Watch it Now: China Makes its Move in Ecuador

Dr. Moors was a guest on Chinese national television last night via a live satellite link. The topic was the increasing Chinese involvement in Ecuador

Long-time readers will recall that Kent has been advising on a refinery project in Ecuador for some time now. The Pacifico project, also known in country as Refineria
Project costs have swelled to about $13 billion with the government still saying that the 300,000 barrel per day complex will begin operations in 2017.
The real story, however, lies in the combination of interests surrounding the facility.
Kent explains what China is up to in the video below:

Why “Energy Rebalancing” Means Huge Profits This Year

by Dr. Kent Moors 

Marina and I have a little less than a week left on the island before we head back to the mainland. I hope our pipes haven’t frozen back in Pittsburgh!

As we head home to begin the New Year, there are several new wrinkles in the energy market that I have my eye on.
And as always, I’m looking for new ways to profit from them.
These new wrinkles revolve around what I call the “energy balance” – and its changing fast.
It involves big shifts in sourcing and systems that will combine with some major revisions in finance that will alter the landscape for investors.
It’s not about new energy breakthroughs or big oil discoveries. And it’s certainly not about entirely new structures.
Rather, it’s about the accelerating changes in elements you’re familiar with.
Think of it, if you will, as a “rebalancing” of what already exists.
It’s an unstoppable trend that promises to hand us huge profits…

The 2014 Plan: Leveraging a Gigantic Advantage

For us, of course, this “rebalancing” gives us a gigantic advantage: we identified this trend a long time ago. In fact, I’ve discussed it in these pages before.
At present, there are three overarching dimensions to these changes: the energy network itself, the geographical considerations, and the financial arrangements.
As as the market rebalances, it will require we change our investment strategy to profit from it -especially the with first two.
As for the third, we have just about single-handedly revised the approach to finance all by ourselves.
Today, however, I want to talk about the networking dimension.

Networking involves the entire sequence of energy (oil, natural gas, electricity) transmission from production, through gathering and transit, to refining, distribution and retail. This remains the upstream-midstream-downstream sequence that has become a mainstay of the energy sector.
In the case of operating companies, our target interests will consider the basins worked, the company’s focus, market cap and field size, along with the more or less traditional considerations of management style, balance sheet, and market position.
We will also see some interesting rebalancing in the refinery space, as those processors able to bridge the domestic market and rising oil product exports, as well as the conventional/unconventional sourcing mix, will have a substantial advantage.
And then there are the huge transport revisions that are on the way. We have talked about two of these primary developments before, but will be watching their progress with added interest this year.

Fundamental Changes = Big Opportunities

The first is the fundamental change in the worldwide balance occasioned by the rapid expansion of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.
This remains the single most significant revision globally to take place over the next decade. The rise of LNG exports from the U.S., fueled by the largess of shale and other unconventional gas sources, will be fundamental to this revolution.
On the other hand, there is another revision that may be just as significant in generating investor profits from the export trade.
I’m referring to crude oil, but with some new elements contributing to another change in the balance. I’m talking about oil exports.
In the future, we will see a concerted move to export oil in new directions – starting with transit from the U.S. For some time, exporting oil from the states has been considered a national security issue, making the trade very difficult.
In this case, two exceptions have been allowed: one permitting the export of heavy, lower quality crude from California (for which the argument can be made of an insufficient domestic demand); the other allowing certain tolling contracts.
Tolling is a process whereby raw materials are exported to be processed abroad with the finished product then imported back in. The justification for this allowance has been the concern over maintaining sufficient domestic stock of oil products, especially diesel. That concern has now abated with the advent of significant reserves of tight oil (“shale” oil actually being only one category of such unconventional sourcing).
None of this would have been considered possible only a few years ago. Being dependent on imported oil, American policy makers were understandably dismissive about allowing the export of finished products from U.S. refineries.
But not any longer…
As is the case with natural gas and LNG, there is now ample local supply. That opens up the market for rising oil product exports.
As a result, I suspect that tolling will rise again – owing to the limitations on overall U.S. refinery capacity – but will increasingly service a jump in the exports of those products. The cost differential in utilizing foreign processing facilities makes this approach quite profitable.

The Big (And Profitable) Global Changes Ahead

Then there is the expanded use of the completed East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline in Russia.
An earlier spur from ESPO has for several years moved oil south to China. But the new impact of the pipeline on wider Asian demand will become far more pronounced.
ESPO export oil will become a new benchmark crude rate, a major development for all of Asia. As this develops, the ESPO benchmark will replace London’s Brent as the standard for trade in wide portions of that market.
This is what makes this so significant. End users in Asia have paid a premium over what it costs to buy the same quality oil for delivery to Europe. ESPO will undercut that tradeoff and provide a genuine boost to Asian economic development. ESPO oil has a lower sulfur content as well meaning it is “sweeter” than Saudi export. That is another big advantage for Asia.
Other export changes will come from a number of geographic market-specific revisions. Western Europe will be importing more LNG as nations like Germany also phase in a wider usage of renewables.
These LNG imports will add pressure on the pricing points for long-term pipelined gas contracts, while improving prospects for investments in the expanded liquefied trade.
What’s more, a matter I have addressed before and had meetings about over the last several weeks, has begun to change how people view oil and gas sourcing in the Caribbean.
It involves the emergence of China as a major conduit of energy funding in South America and the rapidly accelerating networking of production, refining, and transport throughout northern South America and the Caribbean basin.
The combination rising Chinese influence and an existing system called “Petrocaribe” will produce some major changes that will impact North American markets. 

Thomas Edison's secret war with the Federal Reserve decades back has led to a new currency rising up today. It threatens the dollar, EURO, Pound, and the entire international monetary system. But it's also making everyday Americans rich. A Silicon Valley venture capital veteran investigates this exciting phenomenon.

