Gold World News Flash |
- Pierre Lassonde - This Gold Bull Market is Far From Over
- Sprott's looking to raise a posse
- Jamie's got a gun
- Buying & Selling Gold Using Momentum Indicators Generated a 39.6% Return in 2011! Heres How
- World Economic Trends and the Future Price of Gold
- An Economic Storm is approaching -- Crisis begins in 2011 and worsens in 2012 to Economic
- Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Near Unchanged
- Philipp Bagus and Alasdair Macleod on Europe, inflation, and gold
- 13 Observations On The New Holiday Spending Normal
- If A Global Recession Is Not Looming, Then Why Are Bailouts Flying Around As If The End Of The World Is Coming?
- Chinese and Indian Tails Wagging the Global Equity Dog?
- Gold and Silver on the Verge of a Big Move
- ECB Stealth QE Euro 489 Billion Money Printing to Prevent Eurozone Banking System Collapse
- Gold climbing 'wall of worry' just as it did in '70s, Lassonde tells King World News
- The NY COMEX: SENTENCED TO DEATH
- Gene Arensberg: Why we remain bullish on small mining shares
- Let the Depression Burn Itself Out
- Harvey Organ's Daily Gold & Silver Report
- LTRO In Europe: A Touch Less Than 500 Billion Euros Printed First Day / Gold And Silver Hold On Minor Raid
- Gold bottoming around $1,600, $2,100 likely early in 2012, Hinde report says
- The Bearish Gold Predictions Forget One Important Market Reality
- Why We Remain Bullish on Small Mining Shares
- Sprott's Call for Silver Producers to Hold Back Metal Strikes Chord
- ANOTHER REASON TO PARTY: DEBT TO GDP NOW >100%
- The Most Disparaged Profession
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts – 2012: The Year of Living Dangerously
- Gold Price Buy Signal Will Be a Slight Rise After Correcting Near $1,562.50, Will it Hold?
- Rant from Ann Barnhardt
- Your Money Is Not Safe Here, Buffett's Silver Play & Much More – Martin A. Armstrong
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - 2012: The Year of Living Dangerously
| Pierre Lassonde - This Gold Bull Market is Far From Over Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:43 PM PST European Central Bank reserve and their reserves have doubled in the last three years, which means they are printing money. But not telling anybody...
|
| Sprott's looking to raise a posse Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:17 PM PST Sprott's Call for Silver Producers to Hold Back Metal Strikes Chord On November 30, Eric Sprott, chairman of Sprott Inc. and one of the largest holders of physical silver and silver equities globally, issued a call to action to 17 … Continue reading
|
| Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:15 PM PST E-Mail Clues in Tracking MF Global Client Funds Federal authorities investigating the collapse of MF Global have uncovered e-mails that detail the transfers of money in the firm's last days, including transfers that contained customer money, according to people close … Continue reading
|
| Buying & Selling Gold Using Momentum Indicators Generated a 39.6% Return in 2011! Heres How Posted: 21 Dec 2011 06:13 PM PST Lorimer Wilson
|
| World Economic Trends and the Future Price of Gold Posted: 21 Dec 2011 06:01 PM PST Nichols on Gold
|
| An Economic Storm is approaching -- Crisis begins in 2011 and worsens in 2012 to Economic Posted: 21 Dec 2011 04:25 PM PST  
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Near Unchanged Posted: 21 Dec 2011 04:00 PM PST Gold climbed $27.50 to as high as $1641.60 by a little after 5AM EST before it fell to see a $7.86 loss at $1606.24 by about 10AM EST, but it then bounced back higher into the close and ended with a gain of 0.12%. Silver surged to as high as $30.194 before it fell back to $29.128, but it also bounced back higher in late trade and ended with a loss of just 0.58%.
|
| Philipp Bagus and Alasdair Macleod on Europe, inflation, and gold Posted: 21 Dec 2011 03:29 PM PST Philipp Bagus and Alasdair Macleod on Europe, inflation, and gold
|
| 13 Observations On The New Holiday Spending Normal Posted: 21 Dec 2011 02:59 PM PST While the rest of the world enjoys the New Normal, which lately has primarily and mostly negative connotations, when it comes to such "legacy" aspects of life as holiday shopping, we all enjoy the fall back to a simpler time assuming that at least such basic behavior as buying presents for the loved (and not so loved) ones can hardly change much with the years. Alas, even this last bastion of nostalgic simplicity has now been swept away: Nick Colas and his team from ConvergEx, have once again decided to educate us about the folly of assuming the old ways are with us, and has created a useful compilation exposing the finer nuances of the "twelve days of online Christmas" which show that just like everything else, holiday shopping patterns are rapidly changing as well. "This holiday season consumers aren't quite as concerned with finding "cheap gifts" as in recent years, though traditional luxury items such as jewelry and cashmere sweaters are still losing traction with gift-givers. They're seeking sales on electronics, becoming increasingly enamored with real vs. artificial Christmas trees, and backing off catering services in favor of home-cooked ham. New York City is the most popular place to spend Christmas and New Years (hey, it's cheaper than a ski destination), but interest in the Radio City Rockettes and Broadway shows is dwindling. All these observations come courtesy of two of our favorite online gauges of consumer behavior – Google Trends and search engine autofills from Google, Yahoo and Bing. We've compiled a collection of 13 visuals (12 for the days of Christmas plus a bonus for Hanukkah) that ultimately show consumer spending patterns are still decidedly cautious." More from Convergex: So read on for our 13 observations on holiday spending (in no particular order), running the gamut from presents to trips to food. #13: Online shoppers are less concerned with "cheap presents" this year than in any other year since 2004. Of the 13 observations, this one's the most optimistic economically-speaking, though the focus on inexpensive gifts in 2007 is curious. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the Great Recession officially began in December 2007, so perhaps this is a reflection of consumers starting to feel the pinch.
#12: Electronics are the most popular item that people want to find on sale. TVs, laptops and iPods top the list, while tires and clothes also made an appearance in the top 10 Bing autofills.
#11: iPods, however, have been losing popularity as gifts over the years. 2007 was their peak, and this year they're only about as popular as in 2004, despite a continuous stream of new models. We're willing it bet it's more a iPhone/iMac/iPad issue than economic issue, though the $200+ price tag may have some consumers thinking twice.
#10: Since spenders really began to feel the credit crunch in mid-2008, there's been an evident substitution of wool sweaters for pricier cashmere sweaters. This one's surely an economic issue.
#9: Jewelry, always a celebrated gift option, is about as sought-after this year as in 2010 and 2008. Pre-recession, as well as in 2009 prior to fears of a double-dip, it was a much more common gift – diamonds in particular. Google Trends also shows evidence of a substitution of less costly gold jewelry from search for diamond-studded fare, although part of this could be due to gold's well-publicized investment value. Sort of a Yuletide 'Two birds with one stone" present.
#8: Men, friends, kids and coworkers top the list of people for whom consumers most want to find cheap gifts, according to Bing's autofill results. Mom, dad and teachers are also popular searches, though noticeably absent is the phrase "cheap gifts for women."
#7: Every year since 2004, searches for "real Christmas trees" have been catching up to "artificial Christmas trees" and are now almost even. Real trees cost anywhere from $15 to $200 depending on where you buy them, while artificial trees cost $100 on average. However, over the course of 10 years, real trees cost more than 3 times as much as an artificial one, according to the American Christmas Tree Association (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/12/09/cost-of-christmas-are-live-trees-...).
