Saturday, August 4, 2012


ECB Saves Greece From Certain Bankruptcy. Again

A few days ago we wrote that "Greece Runs Out Of Money. Again" because it did. The country, which is permanently locked out of the bond markets, would be down to a negative cash balance as soon as its August bond payment to the ECB was made. The reason is that the Troika continues to delay its decision. whether or not to hand over Greece its next monthly allowance. So with the country threatening to once again be on the front page as math rears its ugly head, the ECB has decided to take the bold step and admit that in lieu of even remotely credible collateral pledged and repledged in the ponzi repo system, the ECB has no choice but to expand the universe of eligible "collateral" against which it will provide cash. From Reuters: "The ECB's Governing Council agreed at its meeting on Thursday to increase the upper limit for the amount of Greek short-term loans the Bank of Greece can accept in exchange for emergency loans, the newspaper said in an advance copy of the article due to appear in its Saturday edition."




In Order To Be Saved, Spain And Italy Must First Be Destroyed

There has been much confusion over last week's remarks by Mario Draghi, with the prevailing narrative being that the market first got what Draghi meant wrong (when it plunged), then right (when it soared). The confusion is further granulated by attempts to explain what was merely a desperate attempt at delaying a decision for action, which was inevitable considering the now open opposition by Buba's Weidmann, into a formal and planned plotline: "Inverse Twist" or other such technical jargon is what we have seen floating around. The reality is that, just like all other central bankers, Draghi did what he does best: use big words and threats of action in hope it will buy him a few extra days of time. The reality is also that, just like when the LTRO was announced, the market did get it right initially, when peripheral bonds plunged, and got it wrong over the subsequent 3 months when bond prices rose, only to collapse to new lows (and in the case of Spain - record high yields as of two weeks ago). Back then, the ECB merely bought a few months time with its intervention. This time it has at best bought a few days with the lack of any actual action. And yet, Draghi did leave a way out, for at least another brief respite (where unless Europe expands the available bailout machinery yet again, the respite will have an even briefer half life than that from the LTROs). The way out is simple, and in order to avoid any confusion, we will use an allegory from the movie Batman: Spain and Italy can be saved. But first they must be destroyed.


Greatest Truth Told To Congress

from TruthNeverTold :






Competing For State Contracts Is Not Competition

Here in Britain, we hear the word competition a lot. Since Margaret Thatcher, there has been a general trend — in the name of competition — toward the selling-off of utilities such as water, railway, electricity and telecoms providers. More recently, there has been a trend toward government services being provided by private companies, such as the bungled Olympic security arrangements contracted out to multinational security giant G4S, as well as work capability assessments contracted out to French IT consultancy ATOS, and the contracting-out of some medical services. The way this works is that the government provides the funding for services, which private sector companies then bid to undertake. This is also the way in which defence contractors have historically competed for defence contracts, a sector which is renowned worldwide for its profligacy, waste and inefficiency. This is a bizarre arrangement. Competing for government contracts is nothing like the free market. In a true market environment businesses compete for the custom of individuals based on their ability to provide the best products and services.





Kirk Sorensen: A Detailed Exploration Of Thorium's Potential As An Energy Source

Kirk Sorensen, NASA-trained engineer, is a man on a mission to open minds to the tremendous promise that thorium, a near-valueless element in today's marketplace, may offer in meeting future world energy demand. Compared to Uranium-238-based nuclear reactors currently in use today, a liquid flouride thorium reactor (LTFR) would be:
  • Much safer - no risk of environmental radiation contamination or plant explosion (e.g. Chernobyl, Fukushima, Three-Mile Island)
  • Much more efficient at producing energy - over 90% of the input fuel would be tapped for energy; vs <1 in="in" li="li" reactors="reactors" s="s" today="today">
  • Less waste-generating - most of the radioactive by-products would take days/weeks to degrade to safe levels, vs centuries
  • Much cheaper - reactor footprints and infrastructure would be much smaller, and could be constructed in modular fashion
  • More plentiful - LFTR reactors do not need to be located next to large water supplies, as current plants do
  • Less controversial - the byproducts of the thorium reaction are pretty useless for weaponization
  • Longer-lived - thorium is much more plentiful than uranium and treated as valueless today. There is virtually no danger of running out of it given LFTR plant efficiency 
Most of the know-how and technology to build and maintain LFTR reactors exists today. If made a priority, the US could have its first fully-operational LFTR plant running at commercial scale in under a decade.




