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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

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Gold Is Extending Its October Run

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 12:07 PM PDT

This is an excerpt from the daily StockCharts.com newsletter to premium subscribers, which offers daily a detailed market analysis (recommended service).

 

The correction in the Dollar helped gold as the Gold SPDR GLD advanced over 5% from its early October low. The first chart shows GLD breaking the August trend line and moving back above the support break. In an interesting twist, gold is ignoring weakness in the Euro today and moving higher. While I am not sure if this will last, I would mark first support at 118 and stay positive on gold as long as this level holds. All bets are off if the Dollar breaks out to the upside.

GLD Price chart 21 october 2014 category technicals

The second chart shows the Gold Miners ETF GDX forming a pennant within a downtrend. Pennants are typically continuation patterns and a break below 20.5 would signal a continuation lower. However, gold is on the rise this month and GDX did form a harami on Friday-Monday. A move above 22 would break pennant resistance and be bullish.

GDX Price chart 21 october 2014 category technicals

 

 

Why is the Gold Standard Urgent?

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 12:00 PM PDT

Our financial system has suffered an escalating series of crises. Each crisis has grown out of the fix applied to the previous one. The crisis of 2008 was different.  No matter what the Fed has attempted, they have not been able to create even the temporary appearance of recovery (other than in asset prices).   […]

The post Why is the Gold Standard Urgent? appeared first on Silver Doctors.

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This powerful example shows why everyone still needs to own gold today

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 11:43 AM PDT

By Dennis Miller at Casey Research:

It's been over 3,280 days since a hurricane hit Florida. As hurricane season comes to a close next month, only Mother Nature knows how long the streak will last.

Like many Floridians, my wife and I stayed home and rode out a hurricane—once! We'd built a home on Perdido Key, a barrier island west of Pensacola. It was engineered to withstand 150-plus mph winds, and it was a beautiful home with a master bedroom spanning the entire third floor, looking out across the Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Danny hit the Gulf shortly after we moved in. It was a fast-moving Category I with winds gusting in the 75-80 mph range. Full of confidence and a bit curious, we decided to hunker down and ride it out. At the speed it was traveling, it should have been over in a matter of hours. Then, Danny caught everyone by surprise and stalled in Mobile Bay, pounding us for three days.

The waves on the Gulf were terrifying. We watched the rising tide bang boats against the rocks and sink others. Our front door had a double deadbolt with a keyhole on each side. Water shot through three feet into the room for 24 hours straight. Newly planted palm trees strained against support wires and toppled onto their sides.

We tried to get some sleep in our bedroom, but we could feel the house move with each gust of wind. We watched bits and pieces of our neighbor's tile roof fly off and smash a few feet from our house. We were trapped and terrified for three days.

The no-hurricane record has been all over the Florida news, highlighting concern that people are becoming complacent. They don't understand what adequate preparation entails. The storm itself can be horrific, but the aftermath can be equally disastrous, leaving people without food, water, power, and access to basic services for several days. Homes that survive a storm often have to be gutted because of mold and mildew. Without power, sewage immediately becomes a problem.

Plus, if your flood, wind, and homeowners insurance is not up to date, say hello to serious financial hardship. Many Floridians discovered too late that their policy limits had not increased with inflation and wouldn't cover the cost of rebuilding.

Are You Crazy?—Part 1

Just for fun, I told a friend that I was thinking about selling my generator and dumping our emergency supplies. He looked at me in disbelief and finally uttered, "Are you crazy? When the next one hits, don't try to mooch off of us. It's every man for himself."

Exasperated, he explained that hurricane-causing conditions had not gone away. Until the sun no longer heats the water, we no longer have large and fast temperature changes, and there are no trade winds, a hurricane is a constant threat.

He was red in the face when he finished. I told him I was kidding and wanted to discuss something else: economic hurricanes.

Food, Water, a Generator, and Gold

Many financial pundits are shining the all-clear signal, saying that our economy is fine. People are bailing on gold and mining stocks because they've dropped so low. To paraphrase my colleague, Casey Research Chief Economist Bud Conrad, gold sentiment has dropped to zero.

Take a look at the price of gold over the last decade:

Precious Metals Fall into Two Camps

High inflation (Hurricane Danny) and hyperinflation (Hurricane Katrina) are two potential threats to all of our lives. While we hope neither hits, we should still prepare.

At Miller's Money, we put metals into two categories. The first is core holdings. This is pure insurance against a catastrophe—much the same as our hurricane survival package. Not all storms are category V. Even if we don't have hyperinflation, during the Jimmy Carter era we experienced double-digit inflation that devastated a lot of retirement nest eggs. Investors holding long-term 6% certificates of deposit would have lost 25% of their buying power during a five-year period, even after they collected the 6% interest.

What if the storm intensifies into hyperinflation and its inevitable aftermath? Many of the items we keep for hurricane emergencies may come in handy if the food supply is interrupted, electricity is cut off, or the currency collapses. Metals will protect us from the rising tide of inflation and protect our purchasing power.

The second category for metals and metal stocks is investment. These holdings are bought with the express intent of selling down the road for a nice profit. There is quite a debate going on in this arena. Some experts are touting the terrific buying opportunity. Others say gold is an ancient relic and there are a lot of better investment opportunities available. Should you take advantage of the buying opportunity or unload?

We set strict position limits in the Money Forever portfolio. When you're investing money earmarked for retirement, which is our focus, the speculation portion is limited because preserving capital is the overriding consideration.

Gold stocks fall into two general categories. The first is established mining companies and the second is exploration and development companies. Stock in the first group is more directly related to the current price of gold. Every dollar fluctuation in the price of gold adds or subtracts from their net profit as their costs are primarily fixed.

For exploration and development companies, it's a combination of the price of gold, their ability to raise capital, and a heavy emphasis on the economic viability of their discovery. In a large number of cases a major mining company buys them out and takes them into the production phase.

In both cases, there are certain events that can produce spectacular results; however, the risk is also high. The real question is do you have room to invest any more capital in the speculative portion of your portfolio? That's up to the individual investor to answer. If you do have room, there are some incredible bargains in the market today. Our metals team travels the globe and has identified many candidates selling at true bargain-basement prices.

What about your core holdings? Should you buy or lighten your portion of metals? The first question to answer is: do you have ample core holdings at the moment? We recommend holding 10%-20% of your net worth in core holdings, depending on your comfort level. (Mining stocks are generally not core holdings; they are speculative.) A lot of investors are slowly building to that target. If you think you should add more, then the current prices present a terrific opportunity.

Once you add to these core holdings, then the daily price fluctuations are no more relevant than the price of the case of beef stew we have stored in our closet. It's insurance for a catastrophe we hope never happens. When the big one hits, we could probably sell our stew for an astronomical sum, but we won't because it will help us survive. We would use some of our metal holdings, priced at current value, to buy things we need.

Are You Crazy?—Part 2

The same friend who was flabbergasted by my pretend plan to dump our hurricane supplies asked if I planned to sell any of our gold. I looked at him and asked, "Are you crazy?" Then I explained that the conditions that spawn inflation have not gone away either.

The reasons to own gold have compounded over the last decade. The U.S. government has printed trillions of dollars, our country's debts are out of sight, and the Chinese and Russians are doing everything they can to oust the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. When the world no longer needs or wants to hold dollars, they will fly out the door faster than any hurricane wind mankind has ever seen. The value of the dollar will drop like a two-ton anchor and the price of gold will soar.

Precious metals are insurance against the ultimate financial hurricane. Fiat currencies eventually collapsed; the U.S. dollar will not get a free pass. Just as sure as the sun heats the water, we have large and fast temperature changes, and there are trade winds, an overly indebted government will experience a currency collapse.

We have all had ample warning and should be prepared. Don't be fooled by the short-term thinking.

For more up-to-date economic analysis and time-tested tips for protecting your nest egg, sign up for our free weekly e-letter, Miller's Money Weekly.

Silver Myths Smashed, Pt. 5: The 4 Little Letters Some Use to Dismiss Silver

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 10:30 AM PDT

Who do you think will really want silver when TSHTF?? Submitted by The Wealth Watchman:  Your Strength Gives me Strength As we finish up this Silver Myth-Smashing series, I'd like to say how I've been amazed over the past several weeks to hear so many personal accounts from folks who've been inspired to buy even more silver.  To read […]

The post Silver Myths Smashed, Pt. 5: The 4 Little Letters Some Use to Dismiss Silver appeared first on Silver Doctors.

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How will we know the gold bottom is in?

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 10:13 AM PDT

Yesterday, gold closed higher than it did in the previous several weeks, which seems like a very bullish development for the entire precious metals market until one realizes that miners are still close to their most recent lows.

Gold gains on volatility, rise in net speculative longs:ETFS

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 09:31 AM PDT

Net speculative longs in gold increase for the first time since August 2014. There is a growing sense that the metal’s price has been beaten up too far. With the marginal cost of production close to US$1100/oz, miners are likely to cut back on production should the price fall any further, helping to constrain supply.

Strong dollar weighs down black and yellow gold

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 09:08 AM PDT

As heretical as it sounds, there's a downside to America's success, and that's a stronger dollar.

Gold Important Change in Behavior

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 08:49 AM PDT

Craig Hemke: Will Silver Protect You In HYPERINFLATION?

