Saturday, September 25, 2010

Pat Heller: Supply squeeze in physical gold and silver may be heating up

 

How much gold would China need in 'rebalancing' of world economy?

 

Nepal will put FX reserves into gold and rig domestic market

 

Guest Post: The Shoeshine Boy

 

Posted: Sep 25 2010     By: Jim Sinclair      Post Edited: September 25, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Filed under: In The News
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Trader Dan’s Commentary
The article below is a follow up to an article posted Thursday about a new breed of computer viruses to be used as weapons of war.

Tehran confirms its industrial computers under Stuxnet virus attack  Exclusive Report September 25, 2010, 6:07 PM (GMT+02:00)
Mahmoud Alyaee, secretary-general of Iran’s industrial computer servers, including its nuclear facilities control systems, confirmed Saturday, Sept. 25, that 30,000 computers belonging to classified industrial units had been infected and disabled by the malicious Stuxnet virus.
This followed DEBKAfile’s exclusive report Thursday, Sept. 23, from its Washington and defense sources that a clandestine cyber war is being fought against Iran by the United States with elite cyber war units established by Israel. Stuxnet is believed to be the most destructive virus ever devised for attacking major industrial complexes, reactors and infrastructure. The experts say it is beyond the capabilities of private or individual hackers and could have been produced by a high-tech state like America or Israel, or its military cyber specialists.
The Iranian official said Stuxnet had been designed to strike the industrial control systems in Iran manufactured by the German Siemens and transfer classified data abroad.
The head of the Pentagon’s cyber war department, Vice Adm. Bernard McCullough said Thursday, Sept. 22, that Stuxnet had capabilities never seen before. In a briefing to the Armed Forces Committee of US Congress, he testified that it was regarded as the most advanced and sophisticated piece of Malware to date.
According to Alyaee, the virus began attacking Iranian industrial systems two months ago. He had no doubt that Iran was the victim of a cyber attack which its anti-terror computer experts had so far failed to fight.  Stuxnet is powerful enough to change an entire environment, he said without elaborating. Not only has it taken control of automatic industrial systems, but has raided them for classified information and transferred the date abroad.
More…



Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Only two this Friday.

Bank Closing Information – September 24, 2010 These links contain useful information for the customers and vendors of these closed banks.
North County Bank, Arlington, WA
Haven Trust Bank Florida, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

http://www.fdic.gov/




Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Do you take comfort knowing SIPC insures your brokerage account? Maybe not?
It was revealed in congressional testimony that Madoff claims have busted SIPC.

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Recent events between China and Japan are grossly misunderstood.
  1. Fishing is not the problem. It is oil and gas in the South China sea that is up for grabs.
  2. It is weapons testing and the weapon is strategic materials.
  3. The weapon has proved totally devastating.
  4. Meanwhile the num-nuts pass bills to challenge China economically.

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The problems are over? You have to be kidding. 30 billion for credit unions and that is only a start. QE to infinity is assured.

Credit Unions Bailed Out
U.S. Backs $30 Billion in Bonds to Stabilize Key Institutions; Subprime Legacy
By MARK MAREMONT And VICTORIA MCGRANE
Two years after the peak of the financial crisis, the federal government swooped in to stabilize a crucial part of the credit-union sector battered by losses on subprime mortgages.
Regulators announced Friday a rescue and revamping of the nation’s wholesale credit union system, underpinned by a federal guarantee valued at $30 billion or more. Wholesale credit unions don’t deal with the general public but provide essential back-office services to thousands of other credit unions across the U.S. The majority of retail credit unions are sound, but they will have to shoulder the losses through special assessments over the next decade.
Friday’s moves include the seizure of three wholesale credit unions, plus an unusual plan by government officials to manage $50 billion of troubled assets inherited from failed institutions. To help fund the rescue, the National Credit Union Administration plans to issue $30 billion to $35 billion in government-guaranteed bonds, backed by the shaky mortgage-related assets.
Officials said the plan won’t cost taxpayers any money. Still, it marks the latest intervention by the U.S. government into a financial system weakened by the real-estate bust. Bad bets on mortgage-backed securities have now killed five of the nation’s 27 wholesale credit unions since March 2009. The federal government, which now controls about 70% of the total assets at such credit unions, said the surviving institutions will be reined in so that they take fewer risks with their investments.
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Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Volker is too smart to be stupid, and too old to be bullied.

Volcker Spares No One in Broad Critique By Damian Paletta
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker scrapped a prepared speech he had planned to deliver at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Thursday, and instead delivered a blistering, off-the-cuff critique leveled at nearly every corner of the financial system.
Standing at a lectern with his hands in his pockets, Volcker moved unsparingly from banks to regulators to business schools to the Fed to money-market funds during his luncheon speech.
He praised the new financial overhaul law, but said the system remained at risk because it is subject to future “judgments” of individual regulators, who he said would be relentlessly lobbied by banks and politicians to soften the rules.
“This is a plea for structural changes in markets and market regulation,” he said at one point.
Here are his views on a variety of topics.
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Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Leaving in 2010 to work on the 2012 campaign? Somehow that sounds quite questionable.