End Of America : Fed is Dying

America’s path from fiscal improbity to political impasse 
ONCE a stalwart of good governance, America looks like a rodeo clown. If the House and Senate cannot agree to continue funding for discretionary spending by midnight on September 30th, the federal government will experience one of its periodic shutdowns. There have been 10 such episodes since 1981, the date of the first one under the current budget-making rules, so a brief hiatus in government functions need not be frightening. Some non-essential services would be suspended and inconvenience caused—in addition to sending the US Treasury market into mild gyrations. Far worse is the idea that Congress might fail to authorise the raising of the debt ceiling in mid-October. Republicans in Congress have a shopping list of demands in exchange for allowing this; the president has said he will not negotiate. If America were in real danger of missing a debt payment it is likely that President Obama would find some constitutional justification for ignoring Congress rather than set off a financial meltdown.
Read full article here
Further Reading

Government Shutdown Begins As Deadlocked Congress Flails

Warren Buffett on Gold vs. Hommel on Gold!

Warren Buffet explained why he does not see the value in gold in his annual report from 2011.
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2011ltr.pdf
 
http://ivanhoff.com/2013/04/15/warren-buffett-on-gold/
 
It was republished by ivanhoff, and came to my attention last week, which gave me this occasion to respond.   Here I go.

Buffett:
The second major category of investments involves assets that will never produce anything, but that are purchased in the buyer’s hope that someone else – who also knows that the assets will be forever unproductive – will pay more for them in the future. Tulips, of all things, briefly became a favorite of such buyers in the 17th century.

Hommel:
Buffett is claiming that Gold's value exists only because other people will buy it.  True.  True of all assets.  And this is exactly why gold is a good thing, because of all things, gold is most likely to be valuable in more places to more people than nearly any other item that you can consider, precisely because it is money.  But Buffett presents this as a bad thing, calling gold "unproductive".  Well, let's see, how is gold productive?  It can go up in value, just like stocks or bonds or housing, or any other asset.  People recognize that gold has value not because it gains value, but because it does not decay or rot or go bad.  Food makes a horrible form of money, partly because it goes bad.  One of the longest lasting kinds of food is the wheat kernel, which can last up to twenty years.  Gold lasts 6000 years, with no decay.

Buffett:
This type of investment requires an expanding pool of buyers, who, in turn, are enticed because they believe the buying pool will expand still further.  Owners are not inspired by what the asset itself can produce – it will remain lifeless forever – but rather by the belief that others will desire it even more avidly in the future.

Hommel:  True, gold buyers do not buy gold for what gold will produce, but most of my gold buyers are buying gold because they do believe it will go up in value, because they do believe that others will see what they can see, that gold is special, and cannot be printed to excess like paper money is being created to excess these days.  Gold buyers buy gold also because they recognize that gold does not decay, because it has a very high value for the weight and density which makes it portable, and because it can be hidden.

Buffett:  The major asset in this category is gold, currently a huge favorite of investors who fear almost all other assets, especially paper money (of whose value, as noted, they are right to be fearful). Gold, however, has two significant shortcomings, being neither of much use nor procreative. True, gold has some industrial and decorative utility, but the demand for these purposes is both limited and incapable of soaking up new production. Meanwhile, if you own one ounce of gold for an eternity, you will still own one ounce at its end.

Hommel:  True, gold is not procreative.  But this does not mean that gold cannot go up in value.  Gold does have a use.  The use is as a store of value.  The use is to communicate value over time.  Gold has three primary uses: as a store of value, as a unit of account, and as a medium of exchange.  These days, it is not used much as a medium of exchange, because no government on earth is issuing gold as circulating currency, but because all nations issue paper money.  This is making gold an excellent store of value, because gold is increasing in value more than all the paper money being continually printed.  The key use of gold in our times is not only in that it holds value, but gains value.  This is because the new supply of gold is far less than demand.  The world prints nearly $5 to $10 trillion worth of paper money per year, which is $5,000 to $10,000 billion.  In contrast, the world mines about 83 million ounces of new gold, at $1334/oz, is worth only a mere $111 billion.  Clearly, there will be more and more buyers of gold in the near and far future.

Buffett:  What motivates most gold purchasers is their belief that the ranks of the fearful will grow. During the past decade that belief has proved correct. Beyond that, the rising price has on its own generated additional buying enthusiasm, attracting purchasers who see the rise as validating an investment thesis. As “bandwagon” investors join any party, they create their own truth – for a while.

Hommel:  Gold buyers are derided as "fearful" by Buffett.  And he notes this has recently been correct.  But also wise.  He could have written, "The ranks of the wise will grow".  Perhaps more apt.

Buffett:  Over the past 15 years, both Internet stocks and houses have demonstrated the extraordinary excesses that can be created by combining an initially sensible thesis with well-publicized rising prices. In these bubbles, an army of originally skeptical investors succumbed to the “proof” delivered by the market, and the pool of buyers – for a time – expanded sufficiently to keep the bandwagon rolling. But bubbles blown large enough inevitably pop. And then the old proverb is confirmed once again: “What the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end.”

Hommel:  True, bubbles happened in stocks and houses.  And probably still are in a bubble.  Is gold in a bubble?  When less than $100 billion is being mined each year?  I think not.  His buddy Bill Gates could buy half the world's annual gold production, and would probably become a lot more wealthy if he tried.  I say tried, because there is no way he would succeed, because his stock is not liquid enough to sell that much, and the gold market is too tight to buy half the gold market without pushing the gold price up, too.  My point is that the gold market boom is still in the beginning stages. 

Buffett:  Today the world’s gold stock is about 170,000 metric tons. If all of this gold were melded together, it would form a cube of about 68 feet per side. (Picture it fitting comfortably within a baseball infield.) At $1,750 per ounce – gold’s price as I write this – its value would be $9.6 trillion. Call this cube pile A.

Hommel:  Today, one to two years later, gold prices are down to $1335.  Buffet was right for one year out of a thirteen year bull market in gold.  Buffett will likely be wrong next year.  But 170,000 metric tonnes at $1335/oz. is x 32,151 oz/tonne is $7.3 trillion today. 
The tiny size of the cube of gold in pile A also explains why gold is valuable.  It contains a lot of value in a small space, making it very portable.  Some people wonder why gold should be any different than copper or any other metal, asserting that the other metals could be used just as easily as silver and gold.  Really?  Well, I have a 33 kilo block of copper that cost about $300, about the same as a ten oz. bar of silver.  Which would you rather carry to the grocery store?  Also, the copper has a spread on it to buy and sell of over 50%.  Or, would you prefer a quarter oz. of gold for about $330?

