take its bitter medicine, cleansing itself of soaring inflation and a stagnant economy.

It was the right thing to do, even if painful short-term.  However, today's Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has no such luxury.  Why?  Because in 1980, the US was the world's biggest creditor.  Raising interest rates meant foreign countries had to pay the US Treasury more in interest payments.  Today, the US is the world's largest debtor--in the history of mankind.  A rise in interest rates would result in America's bankruptcy, as we owe the rest of the world trillions in USDollars.

That's why the Fed is trapped--we face certain bankruptcy and default, and the only solution left is to print more currency, which of course, exacerbates the humongous debt problem.  Printing more fiat currency only delays the inevitable default--it doesn't resolve the structural debt problem.

http://tradewithdave.com/?p=14381

Volcker at the 49 minute mark:

“If a gold standard is going to be effective, you’ve got to fix the price of gold and you’ve got to really stick to it.”  Volcker continues, “To get on a gold standard technically now, an old fashioned gold standard, and you had to replace all the dollars out there in foreign hands with gold, God the price, you buy gold, because the price of gold would have to be enormous (atlas-sized touchdown hand signal).”  Volcker goes on to say “Who thinks that would be maintained?” (scoff).  

Volcker continuing from the 50 minute mark:

“The straightforward central banking measures have lost their effectiveness. They have gone as far as they could go.”

Hunger, homeless on the rise in U.S. cities

This is more evidence that the economic recovery is fictitious.


http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/45645

Gold Bull Market 1971 - 1981

Like most bubbles, the 70's bull market in gold went parabolic in the last couple years, as the mania phase kicked in.
Click on Image to Enlarge


US Debt - Gold Reserves Ratio

Gold reserves are historically cheap relative to US (official) debt levels.  Gold is even cheaper when accounting for astronomical unofficial debt obligations, including entitlements like social security, Medicaid, Medicare, and all the financial bailouts.  But even using manufactured cash accounting (vs. GAAP accrual accounting), US debt levels are humongous.

Click on Image to Enlarge

Historical Bull Markets

Based on this comparison chart, the bull market in gold has a ways to go before catching up with the one in the 1970's.
Click on Image to Enlarge

Gold as a Percentage of Worldwide Financial Assets

This chart best illustrates why gold is not in bubble territory.


Sinclair incandescent – biggest manipulative play in gold ever

Jim Sinclair is a legendary equities trader, especially in the mining sector.  He was also one of the few to call the bottom in gold a decade ago against a chorus of skepticism, when gold was trading at under $300 per troy ounce.  His price target back then was $1650, which is where it is today.  His next target is $3500--and above, depending on the devaluation of the USDollar and its loss of status as the global reserve currency.  He could be wrong in this next bold prediction, but I am not betting against him.

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-political-economy?oid=167966&sn=Detail

Justice

http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/justice

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Section Preventing Indefinite Detention of Americans without Trial Removed from Final NDAA Bill

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2012/12/19/the-section-preventing-indefinite-detention-of-americans-without-trial-removed-from-final-ndaa-bill/

Putting It In Perspective: In 2013 The Fed Will Conjure Enough Paper Money To Buy 11% Of All Existing Gold

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-20/putting-it-perspective-2013-fed-will-conjure-enough-paper-money-buy-11-all-existing-
In 3 years of unlimited easing, which at this pace looks quite possible, after all Chairmen have made it clear there will be no end to the global paper printing until 2015, enough electronic money will have been created to buy more than half of all gold in existence.

In 5 years? All of it.

So, once again, which is the scarcer commodity?

