Gold World News Flash

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• Core Meltdown In Europe?
• Gold Tactics and Silver Set For Surge
• Platinum is Downright ?Cheap? Relative to ALL Other Precious Metals! Have You Any in Your Portfolio?
• Peter Schiff - Gold Resilient Despite Paulson Selling
• The Little Man
• First Wave Tax Selling Pressure Passed, Second Peak Ahead
• Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Slightly Higher
• The Collapse of Wall Cycle #6
• Corporate MEDIA Hidden Agenda & WTF China Builds New HAARP? Chase Hiring ex Military
• Gold bull has far to go, Agnico-Eagle's Sean Boyd tells King World News
• If Gold Price Closes Over $1,800 Two Days Running, Don't Wait Buy Fistfuls
• Agnico Eagle CEO: Gold Could Rise to Unimaginable Levels
• Truth SHOULD Be a High Duty of Central Banking, ex-Fed Governor Alan Blinder Says
• Congress Shocked To Find That Being CEO Of A Bankrupt Company Is The New Killing It
• Where Are The Pundits And Armchair Analysts When It Becomes Apparent That Apples Is Indeed Susceptible To Google's Android Onsla
• Where Are The Pundits And Armchair Analysts When It Becomes Apparent That Apples Is Indeed Susceptible To Google's Android Onsla
• Downward Mobility, Boomer Style
• Agnico Eagle CEO - Gold Could Rise to Unimaginable Levels
• Gold Testing Short Term Trendline
• Crude Oil, Gold Vulnerable as EU Debt Fears Sink Stocks and Boost Dollar
• Oil ends above $99, at highest since late July
• Gold closes up as traders mull safe-haven appeal
• Commodities Up, Equities Unch, Credit Down
• Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - What Time is the Next Swan?
• Why Gold Should Set New Highs for the Holidays
• Bullish Coil for Gold
• Paulson Sells Gold ETF, Buys Physical Bullion? Soros Not Gold Bearish
• An Update on Real Estate
• Gold Bounces on "Physical Demand", as Bond Market Attention Shifting Spain's Way
• Platinum: The “Cheapest” Precious Metal…

Core Meltdown In Europe? Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:00 PM PST Carnage starting to spread to France, Finland, Netherlands, & Austria. They can let these countries who are about to default, Or they can print.

Gold Tactics and Silver Set For Surge Posted: 15 Nov 2011 06:06 PM PST Graceland Update

Platinum is Downright ?Cheap? Relative to ALL Other Precious Metals! Have You Any in Your Portfolio? Posted: 15 Nov 2011 06:04 PM PST If this precious metals bull market continues over the next couple of years, I think one would*[be well served to]*diversify some assets in gold/silver into platinum. [Let me explain the present*relationship between platinum, gold, silver and palladium and why I make the aforementioned recommendation.] Words: 832 So says [B]Willem Weytjens ([url]www.profitimes.com)**[/url][/B]in edited excerpts from an article* which Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!) and www.FinancialArticleSummariesToday.com (A site for sore eyes and inquisitive minds)*has further edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and reformatted below for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. The author's views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article. Please note that this paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement. Who in the world is currently reading ...

Peter Schiff - Gold Resilient Despite Paulson Selling Posted: 15 Nov 2011 06:00 PM PST With gold and silver still consolidating recent gains, today King World News interviewed Peter Schiff, CEO of Europacific Capital. When asked about recent developments in the gold market, Schiff remarked, "I thought it was interesting we found out that John Paulson eliminated at least a third of his position in the gold ETF GLD.  So that took off some of the overhang.  There were a lot of people that were worried and saying, 'Oh how is he going to get out?  That's going to be very disruptive.'" This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

The Little Man Posted: 15 Nov 2011 04:20 PM PST Guest post by Alvin Felix I love Alan Jackson, and his story. The song in the video below says it all. I can relate because I AM THE LITTLE MAN. I own and run the oldest general store on the Port au Port peninsula on the western portion of Newfoundland. There use to be gas stations, taverns, pool halls, numerous convenience stores, take out snack bars, and the numerous shacks along the coastline that housed fishing gear for the dozens of fishermen that fished every day. Today, in this small community that had so much, we are down to two stores. No gas pumps, no pool halls, no more taverns, no nothing left. There are a few fishermen left, but they are so heavily regulated, they barley make it. Imagine, opening a fishery for ONE DAY. Set in the morning, and haul your gear that evening. People complain about the price of gas, but they drive to the BIGGER town 50+ km's away to get a Tim Horton's coffee. And ya, Walmart is there, Canadian Tire, your general big box stores. And even in that town, the smaller business have been thinned out. I guess this is globalization. Business is so slow, that I can only afford a worker in the summer months. I have little choice but work this business 12 hours a day for miniscule profits. My business houses Canada Post, Atlantic Lottery, Liquor Express, etc. And the only ones making money are those large corporations. Imagine, I get a 5% commission on stamps that I sell. It takes $1,000.00 worth of stamp sales to generate a profit of $50.00, and it takes MONTHS to sell that many stamps. You do a better commission on mailing parcels, 17.5%, but I may only mail 2-3 parcels a week…sometimes……NONE. Lotto is the same story, 5%. Liquor Express is a bit better at 10% commission. Over the past 30+ years, prices on EVERYTHING has gone up, so who is making all the money? Stores like mine depend on confectionery and grocery sales to generate the revenue they need to survive, and those sales are declining heavily. Fewer people, fewer sales. All the young people here have to go away to work, and all is left is old age pensioners and others on social assistance. BOTH have little to spend, and depend on the cheaper prices larger selection at the big box stores that I can't compete with. People around here are very talented when it comes to preserves (jam's, beets, pickles etc), and some still milk cows and make cream and home made butter. There is a LOT of demand for their product, but they are NOT ALLOWED TO SELL IT. The home that I currently own was vacant for 5 years and belonged to a family that use to own and milk cows, and eventually had to pack up and move to Alberta. Government forced that decision, as they could not handle all the regulations if they wanted to SELL their product. Same goes for beef now. Regulators have made it ILLEGAL for any butcher shop to accept beef for cutting if the cattle was NOT slaughtered at a licensed slaughter house. So, if I killed my cow today, no butcher shop can cut that meat for me. But GET THIS, there is a large moose population on the island, and people can bring their moose to these butcher shops WITHOUT QUESTION. No matter how that moose was killed. EGGS….. there are a few people around here that are raising their own chickens for egg laying, and there is a LOT of demand for those eggs, as they have much richer flavor and color, YET, I am not allowed to sell ANY of the eggs or previously mentioned products. The DEMAND is their, but they have to do all their business "under the table". Years ago, we use to row our boats out on the bay, and jig for our winter supply of cod fish whenever we wanted. Can't do that any more. The government does set aside two separate weeks that people are able to fish, but only aloud 5 fish per person in the boat. They usually set the weeks of fishing LONG after their main food supply, CAPLIN, is gone out the bay, leaving little to nothing to catch. The list goes on and on, and they say we have FREEDOM? All in all, I hope that we can actually last long enough to experience what is going to happen globally when the shit does hit the fan. There are only two outcomes of the coming collapse: Business will thrive like it did 40+ years ago, when the local population HEAVILY relied on businesses like this to supply them with their needs, OR, people will be so poor, that there will be nothing to buy things with, and the business will therefore, default and close for good. Well, that is my rant, and here is the song. Thanks for listening.