Gold and Silver Continue Marking Time

Trader Dan at Trader Dan's Market Views - 1 hour ago
Both Gold and Silver remain in consolidation patterns with tightening ranges as speculative HOT money flows which are exiting are being met by value-based buying and accumulation by stronger hands. The loss of speculative interest in the precious metals over the last few months can be seen by the steady decline in overall open interest (the number of contracts open). Generally speaking, whenever speculators are interested in establishing positions in a particular market, the open interest will rise. When they are not, the open interest will fall. Look at the following open interest ... more »

 

Trading A Trend Has Nothing To Do With Trust

Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 2 hours ago
Yesterday's rally backed by the tendency that upside momentum encourages more buying favors continuation of the reallocation trade from bonds setup in June and trigger in July (chart 1). The outflows from bonds accelerate as the stock market rallies (magenta arrow). This acceleration represents the fuel an election-year stock market rally. Chart... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

 

Trader Dan Interviewed on King World News Markets and Metals Wrap

Trader Dan at Trader Dan's Market Views - 3 hours ago
Please click on the following link to listen in to my regular weekly audio interview with Eric King on the KWN Markets and Metals Wrap. *http://tinyurl.com/dywhwrn* **

 

Completely Fabricated Jobs Report/All bourses in the green/risk off trading

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen: Gold closed up today by $19.30 to finish the comex session at $1606.  Silver finished up by 81 cents to $27.79.  Gold was immediately smashed on news that the USA had a good jobs number.  However, with Europe solidly in the green and with Spanish and Italian 10 yr yields down, gold and silver took off along with the Dow.Europe decided on Friday, that maybe

 

There's Going To Be A Huge Shift In American Society

Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 8 hours ago
There's going to be a huge shift in American society, American culture, in the places where one is going to get rich. The stock brokers are going to be driving taxis. The smart ones will learn to drive tractors so they can work for the smart farmers. The farmers are going to be driving Lamborghinis. I'm telling you. You should start Forbes Farming. - *in Forbes * Related: John Deere (DE), Potash (POT), Mosaic (MOS) *Jim Rogers is an author, financial commentator and successful international investor. He has been frequently featured in Time, The New York Times, Barron’s, Forbes, Fort... more » 


Agenda 21 Cutting Off Electricity To US Cities!

U.N. AGENDA 21 WILL DESTROY OUR ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE ENERGY AND TURN YOU INTO A SERF IF YOU DON’T WAKE UP. In Austin Texas where I live the city council has already shut down several “city” or citizen owned power plants and our electricity bills have gone up 100%+ in the last few years. Now, they want to cut at least 33% more of our power in the name of saving the earth– a foreign army could not do this much harm. This is all about power and billions of dollars, how you ask? Select power plants are given waivers and get to stay open; and with their competition shut down, they can charge more for less. This is a pure criminal oppression run by mega corps and the politician whores they buy. It’s a giant criminal robbery hiding in plain view!





Will You Stand on the Side of LIBERTY?

The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” -Thomas Jefferson
from D. Dees, David Dees Illustrations:


 



Must Watch...

What happened when Guns were BANNED in Australia ?

from TheAwakenedMedia:




Cold Hard Facts On Gun Bans: “The Cost Of Liberty Can Be Measured In the Loss of Life”

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one.” – Thomas Jefferson

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:
While anti-gun advocates put forth every argument under the sun for why you should not be able to own a “high capacity” magazine that holds more than 10 rounds, or that you shouldn’t be able to buy ammunition online, or that police should stop going to work until guns have been completely banned, the evidence for disarmament of law abiding citizens as a failed policy is overwhelming.
In Chicago, where guns have essentially been banned for personal defense, the murder of innocents has risen so sharply in recent months that Mayor Rahm Emanual has been left with no other option but to call on criminals to look to their morals and values to stop the carnage. Washington D.C., which bans the carrying of concealed weapons, has maintained one of the highest gun crime murder rates in the country for over three decades – since the legislation was passed in 1975. As the Washington Post notes, the disarming of local residents has been wholly ineffective noting that the “guns kept coming, and bodies kept falling.”
Read More @ SHTFPlan.com

