Hyperinflation or depression, Embry tells King World News

 

Questioned by Paul, Fed denies any interest in gold

 

Paul dismisses speaker's debt cut demand

 

Investing in Precious Metals: Investors Sticking to the Physical

Fed Stimulus Leads to Stagflation
By: John Browne, Senior Market Strategist at Euro Pacific Capital




COT Gold, Silver and US Dollar Index Report - June 3, 2011
By: GoldSeek.com








Pricing Gold in Deflation
By: Adrian Ash, BullionVault




Can You Pass the 2011 Silver Quiz?
By: Jeff Clark, BIG GOLD








The Brittle Financial American Middle Class

The Collapse In EUR Spec Longs Ends As Dollar Short Covering Has A Little More To Go

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2011 16:08 -0400

As we predicted last week, the tide has turned in the futures market, where after 4 weeks of steep declines, the net EUR non-commercial specs have finally posted a pick up. And considering they are delayed by about 700 pips, after the pair has surged since May 23, expect what will likely be the biggest surge in net long EUR exposure next week. In the week ended May 31, there were 21,970 net longs, compared to 19.129 in the week prior, and 99,516 on May 3, when the EURUSD was flirting with the 1.50 mark. We expect a pick up of at least 30-40k contracts in the next week as all latecomer shorts promptly cover. Elsewhere, the short covering spree in the USD continues but not for long: look for the most recent net long exposure of 4,787 to promptly flip and go negative once again as more and more begin anticipating another Monetary Easing episode. And out east, the net JPY exposure went bearish fror the first time sine May 3, with net exposure dropping from 8,006 contracts to -1,648. The technicals at this point indicate a break of recent EURUSD resistance in the 1.50 area is very much possible. 

 

 

 

 

 

CME Saves The Best For Friday 6 PM Last, Lowers Treasury Bond Margins

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2011 18:12 -0400

Just in case the broad speculator public did not get the message earlier this week after the CME lowered ES margins, just in time for the market to sell off and send realized vol surging (while of course ignoring plunging vol in gold, silver and all other commodities), the CME has completed the "paint by Rahmian numbers" puzzle, and has made clear which other asset class has the investment "go ahead" by the administration. As of a few minutes ago, the initial and outright margins for 10Y and 30 Y Treasury Bond Futures, 10 Year On The Runs, 7 Year Interest Rate Swaps and LT US Treasury Bond Futures were all lowered by up to 19%. Good thing the move comes 4 weeks before the end of QE 2. Were it to just precede, or, gasp, coincide with June 30, one may get ideas that this is not quote unquote risk management, such as that expressly not exhibited by the CME's refusal to hike ES margins following their cut, but is nothing but another glaringly obvious means of directing speculative capital into preferred asset classes.

Guest Post: Two Clear Warning Signs In The Credit Markets

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2011 20:25 -0400

Credit markets have been performing well all year. The returns, while not outstanding have been incredibly consistent. There has been an eerie calm to the market. Most people are bullish on corporate credit - even those who don't like the overall yields argue that the spreads are attractive. That may be true, but two leading indicators of potential trouble in the credit market have popped onto my radar screen 

 

 

 

 

 

Attention Marxists: Labor's Share Of National Income Drops To Lowest In History

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2011 18:03 -0400

Probably the most imprtant secular trend in recent employment data, one that has a far greater impact on the macroeconomic themes than Birth/Death and seasonal adjustment manipulated month to month shifts in the employment pool per either the household or establishment surveys, is the labor share of national income. In a 2004 paper from the St. Louis Fed, the authors make the following statement: "The allocation of national income between workers and the owners of capital is considered one of the more remarkably stable relationships in the  U.S. economy. As a general rule of thumb, economists often cite labor’s share of income to be about two-thirds of national income—although the exact figure is sensitive to the specific data used to calculate the ratio. Over time, this ratio has shown no clear tendency to rise or fall." It would be wonderful if this was true, and thus if the US population really had a stable distribution of income between laborers and capital owners. Alas it is dead wrong. In fact, as the latest note from David Rosenberg points out, the "labor share of national income has fallen to its lower level in modern history - down to 57.5% in the first quarter from 57.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, 57.8% a year ago, and 59.8% when the recovery began." And here is where the Marxist-Leninist party of the US should pay particular attention: "some recovery it has been - a recovery in which labor's share of the spoils has declined to unprecedented levels."

Arnie Gundersen Interview: The Dangers Of Fukushima Are Worse And Longer-lived Than We Think

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2011 16:40 -0400

"I have said it's worse than Chernobyl and I’ll stand by that. There was an enormous amount of radiation given out in the first two to three weeks of the event. And add the wind and blowing in-land. It could very well have brought the nation of Japan to its knees. I mean, there is so much contamination that luckily wound up in the Pacific Ocean as compared to across the nation of Japan - it could have cut Japan in half. But now the winds have turned, so they are heading to the south toward Tokyo and now my concern and my advice to friends that if there is a severe aftershock and the Unit 4 building collapses, leave. We are well beyond where any science has ever gone at that point and nuclear fuel lying on the ground and getting hot is not a condition that anyone has ever analyzed." So cautions Arnie Gundersen, widely-regarded to be the best nuclear analyst covering Japan's Fukushima disaster. The situation on the ground at the crippled reactors remains precarious and at a minimum it will be years before it can be hoped to be truly contained. In the near term, the reactors remain particularly vulnerable to sizable aftershocks, which still have decent probability of occuring. On top of this is a growing threat of 'hot particle' contamination risk to more populated areas as weather patterns shift with the typhoon season and groundwater seepage.