saveyourassetsfirst3

Bob Chapman : Europe will be the Financial Catalyst for the Global Collapse
April 7th- The GOLD Bull is far from dead yet
Drew Mason: Why People Should Buy Gold
Manipulators 'Seriously Overplaying Their Hand' - John Embry
Swiss franc 'safe haven' trade is mistake, von Greyerz tells King World News
The Fog of Currency Wars: Jim Rickards
Why people should buy gold - Drew Mason and Alasdair Macleod
Silver Update: “Fundamentals”
Hardin City, Nevada and its lost silver mine
The Case for Position Limits: What is the Spot Price of Gold and Silver And How Is It Set?
6102 (1933) : Requiring Gold Coin, Gold Bullion and Gold Certificates to Be Delivered
The Goldbug Variations III
There Is More Where This Gift Has Come ...
Anyone buying this weekend?
Behind Silver Price Manipulation
Gold QE3 Scares
Jeff Clark: Gold In A Recession or Depression
QE 3 Will Surpass 1 and 2
Silver: Poor man's gold turning to fool's gold?
By the Numbers for the Week Ending April 6
SilverFuturist: Silver At A Low
Aaron Krowne: Hyperinflation Possible
The Dollar Vigilante talks with Phil Mackesy
Ty Andros: Wait Until Monday
Bigdad06 talks with Silver Shield
Ron Paul: How a Gold Standard Work
Mike Maloney: Gold and Silver Manipulaiton
Inflation: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
GATA’s Chris Powell – JPM’s Metals Positions Client Positions
Gold and Silver Disaggregated COT Report (DCOT) for April 6

Bob Chapman : Europe will be the Financial Catalyst for the Global Collapse

Posted: 07 Apr 2012 05:11 AM PDT

Bob Chapman - Free American Hour - April 6, 2012 Greece is going down and with...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my blog http://www.bobchapman.blogspot.com for the full Story ]]

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

April 7th- The GOLD Bull is far from dead yet

Posted: 07 Apr 2012 02:41 AM PDT

April 7th- Weekend Bull views on GOLD

GOLD- has been consolidating since late August 2011 highs of 1923 spot price.

Prior to this, we saw a 34 month fibonacci time period rally from 680-1900′s over a 5 wave pattern. As we approached those highs I warned my members and the public of a parabolic blow off top for wave 5 of primary wave 3.

Now, we are not quite but almost at 8 fibonacci months of corrective period and GOLD has taken a back seat to stocks and other investment options. The press is decidedly neutral to bearish on GOLD at this time.

This would be typical of a Primary wave 4 correction where sentiment gets negative but not in a hostile way.

If we look at the pattern of GOLD since the 2011 highs we can potentially see a 5 wave triangle forming. This current dip to the low 1600′s would be wave 3 of that triangle, and a wave 4 bounce up would follow next… followed by a wave 5 dip for the final pullback.

If this pattern is indeed correct, then this current pullback we are in is your best opportunity to accumulate GOLD before a Primary wave 5 up confirms.

I realize I have mentioned 1523 as the LOW of wave 4, and that is because it is the low. However, wave 4 continues to consolidate marking time. Usually the lowest point in a 5 wave triangle is of course the first leg down from the highs of Wave 3. 1523 served that purpose and so far the wave 3 lows of this 5 wave pattern are around 1620 spot.

Bottom Line? We have been in a wave 4 primary correction since August 2011 in GOLD and the price low was already hit at 1523. What GOLD bulls want to see next is a power move up toward 1700 or a bit higher near term, followed by a wave 5 pullback… and then a big breakout to the upside.

I remain long term bullish on GOLD unless this pattern disintegrates, which I do not expect. This is why we are looking for GOLD stocks to bottom soon in the GDX ETF 43-47 ranges.

Drew Mason: Why People Should Buy Gold

Posted: 07 Apr 2012 01:49 AM PDT

In this video podcast Drew Mason principal at St. Joseph Partners and contributor to Forbes, and Alasdair Macleod of the GoldMoney Foundation discuss the role of physical gold and silver in a person's and corporate's portfolio and what factors are driving the gold market higher.

from GoldMoneyNews:

Mason talks about the lack of understanding by the American public when it comes to the question as to why one should own gold and silver in a portfolio. In times of inflation the precious metals are always strong relative performers. He points out that the US is in a quite similar situation as it was in the 1970s in which one should expect an outperformance of the metals compared to stocks and bonds. Pointing to the very low percentage of gold ownership, the bearish sentiment and a general lack of interest from institutions, they argue that most of gold's run might still lie ahead.

