Gold World News Flash |
- A Legend Reveals Why He Likes Gold Right Now
- RED ALERT: Obama Ready For Ground Invasion Of Syria To Protect Petro Dollar From Collapse
- JPY Tests 100.00 For First Time In 6 Weeks; US Treasury Curve Collapses To Flattest In 13 Months; Gold/Silver Slammed
- Richard Russell - Gold Basing & A Key World Market In Trouble
- Wednesday Report Part 1...The Chartology of the US Dollar
- Gold Pullback Normal – “Tech Speaking” w/ Jim Wyckoff
- SGT Report Welcomes Provident Metals!
- Ted Butler: I Own Silver Because Of The Coming Silver Shortage
- Jan Skoyles: How one man saved Poland's gold from the Nazis
- Reserve Bank of India plans inflation-indexed savings certificates
- David Stockman On "The End Of The American Imperium"
- What If The Fed Really Tapers QE?
- Guest Post: Is The US Going To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?
- Is This The Recovery That Is Supporting Taper Talk?
- Gold Price Lost 1.6 Percent Ending at $1,389.90
- Gold Price Lost 1.6 Percent Ending at $1,389.90
- Gold Trading at 10 Day EMA; Level Has Been a Pivot Before
- Gold Sentiment Back to Neutral After 6 Months
- A Legend Reveals Why He Likes Gold Right Now
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - September Antics On Light Trading Volumes
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - September Antics On Light Trading Volumes
- Peruvian Precious Metals Repeating a Winning Formula
- A September to Forget?
- This Ponzi Scheme of Government Financing Will Not Continue Forever
- The Goodfellas of Wall Street
- The Goodfellas of Wall Street
- The Reality of Gold and the Nightmare of Paper
- How one man saved Poland’s gold from the Nazis
- Despite Pullback, Gold & Silver Action Remains Constructive
- Gold falls below $1,400 for third day running
- Middle East gold demand could jump on Syria crisis
- RBI further tightens gold import norms
- Pan African, Village reach settlement on wages
- Monsoon rains to bring bounty to India’s rural population
- War or peace, gold wins as government's lies are exposed, Kaye says
- Futures magazine interviews Hinde Capital's Ben Davies on gold's prospects
- Follow Jim Sinclair out of the Banks
- The Fate of the Gold Price in 2 Charts
- Gold Drops with Oil as US & Russia Argue Over Syria Ahead of G20
- Gold: Bouncing, But No New High Yet
- A Really Foul Smell Is Coming From The White House
- A Really Foul Smell Is Coming From The White House
- How to Fake a Fast Food Strike
- Gold, Crude Oil Outlook Clouded as Standby Patterns Break
- Gold Price Drops with Oil Even as Obama Repeats Case for Syria, Putin Calls It "Ludicrous"
- We’re Heading Toward Another Nightmarish Financial Crisis! Here’s Why
- Jim Willie: Gold Will Rise to $5,000/ozt. and Beyond & Silver Will Rise Multiples Higher
- Noonan: Gold & Silver Could Move Sideways for Another 1-2 Years – Here’s Why
- Five Ways To Play Gold and Silver: Part I
- Market Monitor – September 4th
| A Legend Reveals Why He Likes Gold Right Now Posted: 04 Sep 2013 11:00 PM PDT from KingWorldNews:
In France, for example, everybody that I talked to told me that this year their business was down between 7% and 40% vs last year. What they said was that business has been down every year now for the past 4 years. But this year was down even more so than the previous 3 years. So, Spain, which is a wonderful country, every other store is shut. And when you talk to people, they are leaving the country. They are going to Africa, to New Zealand, Australia, or whatever, because there are no jobs. It's the same (way) in Portugal. |
| RED ALERT: Obama Ready For Ground Invasion Of Syria To Protect Petro Dollar From Collapse Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:53 PM PDT Obama is the Military Industrial Complex Marionette. He is owned by the puppet masters....It's been set up to cover the collapse of the petro-dollar. IF we attack and China and/or Russia attack, the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://FinanceArmageddon.blogspot.com or http://www.newsbooze.com or http://www.figanews.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]  |
| Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:36 PM PDT UPDATE 2: And there go the precious metals... with their ubiquitous 'opening' slamdown...
UPDATE 1: US Treasuries are now rallying urgently back from the edge as European markets awake (and the EUR slammed)... what else would one expect on ECB/BoE day?
The exuberance of the US day-session has flopped into the evening and Asian stocks, buoyed by a plunging JPY and the carry-mob is on a charge once again. USDJPY just broke back over 100.00 for the first time since July 25th managing to lift the Nikkei almost 1000 points since Friday's close. Most Asian stocks are higher (India +2.6%) but FX is more varied with the Rupiah, Baht, and Ringgit lower still as the Rupee strengthens modestly (as forwards compress too). The USD is bid against the majors with EUR cracking lower. The tale of the night though is US Treasuries which have slammed higher in yield once again. The spread between 5Y Treasuries and 30Y has plunged over 30bps in the last month and now hovers just above 200bps - its lowest in 13 months. This bear-flattening (belly and short-end is underperforming notably overnight) has driven the market's implied 10Y rate for year-end over 3% for the first time since July 2011. The entire forward curve of the Treasury complex is repricing higher in rates as 'absolute' NIM expectations drop.
JPY has been dropping rapidly recently with USDJPY up 300 pips in the last few days..
Which managed to 'fund' almost 1000 Nikkei 225 points since Friday's close...
Still think financials are all about the NIM? think again... here is 3m forward 10Y rates vs XLF... jumping over 3% as the front-end underperforms...
But its not just the forward curve, the spread between longer-dated and mid-dated Treasuries has collapsed...
So there we have it, McCain's moar war has fixed Asia, broken bonds, and ramped the USD...
And remember its ECB/BoE day in Europe... and the EUR is trading like penny stock... as European markets open and push Treasury yields back lower once again...
Charts: Bloomberg |
| Richard Russell - Gold Basing & A Key World Market In Trouble Posted: 04 Sep 2013 09:01 PM PDT  On the heels of continued volatility in key global markets, the Godfather of newsletter writers, Richard Russell, covered everything from stocks and bonds, to the gold market. Russell also included 7 fantastic charts -- one of those was a key 14-year chart that showed a major breakdown in one of the most important markets in the world.This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Wednesday Report Part 1...The Chartology of the US Dollar Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:37 PM PDT Tonight I would like to show you some charts on the US dollar that is finally showing a little action after a month or so of chopping around towards the lows. I have many different looks that might give us a clue or two on what to ... Read More... |
| Gold Pullback Normal – “Tech Speaking” w/ Jim Wyckoff Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:20 PM PDT from KitcoNews: Jim Wyckoff talks about gold as it falls below $1,400 Wednesday morning on this edition of “Technically Speaking.” According to Wyckoff, the slide is due to profit taking from shorter-term traders and the marketplace is slowly digesting the potential U.S. strike in Syria. |
| SGT Report Welcomes Provident Metals! Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:10 PM PDT
At SGT Report we pride ourselves on bringing you dynamic original articles, interviews and micro-docs as well as the very latest and best in alternative news and information from a wide variety of trusted and proven sources. We do this day in and day out at no cost to you. Where other alternative media sites ask for donations, we do not. Where other sites have chosen to go to a paying membership model, we have not – and never will. We are very grateful to have some world-class sponsors which help make all of this possible. And what better time to welcome my absolute favorite precious metals online retailer Provident Metals to SGT Report, than during today’s waterfall paper slam in gold and silver. The new Provident Metals banner is at the top of SGT Report, where today and through the month of September you can get all of the PHYSICAL Ag and Au you need – shipped to you for less than five bucks. We’re proud to welcome Provident Metals to SGT Report, and we want to thank YOU for your support too. If you’d like to support the work we do here, there’s no need to “donate” – please just click on the ad and support our proven, trusted, world-class sponsors. |
| Ted Butler: I Own Silver Because Of The Coming Silver Shortage Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:24 PM PDT This is an excerpt from Ted Butler’s premium service. Readers are highly recommended to subscribe to the service on www.butlerresearch.com as it contains the highest quality of gold and silver market analysis. Ted Butler is specialized in precious metals markets analysis for 4 decades. Ask a hundred different precious metals investors why they hold gold or silver and, while you may not get a hundred different answers, you'll certainly get more than one. That's because there are many different reasons why people own precious metals. Among those reasons; protection against inflation, bank or financial system failures, currency turmoil, unsustainable government debt and money supply growth, stock or bond market collapse and perhaps some combination of all these reasons. While I can understand these reasons and don't have any real dispute that they may prove to provide the protection desired; all are far removed from the reason I hold and continue to buy silver. I own silver because I feel it will perform better than any other investment I am aware of, including gold. Although I am not driven by a desire for money at all costs; I am convinced that if you are going to make an investment, it should be the best investment possible. Quite simply, I believe that silver will make more money, by far, than any other investment almost regardless of future circumstances.
The inevitable shortage was the thing that first attracted me to silver 25 years ago. Some might say that's a long time to wait for a shortage, but there are some very special circumstances that explain why the timetable for a silver shortage has been drawn out. For one thing, silver has been mined and produced in great quantities for many hundreds of years and tremendous inventories were accumulated above ground. It's hard to conceive of a shortage in the presence of massive inventories. Certainly, throughout history, there has never been a silver shortage, so if a silver shortage develops, it will be unprecedented and that will add to the emotional and panic-buying intensity that accompanies any commodity shortage. Starting around 100 years ago, the world developed an insatiable appetite for silver as an industrial material once it was discovered that the metal had physical and chemical properties more varied and vital than any other metal. Those properties included silver being the best conductor of electricity, the best transfer agent for heat, the best reflector of light, the most diverse medical properties and chemical properties that ranged from making photography possible to use as a catalyst for other important chemical production. So great was the industrial demand for silver that for 65 years running, until around 2006, much more silver was consumed than was mined and recycled annually. At the start of World War II, the world had more than 10 billion ounces in silver bullion inventories, with the US Government holding about half that amount. It's hard to conceive of a shortage with 10 billion ounces of silver in world inventories. But so much more silver was consumed than was produced through 2006 that world inventories of silver bullion (in the form of 1000 oz bars) have fallen to a bit more than one billion ounces today, despite the ending of the consumption deficit. Obviously, it's easier to envision a shortage when the inventories of a commodity decline by 90%, while the population of the world (and resultant demand) grew from 2.5 billion to 7 billion. I look at silver as a commodity destined to go into a shortage because that's what the facts point to. My professional background revolves around supply/demand analysis, having begun my working career as a commodity broker for Merrill Lynch more than 40 years ago. I didn't set out to conclude there would be a silver shortage or any such thing, but in 1985 a client and my eventual mentor, Israel Friedman, challenged me to explain why silver was stuck at $5 an ounce when demand exceeded production and inventories were being drawn down year after year. Thanks to Izzy's challenge, I came to discover that the price of silver stayed low because it was manipulated by excessive short selling on the COMEX, the principal world precious metals exchange. Since that time, I have petitioned the exchange and the federal regulators to end the manipulation. I have not been successful on that score to date, but many thousands have come to believe that silver has been manipulated in price. The key point here is that nothing invites a shortage more than a prolonged artificial low price and its affect on the law of supply and demand. Any industrial commodity is capable of going into a shortage. All it takes is for industrial demand to exceed total production or come close to that circumstance. Such shortages seem rare, but then again just about every industrially consumed metal or other commodity has gone into a shortage situation at some point over time. Copper, nickel, lead, zinc and a whole host of grains and foodstuffs and energy products have experienced shortages of varying degree. Considering silver's tremendously diverse industrial consumption base and the growth of world population and economic development, it's impossible to exclude silver as a potential candidate for shortage compared to every other industrial commodity. But wait a minute – didn't I just say that total production of silver started to exceed industrial consumption around 2006? How the heck can there be a silver shortage if total production exceeds industrial consumption? Well, for starters, silver total production doesn't exceed industrial consumption by much; say by 100 million ounces or so annually on a billion ounces of total production. And one could argue that with the recent price drop below the cost of production for many silver miners, that it is just a matter of time before industrial consumption exceeds production due to falling mine production. I think that the silver deficit could return in time, unless prices rise; but I have a different reason for expecting a silver shortage before a decline in mine production triggers the shortage.
Sure, there are times when big investors buy copper, oil, grains and other commodities for a speculation, but the regular investor rarely buys physical copper or crude oil or corn as a long term investment. If the regular investor buys any commodity, it is usually only gold and silver. Since little gold is used for industrial purposes and the metal is considered primarily a pure investment asset, gold does not have a dual demand aspect. That's not to say gold can't rise in price, but it won't be due to a shortage enflamed by panicky industrial user buying. Only silver, of all commodities, has a bona fide dual demand circumstance. Because this dual demand factor is, effectively, unique to silver, it sets the stage for a very unique potential shortage. Normal commodity shortages come slowly and as a result of a gradual insufficiency of supply in meeting demand over the course of years. After all, most world commodities have many participants, both producers and consumers and changes in production or consumption are glacial-like and grindingly slow. Only when long and consistent delays in delivery occur do the effects of the commodity shortage become apparent. But there is a very big difference between industrial consumption demand and investment demand. With industrial consumption, the users buy what they need; with investment demand, the buyers buy what they want and can afford. And collective human nature being what it is, investment buyers often behave in unison, all trying to buy or sell at the same time. This holds special significance for a silver shortage. Total silver fabrication demand (industrial consumption plus jewelry, coin and all other such uses) consume 90% of total supply (mine production plus recycling) of one billion ounces. This leaves around 100 million ounces (in the form of 1000 oz bars) to be absorbed by the world's investors, or $2 to $2.5 billion annually. In terms of typical world investment flows, this is a piddling amount. For instance, $100 to $150 billion is needed annually to be absorbed in newly-produced gold by the world's investors. Since investors tend to move in unison and the dollar amounts are so small, the 100 million oz of new silver available to world investors annually could be snapped up in a relative instant. Sure, existing silver investment holdings could also be sold, but remember that world inventories of silver are down 90% from 70 years ago, so not that much silver exists in investor holdings. The dual demand factor in silver will also likely be a self-reinforcing mechanism. The silver story is so good that it is only a matter of time before investors buy sufficient quantities to tighten supply, particularly considering how few relative dollars of silver are available for purchase. When that investor-induced tightness hits, it will inevitably cause tightness for the industrial consumers as well, creating delays in delivery to the silver users. Faced with delivery delays that will shut down assembly lines, the industrial users will do what has always been done throughout history – they will try to buy even more silver to build their own inventories and eliminate future delivery delays. This is just normal human collective behavior – just like panic buying of bread, ice and gasoline when a hurricane warning is issued.