#6: Northeasterners planning vacations prefer either to stay very local or go abroad (Google's autofill is location-adaptive). New York City is the most favored destination (a relatively inexpensive travel option for those in the region), followed by India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. And the cheaper Euro doesn't seem to be helping boost travel plans to the Continent – Spain and Paris are at the bottom of this Top 10 list.
#5: New York is also the leading New Year Eve haven, followed by the likes of Vegas, California, New Orleans, Chicago and Atlanta. Paris is the only international destination in Yahoo's autofill results.
#4: For those who haven't forgone holiday trips altogether, here's more evidence New York City is a cheap alternative to more wintry hotspots. Searches for "luxury" Colorado ski vacation destination Breckenridge peaked in 2006/07 and have dropped every year since. The difference between now and 2007 is quite substantial, though on the plus side current interest in Breckenridge trips is about on par with last year.
#3: While travelers may be headed to New York, they appear to be spending less on traditional holiday activities the city offers. Interest in both the Radio City Rockettes and Broadway shows is at an all-time Christmas season low. Our offices are located in the heart of the theater district, and it does seem every bit as crowded as last year, however.
#2: Home-cooked meals are more likely to be on the dinner table than prior to the recession, when costlier catered feasts were in greater demand.
#1: What about the most sought after holiday recipe? Jello mold, according to Bing. Expectedly, ham and cookies made the list, as did reindeer food and happiness. And we hear the sangria at Ruby Tuesday is quite tasty.
|
| Posted: 21 Dec 2011 02:06 PM PST from The Economic Collapse Blog:
Read More @ TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
|
| Chinese and Indian Tails Wagging the Global Equity Dog? Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:57 PM PST
 There is no significant decoupling in our current global economy. As I am typing this, the Chinese stock market (Shanghai Index or $SSEC) is making new lows (intraday basis) for the current decline it has been undergoing. Is the Chinese market signaling what comes next for developed stock markets like the US and Germany? Is the tail predicting what the dog will do? I think it is. Here's a 2.5 year daily chart of the $SSEC with a daily plot of the S&P 500 ($SPX) below the $SSEC plot thru today's US market close:  I think another decent decline is imminent in "advanced" economy stock markets that haven't already experienced it. Japan is already in the midst and another BRIC economy market, that of India, looks very weak here. Here's a 6 month daily chart of the $BSE Bombay Index thru the close on 12-21-2011:  The Volatility Index ($VIX) is also screaming for equity bears to come out of hibernation. Here's a 6.5 year daily chart of the $VIX thru today's close:  Meanwhile, the "Gold versus paper" ratio is settling in and trying to find a bottom here. There is now an ETF that allows traders to bet on this ratio, a double leveraged ETF with ticker FSG. It represents a double-leveraged way to bet that the Gold to S&P 500 ratio (i.e. $Gold:$SPX) is going to go higher. Here is a 6.5 year daily log scale chart of this ratio thru today's close, using the GLD:$SPX ratio as a proxy:  Of course, the easiest way to play the "Gold versus paper" trade, which is the secular trade of the past decade (and it is not close to ending), is to buy physical Gold and avoid paper financial assets like stocks altogether. For those who like to trade with a portion of their capital, however, we are very close to the re-entry point for this ratio trade in my opinion. Until the Dow to Gold ratio hits 2 (and we may well go below 1 this cycle), Gold will continue to outperform paper. It's really that simple. The twists and turns give commentators like me a chance to hear ourselves talk and traders a chance to try to juice the gains of a "buy and hold" strategy, but they are simply noise for conservative investors who understand the current secular trend. If you are crazy enough to try and trade in this environment, consider giving my low-cost subscription service a try. My subscribers and I have recently been and are still short emerging markets and are waiting for a good entry point to go long Gold stocks as our next trade.  ![[Most Recent Charts from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_4.gif) 
|
| Gold and Silver on the Verge of a Big Move Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:49 PM PST The past few months have been tough for those holding precious metals stocks, PM futures contracts or physical bullion. With silver is trading down 41%, precious metals stocks down 30% and gold 15%. It has people scratching their head. Read More...
|
| ECB Stealth QE Euro 489 Billion Money Printing to Prevent Eurozone Banking System Collapse Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:46 PM PST The ECB's first ever long term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) that had been estimated to provide upto Euro 350 billion to Europe's bankrupt banks in the form of cheap 1% 3 year loans, instead a huge Euro 489 billion was borrowed by 523 banks in a rush to grab cheap money that amounts to QE in all but name regardless of ECB propaganda.
|
| Gold climbing 'wall of worry' just as it did in '70s, Lassonde tells King World News Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:45 PM PST 9:30p ET Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Mining entrepreneur Pierre Lassonde tonight reminds King World News that there were many big price setbacks during gold's bull run in the 1970s, setbacks ranging from 11 to 43 percent. Gold will continue to climb the proverbial wall of worry, Lassonde says, though he's inclined to think the price will be soft for quite a while into the new year before taking off again. An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News blog here: http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2011/12/21_P... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT Sona Discovers Potential High-Grade Gold Mineralization From a Company Press Release VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- With its latest surface diamond drilling program at its 100-percent-owned, formerly producing Blackdome gold mine in southern British Columbia, Sona Resources Corp. has discovered a potentially high-grade gold-mineralized area, with one hole intersecting 13.6 grams of gold in 1.5 meters of core drilling. "We intersected a promising new mineralized zone, and we feel optimistic about the assay results," says Sona's president and CEO, John P. Thompson. "We have undertaken an aggressive exploration program that has tested a number of target zones. Our discovery of this new gold-bearing structure is significant, and it represents a positive development for the company." Sona aims to bring its permitted Blackdome mill back into production over the next year and a half, at a rate of 200 tonnes per day, with feed from the formerly producing Blackdome mine and the nearby Elizabeth gold deposit property. A positive preliminary economic assessment by Micon International Ltd., based on a gold price of $950 per ounce over eight years, has estimated a cash cost of $208 per tonne milled, or $686 per gold ounce recovered. For the company's complete press release, please visit: http://www.sonaresources.com/_resources/news/SONA_NR18_2011-opt.pdf Join GATA here: Vancouver Resource Investment Conference http://cambridgehouse.com/conference-details/vancouver-resource-investme... California Investment Conference 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: 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: 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: To contribute to GATA, please visit: ADVERTISEMENT Prophecy Drills 384.9 Meters Grading 0.623 g/t PGM+Au, Company Press Release VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Prophecy Platinum Corp. (TSX-V: NKL, OTC-QX: PNIKF, Frankfurt: P94P) has announced the final drill results from 2011 drilling at the company's fully owned Wellgreen platinum group metals, nickel, and copper project in the Yukon Territory. Borehole WS11-192 intercepted 384.9 meters of 0.45 percent nickel equivalent starting from 9.45 meters depth. Included in this greater interval of continuous mineralization is a platinum group metals-rich zone with a combined platinum-palladium-gold grade of 1.358 grams per ton over 19.23 meters (nickel equivalent 0.74%). The final drilling results for 2011 have shown the Wellgreen Central-East and Central-West deposits to be one contiguous body, whereby there is good potential to broaden significantly the Central-West resource base, which currently contributes only about a quarter of the current 43-101 compliant resource at Wellgreen. Overall the drilling program met with good success in expanding the resource to the east and south. The long drill intercepts suggest the deposit remains very much open in those directions. For the complete drilling results and the full company statement, please visit: http://prophecyplat.com/news_2011_dec08_prophecy_platinum_wellgreen_dril...