They talk about the factors that are driving the bull market in precious metals. Besides the on-going currency debasement in the west both men see China playing a significant role in the future. Not only are the Chinese encouraging their citizens to buy gold bullion, but they are also retaining mine production for their own purposes. Therefore they are affecting both the demand and supply side of the gold market.

Despite current conventional wisdom which sees bonds and cash as the ultimate safety, physical precious metals remain the time proven protectors of liquidity and purchasing power while paper money always fails over time. Since the precious metals markets are very thin it can get hard to source actual physical metal in periods of crisis, which leads to expanding premiums. Therefore one should take advantage of low premiums in times of relative stability and optimistic market sentiment.

This podcast was recorded on April 4 2012.

~TVR

Manipulators 'Seriously Overplaying Their Hand' - John Embry

Posted: 07 Apr 2012 01:27 AM PDT

¤ Yesterday in Gold and Silver

With the gold and silver markets closed in London and New York, there was no activity worthy of the name. There were some squiggles on the gold chart during the Far East trading day...but that was it.

Kitco's silver chart was a straight line.

Strangely enough, the dollar index showed activity all day, with the 30 basis point drop at 8:20 a.m. in New York being the most prominent feature on the chart. If this activity is to be believed, the index finished down about 16 basis points.

With no markets, there was no HUI or Silver Sentiment Index.

There was no Daily Delivery Report...nothing from either GLD, SLV...or the U.S Mint...and nothing from the Comex-approved depositories.

But, as Ted Butler pointed out to me on Thursday, the CFTC did post the Commitment of Traders Report and the Bank Participation Report...and their worth spending some time on.

Both of these reports are derived from the same data set...and are for positions held at the close of Comex trading at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time...which was thirty minutes before JPMorgan et al bombed the precious metals market, so none of that trading activity is in these reports.

In silver, there was an increase in the Commercial net short position during the reporting week, as the bullion banks and other Commercial traders increased their short position by 1,658 contracts, or 8.3 million ounces. The Commercial net short position now sits at 156.68 million ounces.

The '1 through 4' Commercial traders are short 174.65 million ounces...and once you remove the 25,257 market-neutral spread trades from the Non-commercial category, these four traders are short 39.1% of the entire Comex silver futures market. The lion's share of that amount is held by JPMorgan. The '5 through 8' Commercial traders are short an additional 44.83 million ounces of silver. Of the 45 short-side traders in the Commercial category, the 'big 8' traders combined are short 48.9% of the entire Comex silver market. That's concentration...and this is what the CFTC and the CME Group refuse to deal with.

The Commercial net short position in gold declined by 761,000 ounces...and now sits at 17.75 million ounces. The '1 through 4' Commercial traders [read bullion banks] are short 11.7 million ounces of gold...and the '5 through 8' commercial traders are short an additional 5.5 million ounces.

Of the 45 short-side traders in the Commercial category, the 'big 8' Commercial traders are short 44.4% of the entire Comex futures market in gold...once the 20,401 market-neutral spread trades are subtracted from the Non-Commercial category.

Of course, thirty minutes after the 1:30 p.m. cut-off for this COT report, everything began to change. Once 'da boyz' were through bombing the precious metal market 24-hours later, it was a given that the internal structure of both the silver and gold markets had become far stronger...and this already bullish COT report is vastly more so at this point. But we won't know how much of an improvement there was until next Friday's COT report.

In silver, the April Bank Participation Report showed the 4 U.S. banks were net short 19,896 Comex silver contracts...which is 21.8% of the entire Comex futures market in silver. I would guess that close to 90% of that position is held by only one U.S. bank...and that would be JPMorgan. The March BPR showed that these same four U.S. banks were net short 23,665 Comex silver contracts, so it's declined quite a bit over the month. This should be no surprise since the drive-by shooting that began on February 29th.

