6.29.12 - Tips to Create a Golden Nest Egg - Listen
Gold prices shot up near $1,600/oz. Friday on a weaker dollar and bargain hunting amid EU debt fix hopes. Gold last traded at $1,598 an ounce, silver traded at $27.50 an ounce.
Crude oil prices rose 8% as stocks and commodities enjoyed a relief rally across the board. Gold prices ended the month up 2.5%, while silver prices slipped just $.20.
WHY YOU SHOULD BE WILDLY BULLISH ON GOLD - James Carrillo, GoldIRAs
As a technician of the gold market, a second successive monthly close below $1,600 would have been a major sell signal. Ironically, today gold closed in NY at $1,603 on a massive rally. Coincidence? I think not! The last time this technical pattern occurred, gold prices doubled over the following 18 months. I am now wildly bullish.
WORLDWIDE INFLATION DEAD AHEAD - Craig R. Smith, Chairman SATC
I suspect that gold market speculators realize the 'devil is in the details' of this new EU bailout package and the money they need will not fall out of the sky. Rather, it will come in the form of worthless Euro bonds, printed Euro dollars or fresh computer blips at the FED transferred into the IMF's account.
This action will then release the 'inflation genie' from the bottle worldwide. In the past, inflation has generally been contained to regions or countries. Now the exporting/importing of inflation will become a thing of the past as all currencies inflate in unison. Higher gold and commodity prices will likely be the result.
WE’RE BEING LIED TO - Eric Sprott, KingWorldNews
The system is imploding on itself, but the central planners want everyone to think it’s fine. They just lie to us. ‘We have an agreement.’ No you don’t have an agreement. ‘We have a Spanish bank bailout plan.’ No you don’t have a Spanish bank bailout plan. You don’t have a plan, you just say you have a plan. There is no plan.
Is there a solution to the problem? There isn’t a solution to the problem. There’s things that might happen. There’s a default that could happen. There’s hyperinflation that could happen, but none of those would be deemed as solutions to the problem. But one or the other or both is going to happen.
People should, rightly, have fear of having their money in paper instruments, whether it’s in a bank account or a bond. If they had any sense they would be buying (physical) gold and/or silver. That’s the only way to maintain your purchasing power.
TABLE SET FOR A MANIA IN PRECIOUS METALS? - Jeff Clark, Daily Reckoning
A mania in gold and gold stocks is the likely result of the absolute balloon in government debt, deficit spending, and money printing. Saying all that profligacy will go away without inflationary consequences seems naïve or foolish. Inflation may not attract investors to gold and silver as much as force them to it.
Now, one could make the argument that any rush into gold and silver will be muted if no one has any savings, especially given that demographers say a quarter of the developed world will soon be retired. But even if individuals are wiped out, the world’s money supply isn’t getting any smaller, and all that cash has to go somewhere.
OBAMA: BIGGEST GOVERNMENT SPENDER IN WORLD HISTORY - Forbes
The U.S. has never before had a President who thinks so little of the American people that he imagines he can win re-election running on the opposite of reality. But that is the reality of President Obama today.
Waving a planted press commentary, Obama recently claimed on the campaign stump, “federal spending since I took office has risen at the slowest pace of any President in almost 60 years.”
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.28.12 - $1.75 Trillion Obamacare Tax on the Middle Class - Listen
Gold prices slipped back toward $1,550/oz. Thursday following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold Obamacare mandates. Gold last traded at $1,552 an ounce, silver traded at $26.39 an ounce.
SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS OBAMA’S HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL - WashTimes
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the heart of President Obama’s health care law, ruling the federal government can compel Americans to buy health insurance, and setting a new standard for the scope of federal authority in the 21st century.
The complex 5-4 decision is a major legal boost to Mr. Obama just months before he faces voters in a battle for re-election. The court ruled that the mandate is unconstitutional, but it can stay as part of Congress’s power under a taxing clause. The court said that the government will be allowed to tax people for not having health insurance.
BIGGEST 'TAX' INCREASE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD - DrudgeReport
"We now have the biggest tax increase in the history of the world" says Rush Limbaugh. The CBO estimates the total cost estimate of Obamacare's coverage provisions is now $1.759 Trillion over 10 years. "If We Want to Get Rid of Obamacare, We're Going to Have to Replace Obama," responded presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
THE GIANT FEDERAL RESERVE SCAM - ActivistPost
Many individuals believe that money is created from the Federal Reserve. However, if this was the case then the United States would have no debt, instead of the $16 trillion we currently have. The Fed instead creates billions of dollars out of thin air and exchanges them for US Treasury Bonds.
80% OF THE GOLD THE WORLD OWNS DOESN'T EXIST - CNBC VIDEO
Chris Powell, Secretary and Treasurer of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee told Bernie Lo on CNBC Asia overnight that central banks are continuing to manipulate the gold market as they are interested in supporting government bonds and the dollar and keeping interest rates low. Powell warns about “paper gold” and says that we “try to persuade investors that if they are purchasing gold, they had better get real gold – metal."
“There is huge naked short position in gold”, he added and estimates that perhaps “75% to 80% of the gold that the world thinks it owns does not exist and is just a claim on a bullion bank that is underwritten basically by the central banks.”
A ‘LEHMAN MOMENT' WILL ENSURE GOLD AND SILVER WILL SOAR AGAIN - Mineweb
According to many experts, large amounts of money printing will soon occur in both Europe as well as in the United States. This is what gold speculators have been waiting for in order to drive up gold prices and many are predicting that gold will continue its uptrend soon enough.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.27.12 - Gold: The Eternal Anti-Dollar - Listen
Gold prices held near $1,575/oz. Wednesday amid uncertainty and safe haven buying ahead of EU summit and Obamacare ruling. Gold last traded at $1,574 an ounce, silver traded at $26.94 an ounce.
AN ENDING MADE FOR GOLD - Kitco
Over the past several months, the markets have tested investors’ conviction to gold. Since February, the price of the yellow metal has steadily stepped lower, rallying somewhat in May before falling again when Ben Bernanke disappointed by not providing the U.S. with more stimulus.
Meanwhile, the dollar gained ground as global investors fled the euro. In the ongoing eurocrisis, we won’t know the details of how Europe will clean up its debt mess for a while, but we’re pretty confident the story ends well for gold...when push comes to shove, central banks, especially in Europe, will forgo austerity in favor of the printing presses.
WILL ALL THE MONEY PRINTING LEAD TO HYPERINFLATION? - CNBC
Acoording to Moorad Choudhry, Treasurer, Corporate Banking Division, Royal Bank of Scotland, the longer QE goes on and the more people keep talking about increasing it, the more one might start to worry about diminishing value of money and demanding more of it for the same work rate.
Because it has no more intrinsic value than Monopoly money, fiat money retains its value only because of confidence. As central banks print more and more money, all else being equal, its real value must decline.
Does the ability to keep printing money without any real control or discipline, creating a circular flow of money in which one branch of government lends to another branch of government, undermine confidence in the concept of paper money itself?
And does it amount to a hidden tax on the private sector's purchasing power? The value of what one earns today will not be what it was in a year’s time, it will be lower. If we take QE and “bond buying” to its ultimate conclusion, that could be a lot lower. And then we might indeed need a wheelbarrow, virtually loaded onto our debit cards of course.
