saveyourassetsfirst3 |
- Why gold is still a bargain today
- Silver Rally Crushes Bearish ETF Bets
- Precious Metals Update
- We could be blowing the "granddaddy" of global bubbles
- Trading the U.S. Unemployment Claims With Dollar/Yen
- What Does Silver’s Recent Performance Relative to Oil Mean to Silver Investors?
- SLV Chart, looks like correction coming
- 2 Bearish Bets on Silver Might Not Be so Bearish
- Weekly Commodity ETF Flows: Investors Dump XLE, Take Profits on GLD and SLV
- "The truth about the Hunt Brothers"
- Update 15/04/2011
- Holy Smokes Batman, CNBC report on silver coins
- Belarus Halts GOld Sales
- Who wants to bet COMEX will raise margin requirements soon?
- Gold and Silver Reach New Record Nominal Highs…
- GEAB N°54 est disponible! Crise systémique globale : Automne 2011 – Budget/T-Bonds/Dollar, les trois crises américaines qui vont provoquer la Très Grande Panne du système économique, financier et monétaire mondial
- Smaller Resource Companies Unable to Answer New PM Highs
- Gold at Record Highs, but Bullish Sentiment Lags
- Gold Bubble? I Think Not.
- On Moving From Precious Gold To Valueless Paper
- Goldman Sachs Chief Blankfein Could Face Criminal Prosecution For Role In Financial Crisis
- Extreme Silver Tightness Causing Delivery Problems: Rick Rule
- Will Silver Surge Following The Nationalization Of Bolivia's Silver Mines By Embattled President Evo Morales?
- Bolivian Protests Dent Silver Production
- China Property Softening Fuels Gold Demand - JPMorgan
- Goldman in the Crosshairs
| Why gold is still a bargain today Posted: 15 Apr 2011 05:40 AM PDT From Sovereign Man: … Gold is one of the only stores of value that isn't controlled by a single government authority. Its price and value cannot be dictated by bureaucrats and politicians… And unlike the price of corn, rice, oil, and gas, the price of gold is not politically sensitive. With a total market size of roughly $8 trillion at today's prices, gold is much larger than the basket of smaller currencies like the franc or peso… and devoid of any political sensitivity, gold is quickly becoming the preferred place to park capital. Picking it up at its all-time high of $1,470 may be psychologically difficult, but as long as world central bankers… Read full article… More on gold: It's official: Gold and silver are now legal tender in Utah China TV: Gold demand going "through the roof" These middle east nations are becoming major gold buyers |
| Silver Rally Crushes Bearish ETF Bets Posted: 15 Apr 2011 05:37 AM PDT Tom Lydon submits: A seemingly unstoppable rally in silver prices this week has burned traders who bet against the metal with ETFs. The recent spike in trading volume in ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL) suggests Complete Story » |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2011 05:33 AM PDT Pater Tenebrarum submits: The Decline of "N" As our readers are no doubt well aware, there are only a few genuine bull markets in operation at present – the most impressive of which is the one in precious metals, which has produced new highs for over 10 years running. As central banks around the world – led by the Greenspan/Bernanke incarnations of the Fed - have pumped up the money supply over the past decade, investors have increasingly sought the safe haven of precious metals to preserve the purchasing power of their savings. Investors have great difficulty in valuing gold, since its price is largely determined by monetary, or investment demand. All other precious metals have a large industrial demand component Complete Story » |
| We could be blowing the "granddaddy" of global bubbles Posted: 15 Apr 2011 05:29 AM PDT From BusinessWeek: It's as if 2008 never happened. Once again, the world's investors are pumping up bubbles that will probably explode in their faces. After the popping of a real estate bubble led to the first global recession since the 1930s, world markets are frothing like shaken champagne. Pundits claim to have spotted price increases that are unsupported by economic fundamentals in assets ranging from U.S. farmland to Israeli biotech to Australian housing to Chinese cemetery sites. Commodities have soared. Global junk-bond issuance hit a record in the first three months of the year. And Yale's Robert Shiller calculates the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is trading at 23 times earnings normalized over the past 10 years, compared with a historical average of 16. "I fear this is the granddaddy of them all, an almost-encompassing bubble right at the heart of… Read full article… More on bubbles: Three facts show gold isn't even close to a bubble Top economist Shiller: The next superbubble is forming here The biggest bubble on the planet has nothing to do with stocks, bonds, gold, or commodities |
| Trading the U.S. Unemployment Claims With Dollar/Yen Posted: 15 Apr 2011 05:11 AM PDT The publication of weekly jobless claims always shakes currency markets, as it is very indicative of the monthly Non-Farm Payrolls, the king of forex trading. The upcoming release, on April 21 at 12:30 GMT -- just before Easter and after a significant disappointment -- is of high importance. Here what we're expecting, with five possible scenarios. Background After many months where this indicator was in a high range between 430K to 500K, it began dropping, marking an improvement in the US labor market. This came hand in hand with significant gains in the all-important Non-Farm Payrolls release -- the No. 1 market-mover of currencies. The improved conditions enabled senior members of the Federal Reserve to speak about an end to the current quantitative easing scheme (QE2) even earlier than expected. Some even suggested rate hikes in 2011. But the most recent release was disappointing -- the weekly figure jumped above Complete Story » |
| What Does Silver’s Recent Performance Relative to Oil Mean to Silver Investors? Posted: 15 Apr 2011 04:34 AM PDT Summing up, the short-term signs appear bullish for precious metals market. This sentiment is supported in several key charts and at this time. It is difficult not to be excited about the outlook for silver today. Its performance in recent months certainly has not been a fluke and it appears that further price increases are likely for the white metal. |
| SLV Chart, looks like correction coming Posted: 15 Apr 2011 04:26 AM PDT Lookin like Blythe will use this to retest $40 on this chart as its overbought on the TA end. I will wait this one out till Monday...remember we buy on days silver gets spanked by 3-4%! Not on days when its up. If you can follow this strategy you will be further ahead. Its hard stepping in on days like that, but this is what pros do. Dont be a sheep. |
| 2 Bearish Bets on Silver Might Not Be so Bearish Posted: 15 Apr 2011 04:17 AM PDT Richard Bloch submits: Bloomberg reported that a trader put an "almost $1 million bet" that the Silver ETF (SLV) would decline by July. On Monday April 11, with SLV closing at 39.21, a trader bought 100,000 July 25 put options on SLV at a cost of about 10 cents each ($10 per contract or about $1 million in total). The open interest in that option was only about 6,000 contracts, so that transaction represented a pretty significant trade. Then on April 12, another Bloomberg article noted:
Evidently another trader (or maybe the same one) put about $770,000 into a more complex options spread that benefits if SLV falls. So should SLV longs be worried? I doubt it. Complete Story » |