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Americans Face Worst Drought Since 1960s & Crisis in Corn, Soy

from Silver Vigilante:
There is no doubt that the United States, and the world, could now endure the worst U.S. drought since the Eisenhower era. Up to nearly a third of the counties in the United States have been declared disasters areas. Half of the country is affected by a drought to which there has yet to appear a potential end. CNN has said there’s no hope, although remains reluctant to throw in the towel on the current financial system. Grasslands are dry as rattlesnake skin shed under the desert sun, the risk for wildfires engulfing the nation higher. Mountain peaks brown throughout the year will not serve as slides for streams in the west, the crop losses sure to reap financial and political consequences. In fact, they’ve already begun. There have been disasters declared in 26 U.S. states, making it the largest U.S. national disaster ever declared. But, this U.S. national disaster will become a global disaster, affecting countries tied to the U.S. through the global food market.
90% of Staple U.S. Food Crop Damaged, Destroyed. Nearly 90 percent of the corn and soybeans on American farms have been damaged or destroyed by the drought, and tight reserve stocks are already sending commodity prices higher. Insurance and disaster aid will rush in, but the damage to family farms throughout the nation will be worse than losses suffered by big corporations.The U.S. family farm will continue its extinction.
Read More @ Silver Vigilante



The Incomparable Faith of Keynesian Investors

by Gary North, Lew Rockwell:
Occasionally, I read something in the mainstream financial media whose degree of delusion takes my breath away. This is such a sentence (August 2, 2012).
U.S stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with investors hoping the European Central Bank will signal further measures to aid growth and prevent the euro zone collapsing.
This was published by CNBC, a cable TV network that remains perpetually bullish. It was posted no later than 6 a.m.
Stock futures up: check.
ECB measures to aid growth: check.
Prevent the eurozone from collapsing: check.
“Another day, another avoidance of the collapse of the eurozone.”
Excuse me. A collapse of the eurozone. Is that right? There might be a collapse of the eurozone?
And the ECB may do something to prevent this? Possibly?
Therefore, American stock futures are up. Have I got this right?
Read More @ LewRockwell.com



KWN Weekly Metals Wrap

from KingWorldNews:
The KWN Weekly Metals Wrap – We have added new segments to the KWN Weekly Metals Wrap covering gold, silver, trading and a plethora of other factors affecting the precious metals markets. I am giving King World News listeners globally access to what has long been my secret weapons in researching where gold and silver are headed directionally along with the COT Report. We Cover the Commitment of Traders Report in detail as well as a number of other factors which can influence the gold and silver market price action.
LISTEN NOW @ KingWorldNews.com



Q&A With The Doc: Should I Do My Part & Buy a Good Delivery Bar to Drain the COMEX?

from Silver Doctors:
Hey Doc, I am seriously considering doing my part of removing physical from the cartel by buying a 1000 “COMEX Deliverable” bar. I already have a good stack over 1000 oz’s which includes a number of 100 oz, 50 oz, 25 oz, 10 oz, 5 oz bars along with Maples and Constitutional Silver.
So my question is, how difficult do you think it would be to sell “When needed” this size bar if and when sh*t hits the fan. Thanks for the feedback and keep up the great job of keeping us informed!
Michael, great question. Reselling a 1,000oz bar would be much, much more difficult than reselling (or using as currency) rounds, 10oz bars, or even 100oz bars. Most dealers will not repurchase a bar like that without an assay sample (drill the bar first). Also the size rules out reselling to most investors, so you would be looking at reselling it to a refinery most likely, at well below spot (probably ~1.50- $2.00/oz under spot).
The truth is, any silver purchase in physical form does the same damage to the cartel. Buying 1,000 new buffalo rounds or Eagles or Maples results in the mints having to source 1,000 oz to meet your order, which takes away available physical inventory from the COMEX and the cartel. Buying 1,000 oz in Constitutional silver prevents that silver from ending up in a refinery and being melted into a good delivery COMEX bar. A massive global market like silver flows like water. If you are trying to empty your swimming pool with a bucket, it really doesn’t matter if you take the bucket of water out of the deep end or the shallow end.
Read More @ Silver Doctors



