Saturday, September 29, 2012

Faber Warns “Everything Will Collapse”

By Money Morning Staff Reports

Famed economist Marc Faber appeared on Bloomberg TV with a harsh, direct warning to investors.

 "U.S. monetary policies will destroy the world," he said, referring to the new round of stimulus - QE3, or "QE Forever" - the Fed plans to launch this year.

As the publisher of the influential Gloom Boom & Doom report, Faber is well-known for making ominous predictions. Many regard him as the first to warn investors to get out of the stock market one week before the October 1987 crash.

And since the 2008 meltdown, he's been a fierce critic of the Fed's policy of money printing, arguing it only creates a phony recovery.

So it wasn't surprising to hear him speak out against Bernanke's most recent stimulus plan, quantitative easing or QE3.

What was surprising - and frightening - was the level of wealth-destruction he believes will occur.

According to Faber, "eventually we will have a systematic crisis and everything will collapse." (more)

“There Was No Increase In The Standard of Living Since 1997″ – Lacy Hunt


Do The Investment Banks Really Have a Lot of Metal?

from GATA.org
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold (and Silver):
A fascinating little controversy has developed in our camp.
On Monday GATA’s great friend David Schectman of the Miles Franklin coin and bullion dealership in Minnesota related in his blog the account of a bullion trader friend, Trader David R, who says that major investment banks are making a risk-free trade out of gold by obtaining free money from the Federal Reserve, buying real metal, selling futures against the metal, and collecting the contango. That is, the big dealers would not be naked short, or at least not as naked short as long suspected.
Continue Reading at GATA.org…

High-Frequency Trading are Driving Oil Prices Higher! CapitalAccount



Welcome to Capital Account. An EU parliament committee voted unanimously to back tighter restrictions on banks’ trading activities, including a proposed curb on high frequency trading. We talk to our guest David Greenberg, former NYMEX board member, about where the United States stands on high frequency trading.

Also, oil rebounded from the lowest close in almost two months, supposedly on speculation that China will take stimulus measures. We have gone from $50 a barrel in 2007 to above $90 in just a few years. We ask David Greenberg about what really changed that may have exacerbated this rise in the price of oil in the last 5 years.

Plus, US GDP revisions for the second quarter reduced growth down to 1.3 percent on an annualized basis. Times Square was a good indication of tough times after the 1929 stock crash, and since Lauren and Demetri are in New York today, we will have a chance to hear from them about what they call the “peep show indicator” in a special episode of “Loose Change.”

Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Market 20 Times Global GDP


How Crony Capitalism Corrupts the Free Market | David Stockman


How to Start Lawyer-Proofing Your Life in 72 Hours


sovereign-investor.com / By Bob Bauman / September 26, 2012
If you’re waiting for a problem to start knocking – whether it’s an individual litigant or the U.S. government itself – it’s already too late. The best time for asset protection is long before a problem arrives.
Right now, like it or not, problems are heading straight up your driveway and your front door is within easy reach.
Through taxation and regulation, the U.S. government has stepped up attacks on our wealth. Eager to avoid dealing with our fundamental fiscal issues, our politicians will continue to dig deeper into our pockets to grab every penny they can, no matter who wins the upcoming election.
At the same time, a bad economy is making more people lawsuit-happy. Does your neighbor have a petty grievance against you and your barking dog? You’d better take that complaint seriously … anyone with money (even people of moderate wealth) can become a target.
As sovereign individuals, we understand these trends and guard against them. Wisely, we choose where we place our assets and identify places where we can find safety and privacy guaranteed by law.
For true security, we require a system that also guarantees maximum possible legal tax avoidance, the highest possible financial privacy, the strongest asset protection and access to the most profitable investments available worldwide.
Fortunately, there is one legal device that does all of this: the offshore Asset Protection Trust (APT).
The idea of setting up an offshore APT may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be a complicated process. In some of my favorite offshore havens, you can lay the groundwork for a solid asset-protection strategy in just three days.
READ MORE

Friday, September 28, 2012

Coxe – Gold Now Trading At All-Time Highs As A Global Asset

from King World News
Today 40 year veteran Don Coxe told King World News, “Gold is a global asset, and as a global asset it’s trading at an all-time high.” He noted that it is only, “… the dollar price of gold where it isn’t at an all-time high.” Coxe, who is Global Strategy Advisor to BMO ($538 billion in assets), also spoke about “… an extremely rare event for equity markets,” which was directly related to the mining shares.
Here is what Coxe had to say: “We’ve had a period of consolidation (in gold) for the last two weeks. Almost every other day we trade the ‘Independence’ level, which is $1,776. Well, we traded above that, then we went below it, and now we’re back up to $1,768, and maybe we are going to finish the day at $1,776.”
Continue Reading at KingWorldNews.com…

Two no-brainer ways to play rising food prices


sovereignman.com / by Simon Black /
Last summer, two researchers from the New England Complex Systems Institute published a short paper examining the correlation between rising food prices and civil unrest. It was a timely analysis, to say the least. A number of food riots were occurring throughout the world, not to mention waves of revolution sparked by the high cost of food.
This is nothing new; throughout history whenever people have struggled to put food on the table for their families, social unrest has been a common consequence.
The French Revolution is a classic example; after decades of unsustainable fiscal and monetary practices that wrecked the French economy, the harvest season and subsequent winter of 1788 were particularly harsh. People went hungry, and it ultimately started the revolution.
The researchers’ analysis went a step further, though; they modeled the relationship between food prices and social unrest to reach a simple conclusion– whenever the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)’s global food price index climbs above 210, conditions ripen for social unrest.
screen capture 11 Two no brainer ways to play rising food prices
Today, the FAO’s food index is at 213… and rising. Netherlands-based Rabobank recently published its own analysis, forecasting further rises in food prices well into the 3rd quarter of 2013.
READ MORE

Home prices may not return to peak until 2023

by Les Christie
CNN Money

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Home prices are showing signs of life, but have a long way to go to make up for losses from the housing bust.
U.S. home prices dropped by a third from the start of 2007 to the start of 2012, according to Fiserv, an analytics firm.
Fiserv forecasts prices will bounce back an average of 3.7% a year for the next five years — a rate that would still leave prices 20% below the peak. At that forecasted growth rate, the national average high of $238,000 would not be hit again until 2023.
It could take even longer in some areas. “In some hard-hit markets, prices could take decades to recover,” said Fiserv economist David Stiff.
Continue Reading at Money.CNN.com…

