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- Does Breaking Up Yahoo Make Sense?
- 5 Dividend-Payers To Weather Economic Storms
- Can Barrick Continue To Dazzle?
- Dollar Stores Seem To Have Bright Futures
- The Richmond Fed Misses The Point On Moral Hazard
- Chart Book: GDXJ Close to Important Move
- Galluping Gold!
- The French Revolution (here we go again)
- Betting Against Buffett: Short Bank of America on the Rally
- Rearranging Gold and Silver ETFs
- Gold at $1,950 Within the Month Reaffirm UBS; JP Morgan $2,500 Year End Call Remains
- Gold Stocks Inch Closer to Major Breakout
- Op-Ed: Why it's time to end the SEC
- If you own these coins, the Secret Service could soon show up at your door
- Why gold is soaring again this morning
- China May Fight Inflation With Reserve Ratio Move – Bearish for Gold ?
- Gold, Silver, and ‘Leaky Buckets’
- Silver-New floor at $40?
- So, did Chavez ever get his gold?
- Palladium price lags gold
- Bouncing Markets
- Americans Choose Gold as the Best Long-Term Investment: Gallup Poll
- Gold, politics, and Venezuela: Alasdair Macleod
- Record prices spawn new wave of China gold bugs
- Golden leaf to lighten investment burden
- Silver may be better bet than gold
- Gold: Is a deep correction due?
- 3 Blogs from King World News
- Interview with GATA Chairman Bill Murphy: Part 2
- Valuation Gap Makes Gold Miners Attractive But All Miners Aren’t Created Equal
| Does Breaking Up Yahoo Make Sense? Posted: 30 Aug 2011 06:04 AM PDT Kryptonite submits: Valuing Yahoo (YHOO) on a sum-of-parts basis has been doing the rounds in the investment community for some time now. Late last year there was news floating around that AOL might team up with a private equity firm and make a bid for Yahoo. Buyout firms Silver Lake Partners and The Blackstone Group (BX) were a few of the interested parties, although no formal proposal was drawn. Doing a simple back-of-the-envelope sum-of-parts valuation for Yahoo reveals the following: Closing Price: $13.68 (8/29) 1. Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689): According to the latest 10-Q, Yahoo management estimates the value of its stake in Yahoo Japan to be around $7bn. 2. Alibaba(1688.HK): Yahoo holds 43% equity stake in Alibaba. This translates into an approximate value of its stake at around %5.3bn. Complete Story » |
| 5 Dividend-Payers To Weather Economic Storms Posted: 30 Aug 2011 06:03 AM PDT Many people are finding it difficult to invest amid all of the economic uncertainty. Gold prices seem to be rising every day, but buying near multi-year highs is never easy. Short selling can produce gains amid declines, but potential losses are unlimited if there's a rally. Buying options is a great way to minimize capital outlay and still have exposure, but the high volatility has made them expensive. Dividend stocks offer investors exposure to the market with a cash payoff over time. This cash payoff helps to reduce the investor's breakeven point, take money off the table, and generate an income in addition to just capital gains. And the combination of depressed equity prices and record corporate cash equates to a relatively safe investment for long-term investors. Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is a healthcare company that offers a strong 3.79% dividend yield and a stock that has risen more than 6% Complete Story » |
| Can Barrick Continue To Dazzle? Posted: 30 Aug 2011 05:23 AM PDT By CommodityHQ: by Jared Cummans Gold is a commodity that needs no introduction. The precious metal has not only grown in popularity, but also in price, boosting returns for those lucky enough to have long-term allocations to the elusive metal. Lately, however, gold has been topping headlines all around the world, as the metal continually breaks new highs. Investors were shocked to see gold burst through the $1,600 per ounce mark, and then again at $1,700. So by the time gold breached $1,900, investors have almost come to expect this metal to continue its meteoric run above and beyond $2,000 per ounce [see also The Ultimate Guide To Gold Investing]. When it comes time to make a gold allocation, however, investors have a wide variety of options. They can purchase futures, physically-backed ETFs, or the stocks of mining companies whose underlying revenues come from the exploration and extraction of the respective commodity. Complete Story » |
| Dollar Stores Seem To Have Bright Futures Posted: 30 Aug 2011 05:11 AM PDT By Wall Street Strategies: By Brian Sozzi Another one of the nation's gigantic dollar store chains has served up a piece of humble pie for those economic bulls. When dissecting the latest earnings report from Dollar General (DG) -- specifically the 5.9% same-store sales gain -- it's apparent the new underclass of America is not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, the psychological shock from the 2008 financial crisis continues to lure in many households for periodic dollar store shopping trips, instead of the once normal fill-in visits. I think it's important to have exposure to best in breed in a sector that stands to benefit greatly over the next 10 years from macro themes such as food stamp usage, baby boomer retirement, etc. Why you have to be Invested in the sector: Long-term: Continued rise in the use of food stamps (45.8 million people on them in Complete Story » |
| The Richmond Fed Misses The Point On Moral Hazard Posted: 30 Aug 2011 05:09 AM PDT By Karl Denninger: This article from the Richmond Fed is well worth a read:
Indeed. At least Richmond has identified the decades-long problem, and not tried to pin this on the last couple of years. In fact, the modern era of "too big to fail" began with Continental Illinois. Why? Remember, the FDIC exists to protect depositors. But it has no "or else" in its governing laws, just as the Fed doesn't. As a consequence it is free to liberally interpret its mandate -- and Complete Story » |
| Chart Book: GDXJ Close to Important Move Posted: 30 Aug 2011 05:05 AM PDT On the bid for two of our Vulture Bargain Issues. From the "Something to Look For Department," we are watching the action in the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index or GDXJ closely (well, as closely as one can while vacationing). Just below is the short term chart for it.