Buffett:  Let’s now create a pile B costing an equal amount. For that, we could buy all U.S. cropland (400 million acres with output of about $200 billion annually), plus 16 Exxon Mobils (the world’s most profitable company, one earning more than $40 billion annually). After these purchases, we would have about $1 trillion left over for walking-around money (no sense feeling strapped after this buying binge). Can you imagine an investor with $9.6 trillion selecting pile A over pile B?

Hommel:  Can you imagine an investor with $7.3 trillion to begin with?  There are no investors who are worth so much, are there Mr. Buffett?  Besides, even if there were, there is no evidence that the entire world supply of gold is being all offered at the current asking price for gold.  The vast majority of gold does not trade each year.  World annual mine supply ads only about 1.5% to the pile per year.  Well, let's calculate it.  http://www.goldsheetlinks.com/production2.htm  170,000 tonnes in existing stock.  World annual production about 2600 tonnes.  1.529%.  Yup, still the same after all these years.
But Buffett's point is that he cannot imagine any investor buying the gold instead of the farmland and oil companies.  But let's compare more clearly, $40 billion x 16  Exxon Mobils is $640 billion, plus the $200 billion from crops, which means the oil companies and land produce about $840 billion.  Well, how much does the pile of the world's gold produce?  Gold is likely to exceed $1900 in the next year or two, from $1336 today.  As it does, the pile of gold will go up from $7.3 trillion to $10.4 trillion.  Now let's compare shall we?  $640 billion gain in the oil companies, and $3.1 trillion, or $3100 billion in the gold pile.   I think I've made my point, but let me go further.  In actual fact, 16 Exxon Mobils don't exist.  It's a pure fantasy choice, as in, "not real".  The gold is real.  That makes the gold choice not only several times better, but infinitely better, doesn't it?

Buffett:  Beyond the staggering valuation given the existing stock of gold, current prices make today’s annual production of gold command about $160 billion.  Buyers – whether jewelry and industrial users, frightened individuals, or speculators – must continually absorb this additional supply to merely maintain an equilibrium at present prices.

Hommel:  As we have seen, the existing annual production of gold is now $111 billion, and being purchased not by "frightened individuals, or speculators", but by "wise investors," and even central banks now!  And again, with $5000 to $10,000 billion dollars worth of currency being printed world wide, I think the new gold will have plenty of ready buyers for decades to come.  In fact, Gold is acting not only as a value preserver, but value gainer, for those investors who don't want be robbed by governments.

Buffett:  A century from now the 400 million acres of farmland will have produced staggering amounts of corn, wheat, cotton, and other crops – and will continue to produce that valuable bounty, whatever the currency may be. Exxon Mobil will probably have delivered trillions of dollars in dividends to its owners and will also hold assets worth many more trillions (and, remember, you get 16 Exxons). The 170,000 tons of gold will be unchanged in size and still incapable of producing anything. You can fondle the cube, but it will not respond.

Hommel:  I'd wager that a century from now, none of the world's currencies today will have any value at all, but the gold still will.  Gold is not a choice between oil and gold, it's a choice between paper money and gold.  No investor will ever go out and buy 100 barrels of oil at $103/barrel to store on his lawn, to preserve $10,000 worth of paper money value, because the oil is extraordinarily inconvenient, and expensive to store and ship for the relative value.  But anyone can buy 7 gold eagles that will fit into the palm of your hand for $10,000, which takes up about 1/10th of the space as a stack of 100 of the $100 bills.

Buffett: Admittedly, when people a century from now are fearful, it’s likely many will still rush to gold. I’m confident, however, that the $9.6 trillion current valuation of pile A will compound over the century at a rate far inferior to that achieved by pile B.

Hommel:  In contrast, I'm supremely confident that the world's pile of gold will increase in value far faster than oil.  The reason is that gold has been money for about 6000 years of human history, and mankind has only been using oil for about 160 years or so.  Furthermore, the world's bankers began attacking gold as money about that far back, so the world has never had a good historical gold to oil ratio in place during a time when the world used gold as money!  Therefore, we have to use intuition to determine a proper value for gold as compared to oil, assuming the world returned to using gold as money, and it probably will.  I would supsect that the world's gold production should be valued more than the world's oil production, because the world'd gold production must be spend on more than "just oil".  As it is, oil is no more than 5-10% of the world's economy, but let's assume oil were as much as 50%.  Well, then, the world's gold production would be worth about twice as much as world oil production, because people would need some gold left over to buy everything else.  That would assume a value for gold as follows:
World annual oil production is about 90 million barrels per day.
x 365 days/year x $100/barrel =
That's about $3.3 trillion per year in dollar value, of oil production.
If world gold production of 83.5 million oz. were worth $6.6 trillion per year, that divides out to $79,000 per oz. for gold!
Oh yes, in the last five years, gold and silver have solidly outperformed Birkshire Hathaway stock.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5y&s=BRK-A&l=on&z=l&q=l&c=slv%2C+gld&ql=1
And I suppose gold and silver have significantly outperformed BRK in the last 13 years.
https://www.google.com/#q=brk.b
Since the year 2000, BRK.B has gone from $40 to $114, an increase of 2.85 times.
Since the year 2000, Gold has gone from $255 to $1314, an increase of 5.1 times.



I strongly advise you to take possession of real gold and silver, at anywhere near today's prices, while you still can.   The fundamentals indicate rising prices for decades to come, and a major price spike can happen at any time.

Please note our new shorter hours, I'm working in each shop every other day.