| Weekly Commodity ETF Flows: Investors Dump XLE, Take Profits on GLD and SLV Posted: 15 Apr 2011 03:50 AM PDT Hard Assets Investor submits: By Sumit Roy Goldman Sachs spoke and the markets listened, as investors heeded the investment bank's advice to take profits in select commodities. In turn, $2 billion flowed out of commodity-related exchange-traded products, while overall assets in the space dropped $3.2 billion due to falling prices. Four of the five sectors saw outflows, led by energy, where investors pulled a whopping $1.3 billion out of related ETPs. The precious metals sector came in a distant second, but still experienced a substantial $403 million in outflows. Agriculture and broad market (multicommodity) products followed, with $158 million and $145 million in outflows, respectively. The industrial metals sector managed to buck the trend, as it added $22 million of investor capital, but it remains by far the smallest of the five sectors, with a mere $4.1 billion in total assets. Looking at individual ETPs, the largest energy ETF was responsible for virtually all Complete Story » |
| "The truth about the Hunt Brothers" Posted: 15 Apr 2011 03:40 AM PDT Hunt Brothers $50 Silver Truth, How They Capped Gold…Yes, GOLD! Commodities / Gold and Silver 2011 Apr 13, 2011 - 05:36 AM By: GoldSilver  It began with a shoot-out at the Circle K Ranch. The 12 best marksmen would ride shotgun as the world's largest, privately owned stockpile of silver was secretly transferred into secure vaults.No, this wasn't a shipment from Nevada's Comstock Lode to San Francisco in the Wild West of the 1870s. This was the 1970s, and the precious metal was being moved from New York to Switzerland. Shining silver under a moonlit sky, three unmarked 707s waited at LaGuardia Airport. The Circle K cowboys stood guard, shotguns in hand. 40 million ounces of bullion—amassed by Nelson Bunker and William Herbert Hunt—were loaded in, and the planes took off under cover of darkness to their secret destination…  Millions of people have heard the "official" story of how the larger-than-life Hunt brothers drove the price of silver from under $2 an ounce to over $50 in an attempt to corner the market. At one point, the two colorful Texas oilmen owned the rights to more than half the world's silver supply. But then it all came crashing down on Silver Thursday, March 27, 1980, when silver fell to under $11 an ounce. Instead of making billions, the richest men in America ended up losing the bulk of their family's fortune. The Hunt Brothers—Sacrificial Lambs in Wolf's Clothing I've been studying the Hunt Brothers, and I have a different take on what really happened. Because of the way they flaunted their wealth, because of ties they had to the Middle East, and because they did invest so heavily in silver, the Hunt brothers were the perfect scapegoats for the anger and frustration most Americans felt towards the lagging economy of the day. I believe that Bunker and his brother were used by the Federal Reserve, in collusion with COMEX and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), to cap the price of gold—YES, GOLD—and save the U.S. dollar.  Inflation Indignation The period leading up to silver's spike was fraught with inflation, stagnant economic growth, and political upheaval. In 1965, President Johnson increased deficit spending to finance his Great Society programs, tax cuts, and an unpopular war in Vietnam. In 1971, realizing that the U.S. Treasury didn't have enough gold to redeem all the dollars held by foreign governments and investors, President Nixon pulled the United States off the Bretton Woods monetary system—the last vestiges of a pseudo gold standard. This action effectively created a worldwide fiat currency system that continues to this day. OPEC-generated oil shortages, along with real food shortages, fueled public fears that the U.S. economy was in crisis. By the late 1970s, inflation had become public enemy number one. The Hunt for Silver The Hunt brothers could see the writing on the wall. With their great wealth being steadily eroded by skyrocketing inflation, they needed an asset to which they could safely anchor their massive oil fortune. At first, they thought of gold—history's safe haven. But in 1973, U.S. citizens were not allowed to own gold, and Bunker Hunt thought the gold market was too easily manipulated for government purposes.1 So the Hunt Brothers turned to silver, and started buying it at about $2 an ounce. Total world silver production was dropping, while industrial silver consumption was exploding. And once government and private silver stocks ran out, the shortfall between supply and demand was certain to drive the price of silver skyward. By early 1974, the Hunt brothers had purchased futures contracts (agreements to purchase commodities in the future at a pre-determined price) for another fifty-five million ounces of silver. This was on top of the massive hoard of physical silver they already owned.2 In April, Bunker Hunt stopped in New York to visit the COMEX trading floor for the first time. When he walked onto the floor, the normal frenzy of activity came to a screeching halt. Who was this fat Texan in thick plastic glasses and a cheap blue suit? Rumors began floating that the Hunt brothers were attempting to corner the market. Those who believe that the Hunt brothers were out to corner the silver market point to Bunker and Herbert's huge appetite for silver futures as proof that they were trying to manipulate prices. I see it a different way. The Hunt brothers used their positions in silver futures to acquire more of the physical metal. Aware that cash was continually losing value due to inflation, they settled their futures contracts with physical delivery of bullion, instead of cash, as a hedge against the government currency monopoly and global turmoil. I believe that the Hunt brothers were more concerned about long-term survival and preservation of their family's wealth than they were with short-term speculative profits. That would merely have added a few more paper dollars to their vast sums of rapidly depreciating currency. Bunker Hunt was well versed in Germany's disastrous hyperinflation of the early 1920s, and he was genuinely concerned about going broke holding paper assets. In an interview with Barron's financial magazine, Bunker kept quiet about his silver investments. But he made no secret of his distaste for the dollar: ''Just about anything you buy, rather than paper, is better," he said. "…If you don't like gold, use silver, or diamonds or copper, but something. Any damn fool can run a printing press."3 If You're Losing, Change the Rules By October 3, 1979, silver hit $17.88 an ounce.4 The two major U.S. exchanges, COMEX and CBOT, started to panic: They held a measly 120 million ounces of silver between them, an amount typically delivered in a busy month.5 With silver prices pushing to new heights as new buyers rushed in, the exchanges became fearful that a default (inability to deliver) was imminent. The silver rush continued to accelerate, led by the Hunt brothers and their Saudi Arabian business partners. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the government's futures watchdog, had become seriously alarmed at the prospects of a shortage on the exchanges, and tried persuading Bunker Hunt to sell some of his silver. The billionaire resisted, believing that silver was a long-term play with an integral role in the future global economy. The CBOT, backed by the CFTC, finally decided to put a stop to the Hunt brothers' buying—by changing its rules. Margin requirements were suddenly raised, and traders could hold no more than 3 million ounces of silver futures; those holding more were placed in forced liquidation. Bunker Hunt cried foul, accusing exchange board members of having a financial interest in the markets—an accusation that would later be proven true. Then, the U.S. Federal Reserve and its chairman, Paul Volcker, added to the Hunt brothers' troubles by strongly encouraging banks to stop making loans for speculative activity. When Silver Sneezed, Gold Caught the Cold On January 7, 1980, the other major U.S. exchange, COMEX, changed its rules also. Investors were limited to 10 million ounces in futures contracts, and any amount above that had to be liquidated by Friday, February 18.6 On the very next trading day, Monday, January 21, as silver reached a record high of $50 an ounce, the Hunt silver hoard peaked at a mind-boggling $4.5 billion, (that's $43.5 billion in Shadowstats CPI-adjusted 2011 dolars!)5 On the same day that silver hit $50 and silver future s topped out at $52.50, gold's price set a new record of $850 and gold futures peaked at $892. COMEX, terrified that it would be forced into default, announced—with the backing of the CFTC—that trading in silver would be limited to liquidation orders only, eliminating any buyers. With no new buyers, the price of silver could not go up. So this rule was basically the same as saying, "Until this rule is lifted, the price of silver will only go down." Of course, silver began to plummet, and on that same day so did gold. Was it just a coincidence that gold and silver peaked at the same time? Could it be that many large silver traders also held gold? Wouldn't the gold traders on the exchanges have known what happened to the silver traders and said to themselves, "Oh my God…if they can do that to silver, then gold is probably next"?  From Billions to Bust On Silver Thursday, silver dropped from $15.80 to $10.80 an ounce. The stock market also crashed, fueled by rumors that the Hunt brothers would liquidate stocks in order to cover their silver losses. Because most of their silver bullion had been purchased at under $10 an ounce, the Hunts were still ahead of the game on their physical silver. But in the futures market, where their average purchase price was near $35 an ounce, it was a different story. It became easy for the government to label the Hunt brothers as market manipulators—both in the court of law and in the easily swayed court of public opinion. Bunker Hunt filed for personal bankruptcy and was charged with trying to corner the silver market. He settled with the IRS for $90 million and was fined an additional $10 million by the CFTC.7 Why were the Hunt brothers torn down? Gold and silver are the canaries in the coal mine: Their spiking prices reflected the public's loss of confidence in fiat currencies—like the U.S. dollar. So, the government and banking establishment had a vested interest in keeping gold and silver prices from exploding. Do you think it's possible that the Federal Reserve may have realized they could suppress the price of gold and save the dollar—while making it look like they were really protecting everyone by going after the Hunt brothers? After scrutinizing the evidence, my conclusion is that the Hunt brothers were sacrificial lambs. The Hunt brothers broke no laws. The CFTC, COMEX and CBOT simply changed the rules in the middle of the game. And the U.S. government, eager to stop the rush to gold and silver that threatened the credibility of its own fiat currency, had no problem looking the other way. Even Jeffrey M. Christian, Managing Director and founder of CPM Group and one of the world's foremost authorities on the markets for precious metals, told me in an interview that he believed the Hunt brothers only added between 75¢ and $1.00 to the price of silver. Silver Linings: What the Hunt Brothers Can Teach Us Today The Hunt brothers got into trouble because they exposed themselves to a huge amount of risk through their leveraged investments. Leverage makes a bigger impact when you're losing than it does when you're winning: It can be as blunt as a bowling ball on the way up, but as sharp as a surgical laser on the way down. In my view, there's simply no substitute for physical ownership of your own gold and silver. This is especially important today, as we see the fiat currency system showing severe signs of instability. Whether the Hunt brothers were victims of their own greed, the greed of board members on the exchanges, a desperate attempt by the Fed to save the dollar, or some combination of these things, it's clear to me that the fall of silver in 1980 brought gold down with it and bought the dollar some extra time. We have no way of knowing how high gold and silver would have gone if the government and banking establishment hadn't gone after the Hunt brothers. We'll never know if the dollar would have survived. We do know that gold peaked when silver peaked, and we know that gold fell when silver fell. In the near future, both of these metals may again start taking off into the stratosphere. And this time, the Fed won't have the Hunt brothers around to stop them. - Mike Maloney This is a free summary of the 2-part in-depth Hunt Brothers articles available to WealthCycles.com subscribers. Sign up for a free trial (no credit card or personal information required) to check out all the articles and analysis by Michael Maloney and the WealthCycles.com team. WealthCycles.com http://goldsilver.com Mike Maloney is the owner and founder of GoldSilver.com, an online precious metals dealership that specializes in delivery of gold and silver to a customer's doorstep, arranges for special secured storage, or for placement in one's IRA account. Additionally, GoldSilver.com provides invaluable research and commentary for its clients, assisting them in their wealth building endeavors. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27513.html |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2011 03:18 AM PDT Gold is on it's way to 1545.   |
| Holy Smokes Batman, CNBC report on silver coins Posted: 15 Apr 2011 02:52 AM PDT I was on the phone so I missed most of it, but CNBC just had about 5 minute report on silver coins. Cramer sold his SLV and bought Eagles!!! :cool1: Hopefully they will post this clip on the CNBC web stie. Hopefully this is not a Kiss of Death contrary indicator from Cosmo Cramer! |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2011 02:22 AM PDT Belarus Central Bank Halts Sales of Gold for Roubles MINSK, April 15 (Reuters) - Belarus' central bank has stopped selling gold to local retail customers for Belarussian roubles it said on Friday, after demand for precious metals soared due to expectations of a currency devaluation. The bank did not explain its decision. Belarus is in talks with Russia on a $3 billion bailout package that |
| Who wants to bet COMEX will raise margin requirements soon? Posted: 15 Apr 2011 02:18 AM PDT PM prices are getting too frothy for some, not me. Who wants to bet COMEX will raise margin requirements soon? :vollkommenauf: |
| Gold and Silver Reach New Record Nominal Highs… Posted: 15 Apr 2011 01:45 AM PDT |
| Posted: 15 Apr 2011 01:16 AM PDT - Communiqué public GEAB N°54 (15 avril 2011) -  Le 15 Septembre 2010, le GEAB N°47 titrait « Printemps 2011 : Welcome to the United States of Austerity / Vers la très grande panne du système économique et financier mondial ». Pourtant, à la fin de l'été 2010, la plupart des experts estimait, d'une part, que le débat sur le déficit budgétaire US resterait un simple sujet de discussions théoriques au sein de la Beltway (1) ; d'autre part, qu'il était impensable d'imaginer les Etats-Unis se lancer dans une politique d'austérité puisqu'il suffisait à la Fed de continuer à imprimer des Dollars. Or, comme chacun peut le constater depuis plusieurs semaines, le Printemps 2011 a bien apporté l'austérité aux Etats-Unis (2), une grande première depuis la Seconde Guerre Mondiale et la mise en place d'un système global fondé sur l'aptitude du moteur américain à générer toujours plus de richesse (réelle dans les années 1950-1970, puis de plus en plus virtuelle à partir de cette date). A ce stade, LEAP/E2020 est donc en mesure de confirmer que la prochaine étape de la crise sera bien la « Très Grande Panne du système économique, financier et monétaire mondial » ; et que cette panne historique surviendra à l'Automne 2011 (3). Les conséquences monétaires, financières, économiques et géopolitiques de cette « Très Grande Panne » seront d'une ampleur historique