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• Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Mixed; Fall After Hours
• Gold Mining Stocks Trendpower
• It Is Time To Embrace the New Refrain “Got Silver?”
• Silver is Now Even More Precious Than Gold! Do You Own Any?
• Intrepid Potash Management Discusses Q4 2010 Results - Earnings Call Transcript
• What the hell just happened?
• Dollar Divergence in February Trade
• Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Blythe Might As Well Be Walkin On the Sun
• Silver Train Is A Coming Are You Onboard – Stewart Thomson
• Are Gold & Silver Already Too High, or is the Rally Just Starting?
• Marc Faber - Gold, Inflation, stocks, and the end game.
• Speak Up and Be Heard
• Bearish warning: These stocks say the market is cracking
• Antal E. Fekete at Cambridge House Phoenix Silver Summit 2011
• QE2: The Road to a Gold Standard
• Sound, Credible Silver Prices
• Special Silver Chart Analysis
• SLV ETF Adds 7,470,010 Troy Ounces of Silver
• Gold Cheap Versus Oil Signals Bullion to Rally
• Arab Tensions Push Gold Higher
• Gold Finds "Bargain Hunting" at $1400 as Saudi King Spends $38bn to Avoid Revolution
• Gold Bar Manufacturers
• Oil Price 1 Oil Shares 0
• THERE GOES THE FIRST SECTOR
• $62.54
• For Love of Democracy
• Brent $220
• Stagflation 2011: Why It Is Here And Why It Is Going To Be Very Painful
• China Steps up Silver Purchases
• 100 oz bars about to be extinct, We only need 10K Silver contracts for BOOM, we still have 40K, Nuff said
• Getting to Know Crisis Premiums
• A Silver Investor’s Call to Arms
• violence in Bahiarn, Violence in Libya. Violence in Greece,,silver and gold rocket northbound
• Gold Nearing Record High on Mideast Turbulence
• Forget Bullion – Those in the Know Own Warrants
• The Price(s) of Tyranny
• Three Decade Low for Gold Silver Ratio, Timberline Pops
• What the Saudi Arabia- "day Of Rage" March 11 means for silver and gold, oh and oil too?!
• Protecting Yourself from Bernanke’s Money Printing
• Fed's Hoenig says TBTF banks need to be "broken up"
• Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Gain Almost 1% and 2% More
• Krugerrand – The original Bullion Coin

Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Mixed; Fall After Hours Posted: 24 Feb 2011 07:15 AM PST Gold fell $5.45 to $1407.70 in Asia before it climbed back higher in London and saw a $4.95 gain at $1418.10 by a little after 8:15AM EST and then fell back to $1408.12 by about 11:15AM, but it then rallied back higher in the last couple of hours of trade and ended with a gain of 0.14%. Silver rose 28 cents to $33.76 in Asia before it fell to see a $0.55 loss at $32.93 at about 11:15AM EST and then also bounced back higher in late trade, but it still ended with a loss of 0.87%. Both metals are falling rather markedly in after hours access trade at the time of writing, however.

Gold Mining Stocks Trendpower Posted: 24 Feb 2011 07:00 AM PST

It Is Time To Embrace the New Refrain “Got Silver?” Posted: 24 Feb 2011 06:14 AM PST Few investment opportunities arise in our lifetime like silver. The stage is set for a silver price percentage gain of extraordinary magnitude! Forget the popular refrain of "Got Gold?" and make some additions to your portfolio to take advantage of the coming silver supernova! Words: 513

Silver is Now Even More Precious Than Gold! Do You Own Any? Posted: 24 Feb 2011 06:14 AM PST Silver is now rarer than gold and will be for all of eternity. From this point forth we work from current silver production alone and, from this point forth, demand will outstrip production without exception. [Can you imagine what that means for the future price of this, indeed, precious metal? Forget about the popular expression: 'Got gold?' The much more important - and potentially more profitable - question to ask these days is, 'Got silver?'] Words: 972

Intrepid Potash Management Discusses Q4 2010 Results - Earnings Call Transcript Posted: 24 Feb 2011 06:00 AM PST Intrepid Potash (IPI) Q4 2010 Earnings Call February 24, 2011 10:00 am ET Executives Robert Jornayvaz - Co-founder, Executive Chairman of the Board and Principal Executive Officer R. Moore - Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales John Mansanti - Vice President of Operations William Kent - Director of Investor Relations David Honeyfield - President and Chief Financial Officer Analysts Fai Lee - RBC Capital Markets, LLC Douglas Chudy - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley Donald Carson - Susquehanna Financial Group, LLLP Mark Connelly - Credit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc. Robert Koort - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Fadi Benjamin David Silver - BofA Merrill Lynch Edlain Rodriguez - Gleacher & Company, Inc. Presentation Operator Good morning, and welcome to the Intrepid Potash Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] It is my pleasure to turn the conference over to William Kent, Director Complete Story »

What the hell just happened? Posted: 24 Feb 2011 05:37 AM PST

Dollar Divergence in February Trade Posted: 24 Feb 2011 05:01 AM PST The LFB submits: Currency markets are looking to close out the month of February at the same price points that they started, with the new generation of trader and investor that looks outside of their own regional marketplace each day, seeing the U.S. dollar being tested as the default go-to safety play. In the month of February interest rate markets have increased, Treasury note values have dropped, and emerging market equities have increased in value. However the rabid determination of regional central banks to hedge inflation risk, protect regional currency values, and to fight back against U.S. dollar devaluation, has held global currencies in a very tight February range. The dollar index is holding around the 77.50 price point, which is the same area that created a bounce off support at the beginning of February that moved higher to test 79.00 at the same time the equity markets also moved higher. The divergence Complete Story »

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Blythe Might As Well Be Walkin On the Sun Posted: 24 Feb 2011 03:54 AM PST

