| JP Morgan's Forecast of Commodity Price Changes From Index Rebalancing |
| 01/06/2009 05:50:48 |
In summary JP Morgan's forecast of the commodity index rebalancing which will done around January 8-9th is: ...we expect the rebalancing to have the greatest impact in gold, COMEX copper, crude oil, gold, and live cattle. We estimate that the rebalancing of the two indices is expected to result in $877 million of selling in gold, $699 million of buying in COMEX copper, $528 million of selling in live cattle, and $523 million of buying in crude oil. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Is the Comex Doing Fractional Reserve Delivery of Gold? |
| 01/06/2009 05:41:28 |
Today we are informed that Comex is invoking a rule in which they can deny delivery of individual mini bars (roughly 33 ounces) and issue you only a Warehouse Delivery Receipt (WDR) against your mini-contract unless you have 3 WDR's, and then they'll issue you a 100 oz. bar. CLEARLY, the Comex has run out of the bars that were being delivered to holders of emini contracts. Our back-office guy told us that he's been doing Comex deliveries for 30 years and he's never seen anything like this, and he's never heard of this NYSE Liffe rule on the mini contract.
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Chinese yuan set to replace dollar |
| 01/06/2009 04:42:33 |
Beijing has launched the experiment of using the yuan as a reserve currency in relations with 8 countries. Chinese exporters are asking to charge in yuan instead of dollars, because the U.S. currency is losing value.
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Gold May Advance for Eighth Year as ‘Perfect Insurance’ Sought |
| 01/06/2009 04:34:22 |
| Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Gold, the best-performing metal in 2008, may appreciate for an eighth year as investors seek a refuge from declining interest rates at the same time that central banks inject more cash into the banking system. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Willem Buiter warns of massive dollar collapse |
| 01/05/2009 23:58:09 |
| Americans must prepare themselves for a massive collapse in the dollar as investors around the world dump their US assets, a former Bank of England policymaker has warned. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Treasury's Paulson Gets It Wrong |
| 01/05/2009 23:55:08 |
| In a recent interview with the Financial Times, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson blamed the credit crisis on global imbalances. Specifically, he repeated a storyline popularized by Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke: that a global savings glut (otherwise known as an imbalance) pushed interest rates down around the world and drove investors toward riskier and more leveraged investment activities. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Monetarism enters bankruptcy; by Henry C K Liu , Asia Times |
| 01/05/2009 19:23:21 |
The Fed under Greenspan and Bernanke violated the basic rules of both monetarism (money supply management) and Keynesianism (demand management). Fed monetary policy created false prosperity with excess money supply to fund debt manipulation and simultaneously to support income disparity as a source for capital formation to exacerbate overcapacity amid demand weakness.
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Gold/Silver Market Updates; by Clive Maund |
| 01/05/2009 19:19:10 |
| We've been here before haven't we? Gold has been in a rising trend for some considerable time, taking it to trendline or resistance targets, and then "wham!" it gets whacked back down again. Certainly the long-term outlook for gold is excellent, especially given the strong and increasing demand for physical, but over the short to medium-term it now looks set to get taken down again. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| The End of a Bad Year; by the The Aden Sisters |
| 01/05/2009 19:17:27 |
| It'll probably fall into the category of 1974, when the country was in a steep recession and gas lines wrapped around blocks, or like 1979. At that time, inflation was raging and interest rates soared to 20%. Even though the circumstances were very different, those landmark times are well remembered and this year will be similar. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| There is only one alternative to the dollar |
| 01/05/2009 19:11:36 |
| As a result of the global scope of the recession, there is no country that wants its exchange rate to appreciate. The clear alternative to the dollar in 2009 is not other currencies but that ancient form of money: gold. Precious metals could emerge as a hedge for investors suspicious of central banks and fearful that inflation will be the simplest solution to the challenge of global deleveraging. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| New York Fed Begins Purchases of Agency Mortgage Debt |
| 01/05/2009 18:59:27 |
| Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York started buying mortgage-backed securities today as part of a $500 billion program to support the U.S. housing market. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Get Out Now! |
| 01/05/2009 01:12:21 |
| THE BIGGEST INVESTMENT BUBBLE TODAY may involve one of the safest asset classes: U.S. Treasuries. Yields have plunged to some of the lowest levels since the 1940s as investors, fearful of a sustained global economic downturn and potential deflation, have rushed to purchase government-issued debt. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Evans says Fed needs to mimic below-zero rates |
| 01/04/2009 20:09:13 |
| SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A grim economic outlook highlights the need for the Federal Reserve to step up quantitative measures to boost growth, with official interest rates already effectively at zero, Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Fed, said on Saturday. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Fed has abandoned monetary policy, critic says |
| 01/04/2009 20:06:51 |
| SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve has embarked on a campaign of unsupervised industrial policy to end the country's financial crisis, a move that could undermine its independence, a former top U.S. official said on Saturday. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Federal Reserve sets Stage for Weimar-style Hyperinflation |
| 01/03/2009 06:08:56 |
| The Federal Reserve has bluntly refused a request by a major US financial news service to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from US taxpayers and to reveal the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. Their lawyers resorted to the bizarre argument that they did so to protect 'trade secrets.' Is the secret that the US financial system is de facto bankrupt? The latest Fed move is further indication of the degree of panic and lack of clear strategy within the highest ranks of the US financial institutions. Unprecedented Federal Reserve expansion of the Monetary Base in recent weeks sets the stage for a future Weimar-style hyperinflation perhaps before 2010. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| False Deflation Diagnosis and Gold Bullish Crossover Signal |
| 01/03/2009 05:57:51 |
One of the most bothersome questions from 2005 to 2007 used to be whether the Untied States would ultimately submit to inflation or deflation. This is actually the wrong question. Many analysts in my view are incorrect in their conclusion that the US suffers from a powerful deflation episode, since they endorse the wrong definition, confuse effect with cause (as usual), do not properly monitor the money flow, and then draw improper conclusions from prices. They suffer from a type of Keynesian Tunnel Vision. They are confused, and fail to adapt certain key measures after the financial sector highjacked the entire national system in the last two decades.
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| U.S. governors seek $1 trillion federal assistance |
| 01/03/2009 05:52:37 |
| Governors of five U.S. states urged the federal government to provide $1 trillion in aid to the country's 50 states to help pay for education, welfare and infrastructure as states struggle with steep budget deficits amid a deepening recession. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| U.S. Debt Expected To Soar This Year |
| 01/03/2009 05:49:12 |
| With President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats considering a massive spending package aimed at pulling the nation out of recession, the national debt is projected to jump by as much as $2 trillion this year, an unprecedented increase that could test the world's appetite for financing U.S. government spending. (Washington Post is a free subscription) |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| New Year 2009: Leading thinkers offer predictions of "next big thing" |
| 01/03/2009 00:00:00 |
| Leading thinkers - including Craig Venter and Ian McEwan - have marked New Year 2009 by predicting what will be the next big thing to shape the future. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Treasury Opens Door to Aid for Broad Array of Firms, Industries |
| 01/01/2009 00:00:00 |
| Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury threw the door open to taxpayer financing for a widening array of companies and industries by drafting broad guidelines on aid to the auto industry. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| U.S. Economy: Confidence Sinks to Record Low on Jobs, Mortgages |
| 12/30/2008 11:35:07 |
| Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer confidence sank to the lowest level in at least 41 years this month as Americans grew more concerned about keeping their jobs and paying their mortgages, raising the risk they’ll spend less next year. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| October Home Prices in 20 U.S. Metro Areas Fall 18% |
| 12/30/2008 07:22:52 |
| Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities declined at the fastest rate on record, depressed by mounting foreclosures and slumping sales. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Gold and Silver in 2009; by James Turk |
| 12/30/2008 05:52:59 |
This letter is the last one for this year, so it’s time to look ahead to 2009. It’s shaping up to be an ugly year for financial institutions and the economy, but a good one I expect for the precious metals. Here are my 2009 targets:
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Holiday Sales Drop to Force Bankruptcies, Closings |
| 12/29/2008 21:02:45 |
|
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. retailers face a wave of store closings, bankruptcies and takeovers starting next month as holiday sales are shaping up to be the worst in 40 years. Retailers may close 73,000 stores in the first half of 2009, |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Senior Chinese, Russian military officials hold first-ever talks via direct phone link |
| 12/29/2008 11:27:17 |
The direct phone link will help the two sides maintain timely communication on significant issues such as the exchange and cooperation between the armies and exchange views and collaborate stances in time on international and regional affairs, so as to promote the exchange and cooperation between the two militaries,
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| China to allow freer yuan trades |
| 12/29/2008 00:00:00 |
| "And the likelihood of the United States issuing more money in the near future adds to the depreciation risk in US-dollar-denominated assets and trade settlements" |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Marc Faber: Recession Will Last Five to 10 Years |