Brazil Doubles Gold Reserves In Last 3 Months

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-20/brazil-doubles-gold-reserves-last-3-months

Why Reported Inflation Seems Different Than Reality

http://www.streettalklive.com/daily-x-change/1399-why-reported-inflation-seems-different-than-reality.html

Going for gold? Don't forget the vault

http://www.gata.org/node/12057

Maguire - Physical Silver Market Has Now Diverged To Extremes

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/20_Maguire_-_Physical_Silver_Market_Has_Now_Diverged_To_Extremes.html

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Doctors could face 27 percent Medicare cut

http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20121219&id=15921853

Diplomat Admits China Is Accumulating Gold To Back The Yuan

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/19_Diplomat_Admits_China_Is_Accumulating_Gold_To_Back_The_Yuan.html

Whistleblower - $3.5 Billion Of Paper Used To Smash Gold Price

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/19_Whistleblower_-_%243.5_Billion_Of_Paper_Used_To_Smash_Gold_Price.html

Turk - Anti-Gold Propaganda Won’t Stop Monetary Destruction

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/19_Turk_-_Anti-Gold_Propaganda_Wont_Stop_Monetary_Destruction.html

The Holocaust: Kristallnacht

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/kristallnacht.html

Following the meeting, a wide-ranging set of antisemitic laws were passed which had the clear intent, in Goering's words, of "Aryanizing" the German economy. Over the next two or three months, the following measures were put into effect (cf., Burleigh and Wippermann, The Racial State: Germany, 1933-1945. NY: Cambridge, 1991:92-96):
  1. Jews were required to turn over all precious metals to the government.
  2. Pensions for Jews dismissed from civil service jobs were arbitrarily reduced.
  3. Jewish-owned bonds, stocks, jewelry and art works can be alienated only to the German state.
  4. Jews were physically segregated within German towns.
  5. A ban on the Jewish ownership of carrier pigeons.
  6. The suspension of Jewish driver's licenses.
  7. The confiscation of Jewish-owned radios.
  8. A curfew to keep Jews of the streets between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. in the summer and 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. in the winter.
  9. Laws protecting tenants were made non-applicable to Jewish tenants.
  10. [Perhaps to help insure the Jews could not fight back in the future, the Minister of the Interior issued regulations against Jews' possession of weapons on November 11. This prohibited Jews from "acquiring, possessing, and carrying firearms and ammunition, as well as truncheons or stabbing weapons. Those now possessing weapons and ammunition are at once to turn them over to the local police authority."]

Doug Casey on the Fiscal Cliff

http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/doug-casey-fiscal-cliff

Report on Benghazi attack cites 'systemic failures'

Thanks to Kitty for this one.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/us/state-benghazi-report/index.html
Documents show Lamb denied repeated requests for additional security in Libya.

Despite all the criticism, the board found no U.S. government employee had engaged in misconduct or ignored responsibilities and did not recommend any individual be disciplined.
WTF?  As for Hillary Clinton's absence from testimony, is anybody surprised by the timing of her injuries?

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Turk - Why Did They Send In The Queen Instead Of Auditors?

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/18_Turk_-_Why_Did_They_Send_In_The_Queen_Instead_Of_Auditors.html

Japanese Pension Funds Seek Safety in Gold

Good news: some big Japanese pension funds are finally starting to see the benefits of diversifying their assets into gold.

Bad news: they still don't get it--they're choosing gold ETF's, i.e. paper gold to gain exposure into the gold market.  For the nth time, they should be buying physical gold, because when a financial catastrophe occurs (and that is one of the biggest reasons for having exposure to gold), having legal claim to gold is equivalent to an empty claim.

But hey, who am I to judge?  They manage trillions of yen.  They're the experts, right?  Then why have they entered the party 14 and 4 years later than me--with prices up as much as seven-fold in that time span?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324407504578186710415464652.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The Real Truth About the Fiscal Cliff


http://youtu.be/bK5m00fXHjg

Art Cashin: "This Is A World Even Keynes Could Not Conceive"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-18/art-cashin-world-even-keynes-could-not-conceive

Goons versus Gold

http://www.sovereignman.com/finance/goons-versus-gold-10226/

Cramer's TheStreet.com Charged With Accounting Fraud

You can't make this $hit up.  Millions actually listen to his advice as gospel.  His shenanigans actually extend further than these allegations, but we'll just let the court system give him a slap of the wrist.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-18/cramers-thestreetcom-charged-accounting-fraud