JH MINT in Grass Valley
Open 11AM to 4PM Pacific Time, Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
Closed Tuesday, Thursday, weekends and bank holidays.  (Also Closed from Dec. 25th to Jan 1st)
13241 Grass Valley Ave
Grass Valley, CA 95945
 (530) 273-8175 
www.jhmint.com

Silver Stock Report : 6 Myths of Inflation

6 Myths of Inflation (Six myths regarding infaltion and hyperinflation in the USA!) by Jason Hommel, August 20th, 2013

1. As the currency goes down, everything else goes up at roughly the same rate. Not true. 2. The law today will be the law tomorrow during hyperinflation. Not true. 3. I'll be able to ride it out here in the back woods of Colorado or Alabama during hyperinflation. Maybe, and maybe not. 4. There is no risk of inflation when the bigger risk is deflation. Not true. 5. The dollar will not go down in value, because everyone who owes dollars has a short position on the dollar that must be covered. Not true. 6. The amount of currency must expand to have an expanding economy. Not true. 1. As the currency goes down, everything else goes up at roughly the same rate. Not true. Or, in other words, if bread goes up ten times in price, and if silver goes up ten times in price, it does not matter what I buy, and does no good to buy silver... Not true. Put $100,000 into bread, try to find the storage place to store it, and watch your investment turn moldy before your very eyes! Or else, keep your money in cash, and watch 90% or more of the value vanish. Silver going up at the same rate of bread is still 100% better than buying bread, and ten times better than cash! In the last twenty years, fruit prices for apples and oranges have been a steady $1-2 per pound. But silver has moved from a low of $5 to a high of $50, and back to $23 today. Silver prices have already dramatically outperformed the price of fruit over the last decade. It has been mostly true that for most hyperinflations, that the price of things as denominated in foreign currency, has been somewhat stable. But the other hyperinflations will be significantly different from the inflation in the US, because of the size of the US economy, and by the education level of the populace, and by the options available. As there was hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, consider... how many coin shops were there in Zimbabwe offering silver to their people? None? There are 4500 coin shops across the USA! And then there is the difference in buying power. The people of the USA have enough money, and enough buying power, to significantly change the world market price of silver, but not the people of Zimbabwe! There is barely $2 billion worth of annual investment demand for silver. When the people of the USA decide they want silver, and can actually buy it, silver demand will actually significantly increase, and it will really move the silver price, and it already has! But consider also. Merchants raise their prices at different rates, such as whenever they feel like it. There is no national governmental council board directing industrialists and capitalists and businessmen on when to raise prices to devalue the currency that government prints! Some express another version of this myth. They say, "it does not matter what asset I buy to protect myself from inflation; housing, stocks and bonds, all are assets, and all will go up at similar enough rates." Not true. Bond values collapse as interest rates rise to match the inflation rate. Housing values collapse if there is capital flight and too many liberal policies in government, such as happened in Detroit. Stock values collapse if tax rates go sky high or during nationalist confiscations or socialization or communism, or even by bankruptcy! And we have seen all of that in this past decade alone during this bull market in silver and gold! The point is that silver and gold will outperform nearly all other things. Monetary demand will not flow into food items. Monetary demand will not flow into bonds that are being sold due to rising interest rates. Monetary demand will flow into silver and gold, the only forms of true money. People will not be buying cowrie shells by the tens of billions of dollars. People will not be buying beaver pelts by the tens of billions of dollars. They will buy silver and gold. Like they always do when they can, and should. 2. The law today will be the law tomorrow during hyperinflation. Not true. Laws will change dramatically as the governments collapse, and can get much worse, or much better, after a change in government or liberty led revolution. This is why I consider education, specifically political education on the topics of freedom, liberty, and libertarian ideals, to be as important, if not more important, than advocating the purchase of silver bullion to protect yourself from inflation. But yes, buy silver bullion too! This way, the owners of the wealth of tomorrow will be more able to form a more free society in the future after the demise of the current forms of government around the world that rely on paper money for the source of their power. 3. I'll be able to ride it out here in the back woods of Colorado or Alabama during hyperinflation. Maybe, and maybe not. Many times, most of the wealthy people are forced to flee the country before or as things are really deteriorating. Many fled communist China and ended up in Hong Kong. Many fled Nazi Germany, even officers in the military, as depicted in the classic movie "The Sound of Music". God's great grand plan might be for most people to flee to Israel. Israel is said to grow rich in gold and silver in the time of the end. Ezekiel 38. Zechariah 14. So, again, buy silver and gold! But remember, that might not be enough. 4. There is no risk of inflation when the bigger risk is deflation. Not true. Deflation is a non existent risk when government prints money to bail out the banks. Deflation only happens when banks fail, and when deposits go "poof" and vanish with the failing bank. Banks may be failing, and are failing, and are often merged into larger banks. But no depositors deposits are going "poof" and vanishing! The entire point of there even being a Federal Reserve is to prevent deflation, and they do. They do more than that, they create inflation. Deflation only happens when there is a gold standard, and when there is not enough gold to back up the deposits. Then, the total amount of "currency" can go down, back down the limited amount of gold. But deflation cannot happen when on demand deposits are not backed by gold, and they are not today. Instead, if people want gold or silver, they have to go to a bullion dealer, and when they buy silver and gold, they cause the value of their dollars to go down and gold and silver go up, which is the exact opposite of deflation, which would happen when they go to the bank and redeem their deposits for gold. 5. The dollar will not go down in value, because everyone who owes dollars has a short position on the dollar that must be covered. Not true. Defaults happen! People actually fail to repay their debts! Can you imagine that?! Yes, the Federal Reserve bails out banks to prevent their failures. But who bails out individuals who must pay down debt? Nobody. When they fail to repay debt, it's the lenders who lose, but when those lenders are the banks who get bailed out, then no deflationary forces take place. Furthermore, look at the nature of this argument. Is debt like a short position on dollars? No, it's not. Consider the differences. The investor who puts on a short position in futures markets must deliver or buy it back, or their brokerage must, or the exchange must. A person or nation who owes dollars does not have two other wealthy and solvent entities who have signed on as co-lenders to securitize the debt. Also, most dollar denominated debt is collateralized, such as by housing. In contrast, a short position in the silver market does not necessarily have the corresponding silver to back it up. Also, consider who is short silver. It's the banks. They will not likely be able to ever buy the ten years worth of annual production of silver to give to people who are content to let the large banks store their non existent silver for them. Since the banks know they will not be able to cover, they never will. They may cover some shorts in the futures market from time to time to create extra volatility, and to earn an extra income from moving the market around, but they will never call up all their silver depositors and say, hey, we are delivering your silver to you for free, and now it's up to you to store it yourself! Never. But the people might wake up, and either demand delivery, or cash out, and buy silver elsewhere. And who is short dollars, or in dollar debt? Many nations around the world? Many cities? Many states? Many of these are sovereign entities who have the right and duty to their people to default and not pay dollars. Many have defaulted already. Many have the legal right to declare bankruptcy, and they will. Did Argentina move heaven and earth to buy dollars? No. They defaulted and devalued their currency. Same thing will happen all over. Debts are not always paid, they are often defaulted, bankrupted, or simply not paid. Dollar denominated debts that are not paid do not prop up the dollar. They devalue the dollar, because they drive up interest rates as bond values crash. 6. The amount of currency must expand to have an expanding economy. Not true. This is a lie! The value of money can go up as the economy expands. In fact, that is exactly what took place in America for over 100 years, from 1776 to 1913. There was consistent deflation at about 2% per year, and America grew from nearly nothing to becoming the powerhouse of the world that won World War I! All on deflation! Deflation is the natural birthright of increased productivity. As productivity goes up, prices go down. This is not a function of money, but rather, something that masks the hidden forces of inflation. I absolutely hate the simple myth in the gold community that an ounce of gold has always been worth about the price of a man's suit. Utter nonsense! By the time machines could make clothes, the value of a man's suit came way down! For over 100 years, gold was $21.66/oz.! Here is evidence online that it was $3-6 for a man's suit in 1903. http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/prices/1903.html Another way this myth is stated, is that if gold itself expands at 2% or less, then businesses, on average, cannot expand more than 2% growth rates, and thus, nobody would ever invest money into the economy and thus, there would be no economic growth. Well, the experience of the United States from 1776 to 1913 is proof that this is not true. Simply because the average returns are 2% does not mean that nobody would ever invest. Some businesses make more, others make less. Some businesses lose money. Yes, losses actually take place, and yes, some businesses go bankrupt! That creates more opportunities for others who can buy things at distressed prices, and other businesses who no longer have to compete against failing businesses! If the 2% investing rule were true, nobody would ever buy bonds that pay less than 2%! Yet many people in today's world do exactly that! And I would wager that everyone who buys bonds that pay less than 2% is not actually even getting 2%, but rather, they are actually losing money, because that's so much lower than the real inflation rate, yet people continue to choose to make decisions that guarantee an economic loss, because that seems safer than earning nothing in cash, and safer to them than "volatile silver" or "mysterious barbaric gold". Read full Article here