et feront paraître la crise de l'Automne 2008 comme ce qu'elle était réellement : un simple détonateur. La crise au Japon (4), les décisions chinoises et la crise des dettes en Europe joueront certainement un rôle dans cette panne historique. En revanche nous considérons que la question des dettes publiques des pays périphériques de l'Euroland n'est plus le facteur de risque européen dominant en la matière, mais que c'est le Royaume-Uni qui retrouve sa position d' « homme malade de l'Europe » (5). La zone Euro a en effet mis en place et continue à améliorer tous les dispositifs nécessaires pour régler ces problèmes (6). La gestion des problèmes grec, portugais, irlandais, … se fera donc de manière organisée. Que des investisseurs privés doivent en partie en faire les frais (comme anticipé par LEAP/E2020 avant l'été 2010) (7) n'appartient pas à la catégorie des risques systémiques, n'en déplaisent au Financial Times, au Wall Street Journal et aux experts de Wall Street et de la City qui essayent tous les trois mois de refaire le « coup » de la crise de la zone Euro du début 2010 (8). En revanche, le Royaume-Uni a complètement raté sa tentative d' « amputation budgétaire préventive» (9). En effet, sous la pression de la rue et notamment des plus de 400.000 Britanniques qui arpentaient les rues de Londres le 26/03/2011 (10), David Cameron est obligé de revoir à la baisse son objectif de réduction des dépenses de santé (un point clé de ses réformes) (11). Parallèlement, l'aventure militaire libyenne l'oblige à revoir également ses objectifs de coupes budgétaires du ministère de la Défense. Nous avions déjà indiqué dans le dernier GEAB que les besoins de financement public britannique continuaient à augmenter, signe de l'inefficacité des mesures annoncées dont la mise en œuvre se révèle très décevante dans la réalité (12). Le seul résultat de la politique du tandem Cameron/Clegg (13) est pour l'instant la rechute de l'économie britannique en récession (14) et l'évident risque d'implosion de la coalition au pouvoir suite au prochain référendum sur la réforme électorale. Dans ce GEAB N°54, notre équipe s'attache donc à décrire les trois facteurs-clés qui déterminent cette Très Grande Panne globale de l'Automne 2011 et ses conséquences. Parallèlement, nos chercheurs ont entrepris d'anticiper l'évolution de l'opération militaire franco-anglo-américaine en Libye dont nous estimons qu'elle est un puissant accélérateur de la dislocation géopolitique mondiale et qu'elle éclaire utilement certains des changements tectoniques en cours dans les rapports entre grandes puissances mondiales. Outre le GEAB $ Index, nous développons nos recommandations pour faire face aux dangereux trimestres à venir. Fondamentalement, le processus qui se déroule sous nos yeux, et dont l'entrée des Etats-Unis dans une ère d'austérité (15) est une simple expression budgétaire, n'est que la poursuite de l'apurement des 30.000 milliards d'actifs-fantômes qui avaient envahi le système économique et financier mondial à la fin 2007 (16). Si environ la moitié d'entre eux avaient disparu courant 2009, ils ont été en partie ressuscité depuis cette date par la volonté des grandes banques centrales mondiales et en particulier par la Réserve fédérale US et ses « Quantitative Easings 1 et 2 ». Or, notre équipe estime donc que ce sont 20.000 Milliards de ces actifs-fantômes qui vont s'envoler en fumée à partir de l'Automne 2011, et ce d'une manière très brutale sous l'effet conjugué des trois méga-crises US en gestation accélérée : . la crise budgétaire, ou comment les Etats-Unis plongent de gré ou de force dans cette austérité sans précédent et vont y entraîner des pans entiers de l'économie et de la finance mondiale . la crise des Bons du Trésor US, ou comment la Réserve fédérale US atteint le « bout du chemin » entamé en 1913 et doit faire face à sa faillite quel que soit le camouflage comptable choisi . la crise du Dollar américain, ou comment les soubresauts de la devise US qui vont caractériser l'arrêt du Quantative Easing 2 au second trimestre 2011 seront les prémisses d'une dévaluation massive (de l'ordre de 30% en quelques semaines). Banques centrales, système bancaire mondial, fonds de pension, multinationales, matières premières, population américaine, économies de la zone Dollar et/ou dépendantes de leurs échanges avec les Etats-Unis (17), … c'est l'ensemble des opérateurs structurellement dépendants de l'économie US (dont le gouvernement, la Fed et le budget fédéral sont devenus les composantes centrales), des actifs libellés en Dollars ou des transactions commerciales en Dollars qui vont subir le choc frontal de 20.000 milliards d'actifs-fantômes disparaissant purement et simplement de leur bilan, de leurs placements ou générant une baisse majeure de leurs revenus réels.  Autour de ce choc historique de l'Automne 2011, qui marquera l'affirmation définitive des tendances lourdes anticipées par notre équipe dans les précédents GEAB, les grandes catégories d'actifs vont connaître des turbulences majeures exigeant une vigilance accrue de tous les opérateurs soucieux de leurs investissements et placements. En effet, cette triple crise US marquera la vraie sortie du « monde d'après 1945 » qui a vu les Etats-Unis jouer le rôle d'Atlas et sera donc marquée par des chocs et des répliques multiples au cours des trimestres qui suivront. Par exemple, le Dollar peut connaître à court terme des effets renforçant sa valeur par rapport aux principales devises mondiales (notamment si les taux d'intérêts US s'élèvent très rapidement suite à la fin du Quantitative Easing 2), même si, au-delà de six mois, sa perte de valeur de 30% (par rapport à sa valeur actuelle) est inéluctable. Nous ne pouvons donc que répéter le conseil qui figure en tête de nos recommandations depuis le début de nos travaux sur la crise : dans le cadre d'une crise globale d'ampleur historique comme celle que nous traversons, le seul objectif rationnel pour les investisseurs et les épargnants n'est pas de gagner plus, mais d'essayer de perdre le moins possible. Cela va être particulièrement vrai pour les trimestres à venir où l'environnement spéculatif va devenir hautement imprévisible sur le court terme. Cette imprévisibilité à court terme tient notamment au fait que les trois crises américaines qui déclencheront la Très Grande Panne mondiale de l'Automne ne sont pas synchrones. Elles sont très étroitement corrélées mais pas de manière linéaire. Et l'une d'entre elles, la crise budgétaire, est directement dépendante de facteurs humains très influents sur le calendrier de son déroulement ; alors que les deux autres (quoi qu'en pensent ceux qui voient dans les responsables de la Fed des dieux ou des diables (18)) sont pour l'essentiel désormais inscrites dans des tendances lourdes où l'action des dirigeants américains est devenue marginale (19). La crise budgétaire, ou comment les Etats-Unis plongent de gré ou de force dans cette austérité sans précédent et vont y entraîner des pans entiers de l'économie et de la finance mondiale Les chiffres peuvent donner le tournis : « 6.000 milliards de coupes budgétaires sur dix ans » (20), dit le Républicain Ryan, « 4.000 milliards en douze ans » réplique le déjà-candidat pour 2012 Barack Obama (21), « tout cela est loin de suffire » renchérit l'une des références des Tea Parties, Ron Paul (22). Et de toute façon, sanctionne le FMI, « les Etats-Unis ne sont pas crédibles quand ils parlent de réduire leurs déficits » (23). Cette remarque inhabituellement brutale du FMI, traditionnellement très prudent dans ses critiques concernant les Etats-Unis, est en tous cas particulièrement justifiée au regard du psychodrame qui, pour une poignée de dizaines de milliards de Dollars, a failli faire fermer l'état fédéral faute d'accord entre les deux grands partis. Un scénario qui va d'ailleurs se reproduire prochainement à propos du plafond d'endettement fédéral. Le FMI ne fait donc qu'exprimer une opinion largement partagée par les créanciers des Etats-Unis : si pour quelques dizaines de milliards USD de réduction des déficits, le système politique américain atteint un tel degré de paralysie, que va-t-il se passer quand dans les mois à venir vont s'imposer des réductions de plusieurs centaines de milliards USD par an ? La guerre civile ? C'est l'opinion en tout cas du nouveau gouverneur de Californie, Jerry Brown (24), qui estime que les Etats-Unis font face une crise de régime identique à celle qui conduisit à la Guerre de Sécession (25).  