It seems the "Little Guy" index is inching up close to where a breakout of sorts could be possible. As we write about mid-day on Tuesday, the GDXJ is actually attempting to nose up above the 200-day moving average. What we will be watching for is how it reacts once it clears about $38.50. That is, of course, if it does. With the HUI hanging in just under a break out of its own near 600, the stage is set for a breakout surge higher. At this point in the consolidation for the GDXJ it would be rather disappointing to see it fail at implied resistance of roughly $38.25. For now we mark very staunch support with a $31 handle and known heavy resistance at between $39 and $42. In order for the GDXJ to challenge that heavy resistance, however, it first has to get above that implied resistance line near $38. That's why we think it is something to keep an eye on just ahead, so we will. On another note, we have gotten a rather large number of comments about two of our Vulture Bargain issues, Riverstone Resources (RVS.V or RVREF) and Northern Tiger Resources (NTR.V or NTGSF). We believe both to be under modest selling pressure today but we know of no reason either company should be. We did check in with management and just to answer those inquiries and to do so in a way that is unmistakable in its intent: Right, wrong, win or lose, we are on or just under the bid for both today, Tuesday, August 30, 2011. We view Riverstone at $0.46 or better and Northern Tiger at $0.38 or better as fairly tasty road-kill-style-bargain prices. We hope we are clear on that. Of course everyone needs to make up their own minds about such things and trade as they see fit. We see it as a time for some "tank topping." We'll see if that ends up being wise or foolish in the fullness of time! That is all for now. We are going back to our vacationing, but we will be watching and checking in from time to time over the next days, so don't be a stranger. |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2011 04:38 AM PDT 1-in-3 Americans say they think gold is best long-term? BullionVault doesn't buy it... |
| The French Revolution (here we go again) Posted: 30 Aug 2011 04:12 AM PDT The lovely Miss Puddy accompanied me to France this past June. We went to Normandy for a conference and then onto Paris for a week. Our daughter and her boyfriend met us in Paris and we encamped in an apartment one block NE of the Louvre. One day we all went to Versailles and toured the palace and the grounds. I tried to explain how it all came to be to my daughter. I showed her where the peasants stormed the palace and entered the queen's bedroom. Can you imagine what the starving peasants of Paris must have thought upon seeing the excesses at the palace of Versailles? How exactly do you explain how one of the greatest powers in the world at the time arrived at that point? A rich aristocracy living in the most lavish of circumstances while the general population starved... Read |
| Betting Against Buffett: Short Bank of America on the Rally Posted: 30 Aug 2011 04:01 AM PDT Many might gasp at the audacity of betting against one of the world's wealthiest and most successful investors, but I think the recent rally in Bank of America (BAC) provides an excellent opportunity to short the stock. I am not necessarily saying that the "Sage of Omaha" made a poor investment, after all he [...] |
| Rearranging Gold and Silver ETFs Posted: 30 Aug 2011 03:15 AM PDT |
| Gold at $1,950 Within the Month Reaffirm UBS; JP Morgan $2,500 Year End Call Remains Posted: 30 Aug 2011 02:42 AM PDT |
| Gold Stocks Inch Closer to Major Breakout Posted: 30 Aug 2011 01:55 AM PDT |
| Op-Ed: Why it's time to end the SEC Posted: 30 Aug 2011 01:26 AM PDT From Bloomberg: |
| If you own these coins, the Secret Service could soon show up at your door Posted: 30 Aug 2011 01:16 AM PDT From SHTFplan: You may remember Bernard von NotHaus, purveyor of the gold/silver backed "Liberty Dollar," who was convicted of making, possessing, and selling his own coins, as well as conspiracy against the United States. The lead attorney on the case made it a point to refer to Mr. NotHaus' dealing as a special form of domestic terrorism. Since the coins NotHaus was selling have been deemed to violate Federal counterfeiting statutes, they are now considered contraband by the U.S. Attorney and Secret Service. Coin World explains: Liberty Dollars held by collectors may be subject to seizure as contraband by federal law enforcement, officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office and Secret Service said Aug. 24. Statements by officials for those two federal law enforcement agencies seem to reverse the position taken in comments released from the United States Attorney's Office in Charlotte, N.C., and published in Coin World in April, that mere possession of Liberty Dollars did not constitute a violation of any federal statute. That position has apparently changed... Read full article... More government insanity: A disturbing gov't trend you need to know about now Porter Stansberry: Three terrible lies you need to know about gold One man stands between Obama and another outrageous "bailout" for corrupt banks |
| Why gold is soaring again this morning Posted: 30 Aug 2011 01:06 AM PDT From Zero Hedge: Who would think that all it takes for gold to surge by $40 in under an hour is for the Fed to resume the old song and dance? Yet, that is precisely what happened... Ever since Chicago Fed president Evans sat down with Steve Liesman to discuss that he would be in favor of more easing, and saying he believes in "room for accommodation" and that we "still need to do more on monetary policy," gold soared from under $1,790 to over $1,830. And he confirmed that gold will go far higher is his statement that "Fed policy was not a driver of the commodity price surge." In other words... Read full article... More on gold: Three terrible lies you need to know about gold These stocks could predict the next big move in gold This could be the most important gold story of the year |
| China May Fight Inflation With Reserve Ratio Move – Bearish for Gold ? Posted: 30 Aug 2011 12:43 AM PDT |
| Gold, Silver, and ‘Leaky Buckets’ Posted: 29 Aug 2011 11:49 PM PDT Gold, Silver, and 'Leaky Buckets' August 19th, 2011 • Related • Filed Under Attachment 10212 Originally Posted at BullionBullsCanada.com. To those of us who have "found" precious metals, their (financially) life-saving properties are blatantly apparent. Indeed, apart from explaining the 5,000 year heritage of gold and silver as premier financial assets in our civilization, most of the arguments in favor of gold and and silver are straightforward, simple arithmetic. Because of this reality, one of the great frustrations for all precious metals bulls are the thankless (and generally fruitless) efforts we make to try to enlighten friends/relatives/associates. The pattern of such attempts is maddeningly similar. Some friend or loved one mentions how "inflation" is hurting them financially. So the gold/silver bull begins to explain what inflation really is, who is causing it, and how it is done. So far, so good. However, as soon as we move on to explain how we protect ourselves from this "inflation" (i.e. through accumulating gold and/or silver), a subtle metamorphosis inevitably takes place with our subject. A bland/placid expression creeps over their face, and is frozen into their features. Through years of experience with this phenomenon, I know exactly what that expression translates to in terms of the person's thoughts: "I'm trapped with this dangerous lunatic. How can I escape?" At that point, any attempt at "conversion" becomes purely an exercise in futility. After each such failure, I inevitably review the process which has taken place, and ask myself where I could have gone wrong. The reality, of course, is that the fault does not lie with ourselves, nor with the individual whom we have failed to convince. Rather, the "blame" belongs to the propaganda machine of the bankers, which for the past century has blared out one message above all others: paper currency = money = wealth. It is the fact that this simple, but totally erroneous equation is embedded in the "programming" of most of us which prevents the precious metals message of financial salvation from penetrating the psyche of those so afflicted. Thus, the initial step in being able to re-program the minds of these propaganda victims is to de-program them first. It starts with repudiating the bankers' odious "equation" (above). First of all, paper currency does not equal "money". This is actually an entire discussion in itself. I could abbreviate it by listing the four qualities which all "good money" must possess. However, without expanding on the reasoning behind those traits, such mere assertions will not sway the brainwashed mind. Readers can review my own previous discussion on this, or the many similar efforts of other commentators, however the conclusion is unequivocal: paper currency is not money. Now let's examine the third element in this propaganda-chain: wealth. The more cumbersome way to refute this equality/equivalence would be to explain why paper currency does not equal wealth. However, the better way to do this would be to simply point out the basic difference in the properties of these three elements. Paper currency is tangible. Money is tangible. Wealth is intangible. This can be easily demonstrated anecdotally. Many people (including myself) often go days at a time carrying