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Saturday, April 2, 2011

Gold World News Flash

Gold World News Flash

U.S. Consumers Have Big Banks To Blame For High Gasoline Prices

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 05:32 PM PDT


By Dian L. Chu, EconMatters

There is a bit of irony here in that the very same banks that taxpayers bailed out, and saved from going completely belly up, are now making you pay once again in the form of higher Oil prices, and the resultant higher gasoline prices at the pump (Fig. 1). Don`t be fooled by the rhetoric generated in the media by the Big Banks regarding the Middle East.


It All Started With Jackson Hole….

This run-up in oil prices started with Fed Chairman Bernanke`s Jackson Hole speech where the big banks realized they were going to get a bunch more juice in the form of POMO operations by the Federal Reserve to play around in markets with.

And what did the large financial institutions do with this newly created juice? Instead of allocating the almost zero percent money they are all borrowing to productive activities such as lending loans to small businesses which will create jobs and stimulate the economy, the big banks have decided that since the fed is electronically printing money and providing extra liquidity/juice for financial markets that this is inflationary and devalues the dollar.

All Fed Juices Lead to Commodities

And just to make things worse, the big banks have decided to take their cheap capital they borrow at basically zero percent , and invest into commodities, i.e., agricultural futures like Wheat, Corn, and Soybeans, energy futures like Oil and Gasoline (Fig. 2), and industrial and precious metals like Copper, Gold and Silver.


The unique aspect is that loose monetary policy isn`t problematic at face value when you are trying to stimulate growth, it is what the Big Banks are utilizing this cheap capital for that becomes problematic from an inflation standpoint. The very problem that the Banks are worried about in regards to inflation, they are in fact responsible for creating through self-fulfilling investment practices with regard to this cheap capital at their disposal.

Long Commodities, Short Dollar - Adding Inflation

But it gets worse because at the same time they also short the US Dollar, and going long the commodity currencies like the Canadian and Australian Dollar, which further exacerbates the slide in the US Dollar (Fig. 3), reinforcing the entire trade that they need to buy more commodities as an inflation hedge, further juicing up commodities like oil and gasoline.


Inflation Up, Purchasing Power Down

The consumer is hurt in two ways. First is that higher prices eat into their monthly budget with a higher percentage of their disposable income needed for purchasing items like milk, eggs, bread, and gasoline. Secondly, because the Dollar is losing its store of value, the consumer is losing their purchasing power, i.e., what a dollar is worth in relative terms around the world, and what it can buy. In other words, it is

like getting a pay cut at work from your company, the amount hasn`t changed, but what goods that amount will be able to buy is less.

Consumers Getting Double Stiffed

The Big Banks like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, UBS, and BOA-Merrill Lynch are some of the largest energy traders in the world. They all derive considerable trading revenue from the markets each quarter. So when you hear that Goldman Sachs, or BOA didn`t have a single losing trading day for a given quarter, these banks are taking a lot of money out of the market, and much of their hefty trading profits are generated from commodities like food and energy.

And guess who is footing the bill for these trading profits? Yes, the US consumer, the very same US consumer who bailed them out during the financial crisis. Talk about getting short shrifted twice. (I cleaned up the last sentence, but you get the gist.)

2008 Oil Bubble Redux

Currently, there are no supply shortages in the oil market, but what you have is a bunch of speculators going wild pushing up energy prices hyping the Middle East, Peak Oil, The Nigeria Card (remember in 2008 where every little Nigerian pipeline was under attack every day during that run-up, and all the sudden Nigerian pipeline attacks were inconsequential for two years—that`s the Nigerian Card-bring it out when traders are in Trend Trading Nirvana.)

What we have here is a 2008 redux. The Brent contract on the ICE exchange is being used to engineer prices up, as it is an unregulated exchange with no real transparency on position limits by the Big Banks. The Big Banks are also piling a bunch of money into commodity related ETF`s and mutual funds, which in turn have to buy exposure to the futures market in all these commodities. Add in the hedge funds, pension funds, money managers, and retail traders, and voila! you have these bubbles created which have no relation to the underlying fundamentals.

Trend Trading Hyper Leverage

It all comes down to fund flows, capital going into the commodity trade because it is going up, further adding fuel to fire that this is the place to be-- Welcome to the self-reinforcing cycle of Trend Trading.

However, it gets even worse, because we have one-sided markets with no substantial pullbacks which normal healthy markets have. The Big Banks are able to add to their original positions with the profits they have locked in with stops that are already hugely profitable. The Big Banks are then buying additional futures contracts, pushing these same commodities up further, until eventually the bubble bursts like 2008, when everyone runs for the exits at the same time.

The effect is that by adding to original positions via locked in profits, the Big Banks have added even more liquidity/juice to the market – a form of hyper leverage without real risk. This results in the consumer paying more at the pump, not because there is less supply of oil in the market, but largely because of a trading technique that artificially inflates prices by adding more juice to the equation.

Crude Oil – An Engineered Market

I know we had a recession, but Crude Oil went from $143 dollars a barrel to $33 in six months. Now, you don`t think demand dropped off that much, do you? It didn`t, even when a consumer lost their job , which at most we went from a 5% unemployment level to slightly above 10%--did this 5% completely stop consuming fuel? I know this is an oversimplification; however you can follow where I am going with this line of reasoning-- Crude Oil should never have been $143 a barrel in the first place!

It was stage-managed to those levels the last time by the Big Banks like Goldman Sachs. Remember the infamous “$200 Oil Call” by the Goldman analyst – do you truly believe that happened by accident? It served a purpose for Goldman Sachs at the time, to help ‘market’ the price of Crude Oil.

Banks Long Oil...Ya Think? 

You now have Nomura Securities with their $220 Oil Call, and J.P. Morgan pumping out weekly analysts forecasts regarding Crude Oil targets of $130 for the second quarter. Why make these price forecasts available to the media and the public if they aren`t used for a purpose? Wouldn`t they want to keep these reserved for their paying, private clients? Gee, I wonder if they are positioned long in the Oil Market?

You guessed it. The same Banks that won`t give you a loan, or a credit card because your credit score isn`t perfect is making your financial condition even worse by pushing up the price of Oil, Food and Gasoline when there are no real supply shortages in the market. What is taking place in the market are traders hitting revenue goals by trading commodities in order to maximize their bonuses.

Fed, The Enabler

This is not all the Big Banks fault, as just like in 2005-2007, regulations were eased to let them all lever up over 40 times base capital. Well, Chairman Bernanke and the Fed`s extremely loose monetary policies have enabled the banks to profit enormously from trading behavior and investment choices which inevitably have lead to the creation of another inflationary bubble. We still have a long way to go in recovering from the last Fed fueled bubble regarding the Housing Industry from the Alan Greenspan era of overly loose monetary policy.

Higher Margin Requirement, The Unwilling Accomplice

In addition, the CFTC was supposed to come up with position limits for the Big Banks over 3 months ago, but even the limits they were considering were not going to do any good. The CME has raised margin requirements on all the commodities, but this actually makes things worse because it squeezes out more of the smaller speculators. It concentrates more of the contract from a percentage standpoint with the Big Banks who have access to all the capital they could ever need at zero percent interest.

If you raise margins for the Big Banks, they just go borrow more money to cover the raised requirements, but they never have to reduce positions like the smaller players. This makes for less of a diverse market. Therefore, raising margins isn`t the answer either. In other word, don`t expect any relief from the CFTC or the exchanges--they really are powerless to reduce this type of speculative fervor.

Two Ways to Skin Big Bank Cats

There really are only two options:

1)  Bernanke has to immediately change his tone, and become much more hawkish regarding inflation, and he needs to do this immediately, as in, Monday morning. He needs to say something to the effect: “Due to rapidly building food and energy cost pressures, the fed needs to seriously discuss the idea of cutting short QE2 at our next monetary policy meeting on the 27th of April”.

That`s literally all Bernanke would have to say, not that they are going to cut QE2 short, just discuss the idea, and that you are worried about rising inflationary pressures in the economy exemplified by the unprecedented spike in gasoline prices. This would send the right message to the speculators, and curb much of the speculative fervor. All commodities would instantly sell off. For example, Oil would drop by $3.50 in an hour, and the RBOB contract would drop 18 cents.

This is how you can even maintain all the benefits of a relatively loose monetary policy without all of the acute negative consequences of unchecked speculation, which we are experiencing right now in commodities. It’s a one sided trade, that is crowded, unnatural, and bad for markets and consumers alike.

2)  The second option is more micro managing an individual commodity. Let`s take Oil for example. President Obama could make a statement on Monday morning stating the following: “I have decided to open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to the market, not because there are any supply shortages in Crude Oil, far from it, actually, but we want to target the excessive speculation that we believe is occurring right now in the Oil market”.

Again that`s all it would take and Crude Oil would be down $3.50 and gasoline would drop as well. You do not even need to sell any Oil from the reserves, it actually isn`t needed, but the important part is the message that you are sending to markets, “this is not a riskless, one way trade.”

