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Eric Sprott Presents The Ministry of [Un]Truth
From Eric Sprott of Sprott Asset Management
Ministry of [Un]Truth
Speaking at a Brussels conference back in April 2011, Eurogroup President Jean Claude Juncker notably stated during a panel discussion that "when it becomes serious, you have to lie." He was referring to situations where the act of "pre-indicating" decisions on eurozone policy could fuel speculation that could harm the markets and undermine their policies' effectiveness.1 Everyone understands that the authorities sometimes lie in order to promote calm in the markets, but it was unexpected to hear such a high-level official actually admit to doing so. They're not supposed to admit that they lie. It is also somewhat disconcerting given the fact that virtually every economic event we have lived through since that time can very easily be described as "serious". Bank runs in Spain and Greece are indeed "serious", as is the weak economic data now emanating from Europe, the US and China. Should we assume that the authorities have been lying more frequently than usual over the past year?
When former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan denied and down-played the US housing bubble back in 2004 and 2005, the market didn't realize how wrong he was until the bubble burst in 2007-2008. The same applies to the current Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, when he famously told US Congress in March of 2007 that "At this juncture… the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime markets seems likely to be contained."2 They weren't necessarily lying, per se, they just underestimated the seriousness of the problem. At this point in the crisis, however, we are hard pressed to believe anything uttered by a central planner or financial authority figure. How many times have we heard that the eurozone crisis has been solved? And how many times have we heard officials flat out lie while the roof is burning over their heads?
Back in March, following the successful €530 billion launch of LTRO II, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi assured Germany's Bild Newspaper that "The worst is over… the situation is stabilizing."3 The situation certainly did stabilize… for about a month. And then the bank runs started up again and sovereign bond yields spiked. Draghi has since treaded the awkward plank of promoting calm while slipping out enough bad news to ensure the eurocrats stay on their toes. As ING economist Carsten Brzeski aptly described at an ECB press conference in early June, "Listening to the ECB's macro-economic assessment was a bit like listening to whistles in the dark… It looks as if they are becoming increasingly worried, but do not want to show it."4 And the situation has now deteriorated to the point where Draghi can't possibly show it. Although Draghi does now warn of "serious downside risks" in the eurozone, he maintains that they are, in his words, "mostly to do with heightened uncertainty".5 Of course they are, Mario. Europe's issues are simply due to a vague feeling of unease felt among the EU populace. They have nothing to do with fact that the EU banking system is on the verge of collapsing in on itself.
When Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy assured the Spanish press that "There will be no rescue of the Spanish banking sector" on May 28th, the Spanish government announced a $125 billion bailout for its banks a mere two weeks later.6 This apparent deceit was not lost on the Spanish left, who were quick to dub him "Lying Rajoy". But Mr. Rajoy didn't seem phased in the least. As the Guardian writes, "Even when the outpouring of outrage forced Rajoy to call a hasty press conference the next day, he still refused to use the word "bailout" - or any other word for that matter - and referred mysteriously to "what happened on Saturday". He went as far as to say that Spain's emergency had been "resolved" ("thanks to my pressure", he said). He then took a plane to Poland to watch the national football team play ("the players deserve my presence")."7 Sound credible to you?
Then there are the bankers. Back in April, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon blithely dismissed media reports as a "tempest in a teapot" that referred to massively outsized derivative positions held by the bank's traders in the Chief Investment Office in London. That "tempest" was soon revealed to have resulted in a $2 billion trading loss for the bank roughly four weeks later. In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee this past week, Dimon explained that "This particular synthetic credit portfolio was intended to earn a lot of revenue if there was a crisis. I consider that a hedge."8 He went on to add that regulators "can't stop something like this from happening. It was purely a management mistake."9 That's just wonderful. Can we expect more 'mistakes' of this nature in the coming months given JP Morgan's estimated $70 trillion in derivatives exposure? And will the US taxpayer willingly bail out JP Morgan when it does? Everyone knows the derivatives position wasn't a hedge - but what else is Dimon going to say? That JP Morgan is making reckless derivatives bets overseas with other people's money that's backstopped by the US government? Credibility is leaving the system.
