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Marc Faber: "I Have A Very Special Stock Tip For You. The Symbol Is G-O-L-D"
It has been a while since the Marc Faber graced Zero Hedge. It is time to remedy that. Providing his traditional dose of snark, tragedy and realism, the Gloom, Boom and Doom report author spoke to Bloomberg TV, and when asked what his outlook for the euro is, dispensed the following pearl: "I have a very special stock tip for you. The symbol is g-o-l-d. That is what I prefer to hold. Both the euro and the dollar are long-term undesirable currencies, especially given zero interest rates in the U.S. Equities to some extent become like cash because they become a store of value compared to cash at a zero interest-rates. Paintings become a store of value, stamps become a store of value." Needless to say, this is the kind of response that will get him banned from CNBC for life when Bartiromo breathlessly asks him, "ok, you think the world is ending, so what five stocks would you buy." As for his latest report, "It's actually quite gloomy but if you're very gloomy what do you invest in: Treasuries, Italian bonds or commodities or equities? I happen to think U.S. equities are not terribly expensive, so relatively speaking to other assets, they may for a while actually do quite well." Considering the ridiculousness of the market over the past two weeks when it has gone up on nothing but lies, Faber just may have a point.
Some other highlights from Faber:
On the market now:
"Right now, the market is in neutral territory. It was very oversold on October 4th when the S&P dropped to 1,074. Now around 1260, the upside in my opinion will be between 1,280 and 1,350 because there's a lot of supply around that area. But if there is some good news coming out of Europe, and good news would simply mean postponing the problems for another few years with some kind of money printing operation, either by that ECB or IMF or EFSF, [that] lift stock prices higher."
"[Postponing problems] is not good news, but it is better news than if the whole eurozone falls apart. It gives some time to maybe find better solutions. I doubt they will be found, but with money printing you can hide a lot of things and you can postpone problems as we have seen in the U.S."
On whether he'd rather own euros or dollars:
"I have a very special stock tip for you. The symbol is g-o-l-d. That is what I prefer to hold. Both the euro and the dollar are long-term undesirable currencies, especially given zero interest rates in the U.S. Equities to some extent become like cash because they become a store of value compared to cash at a zero interest-rates. Paintings become a store of value, stamps become a store of value."
On emerging markets:
"There is close correlation between all markets in the world. This year, the U.S. has grossly outperformed the emerging markets In Asia, we're down between 15% and 25% in markets. In Eastern Europe, even more. The U.S. this year is a wonderful market relative to the rest of the world. "
"I think this outperformance may go on for a while. Some emerging markets could rebound more strongly than the U.S. because they are more oversold. Like India, the currency is down 18% since July and the market is down 22%. Currency adjusted, the market has been extremely weak and is oversold. It could rebound somewhat here, but forget about new highs. It's not going to happen anytime soon."
On China:
"The reason I'm not very keen on China at the present time [is because] we had a credit bubble, we still have artificially low interest rates and a huge fiscal deficit in orders words artificial stimulus. That's coming to an end. Yes, the government can further stimulate and slash interest-rates again and reduce reserve requirements, but it will just postpone the problem and aggravate the problem in my opinion."
"When you have an economy like China that becomes so big so quickly, you can have a more meaningful setback. If the U.S. economy grows at 3% or contracts that 3%, it has no impact on the price of copper to speak of….In the case of China, whether the economy grows at 10% or 5% as a huge impact on the demand for iron ore and copper and aluminum, steel and coal. The Chinese economy today has a much larger impact on the rest of the world than is generally perceived economically speaking."
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I just like hanging out here.
As a precautionary measure, I already turned in all of mine voluntarily.
.
Gold Juniors
In case you have not been following the earnings picture, senior Gold mining companies earnings have exploded. Earnings are up nearly 5 fold since 2007 and even CNBC has to grit their teeth when they report and admit that Gold miners are now to be considered "growth companies" when it comes to the earnings picture. In fact, the CNBC "reporters" can be seen nearly choking on their words as they must admit that earnings in the mining industry are now growing at a faster pace than nearly any other industry on the planet.
Mining company balance sheets (the majors) are by and large very healthy, very clean and not goobered up with any "make believe" valuations like our banking system has reverted to. Yes, it is ALL good...except for one minor detail. They must continually replace their reserves that are extracted from the ground each year as Gold and Silver ar not like apples and do not produce a new "crop" each season.
