by Mike ‘Mish’ Shedlock
Mish Talk
Deutsche Bank Admits Rigging, Will Expose Other Riggers
Deutsche Bank has admitted it rigged both the Gold market and the Silver market. ZeroHedge has the details in his report Deutsche Bank Agrees To Expose Other Manipulators.
Many asked me to comment. I am shocked?
No. In the wake of admissions of rigged LIBOR and rigged Euribor (bank to bank interest rates in dollars and euros respectively), one would really have to wonder “What isn’t rigged?”
Open interest in the silver comex rises to 192,629 a multi year high despite the low price in silver/gold and silver equities advance/Chinese junk bond bubble m collapse has risk rises exponentially/USA industrial production falters badly. U of Michigan consumer confidence index plummets as goes Gallup/Roby Kirby: a must see interview/financial turmoil just struck midnight!!
by Harvey Organ
Harvey Organ’s Blog
[…] Yesterday you all heard about the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed against the banks on gold and silver manipulation. The bank that settled was Deutsche bank.
As I stated yesterday on this huge story:
“The real question is what prompted DB to settle? Could they have received a little tap on the shoulder from the Bundesbank, angry that gold is not coming their way these past 3 months from the FRBNY as promised? Could this be the reason that they jumped at the settlement and not only that they are willing to spill the beans on the fellow manipulators.
Something big is happening behind to scenes!
Jared Lichtin is a real estate investor and podcaster who previously worked as a lawyer for the oil and gas industry in Appalachia, near his home in Northwest Ohio. He realized the uncertainty of his work in titling and deeding properties for the volatile industry and decided to start flipping houses. His first few projects proved profitable so he continues to buy and flip and then podcast about it. He shares his insider information about what to watch out for when investing in the oil and gas industry. Join us in Jacksonville for a property tour before the Jekyll Island Venture Alliance trip.
Just go to JasonHartman.com and get started now!
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Many existing clients, and a few new ones, are closing on income properties using cash and delayed financing options to build their portfolios while interest rates are incredibly low. The next step will be for property holders to connect with their property managers to set expectations and to ensure current needs are met. And, there are possible new markets opening up in Ohio and Tampa, Florida.
Just go to JasonHartman.com and get started now!
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Sign up (on the right side) for the instant free Financial Survival Toolkit and free weekly newsletter.
China is filling its strategic petroleum reserves five times faster than last year.
by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Telegraph.co.uk
A dramatic build-up in China’s strategic petroleum reserve and surging demand for imported crude oil are likely to transform the global energy markets this year, regardless of any production freeze agreed by OPEC and Russia this weekend.
Chinese credit stimulus and a 20pc rise in public spending has set off a fresh mini-cycle of growth that is already sucking in oil imports at a much faster pace than expected.
Barclays estimates that the country will import an average of 8m barrels per day (b/d) this year, a huge jump from 6.7m b/d last year. This is arguably enough to soak up a big chunk of the excess supply currently flooding global markets.
by Simon Black
Sovereign Man
Last night I got robbed.
Not in the literal sense of the word. There weren’t armed men in masks holding me up on the sidewalk in Panama City.
(I’ve been coming here for 13 years and have never once felt unsafe…)
It was at the cashier’s cage at the Veneto Casino.
After a few hours with a friend at the roulette table where I was happy to have walked away at breakeven, I was shocked to find out that the government of Panama takes a 5.5% tax when you cash in your chips.
by Dave Gonigam
Daily Reckoning
Seven weeks on, the “Shanghai Accord” thesis is looking stronger than ever. And it could mean up to 276% gains before year-end. Just for starters.
Back on Feb. 26, finance ministers and central bankers from the “G-20” nations gathered in Shanghai.
The “Shanghai Snoozer” we called it, because it made absolutely no news, despite pleas from the International Monetary Fund for “bold multilateral actions to boost growth and contain risk.”
But a month later, Jim Rickards informed us of a “secret side meeting” involving the United States, Europe, Japan, China — representing more than 70% of the global economy — brokered by the IMF.
by Turd Ferguson
TF Metals Report
Every week, we try to give you access to some of the smartest and most knowledgeable people in the precious metals sector and this week doesn’t disappoint. John Butler is an analyst, author and executive at GoldMoney. He’s also one of the smartest guys you’re ever going to come across. Be sure you give this podcast a thorough listen.
Just a few of the topics addressed in this extraordinarily insightful podcast include:
Again, please be sure to listen to this entire recording. I guarantee you’ll learn something new or, at least, gain a different perspective on issues that concern all of us. Thanks again to John for giving us so much of his time!
by Mike ‘Mish’ Shedlock
Mish Talk
Most obscure laws remain on the books as obscure laws never enforced, or even prosecuted.
In this case, the Merkel administration launched a criminal investigation of Jan Böhmermann, an award-winning comedian and host of Neo Magazin Royale, a late-night talk show.
