Gerald Celente: 'IMF - International Mafia Federation'

The Greek Parliament has just passed a plan for new austerity measures,

but tensions remain high on the streets, showing that frustration levels are only growing. Meanwhile in the UK half a million public sector workers took to the streets to protest governmental plans to change their pensions and freeze pay.

In Washington the debt ceiling talks seem to be leading nowhere either - and all of this is backed by some more bad news: the latest jobless numbers are in and last week jobless claims were at about 428,000. That means for the last 12 weeks jobless claims have remained over 400,000. Gerard Celente, the director of the Trends Research Institute, shares his thoughts.

Keiser Report: The Counterattack!

This time Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report on oil dumps and contango and on organizing counterattacks with silver. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Jeff Berwick of DollarVigilante.com about manipulation of oil and silver markets and new currencies and dead ones.

Marc Faber: “Gold Correction to Last Longer”

Marc Faber, renowned investor and editor of The Gloom Boom & Doom Report, said that the gold price will likely fall further in the summer months. Nevertheless, Faber still remains bullish on both gold and silver in the long run. He points out that people who do not buy precious metals have implicit confidence in the ability of central banks to contain the global financial and sovereign debt crisis, which in his view, is not a good bet.

Faber, who correctly predicted the start of a correction in global equity markets at the beginning of May, believes that both gold and silver will remain under sales pressure in the next three months, though Faber – who lives in Thailand – told Bloomberg last week that he will not be selling any of his precious metals. Faber expects the US Federal Reserve to announce another round of quantitative easing towards the end of this year, which will provide the impetus for moves higher in gold and silver prices. The second round of Fed quantitative easing (QE2) ends today. Over the last seven months, the US central bank’s Open Market Committee has pumped $600 billion of liquidity into the financial system in the form of US Treasury bond purchases.

Via QE1 and QE2, the Fed has created $2.3 billion out of thin air. Faber has been a consistent critic of the Fed’s QE policies; but the Fed ad other central banks have argued that such money printing is necessary in order to fight the greatest recession since the Great Depression.

But despite the Fed’s efforts, US economic growth is slowing significantly once again – annualised first quarter GDP growth was just 1.8%. Decelerating manufacturing growth in many regions, plummeting home prices and stagnation in the national job market – the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 9.1% in May (and that’s the official figure) – as well as sinking consumer confidence clearly points to significant economic problems for America. At the same time, the sovereign debt problems in Europe, as well as fears of a slowdown in China, are adding to the bearish mood.

Thus, Faber argues that smart investors should not rely on central banks being able to navigate such treacherous economic waters. People should expect central banks to continue pumping newly-printed money into the financial markets. As in countless past debt crises, currency devaluation remains the one tool that central banks have in their fight against debt, which will encourage more and more investors to buy precious metals – especially gold and silver. Investments in precious metals will increasingly be perceived as a safe hedge against rising inflation and the destruction of capital.

Source

U.S. Must Hike Debt Limit Soon to Avoid "Shock": IMF

(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday pressed U.S. lawmakers to quickly lift the government's borrowing limit to avoid a "severe shock" to global markets and a still-fragile economic recovery.

In an annual review of the U.S. economy, the IMF said the key challenge for the country is finding a way to stabilize its debts by mid-decade without derailing growth, which is likely to remain modest for some time.

"And of course, the federal debt ceiling should be raised expeditiously to avoid a severe shock to the economy and world financial markets," the IMF said in a statement.Read The Full Article

Gold's Run to Continue Despite Bearish Factors Raising Their Heads

While some of the messages being sent to the gold market seem mixed at the moment, Martin Murenbeeld believes that the bearish arguments for gold are unlikely to hold sway over the longer term.

Renewed concerns about the fate of Greece and large portions of the euro zone more generally saw gold fixed in London on Wednesday evening at $1,522.00, a new high. On the same day it hit a new high in sterling terms. Since then however, it has struggled to hold much above $1,500.

And, it is for this reason that Dundee Wealth Economics chief economist, Martin Murenbeeld believes it may be worth revisiting some of the bearish arguments against gold that he made earlier in the year.

That is not to say that Murenbeeld is a gold bear; far from it. He believes that gold is likely to continue upwards over the longer term as the arguments for gold are significantly more compelling that those against. but, he cautions in his latest Gold Monitor report, "the bear factors "can dominate market trends from time to time - if only briefly."

The first of these arguments, he says, is the potential for policy exit strategies in China, India and the US, which could weigh on the yellow metal.

In the US, he says, while the end of QE2 is not a Fed "exit strategy" per se, it is not a positive for the gold market.

Murenbeeld points out that while Bernanke admitted that recovery was continuing at a slower-than-expected pace, he made no mention of the possibility of QE3 and even went as far as to say that conditions were better than when QE2 was implemented.

"What Bernanke didn't say, because this is a touchy subject, is that the dollar should also decline. He knows that the greatest danger for the US economy is still disinflation and underperformance, just as the "economic bears" have argued And he is aware that the Peterson Institute claims the dollar is still seriously overvalued against the Asian currencies," Murenbeeld points out.

Murenbeeld's second bearish argument, revolves around the dollar and its interaction with the euro in particular.