Gun Sales Soar In Aftermath Of Newtown Killings

This is an example of unintended consequences by gun restriction advocates:  more gun purchases.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-18/gun-sales-soar-aftermath-newtown-killingshttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-18/gun-sales-soar-aftermath-newtown-killings

Turk: The West Can’t Stop The Flow Of Gold Into India & China

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/18_Turk__The_West_Cant_Stop_The_Flow_Of_Gold_Into_India_%26_China.html

Monday, December 17, 2012

The Two Charts That Matter From Smith And Wesson's December Investor Presentation

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-17/two-charts-matter-smith-and-wessons-december-investor-presentation

Fed Targets Unemployment




San Fran Fed Reminds Everyone Why Fed Forecasts Are A Joke

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-17/san-fran-fed-reminds-everyone-why-fed-forecasts-are-joke

Why Central Banks Can't Let Up on Stimulus

Why Central Banks Can't Let Up on Stimulus
It's all part of the brave new central banking world.

"We're in open-ended QE across the globe," Doss said. "I don't know what the end game is."
I know how this will all end:  in tears.  Stimulus = debt monetization = deficit spending = an insolvent Treasury issuing new debt to pay off old debt = a bankrupt country creating money out of thin air.  Why will this end in tears?  Because a broke country will become more broke.

First Majestic Announces Friendly Acquisition of Orko Silver

And so the rush to acquire resource assets in the ground begins.  Given the deep undervalued status of mining companies with real assets, expect increased intensity in murders and executions...er, mergers and acquisitions, for the mining industry going forward.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-majestic-announces-friendly-acquisition-235547435.html

My Worst Fear

Ted Butler is a smart guy, but what he fails to see is that CFTC regulator Bart Chilton is a plant, put in his position merely to appease the watch dogs.  Meanwhile, CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler and his minions continue to look the other way as the silver price manipulation continues unabated.  The other CFTC commissioners are mouthpieces for the CME and the very firms they are supposed to regulate.

While Butler believes Chilton to be one of the "good guys", Butler doesn't realize that Chilton is more likely a double agent undermining  Butler's futile attempts to expose the ongoing silver price suppression at the COMEX.

Memo to Ted: you constantly deride the public for burying their heads in the sand on the market-rigging tactics in the commodities exchanges.  It's time for you to recognize that you've been sleeping with the enemy.

Memo to the public:  avoid paper trading of precious metals contracts--Butler is correct in that assessment.  But don't expect our government regulators to help rectify the crimes in progress--they are in on it, because rising precious metals prices expose the Fed's reckless currency debasement campaign.  You're better off buying physical gold and silver instead.  This will counteract the bullion banks' paper naked shorting shenanigans.

http://www.silverseek.com/commentary/my-worst-fear-8306

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Gun Control? No, Drone Control

This is a controversial topic, no doubt.

http://azizonomics.com/2012/12/17/gun-control-no-drone-control/

Why We’re Ungovernable, Part 5: Japan “Would Be Manageable, If Only…”

As loyal readers of this blog have known, I've been predicting a collapse of Japan's economy for a while.  That event is on its door step.

http://dollarcollapse.com/articles/why-were-ungovernable-part-5-japan-would-be-manageable-if-only/

US Is killing The Global Economy

http://armstrongeconomics.com/2012/12/16/us-is-killing-the-global-economy/

How to Spot a Hypocrite in the Gun Debate and Other Reflections on Newtown

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2012/12/16/how-to-spot-a-hypocrite-in-the-gun-debate-and-other-reflections-on-newtown/

Our Path To Collapse Will Impact Everyone Around The World

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/15_Our_Path_To_Collapse_Will_Impact_Everyone_Around_The_World.html

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Misery Spread Widely

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-15/misery-spread-widely

Noting that markets have been destroyed, Chris Martenson earns his tinfoil hat

http://www.gata.org/node/12034

It's Better to Be a Year Early Than a Day Late

http://www.peakprosperity.com/insider/80252/better-year-early-day-late
But I don't really think that gold's current market price or recent behaviors have anything useful to do with gold's value here.  As I noted in a recent Insider, in the run up to the QE4 announcement and then in the days right after, some entity has been selling literally thousands and thousands of gold contracts into the thinly traded overnight markets so rapidly that we have to use millisecond charting to see it for what it is.  Again, there is no other legitimate explanation for this activity of which I am aware besides having an intent of pushing the price down.

