Greyerz: Investors Assets To Be Stolen In The Coming Collapse

from KingWorldNews:
Today Egon von Greyerz told King World News, “I’m seeing how massive amounts of money are within the system, and people think they are safe, but they are not.” Greyerz, who is founder and managing partner at Matterhorn Asset Management out of Switzerland, also warned, “This is the illusion that people are living under, and it’s very sad. That’s not going to be the case. The banks are going to close if there is a problem, and people are not going to get access to their assets.”
Here is what Greyerz had to say: “Right now the markets are in a waiting game. They are waiting for Bernanke’s Jackson Hole speech tomorrow. They are (also) waiting for the German court decision which is on the 12th of September. This is to decide if they are going to approve the ESM (European Stability Mechanism), which replaces the EFSF.”
“Now, the EFSF is running out of money, they’ve only got about $200 billion left. Spain and Italy, only, will need about $700 billion. We know for a fact that the eurozone and Southern countries are in desperate need of additional funds.
Egon von Greyerz continues @ KingWorldNews.com

What To Expect From The Bernank At J-Hole

Expectations for tomorrow's J-Hole speech by the venerable Ben Bernanke vary from the mundane "things-we-can-still-do; monitoring-situation" to the exuberant "we'll-print-our-way-out-of-this-mess-no-matter-what-and-I've-got-your-back-for-anything-more-than-a-1%-drop-in-the-Russell". We suspect, like Morgan Stanley's Vince Reinhart that a lot of people are going to be grossly disappointed  as the FOMC (C for Committee) meeting is so close and the election being just around the corner means playing-down any miracle-making. Instead we suspect it will be more of the same - disappointment in economic performance, could do better, closely monitoring, Fed-has-tools; i.e. a replay of most of his recent speeches in tone. Reinhart does see some room for surprise though - especially on conditional policy rules (and the potential problems with over-reaching their mandate).

Paul Krugman’s Mis-Characterization Of The Gold Standard

With a price hovering around $1,600 an ounce and the prospect of "additional monetary accommodation" hinted to in the latest meeting of the FOMC, gold is once again becoming a hot topic of discussion. Krugman, praising 'The Atlantic's recent blustering anti-Gold-standard riff, points to gold's volatility, its relationship with interest rates (and general levels of asset prices - which we discussed here), and the number of 'financial panics' that occurred during gold-standards. These criticisms, while containing empirical data, are grossly deceptive.  The information provided doesn’t support Krugman’s assertions whatsoever.  Instead of utilizing sound economic theory as an interpreter of the data, Krugman and his Keynesian colleagues use it to prove their claims.  Their methodological positivism has lead them to fallacious conclusions which just so happen to support their favored policies of state domination over money.  The reality is that not only has gold held its value over time, those panics which Krugman refers to occurred because of government intervention; not the gold standard. Keynes himself was contemptuous of the middle class throughout his professional career.  This is perhaps why he held such disdain for gold.

Reprise: Simon Johnson On the Quiet Coup d'Etat in the Anglo-American Financial System

comex data only

Harvey Organ at Harvey Organ's - The Daily Gold and Silver Report - 5 hours ago

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen: I am back and the surgery went real well.  I am very wobbly but I will attempt to give you the data.  The physical stories etc were written today prior to my surgery. I will catch up on all of the major stories on Saturday with you. The total comex gold OI fell by 3808 contracts from 426,559 to 422,751 as the bankers raid was quite effective in reducing OI as

 

The Mogambo Speaketh!

Richard Daughty, a.k.a., 'The Mogambo Guru' at Mogambo Guru Report! - 9 hours ago

August 30, 2012 Mogambo Guru I noticed that I don't laugh as much as I used to, but I curse a lot more. I figure it's because things economic are so serious and insistently suicidal lately. I still laugh at funny jokes, however, like the classic "Knock knock. Who's there? Mogambo Guru. Mogambo Guru who? That's what everybody says!" Hahahaha! Well, I am embarrassed to see that you are not laughing at what, I admit, is kind of an "inside joke", referring, as it does, to the fact that I am so unknown, despite having delivered the best investment advice (which is to buy... more » 

 

Volatility on the Rise

Trader Dan at Trader Dan's Market Views - 9 hours ago

It is interesting to note the price action of the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX of late. The S&P 500 appears to be struggling to break through the 1420 - 1425 region. That combined with growing concern that tomorrow's Bernanke comments are not going to be sufficiently "QE bullish" is fueling nervousness among traders who are fearful of being caught in any downdraft resulting from disappointment among the "punch bowl" crowd. This same concern is also providing selling pressure in the metals with gold bears capping at the $1680 level while nervous longs exit the market. Dip buying howe... more » 

Charting The Unprecedented 'HFT-Driven' Rise In Intraday-Trading Volatility

Sometimes a picture can paint a thousand words; in the case of these two charts from Nanex, it paints more as it is abundantly clear that since Reg NMS, the 'noise' in our daily trading markets has risen exponentially as the apparent price we pay for the 'liquidity-providing' machines is up to 15-times more normalized 'price-changes' - or put another 'smoothed' way: averaged over a 20-day period, intraday volatility has doubled since HFT began (and was six times larger during the flash crash). How's your mean-variance efficient-frontier look now? Or your delta/gamma hedging program?

The Election: It's The Food-Stamps, Stupid!

In November 2008, President Barack Obama won the popular election for President by 9.5 million votes.  A burgeoning financial crisis and weakening economy helped his candidacy at the time, but four years on the sluggish pace of economic recovery is a headwind to his re-election.  Consider, for example, that there are currently 12.8 million people unemployed in the U.S., or that an estimated 8 million adults entered the SNAP (Food Stamp) program since November 2008 (total increase in enrollment: 15.6 million).  Presidential elections are won in the Electoral College, of course, so in today’s note ConvergEx's Nick Colas parses out this employment/food security economic stress for the key “Battleground” states.
Seven of the 8 swing states this election year are more economically stressed than the national average in terms of unemployment and/or food stamps, while 2 of the 3 states “leaning” toward Obama are worse off than the national average.  Romney, behind in the electoral vote count by most analysts’ figures, theoretically stands to gain from a weak national economy, but he’ll have to earn the vote of an estimated 4 million Americans in 14 key battleground states to have a shot at the White House.

As Bank Profits Plunged In 2011, Banker Bonuses... Rose

It will come as no surprise to many but everyone's favorite enemy #1, the US banker, decided to give himself a well-earned pay-rise in 2011 - according to data from Moody's Analytics (via Crain's). What is perhaps a little more surprising is the sheer gall of it given that the financial industry profits plunged over 70% from $27.6bn in 2010 to a mere $7.7bn in 2011. While the rise in salaries is not large, and the average man on the street actually saw a bigger rise, the critical point is that for two years in a row - from 2009 to 2010, and now from 2010 to 2011 - banking industry profits have dropped like a stone but the average salary of those oh-so-deserving 'Wall-Street'ers has risen.

Ballistic Precious Metals: A Basic Guide to Ammo as an Alternative “Investment”

This piece has been contributed exclusively for reader’s of SGTreport by our friend Mark (pseudonym below), a firearms industry executive & part-time police officer.
by Mark S. Mann,
If you are a serious firearms enthusiast or what some people now refer to as a “Prepper”, having a supply of ammunition is an absolute must. Regardless of what the main stream media says, it is not “abnormal” or “sinister” for people to store thousands of rounds of ammunition. For whatever reason you choose to stockpile ammo, the reality is that it’s a wise choice to do so. Let’s take a look at some interesting facts about ammunition, and the bull run of “Ballistic Precious Metals” over the last 20 years. Read More…

