Somewhere deep in the bowels of the world’s Western central banks lie vaults holding gargantuan piles of physical gold bars… or at least that’s what they all claim.Our analysis of the physical gold market shows that central banks have most likely been a massive unreported supplier of physical gold, and strongly implies that their gold reserves are negligible today. If Frank Veneroso’s conclusions were even close to accurate back in 1998 (and we believe they were), when coupled with the 2,300 tonne net change in annual demand we can easily identify above, it can only lead to the conclusion that a large portion of the Western central banks’ stated 23,000 tonnes of gold reserves are merely a paper entry on their balance sheets – completely un-backed by anything tangible other than an IOU from whatever counterparty leased it from them in years past. At this stage of the game, we don’t believe these central banks will be able to get their gold back without extreme difficulty, especially if it turns out the gold has left their countries entirely. We can also only wonder how much gold within the central bank system has been ‘rehypothecated’ in the process, since the central banks in question seem so reluctant to divulge any meaningful details on their reserves in a way that would shed light on the various “swaps” and “loans” they imply to be participating in. We might also suggest that if a proper audit of Western central bank gold reserves was ever launched, as per Ron Paul’s recent proposal to audit the US Federal Reserve, the proverbial cat would be let out of the bag – with explosive implications for the gold price.... We realize that some readers may scoff at any analysis of the gold market that hints at “conspiracy”. We’re not talking about conspiracy here however, we’re talking about stupidity. After all, Western central banks are probably under the impression that the gold they’ve swapped and/or lent out is still legally theirs, which technically it may be. But if what we are proposing turns out to be true, and those reserves are not physically theirs; not physically in their possession… then all bets are off regarding the future of our monetary system.
US Debt Soars To $16,159,487,013,300.35, +$93 Billion; Or How To Kick Off Fiscal 2013 With A Bang
September 30 was the last day of Fiscal 2012 for the US which explains why despite the barrage of debt issuance in the past month, the year closed with total debt of just $16.066 trillion, a modest increase of just $50 billion in the month. Luckily, moments ago we got the first DTS of the new fiscal year, which eliminated any residual confusion we had. As of the first day of FY 2013, total US debt soared by $93 billion overnight, and is now a record $16,159,487,013,300.35. One can see why Tim Geithner wants to push all the debt under the coach for as long as possible (and the scariest thing is that the actual increase in Treasury cash was a mere $11 billion). But wait, there's more. As a reminder, final Q2 US GDP was recently revised lower by $20 billion, which if we extrapolate into Q3 (leading to a nominal GDP print of $15.71 trillion), means that as of today, total US Federal debt to GDP is 103%. And rising about 1.5% per month.
Britain
is part of a debtor nation “ring of fire” where bondholders are at risk
of being “burned to a crisp”, the head of the worlds biggest bond house
has warned.
by Philip Aldrick, The Telegraph:
Bill Gross, PIMCO’s founder and chief investment officer, compared the
UK to a drug addict who is hooked on debt and struggling to kick the
habit in his monthly investment outlook. His comments were part of a
broader warning that the US would turn into Greece within a decade if
the government did not find $1.6 trillion (£990bn) of savings “over the
next five to 10 years”.
Mr Gross, whose company manages $1.8 trillion across the world and whose head of European investment is Ed Balls’ younger brother Andrew, is famous for his florid warnings and influence over market sentiment, if not his consistency.
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk
by Philip Aldrick, The Telegraph:
Bill Gross, PIMCO’s founder and chief investment officer, compared the
UK to a drug addict who is hooked on debt and struggling to kick the
habit in his monthly investment outlook. His comments were part of a
broader warning that the US would turn into Greece within a decade if
the government did not find $1.6 trillion (£990bn) of savings “over the
next five to 10 years”.Mr Gross, whose company manages $1.8 trillion across the world and whose head of European investment is Ed Balls’ younger brother Andrew, is famous for his florid warnings and influence over market sentiment, if not his consistency.