Speaking of apples, the mining industry has already "picked it's low hanging fruit" back in the late 90's and early 2000's to simply stay alive. This "low hanging fruit" was the ore that was very rich in metal, easiest to extract and would yield the most upon leaching. In a nutshell, the lowest cost ore to produce has already been mined and today is the day that they "fought to live another day" for.
So the easy stuff to mine AND the easily findable stuff has already been mined and found...now what?
Somehow, some way the major mining operations MUST replenish and replace their reserves. If they do not...they WILL die. These mining concerns have very limited choices, they can "look" for precious metals on their own or they can "look" for companies that "look" for precious metals. It is really this simple, either hire Yukon Cornelius and do it themselves in the field or hire some poindexter accountants with a geology background and scour the exploration companies.
Back in the early the late 90's and early 2000's exploration budgets were slashed to the bone which is one reason that very few if any world class deposits have been discovered over the last 5-10 years. They had to slash their exploration budgets for their own survival because cash flows could not support the expenditures. This, ironically is a Mother Nature thing.
Mother Nature"?
Of course it is, Gold and Silver prices were artificially depressed to prices that were BELOW the total cost of production (which is what originally attracted demented minds to the sector in the first place) which led to a lack of "future crop". Any farmer who eats his seed corn knows about this phenomena.
As supply is crimped, prices rise, Mother Nature is only now beginning to get her revenge, global production of Gold and Silver have been stuck in place now for nearly 10 years, no growth now because there was very little exploration back then, very simple!
So supply is not growing while demand out of systemic fear is growing, a very potent brew. This would be a very neat situation for the major mining companies if they could count on continued product, which they cannot. The majors who are now flush with cash and no longer highly levered on their balance sheets must decide what to do. They can begin dividends (even increase them), they can hold back some production which Eric Sprott so intelligently suggests...or...they can do what Mother Nature will force them to do anyway, FIND NEW RESERVES with their cash flows!
For Yukon Cornelius to go out into the field and start drilling is a very costly (not a problem for cash rich mining companies) AND very time consuming (a very big problem) endeavor. These mining giants will very soon start to pounce on junior mining concerns who have properties that are rich in ore. Some of these will be "stand alone" properties and many more will be "adjacent" properties. "Adjacent" meaning next to or surrounding existing mines owned by the majors.
We will also see mines start to pop up where there WERE mines many many years ago in the past. The old saying "the best place to find Gold is where they have already found Gold" is very very true, especially when the prices have gone to levels that make this "unprofitable ore" ...well...profitable.
Gold itself at $270 back around the year 2000 was a homerun and a no brainer to some. The juniors today represent an even better buy today by MULTIPLES than Gold was at $270 and Silver at $4. The junior mining sector make what happened with the internet mania look like a yawner! The sector is extremely small from a capitalization standpoint AND there are and can be only so many of them. Barrier to entry is huge, you must have real property that is located in or around known mineral rich areas and you must have already done lots of homework (field work, mapping, electromagnetic studies and drilling) to be able to "show them the money (Gold)".
Recall the internet craze, you could have been a crack head living on the streets and come up with any ridiculous idea or name with the magic words "Dot Com" after them and you had a homerun. It cannot be like this in the mining industry as real property must be owned and it must be located in a logical location. The fact that you will need a "real address" is a major barrier to entry which did not exist in the Dot Com fairy tale.
In other words, the supply of goods (mineable ground) is limited (another Mother Nature thing). 10-20 baggers will be yawners as this coming mania progresses.
In the paper markets, "everything is worth nothing". The major mining concerns will become cornerstones of the next banking system and considered the new "Blue Chips", suitable for widows and orphans in the future.
You could say that when all of this has run it's course, "everything" will have come from nothing because the market cap of the juniors is virtually nonexistent. In other words, the entire precious metal mining sector which had a total market cap of less than $100 Billion (virtually nothing) 10 years ago will suck up capital from paper markets in every and all directions and again take up a major portion of global market cap,
The juniors will be where the real excitement will be.
Go back into history and the mines were in many civilizations and in many different eras the highest market cap and biggest employers. They were the Blue Chips, they will be again!
www.lemetropolecafe.com
+ 1
This thread has had some excellent comments, including yours.
Gratias
Ab uno disce omnes
I Have A Very Special Life Tip For You. The Symbol Is A-P-O-C-A-L-Y-P-S-E
And so it is fitting that we return to a "barbarous" relic for barbarous times ahead.
