from FinancialSurvivalNet
Chris Duane and I have been talking about the demise of the Western Economy, precious metals and the hope for a better world for over a year. During that time we’ve become close friends, but until now, we never met face to face. Chris was invited to speak at the Silver Summit and we finally connected. It’s amazing what the internet has done for personal relationships. There were no awkward introductions, we were just two friends getting together like always. Listen in and hear Chris’s latest insights. And don’t forget to buy the Silver Bullet Silver Shield Coin. The latest design is quite nice and will become a real collector’s item.
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We caught up with Bix Weir during the Silver Summit. He’s made some amazing discoveries about the on-going silver manipulation scheme. HSBC no longer has a precious metals derivatives portfolio. Rather, they’ve been replaced by Citibank. Banks getting into and out of major derivatives schemes is not an every day occurrence. Something major is going on, but unfortunately due to the lack of transparancy and outright fraud taking place in the public markets today, it’s impossible to know what is really taking place. Could this be the long awaited implosion of the market? Possibly, but we’ll have to wait a little while longer to find out.
Imagine a major silver project hiding in plain sight in San Bernadino California. This small company could be sitting on a huge silver deposit. And while we can always argue about the US’s political stability, we can’t argue about infrastructure, labor force quality and the ability to bring the project to market. This company is one that we were very excited to connect with and it could hold large potential. But as you know, junior miners are extremely risky and require a very stringent investment approach. So be sure to do your due diligence and invest wisely.
Mike Reid of 
Ranting Andy Hoffman joined us for his famous Monday Rant. We discussed the issue of record US gold exports. This statistic confirmed what we all knew and that is that the US is getting poorer by the day. While we may no longer be on a gold standard, some parts of the world do consider this “barbarous relic” to have certain universal monetary characteristics, that not even the US Government can change. And it is those very same countries that have been on a precious metals buying spree for the past 10 years. And while we’re on the topic of who’s got the gold, Germany’s high court just ordered an audit of all their off-shore holdings. The results could be interesting. What’s your thought?
Dr. Yaron Brook of the estimable Ayn Rand Institute was with us to share his take on the latest Presidential debates. And while he feels that Romney is the nominally better candidate, neither of them are winning any awards for free market economics or an intricate understanding of why the Free Market is the answer to what ails America and the World. Obama is a collectivist/statist and Romney is a pragmatist/statist, so choose your poison. Unfortunately, the US will have to again learn the hard way that no other systems works like a free economy in a free world.
Danielle Park believes it’s time for all the parties to come together and build a consensus and start agreeing on solutions to our common problems. Compromise is the key to finding common solutions, but first there must be an agreement that the current problem is dire and cannot be solved otherwise. The US and the World are facing a bankruptcy of unprecedented proportions. If the governments do not have an immediate reality check, the result is going to be catastrophic and every individual will suffer.
David Selig is a former marine and an active accountant, regularly doing battle with the IRS and State Tax Authorities. He believes that events are developing that will the government to confiscate metals, in order to keep the system functioning. He’s seeing early signs now and believes that the Supreme Court will be the ultimate aider and abettor. While he’s hopeful that the populace will revolt against such outrageous restrictions on their freedom, he has doubts. Which is why the key to surviving and thriving is to have a plan and keep it to yourself.
Trace Mayer of 
In an effort to win the election, the Administration is manipulating the uranium market price to curry favor with the labor interests in Ohio. Investors are not anxious to finance uranium miners when prices are so depressed. This will lead to depressed production and lower prices. And with the government’s huge Uranium stockpiles overhanging the market, one wonders if they can go any lower. Prices often do go lower later in the year, so there might be more declines to come. After the election, the administration will have less incentive to intervene and prices could again go higher.
According to Ray Dalio’s theory, government can somehow engender growth and allow austerity to reduce debt. This Panglossian view just can’t happen in modern America. Everyone wants to know if this is going to be an ugly deflationary deleveraging or an inflationary deleveraging. Is Romney the man to come forward with the plan to cure what ails the country, probably not. GDP is actually contracting and therefore, without growth there will be no desire to reform the monetary and political systems. Have no fear, the market will take of these ills.
Precious Metals raids are common place. But has anything occurred to make a reasonable investor think that the long term prospects of gold and silver has turned negative? Rather, the opposite have happened. Central banks are engaged in unlimited money printing, central banks are buying and precious metals ETF ownership is increasing. Until the general fundamental picture changes, this bull market remains very much alive, regardless what any of the so-called experts proclaim. Rumors of the death of this bull market are greatly exxagerated.