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk
The One Chart No Equity Portfolio Manager Wants To See
Presented
with little comment - except to ask, on what basis should we 'believe'
that this time is not like the others as Global PMIs plunge...Spain ready to ask for bailout/Spain will need greater than 60 billion euros/Bankers hold silver and gold in check/
Harvey Organ at Harvey Organ's - The Daily Gold and Silver Report - 4 hours ago
Good
evening Ladies and Gentlemen:
Gold closed down today to the tune of $6.80 finishing the comex session
at $1772.50. The price of silver ended the day down 28 cents at $34.60.
The bankers seem to wish to defend with their last breath, 1775.00
dollar gold and 35.00 dollar silver. Today Europe opened in the green
and gold and silver took off only to be repelled by the bankers. The
problemThe Real Reason Behind War
The conventional validation for perpetual war in the Middle East does not hold when looked at rationally. When the ideas of nationalism and statist glory are wiped away, the state appears as it really is: institutionalized exploitation of the masses by the few. The undertaking of war masks this reality for a short period while accelerating the pace at which liberty is stripped away. In the end, wars are waged to fulfill the sadistic desires of government leaders and to give them an opening to tighten their grip on society. The parasitic class which makes up the state doesn’t just war with other states; it conducts war against the citizens it claims to protect.
Incumbent Presidential Winners - Be Careful What You Wish For
Between
Obama's (equity-market-driven) election odds at Intrade and IEM,
WaPo's projections, and Gallup's poll results, it seems an incumbent victory is all but guaranteed
- even after over-hyped video clips are distributed. Adam Parker,
Morgan Stanley's erstwhile realist strategist digs through the empirical
data and finds that Gallup's latest poll suggests the 2012 election will not be close.
History is also on Obama's side - 10 incumbents have won while 3
(Hoover, Carter, and Bush Sr.) have lost since 1900. The trouble for
equity investors is that, despite what you have been told (and we
already warned) about election year cycles, the post-election incumbent-victory performance is on average a 4.5% loss over six months.
So add this 'doldrum' hangover to the post-election European 'event
risk', the US 'fiscal-cliff' and debt-ceiling debacle, and China's
Politburo meeting on Nov. 6th and it looks like Thanksgiving can't come
soon enough.Troika Target Of Truculence As Greek Tax Evaders Terrified
The Troika technical team was chased from their Greek offices on Tuesday by an angry mob of Muni workers (who proclaimed that "they got our labor rights and conditions back to the Middle Ages"). As KeepTalkingGreece
notes, this is the third incident in 24 hours as since the team arrived
they have had water bottle thrown at them as well as cars kicked and
'hurled coffees'. The clip below shows the Troika member looking rather
anxious as he runs from the crowd (and NewsIt
reported a female Troika member seeking refuge in a bookstore). It is
not just the municipal workers who are in fear though, as GreekReporter
notes the unbelievable story of the re-appearance of a 'mysterious' CD containing the names of 2000 ultra-rich Greek Swiss-bank account-holders
is now back in the hands of the Greek government as they press for
bilateral taxation on those huge deposits. It seems rich and poor alike
are not happy with the Troika's exposure of tax cheats across the desperate nation.European Banks Still Treat Their Sovereign Debt Holdings As Risk-Free, BIS Finds
In case there is still any wonder why absolutely nobody has no faith in the centrally planned house of cards that is the modern capital markets system, not retail investors, not institutional ones, not HFT vacuum tubes lately, and as of Monday, not even the Bank of International Settlements, aka the central banks' bank, here it is. In a report released yesterday, the BIS complained surprisingly loudly that in glaring disregard for the ever stricter demands of the Basel III rules (which incidentally will never be met), a very broke Europe continues to ignore every regulatory demand. To wit: "The EU’s plans for tightening bank capital rules fail to live up to the Basel III banking reform, an inspection team of global regulators has decided. The draft EU directive is “noncompliant” with the global deal in two important areas. Its definitions of top-quality capital are looser in at least seven ways and a loophole allows many big banks to assume that their sovereign debt holdings are risk-free."AAPL Rampapalooza Saves The Day
Volumes picked up for most of the day as US equity markets jerked lower - back to pre-QEternity levels
- and AAPL slide ever so gently all day to touch its 50DMA. With about
an hour to go, it was clear something had to be done and AAPL levitated on small-lots (as opposed to the bigger lots on the selling) as it pushed back up to VWAP automagically - and dragged the S&P futures back above its VWAP and into the green.
