Central Banks: More Harm than Good? [View article]
Sorry for the late reply here but I rarely have the time to read any comments on my articles. In fact, many times I'm not even aware of what articles from my blog that Seeking Alpha chooses to reprint and which ones they do not. But just happened by today and saw your comment. So I hope you revisit this article to pick up my reply here, though it arrives very late.
I can't really say I can recommend just one because there are several great books and also it is necessary to read books on the two main Austrian theories advanced by Hayek and those advanced by Mises to achieve a well rounded view of the Austrian School of Economics and avoid a narrow interpretation of the theories. But here a few (I apologize for not just recommending one!)
(1) Theory of Money and Credit, Ludwig Von Mises (2) The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich A Hayek (3) The Pure Theory of Capital, Friedrich A Hayek
These books should serve as a "core" reading for those being introduced to Austrian economics. Furthermore, they do a fine job in dispelling the false notion that Austrian economists desire zero regulation, as they make cases for government regulation to ensure the smooth operation of free markets. They just don't want any type of central planning in the regulation of a nation's monetary supply, for the idea of central planning is antithetical to the idea of free markets.
"The Road to Serfdom" makes many prescient remarks. For example, Hayek claims that the founding of Central Banks, and the institution of a central monopoly over a nation's monetary supply is a critical ingredient for the rise of fascism, and then tyranny. He states that the notion of a failure in central planning will be sold to the public as the direct result of inadequate power as a ploy by Central Banks to seize even more power.
We have seen this happen when Timothy Geithner and the Obama administration tried selling the unfolding of the financial crisis to the public as a result of the Federal Reserve possessing inadequate powers to prevent the crisis, though the Feds were responsible, in reality, for creating the crisis. Though the Federal Reserve has seized additional powers due to this crisis, just as Hayek predicted, they are still attempting to seize even more power. Yet they already have extraordinary power that is already beyond dangerous to the interests of all Americans and all citizens of the world. Hope those books help!
On Sep 25 11:52 AM MattGigEm wrote:
> Mr. Kim, if you were to recommend one book to serve as a primer for > the Austrian School of Economics, what would it be? > > Thanks for the great articles.
Bernanke Being Rewarded for Failure [View article]
Rewarding Bernanke for failure only makes sense after rewarding all of Wall Street and big banks for failure. We wouldn't want to break the pattern now would we? (sarcasm noted) Now that the Fed, under Bernanke's wach, has begun monetizing US Treasury debt surreptitiously, and is attempting to cover their tracks through a possible Agencies for Treasuries swap program, I agree with Mr. Schiff that things will likely implode under Bernanke's watch unless he resigns.
According to Chris Martenson, the debt monetization, inflationary creating money-out-of-thin air game, may be accomplished with the following mechanism -
#1: Foreign central banks sell agency debt out of the custody account.
#2: The Federal Reserve buys those agency bonds with money created out of thin air.
#3: Foreign central banks use that very same money to buy Treasuries at the next government auction.
The time was ripe to boot Helicopter Ben out of his position but Ben can only hope now that he can replicate Greenspan's model of pushing things to the brink of disaster until he can get out of dodge and then blame the "free markets" for the disaster when it unfolds and he's safely retired somewhere, receiving his kickbacks and handouts in retirement from the financial oligarchs he bailed out.
It's time to audit and shutdown the Federal Reserve and Helicopter Ben before Ben shuts down America. www.endfinancialfraud.org
What Lies Behind the CFTC's Revocation of Exemptions in Agriculture Position Limits? [View article]
for those that stated the video is misleading because it is from April, 2008, I only selected that video because of its explanation of soaring food prices as a global problem whereas most news clips of food riots in 2009 focus on one country. thus, that was the best video I could find that explained it as a global problem. I don't think it is misleading because it explains the problems that still exist today quite adequately, and despite TEMPORARY easing of food prices, food prices will undoubtedly soar again in the future once today's Central Bank's monetary policies of easy money start leaking into the world economies. So it is very likely that the video's problems as explained will actually become much worse in future years. As former Fed Chairman Greenspan once said, inflation is nothing more than debasement of currency and food inflation in significant terms is very very probably in future years.
Also the below story is from July, 2009:
The World Food Program warns hunger and malnutrition will continue to rise as financial and food crises bite into the ever-shrinking income of the world's poor. The World Food Program says new creative ways must be found to feed the hungry as government resources dry up.