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 08:45 AM PDT

In the second part of this excellent interview with Finance & Liberty, TFMetalsReport’s Craig Hemke discusses: Gold, silver, platinum, palladium: What are the best precious metals to invest in?  Coins, rounds, or bars: Are government minted silver coins better than silver rounds? Shortage- what shortage? When is a silver shortage going to hit?  How do […]

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Another Crazy Tuesday

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 08:20 AM PDT

Once again, things are moving really fast and I feel like I'm already behind the proverbial 8-ball. However, just as we discussed yesterday, gold is breaking higher and the S&P is nearing critical resistance near 1926. The rest of the day is going to be pretty interesting.

read more

If you're looking for big, safe long-term returns, don't forget to look here

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 08:00 AM PDT

From The Stansberry Research Investor Education Center:

This idea comes from Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, editor of True Wealth, one of the world’s most popular investment advisories.

In this interview, Steve reveals one of his all-time favorite “alternative” investments… an asset the average investor has never considered… but that has consistently beaten stocks and bonds over the past 30 years.

If you’re like most investors, you’re looking for ways to earn big, safe long-term returns. This interview will show you a great way to do so… while diversifying your money outside of the U.S. dollar and traditional investments.

Stansberry Research: You’ve done a tremendous amount of research on timberland investing over the years… and you’ve been a big proponent of this idea. You’ve called it “the ultimate agriculture investment.” What is so special about timberland?

Steve Sjuggerud: Yes… I’ve literally been all over the world researching timberland investing. I’ve spent hundreds of hours on it. I’ve recommended many timber stocks to my readers over the years. And I’ve personally invested in timberland.

There’s a long list of reasons why investing in timberland is a great idea… and consistently produces big returns.

First of all, trees grow year in and year out. Trees in good growing regions in the U.S. grow at 6%-8% per year. They grow through recessions. They grow through wars. They grow through stock and real estate crashes. They grow through everything. They give you built-in investment growth that isn’t guaranteed with a stock.

Along with the tree growth, the price of wood has grown at a consistent rate throughout the years. It’s extremely difficult for a company to increase the prices of its goods by 6% every year, but the price of wood, according to legendary money manager Jeremy Grantham, has increased by that amount for the last 100 years. Specifically, he says “stumpage” prices – the value of all the wood on the stump – have beaten inflation by 3% a year over the last century.

Another nice thing is timberland is a resource investment, but it’s not a constantly depleting one, like a gold mine or an oil well. Trees will grow back. It’s a sustainable resource investment.

And not to ramble on, but you should know, timber is uncorrelated to the stock market. It makes sense… the trees have never heard of the Nasdaq bubble… and they don’t know what a “War on Terror” is. This makes timber a great place to park money in big portfolios… where you need diversification.

SR: But what happens to your timberland investment in a down year, when lumber prices crash?

Sjuggerud: That’s a great question. What happens when the market is slumping? When you can’t get the price you need to make the business profitable? Did you just waste eight… 15… 25 years on an investment with nothing to show for it? The answer can be summed up in five words: “Bank it on the stump.”

In the industry, it’s a phrase that means if conditions aren’t right for harvesting your crop, you just keep letting it grow. You keep the profits on the stump and wait for a more profitable time to sell your timber – most likely, when timber prices are in your favor.

One of the great benefits of owning timberland is you don’t have to harvest it every year. It’s not like fruit, where it’s ripe just once and then you have to pick it. Instead, it grows exponentially on the stump for years.

This is not to imply that timber is an absolutely risk-free investment… But with the ability to bank it on the stump, investing in timber does come with an extra safety net. “If the rain rains, the sun shines, the suckers grow,” Jeremy Grantham once said. “If you don’t want to sell, they get bigger and more expensive.”

SR: Those are tremendous attributes. How has timberland performed over the years?

Sjuggerud: Take a look at this table of the period from 1971 to 2010… which was filled with all sorts of bull and bear markets for stocks…

Year
Annual 
Account Size
1971
4.4%
$10,000
1972
11.0%
$11,104
1973
58.7%
$17,625
1974
20.8%
$21,290
1975
1.3%
$21,564
1976
16.0%
$25,021
1977
48.5%
$37,154
1978
29.5%
$48,103
1979
31.0%
$62,991
1980
5.4%
$66,405
1981
2.6%
$68,132
1982
-1.8%
$66,919
1983
0.6%
$67,294
1984
3.2%
$69,434
1985
-2.6%
$67,656
1986
3.3%
$69,916
1987
26.6%
$88,513
1988
30.1%
$115,174
1989
37.4%
$158,191
1990
11.1%
$175,687
1991
20.3%
$211,281
1992
37.3%
$290,131
1993
22.4%
$355,033
1994
15.4%
$409,850
1995
13.8%
$466,574
1996
10.7%
$516,637
1997
18.9%
$614,333
1998
9.0%
$669,746
1999
12.9%
$756,344
2000
4.4%
$789,681
2001
-5.2%
$748,256
2002
1.9%
$762,340
2003
7.7%
$820,773
2004
11.2%
$912,697
2005
19.3%
$1,089,288
2006
13.7%
$1,238,287
2007
18.4%
$1,466,549
2008
9.5%
$1,606,184
2009
-4.8%
$1,529,730
2010
-0.2%
$1,527,309

 

From 1971-2010, an investor in timber saw average annual returns of over 14% – turning $10,000 into over $1.5 million. That’s better than stocks and bonds over the same period.

Here are the rough numbers on where timberland returns come from:

• 1% Land value increase

• 6% Biologic growth of the trees

• 3% “Stumpage” price increase (the price of the actual tree)

SR: So timberland can serve as a good alternative investment when stocks are in a bear market?

Sjuggerud: Absolutely. One of the worst-ever bear markets in stocks began in the late 1960s and lasted until about 1980. An investor in stocks during that time lost money, due to inflation.

However, as the table shows, an investor in timber never had a losing year during that period. More often than not, the returns were in the double-digits… with a 59% return in 1973 and a 49% return in 1977.

To sum up, timberland offers high returns… It is a sustainable asset that can provide returns for centuries… It has no correlation to the stock market… It’s less volatile… And it constantly grows in value.

SR: So, how do you go about buying timberland? What’s the easiest way to own it?

Sjuggerud: It’s important to point out that rather than just going out and buying a forest, you want to make sure to invest in managed timberland.

The reason it’s important to make the distinction is simple: Managed timberlands, according to a study conducted by the University of Georgia and published in the Journal of Forestry, generate returns almost four times higher than non-managed lands.

With managed timberlands, you get just what it says. You get professional managers who cultivate the trees, look after them, and harvest the trees and their products at the right time.

They look to earn extra cash by selling hunting rights to the land. They harvest and sell the straw and seeds that fall from the trees. Good managers even look to sell chunks of your timberland if a real estate developer comes along and offers a sky high premium for your land.

My point is everything on the “tree farm” – even the tree farm itself – is for sale. You can make these types of managed timberland investments privately, or there are usually a handful of publicly traded timberland companies on the exchange at any given time.

The big names in the U.S. are Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), Rayonier (NYSE: RYN), and Plum Creek (NYSE: PCL). To spread your risk, you can buy the U.S. big names through an exchange-traded fund with the symbol: WOOD. You can get much broader international exposure through the Guggenheim timber ETF (NYSEARCA: CUT).

SR: There are many good points to timberland investing. Any negative ones?

Sjuggerud: When you compare the built-in yield of timberland to any other asset class out there, timberland wins hands-down.

The only problem is time frame – you can sell a stock or bond immediately, but you can’t get rid of acres of timber like that. It’s illiquid. You’ve got to hold it for some time to maximize its value – the ideal timeframe is infinity. It’s definitely not for traders… it’s for long-term thinking investors.

And keep in mind… like all investments, you have to make sure you buy timberland at a reasonable price.

SR: Thanks, Steve.

Sjuggerud: You’re welcome.

Summary: Why invest in timberland? First, trees grow year in and year out. The price of wood also has grown at a consistent rate throughout the years. Next, timberland is a sustainable resource investment. It’s not a constantly depleting one like a gold mine or an oil well. Finally, timber is uncorrelated to the stock market. This makes timber a great place to diversify big portfolios.

ECB Planning a Corporate QE?

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:57 AM PDT

The wire services are reporting this morning that the European Central Bank is considering a plan to purchase corporate debt as part of a response to the Eurozone's sluggish growth. That has pushed the Euro sharply lower and the Dollar higher by consequence but commodity buying is being seen regardless.

Copper, silver and gold are all higher and even crude oil has firmed. Equities of course love that news. Even the grains are moving higher.

More volatility, more uncertainty and more factors for traders/investors to now digest.

Hold onto your hats.... don't you love our monetary masters? They have such a "calming influence" on the markets.

Gold & Silver Show Mixed Signals While Bitcoin Shows Relative Strength

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:57 AM PDT

Uncertainty is in the air as Europe continues to head towards a recession, the IMF cuts global growth projections and the Federal Reserve expresses concern about these global conditions slowing its interest rate tightening agenda even though indicators are showing forward progress. Gold and bitcoin had a positive week while silver declined slightly, and the correlation between bitcoin and gold has started to weaken.

Macroeconomic Snapshot

Jobless Claims: This indicator made moves this week. Claims declined 23,000 to a total of 264,000 jobless claims, the lowest amount since April 2000. These numbers further indicate that the US economy continues to recover and create new jobs.

