We The Sheeplez- The Coming Economic Collapse.."A Nation Of Sheep Ruled By Wolves" Thomas Jefferson

"Hours" Downgraded To "Days" - Greek Deal No Longer "Any Hour Now"

The idiot market soared earlier on news that a Grek deal was coming "in hours" courtesy of some French leak. Now we get reality.

IIF SEES `VARIOUS ELEMENTS' OF PACKAGE COMING TOGETHER IN DAYS
IIF SAYS IT EXPECTS GREEK DEAL NEXT WEEK

Like we said. Idiot market.

As A Reminder, The President's Mortgage Plan Is "Dead On Arrival"

Obama's latest attempt to stimulate the housing sector and inflate home prices "before waiting for them to hit bottom" (which they never will as long as central planning tries to define what clearing prices are) is a noble reincarnation of now an annual, and completely ineffectual, theatrical gambit. There is, unfortunately, one major snag. It is Dead on Arrival (just like every single iteration of the Greek bailout), for the simple reason that it has to get congressional approval. Which it won't. And that's not just the view of biased political pundits. Wall Street agrees.

Bubble Watch: The Facebook IPO Is Rumoured to Be Coming Out

It's All About Controlling the Risk... and the Fear That Leads to Destruction

Commodity Wars: JP Morgan Stockpiling Inventory to Control Prices, the Flow of Goods, and Rents

Nigel Farage: Whatever Happened to The Veto?

Schulz’s Law: Farage vs Schulz – The First Confrontation

SHTF Planning: 20 Lessons from the Streets of Cairo

by ‘Eightbore’, SHTFPlan.com:

[...] From the somewhat guilt filled comforts of Greece, I have been thinking about what I learned from the recent Cairo SHTF experience. I am not putting myself forth as an expert of any sort and, frankly, many or even most items on the list below might be flat out wrong….who the hell knows. We were in Cairo from Jan 25th until late Feb 3rd when the neighborhood gunfire became full-auto and regularly occurring. At that point, we decided that Friday prayers (the next day) might not yield a pleasant experience. We had no way of knowing that we had already seen the worst.
Lesson #1….the best weapon for SHTF is truly whatever F*&$ING firearm you can lay your hands on and it does not matter the slightest bit what it is! I had a borrowed three shot semi-auto Beretta 26″ bbl trap grade shotgun. I LOVED IT. It was my baby and I truly miss it now!. That said, I would have given my left nut for my Yugo underfolder or SGL-21. Frankly, I am now of the opinion that if, in the moment, you are being AT ALL picky about firearms then by definition the shit has NOT truly hit the fan. One guy on our street only had a nice little S&W J-frame .22 and he seemed a lot more relaxed than the guys with baseball bats I can tell you that!
Read More @ SHTFPlan.com

January 2012 – Gold, Silver, Currency and Asset Performance Review

from GoldCore:

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,744, GBP 1,106.74, and EUR 1,327.65 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,738.00, GBP 1,102.23, and EUR 1,317.27 per ounce.
Gold consolidated on yesterdays gain in Asia overnight and then rose in early European trading from below $1,735/oz to $1,748.60/oz. A break above resistance at $1,750/oz could see gold quickly challenge $1,800/oz. However, there is also the possibility of a correction after the large gains seen in January.
January 2012 – Gold, Silver, Currency and Asset Performance Review
GOLD
Gold was again one of the top performing assets and currencies in January. Its 11% gain in January surpassed the 10% gains seen in all of 2010.
Read More @ GoldCore.com

The Unholy Alliance of John Maynard Keynes

by Ron Hera, GoldSeek.com:

