"Jeff Berwick from The Dollar Vigilante chats with Vanessa Collette about the current state of the US economy and the latest news from the Bitcoin phenomenon. Taped at Cambridge House's Spokane Silver Summit 2013. Always entertaining!" Continue reading →
"India's third biggest gold fund will begin accepting fresh investments again after shutting off new buy-ins three months ago to support government efforts to curb bullion demand and control a rising trade deficit. The government and the central bank launched a series of measures this year to curb the country's appetite for gold as India battled a ballooning trade deficit and a weak currency. Gold is the biggest item on India's import bill after oil. The gold fund is part of Reliance Capital, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani. India has imposed a 10 percent duty on imports of gold, and tied imports to exports. Imports have fallen to a mere 7 tonnes in September from a record 162 tonnes in May." Continue reading →
"Classical measures of value have been destroyed. It is very difficult to find true price discovery or a reasonable degree of certainty about these markets except that they are artificial and fragile, susceptible to infection from myriad sources. Though equity trends strongly ascend, the ascent is not based on increasing revenues but liquidity that equals debt. In this context, if one 'buys the market' one is betting on continuing QE and an absence of crises that have lingering effects. While QE is likely to continue so long as policy-makers prefer to keep the markets climbing, geopolitical, fiscal or economic crises are nascent, ready to burst into flame." Continue reading →
"You can buy CDSs without owning the underlying bond, which is essentially a speculation that McDonald's will default on that bond. Unless, of course, you have influence over the fast-food giant's management. Then it's not a speculation at all. It's a can't-lose trade. That's what Blackstone did. It took out an insurance policy on Codere, persuaded it to default, then collected $15.6 million in payouts. There was never a chance Blackstone would lose money on this arrangement. It was literally a risk-free trade." Continue reading →
"Jim and Doug discuss today's world economic and financial situation within the context of financial history and past financial panics. Jim and Doug talk about central planning, central banking, big government and how governments have only 3 real options to raise money. Next, Jason asks Doug and Jim about competing currencies like Bitcoin, gold and silver and whether they will be allowed under any circumstance. Jason asks Jim and Doug about the turmoil in the currency and bonds markets. Doug and Jim also talk about commodities like farmland, cattle, gold and other natural resource investing opportunities. Jim Rogers was in Singapore and Doug Casey was in Argentina." Continue reading →
"The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) arrested a passenger for attempting to smuggle gold through Mumbai airport on Saturday. The passenger, Ibrahim Khaleel, was carrying four gold bars worth Rs 48 lakh. Two of the bars were concealed in his mobile phone in place of the battery. The other two were found in his bag. Khaleel landed in Mumbai from Riyadh by a Jet Airways flight. Just as he was trying to clear Customs through the green channel, AIU officials intercepted him on suspicion and asked for a thorough check." Continue reading →
"Equities resumed their run to higher highs and higher lows. This rise has a tragic undertone for its substance is damaging the economy. One must make hay while the sun shines. Let's examine what to expect and how to position yourself for maximum gains and protection in the mid to long-term. Turbulence in the short term will pass for the markets but socio-economic stresses require that one's holding be placed in the strongest castles. Let us then consider a three-part investing strategy that should enable most people to ride the rip tides of these markets and crazed policies and anchor themselves to companies adapted to the new America, and world that is taking shape." Continue reading →
"If the financial woes of the Government worsen, as seems likely, the temptation will increase for them to tap into Temple resources at some point. Who the actual owners of the resources may be, is likely to become more blurred along the way. We are heading into a confiscatory era—a time when banks and governments reserve the right to go beyond the old method of taxation and to actually pillage the purse of the public. This has begun with bank accounts and pension funds in some countries, and, as the concept becomes a trend, it will take on many forms. Confiscation of temple, church, or synagogue funds may therefore soon be on the table in a variety of countries." Continue reading →
"While I am far from being a conspiracy theorist, I could see where some of the people involved in that asset class would be concerned because we’ve had several incidences of very large sales. And they all seem to come at approximately the same time in the relatively early morning in New York, usually before the stock market has opened. The question there is, why would you suddenly dump a large amount of gold? Why wouldn’t you try to piecemeal it out over the (course of the) day? So, if that happens once it could be an accident of technology, or it could be a simple error. But when it happens 5 times over a period of months, it does raise questions." Continue reading →
"Central bankers from all over the world meet regularly in Switzerland, at the Bank for International Settlements, to 'coordinate' monetary policy. They sit in a big room in front of a fancy table and discuss what they are going to do. Four men control roughly 75% of the entire world money supply: Zhou Xiaochuan, People’s Bank of China, Mario Draghi, European Central Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, Bank of Japan and Ben Bernanke, US Federal Reserve. Does anyone seriously believe that these four individuals do not operate a common monetary policy? Does anyone believe that any of these individuals have the latitude to go their own way in defiance of the others?" Continue reading →