Gold World News Flash |
- GOLD 1980 Vs. TODAY
- CME Group Places Bid for London Metal Exchange
- Gold Seeker Weekly Wrap-Up: Gold and Silver End Little Changed on the Week
- By the Numbers for the Week Ending February 17
- Eric Sprott - Central Banks Don't Have Enough Gold
- The Only Way Out for the American Economy
- How Could Silver Short Sellers Cover Their Positions?
- Big Bucks Attract High School Grads To SILVER Mining
- Key Players Buying More Gold Now
- Gold 1980 vs. today -- things couldn't be more different
- Eric Sprott – Central Banks Don't Have Enough Gold
- Debt derivatives and gold will explode shortly, von Greyerz tells King World News
- Gold: 1980 vs Today
- The Gold Price is up $1.20 This Week Closing at $1,723.30
- GATA Chairman Murphy interviewed by Future Money Trends
- Guest Post: Exploring The Not-So-Altruistic Aspects Of The "Buffett Rule"
- John Williams: $8,890 Gold, $517 Silver & Hyperinflation Update
- Gold and Silver Disaggregated COT Report (DCOT) for February 17
- Silver Eagles Soar
- Iran To Be Dropped From Swift System in Belgium
- Mickey Fulp’s Bullish–02-17-2012
- Mary Anne & Pamela Aden: U.S. stocks and gold to drive higher
- The Daily Market Report
- On Drones, Money Bombs and Manufacturing
- Gold's Wild Ride Leaves Explorers Ready to Grow: Tom MacNeill
- Ty Andros-The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same–02-17-2012
- The Latest Market Craze: Stock Trading Robots Reacting To Stories Written By... Robots
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Palpable Fear of a Rise In Gold
- Stocks Limp Higher As ES Volume Is Dismal
- Gold Price Manipulation Explained & Why Silver Will Soon Go Ballistic - Bill Murphy of GATA.org
| Posted: 17 Feb 2012 07:07 PM PST
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| CME Group Places Bid for London Metal Exchange Posted: 17 Feb 2012 05:11 PM PST from, Silverdoctors: The fallout (decline in trading volume) from the MF Global fiasco must be greater than ever we imagined. Less than 2 weeks ago the CME announced the launch of a clearing service for OTC London gold derivatives. Reports surfaced from Bloomberg today that the CME Group is now attempting to acquire the world's largest metals futures market, the LME. CME Group Inc. (CME) has made a bid for the London Metal Exchange as the world's largest metals futures market plans a meeting next week to consider offers, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
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| Gold Seeker Weekly Wrap-Up: Gold and Silver End Little Changed on the Week Posted: 17 Feb 2012 04:00 PM PST Gold bumped up to $1735.40 at about 8:30AM EST before it fell all of the way back to $1717.12 by late morning in New York and then bounced back higher in afternoon trade, but it still ended with a loss of 0.36%. Silver slipped to as low as $33.05 before it also bounced back higher, but it still ended with a loss of 0.93%.
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| By the Numbers for the Week Ending February 17 Posted: 17 Feb 2012 03:53 PM PST HOUSTON -- Just below is this week's closing table.
That is all for now, but there is more to come.
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| Eric Sprott - Central Banks Don't Have Enough Gold Posted: 17 Feb 2012 03:33 PM PST
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| The Only Way Out for the American Economy Posted: 17 Feb 2012 03:19 PM PST Economic despair reigns in America, as stagnation and mounting debt make our future look hopeless. Yet America is uniquely positioned to rebound and recover our economic preeminence. All that is necessary is a political decision to reverse our energy policy and stimulate domestic production of hydrocarbons. From that would flow a true economic stimulus that would mend many of our ills. The United States is again, for the second time in less than three years, being reminded of its absurd dependence of foreign sources of energy, most notably, oil. The upheavals in the Middle East have driven up the cost of a barrel of oil into triple digits as it was in 2008. The increasing demands of countries such as China and India and the deliberate devaluation of the dollar by the Federal Reserve and the Obama administration are steadily pushing up oil prices in dollars. Read more.... 
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| How Could Silver Short Sellers Cover Their Positions? Posted: 17 Feb 2012 03:09 PM PST by Patrick A. Heller, CoinWeek.com:
In general, the COMEX is a platform to trade physical metals without the bother of having to take or make delivery of a bulky asset. First off, a seller cannot sell a short contract unless there is another party to buy it to take an offsetting long position. Therefore, all long and short positions in the COMEX silver market should net to zero. At the extreme, the outstanding long contracts would be covered 100% by physical silver in the COMEX bonded warehouses. However, since most traders of COMEX contracts do not intend to take possession of the underlying physical commodity, there is only a fraction of physical silver in COMEX warehouses to fulfill delivery of contracts. COMEX silver contracts are for 5,000 ounces of pure silver made up of five 1,000 ounce bars.
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| Big Bucks Attract High School Grads To SILVER Mining Posted: 17 Feb 2012 02:48 PM PST by Jessica Robinson, NPR.org:
This spring, some high school grads in Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Nevada may see some good job prospects. The recent spike in metal prices, combined with a shortage of miners, means mining companies are hiring. So some teens are opting not to go to college, and instead are heading underground. But these high-paying jobs also come at a high cost. An Educator Questions His Own Path Don Kotschevar teaches high school in the small town of Mullan in north Idaho's remote Silver Valley. He is the assistant principal, basketball coach and shop teacher. Lately, Kotschevar has been questioning his own career path. He watches his students parlay the skills he teaches them in this industrial mechanics class into lucrative mining jobs. "Some of them, in the first six, eight months, their salaries absolutely crush mine," Kotschevar says. Entry-level mine jobs can pay $50,000 a year. Kotschevar has been thinking he could get a similar offer from local mine bosses.
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| Key Players Buying More Gold Now Posted: 17 Feb 2012 02:36 PM PST from WealthCycles:
The Paulson & Co. founder "told investors it's time to buy the metal as protection against inflation caused by government spending, " Bloomberg reported today.
