Tuesday, November 30, 2010

An I.M.F. Announcement on the Completion of Gold Sales due Soon by Julian D. W. Phillips

An I.M.F. Announcement on the Completion of Gold Sales due Soon by Julian D. W. Phillips: "All from the head of the World Bank down are also aware of the useful role that gold can play in acting as a ‘value reference point’.   Should this happen gold will have returned to the world of money in real terms, albeit  in a slightly different role to the one it had in the past.   We termed this in earlier issues of the Gold Forecaster as gold no longer being a ‘means of exchange’, but as a ‘measure of value’....

What happens to demand with a 400 tonne drop in supply?

A 400 tonne drop in supply in a balanced market will pressure the demand side to find more gold.

· With mine supply pretty inelastic there will be only a small additional flow from that source.
· With jewelry demand in the developed world back to former levels, only much higher prices will deter them.
· With industrial demand [particularly electronics] now a necessity, demand is unlikely to be deterred by higher prices.
· With demand in India after an excellent monsoon and good harvests and GDP growth at 8.9% Indians are keen to buy at these prices and will not be deterred except by sharply higher prices.
· With the Chinese middle classes expanding rapidly as that country continues to develop, demand from there will continue to grow and most likely irrespective of the rising gold price.
· Central Bank demand is unlikely to abate no matter what the price, because their interest is solely in acquiring tonnages of gold. We note that as part of their ongoing program of gold buying Russia also bought 18.66 tonnes in October [against the I.M.F. sale of 19.5 tonnes]. Not only are they buying local production but are present in the open market.

Consequently, the only additional source of supply will have to be scrap supply or supply from current holders. So we ask, “At what price will current holders sell?"

Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Day the Dollar Died by Inflationus (Youtube)

YouTube - The Day the Dollar Died: "

Are you ready for this?

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Gold separating from the US Dollar


King World News: "With gold and silver consolidating recent gains, King World News interviewed James Turk out of London.  When asked about the action in both gold and silver Turk stated, “I think the important point today is that gold has moved back above its short-term moving averages.  This should bring a great deal more buying into the market.  I was very impressed today that gold was strong in spite of the fact that the US dollar was up a full point.  Jim Sinclair has been bringing up this point, and it looks like he nailed gold separating from the dollar in terms of the action.”

Turk continues:

“The big shock here in London is the Irish bailout. Many were not expecting it, and when it was announced, the size of the bailout was the second shock. The implications are now that everyone is starting to look at Portugal and Spain. Portugal is a small player, so therefore its impact will be limited. Spain on the other hand is a big economy, it is larger than Ireland, Portugal and Greece put together.

So the interesting thing is once the Irish bailout is finished and a bailout is put together for Portugal, more than 50% of the 750 billion Euro stabilization fund will be used on these periphery countries. The question therefore becomes will there will be enough left in the fund for Spain? And don’t forget about Italy, who’s economy is as big as Spain’s.
..."

Saturday, November 27, 2010

The Euro Zone’s Timeout is Expiring! (Money & Marketing)


The Euro Zone’s Timeout is Expiring!

: by Bryan Rich | Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 7:30 am
"Now, the euro-member countries are in trouble for all of the reasons Milton Friedman, one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, cited prior to that currency’s inception a decade ago.

He said:

A “one size fits all” monetary policy doesn’t give the member countries the flexibility needed to stimulate their economies.

A fractured fiscal policy forced to adhere to rigid EU rules doesn’t enable member governments to navigate their country-specific problems, such as deficit spending and public works projects.
Nationalism will emerge. Healthier countries will not see fit to spend their hard earned money to bail out their less responsible neighbors.

A common currency can act as handcuffs in perilous times. Exchange rates can be used as a tool to revalue debt and improve competitiveness of one’s economy.

Friedman predicted the euro would succumb to these flaws and fail within 10 years. If Ireland represents the catalyst for round two of the European sovereign debt contagion, his timing may not have been too far off..."

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Preparing for The Big One, Coming Soon by Deepcaster

Preparing for The Big One, Coming Soon by Deepcaster: "Preparing for The Big One, Coming Soon ....
November 24th, 2010 
 
“Attempts to bail out the Irish banking sector via multinational loans will only increase debt burdens in Europe and lead to a nightmarish scenario there, says New York University economist Nouriel Roubini....

In any event, in the Middle and Long Term, Gold and Silver are the World’s Best Bets to rise dramatically in terms of all Fiat Currencies.

Thus they are the best Assets to Acquire on Dips and the best way to prepare for The Big One, Coming Soon...

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Muni Bond Market Imploding: How to Play It?


Muni Bond Market Imploding: How to Play It?

-- Seeking Alpha
: "While it was readily apparent years ago, and we were reminded again during the 2008-2009 financial crash, markets had temporarily forgotten that municipalities across the nation are virtually insolvent and should already have declared bankruptcy. If they have not yet “restructured” their debt, they should and they will. After decades of politicians writing checks the future generation couldn’t pay by way of lavish public spending sprees, unsustainable defined benefit programs for public workers and lousy investment schemes (Wall Street Collects $4 Billion From Taxpayers as Swaps Backfire), current investors are rightly questioning the ability to meet these debt obligations in the future.

Who Will Blink First?
This has traditionally been a calculus..."