Whether there is some motivation for this activity besides 'making money,' I remain convinced that the gold market, like many others, is no longer sending useful price signals. Instead it is telling us that some entity has found it useful to sell thousands of gold contracts all at once.

The interesting part of this story is that this has been the most sustained, intensive, and yet ineffective gold-selling that I have yet seen.  In the past, such bear raids, as they are called, would have resulted in a sharply lower gold price.  Right now, that has not yet really happened.

I am wondering if a big up move is not right around the corner for gold.  I can tell you that if even one fourth of the recent QE effort was announced five years ago, markets would have exploded and gold would have absolutely launched...

A 'very different' platinum market swings into 600,000oz deficit

http://www.mining.com/a-very-different-platinum-market-swings-into-600000oz-deficit-74887/

Treasury Yields Below Inflation May Last Years: Chart of the Day

Against a backdrop of negative real bond yields, I am bewildered that investors (lenders) are pouring into US Treasury bonds in a (perceived) flight to safety.  To me, this flight is misguided, and it guarantees destruction of portfolios.  In other words, the herd will be slaughtered--again.

Here's a Keynes quote:  "Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent."

In essence, forecasts of a bond market collapse are early--not wrong.  See the NASDAQ bubble bursting in 2000.  See the subprime mortgage bond market bubble in 2007.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-14/treasury-yields-below-inflation-may-last-years-chart-of-the-day.html

QE 4: Folks, This Ain't Normal

http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/80251/qe-4-folks-aint-normal

Pentagon to send missiles, 400 troops to Turkey

Syria is unofficially in the crosshairs.

http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-send-missiles-400-troops-turkey-093600827.html

Gold demand increases 15pc

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/gold/9742142/Gold-demand-increases-15pc.html

Two Important Charts For Gold & Silver Investors

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/14_Two_Important_Charts_For_Gold_%26_Silver_Investors.html

Friday, December 14, 2012

U.S. has long recent history of mass shootings

This article doesn't mention the Springfield, OR incident or the killing of eight people in a Seal Beach salon.  But it captures many mass murders.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/u-s-long-history-mass-shootings-article-1.1220382?localLinksEnabled=false

The Investment Everybody Loves to Hate

http://www.acting-man.com/?p=20939

What Bernanke, Marc Faber's Bathroom, and Gold All Have in Common

http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/What-Bernanke-Marc-Faber2527s-Bathroom-and/12/6/2012/id/46461?camp=syndication&medium=portals&from=yahoo

Going for Gold in a Dangerous World

This guy is brilliant not just for his insight but how he can clearly ascertain and describe in a clear fashion the inherent risks in our interconnected, global financial system.  The risks are currency devaluation, counterparty and custodial risk.  The solution is to get out of paper assets and into physical bullion, spread among multiple jurisdictions.

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111903964304577422321621057552.html#

Fed extends aid to foreign banks

This is a much larger form of QE which mostly goes unnoticed by the so-called experts and unreported by the mainstream media.  Kudos to CNN for reporting this.  The tide is changing as the masses are starting to come around on the destruction of all fiat currencies--especially and including the USDollar.  QE is nothing more than perpetual bail outs of an insolvent, over-leveraged global banking system.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/13/news/economy/federal-reserve-us-dollar/index.html?source=cnn_bin

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Public Buses Across Country Quietly Adding Microphones to Record Passenger Conversations

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/12/public-bus-audio-surveillance/

Fed’s Balance Sheet To Hit A Shocking $6 Trillion

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/13_Feds_Balance_Sheet_To_Hit_A_Shocking_%246_Trillion.html

The NYU Student Tweeting Every Reported US Drone Strike Has Revealed A Disturbing Trend

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-drone-tweets-reveal-double-tap-plan-2012-12

Chart of the day: China is now world’s No. 1 manufacturer

The fact that China has surpassed the US in manufacturing output should not be a surprise.  The fact that Americans believe consumption--even if it means going into debt--in lieu of productive capacity, is the path to prosperity is mind-boggling.  It's a result of consumer behavior being indoctrinated into our citizens psyche by our learning institutions.  Debts don't matter, as long as you keep whipping out that credit card, right?

