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Saturday, December 10, 2016

Gold World News Flash

Gold World News Flash

Central Bankers Tested,Bail-Outs,Bail-Ins,Banning Cash,Next Gold Confiscation

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 09:30 PM PST

Consumer confidence surges to new heights, we have seen this prior to the crash of 2008. Fed releases report and says the peoples wealth has increased, but other reports show a different story. Wholesale inventories decline the most in 8 months. The central bankers are very close in completing...

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Cash Is No Longer King: The Phasing Out Of Physical Money Has Begun

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 08:30 PM PST

Submitted by Shaun Bradley via TheAntiMedia.org,

As physical currency around the world is increasingly phased out, the era where “cash is king” seems to be coming to an end. Countries like India and South Korea have chosen to limit access to physical money by law, and others are beginning to test digital blockchains for their central banks.

The war on cash isn’t going to be waged overnight, and showdowns will continue in any country where citizens turn to alternatives like precious metals or decentralized cryptocurrencies. Although this transition may feel like a natural progression into the digital age, the real motivation to go cashless is downright sinister.

The unprecedented collusion between governments and central banks that occurred in 2008 led to bailouts, zero percent interest rates and quantitative easing on a scale never before seen in history. Those decisions, which were made under duress and in closed-door meetings, set the stage for this inevitable demise of paper money.

Sacrificing the stability of national currencies has been used as a way prop up failing private institutions around the globe. By kicking the can down the road yet another time, bureaucrats and bankers sealed the fate of the financial system as we know it.

A currency war has been declared, ensuring that the U.S. dollar, Euro, Yen and many other state currencies are linked in a suicide pact. Printing money and endlessly expanding debt are policies that will erode the underlying value of every dollar in people’s wallets, as well as digital funds in their bank accounts. This new war operates in the shadows of the public’s ignorance, slowly undermining social and economic stability through inflation and other consequences of central control. As the Federal Reserve leads the rest of the world’s central banks down the rabbit hole, the vortex it’s creating will affect everyone in the globalized economy.

Peter Schiff, president of Euro-Pacific Capital, has written several books on the state of the financial system. His focus is on the long-term consequences of years of government and central bank manipulation of fiat currencies:

“Never in the course of history has a country’s economy failed because its currency was too strong…The view that a weak currency is desirable is so absurd that it could only have been devised to serve the political agenda of those engineering the descent. And while I don’t blame policy makers from spinning self-serving fairy tales (that is their nature), I find extreme fault with those hypnotized members of the media and the financial establishment who have checked their reason at the door. A currency war is different from any other kind of conventional war in that the object is to kill oneself. The nation that succeeds in inflicting the most damage on its own citizens wins the war. ” [emphasis added]

If you want a glimpse of how this story ends, all you have to do is look at Venezuela, where the government has destroyed the value of the bolivar (and U.S. intervention has further exacerbated the problem). Desperation has overcome the country, leading women to go as far as selling their own hair just to get by. While crime and murder rates have spiked to all-time highs, the most dangerous threat to Venezuelans has been extensive government planning. The money they work for and save is now so valueless it’s weighed instead of counted. The stacks of bills have to be carried around in backpacks, and the scene is reminiscent of the hyperinflation Weimar Germany experienced in the 1920s. Few Western nations have ever experienced a currency crisis before, meaning many are blind to the inevitable consequences that come from the unending stimulus we’ve seen since 2008.

In order to keep this kind of chaos from spreading like a contagion to the rest of the world, representatives are willing to do anything necessary, but this comes at a cost. Instead of having to worry about carrying around wheelbarrows full of money, the fear in a cashless society will likely stem from bank customers’ restricted access to funds. With no physical way for consumers to take possession of their wealth, the banking interests will decide how much is available.

The level of trust most people still have in the current system is astonishing. Even after decades of incompetence, manipulation, and irresponsibility, the public still grasps to government and the established order like a child learning how to swim. The responsibility that comes with independence has intimidated the entire population into leaving the decisions up to so-called  ‘experts.’ It just so happens that those trusted policymakers have an agenda to strip you and future generations of prosperity.

Some of the few hopes in this war against centralization are peer-to-peer technologies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. These innovative platforms have the potential to open up markets that circumvent state-controlled Ponzi schemes. The future development of crypto-assets has massive potential, but being co-opted is a real danger.

The greatest threat to individual freedom is financial dependence, and as long as your wealth is under someone else’s control, it can never be completely secure. Unfortunately, private blockchains are becoming increasingly popular, creating trojan horses for those just learning about the technology (in contrast, Bitcoin’s transaction ledger is public) . Without the decentralized aspect of a financial network, it is just a giant tracking database that can be easily compromised like any other.

The World Economic Forum released a report on the future of financial infrastructure. Giancarlo Bruno, Head of Financial Services Industries at WEF stated:

“Rather than to stay at the margins of the finance industry, blockchain will become the beating heart of it. It will help build innovative solutions across the industry, becoming ever more integrated into the structure of financial services, as mainframes, messaging services, and electronic trading did before it.”

The list of countries who are exploring integrating blockchain technology into their central banking system is extensive. Just to name a few; Singapore, Ukraine, France,  Finland and many others are in the process of researching and testing out options.

For those who appreciate more tangible wealth, diversifying into hard assets like gold and silver is a great first step. It’s not about becoming a millionaire or getting rich quickly, but rather, using precious metals as vehicles for investment in the long-term. Regardless of what events unfold over the decades to come, the wealth preserved in physical form is more secure than any other asset. Forty years ago it was possible to save your money in the bank and accumulate interest over time, but that opportunity no longer exists. Those who fail to adapt to this new financial twilight zone will likely find themselves living as slaves to debt for years.

Control and confidence are two of the most important things in the system we live in. Once these digital spider webs have been put into place, the ability for an individual to maintain privacy or anonymity will all but disappear. Only through understanding the subversive actions being taken can people protect themselves from having to put their future in someone else’s hands. The cash that allows free transactions without tax burdens or state scrutiny won’t be around much longer. There will be many rationalizations for a cashless society in the years to come, but without fixing this broken financial system first, this will only ensure that despotism gains an even sturdier foothold.

FOX NEWS: MARTIAL LAW in 2016 confirmed! (GOV's plan leaked) GUNS CONFISCATION

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 07:00 PM PST

Trump's effect: NEW WORLD ORDER and MARTIAL LAW exposed!! How to survive on 2016 Global Crisis! Gold Tips! Very important Information! Please take a look and Share... Share... because this video must be shared with max number of people! make your part now, please share it! Because the...

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Trump's Bait And Switch?

