Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Free Money! Metals Get Hammered ; Silver-Rama; Apple; Beer Shower

2/29/12
Happy Leap Day! Statistically, a baby has a 1 in 1,461 chance of being born on a Leap Day, according to today’s Wall Street Journal.

FREE MONEY!

How can you get your share of FREE money – and we’re talking millions in free money? Become a European bank. The Long Term Refinancing Operation, or... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/free-money-metals-drift-silver-rama-apple-beer/

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Economic Jumble; A Gold Standard

2/28/12
Economic Jumble

One day the economic data points to an exciting economic recovery – the next day (like today) – the economic data is runs on the cold side. Eco report #1: Home prices fell in December for a fourth straight month in most major U.S. cities, as modest sales gains in the depressed... PLEASE READ MORE HERE... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/economic-jumble-a-gold-standard/

Monday, February 27, 2012

Gold, The European Bailout, the G20; Crude Oil Troubles

2/27/12 Gold Outlook Remains Positive after Weekend G20 Meeting I continue to feel good about the prospects for a further rise in the POG (price of gold) as an on going trend, though short term pullbacks are always possible.. My early year gold outlook had been tempered by over concern about downward manipulation and a... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/1860-2/

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Weekend Update #1 Warren Buffett Again Bashes Gold – And I’m fine with That

2/25/12
On this fine Saturday I have spent some time reading the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter for 2012. Not surprising is the usual Buffett speak against Gold:
The second major category of investments involves assets that will never produce anything, but that are purchased in the buyer’s hope that someone else – who also knows that the assets will be forever unproductive – will pay more for them in the future. Tulips, of all things, briefly became a favorite of such buyers in the 17th century.This type of investment requires an expanding pool of buyers, who, in turn, are enticed because they believe the buying...
Please read more at... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/warren-buffett-again-bashes-gold-%e2%80%93-and-im-fine-with-that/

Friday, February 24, 2012

Stuffing The Financial System, or Going from Deflation to Inflation; Spanish Treasure Plunder

Crude remains the focus for market participants. The first question that pops into my little mind is why stock market volume is so low? We know the retail investors have largely been chased away. In a simple sort of way low volume can enhance volatility which never the less remains low at below 20. The chart... PLEASE READ MORE HERE: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/stuffing-the-financial-system-or-going-from-deflation-to-inflation/

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Crude’s Spike; Dow Theory Warning; Gold Reversal; Goodbye Greek Gold

2/23/12
There’s no doubt about it, the Iran fear trade is on as crude trolls higher within the $106 handle. Without ruminating over failed, or successful U.S. foreign policy that goes hand in hand with OPEC’s ability to deal with recalcitrant members of its cartel, I see the bottom line as being, ‘you screw around... Please read more here: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/crudes-spike-dow-theory-warning-gold-reversal-the-plunder-of-greece/

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Those Pesky Credit Default Swaps; Greece, Iceland, Gold

The New York Tines must be reading my mail. I have long been harping about the danger Credit Default Swaps, otherwise known as CDS (I have described what these are before so you must know what they are: insurance mostly on sovereign debt, but they have also infected currencies and a variety of financial instruments). Now the Times is reporting that there are renewed concerns... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/those-pesky-credit-default-swaps-greece-iceland-gold/

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Greece Deal; A billionaire Who Likes Gold

We are now being led to believe that Greece and its creditors have reached what the media is calling a “deal”. It’s a deal alright, a deal for more failure since the $170 billion deal is largely predicated on Greece adhering to strict austerity measures to reign in spending and reduce debt to 120.5%... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/the-greece-deal-a-billionaire-who-likes-gold/

Monday, February 20, 2012

Time to Celebrate $105 WTI Crude?