Silver Train Is A Coming Are You Onboard – Stewart Thomson Posted: 24 Feb 2011 03:42 AM PST The Silver Train.  Are you onboard?  Just about six weeks ago, at the January highs for Silver, the average daily movement for Silver was about 50 cents a day.  What is it now?  It's 50 cents an hour! I spoke yesterday about the new $30 to $40 Silver "Range Of Play".  This morning you have approx. two dollars an ounce of visible weakness on the chart, in the range of play, to buy into.  My suggestion: Do it now! Here's a look at that visible weakness that I just bought into at 4am.  That's a huge drop in price.  A huge sale for you to buy.  Early Morning Silver Chart Number One. Here's a second chart that is speaking loudly about why this morning's weakness needs to be bought.  Sometimes a chart almost sings, "buy!".  Click here now to view: Key Silver Chart Number Two! Silver just fell 5%, while most investors are sleeping.  A 5% price sale must be bought.  The question is not whether Silver must be bought here, but with how much capital?  Here's the answer: Silver Capital Allocation This Morning. Notice the yellow highlighted numbers.  The numbers on the left are a model amount of capital to lay in at current price levels, given a model $100,000 allocation to the $30-40 price range, using my PGEN (capital allocation generator). Sadly, most investors look at chart points and stoplosses,  as their chosen market tools to protect them from the pains of accumulating an asset in size, at the wrong time.  It's almost selfish.  The selfish mindset is promoted by most advisors, unknowingly.  "How much money do you want to make each year, what is your targeted percentage return this year while you sit in your chair and your money works for you per your specifications?" – Joe Golf Ball Advisor, at his advisor-client meeting with Mr. & Mrs Elmer Fudd, Public Investor. Your targeted return is what the market sticks in your face, not what you order up from the market like you are Sir Blueblood, sitting in a high class restaurant, ordering the waiter around.  You serve the market, not the other way round.  Some years, it offers nothing.  That's what you take then, like a man or woman.  Nothing. Business owners confuse the market with their production lines.  The markets are assets, not production lines.  You increase capital to a production line, as sales grow.  You do not do that in the market unless you want the banksters to call you a mark. Market assets have to be bought and sold on a price grid, like groceries.  99% of investors are lifetime losers because they focus on making the market serve them, instead of working the price grid.  If you don't want to work, you are a bum.  If you are a bum, you build no wealth.  End of market story.  The banksters sold most business owners down the river, by telling you that the market is, "making your money work for you, just sit back and watch it grow!".  Work your risk capital on the price grid, or be destroyed.  As a bum. Silver is still about 60% below its "Gold-equivalent" highs.  Gold hit $887 in the last bull market while Silver hit $52 or $54, depending on which futures contract was your measure.  Gold is the leader.  Silver is the little brother or sister.  Silver is poised to confirm Gold's move thru $887 in a very big way.  Silver is drastically undervalued even at last night's high.  Still, don't get sloppy.  It won't matter if Silver is going to ten billion an ounce if you can't endure some time in the discomfort zone.  Don't drop in $100,000 or whatever your number is, for the $30-40 range, yet have no capital allocated to buying Silver in the $20-30 section of the grid. You should have more capital allocated to buy the $20-30 range, and at minimum, it should be the same size as what you lay in here, in the $30-40 range of the grid.  Get more ounces, at lower prices! Click here now to view   Silver Ounces Accumulation Chart Number Two. The number of ounces you own defines your wealth, not the price per ounce.  Few want to hear this fact.  I wonder if there is a connection between understanding ounces as wealth, and getting rich? For those of you who, like myself, bought physical silver at much lower prices into the lows of the Silver bear, and have been trading some Silver for Gold as it has rallied hear to $34, here is your bottom line:  That recent move selling Silver for Gold, with no more than 1/3 of your Silver, cuts risk, books profit, and keeps you in the metals game! For you, the rebuying on Silver in the current $30-40 and the 20-30 price grid ranges, if you are lucky enough to see that happen, are going to be more oriented towards trading positions than core positions.  What I have done personally, is sell 1/3 of my core physical silver for physical gold, into this tower of power Silver strength.  That is physical that I bought into the lows of the bear market in Silver.  The next phase of my "book profits on Silver in ounces of Gold Money Wealth" program kicks in at $50.  That's a $50-80 range sell program. Silver is not really rising against the dollar.  It is the dollar being shot down by the Silver Bullet.  Remember: You are not getting richer holding a fixed amount of Silver, just because everyone else is getting poorer holding a fixed amount of dollars.  You need more Silver ounces to get richer! To get the richest, you need to pay the lowest possible price for the most amount of Silver.   Don't stand there knowing how low Silver can't go against the dollar.  Prepare to buy if it does!  Focus on getting richer, not telling everyone what sale price for you Silver can't go to.  That's not how to get richer! If you are just coming into Silver here, you are not me or many others in the gold community who faced the bear as men and women, and ate a very large amount of discomfort, for a very long time.  You didn't go thru years of discomfort accumulating, while people spat in your face for even mentioning the word "Gold" or "Silver".  I was the personal whipping boy of many dollar-holics.  Now, it's hangover time, for these financial drunks.  I don't think aspirin are going to cut it, given what the punisher has in store for the dollar. You can't create a fantasy for yourself that some chart or story about the Silver Train is going to ensure your Silver does not drop against the dollar, to levels far below where you enter.  Again, you answer to the market.  The market is not your whipping boy.  You are the market's whipping boy.  Accept it.  Or get off the grid. Do not book losses on your dollars to buy Silver!  Book wins!  When your dollars rally against Silver, as it is this morning, you are booking a profit on dollars, as you buy Silver!   All transactions have two sides.  Always make the exiting side, a winner!  In the market, the dollar is an asset like Silver.  It needs to be bought and sold as an asset, because that's what it is.  The dollar is not money.  It is used as money, but fails to meet the full definition of money.  The fact that the Gman tells you his dollars your hold as a creditor, are money, does not make them money.  Dollars are credits and assets.  Gold, and only Gold, is money. Some of you have been told that Gold is not a medium of exchange.  Wrong.  The banksters use Gold as their medium of exchange all day long.  Do you have any idea what the "non-reportable" transactions are everyday on the LBMA?  It's tens of billions a day, probably $100 billion a day on many days, double the entire NYSE stock exchange volume.  Do you really think the banksters are going to report their transactions in money with each other to you or to the Gman? Gold is the medium of exchange of the banksters.  Gold is the breakfast of champions.  Make it yours!  You can deposit a bar of Gold with the comex and start buying and selling dollar assets with that golden  bar of power.  It's time to get Gold-real.  Dollars are the money of Chimps.  Gold is the money of Champs.  Decide who you are, and take action! If you really understand Silver as money, then you are prepared to buy Silver, all the way to zero, in a price of dollars.  Some of you think Silver is just like Gold, or even better than Gold.  Silver pretty much just like Gold, provided you are really prepared to buy it on the grid, all the way to zero.  When this Gold bull market ends, everything except Gold and the dollar will crash.  Send me an email to freereports4@gracelandupdates.com if you want to learn more about to how handle yourself now, on the Silver grid.  I'll send you a free detailed plan of action.  The bottom line is: Gold will be locked to debt/dollars.  Not Silver.  Silver is poised to end the bull market with a worse crash than 1980.  Why?  Answer: Because the level of interest rates required to halt the food price rises that will threaten and begin to create revolution worldwide, is probably about the same as it was in the last bull market.  In fact, it may require higher rates now, because of the fundamental weakness of the dollar that exists now.  This is a far worse situation than 1929, let alone 1979.  America's economic foundation was still relatively strong in 1979.  Now the foundation of America's economy is:  OTC derivatives that are marked to (lies) model.  Sounds solid, LOL! Russia will attack America with nuclear weapons if food prices cause a billion Asians and Russians to starve to death, while nothing is done with interest rates.  So rates are going higher.  Way, way higher.  Starvation cannot be allowed to occur, so the impoverishment of millions of Americans thru higher interest rates is the only real solution, to the great OTC derivatives crisis.  Check  This Chart and  This One! Do it on a weekly basis.  See what happens in terms of acceleration of the world revolution as they go to new highs!  Are You Prepared?  As Gold and Silver soar, they will take food prices higher.  Two billion people spend all their money on food.  To survive.  I wonder what happens when the decision is: starve a billion Asians to death, or put a hundred million new Americans on food stamps via skyrocketing interest rates?  For the average American, the surprise solution to end this crisis is: THE BREADLINE! Special Offer For Website Readers:  Send me an Email to freereports4@gracelandupdates.com and I'll rush you my "Silver Miners On The Grid Now!"  Get poised now in the top Silver stocks, for the astroblast coming in them, as Silver takes out $52! Thanks! Cheers! st Stewart Thomson Graceland Updates www.gracelandupdates.com Email: stewart@gracelandupdates.com Risks, Disclaimers, Legal Stewart Thomson is no longer an investment advisor. The information provided by Stewart and Graceland Updates is for general information purposes only. Before taking any action on any investment, it is imperative that you consult with multiple properly licensed, experienced and qualifed investment advisors and get numerous opinions before taking any action. Your minimum risk on any investment in the world is: 100% loss of all your money. You may be taking or preparing to take leveraged positions in investments and not know it, exposing yourself to unlimited risks. This is highly concerning if you are an investor in any derivatives products. There is an approx $700 trillion OTC Derivatives Iceberg with a tiny portion written off officially. The bottom line: Are You Prepared?

Are Gold & Silver Already Too High, or is the Rally Just Starting? Posted: 24 Feb 2011 01:00 AM PST

Marc Faber - Gold, Inflation, stocks, and the end game. Posted: 24 Feb 2011 12:35 AM PST

Speak Up and Be Heard Posted: 24 Feb 2011 12:20 AM PST On several occasions over the past couple of years, thousands of you have taken the time to write to The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) concerning the issue of position limits in COMEX silver. Now the CFTC has solicited your opinion again for what will be the last time.