HYPERINFLATION WILL DRIVE GOLD TO UNTHINKABLE HEIGHTS
We now live in a world where governments print worthless pieces of paper to buy other worthless pieces of paper that combined with worthless derivatives, finance assets whose values are totally dependent on all these worthless debt instruments. Thus most of these assets are also worth-less.
http://www.mmnews.de/index.php/english-news/7063-hyperinflation-will-drive-gold-to-unthinkable-heights
I like Faber. I dont think he is a nutcase. But sometimes i wonder if he is stoned- his smiles at the oddest times givent the topic make me think he just toked up before the interview - or has some genetic slow release serotonin polymorph...
Its called having a high IQ
He can form the question, where it's leading and its implications before it is asked to him.
I like getting high IQ.
It's because he's usually getting a blowjob during these interviews. It's part of one of his drinking games.
pretty much. Just read his own words on his website.
Marijuana and extosy for breakfast after a wild night in Thailand sounds pretty nuts (He does this regularly according to his site!)
Meanwhile, he remains one of the most accurate, insightful, well-known and respected economists in the entire world. Economists like Ben Shalom Bernanke, Krugnuts, Reich and Greenspan look like weseal beta males next to illustrious alpha economists like Marc Faber.
What do you conclude from these facts:
$9.2 Trillion = total value of all gold ever mined
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve
$109 Trillion = total world debt in 2010 - projected to double by 2020 - was $57 Trillion in 2000
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/total-global-debt-has-double-over-200-trillion-2020-preserve-economic-growth
$80 Trillion = total EXTERNAL world debt
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2079rank.html
$15 Trillion = offical US debt
$700+ = notional value of all derivatives manufactured and outstanding
I conclude that credits are being manufactured at warp speed. In comparison, the quantity of gold is frozen. There will always be a buyer for your gold.
total world debt and total External world debt?
those are phony delineations. if you add up public private government, corporate (non-derivative) debt its about 260 trillion. your general point is valid tho
Marc Faber rocks.
But, in the long run, he's wrong about inflation.
Deflation will prove king.
http://fucklloydblankfein.blogspot.com
Be like this. China goes = global depression, boom, brutal. Then the maniacs (CB's) print like they have never printed before...insane style. Then hyper-inflation as oil just tops 200+ on devalued currencies globally and geopolictal situation. Then a war, (my bet) China + Pakistan/India...US steps in, then you have a non-nuclear skirmish.Thinking navel. Middle East is in there too Globally protests/riots/mayhem...but, some good stuff too cool art, fashion, women like the 60s etc etc etc.
Meantime, mild end yr rally. Will look for topped out ranges in Jan 2012 and fix shorts position on the 2012 equity wipeout. Should kick in quick. EZ is actually already dead, it's all China.
Ugly/Nice! ( beautiful), Oxymorons seem to be the Mantra this month<.>
Ah Yen, every thing is a dichotomy or even a oxymoron you know Jung? Google Capilano bridge experiment..
Everything has a + side even on the - side
We all gotta live y'know.
what a pain in the ass to find your account has been
hypothicated, you have been hypothecated up the ass,
and re-hypothecated, like one of jerry's kids,
and one with a superior claim has stolen your "money:..".
waking up with fleas.
.
eating someone's lunch,
this is what they mean?
.
MF Global’s bankruptcy revelations concerning missing client money suggest that funds were not inadvertently misplaced or gobbled up in MF’s dying hours, but were instead appropriated as part of a mass Wall St manipulation of brokerage rules
Posted on December 7, 2011 by maxkeiser
http://maxkeiser.com/2011/12/07/mf-globals-bankruptcy-revelations-concer...
MF Global and the great Wall St re-hypothecation scandal
12/7/2011
By Christopher Elias (UK)
http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Securities/Insight/2011/12_-_De...
" REPO RECAP
First a quick recap. By now the story of MF Global’s demise is strikingly familiar. MF plowed money into an off-balance-sheet maneuver known as a repo, or sale and repurchase agreement. A repo involves a firm borrowing money and putting up assets as collateral, assets it promises to repurchase later. Repos are a common way for firms to generate money but are not normally off-balance sheet and are instead treated as “financing” under accountancy rules.
MF Global used a version of an off-balance-sheet repo called a "repo-to-maturity." The repo-to-maturity involved borrowing billions of dollars backed by huge sums of sovereign debt, all of which was due to expire at the same time as the loan itself. With the collateral and the loans becoming due simultaneously, MF Global was entitled to treat the transaction as a “sale” under U.S. GAAP. This allowed the firm to move $16.5 billion off its balance sheet, most of it debt from Italy, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Ireland.
