Roubini And Milken Debate How Quickly The World Will Collapse


THEY’RE GOING TO BREAK UP THE BANKS


Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
33 states of the USA are headed for bankruptcy.
Ravitch: New York Deficit Could Swell to $15 Billion Next Year by Bob Hennelly
NEW YORK, NY April 29, 2010 —

New York’s $9.2 billion budget deficit is expected to balloon to $15 billion next year, according to Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch.
Speaking to a midtown audience of real estate developers, Ravitch said he does not expect the state to reach a budget deal any time soon, despite the state’s desperate fiscal situation. The budget is nearly one month late and Ravitch says there are no external triggers forcing lawmakers and the governor to act.
"States can’t go into bankruptcy. They are not included in the bankruptcy code," he says.
Today’s outlook is different from the city’s fiscal crisis of the 1970s when the state couldn’t find any lenders. Instead, he says, bankers are circling Albany with tempting offers.
"The financial community is ready to lend the state all kinds of money. They have 20-odd schemes they are suggesting about how the state can borrow money," Ravitch says.
More…





Thought For The Day
The cost for a Greek bailout to the citizens of the US via the IMF will be $100 billion.
Now there is a nice addition to the Federal Budget Deficit.





Please take note, this information was on a Canadian news station...I have never heard this on a U.S. station...

Jay Taylor tells BNN about loss of confidence in fiat currencies





James Turk: Gold needed now more than ever





Gold Hits 2010 High as Debt Concerns Linger- CNBC





Harrisburg PA Misses 2nd Bond Payment- Wall Street Journal





This should be interesting...

China to Launch 24-Hr English News Network- USA Today





Debt Misery Fuels Gold's Appeal- MarketWatch





Puerto Rican Banking Crisis Is US Liability- NY Times


While the Greece Fire Spreads, a Trade War Begins


Era of paper assets may be winding down


Gold Investment Demand Stays Strong, Price Climbs as Markets Dive


Holy Cow! The US Treasury is Taking Donations to Pay Down the Debt


Fiscal Commission Opens to Federal Reserve Chief's Dire Warning on US Deficit


A word to the wise...
If you have any extra cash you don't need for daily living expences, buy 1 oz .999 pure silver rounds with it from your local coin shop. Do not give your name when buying and pay in cash only.
It is about the only way for the little guy to try and protect himself from the oncoming hyperinflation.





"What is a Communist? One who hath yearnings for equal division of unequal earnings. Idler or bungler, or both, he is willing to fork out his copper and pocket a shilling." - Ebenezer Elliott

"The recent acceleration of the Euro price of gold illustrates how the Europeans are currently leading in the "race to the fiat bottom." Rest assured that this leadership will change frequently over the coming years as long as devaluation remains a politically viable option."




States Bristle as Investors Make Wagers on Defaults




In ‘Chair City,’ Budget Cuts are ‘Amputating’ Municipal Services




Meat Prices May Spike this Summer (Stock up your chest freezer now, and lay in a supply of canned meat! Since grain prices are remaining high, meat will probably be very expensive for the next few years.




Greece is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, Nouriel Roubini warns Greece is just the "tip of the iceberg” of a sovereign debt crisis that has the potential to derail a global recovery, Nouriel Roubini has warned. Published: 6:00AM BST 29 Apr 2010

Professor Roubini, the New York-based academic who was one of the few to anticipate the scale of the financial crisis, told a panel in California that the buildup of debt is likely to lead to countries defaulting or resorting to inflation to ease the burden on their populations.
“While today markets are worried about Greece, Greece is just the tip of the iceberg,” Roubini told the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. "The thing I worry about is the buildup of sovereign debt.”
Although Greece’s misreporting of the scale of its own debt has helped shatter investors’ faith, the southern European country is not alone in its struggle. The depth of the property bust in both Spain and Portugal has prompted the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the creditworthiness of both.
More…




Unemployment Challenges Obama's Narrative




Greece Cut to Junk at S&P as Contagion Spreads




When this happens...County and City workers will lose all their retirements...It happened in Georgia.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Considering Bankruptcy






Ask yourself why California and New York haven't been downgraded? Both are in substancially worse shape then any of the countries listed...
Spain Downgraded, Europe Debt Crisis Widens JWR Notes: Iceland, Greece, Portugal, and now Italy and Spain. Who is next?




Food Prices Rocket in North Korea. Lisa's comment: "The article says the prices change by the hour." Can another famine be coming to North Korea?


Canada considers eliminating the penny.




They are saying he will print money till we run out of trees...
Obama Nominees to Nudge Fed toward Easier Money- Wall Street Journal




This is really important, keep your eyes on it...They want to get out of holding U.S. Dollars before the Dollar collapses...watch and learn....watch and learn...
French and Chinese Discuss "New Monetary Order"- China Daily




Let's see...What do you think will happen when 1,000,000 Americans loose their only income, with no jobs available and are pushed out onto the streets? ALL AT ONCE...
1 Mln Jobless May Lose Aid due to Deficit Concern- Bloomberg




It's only a matter of time till your city follows...
US Cities Forced to Consider Bankruptcy- Financial Times




This is what happens when countries raise taxes too high...companies vote with their feet and head for greener pastures...
European Hedge Funds Plan Move to Asia- BusinessWeek

Roubini Says Euro Zone May Collapse Within Days
Sell as many paper and digital dollars as you can afford, by buying Silver and Gold. The dollar is NO safehaven period.
Gold Is Only 'Currency' to Buy
Greece 'Nearly Insolvent,' Bailout Won't Work: Roubini


ECB may have to turn to 'nuclear option' to prevent Southern European debt collapse



U.S. Debt to Hit $20 Trillion, Financial Times Warns


Your tax dollars are going to be used to bailout all of Europe...FACT
Greek borrowing costs hit high as Germany fuels uncertainty over aid.


Flipping houses is back in South Los Angeles


Europe debt crisis spreads to Portugal (Standard & Poors downgraded Greece and Portugal sovereign debt paper to "junk" status today.)


Stocks Pull Back on Europe's Deepening Debt Woes


Europe Debt Crisis Spreads to Portugal


What Gold Bubble?


Market Manipulation and Delusions of Prosperity (The Mogambo Guru)



Bloomberg Throws Dirt on the Graves of the Bond Vigilantes but 1-3-6 Sends A Warning Shot


S&P Cuts Portugal to A-, Greece to Junk- Bloomberg


Gold Hits 2010 High on Safe-Haven Bid- Financial Post


How China Is Moving Away from the Dollar- Financial Times


Costly IRS Mandate Slipped into Health Bill- Cato Institute


Bipartisan Consensus: Deficit Will Cause New Crisis- Financial Times


Even US Tech Felt '09 Crisis; Industry Begs for Aid- CBS News


If you think that none of this will change your daily life...your wrong... IT WILL DESTROY IT AND YOUR LIFESAVINGS...

YOU JUST CAN'T MAKE THIS KIND OF STUFF UP...

Prep for Coming Inflation: Chief Investor


Gold is the 'Only Currency' Now


Greece Just Tip of Debt Crisis Iceberg: Roubini


Coming to a neighborhood near you soon...