Looking back, I believe that we averted an all-out silver user buying panic by the thinnest of margins in the spring of 2011. But the close call back then did nothing to change the underlying circumstances of the inevitable coming silver shortage; it was simply a temporary postponement to what will recur and with greater force. Frankly, I can't see how a silver shortage won't occur at some point; so the real question is one of timing. Fortunately, even if we can't predict the precise timing, it can be made into something largely under our control. It all has to do with how you configure a silver investment. If you become convinced, as I am convinced, of the likelihood of a future silver shortage, don't try to time it at all. Put yourself in a position where the timing doesn't matter; only the shortage itself. The way to do that is to buy real metal for cash on the barrel head, put it away and wait it out. No margin or borrowing to buy paper forms of silver, no in and out short term trading; stick to real metal in your own possession until you reach the point where you have so much metal that you need professional storage. By not having to worry about the timing, you put time on your side. This is an excerpt from Ted Butler’s premium service. Readers are highly recommended to subscribe to the service on www.butlerresearch.com as it contains the highest quality of gold and silver market analysis. Ted Butler is specialized in precious metals markets analysis for 4 decades. |
| Jan Skoyles: How one man saved Poland's gold from the Nazis Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:58 PM PDT 10:03p ET Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Jan Skoyles of The Real Asset Co. in London today tells a fascinating if brief story of how Poland's gold reserves were whisked out of the country to Britain at the outset of the Nazi invasion in September 1939. Her commentary is headlined "How One Man Saved Poland's Gold from the Nazis" and it's posted at The Real Asset Co.'s Internet site here: http://therealasset.co.uk/poland-nazi-gold/ Here's hoping that our friends at the new "Give Our Gold Back" committee in Poland -- -- someday will be able to tell an equally fascinating story about how their most heroic country recovered its gold from a similarly fearsome enemy, the Bank of England. "Jeszcze Polska nie zginela, kiedy my zyjemy." CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT Is your gold safe, secure, and guaranteed? Canada is one of the safest places to store bullion because of its prosperity and economic and political stability. By vaulting your bullion with Sprott Money's Canadian storage program, you guarantee that your metals are stored securely and privately with little risk. -- We store with Brink's, a private and non-bank storage facility renowned for its integrity, security, and efficiency. -- Your precious metals will be safe under the protection of Brink's world-class technology and infrastructure. -- Your precious metals will be fully insured by Brink's and Sprott Money. In the unlikely event of loss, theft, or physical damage to your metal, you will be fully compensated. Sprott Money is a recognized and trusted name in the precious metals industry. For more information, please visit: http://www.sprottmoney.com/store-with-us Join GATA here: Gold Investment Symposium 2013 Mines and Money Australia New Orleans Investment Conference https://jeffersoncompanies.com/landing/speakers?IDPromotion=613011610080... * * * Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt: Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009: http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal Help keep GATA going GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: To contribute to GATA, please visit: |
| Reserve Bank of India plans inflation-indexed savings certificates Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:35 PM PDT Will the Indian government do as well as the U.S. government in manipulating the inflation data? * * * New Reserve Bank Chief Hits the Ground Running From the Business Standard, New Delhi http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/raghuram-rajan-h... MUMBAI -- It was easily the most substantive speech by a Reserve Bank of India governor on his first day in office. Just two hours after the formal signing-in ceremony and a warm hug from his predecessor, Raghuram Rajan got down to business in a manner that surprised all. In his first media conference as governor, Rajan unveiled a slew of reforms, many of those focused on "protecting the value of money." His opening remarks set the tone for the new order at the central bank: "To the existing traditions of the RBI, we will emphasise two others: Transparency and predictability. That is not to say we will never surprise markets with actions." The new governor removed uncertainties over the new bank licence process by setting a timeframe. An expert panel under former RBI governor Bimal Jalan will scrutinise the applications and licences will be issued before or soon after Deputy Governor Anand Sinha leaves office in January. ... Dispatch continues below ... ADVERTISEMENT How to profit with silver -- Future Money Trends is offering a special 16-page silver report with our forecast for 2013 that includes profiles of nine companies and technical analysis of their stock performance. Six of the companies have market capitalizations of less than $800 million and one company has a market cap of only $30 million. The most exciting of these companies will begin production in a few weeks and has a market cap of just $150 million. Half of all proceeds from the sale of this report will be donated to the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee to support its efforts exposing manipulation and fraud in the gold and silver markets. To learn about this report, please visit: http://www.futuremoneytrends.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=376&tmp... Rajan postponed the mid-quarter review of its monetary policy by a couple of days to September 20. The US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, scheduled on September 17-18, is expected to indicate when the US Fed might start tapering its stimulus programme -- an event crucial for the fate of currencies of emerging markets, including India. Rajan also announced four committees -- one under RBI Deputy Governor Urjit Patel to revisit the structure of monetary policy; two on bad and restructured loans and their recovery; and one on financial inclusion to be headed by Nachiket Mor, a former board member of ICICI Bank who is now on the RBI board. Earlier in the day, the rupee recovered 0.94 per cent from its previous close to 67.09 a dollar. Stock markets also gained, with the BSE Sensex rising 1.83 per cent, or 333 points, to close at 18,567.55. Freeing up branch licensing is another key reform Rajan announced on Wednesday. At present, banks need to take prior approval of RBI for opening branches in Tier-I centres (with population of more than 100,000, except in the Northeast and Sikkim). For Tier-II to Tier-VI towns, banks can open branches, subject to reporting. However, banks are required to ensure they open 25 per cent of their branches in unbanked rural areas (Tier-V and -VI). In a move to ensure flow of credit to productive sectors and curb "lazy banking," Rajan proposed reduction of banks' requirement to invest in government securities. As of now, banks need to hold at least 23 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities in government securities. "This cannot be done overnight, of course. As government finances improve, the scope for such reduction will increase. Furthermore, as the penetration of other financial institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies increases, we can reduce the need for regular commercial banks to invest in government securities," Rajan said. To boost inflows to support the rupee, which has depreciated more than 23 per cent this financial year, the central bank has allowed exporters to re-book cancelled forward exchange contracts to 50 per cent of the value of cancelled contracts, compared with 25 per cent earlier. In addition, a similar facility has also been extended to importers, to the extent of 25 per cent. The governor said the central bank was examining if interest rate futures on overnight interest rate could be introduced. A major part of the speech focused on shoring up investor confidence. This was evident from the fact that RBI -- in a separate notification -- partially relaxed the restrictions imposed last month on capital outflows from residents, including by allowing Indian companies more leeway if they opted to raise funds through external commercial borrowings. Rajan said RBI would push for more settlement in rupees for which India would have to further open its markets. Banks will be allowed to swap the fresh FCNR (B) dollar funds, mobilised for a minimum tenor of three years and more, at a fixed rate of 3.5 per cent a year for the tenor of the deposit. The central bank notified the measures late in the evening. Further, the current overseas borrowing limit of 50 per cent of the Tier-I capital will be raised to 100 per cent and the borrowings mobilised under this provision can be swapped with RBI at the option of the bank at a concessional rate of 100 basis points below the prevailing swap rate in the market. These schemes will be available till November 30. This coincides with a time when the relaxations on NRI deposits will expire. On loan recovery, Rajan said the system had to be tolerant of genuine difficulty while coming down hard on mismanagement or fraud. But "promoters do not have a divine right to stay in charge regardless of how badly they mismanage an enterprise, nor do they have the right to use the banking system to recapitalise their failed ventures," he added. The RBI, he said, would collect credit data and examine large common exposures across banks. On the households front, RBI will issue inflation-indexed savings certificates linked to the new Consumer Price Index to retail investors by the end of November. Besides, a national giro-based Indian Bill Payment System will enable households to use bank accounts to pay school fee utilities and medical bills and make person-to-person transfers electronically. The RBI will also set up a technical committee to tap the potential for mobile-based payments. Giving a glimpse of his approach, Rajan said: "The governorship of the central bank is not meant to win one votes or Facebook 'likes.' I hope to do the right thing, no matter what the criticism, even while looking to learn from the criticism." Join GATA here: Gold Investment Symposium 2013 Mines and Money Australia New Orleans Investment Conference https://jeffersoncompanies.com/landing/speakers?IDPromotion=613011610080... * * * Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt: Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009: http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal Help keep GATA going GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: To contribute to GATA, please visit: ADVERTISEMENT Buy metals at GoldMoney and enjoy international storage GoldMoney was established in 2001 by James and Geoff Turk and is safeguarding more than $1.7 billion in metals and currencies. Buy gold, silver, platinum, and palladium from GoldMoney over the Internet and store them in vaults in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, taking advantage of GoldMoney's low storage rates, among the most competitive in the industry. GoldMoney also offers delivery of 100-gram and 1-kilogram gold bars and 1-kilogram silver bars. To learn more, please visit: http://www.goldmoney.com/?gmrefcode=gata |
| David Stockman On "The End Of The American Imperium" Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:15 PM PDT Submitted by David Stockman via LewRockwell.com, Next week Congress can do far more than stop a feckless Tomahawk barrage on a small country which is already a graveyard of civil war and sectarian slaughter. By voting "no" it can trigger the end of the American Imperium - five decades of incessant meddling, bullying and subversion around the globe which has added precious little to national security, but left America fiscally exhausted and morally diminished. Indeed, the tragedy of this vast string of misbegotten interventions - from the 1953 coup against Mossedegh in Iran through the recent bombing campaign in Libya - is that virtually none of them involved defending the homeland or any tangible, steely-eyed linkages to national security. They were all rooted in ideology—that is, anti-communism, anti-terrorism, humanitarianism, R2Pism, nation-building, American exceptionalism. These were the historic building blocks of a failed Pax Americana. Now the White House wants authorization for the last straw: Namely, to deliver from the firing tubes of U.S. naval destroyers a dose of righteous "punishment" that has no plausible military or strategic purpose. By the President's own statements the proposed attack is merely designed to censure the Syrian regime for allegedly visiting one particularly horrific form of violence on its own citizens. Well, really? After having rained napalm, white phosphorous, bunker-busters, drone missiles and the most violent machinery of conventional warfare ever assembled upon millions of innocent Vietnamese, Cambodians, Serbs, Somalis, Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Yemeni, Libyans and countless more, Washington now presupposes to be in the moral sanctions business? That's downright farcical. Nevertheless, by declaring himself the world's spanker-in-chief, President Obama has unwittingly precipitated the mother of all clarifying moments. The screaming strategic truth is that America no longer has any industrial state enemies capable of delivering military harm to its shores: Russia has become a feeble kleptocracy run by a loud-mouthed thief and the communist party oligarchs in China would face a devastating economic collapse within months were it to attack its American markets for sneakers and Apples. So the real question now before Congress recurs: how is it possible that the peace-loving citizens of America, facing no industrial-scale military threat from anywhere on the planet, find themselves in a constant state of war? The answer is that they have been betrayed by the beltway political class which is in thrall to a vast warfare state apparatus that endlessly invents specious reasons for meddling, spying, intervention and occupation. In pursuit of nothing more ennobling than raw self-perpetuation, the propaganda machinery of the warfare state - along with its media affiliates such as the War Channel (CNN) and the War Press (Washington Post) - have over recent decades churned out a stream of vastly exaggerated "threats", falsely transforming tin-pot dictators and tyrants like Ho Chi Minh, Daniel Ortega, Slobodan Milosevic, the Taliban, the Ayatollah Khomeini, Saddam Hussein and now Bashar Assad into dangerous enemies. At length, triggering incidents are concocted such as the phony gulf of Tonkin episode, the Madison Avenue based fabrications about Iraqi soldiers stealing babies from incubators in Kuwait, the vastly exaggerated claims of ethnic cleaning in Kosovo, and Saddam's reputed WMDs. Eventually, the drumbeat for military intervention is cranked to a fever pitch, and cable TV drives it home with non-stop telestrators and talking heads. Only after the fact, when billions in taxpayer resources have been squandered and thousands of American servicemen have been killed and maimed, do we learn that it was all a mistake; that the collateral destruction vastly exceeded the ostensible threat; and that there remains not a trace of long-term security benefit to the American people. Setting aside the self-evident catastrophes in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, even the alleged "good" interventions are simply not what they are cracked up to be by warfare state apologists. The 1991 Persian Gulf War, for instance, only insured that Saddam Hussein would not get the oilfield revenues from what he claimed to be Iraq's "19th province" so that he could fund projects to placate his 30 million deprived, abused and restless citizens. Instead, the loot was retained for the benefit of the despicable Emir Al- Sabah IV and a few hundred gluttonous Kuwaiti princes. Yet in the long-run, "saving" the Kuwaiti regime and its unspeakably decadent opulence did not lower the world price of oil by a dime (Iraq would have produced every barrel it could). And it most surely subtracted from national security because it resulted in the permanent basing of 10,000 U.S. troops on Saudi soil. This utterly stupid and unnecessary provocation was the very proof that "infidels" were occupying Islamic holy lands—the principal leitmotif used by Osama bin Laden to recruit a few hundred fanatical jihadists and pull off the flukish scheme that became 9/11. Likewise, the "triumph" of Kosovo is pure grist from the national security propaganda mill. The true essence of the episode was a mere swap-out among the ethnic cleansers: The brutal Serbian army was expelled from Kosovo so that the Albanian thugs of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army which was on the terrorist list until it was mysteriously dropped in 1998) could liquidate minority Serbs and confiscate their property—–a tragic routine that has been going on in the Balkans for centuries. The recurrent phony narratives that generate these war drum campaigns and then rationalize their disastrous aftermath are rooted in a common structural cause: a vastly bloated war machine and national spying apparatus, the Imperial Presidency and the house-trained lap-dogs which occupy the congressional intelligence, foreign affairs and defense committees. This triangle of deception keeps the American public bamboozled with superficial propaganda and the media supplied with short bursts of reality TV when the Tomahawks periodically let fly. But it is the backbone of the permanent warfare state bureaucracy that keeps the gambit going. Presidents come and go but it is now obvious that virtually any ideological script - left or right - can be co-opted into service of the Imperium. The Obama White House's preposterous drive to intervene in the Syrian tinderbox with its inherent potential for fractures and blowback across the entire Middle East is being ram-roded by the dogma of "responsibility to protect". In that context, its chief protagonists—Susan Rice and Samantha Power - are the moral equivalent of Bush's neo-con hit-men, Douglas Feith and Paul Wolfowitz. In both cases, ideological agendas which have absolutely nothing to do with the safety of the American people were enabled to activate the awful violence of the American war machine mainly because it was there, marching in place waiting for an assignment. And that truth encapsulates the inflection point now upon us. There should be no $650 billion war machine with carrier battle groups and cruise missile batteries at the ready to tempt Presidents to heed the advice of ideological fanatics like Power and Wolfowitz. The cold war ended 25 years back, and like in 1919 and 1946 the American war machine should have been drastically demobilized and dismantled long ago; it should be funded at under $300 billion, not over $600 billion. The five destroyers today menacing the coast of Syria should have been mothballed, if not consigned to the scrap yard. No President need have worried about choosing sides among ethnic cleansers in Kosovo or Islamic sectarians and tribalists in Syria because his available tool-kit would have been to call for a peace conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, not a Tomahawk strike from warships in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this context, Barack Obama may yet earn his Nobel Peace prize, owing to the Syria debate he has now unleashed. It will finally show that there is no threat to America's security lurking behind the curtain in the Middle East—only a cacophony of internal religious, ethnic, tribal and nationalist conflicts that will eventually burn themselves out. Rather than the "new caliphate" of Fox News' demented imagination, the truth on the ground is that the Islamic world is enmeshed in a vicious conflict pitting the Shia axis of Iran, Syria, Southern Iraq and the Hezbollah-Lebanon corridor