Gold World News Flash |
- Chris Duane Talks SILVER With Alt Investors Hangout
- Gold Seeker Weekly Wrap-Up: Gold and Silver End Slightly Lower on the Week
- By the Numbers for the Week Ending February 10
- Where a Nation’s Gold and Your Gold Should be Held – Part II
- Gold & Silver: THE Answers to Escalating Financial Doom
- Gold Price Dropped $15.70 to Close at $1,723.30 from here $1,725 Becomes Resistance not Support
- Guest Submission: Ten Year Technical Chart on Gold Suggests Possible Retest of $1300 an oz.
- The Federal Minimum Wage, Unemployment, And The Implied Price Of Silver
- Watching the "Decline Curve"
- Watching the “Decline Curve”
- Platform Technologies Promise Big Payoffs: Juan Sanchez
- Permanent Gold Backwardation
- Two Grandich Interviews
- Thursday Afternoon Wrap-Up: It Will be GAME OVER for the U.S. Dollar
- Fox Closes Freedom Watch With Judge Napolitano
- John Williams - The US Edges Closer to Collapse
- High Yield Plummets and VIX Flares Most In Almost 3 Months
- All The World's Gold
- The Gospel of Gold According to Peter
- How Bull Markets Evolve into Bubbles
- Profit in the Investment Ecosystem
- This Is What An Economic Depression Looks Like In The 21st Century
- Gold and Silver Disaggregated COT Report (DCOT) for February 10
- Profit in the Investment Ecosystem: Catherine Austin Fitts
- Silver Sucks, Buy Zimbabwe Currency, Awesomer!
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Bear Raid, Risk Off Trade on Greece
- COT Gold, Silver and US Dollar Index Report - February 10, 2012
- The Dollar Confirms a Possible Silver Pullback
| Chris Duane Talks SILVER With Alt Investors Hangout Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:22 PM PST |
| Gold Seeker Weekly Wrap-Up: Gold and Silver End Slightly Lower on the Week Posted: 10 Feb 2012 04:00 PM PST Gold fell $24.10 to $1704.70 by a little before 8:30AM EST before it rallied back higher in New York, but it still ended with a loss of 0.53%. Silver slipped to as low as $33.165 before it also rallied back higher in New York, but it still ended with a loss of 1.09%.
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| By the Numbers for the Week Ending February 10 Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:14 PM PST HOUSTON -- Just below is this week's closing table. The CFTC disaggregated commitments of traders (DCOT) recap table was posted previously.
Vultures, (Got Gold Report Subscribers) please note that updates to our linked technical charts, including our comments about the COT reports and the week's technical changes, should be completed by the usual time on Sunday evening (by 18:00 ET).
Remember that the linked charts on the subscriber pages are always the first place to look for new commentary at GGR. In the future we intend to rely more on the charts to communicate, especially when it comes to our own trades. If we decide to make changes to our stop levels for our silver and GDXJ trades underway, we will note them on Sunday evening also. It's an exciting time to be a Bargain Hunting Vulture. We are close to going to "Free Shares" on a number of our small, micro-cap issues following an excellent January. For new readers "Free Shares" is the term we use to describe our remaining position after easing out of a portion of our stake in a company, usually, but not always, after it has at least doubled in price. That is all for now, but there is more to come.
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| Where a Nation’s Gold and Your Gold Should be Held – Part II Posted: 10 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST In Part I of this article we looked at the growing trend of governments moving their gold into their own home vaults to remove the influence and potential seizure of their gold when political policies clash with the country where the holding central bank was situated. We covered the dangers of holding gold at home and the difference in attitude individual's should have towards the problem of where and how to hold gold.
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| Gold & Silver: THE Answers to Escalating Financial Doom Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:36 PM PST [/CENTER] [/CENTER] Reading*goes on to say, in part: Most every nation in the world today practices a fiat currency in which the printed notes representing money are just promises to redeem as legal tender. There is no backing of any asset, per se, to guarantee that these notes are going to be of value forever. On the other hand, most recognize that gold and silver at one time were used to ensure that value was always held in balance. These two precious metals have long since been removed from the picture as a store in value connected to the printing of currency. When the money supply is in the form of printed paper without backing that country runs the risk of using the printed matter to alleviate debt and stimulate the economy without basis. This is where the United States dollar and most international currencies reside right now. * What can be done to protect oneself and family from this impending event of seeing the dollar, and for that matter all international currencies, beco...
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| Gold Price Dropped $15.70 to Close at $1,723.30 from here $1,725 Becomes Resistance not Support Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:06 AM PST Gold Price Close Today : 1,723.30 Gold Price Close 3-Feb : 1,737.90 Change : -14.60 or -0.8% Silver Price Close Today : 3357.6 Silver Price Close 3-Feb : 3372.5 Change : -14.90 cents or -0.4% Gold Silver Ratio Today : 51.325 Gold Silver Ratio 3-Feb : 51.532 Change : -0.21 or -0.4% Silver Gold Ratio : 0.01948 Silver Gold Ratio 3-Feb : 0.01941 Change : 0.00008 or 0.4% Dow in Gold Dollars : $ 153.56 Dow in Gold Dollars 3-Feb : $ 152.99 Change : $ 0.56 or 0.4% Dow in Gold Ounces : 7.428 Dow in Gold Ounces 3-Feb : 7.401 Change : 0.03 or 0.4% Dow in Silver Ounces : 381.26 Dow in Silver Ounces 3-Feb : 381.39 Change : -0.12 or 0.0% Dow Industrial : 12,801.23 Dow Industrial 3-Feb : 12,862.23 Change : -61.00 or -0.5% S&P 500 : 1,342.64 S&P 500 3-Feb : 1,344.90 Change : -2.26 or -0.2% US Dollar Index : 79.034 US Dollar Index 3-Feb : 78.959 Change : 0.075 or 0.1% Platinum Price Close Today : 1,656.40 Platinum Price Close 3-Feb : 1,621.50 Change : 34.90 or 2.2% Palladium Price Close Today : 702.20 Palladium Price Close 3-Feb : 705.90 Change : -3.70 or -0.5% Today wasn't a banner day for silver or the GOLD PRICE, either. GOLD dropped $15.70 to $1,723.30 and silver lost 30.8c, ending at 3357.6c. Both SILVER and the GOLD PRICE continue to dig in their heels and give little ground. Gold dropped as low as $1,705.2 today, but plainly many idlers sat at $1,705 waiting to buy gold, and did, so it shot right back up and ended the day clinging to $1,725 support -- a little over the edge, but clinging still. From here $1,725 will become resistance, not support. SILVER's low today came at 3318, and it has given back almost all the week's gains and again faces 3300c. Expect more weakness next week from both metals. When/if silver breaks 3300c, as it likely will, it will drop faster than gold, taking the gold/silver ratio higher. I would buy silver (or gold) whenever that ratio reaches 57.50. Gold is not likely to drop lower than $1,680 - $1,650, nor silver below 3000c. The market is handing you a last chance buying opportunity. Don't let it pass you by. 