saveyourassetsfirst3

The euro will survive – and Britain will join, says Michael Heseltine
WATCH: Rising Silver and Gold Demand in China
Yield Appeal: PIMCO Launches Australian Bond ETF
Gold Demand Hits New Record With Central Bank Buying Up Sixfold
Playing Silver: Bull Or Bear With Options On iShares Silver Trust
Positioning Your Equity Portfolio For High Yield With Moderate Risk, Part III
Do These Small-Cap Insiders Know Something You Don't?
Gold Investing: Being Right or Sitting Tight?
On the narrative of pepper spray at UC Davis, or “Mic Check for President!”
LISTEN: Interview with Gary Savage
Why Gold Sells Off and What Will Happen Next
What Should The Gold & Silver Price Be?
Your Monies and Positions are Not Safe
BrotherJohnF: Silver Update – “Mind Control”
OK, I've Got Some Imponderables
GGR Postponed to November 29

The euro will survive – and Britain will join, says Michael Heseltine

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 04:12 AM PST

Public has no idea of catastrophe facing UK economy if euro goes under, says former deputy PM

Britain will join the euro, Conservative peer Lord Heseltine has claimed. The former deputy prime minister, a long-time supporter of the single currency, said the public had "no idea" of the potential impact its collapse would have on the UK...

Read

WATCH: Rising Silver and Gold Demand in China

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 04:00 AM PST

In this edition of the show Max interviews Dan Collins from thechinamoneyreport.com.

~TVR

Yield Appeal: PIMCO Launches Australian Bond ETF

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 01:40 AM PST

By Tom Lydon:

The newly launched exchange traded fund provides investors with exposure to one of the more fiscally sound developed economies that also offers high returns.

PIMCO Australia Bond Index Fund (NYSEArca: AUD) was launched on Oct. 31. The fund tries to reflect the Bank of America Merrill Lynch index of Australian bonds, which has generated a 13% return over the past year in U.S. dollars, compared to the 5.7% for U.S. corporate and government debt, report Candice Zachariahs and Sarah McDonald for Bloomberg. The Australian bond index had a yield to maturity of 4.7%.

"Australian yields are attractive relative to what's available in the U.S.," Robert Mead, managing director in Sydney for Pomco, said in the Bloomberg article. "Investors maintain an Australian dollar position and thereby access the positive real returns currently offered by Australian bond investments."

Among the developed world, Australia has the second-lowest debt burden and second-highest benchmark borrowing

Complete Story »

Gold Demand Hits New Record With Central Bank Buying Up Sixfold

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 12:17 AM PST

By Jason Hamlin:

Gold demand in the third quarter of 2011 reached 1,053.9 tonnes, an increase of 6% compared to the same period last year. This equates to $57.7 Billion, an all-time high in value terms.

According to the World Gold Council's Gold Demand Trends report for Q3 2011, this increase was driven by investment demand which rose by 33% year-on-year to 468.1 tonnes, generating record quarterly demand of $25.6 Billion.

The report also details a number of other developments:

Investment demand in Europe reached a record quarterly value of €4.6bn, equating to 118.1 tonnes – a year-on-year increase of 135%. The increase in overall investment demand was all the more impressive given the sharp gold price correction in September, which encouraged a wave of profit taking among bar and coin investors. Virtually all markets saw strong double-digit growth in demand for gold bars and coins.

Chinese jewelery demand was 13% higher year-on-year

Complete Story »

Playing Silver: Bull Or Bear With Options On iShares Silver Trust

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 11:51 PM PST

There has been a lot of interest in Silver lately. Silver has been touted as a safe haven in a fashion similar to Gold. Many commentators suggest a 5% to 10% or more allocation towards precious metals as portfolio hedges. Quite frankly, I can't see investing in Silver (or Gold) just a way to hedge a portfolio. Is 5% to 10% really going to make a difference? Investing enough to actually protect a portfolio would distort diversification. There are many ways to hedge a portfolio that don't run this risk and I have outlined some in previous articles.

