Gold World News Flash |
- What Does It Mean to “Prepare for the Economic Collapse”?
- Gold in Doesnt-Beat-Stocks Shocker!
- Availability Of, and Demand For, Silver vs. Gold Suggests MUCH Higher Future Prices for Silver
- Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Mixed in Quiet Trade
- The Case for $136,604/oz physical silver
- Catastrophic Loss Of Confidence To Spike Gold & Silver
- Why are (Smart) Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver than Gold?
- GGR Holiday Changeover to new Servers, Subscriber Daily Comment
- Jim Rogers’ Gold Outlook for 2013 – YouTube
- Gold Outlook 2013: Gary Wagner – YouTube
- BEST DOUG CASEY SPEECH EVER! An Anarchist, Economic Collapse & 7 billion Chimpanzees – YouTube
- David McAlvany ~ 2013 Will Be a Golden Year | Fox Business Video
- Predicting the world in 2013: A Hangout with The Economist – YouTube
- Energy in 2013 – YouTube
- John Rubino, David Morgan – The Money and Wealth Show – December 15, 2012 – YouTube
- Ben Bernanke's Ghost of QE Past, Present, and Future
- EUR/USD Forex Analysis for Week Of December 24, 2012
- Eric Sprott: Why Are Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver Than Gold?
- Eric Sprott: Why are investors buying so much more silver than gold?
- Obviousness of manipulation hints at desperation, Embry tells King World News
- Commodity Technical Analysis: Gold Nears Measured Objective
- Gold Chart Updated
- Embry: Catastrophic Loss Of Confidence To Spike Gold & Silver
- DESCENT INTO LAWLESSNESS
- SUBPRIME CHRISTMAS CAROL
- Post-Hyperinflationary Zimbabwe Welcomes The Holidays With 80% Unemployment, Empty ATMs And Paralyzed Transport
- Jim's Mailbox
- Big Ben's Ghost of QE Past, Present, and Future
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Christmas Eve
- Who's Smarter? Dr. Copper Or Mr. Market
- To Honor Our Veterans Please Boycott Delta Airlines
- Big Ben’s Ghost of QE Past, Present, and Future
- Share This Gift of an Article With Those Under 30 – It Might Well Make Them More Happy, Free & Financially Secure
- Three Experts About The Gold & Silver Price Drops
- It’s Not a “Fiscal Cliff” … It’s the Descent Into Lawlessness
- The Folly of Floating Currency
| What Does It Mean to “Prepare for the Economic Collapse”? Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:00 PM PST by Daisy Luther, SHTFPlan:
My inbox was filled with a barrage of hate mail and a number of people felt compelled to leave angry (and rather ignorant) comments on my website. I got messages from people that called me "batsh*t crazy", messages from gun control advocates, messages from people who directly blamed me and all other preppers for the massacre, and even one particularly hate-filled email from a person who said "I hope that your kids are killed at the next school shooting." All of this leads me to reconfirm my belief that people sincerely do not understand why we do what we do, and that ignorance leads to fear. | ||||||||
| Gold in Doesnt-Beat-Stocks Shocker! Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:46 PM PST Bullion Vault | ||||||||
| Availability Of, and Demand For, Silver vs. Gold Suggests MUCH Higher Future Prices for Silver Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:11 PM PST [B][B]“[B]Follow the munKNEE” [/B][/B]via[B][B][B][B][B][B][B] twitter [/B][/B][/B][/B][/B][/B][/B]&[B][B][B][B][B][B][B] Facebook[/B][/B][/B][/B][/B][/B][/B][/B] So writes Eric Sprott ([url]www.sprottasset.com[/url]) in edited excerpts from his original article* entitled Why are (Smart) Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver than Gold?. [INDENT]Lorimer Wilson, editor of [B][B][COLOR=#0000ff][COLOR=#ff0000]www.FinancialArticleSummariesToday.com[/COLOR] (A site for sore eyes and inquisitive minds) [/B]and [COLOR=#ff0000]www.munKNEE.com[/COLOR] (Your Key to Making Money!), may have further edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and/or reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) the article below for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. The author's views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article. Please note that this paragraph must be included in any artic... | ||||||||
| Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Mixed in Quiet Trade Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:00 PM PST Gold climbed up to $1665.66 in Asia before it fell back off in London and New York, but it still ended with a gain of 0.21%. Silver rose to as high as $30.36 in Asia, but it then fell to as low as $29.806 in early afternoon New York trade and ended with a loss of 0.3%. | ||||||||
| The Case for $136,604/oz physical silver Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:00 PM PST Bix Weir | ||||||||
| Catastrophic Loss Of Confidence To Spike Gold & Silver Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:00 PM PST from KingWorldNews:
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| Why are (Smart) Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver than Gold? Posted: 24 Dec 2012 06:44 PM PST As long-time students of precious metals investing, there are certain things we understand. One is that, historically, the availability ratio of silver to gold has had a direct influence on the price of the metals. The current availability ratio of physical silver to gold for investment purposes is approximately 3:1. So, why is it that investors are allocating their dollars to silver at a much higher ratio? What is it that these "smart" investors understand? Let's have a look at the numbers and see if it's time for investors to do as a wise man once said and "follow the money." | ||||||||
| GGR Holiday Changeover to new Servers, Subscriber Daily Comment Posted: 24 Dec 2012 06:05 PM PST HOUSTON -- Over this holiday period GGR staff will be changing over to new servers, including all the features on the Subscriber pages. Readers should not notice any difference, but we are temporarily unable to post new Daily Commentary on the Welcome Page of the Subscriber website. The brief daily Subscriber comment below was intended for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so we are posting it here for our readership until staff completes the changeover. Thank you and Happy Holidays. 20121224 Subscriber comment:
2012 was also a year of disappointment. Notably for us were 3 Yukon related issues. Manson Creek and Northern Tiger (which we still hold), and Argus, all for different reasons. Winners this year were modest, including Andina, Aldrin, Evolving Gold, Corvus, Mega, Pinetree and Precipitate (partial sale). Plus two exceptionally good trades each in gold and silver futures. On balance it was a tough, tough year. (A year of opportunity, if building positions on the cheap. ) But as tough a year as it was, we can still count our many blessings, especially when we consider the year our good friend Eric Coffin of HRA endured. He lost his father, his beloved brother and devoted wife of 30 years all in this one year, all during the Junior Bear Market From Hell. (Godspeed to our good friend.) Be safe, be thankful, and hug your family this holiday season. Trust that the fundamentals for gold and silver are robust and that bear markets DO NOT LAST FOREVER. That is all; carry on... | ||||||||
| Jim Rogers’ Gold Outlook for 2013 – YouTube Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:37 PM PST Jim Rogers‘ Gold Outlook for 2013 via Jim Rogers’ Gold Outlook for 2013 –... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  | ||||||||
| Gold Outlook 2013: Gary Wagner – YouTube Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:24 PM PST Gold Outlook 2013: Gary Wagner via Gold Outlook 2013: Gary Wagner – YouTube. (457) [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  | ||||||||
| BEST DOUG CASEY SPEECH EVER! An Anarchist, Economic Collapse & 7 billion Chimpanzees – YouTube Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:19 PM PST BEST DOUG CASEY SPEECH EVER! An Anarchist, Economic Collapse & 7 billion Chimpanzees This is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  | ||||||||
| David McAlvany ~ 2013 Will Be a Golden Year | Fox Business Video Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:11 PM PST Will 2013 Be a Golden Year? Advertisement McAlvany Wealth Management CEO David McAlvany on the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  | ||||||||
| Predicting the world in 2013: A Hangout with The Economist – YouTube Posted: 24 Dec 2012 04:13 PM PST Predicting the world in 2013: A Hangout with The Economist In a live Google+ Hangout on December... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  | ||||||||
| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 04:11 PM PST Energy in 2013 What will our energy future look like in 2013? A panel of experts consider the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  | ||||||||
| John Rubino, David Morgan – The Money and Wealth Show – December 15, 2012 – YouTube Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:37 PM PST Guests: John Rubino, David Morgan – December 15, 2012 John Rubino – Any truth in the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  | ||||||||
| Ben Bernanke's Ghost of QE Past, Present, and Future Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:29 PM PST It was the best of times; it might be the worst of times. Dollar bills glide effortlessly to the ground, dropped from the giant QE machine in the sky. All is quiet, all is calm. There is peace on earth, well, at least in Washington D.C. and on Wall Street. And then with a horrible crash, another Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) explodes and collateral damage spreads far and wide. | ||||||||
| EUR/USD Forex Analysis for Week Of December 24, 2012 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 02:53 PM PST Euro-US Dollar (EUR/USD) had gone as high as 1.3308 after breaking over the May 1st, 2012's resistance of 1.3283. After this break the pair could not sustain over 1.3300 and the second attempt to break over this failed at 1.3295. After 8 day's price action over 5-day EMA, ER/USD managed to break below this support and went as low as 1.3158 before closing for the week at 1.3188 i.e. almost at the 5-day EMA. | ||||||||