Le contexte n'est donc plus à la simple paralysie mais bien à une confrontation tous azimuts entre deux visions de l'avenir du pays. Plus la date des prochaines élections présidentielles va s'approcher (Novembre 2012), plus la confrontation entre les deux camps va s'intensifier et se dérouler au mépris de toute règle de bonne conduite, y compris pour sauvegarder l'intérêt général du pays : « Les dieux rendent fous ceux qu'ils veulent perdre » dit Ulysse dans l'Odyssée. La scène politique washingtonienne va de plus en plus ressembler à un hôpital psychiatrique (26) dans les mois à venir, rendant de plus en plus probable « la décision aberrante ». Si, pour se rassurer à propos du Dollar et des Bons du Trésor, les experts occidentaux se répètent en boucle que les Chinois seraient fous de se débarrasser de ces actifs dont ils ne feraient ainsi que précipiter la chute de valeur, c'est qu'ils n'ont pas encore compris que c'est de Washington et de ses errements politiques que peut venir la décision qui précipite cette chute. Et Octobre 2012, avec son traditionnel vote du budget annuel, va offrir le moment idéal pour cette tragédie grecque qui, selon notre équipe, n'aura cependant pas de happy ending car ce n'est pas Hollywood mais bien le reste du monde qui va écrire la suite du scénario. Quoiqu'il en soit, par décision politique choisie, par fermeture du gouvernement fédéral ou par pressions extérieures irrésistibles (27) (taux d'intérêts, FMI + Euroland + BRIC (28)), c'est bien à l'Automne 2011 que le budget fédéral US va se contracter massivement pour la première fois. La poursuite de la récession conjuguée à la fin du Quantative Easing 2 va faire monter les taux d'intérêts et donc accroître considérablement le service de la dette fédérale, sur fond de recettes fiscales en baisse (29) pour cause de rechute dans une forte récession. L'insolvabilité fédérale est désormais au coin de la rue d'après Richard Fisher, le président de la Réserve fédérale de Dallas (30). La suite dans le GEAB : . la crise des Bons du Trésor US, ou comment la Réserve fédérale US atteint le « bout du chemin » entamé en 1913 et doit faire face à sa faillite quel que soit le camouflage comptable choisi . la crise du Dollar américain, ou comment les soubresauts de la devise US qui vont caractériser l'arrêt du Quantative Easing 2 au second trimestre 2011 seront les prémisses d'une dévaluation massive (de l'ordre de 30% en quelques semaines). -------- Notes: (1) Expression américaine désignant le cœur politico-administratif de Washington, situé au sein du périphérique local, la Beltway. (2) Des coupes sombres dans les budgets de l'action internationale des Etats-Unis aux réductions des programmes sociaux, des organisations publiques et des catégories entières de la population américaine (latinos, pauvres, étudiants, retraités, …) vont être désormais durement affectées par ce qui n'est encore qu'une goutte d'eau dans les ajustements nécessaires. Les protestations populaires commencent avec les étudiants en-tête. Sources : House of Representatives, 13/04/2011 ; Devex, 11/04/2011 ; HuffingtonPost, 13/04/2011 ; Foxnews, 14/04/2011 ; Foxbusiness, 12/04/2011 (3) Le système bancaire mondial (Europe comprise), toujours sous-capitalisé et largement insolvable, est également l'un des éléments de cette Très Grande Panne de l'Automne 2011. (4) Dans le GEAB N°55, notre équipe présentera ses anticipations sur la question du nucléaire dans le monde, incluant l'utilisation de la méthode d'anticipation politique comme outil d'aide à la décision en la matière. (5) L'ampleur de la crise budgétaire du Royaume-Uni est infiniment plus grave que ce que racontent les actuels dirigeants britanniques qui se targuent pourtant d'avoir tenu un discours de vérité. Il y a en effet deux moyens de mentir à un peuple : nier l'existence d'un problème (la position du Labour de Gordon Brown) ou bien n'avouer qu'une partie de la vérité (visiblement le choix du tandem Cameron/Clegg). Dans les deux cas, le problème n'est pas résolu. Source : Telegraph, 26/03/2011 (6) Et, à partir de maintenant et de la mise en place définitive de l'Euroland comme principal moteur européen lors du sommet du 11 Mars dernier, les quatre pays qui ne participent pas au pacte « Euroland+ » de stabilisation financière, c'est-à-dire, le Royaume-Uni, la Suède, la Hongrie et la République tchèque seront invités à quitter la salle des sommets lors des discussions sur les questions financières et budgétaires liés au pacte. EUObserver du 29/03/2011 décrit la panique qui a alors saisi les délégations de ces quatre pays dont les dirigeants jouent les fiers à bras devant les médias et dans les discours destinés à leurs opinions publiques respectives, mais qui savent très bien qu'ils sont désormais cantonnés dans un rôle européen de seconde zone. (7) Source : Irish Times, 22/03/2011 (8) Il faut lire à ce sujet l'article très pertinent et très amusant de Silvi Wadhwa, correspondante Europe de CNBC, qui se moque du discours anti-Euroland et anti-Allemand caricatural de ses collègues des autres médias anglo-saxons ; et qui rappelle fort justement que les différences de situations économiques sont encore plus importantes entre états américains qu'au sein de l'Euroland et que les problèmes d'endettement de la Grèce ou du Portugal ne sont rien comparés à ceux d'un état comme la Californie. Source : CNBC, 12/04/2011 (9) Nous reviendrons plus spécifiquement sur le cas britannique dans le GEAB N°55, tout juste un an après la victoire de la coalition Conservateur/LibDem. (10) Cette protestation contre les coupes budgétaires constitue la plus importante manifestation à Londres depuis plus de vingt ans et elle a été accompagnée de graves violences « anti-riches » via des attaques contre HSBC, l'hôtel Ritz ou le magasin Fortnum & Mason par exemple. Comme nous l'avons souligné à plusieurs reprises dans le GEAB, il est tout-à-fait significatif de constater que cette manifestation historique au Royaume-Uni n'a pratiquement pas fait la une des médias où elle était devenue invisible 48 heures après son déroulement. Lorsque quelques milliers de citoyens grecs ou portugais manifestent à Athènes ou Lisbonne en revanche, nous avons droit à une avalanche d'images-chocs et de commentaires décrivant des pays au bord du chaos. Ce « deux poids et deux mesures » ne doivent pas tromper l'observateur lucide. D'un côté, il y a de graves difficultés qui sont désormais gérées au sein d'un ensemble puissant, l'Euroland ; de l'autre il y a des difficultés majeures qui ne parviennent plus à être gérées par un pays complètement isolé. Croyez les médias ou bien réfléchissez par vous-même pour deviner la suite ! Source : Guardian, 26/03/2011 (11) Source : Independent, 03/04/2011 (12) D'ailleurs les marchés financiers s'en rendent compte et ne croient plus vraiment au message martial d'austérité du gouvernement britannique, entraînant à nouveau la Livre sterling dans une spirale descendante. Source : CNBC, 12/04/2011 (13) Nick Clegg est devenu le politicien le plus haï du Royaume-Uni pour avoir trahi un à un presque tous ses engagements électoraux. Source : Independent, 10/04/2011 (14) Et de pousser les ménages britanniques dans une perte de pouvoir d'achat similaire uniquement à celle de la crise de l'après-première guerre mondiale en 