Found interesting in all the "gloom".


wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/what-are-hed...oing-with-gold.html/

At the end of 2011, gold prices finished almost 20 percent below their all-time nominal highs made in September. European concerns and liquidation actions sent investors running towards the U.S. dollar for safety. Sound familiar? While many believed the decade long bull market in precious metals came to an end, several well-known hedge funds saw the pullback as a buying opportunity.

Late Tuesday, many institutional investment managers filed their mandatory 13-F with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 13-F is a quarterly report of equity holdings required by managers that oversee more than $100 million in qualifying assets. The form must be filed within 45 days of the end of each quarter. The 13-F provides a peek at what hedge funds did in the previous quarter, but investors should keep in mind that hedging and trading strategies of each fund is still unknown.

Listed below are details on how popular hedge funds invested in gold names in the first-quarter of 2012:

Billionaire fund manager John Paulson is known for betting against subprime mortgages during the housing bubble, but is also a vocal advocate for gold. Earlier this year, he said in a letter to investors, “By the time inflation becomes evident, gold will probably have moved, which implies that now is the time to build a position in gold.” His firm Paulson & Co. Inc. kept its large position in the SPDR Gold Trust unchanged at 17.3 million shares in the first-quarter and remains the largest holder of the ETF to date. However, the firm increased its shares in NovaGold Resources from 22.9 million in the fourth-quarter to almost 32 million shares in the first-quarter. Paulson also increased his holdings in IAMGOLD from 2.7 million shares to 3.8 million shares in the same period.

Don’t Miss: Uncle Sam Must Love These 30 Companies

Third Point, the hedge fund founded by Daniel S. Loeb, also kept its position in the SPDR Gold Trust unchanged at 160,000 shares in the first-quarter. However, the firm increased its stake in Barrick Gold, the world’s largest pure gold mining company in the world, from 164,100 shares to 244,000 shares.

More than two years ago, George Soros, one of the most famous hedge fund mangers, warned at the World Economic Forum that gold was in a bubble. He claimed, “When interest rates are low we have conditions for asset bubbles to develop and they are developing at the moment. The ultimate asset bubble is gold.” Apparently, Soros had a change of heart. His management firm nearly quadrupled its exposure to the SPDR Gold Trust from 85,450 shares in the fourth-quarter to 319,550 shares in the first-quarter. Soros Fund Management also opened a new position through call options in Newmont Mining, one of the world’s largest gold producers.

Earlier this month, Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn wrote a piece criticizing the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy and related it to force-feeding someone too many jelly donuts in hopes of a sugar rush. With the Fed maintaining record low interest rates, Einhorn explains, “As a result, I will keep a substantial long exposure to gold, which serves as a jelly donut antidote for my portfolio. While I’d love for our leaders to adopt sensible policies that would reduce the tail risks so that I could sell our gold, one nice thing about gold is that it doesn’t even have quarterly conference calls.” While Einhorn likely keeps his substantial long exposure in the form of physical gold bullion and off the records of the 13-F filings, he does have positions in some miners. He kept his position in the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF unchanged at 7.2 million shares in the first-quarter, but reduced his exposure to the Market Vectors Jr. Gold Miners ETF and Barrick Gold to 1.2 million shares and 1 million shares, respectively.

Although many investment firms increased their overall exposure to gold names in the first-quarter, Steve Cohen’s SAC Captial Advisors LP reduced its stake in the SPDR Gold Trust. The hedge fund reported a position of almost 180,000 shares at the end of the fourth-quarter, but cut that stake to only 66,700 shares at the end of the first quarter.

Take Care
Earl

Greece may soon be back dealing in drachmas adrift alone in the Adriatic, JP Morgan and the other banks continue to be loosely regulated trading liabilities, and job growth continues to be anemic at best.
 
But fear not, the media trumpeted the headline this morning that homebuilder confidence in the U.S. rose more than estimates according to the National Association of Home Builders Index. While this NAHB release couldn’t bring the market higher on the day, the market had been in positive territory earlier in the day.
 
But really, who cares?
 
Like most of the economic that we are subjected to, not only are the numbers interpreted incorrectly, the data is mostly meaningless.
 
The NAHB home builder’s survey uses "a diffusion index on a scale of 0 to 100, based on a survey of builders. The index has 3 components--current sales, model home sales traffic, and builder expectations for 6 months hence rated on the basis of good, fair, or lousy. The most important of these is traffic, which reflects future sales. A reading below 50 means that more builders rate conditions as poor or very poor, rather than good or very good.
 
The HMI rose from 13 in June to 15 in July. That's the "good" news, but there was a catch. As bad as that was, the gain was based mostly on a big jump in the expectations component which surged from 15 to 22.
 
Now I ask you; how would a home builder have any clue what conditions would be like 6 months from now? Right. They don't. True, the present conditions index rose from 13 to 15, but that is not material in the overall scheme of things. The key number is still traffic, because without traffic you can't have sales, and weak traffic foreshadows weak sales.
 
Weak numbers on top of more weak data. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 
Trade well and follow the trend, not the so-called “experts.”

Larry Levin
President & Founder - TradingAdvantage

Greece may soon be back dealing in drachmas adrift alone in the Adriatic, JP Morgan and the other banks continue to be loosely regulated trading liabilities, and job growth continues to be anemic at best.
 
But fear not, the media trumpeted the headline this morning that homebuilder confidence in the U.S. rose more than estimates according to the National Association of Home Builders Index. While this NAHB release couldn’t bring the market higher on the day, the market had been in positive territory earlier in the day.
 
But really, who cares?
 
Like most of the economic that we are subjected to, not only are the numbers interpreted incorrectly, the data is mostly meaningless.
 
The NAHB home builder’s survey uses "a diffusion index on a scale of 0 to 100, based on a survey of builders. The index has 3 components--current sales, model home sales traffic, and builder expectations for 6 months hence rated on the basis of good, fair, or lousy. The most important of these is traffic, which reflects future sales. A reading below 50 means that more builders rate conditions as poor or very poor, rather than good or very good.
 
The HMI rose from 13 in June to 15 in July. That's the "good" news, but there was a catch. As bad as that was, the gain was based mostly on a big jump in the expectations component which surged from 15 to 22.
 
Now I ask you; how would a home builder have any clue what conditions would be like 6 months from now? Right. They don't. True, the present conditions index rose from 13 to 15, but that is not material in the overall scheme of things. The key number is still traffic, because without traffic you can't have sales, and weak traffic foreshadows weak sales.
 
Weak numbers on top of more weak data. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
[I]
 
Trade well and follow the trend, not the so-called “experts.”[/I]
[B]
Larry Levin[/B]
President & Founder - [B]TradingAdvantage[/B]

Interesting ....

www.24hgold.com/english/news-gold-silver...tor=Charleston+Voice

"Legal Tender" not legal if you have more than your 'fair share', and are depriving others from 'sharing in the common good.'

In the Philippines, a bill has been introduced which will make it illegal to hoard coins with a penalty of jail time and a fine. Hoarding is defined as a person possessing legal tender coins “beyond the requirements of his regular business.”

By Jonathan de Santos | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom – Fri, May 11, 2012

Coin collectors beware.

Senator Manuel Lapid has filed a bill to penalize the hoarding of coins to avoid coin shortage.

Citing figures from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Lapid said there should be around 17.34 billion coins--worth around P18.94 billion--in circulation. He said that would mean around 184 coins per Filipino.

"To enterprising crooks, this volume of coins in circulation is a goldmine. Recent valuation of the worth of the country's coinage suggests four of the coins are worth more than their face value if melted," he said in his explanatory note.

Lapid warned that melting down coins "along with the common practice of keeping coins in piggy banks, commercial undertakings such as the Automatic Tubig Machines which use coins for operation, video games machines and illegal numbers games, may threaten the sound circulation of coins in the country."

His bill defines coin hoarding as possessing coins of legal tender "beyond the requirements of his regular business as may be determined by the BSP."

Although coin collecting is allowed, the BSP can demand that people turn in all their coins within a month of declaring a coin shortage. Under the Lapid bill, "failure to make the surrender within the required period shall constitute coin hoarding."

The bill proposes a penalty of one year in prison and a fine of P100,000 "for every one thousand pieces of coins hoarded or a fraction thereof."

If passed into law, the bill allows the government to confiscate the coins for its own use.
The bill also proposes to allow BSP, in case of a coin shortage, to require all business transactions to be done in coins. "Any transaction to the contrary shall be considered coin hoarding," his bill reads.

"Though the day may be far when we may legally accept being given candies for change instead of coins, such a problem may not be remote as indicated by reports in other jurisdictions. It is thus imperative that preventive measures be put in place," Lapid said.

BSP has had a coin recirculation program since 2005 to address perceived coin shortages in some areas in the Philippines and to save money because the “intrinsic value of the coin is greater than its nominal value especially for the lower-denominated coins.”

“Coins are kept inside bank vaults, in piggy banks, inside drawers, used as washers, or thrown away as inconvenience,” the BSP said. Source

Jeff,

Xstrata, the Glencore "mistress" ?

Xstrata is also noted for its association with the commodity trader Glencore, whom media reports accuse of having entered into illegal deals with rogue states. Glencore is reported to serve as a marketing partner for Xstrata. As of 2006, Glencore leaders Willy Strothotte and Ivan Glasenberg are on the board of Xstrata, which Strothotte chairs. According to The Sunday Times, Glencore controls 40% of Xstrata stock and has appointed the Xstrata CEO, Mick Davis (a 5 million dollar estimated annual salary I might add).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xstrata

Xstrata Dreaming: The Struggle of Aboriginal Australians against a Swiss Mining Giant

www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15297


"About 68 percent of the 50,000 people in Kiblawan live on less than $1.25 a day, and 27 percent of households have no toilets,"

How much of $60 billion will these people see ? They have a better chance of cyanide poisoning, than getting $2.50 a day.

It will be interesting to see. Here's to hoping for "good" to prevail.

Earl

Brian and Jeff,

"Thank You" for the info, I'm glad I asked. Although I don't review every companies reports, I've found looking over different companies, locations you can usually pick up a little something with each one.