Bearish warning: These stocks say the market is cracking Posted: 24 Feb 2011 12:08 AM PST From Gold Scents: Bear markets begin when something fundamental breaks. Usually the sector initially affected will roll over before the general market and tends to be a warning sign of what lies ahead. The last bear market was triggered when the credit bubble created by Greenspan's foolish monetary policy burst. It was exacerbated by Bernanke's foolish attempt to debase the currency and reflate the bubble. All he succeeded in doing was to inflate oil to $147, which put the finishing touches on an already crumbling economy. The market gave us a warning when the financials began to diverge from the rest of the market. Considering that the banks were one of the leading sectors during the '02-'07 bull, the fact that they couldn't follow the rest of the market to new highs after the February '07 correction was a big red flag that the bull was on its last legs. I've been saying for more than a year now that the unintended consequences of QE would be to spike inflation, which in turn would poison the global economy. I knew all along that Ben was never going to create any jobs by printing money, and of course he hasn't. So if inflation is going to sink the economy and kill the stock market, we should see warning signs from the sectors most affected by rising inflationary pressures, just like the banks warned us in '07 that the fundamentals were broken. Sure enough I think we are starting to see those warning signs... Read full article... More on inflation: A dollar collapse could be imminent The Federal Reserve is creating HUGE instability in commodities Frightening proof that the entire world is recklessly printing money

Antal E. Fekete at Cambridge House Phoenix Silver Summit 2011 Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:47 PM PST Antal E. Fekete at Cambridge House Phoenix Silver Summit 2011 by Kirsty Hogg - Gold Wars Published : February 24th, 2011 I had the pleasure of listening to a talk given in the main speaker hall by Professor Antal E. Feteke on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at the Cambridge House Silver Summit. Professor Antal E. Fekete is a mathematician and monetary scientist who spends his time lecturing and writing about fiscal and monetary reform, especially in the role of gold and silver in the monetary system. Professor Fekete gave a brief background about silver as money in America. In 1873, the government committed a very unconstitutional act by dropping the silver dollar. The lowest silver price was in 1933 and it was .25 spot. By 1963, it slowly rose to 1.29. This is an important landmark because the spot price of an OZ was higher than the monetary value on the standard silver dollar. He believes the silver price change is not cyclical. If it is not cyclical, then what is it? In 1985, Professor Fekete met and spoke with the head of the Comex in New York. And what he discovered was this man had no idea about what made the silver basis tick. What drove the price. If you take a look at the basis chart for silver (or gold, for that matter), then you will see a clear downtrend from top contango (a.k.a. full carrying charge) starting in the 1960's to the present, when it threatens to dip below zero (a.k.a. backwardation). The big question is this: will it be PERMANENT backwardation? If the answer is "yes", then the outlook for the present international monetary system is very bleak indeed. It will collapse as the monetary metals silver and gold will elbow out the usurper: fiat paper money. As fiat paper fights back, this will be a very messy process, and a lot of people will lose their wealth, some their shirts as well. Policymakers at the Treasury and the Fed are doctrinaires who put their Keynesian dogmas ahead of the interest of the people. This is a heavy indicator of silver shortages. Antal does not believe that there is a price suppression scheme driving this. He attributes this trend to many wealthy people in the world buying a lot of silver and not sharing the knowledge with the public as to what is happening. He thinks that it is foolish to talk about $200 silver, because before that happens, there will be permanent backwardation of silver, meaning that silver is no longer for sale at any price quoted in paper money. You will have to cough up gold or some other "hard" asset if you want to have silver. That will be the end of paper money as we know it. SILVER IS SILVER, AND PAPER IS PAPER. (At this point, the audience broke out in spontaneous applause). He went on to state that silver will just be money and you will put it down maybe for gold but not fiat. That is how high silver will go in a real backwardation situation. (Again, the audience broke out in applause). In Professor Fekete's 2008 article "Forward Thinking on Backwardation", he states it's dangerous to deny or belittle gold backwardation. We should not equate gold and silver backwardation with the backwardation of commodities. Commodity backwardation can be rectified if the fiat currency is still accepted, whereas with gold and silver backwardation, it is completely to do with the failure of the monetary system. In the article, Antal points out how similar the life cycle of the monetary system of the Roman Empire is to that of the United States. Antal E. Fekete runs a research team based in London that is headed up by his former student Sandeep Jaitley "The Gold Basis Service London". Antal also runs the "New Austrian School of Economics" in the Hungarian town of Szombathely, right on the Austrian border. Besides offering undergraduate courses, he also has students working for a Master's degree and some for a Ph.D. degree. He takes pride in that his school lacks accreditation, because there is not one accreditation board in the whole wide world competent to review his curriculum: they are infested with Keynesian and Friedmanite ideology to the core, and have an irrational, not to say insane, bias against the monetary metals gold and silver. When a student completes and defends his or her thesis, Antal gives them a Frank Lloyd Wright-style diploma: just a letter attesting that they have met the requirements for the appropriate degree. The number of his postgraduate students presently is six, from four countries in three continents. Antal is a supporter of the Gold Standard Institute that is trying to dispel misinformation about metallic monetary standards spread by academia in the world for the past forty years, after president Nixon defaulted on the international gold obligations of the U.S. in 1971. Ever since, a lot of money has been spent by the grant departments of the Federal Reserve banks to support so-called research in the economics departments of the universities around the world singing the praise of fiat paper money. This is very natural: the defaulting banker is trying to promote his dishonored paper by hook of crook. The shame is on academia for accepting bribe money. When the dust settles, the past 40 years will appear as a reactionary period in human history when they tried to eliminate gold an silver, the only ultimate extinguishers of debt, from human affairs in the name of progress, but all they accomplished was the construction of the Debt Tower of Babel, destined to collapse and bury civilization under the debris. Please note that Antal was asked by Ferdinand Lips to write the forward for his book, "Gold Wars". I will publish it now on my blog. Kirsty Hogg Gold Wars http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-...or=Kirsty+Hogg

QE2: The Road to a Gold Standard Posted: 23 Feb 2011 09:29 PM PST

Sound, Credible Silver Prices Posted: 23 Feb 2011 09:07 PM PST As a currency, the Euro doesn't have much competition. But against Silver Prices...? read more

Special Silver Chart Analysis Posted: 23 Feb 2011 08:50 PM PST "What drives the gold price at the end of the day is the demand for physical gold. We're seeing that clearly now in silver which is in backwardation going out to 2015. Money never goes into backwardation unless you reach a position where you have extreme conditions- and that's what we see in silver now – the demand for physical metal is so much higher people don't want paper any more, they want the real thing." -Jim Turk CEO & Founder of Goldmoney.com Trader Tracks wrote of higher buy pressures on silver versus gold. Jim Turk has told us why. Daily silver chart above found recent support at $27.00+ with price above all moving averages. Next, averages in the PMO momentum (lower box) signal the next rally. Note PMO moves one year ago lower left. While the price rise was modest in the first half of 2008, we suspect the bull will run harder during the first half of 2011. Weekly Silver Peaked Over $30; Dropped To $27; Now Rising On March Futures At $30.35. Since our weekly chart is a slower expression of price, PMO momentum (lower box remains flat). Big Picture Silver Monthly Is Going Vertical With PMO Momentum. Charts can make these moves for awhile during extreme conditions but if severe profit-taking arrives, theoretically the price could sink back to $21.00 on major sell-off.  The normal ABC choppiness is still underway on this monthly chart. This means we might see smaller rallies at first, followed by larger ones as the cycle moves forward. Weekly Silver Technicals On this weekly, continuous silver contract that closed last Friday, we see price at $29.90 with $30.00 resistance. On this Monday morning of February 14, 2011, price is buying again with a March futures high of $30.43 resisting at $30.48. Our new, technical support and resistance silver price levels are: $29.07, $35.93, $40.18, $43.61 and $47.07.  When silver approaches $50, the older high from 30 years ago, expect major selling and profit-taking. Our 2005 long range silver forecast of $156 is the minimum. We think that number could easily move to $256 as some look for nearly $500.00 on major inflation, fear and insecurity of fiat money. Even the Swiss is fiat money but should be hit less hard in the cycle. Note RSI Relative Strength Index (top box) peaked but then only sold mildly with higher lows. The silver price has peaked in during the first week of February and sold on a normal annual cycle. Yet, the price remains far above the 50 and 200 day moving averages. In the MACD (lower box) the black and red moving averages crossed to sell but are already supporting in lieu of a further drop. The blue vertical Histogram bars went briefly and mildly negative. Next, however, they are signaling a new rise in the silver prices. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