2/20/12 Yes, it must be time to celebrate a near 2% rise to around $105 per barrel for West Texas intermediate crude. That’s what one might conclude is happening by simply looking at a trading screen without knowing exactly what the headlines are. Crude is up, up, up and stock futures are also firm (though... Please Read more at: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/time-to-celebrate-105-wti-crude/

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Off Topic: Some Future Hope $$

A music video done by the friends of my youngest son (and my friends as well). My son is the guy in the dark blue shirt. Everyone in this fun video is skilled. The video taken in the back yard at my son's friends' house.



Friday, February 17, 2012

The Wonders of QE

It’s Friday, and this happens to be a particularly special Friday as this 17th of February marks the eighth birthday of my youngest child, Nathan. Nathan means gift from God – all children are, but the circumstances surrounding Nathan’s birth were miraculous and so we chose that name. Later today we will converge on Chuckie... Please read more: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/the-wonders-of-qe/

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Tick, Tick, Tick

What I am referring to in the title of today’s post is actually known as the TIC report. The Treasury describes what the TIC report is. It’s IMPORTANT ... PLEASE CLICK HERE: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/tick-tick-tick/

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Budget Folly - or - Flying a Jumbo Jet Into a Mountain

Since it’s been over 1,000 days since the Senate has passed an actual budget, the president’s little fiscal 2013 budget plan doesn’t mean a thing. Government has been running and growing without a formal spending blueprint for quite some time. For anyone looking for a plan that would stop our growing national debt problem, you’re... Please read more here... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/budget-folly/

Monday, February 13, 2012

More Greek Promises; A drunk Federal Reserve

2/13/12 Yes, step right up to the wicked and perverse world of Wall Street where the concept of bringing a country’s people to their knees is reasons for Wall Street’s denizens celebrate. Stock futures have been higher through the night and into the morning thanks to passage of further austerity measures described by CNBC as... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/more-greek-promises-a-drunk-federal-reserve/

Saturday, February 11, 2012

I AM GREEK AND I AM GOING TO EXPLAIN GREECE TO YOU

A letter I received via email.  Interesting. Is it true? Don't know. But it is thought provoking:


I AM GREEK AND I AM GOING TO EXPLAIN GREECE TO YOU

A few weeks ago, I read a beautifully written seven page article in Vanity Fair, about the crisis in Greece. Unfortunately 80% of it was untrue. However, there was an interview that summed up the average Greek's experience pretty well.

“….An Athenian construction company had built seven giant apartment buildings and sold off nearly 1,000 condominiums in the heart of the city. Its corporate tax bill honestly computed came to 15 million euros, but the company had paid nothing at all. Zero. To evade taxes it had done several things. First, it never declared itself a corporation; second, it employed one of the dozens of companies that do nothing but create fraudulent receipts for expenses never incurred and then, when the tax collector stumbled upon the situation, offered him a bribe. The tax collector blew the whistle and referred the case to his bosses—whereupon he found himself being tailed by a private investigator, and his phones tapped. In the end the case was resolved, with the construction company paying 2,000 euros. “After that I was taken off all tax investigations,” said the tax collector, “because I was good at it.”
[link to www.vanityfair.com]

Another huge misconception I keep hearing is that Greeks do not pay their taxes and they retire at 50. Reality be told, the retirement age in Greece is 65. While being the most expensive country in the Eurozone, Greece also has the lowest income, family income is between 15,000 to 35,000 Euro. Average tax is between 6,000 and 9,000. If they don't pay tax, they go to jail.

An example of how “Greece kills her children” is freelancing. A freelancer MUST pay mandatory insurance. 200 Euros a month for new freelancers, 1,200 a month the closer they get to retirement age. Don't pay? Go to jail.

The only people who do not pay taxes are a small number of 150,000 people (which are mostly, but not limited to, doctors, lawyers, and engineers). These people have been declaring between 9,000 to 12,000 while having millions in their bank accounts.

Bribery is huge in Greece, mostly done in the public sector. Politicians give money to people in exchange for political support and protection. Add to mix, people were being forced (and some choosing to) pay off “bribery fees” to bypass complicated bureaucracy and having documents forged. Even bribing a judge to rule in somebody's favor, no matter how guilty they are, is not uncommon.



