Will Apple Announce "The Dividend" Tomorrow?
Minutes ago Apple announced that first thing tomorrow it will "host a conference call to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its cash balance. Apple® will not be providing an update on the current quarter nor will any topics be discussed other than cash." As a reminder, Apple has just about 100 billion in cash. Everyone expects a dividend. So what happens when everyone finally gets what they have been expecting for so long? Will it mean the end of the growth phase and the advent of the "MSFT" anti-growth curve? Also, which bank will claim the commission for advising Apple on how to spend a cash amount that while nearly a third of Greek GDP, is less than half of the US February budget deficit (in other words, Apple could fund just 12 days of the US spending burn rate in February)? Finally, was the pre-election administration at all involved in the making of this decision - remember the company was expected to announce a cash-related decision a month ago, and nothing happened. Why now? All shall be revealed tomorrow at 9 am.
Last June (the 24th to be precise), it was announced that 60 million barrels of oil would be released from world reserves, with about half of that amount being taken from the SPR. Oil was trading at $91 when the announcement was made but actually rose in price - hitting $97 - before dropping to $88 once the surplus oil was introduced on July 15. 60 million barrels = $3 lower price. Hardly bang for the buck - especially as oil was back above $100 before the end of the year. As much as the SPR is seen by many to be the panacea for high prices, the lack of available additional supply from the world’s biggest producers is a far bigger concern; one which my friend Ronni Stoeferle from Vienna wrote a fantastic report on recently entitled “Nothing To Spare” (you can email Ronni HERE for a copy of the report which is an incredibly detailed piece of work). In it he took an in-depth look at some of the supply constraints facing the world and his conclusions are, to say the least, troubling.
Back in May of last year, just after the now historic silver slamdown of "Silver Sunday" on May 1, 2011,
when the metal imploded by nearly 20% in the span of seconds, a move
that some considered 'normal', primarily the CFTC, we presented the extended biopic of
the infamous "Silverfinger": Bunker Hunt, who attempted to corner the
silver market, and succeeded, if only briefly (and they say Playboy has
no good articles). Today, courtesy of Grant Williams, we have dredged
up the following clip from the archives, which is a 10 minute overview
of just how there is really nothing new ever in the silver market,
bringing up memories of Silver Thursday, March 27, 1980,
and raising questions whether last year the move in precious metals
was not due to the same attempt to corner the silver and gold markets
as happened 30 years prior. A far more important question perhaps is
how was it that tried a redux of the Hunt brothers (and Warren Buffett of course), and when will someone take their place next?
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
My Dear Friends,
‘SWIFT’ Reaction: Iran May Block Oil Exports
Iran may block oil exports a threatened the world’s economies as a reaction to new sanctions, says its former intelligence minister. By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
First Publish: 3/18/2012, 7:48 AM
Iran may impose a blockade on oil exports that threaten the world’s economies as a reaction to new unprecedented sanctions, says its former intelligence minister Ali Fallahian.
Belgium’s Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which handles most international bank transfers, has eliminated Iran from its services.
The move is a “direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran," said SWIFT CEO Lazaro Campos. The embargo on Iran took effect Saturday and reduces Iran’s ability to use a secure network to receive payments. It also will affect Iranians wanting to receive money from relatives outside the country.
SWIFT’s decision is the harshest sanction placed on Iran in efforts to force the Islamic Republic to cooperate with United Nations nuclear inspectors and open up its nuclear facilities for surveillance to make sure it is not trying to build a nuclear weapon.The Western sanctions against companies dealing with Iran has not spread to China and India, but the SWIFT sanctions will make it harder for them to pay Iran, which has resorted to the barter system for some purchases.
“If the United States or Europe considers it its right to ignore international laws to meet its own interests, Iran may also decide to respond in kind wherever possible,” Fallahian told the government-controlled PRESS TV.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Meredith Whitney: ‘Tidal Wave’ of Muni-Bond Defaults Still Coming Thursday, 15 Mar 2012 01:35 PM
By Forrest Jones
A "tidal wave" of defaults in the municipal bond market is still building and will eventually hit the United States, says Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney.