Axelrod leaving White House next year to work on campaign September 24, 2010 5:45 AM
David Axelrod, a top advisor to President Obama and the main architect of his election victory in 2008, will be leaving the White House next year and returning to Chicago to work on the president’s re-election campaign, a White House aide said Thursday.
Axelrod has not specified a departure date, but he plans to remain in his current position "well into 2011,” the aide said.
Axelrod, who calls himself a "Chicagoan on assignment,” has long made clear he missed his hometown and would return before the end of the four-year term. His wife still lives in the city.
One of Obama’s most trusted aides, Axelrod occupies a small office just steps from the Oval Office. On a wall in Axelrod’s office hangs a picture of the White House drawn by his daughter. The Chicago skyline is shown in the reflecting pool.
His portfolio is a broad one. He shapes the president’s message, oversees the speechwriting team, plots political strategy and advises on policy. A longtime campaign strategist, he is aware of his limitations when it comes to complex policy matters. He once made a self-deprecating reference to himself as "a duffer” when it comes to policy.
Other White House aides said part of Axelrod’s role is reminding the staff of the president’s campaign commitments and making sure that the White House agenda stays true to Obama’s promises.
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Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
I am not sure if they are ignorant, insane, or both.

China targeted in bill on currency manipulation By MARTIN CRUTSINGER (AP)
WASHINGTON — A bill that would give the U.S. government the power to impose economic sanctions on China and other countries found to be manipulating their currencies to gain trade advantages has won approval from a key House committee.
The Ways and Means Committee approved the legislation Friday and Democratic leaders said the measure would be taken up by the full House next week. Supporters say the bill would protect U.S. jobs against unfair trade competition at a time of high unemployment.
The measure was expected to win easy House passage, although trade analysts said it was unlikely to be taken up in the Senate before the November elections. However, they said the proposal would send a clear message to China that it risks U.S. trade sanctions unless it moves faster to allow its currency to rise in value against the dollar.
The House action comes as the Obama administration has stepped up its pressure on China to make more progress on currency reform and other contentious trade issues. The White House said that President Barack Obama pushed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to move faster on currency revaluation during a two-hour meeting the two leaders held in New York on Thursday.
American manufacturers contend that China’s currency is undervalued by as much as 40 percent against the dollar. That makes Chinese products cheaper and more competitive in the United States and American products more expensive in China.
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Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
I wrote a book on the following subject in the early 80s titled "The Strategic Metals War."

China’s Hold On Metals Worries Washington By NATHAN HODGE And JAMES T. AREDDY
WASHINGTON—China’s control of a key minerals market has U.S. military thinkers and policy makers alike worried about access to materials that are essential for 21st-century technology like smartphones—and smart bombs.
The concern over supplies of so-called rare-earth elements was highlighted this week by a report that Chinese customs officials had blocked exports of the materials to Japan. On Thursday, Beijing denied those reports. "China doesn’t block rare-earth exports to Japan," said Chen Rongkai, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce.
At issue is a group of 17 metallic elements with magnetic properties suited for high-tech applications such as computer hard drives and digital cameras. Rare-earth elements are also key to "green" technology: Energy-efficient light bulbs use europium and yttrium, while hybrid car batteries and wind-power turbines use neodymium.
While rare-earth ore deposits are found around the globe, China’s dominance in mining and processing the elements has raised alarms in Washington. According to an April 2010 Government Accountability Office report, China now produces approximately 97% of the world’s rare-earth oxides, the raw materials that can be further refined into metals and blended into alloys that can be made into finished components.
Over the past year, China has imposed global export quotas on the elements. Its Commerce Ministry has said total exports for the year would be capped at just under 30,300 metric tons, down 40% from last year. Only 7,976 tons of that were allocated for the second half of this year. Experts say much of that has already been shipped.
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Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Here is a list of FDIC enforcements. If your bank is on this list you ought to know!

Recent Enforcement Decisions
FINAL ORDERS ISSUED PURSUANT TO SECTION 8(b), 12 U.S.C. 1818(b)
(Consent Orders)
SouthPoint Bank, Birmingham, Alabama; FDIC-10-414b; Issued 8/10/10 – PDF
Farmers Exchange Bank, Louisville, Alabama; FDIC-10-382b; Issued 8/10/10 – PDF
United Pacific Bank, City of Industry, California; FDIC-10-392b; Issued 8/5/10 – PDF
Western Commercial Bank, Woodland Hills, California; FDIC-10-575b; Issued 8/20/10 – PDF
First Guaranty Bank and Trust Company of Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida; FDIC-09-686b;
Issued 8/11/10 – PDF

Syringa Bank, Boise, Idaho; FDIC-10-314b; Issued 8/19/10 – PDF
Builders Bank, Chicago, Illinois; FDIC-10-535b; Issued 8/5/10 – PDF
Bank of the Prairie, Olathe, Kansas; FDIC-10-459b; Issued 8/26/10 – PDF
The Community Bank, A Massachusetts Cooperative Bank, Brockton, Massachusetts; FDIC-10-588b;
Issued 8/12/10 – PDF

More…

 

"Gold's next hurdle is 1980's inflation-adjusted peak".  The graph shows that the January 1980 price of gold has an inflation-adjusted price of about $1,800... even though the writer says in the story that gold would have to reach around $2,300 the ounce in today's dollars to match the $875 back in 1980.  One wonders how the writer could make such an obvious mistake.  Of course John Williams over at shadowstats.com says that if you use real-world inflation numbers [rather than the ones provided by the U.S. government]... gold should be around $7,500/ounce.  Regardless of 'all of the above'... this bull market has miles to go before it breaths its last... and the link to the story is here.


THE NOT SO FUNNY... FUNNIES...


There are no markets anymore... only interventions. - Chris Powell, GATA 


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