There are 14 non-U.S. banks that hold positions in the Comex futures market in silver. In the April report these banks were net short 2,275 Comex contracts...which is a decline of 300 contracts since the March report. That works out to about 163 contracts for each bank...and it's my bet that the vast majority of this net short position is only held by two or three of the 14 reporting banks. But regardless of that, their positions are immaterial in the grand scheme of things.

In gold, the same 4 U.S. banks are now net short 69,473 Comex contracts...down from 92,052 Comex contracts in March. These 4 U.S banks are net short 17.9% of the Comex futures market in gold.

The 19 non-U.S. banks are net short 37,802 Comex gold contracts...a smallish increase from March's BPR report where they held 36,257 contracts net short. This is less than 2,000 Comex gold contracts held short by each bank but, just like silver, I'd guess that three or four banks of the 19 that report holding Comex contracts, hold the lion's share of this non-U.S. bank short position in gold as well.

As you can tell from these numbers for both silver and gold, the biggest changes from the March to April Bank Participation Reports were in the size of the positions held by the 4 U.S. banks. This engineered price decline that began on February 29th was "Made in the U.S.A." The changes in the non-U.S. banks in both metals was immaterial, as it almost always is.

And, just like silver, the Bank Participation Report, if it included the price decline of Tuesday and Wednesday, would be a vastly different animal from what it showed as of the Tuesday 1:30 p.m. cut-off. That applies to all the precious metals...and copper as well.

Here's Nick Laird's Days of World Production to Cover Short Positions that the four and eight largest traders hold short for each Comex-traded commodity. This is a visual representation of the data in the above COT report. Note that the four precious metals have the largest total short positions...and that the 4 largest traders/bullion banks hold the bulk of them.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Before I move on to today's list of stories, I'd like to draw your attention to a new 80-page book that reader Randall Reinwasser has published. It's headlined "The Ultimate Guide to Storing Gold and Silver Overseas: An Inside Look at 10 Offshore Gold & Silver Storage Facilities". If this is a topic that you would find of interest, the link to the book at the amazon.com website is here.

I've been saving quite a few stories for today's column...and I don't have that many in total, so I hope you have the time to read them all.

So...where do we go from here? A good question for which I have no answer.

The Who, How, and Why Behind Silver Price Manipulation. How Bernanke May Become von Havenstein: Martin Hutchinson. The Fog of Currency Wars: Jim Rickards

¤ Critical Reads

Strip Searches: The Supreme Court's Disturbing Decision

It might seem that in the United States, being pulled over for driving without a seat belt should not end with the government ordering you to take off your clothes and "lift your genitals." But there is no guarantee that this is the case -- not since the Supreme Court ruled this week that the Constitution does not prohibit the government from strip searching people charged with even minor offenses. The court's 5-4 ruling turns a deeply humiliating procedure -- one most Americans would very much like to avoid -- into a routine law enforcement tactic.

The U.S. is well down the road towards a police state...and this is just another brick in the wall. I thank reader Jerome Cherry for bringing this story to my attention...and now to yours. It was posted over at the TIME magazine website...but was picked up by news.yahoo.com...and the link to the piece is here.

View full GSD edition

Wall Street Math: Doug French

There's plenty of blame for the financial crisis being spread around. Those on the left say Wall Street wasn't regulated enough, while those on the right claim government mandates required lenders to make bad loans. The argument is made that the Federal Reserve was too loose, while the other side says Bernanke wasn't loose enough. Some blame greed. Others blame Wall Street's investment products. And then there's mathematics.

Wall Street has become a numbers game played at high speed by powerful computers trading complex derivatives utilizing even more complex mathematical modeling.

This very well-written article showed up on the mises.org website yesterday...and I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for sending it along. The link is here.

View full GSD edition

Blythe Masters: The woman who built financial 'weapon of mass destruction'

If Warren Buffett is to be believed in his verdict that derivatives are "financial weapons of mass destruction" then Blythe Masters is one of the destroyers of worlds.

British-born Masters is one of the most powerful women on Wall Street and is widely recognised as one of an elite group dubbed the "JP Morgan mafia" that fostered the creation of the complex credit derivatives at the heart of the current crisis ripping through Wall Street. Many of the highly qualified mathematicians and academics who worked on the credit derivatives market in the early days have gone on to run hedge funds and into high-powered jobs at other investment banks, but most of them started out at JP Morgan.