out all of our commercial transactions without ever once using "money". Thanks to the credit card (which is simply an electronic cheque-book), we no longer need money to convey our wealth to a vendor to make a purchase. It can all be done electronically because of the intangible nature of our wealth. In similar terms, if we get up in the morning to discover that interest rates have been raised or lowered, this immediately affects property values – and the wealth of each/every property owner. Our properties have not changed in any way. We have not done anything ourselves. However, our level of wealth has gone up (or down). In fact, countless exogenous events affect our precise level of wealth at any given moment. Clearly, if wealth was not intangible than its exact level at any moment in time would not be so fluid. Our equity markets leap higher or plunge lower (affecting the wealth of any/every equities-holder) often based only on "sentiment" or "expectations" – purely intangible drivers themselves. Obviously anything which can be altered by mere attitudes is intangible. As with any "intangible" (in our material world), we often find it helpful to adopt a (tangible) metaphor to allow us to have a better conceptual grasp. In the case of wealth, the obvious metaphor is a liquid. Indeed, the very frequent use of the term "liquidity" as a synonym for wealth is proof of such suitability. Once we have conceptualized wealth as a "liquid", then it becomes equally simple to conceptualize "money" and "paper currency" within the same metaphor. They are containers for this liquid. Now let us make our metaphor even more tangible and precise. Instead of "money", let us divide this into two "containers": gold and silver – the best/most-preferred forms of money in the history of our species. And instead of "paper currency", let's call that container "U.S. dollar". Finally, let's simply refer to these containers as "buckets". We now have a very specific metaphor, and a very clear choice for each of us. We each have our own quantity of liquid (wealth), and we can store/hold that liquid in the "gold" bucket, the "silver" bucket, or the "U.S. dollar" bucket. Now let's examine the quality of each bucket. Why have gold and silver been the preferred forms of money for our species for 5,000 years? Because they perfectly preserve (i.e. contain) the wealth of the holder. Look back 2,000 years to ancient Rome, and a stylish Roman could adorn himself in the finest toga, sandals and accessories for the cost of 1 oz of gold. Flash ahead to today, and any gentleman could obtain a top-quality suit, shoes and accessories for the cost of 1 oz of gold. Clearly, the gold bucket does not leak. Now let's look at the U.S. dollar bucket. In the less than 100 years since the creation of the odious Federal Reserve, the U.S. dollar has lost approximately 98% of its value. Obviously the U.S. dollar bucket does leak. Hold your liquid in the U.S. dollar bucket long enough and you will lose all of it. A (literal) "Devil's Advocate" would argue that a bucket which takes nearly 100 years to lose all of its liquid is "good enough". The rebuttal to this is as frightening as it is simple. In the 40 years since Nixon severed the last connection between the U.S. dollar and gold, the dollar has lost more than 75% of its value. In other words, the hole in the bucket has gotten much larger. Today, as the price of food soars, and the price of gas soars, and the price of gold soars, and the price of silver soars none of these items have changed in any way, rather it is the value of the U.S. dollar which is plummeting. The hole in the bucket is rapidly getting larger. Throughout history, all paper currencies which have not been backed by gold or silver (i.e. "fiat currencies") have failed. The most common means of failure is through the destruction of these paper currencies via hyperinflation: the value of the currency plummeting to zero. We can describe "hyperinflation" in our metaphor very easily: it's when the entire bottom of the U.S. dollar bucket has disappeared. Liquid (i.e. wealth) pours out the bottom as fast as we can funnel it in. Looking at the first two buckets provides us with a crystal-clear picture. We have the gold bucket which never leaks. Not in 100 years, not in thousands of years. We have the U.S. dollar bucket. Not only does this bucket "leak", guaranteeing the loss of all liquid/wealth over time, but the hole in the bottom is getting larger every day – and soon it won't be capable of holding any liquid at all. Given this stark illustration with just two buckets, some might presume that my inclusion of a silver bucket in this metaphor is redundant. However (as we shall see), the silver bucket is actually quite distinct from the gold bucket. Obviously the silver bucket is just as leak-proof as the gold bucket, but silver buckets cost much less. After decades of being impoverished by our own, elitist governments (primarily through storing our wealth in 'leaky buckets'), many people can no longer afford gold buckets – however virtually everyone can still afford silver buckets. This makes silver the "People's Bucket", a leak-proof container to store our "liquid" (wealth) which everyone can afford. However it gets even better. In continuing with our metaphor, we must all understand that the bankers have their own "Magic Bucket". How magical? Every drop of liquid which leaks out of the U.S. dollar bucket ends up in the bankers' Magic Bucket. That's pretty "magical"! It is because the bankers have their own Magic Bucket that they hate silver buckets with every fiber of their evil beings. For the last century, and especially the last 50 years the bankers have made a concerted effort to destroy all of the world's silver buckets. How? Through manipulating the price of silver to a ridiculous low (in real dollars, the price of silver hit a 600-year low in the 1990's), they simultaneously destroyed "supply" (by bankrupting more than 90% of the world's silver miners), while causing demand to explode. Global inventories and stockpiles have been obliterated. The result of this is that in relative terms there has not been this little silver in the world (above ground) in thousands of years. This is true both in relation to the quantity of gold and on a per capita basis. This means that in relation to gold buckets, silver buckets are now very rare – some might even call them "magical" too. Not only is silver a leak-proof bucket to carry our liquid (wealth) which is still affordable for the average person, but it has become extremely useful in countless industrial applications – meaning that "everyone" wants silver buckets. Because of this high scarcity and soaring demand, it is a matter of elementary supply/demand analysis that the price of silver must rise to many multiples of its current price. To translate this back to our metaphor, when we put liquid in our silver bucket, not only does the silver bucket prevent any leaks, but it actually increases the amount of liquid in our bucket. The silver bucket is also a Magic Bucket – but not an "evil" Magic Bucket like the one owned by the bankers. The bankers' liquid increases through leeching all of the liquid out of the U.S. dollar buckets, while the silver Magic Bucket increases the liquid of the holder without stealing any liquid from anyone else. Let us review (one last time) the three "buckets" we can choose from to store our liquid/wealth. We can choose the gold bucket, a leak-proof bucket guaranteed to hold every drop of our liquid over the long term. We can choose the U.S. dollar bucket: a leaky bucket, with a hole in the bottom that gets larger every day – and which is guaranteed to lose all the liquid contained over time. Lastly there are the silver "Magic Buckets". These marvelous devices not only ensure against leaks, but actually cause the liquid contained to increase in volume. The only down-side to these Magic Buckets? There is a very limited supply. It can be virtually impossible to explain to a brainwashed mind how/why U.S. dollars are just scraps of worthless paper – just as it was impossible to convince the Dutch 400 years ago that tulips were mere flowers. It can be equally difficult to explain the concept of "saving our money" (i.e. wealth) in the form of gold and/or silver – despite the fact that 100's of millions of Indian peasants understand it and have been doing it all their lives. Conversely, even the most brainwashed mind should still be capable of understanding the difference in "utility" between a 'leaky bucket' guaranteed to fail in its sole purpose, and buckets which have demonstrated themselves to be leak-proof over thousands of years. http://blog.ml-implode.com/2011/08/g...kets%E2%80%99/ |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2011 11:42 PM PDT Money, Banksters and August 2011 - The Coming Silver Revolution pakalertpress.com Stop! What is Money? The money that the world uses today is created by private banks lending non-existent money called credit. This credit has never, does not, and will never exist, except in theory on computer screens. People starve and die all because they do not have enough digits on a computer screen. All of this credit, created by the private banks, is owed back to those same banks, plus interest. By design, there is never enough credit in circulation to pay back all the principal plus interest on the loans outstanding, which is why the concept of bankruptcy is built into the system. Using the simple system