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/12/chart-of-the-day-china-is-now-worlds-no-1-manufacturer/

55 Reasons Why California Is The Worst State In America

Thanks to Kitty for finding this article.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/55-reasons-why-california-is-the-worst-state-in-america

Report: Over 250 Gold Robberies in Stockton Since April: Police Taken By Surprise

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/report-over-250-gold-robberies-in-stockton-since-april-police-taken-by-surprise_11202012

The food stamp economic recovery – Food stamps increase by over 600,000 in last month of data. GDP at record levels yet US employment is 4 million below start of recession

http://www.mybudget360.com/food-stamp-economic-recovery-2012-21-million-food-stamp-adds-recession-employment-ratio/

$822,000 Worker Shows California Leads U.S. Pay Giveaway

And Californians wonder why their state is ****ed.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-11/-822-000-worker-shows-california-leads-u-s-pay-giveaway.html

All Of My Bags Were Searched & They Were Looking For Money

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/12_All_Of_My_Bags_Were_Searched_%26_They_Were_Looking_For_Money.html

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND - Second Review of the Special Data Dissemination Standard--Further Considerations

http://www.gata.org/files/IMFGoldDataMemo--3-10-1999.pdf
DOCUMENT OF INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
AND NOT FOR PUBLIC USE


15. Central bank officials indicated that they considered information on gold loans and swaps to be highly market-sensitive, in view of the limited number of participants in such transactions. Thus, they considered that the SDDS reserves template should not require the separate disclosure of such information but should instead treat al1 monetary gold assets, including gold on loan or subject to swap agreements, as a single data item. They also confirmed a view, taken by a number of countries (both inside and outside the G-10) at the December Board meeting, that the disclosure of the composition of reserves by individual currencies would be market-sensitive but that they would have no objection to disclosure of such information by groups of currencies.

16. Officials of the ECB indicated that the ECB intended to disseminate data on its own holdings of official reserves and related items in accordance with the G- 10 and the Fund staff templates, provided that these were not too different, although they preferred to report on one unified template. They expected to be able to begin publishing in this format during the second half of 1999 and did not foresee major difficulties in disseminating the requisite information (although they confirmed that information on gold loans and swaps was considered highly market-sensitive). The ECB had just begun to publish the consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem on a weekly basis, with a lag of about a week. The financial statement included five line items that were relevant for reporting under the CGFS template. These were:

- on the assets side--gold and gold receivables; claims on non-euro area residents in
foreign (i.e., non-euro) currency; and claims on euro area residents in foreign currency;


20. Conversations with a few Executive Directors confirmed the reluctance of their
authorities at present to disclose information on their international reserve positions on a highly frequent and timely basis, as a matter of policy. The motivations underlying this position were: (a) a desire to preserve the confidentiality of foreign exchange market intervention for a period, in order to enhance its effectiveness; (b) a reluctance by some monetary authorities to reveal information on their official transactions in exchange markets on a more frequent and timely basis than the disclosure of transactions by major international investors; and (c) a concern by some countries that weekly reserves data could be inherently more volatile than monthly data, which could be misleading and potentially destabilizing to exchange markets. This position had stimulated, during the December Board meeting, a lively discussion of the costs and benefits of increased transparency under various circumstances and the information requirements for well-functioning international financial markets. The staff will not seek to reproduce that discussion in the present paper.