The World Food Program reports the number of hungry people in the world has topped one billion for the first time in history. The agency's Deputy Executive Director, Staffan de Mistura says this shocking figure set alarm bells off during this year's G 8 summit in Africa.
So the above video does not misrepresent either the current grave food crisis that still exists (despite recently improving food prices around the world) and the likely worsening food crisis that is likely to occur in future years in my estimation.
Irrational Exuberance of the Green Shoots [View article]
I rarely have the time to revisit my articles posted hear and read everyone's comments, but today I have, and it is encouraging that many people today are much more enlightened and educated about the financial fraud that is truly systemic in our country from the regulators, to the lawmakers, to the lobbyists, to the CEOs to gov't offiicials to the Feds, etc.
I would encourage everyone reading this article to visit The Worldwide Initiative to Permanently End Financial Fraud at www.endfinancialfraud.org and to participate in this grassroots movement to spread truth about the roots and origins of this global monetary and financial crisis.
I actually included this link in the original article posted on my blog but the link was edited out of the posting here. Though all of us are discouraged that perhaps just a tiny part of our population understands the concepts discussed in the comments here, I believe that we can't let our frustration curb our efforts to spread the truth and that we must push forward.
Eventually one of us who engage in such efforts to spread the truth will see our efforts become viral and succeed in educating the masses. This week, we added a video log to the page above and will post new videos every week to help explain this financial crisis in perspectives not told by the mass media and that help push the truth forward.
On Jul 24 08:12 AM User 353732 wrote:
> It seems to me that there are 3 great and widening disconnects in > America today. From these, many of our economic and social pathologies > flow, such as those you deliniate. > 1. The disconnect between economic risk and reward,. The ruling elites > have succeeded in engineering a system where more amd more economic > risk is shifted to the middle class while more and more rewards are > funneled to the top 1%. The rulers keep most of these rewards and > use the rest to bribe and control an expanding underclass( perhaps > 25% of the population now?), which pays no taxes, provides minimal, > if any economic value added, resents and envies the "rich" by which > they really mean the middle class, lives sullen and increasingly > brutal lives where crimes against persons and property are viewed > as a form of "social justice" and encouraged by Hollywood and Manhattan > cultural elites. As a result the middle class is being compressed, > herded, financially squeezed and bullied by both the rulers and the > bribed underclass. No stable, prosperous and real economy can be > fostered under these conditions. > 2. The disconnect between the Government and the Constitution. Our > founding generations would have viewed as a criminal assualt on > life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness the casual shredding of > our Constiution by the Govt. at every level(Fed, sate,county, municipal). > When a Govt, starts to treat the Constitution with contempt and as > an obstacle rather than an inspiration, it also starts to treat > citizens as subjects and people as masses. This in turn leads to > the self perpetuation, expansion and aggrandizement of the( political, > media, financial) Govt. for its own sake. > The quantitative effect of this disconnect is manifest in the shriveling > purchasing power of the fiat dollar. The qualitative effect of this > disconnect is manifest in the shrinking ethics of the governing class. > > Deceit, fraud and thievery have become the common instruments of > statecraft. Decit by the media bosses,fraud by the political bosses > and thievery by the financial bosses are conducted without shame > or remorse as the disconnect between the rulers and the ruled expands. > When the Constitution is dishonored, it is no longer"We, the People, > but "We, the Rulers, and They , the Masses". > 3. The disconnect between the products of the great majority(not > all) of high schools, colleges and universities and the skills, knowledge > and, importantly, attitudes needed to thrive in the global economy > and changing global distribution of wealth creating capacity and > demographic power. A significant majority of young people who emerge > with non-professional degrees or non-technical training lack(but > do not know or seem to care they lack) the human capital to engage > in real work, producing real goods and services that create real > value for real people. These young people run the grave risk of underemployment > if not outright unemployment for several years and face the prospect > of downward mobility. A downwardly mobile middle class cannot possibly > propel the economy upwards.
From Free Markets to Absolute Power: The Warped Views of 'Bank Speak' [View article]
by the way the link to the video I reference in my article, if it has not already been corrected, is www.youtube.com/watch?... sorry for the inconvenience!