SLV ETF Adds 7,470,010 Troy Ounces of Silver Posted: 23 Feb 2011 08:26 PM PST Robbed! - Safely Storing Your Gold.  Gold Cheap Versus Oil Signals Bullion to Rally. Oil could hit $220 a barrel...and much more. ¤ Yesterday in Gold and Silver Gold saw its low price of the day about two hours after trading began in the Far East on Wednesday morning...around $1,395 spot the ounce.  From that point, it struggled to back to $1,403 spot by 9:30 a.m. in New York.  Then the gold price popped for a quick ten bucks...and worked its way up to the high of the day at $1,417.80 spot just before 1:00 p.m. Eastern. From that high, gold got sold back down to $1,408 spot by 2:30 p.m...and gained $4 of that loss back by the close of trading at 5:15 p.m. Eastern. I wouldn't read too much into yesterday's price action, but I'm happy to see the gold price on the right side of the $1,400 mark. The silver price pretty much mirrored what happened in the gold market.  Silver's low occurred around 1:00 p.m. Hong Kong time...and its high tick at $33.81 spot was at 10:30 a.m. in New York.  From that high, it got sold off about two bits going into the close of electronic trading.    Silver was the star performer of the day...finishing up 1.45%.  Gold was up 0.91%, platinum was down 0.17%...and palladium got it in the neck for the second day running...down 2.88%. The world's reserve currency opened the Wednesday trading day around 77.80...and by the time the New York close rolled around about twenty-four hour later, the buck was down about 40 basis points.    Here's the 3-year dollar chart.  It's not very happy looking...is it?    The gold stocks gapped up a bit at the open...and hit their highs around 11:00 a.m. Eastern.  From that high, they worked their way slightly lower, but the HUI still managed a gain of 1.79%.  The silver stocks did equally as well, if not a little better...and a few of them were real standouts to the upside.  Without a doubt, the rather subdued performance of the precious metal stocks was exacerbated by the second down day in a row on Wall Street.    The CME Delivery Report was a bit of a surprise, as 469 gold...and a very large 107 silver contracts...were posted for delivery on Friday.  Merrill was the big issuer in both gold and silver...and I can't recall their name being up in lights at this time of the month...as they normally show up during the first few days after First Day Notice...not to be heard from again until the next delivery month.  Besides Merrill, it was the same three suspects in the 'issuers and stoppers' category. The other thing of note about the report is that silver deliveries in February are now up to 562 contracts, which represents 2.81 million ounces of the stuff.  February is not a traditional delivery month for silver, so these deliveries stand out a bit.  The delivery data is worth a look...and the link is here. For a change, there was no report from the GLD ETF yesterday.  Considering the fact that the fund has been bleeding gold since the third week of December 2010...I guess you could consider 'no change' as a positive. Over at the SLV ETF it was a different story entirely.  After shipping 5.66 million ounces of silver out the door on Tuesday, they brought in an even larger 7,470,010 troy ounces on Wednesday.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their inventory management office. For the seventh day in a row, the U.S. Mint had a sales report...so business is obviously quite brisk.  They reported selling another 7,000 ounces of gold eagles, along with a smallish 39,000 silver eagles.  Month-to-date, gold eagle sales total 83,500 troy ounces...along with 2,638,500 silver eagles.  Are you getting your share??? The Comex-approved depositories didn't show much activity on Monday...and there was even less to report on Tuesday.  The grand sum of their activity came in at 7,259 troy ounces of silver received at their Delaware warehouse. Sponsor Advertisement Bayfield Ventures Corp. (TSX.V: BYV) is exploring for gold in the Rainy River District of NW Ontario. The Company's "Burns" Block property adjoins the immediate east of Rainy River Resources' (TSX.V: RR) world-class gold deposit which includes 2.37 million ounces Au at 1.3 g/t indicated in addition to 2.66 million ounces Au at 1.2 g/t inferred. Bayfield is presently exploring the known eastward extension of Rainy River's main ODM17 gold zone onto the Burns Block. The Company is delineating both lower grade, bulk-tonnage gold mineralization as well as higher grade gold zones with drill results right in line with Rainy River's. Two of the more notable holes intersected 81 metres of 5.08 g/t Au including 35.93 g/t Au over 10.0 metres, and 31.71 g/t Au over 3.0 metres within 9.0 metres of 12.88 g/t Au. Bayfield also holds a 100% interest in two other properties in the Rainy River District. Claim blocks "B" and "C" are well located to the immediate east and west (respectively) of Rainy River Resources' #433 and ODM17 gold zones. The early success of the current 50,000+ metre drill program is very encouraging and much more drilling will be carried out on Bayfield's Rainy River properties. Please visit our website to learn more about the company and request information. ¤ Critical Reads Subscribe Is this the start of the second dotcom bubble? I'm going to start today's stories off with this item that was sent to me by Swiss reader G.B.  It showed up in the Sunday edition of The Observer. Loss-making Twitter has been valued at $10bn. Facebook is said to be worth more than Ford.  Zynga, the social-network games company that has tempted millions to grow virtual vegetables in its FarmVille game, has been valued at $9bn (£5.54bn).  Now, for some investors, the alarm bells are starting to ring.  Alan Patrick, co-founder of technology consultancy Broadsight, says we are at the beginning of another bubble and that the first breaths have been blown.  All the warning signs are there...and it's worth running through.  Link here. View full GSD edition Providence To Teachers: You're Fired Here's the first of three stories from reader Mike Molleur.  This one is posted over at businessinsider.com.  The Providence, Rhode Island school district plans to send out dismissal notices to every one of its 1,926 teachers, an unprecedented move that has union leaders up in arms.  Since the full extent of the potential cuts to the school budget have yet to be determined, issuing a dismissal letter to all teachers was necessary to give the mayor, the School Board and the district maximum flexibility to consider every cost savings option, including reductions in staff.  State law requires that teachers be notified about potential changes to their employment status by March 1st.  You can't make this stuff up.  Linked here. View full GSD edition Troubled banks rise to highest level in 18 years Here's a story from reader Scott Pluschau that was posted over at cbsnews.com yesterday. The number of banks at risk of failing made up nearly 12 percent of all federally insured banks in the final three months of 2010, the highest level in 18 years, as the number of banks on its confidential "problem" list rose to 884 in the October-December quarter, up from 860 in the previous quarter. You can pretty much bet that the real problem list is a couple of orders of magnitude larger than that.  The link is here. View full GSD edition Hey, Hoenig, those oversize banks are rigging markets for your boss GATA's Chris Powell provides the headline to the following Bloomberg piece that's headlined "Fed's Hoenig Says U.S. Should Break Up Largest Financial Firms".  Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Thomas Hoenig said U.S. regulators should avert another crisis by breaking up large financial institutions that pose a threat "to our capitalistic system."  Koenig is convinced that the existence of too-big-to-fail financial institutions poses the greatest risk to the U.S. economy.  He went on to say that "we cannot let large organizations put our financial system at risk."  He's right about that, of course...but who's going to do it?  Linked here. View full GSD edition Pensions and health care pledges put UK at 'extreme risk' of another economic crisis Here's a story from yesterday's edition of The Telegraph that was sent to me by Australian reader Wesley Legrand.  The above headline pretty much describes the situation in all western countries these days...and has been a recognized problem for many years.  Now it's a problem in Britain as well.  Higher taxes, more spending cuts and longer working lives will be needed to prevent the country "going bankrupt", risk analyst Maplecroft warns in its annual Fiscal Risk Index. The UK ranks 10th out of 163 countries, a rise of 16 places from last year, but is considered to be in less danger than Germany, France, Italy and Japan.  Linked here. View full GSD edition Brent Crude Passes $110 The next offering today is a zerohedge.com piece from yesterday morning courtesy of reader Mike Molleur.  T.D. says "A $10 move in a week is just what the doctor ordered to destroy the last trace of surrealism in the whole "economic recovery" story.  As we've been saying since December, a rapid move in oil will undo years of carefully planned propaganda and money printing. Not to be forgotten in all of this is the fact that West Texas Intermediate is closing in on $100/barrel.  Link here. View full GSD edition Oil could hit $220 a barrel on Libya and Algeria fears, warns Nomura Roy Stephens is to be thanked for this next piece.  It was an Ambrose Evans-Pritchard offering that was posted late last night over at The Telegraph.  Libya's descent into civil war has led to drastic cuts in oil shipments and prompted warnings that an escalation of the crisis could see Brent crude prices double to $220 a barrel. Nomura's commodity team said oil prices risk vaulting to uncharted highs over coming weeks if chaos hits Algeria as well, reducing global spare capacity to the wafer-thin margins seen just before the first Gulf War.  Link here. View full GSD edition Doug Casey: Something Wicked This Way Comes This week's Conversations With Casey delves deeply into the current problems in the Middle East...and compares it to the goings-on elsewhere in the world...including what's happening in the United States.&a