To transfer some of the info to the same page so anyone interested in following the "visual" and "stacked lenses", just a quick quote-


"Casa Berardi continues to deliver excellent exploration results," said George Paspalas, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Some of the holes that we are releasing today were utilized in the December 31, 2011 resource update which included an 81% expansion of all measured and indicated resources at Casa Berardi. We are encouraged both by the holes encountered in the lower portion of the known Zone 123 resource block, indicating the potential to extend this zone, as well as the holes that have identified new additional stacked lenses to the main Zone 123. We are investing in infrastructure this year to extend the Mine out to allow for the future mining of Zone 123, and these results highlight the potential for new zones in this area, and also provide confirmation of the strategic intent to develop the lower levels of the mine."

The objective of the drill program is to improve the quality of the known Zone 123 resources and to delineate the extension of the mineralization. The program is focused 300 metres below the 810 metre level and 150 metres above the 550 metre level and covers an area of 300 metres along strike, 400 metres in width, and is approximately 1.0 kilometre east of the West Mine shaft.

It's always nice when I can pluck something out of the news which PRECISELY illustrates an important principle (or collection of them). Recall this familiar speech:

Low prices lead to low supply. Low supply (along with the increased demand that comes with low prices) leads to the destruction of inventories. The destruction of inventories MUST lead to much, much, much higher prices over the longer term. Because when you run out of ANYTHING it suddenly becomes very, very valuable. Thus LOW prices ALWAYS lead to HIGH prices.

...and what do we see in the headlines today?

"Market Nugget: US Silver Output Falls 9% Versus Year-Ago – USGS"

Are people going to BUY more silver of less silver - with silver prices dirt-cheap AND their paper losing value at a faster and faster rate?

Forget about the 100's of millions of IDIOTS in the West (who don't have any MONEY, anyways). What are the BILLIONS of people in Asia going to do when inflation is high and silver is cheap? And they DO have money...

P.S. Understand that the bears are so CLUELESS that they don't even UNDERSTAND that falling supply is VERY BULLISH for the sector.





"Market Nugget: US Silver Output Falls 9% Versus Year-Ago – USGS"

www.kitco.com/reports/kitcoNewsMarketNuggets20120516.html

Output of mined U.S. silver fell 9% versus last year and was down 6% versus January’s levels, the U.S. Geological Service says. U.S. mines produced 77,500 kilograms of silver in February. Production in Nevada was estimated at 15,500 kg in February versus January’s revised estimate of 15,100 kg. Production in other states was 62,000 kg, down from January’s figure of 67,400 kg. The average daily production rate in February was 2,670 kg.

As I have frequently written here there are TWO very distinct "models" in the mining industry:

1) The large-cap miners with their (mega-destructive) mega-projects.

2) The junior miners, who leave MUCH smaller environmental "footprints" AND leave much more of the WEALTH that they generate within the local economy.

So what do we see AROUND the world today?

The JUNIOR MINERS find themselves WELCOMED by governments all over the world. While OCCASIONALLY one of those governments will capriciously (and short-sightedly) turn on these miners and try to gouge them with royalties and/or partial "nationalization"; generally there is a VERY symbiotic relationship between the junior mining company, the governments of developing nations, AND their populations.

Then there are the large-cap miners, who INEVITABLY have one or more BANKERS among their directors, continually whispering their rape-and-pillage strategies into the ears of management - like "Wormtongue" in The Lord of the Rings.

The current "frustration" being experienced by many of these mega-miners can be easily summed-up in a single sentence:

Why won't people let us rape-and-pillage them...?



Naturally, if you visit Bloomberg who can listen to Bloomberg plucking their violin-strings in sympathy, as ANOTHER Mining Oligarch whines about people who CONTINUE to refuse to submit to economic rape. The AUDACITY of these serfs...!!!!



People should invest in the junior miners rather than the Mining Oligarchs not simply because a basket of juniors offers a much, much better long-term return than the parasitic seniors. They should ALSO invest in the juniors because it's "good Karma" (i.e. lowering your probability of burning in Hell).




"Xstrata $60 Billion Philippine Mine May Stall at Church Door"

www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-16/xstrat...t-church-s-door.html

Xstrata Plc (XTA), the world’s fourth- biggest copper producer, risks missing a 2016 target to begin extracting about $60 billion of minerals from its project in the Philippines because of opposition from the Catholic Church.

The central government in January rejected the company’s request for an environmental compliance certificate for the $5.9 billion Tampakan copper and gold project, citing a ban by regional lawmakers on open-pit mining. With local polls due next year, South Cotabato legislators are reluctant to amend the law because they risk the ire of the Church, said Arthur Pingoy, the region’s governor.

“There are petitions and resolutions to amend the local law pending,” Pingoy said in an interview. “No one dares touch them because they fear a backlash from the Church, with priests campaigning against their re-election next year.”

Xstrata is running short of time to bring the copper project in Mindanao on line by its 2016 target, a feat that would help ease global shortages of the metal used in power transmission, plumbing and autos, as well as boost economic growth. Opposition from the Church and other groups on environmental grounds is compounded by threat of attack against mines and workers by armed communist and Islamic rebels.

“The issues that this project face are illustrative of intensifying political, social and environmental challenges that miners are facing in growing production,” Gayle Berry, a London-based metals analyst at Barclays Plc (BARC), said in a May 8 e- mailed response to questions. “There is now a long list of projects that have been delayed or faced big increases in capital costs as a result.”
Copper Tight

Copper futures traded on the London Metal Exchange have gained 18 percent in the past two years to $7,650 a metric ton, as global production failed to keep up with demand for a third straight year. Worldwide copper stockpiles have fallen to 463,618 metric tons as of May 15, the lowest since Sept. 10, 2009, according to data from exchanges tracked by Bloomberg.

Shares in Xstrata fell for a fifth day, losing 3.5 percent to 964.9 pence at 9:57 a.m. London time, set for the lowest close since Dec. 28. Indophil Resources NL, a partner in the Philippine venture, lost 5.1 percent to 37 Australian cents, the biggest decline since March 1.

“We will surely vote against those who favor this project,” said Dinualdo Gutierrez, a bishop who leads the Catholic Church in South Cotabato and Saranggani, two of the provinces that need to approve the mine. The local elections are set for May 13.
Voter Base

There are about 400,000 Catholics in South Cotabato alone, Gutierrez said by phone yesterday. That compares with 736,884 registered voters in the province, according to the Commission on Elections. The Church has also gathered 106,000 signatures calling on President Benigno Aquino not to allow Xstrata to start mining in Tampakan, he said.

“What we’re concentrating on at the moment is the part of the consultation process” that may help the company gain national and local government approvals, Mark Williams, general manager for Xstrata-controlled Sagittarius Mines Inc., said in an interview in the town of Kiblawan in Mindanao.

The permits are required before Xstrata can begin construction of infrastructure that would support mining operations, John Arnaldo, the company’s Philippine spokesman, said in an interview in General Santos City in Mindanao. The construction would take three years to complete, he said.

Zug, Switzerland-based Xstrata estimates the mine may produce an annual average of 375,000 tons of copper in concentrate for at least 17 years from 2016. Global demand for concentrate may exceed supply by 59,400 tons in 2016, widening to 62,000 tons by 2017, Morgan Stanley (MS) predicted in a March 27 report.
‘Takes Time’

One of the reasons that the copper price is so high, is that “it takes time to develop new sources of supply, both from permits and community issues,” Richard C. Adkerson, chief executive officer of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX), the world’s biggest publicly traded copper miner, said on an April 19 earnings teleconference call.

The Philippines is set to introduce a mining policy that would allow Xstrata’s project to proceed, while boosting the government’s take from resources contracts and identifying protected areas, Aquino said in a May 4 interview.

“We’ve very heartened by President Aquino’s statements that he thinks the new mining policy will let the Tampakan project proceed,” said Williams of Sagittarius, a venture with Australia’s Indophil Resources NL. (IRN)
GDP Boost

The project’s investment of $5.9 billion will make it the biggest in the Philippines, adding about 1 percentage point to the nation’s annual growth in gross domestic product over 20 years, Xstrata said. Total revenue from the mine’s output, which includes gold, is estimated at $60 billion, based on current metal prices, said Justin Hillier, finance manager at the local venture.

Delaying the project would mean unrealized employment potential for the people of Kiblawan, where Xstrata plans to hire 2,000 workers to construct infrastructure to support the Tampakan mine, Mayor Marivic Diamante said in an interview.

About 68 percent of the 50,000 people in Kiblawan live on less than $1.25 a day, and 27 percent of households have no toilets, Diamante said.

It's Wednesday the 16th, and another "down day" for gold and silver. So what? Today's theme is to re-inject some REALITY into peoples' perspective - a little bit of "tough love".

1) Anyone/everyone who is suffering SIGNIFICANT angst over the downward drift in prices over the past several months is behaving like an idiot. It's time to GET RATIONAL, and to start looking at the numbers in a cold, statistical manner.

What has happened in the gold market? Gold is 'only' up about $50/oz over the last year. And this is so "intolerable" that people are thinking of throwing in the towel? That is the mentality of the (short-sighted) trader/gambler, NOT the (long-term) thinking of an INVESTOR.

The traders/gamblers are ALL going to destroy themselves, so you MUST learn to think like "investors". Adapt or perish.

The thinking is no different when it comes to the silver market, even if the parameters are different. Silver is DOWN over the past year. So what???

As I have written consistently from Day 1, the lower prices go, the sooner we TOTALLY RUN OUT of silver. Please explain to me how "running out of silver" could possibly be "bearish" for all of us long-term INVESTORS?

2) People are wanting/expecting to turn a PROFIT on their insurance...over the SHORT TERM. And if they don't make a SHORT-TERM profit on their insurance they're simply going to throw in the towel and go through life un-insured. THAT is a solution?

I got into this aspect of thinking at the end of another thread for people who would like to read about this in greater detail.

www.bullionbullscanada.com/bulletin-boar...ossible-theory#18232

The bottom-line is that (by definition) we buy INSURANCE to protect ourselves over the LONG TERM. People never buy insurance looking to make a short-term profit, or by DEFINITION it is no longer "insurance" - it is simply a BET.

That is how banksters and gamblers think. For ordinary people it is SUICIDE. Get over it!!

If gold went all the way back to $300 ounce and silver went all the way down to $5/oz, all that would mean (over the longer term) is that gold would/will get to $10,000/oz ever MORE QUICKLY, and silver will go to $500/oz MORE QUICKLY, because EVERY ounce of "physical" silver around the world would be bought-up and GLOBAL STOCKPILES would be totally exhausted.