'Twas not a good week for stocks or gold or anything else much. Almost as exciting as a market in August, but even a market going nowhere tells us something. Stocks soldiered away this week trying to burst through that May 2011 high but in the end couldn't beat 12,900 -- it beat them. And the closing (or near closing) of the Greek Debt Deal did not, as stock salesmen and assorted well-paid touts have been promising, usher in Fat City For Stocks. Rather, it brought only weight loss, disappointment, and the search for another chimerical rationale. Dow today fell 89.23 (0.69%) and barely held on above 12,800 at 12,801.23. Odd, odd, passing odd: the S&P500 lost EXACTLY the same percentage, 0.69%, as the Dow, settling at 1,342.64 (lower by 9.31). Let's nail the lid down on this coffin tight. Dow today fell lower than the five-day low (12,780), to 12,743, and traded below 12,800 all day long, until some Nice Government Angel came in during the last minutes and drove the Dow over the psychologically critical round number, 12,800. A market that behaves this way will move lower and that right soon. But y'all don't believe me. I'm just a natural born fool from Tennessee, not one of them pointy-toe shoe wearing smart fellers from Wall Street. US dollar index traced out a rounding bottom on its chart this week, with a low around 79.40. Today it spent most of its time above the morale- building 79.00 level, and gained a note-worthy 46.8 basis points (0.6%) to close 79.034. This week may well have marked an end to the dollar's decline. If so, early next week it will climb above its 20 day moving average (now 79.61). Don't know what caused the delay, but the euro gapped down today instead of yesterday. Fell 0.65% to 1.3198. 'Tis perched on its critical 62 day moving average (1.3149). Euro will enjoy a painful week next week. Yen bounced 0.1% today to close at 128.87c/Y100 (Y77.60/US$1). Sitting just above support at 128.50c, yen could plunge deeply. Someone sent me a headline today that claimed gold had fallen off today because the euro fell. Media market commentaries are daily filled with this same logical fallacy, post hoc, ergo propter hoc. This happened after that, so that caused this. This is as well grounded as inviting your brother-in-law to wreck your car again because the day he wrecked it last time your lottery ticket won. Without demonstrating some causative chain, these headlines demonstrate the near perfect vacuum in the heads of those writing. On 10 February 1535 twelve nude Anabaptists ran through the streets of Amsterdam. Some sort of religious statement? SPECIAL OFFER DUCATS! These nearly pure gold ducats have been minted in about the same weight (0.1106) and fineness (23-2/3 karat or 98.6% pure) since Roger II of Sicily began minting them in A.D. 1140. Venice minted them as ducato, then zecchino, and Florence minted them as florins, all to the same standard, 3.5 grams of 23-2/3 karat gold. Yes, this is the same size coin you read about in Shakespeare's plays. Today the Austrian mint strikes four-ducat and one-ducat coins, and the Dutch strike one-ducats. The Austrian four-ducat contains 0.4438 troy ounce fine gold, the Austrian one-ducats 0.1107 oz. and the Dutch 0.1106 oz. I have priced all these as if they all contained 0.1106 troy ounce per ducat, at a Three percent (3%) premium over spot gold. Here's the deal: you can buy any combination equalling Twenty (20) one ducats for $196.75 per ducat (that's $787.80 for a four ducat), $3,939.00 plus $25 shipping per lot for a total of $3,964.00 per lot. Please note that I will try but NOT guarantee you get any certain mix. If you order one four-ducat and sixteen one-ducats, you might get three four-ducats and eight one-ducats, but each lot will equal 20 one-ducats in gold content. Sorry, no re-orders at these prices. Offer ends when my supply runs out. Special Conditions: First come, first served, and no re-orders at these prices. I will enter orders based on the time I receive your e-mail. We will not take orders for less than the minimums shown above. All sales on a strict "no-nag" basis. We will ship as soon as your check clears, but we allow Two weeks (14 days) for your check to clear. Calls looking for your order two days after we receive your check will be politely and patiently rebuffed. If you want faster shipping, please send a wire. Spot gold basis for all prices above is $1,723.30. ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS: 1. You may order by e-mail only to Your email must include your complete name, address, and phone number. We cannot ship to you without your address. Sorry, we cannot ship outside the United States or to Tennessee. Repeat, your email must include your complete name, address, and phone number. Our clairvoyant quit without warning last week and I stumbled and dropped my crystal ball, smashing it to pieces, so we can no longer read your mind. 2. Orders are on a first-come, first-served basis until supply is exhausted. 3. "First come, first-served" means that we will enter the orders in the order that we receive them by e-mail. 4. If your order is filled, we will e-mail you a confirmation. If you do not receive a confirmation, your order was not filled. 5. You will need to send payment by personal check or bank wire (either one is fine) within 48 hours. It just needs to be in the mail, not in our hands, in 48 hours. 6. We allow fourteen (14) days for personal checks to clear before we ship. If your hurry is greater than that, you can send a bank wire. Once we ship, the post office takes four to fourteen days to get the registered mail package to you. All in all, you'll see your order in about one month if you send a check. Y'all enjoy your weekend! Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought. - Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger The-MoneyChanger.com © 2012, 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. 
