from Testosterone Pit.com:
It has been an onslaught. Eurozone heads of state, top politicians,
unelected kingpins, and bureaucratic honchos threatened everyone in
sight with the demise of the euro, or promised to do “everything” or
“whatever it takes” to save it even if it violated treaties or the very
foundation of European democracy. In between the lines, bit by bit, the
mammoth costs of continuing the endless bailouts or of breaking
everything to pieces finally oozed to the surface.
Sunday it was Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, whose country, after years of living beyond its means, is suffocating under a mountain of debt. He needs the European Central Bank to print a trainload of euros and massively buy up Italian sovereign bonds to force their yields down and keep Italy financially viable—which is precisely what the treaties that govern the ECB don’t allow it to do, though the ECB had done it before, despite all-out opposition from Germany, including the resignation of ECB Council Member and Bundesbank President Axel Weber and ECB Chief Economist Jürgen Stark. After buying €211 billion in sovereign bonds, the ECB stopped in March. And since then, all heck has re-broken loose.
So Monti went on attack. The Eurozone bailout chaos and Germany’s resistance to ECB printing operations have created tensions that show “the traits of a psychological dissolution of Europe,” he told the Spiegel, a threat designed for German consumption—the latest in a series of escalating threats issued by politicians of debt sinner countries. And like his predecessors, he took it a step further than anyone before him.
Read More @ TestosteronePit.com
It has been an onslaught. Eurozone heads of state, top politicians,
unelected kingpins, and bureaucratic honchos threatened everyone in
sight with the demise of the euro, or promised to do “everything” or
“whatever it takes” to save it even if it violated treaties or the very
foundation of European democracy. In between the lines, bit by bit, the
mammoth costs of continuing the endless bailouts or of breaking
everything to pieces finally oozed to the surface.Sunday it was Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, whose country, after years of living beyond its means, is suffocating under a mountain of debt. He needs the European Central Bank to print a trainload of euros and massively buy up Italian sovereign bonds to force their yields down and keep Italy financially viable—which is precisely what the treaties that govern the ECB don’t allow it to do, though the ECB had done it before, despite all-out opposition from Germany, including the resignation of ECB Council Member and Bundesbank President Axel Weber and ECB Chief Economist Jürgen Stark. After buying €211 billion in sovereign bonds, the ECB stopped in March. And since then, all heck has re-broken loose.
So Monti went on attack. The Eurozone bailout chaos and Germany’s resistance to ECB printing operations have created tensions that show “the traits of a psychological dissolution of Europe,” he told the Spiegel, a threat designed for German consumption—the latest in a series of escalating threats issued by politicians of debt sinner countries. And like his predecessors, he took it a step further than anyone before him.
Read More @ TestosteronePit.com
Inside America's Economic Machine - An Infographic
Every
now and then, US taxpayer money goes for something useful and
surprisingly informative. Such as this infographic from the US Census
Bureau deconstructing the "American Economic Machine" or at least
justifies its generally accepted popular representation in the aftermath
of the recently concluded Census. The graphic cites facts dealing with
manufacturing, services, retail trade, construction, government and
much more as seen through the numerous economic programs and surveys
conducted by the Census Bureau. And while entertaining, we urge readers
to remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and that the
American "economic machine" is merely the culmination of a global
financial system that is full to the gills with credit money to the tune
of $707 trillion as shown in this infographic previously.
Is the trade off worth it? We will find out in the coming years when
at some point, we hope, the economy will be allowed to take off on its
own and attempt to recreate the virtuous cycle, however without the
training wells of the world's central planners who day after day steal
from the future to preserve today's house of cards. We are not very
hopeful.
by Greg Hunter, USAWatchdog:
Eric Sprott of Sprott Asset Management is one of the best performing
money managers with returns topping 20% for more than a decade. He has
$10 billion under management, and it’s no secret Mr. Sprott is a long
term bull on physical gold and silver. It looks like other big money
men like “Bond King” Bill Gross are also thinking about going long on
the yellow metal.
Sprott points out, “When the Bond King goes to some sort of physical
asset, I think you can see some kind of sea change.” So, why aren’t
gold and silver prices higher? He says, “I can make a compelling case
the price has been suppressed.” If it wasn’t, Sprott says, “Gold would
be $2,500, and if the ratio was 15 to 1, the price of silver would be
$150 an ounce.” The suppression game cannot go on forever. Mr.