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The Decisive Key Now To Gold, Silver & Global Stock Markets

from KingWorldNews:
Today Tom Fitzpatrick spoke with King World News about the “decisive” areas to watch for on both gold and silver. A break of these key areas will ignite gold and silver to the upside. Fitzpatrick also issued major warnings regarding the global stock markets and China.
Here is what top Citi analyst Fitzpatrick had to say, along with some powerful charts: “I think you have to be fairly careful in these markets to get a breakout that looks fairly conclusive. If you look at silver, what we do have, which is probably the best level to look at, we have a downward sloping trendline on the log chart (see below).
We look at these types of charts when we see large percentage changes, which occurred when silver dropped from $50 to $26. Converging into the same area as the sloping downtrend line is the 55 week moving average, which is currently around $31.70.
If we get a weekly close above $31.70, that should open up for this retest of what we believe is the big level, the $37.48 level, which is the neckline of the double-bottom. So we would look at a close above this $31.70 area in silver as being decisive.”
Tom Fitzpatrick continues @ KingWorldNews.com

 

Three Questions for Mario “bumblebee” Draghi

from gpc1981, Gains Pains & Capital:

Mr Draghi… a few questions for you…
You say that whatever measure you take… it will be “enough” to support the Euro. Seeing as you’ve already spent over €1 trillion via your LTRO 1 and LTRO 2 schemes only to find that:
1) The uptick in EU banks shares lasted less with each new scheme
2) The bond and credit markets punished those banks who sought funding via these vehicles
…my question is… what exactly is “enough”? Obviously €1 trillion wasn’t. Would €2 trillion be? What about €5 trillion? Seeing as banking deposits at the troubled PIIGS banks exceed €5 trillion alone, it seems even €5 trillion wouldn’t be enough to backstop the EU and get it out of this mess. So could you quantify “enough” please?
Read More @ GainsPainsCapital.com

Did RNC “Scripted” Rules Change Start A Civil War In The Republican Party?

“Make no mistake, what happened in Tampa will not stay in Tampa.”
from BenSwannRealityCheck:

Ben Swann Reality Check takes a look at how the most controversial rule change in party history was not legitimately passed.

Ron Paul delegates furious over RNC

from RTAmerica:

The RNC Proves One Thing: It’s IMPOSSIBLE to take over or reform the GOP

by Joel Skousen, Lew Rockwell:
Even though it might have been a symbolic gesture, the delegates behind Ron Paul were intending to at least get Rep. Paul nominated at the convention. It would give a great boost to the grand liberty movement Dr. Paul has built for the last 20 years and the rebellion against establishment control of the GOP. They only needed delegate majorities from 5 states to nominate the good doctor and to keep Romney from going uncontested before the convention. But alas, the illegal maneuvers of the RNC have robbed the movement of their last show before the cameras, and contrary to assurances by an “insider” within the RNC, Ron Paul will get no speaking slot.
James Hohmann of Politico.com has a summary of the GOP movement to stop Paul. “The Republican establishment has quelled the Ron Paul Revolution, at least for 2012. Using… procedural hardball, Mitt Romney’s campaign and his allies who control the Republican National Committee [actually, Romney controls no one at the RNC. It is run by a cadre of hardcore globlists. They are only allied with Romney because he got to the nomination despite their attempts to derail him. Their control over his advisors is total and complete] have ensured that the Texas congressman will neither speak nor be formally nominated at next week’s convention.
Read More @ LewRockwell.com

Doug Wead: There is No More Left & Right, There’s The Oligarchy and Us – Meanwhile the GOP Is Destroying Itself

from WeAreChange:

Ron Paul’s Senior 2012 Campaign Adviser Doug Wead gives WeAreChange an exclusive interview about the Ron Paul RNC delegate controversy, criticism of Jesse Benton, and the real reason Ron Paul didn’t attack Mitt Romney during the campaign.

The **CRIMINAL** GOP Caught Stealing & Cheating Ron Paul At The RNC [We Live in an Absoultely Pathetic Banana Republic!]

from matlarson10:

Obama Mimics Bill Ayers Radical Ideology with New Re-Education Camps

from TheAlexJonesChannel :

Larry Grathwohl, the former FBI informant in the Weather Underground who revealed the terrorist group’s plan for re-education camps and the liquidation of millions of Americans.

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