1921. Source : Telegraph, 11/04/2011 (15) Comme l'ont fait les Européens dès 2010. (16) Estimation moyenne faite par LEAP/E2020 en 2007/2008. (17) Au-delà du commerce extérieur traditionnel, le graphique ci-dessous montre l'ampleur de la réduction des transferts dans leurs pays d'origine de la part des travailleurs émigrés aux Etats-Unis, du fait de la baisse du Dollar US. Cette réduction va encore s'amplifier à partir de l'Automne 2011. (18) Aux Etats-Unis, c'est aujourd'hui la vision diabolique s'est largement imposée dans l'opinion publique, à la différence de 2008 où, au contraire, les responsables de la Fed semblaient être les derniers recours. Ce changement psychologique, comme nous l'avons souligné, n'est pas un détail et contribue fortement à limiter la marge de manœuvre des dirigeants de la Fed. Et ce n'est pas la défaite judiciaire historique de la Banque centrale US, qui a été obligée de dévoiler les destinataires des centaines de milliards de Dollars d'aide distribuées après la crise de Wall Street de 2008, qui va améliorer cette situation, bien au contraire. Une simple anecdote, révélée par le magazine Rollingstone, illustre l'aggravation des griefs du peuple américain contre ses banquiers centraux : au titre des bénéficiaires de ces aides de la Fed, on trouve les femmes de deux grandes figures de Wall Street qui ont créé un instrument sur mesure leur permettant de recevoir 200 millions USD de la Fed pour racheter des créances pourries… les bénéfices leur revenant et les pertes allant à la Fed ! C'est hélas un exemple parmi beaucoup d'autres qui circulent actuellement sur le Net et qui ont brisé, désormais définitivement, le respect du peuple américain pour son institution monétaire de référence. Une situation explosive dans le contexte de la c |
| Smaller Resource Companies Unable to Answer New PM Highs Posted: 15 Apr 2011 12:08 AM PDT HOUSTON – Despite new all time highs for gold and new 31-year highs for silver, the smaller, less liquid and more speculative miners and explorers that reside in the Canadian TSX Venture Exchange Index (CDNX) seem reluctant to answer those new higher prices for precious metals. Below is one of our tracking graphs of the CDNX. CDNX, 1-Year, Daily. If any of the images are too small click on them for a larger version. |
| Gold at Record Highs, but Bullish Sentiment Lags Posted: 14 Apr 2011 11:32 PM PDT The Daily Gold |
| Posted: 14 Apr 2011 09:57 PM PDT Because gold has risen rather spectacularly over the last ten years, many claim that it has become a bubble. This claim is usually made solely on the basis that the price has risen, rather than any economic argument. Few, if any, of those making the claim correctly identified any other bubbles of the past ten [...] |
| On Moving From Precious Gold To Valueless Paper Posted: 14 Apr 2011 09:57 PM PDT "The German Inflation of 1914-1923 was inevitable; it was caused by the Treaty of Versailles. The American inflation is unnecessary; it is being caused by stupid men." -Norbert Einstein, Gold Newsletter, January, 1975, by James U. Blanchard III, from Golden Insights 1997." Japan's Disaster Pressures New Inflation. "A month ago, the worry was that companies were putting too many production eggs in a single "Supply-chain disruptions are part of a bigger and underappreciated phenomenon: the extent to which Japan's plight may worsen global inflation. Along with forcing executives to scramble for production options outside Japan — an effort that puts the pricing power in the hands of factory operators — this crisis places additional pressure on raw material and food prices. That's horrible news for Asia, where central banks have been scrambling to head-off consumer-price gains." -William Pesek Bloomberg Opinion 4-1-11 Inflation Skews Values Of Daily-Demand-Goods Very Quickly Increasing Pain On The Lower Class. Food And Fuel Are Being Hit First. "An increase in the general level of prices implies a decrease in the purchasing power of the currency. That is, when the general level of prices rises, each monetary unit buys fewer goods and services. The effect of inflation is not distributed evenly in the economy, and as a consequence there are hidden costs to some and benefits to others from this decrease in the purchasing power of money." -Wikopedia "For example, with inflation, lenders or depositors who are paid a fixed rate of interest on loans or deposits will lose purchasing power from their interest earnings, while their borrowers benefit. Individuals or institutions with cash assets will experience a decline in the purchasing power of their holdings. Increases in payments to workers and pensioners often lag behind inflation, especially for those with fixed payments." -Wikopedia The cartoon network, composed of central bankers, politicians and controlling corporations are destroying the American middle class by off-shoring jobs, printing currency and bonds, and stealing from all taxpayers to enrich them selves. There is a yawning gap, growing wider, between the very rich and our sinking middle class now falling toward the poorhouse. -Editor Stealth Inflation Is Insidious Sneaking Into Pockets Of All Consumers. "The destruction of a currency does not follow a straight, predictable course…like a cancer, the disease breaks out anew because inflation cannot be cured through monetary and fiscal measures alone; it requires a fundamental change in social and political attitudes and this change usually does not occur until complete monetary chaos forces a change." -G. Carl Wiegand, "The Great Inflation: Germany," 1923 from Golden Insights 1997 GOP Budget By Congressman Ryan Will Be Dead On Arrival. "House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said he will release a fiscal 2012 budget plan Tuesday (April 5) that cuts more than $4 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade, in part by paring politically sensitive programs such as Medicare." -Bloomberg.net It's Too Late For Meaningful Recovery. The Global Economy Is Doomed. Trader Tracks says whether they shutdown the government briefly or not, the US Senate has the power to block any meaningful reform on budget cutting for now. The last chance for the USA economically is an election sweep in 2012 with a following reduction of $5 Trillion in immediate cuts. This will not happen and further, it will be much too late. The USA economy is doomed to implode with all the nasty aftermath hitting not only Americans but it spreads world-wide as our dollar is the reserve currency. These events are always followed by War. -Editor "We're going to go after the source of the problem and that is spending," the Wisconsin Republican said on "Fox News Sunday (April 3, 2011). Ryan said his plan will slow the growth of Medicare, the 'Biggest driver of our debt.' The plan resembles his proposal last year with Democrat Alice Rivlin, who was former President Bill Clinton's budget director, Ryan said. 