Fed's Punchbowl Ends Here & Now

Speculation isn`t always bad, in fact, it often serves many valid purposes within markets. But excessive speculation to the point where markets diverge considerably from the underlying fundamentals is never a good thing. And it is important for those in positions of authority to manage such markets appropriately through legislative regulation, monetary policy, or simply managing market participants’ expectations by sending the right types of messages to markets.

However, our policy makers so far have mismanaged the message being sent to Wall Street. It is something along the lines of “Get drunk at the Fed inspired liquidity punchbowl, and don`t worry about the mess you make”. The message the Federal Reserve should be sending is, “Make sure you don`t drink too much at the liquidity punchbowl, or we will take it away”.

The reasoning here is that it is always much easier to prevent the mess in the first place, than to try and clean it up afterwards. We have reached the point where the Fed needs to take the punchbowl away!

EconMatters, April 1, 2011 | Facebook Page | Post Alert | Kindle

Utah doubles down on gold laws amid inflation fears, distrust of Fed

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 04:07 PM PDT

By Matt Whittaker
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, April 1, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870380630457623705417107016...

NEW YORK -- The gold bugs have settled in Utah.

Populist fears about the Federal Reserve's loose money policy spurred Gov. Gary Herbert last week to sign a law that is already on the books. Utah now explicitly recognizes that gold and silver coins designated legal tender by the federal government are also legal tender in the state.

This redundant exercise in lawmaking aims to keep alive the debate over gold's role in the economy as rising costs for everyday goods hit household budgets. In television commercials and newspaper ads, gold is peddled as a safe investment that is shielded against inflation. Those that advocate for its broader acceptance and believe gold prices will continue to rise—in tandem with inflation—are known as "gold bugs."

When food and energy are excluded, price increases for goods and services have remained muted, although some worry that the rate of overall inflation could elude the Fed's control if the central bank doesn't soon rein in its hyper-accommodative monetary policy.

... Dispatch continues below ...


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Sona Drills 85.4g Gold/Ton Over 4 Metres at Elizabeth Gold Deposit,
Extending the Mineralization of the Southwest Vein on the Property

Company Press Release, October 27, 2010

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Sona Resources Corp. reports on five drillling holes in the third round of assay results from the recently completed drill program at its 100 percent-owned Elizabeth Gold Deposit Property in the Lillooet Mining District of southern British Columbia. Highlights from the diamond drilling include:

-- Hole E10-66 intersected 17.4g gold/ton over 1.54 metres.

-- Hole E10-67 intersected 96.4g gold/ton over 2.5 metres, including one assay interval of 383g of gold/ton over 0.5 metres.

-- Hole E10-69 intersected 85.4g gold/ton over 4.03 metres, including one assay interval of 230g gold/ton over 1 metre.

Four drill holes, E10-66 to E10-69, targeted the southwestern end of the Southwest Vein, and three of the holes have expanded the mineralized zone in that direction. The Southwest Vein gold mineralization has now been intersected over a strike length of 325 metres, with the deepest hole drilled less than 200 metres from surface.

"The assay results from the Southwest Zone quartz vein continue to be extremely positive," says John P. Thompson, Sona's president and CEO. "We are expanding the Southwest Vein, and this high-grade gold mineralization remains wide open down dip and along strike to the southwest."

For the company's full press release, please visit:

http://sonaresources.com/_resources/news/SONA_NR19_2010.pdf


It is those inflation worries that have supported gold prices, now double what they were 2 1/2 years ago.

Gold futures on Friday settled $11 lower at $1,428.90 an ounce as Fed officials publicly took sides this week, sending conflicting signals about the course of U.S. monetary policy.

The Utah legislation is "a bit of a sideshow," said Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. However, it is "symptomatic of a great deal of distrust about the Federal Reserve. People are getting mad as they see what is happening at the grocery store and the gas station and then hear [Fed Chairman Ben] Bernanke say we're hitting the target."

As both Utah and federal law now stand, anyone can use the American Eagle, for example, at its $50 face value. But no one does, because the yellow metal is the U.S. Mint's most popular one-ounce gold coin is currently worth more than $1,400.

Utah State Rep. Brad Galvez, the Republican who introduced the bill, admits that the law itself doesn't change much, but he says he hopes it lays the groundwork for a more significant shift in the future.

"The intent would be to see where a gold or silver coin is valued at its market value instead of its face value," Mr. Galvez said. "This allows the people of Utah to protect their assets against what we're seeing in inflation and the devaluation of the dollar."

Radical legislation calling for a more mainstream role for precious metals as forms of payment has been brought in Montana, Missouri, Colorado, Idaho and Indiana, but those efforts failed. Georgia legislators introduced a bill in that state's House of Representatives that would require banks that get business from the state to offer deposits and withdrawals in gold and silver coins. The bill, which also would mandate the state conduct payments exclusively in gold and silver, hasn't progressed to the state Senate.

"What's really happening here is that this is the consequence of people becoming more concerned with extreme monetary expansion on the part of the Fed," said Steve Wyatt, a finance professor and chairman of Miami University's Farmer School of Business in Ohio.

The Utah law, set to take effect May 7, requires the state's revenue and tax committee to study the possibility of establishing an alternative form of legal tender, which Mr. Galvez hopes will be the market value of gold and silver coins.

"This would provide an alternative in the event the dollar tanks," said Mr. Galvez, who wants to see coin depositories where customers would deposit their gold and silver and be given a debit card containing dollars equivalent to their value.

The decades-long ban on gold purchases by ordinary Americans was lifted in 1974 following the collapse of the gold standard, so it is a relatively new form of investment.

Bank officials say any moves toward greater acceptance of precious metals in the mainstream financial system would entail logistical hassles.

"We would not support anything that would require us to spend a lot of money to buy the equipment to weigh and measure any of this currency," said Howard Headlee, president of the Utah Bankers Association.

Bullion isn't likely to become a common feature of the U.S. monetary system any time soon, said Jon Nadler, an analyst at Montreal-based Kitco Metals, which buys and sells coins and bars made of precious metals.

If someone were to try to make a typical purchase with an American Eagle, "just picture the face of the clerk in Wal-Mart," Mr. Nadler said.

* * *

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An Evening with Bill Murphy and James Turk
Sponsored by Deutsche Edelmetall-Gesellschaft
Friday, April 29, 2011
Hofbrauhaus, Munich, Germany

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The Gold Standard Now: It Can Work

Today a dollar is worth 80 percent less than it was 40 years ago, and less than 5 percent of its value a hundred years ago. We deserve a dollar that is as good as gold, a dollar that will hold its value from year to year so we can be financially secure and our economy can generate more and better jobs.

For most of America's history, our dollar was literally as good as gold. But on August 15, 1971, our politicians destroyed the link between gold and the dollar. They destroyed the foundations of our economic system.

A new Internet site, TheGoldStandardNow.org, provides news and cutting-edge analysis about this most important issue and explains how the gold standard worked in the past and how it can work in the future. Visit us today:

http://www.thegoldstandardnow.org/about/137-welcome-newsmax

Gold Seeker Weekly Wrap-Up: Gold and Silver End With Slight Gains on the Week

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 04:00 PM PDT

Gold traded just slightly lower in Asia and London before it plummeted in early New York trade to see a $24.51 loss at as low as $1412.89 by about 10AM EST, but it then rallied back higher into the close and ended with a loss of just 0.67%. Silver dropped to as low as $37.055 by midmorning in New York before it also stormed back higher in the last few hours of trade and ended with a loss of just 0.29%.


Gold

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 01:55 PM PDT

By way of background, it strikes me that many media journalists and online newsletter writers and commentators either don't address the correlation between what they speak or write about, and other factors that are relevant to their topic.

Read More...

Hourly Action In Gold From Trader Dan

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 01:52 PM PDT

View the original post at jsmineset.com... April 01, 2011 09:41 AM Dear CIGAs, Click chart to enlarge in PDF format with commentary from Trader Dan Norcini For further market analysis and commentary, please see Trader Dan's website at www.traderdan.net [B][I][/I][/B]...


Gold?s Price Is A Product Of Debt

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 01:52 PM PDT

View the original post at jsmineset.com... April 01, 2011 08:58 AM Dear Friends, Gold is a product of debt, not business activity. If there was no business and no debt there would not be any interest in gold. If there was good business and no debt there would not be much interest in gold. When there is over the top Western world debt in either good or bad business gold goes over the top. When there is a problem with the reserve currency over Western world debt, by default gold goes over the top, re-enters monetary system holdings, and makes 80% of the gains it will make. Respectfully, Jim...


Overwhelmed

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 01:52 PM PDT

View the original post at jsmineset.com... April 01, 2011 08:43 AM By Greg Hunter's USAWatchdog.com Dear CIGAs, As I look over the news and try to find the one story that I need to comment on, I am overwhelmed.  I see the nuclear meltdown story in Japan and wonder how it will all turn out.  It is nowhere near under control.  We still do not know the full extent of the damage, but there are traces of radiation showing up in things like milk here in the U.S.  Yes, I know experts say the amount is tiny and causes no health threat, but then again, this thing is not over by a long shot.  Brave workers there are sacrificing themselves to try and stop a total meltdown and save a large part of Japan from becoming a dead zone.  Fox News reported yesterday, "The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, are being repeatedly exposed to dangero...


