Oil has Rallied as Other Markets Fell Commodities are rallying, with oil leading the way. As stocks fell to risk aversion and the U.S. dollar tumbled, traders were desperate for a refuge destination to protect their assets. Blossoming demand for commodity imports from emerging markets such as India and China offered a rare positive story in an otherwise shaken marketplace, attracting huge inflows of speculative capital and leading prices to balloon higher. A recent analysis report prepared by Thomas Mayer and Torsten Slok of Deutsche Bank points to a big difference in returns between commodities and other asset classes from one year ago (see Figure 1). Crude has gained 22% just since January. Energy costs have spurred inflation, depressed consumption, and distorted trade figures in nearly every G7 economy. Just as observers were starting to grapple with the idea of oil reaching $100 per barrel, it became apparent that $200 a barrel had nearly arrived. Why is the USD/CAD Correlated with the Price of Oil? Historically speaking, the Canadian dollar has been highly correlated with the price of oil, with the two tracking each other with over 80% precision. This is not surprising—Canada boasts the world’s second-largest oil reserves (after Saudi Arabia). Canada is also the number one supplier to the world’s largest oil importer, the United States. As the price of oil goes up, Canadian firms benefit from greater export revenues, improving Canada’s trade balance and adding to positive growth in the overall national income. This relationship has been particularly notable in the USD/CAD. This makes sense because the global price of oil is denominated in US dollars. If the Canadian dollar is over 80% correlated with the price of crude, then one would reckon that an appreciation in the price of oil would see an analogous depreciation in the USD/CAD over 80% of the time. U.S. Slowdown Holds the USD/CAD in Place as Oil Rallies Currently, we can see that the correlation between the USD/CAD and the price of oil is very weak. Nearly 80% of Canadian exports are destined for the US market, making Canada highly sensitive to the slowdown in the States. Most metrics of Canadian economic heath have started to deteriorate: • Employment is accelerating lower as firms cut capacity in the face of slowing U.S. demand. • The trend in trade figures points to further downside. • Overall GDP has plummeted to the lowest level in two years. • The Bank of Canada issued two deep back-to-back rate cuts of 50 basis points each, stating that more easing is on its way. Put simply, the two North American economies will rise and fall together, locking the USD/CAD in place. The recent past has seen several notable instances where the relationship between the USD/CAD and oil has broken down. In each case, it has led to sharp corrective moves in the USD/CAD (see Figure 2). If past price action is any indication, we should expect a deep corrective move to re-align the current imbalance, creating a very lucrative USD/CAD trading opportunity. Think Oil will Continue to go Up? Sell USD/CAD With the summer driving season and the Beijing Olympic Games fast approaching, the top consumers of oil in the United States and China show no signs of slowing down. In fact, China has been rumored to be ramping up imports to build up stockpiles of crude before prices reach even higher. It seems only a matter of time before prices reach so high that swelling oil export revenues will make it cost effective for companies to expand capacity. Firms will hire workers and invest in new buildings and machinery. As more people go to work, disposable income levels will rise, spurring consumption and ultimately overall GDP as well. The Canadian economy will thereby be able to decouple from the US crisis, building positive growth momentum despite slowdowns in non-oil export sectors. As vibrant economic growth resumes, the specter of inflation will move the Bank of Canada to cut short their campaign of rate cuts, and start gearing up to move monetary policy in the opposite direction. The newfound health of the Canadian economy and expectations of a widening yield gap will catalyze the USD/CAD, causing the pair to break out of its current range for a sharp catch-up correction to the rise in oil. Not only does this offer a second chance to get in on the rally already seen in oil futures, but the yield-bearing nature of currencies will allow forex traders to magnify their gains as they capture positive overnight interest for every day that they hold a short USD/CAD position. Think Oil is about to Peak? Buy USD/CAD A report published by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) echoed this sentiment, noting that “[t]he falling value of the US dollar has encouraged inflows of new money into the crude oil futures market." "Crude oil prices have become detached from the dynamics of supply and demand fundamentals, since, in spite of the persistent price rises, the market remains well-supplied with crude.” Traders have not discounted the apparent drag of the U.S. slowdown on global growth, a trend that would cause oil demand to ease as consumers face deterioration in disposable income and pare back expenses. This has not caused the price of oil to decline, suggesting speculative anti-dollar interest rather than the fundamentals of crude production and consumption are behind the spectacular rise in prices. The U.S. has been proactive in dealing with the current crisis. The Federal Reserve has slashed borrowing costs by 60% in the past six months, creating incentives for spending and investment. The U.S. government has also adopted a fiscal stimulus package that will provide direct transfer payments as well as tax relief, both of which will increase disposable income and encourage consumption. The weak dollar will help boost profits in the export sector, improving earnings and rekindling an interest in U.S. equities. As the slowdown spreads globally, traders will look to U.S. Treasuries as a stand-by, safe-haven asset, prompting an inflow of capital into American debt markets. All this will prompt investors to buy dollars, with the subsequent appreciation in and of itself depressing oil prices as the dollar regains purchasing power. This will send the USD/CAD higher while the price of oil drops lower, correcting the current distortion.
Humblepie
I have found power in the mysteries of thought.
It is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing.
Our virtues, and our failings are inseparable, like force, and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it. hemplol geeks Thumbs up Get us off oil now! Yes, just do it do it.
Humblepie
I have found power in the mysteries of thought.
It is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing.
Our virtues, and our failings are inseparable, like force, and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy?
<< <i>"can hemp save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no collateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
this thread has been here a LONG time and would take ALL day to read it all. That beeing said, this silver and gold market is really helping the intrest in collecting. I don't quite know how to say this but older couples from years ago that were taken by different mints selling thier sterling silver and silver at greatly over prices can sell now and get most of thier money back and in some cases make a few $$
Pat Vetter,Mercury Dime registry set,1938 Proof set registry,Pat & BJ Coins:724-325-7211
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things.
When governments want to expand power over the monetary system, they invoke the need to clamp down on money laundering by criminals. There is a problem here. After these laws and new rules are passed, crime never goes down, but our privacy does. That is a problem for us. It is not a problem for governments.
