Jim Rickards interviewed

Jim Rickards on KingWorldNews: Jim and Eric discuss the stock markets, the "Flash Crash", QEII and Hyperinflation......listen here

EU austerity policies risk civil war in Greece

From the UK Telegraph: “This tragedy does not have a solution,” said Hans-Werner Sinn, head of the prestigious IFO Institute in Munich.

“The policy of forced 'internal devaluation', deflation, and depression could risk driving Greece to the edge of a civil war. It is impossible to cut wages and prices by 30pc without major riots,” he said, speaking at the elite European House Ambrosetti forum at Lake Como.....read on

Court Martial Judge Denies Request For Obama's Birth Certificate

From Fellowship of the Minds blog: The news is not surprising, but today still is a black day for America and for every American who reveres truth, justice, and the United States Constitution.

Col. Denise Lind, the judge in Army surgeon Lt. Col. Terry Lakin’s court martial case, has denied the defendant’s request for discovery documents that include Obama’s school records and his original long-form birth certificate......read on

Bonds vs. Gold

Marc Faber and Peter Shiff discuss the crowded trade in US Treasury Bonds and how by comparison Gold is an attractive buy.

Australia's Golden Past

Barney Barnato Gold Mine.
Mine timbers from 1860 still in place.

Located at:
Barraba, New England,
New South Wales,
Australia.

James Turk on the Silver Price Explosion

From KingWorldNews.com: James Turk and Eric King discuss the coming and present Silver price rises.........listen here

South African gold production still falling

From Mineweb: The latest gold output figures from South Africa's Chamber of Mines, covering the second quarter of the year show that the country's gold production is up on the first quarter, but that does not give a true picture as seasonality means that the country's Q2 gold production is invariably higher than that of Q1. What is the real significance is year on year performance and on this measure what used to be by far the world's largest gold producer is continuing to slip down the production table.

Q2 gold output this year was 1,589,678 ounces - although up a seemingly positive 12% on Q1 production of a little over 1.412 million ounces - was still down on last year's 1,622,932 ounces by around 2%. And the picture for the full half year to end-June is rather worse with the country's gold output falling from 3,234,265 ounces to 3,001,988 ounces, a year on year decline of a little over 7%.

This is, of course not only significant from a global production point of view, but very relevant to South Africa itself where gold has been an extremely important contributor to export earnings - although the impact will have been mitigated by the rise in the gold price, but not helped by the strong Rand. Gold has already been overtaken by platinum as the country's top export earner but still accounted for around US$6.6 billion last year.....read on

Silver hits 1 year high in US$

Nuts and Bolts of COMEX Silver Manipulation

By Bix Weir: The silver market is one of those puzzles that continues to challenge our understanding of free market concepts because it is MASSIVELY volatile for such a stable supply/demand dynamic. When was the last time you heard of a gigantic silver discovery that would drastically increase the supply of silver? Or a new manufacturing technology that will replace the ever increasing demand for industrial silver? Let me save you some time...you have never heard of any drastic changes in the supply/demand equation. So why are silver prices so volatile when everything else related to physical silver isn't?
Taking a deep look at the details of COMEX silver trading can be very illuminating as to why but when you understand what is really going on... it is downright infuriating! I've put together a rare glimpse into what REALLY happens when buyers and sellers get together to make a market in silver on the COMEX. I hope you are sitting down because this covers just 5 MINUTES of a ordinary trading day.......read on

Commodities: Hoarding Versus Shorting

By Jeff Nielson:

Given the decades of rampant manipulation of the precious metals markets on the “short” side of trading, it is more than ironic that as the U.S. CFTC (“Commodity Futures Trading Commission”) ponders restrictions on commodities markets, it has expressed the most public concern about “speculators” on the “long” side of investing.

This comes with HSBC sitting with the largest concentrated-position in the gold market in history (“short”), while JP Morgan sits with the largest concentrated-position in the history of the silver market (also “short”). Furthermore, these concentrations (in proportionate terms) are far larger than anything seen in the history of all commodities markets.

Nonetheless, we continue to hear endless rhetoric about “speculators” disrupting markets (especially the crude oil market) – through “competing” with the buyers who actually consume these commodities through their own operations. Such “disruptive speculation” is often referred to (disparagingly) as “hoarding”.....read on