Gold World News Flash |
- Gold: The Ultimate Bubble, The Bubble To End All Bubbles
- In Gold’s Own Country
- A Canadian Summarizes America's Collapse: “Everyone Takes, Nobody Makes, Money Is Free, And Money Is Worthless”
- Richard Russell - Put 33% to 50% Into Gold & Sidestep Bubbles
- Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Gain With Oil
- Gold As We Approach The New Year
- Important Surprise Public Service Announcement
- RJO’s Streible: Silver Will Be #1 Commodity Pick of 2013, Short Covering Rally Will See Prices EXPLODE
- The Gold Price Closed Up $1.20 at $1,660.70
- Why are (Smart) Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver than Gold?
- Behind the "Housing Recovery"
- Which Way Wednesday - Cliffmas Is Upon Us
- Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts
- HSBC Launders Money for Drug Cartels, Will Not Be Prosecuted – YouTube
- Oil Flare Fails To Ignite Risk-On Rally In Stocks With VIX At 5-Month Highs
- Leonard Melman Finds the Fiscal Cliff a Boon for Precious Metals
- Doug Casey on the Morality of Money
- WE LOST TWO GOOD MEN THIS WEEK
- Behind the “Housing Recovery”
- Gold Disappoints Again - Gold Bugs Beware. The Inevitable Has Not Come
- Here are Some Articles on Gold & Silver You Might Have Missed Over the Holidays
- Gold Bugs Need More than Bernanke in 2013 says Jon Nadler – YouTube
- Gold Futures Advance on Bets Japan to Increase Stimulus Measures
- Gold gains as dollar slips; fiscal talks in focus
- In The News Today
- Peter Schiff 2013 Advice: Financial Crisis, Gold, Safe Haven, Fiscal Cliff, – YouTube
- Welcome to the Currency War, Part 6: Japan Gets Explicit
- Fantastic Conference Gold, Silver, Fiscal Cliff, Anthony Mayfield ! – YouTube
- KWN - Extremely Important Gold & Silver Charts
- What Does It Mean to “Prepare for the Economic Collapse”?
- The Freest Place in the World
- Kyle Bass at AmeriCatalyst 2012
- Fascinating Tour of the International Space Station
- Golden Christmas Presents For You
- Twenty Reasons to Buy Silver for the Long-Term!
- Buried in Bloomberg: “Why A Single Leveraged Speculator Can Cause A Clearinghouse System Default”
| Gold: The Ultimate Bubble, The Bubble To End All Bubbles Posted: 27 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST by Tekoa Da Silva, Bull Market Thinking: |
| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:30 PM PST by T.P. Sreenivasan, New York Times:
Kerala values nothing more than gold, and it is comforting for the people of the state to know that their erstwhile rulers too had a fascination for the yellow metal, which they stored in the temple as an offering and as an insurance against famine. The innumerable jewelry shops around the temple and elsewhere in Kerala may be handling as much gold as the temple has accumulated. "God's Own Country" is fast becoming "Gold's Own Country." With only 3 percent of India's population, Kerala gobbles up 20 percent of the country's gold every year, and the World Gold Council estimates that India, the largest consumer of gold in the world, consumes 30 percent of the global supply. |
| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 10:30 PM PST from Zero Hedge:
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| Richard Russell - Put 33% to 50% Into Gold & Sidestep Bubbles Posted: 26 Dec 2012 10:01 PM PST  With the end of 2012 rapidly approaching, the Godfather of newsletter writers, Richard Russell, boldly told his subscribers they should put 33% to 50% of their money into physical gold. He also warned them to steer clear of the many bubbles that have formed. Here is what Russell had to say in a note to subscribers: "The smart talk now is that you should switch your bonds to equities on the thesis that stocks "should" move higher. I know that the major stock analysts believe that stocks should advance during the year 2013. On this thesis I'm not convinced. It bothers me when the great majority of analysts agree as to the future direction of the stock market. The majority of analysts are seldom correct."This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Gain With Oil Posted: 26 Dec 2012 10:00 PM PST Gold climbed up to $1667.63 by about 9:15AM EST before it fell back off midday, but it still ended with a gain of 0.1%. Silver surged to $30.21 before it slipped back to $29.842 and then rallied back higher in early afternoon New York trade, but it then fell back off again in the last hour of trade and ended with a gain of just 0.23%. |
| Gold As We Approach The New Year Posted: 26 Dec 2012 09:48 PM PST by Jim Sinclair, JS Mineset:
1. Gold did not fall on its own gravity. It was forced lower. |
| Important Surprise Public Service Announcement Posted: 26 Dec 2012 09:41 PM PST Rather than spoil the surprising and important message, we will let this video (below) speak for itself. Worthy of sharing widely. More... Thanks to Vulture W.E. for the link. |
| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 07:30 PM PST from Silver Doctors:
Streible stated that: The Fed will continue to buy mortgage backed securities and treasuries, causing the Fed's balance sheet to expand from $2.9 Trillion to $4 Trillion by the end of the year. The Bloomberg host then asked Streible why then wouldn't he buy gold rather than silver? Streible responded: Ultimately the Fiscal Cliff issues will be resolved, silver prices have been beat up recently, we've seen a 10% decline in the last week, and I think that a snap-back short covering rally will occur, and prices will explode! |
| The Gold Price Closed Up $1.20 at $1,660.70 Posted: 26 Dec 2012 06:38 PM PST Gold Price Close Today : 1,660.70 Change : 1.20 or 0.07% Silver Price Close Today : 30.04 Change : 0.14 or 0.46% Gold Silver Ratio Today : 55.29 Change : -0.22 or -0.39% Franklin didn't post commentary today, if he's posts later it will be available here. Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought. - Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger The-MoneyChanger.com 1-888-218-9226 10:00am-5:00pm CST, Monday-Friday © 2012, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission. To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold; US$ or US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down. WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned: Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures. NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps. NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced. NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt. What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands. One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose. No, I don't.  |
| Why are (Smart) Investors Buying 50 Times More Physical Silver than Gold? Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:29 PM PST By: Eric Sprott 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,    |
| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 03:10 PM PST December 26, 2012 [LIST] [*]Bah! Humbug! rally in house prices masks a foreboding forecast for 2013... a Fed indicator we can find solace in... [*]The alternative consensus: Faber, Rogers and Amoss agree... 100% chance of recession in the new year... what you should do to prepare... [*]Paulson sells GLD (again!)... Holmes speculates on the real cause of last week's drop in AU.... gives forecast of his own... [*]Behold the CombiBar!... reader gets real about Mayan apocalypse... days numbered for 2012 Reserve discount... a 5 Min. Pro recco in housing... and more! [/LIST] "Investors are getting high on housing recovery," writes a skeptical Dan Amoss. "The consensus view says housing is off to the races." A recovery in housing has no doubt ranked high on the gift list of every economist, CNBC pundit, political strategist and mortgage broker alike throughout 2012. That "consensus view" got a good needle in the arm this morning whe... |
| Which Way Wednesday - Cliffmas Is Upon Us Posted: 26 Dec 2012 03:04 PM PST