Bloomberg reported that 12 of 22 companies surveyed had a buy on gold, with five surveyed neutral.
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| Gold 1980 vs. today -- things couldn't be more different Posted: 17 Feb 2012 02:29 PM PST 10:28p ET Friday, February 17, 2012 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Futures Money Trends has also made a dramatic six-minute video demonstrating how gold's recent rise has developed in circumstances completely different from those of the gold "bubble" of 1980. The video is titled "Gold 1980 vs. Today" and you can watch it at YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umSZOKNHY-M&feature=channel_video_title CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT A Rare Opportunity with Collectible Gold Coins Sovereign debt problems in the United States as well as Europe will worsen this year. The mainstream financial media may never report about the likely inflationary consequences of bailouts and "quantitative easing," nor are they likely ever to recommend tangible assets for financial protection. But at Swiss America Trading Corp. we believe that it is no longer a luxury to own gold and silver coins but rather a necessity. At the moment the public is showing little interest in Double Eagle U.S. $20 gold coins, so the price premiums above the intrinsic melt values (.9675 ounce of gold in each coin) are historically low. The ratio of price to bullion content for these coins has been 2:1 but today it is only about 1.25:1. This is a real opportunity. So give us a call or e-mail and we will be glad to discuss the potential of these coins and how to use a ratio strategy to increase your gold ounces without money out of pocket. In the January edition of his Early Warning Report, Richard Maybury writes: "As they are inherently in very limited supply, I believe that high-quality numismatics will become tulips, eventually rising a thousand percent or more in real terms, when money velocity goes into mid-second stage. In late stage, who knows -- 2,000 percent? 3,000?" All inquiries will receive without charge (while supplies last) our latest book, "The Inflation Deception," as well as our newsletter "Real Money Perspectives." -- Tim Murphy, trmurphy@swissamerica.com -- Fred Goldstein, figoldstein@swissamerica.com Telephone: 1-800-289-2646 Swiss America Trading Corp., 15018 North Tatum Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85032 Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html 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 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 Free Month Subscription to Market Force Analysis for GATA Supporters Market Force Analysis is a unique, patent-pending approach to commodity market analysis. An algorithm has been developed to extract supply and demand weightings from futures market data. The difference between supply and demand is the market imbalance that is called "market force," so named because it is what drives price. It brings clarity to past market action and predicts market trends. Because it is derived from accurate futures market data it is not subject to the errors inherent in macro-level estimates of supply and demand. Learn more here: https://marketforceanalysis.com/About_MFA.html Market Force Analysis focuses on short-term (15 days) and medium-term price predictions to help both short-term traders and long-term investors understand market moves and benefit from the generated prediction of prices. To read subscriber comments that show how much the service is appreciated, visit: https://marketforceanalysis.com/Testimonials.html The MFA service has been pioneered by market analyst and Gold Anti-Trust Action board member and researcher Adrian Douglas. The Market Force Analysis premium service provides: -- A bi-weekly report. -- Access to the MFA hot list of junior mining stocks derived from analysis of more than 800 mining stocks. The MFA hot list consistently outperforms well-known mining share indices like the HUI, GDX, and GDXJ. -- E-mail alerts about actionable trades. -- E-mail updates with important information. To obtain your 1-month free trial subscription to the Market Force Analysis letter, e-mail info@marketforceanalysis.com and put "MFA Free Trial" in the subject field.
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| Eric Sprott – Central Banks Don't Have Enough Gold Posted: 17 Feb 2012 02:09 PM PST |
| Debt derivatives and gold will explode shortly, von Greyerz tells King World News Posted: 17 Feb 2012 01:37 PM PST 9:35p ET Friday, February 17, 2012 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Fund manager Egon von Greyerz, interviewed by King World News today, expects debt derivatives to start exploding across Europe and the United States soon, and gold to end its consolidation phase and to start moving up again as soon as next week. An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News blog here: http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/2/17_Gr... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT Free Month Subscription to Market Force Analysis for GATA Supporters Market Force Analysis is a unique, patent-pending approach to commodity market analysis. An algorithm has been developed to extract supply and demand weightings from futures market data. The difference between supply and demand is the market imbalance that is called "market force," so named because it is what drives price. It brings clarity to past market action and predicts market trends. Because it is derived from accurate futures market data it is not subject to the errors inherent in macro-level estimates of supply and demand. Learn more here: https://marketforceanalysis.com/About_MFA.html Market Force Analysis focuses on short-term (15 days) and medium-term price predictions to help both short-term traders and long-term investors understand market moves and benefit from the generated prediction of prices. To read subscriber comments that show how much the service is appreciated, visit: https://marketforceanalysis.com/Testimonials.html The MFA service has been pioneered by market analyst and Gold Anti-Trust Action board member and researcher Adrian Douglas. The Market Force Analysis premium service provides: -- A bi-weekly report. -- Access to the MFA hot list of junior mining stocks derived from analysis of more than 800 mining stocks. The MFA hot list consistently outperforms well-known mining share indices like the HUI, GDX, and GDXJ. -- E-mail alerts about actionable trades. -- E-mail updates with important information. To obtain your 1-month free trial subscription to the Market Force Analysis letter, e-mail info@marketforceanalysis.com and put "MFA Free Trial" in the subject field. Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html 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 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 A Rare Opportunity with Collectible Gold Coins Sovereign debt problems in the United States as well as Europe will worsen this year. The mainstream financial media may never report about the likely inflationary consequences of bailouts and "quantitative easing," nor are they likely ever to recommend tangible assets for financial protection. But at Swiss America Trading Corp. we believe that it is no longer a luxury to own gold and silver coins but rather a necessity. At the moment the public is showing little interest in Double Eagle U.S. $20 gold coins, so the price premiums above the intrinsic melt values (.9675 ounce of gold in each coin) are historically low. The ratio of price to bullion content for these coins has been 2:1 but today it is only about 1.25:1. This is a real opportunity. So give us a call or e-mail and we will be glad to discuss the potential of these coins and how to use a ratio strategy to increase your gold ounces without money out of pocket. In the January edition of his Early Warning Report, Richard Maybury writes: "As they are inherently in very limited supply, I believe that high-quality numismatics will become tulips, eventually rising a thousand percent or more in real terms, when money velocity goes into mid-second stage. In late stage, who knows -- 2,000 percent? 3,000?" All inquiries will receive without charge (while supplies last) our latest book, "The Inflation Deception," as well as our newsletter "Real Money Perspectives." -- Tim Murphy, trmurphy@swissamerica.com -- Fred Goldstein, figoldstein@swissamerica.com Telephone: 1-800-289-2646 Swiss America Trading Corp., 15018 North Tatum Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85032
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| Posted: 17 Feb 2012 01:12 PM PST When gold was undergoing its latest (and certainly not greatest) near-parabolic move last year, there were those pundits consistently calling for comparisons to 1980, and the subsequent gold crash. Yet even a simplistic analysis indicates that while in the 1980s gold was a hedge to runaway inflation, in the current deflationary regime, it is a hedge to central planner stupidity that will result as a response to runaway deflation. In other words, it is a hedge to what happens when the trillions in central bank reserves (at last check approaching 30% of world GDP). There is much more, and we have explained the nuances extensively previously, but for those who are only now contemplating the topic of gold for the first time, the following brief summary from futuremoneytrends.com captures the salient points. Far more importantly, it also focuses on a topic that so far has not seen much media focus: the quiet and pervasive expansion in bilateral currency agreements which are nothing short of a precursor to dropping the dollar entirely once enough backup linkages are in place: a situation which will likely crescendo soon courtesy of upcoming developments in Iran, discussed here previously.