Housing Starts: New construction of homes progressed upward. After a drop of 12.8% in August, starts are up 6.3% for September. Multi-family home construction led the rise with a 16.7% growth, while single-family home construction brought down the average with only 1.1% growth. This data suggests that Americans are willing to invest in building new homes, something that will increase demand for construction related goods and services, boosting the economy.

Retail Sales: Sales figures disappointed this week as they fell a third of percent from last month, to a total spending of $442.7B. However, a longer term view shows that retail sales is 4.3% ahead of September 2013. An observation from this data is that food services and drinking places gained 0.6%: This is a discretionary spending area and suggests United States consumers are spending..

On Wednesday, October 22nd the consumer price index, or inflation, data will be released. This metric may further help to confirm insights into the growth narrative of the American economy and may guide the Fed's tightening schedule.

The state of the Eurozone and the global economy should be monitored by smart investors because Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer in a speech last week commented:

"The state of the U.S. economy is significantly affected by the state of the world economy. A wide range of foreign shocks affect U.S. domestic spending, production, prices, and financial conditions…Because these international effects in turn spillback on the evolution of the U.S. economy, we cannot make sensible monetary policy choices without taking them into account." Source: Federal Reserve Speech Transcript.

The global macroeconomic picture shows the IMF taking a negative view. They cut their projections for global growth by 0.3%, that is led by Europe's stagnating economy that now has a risk of entering a recession in the next six months of 38%. The ECB has not clearly outlined exactly what kinds of of securities and exactly how much they will be buying in their ABS buyback plan.

Historical views of the debt-to-GDP ratios in the Eurozone shows ongoing issues. Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland all have ratios over 100% and are growing that ratio at least 5% a year. This issue now becomes a bigger risk since the Eurozone's probability of entering a deflationary recession has grown. Debt and deflation do not mix well: Debt becomes more difficult to pay off and could lead to a possible default on payments.

Inflation growth is threatened by a strengthening dollar and falling oil prices. A weakening global economy may also push the dollar's value higher. Furthermore, the 10-year TIPS, a note offered by the US Treasury that is used as a tool to gauge inflation expectations, has also been in steady decline since April from 0.6 to 0.3 today , suggesting that investors do not predict high inflation growth. So far the activity in Europe has not clearly leaked into the American economy because the Boston Fed president says that they expect to stay on their current timeline for adjusting rates. He mentions, however, not to rule out the possibility of a shift in plans.

10 year treasury 2010 2014 money currency

 

The signals are currently mixed for precious metals. On one hand, driving factors like a healthy US Economy and strengthening USD are creating conditions for gold and silver to continue its decline. What could change the direction for precious metals is how the global economy affects the US economy: if it leaks in and slows the Fed's tightening, we could expect to see precious metals rise. If the US remains unhampered by the global economy and the dollar continues to strengthen, gold could continue on Goldman Sachs forecasted path of $1050/oz to end the 2014.

Bitcoin's correlation with gold has started to reverse, moving to +0.76 from a high last week of +0.88. This makes forecasting future bitcoin price movements more difficult if it is beginning to act less like gold, who's behavior has become well-understood in relation to the US economic narrative of growth and Federal Reserve tightening. Right now, the bitcoin market remains very stochastic and open to market manipulation. There are no clear demand-side factors that we can rely on for sustained demand of the currency.

Bitcoin and Precious Metals Reads

:: Richard Brown has the right line of thinking about Bitcoin.  In a recent post, he discusses the use cases for Bitcoin in the future, and he focuses on the blockchain aspect that can enable other technologies and ideas previously impossible.

:: A look back into history provides a case for gold during deflationary periods.  The author uses the great depression as an example as to why gold could be a good hedge.  For people in countries in risk of inflation, this is an important read.

:: China is among the largest gold consumers in the world.  Here, the Chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange delivers a speech that will you provide you insight into their gold market.  He provides figures about their volumes, gold demand, and forecasts for the future gold market of China.

:: Machine learning algorithms can be used to tell what bitcoin address are associated with a private key on the blockchain. Doing so can provide extra information about the bitcoin ecosystem, like knowing where bitcoins have come and gone, or what kinds of transactions your business competitor is conducting.

Gold

Beginning late Sunday night on the international markets at $1223/oz, gold exhibited volatility that resulted in a higher ending position by the end of the Friday. Traders saw a $22 per ounce or or 0.7% rally on Wednesday over a six hour window that brought prices from $1222/oz to $1244/oz. This rally was timed with the Fed's statement that the global economic slowdown could possibly delay the interest rate increase. Since, it has met resistance at $1245/oz and centered around $1240/oz but now settles at $1238/oz for the end of the week.

Silver

Silver's position for the week only declined about half a percent between Monday and Friday, starting at $17.40/oz and ending at $17.27/oz. Its movements somewhat tracked gold's, but it did have the same reaction to the Fed's statement Wednesday where it made a $0.50 gain. Since that rally it declined $0.25/oz.

Bitcoin

The digital currency had an overall upward trend for the week that included a large $50 rally through Tuesday and Wednesday. Starting the week at a low of $355/BTC, it remained relatively flat until Tuesday night where it started its %12 gain that peaked out at $408/BTC. The gains were not totally preserved as it ends the week now at $382/BTC.

 

Written by Michael Mansour from DigitalTangible which is is a brand new marketplace where users can list their gold bullion confidently and buyers, anywhere in the world, can find premium gold deals at lower prices for immediate purchase and delivery.  As of today, DigitalTangible is offering silver bullion and coins on their platform.  They allow rapid purchase and liquidation on their Peer-to-Peer marketplace and their cryptocurrency based partner exchange, so customers can change their position in under 24 hours with bitcoin.

Gold trades higher as volatility rises

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:53 AM PDT

Gold prices got the trading week off on the right foot as the price of gold rose several dollars per ounce today.

Alasdair Macleod: Why the Business Cycle is Failing

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:35 AM PDT

Since WW2 economic theorists have posited that demand in the economy could be stimulated by a combination of deficit spending by the government and by suppressing interest rates. The separation of demand from production was promoted by Keynes and interest rate management of the economy by monetarists, though there is considerable overlap between the two. […]

The post Alasdair Macleod: Why the Business Cycle is Failing appeared first on Silver Doctors.

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Will Swiss gold be saved?

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:31 AM PDT

The first poll of how the Swiss people will vote in the "Save Our Swiss Gold" initiative on November 30th shows that the Swiss are leaning towards voting for the pro-gold initiative.

Metals market update for October 21

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:26 AM PDT

Gold climbed $8.30 or 0.67% to $1,246.10 per ounce. Silver rose $0.16 or 0.93% to $17.44 per ounce yesterday.

Reserve Bank of India opposes gold import curbs

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 07:18 AM PDT

According to sources familiar with Reserve Bank of India policies, the country's central bank is not planning to reinstate the tough gold import norms.

Fraudsters caught selling fake gold in India

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 06:42 AM PDT

According to media reports, villagers in India detained two men attempting to sell fake gold biscuits.

Russians & Chinese Are Ditching the Dollar as Europeans Start Using Renminbi in Their Reserves

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Even the European Central Bank has started discussions on the possibility of including the renminbi as one of its reserve currencies. On Tuesday the UK also became the first country besides China to issue a sovereign bond in renminbi. This coincided with the issuing of 180 million renminbi of corporate bonds by China's ICBC in South […]

The post Russians & Chinese Are Ditching the Dollar as Europeans Start Using Renminbi in Their Reserves appeared first on Silver Doctors.

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Russian Central Bank continues gold buying spree

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 05:44 AM PDT

Latest figures from Russia show that the country's central bank purchased another 37.33 tonnes of gold in September.

Chinese and Indian gold buyers back in market in a big way

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 05:38 AM PDT

The gold price has been falling but physical gold demand appears, counter-intuitively, to have been rising dramatically over the same period.

Wildest day in four years on bond markets last Wednesday and a ‘flash crash’ so what next?

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 05:23 AM PDT

Bond markets are supposed to be safe havens as equities sell-off but not so last week. On Wednesday there was a ‘flash crash’ in yields with 10-year treasury yields falling 34bps to 1.84 per cent, before rallying to 2.15 per cent in the same session.

Then on Thursday core bond yields plunged and peripheral European yields spiked before reversing course. This is as wild as it gets in bonds. Markets are unhinged. Falling oil prices are leading to a liquidation of risk assets across the board and another major concern is the end of QE3 money printing later this month.

Structural change

What seems to be happening is something structural. The risk premium traditionally attached to bond markets where there is a possibility of default is rising – like Greece – and investors are moving into the ultra safe core bonds of Germany and the US. Credit costs are going up in many emerging markets and that enhances the risk of default somewhere.

Sovereign defaults are relatively rare but usually very damaging for the banking sector of the country concerned and a harbinger of recession. In a global economic slowdown the impact is not equally spread but concentrated and exaggerated by spikes in the cost of borrowing in riskier economies.

The real problem this time around is that the highest risk of all probably lies in the bond market of the world’s second largest economy, China. Huge amounts of borrowed money have been invested in real estate schemes with no possibility of ever providing a satisfactory return.

Bond defaults

It’s when bondholders have no realistic prospect of ever getting their money back that a default is called. China is stacked high with bonds in this condition, and is an accident waiting to happen. The rush to the exit door by bondholders could come at any time and unstable global equity markets are a classic trigger.