There is certainly a sense that the authorities can no longer be candid about this ongoing crisis, even if they want to be. On June 11th Austria's finance minister, Maria Fekter, opined in a television interview that, "Italy has to work its way out of its economic dilemma of very high deficits and debt, but of course it may be that, given the high rates Italy pays to refinance on markets, they too will need support."10 Her honesty sent Italian bond yields soaring and earned her some harsh criticism from eurozone officials, including Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. As one eurozone official stated, "The problem is that this is market sensitive… It's one thing if journalists write this but quite another if a eurozone minister says it. Verbal discipline is very important but she doesn't seem to get that."11 See no evil, hear no evil… and speak no evil. That's the way forward for the eurozone elites.
We have no doubt that everyone is tired of bad news, but we are compelled to review the facts: Europe is currently experiencing severe bank runs, budgets in virtually every western country on the planet are out of control, the banking system is running excessive leverage and risk, the costs of servicing the ever-increasing amounts of government debt are rising rapidly, and the economies of Europe, Asia and the United States are slowing down or are in full contraction. There's no sugar coating it and we have to stop listening to politicians and central planners who continue to downplay, obfuscate and flat out lie about the current economic reality. Stop listening to them.
NOTHING the central bankers have done up to this point has WORKED. All efforts have simply been aimed at keeping the financial system from imploding. QE I and II haven't worked. LTRO I and II haven't worked, and the most recent central bank initiatives are not even producing short-term benefits at this stage of the crisis. Just take Spain, for example. Following Rajoy's announcement of the $125 billion bailout loan for the Spanish banks on June 10th, Spanish bond yields were trading back over 7% one week later - the same yield level at which other eurozone countries have been forced to ask for further international aid.12 The market still doesn't even know what entity is going to pay the $125 billion, let alone when the funds will actually be released or whether the Spanish government will have to count it as part of its national debt. Spain is the fourth largest economy in the eurozone and larger than the previously bailedout Greece, Ireland and Portugal combined. At this point, it's not even clear if the ECB will be allowed to bail out a country of Spain's size, let alone Italy, which is now asking the ECB to use bailout funds to buy its sovereign bonds.13
The situation in Europe is becoming an exercise in futility. The positive effects of LTRO I and II, which combined pumped in over €1 trillion into European banks back in December 2011 and February 2012, have now been completely erased by the recent bank runs in Spain. Of the €523 billion released in LTRO II, roughly €200 billion was taken by Spanish banks.14 Of that amount, roughly €61 billion was estimated to have been reinvested back into Spanish sovereign bonds, which temporarily helped Spanish bond yields drop back to a sustainable level below 5.5%. Fast forward to today, and despite the LTRO infusions, the Spanish banks are all broke again after their underlying depositors withdrew billions over the past six weeks. The only liquid assets Spanish banks still own that they can sell to raise euros just happen to be government bonds… hence the rise in Spanish yields. So in essence, the entire benefit of the LTRO, which was a clever way of replenishing Spanish bank capital AND helping calm sovereign bond yields, has been completely reversed in roughly 14 weeks. It's as we've said before - it's not a sovereign problem, it's a banking problem. This is why Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy is now pleading for help "to break the link between risk in the banking sector and sovereign risk."15 Without a healthy sovereign bond market, peripheral eurozone countries simply have no way of supporting their bloated and insolvent banks.
The smart money is finally waking up to the dimension of the problem here and realizing that it's really a banking issue. Deposit flight has revealed the vulnerability of the European banking system: when depositors make withdrawals, the only assets the banks can sell to raise liquidity are sovereign bonds, which creates the vicious downward spiral that up to this point has always resulted in some form of central bank bailout. Many eurozone authorities still have trouble understanding this. As Spanish Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, recently stated to reporters at the G20 Summit, "We think… that the way markets are penalizing Spain today does not reflect the efforts we have made or the growth potential of the economy… Spain is a solvent country and a country which has a capacity to grow."16 Every country has the capacity to grow. Not every country has a domestic banking system that has already borrowed €316 billion from the ECB so far this year (pre the most recently announced bailout), and needs to rollover roughly €600 billion in bank debt in 2012.17 That may be why the markets are reacting the way they are.