against the surrounding Sunni circle which is nominally aligned with the Syrian rebels. Yet even the Sunni world is noisily fracturing, with Turkey and Qatar lined-up with the Muslim Brotherhood and Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf State aligned with the Egyptian generals. Meanwhile, Jordan cowers in the shadows. The cowardly hypocrisy of the Arab League should tell the Congressional rank-and-file all they need to know about why we should stay out of Syria and shut down the CIA-sponsored rebel training camp in Jordan through which Saudi arms, including chemical weapons according to some reports, are being interjected into the slaughter in Syria. If the Assad regime is truly an existential threat to regional peace and stability, let Saudi Arabia and Turkey take it out. After all, during the last several decades they have received a combined $100 billion in advanced aircraft, missiles, electronic warfare gear and other weaponry from American arms merchants financed by the US government. Needless to say, the spineless Arab League/Saudi potentates who are now demanding "deterrence" never intend to do the job themselves, preferring to stealthily hold the coats of American mercenary forces instead. The truth is that at the end of the day, they find the threat of Iranian retaliation far more compelling than ending Assad's brutality or building a pipeline through a prospective Sunni-controlled Syria to supply Qatar's natural gas to European markets. That leaves the need to dispatch the final and most insidious myth of the warfare state: namely, the lie that Iran is hell-bent on obtaining and using nuclear weapons. Even the CIA's own intelligence estimates refute that hoary canard. And whatever the proper share of blame ascribable to each side for failed nuclear negotiations in the past, the Iranian people have once again freely elected a President who wishes to normalize relationships with the US and its allies - notwithstanding the cruel and mindless suffering visited upon them by the West's misbegotten economic "sanctions". Indeed, if Obama had the wisdom and astuteness President Eisenhower demonstrated going to Korea, he would be now headed for a peace conference table in Tehran, not the war room in the White House. So let the sun shine in. Perhaps the unruly backbenchers on Capitol Hill will now learn that they have been sold out by their betters on the jurisdictional committees, such as knee-jerk hawks like Senators Feinstein and Menendez, who chair the key Senate committees, and Mike Rogers who chairs the House (alleged) Intelligence Committee. If they do, they will understand that the US has no dog in the Middle East hunt, and that the wise course of action would be a thorough-going retreat and disengagement from the internecine conflicts of the Levant, North Africa and the Persian Gulf, just as Ronald Reagan discovered after his nose was bloodied in Lebanon. But however the current debate specifically unfolds, the good news is that the world greatest deliberative body is now back in charge of American foreign policy. By long standing historical demonstration, the US Congress specializes in paralysis, indecision and dysfunction. In the end, that is how the American warfare state will be finally brought to heel and why the American Imperium will come to an end - at last. |
| What If The Fed Really Tapers QE? Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:09 PM PDT In the previous articles and in the previous Market Overview report we discussed the unique macroeconomic position of gold (gold is a system hedge). The main conclusion was that gold is something else than its highly touted ... Read More... |
| Guest Post: Is The US Going To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline? Posted: 04 Sep 2013 05:06 PM PDT As we asked (rhetorically, of course) and answered over 3 months ago, why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria? The answer revolves, as usually is the case in the Middle East, around a pipeline. Here are some additional perspectives. Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog, Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won't let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria? Of course. Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe. [ZH: And as we asked last week, why is Saudi Arabia spending huge amounts of money to help the rebels and why has Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan been "jetting from covert command centers near the Syrian front lines to the Élysée Palace in Paris and the Kremlin in Moscow, seeking to undermine the Assad regime"?] Well, it turns out that Saudi Arabia intends to install their own puppet government in Syria which will allow the Saudis to control the flow of energy through the region. On the other side, Russia very much prefers the Assad regime for a whole bunch of reasons. One of those reasons is that Assad is helping to block the flow of natural gas out of the Persian Gulf into Europe, thus ensuring higher profits for Gazprom. Now the United States is getting directly involved in the conflict. If the U.S. is successful in getting rid of the Assad regime, it will be good for either the Saudis or Qatar (and possibly for both), and it will be really bad for Russia. This is a strategic geopolitical conflict about natural resources, religion and money, and it really has nothing to do with chemical weapons at all. It has been common knowledge that Qatar has desperately wanted to construct a natural gas pipeline that will enable it to get natural gas to Europe for a very long time. The following is an excerpt from an article from 2009...
As you just read, there were two proposed routes for the pipeline. Unfortunately for Qatar, Saudi Arabia said no to the first route and Syria said no to the second route. The following is from an absolutely outstanding article in the Guardian...
If Qatar is able to get natural gas flowing into Europe, that will be a significant blow to Russia. So the conflict in Syria is actually much more about a pipeline than it is about the future of the Syrian people. In a recent article, Paul McGuire summarized things quite nicely...
Yes, I know that this is all very complicated. But no matter how you slice it, there is absolutely no reason for the United States to be getting involved in this conflict. If the U.S. does get involved, we will actually be helping al-Qaeda terrorists that behead mothers and their infants...
Is this really who we want to be "allied" with? And of course once we strike Syria, the war could escalate into a full-blown conflict very easily. If you believe that the Obama administration would never send U.S. troops into Syria, you are just being naive. In fact, according to Jack Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard Law School, the proposed authorization to use military force that has been sent to Congress would leave the door wide open for American "boots on the ground"...
Would you like to send your own son or your own daughter to fight in Syria just so that a natural gas pipeline can be built? What the United States should be doing in this situation is so obvious that even the five-year-old grandson of Nancy Pelosi can figure it out...
Unfortunately, his grandmother and most of our other insane "leaders" in Washington D.C. seem absolutely determined to take us to war. In the end, how much American blood will be spilled over a stupid natural gas pipeline? |
| Is This The Recovery That Is Supporting Taper Talk? Posted: 04 Sep 2013 04:24 PM PDT As a proxy for economic activity, the addition of US exports and imports provides a useful indication of 2-way trade underlying growth in the US. Following the collapse in 2008/9, 2-way trade surged by over 30% YoY providing the impetus for the initial 'recovery' off the lows. That 'growth' has now dissipated and for almost 2 years, 2-way trade has gone nowhere. The last 3 times that this activity indicator was so poor, very significant systemic events occurred. Will 4th time be the charm?
The question then is - where is the self-sustaining growth that will bring the renaissance? And, assuming the Fed is relatively capable of parsing the data, is using unemployment rates simply cover for the fact they are forced to taper due to the critical four factors we have explained (deficits, technicals, sentiment, and international ire)
(h/t Sean Corrigan of Diapason Commodities) |
| Gold Price Lost 1.6 Percent Ending at $1,389.90 Posted: 04 Sep 2013 04:11 PM PDT Gold Price Close Today : 1389.90 Change : -22.10 or -1.57% Silver Price Close Today : 23.369 Change : -1.013 or -4.15% Gold Silver Ratio Today : 59.476 Change : 1.565 or 2.70% Silver Gold Ratio Today : 0.01681 Change : -0.000454 or -2.63% Platinum Price Close Today : 1493.80 Change : -43.50 or -2.83% Palladium Price Close Today : 696.60 Change : -19.60 or -2.74% S&P 500 : 1,653.08 Change : 13.31 or 0.81% Dow In GOLD$ : $222.07 Change : $ 4.89 or 2.25% Dow in GOLD oz : 10.742 Change : 0.237 or 2.25% Dow in SILVER oz : 638.92 Change : 30.52 or 5.02% Dow Industrial : 14,930.87 Change : 96.91 or 0.65% US Dollar Index : 82.144 Change : -0.232 or -0.28% Silver and GOLD PRICES gave back all that spongy jump they gained yesterday. Stocks rose a bit more strongly -- if that proves anything, it's that the nearer certainty of war is good for the American economy in the market's eyes. Wow. That's a heart-stopper. Dollar drooped, but it probably doesn't mean anything much. I'm getting conflicting messages for silver and GOLD PRICES. The five day chart appears to have completed a leg down today, or might have one additional small leg-of-a-leg to go. Completed, as in "no further to drop." Yet in an A-B-C correction, you'd expect the C-down to drop lower than the bottom of A-down, but sometimes in VERY strong markets that doesn't happen. It's further complicated because many times corrections extend sideways and repeat. Still I suspect this correction may reach $1,350 still, and maybe 2250c in silver. Today the SILVER PRICE lost 101.3 cents (4.2%) to end Comex at 2336.9c, versus gaining 91.9 cents yesterday. The gold price lost $22.10 (1.6%) to end at $1,389.90. Yesterday it had gained $15.90. Thus all yesterday's gains were simply wheel-spinning that got no traction. Correction -- that's what it's all about, correcting the excess of a previous move. Both the S&P500 and the Dow are approaching downtrend lines. Dow gained 0.65% today (96.91) to 14,930.87. S&P500 rose 0.81% (13.31) to 1,653.08. For the S&P500 that fills a gap left behind when it fell. Downtrend line today looms above about 1,675, along with the 50 and 20 day moving averages (1,663.13 and 1,660.69). Dow's downtrend line blocks its progress about $1,525, way below the 20 DMA (15,082.25) or the 50 DMA (15,245). I suspect stocks have completed their long correction from the first of August, but even if that's true, they will bounce off that downtrend line first try. Stocks measured in silver and gold are rising, but nothing to brag on. Dow in gold gained 2.25% to 10.742 oz (G$222.07 gold dollars). Dow in Silver gained 30.52 oz (5.02%) to 638.92 oz. After their long, steep fall a reaction upward is predictable. Both had become astonishingly oversold, so no surprise has caught us here. US dollar index tumbled 0.30% today, 23.2 basis points, to 82.144. Noise. Signifieth nothing, only the dollar falling back towards where it broke out for that last good-bye kiss. Euro bounced today off its 200 DMA and rose 0.29% to $1.3139, yet this, too, is vanity. Gravity has the euro in its relentless, merciless grip, and will not be disappointed. Yen paused today at 100.15 cents per Y100, absorbing the shock of breaking down out of the uptrend and building inertia to break through 100 cents. ABOUT PRECIOUS METALS IRAS. Folks don't seem to know that it is possible to invest your IRA in precious metals. Yes, we can help you with a precious metal IRA, not as a custodian but as a dealer. As a custodian, check out New Direction IRA, www.newdirectionira.com. You can transfer your IRA to them and then through us put it into precious metals. Call (877) 742-1270 Extension 185. OR, if you already have a precious metals IRA with another dealer or another custodian and are not quite satisfied with them, send me an email with "IRA change" in the subject line and I'll send you a short letter explaining how you can change both custodians and dealers. Is there any advantage to using our services as a dealer? We are one of the few in the country who manage a gold- silver swapping strategy for our customers. Some have gained up to 50% more ounces using our strategy, without adding to their investment. That's not any sort of promise or guarantee, but any increase in your ounces is a net gain, large or small. For more on our swapping strategy, read http://the-moneychanger.com/articles/why_silver_will_outperform_gold_400 We get no commission or kickback from New Direction IRA but we do earn a commission when we trade for you, and we are always right grateful for it. Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought. - Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger The-MoneyChanger.com 1-888-218-9226 10:00am-5:00pm CST, Monday-Friday © 2013, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission. To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold; US$ or US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down. WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned: Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures. NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps. NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced. NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt. What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands. One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose. No, I don't. |
| Gold Price Lost 1.6 Percent Ending at $1,389.90 Posted: 04 Sep 2013 04:11 PM PDT Gold Price Close Today : 1389.90 Change : -22.10 or -1.57% Silver Price Close Today : 23.369 Change : -1.013 or -4.15% Gold Silver Ratio Today : 59.476 Change : 1.565 or 2.70% Silver Gold Ratio Today : 0.01681 Change : -0.000454 or -2.63% Platinum Price Close Today : 1493.80 Change : -43.50 or -2.83% Palladium Price Close Today : 696.60 Change : -19.60 or -2.74% S&P 500 : 1,653.08 Change : 13.31 or 0.81% Dow In GOLD$ : $222.07 Change : $ 4.89 or 2.25% Dow in GOLD oz : 10.742 Change : 0.237 or 2.25% Dow in SILVER oz : 638.92 Change : 30.52 or 5.02% Dow Industrial : 14,930.87 Change : 96.91 or 0.65% US Dollar Index : 82.144 Change : -0.232 or -0.28% Silver and GOLD PRICES gave back all that spongy jump they gained yesterday. Stocks rose a bit more strongly -- if that proves anything, it's that the nearer certainty of war is good for the American economy in the market's eyes. Wow. That's a heart-stopper. Dollar drooped, but it probably doesn't mean anything much. I'm getting conflicting messages for silver and GOLD PRICES. The five day chart appears to have completed a leg down today, or might have one additional small leg-of-a-leg to go. Completed, as in "no further to drop." Yet in an A-B-C correction, you'd expect the C-down to drop lower than the bottom of A-down, but sometimes in VERY strong markets that doesn't happen. It's further complicated because many times corrections extend sideways and repeat. Still I suspect this correction may reach $1,350 still, and maybe 2250c in silver. Today the SILVER PRICE lost 101.3 cents (4.2%) to end Comex at 2336.9c, versus gaining 91.9 cents yesterday. The gold price lost $22.10 (1.6%) to end at $1,389.90. Yesterday it had gained $15.90. Thus all yesterday's gains were simply wheel-spinning that got no traction. Correction -- that's what it's all about, correcting the excess of a previous move. Both the S&P500 and the Dow are approaching downtrend lines. Dow gained 0.65% today (96.91) to 14,930.87. S&P500 rose 0.81% (13.31) to 1,653.08. For the S&P500 that fills a gap left behind when it fell. Downtrend line today looms above about 1,675, along with the 50 and 20 day moving averages (1,663.13 and 1,660.69). Dow's downtrend line blocks its progress about $1,525, way below the 20 DMA (15,082.25) or the 50 DMA (15,245). I suspect stocks have completed their long correction from the first of August, but even if that's true, they will bounce off that downtrend line first try. Stocks measured in silver and gold are rising, but nothing to brag on. Dow in gold gained 2.25% to 10.742 oz (G$222.07 gold dollars). Dow in Silver gained 30.52 oz (5.02%) to 638.92 oz. After their long, steep fall a reaction upward is predictable. Both had become astonishingly oversold, so no surprise has caught us here. US dollar index tumbled 0.30% today, 23.2 basis points, to 82.144. Noise. Signifieth nothing, only the dollar falling back towards where it broke out for that last good-bye kiss. Euro bounced today off its 200 DMA and rose 0.29% to $1.3139, yet this, too, is vanity. Gravity has the euro in its relentless, merciless grip, and will not be disappointed. Yen paused today at 100.15 cents per Y100, absorbing the shock of breaking down out of the uptrend and building inertia to break through 100 cents. ABOUT PRECIOUS METALS IRAS. Folks don't seem to know that it is possible to invest your IRA in precious metals. Yes, we can help you with a precious metal IRA, not as a custodian but as a dealer. As a custodian, check out New Direction IRA, www.newdirectionira.com. You can transfer your IRA to them and then through us put it into precious metals. Call (877) 742-1270 Extension 185. OR, if you already have a precious metals IRA with another dealer or another custodian and are not quite satisfied with them, send me an email with "IRA change" in the subject line and I'll send you a short letter explaining how you can change both custodians and dealers. Is there any advantage to using our services as a dealer? We are one of the few in the country who manage a gold- silver swapping strategy for our customers. Some have gained up to 50% more ounces using our strategy, without adding to their investment. That's not any sort of promise or guarantee, but any increase in your ounces is a net gain, large or small. For more on our swapping strategy, read http://the-moneychanger.com/articles/why_silver_will_outperform_gold_400 We get no commission or kickback from New Direction IRA but we do earn a commission when we trade for you, and we are always right grateful for it. Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought. - Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger The-MoneyChanger.com 1-888-218-9226 10:00am-5:00pm CST, Monday-Friday © 2013, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission. To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold; US$ or US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down. WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned: Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures. NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps. NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced. NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt. What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands. One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose. No, I don't. |
| Gold Trading at 10 Day EMA; Level Has Been a Pivot Before Posted: 04 Sep 2013 04:09 PM PDT courtesy of DailyFX.com September 04, 2013 03:06 PM Daily Chart Prepared by Jamie Saettele, CMT using Marketscope 2.0 Automate trades with Mirror Trader -Gold reached channel resistance and pulled back last week. The rally from 1180 would consist of 2 equal waves at 1440, a little over $6 from the top that is in place now. -The 10 day EMA is holding as support for now (closing basis). In trends, this average has tended to serve as support/resistance. Trading Strategy: Looking for resumption of long term weakness as per the 3 wave advance from 1180 and near equality of the legs from the low. No trade setup yet. LEVELS: 1318 1352 1373 | 1417 1424 1440 original source... |
| Gold Sentiment Back to Neutral After 6 Months Posted: 04 Sep 2013 02:58 PM PDT After more than 6 months, sentiment towards gold (and silver) are back to neutral. Since mid February of this year, sentiment has crashed and remained near depressed levels. No surprise it had to do with a downward spiral in the gold price. Sentiment is being measured by Sentimentrader. The following chart shows sentiment on September 4th 2013.