The Con Game Of Writing Up Assets: It’s Not Just The “London Whale”

from Testosterone Pit.com:
Normally we see the gory details only after a firm collapses, like Enron or Lehman, when vultures tear open its guts to fight over shriveled assets that had appeared fat and healthy on paper, and some of them had been written up repeatedly to create—which our accounting system encourages us to do—paper income.
Other outfits get bailed out. JPMorgan among them. A distinction made behind closed doors. They still have hollowed-out balance sheets … and the certainty, if they’re large enough, that the Fed and the Treasury, or central banks and government agencies around the world, will prop them up at a moment’s notice. Confidence is required to keep the scheme going. Once confidence fades, the scheme collapses, and central banks have to print trillions and hand them to the industry so that confidence will reassert itself, and so that the scheme can be driven to the next level. And yet, it’s all about prosaic accounting.
Accounting rules allow the use of estimates to value many assets. And estimates can be written up. If a trader or an executive imagines that an asset has increased in value, he’ll set in motion a chain reaction that will cause the company to make the adjustments, increasing the value of the asset with one entry and increasing by the same amount an income account. It’s all good. Asset value goes up, profit goes up. Trader bonus goes up. Manager bonus goes up. CEO bonus goes up. Investors froth at the mouth. Earnings per share beat analysts’ expectations. A money machine. Everyone is happy. Even regulators, their banks being strong and profitable. Halleluiah.
Read More @ TestosteronePit.com



Paying Lip Service to Liberty

by David Galland, Casey Research:
For some time now – years actually – I have pondered the nature of liberty. Or more specifically, what liberty actually means to me. And to be extra clear, I am not talking about the meaning in abstract or philosophical terms, but tangibly – in much the same way I might answer if asked what my wife means to me.
The trigger for this entirely personal discourse comes from reading various articles and viewing various YouTubes and speeches from self-styled champions of liberty (COL). There is even an entire conference, Mark Skousen’s FreedomFest, dedicated to the topic.
Invariably, these well-meaning COL rail against “The Man” (something I do myself), accentuating their public angst by sharing stories of being molested by the TSA or otherwise inconvenienced by minions of the state. It is my contention that most of these individuals, and certainly the majority of “freedom-loving” Americans, don’t actually understand the meaning of liberty, but rather give the matter little more than lip service.
And again, I don’t mean liberty in an abstract way – like, say, “world peace” – but tangibly.
Read More @ CaseyResearch.com



Pensions face ‘death spiral’, says Ros Altmann

by Richard Evans, The Telegraph:
The Bank of England’s policy of quantitative easing has done “irreparable damage” to Britain’s final salary pension schemes, a leading economist has said.
While the Bank made no extension to its QE programme yesterday, its policy of forcing down long-term interest rates has caused huge problems for the pension schemes of many firms, according to Ros Altmann of Saga, the over-50s’ group.
Pension deficits at FTSE 100 firms have more than doubled in the last year alone, despite companies pumping millions into their schemes to repair their pension shortfalls, Ms Altmann said.
“This is turning into a ‘death spiral’,” she added. “The lower gilt yields fall, the worse pension deficits become. The worse pension deficits become, the more trustees will feel they need to ‘de-risk’. This often means buying more gilts which itself means worse deficits because trustees are competing with the Bank of England, which is also trying to buy gilts due to QE.”
She said many employers would want to get rid of their pension risks altogether, but that that approach also risked becoming unaffordable because the cost of covering future liabilities also rises as gilt rates fall.
“Firms are left trying to find more money to plug pension deficits, causing funds to be diverted from creating jobs and expanding operations. Worryingly too, companies trying to borrow money to expand, or to meet a pension recovery plan, are finding the banks increasingly unwilling to lend because of the pension deficit.
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk



The Sovereign Bond Crisis: When Collateral Kills

By Nickolai Hubble, Daily Reckoning.com.au:
The sovereign bond crisis is going to play out in a way you don’t expect. It’s going to get you by the back door, just like the sub-prime loan mess did. In fact, the very same back door.
‘It’s all got to do with collateral, you see.’
There’s a joke around the office about certain statements which should never be used on a first date. And that one was a winning entry. But that doesn’t mean it is not all about collateral. The stock market, the bond market, the entire economy – they are all about collateral. At least collateral is the crisis trigger that keeps popping up to ruin your day. Here are some examples of how –
Mortgages failed in 2007 because the collateral in the lending agreement (the house) fell in value. The fancy pants creations from Wall Street, which repackaged those mortgages into investments for unsuspecting investors, failed because the collateral (the mortgages) failed.
Then the investment banks started to struggle because the collateral they used in their short term borrowing (the mortgage bundles) failed. The banks had to be bailed out by the governments, which made the governments’ financial position worse. So now the supposedly safest collateral the banks use to secure funding (sovereign bonds) is failing too!
Read More @ DailyReckoning.com.au



July’s jobs report is probably not as good as it seems

by Walter Kurtz, Sober Look,via Also Sprach Analyst:
The US employment numbers this morning generated a sharp rally in risk assets, with crude oil rising 3.5%, S&P500 up 1.8%, copper up 1.6%, and Brazilian Real up 90bp.
It’s worth taking a quick look at what in this employment report is causing such euphoria and whether it is justified.
The markets have focused on the private payrolls increase, which was 62K higher than the forecast. In particular it was the pickup in manufacturing payrolls of 25K vs 10K expected.
This is certainly great news, but unfortunately this report is not as strong as the markets’ reaction indicates. Here are the reasons:
1. The prior month in private payrolls was revised down by 11K. That’s not an insignificant revision.
2. The unemployment rate actually went up from 8.2% to 8.3% and underemployment (U6) went up from 14.9% to 15%.  In fact, this is a third month in a row that saw an increase in U6.
3. Hourly earnings were lower than expected (0.1% vs 0.2%). The YoY growth in hourly earnings is 1.7%, the lowest since 2010. This is not positive for consumer spending.
4. Growth in temp payrolls continues to be significantly stronger than in permanent jobs. It tends to indicate lack of confidence among employers.
Read More @ AlsoSprachAnalyst.com



Bazooka Economics

by Stephen Lendman, SJLendman.Blogspot.com:
Did he or didn’t he? ECB president Mario Draghi promised “whatever it takes.” Great expectations arose. August 2 was D-Day.
Fizzle followed sizzle. Bazooka plans stalled. More on Draghi’s pronouncement below and what it means.
Europe’s economy is broken. Monetary intervention solved nothing. Core problems fester and grow. Contagion spreads everywhere. Effective solutions are absent.
Bankers are prioritized over sound economics. Western policy makers march to the same drummer. Ordinary people suffer. Poverty, unemployment, and deprivation grow exponentially. Nothing ahead looks promising.
On August 2, Draghi spoke. Markets want instant gratification. Disappointment followed. Der Spiegel headlined “ECB Disappoints Investors with No Euro Action,” saying:
Read More @ SJLendman.Blogspot.com



ONE of JT’S BEST INTERVIEWS EVER, GOLD is IN BACKWARDATION, SILVER & MORE – James Turk

from KingWorldNews:
“People are starting to understand they are being played with by these guys. Draghi came out last week and said he will do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. Then he said something to the effect of, ‘And believe me it will be enough.’
But there was an important proviso in his statement. He said, ‘Within its mandate.’ Within the ECB’s mandate he would act. The question is, what is the ECB’s mandate? They still haven’t decided that.”
Turk also added: “Interest rates really are a function of risk. There has been a lot of talk about gold’s swap rates, lease rates, contango, backwardation and all of that stuff, but it’s really pretty simple, Eric. The dollar has an interest rate, the euro has an interest rate, gold has an interest rate. They are all money.
LISTEN NOW @ KingWorldNews.com


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