Where has Silver come from and where is it going?

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 01:00 PM PDT

GFMS produced the report for the Silver Institute published last week. We have used this as a basis for this article on silver supply and demand in the last three years. Our objective in this piece is to have recent history confirm what we expect of the future for silver.


If every one of Apple's $1,500 computers has a 1/10th of an ounce of silver

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 12:47 PM PDT

How and Why The Elite Destroyed 3 Tons of Silver Last Week Share this:


The Next Major Bull Market Will Be In…

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 11:52 AM PDT


Economic nonsense.

 

I am not trying to be flippant, nor humorous. Indeed, we in the US will very likely see a massive escalation of propaganda, phony economic data, massaged labor statistics, and the like in 2011.

 

I’ve been railing against “massaged” government data for years. Whether it’s GDP numbers, housing data, unemployment claims, or retail numbers, virtually every economic metric the Government or state department publishes these days is massaged or adjusted to paint a picture that is far rosier that the real economic realities facing the US.

 

Let’s take US GDP Growth numbers, for instance. The most common manipulations used to overstate this number are:

 

1)    Understating inflation

2)    Overstating production of various segments of the economy

3)    “After the fact” revisions lower

 

Regarding #1, virtually every one on the planet realizes that the Fed’s CPI (measure of inflation) is a joke.  For those who are new to this little game, first off you need to know is that the Government has altered its measure of inflation several times in the last 100 years.

 

The original measure was to simply keep track of how much it costs to buy a particular basket of goods (say meat, milk, eggs, gasoline, etc). However, the problem with using this measure is that it quickly demonstrates that the cost of living has gone up in the US dramatically as a result of US Dollar devaluation. 

 

Indeed, if you’re trying to pump an economy higher on credit to cover up the fact that incomes have fallen 40% or so in 30 years (while simultaneously forcing consumers into financial speculation in order to maintain the illusion of wealth), the last thing you want is for Joe America to realize “hey, wait a minute, back in the ‘60s or early ‘70s only one parent worked and people were able to get by… why are both parents now working and still in debt up to their eyeballs?”

 

Consequently, the Feds changed their inflation measure to remove the costs of food and energy (after all, how many consumers actually need to buy items from those sectors?). The beauty of this is that it not only hides the fact that a gallon of milk now costs $4 or so vs. $1.15 in 1970 (and milk is DEFINITELY not three times as awesome now as then) but it also allows GDP to appear larger.

 

In order to illustrate this last point, think of a company that produces staples. Let’s say that in 1970 this company produced $1 million worth of staples. Today, this company produces $5 million in staples. So the company has grown five times larger right?

 

Not if inflation has risen five fold over the same time period. Instead, all you’ve done is shrink the value of the currency in which sales are denominated (in this case Dollars). Put another way, your company has NOT grown, it’s just that the currency it sells Staples in has lost a HUGE amount of value.

 

However, if you CLAIMED that inflation only rose three times as high (rather than five) then your company APPEARS to have grown a lot more. In simple terms, by changing the measure used to account for inflation, the Feds are able to make GDP growth appear larger than it really is.

 

Other GDP accounting gimmicks include overstating various economic segments and posting a higher growth number that is then revised much lower in the future. The Government also uses this on unemployment claims and numerous other statistics.

 

The above examples only pertain to GDP growth. Virtually EVERY economic metric published these days (whether it’s retail numbers, housing numbers, unemployment claims, inflation, etc) has similarly glaring defects/ issues that cover up just how bad things have gotten in the US.

 

Indeed, the worse the US economy has gotten, the poorer the economic accounting has become. Consider the following:

 

§  The US was only officially declared to be in a recession on December 1, 2008: right AFTER the ENTIRE financial system nearly imploded.

 

§  At that time, the recession was claimed to have begun in December 2007 (so it took a full YEAR before the Feds announced the obvious).

 

§  The recession was declared “over” by Ben Bernanke and pals in August 2009: a time when one in US eight mortgages were in arrears or foreclosure and one in eight US citizens were un/ underemployed or on food stamps.

 

§  The Financial Crisis is largely thought to be over (or at least the worst is over) despite the fact that NONE of the real issues plaguing the system have been fixed (not to mention the ongoing problems in the derivatives, commercial real estate, and debt markets).

 

With a Presidential election coming up in 2012, I believe we are at the beginning of a REAL bull market in economic/ political nonsense. The massaged data, nonsensical proclamations, and other shenanigans we’ve seen over the last decade are JUST the beginning.

 

After all, no one is going to run on a “we’re in a Depression, not just a Recession, and we’ve spent several trillions of dollars without fixing anything just so Wall Street can get record bonuses again” platform. 

 

Instead, we’re going to see economic data become even MORE divorced from reality, assertions that the economy is back on track, and that at worst there is the specter of a “double-dip” recession looming. Heck, even these fears are sugar-coated… literally (making an economic nightmare sound like an ice-cream sundae is a GENIUS marketing move).

 

So, I for one, am mega-bullish on economic/ political nonsense for 2011.  Put another way, I believe that the worse things get, the better they will sound coming from our nation’s leaders/ pundits (we’ve already revised 3Q10 and 4Q10 GDP numbers higher).

 

After all, with a Nobel Peace Prize winner upping troop numbers in a never-ending war, an economist who failed to see two bubbles until AFTER the destroyed more than $11 trillion in wealth winning Time’s Man of the Year, and a CEO who somehow managed to convinced the government to give his firm $13 billion in bailout funds despite allegedly having hedged all its exposure on the very investment that it claimed it needed bailouts for named Person of the Year by The Financial Times, why couldn’t you spin record food stamp usage as a “consumption miracle” or one in eight mortgages being in foreclosure as “careful inventory  accumulation” or a Depression as a “jobless recovery”?

 

We all know how this situation will turn out (HORRIBLY). The Fed lost control of everything in 2008. It will lose control again in the future. Only this time it will be out of bullets. And judging from what’s going on in the world right now, we can’t be far off.

 

On that note, if you’re getting worried about the future of the stock market and have yet to take steps to prepare for the Second Round of the Financial Crisis… I highly suggest you download my FREE Special Report specifying exactly how to prepare for what’s to come.

 

I call it The Financial Crisis “Round Two” Survival Kit. And its 17 pages contain a wealth of information about portfolio protection, which investments to own and how to take out Catastrophe Insurance on the stock market (this “insurance” paid out triple digit gains in the Autumn of 2008).

 

Again, this is all 100% FREE. To pick up your copy today, got to http://www.gainspainscapital.com and click on FREE REPORTS.

 

Prepare Now!

 

Graham Summers

 

PS. We ALSO publish a FREE Special Report on Inflation detailing three investments that have all already SOARED as a result of the Fed’s monetary policy.

You can access this Report at the link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plan for Foreign Troop Deployment in the U.S.?

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 11:44 AM PDT

On 31 March 2011, this author spoke with a law enforcement officer who is a deputy chief of a police force situated in the northeast portion of the U.S. Due to its strategic location, this police agency and this officer in particular routinely interacts with federal agencies, including but not limited U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He's been a law enforcement officer for over 20 years and was assigned to participate in a number of federal operations at the request of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shortly after it was created. Since then, he has been tasked to work with the above agencies, among others, for various periods. As a result, he has become friends with several agents, including one who attends his church.

I initiated the contact and directed him to the article on your website, Alert form Law Enforcement Officer, dated 28 March 2011. As I contacted at work, he did not have the time to talk or review the article, but promised to contact me from home after his shift. I received a call from him at approximately 1900 hours on this date, and was not prepared for what he told me.

First, he stated that once he became involved with the federal agencies, he underwent an initial and very extensive six-(6) week training course that was "classified." He was not even permitted to tell his wife or family where he was going for training, and would not disclose the location to me except to say that I would be familiar with it. Once he arrived at this facility, he was permitted one telephone call per week home to his wife, which he was told was being "monitored on both ends." He described the training as paramilitary in nature, with particular focus on urban "combat," house to house searches and the disarmament of "hostiles and civilians." He was provided with military issued equipment not used by police departments. At the time, he did not think too much about it given the attacks of 9/11 and the threats he was told existed inside the U.S.

More Here..

Radioactive iodine -131 and Radioactive Cessium found In Milk. This Is OK. It' Safe.

Fukushima 'much bigger than Chernobyl', says Russian Nuclear Activist



Gold & Silver Weekly Market Update - April 1, 2011

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 11:21 AM PDT

Super Force Signals A Leading Market Timing Service We Take Every Trade Ourselves! Email: [EMAIL="trading@superforcesignals.com"]trading@superforcesignals.com[/EMAIL] [EMAIL="trading@superforce60.com"]trading@superforce60.com[/EMAIL] Morris Hubbartt Weekly Market Update Excerpt posted Apr.1, 2011 Gold and Precious Metals SGOL (Bullion Proxy) 6 Mth Chart SGOL 6 Month Chart Analysis [LIST] [*]Now is not the time to play games with gold or gold stocks. Those with no core holdings could be wiped out. Metals are the only insurance for the coming economic nightmare, and they are going much higher. [/LIST] [LIST] [*]Look closely at trading signals on my charts today. Use my buy signals to increase your core positions and lower cost, always enlarging your overall position. Strive for real economic security with your gold. If your financial advisor is telling you to sell all your core gold holdings, I hope you are not listening! What is coming down the pipeline, economi...