Which Way Wednesday - Cliffmas Is Upon UsMerry Cliffmas! That's all the MSM is talking about but the markets are, so far, drifting along in the upper end of the year's range into this potential "fiscal disaster." Perhaps the catastrophe is already priced in or perhaps it simply won't be a big deal to go back to pre-2000 tax rates and to force some spending cuts. If falling off the cliff is priced in, a "solution" might rally the markets. On the other hand, fixing the Fiscal Cliff may weaken our markets as it puts the US on the continued path to endless debt through printing money. Of course Japan has continued down the path of endless debt through printing money and its markets have been on fire this week. With the re-election of Helicopter Abe, who has vowed to weaken the yen by printing them by the Trillions, the Nikkei has jumped 2.5% this week - all the way back to 10,330 while the Yen falls to 85.36 to the Dollar - a 3-year low. Our own easy-money policy coupled with the refusal of the Banks to pass it along to the consumer has created record-high spreads between what the Banks pay for money and the 30-year fixed rate mortgage they charge consumers. Banks are now making spreads of 1.25-1.5%. This is compared to the less than 0.5% which they managed to get by on in the early years of the 21st Century. Despite making these usurious rates, they still offer the consumers less than nothing for deposits (as in, not enough to cover even "core" inflation) and they still can't attract investors, with the banking sector still down near half of where it was in 2007, when XLF was in the high $30s. Another cliff we hit on 12/31 is the end of FDIC's special Transaction Account Guarantee, which provided insurance for accounts over $250,000 and will affect $1.5Tn worth of accounts on deposit at US banks. Banks, especially small ones, are scrambling to avoid losing this money and it will make for an interesting earnings season in Q1 as the banks step into the confessional and indicate how much faith their depositors really have in them. On the other side of the coin, the Obama Administration is looking to double the size of the popular Mortgage Refinancing Program, which helps modify underwater mortgages, by making it possible for non Government-backed mortgage-lenders to work with the program. As it stands now, about 10% of the 12.1M homes that were underwater (10% of US homes) have been refinanced through the program. This would provide yet another well-timed boost to housing for 2013 as that sector continues to look investable. With 10M Americans unemployed and under-employed in the Housing Sector alone, this is a great area of the economy for the Obama Administration to be focusing on. As you can see from the chart on the left - housing starts are still nearly half of their historic average after 3 years below the line. Even if you assume we over-built in the earlier part of this decade - we've worked off that excess inventory by now. From 2001 through 2005 (the last full year that home prices consistently increased), an average of approximately 1.3M households formed in the US, just a little under the 50-year average. In contrast, during the subsequent period of 2006 through 2011, an average of approximately 600K households formed, yet the population grew at largely the same rate. Weak household formation is most likely related to high unemployment, as people have delayed moving out of their parents' homes, getting married, or even getting divorced until their employment situations are secure. Even with an unemployment rate that remains stubbornly high, there are recent signs that household formation has begun to normalize. The Census Bureau estimates that in each month of 2012 (through September) there were about 1 million more households on average than in the same month of the previous year. This is a significant change from 2011 when the average year-over-year change was about 635 thousand, and from the previous four years when the average was approximately 550 thousand. Household formation in 2012 is therefore approaching more normal levels, close to the historical average of about 1.3 million. Over the long-term, household formation is what drives demand for housing and for home construction. The current positive trends in household formation therefore suggest that demand for housing is starting to finally look healthy again. This will be one of the investing trends we are going to follow in 2013. In 2012 - we focused on HOV and it has generated huge returns for our Members as that stock climbed from $1.50 to over $6 (up 300%) in 2012. In 2013, we will broaden our screens to include more potential winners in that sector now that we are more comfortable with the underlying fundamentals. This is how you invest - you find macro fundamentals that are painting a long-term trend and then you identify medium and short-term opportunities that have that long-term Fundamental support. If you learn to invest like that, you won't need to sweat over every rumor that runs past your screen on a daily basis. These long-term trends are hard to establish and just as hard to break - taking the time to identify them is one of the best investments you can make! Looking forward to a very profitable 2013 with all of you. ***** FREE TRIAL TO PHIL'S STOCK WORLD - CLICK HERE & SIGN UP |
| Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts Posted: 26 Dec 2012 02:36 PM PST  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| HSBC Launders Money for Drug Cartels, Will Not Be Prosecuted – YouTube Posted: 26 Dec 2012 02:33 PM PST Check our website daily at http://www.figanews.com They’re a separate class of people, they... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  |
| Oil Flare Fails To Ignite Risk-On Rally In Stocks With VIX At 5-Month Highs Posted: 26 Dec 2012 02:18 PM PST Despite the fact that Europe was closed today, the algos were not to be put off as the day broke beautifully into two pieces with a linear sell-off across assets into 1130ET and then a de-correlated nothing-burger all afternoon amid volumes lower than a CNBC anchor's IQ. Makes perfect sense right? The market dribbled higher off the lows into the close and then we got a little discombobulated in the last few minutes as Boehner rumors hit and ETFs (notably bonds - TLT) went a little jiggy. VIX remains bid (as we have been so clear to explain why) and while stocks weakened today, risk-assets in general were just not moving much - thanks generally to Oil's 2.75% gain offsetting Treasuries modest risk-off view. HYG (the high-yield bond ETF) went vertical into the close (following TLT's lead) but between negligible volumes and desparate attempts to pull any and every lever (EUR early and HYG late) to get things going, VIX's message is stay hedged into the new year (at 5-month highs with biggest 5-day jump in 7 months). S&P 500 futures closed the day-session at the low-end of the channel post last week's flash crash.
S&P 500 futures ended the day back at the lows of the post-crash period...
Which leaves NASDAQ red for the month of December and the S&P faling back close...
With Europe closed, risk markets were still driven by algos quite clearly as the ghost of Christmas European close seemed to affect markets...Notice the difference pre- and post- European close!!!!
Stocks tracked Treasury yields lower on the day (Gold and Oil surged early as USD fell but once Europe closed - FX modestly open over there - Oil remained bid but Gold and the USD tracked back)...
VIX moved higher once again and the term structure steepened again...
VIX closed at 5-Month highs with the biggest 5-day jump in 7 months!
TLT zoomed up to close perfectly at Monday's closing VWAP - coincidence!
FX markets are widely dispersed this week with JPY dominating (weak) and SEK (strength) - leaving the USD unchanged!
Gold and Silver were flat to modestly higher as Copper and Oil surged.
And AAPL saw dominant selling pressure once again at critical VWAP levels - this is institutional selling without a doubt...