23. On the assets side of the template, the major changes are:
- the elimination of any requirement to disclose the amount of gold loans, and of the
explicit requirement to disclose the volume of monetary gold. The revised template would require only that the total value of monetary gold (including gold loans) be disclosed. Monetary authorities would be expected to disclose the valuation basis for their official gold holdings, which would be done most straightforwardly in practice by indicating the volume and price;

“Holy Grail” Gold Evidence Panics Western Central Banks

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/12_Holy_Grail_Gold_Evidence_Panics_Western_Central_Banks.html

Silver: Outlook For 2013

http://goldsilverworlds.com/gold-silver-price-news/silver-outlook-for-2013/

SILVER - The People's Metal (Ryan Jordan)


http://youtu.be/8WbfdTyloYY

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Secret IMF report: Hide gold loans and swaps for market manipulation

This is a truly shocking, ground-breaking, meant-to-be confidental admission by the IMF that central banks worldwide are selling, leasing, and swapping gold into the marketplace in order to manipulate prices.  Of course, the average person on the street, or the mainstream media will ignore it or dismiss it.  They will regret this a few years from now when the price of physical gold will soar.  The emperors have no gold.

http://www.gata.org/node/12016

IMF study in 1999 found 80 central banks lending 15% of official gold reserves

http://www.gata.org/node/12009

Fort Knox on Thames. Barclays’ big new London gold vault

Demand for vaulting of gold worldwide is soaring.  My personal opinion is that vaulting in London and New York poses counterparty and confiscatory risk.

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-whats-new?oid=165960&sn=Detail

Silver surplus – what silver surplus?

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-whats-new?oid=165917&sn=Detail

When Governments Steal Gold

http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/gold-confiscation-120720125

Saving Gold - Old reliable stands tall in crisis atmosphere

http://www.usagold.com/publications/savinggold2012.html

Too Big to Indict

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/opinion/hsbc-too-big-to-indict.html?emc=eta1&_r=1&

It's Time

http://www.scribd.com/doc/116587147/Qbamco-It-s-Time

Hoffa Vows To Fight Right-To-Work-For-Less In Michigan


http://youtu.be/2trIypROnSw

QE Opposite of Deleveraging: HK Monetary Authority

Wow, a central banker who actually GETS it.

http://english.cri.cn/6826/2012/12/10/2724s737636.htm

India Must Tap Household, Temple Gold to Reduce Imports

Attempts by the Indian government to dampen demand for gold will be proven futile--and countervailing.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-11/india-must-tap-household-temple-gold-to-reduce-imports.html
“The only way India can reduce its dependence on imports is to tap the gold lying with individuals and temples,” Kishore Narne, head of commodity and currency at Motilal Oswal Commodity Broker Pvt., said in a phone interview. “By doing this, the country can reduce influx of gold at these high prices. Appetite for gold is never going to diminish.”

"Even if the depositors bring in unaccounted gold, the government should not ask them about the source,” the federation’s Bamalwa said. “Indians will continue spending on gold on marriages and in festivals. In a country like India, there is no scheme for social security, and investment in gold is like a social security."

How A Handful Of Unsupervised MIT Economists Run The World

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-12/how-handful-unsupervised-mit-economists-run-world

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave

http://dollarcollapse.com/inflation/oh-what-a-tangled-web-we-weave/

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Brett Arends: In gold investing, forget the metal and focus on stocks

Although I am equally bullish on precious metals, I don't agree with the author's sentiment.  The first step in precious metals is buying the physical bullion or coins themselves.  That's the fear trade--a hedge against financial catastrophe.  Once that base is covered, then the greed trade--investing in mining stocks--is supplemental.

