Gold World News Flash |
- GoldSeek.com Radio Gold Nuggets: Richard Daughty, Peter Eliades & Chris Waltzek
- Glorious November Gifts from the Trading Gods
- The Worst Economic Numbers In More Than A Year
- Major Buying Opportunity
- Good News: EU Budget Talks Collapse, France Rejects Compromise; Still Time to Snatch Defeat From Jaws of Victory
- Shadow Banks Crucial to Destructive Dominant Financials
- Don Coxe - Nassim Taleb, Black Swans & Financial Collapse
- Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Fall Slightly
- Commodity Technical Analysis: Gold Supported at 50% Retracement
- Steve Baker MP on sound money
- Meet The New China - Same As The Old China?
- Grandich Client WITS Gold
- Don't Let Machines Control Your Emotions
- Guest Post: The Nearly-Free University
- Fiscal Cliff, Asian Currency Wars, Buoys the Gold market
- Gold Lower but Holding Above Support
- Earnings Dubious History in Predicting Stock Market Trends 1929-2012 (Part 1 of 2)
- The Gold Price Closed at $1,713.30 and will Remain in the Uptrend Line Provided it Closes Above $1,705
- DTCC Provides Update On Status Of Flooded Securities Vault
- Jaw mightier than printing press for yen bears
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts
- Ron Paul: Farewell to Congress
- Gold: History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but It Does Rhyme
- Listen When A 100 Year Old Man Speaks
- Bill Cobb–Turning Your Ideas Into Gold 15.Nov.12
- Systemic Collapse: The Corzine Factor
- Eileen Workman–Sacred Economics Means More For Everyone 15.Nov.12
- Kris Miller–Pretirement It’s The Way To Go 15.Nov.12
- U.S. Fiscal Cliff, Asian Currency Wars, Buoys the Gold market
- Greyerz - There Is A Tide In The Affairs Of Men...
| GoldSeek.com Radio Gold Nuggets: Richard Daughty, Peter Eliades & Chris Waltzek Posted: 16 Nov 2012 08:29 AM PST GoldSeek.com Radio Gold Nuggets: Richard Daughty, Peter Eliades & Chris Waltzek
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| Glorious November Gifts from the Trading Gods Posted: 16 Nov 2012 12:04 AM PST HOUSTON -- "Everyone is all scared again," said the caller on Thursday (November 15) as the AMEX Gold Bugs Index (HUI) was beet red for fifth straight day. The HUI had broken down below the 200-day moving average Wednesday and, as expected, it followed through much lower along with the U.S. Big Markets (our name for the DOW and the S&P 500).
(The S&P 500, breaking down in an ominous fashion as our political "leaders" play word games and fiscal brinksmanship instead of doing the job the American people elected them to do.) We can't tell if the Obama team is being thuggish instead of statesmanlike out of (poor) habit, or to divert the fawning mind-numbed press corps' attention away from the really, really screwed up Benghazi-blame-no-help-for-our-ambassador-and-four-State-Dept.-murders-on-a-stupid-video-fiasco-with-CIA-head-general-in-an-embarrassing-sex-scandal-Charlie-Foxtrot … but if we had to venture a guess, we go with both – habit and a diversion. We mean, if you are BHO where would you want the spotlight?
The markets didn't like it much when the Prez said that the American people "knew what they were voting for when they voted for me." Translation: "I won, the Repubs lost, bend over!" *** "Maybe I ought to just go to cash," the caller said in the form of a question, for a second time, because frankly we hadn't exactly heard the first one. Our attention was on the Level II screen and today (Thursday), we were focused on the Vulture Bargain Hunt.
Just then the same sellers (trading through PI Financial) that have been unloading a large, stale position (for them) in Channel Resources (CHU.V) hit all but one of a stack of bids at $0.065, (six and a half Canadian cents) meaning we might actually get a shot for our bid at $0.06 to fill. Okay, now we're talking... So we started filling in a backup ticket – ready to fire if the PI Seller Guys panicked enough to hit our 6-Canuck cent bid (and all the others there). Slide that ticket over to the screen with the Kaminak bids. … At the ready. And, wouldn't you know it about then both ATAC Resources (ATC.V) and Comstock Metals (CSL.V) both saw panicky trades into the bid, driving them sharply lower, low enough for us to get ready to jump on them too. More tickets to fill and put on the "ready rack." The screen with the unfired buy tickets was getting crowded! (We don't like to show our hand with limit orders on days like this one.) The panicky Level II screen has a heat map filled with the issues we are tracking - all of the Canadian ones. We've never seen it so red. Well, not since May, or was it June, anyway. Oh yes, there is someone on the phone… There was too much happening on the three screens going then – stuff we have been waiting for patiently for too long to bother with a phone distraction, so it was time to politely turn this non-paying, non-subscriber loose. *** Before we knew it the trading day was over and while we didn't get all that many of our just-in-case-they-get-really-really-clocked-in-a-panic-spike-lower-than-low-stink-bids filled today, it was a good exercise in Panic-Style Vulture Bargain Shopping. We'll call it a warm up. We did end up adding a little Kaminak (KAM.V), a taste of Comstock Metals (CSL.V), a starter sized bid fill for GoldQuest (GQC.V) and we put in lower-than-low bids for at least a half dozen others, all of which we would be delighted to see filled before this politically inspired cluster... uh, we mean Charlie Foxtrot (a military term meaning really bad) political circular firing squad panic event has run its course.
The metals could sell off to answer the miners any time, of course. They just haven't yet as we write late on Thursday evening as shown in the hourly charts above. So with the U.S. Big Markets Fiscal Cliff Diving, breaking down, taking the Miners, big and small with them; with people doing the panic polka, worried sick and chunking their once promising, but now beet red Little Guy issues overboard like so much chum, we finally get a chance to start building positions in some of the issuers we have been following, watching, tracking and hoping for just this kind of panic-spike buying op for a very, very long time.
Really? Yes, really.
And you should see the tracking charts for the other panic spike "possibles." Things won't always be so good on the buying side of town, you know.
Channel Resources is just one of the issues we are targeting. Vultures (Got Gold Report Subscribers) will note other additions and set ups on the various Vulture Bargain (VB) and Vulture Bargain Candidates of Interest (VBCI) charts on the subscriber welcome page. With all the action today, and likely again tomorrow and maybe next week, it's as though Christmas has come early for Vulture Speculators. Just before Thanksgiving. For all we know, we may have actually gotten fills on a few other issues at or near the end of the day, but we shot out of the HQ without checking and on down to the lake to celebrate the good gaming action with a late afternoon attempt to catch supper. When the gods are smiling on you, it's apparently on more than one thing at a time. Not only was the Vulture Bargain Shopping pretty good today (actually yesterday now), the fishing was good too! Black bass for supper... And pardon us if we seem a little distracted on the phone while the bargain shopping and bass fishing is good... Better yet, use text or email... Gene Arensberg for Got Gold Report -
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| The Worst Economic Numbers In More Than A Year Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:30 PM PST from The Economic Collapse Blog:
Read More @ TheEconomicCollpaseBlog.com
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| Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:27 PM PST Gold Scents
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| Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:35 PM PST by Mike Shedlock, Global Economic Analysis:
Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French prime minister, objected to deep cuts to agriculture spending included in the proposal, but also expressed displeasure with reductions in the development money, known as cohesion funds, that benefit poorer regions. The biggest object of displeasure appeared to be Mr Van Rompuy's move to trim €25bn from the common agricultural policy – traditionally France's biggest priority – compared with a proposal from the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. Those cuts include a €12bn reduction in direct subsidies to farmers. Read More @ GlobalEconomicAnalysis.blogspot.com
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| Shadow Banks Crucial to Destructive Dominant Financials Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:15 PM PST from Silver Vigilante:
Until the onset of the banking crisis, shadow banks grew at a pace that mirrored ordinary banks, but such shadow banks as hedge funds, special-purpose entities and money market funds benefited from the low interest rates offered by central banks. The financial system evolved so that shadow banks and regular banks eventually merged in transparent secrecy. Above board banks have begun increasing using shadow banks to handle all risky deals, which allows them to use, essentially, two sets of books. That is how, according to Spiegel, "shadow banks and regular banks collaborated to build a castle in the air made up of loans."