Charts: Bloomberg
Bonus Chart: The Israeli equity market has traditionally tracked US equities extremely closely - until the last week or so... |
| Leonard Melman Finds the Fiscal Cliff a Boon for Precious Metals Posted: 26 Dec 2012 02:04 PM PST Surveying reality from his perch on Vancouver Island, Leonard Melman is a veritable sage in the world of metal mining analysis. In an interview with The Gold Report, the economic philosopher is troubled about the direction of the global economy. However, there are a few bright spots for eagle-eyed junior metal investors, he reports. |
| Doug Casey on the Morality of Money Posted: 26 Dec 2012 01:43 PM PST Editor's note: Doug Casey is known around the world for many very good reasons. Among investors, he's well known for being a very successful speculator and author. More broadly, his unwavering support of human liberty and his criticism of institutions based on coercion as well as those who support them have made Doug a hero to many… and perhaps public enemy number one to some of those whom he criticizes. Whether one agrees with him or not, Doug almost always has a singular take on issues and ideas, making his essays and talks highly stimulating. As we approach the end of the year – a time when people often reflect on their progress or lack thereof over the past year across all areas of life – this February 2011 interview of Doug Casey by Louis James on the morality of money seems especially trenchant. We hope it helps you reflect on your relationship with money and investing, and brings a renewed sense of clarity and purpose to your financial activities in 2013. Doug Casey on the Morality of MoneyInterviewed by Casey Research Chief Metals & Mining Investment Strategist Louis James Louis: Doug, every time we have a conversation, I ask you about the investment implications of your ideas, and we consider ways to turn the trends you see into profits. The assumption is that's what people want to hear from you, since you're the guru of financial speculation. But this, your known status as a wealthy man, the fact that you have no children, and other things may lead some people to form an incorrect conclusion about you – that "all you care about is money." So let's talk about money. Is it all you care about? Doug: I think anyone who has read our conversation giving advice to people just starting out in life (or re-starting) knows that the answer is no. Or the conversation we had in which we discussed Scrooge McDuck, one of the great heroes of literature. However, I have to stop before we start and push back: If money were all I cared about, so what? Would that really make me a bad person? L: I've grokked Ayn Rand's "money speech," so you know I won't say yes, but maybe you should expand on that for readers who haven't absorbed Rand's ideas… Doug: I'm a huge fan of Rand. She was an original and a genius. But just because someone like her, or me, sees the high moral value of money, that doesn't mean it's all-important to us. In fact, I find money less and less important as time goes by, the older I get. Perhaps that's a function of Maslow's hierarchy: If you're hungry, food is all you really care about; if you're freezing, then it's warmth; and so forth. If you have enough money, these basics aren't likely to be problems. My most enjoyable times have had absolutely nothing to do with money. Like a couple times in the past when I hopped freight trains with a friend, once to Portland and once to Sacramento. Each trip took three days and nights, each was full of adventure and weird experiences, and each cost about zero. It was liberating to be out of the money world for a few days. But it was an illusion. Somebody had to get the money to buy the food we ate at missions. Still, it's nice to live in a dream world for a while. Sure, I'd like more money, if only for the same genetic reason a squirrel wants more nuts to store for the winter. The one common denominator of all living creatures is one word: Survive! And, as a medium of exchange and store of value, money represents survival… it's much more practical than nuts. L: Some people might say that if money were your highest value, you might become a thief or murderer to get it. Doug: Not likely. I have personal ethics, and there are things I won't do. Besides, crime – real crime, taking from or harming others, not law-breaking, which is an entirely different thing – is for the lazy, short-sighted, and incompetent. In point of fact, I believe crime doesn't pay, notwithstanding the fact that Jon Corzine of MF Global is still at large. Criminals are self-destructive. Anyway, what's the most someone could take, robbing their local bank? Perhaps $10,000? That's only enough to make a wager with Mitt Romney. But that leads me to think about the subject. In the old days, when Jesse James or other thieves robbed a bank, all the citizens would turn out to engage them in a gun battle in the streets. Why? Because it was actually their money being stored in the bank, not the bankers' money. A robbed bank had immense personal consequences for everyone in town. Today, nobody gives a damn if a bank is robbed. They'll get their money back from a US government agency. The bank has become impersonal; most aren't locally owned. And your deposit has been packaged up into some unfathomable security nobody is responsible for. The whole system has become corrupt. It degrades the very concept of money. This relates to why kids don't save coins in piggy banks anymore – it's because they're no longer coins with value; they're just tokens that are constantly depreciating and essentially worthless. All of US society is about as sound as the dollar now. Actually, it can be argued that robbing a bank isn't nearly as serious a crime today as robbing a candy store of $5. Why? Nobody in particular loses in the robbery of today's socialized banks. But the candy merchant has to absorb the $5 loss personally. Anyway, if you want to rob a bank today, you don't use a gun. You become part of management and loot the shareholders through outrageous salaries, stock options, and bonuses, among other things. I truly dislike the empty suits that fill most boardrooms today. But most people are mostly honest – it's the 80/20 rule again. So, no, I think this argument is a straw man. The best way to make money is to create value. If I personally owned Apple as a private company, I'd be making more money – completely honestly – than many governments… and they are the biggest thieves in the world. L: No argument. Doug: Notice one more thing: making money honestly means creating something other people value, not necessarily what you value. The more money I want, the more I have to think about what other people want, and find better, faster, cheaper ways of delivering it to them. The reason someone is poor – and, yes, I know all the excuses for poverty – is that the poor do not produce more than they consume. Or if they do, they don't save the surplus. L: The productive make things other people want: Adam Smith's invisible hand. Doug: Exactly. Selfishness, in the form of the profit motive, guides people to serve the needs of others far more reliably, effectively, and efficiently than any amount of haranguing from priests, poets, or politicians. Those people tend to be profoundly anti-human, actually. L: People say money makes the world go around, and they are right. Or as I tell my students, there are two basic ways to motivate and coordinate human behavior on a large scale: coercion and persuasion. Government is the human institution based on coercion. The market is the one based on persuasion. Individuals can sometimes persuade others to do things for love, charity, or other reasons, but to coordinate voluntary cooperation society-wide, you need the price system of a profit-driven market economy. Doug: And that's why it doesn't matter how smart or well-intended politicians may be. Political solutions are always detrimental to society over the long run, because they are based on coercion. If governments lacked the power to compel obedience, they would cease to be governments. No matter how liberal, there's always a point at which it comes down to force – especially if anyone tries to opt out and live by their own rules. Even if people try that in the most peaceful and harmonious way with regard to their neighbors, the state cannot allow separatists to secede. The moment the state grants that right, every different religious, political, social, or even artistic group might move to form its own enclave, and the state disintegrates. That's wonderful – for everybody but the parasites who rely on the state (which is why secession movements always become violent). I'm actually mystified at why most people not only just tolerate the state but seem to love it. They're enthusiastic about it. Sometimes that makes me pessimistic about the future… L: Reminds me of the conversation we had on Europe disintegrating. But let's stay on topic. So you're saying that money is a positive moral good in society because the pursuit of it motivates the creation of value. It's the bridge between selfishness and social good, and it's the basis for voluntary cooperation, rather than coerced interaction. Anything else? Doug: Yes, but first, let me say one more thing about the issue of selfishness – the virtue of selfishness – and the vice of altruism. Ayn Rand might never forgive me for saying this, but if you take the two concepts – ethical self-interest and concern for others – to their logical conclusions, they are actually the same. It's in your selfish best interest to provide the maximum amount of value to the maximum number of people – that's how Apple became the giant company it is. Conversely, it is not altruistic to help other people. I want all the people around me to be strong and successful. It makes life better and easier for me if they're all doing well. So it's selfish, not altruistic, when I help them. To weaken others, to degrade them by making them dependent upon generosity, as we discussed in our conversation on charity, is not doing those people any good. If you really care about others, the best thing you can do for them is to