Expect Higher Gold Prices Next Week

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 10:54 AM PDT

Gold Price Close Today : 1,428.10
Gold Price Close 25-Mar : 1,419.90
Change : 8.20 or 0.6%

Silver Price Close Today : 3773.7
Silver Price Close 25-Mar : 3709.7
Change : 64.00 or 1.7%

Gold Silver Ratio Today : 37.84
Gold Silver Ratio 25-Mar : 38.28
Change : -0.43 or -1.1%

Silver Gold Ratio : 0.02642
Silver Gold Ratio 25-Mar : 0.02613
Change : 0.00030 or 1.1%

Dow in Gold Dollars : $ 179.15
Dow in Gold Dollars 25-Mar : $ 177.58
Change : $ 1.57 or 0.9%

Dow in Gold Ounces : 8.667
Dow in Gold Ounces 25-Mar : 8.591
Change : 0.08 or 0.9%

Dow in Silver Ounces : 327.97
Dow in Silver Ounces 25-Mar : 328.81
Change : -0.84 or -0.3%

Dow Industrial : 12,376.72
Dow Industrial 25-Mar : 12,197.88
Change : 178.84 or 1.5%

S&P 500 : 1,332.41
S&P 500 25-Mar : 1,310.19
Change : 22.22 or 1.7%

US Dollar Index : 75.854
US Dollar Index 25-Mar : 76.195
Change : -0.34 or -0.4%

Platinum Price Close Today : 1,768.50
Platinum Price Close 25-Mar : 1,745.50
Change : 23.00 or 1.3%

Palladium Price Close Today : 774.50
Palladium Price Close 25-Mar : 744.30
Change : 30.20 or 4.1%


In the teeth of all the week's up and down, silver and gold as well as the white metals (platinum and palladium) were net gainers on the week. So was the stock market. The US Dollar, on the other hand, is going out of this world backwards, as my father-in-law used to say.

The US DOLLAR Index today burst its chains at 76.15 and spiked to 76.61. Just as quickly, it sank like a wrench in a barrel of used motor oil, WHAM! Right down to 75.783. Right now its trading 14.6 basis points lower than this time yesterday, namely, 75.854.

Strange, almost as if the Nice Government Men had slammed down their coffee cups, gawked at their computer screens, and massively sold dollars. Whoever did it, 'twas a solid job, and leaves the dollar's fate hanging again in the balance: will it rally or continue falling to 70.70 again? Like a mirror image, the euro went the other way, down first, then rallying to close at 1.4225, up 0.41%. The yen fell off a cliff, gapping down from above 120c/Y (83.3Y/$) to 119, then crashing clean to 118, but closing at 118.98c/Y (84.05Y/$). Yen has now sunk to December low, way below its 200 DMA (119.43/83.731).

The Dow actually made a new INTRADAY high for the move today at 12,419.71. The Dow gained 56.99 to close at 12,376.72 while the S&P 500 rose 6.58 to 1,332.41. Will stocks continue to better their numbers? Fine with me if they do, but I won't be riding that horse. Stocks remain in a primary downtrend, and have another 5 years or more to run in that mode. I don't buy falling markets.

But don't listen to me, even though I think that stocks are the Edsel or Yugo in the Investment Automobile Market. Yes, an Edsel will go fast, and a Yugo is cheap, but . . . .

The GOLD PRICE presented the mirror image of the dollar. Overnight it was trading between $1,432 and $1,436, then come New York open it sank like a lump in a churn, clean straight down. This kept up until it hit $1,414.40, then gold climbed manfully above $1,425, backed off a tiny bit, and resumed its relentless upward course. On Comex gold lost $10.80 to close at $1,428.10.

For the week gold actually rose $8.20. Whoever the enemies of gold might have been, their attack failed today. Not only were they unable to drive gold below $1,410, they couldn't even prevent its rallying over $1,425. Gold's rally to higher prices -- above $1,438 -- remains in play.

It's only my opinion, but I expect gold to post higher prices next week.

The way people think always interests me: they love to buy a winner. I reckon that's what makes markets work. Now the silver-come-lately are talking about the SILVER PRICE rising to $200 by the end of next week, and somebody told me even the grandiose and melodramatic Jim Cramer has been recommending physical silver. What?!

Back when silver cost $4.02, then $5, then $8, I was begging people to buy, but most of them had clogged otic nerves. Now everybody wants to buy.

I reckon that's what drives markets.

SILVER was not intimidated today. Sure, when Comex closed it had dropped 13.5c to 3773.7c , but since it had been driven as low as 3709c today, the close looked strong, not weak.

Silver remains in the same range: above it must conquer that mountain at 3800c. Below it must not drop below 3700c.

Clearly we stand athwart a wild rally, but forward motion has stalled. Today's marginal new high in gold, followed the next day by a fall, makes the words "double top" bounce between my ears. Yet gold would also act in the same manner, attacking that $1,438 gate over and over, if it intended to move higher.

It's silver and the gold/silver ratio (made another new low today) that point gold to higher prices. I have to report the chart: it doesn't show any sign of topping. Yes, I would change my mind if silver dropped below 3640c, but barring that I expect to see much higher prices next week.

On this day in 1572 the Sea Beggars, Dutch sailors fighting for independence, landed in Holland and captured Briel. Few nations can match the glorious courage the Dutch showed in their 50 year fight to make good their independence.

MILESTONES OF AMERICAN CULTURE. On this day in 1929 Louie Marx introduced the Yo-Yo.

Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought.

- Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger
The-MoneyChanger.com

© 2011, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission.

To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold; US$ or US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate in a bubble, primary trend way down. Whenever I write "Stay out of stocks" readers inevitably ask, "Do you mean precious metals mining stocks, too?" No, I don't.

Chris Martenson Exclusive: New Photos Of Fukushima Reactors

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 10:18 AM PDT


Submitted by Chris Martenson

Exclusive: new photos of Fukushima reactors

Noting that the press has largely turned its resources off of the Fukushima complex, and needing up-to-date information on the status of the damage control efforts there, we secured the most up-to-date satellite photo from DigitalGlobe (dated March 31st), which we analyze below. This is the first photo of the damaged reactor site at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility made available to the public in over a week. That means you, our readers, are the first public eyes anywhere to see this photo.

Drawing upon the expertise of our resident nuclear engineer and Ann Stringer, imaging expert, we conclude that the situation at Fukushima is not stabilized: things are not yet at a place of steady progress in the containment and clean-up efforts. It's still a dance, forwards and backwards, with the workers making gains here and there and the situation forcing them to react defensively.

In this report, we will tell you what we know for sure, what we are nearly certain of, and what we remain forced to speculate about.

Here is a portion of a much larger image (covering 25 square kilometers in total) showing the reactor complex as of March 31, at roughly mid-day:

Photo Credit, 2011, DigitalGlobe

What We Can See

Here's what we can directly observe in the larger satellite image:

  • Steam is still rising from reactors #2, #3 (circled in green) and #4.
  • Of the four reactor buildings, three are nearly or totally destroyed, while the outside (at least) of the fourth is in relatively better shape.
  • We can count 7 fire trucks 'on site' with another 7 just to the north, all with water lines strung out across the ground.
  • There is only one ship/vessel to be seen, located inside of the breakwater and nearly as far to the north as it can go inside that boundary.
  • A significant number of the vehicles that can be seen at the core of the site have not moved since the first released photos on March 12.  
  • There is a parking lot slightly to the north and west with approximately 250 passenger vehicles in it and a side lot with 30 large green tanks neatly arranged in rows.
  • The rest of the area is one, two, and four lane roads (no traffic at all), worked farmland, residential and commercial areas, mostly empty parking lots, and two baseball diamonds.

Here's what we don't see

  • Nowhere in the 25 km area in the main photo can we find anything that looks like a staging area with a large collection of assets such as tanker trucks, pumpers, cement trucks, piles of pre-staged materials, ambulances, and fire trucks.
  • The cement pumper truck seen a week ago has been apparently replaced by the boom at reactor #4.
  • There's no obvious barge delivering fresh water for the rector cooling efforts as recently reported (it may have come and gone?).
  • Any obvious changes to the roofs of any of the reactors.
  • Any people outside the plants working.

Things we can logically conclude

The steam that is venting is a mixed blessing. It implies that cooling water is getting to some hot material, which is a good thing, but it also means that something is hot enough to vaporize water and the continued release of radioactivity into the surrounding environment.

