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The volatile ups and downs in the market prices of precious metals read like a soap opera. It begins with the Federal Reserve—they confirmed they had every intention of continuing quantitative easing for the foreseeable future (to the point that those of us in the financial sector now refer to it as QE infinity, as there is no exit point in sight). Then the Bank of Japan started its own QE program with a shock and awe positioning (while the US Fed continued to pump $85 billion a month into the markets). The Bank of Cypriot (Cypress) had its account holders looted by 60 percent of the funds in their accounts and poof…it disappeared into the EU banks that were bailing out the country of Cypress. Then the Central Bank was forced to sell a huge amount of their gold reserves in order to “participate” in their own bailout. (Confused yet? It gets better…)
Word then spread that the so-called PIIGS nations (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) were also going to be called upon to sell a large portion of their country’s gold reserves in order to facilitate the bailouts of their own countries’ economies.
This gave the 4 billion banks in the US that have large short positions an opportunity to short more aggressively (which they have already done) and cover the shorts at a much lower price, plus buy the physical gold, silver, and other metals at lower prices to make physical delivery of the physical metals to the thousands of customers who are demanding delivery of their metals, which have been held in safekeeping. Goldman, JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Citigroup are the major ones. (There is also HBS, but it is backed by China.) So far, the banks have been unable to meet the demand for delivery and this has caused many problems for the banks and the customers.
Platinum broke below $1,400 an ounce over a week ago, but was trading at $1,507 an ounce on Tuesday before losing $29.60 an ounce, but it did not close there. Two of the largest mines of platinum are in South Africa and have been shuttered, thereby reducing the supply greatly. There is also great uncertainty about the union’s agreement with management on the others. Analysts and experts expect to see platinum skyrocket in the very near future. The same goes for gold. The US Mint ceased minting $5 gold coins two weeks ago because there is a shortage of gold with which to mint the coins. Most coin dealers are limiting their customers to ten $10 gold coins for the same reason. Supply and demand will eventually win out, no matter how deep or how widespread the market manipulation may be.
New book reveals gold-buying secrets that dealers don’t want you to know about…
Even Ben Bernanke and many of the heads of the EU Central Banks admit they have no idea what they are doing and are flying blind with the economic policies they are putting into place. One thing is for certain…
Add in the political climate where Benghazi and the Special Operations Speaks action committee (which is determined not to let this fade away as Fast and Furious did) and the White House keeps getting caught in lie after lie, and the populace is more than frustrated with all of Congress who will do nothing to enforce their oath of office and call for accountability, responsibility, and a return to constitutional principles.
Also, there is much chagrin over the many decorated and brave generals and admirals who were in charge in that region who have been fired, demoted, or threatened with court martial. Then the latest insult was that Christian soldiers who spoke of their faith would face a court martial, yet no such rule applied to soldiers of other faiths. The huge blowback made the Pentagon rescind the ruling, but it is only dead for now. How much more evidence does this country need that we headed down the garden path to our own destruction?
Obama said “make the sequester cuts hurt,” and they have. One of the newly suggested ways to cut spending is to change the manner in which the consumer price index is computed. Obama wants to redo the way food (which is not included in the CPI) is calculated (though the cost of living may go up in other areas too). He has been quoted as saying that if the price of pork chops or chicken or beef gets too high for those on fixed income—our seniors, those on disability, vets, and disabled vets—they will quit buying those products and buy bologna instead. Is this what we want for these people?
Then there is the new Internet sales tax that has been approved by the Senate, but has not yet been through the House of Representatives. Constitutionally, all taxation and spending bills must originate in the House, but Congress and the Oval Office seem to have ditched the Constitution any time they wish to pass, levy, deny, or abridge laws. We all need to contact our representatives and demand they not pass this bill, as we are all taxed more than enough already!
The economy is in chaos. Our social structure has crumbled. (For example, the city of murder, Chicago, run by Obama sycophant Rahm Emmanuel, allows gangs to go on wilding sprees where they have flash mobs descend on stores and rob, steal, destroy, and escape without the police interfering. On May Day, anarchy ruled as mobs set fires to cars and buildings and looted and robbed and yet, the Chicago police did not respond.)
What else is going to come out of the little minds in Washington that will make this country devolve even further into chaos? Like I said… it reads like a soap opera. However, neither All My Children nor As the World Turns ever had a storyline like this.