So, does this mean that there is no place for Silver in a portfolio? Certainly not. I think it should be viewed in the same light as any other investment. That is, not as a hedge-- but for gain. The view can be taken that Silver is in a bubble, and one

Complete Story »

Positioning Your Equity Portfolio For High Yield With Moderate Risk, Part III

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 11:35 PM PST

By Monty Spivak:

To build on our high-yield strategy, but moderate the risks, we will need to examine which target industries and countries can help us attain our goals. Part 1 compared a dividend-growth baseline strategy to high-yield. Part 2 proposed that asset allocation and smaller-capitalization stocks can increase yield while moderating risk. In this article, we will look at global and industry opportunities to seek higher current yield-on-investment.

First, let's not exclude the mega-cap, dividend-growth companies. The market may provide entry points for you to attain your yield objectives. With most investment advisors recommending that their clients invest in this segment, the wide appeal of the recognized brand names, and generally consistent results (in volatile times), it will be tough to find many high-yield opportunities in the mega-cap segment. Everyone is chasing these securities. To "seek alpha", one will more likely need to invest in securities that the billion-dollar funds overlook, due

Complete Story »

Do These Small-Cap Insiders Know Something You Don't?

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 11:30 PM PST

By StreetAuthority:

A regular scan of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings by corporate insiders can point the way to great investment opportunities. These officers and directors use their own funds to snap up their company's stock on the open market. You'll often find recognizable names, underscoring bullish opinions you may already have. For example, insiders have recently acquired shares at firms such as Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) and Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO).

Yet you'll also come across companies you've never heard of, the ones that toil in anonymity until they appear on various stock screens. With this in mind, I've taken a look at several small stocks that recently saw significant insider buying and found three companies that appear to have especially strong appeal. Here they are...

1. Biosante Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: BPAX)

Market cap.: $273 million

Three Insiders first started acquiring a

Complete Story »

Gold Investing: Being Right or Sitting Tight?

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 10:14 PM PST

Gold Investing has clearly been right. But is it contentious enough to sit tight...?

On the narrative of pepper spray at UC Davis, or “Mic Check for President!”

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 03:23 PM PST

Here's the YouTube:

The congealing narrative (supported by the YouTube's title) goes like this: Online Furor After Police Pepper-Spray Demonstrators at UC Davis (Time; Atrios). I'm not so sure. After all, the pepper spraying takes up the first twenty seconds of the video; but 8 minutes and 14 seconds remain. So what happened after the pepper spray? I thought I'd see. (Hat tip to alert readers LucyLulu, patricia, and montanamaven for helping to tease this out; I'm not really visual- let alone video-minded).

So, here's my transcript. I invite readers to follow along, and correct me. (I've noticed that time codes seem to vary a little from FireFox to Opera, so have patience with them, please.)

0:00 Students are seated in the university quad, blocking a path.

0:10 – 0:20 Uniformed police officer strolls into the frame, sprays bowed heads of students with a large economy size can of pepper spray, rather as if he were spraying vermin. Remarkably, while the action takes place, there are at least 5 recording devices on the frame besides the videographer's: Cameras, video recorders, cell phones, and iPads. In still photos, I count 11. The whole world is, indeed, watching.

0:35 Occupiers assisting one another after the spraying. Shouts of "Boo!"

0:42 Chants of "Shame on you!" begin. Coughing.

0:52 Police begin hauling Occupiers away. Coughing. "What is wrong with you?!" Face of policeman, visor raised, not proud. "You guys are supposed to protect us!" Coughing. "OK, man?"

1:02 Loud (organizer-style?) chant: "Who do you serve? Who do you protect?" Crowd does not pick up.

1:14 Camera has been swerving all around; now a full view of the path, with the police dragging unresisting Occupiers off the path onto the ground at the top of the frame. Many bystanders still recording. (See image at left for a characteristic, collective gesture at an Occupier event: The arm, raised or crooked, extended to hold a camera.)

1:20 Police continue to drag Occupiers off path onto grass, subdue, handcuff them. "Shame on you! Shame on you!" begins anew. The path is clear. A police car has been pulled up the path to where the seated students were. Police begin to drag handcuffed Occupiers past the car, down the path, out of the frame to the left.