Imagine the "price" of a loaf of bread when there is not a SINGLE loaf of bread for sale in the entire world...

Let me end this on a gentler note (after slapping people around for a while - lol). "Tough love" has a purpose. That PURPOSE is to HELP US cope with a cruel world.

The ultimate in "tough love" is Buddhism. The Buddhist message is quite clear:

"Life is suffering. The root of all suffering is desire."

It takes a LONG TIME to understand those words (and even longer to ACCEPT them). Let me see if I can shorten the learning curve here.

WE cause our own suffering, through our OWN desires.

Has anyone ever met a depressed monk? How many of us are "poorer" (in a material sense) than the average monk? Nobody? How is it possible for a POOR monk to be HAPPY (or at least content)?

Because the monk does not desire wealth. And having no DESIRE for wealth, he feels no pain or suffering at all in its absence.

The message here is NOT that we should all live the austere lives of monks (lol!!). But we CAN learn at least a little from the monks (and the Buddhists):

The better we are at SUPPRESSING our DESIRE FOR SHORT-TERM PROFITS, the less we will suffer in TEMPORARY periods like the present where those short-term profits are absent.

More specifically, understand that it is YOU (not the bankers) who are causing yourself anxiety/frustration/depression (take your pick) at the present time. Become the MASTER of your own desires and you will find the Gold Bull (or the Silver Bull) much, much, much easier to ride...

I continue to tell people that if they want to know/understand what is going to happen NEXT then they simply need to learn their HISTORY.

Quite simply, the Oligarchs are nothing but a group of ultra-greedy psychopaths. And no matter how DEVIOUS some psychopaths are capable of being, ultimately they are all self-destructive IDIOTS. Because (as I have said on dozens of occasions) Evil is ALWAYS short-sighted - since it is an "instant gratification" mentality.

By INSISTING on always doing the best they can for themselves over the SHORT TERM they inevitably destroy themselves over the LONG TERM.

What was their "plan" here? To get Western nations deeper and deeper and deeper and debt - so that they could NEVER possibly dig themselves out - and then PERMANENTLY enslave the people by taking every penny they earn as "interest payments" on debt.



The Evil Psychopaths ALWAYS end up with these Delusions of Grandeur.



And even with the best education that money can buy, they have been unable to learn a SINGLE lesson over a period of close to a thousand years:

While it IS possible to "squeeze" the people to the point of slavery, it is NEVER possible to KEEP THEM AS SLAVES.

Ultimately, the ENTIRE REASON that we continue to go through these cycles of building society up - and then having the Oligarchs tear it all down - is because these ultra-greedy idiots CANNOT understand that the people will NEVER agree to be permanent slaves.



We see this PERFECTLY illustrated by the attitudes of the political drones (and the Slave Masters lurking behind them). What is their "offer" to Greece?

IF the government commits to PERMANENT "austerity" for the Greece people (i.e. continuing to be SLAVES to the Bond Parasites) then the Bond Parasites will LEND IT more money - so it can go even deeper in debt...and the Slave Masters cannot understand WHY the Greeks aren't JUMPING at this offer.



...and so one by one we will see ALL of the Western nations ultimately reject their Slave Masters, and return to some form of rule BY THE PEOPLE - because the Slave Masters are FORCING the people to destroy their own control system.




"Greek Vote Escalates Crisis as Schaeuble Raises Euro-Exit"
www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-15/greek-...aises-euro-exit.html

[Greece's Traitor Parties were UNWILLING to form a traitors-only government, and so Greece will have a NEW election a month from now]

"Germany will blink, and won’t let Greece exit euro"
www.marketwatch.com/story/germany-will-b...exit-euro-2012-05-16

[Media clown predicts that Germany will lend Greece more money because it's the "only way" Greece can continue to pay the Bond Parasites - and this LACKEY believes this is the top priority for the Greek people. Lol!!!!!!!!]

"Merkel-Hollande Meeting Yields Greece Growth Signal"
www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-15/merkel...ffer-for-greece.html

[Europe's "offer" to Greece: IF the people accept permanent slavery, then Europe will LEND Greece more money - so it can go even DEEPER in debt. LOL!!!!!!!!!]

Hey Everyone:

Thanks for the feedback.

I was pretty sure I was following the letter of the law in regards to posting a link to KWN.

Thanks for your opinion Jeff. There really doesn't seem to be a whole lot new going on, it seems as if everything is caught in limbo. It appears to me that when ever I go to the sites to do my daily reading, it always seems to be a regurgitation of the same old info. I have mixed feelings about this, part of me wants this to all come to a head and another part dreads it.

Jeff, Brian-

"Cluster of lense", maybe a oversight I've never noticed, appreciate your view.

Thank You
Earl



"This corridor covers more than 400 metres in width, and up to seven distinct clusters of lense".




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -05/15/12)- Aurizon Mines Ltd. (ARZ.TO)(AZK) is pleased to report additional results from the 2011-2012 drill program on Zone 123 at its Casa Berardi Mine in north-western Quebec.

"Casa Berardi continues to deliver excellent exploration results," said George Paspalas, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Some of the holes that we are releasing today were utilized in the December 31, 2011 resource update which included an 81% expansion of all measured and indicated resources at Casa Berardi. We are encouraged both by the holes encountered in the lower portion of the known Zone 123 resource block, indicating the potential to extend this zone, as well as the holes that have identified new additional stacked lenses to the main Zone 123. We are investing in infrastructure this year to extend the Mine out to allow for the future mining of Zone 123, and these results highlight the potential for new zones in this area, and also provide confirmation of the strategic intent to develop the lower levels of the mine."

The objective of the drill program is to improve the quality of the known Zone 123 resources and to delineate the extension of the mineralization. The program is focused 300 metres below the 810 metre level and 150 metres above the 550 metre level and covers an area of 300 metres along strike, 400 metres in width, and is approximately 1.0 kilometre east of the West Mine shaft.

Seventy seven (77) new holes have been completed. In addition to the drill holes included in the December 31, 2011 resource calculation, the program has identified three (3) new lenses outside the previously identified mineralized structures.

Fifty seven (57) mineralized intervals of the seventy seven (77) holes returned a metal factor (true width in metres x the gold grade in grams per tonne) of 10 or higher, which indicates lense continuity in the trend of the mineralized corridor. These drill holes are included in this release and are illustrated in the attached sketch.

Drilling highlights include (all results reported in true widths):



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drill results located within the known resource block
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holes located in two distinct resource blocks (and integrated in the
December 31, 2011 resource calculation)
- Hole-0395: 21.8 g/t gold over 12.2 - Hole-0337: 8.9 g/t gold over 11.8
metres metres
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holes located in the deepest part of the resource block (and not integrated
in the December 31, 2011 resource calculation)
- Hole-0388: 8.9 g/t gold over 18.7 - Hole-0425: 19.0 g/t gold over 35.1
metres metres
- Hole-0422: 29.7 g/t gold over 11.8
metres
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drill results located outside of the known resource block
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Hole-0363: 7.8 g/t gold over 13.8 - Hole-0406: 19.2 g/t gold over 8.1
metres metres
- Hole-0399: 9.4 g/t gold over 7.9 - Hole-0410: 8.1 g/t gold over 8.5
metres metres
- Hole-0404: 10.6 g/t gold over 6.3
metres
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


In Zone 123, gold mineralization occurs in quartz veins, cherty units and massive sulphide structures located between the South break to the east and the South break to the west in a volcanic-sedimentary bearing environment. This corridor covers more than 400 metres in width, and up to seven distinct clusters of lenses.

As of December 31, 2011, Zone 123 contained mineral reserves of 1,088,000 tonnes at a grade of 6.5 g/t gold, representing 225,700 ounces; indicated mineral resources of 279,000 tonnes at a grade of 6.3 g/t gold, representing 56,900 ounces and inferred mineral resources of 477,000 tonnes at a grade of 6.8 g/t gold, representing 104,100 ounces.

"The discovery of new mineralized systems within Zone 123 highlights the potential of the extension of the mineralization on strike and at depth, thereby increasing the possibility of finding additional clusters of mineralized lenses and the potentially to defining further high grade intersections within this structure," said Gilles Carrier P. Eng., Principal Exploration Geologist.

Outlook

Based on these results, underground in-fill drilling will continue until year end using one or two drill rigs from the 810 metre exploration drift to define the down dip and the up-dip extensions of the zones. An updated mineral resource estimate will be completed as of December 31, 2012.

Quality Control and Qualified Person

Core assays are performed on core sawed in half, with standard fire assay procedures and atomic absorption finition. Certified reference material, duplicate and blanks are inserted in the sample sequence for quality control. Assay checking on pulp and coarse rejects are carried out on approximately 5% of samples. Additional information on Quality Assurance and Quality Control ("QA/QC"), can be found in the 'Technical Report on the Casa Berardi Mine', dated March 28, 2011 which can be found under Aurizon's profile on www.sedar.com. Primary exploration assaying was performed at the mine site laboratory and at Swastica lab in Ontario. The QA/QC program is a performed at ALS Chemex lab in Val d'Or.

Information of a scientific or technical nature included in this release has been prepared under the supervision of Gilles Carrier, P. Eng., Principal Exploration Geologist of Aurizon and Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

Additional information

The attached two sketches show the position of the drill holes on the Casa Berardi property.

media3.marketwire.com/docs/a514a.pdf

media3.marketwire.com/docs/a514b.pdf

About Aurizon

Aurizon is a gold producer with a growth strategy focused on developing its existing projects in the Abitibi region of north-western Quebec, one of the world's most favourable mining jurisdictions and prolific gold and base metal regions, and by increasing its asset base through accretive transactions. Aurizon shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ARZ" and on the NYSE MKT under the symbol "AZK". Additional information on Aurizon and its properties is available on Aurizon's website at www.aurizon.com.

Auriferous, I like the basic "story" about graphite - lots of emerging hi-tech uses for it. However, I still need to learn LOTS more about this market.

Most particularly, like these other (smaller) "niche" metals markets we always have the issue of TRANSPARENCY - and the LACK of fully-developed MARKETS for many of these metals. Ironically, as much as we COMPLAIN about the rampant FRAUD in any/all commodity markets large enough to sell "futures", at least it's POSSIBLE to get a somewhere clearer picture on supply/demand fundamentals.