Buying physical precious metals is not an investment per se--it produces no cash flow and does not pay a dividend.  But it is a hedge against inflation, currency debasement, and economic collapse.  Consider physical precious metals catastrophe insurance, and your first-line defense against predatory central banks and sovereign governments enamored with the printing press.

http://www.gata.org/node/12003

Citigroup’s Amazing Abu Dhabi Adventure

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-09/citigroup-s-amazing-abu-dhabi-adventure.html

The West is signing its own death sentence

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosborne/9730434/The-West-is-signing-its-own-death-sentence.html

World risks fresh credit bubble, Switzerland's BIS warns

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9733547/World-risks-fresh-credit-bubble-Switzerlands-BIS-warns.html

Asterix, Obelix Leave France Amid Hollande’s Taxes on Rich

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-12-11/asterix-obelix-leave-france-amid-hollande-s-taxes-on-wealthy

Paris hit by wave of street muggings and grave robberies

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9732943/Paris-hit-by-wave-of-street-muggings-and-grave-robberies.html

Rickards: Fed Is Trying to Import Inflation


http://bloom.bg/TFGJly

Elliott's Paul Singer Reveals The Thing That Scares Him Most

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-10/elliotts-paul-singer-reveals-thing-scares-him-most

Santelli: "All They're After Is Your Bucks!"






Presenting The Fund-tastic Four: Ireland, Greece, Spain And... The U.S.

The race to debase:  the currency war is on like donkey kong.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-10/presenting-fund-tastic-four-ireland-greece-spain-and-us

A Few Thoughts on Gold, Part 1 – Gold as an Investment

http://www.acting-man.com/?p=20860

Monday, December 10, 2012

School District Owes $1 Billion On $100 Million Loan

Guess who profits while school districts go bankrupt?  Have you learned nothing from the 2008 financial crisis?

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/07/166745290/school-district-owes-1-billion-on-100-million-loan

Latin America catches the gold bug

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4f5412ca-429a-11e2-a233-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2EjAU5IkO

17 US Warships now off Syria

Nothing of this military build up in the Middle East is being reported by the US media.  All we get is the moronic droning of the fiscal cliff.  We've already fallen over the cliff.  The only questions remaining are where and how hard we land.  The effects of gravity are well-known.

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/145557/17-us-warships-now-off-syria.html

Gold futures market heading for crisis

Folks, that word "force majeure" comes up again.  Without understanding the intricacies of what that implies, just understand that if the futures exchanges fall back on that declaration, the price of physical silver will soar--even if paper prices remain constant, due to price manipulation by the bullion banks.

http://www.goldmoney.com/gold-research/alasdair-macleod/gold-futures-market-heading-for-crisis.html

John Embry - This Is Why Silver Will Smash Through $100

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/10_John_Embry_-_This_Is_Why_Silver_Will_Smash_Through_%24100.html

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Here Is The Gold Market In One Fantastic Chart

Do what Goldman Sachs is doing (accumulate gold)--not what they are publicly advising (sell gold).


http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/7_Here_Is_The_Gold_Market_In_One_Fantastic_Chart.html

This Is What Is Going On Behind The Scenes In The Gold War

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/9_This_Is_What_Is_Going_On_Behind_The_Scenes_In_The_Gold_War.html
They sort of understand that one way or another they are going to get screwed because there is no way out for the US other than to keep rates in negative territory right across the yield curve.  So why would you not diversify?  And what are you going to diversify into?  Are you going to go into the euro?  I mean good grief, give me a break.

Gold is the obvious place to try to get your hands on some diversification away from dollars if you are a central bank.  I think that’s also true of private wealth.  Frankly, what I am hearing in the dialogue I have with our clients and perspective clients is, ‘Yes, we really need to take a long-term view of it.’

A lot of people look at something like this chart (from Egon von Greyerz) and they look at what the federal deficits are likely to run even on an optimistic basis on the fiscal cliff, and they are saying, ‘Yes, we better have some (gold).’  And I guarantee you they don’t have it.  They are talking about it.  So the talk is starting and I think the big buying is still ahead of us.”

“Yeah, I mean maybe Goldman can help us (laughter ensues).  Look, I’ve been saying this for years, and when you count every bar that’s above ground, the supply of mined gold is going up slowly.  It’s going up 1%, 1.5% per year.  That’s a much slower rate of increase than the amount of paper that’s being created every minute of the day.

What I’m seeing is the (government issued) paper is not satisfying the holders in terms of the estimated future buying power that you would expect to have in something we call ‘money.’  That’s why, at the margin, you are going to continue to see a bid for gold.