First Wave Tax Selling Pressure Passed, Second Peak Ahead Posted: 15 Nov 2011 04:13 PM PST HOUSTON – We have reached the part of the year where investors and traders "cull their herd" (of stock positions) by selling losers to offset capital gains. We all call that process "tax loss selling."  In our last Vulture Bargain Hunter Update Roundup we shared some commentary along those lines.  That commentary is excerpted below.   From the November-December VB Update Roundup for Vultures (Got Gold Report Subscribers).  About the middle of October is normally the first peak of the annual tax loss selling pressure we see in the junior miners and explorers.  The reason for that is that October is the year-end for a goodly portion of the hedge fund/portfolio management community.  Funds often book their losses to offset gains in October, and in order to have a longer window during the retail tax loss selling season to repurchase positions following the 30-day wash sale period.  Continued... October is also a larger than normal month for redemptions, especially in rough market years.  Redemptions (requests for cash by clients or account closures) put extra selling pressure on the issues that have fallen the most as portfolio managers seek to rid their portfolios of the largest losers – a form of retro window dressing.    The second peak for tax loss selling lies ahead, peaking about the middle of December and is usually stronger for the smallest and the most beaten up of the juniors.  The reasons are intuitive and answer to common sense.  Institutional funds tend to focus on the larger, more liquid issues, whereas the more risky, less liquid and highly speculative issues attract mainly retail holders (with some exceptions of course). (Ed. Note:  Sometimes we can see the larger capitalized juniors have a particularly harsh October,  then trade near flat or even a little stronger through the holiday period.  The bigger, more liquid companies are sometimes not as susceptible to last minute retail selling. So, all else being equal (which it never seems to be),  it seems to us that the larger, more liquid juniors often bottom in late October.)   Between now and the end of the year we could still see anomalous and downright stupid cheap prices for some of our "Faves" as traders and investors sell Big Losers "at any price" in order to lock in offsets to gains taken earlier in the year.  The desire or need to reduce one's tax liability, especially for people with large tax bills and a now "Big Red" portfolio can be a prime motivator during the last, say eight weeks of the calendar year.  That is especially true for our Canadian friends.  Their tax code allows the taking of losses in the current year to reclaim taxes paid in prior years.  Unless something has changed since we last reviewed the rules, Canadian taxpayers can reach back and reclaim capital gains taxes paid up to three years prior by taking losses in the current year.  That is a very civilized and reasonable tax policy in our view.  It is a pity that the U.S. does not allow a similar boost to investor's capital accounts. It would certainly provide additional investment firepower for small companies in the U.S. if we did have such a rule. At any rate, 'tis the season for Vulture Tax Loss Selling bargains.  During this time of year we are always on watch for strange, seemingly out of the blue, oversized selling into the bid on the issues we track and have confidence in.  If people are willing to just throw their junior miners and explorers overboard – no matter how cheap the price has become – and even though there is nothing wrong with the company or its management – and if that selling manages to take the issue down into one of our targets (or perhaps even below them!), then who are we to 'argue' with such a welcome gift?  Odds are (we guess) that some of our VB and VBCI issues will come under additional selling pressure just ahead from tax loss selling.  We aim to take advantage of that – to the best of our ability and subject to our having the resources to do so. (Ed. Note:  Prime candidates for extremely harsh tax loss selling this year are pure exploration companies operating in the Yukon, which have just been unmercifully pummeled in this year of uncertainty, such as the companies noted at the very end of this offering.)   Just remember that tax loss selling is another form of buyer's strike negative liquidity and the extremely low prices that can come from it are usually only temporary.  We don't intend to provide tax advice in these pages and we strongly urge all Vultures to seek the advice of their tax counsel on all tax issues.  Having said that, just remember that in the U.S. one cannot take a tax loss on any issue that is either repurchased before 30 days has elapsed following the sale or for which any part of the position was added in the 30 days prior to the tax loss sale, unless the entire position is liquidated (non-mark-to-market traders).  Google "wash sale rules" for more on the confusing, but very important subject. These next eight weeks will also be a time for our own taking of tax losses to offset superb gains taken earlier in the year, as well as the big gains we enjoyed on our Vulture Bargains Hathor Exploration and Trade Winds Ventures (both the subject of takeovers), a great excuse to weed our "ports" of the "Dawgs" we inevitably end up with as traders, as well as raising some capital to fire at the issues we want to increase our size in. Below is a short list of mostly very small, but promising Guru-chosen Yukon explorers that might be mistreated by tax loss selling just ahead.  If any of them reach our blue "panic targets" in the process, or perhaps even under them, we are likely to add a Vegas Money sized position, subject to our having the resources to take advantage of them at the time.  Vultures know where the blue targets are, on our VBCI technical charts for subscribers.  Our thinking is that the huge disappointment and global fear-based selling for the Yukon explorers has already resulted in pretty cheap prices for all of the companies below.  Tax loss selling, when people just chunk them overboard and they don't care what the price is when they do hit the red button, could result in the best of the best of all worlds for Vultures with Vegas Money to deploy – Ridiculous Cheap stink bid hits on these Cheapies with a Chance (CWC) issues. (Prices as of the close on November 15 in Canadian currency.)      Arcus Development (ADG.V)* - $0.16.  Aldrin Resource Corp. (ALN.V)* - $0.13. Argus Metals (AML.V)* - $0.06 ATAC Resources (ATC.V) - $3.49 Ethos Capital (ECC.V) - $0.77 Manson Creek Resources (MCK.V)* - $0.06 Northern Freegold Resources (NFR.V)* - $0.285 Northern Tiger Resources (NTR.V)* - $0.20 Smash Minerals (SSH.V)* - $0.41 Tarsis Resources (TCC.V)* - $0.275 Wolverine Minerals (WLV.V) - $0.235  (* Denotes issues the author holds a long position in as of November 15, 2011.) We could be wrong, of course, but our "play" is a contrarian bet that the Yukon area play, which was pretty hot going into 2011, but then ran head on into the European near panic and severe buyer's strike for the Canadian juniors, has delivered up a full boat if disappointed and disgusted retail soon-to-be-tax-loss sellers. Between the rough market in general and the big delays in getting back assays, the disappointment factor for the Yukon plays is superbly high, kneecapping all of these promising companies down to 10% to 25% of their 2010 or 2011 highs.  This particular disappointment selling event has way oversold itself, in our humble opinion, and we have been attempting to take advantage of the super-cheap bargains as we can, "in the blue."  (Vultures know what that means.  It means a particularly low target area we intend to set up on the bid for panic sell-downs and perhaps now for last minute tax loss selling ahead.) Nothing Excites the Market More than a Major Discovery We won't bet the ranch on any one very speculative issue (these are risky bets no matter how cheap), but with all the resources that have been expended on exploration in the very highly prospective Yukon territory over the past three years, our bet is that a major discovery or two or three is likely not all that far off.  Perhaps in 2012 – we'll see – and we shall have acquired some very cheaply priced  positions in the Yukon explorers (we already have as Vultures know) ... as we harvest the disappointment and disgust of others during this Vulture Tax Loss Selling Season. Examples of extreme disappointment and fear selling into a sure-enough buyer's strike below.  In many cases the selling is on quite low volume relative to the percentage decline in price.  These are pretty typical examples of the Yukon explorers.  All are charts that Vultures have access to as a GGR subscriber.  Argus Metals Manson Creek Resources Northern Tiger Resources

Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Slightly Higher Posted: 15 Nov 2011 04:00 PM PST Gold fell $20.07 to $1760.23 by about 4AM EST before it rose to see a $5.60 gain at $1785.90 by about 9:45AM EST and then chopped back lower midday, but it still ended with a gain of 0.08%. Silver slipped to $33.742 before it rebounded to $34.796 and then also fell back off a bit, but it still ended with a gain of 0.76%.

The Collapse of Wall Cycle #6 Posted: 15 Nov 2011 02:40 PM PST The late market analyst PQ Wall put forward a rather bold proposal concerning the regular business cycle, which is also known as the Kitchin cycle. Wall concluded that every business cycle subdivides into three sets of three ... Read More...

Corporate MEDIA Hidden Agenda & WTF China Builds New HAARP? Chase Hiring ex Military Posted: 15 Nov 2011 02:38 PM PST from Fabian4Liberty: Corporate MEDIA Hidden Agenda In this video I cover the inter workings of the corporate owned media and their hidden agenda of lies and deceit. Why are they not telling Americans the truth about this economy, about the coming dollar collapse, about Peak Oil? The truth exposed. If you enjoy please share. WTF China builds new HAARP? Chase hiring ex Military What the hell is China building in the Gobi desert? Is it a weather modification machine? Please send me your comments. And Chase is hiring 100,000 ex military. Is it because Jamie Dimon is so kind hearted? Or is there something more sinister?

Gold bull has far to go, Agnico-Eagle's Sean Boyd tells King World News Posted: 15 Nov 2011 02:36 PM PST 10:30p ET Tuesday, November 15, 2011 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Agnico-Eagle Mines CEO Sean Boyd tonight tells King World News that elected officials have no will to solve the problems of the world financial system, that investors generally have committed little of their money to gold, and that, as a result, gold's bull market has a long way to run and the metal's price could rise to unimaginable levels. An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News Blog here: http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2011/11/15_A... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. ADVERTISEMENT Golden Phoenix Completes Operating Agreement for Santa Rosa Gold Mine in Panama Golden Phoenix Minerals Inc. (GPXM) has entered a joint venture operating agreement with Silver Global S.A., a Panamanian corporation, governing the operational and management aspects of their new joint venture company, Golden Phoenix Panama S.A., a Panamanian corporation formed to hold and operate the Santa Rosa gold mine in Canazas, Panama, and explore the mine's adjacent property. Golden Phoenix will be manager of the joint venture company. Silver Global will handle all social programs, political and community relations, and human resource matters for the joint venture company in Panama. Golden Phoenix and Silver Global also have agreed to work together on all future acquisitions within Panama and to bring such new opportunities to the joint venture company. Golden Phoenix will be earning in to a 60 percent interest (and potentially an 80 percent interest) in the Santa Rosa mine. Upon signing the joint venture agreement and completing the corresponding acquisition payment, Golden Phoenix will earn an initial 15 percent interest in the joint venture company. Tom Klein, CEO of Golden Phoenix, says the agreement "creates a solid foundation for the development and planned re-opening of Mina Santa Rosa." For Golden Phoenix's full statement on the joint venture operating agreement, please visit: http://goldenphoenix.us/press-release/golden-phoenix-completes-joint-ven... Join GATA here: Vancouver Resource Investment Conference Sunday-Monday, January 22-23, 2012 Vancouver Convention Centre West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada http://cambridgehouse.com/conference-details/vancouver-resource-investme... California Investment Conference Saturday-Sunday, February 11-12, 2012 Hyatt Grand Champions Resort Indian Wells, California, USA http://cambridgehouse.com/conference-details/california-investment-confe... Support GATA by purchasing gold and silver commemorative coins: https://www.amsterdamgold.eu/gata/index.asp?BiD=12 Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt: http://gata.org/tshirts Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009: http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal Or a video disc of GATA's 2005 Gold Rush 21 conference in the Yukon: http://www.goldrush21.com/ Help keep GATA going GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: http://www.gata.org To contribute to GATA, please visit: http://www.gata.org/node/16 ADVERTISEMENT For Continuous Wealth Creation, the Hera Research Newsletter The life cycles of companies that produce natural resources allow investors to allocate assets among companies at different stages of development and to profit from transitions between stages. Based on natural resource company life cycles, the Hera Research Newsletter maximizes profits through deep, fundamental analysis at each stage of development and by moving gains back to earlier-stage companies in a continuous wealth-creation process. Hera Research covers a pipeline of high-quality natural resource companies at different stages of development. The companies span discovery and production of gold, silver, and platinum group metals, select base metals, oil and gas, green energy, agriculture, rare earth elements, uranium, and more. Discover the unique value of the Hera Research Newsletter by visiting: http://www.heraresearch.com/newsletter.html Or call Ron Hera at 360-339-8541x101.