SELL PAPER, BUY BRICKS - Daily Reckoning
“The world has much to fear,” James Grant declares in a recent issue of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, “However, it seems to us, not the least of these perils are the alleged safe havens themselves.” Therefore, says Grant, “In general, this publication is bullish on things certified to be unsafe, bearish on things certified to be safe (assuming always that the respective prices are right).”
Specifically, Grant is bearish on one of the very “safest” of safe things: highly rated government bonds. “The times may be troubled (they often are),” he says, “and people may be desperate (someone usually is), but that doesn’t mean that low-yielding sovereign debt is the last word in safety and soundness.”
Marquee AAA government bonds of the US, Germany, Switzerland and the UK have been in a freefall for several years. As recently as four years ago, a 5-year bond from the Swiss government yielded about 3%. Today, the 5-year yield is negative! That’s right; an investor must pay the Swiss government for the privilege of lending it money.
MASSIVE CYBER RAID HITS 60 BANKS; $75 MILLION STOLEN - SkyNews
Credit unions, large multinational banks and regional banks have all been attacked. Sixty million euro has been stolen from bank accounts in a massive cyber bank raid after fraudsters raided dozens of financial institutions around the world. Sky News defense and security editor Sam Kiley said: "It does include British financial institutions and has jumped over to North America and South America. [Note: Six Vital Steps To Avoid Gold Coin Fraud, Scams and Hustlers)
OBAMA DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY AND ISSUES E.O. AGAINST RUSSIAN ASSETS - Examiner
On June 25, President Barack Obama issued a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to the President of the Senate stating that under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, he was declaring a National Emergency due to actions incurred with Russia, and the Russian Federation. The submitted letter provides a declaration to Congress of the President signing Executive Order (E.O.) 13159, and its immediate implementation.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.26.12 - D.C. Double Standard, "Gold is Wealth" -Russell- Listen
Gold prices eased below $1,575/oz. Tuesday on profit taking and a flat dollar, confidence wanes, stocks inch up. Gold last traded at $1,573 an ounce, silver traded at $27.13 an ounce.
D.C. DOUBLE STANDARD, ENERGY POLICY SOLUTIONS - Your World w/ Neil Cavuto
Neil Cavuto: What is with the politicians? They say oil and gas prices are rigged only when they are rising too fast, but when speculators decide to short oil to drive prices down just as quickly they get a pass because it's politically correct during an election year.
Craig R. Smith (co-author "Black Gold Stranglehold"): We saw the same type of response from politicians during the last housing bubble; no one complained about speculation as long as prices were rising, but as soon as prices began falling, it was all blamed on the evil bankers. What we need is some solid legislation to overhaul our energy policy. We have all the oil and gas we need right under our feet. The free market has established $80-$90 a barrel oil prices are needed to fund drilling deeper wells to reach proven oil reservoirs that can help make the U.S. energy independent.
BOTH OBAMA & ROMNEY FACE A RECESSION - NewYorkPost
As President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney get set for what’s likely to be among the most negative presidential campaigns in recent history, each man should ask himself if he really wants to win — because he’ll almost certainly face the grim prospect of another recession.
But the future of the US economy is still increasingly bleak. The Moody bank downgrades are an indication of how bad things are now, but could also be the final straw in pushing us back into recession.
And the lower bond ratings just made lending much more difficult. Banks will have to pay more to borrow and finance their own balance sheets. They may also have to hold more capital, all of which means they will lend even less to cash-strapped small businesses. In short, the cost of business just went up for everyone.
THIS TERRIFYING FINANCIAL COLLAPSE & GOLD - KingworldNews
Richard Russell, founder of Dow Theory Letters newsletter recently issued the following warning: “... it is dawning on Bernanke that the Fed cannot defeat the powers of deflation and the primary bear trend ... and Bernanke knows it, but cannot talk about it - it's too frightening.”
The stock market is more puzzled than ever. With uncertainty looming large, the market backs off. It is giving up on QE3. In the absence of QE3 the market does what it always does to protect itself, it backs off.
Sadly, the whole world is searching for income and safety, and the fact is that there is no ultimate safety. Then how does one build wealth? The Asians know the answer to that -- YOU BUY and HOLD GOLD -- and exercise a lot of patience.
Stocks can declare dividends, but they can omit their dividends during hard times. Furthermore, stocks can go broke. But gold represents indestructible wealth. Gold rises in terms of fiat money, and gold declines in terms of fiat money.
Gold possesses some properties that are beyond the scope of other investments. Gold can't go broke, because gold does not derive its purchasing power from the edict or control of any sovereign power or central bank. Gold has no counter-parties. Gold is tangible and is accepted everywhere -- in good times or bad. Gold exists outside the world's banking system. Unlike fiat money, gold is wealth on its own.
It's tangible and not the fantasy-creation of central bankers. Gold does not need a sponsor or the acceptance of an expert (such as pricing a Picasso painting), because all gold is intrinsically the same. Gold does not tarnish nor does it degenerate -- the gold in your watch may be the same gold that Cleopatra wore around her neck.
The supply of gold, unlike paper money, is limited. Alchemists have tried for centuries to turn other metals into gold -- but have never succeeded. Gold is a beautiful metal on its own and the lust for gold seems to be built into the DNA of mankind. If you own ten thousand ounces of gold, you can say that you will ALWAYS be wealthy.
I have said before that China intends to be THE world leader. In order to make that happen, China has decided to defeat the US on economic terms. And that means -- first, replacing the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, and establishing the renminbi as the world's new reserve currency. For the last two years, China has encouraged its people to accumulate gold on their own.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.25.12 -- The Great Nanny State Meltdown -- Listen
Gold prices shot over $1,575/oz. Monday on bargain hunting despite a firmer dollar, fresh EU jitters sink stocks. Gold last traded at $1,585 an ounce, silver traded at $27.54 an ounce.
GOLD GAINS AS INVESTORS LOOK TO E.U. SUMMIT - MarketWatch
Gold prices rose Monday, as investors looked ahead to an important European Union summit later in the week and the metal’s losses in the previous week lured some of them back to the market.
“The further deterioration of the economic recovery, enhanced potential for quantitative easing and continued structural problems in the euro zone lead us to believe that gold prices will stay stronger into 2014 and 2015,” Nomura analysts said in the note Monday.
OIL’S SHARP DECLINE SIGN OF GATHERING STORM - CNBC
According to CNBC's Fast Money, trader Josh Brown thinks global growth is facing serious challenges due to two factors; 1. “We’ve got a fiscal cliff coming,” says Brown. That is companies will be immobilized by the tax increases and spending cuts that are all scheduled to take effect at the very beginning of 2013. 2. “Nasty stuff in Europe still lies ahead,” Brown adds. Largely the Street believes the financial woes of Spain and Italy will flare before the summer ends. [Note: Author/Swiss America Chairman Craig R. Smith recorded a segment on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" discussing the future of oil prices which will air tonight at 8:05pm ET (5:05pm PT)]
U.S. BANKS AREN’T NEARLY READY FOR COMING EUROPEAN CRISIS - Bloomberg
The euro area faces a major economic crisis, most likely a series of rolling, country-specific problems involving some combination of failing banks and sovereigns that can’t pay their debts in full.
Very few people seem to have gotten their heads around dissolution risk. Here’s what it means: If you have a contract that requires you to be paid in euros and the euro no longer exists, what you will receive is unclear.
A few officials see the storm coming. The Swiss National Bank should be commended for putting renewed pressure on Credit Suisse to increase its capital levels by suspending dividends. The Bank of England has set up emergency liquidity facilities, and continues to press for more bank capital, although it could do more.