Many U.S. cities, towns and municipalities are insolvent but are treading along similar to how Greece did for years before officially defaulting.
In late 2010, Whitney told 60 Minutes that municipal defaults could run up into the hundreds of billions of dollars although that hasn’t happened. Maybe not officially, but insolvency is a deepening problem, and defaults are still on the way.
"You have Stockton (Calif.) that is on the brink of bankruptcy. You have five cities, including Detroit, which is on the brink of insolvency. It’s fascinating, because there’s been so much back-room political maneuvering to keep these cities from going bust," Whitney tells CNBC, pointing out how California is trying to pass legislation to prevent municipalities from declaring bankruptcy.
"So there’s been every effort on the part of the states to prevent this tidal wave of defaults, which is going to happen sooner or later. It’s happening at an accelerating pace."
Taxes are rising, social services are being cut and fiscal shortfalls will keep widening.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 16, 2012
Executive Order — National Defense Resources Preparedness
EXECUTIVE ORDER
NATIONAL DEFENSE RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2061 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:
PART I – PURPOSE, POLICY, AND IMPLEMENTATION
Section 101. Purpose. This order delegates authorities and addresses national defense resource policies and programs under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the "Act").
Sec. 102. Policy. The United States must have an industrial and technological base capable of meeting national defenserequirements and capable of contributing to the technological superiority of its national defense equipment in peacetime and in times of national emergency. The domestic industrial and technological base is the foundation for national defense preparedness. The authorities provided in the Act shall be used to strengthen this base and to ensure it is capable of responding to the national defense needs of the United States.
Sec. 103. General Functions. Executive departments and agencies (agencies) responsible for plans and programs relating to national defense (as defined in section 801(j) of this order), or for resources and services needed to support such plans and programs, shall:
More…
I hope your taking advantage of our new sponsors, they were chosen to help you prepare for the coming global financial collapse...If you wait until TSHTF (the shi! hits the fan) it will be too late...
Please consider making a small donation, to help cover some of the labor and costs to run this blog.
Minutes ago Apple announced that first thing tomorrow it will "host a conference call to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its cash balance. Apple® will not be providing an update on the current quarter nor will any topics be discussed other than cash." As a reminder, Apple has just about 100 billion in cash. Everyone expects a dividend. So what happens when everyone finally gets what they have been expecting for so long? Will it mean the end of the growth phase and the advent of the "MSFT" anti-growth curve? Also, which bank will claim the commission for advising Apple on how to spend a cash amount that while nearly a third of Greek GDP, is less than half of the US February budget deficit (in other words, Apple could fund just 12 days of the US spending burn rate in February)? Finally, was the pre-election administration at all involved in the making of this decision - remember the company was expected to announce a cash-related decision a month ago, and nothing happened. Why now? All shall be revealed tomorrow at 9 am.
Things That Make You Go Hmmm - Such As $4.00 Gas (Again)
Last June (the 24th to be precise), it was announced that 60 million barrels of oil would be released from world reserves, with about half of that amount being taken from the SPR. Oil was trading at $91 when the announcement was made but actually rose in price - hitting $97 - before dropping to $88 once the surplus oil was introduced on July 15. 60 million barrels = $3 lower price. Hardly bang for the buck - especially as oil was back above $100 before the end of the year. As much as the SPR is seen by many to be the panacea for high prices, the lack of available additional supply from the world’s biggest producers is a far bigger concern; one which my friend Ronni Stoeferle from Vienna wrote a fantastic report on recently entitled “Nothing To Spare” (you can email Ronni HERE for a copy of the report which is an incredibly detailed piece of work). In it he took an in-depth look at some of the supply constraints facing the world and his conclusions are, to say the least, troubling.
