The Prez appears to have been quite the Hawaii pot head.

Buzzfeed has what at first seems a hilarious take on the President and his serious weed smoking days. It’s a must read: A User’s Guide to Smoking Pot with Barack Obama.

But there is another [...]]]> lewrockwell.com / by Robert Wenzel / May 28, 2012

The Prez appears to have been quite the Hawaii pot head.

Buzzfeed has what at first seems a hilarious take on the President and his serious weed smoking days. It’s a must read: A User’s Guide to Smoking Pot with Barack Obama.

But there is another side to the story, the Prez as serious hypocrite. Firedoglake has that side of the story:

Details from a new book Barack Obama: The Story contains in-depth details about his frequent marijuana use as a young man. Although Obama admitted to using marijuana in his memoir Dreams From My Father, we now learn for example that Obama was a frequently indulging aficionado who was a big fan of hot boxing in cars. While Obama’s past marijuana use is treated as merely a funny anecdote, his hypocrisy on the issue of marijuana and the destruction his continued support for prohibition causes is no laughing matter.

In 2010 roughly 850,000 Americans were arrested for marijuana related offenses of which the vast majority was for possession. That means since Obama took office it is likely well over 2.5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana. Millions arrested for committing the same basic “crime” our President often committed during his youth.
While Obama was lucky enough not to get a criminal record for his mostly harmless marijuana use, hundreds of thousands of other Americans this year were not as fortunate, especially young African American and Latino males who are disproportionately arrested at much higher rates for marijuana. Many of these young people will be burdened with a records that could permanently hurt their employment prospects and they will lose the federal support they need to attend college.
If Obama were a young man today and got arrested for his marijuana use under our currently policy, the negative consequences from such an arrest could easily have stopped him from ever becoming President. Clearly, the actual use of marijuana didn’t hurt Obama by making him less successful, but the consequences of our prohibition easily could have. But not only does Obama support maintaining this current drug policy, which is more damaging to people than the drug itself, but his administration has taken the federal war against medical marijuana to new heights.

Contrast this with Ron Paul, who I seriously doubt has ever taken one puff of weed in his life. (He told me that it was only recently that he started drinking red wine.). Yet, it is Ron Paul who wants to eliminate federal drug laws. If he were president, he would pardon those in jail for federal drug offenses and disband the DEA.

That’s the difference between a man of principle who favors liberty for all and a scheming elitist like President Obama. Dr. Paul. just wouldn’t touch weed, but as a man in favor liberty, he wouldn’t bother with anyone else who chose to use it. President Obama, on the other hand, as an elitist, views himself above the law. For him to be a Hawaii pot head was just fine, but now, in power, he uses the power of federal government to crush those who now do what he did.

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You don’t need [actual] deflation—a reduction in the outstanding supply of money—to have markets react to a decrease in the rate of money supply growth…, anticipate the eventual deflation [and begin to price it into the market. Remember 2008?] Oil prices fell from $147 in July [...]]]> munknee.com / by Lorimer Wilson / May 28, 2012

You don’t need [actual] deflation—a reduction in the outstanding supply of money—to have markets react to a decrease in the rate of money supply growth…, anticipate the eventual deflation [and begin to price it into the market. Remember 2008?] Oil prices fell from $147 in July of 2008 to $33 per barrel by early 2009. The S&P 500 went into free-fall starting in September of 2008 and bottomed out in March of 2009—falling almost 50% in six months. This is what has already happened to the gold mining sector but, remember, central banks may be on a counterfeiting holiday right now but they have a history of taking very short vacations.

So says Michael Pento (www.pentoport.com) in a recent article posted on King World News.

The article can be read in its entirety here.

Related Articles:

1. Deflation is Starting to Show Up; Can Hyperinflation Be Far Behind?

A look at the status of the economy, and in particular money supply, shows that deflation is starting to show up. Below are 7 charts that support that view.

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The introduction to the article has been provided by Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!). This paragraph must be included in its entirety in any re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.

GREAT REVIEW OF LAST NIGHT MAX KEISER’S STAND UP RAGE!

RULES OF CAPITALISM: IF BANKS obey the rules of capitalism and make a bad debt they should go bankrupt, the outspoken US financial analyst and former stockbroker Max Keiser said [...]]]> maxkeiser.com / by Stacy Herbert / May 28, 2012

GREAT REVIEW OF LAST NIGHT MAX KEISER’S STAND UP RAGE!

• Bad debt banks ‘should go bankrupt’

RULES OF CAPITALISM: IF BANKS obey the rules of capitalism and make a bad debt they should go bankrupt, the outspoken US financial analyst and former stockbroker Max Keiser said at an event in Dublin yesterday.

“If they are capitalists they should obey the rules of capitalism; if you make a bad debt and screw up then you’ve got to pay the consequences. You can’t go to the government and get a bailout . . . that’s not capitalism, that’s not even socialism, that’s crapitalism,” Mr Keiser said in a talk marked by black economic comedy.

Mr Keiser also referred to the case of Anglo Irish Bank, saying there was no such thing as a “bond fairy” which should have allowed the bank’s unsecured bondholders to get paid. “There is no argument that can be substantiated for paying off that bond.

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Barack Obama may have got worse high school grades than George W Bush after new evidence showed the current president was among a college class with poor average SAT scores.

Doubts about the supposedly superior intellect of Mr Obama were first raised after he refused to release [...]]]> lewrockwell.com / by Eddie Wrenn / May 28, 2012

Barack Obama may have got worse high school grades than George W Bush after new evidence showed the current president was among a college class with poor average SAT scores.

Doubts about the supposedly superior intellect of Mr Obama were first raised after he refused to release his academic record.

He has also made some factual errors during his time in the job – although he is still a very long way behind his gaff-prone predecessor.

But now it has emerged that Mr Obama was among a 1981 intake of transfers to New York’s Columbia University that was at the time branded one of the worst ever.

The president, who moved from Occidental Community College in Los Angeles, was among 67 students whose average combined math and verbal score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test is a 1,100, according to a report obtained by Breitbart News.By comparison, Mr Bush – who earned a history degree from Yale in 1968 – got 1206 out of a possible 1600 points in the same test he took at Andover boarding school in Massachusetts.If Mr Obama, who majored in political science at Columbia, were near the average of that year, it would mean he had worse high school grades than a president derided by many as the dumbest in history.Of course, Mr Obama went on to distinguish himself by going on to earn the second highest honour in a graduate law degree at Harvard.

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With Blythe and Jamie having Monday off, I am guessing we can expect bullish signals from silver heading into the week of May 28, and this is what we have seen early on in Sunday trading on May 27.

The JP Morgan stock has seen a double-top, [...]]]> silvervigilante.com / by SV / May 28, 2012

With Blythe and Jamie having Monday off, I am guessing we can expect bullish signals from silver heading into the week of May 28, and this is what we have seen early on in Sunday trading on May 27.

The JP Morgan stock has seen a double-top, the last one in February-April of 2011, and the current one transpiring now, coincidentally (?) in the wake of all the bad publicity the bank has received.

Alongside that last top in the JP Morgan stock price, we saw explosive action in silver. As further resistance is piled on the JP Morgan stock price as increasing amounts of top executives begin to defect amid a flood of negative news for the bank, I suspect we will start seeing strength in silver.  JP Morgan will be forced into cash and they will not be able to throw as many shorts at silver as they need in order to keep the price at down.

Unlike last time around when silver had to rise in price considerable before the JP Morgan stock price had the silver price conflated, this time around the silver price does not need to move much in order to take out the JP Morgan stock price.  Soon the silver price will conflate with the JP Morgan price, sending signals to the markets to sell JPM and to go long silver, which they will – the symbolism is too familiar to too many market participants. This psychological element will boost silver alongside all of the fundamentals underneath the metal.

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It didn’t take the Iranians long to find a way around the US’ use of the SWIFT payment system as an economic weapon. Iran’s Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani stated Saturday that Iran has already activated an alternative payment clearing system to SWIFT.