push for totally freeing all markets. That makes it both necessary and rewarding for them to learn valuable skills and to become creators of value and not burdens on society. It's a win-win all around. L: That'll bend some people's minds… So, what was the other thing? Doug: Well, referring again to our conversation on charity, the accumulation of wealth is in and of itself an important social as well as a personal good. L: Remind us. Doug: The good to individuals of accumulating wealth is obvious, but the social good often goes unrecognized. Put simply, progress requires capital. Major new undertakings, from hydropower dams to spaceships, to new medical devices and treatments, require huge amounts of capital. If you're not willing to extract that capital from the population via the coercion of taxes, i.e., steal it, you need wealth to accumulate in private hands to pay for these things. In other words, if the world is going to improve, we need huge pools of capital, intelligently invested. We need as many "obscenely" rich people as possible. L: Right then… so, money is all good – nothing bad about it at all? Doug: Unfortunately, many of the rich people in the world today didn't get their money by real production. They got it by using political connections and slopping at the trough of the state. That's bad. When I look at how some people have gotten their money – Clinton, Pelosi, and all the politically connected bankers and brokers, just for a start – I can understand why the poor want to eat the rich. But money itself isn't the problem. Money is just a store of value and a means of exchange. What is bad about that? Gold, as we've discussed many times, happens to be the best form of money the market has ever produced: It's convenient, consistent, durable, divisible, has intrinsic value (it's the second-most reflective and conductive metal, the most nonreactive, the most ductile, and the most malleable of all metals), and can't be created out of thin air. Those are gold's attributes. People attribute all sorts of other silly things to gold, and poetic critics talk about the evils of the lust for gold. But it's not the gold itself that's evil – it's the psychological aberrations and weaknesses of unethical people that are the problem. The critics are fixating on what is merely a tool, rather than the ethical merits or failures of the people who use the tool and are responsible for the consequences of their actions. L: Sort of like the people who repeat foolish slogans like "guns kill" – as though guns sprout little feet when no one is looking and run around shooting people all by themselves. Doug: Exactly. They're the same personality type – busybodies who want to enforce their opinions on everyone else. They're dangerous and despicable. Yet they somehow posture as if they had the high moral ground. L: OK, so even if you cared only for money, that could be seen as a good thing. But you do care for more – like what? Doug: Well, money is a tool – the means to achieve various goals. For me, those goals include fine art, wine, cars, homes, horses, cigars, and many other physical things. But it also gives me the ability to do things I enjoy or value – like spend time with friends, go to the gym, lie in the sun, read books, and do pretty much what I want when I want. Let's just call it as philosophers do: "the good life." It's why my partners and I built La Estancia de Cafayate [in Argentina]. We have regular events down there I welcome readers to attend. But I don't take money too seriously. It's just something you have. It's much less important than what you do, and trivial in comparison to what you are. I could be happy being a hobo. As I said in the conversation on fresh starts, there have been times when I felt my life was just as good and I was just as happy without much money at all. That said, you can't be too rich or too thin. L: Very good. Investment implications? Doug: This may all seem rather philosophical, but it's actually extremely important to investors. What is the purpose of investing or speculating? To make money. How can anyone hope to do that well if they feel that there is something immoral or distasteful about making money? Someone who pinches his or her nose and tries anyway because making money is a necessary evil will never do as well as those who throw themselves into the fray with gusto and delight in doing something valuable – and doing it well. L: The law of attraction. Doug: Yes, but I don't view the law of attraction as a metaphysical force – rather as a psychological reality. If you have a negative attitude about something, you're unlikely to attract it… even if you try to talk yourself into thinking the opposite. L: OK, but that's not a stock pick… Doug: Sure. We're talking basics here. No stock picks today, just a Public Service Announcement: If you think money is evil, don't bother trying to accumulate wealth. On the other hand, if you want to become wealthy, you'd better think long and hard about your attitudes about money, work through the thoughts above and those you can find in the rest of our conversations… Cultivate a positive attitude about money, which is right up there with language as one of the most valuable tools man has ever invented. Think about it, and give yourself permission to become rich. It's a good thing. L: Very well. Thanks for what I hope will prove to be a very thought-provoking conversation! Doug: My pleasure. Talk to you next week. A successful investing strategy requires much more than choosing the right stocks: it requires an understanding of cultural, political, and economic trends as well as being able to analyze a sector and the companies in it. Doug Casey's decades of successful speculation show that he's "the real deal" – and now you can have deeper access into his mind, in one convenient location. Doug has recently written a book, Totally Incorrect, which offers his thoughts and investment implications on topics as wide-ranging as NASA, paying taxes, ethics, why college education is a waste of resources, the immorality of voting, and much more. It's available as an e-book as well as in physical format – get all the details here. |
| WE LOST TWO GOOD MEN THIS WEEK Posted: 26 Dec 2012 01:15 PM PST Two more GI Generation heroes died this week. Charles Durning and Jack Klugman died on Monday. Durning was 89 and Klugman was 90. I was a big fan of their movie and TV work over the decades. I never missed the Odd Couple in the early 1970s. Durning was a great character actor who starred in some of the best movies of all-time (The Sting, Dog Day Afternoon, Tootsie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou). I remember him as a fat guy, so I was shocked when I read his life story in the paper today. He was one of the 1st troops to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was severely wounded in Normandy but was determined to recover and get back in the fight. He recovered in time to fight in the Battle of the Bulge where he was stabbed in hand to hand combat by a German. He was awarded a Silver Star, Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts. He never spoke of his time in the military. Jack Klugman also served in the army during World War II. They were great actors, great men and great Americans. Rest in peace gentlemen.
Tribute: Charles Durning and Jack KlugmanDecember 25, 2012 1:41 pm / The Associated Press Two stalwarts of stage and screen died on Monday. Charles Durning, 89, and Jack Klugman, 90, were World War II veterans who had careers in Hollywood and on Broadway that spanned decades. Charles Durning Charles Durning grew up in poverty, lost five of his nine siblings to disease, barely lived through D-Day and was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge. His hard life and wartime trauma provided the basis for a prolific 50-year career as a consummate Oscar-nominated character actor, playing everyone from a Nazi colonel to the pope to Dustin Hoffman's would-be suitor in "Tootsie." Durning, who died Monday at age 89 in New York, got his start as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, N.Y. When one of the comedians showed up too drunk to go on, Durning took his place. He told The Associated Press in 2008 that he had no plans to stop working. "They're going to carry me out, if I go," he said. Durning's longtime agent and friend, Judith Moss, told AP that he died of natural causes in his home in New York City. Although he portrayed everyone from blustery public officials to comic foils to put-upon everymen, Durning may be best remembered by movie audiences for his Oscar-nominated, over-the-top role as a comically corrupt governor in 1982′s "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Many critics marveled that such a heavyset man could be so nimble in the film's show-stopping song-and-dance number, not realizing Durning had been a dance instructor early in his career. He met his first wife, Carol, when both worked at a dance studio. Besides a four-decade Broadway career that included the premiere production of "That Championship Season," the actor worked on regional stages in plays and musicals, including for the Pittsburgh CLO. "Though 'of a certain generation' of men known for character and tough guy roles, who will go down in acting history as a 'man's man,' might we remind the chorus of angels that in 2001, at age 78, Charles Durning played Mr. Lundie in CLO's 'Brigadoon,' " Van Kaplan, executive director of Pittsburgh CLO, said via e-mail to the Post-Gazette on Christmas Day. "With all the recent 'Les Mis' film hoopla, I think it is terrific that we have come back to a place where real men sing and dare to do musicals." The year after the film version of "Best Little Whorehouse," Durning received another Oscar nomination, for his portrayal of a bumbling Nazi officer in Mel Brooks' "To Be or Not to Be." He was also nominated for a Golden Globe as the harried police lieutenant in 1975′s "Dog Day Afternoon." He won a Golden Globe as best supporting TV actor in 1991 for his portrayal of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald in the TV film "The Kennedys of Massachusetts" and a Tony in 1990 as Big Daddy