Guest Post: Who Is Really Paying The $25 Billion TBTF Mortgage Settlement
The surprising tale that I will attempt to pen in this blog entry has a very familiar cast of characters; the Obama Administration, the Housing Bubble, "Toxic Mortgages", and Too Big To Fail "TBTF" Banks among others. While the headline of TBTF banks in a $25bil mortgage settlement is known to many, the underlying details of the settlement are less known and quite appalling when you pull back the covers. The wounds on past and present homeowners are still fresh from the housing crisis. As Jonathan Laing points out in this weekend's Barron's cover story, "five million of the country's 76million mortgage holders have lost their homes to foreclosure or lender ordered short sales since 2006, and an estimated 14million more own more on their homes than their properties are currently worth. In all, some $7.4 trillion in homeowners' equity has been destroyed according to Mark Zandi..."From The Archives - Bunker Hunt And 'Silver Thursday'
Back in May of last year, just after the now historic silver slamdown of "Silver Sunday" on May 1, 2011,
when the metal imploded by nearly 20% in the span of seconds, a move
that some considered 'normal', primarily the CFTC, we presented the extended biopic of
the infamous "Silverfinger": Bunker Hunt, who attempted to corner the
silver market, and succeeded, if only briefly (and they say Playboy has
no good articles). Today, courtesy of Grant Williams, we have dredged
up the following clip from the archives, which is a 10 minute overview
of just how there is really nothing new ever in the silver market,
bringing up memories of Silver Thursday, March 27, 1980,
and raising questions whether last year the move in precious metals
was not due to the same attempt to corner the silver and gold markets
as happened 30 years prior. A far more important question perhaps is
how was it that tried a redux of the Hunt brothers (and Warren Buffett of course), and when will someone take their place next?Alasdair Macleod: Eurozone banks and contagion risk
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Economist and former banker Alasdair Macleod, writing at GoldMoney, predicts that not just the debt of the marginal European Union nations but all government debt will soon be impugned by Greece's bond default. Macleod's commentary is headlined "Eurozone Banks and Contagion Risk" and it's posted at GoldMoney here:
Economist and former banker Alasdair Macleod, writing at GoldMoney, predicts that not just the debt of the marginal European Union nations but all government debt will soon be impugned by Greece's bond default. Macleod's commentary is headlined "Eurozone Banks and Contagion Risk" and it's posted at GoldMoney here:
Reuters' James Saft tells Buffett that gold is insurance against bad money
What Is Gold For?
By James Saft
Reuters
Friday, March 16, 2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/16/us-column-gold-saft-idUSBRE82F...
An apparent economic recovery and a recent tumble in the price of gold has investors wondering if the precious metal has lost its place in a portfolio.
By James Saft
Reuters
Friday, March 16, 2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/16/us-column-gold-saft-idUSBRE82F...
An apparent economic recovery and a recent tumble in the price of gold has investors wondering if the precious metal has lost its place in a portfolio.
Brazil vows to protect manufacturing with currency devaluation
By Joe Leahy
Financial Times, London
Friday, March 16, 2012
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b1d9f05a-6f8b-11e1-b368-00144feab49a.html
BRASILIA -- Brazil's finance minister has vowed to hold down the value of the real and enact new measures to protect domestic industries, in an attempt to revive the country's slumping economic growth.
Financial Times, London
Friday, March 16, 2012
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b1d9f05a-6f8b-11e1-b368-00144feab49a.html
BRASILIA -- Brazil's finance minister has vowed to hold down the value of the real and enact new measures to protect domestic industries, in an attempt to revive the country's slumping economic growth.
Central banks pounce on falling gold, buying it through BIS
By Jack Farchy
Financial Times, London
Friday, March 16, 2012
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4f9a6076-6f92-11e1-b3f9-00144feab49a.html
A sharp fall in gold prices has triggered large purchases of bullion by central banks in recent weeks, according to several traders with knowledge of the transactions.
Financial Times, London
Friday, March 16, 2012
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4f9a6076-6f92-11e1-b3f9-00144feab49a.html
A sharp fall in gold prices has triggered large purchases of bullion by central banks in recent weeks, according to several traders with knowledge of the transactions.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
My Dear Friends,
Major Iranian banks have been deleted from the SWIFT system. This is the means of bank wire fund transfers.
This is a major act of economic war against Iran that challenges
others to consider similar tactics. It might be reasonable if Iran had
not just had large allies restate their allegiance in the form of China
and Russia. This would be reasonable if the West had no economic points
of vulnerability.