Pierre Lassonde – Gold & Central Banks Fearful Of A Depression

kingworldnews.com / September 26, 2012
Today legendary Pierre Lassonde startled King World News by warning, “When you talk about the worldwide slowdown, the central banks are worried about a depression, and that’s why they are printing all of that money.”  KWN has been reporting for some time now that the global economy has been rolling over, but Lassonde took it a step further.
Lassonde is arguably the greatest company builder in the history of the mining sector.  He is past President of Newmont Mining, past Chairman of the World Gold Council and current Chairman of Franco Nevada.  Lassonde is one of the wealthiest, most respected individuals in the resource world, so we take his warning very seriously.
But first, Lassonde had a great deal to say about the gold market:  “I was very surprised in the summer that gold didn’t break the $1,500 level.  I say that because Europe is really going into a recession, and I felt the lows were going to be breaking the $1,500 (level).  But you know what saved the gold market?  The central banks.”
“The central banks came in and bought almost 150 tons of gold in June and July, and the gold market never looked back.  It was very stable, and it built from there.  From here on in it’s very simple, when you look at the Federal Reserve, with QE3, when you look at the ECB with their OMT, which is really the way I look at it, OMG, ‘Oh My Gold,’ because they are essentially going to be monetizing Spanish and Italian debts.
When you look at the Japanese Central Bank, they just announced their own QE3 program.  It’s essentially all of the central banks around the world printing money.  So what do you think gold is going to do?….
READ MORE

This 100% Gainer is an Immediate Sell or Short: TSO



If tax rates rise and government spending slows next year, the economy is expected to fall into a recession, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Some political pundits insist that Congress and the president will do all they can to avoid a recession, but economic growth is determined by a number of factors and political will alone has never avoided a recession.
Rather that watching Washington for clues about economic growth, traders can watch oil prices. In the past, recessions have been associated with oil price spikes. In the chart below, created at the Federal Reserve's website, the 12-month rate of change (ROC) is shown for oil prices. The gray bars highlight recessions, a standard feature on all charts created with the Fed's data.

Oil Chart
The annual ROC of oil prices has spiked above 80% five times since 1970, and a recession followed four of those spikes. In 2010, however, oil prices rose as the global economy recovered from a deep recession and growth followed the price spike.  (more)

Hedge Funds Bullish on Silver as Hoard Nears Record: Commodities

by Nicholas Larkin and Debarati Roy
Bloomberg.com

Hedge funds are the most bullish on silver in seven months and investors’ holdings are expanding toward a record on speculation the metal will outperform gold as central banks seek to boost growth.
Wagers on rising prices jumped 10-fold since June, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Investors bought 717.2 metric tons valued at $797 million through exchange-traded products this quarter, the most in a year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prices will increase for at least the next three quarters and average $38 an ounce in the three months through June, or 9.9 percent more than now, based on the median of 14 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Continue Reading at Bloomberg.com…

Thursday, September 27, 2012

US Bank Run Imminent as FDIC Expanded Deposit Insurance Ends Dec 31st

As of January 2013 the FDIC stops offering 100% coverage for all insured deposits.  That amounts to $1.6 trillion in deposits, 85-90% deposited with the TBTF mega banks.  Once the insurance ramps back to $250,000 the FDIC risk amelioration offered to large depositors will cause them to flee from the insecurity of the much reduced FDIC coverage.  This money will rotate immediately into short term Treasury securities.  The treasury, in order to handle this flood of money, will immediately offer negative interest rates.  This financing will resemble the .5% negative interest rate offered by the Swiss and Germans on the funds flooding to their banks from Spain, Greece and Italy. This will be a bank run much larger that the Euro banks flight to safety.

I have noticed two disturbing matters that will most certainly come as a result of the Fed MBS program.
1.  The funds from the Fed purchases will rotate to the Too Big To Fail Banks. This debt is already junk bond status due to the nature of the underwater mortgages and delinquencies, hence the reason for the new Fed goon Squad going after borrowers.
This debt will be as bad or worse than the debt of Greece, Spain and Italy, rated CCC-

2. The banks receiving these funds will rotate the money immediately into short term treasury securities that will be priced at NIRP. the reason for that follows:

3.  As of January 2013 the FDIC stops offering 100% coverage for all insured deposits.  That amounts to $1.6 trillion in deposits, 85-90% deposited with the TBTF mega banks.  Once the insurance ramps back to $250,000 the FDIC risk amelioration offered to large depositors will cause them to flee from the insecurity of the much reduced FDIC coverage.  This money will rotate immediately into short term Treasury securities.  The treasury, in order to handle this flood of money, will immediately offer negative interest rates.  This financing will resemble the .5% negative interest rate offered by the Swiss and Germans on the funds flooding to their banks from Spain, Greece and Italy. This will be a bank run much larger that the Euro banks flight to safety.

4. The Social Security Trust fund must make at least 5-6% return to maintain its balance and provide income to the SS recipients.  The TF is still guaranteed to go bankrupt by 2033, 21 years from now.  The TF is required by law to invest in Treasury bonds.  The actuarial problem now facing the TF is that they will be rolling old bonds yielding 5.6% into a yield pool averaging 1.4%, a 75% drop in income.  This dramatic yield drop coupled with a 60% increase in SS recipients from 50 million to 91 million in the next 10 years will assure the TF will go bankrupt in about 10 years.

This irreducible math is going to prove an insurmountable obstacle to those who are recently retired, have long live genes or plan to retire in the next 10 years.  If the SS TF goes bankrupt then benefits will be cut by 25% .  Inflation adjustments were never able to front run the lost in income.  The inflation rate of 8% today and 15% tomorrow will destroy the senior investment pool.
Another few unintended consequences of QE 3.  Thanks Ben.   May you rot in hell!

An In-Depth Analysis Of Trading Gold Relative To US Real Interest Rates

At the start of 2012 we publicly proposed two pair trades for 2012.

Nine months later and with huge changes in the market having occurred, we are revisiting our recommendation for the GLD/TIP compression pair trade, which has performed well over this period.

Our argument for this trade at the time was as follows:
“Historically US real interest rates have an inverse relationship with gold prices, a relationship which we have written about frequently. The basic premise is that when monetary policy becomes more accommodative, US real interest rates decline and gold prices rise due to the ease in monetary policy.”

Our explanation for the inverse relationship between gold and U.S. real rates is as follows:
When US monetary policy is looser, real rates fall and therefore investors buy gold for a number of reasons.