If Gold Price Closes Over $1,800 Two Days Running, Don't Wait Buy Fistfuls Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:54 AM PST Gold Price Close Today : 1781.70 Change : 3.90 or 0.2% Silver Price Close Today : 3444.8 Change : 43.5 cents or 1.3% Gold Silver Ratio Today : 51.721 Change : -0.547 or -1.0% Silver Gold Ratio Today : 0.01933 Change : 0.000202 or 1.1% Platinum Price Close Today : 1639.70 Change : -4.70 or -0.3% Palladium Price Close Today : 665.25 Change : 0.35 or 0.1% S&P 500 : 1,257.81 Change : 6.03 or 0.5% Dow In GOLD$ : $140.34 Change : $ (0.09) or -0.1% Dow in GOLD oz : 6.789 Change : -0.005 or -0.1% Dow in SILVER oz : 351.14 Change : -3.99 or -1.1% Dow Industrial : 12,096.16 Change : 17.18 or 0.1% US Dollar Index : 77,843.00 Change : -0.279 or 0.0% The GOLD PRICE revealed almost nothing today, although it did rise $3.90 to close Comex at $1,781.70. Range was $1,785.38 to $1,7650.28, so I reckon that close qualifies as a successful defense of $1,775 support. The issue remains in doubt, and will only be clarified by (1) gold closing above $1,800 for two days, or (2) gold dropping below $1,775 - $1,750. With every fiat currency in the world on the run, why would I question buying gold, and never mind the little downside risk? I don't know. Maybe I'm letting the best become the enemy of the good. This much is sure: if the GOLD PRICE closes over $1,800 two days running, stop waiting and buy fistfuls. The SILVER PRICE kept her cards close to her chest today. High came at 3479, low at 3370c. Comex silver gained 43.5c to end at 3444.8c. This keeps the SILVER PRICE within the uptrend line, barely, and above the 3369c 20 dma. Whoa! But look up there at 3442c and 3670! That's the 50 dma and 200 dma. Silver speaks with forkéd tongue, and I'm not sure which fork to listen to. Once again, we are left looking at a range, waiting for a breakout up or down. Below silver must hold 3380c, above it must clear 3480c. Till then, we are simply waiting. For those who missed the correction, I repeat here that yesterday's commentary omitted one critical element. It should have read, "If back earlier this year you swapped out of silver into gold AT ANY REALIZED GOLD/ SILVER RATIO OF 38:1 OR LOWER . . ." If your realized ratio was higher than 38:1, you can check with us about swapping now, but your realized gain in ounces would be less. This recommendation hath but one purpose and cause: taking money off the table. Anytime you can realize a 37% profit, you ought to do it. I apologize for the confusion. Most of the time I run around here like a cat with his tail on fire, so I'm doing good not to make more mistakes. I wonder why platinum and palladium both are stalled in their uptrends. 'Tain't comforting. Markets offered no concrete resolution today, just hovering around tops of recent ranges. I keep wondering (unsophisticated, natural born durn'd fool that I am) whether anybody has noticed that the European bank solvency crisis still has not been fixed, not even by installing these latest two bank-owned fixer shills in Italy and Greece. Should that crisis come unglued, it will take the EU and the euro with it. I'm not predicting, just counting the possible costs. STOCKS dithered, sinking as low as 11,993 by noon, then rising above unchanged to close at a measly 17.18 (0.48%) gain, 12,096.16. S&P500 showed a little more spunk, up 6.03 or 1.62%, but spunk without muscle is just feckless braggadocio. Dow is building (end-October till now) an even-side triangle which gives little clue which way it will resolve. Course, I could be reading it wrong and that could be a kiss-o'-death rising wedge I see. Either way, the upside hope is both limited and quixotic, and the downside expectation as sure as misplacing your car keys when you're in a dead rush. I reckon most everybody is as prejudiced against the sorry US dollar as I am, so none of us expect anything. That's just a perfect set-up for a bad surprise, and one reason I've kept on saying a dollar rally is likely, fundamentals notwithstanding. Today the dollar rose 27.9 basis points (0.36%) to 77.843, building on yesterday's surge and shoving the dollar to the top of its five-day range. A push through 78.20 will send the bears loping for their dens. Dollar would have to close below 76.50 to dash my hopes of a rally. Don't misunderstand. I'm not looking for a rally because the dollar is strong or well-managed. It's not. It's sorry as gully dirt, but right now its not AS sorry as the euro, and the crisis there is sending the tired, the scared, and the terrorized fleeing into the buck. Yeah, buddy, that euro really shone today. Dropped 0.75% to 1.3532. Gapped down, in fact, never a good sign. If y'all are planning a European vacation, wait a while to buy your euros. You'll probably be able to buy 'em under 1.2000. The yen continues to climb into the gap it left behind when the Nice Government Men whacked it at end-October. Today it surmounted its 20 dma (129.60) to close at 129.74. That's about where it closed yesterday, but the 20 dma is dropping. Will climb till the NGM hit it again. Predictably enough in our world of illusion, the yen is intrinsically even sorrier than the US dollar, as worthless as a three-legged mule, but all the deluded view it as a safe haven. Looking at the yen makes me remember that at least on gully dirt you can grow kudzu. Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought. - Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger The-MoneyChanger.com © 2011, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission. To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold; US$ or US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down. WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned: Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures. NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps. NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced. NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt. What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands.

Agnico Eagle CEO: Gold Could Rise to Unimaginable Levels Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:47 AM PST from King World News: With gold around the $1,780 level and silver trading near $35, today King World News interviewed Sean Boyd, CEO of $8 billion Agnico Eagle. When asked what he sees going forward with the price of gold, Boyd responded, "It's still a very strong market. There was forced selling not too long ago by certain holders and that tended to spook the market. But we have been consistently sticking with the investment thesis that governments have too many obligations that they simply can't meet and as a result we are going to see ongoing and continued debasement of paper money." Sean Boyd continues: Read More @ KingWorldNews.com

Truth SHOULD Be a High Duty of Central Banking, ex-Fed Governor Alan Blinder Says Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:44 AM PST by Chris Powell, GATA: Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: For years many Internet sites have attributed to the economist Alan Blinder, now a professsor at Princeton University in New Jersey, a provocative comment reportedly made on a Public Broadcasting System program in 1994 during his service as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: "The last duty of a central banker is to tell the public the truth." An Australian friend of GATA, A.F., recently went looking for authority for the quotation and your secretary/treasurer suggested that he start with Blinder directly. Read More @ GATA.org