Greece: A Gathering Storm Threatens Europe and America

Greece: A Gathering Storm Threatens Europe and America

By Elliott Wave International/the Socionomics Institute

The similarities between Greece and pre-WWII Germany are striking.

• Nazi salutes.
• Praise for Adolf Hitler.
• Swastika-like banners.

Now, before you write off this warning as a run-of-the-mill, Nazi-name-dropping scare tactic, consider this recent report from the Socionomics Institute, a U.S.-based think tank that studies global trends in social mood. Here's an excerpt from the Institute's February publication of The Socionomist.

A rising political party known as Golden Dawn is resurrecting such practices, all hallmarks of Hitler's Third Reich, in modern-day Greece, which has suffered a dramatic, five-year stock market decline.
From 1927 to 1932, Germany suffered a disastrous stock market decline, falling 73% over five years. Six million people were unemployed, and the government was weak. Germany suffered outside financial pressure in the form of reparations required by the Versailles Treaty and consequences of its involvement in World War I.
Adolf Hitler argued that the German government betrayed its people by signing the Versailles Treaty. He promised that if he were elected, the nation would stop paying the reparations. The position appealed to the German people's anger and helped the Nazi leader become chancellor in January 1933.
Modern-day Greece has experienced an even larger five-year decline than 1920s-1930s Germany did, falling 88% since 2007, and the country has suffered a debt crisis. As a condition for bailouts aimed at helping Greece recover, the European Union has imposed tough austerity measures. The Greek government has implemented the measures. Meanwhile, the deepening negative social mood has fueled protests against them.
Nikos Zydakis, editor of the daily newspaper Kathimerini, says Greece is in an economic depression like that experienced by Germany in the 1930s. More than 90% of Greek households have experienced income reductions, with the average drop 38%. Unemployment in Greece now stands at a record 26.8% and is nearly 60% among Greece's young adults. In November the Greek Parliament imposed tax hikes and spending cuts demanded by creditors. Supermarket sales in the country declined by 500 million euros ($669 million) last year, and people are burning wood because the price of electricity has risen and taxes on heating oil have increased.

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme," goes an old saying attributed to American author Mark Twain. And new research from the Socionomics Institute sees a disturbing pattern of rhymes between modern-day Greece and pre-WWII Germany.
To be sure, market and political developments in Greece will have a significant impact on the future of Europe, the Americas and beyond.

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The Socionomics Institute is an independent research firm devoted to the study of social mood and social action. As a partner to the world's largest market forecasting firm, Elliott Wave International, the Institute puts the most important developing social trends around the world into context with Robert Prechter's socionomic theory, which posits that social mood drives social action (not the other way around). Read the rest the Institute's new February report to learn more about the developing threats out of Greece. The full report is available for free as part of a special promotion run by the Institute with EWI. Follow this link to read the full February issue of The Socionomist (a $19 value) - for free.

Weekly Outlook and Technical Analysis Forex Currency Pairs

EUR/USD Weekly Outlook 

EUR/USD's fall accelerated after taking out 1.3145 support last week and reached as low as 1.2946 before making a temporary low there and turned sideway. Initial bias is neutral this week for some consolidations. But recovery should be limited by 1.3212 support turned resistance and bring fall resumption. 

Below 1.2946 will target 1.2873 support first. Whole decline from 1.4939 should head to 100% projection of 1.4939 to 1.3145 from 1.4246 at 1.2452 and below. In the bigger picture, price actions from 1.6039 are unfolding as a consolidation pattern in the long term and is still in progress. Fall from 1.4939 is a falling leg inside the pattern and has just resumed. Further decline could be seen to 1.1875 and below.