Highest AAPL volume in almost a month but trade-size was average as
S&P futures levitated 8 points in a straight line and VIX was banged
back from 16.5% to 15.7% (down 0.6vols on the day). Stocks were in a world of their own in this liftathon
- as Treasuries wiggled along at the low yields of the day and the USD
rose all afternoon (from Europe's close). Oil tumbled under $92 and
commodities in general slid slightly lower (though intraday vol was
high). Staples and HealthCare remain the only post-QEternity sectors in the green.
Finally, today's S&P futures action looked more like a EKG than
equity trading and with volume leaking badly, things feel a little
W&R-like.
by Sarah Morris and Manuel Ruiz, Reuters:
Tuesday’s Labour Ministry data showed the jobless rate rose by 1.7 percent to leave 4.7 million people out of work.
The figure had also risen in August after it fell during the summer season.
“There is a certain slowing down in the rate of increase in unemployment but the negative side is that jobs are still disappearing,” said Estefania Ponte, head of economy at trading house Cortal Consors.
She said Tuesday’s monthly figures suggested the rate of unemployment in Spain – already the highest in the European Union – would likely have hit 25 percent in the third quarter.
Read More @ Reuters
by Peter Schiff, Euro Pac:
There never really could be much doubt that the current experiment in competitive global currency debasement would end in anything less than a total war. There was always a chance that one or more of the principal players would snap out of it, change course and save their citizenry from a never ending cycle of devaluation. But developments since September 13, when the U.S. Federal Reserve finally laid all its cards on the table and went “all in” on permanent quantitative easing, indicate that the brainwashing is widely established and will be difficult to break. The vast majority of the world’s leading central bankers seem content to walk in lock step down the path of money creation as a means to economic salvation. Never mind that the path will prevent real growth and may ultimately lead off a cliff. The herd is moving. And if it can’t be turned, the only thing that one can do is attempt to get out of its way.
The details of the Fed’s new plan (which I christened Operation Screw in last week’s commentary) are not nearly as important as the philosophy it reveals. The Federal Reserve has already unleashed two huge waves of quantitative easing (purchases of either government securities or mortgage-backed securities) in order to stimulate consumer spending and ignite business activity. But the economy has not responded as hoped.
Read More @ EuroPac.com
Tuesday’s Labour Ministry data showed the jobless rate rose by 1.7 percent to leave 4.7 million people out of work.
The figure had also risen in August after it fell during the summer season.
“There is a certain slowing down in the rate of increase in unemployment but the negative side is that jobs are still disappearing,” said Estefania Ponte, head of economy at trading house Cortal Consors.
She said Tuesday’s monthly figures suggested the rate of unemployment in Spain – already the highest in the European Union – would likely have hit 25 percent in the third quarter.
Read More @ Reuters
There never really could be much doubt that the current experiment in competitive global currency debasement would end in anything less than a total war. There was always a chance that one or more of the principal players would snap out of it, change course and save their citizenry from a never ending cycle of devaluation. But developments since September 13, when the U.S. Federal Reserve finally laid all its cards on the table and went “all in” on permanent quantitative easing, indicate that the brainwashing is widely established and will be difficult to break. The vast majority of the world’s leading central bankers seem content to walk in lock step down the path of money creation as a means to economic salvation. Never mind that the path will prevent real growth and may ultimately lead off a cliff. The herd is moving. And if it can’t be turned, the only thing that one can do is attempt to get out of its way.
The details of the Fed’s new plan (which I christened Operation Screw in last week’s commentary) are not nearly as important as the philosophy it reveals. The Federal Reserve has already unleashed two huge waves of quantitative easing (purchases of either government securities or mortgage-backed securities) in order to stimulate consumer spending and ignite business activity. But the economy has not responded as hoped.