That’s what you are seeing with the Chinese numbers, and less well reported, that’s what you are seeing with central banks.  Certainly that’s what I’m seeing when I talk to big pools of money.  But gold has a way of throwing curve balls, getting people discouraged and exhausting the most steadfast bull.  I think we are in one of those periods where that is the case. 

Yet if you take a step back, the setup is terrific.  Who knows when the ignition takes place?  I don’t, but I do know that what I see is a dispirited market.  If we look back to where we were in May, the metals are higher, so are the shares.  The valuations haven’t improved a lot but they (the shares) are still higher.

I like that kind of discouragement in terms of a condition for forming a base for the next move up and I think that’s what we are doing.”



Monday, December 3, 2012

Auguries — Cui bono?

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/12/01/auguries-cui-bono/

How Will the Fiscal Cliff Affect Gold, Metals?

The TV hostess asks the analyst where the big gold buyers are coming from: European or US investors?

Those are correct answers, but the TV anchor and analyst truly show their ignorance of the global gold market.  The best answer is the big PHYSICAL (as opposed to paper) gold buyers are in Asia, specifically China, India, and Russia.

When the "experts" are clueless, it's an indication that the masses are even more so.


http://bloom.bg/11b8zIQ

U.S. gold coins set for strongest November sales in 14 years

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/30/us-usa-mint-coins-idUSBRE8AT0Z220121130

US Mint Gold and Silver Sales

Any questions?

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Collapse Is What Is Really Taking Place Around The World

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/1_Collapse_Is_What_Is_Really_Taking_Place_Around_The_World.html

Major Banks, Governmental Officials and Their Comrade Capitalists Targets of Spire Law Group, LLP's Racketeering and Money Laundering Lawsuit Seeking Return of $43 Trillion to the United States Treasury

Thanks to Kitty for finding this article.

There may be slap wrists as a result of this widespread lawsuit against the banksters and their complicit, jackboot government bureaucrats, but no one will to go jail for this.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/major-banks-governmental-officials-and-their-comrade-capitalists-targets-of-spire-law-group-llps-racketeering-and-money-laundering-lawsuit-seeking-return-of-43-trillion-to-the-united-states-treasury-2012-10-25

Native App vs. Mobile Web App: A Quick Comparison

This comparison is for all the wannabe mobile applications developers out there.  Read the comments also.

http://sixrevisions.com/mobile/native-app-vs-mobile-web-app-comparison/

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Ron Paul: Why I Didn't Run as an Independent


http://youtu.be/ZAG9YIzW-Lg
When I first came here in 1976 I was under the impression that if you talk about welfare you talk about those people who won't work and get foodstamps. But have a completely different opinion now: that exists and it's not healthy, but that's minor compared to the "foodstamps" the wealthy get. The wealthy get the contracts and the special deals and that's where the biggest turmoil is."

What is a DWAC?

http://www.empirestock.com/DWAC%20-%20How%20It%20Works.pdf

China’s new gold exchange platform to bow

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-new-gold-exchange-platform-to-bow-2012-11-30?siteid=rss&rss=1

Consumer Price Inflation in the United States, 1900 - 1912

Click on Image to Enlarge.

The Working Class and the Government Class

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/the-working-class-and-the-government-class/

Congress looks at replacing dollar bills with coins -- saving billions

Currency debasement will make every coin non-economic to manufacture.  This is what happens when money dies.


http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22098752

Paper Gold, what is it really good for?

http://www.bullioninternational.com/blog/entry/paper_gold_what_is_it_really_good_for

Sprott: Shorts May Need To Deliver 40 Million Ounces Of Silver

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/1_Sprott__Shorts_May_Need_To_Deliver_40_Million_Ounces_Of_Silver.html

Billionaire Eric Sprott - Gold To Rise 500% From Current Levels

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/11/30_Billionaire_Eric_Sprott_-_Gold_To_Rise_500_From_Current_Levels.html