Gold Cheap Versus Oil Signals Bullion to Rally Posted: 23 Feb 2011 08:26 PM PST Link:  Gold Cheap Versus Oil Signals Bullion to Rally Image:  Here's Mike Molleur's last offering of the day.  It's a Bloomberg piece...and the first of only two precious metal-related stories that I have for you today.  Gold, trading near a record high, will outperform oil as surging inflation underscores the metal's role as an investment hedge, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. read more

Arab Tensions Push Gold Higher Posted: 23 Feb 2011 05:11 PM PST

Gold Finds "Bargain Hunting" at $1400 as Saudi King Spends $38bn to Avoid Revolution Posted: 23 Feb 2011 04:58 PM PST

Gold Bar Manufacturers Posted: 23 Feb 2011 04:45 PM PST

Oil Price 1 Oil Shares 0 Posted: 23 Feb 2011 01:58 PM PST US oil prices, as represented by West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark for crude oil, briefly hit US$100 per barrel overnight, before slipping a bit lower. In the past 10 days or so, oil has jumped by around US$15 a barrel. That's a decent rally. Brent Crude, which is the European and African benchmark, is much higher, trading over US$110 per barrel. Obviously Mr Gaddafi (he's no colonel) is having an impact there. Importantly for Australia, the Tapis oil price, which is the Asian Benchmark, is trading around US$110 a barrel. The question we want to ponder today though, is why aren't Aussie oil and gas stocks responding to the sharp move higher? Could it be that too many investors got burnt in the last oil price bubble in 2008 and don't want to jump on the bandwagon again? Maybe. Check out the chart below. It shows the share price performance of Woodside Petroleum (WPL), Australia's largest energy company. If you cast you mind back a few years, you'll remember the WTI oil price first breached US$100 dollars in early 2008. This pushed Woodside's share price up over the $55 mark. Now, at the same price, Woodside can barely keep its head above $40 a share. The oil price then went vertical and by mid-2008 oil was trading briefly around US$150 a barrel. Despite predictions of US$200 a barrel, the global economy tanked and brought the oil price down with it. Oil stocks, as you can see in the Woodside chart, plunged. Hindsight analysis concluded that oil played a big part in bringing the global economy down. Sure, the sub-prime debacle was a major factor…but oil prices gave it a good shove over the edge. So now, with oil back in the headlines, and analysts competing to come up with the highest forecast (Nomura in the lead at the moment with a US$220 a barrel guess) stock prices are doing very little. Could it be that investors have learned their lesson from 2008? We're not convinced that investors have learned any lessons from the 2008 crash. Our best guess is that the market views geo-politically driven oil price increases very differently to ones driven by easy credit. Easy-credit fuelled rallies masquerade as a sign of strong demand…until they don't. It seems that markets now think that higher oil prices will sow the seeds of its demise. That is, higher oil prices will lead to lower oil prices, at some point. That's assuming Saudi Arabia doesn't catch on fire, which is a very big risk.  The FT reports that Saudi King Abdullah is offering up to US$36bn in bribes to get the population to cool it. 'The measures include a 15 per cent salary rise for public employees to offset inflation, reprieves for imprisoned debtors, and financial aid for students and the unemployed.' If that's not a recipe for future inflation, I don't know what is. Inflation is just another word for debasing the currency. It was Keynes who said: 'There is no subtler, or surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debase the currency.' Unwittingly, it looks like King Abdullah is sowing the seeds of his own demise. But right now, Aussie oil and gas shares are not factoring in a blow-up in Saudi Arabia. One other possible reason for this comes down to good old-fashioned valuation. In the latest issue of Sound Money. Sound Investments we analysed the largest energy companies in Australia. Without giving too much away, we concluded there wasn't too much to get excited about. These companies are investing billions in projects that won't be profitable for years. What will oil and gas prices be – and therefore what will a company's return on investment be – in 2014 and 2015? We have no idea. Buying now though suggests that you do. One thing is for sure, the market doesn't like higher oil prices. Reality has sunk in this week as global equity markets undergo a long overdue correction. And that's the question, is this just a correction, or the start of something more ominous. Since we're down here at DR headquarters in St Kilda today, we asked Murray Dawes, our resident trader and technical guru, what he thought of the recent price action of the ASX200. Here's what he had to say: 4815 (the upper horizontal blue line on the chart) was the previous high of the range for the past six months, reached on the 5th of November last year.  A failure under that level hints that we may be returning to the previous range having had a false break of it in the past month.  The 35-day moving average (the red line) is around 4800, an important support level. We remain in intermediate uptrend while the 10-day MA (the blue line) is above the 35 day MA so I would still expect to see buying support coming in at key levels.  Therefore I would expect to see good support around this level, with a close back above the 10-day MA actually sending a buy signal. I will turn more bearish when the 10-day MA closes below the 35 day MA.  If the Irish elections have their expected outcome and the banks are told to go and shove it from the new PM then I wouldn't be surprised to see this weakness turn into something more substantial over the next few weeks. Thanks Murray! Yes, the Irish elections. They're slated for the 25 May. If Ireland does an Iceland and tells the dumb banks who made dumb loans that they are not going to pay them back at 100 cents on the dollar, then the markets' focus will shift back to Europe next week. Things could get interesting… Greg Canavan For The Daily Reckoning Australia Similar Posts: Looking at WPL and Oil Side by Side Oil Price Chart Shows Slight "Correction" in Near Future How to Buy Crude Oil for US$2 a Barrel Happy Birthday Subprime Crisis, Oil Price up 96% An Oil Price Correction is on the Horizon, When and Where