Firstly, lower real rates could imply higher inflationary expectations in the future therefore gold is bought as a hedge against this possible inflation.  (more)

Finding Value in Zero Rate World: Sprott Says QE3 Won’t Work, But GOLD & SILVER Will












This Beaten-Down Tech Stock Could Double Your Money


The recent decade-long-plus highs in technology stocks have left out some old standbys that need to tweak and reinvent their business plan. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) has dropped from highs near $50 in 2011 to trade at the lowest levels since 2004.
The three-month trading channel shown on the chart below between $17 and $20 looks attractive for a price breakout from the base action. A rally above the resistance top projects a $3 move, the width of the channel, to $23. Only a weekly close below $17 would negate the technical basing pattern.
HPQ Chart
The initial upside objective of $23 is 30% above the current stock price, but there is a way you could potentially double your money with a stock substitution strategy.
One major advantage of using long options rather than buying shares is putting up much less to control 100 shares -- that's the power of leverage. But with all of the potential strike and expiration combinations, choosing an option can be a daunting task.  (more)

MacAlvany Weekly Commentary

The Zero Cost Basis Portfolio


About This Week’s Show:
- Harnessing Time
- Extracting your original investment
- Anticipating change

Chart of the Day - Medidata Solutions (MDSO)

The "Chart of the Day" is Medidata Solutions (MDSO), which showed up on Tuesday's Barchart "All-Time High" list. Medidata on Tuesday posted a new all-time high of $40.72 and closed +2.11%. TrendSpotter has been long since July 31 at $35.41. In recent news on the stock, ThinkEquity on Sep 7 initiated coverage on Medidata with a Buy and a target of $42. Jefferies on Aug 1 kept a Buy rating on Medidata and raised its target to $41 from $34. Medidata Solutions, with a market cap of $1 billion, is a leading global provider of hosted clinical development solutions that enhance the efficiency of customers' clinical development processes and optimize their research and development investments.

mdso_700

The Death of the American Teenager

by Justin O’Connell, Dollar Vigilante:
When in 1994 Business Week exclaimed “They’re back!” about teenagers, the United States was a different place.  Their baby boomer parents could afford teenagers buying pizzas, going to concerts, purchasing clothes, cosmetics, CDs, cars and computer games like never before.  Today, the country is stricken by poverty, as 50% of the population sits at or below the poverty line.  Since the market collapse in 2008, while pundits and “authorities” pushed dope-like propaganda about “Greenshoots” and the “Recovery” incomes fell more than ever in American history.
The teenager in 1994 was an advertiser’s wet dream – a consumer group with loads of free time and the disposable income of their parents to pursue a life leisure. In 2012, it had fallen to the wayside, a battered corpse of diminishing returns as the teenager went from worrying about social norms to lamenting public education and work as a teenager..
Although the teenager declined in numbers from 1977-1992, starting in the mid nineties it began to ride a population crest that guaranteed young adults the spotlight in American consumer culture. After all, the teenagers’ most valuable purpose is to be a blank slate and a consumer or so popular mythology sways us to believe.
Read More @ DollarVigilante.com

Arctic Cat Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAT)

Arctic Cat, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles under the Arctic Cat brand name. It also provides related parts, garments, and accessories. The company offers accessories consisting of bumpers, cabs, luggage racks, lights, snow plows, backrests, windshields, wheels, track systems, and winch kits; shocks, attachments, and float avalanche airbags; and maintenance supplies, such as oil and fuel additives. In addition, the company provides snowmobile garments for adults and children under the Arcticwear label; and garments for ATV and recreational off-highway vehicle riders under the Arcticwear ATV Gear label, as well as insulated outerwear under the Drift Racing brand name. Its garment portfolio includes jackets, coats, pants, hats, mittens, helmets, boots, sweatshirts, T-shirts, casual wear, suits, gloves, gear bags, and casual sportswear items.

To review Artic's stock, please take a look at the 1-year chart of ACAT (Artic Cat, Inc.) below with my added notations:

1-year chart of ACAT (Artic Cat, Inc.)


ACAT has been trading sideways since the end of July, but running into a $46 resistance (navy) since April. The $46 resistance meets my definition of a clear resistance level that would signify an important 52-week high breakout if ACAT could manage to break above it. IF that were to happen, the stock should probably be heading higher overall. For now, the stock seems to be pulling back to its key level of $40.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Market Outlook: This 'Sure Thing' Indicator is Saying 'Buy, Buy, Buy'

Markets were little changed last week. Volatility has been increasing in the past several weeks after falling all summer. Low volatility eventually gives way to high volatility, a process that seems to be under way, so traders should be prepared for a sizable market move at any time.

Stocks Give a Long-Term Buy Signal
Stock prices were down slightly last week. SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) lost 0.93%, while PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQ), an ETF that tracks the 100 largest Nasdaq stocks, lost 0.04%.
QQQ closed last week with a relatively rare buy signal based on an indicator called KST. This is an indicator developed by Martin Pring, who said it offered a reliable market forecast based on the interaction of the stock market with the business cycle. He called it "Know Sure Thing" because he felt that it was the closest thing to a sure thing he knew of.

Three time frames for this indicator are shown in the chart below, using the parameters Pring offered in his 1985 book, Technical Analysis Explained. The medium and long-term indicators both crossed above their moving averages last week, while the short-term version has been bullish since July.
QQQ Chart
In the past, being long when all three KST indicators were above their moving average would have provided profitable signals for trading QQQ. Over the entire history of QQQ, 4 of 6 (66.7%) buy signals were accurate, delivering an annualized gain of 10.26% and having less than one-third the risk of a buy-and-hold strategy.  (more)

MUST READ: Is JP Morgan Shorting Paper Metals While Acquiring Massive Physical Stockpiles?

He is absolutely convinced that gold and silver are going MUCH, MUCH higher. He told me last week that with the Fed’s latest “open-ended” QE edict, “The dollar and bond market are done, finished and the bull market in gold is guaranteed!”
from Silver Doctors:
As silver investors are likely aware, leading silver analyst Ted Butler has openly speculated whether JP Morgan’s alleged massive short silver position is held on behalf a client such as the Federal Reserve (with the intent to prop up the dollar by suppressing gold and silver) or the Chinese government (with the intent of acquiring physical gold and silver bullion at a discount due to their massive paper short position on the futures market).
The Doc has long privately wondered whether the bullion banks’ PM short positions could actually be leveraging their own physical bullion accumulation by artificially suppressing the paper futures price.
These thoughts originate in our following of Jim Sinclair, who has always maintained that the bullion banks will be the one’s making the lion’s share of the profits in this great secular gold and silver bull market.   One thing the bullion banksters are not is dumb, and they can see the writing on the wall for the US dollar as well as any SD or ZH reader.
New commentary from a bullion insider who claims to have personally managed the movement of 27 million ounces of gold from HSBC’s vaults into JP Morgan’s seems to substantiate Sinclair’s claims.
Read More @ Silver Doctors

Make a Potential 30% or 100% on This Drilling Stock... Your Choice


Natural gas and oil driller Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) is setting up for a move higher. The stock has formed a base at $14, and a series of higher lows on a climb to the year-long technical pivot at $20 sets up a potential breakout run. The wedge pattern seen on the chart below gives us a target of $26, which is the 2012 high made in March.
CHK Chart
A move to $26 would give shareholders a 30% return, but there is a way you could double your money with a stock substitution strategy. Continued low volatility makes a call option purchase attractive for long-term positioning.
One major advantage of using long options rather than buying shares is putting up much less money to control 100 shares -- that's the power of leverage. But with all of the potential strike and expiration combinations, choosing an option can be a daunting task. (more)

Get Your Fake Tungsten-Filled Gold Coins Here


In the aftermath of the recent stories about Tungsten-filled 10 ounce gold bars discovered in midtown Manhattan, there have been two broad sentiments expressed by the precious metals community: i) that this is as many have expected, and that of the physical inventory in circulation, much is fake (particularly that held in official hands, either via ETFs or in sovereign repositories which for various reasons still can not be publicly assayed) and ii) is the comfort that while it is relatively easy and cost-effective to use tungsten to falsify larger gold bars and bricks, those who own primarily gold coins are safe as for some reason, it is less economic, feasible or widespread to counterfeit smaller precious metal denominations. Sadly, while i) may be true, ii) is patently false. The proof comes courtesy of a firm called ChinaTungsten Online which proudly markets its broad "tungsten-alloy services" including, you guessed it, the gold plating of various tungsten formulations among them "gold" bricks, bars and, yes, coins. Oh did we mention a Chinese company openly advertizes its tungsten gold-plating and precious metals replication services, something which the tabloid media's CTRL-C/V majors openly mock as improbable conspiracy theory. Well, as they say, it is only conspiracy theory until it becomes conspiracy fact.  (more)

A Crashing Sector, Gold & The Fiscal Cliff

from KingWorldNews:
The Godfather of newsletter writers, Richard Russell, had a great deal to say about gold, the fiscal cliff, stocks, and a collapsing sector. Here is what Russell had in his latest report: “The US faces a one trillion dollar debt. How will the US get the money to pay off this frightening deficit? The Fed will buy mortgage-backed securities from the banks at the rate of $40 billion a month, thus re-liquifying the banks. The banks will then spend the money on Treasury bonds.”
“Thus, the Fed will accomplish a few things — the banks will be rendered more liquid, and the Dow and mortgage-backed securities will probably be lifted. But what happens when the banks are cleared of all their mortgage-backed securities? Maybe the Fed will buy straight mortgages, I don’t know, and I’m not sure that the Fed knows. Maybe the Fed just wants to sneak by the election, and later they’ll address the problems.
Meanwhile, the Fed will continue to talk up the economy. But I believe it’s the Transports that are telling us the real story regarding the US economy — and to put it politely, the Transport have been crashing. Question — could the real story about the US economy be that the US economy has been crashing too?
Russell continues @ KingWorldNews.com

Why Your Phone, Cable & Internet Bills Cost So Much



The U.S. has fallen behind much of the Western world when it comes to phone, cable and Internet service. Americans actually pay much more for inferior service compared to their global counterparts.
In his new book, The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use 'Plain English' to Rob You Blind, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston highlights these astounding facts:
  • Americans pay four times as much as the French for an Internet triple-play package—phone, cable TV and Internet—at an average of $160 per month versus $38 per month.
  • The French get global free calling and worldwide live television. Their Internet is also 10 times faster at downloading information and 20 times faster uploading it.
  • America has gone from #1 in Internet speed (when we invented it) to 29th in the world and falling.
  • Bulgaria is among the countries with faster Internet service.
  • Americans pay 38 times as much as the Japanese for Internet data.
Since the mid-1970's when Ma Bell was cited as holding a monopoly over phone service, Americans have been told more competition would lower their phone bill. But the promise of lower prices has actually led to higher prices, says Johnston.  (more)

CERN has retreated to the bottom of its bull channel

Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ:CERN) — This leading supplier of health care information technology is in a powerful bull channel that began in November 2010.

We recommended the stock on Oct. 21, 2011, at about $66, with a target of $75. It made it to over $78 in March, and then ran to a high of over $84 after crushing analysts’ Q1 estimates. Then, on May 21, it was recommended to buy the stock on a pullback to $75, and it ran to over $88.

On July 9, I said, “Now CERN has turned from the top of its bull channel, so try to buy it on a pullback at around $80. Our target is still at $95. Note the high volatility of this stock, which can be an advantage to the trader and long-term buyer. But don’t chase this stock. Let it come to you.”
The current opinion of analysts has not changed, and neither has mine. CERN has retreated to the bottom of its bull channel and it is time to buy. Note the buy signal from its MACD. The target remains $95.
Trade of the Day – Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ:CERN)

3 Small Caps That Could Deliver Big Gains by Year-End

The Russell 2000 Index has been showing some strength lately as investors are beginning to take more risk with their portfolio allocations. At the end of last week, more than 80% of the companies in the small-cap index were trading above their respective 50-day moving average, an improvement from 56% of the index trading above their 50-day trendlines two weeks ago.


The improving breadth of the "risk on" trade (i.e., investors taking more risks by buying small-cap stocks) is an indication that the last quarter of the year is likely to finish strong for stocks. With that in mind, we thought it would be valuable to look at some stocks that are likely to lead the small-cap universe higher through the rest of the year.

To do this, we scoured the Russell 2000 Index companies for stocks that are trading above their 50-day moving averages and trending higher. In addition, we added criteria to find companies with a higher chance of analyst upgrades and short interest squeezes, both of which would help to boost prices.

The table below displays the top 10 small-cap companies that are in a position to lead the Russell 2000, and the rest of the market, higher.
Small-Cap Stocks
Let's take a look at a couple that stand out to us.

First, the homebuilders on the list. Both KB Homes (NYSE: KBH) and Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL) are members of the residential construction sector, a group of stocks that has grabbed a bid as of late.  (more)

Stock On the Brink of a Technical Breakout That Could Return 60%-Plus


This stock has a history of making big moves.
Between January and April, shares rose about 30%, from a low near $343, to a high above $440.


But in July, after the company reported lower-than-expected same-store-sales, shares swung down equally as far, plummeting nearly $100 in a day! The stock dropped from an intraday high of $404.59 on July 19, to an intraday low at $307.20 on July 20 -- a 24% loss is less than 24 hours.

Even though the stock has a history of wild turns, shares haven't moved significantly since that catastrophic July day. As a result, it is currently at a bargain price -- and looks to be at a profitable entry point.

Shares of the burrito mega-chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), appear to be approaching significant historical resistance near $346. If the stock can definitively surpass this resistance point, it could bullishly move on to complete a large basing pattern. In this case, no significant overhead resistance would be in sight and the stock could surge much further, potentially reaching a new all-time new high, for potential 62% gains.

Helping drive this optimistic growth outlook is the company's aggressive expansion plans. In the first two quarters of 2012, over 150 new restaurants were opened in the United States. And in the future, the company plans to more than double its storefront presence, from around 1,000 current locations to 2,100. Additionally, the fresh food chain recently opened three stores in London and its first location in Paris. As people worldwide develop a taste for Chipotle's quality burritos, overall company sales should continue to rise.

Stock on the Brink of a Technical Breakout
The technical outlook is certainly bullish.
CMG Chart
From mid-2010 to June 2012, shares were on a major uptrend. In early 2012, as the stock broke from important resistance near $348, shares catapulted higher on an accelerated uptrend. They eventually climbed to an all-time high of $442.40. However, unable to maintain this momentum, the stock tumbled down to the $387 level and became capped by resistance near $420.  (more)


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Why a U.S.-style housing nightmare could hit Canada

How Canada resembles a slow-motion replay of the American crash.

An expatriate always thinks about going home. The longer the time abroad, the stranger the prospect of re-entry feels.
But if you're a Canadian living abroad these days, the idea of returning home has become downright frightening. Stories are now routinely surfacing in the Canadian media suggesting collective madness when it comes to affordable living.
Our biggest real estate markets — Toronto and Vancouver — seem to have decided they're really London and Manhattan. Several of our smaller cities are wildly optimistic, too, with year after year after year of six-, seven-, even 10-per-cent increases in property values. (more)

 

The #1 Reason Inflation Will Win

from Casey Research

Dear Reader,
Economist Terry Coxon and BIG GOLD Editor Jeff Clark had some interesting discussions during the recent Casey Research Summit on Navigating the Politicized Economy. They noticed a near-consensus among the speakers that there’s no way out for the over-indebted US government – or the Eurozone for that matter – which has consequences for all participants in the global economy. Below, you can read why Terry (and others) are convinced there’s no way out, why he’s convinced the problem will end in inflation, and what the investment implications are for gold and silver.
How do we profit from that? Even as you receive today’s Daily Dispatch, Jeff and I will be flying down to Mexico to look at a silver mine one of our companies recently acquired. Due diligence: pick right and sit tight. That’s how we do it – and you can too.
Continue Reading at CaseyResearch.com…

We Have Entered A New & More Deadly Phase Of This Cycle

from King World News
Today Michael Pento writes about the ongoing destruction of fiat currencies, and what investors should be doing with their money in this environment. Pento has been incredibly accurate regarding his predictions of central bank moves. He now believes we are entering a “new” and more “deadly phase” of this cycle.
Michael Pento writes exclusively for King World News to let readers know what to expect from central planners, and how it will impact the economy and key markets. Here is Pento’s piece: “The worldwide currency debasement war has now entered a new and more deadly phase. Central banks have escalated the combat plan to bring about the world’s weakest currency for their individual countries.”
Continue Reading at KingWorldNews.com…

"Golden Cross" Signal Suggests $3,500 Gold Price

by Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul
Beacon Equity

Probably the most significant indicator employed by technical traders to signal them to initiate trades triggered a very important ‘Buy’ signal on Thursday.

The well-known and ubiquitously-used technical indicator, called the ‘Golden Cross’, gave the ‘green light’ to scores of buyers of gold bullion, when the price settled above the $1,770 level on Thursday.

And the last time the gold market reached a Golden Cross moment, the point at which the 50-day MA crosses the 200-day MA, gold bullion rallied to $1,917.90 on Aug. 23, 2011, from approximately $938.00 set on Feb. 11, 2009—a slightly more than a double price move within 31 months.

Prior to that, the Golden Cross triggered another major buy signal on Aug. 10, 2005, when gold touched $441. Twenty months later, the gold price broke through $1,000 for the first time ever, touching $1,032 on Mar. 17, 2008, for a gain of 134 percent.
Continue Reading at BeaconEquity.com…

Gold-Silver Ratio Declining As U.S. Dollar Collapses

gold-eagle.com / by Jeb Handwerger /
Since July we have alerted our readers to a breakout in gold and silver prices as we expected a risk on rally in commodities with the catalyst being QE3 combined with worldwide stimulus moves from Central Bankers. Since that time silver has soared 30% higher almost 10 straight weeks in a row as Bernanke announces a QE 3, 4, 5+…? and record low interest rates until mid-2015.
Silver has been outperforming gold over the past 10 weeks as investors are hoarding and buying poor man’s gold to hedge against worldwide quantitative easing and pump-priming being implemented by Central Banks around the world to devalue their respective currencies.
The Bank of Japan joined the Fed, ECB, China, South Korea and others by announcing an aggressive stimulus program. This is extremely inflationary and bullish for gold and silver and bearish for the purported safe havens namely the U.S. dollar, long term treasuries, Euro, Yen and Yuan.
Remember Japan is the third largest economy in the world and they are currently facing an economic slowdown, rising electricity prices due to increase oil imports and is in the midst of a territorial dispute in the South China Seas with China. Japan is mimicking Bernanke’s QE decision last week to attempt to devalue their currencies to boost exports. The Japanese stimulus is massive and will now total nearly 20% of Japan’s total economy. The U.S. dollar is falling as these drastic moves were much bigger than the consensus expected.
READ MORE

JAMES TURK: This Always Ends the Same Way, HYPERINFLATION — $400 Silver & $8,000 Gold Between 2013 – 2015

James Turk, Founder of GoldMoney calls in from Spain to explain how the FED’s latest actions spell doom for the Dollar. James reminds us that what is happening in the United States RIGHT NOW, thanks to the privately owned Central Bank, always ends the same way: In a disaster for the currency. We’ve seen it before: Weimar Germany, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Serbia… and we’ll soon see it in America. James also revisits his decade long prediction of $400 silver and $8,000 gold by 2014 – 2016. And he corrects me, explaining that he sees it happening as early as 2013-2015, along with hyperinflation. The fuse has been lit and time is running out.




Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO)

Veeco Instruments Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets various equipments to make light emitting diodes (LEDs) and hard-disk drives worldwide. The company's LED and Solar segment designs and manufactures metal organic chemical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy systems and components for the manufacturers of LEDs, wireless devices, power semiconductors, and concentrator photovoltaics, as well as to research and development applications. Its Data Storage segment designs and manufactures various technologies, including ion beam etch, ion beam deposition, diamond-like carbon, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and slicing, dicing, and lapping systems to create thin film magnetic heads that read and write data on hard disk drives. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Plainview, New York.

To review Veeco's stock, please take a look at the 1-year chart of VECO (Veeco Instruments, Inc.) below with my added notations:

1-year chart of VECO (Veeco Instruments, Inc.)


VECO has created a couple of important price levels to watch. First, VECO has formed a clear resistance at $38 (red), which would also be a 52-week high breakout if the stock could manage to break above it. In addition, the stock is climbing a short term, up-trending support level (blue) over the last (3) months. These two levels combined have VECO stuck within a common chart pattern known as an Ascending Triangle. Eventually, the stock will have to break one of those two levels.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX)

Crocs, Inc is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of footwear and accessories for men, women and children. At year-end 2011, Crocs sold its products in more than 90 countries through domestic and international retailers and distributors and directly to end-user consumers through its company-operated retail stores, outlets, kiosks and web stores. It also offers accessories and apparel, which generated approximately 3.7% of its total revenues during the year 2011. Its footwear products are divided into four product offerings: Core-Comfort, Active, Casual and Style. The Core product offering primarily includes molded products that are derivatives of the original Crocs Classic designs. The Active product offering includes sport inspired products and footwear suited for activities, such as boating, walking, hiking and even recovery after workouts. The Casual product offering includes sporty and relaxed styles. The Style product offering includes stylish products.

To analyze Croc's stock for potential trading opportunities, please take a look at the 1-year chart of CROX (Crocs, Inc.) below with my added notations:

1-year chart of CROX (Crocs, Inc.)


CROX interests me because of the one simple price level at $18. Not only can you see the $18 support (green), but $18 has also been a common resistance (red) as well. So, the $18 price is key to this stock. If you are bearish, you might short CROX on any rallies up to $18. However, if you're bullish on the stock you would want to see the stock break through the $18 resistance.

4 Graham-Buffett style stocks

by J. Royden Ward, editor Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter

J. Royden WardBenjamin Graham has been recognized for decades as the father of value investing. Warren Buffett was a student of Graham at Columbia University and later worked for Mr. Graham for several years.

For our latest special report, I combine Warren Buffett’s and Ben Graham’s criteria for choosing stocks; here, we look at four high-quality companies that fit our criteria.

To find these Graham-Buffett style investment opportunities, I looked for stocks with:
  1. Free cash flow more than $20 million.
  2. Net profit margin more than 15%.
  3. Return on equity more than 15%.
  4. Discounted cash flow value higher than current price.
  5. Market capitalization more than $1 billion.
  6. Standard & Poor’s rating of B+ or better.
  7. Positive earnings growth during the past five years with no deficits.
  8. Dividends currently paid.
These stocks sell at sensible prices, offer reasonable appreciation potential and provide solid dividends. I am confident these high-quality stocks will fare very well during the next six months.(more)

Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA)

Vera Bradley, Inc., through its subsidiary, Vera Bradley Designs, Inc., engages in the design, production, marketing, and retail of stylish and functional accessories for women under the Vera Bradley brand. Its products include a range of handbags, accessories, and travel and leisure items. The company sells its products to specialty retailers primarily in the United States, as well as to national retailers and third party e-commerce sites. As of January 28, 2012, it sold its products directly through 48 full-price stores and 8 outlet stores in the United States; 7 pop-up stores in Japan; Websites, including verabradley.com and verabradley.co.jp; and an annual outlet sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

To review Vera's stock for potential trading opportunities, please take a look at the 1-year chart of VRA (Vera Bradley, Inc.) below with my added notations:

1-year chart of VRA (Vera Bradley, Inc.)


VRA had been trending lower since October of last year and appears to have bottomed out in June. Over the last (4) months the stock has established two important price levels worth watching: The $20 support level (blue) and the common resistance level (red) at $25. The stock is currently sitting right below its resistance.

REIT’s Consolidation Supported by 3 Buy Signals

Home Properties (NYSE:HME) — This real estate investment trust (REIT) engages in the ownership, operation, acquisition, development and rehabilitation of apartment communities in the United States. The stock has been in a bull market since March 2009, progressing higher despite a ragged real estate market.
Currently, the stock is consolidating in a bull channel and is supported by three buy signals from our proprietary indicator, the Collins-Bollinger-Reversal (CBR). The recent consolidation is at $63. If that price is broken, look for support at the 200-day moving average at just above $60.
S&P and Wunderlich Securities reiterated their “buy” ratings on HME with a price target of $69 and $70, respectively. Technically the stock is trading on the support line of the bull channel with a target of $69, the top of the channel. HME has a dividend yield of 4%.
Trade of the Day – Home Properties (NYSE:HME)
Click to Enlarge

New Moon Top Holding…Barely

A little chart potpourri tonight. 5 charts that stood out to me.

13653 is the high of the day on the New Moon last Friday. So far that top is holding but with a quiet consolidation during an options expiration week, the bulls may have a crack at that resistance tomorrow. Futures are mildly up as I type this and this week’s pullback looks textbook with the big money holding their positions. If we break through that level with force we could be in for a nice rally tomorrow or next week.

If I was bearish I’d point to this massive bearish ascending wedge on Nasdaq. But that was only if I was bearish. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…whose name is Benjamin.

Horrid action on the transports today…but like I said on twitterthis is so last century. Does anybody really pay attention to this index anymore?

Pick a bearish pattern, and then stick a fork in bonds.
  • bearish head and shoulders with a break and a retest to the neckline – money favors lows
  • down-trending channel which is a little less ominous, but $125 should be a top if that’s it.

As above, so below.

The Single Best Way to Make Money in Natural Resources

Where are the best opportunities right now in natural resources?

The obvious answer is the companies that are digging the stuff out of the ground.

But to find tomorrow's next big winners, you also have to look at what's hated.

For example, no other natural resource has been shunned during the past few years quite like natural gas. Prices have rebounded sharply since April, but that's nothing compared with where prices were before.

Shares of high-quality producers have barely responded -- but that type of disconnect is always resolved in time.

Most industry execs say natural gas will need to hit at least $5 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) before they start revamping their budgets and directing more drilling rigs and resources back into gas fields such as the Haynesville Shale.

So we've got a long way to go before the industry turns up the production faucet.
But if gas reaches $5 per Mcf, then cash flows should explode for low-cost producers like Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL). The company can turn a profit with gas as low as $2.88 per Mcf -- and it has 5 trillion cubic feet of reserves waiting to be sold.  (more)

Nat Gas Consolidating Ahead of Another Upleg

Increasingly, nearby natural gas futures appear to be consolidating their April-July gains (1.902 to 3.277) between 2.60/70 on the low side and 3.00/20 on the high side.  My work considers this to be a sideways digestion area in preparation for the next recovery upleg that projects to 3.40/50 and then to 3.90-4.00.
That said, natural gas must hurdle and sustain above its most recent rally peak at 3.070 in order to unleash the buying power to propel prices to the above-mentioned targets.


US Weekly Economic Calendar

time (et) report period Actual forecast previous
MONDAY, SEPT. 24
  None scheduled        
TUESDAY, SEPT. 25
9 am Case-Shiller home price index July   -- 2.3%
10 am Consumer confidence index Sept.   65.0 60.6
10 am FHFA home price index July   -- 0.7%
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26
10 am New  home sales Aug.   380,000 372,000
THURSDAY, SEPT. 27
8:30 am Weekly jobless claims 9-22   375,000 382,000
8:30 am Durable goods orders Aug.   -5.3% 4.1%
8:30 am GDP Q2   1.7% 1.7%
10 am Pending home sales index Aug.   -- 2.4%
FRIDAY, SEPT. 28
8:30 am Personal income Aug.
0.2% 0.3%
8:30 am Consumer spending Aug.   0.5% 0.4%
8:30 am Core PCE price index Aug.   0.1% 0.0%
9:45 am Chicago PMI Sept.   -- 53.0
9:55 am UMich consumer sentiment index Sept.   79.5 79.2

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Gold To Advance Another $700 – $1,200 Within Months

kingworldnews.com / September 21, 2012
Today 25 year veteran Caesar Bryan surprised King World News when he talked about gold advancing $700 to $1,200 in a matter of months.  Bryan stated, “Just looking at gold relative to the supply of money, gold may advance to $2,500 to $3,000 in the first few months of next year.”  Bryan, from Gabelli & Company, also discussed the nature of the current gold advance, silver, and what to expect going forward.

Here is what Caesar had to say:  “Since we’ve had the news of further easing in the US and Europe, gold has moved up in a sort of ‘step’ fashion.  It’s quiet for a few days, and then another move higher takes place.  Now we seem to be set for another ‘step’ move higher.”

Caesar Bryan continues:

“What that says is that there is very strong underlying demand for gold because the gold price hasn’t weakened in the face of these upward moves over the last month or so.  When you look at a chart you could claim that it’s somewhat overbought because we’ve had the move from the $1,600 area to the high $1,700s without much of a pause.

But the long-term opportunity is very much on the long side of the market.  Gold is going to go higher….
READ MORE

Seasonally Speaking, Next Three Weeks are Typically The Weakest of the Year

The Markets
Markets traded marginally higher on Wednesday, driven primarily by Consumer Discretionary stocks following a much better than expected report on Existing Home Sales. Homebuilders such as Pulte, Lennar, and Toll Brother pushed strongly higher, attacking multi-year highs that have been established over the past few trading sessions. Increasingly the housing industry is showing signs of recovering with Existing Sales hitting the highest level since early 2010 and back to levels witnessed prior to the 2008/2009 recession. Housing starts are also holding around the highest levels since the recession began. Seasonal tendencies for the home building industry, however, are less than favorable over the next month or so as the summer selling season concludes. Following the month-long “swoon”, the stocks see their best seasonal gains during the fourth quarter of the year as investors begin anticipating the spring building season.
image
Over the past couple of days markets have seen momentum starting to show signs of decline. Price is stagnating. Seasonally, equity markets are within the weakest three week period of the year, which concludes just past the first week of October. Weakness has also been known to persist throughout October, resulting in an intermediate-term bottom that is often realized just prior to the end of the month. Given this seasonal framework and technicals for a number of asset classes starting to see momentum rolling over, probability is high that a selloff/correction will occur in the weeks ahead, potentially related to earnings caution. FedEx has been a recent prominent company touting weak economic fundamentals and earnings caution. Another transportation stock confirmed what FedEx was saying on Wednesday after the closing bell. Railroad operator Norfolk Southern warned that earnings would trail analyst estimates due to weakness in coal and merchandise shipments. An unrelated company, Adobe, also issued an earnings forecast on Wednesday that also missed analyst estimates. Oracle, a industry titan, will report earnings on Thursday after the market close, a report that is typically a leading indictor of the strength within the technology sector going into the seasonally favouable fourth quarter.  (more)

U.S. meltdowns - History lessons for the euro

In the early 1870s, property prices in Vienna, Berlin and Paris soared on the back of a state-promoted building boom fuelled by easy credit extended against the collateral of unbuilt or unfinished houses.
The crash that followed parallels what has happened more recently and may, with other lessons from U.S. history, provide pointers for the euro zone crisis.

As the property prices soared, Europe's world was turned upside down. Thanks to grain elevators, conveyor belts and huge steamships, American farmers opening up the fertile Midwest were able to export vast quantities of wheat and then processed food.

Grain producers from Russia and central Europe simply could not compete with what came to be known as the American Commercial Invasion.

The crash came in central Europe in May 1873 as the low costs of the new industrial superpower exposed long-held growth assumptions as unrealistic. Continental banks collapsed, prompting British lenders to hold back their capital, unsure who was most exposed to souring mortgages. Interbank rates rocketed. (more)

Hot Shots: All Aboard or Train Wreck?

As we move towards the last trading week of September, a period historically renowned for its bumpy corrections and not to mention its sometimes grizzly neighbor of October, 2012 has so far been anything but troublesome for bulls with the SP-500 (SPY) up close to 4% for the month. With the latest action shaping up as a rather constructive and benign looking simple pullback into the 10SMA after setting four-plus year highs and the VIX ($VIX) refusing to shy away from its confident multi-year lows, is it time to say “All aboard” or be careful of an imminent train wreck?

As discussed about two weeks ago, if traders believe in the Dow Theory and its ‘train’ of technical thought which holds confirmation between the industrials (DIA) and transports (IYT) as sacrosanct; bears may be looking to climb on board the market. Despite the DIA setting fresh multi-year highs, the IYT has gone from attempting to break out of a neutral, but bearishly-positioned symmetrical triangle to a quick test of pattern support on Thursday. The grizzly pressure was due largely to a rail-road’ing of sorts from Norfolk Southern’s (NSC) south-of-analyst-views profit warning for its upcoming third quarter.