1:41 Brief shot of policeman with rifle raised, walking backward down the path to the left; two students in sweatshirt and black coat look on amazed. [I'll say "rifle" because the weapon is not a handgun; it looks rather like an Imperial Storm Troopers blaster rifle: Black, bulbous, and heavy. UPDATE: In comments, readers point out that these are air guns, "technically non-lethal," rather like tasers. I'm not sure if that diminishes the experience or not; it seems to me that the students have to assume whatever they are is a step up from pepper spray, and that's pretty bad. From here on down, I'll change "rifle" to "weapon"]

1:41 – 1:43 Ratio of police to dragged Occupier: 3 to 1. Continued: "Shame on you! Shame on you!"

1:50 – 2:11 Police continue to subdue occupiers. Continued "Shame on you!" Some police make pacifying gestures. Others, with nightsticks, visors lowered, are forming a line along the grass. Another stands in the center of the path, weapon partially lifted.

2:27 Occupier walked off the path by police. Only a 2:1 ratio, this time!

2:46 Crowd not inclined to disperse, but people only standing (and filming). No violent body language whatever. Continued chanting: "Shame on you!"

2:58 Looks like a management type in a windbreaker, center of the path. He waves a TV cameraman along. He also seems to be the only policeman, through the entire episode, who's smiling. (I didn't see any predatory smiles.)

3:16 Continued chanting "Shame on you!" Students milling about, intermingling with uniformed police carrying weapons. It's surreal.

3:20 Policemen seem to group themselves, start walking down the path to the left of the frame in a loose formation. Continued "Shame on you!" Policemen's faces behind the visors. Again, not proud. Not at all proud (see also James Fallows on this point.)

3:43 At first the police were walking forwards, down the path to the left, with their backs to the Occupiers, but at this point they slowly turn and start walking backwards, so that they face the Occupiers. There's no visual or auditory stimulus for this change that I can detect. They also begin to bunch up. For the first time, the police look like a military formation — and one in retreat. The management type is not visible. I can't see leadership or orders given, though perhaps the police have ear buds.

4:00 Policeman in center of screen with weapon partly raised.

4:20 Police still bunched in loose formation. "Shame on you!" continues, with addition of "you shit" something-or-other from one bystander.

4:36 Crowd has now concentrated on the videographer's side of the path. Chanting is growing much louder. The crowd on the other side of the path is thin. (In other words, the police are not surrounded.)

5:07 More of the same. The police, for whatever reason, are no longer retreating. Nothing blocks them from moving left down the path, but they continue to stay right where they are.

5:30 New chant begins suddenly: "Who's university? Our university!" Police seem to react uneasily, move around, exchange words. Lots of "Our university!"

6:05 Policeman: "Back off!" to the crowd (Patricia thinks to another police.)

6:09 [Kent State "13 seconds of shooting" timer starts [UPDATE Here I think I do exagerrate] Camera is focused on the front of the police formation. At least two of the police raise their weapons to a 45-degree angle, pointing front, to the right, down at the ground. What is in front of them, to the right of the frame, is not in the shot.

6:12 "Mic check! Mic check!" (hoarse, urgent) "Shame on you!" Shouting. (Frightening and amazing)

6:15 Three weapons raised horizontal.

6:20 [Kent State timer ends] "Mic check! Mic check! We are willing…"

Occupiers: "WE ARE WILLING…"

MC: "to give you a brief moment…"

Occupiers: "TO GIVE YOU A BRIEF MOMENT…"

MC: "of peace…"

Occupiers; "OF PEACE…"

MC: "so you may take your weapons…"

Occupiers: "SO YOU MAY TAKE YOUR WEAPONS…"

MC: "and your friends…"

Occupiers: "AND YOUR FRIENDS…"

MC: "and go."

Occupiers: "AND GO."

6:35 Policeman in front of line of weapons, now, holding two red cans, presumably pepper spray. Police faces behind visors puzzled.

MC: "Please do not return!"

Occupiers: "PLEASE DO NOT RETURN!"

MC: "We are giving you a moment of peace."