| Eric Sprott: Why Are Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver Than Gold? Posted: 24 Dec 2012 02:37 PM PST By Eric Sprott Why are (Smart) Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver than Gold? As long-time students of precious metals investing, there are certain things we understand. One is that, historically, the availability ratio of silver to gold has had a direct influence on the price of the metals. The current availability ratio of physical silver to gold for investment purposes is approximately 3:1. So, why is it that investors are allocating their dollars to silver at a much higher ratio? What is it that these "smart" investors understand? Let's have a look at the numbers and see if it's time for investors to do as a wise man once said and "follow the money." Average annual gold mine production is approximately 80 million ounces, which together with an estimated average 50 million ounces of annual recycled gold, totals around 130 million ounces available per year. In comparison, annual mined silver production has averaged around 750 million ounces, while recycled silver is estimated at 250 million ounces per year, which adds up to approximately 1 billion ounces. Using this data, there is roughly 8 times more silver available to buy than there is gold. However, not all gold and silver is available for investment purposes, due to their use in industrial applications. It is estimated that for investment purposes (jewelry, bars and coins), the annual availability of gold is roughly 120 million ounces, and of silver it is 350 million ounces. Therefore, the ratio of physical silver availability to gold availability is 350/120, or ~3:1.1 Now, let's examine how investors are allocating their investments between gold and silver. The data below is from the US Mint showing gold and silver sales in ounces:
As you can see, investors are choosing to buy silver at a ratio to gold that is well above what is available. This uptrend doesn't show any signs of slowing either. The ratio of the physical silver to gold is both rising and extraordinarily above the availability ratio of 3:1. We can also use other data such as the most recent issues of the Sprott Physical Gold and Silver Trusts. The last Gold Trust issue in September 2012 raised US$393 million and the last Silver Trust issue raised US$310 million. On the basis of prices for each metal at the time of issue, we could purchase ~213 thousand ounces of gold and ~9.1 million ounces of silver. This represents a purchase ratio of 43:1. If we examine ETF holdings in both gold and silver, we note that in the period from 2007 to 2012, the increase in silver holdings amounted to 12,000 tonnes, compared to 1,200 tonnes of gold – meaning, investors purchased ten times more silver than gold. These are only three factual data points to consider, but there are other indications that silver investment demand is way out of line with availability. Our favourite question to the bullion dealers we meet, is to ask the ratio of their dollar sales in gold versus silver. The answer is that dollar sales are equal, which means that physical silver sales relative to gold are greater than 50:1. A recent news headline on Mineweb read, "Silver Sales to Outshine Gold in India.2" It went on to quote a bullion dealer that "investors and jewelry lovers prefer silver jewelry these days." As the largest importer of gold in the world, it would be impossible for India to purchase an equivalent amount of silver, as it would require more than one billion ounces, essentially more than the current annual mine production. While these last two confirmations of silver demand are anecdotal, the statistics from the US Mint, the ETFs, and our Physical Trust issues, are factual. For the time being, the silver price is essentially set in the paper market where the daily average trade on the Comex is approximately 300 million ounces. An outrageous number when you compare it to the daily mine production of about 2 million ounces. As Bart Chilton, Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission stated on October 26, 2010, "I believe there have been repeated attempts to influence prices in silver markets. There have been fraudulent efforts to persuade and deviously control that price. Based on what I have been told and reviewed in publicly available documents, I believe violations to the Commodity Exchange Act have taken place in the silver market and any such violation of the law in this regard should be prosecuted."3 Which brings us back to the phrase "Follow the money." In our view, it is almost inconceivable that investors would allocate as many dollars to silver as they would to gold, but that is what the data shows. The silver investment market is very small. While the dollar value of gold in the world approaches $9 trillion, the value of silver in the forms of jewelry, coins, bars and silverware is estimated at around $150 billion (5 billion ounces at $30 per ounce). This is a ratio of 60:1 in dollar terms.4 How long can investors continue to buy silver at the current ratios when the availability for investment is only 3:1? We are surprised that the price of silver has remained at such a depressed level compared to gold. Historically, the price ratio between gold and silver has been 16:1, when both were currencies. Today the ratio is 55:1, so what are the numbers telling us? We believe this is one of those times when smart investors will be well rewarded to "Follow the money." On behalf of all of us at Sprott, I wish you safe and happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year. P.S. – US Mint Sold Out of Silver Eagle Bullion Coins Until January 7, 2013
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| Eric Sprott: Why are investors buying so much more silver than gold? Posted: 24 Dec 2012 02:11 PM PST 4:04p ET Monday, December 24, 2012 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Sprott Asset Management CEO Eric Sprott today muses on the extraordinarily greater demand for silver (must it carry the adjectives "real" or "physical"?) than for gold, wonders how long the paper markets will be able to continue to suppress the silver price, but concludes that buying silver when demand is so disproportionate to production is a good idea. Sprott's commentary is titled "Why Are (Smart) Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver than Gold?" and it's posted at the Sprott Internet site here: http://sprottasset.com/markets-at-a-glance/why-are-%28smart%29-investors... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT GoldMoney adds Singapore vaulting option In addition to its precious metals storage facilities in Hong Kong, Switzerland, Toronto, and the United Kingdom, now with GoldMoney you can store gold and silver in Singapore in a high-security vault operated by Brink's Singapore Pte Limited. To celebrate the launch of this storage option, GoldMoney is offering a discount on buy and exchange fees at this vault for any orders above US$10,000 (or the equivalent) until January 11, 2013. Tthe gold buy rate is 0.98%, while the silver rate is 1.99%. Metal exchanges into Brink's Singapore will also be discounted for this period and will be charged at 0.78% for gold and 1.75% for silver. Simply place your order online and the above rates apply automatically until January 11, 2013, 15.00 UK time. To find out more about the new vault, please visit: http://www.goldmoney.com/singapore?gmrefcode=gata GoldMoney customers can take delivery of any number of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bars from any GoldMoney vault, as well as personally collect their bars stored in the Hong Kong, Switzerland, and U.K. vaults. It's easy to open an account, add funds, and liquidate your investment. For more information, visit: http://www.goldmoney.com/?gmrefcode=gata Join GATA here: Vancouver Resource Investment Conference * * * Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt: Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009: http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal Help keep GATA going GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: To contribute to GATA, please visit: ADVERTISEMENT How to profit in the new year with silver -- Future Money Trends is offering a special 16-page silver report with our forecast for 2013 that includes profiles of nine companies and technical analysis of their stock performance. Six of the companies have market capitalizations of less than $800 million and one company has a market cap of only $30 million. The most exciting of these companies will begin production in a few weeks and has a market cap of just $150 million. Half of all proceeds from the sale of this report will be donated to the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee to support its efforts exposing manipulation and fraud in the gold and silver markets. To learn about this report, please visit: http://www.futuremoneytrends.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=376&tmp... | ||||||||
| Obviousness of manipulation hints at desperation, Embry tells King World News Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:09 PM PST 3:03p ET Monday, December 24, 2012 Dear Friend of GATA and Gold: Sprott Asset Management's John Embry today tells King World News that the spectacularly obviousness of the recent central bank intervention against gold and silver probably signifies that the condition of the world financial system is far worse than supposed and governments are getting desperate. Monetary metals investors "just need to focus on the fundamentals and dig in." An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News blog here: http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/12/24_E... CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer ADVERTISEMENT Fred Goldstein and Tim Murphy open All Pro Gold All-Pro Gold, run by long-time GATA supporters Fred Goldstein and Tim Murphy, offers its services to GATA supporters and anyone else interested in precious metals. The company brokers a full line of precious metals and numismatic coins. It aims to inform prospective clients about the importance of the monetary metals as part of a diversified financial portfolio and to keep prospective clients current with market trends. All-Pro Gold has competitive pricing and ships promptly to clients so they may have physical possession. Learn more by e-mailing Fred@allprogold.com or Tim@allprogold.com or telephone 1-855-377-4653 or visit www.allprogold.com. Join GATA here: Vancouver Resource Investment Conference * * * Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006: http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt: Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009: http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal Help keep GATA going GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: To contribute to GATA, please visit: ADVERTISEMENT Opinion Around the World Is Changing When Deutschebank calls gold "good money" and paper "bad money". ... http://www.gata.org/node/11765 When the president of the German central bank, the Bundesbank, pays tribute to gold as "a timeless classic". ... http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2012/09/24/signs-of-the-gold-stan... When a leading member of the policy committee of the People's Bank of China calls the gold standard "an excellent monetary system". ... http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2012/10/01/signs-of-the-gold-stan... When a CNN reporter writes in The China Post that the "gold commission" plank in the 2012 Republican platform will "reverberate around the world". ... http://www.thegoldstandardnow.org/key-blogs/1563-china-post-the-gop-gold... When the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy of the U.S. House of Representatives twice called on economist, historian, and gold standard advocate Lewis E. Lehrman to testify. ... World opinion is changing in favor of gold. How can you learn why and what it will mean to you? Read the newly updated and expanded edition of Lehrman's book, "The True Gold Standard." Financial journalist James Grant says of "The True Gold Standard": "If you have ever wondered how the world can get from here to there -- from the chaos of depreciating paper to a convertible currency worthy of our children and our grandchildren -- wonder no more. The answer, brilliantly expounded, is between these covers. America has long needed a modern Alexander Hamilton. In Lewis E. Lehrman she has finally found him." To buy a copy of "The True Gold Standard," please visit: http://www.thegoldstandardnow.com/publications/the-true-gold-standard | ||||||||
| Commodity Technical Analysis: Gold Nears Measured Objective Posted: 24 Dec 2012 12:02 PM PST courtesy of DailyFX.com December 24, 2012 08:29 AM Daily Bars Chart Prepared by Jamie Saettele, CMT Commodity Analysis: “Viewed in light of the 3 wave advance from 1672.50, the trend is lower.” Last week’s breakdown confirms the bearish suspicions. Continue to look lower from the current levels towards a Fibonacci confluence, former resistance, and channel support that cluster near 1630. Commodity Trading Strategy: The most bearish count is valid against 1703. Shorts against that level remain warranted. LEVELS: 1560 1600 1641 1676 1686 1703... | ||||||||
| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 12:02 PM PST [url]http://www.traderdannorcini.blogspot.com/[/url] [url]http://www.fortwealth.com/[/url] Gold is tracking sideways remaining above support at the recent bottom near $1636 but unable to get much going to the upside. The rest of this week will see reduced liquidity and thus the possibility of increased price swings. Unless we get a large sustained move in either direction, I would not read too much into the price action this week. Perhaps the only event that might provide some fundamentally-based direction would be news regarding the so-called 'fiscal cliff'. Silver continues to look much weaker on the charts than does gold. Some of this is no doubt tied to the fears regarding the lack of an agreement of that cliff issue. The reason I say this is because copper is also getting knocked down and has fallen some 20 cents off its recent best levels near $3.72. Unless copper reverses to the upside, silver will have some trouble getting anything going. Silver experienced only a brief o... | ||||||||
| Embry: Catastrophic Loss Of Confidence To Spike Gold & Silver Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:21 AM PST  Today John Embry told King World News that a coming catastrophic loss of confidence will push gold and silver to price levels that most investors can't even fathom. He also spoke about what to expect in 2013. Here is what Embry, who is chief investment strategist at Sprott Asset Management, had to say: "I have been following the manipulation of the gold and silver markets for over 14 years now, and I can honestly say that I'm not sure I've seen a more blatant attempt to drive prices lower for no reason whatsoever."This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||||||||
| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:16 AM PST Lawlessness prevails, at least for the elites, the criminals in Washington, and banksters on Wall Street. Everyone else is subject to tens of thousands of laws, laws they are breaking without even realizing it. We are in the final stages of societal collapse. We are slaves to those in power and those that own the debt and print the money. You get as much justice in the U.S. as you can afford. You can steal billions, and pay off politicians with millions and walk free. Taxation feels more like government stealing every day. Taxation without representation, a statist form of control and subjugation; a good reason for a revolution. The last vestiges of our country are being corrupted and destroyed. It won't be long now.
The "fiscal cliff" is a myth. Instead, what we are facing is a descent into lawlessness. Wikipedia notes: In many situations, austerity programs are imposed on countries that were previously under dictatorial regimes, leading to criticism that populations are forced to repay the debts of their oppressors. Indeed, the IMF has already performed a complete audit of the whole US financial system, something which they have only previously done to broke third world nations. Economist Marc Faber calls the U.S. a "failed state". Indeed, we no longer have a free market economy … we have fascism, communist style socialism, kleptocracy, oligarchy or banana republic style corruption. Let's look at some specific examples of our descent into lawlessness. Lawless Looting and Redistribution of Wealth The central banks' central bank – the Bank for International Settlements- warned in 2008 that bailouts of the big banks would create sovereign debt crises … which could bankrupt nations. That is exactly what has happened. The big banks went bust, and so did the debtors. But the government chose to save the big banks instead of the little guy, thus allowing the banks to continue to try to wring every penny of debt out of debtors. Treasury Secretary Paulson shoved bailouts down Congress' throat by threatening martial law if the bailouts weren't passed. And the bailouts are now perpetual. Moreover: The bailout money is just going to line the pockets of the wealthy, instead of helping to stabilize the economy or even the companies receiving the bailouts: Bailout money is being used to subsidize companies run by horrible business men, allowing the bankers to receive fat bonuses, to redecorate their offices, and to buy gold toilets and prostitutes A lot of the bailout money is going to the failing companies' shareholders Indeed, a leading progressive economist says that the true purpose of the bank rescue plans is "a massive redistribution of wealth to the bank shareholders and their top executives" The Treasury Department encouraged banks to use the bailout money to buy their competitors, and pushed through an amendment to the tax laws which rewards mergers in the banking industry (this has caused a lot of companies to bite off more than they can chew, destabilizing the acquiring companies) And as the New York Times notes, "Tens of billions of [bailout] dollars have merely passed through A.I.G. to its derivatives trading partners". *** In other words, through a little game-playing by the Fed, taxpayer money is going straight into the pockets of investors in AIG's credit default swaps and is not even really stabilizing AIG. Moreover, a large percentage of the bailouts went to foreign banks (and see this). And so did a huge portion of the money from quantitative easing. Indeed, the Fed bailed out Gaddafi's Bank of Libya), hedge fund billionaires, and big companies, but turned its back on the little guy. A study of 124 banking crises by the International Monetary Fund found that propping up banks which are only pretending to be solvent often leads to austerity: Existing empirical research has shown that providing assistance to banks and their borrowers can be counterproductive, resulting in increased losses to banks, which often abuse forbearance to take unproductive risks at government expense. The typical result of forbearance is a deeper hole in the net worth of banks, crippling tax burdens to finance bank bailouts, and even more severe credit supply contraction and economic decline than would have occurred in the absence of forbearance. Cross-country analysis to date also shows that accommodative policy measures (such as substantial liquidity support, explicit government guarantee on financial institutions' liabilities and forbearance from prudential regulations) tend to be fiscally costly and that these particular policies do not necessarily accelerate the speed of economic recovery. All too often, central banks privilege stability over cost in the heat of the containment phase: if so, they may too liberally extend loans to an illiquid bank which is almost certain to prove insolvent anyway. Also, closure of a nonviable bank is often delayed for too long, even when there are clear signs of insolvency (Lindgren, 2003). Since bank closures face many obstacles, there is a tendency to rely instead on blanket government guarantees which, if the government's fiscal and political position makes them credible, can work albeit at the cost of placing the burden on the budget, typically squeezing future provision of needed public services. In other words, the "stimulus" to the banks blows up the budget, "squeezing" public services through austerity. Numerous top economists say that the bank bailouts are the largest robbery and redistribution of wealth in history. Why was this illegal? Well, the top white collar fraud expert in the country says that the Bush and Obama administrations broke the law by failing to break up insolvent banks … instead of propping them up by bailing them out. And the Special Inspector General of the Tarp bailout program said that the Treasury Secretary lied to Congress regarding some fundamental aspects of