from FinancialSurvivalNet
Sprott Global’s Kenton Toews joined us to discuss the major acquisitions taking place in North American as well as global resource stocks. The Chinese oil company CNOOC is buying Canadian oil producer Nexen for over $15 billion. This is a huge premium to current market prices. An Egyptian billionaire just bought La Mancha Resources, a gold miner for $500mm, getting gold in the ground at just $50 per ounce. What do these moves have in common? They are ways for Asians and others holding large amounts of fiat dollars and euros to diversify them, without disrupting the markets. This could be just the beginning; as the currency crises worsen, the rush for the exit will only intensify. So look to stock acquisitions as a relatively easy way to accomplish that task.
Click Here to Listen to the Audio
(Direct Download HERE)
Sign up (on the right side) for the instant free Financial Survival Toolkit and free weekly newsletter.
“Ranting” Andy returns with another Monday Rant. Andy says it’s quite obvious the elites are losing control. While they may be able to keep the price of gold suppressed a little while longer, their ability to control the events taking place in Italy, Spain, Greece and the rest of Europe is clearly diminishing, to the point of outright chaos. Therefore, it is more important than ever that you be able to differentiate between reality and perception. The powers that be want you to believe there’s no difference between the two. But as thinking adults, we know this can’t be the truth. Otherwise, your children would be able to create their own reality and choose their own existence. There are very few things that are true and real these days, but at the top of that list are still gold and silver. 
Ty Andros joined us after a several week-long hiatus. Here’s a statement he read from Porter Stansberry. It’s worth your read!
Jeb Handwerger of 
James Corbett of 
We were very fortunate to get together with Ann-Marie Murrell of 
Michael Krieger of 
Ken Johnson of 
Mickey Fulp, The Mercenary Geologist, and I got together for an energy discussion. There’s so much going on in this once conservative moribund industry. The innovations of hydro-fracking and enhanced recovery are leading to an energy self-sufficient America, only 40 years after Nixon’s pledge. Right now, the US domestically produces 55 percent of its energy needs. It’s miraculous that an industry faced with hostile government agencies, green subsidies and general public antipathy towards petroleum exploration and development. Many people believe that the industry has deliberately stifled high mileage vehicles and auto technology, and this could very well be true. However, America’s retaking of energy production leadership is something that no talking head or so-called energy expert ever predicted. All that is necessary to ride this wave to making America great again is political leadership and a commitment to fast-tracking energy infrastructure projects.
Daniel Amerman used to work with Mortgage Backed Securities, before they became a tool of the devil. He believes the government will stop at nothing to steal the populace’s wealth, but there are things that you can do to protect yourself. However, it will become increasingly difficult to do so once things get worse. Daniel believes owning gold and silver is a good option, but there are certain things the government will do to diminish their value. How the end game of this crisis will work out is anyone’s guess, but things are definitely going to change, and you need to examine every possible outcome.
We met up with Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico and present Libertarian candidate for President. Gary was a former governor of New Mexico. During his two terms in office, of an overwhelmingly Democrat state, he vetoed 750 bills and exercised thousands of line item vetos. He was so effective that his opposition referred to him as Governor Veto. He ran for the Republican nomination this year, but he was kept out of the early debates by CNN and CNBC rules, which were created to keep out minor candidates. As a result, he never attained the status of serious candidate as far as the Main Stream Media was concerned. While his odds of winning the nomination are virtually non-existent, his message is compelling, and he has provided a road map for other fiscally sane candidates to shake things up.
Wayne Allyn Root, former Libertarian VP candidate, renowned Las Vegas odds maker, successful businessman, SOB (son of a butcher), and fellow Westchesterite and I met up in person Freedom Fest in Las Vegas. While he’s not head-over-heals in love with Romney (who is?), he still believes that the choice is between business and anti-business, and that’s why he’s favoring Romney. Business without risk, is like religion without Hell. If the government removes all possible risks from your life, will you be a better person or a lazier one? Wayne believes that risk taking is in the American DNA, and it’s a prime reason for our country’s success. This is why Wayne never misses a Freedom Fest.
“Ranting” Andy Hoffman arrived back from Freedom Fest in Las Vegas ready for “bear.” There’s a new phenomena sweeping the globe, negative interest rates. Hard to believe, but that’s where some bankrupt, “Too Big To Fail Bank” actually charges you for the honor of storing your money and betting it on derivatives (or some other highly creative way they’ve devised to lose your money and get bailed out yet again.) It’s obvious there’s no end to the financial sector insanity that’s been taking place around the globe. Where it will end is anyone’s guess. But nothing makes sense anymore and that’s exactly the way the Elite financial rulers like it.