If you want to know what's really going on, listen to the executives of companies that actually produce and sell things. On May 24, Tiffany & Co cut its fiscal-year sales and profit forecasts blaming "slowing growth in key markets like China and weakness in the United States as shoppers think twice about spending on high-end jewelry."18 On June 8th, McDonald's surprised the market with lower than expected same-store sales growth in May, following a lacklustre April sales report that the company stated was "largely due to underperformance in the United States, where consumers continue to seek out very low-priced food."19, 20 On June 13th, Nucor Corp., the largest U.S. steelmaker by market value warned that its second-quarter profit will miss its previous guidance after a "surge" in imports undermined prices and "political and economic uncertainty affect buyers' confidence".21 On June 20th, Proctor and Gamble lowered its fourth quarter guidance and profit forecast for 2012. Factors that drove the company's challenges included "slow-to-no GDP growth in developed markets", high unemployment levels, significant commodity cost increases and "highly volatile foreign exchange rates".22 Other companies that have recently lowered guidance include Danone, Nestle, Unilever, Cisco Systems, Dell, Lowe's, and Fedex. It's ugly out there, and many companies are politely warning the market about the type of environment they foresee ahead in both the US and abroad.
To give you a hint of how bad it is in Europe today, the most recent retail sales out of Netherlands showed a decline of 8.7% year-over-year in April.23 In Spain, retail sales fell 9.8% year-on-year in April, which was 6% greater than the revised drop of 3.8% in March.24 Declines of this magnitude are not normal occurrences and signal a significant shift in spending within those countries. We fear this is a sign of things to come within the broader Eurozone, which will only serve to complicate an already dire situation that much more.
The G6 central banks are out of conventional tools to solve this financial crisis. With interest rates at zero, and the thought of further stimulus rendered politically unpalatable for the time being, we cannot see any positive solutions to this problem other than debt repudiation. We continue to note the contrast between the reporting companies who by law cannot lie about their fiscal realities, versus the central planners who admit that they MUST lie to preserve calm and control. We'll leave it to you to decide whose version of the truth you want to believe.
| 1 | Forelle, Charles (May 9, 2011) "Luxembourg Lies on Secret Meeting". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on June 5, 2012 from: http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2011/05/09/luxembourg-lies-on-secret-meeting/ |
| 2 | Bernanke, Ben S. (March 28, 2007) "Economic Outlook before the Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress". Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Retrieved on June 8, 2012 from: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20070328a.htm |
| 3 | Evans, Stephen (March 22, 2012) "ECB Chief Mario Draghi says worst of euro crisis over". BBC News. Retrieved on June 6, 2012 from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17471617 |
| 4 | Russolillo, Steven (June 6, 2012) "Here's How to Read Mario Draghi's Poker Face". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on June 7, 2012 from: http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2012/06/06/heres-how-to-read-mario-draghis-poker-face/ |
| 5 | AFP (June 16, 2012) "ECB warns 'serious risks' for Eurozone, but no inflation". Associated Foreign Press. Retrieved on June 19, 2012 from: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iiejMz-3WKosppE5ZzOzEAKg17Wg?docId=CNG.f6398cd8abf3d40ac05d3ebfdfe7bada.101 |
| 6 | CBC News (May 28, 2012) "Spain says banks won't need EU rescue" CBC News. Retrieved on June 6, 2012 from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/05/28/spain-banks-rajoy.html |
| 7 | Murado, Miguel-Anxo (June 12, 2012) "'Bailout' seems to be the hardest word for Spain's prime minister". The Guardian. Retrieved on June 12, 2012 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/12/bailout-spain-prime-minister-mariano-rajoy |
| 8 | AP (June 13, 2012) "'There was good intent': JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon APOLOGIZES while explaining $2B loss to Congress amid protesting hecklers". Associated Press. Retrieved on June 13, 2012 from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2158827/JP-Morgan-Chase-Senate-hearings-Jamie-Dimon-defends-2billion-trading-loss-Congress.html |
| 9 | Touryalai, Halah (June 13, 2012) "Jamie Dimon's Testimony: Volcker Rule May Have Prevented Loss". Forbes. Retrieved on June 16, 2012 from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2012/06/13/jamie-dimons-testimony-gets-underway-i-was-dead-wrong/ |
| 10 | Shields, Michael and Scherer, Steve (June 12, 2012) "Austrian minister says Italy too may need bailout". Reuters. Retrieved on June 12, 2012 from: http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE85B0FT20120612?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0 |
| 11 | Ibid. |