With QE to Infinity now a world-wide economic policy, investors need to look at many different metals such as Platinum, Uranium, Steel, Copper and others. Investors are beginning to believe that China’s incoming new leaders will be putting into place a massive stimulus program that will result in higher commodity prices across the board, but especially for base and precious metals. Jeb will be having a workshop at the HardAssets San Francisco conference. Make sure you say hello to FSN and Jeb if you’re attending.
Bill Holter is writing exclusively for our friends at Miles Franklin. He put out two great think pieces today. First, he examines the Bernank’s strange comment that QE3 isn’t bad for the world’s economies. Next he’ll want you to believe that Castor Oil tastes good going down and that the government is really here to help us! Where do these people come up with these claims. Next, Bill wrote a piece about buying precious metals, primarily for the newbie, but we can all learn something from it. He’s recommending 1 bag of 90% (junk) silver per family member. This will facilitate bartering for food should that be necessary. Exactly the widsom we’ve come to expect from Bill.
Charlie McGrath is a well known radio personality and host. You might call him a prepper, but certainly not an ultra-prepper. He believes, as we do at FSN, that its important to have a plan. Most of us wouldn’t have a clue what to do if the ATM/Credit Card Network shut down. There would be mass chaos and pandemonium. Do we believe such an occurrence is imminent or even likely, no. However, it is a possibility, which is why you should stock up on some food, have some precious metals nearby and perhaps a means of defending you and your family. The costs of such preparation are quite minimal. 60 days worth of food is just a few hundred dollars. And preparing a plan is free. The choice is yours.
Gary Wagner of 
Raj I. Chowdhry, CA is President and CEO of Tintina Resources which is in the process of bringing on a major copper mine in Montana. They’re just finishing up a Preliminary Assessment. They’re looking at over 1 billion pounds of copper. Montana is hungry for economic development and especially responsible mining. The mine is great news for the state’s tax coffers and the relatively high unemployment rate in this area of the state. Add to that strong demand for copper from China and Asia. In addition, the developed world will need to rebuild infrastructure, for which copper will be essential.
Our friend Nick Barisheff, CEO of 
Apple appears to have hit a high, which is very worrysome for the future direction of the stock market. If bad karma can bring a stock down, then they have a lot to worry about. Their recent technical patent lawsuit victory over Samsung seems to be a hollow one. What benefit will they ultimately derive from litigation driven policies? Gold and silver, while not going gangbusters yet, are holding their own. Rick believes that no one should be looking to sell an ounce at this point. There’s no telling how or when the next currency crisis will begin, but it seems to be inevitable. And then, the metals won’t just be in demand, there will be a panic to acquire them.
Diana Zoppa and I made up for the last two weeks. We talked about the elections, the debates and why Obama is toast and how the election will be decided after the coming Biden-Ryan debate which will be another disaster for the current White House occupant. More importantly, Diana and I were discussing silly laws past during 2011. Utah definitely took the prize in their efforts to ban Happy Hours and Drink Specials and just fun in general. Finally, Diana’s event TheSeed.org is this weekend. What a great place to spend this weekend.
Jordan Roy-Byrne joined us again. His statement about having free floating interest rates that would help lift the world out of its current economic slog is too true. As the Austrians proved many decades ago, artificially low interest rates lead to malinvestment, misallocation of resources and eventually a credit bust. Allowing interest rates to find their market level has worked extremely well in Iceland and has enabled their economy to recover smartly. However, the banksters are opposed to this poilicy and will not allow it to happen anywhere else in the world. They know that most of the debt they’re carrying on their books would be written off, thus ending their control of economic markets around the world. But Jordan’s writing has helped his subscribers earn large returns this year, even in the face of flat and declining metals markets.
Precious metals investing is essential to an investment portfolio, large or small. Long term, gold and silver will be going higher, especially silver. There are many obvious reasons why silver will go up dramatically. People will demand a free market for money. Let the market decide what it will accept as money. Fiat money will lose its primacy and relevance, which can only be beneficial to humanity. If the Dollar or Pound Sterling are worth 1 percent of their original value/purchasing power, will they go higher, or will they become worthless? Which is why gold and silver are the ultimate preserve of wealth.
Turd says that according to a book he once read, those most likely to survive any disaster-natural or otherwise-were those who had a plan in place. Whether you’re in an airplane, facing a hurricane or an earthquake, there is no substitute for being prepared. Don’ waste any time, the emergency can occur at the moment you least expect it. An ounce of prevention is certainly worth a pound of cure. Also, as an aside, are you surprised that according to Zerohedge, the energy market is also rigged? We aren’t?