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| Guest Submission: Ten Year Technical Chart on Gold Suggests Possible Retest of $1300 an oz. Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:00 AM PST The following gold chart has been submitted by Juan Edwardo Morales Veas of moneygreedandfear.com. According to his work, gold may potentially retest the $1300 an oz. level. In looking at this chart, the big question remains—what financial market events would need to occur in order for gold to see a sell off of such magnitude? (click to enlarge)
What are your thoughts on 2012′s direction in gold? Please share below! Please support the site by joining our Free Mailing List and sharing this URL page link with friends, family, and your favorite chat forum. Thanks,
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| The Federal Minimum Wage, Unemployment, And The Implied Price Of Silver Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:38 AM PST I wonder... Bud Conrad, Chief Economist The Federal Reserve recently announced important policy changes after its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Here are the three most important takeaways, in its own words:
Longer-Term Implications The problem with printing money and promising to do so for years ahead of time is that the negative consequences of inflation only happen after a delay. As a result, it's difficult to know if a policy has gone too far until years down the road at times. Unfortunately, if confidence in the dollar is lost, the consequences cannot be easily reversed. One problem for the Fed itself is that it holds long-term securities that will lose value if rates rise. The federal government faces an even more serious problem when interest rates rise, as higher rates on its debt mean greater interest payments to service. Due to this federal-government debt burden, the Fed has an incentive to keep rates low, even if the long-term result is higher inflation. However, for now the Fed's statement suggests it sees inflation as "subdued," so it's putting those concerns aside for now. Along with the promise of low rates, the Fed for the first time gave an inflation target of 2%, as measured by Personal Consumption Expenditures. The actual and target inflation show that the Fed is currently not under major pressure from missing its target… not yet.  (Click on image to enlarge) The Fed has not even tried to set a target for the unemployment rate, which is only expected to edge below 8% by 2013. The Fed says that that the longer-run unemployment range is 5% to 6%. The big difference from the current level of 8.5% indicates that the Fed faces a greater challenge with unemployment than inflation now.  (Click on image to enlarge) My conclusion from the Fed's actions is that it doesn't care as much about its inflation target as it does about improving the unemployment rate. Thus, it will err on the side of letting inflation rise, if it would improve unemployment. But holding rates too low too long fueled the housing bubble. Repeating the same game will have consequences of malinvestment in the form of new bubbles in the economy. The Fed hopes to restore employment before the negative consequences of loose monetary policy show up. The Fed provided the accompanying chart of the Fed funds rates expected by the seventeen members of the FOMC. Each dot indicates the value (rounded to the nearest quarter-percent) of an individual participant's judgment of the appropriate level of the target Federal funds rate at the end of the specified calendar year. Over the long run, the Fed expects the funds rate to rise to around 4.25%. Eleven of the members indicate that the rate will rise before 2015. Only six expect the rate to stay close to zero through 2014.  The above chart should not be taken very seriously, as Fed predictions have been notoriously inaccurate. Furthermore, it's likely that rates will rise before 2014 as a result of market forces pushing them upward due to mistrust of the currency – measured by rising gold and commodity prices. The Federal Reserve balance sheet expanded dramatically as the credit crisis became acute in 2008. The Policy Tools (shown below in black) grew by $2 trillion with the QE1 purchase of mortgage-backed securities and the QE2 purchase of long-term Treasuries. This was an unprecedented effort to support those markets, provide liquidity, and drive rates down to zero. A simple extrapolation of similar expansion policies to the end of 2014 suggests that the Fed may require an additional $2 trillion to extend its goals. The problem is that such action would surely weaken the dollar and drive gold much higher. If confidence is lost, rates could rise even as the Fed continues to print and buy securities. The Fed says that it will change its policy if conditions warrant. I think they will be forced to stop this policy well before 2014 is over. Nonetheless, in the meantime, they will plant the seeds of rising prices with ultralow rates.  (Click on image to enlarge) The gold price is driven by Fed policies and its bias toward printing money rather than defending the dollar's purchasing power. This Fed bias was again reconfirmed by this announcement. With all the Fed's renewed vigor toward keeping rates low longer, we can once again reconfirm the ongoing downward slide for the dollar. As a result, gold remains the best investment against the damaging government deficits and central bank policies around the world. ___________________________ Charles Kadlec, Contributor, Forbes An increase in the price level of 2% in any one year is barely noticeable. Under a gold standard, such an increase was uncommon, but not unknown. The difference is that when the dollar was as good as gold, the years of modest inflation would be followed, in time, by declining prices. As a consequence, over longer periods of time, the price level was unchanged. A dollar 20 years hence was still worth a dollar. But, an increase of 2% a year over a period of 20 years will lead to a 50% increase in the price level. It will take 150 (2032) dollars to purchase the same basket of goods 100 (2012) dollars can buy today. What will be called the "dollar" in 2032 will be worth one-third less (100/150) than what we call a dollar today. The Fed's zero interest rate policy accentuates the negative consequences of this steady erosion in the dollar's buying power by imposing a negative return on short-term bonds and bank deposits. In effect, the Fed has announced a course of action that will steal — there is no better word for it — nearly 10 percent of the value of American's hard earned savings over the next 4 years. Why target an annual 2 percent decline in the dollar's value instead of price stability? Here is the Fed's answer: "The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) judges that inflation at the rate of 2 percent (as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures, or PCE) is most consistent over the longer run with the Federal Reserve's mandate for price stability and maximum employment. Over time, a higher inflation rate would reduce the public's ability to make accurate longer-term economic and financial decisions. On the other hand, a lower inflation rate would be associated with an elevated probability of falling into deflation, which means prices and perhaps wages, on average, are falling–a phenomenon associated with very weak economic conditions. Having at least a small level of inflation makes it less likely that the economy will experience harmful deflation if economic conditions weaken. The FOMC implements monetary policy to help maintain an inflation rate of 2 percent over the medium term." In other words, a gradual destruction of the dollar's value is the best the FOMC can do. ___________________________ If prices rise, things cost more...if we spend more, receipts for goods sold rise...rising sales receipts are reported as "growth in the economy"...when in fact the only thing growing is the money supply. America's economy has been a statistical and mathematical lie since August 15, 1971 when President Nixon closed the US Dollar/Gold exchange window at the US Treasury. The ONLY "growth" in America, in over 40 years now, has been the growth of the money supply. How can the Fed even pretend to call it "economic growth" when wages have failed to keep up with the rise in prices [care of the rise in the money supply]. Consider the value of Silver. For most of recorded history, 1/10 of an ounce of Silver equated to a days pay for labor. If the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, a days labor today equals $58. [This is outrageous by the way.] If a "days pay" were equal to 1/10 of an ounce of Silver, $58 Dollars a day would equate to the "implied value" of Silver being $464 an ounce! Today, February 10, 2012, Silver is $33.56 an ounce. Either Americans are overpaid [NOT!], or Silver is severely under priced. Is the price of Silver being suppressed to keep wages under control, or to keep monetary inflation disguised so as not to effect a rise in wages? Is the Federal Reserve really serious about "maintaining full employment"? How can they be? If the jobs market were