The Key to Understanding "Recession" and "Recovery": The Wealth Pyramid

charles hugh smith-The Key to Understanding "Recession" and "Recovery": The Wealth Pyramid: "This goes a long way to explaining how 'consumer spending' can be 'recovering' even as the incomes of the bottom 80% stagnate or fall. The top 5% of Americans by income are responsible for 37% of all consumer spending-- about the same as the entire bottom 80% by income (39.5%).

David Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Reagan, recently noted in an editorial that the top 1% of Americans received two-thirds of the gain in national income from 2002 to 2006."

Sunday, November 21, 2010

There Was a Fed Chairman Who Swallowed a Fly by Peter Schiff

There Was a Fed Chairman Who Swallowed a Fly by Peter Schiff:

"On July 24, 2009, just as the Federal Reserve unleashed its first quantitative easing campaign (now called 'QE1' - an echo of the reclassification of the Great War after still more destructive subsequent developments), Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal to soothe growing concerns about excess liquidity. He assured the public that the Fed had an 'exit strategy.'

In a response entitled 'No Exit for Ben', I called the Chairman's bluff. I argued that the Fed had no exit strategy, and that Bernanke was trying to fool the market into believing that quantitative easing was not debt monetization. 

Just 16 months later, Bernanke is at it again, penning another op-ed to defend his second round of QE. Except this time, instead of feigning an exit strategy, he just outlines a path to expand the program in perpetuity.

In recent months, Fed economists have taken great pains to tell us how much better off the economy is now than it was in the first half of 2009. Given this supposed good news, what prompted the current turnaround in policy? Could it be, perhaps, that perpetual easing was the policy all along?...."

US$ about to Lose Reserve Currency Status ? by Mish


US$ about to Lose Reserve Currency Status ? by Mish
: "US$ about to Lose Reserve Currency Status ?
November 21st, 2010 by Mish's Global Economic Trend analysis.  
 
G-20 is over but the acrimony is not. Bloomberg reports China Assails Monetary Easing, Citing Inflation, Bubble Risks.
 
China renewed an attack on quantitative easing, citing the risk of increased prices in emerging economies, a day after the Group of 20 nations said the markets can adopt regulatory steps to cope...."

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Gold Will Rise Violently - Jim Sinclair

This is Late 1979, Gold Will Rise Violently

Jim Sinclair Nov. 18, 2010
"With gold heading higher today, King World News interviewed legendary trader Jim Sinclair. When asked about the action in gold Sinclair stated, “We have to be right in front of a major move in gold. Today the gold market had all of the indications of what would be considered by the old-time traders (Bert Seligman & Jesse Livermore) as a major turn. This would be a sign to them that the bulls are gaining strength in the market, and given any excuse it will rise violently..."

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

How to Prepare for the Next Banking Crisis - Whalen -- Seeking Alpha

How to Prepare for the Next Banking Crisis - Whalen -- Seeking Alpha: "Fees charged by Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB), and a mortgage origination cartel led by the big four banks (Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C)), are now 4-5 points on new origination loans versus less than 1 point during housing boom. Huge subsidy for largest zombie banks effectively blocks refinancing by millions of households.
These fees, which can add up to 7 to 10% of the face value of the loan, raise mortgage rates to borrowers by hundreds of basis points. Banks and the housing GSEs, however, saw significant benefits in declines in funding costs thanks to low fed funds rates."

Norton's comment: HOPE! I am a client and representative for a company that offers cash-flow management software to facilitate paying down your mortgage and debt fast so you do NOT need to refinance to free up cash and cut your interest charges. Check it out here www.moneymergeaccount.com/nortonwest

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Impact of Modernizing the American Poverty Measure on the Poverty Status of Older Persons

Impact of Modernizing the American Poverty Measure on the Poverty Status of Older Persons
"..The current official poverty rate does not provide adequate information about who is poor or whether key programs are helping to make progress against poverty.
According to a new PPI Fact Sheet by Ke Bin Wu of the AARP Public Policy Institute, The current official poverty measure understates persons age 65 or older in poverty, largely because it is based on outdated food consumption patterns and ignores the cost of health care. In 2008, the experimental poverty rate for persons age 65 older was 18.7 percent, which was almost double their current official poverty rate.
A new U.S. poverty measure is sorely needed. The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) that will be produced by the Bureau of the Census in 2011 and the Measuring American Poverty (MAP) Act of 2009 provide significant opportunities to generate a new official poverty measure...."


Norton: Another example of how govt. and corporations are NOT our friends! They play tricks with statistics to make them look good even though they are not meeting their responsibilities to the public!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Radical Difference Between Monetization 1 and QE2 by Daniel R. Amerman

Radical Difference Between Monetization 1 and QE2 by Daniel R. Amerman

By Daniel R. Amerman, CFA

Overview It's official: the Federal Reserve announced on November 3rd that it will create approximately $600 billion of new money to fund US Treasury bond purchases, and will also utilize another $250-$300 billion of money that had been previously created (also out of the nothingness). The usual term in the media for these planned purchases is "QE2", as in the second round of quantitative easing.

The "2" in "QE2" implies that this is something that has been done before. This implication is dead wrong....."

Sunday, November 7, 2010

World Gold Index Interactive

Good long term view of world Gold Index and how it can be projected into the future.
http://www.freestockcharts.com?emailChartID=641b2cbe-c278-4b70-b4f9-7e4e259baf96

Wednesday, November 3, 2010