Sprott also says, “The economy is already taking a cliff dive and that
is before we hit the cliff. . . . It’s hard to imagine anyone being
optimistic going forward here.” If there is war in the Middle East,
Sprott says, “Oil would go crazy, gold would go crazy, anything
physically real would be in demand.” Greg Hunter goes One-on-One with
Eric Sprott.
from Zero Hedge:
The very vocal head of the world’s largest bond fund has long been
critical of the global ponzi system better known as the “capital
markets.” Now, finally, he shifts his attention to Europe, where the
interests of his parent – Europe’s largest insurance company Allianz are
near and dear to the heart, and deconstructs not only the biggest
challenge facing Europe: getting access to your
money, but also the fatal flaws that will make achieving this now
impossible. To wit: “Psst! Investors – do you wanna know a secret? Do
you wanna know what Angela Merkel, François Hollande, Christine Lagarde
and Mario Draghi all share in common? They want your money!” …. but… “private
investors are balking – and for what it seems are good reasons –
because policy makers’ efforts have been, until now, a day late and a
euro short, or more accurately, years late and a trillion euros short.”
And so they will continue failing ever upward, as permissive monetary
policy which allows failed fiscal policy to be perpetuated, will do
nothing about fixing the underlying problems facing the insolvent
continent. Then one day, the ECB, whose credibility was already
massively shaken last week, will be exposed for the naked emperor it
is. Only then will Europe’s politicians finally sit down and begin
doing the right thing. It will be too late.
Read More @ Zero Hedge.com
The very vocal head of the world’s largest bond fund has long been
critical of the global ponzi system better known as the “capital
markets.” Now, finally, he shifts his attention to Europe, where the
interests of his parent – Europe’s largest insurance company Allianz are
near and dear to the heart, and deconstructs not only the biggest
challenge facing Europe: getting access to your
money, but also the fatal flaws that will make achieving this now
impossible. To wit: “Psst! Investors – do you wanna know a secret? Do
you wanna know what Angela Merkel, François Hollande, Christine Lagarde
and Mario Draghi all share in common? They want your money!” …. but… “private
investors are balking – and for what it seems are good reasons –
because policy makers’ efforts have been, until now, a day late and a
euro short, or more accurately, years late and a trillion euros short.”
And so they will continue failing ever upward, as permissive monetary
policy which allows failed fiscal policy to be perpetuated, will do
nothing about fixing the underlying problems facing the insolvent
continent. Then one day, the ECB, whose credibility was already
massively shaken last week, will be exposed for the naked emperor it
is. Only then will Europe’s politicians finally sit down and begin
doing the right thing. It will be too late.Read More @ Zero Hedge.com
Copper Suggests Recession Not Imminent
Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 1 hour ago
While the global economy is clearly slowing, it’s hard to argue that a
recession is imminent with a bullish setup in copper (chart). If economic
bears growl to long despite this setup, they run the risk of being
completely ignored when preservation of capital demand recognition of their
message. Chart: Copper (JJC) and the Commercial (C) & Nonreportables (NR)
Traders COT...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other
content, and more! ]]
from LaRouche Pac:
We are presently, as most of you already know, in probably one of the
greatest crises in human history. Because we’ve come to a point that the
conflict centers on the question of, will thermonuclear weapons be
used?
This problem has been on our minds, and threatening us, since, probably the middle of the 1960s, at which point there was the possibility of a Russian super-bomb—one case from that period—but there’s been an increasing importance of thermonuclear capabilities. And even back then, during the middle of the 1960s, it was known and fairly estimated by most officials in this business, that thermonuclear warfare is extinction warfare. That does not mean that there would be an immediate extinction of humanity, but there would be a process of eruption which would probably, we would have to say it’s estimated, could eliminate the human species.
We are now at a point where that is brought back to us, because we have, between Russia and China, on the one side, who are struggling for peace in the world, and avoidance of this process; on the other side, you have certain forces which are pushing for warfare, using the Middle East cockpit for such warfare, which could be such a threat to mankind. And that threat to mankind is foremost in my attention, and in the attention of people of rank whom I know inside the United States and other countries.
You have some people, such as the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States, and certain leadership forces in Russia and China, which are working to try to prevent this thing from happening. And it’s our concern that this prevention occur. But the danger is going to exist for some time.
Read More @ LaRouchePac.com
We are presently, as most of you already know, in probably one of the
greatest crises in human history. Because we’ve come to a point that the
conflict centers on the question of, will thermonuclear weapons be
used?This problem has been on our minds, and threatening us, since, probably the middle of the 1960s, at which point there was the possibility of a Russian super-bomb—one case from that period—but there’s been an increasing importance of thermonuclear capabilities. And even back then, during the middle of the 1960s, it was known and fairly estimated by most officials in this business, that thermonuclear warfare is extinction warfare. That does not mean that there would be an immediate extinction of humanity, but there would be a process of eruption which would probably, we would have to say it’s estimated, could eliminate the human species.