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| Don Coxe - Nassim Taleb, Black Swans & Financial Collapse Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:01 PM PST  Today 40-year veteran Don Coxe told King World News, "Historians 1,000 years from now will write about this time period." Coxe, who is Global Strategy Advisor to BMO ($538 billion in assets), spoke with King World News about a fascinating encounter with Nassim Taleb, and the incredible danger investors face today.Here is what Coxe had to say: "I'd like to tell you a story about the summer of 2007. I was speaking at a conference for the BMO Financial Group out in California, and the other speaker was Nassim Taleb. His book had only come out a few months before (titled), 'The Black Swan,' which of course I read."
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Fall Slightly Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:00 PM PST Gold edged up to $1726.71 in Asia before it fell back to as low as $1705.57 in midmorning New York trade, but it then bounced back higher midday and ended with a loss of just 0.64%. Silver slipped to as low as $32.166 and ended with a loss of 0.15%.
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| Commodity Technical Analysis: Gold Supported at 50% Retracement Posted: 15 Nov 2012 09:52 PM PST courtesy of DailyFX.com November 15, 2012 05:17 PM Daily Bars Chart Prepared by Jamie Saettele, CMT Commodity Analysis: Gold bounced from the 50% retracement of the rally from 1672.50 Thursday but what bothers me about being bullish is the corrective nature of the rally from the low (3 waves). However, the low on day 3 of the month and emotional trade at the low (11/2 was a JS Thrust day) suggests that price is likely to stay above 1672.50 for the remainder of November. Perhaps a complex correction is underway (series of 3 wave movements) throughout November. Commodity Trading Strategy: I’m on the lookout for a wave 2 or B top below the October high at higher levels. Near term players may consider longs into 1700 (Fibonacci support at 1698). LEVELS: 1685 1698 1705 1718 1731 1749...
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| Posted: 15 Nov 2012 08:20 PM PST from Gold Money News: GoldMoney's Andy Duncan speaks to Steve Baker MP, a Conservative backbencher who represents the constituency of Wycombe in the United Kingdom's House of Commons. A supporter of the Austrian School of economics, Mr Baker has launched several private member's bills in parliament — with the support of his colleague Douglas Carswell MP — aimed at advancing dialogue on the subject of sound money. In this podcast Steve Baker discusses these bills, along with his views on quantitative easing, the post-Bretton Woods monetary order, and the chances of a future monetary reset. Mr Baker also touches upon the future of the euro, Britain's membership of the European Union, and his co-founding of The Cobden Centre. He also discusses a possible future political initiative to launch a British gold pound project.
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| Meet The New China - Same As The Old China? Posted: 15 Nov 2012 06:46 PM PST Just before the US election, we laid out the details and implications of the 'other' major 'election' occurring in the world - that of China's Supreme Leader of Awesomeness. Last night the details were announced of the makeup of the new Politburo Standing Committee. As Bloomberg notes, the panel - the most powerful decision-making body in China - was reduced from nine to seven members and will be led (unsurprisingly) by Xi Jinping. Perhaps, in a lesson for our own politicians, the 'new' committee is 'bipartisan' with five members from Xi Jinping's own Jiang Zemin faction and two members from Hu Jintao's faction (more a balance of reformers and reactionaries). But, in a similar vein to the US, as The Diplomat's David Cohen notes,"If Xi is to achieve even the economic policy goals that already appear to enjoy consensus support in Beijing, he will need to find ways of overcoming some of the largest entrenched interest groups in contemporary China. To do so, he may have to set about creating new entrenched interest groups." Adjusted from Goldman Sachs: The New Politburo...
Via The Diplomat's David Cohen: Xi Jinping's Economic Challenge,
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| Posted: 15 Nov 2012 06:30 PM PST The following is automatically syndicated from Grandich's blog. You can view the original post here. Stay up to date on his model portfolio! November 15, 2012 04:36 PM Read [url]http://www.grandich.com/[/url] grandich.com...
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| Don't Let Machines Control Your Emotions Posted: 15 Nov 2012 06:05 PM PST Dear CIGAs, Gold will trade at $3500 and beyond. The US dollar will test USDX .7200 before heading lower. Whatever is required, be it time or money, the Euro nations will get. The Fed will, via swaps, backstop the euro. QE will go to infinity both here and there. The Chinese have publicly said Continue reading Don't Let Machines Control Your Emotions
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| Guest Post: The Nearly-Free University Posted: 15 Nov 2012 05:46 PM PST Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog, The Nearly-Free University model would revolutionize higher education, enabling a universally accessible college education at a very low cost. The key to understanding higher education in the U.S. is to grasp that it is at heart just another debt-dependent neofeudal cartel. In other words, it is just like sickcare and the national defense complex. Each cartel shares these features: 1. Compelling PR "cover" for cartel extraction of wealth. "Healthcare" (i.e. sickcare that profits from illness, not health) is a "right." The defense industry is the bulwark of democracy, and "educating our children" is the key to future prosperity. Each portrays itself as sacrosanct. These "Mom and apple pie" cover stories enable monopolistic exploitation: $300 million a piece fighter aircraft (replacing $54 million aircraft), $150,000 college diplomas, and "healthcare" spending that is two times more per capita than competing advanced democracies. 2. Government (monopoly) protection and funding. The largest monopoly is of course the Central State, which holds a monopoly on taxation, coercion and distribution of swag. All these cartels have gained control of Federal (monopoly) funding. 3. Illusory competition. Each cartel is protected by wide, deep regulatory moats and complexity fortresses that protect the Status Quo income streams from any real competition or innovation. Within each cartel, meaningless variations in price are offered as "proof of competition," but everyone knows the price of each cartel's "product" ratchets higher, regardless of conditions in the real economy. That's the way cartels and monopolies work. The most implacable enemy of innovation is monopoly. If you're protected from real competition, then you have no incentive or need to innovate. That is the essence of cartel-capitalism and the neofeudal model. In the case of the higher education cartel, the Federal funding is both cash grants and loans issued to newly minted debt-serfs. Student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy like other debt; these loans have ballooned to about $1 trillion. This is the essence of the neofeudal model: a protected Elite parasitically extracts wealth from the debt-serfs below. Should the debt-serfs resist, the State steps in to coerce compliance. The problem with protected cartels (neofeudal fiefdoms) is that they are unsustainable. Freed of any competitive pressure or need to innovate, cartels inevitably follow an S-Curve of diminishing returns: it takes more and more money just to sustain the bloated Status Quo, even as the value created by the cartel declines.
