Our Lame Stream Media economic knuckleheads are talking about the AUD dropping against the USD.

This usually suggests that PM's are set to rise in USD, whist not rising in AUD's, so maybe the bottom is near?

Our fucktard Treasurer pledged $7B of slave money to the IMF.

Starving homeless kids on the streets and hospitals falling apart!

I hope these losers are held accountable one day as they continue to steal from the tax slaves?

@Strawboss-

Have to commiserate  with you on "bleeding in the miners" - I'm in the same boat to some extent.   I chalk it up to buying early on minor weakness, yet continue to add selectively to my positions.  In my mind it comes down to this: 

• are the PM's the best refuge from this fiat $h-t storm?  Yes
• do the PM fundo's look solid? Yes
• have the PM's been "money" for thousands of years?  Yes
• do the PM's just jump out of the ground as coins and bars? Uhhhh - no...they miners and refiners are the conduit.
• that said, if the PM's are an anchor in the paper storm, and unlike using a printing press, the only viable way to increase the SUPPLY of PM's is via mining and recapture of scrap/recycle (dwindling source, I'd submit) -- seems to me that the miners/refiners will be good long term plays

I get that there all sorts of paper games that can be played with the miners due to hedging, leveraging, etc, but regardless of the paper chase associated with miners, there can be no doubt that without them the supply of PM's hitting the retail market will cease.   That said, my approach is to recognize that I probably loaded in a little early, but 5 to 10 years down the line, it won't matter.  Now to put that in perspective, my miner position is about 1/3 of my phyzz holdings, so it's not a leveraged play to a large extent.

If you look closely, a similar parallel is emerging in the energy market via natural gas.  The commodity itself is is really cheap, but in order for the world to prosper as a result of this cheap energy source, it needs to be transported from the source of cheap supply to the expensive demand.  Same as the PM's needing to be converted from ore to bullion.  The enterprises in the middle (CNG transport/dispensing/storage companies and PM miners) between the raw material and the consumer demand will reap significant gains over a long-term horizon.

Hang tight, recognize the trends for what they are and be patient.  The deal is this:  paper is paper, while the direct ownership of physical assets (PM's or rights to energy, food, etc.)   and associated businesses is the long-term winning play.  When the paper markets crash, stocks of primary producers held in your name, and phyz held in your hands is the basis for financial survival and your ticket to life on the other side.  As with anything, diversification of risk across a spectrum of vehicles makes sense, but only you can decide for yourself what the right balance is.

For me, it's heavy on the PM's, heavy on physical ownership, diversification of locations where the physz is held, and a reasonable position with primary producers of energy, food, healthcare and critical commodities (PM's, rare earths, etc.).  We'll see if the strategy works long term, but I can tell you that I sleep better knowing that I'm positioning myself to be somewhat protected form the forthcoming $h-t storm.

In the meantime, I surf and hang out with my kids and enjoy life.  No sense getting morbid, just prepared...... 

Turd,

I LOVE your analysis, day in and day out ...

but one thing i think you totally FAIL to pay due respect to here is the same very thing you scream endlessly about ... MANIPULATION \ MANAGEMENT of markets.

IF you accept the premise of market manipulation \ management,
WHY ON EARTH WOULD THEY NOT BREAK THE TRENDLINE HERE?

If you could only do ONE thing to upset the metals market,
it would be BREAK THE MAJOR TREND LINE, along with the complimenting H&S and pennant patterns ... sure they will face major resistance ... but IF\ONCE they break it (by hook or by crook -- some BS Fedannouncement, game-changing rule, etc) the metals markets would essentially be in a sell-stop induced and capitulatory free fall ... with no support in site, and no rhyme or reason behind it's movement.

IF i had to make one bet this year, it would on some major hokus-pokus BS at this trend line point.

Think like THEM, not some FREE MARKET analyst ... nothing is FREE about this market. We ALL know it. :(

It has come to be very clear to all that the prices of metals can be taken to any level the EE wants.  TA is very difficult unless one knows what and when that they will  push the buttons.  The paper market has been destroyed and since the rule of law is passed over, the future of the minors looks grim.  We had hope when GDXJ was $42.40 and now $21.82, GDX was $66.98 and now $45.02, HL was $9.65 and today $3.98, AGQ was $191.04 and now $49.34 and DUST @ $53.62.

What will it "really" take to have honest and fair markets again in America???  How will the retirement funds of the future grow at even 3% per year?  What will the 401K's look like for those retiring in 20 years?

Harvey says to only buy the real thing and stay away from paper P.M.'s.    There is going to be a lot of paper suffering until after the elections in November and after the fireworks is over, the EE will still create the direction of the metals market.   jmo

Lets not lose focus here. IF China is really engaging at this level, they are risking elevating an already agitated situation. Even openly contemplating this move would mean a risk that the West would excuminicate China from SWIFT . . . Or at least cause the West to threaten such an action. Brinkmanship is not generally productive. The other critical point here is that those countries that already hold gold stand to benefit from oil trade denominated in gold. Just as the dollar has been mostly underpinned by demand related to oil, so too would gold. This would very likely stair step the price of gold several levels higher, and then stabilize in a slower ascending ramp (do to new demand dynamics). So if China made the move to use gold as the medium of exchange, other countries with gold would also be smart to make the move too as it would reinforce the value of their gold holdings. This is a reinforcing feedback loop. These are questions that are best kept in the dark and far from polite conversation . . . Only it is not in the dark . . . AND Forbes has purposefully made it an issue by plastering it in an article that I am sure will have an incresing potential to go viral if mentioned in tomorrow's TF comments . . . Maybe thats what Forbes wants . . . After all Steve is an admitted supporter of a hard asset standard.