THERE GOES THE FIRST SECTOR Posted: 23 Feb 2011 01:47 PM PST Bear markets begin when something fundamental breaks. Usually the sector initially affected will roll over before the general market and tends to be a warning sign of what lies ahead. The last bear market was triggered when the credit bubble created by Greenspan's foolish monetary policy burst. It was exacerbated by Bernanke's foolish attempt to debase the currency and reflate the bubble. All he succeeded in doing was to inflate oil to $147, which put the finishing touches on an already crumbling economy. The market gave us a warning when the financials began to diverge from the rest of the market. Considering that the banks were one of the leading sectors during the `02-`07 bull the fact that they couldn't follow the rest of the market to new highs after the February `07 correction was a big red flag that the bull was on it's last legs. I've been saying for more than a year now that the unintended consequences of QE would be to spike inflation, which in turn would poison the global economy. I knew all along that Ben was never going to create any jobs by printing money and of course he hasn't. So if inflation is going to sink the economy and kill the stock market we should see warning signs from the sectors most affected by rising inflationary pressures, just like the banks warned us in `07 that the fundamentals were broken. Sure enough I think we are starting to see those warning signs.  Emerging markets have been the hit hard by food inflation. We are now seeing food riots in many third world countries. Emerging markets just like financials during the last bull were one of the leading sectors. EEM is now starting to diverge from the rest of the global stock markets. It's now on the verge of breaking back below the November cycle low. The other sector that is extremely sensitive to inflation are the transports. When energy costs spike shipping companies profit margins are squeezed. The last two days have seen the Dow Transports fold under the pressure of surging oil prices. Keep in mind oil is only on the 17th day of it's intermediate cycle. That cycle lasts on average 50-70 days. I think we are going to see $5.00 gasoline by the time the dollar collapses into it's three year cycle low later this spring. If the market can recover from the recent correction and make new highs I don't expect the transports will be able to follow. That will set up a Dow Theory non-conformation and most bear markets begin with a Dow theory non-confirmation. China is already in a bear market. I think most emerging markets have probably topped and I doubt the rest of the global markets have more than 2 or 3 months left before the next leg down in the secular bear market begins. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

$62.54 Posted: 23 Feb 2011 01:38 PM PST I posted this number for no apparent reason, I just like the number.

For Love of Democracy Posted: 23 Feb 2011 01:34 PM PST Tunisia...Egypt...Libya...a half dozen others on the brink... While restless masses across the Middle East and North Africa region are struggling to realize democracy in their own lands, many here in the USA are just now waking up to some of the not-so-pleasant effects of it. The expression of discontent is more or less the same in each country. The results? Well, we'll have to wait and see... In the beginning, democracy seems a virtuous and decent enough solution to autocratic tyranny. And it is...so long as the process is populated with virtuous and decent people. During the seeds of revolution, dictators are quickly overthrown and the people usually obtain a "voice" through the ballot box. Everyone feels part of the progress, part of the plan. Love, hope and jasmine. All that good stuff. But democracy has the regrettable tendency to remain in the hands of the virtuous and the decent for precious little time. As Winston Churchill once suggested, democracy is "the worst form of government...except for all the others that have been tried." It wins by default, in other words. Over time, once the fanfare of revolution begins to fatigue, the democratic political system matures toward a kind of tyranny of the majority. By the time people get around to voting other people's property into their own hands, the game is more or less over. And while oppressive regimes like those of Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and now Muammar Gaddafi present easy targets for freedom-seeking individuals, it's much easier to topple a dictator than to topple "of the people, by the people," no matter how big a mess the people are making of their own condition. Opined our Reckoner-in-Chief, Bill Bonner, on the topic last week: "Is it possible that democracy is just the flavor of the month...an evolutionary development, like all the forms of government that came before it? Is it possible that it succeeded in the 20th century because it was much better adapted to leeching out the wealth and complicity of the average man? It gave him a stake in the system – like getting some prisoners to guard each other, or bribing taxpayers to rat out their neighbors to the IRS? Isn't it possible that by giving the masses a 'voice,' the elites who really control government are better able to take his money...and, if necessary, his life? "Soldiers will do their duty to a dictator, if the price is right," continued Bill. "They will do their duty to the government they helped elect for less. And they will more willingly submit to government's taxes, too, if they feel they are its masters, rather than the slaves. The real difference may only be an illusion, but it is an effective one. In practice, the individual may have less ability to influence the large pool of voting numbskulls than he does to influence a single knuckleheaded autocrat. But heck, we're all democrats now." ..for better or worse, we would dare to add. And this brings us to the current situation here in America today. The individual states, having voted for themselves unsustainable welfare systems and exorbitantly expensive public services, are broke. From The Daily Reckoning Weekend Edition: "States from coast to coast are facing budget shortfalls of a magnitude heretofore unseen, unfathomable, even. More than 40 states are in the red for a combined budget shortfall of $125 billion for fiscal year 2012. California is the worst, with a $25.4 billion hole to fill, more than seven times Wisconsin's gap. Illinois comes in next with a $15 billion shortfall, followed by Texas with $13.4 billion, New Jersey at $10.5 billion and New York at $9 billion." Voters have only themselves to blame. But here at The Daily Reckoning, we like to look on the bright side of life. We celebrate the collapse of governmental incompetence at any and all levels, whether in this country or abroad. And with each passing day, and with each meddlesome, cumbersome, costly bill that is passed, we draw one step closer to that denouement. Regards, Joel Bowman for The Daily Reckoning Australia Similar Posts: Government Spending to Perpetuate Fiscal Insanity Zimbabwe's Opposition Party Decided that Voting Wasn't Worth Dying for The Real Beauty of Modern Democratic Capitalism Governor Mark Sanford Betrays Love I Love Your Optimism

Brent $220 Posted: 23 Feb 2011 12:51 PM PST Mercenary Links Roundup for Wednesday, Feb 23 (below the jump). 02-23 Wednesday Oil could hit $220 a barrel on Libya and Algeria fears, warns Nomura Qaddafi Is No Mubarak; Overthrow May Mean `Descent to Chaos' Upheaval in Qaddafi's Libya isn't just another Arab uprising Mercenaries Head to Tripoli as Qaddafi Digs In – NYTimes.com Efforts to Evacuate Foreigners Intensify in Libya – NYTimes.com Saudi's $36bn bid to beat unrest Nervous China puts security apparatus into overdrive Libya: the Italian connection Why the Disruption of Libyan Oil Has Led to a Spike in Prices Why you really can't swap Libyan oil for Saudi Big Oil's $50 billion bet on Libya at stake – Feb. 23, 2011 ROI: Why Stocks Tanked (It's Not Just Libya) – WSJ.com Nowhere Near Over | The Big Picture Airlines Are Raising Fares as Oil Prices Rise – NYTimes.com Trump Checks if JFK Terminal Will Fly as Hotel – WSJ.com Deutsche Bank Gets Six-Month Ban on Korea Derivatives Trading Four Swiss Bankers Accused of Helping Americans Evade Taxes Credit Suisse bankers indicted in U.S. tax probe | Reuters Europe mulls higher rates; Fed seen on hold | Reuters Pound rises as third UK policy hawk emerges US inflation expectations push higher Haven Appeal Fades for Dollar – WSJ.com Dollar Weakens Versus Most Major Peers on Bets Fed to Lag Behind ECB, BOE Eric Sprott: "There Is No More Silver Left" | zero hedge Hedge Funds Boost Bullish Silver Bets as Mideast Tensions Mount Geithner: Financial System is Stronger Than Before Recession Average 2010 Wall St cash bonus fell to $128,530 | Reuters CBOE eyeing strategy in exchange merger dash | Reuters Hoenig: Break Up The Banks. Now. in [Market-Ticker] Special Report: Is Stevie Cohen the Feds' Moby Dick? | Reuters Home sales rise, price slump points to weakness | Reuters Mortgage Deal Takes Shape – WSJ.com Credit Outlook Revives Slowly for Small Firms – WSJ.com Small Businesses Weigh Recovery Act – WSJ.com Entrepreneurs Who Launched Companies for Under $150 Citi Revamps Card, Retail Units for Sales Focus – WSJ.com Christchurch Braces for Aftershocks as Buildings Teeter Apple May Unveil Updated IPad on March 2 – Bloomberg Apple shareholders nix succession but OK board rule | Reuters Workers Poisoned by Chemical at Apple Supplier in China Entrepreneurs Find Gold in Used Phones – WSJ.com Cellphone Use Tied to Brain Changes – NYTimes.com Deere Sets Goal of Doubling Sales – WSJ.com Google Penalizes Overstock for Search Tactics – WSJ.com Google Tool to Move Microsoft Files to Web – WSJ.com Solar Projects in California Challenged in Court – NYTimes.com BBC News – Dinosaur named 'thunder-thighs' U.S. to No Longer Defend Law Against Gay Marriage – WSJ.com Pirate Attacks Force Leisure Sailors to Change Course – WSJ.com ~ ~