| 12 | Day, Paul (June 19, 2012) "Spain's short-term borrowing costs jump at auction". Reuters. Retrieved on June 20, 2012 from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/19/spain-debt-idUSL5E8HJ0RP20120619 |
| 13 | AP (June 20, 2012) "Europe gropes for crisis fix, bond buys pushed". Associated Press. Retrieved on June 20, 2012 from: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Business/20120620/italy-monti-bailout-funds-government-bonds-120620/ |
| 14 | Watts, William (April 13, 2012) "Spain data underlines LTRO downside". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on June 15, 2012 from: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2012/04/13/spain-data-underlines-ltro-downside/ |
| 15 | Crowe, Darcy (June 18, 2012) "Spain's Rajoy Calls for Fencing in Banking Risk". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on June 19, 2012 from: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120618-714553.html |
| 16 |
Day, Paul and Maltezou, Renee (June 19, 2012) "Spanish short-term debt costs reach alarm levels". Reuters. Retrieved on June 20, 2012 from: |
| 17 | Smith, Geoffrey (June 12, 2012) "Spain Deal Doesn't Stop Sovereign-Bank Feedback Loop". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on June 15, 2012 from: http://blogs.wsj.com/eurocrisis/2012/06/12/spain-deal-doesnt-stop-sovereign-bank-feedback-loop/ |
| 18 | Wahba, Phil (May 24, 2012) "Tiffany forecasts disappoint; U.S., Asia slowing". Reuters. Retrieved on June 19, 2012 from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/24/tiffany-earnings-idUSL1E8GO1DN20120524 |
| 19 | Egan, Matt (June 8, 2012) "McDonald's May Same-Store Sales Come Up Short". FOXBusiness. Retrieved on June 18, 2012 from: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/06/08/mcdonald-same-store-sales-come-up-short/ |
| 20 | Baertlein, Lisa and Wahba, Phil (May 8, 2012) "Mcdonald's April U.S. sales miss estimates. Reuters. Retrieved on June 20, 2012 from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/08/us-mcdonalds-idUSBRE8470K320120508 |
| 21 | Elmquist, Sonja (June 13, 2012) "Nucor Says Profit To Miss Guidance As Steel Imports 'Surge'". Bloomberg. Retrieved on June 19, 2012 from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-13/nucor-says-profit-to-miss-guidance-as-steel-imports-surge-2-.html |
| 22 | Pichler, Josh (June 20, 2012) "P&G lowers guidance for fourth quarter". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved on June 20, 2012 from: http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20120620/BIZ01/306200019/P-G-lowers-guidance-fourth-quarter?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7Ccommunities%7Cs |
| 23 | Van den Oever, Robert. (June 14, 2012) "Dutch Retail Sales Fall 8.7% in April". Dow Jones. Retrieved on June 20, 2012 from: http://www.4-traders.com/news/Dutch-Retail-Sales-Fall-8-7-in-April--14369639/ |
| 24 | Dowsett, Sonya (May 29, 2012) "Spanish retail sales show record fall in April". Reuters. Retrieved on June 20, 2012 from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/29/spain-retail-idUSE8E8FQ00020120529 |
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I work for a small Construction biz in the Bay Area. Like my company and many more, the last 4 years have been horrible. We can't compete with the big company's. I rely on the work because this is my trade. Jobs are being slashed, what happens when millions of people continue to default, continue to not buy homes, because they have no F-in money? Won't the government have to act on this? I'm new here so junk me accordingly. Won't the government have to forgive debt?
"Won't the government have to act on this? I'm new here so junk me accordingly. Won't the government have to forgive debt?"\
You have to EARN your junks from me. Like Rainman, who can't / won't read / understand.
The government doesn't have to act on anything it doesn't want to - although it risks riots / uprisings / revolution (eventually) if it doesn't. The problem is, what will it do?
a) The big companies are the ones making the campaign contributions - as long as they can stay afloat. If millions of people continue to default, they won't make it either, after a while.
b) The small companies (like yours, apparently) will go under quicker - and qualify for Federal retraining / assistance / relocation etc. This
1) Allows the Feds to exert more influence / control / favoritism, and
2) Lets the big companies (campaign contributors) gain more assets at firesale (bankruptcy) prices.
From the point of view of a power-mad sociopathic / psychopathic control freak (typical bureaucrat these days), what's not to like?
Hope this helps - just realize no one's in it FOR you - just for what they can get FROM you.
:-))
If you believe that the powers behind all government decisions (eg. lobbyists, bankers, Bilderbergers) are furiously working to solve the financial crisis and rebuild manufacturing and small business in the western economies, then you can assume 'yes', unrepayable debts will be written down/off sooner or later.
If, however, you believe that the powers behind government are furiously working to rebuild the global feudal system of the past - that they lost control of to a rising middle class due to the printing press, the Enlightenment and a few revolutions - then you can assume 'no', debts will not be written off and both the bourgeoisie and the working class will again own nothing.