The Federal Reserve should apply the same approach to big U.S. banks, with an emergency and across-the-board suspension of dividend payments, but it won’t. The Fed is convinced that its recent stress tests show U.S. banks have enough capital even though these tests didn’t model serious euro dissolution risk and the effect on global derivatives markets.
FIVE WAYS THE EUROZONE COULD BREAK UP - BBC
The Wolfson Prize offers £250,000 to the economist who comes up with the best plan to manage a potential break-up of the eurozone. The five ideas in the running are summarized here.
1. Greece - or another country - could go
The most realistic scenario for euro break-up is that Greece, or one or more of the weaker peripheral countries, will leave the eurozone, introduce a new currency which then falls sharply, and default on a large part of their government debt.
2. Pain sharp but short-lived
The European periphery could then grow again quickly with lower debt levels and more competitive exchange rates, much like countries that left the Gold Standard in the 1930s (Britain and Japan 1931, US 1934, France 1936) and many emerging markets after recent defaults and devaluations (Asia 1997, Russia 1998, Argentina 2002, Iceland 2008).
3. All return to national currencies
The ECB would be abolished and its functions returned to the national central banks. All bank accounts, assets, liabilities and obligations in each member state would be immediately redenominated into national currencies.
4. How to redenominate currencies
A break-up of the eurozone implies a need to redenominate contracts from euro into new currencies. This is relevant for bonds, loans, deposits and other financial instruments.
5. Split the eurozone in two to stop currency flight
My approach is designed to allow an orderly transition of the eurozone to two or more regions, and prevent the speculative capital flow, that could force a country out of the eurozone.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.22.12 -- This Week's REAL MONEY PERSPECTIVES -- Listen
Gold prices rose near $1,575/oz. Friday as investors digest weak economic data, bank downgrades and the Fed. Gold last traded at $1,572 an ounce, down 3.4% this week, silver slipped 6.6% to $26.90 an ounce.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
"ARE YOU A RESPONSIBLE PERSON?" asks author and SATC Chairman Craig R. Smith. "Our ability to respond to life's challenges, to make good decisions and then to take action, is what makes us responsible people."
"Americans must respond to today's economic realities such as; $16 trillion U.S. debt, failure of the U.S. and other governments globally to live within their means, a weak U.S. dollar and the resulting damage of more stimulus - including a runaway cost of living. With 57% of Americans feeling no control over their financial future, now is the time to take matters into your own hands, before the next crisis hits."
TOP NEWS & VIEWS OF THE WEEK
Monday
78% REMAIN CONCERNED ABOUT INFLATION - Rasmussen
OBAMA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BETRAYER - NewsMax
QUESTION OF THE WEEK ..."ARE YOU A RESPONSIBLE PERSON?"
INVESTORS STILL FEEL POWERLESS OVER RETIREMENT SAVINGS - Gallup
EURO CRISIS FAR FROM OVER, STOCK ANALYSTS WARN - AP
Tuesday
FED: LET'S TWIST AGAIN - CNBC
EUROPE IN DISARRAY AT G-20 -MarketWatch
EUROPE’S CRISIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AMERICA - Telegraph
SHOULD YOU GO ALL-IN ON GOLD AND SILVER? - NaturalNews.com
ARE GOLD BUGS PESSIMISTIC OR REALISTIC? - WSCheatSheet
FED PLAYING POLITICS WITH OUR MONEY? - PR
Wednesday
BERNANKE FAILS TO INSPIRE INVESTOR CONFIDENCE - Craig R. Smith
FED EXPANDS OPERATION TWIST BY $267 BILLION THROUGH 2012 - Bloomberg
19 REASONS TO START PREPARING FOR A GLOBAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE - ActivistPost
Thursday
U.S. DOLLAR MAY BE WORST PLACE TO SEEK SAFETY - NewsRelease
THE SCARY TAKE ON BEN BERNANKE’S REMARKS - WashPost
FED UP WITH BERNANKE - John Crudell, NY Post
Today
15 MAJOR INVESTMENT BANKS SEE RATINGS CUT BY MOODY'S - CNBC
Moody's has downgraded the debt ratings of 15 major international banks and securities firms. This move could cost the banks billion of dollars in extra collateral. The US banks that fell into this group include Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley.
WE ARE HEADED FOR PANIC AS GLOBAL MARKETS TUMBLE - KingworldNews
Egon von Greyerz told King World News that the entire financial system is under pressure and will eventually see a massive panic. The Fed has just announced its extension of Operation Twist, which is another way to continue printing money, and hinted at significant downside risk in the United States.
THREE SIGNS GOLD IS RETURNING TO THE MONETARY SYSTEM - DailyFX
"The signs point to gold returning to the monetary system," reports DailyFX. These signs include continued purchases of the metal by central banks all over the world, the continued crisis in the euro zone and the announcement of the Basel Committee considering making gold a "Tier 1" asset.
MORE FED STIMULUS WON'T HELP ECONOMY, MAY STOKE INFLATION - MoneyNews
The Federal Reserve's latest monetary stimulus risks higher inflation and will not do much to boost a weakening U.S. economy, the central bank official who dissented against the decision said on Friday. "I do not believe that further monetary stimulus would make a substantial difference for economic growth and employment without increasing inflation by more than would be desirable," Lacker said in a statement.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"It's a great day for our president. He's down in Mexico for the G-20 Summit. Today he met with Russia's Vladimir Putin. He said 'I think your communist policies are a danger to the world.' There's no word on how Obama responded."
- "The Late Late Show" with Craig Ferguson, CBS 6.18.12
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.21.12 - Investors Dash to Cash: A "Rainbow in the Clouds" -- Listen
Gold and oil prices fell 3% Thursday as weak economic data following Fed statement boosted the buck, DJIA slides 250 points. Gold last traded at $1,566 an ounce, silver at $26.88 an ounce.
Today economic data supports the growing view that markets are vulnerable and job growth has stalled. Add Europe's troubles and you have investors fleeing out of both stocks and commodities and madly running into cash for "safety" on this first day of Summer.
[Photo: "Rainbow in the clouds" is called a circumhorizontal arc, this rare sight caught on film June 3, 2006 as it hung over northern Idaho sky. -Todaysten.com]
U.S. DOLLAR MAY BE WORST PLACE TO SEEK SAFETY - NewsRelease
"Investors are smart to seek a safe haven, because the global economy may be close to a meltdown, but many are making a dangerous mistake that is hazardous to their wealth," two financial authors warn.
"Many are jumping from the frying pan into the fire by converting all their assets into U.S. Dollars," say Lowell Ponte and Craig R. Smith, co-authors of the widely-praised recent books The Inflation Deception and Crashing the Dollar.
"The economy now has people so afraid and uncertain that many are seeking shelter from today's Bear market in the bear's cave by converting their assets into Dollars, which the politicians can debase by printing trillions out of thin air," says Ponte.
"Instead, we should be seeking safety by diversification by buying solid things that the Fed and the politicians can't print, and therefore can't devalue as they have the U.S. Dollar. This is how to protect the purchasing power you've earned."
THE SCARY TAKE ON BEN BERNANKE’S REMARKS - WashPost
"A scary interpretation of Bernanke’s position is that he doesn’t believe the Fed could do much more to help the economy, but he doesn’t want the market to know that, and so he keeps not doing more but telling the markets he could do more if he wanted to. As one wag put it on Twitter, the bazooka Bernanke says he’s got in his pocket is really just his finger."