above, banksters are given the ability to manipulate the world's economies into 'boom and bust' cycles. In essence, the only difference between a boom and a bust is the amount of credit in circulation, or, rather, the net amount of numbers on people's computer screens. Initially, banksters create a boom by increasing the supply of credit in the economy. During this boom period, individuals and businesses are encouraged to take on more debt as they are more confident of increasing their income in the future. All this extra credit in the system leads to moreactivity, which in turn creates more confidence in the system, with many getting into more debt. This boom is akin to a fishing trawler; the bankster throws out a credit line and waits, once the bait has been taken the bankster begins to wind in the credit by taking credit out of circulation, it's gone. The economy then moves into a slump or recession, simply because there are not enough units of credit in circulation. The banksters are then able to trawl from people the wealth that does exist, in exchange for money that never existed in the first place. [1] The whole economic system is all about the level of confidence that the population has in it . . . and that confidence all starts with the people and banks that run it. What we have seen so far in 2011, particularly in early August, is a string of increasingly negative statements about the worldwide economy, both in the media and from governments. There has been a rapid decline in the confidence levels of individuals and businesses in the system, and it appears that we could be only one or two negative statements away from a breaking point. As a friend of mine observed after the 2008 global financial crisis, "it will be like all the money suddenly went to money heaven." The following observations of events in August 2011 highlight the 'perfect storm' that is building: August 2nd: The US Congress signs into law the Budget Control Act of 2011 and in effect raises the Federal debt ceiling by up to $2.4tn. This essentially presents the Federal Reserve with a green light to monetize another round of Federal debt. August 3rd: An interview with former Fed officials, Donald Kohn, Vincent Reinhart and Brian Madigan, shows growing support for another round of quantitative easing, whereby central banks purchase financial assets from banks and other private sector businesses with newly created money (referred to more recently as "QE3"), if inflation comes down. August 5th: Credit rating agency, Standard & Poor, downgrades the long-term credit rating of the US government from AAA to AA+ for the first time in its history. This does not immediately halt the US Treasury's ability to borrow, but what it does do is downgrade the entire infrastructure of the fiat monetary system. Therefore, the lesser talked about but far more important consequence of the downgrade comes from the domino effect felt by the rest of the economy. US treasuries may be able to shake off the downgrade (for now), however the rest of the world's economy will not. As PIMCO puts it: "[the] U.S. Downgrade Heralds A New Financial Era". August 7th: Global money trends: Beijing Downgrades US-Treasury to A+ - Is Anybody Listening? August 7th: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, on NBC television's "Meet the Press", ruled out the chance of a US default following S&P's decision to downgrade America's credit rating: "The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default ... What I think the S&P thing did was to hit a nerve that there's something basically bad going on, and it's hit the self-esteem of the United States, the psyche" said Greenspan Greenspan then provides the Fed with the perfect alibi for the coming market collapse: It's Europe's fault. "[A double dip recession] depends on Europe, not the United States. The United States was actually doing relatively well - sluggish, but going forward - until Italy ran into trouble ... When Italy showed signs of significant weakness in selling its bonds ... it created a massive problem within Europe because Italy is a very large country that ... indeed cannot be bailed out... And that's what's causing our problem." August 8th: Peter Schiff responds to Alan Greenspan's remarks on "The Peter Schiff Show": "According to the illustrious maestro, there is nothing to worry about, the US Government should still be AAA because they can print money, well so can any country ... All they [rating agencies] should look at is the currency ... If simply having a printing press means that you're AAA, why do we even have rating agencies? ... This whole thing is absurd, when you are rating sovereign debt of course you are rating the dollar ... What is happening to the dollar today as a result of the S&P downgrade? it's rising, the dollar index is up ... it's not surging but the fact that its not collapsing is ridiculous ... now it is collapsing against real money though, look at the price of gold, it's up $40 ... Why is the price of gold up, but why are other currencies down? ... that's because of intervention, central banks in other countries in order to keep the S&P downgrade from killing the dollar and killing the treasury market they are intervening, they are throwing good money after bad, they are buying dollars and they are buying treasuries with money that they print ... but the one thing they cant print is gold." August 8th: Zerohedge: Here Comes TARP 2: Bank Of America Implodes, At $6.87, BAC CDS Up 20% To 260 bps As Bankruptcy Contemplated ... This has huge potential to be a Financial False Flag attack. Will the morgue make a power play? August 8th: Bloomberg: AAA Rated France May Be Vulnerable to Downgrade Following Cut to the U.S. August 9th: Zerohedge: S&P Cuts AAA Rating On Thousands Of Municipal Bonds. August 9th: US Federal Reserve chairman, the Bernank states he intends on keeping interest rates at zero for at least 2 years. As Max Keiser broke it down: "This is a form of financial oppression, and I would go so far as to call it financial apartheid. If you are part of the elite you get to borrow money at -2%, if you are borrowing money on a credit card you are borrowing money at 35% or 40% or higher, guaranteed to impoverish you ... They are creating, through financial apartheid, a financial underclass. Keeping interest rates at 0% is the key. They are getting away with incredible fraud and confiscation of wealth and plunder. The [way this] negative real interest rate story relates to gold is very interesting, because [people equate] the negative real interest rates with deflation and they equate deflation with an environment that is poor for gold. Historically, however, negative real interest rates or 'deflation' are actually the best time to be buying gold ... So gold is [increasing] in either deflation (which is really another word for hyperinflation), hyperinflation or inflation ... So there is really a no lose situation. There's no top on gold, because there is no amount of destruction that one can imagine won't visit the fiat currencies around the world because the fiat currency grid is going to go the way of the dodo ... There is no top on gold, $10,000/oz for gold, yeh of course, it could go a lot higher because fiat currencies are going to zero ... It has run it's course, it's finished, it's over, the 25 year paper bull market is finished" The Bernank has also stated that officials have "discussed the range of policy tools" to strengthen growth and are "prepared to employ these tools as appropriate." These statements clearly leave the door open for further asset purchases and investors are now looking towards the Bernank's comments at Jackson Hole on August 26th for the launch of QE3. August 11th: Azizonomics: Europe Bans Shorts (Backside Now Exposed) - 'Belgium, France, Italy and Spain override European regulation to impose 15-day short selling bans on their markets. While there are huge black holes of debt slowly sucking those nations' good faith and credit into the mists of the universe, regulators seem to have forgotten that imposing short selling bans didn't prevent a crash in September 2008. August 12th: Zerohedge: Liquidity Options Running Out For European Banks - "Liquidity Crisis Scene Set" August 12th: Zerohedge: Guest Post: Consumers Are Confident Of Recession August 14th: Zerohedge: Italy Is The New Greece, As Strikes Shift From Syntagma Square To Rome This series of somewhat unfortunate events carries a simple message to the banksters of the world: Money is being removed from circulation. What we are likely to see from banksters in response to all this, is a 'smoke and mirrors' campaign to allow them to hand out more money to their bankster friends. Since European liquidity is clearly the focus of banksters at the moment, the Fed will remain silent as the European Central Bank ("ECB") and the Bank of England ("BOE") expand their balance sheets. As 'sh*t hits the fan (SHTF)' the American banksters will focus everyone's attention firmly on Europe. Once the US markets have deflated enough for the Bernank to declare deflation to be a huge risk, the Fed will be given the go ahead to launch QE3. The popular belief amongst financial analysts is that the Bernank will announce the Fed's intentions for QE3 at Jackson Hole on August 26, 2011. As central bankers appear to like being very predictable, a JHole announcement of the Bernank's intentions to print is very possible. I would speculate that, in order for the Bernank to gather support for QE3, we