pungent

Louis James on 'Best of the Best' Metal Miners

"When is the last time you saw someone belly up to the bar and pay for his or her drink with a bag of gold dust?"

You'll be pleased to know that there are THOUSANDS of places where you can do this today and more on the way. Check out opencurrency.com.

Cheers!

The Weak Dollar Crowd Is Too Confident

Wow! A drop from 1.498 to 1.488; i.e. a drop of 0.01 euro. Are we sure this wasn't just a wrong keypress somewhere? Anyway, this is why I stay out of currency trading -- drops like this are not for the faint-hearted.

Market Destruction: Mass Media Finally Catching On?

Excellent analysis, but I don't really think that the mass media "gets it". If articles like this one were widely posted, it would remove the "We never saw it coming" excuse for the imminent collapse. We saw this last fall. Although many of us saw that crash coming at least a year in advance, what we heard from the politicians was "Wow, didn't see that one coming!".

Silver 'Misbehaves' in Recent Rally: Time to Buy

Jeff,

Thanks for the article. We share the same strategy: "My own approach is to acquire bullion for security, and to trade the miners for the bulk of my "paper profits". " A previous article that you wrote gave me sufficient reason to sell off all my SLV shares at a peak and pick up many more shares of SLW on the silver pullback last week. This has given OUTSTANDING results. Thanks! What is your answer to the secure storage of physical assets?

10.2%

Regarding KGs "perma-bear" comments, allow me to offer the following. Grouping and labeling people may be emotionally satisfying, but really serves no other purpose. I guarantee you this though, until the marketplace (Main Street) improves there will be no uptick in employment. Businesses, including mine, will get-by with the existing staff if we can or layoff people if we must. We will be forced to become even more efficient, which will benefit us some day in the future. And until we see an uptrend in employment it means that it's not safe out there and we don't like hiring people that we later have to fire. So, many of us, are weathering the storm of the century (we hope) and perhaps speculating in the market. We continue to build a position in precious metals as a disaster-abatement plan -- the worst we'll do is break even. So yes, I am a market bear now but not forever. As such I wish to sincerely thank you in advance for the feast I'll be having on your carcass in February.

America, The Nanny State

An excellent article, Mr. Quinn! My children stand a better chance of succeeding because I read and explain articles like this to them. At least they will enter the game knowing which areas are the least rigged against them. I had the whole family sit down and watch the movie "I.O.U.S.A" and it now forms a foundation for discussion. They have had little difficulty responding to the mini-socialists that are bred at their grade school and high school, and we have the most interesting dinner discussions afterward. Teach your children well.

U.S. Economy Is Growing Again?

This article was very short. Thanks!

Nouriel Roubini, One on One: More Doom and Gloom

I have to agree with Joseph S. And what does "stay liquid" mean? Does it mean stay in cash? Cash is like ice -- it melts while you hold it. USD used to melt at about 5% a year but those happy days are gone. Other fiat currencies have the same issue. Only time will tell what our current real inflation rate is. But one must invest (and win) just to break even. I would not be entirely out of gold, nor all-in. It's balance, baby!

Nouriel Roubini, One on One: More Doom and Gloom

I have to agree with Joseph S. And what does "stay liquid" mean? Does it mean stay in cash? Cash is like ice -- it melts while you hold it. USD used to melt at about 5% a year but those happy days are gone. Other fiat currencies have the same issue. Only time will tell what our current real inflation rate is. But one must invest (and win) just to break even. I would not be entirely out of gold, nor all-in. It's balance, baby!

Every Economic Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Although I am a silver investor, this was a fairly useless article. If, as you state, your primary reason for buying silver is "for the simple reason that it’s much cheaper than gold", may I suggest copper which is SERIOUSLY cheaper than gold. Or perhaps aluminum? I think I may reasonably summarize this article as "Hey gang, buy silver 'cuz I am!!"

Predicting Financial Crises: Are Macroeconomic Models Useful?

I think a better analogy is a munitions factory. Based on the amount of high explosives being employed to manufacture weapons of mass (financial) destruction, the owner should employ ever greater safeguards; safety procedures, blast-proof walls, etc. In our case, the owners of the largest factories redirected the funds for thicker walls to build even larger weapons. When the inevitable happened, the walls blew out hitting neighboring factories; munitions and otherwise. Yes, this was highly predictable -- just ask Buffett (see Financial Times, 04Mar2003). Brilliantly, the politicians (mostly with backgrounds and cronies in the same industry) chose to support and reward this deliberate negligence.

Inflation: It's a Crowded Trade

Outstanding article and analysis -- thanks!

If Wal-Mart Isn't Recovering, How Can the U.S. Economy?

Thanks David. Yes, it really is as simple as that.

In Defense of GLD

Kid, your article is long on "I happen to believe" and very short on actual data. I would recommend yesterday's J. S. Kim article "Are GLD and SLV Legitimate Investment Vehicles?" His article made me very nervous about my GLD holdings because it was rife with direct quotes from the GLD prospectus and insightful questions. Sadly, he did not share his beliefs and feelings with us.

Employment Report: The Never-Changing Story

Davewmart - We heartily support the right of Scandinavians to be Socialists. You WANT to be Socialists, so more power to you. But at least 50% of Americans don't want to be Socialists. We want the government to get out of our lives and leave us alone. We don't need to government to do things for us, we just need it to stop doing things to us. We take responsibility for ourselves and those who belong to us and, having done that, we usually take care of others as well. Voluntarily, because that's who we are. Many of us have resisted the Siren call to buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like. Perhaps the US could split into 2 countries: the Grownups and Other.