Nonetheless we'd expect strong support above 1.1639 key level to contain downside. On the upside, above 1.3538 is need to be the first signal of bottoming while break of 1.4246 resistance is needed to confirm completion of fall from 1.4939. Otherwise, we'll stay bearish even in case of recovery. 

In the long term picture, EUR/USD turned into a long term consolidation pattern since reaching 1.6039 in 2008. Such consolidation is still in progress and we'd expect range trading to continue for some time between 1.1639 and 1.6039. 

USD/JPY Weekly Outlook 

USD/JPY failed to break 78.28 resistance last week and formed a temporary top at 78.15 and retreated. Initial bias is neutral this week for some sideway trading. Another rise is mildly in favor as long as 77.49 minor support holds. Above 78.15/28 resistance zone should extend the rebound from 76.57 to 100% projection of 76.57 to 78.28 from 77.13 at 78.84 and above. 

Nonetheless, note that such rebound is viewed as the second leg of the consolidation pattern from 79.52. Hence, we'd expect strong resistance below 79.52 to bring another near term fall to continue the consolidation, as the third leg. Meanwhile below 77.49 minor support will flip bias back to the downside for 77.13. Break will suggest that recovery from 76.57 is finished and target this support and below. 

In the bigger picture, note again that there is no sign of long term trend reversal in USD/JPY yet even though downside momentum is diminishing with bullish convergence condition in weekly MACD. USD/JPY is still trading inside the falling channel that started back in 2007 at 124.13, and below the falling 55 weeks EMA. Not to mention that it's far below the falling 55 months EMA. Rebound from 75.56 low could extend higher and beyond 80 psychological level. But it could turn out to be a corrective three wave rally in the end. So, we'd at least prefer to see sustained break of 55 weeks EMA (now at 79.98) before considering the case of reversal. And break of 85.51 resistance will need to confirm. Otherwise, anything happens now will be viewed as corrective and an eventual break of 75.56 low to 70 psychological level is still favored. 

In the long term picture, the long term down trend in USD/JPY is still in progress. Such down trend is expected to extend further into uncharted territory with 70 psychological level as next target. In any case, we'd at least need to see sustained break of 85.51 before considering trend reversal. 

GBP/USD Weekly Outlook 

GBP/USD dripped to 1.5409 last week, attempted to resume fall from 1.6165 but lacked follow through selling. Initial bias is neutral this week and stronger recovery cannot be ruled out. But we'll stay cautiously bearish as long as 1.5779 cluster resistance holds (50% retracement of 1.6165 to 1..5409 at 1.5787) and expect another decline. Below 1.5409 will target a test on 1.5271 next. Break there will confirm resumption of whole decline from 1.6460 too and should target 1.5 psychological level and below. 

In the bigger picture, no change in the view that price actions from 1.3503 are treated as consolidations to long term down trend from 2.1161. At this point, we're favoring the case that such consolidation is either finished with three waves to 1.6746, or five waves as a triangle at 1.6165. Break of 1.5271 support will affirm either case and should target 1.4229 key support. Decisive break there should extend the long term down trend through 1.3503 low. Meanwhile, strong rebound ahead of 1.4229, or a break of 1.6165, will dampen the immediate bearish view and extend the consolidation from 1.3503 instead. 

In the longer term picture, the corrective nature of the multi-decade advance from 1.0463 (85 low) to 2.1161 as well as the impulsive nature of the fall from there suggests that GBP/USD is now in an early stage of a long term down trend. Another low below 1.3503 is anticipated after consolidation from 1.3503 is confirmed to be completed. 

USD/CHF Weekly Outlook 

USD/CHF's rally extended further to as high as 0.9547 last week before forming a temporary top there. Initial bias is mildly on the downside for deeper retreat. But break of 0.9065 support is needed to confirm short term topping. Otherwise, recent rally from 0.8567 and that from 0.7065 is still in progress. Above 0.9430 will flip bias back to the upside first. Break of 0.9547 will confirm rise resumption towards 0.9916 cluster resistance next.

In the bigger picture, at this point, we're treating rebound from 0.7065 medium term bottom as part of a consolidation pattern only. Hence, strong resistance is expected at next cluster level at 0.9916 (61.8% retracement of 1.1730 to 0.7065 at 0.9948, 61.8% projection of 0.7065 to 0.9315 from 0.8567 at 0.9958) to limit upside and bring reversal. Meanwhile, break of 0.8567 support should mark the completion of whole rebound form 0.7065 and turn near term outlook bearish. 

In the longer term picture, long term down trend from 2000 high of 1.8305 is still in progress and there is no indication of a reversal yet. Such down trend would extend to 100% projection of 1.8305 to 1.1288 from 1.3283 at 0.6266 after finishing the consolidation from 0.7065.

EUR/JPY Weekly Outlook

EUR/JPY dropped to as low as 101.04 last week before forming a temporary low there and turned sideway. Initial bias remains neutral this week for some more consolidations. But recovery should be limited by 102.98 resistance and bring fall resumption. Below 101.04 will extend the decline from 111.57 to 61.8% projection of 111.57 to 102.48 from 105.54 at 99.92, which is close to 100 psychological level. Also, sustained trading below 100 will confirm resumption of the larger down trend and should target 61.8% projection of 123.31 to 100.74 from 111.57 at 97.59. 

In the bigger picture, EUR/JPY moved further away from the falling 55 weeks EMA and affirmed the case that downtrend from 2008 high of 169.96 is still in progress. 100 psychological level should be taken out eventually towards 100% projection of 139.21 to 105.42 from 123.31 at 89.52, which is close to 88.96 all time low. On the upside, break of 111.57 resistance is needed to be the first signal of reversal. Otherwise, we'll continue to stay bearish in the cross. 

In the long term picture, up trend from 88.96 (00 low) has completed at 169.96 and made a long term top there. Based on the five wave structure of the rise from 88.96 to 169.96, we're favoring that fall from 169.96 is corrective in nature. Hence, we'll look for reversal signal ahead of 88.96 low. 

