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Strange Action in Gold ETF Chart

If I were China, I would be buying as much gold as I could get, and doing it through as many intermediaries as I could, to obfiscate those purchases as much as possible. Why? Because at the first solid sign that the US stimulas/recovery scheme is failing, I would know that I am going to be selling my Treasuries, if only gradually at first, but certainly accellerating those sales as much as possible. If China can have no resonable expectation of Americans being able to adequetly support enough of the export component of their economy, their motivation to help support our efforts (by lending to us) is going to diminish precipitously. At that point, the gold reserve currency paradigm goes into full force and effect. Anybody not increasing their PM position by at least 2X for the next year, probably two years, is nuts. If only for the hedge factor, never mind the huge potential upside in price.
Long gold, silver, TBT, oil.

Is America on a Downward Slope?

I scooped this off another website. For what it's worth:

About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."
The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these
nations always progressed through the following sequence
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota... believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust: The Cramer Effect

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Permian Basin Royalty Trust: The Cramer Effect

CanRoy's in general: Better return than US MLP's. Tax issues are a non-issue, most have big tax loss carryovers that will carry them out to 2014/15. IRA or non-IRA hold is a wash. The 15% foriegn tax gets kicked back at tax time as a credit, but you still have to pay the US dividend tax in a non IRA account. You don't get the US tax credit in an IRA account, but don't pay any US tax on the dividends. Either way, same/same. If Obama jacks the cap gains rate, the Canadian tax could actually end up being a bargain, until they jack the rate in 2011 (supposedly; that could change, yet.) The exchange rate will kick the return up some when the dollar finally gets around to devalueing
HTE: What a great return at last price! 58% annual on $4.97 a share. No way that can last, but still! HTE's problem is their debt, a good lick over industry average. Might bite'em, might not. The split the difference play is PWE. Way more likely to be able to sustain and increase their dividend after their most recent cut ($.23 from $.34 C.) 25% annual yield on $8.83/share, beat down price like all the others.
(Prices/yields per Yahoo Finance close of Friday.)
Long PW

Alcoa's View of the Economy

You stopped out long, but did you go short?

Fast Money Investment Advice: Turn the Volume Down

Clearly, you're still stuck in the "investing" mode. This has been a trader's market sicne January. Investors had no business here until recently, and that's still debatable. Wanna be an investor, fine. Expect lots of lower portfolio value for awhile. Fast Money speaks to the trader mentality, and they make no bones about pointing that out, and often. Najarian bros are probably some of the sharpest traders out there. Their frequent comments about needing to nimble and flexible must have fallen on deaf ears, for you. The "taking profits" comment applies to those that have made any, noone else. If that's not you, and the other "investors," you're barking about it don't mean squat.

Is Hyperinflation on the Horizon?

Yeah. What he said. But then, what we have to do is, what has to happen, is we develop the molecular transmogrification technologies to transport the raw materials. But only after the coming pandemic. See, then we can make the necessary Soylant Green, and monetize it, but only on credit. It has to happen! All left over Soylant Orange will have to be left to rot, in a separate pile. Or be sent to the non-particirating debtor nation-states.

Goldman Turns Cautious on Solar Sector

GS is rapidly getting to be in the same camp as Cramer, as far as validity of opinion is concerned. Whatever they say, doing the opposite is your best bet.

Tuesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets

royial: Not to be facetious, but, Duuhh! ;-)
Wonder if I'll pick the right reentry point for EEV, EFU, SDS, QID, SRS, SKF. Sold today in anticipation of typical big dip - follow up rally. Looking forward to recouping some losses between now and election day.

A Satirical Breakdown of the Bailout Plan's Expenditures

And a burgeoning underground black market in tattered, dogeared copies of The Constitution of the United States Of America.

The Dummy's Guide to the U.S. Financial Crisis

Some statements of truth by far greater minds from long ago:
If you want to control a country, control it's money.
The most efficient way to get and keep power is to get the citezenry to give it to you.
The most efficient way to get people to give you power is to make them dependant upon you.
The most efficient way to make people dependant on you, is to erode the concept of self dependence, personal responsibility, and ultimately, self determination.
Crises and panic are tools of the state to get more power.

When this country first started, 0% of the population was dependant on the government for all, or a substantial portion of, their ability to survive. Today, about 40% of the population is dependant on government programs and/or "entitlements" for their ability to survive. At what point will the percentage enable the government to dictate the terms of everyone's life? The natural evolution of democracy inevitably leads back to tyranny, from which the original inception of democracy arose. At some point, some degree of anarchy is required. Anarchy is a perfectly reasonable option, but only when freedom is more impotant than comfort.

Who among us has ever voted for the "lesser of two evils?" Or voted for a candidate, not knowing what their core beliefs and fundemental philisophical principles were? Of the available choices for president, who here thinks they know, and agree with, their core beliefs and fundemental philisophical principles? Does anyone think that the current mechanisms of government still allow for quality governance at the Federal level? Why is the Federal government involved in anything other than protection from force or fraud?

Not Just Another Bear Cycle

Opps, make that 92%. Bengal, you need to learn the difference between the terms "precentage return" and "gain" in math, before criticizing others math skills. Gain is the multiplier, and removing the 1 before the decimal would make the multiplier less than 100%, resulting in a net amount of .4805; less than what you started with.

Not Just Another Bear Cycle

Maybe you were confusing return with gain. An understandable mistake. If Bill had said "96% return" it would have been clearer.

Not Just Another Bear Cycle

The math is correct. Take a dollar, lose 47.77%. That leaves you with .5223. Times it by 1.915 (192% close enough.) Now you have your dollar back.

What If We'd Been on the Gold Standard?

SimpleSimon, your nic befits you perfectly. Please exlpain how a finite, valuable, dwindling, high demand resource is, in any way, correlatable to tulips, or the hypothetical, purely conceptual value of a dot.com. Clearly, the concept of peak oil (now or later) is lost on you. Oil is every bit as valuable as gold, and the disconnect between the two's corelatable value has been, and continues to be, the manipulation of those markets by the cartels that control each. Gold will lose it's value when a mass substitute for oil is found, or when we finally figure out how to convert energy to matter, and not just the other way around.