This means that the lack of steam coming from reactor #1 is either a very good sign, or a very bad sign. Good because it could mean that the containment vessels are intact and cooling water is circulating. Bad because it could imply that no water is getting to it and it is a very hot mass right now. According to TEPCO, reactor #1 has had seawater, and now freshwater, circulating through the reactor vessel - and since both containment vessels are intact, we'll conclude the lack of steam is a good sign.

The situation at Fukushima is going to drag on for years. First there's the matter of stabilizing the situation which has not yet been fully achieved. Recent surprises in terms of the amounts and locations of radioactivity are one sign that the situation is not fully stabilized. Still, nothing has blown up in quite a while, the steam venting appears consistent, and the major surprises seem to be over for now. While the TEPCO workers are still reacting to things as they arise, these are smaller things than last week, which is another hopeful sign.

The detected presence of neutron beams, I-134, and radioactive chlorine are all strongly supportive of the idea that criticality has resumed. Our best guess is that these are localized pockets, probably of short duration, and do not involve the entire core mass of any particular reactor conflagrating in some gigantic, greenish blob of uncontrolled fission. The geometries of the fuel in relation to neutron moderators requires precise conditions to support sustained fission and so it is rather unlikely to be occurring in anything other than localized pockets. If the entire reactor in its fully operational state was capable of supporting what we might scale to 100% fission, the amount of fission happening after a partial (or complete) meltdown will be a far lesser percentage. Still, any amount of fission is unwelcome at this point because it is adding to the heat and radiation removal difficulties.

The constantly rising levels of radioactivity found in the seawater are a further unwelcome development, but without a proper isotope analysis we cannot conclude anything about the potential resumption of fission from their gross amounts alone. It's always possible that the leftover fission products are now being washed in larger amounts into the sea for some reason.

Additional Drone Photos

These are the most detailed photos yet to emerge into the public space (released yesterday, March 31, as far as I know), and they are purported to come from a drone flyover on March 20 and 24th.  They are really quite good, and worth viewing in their entirety here.

Beginning with reactor 3, one thing we can say is, this thing is a right proper mess:

(Source for all that follow) 

There's a significant hole to the left of center that goes deep into the sub-structure (with a strange greenish cast that we've not been able to resolve after much conjecture) and it's clear that this building alone will take a long time to resolve.

Interestingly, we get our clearest image yet of the hole in turbine building #3 that was created by something ejected into the air during the reactor #3 explosion.

Looking like one of those cartoon cutouts that happens when the coyote hits the ground, we get the impression that whatever it was happened to be quite heavy and possibly shaped like an Apollo capsule. It has been my suspicion, which contradicts the official story, that the concrete containment vessel was what actually blew up in reactor #3 and I have been looking for evidence of in the form of large, heavy chunks of concrete (especially the refueling plug) lying about. I don't know what made this hole in the roof of the turbine building, but it was heavy.

Reactor #4 provides us with proof that serious damage can result from the effects of an overheated spent fuel storage pool:

Here the watering boom can be clearly seen. A camera was recently attached to the boom and it took some interior shots which were suggestive of the idea that the spent fuel pool is damaged and largely drained of water. Spraying water into this pool, then, is probably a balancing act with the desire to spray enough water on the rods to keep them cool being offset by the risk of having radioactive water drain away for parts unknown.

Almost certainly this same balancing act defines the efforts for reactors #2 and #3 as well.

Conclusions

The efforts at Fukushima are probably weeks away from even basic stabilization and we are years away from any sort of a final resolution. This crisis is going to be with all of us for a very long time. Radiation will continue to escape from the complex into the environment for weeks at best, months or years at worst.

The chief concern here is that things might still take a turn for the worse whereby radiation spikes to levels that prevent humans from getting close enough to perform meaningful operations and work on the site. If the radiation spikes high enough it will force an evacuation from the vicinity complicating every part of what has to happen next from monitoring to remediation.

The general lack of staged materials anywhere in the vicinity indicates that authorities have not yet decided on a plan of action, feeding our assessment that they are still in 'react mode' and that we are weeks away from nominal stabilization.

On Thursday we learned from the Wall Street Journal that TEPCO only had one stretcher, a satellite phone, 50 protective suits, and only enough dosimeters to give a single one to each worker group. Given this woeful level of preparation it is not surprising to see that regular fire trucks, cement trucks, and a lack of staged materials comprise much of the current damage control mix.

We don't yet know enough to conclude how much fission has spontaneously re-occurred, but we have strong suspicions that the number is higher than zero. Here we make our call for the release of more complete and timely radiation readouts and sampling results by TEPCO and Japan so that we can assess what the true risks are. The situation remains fluid and quite a lot depends now on chance and which way the wind blows. 

And as I detailed in the Alert report I issued soonafter the tragic events of the Japan earthquake and tsunami on March 10th, the impact of Japan's tribulations on the global economy will be large and vast. World markets are simply unpreapared for the third-largest economy to suddenly and violently downshift. The persisting crisis at Fukushima simply worsens the picture.

As always, we'll continue montioring developments closely and reporting our findings and conclusions on this site.

best,

Chris

Beware the Demon of Inflation

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 10:00 AM PDT

The 5-Minute Forecast came to me in an email with the subject line reading "5-Minute Forecast – Everybody Panic."

Naturally, as a guy who is always on the verge of panic because of the fact that all the monstrously excessive amounts of money that the Federal Reserve is creating will cause inflation in prices, this affected me greatly.

I assume this recommendation to panic is because the monetary base shot up by a whopping $90 billion last week as the Federal Reserve continues its insane over-creation of money so that it can monetize, through the year, a couple of trillion dollars or so in government deficit-spending over the next year, so as to try, try, try to spend our way out of bankrupting debt by creating more debt, to create more money for the government to borrow and spend, all of which will cause prices to rise, rise, rise, which I interpret to mean, "We're Freaking Doomed (WFD)!"

Well, I was half right in my original conclusions, in that they noted that "Easy money is already having its affect in the US Wholesale prices, which trotted upward in December and January, reached a full gallop in February," which is when "The producer price index (PPI) rose 1.6%."

Gulp! This is the rise in prices in one month! And annualized, The 5 calculates it to be 19.2% inflation in prices!

And the bad news is that a 19.2% annual inflation is "for finished goods. If you move further back in the production chain, prices for crude goods rose 3.4% last month."

My heart was racing at such horrific inflation news, and forcing myself not to start screaming, I instead concentrate on the positives involved here: they did not annualize a compounding 3.4% inflation, and gold and silver will be guaranteed to rise along with the general, roaring inflation, and they will rise even more with a Big Fat Kicker (BFK) from the general sense of panic in the economic/financial world when all those fiat-money chumps will be flooding, in a panic, into the relatively tiny gold and silver markets, bidding the prices of gold and silver to insane levels.

With a subsiding fear, I calmed down enough to read that they went on "And February was no fluke. PPI for crude goods has risen 20.7% over the last six months since February's gain," which is so easy to simplistically annualize by merely multiplying 20.7% inflation times 2 to get an annual inflation rate of 41.4% that I am, despite my best efforts, again in a full-fledged Mogambo State Of Panic (MSOP), feeling those familiar crushing pains in my chest and a racing, pounding heartbeat.

Like the kind of stabbing pains and numbness in my left arm I got when the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that the US consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5% last month – which works out to inflation running at a fast 6% annual clip, and rising.

The Wall Street Journal reported it as, "Energy prices surged 3.4% during the month, while food prices jumped 0.6%."

Without a soundtrack of kettledrums pounding "boom boom boom" and the sound of ravenous wolves howling close by to tip you off about the sense of terror here, you can still hardly repress a shudder when The Journal goes on, "Even though markets have cooled recently, the rise in commodity prices from recent months is expected to continue making its ways from producers to consumers."

I love the next part, as it trots out some guy named Alan Levenson of T. Rowe Price saying, "If that holds, by summer this impulse toward higher monthly food-price gains should diminish somewhat," which appears to mean that prices will keep rising, but not quite as fast for some reason that I cannot imagine, and this makes it OK.

And even with the prices of housing falling, the cost of home ownership ("measured as the cost of renting the home you own") increased 0.6% y/o/y, which I assume means that although the value of houses is going down, water heaters still need replacing, the television needs updating and there is a leak in the roof over the kid's head that she is whining about because the stain on the ceiling looks like a werewolf looking at her.

I reassuringly told her that it kind of looks like a werewolf, alright, but it's better than resembling the horrible demon of inflation getting ready to eat us alive, gobbling the guts out of me, her, and everybody she loves, when prices rise so high because the evil Federal Reserve keeps creating more and more money to buy up government bonds so that the government can try to spend its way out of bankruptcy by going farther into bankruptcy.

"And besides," I said, "Werewolves are mythical creatures, and don't really exist, while the devouring demon of inflation is very, very real."

So she said, "So it is better that it resembles a werewolf?"

I said, "Yes, it is! And even the horrible monster of inflation is easily defeated by merely buying gold and silver. So we are covered both ways, my little darling, so that neither werewolves nor the horrible Federal Reserve can harm us!"

That's when I asked her, "Can you say 'Whee! This investing stuff is easy!'"?

Reassured, she closed her eyes, her face radiant with a cute little smile as she said, in a voice almost a whisper, "Whee!" before she fell fast asleep.