Another misconception is that Greece is a Socialist country, and I have to laugh every time I hear somebody parrot to me what they have heard of TV.

The current political party (PASOK) was formed under the pretense of Socialism. But in reality what is infront of us is a mafia-style party. But we must strep back to understand.

In the 1980's Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou (today's current Prime Minister’s father) took out extreme loans to bribe people to support his political party.

In 1999 then PM Kostas Simitis went on TV telling people to invest in the stock market. Fraud companies started popping up everywhere, but then there was the crash; the stock market suddenly fell less then 20% - its original index value. Many people lost their savings while others found themselves indebted to banks.

There was a sudden surge of credit cards, which previously was hard and rare to get. This kept debt increasing in the private sector.

It was time to enter the Erouzone with deception with CDS and Golman Schacs moving debts toward later years to produce a low enough deficit in order to enter the Eurozone. They called this “creative logistics”.

Now to the most recent events that led to the IMF. After the crisis in the U.S., Greece was starting to shake a little bit, but not bad because the economy was isolated. Andreas Papandreou's son, George Papandreou kept making attempts to overthrow the New Democracy government, all the while an extremely overpriced Olympic Games was adding to the debt.

The moment George Papandreou became PM, he and his friends organized the purchase of 1.2 billion Euros of CDS through the Hellenic Post Bank. Then he and his minister of economics toured the world, spreading rumors that the Greek economy is like the Titanic and ready to collapse.

In cooperation with the bank of Greece (which is very much like the Federal Reserve) they changed the CDS laws from T3 to T10. This meant: depending on the course of CDS, the speculators could cancel CDS purchases; the original 3 days was moved to 10. This gave them the time to maximize profit with out depositing one single Euro. Therefor, they launched “spreads” (bond payoff difference from the Germans) from about 120 to over 800. That meant from every bond, the Greek country would have to pay an extra 7% of interest on all spectators.

George Papandreou managed to turn a small crisis of debt into a massive market crisis. And while doing this, he was working to bring the IMF into the Eurozone. And this is how the IMF came to Greece.

Just because Greece doesn't have its own currency, there has to be an inside deflation. Within one year of being in the IMF, GDP increased rate went from +3.1% annually to -6%. This can be compared to the Great Depression of the United States.


A 110 billion loan from the IMF and EU were given to convert bonds to mortgage enabled national loans on which Greece resigns sovereignty.

the IMF is demanding control over the country’s economy so they may be strictly in charge of a privatization program that will sell off Greece’s public assets and funell proceeds to the banks.
Greece is to sell off (if not has already done so now) all major companies, the Hellenic Postbank, utility companies, the Thesslakanki and Piraus ports, beaches, islands- all for pennies for the dollar. As I type this, Steve Forbs, the Chinese, and various other vultures from all over the world are in Athens for the pickings.

So far the banks have received 108 billion Euros of guarantee from George Papandreou. With this money the banks go to the Central European bank and take loans with 0.78% interest rate, and return the money on loan to Greece with interest of 5%.

What we are witnessing, is treason at its height.

Greece on the Brink

There more scary headlines out of Greece Today. From CNBC: Greek Prime Minister warns of collapse if bailout deal rejected; "We are just a breath away from ground zero." http://www.cnbc.com/id/46351059

Of course a collapse looms. This isn't Earth shattering news. Not to be sanguine, the CDS risk is the big unknown. The needed aid of around $200 bln isn't the problem - that's the carrot on the stick for Greece to pursue as the BANKSTERS figure a way out of their derivatives mess.

My gut tells me that should a hard default happen March 20, 2012, there will be some days and weeping and gnashing of teeth and then magic money will come to the rescue to stave off a system seizure in the near term. But (and this is a big but) larger problems still loom in the form of Portugal, Italy and Spain. This is only the beginning.