"A more benign interpretation is that he doesn’t have internal support for doing more, or that he’s only got a few bullets left in the gun and he wants to make sure they’re still there if Europe really deteriorates and he suddenly has to combat another crisis."
FED UP WITH BERNANKE - John Crudell, NY Post
"I know Ben Bernanke isn’t stupid — so I don’t know why he is acting like a fool. Bernanke can keep interest rates as low as he wants and the only real result is that savers will continue to be denied respectable yields that might lead them to spend more."
"Put another way, while the operation may be a success in appeasing Wall Street, the patient — the US economy — is slowly dying. Now that Ben’s toolbox is empty, maybe our elected officials will start acting responsibly."
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.20.12 - THE FED'S TIME IS RUNNING OUT -- Listen
Gold prices dipped then rebounded on Wednesday following the Fed statement to extend 'Operation Twist', investors sell stocks amid economic uncertainty. Gold last traded at $1,606 an ounce, silver at $28.12 an ounce.
FED EXPANDS OPERATION TWIST BY $267 BILLION THROUGH 2012 - Bloomberg
The Federal Reserve will expand its program to replace short-term bonds with
longer-term debt by $267 billion through the end of the year in a bid to reduce unemployment and protect the expansion.
The continuation of Operation Twist “should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative,” the Federal Committee said today in a statement.
BERNANKE FAILS TO INSPIRE INVESTOR CONFIDENCE - Craig R. Smith
Wall Street yawned at the latest Fed policy statement because it was just more of the same failed policies of the past. I am becoming more convinced with each press conference, Mr. Bernanke, like his boss Barack Obama, is in over his head and is powerless to improve the economy.
Ben Bernanke is convinced Q.E.2 stopped deflation, yet only caused zero to 1.2% inflation in the process. If so, he is a miracle worker indeed, and may find a new cure for cancer next.
Regarding the effects of Q.E. he almost seemed to brag about manipulating investors, saying: "We induced investors to move into other substantive securities". Many investors sold treasuries and bought corporate bonds. Banks may have sold T-bills and made the money available in the form of new lending. Yet tight credit is still a major headwind? Ben sounds more like a politician than a Fed chairman. Or are they now one in the same?
Until our nation's leadership begins to unleash capitalism, entrepreneurial spirit and to establish certainty in taxes and regulations; we are in for a long, slow, stagflation-ridden recovery - which could easily morph into a much deeper recession or even a depression.
Meanwhile, "Greece's ailing economy grinds to halt" says London Financial Times. "Spain and Italy to be bailed out in $900B deal" - leaders agreed at G20 summit.
19 REASONS TO START PREPARING FOR A GLOBAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE - ActivistPost
"If you are looking for some kind of a global financial miracle you can stop watching. If European leaders had a master plan to save Europe they would have shown it by now. If Barack Obama had a master plan to fix things he would have implemented it by now. If the Federal Reserve had a master plan to fix things we would have seen it by now."
"The entire house of cards is starting to come down and things are going to get really messy. A lot of people both in the United States and in Europe are going to lose their jobs and their homes over the next few years. It is likely that the next recession will be even more painful than the last one was."
"Now is not the time to panic. If you acknowledge what is coming and prepare accordingly then you will likely be in good shape. But if you stick your head in the sand and pretend that everything is going to be okay then the next few years will likely be incredibly painful for you."
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"It's a great day for our president. He's down in Mexico for the G-20 Summit.
Today he met with Russia's Vladimir Putin. He said 'I think your communist
policies are a danger to the world.' There's no word on how Obama responded."
- "The Late Late Show" with Craig Ferguson, CBS 6.18.12
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.19.12 - THE FED'S 'GREEN' JOB - Listen
Gold prices slipped below $1,625/oz. Tuesday ahead of the Fed statement due on Wednesday. Stocks rise on Fed stimulus hopes. Gold last traded at $1,617 an ounce, silver at $28.42 an ounce.
FED: LET'S TWIST AGAIN - CNBC
"The U.S. central bank will most likely ease monetary policy when it meets this week as recent data point to a worsening labor market and the crisis in Europe intensifies," Goldman Sachs said. “We would be quite surprised if we saw no easing this week. I think the Fed has pretty much spent its bullets. It’s run out of steam; its QEs are having less and less impact on the real economy..."
FED PLAYING POLITICS WITH OUR MONEY? - PR
This week investors big and small are anxiously awaiting the Federal Reserve Board's policy statement to see how it impacts the U.S. Dollar's value. America's central bank was supposed to be politically neutral and to keep the U.S. Dollar sound. “But the Fed can tilt an election by producing lots of money from thin air to create the illusion of prosperity,” says Lowell Ponte, co-author with Craig R. Smith of the widely-praised recent books THE INFLATION DECEPTION and CRASHING THE DOLLAR.
ARE GOLD BUGS PESSIMISTIC OR REALISTIC? - WSCheatSheet
"Gold bugs are often made out to be doom and gloom nervous nellies that camp out somewhere deep in the wilderness. Uncivilized and irrational, they count their lifeless and barbaric stacks of gold and silver bullion, along with cans of baked beans. All while wishing for the entire collapse of the financial system and ushering in a Mad Max world. But, is this view really true?"
"Contrary to some pundits, the majority of individuals who hold precious metals are not merely pessimists, but rather people trying to take responsibility for their own financial well-being. Gold is more than just a hedge against economic uncertainties, it is insurance against the actions of governments and central bankers around the world."
FINANCIAL COLLAPSE APPROACHES, SHOULD YOU GO ALL-IN ON GOLD AND SILVER? - NaturalNews.com
"There is no question that people who got into the gold and silver markets early-on have done well with their investment. But what about from this point on? Gold is telling us that the Asian world believes gold to be grossly undervalued and they will continue to sit back and catch gold bars as they fall into their laps at discount prices. It's also telling us that there is something fundamentally wrong with the path we're on."
EUROPE IN DISARRAY AT G-20 -MarketWatch
"European members at the Group of 20 meeting were in some disarray on Tuesday with conflicting reports of support for crisis-hit nations and a public spat between senior English and French officials over tax policy at the summit in Mexico."
EUROPE’S CRISIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AMERICA - Telegraph
José Manuel Barroso, the ex-Maoist chief of the European Commission, is telling the G20 global powers that he is sick and tired of back-seat advice. "The crisis originated in North America," he said. "Sub-prime is the cause of Europe’s ills. American banks are the villains behind it all."
"This is just poor science...it was a global credit bubble. The crisis happened to detonate first in the US because the American business cycle was a few months ahead. Global central banks mis-set the price of credit by running zero or negative real interest rates for long-stretches."
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.18.12 - Economic Responsibility Begins Here - Listen
Gold prices inched higher Monday despite a firmer dollar and a vote of EU confidence by Greece. Stocks flat ahead of Fed stimulation. Gold last traded at $1,628 an ounce, silver at $28.74 an ounce.
EURO CRISIS FAR FROM OVER, STOCK ANALYSTS WARN - AP
A slim victory for the main conservative party in an election in Greece..."Basically, all this does is keep the patient on life support, but doesn't resolve the basic problem."
FED – NOT GREECE – COULD PROVIDE BOOST EURO - CNBC
"The real question for Greece is 'What Now?'," says billionaire investor Wilbur Ross. Unless corruption can be curbed the promise of austerity will not last long. The euro reversed strong gains against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as optimism was short-lived for the single currency.