Tarp – like pretending that the banks were healthy, when they were totally insolvent. The Secretary also falsely told Congress that the bailouts would be used to dispose of toxic assets … but then used the money for something else entirely. Making false statements to a federal official is illegal, pursuant to 18 United States Code Section 1001. So breaking the rules to bail out the big, insolvent banks, is destroying our prosperity. Lawless Justice System A strong rule of law is essential for a prosperous and stable economy, yet the government made it official policy not to prosecute fraud, even though criminal fraud is the main business model adopted by the giant banks. The perpetrators of the biggest financial crime in world history, the largest insider trading scandal of all time, illegal raiding of customer accounts and blatant financing of drug cartels and terrorists have all gotten away scot-free without any jail time. There are two systems of justice in America … one for the big banks and other fatcats, and one for everyone else. While Iceland prosecuted its top criminal bankers, and thus quickly got through its financial problems and now has a vibrant economy, the American government has done everything it can to cover up fraud, and has been actively encouraging criminal fraud and attacking those trying to blow the whistle. The rule of law is now as weak in the U.S. and UK as many countries which we would consider "rogue nations". This is a sudden change. As famed Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto notes: In a few short decades the West undercut 150 years of legal reforms that made the global economy possible. Moreover, U.S. government personnel are on the take. They have become so corrupt that regulators are literally sleeping with industry prostitutes … while they pimp out the American people. The corruption of government officials is staggering, and the system of government-sponsored rating agencies had at its core a model of bribery. We've gone from a nation of laws to a nation of powerful men making one-sided laws to protect their own interests … in secret. Government folks are using laws to crush dissent. It's gotten so bad that even U.S. Supreme Court justices are saying that we are descending into tyranny. It's not a "fiscal cliff" … it's an attempt to rape America … just like Greece and Ireland have been plundered. Economics professor Randall Wray writes: Thieves … took over the whole economy and the political system lock, stock, and barrel. They didn't just blow up finance, they oversaw the swiftest transfer of wealth to the very top the world has ever seen. They screwed workers out of their jobs, they screwed homeowners out of their houses, they screwed retirees out of their pensions, and they screwed municipalities out of their revenues and assets. Financiers are forcing schools, parks, pools, fire departments, senior citizen centers, and libraries to shut down. They are forcing national governments to auction off their cultural heritage to the highest bidder. Everything must go in firesales at prices rigged by twenty-something traders at the biggest and most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. Economics professor Michael Hudson agrees … saying that the banks are trying to roll back all modern laws and make us all serfs. Professor Hudson explained in 2008: You have to realize that what they're trying to do is to roll back the Enlightenment, roll back the moral philosophy and social values of classical political economy and its culmination in Progressive Era legislation, as well as the New Deal institutions. They're not trying to make the economy more equal, and they're not trying to share power. Their greed is (as Aristotle noted) infinite. So what you find to be a violation of traditional values is a re-assertion of pre-industrial, feudal values. The economy is being set back on the road to debt peonage. The Road to Serfdom is not government sponsorship of economic progress and rising living standards, it's the dismantling of government, the dissolution of regulatory agencies, to create a new feudal-type elite. Indeed: Foreign Policy magazine ran an article entitled "The Next Big Thing: Neomedievalism", arguing that the power of nations is declining, and being replaced by corporations, wealthy individuals, the sovereign wealth funds of monarchs, and city-regions. Indeed, this isn't the "Great Recession", it's the Great Bank Robbery. The big banks have pillaged and looted the rest of the world. A lawless justice system is ruining the economy. Lawless Central Bank The non-partisan Government Accountability Office calls the Fed corrupt and riddled with conflicts of interest. Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz agrees, saying that the World Bank would view any country which had a banking structure like the Fed as being corrupt and untrustworthy. The former vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said said he worried that the failure of the government to provide more information about its rescue spending could signal corruption. "Nontransparency in government programs is always associated with corruption in other countries, so I don't see why it wouldn't be here," he said. Moreover, the Fed has broken the law by withholding information from Congress, letting unemployment rise in order to keep inflation low, and otherwise exceeding its authority under the Federal Reserve Act. Acting in a lawless and unaccountable fashion is hurting the economy. Lawless Attack on Democracy The ability of the people to participate in their government's decision-making is vital for a nation's prosperity. But we no longer have democracy or a republican form of government in America. The big banks own Washington D.C. politicians, lock stock and barrel. See this, this, this and this. Two leading IMF officials, the former Vice President of the Dallas Federal Reserve, and the the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Moody's chief economist and many others have all said that the United States is controlled by an "oligarchy" or "oligopoly", and the big banks and giant financial institutions are key players in that oligarchy. Laws are being passed in secret, and not even Congress knows what's going on. In other words, not only the justice system, but the entire system of American representation has been corrupted, thus harming the economy. Personal freedom and liberty – and freedom from the arbitrary exercise of government power – are strongly correlated with a healthy economy, but America is descending into tyranny. Authoritarian actions by the government interfere with the free market, and thus harm prosperity. U.S. News and World Report notes: The Fraser Institute's latest Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report is out, and the news is not good for the United States. Ranked among the five freest countries in the world from 1975 through 2002, the United States has since dropped to 18th place. The Cato institute notes: The United States has plummeted to 18th place in the ranked list, trailing such countries as Estonia, Taiwan, and Qatar. Actually, the decline began under President George W. Bush. For 20 years the U.S. had consistently ranked as one of the world's three freest economies, along with Hong Kong and Singapore. By the end of the Bush presidency, we were barely in the top ten. And, as with so many disastrous legacies of the Bush era, Barack Obama took a bad thing and made it worse. But the American government has shredded the constitution, by subjecting us to indefinite detention, taking away our due process rights, deploying drones above our heads, spying on all Americans, and otherwise acting in attacking our freedoms. Indeed, rights won in 1215 – in the Magna Carta – are being repealed. Economic historian Niall Ferguson notes, draconian national security laws are one of the main things undermining the rule of law: We must pose the familiar question about how far our civil liberties have been eroded by the national security state – a process that in fact dates back almost a hundred years to the outbreak of the First World War and the passage of the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act. Recent debates about the protracted detention of terrorist suspects are in no way new. Somehow it's always a choice between habeas corpus and hundreds of corpses. Of course, many of this decades' national security measures have not been taken to keep us safe in the "post-9/11 world" … indeed, many of them started before 9/11. And America has been in a continuous declared state of national emergency since 9/11, and we are in a literally never-ending state of perpetual war. See this, this, this and this. In fact, government has blown terrorism fears way out of proportion for political purposes, and "national security" powers have been used in many ways to exempt big Wall Street players from the rule of law rather than to do anything to protect us. So lawlessness infringement of our liberty is destroying our prosperity. It is well-documented that war destroys the economy. Top U.S. government employees lied us into war, and used illegal torture, assassinations and other crimes of war in prosecuting the wars they unnecessarily started. They were – at a minimum – criminally negligent for failing to stop 9/11 (and see this). In the name of fighting our enemies – the U.S. has directly been supporting Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups for the last decade. See this, this, this, this and this. Our use of torture has also created many more terrorists than it has prevented. Security experts – including both conservatives and liberals – agree that waging war in the Middle East weakens national security and increases terrorism. See this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this. Indefinite detention, drone-strikes on innocent civilians, occupation of foreign countries, and most of America's other tactics in the "war on terror" increase terrorism. Terrorism feeds the cycle of war … and is thus harming our economy. (and because terrorism spooks people, they spend less, which further harms the economy). So lawlessness in starting and prosecuting war is destroying our prosperity. Postscript: We're not facing a "fiscal cliff". We're facing a descent into lawlessness. Stopping the fraudulent schemes, endless bailouts and imperial adventures is the place to start.