| 12/29/2008 00:00:00 |
| “Recovery won’t come until maybe in five to 10 years time. I think 2009 will be catastrophic.” |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| The Coming Entitlement Crash of 2010 |
| 12/29/2008 00:00:00 |
| Taking a lead from Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol," the “Ghost of America’s Future” could point to a frightening future for America—a perfect storm of forces racing toward its natural conclusion, the Entitlement Crash of 2010! |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Short Treasurys, Buy Hard Assets; by Marc Faber |
| 12/29/2008 00:00:00 |
| "You want to be in gold, silver, platinum, and also oil," Marc Faber told CNBC. "If you believe in a recovery of asset prices as a result of money printing, you should be in hard assets, particularly precious metals." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| America's house price time bomb |
| 12/29/2008 00:00:00 |
|
With the American housing market in its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, President Bush is authorising new legislation to pave the way for massive new government intervention designed to slow the slide. The intervention would come as a little known quirk of US law threatens to drive down house prices even faster. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Excellent Read: Insolvent Financial System Signals Much Higher Gold Price; by Jim Willie,CB |
| 12/28/2008 02:29:02 |
| Many people are very confused these days. They should be. Slowly the nation is coming to grips with a harsh reality that a garden variety recession has not dug its roots inside the body economic of the United States. This is much worse. This is an economic and financial system horribly plagued by insolvency, with vicious cycles causing severe momentum in the damage, where the entire system is facing potential ruin in a disintegration sequence during a virtually unstoppable liquidation process. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Massive Surge In Municipal Bankruptcies Coming |
| 12/28/2008 00:00:00 |
The accountant who predicted the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy says as many as 10 insolvencies will roil the $2.7 trillion U.S. market for state, county and city debt next year as public finances worsen amid calls for federal aid to state and local governments.
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Rioting at the Gates of Thermopylae: The Fed & Central Banks Shudder |
| 12/28/2008 00:00:00 |
| Greek riots over governmental fiscal policy on December 11-12 exemplify growing worldwide economic discontent. Despite whatever cherry-topped fairy-tales that pass for news these days are delivered to the American public, the US banking situation continues to worsen. It is my guess that some of Greek rioters, per this AP article, may not have it completely figured out, but they are really rioting against the central banking and fiat money. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Russia to raise nuclear missile output fourfold; More tanks, ships and planes... |
| 12/24/2008 09:50:41 |
| In the latest of a series of combative moves by the Kremlin, a senior government official in Moscow said the Russian military would commission 70 strategic missiles over the next three years, as part of a massive rearmament programme which will also include short-range missiles, 300 tanks, 14 warships and 50 planes. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Russia, China warn of dire economic straits in 2009 |
| 12/24/2008 09:45:27 |
| Russia and China issued stark warnings on Wednesday about the impact of the crisis on their recently booming economies in 2009, with Moscow saying the downturn could spark unrest in the streets. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| New jobless claims jump; consumer spending down |
| 12/24/2008 09:36:59 |
| WASHINGTON (AP) -- New claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, the government said Wednesday, as layoffs spread throughout the economy, more evidence the labor market is weakening as the recession deepens. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Consumers fall deeper into debt: Equifax |
| 12/24/2008 04:29:46 |
| Consumers are missing payments on mortgages, credit cards, and auto loans, Adams said, adding that Americans may be growing more reluctant to take on new debt and more willing to save. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| U.S., UK recessions deepen |
| 12/24/2008 00:36:46 |
| WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Bleak housing data showed the United States and Britain were sinking deeper into recession and authorities from Washington to Tokyo worked hard to spend their way out of the worst downturn in decades. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Japan Should Scrap U.S. Debt; Dollar May Plummet, Mikuni Says |
| 12/24/2008 00:26:38 |
| The dollar may lose as much as 40 percent of its value to 50 yen or 60 yen from the current spot rate of 90.40 today in Tokyo unless Japan takes “drastic measures” to help bail out the U.S. economy, Mikuni said. Treasury yields, which are near record lows, may fall further without debt relief, making it difficult for the U.S. to borrow elsewhere, Mikuni said. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| [Video] 60 Minutes; Second Financial Economic Crash Coming - Huge & Soon |
| 12/23/2008 12:38:07 |
| 60 Minutes; Second Financial Economic Crash Coming - Huge & Soon |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| The List: The World’s Largest Untapped Oil Fields |
| 12/23/2008 00:00:00 |
In a world running low on oil, several countries are still sitting on massive supplies. If only they could get to them.