“(One) reason we expect the euro to push higher has nothing to do with Greece. We think the Fed is going to open the door to further stimulus (on Wednesday),” Ashraf Laidi, Global Chief Strategist at City Index told CNBC on Monday.
Citing recent weakness in U.S. economic data, Laidi predicts the country’s central bank will extend Operation Twist at the June 19-20 meeting. The goal behind this is to push down longer-term interest rates and encourage more borrowing and spending.
INVESTORS STILL FEEL POWERLESS OVER RETIREMENT SAVINGS - Gallup
Fifty-seven percent of investors say they feel they have little or no control over their efforts to build and maintain their retirement savings in the current environment. Thirty percent say they have quite a lot of control, and 13% say they have a great deal of control.
QUESTION OF THE DAY ...
"ARE YOU A RESPONSIBLE PERSON?"asks author and SATC Chairman Craig R. Smith. "Our ability to respond to life's challenges, to make good decisions and then to take action, is what makes us responsible people."
"Americans must respond to today's economic realities such as; $16 trillion U.S. debt, failure of the U.S. and other governments globally to live within their means, a weak U.S. dollar and the resulting damage of more stimulus - including a runaway cost of living. With 57% of Americans feeling no control over their financial future, now is the time to take matters into your own hands, before the next crisis hits."
78% REMAIN CONCERNED ABOUT INFLATION - Rasmussen
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 78% of American Adults are at least somewhat concerned about inflation, including 49% who are Very Concerned.
OBAMA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BETRAYER - NewsMax
According to Lowell Ponte, a noted author and commentator, President Barack Obama has become an equal opportunity betrayer. President Obama has recently promised amnesty to certain illegal immigrants and would bypass Congress, the Constitution and existing federal laws.
President Obama loves equality so much that he is willing to betray African-Americans to gain votes from Latinos. Latinos should ask: if President Obama betrays even his most loyal followers, then why believe you can trust him?
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.15.12 -- World Faces Big Fat Greek Domino Effect -- Listen
Gold prices rose above $1,625/oz. Friday on safe haven buying ahead of Greek vote, Fed stimulus hopes boost stocks. Gold last traded at $1,626 an ounce, silver at $28.70 an ounce.
GOLD LOGS SIXTH-SESSION RISE, UP 2.3% ON WEEK - Marketwatch
A decline in the U.S. dollar and weak economic data from the U.S. also contributed to gold’s strength Friday. Weak U.S. data coupled with troubles in Europe have furthered hopes of more monetary stimulus measures from global central banks. "The weekend ahead could result in major changes for the euro zone," said Julian Phillips, an editor at GoldForecaster.com and SilverForecaster.com..."expect major, developed world, financial turmoil," he said. This heightens risks in all markets, and makes gold and silver a safe place to be.
BANKS PREPARE FOR WORLDWIDE CHAOS - Telegraph
Speculation is mounting that central banks including the Bank of England, Bank of Japan and US Federal Reserve are readying emergency support measures to fight the market fall-out which the result of the Greek polls could unleash. The fear around the elections is that if anti-austerity parties take control it will signal the imminent exit of Greece from the euro as bail-out agreements are torn up.
GOODBYE GREECE? - DailyReckoning
Prepare yourself for an ugly trading week next week. After their election on Sunday, the Eurozone may finally kick Greece to the curb. If they do, I hope you’re prepared. Or, are you going to trust that Bernanke and his Fed cronies will figure it all out during their two-day monetary policy meeting next week? If not, then I advise you to take, what could be, your last chance at protecting yourself from not only next week’s flip-flopping market, but the deteriorating dollar as well.
Currency debasement is one of the favored and recurrent tricks of the looter class. Bereft of the modern printing press, the Romans resorted to clipping their metal coins, a practice most prevalent during the reign of their infamously pyromaniacal emperor, Nero. The idea was simple enough: Boss Man calls in ten coins...then reissues eleven, fashioned out of the same amount of metal. And, voilà! Wealth has increased by 10%!
Here in Europe, where the so-called PIIGS crisis has been dragging on like a World Cup penalty shootout, it’s business as usual on the streets. The Germans produce. The Spaniards lounge. The Greeks protest. And the French shrug and politicians put on a show for their voters, vowing to “do something” about the mess they themselves caused.
AMERICA'S GROWING GOVERNMENT - OneNewsNow.com
While some believe President Barack Obama's stimulus programs have been good for the economy, a noted author and commentator points out that government has grown 25 percent during Obama's three years in office. Obama shocked the nation last Friday when he declared that America's "private sector is doing fine." But Lowell Ponte, co-author of The Inflation Deception: 6 Ways Government Tricks Us and 7 Ways to Stop It!, says that is anything but true.
TWO VISIONS OF AMERICA - PR
"President Obama lacks the maturity to either compromise or admit that any of his disastrous economic policies have failed. He has become a 'Blame Duck' President, who relentlessly blames others for everything that goes wrong and ducks taking responsibility even though he has been President for more than three years," says Lowell Ponte, co-author of The Inflation Deception and Crashing the Dollar.
"Yet Mr. Obama claims that everything from President George W. Bush to the troubles in Europe – and not he – are to blame for the fear and uncertainty that are holding back investment and hiring in the United States. Mr. Obama said 'No, I don't believe the government is the answer to all of our problems,'" says Ponte, "yet the only solutions Mr. Obama offered require higher taxes and bigger government, a vision of America as one big family run paternalistically by Godfather Barack Obama. This is a vision of America's future that I don't share."
CIRCLING THE DRAIN - Tom McLaughlin.blogspot
Greece is the canary in the coal mine of financial collapse because they’ve been living the longest on borrowed money and borrowed time. Leaders there who tried to cut entitlements saw riots in the streets and were soon voted out. Germany is getting tired of lending Greece money for their unsustainable lifestyle, much the same way China is leery of lending more to the United States. Germany wants to make Greece’s continued membership in the Eurozone difficult enough that they’ll decide pull out. Then the task will be preventing a domino effect of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland falling down as well.
THE SOLUTION TO CHRONIC GREEK CORRUPTION - CNBC
"The world's second-biggest retailer behind Wal-Mart" reads one headline on Friday. Corruption in Greece is one of the major factors dragging down the country’s economy. The estimated $1.8 billion spent on bribes by Greeks last year wouldn’t pay off its bailout debts, but it might give its people more spare cash to deal with belt-tightening elsewhere. The problem can only be tackled by starting at the very top of the food chain. "The political system is at the heart of almost everything here in Greece and that includes corruption," said Angelos Syrigos, of Transparency International Greece, to CNBC.
OBAMA JOBS PROGRAM: HELP ILLEGALS COMPETE WITH AMERICANS FOR SCARCE JOBS - Breitbart
Today, the Obama Administration, in an obvious attempt to boost the President's flailing reelection campaign, announced that it would bypass Congress and rewrite the nation's immigration laws. The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.14.12 - Election 2012: Collectivism vs. Free Enterprise -- Listen
Gold prices rose near $1,625/oz. Thursday despite weak inflation data, Fed stimulus hopes boost stocks. Gold last traded at $1,623 an ounce, silver at $28.61 an ounce.
GOLD RISING IN ANTICIPATION OF MONETARY STIMULUS - IBTimes
Precious metal prices have been moving higher over the past few sessions suggesting that traders are loading up in anticipation of monetary stimulus by at least one of the world's top central banks. Gold and silver purchases seem to be the favorite among investors looking for a safe haven investment.
OBAMA A “BLAME DUCK” PRESIDENT - PR
President Barack Obama got elected by promising hope, change, high ethics and a post-partisan uniting of our country.