The US appears [...]]]> silverdoctors.com / by the Doc / May 28, 2012

It didn’t take the Iranians long to find a way around the US’ use of the SWIFT payment system as an economic weapon.
Iran’s Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani stated Saturday that Iran has already activated an alternative payment clearing system to SWIFT.

The US appears to have shot itself in the foot by encouraging Iran and by proxy, India, Russia, China, Japan, and the rest of Iran’s trading partners to move further from the US dollar as a reserve currency by shutting Iran out of the SWIFT system.

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mahmoud Bahmani says the country has designed and implemented a new system for conducting international transactions.

Bahmani said on Saturday the new system, which has already been activated, would replace Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)

On March 15, SWIFT CEO Lazaro Campos said in a statement that the society has decided to discontinue offering services to Iranian banks which are subject to financial sanctions imposed by the European Union.

On January 23, the EU foreign ministers approved new sanctions on Iran’s financial and oil sectors, which prevent member countries from importing Iranian crude or dealing with its central bank.

Experts believe that SWIFT’s new action is meant to fully enforce EU sanctions, as global financial transactions are impossible without using SWIFT.

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Europe’s political problems are hogging the headlines, with good reason. So much debt is coming due so soon that big decisions about Greece and Spain have to be made within the next couple of months to avoid a systemic melt-down.

But the US has some [...]]]> safehaven.com / by John Rubino / Mon, May 28, 2012

Europe’s political problems are hogging the headlines, with good reason. So much debt is coming due so soon that big decisions about Greece and Spain have to be made within the next couple of months to avoid a systemic melt-down.

But the US has some deadlines of its own, with no consensus on what to do about them. Consider:

Congress staring over edge of ‘fiscal cliff’
For Congress, the outlines of the pending fiscal crisis are clear: Don’t do a thing, and watch the economy slip into a double-dip recession early next year. Or cancel the looming tax increases and spending cuts, watch the deficit rise, and push the government ever closer to a European-style debt crisis.

That decision was put in stark terms Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office, which in a new analysis said the economy will plunge into a recession early next year if Congress lets taxes rise and spending be cut, as called for under the law.

But if Congress changes the law to keep taxes low and spending high, it could add more than half a trillion dollars to the deficit in 2013, marking a fifth straight year of trillion-dollar deficits and risking the patience of the country’s creditors.

The CBO numbers come just as the debate is heating up on Capitol Hill over how to handle the looming “fiscal cliff,” which Congress created by continually pushing off tough decisions on both taxes and spending.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, signaled Tuesday that he will allow the automatic spending cuts called for in last year’s debt deal to go into effect — culling billions of dollars from defense and domestic spending — unless Republicans agree to allow taxes to increase on at least some taxpayers.

“If Republicans want to walk away from the bipartisan spending cuts agreed to last August, they will have to work with Democrats to replace them with a balanced deficit-reduction package that asks millionaires to pay their fair share,” Mr. Reid said.

Republicans remain adamant that the lower income- and investment-tax rates passed in 2001 and 2003 under President Bush, and extended in 2010 under President Obama, must be extended again.

“No economy can sustain such a hit without being hurled into recession,” said Sen Orrin G. Hatch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees tax policy.

One thing both sides say they agree on, however, is the need to act now.

Last week, House Speaker John A. Boehner kicked off the conversation, drawing a line in the sand in saying that he won’t allow another increase in the federal government’s debt ceiling unless it’s matched dollar-for-dollar with future spending cuts — just as the 2011 debt deal was.

Mr. Boehner also signaled he was open to ending some special tax breaks, as long as the money was used to bring down tax rates for everyone. He acknowledged there would be some who would pay more and some who would pay less.

But Democrats said much of the extra money the government would generate by closing those loopholes should go to funding the promises already made on spending, such as Social Security, Medicare and regular domestic spending.

The list of expiring laws reads like a taxpayer’s worst nightmare: The alternative minimum tax would bite ever deeper, last year’s 2-percentage-point payroll-tax cut would disappear, business-investing tax breaks would end, and almost all of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would expire. Meanwhile, some tax increases from Mr. Obama’s health care law are slated to begin biting in January.

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I have written about envy and its effects for almost 40 years. I was first alerted to the problem in an article written by Murray Rothbard: “Freedom, Inequality, Primitivism, and the Division of Labor.” He summarized the findings of the book written by a sociologist whose [...]]]> garynorth.com / by Gary North / May 28, 2012

I have written about envy and its effects for almost 40 years. I was first alerted to the problem in an article written by Murray Rothbard: “Freedom, Inequality, Primitivism, and the Division of Labor.” He summarized the findings of the book written by a sociologist whose name I knew well, Helmut Schoeck. Schoeck had co-edited a series of books I owned, published by the William Volker fund in the early 1960s. I bought the book, and it had a profound effect on my thinking.

The book’s thesis is this: envy is different from jealousy, and it is even more destructive. Jealousy is where someone says: “You have what I want. I cannot get it on my own. So, I am going to take yours away from you by force, preferably through politics.”

Envy is different. Envy is where someone does not say anything, but he thinks the following: “You have what I want. I know that I can never get it. I am going to destroy what you have, so that you will not be able to enjoy it.” It is the politics of arson.

Schoeck made an observation: you can negotiate with somebody who is jealous. Maybe you can figure out a way that you could share some of what you have, and he will be bought off. This is surely what goes on in modern politics.

The author made another point: you cannot negotiate with somebody who is envious. The fact that you are in a strong enough position to offer him something of value further enrages him. He resents the fact that you have so much that you might be willing to give up a little of it in order to placate him. It is your position of strength that angers him. He wants to strip you of any sign of superiority over him. He does not want to become beholden to you. If he gained anything as a result of a negotiation, he would still feel as though you were in a stronger position than he is. He would far rather see you devoid of whatever it is that you have than gain anything from you.

In other words, you can deal with the jealous person; you cannot deal with the envious person. Envy is therefore a sin that it is almost impossible to deal with in somebody else.

The problem is, it is very difficult to deal with in ourselves.

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Memorial Day 2012: To the International Banksters, We the people know your crimes. We mourn the fallen heroes you took from us through your contrived wars. But we celebrate the heroes who are still with us. Heroes like Dr. Ron Paul who have the courage to stand against you. And like Dr. Paul, we [...]]]>

Memorial Day 2012: To the International Banksters, We the people know your crimes. We mourn the fallen heroes you took from us through your contrived wars. But we celebrate the heroes who are still with us. Heroes like Dr. Ron Paul who have the courage to stand against you. And like Dr. Paul, we the people stand against you – We stand for Liberty. We are fully awake.

Bad stuff, they say, comes in threes. We’ve already got the banking and the eurozone sovereign debt crises. Next comes the corporate funding crisis.

Just as you thought things couldn’t get any worse, credit markets are about to be hit by a veritable tsunami of [...]]]> telegraph.co.uk / Jeremy Warner / May 28, 2012

Bad stuff, they say, comes in threes. We’ve already got the banking and the eurozone sovereign debt crises. Next comes the corporate funding crisis.

Chris Duane, the Silver Shield, joins us to discuss the unsustainable global economic system and the advent of the big break. Chris is very much in the silver market, and he, along with many others, feels the anxitey and tension building. Rumors of big silver orders being placed are running rampant, and according to [...]]]>

Chris Duane, the Silver Shield, joins us to discuss the unsustainable global economic system and the advent of the big break. Chris is very much in the silver market, and he, along with many others, feels the anxitey and tension building. Rumors of big silver orders being placed are running rampant, and according to Chris, the end of this summer seems like the most probable time for the big market break to happen. Chris knows this is the time to buy, and he has been frequently buying over the last week in a half, picking up all the bottoms as they’ve come along.