As he points out, "Europe's debt problems have tended to periodically favor the dollar over the euro. Gold doesn't always decline when the dollar rises, because the dollar often rises on the back of European debt issues that are inherently positive for gold, but a firmer dollar is a negative headwind for the dollar price of gold nonetheless."

While these two forces work against each other, Murenbeeld, is increasingly convinced that the pressing question within the euro zone is not, whether Greece will default but, when. And, more importantly if it will be able to postpone it until banks are able to withstand the write-downs that will follow.

But, he says, while a scenario in which Greece is kicked out of the Euro-system, Euro-banks taking a huge hit, yet somehow or other the Euro-system weathering the contagion (in Portugal and Ireland, to say nothing of Spain and Italy), and fiscal sanity returning. would be bearish for gold, the probability of all this is very low.

"Much more likely," he says, "is that peripheral country paper morphs into the "subprime paper of the 2010's", and central banks pour money into the banking system to arrest a global banking crisis....Accordingly, we continue to think gold will take out its inflation adjusted high during this bullish cycle, even if it isn't likely to happen tomorrow!"

Geoff Candy
June 27, 2011
www.mineweb.com
GRONINGEN

Philipp Vorndran Interview with James Turk

Philipp Vorndran of Flossbach & von Storch and James Turk, of the GoldMoney Foundation, talk about Greece and the necessary debt restructuring and how this could be borne by European banks, being between 2 and 3% of the Eurozone's GDP. However other dangers lurk: Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Spain or Italy could all pose significant problems in the future. Philipp has just come back from Spain and says that he feels much more confident about there not being a liquidity crisis in the short term, with banking system issues larger than admitted by the government, but still manageable for the next few months. Belgium, Italy and the UK are next on his list of places to visit as he sees significant problems there too. Increasing government instability in Europe is a worrying development given historical precedent.

They talk about US government debt being put on negative watch and how people and governments outside the US are reconsidering their holdings of US Treasuries and US dollars as their reserves. They talk especially about China and how the shift to precious metals has started in earnest, as investment options are limited, fixed income gives negative real returns and Real Estate is starting to slow. They talk about how the ECB and the Fed are very much in sync in their money printing strategies, with the monetary base doubling since 2008. Philipp calls out the US on the Treasury bond ponzi scheme and argues that this tag is well deserved from the moment that the Fed became the largest holder o f US debt. They talk about inflation, double digit at least, as the most likely route taken by politicians to escape the debt burden.

The interview was recorded on 14 May, 2011 in Hamburg, Germany.

Why You've Never Heard of the Great Depression of 1920

Presented by Thomas E. Woods, Jr., at "The Great Depression: What We Can Learn From It Today," the Mises Circle in Colorado; sponsored by Limited Government Forum of Colorado Springs and hosted by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Recorded Saturday, 4 April 2009.

Nigel Farage:The Euro is Living on Borrowed Time

Listen to Nigel Farage tell hard economic truths against the E.U. Parliament at the E.U. Council meeting on the 23-24th of June 2011. Look at the faces of the puppets on the bench, the slaves of the House of Pallavicini and the Jesuit Order.

Nigel Farage: FREE EUROPE, DITCH THE EURO

Listen to Nigel Farage of UKIP at the EU Parliament give some truth yet again to the dictatorship from hell.

Max Keiser: The Great People Are Being Disenfranchised by the Paper Terrorist

During a film shooting for a documentary on precious metals, the German journalist Lars Schall talked with Max Keiser, the international journalist for finance.

Austrian Economics versus Mainstream Economics

Presented by Mark Thornton at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 24 June 2011.

Keiser Report: Waterboard Bernanke Again!

This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report on scrapyards being the new pawn shops, Chinese ground troops marching on D.C. and the real British bank exposure to bad Greek debt. 

In the second half of the show, Max talks to Leah McGrath Goodman about her new book: 

The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Market.

David Stockman: Ben Bernanke is Finished!

Jun 23 2011 MSNBC The Dylan Ratigan Show -- Former CBO director David Stockman and panel taks about the Federals Reservs acknowledgement of dissapointing growth, higher inflation and a weakening labor market.

CrossTalk: Euro Brink

Is the EU falling into the same old trap by forcing Greece to stay in the eurozone? Will its efforts pay off this time or will they only postpone the inevitable? Are Greeks themselves so obsessed with their European identity that they will approve the austerity plan? And in case the stumbling euro reaches a point of no return, can Europe envisage going back to its old currencies? CrossTalking with Garett Jones, Vanessa Rossi & Robert Oulds

Ronald-Peter Stöferle Interview with James Turk

Ronald-Peter Stöferle, of Erste Bank, and James Turk, Director of The GoldMoney Foundation, talk about gold, mining stocks and the financial situation. Ronald talks about how he first got interested in gold, through mining stocks as an equity analyst and became very bullish when he examined the supply-demand situation. Later, as he learned about gold's monetary role he became even more optimistic about the gold price and its role as a safe haven. James and Ronald talk about the Austrian school of economics and how, despite being Austrian and an economist, Ronald had never heard of Mises, Menger and Hayek until a few years ago.