'Medicare crowds out all government spending at the end of the day,' Ryan said. "We can't sustain that." "Ryan also called for what he called a pro-growth tax overhaul, which involves lower tax rates and a broader tax base, as a "key ingredient to getting this economy working again." Ryan said he wants to scale government spending "back toward the historic levels." His proposal for a government budget involves "cutting a lot more than" $4 trillion in spending, he said." "That means Ryan's cuts would surpass last year's budget proposal from the President's deficit commission, which reduced the annual deficit to about $400 billion in 2015, increased taxes by $1 trillion by 2020, and trimmed individual and corporate income tax rates. "We will be exceeding the goals that were put out in the president's debt commission by cutting spending, reforming entitlements and growing our economy," Ryan said. The House budget chairman said his plan will seek to reduce government to less than one-quarter of gross domestic product. Government expenditures currently make up about 25% of the nation's GDP, and President Barack Obama's budget will keep the share to about 23 to 24%, Ryan said." -Alexander Kowalski & Joshua Gallu -Bloomberg.net "Under Obama's plan, public debt will double during the president's first term and triple by the end of his budget… adding $13 trillion more to national debt, according to Ryan. Obama "never gets even close to balancing the budget," Ryan said. "He does nothing to address the drivers of our debt. He is punting on the budget and not doing a thing to prevent a debt crisis, which every single economist tells us is coming sooner rather than later…" "Democrats and Republicans are working on a 2011 budget to avoid a government shutdown when current spending authority ends April 8. Obama increased the pressure on lawmakers yesterday, telephoning Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Republican House Speaker John Boehner, urging them to get the budget impasse resolved. Lawmakers have passed $10 billion in cuts thus far for the fiscal year ending September 30. House and Senate negotiators, and the White House, are considering plans to raise the total to about $33B." "Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, also a budget committee member, said current talks are "playing small ball," and said on CNN that he won't support an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling without progress on "systemic reforms" of U.S. government spending. "We can't continue business as usual in Washington," Cornyn said. "What we're lacking is presidential leadership." "Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said he won't vote for a budget proposal that includes "irresponsible" Republican spending cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency and Planned Parenthood. "Some of the spending cuts they're suggesting go way, way too far," Durbin, the Illinois Democrat, said today on the NBC program "Meet the Press." House Republicans "lose all credibility" by focusing on political issues instead of the deficit, Durbin said. -Alexander Kowalski and Joshua Gallu Bloomberg.net 4-3-11 (Editor: The EPA budget could be reduced 90% and it wouldn't matter. Planned Parenthood should be totally private with zero federal funding. U.S. Government Shut Down Would Not Stop Normal Circle-Jerk Selling And Self-Buying Of Toxic Paper At Auctions. -Editor "The U.S. Treasury Department will conduct its regular schedule of securities auctions in the event of a government shutdown, a government official said today. The official spoke to Bloomberg News on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly. The Treasury borrows money through the weekly sales of bills, monthly sales of longer-term notes as well as 30-year bonds to fund government operations." "Based on history this is not a surprise as the government will continue to need financing operations to continue," said Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies & Co. Inc, in New York." "The government usually has some wiggle room here as a shutdown will likely result first in a temporary suspension of non-essential government services," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. "The Treasury financing operations, funding the budget deficit spending, at regularly scheduled auctions, is not a non- essential service, especially when foreigners own more than 50% of all the Treasury paper outstanding." -Vincent Del Giudice Bloomberg.net 4-3-11 What's The Bottom Line? -Editor We doubt there will be a shutdown of the American national government. Even if it happened, the congress or the president would pass an emergency extension or, issue an executive order. There will not be any immediate and purposeful budget passed. We will move toward more hard core inflation imposing terrible pressures on food and fuel first, followed by more draconian messes as it spreads to other facets of the economy. Other parts of the world like China (35% real estate inflation) along with similar problems in food, fuel and other commodities throughout the world, throw the global system into chaos followed by World War III focused on Middle Eastern oil and gas. This is not a pretty prospect and we hope to be wrong on this prediction. However, this is just a repeater from history; nothing is new. Only the depth of the market extremes would be new. They are going to be a lot worse based on current price stretches. Why should this time be any different?         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Goldman Sachs Chief Blankfein Could Face Criminal Prosecution For Role In Financial Crisis Posted: 14 Apr 2011 08:41 PM PDT  Here's another man that richly deserves to be in jail for the rest of his life...just like Bernie Madoff. Goldman Sachs executives deceived clients in order to profit from the brewing financial crisis and then misled Congress when asked to explain their actions, concluded a top lawmaker who led a two-year investigation into Wall Street's role in the meltdown. Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, will recommend that Goldman executives who testified before his panel, including chairman and chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, be referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution, the Michigan Democrat announced Wednesday. |
| Extreme Silver Tightness Causing Delivery Problems: Rick Rule Posted: 14 Apr 2011 08:41 PM PDT ¤ Yesterday in Gold and SilverGold traded in a ten dollar price range through all of Far East...and the first half of the London trading day on Thursday. The absolute low price came at the London silver fix at 12:00 noon local time...which is 7:00 a.m. in New York. After that, it was up, up...and away for the rest of the trading day. The chart looks more impressive than it really is, as gold was only up a percent and a bit...and I'll really get excited when I see gold up 3-4% in one day...which I'm sure that the bullion banks won't allow...but hope springs eternal. However, having said that, I should just be thankful...and I am. Volume was pretty decent, so this rally is not going unopposed.
The silver price wandered around with a general positive bias early Thursday morning...and about 2:30 p.m. Hong Kong time, silver really caught a bid...and by the London open was up about sixty cents. During the subsequent four hour period, silver proceeded to give back all those gains...plus a few pennies more...and by 12:00 noon [the London silver fix] was down about a dime from the close in New York on Wednesday evening. But that was the absolute low...and the silver price rose from there...and closed the New York trading day up $1.52...and on its absolute high of he day...and a new 30-year high.
For the second time this week, there was co-relation between the dollar and the precious metal prices...but it was a pretty thin fig leaf to hide behind yesterday. From shortly after the open in the Far East...and until 2:30 p.m. Hong Kong time...the dollar fell well over 40 basis points. Then from that 2:30 Hong Kong low, the dollar rose 50 basis points and hit its zenith at precisely noon in London...7:00 a.m. in New York. Please note how both gold and silver reacted up to that point. Then, from that 7:00 a.m. Eastern high, the dollar rolled over and gave back all of its gains from the previous four hours...but this time the effect on the price was enormous. The day netted out with a 30 basis point loss. There were two big rallies...and one big decline...all about equal in size...but the effects on the precious metals prices during the last decline was out of all proportion to what went on prior to that. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that most of the final decline occurred during the New York trading session, which Ted Butler says is the only market that really matters.