Stagflation 2011: Why It Is Here And Why It Is Going To Be Very Painful Posted: 23 Feb 2011 11:30 AM PST Are you ready for an economy that has high inflation and high unemployment at the same time? Well, welcome to "Stagflation 2011".  Stagflation exists when inflation and unemployment are both at high levels at the same time.  Of course we all know about the high unemployment situation already.  Gallup's daily tracking poll says that the U.S. unemployment rate has been hovering around 10 percent all year so far.  But now thanks to rapidly rising food prices and the exploding price of oil, rampant inflation is being added to the equation.  Normally inflation is a sign of increased economic activity, but when the basic commodities that we depend on to run our economy (such as oil) go up in price it actually causes a slowdown in economy activity.  When the price of oil goes up high enough, it fundamentally changes the behavior of individuals and businesses.  Suddenly certain types of economic activities that were feasible when oil was very cheap are not profitable any longer.  When the price of oil rises to a new level and it stays there, essentially what is happening is that more "blood" is being drained out of our economy.  Our economy will continue to function when there are higher oil prices, it will just be a lot more sluggish. In some way, shape or form the price of oil factors into the production of most of our goods and services and it also factors into the transportation of most of our goods and services.  A significant rise in the price of oil changes the economic equation for almost every business in the United States. Today, the price of WTI crude soared past 100 dollars a barrel before closing at $98.10.  The price of Brent crude increased 5.3 percent to $111.25.  The protests in Libya are certainly causing a lot of the price activity that we have seen over the past few days, but the truth is that oil has been going up for a number of months.  Right now we are only seeing an acceleration of the long-term trend. Things are likely to get far worse if the "day of rage" planned for Saudi Arabia next month turns into a full-blown revolution.  Up to this point, the revolutions that have been sweeping the Middle East have been organized largely on Facebook, and now there are calls all over Facebook for the "Saudi revolution" to start on March 20th. That date is less than 4 weeks away.  If Saudi Arabia plunges into chaos, the price of oil is going to go through the roof. A rapidly rising price for oil is really bad news for the U.S. economy, because it is going to mean lots of inflation.  Unfortunately, this also comes at a time when the economy is also feeling the inflationary effects of more quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve. So if rising oil prices are going to cause more inflation and if rising oil prices are also going to cause our economy to become even more sluggish, what does all of that add up to? It adds up to stagflation. Wikipedia defines stagflation in the following manner.... In economics, stagflation is the situation when both the inflation rate and the unemployment rate are persistently high. This is going to rapidly become the "new normal" for America.  High oil prices are going to cause the cost of just about everything to go up, and high oil prices are also going to cause the economy to slow down thus making the unemployment numbers even worse. It is going to be just like the 1970s all over again. Only worse. Economists differ as to how much rising oil prices affect U.S. GDP, but almost all of them agree that rising oil prices do cause a decline in U.S. GDP at least to some extent. If American families have to spend $10 or $20 more each time they visit a gas station, that means that they are going to have less discretionary income.  They won't be able to spend as much at the stores. Not only that, but since the price of oil affects the price of almost everything else, Americans will find that their dollars have reduced purchasing power. An oil crisis would force American families to stretch their already overburdened budgets even farther. So where is the price of gasoline going from here?  Well, the average price of gasoline in the United States is rapidly sneaking up on the $3.20 a gallon mark.  Almost everyone believes that it is going to be going significantly higher. Tom Kloza, the chief analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, was recently quoted in USA Today as saying that he believes that the average price for gasoline in the United States will reach somewhere between $3.50 and $3.75 a gallon by April. As I wrote about yesterday, there are other analysts that believe that we are going to see $4.00 gasoline in the United States by the end of the year, and there are some that believe that we could see $5.00 gasoline if revolution sweeps Saudi Arabia. If gasoline becomes that expensive and it stays there for a while, it is going to seriously start affecting the behavior of American businesses and American consumers. Just remember what happened back in 2008.  Andrew Busch of BMO Capital Markets recently told CNBC the following.... "Remember when oil was last at $140 (a barrel), Americans reacted and cut the amount of miles they drove." Can you imagine what it would do to the economy if millions of Americans start sitting in their homes instead of doing their normal amounts of driving and flying? In addition, one of the biggest problems with a higher price for oil is that it would cause our trade deficit to explode.  According to the U.S. government, more than half of the oil that we use is imported.  So every month we send the rest of the world billions and billions of our dollars and they send us massive amounts of oil.  We rapidly consume all of the oil they send us and we continually need more.  So we keep sending larger and larger amounts of money overseas and they keep sending us larger amounts of oil.  In the process, our national wealth is being drained at an astounding rate.  It is one of the greatest transfers of wealth the world has ever seen. When the price of oil rises substantially, the transfer of wealth accelerates.  This is a very bad thing for the U.S. economy.  For example, when oil prices were above $100 a barrel back in 2008 our trade deficit for the year was almost 700 billion dollars. It would be great if the Middle East would settle down and oil prices would start declining because that would really help out the U.S. economy.  Unfortunately, it does not look like that is going to happen.  Instead, it appears that we are steamrolling directly towards stagflation.  Anyone that lived through the stagflation of the 1970s knows that it is not a lot of fun. The cold, hard reality of the matter is that without cheap oil our lifestyles are going to change.  Our economy was not set up to run on expensive oil.  If oil moves well above $100 a barrel and it stays there it is going to bring about significant societal changes. For the rest of 2011, the price of oil will be the number one economic indicator to watch.  If it gets too high it is going to be an absolute disaster for the U.S. economy.

China Steps up Silver Purchases Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:56 AM PST Carefully hidden in the depths of a recent Forbes blog was perhaps one of the most important stories for all of 2011, at least for silver. Robert Lenzner wrote that "China's Industrial and Commercial Bank (ICBC) reports purchases of physical gold and gold-related investments are growing at record setting rates."

100 oz bars about to be extinct, We only need 10K Silver contracts for BOOM, we still have 40K, Nuff said Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:54 AM PST Before the Comex updates, I would like to let everyone in on some insider info. Spoke with an insider today, the machine for the RCM 100 oz bar is cooked, and the part is from Italy. So that's going to take forever. If you are looking for an 100 oz RCM, buy it tonight as they will be out indefinitely. Secondly, because of the Canadian Mint producing so many grizzles, the maples are soon to be

Getting to Know Crisis Premiums Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:52 AM PST There's a term gold and silver investors like to use to describe changes in premiums based solely on changes in the markets and demand for physical metals: the crisis premium. The crisis premium was most recently encountered at the turn of the new millennium when hundreds of thousands of people stashed record collections of gold and silver to protect against what was supposed to be the worst electronic catastrophe ever. Bank balances were supposed to go to zero, and computers were to become virtually worthless when the date rolled over to 01/01/00. Of course, that never happened, no one died, and the sun still rose the next morning.