The Mogambo Guru
for The Daily Reckoning

Beware the Demon of Inflation originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. Daily Reckoning founder Bill Bonner recently wrote articles on stagflation and the great correction.

James West: Junior Gold and Silver E&P Opportunity

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:49 AM PDT

Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report 04/01/2011 Despite confusing short-term undulations in the price of gold, the shaky foundation under the U.S. dollar could result in long-term opportunities for gold and silver juniors, says Midas Letter Publisher and Editor James West. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, James shares some of his top-15 companies to watch. The Gold Report: James, Comex gold futures hit an all-time high yesterday before falling back to about $1,431/oz. We're seeing dramatic daily swings in the gold price of $20–$50 regularly. How do you explain the volatility? James West: The gold market is about as neurotic as a schizophrenic Hollywood starlet hooked on coke. Trying to keep abreast of daily price fluctuations is an exercise in futility. My favorite line on the gold and silver markets is, "He who focuses on the bobbing cork loses sight of the rising tide." That really sums it up beautifully. All of the negative macroeconomi...


Junior Gold Stocks 6

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:48 AM PDT

Scott Wright April 1, 2011 2046 Words With the price of gold still hovering around all-time nominal highs, the miners are continuing to revel in their long season of prosperity. And with gold's structural fundamentals still wildly bullish, these miners should be delivering their gold at higher prices for a long time to come. These tidings are of course very enticing for non-producer mining companies looking to capitalize on gold's fortunes. And for this reason there has been a flurry of activity on the junior front. Even though the barriers to entry for actually building a gold mine are quite high, the barriers to entry for starting a junior exploration company are quite low. In addition to a little entrepreneurial spirit, all one really needs to start a gold junior is a geologist and a mineral claim. And in today's market if a junior has a half-interesting name and...


The Rotted Roots

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:46 AM PDT

syndicate: 
0
Author: 
David Galland
Synopsis: 
David Galland makes the case that governments across the world are the cause of all ails – complex organizations disassociated from the consequences of their hugely disruptive and destructive actions. By understanding the true nature of government, attentive investors are able to avoid the worst, and even profit.

Dear Reader,

One of my simpler pleasures is to soak in a tub while reading short stories and essays. Mencken, Wodehouse, Konrad and lately quite a bit of the always profound Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges.

A line from his story The Writing of the God (in the altogether excellent Penguin classics collection The Aleph) struck me as highly analogous to the many tenacious problems now tormenting the global economy. And that line is… 

 "… in the languages of humans there is no proposition that does not imply the entire universe; to say "the jaguar" is to say all of the jaguars that engendered it, the deer and turtles it has devoured, the grass that fed the deer, the earth that was mother to the grass, the sky that gave light to the earth."

The analogy I drew was that virtually every major challenge humanity is now facing traces its roots back to overreaching government. 

While that observation may seem a stretch, if true, it is of no small importance to how we as individuals, and as investors, chart our course.

So is it true? Is the government the root of all that ails?

Certainly it isn't responsible for the Japanese tsunami and, if you'll excuse the pun, the fallout from that?

Tsunami, no. One must make exceptions for the uncontrollable convulsions of planet Earth.

But nuclear problems – absolutely.

For two reasons. First and foremost, back in the developmental dawn of nuclear power, no private insurance company, or even consortium, would offer early-stage nuclear plants insurance. As a consequence, in stepped the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with government-backed insurance.

An old-time nuclear engineer I met told me that the early-stage plants were actually quite dangerous, pushing the envelope as they did on man's engineering capabilities at the time. Private insurers, seeing the risks for what they were, made the risk/reward calculation and sat on their hands. The government, however, felt no such restraint.

But does that mean that, absent the government, nuclear power generation would have been stillborn? Not at all. Given the size of the potential prize at stake – a good share of the market for base-load power – the companies involved would have gone back to the drawing board, and stayed there, until a safer model could be designed. Which is to say one that could garner the stamp of approval of private insurance.

While this would have delayed the ramp-up to nuclear power, the plants that were ultimately built would have been safer and some of the early incidents that defined nuclear power as unstable and dangerous could have been avoided.

Secondly, in response to Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, the government unleashed a mass of regulatory goop over the industry… goop that effectively gummed up the nuclear power industry to the point where further development was made uneconomic and downright painful. The net result was to effectively freeze the industry in time. 

The Fukushima nuclear power plant currently grabbing headlines was commissioned in 1971 – 40 years ago.  

That the aging plant didn't just blow up after a 9.0 earthquake and a tsunami should be used to confirm the technology, not refute it. But just imagine how much safer nuclear power would be if government hadn't meddled in the first place – by offering insurance when no one else would, and then tossing the baby of its own creation out with the bathwater at the first sign of trouble?

It is not a stretch in the slightest to think that, absent the government's intrusions, pebble bed reactors or even something better would have already been widely deployed and nuclear power would be recognized for the nearly perfect energy source it is. Instead, it is still struggling to shrug off its bad reputation – a reputation that has just taken another huge setback thanks to the problems at Fukushima. Problems that coulda, shoulda been entirely avoided.

Adding to the problems confronting nuclear is the government's insane meddling with the storage of nuclear waste. The most incredible example being the selection of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and the conditions the government put on the operators. Namely, before approval, the facility had to be proven to be able to contain the waste safely for 10,000 years.

What a dim view of humanity's future these members of officialdom must have if they think that over the next 50 years, humanity can't come up with ways to either reprocess the waste and/or avoid it altogether. Simply sealing the waste in lead-lined cement blocks alone would hold it very safely for the next  50, 100… 200 years. More than enough time to address the situation.

Trying to meet its arbitrary standards at Yucca, the government spent over $10 billion – before coming to the conclusion that it is impossible, and so it needs to find an alternative site. Therefore, like Borge's jaguar's connection to the universe, the problems nuclear energy is facing, including that of the current crisis in Japan, are easily traceable to the consequences of past governmental actions.

What about the current economic issues now weighing so heavily on the world?

Readers of even more than a few days know our view that the blame belongs almost exclusively at the feet of government. 

From trying to control the economy by controlling the money supply and artificially dampening interest rates to produce "loose money"… to stealing money from current and future generations in order to bail out stakeholders in banks… to setting up the equivalent of a Nuclear Regulatory Agency for mortgages in the form of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – then agreeing to buy any loan, no matter how bad… and… and… and…

A picture indeed tells a thousand words. The chart here paints just one portrait of the sort of destructive meddling the government and its flunkies so regularly engage in. It paints for all the world to see – or at least those who are paying attention – the root cause of the price inflation that will only worsen from here, and the impending rise in interest rates that will soon take bond holders out at the knees.

  

Already, virtually all of life's essentials are soaring in price – the exception being housing, which, thanks to the gross overbuilding triggered by the aforementioned loose money and looser lending standards, has been structurally damaged by a huge overhang in supply.

I could go on, as you well know, but won't. I stand by my contention that in the same way every proposition can be traced back to the universe, so can every major problem now confronting humanity be traced back to government – and I defy you to find the exception (if you do, shoot it my way at david@CaseyResearch.com).

Which brings me to the question of why. As in "Why do the actions of society's controlling force, government, so often result in such a bad outcome?"


The Rotted Roots

To get to the answer, we first have to define what a government is.

In my view, at its core, government is nothing more than a group of individuals who have organized in such a way that they are able to control the actions of other individuals.

    

No matter whether operating under the banner of democracy, theocracy, dictatorship or some other moniker, the individuals who make up a government are rarely anything special, even though those outside of government usually treat them that way. To the extent that they share a trait, it is that they have a taste for power, and given it, will fight to retain it. But you could say that about most individuals.

Had Khaddafi, the media's current set piece villain, chosen a different career, he would raise no eyebrows standing on the other side of the meat counter as he inquired if you wanted the fat trimmed off your rib-eye.

But show him, or the house painter down the street, the path to power and some supporters to help get them there, and you have an entirely different organism – government.

Because it is illustrative in understanding the differences between humans as individuals and the individual operating as a unit to control other individuals, I want to share an email I received this very morning from dear reader and correspondent Jacques T.

While it would have made a worthy entry for our Friday Funnies feature, I repurpose it…

If you start with a cage containing five monkeys, and inside the cagehang a banana on a string from the top, and then place a set of stairs under the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys with cold water. After a while another monkey makes an attempt with same result... all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put the cold water away.

Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs. To his shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him.

After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys, replacing it with a new one.  The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment... with enthusiasm.

Then, replace a third original monkey with a new one, followed by a fourth, then the fifth.  Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs. Neither do they know why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

Finally, having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, none of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the banana.

Why, you ask? Because in their minds, that is the way it has always been!

This, my friends, is how Congress and the Senate operates... and is why, from time to time, all of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME.

One obvious lesson from that citation – a lesson first made viral by Pavlov in the early 20th century – is that humans, like all the lower animal forms, are easily trained through trial and error, especially when rewards and punishments are involved. But even the lack of a treat or a torment can be instructional – for instance, if walking through a particular door results in no reward or punishment, you won't hesitate to walk through that door again.