Occupiers: "WE ARE GIVING YOU A MOMENT OF PEACE."

MC: "You can go! We will not follow you!"

Occupiers: "WE WILL NOT FOLLOW YOU!" "You can go!" [confused shouting]

7:04 Occupiers: Chants, shouts, "You can go!", "You can go!", "You can go!"

7:11 And the police begin to back down the path. "You can go!", "You can go!" "None of you is getting a pension!"

7:14 Now for the first time, the camera pans left to show who the police were facing: A loose crowd of students in hoodies and student gear, many of them holding cameras, chanting and shouting. No violent body language, no visible weapons.

7:20 Police still in a block formation, backing away.

7:45 Finally the police turn their backs on the Occupiers and walk down the path. Cheers. "Yeah!" (Somewhere military historian John Keegan says that in a rout, the first troops to flee are not at the front, but at the back of the column, instancing the collapse of the Old Guard at Waterloo. Notice that here, the first police to turn their backs and walk away are indeed those at the back of the column, and not those, weapons still partially raised, at the front.)

"Shame on you!" "Shame on you!" "Our university!" "Whose university?" "Our university!"

"Whose quad?" "Our quad!" "Whose quad?" "Our quad!"

8:13 and following: Can't get this part clear, sounds like a call for a general assembly, the people's mic still led by MC.

* * *
From the Barcalounger:

I don't think the story is the pepper spray at all. Here are some other stories:

1. The Occupiers displayed remarkable courage. They had already been pepper-sprayed, yet they faced down armored, paramilitary policeman whose weapons were raised and aimed at them. Does anybody remember Kent State? In thirteen seconds of shooting, four died. [Revise] The weapons used here mean that the stakes were not as high as they were at Kent State. However, to me, the police, though paramilitary and armed, looked stressed, unhappy, confused, and ill-led, if led at all. For example, at 5:07, having dragged the arrestees away, what were they hanging about for? At 6:35, why wasn't pepper spray used again? At some point not visible in the video, the police car was driven away. Who was in it, and why did they leave? Above all, why such a massive presence for grand total of six (I count six) pup tents? The whole situation, to someone with a nasty twist of thought, could have the feel of a set up: Putting Cossacks into a position where the odds are good enough that they'll end up opening fire on a few peasants out of panic, giving plausible deniability to some anonymous security thug seeking preferment ("bad apples," "mistakes were made"). Not that I'm paranoid. UPDATE The eternal question: Stupid and/or evil? I gave a tentative nod to evil, but there's stupid too!

(Both LucyLulu and Patricia take a somewhat different view, and we can discuss in comments. I think it's important to get this incident right, in case the tactics can be scale out horizontally.)

2. The Occupiers displayed remarkable ingenuity. The tactic of taking an internal, General Assembly deliberative technique and externalizing it for use in a confrontation with police was brilliant. The tactic (as commenter LucyLulu pointed out) both defused tensions with the police, and refocused the crowd on non-violence. And empowering the police with "You can go" was also brilliant. So, who had the power here?

3. The Occupiers won. They held their space. They seized and held the initiative. Further, I think that a reputation for non-violence is a strategic asset; it puts "good will" on the Occupation's balance sheet, and that's important if "all walks of life" are to participate. (That is not a moral position, but a pragmatic one.)

Of course, there may be other narratives to be constructed. Readers?

Oh, and "Mike Check for President!" As a write-in, I suppose, if your state permits that.

NOTE Time's headline also gets the story wrong a second way. The "online furor" is meta: It's far less important than what is going to happen on the ground at UC Davis. It sounded to me, at the end of the video, like the General Assembly was going to call for a strike on Monday.

UPDATE OK, OK, I changed the headline. I'm so old, I remember when "step up to the mic" was spelled "step up to the mike." But I defer to readers, who prefer "mic." That said, I envision a fake presidential campaign for Michael "Mike" Check, rather as an antidote Michael "Mike" Bloomberg's impending third party run… Maybe somebody should set up a facebook page and start a campaign…

UPDATE Thanks so much to the commenters who straightened me out on the type of weaponry used. If we knew the exact model, we could find out where it was used….