The Toronto Globe and Mail ran a story on money laundering and new Web-based businesses that allow people to buy small amounts of gold and then spend this gold as money.
The development of these businesses is the preliminary step to the restoration of private money. This is regarded with great hostility by national governments and central banks. National governments ever since 1914 have worked with central banks to remove gold from circulation as money. This began with the outbreak of World War I. It has never ceased.
The development of the credit card was the culmination of a dream of every fractional reserve banker. Bankers in a fractional reserve system have always feared the withdrawal of currency by depositors. This reverses the fractional reserve process. It shrinks the money supply.
By substituting digits for currency, bankers have solved this problem. A depositor can move digital money out of his account, but it is transferred to another digital account. The system does not lose deposits. When someone withdraws currency and does not redeposit it, the money supply declines. So, credit cards are a banker's dream come true. The threat of bank runs by depositors has ended.
But now a handful of small companies have offered depositors a way to substitute digital money for gold stored in a vault. This gold can now be spent digitally. This creates the threat of a rival form of money.
Hardly anyone accepts gold for transactions. So, the threat to banks is remote today. It is merely the first hesitant step in the creation of an alternative monetary system. Yet this threat has aroused the hostility of some government organizations: those that monitor money.
This alternative money avenue is tiny. Hardly anyone knows of these firms. Fewer still have signed up. Nevertheless, some government agencies are preparing to make war on these tiny firms. "This thing must be nipped in the bud." The Globe and Mail reports on this new pressure by governments.
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system.
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws.
Interesting that they manipulated gold up $50 only to pull the rug out. If you truely believe that gold is manipulated, then you better believe it works both ways.
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws. >>
Spare me the B/S. You are a statist and a scumbag anti American .
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws. >>
Spare me the B/S. You are a statist and a scumbag anti American . >>
ROTFLMAO!!!!
Your type is easy to figure out. In America you are just a run of the mill millionaire. But in Vietnam, you can stroke your ego. You walk the streets among the poor and feel like a king. How pathetic.
Anti-American is saying that our troops are murderers. You are nothing but a jealous hypocrite. I feel sorry for you.
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws. >>
Spare me the B/S. You are a statist and a scumbag anti American . >>
ROTFLMAO!!!!
Your type is easy to figure out. In America you are just a run of the mill millionaire. But in Vietnam, you can stroke your ego. You walk the streets among the poor and feel like a king. How pathetic.
Anti-American is saying that our troops are murderers. You are nothing but a jealous hypocrite. I feel sorry for you. >>
It's not possible to input any sort of reason into the minds of people like you. People like you seem to have such an inner hatred of the world for a multitude of reasons. Envy is certainly one of the attributes you hold dear. Fear, another. Who knows what else goes on inside you that made you and your kind the type of mind numbed robot who cannot think for yourself, be productive, be a good person, husband, father, human or have the type of raw individuality and "Americanism" that loves liberty and considers all mankind as equals.
No, people like you make excuses for everything you do. You seem to be constitutionally incapable of doing the right thing. People like you form a dangerous collective that becomes an enemy to freedom everywhere. You are beyond shame and are just a sh-it ball who should be flushed with the rest of them.
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel> Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws. >>
Spare me the B/S. You are a statist and a scumbag anti American . >>
ROTFLMAO!!!!
Your type is easy to figure out. In America you are just a run of the mill millionaire. But in Vietnam, you can stroke your ego. You walk the streets among the poor and feel like a king. How pathetic.
Anti-American is saying that our troops are murderers. You are nothing but a jealous hypocrite. I feel sorry for you. >>
It's not possible to input any sort of reason into the minds of people like you. People like you seem to have such an inner hatred of the world for a multitude of reasons. Envy is certainly one of the attributes you hold dear. Fear, another. Who knows what else goes on inside you that made you and your kind the type of mind numbed robot who cannot think for yourself, be productive, be a good person, husband, father, human or have the type of raw individuality and "Americanism" that loves liberty and considers all mankind as equals.
No, people like you make excuses for everything you do. You seem to be constitutionally incapable of doing the right thing. People like you form a dangerous collective that becomes an enemy to freedom everywhere. You are beyond shame and are just a sh-it ball who should be flushed with the rest of them.
IMNSHO >>
Wow!!! That really is an eye opener. Thanks for sharing yourself. I may have overestimated you, Tom.
How about some economic news. Seems that even high gasoline prices have not had much impact on our appetite for fossil fuels. Demand for gasoline is higher than last year and inventories are low, be prepared for sustained high prices.
Summary of weekly Petroleum Data for the week ending May 23rd
Production: U.S. crude oil refinery inputs avgd nearly 15.3 mln bpd during the week ending May 23,up 214 thousand bpd from the previous week's avg. Refineries operated at 87.9% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production moved higher compared to the previous week, averaging about 9.1 mln bpd. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging 4.3 mln bpd...
Imports: U.S. crude oil imports avgd 9.0 mln bpd last week, down 278 thousand bpd from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports have avgd nearly 9.7 mln bpd, 579 thousand bpd below the same four-week period last yr. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week avgd 1.0 mln bpd. Distillate fuel imports avgd 250 thousand bpd last week...
Inventories: At 311.6 mln barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are in the lower half of the avg range for this time of yr. The drop was due to temporary delays in crude oil tanker off-loadings on the Gulf Coast. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 3.2 mln barrels last week, and are near the lower limit of the avg range. Finished gasoline inventories remained unchanged last week while gasoline blending components inventories decreased during this same time. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 1.6 mln barrels, and are in the lower half of the avg range for this time of yr.
Propane/propylene inventories increased by 1.7 mln barrels last week but remain near the bottom of the avg range. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 9.7 mln barrels last week, and are in the lower half of the avg range for this time of yr... Demand: Distillate fuel demand has avgd 4.1 mln bpd over the last four weeks, up 1.2% from the same period last yr. Jet fuel demand is 2.9% lower over the last four weeks compared to the same four-week period last yr.
Interesting that they manipulated gold up $50 only to pull the rug out. If you truely believe that gold is manipulated, then you better believe it works both ways.