Ay, ay, ay: Two Illinois lawmakers ask governor to deploy National Guard to help quell gun violence in Chicago.



Gary and Marie K. were the first of several readers to send us this piece that originated from Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Prepping for the worst



must-read piece over at Seeking Alpha: Current U.S. Dollar Currency Controls



GM is using our tax dollars to repay our tax dollars to get more of our tax dollars at a reduced interest rate. A nice deal if you can get it.



Commercial Real Estate Losses and the Risk to Financial Stability. This U.S. Senate report begins: "The Congressional Oversight Panel's February oversight report, "Commercial Real Estate Losses and the Risk to Financial Stability," expresses concern that a wave of commercial real estate loan losses over the next four years could jeopardize the stability of many banks, particularly community banks. Commercial real estate loans made over the last decade - including retail properties, office space, industrial facilities, hotels and apartments - totaling $1.4 trillion will require refinancing in 2011 through 2014."



Time to pay the piper...and it's going to hurt...ALOT

White House warns of the dangers of huge deficits



Whoopieee a new dept czar...this should be fun...

Debt panel says Obama will approve debt findings (before they're even made!)



Wealthy Flee Britain over New Tax Policies- Daily Mail



Thanks obama

US Stocks Set to Fall on Deepening Unemployment- Bloomberg



States Bristle as Investors Wager on Defaults- Wall Street Journal



Brazil Rates Set to Surge- BusinessWeek



Barrick Gold Earnings Rise 143% in Q1- UK Telegraph



Off Wall St., Worries about Financial Bill- NY Times



WE ARE FREAKING DOOMED...IT WON"T BE LONG NOW...remember...

DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER...



Unemployment challenges Obama's rhetoric



Your city is next...

Pennsylvania city considers bankruptcy



More American Expatriates Give Up Citizenship. (And here is some commentary by Lew Rockwell.)



Ignored Story of the Week: Balance Sheets are Getting Ready to Eat some TSHTF Sandwiches



Jim Sinclair’s Commentary


It is coming here in the US. The EU is the straw man.


Banks Bet Against U.S. Cities, States


First Posted: 04-27-10 01:53 PM Updated: 04-27-10 03:01 PM


Amidst growing pessimism about the financial condition of U.S. cities and states, investors are increasingly buying financial instruments that essentially allow them to short sell – or bet against – cities and states, says a Wall Street Journal report.
Offered by banks like JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Citigroup, the so-called municipal credit default swaps can be used by investors to bet that insurance contracts protecting holders of municipal bonds will default.
Some states say the derivatives not only scare away potential buyers of municipal bonds by creating a perception of risk, but ultimately drive up states’ borrowing costs. Others contend that the instruments are traded too thinly to affect municipal bond markets or a state’s credit rating.
The California treasurer is just one of a number of state treasurers that have launched a probe into the sale of these derivatives and the sale of municipal bonds by big Wall Street firms that might reveal "speculative abuse of CDS in the muni market," says one regulator.
More…




Jim Sinclair’s Commentar


Mark my words. This is the beginning of the end.


States Bristle as Investors Make Wagers on Defaults By IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN APRIL 27, 2010


As U.S. cities and towns wrestle with financial problems, investors are finding a new way to profit on their misery: by buying derivatives that essentially bet municipalities will default.
These so-called credit default swaps are basically insurance contracts that have long been available to protect holders of corporate bonds against default. They became available a few years ago for municipal debt, allowing investors to short sell—or bet against—countless cities, towns and bridges, and more than a dozen states, including California, Michigan and New York.
The derivatives are still thinly traded, but their existence has the potential to make investors skittish about the issuers of the bonds that underlie them. That has been the case for issuers ranging from Greece to Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis. When the price of this insurance goes up, nervous investors have sold off securities issued by these entities.
The proliferation of the derivatives is angering treasurers around the country, who say the derivatives are sending a negative message and possibly driving up their costs of borrowing at a time when they need all the help they can get. California planned to send out letters as soon as this week to big Wall Street firms that sell its bonds, seeking in-depth information about their roles in selling derivatives.
"Firms that are underwriting our bond sales are then telling the purchasers maybe they need to buy a CDS reflecting some risk," California Treasurer Bill Lockyer said in an interview. "They are speaking with two tongues, and we want to find out whether that impacts us in an adverse way."
More…



Quote of the day...

"If you haven't prepared, after reading everything I have posted here for your benefit, then you are beyond help..."

Forget 10% Unemployment, The Real Job Loss Pain Number is 54%


Iceland reports record 34 percent inflation


The Fall of the Euro


Gold is 'Only Currency' Worth Investing: Strategist


Portuguese Five-Year CDS at Record High, Spread Wider. Can you spell D-E-F-A-U-L-T, boys and girls?


U.S. Food Inflation Spiraling Out of Control


NY State Weighs Emergency Borrowing- Wall Street Journal


US Shuts 7 More Banks; Year's Failures Rise to 57- NY Times


10 Cities Facing a Double Whammy of Default Risks


The Housing Crash Has Just Started; Get set for falling prices again. Round two is about to begin.


Greek Bond Market Crash, Greek Budget Deficit Worse Than Feared


Marc Faber Says Holding Cash Will Be A Disaster, Investors Should Accumulate Gold


Why are US Stocks an the US Dollar Rising?


The Devaluation of the US Dollar, Gold's Springboard


US Housing Market Crash Update, There's a World of Pain Ahead


Financial Reform Bill Will Devastate US Economy


US in the Midst of the Greater Depression, Fourth Turning Generational Crisis


US Debt - 'Short-Term Is Awful; Long-Term Is Hideous'- Washington Post


China Given #3 Seat at World Bank- CS Monitor


Some Americans can read the writing on the wall...can you?

More American Expats Give Up Citizenship- NY Times


Fannie Turns Today's Defaulters into Future Customers


Sen. Grassley: GM Didn't Really Pay US Back- Newsmax


Keep an Eye on Chinese Gold Consumption- Daily Markets


Jim Sinclair’s Commentary


There is no question in my mind that the US dollar will meet the downside estimates given.
Dollar, Euro, Pound Are All ‘Ugly Sisters,’ HSBC’s King Says April 26, 2010, 10:46 AM EDT By Jennifer Ryan


April 26 (Bloomberg) — The dollar, euro and pound are all unappealing investments, either because of policies of “benign neglect” or concerns on the euro region’s stability, said Stephen King, chief economist at HSBC Holdings Plc.
“It is a competition between ugly sisters, they are none of them particularly attractive” he said in an interview today in London. In the U.S. and U.K., “there will be a policy of a desire not so much to drive the currency low, but a policy of benign neglect. If the dollar weakens and sterling weakens, the authorities in those countries will be more than happy.”
The European Central Bank won’t want to see a weaker euro because that would imply a loss of investor confidence in the single currency, King said. The euro has dropped against the dollar and sterling on concern that Greece won’t get a rescue package to help it meet its debt payments.
“If the euro weakens, it’s more a worry about the stability of the euro zone and that’s more of a concern to the ECB,” he said. “You’ve got on the one hand the benign neglect approach from the States and the U.K., on the other you have the worries about the structural integrity of the euro, which is obviously weakening the euro.”
King’s book, “Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity,” will be published next month.
The euro is down about 1.5 percent against the dollar this month and traded at $1.3331 as of 2:39 p.m. in London. The currency has dropped 3.3 percent against the pound in the same period to 86.13 pence.
More…


Quote of the day...