|
| The NY COMEX: SENTENCED TO DEATH Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:20 PM PST If Silver Goes Down All Hell Will Break Loose In The Physical Market: Silver Investment Update by VictoryIndependence on Dec 11, 2011 There simply isn't enough physical silver to deal with the demand of a fiat currency crisis. As the paper silver market pushes prices down, all hell will break loose in the physical market. ___________________________ London Trader - There are Tremendous Silver Shortages By Eric King "This game is getting so stretched that it's going to break. You don't think the Chinese know this stuff. If we get a close above the 200 day moving average in the mid 30's on silver, watch silver immediately pop $2 or $3. Silver is totally incredible. There is nobody in COMEX silver contracts anymore, other than casino players. The only way they have been able to keep silver depressed is by borrowing silver from SLV to meet immediate demand. That's the only reason silver isn't trading $10 to $15 higher right now. There isn't enough silver for investors to buy (in large amounts) so they have been using SLV as a flywheel. SLV is over 20 million ounces short on the silver they are supposed to have in the vaults to back the shares which have been issued. The silver isn't there. So there are people who purchased SLV to own physical silver, but all they have is shares that aren't backed by the physical silver. Part of managing the price of silver recently has been for the central banks to attack the gold market. But what is interesting is how this manipulation of the gold price was effected. Obviously, the bullion banks, which are working with the central banks, have inside knowledge as to the timing and just how much gold is going to be available to them. So, in order for the bullion banks to maximize the effect of the physical gold they get from leasing, they add high scale paper leverage. They then short-sell just enough tranches of COMEX contracts to surgically take out three important support pivots.... "Each of those important support pivots that everyone is watching, like the 50 day moving average and so on, each one of those are taken out in the access market in the quiet trading, overnight, on three successive days. In other words, they take out these three important pivots, which turns the momentum buyers into sellers. It also gets a bunch of funds to start selling as well. So using as little ammunition (physical gold) as possible, and in thinly traded markets, they take out these pivots. They smash the price, but leave just enough physical gold for going into the fixes because the smart buyers are saying, 'I'll take it at this price.' So, as we go into the fix, they've provided just enough physical to satisfy as many of those buyers as they can. They then smash it right after the fix, again, with paper. That's what's happened with gold and it's the reason it has been manipulated down to these levels. It's the only way they could do it, and it's a sign of absolute desperation when central banks are willing to risk giving bullion banks gold they will never, ever receive back. You don't think the Chinese aren't sitting here taking every single ounce of that leased gold? Of course they are. There were actually three enormous physical buy areas that they pierced, where, literally, there was tonnage ordered. I estimate well over 100 tons of physical gold was taken between the first pivot they broke, where these guys loaded up with discounted gold, and this stuff disappears from the West to the East. These central banks had to be in desperation to allow this borrowed gold to be absorbed by foreign entities. They needed to raise dollars in a hurry and they are extremely afraid of gold going through the roof. I was very, very surprised they got as far as they did (driving gold lower). They had to use an awful lot of gold to do it." ___________________________ by horse237, Video Rebel's Blog It will be a long and twisted path in the silver and gold fields from where we are to where the bankers want to take us for still another fleecing. Hopefully, we can avoid the snare traps the Bilderbergers set for us. First I want to highlight the recent attack and counterattack on the New York based COMEX metals exchange. Jim Willie said he believes JP Morgan ordered Goldman Sachs and Jon Corzine to take down MF Global because they feared the COMEX would collapse due to a shortage of silver bullion. The MF Global bankruptcy receiver took money from segregated accounts at subsidiaries but gave 1.2 billion dollars to Morgan for unsecured loans. They took money away from the people who had cash and wanted to take delivery of silver and gold bullion. Jim Willie also says that the bankers on Wall Street and in Europe will be just flat out stealing money from your accounts and pensions. Governments in Europe have been taking money out of private pensions and giving it to Bilderberg owned banks. That is why the Senate and the House legalized warrantless arrest without judicial review. They need to shut you up when the fraud gets exponentially worse than it is now. Bix Weir is a gold bug but has issued a call to investors to sell their gold and buy silver to break the manipulation of the bullion markets. Silver is a much smaller market and will be easier to break. Ten tons of gold is inconsequential but that could buy 500 tons of silver which could break the COMEX when combined with the other big buyers. John Embry of Sprott Asset Management launched two attacks on the COMEX. First he filed with the Canadian government to buy 1.5 billion dollars in silver. The last time he did this he sent silver from $18 to over $30. More recently he asked large silver miners to store silver rather than to sell silver and hold cash. It is clear he wants to break the COMEX. If silver is withheld from the market by the miners, then a concerted demand for delivery of silver bullion will in my opinion push the price well past $50 an ounce. This will break the COMEX and the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association.) There is a lot a paper silver and gold out there. The fraud on Wall Street and the City of London is beyond the ability of a normal person to comprehend. A surge in physical silver purchases will also break the ETFs GLD and SLV which use paper derivatives to simulate the spot price of silver and gold. A deep analysis of SLV reveals that their operating costs are covered from the sale of silver bullion. I want to present some facts investors need to know. UBS and Morgan Stanley have been sued for selling paper silver and representing it as bullion to customers even charging them storage for silver bars that never existed. The COMEX trades paper silver on some days as much as the total amount of physical silver that is mined every year. James Turk of Gold Money has said that half of the new money invested in bullion goes into silver and the other half into gold. For every ounce of gold mined only ten ounces of silver is mined. But silver has industrial uses that gold does not have. The above ground supply of silver has diminished 93% in the past 40 years. But the ratio of the price of gold to silver is 50 to 1. If gold and silver break free of the current manipulation, the price of silver should rise anywhere from 50 to 100% faster than gold. Central banks have NO physical Silver to assist in the manipulation of the Silver market but they still have a lot of physical Gold (although much less than they claim). The Italian government has been taken over by Bilderbergers and Goldman Sachs operatives. They just recently have been leasing out Italian and Spanish gold. As you know, leased gold is not bullion and can be sold five times in order to drive down prices. That is why gold has been going down of late. When To Sell Silver And Gold I see no near term sell signals as I do not advise anyone to trade gold and silver daily. Bullion should be held until a gold standard is set up. Walter Burien at www.CAFR1.com has a paper called 'The Fifty Year Plan' which is similar to an essay I wrote: A Fractional Reserve Gold Standard: The Next Big Fraud. If a gold standard does come into existence, gold will have to at least double in price to make it work. That is when you need to sell. What you should buy is yet to be determined. I do not personally favor a gold standard. But I have suggested that Russia, China, Venezuela and Iran open a network of oil bourses where all purchases are to be made in gold, rubles or yuan. The Chinese would have to revalue their currency upwards and fix it to the ruble. I wrote that essay as a strategic move to stop WW III. I would prefer a debt free currency like the Greenback and a ban on fractional reserve banking. My regular readers know that I do not expect the New York or the European Bilderberg banks to go bankrupt. They will be bailed out by Ben Bernanke. The money supply will grow so fast that I expect hyperinflation within 16 months. I define hyperinflation for an international reserve currency like the dollar as beginning at 25%. I do not expect the dollar to collapse until after the 2012 American elections. I think Bernanke will paper the world between now and then. As I said yesterday, I expect prices to go so high that for a lot of Europeans and Americans food will only be a distant memory. I should warn you that I am led to believe that the Bilderberg crowd or at least a faction