In a Manner of Speaking, The Earth is Bankrupt...

I came to this realization after a federal proclamation that people who favor the GOLD STANDARD are extremists in the eyes of the government.





Friday, February 10, 2012

Greece Troubles; What a Gold Standard May Look Like; Buffett’s Take on Gold

02/10/12

It’s the usual mess for the markets again for this Friday. The downward action is being blamed on the sort of selling that begets selling which started in Europe on what was taken as bad news from Greece in the wee hours of the U.S. east coast morning. And now we see selling in... PLEASE READ MORE AT: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/greece-troubles-what-a-gold-standard-may-look-like-buffetts-take-on-gold/

Thursday, February 9, 2012

All They Can Do is PRINT and HOPE

Print, Print, Print. It’s all the Central Bankers know. Another 50 billion pounds will be injected by the Bank of England to supposedly shore up the British economy. One the face of it, $50 bln pounds, or $79 bln doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is when one accounts for the size of the British economy – we’re actually talking the equivalent of Fed printing to the tune of... Please Read More here... http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/all-they-can-do-is-print-and-hope/

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Bernanke is Gold’s BEST Friend; Greece Relief? Not so Fast

Bernanke spoke yesterday on Capitol Hill and voila, gold prices rebounded from the day’s low. Bernanke talked about how the Fed would protect Americans (read the big banks) from the mess in Europe. What sort of protection would the Fed provide? Of course — liquidity as in print, print, print. Yes, Ben Bernanke is gold’s... Please read more here... an NO extra charge... FREE.. http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/bernanke-is-golds-best-friend-greece-relief-not-so-fast/

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Gold VALUE vs Dollar DILUTION and other Gold Thoughts

2/7/12
I have already covered this subject, but it is worth repeating:
Yesterday I touched on the Velocity of Money and how that Velocity is not multiplying, but contracting. In other words, you save a dollar at the bank, the bank can then lend ten dollars from that $1 thanks to what has become the curse known as fractional .... Please read more here free of charge:  http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/gold-value-vs-dollar-dilution-and-other-gold-thoughts/

Monday, February 6, 2012

Numbers That Don’t Add Up; No Greece Relief

2/6/12
I am flummoxed by the latest employment numbers. The headline numbers on Friday depict a picture of recovery: January unemployment fell to 8.3% and non-farm payrolls jumped by 243,000.  But here is what I just don’t get: By the government’s own numbers in deeper layers of the employment report, civilian employment dropped from 140,681,000 in December, 2011 to 139,944,000 ... read more here: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/numbers-that-dont-add-up-no-greece-relief/

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Gold's Fair Value is $13,500??

This weekend, I draw your attention to an informative piece from Stocopedia. This article suggest that fair value for gold is in the real of what may seem incredible at the present time: Over $13,000 dollars. Please click here: http://www.stockopedia.co.uk/content/how-to-value-and-invest-in-gold-63785/

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Platinum Treasure?; Gold on the Rise; Stocks Run in Place

2/2/12
Let’s start today with something I haven’t talked about too much lately in this space, but have mentioned in some of my public speaking engagements: Platinum. I’m inspired by this story: PORTLAND, Maine — A treasure hunter said Wednesday he has located the wreck of a British merchant ship that was torpedoed by a... Read more HERE: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/platinum-treasure-gold-on-the-rise-stocks-run-in-place/

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Facebook and CNBC’s Usual Ignorance; PIMCO’s Gross Spills His Guts – Talks About GOLD

The first thing I usually do most mornings when I wake up,even before using the BR, is to check the CNBC Driod app to check the price of gold and get a quick read on S&P futures, Euro markets and what happened overnight in Asia. Futures are firm this Wednesday morning. The accompanying headline on the CNBC app: “Stocks... Please read more: http://www.certifiedassets.com/inv/news/cnbcs-misplaced-facebook-cheer-bill-gross-spills-his-guts-about-gold/