Congress Shocked To Find That Being CEO Of A Bankrupt Company Is The New Killing It Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:32 AM PST Two weeks ago we reported with sheer disgust that the outgoing CEO of bankrupt Freddie Mac, Ed Haldeman, was to pocket over $4 million for his brief two year stay at the nationalized GSE, which money was to reward him for lots of hard work collecting bail out cash from the Treasury. $21 billion to be precise. Apparently it is not easy to beg from Tim Geithner which explains the compensation for a task which is essentially supervising a financial black hole with an attached run off portfolio. Nonetheless the optics of this farce are rather unpleasant which is why we said that this is the (one of many) reason "why people in America are very, very pissed." Today Congress, which has yet to ban itself from trading on inside information, has decided to at least rectify this one sticking point, and moved forward with a "bill to block multimillion-dollar executive pay packages at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even as their regulator defended them as necessary to retain top talent and limit taxpayer losses at the bailed-out companies." And where are they going to go: MF Global? Morgan Stanley? RBS? Jefferies? As for what new pay wil be: "The committee adopted an amendment that would use the pay scale that applies to independent financial regulators, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which allows for higher pay than at most federal agencies. Representative Al Green, who offered the amendment, said this would have the effect of limiting the highest salaries to about $260,000 per year." While still about 3 times more than what they deserve, this is a good start. And an even better one would be to if not unwind the GSEs, then to at least recognize that their $7 trillion in debt should be counted toward the US Federal debt, as Peter Orzsag suggested once. Naturally were that to happen US total debt/GDP would be over 150%, and the bond vigilantes would suddenly be confused whether their time is not better spent on this side of the Atlantic. Yet the biggest twist in this story, is that not only are the GSEs bankrupt, but as the NYT reported earlier, their parent, the FHA itself has a "close to 50% chance of requiring a bailout." Add to that that the corporate retirement guys (PBGC) and the post office (USPS) are now effectively broke as well, and very soon being the CEO of a bankrupt company will be the new killing it. From Reuters: Lawmakers from both parties have expressed shock at revelations the two government-owned mortgage finance firms, which have been propped up with about $169 billion in federal aid, were paying out $12.79 million in bonuses for 10 executives. "The taxpayer-funded bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the biggest bailout in history," said Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, chairman of the House panel. "Adding insult to injury, the top executives of these failed companies receive multi-million-dollar pay packages." One wonders, inversely, just how shocked the public would be to find out how many congressmen and women traded in advance of congress itself legislating new rules as relate specifically to the GSEs. The response, of course, is that nobody would ever surf porn all day for the paltry sum of $260,000:   DeMarco said the firms, the top two providers of funding for U.S. mortgages, need to be able to compete with other financial service companies for highly skilled executives.   "We have an entire competitive marketplace in the industry that suggests compensation is an important factor in attracting and retaining top talent," he said.   As the regulator, DeMarco has broad authority to direct the companies' activities, and he approved the pay in consultation with the Treasury Department. The pay packages have followed the same pattern over the last few years; the structure was set in 2009.   He said one of the "biggest concerns that has driven" the the executive compensation packages is an apprehension that the two companies will lose key staff if they are not fully compensated for their marketable skills. As employees leave, DeMarco has tried to reduce pay levels for their replacements.   Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat, expressed concern that tying pay to a government scale could do more harm than good.   "I fear that the federal pay scale will chase away the knowledgeable people we have and rely on to do a great job in a highly complex situation," he told Reuters.   Acording to DeMarco it is best to phase in reforms ala Italy: 2 years over 15 years or something. DeMarco told the Senate committee any changes in pay should not be a "sudden shock" and said the best way to reduce compensation would be for lawmakers and the Obama administration to agree on a future course.   "Then we could have a final resolution of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship, which would resolve the compensation issue once and for all," he said. Because who knows what chaos would ensue if the overseer of a bunch of insolvent loans with massive negative equity decided to go wild and act all irresponsible. Let's see: none? And in other news, while the expert insider traders squabble over pay even as they daytrade all day long, the parent of Fannie and Freddie itself is about to get the chop... and thus billions more in taxpayer funds. The Federal Housing Administration has a "close to 50" percent chance of requiring a bailout if the housing market deteriorates next year, the agency's independent auditor said in a report released Tuesday.   The F.H.A., which offers private lenders guarantees against homeowner default, has just $2.6 billion in cash reserves, the report found, down from $4.7 billion last year.   The agency's woes stem from the national foreclosure crisis. In the last three years, the F.H.A. has paid $37 billion in insurance claims against defaulting homeowners, shrinking its cash cushion.    The auditors determined the agency's level of supplemental cash reserves by projecting losses on its mortgage portfolio and counting them against expected premium revenue. This year, the audit found that the F.H.A. supplemental reserve was less than one-quarter of a percentage point of its current portfolio: $2.6 billion against a $1.1 trillion mortgage portfolio, as of Sept. 30. Legally, the housing agency is required to keep a 2 percent cash buffer, a target it has not met since 2008.   F.H.A. officials argue that the likelihood the 77-year-old agency will need its first taxpayer bailout is slim. "It would take very significant home price declines to create a situation in which the portfolio would require any additional support," said Carol Galante, acting commissioner. "There is no evidence or widespread prediction that home prices are going to decline to the kind of levels" requiring a bailout, she said. Where does one even start... Maybe by pointing out that in addition to all of the above, both the PBGC and the USPS are also bankrupt.

Where Are The Pundits And Armchair Analysts When It Becomes Apparent That Apples Is Indeed Susceptible To Google's Android Onsla Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:11 AM PST Reviewing my bearishness on Apple pending an earnings miss (which was right on point) and my bullishness on Google due to successful diversification of business lines deeply into mobile and cloud computing brings us to the realization that there is much more of the same to come. Apple's share have been coming under pressure lately (in addition to the dip taken after the earnings miss I predicted last month), primarily due to rumors of potentially disappointing iPhone 4S sales.   The rumors spring from reports that Apple has canceled orders from serveral suppliers due to problems sourcing parts. These rumors have been countered by reports of long lines at Apple's retail stores and apparent strong demand. What many seem to miss is that supply issues, demand shortage or any combination of the two still result in the same thing - lost sales. Although a crimp of sales stemming from an inability to meet strong demand may sound like a good thing, it is a very bad thing for Apple at this juncture. This is the reason why... Apple has been lauded for selling up to 4 million iPhone 4Ss in the first week of its release. This includes the pent up demand stemming from those waiting for the new release. While this number seems significant, it still does not match the run rate of Android phone sales, which are still growing at an amazing clip - up to 650k per day - extrapolating from the previously reported growth rates. That means that even with pent up demand being met, iOS flagship phones are still trailing Android "activations". Add to this the liklihood of sales being pushed into the future due to supply issues and you have what is tantamount to significant lost sales. Why? Must read relevant analysis and subscriber research Our Uber Growth Thesis For Google Is Intact and Performing Well On Steve Jobs Passing and the Outlook For Apple   Sliced Apple Margins For Dinner? Look & Listen Closely As The Solitary Margin Compression Theory Slowly Bears Fruit: Apple to Drop Flagship iPad Prices? Steve Jobs Calls End Of the PC, We Call The End Of The Fat Margin Tablet – Including The Pretty iPad, With Proof!  Is The Evidence For An Apple Margin Collapse Now Incontrovertible?  I Absolutely Dare Anyone To Read This And Still Not Consider The Probability (Not Possibility) Of Apple Suffering From Margin Compression Below, I drilled down on the date and used a percentage difference view to illustrate the improvement in P/E stemming from the earnings beats. Subscription material Apple Earnings Guidance Analysis Apple – Competition and Cost Structure) Google's Q1 2011 Review: Part 2 Of My Comments On The Gross Misvaluation of Google and in substantially more detail in private -the subscriber forensic analysis (63 pg Google Forensic Valuation, to plug in your own assumptions see Google Valuation Model (pro and institutional). Because Android hardware and software has now surpassed iOS (yes, even the most recent iOS5 and 5.1 series upgrades, which have been nriddled with bugs due to Android's pushing the release schedule for the entire industry to the hilt). If one were to obectively compare the Samsung Galaxy SII, the Samsung Galaxy Note, the HTC Rezound, the Google Nexus Prime (running the next generation Android OS), or the Motorola RAZR II, you will see these devices trounce the just release iOS products in nearly every category - from HD screens, to speed, to capability and flexibility and cloud accoutrements. The Samsung Galaxy SII is 9 months old and Apple still couldn't (or more accurately wouldn't) produce a comparable product. I believe this was a very strategic error on Apple's part, born of management hubris. The iPhone 5 should have been released and Apple should have given it everything they had. Because they didn't, the functionality difference is simply growing too wide, a gap that Apple will probably not be able to close when they do release their revolutionary upgrade. In the post called The Perilous Game of Patent Pain That Apple Plays May Very Well Cause It Some Long Term Share I illustrated the extreme (yet absolutely mandatory - its not as if they have a choice in the matter) risks that Apple is imbibing in challenging its most strategic vendors in a global game of litigious cat and mouse. After all, Apple is essentially a cell phone company as defined by any reasonable metric - earnings, revenues, units shipped, etc. Samsung, athough currently the number one smartphone manufacturer in the world (after just capturing the title from Apple who held it briefly after taking it from long standing champ Nokia), is still not (essentially) a smart phone company. The same can be said for the other major vendor cum competitor, LG Electronics. Losing this market does not absolutely invalidate the companies' earnings, as it would with Apple. The graph below illustrates the importance the iPhone represents to Apple's franchise. Believe it or not, this graph actually understates the importance of the iPhone to Apple for while it brings in 45% of the revenues, it is responsible for about 70% of the profits. Apple has become too reliant on one product, although that reliance was borne from the fabulous success of said product. While Apple will probably derive some much needed revenue diversification from iPad sales, the iPad will face the same hurdles that the iPhone is coming up against - and that is competition from Android-based devices and potentially even Windows Mobile 7 8 (albeit this is an admittedly much more speculative statement). Breaking the argument down even further, you see how the iPod and the iPhone have literally transformed this company. While I am sure it will continue to be fantastic company with cool products, I doubt very seriously that it will be able to grow in the future as it has in during the last 7 years. The saving grace is that the smart phone and portable computing market will grow quite quickly, allowing companies with dwindling market share to still capture increasing revenues. The ugly reality is that those revenues will have to be burdened with increasing R&D, marketing and distribution costs since the amount of competition will probably scale faster than the market itself. That, my friends, is a very good My apparently highly contrarian call was literally the antithesis of what the street forecast - the EXACT OPPOSITE! Reference The Only, and I Mean the Only, Investment/Research House To Warn Of An Apple Miss Is Vindicated!!! ... pundits in private equity who I would have normally assumed should have know better jump on the Apple wagon, as excerpted from My Thoughts on Roger McNamee's View of Google and Mobile Computing...e Of note, pundit recommended long Apple and short Google for guaranteed profits. Google blew out numbers this quarter (Our Uber Growth Thesis For Google Is Intact and Performing Well) and Apple missed, all the while Google is strategically positioned to do much, much more damage.  I'd like to put this pundit's/investor's advice in perspective... You would handily had your ass handed to you being short Google and long Apple since last quarter's earnings announcement as Google spiked and Apple dropped, which is the first quarter that I recommended to look for concrete signs of Android fatigue and margin compression and a continuation of my ongoing Google reco. This process and trade is one to play out over time. It will not happen overnight and will culminate in the near term, but Apple is being severely trounced in the mobile computing wars by Google and the media and sell side are apparently ignoring this fact. As for the comment about nobody makes money from Android, well those entities that make money from Android disagree. I have outlined this in the first quarter, reference Apple Gears Up To Combat The Margin Compression That Apparently Only It, Google & Reggie Middleton Sees Coming Monday, February 14th, 2011. On this point, I must give props to Herb Greenberg for allowing me to espouse my contrarian, yet highly accurate mantra concerning Apple as well as US banks' derivative exposure through the mainstream, namely CNBC. The derivate issues have recently reported by Bloomberg and ZeroHedge, reinforcing my many warnings, ex. So, When Does 3+5=4? When You Aggregate A Bunch Of Risky Banks & Then Pretend That You Didn't? Of course, as timing would have it, I predicted that Apple would miss 4 to 6 quarters after the pronouncement I made on international TV exactly 1 year ago via CNBC on the eve of Apple's earnings (3:40 into the video). Exactly 4 quarters later.... Hmmm! Simple math, simple business logic, simply common sense, yet the Apple hordes attacked relentlessly. Listen, what Google has created to compete with Apple, RIM, MSFT and Nokia, was not a new technology - but a new way of doing business. Less than free was their new business model and it proved to be pretty damn effective. Margin compression follows a slip in sales due to competition. You see, in order for Apple to maintain its unit growth, it wiill have invest more into the product, cut costs, or both. Any scenario leads to margin compression. Since I have written so much on this topic, I will not rehash, but simply point to the prophetic post I made two weeks ago in calling for what I considered to be the obvious: Sliced Apple Margins For Dinner?   Archived 2010 posts on the Creatively Destructive Pace of Technology Innovation and the Paradigm Shift known as the Mobile Computing Wars! There Is Another Paradigm Shift Coming in Technology and Media: Apple, Microsoft and Google Know its Winner Takes All The Mobile Computing and Content Wars: Part 2, the Google Response to the Paradigm Shift An Introduction to How Apple Apple Will Compete With the Google/Android Onslaught Don't Count Microsoft Out of the Ultra-Mobile Computing Wars Just Yet This article should drive the point home: An iPhone 4 Recall Will Hurt Apple More By Opening Additional Opportunity for Android Devices Than Increased Expenses A First in the Mainstream Media: Apple's Flagship Product Loses In a Comparison Review to HTC's Google-Powered Phone After Getting a Glimpse of the New Windows Phone 7 Functionality, RIMM is Looking More Like a Short Play RIM Smart Phone Market Share, RIP?