within it wants the COMEX and the LBMA to fail right along with the dollar, the pound and the euro. Running house prices up and down by selling fraudulent mortgages ruins tens of millions of families but it gives bankers more power. Just as running stock prices up and down has done. Or running your national currency down to zero value. Running gold and silver up and down is just one more swindle. Bilderbergers enjoy inflicting pain and ruin on the common folk as much as they do stealing their money. Warning: There is a lot of money out there yet to be stolen so don't expect a collapse next week. And there is a lot of money to be made for the bankers if markets swing wildly between highs and lows. CAUTION: I am not a financial adviser. I an not qualified to give you advice. And I do not know your situation. Please consult a professional. ___________________________ SLV Short Position Update By Theodore Butler| December 19, 2011 - 8:02am The latest short position report for stocks was released earlier in the week for positions held as of Nov 30. This was the report that I had speculated would show a decline in the short position of SLV, the big silver Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Contrary to my expectations, the short position for SLV increased by more than 2.2 million shares to 25.2 million shares. This represents almost 25 million ounces of silver. http://www.shortsqueeze.com/?symbol=slv&submit=Short+Quote%99 I had originally speculated that the short position in SLV would be lower in this report because the price of silver had experienced a fairly significant decline of roughly 10% ($34 to $31) within the reporting period. Most often, similar to what occurs on the COMEX, short positions expand on price increases and decline on price sell-offs. This is at the heart of the silver manipulation. To illustrate that point, the headline number in the CFTC's Commitment of Traders Reports (COTs), the total net commercial short position, declined by 5,500 contracts from Nov 15 to Nov 29. The total COMEX commercial net position reduction was the equivalent of 27.5 million ounces, representing a 21% reduction over the two weeks. The reduction in the COMEX commercial short position was ten times greater than was the increase in the SLV short position in equivalent silver ounces, just to keep this in proper perspective. To be sure, had the COMEX commercial short position increased during that silver price decline as did the SLV, then I would have really been surprised; but that didn't happen. Overall, the commercials were able to rig lower prices and speculative long liquidation as is their custom. Still, I find the increase in the short position of SLV to be odd. During the reporting period, the price of gold also declined as much as $100. In contrast to the increase in SLV, the short position in GLD, the big gold ETF declined by 30% in the period from 22 million shares held short to just more than 15 million shares. The much smaller gold ETF, IAU, run by BlackRock (which is also the sponsor of SLV) witnessed a decline in its short position of 75%. (You can verify the specific numbers in the above link by inserting the stock symbols). The decline in the GLD short position reduced its percentage of total shares outstanding to 3.5%. The increase in the SLV short position increased its percentage share of total outstanding shares to 7.8%. Due to the nature of hard metal ETFs, I believe there should be little or no short position allowed in these highly-unique securities, say of no more than 0.5% to 1% of total shares outstanding. To every shareholder of hard-metal ETFs, like SLV, GLD and IAU and others, the prospectus promises that there will be a fixed amount of metal behind every share issued. The existence of a short position effectively increases the shares outstanding (on an unauthorized basis) and the shorted shares have no metal backing. The essence of my criticism of SLV shorting involves two things. An allegation of fraud and misrepresentation to SLV shareholders because metal can't possibly back the shorted shares and that the short position is manipulative to the price of silver. That's because the short sellers are shorting SLV shares because they won't or can't buy the physical silver as that would cause the price of silver to rise. Even though it was higher earlier in the year, the 25.2 million share short position in SLV is still outrageously excessive by any reasonable standard. I believe that BlackRock, the SLV sponsor, is negligent in not protecting the interests of shareholders and is violating its fiduciary responsibility for allowing such an excessive short position to exist. (Yes, I will be sending this to BlackRock's chairman and president). The issue of short selling in silver can be confusing, so let me try to make it clearer. In derivatives, like COMEX silver futures or options contracts, shorting is required. There must be a long and a short in order to create a contract. If there were no shorting, there would be no market; period. I'm not opposed to shorting in futures in general. My allegation of manipulation in COMEX silver revolves around the unusual concentration on the short side by a few commercial players, most notably JPMorgan. Concentration is the point in futures, not the act of shorting. In the stock market, there is a different set up. Short selling is not required in securities for the market to exist, as it is in derivatives. Companies issue shares to investors and those securities trade on exchanges and over the counter. It is not necessary for there to be a short for every long in stocks, as it is in futures and derivatives trading. While legal, short selling in securities is restricted by share borrowing requirements and other measures. I'm not interested in discussing the merits of stock short selling or lack thereof; my intent is to show that shorting in futures is different mechanically than shorting in stocks. Why I am so opposed to short selling in hard-metal ETFs, like SLV, is for completely separate considerations. The hard-metal ETFs are incredibly unique securities in the universe of stocks. I believe that this uniqueness accounts for much of the negative commentary about SLV and GLD, in particular. Of the total universe of tens of thousands of different stocks in existence, only a very few are hard-metal ETFs. Even expressing it in an actual percentage is hard. In addition, the hard-metal ETFs are relatively so new to the investment scene that their short history makes them difficult to put in proper perspective. GLD has been around for seven years, SLV for less than six years. Yet in that fairly limited time, each has become the largest publicly owned stockpile of gold and silver on earth. It seems clear that the idea of owning gold or silver by means of owning a stock appealed to a great number of investors. This has nothing to do with whether you should own these securities; that's up to you. But you can't objectively analyze silver or gold by ignoring the two 800 lbs gorillas in the room. Because the hard metal ETFs are so new, so big and so unique when compared to all other securities, it is easy to overlook other facts unique to them. What accounts for their success is the convenience they offer of holding metal. Every shareholder of every hard-metal ETF believes in the representation of the prospectuses promising a fixed amount of metal for each share issued. Quite simply, every hard-metal shareholder believes metal backs the shares they own and the sponsors foster this belief. But the short selling of hard-metal ETFs completely negates the premise that metal exists behind all shares. Short sellers of hard-metal ETFs do not deposit metal and this results in the creation of shares with no metal backing. Nowhere is the situation more critical than in SLV. Starting this year the short position in SLV has grown dramatically, from around 13 million shares to a peak of 37 million shares in the spring. Not only is the percentage of shorted shares of total outstanding shares higher in SLV than in any other hard-metal ETF, it is higher for a very unique reason – there is not enough physical silver available to allow for the normal issuance of shares as dictated by the prospectus. Aside from the harm short sellers are having on SLV shareholders, these short sellers are also manipulating the price of silver. If they had to go out and buy 25 or 37 million ounces of silver to issue shares as dictated by the prospectus, the price of silver would have soared. Instead, the SLV short sellers are helping to manipulate the price of the metal itself by defeating the intent of how shares should be issued. This is not the first time I have raised this issue. Back in the summer of 2008, when silver was near the $20 mark, I wrote how the short position in SLV had grown to 25 to 50 million equivalent silver ounces, which was unprecedented at that time. This was back when Barclays still owned SLV and naked unreported short selling was prevalent. This naked SLV short selling played a big role in the collapse of silver from $20 to under $9 back then, just like the SLV short selling this year has contributed mightily to the collapse in silver from $49 to under $30. Certainly, the percentage decline in prices is strikingly similar between 2008 and this year. It is no coincidence that the price collapsed in 2008 and 2011 when the short selling in SLV was at an extreme. http://www.investmentrarities.com/ted_butler_comentary/06-16-08.html In 2008, there were no good records to verify my claims