It is no coincidence neither that the latest Commitment of Traders report(s) has shown a significant reduction in speculative short. Short covering has been one of the reasons (or effects) of the price rise in August. The gold price is currently moving between its 50 and 200 day moving average. It has broken through the 50 day MA strongly and was well on its way to the 200 day MA. Gold is taking a breather today however. Although nobody knows what the price will be tomorrow or in a week, purely from a chart point of view, it is likely that the 50 day MA will be tested before moving higher again. Of course, the opposite can occur as well. The price action has been very strong lately, so the odds favor at least a short term continuation of the rise. As the futures market has shown light backwardation in the past months. Not too much, now and then we have seen slightly lower prices in the first contracts. Today, again, the spot price of gold is slightly higher than the futures contracts of September, October, November and even February. As we noted here, there is no real reason to make too much out of it.
Courtesy: Stockcharts.com, Barcharts.com, Sentimentrader.com. |
| A Legend Reveals Why He Likes Gold Right Now Posted: 04 Sep 2013 02:43 PM PDT  On the heels of some turbulence in the gold and silver markets, today legendary Pierre Lassonde spoke with King World News about why he likes gold so much right now, and the reason will surprise many readers around the world. Lassonde also told KWN what to expect in the gold and silver markets going forward. Lassonde is arguably the greatest company builder in the history of the mining sector. He is past President of Newmont Mining, past Chairman of the World Gold Council and current Chairman of Franco Nevada. Lassonde is one of the wealthiest, most respected individuals in the gold world, and as always King World News would like to thank him for sharing his wisdom with our global readers during this critical period in these markets. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - September Antics On Light Trading Volumes Posted: 04 Sep 2013 01:26 PM PDT |
| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - September Antics On Light Trading Volumes Posted: 04 Sep 2013 01:26 PM PDT |
| Peruvian Precious Metals Repeating a Winning Formula Posted: 04 Sep 2013 12:46 PM PDT The Gold Report: Can you give us a summary of the opportunity at Peruvian Precious Metals Corp. (PPX:TSX.V; PPX:BVL)? Brian Maher: Peruvian Precious Metals is essentially a brand new company. The new management—Kimberly, CFO Tony Wood, and I—took over earlier this year. We were drawn to this company because of the outstanding project located in the northern Peru copper-gold belt. It's called Igor and it is located in an area that has some of the largest gold mines in the world. The project includes a brand new discovery on what we call the Callanquitas structure with over 700,000 ounces (700 Koz) gold equivalent in the NI 43-101 Inferred category. But what really drew us to this project was the ability for it to be fast tracked to production. The Callanquitas structure is high grade, sub-vertical and topographically well positioned such that it could potentially be developed as a low-cost underground mining operation. The project mirrors where our last company, Prodigy Gold, was when... |
| Posted: 04 Sep 2013 11:37 AM PDT September 4, 2013
“Jacob Lew, the Treasury secretary, just whispered that the next market crash begins no later than mid-October. “Of course,” Chris clarifies, “he didn’t say those exact words. But he did report that the Treasury’s ‘extraordinary measures’ to avoid hitting the debt ceiling will be ‘exhausted in the middle of October.’”
It’s a ginned-up phony crisis; as we pointed out when politicians last wailed about it in summer 2011, Uncle Sam won’t “default” as long as he can pay the interest on the debt. This year, the old bastard will collect $2.7 trillion in tax revenue while coughing up less than $400 billion for interest expense. No matter: As soon Secretary Lew sets a “date certain,” CNN will throw up a countdown clock in the corner of the screen the way it did back then. And traders will panic. The Dow gave up 800 points in the 10 days leading up to the resolution of the 2011 melodrama — and another 1,000 points in the week after, when S&P downgraded Uncle Sam. “The budget-deficit crisis,” says Chris, “will likely be front-page news in the month of September as the brinkmanship over the debt ceiling ramps up again. I think we’re in for a rough couple of months.”
“Meaning,” Chris explains, “the Federal Reserve Bank has bought every new dollar of debt issued and then some. What, no one else wants to bid? “By mid-October,” Chris looks ahead, “the Federal Reserve’s purchases should be approaching 140%, by Williams’ calculations. This is clearly absurd and can’t go on forever. (If for no other reason than the Fed will eventually own the entire federal debt market. As it stands now, it owns about a third of it!) When it ends, interest rates will likely rise. That could also bring the easy-money party to a close.”
Median household income is a government number that’s harder to fudge than the usual suspects like unemployment or GDP. And it’s been in a terminal funk for three years, far worse than during the “official” recession from 2007-09.
“We have another fiscal crisis imminent with a looming debt-ceiling drama. We have a Federal Reserve that is already doing a huge and unsustainable amount of ‘stimulus’ buying. And we have an economy far weaker than it’s been in a more than a decade despite the ‘recovery’ bluster.” And the market hasn’t priced in a bit of it. “The stock market has pushed higher this year — putting in a new all-time high on Aug. 2 — even though earnings growth has clearly slowed.” And as Chris mentioned a few days ago, if you take financials out of the equation, second-quarter earnings actually fell. “Slowing profit growth and a rising market mean valuations have climbed,” says Chris. “Bloomberg reports that ‘Valuations last climbed this fast in the final year of the 1990s technology bubble, just before the index began a 49% tumble.’” True, the market went for 30 times earnings in 1999, compared with 18 times today. “But that’s still a high number,” says Chris, “reflective of too much optimism about future growth.”
“While I think now is a time to be cautious — simply due to the relative scarcity of cheap stocks — I don’t think you should let market worries put you off a solid long-term investment plan. “You’re often better off doing nothing and holding on to good companies growing their net asset values over time, rather than trying to play market timer.” [Ed. Note: Chris is especially keen on a bulletproof strategy he's come to call the "Chaffee Royalty Program." Even in the midst of the dot-com bust and the 2001 recession, this strategy managed to turn every $1 invested into $50. As noted in yesterday's Overtime Briefing, we recently twisted Chris' arm and convinced him to sell his favorite "Chaffee Royalty" play from his personal portfolio... so he could recommend it to readers without running afoul of our strict conflict-of-interest policy. But he's still sharing the details of this strategy with only his most elite readers. We want him to unlock access to the broader audience that reads The 5. So we made a deal: If 2,500 readers sign a petition, he's agreed to reveal this strategy to you. There's no obligation that comes with signing it, and it takes only 60 seconds of your time. Here's where to go. We'll keep you posted on the petition's progress tomorrow.]
Ford turned in its best monthly sales figures since 2006, and with that, the S&P is up nearly 1%, to 1,653. We can hardly wait for the next intraday downturn to be chalked up to the ever-present excuse of the moment — Syria. Might happen by the time you read this episode of The 5, in fact…
Raytheon (RTN) makes the Tomahawk cruise missile — “a go-to weapon in recent conflicts,” Politico informs us, “because of their ability to penetrate sophisticated air-defense systems without risking U.S. lives.” The White House’s 2013 budget asked for 196 Tomahawks at a cost of $320 million. It’s asking for 196 more next year, but at a higher price — $325 million. That’s on top of Navy contracts for 613 more Tomahawks to replace the ones used up during the war in Libya during 2011. Throw in a war in Syria… well, you get the picture. As we noted last month, RTN also makes the Patriot anti-missile system that first made headlines during the 1991 Gulf War and now has a worldwide customer base. Raytheon is a core holding in Byron King’s premium advisory, Military-Tech Alert. That said, “the real ‘investable’ military action,” says Byron, “is with cutting-edge systems that harness all manner of capability in domains such as cyberwarfare, intelligence-gathering and directed energy — and do it from a distance. “Much of the next arms race is well hidden — in cyberlabs and in research facilities that work on assembling super-complex electronics and optics into remote drones and directed energy systems.” The companies working in this space are much smaller — and have far more growth potential. “It’s so investable,” Byron concludes, “that you probably can’t afford not to invest in it.” For access to the future Raytheons and Lockheeds of the 21st century, look here.
“If it successfully penetrates $1,425, all of the damage it has endured since mid-May will be repaired.
“This zone between $1,425-1,475 won’t be easy to leave behind,” Greg adds. “Remember, this is same area that contained the meat of gold’s major drawdown back in April. If long-term bullish buyers really are in control, they will need to make their presence felt if gold has any chance at all at $1,475… “However, if you want to truly understand how important this trading zone has become for gold, you have to view gold’s entire bull market over the past decade…
“Gold lost the mammoth uptrend that guided it to gains since 2002. Now gold is approaching a point where it could attempt to challenge its long-term moving average.” If $1,450 can’t hold, Greg’s longer-term target of $1,000-1,100 remains in play. And no doubt we’ll be hearing from the reader who called Greg the Antichrist, heh…
Booty Salvage — we’re sure you’re wondering — is a family-run treasure-hunting company that’s been running off the coast of Florida since 1999. The day before Labor Day, The Huffington Post reports, the Schmitts hit the mother lode off Fort Pierce: They pulled up “between 60-70 feet of 18th-century gold chains, several gold coins from Peru and a ring,” says HuffPo. According to local station WPTV, the initial estimated value of the gold was between $300,000-350,000.
Booty Salvage’s recovered loot… The treasure is believed to have been lost after virtually an entire Spanish fleet was shipwrecked in July 1715. Hundreds of people were killed in the storm, and countless valuables were lost, giving the area the nickname “Treasure Coast.” “Historians estimate,” Huffington Post writes, “the seabed may hold treasure totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars.” “I was wrong on the estimate,” Rick Schmitt updates Booty Salvage’s Facebook page this morning. “It’s $500,000!”
We got a couple of intriguing replies to our note yesterday from a reader in Malaysia whose bank informed him it has stopped processing traveler’s checks denominated in U.S. dollars. “The majority of the banks in Indonesia,” our first correspondent writes, “are run by Muslim owners and stockholders. They see the proliferation of American money and American buyers of properties in their country as an affront. They no longer wish to be associated with the banking institutions that allow this. “When making any purchases in the region, you are only allowed to make direct transfers of funds, not to mail checks or money orders. I used to buy and resell products from Indonesia for the plumbing industry; cast iron fixtures and pipes manufactured there are much cheaper. Scrap steel and other metals are selling over there at much lower prices. “We have great opportunities in Indonesia, Singapore and other southeastern Asian countries if we just remember that culture is a part of trade.”
“We contacted Amex, and they found us a bank that finally cashed it after talking to several people and waiting for over half an hour for phone calls with Amex and for all we know a background check on us. Finally cashed and wanted 10% to do it. We talked to other people, and you are better off just using the cash machines. This, of course, leaves you with the choice of making many small withdrawals and paying every time, or getting a large amount and being screwed if you are robbed. “We had that happen in Barcelona and were glad we had the traveler’s checks then, although it is not the easy, fast and honest way to travel with money that it once was. They would not give us U.S. dollars and we ended up with euros, and they also took a 10% fee for doing it. We got the money back with the proof from Amex, but big hassle. Bottom line: Do not use them anymore.”