would need to see markets deflate a long way from here until the announcement. Unlike the announcement of "QE2" in August of 2010, QE3 will only be instituted amongst a panic to which we haven't seen since the first round of monetary printing in 2008. Remember, it's just a ride... What is clear is that the world monetary system is just a game. If you know how the world monetary system works, you know the game that you are playing ... and if you know the game and the rules you're playing by, you can prepare for, and even benefit from, any future moves by banksters. I would strongly argue that the decade-long bull market we have seen in precious metals is only the first phase of what will be an explosion in the price of these precious metals. Phase 1 of this bull market has seen a huge acceleration in the value of gold and silver as alternative media has awoken to their huge potential and begun spreading that message. We saw the fruition of Phase 1 in November of 2010, when Max Keiser launched his "Crash JP Morgan, Buy Silver" campaign, a direct plan of action to bring down the banking cartel. Phase 2 will begin when the critical mass of the world's population heads that message and loses faith in fiat currency. When this happens, there will be a rapid push towards decentralizing the monetary system of the world and the bull market in gold and silver will accelerate at an unprecedented level. It is a bull market in dissent, a bull market which stems from societal revolution. This may well happen sooner than you think. Lets take a look back to Max Keiser's article in The Guardian from December 2010 where he introduced many to his Crash JP Morgan Buy Silver campaign: Want JP Morgan to crash? Buy silver "Over the past 11 years, the Gata (Gold Anti-Trust Action) committee has worked to reveal the silver/gold price suppression scheme; thanks to whistleblower Andrew Maguire in London, an investigation has been opened. As part of the ongoing expose, it has now become clear that JP Morgan is sitting on what is estimated to be 3.3bn ounce "short" position in silver (which they have sold short, meaning they don't own it to begin with) in an attempt to keep the price artificially low in order to keep the relative appeal of the dollar and other fiat currencies high. The potential liability for JP Morgan has been an open secret for a few years. On my show, Keiser Report, I recently invited Michael Krieger, a regular contributor of Zero Hedge (the WikiLeaks of finance). We posited that if 5% of the world's population each bought a one-ounce coin of silver, JP Morgan would be forced to cover their shorts - an estimated $1.5tn liability - against their market capital of $150bn, and the company would therefore go bankrupt. A few days later, I suggested on the Alex Jones show that he launch a "Google bomb" with the key phrase 'crash jp morgan buy silver'. Here's how the campaign works: wealth tied to a fiat currency is easily overwhelmed by wealth tied to silver and gold. And the world is waking up to the fact that they have the ability, without government assistance or other interference, to create a new precious metals-based backed currency system by simply converting their fiat paper into real money. This campaign has 100% chance of working; it falls into the category of a self-fulfilling prophecy. As more individuals buy silver and gold, all attempts to replenish the system with more paper money will only cause the purchasing power of the silver and gold to increase - thus prompting more people to buy more. Any attempts to bail out JP Morgan would have the same effect. If the US Fed was to flood the system with bailout money for JP Morgan to cover their silver short position (as they did after the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management), more inflation will ensue and the price of silver and gold will rise more, triggering more purchases. A virtuous circle is born. If anyone is interested in helping to crash JP Morgan, buy silver. In the end, it's about transferring wealth back to the people from where it came." Since Keiser shared this campaign with the world, the "Crash JP Morgan, Buy Silver" campaign has gone viral. Despite several heated attacks on silver in the first half of 2011, which saw the price of Silver drop from near its record high of $50 back to $35 in just a matter of days, it is clear that the banksters can not kill an idea, and purchases of physical silver have increased to never before seen levels. Physical silver is now back in the firm hands of the people, including decentralized groups such as the Silver Liberation Army ("SLA"). Businessweek (22 June 2011): Silver-Coin Sales Booming at Perth Mint on Demand for Haven -'That's 66 percent higher than the previous full fiscal year and about 10-fold more than five years earlier. Sales of 1- ounce gold coins will be close to a record, he said.' Zerohedge (7 July 2011): UK Royal Mint Silver Production Surges 100% - Sovereign Edward Supply Tight but Bullion Premiums Low - 'The U.K.'s Royal Mint said that first-half silver production in 2011 doubled, while gold production climbed 8.9% over 2010 levels.' Bix Weir on silver (9 August 2011): "The main battles for the banksters are in the silver markets and they are doing absolutely everything they can to project to the world that silver is not the place to be, silver is not a monetary metal and silver is not a safe haven.. but we know that is complete bull**** ... banksters are trying their best to protect silver, and not gold ... silver is the metal that can destroy the entire monetary system .. taking out JP Morgan would start a crash in the derivatives market that is unrecoverable ... and that's where all their power is going to protect the silver market so people don't rush in and buy physical silver." JP Morgue will no doubt continue to manipulate markets and keep the silver price down. This is whyphysical silver holders must knowingly sit tight and play the waiting game. While the manipulation still persists, the silver markets will remain extremely volatile. Take this as your opportunity to "buy the f-ing dip (BTFD)". If you are patient, one day you will be rewarded. The day when JP Morgan completely loses control of its short position in silver and the physical price of silver decouples from the paper price will be one to remember. For the vigilante investors out there, why not short JP Morgan's stock? The lower JPM's stock price goes, the lower their market cap becomes...the lower their market cap becomes, the larger their liabilities become in relation. Another exciting possibility for the near future is the play Max Keiser has dubbed 'The Reverse Nixon' and the 'Golden Dream'. Imagine a world in which U.S. President Barack Obama were to pull a reverse Richard Nixon and put the U.S. back onto a gold standard against which it could devalue its debts. As Max Keiser puts it: "That's a genius idea ... that's exactly what is going to happen anyway ... Those who criticize this idea say there's not enough gold ... but there's something called the price discovery mechanism.. markets reflect supply and demand.. If you have 600 trillion of worthless derivatives, some of that is going to end up being repurposed as a gold standard at $20-25-30,000 an ounce ... that's just the way markets work - accept market driven capitalism or go home." The world monetary system is just a game; a game that is about to embark on a giant shift in direction. The events of August, 2011 should be a wake-up call for many. However, like everything in life, don't take my word for it - go out and do your own research and be ready to make your own moves. The monetary revolution will not be televised. The paradigm shift towards decentralized monetary systems is in progress. ¡Viva la Revolución! If you like this article then why not send SilverRRevolución a bitcoin tip @ 19hfbeNHSx5HhuQ3L3QjSfKuNK​VrN2TMUZ www.pakalertpress.com |
| So, did Chavez ever get his gold? Posted: 29 Aug 2011 10:42 PM PDT I haven't seen any resulting draw down in COMEX inventory, nor any other exchange's draw down to correspond with an amount promised to Chavez. Has he gotten his gold yet? Or, was the apparent overnight victory of the "rebels" in Libya a nefarious sign that Chavez's gold is being moved directly out of that country? It's odd that there's been no more news about the Chavez gold situation, and no resulting draw down to correspond with Chavez's demands. |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:45 PM PDT Unlike gold, which has rallied recently, the price of palladium has underperformed other precious metals over the past few months. Although palladium wsa one of the best performing commodities last ... |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:27 PM PDT The markets bounce up and down with little direction past a day or two because there is no confidence and any news can trigger buying or selling. Dow Jones Industrial Average: Closed at 11284.54 +134.72 after bouncing all over during the session on bad European news and more positive news from Bernanke at the Jackson Hold Economic Conference. Larger funds and senior trading managers are spinning the FOMC tune to prop stocks, which got dangerously near a selling slide on numerous bad news reports over the past several days. The charts are saying we have a continuation triangle (large) with stronger volume and PMO momentum basing for a rally. The Dow dropped from a recent high at 12750 resistance to a major cycle low of near 10650. Support is 11250 and resistance is now 11375 on the 20-day moving average. Expect a buy Monday, which could begin slowly or take right off into the beginnings of the new fall stock rallies. We might see sideways chop for a few more days but the new and primary trend is up. S&P 500 Index: Closed at 1176.80 +17.53 with a triangle, volume and momentum similar to the positive Dow. Volume was a touch off the 50 day average but close enough to signal positive moves next week. Like the Dow, the S&P 500 close was on an up-bar forecasting Monday buying. Resistance is the 20-day average at 1190 and support is 1175-1165 on the price. On the annual cycles, the summer doldrums and selling is about over. We can expect a stronger fall rally to begin near 8-31 or, after Labor Day on 9-6-11. S&P 100 Index: Closed at 531.51 +6.69 with similar positive trading patterns like the Dow and S&P 500. Volume was about 95% of normal and we expect this index to move smartly to the upside after Labor Day for the most part. The funds and big brokers moving these stocks are slow to return from holiday. Consequently, this index will trail the trading of the others. The 100 Index trades less but with bigger positions held much longer. Resistance is 536.79 on the 20-day average. Look for that price on Monday. Thereafter, we see 540-545 as the next leg higher. Expect buying next week. Nasdaq 100 Index: Closed at 2161.97 +53.76 on based and turning-up momentum and 90% of normal volume. Resistance is 2171.43 on the 20-day average and support is 2150 on price. It is important to note this index has a more bullish pattern than the others. Also, as the leader of all indexes, this tells us the bull is ready to run. Further, this chart unlike the others has a very strong double bottom in the second and third week of August. An Apple retirement announcement first worried this market. Then the reality of Steve Jobs still staying on and being around as Chairman and a Director alleviated fears. Tim Cook, the new CEO and President will take over the daily strain of those positions leaving Jobs more time to plan and think, which could be even better for Apple. These moves underpinned the whole sector and it went into a heavier buying mode. Expect more buying on Monday. 30-Year Bonds: Closed at 138.16 +0.59 as bonds are near to peaking on both price patterns and momentum. Resistance is 138.50 and support is 137.50. The price peaked at 140.00+ and is now showing potential for a top in a head and shoulders standard pattern. This market remains very unstable due to manipulation and other related problems overseas. The new congressional credit committee "Gang of Twelve" is merely window dressing to cover a host of very dire problems. Look for selling moving into next week with a forecast drop to 135.00 over the next few days moving into the holiday. We would not recommend owning any bonds and would not trade this terribly manipulated market. Trend following is almost impossible for anyone except for big funds with deep pockets and super fast and professional day traders. There are other more stable markets to trade and invest. The new trend is toppy, toward down. GDXJ Junior Gold Miners And XAU: The XAU closed at 215.94 +5.01 on a new gold recovery rally. Momentum has turned- up and the very accurate metal to shares ratio has double bottomed for the next rally. The price bar patterned a higher close signaling buying of shares next week. The GDXJ volume is normal and the momentum remains sideways in preparation for the next up moves. GDXJ moving averages are all clustered at 35.50 or so and the GDXJ closing price is slightly above all of them at 35.91 showing us very strong price support. Look for buying next week but the rate of increase will be gradual. After the holiday, momentum should pick-up and go faster especially in silver stocks, which are beaten down. Gold: Closed at 1825.80 +55.90 in the regular session and in the after hours Friday trading is 1831.70. New cash support is 1822.50 with resistance at 1826.50. After the huge rally and sell-off of the past few days traders were shaken and set to wondering. We knew this volatility was coming and warned it would happen. In fact the trading ranges will be going wider as the futures margin is now $7625. Expect higher margins to come as volatility and price both increase quite a bit. On the cycles and time, we can remain in chop with an up bias until after Labor Day but the longer trend remains up. Major support is 1807 and resistance is 1848.50. During the next few days I am revising all of my technical gold forecasts to cope with the beginnings of an apparent runaway market. More buying next week but we have no idea what this hurricane could potentially do to NYC traders and investors and how gold might react. Play defense the next few days but stay long with stops. Silver: Closed at 41.26 +0.22 with after hours trading at 41.78. Support is 40.48 and resistance is 41.85. Once the price decisively passes through 41.85 and holds, we can see $44-$45 very quickly followed by a run to $48.85 very heavy resistance. September is the hottest month of the year for silver. Silver has been lagging gold the past few weeks since the selling event from $48-$49 back to $33.00. After being over bought, silver was oversold and is ready to make-up for lost time. If this market can get enough buying tailwind, we can see the next major price assault on $51.00 with a potential breakout to $59.85 resistance. The price of $53.38 is a maximum Fibonacci Retracement from the near by $33 lows. Watch for price to halt and stumble between $48.50 and $53.38 and then breakout next month or by November 15th (nearby), when the December metals options expire in the last quarter. September on the cycles is the annual big-time silver fun month. US Dollar: Closed at 73.74 -0.49 and is on pace to keep selling very gradually. The Dollar is in a race to the bottom with the Euro. The Euro is weaker but the charts, price and close do not show this as yet with the Euro closing today at 144.91. The dollar on the other hand fell under 74.00 support, which is now resistance. Price fell under all moving averages. However, the dollar has very strong support at 73.50 as shown by three recent touches. The pattern is being squeezed in a falling bearish triangle. Soon we hit the apex and we think the dollar supports and recovers a little along with a selling Euro sinking back toward 140.00 major support. Reading between the lines of the Bernanke speech, we see more stealth QE3 ( it began June 31) and dilution of our US Dollar and bonds. The big banks are overloaded with cash from Europe as folks flee the Euro we think is going under. This embarrassment of riches (too many dollars) is creating problems for U.S. banks. Surprisingly, some banks are charging fees for putting dollars into their banks. They have to cover with FDIC insurance fees and they have no good place to park it safely. Crude Oil: Closed at 85.48 +0.51 with bottom based momentum finally turning up. Oil has a continuation triangle, which we think is followed by a higher price breakout next week or after the holiday. Resistance is 87.00 and support is 84.50. The trading range is 84.50 to 88.50. We are expecting a crude oil rally all the way to January 1, 2012. Our minimum price range is $117-$120 and Goldman Sachs forecasts $130. Much of this will be due to inflation and higher Asian demands from China. Expect sideways trading with an up bias next week. After the holiday, the longer up trend begins in earnest. CRB Index: Closed at 335.25 +3.18 as the close and most moving averages are clustered together in rising prices. Momentum has produced a bull triple bottom. As we say, normally the third try at higher prices and momentum will show us the breakout. This is lining-up for next week or just after 9-6-11. Support is 332.31 on the 200-day average. Resistance is 336.43 on the 50-day average. Gold and grains along with some softs remain in stronger bullish modes. Oil is about 5-10 trading days behind but is bending toward the buy side. Watch for a new crude oil and energy breakout within the next 10 trading days pulling-up the CRB toward resistance at 340 first followed by 350. –Traderrog         This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Americans Choose Gold as the Best Long-Term Investment: Gallup Poll Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT ¤ Yesterday in Gold and SilverGold spiked up the moment that trading began at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday evening in the New York Access Market...but there was a seller there immediately to bash the price down...and by 9:00 a.m. Hong Kong time in their Monday morning, the price was down a bit over $30 from its high opening tick. From there, the gold price recovered back to around $1,825 spot...and then gently drifted down about $10 until the bullion banks pulled the rug out from under the price shortly before the equity markets opened at 9:30 a.m. in New York. The subsequent $25 price rally got capped shortly after 11:00 a.m. Eastern...and the gold price was back below $1,800 the ounce in pretty short order. The absolute low of the day came in the thinly-traded electronic market at 3:30 p.m. right on the button. The price recovered a bit from there, but was still down $40.60 on the day. Needless to say, the gold price would have done a lot better than this if JPMorgan et al weren't dicking with the price again. For a Monday, volume was pretty light...relatively speaking.