Where Are The Pundits And Armchair Analysts When It Becomes Apparent That Apples Is Indeed Susceptible To Google's Android Onsla Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:11 AM PST Reviewing my bearishness on Apple pending an earnings miss (which was right on point) and my bullishness on Google due to successful diversification of business lines deeply into mobile and cloud computing brings us to the realization that there is much more of the same to come. Apple's share have been coming under pressure lately (in addition to the dip taken after the earnings miss I predicted last month), primarily due to rumors of potentially disappointing iPhone 4S sales.   The rumors spring from reports that Apple has canceled orders from serveral suppliers due to problems sourcing parts. These rumors have been countered by reports of long lines at Apple's retail stores and apparent strong demand. What many seem to miss is that supply issues, demand shortage or any combination of the two still result in the same thing - lost sales. Although a crimp of sales stemming from an inability to meet strong demand may sound like a good thing, it is a very bad thing for Apple at this juncture. This is the reason why... Apple has been lauded for selling up to 4 million iPhone 4Ss in the first week of its release. This includes the pent up demand stemming from those waiting for the new release. While this number seems significant, it still does not match the run rate of Android phone sales, which are still growing at an amazing clip - up to 650k per day - extrapolating from the previously reported growth rates. That means that even with pent up demand being met, iOS flagship phones are still trailing Android "activations". Add to this the liklihood of sales being pushed into the future due to supply issues and you have what is tantamount to significant lost sales. Why? Must read relevant analysis and subscriber research Our Uber Growth Thesis For Google Is Intact and Performing Well On Steve Jobs Passing and the Outlook For Apple   Sliced Apple Margins For Dinner? Look & Listen Closely As The Solitary Margin Compression Theory Slowly Bears Fruit: Apple to Drop Flagship iPad Prices? Steve Jobs Calls End Of the PC, We Call The End Of The Fat Margin Tablet – Including The Pretty iPad, With Proof!  Is The Evidence For An Apple Margin Collapse Now Incontrovertible?  I Absolutely Dare Anyone To Read This And Still Not Consider The Probability (Not Possibility) Of Apple Suffering From Margin Compression Below, I drilled down on the date and used a percentage difference view to illustrate the improvement in P/E stemming from the earnings beats. Subscription material Apple Earnings Guidance Analysis Apple – Competition and Cost Structure) Google's Q1 2011 Review: Part 2 Of My Comments On The Gross Misvaluation of Google and in substantially more detail in private -the subscriber forensic analysis (63 pg Google Forensic Valuation, to plug in your own assumptions see Google Valuation Model (pro and institutional). Because Android hardware and software has now surpassed iOS (yes, even the most recent iOS5 and 5.1 series upgrades, which have been nriddled with bugs due to Android's pushing the release schedule for the entire industry to the hilt). If one were to obectively compare the Samsung Galaxy SII, the Samsung Galaxy Note, the HTC Rezound, the Google Nexus Prime (running the next generation Android OS), or the Motorola RAZR II, you will see these devices trounce the just release iOS products in nearly every category - from HD screens, to speed, to capability and flexibility and cloud accoutrements. The Samsung Galaxy SII is 9 months old and Apple still couldn't (or more accurately wouldn't) produce a comparable product. I believe this was a very strategic error on Apple's part, born of management hubris. The iPhone 5 should have been released and Apple should have given it everything they had. Because they didn't, the functionality difference is simply growing too wide, a gap that Apple will probably not be able to close when they do release their revolutionary upgrade. In the post called The Perilous Game of Patent Pain That Apple Plays May Very Well Cause It Some Long Term Share I illustrated the extreme (yet absolutely mandatory - its not as if they have a choice in the matter) risks that Apple is imbibing in challenging its most strategic vendors in a global game of litigious cat and mouse. After all, Apple is essentially a cell phone company as defined by any reasonable metric - earnings, revenues, units shipped, etc. Samsung, athough currently the number one smartphone manufacturer in the world (after just capturing the title from Apple who held it briefly after taking it from long standing champ Nokia), is still not (essentially) a smart phone company. The same can be said for the other major vendor cum competitor, LG Electronics. Losing this market does not absolutely invalidate the companies' earnings, as it would with Apple. The graph below illustrates the importance the iPhone represents to Apple's franchise. Believe it or not, this graph actually understates the importance of the iPhone to Apple for while it brings in 45% of the revenues, it is responsible for about 70% of the profits. Apple has become too reliant on one product, although that reliance was borne from the fabulous success of said product. While Apple will probably derive some much needed revenue diversification from iPad sales, the iPad will face the same hurdles that the iPhone is coming up against - and that is competition from Android-based devices and potentially even Windows Mobile 7 8 (albeit this is an admittedly much more speculative statement). Breaking the argument down even further, you see how the iPod and the iPhone have literally transformed this company. While I am sure it will continue to be fantastic company with cool products, I doubt very seriously that it will be able to grow in the future as it has in during the last 7 years. The saving grace is that the smart phone and portable computing market will grow quite quickly, allowing companies with dwindling market share to still capture increasing revenues. The ugly reality is that those revenues will have to be burdened with increasing R&D, marketing and distribution costs since the amount of competition will probably scale faster than the market itself. That, my friends, is a very good My apparently highly contrarian call was literally the antithesis of what the street forecast - the EXACT OPPOSITE! Reference The Only, and I Mean the Only, Investment/Research House To Warn Of An Apple Miss Is Vindicated!!! ... pundits in private equity who I would have normally assumed should have know better jump on the Apple wagon, as excerpted from My Thoughts on Roger McNamee's View of Google and Mobile Computing...e Of note, pundit recommended long Apple and short Google for guaranteed profits. Google blew out numbers this quarter (Our Uber Growth Thesis For Google Is Intact and Performing Well) and Apple missed, all the while Google is strategically positioned to do much, much more damage.  I'd like to put this pundit's/investor's advice in perspective... You would handily had your ass handed to you being short Google and long Apple since last quarter's earnings announcement as Google spiked and Apple dropped, which is the first quarter that I recommended to look for concrete signs of Android fatigue and margin compression and a continuation of my ongoing Google reco. This process and trade is one to play out over time. It will not happen overnight and will culminate in the near term, but Apple is being severely trounced in the mobile computing wars by Google and the media and sell side are apparently ignoring this fact. As for the comment about nobody makes money from Android, well those entities that make money from Android disagree. I have outlined this in the first quarter, reference Apple Gears Up To Combat The Margin Compression That Apparently Only It, Google & Reggie Middleton Sees Coming Monday, February 14th, 2011. On this point, I must give props to Herb Greenberg for allowing me to espouse my contrarian, yet highly accurate mantra concerning Apple as well as US banks' derivative exposure through the mainstream, namely CNBC. The derivate issues have recently reported by Bloomberg and ZeroHedge, reinforcing my many warnings, ex. So, When Does 3+5=4? When You Aggregate A Bunch Of Risky Banks & Then Pretend That You Didn't? Of course, as timing would have it, I predicted that Apple would miss 4 to 6 quarters after the pronouncement I made on international TV exactly 1 year ago via CNBC on the eve of Apple's earnings (3:40 into the video). Exactly 4 quarters later.... Hmmm! Simple math, simple business logic, simply common sense, yet the Apple hordes attacked relentlessly. Listen, what Google has created to compete with Apple, RIM, MSFT and Nokia, was not a new technology - but a new way of doing business. Less than free was their new business model and it proved to be pretty damn effective. Margin compression follows a slip in sales due to competition. You see, in order for Apple to maintain its unit growth, it wiill have invest more into the product, cut costs, or both. Any scenario leads to margin compression. Since I have written so much on this topic, I will not rehash, but simply point to the prophetic post I made two weeks ago in calling for what I considered to be the obvious: Sliced Apple Margins For Dinner?   Archived 2010 posts on the Creatively Destructive Pace of Technology Innovation and the Paradigm Shift known as the Mobile Computing Wars! There Is Another Paradigm Shift Coming in Technology and Media: Apple, Microsoft and Google Know its Winner Takes All The Mobile Computing and Content Wars: Part 2, the Google Response to the Paradigm Shift An Introduction to How Apple Apple Will Compete With the Google/Android Onslaught Don't Count Microsoft Out of the Ultra-Mobile Computing Wars Just Yet This article should drive the point home: An iPhone 4 Recall Will Hurt Apple More By Opening Additional Opportunity for Android Devices Than Increased Expenses A First in the Mainstream Media: Apple's Flagship Product Loses In a Comparison Review to HTC's Google-Powered Phone After Getting a Glimpse of the New Windows Phone 7 Functionality, RIMM is Looking More Like a Short Play RIM Smart Phone Market Share, RIP? Android is gaining preference as the long-term choice of application developers A Glimpse of the BoomBustBlog Internal Discussion Concerning the Fate of Apple Math and the Pace of Smart Phone Innovation May Take a Byte Out of Apple's (Short-lived?) Dominance Apple on the Margin