Back in 2007, BP sold its Coryton refinery, one of the largest in the UK, to Swiss refiner PetroPlus for $1.4 billion. Fast forward 5 years later where we find that shortly after PetroPlus filed for bankruptcy, and was forced to proceed with a firesale of [...]]]> zerohedge.com / by Tyler Durden / May 28, 2012

Back in 2007, BP sold its Coryton refinery, one of the largest in the UK, to Swiss refiner PetroPlus for $1.4 billion. Fast forward 5 years later where we find that shortly after PetroPlus filed for bankruptcy, and was forced to proceed with a firesale of its assets, the European end demand market is so abysmal that a buyer could not be found for even a 30% off firesale. As Reuters reports, following a failure to sell Coryton for the low, low, price of $1 billion, the refinery, in dire need of CapEx investments, will be shutting down, and taking about 10% of UK refining capacity with it. “Insolvent Swiss refiner Petroplus’ Coryton refinery in the UK is likely to close after its administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Monday that it had failed to find a buyer that could pay $1 billion for the site. Petroplus filed for insolvency in December after it could not meet its debt obligations. “The current economic environment, the challenge of raising $1 billion (£625 million) of funding for the refinery, including the $150 million capital expenditure ‘turnaround’ project ultimately proved prohibitive in the face of an over supplied European refinery market for both buyers and investors.” The Coryton refinery has a capacity to process about 175,000 barrels of crude oil per day and additional 65,000 barrels per day of feedstock. Richard Howitt, the local member of the European Parliament said: “It’s a bitter blow for the workforce…I think the process was flawed and that the government should have stepped in.” It will be an even more bitter blow to the island nation’s motorists who will suddenly find themselves facing with other spiking prices, a shortage of gasoline, or some combination of both.

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Royal Bank of Scotland holds its annual meeting for shareholders, where it is expected to avoid an investor revolt over pay, and the latest house price figures are out.

Economic week ahead

It is a relatively quiet week for scheduled economic indicators in the UK, with the focus likely [...]]]> telegraph.co.uk / May 27, 2012

Royal Bank of Scotland holds its annual meeting for shareholders, where it is expected to avoid an investor revolt over pay, and the latest house price figures are out.

Now this is creative — and destructive.

Spain is considering using debt issued by the government or its bank-rescue fund instead of cash into the Bankia group, using a mechanism that would free it from raising the money from investors.

The government hasn’t made a decision on whether to [...]]]>

market-ticker.org / May 28, 2012

Now this is creative — and destructive.

Spain is considering using debt issued by the government or its bank-rescue fund instead of cash into the Bankia group, using a mechanism that would free it from raising the money from investors.

The government hasn’t made a decision on whether to use its debt to recapitalize the nationalized lender and will decide in two or three months, a spokesman for the Economy Ministry, who asked not to be named in line with its policy, said in a phone interview today. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said at a Madrid news conference today the government hadn’t spoken to theEuropean Central Bank about such a step.

Debt, of course, is not cash.   It does “improve” a bank’s asset-to-liability ratio.

Well, in theory anyway — note the quotes.

Why?

Because the improvement assumes that the debt you put into the bank (“gifted”, if you will, although in this case it’s in exchange for ownership!) is money good.

If it’s not then the paradox is that it will make the situation worse!

Spain has a “wee problem” in this regard in that their government bond yields are going higher.  Bond values trade as an inverse of yield. This is likely to drive the yields higher still, and values lower still.  The key is whether this continues once the capitalization move is made; if it does, then the rot gets much worse in a big hurry.

In short this is an outright scam to avoid forcing the liquidation of the bad debt and recognition of the losses that have already happened.  It is exactly what Paulson .et.al. were doing with TARP and the rest of the mess here in America — we “gave” the banks enough capital to make them “look” good then we changed the law so they could lie in perpetuity about the “value” of their “assets” and until and unless someone forced them to actually pay (e.g. at maturity) they could get away with it.

Let’s assume for a moment that instead of these bank scams we instead had the federal government literally counterfeit $100 bills and mail them to people.  Remember, The Federal Reserve is the one who directs the printing of currency at the BEP, so we’ll assume there’s another little shop off the West Wing that has a clandestine printing outfit in it.

But these bills are a bit defective, you see — they aren’t official BEP emissions and the point is to put them into the system without anyone knowing.  So what we would do at the same time is pass laws that make the examination standards for “real money” less and less stringent, so the fakes the White House emitted would pass!

That’s what was done in 2009 here in the United States with the FASB threats and it’s what’s being done now in Spain.  Rather than force the bad debt into the open, default it, accept the credit contraction that comes with it and clear the slate, making way for actual economic progress, we are instead continuing to shove the old, rotting fish further under the carpet, using up cans of air freshener by the case and praying that nobody notices the maggots.

It’s all a scam and we are reaching the point where this entire mess will go prompt critical.  As Spanish bond yields continue to blow out the market will force discipline.  Oh sure, there will be those who think Germany will “blink”, but let’s not forget that Germany can’t, on a sustainable forward basis, carry the entire Euro zone.

Nor should it try.

This is no small gambit either — the Bankia “rescue” is approximately 1/3rd of Spanish GDP.  To presume that this will not in any meaningful way impact the Spanish budget deficit is a howler of unprecedented proportion, and using existing government bonds rather than selling new debt to raise the money is an admission that Spain knows they can’t raise the funds in the market on commercially-reasonable terms.

Expect the market to lean into this admission shortly; the odds have just gone up materially that while Greece may be the trigger, it is Spain that will provide the “main charge” for the detonation over in Europe.

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The person who has caused global stock markets so much consternation by daring to play chicken with Germany until the bitter end conducts a  no holds barred interview with Germany’s Spiegel. There is little love lost between the Syriza leader and the Germans, who were quite surprised [...]]]> zerohedge.com / Tyler Durden / May 28, 2012

The person who has caused global stock markets so much consternation by daring to play chicken with Germany until the bitter end conducts a  no holds barred interview with Germany’s Spiegel. There is little love lost between the Syriza leader and the Germans, who were quite surprised to find a political leader who is willing to play blink with Germany, with the ECB, and the developed world until the very end, or June 17, whichever comes sooner. Tsipras’ bottom line: “We’re trying to convince our European partners that it’s also in their interest to finally lift the austerity diktat.” Alas, the European “partners”, as evidenced by Lagarde’s Guardian interview this weekend, have an image of Greece as a bunch of lazy tax evaders, who only seek to mooch on the German teat, resulting in 60% of Germans now pushing for Greece to be kicked out of the Euro, consequences be damned. Nothing new there. What is curious is Tsipras’ answer to the question everyone wants to ask: “If Greece ultimately exits the euro, you will also bear some of the blame. You promised your voters the impossible: retaining the euro while breaking Greece’s agreements with the rest of Europe. How can such a plan find success?” His response: ” I don’t see any contradiction in that. We simply don’t want the money of European citizens to vanish into a bottomless pit…we think these resources should also be put to sensible use: for investments that can also generate prosperity. Only then will we in fact be able to pay back our debts.” Presumably this means that Greece infrastructure projects will not be commanded from the same location in the Athens ministry of finance which houses the now legendary following data room.

Yet the line that will draw the most ire out of the already exhausted German taxpaying public is the following:

“if our economic foundation is completely destroyed and the decisions of an elected Greek government are not responsible for it but, rather, certain political forces in Europe. Then they too will be guilty, for example Angela Merkel.”

Well, in the US, it is all Bush’s fault; in Greece, it appears to be Merkel.

Anyway, here is the full Spiegel interview, full of so much confusion, chaos, contradictions on all sides, that we urge a Blood alcohol level of at least 0.1 before commencing reading.

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Forty years ago, a group of researchers at MIT ran a study to address the question of how humans would adapt to the physical limitations of a finite planet. That study became the book, “Limits to Growth”

It should have been a starting point for a critical discussion at the national — or even [...]]]>

Forty years ago, a group of researchers at MIT ran a study to address the question of how humans would adapt to the physical limitations of a finite planet. That study became the book, “Limits to Growth”

It should have been a starting point for a critical discussion at the national — or even global — level. It could have led to the birthing of many practical and then-implementable initiatives that may have brought our unsustainable demographic, industrial and consumptive behavior under better control. But sadly, the book instead became a lightning rod for controversy. And decades later, the issues it warned of loom larger than ever.