Dollar Chart Tells a Much Different Story than Pundits Do [View article]
I don't disagree with you. We basically are saying the same thing but in different ways. What makes America a great nation is the strength, resiliency and diversity of our citizens and our ingenuity to create sustainable goods and services that can drive productive growth. Money, in our case, the US dollar, is the means by which we pay for these goods and services.
When our monetary system is fraudulent, it takes economic control away from our citizens and places it in the hands of the financial oligarchs. When our Central Bank attempts to artificially manufacture a recovery through inflating assets as they are doing now (significant inflation will come in the future), this is not real growth. Thus, I am merely stating that a sound monetary system can lead the way into economic recovery but an unsound monetary system, unfortunately, enables Central Bankers to fool the masses with an illusion that recovery is on the way when indeed it is not. To return America to the great nation we are, we simply need to implement a sound monetary system. Then we would have a sound currency and a strong nation.
On May 21 05:17 PM Market Sniper wrote:
> Good article, Mr. Kim. The only real exception I can take is your > statement "The strength of a nation lies in the strength of its currency. > That phrase has always stuck with me." To this statement I vehemently > disagree on a number of levels. At its most basic, the strength of > a nation rests on its productive capacity, its ability to produce > goods and services that people want and need. In other words, to > produce true wealth. As for the "currency", a little parable. Many > years ago there were fine restaurants. Such fine restaurants hat > hat check girls. A gentleman would check his hat with her and receive > a claim check for his hat. Only an idiot or a fool would then parade > through the restaurant stating that his claim check was a hat! All > currencies on the planet exist by government decree and are created > out of DEBT. They do NOT represent wealth by any stretch of the imagination.
Warnings from the President: This Is a Bear Market Rally [View article]
Machiavelli stated something to the effect of he who states to deceive will always find someone willing to be deceived. The US Treasury is an executive branch of the US government. Last year, did Wall Street and the financial oligarchs called the shots at the Treasury or the US government?
Just because the Bank of England was nationalized by the Labour Party in 1946 doesn't mean the British Parliament has been calling the shots. Whoever calls the shots, the financial oligarchs that have overrun government, are the true "owners". All that appears to be on the surface is not. Reference the "Quiet Coup" by a former IMF Chief economist here. www.theatlantic.com/do... Just because an institution is a gov't agency does not mean it is not controlled by other "owners". Just because an agency calls itself "Federal" does not mean it is, either.
U.S. Bank Shares: Pump Almost Over, Get Ready for the Dump [View article]
Yes I admit I was a little careless in my explanation above but had you checked the outstanding shares of the two companies I used in my example you would have discovered that I purposely selected companies in which the difference between the float and outstanding shares was either negligible (492.80M float v. 498.57M outstanding for KEY) or just slightly higher (383.39M float v. 395.86M outstanding for COF). So the differences between float and outstanding for the two companies I used to illustrate my point was not 30%, not 20%, not 10% and not even as much as 3.5% - not differences that could grossly skew the numbers for the purpose of my point.
So no, I was not trying to overstate my case. Chalk it up to carelessness but my point was that these banking shares were sure to take a hit in the future (in my opinion) and to catch unknowing investors suckered into this rally offguard due to the combination of
(1) the dilution of the secondary offering; (2) the discounted prices of the secondary offering; and (3) the deceitful earnings announcements of many banks in the banking sector that was able to raise the sector as a whole recently.
Deceit often wins short term. Fundamentals win long-term. We'll check back in several months and see how things turned out.
U.S. Bank Shares: Pump Almost Over, Get Ready for the Dump [View article]
To address some of the criticism of my article. I wrote this article after the market close on May 11th and referenced a report on May 8th that actually did provide compelling evidence that shareholder value would be "massively diluted" as I stated.
i.e. COF's public secondary offering was for 56 million shares on a current float of 380.34 million shares. Keycorp offered up another approximate 115 million shares (if we assume the secondary offering was priced anywhere near their current market price) on a float of 429.80 million shares. You can figure out how many shares the other banks offered up as well by the total amount they have targeted to raise and then comparing it to the current float. So a 14.7% and 26.8% dilution in the float is significant, if not already massive.
But I figured that these secondary offerings would "inevitably massively dilute shareholder value" because in addition to the secondary offerings, many banks were offering them at significant discounts to the present market price, which again, I believe is a sure sign that the executives understand their share values are grossly distorted and have been inflated on the back of deceit and creative accounting techniques.