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| The Gold Price is up $1.20 This Week Closing at $1,723.30 Posted: 17 Feb 2012 12:48 PM PST Gold Price Close Today : 1,724.50 Gold Price Close 10-Feb : 1,723.30 Change : 1.20 or 0.1% Silver Price Close Today : 3320.00 Silver Price Close 10-Feb : 3357.00 Change : -37.0 cents or -1.1% Platinum Price Close Today : 1,631.30 Platinum Price Close 10-Feb : 1,657.20 Change : -25.90 or -1.6% Palladium Price Close Today : 687.70 Palladium Price Close 10-Feb : 702.65 Change : -14.95 or -2.2% Gold Silver Ratio Today : 51.94 Gold Silver Ratio 10-Feb : 51.33 Change : 0.61 or 1.01% Dow Industrial : 12,904.08 Dow Industrial 10-Feb: 12,890.46 Change : 13.62 or 0.1% US Dollar Index : 79.33 US Dollar Index 10-Feb : 78.61 Change : 0.72 or 0.9% Franklin Sanders has not published any commentary today, if he publishes later it will be available here. © 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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| GATA Chairman Murphy interviewed by Future Money Trends Posted: 17 Feb 2012 12:32 PM PST 8:30p ET Friday, February 17, 2012 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: GATA Chairman Bill Murphy was interviewed last weekend at the California Investment Conference in Indian Wells, California, by Dan Ameduri of Future Money Trends. The interview is not quite 11 minutes long and you can watch it here: http://futuremoneytrends.com/index.php/category-table/141-bill-murphy-in... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT Golden Phoenix Discusses Royalty Mining Growth Strategy Golden Phoenix Minerals Inc. has discussed its royalty mining growth strategy on the Fox Business Network program "21st Century Business" with host Jackie Bales. Golden Phoenix's director of corporate communications, Robert Ian, told how the company narrows its focus to project generation and future royalty streams. He explained why Golden Phoenix believes it's better to own joint-venture interests in several producing mines instead of full exposure to just one project. "21st Century Business" has been airing for 15 years. Previous hosts have included Gen. Alexander Haig, Gen.l Norman Schwarzkopf, and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Golden Phoenix appeared as paid programming on this broadcast. To view the program with Golden Phoenix, please visit Golden Phoenix's Internet site here: http://goldenphoenix.us/fox-business-network/ Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html 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 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 Be Part of a Chance to Discover Northaven Resources Corp. (TSX-V:NTV) is advancing five gold and silver projects in highly prospective and politically stable British Columbia, Canada. Check out the exploration program on our Allco gold/silver project : -- A large (13,000 hectare) property, covering more than 15 square kilometers of a regional mineralized trend just 3km from a recently announced 1.2-million-ounce gold and 15-million-ounce silver deposit. -- The property hosts historic high-grade silver workings and many mineral showings as well as former mines at the property's northern and southern boundaries. -- A deep-penetrating airborne geophysics survey has just been completed on the entire property and neighboring deposits and its results are eagerly awaited. To learn more about the Allco property or Northaven's other gold and silver projects, please visit: http://www.northavenresources.com Or call Northaven CEO Allen Leschert at 604-696-3600.
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| Guest Post: Exploring The Not-So-Altruistic Aspects Of The "Buffett Rule" Posted: 17 Feb 2012 11:24 AM PST Submitted by Robert Ross of Casey Research Exploring The Not-So-Altruistic Aspects Of The "Buffett Rule" This week, President Obama released his $3.8-trillion budget for fiscal year 2013. The plan calls for new taxes on the wealthy, a restructuring of the tax code, and short-term infrastructure spending aimed at boosting the economy (albeit artificially). Also included in the budget are limitations on subsidies for oil and gas companies, an end to the Bush tax cuts, and a proposal to raise taxes on dividends, which could be as high as 39.6% for households making over $250,000 per year. Although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) dismissed the proposal as "a campaign document," the White House claims the measure would generate $206 billion in revenue over 10 years. One of the most interesting aspects of the plan is the inclusion of the Buffett Rule as a replacement for the alternative-minimum tax (AMT). The AMT was originally implemented to ensure that high-income Americans paid their taxes. But, alas, the geniuses in Washington "forgot" to index the AMT for inflation, rendering it useless and unintentionally ensnaring an increasing number of middle-class taxpayers into a system meant for the wealthiest of Americans. Unintended consequences abound, but I digress… The "Buffett Rule," named after famed investor Warren Buffett, would require those who earn more than $1 million per year to pay a tax rate of at least 30% and prevent them from claiming deductions to push down their tax rates. Buffett, who penned a New York Times op-ed in August of last year espousing the need for an overhaul of the tax code for America's top earners, appears to have caught the ear of President Obama.