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 07:00 PM PST

Submitted by Nomi Prins via TomDispatch.com,

Given his cabinet picks so far, it’s reasonable to assume that The Donald finds hanging out with anyone who isn’t a billionaire (or at least a multimillionaire) a drag. What would there be to talk about if you left the Machiavellian class and its exploits for the company of the sort of normal folk you can rouse at a rally?  It’s been a month since the election and here’s what’s clear: crony capitalism, the kind that festers and grows when offered public support in its search for private profits, is the order of the day among Donald Trump’s cabinet picks. Forget his own “conflicts of interest.” Whatever financial, tax, and other policies his administration puts in place, most of his appointees are going to profit like mad from them and, in the end, Trump might not even wind up being the richest member of the crew. 

Only a month has passed since November 8th, but it’s already clear (not that it wasn’t before) that Trump’s anti-establishment campaign rhetoric was the biggest scam of his career, one he pulled off perfectly. As president-elect and the country’s next CEO-in-chief, he’s now doing what many presidents have done: doling out power to like-minded friends and associates, loyalists, and -- think John F. Kennedy, for instance -- possibly family. 

Here, however, is a major historical difference: the magnitude of Trump’s cronyism is off the charts, even for Washington. Of course, he’s never been a man known for doing small and humble. So his cabinet, as yet incomplete, is already the richest one ever. Estimates of how loaded it will be are almost meaningless at this point, given that we don’t even know Trump’s true wealth (and will likely never see his tax returns). Still, with more billionaires at the doorstep, estimates of the wealth of his new cabinet members and of the president-elect range from my own guesstimate of about $12 billion up to $35 billion. Though the process is as yet incomplete, this already reflects at least a quadrupling of the wealth represented by Barack Obama’s cabinet.

Trump’s version of a political and financial establishment, just forming, will be bound together by certain behavioral patterns born of relationships among those of similar status, background, social position, legacy connections, and an assumed allegiance to a dogma of self-aggrandizement that overshadows everything else. In the realm of politico-financial power and in Trump’s experience and ideology, the one with the most toys always wins. So it’s hardly a surprise that his money- and power-centric cabinet won’t be focused on public service or patriotism or civic duty, but on the consolidation of corporate and private gain at the expense of the citizenry.

It’s already obvious that, to Trump, “draining the swamp” means filling it with new layers of golden sludge, similar in color to the decorations that adorn buildings with his name, including the new Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House where foreign diplomats are already flocking to curry favor and even the toilet paper holders in the lobby bathrooms are faux-gold-plated.

The rarified world of his cabinet choices is certainly a universe away from the struggling working class folks he bamboozled with promises of bringing back American “greatness.” And yet the soaring value of his cabinet should be seen as merely a departure point for our four-year (or more) leap into what is guaranteed to be an abyss of inequality and instability. Forget their wealth. What their business conflicts, relationships, and ideological stances indicate about what they’ll do to America is far more worrisome. And though Trump promised (and tweeted) that he’d be “completely out of business operations,” the possibility of such a full exit for him (or any of his crew) is about as likely as a full reveal of those tax returns.

Trumping History

There is, in fact, some historical precedent for a president surrounding himself with such a group of self-interested power-grabbers, but you’d have to return to Warren G. Harding’s administration in the early 1920s to find it. The “Roaring Twenties” that ended explosively in a stock market collapse in 1929 began, ominously enough, with a presidency filled with similar figures, as well as policies remarkably similar to those now being promised under Trump, including major tax cuts and giveaways for corporations and the deregulation of Wall Street. 

A notably weak figure, Harding liberally delegated policymaking to the group of senior Republicans he chose to oversee his administration who were dubbed “the Ohio gang” (though they were not all from Ohio). Scandal soon followed, above all the notorious Teapot Dome incident in which Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall leased petroleum reserves owned by the Navy in Wyoming and California to two private oil companies without competitive bidding, receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks in return. That scandal and the attention it received darkened Harding’s administration. Until the Enron scandal of 2001-2002, it would serve as the poster child for money (and oil) in politics gone bad. Given Donald Trump’s predisposition for green-lighting pipelines and promoting fossil fuel development, a modern reenactment of Teapot Dome is hardly beyond imagining.

Harding’s other main contributions to American history involved two choices he made. He offered businessman Herbert Hoover the job of secretary of commerce and so put him in play to become president in the years just preceding the Great Depression.  And in a fashion that now looks Trumpian, he also appointed one of the richest men on Earth, billionaire Andrew Mellon, as his treasury secretary.  Mellon, a Pittsburgh industrialist-financier, was head of the Mellon National Bank; he founded both the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), for which he’d be accused of unethical behavior while treasury secretary (as he still owned stock in the company and his brother was a close associate), and the Gulf Oil Company; and with Henry Clay Frick, he co-founded the Union Steel Company.  

He promptly set to work -- and this will sound familiar today -- cutting taxes on the wealthy and corporations. At the same time, he essentially left Wall Street free to concoct the shadowy “trusts” that would use borrowed money to purchase collections of shares in companies and real estate, igniting the 1929 stock market crash. After Mellon, who had served three presidents, left Herbert Hoover’s administration, he fell under investigation for unpaid federal taxes and tax-related conflicts of interest.

Modernizing Warren G.

Within the political-financial establishment, the more things change, the more, it seems, they stay the same. As Trump moves ahead with his cabinet picks, several of them already stand out in a Mellon-esque fashion for their staggering wealth, their legal entanglements, and the policies they seem ready to support that sound like eerie throwbacks to the age of Harding.  Of course, you can’t tell the players without a scorecard, so here are the top four of the moment (with more on the way).

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (net worth $2.9 billion)

Shades of Andrew Mellon, Ross, a registered Democrat until Trump scooped him up, made his fortune as a corporate vulture (sporting the nickname “the king of bankruptcy”).  He was notorious for devouring the carcasses of dying companies, spitting them out, and pocketing the profits.  He bought bankrupt steel companies, while moving $6.4 billion of their employee pension benefits to the rescue fund of the government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation so he could make company financials look better. In the early 2000s, his steel industry deals bagged him an impressive $267 million. Stripped of health-care benefits, retired steelworkers at his companies didn’t fare as well.   

Trump, of course, has promised the world to the sinking coal industry and out-of-work coal miners. His new commerce secretary, however, owned a coal mine in West Virginia, notoriously cited for hundreds of violations, where 12 miners subsequently died in an explosion.  

Ross also made money running Rothschild Inc.’s bankruptcy-restructuring group for nearly two-and-a-half decades. A member (and once leader) of a secret Wall Street fraternity, Kappa Beta Phi, in 2014 he remarked that “the one percent is being picked on for political reasons.” He has an art collection valued conservatively at $150 million, or 3,000 times the average American’s income of $51,000. In addition, he happens to own a Florida estate only miles down the road from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago private club.