Daily Report: Dollar Weak as Risk Appetite Lifted by Solid Asian Data

Dollar remains broadly weak as the week starts as markets sentiments are boosted by solid Asian economic data. The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing PMI rebounded from 49.9 to 51.1 in October, back in expansionary territory for the first time since July. HSBC noted that the data confirmed their view there is no risk of hard landing in China. Japan trade deficit narrowed to JPY -0.02T in September. Impressively, exports rose 2.4% yoy, marking the second month of growth following five month decline after the March natural disaster. Asian stock indices are broadly up today, partly following the QE3 triggered rally in US last week. Nikkei is up 1.9%, HSI up over 4%, Aussie All Ordinaries up 2.62%, crude oil is back above 88 level while dollar index is pressing 76.

After the EU summit on Sunday, no agreement was made on major issues including bank recapitalization, private sector involvements in Greece second bailout and the way to boost the EFSF. Though, one thing seemed to be sure is that using ECB to leverage the bailout fund is ruled out. The latest news flow said that policymakers are threatening to trigger a formal default on Greek debt unless banks accept losses of as much as 140B euro on their holdings or a haircut of around 50%. Both Reuters and Bloomberg also quoted the need of around 100B euro for bank recapitalization. The Reuters report also mentioned a haircut of 50% but emphasized that 'several major areas of disagreement remain', especially in the EFSF plan and 'it will require vast amounts of hard negotiation between Sunday and Wednesday to strike a deal that convinces financial markets and Europe's major trading partners that the crisis is in hand' while according to the Bloomberg report policymakers are heading toward using the EFSF to 'guarantee bond sales as a way to extend its reach. A second option is to set up an EFSF-insured fund that would seek outside investment in troubled bonds'. 

Data from Australia saw PPI rose less than expected by 0.6% qoq, 2.7% yoy in Q3. The year over year rate was much lower than Q2's 3.4%. The data is arguing inflationary pressures have eased further in Australia. RBA would be on hold for longer than expected and is raising the prospect of a rate cut if global economic conditions deteriorate further. Though, the CPI data to be released later this week will be more crucial in near term rate outlook.

Looking ahead, Eurozone PMI data will be the main focus. German PMI manufacturing is expected to drop slightly to 50 in October PMI services is expected to recovery to 49.8. Eurozone PMI manufacturing and services are expected to drop to 48.1 and 48.5 respectively. Eurozone industrial orders are expected to rise 0.1% mom in August.

EUR/AUD Daily Outlook

Daily Pivots: (S1) 1.3350; (P) 1.3424; (R1) 1.3463;

EUR/AUD's fall from 1.4086 resumed by taking out 1.3368 and reaches as low as 1.3327 so far today. Intraday bias is back on the downside and further decline should be seen to retest 1.3022 support next. On the upside, note that break of 1.3497 resistance, though, will indicate short term bottoming, possibly on bullish convergence condition in 4 hours MACD, and will bring stronger rebound.

In the bigger picture, price actions from 1.2926 are treated as a medium term consolidation pattern, which is still in progress. Such pattern might extend further in range of 1.2926 and 1.4341. Nevertheless, we'll stay bearish as long as 1.4341 resistance holds and favor an eventual downside breakout. Sustained trading below 1.2926 should pave the way to 1.2 psychological level next. 

Economic Indicators Update

MT	Ccy	Events	Actual	Consensus	Previous	Revised
23:50	JPY	Trade Balance (JPY) Sep	-0.02T	-0.11T	-0.29T	-0.27T
0:30	AUD	PPI Q/Q Q3	0.60%	0.80%	0.80%
0:30	AUD	PPI Y/Y Q3	2.70%	2.90%	3.40%
4:00	CNY	HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI Oct	51.1		49.9
7:30	EUR	German PMI Manufacturing Oct A		50	50.3
7:30	EUR	German PMI Services Oct A		49.8	49.7
8:00	EUR	Eurozone PMI Manufacturing Oct A		48.1	48.5
8:00	EUR	Eurozone PMI Services Oct A		48.5	48.8
9:00	EUR	Eurozone Industrial New Orders M/M Aug		0.10%	-2.10%

Aussie Dollar in a Copper Cauldron!

I keep thinking that any day now the Australian dollar will take a dirt nap. It took one back in mid-2008, falling a stunning 39 percent in just three months in the midst of the credit crunch. This shows just how vulnerable the Aussie can be to a growth accident that slams the world economy; it is the premiere risk currency among the major dollar currency pairs.

Global growth is fading fast again, and copper seems to be highlighting that story. It could be lights out for the Aussie again if that’s the case.

As you can see in the chart below, the copper futures weekly uptrend line is broken, and the primary trend is down. The yellow rectangular box shows what happened in the midst of the great credit crunch of 2008.

And as you may know, copper is considered a key industrial metal; its price movement is often used as an indicator of the direction of growth in the global economy.

Copper Has Taken on an
Important Role in Financing

An increasing number of Chinese firms have been stockpiling the metal and using it as collateral — because the government’s measures to curb inflation have limited the firms’ access to credit. Such financing links the price of copper to other key elements of the Chinese economy, including the growing speculative real estate bubble.

China’s tightening monetary policy has made it more difficult to access credit through official channels. As a result, Chinese small- and medium-size enterprises have increasingly turned to copper for use as collateral in loans, which are then funneled into other sectors of the economy.

The falling price of copper means that the collateral initially put up for the loans in yuan is no longer worth what it once was, decreasing the likelihood that the borrower will be able to pay back the loan.

If firms default on debts, then others connected in the chain will default — and determining where loans have been invested is nearly impossible.

Banks and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are also potentially vulnerable. A high number of SOEs have also used copper as collateral. These firms are often involved in the real estate sector — even if their primary function is not always directly linked to it — and are therefore exposed to the country’s growing real estate bubble. 

The government would bail out the more politically favored SOEs if necessary. But that would leave fewer resources to be allocated to the private sector, which is crucially important to China’s growth.

It is all about feedback loops. And …

This One Could Turn Quite Vicious
for China and In Turn the Aussie Dollar!