in the Broadway revival of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." – By Bob Thomas, Associated Press Jack Klugman For many, Jack Klugman will always be the messy one. His portrayal of sloppy sportswriter Oscar Madison on TV's "The Odd Couple" left viewers laughing but it also gave Klugman the leverage to create a more serious character, the gruff medical examiner in "Quincy M.E." His everyman ethos and comic timing endeared him to audiences and led to a prolific, six-decade acting career that spanned stage, screen and television. Klugman died Monday at age 90 in the Los Angeles suburb of Northridge with his wife at his side. His sons called on his fans to embrace their father's tenacious and positive spirit. "He had a great life and he enjoyed every moment of it, and he would encourage others to do the same," son Adam Klugman said. The cause of Klugman's death was not immediately known. Adam Klugman said his father had been slowing down in recent years, but wasn't battling cancer, which robbed him of his voice in the 1980s. Klugman taught himself to speak again, and kept working. He remained popular for decades simply by playing the type of man you could imagine running into at a bar or riding on a subway with — gruff, but down-to-earth, his tie stained and a little loose, a racing form under his arm, a cigar in hand during the days when smoking was permitted. Off-screen, Klugman owned racehorses and enjoyed gambling, although acting remained his passion. Despite his on-screen wars with Tony Randall's neat-freak character Felix Unger on "Odd Couple," the show created a friendship between the men that endured after the series ended. When Randall died in 2004 at age 84, Klugman told CNN: "A world without Tony Randall is a world that I cannot recognize." The "Odd Couple," which ran from 1970 to 1975, was based on Neil Simon's play about mismatched roommates — divorced New Yorkers who end up living together. The pairing was so good, the show didn't need constant help from the writers. "There's nobody better to improvise with than Tony," Klugman said. "A script might say, 'Oscar teaches Felix football.' There would be four blank pages. He would provoke me into reacting to what he did. Mine was the easy part." Fans and fellow actors agreed it worked, posting clips of their favorite Klugman roles on Twitter and other social networking sites late Monday. "RIP Jack Klugman. You made my whole family laugh together," actor-director Jon Favreau wrote on Twitter. "He was a wonderful man and supremely talented actor," wrote actor Max Greenfield, who worked with Klugman several years ago. "He will be missed." In "Quincy, M.E.," which ran from 1976 to 1983, Klugman played an idealistic, tough-minded medical examiner who tussled with his boss by uncovering evidence of murder in cases where others saw natural causes. "We had some wonderful writers," he said in a 1987 Associated Press interview. "Quincy was a muckraker, like Upton Sinclair, who wrote about injustices. He was my ideal as a youngster, my author, my hero. "Everybody said, 'Quincy'll never be a hit.' I said, 'You guys are wrong. He's two heroes in one, a cop and a doctor.' A coroner has power. He can tell the police commissioner to investigate a murder. I saw the opportunity to do what I'd gotten into the theater to do — give a message. For his 1987 role as 81-year-old Nat in the Broadway production of "I'm Not Rappaport," Klugman wore leg weights to learn to shuffle like an elderly man. He said he would wear them for an hour before each performance "to remember to keep that shuffle." The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, he was born in Philadelphia and began acting in college at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon). After serving in the Army during World War II, he went on to summer stock and off-Broadway, rooming with fellow actor Charles Bronson as both looked for paying jobs. He made his Broadway debut in 1952 in a revival of "Golden Boy." His film credits included Sidney Lumet's "12 Angry Men" and Blake Edwards' "Days of Wine and Roses" and an early television highlight was appearing with Humphrey Bogart and Henry Fonda in a production of "The Petrified Forest." His performance in the classic 1959 musical "Gypsy" brought him a Tony nomination for best featured (supporting) actor in a musical. He also appeared in several episodes of "The Twilight Zone," including a memorable 1963 one in which he played a negligent father whose son is seriously wounded in Vietnam. His other TV shows included "The Defenders" and the soap opera "The Greatest Gift." Throat cancer took away his raspy voice for several years in the 1980s. When he was back on the stage for a 1993 revival of "Three Men on a Horse," the AP's review said, "His voice may be a little scratchy but his timing is as impeccable as ever." See more » – By Anthony McCartney, Associated Press, with Polly Anderson and Beth Harris |
| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 01:02 PM PST December 26, 2012
A recovery in housing has no doubt ranked high on the gift list of every economist, CNBC pundit, political strategist and mortgage broker alike throughout 2012.
"Looking over this report," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices commented, summarizing the consensus, "it is clear that the housing recovery is gathering strength."
"The mid to high end of the market has not bottomed, because it depends on growth in the population of young families with secure, high-paying jobs." There's the rub. Unfortunately, as Bloomberg reported last Friday, "average incomes for individuals ages 25-34 have fallen 8%, double the adult population's total drop, since the recession began in December 2007. Their unemployment rate remains stuck one-half to 1 percentage point above the national figure." "Recent college graduates," Dan says, "make up a huge portion of the homebuyers' market. Many of them owe a share of the rapidly souring mountain of student loans. So even if they'd like to, they can't afford a mortgage for a starter home."
Meanwhile, the blockage in the foreclosure pipeline is starting to reopen: RealtyTrac says banks repossessed 59,134 houses last month — the first annual gain in two years. Dan says, "Investors and all-cash buyers cannot easily absorb this housing inventory. The mortgage market, which politicians and central bankers have ruined with intervention after intervention, is in no condition to absorb this supply."
"Yet here we are in late 2012, in the midst of a tepid (not booming) housing recovery, and day traders are hoping to make a quick buck flipping these stocks to greater fools. "Those investors will bail out in 2013," Dan offers in our first forecast for the new year, "when expectations for housing bubble 2.0 fade and earnings disappoint." [Ed note. Fortunately, Dan has also pinpointed a way to get ahead of the disappointment and turn it into a potential 50% gain. The strategy figures strongly in what we call the "6-3-1 Safety Net" to protect your assets next year. ]
Check out an indicator maintained by the Fed called the "U.S. Recession Probabilities Index." It's a boring-sounding mix of everything from nonfarm payroll jobs, industrial production numbers, real personal income numbers and manufacturing and trade numbers. But what it's done is successfully predict every recession since 1967. So what's it saying right now?
"America has had recessions and economic slowdowns every four-six years since the beginning of the republic. You can add. By 2013, we are going to have another, and when it comes this time, it is going to be worse than last time because debt is so much higher…"
"The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis says we're even stuck in what they call a 'stall-speed economy.' Bloomberg recently insisted we're already in a full recession — we just don't know it yet." Housing may be giving the "consensus" cause for optimism this close to the new year, but we recommend you don't take your eye too far off the ball. Learn what's at stake and how to protect yourself, here.
Precious metals have inched up in thin trading this week. At last check, the spot price is up to $1,661. Silver is struggling to reach the $30 threshold.
Subsequent events bore out Mr. Holmes' sixth sense, "when Zero Hedge posted that Morgan Stanley Wealth Management recommended that its clients dump two of John Paulson's funds. As MS clients redeemed their shares, the hedge fund giant became a forced seller of gold and gold stocks. "What complicates the gold market," Frank goes on, "is the fact that Paulson is such a big fan of the yellow metal that he offers a 'gold share class' to investors, meaning shares are denominated in physical gold. The drawback is when an investor redeems shares, his firm has to convert from gold back to dollars, which forces him to sell his hedged position in the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD). "The unfortunate consequence of his actions is a short-term decline in the gold price as the market adjusts." But the long-term picture remains unchanged: "With governments lacking courage for fiscal discipline, I expect that interest rates will remain in negative territory for a long time," Mr. Holmes concludes. "Central bankers will continue to keep the printing presses warm, as policies aren't expected to change. I believe this will keep the fear trade buying gold throughout 2013."
"Central banks, particularly in the emerging economies, are looking to increase the proportion of gold in their reserve assets," analyst Alexandra Knight from National Australia Bank tells Bloomberg. "That will drive prices of gold because they can be quite significant purchases." Indeed, gold makes up a much smaller share of foreign exchange reserves in emerging economies. Before its most recent purchase, Brazil held only 0.5% of its reserves in gold, compared with the official U.S. figure of 77%. And after this purchase, Brazil ranks a mere 41st among the world's nations in gold holdings. Sounds as if Brazil is getting serious about building up its armaments for the "international currency war" the country's finance minister decried two years ago.