When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it. –Frederic Bastiat

The End Is Near.
posted by HMS at Marc Faber Blog - 5 hours ago
"The end is near!" Marc Faber in CNBC.com, April 2010 "Agriculture commodities are building bottoming formations" Related stocks and ETF`s: PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (Public, NYSE:DBA), P...


Governments Will 'Bankrupt Us': Marc Faber



Gene Arensberg: Gold survives post-Goldman sell-down attempt


The Chicago Tribune posted a nice chart this morning from an article titled
National debt: A tsunami of red ink



Are Interest Rate Derivatives a Ticking Time Bomb?


Senate Panel Approves Derivatives Reform Bill. And for the inevitable back pedaling, here is press release from a Nebraska Senator's office on the legislation.


School Districts Around the Country Warn of Deeper Teacher Cuts


Job Seekers Too Picky?


Now this sounds like we have a great recovery underway...
Demand for US Made Durable Goods Tumble 1.3% as Orders for New Aircraft Plunged 67%


A Look at Global Economic Developments


These are supposed to be one of the safest things you could own...Sure they are...
14 Risks of Holding US Government Treasury Bonds


Will Gold be Bolstered by the Goldman Sachs Fraud Case?




Jim’s Mailbox Posted: Apr 26 2010 By: Jim Sinclair Post Edited: April 26, 2010 at 12:51 am
Filed under: Jim's Mailbox
Dear CIGAs,
CIGA Richard outlines the danger that the FASB, those we trust to keep auditing accurate, has placed us all in. They have made lies valid accounting values.
Richard’s work is clear, accurate and revealing.


Dear Jim,
The FDIC closed seven more banks this week, all of them in Illinois. Collectively, they had reported assets of $6.33 billion and deposits of about $5.80 billion.
The FDIC announced that its estimated cost of closing these banks is $974 million. It also announced that in connection with these closings, it entered into loss share agreements covering $3.81 billion in assets. That brings its total exposure on loss share agreements to about $145 billion so far in this crisis.
Based on the FDIC’s loss estimates, the actual value of the seven banks’ assets, represented to be $6.33 billion, was only $4.83 billion. That suggests that on average, bank management over-stated the value of these assets by at least 31%.
The largest of the seven banks closed was Amcore Bank, N.A., of Rockford, Illinois. Amcore had stated assets of $3.8 billion and deposits of $3.4 billion. The FDIC estimated its closing would cost $220.3 million, only about 6% of the value of its deposits. By that estimate, the true value of its assets is about $3.18 billion, and had been overstated by about 19%.
That’s a great result for the FDIC if its loss estimate for Amcore proves to be correct. However, an estimate this “optimistic” is troubling in the context of the FDIC having entered into a loss share agreement with respect to $2.0 billion of Amcore’s assets. If the assets perform worse than expected over the next eight to ten years, the FDIC’s actual loss could turn out to be many times this initial estimate.
Looking at the six other banks closed this week, their reported assets totalled $2.53 billion, their deposits amounted to $2.4 billion, and the estimated cost to close them was $754 million – about 31% of deposits. Based on this estimate, their assets were over-valued by about 53%. These statistics are in line with what has been seen throughout this crisis.
As usual, there were several closings this week that were particularly chilling in their implications for the true health of the banking sector. The second largest of the banks closed, Broadway Bank of Chicago, Illinois, had stated assets of $1.2 billion and deposits of $1.1 billion. The FDIC estimated it would cost $394.3 million – about 36% of deposits – to close the bank, meaning it believed the real value of Broadway’s assets to be about $706 million. Based on that estimate, Broadway’s management over-stated the value of its assets by 70%.
Lincoln Park Savings Bank of Chicago, Illinois, had stated assets of $199.9 million and deposits of $171.5 million. The FDIC’s estimated cost of closing the bank was $48.4 million, about 28% of deposits. That means it believes Lincoln Park’s assets are really worth about $123.1 million, and had been over-valued by about 62%.
Given the steady flow of bank closings this year, it is remarkable to observe how little attention they are given by the mainstream press. The simple device of reporting these closures on Friday evenings pretty much ensures they receive little if any coverage.
The New York Times reported on November 24, 2009, that the FDIC’s insurance fund showed a negative balance of $8.2 billion as of the end of the third quarter of 2009. By my calculations, the FDIC has reported an additional $18.8 billion in projected losses since that time.
That means that the FDIC has already burned through at least $27 billion of the $45 billion in emergency funding it raised by requiring banks to pre-pay three years’ worth of insurance premiums. That does not even take into account any additional losses that may have resulted from closings costing more than the FDIC originally estimated.
Given that (1) bank closings continue unabated, and (2) the FDIC has already guaranteed the value of about $145 billion of the closed banks’ most dubious assets, it stands to reason that the remaining $18 billion has been wiped out as well, or will be within a matter of weeks. From that point forward, all additional losses will fall directly on the U.S. taxpayer. Quantitative easing is guaranteed to continue unabated.


Respectfully yours, CIGA Richard B.






Quote of the day.

"If you are in the hip pocket of any political party, prepare to be sat on." - Dr. Gary North

US Faces Second Lost Depression, Why This Recession Is Different And What To Do About It


Enjoy The Recovery While it Lasts, Inflation, Global Conflicts are Coming


Government goes high-tech to redesign $100 bills. RBS warns that with each currency change, there is the risk of the advent of a blocked currency. "That is where there is one variety of note for Domestic use only and one species for foreign use." JWR Adds: It is noteworthy that U.S. Postal Service Money Orders are already marked "Valid only in the U.S. and Possessions." Currency controls are coming, folks!


Greek debt crisis gets worse as EU revises figures


If The US Economy Falls Will It Result In A Complete And Total Collapse Of Society?


Escalating Greek Default Fears Rock Europe's Debt Markets


Insight's into America's Disneyland and Our "Neo-Feudalistic, Gulag Casino Economy"


Wholesale Prices Rise in March as Food Costs Jump

DAILY BLOG UPDATE # 183

Gold Most Likely to Double: Puru Saxena
http://www.kitco.com/reports/KitcoNews20100412J2.html


Gold Run Not Over: Marc Faber
http://www.kitco.com/reports/KitcoNews20100412J.html


Police: 89-Year-Old Fires Gun At Intruder. Commenting on the police kindly reloading the revolver for the old woman, Paul notes: "This is great!!! Community policing at it's best."
Watch the video.



I stumbled upon this headline…The ONLY way you can protect yourself financially, is to purchase Gold and Silver...