They discuss the greek debt crisis, QE, the Euro and the Dollar. They draw parallels between Austrian hyperinflation in the 1920s and the current US fiscal imbalances. Ronald is unsure about whether the outcome will be hyperinflationary, as James expects, or hyperdeflationary as Antal Fekete predicts, but argues that gold will be good portfolio insurance in either scenario. They talk about gold's fundamentals and how its low production/stock ratio makes it an ideal currency. They explain why gold protects wealth and holds purchasing power, as well as enabling economic calculation.

The interview was recorded on 14 May, 2011 in Hamburg, Germany.

Jim Rogers: Europe Will Have to Love China Like Never Before

Soros:" We Are on the Verge of an Economic Collapse”

Gold is mixed today after last week’s 2.4% fall. The short term trend remains negative but medium and long fundamentals remain supportive as do the very challenging and risky macro, sovereign debt and currency environment. Physical buying remains strong at the $1500 level with premiums for gold bullion bars higher in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The risk of contagion in the Eurozone and indeed a global financial contagion remains real. Peripheral European bond markets are under pressure again today with 10 year bond yields in Ireland rising to over 12.1% and to over 11.65% in Portugal.

Cross Currency Rates

European leaders are preparing for a default by Greece. The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said yesterday that Europe is preparing "for the worst".

George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management and famous for breaking the Bank of England in 1992, has warned that "we are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let's say, in Greece but it could easily spread."

Gold in Euros – 1 Year (Daily)

The 80-year-old investor said that the “financial system remains extremely vulnerable."

Soros added that "there are fundamental flaws that need to be corrected."  The core flaw, says Soros, is that the euro is not backed by a political union or joint treasury, so when something goes wrong with a participating country, there is "no provision for correction."

Soros said that it is "probably inevitable" that highly indebted countries will be given a way to quit the euro.

Gold has been the strongest currency in the world in recent years and all major fiat currencies, including the Swiss franc, have fallen against it. Should Greece revert to drachmas, Ireland to punts, Spain to pesetas, Italy to lira and Portugal to escudos, these countries would suffer massive inflation and the price of gold would surge in terms of these local currencies.

 

PORTUGUESE GOVERNMENT BONDS 10YR NOTE – 1 Year (Daily)

The assertion that gold is a bubble may soon be seen as silly as gold increasingly reasserts itself as a safe haven asset and currency.

Gold’s primary advantage is that it protects against currency devaluation – this will be realized again in the coming weeks and months.

The very strong demand for gold seen in Greece in recent days will likely soon be experienced in other peripheral Eurozone countries. It will likely be replicated internationally as concerns mount about currency debasement and currencies in general including the euro, the British pound and the U.S. dollar.

Soros Gold ETF Sale - Well Publicized but Poorly Analyzed 

Soros’ recent sale of his gold ETF holdings made headline news internationally with much commentary claiming that Soros sale of his gold ETF holdings means that gold has “peaked” and the “bubble” may soon burst.

However, what was less reported was the fact that Soros maintained very significant positions in gold mining companies.

It is highly unlikely that Soros Fund Management would maintain significant allocation to gold mining companies if there was a belief that gold was a bubble that was soon to burst.

Indeed, if his hedge fund truly believed that gold was a bubble and significantly overvalued, it would seem sensible of them to have shorted the gold ETF and not have added to gold mining positions.

More plausible is that Soros, given his political activism, may have decided that he did not want continuing publicity regarding his large ETF gold holding. ETF gold holdings like all securities must be declared in SEC filings.

Given Soros view that “we are on the verge of an economic collapse” and his oft repeated deep concerns about the U.S. dollar, it is very possible that he is accumulating gold in allocated accounts away from the spotlight of the media and the public.

London Good Delivery gold bars (400 oz) can be bought in volume at much the same prices as the gold ETF. They can be stored at a cheaper cost but have the added advantage of not having to be declared.

Importantly,  London Good Delivery gold bars are highly liquid and would be more liquid than ETFs in the event of a systemic crash and or currency crisis. This is one of the reasons that increasingly respected hedge fund manager, David Einhorn, has opted for gold bars in allocated accounts in specialist depositories.

Counter party risk is also one of the reasons that the University of Texas Investment Management Co., the second-largest U.S. academic endowment, said April 14 that it has taken delivery of about $1 billion worth of gold bullion bars.

Source

Gerald Celente & Max Keiser on The Edge

Marc Faber:Don't Trust the Fed? Then Buy Gold

Max Keiser: The History of What Happened to Greece

Max joins Alex to discuss how all this madness started in Greece and who is to blame for it.

Holmes: Gold Prices Could Keep Rising

Loose monetary policy, demand from emerging markets, and sovereign debt woes could push gold prices to $2,300 an ounce in the coming years, says U.S. Global Investors' Frank Holmes.

Jim Grant Says All The Things That Ben Bernanke Avoided During His Press Conference

Peter Schiff on the Potential for QE3

Euro Pacific Capital CEO Peter Schiff on the outlook for the economy and inflation and what the Federal Reserve will do next.

Surge in Gold & Silver Ownership Worldwide as Doomsday Nears

The doomsday scenario resulting from multiple national defaults is horrific to contemplate and more and more people are at last beginning to climb into gold and silver as protection .

LONDON - 

As the implications of the global financial crisis are at long last beginning to filter through to the general public, the move to dump cash and other savings forms in favour of gold and silver - notably in the easily accessible and sellable coin form is now really beginning to gather momentum and is becoming a major driver of the precious metals markets.