While Trump has lambasted China for stealing American jobs, Ross (like Trump) has made money from China. In 2010, one of that country’s state-owned enterprises, China Investment Corporation, put $500 million in Ross’s private equity fund, WL Ross & Company. Ross has not disclosed whether these investments remain in his fund, though he told the New York Post that if Trump believes there are conflicts of interest among any of his investments, he would divest himself of them. In August 2016, his company had to pay a $2.3 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges for not properly disclosing $10.4 million in management fees charged to his investors in the decade leading up to 2011.

In October, Ross assured Bloomberg that China will continue to be an investment opportunity.  As secretary of commerce, the world will become his personal business venture and boardroom, while U.S. taxpayers will be his funders. He is an ardent crusader for corporate tax cuts (wanting to slash them from 35% to 15%). As head of the commerce department, the man the Economist dubbed “Mr. Protectionism” in 2004 will be in charge of any protectionist policies the administration implements.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (family wealth $5.1 billion)

DeVos, the daughter of a billionaire and daughter-in-law of the cofounder of the multilevel marketing empire Amway, has had no actual experience with public schools. Unlike most of the rest of America (myself included), she never attended a public school, nor have any of her children. (Neither did Trump.) But she and her family have excelled at the arithmetic of campaign contributions. They are estimated to have contributed at least $200 million to shaping the conservative movement and various right-wing causes over the last half-century.  As she wrote in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call in 1997, “My family is the biggest contributor of soft money to the Republican National Committee.” That trend only continued in the years that followed. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, since 1989 she and her relatives have given at least $20.2 million to Republican candidates, party committees, PACs, and super PACs. 

The center further noted that, “Betsy herself, along with her husband, Dick DeVos, Jr., has contributed more than $7.7 million to federal candidates, committees, and parties since 1990, including almost $4.8 million to super PACs.”  Her brother, ex-Navy SEAL Erik Prince, founded the controversial private security contractor Blackwater (now known as Academi). He also made two considerable donations to Make America Number 1, a super PAC that first backed Senator Ted Cruz and then Trump.

So whatever you do, don’t expect Betsy De Vos’s help in allocating additional federal funds to elevate the education of citizens who actually do attend public schools, or rather what Donald Trump now likes to call “failing government schools.” Instead, she’s undoubtedly going to promote privatizing school voucher programs and charter schools across the country and let those failing government schools go down the tubes as part of a Republican war on public education.  

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao (net worth $25 million)

As the daughter of a wealthy shipping magnate, a former labor secretary for George W. Bush, and the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Chao’s establishment connections are overwhelming. They include board positions at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and at Wells Fargo Bank.  While Chao was on its board, Wells Fargo scammed its customers to the tune of $2.4 million, and incurred billions of dollars of fines for other crimes. She was silent when its former CEO John Stumpf resigned in a blaze of contriteness.   

In 2008, Chao ranked 8th in Bush’s executive branch in terms of net worth at  $16.9 million. In 2009, Politico reported that, in memory of her mother who passed away in 2007, she and her husband received a “personal gift” from the Chao family worth between $5 million and $25 million. In 2014, the Center for Responsive Politics ranked McConnell, with an estimated net worth somewhere around $22 million, as the 11th richest senator. As with all things wealth related, the truth is a moving target but the one thing Chao’s not (which may make her a rarity in this cabinet) is a billionaire.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (net worth

With 65% of ATMs Nonoperational, Goldman Warns India Is "Returning To Barter System"

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 06:30 PM PST

India continues to stagger from bad to worse followinhg Modi's demonetization. With just 35% of ATMs nationwide operational, Goldman warns the shortage of cash continues to incentivize the use of alternate payments, including extension of informal credit and a return to barter systems. Addtionally, the slowdown in activity is dramatically reflected in lower tax collections and discounts offered by luxury car companies.

Goldman Sachs  recently introduced their India 'De-monetization dashboard' in which they track the progress of the Indian government's recent currency reform announced on November 8 via a variety of high-frequency data, including money supply, credit/deposit, interest rates, physical asset premia, real economic activity, price indicators and capital flows.

This week’s update shows that cash availability at ATMs is still low. On real economic activity, there were no major data releases this week. However, PMIs and auto sales data released last week suggested a significant slowdown in activity. Separately, anecdotal evidence suggested continued weakness in activity as shown in the lower indirect tax collections and various discounts given by luxury car companies.

Monetary infrastructure

According to Livemint, 95% of ATMs (out of 200,000 in the country) have been re-calibrated to accept new notes but only 35% of the re-calibrated ATMs are operational. Banks are preferring to make cash available in their own branches instead of making cash available at ATMs. Daily data from ATMs in the four key metro cities – namely Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai – show that people are still facing a ‘cash crunch’ in about half of the ATMs. The shortage of cash continues to incentivize the use of alternate payments including electronic payment systems, extension of informal credit and a return to barter systems. The government has further announced various measures to promote digital and non-cash transactions including discounts on digital purchase of fuel, suburban train tickets, and service tax exemptions on transaction charges up to INR 2000 on December 8.
 
Exhibit 1: Shortage of cash in ATMs continues

Source: CashNoCash, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
 
Exhibit 2: Still very elevated search interest for retailers accepting electronic payment

Trends in Google searches for key financial terms in India

Source: Google, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

Real activity indicators

On real activity, no major data was released this week. However, last week, India's Nikkei Markit manufacturing PMI moderated in November after rising to a 22-month high in October (Exhibit 3). The weakness was across the board, suggesting softening in manufacturing activity post the de-monetization announcement on November 8. The Nikkei Markit services PMI also dropped sharply in November driven by a significant decline in new business, also indicating the potential impact of the cash shortage.

Separately, industry-wide November auto sales (Exhibit 4) showed commercial vehicle sales declined by over 18% mom s.a., car sales declined by 4% mom s.a. and two-wheeler sales dropped by 15% mom s.a. Furthermore, registrations of motor vehicle have fallen since November 2016.

Exhibit 3: India's composite PMI declined sharply in November led by weak services PMI

Source: Haver Analytics, Nikkei Markit
 
 
Exhibit 4: Auto sales contracted sharply in November

Source: CEIC, Company data, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
 
Exhibit 5: Motor vehicle registrations have fallen

(December data only partial month)

Source: Road Transport Office, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
 

The latest anecdotal evidence (Exhibit 6) suggests continued weakness in activity during the fourth week post announcement of de-monetization. The slowdown in activity is reflected in lower tax collections and discounts offered by luxury car companies.

Exhibit 6: Real activity anecdotal evidence

Source: Live Mint, The Economic Times, Times of India, Business Standard, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

Monetary and financial indicators

Money supply

Reserve money expanded by 0.5% yoy as of the week ending December 2, 2016 after a decline of 16.8% yoy the previous week. This was mainly driven by a INR4.7 trillion increase in bankers' deposits with the RBI (+128.4%yoy) post the temporary increase in Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to absorb excess liquidity in the system on November 26 (Exhibit 7). This increase in CRR will be withdrawn from December 10 as announced by the RBI. The central bank also mentioned that they have distributed INR 4 trillion of new high denomination notes so far.

Trends in hard assets premia

Domestic gold and silver premia, as measured by the difference between USD-equivalent domestic prices and global prices, appear to have normalized after an initial spike. Bitcoin premia (we calculate this as the difference between the price of Bitcoin on India exchanges and those abroad) also moderated somewhat this week (Exhibit 15).
 
Exhibit 15: Hard assets premia somewhat normalised four weeks post announcement

Source: CEIC, Haver Analytics, Bloomberg, Unocoin, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
 
 
Exhibit 16: Google Trends on gold prices have normalised while Bitcoin stayed elevated

Trends in Google searches for key physical asset words

Source: Google, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
 

Geopolitical Update & Analysis with Preston James

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 05:30 PM PST

Jeff Rense & Preston James - Geopolitical Update & Analysis Clip from December 08, 2016 - guest Preston James on the Jeff Rense Program. The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists ,...

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Don't Be Fooled. The Trump Rally Is Not A Sign Of Economic Health

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 05:30 PM PST

Submitted by Steven Horowtiz via The Foundation for Economic Education,

The headlines tell us that the Dow Jones is up around 1,000 points since Donald Trump won the election on November 8th. The conventional wisdom is that this shows how much confidence people have in Trump’s ability to generate a healthy American economy. The argument is that if people are willing to buy stock in American firms, this indicates their belief that those firms will see improving profits over the next few years. They then draw the conclusion that more profitable firms indicate a healthier American economy.

Although this argument is correct about stock prices reflecting an increasing belief in the profitability of US firms, it makes a major error in assuming that profitable firms necessarily mean a better economy.

The Economy Isn't A Thing

First, it’s important to understand that phrases like “a healthier economy” are themselves problematic. The “economy” is not the thing we should be concerned about. In fact, in some fundamental sense there’s no such thing as “the economy.” As Russ Roberts and John Papola memorably put it in the music video “Fight of the Century:”

The economy’s not a car.
There’s no engine to stall.
No experts can fix it.
There’s no “it” at all.
The economy is us

Things are not “good/bad for the economy.” They are good or bad for the people who comprise the market process, specifically in our capacity as consumers. All the economy amounts to is people engaging exchanges in order to better satisfy their wants. What we should care about is whether or not people are able to better satisfy those wants.

And “better satisfy” here means not just more and better goods and services, but at cheaper prices too. Lower prices mean that consumers have income left over to purchase goods they otherwise couldn’t, enabling them to better satisfy their wants by satisfying more of them.

Distorted Signals

In a genuinely free market, the profitability of firms is a good reflection of their ability to better satisfy the wants of consumers. Our willingness to pay for their goods and services reflects the fact that we receive value from those products, so their profits are at least a general signal of having created that value and satisfied consumer wants.

Trump’s policies may well enrich many firms, but they will impoverish the average American.

In fact, consumers get much more value out of most innovations than is reflected in the profits of firms. A famous study by economist William Nordhaus estimated that profits made up only about 2.2% of the total benefits created by innovations. If you doubt this, ask yourself how much it would take for you to give up your smartphone and its connectivity. Then multiply that by all of the smartphone users in the world. Then compare that to the profits made off smartphones. The total value to consumers will dwarf the profits of smartphone producers.

However, when markets aren’t free, profits do not necessarily reflect value creation. Firms who profit through privileges, protections, and subsidies from governments demonstrate that they are able to please political actors, not that they can deliver value to consumers by better satisfying their wants. The profits of cab companies with monopoly licenses reflect their ability to foreclose competition, not the quality of the services they provide.

In a world of this sort of crony capitalism, profits are de-linked from a connection with consumers and we cannot say with confidence that any given firm’s profits reflect value creation.

Notice though that such firms might still be profitable! In a world of cronyism, many firms will do very well, especially to the extent that they have connections with those in power, or are willing to do what they are told in order to curry such favor. To the extent that cronyism will make many firms profitable, that would be reflected in rising stock prices and stock indexes.

That, I would argue, is precisely what we’re seeing today as Trump takes power.

The Trump Effect

Trump’s economic nationalism and cronyism will surely enrich a number of American firms. Tariffs on imported cars, for example, might well improve the profitability of US car manufacturers. The same would go for steel or agricultural products. Firms like Carrier that are willing to exercise political clout, or roll over in the face of demands or threats from various levels of government, could see their profits rise as a result of new government-granted privileges. The record-setting Dow Jones sure could be right that the profit stream for many US firms will increase under Trump.

But don’t confuse that profitability with improved economic well-being. Trump’s policies may well enrich many firms, but they will impoverish the average American. We are not better off having to pay more for domestically produced goods thanks to a 35% tariff on imports. We are not better off when firms are given tax breaks or direct subsidies to keep their production in the US where labor or other inputs are more expensive, raising the costs of those goods and increasing our $20 trillion dollar national debt.

Profits will be seen as the reward for knowing the right people, not innovation and efficiency.

We are not better off when firms have to meet the conditions set by a strongman before he will “allow” them to operate in the US, which only serves to reorient the economy away from pleasing consumers to pleasing Trump.

This sort of cronyism and discretionary use of power turns the positive sum social cooperation of the market into a negative sum battle among firms to curry favoritism and power from the state. Entrepreneurial energy that could have brought forth innovative technologies and cheaper, better goods and services is diverted to seeking profits through what Ayn Rand so memorably called the “aristocracy of pull.”

This diversion of entrepreneurship will have profound long-term effects, as it severs the link between profit-seeking and satisfying consumer wants. Profits will be seen as the reward for knowing the right people and how best to curry favor from them, not from innovation and efficiency.

And when profits become about favoritism not value-creation, the moral case for the market, or what’s left of it anyway, disappears as well. Profits can at least in principle be justified in terms of their link with consumer want satisfaction and the creation of value. As profits become increasingly arbitrary, even those firms who continue to create value will have a harder time justifying their profits. This loss of confidence in the ethical basis of the market will erode support for truly competitive markets even more, even as profits for many might increase.

Don’t be fooled. The Trump rally is not a sign of economic health, but of what quite likely will be harm to all Americans through higher prices, fewer choices, and a reduction in entrepreneurial innovation.

Profits and rising stock prices in truly free markets reflect real value creation and want satisfaction. Profits and rising stock prices in a system of economic nationalism and cronyism reflect the satisfaction of the desires of those with political power. Firms and political actors might win more power and influence, but average Americans, many of whom voted Trump and his crew into office, will be the big losers.

The Future of the American Dream

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 05:00 PM PST

 BGC Partners senior strategist Steve Cortes on the state of the U.S. economy and the future of the American dream. The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers ,...

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Record High Lease Returns Set To Wreak Havoc On Used Car Prices

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 05:00 PM PST

About a month ago we warned that declining used car prices could spell disaster for subprime auto securitizations (see "Slumping Used Car Prices Spell Disaster For Subprime Auto Securitizations").  While it's always difficult to predict the exact timing of when bubbles will burst, a combination of record-high lease returns in 2017 and 2018, combined with rising interest rates could imply that the auto bubble is on the precipice.

As Bloomberg recently pointed out, strong used car pricing is a critical component required to prop up the overall auto market.  While American's love their brand new cars, if used car prices become too soft then substitution can hurt new car sales.  Add to that the impact of falling residual values on the finance arms of the auto OEMs and you have all the ingredients required for an auto market meltdown.

Thanks in part to low interest rates, leasing has become an increasingly popular way to drive away a new car. It accounts for almost a third of all new car transactions in the U.S. and it's also huge in the U.K., as I explained here. For BMW and Mercedes-Benz in particular, it's been a boon for sales.

 

Typically a lease lasts about three years, after which the customer returns to the showroom for another vehicle -- which is when things could get difficult for the industry.

 

"There's going to be a lot of units coming back over the next several years," Ford Motor Co. warned last month. "They're going to get to levels that we have never seen on an absolute basis in the industry before".

 

In 2017,  about one million more off-lease vehicles will be available in the U.S. compared with 2015. That additional volume will put downward pressure on used car prices.

 

If cars depreciate too quickly, consumers will be unwilling to pay high prices for new vehicles. High residual values also help to keep monthly lease payments low. In other words, if used car prices fall, the whole system comes unstuck: automakers' earnings will likely fall and car finance companies (often a subsidiary of the manufacturer) may have to book writedowns on the value of their leased assets.  

As the following chart depicts, with nearly 1mm more cars coming off lease in 2017 than 2015, it's difficult to envision a scenario where used car prices don't come under tremendous pressure.

Auto Leases

 

Of course, how we got here is fairly obvious.  The majority of Americans buy cars based on one factor: monthly payment.  And when it comes to managing your monthly payment to the lowest level possible, leasing is the way to go.  Per the Bank Rate calculator below, buying a $30,000 car comes with a monthly payment of around $600 while leasing the same vehicle might only cost $420 per month. 

Bankrate

 

Of course, why buy a $30,000 Ford for a $600 monthly payment when you could lease a $40,000 BMW for $560?  You can afford it so long as you can cover the monthly payment, right?

Bankrate

 

Not surprisingly, these dynamics have caused lease share of U.S. vehicles to skyrocketed in the wake of the "great recession" as people seek to maintain their excessive lifestyles on smaller budgets.

Auto Lease

 

Of course, the problem is that leased vehicles get returned to their originating lenders every 3 years for brand new leases...we wouldn't want anyone driving around in a 5-year-old clunker now would we?  But, as we all know, vehicles have useful lives of 15-20 years.  Therefore, it doesn't take too many excessive lease cycles to flood the market with used supply and bring the whole ponzi crashing down. 

“An Emerging Dearth of Dollars”

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 03:32 PM PST

This post "An Emerging Dearth of Dollars" appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

Uh-oh: The mainstream is starting to fret about the great dollar shortage.

With the help of Jim Rickards, we've been delving into the paradox of a "dollar shortage" periodically since September. The paradox is this: While the Federal Reserve blew up its balance sheet by $3.4 trillion between 2008–2015, "the world created new dollar-denominated debt faster than the Fed created money," as Jim explains it. Indeed, more than $60 trillion of new dollar-denominated debt came into existence during this time.

It's all good… as long as the dollar is weak. But relative to a large basket of foreign currencies, the dollar is approaching its strongest level at any time in the last two decades…

Dearth of Dollars

"When the dollar goes up, it directly impairs the risk-taking capacities of banks and investors alike," writes Hyun Song Shin, chief of research at the Bank for International Settlements.

As you might know, the BIS is the "central bank for central banks." Jim Rickards says unlike many central bankers, the BIS folks are pretty sharp cookies. Mr. Shin, according to The New York Times, "is concerned the dollar's rise will worsen what he refers to as an emerging dearth of dollars, which could bring back memories of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. Back then, a global rush into dollars caused short-term borrowing rates to skyrocket, forcing hedge funds to shut down and banks to fail."

The dollar shortage is even getting the attention of mainstream strategists like Paul Christopher at Wells Fargo Advisors: "In the type of global economy we live in, [Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen] has to be careful about the dollar increasing too much, creating dollar shortages and liquidity problems as a result."

Alas, Fed leadership is clueless. Quelle surprise. And so they plow ahead with plans to raise its benchmark fed funds rate next Wednesday — which will have the effect of further strengthening the dollar.

As we pointed out last month, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said he was "reasonably confident" foreign economies could absorb the impact of that move: The dollar would strengthen further, yes, but it wouldn't necessarily tank the value of foreign currencies.

Jim Rickards called this "wishful thinking."

Let's go back to that $60 trillion of dollar-denominated debt that's come into being since 2009. As Jim's pointed out for the last two years, about $9 trillion of that total was issued by companies in emerging markets; those companies need a weak dollar to keep the cost of servicing that debt from spiraling out of control. But the dollar's been rising relentlessly since mid-2014.

Also on shaky ground is $5 trillion in debt issued by U.S. energy producers. It was bad enough most of that debt was issued on the assumption of $80-plus oil prices into perpetuity. (They're $51.45 this morning.) But this is worse: "A strong dollar implies lower oil prices," Jim reminds us, "despite OPEC's machinations."

Reminder: A strong dollar is the only reason gold is so weak right now. The bid is down to $1,161 this morning, retesting a 10-month low.

"A strong dollar implies a lower dollar price for gold," says Jim. "A weak dollar implies a higher dollar price for gold." Look no further than the chart above. The emerging dearth of dollar's all-time low came in August 2011. Gold touched its all-time high within a matter of weeks.

"Further evidence," says Jim, "comes from the fact that gold is performing much better when measured in Japanese yen, Chinese yuan and euros. In other words, the recent price action is not really a gold story; it's a dollar story."

Not that it makes gold's recent swoon easier to take if you transact mostly in dollars, but that's the story.

"In the short run (one–three months) the strong dollar, weak gold story may continue," Jim allows.

"Beyond that, the strong dollar will strangle the U.S. economy with imported deflation and weaker exports." Oh, and it'll worsen the great dollar shortage and threaten to detonate a large portion of that $60 trillion in dollar-denominated debt we mentioned.

Then the Fed will have to reverse course. Jim figures by next spring. Gold holders, keep the faith. "Gold is in the doldrums now, but it is poised for a strong comeback when central bankers confront the unsustainable reality of higher real rates on dollar debt."

Regards,

Dave Gonigam
for The 5 Min. Forecast

The post "An Emerging Dearth of Dollars" appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

Critical Market Indicator “Just Flashed Red”

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 01:42 PM PST

This post Critical Market Indicator "Just Flashed Red" appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

"Market Indicator Hits Extreme Levels Last Seen Before Plunges in 1929, 2000 and 2008."

That CNBC headline whacked us in the features yesterday. We presented the case Wednesday that current market conditions tightly match those preceding three previous humdingers — "Black Monday" 1987, the dot-com wreck starting in 2000 and last July when stocks plunged 12%:

The present combination of overvalued, overbought, overbullish conditions, coupled with rising interest rates… [is a] combination that has most often been associated not only with emerging bear markets but with market crashes.

The board has tilted so far the market's now drawing comparisons to 1929…

What's drawing the comparison? Valuations. By some measures, stocks are as expensive as ever compared with their earnings. P/E ratios measure share prices to earnings. For example, if the market value of a stock is $50 and the company generates $3.00 per share in annual earnings, its P/E ratio is 16.6 (50/3=16.6).

There's something called the Shiller P/E ratio, named after the Yale economist who conjured it. It measures P/E ratios over a 10-year period. It carries a lot of weight among the smart set. Many argue it's been a reliable barometer of future stock returns going back to 1871.

And according to MarketWatch's Brett Arends, Shiller's famous ratio has "just gone from flashing amber to flashing red."

The average S&P Shiller ratio over the life of the S&P is 16.7. This week, it jumped to a skyscraping 27.9. That puts it within hailing distance of the October 1929 peak of 32.6.

"This is about the same level that the market hit just before the crash of 1929, and is far higher than was seen in 2007," Arends warns. "The last time we saw the stock market this expensive on this measure was early in 2002 — just before stocks plummeted."

The Shiller P/E ratio "has been exceeded only in the 1929 mania, the 2000 tech mania and the 2007 housing and stock bubble,” adds analyst Alan Newman.

David Stockman discussed this ominous milestone in last night's urgent market briefing:

We're at an inflection point that I haven't seen in my lifetime, and I've been involved with Washington or Wall Street for the past 40 years… Today, the market is oblivious to how far out of proportion valuations are because it expects more stimulus from the Fed.

But David says the market's in for its comeuppance: "The central banks are out of dry powder. There will be no bailout when this thing collapses."

Some analysts dismiss Shiller's work. They say stocks have been overvalued for years and years and years — but the market's trading at all-time highs anyway. It's a false compass.

But a new study shows it's reading true this time…

Economists Valentin Dimitrov of Rutgers University and Prem Jain of Georgetown studied the history. And they actually validate the skeptics' claim that the Shiller P/E ratio doesn't usually work.

That is, it doesn't work if stocks are simply "expensive." No. They have to be wildly expensive before the ratio applies. Investors can make money even when the Shiller P/E ratio is in the mid-20s, for example. Arends summarizes the study:

Investors shouldn't flee stocks simply because the Shiller P/E is above average. They shouldn't flee stocks even when the Shiller P/E is way above average. But history has said they should flee stocks when the Shiller P/E is at extreme levels — like now.

How extreme?

The study concluded the Shiller P/E ratio is only an omen when it's "higher than 27.6." Gentle reminder: It's 27.9 today… above that threshold. It's a level exceeded only in 1929, 2000 and 2007. A working knowledge of market history renders additional comment unnecessary.

Are there differences between 1929, 2000, even 2007? Doubtless, yes. Will a reading above 27.6 guarantee the heavens fall? Sure beats our pair of jacks. We can't say for sure.

But one thing's for sure: We won't be letting Mr. Market out of our 20/20 sight anytime soon…

Not for a minute.

Regards,

Brian Maher
Managing editor, The Daily Reckoning

The post Critical Market Indicator "Just Flashed Red" appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

In The News Today

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 01:25 PM PST

My Dear Friends, Modi in all probability has killed himself due to what he has already done to the currency in India. I have a home in India. Having lived there on and off for quite a few years, I can assure you gold is as much a spiritual factor as an economic item to... Read more »

The post In The News Today appeared first on Jim Sinclair's Mineset.

Gold Seeker Weekly Wrap-Up: Gold Dips 1% on the Week While Silver Gains 1%

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 01:18 PM PST

Gold edged up to $1172.01 in late Asian trade, but it then chopped back lower in London and New York and ended near its midafternoon low of $1156.46 with a loss of 1.01%. Silver slipped to as low as $16.791 and ended with a loss of 0.94%.

Greenspan’s Disastrous Legacy

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 01:00 PM PST

This post Greenspan’s Disastrous Legacy appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

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It was nearly 20 years ago to the day that Alan Greenspan delivered his famous “irrational exuberance” speech. Little did he know how far it could go. Even less has his disastrous legacy been accorded the condemnation it so richly deserves.

At the time he mused publicly about the possibility that the Fed’s prodigious money printing during the first nine years of his tenure might fuel an excess of animal spirits in the stock market, the NASDAQ 100 stood at 850. Less than 40 months later the index peaked in late March 2000 at just under 4600.

In round numbers that was a 5.5X gain in the blink of an eye. It was a prelude to all the madness since then and the mania that has flared up once again in the past few weeks.

In March the Maestro persuaded his colleagues to raise interest rates by a pinprick 25 basis points. But when the stock market promptly sold-off by about 7% during April-May, Greenspan’s resolve dissolved entirely.

Indeed, when the Fed announced the funds target was on indefinite hold in June, the market roared back by 10% and Greenspan’s laughable campaign to quell irrational exuberance came to an abrupt and permanent end.

So the mania that soon enveloped Wall Street became the bubble whose name could not be spoken.

Worse still, his parting thoughts on the matter are a stunning admission that in pursuit of its foggy prosperity management and wealth effects agenda, the Fed had lost all sense of its core mission to maintain sound money and financial discipline.

So doing, it had now become a wholly owned vassal of Wall Street speculators and fast money traders. Or as Greenspan explained it, “In effect, investors were teaching the Fed a lesson.”

Why yes they did, and it was this. The Fed dare not risk a hissy fit on Wall Street — least its efforts to pump up the economy via the stock market channel of “wealth effects” stimulus to spending and investment be interrupted.

Instead, better to let bubbles run their course, and then come in with monetary fire hoses at the ready when these “irrationally exuberant” bubbles finally burst.

That happened with a vengeance after March 2000. During the next 32 months the NASDAQ 100 plunged by a stomach churning 78%. It ended up not far above where it had been at the time of Greenspan’s December 5, 1996 warnings six years earlier.

Indeed, as recently as February 2016, the NASDAQ 100 stood at just 4130. So after 16 years it was 10% lower in nominal terms and 30% lower in real terms than it was at the top of the bubble that Greenspan’s faithless leadership had spawned two decades earlier.

Needless to say, retail investors and homegamers in their tens of millions were wiped out when the first Greenspan bubble collapsed at the turn of the century. Some of them came back for another go after the Maestro decided to double-down on his dotcom folly and bail out Wall Street with 30 continuous months of interest rate reductions — taking the fed funds rate down to a then unprecedented 1.0% by June 2003.

That unleashed the mortgage and housing mania, of course, which eventually led the market to another all-time high in October 2007. Then came the second thundering crash in the fall and winter of 2008-09 when 55% of the S&P 500’s value vaporized in what amounted to about 25 trading days.

Those homegamers who had ventured back into what was now a pure casino got carried out on their shields for the second time in eight years — and most have never come back. In fact, most of the baby-boom generation have had their savings wiped out in the casino that Greenspan enabled during the two crashes he fostered.

Moreover, what is left in the stock markets are mainly hedge fund gamblers, ETF traders and robo-machines. And their capacity for irrational exuberance far exceeds what existed in December 1996.

That proposition was dramatically on display during yesterday’s market eruption, when in just a few seconds around 1:30 PM upwards of $3.5 billion worth of e-mini contracts were crossed, sending the machine-driven market into a frenzy of buying; and frenzy is the correct term because they bought everything — bonds, stocks, gold and the VIX.

Obviously, there is no rational theory under which these four contradictory asset classes should all be aggressively bid at the same time. But again, yesterday’s eruption wasn’t rational; it was irrational exuberance on steroids — a manic orgy of buy orders unconnected to anything in the real world. And that includes the great Trump Fiscal Stimulus which is wholly delusional, as we have been demonstrating for several weeks now.

But the point here is not merely to forewarn that another great stock market crash is imminent. Outside of a few thousand Wall Street gamblers, that impending shock is obvious enough to most halfway conscious observers.

The serial bubbles of the Greenspan era have given rise to a mutant form of financial engineering. It'll continue until the Fed’s destructive regime of Bubble Finance is ended, when America can get back to real investment and real jobs, not what prevails today.

In the meantime, we are in the midst of a pure price-to-earnings (PE) multiple expansion spree that is disconnected from the global and domestic economy and bears no relationship to earnings whatsoever.

Reported earnings of the S&P 500 peaked back in Q3 2014 at $106 per share. The results for Q3 2016 are now in, and at $89 per share they marked the eighth straight quarter of decline.

So earnings are down 16% from the Q3 2104 peak — even as the stock market has risen  nearly 14% over the same two year period. The magic of course is in the PE expansion. It was already at a historically high 18.5X in September 2014, but after Wednesday’s manic blow-off now stands at 25X.

That truly does represent the nosebleed section of history — notwithstanding the endless efforts of Wall Street brokers to suggest otherwise.

During the 17 quarters of recovery between mid-2010 and the Q3 2014 cycle peak, the average trailing PE multiple was just 16.0X.

Stated differently, the market is now being valued 60% higher than it was even during the period of most intensive money pumping under QE. That is, the gamblers and robo-machines have been effectively doubling-down on what was already a vastly inflated stock market.

The casino has truly come unhinged. Accordingly, the Big Short from last time around will soon prove to have been only a warm-up.

Regards,

David Stockman
for The Daily Reckoning

The post Greenspan’s Disastrous Legacy appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

COT Gold, Silver and US Dollar Index Report - December 9, 2016

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 12:32 PM PST

COT Gold, Silver and US Dollar Index Report - December 9, 2016

FAKE NEWS: How the Mainstream Media Undermines Democracy

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 12:27 PM PST

 This mini-documentary from Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, reveals how the mainstream media undermines democracy and pushes "fake news" propaganda pretending to be legitimate journalism. The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists ,...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://financearmageddon.blogspot.com http://bobchapman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Trump to name Goldman Sachs veteran to head National Economic Council

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 12:27 PM PST

At least Hillary might have appointed someone from JPMorganChase.

* * *

By Renae Merle, Ylan Q. Mui, and Philip Rucker
Washington Post
Friday, December 9, 2016

NEW YORK -- President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name a top Goldman Sachs executive, Gary Cohn, to lead the National Economic Council, handing the Wall Street veteran significant sway over his administration's economic policy.

The council includes the heads of various departments and agencies and works within the administration to coordinate economic policy. As director, Cohn would be in position to advise Trump as he attempts to fulfill some of his chief campaign promises, including lowering corporate taxes and rethinking U.S. trade policy. ...

... For the remainder of the report:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/09/trump-to-name-gol...


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We Are Amid the Biggest Financial Bubble in History;
When It Bursts, Bullion Owned in the Safest Way Will Protect Wealth

With GoldCore you can own allocated -- and most importantly -- segregated coins and bars in Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong remain extremely safe jurisdictions for storing bullion. Avoid exchange-traded funds and digital gold providers where you are a price taker. Ensure that you are outright legal owner of your bullion. If you do not own segregated bullion that you can visit, inspect, and take delivery of, you are exposed.

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Visit us at: http://www.goldcore.com


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:

http://www.gata.org

To contribute to GATA, please visit:

http://www.gata.org/node/16

Gold Futures Selling Exhausting

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 10:44 AM PST

Gold has suffered brutal, withering selling pressure in the month following the US presidential election.  The stock markets’ surprise surge after Trump’s surprise win has led speculators and investors alike to rush for the gold exits.  As usual the former group’s extreme selling came largely through gold futures.  But this gold-futures dumping has been so severe that it is rapidly exhausting itself, a bullish omen for gold.

Trump's Twitter War with China

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 10:00 AM PST

Donald Trump brings the fight to China - in 140 characters or less! The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://financearmageddon.blogspot.com http://bobchapman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

BREAKING: "Russia Has Defeated USA In The Middle East Region"

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 09:30 AM PST

Russian President Putin has defeated President Obama in the Middle East The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://financearmageddon.blogspot.com http://bobchapman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

If you think you can handle the truth, well here it is folks

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 09:00 AM PST

 I hope this opens peoples eyes to how things really are in today's society. Even if you don't like Trump, please do not vote for Hillary because our country will be ruined. The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://financearmageddon.blogspot.com http://bobchapman.blogspot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Gold-Futures Selling Exhausting

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 08:59 AM PST

Gold has suffered brutal, withering selling pressure in the month following the US presidential election. The stock markets' surprise surge after Trump's surprise win has led speculators and investors alike to rush for the gold exits. As usual the former group's extreme selling came largely through gold futures. But this gold-futures dumping has been so severe that it is rapidly exhausting itself, a bullish omen for gold.

Gold fools, dollar bulls and the long term outlook for both Markets

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 08:00 AM PST

Many experts penned numerous articles this year proclaiming that the Gold market was ready to take off and that 2016 would be the year that the Gold bull resumed its upward trend. They spoke of our high debt, a weak economy and listed a plethora of reasons as to why Gold was ready to soar. Needlessly to say, their fear mongering proved to be fruitless for instead of taking off, Gold nose dived. Early in the year we stated that we did not expect much from Gold this year; we wrote several articles but will highlight points from one of them as it adequately sums our overall theme for 2016.

South Africa's Sibanye Gold to buy Stillwater Mining for $2.2 billion in latest platinum push

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 07:41 AM PST

By Alexandra Wexler
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, December 9, 2016

JOHANNESBURG -- South Africa's Sibanye Gold Ltd. said today it plans to buy U.S. palladium and platinum miner Stillwater Mining Co. for $2.2 billion, the company's first foray outside of southern Africa and the latest bold move to diversify beyond gold mining.

The purchase is Sibanye's third platinum acquisition since late 2015 and would make the company, which until last year was solely a gold miner, the world's third largest platinum producer. The move is a vote of confidence in platinum in addition to a strategic diversification away from the often difficult operating environment in South Africa. ...

... For the remainder of the report:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/south-africas-sibanye-gold-to-buy-stillwater...


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Market Analyst Fabrice Taylor Expects K92 Shares to Rise
as Company Commences Gold Production and Gains Cash Flow

Interviewed on Business News Network in Canada, market analyst and financial letter writer Fabrice Taylor said shares of K92 Mining (TSXV:KNT) are likely to rise, even amid declining gold prices, because the company has begun producing gold at its mine in Papua New Guinea:

http://www.bnn.ca/video/fabrice-taylor-discusses-k92-mining~1008356

Taylor cited the company's announcement here:

http://www.k92mining.com/2016/11/6114/


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:

http://www.gata.org

To contribute to GATA, please visit:

http://www.gata.org/node/16

Gold Versus Dollar Devaluations - Gary Christenson

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 07:33 AM PST

Sprott Money

Deutsche Bank proves what GATA told CFTC six years ago, Murphy tells GoldSeek Radio

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 07:19 AM PST

10:19a ET Friday, December 9, 2016

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

GATA Chairman Bill Murphy, interviewed by GoldSeek Radio's Chris Waltzek, notes that the collusion of bullion bank traders disclosed this week by Deutsche Bank in the class-action federal lawsuit in New York is exactly what he, GATA Board of Directors member Adrian Douglas, and London metals trader Andrew Maguire brought to the attention of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission at its hearing in March 2010. (See http://gata.org/node/8466.)

Of course the CFTC, while it has subpoena powers, did nothing about it.

Murphy's interview is 12 minutes long and can be heard at GoldSeek here:

http://radio.goldseek.com/nuggets.php

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org


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Canadian Government Issues Key Water License
for Seabridge Gold's KSM Project in British Columbia

Company Announcement
Monday, November 21, 2016

TORONTO -- Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSX: SEA) (NYSE:SA) announced today it has received a license from the Government of Canada required for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the water storage facility and associated ancillary water works at its 100 percent-owned KSM Project in northwestern British Columbia.

The license, as authorized within the International Rivers Improvement Act, regulates all structures and activities situated on transboundary waters shared with the United States that have the potential to affect water quality and quantity. The Water storage facility and its ancillary water works (water diversion ditches and tunnels) are the primary water management control systems for the KSM Project. These facilities separate water that has not contacted mined material from so-called contact water originating from disturbed areas of the mine site and then contain the contact water prior to treatment and eventual release to the receiving environment.

These facilities are situated on Mitchell and Sulphurets creeks, tributaries of the transboundary Unuk River system that flows into Alaska. The license was granted for a term of 25 years under the International Rivers Improvements Regulations as administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. ...

... For the remainder of the announcement:

http://seabridgegold.net/News/Article/642/federal-government-issues-key-...


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:

http://www.gata.org

To contribute to GATA, please visit:

http://www.gata.org/node/16

GoldSeek Radio Nugget: Bill Murphy and Chris Waltzek

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 07:17 AM PST

Bill Murphy of GATA.org outlines the unfolding drama surrounding the gold / silver market rigging by Deutsche Bank. Company executives have offered details of their collaborators at competing financial institutions. In the near future, millions of jobs will be jeopardized by the real threat of automation / AI.

CONFIRMED: Banks Rigging Silver Market

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 07:14 AM PST

According to the plaintiffs, records surrendered by Deutsche Bank show traders and submitters coordinating trades in advance of a daily phone call, manipulating the spot market for silver, conspiring to fix the spread on silver offered to customers and using illegal strategies to rig prices.

The Absurdity of Using A Fallacy For a Correlation In The US Dollar and Euro

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 07:08 AM PST

If you take a minute to digest what the chart is really saying, it should make you scratch you head. In fact, it should make you shake your head. Yes, this "analysis" is actually relying on the premise that QE "caused" the dollar to rally. Therefore, the underlying basis for this "analysis" is a fallacy. It is based upon a completely fallacious correlation. And, the "analyst" takes it further by claiming that the European Union QE will "cause" the Euro to rally as well, which is based upon his underlying fallacious QE correlation.

ECB ‘Bazooka’ Extended – Will Buy EUR 60 Billion Per Month Until At Least December 2017

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 04:28 AM PST

The ECB’s ‘Bazooka’ is back and ‘Super Mario’, the European Central Bank’s monetary magician did not disappoint QE addicted markets yesterday by extending ultra loose monetary policies and quantitative easing until at least December 2017. The euro fell and gold rose 1.1% in euro terms from €1,090/oz to €1,102.85. Stocks globally moved higher, and European stocks look set for their best week since February, supported by the extended ECB currency printing and a calm, some would say complacent and irrationally exuberant, reaction to the Italian referendum.

Breaking News And Best Of The Web

Posted: 09 Dec 2016 01:37 AM PST

US stocks hit new record, Treasury bond yields jump again. European Central Bank maintains QE, the euro plunges, euro-bond yields rise. Italian government forced to bail out major bank. Gold falls further; today’s COT report expected to show bullish changes.   Best Of The Web Our “gaslight” financial system – Charles Hugh Smith Cycles – […]

The post Breaking News And Best Of The Web appeared first on DollarCollapse.com.

China Curbs Gold Buying as US Stocks & Dollar Rise Before Fed

Posted: 08 Dec 2016 04:00 PM PST

Prices to buy gold in London's wholesale market headed for a 1% weekly drop Friday, slipping to $1166 per ounce as the US Dollar extended its gains following Donald Trump's US presidential victory, denting currencies worldwide...

Gold Market Hanging on a Razor's Edge

Posted: 08 Dec 2016 04:00 PM PST

Avi primarily uses the gold mining ETF, GDX, as a technical barometer for the wider gold complex and believes the crucial support level is 19.80. If that level were to break, his calls for a multi-decade bull market in gold and silver are likely to be delayed. "If GDX moves below...
at

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