This Is The Government: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied - The Sequel

Two years ago, in January 2010, Zero Hedge wrote "This Is The Government: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied" which became one of our most read stories of the year. The reason? Perhaps something to do with an implicit attempt at capital controls by the government on one of the primary forms of cash aggregation available: $2.7 trillion in US money market funds. The proximal catalyst back then were new proposed regulations seeking to pull one of these three core pillars (these being no volatility, instantaneous liquidity, and redeemability) from the foundation of the entire money market industry, by changing the primary assumptions of the key Money Market Rule 2a-7. A key proposal would give money market fund managers the option to "suspend redemptions to allow for the orderly liquidation of fund assets." In other words: an attempt to prevent money market runs (the same thing that crushed Lehman when the Reserve Fund broke the buck). This idea, which previously had been implicitly backed by the all important Group of 30 which is basically the shadow central planners of the world (don't believe us? check out the roster of current members), did not get too far, and was quickly forgotten. Until today, when the New York Fed decided to bring it back from the dead by publishing "The Minimum Balance At Risk: A Proposal to Mitigate the Systemic Risks Posed by Money Market FUnds". Now it is well known that any attempt to prevent a bank runs achieves nothing but merely accelerating just that (as Europe recently learned). But this coming from central planners - who never can accurately predict a rational response - is not surprising. What is surprising is that this proposal is reincarnated now. The question becomes: why now? What does the Fed know about market liquidity conditions that it does not want to share, and more importantly, is the Fed seeing a rapid deterioration in liquidity conditions in the future, that may and/or will prompt retail investors to pull their money in another Lehman-like bank run repeat?

Michael Krieger – There’s Something Big Headed Straight For Us

from FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com:
Michael Krieger of Liberty BlitzKrieg and frequent ZeroHedge contributor joined us for a deep and often intense interview. The efforts to make the Western World a cashless society is merely aimed at giving the money printers more control over your life. The monetary metals suppression scheme has kicked into high gear, leading both Michael and myself to conclude that there are big events planned, just over the horizon. Trying to see and identify these trends is what both of us spend an inordinate amount of time and energy doing. While it is often not a productive use, sometimes you see things that the elitists would prefer you didn’t. And this global event, we’re not yet sure what it is, is going to be major. Somehow, while being a life altering event, it’s designed to keep the elitists in power behind the curtain. You have to realize that even though most of us focus on the economy, the elitist power structure touches all phases of your life, what you eat, where you live, what you drive, what shows you watch on television. Their power to influence and even control numerous aspects of society is hanging in the balance. This is why ZeroHedge is a must read for me everyday.
CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO INTERVIEW

A Call For An International Real Investors Spring

by Jim Sinclair, JS Mineset:
My Dear Friends,
This is a call to litigation and high tech communication arms. This is a call for a communication revolution of 2012 with the same commitment that existed in 1775. This is a call for an explosion in litigation against those that destroy for profit using dastardly means.
The ends do not justify the means in the investment world even though it is the mantra of the devils that hide as financial and corporate personalities. Unless our markets are cleaned up of criminals there can be no sustained economic recovery. As long as the uptick rule is not enforced the Western world economic system is in the control of demons.
This revolution is not armed but it should be violent in its constant complaint and litigation of every organization, writer, paper, and personality that is stealing from us. Do no let up.
It is time for a Real Investors Spring.
Stop bitching and being cowards. I intend to fight via law, communication and any other legal means I can conceive of until I drive anyone who has screwed me and mine nuts.
Read More @ JSMineset.com

JP Morgan Refuses to Respond to Official Subpoena Regarding Electricity Manipulation

from Silver Doctors:
Jamie Dimon’s choice of cufflinks at his recent Congressional hearings was not a coincidence- they were a statement of who Dimon thinks is in charge in the US.
JP Morgan’s refusal to respond to an official subpoena for emails regarding The Morgue’s alleged manipulation of the electricity market demonstrate how far above the law Dimon and Co. believe they are.
US authorities investigating claims JPMorgan manipulated the electricity market have challenged the bank’s refusal to hand over subpoenaed emails.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) is looking into complaints from grid operators in California and 11 Midwestern states.
The bank is accused of profiting from loopholes in the bidding process to drive up prices by some $73m (£47m).
Read More @ SilverDoctors.com