Downward Mobility, Boomer Style Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:07 AM PST Addison Wiggin – November 15, 2011 Pity the boomers? Polls show they're even less confident about their retirement than they were seven months ago… Downward mobility, boomer style: From the TV anchor desk to the hardware section at Home Depot… Lack of "confidence" in Europe + misplaced confidence in U.S. recovery = flat markets… John Paulson cuts his gold position: Why the gold market is shrugging it off… "Peace has broken out"… Ralph Benko on the inevitable end of the political class… Readers' eyes on the prize for solving the euro crisis, and (still) more precious metals storage solutions… The baby boom generation is feeling even less confident about their "retirement" years than they did seven months ago. A poll of Americans age 47-65 by The Associated Press and LifeGoesStrong.com found the following… Last spring, 67% of boomers said they planned to work after "retirement." Now, it's 73% Also last spring, 44% said they were not confident they could afford a comfortable retirement. Now it's a solid majority of 53%. 40% said they would rely heavily on Social Security in their "golden years." Now it's 45%. Fred Cantu did not take part in the poll. But we can guess what his survey responses would be. "Fred Cantu, one of Austin's most beloved TV news personalities," reads a story from the Austin American-Statesman spied by The 5's Dave Gonigam, "is working part time at Home Depot because he needs the money." Dave spent two decades traipsing the country in the trenches of local TV news before taking refuge here at 808 St. Paul. He still keeps up with the trade. "This is incredible," says Dave of Mr. Cantu's fate. "The guy's a living legend in Austin. He was cut loose last year, probably because the private equity outfit that bought the station was too leveraged up to keep paying a veteran anchor's salary. So here he is at 56, with some company stock, but no pension… and working in the hardware section of a Home Depot." "I would think back then," says Mr. Cantu, "I was making as much as the entire hardware department put together. Fred Cantu: Once a fixture on local TV in Texas, now retrieving fixtures for big-box hardware customers… "People think about this as a step down, but I don't think of it that way," he says, putting a good face on. "I think of it as part of the ride." On that score, Mr. Cantu is not alone. The aforementioned poll finds 70% of boomers either "very happy" or "somewhat happy." But the damage to their nest eggs is unmistakable… 42% say they've lost money during the last three years in a workplace retirement plan 32% say they've lost money in an IRA 41% say they've lost money in investments held outside a retirement plan 29% say they've lost money in real estate. A separate survey by Yahoo! Finance finds 41% of Americans believing the "American Dream" has been lost. Of the respondents to the Yahoo survey, 37% say they have no retirement savings and 38% plan to live off Social Security, such as it is and will be when the time comes. [Ed note. If you do have retirement savings and if you're concerned about where to put it now, our Jim Nelson of our income investing team has uncovered a method of doubling or even tripling the average stock dividend. There's nothing fancy about it; it's as simple as a couple of mouse clicks in your online brokerage account, thanks to a legal "loophole" Jim describes in detail here.] U.S. stocks are ignoring both "bad" news from Europe and "good" news at home. The major indexes are basically flat. Volatility as measured by the VIX is approaching 32 — a number that increasingly resembles a "new normal." Jitters in Europe have brought the yield on a 10-year Italian bond back above 7% this morning. Recall that's the "magic number" that drove Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts. France is getting dragged into the quicksand now, too. Yields on 10-year French bonds have touched 3.59%. Compare that with German bunds yielding 2.41% and the spread has hit a record. No, there's no real news driver here. "It's a confidence crisis," an economist at the Dutch bank Rabobank told Bloomberg. A trio of economic numbers in have encouraged a crisis of misplaced optimism in the U.S…. Retail sales: Up 0.5% in October, the second straight increase, according to the Commerce Department. Electronics and appliances were the big gainers, up 3.7% Wholesale prices: Down 0.3% in October. But most of that can be chalked up to falling energy prices, which are now rising again. The year-over-year increase is still an ugly 6.1% New York factory activity: Back in positive territory for the first time since May, according to the Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey. But the growth was so small, you'd have to squint to see it on a chart. Gold continues to do its fair share of ignoring events in the wider world. The spot price is steady-Eddie at $1,781. Silver has held on to $34. Gold even shrugged off the news that John Paulson has cut his holdings of GLD, the largest gold ETF, by one-third during the third quarter. His funds are still the largest holder of GLD. "Redemptions from ETFs don't always mean the outright liquidation of gold positions," explains Edel Tully, the veteran gold analyst with UBS. "In the past, some investors have chosen to move to less-transparent ETFs or other types of gold exposure." In any event, the $1.94 billion of shares Mr. Paulson has unloaded have been more than offset by the purchases of other investors: Total GLD holdings rose 2% during the third quarter. "We are now entering the strongest months of the year for gold," notes Frank Holmes, Vancouver favorite and U.S. Global Investors chief. He points to the chart below, showing "how gold and gold equities have performed on an average monthly basis over the past 10 years. While the spot gold price has differed from the S&P/TSX composite index of gold equities during the first 10 months of the year, their historical pattern is very similar during the last two months. "November has historically been the strongest month of the year for gold equities, with mining stocks increasing 8.1%." So far, so good. With half of November over, major gold stocks represented by the GDX ETF are up 4.6%. More bullish gold nuggets crossing our desk this morning… Physical gold will outsell ETFs by 500% this year, according to Walter de Wet of Standard Bank. Two years ago, he told the Dubai City of Gold Conference, the positions were reversed — physical gold sales only 20% of the ETF total Gold holdings at BullionVault.com — one of our favorite "offshore gold storage programs" — have doubled in the last year. "The major driver of growth," says founder and CEO Paul Tustain, "has been the steady realization among private savers that low interest rates are here to stay" Russia's central bank says it's already bought 90 metric tons of gold this year, and is on track to top 100 by year-end. Here's what might be the most bullish gold news of all today — a major fast-food chain giving away Gold Eagles. Seriously. "You can win either $190 or $1,142 in real gold!" says the contest page at Taco Bell's website. "The price of gold fluctuates, so the prize values are based on the price of gold as of Aug. 2, 2011." The way it works, you buy a bag of Doritos at Taco Bell and text message a code on the back of the bag. "Verified winners will get the gold in American Eagle gold coins (equivalent dollar value is also an option upon request)." We have a hard time imagining a contest of this type taking place 10, five or even two years ago. The cops in New York swept in overnight and busted up Occupy Wall Street (OWS). But they — and the Tea Party — represent something significant in the eyes of our friend Ralph Benko of the American Principles Project: "The Dawning Irrelevance of Obama and the GOP" as he titled his latest post at Forbes.com. Gone but not forgotten… Zuccotti Square cleared of its rabble "Scholars of such matters," he writes, "observe that the number of war battlefield deaths has dropped by a factor of 1,000, falling from 500 per 100,000 in prehistoric times, to 60-70 in the 19th and 20th centuries (notwithstanding epic wars) to… less than one such death per 300,000 now in the 21st." "Genocide deaths have dropped by well over a factor of 1,000 from 1942 to 2008." "The number of republics has quintupled in just 65 years, the number of authoritarian regimes has dropped from 90, 35 years ago, to 25…" "In short, it is becoming nearly irrefutable that peace has broken out. To proponents of human flourishing in liberty, dignity and prosperity, this is wonderful news. To the political class, not so much…" "Without an authentic prospect of war there can be no justification of privileges for our governing class," Benko concludes, echoing the 90-second manifesto he emailed to us on Friday. "We will reclaim our power over officials." Or die trying? "Could a link be added," a reader inquires, "to let us get into Simon Wolfson's contest to think tank a way out of the euro currency without causing a worldwide crash?" "I have a few ideas. That $250,000 sure sounds interesting. And as a half-assed joke, someone who isn't a Ph.D. may actually come up with a solution? Love a dare." The 5: You're serious? Here you go. But before you proceed, consider what you're up against: "Simple," says a reader who already has a solution, "legalize competing currencies in the eurozone, including gold backed. The euro will quickly fade from relevance and disappear. Debt denominated in euros will disappear along with them." "Any bank that doesn't get on board with the new competing currencies would suffer the de facto default. Those that do can transfer their healthy balance sheet items to the new currencies." The 5: You neglected to read carefully: The aim is to allow countries to exit the eurozone without blowing up the world financial system. "Careful consideration," the announcement says, "must also be given to managing the potential impact on the international banking system." In other words, protect and promote the statist quo. "I have read with interest the various schemes for hiding your gold stash at home," a reader writes, "and I keep coming back to the reality of the matter." "When things get that tough and someone does actually break in your home looking for your gold, just how cool are you going to be when the robber has a knife at your wife's or child's throat and he tells you he just doesn't believe that's all the gold you have." "Then you see that first trickle of blood coming down your wife's neck as he lets you know just how serious he is. Do you think you will just say, 'Honest….that is all the gold I have' and call his bluff?" "I doubt it." The 5: Hmmn… "I suggested hiding gold to my dad once," writes another with a little less graphic specificity. "He has a house that used to have its own water well in a pump room, until they got city water." "The old pump was removed and the hole cemented over: just a big rough patch of cement in the cellar. My suggestion was to buy a bunch of gold, dig up a patch of cement and bury the gold in the hole and then cement back over the hole. I don't know how a thief would know it's there, and they would need a jackhammer to get it out." "My dad's reaction: If it gets to that point the government will confiscate all the gold anyway, there's no way for him to avoid a paper trail." "I don't know, with a USA debt of $15 trillion and overspending by a trillion… and huge debt problems in Europe starting to burst everyone's bubble, I think he should try." The 5: Now you're preaching to the choir. "A good way," one final reader suggests, "is to cut out a piece of drywall, insert items, mud over, apply a little spray texture (comes in a can) and then paint area." "Just remember to tell some trusted folks the location in case you become dearly departed." The 5: It's true what they say, you can't take it with you. Cheers, Addison Wiggin The 5 Min. Forecast P.S. Demand for the Gold Buffaloes we have — along with our own unique "booksafe" storage solution — has exceeded expectations. We have only a handful left. At this stage, if you're still interested, your best bet is to call John Wilkinson at (866) 361-7662.

Agnico Eagle CEO - Gold Could Rise to Unimaginable Levels Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:06 AM PST With gold around the $1,780 level and silver trading near $35, today King World News interviewed Sean Boyd, CEO of $8 billion Agnico Eagle. When asked what he sees going forward with the price of gold, Boyd responded, "It's still a very strong market. There was forced selling not too long ago by certain holders and that tended to spook the market. But we have been consistently sticking with the investment thesis that governments have too many obligations that they simply can't meet and as a result we are going to see ongoing and continued debasement of paper money." This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Gold Testing Short Term Trendline Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:52 AM PST courtesy of DailyFX.com November 15, 2011 08:00 AM 300 Minute Bars Prepared by Jamie Saettele, CMT Gold has slowly crawled higher for nearly 2 months but has yet to retrace the entire September decline. As long as the channel holds, respect the potential for a continuation of what started in September (sharp declines). Coming under the short term support line and 1735 would trigger a near term bearish bias. Latest Video Other TA Articles...

Crude Oil, Gold Vulnerable as EU Debt Fears Sink Stocks and Boost Dollar Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:52 AM PST courtesy of DailyFX.com November 15, 2011 04:08 AM Crude oil and gold prices are set to decline as EU debt crisis fears undermine market-wide risk appetite and stoke safe-haven capital flows into the US Dollar. Talking Points [LIST] [*]Crude Oil Likely to Follow S&P 500 Lower on EU Debt Fears [*]Gold Under Pressure as US Dollar Gains Amid Risk Aversion [/LIST] WTI Crude Oil (NY Close): $98.14 // -0.85 // -0.86% S&P 500 stock index futures are pointing aggressively lower ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, hinting crude oil is set to decline amid broad-based risk aversion. Pessimism comes amid news that newly-minted Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is having trouble forging a cabinet and a vote by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party to offer EU17 countries a mechanism for a “voluntary” exit out of the single currency. The spreads between yields on benchmark 10-year German bonds and the equivalents from Spain, France Australia and Belgium hit...

Oil ends above $99, at highest since late July Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:46 AM PST 15-Nov (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures closed above $99 a barrel Tuesday, buoyed by better-than-expected U.S. data on retail sales and manufacturing, but a stronger dollar and renewed worries about Europe's debt outlook helped keep a lid on price gains. Crude for December delivery rose $1.23, or 1.3%, to settle at $99.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest closing level for a most active contract since July 26, according to data from FactSet Research. "Retail sales were good, which would tend to suggest that demand for gasoline is going to get a little bit better," said Phil Flynn, a vice president at PFG Best. [source]

Gold closes up as traders mull safe-haven appeal Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:39 AM PST 15-Nov (MarketWatch) — Gold futures finished higher Tuesday after spending the session wavering between gains and losses, as traders mulled the metal's safe-haven appeal against a backdrop of pressure from a stronger U.S. dollar and upbeat economic data, and support from growing euro-zone concerns. For gold, the trading environment is filled with ingredients that make "quite a soup, and one has to watch the various ingredients all the time," said Steve Gillette, president of Cirrus Commodities Exchange. For now, "gold support comes from the general safe-haven notion, but waiting for the euro shoe to drop," he said. …"Gold is choppy within the recent range as heightened [European Union] contagion risks have bolstered the dollar somewhat," said Peter Grant, senior metals analyst at USAGold-Centennial Precious Metals Inc. "Yields have ratcheted uncomfortably higher in both the periphery and in some of the core-European countries," he said. And "any sense of relief, associated with the recent changes in the governments of Greece and Italy, has quickly dissipated." [source]

Commodities Up, Equities Unch, Credit Down Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:35 AM PST Following our earlier post, equities retreated and converged towards the reality of their credit cousins in the last 30 minutes to end only marginally higher (or practically unchanged by futures close). A 30pts rally off the overnight lows was far and beyond the performance of credit markets which never traded green all day but it was EUR weakness (USD strength) that was intriguing given the rally in PMs and commodities. Gold and Silver are very marginally lower on the week while Copper is up around 1% but it was Oil's outperformance on the day that was impressive as the gentle roar of printing presses was heard on both sides of the Atlantic (noting Brent in EUR trades at the top of its nine month channel). Implied correlation diverged (upwards) from VIX into the close suggesting macro overlays were more bid - which reflects also the bid for protection in CDS markets. Crude made it almost back to $100 bbl today but still lags Copper on the week. Interestingly, PMs and commodities are all outperforming the USD movement this week as perhaps they are seen as better hedges for devaluation. Following up on our earlier note, we did see notable convergence in stocks into the close but credit was also losing ground. One other signal of demand for protection was the VIX vs Implied correlation which taken together can gauge the demand for macro vs micro protection. The fact that VIX fell but implied correlation did not indicates that potentially index overlays were more valuable than idiosyncratic trades today - given the up-close in implied correlation. This pattern often occurs right before a modest correction in equities and given the divergence between equity and credit (despite support from broad risk assets - CONTEXT), there appears room for deterioration in stocks from here (though realistically we'd prefer the equity-credit trade than outright one way or the other given the headline risk). Charts:Bloomberg UPDATE: By request, Brent priced in EUR:

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - What Time is the Next Swan? Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:22 AM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Why Gold Should Set New Highs for the Holidays Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:14 AM PST Most gold followers know the metal has a seasonal tendency to perform better in the fall and winter than in the spring and summer. Indeed, since 2001, the annual high for the gold price has occurred after Labor Day every year except two ... Read More...

Bullish Coil for Gold Posted: 15 Nov 2011 08:04 AM PST From an hourly perspective of the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), all of the action off of the Nov 8 high at 175.46 has carved out a high-level bullish coil formation, which (if it is bullish) should resolve itself to the upside in a thrust that projects into the 178.00 area next.

Paulson Sells Gold ETF, Buys Physical Bullion? Soros Not Gold Bearish Posted: 15 Nov 2011 07:49 AM PST Gold is trading at USD 1,768.20, EUR 1,305.30, GBP 1,113.30, CHF 1,620.20 , JPY 136,076 and CNY 11,223 per ounce. Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,765.00, GBP 1,113.99, and EUR 1,302.39 per ounce.

An Update on Real Estate Posted: 15 Nov 2011 07:37 AM PST Author:  Vedran Vuk Synopsis:  Real-estate expert Andy Miller presents the most dangerous exposures he sees in the sector today. Dear Reader, Last weekend, I attended a house party with a lot of other people from the Balkans and as is often the case, the conversation turned to European politics. One of the attendants from Serbia recalled a common saying from decades ago that is gaining popularity again: "Duzan kao Grcka." It means "in debt like Greece." By recalling the saying, he made an interesting point: was the Greek debt crisis really that difficult to figure out? Granted, holding this viewpoint requires accepting some stereotypes, but it appears the stereotypes fit. The rest of the economically troubled countries in southeastern Europe have always considered Greece a backward comrade as well – just as messed up as anyone else. But for some reason, the rest of the world began viewing Greece as if it were some sort of modern, first-world nation rather than part of the Eastern European bloc. In many ways, this is true for Italy as well. Just recently, no one in Europe thought that Italy was an economic powerhouse that could take on vast amounts of debt. Europeans commonly thought of Italy as a chronically dysfunctional country with rarely industrious people and bad inflation. Of course, Italy was still a decent place to live, but it was certainly no Germany nor even France. If Italy had any redeeming qualities, it was its tourism, leather products, coffee, cars, and suits, but that was about it. Yet over the last few years, the country revamped its image as a key member of the Eurozone. Beyond Italy and Greece, there are other countries that fit the same pattern. Think about Ireland and Argentina. The case for Ireland doesn't even require a European background to comprehend. Every American knows that Ireland has been seriously messed up since almost the beginning of time, and guess what….it's messed up again. Argentina had massive inflation only a decade ago. Everyone thought that surely the country had learned its lesson, but today estimates of Argentina's inflation reach as high as 30%. Sometimes financial markets are just too forgiving. They assume that these countries have finally learned their lessons. The same has been true of lending to the former Soviet bloc. Many new nations have gained sizeable debt burdens in only two short decades. It's easy to see how investors are lured into these deals. Until there's trouble, emerging economies always sound enticing. And after all, can one really stereotype a country? Why should the government or inflation of decades ago scare the investors of today? Yet, somehow the past keeps repeating itself in these places, and investors keep falling for the allure of a transformed, emerging economy. Up next, we have an article by Andy Miller on the top risk exposures in the real-estate market going forward. Andy Miller, cofounder of Miller Frishman Group, is a regular contributor on the topic of real estate to The Casey Report and a very popular faculty member at the Casey Summit series. For decades Andy has been involved in all aspects of the US real estate industry, including building, managing, and financing large inventories of commercial real estate, and providing workout services on troubled real estate for major financial institutions across the country. Andy was one of the few real-estate professionals to sell the bulk of his holdings in anticipation of the end of the housing bubble. In other words, when he talks, we listen. Here's his latest, quick update. Real Estate: An Update By Andy Miller The real estate market is very interesting. For the most part, it seems everyone has the giggles. However, there are major exposures lurking. Here are the top exposures I'm keeping an eye on: Interest rates. In real estate interest rates are important, not just because of the debt service one pays, but because all value in real estate is determined by capitalization rates. If interest rates increase, cap rates increase. This would be devastating to values. I think the risk of rising interest rates far outweighs any reward present in today's market.   Operating expenses. Real estate is heavily impacted by operating expenses. We have already seen expenses increase for every product type, in every market. Any sort of inflation will have a major impact on the value of real estate – and it already has.   Change in tenant make-up. Obviously, businesses come and go, industries expand and contract. However, I believe we are now witnessing a large shift in tenant uses. Retail shopping centers may be the most visible example, but it is clear that the office building business is changing, as well aswarehouse and storage businesses.   Geography is now becoming a more salient factor than it ever has been. We have always used location, location, and location. However, it seems to me that entire swaths of the country should now be re-examined for their viability as long-term real estate holdings. For example, would anything be appealing in Detroit or Cleveland? I think not. That could have huge ramifications for real estate in the future.   Housing. Apartments are on fire. I have rarely seen as many apartment units planned as are now on the drawing board. It is staggering. In Denver, there are at least 14,000 units planned or under construction. This will all be financed through Fannie, Freddie, or HUD. In addition, the rents that need to be obtained in new multifamily units are quite high as a result of increasing construction costs. This is all occurring with the backdrop of a weak and perhaps weakening housing market. The housing market under $250,000 is active and seemingly stabilizing. However, the jumbo markets are deteriorating steadily. As you know, the GSEs and HUD do not finance homes over $417,000 in most of the country. Therefore, if a home requires a loan over that amount, it is likely that one will have to write a check for 20-25% for equity. So, a borrower looking to finance a home with a price of $600,000 will likely have to write a check to get the loan in the amount of, at least, $120,000. In this day and age of volatility and negative savings, there isn't a plethora of borrowers running around who can do that. As a result, the jumbo markets are damaged. There have been two generations of homeowners who have been psychologically and financially debilitated by this housing depression. That is why apartments are so hot. Apartments represent more flexibility for people today. Renters don't need a down payment; they can move at the end of a lease, etc. However, as I like to say, "Housing is housing." True, apartments may be more appealing today. However, I see massive efforts under way by lenders and the GSEs to organize rental programs for single-family homes taken back in foreclosures. Once on the market, a rental home has far more appeal to a resident than an apartment. All things being equal, the home should rent faster than the apartment. This is an imbalance that we are watching carefully. When one considers the foregoing and the other risk factors confronting real estate, I think apartments are very risky to build new today.   No recovery in sight. As I have said many times, there is no recovery going on in real estate. However, I also don't see a great deal of erosion. Institutional buyers and funds are still gobbling up high-profile properties at very aggressive prices. This is having an impact on the market for all product types. However, rents are not going up; expenses are not going down; and vacancy rates are not being mitigated. Therefore, the underlying fundamentals of commercial properties are not improving. It sounds crazy to say that prices are high, but it is true. It is inexplicable, but true. That's it from the trenches. We continue to fix our bayonets and run into battle. [Ride the big waves, risk-free! Identifying today's most important trends and profiting them is the mandate of The Casey Report. The good news is that you can try the service for three full months with zero risk. If it doesn't float your boat or lift your bank account, simply cancel for a 100% refund. Fair? Get started today. You'll be glad you did.] Additional Links and Reads Pimco CEO: US Risks a Lost Decade (Real Clear Markets) El-Erian from Pimco lays out the case for a Japanese-style lost decade in the US. This is a really great interview because it's very even-handed. He explains how our problems resemble Japan's, how things could be even worse here, and what advantages the US possesses over Japan. Usually interviews just want a couple of sound bites, but El-Erian covers nearly all the bases intelligently and succinctly. The Paulson Rumors Are True (Zero Hedge) John Paulson – one of the stars who bet against the subprime crash – is quickly losing his shine. Not only has his fund struggled as of late, but it appears that he's doubling down on some of his bad bets while letting the winners go… never a good sign. From Q2 to Q3, he trimmed down his shares of GLD by over a third, from 31.5 million to 20.2 million. On top of that, he has added to his Capital One and Bank of America positions. As I've noted before, Paulson has a too simplistic view of the business cycle. He didn't really understand what was coming in 2008 and thus only got half the story right. Paulson saw a regular business cycle with a market crash followed by the usual rapid recovery. That's not what happened. This was a crash followed by a prolonged slump and as a result, his fund has been hurt by leveraged plays expecting a recovery at any moment. Nonetheless, being half right is still better than almost everyone else who was 100% wrong. Why Americans Won't Do Dirty Jobs (Bloomberg Businessweek) This is a well-written story; however, it doesn't come with a whole lot of statistics. Alabama recently passed one of the nation's toughest immigration laws which would force schools to ascertain the immigration status of students and their parents. As a result, illegal immigrants are leaving Alabama in droves. The unintended consequence – as this story points out – is an extreme shortage of workers for the dirty jobs many immigrants performed beforehand. Even with the recession, it appears that many locals refuse to do the work. Instead of opening more jobs for Americans, it appears that the state's new law may just discourage other businesses from locating in Alabama. That's it for today. Thank you for reading and subscribing to Casey Daily Dispatch. Vedran Vuk Casey Daily Dispatch Editor

Gold Bounces on "Physical Demand", as Bond Market Attention Shifting Spain's Way Posted: 15 Nov 2011 07:36 AM PST U.S. DOLLAR gold prices bounced to $1771 an ounce Tuesday lunchtime in London – still nearly 1% down on where they started the week after sharp falls yesterday and this morning. "The yellow metal continues to find good scaled down buying interest towards $1750 as safe haven diversification continues," says a note from Swiss precious metals group MKS.

Platinum: The “Cheapest” Precious Metal… Posted: 15 Nov 2011 07:35 AM PST Historically, precious metals (such as Gold & Silver for example) had an important role as currency, but are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium each have an [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217"]ISO 4217 currency code.[/ame] With the ongoing crises in the Western World, precious metals are regaining their role as "currency", as they cannot be printed out of thin air unlike fiat money. The best-known precious metals are the coinage metals gold and silver. While both have industrial uses, they are better known for their uses in art, jewellery and coinage. Other precious metals include the platinum group metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum, of which platinum is the most widely traded. The demand for precious metals is driven not only by their practical use, but also by their role as investments and a store of value. Historically, precious metals have commanded much hi...

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