As per my previous post made 3-05-2012, my work projected a  closing low bottom  for April 23, 2012. However, instead of hitting the  anticipated .786 retracement of the move from December, 28, 2011, to the high made on February 28, 2012, of $28.60, it hit a perfect .618 retracement at $30.49. ( I use Net Dana London Spot Silver price) Time was perfect, but the retrace was weaker than anticipated. Several other items to consider: One year to the date from high to low was a point that W.D. Gann considered very important for a turn around. Also, the "shakeout" will loosen all the very last weak hands. My Elliott Wave count shows a potential 3 of 3 of 3 wave coming, for the upside move. A really awesome move. 

RG

How about this scenario:

China pays for Iran oil with gold.

Iran, needing both gasoline and food, buys it from Brazil by  also paying with gold.

Brazil, as they only have 33 tons of the barbarous relic, accept that gold with glee.

All three of them grin like a little clam, while the West stews in it's own juices.

My 2 cents.

Audi.                                                                  

"Omer Petti is a 95-year-old USAF veteran with artificial knees and a heart condition. Madge Woodward, his partner, has an artificial hip. They recently flew home to Detroit from San Diego, and were humiliated and robbed at the San Diego airport TSA checkpoint. The metal in their bodies set off the TSA magnetometer, and Petti was instructed to put his $300 in cash in a bin. Then he was further detained when a swab detected the nitroglycerin residue from his heart pills. He and Woodward were subjected to humiliating patdowns, and then discovered that their $300 had gone missing. When Petti asked where his money had gone, the TSA agent required he and Woodward to remove their shoes again and empty out their pockets, and asked if they were "refusing his request" when they objected. The TSA manager checked the security footage, but reported that it was "too blurry" to see what had happened to the money. The two elderly people were loaded into their wheelchairs and taken to their plane at full tilt, barely making it. They never got their money back. "

When a challenger is strong enough to take on the leader there is much posturing and strutting, a lot of mouthing off and sensing and testing the others confidence. This is how I see the current China US skirmishes.

Then, when this phase is done, and neither has backed down, the horns will be locked and the real battle begins. Sometimes the fight is short when the weaker quickly acknowledges they are incapable of winning and retreats, or it can be a fight to the death. 

Yeah, she's pretty fanatical. BUT, in her defense, and philosophically speaking, you have to understand that something either is or it is not. If it IS, then it is all the way, 110%. If it is NOT, then may the heavens beat down on those who think it is. This is especially true regarding the powers of good and evil. 

If Bernanke and TPTB are printing us into the depths of hell, you better be among the first to leave the Dollar boat. There is no thinking "hey this is a little extreme don't you think?" If this madness of bailouts and excess printing and useless spending, all the while ignoring the real needs of the american people, if it is all evil, then it is so 110% and ought to be treated as such. Not repeatedly questioned as if you are in doubt. If it is, then it is so, 110%. It is only your emotions that tell you otherwise thereafter. Facts and documented evidence do not care about how you feel, and they do not care if you get left behind. 

I am saying all this to open the eyes of people that tend to not like extremism. Extremism has had a bad reputation lately, but truth be told, sometimes extremism is extremely necessary, and the more force exerted ealier on, the better off we will all be in the future. As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Ask yourself, ARE WE IN THE ELEVENTH HOUR OF THE REPUBLIC? Ask it firmly and shake off your apathy. Make your decision and stick to it. 

When truth surfaces amidst all lies, when the light appears amidst all darkness, you better cling to it and never leave it, because that truth may be the one thing that saves your very life. 

EDIT: One other thing....extremism is not just found in politics and religion. That a misconception a lot of people have. Inward extremism is found in any great historical figure, successful sportsman, and really anyone who has overcome great adversity in their personal lives. Without extreme devotion to their goal, they would have never succeeded. Not George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Juilius Caesar, Jaon of Arc, Jesus Christ, Ghandi, MLK, and the list goes on and on. 

I generally don't respond to your posts, as they lack any facts, often lack links to quotes, and never offer any thoughtful substantiation for your rather simplistic, cliche, run-of-the-mill, 'I'm a Sophomore now at <fill in the blank> University' - style opinions. Much like arguing with a small child...maybe I'm just in a bad mood, or maybe it's because you're seriously stupid enough to think that a 95 year old couple deserves that treatment because 75 years ago he 'supported the mil-ind-complex' when he got drafted.

Fuck You, Eurotrash Bitch.

Everyone else, have a nice day.

When are the minutes for the FOMC coming out?

Reuters report that the EU has agreed to freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank and ban all trade in gold and other precious metals with the Iranian Central Bank and other public bodies in Iran.

According to IMF data, at the last official count (in 1996), Iran had reserves of just over 168 tonnes of gold. The FT reported in March 2011 that Iran has bought large amounts of bullion on the international market to diversify away from the dollar, citing a senior Bank of England official.

Currency wars continue and are deepening.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/currency-wars-iran-banned-trading-gold-and-silver