LISTEN: Interview with Gary Savage

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 02:20 PM PST

From KerryLutz.com:

Gary Savage of smartmoneytracker joins the show for the first time. He's a cycle guy and an ace technical analyst. You may think there's a lot of them around, and there are, however Gary has particular credibility in our book because he has lived by the advice he gives to others. Thus in late 2005 when he saw the real estate bust just around the corner, he sold his overpriced Las Vegas home and invested the money in safer investments such as gold and silver. He thinks there's another market crash heading our way and is very confident about the increasing price of precious metals which he believes is being fed in large measure by diminishing confidence in paper money. Gary's been through many market cycles and manias during his lifetime and is also a student of history, which gives his words added import.

Much more @ KerryLutz.com or @ 347.460.LUTZ

Why Gold Sells Off and What Will Happen Next

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 02:16 PM PST

by Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell:

Reuters just published an interesting article that makes the following point: "As the Dow struggled over the past few weeks, gold has confounded market watchers by tracking equities, even as the European debt crisis escalated. U.S. December gold futures fell $3.80 to $1,716.40 an ounce."

This brings up an interesting question. I will try to answer it in this essay. Two weeks ago, the Dow Jones Industrial average was up marginally and so was the price of gold. This past week the Dow lost some 300 points and gold sold off as well. Yes, it would seem that now "gold tracks stocks."

Further, we are informed that there is a "rush to safety" when the stock market runs down. People sell off both equities and gold for the "safe-harbor" of US notes and bonds.

This is a kind of dominant social theme, in my view: Gold is now to be portrayed (by Reuters and other elite-controlled media) as just another investable commodity like IBM or Exxon. But this ignores some important points. I researched them to make sure of my conclusions.

Read More @ SovereignMan.com

BrotherJohnF: Silver Update – “Mind Control”

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 01:34 PM PST

From BrotherJohnF:
Brother John discusses silver trends, dollars vs. silver, and mind control in the 11.19.11 Silver Update.

Got Physical ?

~TVR

OK, I've Got Some Imponderables

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 09:17 AM PST

1. What exactly is a circulated silver eagle? I even bought one in a leftover box at the coin store. Just how do they get circulated? Who is circulating them and why?

2. Ebay related. What in tarnation are 'mini-coins'. ST Gaudens gold mini-coins. They are evidently like tribbles and reproduce themselves at an alarming rate. And for the love of god don't ever do a gold coin search without the -belly modifier. There seems a glut of fake gold coin bellydance jewelry, way more than logically necessary.

3. Why are platinum coins so premium heavy? This for a commodity that is seen as odd and quirky and not real liquid. Who decides this stuff?

GGR Postponed to November 29

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 08:38 AM PST

Brief comments on the gold and silver pullback, the ongoing buyer's strike for The Little Guys and more.

HOUSTON -- As we sat down to begin this week's full Got Gold Report we learned that we had to travel out of state rather unexpectedly. If there was any way to delay our departure we would have done so but that was not possible. We beg our reader's and subscriber's indulgence as we postpone this week's full report until after the U.S. Thanksgiving break.

Continued…

Turkey Day Schedule, Research Break

In the "old days" it was our habit to take two weeks, Thanksgiving week and the following week, off completely - to spend the first part with family for the holiday and then to focus on aspects of the business that are essential to our year-end planning and positioning.

It is the second week of the period that is the most valuable to us businesswise as, for example, this year we intend to carefully study all of our "target" and "watch" companies (including the 35 Guru-chosen issues we share as fully fledged VB issues and VBCI issues) as we move into the expected 4-week long retail peak of this year's excellent Vulture Tax Loss Selling period. We are on the hunt for the now "very beaten up and bleeding" issues we think have a good shot for high percentage recoveries once the worldwide confidence puncture (underway now) eases and people begin figuratively breathing again.

Buyer's strikes are no fun at all unless one has the opportunity and confidence to take advantage of them.