I was amazed to see that the gold shares reacted poorly to all this positive price action yesterday. Not even all the silver stocks joined the party but, on average, did much better than their golden counterparts. Two silver companies in particular were down big...but that was for unrelated reasons...and I'll have the story on that further down. The HUI finished up a smallish 1.30% on the day.
Well, we finally had some delivery action [256 contracts worth] in gold. As I'd pointed out several times, there were still a lot of gold contracts open in the April delivery month. Now some of the shorts have delivered...and surprise, surprise...JPMorgan was the big issuer in its client account...plus the big stopper in its house [proprietary] account. This is a perfect example of the house betting against its own clients. About eight months ago, JPMorgan said it was going to stop all trading in its proprietary [or house] trading account. I've seen no sign that they are doing this. The Bank of Nova Scotia was also a stopper of note. There was no delivery action in silver...and yesterday's delivery report is well worth checking out for the reasons I mentioned in the previous paragraph...and the link is here. The GLD ETF showed no change yesterday...and the SLV ETF showed a smallish increase of 146,377 troy ounces. The U.S. Mint had no sales report...and nothing of consequence happened at the Comex-approved depositories on Wednesday. Before I post the stories for today, here's a graph of the Gold/Silver Ratio. After yesterday's big gain in silver, it's a new low...and will get much lower before this bull market in the precious metals breathes its last.
How long the silver shorts can keep on bleeding cash like this is something that Ted Butler spends a lot of time thinking about. China Property Softening Fuels Gold Demand - JPMorgan. Will Silver Surge Following The Nationalization Of Bolivia's Silver Mines? Keiser Report: Banking XXX ¤ Critical ReadsSubscribeBofA CEO: Owners shouldn't look at home as an assetToday's first offering is from reader Jack Anderson...and his comment included in his e-mail is a classic..."So, does it follow, that BofA should not look at home mortgages as assets?" Amen to that! Homeowners may need to look elsewhere for long-term investment returns as housing prices in some areas may not rebound long-term, Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said on Tuesday. Moynihan, CEO of the largest U.S. bank, said at a state attorneys general summit that low population growth in some regions of the country indicated that prices might not rise in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The story, filed from Charlotte, N.C...is posted over at msnbc.com...and the link is here.  Moody's, S&P Caved In to Ratings Pressure From Goldman, UBS Over MortgagesToday's next item was posted over at Bloomberg on Wednesday...and is courtesy of reader Scott Pluschau. There's nothing in this story that surprises me at all...and it shouldn't surprise you, either. The world's two largest bond-ranking companies, both based in New York, made exceptions to rules when bankers asked for better safety ratings on complex mortgage-backed securities, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said yesterday. When Moody's and S&P changed their assessments of hundreds of those bonds in July 2007, it helped trigger the financial crisis, a U.S. Senate report said. The story is well worth skimming...and the link is here.  Deutsche Bank Sold Mortgage-Linked 'Pigs' as Market Buckled, Lawmakers SayHere's Scott's second offering in this column today...and what's in this Bloomberg story should be no surprise, either. "Keep your fingers crossed but I think we will price this just before the market falls off a cliff," Michael Lamont, the group's co-head, said in a Feb. 8, 2007, e-mail about Deutsche Bank's Gemstone CDO VII Ltd., according to a report released yesterday by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The Frankfurt-based firm sold $700 million of the instruments, which lost most of their value within 17 months. The link is here.  Goldman Sachs Chief Blankfein Could Face Criminal Prosecution For Role In Financial CrisisHere's another man that richly deserves to be in jail for the rest of his life...just like Bernie Madoff. Goldman Sachs executives deceived clients in order to profit from the brewing financial crisis and then misled Congress when asked to explain their actions, concluded a top lawmaker who led a two-year investigation into Wall Street's role in the meltdown. Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, will recommend that Goldman executives who testified before his panel, including chairman and chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, be referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution, the Michigan Democrat announced Wednesday. This is a Huffington Post article that reader Roy Stephens sent my way...and the link is here.  Keiser Report: Banking XXXI don't usually post any videos involving Max Keiser, but Arizona reader Clay Hill sent me this 25:55 minute video which I'll make an exception for...especially considering the previous three stories that I posted. Max...and his sidekick, Stacy Herbert...take the major banks to task in his usual vitriolic and somewhat profane manner, and they're right on the money. That takes up the first half of the show. The second half is an interview with Jim Rickards...and for that reason as well, I'm posting this youtube.com video. The James Rickards interview, according to Clay, is pretty much vintage Rickards. The link to all this madness, which is well worth watching, is here. Jim has some very interesting comments on gold as well.  Fears grow over Greek debt default despite bail-outInvestors' flight from Greek government debt left 10-year bond yields at a new euro lifetime high of over 13pc and yields on two-year bonds at over 18pc, after Wolfgang Schaeuble said "additional steps" could be necessary if the European Central Bank concludes that the country's burden is unsustainable. It's obvious to me that the debt will have to be restructured...which is another way of saying that the bond holders are going to get some sort of haircut before this is all over. The story was posted late last night over at The Telegraph...and I thank Roy Stephens for sharing it with us. The link is here.  Will Silver Surge Following The Nationalization Of Bolivia's Silver Mines By Embattled President Evo Morales?There sure wasn't much in the way of interesting precious metals news yesterday. However, I did mention earlier in this column that a couple of silver miners got smacked pretty good...and it had nothing to do with anything they did. If you remember, I ran a story either yesterday or the day before about what Bolivia was up to with their new nature preservation scheme. Well, the word came down yesterday. The first item on this was sent around by reader U.D. yesterday...and is a piece that was posted over at zerohedge.com yesterday...and the above title is pretty much self-explanatory. The story is a must read from top to bottom...and the link is here.  |
| Posted: 14 Apr 2011 08:41 PM PDT  There sure wasn't much in the way of interesting precious metals news yesterday. However, I did mention earlier in this column that a couple of silver miners got smacked pretty good...and it had nothing to do with anything they did. If you remember, I ran a story either yesterday or the day before about what Bolivia was up to with their new nature preservation scheme. Well, the word came down yesterday. |
| Bolivian Protests Dent Silver Production Posted: 14 Apr 2011 08:41 PM PDT  The following Reuters story was posted over at theaureport.com website on Wednesday...and contains nothing about what was in the above zerohedge.com piece...because none of that news came out until Thursday. It's a short read...and worth your time as well. I thank Washington state reader S.A. for sharing it with us...and the link is here. |
| China Property Softening Fuels Gold Demand - JPMorgan Posted: 14 Apr 2011 08:41 PM PDT  And this story just in at 5:10 a.m. Eastern time...and I thank reader George Findlay for spotting this piece filed from Singapore earlier today...and posted over at the morningstar.co.uk website. "The slowdown in China's property market, being directed by Beijing to rein in housing affordability issues, is driving gold demand by the country's "mass affluent", argues JP Morgan's China equities and commodities MD Jing Ulrich." It's a very short must read...and the link is here. |
| Posted: 14 Apr 2011 07:45 PM PDT
Mercenary Links Roundup for Thursday, April 14th (below the jump).
04-14 Thursday
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