Masters sees things slightly differently. In a brief email exchange with the Guardian, she said: "I do believe CDSs [credit default swaps] have been miscast, much as poor workmen tend to blame their tools."

This article from The Guardian is datelined September 20, 2008...but not a thing has changed since it was written. It's a must read for sure...especially if you read the lead story by Doug French posted above. I thank reader Federico Schiavio for digging this one up...and the link is here.

View full GSD edition

How Bernanke May Become von Havenstein: Martin Hutchinson

At the Federal Open Market Committee meeting last week, policy remained unchanged, and the accompanying statement made the extraordinary claim that "measures of underlying inflation continue to be somewhat low, relative to levels that the Committee judges to be consistent, over the longer run, with its dual mandate." The following day, the March Producer Price Index showed prices rising at 1.6% per month, equivalent to a rate of 21% per annum. Echoes of the German Weimar Republic inflation are getting louder, as do the chances for Ben Bernanke to turn into Reichsbank chairman Rudolf von Havenstein.

Von Havenstein took great pride in his work, bragging repeatedly about the Reichsbank's success in gearing up physical note production to meet soaring market demand. Rather than practice or urge monetary restraint, he regarded the explosion of physical banknote production as a triumph of German efficiency. Such was the need for speed, in the fall of 1923 when prices were doubling every 3 days that he was forced to resort to airplanes to get the currency to the more distant economic centers. All he lacked was Ben Bernanke's helicopter!

If Bernanke persists on his present course, there is thus a significant chance that consumer prices will join producer and import prices on their rapid upward trend, and that by the end of the year we shall be suffering from 10% consumer price inflation. Bernanke and his colleagues will at that stage be in state of deep denial, focusing on "core" consumer price inflation (distorted) or personal consumption expenditure inflation (available only several months after the event.) If by the end of 2011 inflation is running at rate of 10%, even though the year on year figure will not have reached this level, while Bernanke's current monetary policies and the Obama administration fiscal policies have been little if at all modified, then the outcome is plainly clear: inflation won't stop at 10%, as it did in the 1970s.

This longish essay was posted over at the prudentbear.com website on March 21st. I lifted it from the King Report earlier this week. It's another must read...and the link is here.

View full GSD edition

The Fog of Currency Wars: Jim Rickards

In the first half, Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss Ben Bernanke's "happy dust" and Angela Merkel's "red lines" cause ire in BRICS trade partners. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Jim Rickards about a BRICS currency, gold and the fog of currency war.

I didn't listen to the first half...but was all eyes and ears for the Jim Rickards interview, which starts at the 14:50 mark...and runs for about 13 minutes. Regardless of your opinion of Rickards, I consider what he has to say well worth the listen. It's posted over at the Russian Today website...and I thank reader Orlando Almodovar for sharing it with us. The link is here.

View full GSD edition

We want war, and we want it now: Pepe Escobar

No; this was not a Monty Python sketch.

To make sure he was milking the right cow, al-Faisal also said that the Gulf Counter-revolution Club (GCC), also known as Gulf Cooperation Council, wanted to get further into bed with the United States. Translation, if any was needed; the US-GCC tag team, as expressed by the weaponization of the Syrian "rebels", is meant to body slam Iran.

For both the House of Saud and Qatar (the other GCCs are just extras), what's goin' on in Syria is not about Syria; it's always been about Iran.

This especially applies to the Saudi pledge to flood the global oil market with a spare oil production capacity that any self-respecting oil analyst knows they don't have - or rather wouldn't use; after all, the House of Saud badly needs high oil prices to bribe its restive eastern province population into not even thinking about that Arab Spring nonsense.

For any serious student of Middle East politics...and the new "Great Game"...this is essential reading. Roy Stephens sent it to me on Thursday...and I thought it best to post it on the weekend. The story can be found over at the Asia Times website...and the link is here.

View full GSD edition

2,500 marines in Australia 'new battlefront for US'?

The first US marines have arrived in Australia, as America boosts its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. More than 2,000 personnel will be deployed there over the next few years and adds to America's military footprint in such countries as the Philippines and Singapore - all in China's backyard.