I interviewed Jeff Berwick and Gary Gibson at Freedom Fest, separately, although you’d think they were together. We spent a lot of time together, and there was no shortage of topics and alternative financial luminaries present at the conference. Peter Schiff, Doug Casey, Steve Forbes, Gary Johnson, Judge Andrew Napolitano and so many more. But Gary and Jeff are all about practical advice about protecting your wealth and keeping it out of the hands of the government. Jeff’s a big proponent of second passports, and Gary’s been travelling around the world looking for safe harbor. Either way, they both agree the US Government’s appetite for your wealth is going to increase greatly, as the depression deepens. So better to be prepared than to continue about your daily affairs, blind to the probabilities ahead.
Fellow podcaster, Turd Ferguson of 
At Freedom Fest 2012 we bumped into Andy Schectman, a show sponsor and President of Miles Franklin. He’s been selling shiny metals since 1990, and he’s extremely knowledgeable about the precious metals markets. Andy explained there’s virtually no gold coming into the secondary market. People who own gold and silver are not selling even when prices dip. This is a relatively new development which shows that while the price may fluctuate , the actual participants ignore the news and continue to accumulate. The mints don’t have enormous supplies available for purchase; they can hardly keep up with demand. That’s why putting off the purchase of metals could have you entering the market at the worst possible moment. Contact Miles Franklin, they’ve also got great overseas storage programs available.
We literally bumped into Trace Mayer of www.HowToVanish.com and www.RunToGold.com. He made it to Vegas for Freedom Fest. We discussed a very interesting new phenomena that may possibly become the new gold standard of currencies, BitCoin. This is an open source currency that is extremely flexible, resistant to inflation and completely anonymous. It is a store of wealth and a medium of exchange and its popularity appears to be rapidly increasing. We had heard of it before, but dismissed it as a noble effort to help people escape the tyranny of central banks. But it has continued on and increased in value from 5 cents per BitCoin to $7.70 in just a few short years. And its acceptance appears to be increasing as well. It’s spreading worldwide, with more and more merchants accepting it as payment, at a variety of locations. We’re going to investigate the BitCoin phenomena further and report back.
We caught up with our old friend Peter Schiff at Freedom Fest. While he was on a panel, security was sicked on Doug Casey for smoking a cigar (Cubano of course) while participating on stage. Freedom took a major hit when Doug was forced to extinguish his rich stogie. But as Doug said, he was on someone else’s property, so he had to comply with the management’s wishes. I want to know who the Buzzkill was that turned him in. 
John Schmidt has been shooting pool since he turned 18. He won the US Pool Open in 2006. He’s known as Mr. 400, having sunk 400 balls in a row, without a miss. He believes in learning from the masters and he carries that attitude through when it comes to investing and preserving his wealth in precious metals. Initially, his fellow competitors scoffed at the notion of a fiat currency collapse. But as the world gets closer and closer to this cataclysmic event, more of his colleagues have accepted his wisdom. John’s got a great story and a winning attitude.
We caught up with Sprott’s Rick Rule in Las Vegas at Freedom Fest 2012. He’s not the least bit concerned about the precious metals price gyrations, and he’s actively buying metals for his personal portfolio. He believes that Contrarian investors eventually score the largest gains but that it takes guts and a lot of perseverance. Joe “Two-Pack” better have both or he should buy another can of beer and hit the road. Rick’s got one of the best jobs around; he’s doing what he loves and as a result has never worked a day in his life. Just don’t ask him about tech investing, he’s sticking to what he knows best.
If it’s one thing we like on FSN, its consistency and Nick Santiago, of 
Danielle Park joined us today for the Park Perspective. The tales of corruption and exploitation in the financial sector keep getting worse and worse. From fixing the LIBOR interest rates to laundering money for drug cartels, is there anything the financial sector won’t do to make a buck? But Danielle believes that there’s an end coming to the bailouts, and it will be soon. The immorality of the system and it’s destructive influences are becoming plain to everyone’s sight. The question is, how will change come from outside the system, to rebuild it and make it honest and beneficial to society? Perhaps, events will soon unfold that make it impossible for the financial system to continue its business as usual ways, and it will become a matter of reform or die. 
I was interviewed recently by Teresa Kuhn of