(Click on image to enlarge) The message of the op-ed was clear: Mr. Buffett, who paid nearly $7 million in income tax last year, wants to pay more. But will he actually sacrifice anything? It's hard to say, as some of these new taxes will directly benefit Buffett. Additional tax dollars in the government's coffers could help Buffett even more. Who can forget the Oracle of Omaha's opportunistic investment in Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse (where he made nearly $1 billion on the assumption that the government would bail it out)? Buffett has indicated that his next acquisition could be Exelon (NYSE: EXC), General Dynamics Corp (NYSE: GD), or Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), all of which are heavily connected to government contracts and would benefit from increased government spending. Exelon is directly tied to the Obama administration: Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod act as consultants, two top Exelon advisors are Obama fundraisers, and the company lobbies heavily for more greenhouse-gas restraints to drive demand for its nuclear power. General Dynamics, the world's fifth-largest defense company, generated 72% of revenue from the Department of Defense in 2011, and was the number-four government contractor for fiscal year 2011. Last but certainly not least, ADM, one of the world's largest processor of agricultural commodities, profits not only from ethanol subsidies but from corn syrup and export subsidies as well. Although no one can be sure of Buffett's motives, it would be naïve to believe that someone as intelligent as Buffett has not considered the benefits of pushing through this tax structure. Higher taxes are always problems for entrepreneurs and regular people in the economy. However, they're often beneficial to the well-connected, who receive government bailouts and favors. And with Buffett even on the president's lips, he is becoming more connected to the power mechanism in D.C. every day. With many of Berkshire's companies, your loss as a taxpayer will be their gains.
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| John Williams: $8,890 Gold, $517 Silver & Hyperinflation Update Posted: 17 Feb 2012 10:57 AM PST "There has been no change in the underlying fundamentals. There is nothing that would support a sustainable turnaround
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| Gold and Silver Disaggregated COT Report (DCOT) for February 17 Posted: 17 Feb 2012 10:54 AM PST This week's Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commitments of traders (COT) report suggests the stepped up "opposition" to the gold and silver rallies by the usual "hedgers" noted last week continued for the silver futures market. However, the usual Big Sellers of gold futures were actually net buyers as of the Tuesday data cut off. 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 some time Monday evening. 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.
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| Posted: 17 Feb 2012 10:34 AM PST Richard (Rick) Mills Ahead of the Herd As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information In World War I severe material shortages played havoc with production schedules and caused lengthy delays in implementing programs. This led to development of the Harbord List – a list of 42 materials deemed critical to the military. After World War II the United States created the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) to acquire and store critical strategic materials for national defense purposes. The Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials (DLA Strategic Materials) oversees operations of the NDS and their primary mission is to “protect the nation against a dangerous and costly dependence upon foreign sources of supply for critical materials in times of national emergency.” The NDS was intended for all essential civilian and military uses in times of emergencies. In 1992, Congress directed that th...
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| Iran To Be Dropped From Swift System in Belgium Posted: 17 Feb 2012 10:33 AM PST Jim Sinclair's Mineset Dear Friends, Iran is to be dropped out of the Swift system in Belgium. That means Iran could neither send or receive bank money wires. That would slam Iran's economy. This is economic war at the highest level of conflict. This could start a greater move of central banks with fears of the West to increase and retrieve their gold positions. It certainly puts cash reserves held by central banks (which are computer entries anyway) into serious question as to security. This is as serious as it gets in nuclear and economic terms. The only weapon that can be effective against Iran's nuclear industry is Western nuclear deep penetration bunker busters. Hold tight to your insurance investment positions. Regards, Jim...
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| Mickey Fulp’s Bullish–02-17-2012 Posted: 17 Feb 2012 10:28 AM PST We sat down with Mickey Fulp and while there's not a lot to be happy about, many markets have been going up since the first of the year. And as the old Wall Street Maxim says, So goes January, So goes the Year. And you have to take your profits while you can get them. But of course you always need to have a core holding of gold and silver. The rest is extra money that you've hopefully been able to grow during the course of a very tough couple of years. There's absolutely no indication that anything has fundamentally improved of that any of the long standing, intractable problems have been solved, but Wall Street doesn't seem very concerned about these issues. But you should be, because one day they'll wake but it will be too late. Copper's been heading down a bit since January, seems the Chinese have been hoarding it. And perhaps the most surprising developments, the US approved two new nuclear power plants to be built in Georgia and the Germans are restarting several shut-in nukes. While nuclear power's rebirth in the West has been greatly exaggerated, perhaps reality is now catching up. Uranium stocks haven't had much of a move recently, but that could be changing. All-in-all financial markets never surprise us with their unpredictability, and 2012 is proving no different. Please fill out the subscription box on KerryLutz.com to receive your free Financial Survival Toolkit.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Mary Anne & Pamela Aden: U.S. stocks and gold to drive higher Posted: 17 Feb 2012 10:14 AM PST U.S. stocks & gold are leading the way. In fact, these are our top picks for the months ahead and they're looking good. Here's why ...