We have long known that the rising, and rapidly expanding, middle classes in Asia have an almost inbuilt propensity to keep a significant proportion of their savings in gold while the less costly silver is now beginning to come into the equation.  This has been emphasised recently with the news that the people's Bank of China has already had to virtually more than double its minting of its gold and silver Panda series of coins, despite the previous quota for this year itself already being double last year's with the populace buying gold and silver as a hedge against the onset of inflation there.

Now we hear that the Perth Mint in Australia has been selling record numbers of silver coins so far this year and although we don't have figures yet, gold coin sales there are also said to be at record numbers.

In the U.S., the U.S. Mint has been reporting record sales levels of its gold and silver coins, while we hear that, not surprisingly, the Greeks are flocking to purchase gold and silver in the midst of their financial crisis as their trust in banks has virtually disappeared.

Indeed it is this last factor which really should be in the mindset of anyone who is looking to wealth protection in the current economic crisis virtually wherever they may be located.  The general consensus is that there will inevitably be a Greek default, if not next week, when parliament has to vote on the hugely unpopular austerity measures, but before long as even with a temporary EU and IMF bailout, the figures do not suggest that a default can ultimately be avoided.

French and German banks in particular are hugely directly vulnerable to a Greek default, but it is the indirect exposure that could be truly frightening for the whole of western society.  As was the case with Lehmann Brothers the tentacles of a major bank collapse spread globally - and the Greek situation is far worse than Lehmann.  The other knock-on effect of a Greek default is that those banks still left in business will be jacking interest rates to the other PIIGS economies sky high in fear that they will default as well - which of course in itself could drive them to default as there is then no way they could service their debts.  In the dog-eat-dog world of current finance it is difficult to see sufficient co-operation between the banks to avert this - no bank will trust another not to go down so interbank lending and co-operation will die almost overnight.

Just as the European banking sector proved hugely vulnerable to the U.S. sub prime crisis, so in this case would the U.S. banks be to a Eurozone financial crisis of even bigger proportions.  The dominoes that could fall following a Greek default include a number of countries, lots of smaller banks, some major ones.  The carnage could be horrendous virtually wiping out many peoples' savings across the whole of the Western world as banks collapse, housing values plummet , stock markets crumble etc.: The Great Depression 2.- but even worse this time.

We are already seeing the impact in Greece in particular.  The populace is already out on the streets vigorously protesting the current austerity measures - and the new proposals on which any kind of bailout depends are even more stringent!  This is a pattern we may see across the whole of Europe - and it could well filter through to the U.S. too.  The U.K.'s unions are already promising the nearest thing yet to another general strike with proposed co-ordinated action this summer.  As in the so-called Arab Spring the natural outcome is blood on the streets as governments of whatever persuasion fight to maintain control.

And the U.S. public has still not really come to grips with its own dire financial situation.  Quite apart from the enormous federal deficit, States like California and Illinois are themselves virtually bankrupt - and they have far bigger economies than Greece!

It could even be the death of Capitalism.  Ironically nations like Russia and China may be far more protected from this kind of fallout than the rest of Europe and North America.  The perception of pursuit of wealth for wealth's sake and the greed of the financial elite could create a groundswell of public opinion and action beyond control.  Bankers, hedge fund managers, stockbrokers, the perceived financial class could be targeted individually - it may be safer for them to stay at home barricading themselves in their mansions!

Now this painting of a doomsday scenario is a warning to investors and, perhaps, politicians everywhere.  Hopefully it won't happen - at least not to the extent suggested above - but one can't help but think it is probably as well to keep a proportion of one's savings in precious metals as the Greek public is doing, as the Chinese are doing, as the Indians are doing, as the Arab world is doing, as the Australians seem to be beginning to do as are the Germans and Austrians and some Americans.  In the immortal words of Yogi Berra "It ain't over ‘til it's over" - and it certainly ain't over yet.

Source

Keiser Report: Greece Resistance Special

This time Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report on IMF dowgrades, zombie consumers and a financial circus. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Professor Steve Keen about the Greek debt crisis and Minsky's moment.

David Morgan: Expect Silver Over $100 During this Bull Market

Tekoa speaks with Silver Expert David Morgan, publisher of Silver-Investor.com. Items discussed are the current outlook on silver, how many left in this bull market, plus words of wisdom from David's many years of investing in the white metal.

June 20th, 2011

David Morgan: Mining Stocks or ETFs?

Gerald Celente: Everything is Not All Right, And Things Are Going to Get Worse

Alex welcomes back to the show trends researcher Gerald Celente. He is a pioneer trend strategist and author of the national bestseller Trends 2000: How to Prepare for and Profit from the Changes of the 21st Century and Trend Tracking: The System to Profit from Today's Trends.

Keiser Report: Financial No-Go Zone

This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report on how to improve your self esteem with mountains of debt. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Demetri Kofinas in Athens about the global insurrection against banker occupation happening in Syntagma Square and the role of credit default swaps and mountains of debt in making that occupation possible in the first place.

How Silver is Like Oil: An Upcoming Explosion

As prices at the pump move toward $4 and even $5 per gallon, there is no shortage of people calling for new regulations in finance. Frequently blamed on “speculators,” high prices at the pump are, as some politicians say, the result of lax laws.