We are now at a point where that is brought back to us, because we have, between Russia and China, on the one side, who are struggling for peace in the world, and avoidance of this process; on the other side, you have certain forces which are pushing for warfare, using the Middle East cockpit for such warfare, which could be such a threat to mankind. And that threat to mankind is foremost in my attention, and in the attention of people of rank whom I know inside the United States and other countries.
You have some people, such as the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States, and certain leadership forces in Russia and China, which are working to try to prevent this thing from happening. And it’s our concern that this prevention occur. But the danger is going to exist for some time.
Read More @ LaRouchePac.com
by GoldMoney News Desk, Gold Money:
There are increasing signs that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
appears amenable to a European-Union bailout for Spain, despite the fact
that this would mean to all intents and purposes relinquishing his
government’s remaining fiscal sovereignty to Brussels. The FT’s David Gardner notes that
Rajoy’s government has “the feel of a government approaching the end of
its terms” – despite being a majority administration that’s only been
in power for seven months. Gardner’s article quotes a former editor of
El Pais who expresses concern at the PM’s inability to articulate a
viable recovery plan: “one sometimes gets the impression that Rajoy
speaks in public as if he was addressing a parish where the internet has
yet to arrive”.
That said, the magnitude of Spain – and indeed Europe’s – debt problem means that a silver tongue can only take a politician so far. No amount of verbal chicanery can disguise the serious financial straits governments all over the developed world are in.
HSBC predicts that the gold price will return to territory north of $1,900/oz by the end of the year, as a result of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as the looming US “fiscal cliff”. Washington’s is only one aspect of America’s problem, as many of the largest US states are also drowning in debt, deficits and “unfunded liabilities”, as examined in a new report from “The State Budget Crisis Task Force” – a group headed by Dick Ravitch and former Fed chairman Paul Volcker. You’ll be hearing a lot more about US state debt in the years ahead, to add to all the other landmines littering the political-economic scenery.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
After Sept. 11, the American system of government became crazy
obsessed with security. The implementation has not only been brutal and
contrary to human liberty; it has completely lacked creativity. Instead
of real security, we get what’s called “security theater,” and at the
expense of the customer, who feels the brunt of all the new impositions.
It was the stupidest decision ever to nationalize airport security after Sept. 11, for doing so guaranteed this result. Security is too important to be left to government. What does the cause of security have to learn from the private sector? Plenty.
I was just at a Tiffany jewelry store. If you know these places, you know that they have a serious security issue to deal with. What is the total value of the inventory? It’s a guess. It’s in the many millions, maybe tens of millions. And it’s all on display, out in the open, in a store that lives off its reputation for high-end products.
As soon as you walk in, your eyes are drawn to astonishing gleaming, sparkling, beguiling things that seem to be nearly dancing around the room. The treasures are in glass cases, but the glass is so clean that you almost don’t see it at all. The lighting is designed to draw attention to what is in the cases, and it works. They set the heart aflutter, enticing a material impulse that might perhaps be unlike anything you have ever felt.
Read More @ WhiskeyAndGunpowder.com
Today’s Items:
Finally, please prepare now for the escalating economic and social unrest. Good Day!
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There are increasing signs that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
appears amenable to a European-Union bailout for Spain, despite the fact
that this would mean to all intents and purposes relinquishing his
government’s remaining fiscal sovereignty to Brussels. The FT’s David Gardner notes that
Rajoy’s government has “the feel of a government approaching the end of
its terms” – despite being a majority administration that’s only been
in power for seven months. Gardner’s article quotes a former editor of
El Pais who expresses concern at the PM’s inability to articulate a
viable recovery plan: “one sometimes gets the impression that Rajoy
speaks in public as if he was addressing a parish where the internet has
yet to arrive”.That said, the magnitude of Spain – and indeed Europe’s – debt problem means that a silver tongue can only take a politician so far. No amount of verbal chicanery can disguise the serious financial straits governments all over the developed world are in.
HSBC predicts that the gold price will return to territory north of $1,900/oz by the end of the year, as a result of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as the looming US “fiscal cliff”. Washington’s is only one aspect of America’s problem, as many of the largest US states are also drowning in debt, deficits and “unfunded liabilities”, as examined in a new report from “The State Budget Crisis Task Force” – a group headed by Dick Ravitch and former Fed chairman Paul Volcker. You’ll be hearing a lot more about US state debt in the years ahead, to add to all the other landmines littering the political-economic scenery.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
from Washington’s Blog, via Naked Capitalism:
The director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan – Lt. General William Odom - noted:
Because the United States itself has a long record of supporting terrorists and using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today’s war on terrorism merely makes the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world.
Odom also said:
The FBI station chief for Los Angeles – Ted Gundersen – said that most terror attacks are committed by our CIA and FBI:
Wikipedia notes:
The director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan – Lt. General William Odom - noted:Because the United States itself has a long record of supporting terrorists and using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today’s war on terrorism merely makes the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world.
