saveyourassetsfirst3 |
- What David Sokol's Departure Means for Berkshire Hathaway
- The MERS Mess Marches On
- Cosmo Cramer: Buy Physical Silver
- 6 Excellent Ways to Buy Coal
- ProShares Launches Short Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
- Silver Set For All Time Record Quarterly Close…
- Silver Set for Record Quarterly Close
- Tim Geithner caught in another ridiculous lie
- These food items are a massive waste of your money
- Federal Reserve president: We're responsible for surging commodity prices
- Why the world's top investors are fleeing from U.S. Treasurys
- Diamond Drilling has Started on Orex's "Las Mesas" Gold-Silver Project in Durango, Mexico
- All That Glitters Is Silver
- JP Morgan Could Learn from the Treasury
- $37.80 BM Silver Line drawn
- Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
- Stocks Rally As Banks Boost Dividends Using Taxpayer TARP Money
- Strike halts Bolivia silver mine, exports - union
- Jim Cramer Says Buy Physical Silver Now
- Cramer: Buy Physical Silver
- Closing Unallocated
- Gold Wealth Building: Fundamentals & Technicals
- World Gold Council supports Gold Price Manipulation !
- Official Central Bank Agreements on Gold
- John Exters liquidity pyramid and Gold
- The Goldbug Variations II
| What David Sokol's Departure Means for Berkshire Hathaway Posted: 31 Mar 2011 03:21 AM PDT StreetAuthority submits: By Andy Obermueller David Sokol, considered by many to be the leading candidate to replace Warren Buffett as the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B), has resigned. His stated reason was to build up a business to leave to his family. The real reason, it seems, is that Sokol took a major position in Lubrizol (LZ) before Berkshire bought it at a substantial premium in a $9 billion deal. The bottom line is that these transactions always become known, and Sokol, who's arguably one of the most capable executives in the world, got out in front of the bullet and left before he had to. Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are more than one man's name and that of a large company -- they are a platinum-coated brand that implies the absolute highest ethical and business standards. Berkshire, despite its gargantuan, multi-billion dollar market cap, is still a handshake company. Complete Story » |
| Posted: 31 Mar 2011 02:58 AM PDT Charles Payne submits: We get that banks did a terrible job with respect to many foreclosures, which is the robo-signing scandal. They should be held accountable for wrongfully kicking people out of homes. But, those faulty foreclosures and the housing meltdown are two separate things. Still, the administration is trying to link the two as justification for making banks spend $20.0 billion to modify loans of delinquent borrowers. This is straight out of the community activist handbook; some would call it economic justice, while others would call it robbery. Sure, it seems to make sense that banks would be modifying loans anyway, but the fact is they aren't, because it's not about the monthly note for so many homeowners; it's about the fact the value of their homes has been sliced too deep to ever hope to break even. I suspect that, in addition to the cost, banks must be worried about just Complete Story » |
| Cosmo Cramer: Buy Physical Silver Posted: 31 Mar 2011 02:43 AM PDT Uh oh, Kiss of Death from Mr Booo Hooo? Video here: http://www.thestreet.com/video/11066...1#870241455001 |
| Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:48 AM PDT Investment Underground submits: We decided to take a look at coal sector. Here are the six names we like right now, plus some commentary on each. Rio Tinto PLC ADR (RIO): If you want to play China's increasing desire for king coal, Rio Tinto could be a good bet. This global miner possesses an "A-list," low-cost asset base, extracting a variety of minerals and commodities including gold, aluminum, coal, iron ore, copper, diamonds and other industrial minerals. This makes the company a good play on global commodity needs and high global commodity prices. We value shares at $89 on a discounted cash flow basis. Shares trade at $71.56 at the time of writing. Cloud Peak Energy (CLD): Cloud Peak generated $1.37 billion in revenues in 2010, which was a decrease of 1.96%, after rising 12.78% in 2009. The EBT margins in 2010 and 2009 were 15.46% and 18.2%, respectively. The respective ROEs were Complete Story » |
| ProShares Launches Short Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:47 AM PDT Michael Johnston submits: ProShares, the largest issuer of inverse and leveraged ETFs, continues to build out the portion of its product lineup offering opportunities to gain short exposure to fixed income securities. The new Short Investment Grade (IGS) will seek to deliver daily results that correspond to the inverse of the iBoxx $ Liquid Investment Grade Index, a benchmark that is a modified market-value weighted index designed to provide a balanced representation of U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade corporate bonds. That benchmark serves as the underlying to the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (LQD), which has nearly $13 billion in assets. "There are signs that investment grade corporate bonds could possibly be richly valued relative to historical levels. Since the financial crisis, investment grade corporate bond indexes have reached record highs, and credit spreads have tightened significantly," said Michael L. Sapir, chairman and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC, ProShares' investment advisor. Complete Story » |