But can it really be speculators that are driving up the price of oil? Without question, anyone can drive up the price of anything for a very temporary amount of time. Following the rise, though, one has to wonder why any single oil company wouldn’t come to the market with more oil than they were producing at lower prices.

Oil vs. Silver

Once past the stagflationary 1970s, oil prices were reasonable all the way up until the 2000s. Through the 1990s, the American family enjoyed driving their minivans all around town with gasoline no more than $.80 a gallon.

But we have to wonder why those days are gone. Why won’t gasoline ever come back to $.80 a gallon? It’s because the cheap oil is gone; the cheap silver is soon to be gone, too.

Throughout recent history, governments have subsidized energy consumption and production. We consumed too much because it was too cheap, and now that all the easily found oil has been brought to the surface, the only oil remaining is harder to find and more expensive to produce.

We should wonder if the same general trend is not in store for silver. Having been manipulated in price by large banking interests on the futures markets, silver was far too cheap through the 1990s and even the 2000s. Now into the second decade of this new millennia—a decade more dependent on electronics than any other in history—we should wonder if this will be the ten years that lead silver to a new boom in line with that of oil’s historical rise.

This is the very obvious problem in subsidizing the use of any finite commodity, directly or indirectly. Subsidies for oil kept production high, even when it made little sense. New subsidies for other energy forms are eating away at global food supplies, as producing ethanol is more valuable politically than feeding the many people around the world who starve due to shortage. Decade-long suppressions on silver prices (luckily, most price suppression happened when we consumed the least of it) will only stand to send silver higher as we consume more of it.

What the future holds

Anyone knows that the future will be more electronic than the past. And the explosion in computing and personal devices won’t just be in the developed world—no, the low price of components (save for silver) means that all 7 billion of the world’s inhabitants will experience the technological revolution.

The tech revolution couldn’t come at a better time for silver investors. Just as it is realized how much silver was wasted in the past, we can only look to a future which contains far more above ground silver and far less silver below the surface.

By Dr. Jeff Lewis

Jim Rogers: Politicians Don't Care About Morality

Jim Rogers On The Ratigan Show June.16, 2011

The Power of Gold

Lewis E. Lehrman discusses the Iowa GOP bus tour that is reviving the debate about moving forward to the gold standard and why monetary policy and the gold standard is the important issue of the GOP 2012 Presidential campaign.

Imports of Gold & Silver Soar 222% in India

PRECIOUS METALS CONTINUE TO BE THE FANCY OF INDIAN INVESTORS WITH THE COUNTRY RECORDING $9 BILLION IMPORTS IN JUST ONE MONTH, PUZZLING ECONOMISTS AND ANALYSTS.

The import of gold and silver by India has risen by a whopping 222% between April and May 2011, as compared to a year ago. In the month of May alone, imports were a staggering $9 billion, with gold demand growing 25%.

"Even as inflation and a widening trade deficit to $15 billion in May continues to weigh on the minds of Indian investors, the demand for fresh gold has continued to grow. This is very confusing, especially when one sees it against the backdrop of a 400% rise in the value of the rupee over the last decade," said bullion analyst Anand Patnaik with a brokerage firm.

India's commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma recently released trade figures. India's imports have surged to a 4-year high at a scorching pace of 54% mainly due to rising oil prices and a surge in gold imports. The country's imports have jumped to $40.9 billion, which has resulted in the gap between imports and exports widening to $15 billion - a 67% increase which is the largest since August 2008, prompting the government authorities to caution that India's trade deficit for 2011-12 could touch a record $145-150 billion.

Minister Sharma pointed out that exports of iron ore were down given the ban on exports imposed by the country. Imports in pearls and precious stones, however, have risen 24.6% to $ 5.20 billion, gold and silver by 222% to $ 13.5 billion and iron and steel by 13% to $ 1.80 billion, he said.

Rupee sinks

Rupee volatility has also played a part. The Indian rupee has a bearing on the landed cost of dollar-quoted gold.

"People in India have accepted high inflation as a reality of life," said Rajesh Shukla of the centre for Macro Consumer Research. Noting that Indians tend to use gold as a hedge against inflation, Shukla said this would be partly responsible for the spike in imports. He added that high imports reflected a strong demand for the yellow metal, despite the weakening of the rupee. The Indian rupee fell to its lowest in three weeks on Monday weighed down by losses in domestic shares and the euro, with dollar demand from oil companies also adding pressure.

"Bidding from oil companies is keeping the rupee lower. All of last week, the rupee depreciated. Hiking of key interest rates has further weakened the rupee," said a forex dealer at a national bank. He added that gold prices were under pressure. "Gold futures will rise on a weak rupee, but demand in the local market is quite poor at the moment."

Surging import

Imports of gold and silver were at $8.96 billion in May, a growth of 500% over the previous month and 222% over last year.

"Rapid inflation is eroding the earnings of the common man. One has to understand how the import of gold has reached $9 billion for a month, while the yearly average is around $22 billion," said Sudhir Chakraborty, bullion analyst at Standard Chartered bank.

"The gold story is puzzling," added financial analyst A S Kirolar. "Consumers are shying away from stocks and bonds and heading to safe assets like gold and real estate, but one cannot understand this given the meager 12% growth in imports of petroleum and oil products."

Added another analyst Shabir Lakdawala, demand for precious metals in 2010 was way stronger. "In 2009, India had reported a 19% decline, when the worst monsoon in nearly four decades had dented bullion sales," he said.

Analysts maintained that India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India's decision to grant licenses to seven more banks to import bullion has helped push up demand. Karur Vysya Bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, Punjab and Sind Bank, South Indian Bank, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore were added to the list.

As of the start of 2011, some 30 banks in India have been granted permission to import gold and silver. Jewellers are getting easy supplies which is also helping push up demand. Moreover, the flow of scrap is also expected to fall from a yearly average of 200 tonnes, which could again boost imports, underlining the insatiable appetite of the Indian consumer.

Bill Haynes: The markets for gold and silver keeping growing. The more widespread holdings of gold and silver are the more stable their prices will become.

SHIVOM SETH
JUNE 20, 2011
WWW.MINEWEB.COM
MUMBAI

Steffen Krug Interview with James Turk

Steffen Krug (IFAAM) talks to James Turk (GoldMoney Foundation) about the reasons that he founded the Institute for Austrian Asset Management to combine value investing techniques with knowledge of Austrian Business Cycle Theory. They talk about the dangers of fiat currency, inflation and how difficult economic calculation is when the unit of account is unstable and the price of money, interest rates, are distorted and centrally planned, not reflecting real free market supply and demand. 

They move on to discuss the monetary history of Hamburg and its 250 years of 100% reserve silver banking with the Mark Banco until Bismarck replaced it with the Goldmark in 1873. They then discuss the Euro and how it is almost taboo in Germany to discuss the monetary system. They talk about how the Euro is subject to political influence, as witnessed with its buying of Greek bonds. Steffen explains that despite the taboo, some discontent is starting to show. 

The interview was recorded on 14 May 2011 in Hamburg, Germany.

Gerald Celente: It's Plutocracy Not Democracy

Gerald Celente with Roy Green Show Corus Radio Network 17 June 2011

Jim Rogers: Fed Will Eventually Go Bankrupt

Bob Chapman's Friday Report: Warnings Of A Great Depression or Hyperinflation

Unemployment at 22.4% is causing a run on assets of retirement funds. That is probably why legislation is being introduced to limit how much money can be removed from these investment vehicles. About 11% of participants have taken out loans over the past year, up from 9% y-o-y. In overall total 22% have loans out and the numbers are accelerating. Almost all the loans will never be paid back. Hardship is forcing people to withdraw, as well as those who believe that government will try to commander 401K's and IRA's to fund a bankrupt government, that wants to replace those vehicles with bogus government guaranteed annuities.

If the extension of the short-term debt is not legislated by August 2nd, we may see legislation regarding a takeover of some retirement plans.

As this possible misuse of Americans hangs in the balance, inflation plods, relentlessly onward and at the current rate of acceleration we could see hyperinflation two to three years down the road.

Dr. Lawrence Parks Interview with James Turk

Lawrence Parks, of FAME (http://www.fame.org/), and James Turk, Director of the GoldMoney Foundation, talk about FAME's mission to educate the public about the benefits of an honest monetary system and the perils of irredeemable paper money, through a strategy of full disclosure and no coercion: meaning not using force or legal tender laws to impose sound money, but rather informing people and allowing them to choose. Lawrence talks about the constitutional, systemic, moral and empirical arguments for sound money.

They talk about the coming collapse of our monetary system and the lack of political will to resist the temptation to over issue paper money. They talk about fiat money inflation in France during the Revolution and mention "Fiat Money Inflation in France" by Andrew Dickson White, which Lawrence gave to Trichet, Paulson and others. They explain how that historic episode ended in disaster and what is ahead for the American economy. They explain how every fiat currency has ended being worth less than the paper it was printed on and how the temptation for politicians is just too strong to resist when they are handed a printing press.

Richard Duncan: U.S. Economy on Life Support

Jun 3, 2010

“Greece’s Leaving Would Be Like Atomic Bomb for EU” – Expert

Roberts: USA vs China in the Middle East

Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen - the number of countries US is in seems to be growing. While outraged lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are battling the White House over Libya - a war that isn't technically a war, according to the President - generals at The Pentagon are waging a quiet campaign to ensure the Afghan surge continues. Whether or not you think these wars are necessary, the more pressing question seems to be whether USA can keep paying for them. 

Even America's mayors are joining the fray by calling on the White House to stop spending on wars and start investing at home - something, the conference of mayors hasn't done since the Vietnam war.

To look at how all this will pan out, RT speaks to Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, a former Reagan administration official.

Greenspan: Greece Default ‘Almost Certain,’ May Trigger U.S. Recession

Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman, said a default by Greece is “almost certain” and could help drive the U.S. economy into recession.

“The problem you have is that it’s extremely unlikely the political system will work” in a way that solves Greece’s crisis, Greenspan, 85, said in an interview today with Charlie Rose in New York. “The chances of Greece not defaulting are very small.”