Odom also said:
By any measure the US has long used terrorism. In ‘78-79 the Senate was trying to pass a law against international terrorism – in every version they produced, the lawyers said the US would be in violation.(audio here).
The FBI station chief for Los Angeles – Ted Gundersen – said that most terror attacks are committed by our CIA and FBI:
Wikipedia notes:
Chomsky and Herman observed that terror was concentrated in the U.S. sphere of influence in the Third World, and documented terror carried out by U.S. client states in Latin America. They observed that of ten Latin American countries that had death squads, all were U.S. client states.
***
They concluded that the global rise in state terror was a result of U.S. foreign policy.
Read More @ NakedCapitalism.com
by Jeff Nielson, SilverGoldBull:
Though some readers will be disappointed at this news, no one who has
followed the sad existence of this pretend-regulator should be surprised
that (once again) it simply refused to do its duty.
Based in a nation where the Rule of Law is dead-and-buried, whenever the CFTC doesn’t like “the law” it simply ignores it. The most obvious example are some of the “Dodd-Frank” rules on position limits in commodity markets. The CFTC was mandated to implement position limits by January 1, 2011. As of today, there are no position limits in these markets, and no sign that they will ever be imposed as was required by law more than 18 months ago.
This is why we hold physical bullion rather than holding “gold” or “silver” in some sort of fund or account. We live in an era of criminal governments, zero regulation, and where confessed criminals in the financial sector are allowed to rob people at will. And on the rare occasions where bankers are caught red-handed committing a crime, this is “American Justice”:
Read More @ SilverGoldBull
Though some readers will be disappointed at this news, no one who has
followed the sad existence of this pretend-regulator should be surprised
that (once again) it simply refused to do its duty.Based in a nation where the Rule of Law is dead-and-buried, whenever the CFTC doesn’t like “the law” it simply ignores it. The most obvious example are some of the “Dodd-Frank” rules on position limits in commodity markets. The CFTC was mandated to implement position limits by January 1, 2011. As of today, there are no position limits in these markets, and no sign that they will ever be imposed as was required by law more than 18 months ago.
This is why we hold physical bullion rather than holding “gold” or “silver” in some sort of fund or account. We live in an era of criminal governments, zero regulation, and where confessed criminals in the financial sector are allowed to rob people at will. And on the rare occasions where bankers are caught red-handed committing a crime, this is “American Justice”:
Read More @ SilverGoldBull
by Zen Gardner, ZenGardner.com
Ever felt trapped in your mind? Ever wonder why? This happens to
countless people in the so-called “modern” media world we’re living in.
Here’s a really big subject we’re not “allowed” to talk about or consider. After all, we’re just “subjects”.
What about the idea of “conspiracy”? Think a dominating or controlling force would look kindly on any such “chatter” against it?
The Conspiracy Seed in Reality
Do people really think nothing is planned behind the scenes? Whether it’s business proposals, financial takeovers or outright political or military aggressions, people plan them…and of course in secret.
I’m so tired of this anti-conspiracy backwash. It kills intelligent investigation. Which of course it’s designed to do.
Read More @ ZenGardner.com
Ever felt trapped in your mind? Ever wonder why? This happens to
countless people in the so-called “modern” media world we’re living in.Here’s a really big subject we’re not “allowed” to talk about or consider. After all, we’re just “subjects”.
What about the idea of “conspiracy”? Think a dominating or controlling force would look kindly on any such “chatter” against it?
The Conspiracy Seed in Reality
Do people really think nothing is planned behind the scenes? Whether it’s business proposals, financial takeovers or outright political or military aggressions, people plan them…and of course in secret.
I’m so tired of this anti-conspiracy backwash. It kills intelligent investigation. Which of course it’s designed to do.
Read More @ ZenGardner.com
by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph:
So we enter the treacherous market month of August with Europe in limbo. The actors wait upon each other. World finance held hostage to a fiendishly complicated game of diplomatic chess.
The European Central bank will not move until Spain requests a full
sovereign rescue from the EU bail-out fund (EFSF), and cedes yet more
ground to EU commissars.
Spain in turn will not move until the ECB lays out the exact terms of any deal, and until the Teutonic bloc signals whether it intends to crush Spain into abject humiliation – a la Grecque – or seek a fraternal outcome.
Madrid has no bond auctions in August. It can in theory hold out until October, if it is willing to let contagion spread to the last redoubts of corporate solvency.
Global markets were surprised by Mario Draghi’s refusal to deliver instant ECB salvation last week. They should not have been.
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk
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So we enter the treacherous market month of August with Europe in limbo. The actors wait upon each other. World finance held hostage to a fiendishly complicated game of diplomatic chess.