Bonds have enjoyed a bull market for 30 years and yet it is clear that with yields at record lows this can’t continue forever. Why do investors accept such low returns? One day soon they won’t and the game will be up.

When that happens there is nowhere else to hide but precious metals and gold and silver prices will soar. That’s why the central banks have been so active manipulating prices downwards recently but that can only work for so long too.

First Swiss Gold Poll Shows Pro-Gold Side In Lead At 45%

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 05:02 AM PDT

gold.ie

First Swiss Gold Poll Shows Pro-Gold Side In Lead At 45%

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 04:41 AM PDT

First Swiss Gold Poll Shows Pro-Gold Side In Lead At 45%

 

The first poll of how the Swiss people will vote in the "Save Our Swiss Gold" initiative on November 30th shows that the Swiss are leaning towards voting for the pro-gold initiative.

Gold Initiative Poll Results –  20 Minuten

The poll had quite a large sample of 13,397 people from all over Switzerland who participated in the first phase of the 20 Minuten online survey on October 15.

The poll shows that 45% approve the Swiss gold initiative and 39% are against. There are 29% firm yes voters and 28% firm no voters (see graph). The poll shows 16% are leaning towards a yes or are "more yes" and 11% are leaning towards a no or are "more no."

20 Minuten or 20 Minutes in English, is a very popular German language free daily newspaper and online paper in Switzerland, published in a tabloid format and online.


Swiss Gold Flag

The political scientist Lucas Leeman and Fabio Wasserfallen organised the survey according to demographic, geographic and political variables are weighted so that the sample corresponds as closely as possible the structure of the voting population according to 20 Minuten.

There are a lot of swing voters with 16% undecided and not wanting to commit themselves.

The poll suggests that the Swiss gold initiative remains tightly in the balance and may be much closer than is commonly expected.


Swiss Gold Reserves

Some have suggested that as this was an online poll, caution may be needed as the 13,397 people polled are likely to be more digital savvy and younger. However, it is still believed to give a good barometer of sentiment just five weeks before the poll and before there has been concerted campaigning by either side.

20 Minuten is distributed to commuters at over 150 train stations across the country. Since September 2004, the German language edition has been the most widely read daily newspaper in Switzerland, surpassing Blick. The audited distribution in 2004 was 329,242 (WEMF AG) and it had a readership of an estimated 782,000 according to Wikipedia.

The three key measures of the "Save Our Swiss Gold" initiative are the following:

* an increase in gold holdings of the SNB to reflect an allocation of 20% of total reserves (today gold accounts for 7.7% of total reserves)
* and a moratorium on the sale of Swiss gold reserves
​* the repatriation of Swiss gold reserves – some of which are believed to be in the UK and Canada

See Essential Guide To Gold Bullion Storage In Switzerland

 

GOLDCORE MARKET UPDATE
Today's AM fix was USD 1,251.75, EUR 978.85 and GBP 774.17 per ounce.
Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,241.00, EUR 972.65 and GBP 769.71 per ounce.

Gold climbed $8.30 or 0.67% to $1,246.10 per ounce. Silver rose $0.16 or 0.93% to $17.44 per ounce yesterday.


Gold in U.S. Dollars – YTD, 2014 (Thomson Reuters)

Gold in Singapore rose above $1,250/oz, after rising 0.7%  in the previous session, prior to capping once London opened. At the open in London, gold soared to the highest in over five weeks as the greenback pulled back.

Gold for immediate delivery rose 0.4% t to $1,251.63 an ounce by 9:46 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. It hit $1,253.85, the highest since September 10. Gold for December delivery gained 0.6% to $1,251.60 on the Comex in New York.

The dollar dropped for a second day, reaching the lowest level in nearly a week.

Markets are adjusting estimates back for when the U.S. Federal Reserve may raise interest rates.

Futures traders put the odds of a U.S. rate increase at 46% by October 2015, down from 50% at the end of last week.

Despite very robust global demand, particularly from China and India, gold ETF holdings fell to a five-year low yesterday.

There are a number of gold friendly factors supporting prices including geopolitical and economic uncertainty and still dovish Fed and other central bank policies.
Get Breaking News and Updates on the Gold Market Here

Gold market tone appears improved - Phillips

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 03:31 AM PDT

Asian demand remains robust, with premiums in India up as high as 11% and at 6% in Shanghai.

Africa’s big new gold mine performing. Let’s hope politics don’t interfere

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 03:03 AM PDT

In an update on progress at Kibali, Randgold CEO Mark Bristow again warns politicians not to rock the boat.

Gold buying rebounds in India as Diwali sales shine

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 02:52 AM PDT

The appetite for gold among physical buyers in India seems to have increased.

Stefan Ioannou: Copper, Nickel and Zinc Won't Be Cheap for Long

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 01:00 AM PDT

The all-powerful U.S. dollar is currently hammering base metals and base metal equities. Haywood Securities Mining Analyst Stefan Ioannou says that increasing demand and near-term supply shortages...

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

Market Report: Gold benefits from market uncertainty

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 12:07 AM PDT

Finance and Eco.

Russia’s Central Bank Purchases 1.2 Million Ounces of Gold in September

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 11:25 PM PDT

"I'm not prepared to read much into yesterday's price action"

¤ Yesterday In Gold & Silver

The gold price got sold down a few dollars in the first two hours of trading after the market opened at 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday evening---and then traded flat until noon Hong Kong time on their Monday.  From that point, gold had three tiny rallies, with the last one ending in a vertical spike just a few minutes before the Comex opened in New York.  And just minutes after the Comex open, that spike got dealt with in the usual manner.  The New York low came shortly before 11:30 a.m.---and from there the price rallied quietly higher into the close.

The low and high ticks were recorded by the CME Group as $1,234.90 and $1,249.30 in the December contract.

Gold finished the Monday trading session in New York at $1,246.90 spot, up $8.70 from Friday's close.  Net volume was pretty light at only 91,000 contracts, so it wasn't difficult for anyone with an agenda to move the price---either up or down.

Silver also got sold down at the 6 p.m. EDT open in New York on Sunday---and its low came shortly before 9 a.m. Hong Kong time on their Monday morning.  From there, the silver price rallied in a similar fashion to gold, but began to rally anew shortly after the price was capped at the Comex open in New York.  The high tick of the day came at, or shortly after, the London p.m. gold fix---and then it got smoked for all its New York gains, plus a bit more.  From its 10:50 a.m. EDT low, it chopped quietly higher for the remainder of the trading day.

The low and high were reported as $17.25 and $17.52 in the December contract.

Silver finished the Monday session at $17.425 spot, up 15.5 cents, but would have obviously closed considerably higher if JPMorgan et al hadn't been in the room.  Net volume was pretty light as well, only 22,000 contracts.

Platinum traded mostly flat for the first two hours of the Monday trading session---and then it quickly rallied about fifteen bucks.  From that point it chopped slowly higher, hitting its high tick shortly after 1 p.m. in Zurich.  From there it got sold down a bit, before trading sideways from 11 a.m. EDT onwards.  Platinum finished the day up 11 bucks.

Palladium rallied five bucks after two hours of trading---and then tacked on another five in mid-morning trading in New York.  Price couldn't get, or wasn't allowed, over the $762 spot price---and it closed at $760 spot, up nine bucks from Friday's close.

The dollar index closed late on Friday afternoon in New York at 85.20.  It rallied a bit during Far East trading, with the 85.37 high tick coming about ten minutes before London opened.  It was all down hill from there, with the 84.92 low tick coming about 3:10 p.m EDT---and from there it rallied back and closed a hair above the 85.00 mark at 85.02---down 18 basis points on the day.

The gold stocks opened up a bit more than a percent---and didn't do much until their 10:20 a.m. EDT low.  From there they rallied in a choppy fashion for the rest of the day---and the HUI closed up 2.22%.

The silver equities gapped up about 1.5 percent at the open, before falling back almost immediately---and from there they spend the remainder of the Monday session crawling back to their earlier high.  It took a large portion of the day to get there---and then stay there.  The silver equities closed just off their high tick---and Nick Laird's Intraday Silver Sentiment Index closed up 1.69%.

The CME Daily Delivery Report showed that 220 gold and 5 silver contracts were posted for delivery within the Comex-approved depositories on Wednesday.  For the second day in a row it was Barclays as the only short/issuer out of its in-house [proprietary] trading account---and also for the second day in a row, they were also the biggest long/stopper with 218 contracts in their client account.  The link to yesterday's Issuers and Stoppers Report is here.

As I just mentioned, the delivery activity in gold on Monday was a carbon copy of what was reported on Friday, where Barclays issued 230 gold contracts from its proprietary trading account---and stopped 228 of them in its client account.  I'd sure to know what that's all about.

The CME Preliminary Report for the Monday trading session showed that October open interest in gold dropped by 230 contracts---and that was the 230 contracts issued by Barclays on Friday for delivery today.  Gold open interest in October is now down to 607 contract---minus the 220 that was posted, also by Barclays, for delivery tomorrow.  October open interest in silver is down to 105 contracts after deducting the 72 contracts from Friday being delivered today as well.  October o.i. is now down to an even 100 contracts after subtracting the 5 contracts being delivered tomorrow.

GLD reported a good-sized withdrawal yesterday, as an authorized participant withdrew 288,402 troy ounces---a hair under nine tonnes of the stuff.  And as of 6:48 p.m. EDT yesterday evening, there were no reported changes in SLV.