Greek government bonds slumped, pushing the yield on the two-year note above 30 percent for the first time, as Prime Minister George Papandreou’s failure to win support for more austerity fueled speculation the European country will fail to meet its obligations. More than 20,000 people protested in Athens this week against wage reductions and tax increases, with police using tear gas on crowds and strikes paralyzing ports, banks, hospitals and state-run companies.

The chances of Greece defaulting are “so high that you almost have to say there’s no way out,” said Greenspan, who ran the central bank from 1987 to 2006. That may leave some U.S. banks “up against the wall.”

Greece’s debt crisis has the potential to push the U.S. into another recession, Greenspan said. Without the Greek issue, “the probability is quite low” of a U.S. recession, he said.

“There’s no momentum in the system that suggests to me that we are about to go into a double-dip,” Greenspan said.

Economic data released today show confidence in the expansion eroding among Americans and businesses, as unemployment remains above 9 percent.

U.S. Debt Limit

The U.S. recovery is being hindered by apprehension among businesses over the long-term outlook, and there’s nothing more for Fed policy makers to do, Greenspan said.

U.S. lawmakers are wrangling over spending cuts and budget reforms as they seek an agreement to increase the $14.3 trillion debt limit before Aug. 2, the date on which the Treasury Department said it will have exhausted its borrowing authority.

The U.S. debt issue is becoming “horrendously dangerous,” said Greenspan, who added he doubts lawmakers have another year or two to solve it.

After leaving the Fed, the former chairman founded the consulting firm Greenspan Associates and became a consultant or adviser to Deutsche Bank AG, Pacific Investment Management Co. and Paulson & Co., a hedge-fund firm that profited from the collapse of the U.S. subprime-mortgage market.

Greenspan, appointed Fed chairman by Republican President Ronald Reagan, was once described as “the greatest central banker who ever lived” by economist Alan Blinder, the central bank’s former vice chairman.

He has since been blamed for contributing to the U.S. financial crisis by keeping interest rates low for too long and failing to regulate the mortgage market, according to critics including Allan Meltzer, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Source

Keiser Report: Army of New Mubaraks

This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report on the Times Square hustlers of today, hawking wars and the weapons you need to fight those wars. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Saifedean Ammous about the economics behind the Arab Spring and how the IMF and World Bank loans will just create new Mubaraks and Ben Alis.

JP Morgan Bond Fraud, Metals Fraud & 9/11 : Bob Chapman

Ctrl+Alt+Banking Cartel

In this new video release, "as a first step," Anonymous has called for public protests beginning on June 14th, continuing "until Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke steps down." To make their case, they have presented a list of recent scandalous Federal Reserve actions.

Ctrl+Alt+Bernanke: 'Anonymous' Targets Fed Head

A video uploaded to the Web over the weekend credited to the hacker group Anonymous is calling out Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to resign. In the four-and-a-half minute long YouTube clip, the secretive online assailants denounce Bernanke for not heeding their request from three months earlier to step down from the FED. In a movement that the infamous hackers are dubbing "CTRL+ALT+BERNANKE," the group is calling for protesters across the country to rally against the chairman on Tuesday, June 14—Flag Day.

Jim Rogers: I Don't Trust Any Government Data

Jim Rogers doesn't care what anyone says -- the Chinese growth story continues.

"There's going to be setbacks," he says. But those aren't the end of the world. The Chinese housing bubble may pop, but it's not going to break the rest of the system. That's because China's economy, he says, is far less levered to housing. Scoffing at the theory that Chinese "ghost towns" are a sign of the end of the nation's growth story, Rogers says it simply doesn't matter "if 300 real estate speculators go bankrupt."

He also dismisses the slowdown of the Chinese economy and waves off concerns that even the recently weak data may be stretched by Chinese officials. Though he doesn't trust the data from any government, he finds the Chinese at least as credible as the U.S. on that front because "at least the Chinese admit they have inflation."

The underlying story of China is the enormous pent-up demand of 1.3 billion Chinese residents. "Throughout history people want to own their own place to live," he says. That upward mobility is going to drive China into the future in Rogers' estimation, regardless of what happens in the now.

Comparing China to our own humble nation, the U.S. is the largest debtor nation in the world. China is the largest creditor. Should the global economy start deteriorating in earnest, Rogers would "rather be on the side of the creditors than the debtors."

Is Silver a Buy Right Now?

If there weren't a scarlet "B" for bubble around its neck, silver just may be a technical and fundamental buy.

I stumbled into this stunning bit of news almost accidentally last week. While poring through charts late last week, I pulled up the iShares Silver ETF (SLV). A month-and-a-half after the SLV's rather infamous pop to nearly $50 and drop to the low $30's, I expected to see a horrid looking chart, or at most, an extremely volatile range somewhere below $35. But I didn't.

Instead of a slide, I saw an SLV chart building a base at $35. Sellers came in above that level but buyers came in below $35 even faster and more reliably. As my memory bank started triggering, I recalled the Fibonnacci sequence. Boiled way, way down, a Fibonacci sequence posits that stocks making large moves up or down will recover, or "retrace," those gains or losses at predictable degrees. For instance, after the early 1980's bubble popped, silver recovered 34% of its losses in the following weeks (yeah, I looked it up). And 34% is part of the Fibonacci sequence, exactly.