Since the Bloomberg article I referenced was dated May 11th, here's the proof of whether my prediction of massive devaluation of shares will come true. I've listed below the share prices of many of the banks discussed above below as of market close on May 8th:
COF $31.34 USB $20.54 WFC $28.18 MS $28.18 KEY $6.97
All we need to do is to revisit these prices several months down the road and see where they stand to see if I was right or wrong. I'll come back and post the shareprices several months from now right here even if I was wrong, for there is no one in the world that will be right 100% of the time. And if it turns out I was wrong, I'll be the first to admit it.
However, in the end, I never believe that attempting to expose shenanigans and deceit that will help investors prevent losses is "borderline reckless"; rather misleading investors, ignoring clear warning signals, and advising clients to buy into the US financial sector at this point is what I would consider to be very unwise.
On May 12 07:04 AM Joshua Morgan Brown wrote:
> this is borderline reckless > > "Since when is slashing dividends and diluting shareholder stock > in the best interests of shareholders" > > The smartest thing the banks can do right now TO BENEFIT SHAREHOLDERS > is to raise capital. the preferred coupon to the TARP is in the > way of ever being able to increase buybacks or dividends as things > improve. They need to clean that up and pay back the gov so they > can get back to business. Smart managers sell stock when they can, > and right now, these banks are able to sell stock easily. The secondaries > are being placed so quickly that the roadshows to promote the offerings > are being cancelled. It would be scary if the banks didnt use this > window that they didn't have just 7 weeks ago. >
World Gold Markets: How Lack of Transparency Translates into Poor Analysis [View article]
one last comment from me about this and I do appreciate everyone's comments including your follow up comment Freya. Please reference this earlier article I wrote here regarding huge anomalies in world gold markets within a 24 hour trading timeframe.
In this article, the content of which I sent CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton, I noted a curious event where gold in Asia closed higher almost everyday and then experienced waterfall declines in the COMEX markets that same day. Here's just some of the data I sent him that I referenced in that article below:
Aug 7
Asia closed up + $3 an ounce. NY closed down -$15 an ounce.
Aug 11
Asia closed up +$8 an ounce. NY closed down -$40 an ounce.
Aug 14
Asia closed up +$2 an ounce. NY closed down -$42 an ounce.
Aug 26
Asia closed down $-9 an ounce. NY closed up +$17 an ounce.
My long time research into global markets, not only the COMEX markets but also the Asian markets, led me to conclude that not only are these markets rigged but that there is little transparency in reporting from most governments about their gold reserves. When I stated I was almost certain that gold would decline below $900 in intraday trading yesterday on the COMEX well before the gold markets opened in New York, this had nothing to do with the fact that gold was down in Asia earlier that morning. As you can see from the data I presented above, there is often zero correlation between the price behavior of gold in Asia and New York. Based upon correlation coefficients between Asia and New York gold markets, there was as strong a likelihood that gold would have risen in New York yesterday despite its weakness in Asia earlier in the day. My prediction that gold would decrease below $900 in intraday trading in New York, which is exactly what happened as it waterfalled to $885 shortly before 8:30 AM New York time before regaining much of the day's losses by 3:00 PM, was based upon my understanding of the price rigging games that occur in these markets. And today, I suspect that gold will close in New York on an upbeat with some decent gains.
Again, I can not prove my suspicions, but there is a mountain of circumstantial evidence hidden in Central Bank reports and statements of various governors of Central Banks around the world that support my theories.
World Gold Markets: How Lack of Transparency Translates into Poor Analysis [View article]
Freya, you have buttressed the very point of my article. I don't believe there is transparency in precious metal markets and that there is massive misreporting about these markets and you believe that all your statements are factual just because they are reported by the media. In fact, you even label declines of "estimate[d] sales" and not reported sales, as a fact. This is fine and you can disagree with my points, as everyone has a right to their own opinion, but your points do not disprove any points of my article despite your propensity to use the word "fact" in your argument and accept as "fact" statistics that are published publicly by the media. A couple months ago, when China's official gold reserve holdings were still listed at 600 tonnes was this a "fact"?