|
| Gene Arensberg: Why we remain bullish on small mining shares Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:18 PM PST 9:17p ET Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold (and Silver): With the help of some stunning charts, the Got Gold Report's Gene Arensberg reports tonight that junior gold and silver mining shares, as measured by the Canadian Venture Exchange Composite Index (CDNX), are now priced as they were when gold was selling for $400 and silver for $5 -- that is, when gold was only 25 percent of its current price and silver only 17 percent. Arensberg writes: "What we are witnessing is the second largest liquidity vacuum/buyer's strike in the history of the CDNX, and it comes at a time when it is virtually a 'lock' that prices for precious metals will remain at a multiple of where they traded back in 2003." As the Got Gold Report's "vulture in chief," Arensberg is thrilled with what he sees as historic opportunity, even as others among us reviewing our stock portfolios have been, rather than thrilled, wondering whether we should wait until Christmas to commit suicide. Arensberg's commentary is headlined "Why We Remain Bullish on Small Mining Shares" and maybe it will persuade some of us to stick around until Groundhog Day: http://www.gotgoldreport.com/2011/12/why-we-remain-bullish-on-small-mini... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT Sonora Aims to Follow First Majestic's Success Sonora Resources (OTCBB: SURE) is a silver mining exploration company focused on the development of prospective opportunities in Mexico. The company president and CEO is Juan Miguel Rios Gutierrez, who helped build First Majestic Silver Corp., which began trading for pennies and today is at more than $16 per share. Gutierrez was the fourth person to join First Majestic Silver, originally as general manager, then manager for new business initiatives and strategic planning. He left First Majestic Silver to work with Sonora Resources and yet maintains strong contacts with First Majestic. In fact, First Majestic is a large shareholder in Sonora and has a joint venture with the company. For more information about Sonora Resources, please visit: http://www.SonoraResources.com Join GATA here: Vancouver Resource Investment Conference http://cambridgehouse.com/conference-details/vancouver-resource-investme... California Investment Conference 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: 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: 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: To contribute to GATA, please visit: ADVERTISEMENT Golden Phoenix Signs Definitive Agreement Company Press Release SPARKS, Nevada -- Golden Phoenix Minerals Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GPXM) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 60 percent interest, with an option to buy an additional 20 percent interest, in the Santa Rosa gold mine in Panama, now owned by Silver Global S.A., a Panamanian corporation. Santa Rosa produced more than 100,000 ounces of gold from 1996 to 1998 before being closed in part to low gold prices, which are now more than five times higher. Golden Phoenix intends to acquire its initial 60 percent interest in Santa Rosa by acquiring 60 percent of the share capital of a recently created company under the name Golden Phoenix Panama S.A., formed to hold and operate the mine. Tom Klein, CEO of Golden Phoenix says: "The agreement establishes a solid framework from which we can advance Mina Santa Rosa to production-ready status." For Golden Phoenix's complete statement, please visit: http://goldenphoenix.us/press-release/golden-phoenix-signs-definitive-ac...
|
| Let the Depression Burn Itself Out Posted: 21 Dec 2011 01:13 PM PST Bill Bonner View the original article. December 21, 2011 10:28 AM The year is winding down. The sun is low in the sky. There soon won't be anything left of 2011. The Dow put in a good performance yesterday — up more than 300 points when we last looked. Housing starts were at a 19-month high…which caused investors to think recovery is right around the corner. Christmas is coming too. But at least we know what we want for Christmas — a depression…a merry little depression. Paul Krugman says we already have one: "It's time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression." We should be so lucky! The nice thing about a depression is that it cures a depression. Stocks collapse. Businesses go broke. Speculators jump from tall buildings. Wages fall. Prices drop. Interest rates sink. And then, with the cost of assets, labor and credit at rock-bottom levels, the scrap dealers, recyclers and entrepreneurs get to work. They pick up the pieces, dust them off, and...
|
| Harvey Organ's Daily Gold & Silver Report Posted: 21 Dec 2011 12:56 PM PST LTRO in Europe: a touch less than 500 billion euros printed first day/gold and silver hold on minor raid
|
| Posted: 21 Dec 2011 12:34 PM PST by Harvey Organ: Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen: Today's commentary will be kind of short as really there is not that much action due to the Christmas season. There are further developments in the MFGlobal scandal that I will highlight for you. Gold finished the comex session at $1611.90 down $3.70. Silver fell by 30 cents to $29.19. Both metals fell instantly on news of a huge 500 billion LTRO that I discussed with you yesterday. I will go into details of the offering in the body of the commentary. Let us head over to the comex and assess trading, inventory movements, delivery notices and total amount of physical gold and silver standing for December. The total gold comex open interest fell by a tiny 405 contracts to 423,465 despite gold's rise of 21 dollars yesterday. It seems that the bankers supplied the non backed paper and investors gobbled up what they could in paper gold. Most eyes are focusing on the delivery month of December. Here the OI fell from 387 to 283 for a loss of 104 contracts. If you recall we had 114 delivery notices yesterday so we actually gained 10 contracts or 1000 oz of additional gold ounces standing and again lost nothing to cash settlements. The next big delivery month is February and here the OI fell by close to 4000 contracts to 246,912. The estimated volume today was very light at 127,985. The confirmed volume yesterday was even tamer at 109,405. Volumes have been declining due to the MF Global scandal as nobody want to play with thieves. Read More @ HarveyOrgan.Blogspot.com
|
| Gold bottoming around $1,600, $2,100 likely early in 2012, Hinde report says Posted: 21 Dec 2011 12:28 PM PST 8:25p ET Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Hinde Capital's new report on the gold market surveys a number of indicators and concludes that gold is bottoming at around $1,600 and that a price of $2,100 is likely early in 2012. The Hinde report is posted here: http://www.hindecapital.com/docs/hil_reports/HindeSight%20Investor%20Let... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT Golden Phoenix Completes Operating Agreement 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 http://cambridgehouse.com/conference-details/vancouver-resource-investme... California Investment Conference 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: 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: 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: To contribute to GATA, please visit: ADVERTISEMENT Sonora Aims to Follow First Majestic's Success Sonora Resources (OTCBB: SURE) is a silver mining exploration company focused on the development of prospective opportunities in Mexico. The company president and CEO is Juan Miguel Rios Gutierrez, who helped build First Majestic Silver Corp., which began trading for pennies and today is at more than $16 per share. Gutierrez was the fourth person to join First Majestic Silver, originally as general manager, then manager for new business initiatives and strategic planning. He left First Majestic Silver to work with Sonora Resources and yet maintains strong contacts with First Majestic. In fact, First Majestic is a large shareholder in Sonora and has a joint venture with the company. For more information about Sonora Resources, please visit: http://www.SonoraResources.com
|
| The Bearish Gold Predictions Forget One Important Market Reality Posted: 21 Dec 2011 12:27 PM PST Jim Sinclair's Mineset My Dear Extended Family: There is a certain extremely important market reality that must be kept in mind as you listen to all the bearish gold predictions. What is good for the dollar is bad for gold. This is wrong because it depend what dollar related factors are giving a positive dollar price action. If the good for the dollar was strong US economic activity, sound balance sheets in the US financial industry and a US consumer ready and credit able to expand, the answer would be yes if these activities were for the long term That strong dollar would not be good for gold. However there is only one dollar positive out there. That is the largest currency market on the planet is the dollar vs. euro market in which the so called vigilantes (International Investment Banks) are shorting the euro to infinity. That downward pressure on the euro creates a mirror image of dollar strength but give that strength no greater legs than th...