"Instead he has created the most partisan, polarizing, and anti-business Administration in American history, and his continued his attacks on free enterprise advocates in Thursday's speech," according to Craig R. Smith and Lowell Ponte, co-authors of The Inflation Deception and Crashing the Dollar.
“President Obama's inability to lead or build consensus and agreement is making all of us losers,” says Smith.
“The President was right to say that voters face a choice between 'two fundamentally different visions' of society and government,” says Ponte. “That choice is between collectivism, with government controlling all property and wealth, and free market individualism.”
WEAK GOLD PRICES TIME TO BUY - GoldInvestingNews
While prices are down, gold investors should be considering strengthening their positions, especially since there has been little change in gold fundamentals other than price direction.
Fed accommodation is another reason for TD Securities’ bullishness on gold. "Any downside move toward $1,500/oz due to the upcoming Greek election and Spanish bank bailout flux is seen as a buying opportunity,” the firm said. Not only are there widespread expectations for more quantitative easing, but there is also a sense of urgency.
TIME RUNNING OUT FOR THE EURO ZONE - CNBC
“There is no history of an economic union surviving without a political and fiscal union and the problem in the euro zone is that if you want to go through that route you have to pass legislation in all these different countries. It’s very complicated and time is running out.
“These countries simply cannot service their debts and can’t service them in a period where nominal GDP growth is flat and that’s really the overriding problem that hasn’t been resolved. Just throwing more debt is not a durable solution. These countries dramatically require currency devaluation,” he said.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.13.12 -- They Just Want to Pump You Up! -- Listen
Gold prices touched $1,625/oz. Wednesday on safe haven buying amid weak U.S. dollar and data. Gold last traded at $1,618 an ounce, silver at $28.90 an ounce.
"PUMPING UP" WITH BERNANKE, OBAMA & CO. -- Editor
Weak retail sales and slower consumer spending offer fresh evidence of a stalling economy. The year-long dollar rally is now fizzling out as fiat money creators will attempt re-pumping up the global economy before an inflation blowup crashes the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency. As Hanz and Franz from Saturday Night Live used to say, "We are here to pump (clap) you up!"
CENTRAL BANK MONEY-PRINTING: $6 TRILLION...AND COUNTING - Reuters
Many more years of money printing from the world's big four central banks now looks destined to add to the $6 trillion already created since 2008 and may transform the relationship between the once fiercely-independent
banks and governments.
As rich economies sink deeper into a slough of debt after yet another wave of euro financial and banking stress and U.S. hiring hesitancy, everyone is looking back to the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan to stabilize the situation once more.
SPANISH BANK BAILOUT SETS GOLD UP FOR $2,000 AND SILVER $60 - ArabianMoney
Eurozone finance ministers panicked this weekend and agreed to a preemptive announcement of a $125 billion bailout for the Spanish banks, bringing the grand total for bank bailouts to $600 billion when Ireland, Portugal and Greece are added.
Investors who want to beat inflation are left with fewer and fewer options. Central banks cannot print gold, they can only buy it themselves as an inflation hedge and help to push up the price. Silver is a tiny market that will follow and outperform gold as a sister monetary metal.
It sets gold up to power above the $1,923 all-time high of last September and hit $2,000 an ounce this fall, while silver will as usual outperform to the upside and cross the 1980 all-time high of $50 and go to $60.
FIVE REASONS TO BUY GOLD AGAIN - MSN
1) The trend is turning - It's been a great 12 months for the dollar and a bad year for gold. But that picture seems to be changing quickly.
2) Supplies are tightening - "all-in" costs for the five major gold producers are running at around $1,100 an ounce and are set to head toward $1,900 an ounce over the next three years.
3) Too much money-printing - By all indications, both the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are preparing to launch new, extraordinary monetary policy stimulus measures next month.
4) Political risks abound - With the sovereign credit rating under pressure and extreme events becoming increasingly likely, gold is shining again because of its status as the traditional safe haven for wealth.
5) Inflation - a higher cost-of-living, a drop in real, inflation-adjusted wages and the recent drop in the savings rate/rise in credit card debt suggest that consumers are already doing all they can to try to keep up with inflation.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.12.12 - Gold Prices Up 90% Since 2008! -- Listen
Gold prices shot above $1,600/oz. Tuesday on bargain hunting and safe haven buying as Spanish bonds plummet. Gold last traded at $1,610 an ounce, silver at $28.98 an ounce.
While stock prices often rise based on hopes for new Fed stimulus, it is gold prices which have nearly doubled since the 2008 crisis (from $850 to $1,600/oz.) while stocks remain flat and Americans' average net worth shrunk by 39%.
JUST LIKE 1965, THESE ARE GOLDEN YEARS - WSJ/MarketWatch Video
WSJ columnist Simon Constable visits "Mean Street" at the onset of a seminal moment in world economics: central banks are buying gold at amounts not seen since 1965. Simon expects 10% more demand by central banks going forward and expects inflation to "blow up" as the result of to excessive money printing worldwide.
AMERICANS' WEALTH DROPPED 40 PERCENT - WashPost
According to government data that was released Monday, the Great Recession wiped out nearly two decades of Americans' wealth. American middle class families bore the brunt of this decline with the median net worth of families plunging by 39 percent in only three years.
EU: MOVEMENT OF MONEY, PEOPLE MAY BE LIMITED - Yahoo
"The European Commission has been providing legal advice to others who are considering possible scenarios should Greece leave the euro", a European Union spokesman said. Olivier Bailly said Tuesday that, "legally, limits could be imposed on movement of people and money across national borders within the EU if it's necessary to protect public order or public security - but not on economic grounds."
EUROZONE-TYPE CAPITAL CONTROLS IN U.S.? - Craig R. Smith
Imagine needing your money and not being allowed to access it.
Could we see similar draconian measures in America if we find ourselves with
the same problems Europe is experiencing? Will our U.S. elected officials protect our rights as citizens to access our own money and travel freely with it?
I don't know all the answers, but just the fact we may have to ask should awaken all Americans to the need for owning gold and other assets outside of the electronic banking system.
Welcome to the new Eurozone. Hopefully not coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
Who would have thought the world could have changed this quickly. Limiting the flow of money to its rightful owner is a very serious measure.
PRIVATE JOBS DOWN 4%; FEDERAL JOBS UP 11.4% SINCE '08 - Investors.com
President Obama’s statement Friday that the private sector is “doing fine” drew so much ridicule that he was forced to backtrack hours later. Private-sector jobs are still down by 4%, from January 2008... Meanwhile Federal employment actually is 225,000 jobs above its January 2008 level, an 11.4% increase.
MAD DASH FOR CASH - CNBC
"With the threat of European debt contagion wafting through the air, investors are heading for cover, taking their most conservative positions since the depths of the financial crisis. Cash now makes up an average 5.3 percent of portfolios, the most since January 2009. Curiously, investors on some levels are more suspect not of prospects in Europe but in the U.S." FRIGHTENED INVESTORS MAKING A DANGEROUS MISTAKE, EXPERTS WARN "U.S. DOLLAR MAY BE WORST PLACE TO SEEK SAFETY."
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.11.12 -- AMERICA'S UN-RETIRE-ABLE FUTURE -- Listen
Gold prices inched near $1,600/oz. Monday on EU/Spain/Greece uncertainty amid a stalled U.S. economic "recovery". Urgent Alert from the Chairman! Gold last traded at $1,596 an ounce, silver at $28.58 an ounce.