| Silver Set For All Time Record Quarterly Close… Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:36 AM PDT
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| Silver Set for Record Quarterly Close Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:22 AM PDT Gold/Silver ratio returning to historic norms after anomalous generation of 1980s to 2009. HOUSTON -- Silver is likely to close out the first quarter with the highest ever nominal quarterly close as the gold/silver ratio (GSR) dips down to a 37-handle at times in early trade this last Thursday in March. Once again we rely on our friends at GoldCore.com for the quote and the interesting graphs just below. |
| Tim Geithner caught in another ridiculous lie Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:03 AM PDT From Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Proving that he cannot find his ass with two hands and a road map, Treasury secretary Tim Geithner says inflexible currencies are our biggest monetary problem. Tightly controlled exchange rate regimes are the main flaw in the international monetary system and the solution is simple, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a G20 meeting on Thursday. In a thinly veiled swipe at the... Read full article... More government lies: Gold SHOCKER: Alan Greenspan's stunning admission Legendary analyst Richard Maybury: This is the No. 1 problem in America today Richard Russell: This is "the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the American public" |
| These food items are a massive waste of your money Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:02 AM PDT From LewRockwell.com: When it comes to the price of food, I think it's extremely important to remember that a food cannot be judged by its sticker price alone. Whether or not you're actually getting any nutrition from it is far more important. Believe me, a diet consisting of daily $1.99 hamburgers and other fast foods, while appearing to be frugal, is far from it when you consider what these foods are doing – or not doing – to your health. This will be a progressively increasing concern as we are virtually assured in the United States and many other countries that there will be serious inflation coming as a result of the massive devaluation of the dollar. While trying to list every single food that's a complete rip-off would result in a very thick book, I firmly believe it's safe to say that... Read full article... More on saving money: How you could retire in 10 years or less The top reasons you should never buy a home These are the most inexpensive firearms to own and shoot |
| Federal Reserve president: We're responsible for surging commodity prices Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:01 AM PDT From Bloomberg: The Federal Reserve's "highly accommodative" monetary policy is partly to blame for rapidly increasing global commodity prices, said Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig, who called on colleagues to raise the benchmark interest rate toward 1 percent soon. "Once again, there are signs that the world is building new economic imbalances and inflationary impulses," Hoenig, the central bank's longest-serving policy maker and lone dissenter at meetings last year, said in a speech today in London. "The longer policy remains as it is, the greater the likelihood these pressures will build and ultimately undermine world growth." Fed policy makers, who affirmed plans on March 15 to buy $600 billion in Treasury securities through June, disagreed this week over whether to curtail the purchases, end them early or keep the program in place. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the plan may need to be cut by about $100 billion. The Boston Fed's Eric Rosengren said that high unemployment and low core inflation mean it's still too soon to withdraw record monetary support for the economy. The Federal Open Market Committee "should gradually allow its $3 trillion balance sheet to shrink toward its pre-crisis level of $1 trillion," Hoenig, 64, said in his remarks at the London School of Economics and Political Science. "It should move the U.S. federal funds rate off of zero and toward 1 percent within a fairly short period of time." Improving Trends "Policy should acknowledge the improving economic trends and begin to withdraw some degree of accommodation," he said. "If this is not done, then the risk of introducing new imbalances and long-term inflationary pressures into an already fragile recovery increase significantly." Other Fed officials, including Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, have rejected the idea that their policies fueled gains in commodity prices, pointing instead to rising demand among emerging-market economies and disruptions in supplies. Bernanke, in testimony to Congress