A Silver Investor’s Call to Arms Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:47 AM PST Ted Butler just sent out a message to post a comment on the CFTC website for the new position limits ruling. IF we get enough people to DEMAND a limit of no more than 1,500 contracts in silver we may be able to END THE MANIPULATION!

violence in Bahiarn, Violence in Libya. Violence in Greece,,silver and gold rocket northbound Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:19 AM PST

Gold Nearing Record High on Mideast Turbulence Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:00 AM PST Gold moved higher on Wednesday, adding $12.57, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,411.70. Like with oil, price action is being influenced by the events in Libya, with gold taking on its safe haven role.

Forget Bullion – Those in the Know Own Warrants Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:00 AM PST The world of warrants is the undiscovered constellation in the universe of securities. Long term warrants shone brightly in 2009 – up 242% in US dollar terms – and were up a further 91% in US dollar terms in 2010.

The Price(s) of Tyranny Posted: 23 Feb 2011 10:00 AM PST With oil prices well above the century mark despite reassurances by Saudi Arabia that it will offset any potential disruptions of the commodity arising out of Libyan civil war, gold rose again overnight and came to within 1% of the all-time high.

Three Decade Low for Gold Silver Ratio, Timberline Pops Posted: 23 Feb 2011 09:06 AM PST Gold and silver are firm this Wednesday afternoon and the gold/silver ratio (GSR) is also holding firm with a 42-handle (with a few probes to a 41 handle at times), meaning it takes about 42 ounces of silver to "buy" an ounce of gold sans the premiums. Considering that today is the date for February options on gold and silver futures to expire, that the metals held firm is saying something. ...

What the Saudi Arabia- "day Of Rage" March 11 means for silver and gold, oh and oil too?! Posted: 23 Feb 2011 09:06 AM PST DUBAI, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people have backed a Facebook campaign calling for a "day of rage" across Saudi Arabia next month to demand an elected ruler, greater freedom for women and release of political prisoners. The page called for a "revolution of yearning" on March 11 in the kingdom, the world's biggest oil exporter and which is ruled by an absolute monarchy. More than 460

Protecting Yourself from Bernanke’s Money Printing Posted: 23 Feb 2011 09:00 AM PST As I was lying to my wife about where I had been when I was supposed to be home "over two hours ago," it suddenly occurred to me that this is just an example of the lying crap that comes out of your mouth when called upon to cover up something bad about yourself. For me it was that I was casually driving along, innocently on my way home to happily meet my loving family, when I saw that Lulu's Ooh La La Lounge had, I guess, gotten their license back, and was having a "Get Acquainted Sale," the specifics being drinks 3-for-the-price-of-1 and no cover charge. Well, one thing led to another and then I was telling one of the pole-dancers named Amber that if she stuck her tongue in my ear, I would tell her how to survive the coming inflationary collapse being caused by the foul Federal Reserve creating So Freaking Much Money (SFMM). She made an ugly face and said, "Eww! Gross!" and then started struggling to break free from my loving embrace, saying, "Let me go, you stupid old man!" which alerted me that she needed, you know, more convincing. So I said, "If you don't, then I won't tell you the Big Mogambo Secret To Wealth (BMSTW), then you will be so destroyed by the inflation in prices that you will be begging me – begging me! – to let you do that tongue thing, and more! Much more! Oh, so much, much more! I am laughing diabolically at your choice! Hahahaha!" Well, the reason I got home after just two lousy hours is that I got discouraged when she said, "We all know all about your stupid Big Mogambo Secret To Wealth (BMSTW), which is to buy gold, silver and oil stocks when the Federal Reserve is creating so much money, because that means lots of inflation in prices, which will destroy the currency, the kind that you are supposed to be sticking in my G-string, but you don't, you cheap bastard!" So you can see why I was trying to lie my way out of revealing the truth. As for Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve, he is lying to cover up the sheer incompetence and Utter, Utter Failure (UUF) of the Federal Reserve in general since 1913, the UUF of his personal chairmanship of the Federal Reserve during the disaster of the last Five Freaking Years (FFY), and the UUF of the entire clot of neo-Keynesian econometric theoretical crapola that is still, unbelievably, all the rage amongst mainstream economists, the media and drooling morons, as entirely redundant as that is. As a result of all of that disastrous Federal Reserve creation of money, food prices have been rising horrifically, at a reported 28% worldwide over the last six months, but Ben Bernanke is certain – absolutely certain! – that it is NOT related, in any way, to the enormous amounts of money that he has been creating for the last five years In A Freaking Row (IAFR). In fact, Bernanke says that the inflation is "not a dollar effect, it's a growth effect." My immediate, overwhelming outrage at such a preposterous, nonsensical idiocy is such that my brain kind of explodes, and I cannot actually form intelligible words, barely managing a kind of spluttering, raging incoherence. My hands are clenched into fists, my neck muscles contracted into tight, stiff knots, and yet with a Mogambo Herculean Effort (MHE), I manage to contain my adrenaline-fueled need for vengeance against the Federal Reserve and their neo-Keynesian econometric theoretical stupidities, all of which have the effect of bizarrely recommending permanent inflations in the money supply, which causes inflation in prices, which is causing (at last count) 87 riots around the world. And now that people are being killed, it makes you ask, "What price monetary growth?" Easing one almost paralyzed-with-rage, ham-handed fist onto a button on the console, I will just switch you over to Dan Amoss, in his essay "The Food Crisis is a Dollar Crisis" here at The Daily Reckoning, who says, "At this week's hearing on Capitol Hill, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke demonstrated a lack of understanding about what causes inflation. His comments reflected a belief that GDP growth causes inflation." Through gritted teeth I say, "Bravo! Well said!" He goes on, "When asked about the impact of QE2 on global food prices, Bernanke responded that the destabilizing spikes are due to weather and rapid growth in demand for grains in emerging markets. What a lame excuse! As an admirer of Milton Friedman, he must know that 'inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.' Inflation isn't a 'weather phenomenon.'" His point is that inflation in all prices can only happen as a result of creating more money, as "Without forever-growing money supplies, price spikes in one set of goods, like food, would be offset by price declines in more discretionary goods." But that ain't the way it is these days, and like I said to Amber, the stupid Big Mogambo Secret To Wealth (BMSTW) is to buy gold, silver and oil when the Federal Reserve is creating so much money, because that means lots of inflation in prices, and 4,500 years of history says that when inflation in consumer prices goes up, so do gold, silver and energy, saving the proverbial butt of those lucky enough to own them! Whee! This investing stuff is easy! The Mogambo Guru for The Daily Reckoning Protecting Yourself from Bernanke's Money Printing originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning has published articles on the impact of quantitative easing, bakken oil, and hyperinflation.

Fed's Hoenig says TBTF banks need to be "broken up" Posted: 23 Feb 2011 08:23 AM PST Soooo....I present this simple chart...and I'm assuming you see what I see, what they see what we see, what Hoenig sees? Did I not tell you about the internal battle going on in part 4 bears video? Battle it out mo-fuckers, battle it out! I'll sit on the sidelines and collect my $200 every time I pass Go and buy silver. Thank you to my loyal who sent me this chart.

Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Gain Almost 1% and 2% More Posted: 23 Feb 2011 07:14 AM PST Gold fell a few dollars in Asia before it rebounded and saw slight gains in London, but it then accelerated even higher in the last four hours of trade in New York and ended near its late session high of $1416.40 with a gain of 0.94%. Silver climbed to as high as $33.768 and ended with a gain of 1.86% at a new 30-year closing high.

Krugerrand – The original Bullion Coin Posted: 23 Feb 2011 06:25 AM PST

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