really growing, wages would be rising with it. The Fed is deperately opposed to rising wages as that would expose their inflationary policies that are now masked by a global Gold and Silver price suppression scheme. A wage-price spiral is one of the consequences of monetary inflation...if the Fed is serious about a Zero Interest rate policy [ZIRP] thru 2014, and a 2% cap on inflation, a falling unemployment rate is NOT going to make the Fed's ZIRP functional. "We still have a long way to go before the labor market can be said to be operating normally," Bernanke said in testimony prepared for the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday that is identical to remarks he gave on Feb. 2 to the House Budget panel. "Particularly troubling is the unusually high level of long-term unemployment." Ben says this, for the whole world to hear, just days after the President, and all the financial news media claim that the US Economy created 243,000 new jobs in January, and the "headline" unemployment rate fell again, to only 8.3%? The President might want to see the unemployment rate fall to boost his re-election chances [good luck with that], but Ben Bernanke does not, and he can not afford to see the unemployment rate fall. A falling unemployment rate would trigger a rising inflation rate, and interest rates would begin to rise. Ben does NOT want to see rising interest rates...and neither does the US Treasury Department. Keeping the unemployment rate high, allows the Fed to keep interest rates low. Is it any wonder why the American median income has been stagnant for the past 20 years? In constant price, 2010 American median household income is only 0.75% higher than what it was in 1989. Have American wages been held low, and unemployment kept high to support lower interest rates to finance US Government debt over the past 20 years? Have the prices of Gold and Silver been suppressed to allow wages to be kept low, and unemployment high? If the minimum wage began to rise, so would the implied price of Silver. Suppress the price of Silver, and contain the cost of labor. Name one commodity whose price today is below it's price in 1980. There is only one: Silver. Silver is called the "poor man's Gold" for a reason. Silver has historically been the blue collar workers "money". Keep the price of Silver suppressed, and keep the global labor pool afordable. Nothing says profits to big business like "cheap labor". ___________________________ Eric Fry, The Daily Reckoning The Fed is a crime syndicate that relies on deception, coercion and grand larceny. It is a racketeer. "Several forms of racket exist," Wikipedia explains. "The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of 'protection' against crimes that the racketeers themselves instigate. Traditionally, the word racket is used to describe a business (or syndicate)...that it is engaged in the sale of a solution to a problem that the institution itself creates or perpetuates, with the specific intent to engender continual patronage." ___________________________ Has the Fed and it's banking buddies, thru a decades long suppression of the price of Silver, created an environment of high unemployment solely to support a low interest rate environment in an effort to make the US Government's debt habit affordable? I'll admit, I have made some outrageous assumptions here,...but something has to explain the global banks AND governments desperation to keep the price of Silver so severely undervalued. Why is Silver the only commodity that has NOT breached it's 1980 high price? And when it approached that 1980 $50 an ounce high in April 2011, it was quickly, and viciously attacked by the banks and tomahawked by almost 50% in just a couple of weeks time. What is it about Silver that scares the global banks and governments? Perhaps what scares them most is that a strong Silver price would give "power to the people" and take it away from the banks. We live in world today where all money is debt. Publilius Syrus said: "Debt is the slavery of the free" Could a price for Silver of over $50 an ounce result in an emancipation "we of the people" from the debt slavery the banks have imposed upon us? "Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits." Sir Josiah Stamp (1880-1941) President of the Bank of England in the 1920's __________________________ SPECIAL REPORT: $500 SILVER & Hyperinflation Why Our Currency Will Fail Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 9:18 am, by cmartenson When we back up far enough, it is clear that money and debt are there to reflect and be in service to the production of real things by real people, not the other way around. With too much debt relative to production, it is the debt that will suffer. The same is true of money. Neither are magical substances; they are merely markers for real things. When they get out of balance with reality, they lose value, and sometimes even their entire meaning. This report lays out the case that the US is irretrievably down the rabbit hole of deficits and debt, and that, even if there were endless natural resources of increasing quality available at this point, servicing the debt loads and liabilities of the nation will require both austerity and a pretty serious fall in living standards for most people. However, of all the challenges that catch my eye right now, the one most worrisome is the shredding of our national narrative to the point that it no longer makes any sense whatsoever. I'm a big believer that our actions are guided by the stories we tell ourselves. To progress as a society, having a grand vision that aligns and inspires is essential. But when words emphasize one set of priorities and actions support another, any narrative falls apart. At a personal level, if someone touts their punctuality but chronically shows up hours late, the narrative that says "this person is reliable" begins to fall apart. Likewise, if a company boasts about being green but its track record belies them as a major polluter, the "green" narrative fizzles. And at the national level, if we say we are a nation of laws, but the Justice Department selectively prosecutes only the weak and relatively powerless while leaving the well-connected and moneyed entirely alone, then the narrative that says "we are a nation of blind justice and equal laws" falls apart. I wish this was just some idle rumination, but I see more and more examples validating the importance of alignment of narrative and behavior. Because when there is a disconnect between words and actions, anxiety and fear take root. Unfortunately, there is quite a lot to fear and be anxious about in the most recent State of the Union address and GOP response. State of the Union The recent State of the Union speech by Obama, and its Republican response, are both remarkable for what they say as well as what they don't say. The summary is this: The status quo will be preserved at all costs. Here are a few examples of the sorts of disconnects between rhetoric and reality that are absolutely toxic to the morale of all who are paying the slightest bit of attention. Obama Let's never forget: Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same. It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom. No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody. We've all paid the price for lenders who sold mortgages to people who couldn't afford them, and buyers who knew they couldn't afford them. That's why we need smart regulations to prevent irresponsible behavior. It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom? Is Obama aware of what Erik Holder is up to over there in the Justice Department? The robo-signing scandal alone has thousands and thousands of open and shut cases of felony forgery that can and should be applied to as many individuals as were directly involved, from top to bottom in every organization that was engaged in the practice. Here's the reality. Under Obama, criminal prosecution of financial fraud fell to multi-decade lows during what is and remains one of the most target-rich environments in living memory.  <
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| Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:33 AM PST February 10, 2012 [LIST] [*]How the "decline curve" could prove the shale naysayers wrong... and put money in your pocket [*]A stock market first in 2012? An event our small-cap specialist can't wait to get out of the way... [*]What ordinary Chinese value more than furniture, appliances, even food and clothing [*]A plea about the gold standard... more about $650 car payments... an ideal alternative investment... and more! [/LIST] Decline rates. Seriously. There are not very many people outside the "Peak Oil" crowd who care — heck, even know — what "decline rates" are. Yet the "story that isn't being told" is often where you find the best investment narratives. "At first," our resident energy enthusiast kicks us off with just such a tale, "the conservative approach was to estimate that the Marcellus wells would be productive for about two-three years and then the decline curve would kick in." "Now, after three years of testing in some areas, that windo...
