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The benefits of higher stock prices are soon negated by higher gasoline prices leading to a market sell-off.....

We could tell readers' that earlier today, just like two weeks ago when Beijing was blanketed by the worst smog on record, the official reading of Beijing air quality moved from "hazardous (at a 24 hour exposure at this level)" to the laughable "Beyond Index" reading (which maybe means Beijing needs a bigger index) ... or we could just show these two pictures of Beijing before and after the smog

The World Gold Council and leading academics and international think tanks believe that using a portion of a nation's gold reserves to back sovereign debt would lower sovereign debt yields and give some of the Eurozone's most distressed countries time to work on economic reform and recovery. According to research done by the World Gold Council using the European gold reserves as collateral for new sovereign debt issues would mean that without selling an ounce of gold, Eurozone countries could raise €413 billion. This is over 20% of Italy's and Portugal's two year borrowing requirements.  The move to back sovereign bonds with gold would lower sovereign debt yields, without increasing inflation, which would help to calm markets. This should give European countries some vital breathing space to work on economic reform and recovery. Some citizens would be concerned that there may be a risk that the sovereign nations who pledge their gold as collateral could ultimately end up losing their gold reserves to the ECB, or whoever the collateral of the gold reserves are pledged to, in the event of a default. Unlike currency debasement and the printing and electronic creation of money to buy sovereign debt, under schemes such as Draghi's “outright monetary transactions” (OMT), the use of gold as collateral would not create fiscal transfers between Eurozone members, long term inflation or currency devaluation risk.

All in all, the market took apple`s takedown rather well, which is probably bullish! 

“Everyone should keep gold in their portfolios” as the precious metal will be able to offer value to investors even in a worst-case scenario, said Marc Faber, the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report. "In the worst case scenario, in the systemic failure that I expect, it would still have some value,” Faber, who is also the founder and managing director of Marc Faber Ltd., said today at an event hosted by Evli Bank Oyj in Helsinki. Faber said his outlook was so bleak that he is “hyper bearish”. He joked that “sometimes I’m so concerned about the world I want to jump out of the window.”.. In response to a question from Yale University’s Robert Shiller querying the recommendation to hold gold, Faber said: “I’m prepared to make a bet, you keep your U.S. dollars and I’ll keep my gold, we’ll see which one goes to zero first.” Shiller, who is the co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values, responded "I'm inclined to think gold prices after this crisis might return to a lower level. Given the low yields of the alternatives [ie, bonds], the valuation of the stock market doesn't look so bad." Faber, whose advice has protected millions of investors in recent years, warned of a global systemic crisis possibly due to massive size of the global derivatives market which is now worth over an incredible $700 trillion. He warned “when the system goes down,” and only plastic credit cards are left, “maybe then people will realize and go back to some gold-based system.”

The run to 1500 for the S&P 500 is over, and these three tech companies are either complete no growth dogs, or over-priced retailers! 

After digesting the opinions of the shills, shysters and scam artists, I am ready to predict that I have no clue what will happen during 2013. The fog of uncertainty is engulfing the nation, making consumers hesitant to spend and businesses reluctant to hire or invest. Virtually all of the mainstream media, Wall Street banks and paid shill economists are in agreement that 2013 will see improvement in employment, housing, retail spending and, of course the only thing that matters to the ruling class, the stock market. Even among the alternative media, there seems to be a consensus that we will continue to muddle through and the day of reckoning is still a few years off. Those who are predicting improvements are either ignorant of history or are being paid to predict improvement, despite the overwhelming evidence of a worsening economic climate. The mainstream media pundits, fulfilling their assigned task of purveying feel good propaganda, use the 10% stock market gain in 2012 as proof of economic recovery. The facts prove otherwise... Every day more people are realizing the con-job being perpetuated by the owners of this country. Will the tipping point be reached in 2013? I don’t know. But the era of decisiveness and confrontation has arrived. The existing social order will be swept away. Are you prepared?

I'll let the numbers and facts speak for themselves as the #FanBois grope for something to retort... It's "knowledge how", not "knowledge that"!!!

It looks like what may be good for the environment is actually bad news for the government.  

HSBC has quietly moved into acquiring large amounts of silver bullion. The bank has secured another deal to buy silver bars from KGHM which brings their total purchases of silver from KGHM alone in the last 12 months to $876 million or PLN 3.65 billion. KGHM is one of the largest producers of silver in the world and is the second-largest producer of refined silver in the world. They produce silver bars registered under the brand KGHM HG that are attested to by “Good Delivery” certificates issued by the London Bullion Market Association and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. Listed metals producer KGHM signed an estimated PLN 1.67 billion deal on 2013 sales of silver to HSBC, KGHM said in a market filing yesterday. The deal puts the total value of deals between KGHM and HSBC in the last 12 months to PLN 3.65 billion or $876 million, the filing read.  KGHM is one of the largest companies in Poland and one of the largest mining & metallurgy companies in the world.

Most Wall Street pundits just follow the crowd....

• Geithner allegations beg Fed reform (Reuters)
• BOJ Adopts Abe’s 2% Target in Commitment to End Deflation (BBG)
• Bundesbank Head Cautions Japan (WSJ)
• In speech, Obama pushes activist government and takes on far right (Reuters)
• Atari’s U.S. Operations File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (BBG)
• Israel goes to polls, set to re-elect Netanyahu (Reuters)
• Apple May Face First Profit Drop in Decade as IPhone Slows (BBG)
• EU states get blessing for financial trading tax (Reuters)
• Indian Jeweler Becomes Billionaire as Gold Price Surges (BBG)
• Europe Stocks Fall; Deutsche Bank Drops on Bafin Request (BBG)
• Algeria vows to fight Qaeda after 38 workers killed (Reuters)
• GS Yuasa Searched After Boeing 787s Are Grounded (BBG)
• Slumping pigment demand eats into DuPont's profit (Reuters)

Why do commercial investment advisers always tell you that gold (& silver) and PM assets are all massively risky? Here's the one chart that explains everything.

“Gold, the way we look at it, is anywhere from being undervalued to being seriously undervalued,” Kaye said. “We’re in the early stages, in our judgment, of what would likely be the world’s largest short squeeze in any instrument.”

I would expect that much more energy had to be used, and that much more electricity would be required just to keep regular business operations going, and keep the Chinese people from freezing to death.