CENTRAL BANKS BACK TO BUYING GOLD - WSJ
Big changes are afoot in the gold market. The short take: The new environment will favor long-term investors who buy and hold for years over speculators who try to trade day-to-day gyrations... central bankers are back buying gold. Think it’s no big deal? The last time we saw the so-called official sector as such a consistent and major buyer was in 1965.
BERNANKE: ‘A TRILLION HERE, A TRILLION THERE’ - HumanEvents
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee absolutely nothing of real value Thursday -- which was more than enough to chill the market. Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady said, “I wish you would take QE3 off the table. I wish you would look the markets in the eye and say that the Fed has done too much.” Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) claimed that the Fed’s stimulative efforts, “are giving us a false sense of security.” To this Bernanke joked/said “a trillion there, a trillion here” won’t solve the debt crisis.
RAISE U.S. RETIREMENT AGE TO 80? - Lowell Ponte on Bill Meyer- KMED
"Back when the government established 65 as the official retirement age in the 1930s, they knew statistically most Americans would not live beyond age 64," author and futurist Lowell Ponte told Bill Meyer of Medford, Oregon's talk powerhouse KMED.
"I feel sorriest for the young who fear the Social Security 'Trust Fund' is untrustworthy and broke. Today 1/2 of Americans receive government payments and 1/3 have no savings at all."
"But after the next round of money printing and inflation, we are all going to be millionaires (in worthless paper). The key is to move paper dollars into assets that maintain their store of value and can float above the next crisis. In today's hyper-paradoxical society, bad news is spun to create good news and good news is viewed as bad news unless it pushes the Fed to pump more stimulus dollars to prop up the financial markets."
GOLD-INVESTMENT DEMAND IN CHINA TO ADVANCE 10% - Bloomberg
"Gold-investment demand in China may gain more than 10 percent this year as buyers seek a haven from Europe’s debt crisis and the prospect of weakening currencies, according to the country’s largest bullion bank."
“Investors here want to hold part of their assets in gold to hedge for the risks, especially now that the financial crisis has evolved into a sovereign crisis,” Zheng Zhiguang, general manager of the precious-metals department at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., said in an interview in Shanghai.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.8.12 - Insulting Americans' Intelligence -- Listen
Gold prices climbed back toward $1,600/oz. Friday on mixed signals from the Fed amid a stalled U.S. economic recovery. Gold last traded at $1,594 an ounce, down 2% for the week, silver at $28.53 an ounce.
"Americans Trust Romney More Than Obama on Economy," according to a new CNBC survey. Little surprise and shrinking support for Obama's failed economic policies, despite throwing trillions in borrowed money at the problem since 2009.
IN TODAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE... Obama did little to inspire hope, change or moving forward toward better days, just the usual political blame-gaming which, according to Craig R. Smith, will ultimately lead to higher taxes and more regulation. Obama's economic defense was derailed with press questions about his response to intelligence leaks.
SPEAKING OF LEAKY INTELLIGENCE... Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) told FOX NEWS before the President's speech, "Today's press conference is an insult to American's intelligence. Obama has refused to lead. Our best strategy is to inoculate U.S. from the global debt crisis. Obama will not deal with central issue: We have $5 trillion tax increase coming at end of year which is the #1 concern of businessmen..."
OBAMA: "THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS DOING FINE" - RCP
"Question: What about the Republicans saying that you're blaming the Europeans for the failures of your own policies?
President Obama: The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone. The private sector is doing fine. Where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government..."
'FISCAL CLIFF' MAY BE BIGGER THREAT THAN EUROPE - CNBC
"Investors have been so worried over what to do about the rapidly moving European debt crisis that many of them probably have overlooked the political mess in Washington and looming 'fiscal cliff' at year-end. The cliff is likely to hurt growth this year as much as next year," said Ethan S. Harris, North American economist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "By risking a recession-sized fiscal contraction and then offering no guidance to how it will be resolved, politicians are creating a major uncertainty shock."
GLOBAL STALL SPEED? IMPORTS, EXPORTS BOTH POST DECLINES - CNBC
"The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in April as global demand faltered, with both imports and exports dropping from record high levels set in March, a government report showed on Friday. The gap shrank 4.9 percent to $50.1 billion, as imports of goods and services dropped 1.7 percent to $233.0 billion," the U.S. Commerce Department said.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.7.12 - Gold Bears Hold Their Noses... and Buy! -- Listen
Gold prices eased back below $1,600/oz. Thursday following mixed signals from the Fed on stimulus plans. Urgent Alert from the Chairman Gold last traded at $1,588 an ounce, silver at $28.59 an ounce.
WILL BERNANKE BACK A MONETARY FIX FOR THE ECONOMY? - CATO
"All eyes were on Ben Bernanke Thursday as he testified before Congress - and the Fed Chairman did not rule out further monetary activity to kick-start the flagging economic recovery. Cato scholars argue the Fed is already out of viable policy options, and more of the same will only lead to increasingly
gloomy economic results. In the end, quantitative easing turned out to be an anti-stimulus which
stimulated nothing but the cost of living and the cost of production."
REAL MONEY STANDS THE TEST OF TIME! - ARareOpp
Before investing in precious metals it is important to understand the times in which we live and the market fundamentals driving the world back toward tangible assets in a world awash in debt and money substitutes. Seven major forces are propelling gold and silver prices higher in the 21st century:
1. U.S. Dollar in Decline
2. Rising "Real World" Inflation
3. Growing Commodity Demand
4. Rising Geopolitical Uncertainty
5. The Popularity of GLD ETFs
6. Increased Internet Coin Trading
7. Growing Interest in Coin Collecting
SOROS, GARTMAN BACK IN GOLD BUYING MODE -Mineweb
Market experts George Soros and Dennis Gartman have both recently backed the purchasing of gold. Last year Soros believed gold was a bubble and sold most of his metal, now he is back into purchasing the precious metal as the world financial crisis grows.
Gartman, like Soros, is not a gold bug and his Gartman letter has a huge following... Gartman suggests that investment in gold is speculative, but that there is still upside to be seen - "I think I've said this before on your program, and I'll say it again, I am not a gold bug. I don't believe that gold is the be-all and end-all - I don't believe the world is coming to an end." GOLD: BOTH SIDES OF THE COIN - Free Report
FITCH: US RISKS 2013 RATING DOWNGRADE - MoneyNews
Fitch Ratings reiterated on Thursday it would cut its sovereign credit rating for the United States next year if Washington cannot come to grips with its deficits and create a "credible" fiscal consolidation plan. They also said it would immediately cut the credit ratings on Cyprus, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal if Greece were to exit the eurozone.
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.6.12 -- Yes, Government Budgets CAN Be Balanced! -- Listen
Gold prices topped $1,625/oz. Wednesday on safe haven buying and a weaker dollar, stocks bounce. Urgent Alert from the Chairman. Gold last traded at $1,619 an ounce, silver at $29.43 an ounce.
YES, BUDGETS CAN BE BALANCED! - Craig R. Smith on CommonSenseCoalitionRadio
"No matter who wins the presidential election, I think we have four difficult years ahead. But I am very encouraged by the message coming out of the Wisconsin elections last night; that budgets can be balanced, tough decisions can be made and the people will support it!"
"We the People are waking up and putting a stop to the insanity of deficit spending. If the U.S. took strong steps of austerity now, it would instantly begin creating new jobs as businesses and foreigners would decide to invest in America again. I'm convinced that if we make the changes needed now, in 10-15 years America the great can get back on track."