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| Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:26 AM PST Addison Wiggin – February 10, 2012
Seriously. There are not very many people outside the "Peak Oil" crowd who care — heck, even know — what "decline rates" are. Yet the "story that isn't being told" is often where you find the best investment narratives.
"Now, after three years of testing in some areas, that window is more like five years." After five years? Many operators will go back and refrack the wells. Those five-year wells might become 10-year wells. Or 15. "We're finally making history," Byron King goes on. "We'll look back on 2012 as the best year for the energy business in Pennsylvania since Col. Drake drilled his first well. before the Civil War." Full disclosure: We're still skeptical about the big claims Byron makes in his "Re-Made in America" forecast. Can a domestic energy boom really overcome decades of debt racked up at the local, state and federal levels? As with any functioning relationship, we keep an open mind. And examine the evidence…
"Domestic oil output is the highest in eight years," reports Bloomberg, after crunching the numbers from the Department of Energy. "The U.S. is producing so much natural gas that, where the government warned four years ago of a critical need to boost imports, it now may approve an export terminal. "The transformation, which could see the country become the world's top energy producer by 2020, has implications for the economy and national security — boosting household incomes, jobs and government revenue; cutting the trade deficit; enhancing manufacturers' competitiveness; and allowing greater flexibility in dealing with unrest in the Middle East."
Let's examine the numbers:
"We're finally — year 2012 — at that point where literally hundreds of new wells are coming online," Byron says. "It's part and parcel of the national 'gas glut' that's contributing to historically low pricing — and keeping your winter heating bills down, to boot." Lying beneath the Marcellus is another shale bed that's even bigger — Utica.
"Are there other shale plays elsewhere in the U.S.? Of course. It's part of the rebirth of the U.S. energy industry. It's going to change the nation, and in a very good way, I suspect." Already these plays are putting big money in the pockets of ordinary people — like a sheriff's deputy in Louisiana who collected a $320,000 payday in one week. You can grab your own share of this new wealth, says Byron, but it's best to move on it before May. [Ed note: Hmnn. We're considering placing a wager on whether he's right or not. But what should we wager? Send us your suggestions here.]
Remarkably, "If the S&P maintains its downward direction into the close," says Greg Guenthner of our small-cap desk, "we could finally see the index's first 1%-plus loss of 2012." So what does this mean? "Well, nothing really," Greg goes on. "I'm labeling the phenomenon as a minor irregularity. I would guess that the market's trading range has tightened for the past six weeks due to investor uncertainty coming out of last year's correction." "More than anything, I'd just like to see the market get the loss out of the way — mainly so people will stop yapping over its supposed significance." In search of a ready explanation, the financial media have latched onto the latest budget agreement in Greece falling apart. Which is peculiar, seeing as the market didn't rally yesterday when the agreement was first announced…
Exports grew, but imports grew more.
Despite a sharp drop in December, the year-over-year figure tripled to 428 metric tons. China does not publish official gold-trade data, so the Hong Kong numbers are the best proxy we have. "In 2010," explains analyst Lu Mi from CPM Group, "there were increased government measures against speculators in real estate. That helped some investors start to look to alternative assets, including gold."
He's been reviewing the "Hands-On China Report" from J.P. Morgan. "Growth in [the precious metals] segment far outpaced clothing and footwear, household electrical appliances and even food, beverage, tobacco and liquor, all of which experienced more modest growth."  The report reckons much of the increase came from lower-tier cities. That's where income levels are rising the fastest and retail stores are expanding quickly to keep pace. "Increasing incomes coupled with government policies that support growth have been the main drivers for rising gold prices," says Frank. "As residents in [China] acquire higher incomes, they have historically purchased more gold, driving gold prices higher."
[Ed. Note: Current owners of gold and silver shares will want to check out a new report from publisher Joe Schriefer — detailing how to collect cash payments on stocks already in your portfolio. "These are cash deposits that instantly hit your account. They're not dividends, fractional shares of stocks, credits towards future purchases... or anything else like that." Any of the stocks on this list are fair game...  And that list is not comprehensive. Read on to learn how you can collect payments of up to $2,345 without selling a single share.]
A proposed city ordinance would require jewelers, coin shops and antique dealers to notify police anytime someone sells them an item more than 1% gold, silver or platinum by weight. They'd also have to provide a color photo of the seller. "I can't imagine asking a little old lady customer if I could take a mug shot of her to send to the police," says jeweler Dave Blustin." "Our goal is to decrease the number of burglaries and increase our success in solving cases," says Duluth Police Sgt. Chad Nagorski. "We want to return stolen items to their rightful owners and hold the right people accountable for victimizing others." A noble sentiment, to be sure. God forbid they do some detective work to accomplish the task. Better to create dossiers on the law-abiding.