|
| Why We Remain Bullish on Small Mining Shares Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:44 AM PST HOUSTON -- Sometimes a thought can be distilled into a single chart. That is exactly what we shall do in this very short holiday offering. The year 2011 was not all that kind to the smaller, less liquid and more speculative junior miners and explorers. Indeed as shown in the chart just below, by many measures the companies we affectionately call "The Little Guys" have had little to be joyous about. That, of course, is definitely a reason for Vulture Speculators (like us here at Got Gold Report) to be filled with jollity. No, not because the shares we already own have fallen along with the mighty (and in many cases they have fallen mightier than the mighty). What stokes our holiday fires in this 2011 Christmas season is that we are able to acquire meaningful positions in so many of the Resource Company Guru-chosen issues we track at super-sale, ultra-low-priced bargain prices. Prices that only a Vulture would love. For Vultures it just doesn't get all that much better than this. Huge plunges in prices, followed by devastating, sell-at-any-price-to-book-tax-loss "stock hurling" by disgusted, disillusioned and weary retail penny stock gamers. (Most of it on low or even tiny volume too! – An extra special condition all Vultures take note of, or should.) Take a look at the chart just below.
What is wrong is that the small miners haven't "answered" the metals prices since at least 2007. Do You Believe in Bargains?
The correction of 2011 is horrific in size (as much as 47% at the October lows), second only to the gigantic all time collapse of 2008 (a bone crushing and wide ranging 79.9% in 2007-8). This correction is also wide ranging in scope, taking virtually all of the smaller miners down in a sea of uncertainty like a great falling red tide. It's … well, it's nothing less than beautiful! Beautiful in the sense that many of the companies we booked profits on to begin the year are now selling for small fractions of what we booked then. (And remember the flak we took back then for building our Bargain War Chest (BWC) when the rest of the gamers were so ebullient and so cocky? How times change…) Beautiful in the sense that we have been able to add many, many more shares of our Guru-chosen promising companies for much less capital than we had dreamed possible at the beginning of the year. This, despite gold being higher than when the year began, and silver too (a little). This, despite gold having reached all time nominal highs in the $1,900 neighborhood and silver having tickled the $50 level in April. Second-Best Buying Op Ever What we are witnessing is the second largest liquidity vacuum/buyer's strike in the history of the CDNX, and it comes at a time when it is virtually a "lock" that prices for precious metals will remain at a multiple of where they traded back in 2003. Think about that for a moment. Now consider that the CDNX traded as high as the 3,200 level with gold then in the $670s in Q1 of 2007. We raise the Bargain Banner today with the CDNX trading at less than half where it was with $670s gold as gold is trading more than 2X that 2007 period. (CDNX cut more than half, Gold at more than double the price. Own that idea. Nothing remains so out of kilter forever.) The precious metals may not move to all time highs in the next little while, but with worldwide quantitative easing (read money printing) underway (and underway in a big way in Europe now), the metals are much more likely to make new highs in 2012 than they are to return to the extremely low levels that would justify the very sorry, super buyer's strike level of the CDNX today, in our opinion. Not that the small miners need higher gold prices, they don't, they lack confidence by the market participants instead. Bird's Nest on the Ground So, in our simple way of looking at the market for small, thinly capitalized and lightly traded junior miners, we are being given a fantastic buying op. The second best one ever. We are, right now, in the midst of what we here in Texas call "a bird's nest on the ground." (Meaning the easiest of easy pickings.) But now hear this, Vulture Compadres, that fantastic buying op is not for the mealy mouthed, squirmy cowards among us. It is likely not for those expecting instant gratification, either. Rogers' Way Jim Rogers is fond of saying that he just likes to wait until he sees a pile of money sitting in a corner and then he just goes over and scoops it up. By that, of course, Mr. Rogers is saying that he looks for the point in time when prices for something become absurdly cheap and people hate them. Then he positions in them confidently until they return to where they belong and people love them again. He's also noted for saying that he's a terrible short-term trader and is willing to position "as long as it takes." How about that? Apparently Mr. Rogers is a fully fledged Vulture. All 'Good Things' Come to an End We cannot know, in advance, what the catalyst will be that breaks the nasty fear-based shunning by the market of the small resource companies. We cannot know how long it will be before our super-cheap position taking (buying shares today at 4 for 1 and even up to 10 for 1 red tag sale prices) will bear big time "home run" fruit. We only know that these fear-greed cycles, these waves of human sentiment are ALWAYS temporary. We only know that at some point buyers will be buying today because they fear that prices will be higher tomorrow, instead of selling today because they fear that prices will be lower tomorrow. We only know to expect that today's second-worst liquidity vacuum and buyer's strike will morph into the exact opposite. We only know to target and to position at Ridiculous Cheap (RC) prices in our "Faves" ahead of time. Change Can Happen Very Quickly Because if history is any guide, once a super-harsh liquidity vacuum gives up its last, it can happen suddenly, in large percentages, leaving little time to accumulate a meaningful position the issues we wish to build positions in. As just one example of that notion, consider this chart below from 2008-2009, the last time we had a similarly harsh buyer's strike end.
At some point in the future people will go from being confident they can add a large number of shares at super cheap prices to not being able to add a large number without moving the price higher considerably. At some point people will find that all those shares that were being dumped (and scooped up by Vultures) are just no longer available and they will have to pay up to in order to fill up their want lists. For Vultures, who have been scooping up their fair share of the market throwaways, that's where the really fun part begins, but that is a different story for another time. For Now to Close Out 2011, a few Impressions for Vultures As confidently as we can say it, as Got Gold Report Vulture-in-Chief, we believe that this fantastic 2011 buyer's strike event is certainly a good one. It already ranks as number two of all time for the CDNX and therefore is an exceptional example of exactly the kind of market imbalance we hope to exploit. It has given us the exceedingly rare opportunity to target our Guru-chosen Faves in lower-than-low blue target boxes on our Vulture Bargain (VB) and Vulture Bargain Candidates of Interest (VBCI) charts – and to actually build significant, meaningfully large positions in them in some cases. As Vultures we cannot ask for more opportunity than that. We might get better opportunities, but we dare not even dream they might arrive or count on them arriving. This really is about as good as we can hope for. When we can repurchase shares we sold in February or March at the rate of 5, 6, 7 or even 10 shares for the price of each share we booked back then, that is a sure-enough, no question, bona fide sale price in our view. Especially when the company in question is the same or even better off than they were then. We really cannot expect such unusually large market imbalances to last for much longer, either. That kind of fear just isn't the norm in markets, no matter how it "feels" today, but we must also be prepared mentally for our timing to be "as long as it takes." We don't get to choose the timing in our chosen market, but we do get to choose to let the market tell us what that timing is. (One of the most important lessons a Vulture ever learns.) We cannot know in advance when the market we have chosen to game will pull a 2008-style reversal, but we could very well be nearing that time as tax loss selling comes to a close. In any event, we think that the CDNX is like Jim Rogers' pile of money sitting in a corner right now, though. How about you? There is an efficient and convenient way to play the coming end of the buyer's strike, but that is also a story for another time. Very soon too! We plan to share that "story" with Vultures along with our 2012 Top Pick for Steven Halpern's The Stock Advisors event on MSN and AOL just ahead. Look for it shortly. Until next time, happy holidays and merry Christmas from the entire team here at Got Gold Report.