“I’m sure you think that the excessively long-winded videos help sell your newsletters. However, I contend that people buy your newsletters despite the videos, not because of them. And offering the script to read isn’t much better. I now simply scroll down to see how much the newsletter costs, make a decision on whether I want to spend that much money and then either buy or delete the email. “The insurance industry is plagued with individuals selling sales systems and other wares, and they utilize the same technique as your firm; they write pages and pages of stuff and evidently wear down enough of the readers that they sell stuff. But the stuff they are selling is generally a rip-off. “I’m not saying your newsletters are a rip-off, but if you can’t say what you need to say in a couple of minutes or a couple of pages, you need to find new advertising people!”
“That’s OK. I don’t think he’s publishing a newsletter; I would have trouble trying to understand the information if the reading level was in his supposed IQ range of, say, 170.”
“The most recent reader to take offense wants only to be told what to do so he/she can take action. Maybe your ‘infomercials’ are for naught and you should just be telling us to ‘buy this,’ which will be followed by us taking action and filling your coffers! “Regardless of those who seem to take issue with everything these days, thanks for The 5, the newsletters that you offer and the long versions of the info that you provide to let us know about said newsletters.” The 5: You’re welcome. Cheers, Dave Gonigam The 5 Min. Forecast P.S. Speaking of which… Slots are filling quickly for the aggressive “30-Day Retirement” experiment we’re conducting. If you can stand the “excessively long-winded video,” you might want to give it a look now, before the slots are filled and we must withdraw the offer. |
| This Ponzi Scheme of Government Financing Will Not Continue Forever Posted: 04 Sep 2013 11:21 AM PDT Since Nixon "temporarily closed the gold window" in 1971 all currencies have been created as debt, not as asset backed real money, like a gold Double Eagle. Year | US National Debt in $Billions 1913 | 3 1971 | 398 2013 | 16,730 The value of the debt backed paper is supposedly based on the face value, yield, duration, and the probability of repayment. Examples: If I lend my (hypothetical) broke, unemployed, and irresponsible friend $1,000 on an unsecured note, and he is unlikely to repay the loan, then the loan has a value of approximately zero. If you lend the government of Greece $1,000,000,000 on an unsecured note, to be repaid in 10 years, I suspect the value of that debt could be near zero sometime in the future. If you loan the US government $1,000,000,000,000 by purchasing 10 year T-Notes, you probably think the value of those notes is near face value. Let's hope so, but consider:
Caveat: This paper money machine is a beneficial servant to the political and financial elite. Examples that come to mind are: hedge fund managers, central bankers, national politicians, investment bankers, military contractors, oil company executives, venture capitalists and others. The paper money machine will not be changed easily. Reality for the rest of us: The paper money machine seems to be a destructive monster that sucks the economic life blood out of most people, including wage earners, retirees, savers, the unemployed, disabled, and essentially everyone in the bottom 90% as measured by income and total assets. If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. If Ponzi financing, paper money, budget deficits, and exponentially increasing debt cannot grow forever, they will eventually stop. The collateral damage will not be pleasant. This is why it makes sense to convert some unbacked paper and digital currency into real money – physical gold and silver. Store it someplace safe – outside the banking system and possibly in a country other than where you live. Physical gold and silver are for savings and insurance, not trading. Paper currencies that are certain to decline in value are for everyday transactions and convenience, until they are no longer useful. Don't confuse paper currencies or debt based paper with real money. Gold will remain valuable, while debt based paper can disintegrate easily and quickly. A few questions to help clarify thinking and future actions:
Repeat: This is why it makes sense to convert some unbacked paper and digital currency into real money – physical gold and silver. Store it someplace safe – outside the banking system and possibly in a country other than where you live.
Read: Gold, Silver, and the Sins of the Past GE Christenson | The Deviant Investor |
| Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:39 AM PDT "America's industrial economy — one in which companies compete not on price and quality but in political influence, and earn profits not by attracting customers with good service, but by using the power of the state to protect markets and force customers into the fold." — Matt Taibbi, Griftopia You know the routine. Mobsters shake down, say, a restaurant owner. They drink all the booze and eat all they want and pay nothing. They rob the cash register. They even go out and borrow money against the place and spend it. When they've finally bled the thing dry and the business is about to collapse, they burn the place down and collect the insurance money. That's pretty much what Goldman Sachs did to AIG. The taxpayer footed the bill. We are fast approaching the fifth anniversary of the day the U.S. government stepped in to bail out AIG, the insurance giant. It happened over the weekend of Sept. 14, 2008. And even though I feel like I know the story, I keep learning new wrinkl... |
| Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:25 AM PDT "America's industrial economy — one in which companies compete not on price and quality but in political influence, and earn profits not by attracting customers with good service, but by using the power of the state to protect markets and force customers into the fold." — Matt Taibbi, Griftopia You know the routine. Mobsters shake down, say, a restaurant owner. They drink all the booze and eat all they want and pay nothing. They rob the cash register. They even go out and borrow money against the place and spend it. When they've finally bled the thing dry and the business is about to collapse, they burn the place down and collect the insurance money. That's pretty much what Goldman Sachs did to AIG. The taxpayer footed the bill. We are fast approaching the fifth anniversary of the day the U.S. government stepped in to bail out AIG, the insurance giant. It happened over the weekend of Sept. 14, 2008. And even though I feel like I know the story, I keep learning new wrinkles about the whole debacle. It really was a mob job on the U.S. taxpayer — and just one of many during that whole crisis. I'll explain and show how this is still going on… I was in Pompano Beach, Fla., this week with the family, visiting my 91-year-old grandmother. And I picked up a copy of Matt Taibbi's Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History. It's great beach reading. Taibbi is a Rolling Stone correspondent and wrote the now immortal description of Goldman Sachs as a "vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." Hunter S. Thompson, probably the greatest writer ever to write for Rolling Stone, would be proud. Taibbi is a worthy heir. The book, published in 2010, is mostly a collection of pieces that appeared in Rolling Stone from 2008-2010 reworked and updated with new material. Taibbi has style, and I like his prose. He has a gift with metaphor and simile. He calls the crazy tactics of one hedge fund "the financial equivalent of performing open-heart surgery with unwashed hands, using a Super 8 motel bedspread as an operating table." He says Bernanke's claim that a weak dollar only really affects Americans going abroad "is a bit like saying a forest fire only really sucks if you're a woodpecker." Some people are turned off by his style, which involves occasional profanity. (His chapter on former Fed chief Alan Greenspan is titled "The Biggest Asshole in the Universe.") But I like it because it has the effect of unmasking these criminals so we can see them for what they really are. Most of the government officials and corporate bigwigs under analysis are just high-class thieves. Besides that, Taibbi does a lot of terrific investigative reporting. He's more than a stylist. And I think his perspective is spot on. He fully appreciates that what we live in is an economy that is fast becoming a Kafkaesque nightmare. Here is Taibbi: "Your average working American looks around and sees evidence of government power over his life everywhere. He pays high taxes and can't sell a house or a car without paying all sorts of fees. If he owns a business, inspectors come to his workplace once a year to gouge him for something whether he's in compliance or not. If he wants to build a shed in his backyard, he needs a permit from some local thief in the clerk's office." For most people, a run-in with government officialdom is something to be avoided. It means you are in for a costly experience, if not outright financial ruin — even when you've done nothing wrong. But then there is what Taibbi calls the grifter class. These people use the government as a way of making money. This is a large and sweeping cast that includes people at the top of the financial/power pyramid — such as the senators, representatives and upper-level officialdom and the sharks at gangster firms like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and the like. But it also includes lowlife crooks snookering everyday folks, bribing people, falsifying appraisals and generally acting like scum. More from Taibbi: "The new America… is fast becoming a vast ghetto in which all of us, conservative and progressives, are being bled dry by a relatively tiny oligarchy of extremely clever financial criminals and their castrato henchmen in government… This stuff is difficult to unravel, often fiendishly so. But those invisible processes, those unseen labyrinths of the Grifter Archipelago that are indifferent to party affiliation, are our real politics. Which makes sense, if you think about it. It should always have been obvious that a country as rich and powerful as America should be governed by an immensely complex, labyrinthine political system, one that requires almost unspeakable cunning and wolfish ruthlessness to navigate with any success." If you can play the game, you can make a lot of money and take almost no risk. The taxpayer will pick up the tab. One example Taibbi spends a good bit of time on is the whole housing bubble. I enjoyed reading some of the craziness of that era. The home in Fort Myers, Fla., that sold for $399,600 on Dec. 29, 2005, sold again the next day for $589,900 and was in foreclosure a month later. Or the $615,000 house sold to a glasscutter where the mortgage was 96% of his take-home pay. And then the Wall Street magic that turned this huge pile of mortgage garbage into AAA-rated securities. Taibbi details the inner workings of it all in an accessible and fascinating way. He describes it as a "financial sewage system designed to stick us all with the raw waste and pump clean water back to Wall Street." The amount of fraud and greed and thievery involved by all parties is still breathtaking to read about, even though I lived through it. And this brings us to AIG. The chapter on this episode is called "Hot Potato." In a sense, AIG was the firm that got stuck with the hot potato. It is a riveting story, actually, and I can't do justice to it here. But it encapsulates the mafia-style economy we find ourselves in. Essentially, at the end of the tale, AIG owed Goldman Sachs tens of billions of dollars. AIG couldn't pay it. So… Well, here's Taibbi describing the showdown: "When the CEO of Goldman Sachs stood up in the conference room of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and demanded his money, he did so knowing that it was more profitable to put AIG to the torch than it was to try to work things out. In the end, [CEO Lloyd] Blankfein and Goldman literally did a mob job on AIG, burning it to the ground for the 'insurance' of a government bailout they knew they would get…" And they got it. Now, you might claim the taxpayer made money on the deal, as was widely been reported late last year. The idea is ridiculous, because AIG was clearly a heist in which AIG had no choice and the price offered was a fire sale price. (Not that we should feel sorry for AIG, which was a gangster firm with its own crooks). Besides, where is the check for the taxpayer? I never got it. The truth is the government used our money for free and taxpayers will never see it. The whole perspective this book offers is important. Because if you think of the economy as this vast thing where success or failure is a matter of serving customers well, then you are deceiving yourself. (I've written about this before, about how America's largest companies are basically products of state privilege.) This perspective is good too because the reality of the thing shatters many illusions. Think Obamacare is a socialist redistribution scheme? Take another look. What it really amounts to is the largest corporate giveaway and pork-filled legislation in the history of the country. The book also pops a lot of inflated reputations, like Warren Buffett's. My view of Warren Buffett as a person has basically plummeted in the last half-decade or so. Buffett and his firm Berkshire Hathaway benefited immensely from government bailout money. Wells Fargo, of which Buffett is a major shareholder, got $50 billion in bailout money. In fact, many Berkshire holdings were direct beneficiaries of bailout money. And Buffett himself used his influence to make sweetheart deals with the government. It makes you want to throw up, then, when Buffett's vice chairman, Charlie Munger, said of struggling Americans during the housing bust that they should "suck it in and cope." Yeah. Buffett lobbied hard for taxpayer bailouts. He is, today, just another grifter — like Goldman Sachs — using taxpayer money and his influence over those in power to enrich himself and his corrupt firm. (As an aside, the hero worship around Buffett is sickening and sophomoric and really should end. Buffett was a great investor, perhaps the greatest that ever lived. But that doesn't make him a good person, or a wise person, or even a great investor today. I know he's giving his money to charity. Maybe he should start by giving it back to the people he stole it from.) Honore de Balzac, the French novelist, once said that behind every great fortune there is a crime. Sadly, in the U.S., this is more and more often the case. (By the way, Taibbi's latest Rolling Stone piece is called "Ripping off Young America: The College Loan Scandal." It shows again the same grifter dynamics at work. You can find it easily online.) Anyway, Griftopia is a great book. I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it to anyone who wants to get a better understanding about how things work. Regards, Chris Mayer Ed. Note: The fact that Wall Street (along with a complicit U.S. government) is so perfectly screwing the American public should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention. But that doesn't mean you have to take it lying down. You can (and should) take action to stop them from ruining your financial future. Sign up for The Daily Reckoning email, for free, right here. And start learning specific ways you can preserve and even grow your wealth no matter what the grifters try to pull. |
| The Reality of Gold and the Nightmare of Paper Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:20 AM PDT Since Nixon "temporarily closed the gold window" in 1971 all currencies have been created as debt, not as asset backed real money, like a gold Double Eagle. Read More... |
| How one man saved Poland’s gold from the Nazis Posted: 04 Sep 2013 09:34 AM PDT The Real Asset Co |
| Despite Pullback, Gold & Silver Action Remains Constructive Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:57 AM PDT  With global stock markets on the move, and general weakness across the commodity sector, today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb spoke with King World News about the pullback in gold and silver, as well as what investors should expect to see going forward. Below is what Leeb had to say in his fascinating interview.This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Gold falls below $1,400 for third day running Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:54 AM PDT "In order for gold to build on recent gains over $1400/oz, oil prices also have to remain strong we believe,” says a note from HSBC. |
| Middle East gold demand could jump on Syria crisis Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:54 AM PDT But, according to Julian Phillips, it is unlikely to affect Indian demand or Chinese demand which remain worlds apart on these issues, except through its impact on the oil price. |
| RBI further tightens gold import norms Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:54 AM PDT Though Indians hold over 31,000 tonnes of declared gold, a large part of gold jewellery exports takes place from special economic zones and export oriented units across the country, where gold imports have been further choked at these units. |
| Pan African, Village reach settlement on wages Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:54 AM PDT In the first positive development since wage talks began in South Africa’s gold sector, both Village Main Reef and Pan African resources have concluded wage agreements. |
| Monsoon rains to bring bounty to India’s rural population Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:54 AM PDT More cash in the hands of farmers however brings an unwelcome consequence for India’s government – more demand for gold. |
| War or peace, gold wins as government's lies are exposed, Kaye says Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:40 AM PDT 11:36a ET Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Interviewed by King World News, Hong Kong fund manager William Kaye says gold will win whatever happens in the Middle East, for even peace will disclose how much governments have been lying to their people. Kaye expects gold's price to be reset much higher to offset currency collapses. An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News blog here: http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/9/4_Com... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT Buy metals at GoldMoney and enjoy international storage GoldMoney was established in 2001 by James and Geoff Turk and is safeguarding more than $1.7 billion in metals and currencies. Buy gold, silver, platinum, and palladium from GoldMoney over the Internet and store them in vaults in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, taking advantage of GoldMoney's low storage rates, among the most competitive in the industry. GoldMoney also offers delivery of 100-gram and 1-kilogram gold bars and 1-kilogram silver bars. To learn more, please visit: http://www.goldmoney.com/?gmrefcode=gata Join GATA here: Gold Investment Symposium 2013 Mines and Money Australia New Orleans Investment Conference https://jeffersoncompanies.com/landing/speakers?IDPromotion=613011610080... * * * Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt: Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009: http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal Help keep GATA going GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: To contribute to GATA, please visit: ADVERTISEMENT How to profit with silver -- Future Money Trends is offering a special 16-page silver report with our forecast for 2013 that includes profiles of nine companies and technical analysis of their stock performance. Six of the companies have market capitalizations of less than $800 million and one company has a market cap of only $30 million. The most exciting of these companies will begin production in a few weeks and has a market cap of just $150 million. Half of all proceeds from the sale of this report will be donated to the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee to support its efforts exposing manipulation and fraud in the gold and silver markets. To learn about this report, please visit: http://www.futuremoneytrends.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=376&tmp... |
| Futures magazine interviews Hinde Capital's Ben Davies on gold's prospects Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:31 AM PDT 11:33a ET Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Futures magazine's September issue has an extensive interview with Hinde Capital CEO Ben Davies that covers the struggle between real gold and paper gold, the price-suppressive effect of the fractional-reserve gold banking system, the preferability of a gold money system that favors democracy and greater equality of wealth over a credit money system that favors the plutocracy that controls it, the increased use of financial repression by government to defeat free markets, and gold's general prospects. (The interview also includes a lot of photos of Davies.) It's headlined "Ben Davies: Turning Adversity into Gold" and it's posted at Future's magazine's Internet site here: http://www.futuresmag.com/2013/09/01/ben-davies-turning-adversity-into-g... If you have trouble with that link, try this one: CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT You Don't Have to Wait for Your Monetary Metal: Many investors lately report having to wait weeks and even months for delivery of their precious metal orders. All Pro Gold works with the largest wholesalers that have inventory "live" -- ready to go. All Pro Gold can ship these "live" gold and silver products as soon as payment funds clear. All Pro Gold can provide immediate delivery of 100-ounce Johnson Matthey silver bars, bags of 90 percent junk silver coins, and 1-ounce silver Austrian Philharmonics. All Pro Gold can deliver silver Canadian maple leafs with a two-day delay and 1-ounce U.S. silver eagles with a 15-day delay. Traditional 1-ounce gold bullion coins and mint-state generic gold double eagles are also available for immediate delivery. All Pro Gold has competitive pricing, and its proprietors, longtime GATA supporters Fred Goldstein and Tim Murphy, are glad to answer any questions or concerns of buyers about the acquisition of precious metals and numismatic coins. Learn more at www.allprogold.com or email info@allprogold.com or telephone All Pro Gold toll-free at 1-855-377-4653. Join GATA here: Gold Investment Symposium 2013 Mines and Money Australia New Orleans Investment Conference https://jeffersoncompanies.com/landing/speakers?IDPromotion=613011610080... * * * Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt: Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009: http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal Help keep GATA going GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: To contribute to GATA, please visit: |
| Follow Jim Sinclair out of the Banks Posted: 04 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT This morning Jim Sinclair published the following, which you may have already seen and which I would like to share with our subscribers because of the vital importance of Getting Out of The System – GOTS |
| The Fate of the Gold Price in 2 Charts Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:50 AM PDT If you're following gold's bumpy ride this year, two simple charts will tell you everything you need to know about the yellow metal's prospects. Gold futures are sinking this morning. The price has dropped about $18 off yesterday's highs. That puts gold just below $1,395. For the past five trading sessions, gold has slowly trended lower. It's consolidating just below $1,425. So if you're a fan of the rally off its July lows. you should be encouraged by this action. Right now, gold is approaching an important trading zone. If it successfully penetrates $1,425, all of the damage it has endured since mid-May will be repaired.
This zone between $1,425 – $1,475 won't be easy to leave behind. Remember, this is same area that contained the meat of gold's major drawdown back in April. If long-term bullish buyers really are in control, they will need to make their presence felt if gold has any chance at all at $1,475… However, if you want to truly understand how important this trading zone has become for gold, you have to view gold's entire bull market over the past decade…
Gold lost the mammoth uptrend that guided gold to gains since 2002. Now, gold is approaching a point where it could attempt to challenge its 50-period moving average. If it fails again near $1,450, I expect the metal to continue its downtrend, ultimately landing somewhere between $1,100-$1,000. That would allow a complete retracement of 2010-2011 push toward $2,000. I've spent a lot of time talking about the stock market's potential make-or-break moments lately. But gold is now getting to the point where a couple of trading weeks in either direction could ultimately decide its fate. If gold fails here, expect another leg lower toward my ultimate price target. Regards, Greg Guenthner |
| Gold Drops with Oil as US & Russia Argue Over Syria Ahead of G20 Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:29 AM PDT WHOLESALE GOLD fell back below $1400 per ounce for the third day running Wednesday lunchtime in London, dropping to $1393 and trading 1.7% below yesterday's high as crude oil and world stock markets both fell 0.5%. Silver dropped to $23.53 per ounce, some 4.0% below Tuesday's top. Major government bonds edged higher, nudging interest rates down, while weaker Eurozone debt fell in price. |
| Gold: Bouncing, But No New High Yet Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:11 AM PDT Gold has bounced, breaking the initial resistance at 1405 (intraday high). We would still favour a second down leg towards the key support at 1352 (see also the larger rising channel). Resistances stands at 1417 (intraday high) and 1434. Read More... |
| A Really Foul Smell Is Coming From The White House Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:10 AM PDT You know how horrific it smells when you walk into the men's room at an NFL football stadium in the fourth quarter? That's the kind of smell I'm getting from the Obama Government right now after Barack has made it clear that he wants to attack Syria and ultimately remove Assad. But the real question is, why? Does anyone really believe that the U.S. can prove that the Syrian military used chemical weapons against the rebel forces? To begin with, based on everything I've read, IF chemical weapons were deployed, it's impossible to know if they came from the Syrian military or the rebels. But just to remind everyone, the rebel forces are being led by Al Qaida and have been heavily funded, armed and trained by both Saudi Arabia and the United States. The latter is a fact that the U.S. can not deny. How absurd is it that the U.S. is conducting a trillion dollar "war on terror" against Al Qaida around the globe and yet it is funding and supporting them in Syria? It's so absurd that you couldn't begin to make that up. But why? First off, let's completely dispel the cover story of chemical weapons use. The evidence is flimsy and 100% hear-say. Maybe they were used, maybe not. But which side used them is impossible to know for sure, although, as I'll show in a minute, the motive for staging the use of chemicals was a lot greater for the Saudi/U.S. coalition. This reminds me 100% of the Bush regime argument for going to war in Iraq, which we know for a fact was complete lie. Colin Powell lied to the world and he knows it and we know it. Second, check out this photograph of John Kerry having a cosy dinner with Assad and their respective wives in 2009: LINK Keep in mind this the same person that Kerry just referred to as "Hitler." Finally, what's the U.S. motive? It's never really for "humanitarian" reasons. After all, regardless of which side flung the alleged chemicals, there's no do doubt that the U.S.' strategic bombing of Syria will yield many more multiples of casualties - military and civilian - than occurred from the alleged use of chemical weapons. However, I have found that beneath the surface reasons for every war in history there has always been economic reasons embedded as the root cause. Every single one. As it turns out, not surprisingly, this one is over energy. Natural gas pipelines. Read this if you don't believe me - and this is not the first source from which I've read this but it's laid out nicely here: LINK The real reason for the U.S. involvement is that both Saudi Arabia and Qatar want to tighten their control of the flow of energy in the Middle East. Rest assured that there's also plenty of motive for big U.S. oil companies to make this happen. I guess the next questions would be, who really controls the U.S. and the Obama regime? Big oil or Saudi Arabia? And does Obama really deserve that Nobel Peace Prize? |
| A Really Foul Smell Is Coming From The White House Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:10 AM PDT You know how horrific it smells when you walk into the men's room at an NFL football stadium in the fourth quarter? That's the kind of smell I'm getting from the Obama Government right now after Barack has made it clear that he wants to attack Syria and ultimately remove Assad. But the real question is, why? Does anyone really believe that the U.S. can prove that the Syrian military used chemical weapons against the rebel forces? To begin with, based on everything I've read, IF chemical weapons were deployed, it's impossible to know if they came from the Syrian military or the rebels. But just to remind everyone, the rebel forces are being led by Al Qaida and have been heavily funded, armed and trained by both Saudi Arabia and the United States. The latter is a fact that the U.S. can not deny. How absurd is it that the U.S. is conducting a trillion dollar "war on terror" against Al Qaida around the globe and yet it is funding and supporting them in Syria? It's so absurd that you couldn't begin to make that up. But why? First off, let's completely dispel the cover story of chemical weapons use. The evidence is flimsy and 100% hear-say. Maybe they were used, maybe not. But which side used them is impossible to know for sure, although, as I'll show in a minute, the motive for staging the use of chemicals was a lot greater for the Saudi/U.S. coalition. This reminds me 100% of the Bush regime argument for going to war in Iraq, which we know for a fact was complete lie. Colin Powell lied to the world and he knows it and we know it. Second, check out this photograph of John Kerry having a cosy dinner with Assad and their respective wives in 2009: LINK Keep in mind this the same person that Kerry just referred to as "Hitler." Finally, what's the U.S. motive? It's never really for "humanitarian" reasons. After all, regardless of which side flung the alleged chemicals, there's no do doubt that the U.S.' strategic bombing of Syria will yield many more multiples of casualties - military and civilian - than occurred from the alleged use of chemical weapons. However, I have found that beneath the surface reasons for every war in history there has always been economic reasons embedded as the root cause. Every single one. As it turns out, not surprisingly, this one is over energy. Natural gas pipelines. Read this if you don't believe me - and this is not the first source from which I've read this but it's laid out nicely here: LINK The real reason for the U.S. involvement is that both Saudi Arabia and Qatar want to tighten their control of the flow of energy in the Middle East. Rest assured that there's also plenty of motive for big U.S. oil companies to make this happen. I guess the next questions would be, who really controls the U.S. and the Obama regime? Big oil or Saudi Arabia? And does Obama really deserve that Nobel Peace Prize? |
| How to Fake a Fast Food Strike Posted: 04 Sep 2013 07:00 AM PDT Oh, how the media love a good strike. Look at these fast-food workers and peasants standing up to the owners of capital! They aren't going to take the oppression anymore. The suits in the boardrooms had better shape up and stop hoarding all that money. They need to give it up to the men and women who are doing the work by giving them not $8 per hour, but $15. And they need to act now. And so goes the media narrative on the "nationwide" walkouts from fast-food restaurants this week. Thousands of stories poured out in the papers and wire services. The signs, the screaming, the demands, the sad stories of exploitation, the reporters shouting over the yelling — it's all a scene out of the old storybooks. But wait just a minute, here. These people are demanding a doubling of wages? You don't even have to study economics for more than a few seconds to see that this would be catastrophic for employment. Think of it this way: What if the price of a Big Mac suddenly went from $4 to $8? Are you going to buy as many? McDonald's can't make you. Do a quick mental experiment and imagine what would happen to the demand for this sandwich. Well, in the same way, no one can force McDonald's to buy labor at $15 an hour. Demand for labor would collapse. Bankruptcies would abound. People would suffer. So what's with these demands? Sure, everyone wants more money (universal rule!) but this is a horrible way to go about it. If you look a bit more deeply, you begin to the see the hoax. There's every indication that people outside the restaurants protesting didn't actually work for the place they were protesting. It was a classic "rent-a-mob" situation, and the rent was being paid by political activists whose agenda has nothing to do with helping the average burger flipper. These were mostly media stunts cooked up by the Service Employees International Union, which bused in these so-called workers as a fulfillment of a little charade and subsequent media blitz. The SEIU coordinates these protests with various professional worker groups and in conjunction with the press to make the biggest possible splash. Notice that in the course of the protests, McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King reported on no cases of actual shutdowns due to striking workers. A rare case was reported in Detroit, but it seemed to come and go. There were sporadic reports of some closings, but due more to the chaos than refusal to work. As Labor Notes reported, "A Qdoba Mexican Grill was entirely shut down when a crowd occupied the store. A Subway was unable to stay open because of a large crowd out front." In other words, the most these so-called walkouts accomplished was to block the entrances for consumers. As soon as the ruckus ended, consumers poured back in and workers happily served up the food and drink that people wanted. That alone is enough to cause any objective observer to suspect a rat. Among all the media stories about these so-called strikes, only Bloomberg hinted at the reality: "Moments after protesters left a Wendy's in downtown Manhattan, about 20 people piled into the store for lunch. When chanting strikers entered the Chicago McDonald's, workers continued to pour coffee and bag food for a throng of customers." RealClearMarkets provided some more detail — and did so even before the protests began. In short, these were not workers, but pressure groups acting in a coordinated fashion through politically driven "workers centers" — Fast Food Forward and Low Pay Is Not OK — backed by the American Federation of Teachers, the new incarnation of the Obama-ite ACORN, and other highly politicized parasites:
Stranger still, consider that these so-called strikes have no real end game. You can't negotiate with an entire industry. Wages in these franchises are decided by the local owners, not dictated by the center. If McDonald's corporate headquarters suddenly mandated a $15 minimum, it would stand in massive contract violation with the owners of the stores — robbing them of their rights. It would never happen. But if it did, the result would be to bankrupt thousands of stores, throw possibly millions of people out of work, and do terrible damage to future job creation. These franchises operate on extremely thin margins as it is, and the owners never know for sure whether they are going to make it another year. As for the workers themselves, they are mostly entry-level jobs, and some 75% of the new workers in these restaurants end up leaving for other positions after a year of work. In other words, these are brilliant places to get your foot in the door. They hire people who really need the experience and train them in money management, cooking skills, interpersonal skills, and the ethic of the commercial marketplace. The agenda of these activists groups is to ruin this beautiful opportunity for people. And what's the point? Well, labor unions of the sort represented by SEIU are nearly extinct in this modern, dynamic, entrepreneurial economy. They once dominated. Now, the percentage of private sector workers who are unionized is down to 6.6%. Even the rate of government unionization is collapsing by one-third. Looking at this bigger picture, you can see that these stunts are really acts of desperation. The unions need to shore up their membership. They will do it at the expense of the poor, the low-wage workers, small-business owners, and consumers. They really don't care. At this late stage, these near-death unions are willing to pillage anyone and everyone just to survive. The mainstream press is not doing anyone favors by covering up the true racket here. The fast-food franchises are not owned and run by fat cats, but by mostly local business owners who scraped up enough money to take on a risky investment. They have suffered terrible economic strain over the past five years, with ever-increasing regulatory costs, higher minimum wages, and the constant threat of death by Obamacare. Despite all this, fast food has been a growth industry — a bright spot in a dim economic landscape. This faked "strike" charade is the last thing they need right now. The trolls will always be with us. If only the attention-hungry press would learn to spot them and ignore them so business could get on with making the world a better place. Sincerely, Jeffrey Tucker |
| Gold, Crude Oil Outlook Clouded as Standby Patterns Break Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:43 AM PDT courtesy of DailyFX.com September 04, 2013 03:38 AM The outlook for gold and crude oil prices appears clouded in the hours ahead as markets break from familiar “risk on/off” and “taper on/off” trading patterns. Talking Points [LIST] [*] Crude Oil, Copper Follow European Stocks Lower Amid Risk Aversion [*] Gold and Silver Curiously Under Pressure Despite US Dollar Weakness [*] Fed Beige Book Survey Eyed Amid Continued Fed “Taper” Speculation [/LIST] Commodity prices are under pressure as risk aversion sweeps financial markets in European trade, although familiar trading patterns are not holding up in a consistent way. Sentiment-sensitive crude oil and copper prices are following shares lower, which falls in line with what might be expected. The precious metals space is a bit confounding however. In the past, gold and silver often found themselves looped into broader risk aversion via the US Dollar: unraveling sentiment drove ... |
| Gold Price Drops with Oil Even as Obama Repeats Case for Syria, Putin Calls It "Ludicrous" Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:16 AM PDT The GOLD PRICE edged back below $1400 per ounce Wednesday lunchtime in London, dropping to $1393 and trading 1.7% below yesterday's high as crude oil and world stock markets both fell 0.5%. Silver dropped to $23.53 per ounce, some 4.0% below Tuesday's top. Major government bonds edged higher, nudging interest rates down, while weaker Eurozone debt fell in price. Now putting airstrikes against Syria to a Congressional vote next week, "Failing to respond would only increase the risk of [further chemical weapons] attacks," said US president – and 2009 Nobel peace prize winner – Barack Obama at a press conference in Sweden today. "The potential for Mideast tensions to intensify would be bullish for [the gold price]," reckons a note from London market maker HSBC. "Safe haven demand for gold is currently strong...[But] in order for gold to build on recent gains over $1400/oz, oil prices also have to remain strong we believe." Crude oil slipped 0.5% on Wednesday morning, with US futures retreating to $108 per barrel. Speaking ahead of tomorrow's G20 summit in St Petersburg, Russian president Vladimir Putin warned the US that the Kremlin may revive exports of missiles to its Middle Eastern allies, which include Syria and Iran. But whilst saying it was "ludicrous" to think the Assad regime had used chemical weapons against civilians as alleged, Putin said Russia would "act in the most decisive and serious way" if UN inspectors prove those claims. For the gold price, commodity researchers at Commerzbank wrote Wednesday, "We believe that the effect of these political factors will be short-lived. "Current geopolitical risks are unlikely to bring about any sustained trend reversal for gold. After all, physical demand is relatively weak at present." "I reiterate what I said last week," says David Govett at brokers Marex, "about buying the rumour of war/missile strikes and selling the fact. "Bear that in mind as time ticks down to the Congressional vote." The 17-nation Eurozone meantime followed the UK and US today in revising its latest GDP figures higher, cutting this spring's year-on-year drop to 0.5% from the 0.7% first reported. New service-sector data meantime showed a four-month high in China, and a surge to the fastest UK growth since 2007. The Pound hit 1-week highs above $1.56, curbing the gold price in Sterling back below £900 per ounce – a two-year low when first breached in gold's April 2013 crash. Gold mining output from world No.5 producer South Africa was hit meanwhile by a two-day strike, with work at 17 "partially or severely affected" according to the Chamber of Mines. "If you are prepared to move, then we may be prepared to move," said NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka on SAFM radio today, suggesting a step back from the 60% wage hikes demanded so far but refusing to comment on rumors of a drop to 10% claims. Over on the demand side, gold smuggling to India has doubled so far in 2013 according to industry estimates. Nepalese seizures of illegal shipments to India are already three times last year's total. India's banks are now asking potential borrowers not to use any loans to buy gold, the Deccan Chronicle reported this week. Shops in mid-tier city Xiamen in China – now the world's No.2 consumer country, and likely to overtake India in 2013 on official data – have seen gold and silver jewelry demand rise 42% so far in 2013 from the first 7 months of 2012, equaling more than $148 million. |
| We’re Heading Toward Another Nightmarish Financial Crisis! Here’s Why Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:16 AM PDT We have not seen so many financial trouble signs all come together at one time like So writes Michael Snyder (theeconomiccollapseblog.com) in edited excerpts from his original article* entitled 18 Signs That Global Financial Markets Are Entering A Horrifying Death Spiral. [The following article is presented by Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.FinancialArticleSummariesToday.com and www.munKNEE.com and the FREE Market Intelligence Report newsletter (sample here – register here) and may have been edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and/or reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. This paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.]Snyder goes on to say in further edited, and in some places paraphrased, excerpts: A lot of people believe that we will never see another major financial crisis like we experienced in 2008…and that this type of “doom and gloom” talk is foolish. [Unfortunately,] it’s those kinds of people that did not see the last financial crash coming and are choosing not to prepare for the next one even though the warning signs are exceedingly clear. Let us hope for the best, but let us also prepare for the worst, and right now things do not look good at all. You can see it coming, can’t you? The yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries is skyrocketing, the S&P 500 has been down for 9 of the last 11 trading days and troubling economic news is pouring in from all over the planet. The much anticipated “financial correction” is rapidly approaching, and investors are starting to race for the exits. The following are 17 signs that global financial markets are entering a horrifying death spiral… #1 The yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries [keeps rising]… #2 Rapidly rising interest rates are spooking investors and causing them to pull money out of bonds (primarily foreigners and specifically those from China and Japan) at a very rapid pace… #3 Thanks to rapidly rising bond yields, some of the largest exchange-traded bond funds such as
are getting absolutely hammered right now. #4 In recent weeks we have witnessed the largest cluster of Hindenburg Omens that we have seen since prior to the last financial crisis. #5 George Soros has bet a tremendous amount of money that the S&P 500 is going to be heading down. #6 At this point, the S&P 500 has fallen for 9 out of the last 11 trading days. #7 Margin debt has spiked to extremely dangerous levels. This is a pattern that we also saw just before the last financial crash and just before the dotcom bubble burst… #8 The growth rate of new commercial bank loans and leases is now the slowest that it has been since the end of the last financial crisis. #9 According to a shocking new report, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are masking “billions of dollars” in losses. Will they need to be bailed out again just like they were during the last financial crisis? #10 Wal-Mart reported very disappointing sales numbers for the second quarter. Sales at stores open at least a year were down 0.3%. This is a continuation of a trend that has been building for years. #11 U.S. consumer bankruptcies just experienced their largest quarterly increase in three years. #12 The velocity of money in the United States has hit another stunning new low. #13 The massive civil unrest in Egypt threatens to disrupt the steady flow of oil out of the Middle East… #14 European stocks just experienced their biggest decline in six weeks. #15 The Japanese national debt recently crossed the quadrillion yen mark, and many are expecting the Japanese financial system to start melting down at any time. #16 In Indonesia, the stock market is “cratering”. #17 In India, the yield on their 10 year government bonds has skyrocketed from 7.1 percent in May to 9.25 percent now. As the coming months unfold, keep a close eye on the “too big to fail” banks both in Europe and in the United States. When the next great financial crisis strikes, they will play a starring role once again. They have been incredibly reckless, and as James Rickards told Greg Hunter during an interview the other day, we are in much worse shape to deal with a major banking crisis than we were back in 2008… stating "You're going to have a banking crisis worse than the last one because the banking system is bigger without the resources because the Fed is tapped out." Conclusion We never even came close to recovering from the last financial crisis and the last recession and now the next major wave of the economic collapse is coming up quickly. I hope you are taking this time to prepare for the approaching storm, because it is going to be very painful. [Editor's Note: The author's views and conclusions in the above article are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original post. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.]*http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/18-signs-that-global-financial-markets-are-entering-a-horrifying-death-spiral Other Articles by Michael Snyder: 1. Shift From U.S. Dollar As World Reserve Currency Underway – What Will This Mean for America?  Today, more than 60% of all foreign currency reserves in the world are in U.S. dollars – but there are big changes on the horizon…Some of the biggest economies on earth have been making agreements with each other to move away from using the U.S. dollar in international trade…[and this shift] is going to have massive implications for the U.S. economy. [Let me explain what is underway.] Words: 1583 Read More »  There is one vitally important number that everyone needs to be watching right now, and it doesn’t have anything to do with unemployment, inflation or housing. If this number gets too high, it will collapse the entire U.S. financial system. The number that I am talking about is the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries. Here’s why. Words: 1161; Charts: 2 Read More »  All of this talk about a “bright future” for real estate is just a bunch of nonsense. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries is starting to rise aggressively again and, because mortgage rates tend to follow such increases, mortgage rates are going up. As monthly payments go up less people will be able to afford to buy homes at current prices and this will force home prices down. As such, another great real estate crash is inevitable. Let me explain further. Words: 995 ; Charts: 1 Read More »  Never before has the world faced such a serious debt crisis. Yes, in the past there have certainly been nations that have gotten into trouble with debt, but we have never had a situation where virtually all of the major powers around the globe were all drowning in debt at the same time. Right now, confidence is being shaken as debt levels skyrocket to extremely dangerous levels. Many are openly wondering how much longer this can possibly go on. [Here's my take on the situation.] Read More »  Anyone that thinks that the U.S. economy can keep going along like this is absolutely crazy. We are in the terminal phase of an unprecedented debt spiral which has allowed us to live far, far beyond our means for the last several decades. Unfortunately, all debt spirals eventually end, and they usually do so in a very disorderly manner. Read More »  The pension nightmare that is at the heart of the horrific financial crisis in Detroit is just the tip of the iceberg of the coming retirement crisis that will shake America to the core. As a society, we have made trillions of dollars of financial promises to the Baby Boomers, and there is no way that we are going to be able to keep those promises. The money simply is not there. Read More » 7. Bonds Getting Slaughtered, Interest Rates to Rise Dramatically, Economic Bubbles to Implode What does it look like when a 30 year bull market ends abruptly? What happens when bond yields start doing things that they haven’t done in 50 years? If your answer to those questions involves the word “slaughter”, you are probably on the right track. Right now, bonds are being absolutely slaughtered, and this is only just the beginning. So why should the average American care about this? Read More » 8. Rapidly Rising Interest Rates Could Lead to Financial Collapse – Here's Why The global financial system is potentially heading for massive amounts of trouble if interest rates continue to soar. So what does all this mean exactly? [Let me explain.] Read More » 9. Rising Interest Rates Could Plunge Financial System Into a Crisis Worse Than 2008 – Here's Why If yields on U.S. Treasury bonds keep rising, things are going to get very messy. What we are ultimately looking at is a sell-off very similar to 2008, only this time we will have to deal with rising interest rates at the same time. The conditions for a “perfect storm” are rapidly developing, and if something is not done we could eventually have a credit crunch unlike anything that we have ever seen before in modern times. Let me explain. Read More »  Just the mere suggestion that this round of quantitative easing will eventually end if the economy improves is enough to severely rattle Wall Street. U.S. financial markets have become completely and totally addicted to easy money, and nobody is quite sure what is going to happen when the Fed takes the “smack” away. When that day comes, will the largest bond bubble in the history of the world burst? Will interest rates rise dramatically? Will it throw the U.S. economy into another deep recession? Can the Fed fix this mess without it totally blowing up? Read More »  At some point we are going to see another wave of panic hit the financial markets like we saw back in 2008. The false stock market bubble will burst, major banks will fail and the financial system will implode. It could unfold something like this: Words: 660 Read More » 12. Jim Willie: Gold Will Rise to $5,000/ozt. and Beyond & Silver Will Rise Multiples Higher Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:11 AM PDT In the last several months, the [world economic] crisis has entered a new elevated So says Jim Willie (goldenjackass.com) in edited excerpts from his original article* as posted on 24hgold.com entitled 13 Reasons Why Gold Will Hit $5000/oz. Willie goes on to say in further edited excerpts: The shortage for Silver is astounding and obvious to analysts and experts, except those who work for banks. The shortage for Gold is more subtle, as thousands of tons have been leased illicitly and, therefore, the accounting is replete with double counting and outright missing accounts in false reporting. The most egregious ledger item is the USGovt gold reserves, listed as deep storage gold, translated to mean some scattered Barrick Gold ore bodies buried in mountain ranges. GOLD PRICE FACTORS [Given the above] the people will pay whatever price eventually, and certainly premiums, until Gold is properly priced an order of magnitude higher. The equilibrium in the gold market will come when Gold is above $5000 per ounce. *http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-gold-silver-13-reasons-why-gold-will-hit-5000-oz.aspx (Go to Hat Trick Letter to subscribe to the paid research reports, which include coverage of critically important factors at work during the ongoing panicky attempt to sustain an unsustainable system burdened by numerous imbalances aggravated by global village forces.) Related Articles: 1. Gold:Silver Ratio Suggests Much Higher Future Price for Silver – MUCH Higher! The majority of analysts maintain that gold will reach a parabolic peak price somewhere in excess of $5,000 per troy ounce in the next few years. Given the fact that the historical movement of silver is 90 – 95% correlated with that of gold suggests that a much higher price for silver can also be anticipated. Couple that with the fact that silver is currently greatly undervalued relative to its average long-term historical relationship with gold and it is realistic to expect that silver will eventually escalate dramatically in price. How much? This article applies the historical gold:silver ratios to come up with a range of prices based on specific price levels for gold being reached. Words: 691 Read More » 2. These Sites Are the BEST Places to Buy Gold & Silver Online – Here's Why Our review of the best places to buy gold online…[are] dependent on what your goal with the gold is — amassing physical bullion for financial security or to speculate on gold prices. Below are strategies and recommended dealers for each approach: Words: 532 Read More » 3. How Will the Price of Gold Evolve Into 2014 and Beyond? A Perspective How will the price of gold develop into 2014 and in the following years? [Read on as] we try a look into the future. Words: 2600 Read More » 4. Gold Projected to Reach $4,000/ozt. Sometime Between Late 2015 & Mid 2017! Here's My Rationale I am not predicting a future price of gold or the date that gold will trade at $4,000, but I am making a projection based on rational analysis that indicates a likely time period for gold to trade at $4,000 per troy ounce. Yes, $4,000 gold is completely plausible if you assume the following: 5. Gold Should Be At $4,666 These Days – Here's Why Since the Financial Crisis erupted in 2007, the US Federal Reserve has engaged in dozens of interventions/ bailouts to try and prop up the financial system…and the amount of money printed is absolutely staggering. As a result of this, inflation hedges, particularly Gold, have been soaring…[but] for gold, for example, to hit a new all time high adjusted for inflation, it would have to clear at least $2,193 per ounce. If you go by 1970 dollars (when gold started its last bull market) it would have to hit $4,666 per ounce. Words: 581 6. Alf Field: Gold STILL Targeted to Reach $4,500 – Preceded By Violent Upside Action We now have a really strong probability that the correction which started at $1913 on 23 August 2011 has been completed both in terms of Elliott waves and also in terms of time elapsed. If this is correct, the gold price should soon be expressing itself in violent upside action as it moves into the third of third wave which is still targeted to reach $4,500. [Let me explain in detail (with charts) how and why my most recent analyses confirm my earlier target of $4,500.] Words: 1085 7. New Analysis Suggests a Parabolic Rise in Price of Gold to $4,380/ozt. |