"One point neglected by many is that the current global monetary crisis is rooted in chronic imbalance of payments that's not possible in a free-market 100%-convertible gold standard. This is a major force behind the competitiveness loss and debt accumulation of chronic trade deficit countries like Greece and the U.S." "A free-market 100%-convertible gold standard as assumed by Adam Smith and David Ricardo keeps debt levels limited, balances international trade and conveys the verdict of the marketplace quickly to all producers and consumers. Borrowers can borrow only the amount of actual gold that lenders wish to lend, so there is no excess leverage in the system." "When one country exports more in value of goods and services than it imports, it receives excess gold in payment, shooting up its gold/money supply and then its prices. When another country imports more in value than it exports, it must send gold to pay for the excess, and its own gold/money supply declines and so then do its prices. The excess exporter's prices rise and the excess importer's prices fall to the point that trade balances and gold flows normalize." "Countries and companies that are falling behind in terms of competitiveness get immediate incremental feedback from the market, and must make adjustments quickly to remain in business, and long before such differentials become excessively large." "Let us know how we can help!" The 5: Hmmnnn. We're still thinking it through…
"Just as with the gain statistics in employment from the government a few days ago, these people honestly do think their dollars are worth something. Who the hell would take on a load of an extra $650 a month in these times?" "I'm getting the feeling that they are thinking the other way and raking in what they can (credit cards and cars are nonsecured loans), and if they go bankrupt, guess who will get screwed? That's right, those who have a sense of obligation to pay off that which they borrowed." "An article about two weeks ago stated people were actually shopping last December. The numbers were great. Those people put it all on credit, and I can bet that many will default on ever paying it back." "Thanks for The 5, it's always a must-read on my list." The 5: Ours too! Have a great weekend, Addison Wiggin P.S. We're leaving early in the morning for a publisher's jamboree down at the ranch in Nicaragua. In the off time, we're hoping to finalize plans for breaking ground on a piece of property high in an undeveloped neighborhood we've dubbed Monte Suerte. If you've been reading The 5 and have wondered about what's going on down there in the land of Ollie North and the Sandinistas… you owe it to yourself to come down and check out our project. "The International Monetary Fund estimates that Nicaragua's economic growth hit 4% last year," writes our friend Alex Green in this morning's Investment U, "and is on the verge of accelerating." Alex just returned from a conference on investing in emerging markets down at the ranch. "Exports jumped 23% last year. Tourism is up. MSN Money ranked Nicaragua at the top of their list of 'Ten Exotic Retirement Spots for 2011,' telling readers '[Now] is the time to put this country at the top of your super-cheap overseas retirement list.' CNN Money calls it 'the next Costa Rica.' Indeed, Rancho Santana is just 50 miles north of the Costa Rican border." "Good things are happening locally, too. A local business leader plans to invest $300 million next door in a world-class marina, golf and spa resort called Guacalito. Due to open in spring 2013, it's located just 30 minutes from Rancho Santana and is already bringing increased investment and improved infrastructure to the region. And an international airport is planned for the Tola area, located less than a half hour away." In some ways, Alex suggested to his readers, Rancho Santana could be the perfect alternative investment. We're hosting a similar event to the one Alex presented at we're calling The Rancho Santana Sessions, March 23-25, 2012. Come down. Learn how to diversify effectively — legally — out of the dollar. And enjoy our beautiful piece of the Pacific frontier. Call Kristen at 1-800-708-1020. She'll be on duty first thing Monday morning, Eastern Time.
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| Platform Technologies Promise Big Payoffs: Juan Sanchez Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:24 AM PST The Life Sciences Report: Have any of the proposals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Critical Path Initiative begun to collapse timeframes or make drug development more efficient and less capital-intensive? Juan Sanchez: When the FDA's Critical Path Initiative first came out in 2004, it made a lot of sense. Back then, there were conversations on Wall Street about different parties and the FDA working together. That led to unique collaborations and kind of a different culture. But I'm not sure you can quantify the success of an initiative like that because you are, after all, at the mercy of biology as well as higher regulatory standards. The FDA is still approving 22–30 new drugs every year, and I think it was 30 new ones in 2011. The fact that this continues to be the case when clinical trials are becoming so much more complicated and so much more difficult, and when the low-hanging fruit of drugable targets has already been taken, tells us something important when...
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| Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:24 AM PST Synopsis: David Galland checks in on his Happiness Meter, and Keith Weiner discusses gold backwardation and the future of fiat currencies. Dear Reader, David Galland here. In a moment, we'll get to the main investing topic indicated in the title of today's edition, Permanent Gold Backwardation, but first a little bit of musing. If you are the serious type, with things to do and people to see, feel free to skip right on down the page until you strike that article – you won't hurt my feelings. That's because, coming off a particularly busy week – one that included putting out the February edition of The Casey Report (read it now, we'll take all the risk), I'm in the mood to muse about things more philosophical. The Happiness Meter By David Galland It was best-selling author Robert Ringer who first brought the concept of a "Happiness Meter" to my attention. (A bit of trivia: Ringer was involved in publishing Doug Casey's f...
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| Posted: 10 Feb 2012 10:24 AM PST The following is automatically syndicated from Grandich's blog. You can view the original post here. Stay up to date on his model portfolio! February 10, 2012 01:35 PM * The Gospel of Gold According to Peter* (…Grandich, that is) Published February 10, 2012 • By Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report * * Corporate Interviews.com • A Few Minutes with Peter Grandich Recorded February 10, 2012 [url]http://www.grandich.com/[/url] grandich.com...
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| Thursday Afternoon Wrap-Up: It Will be GAME OVER for the U.S. Dollar Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:34 AM PST by Andrew Hoffman, MilesFranklin.com:
So you thought I was angry yesterday? You ain't seen nothin' yet, as today was the first time since abandoning mining stocks last Fall that I lost my temper, screaming at the screen like the old days as I watched the Cartel desperately attempt to maintain the status quo by holding down PM prices. And desperate is the operative word, as their operations are becoming borderline psychotic in their regularity, intensity, and blatancy. Once their suppression scheme fails, it will be GAME OVER for not only the U.S. dollar as "world's reserve currency," but ALL fiat currencies – which is to say, ALL CURRENCIES. TPTB know this is coming as sure as day follows night, and are rapidly acquiring PHYSICAL gold and silver while they relentlessly attack PAPER PMs such as futures contracts, ETFs, and mining shares.
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| Fox Closes Freedom Watch With Judge Napolitano Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:33 AM PST [Ed. Note: Related.] Fox business network is dropping three of their primetime shows, one including the top-rated show "Freedom watch" hosted by Judge Napolitano. Judge Napolitano covers topics from Occupy Wall street, to the National authorization act, in fact he has been consistently pro-Ron Paul and anti-war. To talk more about the cancellation of these shows Wayne Allen Root, a libertarian and author book "The consistence of a Libertarian; empowering the citizen revolution with God, guns, gold and tax cuts", joins RT's Kristine
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| John Williams - The US Edges Closer to Collapse Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST  John Williams, of Shadowstats, notes that fundamental conditions for the US dollar could not be worse. Williams says the record lack of confidence by the US public in their government now threatens global currency stability. Here is what Williams had to say about the situation: "One of the more important, long-range underlying variables impacting the exchange rate value of the U.S. dollar is the net foreign trade position of the United States. In the post World War II era, the U.S. trade position first fell into net deficit in 1971. By the late-1970s, widening annual trade shortfalls had become perpetual, as had the resulting structural deterioration in the U.S. economy and the foreign exchange weakness of U.S. dollar."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| High Yield Plummets and VIX Flares Most In Almost 3 Months Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:56 AM PST Credit (and vol) continue to lead the way as smart deriskers as ES (the e-mini S&P 500 futures contract) ends down only 0.5% - which sadly is the biggest drop since 12/28. The late day surge in ES, which was not supported by IG or HY credit (and very clearly not HYG - the HY bond ETF - which closed at its lows and saw its biggest single-day loss since Thanksgiving), saw heavier volumes and large average trade size which suggest professionals willing to cover longs or add shorts above in order to get filled. Materials stocks underperformed but the major financials had a tough day as their CDS deteriorated to one-week wides. VIX (and its many derivative ETFs) had a very bumpy ride today. VXX (the vol ETF) rose over 14% (most in 3 months) at one point before it pulled back (coming back to settle perfectly at its VWAP so not too worrisome). After the European close, FX markets largely went sideways with the USD inching higher (EUR weaker) as JPY strength reflected on FX carry pair weakness and held stocks down. Treasuries extended their gains from yesterday's peak of the week yields as 7s to 30s rallied around 6bps leaving the 30Y best performer on the week at around unchanged. Commodities generally tracked lower on USD strength with Oil the exception as WTI pushed back up to $99 into the close (ending the week +1.1% and Copper -1.1%). Gold and Silver ended the week down almost in line with USD's gains at around 0.25-0.5%. Broadly speaking risk has been off since around the European close yesterday and ES and CONTEXT have reconverged on a medium-term basis this afternoon (to around NFP-spike levels) as traders await the potential for event risk emerging from Europe.
As we warned yesterday, the significance of the divergence with credit in Europe and US was becoming palpable and the Storm that we noted was coming has begun we suspect. Stocks managed to cling to the cliff-edge that is the post NFP spike levels while credit has fallen significantly below pre-NFP levels. No follow through at all in credit on that late day surge in stocks and HYG seeing its single worst day since just before Thanksgiving (chart below).
Let's see how many investors who reached for yield stick with them when they realize that a third to a half of their annual yield just got taken away in 2 days - as we've said before, there is a reason they have a high yield.
VXX (the Vol ETF) was very volatile today as VIX (above) saw its largest jump in three months - as many know this is very typical VIX behavior, slow leak down and abrupt flare-up. We suspect the implied skewness and kurtosis discussions we had earlier in the week are being laid again after normalizing.
Treasuries roared back to life late yesterday and through today as supply ebbed and risk appetites dropped. 10Y seems the most volatile - perhaps on its mortgage hedging exposure - but 30Y outperformed on the week - ending just a little higher in yield.
The USD pulled back towards unchanged today after reaching its lows for the week just around the European close yesterday. Day after day we have seen the most volatility during the European day session with reversals into and around the closes and opens. After hours today EUR is pushing modestly higher on news that the Greek cabinet has approved loan plan but it is staying under 1.32 for now. JPY was the biggest loser on the week though stable as the USD strengthened against the other majors - this carry-pair impact dragged broad risk assets lower - though chatter is that a rotation to the EUR as a funding currency is occurring though we suspect the binary nature of the currency makes it a little too noisy for the risk-sensitive players.
To get a sense of how broad risk assets have been behaving this week we use a medium-term (as opposed to the short-term model that is used for trading and arb) CONTEXT - which as you can see is well synced with last week's pre- and post-NFP behavior. The whole week has seen a very narrow range for US equities that again and again has seen CONTEXT (broad risk asset proxy) and stocks converge around that post NFP spike level (green oval). Monday saw a broader derisking among risk assets but US equities maintained into Tuesday where Oil and Treasuries led risk-on and the faded to convergence. The sell-off and curve steepening in Treasuries along with Oil strength and FX carry all helped to push CONTEXT aggressively higher but the divergence lower in the latter part of the week reflects back to credit's underperformance dragging on stocks. Today saw Treasuries rally, curves flatten, and carry lose ground as non-equity risk assets fell back to earth and reconverged with stocks for pretty much the entire day session today in the US. On the late-day news from Greece, Treasuries are modestly higher in yield, EUR (and carry) is modestly higher and CONTEXT is leading for now (as ES is closed) suggesting a 3-5pt bounce only. It will be along weekend.
Charts: Bloomberg and Capital Context
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| Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:50 AM PST 10-Feb (NumberSlueth) — We here at NumberSleuth are all about exploring the world of numbers, and with this infographic we decided to take a look at the numbers behind the entire amount of gold in the world. Below are a series of questions that we began with and the answers we discovered in our research. We believe that this is the most thorough and in-depth resource about the world's gold on the Internet and we hope you have as much fun reading through the information as we did in putting it all together.
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| The Gospel of Gold According to Peter Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:45 AM PST Peter Grandich believes that we're in the midst of a stealth gold bull market. Grandich, editor and publisher of The Grandich Letter, recently penned the book Confessions of a Wall Street Whiz Kid, the moniker "Good Morning America" gave to him after he predicted the Black Monday stock market crash in 1987. He's now predicting gold to top $2,350/oz in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report.
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| How Bull Markets Evolve into Bubbles Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:42 AM PST Feb 10, 2012 The Daily Gold Free Newsletter There is a science to market movements and various trends because human nature is consistent over time. Bear markets follow a pattern as do bull markets. In recent weeks we’ve noted the similarities between the past four equity bull markets. They start off strong for six or seven years before slowing down over the next five years. Then they break to new highs and eventually accelerate into a bubble. As we show in this update, change in valuation explains how bull markets evolve into bubbles. The following chart shows the Nikkei (black) and its price to earnings ratio (blue). The chart comes from DailyWealth but the annotations are mine. In our opinion, the Japanese bull market began in the late 1960s. Note, from 1977-1983 the PE ratio tre...
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| Profit in the Investment Ecosystem Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:42 AM PST When money managers refer to total return funds, they're generally talking about investments that promise to deliver returns that beat the prevailing rate of interest while preserving capital. Investment advisor and Solari Report Publisher Catherine Austin Fitts takes the totality concept to a whole new level by focusing on net positive total returns. As she explains in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, she hunts for companies that offer value not only to stockholders but for society.
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| This Is What An Economic Depression Looks Like In The 21st Century Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:42 AM PST from The Economic Collapse Blog:
Read More @ TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
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| Gold and Silver Disaggregated COT Report (DCOT) for February 10 Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:32 AM PST This week's Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commitments of traders (COT) report suggests stepped up "opposition" to the gold and silver rallies by the usual "hedgers." The disaggregated COT report (DCOT) more or less "confirms" it. In the DCOT table below a net short position shows as a negative figure in red. A net long position shows in black. In the Change column, a negative number indicates either an increase to an existing net short position or a reduction of a net long position. A black figure in the Change column indicates an increase to an existing long position or a reduction of an existing net short position. The way to think of it is that black figures in the Change column are traders getting "longer" and red figures are traders getting less long or shorter. All of the trader's positions are calculated net of spreading contracts as of the Tuesday disaggregated COT report.
Vultures, (Got Gold Report Subscribers) please note that updates to our linked technical charts, including our comments about the COT reports and the week's technical changes, should be completed by the usual time on Sunday evening (by 18:00 ET). As a reminder, the linked charts for gold, silver, mining shares indexes and important ratios are located in the subscriber pages. In addition Vultures have access anytime to all 30-something Vulture Bargain (VB) and Vulture Bargain Candidates of Interest (VBCI) tracking charts – the small resource-related companies that we attempt to game here at Got Gold Report. Continue to look for new commentary often. Combined (legacy, not disaggregated) Commercial Net Short Position for Silver, then Gold below. Source CFTC for COT, Cash market for gold and silver.
That is all. Carry on.
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| Profit in the Investment Ecosystem: Catherine Austin Fitts Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:21 AM PST The Gold Report: According to your website, your mission is to provide the "deeper intelligence" investors need to succeed in this environment. From your perspective, what are the top two or three issues that most investors don't understand because they don't have that deeper intelligence they need to make better investment decisions? Catherine Austin Fitts: Our goal is to help readers, subscribers and clients build family wealth. We believe that the success of the family depends very much on the success and the building of community wealth. In other words, it's very difficult for people to build wealth if everybody is making money in ways that destroy the greater economy. So we focus both on family wealth and on the wider community wealth. My fundamental paradigm is economic warfare. I believe we have a group of people intentionally trying to centralize the economy in a way that shrinks wealth. As a result, literally every household in every country is, if you will, being harvested....
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| Silver Sucks, Buy Zimbabwe Currency, Awesomer! Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:16 AM PST Happy Friday from Billy Joe, the king of fiat satire… from HouseOfTheMoon: I'm getting attacked on all sides by the silver fetish people. They're jealous of my legitimate investment strategy. They're jealous of my wealth. And I, the ZIM KING, own them all.
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| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Bear Raid, Risk Off Trade on Greece Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:10 AM PST |
| COT Gold, Silver and US Dollar Index Report - February 10, 2012 Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:32 AM PST COT Gold, Silver and US Dollar Index Report - February 10, 2012
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| The Dollar Confirms a Possible Silver Pullback Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:19 AM PST Greece played the Artful Dodger this week and missed another deadline to approve conditions for a second €130bn bail-out on Tuesday night because of last-minute haggling with international lenders over emergency spending cuts. Read More...
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Decline rates.
"At first," our resident energy enthusiast kicks us off with just such a tale, "the conservative approach was to estimate that the Marcellus wells would be productive for about two-three years and then the decline curve would kick in."
After 20 years of sinking deeper and deeper into dependence on foreign oil, the United States reversed that trend last year.
Ahem.
"We've had large-scale drilling in Pennsylvania only over the past three years or so," says Byron, putting some flesh on the bones of that last statistic. After a laborious process of leasing land, seismic work, permits, drilling the wells, testing the wells, hooking the wells up to pipelines.
"This Marcellus-Utica play isn't just big," says Byron. "It's massive. It's immensely productive. It's not some flash in the pan. It'll last for decades, and I mean MANY decades. And that's just in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
Major U.S. stock indexes opened down 1% this morning… and have stayed there as of this writing.
The U.S. trade deficit widened in December to $48.8 billion — the highest in six months, according to the Commerce Department.
Precious metals are set to end the week lower than they began. At last check, the spot price of gold was down to $1,710. Silver's been knocked back to $33.40
As of Monday, CME Group is lowering margin requirements for gold, silver, platinum and copper futures.
Year-end figures of Hong Kong's gold shipments to mainland China are in… and they're jaw-dropping.
"Across the Chinese retail sector, gold, silver and jewelry demand was the strongest performing segment in 2011," adds U.S. Global Investors chief and 
For the moment — with both gold and stocks taking it on the chin today — gold stocks are in retreat. The HUI index is down about 1.5% at the moment… but at around 525, it's a darn sight better than when it started the year at 500.
Looking to unload an old piece of jewelry? In Duluth, Minn., you might soon end up in a police database.
"Please keep harping on the gold standard," a reader pleaded yesterday after enduring a description of our latest hobby, "for all of our sake!"
"I figured it out," says another reader after reading about the couple who've taken on a car loan at $650 a month for 72 months. "These people who believe they are at a plateau in their lives now that money is good and the economy is doing fine have really bought into TV gossip called news."
Do you want to see what a 21st century economic depression looks like? Just look at Greece. Once upon a time, the Greek economy was thriving, the Greek government was borrowing money like there was no tomorrow and Greek citizens were thoroughly enjoying the bubble of false prosperity that all that debt created. Those that warned that Greece was headed for a financial collapse were laughed at and were called "doom and gloomers". Well, nobody is laughing now. You see, the truth is that debt is a very cruel master. Greeks were able to live way beyond their means for many, many years but eventually a day of reckoning arrived. At this point, the Greek economy has been in a recession for five years in a row, and the economic crisis in that country is rapidly getting even worse. It was just recently announced that the overall rate of unemployment in Greece has soared above 20 percent and the youth unemployment rate has risen to an astounding 48 percent. One out of every five retail stores has been shut down and parents are literally abandoning children in the streets. The frightening thing is that this is just the beginning. Things are going to get a lot worse in Greece. And in case you haven't been paying attention, these kinds of conditions are coming to the United States as well. We are heading down the exact same road as Greece went down, and the economic pain that this country is eventually going to suffer is going to be beyond anything that most Americans would dare to imagine.| 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 |
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