It's the handiwork of Valcambi, a Swiss refinery that belongs to the mining giant Newmont. "The rich are buying standard bars or have deposits of physical gold," says Valcambi CEO Michael Mesaric. "People that have less money are buying up to 100 grams. But for many people, a pure investment product is no longer enough. They want to be able to do something with the precious metal." At today's spot price of $1,660 an ounce, a single gram of a CombiBar is worth about $53.40 — considerably less than a 1/10-ounce U.S. Gold Eagle. Hmmm….
"To avoid this, simply pass tax cuts that would never expire …… and the only course for the Congress and Senate would be to repeal if and when that is needed!" The 5: For that matter, they could pass tax increases that never expire. Our theory is that they have a chronic need for attention. As long as they keep changing the rules, we the people will have to follow their moves and machinations. OK, so it's a vestigial theory that needs further exploration. But we throw it out there for your consideration…
"NOWHERE do the Mayans even suggest that the world will end in 2012! It is not in the Bible, Koran, NOWHERE! The word that 'man' so appropriately misuses to surmise the supposed 'end of times' is APOCALYPSE, which REALLY MEANS 'the Lifting of the Veil!' It is a NEW BEGINNING as we enter the Photon Belt and the Galactic Alignment. "Sure, it will mean there will be changes, of that there is NO DOUBT, BUT the world will be a much better place than this materialistic nightmare that we have created to date! You folks need to actually do some REAL DUE DILIGENCE! It seems that you folks are also signed up to the 'sell fear' aspect of materialism! Oh, well! It is YOUR LOSS!~! NAMASTE!" The 5: If you claim enlightenment, why are you so angry? Happy Holidays, Dave Gonigam P.S. The clock is ticking on our "loyalty rewards" program. You may be entitled to $1,044 in benefits for the coming year… and $4,940 every year after, depending on which of our services you subscribe to. For a comprehensive list of qualifying services, look here. Be advised your rewards expire at midnight this Friday night, Dec. 28. P.P.S. As 5 readers know, we're not completely down on the housing market. Our managing editor Chris Mayer has shown how you can seize the moment of ultra-low mortgage rates to secure a handsome stream of rental income. Platinum-level Reserve Members can read on to see another way to play the lumpy housing recovery in today's 5 Min. Forecast PRO – our new "sixth minute" that delivers actionable investment advice based on the insights you see here in The 5. The 5 Min. Forecast PRO is still in the beta-testing stage… but we're less than one week away from rolling it out for everyone. Stay tuned!]        |
| Gold Disappoints Again - Gold Bugs Beware. The Inevitable Has Not Come Posted: 26 Dec 2012 12:15 PM PST Looking at the chart of the price of bullion (Gold) one sees that the current price is almost where it was several months ago, and nowhere near the high of 2011. It is currently resting slightly above $1,650, which is just a bit weaker ... Read More...  |
| Here are Some Articles on Gold & Silver You Might Have Missed Over the Holidays Posted: 26 Dec 2012 12:02 PM PST [B][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][/B]... |
| Gold Bugs Need More than Bernanke in 2013 says Jon Nadler – YouTube Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:54 AM PST Check our website daily at http://www.figanews.com Gold Bugs Need More than Bernanke in 2013 says... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  |
| Gold Futures Advance on Bets Japan to Increase Stimulus Measures Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:36 AM PST Reuters (Dec 26) — Gold futures rose in New York on speculation that Japan's new government will act to bolster the economy. Japan's premier Shinzo Abe said today his government's mission is to restore a strong economy. Minutes of the Bank of Japan (8301)'s November meeting showed that a board member suggested conducting open-ended asset purchases. Gold prices, up 6.3 percent this year, are headed for a 12th straight annual gain as governments and central banks in Japan, Europe and the U.S. boosted measures to shore up growth. "News about Japan planning to announce some stimulus measures is perking up the market," Sterling Smith, a futures specialist at Citigroup Inc. in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. "We may see some sharp moves in this very thinly- traded market." |
| Gold gains as dollar slips; fiscal talks in focus Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:31 AM PST MarketWatch (Dec 26) — Gold futures edged up Wednesday, underpinned by a slight decline in the U.S. dollar, as the status of efforts to revive high-stakes budget talks in Washington remained in the spotlight. |
| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:26 AM PST My Dear Friends, I am informed that the new one dollar coins to be released have dropped "In God We Trust." Maybe the mint should keep them if you believe in that trust. Respectfully, Jim Jim Sinclair's Commentary Patrick takes this period of ushering us in 2013 to remind you that since this Continue reading In The News Today |
| Peter Schiff 2013 Advice: Financial Crisis, Gold, Safe Haven, Fiscal Cliff, – YouTube Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:19 AM PST Check our website daily at http://www.figanews.com Peter Schiff 2013 Advice on the upcoming fiscal... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  |
| Welcome to the Currency War, Part 6: Japan Gets Explicit Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:01 AM PST Forget about the fiscal cliff. December's big story was the ascension of a new leader in Japan whose platform is aggressive inflation:
Some thoughts There, in a nutshell, is why currency wars happen. Heavily-indebted governments are desperate for tax revenue, and an export sector that can't compete because of a strong currency produces very little taxable profit. But before you write in to say that a strong currency is no barrier to profitable exports for well-run countries, note that "well-run" doesn't apply to today's developed world. Currency wars generally happen when corrupt, over-indebted countries can't cover their interest expense and start looking for a way to shift the burden of their stupidity onto their trading partners. A weaker currency is only a short-term fix, but when an election approaches (and one is always approaching), short-term fixes are good enough. For a sense of the panic that's gripping Japan, consider what's happening to its big electronics exporters like Sony and Sharp: A strong yen isn't the only reason for this implosion, of course. Apple and Google and falling TV prices are the real existential threats. But the Japanese central bank can't kill Apple and Google, while it can weaken the yen. 2013 is shaping up as a pivotal year, not necessarily because inflation is set to accelerate, but because virtually everyone who matters has decided to try, explicitly, to make it accelerate. This might take a while, because the ongoing contraction in Europe and failed US states like California and Illinois is profoundly deflationary. But with a few years' hindsight we might look back on December of 2012 as the beginning of the chaotic, parabolic stage of the process. |
| Fantastic Conference Gold, Silver, Fiscal Cliff, Anthony Mayfield ! – YouTube Posted: 26 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST Check our website daily at http://www.figanews.com Inflation is an expansion of the currency... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com for full Content ]]  |
| KWN - Extremely Important Gold & Silver Charts Posted: 26 Dec 2012 10:43 AM PST  Today King World News is pleased to share with its global readers some extremely important charts that were sent to us from Nick Laird of ShareLynx out of Australia. This is the first in a series of charts that KWN will be releasing from Laird that give a visual snapshot of what is really taking place in the gold and silver markets. We thank Laird for sharing these fascinating charts with our global readers. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| What Does It Mean to “Prepare for the Economic Collapse”? Posted: 26 Dec 2012 10:27 AM PST .gif) Last week I wrote an article in response to the media's vilification of preppers in the aftermath of the horrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The article was quoted in an article on Yahoo.com, to my great astonishment, and that is when I saw how little most people understand about prepping. You can see in most of the 4492 comments the article received that many folks just don't "get it". 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. People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer. ~ Andrew Smith If you go back through history, the "visionaries" or "wise ones" were always mocked at best and feared at worst. They were cast out of society to live alone at the edge of the village; children would sneak onto their property to show their bravery; they were burned at the stake as witches and heretics. Anything the larger percentage of people does not understand is treated as something evil and frightening. Read more.... This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST Interviewed by Louis James, Editor, International Speculator L: Doug, we've gotten a lot of follow-up questions to our conversation on currency controls. People want to know more about Argentina and why you like it so much. So, let's talk about Argentina. Doug: Sure. This is a good time, too, because I'm having a sort of house-warming party at the world-class resort we're building in Salta province, northwest Argentina. With the stipulation up front that I obviously have a financial interest in that project, I still think that, for a number of reasons we'll get into, Argentina is simply the best place in the world to weather the economic crisis. Yesterday is not too soon to start working on getting your assets and yourself out of harm's way. L: Okay, so let's start with basics: why Argentina? Doug: Well, I've been to 175 countries, most of them several times. I've lived in 12, defined as having spent enough time in the country to have rented a place to live or bought real estate and set up housekeeping. The thing is, technology has now progressed to the point at which any sufficiently motivated person can pretty much live wherever he or she wants. But most people still have a medieval serf mentality in this area, and tend to live in or near the place where they were born and grew up. And they tend to think that the country they were born in is the best country in the world… I guess because they were born there. L: All evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. And the more poverty-stricken and backward the place, the more fiercely patriotic its inhabitants tend to be. I suspect this is a modern expression of tribalism. Doug: I've noticed that too – you travel now as much as I used to, so I'm not surprised we see most things the same