"Somewhat" is clearly the operative word. Silver supply/demand numbers are total fiction. Gold and oil aren't much better. But at least for many of the base metals (like copper, iron ore, etc.) we can get a reasonably clear picture on whether a market (at any particular MOMENT) is "tight" or "over-supplied".

One of the problems with these smaller markets is that a SINGLE, new mega-producer can appear on the market, and tank the whole sector.

That said, I don't want to be TOO "negative" when it comes to investors here who want to DIVERSIFY outside of gold and silver bullion - and their miners. It's not my own particular choice, but that certainly doesn't mean that I'm RIGHT (lol).



I choose to "diversify" WITHIN the sector, because that's where I feel most comfortable. For those whose OWN comfort-level is boosted by doing some diversifying OUTSIDE the sector, clearly the graphite market is one of the markets to look at.

My only caution here is not to "load up" on any one market - and CERTAINLY not any one COMPANY. Do your "DD", SPREAD YOUR MONEY AROUND carefully, and BEST OF LUCK to everyone!!!

It's Tuesday the 15th, and roughly noon'ish back East (where most of the market manipulation takes place). Prices have been basically flat today around the $1550-mark for gold, while silver hovers around the dismal (but very ATTRACTIVE) price of $28/oz.

Regular readers will know that the biggest MAINSTREAM distributor of my work is (ironically) TheStreet.com. As they do quite regularly, they asked me to write something for them to rebut news from the mainstream that gold had "lost all of its 2012 gains", and so we see today's commentary:

Gold Losing Battle Versus U.S. Dollar in 2012

So once again my focus is not on gold (and silver) DIRECTLY, but the fact that we have absolutely NO ALTERNATIVES.

In Europe, we just heard that the Pound is now (supposedly) seen as Europe's "safe haven" - as the UK economy SHRINKS more and more from "austerity" while the deficits get LARGER AND LARGER, and the Bank of England has its printing press DESTROYING the value of the Pound with more "QE".



Across the water the shills are even MORE idiotic: hold U.S. dollars (which have already lost 98% of their value) OR U.S. Treasuries - the biggest bubble in the HISTORY OF HUMANITY, where prices have been at their THEORETICAL MAXIMUM already for four years while more and more supply is dumped onto the market.

To compare that to GOLD, we would need to see the price of gold LITERALLY at "infinity" - while mine production was ramping-up at a record-setting pace. What do we see INSTEAD in this market? Gold at little more than $1550/oz (expressed in WORTHLESS paper) while the miners are only able to boost production by an anemic 2% per year.



In other words, IF the gold market ever became the INSANELY RIDICULOUS BUBBLE which the U.S. Treasuries market has been for FOUR SOLID YEARS, the mainstream media would be PAST the point of merely trying to frighten us to sell our gold. Instead they would simply start handing out revolvers - so gold-holders could simply put themselves out of their misery.

The "game" is all about (trying to) maintain a RATIONAL PERSPECTIVE - in a world FULL of lying propagandists and hopelessly brainwashed Sheep.

I have a link to a commentary from KWN...

Who is crashing the system?

This is history rhyming, is it not? Just wanted to hear some discussion on this as I see this as a distinct possibility. One can only imagine what the psycho's might be planning next.

LOGAN COPPER ACQUIRES FORMER HIGH GRADE NORANDA GRAPHITE PROPERTY

Up to 85 % Graphite drilled

May 14, 2012

DELTA, BC, Canada – Logan Copper Inc. (the “Company”, “Logan Copper”, “LC”), (TSX.V: LC) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a third Graphite property in Quebec.

This new property, the Carheil Graphite Property (Carheil) was acquired through Quebec’s Gestim system. Carheil encompasses approximately 5,400, 100% owned, contiguous acres with no NSR or work commitment attached.

The Carheil property is located approximately 280 km NNW of Val-d’Or, QC and is approximately 120 km N of La Sarre, QC. Aurizon Mines Ltd.’s producing Casa-Berardi Gold Mine is located approximately 19 km south of LC’s Carheil property. There is an existing road crossing the property which leads to the BHP Billiton Ltd.’s past-producing Selbaie Zinc Mine which is located approximately 20 km east of LC’s Carheil property.

Mr. Thal S. Poonian, President and CEO of Logan Copper commented “LC believes that the Carheil property has the potential to become its flagship graphite property. We look forward to verifying the historical results and defining the project potential”.

A percentage (6.67% or 360 acres) of the 5,400 acre Carheil property was formerly explored by Noranda Exploration Co. Ltd. (Noranda). In August 1975 Noranda completed a geophysical survey covering approximately 300 acres of the Carheil graphite property.

Noranda completed two diamond drill holes in the surveyed area in May of 1978. The first hole was lost in overburden while the second hole number 2-78 was drilled to a depth of 497 feet. Historical diamond drill core log report number GM33862 returned results as follows:

157 – 227 feet about 5% graphite
240 – 425 feet 20 – 60% graphite
428 - 453 feet about 85% graphite

The hole was drilled at dip collar -55¬¬o and core size was AQ.

The historical, non-43-101 compliant, geophysical survey report filed with the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources, report number GM: 31366, reported the following.


tmx.quotemedia.com/article.php?newsid=51245910&qm_symbol=LC

Thanks for the post DayOwl.

And now we have yet a NEW angle on this whole, STAGED affair. How about this? As a token of their GRATITUDE toward Obama over not having ANY meaningful regulation during Obama;s (first) four years they STAGE this event. After which, the bankers will act like sober, repentant businessmen - who "have learned the error of their ways".

They FINALLY implement what LITTLE of the original Dodd-Frank whitewash that hasn't already been stripped-out. They call it "the toughest reforms in 70 years" (which SADLY is probably TRUE) - and Wall Street HELPS deliver the next election for Obama.

In return, they are given total carte blanche for more raping-and-plundering during Obama's second four years...

samix wrote:
Since ALL of the paper is going to ZERO, pricing things in paper is IRRELEVANT. This is yet another reason to IGNORE the current (and totally FRAUDULENT) paper-prices for gold and silver - because regardless of whether they are going up or down, over the long-term these prices LITERALLY mean nothing.

I would say indeed, but what normally happens is that because the precious metal sector is so manipulated and the prices are fluctuating so violently that people get scared that they may not be able to get the best price when they need to liquidate their investment.

Like I am going through this phase myself, I need some cash for some un-foreseen event(a good amount), but I just cannot sell gold at this level because I will loose a lot of money, but I need the money, so tomorrow or maybe in the next week I will have to liquidate at the lowest price level during this manipulation, when I cannot hold back my need, thus, short term does matter sometimes.

This scares people who are salaried or on fixed wages because every dollar is hard earned, and every dollar lost is felt. Add to that the commission that needs to be given to the dealer while selling as well as buying.


Two important points here Samix:

1) The ONE "risk" with saving our money in gold and/or silver is that if/when we need to raise some paper (lol) for cash transactions then we could be forced to suffer a short-term loss. This leads to (2).

2) Since it is not (yet) practical to "spend" our bullion, even our LEGAL TENDER gold and silver currencies (LOL!!), it is prudent to retain enough of one's wealth in paper to deal with most/all short-term financing needs.

Obviously we don't live in a perfect world, and it's possible one could be forced into absorbing small losses on a fraction of one's bullion. Over the long term this is a trivial concern (unless one is prone to FREQUENT "spending emergencies" - lol).

As a general rule, the more profligate we are in our spending habits, the larger the "paper cushion" we will need to maintain. However, better too SMALL a cushion than too large a one, as on the day when the paper goes to zero it will make very poor quality toilet paper...

This is a good article that I found on JSMineset that Jeff has been speaking about, the real fall in wages of people across the world.


As I type this and look on the wall at my $100 Trillion Zimbabwe Dollar note, I’m struck again by how few people understand the difference between ‘nominal’ and ‘real.’ I will not use Webster’s definitions, because with the advent of Google, even fewer folks now posses a dictionary. Using my definitions then:

- Nominal: the ‘face’ value printed on a paper fiat note.
- Real: what you can really buy with that note, or these days, a whole lotta fiat notes.

While the buying power of fiat money has fallen by 96% under America’s greatest failure (the Fed), the buying power of Gold has increased ~700%. This equals the ‘invisible’ robbing of the Poor and Middle Class by the Fed. Let me give you an example of the difference between average wages in paper fiat over time, compared with equivalent ounces of Gold:

- Average wages in 1959 were $5,016 or 143oz of Gold
- Average wages in 1977 were $15,000 or 120oz of Gold
- Average wages in 1999 were $28,970 or 104oz of Gold
- Average wages in 2008 were $41,335 or 53oz of Gold


This is not exactly rocket science, yet most folks consider that they are ‘doing better’ because their nominal wages have increased over time, when in fact it takes increasing nominal amounts of debauched fiat to buy the same ounce of Gold (in effect making Gold more valuable over time in terms of buying power, as the Dollar slides into bongo-buck territory… my Zimbabwe note ref’d infra germane).

Hmmm… which would I rather have? A wheelbarrow stuffed with $100 bills that won’t buy me a loaf of bread, or 100 ounces of Gold? Gee, tough one. Too bad the Fed and our politicians (excepting Ron Paul) aren’t making any efforts to help me choose.

Meanwhile, I’m completely ignoring the very short-term white noise in the heavily manipulated bullion markets, and hanging tough until the ‘invisible hand’ has inflicted maximum pain and this temporary swoon turns around.

samix wrote:
Unfortunately, the Indian Central Bankers equally brain dead as their western counterparts are actually forcing people out of the rupees and into hard assets like gold and real estate with blatant autocratic dictats


Exporters were holding on to dollars in anticipation the rupee would continue to weaken against the greenback.

In a circular issued on Thursday, the RBI has asked exporters to sell half the foreign currency in their accounts and directed all exchange earners to surrender 50 per cent of their future earnings for conversion into rupees.


blatant stealing ?
At present, the amount held in the EEFC accounts is at $5 billion. According to the new norms, $2.5 billion will have to be converted into rupees, which is likely to boost demand for the rupee.
2.5billion, that wont even last for a week in the forex markets as far as I think.

According to market participants, on Thursday’s measures will boost the rupee in the short run as there is a quantifiable amount of inflows that will come into the market. “On an ongoing basis too, the probability of dollars getting converted into rupees is higher now as the flexibility of exporters has been reduced,” said the treasury head of a foreign bank. However, industry players said more needed to be done for sustained stability. “While the RBI's intervention to curb dollar hoarding is commendable, more needs to be done. This kind of steep depreciation of the rupee does not augur well for the economy. It will push up inflation and increase macroeconomic concerns,” said Adi Godrej, chairman, Godrej Group.

So now all the shrewd(that is their image in India) marwari traders are going to be good Indian citizens and convert 50% of their dollars to rupees...lol, it is going right into real estate, gold and silver.


...and don't forget the CONCURRENTLY evil policy of the Indian government: TAXING gold imports to make insurance more EXPENSIVE for ordinary people.

There are only THREE types of governments in the world today:

1) Fascist governments (the West)
2) Fascist-sympathizer governments (India)
3) "Rogue regimes" (i.e. EVERYONE who does NOT do what they are told by the Western Fascists).

In category (3), we can then split the "Rogues" into three groups:

a) Economic Independents - those whose economies are large enough and strong enough to DEFY the Fascists. As far as I know this group only has two CERTAIN members: China and Brazil.

b) Military Independents - as far as I know there is only ONE nation in this group (at the moment): North Korea

c) Victims of the U.S. - Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Iceland, Greece, etc., etc., etc. This "club" gets bigger by the day.

samix wrote:
Jeff, what are your thoughts on Middle Eastern economies like Qatar ? how do you think that they will fare ?

Again, I hate to make predictions about short-term (or even medium-term) events. The PROBLEM is that for every scenario we can always construct an OPPOSITE scenario. This is a sad truth of living in a Fascist world. Now matter what SHOULD happen next the Fascists can use "brute force" to TEMPORARILY move events in the opposite direction.

Scenario One:

Qatar (and other Gulf Arab states) REMAIN loyal to their U.S. Master, and continue to play the role of servant in the U.S.'s oil price-fixing game, and REMAIN tied to the USD with their own currencies.

In that scenario things are fairly simple: their fate MIRRORS what is taking place in the U.S. Specifically, the status quo continues until the NEXT big wave of (official) money-printing take place - at which point EVERY nation connected to this Western Fraud will run the risk of hyperinflation. Gold and silver (and other commodities) will run wild.

Scenario Two:

Like Greece, Qatar (and its Gulf allies) FINALLY say "enough is enough" and sever their evil/exploitative partnership with the U.S. - in order to avoid being dragged down with the U.S.S. Titanic.

They SEVER any/all "peg" with the USD, and begin to seek REALISTIC prices for their (dwindling) oil. In that scenario those nations WILL be punished, and (at best) it WILL be economically crippling for those nations.

As we already know, the West can DESTROY economies without even needing to breathe hard...

P.S. Note that "Scenario One" and "Scenario Two" are (more or less) the choices facing ALL governments. Split from the Western Fascists, expose their evil, and FACE their wrath; OR play along with the Fascists while they slowly (quickly) destroy everyone/everything.

samix wrote:
However then we have TODAY'S event: JP Morgan OPENLY "sacrificing" its Investment Chief as a scapegoat for the "trading loss".

Call me a pessimist, but I see this guy moving into a cozy position at the Fed or the US government!(lol)

Lol! Good observation Samix. Yes, rather unusual for a cynic like myself to forget about the Revolving Door of Corruption that allows these criminals to be constantly "recirculated" between banking, politics, and regulation.

...and of course we can't forget about the LAVISH "Golden Parachute" which this senior Oligarch would undoubtedly have been wearing when Dimon pulled the trigger.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Little People could live in a world where "getting fired" would make them RICH beyond their wildest dreams...?

Just "another day at the office" for one of the CIA's favorite business partners...




I suppose we should be THANKFUL that NORTH of the Rio Grande they only rape us ECONOMICALLY (so far)...of course wait until those Detention Centers start filling up.




"Forty-nine headless corpses found in northern Mexico"

www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/13/us-me...dUSBRE84C08420120513

(Reuters) - Suspected drug gang killers dumped 49 headless bodies on a highway near Mexico's northern city of Monterrey in one of the country's worst atrocities in recent years.

The mutilated corpses of 43 men and 6 women, whose hands and feet had also been cut off, were found in a pile on a highway in the municipality of Cadereyta Jimenez in the early hours of Sunday, officials from the state of Nuevo Leon said.

"What's complicating the identification of all the people was that they were all headless," said Jorge Domene, the Nuevo Leon government's spokesman for public security, who said the other body parts were missing.

Domene said the brutal Zetas drug gang claimed responsibility for the murders in a message found at the scene.

The massacre was the latest in a string of mass slayings that have convulsed Mexico in recent months, many of them in the north of the country, where the Zetas have waged a war against rival groups for control of smuggling routes.

The Zetas gang was founded by deserters from the Mexican army who became enforcers for the Gulf cartel, which once dominated the drug trade in northeastern Mexico. Leaders of the Zetas later split from their employers and the two gangs have since fought for control of trafficking routes.

The Zetas have also been at war with the powerful Sinaloa cartel on the other side of the country.

President Felipe Calderon has staked his reputation on bringing Mexico's drug gangs to heel, sending in the army to fight them shortly after taking office in December 2006.

But the violence has spiraled since, and more than 50,000 people have fallen victim to the conflict, eroding support for Calderon's conservative National Action Party (PAN), which looks likely to lose power in presidential elections on July 1.

A poll published on Sunday showed PAN presidential candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota trailing front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) by 19 points with just seven weeks to go.

The commercial hub of Monterrey was long a bastion of the PAN, and the local business community has been "livid" about the violence engulfing the city, said George W. Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

"This puts the final nail in the coffin of the PAN in the presidential contest," he said after the latest atrocity.

Surveys show voters think that the PRI, which ruled Mexico for 71 years until 2000, is more likely to quell the violence. Its long rule was tainted by corruption and critics have accused the PRI of making deals with cartels to maintain order.

TATTOOED VICTIMS

The headless victims have not been identified.

The bodies showed signs of decay, indicating they may have been dead for days, Nuevo Leon Attorney General Adrian de la Garza said. He noted there had been no mass disappearances reported in the state, so the victims could have died elsewhere.

De la Garza said many of the bodies were tattooed, which could offer a clue to their identities. The dead may have been migrants passing through Mexico to the United States, he added. Migrants have been targeted by criminal gangs in the past.

Violent street gangs in Central America such as the Maras have distinctive tattoos, though security spokesman Domene said the victims did not show these markings.

Domene said some had tattoos of Santa Muerte, or "Holy Death" a female skeletal grim reaper venerated by both gangs and some broader, non-criminal sections of Mexican society. 䴀 The corpses were taken to Monterrey and authorities said they would perform DNA tests. Thousands of Mexico's drug war victims have never been identified.

SPIRAL OF VIOLENCE

The bloody killings in Nuevo Leon were the worst there since 52 people died in an arson attack on a casino in Monterrey in August. That attack was also blamed on the Zetas.

Monterrey is Mexico's most affluent city and was long seen as a model of economic development in Latin America. But it has been ravaged by the drug war over the last three years.

The horrifying conflict has been marked by an escalation of mass slaughter in recent weeks.

Last Wednesday, 18 people were found decapitated and dismembered near Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara.

A week earlier, the bodies of nine people were found hanging from a bridge and 14 others found dismembered in the city of Nuevo Laredo, just across the U.S. border from Laredo in Texas.

Security analyst Alberto Islas said much of the recent spike in violence was the result of fighting over cocaine supplies from South America between the Zetas and the Sinaloa cartel, led by Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, Mexico's most wanted man.

Increased pressure on Guzman's operations in Colombia this year had prompted the Sinaloa cartel to buy up a bigger share of cocaine from Peru and Ecuador, squeezing the Zetas' supply and sparking tit-for-tat attacks among the gangs, Islas added.

The fact that state and federal authorities had time and again failed to capture and prosecute those responsible for the brutality meant the attacks were only getting worse, he said.

"They're fighting across the whole country with complete impunity," he said. "The government has to send out a very clear signal they will stop the violence and find those responsible."

Late last year, several mass killings took place in the eastern state of Veracruz, which has been ravaged by the Zetas.

As the JP Morgan Trading Scandal continues to escalate (despite the fact that the OFFICIAL size of the loss is a totally tiny/trivial number), we now see the propaganda machine asking the question: was the New York Fed "asleep at the wheel"?



When they asked the SAME QUESTION after the Crash of '08 these Bankster Accomplices had already been in a self-induced COMA for several years. And now nearly FOUR YEARS later the Media Clowns dare to ASK this question again???



Here's a BETTER question for the brain-dead parrots in the mainstream media to ask: WHEN (if ever) will someone ROUSE these stooges from their PERMANENT COMAS???




"Analysis: Fed regulators in hot seat over JPMorgan loss"

www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/14/us-jp...dUSBRE84D03320120514

(Reuters) - JPMorgan's $2 billion-plus trading loss raises serious questions about whether the New York Federal Reserve and other regulators were asleep at the wheel or whether it is asking too much of them to keep up with the financial engineering conducted by complex institutions with diverse, global operations.

The discussion may have migrated from too big to fail to too big to manage and too big to regulate.

Though the Fed - JPMorgan's primary regulator - is not supposed to prevent banks from losing money, and JPMorgan remains stable, the shock loss rattled confidence in the financial sector.

It also raises questions about how attuned regulators were to the botched derivatives trade.

The Fed ramped up the number of staff embedded at JPMorgan Chase & Co since the financial crisis, when the bank grew through its takeovers of much of the failed Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. But so far it is unclear whether any of these regulators detected something high-risk and untoward going on in JPMorgan's Chief Investment Office in New York or in London.

The Fed has declined to comment on when it knew there was a problem or whether it played any role in alerting the bank. It will likely take some time to sort things out.

The U.S. central bank certainly cannot say it wasn't told that there were huge positions being built up by JPMorgan. Reports by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg in early April let everyone know that a JPMorgan trader, dubbed the "London Whale," was playing a dominant role in certain markets.

"Such banks have become too large and complex for management to control what is going on," former IMF chief economist and MIT professor Simon Johnson wrote on Friday.

"The regulators also have no idea about what is going on. Attempts to oversee these banks in a sophisticated and nuanced way are not working."

The timing of the announcement on Thursday was awkward for the Fed.

Just hours earlier, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told a banking conference that, despite some remaining weaknesses, the stress tests carried out by the U.S. central bank showed large banks were well on the road to recovery from the turmoil of 2007-2009.

A week earlier, Governor Daniel Tarullo, the Fed's point person on regulation, praised U.S. banks for surpassing expectations as they geared up for higher capital and liquidity standards under Basel III.

"It makes everyone look bad," said a banking lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "How could anyone have allowed the 'whale' to make a $10 billion dollar bet? Why didn't the systems pick it up?

The debacle may once again force the Fed, which is still trying to repair its reputation after the 2007-2009 financial crisis, to do damage control, possibly by strengthening its scrutiny of investment banking.

"NEVER AGAIN"

"Dodd-Frank was supposed to be the ‘never again' moment for regulators after missing the 2008 crisis," Terry Haines of Potomac Research Group said of the financial-reform legislation, which gave the central bank even greater oversight powers.

"Now, regulators again missed a significant event - and again, regulators will double down on regulatory fixes to cover their own failures."

Damon Silvers, an associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO labor federation who sat on an oversight panel for the 2008 TARP bailout of US banks, said the Fed should apply firmer rules to ensure capital adequacy rather than rely on models.

The Fed has so far decided not to comment publicly on the JPMorgan case.

It may well remain silent until more details about the trade are known before deciding whether any changes are needed to its supervision of Wall Street. The Fed may also want to ensure JPMorgan and other banks adjust the way they manage derivatives-trading risks.

Fed regulators are gathering and analyzing more facts about JPMorgan's trade, said a person close to the situation.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York had been aware of the trading loss before Thursday's announcement and is monitoring the situation, a second source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Friday.

"This should be a positive political story in that JPMorgan suffered a big loss without any disruption to the bank or its lending operations," said Jaret Seiberg, a senior policy analyst at Guggenheim Partners. "In other words, the system worked."

When the Fed put JPMorgan through its annual stress test earlier this year, it determined that the bank could safely weather a storm far worse than the $2 billion in losses it has so far reported and still have enough capital to remain solvent.

The Fed focused on capital and liquidity in these tests, not on managing individual trades that could lead to big, private losses.

It is unclear when Fed regulators became aware of the risky trade, nor is it clear what, if anything, they advised the bank to do about it.

Adding to a growing chorus of criticism, Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren called for JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon to resign from the New York Fed's board of directors.

JPMorgan's shares plunged 9.3 percent on Friday, shedding $15 billion in market value and leading a broad decline in the financial sector.

OK, after today's news I'm officially "stepping back" to review the situation at JP Morgan further (lol).

Regular readers will recall our "story" so far - as contained in several forum posts:

1) Out of the blue, JP Dimon himself (Chief Executive Psychopath for JP Morgan) announces that JP Morgan has suffered a "big trading loss", even though supposedly this loss was only $2 billion - which (as I explained) is pocket change for JP Morgan.

2) Then Dimon gets in front of the microphone and announces that he's now IN FAVOR of having some "regulation" for JP Morgan and the rest of the Cabal. This comes after the Cabal has fought each and every regulation (no matter how tiny/trivial) with every fiber of their beings for the past 3+ years.

After this bizarre confession, and the even MORE bizarre flip-flop on regulation I had reached my own conclusion: this was all just a STAGED EVENT as a way for the bankers to (suddenly) become "pro-regulation" after they had realized that their battle to prevent ANY regulation was a lost cause.

However then we have TODAY'S event: JP Morgan OPENLY "sacrificing" its Investment Chief as a scapegoat for the "trading loss".

Recall that I have previously explained that $2 billion is less than 0.025% of JP Morgan's bets in the derivatives market alone. It is LESS THAN NOTHING. So WHY fire their Investment Chief over this totally trivial trading loss?

Here I'll have to defer to the (previous) suggestions of some of our readers (and maybe listen to some "I told you so" - lol!): perhaps this "trading loss" is a much, much bigger deal than what Dimon and JP Morgan are admitting - the equivalent of a financial "Gulf oil spill"????

For the first time, I'm admitting that this could be a possibility here. Of course there is one HUGE difference between BP and JP Morgan. It was totally IMPOSSIBLE for BP to "hide" the Gulf oil-spill. However, in The Land of Fraud, where Banker Oligarchs can write ANYTHING THEY WANT in their accounting statements (and even official court documents) then WHY would JP Morgan ever "admit" to any big loss rather than just hide it?

Put another way, the NEW question in this melodrama is this: what could be SO BAD that JP Morgan isn't even capable of HIDING IT with its fraudulent accounting???

As of today, THAT is still a question to which NO ONE has an answer...




"JPMorgan CIO chief Drew quits after trading loss"

www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/14/us-jp...dUSBRE84C0EP20120514

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co sacrificed investment chief Ina Drew on Monday in response to trading losses that could reach $3 billion or more and which have tainted the reputation of the bank's high profile chief executive Jamie Dimon.

The biggest bank in the United States by assets said Drew, its New York-based chief investment officer and one of its highest-paid executives, would retire. The statement confirmed what sources close to the matter had previously told Reuters, that Drew would depart the firm.

It also said Matt Zames would take Drew's position, while Daniel Pinto, currently co-head of global fixed income with Zames, would become sole head of the group.

Mike Cavanagh, CEO of the Treasury & Securities Services (TSS) group, will lead a team of executives overseeing and co-ordinating the group's response to the recent losses.

The statement made no mention of two of Drew's subordinates who were involved with the costly derivatives trades, London-based Achilles Macris and Javier Martin-Artajo, who the sources had also said were expected to leave.

Neither could be reached for comment earlier on Monday. A woman who answered the door at Macris's London apartment in a grandiose 19th century mansion block overlooking Westminster Cathedral said he was at work.

JPMorgan said Cavanagh "will ensure that best practices and lessons learned are carried across the firm."

The departure of Drew after 30 years at JPMorgan comes after the unit she ran, known as the Chief Investment Office (CIO), mismanaged a portfolio of derivatives tied to the creditworthiness of bonds, according to bank executives.

The portfolio included layers of instruments used in hedging that became too complicated to work and too big to quickly unwind in the esoteric, thinly traded market.

One hedge fund manager who previously ran a proprietary (or prop) trading book at JPMorgan said the bank's public commitments to trim balance sheet risk were at odds with its network of trading silos, who were making bets independently with only a handful of the bank's most senior executives notified of their vast, complex exposures.

"This (CIO) group was completely separate, completely distinct from the prop trading unit. We had no clue about their prop book and they would have no clue about ours for that matter," the manager said.

"They were all totally independent. All the activities were reported to New York and they ran the allocation of capital to each and every strategy ... those decisions were definitely not taken in London. These things were very, very opaque. Every bank is, whether you're Goldman, Morgan (Stanley) or JP."

PAST PERFORMANCE

Drew had repeatedly offered to resign in recent weeks after the magnitude of the debacle became clear, according to one of the sources, but the resignation was not immediately accepted because of her past performance at the bank.

Until the loss was disclosed late on Thursday, Drew was considered by some market participants as one of the best managers of balance sheet risks. She earned more than $15 million in each of the last two years.

"Ina is an amazing investor," said a money manager who knows Drew, but who declined to be quoted by name. "She's done a really good job over a lot of years. But they only remember your last trade."

Departures had been on the cards in the wake of the trading losses, though in disclosing the losses on Thursday, CEO Jamie Dimon said only that the bank was continuing to investigate and would take disciplinary action with those involved.

Dimon said the bank's losses could reach $3 billion or more as it unwinds the positions in coming months.

The losses have marred JPMorgan's reputation for risk management, prompted a downgrade in its credit ratings and thrown an unflattering spotlight on Dimon, a critic of increased regulation who had become one of America's best-known bankers.

On Sunday, Dimon's reputation was tarnished when the New York Times reported remarks he made recently at a dinner party in Dallas. Dimon called arguments about too-big-to-fail banks - arguments made by former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker and Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas - "infantile" and "nonfactual," according to the Times.

STOP THE CYCLE

Dimon is himself a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Elizabeth Warren called for him to resign that post on Sunday. Warren, who chaired the congressional committee that oversaw the bank bailout program known as TARP and is running for the Senate, said he should not be on the panel advising the Fed on bank management and oversight.

"We need to stop the cycle of bankers taking on risky activities, getting bailed out by the taxpayers, then using their army of lobbyists to water down regulations," Warren said.

Dimon has struck a more contrite pose since revealing the losses. In an interview that aired on Sunday, he told NBC's "Meet the Press" the bank's handling and oversight of the derivative portfolio was "sloppy" and "stupid" and that executives had reacted badly to warnings last month that the bank had large losses in derivatives trading.

He said executives were "completely wrong" in public statements they made in April after being challenged over the trades in news reports. "We got very defensive. And people started justifying everything we did," Dimon said. "We told you something that was completely wrong a mere four weeks ago.

The loss, and Dimon's failure to heed the warnings, have become major embarrassments and have given regulators new arguments for tightening controls on big banks and requiring them to hold more capital to cushion possible losses.

Issues relating to the bank's internal controls were raised in 2010 when it was fined 33 million pounds by Britain's Financial Services Authority for failing to segregate client month from its own in the UK - an incident that also led to its auditor PwC being fined 1.4 million by its professional body for failing to spot the transgression.

No-one at PwC, JPM's global auditor, could immediately be reached for comment.

JPMorgan lost $15 billion in stock market value the day after the latest loss announcement.

Dimon is scheduled to speak on Tuesday at the bank's annual meeting in Tampa, Florida.

A "unit" of Ally Financial has filed for bankruptcy.

This is a typical tactic for these failing fraud-factories: push as much of their WORST paper as they can into a single portion of their business, hive-off that "unit" from the rest of the business, then declare bankruptcy (with only that UNIT) - meaning that only INVESTORS get shafted, while the fraud-factory lives on to scam-another-day.

Note that readers might be familiar with the COMMERCIALS which Ally Financial frequently broadcasts on television: they WARN viewers that "some people" like to engage in bait-and-switch tactics with their customers, or simply treat SOME customers better than others.

Kind of ironic, don't you think...?




"Ally hopes to end mortgage woes with ResCap bankruptcy"

www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/14/us-al...dUSBRE84C09U20120514

(Reuters) - Ally Financial Inc's mortgage unit on Monday filed for bankruptcy and the auto lender said it will sell some international operations to help set it on a path to repaying $12 billion in bailout money.

Ally's mortgage unit, called Residential Capital, or ResCap, filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court in Manhattan under a plan that has the support of some of its creditors, although it was still expected to be a drawn-out and litigious process.

At the same time, Nationstar Mortgage Holdings, which is majority owned by Fortress Investment Group, struck a deal to buy substantially all the mortgage servicing and related assets from ResCap for about $2.4 billion, including debt. The deal will make Nationstar the opening bidder in an auction that will be held under bankruptcy court rules.

"The single-most important thing we can do for the U.S. taxpayer is to not put billions of dollars into this business on a going-forward basis," Ally CEO Michael Carpenter said in an interview.

Ally, the former lending arm of General Motors Co, has been besieged in the past few years by losses at ResCap, which was once a major subprime lender and profit engine. The company has considered bankruptcy and other ways to shed ResCap since at least 2009, but has never pulled the trigger.

A bankruptcy of ResCap now will help Ally, formerly known as GMAC, focus on its main auto lending business and put together a plan to pay back U.S. taxpayers.

The U.S. Treasury Department injected $17 billion into the lender through multiple bailouts during the financial crisis and now owns nearly 74 percent of the company. Ally still owes the government about $12 billion, counting dividend payments by the lender and sale of some securities by the Treasury.

The bankruptcy filing comes as pressure increases on Ally to repay that money and problems at ResCap become increasingly unmanageable. The Obama administration is trying to show recoveries from crisis-era bailouts before the presidential election in November, and government officials are loath to let Ally become a black mark on the auto industry restructuring.

In filing for bankruptcy, ResCap would also become a rare example of a subsidiary of a bank holding company to do so. As a result, other banks with intractable mortgage problems, such as Bank of America Corp, will be closely watching how the company deals with regulators and creditors and manages the bankruptcy process.

ResCap and its advisers believe it may be one of the first times that a financial services company with retail operations such as a bank has filed for bankruptcy and been able to continue operating.

Timothy Massad, assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability, in a statement on Monday called the bankruptcy filing unfortunate, but necessary.

"We believe that this action puts taxpayers in a stronger position to continue recovering their investment in Ally Financial," he said.

GM spokesman James Cain said: "We don't expect any impact on our business."

BOARD APPROVES FILING

ResCap's board approved the filing about 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Ally approved a settlement and support agreement with ResCap in a meeting that started around 1 p.m.

Ally will take a $1.3 billion charge, which covers its $400 million equity investment in ResCap, a $750 million settlement with ResCap and $130 million in reserves for claims related to mortgage-backed securities.

In return, Ally gets legal releases to claims over mortgage-backed securities with ResCap and third-party litigants, Carpenter said.

In a news release, Ally said ResCap has also obtained support for its restructuring from the ad hoc steering committee representing ResCap's junior secured notes, as well as other certain noteholders. In addition, some institutional investors in residential mortgage-backed securities issued by ResCap have agreed to support ResCap's reorganization.

To speed up its repayment to taxpayers, Ally will also seek "strategic alternatives" for its auto, insurance and banking businesses in Canada, Europe, Britain, Mexico and South America. These operations have about $30 billion in assets.

Carpenter said after these divestitures, ResCap will likely have paid back about two-thirds of the bailout money. He expects ResCap to emerge from bankruptcy by year's end, with the divestitures complete or far along, he said.

Ally expects potential legal challenges from the ResCap bankruptcy but is confident that the two entities are separate, Carpenter said.

The move allows ResCap to shed liabilities, while continuing to operate as a mortgage servicer, said ResCap CEO Tom Marano

During the bankruptcy, ResCap will continue to work to help borrowers who are struggling to make payments and to refinance customers with high interest rates. The company will also honor agreements with federal and state officials as part of a $25 billion settlement reached this year over foreclosure abuses.

ResCap has 2.4 million customers, Marano said. It has 3,600 employees and will operate separately from Nationstar for the foreseeable future, he said.

"We're going to be one of the only large-scale servicers and originators that has managed to put the housing crisis behind it."

RESCAP DEAL

Ally is the fifth-largest mortgage servicer in the United States and the country's 10th largest originator of home loans, according to the latest data from Inside Mortgage Finance.

The deal would be transformative for Nationstar. It would gain more than $370 billion in loans to service, while any liabilities would stay with the estate.

The bid is for $374 billion in mortgage servicing assets, including $201 billion in primary residential mortgage servicing rights and $173 billion in subservicing contracts, as measured by unpaid principal balances as of February 29. It would also buy about $1.8 billion of related servicing advance receivables and certain other complementary assets.

Of the total purchase, the equity check is expected to be $880 million, consisting of about $700 million for the servicing rights and $180 million for the advances. About half the equity is coming from Nationstar and the rest from Newcastle Investment Corp, a mortgage REIT managed by Fortress, and other Fortress funds. There is a $72 million break-up fee and reimbursement of up to $10 million of transaction-related expenses if Nationstar does not win the auction.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year.

Wesley Edens, co-founder of Fortress, said in an interview he expected other bidders to show up in the bankruptcy court auction but believed they had an advantage, given that Nationstar is a strategic bidder and they have a breakup fee.

Barclays Plc on its own is arranging a $1.45 billion debtor-in-possession financing for operations during the bankruptcy. Ally also agreed to bid $1.6 billion for a ResCap loan portfolio.

Ally does not have publicly traded shares, but has stockholders. Besides the Treasury, a trust for GM holds 9.9 percent and private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management owns 8.7 percent.

Regular readers will recall that I have written quite a bit here about the RECENT performance of the UK economy after nearly two years of (suicidal) Friedman Austerity.

1) The country has pushed itself BACK into an official recession. And if the "official" numbers say that, just imagine how bad the Depression REALLY is.

2) It just recorded the LARGEST deficit ever for the month of February, and the deficit for March was also well above last year's figure, meaning that austerity is making the deficits WORSE.

Let's pause at this point to analyze the absurdity. The ENTIRE purpose of "austerity" (i.e. stomping on ordinary people) was to BALANCE THE BUDGETS of the Deadbeat Debtors. So if (in the real world) austerity is making those deficits WORSE, then why are they engaging in this sadism at all????



3) Meanwhile, the Bank of England is CONTINUING its own reckless money-printing (I.e. "QE") diluting the value of the currency still further.

So we have the UK economy with:

a) shrinking GDP
b) rising deficits
c) a rapidly diluting currency

...and what do the idiot-drones of the propaganda machine tell us this morning?

"Pound Favored as Haven Currency Amid Europe Debt Crisis"



If the Pound is the BEST of all European paper, how long before the brain-dead Sheep in Europe JOIN the citizens of Asia in buying gold and silver (and REJECTING all paper).

Meanwhile, on THIS side of the Atlantic, as I continue to remind people on a daily basis, the U.S. is MORE insolvent than the Deadbeat Debtors, so holding U.S. paper (currently valued at RECORD prices - lol) is even MORE insane than holding European paper.

And while (at the moment) Canada is slightly less insolvent than the rest, we have an idiot-Prime Minister who has ALREADY destroyed Canada's economy, and a Goldman Sachs Stooge running our central bank whose orders are to keep the Canadian dollar at or lower than the greenback at any/all costs.

It is human nature to feel more comfortable as part of the Herd. However when that Herd is a Herd of Lemmings then people have two choices THINK or PERISH. Those who are THINKING are buying gold and silver.


"Pound Favored as Haven Currency Amid Europe Debt Crisis"

www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-14/pound-...ope-debt-crisis.html

The British pound has become currency traders’ favorite refuge from the resurgent European debt crisis, threatening efforts by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to lift the economy out of its second recession in three years.

Sterling has appreciated 3.6 percent this year, the most among 10 developed-market peers, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Strategists have boosted their year-end forecasts for the pound against the euro by 3.6 percent in 2012, while options show investors are becoming more positive on the pound versus its 17-member European counterpart.

Bulls say the pound’s 7.5 percent advance against the euro since October, even as the Bank of England flooded the financial system with sterling, is a sign the economy has bottomed. Bears say the gains may prove fleeting because the strong pound makes exports less competitive in the euro region, which buys about 47 percent of the U.K.’s overseas sales.

“The U.K. economic backdrop may not be brilliant, but it’s enjoying a haven status because of the political uncertainty in the euro zone,” Ian Stannard, head of European currency strategy at Morgan Stanley in London, said in a telephone interview on May 8. “The advantage of sterling over a traditional haven like the Swiss franc is that its asset market is more liquid. The downside is that the strength of the pound may backfire as it hurts exports.”
Swiss Franc

Switzerland was the top choice for investors seeking safety from global financial and political turmoil, driving the franc to 1.0080 per euro in August from 1.6828 in 2007. The Swiss National Bank then said on Sept. 6 it wouldn’t allow its currency to appreciate beyond 1.20 per euro. Since then, the franc has traded between 1.2474 and 1.1990.

That leaves the pound, which accounted for twice the daily trading volume in the foreign-exchange market of the Swiss currency in 2010 based on Bank for International Settlements data, as the best alternative.

The pound strengthened 0.4 percent to 80.10 pence per euro at 10:47 a.m. in London as Greece struggled to form a government after inconclusive May 6 elections. Sterling was little changed versus the dollar at $1.6078 after the Bank of England last week halted its quantitative-easing, or QE, program at 325 billion pounds amid the threat of inflation.

The U.K. economy fell into its second recession since 2009 in the first quarter amid Cameron’s spending cuts, the deepest fiscal squeeze since World War II. The double-dip contraction is the first since 1975.
‘More Anxiety’

Growth will return over the full year, with gross domestic product rising 0.6 percent, according to the median of 24 economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The euro area will shrink 0.3 percent in 2012, a separate Bloomberg survey shows, as recessions grip no fewer than five countries from Greece to the Netherlands.

“There has been a lot more anxiety about what’s been going on in Europe recently than there has in the U.K.,” Jeffrey Molitor, chief investment officer for Europe at Vanguard Group, which has about $1.7 trillion of assets under management, said in an interview on May 8. “Britain is attractive because it has a relatively stable government, an intelligent workforce and an economy that can grow.”
Forecasts Raised

The pound will end the year at 81 pence per euro, according to the median estimate of 42 analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. On Dec. 31, analysts were forecasting sterling would weaken in 2012, to 84 pence from 83.34 pence. The U.K. currency will end the year at $1.59, another survey shows, up from a prediction of $1.56. The pound has averaged 72.26 pence per euro since the common European currency was introduced in 1999, with the dollar averaging $1.2081 versus the euro in the period.

Barclays Plc raised its three-month forecast for the pound on April 23 to 79 pence per euro from 84 pence, citing “sticky” inflation preventing the Bank of England from loosening monetary policy. Royal Bank of Canada strategist Elsa Lignos in London said sterling will rise to 77 pence by the second quarter of 2013, from a previous forecast of 79 pence.

“We expect the pound to be one of 2012’s outperformers, with an overall positive uptrend,” Lignos wrote in a May 10 investor report.

Cameron is sticking to the austerity program pledged when he came to the office two years ago, ending 13 years of Labour rule. He told the House of Commons on May 9 that deficit reduction is needed to keep interest rates low.
Cameron’s Cuts

His program includes at least 80 billion pounds of spending cuts to eliminate a deficit totaling 8 percent of gross domestic product by 2017. The reductions will result in 700,000 public sector job losses and lower spending on programs ranging from education to health care.

Standard & Poor’s affirmed Britain’s AAA rating and stable outlook on April 13, saying Cameron will maintain his focus on closing the budget gap.

U.K. output is about 4 percent below a pre-recession peak reached in 2008 and unemployment at 8.3 percent was close to a 16-year high in the three months through February, the Office for National Statistics reported on April 18, using International Labour Organization methods.

The economy grew 0.1 percent in the three months through April and will remain flat the next six months, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said May 10 in London.
Inflation Risks

The Bank of England halted its so-called quantitative- easing program the same day amid rising inflation risks. Consumer-price growth has been above the government’s 2 percent target since December 2009. Policy makers kept their benchmark interest rate at a record low 0.5 percent.

The boost the pound has received by putting QE on hold in the recession will probably be short-lived because the economy remains weak, according to Paul Meggyesi, managing director and currency strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London.

“It’s an impressive blip, but it’s still a blip,” Meggyesi said in a telephone interview on May 11. “I’m not sure the Bank of England has the luxury of sitting on the sideline watching while the economy continues to stagnate. The economic foundations, or the growth foundations, of sterling strength are not that compelling.”

An appreciating currency may impose additional hardships on U.K. companies.
Pound ‘Problem’

“A stronger pound at a time when domestic demand is being affected by the austerity measures is a problem,” British Chambers of Commerce Chief Economist David Kern said in a May 11 telephone interview. “It hasn’t reached dimensions yet that require immediate counteraction but it needs to be watched as it can cause a problem for exporters.”

Sensor Technology Ltd., a Banbury, Oxfordshire-based maker of torque sensors, which sells to companies including GlaxoSmithKline Plc, sends about 25 percent of its exports to Europe, said Tony Ingham, one of the three owners of the closely held company.

“If the exchange rate changes markedly then we obviously have to change the price that we sell at,” Ingham said in a May 11 telephone interview. “We will have to look very carefully at the euro rate,” even as the company hasn’t adjusted its prices yet, he said.

The pound is no Swiss franc in terms of national economic fundamentals. Britain’s gross public debt to GDP will rise about 6 percentage points this year to 88.4 percent, according to an International Monetary Fund forecast. Switzerland’s debt will be 49 percent, and its budget surplus will extend through next year, an IMF report on May 8 showed.
Political Impasse

The euro tumbled to a more than three-month low versus the dollar today as Greek political leaders struggled to form a government after inconclusive May 6 elections raised the possibility another vote will have to be held. The standoff reignited European concern over the nation holding to the terms of its two bailouts negotiated since May 2010, and sparked speculation about the country leaving the currency bloc.

Fifty-seven percent of investors said at least one country will abandon the euro by year-end, according to a Bloomberg Global Poll published May 10.

“Sovereign debt bloat and austerity resistance are undermining the euro,” said Clem Chambers, chief executive officer of U.K. financial websites ADVFN.com. “It’s thus little wonder the currency has reached the low against the pound not seen for three and a half years.”
Socialist President

Francois Hollande, who defeated French President Nicolas Sarkozy to become the first Socialist in 17 years to control Europe’s second-biggest economy, has said he’ll push for less austerity and more growth in the region. Hollande has advocated more aggressive measures to spur economies, putting him at odds with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who opposes adding to nations’ debt burdens.

The premium for three-month options granting the right to sell the euro against the pound relative to those allowing for purchases reached 1.69 percentage points today, the most this year. It’s up from 0.59 percentage point in January, the 25- delta risk reversal rate shows.

“In an ugly bug ball, the pound is not quite as ugly as the rest of them,” said Alan Brown, a special advisor in London at Schroders Plc, which has $319 billion in assets under management. “The pound is one of our favorite currencies at the moment. That’s a tactical view, although it may probably last for a while.”

I cannot stress the importance of retaining PERSPECTIVE as we see the lemmings doing the exact OPPOSITE of what they should be doing at the moment.

I NEVER make promises to people about what will happen over the short term - precisely because I'm well aware of the lemmings' penchant to (suddenly and capriciously) change direction.

However I DO make promises to people about what will happen over the longer term because there are no other possibilities. The West is going bankrupt. The ONLY way they delay bankruptcy is print, print, print.

All that Western money-printing causes INFLATION to rage out of control in the prosperous East. All the East can do is either STOP trading with Western nations OR protect themselves by buying gold and silver. There are no other possibilities.

And so we see inflation raging out of control in India, while the government is CUTTING interest rates (which fuels that inflation).

In China we see inflation raging out of control while the government cuts bank reserves (which fuels that inflation).

When the Chinese and Indians have BOUGHT all of the (physical) gold and silver in the world, what sort of PRICES do you think we'll be seeing for gold and silver then...?




P.S. Note the original title in the link: "inflation UNEXPECTEDLY accelerates" (lol!!). Yes, who would have EVER thought that printing countless $trillions in Western paper would cause inflation in India? The gold-bugs, that's who.




"India Inflation Quickens, Curbing Room for Cutting Rates"

www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-14/india-...-rate-cut-scope.html

Indian inflation unexpectedly accelerated in April, crimping the central bank’s scope to bolster economic growth by extending interest-rate cuts. Stocks fell, reversing earlier gains.

The benchmark wholesale-price index rose 7.23 percent from a year earlier, after climbing 6.89 percent in March, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement in New Delhi today. The median of 32 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 6.67 percent gain.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao signaled last month that inflation might limit the room for further cuts after he slashed the benchmark rate by half a percentage point, flagging price risks from the fiscal deficit, energy costs and a weaker rupee. Greece’s political turmoil and a deepening debt crisis in Europe are increasing pressure on Asian nations to support growth as exports falter from Taiwan to Malaysia. China cut banks’ reserve requirements on May 12 to revive demand.

“The Reserve Bank of India faces somewhat of a dilemma,” Robert Prior-Wandesforde, Singapore-based director of Asian economics at Credit Suisse Group AG, said in a note after the report. “Our guess is that the chance of a June rate move has diminished.”
Sensex Falls

The BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX) fell 0.5 percent in Mumbai, after rising as much as 0.6 percent earlier in the day. The five-day decline is the longest losing streak this year.

The yield on the 8.79 percent note due November 2021 rose two basis points immediately after the inflation data, It ended five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, lower at 8.52 percent on speculation the central bank will step up debt purchases through open-market operations and add cash to the banking system.

The Reserve Bank lowered the repurchase rate on April 17 for the first time since 2009, by 50 basis points to 8 percent. A report last week showed Indian industrial production unexpectedly contracted in March as weaker domestic demand and tumbling exports hurt the economy.

“The inflation numbers are a very uncomfortable statistic,” Chakravarthy Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, said in New Delhi today. “Many people have been calling for an easing in monetary policy but it makes it difficult for RBI to moderate policy. It is not a good sign.”
Worst Performer

Concern India’s outlook has worsened because of trade and fiscal deficits, political gridlock, elevated inflation and faltering global growth has pushed the nation’s currency toward a record low. That prompted the central bank to say last week exporters must convert half their foreign-currency earnings into rupees as it stepped up efforts to check the decline.

The currency weakened 0.6 percent to 53.9575 per dollar in Mumbai. It is down about 17 percent in the past year, the worst performer in a basket of 11 most-traded Asian currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

Governor Subbarao’s 13 interest-rate increases in the last two years helped tame price pressures in a nation where 75 percent of the people live on less than $2 a day. The wholesale- price inflation gauge has fallen below 9 percent in 2012, after breaching that level most of last year.

Aside from cutting the benchmark rate, the central bank has also reduced the amount of deposits lenders must set aside as reserves twice this year by a combined 125 basis points, to 4.75 percent, to ease cash shortages in the banking system.
Fastest Inflation

Credit Suisse predicts India will cut its repurchase rate by another 125 basis points by March 2013, Prior-Wandesforde said today.

Still, the central bank’s scope to cut interest rates further to boost growth is constrained by the threat of price increases, Ashima Goyal, a member of the bank’s technical advisory committee, said in an interview in Mumbai last week.

While the wholesale price gauge has cooled after the Reserve Bank raised rates by a record 3.75 percentage points from mid-March 2010 to October last year, India still has the highest inflation in the so-called BRIC group of biggest emerging markets that also includes Brazil, Russia and China.

“The inflation number underscores that the room to ease monetary policy is quite limited because there are still upside risks to inflation,” said Leif Eskesen, Singapore-based chief economist for India and Southeast Asia at HSBC Holdings Plc. “There isn’t a lot of spare capacity in the economy because growth has slowed on the back of policy paralysis, lack of structural reforms and therefore it makes inflation a structural problem rather than a cyclical one.”
Maruti Profits

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the nation’s biggest carmaker, posted a 3 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit because of high raw material costs and discounts on some models.

The country imports 80 percent of its annual crude requirements and the government compensates state oil firms for selling products below market prices.

Asia’s third-largest economy probably expanded 6.9 percent in the 12 months through March 2012, the least in three years, government estimates show. Standard & Poor’s cut India’s credit outlook to negative from stable last month, putting at risk its investment grade status.