Read More @ EuroPac.com
from RTAmerica:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad both delivered two of the most controversial speeches at the latest session of the United Nations General Assembly. And while the Israeli’s speech was aired in full on CNN, the Iranian’s address has been ruthlessly cut and the viewers have missed some very important points. What are the ramifications of this kind of selective reporting? RT’s Liz Wahl is joined by Amber Lyon, a three-time Emmy award winning journalist who suggests that sensationalism, hype and downright propaganda is being used to push America into a war with Iran.
from TruthNeverTold :
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad both delivered two of the most controversial speeches at the latest session of the United Nations General Assembly. And while the Israeli’s speech was aired in full on CNN, the Iranian’s address has been ruthlessly cut and the viewers have missed some very important points. What are the ramifications of this kind of selective reporting? RT’s Liz Wahl is joined by Amber Lyon, a three-time Emmy award winning journalist who suggests that sensationalism, hype and downright propaganda is being used to push America into a war with Iran.
from TruthNeverTold :
by Paul Joseph Watson, InfoWars:
A leaked U.S. Army document obtained by Wired Magazine characterizes people “frustrated with mainstream ideologies” as potential terrorists, while also framing those who “believe in government conspiracies” as violent radicals.
“These are some warning signs that that you have turned into a terrorist who will soon kill your co-workers, according to the U.S. military. You’ve recently changed your “choices in entertainment.” You have “peculiar discussions.” You “complain about bias,” you’re “socially withdrawn” and you’re frustrated with “mainstream ideologies,” writes Spencer Ackerman.
Rising prices will add to the overall cost of a weekly shop for hard-pressed shoppers who are already suffering from higher food bills.
Dry weather and drought has caused heat damage to vines in key European growing regions. Spain’s grape harvest this year is forecast to be 40 per cent lower than last year as a result of drought.
Meanwhile wine production in Italy is estimated to be eight per cent lower this year than last year. Some forecasters expect Italy’s wine grape harvest to be the second smallest since 1950.
Wine producers in New World countries including New Zealand and Australia have already increased the price of wines due to poor harvests. Now Spanish and Italian wine makers are expected to follow suit.
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk
A leaked U.S. Army document obtained by Wired Magazine characterizes people “frustrated with mainstream ideologies” as potential terrorists, while also framing those who “believe in government conspiracies” as violent radicals.
“These are some warning signs that that you have turned into a terrorist who will soon kill your co-workers, according to the U.S. military. You’ve recently changed your “choices in entertainment.” You have “peculiar discussions.” You “complain about bias,” you’re “socially withdrawn” and you’re frustrated with “mainstream ideologies,” writes Spencer Ackerman.
The manual (PDF)
was produced in 2011 by the Asymmetric Warfare Group, a unit within the
U.S. Army headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland. The document is
intended to weed out “internal threats” within the ranks of U.S.
soldiers.
Read More @ InfoWars.com
by James Hall, The Telegraph:
Rising prices will add to the overall cost of a weekly shop for hard-pressed shoppers who are already suffering from higher food bills.
Dry weather and drought has caused heat damage to vines in key European growing regions. Spain’s grape harvest this year is forecast to be 40 per cent lower than last year as a result of drought.
Meanwhile wine production in Italy is estimated to be eight per cent lower this year than last year. Some forecasters expect Italy’s wine grape harvest to be the second smallest since 1950.
Wine producers in New World countries including New Zealand and Australia have already increased the price of wines due to poor harvests. Now Spanish and Italian wine makers are expected to follow suit.
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk
by Ralph Benko, Forbes:
As noted in last week’s column
about the rising recognition by authorities in Germany about the
virtues of gold, the gold standard is receiving impressive new
recognition internationally. The GOP plank calling for a commission to
study “possible ways to set a fixed value for the dollar” — with an
unmistakable nod to gold — is the most prominent element of the 2012 GOP
platform still being heard to “reverberate around the world.”
Meanwhile, it continues to gain impressive momentum in the United
States.
Read More @ Forbes.com
There is a contingent within the gold community that are anticipating one last decline prior to the move to $3500. They have taken their lead from a cyclical analyst that claims infallibility. How many times have people waiting for the last decline missed the market or on the other side waiting for that last move up been screwed? Cycles are tendencies, not events set in cement in the future. Cycles are best used to determine the inherent strength or weakness in a market. The cycle is what is supposed to happen. The market is what is happening now. For example, if the cycle calls for lower, but the market either goes sideways or up, it speaks to significant internal strength in the market.