Backed by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), it was a clever bet (at least in theory) that certain Eurozone bonds would remain default free whilst yields would continue to grow. Ultimately, however, it proved to be MF Global’s downfall as margin calls and its high level of leverage sucked out capital from the firm. For more information on the repo used by MF Global please see Business Law Currents MF Global – Slayed by the Grim Repo?
Puzzling many, though, were the huge sums involved. How was MF Global able to “lose” $1.2 billion of its clients’ money and acquire a sovereign debt position of $6.3 billion – a position more than five times the firm’s book value, or net worth? The answer it seems lies in its exploitation of a loophole between UK and U.S. brokerage rules on the use of clients funds known as “re-hypothecation”.
RE-HYPOTHECATION
By way of background, hypothecation is when a borrower pledges collateral to secure a debt. The borrower retains ownership of the collateral but is “hypothetically” controlled by the creditor, who has a right to seize possession if the borrower defaults.
In the U.S., this legal right takes the form of a lien and in the UK generally in the form of a legal charge. A simple example of a hypothecation is a mortgage, in which a borrower legally owns the home, but the bank holds a right to take possession of the property if the borrower should default.
In investment banking, assets deposited with a broker will be hypothecated such that a broker may sell securities if an investor fails to keep up credit payments or if the securities drop in value and the investor fails to respond to a margin call (a request for more capital).
Re-hypothecation occurs when a bank or broker re-uses collateral posted by clients, such as hedge funds, to back the broker’s own trades and borrowings. The practice of re-hypothecation runs into the trillions of dollars and is perfectly legal. It is justified by brokers on the basis that it is a capital efficient way of financing their operations much to the chagrin of hedge funds.
U.S. RULES
Under the U.S. Federal Reserve Board's Regulation T and SEC Rule 15c3-3, a prime broker may re-hypothecate assets to the value of 140% of the client's liability to the prime broker. For example, assume a customer has deposited $500 in securities and has a debt deficit of $200, resulting in net equity of $300. The broker-dealer can re-hypothecate up to $280 (140 per cent. x $200) of these assets.
But in the UK, there is absolutely no statutory limit on the amount that can be re-hypothecated. In fact, brokers are free to re-hypothecate all and even more than the assets deposited by clients. Instead it is up to clients to negotiate a limit or prohibition on re-hypothecation. On the above example a UK broker could, and frequently would, re-hypothecate 100% of the pledged securities ($500).
This asymmetry of rules makes exploiting the more lax UK regime incredibly attractive to international brokerage firms such as MF Global or Lehman Brothers which can use European subsidiaries to create pools of funding for their U.S. operations, without the bother of complying with U.S. restrictions.
In fact, by 2007, re-hypothecation had grown so large that it accounted for half of the activity of the shadow banking system. Prior to Lehman Brothers collapse, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculated that U.S. banks were receiving $4 trillion worth of funding by re-hypothecation, much of which was sourced from the UK. With assets being re-hypothecated many times over (known as “churn”), the original collateral being used may have been as little as $1 trillion – a quarter of the financial footprint created through re-hypothecation.
BEWARE THE BRITS: CIRCUMVENTING U.S. RULES
Keen to get in on the action, U.S. prime brokers have been making judicious use of European subsidiaries. Because re-hypothecation is so profitable for prime brokers, many prime brokerage agreements provide for a U.S. client’s assets to be transferred to the prime broker’s UK subsidiary to circumvent U.S. rehypothecation rules.
Under subtle brokerage contractual provisions, U.S. investors can find that their assets vanish from the U.S. and appear instead in the UK, despite contact with an ostensibly American organisation.
Potentially as simple as having MF Global UK Limited, an English subsidiary, enter into a prime brokerage agreement with a customer, a U.S. based prime broker can immediately take advantage of the UK’s unrestricted re-hypothecation rules.
LEHMAN LESSONS
In fact this is exactly what Lehman Brothers did through Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE), an English subsidiary to which most U.S. hedge fund assets were transferred. Once transferred to the UK based company, assets were re-hypothecated many times over, meaning that when the debt carousel stopped, and Lehman Brothers collapsed, many U.S. funds found that their assets had simply vanished.
...."
vanished into a london account held by the morgue or goldman most likely.
crime scene alert! the real magic and meaning of the new world order of
global finance. it is just stealing, fleecing and client abuse. there is
a solution, solutions.
blindman - Thanks for the insights into the belly of the beast. Incredible horror movie: "Honey, we've been re-hypotheticated!"
i do what i can. you're welcome.