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| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:15 AM PST A SuBPRiMe CHRiSTMaS CaRoL http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/ (PaRT I) E-Bernank Scrooge lived all alone in an old house. The yard was very dark and scary that night and when Scrooge wanted to unlock the door, he had the feeling that he saw John Maynard Keyne's face there. This was rather spooky, but Scrooge was not frightened easily. "Bah Munger," he said, opened the door and walked in. He locked himself in, however, which he usually didn't do. But then he felt safe again and sat down before the fire. Suddenly, Scrooge heard a noise, deep down below, as if somebody was dragging a heavy chain. The noise came nearer and nearer, and then Scrooge saw a ghost coming right through the heavy door. It was Keynes' ghost, and his chains were long; they were made of cash-boxes, HP ink jet cartidges and heavy purses. "Who are you?" said Scrooge "In theory I am your PhD ghost partner, John Maynard Keynes." "But why do you come to me now?" "I must wander through the world and I wear these chains because I was a naive old PhD fool in life. I only cared about fanciful money printing theories but not about the people around me. Now, I am here to warn you. You still have a chance, E-Bernank. Three spirits will come to you. Expect the first tomorrow, when the NYSE trading bell tolls open." When he had said these words, Keyne's ghost disappeared; and the night became quiet again. E-Bernank Scrooge went straight to bed, without undressing, and fell asleep immediately. PART II When E Bernank Scrooge awoke, it was still very foggy and extremely cold, and there was no noise of people on Wall Street. Keynes' ghost bothered him. He didn't know whether it was a dream or not. Then he remembered that a spirit should visit him at the opening NYSE bell. So instead of having a Brazilian butt, head and back wax at the Federal Reserve barbershop, E-Bernank Scrooge decided to lie awake and wait to see what happens. Suddenly, the NYSE opening bell struck. Light flashed up on his trading screen and a small ink stained hand drew back the curtains of his bed. Then E-Bernank found himself face to face with the visitor. It was a strange figure – like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old decrepit Randian fool. "Who, and what are you?" E-Bernank Scrooge asked the ghost. "I am Maestro the Ghost of Busted Bubbles Past. Rise and come with me." The ghost took Scrooge back in time, to a place where E Bernank Scrooge studied as a young PhD candidate. There Scrooge could see his younger self playing foolish market equilibrium games with other delusional central banker wannabes and future bonehead Nobel Laureates. They were cheerfully running around a cheap imported Christmas tree made in China; and although they were hopelessly naive in their theoretical assumptions, they had lots of geek fun. The spirit also took E-Bernank Scrooge to a money printing factory where Scrooge was an apprentice. Scrooge saw the merry Christmas Eve they spent on the printing presses with his boss Mr Fuzzidice and his family. There was food and music and dancing and everybody was happy. Then the spirit took Scrooge to yet another place. Scrooge was older now. He was not alone, but sat by the side of a beautiful young girl. There were tears in her eyes. "It is sad to see," she said, softly. "that yet another moron has displaced me – the love of fools gold. Your heart was full of real gold once, but now …? I think it is full of QE crap. Fiat fraud begets fraud…swindle begets swindle…error begets error and the whole cycle soon becomes woebegotten. May you be happy in the lunatic path of monetary expansion you have chosen." "Spirit," said Scrooge, "show me no more. Take me home. Why do you torture me?" "One shadow more," said the ghost. They were in another scene and place; a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort. There was a happy group celebrating Christmas with all their warmth and heartiness. Scrooge recognized his former girlfriend. She was married now and had children. Sweetheart said her husband with a smile, "I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon. E-Bernank Scrooge it was. I passed his office window; and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside, I could see him there. His money printing plan to revive the economy is faltering miserably and there he sat alone. Quite alone in the world, I do believe." "Spirit," said Scrooge in a broken voice, "Take me back! I cannot bear it any longer." He struggled with the ghost to take him back. And finally Scrooge found himself in his own bed again. He was very exhausted and sank into a heavy sleep. PART III E-Bernank Scrooge woke up in the middle of a snore, just before the CNBC midday report. He sat up in his bed and waited for the second ghost to come. And there it was – the Ghost of Never Ending Banksta Presents. It had a curly brown toupee, sparkling eyes and it wore a simple greenback robe with white fur. Its feet were bare as the theoretical justifications for it's nauseating bloviations. It wore a holy bailout wreath and thick glasses. "Didn't I just see you" inquired Scrooge. "Shut up and don't be a wiseass if you know what's good for you" replied the ghost. The ghost took Scrooge to his former partner Hank Paulson's house – a not too shabby poor little 12 bedroom Park Avenue penthouse. In the kitchen you could see Mrs Paulson screaming at the maids preparing Christmas bailout dinner. Her spawn were cheerfully running around playing hide and go swindle. Then the door opened and Hank came in with Tiny Timmah upon his shoulders. Tiny Timmah was Hank's dumbest protege. The only government salaried employee in the family. He bore a little crutch and wore a noose around his neck. "On our way home, Tiny Timmah told me that he hoped the people saw him in the Harvard-Soviet Club, because he was a very very very important government central planning employee. It might be pleasant to them to remember on Christmas Day, who made Bankstas rich and stroked that blind choom chugging fool Obama to sleep." Hank's voice trembled when he said this. Then the Christmas bailout dinner was ready, and everyone sat down at the table. As the Paulson's were very very very very…very poor by Forbes billionaire standards, it was not much they had for Christmas bailout dinner. But still everyone was joyful and you could feel that they all had the TARP Bailout Spirit in their hearts. "A Merry Christmas to all Bankstas my dears! God bless them. Let the rest suck it up and cope!" said Hank. "God bless Bankstas, each and every one of em!" said Tiny Timmah. He sat very close to his mentor's side upon his little stool. Hank held his little hand, as if he feared to lose him. "Spirit," said Scrooge, who felt sorry for the feckless moron, "tell me if Tiny Timmah will keep his job." "I see an empty Treasury Secretary seat," replied the ghost, "and a noose with Timmah's name embroidered on it. If these shadows don't change in the future, the happy moron will get lynched and hung with his chestnuts roasted over a Main Street open fire." This made Scrooge very sad for a nano-moment, but the spirit went on and took Scrooge to his best friend Lloyd Blankfein's penthouse at 15 Central Park West. Lloyd and his slimy friends had a very cheerful party and played squidilious games like suck a buck, subpenny the client and schtup the Kraut banker. E-Bernank Scrooge really enjoyed their celaphopodic party and wanted to stay for another while but in a second it all faded and Scrooge and the spirit were again on their travels. They visited many homes in fraudclosure: they saw rich Wall Street financiers and Bankstas who were glad to have QE Infinity and wanted more in the form of QE IV; PIIGS in foreign lands who were close to bankrupt but saved by the ECB bailout clock, poor common people whose bank accounts shrunk smaller every day – all because of the spirit of QE+N…, can-kick-onomics and moron hazard. Suddenly, E-Bernank Scrooge noticed something strange about the ghost. Two children-like figures were at the ghost's feet – a boy and a girl. But, they looked old and dreadful, like little monsters. Scrooge was shocked. "Spirit, are they your creatures?" Scrooge asked. "They are Wall Street's creatures," said the spirit "The boy is Want, The girl is Want More. Cherish them both, but most of all cherish this girl" said the spirit. "Have they no place they can go?" asked Scrooge. "There are no prisons for Bankstas just like there are no Chinese iPad workhouses for the unemployed?" the spirit turned on Scrooge with his own words. The NYSE bell struck the close. The Ghost of Neverending Banksta Presents disappeared. And at the last stroke of the bell, Scrooge saw the third ghost coming towards him. PART IV "Slowly and silently the ghost came nearer. It was very tall and wore a deep black piece of clothing, which covered its whole body and left nothing of it visible but one outstretched hand holding a stinking counterfeit Cohiba cigar stub. Are you the Ghost of Crashes Yet to Come?" asked E-Bernank Scrooge, "I fear you more than any other spirit." The ghost did not say a word, and Scrooge was really scared. They wandered through lower Manhattan past OWS stragglers at Zuccotti Park and Scrooge heard some men in Guy Fawkes masks talking about a Central Banksta who had jumped. E-Bernank knew the men and wanted to find out, whom they were talking about. But the spirit moved on. They next stopped in a swanky uptown area where many pinstriped thieves and liars lived. They had stolen things with them and made fun of the person who once owned those things. "Ha, ha!" laughed a woman, "He threw everyones money out of the chopper when he was alive, to profit us even more when he was gone! Ha, ha, ha!" After that, the ghost led Scrooge through streets that were familiar to him; and as they went along, E-Bernank Scrooge looked here and there to find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen. They entered poor poor poor Hank Paulson's penthouse and found the mother and the Paulson spawn browsing Zero Hedge. Quiet. Very quiet. The noisy Paulsons were as still as statues. When Hank came in, the children hurried to greet him. Then two young Paulsens got upon his knees and laid their little cheeks against his face as if to say, "Don't mind it, father. Don't be sad." "You went to Maiden Lane today?" said his wife. "Yes, my dear," returned Hank. "I wish you could have gone. It would have you good to see how well guarded the place is. But you'll see it annually. I promised him that we would walk there every April Fools Day in his honor. My little, little Timmah." cried Hank. "My little captive moron." He broke down in tears. He couldn't help it. If he could have helped it, he and his Banksta loving protege would have been farther apart perhaps than they were. The ghost moved on and took E-Bernank Scrooge to Trinity Church graveyard. The spirit stood among the graves and pointed down to one. E-Bernank Scrooge slowly went towards it and following the ghost's finger read upon the stone "The Great Asset bubbles of QE". "Spirit!" E-Bernank cried, "hear me. I am not the money printing PhD fool I was! I will not be the Central Banksta I must have been so far! Why show me this if I am past all hope? Good Spirit, I will honour austerity in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the past, the present, and the future. The spirits of all three shall be within me. I will not ignore the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me that I may change my fate so I may adorn the cover of Time Magazine yet again!" Full of fear, Scrooge caught the spirit's hand. But the spirit suddenly changed – it shrunk and faded and finally turned into a giant fraudclosure sign post… And the calendar said December 25, 2012…. "There is nothing Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible."–Samuel Johnson | ||||||||
| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:02 AM PST
What else do all those countries (all of them) engaged in a wholesale currency destruction have to look forward to? AP explains:
"Food for work" projects - remember that... Naturally, creative solutions to deal with the endless misery have emerged, such as no longer eating, and of course forcing your children into prostitution:
Can't they just raise the taxes on the nation's "urban elite?" Problem solved. In summary: "Life is getting harder in this country," said fruit vendor Kaparima. "There is nothing to celebrate this Christmas." Truly, there is so much to look forward to when the coordinate global attempt at wholesale currency devaluation finally succeeds. | ||||||||
| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:14 AM PST Jim, With Christmas coming, sales of chocolate gold coins have no doubt soared as parents get ready to fill their little ones' stockings with edible treasure. But wealthy individuals worried about what the New Year could bring are instead stocking up on gold chocolate bars. Swiss refinery Valcambi has been selling its CombiBar to Continue reading Jim's Mailbox | ||||||||
| Big Ben's Ghost of QE Past, Present, and Future Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:14 AM PST It was the best of times; it might be the worst of times. Dollar bills glide effortlessly to the ground, dropped from the giant QE machine in the sky. All is quiet, all is calm. There is peace on earth, well, at least in Washington D.C. and ... Read More...  | ||||||||
| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Christmas Eve Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:11 AM PST  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||||||||
| Who's Smarter? Dr. Copper Or Mr. Market Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:46 AM PST Copper is often referred to as the PhD of commodities for, as JPMorgan's Ken Landon notes, "When companies ramp up production of various products, whether during or in anticipation of economic recovery, they demand more cooper." Gold, however, he adds, "is not sensitive at all to business-cycle demand. Its price is driven by the monetary environment." While Bloomberg's chart of the day prefers to take the short-term (last few weeks) view of the world to justify a bullish equity market call, we prefer to look at longer-term cycles and the message is extremely clear - manufacturers are anything but confident, are doing anything but buying copper in anticipation of demand, and despite gold's recent fluctuations it is anything but implying that the world's grand monetary policy experiment is slowing down. What we see from this chart is yet another clear fundamental divergence between Dr. Copper's take on the global economy and the US equity market's nominal recovery.
Chart: Bloomberg | ||||||||
| To Honor Our Veterans Please Boycott Delta Airlines Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:36 AM PST "On Dec. 13, 2011, Marine Lance Cpl. Christian Brown was leading his squad on a foot patrol in Afghanistan's Helmand province when he stepped on an explosive device that blew off both his legs, one above the knee, the other below his hip," the Washington Post reported on December 13, 2012. "He also lost part of his right index finger." "Last Sunday, almost exactly a year since those grievous injuries forced him to learn to walk on two successive pairs of prosthetic legs, Brown was 'humiliated' to the point of tears on a Delta flight from Atlanta to Washington after being clumsily wheeled to the back row of the plane, according to a complaint sent to the airline by an outraged fellow passenger." What is outrageous is that when several passengers on the Delta flight offered to give Brown their seats in first class, the Delta crew refused. The Washington Post reports that "Flight attendants insisted no one could move through the cabin because the doors were being closed for takeoff." Now you are probably wondering why a financial analyst and banker is taking an interest in wounded veterans. The answer is that my employer, Carrington Holdings, participates in a voluntary network of private companies and individuals known as the Veterans Airlift Command (VAC) that donate our Flight Crew and aircraft to move wounded veterans around the country. The VAC organized and flew over 1500 trips last year and has a growing list of over 1800 planes and pilots that are standing by to help out. The work of the VAC and its volunteers makes a big difference. A couple of days before Christmas, our flight department at Carrington had the honor of flying Taylor and Danielle Morris home from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to their home in Iowa. Like Chris Brown, Taylor was grievously wounded in battle and required months of rehabilitation before being discharged from military service. You can see their story on YouTube. Carrington tries to fly 15-20 missions a year and like all the participants in the VAC, supplies flight crew, aircraft, fuel, maintenance and insurance all free of cost to the Veteran and family. We believe that it is our fundamental obligation to take care of those that have sacrificed so much while protecting our freedom. Unfortunately while the Department of Defense generally does a good job of rehabilitation of wounded veterans, the last detail – namely getting these heroes home safely and with dignity – somehow is missed. We were fortunate to be able to help this brave young man and his beautiful wife travel those last miles home in comfort and dignity that they deserve. Like all veterans, they thank us profusely. Our answer is simple: "No, thank you." The VAC tries to serve as many veterans as possible, but the sheer number of young men and women who return from Afghanistan, Iraq and other conflicts missing arms and legs among other severe injuries is still too great for this volunteer effort. Hundreds of wounded veterans are still compelled to fly on commercial airlines and endure the same humiliation and disrespect that Chris Brown suffered at the hands of Delta Airlines. In fact, when the VAC cannot fulfill a mission directly with a volunteer aircraft and crew, they buy and donate airline tickets to the Veteran and his or her family. You guessed it, even on Delta Airlines in the past – not anymore. The goal overall though, is to make certain that when commercial airlines have travelers like Chris Brown or the other thousands of severely wounded Veterans, they make generous accommodations available to treat these heroes with the respect and dignity that they deserve. Or they can refer the veterans to organizations like the VAC for more customized transportation. Working together, the commercial airlines and private organizations like the VAC can get the job done; take care of America's Heroes. Unfortunately when my colleagues at Carrington and many of the other organizations that participate in the VAC contacted Delta Airlines to complain about the treatment of Chris Brown and to ask for a change in policy, they were rebuffed. They sent us a form letter. But this is a case where we are not going to take no for an answer. The only reason that the commercial airlines aren't interested in referring and taking care of the veterans is in pursuit of the Almighty Dollar. Then in further pursuit of the fictitious "On Time Departure," they treat these brave young soldiers like excess cargo. Companies like mine won't stand for that. Those of us who travel as part of our jobs rightly hate commercial airlines as a business model, but my colleagues and I vehemently resent their treatment of this special group of passengers. We need your help to get this bad situation fixed. And until Delta Airlines changes its policies, the 2,500 employees of our company will no longer fly on Delta. When our CEO, Bruce Rose put the policy out to all of our Associates, he was met with overwhelming support and expressions of pride from all corners of the country where we work. Our Company "get's it". Will you join us in expressing your outrage? First, we want you to contact Delta Airlines CEO Richard H. Anderson and his colleagues. You can click here to get the contact information for Delta (NYSE:DAL). But frankly all of the major airlines need to hear the same message. If you share our sense of outrage at the way wounded veterans are treated by Delta Airlines and other commercial carriers, then please get involved. Something as simple as forwarding this post to you friends and colleagues is the first step. And you can tell them, as we have, that you will not fly on Delta until they change their policy towards wounded veterans. Second and perhaps more important, we need to contact members of Congress to demand that they pressure the White House, the Transportation Safety Administration and related federal agencies to make adjustments in law and regulation to change the way that Veterans are treated when they travel on commercial airlines. The VAC web site has a number of horror stories about how wounded vets are humiliated by commercial airlines and the TSA. Perhaps it has been lost on the TSA that these are the same people that are fighting on the front lines for what the TSA is pretending to protect. This situation is outrageous and completely unnecessary, but it will be rectified when we get enough voices to demand change. The good news is that thanks to the VAC and other organizations, a growing number of private companies and individuals are making their time and resources available to help address the needs of thousands of wounded soldiers coming home from war. We don't yet have enough volunteers and planes to get the job done privately, but the cases where we can take these brave men and women home in comfort and dignity make the effort worthwhile. Just look at the photo below of Taylor and Danielle Morris on their way home with our flight crew flying the VAC organized mission last week. This is about honoring our veterans and doing the right thing. Carrington and the VAC can't do it alone – please help us to take care of the true American Heroes that have sacrificed so much protecting our freedom by making their lives just a little bit easier. Merry Christmas Christopher Whalen Links http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/files/2012/12/40 http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/Munford-Marine-Home-After-In-Fligh... | ||||||||
| Big Ben’s Ghost of QE Past, Present, and Future Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:20 AM PST It was the best of times; it might be the worst of times. Dollar bills glide effortlessly to the ground, dropped from the giant QE machine in the sky. All is quiet, all is calm. There is peace on earth, well, at least in Washington D.C. and on Wall Street. And then with a horrible crash, another Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) explodes and collateral damage spreads far and wide. Cut to three am in the Big Ben bedroom. A ghost appears amid the sound of Hope and Chains and carries the sleeping Head of The Fed to a land far away. The Head of the Fed wakes to the sound of his own voice saying, "The impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained." and "we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system." The ghost says, "I am the ghost of QE past. That is what you said. Where has all the prosperity gone?" And the Head of The Fed says, "I'll get back to you on that" and promptly falls into a deep sleep dreaming of Keynesian sugarplum trees and simple delusions. But his dream turns into a nightmare as the Keynesian sugarplum tree dissolves into a money printing press which has been running so long and so fast that it overheats and burns to the ground. The Head of the Fed screams in anguish, "What will we do without a printing press?" The ghost of QE Present enters and says with a deep voice, "Tell everyone that all is quiet, all is calm, and quickly order a faster printing press with overnight delivery. Give this a code name to make it sound important – call it QE4. Tell the people it is for their own good. Most people still listen to you and will believe a faster printing press will solve all their problems." The Head of the Fed smiles contentedly and falls asleep dreaming of helicopter drops and fewer critics. But that dream also turns into a nightmare as the helicopter collides in mid-air with a gigantic black swan. Both crash and burn. The Head of the Fed wakes with a start, grabs a blue pill, and chants "Inflate or Die" over and over. On the 13th repetition, a third ghost arrives and derisively states, "Kinda hard to plan for a black swan in your econometric models, isn't it?" The Head of the Fed looks in horror at the third ghost and fears for his printing press and helicopter. But attempting to regain control he states, "Of course I can't model a black swan event. No one can." The ghost sighs disgustedly and says, "I am the ghost of QE Future, and I am here to show you the probable future. Look out that window. Do you see the long lines of unemployed workers desperately seeking jobs? Do you see the gasoline price – yes – $8.99 per gallon? Do you see the cost of food for a family of four – outrageous? On the bright side, banker bonuses are up 10% this year. But, for most people, things got worse, much worse, instead of better, after you implemented QE4. So you decide, QE4, QE5, QE6 and more, or another plan?" The Head of the Fed was quiet for a long time. He finally said, "I'll get back to you on that," popped another blue pill, and fell asleep dreaming of even bigger and faster printing presses, larger helicopters, and the absence of black swans. The ghost of QE future dejectedly stated, "We tried. Now it is up to someone else." And he faded from this world with a sad and cynical smile. What goes around, comes around. Train wrecks do occur! It might be the worst of times.
Author: GE Christenson, aka Deviant Investor | ||||||||
| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:19 AM PST "Follow the munKNEE" via twitter & Facebook If you're reading this and under 30, let me be absolutely clear about one So writes Simon Black (www.sovereignman.com) in edited excerpts from his original article* entitled Young people: get ready to grab your ankles.
Black goes on to write, in part: Refuse to be enslaved by the idea that it's your civic and moral responsibility to pay off the debts of your government's failures. Cast off the yoke of their control… and summon the courage to live a life by your own design. The path to prosperity in the Age of Turmoil depends on this ability to reject the old system, declare your economic independence, and carve your own path. Under 30s – You Will Experience Brunt of Financial Ramifications To give you an example, students in London came out to the streets in droves last Friday to protest the British parliament's most recent austerity measures which tripled the cap on their university tuition to $15,000. Sure, Britain is imposing all sorts of austerity measures on its citizens… and while I won't get into a discussion about the absurdity of government controlled education, I will point out that students are having their benefits cut far more drastically than any other segment of the population. Are pensioners seeing their costs triple? No. Are middle-aged workers seeing 50% tax hikes? No. Aside from the very small segment of high-income earners who will be forever robbed and pillaged of their wealth, the younger generation is next in line to receive the butt end of the crisis fallout. Younger folks have comparatively lower incomes, benefits, job opportunities, and political clout than their seniors, yet they are increasingly expected to assume a disproportionately larger burden of the consequences of government folly. It's the younger generation that is called on to go fight and die in pointless wars in faraway lands; it's the younger generation that is forced to assume the debts of their forefathers; and it's the younger generation that gets relegated to the back rows of the political amphitheater and dismissed by the establishment. Meanwhile, retirees aren't seeing massive benefits cuts, and middle-aged wage earners income earners are being protected from above by politicians. Under 30s – This is What Life Has In Store For You Let's take a minute and look at the looming fate of the average young person today: 1) Your government-run university tuition is going to go through the roof, saddling you with unfathomable debt before you even enter the world as an adult; 2) Once you graduate, you'll be the last in the hiring queue; 3) If you do get hired, you'll be the lowest on the totem pole and the first to be let go when tough times befall your business; 4) Once the labor market eventually stabilizes, you'll enter your prime earning years with some of the highest tax rates ever seen as your government continues to cannibalize your generation to pay off its largess and indebted entitlement programs that benefited older generations; 5) For your entire working life, you'll pay into a pension system that is going to be bankrupt by the time you're qualified to draw on it; 6) More than likely, you'll never achieve the standard of living that your parents achieved; 7) Whatever wealth your parents accumulated won't be left to you– the bulk of it will be confiscated by the state (unless your folks were smart enough to plant multiple flags) due to a host of death taxes. If you're in the millennial Facebook generation, this is going to be the standard storyline of your peers. The system that's in place right now– the failed cycle of debt and consumption fed by continuous government intervention– has stuck you with the bill. Under 30s – Here's How to Make the Most of YOUR Life Fortunately, there's a silver lining (as always). Younger people are generally less anchored and more mobile than their elders, hence it's much easier to opt out of this perverse system. If you're angry that your government is saddling you with the responsibility to pay off generations of bad decisions, then:
In conclusion, refuse to be enslaved by the idea that it's your civic and moral responsibility to pay off the debts of your government's failures. Cast off the yoke of their control… and summon the courage to live a life by your own design. The path to prosperity in the Age of Turmoil depends on your ability to reject the old system, declare your economic independence, and carve your own path.