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| Posted: 17 Feb 2012 09:50 AM PST BoJ Jumps on the Inflation Targeting Bandwagon
However, the notion that higher inflation will underpin an economy is misplaced in my opinion. An expanding economy will likely beget some level of inflation, but manufacturing inflation via expansionary monetary policy does not result in a corresponding rise in GDP (and employment). I would argue the whole purpose of ZIRP, QE and inflation targeting is to disincentivize saving; to make people believe they must spend today for fear that what they need/desire will be more expensive tomorrow. However, in times of economic uncertainty, which is driving broad-based deleveraging, moderate price inflation is unlikely to be sufficient to dislodge the yen, dollars, euros and pounds from the increasingly tight grasps of consumers. As I suggested in a recent newsletter article after the Fed announced it would embark on inflation targeting, what we really end up with is an all-out attack on savers. I certainly understand why central banks view deflation as the far greater evil, and therefore feel compelled to create inflation: Deflation is bad for the private banking industry served by the central banks. In deflationary times, consumers tend to forestall purchases in anticipation of lower prices, which in turn reduces the need for credit and therefore bank earnings. From a consumer's perspective one might argue that deflation stemming from a moribund economy is beneficial, as falling prices make it easier to maintain a standard of living. Those from the Austrian school of economics would say that market forces are simply bringing the prices of goods and services back inline with wages. Although maintaining a standard of living can become very difficult if the aforementioned delayed consumption costs you your job. In fact, those that suffer the most from inflation-inducing policies — and the resulting decline in real wages — tend to be from the lower quintiles of the socioeconomic strata; those on fixed incomes or living paycheck-to-paycheck. This is especially true when inflation targeted at core-components — as the Fed is now doing — inevitably splashes over into food and energy, where those lower quintiles spend a relatively large percentage of their income compared to the upper-quintiles. Additionally, those in the higher quintiles generally have the means to hedge the manufactured price risk (especially when it is telegraphed as "policy") and may actually realize outsized returns if über-easy central bank policies result in an overshoot of the inflation targets, as we saw in the UK in recent years and Europe in 2011. Actually, the UK is a pretty good example of what I'm suggesting: At the end of Q3-11, inflation was running at more than 5% (150% above target), while GDP was an anemic 0.5%. Preliminary data suggest UK GDP weakened in Q4 to -0.2%. While inflation had moderated to 4.2% by year-end, I believe that is a result of a weaker economy. Not the other way around. Nonetheless, the BoE reacted by increasing their asset purchase target by £50 bln to £325 bln. With the BoJ following their lead this week and the ECB hamstrung by the pesky realities of their charter, perhaps it is indeed the Fed's turn to step back up to the plate… That's not going to get me to consume more, but it will likely prompt me to increase the hedges that I already have in place. And I don't think I'll be alone. What's the classic hedge against inflation? Gold of course…
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| On Drones, Money Bombs and Manufacturing Posted: 17 Feb 2012 09:17 AM PST Synopsis: Drones, automation and fiat currencies will reshape our world in ways impossible to predict, but here's one outcome you can take to the bank – they'll create a wealth of profit opportunities for shrewd investors. Dear Reader, Earlier this week, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill opening the nation's airspace to some 30,000 drones. Naturally, this has stirred concern – as well it should – among pockets of the populace who concern themselves with such arcane concepts as privacy, individual rights and the rule of law. As I suspect that some day in the not-too-distant future, this legislation will be viewed as a rather important historical milestone, a few words on the topic seem in order. By milestone, I mean that today you can look up and, other than the occasional contrail, expect to see little more than birds and clouds. Five or ten years down the road, however, you will find yourself wondering if that bird is actually a bird or a drone. Worried that it is the latter, you'll reflexively glance at the speedometer of your car or at the backyard burn pile, and wonder if you have observably broken a regulation. Even in the confines of your house, you'll find yourself wondering if the drones picked up your angry comments about the latest outrages of the stifling state. In short, the world will be a different place, and not necessarily for the better. Is the Drone Era a Certainty? In a word, yes. Why? In a couple of additional words, it is because drones work.
Even though drone technology is still relatively new – barely a card-flip in the bridge hand of human history – it has speedily evolved to the point where its utilitarian advantages over competing technologies are already undeniable. Of course, one of the most visible advantages of drones involves the increasing role they play in the killing sciences. Much in the same way that the first airplanes deployed in war were used solely for aerial surveillance, then quickly morphed into bullet- and bomb-distributing aerial engines of death, so have drones quickly morphed from little more than curiosities into unmanned stealth weapons delivery platforms that can deliver those weapons virtually anywhere in the world. Among the many functional advantages offered by a drone…
Which brings us to the broadest of the consequences: because they are so efficacious, you can be completely certain that they will be widely deployed. Ergo, the Drone Era is upon us. Stating the somewhat obvious, we humans have an attitude about everything. Those attitudes can be positive or negative, and they can fall anywhere on a scale from very weak to very strong… but there is literally no object on this planet that you and I do not have an attitude about, or which we wouldn't quickly form an attitude about if it came to our attention for the first time. As far as drones are concerned, the attitude of the world's governments and the praetorian class that protects them is now strongly positive. That means that they will instinctively look for every possible opportunity to deploy them. (And not just for their utilitarian functions, but because of their symbolic value: if you as a branch of government or even a country don't have drones, you are sooo yesterday!) But it is mostly their utilitarian functionality that guarantees they'll be cranked out like hot cakes at an IHOP (for those of you unfamiliar with the acronym, it stands for the International House of Pancakes… just so you know). Understanding this reality of increasing drone deployments, it can be useful to ponder possible and even probable outcomes. For example, there is currently a problem with certain Somalis who look to better their lot in life by heavily arming themselves and setting out over the deep blue sea in the quest of underprotected cargo-bearing ships and expensive yachts. When successful in their exertions, general mayhem typically follows – with guns fired, crews kidnapped, boats scuttled, lives lost, ransoms demanded, etc. In order to defeat the aspirations of these enterprising Somalis and to end their shenanigans as a constant threat to regional shipping, the world's governments – at least those who care about such things – could get together, hold numerous meetings between bureaucrats and military attachés, designate an international task force, assign leadership roles on a rotating basis, find a nearby base from which to operate, and purchase or reassign various personnel and armaments including boats, spotter planes, helicopters, fighter jets and so forth. Alternatively, a government looking to sharpen its skills in dronery could deploy a couple of killer drones over the contested waters, instructing the operators to be especially attentive for the sight of any fast-moving speedboats filled with armed men. Should such a speed boat be spotted, further instructions could include loosening a warning shot or, if the operator back in Nevada were late for lunch, blow said boat out of the water. Within roughly the lifespan of the common house fly, the problem of Somali piracy would be solved – either because they would wise up, or they would exit the genetic pool. Now, it is not my purpose to comment on the right or wrong of this particular use of the drones, but rather to try to make the point clear – these things work, and work very well. Therefore, if you are a government in possession of drones, it is only natural that you will begin to use them as replacements for older technologies. And if you're a government without drones, you will seek some of your own. I recollect a recent article about a large show/exposition in China dedicated to the aviation industries. As recently as three years ago, just two companies – both from the United States – were exhibiting drones for sale. At that same exposition last year, there were almost 30 drone-flogging companies in evidence, with only a handful from the United States. According to the reporter, the things were virtually flying off the shelf. (Pun not intended but almost unavoidable.) The info graphic here shows the adoption of drones by the US military alone. Ultimately, this will be viewed as a snapshot of the early days of a long uptrend.