Unfortunately the Western financial system has real weak points that are in the hands of Iran’s new most powerful allies.
The US dollar utilization as a settlement currency is waning. The US
bond market has already lost its main buyers who in China’s case have
been sellers.
The Swift System war card would have better been held as a threat than used.
The Swift System war card would have better been held as a threat than used.
This is going to come home, and hurt after June 2012.
Regards,
Jim
Jim
‘SWIFT’ Reaction: Iran May Block Oil Exports
Iran may block oil exports a threatened the world’s economies as a reaction to new sanctions, says its former intelligence minister. By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
First Publish: 3/18/2012, 7:48 AM
Iran may impose a blockade on oil exports that threaten the world’s economies as a reaction to new unprecedented sanctions, says its former intelligence minister Ali Fallahian.
Belgium’s Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which handles most international bank transfers, has eliminated Iran from its services.
The move is a “direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran," said SWIFT CEO Lazaro Campos. The embargo on Iran took effect Saturday and reduces Iran’s ability to use a secure network to receive payments. It also will affect Iranians wanting to receive money from relatives outside the country.
SWIFT’s decision is the harshest sanction placed on Iran in efforts to force the Islamic Republic to cooperate with United Nations nuclear inspectors and open up its nuclear facilities for surveillance to make sure it is not trying to build a nuclear weapon.The Western sanctions against companies dealing with Iran has not spread to China and India, but the SWIFT sanctions will make it harder for them to pay Iran, which has resorted to the barter system for some purchases.
“If the United States or Europe considers it its right to ignore international laws to meet its own interests, Iran may also decide to respond in kind wherever possible,” Fallahian told the government-controlled PRESS TV.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
About this there is no question.
Meredith Whitney: ‘Tidal Wave’ of Muni-Bond Defaults Still Coming Thursday, 15 Mar 2012 01:35 PM
By Forrest Jones
A "tidal wave" of defaults in the municipal bond market is still building and will eventually hit the United States, says Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney.
Many U.S. cities, towns and municipalities are insolvent but are treading along similar to how Greece did for years before officially defaulting.
In late 2010, Whitney told 60 Minutes that municipal defaults could run up into the hundreds of billions of dollars although that hasn’t happened. Maybe not officially, but insolvency is a deepening problem, and defaults are still on the way.
"You have Stockton (Calif.) that is on the brink of bankruptcy. You have five cities, including Detroit, which is on the brink of insolvency. It’s fascinating, because there’s been so much back-room political maneuvering to keep these cities from going bust," Whitney tells CNBC, pointing out how California is trying to pass legislation to prevent municipalities from declaring bankruptcy.
"So there’s been every effort on the part of the states to prevent this tidal wave of defaults, which is going to happen sooner or later. It’s happening at an accelerating pace."
Taxes are rising, social services are being cut and fiscal shortfalls will keep widening.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Knowledge is power. Barack Obama signs an executive order this past Friday in preparation of national chaos.
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 16, 2012
Executive Order — National Defense Resources Preparedness
EXECUTIVE ORDER
NATIONAL DEFENSE RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2061 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:
PART I – PURPOSE, POLICY, AND IMPLEMENTATION
Section 101. Purpose. This order delegates authorities and addresses national defense resource policies and programs under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the "Act").
Sec. 102. Policy. The United States must have an industrial and technological base capable of meeting national defenserequirements and capable of contributing to the technological superiority of its national defense equipment in peacetime and in times of national emergency. The domestic industrial and technological base is the foundation for national defense preparedness. The authorities provided in the Act shall be used to strengthen this base and to ensure it is capable of responding to the national defense needs of the United States.
Sec. 103. General Functions. Executive departments and agencies (agencies) responsible for plans and programs relating to national defense (as defined in section 801(j) of this order), or for resources and services needed to support such plans and programs, shall:
More…
I hope your taking advantage of our new sponsors, they were chosen to help you prepare for the coming global financial collapse...If you wait until TSHTF (the shi! hits the fan) it will be too late...
Please consider making a small donation, to help cover some of the labor and costs to run this blog.
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