on March 1, said commodity prices "have risen significantly in terms of all major currencies," and not just the dollar. As of yesterday, crude oil jumped 35 percent over six months as turmoil in the Middle East threatened to disrupt supplies. Corn rose 38 percent, and cotton climbed 89 percent. In its March 15 statement, the FOMC said the economic recovery "is on a firmer footing." It said the effects of higher fuel and commodity costs on inflation will be "transitory," and officials "will pay close attention to the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations." Adding Workers Companies in the U.S. added more workers in March, a sign the labor market may be strengthening, data from a private report based on payrolls showed today. Employment increased by 201,000 workers, according to figures from ADP Employer Services. Other data released this week point to challenges for the recovery. Confidence among U.S. consumers dropped more than forecast this month as fuel costs surged to the highest level in more than two years, according to the Conference Board's confidence index yesterday. Another report showed home prices in 20 cities fell in January by the most in more than a year, raising the risk that sales will keep slowing. Fed officials have purchased $1.7 trillion of mortgage debt and Treasurys through March 2010 to pull the U.S. out of the recession. The Fed's second round of purchases, announced in November, has come under fire from Republican leaders in Congress who say it risks inflating asset-price bubbles and stoking inflation. Eight Dissents As a voting member of the FOMC last year, Hoenig dissented against the Fed's pledge to keep rates "exceptionally low" for "an extended period," the decision to reinvest proceeds from maturing mortgage-backed securities, and the current round of bond purchases. His eight straight dissents tied former Governor Henry Wallich's record in 1980 for most dissents in a single year. "You have to remember I'm not advocating tight monetary policy," the regional bank president said in response to audience questions after his speech. "I'm advocating a non-crisis policy. Zero is a crisis policy that by itself should be temporary." A neutral level for the fed funds rate in the long run is likely more than 2 percent, Hoenig said. Neutral refers to a level for the Fed's interest-rate target for overnight loans between banks that neither over-stimulates nor unnecessarily slows the pace of the economy. "You can't measure precisely neutral any more than you can precisely measure the long-term sustainable unemployment level, but you can estimate it over a long period," he said. "I don't know exactly what that is. Probably above 2 percent." Hoenig is retiring on Oct. 1 after a 20-year career as leader of the Kansas City Fed, one of the Fed's 12 regional banks. The Kansas City Fed has begun a search for his successor. To contact the reporter on this story: Vivien Lou Chen in San Francisco at vchen1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz in Washington at cwellisz@bloomberg.net. More on inflation: "Stealth" inflation is soaring Why the Fed's QE2 "money-printing" may never stop Warren Buffett: Inflation will crush this popular income investment |
| Why the world's top investors are fleeing from U.S. Treasurys Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:00 AM PDT From Bloomberg: Bill Gross, who runs the world's biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said Treasurys "have little value" because of the growing U.S. debt burden. The U.S. has unrecorded debt of $75 trillion, or close to 500 percent of gross domestic product, counting what it owes on its bonds plus obligations for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Gross wrote in his monthly investment outlook. The U.S. will experience inflation, currency devaluation and low-to-negative interest rates after accounting for consumer-price gains if it doesn't reform its entitlement programs, he said. Pimco "has been selling Treasurys because they have little value within the context of a $75 trillion total debt burden," Gross wrote in the report published on Newport Beach, California-based company's website. Congress "must make 'debt' a four-letter word." The comment echoes Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who recommended avoiding long-term fixed-income bets in U.S. dollars because the currency's purchasing power will drop. Treasurys have handed investors a 0.1 percent loss this quarter, adding to a 2.7 percent decline in the final three months of 2010, based on Bank of America Merrill Lynch data. President Barack Obama's government has increased the U.S. publicly traded debt to a record $9.05 trillion, leading Gross to compare the nation to Greece, which had its credit ratings cut two steps by Standard & Poor's on March 29. "We're 'out-Greeking' the Greeks," he wrote. Inflation Risk Gross said in an interview March 11 that he eliminated government-related debt from his Total Return Fund because investors aren't being adequately compensated for the risk of quickening inflation. Buffett has shortened the maturities of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s bond holdings as