Perhaps the greatest modern champion of central economic planning was the 20th century English economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynes, who was a political socialist and for a time a central banker, advocated the idea that the government should play a large, active role in the economy. Among the consequences of Keynes’ economic theories, whether intended or unintended, is the fact that Western economies today are characterized by large, central governments, central banks and massive debts.
According to Dr. Andrew Gelman, Professor of Statistics and Political Science at Columbia University, “the law of unintended consequences is what happens when a simple system tries to regulate a complex system. The political system is simple. It operates with limited information (rational ignorance), short time horizons, low feedback, and poor and misaligned incentives. Society, in contrast, is a complex, evolving, high-feedback, incentive-driven system. When a simple system tries to regulate a complex system you often get unintended consequences.” Professor Gelman’s statement seems equally apropos to central banking.
Read More @ GoldSeek.com

Persistent Questions About the Future of the US Economy

by Bill Bonner, DailyReckoning.com:

We’ve covered a lot of ground over the past few months. Not much action in the markets yesterday, so let’s stop here and take stock.
What we know so far…
First, it was clear from the get-go that there was a bubble in finance and housing. The only people who couldn’t see it were the people in finance and housing…and the feds. It reached its peak in ’05-’07…then, exploded.
Second, it was obvious that the US economy entered a period of debt destruction — a Great Correction, we called it. There was never really any hope of ‘recovery.’ Once it blows up, you can’t put the pieces of a bubble back together.
Third, the question then was how long the Great Correction would last…which depended on what it was correcting. No one knows. We’re still correcting the debt bubble, which could take another 10 years or so. But this correction could be tough; there are other things going on. Which led us to start asking questions about what we don’t know:
Read More @ DailyReckoning.com

Hyperinflation and Credit Default Swaps

by David Schectman, MilesFranklin.com:

“If we see gold replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, this will be accompanied by a collapse of confidence in the current financial system and panic buying in gold. This will create a move in gold, as Sinclair says, ‘That will light your hair on fire.’” –- King World News, Russell – Gold Threatening Dollar’s Reserve Currency Status
“Even former insiders are espousing their disagreement with America’s fascist, unconstitutional foreign and domestic policies, including former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh, who publicly spoke on Thursday of the catastrophic ramifications of rampant government financial market intervention.” -– Andy Hoffman, The End of the Gold & Silver Supply
_____________________________________
Please be sure and read John Williams’ comments on the coming hyperinflation in today’s daily. Williams is not some hack. You should at the very least, check out his views. Personally, I would not consider trying to understand the current economic conditions without his excellent data. You can subscribe to his newsletter at www.shadowstats.com.
Yesterday, I discussed the Jim Sinclair interview in the daily. Here are Bill Holter’s comments on the topic:
Read More @ MilesFranklin.com

Why Ron Paul Has A Good Chance Of Winning In Nevada & Maine

Congressman has effectively been campaigning in the states for four years
by Steve Watson, InfoWars.com

While Mitt Romney walked home an inevitable victory in the winner takes all Florida primary this week, the Ron Paul 2012 campaign was busy campaigning in Maine and Nevada, where the Congressman’s team has been busy building on a six figure ad buy.
Paul’s campaign has a lot riding on Nevada where the Congressman, scheduled to hold a major press conference in Las Vegas today, has polled consistently high for weeks.
Indeed, Paul has been running ads in The Silver State since last summer in anticipation of the caucuses which begin this Saturday, Feb 4th. When Paul unveiled his centerpiece budget plan last October, he did it in Las Vegas.
Read More @ InfoWars.com

US-UK Gold Swap Treaty Disappears From UN Internet Site, Reappears at GATA’s

by Chris Powell, GATA:
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
The new essay by GATA consultant Rob Kirby of Kirby Analytics in Toronto, “Manifest Destiny Derailed: Treason from Within,” which was published this week at three Internet sites –
GoldSeek:
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1328037291.php
24hGold:
http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-gold-silver-manifest-destiny-deraile…
And the German freelance journalist Lars Schall’s:
http://www.larsschall.com/2012/01/31/manifest-destiny-derailed-treason-f…
– cited the 1981 gold swap treaty between the United States and United Kingdom and included a link to the treaty document posted at a United Nations Internet site:
http://untreaty.un.org/unts/60001_120000/9/10/00016474.pdf
Apparently within hours of Kirby’s reference to the treaty, the link was disabled at the United Nations Internet site. Whether this is more evidence of the gold price suppression schemers trying to cover their tracks or just coincidence or the result of ever-more-intense solar flares, the gold swap treaty has been posted at GATA’s Internet site here:
Read More @ GATA.org

Corruption in Fascist Business Model

by Jim Willie, GoldSeek.com:

Few can define fascism. Many cannot recognize it. History provides shocking stories of its past episodes. But its root structural feature is the tight relationship between the state and large corporations of a nation, which permit enormous fraud and lead to grand inefficiency, even while aggression and war accompany its handiwork in an ugly fabric weave. Nowhere is the bond more scummy and corrupt than with the banking industry, not in general but in Wall Street where defense of the USDollar has come. That defense was contracted from the USGovt to Wall Street, whose ties developed into a vast network of corruption. That cozy relationship led to the gutting of Fort Knox and its gold bullion in the 1990 decade of so-called prosperity. The 0% gold leasing resulted in vast speculation schemes, private multi-$trillion profit, and absent collateral for the USDollar itself. The other cozy connection is with the defense contractors, where war generates colossal cash flows, some of which result in kickbacks to Congress. The Fascist Business Model is a cord to strangle the neck of a nation. The rage of nationalism, the eradication of liberties, the pursuit of conjured enemies, the constant sense of alert, the attack on enemies with alienation of allies, all tend to effectively conceal the theft and corruption. The other tell-tale infection is of inefficiency, where the most insolvent lead in policymaking, where the most connected are not the best in class, where the most corrupt are shielded by cronies in watchdog posts. These ordinary teams have dominated, not from capability according to the marketplace forces or Darwinism, but from connection to the power center.
Read More @ GoldSeek.com

Our Counterfeit Economy

by Charles Hugh Smith, OfTwoMinds.com:

The U.S. economy is in effect a counterfeit economy, living on money created from thin air that is unbacked by an equivalent productive expansion of surplus value.
Yesterday we looked at counterfeiting and money printing and discovered they are one in the same: (Counterfeit Money, Counterfeit Policy.) If we apply the same analysis to the U.S. economy, we have to conclude the entire U.S. economy is also counterfeit.
The analysis is not as complicated as store-bought economists would have you think. Much of what passes for “economics and finance” is simply distraction, a sophisticated version of bread and circuses.
Let’s start with two basic concepts: productive value and surplus value. The classic example of a productive asset is a factory that produces goods that have a market value that exceed the input (production) costs. In other words, the factory produces surplus value.
Read More @ OfTwoMinds.com

Rumours About Iranian Oil-for-Gold Programme Persist

by Roman Baudzus, GoldMoney.com:
Gold coins

Despite official denials by the Indian government, rumours are spreading that India and China are planning to use gold to pay for future purchases of Iranian crude oil. According to unconfirmed speculation, the Indian government is planning a swap agreement with Iran which will assure future deliveries of Iranian crude oil to be paid in gold and Indian rupees. At the end of 2011 the US imposed an embargo on Iran, which was endorsed by the European Union last week. India and China are two major Iranian crude oil importers. Both states purchase roughly 30% of yearly Iranian production, amounting to a total of US$30 billion. Should these persistent rumours be true, gold could experience a renaissance as a global currency. It would also undermine the sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com

The Ben Bernank... The Official Counterfeiter...

by Gary North, LewRockwell.com:

Back in 1969, a Disney cartoonist sat down at his story board and produced a booklet that the Disney organization never saw: The Official Counterfeiter. It was a presentation of fractional reserve banking and the role of the Federal Reserve System.
His name was Vic Lockman. As far as I know, he was the first cartoonist ever to do a booklet based on the Austrian theory of the business cycle. He revised the booklet in 1974. It is now back online.
It is a shame that he did not do a version of this booklet for one of the Scrooge McDuck comic books. He wrote stories for Uncle Scrooge. Of course, the Disney organization would not have released it. Too controversial.
In 1974, let alone 1969, Lockman’s version of how the banking system works was confined to the fringe: Austrian economics. Because he was a gold coin standard advocate, the Greenbackers did not respond favorably to his booklet. They are committed to fiat money.
In 1969, Ben Bernanke was 15 years old.
Read More @ LewRockwell.com

In the Wake of Davos: “Strong Economic Medicine” for the European Union

The Fed overshadow’s the European Central Bank
by Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster via GoldSeek.com:

On Friday from the Bilderberg conclave at Davos, appointed European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi proclaimed that Europe had averted financial disaster and cited the improvement in euro zone markets in recent weeks. He said it was the ECB’s duty to guard against deflation as well as inflation. The fact of the matter is that he and his friends at the Fed arranged a currency swap of $1 trillion of which the ECB dispersed $660 billion to 523 EU banks, at 1% interest for three years. He also cut interest rates twice and extended loans for 1 to 3 years. Mr. Draghi could be expected to take the easy Anglo-American way out. He is fully Illuminati trained and that is where his orders emanate from.
He continued about how the conclusion of a fiscal pact, the ESM, the European Stabilization Mechanism, where budgets and fiscal spending policies would be determined by unelected, Treasury appointees, who have been officially immunized by the EU government. Mr. Draghi makes no note of these qualifications and forgets to let us know that in this new ESM pact all the nations lose their sovereignty.
Read More @ GoldSeek.com

Policing the World

by John Stossel, Townhall.com:

With an election approaching and at least some Americans upset about irresponsible spending, the president has finally expressed a political interest in cutting something. He says the Pentagon will spend “only” $525 billion next year. That’s slightly less than the current $531 billion.
A cut is good, but this will barely dent the deficit. We could save much more if America assumed a military policy designed for defense rather than policing the world.
Presidential candidate Ron Paul gets criticized for advocating that. Paul’s opponents, including many of my colleagues, complain about his “isolationist foreign policy.”
But shrinking the military’s role isn’t the same as isolation. America can have a huge impact in the world without deploying our military. We already do. By all means, let our movies and music alarm mullahs. Let our websites and books disseminate ideas that autocrats consider dangerous. Above all, let’s trade with everyone.
Read More @ Townhall.com

Ron Paul’s Speech after Florida Primary: “We’ve Only Gotten Started”

Ron Paul, American, Wins in a Landslide

Blythe Replaces Faissola who is Vice Chairman of ISDA

Things are getting hairier than hairy. Two days ago we reported that Blythe is taking over for Deutsche Bank’s Michele Faissola as head of the GFMA, and will also retain her role as Head of Commodities at JPMorgan. After deeper research and a reader tip, we have uncovered that Michele Faissola is the Vice Chairman of ISDA. Prior to the Blythe’s insertion into the GFMA Chair, effective Feb 1, Michele Faissola was both the head of the GFMA and the Vice Chairman of the ISDA. As you can see from GFMA’s mission statement below, they might as well just be combined into one organization.
Read More @ SilverDoctors.Blogspot.com

MF Global’s Missing Money Traced

(Reuters) – U.S. investigating authorities have traced more than 90 percent of the customer money which disappeared from MF Global around the time of its bankruptcy, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the investigation. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the regulator leading the investigation, traced nearly all the money to banks, MF Global’s trading partners and the firm’s securities customers. The Commission, however, is unsure whether the money can be retrieved, the paper said.
“We understand the frustration of customers, but the CFTC must take the necessary time — however long it takes — to get to the bottom of what happened at MF Global and take appropriate actions,” the regulator said in a statement to the paper.
In December, Reuters reported U.S. regulators were “far enough along the trail” that they know where the money went, but must sort out which transactions were legitimate before more money can be released to customers.
Read More @ Reuters.com