In this interview, Chris discusses our collective failure to act on this book’s message with Jorgen Randers, one of the authors of “Limits to Growth” as well as a new book “2052 — A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years.”

While there are some differences in opinion between Jorgen and Chris, particularly on the acuteness of our resource predicament, both agree that continuing to pursue the status quo will result in a poorer quality of life for most of the world’s denizens. We increasingly appear to be facing a future shaped either by design or disaster, and unless we actively decide to change our behavior intelligently, the latter outcome will prevail.

dont-tread-on.me / By Silver Shield / May 27, 2012

Here is the much anticipated Part 2 discussion about our future Societal Operating System. While most of the alternative media thrives on the negative aspects of a dollar collapse, the Silver Shield Report goes beyond that, in establishing a positive, intellectual foundation of our new [...]]]>

dont-tread-on.me / By Silver Shield / May 27, 2012

Here is the much anticipated Part 2 discussion about our future Societal Operating System. While most of the alternative media thrives on the negative aspects of a dollar collapse, the Silver Shield Report goes beyond that, in establishing a positive, intellectual foundation of our new paradigm. In this particular Report we stop focusing on the collapse and all of the negative aspects of humanity going through the anger phase of the awakening. We focus on what positive things the aware and prepared can do to create our own paradigm.

I push beyond the initial vision of the Ultimate Exit Strategy and explore particular strategies that we can do to create the most successful civilization in human history. We have the ability to not only transfer our wealth from one paradigm to another, we will be able to partner with hundreds of other thoughtful, aware and prepared community members to buy the Allodial Title on the best deals on land since the Louisiana Purchase. From there we will set about creating the fertile foundation for explosive growth and show humanity that the freest and fairest society will produce the happiest, safest and wealthiest community in human history.

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mises.org / By Patrick Barron / May 28, 2012

The euro is in trouble. That is not news. What is news is that people with deep pockets are willing to pay for economists to provide a solution. Lord Wolfson has offered a £250,000 prize for the best way a country can exit the European [...]]]>

mises.org / By Patrick Barron / May 28, 2012

The euro is in trouble. That is not news. What is news is that people with deep pockets are willing to pay for economists to provide a solution. Lord Wolfson has offered a £250,000 prize for the best way a country can exit the European Monetary Union (EMU). Five finalists for the prize were announced in March. The winner will be announced in June.

None of the five finalists — Neil Record, Jens Nordvig, Jonathan Tepper, Catherine Dobbs, and Roger Bootle — advocates a return to sound money; all assume that new, national fiat currencies will float; and all assume that unproductive countries will benefit from devalued new currencies. The theory is that a devalued currency will spur export-driven economic growth. Furthermore, they have little confidence that economic reforms — which they all, by the way, do recommend — will be achieved in the near term and see devaluation as a quicker alternative. But will this work? First a word about devaluation itself.

Devaluing against Gold

Historically, devaluation of a currency referred to its relationship to gold. Gold could not be expanded in any appreciable amounts very quickly. It had to be dug up, minted, and placed into circulation at some expense over a long period of time. Coin clipping and substituting a base metal for some percentage of the gold in coins were early means of money debasement. Later, paper currencies could be expanded as quickly and as cheaply as the mint could run paper through its presses, but even this pales in comparison to these electronic times in which money can be expanded to any amount desired at the click of a mouse. Devaluations occurred, of course, even when governments admitted that gold was money. Notable examples are the Swiss devaluation in 1936, detailed so succinctly by Mises in Human Action, and America’s shocking 69 percent devaluation in 1934. Both of these, and others like them, were considered shameful and self-serving acts. Devaluation was tantamount to an admission of fraud. The country’s central bank had printed and circulated more units of currency than it could redeem at the currency-to-gold price it had promised its trading partners. This, of course, had disastrous effects on everyone who held contractual promises to be paid in gold.

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safehaven.com / By Ron Woods / May 28, 2012

The outlook for gold is better today than it was in 2001 when it ended a 20 year bear market. Gold is a hedge against inept and corrupt government. However this note is not about gold, at least not the yellow metal that is being [...]]]>

safehaven.com / By Ron Woods / May 28, 2012

The outlook for gold is better today than it was in 2001 when it ended a 20 year bear market. Gold is a hedge against inept and corrupt government. However this note is not about gold, at least not the yellow metal that is being re-discovered by millions of people around the world as a means of protecting their savings and wealth.
White gold refers to Sugar, the stuff in almost everything we drink. Sugar was once called “White Gold”, until the late 18th century sugar was exclusively used by the then “upper class” to demonstrate their status.

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mineweb.com / By Ross Norman / May 28, 2012

Gold is currently doing what every other business sector is doing – just ‘sitting on its hands’ as shellshocked politicians and economists try to unravel the complexities of the global economic meltdown.

LONDON (SHARPS PIXLEY) -

It would be tempting to ask whether gold really [...]]]>

mineweb.com / By Ross Norman / May 28, 2012

Gold is currently doing what every other business sector is doing – just ‘sitting on its hands’ as shellshocked politicians and economists try to unravel the complexities of the global economic meltdown.

LONDON (SHARPS PIXLEY) -

It would be tempting to ask whether gold really is still a safe haven asset. With events of epic proportions taking place in financial markets gold sits relatively mute with a price action defined by narrow ranges and declining volumes and volatility. Hardly what many would expect but then many things are behaving out of character.

The best explanation of gold’s modest gyrations is quite simply that it is very simply trading inversely with the US dollar to the exclusion of almost every other influence that normally comes to bear on it. Prevailing dollar strength manifests itself best perhaps in India where prices are at or near all time highs. The fact that gold anomalously mirrors the Euro and equities is an indirect result of something else – and that is the dollar … end of.

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irishtimes.com / By Pamela Duncan / May 28, 2012

RULES OF CAPITALISM: IF BANKS obey the rules of capitalism and make a bad debt they should go bankrupt, the outspoken US financial analyst and former stockbroker Max Keiser said at an event in Dublin yesterday.

“If they are capitalists they should obey the rules [...]]]>

irishtimes.com / By Pamela Duncan / May 28, 2012

RULES OF CAPITALISM: IF BANKS obey the rules of capitalism and make a bad debt they should go bankrupt, the outspoken US financial analyst and former stockbroker Max Keiser said at an event in Dublin yesterday.

“If they are capitalists they should obey the rules of capitalism; if you make a bad debt and screw up then you’ve got to pay the consequences. You can’t go to the government and get a bailout . . . that’s not capitalism, that’s not even socialism, that’s crapitalism,” Mr Keiser said in a talk marked by black economic comedy.

Mr Keiser also referred to the case of Anglo Irish Bank, saying there was no such thing as a “bond fairy” which should have allowed the bank’s unsecured bondholders to get paid. “There is no argument that can be substantiated for paying off that bond.”

READ MORE

kereport.com / By Al Korelin / May 28, 2012

From Mark Grant

We’re Not In Wonderland Anymore, Alice!

“You may call it ‘nonsense’ if you like,” she said, “but I’ve heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!” -The Red Queen

Greece Through the Looking Glass

With all of [...]]]> zerohedge / Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/28/2012 07:58 -0400

From Mark Grant

We’re Not In Wonderland Anymore, Alice!

“You may call it ‘nonsense’ if you like,” she said, “but I’ve heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!”
-The Red Queen

Greece Through the Looking Glass

With all of the talk of Greece leaving the Eurozone and forfeiting the Euro as its currency; what if it does not? That, my friends, is now the question. The current estimation of Greece’s GDP is $308.3 billion. All of the debt of Greece, direct, derivatives and guaranteed is $1.3 trillion giving the country an actual debt to GDP ratio of 421.67%. You may recall all of the talk, all of the pandering words spit out by the IMF and the European Union that the new austerity measures would take the Greek debt to 120%; all nonsensical and a nonfactual expression of a very fantastic and fairy tale imagination. If someone has actually stepped through the looking glass I suspect it is Christine Lagarde. Perhaps she is Alice’s granddaughter? In my estimation she must have eaten some of the cake because her reputation has dwindled as she and Greece fell down the rabbit’s hole.