Silver spiked up pretty good on Sunday night as well, but the same not-for-profit seller was waiting for that, too...and from 9:00 a.m. Hong Kong time onward, silver spent most of the time within a dime or so of $21.15 spot. Then at 9:25 a.m. in New York, the bid disappeared...and silver cratered 80 cents in about fifteen minutes before either the selling stopped, or a buyer appeared. The subsequent rally made it back to about $40.93 spot...and silver then got sold off to its absolute low of the day of $40.20 spot around 2:15 p.m...before recovering strongly into the close. Silver finished down 'only' 62 cents on the day, but would have obviously finished well into the black if the '8 or less' bullion banks hadn't pulled their bids when they did. Volume, net of all roll overs out of the September contract, was extremely light...so 'da boyz' didn't have to work too hard to run the price down the way they did.
As always, here's the dollar chart right from the open in Sunday night in New York...and it's for entertainment purposes only. By the way, this is the last time I'll show the daily dollar chart in this column, as it has become apparent [at least to me] that the precious metal prices are acting independently of it, or any other fiat currency. I may throw it in from time to time if there's something worth noting...but that's the only time.
With gold and silver prices shoved off a cliff shortly before the open...courtesy of the U.S. bullion banks...it was no surprise that their associated equities got hit for a bit over 2% at the beginning of trading. The bottom was in when the gold price hit its 10:15 a.m. low...and by shortly after 11:00 a.m. the HUI was back in the black...and managed to stay there until well into the New York lunch hour, before finally sagging a bit as the afternoon wore on. You will note that the gold's absolute low of the day at 3:30 p.m. precisely, was not the low for the gold stocks. The HUI finished down only 0.81%.
As I've been saying since last Wednesday, the stocks are not confirming these daily lows in gold and silver prices. Someone is obviously 'buying the dip' with abandon. Some people call them the 'smart money'. I call it insider trading. And, as I said on Friday or Saturday, I'm not sure if this is a legitimate buyer that is going to sell them at a huge profit...or 'da boyz' who are going sell them into the next rally in order to cap buying enthusiasm as the gold and silver stocks attempt to break out to new highs. We'll find out the answer to that question soon enough, I would think. Considering that silver was hit for over 60 cents yesterday, the shares held their own just like the shares of their golden cousin. Nick Laird's Silver Sentiment Index was up 2.04%...which isn't too shabby at all.
(Click on image to enlarge) The CME's Daily Delivery Report showed that 157 gold, along with the last silver contract for August, were posted for delivery tomorrow. In gold, Jefferies and MF Global were the two big shorts/issuers [135 contracts between the two]...and the big stopper [130 contracts] was JPMorgan in its client account. The link to the action is here. The GLD ETF showed no changes yesterday...but over at SLV they reported adding 827,949 troy ounces of silver to their stash. Over at the Zürcher Kantonalbank for the week that was, they reported a withdrawal of 184,679 troy ounces out of their gold ETF...but their silver ETF showed an increase of 379,990 troy ounces. As usual, I thank reader Carl Loeb for these numbers. The U.S. Mint had a sales report yesterday. They sold another 3,500 ounces of gold eagles...2,000 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes...along with 400,000 silver eagles. Month-to-date the mint has sold 104,500 ounces of gold eagles...26,500 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes...an 3,389,500 silver eagles. I would think that the mint will have at least one more report before the end of August. I'm sure they ran the forklifts into the ground over at two of the Comex-approved depositories...Brink's, Inc. and Scotia Mocatta...on Friday. Between them, they reported receiving 1,581,998 ounces...and shipped 1,986,360 troy ounces of the stuff out the door, for a net decline of 404,362 ounces. The link to that action, is here. Here's a free snippet from silver analyst Ted Butler's weekly comments to his paying subscribers on Saturday..."From the COT report of August 2nd to the current report, the total commercial net short position [in gold] has been reduced by more than 57,000 contracts (5.7 million oz), as all three commercial categories bought short positions back aggressively. There should be no question that this commercial buying was the prime force behind the $300 surge in gold from August 1st thru the peak above $1,900. There should also be no question that the commercials uniformly panicked and took massive losses on their buybacks, as the technical funds and other longs cashed out at massive profits. This had never before happened in gold market history. The bottom line is that the buying back of commercial short COMEX gold contracts caused the price to explode. I believe the commercials also bought back another large chunk of short positions on the big gold price decline after the Tuesday cut-off. Make no mistake – whether the commercials are buying back on price rallies or declines, they are booking massive losses on the buyback. That has never occurred before." Here are a couple of nifty graphs that Nick Laird over at sharelynx.com sent me over the weekend. The first is the CME Gold Margin graph...showing all the margin hikes that have been put on gold since the start of 2009. I ran the silver graph on Saturday, I believe...and here's its gold equivalent.
(Click on image to enlarge) The second chart is the Yearly Tick Chart for gold...beginning in 1970, the year before Nixon closed the gold window. Note how the ticks keep getting bigger ever since the bull market began in 2001...and the 2011 year isn't over yet.