This is all about the continuing encirclement of China and Russia by the U.S. and NATO...the new "Great Game". This 4:45 Russia Today video is posted over at youtube.com...and I thank Australian reader John Ilmenstein for bringing it to my attention. It's certainly worth watching...and the link is here.

View full GSD edition

Swiss franc 'safe haven' trade is mistake, von Greyerz tells King World News

Posted: 07 Apr 2012 01:27 AM PDT

Swiss franc 'safe haven' trade is mistake, von Greyerz tells King World News

Fund manager Egon von Greyerz gold King World News yesterday that there's a misguided "safe haven" trade into the Swiss franc again as it strengthens against the euro, but Switzerland is doing no better than the rest of Europe and soon gold will be seen as the only "safe haven" currency.

I borrowed the headline and the introductory paragraph from a GATA release...and the link to the KWN blog is here.

The Fog of Currency Wars: Jim Rickards

Posted: 07 Apr 2012 01:27 AM PDT

The Fog of Currency Wars: Jim Rickards

Why people should buy gold - Drew Mason and Alasdair Macleod

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 11:30 PM PDT

In this podcast, Drew Mason, principal at St. Joseph Partners and contributor to Forbes, and Alasdair Macleod of the GoldMoney Foundation discuss the role of physical gold and silver in a ...

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Silver Update: “Fundamentals”

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 10:08 PM PDT

BJF on Ag fundamentals in the 4.6.12 Silver Update.

from BrotherJohnF:

Got Physical ?

~TVR

Hardin City, Nevada and its lost silver mine

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Ghost Towns

The Case for Position Limits: What is the Spot Price of Gold and Silver And How Is It Set?

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 04:45 PM PDT

Jesse's Cafe

6102 (1933) : Requiring Gold Coin, Gold Bullion and Gold Certificates to Be Delivered

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 04:30 PM PDT

Executive Orders

The Goldbug Variations III

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 04:00 PM PDT

Gold University

There Is More Where This Gift Has Come ...

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 04:00 PM PDT

Gold University

Anyone buying this weekend?

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 02:09 PM PDT

Thinking of picking up some krugs or maybe some Philharmonics. I don't own any of the latter.

Behind Silver Price Manipulation

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:48 PM PDT

from moneymorning.com:

No one knows the machinations of the day-to-day silver price better than Ted Butler.

Ted publishes bi-weekly commentary at www.butlerresearch.com, with a special focus on the silver market, which he's been closely following for over 30 years. Ted is an expert's expert.

So naturally, that's whom I turned to for an in-depth perspective on what's really going on with the silver price. As usual, Ted tells it like it is.

I think you'll be fascinated by Ted's tremendous insights…

Ted Butler on Silver Price Manipulation

Ted, you're widely recognized as the foremost expert on manipulation in the silver futures market. How do you define manipulation, and how are the main players benefiting from that?

Manipulation is another way of saying someone controls and dominates the market by means of an excessively large position. So, just by holding such a large concentrated position, the manipulation is largely explained. In real terms, whenever a single entity or a few entities come to dominate a market, all sorts of alarms should be sounded. This is at the heart of U.S. antitrust law. It is no different under commodity law.

Keep on reading @ moneymorning.com

Gold QE3 Scares

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:45 PM PDT

from news.goldseek.com:

Sellers hammered gold again this week on news from the Fed. The minutes from its latest FOMC meeting convinced traders the odds for a third round of quantitative easing are waning. This was the latest in a long line of QE3 scares that have become the bane of gold's existence. But they are merely a distraction from the Fed's ongoing massive monetary inflation behind the scenes, which is very bullish for gold.

Gold has suffered much from QE3 scares. This week's FOMC minutes drove it 3.4% lower in 2 trading days. On the last day of February, gold plummeted 5.1% after the Fed Chairman's testimony to Congress made QE3 look less likely. Gold hadn't seen such a huge down day since December 2008 during the epic stock panic! Surrounding an FOMC meeting in mid-December 2011, gold plunged 8.0% in 3 days.

This sad litany drones on, all the way back to before QE2 ended in June 2011. Most of the big gold selloffs in the past year have been driven by comments out of the Fed implying lower probabilities for any QE3 campaign. As vexing as this phenomenon has proven for long-side gold traders, the Fed isn't to blame. It has been clear all along that QE3 wasn't likely unless the US economy faltered dramatically.

Keep on reading @ news.goldseek.com

Jeff Clark: Gold In A Recession or Depression

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:42 PM PDT

from CaseyResearch.com:

Mayan prophecies aside, many of the senior Casey Research staff believe that economic, monetary, and fiscal pressures could come to a head this year. The massive buildup of global debt, continued reckless deficit spending, and the lack of sound political leadership to reverse either trend point to a potentially ugly tipping point. What happens to our investments if we enter another recession or – gulp – a depression?

Clearly, one should not assume that gold will perform poorly during a recession. Even in the crash of 2008, gold still ended the year with a 5% gain. And with the amount of currency dilution we've undergone since that time, it seems more likely gold will rise in any economic contraction than fall. Indeed, if the response of government to a recession is more money printing, precious metals will be a critical asset to have in your possession.

Even if the gold price ends up flat or down this year, the CPI won't. Gold's enduring purchasing power is why we hold the metal.

Keep on reading @ CaseyResearch.com

QE 3 Will Surpass 1 and 2

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:39 PM PDT

from jsmineset.com:

My Dear Friends,

QE to infinity is as sure as death and taxes. The recovery in the US economy is not going to reach any take off speed, but rather return for a second recessionary experience post June of 2012.

QE 3 will surpass 1 and 2.

Gold will trade next between $1700 and $2111 before moving higher. The Gold Cartel will abandon their shorts over the next three years, having met their match in the marketplace .

Regards,
Jim

Keep on reading @ jsmineset.com

Silver: Poor man's gold turning to fool's gold?

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:37 PM PDT

from reuters.com:

Silver bulls may be hoping that the metal's healthy first-quarter price rise is the first step back towards record highs. Not so fast.

Its advocates say silver, which occupies a middle ground between industrial metals like copper and investment vehicles like gold, can benefit both from the fledgling economic recovery that is lifting copper and from the investment that is driving gold.

But record-high mine supply and questions over demand have left a long shadow over silver's underlying fundamentals, while huge price volatility last year, when the metal crashed 35 percent in a matter of days on two occasions, has undermined its appeal to investors as a cheaper alternative to gold.

The broad investment environment is also bleaker than it was last year for friends of silver.

Keep on reading @ reuters.com

By the Numbers for the Week Ending April 6

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:35 PM PDT

This week's closing table.

If the image is too small click on it for a larger version.

Please note, the Cash Market close for gold and silver includes thin trade on Good Friday following the U.S. non-farm payroll report, which came in much lower than expectations with a headline number of 120,000 jobs added for March. Gold closed Thursday, March 5 at $1,630.95 - Silver closed Thursday at $31.67.

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

SilverFuturist: Silver At A Low

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:30 PM PDT

Silver Bullion least loved in a while, good news?! My 500th silver video!!!

from silverfuturist:

~TVR

Aaron Krowne: Hyperinflation Possible

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:29 PM PDT

Aaron Krowne is the founder of Ml Implode. He discusses the housing market, QE3, the potential of hyperinflation, and a possible gold standard.

Part One

Part Two

~TVR

The Dollar Vigilante talks with Phil Mackesy

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:18 PM PDT

The Dollar Vigilante talks with Phil Mackesy in episode nine of TDV podcast.
Topics Include:
- Calgary Energy & Resource Investment Conference
- Argentina
- The best places to live in the world
- Why not to live in the US or Canada
- Ben Bernanke

from TheDollarVigilante:

~TVR

Ty Andros: Wait Until Monday

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:16 PM PDT

The lastest jobs number was abysmal. GM's cars are rotting in the dealer lots, and there's just too much negative news to fully absorb.

From KerryLutz.com:
The debt in Spain falls mainly at the Fed, and there's no possibility of saving the system because it died a long time ago. There's no way to bring the Zombie Banks back to life. So start saving your silver and gold because there's going to be a major upswing shortly. Forget the short term swings, look back over the past 10 years and think where you'd be now, if only you invested in the metals.

Ty's perspective has been proven right over and over again.

