bindlepete

The Manipulation of Gold and Silver Prices

FIX / COOK / MANIPULATE and FRAUD

From the buy outs by Freddie and Fannie to the Plunge Protection Team and perversion of the CPI - there seems no limit to the games our hired help- the Federal Government - will play to make things look better than they are.

Inflation will come in with a crash in 6 to 18 mos and little will survive the onslaught other than commodities. Even they will lag the real rise in costs.

What is a poor citi9zen to do? Gold and silver will probably be commondeered by the DC mobsters - a matter of national security will be the claim. Get a farm and a barnfull of ammunition. Plow up and plant the road to your front door or take a trip to Paraguay with the Bushies.

Macy's' Problems Have Just Begun

Macy's is history. They can never pay off their debts there is little future use for their floor space and the Malls will almost all fail and turn into hollow shells with garbage packed parking lots and housed by the destitute and homeless. Some will, more likly those in the temperate South, after passing through bankruptcy provide shelter for small and unchartered businesses.

Those of the North will be abandoned.

The consumer society is over I fear. This is obsolete property. More of a liability than an asset.

Internet as a News Source Overtakes All Media Except TV

It is time for Google and Yahoo to step up to the plate and start funding and doing some base load investigative reporting.

Now in that they don't have to I may be dreaming but if they want to build a news franchise perhaps they should stop being pure parasites on the news development and reporting of others and do some of their own work.

Chesapeake Energy Unable to Rally Even After Positive News

HeY Aubrey was a victim on his own hype although unquestionably he has brought in a lot of gas. I am sorry he was called out and hope that it doesn't affect his commitment to the Company.

The problems are that oil has tumbled, that the gas industry is bordering on glut and most of all the expansion of growth in sales and use has been passive on the part of the industry itself. I

It reminds me of the coal industry that was displaced by oil in the chemocal feedstock industry because the coal folk refused to put any money into research as to use of their product. They gave the chemical industry away.They got fat just saying you want coal? just back up to the tipple what you do with it is your business.

Natural gas is doing little more with their compressed gas vehicles. Why are they not converting the gas to methano or dimethyl diesel ? for transportation use? Stupid I suppose. The Chinese are spending a fortune in the far more difficult conversion of coal to these two transportation fuels.

Go with M-85 and the glut will dissappear and CHK will be back on track to develop and sell its resources.

Six Promising Post-Recession Sectors

Blind and Naive:

Will things get better, of course they will as we adjust to a lower level of lifestyle as measured by our growth infatuated economic measurements.

The question is, how long, until we turn a corner in our measurement of public welfare or utility? Where does this myopia come from that the classic forms of " economic " growth are meaningful to any one but the self serving economists?

As William Henry Locke Anderson ,a high powered economist, from Ann Arbor said " this field is a fun filled arena of speculation but science and honest predictive practice it is not". It was a disappointment for my old roommate who had spent most of his life in studying the problems but he found more important things to spend his time on before he died.

The economy coming back? For any thing beyond a shallow minority this means nothing.

Understanding Government Debt: The Treasury's Indispensable Role

Do some home work as to 1 who holds the government debt and 2 where we go is they stop buying outr paper. Argentina is a good case in point if you want to look at the real world and what can happen when the printing presses run well beyond productivity.

Further, see what we export relative to what we import. Cardboard, weapons, aircraft that arew subsidized by the taxpayer,unwanted and expensive services and some grain ( thank God) and few Yakima Apples.

If only we could find a market for our idiots.

Check out ShadowStats.com for a touch of reality and dump the " happy talk" in hopes that your distortions will keep the public quiet until you pass on. A strong dose of truth is now in order.

Deflation Is Just Around the Corner

This is pretty silly . OK gasoline is down, and housing is down unless you rent. But ehat else? Medical? Education? Food? ANYTHING YOU REALY NEED TO SURVIVE?

The new rising tax burden is on the way.

Deflation is a nice idea for us relatively fixed income retirees but it is hardly real.

Does this bozo work for the Republican Economic Propaganda folk?

Canadian Energy Trusts Look Cheap: Harvest Is Well Positioned

If you think Canadian hydrocarbons will come back big time, as I do, these Trusts make a lot of sense. The revision in the Tax Law is optimistic but then it is Canada, and they might reverse it. Some reasonable politicians up there.

The real big bet is PetroBank in my opinion for the Canadain future. Their technology for insitu recovery for tar sands is proven out. ( Higher yield, better oil, and lower in cost). They are now enterting the expansion phase and they bet the company and won on the Bakken. Their Columbian play is just iceing on their cake.

I own a mess of Can Roy's and a lot of PBG.to

The Pickens Plan Changes Its Strategy

Jeff:

The issue of natural gas as a feedstock for replacement of liquid fuels takes me to the direct use of methanol ( partially oxidized methane).

The DISC engine championed by Texaco and UPS in the last energy crunch can handle nearly pure methanol as can the idiotically small gas turbines such as the Capystone model with very high efficiency.

M-85 is my preferred fuel. Bank of America ran it's currier fleet on it for years with huge cuts in maintenance and emissions.