“There comes a pause, for human strength will not endure to dance without cessation; and everyone must reach the point at length of absolute prostration.”

-Lewis Carroll

Since those false exclamations the economy of Greece has, in fact, shrunk like a grape in the process of becoming a raisin. Austerity has had an effect of the Greek economy, that much is true; it has caused it to whither like an autumn vine on a dead oak tree. Not only is the economy in decline by -9.6% but the expenditures are exceeding the budget by $2.5 billion each and every month; it is a sinkhole, a vast expanse of quicksand where anything and everything is going down. With a population of 10,768,000 the people of Greece could not pay the debt they have accumulated if they stood on their tiptoes and spat Euros at the sun. The current situation is, without doubt, an impossible contrivance that could have been avoided, was not avoided, and there is no way to climb the wall of this financial cliff without, in one way or another, blowing up the wall.

“The time has come”, the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing wax —
Of cabbages — and Kings —
And why the Sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.”

-Tweedledee

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While the Spanish government feverishly attempts to wrap up the country’s euphemistic financial system reform, the ever-expanding black holes, multiple balance-sheets restructuring with infinite amounts of public funds and reiterated calls for the need to further consolidate financial institutions seem to be setting up the stage for a [...]]]> elconfidencial / J. Luis Martín / 05/28/2012

While the Spanish government feverishly attempts to wrap up the country’s euphemistic financial system reform, the ever-expanding black holes, multiple balance-sheets restructuring with infinite amounts of public funds and reiterated calls for the need to further consolidate financial institutions seem to be setting up the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy of Mayan proportions.

Hopefully, this time around, we can learn from the not-so-ancient Mesoamericans’ hard-learnt lessons of the dangers implied in the state breaking the rules of free market capitalism when bailing out institutions and interest groups at the taxpayers’ expense. If we don’t, at least the endgame should not take anyone by surprise.

A financial debacle revisited

Mexico’s 1994-1995 crisis was seeded in the country´s financial sector reform, which began under President Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1989; a process which involved the banks’ privatization, as well as deregulation to modernize the country’s financial markets. This was a U.S.-sanctioned process that helped to pave the road to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

A legion of foreign expert consultants and financial institutions were hired to assist in the process of equity valuation, drafting of prospectuses, and effectively selling the banks. The problem was not rooted in the concepts of privatization and free markets, of course, but rather in the perverse strategy the government connived to pick winners from the start.

There were two fundamental criteria applied to the privatization process of Mexican banks. First, foreign buyers were excluded from such a process. Since the mere suggestion of “privatizing strategic national interests” in a country like Mexico was (and still remains) equivalent to invoking the devil, the notion of keeping the nation’s financial decisions at home played well among the most patriotic politicians. Considering how things played out in the end, keeping foreigners out proved to be a populist yet ultimately futile dose of nationalism.

Mexicans were right to be concerned, however, about the potential dangers of relinquishing control of their banking system to foreign capitals, especially during times of crisis. In fact, if Mexicans raised an eyebrow when the BBVA repatriated a sizeable amount of capital a couple of years ago, they would be right to be even more nervous now that Madrid struggles with its own financial disaster.

The second criterion in the banks’ privatization was not formal, however, but a presidential decision: to prevent former bank owners from participating in the bids. The logic for leaving the old bankers out was that they would be hard to control and that they would know better to not accept the government’s valuation of the banks.

There was one exception (there always is): Agustín Legorreta, a former banker whose brother had been in charge of Salinas’ campaign fundraising. Legorreta would end up owning Comermex bank. And so, it all started with banks being sold at an average three-time their book value. However, who would accept this? The answer is plain: buyers who would not have to risk their own money.

The scheme led to a rather creative domestic consolidation of the Mexican banking sector in favor of hand-picked industrial groups, which played out like this: bank “A” would lend money to group “X” to buy Bank “B”, which in turn would lend money to group “X” to repay bank “A.” Indeed, just as circular as the Mayan Calendar.

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commodityonline.com / May 28, 2012

NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold prices are under pressure trading below $1600 but given the bullish macro-environment, concerns over long term inflation and continued central bank buying, the near-term prospects for gold is bullish, according to Barclays Capital.

Barclays said that it is retained a positive view on gold, [...]]]>

commodityonline.com / May 28, 2012

NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold prices are under pressure trading below $1600 but given the bullish macro-environment, concerns over long term inflation and continued central bank buying, the near-term prospects for gold is bullish, according to Barclays Capital.

Barclays said that it is retained a positive view on gold, given the on going market uncertainty, lower interest rate environment, concerns over longer-term inflation and continued central bank buying.

Fundamentals and investor interest seem to be bearish with exchange traded products (ETP) fund flows turning negative and CFTC data shows gross short positions are at their highest since September last year while net fund length as a percentage of open interest is at only 26%. Volume traded in Shanghai Gold Exchange is falling below the monthly average and annual average.

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From July 2nd all Iranian oil sales to the European Union and Australia will stop, and many other nations such as South Korea have joined the embargo. Meantime. Iraq has quietly ramped up oil production to three million barrels per day and will overtake Iran sometime this autumn.

Rarely has [...]]]> arabianmoney / 28 May 2012

From July 2nd all Iranian oil sales to the European Union and Australia will stop, and many other nations such as South Korea have joined the embargo. Meantime. Iraq has quietly ramped up oil production to three million barrels per day and will overtake Iran sometime this autumn.

Rarely has a nation exposed to sanctions been confronted by such unity as Iran. Even sales of oil to China come at a huge discount, the sting in the dragon’s tail. Iran’s only regional ally Syria is mired in a de facto civil war.

Business squeeze

It may still be safer on the streets of Tehran than Baghdad but there is no doubt which city is the better place to be doing business. And actually Baghdad has recently hosted two major diplomatic meetings without incident, includiing ironically the inconclusive Iranian nuclear talks.

These talks resume in Moscow next month. Iran is the all the poorer while they drag on. The ineffiicient old fashioned dhows from Dubai mainly carry essential foodstuffs these days, not consumer goods. Trade is down by more than half.

The Iranian rial has crashed this year losing more than half its value. Capital has left the country with rich Iranians buying homes in Dubai. Gold is the new currency of choice with oil sold to China for gold. Oil production is at its lowest for a decade.

At the same time Iraq is earning around $9 billion a month from oil sales and rising. Internal security is still an issue but economics and social stability do generally improve at the same time.

READ MORE

edegrootinsights.blogspot.com / May 28, 2012

When Harry Schultz talks, people listen (see video).

Schutlz’s intel suggests the inevitability of liquidity to infinity to retain control. While it may take weeks/months to unfold, it could be just enough time for the invisible hand to finish its operation to regain control in gold, silver, equities, and [...]]]>

edegrootinsights.blogspot.com / May 28, 2012

When Harry Schultz talks, people listen (see video).

Schutlz’s intel suggests the inevitability of liquidity to infinity to retain control. While it may take weeks/months to unfold, it could be just enough time for the invisible hand to finish its operation to regain control in gold, silver, equities, and forex markets.

For instance, when silver’s spreading activity (SA) and diffusion index (DI) exceed 80% and 60%, respectively, it suggests that the cycle of increasing D-wave panic is near completion. The green circles reveal how these setups preceded the big rallies of 2006-07, 2008, and soon 2012 (see chart 1).

READ MORE

acting-man / by Pater Tenebrarum / May 28, 2012

Something Has Changed

When we wrote the last update on gold and gold stocks on May 7, the Greek election results had just been received. Another leg down in the gold price started right around that time and as usual, the decline was magnified notably [...]]]>

acting-man / by Pater Tenebrarum / May 28, 2012

Something Has Changed

When we wrote the last update on gold and gold stocks on May 7, the Greek election results had just been received. Another leg down in the gold price started right around that time and as usual, the decline was magnified notably in the gold stocks. However, since then, the long streak of underperformance of gold stocks against gold has markedly reversed.