We shall see, but what difference does it make? Gold is going to $3500 and all things gold will shake off their determined shorts.
Regards,
Jim
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
There really is no hope.
Read this and weep. It is so wrong.
SEC Sues the One Rating Firm Not on Wall Street’s Take By William D. Cohan Sep 30, 2012 6:33 PM ET
The Securities and Exchange Commission, it seems, has finally lost its mind.
In April, motivated by what I consider pure maliciousness, the SEC initiated a “cease and desist” administrative proceeding it deemed “necessary for the protection of investors and in the public interest” against Egan-Jones Ratings Co., a privately owned, 20-person firm based in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and against its principal owner, Sean Egan.
Egan-Jones, founded in 1995, is one of nine ratings companies that the SEC has accredited as “nationally recognized,” allowing the firm to rate the debt of sovereign nations, companies and asset-backed securities, among others. Notably, it is the only one of the nine that gets paid by investors instead of by the issuers of securities.
The bigger and better-known ratings companies — Standard & Poor’s (owned by McGraw-Hill Cos. (MHP)), Moody’s Corp. (MCO) and Fitch Ratings Ltd. — are paid by the Wall Street banks that underwrite the debt securities of corporate issuers. That is, the companies are beholden to the sellers of the products they are supposed to pass judgment on, not the buyers. That’s akin to allowing the Hollywood studios to pay the nation’s film critics for their opinions.
Shopping Around
We all saw the result in 2007 and 2008. A major cause of the financial crisis was that S&P, Moody’s and Fitch, while being paid hundreds of millions of dollars by Wall Street, gave AAA ratings to complicated, risky securities that turned out to be anything but AAA. If a big bank didn’t like a proposed rating, it just shopped the deal until it found a firm that would provide something it liked better.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Debka has been rumored to have its foundation in Israeli intelligence. This article will give you an entirely fresh understanding of the supposed reaction to a movie MSM is selling. I believe it is worth your time.
More Al Qaeda pre-US election attacks forecast: Americans quietly lifted out DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 2, 2012, 11:00 AM (GMT+02:00)
Just five weeks before America’s presidential election, US intelligence reports signs that al Qaeda leader Ayman Zuwahiri is preparing a string of terrorist attacks as the sequel to the murders of US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US officials in Benghazi on Sept. 11, according to evidence collected across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
His twin goals are to influence the poll’s results and to build up his reputation as a master of spectacular terrorist operations. Eager to impress Al Qaeda’s franchise chiefs, Zuwahiri is reported to be celebrating his “Benghazi feat” – his first as Al Qaeda leader – and boasting of the harm to the Obama campaign caused by his administration’s stammering denials that it was an act of terror. The new terrorist chief claims his tactics had an instant, devastating impact on Washington and they were therefore superior to those of his predecessor, Osama bin Laden.
The Al Qaeda leader is now seen – not only by US intelligence experts, but by most experts in the West, the Middle East and Israel – to be impatient to capitalize on this success and so dramatically expose to the Muslim world America’s perceived weakness and his own worth as commander of the jihadist movement.
His planning for a new offensive has taken advantage of the Arab Spring upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa and turned them around to strike at the heart of the Obama administration’s Middle East policy objectives. The Arab revolutions have let Islamist extremist and fundamentalist Salafi groups off the leash in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, while Lebanon Jordan, Iraq and Syria teeter on the brink of chaos. The extremists now enjoy free rein to organize for political action while also gaining access to vast stocks of modern arms.
In the view of Western counterterrorism experts, Salafi groups have long maintained clandestine relations with al Qaeda, especially Ayman Zuwahiri, who joined al Qaeda in the first place as head of the violent Egyptian Islamic Jihad and stayed in close touch with its secret cells.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Today in the euro.
1.29166 +0.00267 (+0.21%)
Dear CIGA Jim,
$1,775 Gold is significant. TPTB wants silver to trade at a 1/50 Ratio with Gold. $1,775 Gold/50 = $35.50. The Bankers desperately want to keep silver below $35.50 because there are many buy stops here, and also because JP Morgan’s silver derivatives book blows up if silver stays above $36 for 60 trading days.
