Fifty Years of Suppressing Silver

By Jeff Nielson: Sophisticated precious metals investors are well-aware of the rampant manipulation of the gold and silver markets. They are also generally aware of the reason for such manipulation. A rapid rise in the price of gold and silver is like an economic “warning siren” - alerting savers that their wealth (i.e. the purchasing power of their currency) is being rapidly eroded by the monetary depravity of bankers.

In a world with a “gold standard”, this isn't a problem. With currency which is redeemable in gold (or silver), the value of a currency (i.e. its purchasing power) is anchored by the gold and silver backing it. However, in a world of nothing but “fiat currencies” (i.e. money backed by nothing), a loss of public confidence in paper “money” is the worst nightmare of bankers.

This fear can be most easily illustrated by simply looking at the example of Alan Greenspan. In 1966, Greenspan was a respected academic, who wrote a famous essay extolling the virtues of a gold standard, where he simply stated the evils of “fiat money”:

“In the absence of a gold standard there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation.”......read on

Gold in September - Frank Holmes : CEO, US Global Investors

Frank Holmes interviewed on Mineweb.com......listen here

By David Levenstein: While gold demand in China is up 40% this year, gold demand in Vietnam is also set to increase. The government devalued its dong last week in order to boost exports and shore up the nation's trade deficit. Local gold prices jumped to a record 29.95 million dong per tael on Aug. 25, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported recently referring to the unit that is about 1.2 ounces.

"People will switch to gold as a shelter," said Le Xuan Nghia, vice chairman of the National Financial Supervision Commission, which advises Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. "The current situation with the dong will spur people to increase their gold holdings."

"The dong's depreciation, which has been about 5 percent already this year, plus declines in stocks and uncertainty in the property market, will prompt investors to put their money in gold," said Dinh Nho Bang, chairman of Vietnam Gold Traders' Association, which has more than 100 members. "We've seen some economic growth, but it's still not certain enough."

As I have mentioned numerous times in the last few years, the debasement of currencies have been and will remain the main driving force behind the strong gold prices. But there are a slew of reasons why the gold price is poised to move higher over the coming months and years for that matter......read in full

No defence left against double-dip recession, says Nouriel Roubini

From Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (UK Telegraph): The United States, Japan and large parts of Europe have exhausted their policy arsenal, leaving them defenceless against a double-dip recession as recovery slows to ‘stall speed’.

"The US has run out of bullets,” said Nouriel Roubini, professor at New York University, and one of a caste of luminaries with grim forecasts at the annual Ambrosetti conference on Lake Como.

“More quantitative easing (bond purchases) by the Federal Reserve is not going to make any difference. Treasury yields are already down to 2.5pc yet credit spreads are widening again. Monetary policy can boost liquidity but it can’t deal with solvency problems,” he told Europe’s policy elite.

Dr Roubini said the US growth rate was likely to fall below 1pc in the second half of the year, despite the biggest stimulus in history: a cut in interest rates from 5pc to zero, a budget deficit of 10pc of GDP, and $3 trillion to shore up the financial system.

The anaemic pace compares with rates of 4pc-6pc at this stage of recovery in normal post-war recoveries.

“We have reached stall speed. Any shock at this point can tip you back into recession. With interbank spreads rising, you can get a vicious circle like 2008-2009,” he said, describing a self-feeding process as the real economy and the credit system hurt each other......read on

Pent-up gold demand in India to be unleashed when the rupee turns?

From Mineweb: India is one of the most important fulcrums for the physical gold market world-wide. The metal has religious significance to the Hindu population in particular, and over 60% of the Indian population is in the rural community. As a result, although the country continues rapidly to industrialise, meaning that gold has competition for disposable income and the leisure dollar, the metal's prime position as a hedge against risk - or a just a simple, solid investment - remains solid, with farmers still buying gold both as an investment and as a form of wealth.....read on

Feel lucky?

I have no doubt that a few people made a lot of money in the markets this past week. But I don't care about them. I care about the people who are losing, still losing, because they continue to fall for the pipedreams foisted upon them by the media, politicians and industries that surround them, that literally shape their lives. The people who, looking at a 3% rise in the Dow in one day, once again look at their TV sets, and once again convinced that recovery is here to stay. Robert Reich has some sensible words on the Dow vs people's lives:

The Stock Market Rally Versus the World’s Economic Fundamentals
by Robert Reich

What passes for business reporting in the United States is too often a series of breathless reports about the stock market. When the Dow rises precipitously, as it did today (Wednesday), the business press predicts an end to the Great Recession. When the stock market plummets, as it did last week, the Great Recession is said to be worsening.

Pay no attention. The stock market has as much to do with the real economy as the weather has to do with geology. Day by day there’s no relationship at all. Over time, weather and geology interact but the results aren’t evident for many years. The biggest impact of the weather is on peoples’ moods, as are the daily ups and downs of the market. The real economy is jobs and paychecks, what people buy and what they sell. [..]

Many big American companies have been showing profits because they’re doing ever more business in China while cutting payrolls at home. American consumers aren’t buying much of anything because they’ve lost their jobs or are worried about losing them, and are still trying to get out from under a huge debt load.[..] The U.S. housing market is growing worse, auto and retail sales are dropping, and the ranks of the jobless continue to swell.

Europe is in almost as much a mess. The problem there isn’t just or even mainly that Greece and other nations on the "periphery" have too much public debt. A bigger problem is European consumers aren’t buying nearly enough to generate more jobs. Unemployment remains high, and the trend is bad. Manufacturing growth there has slowed to its weakest pace in six months. Yet bizarrely, Europe’s large economies – Britain, Germany, and France – are paring back their public budgets. It’s exactly the wrong time, and a recipe for disaster.........read on

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.