Böhmermann is accused of insulting Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mercy me! Let’s not insult corrupt leaders, especially when you are in bed with them.
by Michael Krieger
Liberty Blitzkrieg
The more people get to know Hillary Clinton, the more they dislike her. The more people get to know Bernie Sanders, the more they like him.
For the latest evidence, let’s turn to Gallup:
We can start with the Democratic side of the ledger, where Clinton’s current net favorable rating of +36 among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents is based on 66% who give her a favorable rating and 30% who give her an unfavorable rating.
Clinton’s image has undergone ups and downs over the course of the campaign season, just as it has over her entire 25-year career in the national spotlight. Overall, however, April so far has not been kind to the former secretary of state. Her net favorable rating has descended steadily to her current low point — in the midst of a crucial stage of the primary season, which will help determine whether she’ll emerge the clear winner over Bernie Sanders before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this July.
by Adam Hamilton
Zeal LLC
Gold-mining stocks surged higher this past week after breaking free from their high consolidation. This newest upleg catapulted gold stocks to a doubling in less than 3 months, a remarkable world-leading performance. But despite its quick doubling, this red-hot sector still has another easy doubling left to come from here. Gold-mining stocks still remain greatly undervalued relative to prevailing gold prices.
Gold stocks’ whipsawing journey so far this year has been nothing short of incredible. Back on January 19th, less than 3 months ago, the flagship HUI gold-stock index plunged to 100.7. Those levels were utterly astounding, as that was the HUI’s lowest close since July 2002. Back then gold was trading near $305, and had yet to exceed $329 in its young secular bull. Revisiting those levels felt like a gold-stock apocalypse.
by Marc Chandler
Financial Sense
At the IMF/World Bank meetings this week, Chinese officials are again pushing for greater use of the IMF’s unit of account, Special Drawing Rights. It is China’s turn as the rotating host of the G20, which gives it greater influence over its agenda.
For its part, the IMF is concerned about global financial stability and must be open-minded. It wants to strengthen the financial system. It is only prudent to examine all reform ideas.
Last September, the IMF agreed to include the yuan in the SDR as of later this year. It was seen primarily as a symbolic recognition of how far China’s economy and financial sector has evolved over the last five years. The desire to join the SDR also encouraged China to proceed with various financial reforms.
by Daily Bell Staff
The Daily Bell
John Kerry makes ‘gut-wrenching’ tour of Hiroshima peace park … First US secretary of state to visit atomic bomb memorial says site is ‘harsh reminder of threat of nuclear weapons.’ – CNN
Over the years, as we have helped debunk elite propaganda, from elaborate NASA hoaxes to vaccine cover-ups, it has occurred to us more and more strongly that something is wrong with at least parts of the “nuclear narrative.”
Take the latest developments. Kerry goes to Hiroshima (see excerpt above) to commemorate the war dead while the US focuses on a nuclear arsenal upgrade that will generate smaller and more efficient bombs at gargantuan expense.
Kerry won’t apologize for dropping the Bomb; and those running the nuclear arsenal upgrade surely won’t apologize for its complexity or cost.
Our tax bill for 2016 will top $4.9 trillion
by Catey Hill
Market Watch
What we spend on our home, food and clothing pales in comparison to our annual tax bill.
In 2016, Americans will pay roughly 20% more for their federal, state and local taxes than for the their housing, food and clothing combined, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research organization.
[…] In 2016, Americans will likely spend roughly $1.6 trillion on food, $2.1 trillion on housing and $360 billion on clothing, totaling about $4.1 trillion. Meanwhile, their total tax bill will be about $4.9 trillion ($3.34 trillion in federal taxes and $1.6trillion state and local taxes).
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” – Eph 6:12
Here are the basic stock and precious metal and economic charts as of about 2:00 EDT.
The economic news this morning was rather poor, and the luster with which Wall Street attempted to paint the financial sector in light of the ‘great results’ from JPM were fading as the ‘better than expected’ results over lowered expectations from CITI were not so lustrous year over year. I think we might be in the midst of another handoff of long positions from the pros to the ‘others.’ But only time will tell as we bang against an obvious overhead resistance point.
I have not heard much in the lame stream media about Deutsche Bank admitting that they, along with others, had been manipulating the prices in the global precious metals markets. The oligarchs seem to be less coy and more audacious about pulling the strings of power.
by Graham Summers
Gold Seek
The Fed is “one and done” for rate hikes.
We called this back in mid-2015. The US economy is far too weak for the Fed to engage in anything resembling a series of rate hikes. Corporate leverage, household leverage, even the national debt stand at levels that limit the Fed from hiking rates.
The Central Banking insiders know this. Which is why Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke admitted in private luncheons with hedge fund managers that rates would not “normalize” in his “lifetime.”
from Zero Hedge
A day after yesterday’s “biggest quake since 2011’s tsunami,” at 1:25 local time, Japan was just struck with a massive aftershock in the form of a Magnitude 7.0 earthquake, which means it was roughly 10 times stronger than yesterday’s tremor:
State broadcaster NHK reports that a tsunami advisory is for possible wave of 1 metre in height.
by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Ah yes, the Millennials.