CISA AW
CIGA AW,
You make a good case, but I have never believed in ratios looking forward. I think looking back they do very well.
That does not deny that you might very well have defined the reason why a point in the gold price with no real technical consideration on its own has become the line in the sand for the gold price to be fought over.
This is certainly the "Battle at the Bridge."
Very well done. Thank you,
Jim
Donations will help defray the operational costs. Paypal, a leading provider of secure
online money transfers, will handle the donations. Thank you for your
contribution. As noted in last week’s column
about the rising recognition by authorities in Germany about the
virtues of gold, the gold standard is receiving impressive new
recognition internationally. The GOP plank calling for a commission to
study “possible ways to set a fixed value for the dollar” — with an
unmistakable nod to gold — is the most prominent element of the 2012 GOP
platform still being heard to “reverberate around the world.”
Meanwhile, it continues to gain impressive momentum in the United
States.Read More @ Forbes.com
from Off Grid Survival:
We often get comments and emails from readers asking how they can convince their friends and family to start prepping.
From friends and family members that truly believe the government will save them during a time of crisis, to those that have been brainwashed into believing that preppers are all tinfoil hat wearing nutjobs, prepping can often be a touchy or even taboo subject to talk about.
Here are 7 reasons that might help convince your friends and family that it’s time to become a prepper.
1. Unemployment
According to the most recent numbers, the actual unemployment rate in this country is close to 22%. The average time it takes to find employment is at a record high of 39.2 weeks. Even those that see little value in prepping for a SHTF situation should understand the need to prep for the possibility of being hit by unemployment.
Prepping isn’t always about preparing for an end of the world scenario. It’s also about being prepared for those small scale events in life that can feel cataclysmic if we’re not prepared
Read More @ OffGridSurvival.com
My Dear Friends,
We are of course Good King Arthur. The Black Knight appropriately represents the gold banks. The bridge in this battle represents $1775, a number with no deep technical meaning before it was selected as the gold line in the sand by some unseen muktar.
The following video explains what is happening and outlines the final resolution of the shorts versus the longs at $1775.
We often get comments and emails from readers asking how they can convince their friends and family to start prepping.
From friends and family members that truly believe the government will save them during a time of crisis, to those that have been brainwashed into believing that preppers are all tinfoil hat wearing nutjobs, prepping can often be a touchy or even taboo subject to talk about.
Here are 7 reasons that might help convince your friends and family that it’s time to become a prepper.
1. Unemployment
According to the most recent numbers, the actual unemployment rate in this country is close to 22%. The average time it takes to find employment is at a record high of 39.2 weeks. Even those that see little value in prepping for a SHTF situation should understand the need to prep for the possibility of being hit by unemployment.
Prepping isn’t always about preparing for an end of the world scenario. It’s also about being prepared for those small scale events in life that can feel cataclysmic if we’re not prepared
Read More @ OffGridSurvival.com
My Dear Friends,
We are of course Good King Arthur. The Black Knight appropriately represents the gold banks. The bridge in this battle represents $1775, a number with no deep technical meaning before it was selected as the gold line in the sand by some unseen muktar.
The following video explains what is happening and outlines the final resolution of the shorts versus the longs at $1775.
There is a contingent within the gold community that are anticipating one last decline prior to the move to $3500. They have taken their lead from a cyclical analyst that claims infallibility. How many times have people waiting for the last decline missed the market or on the other side waiting for that last move up been screwed? Cycles are tendencies, not events set in cement in the future. Cycles are best used to determine the inherent strength or weakness in a market. The cycle is what is supposed to happen. The market is what is happening now. For example, if the cycle calls for lower, but the market either goes sideways or up, it speaks to significant internal strength in the market.
We shall see, but what difference does it make? Gold is going to $3500 and all things gold will shake off their determined shorts.
Regards,
Jim
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
There really is no hope.
Read this and weep. It is so wrong.
SEC Sues the One Rating Firm Not on Wall Street’s Take By William D. Cohan Sep 30, 2012 6:33 PM ET
The Securities and Exchange Commission, it seems, has finally lost its mind.