Yeah, it would appear that players like GS or JPM make money on the rise and fall of gold are probably long term bullish on it regardless of what they say publically at times. Their link to the FED makes the game a lot easier as to when gold is to be bashed and when it is allowed to run. Easy money for them since they are the ones who usually start the stampeding. Oh to be a fly in the wall in their commodity offices.
Interesting that they manipulated gold up $50 only to pull the rug out. If you truely believe that gold is manipulated, then you better believe it works both ways.
I always wonder who "they" are in cases like this. I'm sure it's fairly easy to manipulate a thinly traded stock, but I'm not so sure it's possible with a more broadly traded security or commodity such as gold.
So commodities futures are kind of like a craps game. You are betting on the price going up or betting that your number will be hit before a seven is rolled. If your number gets hit, you get your bet back plus a little bonus; same for commodity futures. You can even bet "odds" on the come bet and multiply your bonus, same as margining a commodity account; you can "invest" more to get a better pay-out. So, it could be said that commodity future bets are much like a craps game. It would also seem like currency trading could be lumped in with the group as well.
But maybe that isn't where the common elements end. With commodities, it seems like the more people buy, the more sought after the commodity becomes. The more sought after they become, the more expensive they are. So, gold being a commodity as is grain and petroleum and other items, there are betting pressures; people that want their number to come up before the commodity takes a substantial dip. When the commodity dice are rolling for the bettor as they have been for the last year or so and when it looks like they are going to be rolling for the bettor for a while longer, then everybody wants to get on the table and the vulnerability for the house grows. Just one roll can cost the house much more than their threshold for pain. The house is probably most similar to the banks, it can't go down or the whole place folds. So, if the govt is underwriting the banks in the sense that they are offering liquidity for 2%, then the game goes on until the house rolls a 7 and all the bettors are wiped out, except for the stragglers sittin on the don't come line. Maybe that's what is being played, maybe that's the game. It would be hard to be a don't bettor when the come bettors are stuffing their pockets with big chips.
Just sittin' here, cogitating on what might happen to gold when the dice do come up with a 7 and the house and don't bettors win. I think the don't bettors, in a strange twist of fate, are actually those that hold the PM. The house can't shake the don't bettors, they are agents of gloom for everybody...except of course those that hold PM. Hummmmmmm...this is just too much fun.
I just read on Yahoo money "Four good things about $4 gas" and the author mentions how Americans are using less gas. This past Memorial Day Weekend recorded a significant drop in automobile usage. Gas on the Central Coast of California is $4.11 and gallon on up. Locally diesel is $5.20+. The pain threshold is where we are at, habits are changing.
Earlier this week a guest on CNBC said that speculators were responsible for $30 of the current price per barrel of oil. He said if usage continues to trend downward, prices will begin to deteriorate and once the price of oil begins to go back down, the speculators will bail out taking the price per barrel down $30. That holiday will be brief as India and China's economies continue to grow.
Personally? I think US Research and Development has something to focus on. The next 15 to 25 years will be bumpy, erratic and not for the faint of heart but as oil becomes harder and harder to extract and refine into oil more and more electricity will come from solar, wind and sea while transportation will begin to run on natural gas and electricity.
When I'm seventy in thirty years, gas powered cars will be a smelly collectors item. Maybe some of us will post to that board.
Off to the bank for some rolls of nickels and to order a box of halves....
always wonder who "they" are in cases like this. I'm sure it's fairly easy to manipulate a thinly traded stock, but I'm not so sure it's possible with a more broadly traded security or commodity such as gold.
Gold is a very thinly traded market. "They" are the commercials that mine and refine gold, as well as the speculators, funds, banks, and brokerages that play the game. The FED can whisper to JPM or GS to knock gold down $20 and all they have to do is spread the word to their minions (other brokerages and fund players) and start selling top gold stocks short at various key spots during the day. Sometimes they start overseas in well coordinated efforts like they did in mid-March following the $1033. They new BSC was failing and coming out of that weekend they had the Asian market all ready to dump gold. And once the US opened they continued it. Sell short a few hundred thousand shares of various stocks (they don't even own) and cover the short after the price is beat down (and pocket the difference). This scam does not even require them to deliver shares because no one cares plus the SEC us under the thumb of the FED, GS and JPM. Once stops are hit on various funds, the selling stampedes. All the big boys have to do is get it going down at a soft spot on the curve. Naked short selling is one of the biggest con jobs in the gold market. And because gold competes against the USDollar, the govt, FED, and TPTB all love to see gold bashed no matter how it's done (legally or illegally....same result). Don't ask don't tell is their motto.
All gold stocks are thinly traded and the sum of all the miners is a minute amount compared to what trades on the Forex and big boards each day. All the gold ever mined is worth only around $4 TRILLION....much less than one day on the FOREX. And with mining only adding 2% per year to the 150,000 known tons of gold it truly is a drop in the bucket.
<< <i> Off to the bank for some rolls of nickels and to order a box of halves.... >>
These will be the real collectors items.
I was just thinking last night of all the XF/ AU and Unc '69-D quarters I spent over the years because they weren't worth enough to save at the time. You can't save everything, you have to pick and choose. Now I don't even have a stash of these coins that I can check for the different reverses because they were spent.
Ironically I knew about the reverses early but didn't take them seriously.
So many moderns coins simply won't exist in unc and many won't exist in nice condition because people couldn't be troubled to save them.
So the taxpayers will be insuring the insurers. Just another tax. Enjoy. LOL
WSJ reports as hurricane season begins, Democrats in Congress want to nationalize a chunk of the insurance business that covers major storm-damage claims. The proposal -- backed by giant insurers ALL and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, as well as Florida lawmakers -- focuses on "reinsurance," the policies bought by insurers themselves to protect against catastrophic losses. The proposal envisions a taxpayer-financed reinsurance program covering all 50 states, which would essentially backstop the giant insurers in case of disaster. The program could save homeowners roughly $500 apiece in annual premiums in Florida, according to an advocacy group backed by Allstate and State Farm, the largest writers of property insurance in the U.S. But environmentalists and other critics -- including the American Insurance Association, a major trade group -- say lower premiums would more likely spur irresponsible coastal development, already a big factor in insurance costs. The program could also shift costs to taxpayers in states with fewer natural-disaster risks.
Just sittin' here, cogitating on what might happen to gold when the dice do come up with a 7 and the house and don't bettors win. I think the don't bettors, in a strange twist of fate, are actually those that hold the PM. The house can't shake the don't bettors, they are agents of gloom for everybody...except of course those that hold PM. Hummmmmmm...this is just too much fun.
"This time, it's different." Do you remember 1978? The metals were going up, almost daily. If you had enough money in them, you could see the balance in your holdings jumping every day. One day in 1979, my metals holdings grew by more than my whole annual salary for that year - and I began to think, "why am I working, when I could spend my time speculating?"
I even got out, mostly unscathed. When the market slumped, I was already out, and thinking that it would go right back up. I lost about $2,000 on that bet, and then pretty much left the metals alone for the next 16 years. Problem is - precious metals are alot like the old "Fritos" commercial, "betcha can't eat just one."
I used to keep alot of technical data to justify my purchases and my holdings. I used to read the WSJ, and I would track the short, medium and long bonds, in addition to money supply data. I used to follow the foreign exchange rates on some of the "hard money" currencies. There is no end to the amount of work that you can use to justify your investments/speculations.
A little over 12 years ago, I started nibbling at platinum, and silver again. And then, a little gold. If you can afford to "buy & hold", a very interesting thing begins to happen. You stop looking at daily price movements, and start reading other information.
When you start paying attention to politics and what Congress & the President are up to, the short term money and metals movements become incidental. When you start looking at the Fed, and social & monetary policies - you begin to see clearly how to place your bets.
You are not betting on anything other than how well our so-called "elected representatives" are doing in implementing public and foreign policy, and sad to say - it looks like they suck really bad at what they are doing. It's a heckuv an easy bet.
The only thing that makes it challenging is the Fed manipulation of the markets and interest rates. Nevertheless, the direction is clearly established. Only a change in our government that totally washes out the politically-connected graft & corruption will make a difference in the direction of the metals markets over the long term.
I don't see that happening unless both major socialistic parties are handed some truly embarrassing defeats, which they both so-abundantly deserve. The biggest worry that I see for precious metals holdings is an oppressive or punitive tax treatment - which is probably coming, just after Congress puts the hurt on the oil companies and any other industry that still has any balls left.
"This time, it's different." And I must agree. This time, it's worse. It's not just a reaction to the stagflation and war debt left over from the previous decade. This time, it's an accumulation of the costs of creepism socialism, a corrupt banking system, and a securities industry with absolutely no scruples that has been allowed to create their own money and dump their losses onto the rest of us. It's a level of corruption that I've never seen in my years of observation.
And don't get me started about foreign policy.
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
It was well written. Unfortunately, socialism has become the rule not the exception in this country and people are whining and snivelling for more and more of it.
Those of us who despise socialism are becoming scarce in America.
Far as the "party" being defeated. They had the chance to really change this year ( Ron Paul ) but instead insulted and minimalized the very reason this place exists to begin with.
<< <i>So the taxpayers will be insuring the insurers. Just another tax. Enjoy. LOL
WSJ reports as hurricane season begins, Democrats in Congress want to nationalize a chunk of the insurance business that covers major storm-damage claims. The proposal -- backed by giant insurers ALL and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, as well as Florida lawmakers -- focuses on "reinsurance," the policies bought by insurers themselves to protect against catastrophic losses. The proposal envisions a taxpayer-financed reinsurance program covering all 50 states, which would essentially backstop the giant insurers in case of disaster. The program could save homeowners roughly $500 apiece in annual premiums in Florida, according to an advocacy group backed by Allstate and State Farm, the largest writers of property insurance in the U.S. But environmentalists and other critics -- including the American Insurance Association, a major trade group -- say lower premiums would more likely spur irresponsible coastal development, already a big factor in insurance costs. The program could also shift costs to taxpayers in states with fewer natural-disaster risks. >>
there has been taxpayer subsidy of flood insurance....why would you think all those BIG houses get rebuilt on the beaches.(question not directed at you)..it's time for more individual responsibility....just wait untill they want to do this with Earthquake
insurance is a great (best) mechanism for reducing risk by spreading it out yet i don't think it is wise to reduce premiums in hurricane and/0r EQ areas and make up for it via increase taxing people living elsewhere. i could see a small reallocation of the budget....but that's like not going to happen
""We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws""
Good for you, now...........please.............bow to the motherland.
I was listening to CSPAN radio this morning and they were talking about speculation in the oil markets. They were discussing that people will not be able to afford to go to their summer homes because of high oil prices. Don't these people have a clue. Give me a break. CNN Senate Panel Probe
the stock markets will keep singing the BRIC mantra and be in denial of the tsunami warnings.
doesn't one think that there will be a "day/week/month/quarter of reckoning" with the US economy, regardless of how much is invested (and outsourced) overseas?
doesn't one think that there will be a "day/week/month/quarter of reckoning" with the US economy, regardless of how much is invested (and outsourced) overseas?
If you watch CNBC, you'd have thought today that the real estate boom was just beginning. Well, if you ignore the 29% to 50% drop in prices, the bottom fishers are all over it (and sales are up, for repo houses in Fla. & Calif.)
What they may not understand is that this tide of bottom fishers that washed in with the tide might well get wiped out without even a blink when the tide rolls back out.
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
Comments
Commodities are rallying, with oil leading the way. As stocks fell to risk aversion and the U.S. dollar tumbled, traders were desperate for a refuge destination to protect their assets. Blossoming demand for commodity imports from emerging markets such as India and China offered a rare positive story in an otherwise shaken marketplace, attracting huge inflows of speculative capital and leading prices to balloon higher. A recent analysis report prepared by Thomas Mayer and Torsten Slok of Deutsche Bank points to a big difference in returns between commodities and other asset classes from one year ago (see Figure 1). Crude has gained 22% just since January. Energy costs have spurred inflation, depressed consumption, and distorted trade figures in nearly every G7 economy. Just as observers were starting to grapple with the idea of oil reaching $100 per barrel, it became apparent that $200 a barrel had nearly arrived.
Why is the USD/CAD Correlated with the Price of Oil?
Historically speaking, the Canadian dollar has been highly correlated with the price of oil, with the two tracking each other with over 80% precision. This is not surprising—Canada boasts the world’s second-largest oil reserves (after Saudi Arabia). Canada is also the number one supplier to the world’s largest oil importer, the United States. As the price of oil goes up, Canadian firms benefit from greater export revenues, improving Canada’s trade balance and adding to positive growth in the overall national income. This relationship has been particularly notable in the USD/CAD. This makes sense because the global price of oil is denominated in US dollars. If the Canadian dollar is over 80% correlated with the price of crude, then one would reckon that an appreciation in the price of oil would see an analogous depreciation in the USD/CAD over 80% of the time.
U.S. Slowdown Holds the USD/CAD in Place as Oil Rallies
Currently, we can see that the correlation between the USD/CAD and the price of oil is very weak. Nearly 80% of Canadian exports are destined for the US market, making Canada highly sensitive to the slowdown in the States. Most metrics of Canadian economic heath have started to deteriorate:
• Employment is accelerating lower as firms cut capacity in the face of slowing U.S. demand.
• The trend in trade figures points to further downside.
• Overall GDP has plummeted to the lowest level in two years.
• The Bank of Canada issued two deep back-to-back rate cuts of 50 basis points each, stating that more
easing is on its way.
Put simply, the two North American economies will rise and fall together, locking the USD/CAD in place. The recent past has seen several notable instances where the relationship between the USD/CAD and oil has broken down. In each case, it has led to sharp corrective moves in the USD/CAD (see Figure 2). If past price action is any indication, we should expect a deep corrective move to re-align the current imbalance, creating a very lucrative USD/CAD trading opportunity.
Think Oil will Continue to go Up? Sell USD/CAD
With the summer driving season and the Beijing Olympic Games fast approaching, the top consumers of oil in the United States and China show no signs of slowing down. In fact, China has been rumored to be ramping up imports to build up stockpiles of crude before prices reach even higher. It seems only a matter of time before prices reach so high that swelling oil export revenues will make it cost effective for companies to expand capacity. Firms will hire workers and invest in new buildings and machinery. As more people go to work, disposable income levels will rise, spurring consumption and ultimately overall GDP as well. The Canadian economy will thereby be able to decouple from the US crisis, building positive growth momentum despite slowdowns in non-oil export sectors.
As vibrant economic growth resumes, the specter of inflation will move the Bank of Canada to cut short their campaign of rate cuts, and start gearing up to move monetary policy in the opposite direction. The newfound health of the Canadian economy and expectations of a widening yield gap will catalyze the USD/CAD, causing the pair to break out of its current range for a sharp catch-up correction to the rise in oil. Not only does this offer a second chance to get in on the rally already seen in oil futures, but the yield-bearing nature of currencies will allow forex traders to magnify their gains as they capture positive overnight interest for every day that they hold a short USD/CAD position.
Think Oil is about to Peak? Buy USD/CAD
A report published by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) echoed this sentiment, noting that “[t]he falling value of the US dollar has encouraged inflows of new money into the crude oil futures market." "Crude oil prices have become detached from the dynamics of supply and demand fundamentals, since, in spite of the persistent price rises, the market remains well-supplied with crude.” Traders have not discounted the apparent drag of the U.S. slowdown on global growth, a trend that would cause oil demand to ease as consumers face deterioration in disposable income and pare back expenses. This has not caused the price of oil to decline, suggesting speculative anti-dollar interest rather than the fundamentals of crude production and consumption are behind the spectacular rise in prices.
The U.S. has been proactive in dealing with the current crisis. The Federal Reserve has slashed borrowing costs by 60% in the past six months, creating incentives for spending and investment. The U.S. government has also adopted a fiscal stimulus package that will provide direct transfer payments as well as tax relief, both of which will increase disposable income and encourage consumption. The weak dollar will help boost profits in the export sector, improving earnings and rekindling an interest in U.S. equities. As the slowdown spreads globally, traders will look to U.S. Treasuries as a stand-by, safe-haven asset, prompting an inflow of capital into American debt markets. All this will prompt investors to buy dollars, with the subsequent appreciation in and of itself depressing oil prices as the dollar regains purchasing power. This will send the USD/CAD higher while the price of oil drops lower, correcting the current distortion.
I have found power in the mysteries of thought.
It is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing.
Our virtues, and our failings are inseparable, like force, and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
.
fixed link
I have found power in the mysteries of thought.
It is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing.
Our virtues, and our failings are inseparable, like force, and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
.
<< <i>I know how much you guys like contests, here is a link to cnbc 1 million dollar challenge.
regiter or visit cnbc >>
That link didn't work. I have nothing further to add.
California is bigger than Canada.
WalMart is bigger than Poland.
New York City has double the population of New Zealand which has a GDP about the same as the revenues of IBM.
Texas is larger both in terms of GDP and population than Australia.
Connecticut is twice as big as Singapore.
The massive run up in the currencies of these countries has more to do with the tremendous amount of global liquidity than with sound economic growth.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it.
hemp lol geeks
Thumbs up Get us off oil now!
Yes, just do it
do it.
I have found power in the mysteries of thought.
It is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing.
Our virtues, and our failings are inseparable, like force, and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
.
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy?
<< <i>"can hemp save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no collateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
Chance favors the prepared mind.
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things.
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
by Gary North
When governments want to expand power over the monetary system, they invoke the need to clamp down on money laundering by criminals. There is a problem here. After these laws and new rules are passed, crime never goes down, but our privacy does. That is a problem for us. It is not a problem for governments.
The Toronto Globe and Mail ran a story on money laundering and new Web-based businesses that allow people to buy small amounts of gold and then spend this gold as money.