The Australian economy is highly dependent on China for its own growth. For a while now, I’ve been saying that Australia has effectively become a satellite country of China. Take a look at this chart showing China’s imports from Australia thru September. 

Lower copper prices could put a real damper on Australia’s growth. Another major hit is already in play: Falling consumer demand from the euro zone and the U.S.

And if the bubble were to finally pop in Chinese real estate, it would be much uglier indeed.

So we have the potential for real demand in copper and other commodities to decline sharply. Toss in the added thumping from the internal Chinese speculation, which would likely push the metal back toward its credit crunch low, and you get another 50 percent decline in the red metal.

And guess which currency has been tightly correlated to the price of copper over the last few years? If you said the Aussie dollar, you were right on!

There are two key takeaways from the following chart of the Aussie/U.S. dollar vs. copper:

1) There is a very large divergence between the two price series; and

2) In the past the series have been highly correlated.

I suspect we will see a big move one way or the other. It could be copper soars. But for now, I’m betting the Aussie tanks.

Stay tuned.

Jack

Market Salutes Mass Confusion with Further Risk Rally

The coming “solution” to the EU’s debt crisis is creating ever mounting piles of research outlining the if’s, and’s and but’s – so the market shrugs its shoulders and says “they’ll figure something out.”

The discussion surrounding the potential form of the EFSF has become an endlessly confusing cacophony for which readers can find far better sources than this column to review and understand all of the various nuances of the proposed solutions and the questions outstanding. The bulls have largely made their case on the potential outcome for what is now next Wednesday (Summit, part Two) with the extensive rally in the rear view mirror. The bears are licking their wounds and still running for cover. The essential bottom for the bigger picture here boils down to three interlocking questions, none of which are likely to be answered beyond the next couple of weeks to couple of months, in my view.

Confidence? All of the solutions rely on the market’s confidence and the hope that officialdom has gone far enough in back-stopping sovereign debt to a sufficient degree far more than the actual deployment of funds. The solution is more one of – if something goes wrong, we’ll be there – trust us! It works as long as market participants believe it will work, in other words. But if enough confidence is lost and the actual mechanisms are being tested, is there really enough firepower in place? Which leads us to the next question…

Where is the money? The issue of leverage has not been resolved. Yes, an all-out money printing fiesta from the ECB or something closer to what the French wanted could have generated a more QE2-like large scale liquidity-induced rally, but none of the currently more likely sounding resolutions generate huge liquidity – only implied liquidity via backstopping. This is a highly complex, have-our-cake-and-eat-it-too tight money solution to the situation.

A closer union or not?  The risk at all times given the incredibly cumbersome EU framework is one of one more bad actor spoiling the party – Greek exceptionalism in this department is an awfully risky assumption. Most are discussing Greek defaults only. Every round of this crisis has shown how tenuous the political EU framework remains, and the trend doesn’t appear to be toward a firmer commitment to union, but rather the opposite. The framework may survive this round, but what about the next one?

These are awfully big questions. Yes, we could see confidence for a time because yes, there may be enough funding for the center to hold – but the third question is the real challenger down the line. If the confidence fails because more money is needed or more money is needed because confidence fails, the political will for another round of bailouts is unlikely to be there as our Chief Economist said in yesterday’s Chronicle – maximum intervention will eventually yield to Crisis 2.0, whether it is in this quarter or not until next year.

Meanwhile, back in the East
Two things going on in Asia at the moment: China’s equity market is looking very shaky and satellite indicators like the price of copper are a significant cause for concern, particularly given copper’s odd use in China’s collateralized credit market in recent years. Meanwhile, AUDUSD is following equity markets and the Euro-phoria rather than its more traditional orientation with industrial commodities – an awkward path at best for the currency. The direction of AUDUSD and copper/China indicators is unlikely to diverge for much longer – one of the two markets is “wrong”.

Elsewhere, complacent USDJPY longs were attacked in the early US hours as the USD was crumbling across the board in today’s trade as risk appetite stormed higher and 76.0 was taken out as USDJPY briefly touched a new all-time low. There is risk of further downside if Japanese officialdom prefers to wait for the other side of the G20 to make its presence more forcefully felt. The move lower is actually at odds with the interest rate spreads at the short end of the US/Japanese yield curves, though there has been a general move away from these kinds of correlations holding much sway of late.

Looking ahead
So what are the potential outcomes once we are on the other side of next week’s EU summit and the G20 in early November? A further extension of the rally for the shorter term is quite possible if the EU solution continues to generate more complacency – so we have to allow for, for example, EURUSD to challenge anything from its 55-day MA above 1.3900 to its 200-day MA above 1.40. But that’s our line in the sand, as we discuss in the chart below.

EURGBP pulled a number on the market today – as EURGBP took out downside stops before rallying well back into the range, a move that makes sense as GBP and USD are in similar boats and their general direction versus the EUR is likely to remain loosely correlated at minimum.

Chart: EURUSD scenarios
Assuming that the EURUSD isn’t preparing for a full trend change to the upside, the scenario indicated on the chart below is a possible trajectory for the pair – a brief further extension of the rally as we head into/out of the EU Summit followed by a reversal and then disappointment further down the line. If the pair remain above 1.40 for any length of time, we’ll have to reconsider our assumptions.

Have a great weekend and stay careful out there.


Economic Data Highlights

• Germany Oct. IFO out at 106.4 vs. 106.2 expected and 107.4 in Sep.
• Canada Sep. CPI out at +0.2% MoM and +3.2% YoY vs. +0.2%/+3.1% expected, respectively and vs. +3.1% in Aug.
• Canada Sep. CPI Core out at +0.5% MoM and +2.2% YoY vs. +0.2%/+2.0% expected, respectively and vs. +1.9% YoY in Aug.

Upcoming Economic Calendar Highlights (all times GMT)

• US Fed’s Kocherlakota to Speak (1700)
• US Fed’s Fisher to Speak (1720)
• US Fed’s Yellen to Speak (1900)
• US Fed’s Duke to Speak (Sat 1400)
• Japan Sep. Merchandise Trade Balance (Sun 2350)
• Australia Q3 Producer Price Index (0030)
• China Oct. HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI (0230)