With year end fund flows making absolutely no sense for the most part, thank you global central planning, as the euro plunges and the market refuses to follow, with risk assets rising on speculation the ECB (and/or Fed) are about to restart printing yet gold collapsing (on one or two hedge funds liquidating, yet econ PhDs already rewriting their theses on why the "gold bubble has popped"), and finally with Treasurys soaring to near all time highs (10 Year under 1.9% yesterday even as stocks surg... (more)
Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most vibrant middle class that the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, that is rapidly changing. The statistics that you are about to read prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the U.S. middle class is dying right in front of our eyes as we enter 2012. The decline of the middle class is not something that has happened all of a sudden. Rather, there has been a relentless grinding down of the middle class over the last several decades. Mi... (more)
I saw some technical analysis types saying gold falling below $1532 could cause a huge price collapse, gold fell below the indicator but is holding strong as of 2:50 AM and is up ~30$.
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Gold is poised to complete its 11th consecutive annual gain, the longest winning streak in at least nine decades, on the brink of a bear market.
George Soros, the billionaire who two years ago called it the "ultimate asset bubble," cut 99 percent of his holdings in the first quarter, Securities and Exchange Commission data show. Hedge fund managers John Paulson, Paul Touradji and Eric Mindich also sold bullion this year. While speculators in New York futures... (more)
The deflationary narrative has been getting a lot of traction lately, with no overt QE3 being announced, not to mention the 10-year mark being passed, it seemed like a pullback was due. Frankly, only a 20% pullback at this point is not very significant. (see this chart)
I think the view that the Fed will continue expansionary monetary policy if the market falls too much is a more likely scenario than the market being allowed to have some sort of deflationary collapse, especially considering we're in an election season.
Nothing has really changed when it comes to the massive debt expansion by governments around the world, though the question is where is all the money going to go, it doesn't *have to* go into gold, tons is going into treasures, for example.
Personally, I'm not very worried about the price of gold unless Ron Paul wins the presidency.
Of course, if I think there is going to be some sort of deflationary collapse and a massive dollar rally, I'll sell my gold and not be too ideological about it, after all, prices are entirely subjective. - Chris, InfoLib
Well, it is time to raise the debt ceiling again. Right now we are about to hit the current limit of $15.194 trillion and the Obama administration is going to ask that it be raised by another 1.2 trillion dollars. Unfortunately, Congress has already promised not to stand in the way, and so soon the debt limit will be raised to a staggering $16.394 trillion. Considering how much debt we have alre... (more)
As Eurozone nations sink ever deeper into crisis, the UK Treasury is working on a contingency plan for the single currency's collapse. It includes capital control measures that, under EU rules, require agreement from most of the Union members. Britain is also prepared to close its borders and evacuate expats and holidaymakers from the effected countries. Robert Oulds, ... (more)
Gold fell, capping the longest slump since October 2009, and silver tumbled to a three-month low as Europe’s deepening debt crisis drove commodities and stocks lower.
The euro dropped to an 11-month low against the dollar as lending to financial institutions sent the European Central Bank’s balance sheet to a record high. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials and the MSCI World Index of equities were poised for the biggest declines in two weeks. Platinum approached ... (more)
Senate majority leader Harry Reid argues that the rich simply do not create jobs...at all.
Funny thing is Harry Reid's full time 'job' is to destroy other people's jobs. He's also a millionaire by the way, and he got rich not through providing a good or service on the market but through looting the public, which also destroys jobs! - Chris
Here's a trailer for a new documentary about the coming financial collapse of the United States. For a change, it actually features a number of prominent spokesmen who are on the libertarian/Austrian economics side of the solution rather than the "we need more government regulation" side of the solution. (Unfortunately, the trailer doesn't show the names of the people ... (more)
At the heart of the Christmas story rests some important lessons concerning free enterprise, government, and the role of wealth in society.
Let's begin with one of the most famous phrases: "There's no room at the inn." This phrase is often invoked as if it were a cruel and heartless dismissal of the tired travelers Joseph and Mary. Many renditions of the story conjure up images of the couple going from inn to inn only to have the owner barking at them to go away and... (more)
GoDaddy after blustering about how they will not drop support for SOPA just caved in after only a few hours. It's a rather remarkable event for a massive corporation to lobby for and advocate for a bill to only then completely reverse themselves within a 24-hour time span. This is a perfect example of the swift justice doled out through the market economy, there is no waiting for committees, passing around petit... (more)
Wanna buy a city hall? A library? A golf course? A cemetery? How about a fire station?
Financially troubled Pontiac -- perhaps foreshadowing what's in store for Detroit -- tried to tell its residents at a public hearing Tuesday that it was putting most of its assets up for sale.
But except for the mayor, the city's emergency manager, his assistant and a lone reporter, no one came.
1. This is capitalism. We live in a capitalistic country.
We can argue over the best label for the economic system in the United States of America, but there can be little argument that “capitalism” or “free market” are among the worst and most inaccurate labels for what we have in America today. With quantity and price controls rampant throughout multiple, major U.S. markets, regulations galore, and some of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, the United... (more)
US GDP gets revised down in the third quarter to 1.8 percent. Bad news for growth and bad for the debt-to-gdp ratio which sees the debt growing faster. Jobless claims declined, but does this just mean US businesses increasingly have fewer temporary workers left to fire? And, the rating's agency Fitch warned the US's debt burden is not the stuff of a AAA credit rating. ... (more)
Is America in decline? That is a very provocative question. I have found that most people that hate the United States are very eager to agree that America is in decline, while a lot of those that love the United States are very hesitant to admit that America is in decline. Well, I am proud to be an American, but I cannot lie and tell you that America is doing just fine. The pieces of evidence compiled below are undeniable. Our economy is deathly ill and is rapidly getting worse. We were ha... (more)
With precisely one year left for the world and all of its inhabitants, at least according to the Mayans, not to mention on the day of the Winter Solstice, it is only fitting that US debt, net of all settlements for all already completed bond auctions, is now at precisely $15,182,756,264,288.80. Why is this relevant? Because the latest annualized US GDP, according to the BEA, was $15,180,900,000.00. Which means that, as of today, total US debt to GDP is 100.012%. Congratulations Amer... (more)
Anyone seeking joyous holiday greetings and cheerful forecasts for the new year is advised to avoid the following most recent Mark Faber interview, in which in addition to his predictions for 2012 (led with "more printing" by the dodecatupling down central planners, and far less prosperity), we get the following: "I am convinced the whole derivatives market will cease to exit. Will become zero. And when it happens I don't know: you can postpone the problems with monetary measure... (more)
[...]Peter Schiff, CEO of Westport, Connecticut-based broker- dealer Euro Pacific Capital Inc., is delivering the message directly. He went in October to Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, where Occupy Wall Street protesters had camped out, with a sign that said "I Am the 1%" and a video camera.
"Somebody needs to do it," Schiff said in an interview.
Schiff, 48, disclosed assets of at least $64.7 million before losing the 2010 Republican primary for a Connecticut U... (more)