The development of these businesses is the preliminary step to the restoration of private money. This is regarded with great hostility by national governments and central banks. National governments ever since 1914 have worked with central banks to remove gold from circulation as money. This began with the outbreak of World War I. It has never ceased.
The development of the credit card was the culmination of a dream of every fractional reserve banker. Bankers in a fractional reserve system have always feared the withdrawal of currency by depositors. This reverses the fractional reserve process. It shrinks the money supply.
By substituting digits for currency, bankers have solved this problem. A depositor can move digital money out of his account, but it is transferred to another digital account. The system does not lose deposits. When someone withdraws currency and does not redeposit it, the money supply declines. So, credit cards are a banker's dream come true. The threat of bank runs by depositors has ended.
But now a handful of small companies have offered depositors a way to substitute digital money for gold stored in a vault. This gold can now be spent digitally. This creates the threat of a rival form of money.
Hardly anyone accepts gold for transactions. So, the threat to banks is remote today. It is merely the first hesitant step in the creation of an alternative monetary system. Yet this threat has aroused the hostility of some government organizations: those that monitor money.
This alternative money avenue is tiny. Hardly anyone knows of these firms. Fewer still have signed up. Nevertheless, some government agencies are preparing to make war on these tiny firms. "This thing must be nipped in the bud." The Globe and Mail reports on this new pressure by governments.
The Next Attack on Gold Has Begun
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
<< <i>
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say.
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws. >>
Spare me the B/S. You are a statist and a scumbag anti American .
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
(many)Laws were made by enemies of America who are in power. Never forget that !
edit to add one critical word.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws. >>
Spare me the B/S. You are a statist and a scumbag anti American . >>
ROTFLMAO!!!!
Your type is easy to figure out. In America you are just a run of the mill millionaire. But in Vietnam, you can stroke your ego. You walk the streets among the poor and feel like a king. How pathetic.
Anti-American is saying that our troops are murderers. You are nothing but a jealous hypocrite. I feel sorry for you.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
The Preamble :
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws. >>
Spare me the B/S. You are a statist and a scumbag anti American . >>
ROTFLMAO!!!!
Your type is easy to figure out. In America you are just a run of the mill millionaire. But in Vietnam, you can stroke your ego. You walk the streets among the poor and feel like a king. How pathetic.
Anti-American is saying that our troops are murderers. You are nothing but a jealous hypocrite. I feel sorry for you. >>
It's not possible to input any sort of reason into the minds of people like you. People like you seem to have such an inner hatred of the world for a multitude of reasons. Envy is certainly one of the attributes you hold dear. Fear, another. Who knows what else goes on inside you that made you and your kind the type of mind numbed robot who cannot think for yourself, be productive, be a good person, husband, father, human or have the type of raw individuality and "Americanism" that loves liberty and considers all mankind as equals.
No, people like you make excuses for everything you do. You seem to be constitutionally incapable of doing the right thing. People like you form a dangerous collective that becomes an enemy to freedom everywhere. You are beyond shame and are just a sh-it ball who should be flushed with the rest of them.
IMNSHO
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>"can hem save the American economy? It can also be used as a bio fuel>
Canada uses it, and there economy is doing better because of it."
It is much easier to grow (it's a weed). The problem is that it needs no fertilizer, results in no colateral pollution that normal farming requires. No crop insurance or federal farm subsidies, it doesn't need any of the big business or lobbyist...you don't even need a bank loan to plant a crop. It can be grown anywhere, and it doesn't take a tractor to plant or harvest hence little fuels required. It is extreemly easy to process as the natives have been making clothes and other usable items for free from this plant for centuries. The other thing is that anybody can cultivate it, just like back yard tomatos or watermelons. How can this possibly help the economy? >>
And if it were legal, there wouldn't be anymore confiscation of properties such as houses, cars, jewelry. No more arrests of millions of Americans which also raises money for bondsmen, courts, lawyers, prisons, and all the "productive" people associated with such things. >>
And if people would just stop breaking the law, the same thing would be accomplished. Again we need to blame the individual, not the legal system. >>
What an ignorant thing to say. >>
If you had a friend who was killed by someone driving under the influence of marijuana you may think differently. You have a very strange viewpoint of society. If you think the USA is so bad, maybe you should just move to your beloved Vietman, a country who, to use a term that YOU used to describe our troops, MURDERED, our boys.
We have laws for a reason. Violate those laws and be prepared to have your home, jewelry, and cars confiscated. Seems pretty simple to me to be able to obey the laws. >>
Spare me the B/S. You are a statist and a scumbag anti American . >>
ROTFLMAO!!!!
Your type is easy to figure out. In America you are just a run of the mill millionaire. But in Vietnam, you can stroke your ego. You walk the streets among the poor and feel like a king. How pathetic.
Anti-American is saying that our troops are murderers. You are nothing but a jealous hypocrite. I feel sorry for you. >>
It's not possible to input any sort of reason into the minds of people like you. People like you seem to have such an inner hatred of the world for a multitude of reasons. Envy is certainly one of the attributes you hold dear. Fear, another. Who knows what else goes on inside you that made you and your kind the type of mind numbed robot who cannot think for yourself, be productive, be a good person, husband, father, human or have the type of raw individuality and "Americanism" that loves liberty and considers all mankind as equals.
No, people like you make excuses for everything you do. You seem to be constitutionally incapable of doing the right thing. People like you form a dangerous collective that becomes an enemy to freedom everywhere. You are beyond shame and are just a sh-it ball who should be flushed with the rest of them.
IMNSHO
Wow!!! That really is an eye opener. Thanks for sharing yourself. I may have overestimated you, Tom.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Summary of weekly Petroleum Data for the week ending May 23rd
Production: U.S. crude oil refinery inputs avgd nearly 15.3 mln bpd during the week ending May 23,up 214 thousand bpd from the previous week's avg. Refineries operated at 87.9% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production moved higher compared to the previous week, averaging about 9.1 mln bpd. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging 4.3 mln bpd...
Imports: U.S. crude oil imports avgd 9.0 mln bpd last week, down 278 thousand bpd from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports have avgd nearly 9.7 mln bpd, 579 thousand bpd below the same four-week period last yr. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week avgd 1.0 mln bpd. Distillate fuel imports avgd 250 thousand bpd last week...
Inventories: At 311.6 mln barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are in the lower half of the avg range for this time of yr. The drop was due to temporary delays in crude oil tanker off-loadings on the Gulf Coast. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 3.2 mln barrels last week, and are near the lower limit of the avg range. Finished gasoline inventories remained unchanged last week while gasoline blending components inventories decreased during this same time. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 1.6 mln barrels, and are in the lower half of the avg range for this time of yr.
Propane/propylene inventories increased by 1.7 mln barrels last week but remain near the bottom of the avg range. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 9.7 mln barrels last week, and are in the lower half of the avg range for this time of yr... Demand: Distillate fuel demand has avgd 4.1 mln bpd over the last four weeks, up 1.2% from the same period last yr. Jet fuel demand is 2.9% lower over the last four weeks compared to the same four-week period last yr.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Yeah, it would appear that players like GS or JPM make money on the rise and fall of gold are probably long term bullish on it regardless of what they say publically at times. Their link to the FED makes the game a lot easier as to when gold is to be bashed and when it is allowed to run. Easy money for them since they are the ones who usually start the stampeding. Oh to be a fly in the wall in their commodity offices.
roadrunner
I always wonder who "they" are in cases like this. I'm sure it's fairly easy to manipulate a thinly traded stock, but I'm not so sure it's possible with a more broadly traded security or commodity such as gold.
I have found power in the mysteries of thought.
It is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing.
Our virtues, and our failings are inseparable, like force, and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
.
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
So commodities futures are kind of like a craps game. You are betting on the price going up or betting that your number will be hit before a seven is rolled. If your number gets hit, you get your bet back plus a little bonus; same for commodity futures. You can even bet "odds" on the come bet and multiply your bonus, same as margining a commodity account; you can "invest" more to get a better pay-out. So, it could be said that commodity future bets are much like a craps game. It would also seem like currency trading could be lumped in with the group as well.
But maybe that isn't where the common elements end. With commodities, it seems like the more people buy, the more sought after the commodity becomes. The more sought after they become, the more expensive they are. So, gold being a commodity as is grain and petroleum and other items, there are betting pressures; people that want their number to come up before the commodity takes a substantial dip. When the commodity dice are rolling for the bettor as they have been for the last year or so and when it looks like they are going to be rolling for the bettor for a while longer, then everybody wants to get on the table and the vulnerability for the house grows. Just one roll can cost the house much more than their threshold for pain. The house is probably most similar to the banks, it can't go down or the whole place folds. So, if the govt is underwriting the banks in the sense that they are offering liquidity for 2%, then the game goes on until the house rolls a 7 and all the bettors are wiped out, except for the stragglers sittin on the don't come line. Maybe that's what is being played, maybe that's the game. It would be hard to be a don't bettor when the come bettors are stuffing their pockets with big chips.
Just sittin' here, cogitating on what might happen to gold when the dice do come up with a 7 and the house and don't bettors win. I think the don't bettors, in a strange twist of fate, are actually those that hold the PM. The house can't shake the don't bettors, they are agents of gloom for everybody...except of course those that hold PM. Hummmmmmm...this is just too much fun.
Have a nice Saturday
We're currently about 10% Tangible Assets, 80% of which is rare coins, the balance bullion and miscellaneous objects of art
45% stocks, 80% of which is concentrated in a single company (swinging for the fences on a paradigm-shifting medical technology)
45% in real estate, 2/3 of that rental property, 1/3 home, debt to equity about 50%.
How're we doin?
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Earlier this week a guest on CNBC said that speculators were responsible for $30 of the current price per barrel of oil. He said if usage continues to trend downward, prices will begin to deteriorate and once the price of oil begins to go back down, the speculators will bail out taking the price per barrel down $30. That holiday will be brief as India and China's economies continue to grow.
Personally? I think US Research and Development has something to focus on. The next 15 to 25 years will be bumpy, erratic and not for the faint of heart but as oil becomes harder and harder to extract and refine into oil more and more electricity will come from solar, wind and sea while transportation will begin to run on natural gas and electricity.
When I'm seventy in thirty years, gas powered cars will be a smelly collectors item. Maybe some of us will post to that board.
Off to the bank for some rolls of nickels and to order a box of halves....
Gold is a very thinly traded market. "They" are the commercials that mine and refine gold, as well as the speculators, funds, banks, and brokerages that play the game. The FED can whisper to JPM or GS to knock gold down $20 and all they have to do is spread the word to their minions (other brokerages and fund players) and start selling top gold stocks short at various key spots during the day. Sometimes they start overseas in well coordinated efforts like they did in mid-March following the $1033. They new BSC was failing and coming out of that weekend they had the Asian market all ready to dump gold. And once the US opened they continued it. Sell short a few hundred thousand shares of various stocks (they don't even own) and cover the short after the price is beat down (and pocket the difference). This scam does not even require them to deliver shares because no one cares plus the SEC us under the thumb of the FED, GS and JPM. Once stops are hit on various funds, the selling stampedes. All the big boys have to do is get it going down at a soft spot on the curve. Naked short selling is one of the biggest con jobs in the gold market. And because gold competes against the USDollar, the govt, FED, and TPTB all love to see gold bashed no matter how it's done (legally or illegally....same result). Don't ask don't tell is their motto.
All gold stocks are thinly traded and the sum of all the miners is a minute amount compared to what trades on the Forex and big boards each day. All the gold ever mined is worth only around $4 TRILLION....much less than one day on the FOREX. And with mining only adding 2% per year to the 150,000 known tons of gold it truly is a drop in the bucket.
roadrunner
<< <i>
Off to the bank for some rolls of nickels and to order a box of halves.... >>
These will be the real collectors items.
I was just thinking last night of all the XF/ AU and Unc '69-D quarters I spent
over the years because they weren't worth enough to save at the time. You
can't save everything, you have to pick and choose. Now I don't even have a
stash of these coins that I can check for the different reverses because they
were spent.
Ironically I knew about the reverses early but didn't take them seriously.
So many moderns coins simply won't exist in unc and many won't exist in nice
condition because people couldn't be troubled to save them.
<< <i>Selling pounds for yen, selling dollars for yen, selling dollars for franks. good luck, risk 50 pips. 1st target 200 pips. >>
2
3
I have found power in the mysteries of thought.
It is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing.
Our virtues, and our failings are inseparable, like force, and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
.
WSJ reports as hurricane season begins, Democrats in Congress want to nationalize a chunk of the insurance business that covers major storm-damage claims. The proposal -- backed by giant insurers ALL and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, as well as Florida lawmakers -- focuses on "reinsurance," the policies bought by insurers themselves to protect against catastrophic losses. The proposal envisions a taxpayer-financed reinsurance program covering all 50 states, which would essentially backstop the giant insurers in case of disaster. The program could save homeowners roughly $500 apiece in annual premiums in Florida, according to an advocacy group backed by Allstate and State Farm, the largest writers of property insurance in the U.S. But environmentalists and other critics -- including the American Insurance Association, a major trade group -- say lower premiums would more likely spur irresponsible coastal development, already a big factor in insurance costs. The program could also shift costs to taxpayers in states with fewer natural-disaster risks.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Box of 20
"This time, it's different." Do you remember 1978? The metals were going up, almost daily. If you had enough money in them, you could see the balance in your holdings jumping every day. One day in 1979, my metals holdings grew by more than my whole annual salary for that year - and I began to think, "why am I working, when I could spend my time speculating?"
I even got out, mostly unscathed. When the market slumped, I was already out, and thinking that it would go right back up. I lost about $2,000 on that bet, and then pretty much left the metals alone for the next 16 years. Problem is - precious metals are alot like the old "Fritos" commercial, "betcha can't eat just one."
I used to keep alot of technical data to justify my purchases and my holdings. I used to read the WSJ, and I would track the short, medium and long bonds, in addition to money supply data. I used to follow the foreign exchange rates on some of the "hard money" currencies. There is no end to the amount of work that you can use to justify your investments/speculations.
A little over 12 years ago, I started nibbling at platinum, and silver again. And then, a little gold. If you can afford to "buy & hold", a very interesting thing begins to happen. You stop looking at daily price movements, and start reading other information.
When you start paying attention to politics and what Congress & the President are up to, the short term money and metals movements become incidental. When you start looking at the Fed, and social & monetary policies - you begin to see clearly how to place your bets.
You are not betting on anything other than how well our so-called "elected representatives" are doing in implementing public and foreign policy, and sad to say - it looks like they suck really bad at what they are doing. It's a heckuv an easy bet.
The only thing that makes it challenging is the Fed manipulation of the markets and interest rates. Nevertheless, the direction is clearly established. Only a change in our government that totally washes out the politically-connected graft & corruption will make a difference in the direction of the metals markets over the long term.
I don't see that happening unless both major socialistic parties are handed some truly embarrassing defeats, which they both so-abundantly deserve. The biggest worry that I see for precious metals holdings is an oppressive or punitive tax treatment - which is probably coming, just after Congress puts the hurt on the oil companies and any other industry that still has any balls left.
"This time, it's different." And I must agree. This time, it's worse. It's not just a reaction to the stagflation and war debt left over from the previous decade. This time, it's an accumulation of the costs of creepism socialism, a corrupt banking system, and a securities industry with absolutely no scruples that has been allowed to create their own money and dump their losses onto the rest of us. It's a level of corruption that I've never seen in my years of observation.
And don't get me started about foreign policy.
I knew it would happen.
siliconvalleycoins.com
Those of us who despise socialism are becoming scarce in America.
Far as the "party" being defeated. They had the chance to really change this year ( Ron Paul ) but instead insulted and minimalized the very reason this place exists to begin with.
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
If they awarded post of the day (POTD) here, you would have it. Very clear thinking, very valuable point.
<< <i>So the taxpayers will be insuring the insurers. Just another tax. Enjoy. LOL
WSJ reports as hurricane season begins, Democrats in Congress want to nationalize a chunk of the insurance business that covers major storm-damage claims. The proposal -- backed by giant insurers ALL and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, as well as Florida lawmakers -- focuses on "reinsurance," the policies bought by insurers themselves to protect against catastrophic losses. The proposal envisions a taxpayer-financed reinsurance program covering all 50 states, which would essentially backstop the giant insurers in case of disaster. The program could save homeowners roughly $500 apiece in annual premiums in Florida, according to an advocacy group backed by Allstate and State Farm, the largest writers of property insurance in the U.S. But environmentalists and other critics -- including the American Insurance Association, a major trade group -- say lower premiums would more likely spur irresponsible coastal development, already a big factor in insurance costs. The program could also shift costs to taxpayers in states with fewer natural-disaster risks. >>
there has been taxpayer subsidy of flood insurance....why would you think all those BIG houses get rebuilt on the beaches.(question not directed at you)..it's time for more individual responsibility....just wait untill they want to do this with Earthquake
insurance is a great (best) mechanism for reducing risk by spreading it out yet i don't think it is wise to reduce premiums in hurricane and/0r EQ areas and make up for it via increase taxing people living elsewhere. i could see a small reallocation of the budget....but that's like not going to happen
Good for you, now...........please.............bow to the motherland.
respectfully yours, adolph
link....
Box of 20
Box of 20
doesn't one think that there will be a "day/week/month/quarter of reckoning" with the US economy, regardless of how much is invested (and outsourced) overseas?
If you watch CNBC, you'd have thought today that the real estate boom was just beginning. Well, if you ignore the 29% to 50% drop in prices, the bottom fishers are all over it (and sales are up, for repo houses in Fla. & Calif.)
What they may not understand is that this tide of bottom fishers that washed in with the tide might well get wiped out without even a blink when the tide rolls back out.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>Socialism at work that has now backfired. Bankrupted City. This is totally obscene. >>
Lots more coming while many people whine and snivel for more .
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
What are the bookies in Vegas saying?
What's standard procedure in Obama's World when the taxpayers all die?
I knew it would happen.