And so it is that past experience will always influence and usually dictate the future actions of each of us as individuals – only a deranged person will place their hand on a hot stove twice.

In sharp contrast to the individual, however, a government, if left to it, will touch the hot stove over and over and over again. For proof of that contention, look no further than the nearest history book. There you will find example after example of government's repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Perhaps the classic of the genre being Hitler's stubborn insistence on following Napoleon's footprints into the snows of Russia.

But why?

To make clear the key difference between an individual and a group of individuals acting as a government, I would introduce you to an individual we'll call Jasper Jenkins, or JJ for short.

Jasper is a regular Joe. Raised in a rather average family, of average means, in an average neighborhood, in an average kind of place. Absent any seriously bad luck, Jasper will pursue his life's goals and interests in something akin to a pachinko ball. Which is to say, bouncing from experience to experience, breaking left or right depending on life's unpredictable twists and turns, but also based on the perception, learned from experience.

Being altogether average, JJ will seek safe choices and learn that following a well-worn path is the safest path of all. Which means falling in line with societal norms and rarely, if ever, deviating from what his fellow citizenry considers an acceptable range of actions. For instance, finding himself short on cash, he won't rob a bank or take to mugging old people for their pension money.

Implied in this entirely pragmatic approach to life is that early on Jasper learns to rely heavily on social proof to guide his way. Or, put another way, if he sees that the majority of other average folks are doing something  – or not doing something – he will fall right in line and act accordingly.

There are, of course, people who don't live the life predictable. Those individuals – I would like to think many of you dear readers included – are unafraid of taking the path less traveled and are actively skeptical about commonly accepted beliefs.

Those relatively rare individuals are likely to be far more alert to the possible consequences of broader actions – actions taken by a government, for example – and by so doing override the herd instinct.

Case in point, while the specific data is not readily available (at least not with a quick search), it appears that despite a litany of draconian and dangerously racist new regulations unleashed by the Nazis on taking power – most of which was very directly aimed at the Jewish population – only about 30% of that population emigrated prior to the darkest days of Hitler's regime. Of those that didn't emigrate, 90% were ultimately killed.  

But I drift.

The point is that to greater or lesser degrees, we humans – as individuals – act in what we perceive as our self-interest, with the expectation of a predictable and acceptable consequence.  

Group us into a government, however, and a different modus operandi quickly takes over – and next thing you know, it's no bananas for anyone.


The Difference

While certain human traits will be discernable in a government – fear, anger, greed, hunger – once constituted, a government quickly morphs into a complex creature that is capable of hugely disruptive and destructive actions, almost without regard to the broader consequences.  

Thus, while Jasper Jenkins, the individual, would never dream of borrowing way, way above his ability to repay – Jasper Jenkins, the government official, feels no such reservation.

On the contrary, Jasper Jenkins, the government official, is free to ignore the societal consequences of his actions as a member of government.

After all, it is not he who is personally taking on any debt or making any commitment that he will personally have to live up to. And given that each new promise he makes and each new dollar he spends – of other people's money – help ensure that he will remain in power, he does so with no hesitation.  

My dear friend and partner Doug Casey likes to say, "Do whatever you want in this life, as long as you are willing to accept the consequences."

As individuals, we know this to be true, and so we temper our actions to avoid unpleasant consequences.

But when actions have no consequences, as they don't to the individuals constituting most governments, most of the time, then virtually any action by the government can be taken, no matter the ultimate consequences to the citizenry.

(Underscoring the point, if, like the warrior kings of yore, the president and members of Congress knew they were expected to lead from the front, the odds of us engaging in foreign military adventures would be nil.)

This, then, is the disease that courses through the organism of government, a disease that paradoxically allows the government to grow – by providing rewards for political pandering and the spending that engenders – despite the havoc that its actions wreak.

It's why governments around the world so readily ignore the multitude of examples of failed socialist economic systems that populate the history books, and return to that particular hot stove time and time again. It plays well with the crowd, even while it eats away at the standard of living.

And so it is that the small roots planted in Philadelphia in 1776 have grown into a government now spending upwards of $2 trillion more than it takes in on an annual basis; that sends troops and missiles to all corners of the world; and that has eaten large holes in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For the current political class, the consequences a decade down the road are of no concern – by the time the vultures come home to roost (they hope), they'll be happily pensioned off to their farm in Virginia.

Of course, just because it has the world's largest and most virulent government certainly doesn't make the U.S. the worst of the lot. I'll choose the U.S. president and Congress over any Saudi royal, African despot or cadre of Asian comrades any day. But being "better" in this context in no way counters the argument that governments are actively destructive.

Is there any value to be found in these rantings?

In my strongly held view, I think that understanding government as the root cause of today's biggest problems is essential to charting a course that will help you avoid the worst. Further, it is my contention that understanding the nature of government has never been more important, because based strictly on the scope of their regulatory reach and the size of the role they play in the global economy, the institution of government has never loomed larger.


And One More Thing…

Because they are mere mortals, the individuals making up today's government will naturally be guided by the political lessons of the not-so-distant past – with no lesson clearer than that a majority of the population can be easily bought into complacency.

Based on that observation, the trend for continued high levels of sovereign spending and no resolution of the unpayable obligations to pensioners is well intact.

Underscoring that point, the current Congress, despite operating under the theme of "tough on spending," now appears willing to settle on shaving just $60 billion off the $2 trillion deficit. Shameful, some might say. Predictable, I contend.

Unfortunately, as Doug and I discussed earlier this week, the ultimate consequence of all this misappropriation of resources – leading in time to the collapse of the dollar and worse – is not likely to be less government but more. Because the public has also learned, in a way most Pavlovian, to look to the government when times get tough.

And that leads to some direct and not very pleasant consequences for us as individuals…

  • More taxes – we are in the lull ahead of a very big tax storm.
  • More control over the levers of wealth production.
  • More regulation.
  • Exchange controls to keep the individual and corporate wealth from getting out of the net.
  • More confiscations.
  • More inflation.
  • Outright defaults, likely starting with foreign holders of Treasury debt, based on some charge of impropriety or currency manipulation that warrants punitive action.
  • More militarization – to better control those individuals who chafe under the growing bureaucracy.
  • More war.
  • More sovereign debt.

All of which adds up to increased encroachment on personal freedoms. If you feel that the noose is tight now, wait a little.

Ultimately, we are on our own, each of us as individuals, in dealing with what's coming. Most will choose to follow the followers, hoping for safety in numbers. Others, hopefully you, will see that the well-worn path is headed for a cliff.

Fortunately, there are actions you can take to protect yourself, and even profit – but that doesn't mean that those actions are necessarily easy or can be taken without some inconvenience and risk.

Focusing as it generally does on the broad strokes, this is not the service to go into detail on what actions you can take now. But I will mention that many dear readers have built significant net worth – the sort that allows them a much wider range of options when it comes to finding personal freedom – by subscribing to our International Speculator service.

It specializes in uncovering well-managed, well-capitalized, small-cap companies engaged in finding and developing economic precious metals deposits. I mention it here because I personally think the precious metals are overdue for a correction – and if I am right, it will create some serious money-making opportunities in the right junior resource companies. The time to prepare to act is now, not after the fact.

If you are unfamiliar wi


LGMR: Gold & Silver Slump as US Jobs Data "Raises Spectre" of Rising Rates

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:46 AM PDT

London Gold Market Report from Adrian Ash BullionVault Fri 1 Apr., 09:50 EST Gold & Silver Slump from New All-Time Highs as US Jobs Data "Raises Spectre" of Rising Rates THE PRICE OF physical gold bullion slumped 1.4% lunchtime Friday in London, falling back from its highest-ever monthly close as the Dollar jumped on news of stronger-than-expected US jobs hiring in March. Silver prices also fell – losing nearly 2% – after also ending March at an all-time record high monthly close of $37.87 per ounce, more than $2 above the previous month-end high of Feb. 1980. "From a big picture perspective, there is no sign that the current trend [in silver] is about to reverse," says Russell Browne, strategist at bullion-bank Scotia Mocatta. But "[although] some way off...the great risk to the metals remains the spectre of positive real interest rates," says one London dealer in a note. The US economy has added 837,000 jobs in the last 6 months on the offic...


Ian MacDonald: Insight on Gold Investing for Institutions

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:42 AM PDT

Susan M. Mangiero submits:

Given the interest in commodity investing on the part of institutions, Mr. Ian MacDonald offers some insight about investing in gold. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Gold Bullion International and a former executive director of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center and various global financial organizations.

Q: What is the appeal of investing in gold on the part of pensions, endowments, foundations, college plans and sovereign wealth funds?

A: Gold has been a top performing asset for nearly a decade. Investors attribute several benefits to investing in gold, including diversification potential and the preservation of purchasing power. Gold has been a good hedge against inflation.