"Merry Christmas, ya'll." That is all for now, but there is more to come.
|
| Sprott's Call for Silver Producers to Hold Back Metal Strikes Chord Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:25 AM PST by The Gold Report and Eric Sprott, SilverSeek.com:
On November 30, Eric Sprott, chairman of Sprott Inc. and one of the largest holders of physical silver and silver equities globally, issued a call to action to 17 of the world's largest silver producers to limit the sale of the metal until prices increase. In this Gold Report exclusive, we asked the activist investor and insiders what impact such a declaration could make in one of the most volatile subsets of the resource sector. In an open letter to silver producers at the end of November, Sprott Inc. Chairman Eric Sprott cited an overleveraged banking system, weakening dollar and increasing demand as reasons to hold profits in silver rather than selling all production and putting the proceeds in the bank. "Given the current environment, we see much greater risk holding cash in a bank than we do in holding precious metals," Sprott said.
|
| ANOTHER REASON TO PARTY: DEBT TO GDP NOW >100% Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:15 AM PST I'm gone next week, so I won't be posting. Hope you enjoyed my efforts with Admin gone. If not, tough shit. Another milestone in the collapse of our nation was reached today, as reported on Zero Hedge. Debt to GDP surpassed 100%. No fanfare, no trumpets, just another groan from the diseased and debt-infested carcass [...]
|
| The Most Disparaged Profession Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:53 AM PST Wolf Richter www.testosteronepit.com Congress is the ideal American institution: it spends far more than it takes in and borrows the difference. We love that. To heck with the future. It means free money, services, wars, and other goodies. At least some of us get to profit from it. And then we blow it or invest it, and lose it or make money on it. It all adds up to that glorious GDP. It's the American dream. Lawmakers are so efficient at it that 36% of every dollar in the budget has to be borrowed.... Oh wait. They don't do budgets anymore. They're uncool. They do continuing resolutions. Given this bottomless largesse, mathematically speaking, it's logical that Congress would have sky-high approval rating. Wait.... Oh no! Only 11% of the people approve of the Herculean job lawmakers are doing, according to Gallup, which has a knack for peeking at our innermost feelings. It's the lowest score since Gallup started tracking it in 1974. How can that be? Didn't we just learn that it's a virtuous activity for lawmakers to give out privileged information on pending legislation? Profiting from opportunity is an American principle we cherish. So, a few hedge funds were given tradable information about compromises in the healthcare law just before the announcement on December 8, 2009. According to the Wall Street Journal:
Insider trading by lawmakers and staff is an honorable practice as well. It's perfectly legal and part and partial of their wealth aggregation package, according to 60 Minutes. So how can it be that a record 86% of the people disapprove of the fine job Congress is doing? And more importantly, who are the stalwarts who approve of the job Congress is doing? Gallup has the answer:
It all boils down to honesty and ethical standards, which lawmakers have to check at the door when they enter the profession. According to another Gallup poll, a record 64% of respondents rated lawmakers very low or low on honesty and ethical standards. That's the worst score ever for lawmakers and matches the prior record awarded to lobbyists in 2008. Together, lawmakers and lobbyists are the "most disparaged professions" in the history of Gallup's surveys. In the last poll, lobbyists were second, with 62%, followed by telemarketers with 53%, and by car salespeople with a practically stellar 47%. It has been a vertiginous decline from the peak in 2001, when 25% rated Congress very low or low on honesty and ethical standards. Back then—coincidentally or not—budget deficits were under control, and gross national debt was "only" $5.7 trillion. Since then, with every additional trillion in debt, respect for Congress has been shrinking. The current gross national debt of $15.1 trillion will likely hit $16.4 trillion by next December, and if that trajectory continues for a few more years, approval ratings for Congress might actually hit zero ±4%. Which would be a blast. The irony is that we the people hired them—and as long as our personal lawmakers bring home the bacon, we'll vote for them again, though we scream and holler about the other scoundrels in Congress. And bringing home the bacon is what the congressional chef d'œuvre, the tax code, is all about—just when corporate tax dodging puts the finger on its Strenuously Hushed-Up Basic Flaw.
|
| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts – 2012: The Year of Living Dangerously Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:43 AM PST from Jesse's Café Américain:
It is in the nature of a Ponzi scheme. As long as its sphere of influence can keep expanding, and the force by which people are compelled to accept it is maintained, a fiat currency will 'work.' But as its expansion slows, as outlying regions begin to resist it, the currency begins a slow but deadly spiral of collapse that accelerates into a final reckoning and reissuance. Fiat currencies *can* work well in theory, but in reality they require the indefatigable dedication of people of extraordinary virtue, courage, and wisdom. And so they have failed. Always. And it most certainly will not work with the craven and self-serving leadership which the Anglo-Americans have today. It is almost a cruel joke to promote such a system. And yet there it is and here we are. What comes next will be interesting. Read More @ JessesCrossRoadsCafe.Blogspot.com
|
| Gold Price Buy Signal Will Be a Slight Rise After Correcting Near $1,562.50, Will it Hold? Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:21 AM PST Gold Price Close Today : 1611.90 Change : (3.70) or -0.2% Silver Price Close Today : 29.198 Change : (0.298) cents or -1.0% Gold Silver Ratio Today : 55.206 Change : 0.432 or 0.8% Silver Gold Ratio Today : 0.01811 Change : -0.000143 or -0.8% Platinum Price Close Today : 1430.40 Change : -1.60 or -0.1% Palladium Price Close Today : 633.60 Change : 8.15 or 1.3% S&P 500 : 1,243.72 Change : 2.42 or 0.2% Dow In GOLD$ : $155.28 Change : $ 0.42 or 0.3% Dow in GOLD oz : 7.511 Change : 0.021 or 0.3% Dow in SILVER oz : 414.68 Change : 4.33 or 1.1% Dow Industrial : 12,107.74 Change : 4.16 or 0.0% US Dollar Index : 80.01 Change : 0.127 or 0.2% The GOLD PRICE backed off a bit, but sort of like a big monster with a two foot pistol at his belt backs off in a bar after he's stepped on your foot. The GOLD PRICE lost 3.70 to close Comex at $1,611.90. The SILVER PRICE lost 29.8c to 2919.80. These prices lie on the lower side of today's range, since gold reached $1,641.23 today and silver 2962.6c. Lows came at $1,606.22 and 2911c. I have just about flip-flopped from my bearish outlook on metals. The rise up of Monday's lows looks like an impulsive wave, and not corrective. That little robin doesn't by itself make a spring, but points strongly in that direction. The real test will come when metals correct after this rally and draws near the last lows at $1,562.50 and 2812c. If they can reach down there and not fall through, then rise just a leetle to confirm, we will have our buy signal. Of course, if they fall through those levels, we'll know to wait a while. GOLD/SILVER RATIO today closed at 55.206. That's not reached my 57.5:1 target yet, but if you swapped silver for gold at ratios below 42:1, swapping gold back into silver would give you a roughly 30% profit in ounces. Better do that quickly. Came out today that the European Central Bank (ECB), notwithstanding its loud protestations that it would NOT serve as lender of last resort, has doled out nearly half a trillion euros to 523 banks. in December. How has it passed out the money? Simply make loans to banks at bargain basement prices. But no, no, no, this isn't quantitative easing or Money Printing, just like it's not really stealing when you take stuff while nobody's looking. I don't know, y'all tell me: is half a trillion new euros inflation? Dollar index bounced back -- not a big bounce, just a tee-tiny bounce -- and that put the kabosh on stocks, silver, and gold. Readers keep on asking me why silver and gold seem to be moving together with stocks. In the short term, even for a year or more, they might move together, depending on market conditions-- investor fads. Over time, however, they do NOT trend together. Look at the chart of the Dow in Gold since 1999 or the Dow in Silver since 2001 and you'll see what I mean. Stocks have lost 85% against silver and gold since then. Dow gained a phenomenal 4.16 points (0.03%) to close 12,107.74. S&P500 soared 2.42 points (0.19%). If the Dow cannot break through 12,200-ish, 'tis doomed to fail. In any event, they will severely lag gold and silver for the next 3-10 years. Y'all need to go back and study the 1920-1923 German hyperinflation. Since stocks represent bricks and mortar, and since inflations generate speculation, German stocks rose hundreds of time but in the end they lost value. Silver and gold survived the hyperinflation with value intact. Back to the scrofulous fiat currencies. The US dollar index rose 12.7 basis points (0.16%) not much but above the morale-boosting 80 level. Too early to state dogmatically, but so far looks like the dollar rally has survived this correction. Euro sank 0.25% to 1.3047. Japanese yen lost a tad, 0.24%, to 128.08c/Y100 (Y78.04/$1). Yen isn't going to do much, but after this little correction, the euro will sink spectacularly. 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. One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose. 
|
| Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:04 AM PST An interesting read from Ann, especially the bankruptcy filing as a securities broker… I have received a few emails asking if I was still content with my decision to shut down my brokerage. Not only am I content, but after seeing the news that broke over the weekend, I am of the considered opinion that the entire financial blogging community should formally call for a general financial market strike. And I'm not kidding. A couple of things have happened regarding the MF Global mess that I don't think got the attention they should have because they broke over the weekend. So let me fill you all in. This would be EXACTLY like if you rented a little storage space at one of the thousands of storage facilities that dot this nation, and stored a car there. I used to do exactly this when I had multiple cars. Imagine the owner of the storage facility went bankrupt. Now imagine that a "trustee" SEIZED YOUR CAR, sold it, and used YOUR PROPERTY to feed the storage franchise owner's BK. Nevermind that you had an explicit RENTAL AGREEMENT and that you had receipts proving that you were paying monthly rent on said storage space, and that you could produce clear title to the car showing that you owned it, and that the VIN numbers matched. Do you understand what is happening now? This is outright confiscation of personal property. After having their money stolen out of their accounts and being locked out of their accounts, unable to trade or even liquidate WHILE THE MARKETS CONTINUED TO TRADE, these people are now having their PERSONAL PHYSICAL PROPERTY stolen and redistributed to the MF Global estate, in order to feed Corzine's gambling debts – MADE ILLEGALLY WITH FUNDS STOLEN OUT OF THE CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS – to repay counterparties with J.P. Morgan at the fore. So guess what? This is now establishing the precedent that ANY property held by a third party can be seized and confiscated to feed a bankruptcy of said third party. This includes BANK DEPOSITS. Now, please consider that all of the major banks in the United States are insolvent, and insolvent MULTIPLE TIMES OVER. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi, all of them. When these banks collapse – and they WILL collapse – any deposits they are holding WILL BE CONFISCATED and redistributed to their counterparties. Citation URL here at Market-Ticker.org: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=199356 Oh, but there's more. Also announced over the weekend was the jaw-dropping, yet illuminating fact that the MF Global bankruptcy was fraudulently, nefariously and illegally drawn up as a Chapter 7 BK for a SECURITIES DEALER and NOT a commodity brokerage as it should have been. Look, MF Global was the second-largest non-bank FCM in the United States next to NewEdge which is the old FIMAT. If MF Global wasn't an FCM, then there are no FCMs. Of course it was an FCM. It had $7.2 billion in customer seg funds as of August 31, 2011. And yet MF Global was immediately, from the get-go, put into Chapter 7 BK as a SECURITIES FIRM. This is fraud. MF Global's BK should have OBVIOUSLY been established under Subchapter IV of the Chapter 7 code as a COMMODITY BROKERAGE. Why wasn't this done? Because in a Subchapter IV liquidation of a commodity brokerage firm, guess who is absolutely and unequivocally at the front of the line? You guessed it: the CUSTOMERS. In the Chapter 7 liquidation of a securities firm, guess who goes to the front of the line? Uh-huh. The "creditors", aka the counterparties on the firm's proprietary positions. As in . . . J.P. Morgan, et al. Now we know why this unprecedented action of raping the customers has happened. It was set up that way. Now are you telling me that NO ONE at the CFTC appreciated the difference between the BK subchapters? Are you honestly telling me that Terry Duffy and NO ONE at the CME understood the difference between a securities firm liquidation and a Subchapter IV commodities firm liquidation and the massive consequences to the customers? Not a single one of them understood this massive difference? Bullshit. Of course they knew. They set it up that way from day one. And they continue to know. And this fricking charade just keeps going and going, and the rape and confiscation of the customers' property continues apace. The fix was in on the customers and J.P. Morgan was put at the front of the line willfully, intentionally and with extreme malice aforethought by all those parties concerned. Citation Hotlink here: Click Here to read the ZeroHedge reportage. And this is why I am now formally calling for the financial industry blogging community to officially push for and declare a general market strike. I call for all decent people of good will to withdraw ALL FUNDS from the financial markets and cease to trade in solidarity with the MF Global rape victims until such time as the MF Global BK is properly filed as a Subchapter IV commodity brokerage liquidation and their private property is FULLY RESTORED. If this is how they're going to play, I say let's shut the whole damn thing down. Let's show these rat bastards how we do things in the Civilized World. Molon Labe.
|
| Your Money Is Not Safe Here, Buffett's Silver Play & Much More – Martin A. Armstrong Posted: 21 Dec 2011 08:50 AM PST |
| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - 2012: The Year of Living Dangerously Posted: 21 Dec 2011 08:44 AM PST |
I have learned that watching what people do is much more important than listening to what they say. Back in 2008, financial authorities in the United States insisted that everything was gone to be okay. But we all know now that was a lie. Well, right now financial authorities in the U.S. and Europe are once again trying to assure us that everything is under control and that we are not headed for a global recession. Unfortunately, their actions are telling a very different story. All over the world, bailouts are flying around as if the end of the world is coming. Governments and central banks are stepping in with gigantic mountains of money to prop up bond yields, major banks and even stock markets. What we have seen over the past few months has been absolutely unprecedented. So why are such desperate measures being taken if everything is going to be just fine? Unfortunately, debt problems are never solved with more debt, so these bailouts really aren't solving anything. We are still headed for a massive amount of financial pain. It would just be nice if the authorities would quit lying to us and would actually admit how bad things really are.
There is nothing 'modern' at all in Modern Monetary Theory. It is the same old fish wrapped in slightly different paper. The godfathers of Modern Monetary Theory are John Law, G.F. Knapp, J.M. Keynes, and most lately Alan Greenspan. But its roots go back to any ruling group that ever debased a currency or seized private property by fraud.
| You are subscribed to email updates from Save Your ASSets First To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment