Gold World News Flash |
- Investors Must Know This Lesson From The 70s Gold Bull
- Coinage Act, 1964: Doublespeak
- Government Plans Retirement Heist, Calls it Charity
- This Is When You Make Your Money
- Gold: An Independent Money
- CGSE to launch spot, yuan based Silver trade in HK next year
- What Fund Managers All Across Europe Are Thinking & Gold
- Few Connect the Dots to the Dollar Debasement
- Courtesy Release – Vulture Bargain Update Excerpt
- Euro Holding Gains Despite France Downgrade, Indian Banks Banned from Lending for Gold Purchases
- Russia Today's Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert Celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of the "Crash JPMorgan, Buy Silver" Campaign
- The Daily Market Report
- Ranting Andy Hoffman – America The Twinkie State
- AN ALTERNATIVE VIEWPOINT WHY THE GOLD AND SILVER MINERS HAVE UNDER PERFORMED
- Gold Seasonal Trades Analysis
- Japan: return of the yen bears
- 3 Events Worth Watching
- Silver’s Smoking Guns, Part III: Market Paradox
- Investors Don’t Understand The Risk In The System
- Leeb: Investors Must Know This Lesson From The 70s Gold Bull
- HUI-Gold Ratio; 3 Views, 1 Conclusion
- Former SAC Trader Busted With Biggest Insider Trading Profit In History
- Gold and Silver At A Crossroads, But Solid Fundamentals Support A Move To New All-time Highs In 2013
- US Dollar Death By a Thousand Cuts Continues
- Gold Season
- Bernanke Promises More Of The Same, Warns Of Fiscal Cliff - Live Webcast
- Ron Paul on sound money prospects in the USA
- Fiscal Cliff Navigation Tactics
- Santa Cracks Whip on Elves
- 20 Nov 2012 – “A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free) ” (Megadeth, 1995)
| Investors Must Know This Lesson From The 70s Gold Bull Posted: 20 Nov 2012 02:40 PM PST from KingWorldNews:
The recessions they are seeing are threatening to deepen. Nowhere in the developed world are we seeing growth right now. In the US, housing is getting a boost, but no new industries are being created. There are no new factories or capital investment into manufacturing that is taking place in the US." Stephen Leeb continues @ KingWorldNews.com
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| Coinage Act, 1964: Doublespeak Posted: 20 Nov 2012 02:31 PM PST from Silver Vigilante:
Our new half dollar will continue our silver tradition. Eighty percent silver on the outside and 19 percent silver inside. It will be nearly indistinguishable in appearance from our present half dollar. The half dollar in 1965 would only be composed of a 40% silver content. That is a vast departure from "our silver tradition."
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| Government Plans Retirement Heist, Calls it Charity Posted: 20 Nov 2012 02:20 PM PST by Alexander Jousse, Dollar Vigilante:
In December, 2010, we penned a dispatch called "Americans Retirement Funds at Serious Risk" wherein we concluded by stating: "Keeping retirement funds inside of tax-sheltered accounts, which the US government will soon look to as the next source of funds to try to pay off its mountain of debt and keeping retirement funds in US dollar-based 'assets' is putting your retirement and future at great risk." We were summarily laughed at by the masses. What's that old saying from the early 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer about the truth? "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." Read More @ DollarVigilante.com
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| This Is When You Make Your Money Posted: 20 Nov 2012 01:20 PM PST by Jeff Clark, Casey Research:
I proudly shared my success with someone at a conference a month later who'd owned the same stock. I was beaming – until he told me that he'd tripled his money. How did he do that?! I wondered. I looked back at a chart and found the stock had briefly sold off at one point, and sure enough a triple would've been feasible if one had bought during that window. He did. Last week's abrupt and unexpected sell-off in many precious metals stocks was a smaller version of that same opportunity. While in the big scheme of things last week's 8.2% sell-off in GDX (Gold Miners ETF) was mild, and prices could certainly trend lower before bottoming, buying during dips and corrections can mean the difference between a double and a triple. Or a double and a ten-bagger. What it requires on your part is a well-researched conclusion that the bull market for precious metals and their stocks isn't over.
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| Posted: 20 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST The current system of money and banking is, inherently, a system based on inflation and endless expansion of the money supply. But this wasn't always so… Until recently (relatively speaking) the world's financial system was centered around a time-tested material that has provided sound banking for centuries: gold. In this informative video, Dominic Frisby explains where we went wrong, why the alternative has been so disastrous.
Gold: An Independent Money appeared in the Daily Reckoning. Subscribe to The Daily Reckoning by visiting signup for an Agora Financial newsletter.
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| CGSE to launch spot, yuan based Silver trade in HK next year Posted: 20 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST from Bullion Street:
CGSE also said it would consider launching yuan-denominated silver trading later under this new platform. The silver contract will be traded in 10 kilograms as one board lot while physical delivery must be at least 30 kilograms. The CGSE is the only authorized spot gold exchange in Hong Kong. The CGSE currently offers spot gold trading denominated in both the Hong Kong dollar and yuan. The CGSE launched the "Renminbi Kilobar Gold Contract" trading platform in 2011 that facilitated gold trading in the yuan currency for the first time in the city.
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| What Fund Managers All Across Europe Are Thinking & Gold Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:57 PM PST  Today Jeffrey Saut spoke with King World News about what direction fund managers all across Europe believe the markets are headed. Saut, who is Chief Investment Strategist for $360 billion Raymond James, also discussed gold, energy, and his observations from his two week trip to Europe. Here is what Saut had this to say: "Europe may be in a recession, but I certainly didn't experience it. The restaurants were packed. The trains were crowded. In fact, when I tried to book a first class ticket on the bullet train from Luxembourg to Paris, the entire first class was sold out and there were only three seats left in second class. The whole train was sold out."
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| Few Connect the Dots to the Dollar Debasement Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:50 PM PST by David Schectman, MilesFranklin.com:
What is very evident from our conversations is that more and more people are aware that prices are rising; but they have yet to connect the dots and realize that the cause is the Fed and their destructive monetary policy. Also, even though they complain about rising prices, they don't understand why – since inflation is only running around 2%. They don't understand that the data they get from the MSM is far from accurate. They are confused as to why gas is so expensive, and food too.
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| Courtesy Release – Vulture Bargain Update Excerpt Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:29 PM PST From the November 1 issue of the Got Gold Report Vulture Bargain Update report. HOUSTON – With Thanksgiving just ahead we are not really interested in doing all that much this week, except trying to add shares in a few of the issues we have been tracking for quite a while, following and preparing for exactly the kind of market we found developing the first two weeks of November - a weak period of irrational, fear motivated selling, perhaps compounded by overly large sales by those seeking to maximize tax losses to offset capital gains, and in an unnatural hurry to do so. The Canadian Venture Exchange Index or CDNX with gold shown in orange. Note the early November selloff that has so far gone unanswered by gold. We may or may not actually see what we are gearing up for in the issuers we prefer, but as we have been relating to our membership, we want to be prepared and at the ready if we see an unexplained very high percentage "spike" to the downside on our targeted "Little Guy" companies. The idea is to choose which of the issues one wants to add size in and get up to speed on them ahead of any tax loss selling spike to the downside. Spikes are sudden movements in price out of proportion to the then trading range which are ultimately quickly corrected by the market. We recently posted a chart example of what a sudden spike looks like. While others ponder if the spike lower is a harbinger of very bad news, and waste valuable time contacting the company or doing an unfruitful news search, armed with confidence, we can be setting up on the bid or taking the uber low offer to secure a portion of the position we hope to build on the "dirt cheap" before the spike snaps back. Along those lines, below is an excerpt from the most recent Got Gold Report Vulture Bargain Update Notes for October-November, noting our comments on two of the Vulture Bargain companies. The excerpt is an example of the commentary we provide to accompany the technical charts for our membership. By the way, these reports are intended to be bi-monthly (every other month) but lately, given market conditions, we have been issuing them more or less monthly. Excerpt from the November 1 GGR VB Update: 2010 #6. Constantine Metal Resources (TSX:CEM.V or CNSNF)… "Tuesday, October 30, 2012. We briefly considered moving CEM back to VBCI since the last full report, partly because we need to make room for new issues and partly because we knew of no compelling catalysts which might be on the horizon, but, having seen our comments in the chart, a trusted colleague suggested we speak first with management before making that move, so we did. Without getting too complicated and "verbose" suffice it to say that CEM has the kind of mineral assets which could generate gamer buzz and real JV or partner interest, literally overnight, as well as elephant country discovery news completely out of The Blue. As just one example, we have often said that Croesus is the kind of needle in the haystack prospect that a drill hole could be five meters off this time and hit a major bonanza discovery on the next try. The potential grades of that system, based on the historic mega high grade production, are pretty enticing. As Darwin Green, CEM's VP Exploration put it in a recent phone conference, "Croesus is a needle in a haystack style prospect, but we have already removed a good portion of the pile of hay." (And don't forget in the last small drill program CEM located a small vein of high grade – a "sniff" of the scent of the mineral core they seek at Croesus.) Then, of course, there is Palmer in AK, which just needs a partner to come in and put the drills in the right places to expand that open-in-all-directions resource. In any normal market Palmer alone would justify a multiple of the pathetic share price today. Let's not forget the Four-Corners and Golden Mile projects optioned to Teck, which by the way also included a small "hunker-down" financing at an above market price. Or the new Horseshoe prospect adjacent to Lakeshore Gold's Fenn-Gibb project… We could go on, but our point is made double. Just as with our first mention of CEM, and back when we entered for the first time, on the way to booking double Trophy Shares, our sense is that CEM's David Adamson, Garfield MacVeigh and now Darwin Green will "find a way" given the patience we Vultures are famous for and no earth ending black swan events. CEM gave back two cents since the last full update, closing Friday, October 26 at $0.05. If we held no position at all, zero, zip, nada, we'd likely take a small Vegas Money stake and wait for interesting news. Trouble is that it just would not take all that much good news to have a major impact on the Ridiculous Cheap price today. We are holding our double Trophy Shares (from previous trade), plus the new stake in CEM until the market is more favorable. How long? As long as it takes! CEM website: http://www.constantinemetals.com/ Subscriber chart: Omitted from this excerpt. CEM compared to important indexes in the chart below. On November 5, four days after our update was sent to subscribers, Constantine announced the signing of a non-binding letter agreement with Dowa Metals and Mining Co., Ltd. of Japan pertaining to CEM's Palmer VMS deposit in SE Alaska. The press release included the principal terms of a formal agreement to be finalized by the end of the year, including: Principal Terms of the Non-Binding Letter Agreement The Letter Agreement anticipates that Dowa will have an option to earn a 49% interest in the Project by making aggregate expenditures of US$22,000,000 over a four year period. Expenditures for each year shall not be less than US$3,000,000, with Dowa funding a minimum of US$3,000,000 in year one as a firm commitment. Included in the aggregate expenditure are cash payments to Constantine totalling US$1,250,000 over four years, of which US$500,000 is due upon signing of the Agreement and the remaining US$750,000 is composed of annual option payments of US$250,000 each. Constantine is expected to be the operator during the earn-in period. Following Dowa completing the required earn-in expenditures and exercising their option, a 51:49 joint venture (the "Joint Venture") between Constantine (51%) and Dowa (49%) for the Project is planned, whereby Constantine shall continue as operator. After formation of the Joint Venture, the Letter Agreement anticipates that each party shall be responsible for its proportionate share of expenses determined on the basis of ownership or suffer dilution according to standard dilution provisions. The Letter Agreement also includes terms that allow Dowa to acquire certain zinc and copper off-take rights in stages, during and upon completion of the earn-in option period that will be incorporated in the Agreement. Garfield MacVeigh, President and CEO of Constantine states: "We are delighted with the opportunity to establish a long term partnership with Dowa who operate world class recycling and smelting operations, including the largest zinc smelter in Japan. The level of expenditure contemplated in the Letter Agreement will significantly advance the project and greatly enhance the probability of defining a resource meeting economic size threshold. We look forward to finalizing the Agreement and to planning next season's exploration program at Palmer." Constantine then released an updated video to further explain the deal to shareholders and interested parties. (View video here.) 2012 VB#17 Channel Resources (CHU.V or CHJRF)… Wednesday, October 31, 2012. Since the last full update Channel Resources has given back 2-cents to close Wednesday at $0.07. As disclosed in the chart we took advantage of a spike lower in early October to add meaningful "size" to our own position. As Vultures already know, there has been a sizable seller keeping a cap on Channel for some time as they have been liquidating something between 10 and 15 million shares. (Through PI, National Bank and Anon.) Likely from former financiers and their clients moving on to "greener pastures," we believe the selling is giving us what we think is an exceptionally cheap buying op for Channel's already proven 1-million plus ounces of gold in Burkina Faso. (Resources in all categories.) Quite a few of the long-time Vulture members and our friends and colleagues are content to stay at or near the bid to catch the "throwaways" on this one. We figure that when we can buy NI-43-101 backed gold in the ground at or near the price shown in the chart just below, it's a basement window play. "You can't fall far from a basement window." Take a good look at the chart just below prepared by Channel Resources. The chart is self-explanatory, comparing Channel to its peers in the neighborhood on the basis of enterprise value. At $5.50 per resource ounce Channel is The Basement. Channel's resources at Tanlouka are in close proximity to Orezone's Bombore', Riverstone's very prospective Liguidi prospect, Volta's Kiaka and several other interesting deposits. We can see a district play developing here at some point as there are at least 12 million ... ounces within a 30-kilometer circle about an hour east and south of the country's capital, Ouagadougou. Below we "borrow" maps of the area, in the order of their appearance, from Channel Resources, Volta and Riverstone for reference.
Image borrowed from Riverstone Resources below. The point is simple. Channel's Tanlouka is in the heart of a prolific area hosting a bunch of shallow, relatively easy to mine gold. Would it be difficult to believe that some gold producer might want to consolidate this area while the resources are selling for a figurative song? Immediately following the second worst bear market and buyer's strike for the junior miners in our lifetime (now) would seem to us to be an opportune time to do something like that. And now, with Riverstone about to do some serious exploration on nearby Liguidi with no less than Mark O'Dea providing the future high level marketing and financing sizzle for RVS, we have to believe that the entire district is about to receive more, not less visibility. Repeating what we said last time, "Channel's roughly 1-million ounce, easily mined resource might make a tasty, low cost addition to round down the average cost of a four or five company "put-together" in the district." As we said in one of the presentations in New Orleans, though, the weird way the resource company market works is "bass-ackwards" because here we have a company that has proved up a million ounce resource, and has exciting possibilities to expand the known resources, and is about to announce extensive soil sampling from the very prospective Manasse and Tanwaka zones just north of the Mankarga deposit, and by the way, the artisinals are working the Tanwaka prospect in a big way (a very good sign), which no one wants anything to do with at seven cents a share, but you watch, "they" (the fickle gamers and trend jumpers) will be jumping all over it once it has more than quadrupled or quintupled... The Manesse and Tanwaka anomalies are shown in the map above. Channel is close to announcing soil sampling results (100 X 25 meter grid). We'll see soon enough if we are right about this one. Meanwhile we plan to take advantage of any further Ridiculous Cheap spikes, if any, to round out our stake in this undervalued Burkina explorer. If we had no CHU at all, we'd take the offer as long as it is below, say $0.15 or so, then try to add on strong to very strong dips. Subscriber Chart for CHU.V: Omitted from this excerpt. Channel Resources website: http://www.channelresources.ca/s/Home.asp CHU compared to important indexes in the chart below. The image just below is of local artisanal workings in the gold fields in Channel Resources's Tanlouka project. Artisinal workings are proof positive of gold in the area and one of the best "pathfinders" in gold exploration. Happy Holidays That will do it for this excerpt of the VB Update. There are currently nine resource related companies we call fully fledged Vulture Bargains. GGR Subscribers have access to technical charts with our comments and trading ideas noted directly on the charts themselves. To see an example of one of the Subscriber VB charts, click on the temporary link below.
If we become interested in the company we begin tracking them on technical charts and attempt to learn their trading 'personality' over time. Then we attempt to take advantage of very high volatility inherent in these promising junior miners and explorers. The basic idea is to build meaningful positions in them very opportunistically over time, taking advantage of market weakness or perhaps non-fatal company specific toe-stubs, or what have you. Then hang on to those "dirt cheap" positions (or even improve them) until the market in general or the market for the specific company returns to its former 'glory.' It's what we Vultures do for 'fun' and, hopefully, for profit. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone.
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| Euro Holding Gains Despite France Downgrade, Indian Banks Banned from Lending for Gold Purchases Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:22 PM PST London Gold Market Report from Ben Traynor BullionVault Tuesday 20 November 2012, 07:30 EST SPOT MARKET prices for buying gold traded above $1730 an ounce throughout Tuesday morning in London, up 1% for the week so far, while the Euro also held onto gains made yesterday despite news that a second ratings agency this year has downgraded France. Gold rose by more than $20 during Monday's trading, following reports that a deal may be done between US politicians on the so-called fiscal cliff. "People are feeling a bit at ease about the budget talks in Congress," says Yuichi Ikemizu at Standard Bank in Tokyo. "But gold is in a tight range between $1,700 and $1,740 until we see a result of the talks at the year end, as the 'fiscal cliff' is the focus of the market." Silver meantime traded around $33.20 an ounce this morning, up more than 3% from last week's close. Most European stock markets ticked lower this morning, with the exception of Germany's DAX, while commodities were ...
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| Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:17 PM PST "By their very silence, the silver and gold mining companies are co-conspirators against all of their shareholders...us. " [COLOR=#7f4028] Yesterday in Gold and Silver The gold price was on the rise as soon as trading began in the Far East on their Monday morning...and was up eight bucks or so by shortly after 10:00 a.m. Hong Kong time. From there, it more or less traded flat into the Comex open...and that point jumped another five dollars or so before trading sideways until about 10:35 a.m. in New York. At that point there was another sharp spike that took gold up to its high tick of the day...$1,736.80 spot..about ten minutes before the London close. From that point it traded sideways once again before getting sold off a few dollars in electronic trading. Gold closed the Monday session at $1,731.90 spot...up $18.20 on the day. Net volume was very light...around 109,000 contracts. As usual, the silver price was more 'volatile'. The price traded ...
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| Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:10 PM PST Bernanke Grasps the Obvious…
While the ebb and flow of tensions in the Middle East may continue to hold short-term sway over markets, the underlying fundamentals for gold remains constructive. The US continues to edge closer to the fiscal cliff and its debt ceiling and Europe remains a mess. Meanwhile the central banks of the industrialized world continue to ply their über-accommodative monetary policies, even as the central banks in the developing world buy gold as a hedge against their exposure to the debasing currencies of the industrialized nations. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech today that the US will continue to face many headwinds to growth, but the fiscal cliff is the most immediate danger. He warned that the Fed doesn't have the tools to fully offset a drop over the fiscal cliff, which would likely push the US back into recession. He acknowledged that "the federal budget is on an unsustainable path," yet urged Congress to raise the debt ceiling in order to "avoid any possibility of a catastrophic default on the nation's Treasury securities and other obligations." Treasury Secretary Geithner said in a recent Bloomberg interview that the debt ceiling should simply be eliminated. Given that the US has never failed to reach — and ultimately exceed — every debt ceiling ever established, a debt ceiling of infinity would be troubling beyond words. As noted in yesterday's report, the damage may have already been done. A Wall Street Journal survey released yesterday shows that planned spending by major corporations has fallen off a cliff. This reality was also reflected in the October durable goods miss and soft capacity utilization. If we do go over the cliff, things will almost assuredly get worse. So while there is incentive for Congress to come together and reach some sort of bi-partisan compromise to avert economic catastrophe, that deal would likely be nothing more than another 'kick of the can' down the road.
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| Ranting Andy Hoffman – America The Twinkie State Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST from FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com:
CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO INTERVIEW
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| AN ALTERNATIVE VIEWPOINT WHY THE GOLD AND SILVER MINERS HAVE UNDER PERFORMED Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:49 AM PST By SRSrocco: I used to believe that the gold and silver miners were being manipulated as per the industry's largest spokesmen… Jim Sinclair. However, I now believe the HEDGE FUND TRADE of being Long the Metal and Short the Miners … Continue reading
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| Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:48 AM PST Dimitri Speck writes: Is there such a thing as a gold season? Slogans like "Sell in May and go away" are well-known from the equity markets, and often seasonal patterns such as growing stock prices in the winter months or the year-end rally, are subject to statistical studies. Is there also a seasonal behavior in gold?
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| Japan: return of the yen bears Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:40 AM PST from Gold Money:
For a while now, Bass has been betting against Japan via credit default swaps. His argument for this is persuasive. Japanese government debt is running at 230% of GDP. The country has a declining and ageing population. Japan is also prone to massive natural disasters, as witnessed with 2011's tsunami. Indeed, in response to the resultant Fukushima disaster, the Japanese government is still only slowly reopening its 54 nuclear reactors, which prior to the disaster accounted for 30% of their electricity generation capacity. This has led to a 70% increase in their natural gas imports – part of the reason why earlier this year the country slipped into a trade deficit for the first time in decades.
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| Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:20 AM PST by Frank Holmes, Gold Seek:
Compared to the third quarter of last year, Indian gold jewelry demand grew by 7 percent while gold bar and coin demand rose 12 percent. Total consumer demand was 223 tons, compared to 205 tons this time last year. The second largest market was Greater China, which consumed 185 tons in the third quarter of 2012. This was less than the 201 tons consumed in the third quarter of last year. Together these markets in the east made up 55 percent of the world's jewelry and investment demand, according to the WGC.
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| Silver’s Smoking Guns, Part III: Market Paradox Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:19 AM PST In Part I and Part II of this series, readers were presented with two dimensions of the great Silver Paradox. Despite having the best investment fundamentals of any commodity today, and arguably the best fundamentals for any commodity in history; silver hasn't been so under-produced since it was discovered in the New World nearly 600 years ago, and it has never been so under-owned. Along with establishing that silver is under-owned (by a factor of at least ten) and under-produced (by at least a factor of two); we also saw it conclusively established that silver was grossly under-priced. As we will see in this installment, it is the relentless suppression of the price of silver which is at the root of silver being both under-produced and under-owned. Much has been written on this subject previously, by myself and others. However, any discussion of price-manipulation in the silver market must begin with the relentless sleuthing of noted silver authority, Ted Butler. It was his shocking discoveries in the silver market which originally attracted the attention of small numbers of far-seeing Contrarians, as well as other commentators such as myself. Among Mr. Butler's revelations were the outrageous/absurd short positions in the silver market of a handful of bullion banks. Five of these banks hold approximately 80% of the global short position (year after year), in the world's largest silver market (the Comex) – another smoking gun. Furthermore, the magnitude of these short holdings is grossly disproportionate to the size of short positions in any other commodity market – another smoking gun. Even more outrageous, the largest of these short positions (held by JP Morgan) is always roughly twice as large as the size of the Hunt Brothers long position in the silver market; when they were charged and convicted of silver-manipulation. This goes well beyond a mere "smoking gun", and a more accurate metaphor would be to refer to it as a Smoking Cannon. The banksters tell us they are "hedging" for anonymous clients with these short positions, and the blind/deaf/dumb CFTC vacuously parrots that drivel. This excuse is nonsensical on many levels. Hedging is an activity done to protect an entity from a sudden, severe price-reversal (lower) in the market. However, as noted in Part I, relentless price-suppression in the silver market had already taken the price of silver to a 600-year low (in real dollars). Precisely what sort of "sudden, severe reversal" were these banksters hedging against with the price of silver already at a 600-year low? Silver priced below $4/oz was one of the most one-way bets in the history of commodities. Any objective analysis of that market would have indicated that silver clients required much less hedging than in any other commodity market – not much, much more. This multiplies the perversity of the grossly disproportionate short position, and totally negates the lies of the bullion banks.
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| Investors Don’t Understand The Risk In The System Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST from KingWorldNews:
"You say, 'Well why aren't they buying gold?' What they are doing, first of all, is getting their portfolios in line, and they are going to cash first. They realize that the so-called fiscal cliff is simply the first face of reality for the administration. But they are not going to come up with anything for it that gets the deficit down below 3/4 of a trillion dollars per year. Nobody is suggesting that. They are saying they can't afford to do that…. Don Coxe continues @ KingWorldNews.com
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| Leeb: Investors Must Know This Lesson From The 70s Gold Bull Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:52 AM PST  Today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb told King World News, "There is a growing recognition that austerity can only take the Europeans so far. We are now seeing weakness in Germany and a downgrading of French bonds. The Europeans are slowly coming around to the fact that they are going to have to continue pumping money into the system."
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| HUI-Gold Ratio; 3 Views, 1 Conclusion Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:50 AM PST Here is a little snippet from NFTRH 213 that showed the important indicator of gold sector health, the HUI-Gold Ratio (HGR) from three different views; daily, weekly and monthly. As you can see, daily must hold to keep the weekly intact ... Read More...
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| Former SAC Trader Busted With Biggest Insider Trading Profit In History Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:31 AM PST Over two years ago, on November 5, 2010, weeks before news broke out that the SEC had caught hedge funds in a massive insider trading scheme involving expert networks, and before the phrase expert network was even mentioned in places away from hedge funds, we wrote an article, titled "Is The SEC's Insider Trading Case Implicating FrontPoint A Sting Operation Aimed At S.A.C. Capital?" that predicted everything that has transpired with SAC since then: we said expert networks would be exposed as the root of virtually all "information arbitrage" alpha by Steve Cohen, more importantly, we exposed various biotech stock trading patterns, where the informational benefits from easily bribable doctors would result in immediate profits courtesy of advance knowledge of Phase 2, 3 and NDA results. Today, we discover not just how deep the SAC insider trading schemes went, but that the profit from such information abuse amounted to hundreds of millions in standalone cases. Adding these together and one can see why Steve Cohen - whose knowledge of these epic inside trading scheme is of course never implied by us: after all, that's what the DOJ, the SEC and the various DA offices are for - was generating 20% returns year after year and able to pocket 3% and 50%. As a reminder, this is what we wrote, at a time when even suggesting in public that SAC was involved in insider trading was a taboo topic:
Today, one by one all of our questions are being answered, in a way just as had been expected. From the FT:
In other words, nothing that was not explicitly known by our readers for over two years. But to summarize, here is how one made millions in the mid-2000s:
This is how it is supposed to work, and has worked for countless "PMs" in the period 2003-2009. When it doesn't work quite as expected, get a 5 year jail sentence coupled with profit disgorgement, but not before parking $5-10 million in hush money from various "interested party" lawyers, just to keep one's mouth shut before various FBI, SEC, and DA representatives. Park money in Switzerland Singapore. Do 2.5 years on good behavior. Leave prison to $5-10 million in happy retirement money. The end. Oh, one more thing: SAC still is accountable for 10% of daily NYSE volume, and now that it can no longer capitalize on "expert networks" alpha, is lately best known for running the entire market's stops both up and down (see AAPL yesterday), a feat made possible due to the total collapse in broad institutional volume. Have a wonderful manipulated day. * * * Full Martoma filng below:
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| Gold and Silver At A Crossroads, But Solid Fundamentals Support A Move To New All-time Highs In 2013 Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:29 AM PST Gold and Silver have performed "constructively" since the late September highs in both markets. A 50% correction in both Precious Metals markets thru the annually weak month of October was less about manipulation, and more about "necessary", following both Precious Metals strong rallies that commenced in early August. No market moves straight up, or straight down. Corrections should be welcomed, and looked at as opportunities to add to positions in the direction you believe the market is moving within the "big picture". The "correction zone" for any strong rally is between 38% and 50% of the rally [or decline]. If a market finds support within the correction zone, it is likely to soon retest its recent high, and/or extend the recent rally to new highs [or lows]. Understanding this technical aspect of any market makes it much easier to understand and take advantage of "opportunities" a market presents to ALL traders. With that being said, please note that since I suggested "buying the dip" in my November 2nd post, both Gold and Silver have rallied and regained 50% of their respective October declines. Gold and Silver are at a crossroads now. Take out the respective 50% Fibonacci retracements of their October declines, and we can expect to see a retest of the late September highs in both Precious Metals going into the Christmas holidays.  [click on image to enlarge]  It can not be emphasized enough that the "fundamentals" of the Precious Metals offer MAJOR support to both these markets. The results of the Presidential Election [as incorrect as my prediction was ;-) ] have not changed a thing in Washington. The Status Quo survived intact, and only adds support to the bullish case for both Gold and Silver. Consider that the "Fiscal Cliff" the mainstream financial press has suddenly "discovered" was caused by dealing with the Debt Ceiling debate in September 2011, and that its hoped for "resolution" will only conflict with yet ANOTHER Debt Ceiling debate in early 2013...how can anyone be anything but bullish on the prices of the Precious Metals? Seriously, the President and the Congress have their backs firmly against the Fiscal Cliff's edge. Damned if they do, double damned if they don't. The American public [the tax payers] are about to be sold the notion that the Debt Ceiling must be raised by $2.5 TRILLION to "prevent" the US Government for defaulting on their debt obligations. What could be more LUDICROUS escapes me. Look at the reaction to mere photo opps as the President and Congress try to provide confidence to the World that America will avoid the Fiscal Cliff and remain "solvent". The recent equity rallies are little more than short squeezes. The "business climate" going forward in America and Europe is hardly encouraging. Hope and Hot Air are not fundamentally sound pillars of global business and equity strength. The single biggest deterrent to a race higher in the Precious Metals would be a false strengthening in the US Dollar should the US Equity markets implode as the reality of the Fiscal Cliff and the impending Debt Ceiling debate becomes all too obvious to even the bumbling mainstream financial news media. This deterrent will be fleeting at best as the entire World comes to the realization that the US Dollar is DOOMED. ========================= Foreign Buying of U.S. Assets Plunges on Europe Optimism By Kasia Klimasinska and Meera Louis – Nov 16, 2012 11:53 AM ET International purchases of U.S. financial assets plunged 96 percent in September as confidence grew that Europe was beginning to solve its debt crisis and investors sold Treasuries following the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing announcement. Net buying of long-term equities, notes and bonds totaled $3.3 billion during the month, down from net purchases of $90.3 billion in August, the Treasury Department said today in Washington. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected net buying of $50 billion of long-term assets, according to the median estimate. ECB President Mario Draghi has called the euro "irreversible" and said the new government bond purchasing program will have effective conditionality attached. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg The Federal Open Market Committee said Sept. 13 that it would undertake a third round of quantitative easing by purchasing mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month until labor markets improve substantially. "QE3 certainly played its role in basically encouraging people to take risk and to some extent to short the dollar," Sebastien Galy, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at Societe Generale SA in New York, said. "The risk appetite was pretty strong overall, there were better places to park your money than the dollar," and "there was a big rise in optimism regarding the euro zone." More… ___________________________________ Updated: 2012-10-24 00:57 By Gao Changxin ( China Daily) A "renminbi bloc" has been formed in East Asia, as nations in the region abandon the US dollar and peg their currency to the Chinese yuan — a major signal of China's successful bid to internationalize its currency, a research report has said. The Peterson Institute for International Economics, or PIIE, said in its latest research that China has moved closer to its long-term goal for the renminbi to become a global reserve currency. Since the global financial crisis, the report said, more and more nations, especially emerging economies, see the yuan as the main reference currency when setting their exchange rate. And now seven out of 10 economies in the region — including South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand — track the renminbi more closely than they do the US dollar. Only three economies in the group — Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Mongolia — still have currencies following the dollar more closely than the renminbi, said the report, posted on the institute's website. The South Korean won, for example, has appreciated in sync with the renminbi against the dollar since mid-2010. China has long vowed to raise its currency's global sway, along with the rise of its economy, which became the world's second-biggest last year. More… ___________________________________ U.S. Companies Cut Spending Plans Amid Fiscal and Economic Uncertainty By SUDEEP REDDY and SCOTT THURM U.S. companies are scaling back investment plans at the fastest pace since the recession, signaling more trouble for the economic recovery. Half of the nation's 40 biggest publicly traded corporate spenders have announced plans to curtail capital expenditures this year or next, according to a review by The Wall Street Journal of securities filings and conference calls. Nationwide, business investment in equipment and software—a measure of economic vitality in the corporate sector—stalled in the third quarter for the first time since early 2009. Corporate investment in new buildings has declined. At the same time, exports are slowing or falling to such critical markets as China and the euro zone as the global economy downshifts, creating another drag on firms' expansion plans. Corporate executives say they are slowing or delaying big projects to protect profits amid easing demand and rising uncertainty. Uncertainty around the U.S. elections and federal budget policies also appear among the factors driving the investment pullback since midyear. It is unclear whether Washington will avert the so-called fiscal cliff, tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to begin Jan. 2. More… ___________________________________ (CNSNews.com) – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Friday that Congress should stop placing legal limits on the amount of money the government can borrow and effectively lift the debt limit to infinity. On Bloomberg TV, "Political Capital" host Al Hunt asked Geithner if he believes "we ought to just eliminate the debt ceiling." "Oh, absolutely," Geithner said. "You do? Will you propose that?" Hunt asked. More… ___________________________________ Central Banks' Gold Likely Gone-Eric Sprott By Greg Hunter's USAWatchdog.com Money manager Eric Sprott says, "The central banks' gold is likely gone with no realistic chance of getting it back." Don't expect this revelation to get any coverage by the mainstream media. In an interview last week, Sprott's analysis was met with words such as "gold bug" and "conspiracy theory." Sprott answers that sort of disrespect by saying, "We've had so many conspiracies, I don't know why anyone would think this was unusual." To back up his point, he named "LIBOR, electricity markets in California and the Madoff" scandals. Sprott's analysis shows a "flat supply" and at least a "2,500 ton net increase in gold demand" since 2000. "Where's all the gold coming from?" asks Sprott. He says Western central banks ". . . keep supplying this market with product in order to keep the price down so nobody knows how vulnerable the situation is." Sprott, who manages nearly $10 billion in assets, boldly proclaims, "We have a shortage of gold." Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Eric Sprott of Sprott Asset Management. ___________________________________ Jeff Clark: So How Many Ounces of Gold (or Silver) Should You Own?Saturday, November 17, 2012, 2:00 PM You want to focus on how many ounces you own, not necessarily looking at whether the price is $5 higher today than it was yesterday. How many ounces do you own? That is really the question you want to ask yourself, so you can focus on how much you are really going to need, and the amount really comes down to this. For me, I am probably going to use some of this gold if we get high inflation. How are you going to protect your standard of living if we get some kind of runaway inflation? And let's say it's not runaway hyperinflation; let's just say it's high inflation, 10%, 15%. Remember it was 14% in 1980, so the odds of us getting high inflation are realistic. So if I am going to use that gold to cover my standard of living, you are going to need about two thirds of an ounce of gold for every thousand dollars of monthly expenses. If you want to protect your standard of living and not have your house be ravaged by inflation, so to speak, so that is a good guideline to follow. So if inflation lasts a couple years, well, you are going to need 15 ounces of gold for every thousand dollars of monthly expenses. That is a good guideline to think about. And if your expenses are more per month, you are going to need more gold than that. If inflation lasts longer than two years, you are going to need more than that, but you can actually use the sales of gold and silver to protect your standard of living. You sell some gold and silver, you are going to get U.S. dollars or Canadian dollars with it and you can use the increase in the gold and silver price to offset the increase in the goods and services you are buying. So I think that is the way to view it, to look at how you are going to use it. And so the focus again comes back to how many ounces do you own? So if you do not have any, you need to obviously start buying. More... 
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| US Dollar Death By a Thousand Cuts Continues Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:23 AM PST from Silver Doctors:
The dollar's days as the global reserve currency are numbered as the Peterson Institute for International Economics reports in its latest research that China has moved much closer to its long-term goal to make the renminbi the global reserve currency. Asian economies turn to yuan A "renminbi bloc" has been formed in East Asia, as nations in the region abandon the US dollar and peg their currency to the Chinese yuan — a major signal of China's successful bid to internationalize its currency, a research report has said. The Peterson Institute for International Economics, or PIIE, said in its latest research that China has moved closer to its long-term goal for the renminbi to become a global reserve currency. Since the global financial crisis, the report said, more and more nations, especially emerging economies, see the yuan as the main reference currency when setting their exchange rate.
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| Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:20 AM PST Is there such a thing as a gold season? Slogans like "Sell in May and go away" are well-known from the equity markets, and often seasonal patterns such as growing stock prices in the winter months or the year-end rally ... Read More...
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| Bernanke Promises More Of The Same, Warns Of Fiscal Cliff - Live Webcast Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:17 AM PST The week's most anticipated speech (given Obama's absence from DC) is here. Bernanke's Economic Club of New York extravaganza - where he has previously hinted at new or further policy - is upon us. Sure enough, it's a smorgasbord of we'll do whatever-it-takes (but won't bailout Congress) easing-to-infinity, housing's recovering but we want moar, simply re-iterating his comments from last week...
However, as we have noted previously, once you've gone QE-Eternity, you never go back... and we would this is the 3rd time in a row that someone from the Fed has spoken and stocks have sold off.
Full speech: The Economic Recovery and Economic Policy Good afternoon. I am pleased to join the New York Economic Club for lunch today. I know that many of you and your friends and neighbors are still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, and I want to let you know that our thoughts are with everyone who has suffered during the storm and its aftermath. My remarks today will focus on the reasons for the disappointingly slow pace of economic recovery in the United States and the policy actions that have been taken by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to support the economy. In addition, I will discuss some important economic challenges our country faces as we close out 2012 and move into 2013--in particular, the challenge of putting federal government finances on a sustainable path in the longer run while avoiding actions that would endanger the economic recovery in the near term. The Recovery from the Financial Crisis and Recession Similarly, the job market has improved over the past three years, but at a slow pace. The unemployment rate, which peaked at 10 percent in the fall of 2009, has since come down 2 percentage points to just below 8 percent. This decline is obviously welcome, but it has taken a long time to achieve that progress, and the unemployment rate is still well above both its level prior to the onset of the recession and the level that my colleagues and I think can be sustained once a full recovery has been achieved. Moreover, many other features of the jobs market, including the historically high level of long-term unemployment, the large number of people working part time because they have not been able to find full-time jobs, and the decline in labor force participation, reinforce the conclusion that we have some way to go before the labor market can be deemed healthy again. Meanwhile, inflation has generally remained subdued. As is often the case, inflation has been pushed up and down in recent years by fluctuations in the price of crude oil and other globally traded commodities, including the increase in farm prices brought on by this summer's drought. But with longer-term inflation expectations remaining stable, the ebbs and flows in commodity prices have had only transitory effects on inflation. Indeed, since the recovery began about three years ago, consumer price inflation, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, has averaged almost exactly 2 percent, which is the FOMC's longer-run objective for inflation. Because ongoing slack in labor and product markets should continue to restrain wage and price increases, and with the public's inflation expectations continuing to be well anchored, inflation over the next few years is likely to remain close to or a little below the Committee's objective. As background for our monetary policy decisionmaking, we at the Federal Reserve have spent a good deal of effort attempting to understand the reasons why the economic recovery has not been stronger. Studies of previous financial crises provide one helpful place to start. This literature has found that severe financial crises--particularly those associated with housing booms and busts--have often been associated with many years of subsequent weak performance. While this result allows for many interpretations, one possibility is that financial crises, or the deep recessions that typically accompany them, may reduce an economy's potential growth rate, at least for a time. The accumulating evidence does appear consistent with the financial crisis and the associated recession having reduced the potential growth rate of our economy somewhat during the past few years. In particular, slower growth of potential output would help explain why the unemployment rate has declined in the face of the relatively modest output gains we have seen during the recovery. Output normally has to increase at about its longer-term trend just to create enough jobs to absorb new entrants to the labor market, and faster-than-trend growth is usually needed to reduce unemployment. So the fact that unemployment has declined in recent years despite economic growth at about 2 percent suggests that the growth rate of potential output must have recently been lower than the roughly 2-1/2 percent rate that appeared to be in place before the crisis. There are a number of ways in which the financial crisis could have slowed the rate of growth of the economy's potential. For example, the extraordinarily severe job losses that followed the crisis, especially in housing-related industries, may have exacerbated for a time the extent of mismatch between the jobs available and the skills and locations of the unemployed. Meanwhile, the very high level of long-term unemployment has probably led to some loss of skills and labor force attachment among those workers. These factors may have pushed up to some degree the so-called natural rate of unemployment--the rate of unemployment that can be sustained under normal conditions--and reduced labor force participation as well. The pace of productivity gains--another key determinant of growth in potential output--may also have been restrained by the crisis, as business investment declined sharply during the recession; and increases in risk aversion and uncertainty, together with tight credit conditions, may have impeded the commercial application of new technologies and slowed the pace of business formation. Importantly, however, although the nation's potential output may have grown more slowly than expected in recent years, this slowing seems at best a partial explanation of the disappointing pace of the economic recovery. In particular, even though the natural rate of unemployment may have increased somewhat, a variety of evidence suggests that any such increase has been modest, and that substantial slack remains in the labor market. For example, the slow pace of employment growth has been widespread across industries and regions of the country. That pattern suggests a broad-based shortfall in demand rather than a substantial increase in mismatch between available jobs and workers, because greater mismatch would imply that the demand for workers would be strong in some regions and industries, not weak almost across the board. Likewise, if a mismatch of jobs and workers is the predominant problem, we would expect to see wage pressures developing in those regions and industries where labor demand is strong; in fact, wage gains have been quite subdued in most industries and parts of the country. Indeed, as I indicated earlier, the consensus among my colleagues on the FOMC is that the unemployment rate is still well above its longer-run sustainable level, perhaps by 2 to 2-1/2 percentage points or so. A critical question, then, is why significant slack in the job market remains three years after the recovery began. A likely explanation, which I will discuss further, is that the economy has been faced with a variety of headwinds that have hindered what otherwise might have been a stronger cyclical rebound. If so, we may take some encouragement from the likelihood that there are potentially two sources of faster GDP growth in the future. First, the effects of the crisis on potential output should fade as the economy continues to heal. And second, if the headwinds begin to dissipate, as I expect, growth should pick up further as many who are currently unemployed or out of the labor force find work. Headwinds Affecting the Recovery Recently, the housing market has shown some clear signs of improvement, as home sales, prices, and construction have all moved up since early this year. These developments are encouraging, and it seems likely that, on net, residential investment will be a source of economic growth and new jobs over the next couple of years. However, while historically low mortgage interest rates and the drop in home prices have made housing exceptionally affordable, a number of factors continue to prevent the sort of powerful housing recovery that has typically occurred in the past. Notably, lenders have maintained tight terms and conditions on mortgage loans, even for potential borrowers with relatively good credit.8 Lenders cite a number of factors affecting their decisions to extend credit, including ongoing uncertainties about the course of the economy, the housing market, and the regulatory environment. Unfortunately, while some tightening of the terms of mortgage credit was certainly an appropriate response to the earlier excesses, the pendulum appears to have swung too far, restraining the pace of recovery in the housing sector. Other factors slowing the recovery in housing include the fact that many people remain unable to buy homes despite low mortgage rates; for example, about 20 percent of existing mortgage borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth, making it more difficult for them to refinance or sell their homes. Also, a substantial overhang of vacant homes, either for sale or in the foreclosure pipeline, continues to hold down house prices and reduce the need for new construction. While these headwinds on both the supply and demand sides of the housing market have clearly started to abate, the recovery in the housing sector is likely to remain moderate by historical standards. A second set of headwinds stems from the financial conditions facing potential borrowers in credit and capital markets. After the financial system seized up in late 2008 and early 2009, global economic activity contracted sharply, and credit and capital markets suffered significant damage. Although dramatic actions by governments and central banks around the world helped these markets to stabilize and begin recovering, tight credit and a high degree of risk aversion have restrained economic growth in the United States and in other countries as well. Measures of the condition of U.S. financial markets and institutions suggest gradual but significant progress has been achieved since the crisis. For example, credit spreads on corporate bonds and syndicated loans have narrowed considerably, and equity prices have recovered most of their losses. In addition, indicators of market stress and illiquidity--such as spreads in short-term funding markets--have generally returned to levels near those seen before the crisis. One gauge of the overall improvement in financial markets is the National Financial Conditions Index maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The index shows that financial conditions, viewed as a whole, are now about as accommodative as they were in the spring of 2007. In spite of this broad improvement, the harm inflicted by the financial crisis has yet to be fully repaired in important segments of the financial sector. One example is the continued weakness in some categories of bank lending. Banks' capital positions and overall asset quality have improved substantially over the past several years, and, over time, these balance sheet improvements will position banks to extend considerably more credit to bank-dependent borrowers. Indeed, some types of bank credit, such as commercial and industrial loans, have expanded notably in recent quarters. Nonetheless, banks have been conservative in extending loans to many consumers and some businesses, likely even beyond the restrictions on the supply of mortgage lending that I noted earlier. This caution in lending by banks reflects, among other factors, their continued desire to guard against the risks of further economic weakness. A prominent risk at present--and a major source of financial headwinds over the past couple of years--is the fiscal and financial situation in Europe. This situation, of course, was not anticipated when the U.S. recovery began in 2009. The elevated levels of stress in European economies and uncertainty about how the problems there will be resolved are adding to the risks that U.S. financial institutions, businesses, and households must consider when making lending and investment decisions. Negative sentiment regarding Europe appears to have weighed on U.S. equity prices and prevented U.S. credit spreads from narrowing even further. Weaker economic conditions in Europe and other parts of the world have also weighed on U.S. exports and corporate earnings. Policymakers in Europe have taken some important steps recently, and in doing so have contributed to some welcome easing of financial conditions. In particular, the European Central Bank's new Outright Monetary Transactions program, under which it could purchase the sovereign debt of vulnerable euro-area countries who agree to meet prescribed conditions, has helped ease market concerns about those countries. European governments have also taken steps to strengthen their financial firewalls and to move toward greater fiscal and banking union. Further improvement in global financial conditions will depend in part on the extent to which European policymakers follow through on these initiatives. A third headwind to the recovery--and one that may intensify in force in coming quarters--is U.S. fiscal policy. Although fiscal policy at the federal level was quite expansionary during the recession and early in the recovery, as the recovery proceeded, the support provided for the economy by federal fiscal actions was increasingly offset by the adverse effects of tight budget conditions for state and local governments. In response to a large and sustained decline in their tax revenues, state and local governments have cut about 600,000 jobs on net since the third quarter of 2008 while reducing real expenditures for infrastructure projects by 20 percent. More recently, the situation has to some extent reversed: The drag on economic growth from state and local fiscal policy has diminished as revenues have improved, easing the pressures for further spending cuts or tax increases. In contrast, the phasing-out of earlier stimulus programs and policy actions to reduce the federal budget deficit have led federal fiscal policy to begin restraining GDP growth. Indeed, under almost any plausible scenario, next year the drag from federal fiscal policy on GDP growth will outweigh the positive effects on growth from fiscal expansion at the state and local level. However, the overall effect of federal fiscal policy on the economy, both in the near term and in the longer run, remains quite uncertain and depends on how policymakers meet two daunting fiscal challenges--one by the start of the new year and the other no later than the spring. Upcoming Fiscal Challenges As fiscal policymakers face these critical decisions, they should keep two objectives in mind. First, as I think is widely appreciated by now, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path. The budget deficit, which peaked at about 10 percent of GDP in 2009 and now stands at about 7 percent of GDP, is expected to narrow further in the coming years as the economy continues to recover. However, the CBO projects that, under a plausible set of policy assumptions, the budget deficit would still be greater than 4 percent of GDP in 2018, assuming the economy has returned to its potential by then. Moreover, under the CBO projection, the deficit and the ratio of federal debt to GDP would subsequently return to an upward trend. Of course, we should all understand that long-term projections of ever-increasing deficits will never actually come to pass, because the willingness of lenders to continue to fund the government can only be sustained by responsible fiscal plans and actions. A credible framework to set federal fiscal policy on a stable path--for example, one on which the ratio of federal debt to GDP eventually stabilizes or declines--is thus urgently needed to ensure longer-term economic growth and stability. Even as fiscal policymakers address the urgent issue of longer-run fiscal sustainability, they should not ignore a second key objective: to avoid unnecessarily adding to the headwinds that are already holding back the economic recovery. Fortunately, the two objectives are fully compatible and mutually reinforcing. Preventing a sudden and severe contraction in fiscal policy early next year will support the transition of the economy back to full employment; a stronger economy will in turn reduce the deficit and contribute to achieving long-term fiscal sustainability. At the same time, a credible plan to put the federal budget on a path that will be sustainable in the long run could help keep longer-term interest rates low and boost household and business confidence, thereby supporting economic growth today. Coming together to find fiscal solutions will not be easy, but the stakes are high. Uncertainty about how the fiscal cliff, the raising of the debt limit, and the longer-term budget situation will be addressed appears already to be affecting private spending and investment decisions and may be contributing to an increased sense of caution in financial markets, with adverse effects on the economy. Continuing to push off difficult policy choices will only prolong and intensify these uncertainties. Moreover, while the details of whatever agreement is reached to resolve the fiscal cliff are important, the economic confidence of both market participants and the general public likely will also be influenced by the extent to which our political system proves able to deliver a reasonable solution with a minimum of uncertainty and delay. Finding long-term solutions that can win sufficient political support to be enacted may take some time, but meaningful progress toward this end can be achieved now if policymakers are willing to think creatively and work together constructively. Monetary Policy Monetary policy can do little to reverse the effects that the financial crisis may have had on the economy's productive potential. However, it has been able to provide an important offset to the headwinds that have slowed the cyclical recovery. As you know, the Federal Reserve took strong easing measures during the financial crisis and recession, cutting its target for the federal funds rate--the traditional tool of monetary policy--to nearly zero by the end of 2008. Since that time, we have provided additional accommodation through two nontraditional policy tools aimed at putting downward pressure on longer-term interest rates: asset purchases that reduce the supply of longer-term securities outstanding in the market, and communication about the future path of monetary policy. Most recently, after the September FOMC meeting, we announced that the Federal Reserve would purchase additional agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and continue with the program to extend the maturity of our Treasury holdings. These additional asset purchases should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates and make broader financial conditions more accommodative. Moreover, our purchases of MBS, by bringing down mortgage rates, provide support directly to housing and thereby help mitigate some of the headwinds facing that sector. In announcing this decision, we also indicated that we would continue purchasing MBS, undertake additional purchases of longer-term securities, and employ our other policy tools until we judge that the outlook for the labor market has improved substantially in a context of price stability. Although it is still too early to assess the full effects of our most recent policy actions, yields on corporate bonds and agency MBS have fallen significantly, on balance, since the FOMC's announcement. More generally, research suggests that our previous asset purchases have eased overall financial conditions and provided meaningful support to the economic recovery in recent years. In addition to announcing new purchases of MBS, at our September meeting we extended our guidance for how long we expect that exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate will likely be warranted at least through the middle of 2015. By pushing the expected period of low rates further into the future, we are not saying that we expect the economy to remain weak until mid-2015; rather, we expect--as we indicated in our September statement--that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economic recovery strengthens.13 In other words, we will want to be sure that the recovery is established before we begin to normalize policy. We hope that such assurances will reduce uncertainty and increase confidence among households and businesses, thereby providing additional support for economic growth and job creation. Conclusion
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| Ron Paul on sound money prospects in the USA Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:10 AM PST from Gold Money News: Following his "Farewell to Congress" speech last week, Congressman Ron Paul talks to GoldMoney's Andy Duncan about the achievements and legacy of his recent presidential campaign — particularly in the context of monetary policy. They discuss the recent re-publication of his book The Case for Gold and his forthcoming chairmanship of the Campaign for Liberty (www.campaignforliberty.org/). Paul also talks about the likelihood of America returning to some form of gold standard in the years ahead and the prospects for private currency issuance; what the next four years under President Obama are likely to hold; and the shale oil revolution.
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| Fiscal Cliff Navigation Tactics Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:02 AM PST Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs' Peter Oppenheimer said that compared to bonds, US stocks were the cheapest in 50 years. If Peter is correct, that could be good news for your gold stocks, because there is an ongoing correlation between the Dow and most gold equities. Unfortunately, Goldman also believes that the fiscal cliff situation could drive stock markets 8% lower by year-end.
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| Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST November 20, 2012
The nice thing about being a CEO at the nation's premier investment bank and writing an Op-Ed for the nation's premier business newspaper is that the paper's editors are unlikely to press you to define your terms. You could be forgiven for suspecting that Blankfein's definition of "the wealthiest" might come uncomfortably close to your own pay grade. No skin off Blankfein's nose: He has considerable leeway structuring when and where his income originates. You, in all likelihood, do not. Hold that thought…
Here's a representative sample of the replies…
How, indeed? As part of our analysis, we ran all the responses through a word-cloud generator. This crude but revealing tool shows the words that came up most often…
We did not conduct a follow-up survey this year… in part because we figured the results would be much the same.
An extreme response to the election outcome?
As "fiscal cliff" negotiations proceed apace, Republicans are "no longer talking about the Dec. 31 deadline for the tax rates as a Masada, a full-bore defense of the old rates," reports Dave Weigel at Slate. "They're talking about what they can get if they accede to the Democrats." And Dec. 31 might not be the end of the story. Exxon Mobil — which gave 93% of its political donations to Republicans the last two years — "is part of a growing coalition backing a carbon tax as an alternative to costly regulation," according to Bloomberg.
Startlingly, even The New York Times has figured out this is a problem. The Gray Lady did a story on Sunday. The people they profiled sound a lot like our readership…
"The rich will start hoarding more cash, expecting to pay higher tax bills in the future," Dan says. "They'll invest more in liquid Treasury bonds and gold; they'll invest less in illiquid, privately owned job-creating businesses or in the stock market."
"I can't imagine why this concept is so hard to understand, but I guess if in the experience of a politician's whole life, he's never observed family or a friend running a small business, this debate is just an abstraction and there are piles of idle money sitting in bank accounts waiting to be grabbed." Nor is the ignorance confined to Washington. The wealth of many "wealthy" people is tied up in the ownership of privately held companies — "things not so easily liquidated to pay higher taxes," Dan points out. "This phenomenon is not familiar to many guilty rich people in New York, whose net worth is in liquid financial assets that can be sold piecemeal to pay taxes." Like the aforementioned Mr. Blankfein…
That's why Addison has decided to reopen access to "Project X" — the top-secret project we launched after our original survey to respond to those concerns. "Project X" is unlike anything we've ever pursued. It's not a newsletter, trading service, book, documentary, conference or social club. There's truly nothing else like it in the business. It aims high — to transform the way you look at investing, building new wealth and funding your retirement. "It's the time to be independent," says Addison… "follow your passions, travel, indulge a little, take care of your health and family… and there's no better way to get there than to make sound decisions about investment opportunities. The better you understand opportunity… the more income and independence you have at the end of your life." Readers who've been part of Project X for the last year write in with high praise…
For a few more hours, you have the chance to join these satisfied readers. To make it worth your while, we've slashed the regular cost in half. Please note, however: Project X hasn't accepted new members for the last year. And it might be another year before we reopen it. The doors close at midnight tonight. For a full rundown of everything you get with this one-of-a-kind resource, follow this link.
Overnight, Moody's stripped France of its AAA credit rating. Before the open, housing starts registered a "better than expected" increase, jumping to a four-year high. Crude is taking a breather, down to $88.45. Precious metals are holding their own, gold at $1,733 and silver at $33.18. The dollar index remains a hair below 81.
Addison took notice as they were getting cranked up last month, musing about whether it was "the leading edge of a new and more potent phase of the Occupy movement." The strikes gathered pace again last week — in Seattle and Dallas, among other cities. "Union-backed Wal-Mart worker groups said to expect a thousand strikes or demonstrations spread over nine days," writes a sympathetic The Nation, "culminating in an unprecedented array of 'Black Friday' disruptions." Wait a minute, you say: Wal-Mart employees aren't union. That's the point of the movement. "Depending on the scale of Friday's action and on what happens afterward, the strike could provide unions and their progressive allies with the opportunity to kick-start a national debate about the sorry state of labor rights," says John Logan, a professor of "labor and employment studies" at San Francisco State. Then again, "Shoppers in the parking lot will say, 'Oh, that's terrible — OK, where do I get my discounted electronics,'" says Northwestern law professor Zev Eigen, a specialist in labor relations. "That's one of the big challenges for the labor movement. We'll sign online petitions, but we won't vote with our wallets." We'll know by Friday, eh?
"Did you eat him?" a member of the crew inquired. Last week, Chris Mayer joined his friends Chris Tell and Mark Wallace from Capitalist Exploits at a private conference in the Cannibal Isles, or what we now know as Fiji. "The conference attracted a mostly apocalyptic bunch," Chris observes, "all waiting for the U.S. and the rest of the Western world to descend into darkness. So the isolation and sustainability of Fiji have great appeal in this regard. "It is an interesting market, for reasons I will explain. "And yes," appends Chris, "the Fijians were cannibals long ago. They don't hide from this history, as far as I can tell. In fact, Taukei described a piece of property by starting with, 'In cannibal times'…"
"Property is cheap here too. Chris and Mark have their eyes on all kinds of properties. Taukei's hilltop is one of them. The views are stunning. The asking price is less than $50,000 an acre. They think they can get it for less."
Health care, political stability, habitual coups are just a few of the big question marks of investing in Fiji. "As a market," he writes, "Fiji is asleep, not anything like Myanmar of Mongolia, which are going through huge transformational changes. "There is no great pull that will propel Fiji to some higher stage of wealth and development," Chris concludes. "But those who love Fiji — and are looking for a safe haven — wouldn't have it any other way."
"I commented that I wouldn't pay any cash upfront, as they are one regulation away from the business being shut down. A week later, California changed my BF's smog check number in advance of new laws effective Jan. 1. He can't log onto the state computer until he receives the card that matches the new number, which the state said they are 'in the process of sending out.' So effectively, that line of their business is shut down for an unknown period. Fortunately, they do more than smog checks! "Pity the poor consumer who has to get a check before their renewal date, when the places are shut down! I went through a similar nightmare about 15 years ago — the fines are hefty, even when it's the DMV that screwed up in getting the tag to you after you paid on time."
She's writing in reply to our item last week about the oil portraits of "accomplished" government officials. "Accomplished in siphoning off taxpayer funds, empowering themselves and redirecting the economy into an abyss? "We are becoming more and more like Rome," says our reader, "where government officials are esteemed, honored and even deified over the rest of the people they are supposed to serve. Pretty soon, even their pets will be honored over the rest of the population (don't give them any ideas — oil paintings for government officials' pooches)." The 5: Woof. Cheers, Dave Gonigam P.S. Reminder: Access to Project X closes tonight at midnight. And in all likelihood, it won't reopen for another 12 months. Act here.
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| 20 Nov 2012 – “A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free) ” (Megadeth, 1995) Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:57 AM PST 20 Nov 2012 – “A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free) ” (Megadeth, 1995) Uh… Very uncomfortable French downgrade. Not surprising per se, but uncomfortable. Ask the EFSF… Brings back the question of “Who’s Next”? European Risk (Equities & Credit), however, oblivious and taking rising yields as a sure sign for Risk On. I’d see the risk of France (and everyone else) starting to count contingent costs. "A Tout Le Monde" (Bunds 1,41% +6; Spain 5,79% -9; Stoxx 2509 +0,6%; EUR 1,281 unch) --- The Monday (European squeeze) kept its stamina into the remaining US session yesterday with indices adding a further 0.3% into the close. Apple finally closed on a really positive note with a 7.2% rebound (after an over 3% in opening gap), up over 12% from Friday afternoon’s low. Not much else. Good enough. Fri low to Mon Hi / close: INDU close +2.6, S&P +3.3%, NASDAQ +3.7%. EStoxx +3.1%, DAX +2.8%, CAC +3.2%, MIB +3.4%, IBEX +2.7%. To complete: Nikkei (Thu low to high) +6% and to today’s close +5.3%. Shanghai Mon low to Today’s close +0.6%. Feeling there’s anything odd out there? Yeah. Me, too. Asian session mixed, flattish to (slightly) negative after the Moody’s downgrade of France to Aa1 neg (on negative watch since mid Feb and after S&P’s downgrade to AA+ mid Jan). Trigger factors: Economic growth affected by structural challenges (loss of competitiveness, labour market rigidities); uncertain fiscal outlook; France’s disproportionally high exposure to the Periphery through trade and banks. Bit of a dampener, that Moody’s downgrade. European equities down 0.3% in pre-market.10 YRS OATs, which just yesterday had brushed (but not touched) their all-time low again at 2.055%, before widening a little in the equity rally, out to 2.10% to start the day. Limited initial fall-out, though. Equity cash open a bit harsher, though, but fast settling on earlier levels (-0.3%). Bunds tighter by 1 to the now-accustomed 1.34% level, USTs like-wise -1 to 1.61%.France to Spain +2 (5.90%). Credit by and large flat. Commodities a touch weaker, noting the late US pick up in CRB (+1.4%). EUR 1.278 – as in “couldn’t really care”. Let’ see, if we’ll get the usual end of day comments of politicians that the rating downgrade and the markets’ shoulder shrug is a proof of their lack of credibility. But then again, what was Cassandra’s credibility? And people seriously disliked her, too. German PPI a tick under consensus at flat MoM (fcst +0.1% after +0.3%) / +1.5% YoY (after +1.7%). Nothing else on the macro slate. French bonds confirmed as being kicked out of the BofA/ML AAA index. Need to check that fall out. As well as further trickle down effects on French and related entities (for instance the Supras). Spain sold more than its targeted EUR 4.5bn of bills with EUR 4.2bn of 12m at 2.797% (after 2.823%) and a slice of EUR 713m of 18m at 3.034% (after 3.022% last month). Bid-to-cover in 12m unimpressive at 2.12 (after 2.71). Given the small longer allocation, BC stood at 5.7 after 3.0. This will be followed by EUR 3.5bn in 3, 5 & 9 YRS BONOs on Thursday. Just shy of EUR 2bn EFSF 6m at -0.005% (last -0.024%). 10 YRS Bund increase tomorrow (COB 1.415%. Last 1.56% and 1.52% end of Oct and Sep, before that 1.42% early Sep and Aug and an all-time low at 1.31% mid-July)) next to EUR 2bn Portuguese bills (3,6 and 18m, last 1.37%, 1.84% and 2.97%). The syndicated EFSF 3 YRS that was due to pop out today with initial pricing thoughts around swap to swaps / MS-2 was postponed, given the rating implications. Seemed like rather reasonable levels, though. Market moving into some Risk On spirit by mid-morning with equities recovering some colour (to tick closing levels), the Periphery back to unchanged after the Spanish auction and EGBs softer (fear of domino effect) with Bunds and France adding 4bp (to 1.39% and 2.11% respectively, and unchanged spread). Midday picture showing Risk On, but not completely On. Equities down 0.3%. Credit still better bid, especially with financials ticking 6 tighter (3.5%). EGBs 3-4 wider on average with France at 2.12% (+5), having nearly taken out the 2.055% all-time low yesterday morning. Pas de chance… Bunds down 40 ticks (like yesterday for the whole day, despite equities surging 3%). Contingent rating risk to all exposed to helping out the weak hands. ESM & EFSF under Moody’s review, too. Might hit Supras, too. Hence, all weaker. Periphery back a little tighter on the long end and especially in 2s for Spain (knowing that this the correction of yesterday’s +8 widening to 3.30% ahead of the auction). Bunds 1,39% (+4), OBLs 0,40% (+3), BKOs -0,015% (+1). UST at 1,63% (+1). Spanish 2s at 3,23% (-7), 10s at 5,87% (-1). Spanish 2-10s 264bp (+6). Italian 2s at 2,03% (-4), 10s at 4,89% (-1). Italian 2-10s 286bp (+3). EUR back to 1.281, where left at COB. Commodities eventually just right on COB level, too. Eventually “Rather Not Really Risk On” than “Risk On” or “Risk Off” after lunch. On second thought. And with Cyprus (Oh, yeah. Them…) having serious issues with the Troika (Go ask the Greeks how they feel about it…). Plenty of stuff to chat about at the Eurogroup Inn tonight: Latest Greek protests on Troika measures, PSI / buy-back at 25% (which is market price solely from 20 RS on), interest moratorium (…). On cue, Juncker doing some pep-talk about a conclusive evening, however “not entirely” certain (…). HP going down in pre-open on impairment charges following its Autonomy acquisition. America, America! Give us a lead! US data to kick-off the afternoon and ahead of US cash open with Housing Starts at 894k/+3.6% MoM (fcst 840k after 872k, rev. 863k / -3.7% after +15%, rev. 15.1%) and Building Permits of 866k / -2.7% MoM (fcst 864k after 894k, rev. 890k / -2.9% after rev. +11.1%), after yesterday’s mixed Home Sales figures. Would tend to show an on-going recovery. US cash open only slightly lower from yesterday, but near European Monday COB levels, giving European even more solace in being correctly priced (about unchanged). Slight uptick a reason to test positive territory (+0.6%) with the CAC adding the luxury to test its highest levels in 2 weeks and the DAX adding 1% from Mon COB I the peak. Odd world… Downgrade = ROn, because it didn’t matter in the past. Softer EGBs on credit issues taken as granted sign for Risk On?! 10 YRS OAT trading one-way since this morning and adding 8bp to 2.145%, the highest level since 09 Nov. No price rebound since this morning. Pretty even shift 5 YRS out, short end holding a tick better. But while giving French OATs a little plus (It’s their downgrade after all…), it’s the whole of EGBs (ex Periphery) that has been held hostage. Periphery moving into “Risk On” – as obviously all EGBs are sold. Claro! Equities closing HOD +0.6%, of course. Credit sill in tightening mode. Of course. It’s Risk On, dummy! The reason will simply be found at a later stage. There goes my mind. Bunds closed at 1,41% (+6), OBLs at 0,42% (+5) and BKOs -0,002% (+2,2) with UST at 1,65% (+3). Spanish 2s at 3,17% (-13), 10s at 5,79% (-9). Spanish 2-10s 262bp (+4). Italian 2s at 1,99% (-8), 10s at 4,85% (-5). Italian 2-10s 286bp (+3). Commodities now decorrelating, given a quieter Middle East. EUR unchanged. Odd. Odd. Odd. Take-away: Uh… Very uncomfortable French downgrade. Not surprising per se, but uncomfortable. Ask the EFSF… Brings back the question of “Who’s Next”? European Risk (Equities & Credit), however, oblivious and taking rising yields as a sure sign for Risk On. I’d see the risk of France (and everyone else) starting to count contingent costs. Outlook: Toss a coin? EUR 4bn 10 YRS Bund auction (COB 1.415%). Some more rating changes? No hard European data. US data dump before Thanksgiving and then no more data until next Monday. PMI fcst 51 after 51.3, Claims fcst 410k after 439k, Michigan U fcst 84.5 after 8.9, Leading Indicators fcst 0.1% after 0.6%. European 50d & 100d: EStoxx 2513/2437 (50d/100d), DAX 7283/7041, CAC 3452/3394 , MIB 15667/15002, IBEX 7856/7429. US 100d & 200d for INDU 13126/12992, SPX 1405/1382 and NASDAQ 3016/2985, as Apple-challenged (200d 596). EUR: 100d 1.265& 200d 1.281. Fibo retracement (of May 2011 1.494 & Jul 2012 1.204 down-leg) at 1.273& 1.315. Jul 2012 to Sep rebound levels: 1.231 – 1.247 – 1.261 – 1.274 – 1.291. New Issue supply from Danone with EUR 750m 5 YRS at MS +30 (30bp over France) and Norwegian utility Statkraft with EUR 700m 10 YRS at MS+85. Standard Chartered with EUR 750m 10 YRS sub debt at MS +200. Closing levels: 10 YRS Yields: Germany 1,41% (+6); Luxembourg 1,54% (+5); Netherlands 1,67% (+6); Finland 1,68% (+5); Swaps 1,72% (+4); EU 1,77% (+4), Austria 1,84% (+6); EIB 1,93% (+4); EFSF 2,06% (+5); France 2,15% (+8); Belgium 2,32% (+6); Italy 4,85% (-5); Spain 5,79% (-9). 10 YRS Spreads: Luxembourg 13bp (-1); Netherlands 26bp (unch); Finland 27bp (-1); Swaps 31bp (-2); EU 36bp (-2); Austria 43bp (unch); EIB 52bp (-2); EFSF 65bp (-1); France 74bp (+2); Belgium 91bp (unch); Italy 344bp (-11); Spain 438bp (-15). EUR swap curve 2-5 YRS 48bp (+2,0); 5-10 YRS 83bp (+1,0) 10-30 YRS 61bp (unch). 2 YRS German BKOs closed -0,002% (+2,2) and 5 YRS OBLs 0,42% (+5). Main -3 to 128 (-2,3% tighter); Financials -6 to 171 (-3,4% tighter); Cross -15 to 522 (-2,8% tighter). Stoxx Futures at 2509 / +0,6% (from 2495) with S&P minis at 1384 (+0,4% from 1379, at European close). VIX index at 15,4 after 15,9 yesterday same time. Oil 87,4/110,2 (WTI/Brent) from 89,1/111,4 (-1,9%/-1,0%). Gold at 1731 after 1734 (-0,1%). Copper at 353 from 354 (-0,3%). CRB at EU COB 298,0 from 294,0 (+1,4%). BDIY, up 12 to 1066 (+1.1). Up and up and higher. And higher… Target is now the 1162-high seen in July, post-Chinese New year slide. EUR 1,281 from 1,281 Greek guesstimate: Greek bonds 17.00% (-25) for 2023s and 14.50% for 2042s. Positive outcome, certainly wished for, but far from certain… All levels COB 17:30 CET Fast-forward Macro and Events: Not much in terms of European data until Thursday, which will be PMI day, generally seen juuust a little better everywhere. Crowded data dump tomorrow ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday. Wed 10 YRS Bund increase and Portuguese bills; EUR 3.5bn 2015 2017 & 2021 BONOs on Thursday. Talking of which, elections in Catalonia will take place coming Sunday. EZ: Thu Comp / Manu / Services PMI last 45.7, fcst 45.5 after 45.4 and 46 unch, EZ Consumer Conf fcst -25.5 after -25.7 GE: Thu PMI Manu fcst 46 after 46 Services fcst 48.3 after 48.4; Fri 23 Final GDP, IFO Nov Biz Climate fcst 99.5 after last, Current fcst 106.3 after 107.3, Expectations fcst 93 after 93.2 FR: Thu PMI Manu fcst 44 after 43.7, Services fcst 45 after 44.6; Fri Biz Conffcst 87 after 85 Italy: Fri Retail Sales last +0.% MoM Spain: Wed Trade; Fri PPI US: Wed PMI fcst 51 after 51.3, Claims fcst 410k after 439k, Michigan U fcst 84.5 after 8.9, Leading Indicators fcst 0.1% after 0.6%. No more data until next Monday 26 Nov (Dallas and Chicago Fed indices) and then Durable Goods, Case Schiller, Consumer Confidence and Beige Book on Tuesday 27 Nov. CH: Thu HSBC PMI
Click link under title or below for today’s musical support: A tout le monde / A tous mes amis Je vous aime / Je dois partir (du BofA ML index) These are the last words / I'll ever speak And they'll set me free (from rating constraints)
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Today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb told King World News, "There is a growing recognition that austerity can only take the Europeans so far. We are now seeing weakness in Germany and a downgrading of French bonds. The Europeans are slowly coming around to the fact that they are going to have to continue pumping money into the system.
When Lyndon B Johnson 
ere at TDV we have the unfortunate role of being the messenger—and you know what happens to the messenger. The monkeys in pants always jump on him, stones in hand, and try to bash his brains out for bringing them a little bit of reality.
I remember one of my first big wins with a Casey Research stock, before I worked for the company. It was a junior gold stock 
Growing demand for silver prompted Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society to launch a spot silver trading service in the first half of next year in Hong Kong.
Susan and I have met many new people in Miami. We often go out for dinner and sit at the bar and start up conversations with new people. Susan, Shuggie (our Bichon) and I walk the perimeter of our gated community usually twice a day (those of you who own a dog understand this process) and often end up talking to others who are out walking their dog. In most cases, the dog runs the household, and that is a fact of life! Here in our part of Florida, most everyone has a dog and they are usually small and white.
Ranting Andy Hoffman put in an appearance for his Monday rant today. We agree that so goes Hostess Brands and the Twinkie, so goes America. Unionization has long since stopped being a positive for workers and has now become just another means of wealth destruction. 18,500 people are now unemployed due to union intransigence. But the Twinkie will be reborn when the Hostess brands are purchased out of bankruptcy. The market lockdown in anticipation of the elections now seems to be over. Silver and gold are up. When will the next raid and the next intervention occur? That's anybody's guess, but obviously when it best suits the Elites.
One of my favourite hedge fund managers is Kyle Bass. He has a fantastic ability to work through a deductive logical framework, and to envisage "non-linear events". This has made him a fortune since setting up Hayman Capital: first courtesy of betting against the US subprime mortgage disaster at just the right time; then by staking money on the idea that everything was going belly-up in Greece, and that owning truck-load of gold was the right thing to do.
Indian Gold Demand Picks Up The love for gold has been reignited in India, according to the World Gold Council (WGC) in its Gold Demand Trends for the third quarter of 2012. India regained its title as the strongest performing market, overtaking the greater China area, as the country experienced a bounceback in demand due to improved sentiment during the festival season.
Today 40-year veteran Don Coxe spoke with King World News about what is happening in the markets. Here is what Coxe, who is Global Strategy Advisor to BMO ($538 billion in assets), had to say: "Well, what's happening right now is the that stock prices are falling (since October 19th) because it turned out that one of the things the pollsters never asked people was, are you a serious investor? Who were you supporting, Romney or Obama? What we now know is that there were more serious investors supporting Romney, and they are pretty upset. So they are selling stocks."
"I believe that tax increases, especially for the wealthiest, are appropriate," declared Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein in The Wall Street Journal.
"Clearly," Addison said at the time, "you're worried about the government… and about your retirement. And, no doubt, how the former is mucking up the latter."
Sale property in FijiAnother plus, "The government seems invisible," says Chris, citing his Capitalist Exploits friends:
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