way. But, as you know, I've never had a tribal inclination myself. And having been to so many places, seen their pluses and minuses, it's all the more clear to me how ridiculous it is to see the world that way. Although, it must be said, the tribal way of organizing a society actually makes more sense than the nation state does – at least in a tribe you basically know everybody, typically have a blood or family relation with them, and almost certainly share values. The nation state is just a piece of geography controlled by a central government. This is another subject, for another time, but I believe the nation state is on its way out, and in the process of being replaced by what Neil Stevenson called "phyles" in his seminal book The Diamond Age. Anyway, I asked myself, "Where is the best place to live, in order to enjoy life to the max, be freest, and enjoy the highest standard of living with the least amount of aggravation?" I looked at all the countries around the world, their pluses and minuses, and came to the conclusion that Argentina offers the best risk/reward and cost/benefit ratios of any country on the planet at this time. L: Can you tell us more about how you came to that conclusion? Doug: By a process of elimination. A couple generations ago, if you'd asked me where the best place to live was, I'd have put my finger on the United States. Back when it was still America, it offered a lot of freedom, a lot of opportunity, and had a lot of domestic capital. But things have been changing, and are changing very rapidly in the U.S. now. It's no longer what it used to be. So the U.S., regrettably, no longer makes the cut – at least not if you have some capital. L: It's no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. It's become a land of obedient subjects who allow the government's bread and circuses to distract them from the fact that they have been cowed. Doug: Sadly so. And Europe is worse. It's hide-bound, constipated, heavily taxed and regulated, highly socialistic, and is suffering from what may turn into a demographic collapse. L: My ex was from Germany, and she told me families were basically paid by the government to have children. Doug: It's not working; few people are having kids. But there's massive immigration, primarily from Muslim countries. L: Those people are often very hard working and entrepreneurial, but they are not assimilating. Doug: They are not assimilating, and Europe is becoming less European. Worse, the cultural clash could turn into something more serious, given the increasing tension between the West and Islam. The Crusades never really ended – they just seem to have time-outs between rounds. L: Europe could turn into the battlefield the Cold Warriors feared it might, but in a totally different war. Doug: Yes. It's a conflict that goes back to the 8th century, and I don't think it will be resolved any time soon. So, I'd rule out living in Europe. L: Africa? Doug: Completely hopeless for anything other than a hit and run speculation. Too much racism, too many other serious and deeply entrenched problems. L: And the Orient? Doug: I'm a big fan of the Orient – I really like it. But frankly, if you're of European extraction, you can have a great life in the Orient, but you'll never become part of society there. It's just not going to happen. L: Why is that so important? When I moved to Utah, people told me the same thing; the Mormons wouldn't invite me to their picnics if I didn't convert. But I didn't want to go to their picnics. I just wanted to be left alone. I loved it. Doug: I understand, and value my privacy as well. But I enjoy going out to dinner with good friends at great restaurants. I like playing polo, and that's not something you can do alone. I like a friendly poker game once in a while. There are many benefits to society, and I enjoy them. But as pleasant and convenient as the Orient is, it's also pretty crowded; I like wide-open spaces. L: You just don't want the cost of participating in society to exceed the benefits. Doug: As a practical matter, that's right. There are moral issues as well, but that's another conversation. L: Okay. So, eliminating the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Asia leaves Latin America and Down Under. Doug: Oddly enough, as I speak to you (for free, on Skype – I love technology!), I'm in New Zealand. Rick Rule and I bought a big ranch on the ocean ten years ago, and I also bought a smaller ranch on the Clevedon River. I first came here, as you know from our conversation on the subject, for the polo. It was kind of a joke. People used to ask why I came to New Zealand, and I would say it was for the kangaroos. "But," people would say, "There are no kangaroos in New Zealand." "Yeah," I'd reply, "I was misinformed." But it was really for the polo. New Zealand is a delightful place. I think I'll keep my ranch here, because I like it. But the fact is that, for all of its advantages, New Zealand is an island, and it's pretty much at the end of the road. It's not very sophisticated, quite frankly, and it's become quite expensive. When I first moved here, and was recommending the place highly in the International Speculator, it was almost as cheap as Argentina is today. It was so cheap buying a meal in a restaurant, you'd almost feel guilty. But since then, the currency has doubled in value and domestic prices have risen more rapidly than in the U.S., so the general cost level is about the same as in the U.S. It's not a bargain anymore. That's even more true for Australia, which is bigger, but isn't as pleasant, to my way of thinking. Entirely apart from the fact that everything that moves there, on the land or in the sea, tends to be deadly. L: And that leaves Latin America. Doug: Exactly. Within that, what do we have? Central America, to be brutally brief, is "okay." But those countries simply have no class. When it comes to South America, I'm very partial to Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Of these, I prefer Argentina. Why? Because it has a down-at- the- heels, but very classy, elegance. That kind of reflects the fact that, a hundred years ago, it was the major competitor to America for the best place to go if you were a European looking to immigrate to the New World. It attracted many of Europe's best and brightest – and their capital. Argentina blew it, of course, transforming itself from having one of the highest standards of living in the world to an economic basket case over the course of the 20th century. But in spite of how monumentally stupid the government of Argentina is, with controls and regulations on everything, a big bureaucracy, and so forth, that's compensated for by the fact that the place is very, very inexpensive. Whether you're looking at real estate or day-to-day expenses, it's much cheaper than either Chile or Uruguay. Also, I've found that on a practical level, the government leaves you alone more than most. Uruguay, of course, is just across the Plate River from Argentina. It's got some advantages, but it's rather like a backward, yet more expensive, province of Argentina. L: Why's that? Doug: It's a smaller country than Argentina, one tenth of the size, both in population and land area. It's long been known as a kind of "Switzerland of South America." It's a banking haven. Until recently, there was no income tax in Uruguay. Idiotically, they just slapped one on domestic income, but foreign income is still tax-free there. That draws a lot of rich foreigners, who have a disproportionate effect on prices. They bring a lot of capital, and the country's currency has risen about 30% against the Argentine peso in the last year. So, it's nice, but it's a quiet backwater – except for Punta del Este during January and February, when it's one of the most hopping places on earth. But Uruguay is considerably more expensive than Argentina at this point. A lot of Uruguayans, if they're in a position to, tend to want to live in Buenos Aires instead of Montevideo. Montevideo is a place that still has horse-drawn wagons and gauchos standing around on street corners, drinking mate. L: And the Graf Spee in the harbor. Doug: [Laughs] I can't help but think of that when I'm there. The place is in a time warp, although a lot less than it used to be. When I first went to Argentina, in 1980, I felt I was taking a trip back to the 1950s. Then, when I went across the river to Uruguay, I felt I was taking a trip back to the 1930s. They still had the old black, Bakelite telephones. That's all changed, but these countries are still caught in a bit of a time warp. L: And Chile? Doug: Chile is the unsophisticated mining province that made good… It's modern, everything works, and the capital city of Santiago is clean and nice, if plagued by air pollution. But it's a lot more expensive than Argentina or Uruguay, and doesn't have the same charm. Pinochet, for all his faults, put the place on the road to success. It's estimated the average Chilean has more net worth than the average American now. L: So it's Argentina. Doug: Yes. For one thing, I like its wide-open spaces. It's like the western U.S. Argentina is the size of the eastern U.S., but it has only 40 million people, and about 40% of those are centered around Buenos Aires. So, once you get out of BA – which is one of the great cities of the world: sophisticated, marvelous, you can get everything and anything you want there, just one of my favorites – you really are in the countryside. In most places, you can drive for hours through incredible scenery, and not see another car. I like that. Sometimes people, who haven't been there, look at me in a questioning way when I mention Argentina, because they've heard of the government. But it's not evil, or dangerous, like many. It's just corrupt, incompetent, and inefficient – which is actually much better than the alternatives, when we're talking about governments. But there are disadvantages, too. Through one of the most impressive acts of government stupidity I've ever seen, Argentina, a country world-renown for its beef, might actually end up having to import beef this year. It's insane. Like Saudi Arabia importing oil. But, that's what governments do. Still, you can get the best beefsteak in the world for, oh, I would say a sixth of what you'd expect to pay for something equivalent in the U.S. Q: Okay, Doug. Thanks for another challenging but enlightening conversation. Casey: My pleasure. Original article posted on Laissez-Faire Today The Freest Place in the World appeared in the Daily Reckoning. 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| Kyle Bass at AmeriCatalyst 2012 Posted: 26 Dec 2012 09:19 AM PST Spend some quality time with Kyle Bass at the AmeriCatalyst 2012 Conference in Austin, Texas this past October. "The Engtanglement." More... He is introduced on stage very quickly by AmeriCatalyst founder and CEO Toni Moss, the host of the show and architect of its program." This is not a presentation one should view while multi-tasking. It is worthy of full attention and sharing. (Embedding apparently turned off for this video. Use the link below.)
(Thanks to Ed Steer for the link.) |
| Fascinating Tour of the International Space Station Posted: 26 Dec 2012 08:18 AM PST Take a tour of the International Space Station hosted by Captain Sunita (Sonny) Williams just prior to her return to Earth in the video linked below. We get a taste of what it is to live and work in near Zero G. Captain Williams safely landed in Kazakhstan November 18, 2012 following a 127-day tour and command of the ISS. It was her second stay on the orbiting craft. Video at the link below. Enjoy. Source: NASA via Wimp.com |
| Golden Christmas Presents For You Posted: 26 Dec 2012 07:08 AM PST Merry Christmas to you, from the gold market! To receive your first present, please, click here now! You are looking at GDX, which I consider to be the best proxy of senior and intermediate gold stocks. Double click on the chart, to fully expand it. There are bullish technical non-confirmations "all over the board" here. RSI and the 4,8,9 MACD series are particularly impressive. These indicators are making higher highs while GDX makes minor new lows, which is extremely bullish chart action! |
| Twenty Reasons to Buy Silver for the Long-Term! Posted: 26 Dec 2012 07:05 AM PST I believe that silver could go to $60 per ounce from today's price of just $30 by the end of 2014. That would be double from today's current prices in just a little over two years! I also believe silver will be the best single investment of this decade. The following article is focused on why I think that you should seriously consider having a significant percentage of your investment portfolio in silver. |
| Posted: 26 Dec 2012 06:16 AM PST Buried in Bloomberg last Friday, was an article published which quietly reminded the markets a clearinghouse system collapse is still a possibility. It was interesting that the article was published just before the holiday retreat and no doubt attracted very little attention. In the article, former banking executive Satyajit Das breaks down just how easily a clearinghouse system collapse could occur. It could be as simple as a single trader loading up on too many futures contracts, and in a collapsing market, failing to meet a margin call: "Das sketched a scenario where a large trader fails to make a margin call. This kindles rumors that a bank handling the trader's transactions — a clearing member — is short on cash. Remaining clients rush to pull their trading accounts and cash, forcing the lender into bankruptcy. Questions begin to swirl about whether the remaining clearing members can absorb billions in losses, spurring more runs. "Bank customers panic, and they start to withdraw money," he said. "The amount of money needed starts to become problematic. None of this is quantifiable in advance." The translation of that simply means: The layers of leverage in the system are so great, that a single customer default can lead to a bank default, which can lead to a clearinghouse default, which can lead to a financial system default. The article goes on to quote a former futures trader and now college finance professor in saying, "Clearinghouses have been oversold as a way of preventing Armageddon…I just don't think that realistically you can exclude the possibility that taxpayers could be at risk." Lastly, the most interesting comment of all, was that of Lloyd Blankfein, when following the signing of the Frank-Dodd bill (which was designed to reduce financial system risks) he said, "We have to make sure that something that we do to reduce the risk in a once-in-a-20-year storm doesn't increase the risk in a once-in-a-50-year storm…The regulatory push might make clearinghouses 'the biggest systemic risk in the world.'" Reading Between The Lines In being street smart and understanding the real story is always telegraphed between the lines rather than on them, we must conclude that financial survival in today's day and age requires real things and real assets. Real assets are gold, silver, farms, commodity production, real estate and more. Additionally, for stocks in commodity companies, an education of "direct registration" and "paper share certification" may be a key to your financial survival. Corporations and hedge funds are already using these methods, and details on them can be found in my recent report entitled, "BulletProof Shares – How To Protect Your Stock Investments From Broker Bankruptcy & Theft". All the best in the days ahead, |
Lord Padmanabha, the presiding deity of Thiruvananthapuram, also known as Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala, who is depicted as reclining on a gigantic snake, Anantha, suddenly went up in the estimation of his devotees recently, when it was 
On this lackluster Boxing Day dominated by illiquid moves in every asset class, we thought a few succinct minutes spent comprehending the US and European government policies of social welfare and their outcomes was time well spent. Canadian MP Pierre Poilievre delivers a rather epic speech destroying the myths of US and European 'wealth' noting that "Once the US citizen is in debt, the US government encourages them to stay in debt," noting that "the US government encouraged millions of Americans to spend money they did not have on homes they could not afford using loans they could never repay and then gave them a tax incentive never to repay it." His message, delivered seamlessly, notes the inordinate rise in the cost of all this borrowing, adding that "through debt interest alone, soon the US taxpayer will be funding 100% of the Chinese Military complex." From Dependence to Debt to the Welfare State and back to Dependence, this presentation puts incredible context on the false hope so many believe in the US and Europe. Must watch.
My Dear Extended Family,
RJ O'brien Senior Commodities Broker Phil Streible was on Bloomberg this morning, and when asked by the host for his #1 commodities pick for 2013, Streible responded:
"Investors are getting high on housing recovery," writes a skeptical Dan Amoss. "The consensus view says housing is off to the races."
The month-to-month change was not a big deal — down 0.1% from September to October — but the annual increase is the biggest since May 2010, when the market was coming off the sugar high of the homebuyer tax credit.
Every time this index hit 20%… a recession has followed. In 46 years, this has happened six times.
Behold, the newest innovation in gold bullion — the "CombiBar."
"Private investors in Switzerland, Austria and Germany are lining up to buy gold bars the size of a credit card that can easily be broken into 1 gram pieces and used as payment in an emergency," according to Reuters.
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