*http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/young-people-get-ready-to-grab-your-ankles-3474/ [Rick Santelli seconds the above thoughts (or is it the other way round) in a video entitled Rick Santelli to Generation Y: Wake Up! that, according to Monty Pelerin (www.economicnoise.com), "explains to younger people how they have been trapped into a life of debt by prior generations and how the government tries to hook them into the Ponzi scheme. A very simple explanation that should be shown to every high school and college student. Don't fall for the Ponzi Scheme!" [Source: http://www.economicnoise.com/2012/05/13/wake-up-young-people/] Related Articles: 1. The Government May Soon Force You to Include U.S. Treasuries In Your IRA and/or 401(k) Plan
2. What is the "The Trillion Dollar Coin" Idea? Why Is It Beyond Stupid?
4. What is Financial Repression? Why It Will Fail
5. U.S.'s Runaway Financial Train is About to Destroy the Status Quo
6. A Must Watch Video On Why America Is In A "Death Spiral"
7. World's Largest Economies Have NO Choice But to Engage in Massive Money Printing – Here's Why
8. It's in Your Own Best Interest to Learn Just How Bad America's Debt Problem Is – So Read On!
9. 3.6 Million Views – and Counting! Why U.S. Debt & Budget Will NEVER Balance
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| Three Experts About The Gold & Silver Price Drops Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:13 AM PST We all remember the gold and silver price smash of exactly a year ago. Between Christmas and New Year, in a thinly traded market, both metals had been "attacked" without a fundamental reason. It looks like this year we are experiencing a similar type of price action. It remains to be seen if the worse has passed. Gold and silver are in a waterfall decline for four weeks now. In the week from December 17th till December 21st, gold lost $40 or 2.4% while silver went down $2.30 which is 7.1% on the week. The metals currently stand at their levels of August of this year. To help our readers put things into perspective, we collected in this article the view of three true experts. The key takeaways: do not worry about the short term price evolution, some market participants have had their day but the primary trend is still intact David MorganDavid Morgan, with four decades of experience in the precious metals markets, commented on the recent price action in two different interviews (sources are here and here). In his regular updates and monthly newsletter, Mr Morgan provides more in-depth insights. Recommended reading: Silver-Investor.com.
Ted ButlerOn a deeper level, Ted Butler wrote the following paragraphs in his latest commentary to this paid subscribers. We were granted the permission to publish Mr Butler's view. He keeps on repeating that [short and intermediate term] prices are determined in the COMEX markets. Ted Butler's premium newsletter explains into detail how these markets work and give a weekly update on the evolution. Recommended reading: ButlerResearch.com.
Jim SinclairJim Sinclair shared his view in an e-mail sent out earlier in the week to subscribers of JSMineset. He also admits that price manipulation has been going but confirms once again his long term target.
The physical marketClearly the paper based market is at the epicenter of the recent price drop(s). A quick glance at the physical market reassures gold and silver bulls. There is no reason to panic, as the solid growth of the physical market is counterbalancing the "interventions" in the paper market. Bloomberg reported the following figures with respect to physical gold buying:
Moreover, GoldCore wrote that Iraq quadrupled its gold holdings to 31.07 tonnes between August and October. And what about consumer demand? Well, we couldn't summarize it better than Tim Iacono who wrote on SeekingAlpha: "In Asia, tumbling gold prices have spurred consumer demand and there is now concern of a supply shortage in the holiday-shortened weeks ahead as, last week, gold bar premiums in Hong Kong rose to their highest level since August. Silver premiums have also reportedly surged in recent days as the price has plunged." The primary trend is intact, the physical market is in great shape proven by non-Western central bank buying and Asian consumer demand. So here you have another end of year gift to add to your positions. | ||||||||
| It’s Not a “Fiscal Cliff” … It’s the Descent Into Lawlessness Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:58 AM PST The “fiscal cliff” is a myth. Instead, what we are facing is a descent into lawlessness. Wikipedia notes:
Indeed, the IMF has already performed a complete audit of the whole US financial system, something which they have only previously done to broke third world nations. Economist Marc Faber calls the U.S. a “failed state“. Indeed, we no longer have a free market economy … we have fascism, communist style socialism, kleptocracy, oligarchy or banana republic style corruption. Let’s look at some specific examples of our descent into lawlessness. Lawless Looting and Redistribution of WealthThe central banks’ central bank – the Bank for International Settlements- warned in 2008 that bailouts of the big banks would create sovereign debt crises … which could bankrupt nations. That is exactly what has happened. The big banks went bust, and so did the debtors. But the government chose to save the big banks instead of the little guy, thus allowing the banks to continue to try to wring every penny of debt out of debtors. Treasury Secretary Paulson shoved bailouts down Congress’ throat by threatening martial law if the bailouts weren’t passed. And the bailouts are now perpetual.
Moreover, a large percentage of the bailouts went to foreign banks (and see this). And so did a huge portion of the money from quantitative easing. Indeed, the Fed bailed out Gaddafi’s Bank of Libya), hedge fund billionaires, and big companies, but turned its back on the little guy. A study of 124 banking crises by the International Monetary Fund found that propping up banks which are only pretending to be solvent often leads to austerity:
In other words, the “stimulus” to the banks blows up the budget, “squeezing” public services through austerity. Numerous top economists say that the bank bailouts are the largest robbery and redistribution of wealth in history. Why was this illegal? Well, the top white collar fraud expert in the country says that the Bush and Obama administrations broke the law by failing to break up insolvent banks … instead of propping them up by bailing them out. And the Special Inspector General of the Tarp bailout program said that the Treasury Secretary lied to Congress regarding some fundamental aspects of Tarp – like pretending that the banks were healthy, when they were totally insolvent. The Secretary also falsely told Congress that the bailouts would be used to dispose of toxic assets … but then used the money for something else entirely. Making false statements to a federal official is illegal, pursuant to 18 United States Code Section 1001. So breaking the rules to bail out the big, insolvent banks, is destroying our prosperity. Lawless Justice SystemA strong rule of law is essential for a prosperous and stable economy, yet the government made it official policy not to prosecute fraud, even though criminal fraud is the main business model adopted by the giant banks. The perpetrators of the biggest financial crime in world history, the largest insider trading scandal of all time, illegal raiding of customer accounts and blatant financing of drug cartels and terrorists have all gotten away scot-free without any jail time. There are two systems of justice in America … one for the big banks and other fatcats, and one for everyone else. While Iceland prosecuted its top criminal bankers, and thus quickly got through its financial problems and now has a vibrant economy, the American government has done everything it can to cover up fraud, and has been actively encouraging criminal fraud and attacking those trying to blow the whistle. The rule of law is now as weak in the U.S. and UK as many countries which we would consider “rogue nations”. See this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this. This is a sudden change. As famed Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto notes:
Moreover, U.S. government personnel are on the take. They have become so corrupt that regulators are literally sleeping with industry prostitutes … while they pimp out the American people. The corruption of government officials is staggering, and the system of government-sponsored rating agencies had at its core a model of bribery. We’ve gone from a nation of laws to a nation of powerful men making one-sided laws to protect their own interests … in secret. Government folks are using laws to crush dissent. It’s gotten so bad that even U.S. Supreme Court justices are saying that we are descending into tyranny. It’s not a “fiscal cliff” … it’s an attempt to rape America … just like Greece and Ireland have been plundered. Economics professor Randall Wray writes:
Economics professor Michael Hudson agrees … saying that the banks are trying to roll back all modern laws and make us all serfs. Professor Hudson explained in 2008:
Indeed, this isn’t the “Great Recession”, it’s the Great Bank Robbery. The big banks have pillaged and looted the rest of the world. A lawless justice system is ruining the economy. Lawless Central BankThe non-partisan Government Accountability Office calls the Fed corrupt and riddled with conflicts of interest. Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz agrees, saying that the World Bank would view any country which had a banking structure like the Fed as being corrupt and untrustworthy. The former vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said said he worried that the failure of the government to provide more information about its rescue spending could signal co | ||||||||
| The Folly of Floating Currency Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:56 AM PST Living standards have stagnated since the last link between the Dollar and gold was cut... |
Last week I wrote an 
Today John Embry told King World News that a coming catastrophic loss of confidence will push gold and silver to price levels that most investors can't even fathom. He also spoke about what to expect in 2013. Here is what Embry, who is chief investment strategist at Sprott Asset Management, had to say: "I have been following the manipulation of the gold and silver markets for over 14 years now, and I can honestly say that I'm not sure I've seen a more blatant attempt to drive prices lower for no reason whatsoever."
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