Much more @ KerryLutz.com or @ 347.460.LUTZ

Bigdad06 talks with Silver Shield

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:11 PM PDT

I speak with Silver Shield a.k.a. Chris Duane about silver confiscation, Blythe Masters, and the fact that no one is going to save you.

em>from bigdad06:

~TVR

Ron Paul: How a Gold Standard Work

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 12:01 PM PDT

Question about gold! Great answer from Dr. Paul!

from rizzle662:

~TVR

Mike Maloney: Gold and Silver Manipulaiton

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 11:30 AM PDT

Hedge funds and investors have reportedly been puzzled by weird movements in credit markets. According to the Wall Street Journal, markets have been rattled by one trader with deep pockets being called the "London Whale" who it's believed works for JP Morgan.

from CapitalAccount:

It just goes to show how individuals and firms can move markets. Today, we'll talk about manipulation in the gold and silver markets with Mike Maloney, of GoldSilver.com. He believes that manipulation is going on (contrary to the words of Blythe Masters, who spoke with CNBC yesterday, affirming that JP Morgan is simply "hedging" it's silver positions with large open shorts), but that rather than being a bad thing for individual investors, simply presents an opportunity for buying more metal and cheaper prices. This is something that the state of South Carolina failed to grasp in a recent report it conducted, in which it found that the price of gold and silver is manipulated. Rather than concluding that this manipulation, rather than presenting an opportunity for investment, prohibits the state of South Carolina from investing in precious metals.

An US payrolls for March rose far less than expected which means people are talking about an extension of the Federal Reserve's stimulus measures — buzzing about more. We talk often about the malevolent effects of fractional reserve banking based on a pyramid of fiat liabilities and fiat currency, but what about the fractional reserve gold pyramid scheme? What about the gold ponzi scheme? We'll examine the evidence of, what CTFC commissioner Bart Chilton calls, "ponzimonium."

And how does the entire manipulation go down? Mike Maloney has presented us with a fantastic chart that shows how trading in Gold during market ours in the US differs greatly from that in after-market hours, and how well an investor would do had he or she bought gold at various times during the day over the course of the bull market.

~TVR

Inflation: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Before we get into this weekend's Daily Reckoning, consider this little snippet of news about the American Spring from the 5 Minute Forecast:

Andrew Wordes shed his mortal coil in a blaze of... well, it's hard to call it glory.

For the past seven years, he'd been fighting city fathers in Roswell, Ga., over his desire to keep chickens in his backyard. He hired lawyers. It got expensive. So expensive he couldn't keep up his mortgage payments.

Monday morning, shortly before police showed up to evict him, he called Atlanta's WSB-TV, where his saga had become a running storyline. A crew arrived.

"I appreciate everything you've done," he told reporter Mike Petchenik. Mr. Wordes then went inside... and blew his house to kingdom come. He'd doused the place with gasoline in advance; his body was so badly charred he wasn't officially ID'd till yesterday.

Having had chickens in our backyard, before an unknown member of the Queensland wildlife made them disappear, this little story struck close to home.

Self-immolation is running hot as a form of protest these days. The American patriot battled over his right to keep chickens and the Arab protester about his right to sell oranges. Makes you feel privileged to live in Australia, right?

Except, you might have noticed, that Andrew Wordes's story featured a mortgage he could no longer pay. And that's the crucial link to today's Daily Reckoning.

When Times Get Tough, the Tough Get Going

The famous Aussie battler is complaining about the cost of living. According to politicians and pollsters on the TV program Q and A, the cost of living is the number one election issue.

You'd think that would delight someone like us, who warns about the threat of inflation all the time. Finally, people are taking it seriously!

But the cost of living debate is actually incredibly cringe worthy and embarrassing. We'll tell you why in a moment. First, why should you care? Well, it's time to get your perceptions in order, or you won't handle the coming storm very well. When things get truly bad in Australia, it's your own sanity that is most important to protect, not just your wealth. Forewarned is only forearmed if you prepare yourself and your wealth.

So, let's take a look at what Australians are so worked up about and why it's measly compared to what's coming and what you should prepare for.

Our favourite complaint about how difficult it is to make ends meet is this one from the Age. It's all about the 'precariat' Australians are living in - where their lifestyle is precarious for financial reasons. In other words, they are having trouble finding jobs that suit their lifestyle. Kathy Carra was interviewed about her situation and she complained about having 40 jobs in the last 12 months. 40 jobs in 12 months! And Australians are struggling? Of course, the real reason Australians feel like they're struggling has to do with spending. Kathy bought a house. Another precariat resident bought a ticket to Europe. We'll get back to the spending later. What's amazing is that these people are struggling by the Australian definition. This is nowhere near struggling.