BUY GOLD FOR $1,700 AND BEYOND - Yahoo
"It's another explosive move for the yellow metal, an asset that's traditionally thought to be more of a hedge or investment. The next leg higher in gold would likely be driven by another round of financial stimulus from the Fed. Such action would weaken the dollar, moving all commodities higher and adding particularly high octane fuel to the gold rally fire."
GOLD LOVES FINANCIAL REPRESSION AND WE'VE GOT IT WORLDWIDE - Forbes
"All of a sudden, everyone’s talking about financial repression, the capture and torture of domestic savers with below-inflation rates of interest, so that banking and government debt shrinks in real terms. Take the Financial Times; it’s published 15 stories on financial repression in the last month alone, yet only two mention gold."
“In [our] mildly reflating world” however, advises Bill Gross of Pimco, “unless you want to earn an inflation-adjusted return of minus 2%-3% as offered by Treasury bills, then you must take risk in some form.” And buying gold is just such a risk – a uniquely simple and obvious one, offering a stateless escape to a borderless market."
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Last week The world’s richest people lost a combined $24.4 billion. In a few years, the marinas will be full of abandoned yachts and Lamborghini dealerships will be loaded with pre-owned bargains, just waiting for gold bugs (the new financial aristocracy) to use their coins and bars for a little conspicuous consumption." -John Rubino, DollarCollapse.com
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.5.12 -- Obama's Shortcut to Restore Prosperity -- Listen
Gold prices steadied above $1,600/oz. Tuesday, stocks inch higher amid mixed economic data, EU fears. Gold last traded at $1,617 an ounce, silver at $28.52 an ounce.
HOW PRESIDENT OBAMA CAN QUICKLY RESTORE PROSPERITY - NewsRelease
President Obama's policies of Keynesian stimulus, printing trillions of paper dollars out of thin air, and government intervention in the free marketplace have “completely failed” and are now dragging the U.S. back into recession, stagnation and high inflation.
“The President was well-intended but sincerely mistaken, but he could revive the economy, quickly put millions back to work, and redeem his reputation in history with one courageous, decisive act,” say Craig R. Smith and Lowell Ponte, co-authors of The Inflation Deception and Crashing the Dollar.
“President Obama could heal our economy and the world almost instantly simply by acknowledging that his policies have failed and that he is resigning the presidency,” says Ponte, a former think tank futurist.
“If Mr. Obama continues to blame others and double down on failure, he will lose in the election and be remembered as the worst president in American history...perhaps as the one who ended American greatness forever,” says Ponte. more...
2012 LAST CHANCE FOR SUB-$2,000/OZ. GOLD - Urgent Alert from the Chairman
We are clearly headed into a double-dip recession at best, or into a depression at worst. But unlike 1929, this next depression will be hyper-inflationary.
In 1929 U.S. citizens were producers and savers. Today we are borrowers and consumers. The government, therefore, through the central bank will print trillions attempting to inflate its way back to prosperity with paper money unsupported by real productivity.
Inflation rewards borrowers (government being the largest borrower of all) and punishes savers...you and every American by bleeding the purchasing power out of what we earn and save.
I firmly believe this may be the last chance to acquire Gold below $2,000 an ounce. more...
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.4.12 - Gold Exhales Before Fed Inhales -- Listen
Gold prices consolidated Friday's sharp gains above $1,600/oz. Monday amid downbeat U.S. factory & jobs data, EU frets. Smart gold dip buying! Gold last traded at $1,618 an ounce, silver at $28.26 an ounce.
URGENT PRE-MELTDOWN ALERT - Craig R. Smith
It is all but official that the Fed, in coordination with other central banks, will be pressured into money creation - the likes of which we have never before seen. Q.E. 1 and Q.E. 2 did little to pull the economy back from the brink. If $2.5 Trillion conjured out of thin air didn't work, they next might try $3, $4, $5 or even $10 Trillion?
Smart money knows all this and is rapidly moving into gold for protection.
The move into Treasuries and gold confirms that we are going to see worldwide inflation created to prevent the dreaded deflationary cycle the Fed sees as the end of the world. It would not surprise me to see the Fed expand its balance sheet by another 100%.
I firmly believe we are on the edge of another Lehman-type meltdown in the financial industry. Nothing has fundamentally changed that brought on the 2008 crisis. J.P. Morgan announced a $2 Billion loss from risky trading practices. Major banks, bigger than ever, are being forced to soak customers with massive fees in order to lend money to our bankrupt government. more...
NO-SO "SMART" MONEY GIVES DUMB ADVICE - Editor
Gold's surge last Friday has brought out both the bulls and the bears from hibernation. For example, Marketwatch.com today posted a commentary by "Smart" Money writer entitled "Why your portfolio doesn’t need gold".
Ignore such articles which are targeted short-term at speculators rather than long-term investors. These are the same people who continue touting stocks and government paper as "safe havens" month in and out, year in and out, decade in and out... until the day the dollar dies.
These folks are what our Founders called the "friends of paper money." The same who love splashing beautiful gold coins on their mag covers to gain readership, while at the same time talking precious metals down ever since the bull market began over a decade ago. They have been wrong every time. They just don't get gold's bigger picture!
CNBC reports, "Last week's batch of 21 economic reports was the worst ever, with 18 missing forecasts and only one beating them, according to Bespoke Investment Group."
N.Y. Times asks, "As Spain’s economic crisis deepens and uncertainty swirls over Greece’s future in the euro zone, the guardians of the increasingly fragile European monetary union are near a moment of truth: can they muster the will and resources to keep the euro zone from breaking apart?"
Debt Up $1.59T Under GOP House - CNSnews
"The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which took office in January 2011, has enacted federal spending bills under which the national debt has increased more in less than one term of Congress than in the first 97 Congresses combined."
More: Swiss America Gold Market News
6.1.12 - Gold Glows Amid Growing Gloom -- Listen
Gold prices shot up more than 4% to $1,625/oz. Friday on safe haven buying following weak jobs data and rising unemployment. Smart gold dip buying! Gold last traded at $1,626 an ounce, silver at $28.68 an ounce.
GOLD RALLIES LIKE IT'S 1999! -Editor
CNBC TV reports "gold had its biggest one-day price jump today in 13 years." Just as we have been saying... "The recent price dip offers smart investors the 9th major gold buying opportunity since 2003. The average price rebound following price dips is 36%!"
CBNC.com poses this question, "A confidence-crushing May jobs report has turned market talk back
to more Fed easing. But how much more can the central bank do with Treasury yields at record
lows?"
U.S. DOLLAR WORST PLACE TO SEEK SAFETY - PR
“The U.S. Government printed more than $5 Trillion dollars out of thin air to paper over
reckless political spending during the past three years,” says Craig R. Smith, a 30-year
monetary expert.
“The Federal Reserve has already signaled that it's ready to magically conjure trillions more. And every dollar they print makes the dollars you earn and save worth less.”
“To paraphrase President Ronald Reagan, the Dollar isn't a safe haven from today's risky economic problems. The weakening Dollar IS today's biggest economic problem,” says Lowell Ponte, a former think tank futurist. more...
MARKETWATCH.com reports, "Greenback gives ground as traders anticipate the Federal Reserve will be driven to action by weak gains in U.S. job market. Meanwhile, stocks begin a June swoon, the S&P stock index has fallen 10% from its recent high, putting it into correction mode."