Europe's Fundamental Flaw Resurfaces

"Two weeks after a summit that promised to bring solutions to the European financial crisis, the European Union has once again revealed its fundamental contradictions" is how Stratfor's Adrian Bosoni introduces a succinct clip on the reality the European leaders faced once they arrived home after that strenuous weekend of blithering. Between Asmussen and Schaeuble who have steadfastly stuck to the no-monetary-transfer-without-sovereign-transfer tack - which actually make a fair amount of sense on a long-term basis - a robust and unified budgetary regime is precisely what Europe has lacked. Unfortunately, Bosoni notes, "even in a best case scenario this could not be achieved before 2015" thanks to treaties, referenda, and ratifications. In a little over 3 minutes, the analyst outlines exactly what is holding it back and why the short-term is all they have as budgetary discipline is proving particularly difficult for the EU members to maintain (see more Spanish riots tonight). Between Spain's delays in meeting targets, Greece's 'impossible' budgetary goals, Ireland's demands for concessions, and Finland's collateral agreement with Spain, unifying anything over there seems impractical and impossible.

Spanish yields now over 7%/United States Postal Service set to default/San Bernandino vote for bankruptcy protection/More fallout on Lieborgate/Jobless claims rise again/Lousy Philly Mgf report/

Harvey Organ at Harvey Organ's - The Daily Gold and Silver Report - 2 hours ago

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen: Gold closed up today to the tune of 9.70 dollars at $1580.10.  Silver also followed suit rising by 10 cents finishing the comex session at $27.20.  Today we were greeted with news out of Spain that they have no money left in the kitty.  With that news, the Spanish  10 yr bond yield finished at 7.02%.  The Italian 10 yr bond yield finished the session at 6.0%.

 

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - More Coiling

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts

An Open Challenge To All PM CEOs

Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 4 hours ago

The invisible hand's net long position is the fulcrum of control Jim describes below. While the hedgies lean on vulnerable miners with impunity, it only works as long as the invisible hand protects their flank by managing gold's advance. The invisible hand, however, has it own agenda. That agenda includes not being the primary bag holder and profiting from significantly higher gold prices. ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 

 

More On The Housing Sector

Dave in Denver at The Golden Truth - 4 hours ago

*Of course Obama didn't hesitate to release his taxes, any politician who has never had a real job or worked as a builder of businesses in the private sector is always happy to release their taxes. But then again, I guess Obama made Romney's businesses happen for him*. - friend of mine from NY I wanted to do a quick follow-up to yesterday's post on housing. I have been postulating since late last year that the housing market "stability" was completely a function of the foreclosure moratorium that went from the middle of last year until the mortgage fraud settlement early this ye... more » 

 

More on Unleaded Gasoline - Ethanol

Trader Dan at Trader Dan's Market Views - 6 hours ago

Yesterday I posted a chart and a very brief comments noting the rise in gasoline prices at the Nymex. Today we are seeing additional gains in this crucial market with the price currently up 1.5% as crude oil soars back through the $90/bbl level. With the news out this morning that jobless claims ROSE by a GREATER THAN EXPECTED AMOUNT, we are once again being treated to the PERVERSE scenario where BAD IS NOW GOOD. What I mean by this is what I have been saying for so long now that I feel as if I am beating a dead horse at this point - namely - the US financial markets have now rea... more » 

Where Is The Line For Revolution?