There was no sales report from the U.S. Mint yesterday.

It was a pretty busy day in both gold and silver over at the Comex-approved depositories on Friday.  In gold, there was 12,860.000 troy ounces reported received---and 96,482.150 troy ounces shipped out.  The entire deposit, which works out to 400 kilobars, was made into the vaults over at Canada's Scotiabank---and of the exactly 3,001 kilobars reported shipped out, 3,000 were removed from JPMorgan's vault.  The link to that action is here.

Is it just me, or is a larger percentage of the in/out activity in Comex gold now in the form of kilobars, rather than the standard LBMA 100 and 400 troy ounce good delivery bars?

It was another very decent day in silver too, as 417,902 troy ounces were reported received---and 870,227 troy ounces were shipped out the door.  The link to that activity is here.

Since the 20th of the month fell on a week day, the good folks over at The Central Bank of the Russian Federation updated their website with their September data, including their gold reserve activity.  It was a big month for them, as they added a very chunky 1.2 million troy ounces.  This is the biggest one-month purchase they've ever made, besting their next biggest addition of 1.1 million ounces back in May of 2010.

Russia's Central bank reserves now stand at 37.0 million troy ounces---and Nick Laird's most excellent chart tells all.

Just as a matter of interest, the 1.2 million troy ounces [37.33 metric tonnes] is considerably more gold than Russia digs out of the ground in one month.  I get the impression from this big deposit in September that they have gold stashed away somewhere that doesn't show up in the books of the central bank, as a deposit that size can't be explained any other way.

It's my Tuesday epistle, so I have a fair number of stories for you today---and the final edit is yours.

¤ Critical Reads

Blood Red From Big Blue: Why IBM is Crashing---in Charts

Remember when three short months ago we revealed what was "the scariest chart in IBM's history", namely the one, showing IBM's total debt to equity ratio, which has exploded and surpassed Lehman highs, as the company scrambled to issue more and more debt and use it to repurchase more and more stock?

With this chart, incidentally, we also explained why IBM's ridiculous stock repurchasing strategy, which had seen $37.7 billion in stock buybacks since 2012, or more than the total debt issuance of $33.6 billion during the same period could not continue and why, inevitable, IBM would have a massively disappointing quarter.

Well, that quarter just hit, when moments ago in an early press release, IBM reported abysmal adjusted EPS of only $3.68, a huge miss to the $4.32 Wall Street expected, mostly a function of one simple thing: the buyback "strategy" finally hit a brick wall.

This very interesting Zero Hedge article appeared on their website at 7:42 a.m. EDT yesterday morning---and I thank reader Dan Lazicki for today's first story.

Santelli & Schiff: "A Messy Exit is a Given... Ending Q.E. Will Plunge U.S. Into Severe Recession"

"Markets are slowly coming to grips with reality is not going to be as easy as everybody thought," Peter Schiff tells CNBC's Rick Santelli, noting the pick up in volatility across asset classes recently.

What The Fed clearly does not understand, Schiff blasts, is that "you cannot end quantitative easing without plunging the U.S. into a severe recession." Because of the Fed's extreme monetary policy and the mal-investment that flows from it, Schiff says, "The US economy is more screwed up now than it's ever been in history."

Most prophetically, we suspect, Santelli agrees that "a messy exit is a given," and Schiff believes they know that and that is why QE4 is coming simply "because it hasn't worked and they can't admit it's been a dismal failure."

This 2:40 minute CNBC video clip showed up on the Zero Hedge website yesterday at 5:49 p.m. EDT---and I thank Manitoba reader U.M. for her first contribution of the day.

Fears That Pimco and Other Big Firms Could Be Unable to Unload Risky Bonds

When it comes to high-risk bonds, the asset management giant Pimco has pretty much cornered the global market.

Be it bonds issued by the automotive financier Ally Financial or the student loan financier SLM in the United States, or government bonds in Spain and Italy, Pimco holds a commanding position in these high-yielding securities.

But as Pimco’s portfolio managers double down on their bet that high-risk bonds will thrive in a world of low interest rates, a growing number of global regulators are warning that the positions being taken on by the big asset management firms pose a broad danger to the financial system.

These concerns were amplified this week as stock markets gyrated, the yields of high-risk corporate and European bonds spiked upward and, crucially, trading volumes evaporated.

This longish article showed up on The New York Times website last Thursday---and is worth reading, at least until your eyes begin to glaze over.  I found it in yesterday's edition of the King Report.

FBI Director: If Apple and Google Won't Decrypt Phones, We'll Force Them To

Everyone is stoked that the latest versions of iOS and Android will (finally) encrypt all the information on your smartphone by default. Except, of course, the FBI: Today, its director spent an hour attacking the companies and the very idea of encryption, even suggesting that Congress should pass a law banning the practice of default encryption.

It's of course no secret that James Comey and the FBI hate the prospect of "going dark," the idea that law enforcement simply doesn't have the technical capability to track criminals (and the average person) because of all those goddamn apps, encryption, wi-fi network switching, and different carriers.

It's a problem that the FBI has been dealing with for too long (in Comey’s eyes, at least). Today, Comey went ballistic on Apple and Google's recent decision to make everything just a little more private.

This very interesting news item showed up on the motherboard.vice.com Internet site early afternoon last Thursday---and my thanks go out to Roy Stephens for his first offering of the day.

Vote all you want. The secret government won't change.

The voters who put Barack Obama in office expected some big changes. From the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping to Guantanamo Bay to the Patriot Act, candidate Obama was a defender of civil liberties and privacy, promising a dramatically different approach from his predecessor.

But six years into his administration, the Obama version of national security looks almost indistinguishable from the one he inherited. Guantanamo Bay remains open. The NSA has, if anything, become more aggressive in monitoring Americans. Drone strikes have escalated. Most recently it was reported that the same president who won a Nobel Prize in part for promoting nuclear disarmament is spending up to $1 trillion modernizing and revitalizing America’s nuclear weapons.

Why did the face in the Oval Office change but the policies remain the same? Critics tend to focus on Obama himself, a leader who perhaps has shifted with politics to take a harder line. But Tufts University political scientist Michael J. Glennon has a more pessimistic answer: Obama couldn’t have changed policies much even if he tried.

Though it’s a bedrock American principle that citizens can steer their own government by electing new officials, Glennon suggests that in practice, much of our government no longer works that way. In a new book, “National Security and Double Government,” he catalogs the ways that the defense and national security apparatus is effectively self-governing, with virtually no accountability, transparency, or checks and balances of any kind. He uses the term “double government”: There’s the one we elect, and then there’s the one behind it, steering huge swaths of policy almost unchecked. Elected officials end up serving as mere cover for the real decisions made by the bureaucracy.

No surprises here.  This author has just stumbled on the "powers that be" but doesn't give them a name.  G. Edward Griffin spells it out exactly in his book "The Creature From Jekyll Island"---or James Perloff's "The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations and the American Decline".  This article appeared on the bostonglobe.com Internet site on Sunday---and I thank reader M.A. for sending it along.

7 weeks of eruption: Stunning aerial video of Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano

A breathtaking video filmed by an Icelandic helicopter pilot has documented the continuous eruption of the Bardarbunga volcano in northeast Iceland. Enormous fiery bubbles of lava and steam can be seen bursting from the ridges in the ground.

Helicopter pilot Gísli Gíslason captured the wondrous images while on several trips over the volcano – some of which were taken on Friday, and others a few days previously.

“Almost seven weeks have now passed since the Holuhraun lava eruption began. The eruption is continuing with few changes. The eruption is showing no signs of slowing down,” he wrote in the video’s description.

The Bardarbunga (Bárðarbunga) volcano is part of the second-tallest mountain in Iceland and located in the country’s Holuhraun lava fields - a volcanic system that spans some 200 kilometers by 25 kilometers.

This very interesting article, with lots of photos to along with the video clip, appeared on the Russia Today website at 8:48 p.m. Moscow time on their Thursday evening, which was 12:48 p.m. in New York.  It's courtesy of reader M.A.

One simple reason why global stock markets are reeling

It is no mystery why global liquidity is evaporating. Central banks have turned off the tap. They have reduced net stimulus by roughly $125 billion a month since the end of last year, or $1.5 trillion annualized.

That is a shock for the financial system. The ratchet effect has been incremental, but relentless. We are finally seeing the consequences, with the usual monetary policy lag.

The Fed and People‘s Bank of China (PBOC) have stopped their two variants of global QE altogether (for now). Others have chopped their purchases of bonds by half or more. The Brazilians are net sellers, and in a sense they carrying out reverse QE. The Russians have just joined them again.

Fed tapering has taken out $85bn a month. The markets are having to go it alone as of this month, without their drip feed. Less understood is the effect of global reserve accumulation by the BRICS, emerging Asia, and the Petro-states. This has collapsed.

Here's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, on behalf of his handlers, wringing his hands that the money printing is coming to a halt.  At the end, he echoes Jim Rickards when he states "...until the blinking starts at the Fed and the People‘s Bank. QE4 is creeping onto the table already."  It's the second offering of the day from Roy Stephens.

Mark Carney launches investigation after real-time payment system crash delays house purchases

Mark Carney has launched an investigation into how one of the central pillars of the UK’s payments infrastructure collapsed for 10 hours, delaying hundreds of billions worth of deals.