The European Central bank will not move until Spain requests a full
sovereign rescue from the EU bail-out fund (EFSF), and cedes yet more
ground to EU commissars.Spain in turn will not move until the ECB lays out the exact terms of any deal, and until the Teutonic bloc signals whether it intends to crush Spain into abject humiliation – a la Grecque – or seek a fraternal outcome.
Madrid has no bond auctions in August. It can in theory hold out until October, if it is willing to let contagion spread to the last redoubts of corporate solvency.
Global markets were surprised by Mario Draghi’s refusal to deliver instant ECB salvation last week. They should not have been.
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk
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from, TF Metals Report:
Things are getting curiouser and curiouser…
By now, I would imagine that nearly everyone has seen this: (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/libor-may-be-manipulated-silver-not-cftc-conclude). I was sitting here in the TurdCave yesterday afternoon when I saw the original FT story cross the wires. Note the time stamp was exactly 5:00 pm EDT (NY time). Hmmmm. Isn’t that interesting? On the next link, you can see that pre-open, electronic trading begins at exactly 5:00 pm NY time, as well. (http://www.cmegroup.com/trading_hours/). Again, hmmmm. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.
Then, when ZH picked up the story, word quickly spread. What was going on here? Who are the “three sources” who divulged this information? Well, our friend The Doc got right on it and quickly found out that it wasn’t Bart Chilton (http://www.silverdoctors.com/bart-chilton-ft-report-that-cftc-to-drop-silver-investigation-is-inaccurate-premature-there-have-been-devious-efforts-to-move-price-of-silver/) and several other, industrious Turdites reported receiving similar responses to their inquiries.
So, what are we to make of all this? It would seem that we are left with these possibilities:
Read More @ TF Metals Report.com
Things are getting curiouser and curiouser…
By now, I would imagine that nearly everyone has seen this: (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/libor-may-be-manipulated-silver-not-cftc-conclude). I was sitting here in the TurdCave yesterday afternoon when I saw the original FT story cross the wires. Note the time stamp was exactly 5:00 pm EDT (NY time). Hmmmm. Isn’t that interesting? On the next link, you can see that pre-open, electronic trading begins at exactly 5:00 pm NY time, as well. (http://www.cmegroup.com/trading_hours/). Again, hmmmm. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.
Then, when ZH picked up the story, word quickly spread. What was going on here? Who are the “three sources” who divulged this information? Well, our friend The Doc got right on it and quickly found out that it wasn’t Bart Chilton (http://www.silverdoctors.com/bart-chilton-ft-report-that-cftc-to-drop-silver-investigation-is-inaccurate-premature-there-have-been-devious-efforts-to-move-price-of-silver/) and several other, industrious Turdites reported receiving similar responses to their inquiries.
So, what are we to make of all this? It would seem that we are left with these possibilities:
Read More @ TF Metals Report.com
by Dorothy Kosich, MineWeb.com
“Commodities have revived because they are real and really useful to the dynamic emerging economies,” says global commodities specialist Don Coxe..
Copper miners and gold miners with high-quality reserves in the ground
in politically secure regions are becoming more and more valuable, said
BMO Capital Markets’ Don Coxe in his August edition of Basic Points.
“The commodity story is essentially a scarcity story,” said Coxe. As global living standards improve, the problem will be finding and producing enough metals and minerals to sustain economic progress.
Noting that gold was priced below $1,000 an ounce as recently as three years ago, Coxe observed that analysts “are agreed that nearly all gold companies now need at least $1,250 an ounce to make any money on current production when the costs of new capex are factored in.”
“So, is it reasonable to value a gold producer’s reserves at, say, $1,500 an ounce today? A rather minor correction in the gold price could wipe out the company’s profits, right?
Read More @ MineWeb.com
“Commodities have revived because they are real and really useful to the dynamic emerging economies,” says global commodities specialist Don Coxe..
Copper miners and gold miners with high-quality reserves in the ground
in politically secure regions are becoming more and more valuable, said
BMO Capital Markets’ Don Coxe in his August edition of Basic Points.“The commodity story is essentially a scarcity story,” said Coxe. As global living standards improve, the problem will be finding and producing enough metals and minerals to sustain economic progress.
Noting that gold was priced below $1,000 an ounce as recently as three years ago, Coxe observed that analysts “are agreed that nearly all gold companies now need at least $1,250 an ounce to make any money on current production when the costs of new capex are factored in.”
“So, is it reasonable to value a gold producer’s reserves at, say, $1,500 an ounce today? A rather minor correction in the gold price could wipe out the company’s profits, right?
Read More @ MineWeb.com
by Gary North, Lew Rockwell:
On Saturday, July 28, I spoke to a group of almost 150 mostly undergraduates at the Mises Institute. They had flown in from across the USA and from 20 foreign countries. It was a week-long seminar. I was the final speaker.
It is an amazing experience for an anti-Communist of my generation to speak with a Chinese student studying economics in the USA.
One young woman from Vietnam was going back to set up a Vietnamese Mises Institute. There are already three Austrian websites in Vietnam. There is a generation of young entrepreneurs coming into the Vietnamese economy. They are receptive to my Austrian School message, which explains entrepreneurship as the crucial factor in a free economy.
Another young woman with the improbable name of Amanda BillyRock has begun a YouTube channel. She has gotten enough viewers so that someone has decided to provide funding. I think her story is typical. It was the bad economy, plus her discovery of Ron Paul, that pulled her in. She got interested enough to start a YouTube channel. This is a good sign. As she says, she knew nothing about economics and politics two years ago. She is a fast learner. This video was posted in mid-March.
Read More @ LewRockwell.com
On Saturday, July 28, I spoke to a group of almost 150 mostly undergraduates at the Mises Institute. They had flown in from across the USA and from 20 foreign countries. It was a week-long seminar. I was the final speaker.
It is an amazing experience for an anti-Communist of my generation to speak with a Chinese student studying economics in the USA.
One young woman from Vietnam was going back to set up a Vietnamese Mises Institute. There are already three Austrian websites in Vietnam. There is a generation of young entrepreneurs coming into the Vietnamese economy. They are receptive to my Austrian School message, which explains entrepreneurship as the crucial factor in a free economy.
Another young woman with the improbable name of Amanda BillyRock has begun a YouTube channel. She has gotten enough viewers so that someone has decided to provide funding. I think her story is typical. It was the bad economy, plus her discovery of Ron Paul, that pulled her in. She got interested enough to start a YouTube channel. This is a good sign. As she says, she knew nothing about economics and politics two years ago. She is a fast learner. This video was posted in mid-March.
Read More @ LewRockwell.com
By Dan Denning, Daily Reckoning.com.au:
Step away from watching the markets hour by hour and eventually
you’ll notice something. What you’ll notice is that most of the news is
garbage. Websites and cable news channels need a constant news flow to
justify movements in stock prices. But most of the time there is no
connection between the news and the price action.
Your editor makes this observation after being away from his desk for two weeks. During that time, we were only intermittently in touch with hourly news flow. We didn’t miss it a bit. And it turns out we didn’t miss anything important either. The status quo prevails.
And what is the status quo? Well, for one, let’s not make the mistake of calling the market a market. It isn’t. A market is where you have a buyer and seller willing to exchange goods and money at a mutually agreed price. That price is ‘discovered’ by aggregating all the bids which buyers are willing to pay and the asks which sellers require.
Price discovery is ruined — and markets don’t function — when you have a serial intervener in the form of a central bank. That’s what we have today. For example, markets reacted in Pavlovian fashion last week when European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said he’d do ‘whatever it takes’ to save the euro.
Read More @ DailyReckoning.com.au
Step away from watching the markets hour by hour and eventually
you’ll notice something. What you’ll notice is that most of the news is
garbage. Websites and cable news channels need a constant news flow to
justify movements in stock prices. But most of the time there is no
connection between the news and the price action.Your editor makes this observation after being away from his desk for two weeks. During that time, we were only intermittently in touch with hourly news flow. We didn’t miss it a bit. And it turns out we didn’t miss anything important either. The status quo prevails.
And what is the status quo? Well, for one, let’s not make the mistake of calling the market a market. It isn’t. A market is where you have a buyer and seller willing to exchange goods and money at a mutually agreed price. That price is ‘discovered’ by aggregating all the bids which buyers are willing to pay and the asks which sellers require.
Price discovery is ruined — and markets don’t function — when you have a serial intervener in the form of a central bank. That’s what we have today. For example, markets reacted in Pavlovian fashion last week when European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said he’d do ‘whatever it takes’ to save the euro.
Read More @ DailyReckoning.com.au
from, Bullion Street:
In a significant move, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
is expected to drop a four-year probe into possible manipulation of
silver prices after failing to find sufficient evidence to back a case.
The CFTC announced the investigation in September 2008, citing complaints of misconduct in the silver market” following a barrage of allegations of manipulation from a group of precious metals investors.
The agency’s five commissioners haven’t formally weighed in on the status of the probe, leaving the possibility they could ask staff to dig deeper, the report said.
The CFTC told the Financial Times newspaper that the investigation “has not reached its conclusion” and declined further comments.
Read More @ BullionStreet.com
In a significant move, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
is expected to drop a four-year probe into possible manipulation of
silver prices after failing to find sufficient evidence to back a case.The CFTC announced the investigation in September 2008, citing complaints of misconduct in the silver market” following a barrage of allegations of manipulation from a group of precious metals investors.
The agency’s five commissioners haven’t formally weighed in on the status of the probe, leaving the possibility they could ask staff to dig deeper, the report said.
The CFTC told the Financial Times newspaper that the investigation “has not reached its conclusion” and declined further comments.
Read More @ BullionStreet.com
by Matt Clinch, CNBC:
After Knight Capital Group’s torrent of faulty trades on Wednesday
that lost the firm $440 million, an expert warns the same type of glitch
will happen again and could potentially afflict any trading firm.
“It will happen again, there is no question. My guess is that the mistake will come from a trading firm that does market-making, a place similar to Knight but probably not as large and dominant,” Christopher Steiner, author of the book “Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World” told CNBC on Monday.
“They certainly aren’t specific to Knight Capital [KCG 2.98 -1.07 (-26.42%) ] and I think what’s most concerning is that if this can happen to Knight, it can happen to anybody,” Steiner said on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange.”
On Monday, Knight Capital announced a $400 million deal to sell convertible preferred shares to a group of investors, a deal that secures its survival. Some customers have also backed the firm, saying they won’t be dropping their orders that are routed through Knight.
Steiner is incredulous how this could have happened in the first place.
Read More @ CNBC.com
by James Smith, Activist Post
With the odd purchases of ammunition by the Department of Homeland Security
I decided to see what else they have purchased. To my surprise a
solicitation for a flexible explosive was posted. This explosive is
known as Prima Sheet. Prima sheet comes in two styles:
Prima Sheet 1000 is PETN based, and Prima Sheet 2000 is RDX based. Both are water resistant high explosives and this material is available to the US military.
And, according to the manufacturer, Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company the materials uses are:
Demolition/Breaching – PRIMASHEET® 1000 is an excellent tool for general demolition applications. It can be easily cut to any desired shape and applied with adhesive or incorporated into a charge holder. The flexible sheet can be applied as strips directly on a the target or used to improvise linear shape charges.
Read More @ Activist Post
The iconic image of the lone grizzled prospector is one most of us
think of as consigned to history books. But in recent years, as the
price of gold has flirted with $2000 per ounce, the yellow metal
believed still remaining in “them thar hills” has become a growing
temptation. The still struggling economy and high unemployment have
inspired a new generation to dream of striking it rich, perhaps even on a
family vacation or while stomping through the woods when job-hunting
becomes too discouraging. But lingering economic recession or
depression, particularly as people watch the value of their currency
dwindle, combined with the resumption of gold’s climb, are likely to
send modern-day prospectors into the hills and streams. As was true of
the ’49ers, very few will grow rich, or even earn a living.
A whole industry has sprung up around gold prospecting in the past decade. There are recreational mining clubs, websites and newsletters. Gold panning, sluicing and assaying equipment can be ordered online. There is even a gold mining tourism industry, featuring group “digs,” guided mining adventure tours and camps at which tourists are allowed to keep what they find. Clearly the glimmer of gold continues to hold allure.
Read More @ WealthCycles.com
After Knight Capital Group’s torrent of faulty trades on Wednesday
that lost the firm $440 million, an expert warns the same type of glitch
will happen again and could potentially afflict any trading firm.“It will happen again, there is no question. My guess is that the mistake will come from a trading firm that does market-making, a place similar to Knight but probably not as large and dominant,” Christopher Steiner, author of the book “Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World” told CNBC on Monday.
“They certainly aren’t specific to Knight Capital [KCG 2.98 -1.07 (-26.42%) ] and I think what’s most concerning is that if this can happen to Knight, it can happen to anybody,” Steiner said on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange.”
On Monday, Knight Capital announced a $400 million deal to sell convertible preferred shares to a group of investors, a deal that secures its survival. Some customers have also backed the firm, saying they won’t be dropping their orders that are routed through Knight.
Steiner is incredulous how this could have happened in the first place.
Read More @ CNBC.com
by James Smith, Activist Post
With the odd purchases of ammunition by the Department of Homeland Security
I decided to see what else they have purchased. To my surprise a
solicitation for a flexible explosive was posted. This explosive is
known as Prima Sheet. Prima sheet comes in two styles:Prima Sheet 1000 is PETN based, and Prima Sheet 2000 is RDX based. Both are water resistant high explosives and this material is available to the US military.
And, according to the manufacturer, Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company the materials uses are:
- Breaching
- Military demolition
- Ordnance disposal
- Metal hardening
- Metal forming and welding
- Skin severance charge
Demolition/Breaching – PRIMASHEET® 1000 is an excellent tool for general demolition applications. It can be easily cut to any desired shape and applied with adhesive or incorporated into a charge holder. The flexible sheet can be applied as strips directly on a the target or used to improvise linear shape charges.
Read More @ Activist Post
from Wealth Cycles:
The iconic image of the lone grizzled prospector is one most of us
think of as consigned to history books. But in recent years, as the
price of gold has flirted with $2000 per ounce, the yellow metal
believed still remaining in “them thar hills” has become a growing
temptation. The still struggling economy and high unemployment have
inspired a new generation to dream of striking it rich, perhaps even on a
family vacation or while stomping through the woods when job-hunting
becomes too discouraging. But lingering economic recession or
depression, particularly as people watch the value of their currency
dwindle, combined with the resumption of gold’s climb, are likely to
send modern-day prospectors into the hills and streams. As was true of
the ’49ers, very few will grow rich, or even earn a living.A whole industry has sprung up around gold prospecting in the past decade. There are recreational mining clubs, websites and newsletters. Gold panning, sluicing and assaying equipment can be ordered online. There is even a gold mining tourism industry, featuring group “digs,” guided mining adventure tours and camps at which tourists are allowed to keep what they find. Clearly the glimmer of gold continues to hold allure.
Read More @ WealthCycles.com
by Jeffrey Tucker, Whiskey and Gunpowder:
After Sept. 11, the American system of government became crazy
obsessed with security. The implementation has not only been brutal and
contrary to human liberty; it has completely lacked creativity. Instead
of real security, we get what’s called “security theater,” and at the
expense of the customer, who feels the brunt of all the new impositions.It was the stupidest decision ever to nationalize airport security after Sept. 11, for doing so guaranteed this result. Security is too important to be left to government. What does the cause of security have to learn from the private sector? Plenty.
I was just at a Tiffany jewelry store. If you know these places, you know that they have a serious security issue to deal with. What is the total value of the inventory? It’s a guess. It’s in the many millions, maybe tens of millions. And it’s all on display, out in the open, in a store that lives off its reputation for high-end products.
As soon as you walk in, your eyes are drawn to astonishing gleaming, sparkling, beguiling things that seem to be nearly dancing around the room. The treasures are in glass cases, but the glass is so clean that you almost don’t see it at all. The lighting is designed to draw attention to what is in the cases, and it works. They set the heart aflutter, enticing a material impulse that might perhaps be unlike anything you have ever felt.
Read More @ WhiskeyAndGunpowder.com
Today’s Items:
Iran’s gold for oil program is the root
cause for the war-drums by the U.S., and her sycophant allies, because
it threatens the supremacy of the U.S. Dollar in international trade.
Yes, Iran is developing nuclear weapons, but wouldn’t you if you were
surrounded on all sides by the likes of Obama, Bush, or Hillary Clinton?
Obama has made his position clear. He is using the might of the US
military to stop Iran from further devaluation of the US dollar. This
of course, will lead to a direct confrontation with Iran’s allies… China
and Russia.
After a so-called trading snafu caused the
loss $440 million in one day, many investors are sick and tired of man
vs. machine situation. There are more calls for regulation, and
dropping the automated computer trading systems. To a point, the
dropping of automated computer trading systems would be good; in that,
it would be harder for criminal institutions, like JP Morgan, to
manipulate the markets. On the other hand, who regulates the
regulators?
We’ve had Lehman, AIG, MF Global, PFG, and
now Knight Capital that lost $440 million overnight. People, in mass,
are waking up to the fact that keeping their life savings in these
ponzi schemes is like throwing money into a fire. With the combination
of the risk of the financial system collapsing, and with massive money
printing, investors will want to seek safe harbors, and the debt ridden
treasuries will not be safe for long as investors seek the safety of
physical assets like gold and silver.
James Turk believes that the world is in a
currency bubble and eventually the bubble will pop because it is backed
by nothing. There’s a ton of money on the sidelines waiting to buy
precious metals on the dips. This is exactly the type of thing one
would see at the beginning of a bull market. So, after preparing, keep
stacking physical.
CFTC Allows Silver Manipulation To Continue
http://www.zerohedge.com
http://www.zerohedge.com
Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! The CFTC
will drop its four year investigation into silver manipulation. Yes
folks, the silver manipulation, by JP Morgan,
can continue for a while longer. The implications, smaller short
term prices for silver as the paper flies. Long term? Fantasy paper
can only cover real silver for so long. Let’s hear it for the ethics
that is the CFTC!
According to the CDC, there have been 28
cases of H3N2v Virus. Persons who are at high risk of influenza should
avoid pigs and swine barns this summer. But, who will take care of
poor Wilbur then? Of course, the government will quickly concoct a
potion to inject into you with a few side affects like sterilization.
Okay, folks this is funny. Schwarzenegger
actually plans to head a think tank to explore “post-partisan” politics
and global challenges. He believes that he, and other socialist he is
working with, can bring people from across the political spectrum to
work together. Right! (sarc!) I hope they do not fill that tank
with water or his brain may rust.
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