The subject of revolution is a touchy one.  It’s not a word that should be thrown around lightly, and when it is uttered at all, it elicits a chaotic jumble of opinions and debates from know-it-alls the world over.  The “R” word has been persona non grata for quite some time in America, and until recently, was met with jeers and knee-jerk belligerence.  However, let’s face it; today, the idea is not so far fetched.  We have a global banking system that is feeding like a tapeworm in the stagnant guts of our economy.  We suffer an election system so fraudulent BOTH sides of the political spectrum now represent a hyper-rich minority while the rest of us are simply expected to play along and enjoy the illusion of choice.  We have a judicial body that has gone out of its way to whittle down our civil liberties and to marginalize our Constitution as some kind of “outdated relic”.  We have an executive branch that issues special orders like monarchical edicts every month, each new order even more invasive and oppressive than the last.  And, we have an establishment system that now believes it has the right to surveil the citizenry en masse and on the slightest whim without any consideration for 4th Amendment protections. Unless tomorrow brings a miraculous shift in current totalitarian trends, revolution may be all we have left...

 

Deja Food: Will Social Unrest Surge As Corn Prices Soar?

With Corn hitting its highs again, we are reminded that global food production has been hitting constraints as rising populations and changing diets hit against flattening productivity, water and fertility constraints, and the likely early effects of climate change. As was described in the recent all-encompassing theory of global-collapse, there is general agreement that one of the contributing factors to the rolling revolutions beginning at the end of 2010 was increasing food prices eating into already strained incomes. It is unclear how much impact easing has had on food prices this time, weather has very much made its presence felt (as we noted here). From one omnipotent force (central bankers) to another (hand of god), the fear is that more broadly, food is likely to be a more persistent problem than oil supply. This is because we require almost continual replenishment of food to stay alive and avoid severe social and behavioral stress - food is the most inelastic part of consumption. This says nothing of the pernicious inflationary impact that will likely quell the kind of free-flowing printing so many hope to see from China et al.

WHY GOLD WILL ERUPT

by Egon von Greyerz, Gold Switzerland:
Intervention, manipulation and suppression
We have gold intervention, manipulation and suppression by governments, banks and hedge funds. We have a paper market in gold which is around 100 bigger than the physical market, facilitating this market intervention.
Governments dislike gold since it reveals their deceitful actions in destroying the value of paper money by printing unlimited amounts of it. The media don’t understand gold. Financial TV ridicules gold and even the most respected newspapers, like the FT, don’t appreciate that gold is money.
But in spite of all the adversity that gold has encountered in the last 12 years, the yellow metal has still appreciated over 6 times since 1999. And even with the major investment demand that we have seen in the last few years, only 1% of world financial assets are in gold.
So why is gold likely to erupt in the next few weeks? After a strong move into late August 2011 we have had a correction/consolidation for almost 11 months. During this time, every single fundamental factor in the world economy has deteriorated. The Eurozone countries are in a complete mess and can never recover. The UK economy is in a terrible state but they are just lucky that they can print money which Eurozone countries can’t do. The same is the case with the US. Debts are increasing at an exponential rate and there is no attempt by government to stop the spending of money the country doesn’t have. Total debts and exposure in the US is approaching $500 trillion.
Read More @ GoldSwitzerland.com

David Cameron: no end in sight for austerity

by Robert Winnett, The Telegraph:
David Cameron doesn’t “see a time” when the government’s austerity programme will end.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Cameron says that he now expects the crisis in the eurozone to drag on for years, blighting the British economy.
He indicates that the programme of spending cuts, initially planned to take five years, is now likely to last for the entire decade.
Mr Cameron insists that he still wants to cut tax but that any reductions would have to be funded by even greater public spending reductions.
Asked whether the austerity programme would now last a decade until 2020, the Prime Minister replies: “I think it’s going to be…this is a period for all countries, not just in Europe but I think you will see it in America too, where we have to deal with our deficits and we have to have sustainable debts. I can’t see any time soon when…the pressure will be off.
“I don’t see a time when difficult spending choices are going to go away.”
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk

Market-Top Economics

Market-top economics could be an entire university course, if people cared enough about such phenomena.  Most only consider the signs of a market top months or years after a crash when some unyielding economics researcher puts the pieces together.  As human-beings we have developed an uncanny ability to rationalize what we know to be bad news and convince ourselves, "This time is different," despite the fact that it usually never is. In a previous article we provided analysis on economic/equity decoupling (cognitive dissonance) and showed that the economy as we know it cannot persist--we are either due for a literal gap-up in leading economic conditions, or we are due for a serious correction in US equities.  With today's 5.4% slip in existing home-sales, let's go with the latter.