the Federal Reserve eased monetary policy to stimulate the economy, according to regulatory filings. "I would recommend against buying long-term fixed-dollar investments," Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire, said March 25 in New Delhi. "If you ask me if the U.S. dollar is going to hold its purchasing power fully at the level of 2011, 5 years, 10 years or 20 years from now, I would tell you it will not." Consumer Prices Treasurys were little changed today, with benchmark 10-year notes yielding 3.44 percent as of 6:52 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The 3.625 percent note maturing in February 2021 traded at 101 1/2. The Fed said in November it would pump $600 billion into the U.S. economy by purchasing Treasurys to sustain the economic expansion. The difference between yields on 10-year notes and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, a gauge of trader expectations for consumer prices over the life of the debt, has widened to 2.46 percentage points from 1.82 percentage points six months ago. The 10-year average is 2.0 percentage points. Treasury 10-year notes pay 1.34 percent after subtracting consumer-price increases, the so-called real yield. That's down from last year's high of 2.39 percent in December. Pimco's record $236.9 billion Total Return Fund gained 7 percent in the past year, beating 82 percent of its competitors, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company is a unit of insurer Allianz SE (ALV) in Munich. To contact the reporter on this story: Wes Goodman in Singapore at wgoodman@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net. More on U.S. Treasurys: Why it's finally time to bet big against Treasury bonds Bond King Bill Gross has dumped ALL U.S. Treasurys How the Japanese crisis could trigger a dollar meltdown |
| Diamond Drilling has Started on Orex's "Las Mesas" Gold-Silver Project in Durango, Mexico Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:54 AM PDT Orex Minerals Inc. – (REX: TSX-V) (ORXIF.PK)("Orex") is pleased to announce that its Phase-I diamond drilling program has commenced on the Las Mesas gold-silver project in northern Durango State, Mexico. |
| Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:36 AM PDT With industrial demand almost exclusively driving the price of silver for years, investing in the white metal used to be simpler. Now investment demand is competing with practical demand to push silver prices ever higher. Investor interest in silver from large U.S. funds could result in as many as 60 new silver plays entering the market this year. These are heady days for silver with a lot of upside in the cards—if played right. Find out how in this Gold Report exclusive. |
| JP Morgan Could Learn from the Treasury Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:16 AM PDT JP Morgan has a new excuse for its massive silver and gold investments. Short or long, whichever it happens to be claiming at the moment, Morgan says it is holding the silver for clients. To buffer its claim, JP Morgan insists the holdings are the result of a new lending window it created, where investors can deposit their gold for safe-storage and obtain a loan in the amount of the gold borrowed. |
| Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:10 AM PDT Lots and lots of shorting going on at this line, lets see if we can push higher...will try to give an options update mid day to see where the smart money is going. $US is re-testing the 76 again...JUST ROLL OVER AND DIE! Lol And OIL just wants to explode higher here too...CHANGE? YES WE CAN! |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 10:28 PM PDT
Mercenary Links Roundup for Wednesday, March 30th (below the jump).
03-30 Wednesday
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| Stocks Rally As Banks Boost Dividends Using Taxpayer TARP Money Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:52 PM PDT "Stocks rose, sending the MSCI World Index to its best two-day rally of the year, as the Federal Reserve allowed some U.S. banks to boost dividends and Libya called a cease-fire. The Yen fell as central banks weakened the currency to help Japan recover from its worst earthquake." "The rally in stocks accelerated after the Fed said capital has improved at the largest U.S. banks and Libya's Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa said the government is ceasing military actions and starting talks with the opposition. The Yen retreated after yesterday jumping to a post-World War II high against the dollar amid speculation investors and companies were buying the currency to pay for rebuilding projects." "Stability in Libya is certainly one factor that investors are looking toward as a sign that we can get back to business," said Richard Skaggs, senior equity strategist at Loomis Sayles & Co. in Boston, which manages more than $150 billion. "We're pleased to see the G-7 got together a plan in a quick fashion to contain the Yen's upside. It's important for Japan that yen strength be controlled and … it's a positive for global equities." "All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 rose at least 0.4 percent, with financial companies up 1.7 percent to lead the advance. The Fed said some of the 19 largest U.S. banks can restart dividend payments, buy back shares, or repay government capital after "significant improvement" in their capital positions and the economy." "JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. were among banks to rally, climbing more than 2 percent each, as they increased payouts and announced buyback plans shortly after the Fed's announcement. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets, rallied 2.5 percent after winning approval for a dividend increase and buyback and saying it will purchase $5 billion of preferred stock sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. The 19 largest banks have increased common equity by more than $300 billion from the final quarter of 2008 through the end of 2010, the Fed said in a paper released today." "The Nikkei 225's gain trimmed this week's drop to 10 percent, the biggest retreat since October, 2008. South Korea's Kospi Index and Taiwan's Taiex both climbed more than 1 percent today. Japan's currency slid 3.5 percent versus the Euro. Japan began currency intervention to weaken the currency with Europe's central banks, the Bank of Canada and the Fed Bank of New York following-up. The Bank of Japan is likely to act "forcefully" and "persistently" in preventing the Yen from trading stronger than 80 against the dollar, according to Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest brokerage." "Engineers plan to work into the night to restore power to two of the crippled reactors at Japan's damaged Fukushima Dai- Ichi power plant, while Prime Minister Naoto Kan described the crisis as "very grave." "Japanese soldiers and firefighters from Tokyo, using dozens of fire engines, doused sea water on reactor No. 3, site of an explosion earlier this week. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it will finish reconnecting a power line to the cooling system of the No. 2 reactor today, where white smoke or steam was observed. The power link would be used to restart pumps needed to pour cooling water on overheating fuel rods." "Crude's earlier rally came after a UN decision to prevent the Libyan air force from bombing rebel cities renewed concern that political unrest in the region may spread and disrupt oil supplies." (Ed: It now appears the UN is in charge of US foreign policy and making decisions that used to be the purview of our congress and executive). Wheat futures rose, heading for the biggest two-day rally since August, on speculation that dry weather from Kansas to Russia will erode global grain supplies. Corn was poised for the biggest two-day rally since October, as adverse weather threatens to delay U.S. planting." -Andrew Rummer and Inyoung Hwang -Bloomberg.net 3-18-11         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Strike halts Bolivia silver mine, exports - union Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:15 PM PDT  Today's last story is courtesy of Washington state reader S.A...and the Reuters headline is pretty much self-explanatory. This mine used to be owned by Apex...and they went belly up when their hedge book blew up many years ago...and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation picked it up for a song. This is a must read...and it's only two short paragraphs long...so it will only take a minute of your time. The link is here. |
| Jim Cramer Says Buy Physical Silver Now Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:15 PM PDT ¤ Yesterday in Gold and SilverAfter spending most of Far East and early London trading within a five dollar price range on Wednesday, the gold price finally caught a bid at 11:00 a.m. in London that lasted until about ten minutes after the Comex open in New York. At that point, the moon-shot rise in the gold price ran into a not-for-profit seller...and by the time the selling and bid-pulling was over...'da boyz' had the gold price down about five bucks below it's Tuesday closing price. Once that seller disappeared, the gold price rebounded...and closed up about five bucks on the day.
Silver's low of the day came about 11:00 a.m. in the Hong Kong trading day...and then worked its way up to it's New York high around $37.75 before it, too, ran into the same not-for-profit seller at exactly the same time...and from that point on, silver pretty much followed a similar price pattern to gold.
The dollar didn't do much at all yesterday...and the scale of the chart makes yesterday's price action look more dramatic than it really was. I guess the standout feature was the thirty-five basis point drop between the two hour period of 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. That's the exact time when the bids got pulled on both metals...and the dollar fell in tandem with the two precious metals. As you've probably already figured out, there was nothing free-market about what happened during this two hour time period yesterday in New York...along with the not-for-profit selling that happened after the Comex open.
Gold's low price is easy to spot on the HUI chart...and the gold stocks closed virtually on their highs of the day, with the HUI up 1.95%. The silver stocks did very well for themselves, too.