Since it's Tuesday, I have a lot of very worthwhile stories for you today which I hope you have the time to go through. It's obvious to both Ted and myself that the bullion banks are giving the gold and silver trees one last shake before the end of summer, hoping to cover more short positions in both metals. Record prices spawn new wave of China gold bugs. John Embry cites huge demand for real metal. Euro bailout in doubt as 'hysteria' sweeps Germany. I won't show you mine, if you won't show me yours! ¤ Critical ReadsSubscribeReal People Say "Screw You" To The MarketsHere's the first story of the day...and it's also your first absolute must read as well. This is Karl Denninger over market-ticker.org...and he's on a rant...and has every right to be. Don't even try to "invest" in this market folks, and if you decide to trade, realize that you're playing in a rigged casino and the entire force of the government is not only behind rigging the casino but explicitly endorses and permits the rigging to go on and continue, despite being fully-aware of it. Liquidity? None. This is the bid/offer stack in the S&P futures a few minutes into the trading day. Nobody is talking about this. That's 27 - twenty-seven contracts - on the bid at 1146.75. During the trading day. There's less than a thousand up and down the stack through the entire visible portion. This is a tiny fraction of normal liquidity and those sub-100 numbers are more-akin to what you expect in the middle of the night when everyone's sleeping! All that's left is the computers. The humans have gone home. True liquidity and participation has ended. The people have given up. This is not an isolated incident - as I write this I'm seeing it literally minute-by-minute, and it's been very common all month. A few minutes ago I saw seven contracts on the bid at the money. Seven - at 9:57 (ET) in the morning. This story was posted on his website on Friday morning shortly after the markets had opened for the day. As I said, this is an absolute must read...and the link is here.  It May Be 2008 All Over Again, But There Is One Key DifferenceI never steal more than a quote from Bill Buckler's be-weekly newsletter, The Privateer. But someone else stole more than that in this piece posted over at zerohedge.com...so I'm more than happy to post it here. The financial press has been inundated with articles comparing what is happening in global markets now to events in the latter part of 2008. Sure enough, the surge in Treasuries from 100 to 143 in the last two months of 2008 following the Lehman bankruptcy is most comparable to the move in the same security from 122 to 140 in the two months since the beginning of July 2011. But there is one key difference between 2008 and 2011. Bill Buckler, in the latest edition of The Privateer, demonstrates what it is... Fortunately, this must read piece is very short...and I thank Alberta reader B.E.O. for sending it along. The link is here.  Euro bailout in doubt as 'hysteria' sweeps GermanyGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer has enough coalition votes in the Bundestag to secure backing for Europe's revamped rescue machinery, threatening a constitutional crisis in Germany and a fresh eruption of the euro debt saga. Mrs. Merkel has cancelled a high-profile trip to Russia on September 7, the crucial day when the package goes to the Bundestag and the country's constitutional court rules on the legality of the EU's bail-out machinery. If the court rules that the €440bn rescue fund (EFSF) breaches Treaty law or undermines German fiscal sovereignty, it risks setting off an instant brushfire across monetary union. The seething discontent in Germany over Europe's debt crisis has spread to all the key institutions of the state. "Hysteria is sweeping Germany " said Klaus Regling, the EFSF's director. This Ambrose Evans-Pritchard offering showed up Sunday night over at The Telegraph...and it's well worth the read. I stole this from a GATA release...and the link is here.  Finland's demands for collateral could leave Greek bailout in ruinsIn July, Athens secured a second bailout package worth €109bn (£96bn), which involved "haircuts" for holders of Greek debt, and contributions from its eurozone neighbours. Both parts of that deal now look distinctly shaky. Finland, where the anti-European True Finns party scored well in recent elections, has demanded that Athens put up collateral against the Finnish share of the latest loan. Other small but angry nations, including Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, responded by saying that if Finland was getting collateral, they wanted some too. Eurozone finance ministers were discussing the issue this weekend; but the Finns appear reluctant to back down. Just another brick in the Eurozone wall. This story was posted in the Sunday edition of The Guardian...and is Roy Stephens first offering of the day. The link is here.  |
| Gold, politics, and Venezuela: Alasdair Macleod Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT  Economist and former banker Alasdair Macleod wrote yesterday that Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, seeking to repatriate his country's gold reserves, is attacking capitalism's weakest point. Macleod writes of Chavez: |
| Record prices spawn new wave of China gold bugs Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT  Record gold prices, rather than denting China's enthusiasm for bullion, have emboldened investors to plough more money into gold bars and riskier bullion-based derivatives. "The surge in prices has sparked another gold-buying craze. The 50 gram and 100 gram gold bars were selling like hot cakes," said Ms. Liu, a store manager at Shanghai's major jeweler Lao Feng Xiang Co Ltd, who said gold sales this month were up at least 30 percent from a year ago. The attitude of Chinese consumers -- expected to soon overtake Indians as the world's top buyers of gold -- will be an important influence on longer-term trends. |
| Golden leaf to lighten investment burden Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT  Consider this: In the last one year, gold prices in Mumbai have jumped from about Rs 19,000 per 10 grams to nearly Rs 27,000, a rise of 42%. Quite naturally those who were buying one or two grams of gold occasionally - which used to cost about Rs 2,000 or Rs 4,000 then-now have to shell out nearly Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000. Since the salaries have not jumped by as much, these investors now find it tough to stick to their plan of buying gold even in the smallest of denominations available in the market. Innovations in the bullion market are coming to address this loss of affordability. Wholesale bullion traders in Mumbai have come out with half-a-gram gold coins and some even with pieces of gold leaf that weigh as light as 100 milligram, that is 1/10th of a gram. |
| Silver may be better bet than gold Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT  Both gold and silver have made big moves higher so far this year, but silver's gains of more than 30% year to date are more impressive than gold's 25% climb and, likely, will continue to be. "Own gold and silver as soon as you can," Alex Cowie, editor of Diggers and Drillers, said in a recent report for Daily Reckoning Australia. But "I would choose silver over gold." This very short marketwatch.com piece was sent to me by reader Matthew Nel...and the link is here. |
| Gold: Is a deep correction due? Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT  If judged by the criteria of six years ago, Julian Phillips argues, then one could argue that it should be time to sell but, change has come to the gold market and things are not what they were. The conditions that have lifted gold from $275 to $1,900 continue to persist. The gold price is not about gold; it is about the bear market in currencies, the deteriorating confidence in the value of currencies, as well as developed world's government's ability to restore that confidence. As these factors point to more of the same, expect a continuation in the fall of currencies against gold and silver to levels deemed incredible by the developed markets of the world. |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT  I got these three blogs in quick succession from Eric yesterday, so I decided to post all the links under this one heading. The first is headlined "Ben Davies: Monetary Blunders & How it Will Impact Gold". The second is titled "Peter Schiff: Dollar Crisis to Intensify Gold and Silver Demand"...and the last one is from Richard Russell...and the headline reads "read more |
| Interview with GATA Chairman Bill Murphy: Part 2 Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT  On Saturday I posted Part One of this interview in my column...and the balance of the interview is now posted over at resourceclips.com...and the link is here. |
| Valuation Gap Makes Gold Miners Attractive But All Miners Aren’t Created Equal Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:16 PM PDT  Here's your long read of the day. It's a piece posted over at goldseek.com...and is by GATA's friend, Frank Holmes, CEO and Chief Investment Officer at U.S. Global Investors. One market trend that seems to be attracting more and more attention is the large performance gap between gold bullion and gold stocks. The price of gold bullion has increased roughly 28 percent in 2011, while the S&P/TSX Gold Index was down 1 percent as of last Monday. |
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