In April, motivated by what I consider pure maliciousness, the SEC initiated a “cease and desist” administrative proceeding it deemed “necessary for the protection of investors and in the public interest” against Egan-Jones Ratings Co., a privately owned, 20-person firm based in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and against its principal owner, Sean Egan.
Egan-Jones, founded in 1995, is one of nine ratings companies that the SEC has accredited as “nationally recognized,” allowing the firm to rate the debt of sovereign nations, companies and asset-backed securities, among others. Notably, it is the only one of the nine that gets paid by investors instead of by the issuers of securities.
The bigger and better-known ratings companies — Standard & Poor’s (owned by McGraw-Hill Cos. (MHP)), Moody’s Corp. (MCO) and Fitch Ratings Ltd. — are paid by the Wall Street banks that underwrite the debt securities of corporate issuers. That is, the companies are beholden to the sellers of the products they are supposed to pass judgment on, not the buyers. That’s akin to allowing the Hollywood studios to pay the nation’s film critics for their opinions.
Shopping Around
We all saw the result in 2007 and 2008. A major cause of the financial crisis was that S&P, Moody’s and Fitch, while being paid hundreds of millions of dollars by Wall Street, gave AAA ratings to complicated, risky securities that turned out to be anything but AAA. If a big bank didn’t like a proposed rating, it just shopped the deal until it found a firm that would provide something it liked better.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Debka has been rumored to have its foundation in Israeli intelligence. This article will give you an entirely fresh understanding of the supposed reaction to a movie MSM is selling. I believe it is worth your time.
More Al Qaeda pre-US election attacks forecast: Americans quietly lifted out DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 2, 2012, 11:00 AM (GMT+02:00)
Just five weeks before America’s presidential election, US intelligence reports signs that al Qaeda leader Ayman Zuwahiri is preparing a string of terrorist attacks as the sequel to the murders of US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US officials in Benghazi on Sept. 11, according to evidence collected across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
His twin goals are to influence the poll’s results and to build up his reputation as a master of spectacular terrorist operations. Eager to impress Al Qaeda’s franchise chiefs, Zuwahiri is reported to be celebrating his “Benghazi feat” – his first as Al Qaeda leader – and boasting of the harm to the Obama campaign caused by his administration’s stammering denials that it was an act of terror. The new terrorist chief claims his tactics had an instant, devastating impact on Washington and they were therefore superior to those of his predecessor, Osama bin Laden.
The Al Qaeda leader is now seen – not only by US intelligence experts, but by most experts in the West, the Middle East and Israel – to be impatient to capitalize on this success and so dramatically expose to the Muslim world America’s perceived weakness and his own worth as commander of the jihadist movement.
His planning for a new offensive has taken advantage of the Arab Spring upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa and turned them around to strike at the heart of the Obama administration’s Middle East policy objectives. The Arab revolutions have let Islamist extremist and fundamentalist Salafi groups off the leash in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, while Lebanon Jordan, Iraq and Syria teeter on the brink of chaos. The extremists now enjoy free rein to organize for political action while also gaining access to vast stocks of modern arms.
In the view of Western counterterrorism experts, Salafi groups have long maintained clandestine relations with al Qaeda, especially Ayman Zuwahiri, who joined al Qaeda in the first place as head of the violent Egyptian Islamic Jihad and stayed in close touch with its secret cells.
More…
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Today in the euro.
1.29166 +0.00267 (+0.21%)
Dear CIGA Jim,
$1,775 Gold is significant. TPTB wants silver to trade at a 1/50 Ratio with Gold. $1,775 Gold/50 = $35.50. The Bankers desperately want to keep silver below $35.50 because there are many buy stops here, and also because JP Morgan’s silver derivatives book blows up if silver stays above $36 for 60 trading days.
CISA AW
CIGA AW,
You make a good case, but I have never believed in ratios looking forward. I think looking back they do very well.
That does not deny that you might very well have defined the reason why a point in the gold price with no real technical consideration on its own has become the line in the sand for the gold price to be fought over.
This is certainly the "Battle at the Bridge."
Very well done. Thank you,
Jim
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