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| World faces "total" financial meltdown: Bank of Spain chief |
| 12/22/2008 11:53:37 |
| The governor of the Bank of Spain on Sunday
issued a bleak assessment of the economic crisis, warning that the
world faced a "total" financial meltdown unseen since the Great
Depression.
"The lack of confidence is total," Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said in an interview with Spain's El Pais daily.
"The inter-bank (lending) market is not functioning and this is
generating vicious cycles: consumers are not consuming, businessmen are
not taking on workers, investors are not investing and the banks are
not lending.
"There is an almost total paralysis from which
no-one is escaping," he said, adding that any recovery -- pencilled in
by optimists for the end of 2009 and the start of 2010 -- could be
delayed if confidence is not restored. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| IMF chief warns 2009 may be 'even darker' |
| 12/22/2008 11:52:13 |
| The governor of the Bank of Spain on Sunday issued a bleak assessment of the economic crisis, warning that the world faced a “total” financial meltdown unseen since
the Great Depression. “The lack of confidence is total,” Miguel Angel
Fernandez Ordonez said in an interview with Spain’s El Pais daily. “The
inter-bank (lending) market is not functioning and this is generating
vicious cycles: consumers are not consuming, businessmen are not taking
on workers, investors are not investing and the banks are not lending. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| China says lending to US will not go on forever |
| 12/18/2008 10:51:29 |
| China warned Wednesday it would not keep lending money to the US economy indefinitely, even as new data showed it had consolidated its position as the top buyer of American government bonds. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Dollar No Longer Haven After Fed Moves Rate Near |
| 12/18/2008 09:58:46 |
| The world's biggest currency-trading firms say the dollar's appeal as a haven amid the financial crisis all but evaporated. The U.S. currency slid to a 13-year low against the yen today and had its biggest one-day decline versus the euro after the Federal Reserve reduced its target interest rate yesterday to a range of zero to 0.25 percent, the lowest among the world's biggest economies. CMC Markets said today the currency's prospects appear "ominous." State Street Global markets said the dollar's outlook has been "undermined." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Army Strategic Shock Report Says Troops May Be Needed To Quell U.S. Civil Unrest |
| 12/17/2008 22:01:51 |
| A recent report produced by the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute warns that the United States may experience massive civil unrest in the wake of a series of crises which it has termed "strategic shock." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Chrysler says to shut down all production for month |
| 12/17/2008 21:39:28 |
| The blanket shutdown marked a deepening of the financial crisis for the embattled U.S. auto industry and came as Chrysler and its larger rival General Motors Corp both seek to shore up cash as they seek a federal bailout they say they need to survive. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Comex concentration hints that shorts are all government now |
| 12/17/2008 21:38:04 |
| Fear of deflation lately has been convulsing world markets, causing liquidation of most assets into dollar cash and government bonds. Unchecked, that sort of thing must lead to the cessation of all industrial and agricultural production, and everybody freezes and starves. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| MONETIZING DEBT IS NEXT, FED SAYS |
| 12/17/2008 21:31:48 |
| The Fed "will employ all available tools to promote the resumption of sustainable economic growth and to preserve price stability," the Federal Open Market Committee said today in a statement in Washington. "Weak economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for some time." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Why This Crisis Will Send Inflation Soaring |
| 12/17/2008 21:23:18 |
| The US financial crisis has now spread across the globe. Years of easy credit created massive asset bubbles in the housing and financial services sectors. As bond fund manager Bill Gross points out, there was "too much exuberant leverage, not enough regulation; too strong a belief in asset-based prosperity, too little common sense that prices could go down as well as up; excessive "me first" greed, too little concern for the burden of future generations." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| MUST READ!: New tipping-point in March 2009: When the world becomes aware that this crisis is worse than the 1930s crisis |
| 12/17/2008 00:00:00 |
| LEAP/E2020 anticipates than the unfolding global systemic crisis will experience in March 2009 a new tipping point of similar magnitude to the September 2008 one. According to our team, at that period of the year, the general public will become aware of three major destabilizing processes at work in the global economy, i.e.:
• the length of the crisis
• the explosion of unemployment worldwide
• the risk of sudden collapse of all capital-based pension systems |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| U.S. Stocks Extend Gains After Fed Cuts Rate to Record Low to .25% |
| 12/16/2008 12:35:34 |
| Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) U.S. stocks extended gains after the Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark interest rate to a record low and said it will employ “all available tools” to revive economic growth. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Housing starts plunge 18.9% to record low |
| 12/16/2008 11:21:35 |
| WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) U.S. home builders threw in the towel in November, slashing construction of new dwellings far below the worst levels seen in 50 years, according to Commerce Department data released Tuesday. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Drop in consumer prices is most since 1932 |
| 12/16/2008 11:17:56 |
| WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) U.S. consumer prices fell in November at the fastest rate since 1932, the darkest days of the Great Depression, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, as prices for energy, commodities and airline fares plunged across the country. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Dollar Staggers as U.S. Unleashes Cash Flood, Deficit |
| 12/16/2008 06:00:57 |
| Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) The biggest foreign-exchange strategists and investors say the best may be over for the dollar after a four-month, 24 percent rally. The U.S. policy makers are flooding the world with an extra $8.5 trillion through 23 different plans designed to bail out the financial system and pump up the economy. The |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Dollar Trades Near Two-Month Low on Outlook for Fed Rate Cut |
| 12/15/2008 23:58:45 |
| Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) The dollar traded near a two-month low against the euro on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut the target rate for overnight lending to a record low today. "Selling the dollar is the most likely scenario," said Osao Iizuka, head of foreign-exchange trading at Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. in Tokyo. "Whatever the Fed comes up with, it's not likely to spark a sudden turnaround in the U.S. economy. It's difficult to expect a recovery in the dollar." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Illuminating the Illuminati: Charles Schumer and Barney Frank Are Owned By The Big Banks |
| 12/15/2008 20:43:46 |
| Here’s a winning formula for our society, wouldn’t you agree? Let’s entrust our politicians to regulate an industry, then have the heads of that industry become the bureaucrats who are entrusted to carry out those regulations, and when things go wrong from all that cronyism, let’s have give tons of welfare money to the giant corporations in that industry which can then use that money to donate to their politicians who can then win votes to continue to regulate that now insolvent industry. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Bush Excluded by Latin Summit as China, Russia Loom |
| 12/15/2008 11:01:23 |
| Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering in Brazil tomorrow will mark a historic occasion: a region-wide summit that excludes the United States. Almost two centuries after President James Monroe declared Latin America a U.S. sphere of influence, the region is breaking away. From socialist-leaning Venezuela to market-friendly Brazil, governments are expanding military, economic and diplomatic ties with potential U.S. adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Russian warships head for Cuba |
| 12/15/2008 10:59:02 |
| The naval visit to Cuba, scene of a dramatic 1962 stand-off between Moscow and Washington over nuclear missiles, comes as tensions over US missile defence plans in eastern Europe have prompted talk of a renewed Cold War among some analysts. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Top banks admit huge losses in Wall Street pyramid fraud |
| 12/15/2008 06:36:07 |
| British, French, Japanese and Spanish banks and funds said investments totalling billions of dollars (euros) could be wiped off their balance sheets by a scandal that is set to affect some of the richest people in the world. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Dollars decline to drive gold? |
| 12/15/2008 01:26:29 |
| Unfortunately, there is a plethora of reasons to suppose the dollar might slump. Many of these are well documented on Jim Sinclair's very impressive MineSet site. Sample title: "From Money to Hyperinflation -- The Path OTC Derivatives Have Paved." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| A Second Mortgage Disaster On The Horizon? |
| 12/15/2008 00:08:04 |
| As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, it turns out the abyss is deeper than most people think because there is a second mortgage shock heading for the economy. In the executive suites of Wall Street and Washington, you're beginning to hear alarm about a new wave of mortgages with strange names that are about to become all too familiar. If you thought sub-primes were insanely reckless wait until you hear what's coming.
|
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Ecuador default: Fears grow that others will follow in South America |
| 12/14/2008 23:50:34 |
| There are fears that Venezuela, Bolivia, and Argentina may be tempted to follow suit, setting off the sort of stampede seen across the region in the early 1930s. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| [Video & Text] Former Fed governor hints at big upward revaluation of gold |
| 12/14/2008 20:21:58 |
| Interviewed Monday this week on the "Trading Day" program of Business News Network in Canada, former Federal Reserve Governor Lyle Gramley hinted that a big upward revaluation of gold may figure heavily in the Fed's attempt to rescue the U.S. economy. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| More on Gold Backwardation; by James Turk |
| 12/14/2008 20:19:37 |
| Over the last few weeks, there have been a lot of articles on the Internet about backwardation, i.e., when the price of commodities for delivery today is higher than the price of commodities for delivery in the future. Like nearly all the things on the Internet, most of what was written is useful, but some of it is total rubbish, and it takes time to sort through to find the gems from the rest. I offer the following in the hope that it clears up some of the confusion that has arisen about backwardation as well as to provide some insight into today’s gold market. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Jim Rogers calls most big U.S. banks bankrupt! |
| 12/13/2008 22:30:22 |
| NEW YORK (Reuters) Jim Rogers, one of the world's most prominent international investors, on Thursday called most of the largest U.S. banks "totally bankrupt," and said government efforts to fix the sector are wrongheaded. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Must Read!: An adequate way to drive to hell |
| 12/13/2008 22:23:17 |
| I have spoken to a couple of pretty senior bankers in the past couple of weeks and their story is rather different. They don’t refer to the looming problems as being like 1992 or even 1929. They talk about a total financial meltdown. They talk about the End of Days. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Crash: The Next Great Depression? |
| 12/13/2008 21:13:16 |
| This one-hour History Channel special looks at the current economic meltdown in the US and compares and contrasts it with what led up to the Great Depression, the 1929 Crash, its immediate aftermath and what helped to bring us out of the Depression. Threading first person accounts with expert interviews, the special lets viewers understand how much history is repeating itself and what does history tell us about our future? |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Fed regulators shut 2 banks in Georgia, Texas |
| 12/13/2008 09:35:29 |
| NEW YORK (AP) Regulators on Friday closed Haven Trust Bank in Georgia and Sanderson State Bank in Texas, bringing to 25 the number of U.S. bank failures this year. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| And just when you thought they were safe: Switzerland may have to print money to stave off deflation |
| 12/13/2008 09:21:14 |
| The Swiss National Bank has cut interest rates to 0.5pc and opened the door for emergency stimulus, becoming the first country in Europe to flirt with zero policy rates. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Fed Refuses to Disclose Recipients of $2 Trillion |
| 12/12/2008 10:17:43 |
| Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) The Federal Reserve refused a request by Bloomberg News to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. Bloomberg filed suit Nov. 7 under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act requesting details about the terms of 11 Fed lending programs, most created during the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Cheney: Its Herbert Hoover time! |
| 12/12/2008 08:05:19 |
| That was the message Vice President Dick Cheney brought to a closed door Senate GOP lunch Wednesday, reportedly warning that it'll be "Herbert Hoover" time if aid to the industry was rejected, according to a senator familiar with the remarks. A Cheney spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny the vice president's remarks. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| $14B auto bailout dies in Senate |
| 12/12/2008 00:02:56 |
| WASHINGTON A bailout-weary Congress killed a $14 billion package to aid struggling U.S. automakers Thursday night after a partisan dispute over union wage cuts derailed a last-ditch effort to revive the emergency aid before year's end. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Competitive Devaluation of the U.S. Dollar on the Way? |
| 12/11/2008 20:11:08 |
| Thus far, Bernanke's speech has been an accurate blueprint of the government's actions during this financial crisis, as we've seen efforts to drive interest rates to zero and stimulate the economy. With recent U.S. dollar weakness, we may be seeing the start of the use of exchange rate devaluations as a "weapon against deflation". |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| THERE IS NO FEVER LIKE GOLD FEVER |
| 12/11/2008 19:35:12 |
| Our present experiment with irredeemable currency can last only as long as it is able to support futures markets in gold. The declining gold basis is the hour glass: when it runs out and the last grain of sand drops, gold fever will bleed the futures markets of cash gold, and the days of the regime of irredeemable currency are numbered. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Meredith Whitney: Banks On Life Support Next 18 Months |
| 12/11/2008 19:19:42 |
| Influential bank analyst Meredith Whitney remains bearish about the economy, and her outlook for the banks that "lubricate the economy" is grim. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Trend of gold as store of wealth may start to snowball |
| 12/11/2008 19:09:34 |
| In its December Metals Matters report, ScotiaMocatta suggests that global financial problems "seem so deep rooted that demand for gold as a safe haven is expected to escalate." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Gold prepares to meltup or breakout |
| 12/11/2008 19:03:56 |
| "The dollar seems to be under a lot of pressure and there’s still uncertainty to the economic outlook, and that’s giving a lift to gold," said Stephen Platt, a commodity analyst at Archer Financial Services Inc. in Chicago. “Gold has held up better than any asset off the uncertain monetary outlook.” |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Weaker dollar pushes gold above platinum |
| 12/11/2008 18:59:45 |
| Gold rose to its highest level in nearly two months on Thursday, surpassing platinum for the first time in 12 years as investors bought it as a safe haven while the dollar tumbled and oil rallied. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Gold holding its own as other commodities trending down |
| 12/11/2008 18:57:25 |
| Despite current market conditions and commodity prices, 2008 was a strong year for gold. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Gold coins drying up! |
| 12/11/2008 18:53:57 |
| The supply of gold coins globally is drying up, the SA Gold Coin Exchange said on Thursday. "Unsurprisingly, coin dealers the world over are starting to run out of stock of all manner of gold coins," said Alan Demby, executive chairperson of the SA Gold Coin Exchange. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Fear triggers gold shortage, drives US treasury yields below zero |
| 12/11/2008 18:50:50 |
| The investor search for a safe places to store wealth as the financial crisis shakes faith in the system has caused extraordinary moves in global markets over recent days, driving the yield on 3-month US Treasuries below zero and causing a rush for physical holdings of gold. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| New unemployment claims surge unexpectedly |
| 12/11/2008 13:53:03 |
| WASHINGTON (AP) New claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, exceeding even gloomy expectations for an economy stuck in a recession that seems to be deepening. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Capitalist Fools |
| 12/11/2008 10:13:10 |
| Behind the debate over remaking US financial policy will be a debate over who's to blame. It's crucial to get the history right, writes a Nobel-laureate economist, identifying five key mistakes - under Reagan, Clinton and Bush II - and one national delusion. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Is it over? Commentary: Signs suggest we may have seen worst of bear market |
| 12/11/2008 06:43:43 |
| Dow Theory Letters' Richard Russell thinks it might be. He writes: "We may now be hitting the inflection point that I've been talking about. The selling of stocks could be exhausted, the deflation may be on the edge of turning into inflation -- today bonds were down, dollar was down, gold up strongly. The Bernanke-Paulson "re-inflation" efforts may finally have halted the fear and deflation syndrome -- now the trillions of dollars that have been introduced into the system may be close to setting off inflation. I said that the first hint of the change would be rising gold and declining bonds. We may be there." |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| OBAMA WHITE HOUSE IS IN FOR A NASTY SURPRISE |
| 12/11/2008 06:36:21 |
| SO, the president-elect thinks the economy will get worse before it gets better. As refreshing as his candor is, Barack Obama really doesn't understand what he's up against. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Dancing with the Bear |
| 12/10/2008 21:37:52 |
| Investing for these times (and possibly the next Great Depression) |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Gold rallies above $800 an ounce as dollar falls |
| 12/10/2008 14:19:22 |
| NEW YORK (MarketWatch) Gold futures rallied above $800 an ounce Wednesday, as rising oil prices and weakness in the U.S. dollar propelled demand for the precious metal. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| 8 really, really scary predictions |
| 12/10/2008 13:49:03 |
| We are in the middle of a very severe recession that's going to continue through all of 2009 the worst U.S. recession in the past 50 years. It's the bursting of a huge leveraged-up credit bubble. There's no going back, and there is no bottom to it. It was excessive in everything from subprime to prime, from credit cards to student loans, from corporate bonds to muni bonds. You name it. And it's all reversing right now in a very, very massive way. At this point it's not just a U.S. recession. All of the advanced economies are at the beginning of a hard landing. And emerging markets, beginning with China, are in a severe slowdown. So we're having a global recession and it's becoming worse. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Fed weighs debt sales of its own! |
| 12/10/2008 13:15:13 |
| The Federal Reserve is considering issuing its own debt for the first time,
a move that would give the central bank additional flexibility as it tries to stabilise rocky financial markets, reports the WSJ. Government debt issuance is largely the province of the Treasury Department, and the Fed already can print as much money as it wants. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Cash soon to be trash as money-market yields go negative |
| 12/10/2008 13:11:04 |
| Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) Investors in money-market mutual funds that focus on U.S. Treasuries may lose money for the first time if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates next week and yields become too small to cover expenses. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| GMAC bank bid failing, bankruptcy may be next |
| 12/10/2008 13:03:49 |
| Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) GMAC LLC, the auto and home lender seeking federal aid, hasn’t obtained enough capital to become a bank holding company and may abandon the effort, casting new doubt on the firm’s ability to survive. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Federal deficit totals a record budget deficit for the month of November $164.4B |
| 12/10/2008 12:59:03 |
| WASHINGTON (AP) The federal government registered a record budget deficit for the month of November, reflecting the impact of a recession on tax receipts and the mounting costs of the $700 billion financial rescue program. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Excellent Read!: CREDIT CRISIS - THE WORST IS YET TO COME |
| 12/10/2008 12:43:00 |
| The main fault in the current system is that monetary historical experience is largely ignored. Throughout history, all successful monetary systems have, in one way or another, been tied either to gold, silver, or some other real asset of intrinsic value. If money has been only a piece of paper or a piece of copper, the system has always collapsed. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Deal reached in principle on $15B auto bailout |
| 12/10/2008 06:39:28 |
| WASHINGTON (AP) A government "car czar" with the power to force U.S. automakers into bankruptcy would dole out $15 billion in emergency loans to the failing industry under an emerging deal between the White House and congressional Democrats. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| Treasury Bills Trade at Negative Rates as Haven Demand Surges |
| 12/09/2008 23:16:15 |
| Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) Treasuries rose, pushing rates on the three-month bill negative for the first time, as investors gravitate toward the safety of U.S. government debt amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The Treasury sold $27 billion of three-month bills yesterday at a discount rate of 0.005 percent, the lowest since it starting auctioning the securities in 1929. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| World economy could be depressed beyond 2011: Krugman |
| 12/09/2008 18:00:59 |
| "We could easily be talking about a world economy that is depressed into 2011 and even beyond," the Princeton University professor and New York Times columnist told reporters in Stockholm, where he will receive his Nobel prize this week. "The scenario I fear is that we'll see for the whole world the equivalent of Japan's lost decade in the 1990s, that we'll see a world of zero interest rates and inflation and no sign of recovery and it will just go on for a very, very extended period," he said. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| The Story Behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz |
| 12/09/2008 05:59:25 |
| Baum and Bryan wanted money to be based on silver, not gold, as silver was more readily available in the Mid-West, where it was mined. Such a money supply could not be manipulated by the banks. So the story of the Wizard of Oz starts with a cyclone in the form of imagined electoral success for Bryan... |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| 41 states are facing severe budget shortfalls for 2009 |
| 12/09/2008 05:25:44 |
| These deficits have already transcended the computer screen of the statistician into real suffering of the most vulnerable sections of society. In dozens of states across the country, vital services are being cut to the elderly, disabled, the poor, and recently unemployed. Teachers are being cut from schools and tuitions are rising. Workers from state construction sites are being laid off, while social service employees suffer a similar fate. Non profits are closing their doors. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
| And now for a world government |
| 12/08/2008 21:30:08 |
| So, it seems, everything is in place. For the first time since homo sapiens began to doodle on cave walls, there is an argument, an opportunity and a means to make serious steps towards a world government. |
| GoldSilver Link | Original Source Link |