But US equities are denominated in dollars. India seems betters since they are on a de-facto gold currency as it is in there culture.
.... luv Dr. Faber, super cool person. i've learned a lot listening to him.
Hmm. xau spot rises on risk today, and sells off on complacency and light liquidity tomorrow. I'll add back down @ that 13-14 level.
Get any of that gbp/aud last night sheepdog? Those city guys like working the fringes.
Bennie trying to redirect some gold from sun...
http://www.offgridminds.com/misinformation-blog/2011/12/7/unknown-object...
Ha Ha! Fraud at CNBC awarding the million dollar competition that just ended today!
http://www.bostonwealth.net/2011/12/07/redwood-city-becomes-new-zealand-...
THIS GUY IS A COMPLETE LOOSER - FEW WEEKS AGO HE SAID TO THE LOOSERS IN CNBC THAT GOLD WILL GO DOWN TO 1100..............
ZH, just in from wires:
FRANKFURT--A letter bomb addressed to Deutsche Bank AG (DB, DBK.XE) Chief Executive Josef Ackermann was intercepted at the company's German headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
You know this is all great, and informative.
But,I am starting to get depressed.The words IN a FEW years, are mind boggling.The human brain was not meant to operate under these variables, and stress for that long.
I know I am speaking for MANY here.The idea of this not COMING to an end,answer,conclusion, change of direction, within the next 12-18 mos is starting to get really LIFE altering.
Some semblance of normalcy, no matter what it is is preferable to not knowing.This is like being on death Row, and awaiting a Stay of Execution, while being served your last meal.
You mean those pesky little things like Corruption and Oppression are getting you down?
Sorta like you've lost control over your own life, your future, your kids' future?
Trouble making plans?
As if, you don't feel quite as "free" as you once did?
Great comment DosZap... I agree.*
The faster we get there, the better -- that process where the Collective We begins to feel, and understand, what We've lost.
*but this is dangerous, for obvious reasons:
"no matter what it is is preferable to not knowing."
+1. Just think about the number of powerful people like corzine that are at the "F*ck it" stage. The ones who lived exhobinantly as they created or managed this stuff and there really is nothing left for them to gain. and EVERYTHING to lose. I am not talking about the super old timers like Jack Welsh, Tom Brokaw, Bill Gross and the parade of super old regulators the MSM has been digging up (I am talking like 80+ year olds). This bunch has been doing the public confessions/cartharsis and saying "yeah its been a great ride, grew up in a hut, went to state school on the GI bill, made billions, retired, sorry for what has happened."
I am talking about the crop of TPTB functionaries that grew up upper middle class. Went to private schools. never did a days worth of manual labor in their lives (outside of the back room at Scores) rode this wave for 30-40 years. Kids grown and set for life.
These corzine types are going to simply start walking away -- innocent or not. Bloomberg had a really old former SEC chair on today that basically said "the SEC can not catch anyone nowadays. (he gave them some good excuses) the best we can hope for is that they start baby stepping in like Uncle warren and say 'We might have done some of this, we might have done some of that, can we a pay a fine and move on?'"
I fear we are headed to something like the head of ozymandus. but instead of being in the desert abandoned, it is like Sisyphus' rock that the next generations will have to labor on indefinetly 'cause the butheads hid its hand brake lever and just walked away. Imagine the Japanese scenario. 13 PMs in 10 years, but for ALL the corporations and institutions of the west.
Case in point. When a young man was thrust to the CFO spot of Fannie Mae, he killed himself. or was suicided.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/22/freddie-mac-cfo-dead-apparent-suicide/
It almost sounds like this guy thinks that money printing is actually the best alternative and the Euro should not breakup-- what happened to good ole default and allowing sovereigns to heal themselves?
Breakup the monetary/fiscal central planning regime bitchez!
Is it me, or is Mandy getting a bit " Tartie"? That little pit bull Aussie tart! Maria Bartiromos' lips look like they may envelope the the whole " CNBS" , mod squad!!!!
Wall Street pink sheets January 2nd 2012.
I had (and still have) high hopes for Mandy as the new, no-nonsense voice on Wall Street.
In her voice I sense a stern disciplinarian. She can discipline Wall Street if she puts her heart and stern yet sexy voice to tame the barbarians.
Please Mandy, discipline Wall Street. Get your whip.