At the same time, no notable changes have occurred in sentiment yet – trader sentiment on gold remains at the low end of a multi-year range, in spite of the fact that the CME has just lowered margin requirements for gold futures for the second time (likely the work of the gold bug fifth column hiding at the CME that is trying to manipulate the price upward).

To be sure, the massive sell-off in gold stocks never made much sense. Note that this is a comment that refers to objectively ascertainable facts, such as developments in gold’s real price and the gold price in terms of foreign currencies. Both are as a rule more important for gold mining margins than the nominal dollar price of gold.

Meanwhile, gold priced in US dollars has built a descending triangle that most people probably interpret as a bearish chart formation. However, such triangles have been formed in previous consolidation periods as well and the outcome was as a rule not bearish on these occasions. Gold has had a tendency of  consolidating  gains in triangles at every degree of trend since the 1970′s (even the entire bear market from 1980 to 2000 consists of a large descending triangle).

READ MORE

Yesterday I got to spend the day with Jay Taylor, a fellow radio guy, who’s sites include www.MiningStocks.com and www.JayTaylorMedia.com. Jay’s a former financial guy, who used to write a small newsletter as a hobby. Eventually, his hobby became his passion and he started writing full time and doing radio. He’s as passionate as [...]]]>

Yesterday I got to spend the day with Jay Taylor, a fellow radio guy, who’s sites include www.MiningStocks.com and www.JayTaylorMedia.com. Jay’s a former financial guy, who used to write a small newsletter as a hobby. Eventually, his hobby became his passion and he started writing full time and doing radio. He’s as passionate as yours’ truly and honest and completely authentic, which is why we hold him in such high esteem as the Financial Survival Network. We went to a Yukon Mining Presentation and there were a number of good companies presenting. This sector, is the casualty of the gold and silver manipulation scheme. Many of them are worth more dead than alive. But more importantly, the fund managers present had absolutely no concept of what’s going to hit the US and World economies shortly. And that was truly alarming.

azizonomics / John Aziz / May 28, 2012

President Obama’s teenage gang called themselves the Choom Gang, choom being their slang word for marijuana. They developed a marijuana-oriented culture:

As a member of the Choom Gang, Barry Obama was known for starting a few pot-smoking trends. The first was called “TA,” short for “total absorption.” To [...]]]>

azizonomics / John Aziz / May 28, 2012

President Obama’s teenage gang called themselves the Choom Gang, choom being their slang word for marijuana. They developed a marijuana-oriented culture:

As a member of the Choom Gang, Barry Obama was known for starting a few pot-smoking trends. The first was called “TA,” short for “total absorption.” To place this in the physical and political context of another young man who would grow up to be president, TA was the antithesis of Bill Clinton’s claim that as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford he smoked dope but never inhaled.

Along with TA, Barry popularized the concept of “roof hits”: when they were chooming in the car all the windows had to be rolled up so no smoke blew out and went to waste; when the pot was gone, they tilted their heads back and sucked in the last bit of smoke from the ceiling.

When you were with Barry and his pals, if you exhaled precious pakalolo (Hawaiian slang for marijuana, meaning “numbing tobacco”) instead of absorbing it fully into your lungs, you were assessed a penalty and your turn was skipped the next time the joint came around.

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commodityonline.com / May 28, 2012

LONDON (Commodity Online): Gold to keep outperforming the other precious metals (mainly Silver and PGMs) this year, yet also suggests the yellow metal faces some near-term downside risk should the unstable outlook in Europe lead to more strength in the U.S. Dollar, said Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in [...]]]>

commodityonline.com / May 28, 2012

LONDON (Commodity Online): Gold to keep outperforming the other precious metals (mainly Silver and PGMs) this year, yet also suggests the yellow metal faces some near-term downside risk should the unstable outlook in Europe lead to more strength in the U.S. Dollar, said Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany, in a weekly commodities report.

“However, the significant liquidation in speculative length is providing a more supportive positioning environment for the sector, in our view,” the German bank added.

Frankfurt based bank continued that, the reduction in net length by speculators may be drawing to a close as the speculative community moves toward its lowest speculative net length since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

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bbc.co.uk / May 27, 2012

The insurance market Lloyd’s of London is preparing contingency plans for the possibility of the euro collapsing, its chief executive has said.

With Greece facing new elections in June and anti-bailout feelings high, there are fears Athens may be forced to exit the eurozone.

In a Sunday Telegraph interview, [...]]]>

bbc.co.uk / May 27, 2012

The insurance market Lloyd’s of London is preparing contingency plans for the possibility of the euro collapsing, its chief executive has said.

With Greece facing new elections in June and anti-bailout feelings high, there are fears Athens may be forced to exit the eurozone.

In a Sunday Telegraph interview, Richard Ward said Lloyd’s needs to “prepare for that eventuality”.

He said that Lloyd’s would settle claims using multiple currencies.

Mr Ward is one of the first bosses of a large UK business to admit he is planning for the end of the euro.

Lloyd’s of London is a market in which syndicates meet brokers and agree to take on particular risks.

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chasvoice.blogspot.com / By Henry Shivley / May 27, 2012

In 2008 the mortgage derivative fraud/scam was discovered as the bubble burst. The largest central banks were wiped out, literally by their own hand. Congress surrendered its power over allocations to the Treasury Department and Henry Paulson was named Treasury Secretary.

Then the American people [...]]]>

chasvoice.blogspot.com / By Henry Shivley / May 27, 2012

In 2008 the mortgage derivative fraud/scam was discovered as the bubble burst. The largest central banks were wiped out, literally by their own hand. Congress surrendered its power over allocations to the Treasury Department and Henry Paulson was named Treasury Secretary.

Then the American people were told that they were going to have to replace the wealth that had been stolen through the toxic derivatives because these privately owned central banks were too big to fail, thus the failure was dumped onto the people.

$32 trillion was stolen. $32 trillion was borrowed in the name of the American people, leaving those people in generational bonded servitude. Now the thieves had only to collect the wealth.

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mjperry.blogspot.com / May 27, 2012

WASHINGTON — “The Obama administration may be getting tougher with China on trade on behalf of U.S. producers seeking to reduce foreign competition, but its approach in dealing with Beijing on the thorny currency issue remains patient diplomacy, especially because China’s currency policy does generate huge cost advantages for [...]]]>

mjperry.blogspot.com / May 27, 2012

WASHINGTON — “The Obama administration may be getting tougher with China on trade on behalf of U.S. producers seeking to reduce foreign competition, but its approach in dealing with Beijing on the thorny currency issue remains patient diplomacy, especially because China’s currency policy does generate huge cost advantages for American consumers and businesses purchasing their products.

The Treasury Department, in its semiannual report Friday on exchange-rate policies, once again refrained from labeling China a currency manipulator — an accusation that would embarrass Beijing and trigger negotiations and possibly even lead to U.S. sanctions that would raise prices for American consumers and businesses purchasing Chinese imports.

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bullionstreet.com / May 28, 2012

Beginning June 21, the United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the first collectible bags and rolls containing coins bearing the “S” mint mark of the United States Mint at San Francisco.

WASHINGTON(BullionStreet): Beginning June 21, the United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the first collectible [...]]]>

bullionstreet.com / May 28, 2012

Beginning June 21, the United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the first collectible bags and rolls containing coins bearing the “S” mint mark of the United States Mint at San Francisco.

WASHINGTON(BullionStreet): Beginning June 21, the United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the first collectible bags and rolls containing coins bearing the “S” mint mark of the United States Mint at San Francisco.

The circulating quality coins are the first to be produced at the San Francisco facility in more than 30 years. The “S” mint mark quarters will not be released into circulation.

The first bags and rolls released will contain America the Beautiful Quarters coins honoring Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest, the first quarter released in 2012.

READ MORE

bbc.co.uk / May 25, 2012

IMF head Christine Lagarde has urged Greeks to pay taxes, saying she worries more about the plight of children in sub-Saharan Africa than the people of the crisis-hit European nation.

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Ms Lagarde suggested it was payback time for Greece.

Greece has pledged [...]]]>

bbc.co.uk / May 25, 2012

IMF head Christine Lagarde has urged Greeks to pay taxes, saying she worries more about the plight of children in sub-Saharan Africa than the people of the crisis-hit European nation.

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Ms Lagarde suggested it was payback time for Greece.

Greece has pledged to implement tough austerity measures in return for a multi-billion euro bailout.

But the deal is now under threat after inconclusive elections in May.

As Greece awaits a new poll in June, there are now fears that Athens may be forced to leave the eurozone.

This could potentially trigger a run on banks – not only in Greece but in other eurozone nations, experts warn.

READ MORE

bullionstreet.com / May 28, 2012

Euro, Asian Stocks Advance on Greece Optimism; euro rose for the first time in 5 days and Asian stocks rebounded from a five-month low after Greek opinion polls showed voters backing parties that support the European Union’s bailout, easing concern that the country will exit the currency bloc.

ATHENS(BullionStreet): Euro, [...]]]>

bullionstreet.com / May 28, 2012

Euro, Asian Stocks Advance on Greece Optimism; euro rose for the first time in 5 days and Asian stocks rebounded from a five-month low after Greek opinion polls showed voters backing parties that support the European Union’s bailout, easing concern that the country will exit the currency bloc.

ATHENS(BullionStreet): Euro, Asian Stocks Advance on Greece Optimism; euro rose for the first time in 5 days and Asian stocks rebounded from a five-month low after Greek opinion polls showed voters backing parties that support the European Union’s bailout, easing concern that the country will exit the currency bloc.

READ MORE

sovereignman.com / By Simon Black / May 24, 2012

Yesterday was my lucky day.

While hiking in the middle of nowhere around Lake Tahoe, I literally stumbled onto a 1-ounce US silver eagle coin, 1996 issue. It was just lying there on the ground without a soul in sight.

The coin was pretty muddy, [...]]]>

sovereignman.com / By Simon Black / May 24, 2012

Yesterday was my lucky day.

While hiking in the middle of nowhere around Lake Tahoe, I literally stumbled onto a 1-ounce US silver eagle coin, 1996 issue. It was just lying there on the ground without a soul in sight.

The coin was pretty muddy, but I managed to clean it off later with an old toothbrush and some elbow grease… at which point I decided to take my good fortune on the road for a little unscientific poll.

I’ve traveled to plenty of countries where the local population is very in tune with the prices of gold and silver, particularly in Asia, India, and the Middle East. It’s simply part of the culture.

In the developed world, however, people have much greater confidence in their paper currencies because they’ve been brainwashed since birth to believe their currencies are sound.

As such, I was not surprised by the results of my little informal survey.

Walking around the lakefront resort community where I’m staying, I stopped passers-by and explained to them how I had found this coin. Then I’d ask, “What do you think it’s worth?”

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thedailygold.com / By Jordan Roy-Byrne / May 28, 2012

Two weeks ago we proclaimed a major bottom could be imminent in the precious metals sector. Our basis for making the prediction was that the metals and shares were extremely oversold, breadth indicators were at 2008 levels, sentiment was contrarian bullish and markets were nearing [...]]]>

thedailygold.com / By Jordan Roy-Byrne / May 28, 2012

Two weeks ago we proclaimed a major bottom could be imminent in the precious metals sector. Our basis for making the prediction was that the metals and shares were extremely oversold, breadth indicators were at 2008 levels, sentiment was contrarian bullish and markets were nearing areas of strong support. In this missive we review the compelling evidence for this important bottom and discuss the potential fundamental driving forces for the start of the next cyclical bull market in this sector.

Two weeks ago GDX formed a bullish reversal at the 50% retracement (2008-2011) amid an all-time high in weekly volume. The market showed excellent follow through last week as it gained 7.9% on substantial volume. Also note that the 4-week moving average of the bullish percent index (a breadth indicator) reached the 2008 low.

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arabianmoney.net / May 27, 2012

It is very hard to find somebody bullish about the euro these days. That is usually a sign of a market bottom, and with all the trades stacked in one direction it only needs something to change and the whole market turns around.

A Greek exit from the euro [...]]]>

arabianmoney.net / May 27, 2012

It is very hard to find somebody bullish about the euro these days. That is usually a sign of a market bottom, and with all the trades stacked in one direction it only needs something to change and the whole market turns around.

A Greek exit from the euro is one such market changing event that looks very likely sometime quickly after the election on June 17th. Then again we are being myopic and only thinking about currency here.

Contagion effect

The wider fall out of the Greek tragedy is its contagion effect and we are already seeing it in Spain with higher rates on Spanish bonds ripping up bank balance sheets. Ditto Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland and Italy.

READ MORE

mcoscillator.com / Tom McClellan / May 25, 2012

American gold traders see gold prices in a downtrend, and wonder whether the December 2011 bottom will hold as a support level. There is not much to like in the chart of gold prices, as priced in U.S. dollars.

But European gold traders see a much [...]]]>

mcoscillator.com / Tom McClellan / May 25, 2012

American gold traders see gold prices in a downtrend, and wonder whether the December 2011 bottom will hold as a support level. There is not much to like in the chart of gold prices, as priced in U.S. dollars.

But European gold traders see a much different picture. The chart plot of gold prices measured in euros has now broken its declining tops line, and appears to be in a much more favorable configuration.

So who is right?

Generally speaking, when the dollar price of gold disagrees with the euro price, it is usually the euro price plot that ends up being correct about where both are heading. So there is important information to be gained by not just looking at each price plot, but also comparing the two.

These differences in behavior show up most obviously in the form of divergent tops or bottoms. If the dollar price of gold makes a higher high, for example, while the euro price makes a lower high, it is time to worry.

READ MORE

newworldeconomics.com / By Nathan Lewis / May 27, 2012

Today we have something a little special — a proposal for a gold standard system for the United States.

I’ve been making the point recently that a “gold standard system” is a system with two basic characteristics:

1) It has a policy goal: to maintain [...]]]>

newworldeconomics.com / By Nathan Lewis / May 27, 2012

Today we have something a little special — a proposal for a gold standard system for the United States.

I’ve been making the point recently that a “gold standard system” is a system with two basic characteristics:

1) It has a policy goal: to maintain the value of the currency at a specified ratio (or “parity” or “price”) compared to gold bullion. It is therefore a fixed-value system.

2) It has to have an operating mechanism which consistently and reliably achieves the policy goal, into the indefinite future.

Within this basic framework, you can devise a great many systems, each with their individual characteristics. That’s why the title of this piece is for “a gold standard system,” not “the gold standard.” We talked about this in greater depth earlier this year:

January 29, 2012: Gold Standard Technical Operating Discussions 3: Automaticity Vs. Discretion
January 15, 2012: Gold Standard Technical Operating Discussions 2: More Variations
January 8, 2012: Some Gold Standand Technical Operating Discussions

May 13, 2012: The “Gold Exchange Standard”
May 10, 2012: The Gold Standard System: Why and How?
February 9, 2012: What Is the Best Type of Gold Standard System?
July 28, 2011: Making Change: The Simplest Practical Gold Standard System
March 16, 2012: $100 Per Blender

Given this wide variety of options, what would be an appropriate system for the United States?

READ MORE

bullionstreet.com / May 28, 2012

ANKARA(BullionStreet): Europe’s largest gold producer,Turkey exported jewelleries worth $1.47 billion last year, up from $1.21 billion from 2010, according to Jewellery Exporters’ Association (JTR).

In a report, JTR said The 2011 figure is just below the record high $1.51 billion in 2008, just before the jewellery market saw a [...]]]>

bullionstreet.com / May 28, 2012

ANKARA(BullionStreet): Europe’s largest gold producer,Turkey exported jewelleries worth $1.47 billion last year, up from $1.21 billion from 2010, according to Jewellery Exporters’ Association (JTR).

In a report, JTR said The 2011 figure is just below the record high $1.51 billion in 2008, just before the jewellery market saw a decline in exports because of the global economic crisis.

Gold jewellery continues to dominate the Turkish export market as country’s jewellery exports also rose by 27 % during the same period.