Q: There are many ways to invest in gold and other metals. One could take possession of the physical asset or buy stock issued by a gold mining company. How should an institutional investor evaluate the risks and returns of these two


Complete Story »


Clouds Under the Silver Lining

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:30 AM PDT

The 5 min. Forecast April 01, 2011 01:26 PM by Addison Wiggin – April 1, 2011 [LIST] [*]Jobs spark jubilation; manufacturing index, too. The 5 finds reasons to curb your enthusiasm… [*]The Federal Reserve forced to release 894 pdf files of "discount window "documents… Earth's magnetic poles fail to realign… [*]Gold down ;( dollar up… how a tiny currency move delivered a 222% gain after just five days [*]"Arguing over the bar tab on the Titanic"… readers gripe about taxes and government policy… Bill Bonner's new book of essays… and more… [/LIST]0:00 — Wall Street is starting a new quarter with its rally cap firmly set. If you're keeping score at home, the "wealth effect" described in the Fed's playbook last November appears to be kicking in. 0:18 — The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), for example, delivered a March unemployment report that beat the Street's expectations. [LIST] [*]The priv...


Guest Post: The Lesson From Japan For PM Investors

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:29 AM PDT


From Jeff Clark at Casey Research

The Lesson from Japan for PM Investors

It feels a little callous writing about Japan with respect to precious metals after the country suffered such a terrible tragedy. However, I think it’s worth discussing because there’s a lesson in it for all of us. In fact, I think the moral could be couched in terms of a warning.

Japan’s Background with Precious Metals

It’s commonly known in Japanese culture that citizens harbor gold to protect against unforeseen events. The gold isn’t sold unless it’s needed for an emergency. With respect to the Japanese government, the country’s central bank is the 8th largest holder of the metal (including the IMF and GLD). Beyond investment, Japan represents about 6% of worldwide gold fabrication (excluding investment demand), the majority of which is in electronics. Scrap recycling has been heavy in recent years, while jewelry demand is low.

Regarding silver, the tiny island represents about 9% of global demand. Industrial uses comprise the biggest part of that, which includes the automotive industry, construction, medical uses and solar. Jewelry and silverware have minimal end-use, and photography, like most everywhere else, has been falling heavily.

Japan’s Trend with PMs

While the percentage of Japan’s buying to worldwide demand won’t drastically change in reaction to the recent disasters, they, like several other countries, are pursing another tactic to get minerals. The government is considering revising its mining law, specifically when it comes to seabed mineral exploration and extraction. This is noteworthy because Japan hasn’t touched its mining law in 50 years. To be sure, revisions will be stricter for permitting and monitoring, but the process will be streamlined for Japanese companies.

Why now? As an executive at Mitsubishi Materials put it, “it’s an issue of national interest” because China, Russia, and South Korea are already exploring parts of the country’s exclusive economic zone. They are undoubtedly feeling the pressure of not only wanting what they think is rightfully theirs, but also of wanting to capitalize on high metals prices.

The Lesson from Japan

Premiums for gold and silver there have risen in response to the disasters, which isn’t surprising. Japanese investors scrambled for physical metals after the earthquake, immediately pushing premiums to three-year highs. And it wasn’t just buyers in the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear-plant zones; those in less affected parts of the nation have been rushing to buy precious metals, too. The end result is that available supply has been glutted.

The reactionary buying in Japan could not just support metals prices, but push them higher. This is certainly due to the draining of supply, but also because it’s complicating delivery and exacerbating fabrication problems. The country is a net gold exporter, but there may not be many planes and boats loaded with bullion leaving ports anytime soon, given that many modes of transportation are down and the distribution of more urgent food and other supplies is complicated.

This could dry up gold supplies elsewhere in Asia, as Japan exported 2.7 million ounces last year. While this is only roughly 2.3% of global supply, these ounces are concentrated in Asia, a region that has already seen many countries’ citizens hoarding precious metals. If supply becomes scant across Asia, it’s easy to see how this could light a fire under prices.

As Mark Pervan, head of commodities research at ANZ, said, "This is a buy-on-the-dip opportunity. Investors, not just Japan but globally, have been looking for a trigger to get back into the market. The rise in premiums in Japan could be it."

The lesson is this: When disaster strikes, it’s almost certainly too late to buy. Not only will you pay a higher premium, you may have difficulty getting your hands on bullion. You have to purchase your insurance before adversity hits.

And the warning is this: We saw how supply dried up and premiums skyrocketed during the market meltdown of 2008. Europe saw the same result when Greece imploded. We’re now seeing it happen in Asia due to Japan’s woes. We keep seeing this picture repeat. While no one wants to bet on calamity, is the U.S. really immune from trouble? Are you?

Even if no natural disaster strikes North America, there’s a certain hazard that’s inescapable at this point. The abuse being heaped upon the U.S. dollar has not fully played out. Sooner or later the decline of the mighty greenback will affect almost every area of your life. In fact, what does your day involve that doesn’t require money? Eating, showering, driving, working, shopping, entertainment – all of these will be grossly impacted by the demise of the currency unit used in this country.

The monetary base continues to explode. With no fanfare, it set another new record last week – $2.35 trillion. It’s up 18.7% just since New Year's eve, and 39.2% since December 2008. These actions will have consequences. They will lead to a monetary earthquake.

Your heart went out to the people of Japan when you saw the pictures of the devastation from the earthquake. Will you be ready when the currency earthquake hits here? One of these days it’ll strike, and then it will be too late to buy.

I hope you have sufficient asset protection to withstand the monetary storm that’s building off our coast.

The Lesson from Japan for Gold and Silver Investors

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 08:23 AM PDT

Jeff Clark, BIG GOLD writes: It feels a little callous writing about Japan with respect to precious metals after the country suffered such a terrible tragedy. However, I think it’s worth discussing because there’s a lesson in it for all of us. In fact, I think the moral could be couched in terms of a warning.


“I think what we need to do is compare what is happening now to 2009 when silver was in backwardation the last time. Over a period of just about two months silver rose 40% from approximately $10 to $14, and that rise in price eliminated the backwar

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 08:22 AM PDT

Turk – Record Silver Backwardation Spells Danger for US Dollar Share this:


Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 08:21 AM PDT


This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

The G7 Turns On Itself: BOK Sells Its Share Of Japan Rescue Dollars, Sends Greenback Plunging

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 08:20 AM PDT


Remember when the G7 stepped in to valiantly sell yen when the Japanese currency was threatening to take out all of Wall Street with its hundreds of billions in wrong way carry trades? Well, it seems that today's bizarre sell off in the dollar was due to that particular plan crashing and burning, with Korea defecting from the pact first, and selling its $7 billion in USD acquired in the process of bailing out Japan. It seems it is fair game to buy the Yen once again. From a trading desk:

USD getting spanked today is Bank of Korea selling $7Bn USD it bought during the coordinated USDJPY intervention, and buying GBP and EUR with it. I can understand why they would get rid of the USD, but why buy GBP and EUR with it???? Either way, goes to show how useful it is to do an intervention, they drop the reserves 2 weeks after... we'll be back to square 1 in no time if everybody follows suit!

Remember - he who defects first and all that jazz...

(and yes, if $7 billion can move the EURUSD by 180 pips, we dread to see what the actual carry unwind instead of just impairment would look like).

Gold retreats from recent record

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 08:15 AM PDT

By Claudia Assis and Virginia Harrison
April 1, 2011 (MarketWatch) — Gold futures settled lower Friday, a day after ending at a record high, hit by hawkish comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official and a government report that showed the U.S. economy added jobs at the fastest pace since May.

Gold futures for June delivery lost $11, or 0.8%, to $1,428.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold ended at a record of $1,439.90 Thursday.

"People are certainly concerned about what the Fed is going to do," said Walter de Wet, an analyst with Standard Bank in London. Any talk about the end of monetary easing "is going to be perceived negatively for gold. With the unemployment figures, the market has leaned toward that happening sooner rather than later."

Worries about loose monetary policy and currency debasement are one of gold's main pillars of support as the metal is viewed as the ultimate way to store wealth.

[source]

Gold and Silver, Spending your Stash

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 08:04 AM PDT

While gold and silver coins are nice to look at, and there's a certain sense of independence one gets from owning them, most purchasers buy physical precious metals with the goal of eventually spending them. As they say, you can't take it with you.


Patton sees gold could reach $1,650 by year end

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 08:04 AM PDT

April 1 (Bloomberg) — Spencer Patton, founder and chief investment officer at Steel Vine Investments, discusses the outlook for gold and coffee prices. Patton, speaks with Lisa Murphy on Bloomberg Television's "Fast Forward," also discusses investment strategy.

Gold and silver discussion begins at 3:45 mark in video.

[source]

Best of Time For Gold and Silver, Worst of Times For U.S. Dollar

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 07:56 AM PDT

It is the best of times for equities and precious metals and the worst of times for the U.S. dollar.  It is prudent to focus on the sectors with long secular uptrends as these patterns tend to last longer than expected and produce the greatest returns. Gold (GLD) and Silver (SLV) are in a decade long uptrend as geopolitical uncertainty and rising debt levels have caused many investors to seek the safe haven shelter of real money. In July 2010, as the European Crisis was the prominent topic of worry, gold reversed higher and made a major move on central bank plans to ease.


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