The general point of my article is that anyone that has studied gold markets for a long time knows that publicly published statistics in regard to the gold market likely contain gross distortions of fact though they are stated as "fact". As far as my assertions about China's secret stockpiling of hard assets, again you missed my point. My point is that given any of their public revelations about their oil reserves, gold reserves, or base metal reserves, I still believe that these numbers are not aboveboard and that they are in reality, much higher than the publicly reported figures. Of course, I don't have proof of this, but I state my reasons for my suspicions. This is why I stated that I "suspect" this and I do not say it is a "fact".
Lastly, having stated "my belief in China's secret gold reserve accumulation multiple times over the past two years" is not the equivalent of stating that I believe China secretly increased their gold reserves solely WITHIN the time frame of the past two years. They mean entirely two different things.
How an Unsound Global Monetary System Creates Boom / Bust Cycles [View article]
Precise has several meanings, one of which is "strictly conforming to a pattern, standard, or convention". I didn't mean to imply that Central Bankers control every nuance of all capital markets. However, the monetary policy Central Bankers execute is by far the single largest influential factor in creating bubbles that inevitably must burst.
Why BAC Will Beat: Understanding a New Bull Market Is Not Underway [View article]
Part of the reason I write these articles is because fundamentally I believe we have a fraudulent monetary system. Part of the reason I write these articles is also to expose the massive fraud in the financial markets in the US. As a former insider at wealth management divisions at some of the largest US financial institutions I've seen this fraud happen repeatedly. The CEOs of financial companies that experience bad press regularly distribute to high level employees guidance on how to deflect and answer the accusations of fraud from clients. There are subtle techniques known as "block and bridge" that are used by investment professionals to give the appearance to clients that they answered their questions about fraud when they never did. It is a BIG GAME, so when I write that analysts are part of this game, no I am not speaking of a conspiracy. I am talking about understanding the game so you don't get hurt.
Any journalist knows that a strong atmosphere of "self-censorship" exists in journalism. Analysts are not immune from "self-censorship" either. This is the very reason that analysts assign "hold" ratings to stocks when they mean "sell" or maintain "buy" ratings on stocks when they know they should rate them a "sell". If they offend the executives of a large company with "hold" and "sell" ratings, what do you think will happen to their access the next time they call these same executives to ask them questions for their next report?
It is my hope that by writing these articles, people will wake up to reality that is all.
Central Banks: More Harm than Good? [View article]
I can't really say I can recommend just one because there are several great books and also it is necessary to read books on the two main Austrian theories advanced by Hayek and those advanced by Mises to achieve a well rounded view of the Austrian School of Economics and avoid a narrow interpretation of the theories. But here a few (I apologize for not just recommending one!)
(1) Theory of Money and Credit, Ludwig Von Mises
(2) The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich A Hayek
(3) The Pure Theory of Capital, Friedrich A Hayek
These books should serve as a "core" reading for those being introduced to Austrian economics. Furthermore, they do a fine job in dispelling the false notion that Austrian economists desire zero regulation, as they make cases for government regulation to ensure the smooth operation of free markets. They just don't want any type of central planning in the regulation of a nation's monetary supply, for the idea of central planning is antithetical to the idea of free markets.
"The Road to Serfdom" makes many prescient remarks. For example, Hayek claims that the founding of Central Banks, and the institution of a central monopoly over a nation's monetary supply is a critical ingredient for the rise of fascism, and then tyranny. He states that the notion of a failure in central planning will be sold to the public as the direct result of inadequate power as a ploy by Central Banks to seize even more power.
We have seen this happen when Timothy Geithner and the Obama administration tried selling the unfolding of the financial crisis to the public as a result of the Federal Reserve possessing inadequate powers to prevent the crisis, though the Feds were responsible, in reality, for creating the crisis. Though the Federal Reserve has seized additional powers due to this crisis, just as Hayek predicted, they are still attempting to seize even more power. Yet they already have extraordinary power that is already beyond dangerous to the interests of all Americans and all citizens of the world. Hope those books help!
On Sep 25 11:52 AM MattGigEm wrote:
> Mr. Kim, if you were to recommend one book to serve as a primer for
> the Austrian School of Economics, what would it be?
>
> Thanks for the great articles.
Bernanke Being Rewarded for Failure [View article]
According to Chris Martenson, the debt monetization, inflationary creating money-out-of-thin air game, may be accomplished with the following mechanism -
#1: Foreign central banks sell agency debt out of the custody account.
#2: The Federal Reserve buys those agency bonds with money created out of thin air.
#3: Foreign central banks use that very same money to buy Treasuries at the next government auction.