With silver supported below $35, I ran the numbers on a 34% retracement for the semi-precious metal. The technical trade set-up works out to $5 higher (the $15 fall for silver *.34) for a price target and $1 lower as a stop (if silver goes $1 below apparent support, sell). You can quibble on the details. In fact, you should quibble on the details and check out the graphs for yourself. Regardless, silver looks like a technical buy, and that fact freaked me out just a little bit.

Gerald Celente: CNN - Cartoon News Network

It was a recent CNN report that revealed that 48% of Americans believe that the next Great Depression is on the doorstep. There were some really hard-hitting question the CNN addressed to America's next potential Presidential candidates on the network's recent debate, such as:

"iPhone or Blackberry?", "Pepsi or Coca", "Dancing with the Stars or American Idol?" and "Spicy or mild?" Half of all unemployed Americans have been out of job for six months, 44 million Americans are on food stamps, American home sales dropped by $ 6.3 trillion since the housing crisis appeared and CNN are asking the next potential American president about pizza? Gerald Celente , the director of the Trends Research Institute shares his opinion on the GOP candidates with RT.

Gold Reaching $5,000/oz & Silver to $200 in the Next Few Years?

Gold investment maverick Rob McEwen sees a sterling future for silver with the proposed merger of his firms US Gold Corp. and Minera Andes Inc. that would form a mid-sized player amid a red hot metals market.

The combination “would be transformative, creating a dynamic, new precious metal company,” said McEwen, who is chief executive of both companies.

The deal is valued at $608 million. His personal investment in the combined firm, which will be called McEwen Mining Inc., would be about $345 million and catapult his junior explorers to mid-tier status with a market cap of $1.4 billion.

The announcement comes amid a soaring price environment for precious metals. Gold broke a new record last month of $1,541 (U.S.) an ounce and silver climbed to 30-year highs of $48.70 (U.S.) in April before a recent correction that shaved 20 per cent off the silver price.

But McEwen, the founder of giant Goldcorp Inc., remains very bullish on both, saying he sees bullion reaching $5,000 an ounce and silver soaring to $200 in the next few years.

“I think silver is going up with gold and has room to outperform gold,” McEwen said in an interview Tuesday.

Under the terms of the all-stock proposal, Minera Andes shareholders would receive 0.4 of a US Gold common share for each Minera share currently held.

McEwen Mining “would be low-cost and possess a significant pipeline of production growth in addition to owning an exciting portfolio of exploration properties,” he said.

The combination also moves McEwen’s businesses “one step closer to our goal of qualifying for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index by 2015,” he said.

Industry watchers say the move puts the outspoken gold bug back on the market radar after several years running junior mining interests out of his George St. offices in Toronto.

“It’s about increasing visibility and market profile,” says analyst Barry Allan of Mackie Research Capital Corp. in Toronto.

“The market is getting tired of the junior guys, and if you can’t grow through the drill bit, you do it through mergers,” Allan added.

US Gold explores for gold and silver in the Americas and is advancing its El Gallo project in Mexico and its Gold Bar project in Nevada toward production.

Minera Andes is an exploration company looking for gold, silver and copper in Argentina, where it has stakes in three assets, including a 49 per cent interest in Minera Santa Cruz, owner of the San Jose Mine near the Cerro Negro project owned by Goldcorp.

It is also 100 per cent-owner of the Los Azules copper deposit as well as a portfolio of exploration properties in Santa Cruz province.

The merger is expected to be completed by late October. The proposal would require approvals from both boards of directors and shareholders of the two companies.

The new company would trade on both the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.

Shares of US Gold rose 25 cents to close at $5.63 on the TSX while Minera Andes stock increased 13 cents to close at $2.18.

McEwen has been a prominent player in the Canadian gold industry. Under his leadership, Goldcorp merged with Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. of Vancouver in 2005 to form Canada’s second-largest gold producer. Source

Keiser Report: Economic Melt-Through

This week, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report on financial melt-through and bad actors. In the second half of the show, Max talks to David Morgan of Silver-Investor.com about Utah's new gold and silver legislation and Gresham's Law.

Bilderberg: World’s Fate Sealed Behind Closed Doors

The Bilderberg Group, an invitation-only meeting of the world's most powerful people, is taking place in Switzerland. Just what the political insiders, media moguls and industry magnates will actually discuss, remains top secret.

­This year the Bilderberg Group has occupied the grand Suvretta House Hotel among the magnificent hills and lakes of St. Moritz resort, Switzerland. The world’s most powerful group of some 150 will be meeting there behind closed doors to discuss whatever they need to in the next few days and, perhaps, carry out decisions that will determine the future of the whole world.

Bilderberg attendees of the past include kings, presidents, captains of industry and heads of the world’s most powerful corporations. Rumors have been spread of Juan Carlos I of Spain, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and board members from IBM, Royal Dutch Shell, and Nokia having attended the Bilderberg Group meetings. Various officials and politicians such as Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have also been claimed to be on the participants’ lists.

Still, there is little media coverage of the group: official lists of participants are not revealed, neither is the agenda publicized. Press releases are not expected to be issued after the meeting.

Since the 1950s, when the group started, there has been much speculation regarding the purposes and possible agendas of the meetings. The group has been accused of plans to crop 80 per cent of the world’s population, of masterminding the global financial crisis of 2008–2010, or even secretly coming up with the original plan to implement the euro.Source