Figure 1: Dow Jones Transports (IYT) Daily
On the other hand, one chart which was a concern a couple weeks back, but now is potentially trying to bottom, is the world’s largest semi (SMH) outfit Intel (INTC).  Since we last wrote about Intel on September 10th in this column, shares have proceeded to move lower on the daily and confirm our prior worries on pending weakness. The good news is that same pressured price action when viewed on the big picture of the weekly chart suggests Intel’s downtrend could be near completion.  (more)

Do You Believe Bernanke or This Chart?

About 20 years ago, I learned to trust charts over what others were saying … even if they were central bankers.

Ben Bernanke told us that we’re not really experiencing inflation. However, if I look to the chart of the CRB Commodity Index, which essentially embodies inflation, I see that inflation bottomed in June/July and it has been heading upward ever since.

But when did it get a turbo boost? It was when Bernanke provided stimulus to the market at the latest FOMC meeting. But that’s probably just a coincidence, right?

Yeah … I don’t think so either.

This basket of 19 commodities is heading higher, and it could be scary … unless you’re a commodity investor like we are in the Commodity Trend Alert newsletter.

You see, the CRB Commodity Index involves the stuff you buy all the time in one form or another. The index tracks everything from cocoa and coffee to unleaded gas and copper.

In life, you may or may not ever buy a stock. There is no requirement to do so. But be assured you will buy corn, wheat and all the other commodities in this index. That means when this index heads higher, it will hit you in the wallet one way or another.

Inflation is being stoked. I’m going to trust the chart over Bernanke, because charts don’t lie. And the best way I know of to hedge yourself against the rise in food and energy costs is to be invested in commodities.

Here Is the Key To The Global Markets Right Now

from KingWorldNews:
With uncertainty developing in global markets, investors and professionals are wondering where markets are headed from here. Today King World News interviewed 33 year veteran, John Gray, from Investors Intelligence to get the answer. When asked what he is seeing and where he believes markets are headed, Gray responded, “The latest polling of advisory sentiment, and that’s about 130 independently produced stock market newsletters, showed the bulls jumping this week up to 54.2%. The bearish reading declined to 24.5%.”

“The current reading of bulls at 54.2% is the highest reading we’ve had since the start of this year, and that would be mid-February when the Dow was approaching 13,000 for the first time. Readings of bulls over 55% starts to get scary to us, and occasionally, in strong market moves, major bull tops, you will have the bulls up as high as 60%.

That gets to be very dangerous (see chart below).
John Gray continues @ KingWorldNews.com

Lindsey Williams Announcement Mortgage takeover Deep Earth Bunker Illuminati the elite


Crisis Replay… Soon Argentina Will Be on Sale Again

Just over a decade ago Argentina spectacularly unraveled with the biggest default in history — $100 billion. Dollar deposits were converted to pesos. Then, overnight, the peg of one-to-one with the dollar was broken. The unpegged currency immediately devalued. Savings were wiped out. Banks were set alight and locals took to the streets in protest.

 That crisis created the biggest buying opportunity of a decade. During the fire sales you could have picked up a historic, high-end property in Buenos Aires or a vineyard in Mendoza for a song.

 Today, Argentina is back in a bind. There is a strong possibility of another crack-up within the next year. And then we’ll have the same opportunity we had a decade ago. The signs are all there. The streets of Buenos Aires have recently seen the return of the backstreet currency exchange.

According to the official exchange rate, which is subject to capital controls, 4.4 pesos buys you a dollar. But on the street people are happy to pay up to 6.7. Inflation runs at 25%. The purchasing power of an Argentine’s peso savings is going down by one-quarter each year.

 The government claims inflation is 9.9% and has outlawed calculating or quoting any other inflation rate. Forty percent of dollar deposits have been withdrawn from Argentina since last October. Now there are capital controls. You need special permission to move your dollars overseas. (more)

Ben Davies – This Move In Gold Will Take It To $2,400 -$2,500

kingworldnews.com / September 20, 2012
Today Ben Davies spoke with King World News about why he believes the gold market is headed much higher than current levels.  Davies made some bold predictions.  Here is what the rising star had to say:  “Right now, the best expression of our macro view is still to own gold and silver because we believe this is ultimately going to be the survivor of this Debt Supercycle.  We believe it’s going to be the surviving collateral.”
Ben Davies continues:
“The ECB, even in this last meeting, has effectively reduced its criteria again on collateral.  They are effectively saying, ‘We’ll take everything, including the kitchen sink into the ECB, if it allows us to backstop the system.  So in that situation collateral is running out.
We noticed this also in the US.  Smaller banks are now allowed to have gold as a zero risk-weighted provision….
READ MORE

Friday, September 21, 2012

Lindsey Williams & Chris Waltzek: Soon, the Federal Reserve Will Own YOUR House

from radio.goldseek.com:
by SGT,
Pastor Lindsey Williams provides an update on world events from his viewpoint. Stay tuned for this one all the way through. Lindsey explains how QE3 and the mortgage backed securities fraud will make us all serfs to the Federal Reserve, as Lindsey Williams warned would happen more than a year ago. The Banksters will own it all soon enough, just as Thomas Jefferson lamented:
“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered…I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies… The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
CLICK HERE for the interview.

Nenner: War to Erupt in 2012, Dow to Fall to 5,000

A major war will break out in 2012 and send the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging to 5,000, says former Goldman Sachs analyst Charles Nenner.

Although the carnage won't take place until the end of next year, the time to get out of the stock market is now.

Just look at the S&P 500 for guidance.

"We went long in 2009 in the first quarter [when] we had a price target of 1,356 on the S&P 500, so we're getting close," Nenner tells Fox News.


109952629-(1).jpg
 Former Goldman Sachs analyst Charles Nenner predicts a major war will break out in 2012.
"It doesn't mean that we go down immediately, it can take a couple of months. And if we would close in on 1,356, which we're pretty close, we're 1 percent away."

"So I told my big clients, hedge funds, pension funds, and big firms to go almost totally out of the market."

War, Nenner says, will spur the massive sell-off in two years, sending the Dow to 5,000.

"I also do war and peace cycles and it shows that were going to have a major war starting at the end of 2012, beginning of 2013. And I think that's going to do it," says Nenner, without providing specifics.

Even amid Wall Street's rally, only one in seven Americans has faith a lasting economic recovery has taken hold, and many say they are personally worse off than they were two years ago, according to a Bloomberg poll.

"There seems to be something of a disconnect between what people are feeling and what people are doing," J. Ann Selzer, whose Des Moines, Iowa-based firm, Selzer & Co., conducted the poll, tells Bloomberg.

"While admitting a recovery has at least started, the public still feels crummy. They may not feel it has started for them."