The time was ripe to boot Helicopter Ben out of his position but Ben can only hope now that he can replicate Greenspan's model of pushing things to the brink of disaster until he can get out of dodge and then blame the "free markets" for the disaster when it unfolds and he's safely retired somewhere, receiving his kickbacks and handouts in retirement from the financial oligarchs he bailed out.
It's time to audit and shutdown the Federal Reserve and Helicopter Ben before Ben shuts down America.
www.endfinancialfraud.org
What Lies Behind the CFTC's Revocation of Exemptions in Agriculture Position Limits? [View article]
Also the below story is from July, 2009:
The World Food Program warns hunger and malnutrition will continue to rise as financial and food crises bite into the ever-shrinking income of the world's poor. The World Food Program says new creative ways must be found to feed the hungry as government resources dry up.
The World Food Program reports the number of hungry people in the world has topped one billion for the first time in history. The agency's Deputy Executive Director, Staffan de Mistura says this shocking figure set alarm bells off during this year's G 8 summit in Africa.
So the above video does not misrepresent either the current grave food crisis that still exists (despite recently improving food prices around the world) and the likely worsening food crisis that is likely to occur in future years in my estimation.
Irrational Exuberance of the Green Shoots [View article]
I would encourage everyone reading this article to visit The Worldwide Initiative to Permanently End Financial Fraud at www.endfinancialfraud.org and to participate in this grassroots movement to spread truth about the roots and origins of this global monetary and financial crisis.
I actually included this link in the original article posted on my blog but the link was edited out of the posting here. Though all of us are discouraged that perhaps just a tiny part of our population understands the concepts discussed in the comments here, I believe that we can't let our frustration curb our efforts to spread the truth and that we must push forward.
Eventually one of us who engage in such efforts to spread the truth will see our efforts become viral and succeed in educating the masses. This week, we added a video log to the page above and will post new videos every week to help explain this financial crisis in perspectives not told by the mass media and that help push the truth forward.
On Jul 24 08:12 AM User 353732 wrote:
> It seems to me that there are 3 great and widening disconnects in
> America today. From these, many of our economic and social pathologies
> flow, such as those you deliniate.
> 1. The disconnect between economic risk and reward,. The ruling elites
> have succeeded in engineering a system where more amd more economic
> risk is shifted to the middle class while more and more rewards are
> funneled to the top 1%. The rulers keep most of these rewards and
> use the rest to bribe and control an expanding underclass( perhaps
> 25% of the population now?), which pays no taxes, provides minimal,
> if any economic value added, resents and envies the "rich" by which
> they really mean the middle class, lives sullen and increasingly
> brutal lives where crimes against persons and property are viewed
> as a form of "social justice" and encouraged by Hollywood and Manhattan
> cultural elites. As a result the middle class is being compressed,
> herded, financially squeezed and bullied by both the rulers and the
> bribed underclass. No stable, prosperous and real economy can be
> fostered under these conditions.
> 2. The disconnect between the Government and the Constitution. Our
> founding generations would have viewed as a criminal assualt on
> life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness the casual shredding of
> our Constiution by the Govt. at every level(Fed, sate,county, municipal).
> When a Govt, starts to treat the Constitution with contempt and as
> an obstacle rather than an inspiration, it also starts to treat
> citizens as subjects and people as masses. This in turn leads to
> the self perpetuation, expansion and aggrandizement of the( political,
> media, financial) Govt. for its own sake.
> The quantitative effect of this disconnect is manifest in the shriveling
> purchasing power of the fiat dollar. The qualitative effect of this
> disconnect is manifest in the shrinking ethics of the governing class.
>
> Deceit, fraud and thievery have become the common instruments of
> statecraft. Decit by the media bosses,fraud by the political bosses
> and thievery by the financial bosses are conducted without shame
> or remorse as the disconnect between the rulers and the ruled expands.
> When the Constitution is dishonored, it is no longer"We, the People,
> but "We, the Rulers, and They , the Masses".
> 3. The disconnect between the products of the great majority(not
> all) of high schools, colleges and universities and the skills, knowledge
> and, importantly, attitudes needed to thrive in the global economy
> and changing global distribution of wealth creating capacity and
> demographic power. A significant majority of young people who emerge
> with non-professional degrees or non-technical training lack(but
> do not know or seem to care they lack) the human capital to engage
> in real work, producing real goods and services that create real
> value for real people. These young people run the grave risk of underemployment
> if not outright unemployment for several years and face the prospect
> of downward mobility. A downwardly mobile middle class cannot possibly
> propel the economy upwards.
