Archive - Nov 2015

According to the latest data, total Comex Registered gold dropped by another 11% overnight to just 134,877 ounces, just over 4 tonnes and another all time low, and since the gold open interest remains largely unchanged, the physical gold coverage ratio, or the ratio of gold claims to Registered gold, has just hit an all time high of 294 ounces of paper for every ounces of physical.

The game of enabling more debt by lowering interest rates and loosening lending standards is coming to an end. Debt is not a sustainable substitute for income, and households are increasingly waking up to this realization. Say good-bye to Christmas, America, and debt-based spending in general--except, of course, for the federal government, which can always borrow another couple trillion dollars on the backs of our grandchildren.

The ISIS group sells most of its crude directly to independent traders at the wellhead for $20-$45 a barrel earning the group an average of $1.5 million a day.

Obama and Clinton Are JUST AS BAD

Seek protection from the great threat...

Last night’s Asia action brought another warning that the global deflation cycle is accelerating. Iron ore broke below $40 per ton for the first time since the central banks kicked off the world’s credit based growth binge two decades ago; it’s now down 40% this year and 80% from its 2011-212 peak. This implosion of demand cannot be remedied with another round of central bank money printing because the world is already at peak debt. Accordingly,  global corporate profit cycle is heading into a deep downturn, just as the equity markets go into a final spasm of levitation based on a handful of big cap stocks.

Across 4,888 US listed stocks, only the micro-est of micro-caps remain (historically speaking) cheap... do you feel lucky?

"Tengram has instructed its broker that it will not permit borrowing of any of its shares by short sellers who are only interested in reducing the value of the Company’s stock price for their short-term gain.  We urge each of you to contact your broker today and inform them that your shares may not be made available to be borrowed by short sellers.”

Having fixed the greatest threat to the world - climate change - and following the deadly Paris attacks and numerous other violent incidents perpetrated by the terror group ISIS, many governments and populations worldwide are wondering how we can eliminate this threat. Here are some strategies to defeat the Islamic State...

While hyperinflating Argentina has begun discussing a rise in the denominations of its banknotes, and South Africa has admitted defeat in the currency wars, it appears Kazakhstan's collapsing currency and crashing reserves has prompted action. Since allowing the Tenge to "free float" in August it has imploded (from 188 to 308 per USD) and so today The Kazakh Central Bank unveiled the new 20,000 Tenge banknote - double the highest denomination previously.

While the storm clouds continue to build above Trafigura, we now know the fate of Galena and why its CEO Letchford departed the company in a hurry last week: according to a follow up from Bloomberg, Trafigura has decided to close the flagship Galena Metals Fund, the latest hedge fund victim of the rout in raw materials markets from oil to copper.

Last week's arrest of Latin America's most prominent investment banker sent shares of BTG Pactual plunging as investors pulled a third of their money from the firm's fixed income funds. As shocking as Andre Esteves' detention most assuredly was, analysts say the real risk may stem from the investigation into Rousseff's "guy" in the Senate, Delcidio Amaral, who was also detained last Wednesday. As Bloomberg reports, Amaral's "arrest not only delayed government efforts to resolve this year’s budget dispute, but it also dispelled a long-held belief that sitting lawmakers are all but untouchable because of a quirk in Brazilian law that affords politicians special treatment in criminal investigations." 

A false capitalism reigns based on false capital - notional wealth where there is really no wealth; value where there is no value. Moments like this in history beat a path straight to currency collapse, and that will open the door to a greater collapse of all our familiar arrangements.