The Bank of England Governor pledged to discover what had gone wrong and whether officials had responded properly after the enforced closure of the £277bn-a-day CHAPS payment system, which affected thousands of house purchases and major interbank money transfers.

The Bank said it would be carrying out “a thorough, independent review of the causes of today’s disruption&r

All the world’s gold to be confiscated and buried in Switzerland by 2020 argues Jim Rickards

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 11:25 PM PDT

All the world's gold to be confiscated and buried in Switzerland by 2020 argues Jim Rickards

In what pretends to be a history looking back from the future ‘Currency Wars’ author and fund manager Jim Rickards argues that by 2020 all the gold of the G-20 nations will be confiscated and buried in a former nuclear bunker under a mountain in Switzerland to take it out of the global financial system.

This is the conclusion to the astonishing tour de force article that kicks off his new monthly newsletter ‘Rickards’ Strategic Intelligence’ for Agora Financial, publisher of highly successful financial newsletters like Chris Mayers’ ‘Capital & Crisis’. Has the normally sober and thoughtful Mr. Rickards lost his marbles?

I must confess to having my doubts on reading his first issue with one absurd conclusion leading to another and then to a totally unrealistic world gold confiscation scenario. How would that happen? The G-20 meetings struggle to agree on a final communique. How could they agree something like that?

Mr. Rickards doesn't stop there. In his world not only does money die and cease to exist but there is a sort of death of capitalism that Marx prescribed and Stalin tried to implement without notable success. There are no markets, bonds nor money by 2024 and equality rules.

WTF!  Whatever Jim is smoking, I don't want any of it.  And don't look to me for answers on this one, dear reader, as I'm just as much in shock as you are.  This amazing commentary appeared on the arabianmoney.com Internet site on Sunday evening---and it is certainly a must read.  I thank Dr. Dave Janda for sending it along.

Taking Your Gold for “The Greater Good”

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 11:25 PM PDT

Taking Your Gold for "The Greater Good"

But returning to the subject of a crash in the paper-gold market, this suggests that the spin that allows the banks of the world to simply steal all deposits over €100,000 could easily be applied to a similar, ongoing banking scam in the paper-gold market.

Let’s say that, rather than wait for the Emperor’s new clothes to be seen to be an illusion, the banks of the world decide to preempt this embarrassment in a proactive manner. Let’s say that, with the support of their friends in the governments, an announcement is made to the public that a decision has been reached that will aid tremendously in saving the “essential” banks. And—here’s the best part—it would not impact the “little man” who has already had to bear so much abnegation as a result of the greed of the rich.

The announcement states that the banks have been given the go-ahead to simply cancel the paper-gold certificates that they have sold. This will enrich the banks by billions of dollars, and the only losers will be the greedy rich who have so much money to burn that they have purchased gold certificates.

Were the banks to do this, they would, instead of being vilified for selling assets that they did not possess, be praised for taking affirmative action for “The Greater Good.”

This commentary appeared on the internationalman.com Internet site on Monday.

In Silver Doctors interview, GATA secretary discusses developments in market manipulation

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 11:25 PM PDT

In Silver Doctors interview, GATA secretary discusses developments in market manipulation

Interviewed for about a half hour last week by Silver Doctors, your secretary/treasurer discussed recent developments in market manipulation, speculated that gold will be revalued overnight by major central banks as part of a general world currency revaluation, and cautioned that China's drive to obtain gold isn't intended to establish a free market in gold but to wrest control of the gold market from the United States.

The interview was conducted last Wednesday---and the audio interview, which runs for 32:17 minutes, appeared in a GATA release on Saturday.  It's worth your time.

Mad about yellow: India's love affair with gold

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 11:25 PM PDT

Mad about yellow: India's love affair with gold

We worship it, buy it for investment, wear it as jewellery, weave it into cloth and even eat it. India's love affair with gold crosses the boundaries of religion and also class — and reaches its zenith in the run-up to Diwali.

"We buy at least a small gold coin in our family every Dhanteras and get the house repainted after Dussehra to welcome Goddess Lakshmi home," says Kandivali resident Ravindra Dave.

Dave is not alone, of course. Most Hindu families work towards purchasing gold at this time. "The ritual is akin to inviting Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity," explains Anant Joshi, a priest from Bhuleshwar. "While some prefer jewellery, most buy gold coins with Lakshmi embossed on the front and her symbol, the Shri Yantra, embossed on the other side. Some have both Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, embossed on the coins."

This gold-related news article, filed from Mumbai, showed up on the dnaindia.com Internet site at 9:09 a.m. IST on their Sunday morning.  It's another offering from reader U.M.

Government to Re-Impose Gold Import Curbs to Check Trade Deficit

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 11:25 PM PDT

Government to Re-Impose Gold Import Curbs to Check Trade Deficit

Barely months after gold import rules were eased, the government is looking to re-impose curbs as the country's insatiable appetite has led to a surge in the yellow metal coming into India, threatening to undermine the improvement in external balances.

The finance ministry's revenue department has flagged the issue and asked the Department of Economic Affairs and the Reserve Bank of India to review the May 21 relaxation in the import rules issued by the latter.

The so-called 80-20 rule was relaxed in May by the RBI at the behest of the finance ministry after jewellers, bullion dealers, authorised dealer banks, and trade bodies sought easier rules. Under the 80-20 scheme, nominated agencies were allowed to import gold on the condition that 20 percent of the import would be exported. The easing of rules meant more entities were allowed to import gold.

The trade deficit worsened to an 18-month high of $14 billion in September following a 450 percent rise in gold imports as importers rushed to take advantage of lower prices. "Gold imports have risen since the norms were relaxed....There is a concern," a finance ministry official said. "We have written to the DEA and the RBI."

This article, filed from New Delhi, put in an appearance on The Economic Times of India website at 4:02 a.m. India Standard Time on their Monday morning---and I found it posted on the gata.org Internet site.

Reserve bank of India will not change gold import rules, says sources

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 11:25 PM PDT

Reserve bank of India will not change gold import rules, says sources

Reserve bank of India will not change its gold import rules, sources with knowledge of the matter said, responding to a report that the world's second-largest consumer of the precious metal was keen to limit imports.

The central bank has already eased some import controls by allowing seven trading houses to import the metal, driving a sharp jump in overseas buying despite a record import duty of 10 percent.

A surge rise in gold imports widened the trade deficit to an 18-month high of $14.25 billion in September, creating concerns for the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an unidentified Finance Ministry official told the Economic Times newspaper.

The ministry also sent a letter to the central bank seeking a review of the May relaxations, according to the report. But two officials familiar with the central bank's policies told on Monday it was not considering any change.

This article, also from the Economic Times of India appeared on their website at 7:47 p.m. EST on their Monday evening---17 hours before the previous Times of India article posted above.  It's the final offering of the day from Manitoba reader U.M.---for which I thank her.

Koos Jansen: The Chinese precious metals market is on fire

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 11:25 PM PDT

Koos Jansen: The Chinese precious metals market is on fire

China's gold demand, as signified by off take from the Shanghai Gold Exchange, has reached "extraordinary" levels in recent days, while silver is growing shorter in supply as well, according to gold researcher and GATA consultant Koos Jansen.

Jansen's analysis is headlined "The Chinese Precious Metals Market is on Fire" and it was posted on the Singapore Internet site bullionstar.com at 11:07 p.m. local time on their Sunday evening.  It's worth reading---and it's another gold-related item I found in a GATA release yesterday.

Gold price touches five-week high of $1,250 as Indian religious buying forecast to almost double this season

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 10:32 PM PDT

Gold prices have rebounded to a five-week high of $1,250 as Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated by more than 800 million Hindus is feted on Wednesday in India, a religious holiday said to be a particularly auspicious time for buying gold. India was the largest consumer of gold after China last year and holds more physical gold than any other country in the world, reckoned to be around 20,000 tonnes.

Local traders are especially bullish about the current season and say sales could double this year with gold prices lower than a year ago and the feel good factor of the new Modi government bouying consumers. That could mean a total of 200 tonnes of gold sold in India before the year-end, almost double the amount sold in the same months of 2013.

Pent-up demand

Jewelers have been stocking up. Bullion imports surged by 450 per cent to $3.75 billion last month. In May the new government eased import controls to allow more trading houses to bring in gold. That goes some way to make up for the loss of global demand for gold from exchange traded products where holding have dropped by around $13 billion this year.

Demand in Asia has fallen in 2014 after acclerating last year as global prices dropped 28 per cent in the worst correction since 1976, the one that came before an eight-fold increase in gold prices. Consumption dropped 16 per cent in Q2 to 963.8 tons, according to the World Gold Council, with India back as the biggest consumer of gold.

China was the top buyer in 2013, but its demand in the three months through the end of June fell 52 per cent to 193 tonnes, compared with 204 tonnes bought by India. There is a lot of pent-up demand due to recent import restrictions and the tax on gold, say traders.

Gold bears

However, many commodities’ analysts remain firmly in the Goldman Sachs bear camp and think a higher and higher US dollar – as interest rate rises come closer – will be bad for gold prices as it makes the opportunity cost of holding gold higher, and gold is negatively correlated to the greenback. Who knows really?