If we could just get consumers to borrow more so that they spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need in order to boost GDP and corporate profits, all would be fine. That’s the current meme among economists.
Since 68.5% of US GDP is related to personal consumption expenditures, boosting consumer spending is seen as crucial. Since wages at the lower 75% are crummy and have not been rising enough to keep up with inflation, the only other way to prod consumers into spending more is to bamboozle them into borrowing more and blowing this moolah instantly.
Greece and its eurozone partners agreed to a third bailout last summer
by Ben Wright
Telegraph.co.uk
Poul Thomsen, the head of the International Monetary Fund’s European department, has raised the prospect of the IMF downgrading its involvement in Greece’s latest bailout to a “monitoring” role if an agreement is not reached on debt relief.
Greece and its eurozone partners agreed to a third bailout last summer but the IMF has yet to sign up. Some European countries, and Germany in particular, have warned they may abandon the bailout if the IMF refuses to participate.
Mr Thomsen said the discussions taking place at the IMF’s spring meeting have so far focussed on which new policies – such as tax increases, spending cuts and economic reforms – the Greek government will adopt in order to achieve a budget surplus of 3.5pc of economic output by 2018. This target was set as a condition of its latest bailout.
by Chris Campbell
Laissez Faire Books
“They were there with their guns drawn,” 82-year-old retired school teacher Elizabeth Harrison told reporters last month. “‘Put your hands up! Put your hands up! Put your hands up!’”
Hey…
Did you hear the joke about the Chicago cops who hospitalized an 82-year-old woman? OK. We admit, it’s not that funny.
But we’re going to tell it anyway.
Just last month, a team of Chicago’s finest hired guns conducted a no-knock raid on Elizabeth Harrison — an 82-year-old woman.
by Steve St. Angelo
SRSRocco Report
There will be some serious disruptions in the financial industry and market over the coming years. Very few individuals are prepared for what’s coming. Only a small fraction of the public understand the value of owning precious metals. While I have focused my research and writing on the energy, precious metals and mining industries, I do not have a lot of experience in the gold and silver retail-wholesale market.
It is for this reason I have decided to include and sponsor precious metals expert Tom Cloud on the SRSrocco Report site. Mr. Cloud has been in the precious metal industry since 1977. Every conversation I have with Tom, I learn a remarkable amount of new information about the precious metals retail and wholesale market.
by Mac Slavo
SHTF Plan
It is tax day again.
Chances are, you’re done with the dirty business this year, or laying low in hopes that you aren’t audited or flat out persecuted. If not, the clock is quickly ticking.
But it is worth pointing out once again the many ways in which the federal tax scheme in the United States is illegal.
Moreover, the spending by the Federal government and the role of the Federal Reserve in issuing money create overlapping levels of evil that have driven the American people into mere serfs – albeit with cool toys and great TV reception.
Former IRS Special Agent Joe Bannister explains to CNBC what he found out about the reality of the tax code:
by Jason Simpkins
Outsider Club
We all dream about our retirement — fishing, golfing, time with the kids and grandkids…
But the cold, unforgiving truth is that roughly half of all households with Americans 55 and up have no retirement savings at all. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Not a dime.
Furthermore, those who have saved haven’t saved enough. They’ve invested in IRAs and 401(k)s, and together with Social Security, they expect that to be enough.
Well, it’s not. And sadly, most retirees only find this out when it’s too late.
The average shortfall: $71,299 per individual in a family, $93,576 for single men, and $104,821 for single women.
by Justin Raimondo
AntiWar
In an editorial in the print edition of Reason, Matt Welch takes me to task for “celebrating” the candidacy of Donald Trump, who he calls a “false prophet of anti-interventionism.” Reason’s editor cites one of my more hopeful predictions about the beneficial consequences of the Trump Effect on American politics:
“’If Trump gets the Republican nomination the neocons are through as a viable political force on the Right,’ Antiwar.com’s Justin Raimondo enthused at the end of February. ‘And if Trump actually wins the White House, the military-industrial complex is finished, along with the globalists who dominate foreign policy circles in Washington.’”
by David Kranzler
Investment Research Dynamics
The big buzz yesterday in the precious metals market was the news that Deutsche Bank has agreed to settle charges for its role in manipulating the London Bullion Marketing Association (LBMA) daily gold/silver price fixings. My view on this, albeit admittedly jaded, is that it is akin to the settlement charges being paid by the big Wall Street banks for their fraudulent behavior in the housing bubble mortgage market. Although Deutsche Bank has agreed to “spill the beans” on other banks, I have yet to hear any mention of JP Morgan, Citibank, Goldman Sachs or any number of other western bullion banks who engage in daily price intervention in the gold and silver futures market on the Comex.
by Przemyslaw Radomski
Silver Seek
Silver moved sharply higher recently along with mining stocks, but unlike the latter, the white metal continued to show strength even on Thursday by holding up well despite gold’s and mining stocks’ decline.
What does this tell us?
It tells us that a decline is very likely to be seen shortly. Let’s see why.