From Free Markets to Absolute Power: The Warped Views of 'Bank Speak' [View article]
sorry for the inconvenience!
Dollar Chart Tells a Much Different Story than Pundits Do [View article]
When our monetary system is fraudulent, it takes economic control away from our citizens and places it in the hands of the financial oligarchs. When our Central Bank attempts to artificially manufacture a recovery through inflating assets as they are doing now (significant inflation will come in the future), this is not real growth. Thus, I am merely stating that a sound monetary system can lead the way into economic recovery but an unsound monetary system, unfortunately, enables Central Bankers to fool the masses with an illusion that recovery is on the way when indeed it is not. To return America to the great nation we are, we simply need to implement a sound monetary system. Then we would have a sound currency and a strong nation.
On May 21 05:17 PM Market Sniper wrote:
> Good article, Mr. Kim. The only real exception I can take is your
> statement "The strength of a nation lies in the strength of its currency.
> That phrase has always stuck with me." To this statement I vehemently
> disagree on a number of levels. At its most basic, the strength of
> a nation rests on its productive capacity, its ability to produce
> goods and services that people want and need. In other words, to
> produce true wealth. As for the "currency", a little parable. Many
> years ago there were fine restaurants. Such fine restaurants hat
> hat check girls. A gentleman would check his hat with her and receive
> a claim check for his hat. Only an idiot or a fool would then parade
> through the restaurant stating that his claim check was a hat! All
> currencies on the planet exist by government decree and are created
> out of DEBT. They do NOT represent wealth by any stretch of the imagination.
Warnings from the President: This Is a Bear Market Rally [View article]
Just because the Bank of England was nationalized by the Labour Party in 1946 doesn't mean the British Parliament has been calling the shots. Whoever calls the shots, the financial oligarchs that have overrun government, are the true "owners". All that appears to be on the surface is not. Reference the "Quiet Coup" by a former IMF Chief economist here.
www.theatlantic.com/do...
Just because an institution is a gov't agency does not mean it is not controlled by other "owners". Just because an agency calls itself "Federal" does not mean it is, either.
U.S. Bank Shares: Pump Almost Over, Get Ready for the Dump [View article]
So no, I was not trying to overstate my case. Chalk it up to carelessness but my point was that these banking shares were sure to take a hit in the future (in my opinion) and to catch unknowing investors suckered into this rally offguard due to the combination of
(1) the dilution of the secondary offering; (2) the discounted prices of the secondary offering; and (3) the deceitful earnings announcements of many banks in the banking sector that was able to raise the sector as a whole recently.
Deceit often wins short term. Fundamentals win long-term. We'll check back in several months and see how things turned out.
U.S. Bank Shares: Pump Almost Over, Get Ready for the Dump [View article]
i.e. COF's public secondary offering was for 56 million shares on a current float of 380.34 million shares. Keycorp offered up another approximate 115 million shares (if we assume the secondary offering was priced anywhere near their current market price) on a float of 429.80 million shares. You can figure out how many shares the other banks offered up as well by the total amount they have targeted to raise and then comparing it to the current float. So a 14.7% and 26.8% dilution in the float is significant, if not already massive.
But I figured that these secondary offerings would "inevitably massively dilute shareholder value" because in addition to the secondary offerings, many banks were offering them at significant discounts to the present market price, which again, I believe is a sure sign that the executives understand their share values are grossly distorted and have been inflated on the back of deceit and creative accounting techniques.
Since the Bloomberg article I referenced was dated May 11th, here's the proof of whether my prediction of massive devaluation of shares will come true. I've listed below the share prices of many of the banks discussed above below as of market close on May 8th:
COF $31.34
USB $20.54
WFC $28.18
MS $28.18
KEY $6.97
All we need to do is to revisit these prices several months down the road and see where they stand to see if I was right or wrong. I'll come back and post the shareprices several months from now right here even if I was wrong, for there is no one in the world that will be right 100% of the time. And if it turns out I was wrong, I'll be the first to admit it.