Bloomberg’s Offshore Millions

In the article, I found this bombshell…
“According to an extensive review of the mayor’s financial records by The Observer, even as Mr. Bloomberg was trying to counter the loss of taxes and other income from the richest New Yorkers, the foundation he controls was in the process of shuttling hundreds of millions of dollars out of the city and into controversial offshore tax havens that would produce nothing at all for the city in terms of tax revenue.

Aram Roston, New York Observer

While begging New Yorkers to keep their tax dollars in state (and in the “state’s pockets”) Mayor Bloomberg was quietly taking his money offshore.
How much did he move offshore? About $290 million dollars!


GM Repays $8.4 Billion Bailout in Full. Oh but wait... GM Used Bailout to Repay TARP Loans, Senator Says



The Grudge Match Over Your 401(k)


The IRS Goes Clubbin'.


US to Shine Light on Derivatives Trading When/if the SHEEPLEZ finds out what has happened the game will be over...Got GOLD and SILVER? You'll need it...


IMF Trims Estimate of Losses From Financial Crisis


I hope they are right...Buy on the dips...If it drops a little buy a little, If it drops alot then buy alot...
More Downside Risk Ahead for Oil and Gold


If you believe this... then I have a beautiful bridge to sell you in San Francisco...cheap
Biden talks more crap then a North Korean radio station...
FACT 90-95+++% of ALL the news you hear about the economy is either spin or pure lies.
The Government needs to keep the SHEEPLEZ quiet while they are being lead to slaughter.
Economy Will Create 500,000 Jobs a Month: Biden



Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Two comments:
1. Big deficit is no problem when you call your handy dandy fraudulent OTC derivative dealers.
2. Greece is the straw man that is taking the attention off failing US states and GB’s record Federal Deficit.

State debt woes grow too big to camouflage Economist: ‘When an accident is waiting to happen, it eventually does’ By Mary Williams Walsh updated 2:02 p.m. ET, Tues., March. 30, 2010
California, New York and other states are showing many of the same signs of debt overload that recently took Greece to the brink — budgets that will not balance, accounting that masks debt, the use of derivatives to plug holes, and armies of retired public workers who are counting on benefits that are proving harder and harder to pay.
And states are responding in sometimes desperate ways, raising concerns that they, too, could face a debt crisis.
New Hampshire was recently ordered by its State Supreme Court to put back $110 million that it took from a medical malpractice insurance pool to balance its budget. Colorado tried, so far unsuccessfully, to grab a $500 million surplus from Pinnacol Assurance, a state workers’ compensation insurer that was privatized in 2002. It wanted the money for its university system and seems likely to get a lesser amount, perhaps $200 million.
Connecticut has tried to issue its own accounting rules. Hawaii has inaugurated a four-day school week. California accelerated its corporate income tax this year, making companies pay 70 percent of their 2010 taxes by June 15. And many states have balanced their budgets with federal health care dollars that Congress has not yet appropriated.
More…





Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Wake up SHEEPLEZ... This weekly parade of fiduciary financial failure is HORRIBLE.
The MOPE is to release in groups under 10 to keep the social order.

Gold under your control is the only safe bank today. The price of gold will eclipse my target of $1650.

Bank Closing Information – April 23, 2010 These links contain useful information for the customers and vendors of these closed banks.

Wheatland Bank, Naperville, IL
Peotone Bank and Trust Company, Peotone, IL
Lincoln Park Savings Bank, Chicago, IL
New Century Bank, Chicago, IL
Citizens Bank&Trust Company of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Broadway Bank, Chicago, IL
Amcore Bank, N.A., Rockford, IL
View all that have failed here.
http://www.fdic.gov/

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Enforcement which are extremely unsettling this week.
Enforcement Actions Legal actions by the Board and written agreements approved by the Federal Reserve Banks

· April 22, 2010 Written agreement with The Bank of Currituck ·
April 22, 2010 Cease and desist order against PB Financial Group and Premier Bank ·
April 21, 2010 Termination of enforcement action against Heritage Bank ·
April 20, 2010 Written agreement with Ameri-National Corporation ·
April 19, 2010 Written agreement with First National Financial Services

More…

Quote of the day.

"So if we are on the verge of an asset price explosion I want to be invested in the one area best poised to benefit from the fundamental driver of that explosion…gold!"


IF YOU ONLY READ 1 ARTICLE...READ THIS...
The Devaluation of the USdollar

Governments Will Bankrupt Us, But Only After Inflation.
"They will all bankrupt us and expropriate us, but it may not happen tomorrow. They'll give us something to play with, until the whole system breaks down...they'll just print money and print more money.What I object to the current government intervention in so-called 'solving the crisis', is that they haven't solved anything. They've just postponed it."

America's Economic Recovery is a Rotten Sham

Survey: Gold to Rise as Investors Seek Default Haven- Bloomberg

Rating Agencies Helped Conceal Bank Risk- Yahoo! Finance

The Best Financial Reform? Let the Bankers Fail- Washington Post

Poll: 58% of Voters Think Federal Gov't Is Broken- Fox News

Gen Y's Steep Hurdles: Huge Debt, No Savings- USA Today

A video of some truth that they let slip into CNBC: Stay Clear of Western Markets and Currencies. Global investing analyst Martin Hennecke warns: "Sovereign debt crisis in the western countries is really getting underway..." and "The blow-up of sovereign debt is the final step of the financial crisis." Hennecke is also bullish on commodities and warns of a global financial meltdown with high interest rates and high inflation.



The Roadmap For Gold Posted: Apr 22 2010 By: Dan Norcini Post Edited: April 22, 2010 at 3:14 am
Filed under: Trader Dan Norcini
Dear Friends,
I highly recommend the following brief article particularly whenever you get another Elliot Waver with their gloom and doom forecast for Gold. Not only is the article a stunning read but it also is a road map to the history of gold over the next few years.
The main point of interest is the conclusion drawn by the author (who by the way is a former Treasury Department official under a Democratic President so his argument cannot be dismissed as merely a partisan rant), is that the US is headed for a debt crisis eerily similar to that which erupted in the last year of the Jimmy Carter Administration back in 1979. You will recall that is the year during which gold went on to hit an all time high near the $850 mark.
Note also that the author comes to the same conclusion that we have been stating for years now, namely, that the fiscal condition of the US makes a Dollar crisis almost inevitable unless draconian measures are enacted, which incidentally I might add, will slam the brakes on any nascent economic recovery.
Considering the fact that gold is trading in nominal terms near the $1145 level, which is almost 40% below the all time high CLOSING monthly price of gold when adjusted for inflation, the stage is clearly set for gold to run to heights that many currently would believe are incredulous. However, one must take into account, as the article correctly and clearly sets forth, that the deteriorating condition of the US fiscal condition has no comparison going as far back as record keeping began in the US in 1792. That alone, especially his notes on the fiscal condition of the US as related to WWII are most enlightening.
Print a copy of this article and post it on the wall referring to it often and then understand why we here at this site are so concerned about our future as a nation and why we keep saying that the price retracements in gold are mere blips on the long term radar screen.
Also rest assured that if we know this, so too do the large Central Banks and monetary authorities of the rising economic powerhouses of the East.
Trader Dan