Every government is run by liars,” independent journalist I.F. Stone observed, “and nothing they say should be believed.
What every "school prayer" should say; but we get you know what.....
Who is repudiating debt? Where is this happening? Give me a break, I am just waiting for my 3k for my thingamajig. When every pension across the board takes a 75% haircut wake me up. When 48 year old's on disability stop winning marathons wake me up.
You're talking about the market crash where most of America's retirement "investments" are vaporized, then?
I'd set the DVR. You're gonna wanna see what happened. Sounds like it's gonna be a big surprise.
$3K= 100 ounces of the shiny!
Yea buddy, my kinda thingamajigs.
I feel the same. Although not all that savvy on the technicals of global finance, I think our day in the sun is over once the rest of the world (and it's coming soon) decides they have had enough of our financial antics.
I suspect it takes time for really big money to get prepared for such actions but the future of making money has to be oriented toward productive pursuits--not Wall Street.
Be patient. Your thingamajig will arrive as soon as Barry X hocks all the wedding presents he is demanding on his website.
Here is some more titilating news from one of our "leaders"...
Pelosi: Obama should unilaterally eliminate the debt ceiling
June 22, 2012
http://washingtonexaminer.com/pelosi-obama-should-unilaterally-eliminate...
excerpt:
"House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., thinks that President Obama should unilaterally eliminate the debt ceiling, rather than negotiate with Congress to spend more money when the United States hits the debt ceiling later this year."
It would be awesome if she would just roll around in broken glass with Magic Johnson. She is worthless.
Maybe she could volunteer to let the Air Force deploy one of these on her home... for testing purposes...and she could have Barney Frank over for tea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuniKsBxZ10
Holy crap! Looks like I didn't dig my bunker deep enough. Figured it was required after joining ZH. Well if it's that or the Fema camp, I'll take the fast exit.
Miffed:-)
How is it that a person as medicated as she was 3rd in line to the Presidency of the United States?
In what way would this make her less able to do the important work of the modern Presidency?
She may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to what the powers of the various governmental sections (leg., executive, judicial), but she's good at lining her pocket by the use of inside information.
"if there is at least one thing the central planners of the status quo do not have control over, it is just that: hope."
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/truth-gets-out-eventually
For truth, I choose to believe Tyler.
Why would anyone be suprised? Here is what I think, Nothing Changes....... http://youtu.be/mI2f6p4vjZE
"We continue to note the contrast between the reporting companies who by law cannot lie about their fiscal realities,...."
The contrast becomes even bolder when one takes into consideration that companies (especially financial) can be "legally" fraudulent in how they report. With thanks to the the FASB rule changes and the SEC's "blind eye".
Finally someone who understands what we need - MDB you are the MAN!
You guys need to take it easy, some people can't detect sarcasm all that well, and they will lose faith in humanity due to your comments :)
"That's the way forward for the EuroZone Elites" : Indeed, the elephant in the room has found its truncated voice... bellowing a clarion call - " it's not a sovereign problem but a banking problem", perhaps soon to have its majestic ivory head hoisted on high, upon Brussels's infamous 'Trophy`Wall'!
'buying time the old fashion way, from the future, but... what if the future has other plans for its time? Like, throwing-up it's past!'
great read!
thankyou tyler
ALGOS can't be stackers..
Checkmate..........
Egypt represents the old world where coups are done by the Military.
The Eurozone represents the New world where coups are done by the Banks.
The question in both cases is whether or not the countries in question can return to a government elected by popular vote...the soverign (armys) and the banks will kill each other and the meek will inherit the earth. I read that somewhere--
The US constitution holds the blue print for success.
The worldwide trend towards totalitarianism will have to be stopped in it's tracks in the USA.
up arrow.
I think it might be useful to start putting flyers up in every public place to reduce the legitimacy and power of the enforcers for the coming festivities. God knows we're going to need all the help we can get.
Does anyone know of any good police brutality posters? I found this one: http://thecloud.crimethinc.com/pdfs/the_police_color.pdf but I think it could be done better. Also, it would be good to include http://www.policemisconduct.net/ on the flyer. At least some of them will be put on notice, and it's likely to alienate the general public from further cooperating with them.
Wow. Crimethinc....I haven't seen anything related to them in some time. Thanks for the link.
http://sevensheaven.tumblr.com/post/17084597684/support-your-local-thoug...
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=21o0hx&s=6
Ha, that's funny!
Things are looking up I must say
Yes we can , Say it Yes we can
Financially-strapped Nevada city declared disaster
http://www.rgj.com/viewart/20120622/NEWS07/306220052/Financially-strappe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPr_T7btVgA&feature=related
Speaking of Bad News, O'Bama now wants your gifts to go to him.
I am not making this up:
http://weaselzippers.us/2012/06/22/obama-asks-people-getting-married-to-...
On the page, you can click to go to the campaign website.
Oh Em Gee, at this rate, the bastard will be asking for your kidney next week since youu have two of them.
"Cremate your loved ones and send the difference to me, The International Man of Misery."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPr_T7btVgA&feature=related
Another Summer of recovery
Did Biden say that again. What a loser
re: "they just underestimated the seriousness of the problem" - I prefer the GW Bush term 'ms-underestimated'
People stopped buying from Tiffany & Co. because gold is too expensive bitchez.
Anyone here have any mining stocks going Russell re-balance ballistic AH's like MUX?
http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/mux/after-hours
Lot's of volume, very little price movement ..... can someone explain why the price is flat -- were these
pre-arranged trades? TIA
The elite are in the process of taking Soetoro down now. Bilderberg's agenda is for Romney. So stuff is being released about Barak's background. The FED is not being helpful either.
Joe Gilbert, "Dreams from my REAL father."
So now he is from Chicago and not Kenya and his real dad is: Frank Marshall Davis
I thought he was no one but at least he is someone now.
OR....... Malcolm X.
Barry's mom was a real coal-burner!
I have always suspected who his real father was. Another interesting fact is that BHO's mom may have been underage when she conceived ol Barry. Her 18th birthday would've been Nov 29, 1960. Barry's B-day is Aug 4, 1961. That's only 8 months and 5 days not a entire 9 months. It would also explain why she and her family just up and moved from a conservative community to Hawaii while being regstered for classes in college back in the states. i know pregnancy is not always 9 months but still with so many questions surrounding this "President" of ours shouldn't we ask all necessary ones?
From Seeking Alpha:
"Technical analysis of propaganda" leads me to believe that another entity caught up in the JPM Nexus is in deep, deep trouble - literally teetering on the brink.
Maybe this time, that entity will refuse to fall on its sword for Alpha DOG JPM.
How useful was it, really, for so many MF Global customers, employees, counterparties, and even top managers to lose money, jobs, and reputation to preserve The Largest PM Short in World History and the skyscraper of derivatives on which it has been based?
The outrageous lowball propaganda about Silver is not only malicious and childish, it's very, very dangerous.
This propaganda EXACTLY mimics the propaganda campaign against Silver which heralded the fall of MF Global last year. There was a one on one correlation between virulent anti-Silver propaganda and MF Global's demise.
If another of the JPM dominoes is NOT about to implode, JPM itself should step in and start BUYING Silver furiously - and covering more and more paper Silver Shorts - right here and right now.
Alpha DOG JPM may not be able to afford another Planet in its Universe achieving Black Hole status.
Among other things, the World Market Rumor Mill has been beating the tom-toms crowing that JPM will ITSELF implode if the printed Silver price hits 34 again.
This is not MY rumor. This is THE rumor making the rounds for at least the past ten days. And it's the kind of rumor worldwide market participants - some up to no good - will seize upon and trade heavily against.
Ergo, JPM itself - and its key fund lieutenants - have a CRUCIAL stake in PROPPING the Silver price - and by extension, the Silver ETFs and Silver stocks - before those forces working against them take The Other Side of the Trade with an absolute vengeance.
JPM inherited its problems in Silver. It didn't create them. And it gets some empathy for that. They need to play on that empathy, scotch the harsh rumors, and do the RIGHT thing right now.
IF this was true, don't you think that every hound and bitch on Wall Street would be ganging up on them? There are deep pools of money that could force the silver market and squeeze JPM if this was the case.
I'm long silver, but I'm not sure that I'm buying the "rumor". I believe that its being manipulated, but in a much more coordianted fashion. Just look at 2 minutes before 2:00 pm each day and go back on this site and look at some of the charts put up a couple of months ago, and you can see that manipulation is taking place. Manipulation is real, but it is coordinated imo.
Venerability
The POTUS has formally given JPM the right to manipulate the silver mkt,so in reality there is no market.
Totally fixed and approved at the highest levels.
Hard to believe after all that has happened the last 12 months. I wonder how anybody still listens to these so called "experts" that appear on King World News.
After all, they have been totally wrong on the direction of gold, silver and consumer discretionary stocks.
1) The consumer has never been stronger
2) Gold and silver have never been weaker, at least since 2008.
3) Fiat Ponzi Finance is getting exponentially bigger, not smaller
4) Old fiat currencies will simply be replaced by new fiat currencies, never a gold standard
5) The Infinite Fiat Firehose is always available to quash financial brush fires, after 2008, TPTB will never allow a crisis to get out of control again
6) Ben Bernanke, the "Master and Commander" has achieved 100% control of PM markets, currencies, commodity prices and interest rates.
7) Due to the vise grip control of everything in No. 6, he hasn't even had to lift a finger to control the stock market, the Algos do it for him, based on pure rumor, speculation, and Pavlovian response to jawboning
That is the way markets run today.
Guys like Sprott keep coming up with the same old tired excuses, and people are getting tired of it.
RT,
I used to think you were just an agitator, a Devil's Advocate who prided himself on being able to swim in the shit we are currently drowning in.
I now think that you are on the payroll of those who want a continuation at all costs of the impossible.
Because it is impossible that as the real economy dies (everywhere) that there will be not be severe consequences.
Dream on, (if you believe in anything).
Im not real savvy when it comes to the 'Market', Robo can you tell me what stocks/es/cdo/cds/eft/cumbumfuckme/ paper money investment, has outperformed the "weaker" gold for the last decade?
Just ask'n
ConfuzedCanuck.
You are starting to seem like a poor imitiation of MDB.
"Stop listening to them" agree. Only wish he would have said that it's time for some civil disobedience too. Just read a great quote " Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tumultous seas of Liberty."
sprott rocks
Again, the European crisis is not fixed. From the Financial Times today: “The disagreements in Rome (where leaders of the four largest economies were meeting as a precede to next week’s EU summit) come amid heightened tensions within the eurozone over how to deal with the burgeoning crisis, particularly the imminent bailout of Spanish banks.”
According to FT:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/579e2846-bc8d-11e1-a470-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1yZXHwdgk
Au Contraire JR./ Nothing is fixed, and the market knows it. The total € amount of (efsf/ESF combined was just over € 500b)
The ECB has ( done everything but print) Eg: subordinated bond holders, and lowered the thresh-hold for collateral!
The ECB will lower rates, and pay for not acting sooner. Eg; extending programs out (36 months) LTRO/ and swaps, on a (write down), FX/Asset base.
Speak for yourself. I love the bad news. Vindicates my economic predictions of the last x months
Is there Stop Listening to Them Code in any of the algos?
It's interesting to listen to government officials talk about forecasts and their solutions.
We all know that government is the problem. So expect more bizzaro comments - we should see this market collapse soon.
Yes, we all know government is the problem because all developed countries' governments are in fact depending on the banking system. No developed countries' governments are able to handle such macroeconomic tools as currencies, central banks (owned by private banks). They're all submitted to the bankster.
At some point the people is gonna realize the enemy is an Alien just inside the States' body.
So, metaphorically speaking, that was the theme of the Alien movies?
i suppose sprott has to say something, as his fund has been recently trounced. (let's be honest here)
"... finally waking up to the dimension of the problem here and realizing that it's really a banking issue."
I like Eric Sprott, but I don't like his statement of misfact.
It's more than a banking issue, and the current trajectory is guaranteed until persons of influence fess up and start announcing and denouncing the most fundamental crisis...
which is, said nicely, a corrupt collection of people who enabled, and continue to enable the "banking issue."
It's and banking/government problem. They are like conjugal twins who share brain tissue -- inseparable.
Sprott did a good job with what is a Lewis Carroll "Through the Looking Glass cum Jabberwocky" world economic situation.
Just beware the Frumious Bandersnatch.
Nothing is real in the financial world today except the cascade of lies we are constantly told. You can take that to ...your redoubt.
Long vorpal blades.
What ( A) Modicum, of intellectual/political viability /?
Hello central planning Club of Rome whores.. The system will eat itself. The core state is corrupt, peripheral states will not comply to your new age thinking.
Rio/G20 United Nations: The future we want, our common vision.
http://www.uncsd2012.org/thefuturewewant.html
Ministry - Faith Collapsing
Good luck on implementing your goals. Don’t forget about our military status on this globe. Fake monetary currency will not buy your way out of a jam. Rather than debating over subject, let’s just sit back and wait to see you scramble for your life safety in 2013.
They're mocking us.
I'm going to go out and order that new online multi-player video game: "Grand Theft Government." The object is to fool your opponents with fancy economics talk to hold their attention while you steal all the money.
Stuck on Zero let me know if you're serious!
I'm sober!...
Welcome to the NEST!
The Ministry of (Un)Truth speaks economic taqiyah.
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!
We don't need no water, let the motherfucker burn! Burn, motherfucker, burn!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ScuVQVRYK0&feature=related
Now somebody, anybody, everybody, SCREAM!
i'm sort of a purist about this shit. here's the original version.
Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith on Bill Moyer's latest show. Worth watching. Bravo!
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2012/06/bill-moyers-with-matt-taibbi-and-yves.html
Indeed.
What would we know without the internet? Is being aware of the situation makes a difference? Obama and Romney will receive roughly 95% of the votes in November.
Bastiat009 Obama and Romney will receive roughly 95% of the votes in November.
EXCLUDING the other50% of "working America"!
How can we expect either of them to be up to the task if they can't even compete with the likes of Joe Stalin, who was able to get at least 99% of the vote?
The greek and german teams played a soccer match today, with the germans defeating the greeks. The score was 4-2. At the end of play, the greek fans stood in unisom and shouted at the german fans:"WE WILL NEVER PAY YOU BACK!"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/23/world/europe/greece-vs-germany-spills-off-soccer-field.html?_r=2
Ouch. That really hurts. As if any other outcome was to have been expected.
The most prescient words ever said:
stop listening to politicians and central planners who continue to downplay, obfuscate and flat out lie about the current economic reality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1hZNHPVVAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f-s_Cq2nA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFerLNdpwO4
What noone wants to admit is that what is occurring at the moment is a systemic crisis caused by there being too much debt. As it is the interest on the debt that is causing the problem all the plans to somehow fix the problem by creating more debt simply make the problem bigger. What we should be talking about is whether the Rothschilds will front up and foregive this debt or whether we need to take their right to create money away from them and return the right to issue money to the people, as Thomas Jefferson recommended.
I up arrowed you; that was a simple, descriptive statement!
Keynesian economics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectivism
Where is the biggest piramid on the earth?
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-7114044731466139530&hl=en
As soon as Julian Assange is brought to to justice and given the punishment he rightly deserves for jeopardizing our freedoms, our leaders can turn to taking care of trouble makers ... oops, meant to say ... National Security Threats like Sprott.
/Sarc
"Nothing the central banks done has worked" lol
Appears none the central banks can solve the problem. Mr. Gold has increased against ever currency on the planet for the last 11 years.
Its already too late. We needed to fix our problems 10 years ago, instead the opposite happened.
A report commissioned in 2002 by O'Neill, while he was Treasury Secretary, suggested the United States faced future federal budget deficits of more than US$ 500 billion. The report also suggested that sharp tax increases, massive spending cuts, or both would be unavoidable if the United States were to meet benefit promises to its future generations. The study estimated that closing the budget gap would require the equivalent of an immediate and permanent 66 percent across-the-board income tax increase. The Bush administration left the findings out of the 2004 annual budget report published in February 2003.
I find this comment by Bush amusing. POTUS is officially fired. No More POTUS.
Bush promises a $33 billion surplus in 2012.
He was only off by 1 trillion simple rounding error.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-11-budget-deficit_N.htm
Bank Runs. Now we know how the trillion$ of stimulus stored up in the banks will leak out into the economy. Price deflation while matresses are full, then inflation when people decide to begin spending again.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5464625623984168940
This post presents quantifiable evidence that something has clearly gone wrong with a system that now appears to be cannibalizing itself.
The natural quest for cause and truth often leads to finger pointing and blame rather than focusing on the underlying system under which such abject failure has manifest.
Rather than asking which version of truth to believe, it may be more productive to ask first under what system and philosophy of political and economic governance might such existential problems never have arisen.
Ha, this should be the banksters' theme song. If you want to survive, you had better learn how to lie.
Don't use the rules. They're not for you; they're for the fools.
Cheat, cheat, if you can't win!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym1Nm4dj_x4
The SPX big picture remains very bearish and unfortunately this won’t change.
Market intevention only postpones the major crash, it can not prevent it. The deferment also ensures the inevitable crash will be even worse.
Monthly USDX indicators continue to warn of significant long term US dollar upside.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-24/market-analysis