The CME had no delivery report yesterday...which was not a surprise as the last of the March silver contract deliveries had been posted on Tuesday night. Then late last night the CME posted the deliveries for First Notice Day in the April gold contract...which is today. They reported that 1,942 gold, along with 58 silver contracts, were posted for delivery tomorrow, April 1st. The big issuers in gold were Deutsche Bank and HSBC...and the big stoppers were JPMorgan [in both their client and proprietary trading account] and the Bank of Nova Scotia. It's not often that you see four of the '8 or less' Comex traders all in one spot...but here they are. The link to this activity...and it's well worth looking at...is here. There was no activity in either GLD or SLV for the second day running...and the U.S. Mint only reported selling 2,500 ounces of gold eagles yesterday. With today being the last day of the month, one can only hope that they will have one more sales update for March. We'll see. There wasn't much activity in the Comex-approved depositories on Tuesday. They reported receiving 5,056 ounces of silver...and shipped out 82,084...for a net decline of 77,028 troy ounces. Just as a note of interest here. Nick Laird, the guy from Australia that provides a lot of excellent charts for this column from over at sharelynx.com, is giving a free 10-day access period to his website, so you can see what his chart service is all about. I urge you to spend some time poking around...and the link is here. Before I get into my stories for today, I want to share this e-mail regarding the Perth Mint that I received from a reader yesterday. Here it is...word for word. Hi Ed - read today's news letter with interest regarding Perth Mint's termination of UNallocated pool account SILVER. Check out this link to Perth's blog page for their statement...they are going to have an ALLOCATED silver pool account. HOWEVER, I wanted to bring something else to your attention...which is a "life lesson" I learned, of course, the HARD WAY. See attached Perth Mint certificate for ALLOCATED GOLD account...SEE ITEM #13 on the printed terms. It says: "The owner acknowledges and agrees that the Perth Mint's maximum liability to the owner if it fails to make available for delivery the commodity described on this certificate pursuant to proper instructions from the owner shall the be London a.m. [gold] fix price of the commodity on the delivery date as specified by the owner's instructions, subject to clause 7." Now Ed, I ask you...what the hell good is a certificate from the Perth Mint for allocated gold IF they can pay you off with PAPER? If and when the s**t really hits the fan...at least here in the USA...if you don't have the metal in hand, bend over and kiss it goodbye. The Allocated Gold contract with the Perth Mint is posted below. Click to enlarge...then study it carefully. Note the yearly storage fee of USD$13.99 for the 'Allocated Gold' that the contract clearly states that you might never get...and probably won't.
I don't have a lot of stories today...and all of the non-precious metals ones are from overseas. If the bullion banks hadn't shown up to halt both rallies right in their respective tracks around 8:45 a.m. Eastern, the prices of both would have been in outer space long before the trading day was over. Strike halts Bolivia silver mine, exports - union. A Perth Mint Allocated Gold Contract. Stricken Portugal 'lacks the cash to meet debt payments'. Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon. ¤ Critical ReadsSubscribeStricken Portugal 'lacks the cash to meet debt payments'Portugal's 10-year bonds are trading with yields at euro-era highs of over 8pc, as investors demand more reward for taking on the risk. "The writing is on the wall for Portugal," said Kathleen Brooks, a research director at trading platform Forex.com. "A bailout is just a matter of time in this environment." Of course how far Spain, Italy...and perhaps Belgium...are behind Portugal in this bailout parade, remains to be seen. It's a story that was posted late last night in The Telegraph...and I thank reader Roy Stephens for sending it along...and the link is here.  Libya: Mousa Kousa, Gaddafi's foreign minister, defects to UKMousa Kousa says he is no longer willing to represent the regime in a morale boost for the rebels. Kousa quit...and fled to the UK in a specially arranged flight organised by the British intelligence services. This is another Roy Stephens offering...this one from this mornings edition of The Guardian...and the link is here.  Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret help for Libya rebelsObama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources familiar with the matter. Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency. This is a necessary legal step before such action can take place...but does not mean that it will. It's obvious that the U.S.'s current stooge, Muammar Gaddafi, has outlived his usefulness. It only remains to be seen who they replace him with. All Middle East leaders are American 'stooges'...or they wouldn't be in power. The only exception is Iran...and the U.S is working on that right now. This is Roy's third offering in today's column. It's a Reuters piece...and the link is here.  Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon: Ralph LangnerWhen first discovered in 2010, the Stuxnet computer worm posed a baffling puzzle. Beyond its unusually high level of sophistication loomed a more troubling mystery: its purpose. Ralph Langner and team helped crack the code that revealed this digital warhead's final target -- and its covert origins. In a fascinating look inside cyber-forensics, he explains how. I ran a piece on Stuxnet late last year when it was first discovered...but here's the man himself telling the world how cracked the code...and who was behind it. It's posted over at ted.com...and Roy Stephens is to be thanked for sharing it with us. The video runs a bit under eleven minutes...and is a must watch...and the link is here.  Cramer: Buy Physical SilverI only have two precious metals-related stories for you today...and both of them are about silver. I must admit that I don't hold Mad Money's Jim Cramer in high regard. But in this case, the old saying that 'the enemy of my enemy, is my friend' applies in spades. This 1:45 minute video was posted over at thestreet.com yesterday...and is definitely worth watching. I thank reader Randall Reinwasser for bringing it to my attention...and the link is here.  Strike halts Bolivia silver mine, exports - unionToday's last story is courtesy of Washington state reader S.A...and the Reuters headline is pretty much self-explanatory. This mine used to be owned by Apex...and they went belly up when their hedge book blew up many years ago...and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation picked it up for a song. This is a must read...and it's only two short paragraphs long...so it will only take a minute of your time. The link is here.  ¤ The WrapWell, the U.S. bullion banks showed up yesterday early in the Comex trading session and put an end to the rallies in both gold and silver that were on their way to going vertical in price. It's hard to tell or not whether the rallies were caused by them buying and covering shorts...and/or covering shorts when they pulled their bids shortly after 10:00 a.m. Eastern. But one thing that should be obvious to all, is that if the bullion banks hadn't shown up to halt both rallies right in their respective tracks around 8:45 a.m. Eastern, the prices of both would have been in outer space long before the trading day was over, as there were no free-market traders willing to |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:15 PM PDT  I only have two precious metals-related stories for you today...and both of them are about silver. I must admit that I don't hold Mad Money's Jim Cramer in high regard. But in this case, the old saying that 'the enemy of my enemy, is my friend' applies in spades. This 1:45 minute video was posted over at thestreet.com yesterday...and is definitely worth watching. I thank reader Randall Reinwasser for bringing it to my attention...and the link is here. |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 07:55 PM PDT In the entire time I have worked in the Depository business (since 1998) through the many times I have explained our unallocated "business model", the one thing that has surprised me is no one asked a very simple question, a question that cuts to the core and would reveal whether the Perth Mint had any integrity and whether we were lying about unallocated: "So if it is funding working inventory, you will have to close it at some point, yes?" That point has been reached with silver as announced on the corporate blog. Gold will follow in due course, possibly quite quickly once people realise the best storage deal in the world cannot continue forever. You would not be surprised to know that our Certificate Approved Dealers were not overly happy about it - which business wants to stop selling its best product line - but it could not go on forever. Of course the move has raised questions, and I'm currently managing four discussions on it (Ed Steer, Kitco, Gold is Money, SilverStackers). This move should now raise another important question, but I'm not going to wait in case no one asks it: "So if the West Australian Government is on the hook for the Perth Mint, surely there is a limit to how much they can guarantee, so therefore a limit to Depository?" Answer is yes, at some point Depository will also close Pool Allocated and Allocated. When is an open question depending on how fast metal flows in and what happens to the gold price. But the day will come. The Government does not have the financial capacity or willingness to guarantee massive precious metal liabilities. This suits me fine and should suit our clients, as the bigger you are the bigger the target - theft and political. Many people just don't get this about the Perth Mint. It is not some money hungry management team looking to take on leverage and grow for the sake of growing and bonuses. It is conservative and about looking out for the interests of its clients. When we end up closing the whole Depository business to new clients, maybe the message will get through. Problem is it will be too late for some. PS - an excellent analysis and history of the Liberty dollar case.  |
| Gold Wealth Building: Fundamentals & Technicals Posted: 30 Mar 2011 05:15 PM PDT
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| World Gold Council supports Gold Price Manipulation ! Posted: 30 Mar 2011 05:00 PM PDT
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| Official Central Bank Agreements on Gold Posted: 30 Mar 2011 04:45 PM PDT World Gold Council |
| John Exters liquidity pyramid and Gold Posted: 30 Mar 2011 04:30 PM PDT |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT Gold University |
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