So Much For The Sprott Silver Scare: "Every Dollar From PSLV Sales Was Reinvested In Silver Equities" 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/02/2011 19:09 -0400

Earlier we reported that Sprott had sold $35 million worth of PSLV, which caused many to panic that the precious metals guru had indicated the market top in the market. Well, as it turns out and as he just told the Globe and Mail “We haven’t lost our enthusiasm for silver.” Quite the opposite...

 

 

 

 

Golden Flash Crash 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/02/2011 18:21 -0400

Gold just plunged by $20 for no reason whatsoever. So let's take a guess at what happened here: some ETF caused the NYSE to hit LRP thresholds, causing numerous stocks to "break", and the result is an immediate algorithmic margin call satisfied by gold selling? Or not, at his point does anyone really care. Point is obvious: scare all holders into submission. Can the royal "they" just confiscate everything not in paper form (and thus out of Fed control) already and end this charade?

 

 

 

 

Only central bank intervention makes precious metals volatile, Turk tells King

 

As Food Stamp Recipients Hit New Record, 400 Americans Account For 10% Of Capital Gains 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/03/2011 00:47 -0400

Today SNAP released the most recent food stamp numbers. Not surprisingly, we just saw another all time high 44.2 million poverty-level Americans relying on government funding for day to day sustenance. Granted the number appears to be plateauing, so all those who bought the change if not the ho[y]pe, can rejoice as it may start declining next month: a development that is sure to be herald for Obama a 4th Putin-esque term. That said, another number that has to be kept in perspective and for which we have to thank none other than Pauly-K is that offsetting these 44.2 million of impoverished Americans who can get a tax refund for writing off the American dream, are 400 Americans who accounted for 10%, or $91 billion of total, in capital gains taxes, or said otherwise, 400 US taxpayers account for 10% of all capital gains in 2007! We are currently going through old issues of Pravda to see if the Communist empire ever achieved this kind of social disparity between the nomenklatura and the proletariat (it didn't). If we find confirmation we will post it, and lose a sizable bet which will certainly deny us any possibility of every being among the abovementioned 400.

 

 

In The News Today

Posted: May 02 2011     By: Jim Sinclair      Post Edited: May 2, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Filed under: In The News

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Before silver is finished margins will be raised to cash. Volatility, thy name is silver.


CME Group Hiking Silver-Futures Margins By Another 11.6% 02 May 2011, 04:35 p.m. 
By Kitco News

CME Group is hiking silver margins by another 11.6% after already hiking them twice last week, the exchange announced Monday afternoon.
The “initial” margin to open new speculative positions in the main 5,000-ounce silver-futures contract will rise to $16,200 from $14,513, according to a notice released by the exchange. The “maintenance” margin for exiting speculative positions, as well as both initial and maintenance margins for hedger positions,  will rise to $12,000 from $10,750.
The changes will be effective after the close of business on Tuesday. Margins are also rising for Comex MiNY silver futures and E-mini silver futures.
The notice from CME Group, which operates the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, said the change is a part of the “normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage.”
More…



Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Without QE who will buy Treasury instruments in the amounts required due to the deficit?


U.S. Treasury: China Has Decreased Its Holdings of U.S. Debt Friday, April 29, 2011 
By Terence P. Jeffrey

(CNSNews.com) – Mainland China has decreased its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities since last October, according to a report updated today by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Since September 2008, when they eclipsed Japan, entities in mainland China have been the largest foreign owners of U.S. government debt. But, as indicated by the Treasury Department chart linked here, Chinese ownership of U.S. Treasury securities peaked in October 2010 and has declined in each of the four most recent months reported by the Treasury Department.
At the end of October 2010, China owned 1.1753 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities. That dropped to $1.1641 trillion by the end of November, $1.1601 trillion by the end of December, $1.1547 trillion by the end of January, and $1.1541 trillion by the end of February 2011.
February is the latest month for which the Treasury has estimated foreign holdings of U.S. debt.
Back in February 2001, according to historical data reported by the Treasury, the mainland Chinese owned only $63.7 billion in U.S. debt. In the ensuing decade, the Chinese massively increased their holdings of U.S. Treasury securities, and especially in the past five years. In February 2006, China owned $318.4 billion in U.S. debt and Japan owned $656.4 billion.
More…

Hourly Action In Gold From Trader Dan

Posted: May 02 2011     By: Dan Norcini      Post Edited: May 2, 2011 at 7:49 pm
Filed under: Trader Dan Norcini

Dear CIGAs,

Click chart to enlarge in PDF format with commentary from Trader Dan Norcini
For further market analysis and commentary, please see Trader Dan’s website at www.traderdan.net

Jim’s Mailbox

Posted: May 02 2011     By: Jim Sinclair      Post Edited: May 2, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Filed under: Jim's Mailbox

Jim,
Now that he is leaving, he will tell a little more about the truth!

Kind regards,
CIGA Christopher

ECB’s Trichet – financial crisis is not over Mon May 2, 2011 6:10am EDT
FRANKFURT May 2 (Reuters) – The financial crisis is not over and the economic environment remains demanding, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday. Trichet added that the ECB would continue to separate its non-standard policy measures — liquidity injections and bond purchases — from its standard measures, such as its interest rates.
"We are still living in a very demanding environment. The crisis is not over," Trichet said at the official handover of the Bundesbank presidency to Jens Weidmann from Axel Weber.
"The Eurosystem has kept and will keep its sense of direction, strictly separating the standard measures, designed to deliver price stability, from the non-standard measures, designed to help restore a more correct monetary policy transmission mechanism," Trichet added.
The ECB holds a monetary policy meeting on Thursday and is expected to keep interest rates on hold at 1.25 percent.
More…