Here are some examples of true hardship that Australians would be justified to complain about, if they experienced them:

Youth unemployment above 50% (as it is in Spain).
Debt wakes, where younger family members say goodbye to Mum and Dad before emigrating to avoid their debt burden. They cannot return without fearing debtors prison. (This is happening in Ireland right now.)
Elderly turning to crime in record numbers because of the cost of living (as they are in Japan).
The federal government using debt collectors to chase up education debts. (In America, one victim of the government's chase has 'cut meat from his diet and stopped buying gas to drive his 82-year-old mother to doctor's visits for her Parkinson's Disease.'
A mainstream and respected health news website reporting that the government raided public utility funds to pay of its debtors, leaving hospitals with bouncing cheques. (Greece.)

These are problems that Australians, as a nation, only fear in their nightmares.

But they are also whinging about the price of petrol. Zero Hedge reports that the Europeans are paying around $10 per gallon, which is around $2.50 per litre in Aussie dollars. Petrol prices are low in Australia. And they're not rising anywhere near as fast as in recession-struck Europe: 'Italy has been hit the hardest with Fiat Uno drivers paying 18% more this year than last for a litre of petrol'.

There is one problem that Australians can justifiably complain about. But nobody mentioned it during the Q and A TV debate that inspired today's Daily Reckoning. Apparently, inflation doesn't feature in the cost of living rising. Don't tell us you believe the government's 3.1% rate. Inflation can take place in all sorts of places outside the government's definition. Like house prices and equity prices.

But even if we do take the government's 3% rate of inflation, a dollar today will be worth about 23 cents in 50 years. Put differently, after 50 years of 3% inflation it would take you $4.38 to buy what a dollar does today. The chart below shows what just 1% more or less inflation than the 3% can do over time. With a 4% inflation rate, the green line, it would take 50 years for $10.50 to buy what $1 does today.

The problem with this is that it increases exponentially. Inflation feels slow initially, but steadily gathers steam, even if it stays at a constant rate. That's what people find so confusing. Your cost of living may only rise at 3%, but 3% a long time ago amounted to far less in nominal terms than it does today. 3% inflation on a cup of coffee that costs $1 appears less painful than 3% inflation on a cup of coffee that costs $5. One is an increase of 3 cents, the other of 15 cents.

Taken to its logical conclusion, steady low inflation is horrifying. Here is a 150-year chart of the same data above. 2%, 3% and 4% inflation are shown. After 150 years at 3% inflation, it takes $84.25 to buy what $1 does today. At 4%, it takes almost $360.

But get this. Going by the RBA's actual performance, which is an inflation rate of 5.8% on average over the last 40 years, it takes more than $8000 dollars to buy what $1 would 150 years before.

All this inflation creates a constant rat race environment. You have to keep running to keep up.

But nobody seems worried about inflation. On Q and A, they're all talking about how Julia Gillard's taxes have increased their living costs. And that's before they've been introduced!

The biggest factor in Australian's outrage over their storm in a tea cup is the perception of stability. It has been perfectly viable to live paycheque to paycheque for Australians because the world they live in is so stable. A catastrophe consists of having to end your Foxtel subscription because you didn't get the promotion you were expecting. The fact that people can run their household budget so narrowly is quite an achievement. But what happens if the economy takes an actual hit? What if those 40 jobs a year aren't waiting for you?

Remember, the cost of living can only be a blight on society if it is caused by the central bank's inflation, or if it reflects people's out of control spending. Higher prices is the economy telling you to slow down. Actually, it's not just telling you, it's forcing you to slow down. Unless of course, you go into debt.

And that's the one thing Australians can justifiably grumble about, even if they got themselves into it.

Until next week,

Nickolai Hubble.
The Daily Reckoning Weekend Edition

About the author: having recently escaped from academia, Nick decided to drop his tights (the required attire of a trapeze artist) and joined Port Phillip Publishing. Instead of telling everyone about the Daily Reckoning, he now spends his time writing for the weekend edition.

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