Ray Dalio's Bridgewater On The "Self Re-Inforcing Global Decline"

The world's largest hedge fund is not as sanguine about the hope that remains in the markets today. The firm's founder, Ray Dalio, who has written extensively on the good, bad, and ugly of deleveragings, sounds a rather concerned note in his latest quarterly letter to investors as the "developed world remains mired in the deleveraging phase of the long-term debt cycle" and has spread to the emerging world "through diminished capital flows which have weakened their growth rates and undermined asset prices". Between China, Europe, and the US, which he discusses in detail, he sees the lack of global private sector credit creation leaving the world's economies highly reliant on government support through monetary and fiscal stimulation. The breadth of this slowdown creates a dangerous dynamic because, given the inter-connectedness of economies and capital flows, one country's decline tends to reinforce another's, making a self-reinforcing global decline more likely and a reversal more difficult to produce. After discounting a relatively imminent return to normalcy in early 2011, markets are now pricing in a meaningful deleveraging for an extended period of time, including negative real earnings growth, negative real yields, high defaults and sustained lower levels of commodity prices. Lastly he believes the common-wisdom - that the Germans and the ECB will save the day - is misplaced.

VIX Implodes As Low Range, Low Volume, Low Average Trade Size Market Fails At Three Month Highs

Is it us? Today felt very nervous. The equal narrowest range in S&P 500 e-mini futures (ES) in over 3 months along with dismally low volume and even worse average trade size as we peaked over July 5th's swing high and fell back. Aside from the farcical trading in the big Dow supporting stocks that we just noted, most asset classes traded along with stocks - in a very narrow range. The big movers were oil - up over $92 - on Israel-Iran tensions (among other things) and the major financials - which in general have retraced all of their post-EU Summit euphoria now (with MS breaking down 6% today). EURUSD did its by no standard dip and rip through the US open to EU close and ended the day unchanged. Treasuries limped a little higher in yield (~1-2bps). VIX plummeted to 15.45% (zero premium to realized vol), down 0.75vols - its lowest close in over 3 months - but this was not enough to provide any more juice for stocks which meandered, ending fractionally higher. Gold and Silver slithered sideways - with a very modest upward bias as Copper was helplessly led a little higher by Oil's exuberance and a slight limp lower in the USD on the day as the AUD extends its gain to 2% on the week against the greenback. We can't help but reflect on this chart as we see a retest on low volume and low average trade size following the very same path as last year. For now, complacency rules.

The 'WTF SkyNet' Chart Du Jour

UPDATE: In case you were wondering, IBM's magnicently efficient market behavior today provided 53.6 points for the Dow - which ended the day up only 34.6 points - phew!!
We are sure someone smarter than us can come up with a story and narrative to explain what is going on here. We just sit back and enjoy the beauty of a sentient SkyNet picking off every single stop trade possible.

Corporate Profits Surge At Expense Of Workers

For investors, the continued increases in profitability, at the expense of wages, is very finite.  It is revenue that matters in the long term - without subsequent increases at the top line; bottom line profitability is severely at risk.  The stock market is not cheap, especially in an environment where interest rates are artificially suppressed and earnings are inflated due to "accounting magic."  This increases the risk of a significant market correction particularly with a market driven by "hopes" of further central bank interventions.  This reeks of a risky environment, which can remain irrational longer than expected, that will eventually revert when expectations and reality collide.