| Noonan: Gold & Silver Could Move Sideways for Another 1-2 Years – Here’s Why Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:04 AM PDT Using past history of how price responds, it is likely that gold, and silver, could move So says Michael Noonan (edgetraderplus.com) in edited excerpts from his original article entitled Gold And Silver – Market Says 1 -2 Years Sideways, Not Up. [The following article is presented by Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.FinancialArticleSummariesToday.com and www.munKNEE.com and the FREE Market Intelligence Report newsletter (sample here – register here) and may have been edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and/or reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. This paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.]Noonan goes on to say in further edited, and perhaps in some places paraphrased, excerpts: Such a statement as the above is NOT my opinion. Opinions do not move markets, only executed trades matter. The only opinion that matters is what the market is saying about those who are actually participating, and that shows up as fact when viewed on the charts. Opinion, sentiment, belief, expectation, none [of those] lead the market but are more reflective of one's mindset, and in the end, it is the market that always has the last word. From our perspective, it is better to follow the market's lead. If you have a consistent game plan, profitable results will follow. (A shorter version of the aforementioned is, simply, do not fight the tape! Gold – Quarterly Chart Stand-out wide range bars tend to capture market behavior for the next several time periods, so for a Quarterly, it can be a few years [as the chart below illustrates]:
In the 2011 wide range bar noted above, gold traded sideways for 6 more quarters, before being "driven" lower. The 2nd Q bar, second from the end, is almost equal in size to the range that formed the high. Using past history of how price responds, it is likely that gold, and silver, will move sideways for another year or two. As noted on the chart, only some highly unexpected news event could "shock" price out of normal pattern behavior, which is what it would take to get the price of gold and silver to move higher, in line with "expectations" of the PMs community. A collapse of the fiat Federal Reserve Note would be such a catalyst example. There is history for that kind of event, taken from the Federal Reserve's model, the Weimar Republic banking system from Germany, which ultimately went wildly amok from its infinite printing binge. Still, it took some time for it to unravel, as it is for today's criminal bankers gone wild. Given that the New World Order's central bankers have a stronghold, literally, on the Western banking system, that power will not easily be ceded, and that faction will destroy currencies in the process before ever acknowledging their historically proven to be doomed policies are not working except in transferring the Western world's wealth into their greedy hands. On that score, things are working beautifully, if you happen to be a part of the NWO. [Editor's note: to read Noonan's complete article complete with monthly, weekly and daily charts on gold and silver along with detailed analyses and comments please go here. It is well worth the read for individuals wanting more detailed information.] Other Noonan Articles: 1. Noonan: These Charts Clearly Show What's Happening With Gold & Silver – Take a Look  Below is a perfect example of how the charts timed the movement in the price of gold and silver over the past week. Yes, you CAN time the market as this article clearly demonstrates! When the market "talks," we listen.] Read More » The window of opportunity to buy physical gold and silver continues to narrow. Like the housing market top was known to be coming, when it came, those who waited too long regretted it. When the bottom for the physical PMs is known as a certainty, those who waited for a "better price" may also regret that decision. It is all about choice. Read More » In an election, it does not matter if voter turnout is high or low, the outcome is determined by the actual votes cast. The same holds true for the markets. Only those who make an actual buy or sell decision determine the outcome of the market trend. The market "voters" turn up in charts, recorded in the price range, close, and volume. Collectively, a "story" unfolds, and it usually is an accurate one as it does not include any opinions. Opinions do not matter. Articles written about fundamentals, pundit declarations, etc., all fall under the category of opinions. The market is the best source for information, and that is a fact. Read More » …Fiats have an unbroken track record of failing throughout all of history. Gold also has an unbroken track record of being a store of value for over 5,000 years. Yes, there have been hiccups along the way, and we are in one now. It is what it is, but what it is is also an incredible buying opportunity at "fire sale" prices….[That being said,] a look at the charts of the paper-tracked PM market [beg the question] … "Where's the beef?" Where is the substance of anything? We see none in the charts. Take a look. Words: 610; Charts :4 Read More »  Technical analysis is a measure different from fundamental analysis…and we qualifying our approach with a specialized subset of technical analysis. How so? We read price and volume behavior, over time, in the form of developing market activity. It is what one sees on a chart, price ranges, close locations, volume, time factor[s], but no more. Below are charts that suggest that the weakness in silver may be coming to an end, sooner now rather than later, but that for now, it is what it is – and what is, is reality. Read More »  You will read more and more articles touting how gold and silver have bottomed. They have not, at least according to price behavior as determined by actual buyers and sellers in the market. Read More » Charts speak the loudest…and they never lie…[because they are] the true record of all buy and sell decisions executed, coming from the most informed to the least informed. Most of the problems lie with those who form an opinion, and how they choose to impose it onto what any given chart "says." My understanding of what the quarterly monthly, weekly and daily charts are conveying about the price action of silver is, simply,] “Silver stackers, these lower prices are a gift you should keep on taking. Stay tuned.” Read More » If you want to make rabbit stew, first, you have to catch the rabbit so hopefully, first, we’ll see some concrete signs that a bottom is in before the regurgitation of "Gold is going to $10,000!" starts showing up in a host of new articles pandering for attention. The best way is to decide for yourself…so let us go to the most reliable source, the market, and see what the prices of gold and silver have to say about what everyone else has been saying about them. People have been known to exaggerate, even lie in their "opinions," but the market never does either. Read More » Not one Precious Metals guru has gotten anything right in the last 18 months. All have been calling for considerably higher prices. Over the past several months none called for sub-$1,300 gold and sub-$20 silver. Crystal balls do not work and never have. When it comes to markets, anything can happen [but the charts convey that] there is no apparent ending action suggesting a selling climax or even a cause for a reaction rally. Take a look. Read More » The post Noonan: Gold & Silver Could Move Sideways for Another 1-2 Years – Here’s Why appeared first on munKNEE dot.com. |
| Five Ways To Play Gold and Silver: Part I Posted: 04 Sep 2013 06:00 AM PDT Precious metals prices are perking up. That said, let’s devote some time to gold and silver. Of course, the past two years have not been kind to our favorite precious metals. Gold is selling near $1,390 per ounce. Silver hovers near $24 per ounce. Both price levels are dramatically down from August 2011, when gold traded over $1,900 and silver was over $40. Times are tough for miners. Costs are high. Metal prices are low. Share prices and market capitalizations are in the pits, so to speak. Overall, sentiments toward the mining sector are negative. The “commodity super-cycle is over,” if you believe the headline writers of the Financial Times or The Economist. Still, with a recent upturn in metals prices are there opportunities in this scenario? I believe there are still some bargains out there — and if metals prices inch higher over the coming days and months, a few well run miners should pay off handsomely. Consider one company that knows how to do things right during hard times. That’s Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM). Agnico shares trade near $30, far down from $55 in December 2012 and a big tumble from over $70 two years ago, in 2011. In a negative gold market, Agnico is among the best speculative buys. If gold markets revive, then Agnico should be one of the fastest horses out of the gate. Oh, and while you wait, the dividend yield is a respectable 3%. Here’s the background. Agnico suffers from the same cost and price issues that afflict all miners. Indeed, Agnico just announced a hit to its bottom line in the second quarter of 2013. Lower earnings reflect the company’s sale of gold at an average price of $1,336 per ounce, versus $1,602 during the same period last year — a 17% decline in sales price. In response, Agnico management is cutting spending and costs by $50 million for the rest of 2013, and chopping another $200 million in 2014 — the latter number is way down from a previously programmed level of $600 million. At the same time, though, Agnico plans to remain aggressive when it comes to acquiring stakes in junior companies with promising early-stage projects. Keep the seed corn, so to speak. Management’s immediate goal is to keep the balance sheet healthy if gold stays in a bear market. It’s called capital discipline. According to Agnico CEO Sean Boyd, “We’ve been through a lot of these types of volatile environments. We’ve found it’s always good to be prudent in uncertain times to make sure we control our destiny.” In a positive sign, Agnico is maintaining investor guidance for the next three years — aiming to produce at least 970,000 ounces this year and 1.2 million ounces by 2015. That is, most announced spending cuts aren’t operational, but instead are capex deferrals. Agnico is cleaning up its balance sheet by not spending money on long-term projects that are still on the drawing board. But it’ll keep mining what’s in the project pipeline. Another company with smart guys running things is Goldcorp (GG). The company’s assets include mines in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Argentina. Goldcorp shares trade at $29, close to their four-year low, with a dividend yield of 2%. As with Agnico, Goldcorp is a solid speculative buy, even in a “down” gold market. If gold markets begin to revive, then Goldcorp is also a fast horse on the track. Goldcorp recently reported a second-quarter loss of $1.93 billion, mostly due to writing down exploration potential of its Penasquito asset in Mexico. It’s a noncash charge, but embarrassing for Goldcorp management, which prides itself on getting the geology right. Meanwhile, Goldcorp is cutting $200 million of spending in 2013. Management announced that the company may close or scale back mines if gold prices sink below $1,200 per ounce. That, and Goldcorp cut administrative expenses. More of that capital discipline thing on display. On a better note, Goldcorp finished its second quarter with about 14,000 gold equivalent ounces of unsold inventory at its Red Lake mine. That’s positive, because the price of gold has improved recently. Overall, Goldcorp is well run. Production has married up with past guidance. Goldcorp is on track to deliver 2.55-2.8 million ounces of gold this year, at a cash cost under $1,100 per ounce. It’ll make money. Looking ahead, Goldcorp’s growth prospects stand out, particularly in an industry where mines are depleting faster than most people on the outside understand. (If you read OI, you are NOT on the outside.) Poster Child for Gold’s Decline Recently, credit rating agency Moody’s warned that gold producers “must take action” to protect their ratings and minimize earnings deterioration. Of course, people who mine everything — iron, copper, zinc, potash, you name it — must slash costs. Still, it’s fair to say that the Moody’s advice pertains strongly to gold and silver players because of the rapid decline in precious metals prices. Along these lines, look at Barrick Gold (ABX). Barrick’s share price was $55 in August 2011, but now trades in the $19 range. Indeed, Barrick is a poster child for investment disappointment. Looking ahead, the good news is that Barrick will likely benefit from any rise in the price of gold. But right now the bad news is that Barrick is a high-risk play in a low-price gold environment. It all depends on the price of gold. In the past, I’ve said favorable things about Barrick. I expected better from the company. At least, I expected some of that capital discipline stuff that past management promised. Much to my chagrin, however, we’ve seen bosses come and go, but not much in the way of long-term capital discipline. Now there’s little to show at “Big Barrick” other than a near-Detroit level of debt, about $14 billion. Thanks, guys. That, and Barrick holds an overvalued menu of high-risk projects — reflective of shoddy and incompetent de-risking by management. Look at, say, Barrick’s Pascua-Lama project, on the border of Argentina and Chile. It’s one delay after another, with big cost overruns that Barrick management failed to anticipate — although they have no qualms about blaming “the engineers.” (Tawdry, no?) Finally bowing to reality in early August, Barrick bit the balance-sheet bullet. The company wrote down over $8.5 billion, dismissed corporate staff and cut the dividend 75%, from 20 cents per quarter to 5 cents. Unlike Agnico or Goldcorp (see above), Barrick’s last-ditch financial engineering might not be enough to keep the ship afloat, unless gold prices continue to rise. Indeed, looking ahead, I expect Barrick to sell off assets to raise cash, although across the industry, things are moving at fire-sale prices. Here’s another Barrick problem: Right now its fully burdened cost of gold production is in the range of $1,300 per ounce, which is too near gold’s selling price for comfort, let alone profit. Looking ahead, Barrick is in deep trouble — as in Detroit-like trouble — if the price of gold declines further. Frankly, the only reason I see reason to hold Barrick is that I expect gold prices to recover. That rising tide will lift many boats — even Barrick’s leaky hull. Further to that last point, why should gold prices rise? Well, the shortage of physical gold is absolutely clear in the marketplace, and the price manipulation of the “paper gold” price is evident (more on that, soon). Thus, I believe gold prices will move upward and Barrick shares will recover some of the loss. Barrick has painted itself into a tight corner long term. The company needs to cut more costs, sell assets, dig the high grades, pray for rising gold prices and be very lucky. Other than that, I hope you can see where this is going. In the past month alone the companies listed above are up anywhere from 9-15%. Indeed, a turn higher for the price of gold will surely light a fire under the shares of these beaten down miners. Tune in tomorrow for the second part of this metals discussion. Thanks for reading, Byron W. King |
| Market Monitor – September 4th Posted: 04 Sep 2013 05:47 AM PDT Top Market Stories For September 4th, 2013: Claims Per Deliverable Ounce of Gold Rise To Over 54 As the August Delivery Period Ends - Jesse's Cafe Gold Surges Over $40 As COMEX Shorts Collapse To 7-Month Low - Zero Hedge Confluence - John Rubino India to further curb gold imports |
Europe was a bit of an eye-opener for me this summer because everywhere I went, Spain, Poland, England, and France, I asked the shop owners and the taxi drivers, 'How is business?' This was just to get a feel for what is going on.
by SGT,
“Listen closely,” implores Chris Mayer. “Did you hear that?
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