Thunder Road Reports On Irregularities In The Gold Market

The motivation for writing this report is the fact that the gold market doesn’t make sense. Basically, the numbers don’t add up. This became apparent to me while I was writing the Gold War report at Redburn Partners in 2007. At the time, I was more interested in discussing the upcoming bust in the credit cycle and why gold and silver were the “go to” assets for investors. Since then, I’ve been meaning to write a piece interpreting the “official data” for the gold market. My analysis suggests that the data on the volume of gold traded, if put in its proper context, does not tally with my estimate of the amount of gold that is held in the form of bars which conform to “London Good Delivery” standard. - Paul Mylchreest, Thunder Road Report

EuroStat To Determine Increase To Greek Debt Shortly

EuroStat just caused more work for RBS "strategists." The European statistics office, still busy going through Chi square brain teasers, has announced it has to determine the increase in Greek government debt due to the 2001 Goldman-underwritten swap transaction. Per Bloomberg: "The Greek authorities have informed Eurostat that repayment of the debt began in 2004,” Eurostat said in an e- mailed statement today. “In consequence, Eurostat will have to determine, in cooperation with the Greek authorities, what will be the increase in government debt due to this specific swap operation from 2004 onwards.”

$42 Billion 5 Year Auction Closes At 2.395%, 32.83% Allotted At High - Large Tail, Large Direct Take Down, Just 40% Indirects

• Yields 2.395% vs. Exp. 2.389%
• Bid To Cover 2.75 vs. Avg. 2.65 (Prev. 2.80)
• Indirects 40.30% vs. Avg. 51.47% (Prev. 52.98%)
• Indirect hit ratio 76.8%
• Allotted at high 32.83%
• Direct take down 12.85%
• 1 PM WI bid was 2.380%

S&P: "A Further Greek Downgrade Of One To Two Notches Is Possible Within A Month" (Currently BBB+/A-2)

• Downside risks for Greece's real and nominal growth are likely to increase the size of needed fiscal consolidation, raising questions about the feasibility of the country's ambitious budgetary goals.
• Political risks for the timely implementation of the entirety of fiscal reforms continue to be material.
• We are maintaining our 'BBB+/A-2' ratings on the Hellenic Republic on CreditWatch negative.
• The negative CreditWatch implications reflect the possibility of a further downgrade of one to two notches within a month.

GSE Reform Overtures Whack Dollar, Market Spikes As Race To Currency Bottom Enters Second Lap

The almighty dollar just reminded everyone that it is in the hands of the Geithner/Bernanke puppetmasters. Overtures to reform GSEs announced earlier helped everyone forget that Greek rioting does not fill a budget deficit and instead that we have a hole worth several trillion in the mortgage sector, courtesy of 25-50% artificially higher home prices, that is currently unaccounted for. So as the dollar plunged, the JPYEUR currency pair formerly known as the market, surged. Is regime 2 (weak euro) about to revert to regime 1 (weak dollar) all over again? The race to the bottom is about to enter the second lap.

Full Bernanke Testimony And Live Webcast

Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, and other members of the Committee, I am pleased to present the Federal Reserve's semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress.

Although the recession officially began more than two years ago, U.S. economic activity contracted particularly sharply following the intensification of the global financial crisis in the fall of 2008. Concerted efforts by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, and other U.S. authorities to stabilize the financial system, together with highly stimulative monetary and fiscal policies, helped arrest the decline and are supporting a nascent economic recovery. Indeed, the U.S. economy expanded at about a 4 percent annual rate during the second half of last year... Etc