READ MORE

acting-man.com / By Pater Tenebrarum / May 28, 2012

Something Has Changed

When we wrote the last update on gold and gold stocks on May 7, the Greek election results had just been received. Another leg down in the gold price started right around that time and as usual, the decline was magnified notably [...]]]>

acting-man.com / By Pater Tenebrarum / May 28, 2012

Something Has Changed

When we wrote the last update on gold and gold stocks on May 7, the Greek election results had just been received. Another leg down in the gold price started right around that time and as usual, the decline was magnified notably in the gold stocks. However, since then, the long streak of underperformance of gold stocks against gold has markedly reversed.

At the same time, no notable changes have occurred in sentiment yet – trader sentiment on gold remains at the low end of a multi-year range, in spite of the fact that the CME has just lowered margin requirements for gold futures for the second time (likely the work of the gold bug fifth column hiding at the CME that is trying to manipulate the price upward).

To be sure, the massive sell-off in gold stocks never made much sense. Note that this is a comment that refers to objectively ascertainable facts, such as developments in gold’s real price and the gold price in terms of foreign currencies. Both are as a rule more important for gold mining margins than the nominal dollar price of gold.

Meanwhile, gold priced in US dollars has built a descending triangle that most people probably interpret as a bearish chart formation. However, such triangles have been formed in previous consolidation periods as well and the outcome was as a rule not bearish on these occasions. Gold has had a tendency of consolidating gains in triangles at every degree of trend since the 1970′s (even the entire bear market from 1980 to 2000 consists of a large descending triangle).

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goldmoney.com / May 28, 2012

Gold had another decent day on Friday, rallying up from support at $1,550 to just shy of $1,575. Silver, platinum and palladium also rallied, somewhat surprisingly given that commodities and shares struggled (the Dow falling 0.6%) while US 10-Year Note fell by 4 basis points to 1.74% following news [...]]]>

goldmoney.com / May 28, 2012

Gold had another decent day on Friday, rallying up from support at $1,550 to just shy of $1,575. Silver, platinum and palladium also rallied, somewhat surprisingly given that commodities and shares struggled (the Dow falling 0.6%) while US 10-Year Note fell by 4 basis points to 1.74% following news that the Spanish government’s rescue of the troubled bank Bankia will cost $24 billion – more than double previous cost estimates.

Spain’s sovereign borrowing costs have continued to rise in trading this morning, though the Greek situation has improved with polls showing that pro-bailout parties are now ahead. After elections earlier this month failed to deliver a new government, Greece will hold another election in June 17. As things stand, the pro-bailout parties command enough of the vote to form a new coalition government.

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jsmineset.com / Jim Sinclair / May 27, 2012

Dear CIGAs,

The following intel came from Harry Schultz this morning: Euro bears be warned. There is more, but this is all I dare post.

Harry remains the main man in gold, currency and economic intel. Bravo to you Harry.

Behind the scenes at the G-8 [...]]]>

jsmineset.com / Jim Sinclair / May 27, 2012

Dear CIGAs,

The following intel came from Harry Schultz this morning: Euro bears be warned. There is more, but this is all I dare post.

Harry remains the main man in gold, currency and economic intel. Bravo to you Harry.

Behind the scenes at the G-8 and NATO summit meetings, some significant decisions were made that will impact over the coming weeks.

The critical decision at the G-8 meeting and several of the bilateral meetings that took place on the sidelines of the Camp David gathering centered on the decision to plunge ahead with the bailout of the European banks in an effort to save the Euro system, with Greece still inside. President Obama is terrified that a financial meltdown of the Euro system will spill over into Wall Street and result in his losing the November elections. Behind the scenes around Camp David, Christine Legarde put the IMF squarely behind a bailout of the European banks, with the full backing of the Federal Reserve and Treasury in the United States to boost the leveraged lending of the European Central Bank (ECB) to prop up the European banks. ECB will take junk bonds and other vastly over-priced assets as collateral for loans to the Spanish, Greek and other European banks. This will offset an additional estimated $500 billion in new write-offs by bondholders of Greek debt.

The bottom line is that if Greece leaves the Euro, the contagion will spread overnight to Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and, perhaps, even Italy. So, the IMF, the Obama Administration and the ECB are all on board to further delay the reality of the financial and banking crisis through hyperinflationary measures. The idea is that the situation will take many months to fully play out, and Obama and his re-election team hope that the system will hold together past the November elections.

In his sideline meeting with new French President Hollande, Obama reached a full agreement on this perpetuation of the Euro. This is an area where Hollande and Merkel will agree to disagree. They both want to defend the Euro, but Hollande will continue to insist that the austerity must be limited and a growth program initiated. This is actually impossible to accomplish, but this is the growing perspective of the Eurosocialists, including Hollande and his colleagues in Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). A majority of Greek voters are in favor of staying in the Euro, so long as the austerity is reduced.

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kingworldnews.com / May 27, 2012

With continued volatility in many of the key global markets, 40 year veteran, Robert Fitzwilson wrote this piece for King World News. Fitzwilson is founder of The Portola Group, one of the premier boutique firms in the United States. Here are Fitzwilson’s observations: “With markets becoming increasingly volatile, it [...]]]>

kingworldnews.com / May 27, 2012

With continued volatility in many of the key global markets, 40 year veteran, Robert Fitzwilson wrote this piece for King World News. Fitzwilson is founder of The Portola Group, one of the premier boutique firms in the United States. Here are Fitzwilson’s observations: “With markets becoming increasingly volatile, it is important to maintain perspective regarding what has transpired since the 2009 bottom in the equity and commodity markets.”

Robert Fitzwilson continues:

“Successful investors develop and follow an overall strategy. If one doesn’t have a strategy, it is easy to get whipsawed as volatility creates wide swings in prices. The volatility causes unprepared investors to liquidate declining holdings in a panic.

Indeed, market bottoms are usually characterized by a step-down, or ‘waterfall’ decline on heavy volume. In essence, the ‘flight’ emotion takes over and people tell their brokers and advisers to ‘get me out at any price.’ That pattern usually signals the end of an intermediate move. What serves to end the emotional panic, generally coincides with a negative effect on the person’s future financial condition….

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globaleconomicanalyst.blogspot.com / By Mike “Mish” Shedlock / May 25, 2012

Cash strapped Detroit has lost 60 percent of its population since 1950. What’s left is a sprawling mass of vacant, worthless homes stripped of copper and anything else worthwhile.

Does it make sense to have streetlight in these areas? What about paving cracked sidewalks? What [...]]]>

globaleconomicanalyst.blogspot.com / By Mike “Mish” Shedlock / May 25, 2012

Cash strapped Detroit has lost 60 percent of its population since 1950. What’s left is a sprawling mass of vacant, worthless homes stripped of copper and anything else worthwhile.

Does it make sense to have streetlight in these areas? What about paving cracked sidewalks? What about other services? Is anything salvageable?

To save money, huge sections of the city will be left to the rats. Then again, 40% of Detroit’s streetlights do not work already. By that measure, the city has long ago been left to the rats.

Bloomberg reports Half of Detroit’s Streetlights May Go Out as City Shrinks.
Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating almost half its streetlights.

As it is, 40 percent of the 88,000 streetlights are broken and the city, whose finances are to be overseen by an appointed board, can’t afford to fix them. Mayor Dave Bing’s plan would create an authority to borrow $160 million to upgrade and reduce the number of streetlights to 46,000. Maintenance would be contracted out, saving the city $10 million a year.

“You have to identify those neighborhoods where you want to concentrate your population,” said Chris Brown, Detroit’s chief operating officer. “We’re not going to light distressed areas like we light other areas.”

Delivering services to a thinly spread population is expensive. Some 20 neighborhoods, each a square mile or more, are only 10 to 15 percent occupied, said John Mogk, a law professor at Wayne State University who specializes in urban law and policy. He said the city can’t force residents to move, and it’s almost impossible under Michigan law for the city to seize properties for development.

As Detroit’s streets go dark, some of those neighborhoods may fade away with the dying light.

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