The dollar may have just reached a peak and gold a low with its triple bottom. Currency markets are notoriously difficult to call and small-time Forex traders lose as predictably as gamblers in a casino. Investors could also be worried that something is seriously wrong in global financial markets and gold is a safe haven without a counterparty unlike bonds or stocks or paper money.

In that case the Diwali buyers of gold have really seen the light.

Harvey Organ: HUGE Demand for Gold in China, India, & Russia!

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 07:56 PM PDT

Today, we had a whopper of a withdrawal from the GLD and MASSIVE demand numbers for gold from China, India, & Russia! Let’s head immediately to see what the data has in store for us today…     Submitted by Harvey Organ:  Gold:  1244.30 up $5.70 Silver:  17.31 up 2 cents   In the access […]

The post Harvey Organ: HUGE Demand for Gold in China, India, & Russia! appeared first on Silver Doctors.

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You can see a crash coming in China a mile away as debt piles up bogus GDP explains Jim Rickards

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 07:51 PM PDT

Chinese GDP figures are bogus as 45 per cent is investment and half of that is wasted but still counted as GDP explains Jim Rickards, chief global strategist at West Shore Funds, and controversial writer of a new newsletter from Agora Financial: ‘It’s a credit bubble and a Ponzi scheme at the same time’.

However all that money is being borrowed and that is building up a pryamid of debt that makes a crash inevitable, he says, and most people can see a crash in China coming from a mile away. Personally he would not invest a dollar in China at the moment before that crash…


Video link click here!

Goodbye War On Drugs, Hello Libertarian Utopia. Dominic Frisby’s Bitcoin: The Future of Money?

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 07:19 PM PDT

Now that bitcoin has subsided from speculative bubble to functioning currency (see the price chart below), it’s safe for non-speculators to explore the whole “cryptocurrency” thing. So…is bitcoin or one of its growing list of competitors a useful addition to the average person’s array of bank accounts and credit cards — or is it a replacement for most of those things? And how does one make this transition?

With his usual excellent timing, London-based financial writer/actor/stand-up comic Dominic Frisby has just released Bitcoin: The Future of Money? in which he explains all this in terms most readers will have no trouble following. As you’d expect from someone who uses words to amuse as well as educate, Frisby’s prose is informal and fluid and occasionally very funny, with lots of first-person anecdotes.

The message, however, is fairly serious: Bitcon is, just maybe, a new and better form of money, an emerging homo sapiens to the dollar’s Neanderthal. As such it’s potentially transformational.

So let’s start with a little background: Bitcoins are created (or mined) when computers solve certain kinds of mathematical puzzles. The number of bitcoins outstanding is designed to grow at a predetermined rate for a predetermined period, making its supply both limited and predictable (in contrast to fiat currencies that multiply at the whim of central bankers and politicians). And the currency can be transferred online quickly and cheaply, bypassing the traditional banking/credit card nexus.

Bitcoin book
Frisby spends the first half of his book telling the story of how bitcoin came to be, featuring the author’s attempts to track down the currency’s enigmatic creator, Satoshi Nakamoto (generally believed to be either an individual super-genius polymath or some sort of libertarian programmer collective). Frisby concludes that it’s the former and claims to have found him. You’ll have to read the book for that revelation.

He also profiles some of the early players in the bitcoin ecosystem. Silk Road, for instance, was briefly the Amazon.com of online drug sales until it was shut down by the authorities — and then subsequently reemerged in various forms around the world. Meanwhile, a lot of early adopters made and lost some serious money during bitcoin’s initial price spike:

One student from Norway bought $27 worth in 2010 while studying for his degree. He forgot about them, and then remembered them three years later. That $27 had turned into $670,000. He sold half through MtGox and half through Bitcoin-24. He managed to get the money out of MtGox and bought a flat in Oslo. But the German authorities seized Bitcoin-24. With it went half of his fortune. 'I'm not so worried about that,' he says. Another coder from Wales mined 7,500 bitcoins and then threw away his laptop. He spent many hours trawling the local rubbish dump trying to recover his fortune – without success. Martti Malmi bought a beer from his friend for 10,000 Bitcoin. His mate would later use those coins to buy a prime residence in central Helsinki. Lily Allen was offered 100,000 bitcoins to perform on 3D chat website Second Life. She turned it down. That became, at one stage, a 100 million dollar fortune on which she missed out. Olivier Janssens now flies from London to his new home in Monaco by private jet – paid for in bitcoins.

Here’s the promised chart of bitcoin’s explosive rise and subsequent decline to what looks like a stable valuation:

Bitcoin price 2014

The second half of the book covers the impact of cryptocurrencies on the old, corrupt financial order. Frisby concludes, rightly, that today’s fiat currencies are pale, dysfunctional shadows of yesterday’s sound money and that this corruption is the main cause of our descent into debt-driven chaos. Cryptocurrencies, meanwhile, have the potential to usher in an age of high-tech sound money that puts future governments and mega-banks in their (much more humble) place.

From the chapter titled “Why Bitcoin is a libertarian Utopia”:

The ability for a government to fund itself through the manipulation of money disappears. You can't obfuscate bitcoin supply. You can't 'quantitatively ease' bitcoins. Governments – without a very aggressive and potentially impractical bitcoin confiscation scheme – will struggle to use your bitcoins to bail themselves out. Defcit spending becomes impossible – you can't spend bitcoins you don't have. Central and private banks can't create bitcoins when it suits them, and governments can't print bitcoins (they'd have to compete to mine coins along with everyone else).

From Why “Bitcoin will end the war on drugs”:

People are always going to want to buy drugs. Bitcoin is enabling them. Unless the authorities launch a War on Bitcoin – which due to its decentralized nature will be a very hard war to win – it seems they will lose the War on Drugs once and for all. Bitcoin may be what ends it.

These are of course controversial predictions and before they come true lots of questions will have to be answered. For instance:

When the empire inevitably strikes back, what will the world’s central banks and intelligence services do to squash and/or co-opt cryptocurrencies, and how will these actions affect the functioning and value of bitcoin and its peers?

Which cryptocurrency will win out? Besides bitcoin there are hundreds in existence already and several, including Litecoin and Dogecoin, are gaining traction. What would the emergence of one or two winners do to the utility and monetary value of the others?

By decade’s end we’ll know the answers. In the meantime this is a great place to start.

More GLD Drawdowns

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 06:23 PM PDT

Longtime readers will recall that we've been covering the ongoing depletion of the GLD since early 2013. After today's massive withdrawal, the total alleged "inventory" of the GLD now stands at a multi-year low of just 751.96 metric tonnes and down 5.8% on the year. This while the paper price of gold is actually up on the year by nearly 4%.

read more

USDA Harvest Progress Reports

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 06:00 PM PDT

Here are the latest numbers on the harvest from USDA.

Corn -

93% of the crop is mature compared to 87% last week and 93% last year at this time. The five year average is 94%.

31% of the crop is in the bin compared to 24% last week and 38% last year at this time. The five-year average is 53%.

Soybeans -

95% of the crop is dropping leaves compared to 91% last week and 93% last year at this time. The five-year average is 97%.

53% of the harvest is done compared to 40% last week and 61% last year at this time. The five-year average is 66%.

The weather looks very conducive to rapid harvest progress this week so expect to see some pretty strong progress by the time next Monday rolls around and we get more of these numbers from the USDA. As of now, skies should be clear with lots of sunshine through Sunday at least.

There is some fund buying in these grains for some reason that I cannot seem to put a finger on. Might be some more of that supposed rotation out of stocks and into what is viewed as "cheap" ags but that still seems a rather irrational reason for professional funds to throw money into a market. That big down day we had in the Dollar last week threw the macro trades into some convulsions and I suspect we are still encountering some residual fallout from that move in the currencies for mere technical reasons.

There is apparently a contingent of large speculators who seem to enjoy buying the grains nearly ever evening in the Asian session as they go stop hunting after shorts in the market. Whomever it is that has been doing this, has been at it for some time now. We are seeing more of it this evening as I type these comments.

I should note that guys like me who trade the livestock markets heavily have been complaining to the CME for several years about the antics occurring in that sector during the thinly traded Asian hours. After getting an earful from the industry participants as well, many who got sick and tired of watching their hedges get blown all to kingdom come for no apparent reason other than specs moving the markets around because they can do so, CME finally has moved to end the Asian trading of livestock. As of next week, FREEDOM is the new word for we long-suffering livestock traders.

Perhaps enough of the grain market participants can begin to make some noise about this same thing and maybe get the exchange officials to cut these insanely long grain trading hours back to size as well. I have to give credit to the exchange - it took them a long time but they did listen and they responded!
Hey guys - take a look at the grains now and let's shorten these trading hours. All we are getting in the Asian trade is hedge fund games.

By the way, for those who happen to keep an eye on cattle every now and then. They were limit up today. Limit down, limit up, limit down, limit up... I am having difficulty recalling ever seeing anything quite like this in the cattle.

Some quick comments on gold... the chart is showing the bulls currently in control of the market as they have been able to take price through two resistance zones on the chart. The first was near $1220; the next was near $1240. Just above the latter resistance zone, the 50 day moving average comes in near $1246. From a purely technical analysis aspect, bulls have a shot at making a run to near $1280 if they can manage to post two consecutive closes above that 50 DMA. The reason is because of the internal structure of the market with a fairly good sized contingent of hedge funds on the short side of the market.