Whip it.
crack that whip
when a problem comes along
you must whip it
before the cream sits out too long
you must whip it
when something's going wrong
you must whip it
now whip it
into shape
shape it up
get straight
go forward
move ahead
try to detect it
it's not too late
to whip it
whip it good
Devo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbt30UnzRWw
I have a better tip
http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/a-survival-q-a-living-through-shtf-in-the-middle-of-a-war-zone_10252011
...Reader Alert. Something is brewing in the gold world. I have watched the gold lease rate charts for a long time on kitco. Right now ,for the first time ever in like 10 years ALL the lease rates,the 1,2,3 ,6 month and the 1 year lease rate,are NEGATIVE..... LIKE.... -0.803 FOR THHE ONE YEAR
Not far off a full negatve one percent...%%% negative....
Is this wierd,or no...?
Still learning,but don't seem right.
Check out the dips in the kitco gold lease rates chart. The chart and the numbers,they display don't even match up, But for one thing ,you can see some fucking wierdness, Jon FuckTard Nadler...... Is
that you running the show over there,...?
Wheres my free,ooppss,i mean,wheres that gold you will pay me to lease...???
I want it now...!!!
Lots of it.
I know someone who owns a bunch of gold, he showed me two full cases of gold coins. He keeps it in a big safe in his basement, he doesn't trust anyone to hold his gold. He hasn't been on vacation in over two years, he's scared to go out for more than 2 hours, he has all kind of surveillance equipment and security alarms. He's so paranoid someone will steal it he bought guns and almost shot one his kids' friends. He brags about his gold doubling in price but he's become a walking zombie, gold is great if you have a long time horizon and you trust to have it held safely but man it changes people...
Why does he show it to people and brag about it ? Is he retarded?
Seriously
THis guy is like a broken record. What happens when the price of gold has to crash?
Forthe people talking negatively about Schiff, he's wisely stopped giving timelines on his rpedictions some time ago (as should everyone else for that matter). I think he's staggered by how long this Fed-buying-up-treasuries-for-ZIRP charade has been going on for, along with how the they keep ping-ponging between the US and Europe in the media. And on that charade, is where James Rickards has been on the money.
I've been listening to Schiff's show very regularly since it started, and there are only a few people who have made him sound out of his depth. The only one that comes to mind is Steve Keen (Australian economist - note, not Austrian!). Robert Kiyosaki was arrogant and kept gloating about how little tax he paid, which is what threw Schiff off but there was a strange vibe on that one.
btw, if Europe is getting all this bad press about their state, then why is their currency still that much stronger than the USD?! Can't wait until it's the US' turn again in early 2012...
Faber is much more interesting when he's talking macro issues and being insightful/informative because his sound bites are getting old.
If people don't know yet that gold is the next bubble, then they really shouldn't be told.
And you've got to ask, if he's such a regular buyer of gold ...then why's he always trying to drive demand and the price up?
Does he enjoy paying more for it each time?
Hardly, he's a guy who's talking his book, of course.
we are already seeing a huge decline in the price of rubber here in thailand due to slackening demand in china
I have a question for the Gold Hoarders. first off you guys are 10,000 percent right that we need to protect ourselves from the fiat system of cronie capitalism that only protects insiders.
BUT, In our lifetime we have seen scientific advancements that blow my mind. From THIS the internet creating instant communication tool across the planet bypassing nations and borders (and creating a lot of the outsourcing mind you) We have seen the creation of pocket computers and communication devices that bring internet with you everywhere you go, We have seen scientists clone animals, create AI scripts that can actually talk and argue with itself, figure out how to Grow individual organs for transplant (although they haven't gone all the way yet)
Is it really that far off to think gold and silver can't be manufactured yet? If you could do it, would you tell anyone? Or just make it for yourself? That'll destroy gold as a stable market tool.
Just pointing out that even in the past gold markets have been cornered by insiders, we need alternatives. I just can't think of any at the moment.
Breetai remembered an episode of Twilight Zone and asked:
Since they are elements, there is no chemical process by which gold or silver can be manfactured. That's not to say it's not possible, since it has already been done, but it requires the use of nuclear physics.
Turning lead into gold has been done and the process is not a secret. There are several problems, though. First, the energy required makes it too costly to be economically feasible. Second, the radioisotopes of gold aren't very stable, with the longest lived isotope having a half-life of about 186 days, so the gold produced this way is only temporarily gold. Third, you have the usual hazards associated with radioactive decay.
Radioactive silver isotopes are produced in a similar way, and are currently polluting Japan as a result of the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown.