Surviving The Apocalypse... In A Lifeboat

No, this has nothing to do with uber ultra-rehypothecation, fractional reserve banking gone terminally nuts, gold being allowed to rise above $2000, or a second tier Keynesian economist in charge of the Fed's plunge protection team. For the doomsday prepper who has everything, WIRED magazine introduces the water-ready modular bunker (called STATIM pods). Designed to make sure you get through the first wave when the next big Tsunami hits, the 'inland lifeboats' are eerily reminiscent of the Movie '2012' or perhaps 'Waterworld'. "As the seas rise and cities fall, imagine a community of these built and arranged in new flood zones, perhaps for scientists seeking to learn about new littoral urban ecosystems or salvagers prospecting for the remaining treasures of a lost civilization. Every night, the tribe would return to their STATIM homes, sleeping soundly with the confident knowledge that when the next flood happens, everyone will be all right."

Was BlackRock's Permabull Bob Doll Fired For Stealing Financial Models?

Two weeks ago, when we remarked with great satisfaction that Wall Street's original pentagram of bull had now been cut to three, with the departure of BlackRock's hypermabull Bob Doll, we had one lingering question: why would a strategist, and not a trader, leave Wall Street in the "prime" of his CNBC prime-time years? After all, it is not like Doll ever was right, or was judged by the quality of his predictions - if that was the case he would have been fired years ago. Basically, there was a big question mark surrounding this departure. Today, we may have gotten our answer: as Reuters reports, it appears Doll may have been dipping into the wrong model. Financial model that is.

Krugman Claims He Has Been Right About Everything

I don’t think Krugman’s descriptive work on global trade patterns is bad. I don’t even think he has been completely wrong about the post-2008 economic depression. He certainly hasn’t been wronger than the people who are in charge in Europe, or the people running the Fed; he did, after all warn in 2005 that the Fed was “running out of bubbles” to reinflate, while Bernanke was still claiming in 2007 that subprime was contained. I do think his defence of broken windows is facile, and I think the notion he has advanced that World War 2 ended the Great Depression is not just wrong but dangerous. He’s a good polemicist; he defines himself through big, bold, wildly partisan claims. But if he’s going to claim that he’s been right about everything — as he just did — he might want to make sure he’s not directly contradicting statements he made just a week previous.

Stuff My Co-Workers Have Said

Draw a Wall Street paycheck long enough and you will work with an amazing spectrum of personalities.  Today’s note from Nic Colas (of ConvergEx) is an homage to his past coworkers in the form of some offbeat comments that have stuck in his memory over the past 25 years on the Street (and will ring true to anyone who has spent more than a day on a trading floor).  On the psychology of money management: “Last year we made $360 million and lost $330 million."  On the importance of language in positioning an investment story: "The company’s revenues aren’t unpredictable; they are just chunky.”  And our favorite, from long ago: "Who cares if most money managers underperform.  They all seem to have big houses and pretty wives."  No, not all these quotes are exactly "Politically correct", but they all represent some useful truths about investing and capital markets.

Germany Court delays ESM/Moody;s downgrades 16 banks/Morgan Stanley hurt the worst/China has lousy PMI numbers/USA also bad PMI

Harvey Organ at Harvey Organ's - The Daily Gold and Silver Report - 4 hours ago

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen: Gold closed down today by a huge $54.30, finishing the comex session at $1564.30  Silver also followed her stronger and wiser cousin by falling $1.55 to $26.83. There is no question that the world turmoil is certainly having its effect on our paper precious metals.  With all bourses in the red, many are reading the tea leaves and have figured out that the

Propaganda, Lies, And War

Despite already being engaged in drone wars in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and still occupying Afghanistan, the U.S. is being duped into yet another war based on shaky evidence and at the behest of deep-pocketed special interests.  This is coming even while a secretive cyber war already being waged to damage Iran’s nuclear capability.  According to the Pentagon, “computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war.”  Not only that, but the draconian sanctions thus far placed on Iran are doing enormous harm to the citizens who hardly have a say in what their government does.  The Belgium-based SWIFT payment system that facilitates most international payments has already denied service to many Iranian banks.  With the imposing of an oil embargo from the European Union just around the corner (July 1^st) that will all but make it impossible for oil tankers to be insured by Lloyd’s of London, an actual naval blockade is being floated by U.S. lawmakers.  Much like the Antebellum South and Japan, Iran too is being pushed into a corner.... Then and now, wealthy special interests are a driving force behind American imperialism.  Lies will be spun till they are seen as facts.  When the truth comes out, the irreparable damage will already be done.  Like anything the state lays its filthy hands on, war is a racket.  The beneficiaries of the ruling class’s gleeful foray into mass murder are few in number.  The masses, still brainwashed into feverish nationalism, end up paying the costs with their pilfered income, eroded liberty, and, ultimately, their own lives.

In The News Today

June 21, 2012, at 5:35 pm
by Jim Sinclair in the category In The News |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

Dear CIGAs,

This is disastrous because of the ramifications worldwide on present outstanding contracts, especially OTC derivatives.

MOODY’S DOWNGRADES GLOBAL BANKS Eric Platt | Jun. 21, 2012, 5:30 PM

UPDATE:
Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the long-term credit ratings of 15 major U.S., Canadian, and European banks today after markets in New York closed.
Of the 15 firms downgraded this afternoon, none were hit more than Moody’s originally said was possible when it placed them on review in February.
The action will likely force many of the banks targeted post additional collateral against trades held on their books.
Below, a summary of the major ratings action taken.
Cut One Notch:
• HSBC downgraded to Aa3 from Aa2
• Lloyds TSB downgraded to A2 from A1
• RBS downgraded to Baa1 from A3
• Societe Generale downgraded to A2 from A1
Cut Two Notches:
• Bank of America downgraded to Baa2 from Baa1
• BNP Paribas downgraded to A2 from Aa3
• Barclays downgraded to A3 from A1
• Citigroup downgraded to Baa2 from A3
• Credit Agricole downgraded to to A2 from Aa3
• Goldman Sachs downgraded to A3 from A1
• JP Morgan Chase downgraded to A2 from Aa3
• Morgan Stanley downgraded to Baa1 from A2
• RBC downgraded to Aa3 from Aa1
• UBS downgraded to A2 from Aa3
Cut Three Notches:
• Credit Suisse downgraded to (P)A2 from (P)Aa2
In February, Moody’s also placed Nomura and Macquarie credit ratings on watch for downgrade. However, the agency took action before today, lowering Nomura and Macquarie by one level each, to Baa3 and A2, respectively.
Perhaps the best news of the downgrade came to Morgan Stanley, which was on review for a downgrade by as much as three levels. Shares in the bank are up more than three percent in after-hours trade.
Analysts estimated that the company could be forced to post more than $5 billion in collateral if it was hit by a downgrade to Baa2.
In a short statement after Moody’s announced its cuts, Morgan said it had made clear progress, particularly with its Mitsubishi UFJ partnership.
"We believe the ratings still do not fully reflect the key strategic actions we have taken in recent years," the company said.
More…






Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Europeans are masters of the traditional belief that you can talk any problem to death.

Get ready for the coordinated Western worldwide bank and equity markets rescue. The tool will be QE to Infinity.

Debt crisis: German court delays eurozone’s €500bn bail-out fund
Germany’s constitutional court has delayed the creation of a new €500bn eurozone bail-out fund as Angela Merkel faces a series of legal challenges to measures seen as critical for saving the EU’s single currency. By Bruno Waterfield
5:47PM BST 21 Jun 2012
The legal block is embarrassing for the German Chancellor who expended large amounts of political capital in concessions to get the Social Democrat and Greene opposition to support the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) so it could enter into force on 1 July.
The ESM is urgently needed to fight European debt contagion over the summer and is Germany’s preferred option for a bailout of Spanish banks because it is more secure for lenders than the existing, smaller eurozone fund, the EFSF.
Germany’s parliament will ratify the ESM and the fiscal pact on 29 June after Chancellor Merkel was forced to offer the opposition new spending on growth and her full backing for a eurozone financial transaction tax in return for its support.
But in a humiliating setback on Thursday, judges in the Bundesverfassungsgericht, the country’s constitutional court ruled that they would need "at least three weeks" to consider the "complex" ESM’s legality after the vote and before it was signed Joachim Gauck, the German President.
"We assume that the president will, as he has done before, comply with this request, and that the court will therefore have enough time to conduct an examination," said a spokesman for the court, which is based in Karlsruhe.
More…


It is clear that China intends to be the world center for buying and selling gold…The plus in all this for Americans is that the price of gold will be out of the grip and manipulations of the Federal Reserve and the Comex. 
– Richard Russell, 20 June 2012





Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

This act is directly in the face of Western world demands for Iran sanctions on oil exports.

China increases shipments of oil from Iran Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:54PM GMT
China has increased its oil imports from Iran following the settlement of ambiguities by the two countries regarding the terms of the existing crude sale agreements.
Customs data indicated that China added 133,902 barrels per day to its crude shipments from Iran in May, increasing its Iranian oil purchase by 34.5 percent from the level of 388,034 barrels per day in April, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The rise in China’s crude shipments from Iran was aimed at offsetting a plunge in the oil imports in the first quarter of 2012.
The West’s unilateral sanctions against Tehran’s nuclear energy program have heightened concerns among the oil importers over imminent crises in the global crude market.
In an attempt to allay such concerns, the US has made exemptions for 18 nations, including 10 European Union countries, Japan, India, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Taiwan, Turkey, and South Africa, from sanctions on the Iranian crude oil.
The United States and the European Union have imposed tough sanctions against Iran since the beginning of 2012, claiming that the country’s nuclear energy program includes a military component.
Tehran refutes such allegations, noting that frequent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have never found any diversion in Iran’s nuclear energy program toward military purposes.
More…



India clears rupee for Iranian oil Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:40PM GMT
After long standing engagements of discussion and talks between the two countries, India and Iran have finally worked out a payment mechanism for the crude supplies that will bypass the US led-sanctions on Iran. New Delhi and Tehran have started a rupee transaction method via UCO Bank of India to facilitate its rupee payment for Iranian oil.
With US-led sanction making it difficult to route the payment for Iranian oil supplies, New Delhi and Tehran Have started its much delayed payment mechanism for its crude supplies which will bypass international sanctions against Tehran. India will make payment to Tehran through UCO bank which will be equivalent of the value raised for the next oil payment.
According to the Federation of Indian Export organization, the Indian government would start payment transaction into rupee account over the next few days, which Iran will use to buy products such as agricultural supplies and medicine from New Delhi. India’s bharat petroleum corporation has made its first oil payment to Iran in Rupees becoming the first refinery to use the new payment mechanism.
On June 12 India was granted a waiver by the US for reducing oil imports from Iran to about 9% of its total oil imports from 12% last year. With this new payment mechanism oil imports from Iran would be normal however quantity will be reduced but there would be exemption of taxes on payments to Iran according to finance ministry statement, the shipment will have also have an insurance cover a move refiners had awaited before starting to make payments into the account.
Officials argue that India needs Iranian oil to meet its growing energy demand at the same time this new payment mechanism will not be limited to oil imports but would also open doors of opportunities for exploring more trade and markets between the two countries.
More…




Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

The war of SWIFT and cyber hackers can easily set off the real thing.

Iran says detected "massive cyber attack:" state TV Reuters
1:00 p.m. CDT, June 21, 2012
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has detected a planned "massive cyber attack" against its nuclear facilities, state television said on Thursday, after talks with major powers this week failed to resolve a row over Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities.
Iran’s Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said the country’s arch enemies the United States and Israel, along with Britain, had planned the attack.
"Based on obtained information, America and the Zionist regime (Israel) along with the MI6 planned an operation to launch a massive cyber attack against Iran’s facilities following the meeting between Iran and the P5+1 in Moscow," Iran’s English-language Press TV quoted him as saying.
"They still seek to carry out the plan, but we have taken necessary measures," he added, without elaborating.
Security experts said last month a highly sophisticated computer virus, dubbed "Flame", had infected computers in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.
More…

Is an All-Time Super Rally Blow-off at Hand?

by George Ure, UrbanSurvival.com:

The Fed decision yesterday to keep lending rates unchanged was a given, although it is significant to note that the long-term commitment of the Fed to low rates through 2014 may be enough – with just two possible news events to come – set the stage for a massible “super rally” from perhaps month-end lows into the fall elections.
All it would take would be the US Surpreme Court to toss out the Obamacare bill, on the one hand, which I’m willing to bet would cause a thousand point rise in the Dow in a matter of days. That and even a hint that not all is lost in Europe and that it will somehow muddle-through without triggers the end of the financial world via a derivatives blow-up.
Given those two factors, and the idea that so many people are short right now and my trading system being so close to an upside reversal, that I made a small wager on the long side of the market Wednesday, as I had warned Peoplenomics reader that I might do.
Read More @ UrbanSurvival.com

Gold’s Volatility Signals Big Move Ahead; Tuesday Best Day To Buy Gold & Silver

By Drew Voros, Chairman, Casey Research:
Precious metals analyst Jeff Clark says there is something quite different about gold’s volatility this time around and that there are certain days that are better for buying silver than others.
Hard Assets Investor: Earlier in the year, you wrote an interesting piece about gold’s volatility called “The Face of Volatility.” We are certainly seeing volatility now. How would you characterize what’s happening?
Jeff Clark: Yes, are we seeing higher volatility right now, but the big volatility in the past occurred near the end of the bull market, during the actual mania. And obviously we’re not in a mania now. What I think the current volatility could mean, however, is that something big is about to happen. When volatility ratchets up, that usually means you’re on the precipice of a big move one way or the other. Naturally, given my view of the importance of holding gold at this point in time, I think that big move is going to be higher. But the volatility we have, while it is above what the average has been since 2001, doesn’t signal anything else at this point.
Read More @ CaseyResearch.com

MUST READ: Echoes of Watergate Reverberate Around Obama’s “Executive Privilege”

Note: Lyndon LaRouche said today that he is optimistic that something will happen soon which will result in Obama being removed from office. He said the situation is out of control. It can happen and it most likely is going to happen. Obama and Holder have put themselves in a Nixon-like bind. It is here and it is coming. Get ready! It is going to take off. They can’t get around it. They are caught in a trap of their own making. They can’t get out of this. Something is going to happen very soon and it is not going to be pretty. There is no peaceful resolution. Obama is a dangerous idiot. He is dangerous to himself and to everyone else. He should never have been made President.
from LaRouche Pac:

The attempts yesterday by the Obama Administration to evoke “executive privilege” in the case surrounding Operation Fast and Furious is now being identified by numerous news agencies as being Obama’s “Nixonian Mistake” which could turn the Fast & Furious scandal into “President Obama’s Watergate”, and have raised questions such as “what did the president know and when did he know it?”. What is Obama trying to cover up? Could this topple the President?
The Telegraph ran an article today, June 21, titled “The Fast and Furious scandal is turning into President Obama’s Watergate” by Tim Stanley. The article in part reads:

“On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt over his decision to withhold documents related to the ‘gun walking’ operation – documents that President Obama tried to keep secret by invoking executive privilege. The question of why the Prez intervened in this way will surely hang over the investigation and the White House for many months to come. Be patient, conservatives. It took nearly eight months for the Watergate break in to become a national news story. But when it finally did, it toppled a President…. Executive privilege is usually associated with protecting information that passes through the Oval Office. What did the documents reveal about Obama’s association with the operation? …By refusing to sack Holder or push him to come clean, Obama may have made a very Nixonian mistake…”

Read More @ LaRouche Pac

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When The Bread and Circuses Are Gone In America

by Richard Penney, The Black Sheep Report

Many Americans simply do not want to face reality.  America is going broke.  America has some some fundamental problems that have resulted in serious negative consequences to the people who live here.
For some reason, there are far too many people who refuse to acknowledge these major problems exist.  Furthermore, those that do acknowledge we have major problems, are either unwilling or unable to identify exactly what they are and what is causing them.
It is exactly what the Roman poet Juvenal was referring to when he said…

“The people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now concerns itself no more, and longs eagerly for just two things – bread and circuses”  – Juvenal

America’s Ravenous Appetite for Bread and Circuses

The people of America love their bread and circuses.  What is meant by “bread and circuses”?

Read More @ TheBlackSheepReport.com

Moody’s Initiates Operation Bloodbath Version 2.01

from John Galt FLA:
Summary of downgrades/actions by Moody’s:
Bank of America Corporation
Long-term senior unsecured debt to Baa2 from Baa1, outlook negative; Short-term P-2 affirmed
Barclays
Long-term issuer rating to A3 from A1, outlook negative; Short-term to P-2 from P-1
Citigroup Inc.
Long-term senior debt to Baa2 from A3, outlook negative; short-term P-2 affirmed
Credit Suisse Group AG
Provisional senior debt to (P)A2 from (P)Aa2, outlook stable; Provisional Short-term (P)P-1 affirmed
Goldman Sachs
Long-term senior unsecured debt to A3 from A1, outlook negative; Short-term to P-2 from P-1
HSBC Holdings
Long-term senior debt to Aa3 from Aa2, outlook negative; Provisional Short-term (P)P-1 affirmed
JPMorgan Chase
Long-term senior debt to A2 from Aa3, outlook negative; Short-term P-1 affirmed
Morgan Stanley
Long-term senior unsecured debt to Baa1 from A2; outlook negative; Short-term to P-2 from P-1
Read More @ John Galt FLA

The Continuing Mystery of the U.S. Treasuries Market

by Jeff Nielson, Bullion Bulls Canada:
The U.S. Treasuries market is currently the dominant financial mystery of the present time. Much like the proverbial “lead zeppelin” defies the laws of physics, the current status of the U.S. Treasuries market defies all of our financial fundamentals. It is a market which cannot exist, and yet it does.
Previously, my own writing has focused upon one particular aspect of this absurdity: the highest prices for U.S. Treasuries at a time of maximum supply. This in itself is an absolute financial contradiction. The highest supply in history directly implies the lowest prices in history, for every market in the world – except U.S. Treasuries.
But that is merely Act One of this Theater of the Absurd. These maximum prices are occurring at the point in history where the U.S. has never been less solvent. This also directly implies that U.S. Treasuries should be fetching the lowest prices in history – as is occurring with their Deadbeat counterparts in Europe.
Read More @ BullionBullsCanada.com

Greyerz – We Are Headed For Panic As Global Markets Tumble

from KingWorldNews:
With global stock markets plunging and gold coming under serious selling pressure, today Egon von Greyerz told King World News the entire financial system is under immense pressure and we will eventually see a massive panic. Egon von Greyerz is founder and managing partner at Matterhorn Asset Management out of Switzerland. Here is what Greyerz had to say about the ongoing crisis: “Eric, the entire financial system is under immense pressure. First you have the ESFS, the European Stability Fund, they are saying they must buy euro debt. The problem is that fund is now just 440 billion euros, which is nowhere near enough to support all of these failing European countries or their banking systems.”
Von Greyerz continues @ KingWorldNews.com

Blythe Master’s Next Move – Silver Leads Again

from Silver Doctors:
What we see today is a complete change in method by JP Morgan to drop the silver price below $27 to find a new bottom to generate paper long interest in the white metal.
We shall see how the managed money responds over the next few days and if they think a bottom is in and they feel lucky. Either way, they get killed one way or the other as this is nothing but a bear trap being set in the darkness of the COMEX wilderness for unsuspecting money managers who have a quick hand on the till and tight stops.
We have seen hundreds of articles in the last couple of weeks that the bottom is in for the PMs and they are about to go upward and onward…Not so, I have been telling everyone for months that prices are headed down, down, down. But down is a very good thing for us who are in the physical scene because we can add far more ounces to our stash for the same fiat money number we have sitting on the sidelines.
Read More @ SilverDoctors.com

MSNBC Dares To Tell The Truth About Ron Paul!

from Matlarson10:

SBSS 41. The Aware Walk Away

from TruthNeverTold :

Medicaid on brink of financial collapse in Illinois and other states

by Jonathan Benson, Natural News:
The taxpayer-funded government healthcare disaster known as Medicaid is on the brink of collapse in Illinois and a number of other states, according to reports, and legislators are working feverishly to come up with solutions to keep the welfare program afloat. A recent Reuters report explains that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, for instance, has signed into law a string of new bills that will supposedly trim roughly $2.7 billion from his state’s Medicaid’s expenditures in order to keep the program going.
Representing a whopping 39 percent of the entire state’s general budget, Medicaid in Illinois is currently an enormous drain on the system, especially because hospitals and healthcare providers often, greatly over-bill for services and drugs dispensed under the program. This is one of the issues Gov. Quinn hopes to address with his new legislation, as well as issues of eligibility. Gov. Quinn is also cutting various Medicaid programs, which some say will eliminate health insurance coverage for thousands of Illinoisans.
Read More @ NaturalNews.com

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