The problem with this market for someone such as myself who likes to view a range of inputs in markets I am analyzing, is that fundamentally, the case for gold is not compelling. I am not alone in this view as the GLD continues to rapidly bleed out gold. The latest reported holdings out of that ETF, showed a sharp FALL in gold holdings of more than 9 tons from Friday! Clearly rallies in gold are being viewed as selling opportunities by some very big entities.

Total tonnage is now down 46.26 tons from the start of the year and is the lowest reported level of holdings since early November 2008! Think about that - it was only a month or so after the news of QE 1 was announced that the amount of gold was anywhere near current levels being reported in GLD.


In spite of this, gold over at the Comex continues to squirt higher. We also have the VIX coming down somewhat indicating a lessening of fears over equities, at least for the moment.




Here is the most current TIPS spread chart... notice that gold has been moving higher and inversely to the spread for the last week or so - something out of the normal pattern we have come to see over the last few months. This is suggestive of gold functioning as a safe haven, NOT from inflation ( which the market is not the least bit concerned about ) but rather as a place to park some funds for those who have been getting nervous over the wild price movements in the equity arena.




What this suggests to me is that any sign of stability in equities and/or a falling in the VIX, is going to spur selling in gold once more. Falling tonnage in GLD, a falling TIPS spread and a falling VIX do not bode well for gold. If one could tell me what these three things just mentioned will do the next day, or the next or the next, I think I would have a pretty good idea what to expect from gold but since none of us know for certain what we are going to get, especially in the way of stock market moves, the jury is out on gold with the short term technical dictating the price action at the moment.

Also, the Dollar is back down near the low end of its 85-87 range. What it does will also determine what gold will do. Tell me what the Dollar will do tomorrow, and I will tell you what gold does. In other word, short term technical will rule this market while traders wait for other fundamental inputs to plan their next approach to the metal.



Top Scientist: This Version Of Ebola Looks Like ‘A Very Different Bug’

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 05:00 PM PDT

A top Ebola scientist that is working in the heart of the outbreak in Liberia says that this version of Ebola looks like it could be “a very different bug” from past versions. If what you will read about below is true, we could be dealing with some sort of “super Ebola” that nobody has ever […]

The post Top Scientist: This Version Of Ebola Looks Like 'A Very Different Bug' appeared first on Silver Doctors.

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Christophe de Margerie, CEO of Total, dies in small plane crash in Russia

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 03:46 PM PDT

CEO of Total dies in plane crash

total

I first heard of de Margerie when we made the film Peaked for Aljazeera English. He was the first senior oil executive to mention ‘peak oil,’ which angered many others in the industry.

The last we heard from him, however, was from this July 5, 2014 Bloomberg story we covered:

Total's de Margerie Sees No Need for Dollars in Oil Purchases

"Nothing prevents anyone from paying for oil in euros," de Margerie told journalists at the Cercle des Economistes conference in Aix-en-Provence, France. "The price of a barrel of oil is quoted in dollars. A refinery can take that price and using the euro-dollar exchange rate on any given day, agree to make the payment in euros."

The remarks from the head of France's largest oil company are the latest in a debate sparked by an $8.97 billion fine slapped by the U.S. on French bank BNP Paribas SA (BNP) for transactions carried out in dollars in countries facing American sanctions.

I’m sure it had nothing to do with his death, of course. o_O But here’s the second comment on that Bloomberg article:

Also someone take a life insurance policy on that guy I have a feeling Langley mercenaries will make someone rich

Will post an update when/if this is confirmed any time soon. At the moment, only RT is reporting this. I’m assuming they have pretty good connections inside Russia.

It is being confirmed by other sources now, including Bloomberg.

What The Strong Dollar Does With The Price Of Gold

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 02:54 PM PDT

The United States is doing better than it has in years. Jobs growth is up, unemployment is down, our manufacturing sector carries the rest of the world on its shoulders like a wounded soldier and the World Economic Forum named the U.S. the third-most competitive nation, our highest ranking since before the recession.

As heretical as it sounds, there's a downside to America's success, and that's a stronger dollar. For the 12-month period, our currency has seen a 1.1-standard deviation move, which has put pressure on two commodities that we consider our lifeblood at U.S. Global Investors: gold and oil.

September Was the Cruelest Month

On the left side of the chart below, you can see 45 years' worth of data that show fairly subdued fluctuations in gold prices in relation to the dollar. On the right side, by contrast, you can see that the strong dollar pushed bullion prices down 6 percent in September, historically gold's strongest month. This move is unusual also because gold has had a monthly standard deviation of ±5.5 percent based on the last 10 years' worth of data.

gold dollar 2014 price

Here's another way of looking at it. On October 3, bullion fell below $1,200 to prices we haven't seen since 2010, but it quickly rebounded to the $1,240 range as the dollar index receded from its peak the same day.

dollar vs oil vs gold Summer 2014 price

There's no need to worry just yet. This isn't 2013, when the metal gave back 28 percent. And despite the correction, would it surprise you to learn that gold has actually outperformed several of the major stock indices this year?

gold vs SP500 2014 price

As for gold stocks, there's no denying the facts: With few exceptions, they've been taken to the woodshed. September was demonstrably cruel. Based on the last five years' worth of data, the NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index has had a monthly standard deviation of ±9.4, but last month it plunged 20 percent. We haven't seen such a one-month dip since April 2013. This volatility exemplifies why we always advocate for no more than a 10 percent combined allocation to gold and gold stocks in investor portfolios.

 

This article appeared on the website of USFunds.com.

 

Is Eric Sprott Giving Up on Silver?

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 02:45 PM PDT

As part of our weekly webinar series, it was a distinct pleasure and honor to welcome Eric Sprott. In this wide-ranging, 47-minute discussion, Eric offers his comments and analysis on: Chinese gold demand and the continuing drawdown of the GLD. Market conditions needed to facilitate an expansion of the PHYS and/or PSLV. The mining stocks. […]

The post Is Eric Sprott Giving Up on Silver? appeared first on Silver Doctors.

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Gold or Crushing Paper Debt

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 02:25 PM PDT

A Yahoo headline: Pentagon Readying For Long War in Iraq, Syria. More war means more debt and higher inflation. Increasing national debt is as certain as death and taxes. Increasing consumer prices follow.

national debt 1971 2013 money currency

 

CPI 2000 2014 money currency

Then the "something for nothing" crowd adds to the trauma.

  1. More programs are funded by government – Medicare, disability, military contractors, "war on poverty," banker bail-outs, "food stamps," and many more.
  2. Central banks "print" currency (something for nothing) and pretend that new dollars, euros, yen, and pounds are valuable. The result is more currency in circulation, higher prices, and more economic distortions.
  3. "It's all good" propaganda from governments and banks disorients the populace. The antidote is truth. (Thanks to James Quinn at www.theburningplatform.com)

Governments respond to problems with more spending (stimulus), central banks support the bond and stock markets (QE), and we pretend debt and deficit spending can increase forever (delusional). The U.S. official national debt is nearly $18,000,000,000,000.

Occasionally a 1987 or 2000 stock market crash occurs, a 9-11 event changes the world as we know it, a housing bubble deflates, and major wars are created.

What could dramatically change our world – again – like 9-11 did?

  • Smaller wars expand to become bigger wars, or even global wars.
  • An Ebola pandemic, or merely the fear of a pandemic, temporarily paralyzes the global economy.
  • Loss of confidence in fiat currencies and never-ending debt causes a major depression or financial collapse. What could create such a loss of confidence? Insolvent governments, a global pandemic, derivatives implosion, massive bank failures, financial melt-down, crude oil price spike, debts that will never be repaid, and leaders who don't lead – are just a few.
  • Stocks peak and crash as they often do about every 7 years.

SP 500 2009 2014 money currency

 

SP 500 1994 2014 money currency

Our financial world seems more unstable and more dangerous than usual. Which has been safer under difficult economic and political conditions during the past 3,000 years – gold or debt based paper?

Consider the following graph of gold (log scale) since 1968. Note the rally into the mid 1970s and the subsequent correction. Is that pattern similar to the rally into 2011 and the correction since then?

gold price monthly 1968 2014 money currency

Our financial world is dangerous and volatile. It is possible that:

  • The S&P will rise for another decade.
  • Middle-east wars will resolve into peace and prosperity.
  • The Ebola panic will fade away.
  • Confidence in paper currencies and dodgy debt will persist for another decade or two.
  • Global peace and harmony are just over the horizon.
  • The US gold supposedly at Fort Knox and the NY Fed is still there.
  • Derivatives will continue generating revenue for banks with only positive consequences to economies and the 99%.
  • Governments will expand the funding for the "something for nothing" programs to buy votes, all without consequences.
  • And we will tax and legislate ourselves into wealth and prosperity.

But I doubt it!

I think gold will survive as a store of value far longer than any government, fiat currency, or debt-based paper investment.

 

Additional reading:
The Burning Platform Butcher or Cattle
Bill Bonner Another Crisis

Gary Christenson | The Deviant Investor | GEChristenson.com

 

Argentina: You Won’t Believe What Law the Government Just Passed

Posted: 20 Oct 2014 02:15 PM PDT

Although the productive class of Argentina is no stranger to being vilified by a populist government whose grasp on power rests on praising the dignity of poverty, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has managed to take things to an entirely new level. Submitted by Simon Black, Sovereign Man: In the pantheon of utter political stupidity in […]

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