Thursday, April 26, 2012

The United States Has Plenty Of Oil: 10 Facts About America’s Energy Resources That Will Blow Your Mind


The United States is not running out of oil. In fact, nobody on the entire globe has more energy resources than the United States does. The truth is that we are absolutely swimming in oil and natural gas and we have so much coal that we have no idea what to do with it all. At current consumption rates, America has enough energy resources to completely satisfy all of its needs well into the 22nd century. If we would just access those resources, we would not have to import a single drop of foreign oil. But most Americans don’t realize that we have plenty of oil. In fact, our education system has brainwashed most Americans into believing that our energy resources are rapidly being depleted and that we will soon enter a great energy crisis. We are all constantly told that we must transition to “green energy” before it is too late. But the reality is that America is an energy rich nation and new discoveries of oil and natural gas deposits are being made all the time. Shouldn’t someone tell the American people the truth about these things?
Read More @ EndOfTheAmericanDream.com

Dr. Copper - Is the Spot Price Signaling a Slowing Economy?


The commodity metal copper is known in the financial world as “Dr. Copper,” because, historically, the copper spot price has predicted the health of the global economy, as it is an important input resource to a huge number of industrial processes.
With all of the bad news coming out in the last few weeks, after a seemingly upbeat start to the year, and the Fed’s take on the economy out today, it seems a good time to check in on our trusty time-tested bellwether.
It is an opportune to discuss the metal as Cesco Week, the leading series of events in the world copper industry, just wrapped up in Santiago, Chile. According to the FT:
“The consensus at Cesco week, from within the mining industry and beyond, was that much of the supply would not arrive on time.”
Supply problems facing the industry are many. Eric King interviews many heads of mining firms, and has identified a pattern; a dire shortage of mine engineers and contractors. The CEO’s tell him that mining professionals are in demand and are being paid far more than in the past and in many cases, must be flown to locations. Costs of labor of all types are rising rapidly, and strikes are becoming more and more common.  (more)

So Long, US Dollar

by Marin Katusa, Casey Research:

Signs the Dollar Is Going the Way of the Dodo
The biggest oil-trading partners in the world, China and Saudi Arabia, are still using the petrodollar in their transactions. How long this will persist is a very important question. China imported 1.4 million barrels of oil a day from Saudi Arabia in February, a 39% increase from a year earlier, and the two countries have teamed up to build a massive oil refinery in Saudi Arabia. As the nations continue to pursue increased bilateral trade, at some point they will decide that involving US dollars in every transaction is unnecessary and expensive, and they will ditch the dollar.
When that happens, the tide will have truly turned against the dollar, as it was an agreement between President Nixon and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia in 1973 that originally created the petrodollar system. Nixon asked Faisal to accept only US dollars as payment for oil and to invest any excess profits in US Treasury bonds, notes, and bills. In exchange, Nixon pledged to protect Saudi oilfields from the Soviet Union and other potential aggressors, such as Iran and Iraq.
Read More @ CaseyResearch.com

ZeroHedge Blogger outlines how Bernanke and the Fed could finally go Bankrupt!

Jay Taylor: Turning Hard Times Into Good Times



4/24/2012: Juggling Dynamite Set off by Government Market Manipulation

Impatience Will Lead to Our Demise


From Financial Sense / By Lance Roberts / April 24, 2012
It seems that political leaders in Europe, particularly Germany, may be giving up on the idea of austerity measures to reign in the excessive debt levels that have run amok in these countries, as well as in the U.S., over the last 30 years. Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor, has been a driving force on the insistence of tough debt cutting measures and fiscal targets in exchange for bailout funds since the beginning of the Greek crisis. In a NY Times article published yesterday Jordi Vaquer i Fanes, a political scientist and director of the Barcelona Center for International Affairs in Spain stated: “The formula is not working, and everyone is now talking about whether austerity is the only solution. Does this mean that Merkel has lost completely? No. But it does mean that the very nature of the debate about the Euro-zone crisis is changing.”
What is both disturbing and disappointing are the lack of foresight that is being exhibited by both the media and the leaders of not only Europe but the U.S. as well. It should not be a surprise to anyone that the austerity regimen, agreed to last month as a long term solution to Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, is going to cause economic growth to slow. We have been very vocal about this point in past missives. Austerity measures cannot be imposed when an economy is saddled by rising debt costs and high unemployment. Austerity, by its very nature, will reduce economic output and therefore requires a strongly growing economy to offset the drag of the reduction of government spending.
READ MORE

McAlvany Weekly Commentary

Dire Expectations for Late 2012


A look at This Week’s Show:
-Earnings beat “low bar” expectations
-Asia buying 60% of all gold
-Portable Property in the age of participatory fascism