MAKE SURE YOU SEE THIS CHART...
Click chart to enlarge today’s Inflation Adjusted Gold Price chart in PDF format

http://jsmineset.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Inflation-adjusted-gold-3-31-2010.pdf



FT: U.S. Debt to Hit $20 Trillion in 10 Years Wednesday, 21 Apr 2010 08:51 PM
While the global financial system remains transfixed by the problems of Greece and several other European countries risking default over their massive debts, the real threat is whether the credit standing and currency stability of the world’s biggest borrower, the US, will be jeopardized by its disastrous outlook on deficits and debt.
That’s the fear raised in a devastating op-ed on the Financial Times website written by Robert Altman, a former deputy US Treasury secretary under President Clinton who is now chairman of Evercore Partner, a leading global advisory and investment firm.
“America’s fiscal picture is even worse than it looks,” Altman writes. “The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just projected that over 10 years, cumulative deficits will reach $9.7 trillion and federal debt 90 percent of gross domestic product – nearly equal to Italy’s.
“Global capital markets are unlikely to accept that credit erosion,” Altman says. “If they revolt, as in 1979, ugly changes in fiscal and monetary policy will be imposed on Washington. More than Afghanistan or unemployment, this is President Barack Obama’s greatest vulnerability.”
The financial outlook for the United States is frightening. The size of the federal debt jis projected by the CBO to increase by nearly 250 per cent over 10 years, from $7.5 trillion to a whopping $20 trillion.
The only remote comparison to such a debt load in the World War II, a global conflict that killed 50 million people, Altman and other analysts have written.
But there is no real comparison even in the 1940s and 50s for such a rise in indebtedness – nothing remotely like it has occurred since record keeping began in 1792, Altman writes.
“It is so rapid that, by 2020, the Treasury may borrow about $5 trillion per year to refinance maturing debt and raise new money; annual interest payments on those borrowings will exceed all domestic discretionary spending and rival the defense budget,” Altman writes in the Financial Times.
More…





Faber: Government Will "Bankrupt Us"- CNBC


401(k) as Dangerous as the Dollar





IF THIS PASSES WE ARE SCREWED...

US Debt Commission Says VAT in the Mix- Fox News





Faber Report: The Domino Effect of Greece





TIME TO TRADE IN GOLDMAN SACHS FOR SACKS OF GOLD!
One Sold Fool's Gold; the Other Is Real and Reliable By Craig R. Smith, Chairman, Swiss America

Days before debate on a major Democratic bill to further control financial institutions was to begin, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs with civil fraud.The SEC accused this giant investment bank of marketing dodgy mortgages bundled with help from a hedger who made a billion dollars betting that these investments would lose value. Goldman Sachs clients lost at least $1 billion and, along with stockholders, might now sue the company. The SEC action is part of a populist campaign to demonize banks and Wall Street as Democrats try to regain independent voters and the far left. This populism could also help pass financial legislation, which as Mr. Obama said a year ago, aims to create a “wider recovery, a more stable system, and a more broadly shared prosperity,” i.e., a redistribution of income.
THE NEXT BIG GOV'T POWER-MONEY GRABThis proposed legislation contains permanent, unlimited bailout authority that Republicans say could make future bailouts of government-favored companies routine – one more step toward government picking winners and losers in our economy while sucking the capital out of capitalism. GOLD, meanwhile, remains what it has been since biblical times: a reliable store of value that government cannot devalue by printing more or by manipulating paper investments.One financial expert who knows this, ironically, is the hedger who helped create Goldman Sachs' dodgy mortgage bundles. He reportedly is heavily invested in SDPR Gold ETF and may have to liquidate to pay legal expenses, news that caused a downward blip in gold prices last week. Throughout history gold's value has stood tall when the schemes of greedy profiteers and politicians crumble, as they are now. In this time of economic earthquakes, when even the largest financial giants and the U.S. dollar have become unreliable, what diversified investment can you trust to provide security for your family – Goldman Sachs, or sacks of gold? You need to act now to add gold to your portfolio while your dollars and stocks still have some value.


Hope your pantry is full, or your wallet will soon be empty...Hint- read up on Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe...

U.S. Food Inflation Spiraling Out of Control

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today released their Producer Price Index (PPI) report for March 2010 and the latest numbers are shocking. Food prices for the month rose by 2.4%, its sixth consecutive monthly increase and the largest jump in over 26 years. NIA believes that a major breakout in food inflation could be imminent, similar to what is currently being experienced in India.

Some of the startling food price increases on a year-over-year basis include, fresh and dry vegetables up 56.1%, fresh fruits and melons up 28.8%, eggs for fresh use up 33.6%, pork up 19.1%, beef and veal up 10.7% and dairy products up 9.7%. On October 30th, 2009, NIA predicted that inflation would appear next in food and agriculture, but we never anticipated that it would spiral so far out of control this quickly.

The PPI foreshadows price increases that will later occur in the retail sector. With U-6 unemployment rising last month to 16.9%, many retailers are currently reluctant to pass along rising prices to consumers, but they will soon be forced to do so if they want to avoid reporting huge losses to shareholders.

Food stamp usage in the U.S. has now increased for 14 consecutive months. There are now 39.4 million Americans on food stamps, up 22.4% from one year ago. The U.S. government is now paying out more to Americans in benefits than it collects in taxes. As food inflation continues to surge, our country will soon have no choice but to cut back on food stamps and other entitlement programs.

Most financial experts in the mainstream media are proclaiming that the recession is over and inflation is not a problem in the U.S. Unfortunately, they fail to realize that rising food and gasoline prices accounted for 58% of February's year-over-year 3.85% rise in retail sales. NIA believes price inflation is beginning to accelerate in many areas of the economy besides food and energy, and all increases in U.S. retail sales this year will be entirely due to inflation.

Please spread the word about NIA and have your friends and family subscribe for free at: http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=1038007411&msgid=1964288&act=GP8Q&c=422754&destination=http%3A%2F%2Finflation.us

YOU HAVE 2 CHOICES...1. BEND OVER or 2. BUY GOLD AND SILVER...

"One stark and sobering way to frame the crisis is this: if the United States government were to nationalize (in other words, steal) every penny of private wealth accumulated by America’s citizens since the nation’s founding 235 years ago, the government would remain totally bankrupt."

This is about how I see things going.
Get Ready, Inflation is On the Way


Next financial Crisis is about to emerge.



The Explosive Duo of the Second Half of 2010


Long-Term Bond Holders Are 'Going to Get Massacred'





Davidowitz: This Market Is a Sucker's RallyDavidowitz & Associates CEO Howard Davidowitz says that the current market rally is for suckers and the United States is in dramatically worse shape than it was a year ago. “The point is, we’re going broke,” he says. Read the Entire Article — Go Here Now.





A Coming Avalanche of Inflation





Must Germany Bail Out Portugal Too?

The Target Now Is Goldman Sachs (GS)
"The target now is Goldman Sachs. You distract the masses with a villain"Dr. Faber, described the lawsuit against Goldman Sachs (GS) as a hunt for scapegoats amid economic problems faced by the United States.


Please forward this for all to see....

The Perfect Crime: Murder in the First Degree





When Contained Means it is not Contained (Again)





James Turk: Hyperinflation looms as the dollar reaches its 'Havenstein moment'





Appenzell Daily Bell: Germans Desperate Over EU, Greece





Rogers: Goldman May Fuel 20 Percent Market Tumble.





Forbes opinion piece: Will Japan Default?





Greek Bailout Is a High-Wire Act. They are starting to use the "D" word. (Default.)





Could Germany Quit Euro Over Greek Crisis?





Rivals May Not be Smiling at Goldman Sach's Predicament Long





Bank of Ireland Forced to Sell Off Assets





FEMA Faces Own Fiscal Emergency





Unemployment Rises in 24 States

An Economics Lecture No Student Will Ever Hear



Released to Near Silence, the U.S. Treasury 2009 Financial Report Shows Dire Course



James Turk: Hyperinflation looms as the dollar reaches its 'Havenstein moment'



10 US Cities in Economic Freefall




Saudis Tighten With China to Reduce U.S. Dependence - Bloomberg



Black Gold, Yellow Gold (The Mogambo Guru)



The Whiskey Standard You'll need it...



Dear Gold And Silverbugs: Shut Your Pieholes and Stop Your Whining


Scaredy Cats



John Paulson: The Man Who Made Billions Betting on the US Housing Crash



Goldman Sach's Client-First Pledge Exposed as Lie



U.N. Climate Panel Gets an 'F'


Few Trust the Government, Poll Finds- Los Angeles Times


Wall Street in Subprime Trouble Again- CNN


Big Banks: Too Big for Congress to Handle?- Washington Times


Quote of the day.


"Somewhere ahead I expect to see a worldwide panic-scramble for gold as it dawns on the world population that they have been hoodwinked by the central banks' creation of so-called paper wealth. No central bank has ever produced a single element of true, sustainable wealth. In their heart of hearts, men know this. Which is why, in experiment after experiment with fiat money, gold has always turned out to be the last man standing." - Richard Russell

Soros: EU May Collapse

http://www.thedailybell.com/970/Soros-EU-May-Collapse.html





14 Pieces of Really Bad News for the U.S. Economy





Adrian Douglas: All that is paper does not glitter





Germany - Done With American Wars





Five More Years of Hard Times





Pensions Crisis "Threatens Entire UK Economy"





Sounds like a new permenent entitlement...free money for all...

Bill to Restore Jobless Aid Clears Senate Hurdle





Consumer Mood Unexpectedly Worsens in April





U.S. Military Warns of Oil Shortage by 2015.

Video of the nightly closing ceremony at a border crossing between India and Pakistan.
It could very well be the paradigm of government inanity, but even if not, there's no disputing that the participants offer up an (inadvertently) comedic routine that would make the Monty Python troop proud.
You can watch it here.


Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
This entire thing is coming within weeks of an unwind that no amount of bailout money is going to reverse.
April showers in the Gold market make for May flowers.

Foreclosure Rates Surge, Biggest Increase In 5 Years BY Stephanie Sklar

A record number of US homes were foreclosed on in the first three months of 2010, an indication that banks are beginning to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster rate, The Associated Press has reported.
On Thursday, RealtyTrac Inc. said that the number of US homes taken over by banks went up 35% in the first quarter from 2009. Moreover, households facing foreclosure increased 16% in the same period and 7% from the last three months of last year.
More homes were taken over by banks and scheduled for a foreclosure sale than in any quarter dating back to at least January of 2005, when RealtyTrac started reporting the data.
“We’re, right now, on pace to see more than 1 million bank repossessions this year,” said RealtyTrac’s Senior Vice President Rick Sharga.
Foreclosures started to drop in 2009 when banks were pressured by the Obama administration to modify home loans for troubled borrowers. Moreover, some states enacted foreclosure moratoriums to give homeowners, who were behind in their payments, time to catch up. And, in a lot of instances, banks have had problems in coping with how to handle the glut of troubled loans.
More…



In The News Today Posted: Apr 18 2010 By: Jim Sinclair Post Edited: April 17, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Filed under: In The News
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Who paid the bonuses for Wall Street and how it worked:
1. FASB capitulates and allows holders of OTC derivatives to value them at whatever they wish. 2. International investment firms begin strong mark up policies towards their crap inventory. 3. Profits from the mark up of crap OTC derivatives by the international investment firms is recognized as trading income. 4. Tarp money comes into the firms and goes out as bonuses to the management, trading department and general employees at obscene levels. 5. Stock and bond issues are made to pay back tarp funds. 6. Therefore the money bonuses out by the international investment firms were TARP funds, not real earnings, but false FASB permitted mark up paper earnings through the trading department and declared as trading income. 7. The TARP money was paid back through the issue of stocks and bonds to the public, therefore the public paid the TARP back, not the financial institutions. 8. The obscene level of bonuses is because this game of convert false paper profit into cash into the bank account of the banksters and their merry crew is now game over. It was the last dip at the well of public funds laundered via TARP of the caved in FASB. 9. In the final analysis the public paid those obscene bonuses that were in truth, unearned.


Tyler Durden, over at Zero Hedge: Why Are Silver Sales Soaring? That is significant news. Think about it: Annualized, that means that effectively, the entire US silver mining production is being devoted to producing Silver Eagles planchets. The law of supply and demand is inescapable. So I'm I standing by my long term price predictions for silver.


33 states out of money to fund jobless benefits.


California Jobless Rate Hits 12.6% in March


Goldman's Stock Loss Dwarfs Possible Penalty


US Home Reposessions Hit Five Year High


The latest from Nanny State Britannia: Caravanner, 61, prosecuted for having Swiss Army knife in his glovebox... to cut up fruit on picnics.


P.S.: From several sources: the feds are seriously considering capturing your IRA’s and substituting annuities in treasury bills, which could mean seizing your metals. I urge you to consider removing your gold an silver from your IRA’, pay the taxes, and take the gold and silver home. Evidently the Fourth Amendment no longer holds.