In short, we are looking for "buys," and in particular, where on the charts we want to position or reposition our blue panic price target zones in the context of the ongoing buyer's strike, compounded by the double effects of hyper uncertainty, U.S. debt and deficit talks by the Super Committee and the fear of European contagion. We cannot be surprised by at least one more panicky rush to liquidity ahead – the kind of event that delivers the best of the best stupid-cheap, baby-out-with-bathwater, throw-away prices for some of our "Faves."

At times like that it pays to remember that in a panic scenario there is nothing "real" about the pricing and that panic pricing has no relationship to "value." Of course everyone can make up their own minds about such things within their own tolerance for volatility. We long-time Vultures are more or less immune to high volatility. It goes with the territory we have chosen to game, but it can be unnerving to fledgling Vultures who have not experienced it in real time.

We are also in the process now of taking our own tax losses to partially offset terrific gains earlier in the year to build up our Bargain War Chest and superb capital gains on our Vulture Bargain companies Hathor Exploration and Trade Winds Ventures (both the subject of takeovers this year).

As much as possible, we intend to do that important study and research this year, our unexpected trip notwithstanding.

Gold and Silver Selloff a Mini-Rush to Liquidity

Our snap impression of this week's COT report is that the COT remains more bullish than bearish and that the strong setback for gold and somewhat stronger knock for silver was likely a knee-jerk reaction to events in Europe, carryover effects of the MF Global blowup, along with the "strength" in the U.S. dollar as it affected most all commodities at the same time (except orange juice and lumber). We believe the strength in the U.S. dollar is another reaction to perceived weakness in the Euro, but we find it important to note that even with all the angst in Europe the Euro Index is within just a few basis points of where it was one year ago.

(Euro Index, if any of the images are too small click on them for a larger version.)

For comparison, look at the chart for the U.S. Dollar Index, which is also not very far at all from where it was this time last year.

(USD Index. Note that the ICE commercial traders remain significantly net short the buck.)

One look at the next chart drives home an important (we think) aspect of the current condition. Gold is roughly $350 or about 25% higher in USD than it was one year ago. With both the Euro and the greenback more or less about where they were a year ago, we can conclude that there has been a significant increase in the amount of liquidity flowing into gold over the past year and that the rise in the gold price has little to do with any particular currency becoming weaker. Instead it is defacto evidence of a general loss of confidence in all fiat currencies that underpins the bull market for gold (and silver).

We see no reason at all to believe there shall suddenly be less demand for gold relative to paper fiat currencies looking ahead and we sincerely believe that will eventually translate into relative outperformance for mining shares large and small in the future.

Short term virtually anything is possible, including yet another sudden rush to liquidity with black swans circling in attack formation overhead. With a buyer's strike still in play for The Little Guys, the second of two phases of tax loss selling season about to be in full swing and with a virtual ocean of fear/uncertainty overhanging the equity markets, we believe it is a great time to be a bargain hunting Vulture, but we shall be thinking cheap, very cheap for additions to our targeted, Guru-chosen members of The Little Guys or not at all just ahead.

Technical Chart Updates

We shall send in our updates to the technical charts for posting while traveling, so look for changes to our annotations by the usual time on Sunday (18:00 ET). We shall also continue to make incremental changes to the VB and VBCI charts from time to time on a daily basis just ahead as well, so if interested be sure to check the charts for changes frequently looking ahead. (Vultures log in to the GGR subscriber pages for the technical charts, Vulture Bargain charts and Vulture Bargain Candidates of Interest charts.)

The next COT report by the CFTC is due to be released on Monday, November 28, so we shall schedule the next full GGR for the following Tuesday, November 29.

Thankful Indeed

We want to take this opportunity to wish everyone in the U.S. a safe and happy Thanksgiving. We have a great deal to be thankful for here at Got Gold Report, including the contemporary opportunity to add shares in some of our Faves at prices we would have thought impossible a few months ago. We are very thankful for our valued Vulture subscribers for sure. Subscribers help to make the Got Gold Report possible and we are proud of and thankful for your business.

That is all for now, but there is more to come.

Save Your ASSets First

Sunday, November 20, 2011

saveyourassetsfirst3

saveyourassetsfirst3

No comments:

Post a Comment