However, in the end, I never believe that attempting to expose shenanigans and deceit that will help investors prevent losses is "borderline reckless"; rather misleading investors, ignoring clear warning signals, and advising clients to buy into the US financial sector at this point is what I would consider to be very unwise.
On May 12 07:04 AM Joshua Morgan Brown wrote:
> this is borderline reckless
>
> "Since when is slashing dividends and diluting shareholder stock
> in the best interests of shareholders"
>
> The smartest thing the banks can do right now TO BENEFIT SHAREHOLDERS
> is to raise capital. the preferred coupon to the TARP is in the
> way of ever being able to increase buybacks or dividends as things
> improve. They need to clean that up and pay back the gov so they
> can get back to business. Smart managers sell stock when they can,
> and right now, these banks are able to sell stock easily. The secondaries
> are being placed so quickly that the roadshows to promote the offerings
> are being cancelled. It would be scary if the banks didnt use this
> window that they didn't have just 7 weeks ago.
>
World Gold Markets: How Lack of Transparency Translates into Poor Analysis [View article]
www.theundergroundinve.../
In this article, the content of which I sent CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton, I noted a curious event where gold in Asia closed higher almost everyday and then experienced waterfall declines in the COMEX markets that same day. Here's just some of the data I sent him that I referenced in that article below:
Aug 7
Asia closed up + $3 an ounce.
NY closed down -$15 an ounce.
Aug 11
Asia closed up +$8 an ounce.
NY closed down -$40 an ounce.
Aug 14
Asia closed up +$2 an ounce.
NY closed down -$42 an ounce.
Aug 26
Asia closed down $-9 an ounce.
NY closed up +$17 an ounce.
My long time research into global markets, not only the COMEX markets but also the Asian markets, led me to conclude that not only are these markets rigged but that there is little transparency in reporting from most governments about their gold reserves. When I stated I was almost certain that gold would decline below $900 in intraday trading yesterday on the COMEX well before the gold markets opened in New York, this had nothing to do with the fact that gold was down in Asia earlier that morning. As you can see from the data I presented above, there is often zero correlation between the price behavior of gold in Asia and New York. Based upon correlation coefficients between Asia and New York gold markets, there was as strong a likelihood that gold would have risen in New York yesterday despite its weakness in Asia earlier in the day. My prediction that gold would decrease below $900 in intraday trading in New York, which is exactly what happened as it waterfalled to $885 shortly before 8:30 AM New York time before regaining much of the day's losses by 3:00 PM, was based upon my understanding of the price rigging games that occur in these markets. And today, I suspect that gold will close in New York on an upbeat with some decent gains.
Again, I can not prove my suspicions, but there is a mountain of circumstantial evidence hidden in Central Bank reports and statements of various governors of Central Banks around the world that support my theories.
Cheers.
World Gold Markets: How Lack of Transparency Translates into Poor Analysis [View article]
World Gold Markets: How Lack of Transparency Translates into Poor Analysis [View article]
The general point of my article is that anyone that has studied gold markets for a long time knows that publicly published statistics in regard to the gold market likely contain gross distortions of fact though they are stated as "fact". As far as my assertions about China's secret stockpiling of hard assets, again you missed my point. My point is that given any of their public revelations about their oil reserves, gold reserves, or base metal reserves, I still believe that these numbers are not aboveboard and that they are in reality, much higher than the publicly reported figures. Of course, I don't have proof of this, but I state my reasons for my suspicions. This is why I stated that I "suspect" this and I do not say it is a "fact".
Lastly, having stated "my belief in China's secret gold reserve accumulation multiple times over the past two years" is not the equivalent of stating that I believe China secretly increased their gold reserves solely WITHIN the time frame of the past two years. They mean entirely two different things.
Cheers.
Gaping Hole in the Deflation Argument - Part II [View article]
How an Unsound Global Monetary System Creates Boom / Bust Cycles [View article]
Why BAC Will Beat: Understanding a New Bull Market Is Not Underway [View article]
Any journalist knows that a strong atmosphere of "self-censorship" exists in journalism. Analysts are not immune from "self-censorship" either. This is the very reason that analysts assign "hold" ratings to stocks when they mean "sell" or maintain "buy" ratings on stocks when they know they should rate them a "sell". If they offend the executives of a large company with "hold" and "sell" ratings, what do you think will happen to their access the next time they call these same executives to ask them questions for their next report?
It is my hope that by writing these articles, people will wake up to reality that is all.