WHATIF…A Mortgage Crisis Picturebook Even a Progressive Could Understand


Markets Could Be Derailed Again, Warns Soros


New Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise By 24,000



This is funny...there is no recovery just smoke and mirrors to prolong the inevitable currency crash...GOT GOLD?
Bernanke: US Unemployment Likely to Remain High During "Recovery"



Now why do you think its CIVIL? hint...Civil can have the records sealed so the SHEEPLEZ can't find out what happened. If it was criminal the game would be up, and rioting in the streets.
Stocks Tumble as Goldman Charged with Civil Fraud



FACT... millions of empty houses and commercial buildings and they expect you to believe their is a recovery based on construction? IDIOTS.
Housing Construction Points to Market Recovery



The Weakness In Gold That Isn’t Posted: Apr 17 2010 By: Jim Sinclair Post Edited: April 17, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Filed under: General Editorial
Dear Friends,
Let no weakness in gold disturb you at this time.
I speak directly to the biggest and the best in the metals markets worldwide. These are not talking heads and in fact are never interviewed. They speak to me because they feel I have something meaningful to contribute.
After 52 (1958 to present) years, it is safe to assume I have learned a thing or two about the noble metal.
France was big at the start of the 1968 to 1980 bull market. The Saudis came in later and were responsible, in my opinion, for taking gold from $400 on the second break through all the way up. The Middle East in general has this time been late to the market.
As the violence only increases in currencies, energy money is baffled on how to maintain the value of this paper developed from crude oil and its products.
Go back to the missive "Gold $5000+ by Martin Armstrong" and revisit his best case scenario which was a decline in April followed by one dickens of a rally thereafter.
Thanks to the Goldman Sachs revelation, the entire derivatives market looks like the Wild West and the 40 thieves.
Greece is not the only sovereign that has used OTC derivatives weapons of mass destruction to cheat.
By the time this is over, certain states of the USA are going to get caught in the OTC web.
No regulation means a damn thing now because regulations are simply from now looking forward. Nothing whatsoever can erase these trillions of dollars of toxic fraudulent BS paper out there.
Even the BIS changed their measure of notional value of OTC derivatives by going to a computer model that is called "Value to Maturity" which reduced the number from one trillion, one hundred and forty four billion of this crap outstanding to a tad over six hundred billion. All that did was create a sad cartoon.
Stay the course. We are a few days from a stratospheric takeoff in the price of gold.
Regards, Jim





Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
In case you did not see this yesterday. There wasn’t a word of this on financial TV.
Goldman Real Estate Fund Lost 98 Cents on the Dollar Published: Friday, 16 Apr 2010 4:41 AM ET By: Henny Sender, Financial Times

Whitehall Street International, Goldman Sachs’ international real estate investment fund, has lost almost all of its $1.8 billion of equity following soured property investments in the U.S., Germany and Japan, according to the fund’s estimates.
By the end of 2009, the fund was down to its last $30 million, a paper loss of about 98 cents on the dollar, an annual report sent to investors last month said. The report said that Goldman was Whitehall’s largest investor, with a commitment of $436 million. Last year, Goldman took a loss of $1.76 billion from all its real estate principal investments.
The Whitehall disclosure is the latest in a string of losses reported by bank-owned property funds that relied on debt, and it comes as the Obama administration is seeking to restrict banks’ investment in private equity funds.
It was revealed earlier this week that Morgan Stanley’s most recent $8.8 billion international property fund will lose as much as two-thirds of its value.
The Whitehall fund, raised in 2005, invested more than half its capital in the U.S., and was also heavily exposed to Germany. While the drop in property values was dramatic in these two countries, losses at the Goldman fund were exacerbated by its dependence on debt.
More…





Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
We live in a financial sewer designed to steal and rape.

Merrill Used Same Alleged Fraud as Goldman, Bank Says (Update1) By William McQuillen
April 17 (Bloomberg) — Merrill Lynch & Co. engaged in the same investor fraud that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of committing, according to a bank that sued the firm in New York last year.
Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank BA, known as Rabobank, claims Merrill, now a unit of Bank of America Corp., failed to tell it a key fact in advising on a synthetic collateralized debt obligation. Omitted was Merrill’s relationship with another client betting against the investment, which resulted in a loss of $45 million, Rabobank claims.
Merrill’s handling of the CDO, a security tied to the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities, mirrors Goldman Sachs conduct that the SEC details in the civil complaint the agency filed yesterday. It claimed Goldman omitted the same key fact about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the U.S. housing market was starting to falter.
“This is the tip of the iceberg in regard to Goldman Sachs and certain other banks who were stacking the deck against CDO investors,” said Jon Pickhardt, an attorney with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, who is representing Netherlands-based Rabobank.
“The two matters are unrelated and the claims today are not only unfounded but weren’t included in the Rabobank lawsuit filed nearly a year ago,” Bill Halldin, a Merrill spokesman, said yesterday of the Dutch bank’s claims.
More…

Bernanke Scolds Congress/Keeps Bailouts Details Secret Posted: Apr 16 2010 By: Greg Hunter Post Edited: April 16, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Filed under: Greg Hunter
Dear CIGAs,
Earlier this week, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke told Congress to basically raise taxes and cut the federal budget. The inference was, if Congress doesn’t get its financial house in order, it will be their fault if the economy tanks. Here is how Bernanke actually said it, “. . . Maintaining the confidence of the public and the financial markets requires policy makers more decisively to put the budget on a sustainable fiscal balance.”
Bernanke also said the federal debt “. . .is already expected to be greater than 70%” of Gross Domestic Product, “. . . at the end of 2012.” And if that is not bad enough, Bernanke said that by 2020, “. . .federal debt would balloon to more than 100% of GDP,” provided taxes are not raised and budgets are not cut. The mainstream media gave this story a great big yawn; but don’t kid yourself, what Bernanke said was a powerful, ominous warning.
All I can say is Ben Bernanke has a huge set of cojones. He is scolding Congress to keep taxes up and spending down to help pay for the gigantic bailout of Wall Street Banks. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is fighting tooth and nail to keep from revealing its secret bailout of the same banks during the financial meltdown in 2008!
The Fed was sued by financial news network Bloomberg two years ago. Bloomberg wants the Fed to reveal which banks received $2 trillion in bailout money and why. Bloomberg won the case and the Fed appealed. Bloomberg, also, won the appeal in March 2010! The precedent setting case would force the Fed to reveal the details of secret bank bailouts–including $500 billion given to foreign financial firms!!
In a Bloomberg story earlier this week, lawyers representing the Federal Reserve (which is made up in part by big U.S. banks) said, “U.S. commercial banks will take their fight against disclosure of Federal Reserve (documents) in 2008 to the Supreme Court if necessary . . .” Lawyers representing the Fed say they are worried that if details of trillions of dollars in bailouts are revealed, it could cause another financial meltdown. General Council for the Fed, Paul Saltzman, says, “Our member banks are very concerned about real-time disclosure of information that could cause a run on the banks.” This is another story, with dire implications, the mainstream media is ignoring. (Click here for the complete Bloomberg story)
So, if the secret slimy deals of the Fed are revealed, people will lose confidence in the banks and want their money? If that is the case, and I think it is, we Americans need to know why the Fed printed up at least $2 trillion and handed it out to their banking syndicate.
I think what Bernanke is really saying is, “America get your finances in order and pay for this Wall Street bailout while we (the Fed) continue to bailout our banking buddies in secret.” (My quote) This will all be paid for eventually, one way or another, by U.S. taxpayers. We should at least find out if we got our money’s worth. Below is Ben Bernanke’s warning about big deficits on Capitol Hill earlier this week:
More…