For a taste of diminishing returns in the higher education cartel, please read Bureaucrats Paid $250,000 Feed Outcry Over College Costs (via Maoxian). Yes, top research universities have to manage grants and research projects; but only a relative handful of universities need enormous administrative staffing, and even fewer can justify paying managers $250K+ each. All Federally protected cartels are living off debt. One in every three Federal dollars is borrowed, and this doesn't even count the $1 trillion in student debt which is nominally private-sector debt. Debt that skyrockets higher while the real economy that supports it stagnates is unsustainable. As I note in my new book Why Things Are Falling Apart and What We Can Do About It, complex systems based on diminishing returns collapse under their own weight and are replaced by systems that are simpler, faster and affordable. This can be a conscious process or it can be a default process, where the system becomes increasingly fragile and then suddenly undergoes a phase-shift that is widely viewed as "impossible," i.e. the system freezes up or collapses. The Internet has already opened up an alternative to the neofeudal higher-education cartel. I call it The Nearly-Free University, a development I anticipate will take shape within the next decade. Once the model has been proven, it will rapidly spread, as it is a very advantageous adaptation that is faster, better and cheaper than the present bloated cartel. The entire education industry on the U.S. is based on an inflexible, increasingly marginal-return "factory model," something I have written about since 2005. Is Our Education System Based on a Factory Metaphor? (November 15, 2005) We are "training" millions of people in an assembly-line based on the assumption that academia is a limitless growth industry, when in fact it has reached the zenith of diminishing-return complexity and cost. The Nearly-Free University may or may not have a physical plant. If it does, it will be a cheap re-use facility such as an abandoned office park or factory. It may not have a physical headquarters at all; "classes" may meet in cafes when the need arises. This is the new distributed model of global corporations, some of which have no headquarters at all. Physical plant is now unnecessary for pretty much everything but lab work. In the current high-cost model, the physical plant only available at certain times and in a specific locale. The Nearly-Free University would be available anywhere there is an Internet connection and other people willing to self-organize and collaborate. In many cases, if space is required, it could be shared. Vast campuses are no longer needed. The coursework will largely consist of free lectures and tutorials from non-profits like the Kahn Institute or classes already distributed for free online by institutions such as Stanford and M.I.T. In place of costly professors and overworked, underpaid non-tenured teachers, the instruction will be overseen by part-time mentors from the real world who act as guides, occasionally lecturing but more often encouraging peer-to-peer tutoring and collaborative projects that are not "study groups" but actual work projects that produce something of value in the real world. The mentor is a working professional who "works" at the Nearly-Free University on a flex-time basis. Their "job" is to suggest a practical foundation of basic courses in the student's chosen field; these courses are taken while the student is engaged in the core curriculum, which are the work projects. These mentors choose to devote time to Nearly-Free University because they enjoy it; their fee will be modest. Most will work part-time while they pursue their primary career. Students will move seamlessly from online coursework to projects undertaken in real-world enterprises and communities, learning by doing and from collaboration with others in self-organizing groups. Mentors would have access (as in the Kahn Institute's classroom software) to a visual display of the student's coursework and work-project progress. Student would be encouraged to earn money via the work projects undertaken. Instead of owing $120,000 after four years of passive study, students might complete their University experience with earnings in the bank. Very few people continue on to research or scholarship within academia, corporations or the national laboratories. A relative handful of large research universities would be enough to train those who needed PhDs for scholarship or high-level research. The Nearly Free University model would educate the 95% who do not need PhDs. Instead of an essentially opaque diploma—what exactly does a diploma communicate about the student's mastery, interests, coursework or accomplishments? —students will be issued a C.V./resume listing all their completed courses and their work projects. Prospective employers would be able to scan this C.V. and get a real sense of the person's coursework, mastery and work results in the real world. A decentralized non-profit network of organizations would arise to accredit the coursework shared by the Nearly-Free Universities. There would be no centralized “gatekeeper” that could demand a premium for its accrediting or testing services. Verification of coursework, work history and skillsets would be provided by multiple-sourced, voluntary transparent networks on the Web. Credentialing is another system that has reached the top of the S-Curve and is slipping into stagnation and decline. What you can accomplish in the real world will rapidly become more valuable than a credential such as a conventional college degree. The credentialing gatekeepers are protecting an "asset"--the college diploma--that is largely a phantom asset for the vast majority of students. The total cost of the Nearly-Free University might be $3,000 tuition and fees for 3-4 years compared to $60,000+ today. (This does not include room and board, of course.) The credential issued upon “graduation” (an arbitrary concept in an economy that rewards perpetual learning and improved skills) would be secondary to what the student has learned to create, accomplish, fix and innovate in the real world. This is how innovation works: costs don't decline by 5%, they decline by an order of magnitude. There would be no student loans. The low costs of the Nearly-Free University would be paid in cash or hours of labor that the University could “cash” for goods or services it needed to operate in a cash-free labor exchange. Like many of the concepts discussed in this blog, this model is considered "impossible" within the confines of the Status Quo even though it is the only truly sustainable model of universal education. The value of higher education for many is the network they establish during their university years. The Nearly-Free University model actually enables far more robust networks to self-assemble than the static, high-cost classroom model. "Lifelong learning" would not be a cliche in the Nearly-Free University, it would be an affordable, dynamic, exciting reality. The Nearly-Free University is just one "faster, better, cheaper" alternative I discuss in Why Things Are Falling Apart and What We Can Do About It, currently offered at 20% to 30% discounts this week only. New video on Triffin's Paradox and The Rule of Law, CHS with Gordon T. Long:
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| Fiscal Cliff, Asian Currency Wars, Buoys the Gold market Posted: 15 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST Texas Republican Ron Paul's maverick crusade to "audit the Fed", and to rein-in the "fourth branch" of the US-government, suffered a major blow in the wake of the November 6th elections that saw President Barack Obama prevailing over his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
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| Gold Lower but Holding Above Support Posted: 15 Nov 2012 04:40 PM PST [url]http://www.traderdannorcini.blogspot.com/[/url] [url]http://www.fortwealth.com/[/url] Considering what looks more like a non-stop avalanche of selling in the mining sector, the yellow metal is holding relatively well. It has bounced off the first level of support shown on the price chart that comes in very near to the $1700 level. Failure to remain above this level will allow the market to move lower towards the $1680 region where it can be expected to find some buying support. To get the least bit of excitement going, gold will have to clear $1740 and remain above that level before it rattles anyone other than the most short-term bears. Today, a story out of the financial press indicated that demand for Gold had fallen somewhat over the 3rd quarter. The World Gold Council indicated a drop of 11% over the same period last year. That seemed to spook some buyers. Throw in the fact that crude oil was lower, in spite of the simmering tensions in Israel (crude stocks are building ...
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| Earnings Dubious History in Predicting Stock Market Trends 1929-2012 (Part 1 of 2) Posted: 15 Nov 2012 04:30 PM PST Mark J. Lundeen [EMAIL="Mlundeen2@Comcast.net"]Mlundeen2@Comcast.net[/EMAIL] 09 Nov 2012 Market Update No better way to see what the Dow Jones has done since its credit crisis lows, than to compared it to gold and silver with a chart, so here it is. I indexed these plots to their credit-crisis lows, so the metals began their ascent in October – November 2008, while the Dow Jones bottomed on March 9, 2009. The Dow Jones takes bottom honors. But over the past four years, gold has only exceeded the Dow Jones' performance by 45% since. Current government " policy" has been to constrain price advances for gold (and silver) in a major bull market, while supporting the Dow Jones' valuation above the 10,000 level in a massive, extended bear market. If you ask me , had the US Government kept its meat-hooks off the credit crisis markets, the Dow Jones could have fallen 70%, or more, from its high of October 2007, sometime in 2009-10. Even with all the assistance Was...
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| Posted: 15 Nov 2012 04:13 PM PST Gold Price Close Today : 1713.30 Change : -16.20 or -0.94% Silver Price Close Today : 32.665 Change : -0.206 or -0.63% Gold Silver Ratio Today : 52.451 Change : -0.164 or -0.31% Silver Gold Ratio Today : 0.01907 Change : 0.000059 or 0.31% Platinum Price Close Today : 1570.30 Change : -18.30 or -1.15% Palladium Price Close Today : 630.40 Change : -10.35 or -1.62% S&P 500 : 1,353.26 Change : -22.30 or -1.62% Dow In GOLD$ : $151.32 Change : $ 0.96 or 0.64% Dow in GOLD oz : 7.320 Change : 0.047 or 0.64% Dow in SILVER oz : 383.95 Change : 1.21 or 0.32% Dow Industrial : 12,541.62 Change : -39.33 or -0.31% US Dollar Index : 81.08 Change : -0.041 or -0.05% The GOLD PRICE low today thoroughly befouled the picture of the last four days, like your muddy puppy walking across a Rembrandt. Low struck on a downspike that gapped from just below $1,720 to $1705.30 in one or two trades. Was that real, or an artifact? At any rate, it took about the same time to jump above $1,712. While today certainly messes up the 5-day picture, it harmeth not the longer view. LO! In the last two days the GOLD/SILVER RATIO (gold divided by silver) hath fallen from 53.088 to 52.451, a 1.2% fall. Why do I mention that statistical tid-bit? Because it flies against our normal expectation that when silver and gold weaken, the ratio strengthens. What, then, doth it portend? Underlying silver strength, I'd say. Strengthening that hunch is the wholesale premium on US 90% silver coin today, which rose 5c an ounce from an already high level. Most of the time that premium rise pinpoints silver strengthening for a jump. But what do I know? I just sit here watching the parade pass by. The SILVER PRICE today slipped 20.6 cents to 3266.5c, down 0.63% while gold dove $16.20 to $1,713.30. From 22 October the GOLD PRICE sketched support at a line slanting from $1,697 to about $1,710 today. It broke that neckline on 2 November to post a low at $1,672.50, spent two days down there then leapt above the neckline once again: left shoulder formed, head formed, now on to the right shoulder. Today's stumble only took gold back to that support line, now about $1,710, to validate it. Yes, it did close below the 20 DMA (now $1,716.17) but not by much. The upshot? Gold remains reversed into an uptrend as long as it closeth not below $1,705 or so. SILVER also showed one of those very weird gaps down today, to 3217.7c in one trade, then gapping right back up to trade rest of the day above 3240c. Program trading? Nice Government Men? Wicked Witch of the East? Who cares, the attack failed. It didn't even take silver down to the neckline it has established like unto gold. And silver still stands above its 3208c 20 DMA. Still needs to hold on above 3150c. So wring out those crying towels and put 'em away. Y'all don't need 'em. 'Twas a down day, but not bringing any meaningful change. Y'all, if I had an imagination wilder than Stephen King's, I couldn't make up the stuff politicians do or say every day. The stupidity is so deeply ingrained it steals your breath away. Some Japanese politician of the party set to win December snap elections called for the Bank of Japan to lower interest rates BELOW zero. Put that into context: Since 1990, the BoJ has been holding down interest rates most of the time. Yet the bust from Japan's boom that ended in 1990 endureth yet. It sounds like Ben Bernanke: "It hasn't worked for 22 years, so let's do some more of it, harder!" Markets showed their admiration by sending the yen down 1.13% to 123.19 cents/Y100. This was the second straight day the yen's lost over 1%, that alone being a massive more for any currency. Yen chart shows two MASSIVE down-gaps from 125.7c. When those Japanese Nice Government Men throw a party, they REALLY throw a party. The euro added 0.3% today to $1.2771 on no news and for no reason. It is poking its nose through the overhead downtrend line, reaching toward the 200 and 62 day moving averages (128.25 and 128.27), where it will likely be slapped soundly back. Meanwhile the US dollar index eased off slightly, by 4.1 basis points, to 81.075 right now. That signifieth little until you understand the low was 80.932 and the dollar still rebounded to close above 81. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday the Dollar Index made lows about the same spot. At the top are two peaks which might make a double top. Dollar may also be climbing about as high as the US Nice Government Men can stand. Dollar could fall as low as 80.50 and still remain within its uptrend channel. 200 DMA stands at 80.69, all the other MAs are below that. Currencies today: US$=Y81.18=E0.7831= 0.03061 oz silver = .00058 oz gold. Stocks faltered in uncertainty as the day began, then sank decisively for the next two hours. They rallied, then sank again, lower than before. Ended the day with the Dow lighter by 29.33 at 12,541.62 (-0.23%) and the S&P500 shaved by 2.23 to 1,353.26 (-0.16%). Today showed a little bouncy squiggle at 12,500 Dow support, but really the Dow needs to clear 12,750 before even a pointy-toe-shoe- wearing Wall Street tout will believe it has reversed. Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought. - Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger The-MoneyChanger.com 1-888-218-9226 10:00am-5:00pm CST, Monday-Friday © 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. No, I don't. 
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| DTCC Provides Update On Status Of Flooded Securities Vault Posted: 15 Nov 2012 03:32 PM PST As has been widely reported previously, while the NY Fed's deep underground gold vault remained dry during the Sandy flooding in downtown NY, one institution which got badly hurt was the DTCC, aka Cede & Co (profiled here in July of 2009 in " The Biggest Financial Company You Have Never Heard Of"), which is the entity serving as custodian of virtually every electronically traded security in the modern marketplace (equity, debt, derivative, synthetic, in fact anything which is not a physical asset in itself and is not in the hands, or safe, of the rightful owner). We put the emphasis on electronically, because DTCC is also the actual custodian of all physical proof of stock ownership, such as certificates, bond deeds, and the like. It is the largely irrelevant latter (because it has been several decades since anyone actually demanded a physical copy of the stock certificates backing their shares of company XYZ) that the DTCC got in trouble for when its securities vault got flooded, and in the process destroyed countless physical stock certificates. Note we did not use the word electronic because those are there and accounted for in numerous back up data sites, with full designation and attribution. In other words anyone who made a mountain out of this particular mole hill sadly has no idea how modern markets operate, since all that the DTCC needs to do to remedy the flooding damage is to notify transfer agents of this natural disaster, and then have duplicate stock certificates printed at a cost of 1 cent for every thousands or so print outs. Which is more or less what the DTCC also just said in its press release.
Cataclysm averted. Or maybe not. Because at the end of the day, it is not whether or not the physical stock certificate for a given holding was damaged in the flood. What is far more troubling, and has been since the advent of Cede & Co as master custodian, is that regardless of the content of its securities vault, it is the DTCC that is the rightful and ultimately legal owner of every security. Or would be in case Cede & Co decided to make it a legal matter of assigning ownership: good luck in a legal battle with a company that is owned by every major financial institution in the US (including Goldman, JPM, the NYSE and of course, the Fed). In other words, it was not DTCC's flooding that was the issue: that is largely irrelevant. It is the fact that DTCC, and its "partnership nominee" exist, and that they are in effect, the default custodians of every transaction. Because if the day comes when all securities-based property has to be "sequestered", all that would be needed is one quick phone call to DTCC and it's done and done.
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| Jaw mightier than printing press for yen bears Posted: 15 Nov 2012 02:38 PM PST 15-Nov (MarketWatch)—And you thought Mitt Romney was mean to Ben Bernanke. The failed Republican presidential nominee's harsh words for the Fed chief—and even tougher language from the likes of one-time GOP challenger Rick Perry—made for interesting political theater. The Texas Governor, said in August 2011 that it would be "almost treasonous" for Bernanke to print more money and that the Fed chief would get "treated pretty ugly down in Texas" were he to do so. But it is difficult to point to an episode of Bernanke-bashing that had a big impact on the dollar over the course of the just-completed U.S. presidential campaign. Leave it to veteran Japanese politician Shinzo Abe to show them how its done. Abe, the leader of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and a former prime minister, has already accomplished something the Bank of Japan has been unable, or unwilling, to do: He's hammered the yen. [source]
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| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts Posted: 15 Nov 2012 02:13 PM PST |
| Ron Paul: Farewell to Congress Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:26 PM PST By U.S. Rep. Ron Paul http://www.paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2025... This may well be the last time I speak on the House floor. At the end of the year I'll leave Congress after 23 years in office over a 36 year period. My goals in 1976 were the same as they are today: promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty. It was my opinion, that the course the United States embarked on in the latter part of the 20th Century would bring us a major financial crisis and engulf us in a foreign policy that would overextend us and undermine our national security. To achieve the goals I sought, government would have had to shrink in size and scope, reduce spending, change the monetary system, and reject the unsustainable costs of policing the world and expanding the American Empire. The problems seemed to be overwhelming and impossible to solve, yet from my view point, just following the constraints placed on the federal government by the Constitution would have been a good place to start. ... Dispatch continues below ... ADVERTISEMENT Prophecy Platinum Intercepts Best Pt+Pd+Au Grades Yet Company Press Release VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Prophecy Platinum Corp. (TSX-V: NKL, OTC-QX: PNIKF, Frankfurt: P94P) announces more results of its 2012 drill program on the company's fully-owned Wellgreen platinum group metals, nickel, and copper project in southwestern Yukon Territory, Canada. Four surface holes and four underground holes all intercepted significant mineralized widths, ranging from 28.5 meters (WS12-201) and up to 459.5 metres (WS12-193). Highlights include WU12-540, which returned 8.9 metres of 5.36 grams per tonne platinum, palladium, and gold; 1.73 percent copper; and 1.01 percent nickel within 304.5 meters of 0.66 g/t platinum-palladium-gold, 0.20 percent copper, and 0.27 percent nickel. The surface drill program started in June and has completed 16 holes (assays pending for 12 holes) with two rigs now on site. The surface program continues to progress at a steady pace. Prophecy Chairman John Lee commented: "Wellgreen is a very large nickel, copper, and platinum group metals project with near-surface high-grade zones. High-grade intercepts will be incorporated into resource modeling and mine planning in the pre-feasibility study. We expect further positive drill results from Wellgreen shortly." Wellgreen features a low 2.59-to-1 strip ratio, is situated at an altitude of 1,300 meters, and is only 15 kilometers from the two-lane paved Alaska Highway. Those factors significantly minimize the project's indirect costs. For the complete company statement with full tabulation of the drilling results, please visit: http://prophecyplat.com/news_2012_sep11_prophecy_platinum_drill_results.... How Much Did I Accomplish? In many ways, according to conventional wisdom, my off-and-on career in Congress, from 1976 to 2012, accomplished very little. No named legislation, no named federal buildings or highways -- thank goodness. In spite of my efforts, the government has grown exponentially, taxes remain excessive, and the prolific increase of incomprehensible regulations continues. Wars are constant and pursued without congressional declaration, deficits rise to the sky, poverty is rampant, and dependence on the federal government is now worse than any time in our history. All this with minimal concerns for the deficits and unfunded liabilities that common sense tells us cannot go on much longer. A grand but never-mentioned bipartisan agreement allows for the well-kept secret that keeps the spending going. One side doesn't give up one penny on military spending, the other side doesn't give up one penny on welfare spending, while both sides support the bailouts and subsidies for the banking and corporate elite. And the spending continues as the economy weakens and the downward spiral continues. As the government continues fiddling around, our liberties and our wealth burn in the flames of a foreign policy that makes us less safe. The major stumbling block to real change in Washington is the total resistance to admitting that the country is broke. This has made compromising, just to agree to increase spending, inevitable since neither side has any intention of cutting spending. The country and the Congress will remain divisive since there's no "loot left to divvy up." Without this recognition the spenders in Washington will continue the march toward a fiscal cliff much bigger than the one anticipated this coming January. I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits. If liberty is what we claim it is- the principle that protects all personal, social, and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and the best chance for peace -- it should be an easy sell. Yet history has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are rarely if ever fulfilled. Authoritarianism vs. Liberty If authoritarianism leads to poverty and war and less freedom for all individuals and is controlled by rich special interests, the people should be begging for liberty. There certainly was a strong enough sentiment for more freedom at the time of our founding that motivated those who were willing to fight in the revolution against the powerful British government. During my time in Congress the appetite for liberty has been quite weak; the understanding of its significance negligible. Yet the good news is that compared to 1976 when I first came to Congress, the desire for more freedom and less government in 2012 is much greater and growing, especially in grassroots America. Tens of thousands of teenagers and college age students are, with great enthusiasm, welcoming the message of liberty. I have a few thoughts as to why the people of a country like ours, once the freest and most prosperous, allowed the conditions to deteriorate to the degree that they have. Freedom, private property, and enforceable voluntary contracts generate wealth. In our early history we were very much aware of this. But in the early part of the 20th century our politicians promoted the notion that the tax and monetary systems had to change if we were to involve ourselves in excessive domestic and military spending. That is why Congress gave us the Federal Reserve and the income tax. The majority of Americans and many government officials agreed that sacrificing some liberty was necessary to carry out what some claimed to be "progressive" ideas. Pure democracy became acceptable. They failed to recognized that what they were doing was exactly opposite of what the colonists were seeking when they broke away from the British. Some complain that my arguments make no sense, since great wealth and the standard of living improved for many Americans over the last 100 years, even with these new policies. But the damage to the market economy, and the currency, has been insidious and steady. It took a long time to consume our wealth, destroy the currency and undermine productivity and get our financial obligations to a point of no return. Confidence sometimes lasts longer than deserved. Most of our wealth today depends on debt. The wealth that we enjoyed and seemed to be endless, allowed concern for the principle of a free society to be neglected. As long as most people believed the material abundance would last forever, worrying about protecting a competitive productive economy and individual liberty seemed unnecessary. The Age of Redistribution This neglect ushered in an age of redistribution of wealth by government kowtowing to any and all special interests, except for those who just wanted to left alone. That is why today money in politics far surpasses money currently going into research and development and productive entrepreneurial efforts. The material benefits became more important than the understanding and promoting the principles of liberty and a free market. It is good that material abundance is a result of liberty but if materialism is all that we care about, problems are guaranteed. The crisis arrived because the illusion that wealth and prosperity would last forever has ended. Since it was based on debt and a pretense that debt can be papered over by an out-of-control fiat monetary system, it was doomed to fail. We have ended up with a system that doesn't produce enough even to finance the debt and no fundamental understanding of why a free society is crucial to reversing these trends. If this is not recognized, the recovery will linger for a long time. Bigger government, more spending, more debt, more poverty for the middle class, and a more intense scramble by the elite special interests will continue. We Need an Intellectual Awakening Without an intellectual awakening, the turning point will be driven by economic law. A dollar crisis will bring the current out-of-control system to its knees. If it's not accepted that big government, fiat money, ignoring liberty, central economic planning, welfarism, and warfarism caused our crisis we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties. Prosperity for a large middle class though will become an abstract dream. This continuous move is no different than what we have seen in how our financial crisis of 2008 was handled. Congress first directed, with bipartisan support, bailouts for the wealthy. Then it was the Federal Reserve with its endless quantitative easing. If at first it doesn't succeed try again; QE1, QE2, and QE3, and with no results we try QE indefinitely -- that is, until it too fails. There's a cost to all of this and let me assure you delaying the payment is no longer an option. The rules of the market will extract its pound of flesh and it won't be pretty. The current crisis elicits a lot of pessimism. And the pessimism adds to less confidence in the future. The two feed on themselves, making our situation worse. If the underlying cause of the crisis is not understood we cannot solve our problems. The issues of warfare, welfare, deficits, inflationism, corporatism, bailouts, and authoritarianism cannot be ignored. By only expanding these policies we cannot expect good results. Everyone claims support for freedom. But too often it's for one's own freedom and not for others. Too many believe that there must be limits on freedom. They argue that freedom must be directed and managed to achieve fairness and equality thus making it acceptable to curtail, through force, certain liberties. Some decide what and whose freedoms are to be limited. These are the politicians whose goal in life is power. Their success depends on gaining support from special interests. No More 'Isms The great news is the answer is not to be found in more "isms." The answers are to be found in more liberty which cost so much less. Under these circumstances spending goes down, wealth production goes up, and the quality of life improves. Just this recognition -- especially if we move in this direction -- increases optimism, which in itself is beneficial. The follow-through with sound policies is required, which must be understood and supported by the people. But there is good evidence that the generation coming of age at the present time is supportive of moving in the direction of more liberty and self-reliance. The more this change in direction and the solutions become known, the quicker will be the return of optimism. Our job, for those of us who believe that a different system than the one that we have had for the last 100 years, has driven us to this unsustainable crisis, is to be more convincing that there is a wonderful, uncomplicated, and moral system that provides the answers. We had a taste of it in our early history. We need not give up on the notion of advancing this cause. It worked, but we allowed our leaders to concentrate on the material abundance that freedom generates, while ignoring freedom itself. Now we have neither, but the door is open, out of necessity, for an answer. The answer available is based on the Constitution, individual liberty and prohibiting the use of government force to provide privileges and benefits to all special interests. After over 100 years we face a society quite different from the one that was intended by the Founders. In many ways their efforts to protect future generations with the Constitution from this danger has failed. Skeptics, at the time the Constitution was written in 1787, warned us of today's possible outcome. The insidious nature of the erosion of our liberties and the reassurance our great abundance gave us, allowed the process to evolve into the dangerous period in which we now live. Dependence on Government Largesse Today we face a dependency on government largesse for almost every need. Our liberties are restricted and government operates outside the rule of law, protecting and rewarding those who buy or coerce government into satisfying their demands. Here are a few examples: -- Undeclared wars are commonplace. -- Welfare for the rich and poor is considered an entitlement. -- The economy is overregulated, overtaxed, and grossly distorted by a deeply flawed monetary system. -- Debt is growing exponentially. -- The Patriot Act and FISA legislation passed without much debate have resulted in a steady erosion of our Fourth Amendment rights. -- Tragically our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people. -- The drone warfare we are pursuing worldwide is destined to end badly for us as the hatred builds for innocent lives lost and the international laws flaunted. Once we are financially weakened and militarily challenged, there will be a lot resentment thrown our way. -- It's now the law of the land that the military can arrest American citizens and hold them indefinitely, without charges or a trial. -- Rampant hostility toward free trade is supported by a large number in Washington. -- Supporters of sanctions, currency manipulation, and WTO trade retaliation call the true free-traders "isolationists." -- Sanctions are used to punish countries that don't follow our orders. -- Bailouts and guarantees for all kinds of misbehavior are routine. -- Central economic planning through monetary policy, regulations, and legislative mandates has been an acceptable policy. Questions Excessive government has created such a mess it prompts many questions: -- Why are sick people who use medical marijuana put in prison? -- Why does the federal government restrict the drinking of raw milk? -- Why can't Americans manufacturer rope and other products from hemp? -- Why are Americans not allowed to use gold and silver as legal tender as mandated by the Constitution? -- Why is Germany concerned enough to consider repatriating their gold held by the Federal Reserve for her in New York? Is it that the trust in the U.S. and dollar supremacy beginning to wane? -- Why do our political leaders believe it's unnecessary to thoroughly audit our own gold? -- Why can't Americans decide which type of light bulbs they can buy? -- Why is the TSA permitted to abuse the rights of any American traveling by air? -- Why should there be mandatory sentences -- even up to life for crimes without victims -- as our drug laws require? -- Why have we allowed the federal government to regulate commodes in our homes? -- Why is it political suicide for anyone to criticize AIPAC ? -- Why haven't we given up on the drug war since it's an obvious failure and violates the people's rights? Has nobody noticed that the authorities can't even keep drugs out of the prisons? How can making our entire society a prison solve the problem? -- Why do we sacrifice so much getting needlessly involved in border disputes and civil strife around the world and ignore the root cause of the most deadly border in the world -- the one between Mexico and the U.S.? -- Why does Congress willingly give up its prerogatives to the executive branch? -- Why does changing the party in power never change policy? Could it be that the views of both parties are essentially the same? -- Why did the big banks, the large corporations, and foreign banks and foreign central banks get bailed out in 2008 and the middle class lost their jobs and their homes? -- Why do so many in the government and the federal officials believe that creating money out of thin air creates wealth? -- Why do so many accept the deeply flawed principle that government bureaucrats and politicians can protect us from ourselves without totally destroying the principle of liberty? -- Why can't people understand that war always destroys wealth and liberty? -- Why is there so little concern about the executive order that gives the president authority to establish a "kill list," including American citizens, of those targeted for assassination? -- Why is patriotism thought to be blind loyalty to the government and the politicians who run it rather than loyalty to the principles of liberty and support for the people? Real patriotism is a willingness to challenge the government when it's wrong. -- Why is it is claimed that if people won't or can't take care of their own needs, people in government can do it for them? -- Why did we ever give the government a safe haven for initiating violence against the people? -- Why do some members defend free markets but not civil liberties? -- Why do some members defend civil liberties but not free markets? Aren't they the same? -- Why don't more defend both economic liberty and personal liberty? -- Why are there not more individuals who seek to intellectually influence others to bring about positive changes than those who seek power to force others to obey their commands? -- Why does the use of religion to support a social gospel and preemptive wars, both of which require authoritarians to use violence or the threat of violence, go unchallenged? Aggression and forced redistribution of wealth have nothing to do with the teachings of the world's great religions. -- Why do we allow the government and the Federal Reserve to disseminate false information dealing with both economic and foreign policy? -- Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it's the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? -- Why should anyone be surprised that Congress has no credibility, since there's such a disconnect between what politicians say and what they do? -- Is there any explanation for all the deception, the unhappiness, the fear of the future, the loss of confidence in our leaders, the distrust, the anger and frustration? Yes, there is, and there's a way to reverse these attitudes. The negative perceptions are logical and a consequence of bad policies bringing about our problems. Identification of the problems and recognizing the cause allow the proper changes to come easy. Trust Yourself, Not the Government Too many people have for too long placed too much confidence and trust in government and not enough in themselves. Fortunately, many are now becoming aware of the seriousness of the gross mistakes of the past several decades. The blame is shared by both political parties. Many Americans now are demanding to hear the plain truth of things and want the demagoguing to stop. Without this first step, solutions are impossible. Seeking the truth and finding the answers in liberty and self-reliance promotes the optimism necessary for restoring prosperity. The task is not that difficult if politics doesn't get in the way. We have allowed ourselves to get into such a mess for various reasons. Politicians deceive themselves as to how wealth is produced. Excessive confidence is placed in the judgment of politicians and bureaucrats. This replaces the confidence in a free society. Too many in high places of authority became convinced that only they, armed with arbitrary government power, can bring about fairness, while facilitating wealth production. This always proves to be a utopian dream and destroys wealth and liberty. It impoverishes the people and rewards the special interests who end up controlling both political parties. It's no surprise then that much of what goes on in Washington is driven by aggressive partisanship and power seeking, with philosophic differences being minor. Economic Ignorance Economic ignorance is commonplace. Keynesianism continues to thrive, although today it is facing healthy and enthusiastic rebuttals. Believers in military Keynesianism and domestic Keynesianism continue to desperately promote their failed policies, as the economy languishes in a deep slumber. Supporters of all government edicts use humanitarian arguments to justify them. Humanitarian arguments are always used to justify government mandates related to the economy, monetary policy, foreign policy, and personal liberty. This is on purpose to make it more difficult to challenge. But initiating violence for humanitarian reasons is still violence. Good intentions are no excuse and are just as harmful as when people use force with bad intentions. The results are always negative. The immoral use of force is the source of man's political problems. Sadly, many religious groups, secular organizations, and psychopathic authoritarians endorse government initiated force to change the world. Even when the desired goals are well-intentioned -- or especially when well-intentioned -- the results are dismal. The good results sought never materialize. The new problems created require even more government force as a solution. The net result is institutionalizing government-initiated violence and morally justifying it on humanitarian grounds. This is the same fundamental reason our government uses force for invading other countries at will, central economic planning at home, and the regulation of personal liberty and habits of our citizens. It is rather strange, that unless one has a criminal mind and no respect for other people and their property, no one claims it's permissible to go into one's neighbor's house and tell them how to behave, what they can eat, smoke, and drink or how to spend their money. Yet, rarely is it asked why it is morally acceptable that a stranger with a badge and a gun can do the same thing in the name of law and order. Any resistance is met with brute force, fines, taxes, arrests, and even imprisonment. This is done more frequently every day without a proper search warrant. No Government Monopoly over Initiating Violence Restraining aggressive behavior is one thing, but legalizing a government monopoly for initiating aggression can lead only to exhausting liberty associated with chaos, anger and the breakdown of civil society. Permitting such authority and expecting saintly behavior from the bureaucrats and the politicians is a pipe dream. We now have a standing army of armed bureaucrats in the TSA, CIA, FBI, Fish and Wildlife, FEMA, IRS, Corps of Engineers, etc., numbering over 100,000. Citizens are guilty until proven innocent in the unconstitutional administrative courts. Government in a free society should have no authority to meddle in social activities or the economic transactions of individuals. Nor should government meddle in the affairs of other nations. All things peaceful, even when controversial, should be permitted. We must reject the notion of prior restraint in economic activity just we do in the area of free speech and religious liberty. But even in these areas government is starting to use a backdoor approach of political correctness to regulate speech-a dangerous trend. Since 9/11 monitoring speech on the Internet is now a problem since warrants are no longer required. The Proliferation of Federal Crimes The Constitution established four federal crimes. Today the experts can't even agree on how many federal crimes are now on the books—they number into the thousands. No one person can comprehend the enormity of the legal system -- especially the tax code. Due to the ill-advised drug war and the endless federal expansion of the criminal code we have over 6 million people under correctional suspension, more than the Soviets ever had, and more than any other nation today, including China. I don't understand the complacency of the Congress and the willingness to continue their obsession with passing more Federal laws. Mandatory sentencing laws associated with drug laws have compounded our prison problems. The federal register is now 75,000 pages long and the tax code has 72,000 pages and expands every year. When will the people start shouting "Enough is enough" and demand Congress cease and desist? Achieving Liberty Liberty can be achieved only when government is denied the aggressive use of force. If one seeks liberty, a precise type of government is needed. To achieve it, more than lip service is required. Two choices are available. 1) A government designed to protect liberty -- a natural right -- as its sole objective. The people are expected to care for themselves and reject the use of any force for interfering with another person's liberty. Government is given a strictly limited authority to enforce contracts, property ownership, settle disputes, and defend against foreign aggression. 2) A government that pretends to protect liberty but is granted power to arbitrarily use force over the people and foreign nations. Though the grant of power many times is meant to be small and limited, it inevitably metastasizes into an omnipotent political cancer. This is the problem for which the world has suffered throughout the ages. Though meant to be limited it nevertheless is a 100 percent sacrifice of a principle that would-be-tyrants find irresistible. It is used vigorously -- though incrementally and insidiously. Granting power to government officials always proves the adage that "power corrupts." Once government gets a limited concession for the use of force to mold people habits and plan the economy, it causes a steady move toward tyrannical government. Only a revolutionary spirit can reverse the process and deny to the government this arbitrary use of aggression. There's no in-between. Sacrificing a little liberty for imaginary safety always ends badly. Today's mess is a result of Americans accepting Option 2, even though the Founders attempted to give us Option 1. The results are not good. As our liberties have been eroded our wealth has been consumed. The wealth we see today is based on debt and a foolish willingness on the part of foreigners to take our dollars for goods and services. They then loan them back to us to perpetuate our debt system. It's amazing that it has worked for this long but the impasse in Washington, in solving our problems indicate that many are starting to understand the seriousness of the worldwide debt crisis and the dangers we face. The longer this process continues the harsher the outcome will be. The Financial Crisis Is a
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| Gold: History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but It Does Rhyme Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:22 PM PST Mark Twain wasn't writing about the gold market when he made his famous quote about historical recurrence, but he could have been, as the gold market has been "rhyming" every 21 months. Read More...
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| Listen When A 100 Year Old Man Speaks Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:20 PM PST A sneaky thing happened over the last five trading days. The major gold mining companies leapt back into oversold territories (when measured against gold), the likes of which are only seen a few times a century. This summer as many mining analysts pointed out, miners hit their most oversold levels in the last 30 years, and only seen five times in the last 100. Following this extreme, the GDX rallied from $41 to $55 per share, a 34% move in two months, and the GDXJ made a 38% move in the same period. Here is a chart of the GDX to GLD ratio. As you can see it has exploded upwards in the last few trading days.
When looking at this chart, the question must be asked—are we setting up for a sharp decline in the ratio, which would indicate another explosive rally in the miners? There is never any certainty in the financial markets, but in recent conversations with friends of mine I've been saying the same thing over and over. When they ask me if now is a good time to buy mining shares I say: "If you met a man who was 100 years old, and asked him if he's ever seen the mining sector this cheap, he might do two of two things. He might first creak back in his wooden rocking chair (you not being sure if the creak is his back or the rocking chair itself), and second he might say, 'Ahh yes. I've seen mining shares this sold off when compared to gold 5 times in my life. Once when I was 20, once when I was 40, once when I was 60, once when I was 80, and…now.'" The risks are simply too great to buy retail investments during any of the other 95 years of this "old man's" life. If you are not a mining executive, accredited investor, or resource developer, these are the only times in which your investment dollars can buy extreme leverage, and they must be looked upon as extreme and short-lived opportunities. If you've ever used public transportation in a major city before, you know the train or bus conductor could care less whether or not you make it on before the doors close. The same could be said about the markets. They could really care less whether or not you get on at the right time. But heck…if a bus route only comes around once every 20-30 years…why not hop on and see where it takes you? In more clear terms, I think this a good time to assemble a list of your favorite mining stocks, and see where they take you over the next 12-24 months. Best, Tekoa Da Silva
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| Bill Cobb–Turning Your Ideas Into Gold 15.Nov.12 Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:56 PM PST www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com presents Bill Cobb spent much of his career working in large corporations. Now he's helping individuals turn their ideas into gold. Unlike many, Bill has actually studied entrepreneurism and what makes new businesses most likely to succeed. Did you know that a business started by 5 people is 5 times more likely to succeed than a solo venture? Bill has much more sage wisdom packed in his new book Business Alchemy: Turning Ideas Into Gold. If you can't find a job, then creating a job may make sense for you. Especially if you can combine it with an interest or personal passion. Go to www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com for the latest info on the economy and precious metals markets
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| Systemic Collapse: The Corzine Factor Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:31 PM PST In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again. - Edward Gibbon, English historian and acclaimed author of "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."I hope everyone has a chance to meditate on the quote above, as it applies to the state of our society here and now. History may not exactly repeat, but it sure does seem to rhyme (to paraphrase Mark Twain). Before I get started on my source of irritation today, I wanted to point out that Bernanke is giving a speech right now in which he is stating that the Fed will do what it can to support the housing market and that the pace of mortgage financings is as low as it was in 1995. Now, why on earth would he make that latter remark if the housing market was in a state of recovery? Furthermore, it was reported by the Wall St. Journal that the FHA is on the verge of insolvency. How can this be if the housing market is recovering? Finally, it was reported today that the U.S. Postal Service is also on the verge of insolvency and it has been borrowing heavily from the Taxpayer to sustain itself. If you take all three of these factors into consideration, in aggregate, it can only mean that either the Fed is going to let the housing market collapse and the U.S. mail service will have to be drastically reduced, OR there is a LOT more QE coming. The precious metals and mining stocks are extraordinarily cheap here... The John Corzine issue has been a perpetual source of disgust and irritation for me (not continuous as I've accepted that our system is entirely corrupt, but it sneaks up on me). Quite frankly, if there was any ONE reason to vote against Obama in the election, it was because of his profoundly abysmal failure to crack down on Wall Street corruption, and specifically his refusal to prosecute Jon Corzine despite the overwhelming evidence of Corzine's overt and blatant role in the collapse of MF Global and the loss of over a billion in dollars in customer assets that were supposed to 100% legally protected. The actual numbers support the fact that Obama has failed to prosecute the financial industry, as litigation by the Justice Department has declined substantially during Obama's tenure even though the evidence of events of lawbreaking and corruption has soared. This, despite Obama's explicit promise in his 2008 campaign to "clean up Wall Street." It's hilarious/pathetic to me that this topic was never any part of any of the debates this year... The latest irritation stab from the MF Global/Corzine issue surfaced when the House issued a report yesterday which blames Corzine for the collapse of MF Global. What is beyond absurd is that the House Democrats refuse to endorse the findings, saying "ummm, we need ummmm more time to study the findings." Here's a news release of the report: LINK The bottom line here is that anyone who has any Wall Street experience AND knows the regulations governing the brokerage business KNOWS that Corzine is not only guilty of violating several SEC and FINRA regulations but should be sitting in a jail cell waiting his trial. Over a $1 billion dollars was stolen. Martha Stewart was put in jail for a just a small percentage of that amount. This has become an an egregiously inexcusable case of bi-partisan politicizing by the Democratic Party - led by Obama - as the Government has refused to crack down and go after Corzine. Corzine, a former Democratic Governor of, and Senator from, New Jersey has been one of Obama's biggest campaign fundraisers. I have outlined on this blog where and how Corzine broke the laws. The Trustee of the MF Global bankruptcy has finally joined in with private groups in suing Corzine. I still can't understand why Obama hasn't forced Eric Holder to do the same. Well, let me revise that, it's obvious why Obama has refused to go after Corzine just as it's obvious why the House Democrats refuse to endorse the House report. We live in a system that is collapsing and the overt corruption permeating from every institutional sector of our system is entirely indicative and supportive of my "collapse" premise. Just remember, how does a system collapse? First slowly and then all at once (to paraphrase Hemingway). The only issue in my mind is where our system sits relative to the proximity of "all at once" on the collapse timeline... 
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| Eileen Workman–Sacred Economics Means More For Everyone 15.Nov.12 Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:12 PM PST www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com presents Eileen Workman is a forward thinker. She foretold the economic collapse of 2008-09 many years before it occurred. Now she believes that we are heading into a new Wisdom Economy where people pursue their passions and work for everyone's benefit. While we're not convinced that that man is yet ready for this new paradigm, we do believe that rapid and fundamental change must happen around the world and quickly too. Modern life has created too many conflicts, both among people and governments. All too often these disputes get settle with violence making us all the poorer. So perhaps Eileen is really on to something. Go to www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com for the latest info on the economy and precious metals markets
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| Kris Miller–Pretirement It’s The Way To Go 15.Nov.12 Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:08 PM PST www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com presents Kris Miller has been helping people retire early for years. While FSN is concerned about the potential economic collapse looming on the horizon, no one knows if and when it's actually going to happen. So it's important to be prepared for the system to muddle onward for a number of years as well as preparing for it's possible sudden implosion. And if it continues, Kris's strategy has a lot going for it. You receive income for life without little or no risk. The type of annuities she's espousing have been carried on in one form or another since the Middle Ages! Go to www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com for the latest info on the economy and precious metals markets
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| U.S. Fiscal Cliff, Asian Currency Wars, Buoys the Gold market Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:58 AM PST Texas Republican Ron Paul’s maverick crusade to “audit the Fed”, and to rein-in the “fourth branch” of the US-government, suffered a major blow in the wake of the November 6th elections that saw President Barack Obama prevailing over his Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Adding insult to injury, the Republican Party not only failed to secure a majority in the Senate, but it lost 2-seats. Mr Paul is the author of a bill to audit the clandestine activities of the Fed that passed the House by a 327-98 vote on July 25th, exceeding the two-thirds majority needed. Astoundingly, 89 Democrats joined 238 Republicans to approve it.
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| Greyerz - There Is A Tide In The Affairs Of Men... Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:50 AM PST  With continued volatility in global markets, today Egon von Greyerz spoke with King World News about the precarious state of the financial world and key markets, including gold and silver. Here is what Greyerz had this to say: "I was talking to you last week about how Japan was a disaster waiting to happen. I was pleased to see John Embry agreeing with me on Japan because John is one of the wisest men I know. So Japan is in a mess, but you don't have to go far to look at another problem which is China."
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With everything else that is going on in the world, a lot of people have failed to notice that we are seeing some of the worst economic numbers that we have seen in more than a year. For example, it was announced on Thursday that initial claims for unemployment benefits have hit their highest level in a year and a half. Hopefully this is just a temporary blip in the data, because initial unemployment claims tend to have a very strong correlation with the overall performance of the economy. We also continue to see poverty statistics rise. According to government statistics released earlier this month, the number of Americans living in poverty and the number of Americans on food stamps are both at all-time record highs. Meanwhile, the Dow and the S&P 500 are both down more than 5 percent since the election and the U.S. government rolled up 22 billion dollars more debt in October 2012 than it did in October 2011. The unfortunate truth is that things are not getting better. The U.S. economy continues to become weaker and more unstable, and there are a whole lot of reasons to be very pessimistic about our economic situation as we move into the winter months.
I have a bit of good news today. The efforts of European Council president Herman Van Rompuy to mollify the UK and other budget hawks have created such a stir that 
In 2007-2008 banking crisis, many investment bankers found themselves quickly without jobs. But, many, on the other hand, found themselves before too long with a new position working in the world of "shadow banks." These banks offer services similar to above board banks, however are not subject to the same regulation of mainstream banks. Oftentimes, they assist commercial banks in scheming the riskier trades.
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