It's Official: T1 Is Not T2; Tilson Liquidates To Buy More Of The Same

As we warned yesterday, the curse of the inverse correlation between CNBC appearances and investment performance has struck once again. The rumor is true as everyone's favorite knife-catching, Buffett-following, leveraged beta fund manager Whitney Tilson has split from his 'colleague' Glenn Tongue who has gone off to run his own 'unencumbered' fund. As the full letter below (h/t DealBreaker) explains, he couldn't be more optimistic about T2's future (so this is a good thing then?) and have no fear since he sees 'a target rich environment' as he has already picked up some 'low hanging fruit'. We wait with bated breath for the next letter...

Ignorance Is Bliss... So Go Back To Sleep...

Most of you that are taking the time to read this have already experienced some level of "waking up" over the past several years or longer.  Most of you have also probably felt from time to time that the knowledge you possess is a burden and have fully appreciated the meaning of "ignorance is bliss."  We know this because we have felt these very same emotions at times.  The most important thing to remember; however, is that we are just awake individuals within a wave or cycle of awakening.  There were those that came before us and there will be many, many more to come after us. Most importantly, once you are truly awakened you never go back to sleep.

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U.S. Constitution Trumps All Treaties!

from HyperReport:

We are told at every turn that treaties supersede the U.S. Constitution.  Article VI, paragraph 2 of the U.S. Constitution actually stipulates on the issue.    All treaties made, or which shall be made, may supersede State Constitutions, but it shall be bound by the U.S. Constitution.
In addition, as per the U.S. Senate ratification of the UN charter in 1945, the UN is not a soverign nation of equal standing in relation of the United States, thus, any treaty, or actions, such as the World Court, with the UN specifically, are null and void in relation to any U.S. law inside U.S. territory… Period!
To expand upon this further…   With all due respect to Dick Morris, a very insightful political guru, he made the comment that Hillary is going to sign the gun control treaty on July 27th.   He went on to say that because of the Vienna treaty, the treaty will be in force until the Senate votes it down.
Well, that may be true, if the treaty is bound within the constraints of the U.S. Constitution and current U.S. law; however, envision this absurd scenario…  If Hillary hypothetically signed an agreement, while the U.S. Senate was in recess, that the entire U.S.  population, or Christians, must be exterminated.   What are the chances that agreement would be enforced until the Senate’s vote?
Absolutely absurd?   Absolutely yes; however, it hopefully brings home the point that all treaties must be ratified before they can be enforced no matter what anyone, or group, may say.
Ratified valid treaties have only the same power as a federal law.   Legally, the U.S. Constitution can amended, not overridden.

Finally, please prepare now for the escalating economic and social unrest.   Good Day!

WOW, TRUTH TOLD! Drug Trafficking and the ‘Sick’ Financial System – Ivanov in South America

from laroucheyouth:

The billions of dollars that the drug trade injects into the bankrupt financial system through money laundering has been used to recapitalize the financial sector. In light of the revelations about HSBC, the LIBOR scandal, and the potential for the reintroduction of Glass-Steagall, there is now an opportunity to do away with the entirety of the deadly drug trade.




More "Change You Can Believe In"...

U.S. PARTNERS WITH MEXICO TO BOOST FOOD STAMP DEPENDENTS IN USA!

by Caroline May, DailyCaller.com:

The Mexican government has been working with the United States Department of Agriculture to increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.
USDA has an agreement with Mexico to promote American food assistance programs, including food stamps, among Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals and migrant communities in America.
“USDA and the government of Mexico have entered into a partnership to help educate eligible Mexican nationals living in the United States about available nutrition assistance,” the USDA explains in a brief paragraph on their “Reaching Low-Income Hispanics With Nutrition Assistance” web page. “Mexico will help disseminate this information through its embassy and network of approximately 50 consular offices.”
The partnership — which was signed by former USDA Secretary Ann M. Veneman and Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista in 2004 — sees to it that the Mexican Embassy and Mexican consulates in America provide USDA nutrition assistance program information to Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals working in America and migrant communities in America.
Read More @ DailyCaller.com

David Stockman: Austerity Is Not Discretionary

by Marin Katusa, Casey Research:

Doug has several things on his mind to discuss, but none are urgent, and we have some good videos from our last summit we’d like to share. Today’s video is a conversation between our own Alex Daley and David Stockman – David gives a startlingly blunt assessment of the US’s economic outlook and how it came to this precipice.
I hope you find the conversation as insightful and valuable as I did.
Read More @ CaseyResearch.com

Separating the Banking Wheat from the Chaff

by Douglas French, Whiskey and Gunpowder:
No one cares when, each Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) closes a small bank here and there. The local paper runs an item, but otherwise bank closures are non-events. The regulators from the FDIC, state banking authorities, along with the local police, lock the doors of the retail branches, wrapping them in yellow tape. FDIC investigators interrogate senior management.
A transition team working for the bank takes over the deposits. Temporary signs and a staff are ready to open Monday morning: It’s like nothing happened. Of course your money is safe. It never went anywhere. Your account number will change, but your money is still here. Your ATM card will still work at thousands of locations. Go ahead and write checks. You’ll forget the name of the failed bank in no time.
Smart bankers are running the place now.
Since the FDIC insures deposits, bank customers pay little attention to the financial goings on at their bank. There is no need. For instance customers of Security Exchange Bank in Marietta, Georgia likely weren’t concerned when the locally owned and operated bank piled into real estate loans made on property in the local market. A market that was red-hot post 9/11. From the year 2000 to 2008 Security Exchange grew its loan portfolio from zero to nearly $200 million, with the majority of those loans being real estate secured.
Read More @ WhiskeyAndGunpowder.com

Takeover of the Middle East

by The Daily Bell:
US ‘building missile defense station in Qatar’ … The Pentagon is building a missile defense radar station at a covert location in Qatar, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The site will be part of a system intended to defend the interests of the United States and its allies against Iranian rockets, unnamed US officials told the newspaper. The Journal also reported that Washington was preparing for its biggest-ever minesweeping exercises in the Gulf in September, calling them the “first such multilateral drills in the region.” A similar radar has existed on Mount Keren in the Negev Desert since 2008 and another is installed in Turkey as part of NATO‘s missile defense shield. In addition, officials told the Journal that US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East and South Asia, wants to deploy the first Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in the area in the coming months, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. – AFP
Dominant Social Theme: America must defend itself.
Free-Market Analysis: It begins to come clearer, as has long been anticipated by at least some of the alternative media: The global elites behind the tensions, wars and economic problems afflicting the world today are deliberately setting up a regional conflagration in the Middle East.
As part of a larger bifurcation between ally and (manufactured) enemy, the powers-that-be are dividing the Middle East by whether or not countries are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. This is part of a dividing line that has seen Western elites try to set up various hybrid economies in such places as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Read More @ TheDailyBell.com

Bill Murphy: JPM Stopped Manipulating Silver From January-June of 2011

from Silver Doctors:
GATA’s Bill Murphy has just publicly released STUNNING new revelations regarding JP Morgan’s alleged silver manipulation.
Murphy states an informed source has advised him that JP Morgan was compelled to stop manipulating the silver market in January of 2011, and that fact is the reason why silver ran from $28 to $50 over the next 6 months.
Murphy states JPM took down silver in the infamous overnight May 2011 raid from an auxiliary account, and began manipulating silver again in June of 2011.
Murphy’s source also states that JP Morgan’s CIO derivatives losses are actually tied to the Bear Stearns short silver positions JPM inherited from the Fed in 2008, and that the LIBOR scandal will soon engulf JP Morgan in a SILVER MANIPULATION scandal- likely when the CFTC releases their findings on their silver manipulation in the next 30-60 days!
Murphy states:

It has come to my attention that in January 2011 JP Morgan, for some yet unknown reason, was compelled to stop manipulating the silver market. That is when the price of silver went vertical to the upside…

Read More @ SilverDoctors.com

Post Office Might Miss Retirees’ Payment

[Ed. Note: We reported on the USPS fiscal house of disorder earlier today, but we'll keep the updates comin'. As we've stated, the collapse is being documented, albeit in slow motion.]
by Jennifer Levitz WSJ:
While lawmakers continue to fight over how to fix the ailing U.S. Postal Service, the agency’s money problems are only growing worse.
The Postal Service repeated on Wednesday that without congressional action, it will default—a first in its long history, a spokesman said—on a legally required annual $5.5 billion payment, due Aug. 1, into a health-benefits fund for future retirees. Action in Congress isn’t likely, as the House prepares to leave for its August recess.
The agency said a default on the payment, for 2011, wouldn’t directly affect service or its ability to pay employees and suppliers. But “these ongoing liquidity issues unnecessarily undermine confidence in the viability of the Postal Service among our customers,” said spokesman David Partenheimer.
The agency says it will default on its 2012 retiree health payment as well—also roughly $5.5 billion, due Sept. 30—if there is no legislative action by then.
Read More @ WSJ.com

I Hope You’re Ready. I am.

from TF Metals Report:
I’ve been on vacation long enough. Batteries are recharged. Perspective has been gained. Things are about to get very, very interesting in the metals. I’m ready. Are you?
Both metals are rapidly approaching a conclusion to their long-term, corrective patterns. By Monday, I’ll be able to draw on these charts again but, for now, you’ll have to use your imagination. Connect the tops with a down-sloping line and connect the bottoms with a horizontal line. These “descending triangles” are near their completion as both metals are working themselves into the very tight, acute angle at the far end. WHEN they break out and UP, what is happening will be clear to all. The hot, explosive summer and fall will have begun. Be ready.
Read More @ TF Metals Report.com

A plea for good economics: Pedro Schwartz vs Paul Krugman

from Gold Money:
“The trouble with some Nobel Prize-winners is that they are tempted to pontificate on matters outside the speciality in which they have excelled. When Professor Krugman expatiates on macroeconomics, he tends to oversimplify complicated questions of theory and policy, and to misrepresent crucial periods of the past, all to suit his political pre-conceptions”.
These were part of Professor Pedro Schwartz’s opening words in his critical comment on Paul Krugman’s presentation of his new book in Madrid (End This Depression Now!, Norton ed. 2012). As Krugman’s book title suggests, we are going through one of the worst economic crises since the 1930s Great Depression. But does this mean, as Krugman argues, that more government intervention in the economy is the solution?
Following his own rationale (see video, minutes 10-30), it is as if we are faced with an easy choice: do we want to overcome the crisis with expansionary demand policies at the cost of a little more inflation? Or do we prefer instead painful austerity measures that condemn us to a long recessive and stagnated economy, but not much inflation? Well, the answer is easy then. Let’s have some inflation!
Read More @ GoldMoney.com

70+ Years Under Water And It’s STILL Money: 48 Tons of Silver Recovered From World War II Shipwreck

[Ed. Note: 48 Tons = 96,000 pounds = 1,399,680 troy ounces. Whew! Just in the nick of time, 1.4 million troy ounces would come in handy right about now... Let's get that physical over to the Comex! This find could help prevent default for at least a few more months.]
from ABC News:
An American company has made what is being called the heaviest and deepest recovery of precious metals from a shipwreck.
The Tampa, Fla.-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. announced Wednesday that it had recovered 48 tons of silver bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a sunken British cargo ship in three miles of water off the coast of Ireland. Between the Gairsoppa, torpedoed by a German U-boat during World War II, and the SS Mantola, sunk by a German submarine during World War I, Odyssey said in a press release that about 240 tons of silver may be recovered by the end of the operation.
The recovery is being made under a contract awarded by the U.K. government, which will keep 20 percent of the cargo’s value, estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars. The Gairsoppa became U.K. property after the government paid the owners of the ship an insurance sum of £325,000 in 1941. Records indicate the silver was valued at £600,000 in 1941.
The initial recovery of 48 tons consists of 1,203 silver bars and has been transported to a secure facility in the United Kingdom, according to the company.
Read More @ ABCnews.go.com

Going to the Extreme: Euro-Preppers Get Ready for the Worst *Video*

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:
It’s not just in the USA that a growing number of people are preparing for far-from-equilibrium scenarios resulting from economic or geo-political collapse.
Many Europeans have also taken note of the troubling signs all around them. In the following report, RT visits a man who wished to keep his name and location anonymous. Like many Americans, he is preparing for all hell to break loose and has spent the last few years gearing up his home and supplies for the worst.
Like most preppers and survivalist, he has modified his lifestyle to become more self reliant and less dependent on the grid and existing government infrastructure.
In addition to generating two thirds of his current energy consumption with wind and solar power, he grows his own food and raises cattle to supplement his diet in the event grocery stores run out of food or prices get so expensive in Euros that no one can afford to buy it.
As is this case for many of his like-minded counterparts in the United States, for this Euro prepper it’s not a matter of “if” the collapse happens – it’s only a matter of when. And when “when” finally happens, he’ll be ready for it.

Read More @ SHTFPlan.com

US-Backed Syrian Rebels Assassinate Christian Defense Chief

by Chriss Street, Testosterone Pit.com:

The “Syria War” took a horrific escalation today as Syrian Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha, a Christian, was assassinated in a suicide bombing by the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels; which was immediately followed by a retaliatory Hezbollah bombing of three tour busses in Burgas, Bulgaria that killed eight Israelis.  The FSA attack appears to have been coordinated to occur just before today’s United Nations Security Council meeting on imposing sanctions on Syrian leaders, including Rajha.  The U.N. subsequently suspended today’s sanction vote as the war went global.
Since the middle of 2011, the Obama Administration, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have openly backed a Sunni Muslim Jihadist rebellion in Syria as a vehicle to bring pressure against Syria’s key ally, Shite Muslim Iran.  As we reported in Obama Tries to Wag a Dog that Bites Back and other articles, the President had hoped that his Syrian adventure would rally patriotic military support just in time for the November elections, in a similar manner as his surreptitious support of the rebel movement and then military bombing led to the ouster Colonel Muammar Gadhafi from Libya.  But as the United States has escalated equipping of the FSA; Russia, China, Iran and Hezbollah have escalated their aid of Syria.  Last month a U.S. made Turkish reconnaissance fighter was shot down over Syrian territorial water by a Russian missile.
Read More @ TestosteronePit.com

NSA Insider: You Are the Target: “They’re Pulling Together All the Data About Virtually Every U.S. Citizen in the Country”

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:

Few Americans would believe that the government has the technological capability and wherewithal to monitor, track, log, and analyze the everyday activities of American citizens. The idea that the National Security Agency, an organization responsible the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligenc, would operate on US soil to turn the surveillance apparatus on the people they are tasked with protecting has up until now been reserved for conspiracy theorists and Hollywood movies.
It turns out that it’s not a conspiracy, and not only does the NSA operate within the borders of the United States, they are assembling detailed dossiers on every single one of us. William Binney, an NSA whistleblower who recently resigned his post at the NSA over its illegal domestic surveillance programs, notes that the agency is engaged in implementing a total surveillance net over America with the help of private businesses like internet and telecom companies – and their target is YOU.

Domestically, they’re pulling together all the data about virtually every U.S. citizen in the country and assembling that information, building communities that you have relationships with, and knowledge about you; what your activities are; what you’re doing.
So the government is accumulating that kind of information about every individual person and it’s a very dangerous process.
…from one company alone… they were sending, according to my estimate… I reckon there were between 10 and 12 [companies] that were participating… that one company was providing 320 million average logs per day since 2001.

Read More @ SHTFPlan.com

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