Summers: 'Pay People to Not Work, and More Will Work'- Wall Street Journal



Morgan Stanley Fears German Exit From EMU Posted: Apr 16 2010 By: Jim Sinclair Post Edited: April 16, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Filed under: General Editorial
Dear CIGAs,
The US dollar would be measured as it used to be against the Dm and Swissy.
The USDX would become redundant.
The result will be, if it actually occurs, the strengthening of gold long term.
Morgan Stanley fears German exit from EMU Morgan Stanley has warned that the Greek debt crisis is setting off a chain of events that may prompt German withdrawal from the eurozone, with grim implications for investors caught off-guard. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Published: 6:12PM BST 15 Apr 2010
"The backstop package for Greece and the ECB’s climb-down on its collateral rules set a bad precedent for other euro area states and make it more likely that the euro area degenerates into a zone of fiscal profligacy, currency weakness, and higher inflationary pressures over time," said Joachim Fels, head of research, in a note to clients.
The US bank said a bail-out for Greece may be necessary to avoid a crisis for Europe’s financial system, but warned that it also "sows the seeds for potentially even bigger problems further down the road".
Mr Fels said weak states cannot easily leave EMU because they would pay a stiff penalty in higher rates, would be stuck with euro debt contracts, and might need controls to stem capital flight. It is a different calculus for Germany, which would see lower rates and might view EMU exit as the only way to ensure monetary stability.
"Obviously, we have not reached the end game yet. However, with the latest developments, such a break-up scenario has clearly become more likely. The risk is far from negligible and the consequences for financial markets would be very severe. Investors ignore the break-up risk at their peril," he said.
Jürgen Stark, the European Central Bank’s chief economist, vowed on Thursday to resist pressure to help spendthrift governments out of their troubles by resorting to easy money. "Let me stress that any call to reduce the real value of public debt through higher inflation will be firmly opposed by the ECB," he said.
More…


IMF Prepares For Global Cataclysm, Expands Backup Rescue Facility By Half A Trillion For "Contribution To Global Financial Stability"
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/imf-prepares-global-cataclysm-expands-backup-rescue-facility-half-trillion-contribution-glob


US Loan Mod Program Wasting Billions- Miami Herald


Back to normal?
F.D.I.C. closes 8 failed banks this week.
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html


Quote of the day.

"The art of taxation consists of so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing." - J.B. Colbert, French Statesman, circa 1665

Have No Fear But Get Prepared Roger Wiegand - corner



This is the most likely outcome of the currency crash, Read and learn why you MUST own GOLD...Yes it's long and boring but well worth the time, to understand what is actually happening.
FOFOA: The 21st-century bank run


Soros: We’re ‘Hurtling’ Towards a Market CrashRailway porter-turned-billionaire financier George Soros — the man who ‘broke’ the Bank of England (and who is still able to earn a cool $3.3 billion in a year) — delivered a stark warning that the financial world is on the wrong track and that it may be hurtling towards an even bigger boom and bust than in the credit crisis.



Commentary: Soros Right, the Euro May Be Doomed




Pray For Inflation -- It's Our Only Hope. (Well, its the government's only hope. For the Citizenry, mass inflation will be wealth destruction. As I've noted before, inflation is essentially a hidden from of taxation.)
I will add that inflation is PURE THEFT...PERIOD




The Dow at 11,000 is Misleading. (CZD warns that he expects there will be multiple dips. I concur. This "recession" is far from over. I stand by my assertion, that we are actually in the early stages of of depression.)
Actually this is a currency crisis, and can only end with either a complete default or more likely hyperinflation...




Jim Sinclair: Bank Prohibits Bullion and Cash in Safety Deposit Boxes




PIMCO's Bill Gross Frantically Dumping Treasuries, Thinks US Interest Rates Will Soar




County to feds: They're our roads! Supervisors vote to reopen routes hit by BLM closure




Gold in Perspective David Galland

Bernanke: America Facing Financial 'Armageddon'


CBO chief says debt 'unsustainable'.


The Fatal Flaw of Democracy is Here and Now...and What to Do


Meredith Whitney: Housing Will Fall Again



A Pocketbook Of Gold Posted: Apr 08 2010 By: Jim Sinclair Post Edited: April 12, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Filed under: General Editorial
Dear CIGAs,
With the assistance of a good friend and contributor to JSMineset, Mr. Peter Carlin, Jim has co-authored a book that will be released here on JSMineset before anywhere else.
A limited leather bound edition has been printed on top quality paper for JSMineset readers. Supply of these Pocketbooks are EXTREMELY limited. If you want a copy, this is your chance to order it.
The price is $39.99 plus a flat rate shipping cost of $5.00.
You can place your order by clicking the button below. You can pay via major credit card or PayPal.
http://jsmineset.com/2010/04/08/a-pocketbook-of-gold/
Synopsis:
"A Pocketbook of Gold gives you, in one easy handbook, the reasons why you should own Gold, the timing of when you should own Gold, and the types of Gold you should (and shouldn’t!) own. A Pocketbook of Gold also explains the true role of Gold in every individual’s financial planning as well as Gold’s place in the world monetary system. It is an all-in-one Pocketbook that answers your questions and guides you through the world of Gold as a personal form of investment and financial insurance in today’s increasingly uncertain financial outlook. A Pocketbook of Gold is a survival manual for monetary mayhem."


The Power of Gold


With 1 in 5 Americans Out Of Work, Obama Issues One Million Green Cards



Did The Fed Just (Surreptitiously) Bail Out Europe?



Gold hits record high for British investors; The price of gold has risen to an all-time high in sterling and euro terms.



S&P: US Companies Face $2T "Wall of Debt"- Bloomberg



Morgan Stanley Property Fund Faces $5.4B Loss- Wall Street Journal



Going for Broke in LA?- LA Times



Illinois Is "Poster Child" of Debt Crisis- Bloomberg



Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
At the time of the Lehman crisis, bailout money from the Fed could have been legally lent to banks, financial institutions, partnerships, individuals and hedge funds. This is why the facts cannot come out.
This is fact, not conjecture.


Fed Shouldn’t Reveal Crisis Loans, Banks Vow to Tell High Court By Bob Ivry
April 14 (Bloomberg) —


The biggest U.S. commercial banks will take their fight against disclosure of Federal Reservelending in 2008 to the Supreme Court if necessary, the top lawyer for an industry-owned group said.
Continued legal appeals will delay or block the first public look at details of the central bank’s $2 trillion in emergency lending during the 2008 financial crisis. The Clearing House Association LLC, a group that includes Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., joined the Fed in defense of a lawsuit brought by Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, seeking release of records related to four Fed lending programs.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled March 19 that the central bank must release the documents. A three-judge panel of the appellate court rejected the Fed’s argument that disclosure would stigmatize borrowers and discourage banks from seeking emergency help.
“Our member banks are very concerned about real-time disclosure of information that could cause a run on the banks,” said Paul Saltzman, the group’s general counsel, in an interview yesterday. “We’re not going to let the Second Circuit opinion stand without seeking a review.”
Regardless of whether the Fed appeals, the Clearing House will take the next legal step by asking for a review by the full appellate court, Saltzman, 49, said at his office in New York. If the ruling is unfavorable, the bank group will petition the Supreme Court, he said.
More…





Quote of the day

"This year Americans will pay more in taxes than they will for food, clothing and housing combined!! And for every dollar we pay the government in federal taxes, Washington spends $1.60. Who pays the difference? I will give you one guess... Us! "

Peter Schiff