(Click on image to enlarge) Deep-thinking dear readers could probably fill up a notepad with the various uses that we can expect to see drones adapted for going forward, some of which are already beginning to emerge. For example, drones are already being used to keep US borders secure from the Mexicans with their despicable aspirations of feeding their families by selling their labor on the cheap in the southern part of the United States. Likewise, we can expect the trend for local law enforcement to deploy drones in the hunt for illegal vegetation to escalate. Perhaps the drones will also be trained to track the specific thermal image and facial features of a target, and then set loose to hunt for the target in the right geographical region. No more sunbathing for Bin Ladens. Monitoring car speeds, listening for key words muttered by the population, supporting swat teams in hostage situations, watching coastal waters for drug traffickers, monitoring environment pollution standards, gunning down bank robbers fleeing in cars, intimidating rioters or dispersing noxious gases if they still resist, assassinating foreign leaders, tracking the migratory patterns of rare birds… the uses of drones are limited only by imagination. And it's not just in the air that drones will be deployed. As has been the case since the onset of specialized services, what the Air Force has, the Army, Navy, Marines and all other modules of what is generally lumped together as Homeland Security will also want (and vice versa). Therefore, we are now hearing about remote-controlled miniature attack subs and four-legged, weapon-firing Jaguar drones able to chase a perp to ground with extreme prejudice. Unfortunately, having formed a strongly positive attitude about drones, the government in all its various manifestations will, in time, overdo it. Whereas today we enjoy reasonably clear skies, tomorrow there will be some percentage of 30,000 drones overhead – and the day after that, mechanized Jaguars will be patrolling the streets of Detroit. Which Brings Us to the Topic of Fiat Currencies Like drone technology, the adoption of fiat money works remarkably well in achieving the desired result for the issuing governments. For instance, it allows a government to make popular choices – as opposed to unpopular ones – when it comes to mob-mollifying social programs. Furthermore, having a sheaf of blank checks connected to a bottomless bank account is very handy when it comes to creating enthusiasm in those voters seeking to better their lot in life without any additional expenditure of personal effort. And there's no denying the impressive advantages emanating from the global adoption of fiat money – a historical first: normally fiat money was found in single countries in dire straits, but never before in all the countries of the world at once. As most of you know, the roots of this outbreak of fiat money are found in the post-war Bretton Woods agreements but came of age when Nixon closed the window on gold-dollar convertibility. Once that window closed, instead of dumping the unbacked dollars wholesale – an act which would have reversed Nixon's decision virtually overnight – the world's governments sucked it up and, by so doing, let Nixon pull off the crime of the century. Simply, continuing to treat US dollars as "good as gold," governments around the world became unindicted co-conspirators in a global scam to defraud their respective populations: by maintaining the fiction that their dollar-denominated central bank reserves had tangible value, and by following suit with their own vigorous money printing. Meanwhile, as the de facto provider of the world's fiat reserve currency, the US government gained special advantages, allowing it to pay for its first-at-the-trough position with funny money for around forty years at this point.
The point I am making, albeit in my usual circuitous fashion, is that once modern governments rediscovered and fell in love with the mechanics of creating currency out of thin air, they did what governments always do in these situations – as they are beginning to do with the drones today – namely, they went overboard in a big way. It is like the fellow who, at an early age, falls in love with the satisfying taste sensations associated with consuming large meat concoctions, yet fails to understand that too much of a good thing is not a good thing… until the very moment when the stopping of his heart brings the truth of the matter into sharp focus. The world's fiat monetary system is now experiencing chest pains. While there's not much in this life that is certain, you can take it to the bank – and, if you have been a subscriber to one of our Casey Research services dedicated to gold and silver investments, you hopefully have – that all fiat monetary systems eventually fail. Let me say that again, in case the import of that declarative statement didn't make the desired impression. "All fiat monetary systems eventually fail!" Don't take my word for it. Instead, just look at the historical record and you'll find that, according to work done by monetary scholars such as Edwin Vieira, no fiat currrency has lasted much more than about 30 to 40 years. One study I have seen referenced of 775 failed fiat currencies shows an average lifespan of around 27 years. So, let me amend and extend my statement above as thus… "The current global fiat monetary system is failing." Economics and investments can be complicated – so much so that trying to figure out where things are headed through traditional academic methodologies is largely a waste of time. Therefore, at least in my view, it's helpful to step back and focus on the big picture as evidenced by undeniable truths. To that end, a few questions to ponder: Is it true that the world has been operating on a fiat currency system since Nixon closed the gold window in 1971? Yes. Since 1971, have the world's governments cranked up their money printing, as they invariably do when allowed to print at will? Sure have, see the chart. Is it possible to create large quantities of fiat currency out of thin air without eventually devaluing the existing money stocks? Nope.