For non weight sensitive power ( rail roads and tow boats ) methanol run through a fuel cell makes sense. We are not out of options and a barrier against OPEC meddling is simple from a legislative viewpoint.


On Nov 17 10:22 AM Brahm wrote:

> The cylinder or space issues for CNG is not a significant issue in
> the case of CNG fired trucks.. The author's suggestions on liquid
> fuels, also advocated by many others and Mr. Pickens himself, is
> in my view a foolish intellectual contribution to the whole idea
> of global warming or energy independence due to the following reasons
> and others.
>
> Synthesis of liquid fuels (diesel) involves a thermal efficiency
> of about 50%. That means it takes about 2 MM BTU of CNG to produce
> one MM BTU of diesel! This chips off significantly the advasntage
> for a tacit objective of putting out less carbon to contain global
> warming. The author should not forget that rather than the volume
> of the tank it is the weight of the fuel and its BTU density which
> determines the overall performance (mpg) of the engine, if other
> issues such as engine burn characteristics, etc remain equivalent
> for the two fuels. BTU to BTU diesel is much more weighty than
> CNG!
>
> There is an economic dimension to the issues I have raised. The
> fuel material input costs, i.e. the cost of natural gas input for
> diesel, is double that of CNG as a direct firing fuel (low synthesis
> efficiency!). In other words, the present $6 per MM BTU CNG becomes
> a $12 per MMBTU input cost for diesel. Add to this plant capital,
> depreciation, interest on capital borrowed, ROR, etc, you have $16
> per MM BTU cost. Quite a lot more than $6 CNG!!! A massive shift
> to the use of this kind of diesel will roil gas markets, bring gas
> supply concerns, etc, etc and etc. MY guess is there would be no
> advantage vis-a-vis oil, especially if OPEC or other oil intersts
> turn themselves as upsetters of the apple-cart. Competition!!!

>
>
> There are other profound issues which I will leave you, MR. Pickens
> and others to think and browse about. But there are there. Without
> good thinking we may go down a sticky wcket again. Please! Us,
> little people, and OBAMA does not need another mess on our hands
> through shoddy thinking and slickness. Please continue the good
> work with my blessings! And, if you have the energy to do it check
> it out with me. I am "retired", though, but would not mind giving
> my inputs

This Mess Is Turning Us All into Accountants

This entire crisis has been recognized for well over a year but the Administration has tried to keep it secret until after the election. Barney Frank was briefed last Aug. by Paulson on the seriousness of the issue but convinced to keep quiet for fear of panic. In short he was bought out or trapped into complicity in his silence.

As one once said "there comes a time when silence is betrayal". In a public servant this "silence" is unforgivable.

Now that the preverbal has started to hit the fan there is a rush to save Wall Street. Paulson is either taking care of his buddies or myopic to the point of public blindness. He knows and likely cares, squat about the suffering of the general public. All he knows is his friends in the financial markets and thinks their continued prosperity is critical to the nation's survival.

This fabric of lies and deferrals must come apart with some major dose of truth. What is the Senate voting on. Can you find a "slip bill" to study it. No, the truth has been aborted again. Secrecy reigns accountability is forgotten and a risk/ reward formula for the public put aside.

Arrogant and stupid. We must let the disease run it's course.

Can Gold Be Suppressed Indefinitely?

Driving Oil Down

I suspect the Plunge Protection Team ( Tres, Fed Res, SEC and Com Ex ) are selling futures against our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to push oil down. Paulson supposedly said in July he wanted oila at $100 before the election.

This risk/expenditure of public assets ( the SPR) is criminal when used for political purposes

Exxon's Hoard

This is bit of "happy talk" trying to revert the opinion that oil is really getting scarce. When did the good king Abdullah say " leave it in the ground? When did he tell G Bush we can not produce more because we don't have it ? The later statement was not a matter of a lack of production ability but the reserves are minimal.

As to Exxon itself it seems they are slowly shifting towards natural gas as a focal product and going to use LNG as a item to establish a high marginal price. The growing domestic NG industry such as CHK may not go along with this once they start to produce some of the " deep gas " aka geopressured.

But then all life is uncertian and subject to external forces.

Ride the Canada Rails,Don't Short the Stocks - UBS

Guess I have enough of this RR to endorse it and point out what a great route structure it has along with cargo(s) and seaports along with high efficiency.

Just wish they would run some pipelines in parallel. It may come with Kittemat and the oil port.

Exxon Mobil: Bull or Bear?

There are problems with Exxon's reserves in that they are shifting towards natural gas which may well go into a " glut" mode with weak prices. The LNG business is good for setting a marginal price as long as there is a shortage but this may not persist.

Now Exxon used to hold a bunch of patents on the geopressured production but they will not outlast the shale gas production cycle.

Note how Exxon is moving out of the oil business such as refiery sales and gas station dumping.

I own some Exxon but I got it long ago and really cheap. Capital gains and age keep me from selling out.

Energy Stocks Are Too Cheap to Ignore - Barron's

If Reserves are the name of the game there are a bunch of Tar Sands operations that are about to come on line. Take a look at ECA, PCZ and CNQ and for technical investments PBT.to and NXY are interesting plays.

As a diversified resource play there is TCK if you like Canadian dollars.