Is this reflected in the steady decline of the purchasing power of global currencies since the world adopted a fiat system? You betcha. In fact, the US dollar has lost approximately 80% of its purchasing power since 1971. Will the debasement of fiat currencies continue until it can't? Odds are good. Do the central bankers believe that the latest experiment in fiat money is coming to an end? Seems like it, how else to explain that in recent years they switched from selling their gold to regular gold purchases? Will gold play a role in whatever comes after the collapse of the fiat currencies? See answer just above. Now, you will have to draw your own conclusions about such things, but because of the fundamental flaws in all fiat currency systems, I can only conclude that failure is inevitable and even imminent (within the next five years, if I were forced to guess). If you concur, then using this understanding as a basis for your portfolio strategy makes a lot of sense. For those of you who are still new, or remain hesitant, about investing in gold and silver – both of which have survived the test of time, helping people preserve wealth for 4,000 or more years now – do yourself a favor and reach into your pocket for a paid subscription to our BIG GOLD service. You'll get a comprehensive monthly overview of the precious metals markets, our best recommendations for mid-cap and large cap gold companies, "how to" information on buying and selling precious metals in the various forms now available (coins, bars, ETFs, foreign storage accounts, etc), plus all the past issues and special subscriber reports we've ever published – all in all, literally everything you need to know about the topic in easy-to-digest form. At $79 per year, it's inexpensive – and it has a full money-back guarantee, so you have zero commitment or risk for giving it a try, which can do by clicking here now. Sorry to have gone all commercial on you, but I am still pained at how many otherwise intelligent investors have failed to take the time necessary to understand the whys and wherefores of precious metals investing. If you are one of those people, stop procrastinating – otherwise you are going to feel like a real ninny five years down the road when the precious metals are trading for a multiple of where they are today. Not to go on overly long, I want to extend this general line of musing to a quick discussion about manufacturing here in the United States, and globally. While I have touched on this topic in past issues of this service, something came across my radar this week that really caught my eye and that seems relevant. Houston, We Have a Problem (and so does Tokyo, Beijing, etc) Earlier this week, I received a copy of a long article from The Business Times of Singapore profiling my friend John Mauldin who recently spent a couple of days there on business (John may actually travel more than Doug Casey at this point, which is saying something). In the article, the reporter quoted John as saying, and I too quote… "Panasonic has one factory in Japan that makes 10 per cent of all the 42-inch TVs in the world. That's a lot of TVs. It has just 15 people. It's completely automated." While there is some nuance to the actual number of workers involved – because it doesn't include support staff (shipping clerks, janitors, warehouse personnel, etc) – whether the number is 15 or 50, the point remains, and it's a doozy: manufacturing is evolving to the point where humans are increasingly viewed as an unnecessary liability, not an asset. Now think about this in terms of the macro-picture on unemployment. How, with the world's population growing in leaps and bounds, especially in the developing world, are all these people going to be able to find work when the jobs they would have historically done are increasingly being done by machines? It reminds me of a huge mining operation I visited in a quaint little town in Sweden. As we walked around the large buildings filled with gigantic mills, crushers and so forth, I think we saw a total of about three employees – casually checking computers and that sort of thing. Not so very long ago, dozens of employees would have been required to do the work. In the case of manufacturing, unlike drones and fiat money, the trend of adoption is largely driven by private enterprise (to the extent that such a thing still exists these days). But the higher the hurdles governments put in front of employment – employment taxes, forced benefits, restrictions on termination, workplace regulations, etc – the quicker businesses will adopt automation. This all represents a true paradigm shift. In fact, I think " paradigm shift" is not nearly a strong enough term – a "quantum shift" would be more apt. That's because, like the mysterious and still unknowable aspects of quantum physics, at this point no one can say how the masses are going to find the work necessary to put bread on the table. Especially in countries such as China, for which manufacturing is such an important economic component. Regardless, given that the attitude of manufacturing executives around the globe toward automation is now both strong and positive – for the simple reason that it works so well – the pace of human replacement will only pick up speed in the years ahead. It's how we humans, in government and out, operate: try it, like it, do more of it. From this particular point in history, it's truly impossible to see how things will play out – for the drones, the global monetary system or manufacturing employment – but I suspect "business as usual" won't be one of the outcomes. Keep your eyes open and your head down – we're living in that kind of world. And don't forget to keep an eye out for the opportunities, even while you remain attuned to the risks. While money can't buy you love, it can buy you options unavailable to those without money. (Editor's Note: Knowing that many of you dear readers are speculative minded, I asked our Casey Extraordinary Technology team about ways to invest in drones… here are a couple of replies: From Managing Editor, Alex Daley: "Most drones are manufactured by big guys, like Northrup Grumman who makes the Global Hawk. Hard to invest in a way that you'll see direct shareholder benefit from the drone division growth as it's a small part. Or by private companies, for example the number-one beneficiary will be General Atomics, which is privately held. They make the Predator, the Reaper (the one they are now deploying in the big expansion). We like ground robots better, as the market is smaller and the leaders are more pure play and publicly traded. Subscribers to Casey Extraordinary Technology recently made a great return on iRobot (IRBT), which gets about half of revenue from those ground robots now. We sold to lock in our profits, and since then it's been knocked back 35%, as we predicted. If a war in Iran happens, it could be a buy again at this price. From Editor Chris Wood: "Just an addition to what Alex was saying – on iRobot (IRBT), overall we booked a gain of 97% in just over 15 months. We sold just above $37 leading into the Q4 earnings call, and the stock has since been knocked back t
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| Gold's Wild Ride Leaves Explorers Ready to Grow: Tom MacNeill Posted: 17 Feb 2012 09:12 AM PST The Gold Report: What sort of year are you expecting for gold? Tom MacNeill: The recent pullback is perfectly healthy. The entire world is trying to competitively devalue currencies because it's the only way to get out from under the debt burden created by liquidity added to the capital markets over the last three years. We don't expect that the gold price is going to come down anytime soon. Either the international community has to keep adding liquidity, which is good for the price of gold, or it achieves economic development, which will create severe inflation, also good for the price of gold. The game isn't done yet. It will still take a few more years to see where macroeconomic policy takes us. I believe that we will have an upward-slanting chart through 2012 with some hiccups. When it gets ahead of itself, like all parabolic charts do every now and then, it will be painful for some in the short term. From a gold developer's perspective, what more could you ask for than $1,7...
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| Ty Andros-The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same–02-17-2012 Posted: 17 Feb 2012 08:48 AM PST Things are going down at an escalating rate according to Traderview.com's Ty Andros. He believes the US and the World economies are contracting at rising rates. This is why the debt can't be paid. Real economic growth, which allows for servicing and repayment of debt is non-existent. Of course, if you just rely upon the official government statistics, you won't realize this. But when inflation is properly calculated, deliberate distortions, like implied rent being treated as income, are factored out and the picture looks quite bleak. Ty has said it before and so have many of our guests, buying gold and silver is the only way for the average working person to secure his/her future. We've repeated this admonition to you so many times in the past, but it really can never be repeated enough. Look at the average American or citizen from virtually an country; they own little or no precious metals. If they were fortunate enough to get the family sterling silver passed down through the generations, this could well be their economic salvation in the coming hard times. Thinking outside the box, and finding new ways to realize value from what you own and the services you can provide are the keys to prosperity in any economic depression. Don't sell your metals until you absolutely have to–this is sound advice that will make all the difference. Please fill out the subscription box on KerryLutz.com to receive your free Financial Survival Toolkit.
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| The Latest Market Craze: Stock Trading Robots Reacting To Stories Written By... Robots Posted: 17 Feb 2012 08:32 AM PST It appears that while we were busy over the past month spreading the Greek pre- and post-bankruptcy balance sheet, and otherwise torturing Excel (something we urge other financial journalists to try once in a while - go ahead, it doesn't bite. In fact, it is almost as friendly as your favorite Powerpoint) our peer at such reputable financial publications as Forbes, and many others, were laying of carbon-based reporters and replacing them with... robots. As Mediabistro reports, "Forbes has joined a group of 30 publishers using Narrative Science software to write computer-generated stories. Here's more about the program, used in one corner of Forbes' website: ""Narrative Science has developed a technology solution that creates rich narrative content from data. Narratives are seamlessly created from structured data sources and can be fully customized to fit a customer's voice, style and tone. Stories are created in multiple formats, including long form stories, headlines, Tweets and industry reports with graphical visualizations."" In other words, with well over 70% of stock trading now done by robots, we have gotten to a point where robots write headlines and stories read, reacted to and traded by robots. Surely, what can possibly go wrong. And here we were this morning, wondering why the market is not only broken but plain dumb. Forbes is not alone:
And here is a sample of robot generated "literature"
Condolences to all financial journalists. If you thought your meager salary was crap, you are about to be replaced by a costless algorithm. The market you wrote about no longer needs you. But at least we will now have computers telling us all about how (seasonally adjusted) trends in financial journalism employment are improving. Probably what is even sadder is that nobody noticed as more and more robots have taken over for humans. In other news, this development naturally, this adds a layer of variability in market dynamics which make some completely unpredictable feedback loop imminent: because if a robot is reacting to a headline written by itself (and it is only a matter of time before Narrative Science is acquired by GETCO or some other HFT behemoth in the latest market manipulation scheme) the epic collapse possibilities are simply stupefying. 010000010110110001101100001000000101100101101111011101010111001000100000010011010110111101101110
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| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Palpable Fear of a Rise In Gold Posted: 17 Feb 2012 08:25 AM PST |
| Stocks Limp Higher As ES Volume Is Dismal Posted: 17 Feb 2012 08:22 AM PST It seems everyone has positioned for what is to come as today was blah. The volume on the NYSE was decent which is expected given the OPEX but trading in the e-mini S&P futures contract (ES) was dismal - lower even than the 2/6 and 2/13 low levels at what looks like the lowest non-holiday trading day since 2006. A very narrow range day (basically from last night's day session close) with a small pop this morning around the day session open saw the highs of the day but ES tried to inch back up there in the afternoon - as credit (IG, HY, and HYG) went sideways from after the European close. Financial and Discretionary stocks outperformed as XLF made new recent highs (while credit spreads remain near 5 week wides). VIX futures tracked stocks for the most part (with a slight push higher into the close) but implied correlation diverged (bearishly) higher. FX markets were relatively calm with in EURUSD with AUD and JPY (-2.5% on the week) weakness the main drivers of USD strength off European session lows - but USD ended the day practically unch (+0.5% on the week). The USD strength dragged Silver down over 1% on the week and Copper down 3.8% (biggest loser today) while Gold outperformed the USD and ended green on the week above $1720. Oil was the winner up almost 5% on the week - its biggest gain of the year - ending above $103.5 for WTI. Treasuries came back off their high yields of the day after Europe closed with a little more push into the close leaving 30Y unch for the week and the short-end +3-4bps.
Credit did nothing all afternoon (post Europe's close) while stocks limped quietly higher on ever decreasing average trade size...
...but implied correlation bucked the risk-on trade as despite a falling VIX (which limped along with stocks on this OPEX-ridden day), saw macro protection in more demand than micro. This has tended to be a tell for short-term reversals in trend (not the earth-shattering changes that credit and financials are signalling).
Treasuries reverted back to around unch with a slight flattening on the week.
FX (like credit) was very calm today except for AUD and JPY weakness.
WTI outperformed Brent today after they tracked one another relatively well all week. Charts: Bloomberg
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| Gold Price Manipulation Explained & Why Silver Will Soon Go Ballistic - Bill Murphy of GATA.org Posted: 17 Feb 2012 08:19 AM PST
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In my previous column, I discussed how the COMEX Commercial traders in the silver market increased their net short position by more than 71 million ounces from January 17 through February 7. Let me explain in more depth how the COMEX operates, just what it means for the Commercial traders to establish a net short position, and how they could protect themselves from a high risk of loss when holding a large short position.
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